Cheeky fun

Sometimes being a mom is truckloads of fun...

The Hacking, Drilling and Hammering...

It is hard to have neighbourly feelings when your neighbours are undergoing renovations...and I mean this in the nicest possible way. So apparently the unit above ours have changed hands and the new owners have decided to under major renovations, judging from the hacking, drilling and hammering.

We are into our 3rd week, almost 4th and one does wonder what in heavens is going on upstairs.

The day starts peacefully enough. Minor bings and bangs start about 9:30am and this continues till about 11:30, at which time things tend to go silent. Chow time, I would assume.

About half past noon, the noise starts up again and tends to crescendo around the time when kiddo gets home. I am not kidding you - the major drilling and hammering seriously peaks about this time and it adds another dimension to our homework challenge.

Thankfully the rules of the compound dictate that renovations can only be done from Mondays to Fridays, 9 to 5:30pm. So yes, I wait in anticipation for 5:30pm to swing by just so I can place very polite calls to the management office asking them to get the builders to stop so that I can hear myself think again.

Now, if the builders were as adorable as Handy Manny, that will sway my sentiments a little...

An act of kindess

I was at a supermarket today and was bending over to grab a packet of Vitagen when the buttons on my top popped. Now, the top was not very tight to start off with, and it was one of those linen pieces that was held together with only 3 buttons and came fully apart at the back.

So as you can imagine, I was mortified and trying desperately to keep cool and hang on to whatever shred of dignity I had left, which was not much. I fumbled with the buttons on my back and was praying that the gentleman browsing the cheese section three feet away wouldn't notice. As if.

Thankfully, a lovely lady came over and offered to help me. She was so sweet about it and even jokingly asked what I did to have popped ALL the buttons. I told her it was one of those things that happened. She deftly did up the buttons, I thanked her and we parted ways. The entire incident probably lasted about 2 minutes at the very most.

I think we are daily presented with opportunities to show kindness to others around us. Think of how we interact with one another daily and these opportunities are just there - holding the lift for someone, pointing the direction to another, or simply offering help when someone looks lost without being asked for it.

I, for one, am guilty of playing dumb at times when it doesn't suit me to be kind to others - jabbing at the close button when I am late for a meeting when I can see someone trying to walk faster for the lift, waiting to see if anyone else will offer help to a lost patron who's trying to figure out how the sophisticated food-ordering system at the famous Old Airport Road Rojak stall works (I did, but only after watching the lady looking lost for half a minute), failing to point out to a male stranger walking by that his pants are undone...I admit that it is embarrassing to recount these actions.

The lady who offered help to me today could have easily walked away. Instead, she offered help that I gratefully accepted and very much appreciated. I think we all could do with a reminder to be kind to one another - don't you?

An insensitive comment and how it SHOULD NOT bother me

We all have bad days now and then.

I had one yesterday when someone very insensitively commented on how much weight I've put on (I have my reasons) and why I should watch what I ate.

I rationally know that I should not let what others say affect me. I am after all a MATURE person of a certain age, AND should know better. But it still hurts when someone close makes such a comment - its like poking a finger into an already raw and bloody wound.

Gee, thanks.

So here's a pout on my behalf.

Wish I was there

Himself is currently in

on a work trip and wouldn't allow me to
saying that his global bosses are there with him for his meetings.
That leaves me in Sunny Singapore wishing I could enjoy freshly made
whilst taking the sights in

and most importantly, playing my part in the

Summer Sales! Sigh.

Hopefully he brings me a little something of beautiful Paris when he returns.

Knowing that I am deeply loved

I am home in Singapore and after putting my Samsonite to rest, I realize how much I am loved just by a simple thing like a trip home.

• 
  
  My father shows up at the airport no matter what time my flight gets in. He has been doing so since I left home for university at 18 years of age. I also know that he gets sleepless nights in the days leading up to my arrival and departure home. He buys the durian that I love and still tries to wait up for me when I get home late at nights - even at my age.
  


• 
  
  My mother asks what I'll like to do today and when I say anything, we'll just go hang out together running errands. She offers to take me shopping for hard-to-find food items like steel-cut oats.



• 
  
  My helper ensures that I have my favourite everything set up before I land in Singapore and offers to cook my meals and look after my every need when I am around. She's been with our family for 14 or more years (I've lost count) and really sayangs me. She will even fix me pot noodles in the middle of the night if I ask her - which I honestly don't.
  


• 
  
  My husband ensures that I travel with my passport, SIM card and credit/ATM cards, placing them in order on the table before I travel as he knows that I can be a scatterbrain at times. Though he is crazy busy at work, he tries to ring or text when he gets the rare chance and though he still grumbles at my expenditure, his grumbles have lessen over the years. *Hee*


• 
  
  My best girl rings up the mobile company trying to activate my mobile so that it is ready before I arrive. Unfortunately I messed up by giving her to wrong identification number.
  

This is obviously just a select few that I've listed and I could go on and on. I feel so secure and blessed knowing that I am loved by so many people. This feeling really just can't be beat.

What are some ways that the people around you do to show their love for you?

Eight years ago today

Eight years ago we pledged our love and commitment for one another before God and before our loved ones. At the risk of sounding cliche, it does feel like it happened yesterday.

Five things I wish I'd known about our marriage eight years ago:

1) We will still be living in Shanghai after 8 years - Given our history of living in different cities before we got married - San Jose and New York to name a few, I would have thought we would be at Hanoi or Mumbai by now. But nope, still in Shanghai. This place kind of grows on you and the pace of change here does keep things fresh - new eateries, new friends, new places to explore.

2) We will still be living apart - this seems to be a common theme for our relationship, working and living apart from one another at a distance.

Himself currently works in Nanjing and though it was a joint decision that received my blessings, I still miss him terribly. We had dated long distance for quite some years (6.5 years of which 9 months of being physically at the same place in the beginning), but I can now see how God was preparing us for something bigger then. I do hope that a posting will turn up in the near future that will allow us to be physically as a family again.

You would think this means I get to sprawl all over a two by two meters bed every night. Think again. Himself sent an envoy, the little one, to take this place.

3) We will be competing for wardrobe space. Himself prides himself as being put together for all seasons. He has six-monthly ritual of swapping his wardrobe around to match the seasons. Need I say more?

4) We still enjoy the simple things in life - grocery shopping, planning menus and trying out self-thought out recipes, giggling at sermons, ogling at our main source of news from home Channelnewsasia and jointly making fun of the little one. Though life has been very hectic for us both, so much so that we don't do many holidays or date nights, I am thankful that we are able to find joy in the small things that happen everyday.

5) Like wine, marriage does get better with age. A common theme I've been hearing a lot about recently is how marriage is not just about love - but about commitment. It is about running the race together and finishing well together.

I am thankful that we have not been challenged so much in our relationship that we are torn apart, but rather, we have been able to, by God's grace, surmount each situation and come through. I am humbled by the knowledge of who is really in charge here - God. Though there are times when I nit pick and wish for a more (fill in the blank) husband - some suggestions in case you need help include romantic, thoughtful, over-the-top - I know that this one is great for me.

The 90s beans

It is shocking how I can go months on end without giving a thought to The Passing of Time, until some experience triggers it - like lunch with interns who are born in the 1990s.

When I first looked at application resumes to fill these positions, I nearly fell off my chair at the fact that we are now seeing the graduation of beans born in the 90s. Eeps. I mean, these are kids that were in diapers when I was completing my secondary education. Double eeps.

Having said that, I have noticed these youthful bean (sprouts) possess a confidence that surpasses their age. They are also a very vocal and articulate bunch - far more than what I was at the same age. They have the smarts and the looks and are definitely not afraid to be proud of it. They are very aware of the world around them and very eager to embrace change - be it a change in the direction a task is taking or a change in their life choices.

A lot has to be said for this future generation. I am impressed. And they do inject a tinge of fun even during a work meal.

Shaun the Sheep

Have you watched the really adorable animated series called Shaun the Sheep?

It is a British animated series and features a farmer, a dog as the sheep's minder and a flock of sheep with a ringleader called Shaun. The sheep get up to all sorts of adventures which could involve the pigs in the pen next door, a trip to the nearby town to buy pizza, breaking in to the farmer's home to catch a movie on the telly and all sorts of funny situations - think sheep footie premier league played with a cabbage.

The clay or maybe plasticine animation of this series is superbly done with facial expressions of all characters so adptly captured by the animators. There is a minimal use of the spoken language which makes it appealing across all age groups.

Most of all, I appreciate the simplistic nature of the themes presented in the series, a rarity in my opinion, that doesn't include violence or have sexual undertones. It reminds me of the cartoons I used to watch as a child.

Check out http://shuanthesheep.com/ and give it a try.

Thank you for 2010

Dear Lord,

Thank you for watching over my family over the past year. We could not have gone through the year without You.

Thank you for sending trials and seeing us through them. Thank you for not giving us challenges that are more than we can bear. Thank you for showing us how to get around them and how through these challenges, we have learnt more about you and have had the chance to experience Your grace.

I commend our 2011 into Your hands. Father, continue to watch over our family and provide for us. I ask that your mercy be extended to every aspect of our lives and that you continue to draw us close to your side.

I love you Lord and am so thankful that you are my Lord and my Father.

Amen.

Promoting tourism awareness

Look what I spotted when we were waiting for my in laws to arrive from their flight into Hangzhou International Airport - a Malaysian flag proudly stuck to a luggage trolley!

I thought it was so adorable and such a show of patriotism. It also got many comments from the local Chinese who went "Oh, that's the Malaysian flag" and many other random comments about Malaysia. I thought this will make a very cool advertising campaign to raise awareness about a country.

Ought to submit this idea to a tourism bureau.

VPN - finally

Yup, I finally got a VPN and now have access to the wider world out there. It has been a mixture of lazy bones + lack of time that held me up and due to a variety of reasons - I am now a proud owner of one of these new-fangled technology VPN thinggies.

Technology is not my strong suit - but then it is one of the things I either yell for help for , or figure it out thinking it can't be that bad can it?

Apparently this one wasn't as bad.

Simple things can make bring much joy

Sometimes, the things that gives us greatest pleasure are the simplest ones that we take for granted on a daily basis.

Case in point: Who knew that a bus ride around the estate could leave my daughter SO deliriously happy?

This van is Mr B's ride when he has to entertain heavily that night i.e. drink a lot with clients and so not fit to drive home. On such mornings, Little R would beg her father to take her for a ride and it can be a short 3 minute ride down the street, circle around the roundabout to leave her high the rest of the day.

I going to miss her innocence when she learns that a chauffered air-conditioned sedan car is actually more coveted than a 12 seater van, although also equipped with a driver.

I'll tell you about her obssessive behavior on the Mass Rapid Transit trains in Singapore another time.

Downtime during the May Holidays

We spent some rare quiet family time on May Day.

Just us three, a picnic basket, a picnic mat, a soccer ball, the clear blue sky and a gentle breeze.

We were at Le Meredian Hotel in SheShan , one of the places that we keep heading to whenever there is a 3-day weekend.

Lunch was some fried beehoon, baked chicken wings, salsa cum chips and a chocolate cake. Really yummy.

We were able to lie quietly and observe how lovely the trees were and how pretty it was when the sunlight shone through. It was thoroughly therapeutic. Try it the next time you need some quiet time.

Blessed Moms Day

I am so happy today.

God is so good. He led me (us) back to His house again today after I found out, through a series of events, that there was a church service near our home. And Praise the Lord, there are morning services with a Sunday school!

We used to attend the HengShan services until we had a baby and afternoon services became challenging. So am honestly, so thankful!

So this morning, we all trooped down and had a lovely time in His home. I'm always most at ease when I am in church, it is one of my safe places.

Finding a church service that fits the family's needs is indeed the perfect gift forme on Moms' Day. I'm so thankful and happy.

Blessed Moms Day everyone.

Shanghai Community Fellowship (SCF) - Hong Qiao Branch
New Garden Hotel (opposite Xi Jiao Bin Guan)
9 am & 11 am service
Sunday school 11am
For foreign passport holders only
Bring passport or driver's licence (and they do check!)

Back from bloliday

I'm back from my bloliday.

What's that you ask? I suppose it means a blogging holiday i.e a short break from blogging.

So much has happened over the past 3 weeks, too much in fact, for me to even stop and pen my thoughts.

This is probably one of the days since my last post that I've felt together enough to compose a note. And I'll be catching up with the posts in the following days.

Meanwhile, for all of my friends in Shanghai, let's make the most of this beautiful weather before it gets scorching hot!

Flowers from potatoes

Of course I've seen a potato sprout before, especially when I buy them in bulk and forget to use them. I must admit though, that I've never seen them grow as tall as they did in my daughter's classroom.

The kids had soaked some potatos in water as part of a science project. When Miss R told me about this activity, I must admit I failed to respond with as much excitement as I do now as I had glossed it over as a typical must-do type of science experiment. Little did I know that I too, would end up learning through her experience. For from the water soaked potatoes came...green sprouts.

And to my amazement, the sprouts not only showed up but proceeded to grow really tall. For the life of me, I can not recall my childhood potato planting experiments to yield such results.

Look, there are even white blossoms gracing the greens!

It just goes to show that I can always learn from the discovery of new facts from "been-there- done-that" activities.

And I am amazed and humbled at His creativity in causing creation to be so beautiful - even from a plain potato.

Reason #15,078 why I love Mr B

I love how my adorable husband always has this endless pit of energy to organise social activities for our friends. It is not as if he doesn't have enough to deal with.

Mr B has always been a very sociable person right from the day we met. I remember how he would rally his friends together to make dinner during our university days, dishing out tasks to each person and getting the team in sync to prepare a meal. Or getting everyone rallied to hit the midnight movies.

Now, 11 years later, he's still doing the same, despite life piling so many more responsibilities upon his shoulders. I see him coming home deadbeat from having dealt with a tough day at work but all seem to evaporate when he excitedly proposes our next adventure.

BBQ yes? Lunch where? Dinner with others want not? Call XXX and see what they are doing?

He really doesn't mind calling hotels up to make reservations and ask for upgrades. He cheerfully deals with each family's change in requirements even to the extent of reserving ahead for our meals. He seems to naturally always take charge of logistics even during the "event" and ensures that everyone is settled down and all is running smoothly.

He is often even the 'key cook' when the event is not initiated by him and when we go as guests. At times, I will berate him for always being the one who 'works' during functions, cos that leaves me rather alone without his company to enjoy, but when I see how satisfied he is, I know I should hold my tongue and let him be.

I guess that's why he's always been an event organiser in every job that he's held - dealing with annual dinners and other social & recreational events. He's apparently been a 'Social & Recreation events organiser' since he was a young pre-teen, organising neighbourhood swim-cum-BBQs for his mates living within his compound.

This unique trait of Mr B definitely complements my own shortcoming. I would only organise stuff if it didn't take too much time and trouble.

And yet another reason why I am in love with him.

Psalms 1:3

Psalms 1:3

They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

bearing fruit each season without fail.

Their leaves never wither,

and in all they do, they prosper.

This is the verse that we had chosen for our wedding and marriage.

I know that He is blessing us with plenty for every season that we go through together. I thank God that He has indeed caused us to prosper in many, many ways - not just tangibles, but the intangibles as well.

I am grateful for what we have today and look forward to receiving what He has in store for us in the coming days.

Is spring here?

It is officially 1 April today but where is Lady Spring?

We have seen signs of her around - the greens starting to show and elegant flowers starting to deck their latest seasonal fashion....but it it still darn cold.

I have been trying to transit out of my winter coats into spring outfits to not much success. It seems likely that I will need to concede to returning to my stockings-under-pants routine since chilly winds insist on finding their way beneath my clothing.

I want the sun. Though I am sure I will regret it when the hot scorching summer days arrive to Shanghai.

In the meantime, I take comfort in the beautiful flowers that have sprung around Shanghai.

At times at the most unexpected places...amongst old tired looking trees, a dark mangy alley, a hardly used carpark and suddenly a burst of color from the spring forestation. Here's what we saw as we cut through a seldom used carpark and found this glorious sight in front of us.

P.S. I took all the pictures here...Mr B thinks I snitched them from somewhere else