Cass-ino®

Cowboy is 1 Year Old!

2010-06-17T23:11:00.009+08:00

My baby has hit the 1-year mark!

Well, as I delight in welcoming his growth into toddlerhood, I also miss him as a little baby. Missed those days when he latches on for breastmilk and every milestone he crossed. At 1 year old, this chap can walk (in fact, he started walking at 11 mths), can climb up and down my sofa, can play peek-a-boo with his sister and understands several instructions. Sometimes, he signs too!

Rynae is very fond of him but at times when he messed up her belongings, he is sure to be hammered. Sadly, she didn't spare him for being a baby. For the 'torture' he went through, Cowboy has toughened up to be an accommodating and big-hearted little spirit. He loves his sister no less and these 2 can be caught playing rowdily at times. My 1-year old is becoming a good companion for his sister! But hey, I'm seriously not looking forward to the upcoming quarrels and fights though.

11 Month Old

2010-05-17T23:06:00.011+08:00

It's been a long absence! So long that I have forgotten that I've got a blog! And now, I'm back with more updates on the Bong Family! First and foremost, our dearest Cowboy turns 11-Month old today and it is also the last month that I can still call him a baby. This soon-to-be 1 year old chap has achieved several milestones and he is now able to..

Wave goodbye

Crawl well with belly off the ground

Cruise while holding onto furniture

Stand alone for a couple of seconds

Stoops from standing position

Understand no and simple instructions

Says 'mum mum' (aka food) and calls papa and mama (isn't specific though)

I miss every moment of seeing him grow up these past 11 months but I am also glad that I was with him every moment to witness his first laughter, his first flip and to feed him his first semi-solid. Whenever I see his adorable face, I felt that it was all worth it...

Steamboat is a Boat?

2010-02-09T23:36:00.006+08:00

Few days ago, Daddy received a phone call request to help to buy a steamboat for an Indonesian relative. Conveniently, we found one suitable set near our house and while Daddy went out to purchase it, Rynae and Mummy had an amusing conversation at home...

(At home while Rynae was having dinner)

Rynae: Mummy, where's Daddy?

Mummy: Oh, he went downstairs to buy a steamboat for Ah Hua Gu Gu.

Rynae: Is it for Ah Hua Gu Gu to sail from Indonesia to Singapore?

(It took me a few seconds to digest what she said. Sail to Singapore? I realised later that my girl does not know what is steamboat!)

Mummy: *Giggling* Girl, steamboat is not a boat. Steamboat is a hot pot you put your food in to cook.

Rynae: Then how come you call it steamboat. Does it look like a boat?

Mummy: Err.. last time it used to have a 'chimney' in the middle that gives out smoke. People thought it looked like a boat that gives out steam so people called it steamboat lor...

How innocent kids can be. Why do I presume that she knows what steamboat is? Anyway, I hoped my explaination was correct. Thinking about it, isn't steamboat called 火锅 in Chinese? Shouldn't the correct translation be Fire Pot?

LNY Bazaar at Bishan

2010-02-05T00:07:00.014+08:00

Heard about a LNY bazaar in Bishan? We did and went. It was touted as a mega Chinese New Year bazaar with 600 over stalls spanning an area that is even bigger than Chinatown! Of course we checked it out since it is closer proximity for us than Chinatown too. But... it was such a let down. Tenant take up rate was so bad that half the event space was left empty. The marquee, the stalls set up and the items on sale made it so Pasar Malam! What a BIG let down.

Rynae was fascinated by the 'theme park' and we allowed her to play on the bouncy castles, kiddy car ride and electronically charged motor bike. We headed home after that. There's really nothing much to see there already.

Happy 5th Birthday, Rynae!

2010-01-29T22:34:00.009+08:00

This year, Rynae's birthday fell on a school day hence Mummy asked if she wanted to give out goodies bags to her classmates. There was a period of time when she was paranoid about growing up, getting old and dropping teeth (long story) so by acknowledging her birthday, I hope she can overcome her fears. She said she wanted and I acceded her request by fully sponsoring the 26 goodies bags. I asked her what she wanted to put inside them and I'll get all sorts of (funny) ideas. In the end, we settled with some tidbits, some sweets, a balloon and a party blower in each bag.

If you remember, she gave out goodies bags in pre-nursery 2 years ago but those were prepared by me. Now that she is old enough, I got her involved in packing them. This will give her more ownership and pride. It delighted me to know that she had a great time sharing the gifts with her friends at school and getting blissful birthday wishes. Happy birthday my darling! Stay out of trouble and be an obedient girl.

Young Author

2010-01-28T16:12:00.011+08:00

Sometimes when Rynae is bored, she'll find her own programme. This time, she got into the mood of being an author, an illustrator and a publisher. This is her very first book and I'm gonna keep it as memento. The title of the story is 'Going to the Movie' (If you noticed, the title was corrected after the story took a twist.. aka side-track).

Here's the storyline:

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Lilly. She went to the movie. One day she reached the movie. There was an empty seat so Lilly sat on the seat. Soon Lilly said 'What is that?' Soon a thunder came. Soon it was raining. So luckily Lilly brought and umbrella and got home."

~The End~

Believe it or not? I am giggling as I am typing out the storyline now. It's such a child-like story! But, I love it! I love the innocence of the storyline but the maturity behind the idea. Our friend scripted it herself and she merely asked for my help when she didn't know how to spell some words. I am so proud of her.

Fly My Kite

2010-01-27T16:59:00.003+08:00

Daddy loves to bring Rynae kite flying when the weather permits. She will play the part of an assistant and be given the responsibility to keep the kite soaring high after Daddy brings it up into the air. We're lucky we've got a vast land nearby for this activity.

7 Month Old

2010-01-27T16:20:00.009+08:00

I cannot believe how time flies. It's been exactly a month since my last post and I bet you must be yearning for my update. Cowboy is 7+ month old now and is an active, cheery and easy-going individual. He is off breast milk now and am now fully formula fed. This chap doesn't like plain rice cereal hence Mummy mixes baby pureed food into the rice cereal to boost its flavour. What a gourmet.

As for physical milestone, he is able to sit but unstable. It is so amusing to see him commando crawling now. And you know what? This is the most rewarding and satisfying moment of being a SAHM because you get to see your child's milestone at every step of their growth. You get to prepare their meals and you get to nurse them back to health if they fall sick. You felt so important when you know that 2 lives are so dependant on you. I was a FTWM after I gave birth to Rynae and I felt that I missed out a lot. Yes! I'm enjoying every moment bringing up and spending time with Cowboy and Rynae now.

Rynae's New Look

2009-12-27T15:44:00.005+08:00

We collected Rynae's glasses yesterday and had a difficult time conning her to put them on. She will carry this new look from now. I kinda like it.

Diapers Pressies?

2009-12-24T22:48:00.012+08:00

The picture you see above is not taken in a warehouse. It is my home, turned temporary storeroom for a bulk purchase order of diapers from ibaby.com.sg. I am attracted to their cheap selling price. Furthurmore, the diapers can also be delivered to your doorstep with a $6 delivery fee top up. Saves a lot of enery to lug them back! I shared the lobang and delivery fee with one of my neighbours and one of my sisters so each of us just need to pay $2 delivery fee! These loots were delivered to me on X'mas Eve and with no other free area to hold them, I had them sit in a corner, beside my X'mas tree. Gee... such large pressies...

My First Taste Of Cereal

2009-12-17T16:17:00.014+08:00

I couldn't believe that half a year is gone in a puff. My boy turns 6 months old today! And.. it's also the ripe time to start him on semi-solid. Nah... he didn't quite like it but managed to finish most of his feed (because I thrust it down his throat!).

1 Night In Rasa Sentosa

2009-12-15T15:38:00.007+08:00

Coca Cola - The enery drink for swimming.

Enjoying his complimentary morning breakfast buffet. Made such a mess!

Our hunk, basking in the sun

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la... This is what I hear everywhere I go now. The spirit of the season is strong and infectious and everyone's in holiday mood, planning how and where to spend the last days of the year. Even my sisters and parents have gone down under to Perth to greet the kangaroos and do up their christmas shopping.

It is such a hassle to go travelling with a baby hence we chose to take up a 1 night stay at Rasa Sentosa special staff discount in Daddy's company. We brought Rynae there when she was about 2 years old and we're gonna revisit that place again. Asked if she remembered the trip, our friend could hardly recall anything as she was still too young then. Her memory bank started maturing only when she was 3 years old.

Older now, she enjoyed her stay more than when she was just a tot. She wanna get involved in finding the hotel room, wanna insert the room key, wanna soak in bath tub and had many more requests. This trip was planned with her in mind and we had a good family bonding time together. We are sure to be back next time they have such promotion again.

4-Eyed Gal

2009-12-10T22:48:00.007+08:00

So the verdict is out - Rynae would need to wear spectacles. I'm not surprised actually because I knew that something is gonna be wrong with her eyes when she rubs and squints them often while watching TV, complains of eye pain and headache frequently. If you remember, I did bring her for an eye check up in March this year but because she was uncooperative, we couldn't find out how serious her condition was.

I finally had her redo her vision test at a polyclinic on Tuesday. Her score was terrible - 6/18 and she was referred to KKH immediately. It was also my intention to route via a polyclinic so that we could enjoy a subsidised rate at KKH.

After a detailed assessment, she was not short-sighted but had rather high astigmatism - 275 for left eye and 175 for the right. Worst of all, she had minor amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye. The cause of it was due to the long period of poor vision hence the brain has not been working hard to process the image received from the weak eye. Our friend has to be put on glasses so as to stimulate the brain to process normal sight.

I cannot imagine an active young lass like her wearing glasses. Comical or studious? I look forward to see the look.

R.I.P FIL

2009-12-03T23:21:00.008+08:00

Our whole family went back to indonesia for about 2 weeks recently. It was always with much happiness everytime we make the trip but emotions were different this time. We went back holding back tears in our eyes and with hearts never so heavy before. 14th November - a date that I'll not forget - the date that we lost someone we love and respect - my FIL, my 2 children's fraternal grandfather.

It happened like this...

We received a call from Indonesia on that fateful day informing us that grandfather collapsed while having lunch but in a moment of frantic, information conveyed weren't clear. We thought he had merely fainted and they were trying to resuscitate him. We were alarmed and stayed by the phone for update, hoping to receive good news. The next call crashed our day. He was gone. We couldn't accept it. My FIL has always held a pink health slip and how could someone so healthy given his age be gone in a puff? In deep sorrow, we packed our lugguages and rushed for the night ferry back. My FIL was a man with a big heart and was the easiest-going and contented old man I've known. He was happy as long as his love ones are. We could not accept his departure.

It is with deep, fond memories of him that I'm writing this blog. R.I.P FIL. You'll always be in our hearts.

Art Class

2009-11-06T23:30:00.004+08:00

Together with 3 other neighbour mummies, we signed our kids up for art class every Friday evening at a nearby community centre. With company of friends, Rynae enjoyed her lessons more. She was taught how to draw penguins in the first lesson. She did fairly well and her drawings were visibly more distinct than her peers. Well done!

Painting On Pebbles

2009-11-05T23:01:00.001+08:00

Mummy used to do a lot of crafts and activities with Rynae but after the arrival of little brother, it was difficult to find decent free time to spend with her. She has school in the morning and her afternoon nap time coincides with Raynen hence while she's awake, so is he. Evening is the only possible period for me to interact with her but guilty speaking, I was hooked to Starhub channel 55's Moonlight Resonance for the past 2 months. Damn. That's the addiction of drama series! I was contented to wrap up the TVB big hit after watching the finale yesterday night. I forbid myself to catch on another drama and I'm gonna use this free time to do something productive - not on facebook but to spend quality time with Rynae.

When I told her that we're going to do some painting on pebbles, she was elated. She got so excited that she couldn't even wait for me to set up the things! I picked up a pebble and painted too. After a long day of nagging and chiding, it felt totally different doing crafts with her. We were both relaxed and at ease and she ranted about everything that came to her mind.

I noticed that she has a better concept of colour usage now. Previously, her paintings were always a whirlpool of colours but now, white is white, red is red and black is black. Her only complain was that the pebbles were too small for her to paint anything explicitly. Well, I couldn't agree more.

Rock and Roll!

2009-11-04T23:20:00.005+08:00

Yeah.. It's another milestone. My boy can roll over now! In fact, his first successful attempt was when he was 3 months and 3 weeks old but I wasn't sure if I should record it down as I suspect it could be a moment of sheer luck. To be fair and accurate, I recorded his achievement at 4 months and 4 days old. Like any other babies, he couldn't lie still on his back from then onwards.

Mummy wasn't quite enthusiastic about his new found capability because changing his diaper and minding him has become a challenge. I used to dump him on the sofa while I run errands around the house but this form of convenience will cease to happen again. My boy is an acrobat who has fallen once from my bed and once from the sarong (Negligence parenting. Haha). Thank god his falls were blessed with no injury.

4 Months Old

2009-10-17T22:51:00.003+08:00

Review On DVD - World of English Vol.1

2009-10-10T21:11:00.007+08:00

I like to pop into Popular bookshop whenever I pass by any because there're always new preschool activity books. One day when I was checking the shelves, I inadvertently found one new DVD title - World of English. The cover's simple and straight forward enough - teach beginners verbs, nouns, adjectives and antonyms and that's what I would like Rynae to learn next. However, I hesitated about buying it because it was priced at $19.90. I'm also doubtful about its content. Couldn't possibly rely on packaging ya?

Went home and googled it but there were no relevant search results. The closest result was a DVD bulk purchase exercise organised in SMH. I read from there that the content is animated and I could buy it at just $15.50! Of course I grabbed a copy.

Rynae is a TV addict and was so excited that she has a new DVD to watch. Ask for my review on it and I'll say it's a pretty good buy. Besides a shortcoming on the flat and back-dated illustration style, language used is simple and teaching approach is soft.

Cow Boy's First Trip To Zoo

2009-10-09T17:19:00.013+08:00

Rynae's been requesting like a broken record to go to the zoo and we felt that it's time to visit that place before our Friends of the Zoo membership expires in November. Anyway, the last time I brought her there was when I was heavily pregnant with Raynen, and that was already 5 months ago! Gosh. Our membership is so under-utilised!

We wanna hit a weekday hence Daddy's gonna take leave. Last Sunday, we checked NEA's weather forcast for the next 3 days' weather outlook - Mon to Wed morning showers with thunder. Well, no choice, gota postpone. HOWEVER, there weren't a single drop of rain for that 3 days! Mummy was miffed. Who needs a forecast if it has such low accuracy? Next check - Thur to Sat morning showers with thunder too. Heck. Friday it shall be. And guess what? It was bright and sunny on that day. Now.. I'll never believe NEA's weather forecast again.

As it was a weekday, there was no crowd at the zoo. It felt so touristy with the presence of many ang mos and hybrid expatriats. After paying insincere visits to some of the animals there, we headed right for the main attraction - the Rainforest Kidzworld. My lass had a whale of a time there. As for Raynen, he is still too young to enjoy the outing... for now..

The happiest person in this excursion

'Guest of Honour' at Rainforest KidzWorld

I Can Carry Him!

2009-09-27T20:49:00.004+08:00

3rd Month Injection

2009-09-25T16:15:00.020+08:00

"Mum! Save me!"

There are so many decisions to be made when it comes to matters of children. Before birth, parents have to decide what pram brand to buy, at birth have to choose what formula to give and now after birth have to decide what type of immunisation to give and where. 5in1 or 6in1? GP, PD or polyclinic?

Rynae had 6in1 immunisation at a PD hence initially we decided to follow suit for Raynen too, until neighbours and friends advised that there is actually no need to spend that much. Indeed, after a comparision, 6in1 package costs only $326.10 at a Polyclinic while a PD charges $500. On top of that, PD also charges $45 consultation fee for each visit while Polyclinic charges a mere $4.80. With 2 children now and surviving on a single income, we thought we had better be more frugal in our spending thus we opted for Polyclinic. Afterall, their vaccines are all from GSK and there were already so many infants being vaccinated in Polyclinic!

We pre-booked an appointment at Polyclinic for Raynen's 3rd month vacination & assessment today. As Polyclinic does not provide vacination for Rotavirus, we hopped over thereafter, to Rynae's PD for first dose of the oral medication. Our little friend was force fed the vaccine by the PD and we prayed hard then that he keeps the medicine down. 'Cos it cost $105 ok!

Recently, Mr Mah Bow Tan announced a possibility to include Pneumococcal as part of the National Childhood Immunisation Programme. However, there were no details as yet on the implementation timeline. Rynae was immunised with just 1 jab at 2 yrs old and Raynen will definitely be given the jab too. According to the schedule, he would need 4 doses, which means more pain and also more money - $150 to $180 per jab! We have no intention to put him through the pain now hence we hope that by the time he turns 1, there would be news about the implementation details. Looking forward to a subsidised price!

Raynen's First Passport

2009-09-22T23:25:00.004+08:00

Raynen's passport was ready for collection and we brought him down personally to claim it today. There were many others who were there for the same purpose hence in the end, we waited for over an hour. It would be commendable if they could open a counter to provide speedy passport collection service for infants and children below 2 years old. With this little red book, Cowboy can now travel cross borders! First destination should be Indonesia. Woohoo...

3 Months Old

2009-09-17T14:05:00.001+08:00

In a bink of an eye, Cow Boy is 3 months old already. He doesn't cry like a newborn now but converses his needs by different whines, shouts and cries. Sometimes, he also gives cues with different facial expressions. At 3 months, he is able to hold his head upright (though at times a little wobbly), is learning to exercise control of his hands and can see further objects and people. This chap is becoming more curious about his environment hence he doesn't like to be carried lying down anymore (unless he needs to be pat to sleep). It is tiresome to carry him for long but I love to hold him because I know that in time to come, he'll be squirming out of my arms.

Turn Me On!

2009-09-16T20:51:00.008+08:00

With a bigger body and more mature muscle, my boy's showing an inclination to learn flipping now. He likes to turn to his right when we place him down. I ordered a sleeping positioner from mmhugz.blogspot.com to prevent him from dropping to the floor from the sofa, like a ripe durian. I guess this will come in more handy when he actually knows how to flip 'cos I need to POSITION him when I change his diaper. I ain't an octupus who can change and dangle an object in his face to keep him still. But hmm... I just wondered how I managed to subdue Rynae then...

Development @ 2 Months

2009-09-01T15:35:00.014+08:00

The signature superman pose

At 2 months, Cowboy is showing signs of responsiveness. He smiles, chuckles, coos and gurgles at me when I talk to him straight into the face. It is such an amusement too, to see his expression when he listens and watches my mouth movement and get fascinated by how it works. I love to sit him facing me, on my lap and talk non-sensibly.

He is also becoming more aware of his environment. He recognises my voice and will show his pleasure by smiling at the sound of my greetings. If something catches his attention, he'll stare and focus at it without blinking eyes.

This chap is also exploring, discovering and learning how to control his hands. Lay him down and you'll find him doing a 'superman' pose - lifting his right hand in the air (Yes, he only lifts his right hand). Sometimes, he'll stare at his right hand and fist, showing the expression of 'what the hell is this'?

2 Months Old

2009-08-17T20:31:00.004+08:00

Rock-A-Bye-Baby

2009-08-13T13:30:00.021+08:00

Using a sarong to carry a baby is not a novelty but in recent years, there's been a popularity in using sarong slings to carry a baby. It not only frees your hands but it looks kinda chic too! Riding on the craze, I bought one, 4 years ago, thinking of using it on Rynae BUT my little tyrant screamed (like I'm stuffing her into the rubbish chute) whenever I tried the sling on her. I gave up eventually and passed down the sling to my sister.

It was not until I saw my neighbour using it on her daughter that I decided to try it again, on Raynen this time. However, slings don't come cheap. One would need to fork out at least S$45 for a brand new one. I attempted ebay and sucessfully won a bid with S$22 on a second hand cotton sateen sarong sling. The owner claimed that she used it once only. The sling came with a sarong user guide CD. It sure is helpful. I played, repeated and rewinded it so many times I lost count. Seeing someone using it seems so easy until I tried it out myself. My poor little guinea pig got squashed, twisted and embarrasingly enough, stuck in my sling!

Now, I'm proud to announce that I've attained the beginners level in lying down (for newborn) position. I even slinged Raynen to the neighbourhood park with it! Well, practise makes perfect and I'm gonna keep using it until I master it!

Happy 44th Birthday Singapore!

2009-08-12T21:21:00.016+08:00

Rise and shine. Bong siblings in their pajamas.

Didi hanging on for dear life.

For the past 4 years, patriotic Mummy has always dressed Rynae up in red and white on National Day. This year, without fail, I dressed up my 2 kiddos in the 2 symbolic colours.

I explained the meaning of National Day to Rynae, why wear red and white and told her how old Singapore is. I also taught her how to place her hand when we said the pledge together at 8.22pm. Yeap, I'm gonna teach her to love her country from young.

Personalised Pacifier Clips

2009-07-31T22:29:00.006+08:00

I bought a personalised pacifier clip recently for Raynen from Buniquestore.com. They have personalised clothings, pillow cases and bibs too. Well, I thought it might be over the top to have Raynen's name printed on every belonging so I chose just a simple pacifier clip. Whadaya say? Nice?

Sharp Shooter

2009-07-23T22:03:00.022+08:00

Look at the splat of poo on my wall! I got a rude surprise this morning when I unfastened baby Cow's diapers to change him. A squirt of poo shot out and landed on my wall. I was dumb-founded. There were poo on his buttock, on the mattress, on the crib, on the floor. Everywhere! It was such a mess I didn't know where to start cleaning up. I decided I had to begin with non other than the culprit - Mr Raynen Bong.

Crime scene

Celebrating Full Month

2009-07-18T22:42:00.018+08:00

To celebrate my release and Raynen's full month, we held a small scale party at our love nest on 18th June with a warm company of family members, relatives, close friends and some neighbours. Mummy had planned for this day by ordering a set of clothings specially printed, from familymall08.multiply.com. It was a pity I didn't get to take a photo of them dressed in these. Sister ran off to play with cousins and neighbours as soon as she was bathed and brother cranked to be put to bed after milk. Getting their group photo is this hard!

To be more appropriate, wordings should actually be 'Daddy's little tyrant' and 'Mummy's little urchin'. kekeke..

The spread. Full month cake from Prima Deli, food from Neo Garden Catering and DIY red eggs from my kitchen!

The star of the day - Mr Botak!

Full Month Tradition

2009-07-17T21:46:00.012+08:00

Today is baby Cow's full month and according to Chinese traditions, he had his nails cut and womb hair shaved. I collected his hair into an ang bao to be saved as keepsake.

After his haircut, he was bathed in water mixed with pomelo leaves to wash off any unwanted and evil vibes.

Daddy calls him botak head now.

Ending Confinement

2009-07-13T11:13:00.010+08:00

I'm pushing the end of my 1 month confinement and I'm filled with mixed feelings of joy and worrisome. Joy for obvious reasons that I can lead back a normal life - able to bathe (without herbs), able to go out (I'm developing cabin fever!) and able to eat normal food! The first 2 weeks of confinement were the worst days in my life. My scalp was itchy, my skin felt sticky, my episiotomy wound was hurting and my breasts felt so sore with plugged milk ducts! I was literally counting the seconds hoping that time will rocket pass!

Then again, now that I'm soon seeing light at the end of the tunnel, I'm also struck with anxiety and fear about the ability and energy to handle 2 kids. At times when I was nursing baby Raynen, Rynae would snuggle up to me to request to spend personal time with me or to ask me to attend to her. Those were the times I had to decline her requests as I couldn't split myself into 2! Not wanting her to bear a grudge towards her brother or to feel jealous, I'll always ask her for grace period and will always get back to her after I'm done with baby. She was so used to having my undivided attention these 4+ years so now that I have another little chap to take care of, she'll have to do a bit of adjustment.

I'm finding my air thinner and my time more precious. I reckon I'll be getting much sleep too as I'll have to do the graveyard shift - giving night feeds. Oh... Back to those panda-eyed days again!

New Life With 2 Children

2009-06-26T13:01:00.024+08:00

Honestly, I've not fully immersed myself with life as a mother with 2 children because of the presence of a confinement nanny who faithfully helps me take care of baby Raynen. My mother-in-law is also present to help me see to Rynae's needs and to take care of miscellaneous housework. With 2 able helpers, I took a back seat, relax and recuperate.

I do, however, have one important role - to supply potent breast milk to my little urchin. Because of this indispensable task, I'm kept busy either milking myself or nursing my little calf. I was a little regretful for not persisting to breast feed Rynae beyond a month thus I am determined to breast feed for as long as I could for this birth.

I'm happy that Rynae is taking the arrival of his new baby brother in a good stride. She shows her love by caressing his soft skin and stroking his tiny head when he's drinking milk - an affectionate sight that made me forget all the years of irritations, frustrations and sleepless nights that accompanies motherhood. No words can describe this euphoric feeling. You really have to be a mother to experience it...

Labour of Love

2009-06-24T13:17:00.008+08:00

Raynen was a strong baby when he was inside me. Whenever he stretch, I felt as though he is going to punch a hole through my tummy and simply get out from there. Because of his incredible strength, I had this intuition that my first sign of labour will be breakage of water bag. But I was wrong. Here's my full labour story:

On 16 June after a check up at my gynae's, I was told that I was already 2cm dilated. Panic. How? I'm going to bomb! When I had Rynae, I gave birth the day I was told I was 3cm dilated! I had a discussion with Doctor and we decided to do it calmly since I've no contraction pain and there's sufficient amniotic fluid in my amnion. He suggested that I go back, rest, pack and settle all outstandings and check into Mount Alvernia on 18 June midnight. Ok, set.

However, on 17 June around 5am, I was woken up by 'cramps'. I tried to ignore it but it kept coming back in regular intervals of 5 mins. My instinct told me I was having contractions. I couldn't get back to sleep so I got up to visit the washroom. Gosh! I had show! That's it.. that's it.. I'm into labour! The contractions grew stronger and I woke Daddy up. I had a quick shower, grabbed my bag and rushed off to the hospital. The contractions grew more intense as the minute passed. I could hardly walk when we reached the delivery suit.

After an internal examination, nurse told me that I was 4cm dilated. I was asked to clear my bowel while she went off to inform my gynae. I was in pain but I tried not to think about it. Soon, I was straped with fetal heartbeat monitor onto the delivery bed. And not long after, my wrist was poked with a drip to induce my labour. Yikes! More intense pain! Help!!!! I tried not to go against the pain and to concentrate on my breathing. It worked. "It'll be over soon... It's not going to kill me... I'm going to have my baby in my arms soon..." I cheered myself on.

Doctor came around 7am. (He was on leave that day and that explains why he didn't suggest to me to give birth on the 17th!) He did a check, broke my water bag and reported, "Ok, Cassandra, you're 5cm dilated. Now, I need you to push." I did and gave it all I can. "Great. 9cm now. Nurses please get ready". They took me by the legs and I was positioned in an 'expose-all pose'. Urgh... in addition to the contraction pains, I felt an immediate urge to pop. It felt like the biggest poo I've ever had! After 2 gigantic pushes, I heard Raynen's thundering wail. My boy was out...

He was thrown onto my tummy and my first reaction was to check if he was ok. Thank god he was. I was happy, fulfilled and relieved. 9 months of pregnancy. 9 months of carrying him - all passed in a twinkle of an eye. My tummy suddenly felt empty and I'm beginning to miss his kicks in me.... My family is complete now and we're all looking forward to life with the addition of this new family member.

Dealing WIth Jaundice

2009-06-22T13:33:00.009+08:00

After 3D2N's stay at Mount Alvernia Hospital, Mummy was discharged on Friday but poor baby Raynen had to be warded for jaundice treatment for 2 extra days. It was heart wrenching to see my boy striped, blind-folded and placed under phototherapy. It felt awful coming home without your new born.

Luckily, baby Raynen was discharged yesterday after his jaundice was sucessfully brought down to acceptable level. We were told to continue hydrating him and putting him under morning and evening sun. Well, we did this morning as told and here's our precious, sun bathing in his sister's passed-down pram.

He looks shiok huh?

Welcome Baby Raynen

2009-06-19T15:39:00.006+08:00

Everybody meet Raynen Bong. He was welcomed into this world on 17th June at 7.20am, weighing 3540g. Mummy Cow will post my birth story as soon as I am able to..

Count Down 2 Weeks

2009-06-12T21:11:00.007+08:00

Everyone has been telling me that 2nd borns usually will arrive earlier and faster than 1st borns. Rynae was born 3 days before my expected due date hence now that I am into my 38th week of gestation, I could be expecting Cowboy's arrival anytime! I felt like I am carrying a time bomb.

Pregnancy is getting uncomfortable during this third trimester. My feet are swollen because of water retention due to my uterus and baby's pressure on my veins. Occassionally, I experience sharp stabbing pain in my groin when I get up from a sitting position. And not forgetting to mention about my bulkiness, clumsiness and edginess. Inspite of all these common discomforts, I am enjoying every moment of my pregnancy - of having Cowboy rolling, poking and stretching inside me. Once he is out, the 'party' is over and I am so gonna miss his company within my body.

At 38th week, my gynae suggested doing a CTG (cardiotocography) scan for me to check fetal heartbeat and signs of contractions. It was a relieve that Cowboy's heart beat is normal. There were no contractions and neither had I dilated. So off I went to spend another few 'peaceful' days waiting at home...

Cord Blood Banking

2009-05-25T23:43:00.013+08:00

I mentioned in one of my earlier entry that I would do a cord blood banking post once I've gathered enough information. Above is a packshot of Cowboy's cord blood collection kit and obviously, I've decided to bank it privately with Cord Life mainly because it is the only private cord blood bank in Southeast Asia to be AABB accredited (though I heard stemcord is in the process of getting accreditation) and it has friendly and professional sales consultant. Being AABB accredited means that the company has to meet some of the highest standards in the cord blood banking industry and this gives great assurance to me.

It took me and Daddy a few months to decide if we should fork out money to bank it privately, donate to Singapore Cord Blood Bank or to discard it and pray that no misfortune will befall, in view of our family tree's clean bill of health. We just couldn't make up our mind.

At one point, we were almost decided on donating it to SCBB because there were claims that a person's own cord blood might not be the best source of stem cells for the treatment of many genetic disorders like metabolic diseases and leukaemia. That means, on top of money spent (futilely) banking it privately, we need to spend another bomb buying suitable cells from SCBB for transplants. Now, that sounds silly and totally unwise. As SCBB is a national reserve, so once we've made a donation, my bb's stem cells will belong to SCBB and available for public access, which means it might not be available to us in times of need! Urgh! This is a caught between tough situation.

My gynae recommended that if we are financially able, we really should consider banking it privately as there could be wider uses of stem cells for treatment of more diseases in the future once there are breakthrough in researches.

We procastinated till an advertisement in ST by cordlife came out, offering a HP mini laptop (SP. S$599) upon sign up. Of course, there were strings attached so after much haggling with the sales consultant, we committed a 10-year plan for $3100 (excl GST) using CDA account. It was a $650 direct discount.

We felt relieved and a load off our mind after this decision is made. Like many others, there is always a doubtful side of us on the uncertainty of what could happen in the future hence, to keep our mind at ease, we felt we should embark on this biological assurance least we regret in the future.

Visit to Singapore Flyer

2009-05-23T23:06:00.004+08:00

It has been a while since we ventured into town with Rynae, so on this wonderful Saturday, our family decided to keep cool in the shopping centres in the bay area. GSS has kicked in but we haven't a shopping list in mind. Daddy suggested visiting Marina Barrage but the walking distance is unimaginable! So, we changed plan to visit the Singapore Flyer instead. Well, not to take a ride but to enjoy the breeze and scenery. It was rather relaxing and our gal loves strolling on the rocks and throwing leaves into the water.

Tennis Session

2009-05-18T09:00:00.007+08:00

World no. 1 toddler tennis player (with some kungfu skills)

Mummy saw a set of toy tennis rackets that came with a rubber ball in Kiddy Palace and grabbed it at a 15% discount. From now onwards, besides bicycle riding in the evening, Rynae can also sweat it out in a game of tennis!

Vesak Day Holiday

2009-05-11T23:30:00.005+08:00

In lieu of the Saturday Vesak Day PH, school was closed on Monday - a jolly good weekday for an outing to the zoo. It was my first attempt in bringing Rynae to the zoo by myself and I told her to give me her greatest cooperation. And she did! She was well-behaved and I was particularly proud of her when she patiently waited alone for my return when I queued up to buy food at KFC.

We caught the (boring) Elephants of Asia show at 11.30am and thereafter, I forked out $5 for a basket of bananas and carrots for our friend to feed the animals. We took 2 rounds of free ride on the tram before bidding farewell. We truly enjoyed each other's company today.

Pail Walkers

2009-05-09T09:07:00.020+08:00

I came across a website (http://www.kydzedu.com/) sometime ago that claims to be a provider of high quality educational toys and learning resources to schools, preschools and learning facilities throughout Singapore. After looking through their catalogue, I do find some items interesting and therefore dropped them an email to find out about their pricing. Their response and customer service attitude was excellent and that gave me a positive impression of them.

As I hardly trust online product shots, I decided to make a trip to their outlet.The shop was choked with merchandises and there was hardly any walking space. Spotting me looking around aimlessly, the pronto boss came forth to offer help and showed me what I wanted. Thank god I came because some of these items looked so far-fetched from the pictures I saw online!

I shortlisted some montessori and some fun time toys, amongst them, a pail walker which I've been wanting to make/get for Rynae. I had this instinct that she'll like it and she really did! Seeing her playing with this walker brings back memory of my childhood cus I used to play with DIY condensed milk tin walkers when I was young too! What a nostalgia...

Free Swenson Ice-cream!

2009-04-25T23:30:00.004+08:00

Remember the FREE Swensen's Kids' Club membership I applied for about a month ago? We received a letter addressed to Rynae a few days ago and it was her very own membership card! Mummy was still skeptical about the free ice-cream and decided to try redeem one for month of April. Without any questions asked and with much politeness, I was ushered to the counter inside the restaurant to choose my ice-cream flavour. I handed the treat to Rynae who happily start feasting on spot. So from now on, we'll pop into Swensen's for our free dessert every month! That's too good to be true!

Helpful Decorator

2009-04-21T23:40:00.009+08:00

Rynae likes to doodle especially when she feels bored so Mummy makes sure she has ample stationaries that any inspired artist will have. There're crayons, colour pencils, magic pens, sketch books, note books and blank papers on her writing table, waiting for her pampering. Sometimes, she'll draw abstracts, sometimes she draw things as close as real life (well, almost!). I let her loose with regards to the things she wanna make or draw so as not to restrict creativity and emotional expression.

However, she wasn't satisfied keeping her work binded in books or chucked away as loose sheets of papers. She wanted to exhibit them! Her excuse? To help me decorate the house. Yeah, thanks for the much-needed decoration. My living room now looks like a low-budgeted child care centre. I wonder if things are the same in every family with little tods.

Below are some art pieces taken from her personal exhibition. Bidding starts from S$50 each. All keepings will go towards Rynae Bong's educational fund.

Beat The Heat

2009-04-19T23:18:00.005+08:00

What's up with the weather these few days? The heat is unbearable! Mummy had wanted to bring Rynae out for a weekend shopping spree but the heat was such a deterrent. We dilly-dallied till half a day was gone before deciding to bring our gal for a dip in the pool instead. Excellent choice to beat the heat.

29 Weeks Antenatal Check-Up

2009-04-11T17:57:00.010+08:00

In a twinkle of an eye, Cowboy is now 29 weeks weighing in at 1.35kg. I haven't a nice ultrasound scan of him to share because he was in the downward position, facing my spine. I did however, see a 3D picture of him during last month's antenatal check up. The chap was happily sucking his fist then! I regretted not asking my gynae to print out that picture because I reckon I'll get a good 3D shot of him from now onwards.

So far, we've brought Rynae to every antenatal check-up to keep her involved in the waiting process and also kept aware of her akan datang new sibling. I try to pre-empt her where matters of his arrival is concerned. She's well aware that didi's coming out in June and I would be giving birth in a hospital and that I would not be able to step out of the house during my confinement, which means I cannot bring her to school then. Goodness gracious me. It was a good intention gone bad. She became hysterical when she heard that I cannot bring her to school! For some unknowing reason, she has been fearful of speaking up to her teacher that she doesn't need the school toilet as she has gone to the toilet at home. In order to make her attend school, I made a pact with her that I will help her to tell her teacher EVERYTIME. Even till today, she never forgets to remind me (like a broken record) to tell her teacher.

Hence, when I told her I couldn't do this for 1 whole month, her tiny world seem to come crushing down and she became insecure, disturbed and depressed. She begged not to be sent to school during my confinement! It occured to me that it would be the school holidays then so as a matter-of-fact, I told her she really doesn't need to attend school then! It took me a few days to repair the mayhem. My! I should have been more tactful... and less truthful. After that episode, I made an effort not to highlight the negativity and disturbance of our lives after Cowboy's arrival. Instead, we joked about letting him wear her passed-down dresses, playing with her used toys and sleeping in her yesteryears' baby cot.

I am glad to know that she loves her baby brother afterall...

Good Friday @ Zoo

2009-04-10T23:02:00.008+08:00

It is Good Friday today - a public holiday. How should we spend it? We decided at the eleventh hour to visit the Singapore Zoo. Somehow expected, there was a hugh holiday crowd at the zoo entrance. We're in for the big squeeze! This is our 3rd visit this year and zoo's getting a little bored for Dad and Mum. The only and forever excited person is... Rynae.

We took a different route to visit the kangaroos in Australian Outback. Coincidentally and unknowingly, we ran into their kangaroo feeding time. Our friend requested to feed the pouched animals so Mummy paid $5 for a cup of animal feed. The zookeeper showed us the correct way to feed them - pour the feed onto our palms for the animals to pick up. We did as told and poured some onto Rynae's tiny palm. But god knows what.. the kangaroos were salivating all over her hand when they ate! Mum knew trouble's brewing because Rynae hates getting her hands dirty! Next moment I knew, I heard her screaming and calling it quit. Daddy had to come in and finish up the job.

A usual pitstop in the zoo is the Kidzworld but remember Rynae's cousin's fall there? It cuts such a deep impression in her that she refused to step into the pool. We allowed her to ride the carousel instead. Weather that day was unbearably hot so we made an exit soon after lunch.

Painting Easter Eggs

2009-04-09T15:24:00.008+08:00

Easter's round the corner and Mummy has emptied 6 egg shells for Rynae to paint. Honestly, I've been too lazy to do much paintings with her recently thus my gal was exceptionally excited when I proposed egg painting activity to her. I participated as I wanna try decorating one myself but while I'm waiting for my white base coat to dry, Rynae grabbed it and kindly offered to help me finish it up. I couldn't stop her in time and my egg was smeared with thick, green paints. Urgh... thanks men...

Our precious Easter Eggs. Looks nice from afar, not close.

Want me to paint your face?

I'm done with the eggs. Next are my hands!

Speed Rider

2009-04-07T22:50:00.021+08:00

Daddy came home with yet another surprise today - a bike for Rynae! He's been contemplating about getting a bike for various safety reasons but he has finally made a decision! Our friend was over the top and wanted to test drive the moment she saw it.

"Mummy, you see, I can stand up and paddle!"

"Mummy, is xx around? I wanna show him my new bike!"

"Can you see, I know how to use the brake!"

Having a bicycle at this age somehow boosts kids' ego and make them feel BIG on achievement... that they've grown up and am no longer paddling kiddy tricycle.

With her new mode of transport, Rynae generously volunteered to give her tricycle to her baby brother...

My New Camera

2009-04-06T23:43:00.009+08:00

Mummy got a wonderful surprise from Daddy yesterday when he came home with a gift - a brand new Panasonic DMC-FS6! It has been months since Mummy's digicam died on her and it felt so handicapped without a camera of my own! I didn't want Daddy to spend a bomb and neither do I want a super complicated, multi-functioned camera, so this one suits me just fine. Hurray!

I harassed (who else?) Rynae to be my model while I try to get myself familiarised with my new found toy. Tell ya... she wasn't the least pleased! *Grinning*

Uniqlo's Opening in 8 days' time!

2009-04-01T22:48:00.018+08:00

I have this habit to open a few tabs while waiting for my web pages to load. This evening, I decided to google for Uniqlo just to browse through their catalogue but I got a pleasant surprise. Uniqlo is opening its first Singapore and Southeast Asia store in Tampines on 9th April! It's just 8 days' away! Second store here is due to open soon in Ion Orchard!

I've never stepped into a Uniqlo boutique but this brand is so familiar to me. Uncle Leslie has given Rynae some clothes from Uniqlo Hong Kong before and when Aunt Caryn was in Japan last year, she has also bought some Uniqlo stuffs for me! The product catalogue in the Singapore website was limited. There weren't even any childrens' clothes! Anyway, it's ok. I'll try to find some time before I bomb to pay the new shopping centre a visit.

Swensen's Kids' Club

2009-03-27T15:08:00.017+08:00

I received an email on a promotion that Swensens is running and was doubtful about its authenticity. Sign up before 31 March and upon approval, she/he can redeem free ice cream sundae every month till she/he reaches 12 yrs old! Hmm.. sounds too good to be true.

I checked out their corporate website and it stated that an applicant needs to send in the form together with receipts totalling not less than S$80. Not FREE as stated in the email I've received!

The last thing I want is to fall prey to such hoax so I sent an email to ABR Holdings Pte Ltd to verify. It took them 1 working day to get back to me with a reply. And yes! The application is free!

Should I apply? Most probably yes!

March Holiday Journal

2009-03-22T22:41:00.033+08:00

Before the school holiday, I've thought of a list of things and places to go with her... like the zoo, the swimming pool, Singapore Discovery Centre etc. While still mobile and hands-free, I'd like to spend as much personal time with her as possible. But alas! Rynae went down with a persistent cough and running nose that last the whole school holiday! The weather for that week was also temperamental with unbearable sunshine one moment and rainfall the next. Daddy took 2 days' leave and while on medication, we brought our gal out for retail therapy, visiting malls like Suntec City, AMK Hub and Vivo City.

Splashing good time at Vivo City

Fruitless Eye Check Up

2009-03-18T17:44:00.019+08:00

I noticed that my gal likes to frown her eyes when she watches television thus I've long suspected that she could be short-sighted. Well, mum is, so there could be a possibility she could be inherited with imperfect eye-sight. Guilty enough, I've been procrastinating the eye check-up for her because of pure laziness. Finally, in conjuction with the school holidays, I brought her to the polyclinic today for her 4 year-old assessment and an eye check.

After a short 'ice-breaking' session, Rynae was asked to sit down in a children's chair where she needed to put on an eye mask to cover one of her eyes. Her relaxed mood took a 360 degree twist and she showed embarassment and discomfort with it. Though I had pre-empt her that she would need to speak up when doctor asked her what she could and could not see, our friend refused to cooperate. No cajoling could make her wear back the eye mask so mum tried holding it and even using my own hands to cover her eyes. She didn't budge. Her excuse was she couldn't see the numbers with one eye! Duh...!

The nurse was a wonderfully patient and understanding woman and she suggested that I come back in 3 months' time. But what if Rynae still refuses to cooperate then? Does that mean I've gota keep coming back? The 2-hour wait in the polyclinic today was already grueling and antagonising and I don't think I want a taste of it again. Furthurmore, they do not check for astigmatism. Hence, I consider the option of going to KK Hospital or TMC.

So long... polyclinic...

Creative Puppet Making

2009-03-14T22:45:00.015+08:00

Raffles City SC is currently running a PUPPETrazi workshop organised by Act 3 International where they encourage all ages to come forth to make their own puppets from recycleable materials. Mummy has no planned intention to participate but because we were 'stranded' in the venue (Daddy's at IT show), I had to find something to kill time! When asked what she wanna create, Rynae was fickle-minded. At first she suggested a sunflower, thereafter changed mind to guitar and finally decided on maracas. I ended up participating too. I made a guitar from a shoe box, bamboos and nylon strings. Our friend changed mind last minute (again) and her final product was a sunflower in a vase made from Yakult bottle, stuffed with styrofoams.

Well, did anybody realise that this is a workshop to make PUPPETS? I didn't until I write this post! I thought we were required to make toys! Guitar and vase aren't puppets at all thus we had completely digressed from the topic! Gosh... what a blunder.

Combating Diarrhea

2009-03-11T11:28:00.006+08:00

We had a panic attack last Wednesday night when Rynae suddenly fell feverish. Besides not being able to finish her dinner, she had no sickness symptom prior. Must have been caused by the eccentric weather. I went on graveyard shift that night to check on her temperature constantly. We were hoping it would go away in a couple of days but instead, it worsened to include diarrhea the next day. After eating Doctor's medicine, she still has the runs. 6 to 8 times in a day. It was so serious that she'll wake you up in the middle of the night to tell you she's squirting that very minute. Cannot wait!

Milk was cut off and I put her on Vitasoy for 2 days. I started her on milk when her diarrhea seemed to improve but it aggravated her condition. 3rd visit to Doctor and she advised to stop milk for 2 weeks else could run the risk of causing her to suffer from lactose intolerance. Which means, she cannot consume milk or milk products with lactose (milk sugar) in future! This sounds serious. Daddy and Mummy sought desperately for unchilled, nutritious soya milk alternative that would last at least a fortnight. Vitasoy is not a long term solution as it's packed with loads of sugar.

There weren't many options and we bought Dumex Step 2 Soy Special Follow-up Formula. It was a gamble. We didn't know how it tastes like and if Rynae will take to it well. Our fears were met when Rynae refused to drink it. No wonder it was stated 'for babies above 6 months' on the packaging because only babies with immature taste buds would drink this yucky beverage. It has not the slightest taste of sweetness and has raw, beany smell. Even adding Ribena cordial could not enhance its flavour. There goes our $26.55!

Daddy went back to supermarket shelves and came back with Unisoy 100% organic soy milk powder in convenient individual packs. At least it tastes much better than the previous. Mummy added a little Ribena cordial during the preparation. Thank god Rynae accepted it. What a relieve...

Visit to BabyCare Festival 2009

2009-02-28T00:03:00.008+08:00

In case you're not aware, Expo is buzzing with events this weekend! Natas and BabyCare Festival are both being organised in the same time frame and the expected crowd is gonna be horrific! I don't wanna be stampeded so I choose to go on a Friday. The line up of participating merchants and starbuys at this year's BCF was attractive and now that I am preggy, there's an even valid reason for me to check out promotional bb products and services! Praise the exhibitors for organising BCF in Hall 6B because I do not have to cut through crowds along the long and squeezy hallway.

Big brands like Avent, J&J, Cordlife and OCBC had their prominent brand presence in the hall. There were genuine great buys everywhere! Maternity bottoms on sale from $25 onwards, toys at more than 50% discount and baby skincare products at special prices! I had to exercise monetary self-control many a times. This event is also an opportunity for merchants to collect database sales lead hence there were many free samples/gifts to be collected, on condition. Do a survey with NTUC and you get a bib. Give your feedback on healthcare to Parkway Health and you get a bladder weekness slim pad plus a pair of mitten. I completed several of such 'non obligation' forms and got away with a bagful of freebies. I know that I would be bombarded with phone calls and newsletters but if these sales people are not aggressive, I'm fine with the information they provide.

I sat down for a lengthy consultaion with Cordlife too - my main reason for being there actually. I gained some insights but I did not sign up with them on impulse. I needed to do the necessary research so that I know I have made a good choice. With the knowledge on cordblood banking, I would then be a good adviser to many people and I bet you will trust my advice then! Stay tuned if you're interested. Once I've got enough information, I'll do a post on 'cord blood banking'.

Sushi Doh

2009-02-23T11:41:00.014+08:00

I thought it was a sushi masa masa set at first sight but after flipping over to see the pictures on the reverse packaging, I realised that it was actually a sushi doh making kit! Interesting!

It was so coincidental. We just had a meal of Sakae Sushi the night before and these delicacies are still fresh in Rynae's mind. I grabbed it as it was just $5 (U.P. $18.90). Our friend was elated when I presented her with the gift. She chuckled with familiarity when she made the sushis.

Baby Cow

2009-02-16T00:04:00.012+08:00

I've a piece of good news to break herein. I'm knocked up again! This time, I was told I am gonna expect a boy. Let me call him cowboy for now. I'm into my second trimester and am so glad my bloated-ness, nausea and my headache are all gone. In fact, I'm now eating like there's no tommorrow! Sis Rynae is conscious of the arrival of her little bb brother and is looking forward to the day Mum bombs.

Because of this little, helpless life that is dependant on me for survival, I'm on weekly dose of cordyseps and am also watching what I eat now. For donkey years, I've never felt being such a health freak!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T21:02:00.008+08:00

Valentine's Day this year falls on a Saturday but it's another ordinary family day for us. Hence, Daddy and Mummy's not having any special line-ups for today. We spent a wonderful afternoon at the extended Jurong Point SC and Daddy received a free Cornetto ice-cream cone from Walls as a prelude for its 'Show your love' campaign. BUT THEN, dinner that evening was mouth-dropping and so must-blog! Daddy cooked noodles for us! It was Rynae's first taste of food cooked by him for the past 4 years! He's no cook hence getting a bowl of home-cooked noodle from him is the best one can expect. I gotta record it somewhere, I gotta take pictures and I've gotta tell the whole world - Our Daddy made our Valentine's Day so romantic!

My Gardening Update

2009-02-12T15:12:00.001+08:00

Here's an update on my gardening project. Many weeks back, I planted some black beans, some green beans and a potato. I'm so proud to tell you today that they've sprouted! Though not all the beans survived, I'm already glad that at least 1 of each type managed to push itself up the soil! What a wonderful boost after many failed attempts. Both Rynae and I are looking forward to the day when we can harvest our own beans.

Teaching Chinese

2009-02-12T14:58:00.016+08:00

Rynae has a strong interest for English language. She articulates well in English, understands English and is a competent reader albeit her young age. On the contrary, when it comes to Chinese language, she showed not the slightest interest, even when I offered to read her Chinese story books. The set of Chinese words flash cards I bought her were left idle. I hear alarm.

When she was small, I did some labelings like 'door', 'chair', 'fan' etc, around the house in a bid to help her to recognise the words. I removed all these during spring cleaning as she already knew how to read them. It seems that I have to use the same method, in Chinese this time, to help her recognise some simple household words. Below are some of the cards I DIY-ed. It doesn't take much time to print and laminitate though. To make sure she pays attention to the words, I asked her to repeat after me, thereafter paste each onto the respective items.

Adding on, I also made her a set of Chinese Numerical Dominoes. Remember I preach Learn Thru' Play? I hope this does her good. Afterall, she responded well to the Time, Dora and Dots Dominoes I made for her so this shouldn't go too wrong. And boy! Was I happy when she suggested the card game herself. If this method goes well, I'll make her more Chinese Dominoes!

Moo-ving into the New Year

2009-02-01T00:13:00.006+08:00

Every year without fail, we'll be back to Indonesia for CNY and this year's no exception. We had a lengthy 1 week stay there gorging on new year goodies, otah and karopok. I think I should have easily gained 4 kg on this eating spree.

If you agree, CNY this year is exceptionally dry and hot. There was hardly any rain and because of the dry spell, Indo's house's rain water reserve was used up and the whole family has to use spring water (bought from the government) from big barrels. It was SO SO SO... inconvenient and troublesome not having water running from taps. I count my blessings not having to worry about the shortage of water, food or electricity in Singapore.

My girl celebrated her English birthday on Lunar NY Day 4 in the pleasant company of grandparents, many cousins, uncle and aunts. She collected a lot of additional ang baos too!

Catching guppies for good luck. 'Cos... 'Nian Nian You Yu'!

Swallows are abundant in Indonesia. Some Indonesian Chinese striked it rich by just selling bird's nest. During yesteryears good times, a kg can fetch S$2000! My god. If you convert to rupiah, this earning can last them a few months! Because it is so lucrative, Yue Niang in Little Nyonya was trading in birds nest too! I borrowed from grandma some freshly picked, unprocessed bird's nest and snapped some pictures for fun sake. Not many people has the fortune to see raw bird's nest hor.

Self-made Ang Bao

2009-01-22T14:59:00.006+08:00

For fun sake, Mummy thought of showing Rynae how to DIY ang baos. Construction work was divided into 2 parts - folding of the origami cows and the ang baos. I folded the cows while our friend helped to draw in the eyes and the spots on their body and well, that's her contribution thus far. Separately, I folded cows from white paper and asked her to decorate it in whatever way she likes but she just filled in the 'necessaries'. No matter how I cooed her on, except asking me why the cows didn't have tails, she just refused to add anymore stokes or drawings on them and argued that this is how cows actually are. Period. Chey! No creativity. After completion, I gave out these 2 ang baos with money to her younger cousins.

I'm four!

2009-01-15T16:09:00.001+08:00

Mummy cooked rice vermicelli for Rynae today because today is her chinese birthday! She's 6 years old according to Chinese calendar mind you! Haha. I did not make a big hoo-hah over this special day and merely told her that it was her Chinese birthday and Daddy's gonna buy her a birthday cake tonight. She acknowledged and went on with her daily activities. I was actually expecting her to ask for birthday presents but she didn't! She's happy enough with a birthday cake. I attribute that to how we brought her up - never expect more than what you're given.

She's really excited and proud to be 4 years old now. If you were to challenge her with a task and claim that she cannot handle it, she will emphasise that she's 4 years old already! Not a baby anymore. My little angel has grown up another year...

Sentosa

2009-01-02T22:53:00.006+08:00

Daddy took leave today to enjoy a long weekend holiday. Initially we only wanted to shop around for CNY clothes but an impromptu request from Rynae made us ended up in Sentosa. She said she wanna go Sentosa to play sand and as we're done with our shopping in Vivo, we gladly abide. Quick-witted Daddy bought a $2 sand kit from Daiso and within minutes, we transcend onto another island. Rynae had almost an hour jolly time on the beach before the gloomy clouds began to let up. We took shelter from the sun in a coffeeshop and Mummy ate a $8 plate of sambal tapioca leaves. Slurp!

Happy New Year in Admiralty Park

2009-01-01T22:45:00.012+08:00

Everything seems normal when we woke up today. But... it shouldn't be so! Today is a new start to year 2009 and we should feel energetic, forward-looking and zestful! To avoid the public holiday crowd, we hid home whole afternoon until Daddy suggested visiting the nearby Admiralty Park that was officially opened by Mr Khaw Boon Wan last year. The park was serene and crowd-free. Only a few joggers and strolling families.

There was a nature trail but I wasn't too interested in trekking in it on fear of mosquito bites. However, Rynae was encouraging and said she would help me out of the forest. I reckon she wants to be as adventurous as Dora so I went ahead with the idea. Thank god I came out bite-free!

There was a Sakura restaurant located at the West entrance of the park. We paraded one round and decided not to dine in it because of the holiday surchange. Another time perhaps. I'm sure I'll make it here to makan one day.

New Year Resolution

2008-12-31T15:01:00.034+08:00

Gosh! Year 2008 is coming to an end! What meaningful and worthy achivements have I clocked this year? Could I even remember how I have spent the 365 days? Not exactly.

Every year around this time, everyone will be talking about setting new year resolution(s). I do not have the habit so. I mean not that I do not have any ambition or goals but most of my resolutions are well... on-going like... slimming down and taking better care of myself and my family. I do however, set short term goals where I try to complete within a specific time period. Anything that is dragged for too long, I either forget or loose interest.

I find myself having difficultly keeping up with my postings. Sometimes, I lagged so far behind that I cut-out some events which I wanna post initially. Yes! I am terrible at time management and this has been a teetering problem.

Here's a 'wishlist' that I have drafted. I hope to achieve most. God bless me.

1) (What else?) Have better time management

2) Spring clean my house

3) Inculcate the love of Chinese in Rynae (Very difficult task but I'll try)

4) Have a drastic new hairdo

5) Learn to cook more variety of dishes

Yeah... That's all for now. I'll update as and when I have inspiration. Happy New Year to all!

Metro and Popular Sale

2008-12-29T20:35:00.006+08:00

Ah ha! It's another shopping spree for me. After getting wind of Metro and Popular's Back to School Sale at Singapore Expo, I made an arrangement to drop by in hope of catching some good deals. Thank god the crowd for both events was manageable and I need not have to queue up for entry.

Honestly, I do not have much expectation of such sales as I know that it is a dumping ground for companies who wish to get rid of off-season and less popular items. Hence, each trip was like a lucky dip for me.

As the theme implies, Popular's merchandises were mainly stationaries, bags and assesment books in preparation for the new school semester. I tried to control my impulse buys and after much contemplation, I grabbed some thin, saddle-stitched English story books, writing materials and Chinese story books for Rynae. Some were sold at an unbeliveable price of $1!

Boxing Day

2008-12-26T20:26:00.007+08:00

Today is Boxing Day. Together with Rynae's Aunt and cousins, we planned for a fun day out at the Singapore Zoo. After watching the Safari Splash show, our gang proceeded to the main attraction - The Rainforest Kidzworld for another good splash. It was supposed to be a happy outing but something disastrious happened - Rynae's cousin slipped, fell and lost 1 front adult tooth. Ouch! With a foul mood, they headed home right after the incident, while we stayed on.

We promised Rynae we would do something different for each zoo trip so this time, we allowed her to ride the carousel for $4 and took free rides on the tram (weekday member privilege). The white tigers are back to their enclosure after many weeks of 'consultation'. However, we noticed that there are more cautionary signages like an emergency number and warnings mounted on the barricades now. Good initiative. But maybe the management should consider the possibility of attempted suicide in the crocodile pond near the main entrance too....

Celebrating Dong Zhi

2008-12-21T15:03:00.003+08:00

We don't particularly celebrate Dong Zhi but as it falls on Sunday this year, all of us congregate at Grandma's place for a scrumptious meal of duck, chicken, pork, noodle, curry and Tang Yuan. Mummy wanna let Rynae experience the process of making this traditional dish so I fetched her to grandma's place early in the morning (well, you can see that she's still clad in her pyjamas in the pix). Expectedly... she was more of a hindrance than a help. Most of her Tang Yuan are not yuan and grandma had to re-knead them... She got the 'worst helper of the year' award.

Sweet Orchard Xmas Lighting

2008-12-20T23:50:00.022+08:00

Rynae has seen much of daytime Orchard but it's her first visit to a Christmasy and shimmering night Orchard. She was so full of awe when she saw the lollies and sweets hanging down the trees and from the lamp posts. The shopping belt has been coated with much sweetness that it has attracted so many 'ants', especially along Orchard Walkway (fronting Wisma Atria), Paragon and Tangs Building. The crowd was worrisome and photography sessions were a headache.

We travelled on foot from Plaza Sing, where The Christmas Village is, and all the way down to Ngee Ann City. Lightings and performances were concentrated in these 2 areas as the rest of Orchard is still undergoing a major facelift. Our little friend requested for an ice-cream break and she had her wish fulfilled. We sat her on a parapet with a good spot along Orchard Walkway. Daddy and Mummy had our breaks then too. From our privileged spot, we can see the stretch bursting with good news of Christmas in song, dance and drama. Buskers performed for their tips too.

Orchard is indeed the right place to go if you wanna soak in the spirit of Christmas.

Back to Kampong Days

2008-12-11T14:04:00.011+08:00

Our friend, chilling out on Ah Gong's bridge that is leading out to the sea.

It was a torturous 1 week 'cold turkey' break from technology. There were no internet access, no phone calls and no messaging. Even watching television programmes was a luxury as there were periods when there weren't any electricity supply. Mummy kinda felt being cut off from the rest of the world. So where on earth have I landed? A rural island in Indonesia.

Our Bong family had gone back to Indo during this school holiday to attend Rynae's cousin wedding as well as to visit family members. Rynae loves going back to Ah Gong's house as she gets to pillion on motorbikes, eat coconuts, play with sand, throw stones into the sea and roam about freely on the vast, unconfined home compound. Actually, it felt good loosing ourselves into laid-back kampong lives to relax and recharge, once in a while. There're no stress, no heavy traffic and no human crowd. Then again, there were a lot of mosquitoes though...

Christmas Tree Decoration

2008-12-01T16:38:00.018+08:00

Have you heard of the carol that rumoured Santa Claus is not coming to town this year? It is true that this and the next few years are going to be tough hence we've gota watch where we throw our moolah! Rynae is now at an age where she understands meaning of festivals and celebrations so I really wanna create a joyful christmasy mood for her this year by decorating our house with Christmas ornaments. I aimed to get a Christmas tree, a not too expensive one.

I came across an advertisement that Carrefour is selling their Christmas tree for only $9.90. This is unbelievable! Thankfully it is not a sales gimmick. Their 150cm tree is genuinely being sold for less than 10 bucks! Whee! I managed to get a decent-looking lighted Christmas tree for less than $25! Here's my breakdown:

Christmas Tree: $9.90

100 Xmas Lights: $7.90

Xmas Balls: $3.90

Gold Garlands: ($0.90 x 2) $1.80

Other Decorations: DIY

Tree Topper: Free

Gold Drap: Free

Total: $23.50

It felt good owning a pretty Christmas tree without the guilt of being a spendthrift. Rynae loves the Christmas tree and has been boasting about it to her cousins!

A bottie tree deco I made with Japanese soft clay.

Rynae's masterpiece. A leaf. You can tell ya? Hee..

Zoo Trip

2008-11-30T20:03:00.024+08:00

Everyone's talking about the new Rainforest Kidzworld in Singapore Zoo. Well, now that the attraction is finally completed, we have a valid reason to renew our Friends of the Zoo membership which entitles us to unlimited visits to the zoo for a year. We got it free last year but this year, we had to fork out $180 (used to be $150) for it. Ouch! We felt the pinch.

Oistein Kristiansen was at the Zoo yesterday for an hour-long interactive workshop but we couldn't make it down because of Rynae's Orientation class. Maybe we'll catch him, Dora, Diego or Spongebob Sqaurepants some other days. We went for a new Rainforest Fights Back animal show at 10.30am but it was like watching a lengthy drama. The script was long with breaks of expected animals sneaking out for a short presentation. If you're a frequent visitor of the 3 parks under Wildlife Reserves, you would agree with me that the shows are similar. I bet it must be directed by the same director.

With the new Rainforest Kidzworld, animals are no longer the purpose and highlight of a zoo visit. In fact, the motive of ours (and many others) is to check out the widely publicised attraction! So, right after the show, we took a short cut, neglected the animals and headed straight for it. It's a kids' heaven alright! The wet playground has not only expanded so many times its orginal but its features are also boosted! Our friend spent a good 1 hour in the wet land and had it not been for the drizzle, she would not have left it.

The bulk of our time was thrown into the Kidzworld. It was a self-sustaining attraction on its own. Rynae ate her lunch, played in the playground, rode a pony, stole the pony's hay to feed the goats and abused the bunnies. She was so reluctant to move on but we abducted her to the new fragile forest (I suppose it is new 'cos I haven't been to it). I applaud the gardeners for the effort they took to revive the crops in the Tropical Crops Plantation. We really do see fruits this time!

Orientation for 2009

2008-11-29T14:41:00.005+08:00

Rynae's school organised an orientation for Pre-Nursery and Nursery 2009 classes this Saturday and though not compulsory, we brought her there just to catch up with some teachers and her classmates. After the MP's speech, children are allowed to play in the 5 activity corners that the teachers had came up with. There were books to read, toys to play and crafts to do. After she tried her hand at sewing (something similar to the sewing cards I made for her), the teacher in charge of the activity commented that Rynae has good fine motor skills and asked me to challenge her to more difficult tasks like making her do cross stitches, cutting the holes smaller and closer etc. Alrite.. points taken...

Botanic Garden Outing

2008-11-21T17:25:00.043+08:00

Daddy was off today. What better way to spend the day other than to go for a family outing? I've been dying to bring Rynae to Jacob Ballas Children's Garden that was opened about a year ago in the Singapore Botanic Gardens and my wish was finally fulfilled. We had wanted to reach the Children's Garden in the early morning but after factoring time for preparation, breakfast and transportation, we eventually reached 11-ish. I never like outdoor activities at noon because of the scorching sun but the weather that day was exceptionally kind to us. Most sun rays were blocked by the grey clouds and we were able to walk about without feeling much heat!

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden is a learning garden that encourages exploration and creativity and children may see, touch and smell plants to develop a sense of wonder and excitement about nature and the environment. Honestly, Rynae couldn't care much about the plants. Her focus was on the tree house playground and the waterplay area where she spent a considerable amount of time each. A short-coming I must say, is that there wasn't bathroom facility at all! Daddy had to collect a bottle of cold water from the water cooler to clean our friend. And you guessed it! She screamed and cursed when the water was poured down her body.

Exit to Cluny Road was at the other end of Botanic Gardens so we cut across from one end to the other, which requires 45 minutes of walk without rest. We took our time strolling across the gardens. Along the way, we fed the swans in the eco lake and the turtles in the swan lake. It was such a slow-paced, relaxing afternoon!

As much walking were on foot, we were all dead tired when we reached the exit. Who would have expected the Botanic Garden to be this huge! We couldn't squeeze anymore energy out for shopping so we decided to call it a day. Rynae's battery went flat and knocked out on the way home...

Daddy said that this is the $5 tree. What he meant is that this is the actual tree behind your $5 note! Believe it or not? You better!

Celery Porridge

2008-11-20T16:28:00.007+08:00

There were some celery and a piece of bean curd in the refrigerator so I decided to utilise it to cook a celery porridge for Rynae. It was such a nostalgia because it tastes exactly the same as what my Mum used to cook for us! There are still 10 over types of porridge recipes that she knows and I hope I could master all some day. These porridges are must-learns because they're so easy to cook, gentle on the stomach, tasty and economical!

Making Japanese Jelly

2008-11-18T16:32:00.004+08:00

So! School's out and trouble's in. What shall I keep the little monster entertained with for the rest of the holiday weeks? okto's holiday programmes are terrible hence I'd rather Rynae spends her time playing her toys or do other more meaningful activities. Today, Mummy decided to prepare Black Sesame jelly (before it expires) that was bought from Daiso. I involved Rynae in the preparation process but she contributed little. She did however, helped to serve the jelly (as though it was cooked by her). I had used Marigold HL milk and it tastes so rich with fragrance of the milk. Its texture was more akin to mousse cake than jelly or agar agar. Delicious!

Jurong IMM Again!

2008-11-09T09:30:00.007+08:00

The last time we went to Jurong IMM's children's outdoor playground and pool, Rynae fell sick the day after. We didn't know where to go this weekend and decided to bring her there again but this time allowing her to play only at 6pm. The management had upgraded the children's playground and made it more challenging by replacing half of the playground into climbing tunnels leading to a high platform that is connected to a slide and a descending rock climbing wall. My nerves frayed whenever Rynae went up to the platform. There is such a very high tendancy to fall if overcrowded with agog children! Our friend proceeded to the pool after the green light is given. As you're aware, she's awfully frightened of water getting onto her face so she stayed grounded in a safe corner of the pool. She was happy and contented playing with water that shoots out from the ground like geysers.

Sandwich Making

2008-11-06T16:51:00.006+08:00

Rynae's school requested for the children to bring 2 slices of bread to school today to make 'rainbow fish' sandwich. It was so coincident that the theme this term is the same book that I had read with Rynae! I was full of anticipation and was expecting to see a fish-shaped sandwich with interesting scales decoration but it turned out to be just normal tuna sandwich. 1/4 of the bread was missing and I suspected the teacher had abandoned the rainbow fish sandwich idea due to shortages of bread as some children forgot to bring theirs. Well, sharing is a good civic and moral education anyway.

Year 2008 school term will be over in a weeks' time. Time really flies. My gal has attended 1 year of pre-nursery! I shiver at the thought of the stress to help her excel academically as she moves up to kindergarten and thereafter forward to primary school life. I have no idea how we'll cope but I hope school life then will not be all about just chasing the As. I felt that a child needs to be nurtured wholesomely too, in terms of creativity, confidence, ability to talk, think and respond, self-esteem, setting a correct world-view and so much more.. Oh... It is so tough being a parent!

Star Cruise Trip

2008-10-31T17:24:00.030+08:00

Gosh! I have lost count of time and didn't realise that I've not updated my blog for such a long while! Our Bong family had just came back from a Star Cruise holiday thus let me share some pictures with you. The package was bought during August Natas Fair hence we should think it's a good deal - $970 for 3 pax for 2N. The day we set sail coincides with Deepavali so we boarded the ship with many Indians. So many that we thought we were in Little India for a second!

On a budget, we booked an inside stateroom (those cabins without windows meant for the poor lah!) which is just a cell for accomodation. But surprisingly, when we opened the cabin door, we saw a decent-sized room with ample walking space! We couldn't believe it and the first thing I did was to verify with Daddy if we were given the correct room key! A check on the floor plan revealed that there were only 2 such rooms on our floor! This is awesome!

After a buffet supper, we explored around the ship and.. well embarrassing enough, got lost. We couldn't find our way back to our cabin cuz there were 3 lifts in different wings and only 1 served our floor! The whole trip on board was relaxing but kinda boring. Actually, it was more of an eat-a-thon trip. There were 6 meals provided on board - breakfast, late breakfast, lunch, high tea, dinner and supper and we gorged so much that we felt so bloated with indigestion!

Mummy and Rynae went swimming in the children's pool once (only). The pool was miserably small with gushing, splashing and squirting water every left, right and centre. Our friend didn't like these water features a single bit as she doesn't like water in her face. She was rather turned off and complained that she only wants to swim in 'Singapore's swimming pool'. Besides swimming, there really weren't much free children's activities planned in the daily schedule. Most, if not all activites were pay-per-play planned by the child care centre onboard. We did attend 1 make-a-spider workshop that was conducted in a small room but it was totally disorganised and uninteresting. Rynae didn't even stay put for 5 min!

Does anyone I know ever been on Star Cruise and had an enjoyable, fulfilling and fun-packed trip? Maybe we should have disembarked at Port Klang and make a day trip to KL city. Anyway, it was a good life-on-board experience and a photo collection trip for us. Enjoy the photos!

Create Your Own

Box House

2008-10-22T14:41:00.013+08:00

It was an unexpected windfall. Ah Ma's washing machine broke down and Ah Gong bought a new one for her on the day of our visit! Mummy's been wanting to make a playhouse for Rynae for the longest time but couldn't find any clean, nice, big box. I'd never spend my money on Little Tykes or Brushh playhouse that are both expensive and bulky. What am I suppose to do with it after Rynae gets sick of it? I just want something for a moment of fun so I begged for the cardboard and brought it home, almost mistaken as a rag and bone man.

Rynae pestered for the house to be built so within minutes, I fulfilled her wish, transforming the box into a house with a door and 2 windows. It may not be as chic as commercially produced playhouses but she's contented. I felt that this provides a valuable lesson to the child about recycling, creativity and concept of saving. We sponge-bath the exterior of the house with poster colours the next day. Look! Does it look like a barrack? Haha. I wonder what's the shelf life of this dwelling before it hits the trash bin.

Rainbow (What The) Fish

2008-10-21T15:01:00.025+08:00

Whenever Mummy's web surfing, I'll try to read up on some parenting and eduational tips. From my 'research', I learned about an award winning book - Rainbow Fish which is about a beautiful fish who finds happiness when he learns to share. The book is best known for its morals about the value of being an individual. U know what? It is so popular that it is turned into a 26-episode animated television series, adapted into a musical production, has various sequels and available in software too! There were also tonnes of educational activites and craft ideas on the web to accompany this title! I have to have a read! Where else but to get it from NLB. Gaga.

Rynae loves the story and I also highlighted to her the undesirable result of selfishness and vanity on friendship and taught her about the virtue of sharing. We made paper plate Rainbow Fish too! She did one and I did one. Initially, she wanna give up after pasting a few scales, citing reason that she is tired (well, more to lazy actually) but I urged her on by telling her that the fish will feel cold if there aren't enough scales to keep it warm! She persisted and finally finish the fish decently. We enacted out the story with the fish after that.

Study Corner

2008-10-17T22:09:00.006+08:00

This is a study corner that I set up for Rynae. Just a simple corner beside my washing machine in the kitchen. With some magnets, this is the perfect spot where she kills time while clearing her bowel and bladder. This is also the most productive place where she learns to read days of the week, months of the year and the ability to read and constuct simple sentences. It goes to show that learning can take place anytime and anywhere as long as a child is interested and attentive. Mummy has learning traps everywhere! Wohoho..

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2008-10-17T15:52:00.017+08:00

I got to know from Rynae that the story of this term is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This is the second time that her school has read stories by this author. Gheez... his books must be very educational, I thought. So, I googled about him and the story. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is reported to have reached millions of children all over the world and has been translated into more than 47 languages and sold over 29 million copies! It is so popular that even Act 3 has adapted 3 of his stories into theatre plays! I was lucky to find a copy of said title in Times Bookshop and I had a read. Interesting. It teaches days of the week, life cycle of a butterfly and nutrition.

A caterpillar made from egg carton that my girl brought home today

Riding on the theme, I printed some story sequencing cards, butterfly colouring pages, borrowed a book on butterfly and rewatched Little Einsteins Our Huge Adventure. Butterflies overwhelming? Not really. These activites were spread over 1 week. The last I want is for Rynae to have butterflies in her stomach! Hee hee..

There is another interesting feature about this colourful insect that I want Rynae to learn and which none of the materials above taught about, is that butterfly wings are symmetrical, meaning that the colours on a wing are reflected onto the other, like in a mirror. She digested this information well and I'm so glad when she showed her understanding in the butterfly colouring pages that I printed.

Sex Education

2008-10-11T20:47:00.006+08:00

ST's Mind Your Body recently recommended a sex education book for ages 3 to 6 years old and I managed to loan a copy from NLB. Amazing You! is a guide to body awareness catered for preschoolers. It presents clear and age-appropriate information about reproduction, birth and the difference between girls' and boys' bodies without explicit and vulgar vocabulary or illustrations. However, there were some biological terms like labia, urethra and scrotum which perhaps the older children might understand, not for Rynae now though.

My girl wasn't too attracted to the contents and reviewed that she actually dislikes it! She was in full denial when I told her that her body will change as she grows and as she enters adolescence. Before I could finish the book, she already freak out and ran away!

Fridge Magnets

2008-10-06T16:40:00.010+08:00

Out of impulse, I bought a pack of clay while browsing in a bookstore one day. I really wanna make something durable out of it. But what? It took me several days to make up my mind. Ok set! Fridge magnets it shall be!

Rynae has never toyed with clay before and her first comments about the craft material was that it is heavy and cold. Excellent! Now she knows the difference in texture between home-made doh, commercial doh and japanese soft clay. Maybe I'll let her try plasticine next. The magnets are actually quite easy to make and here's how we did it:

Mould clays with a fruit-shape ice maker
Trim off the extra clays from the edges and leave to dry for a few days
Colour with acrylic paint and leave to dry
Glue magnets to the back of each fruit shape clay

Lastly, take lots of photos!

Rynae couldn't mould any decent looking fruit-shape clay and I did most of the job then. Good effort there though. Her contribution came when it was time to coat the clays. Being an impatient and non-meticulous person as she always is, she brushed each piece with 1 homogeneous colour and to her, her job is done as long as the clay pieces get a decent amount of paint on them. No thought of esthetics here. Of course Mummy has to do the touch up because there were white patches everywhere!

Besides being Rynae's first clay encounter, it is also Mummy's first attempt in using acrylic paint. I wanted to use this paint because it is fast drying and I need not have to give the clays another varnishing top coat. If you're aware, acrylic paints can be quite costly and this is also one of the reasons why my completion date was pushed back because I do not have the time for purchasing at Bras Basah's ArtFriend. I call myself lucky when I found a box of 6 acrylic colours in Daiso. S$2 only! With these colours, I can concoct more crafts to paint now. And I know what I'm gonna do next.

PEBBLES PAINTING!

cool...

Poster Girl

2008-10-06T16:24:00.009+08:00

Did you catch Rynae in the news recently? She's been talent spotted and is now a renowned poster girl! Her photos are everywhere!

Well, I'm just pulling your leg. I came across an interesting website that can digitally image faces onto pre-shot pictures. It's really fun! Wanna check it out too? Alrite... I'll share.

Go to Photofunia and try it out yourself. Go on. You'll find yourself ironically on a model's outfit, on Vogue's cover page and on Angelina Jolie's t-shirt!

Explorers In the East

2008-10-04T22:32:00.006+08:00

After sending Asher to his first Shichida Method enrichment class, San Yi and us drove to E!Hub at Downtown East. The entertainment centre has been opened for months but none of us has visited it! On approaching the venue, we were awed by its Cadbury branded Ferris Wheel near its main entrance. This place sure looks fun! We hurried in to check out its ticket price. Our jaws dropped when we heard its charges. $6.50 for 4 min ride! That means it costs $1.625 per min. God! Even more expensive than Singapore Flyer which costs only $0.983 per min! I'd rather splurge the money on the observation wheel which offers more aerial and breathtaking views. I wanted to send Rynae to Explorer Kids but was also turned off by its steep ticket pricing. $22/child/entry/hour and each adult has to pay $1.50 to get in. I refuse to succumb to this extortion. We didn't stay long there as there simply wasn't much to entertain us. How could such a place sustain if there isn't interest and human crowd? I'll bet with my last dollar that the tenants' accounts will be seeing red soon.

We thought of settling dinner at the nearby Fisherman's Village. As it was still early, we allowed Rynae to play in the sandy children's playground and also had a short walk on the beach. Our growling stomach hurried us to fill it up hence we began our search for the Fisherman's Village, which all of us haven't gone for years. After half an hour of futile search, we still couldn't locate it. Six sense told us that it has been demolished. Indeed it is! We finally found a location map which has the spot 'Fisherman's Village' blanco off. When did this happen and where was the publicity? None of us had a clue. All of us were famished then and we make do with a seaside restuarant, Summer Breeze. Their food's not too bad. The whole day out has tired Rynae, who fell asleep in the car... all the way to the next morning, without a bath. *Yucks*

Children Day Celebration

2008-10-01T21:32:00.010+08:00

Children's Day this year is eventful. It not only coincides with Hari Raya, it is also the day to burn bigger holes in our pockets as SBS increased their fares by 4 cts, SPH increased their prices for some of its newspaper and electricity tariffs increased by 22%. Yes! All on 1st October! What fortuitous timing huh!

To 'celebrate' this all-in-one day, we brought our star-of-the-day to Vivo City for some outdoor fun at the children's playground and pool at the sky garden. The weather was wonderful! It was windy and cloudy but the sky's not the least gloomy.

Next pit stop was the Merlion. It was the first time Rynae got introduced to this national icon and from then on, she never stop talking about it. Our friend even spat the water forcefully when she brushed her teeth, mimicking the Merlion!

Children's Day in School

2008-09-30T09:24:00.008+08:00

Banzai! Rynae's school is having a Children's Day celebration today and kids are encouraged to wear party or ethnic clothes. Mummy borrowed a Yukata from Da Yi so as to dress Rynae up as a (counterfeit) Nihonjin. Isn't she cute? Our party-goer came back with 2 bags of goodies - 1 with lots of tidbits and the other with gifts. There were gifts from Teacher Meena, Teacher Dila, a cup from Vitagen, a book of stickers and a souvenir mug with tooth brush and towel from the school! What a happy, fruitful day.

Going Organic

2008-09-27T21:50:00.009+08:00

Recently, grandma's been supplying me with organic spinach bought from Yong Xu Organic Enterprise in Chong Pang market. I found out that this stall's actually pretty famous amongst north-landers! Several of the people I spoke to has or is still buying from this stall. Few days back, on my way to a hair salon, I passed by an organic shop in Yishun central. It is actually the main retail shop of the mentioned organic enterprise! Who would expect an organic shop in a neighbourhood? Of course I set my foot inside.

I looked around the shop particularly for suitable (and less dear) food and tidbits for Rynae. Many were expensive and I felt the pinch. Organic food, though safer and better for health, are also known for its cut throat prices. Unless one has deep pockets, one cannot afford to go full organic. There were 2 items that I went home with and I'm definitely going back to replenish. They're the brown rice cheese rings ($2) and the chocolate soymilk ($1.50) that tasted just like chocolate milk. Both were yummilicious and our friend love them!

In case you're interested, here's its addresses. No worries. I aren't gonna get paid commission for introducing you there.

Main:
Blk 921 Yishun Central 1 #01-257 S760921
6481 5508

Branch (close on Mon):
Blk 104 Yishun Ring Road #01-29 S760104
67574578

First Play Doh

2008-09-25T15:03:00.006+08:00

Our friend has been requesting me to buy Play-Doh for her for the longest time but I wasn't too keen to get her one. Honestly, I don't really like playing with Play-Doh as it has a pungent smell, can be messy and it also irks me to see the nice colours get mixed together. Not only that. The dohs get stuck in my nails and it's as uncomfortable as... as G-string in the butt-crack! All said, I did eventually get her one during recent Metro's 20% storewide sales. It wasn't so smelly as what I remembered it to be. Its texture was also much smoother and nicer to the touch now. The set came with 2 doh colours - blue and yellow. It was another educational activity for Rynae to learn colour mixing as she got green (accidentally) from mixing the 2 colours!

Looks like who?

2008-09-24T09:13:00.004+08:00

The most common thing that people comment about a child is his or her resemblance - looks more like mummy or more like daddy. I've hence heard countless remarks but have no consensus todate. Some said Rynae looks like daddy, some said like me and others said she has her own look. I came to know of MyHeritage Look-alike Meter that claims to use state-of-the-art face recognition technology to determine the resemblance of a child. Out of curiosity, I gave the 'test' a shot. Waiting for the result was like waiting for quick pick - kinda hopeful and anxious. The first outcome announced that she looks more like me by 22%! Unbelieving its technolody, I ran it twice. This time using a different set of pictures. Still, it claimed that she looks like me by 10%. Somehow true I agree because I do see some resemblance of me and her. She's lucky to inherit some of my beauty! Wahahaha...

Got Melamine?

2008-09-23T21:03:00.005+08:00

The dust hardly settled after appalling the world with its shoddy tyres and lead-contaminated toys and now China has got into another tainted milk scandal. Like many others, Mummy combed the fridge and cupboard, study all labels and threw away suspicious food products made from China that has milk as an ingredient. Not many luckily. Well, they might not be dairy products but I'm not taking any chances! Rynae loves Vitasoy and she'll have to live without it for a while... all thanks to Sanlu! God bless the sick children speedy recovery.

DIY Pencil Holder

2008-09-19T16:58:00.006+08:00

Using toilet rolls to make pencil holder is not a novelty and you could have done it in your younger days too. It is almost inevitable to produce one when your child starts owning stationeries. So, we make ours this afternoon - just a simple structure that serves its purpose of keeping her writing materials in place.

Starting on Tangram

2008-09-18T23:11:00.005+08:00

I went back to Kiddy Palace to grab a box of tangram (SP $4.90) after thinking about it for several days. I have no intention to purchase it at first because I reckon Rynae would be able to form many figures creatively at this age. Furthermore, the suitability of this game, as written on the box is for ages 5 and up!

After mooting about the usability of it, I decided to give the game rule a twist by copying some easy figures onto pieces of paper and ask Rynae to try to solve the puzzles with the tangrams instead. That'll bring the difficulty level down yet serving its brain drilling purpose. She requested for help to complete some parts of the figures but also did manage to fit some herself.