Personal Training with E at Oomph

To date, we have done 3 sessions with E. The 1st one was a baseline finding session and we felt very well after the session. The 2nd one, we started directly with the threshold weights and it wasn’t too bad too. I have some minor muscle soreness the following day, but E reminded that this is not the indication of getting stronger. The session didn’t take a full hour and I felt a little shortchanged for what we paid. We then did some “warm down” inclined sit ups and back lift to end the session.

Last Sunday, we went for our 3rd session, after a night of dancing at SimplyRetro (drinking for Daddy Lim). My back was aching like hell and I was sleepy. I stole a nap in the car and bought a Luckin coffee before the gym. I need that little sweet encouragement.

We did the same exercises but E either increased the weight and reduced the reps (from 12 to 8) for some exercises or increased the weight and reps (from 12 to 15) for others. How did he decide? It depends on whether he thinks we are already at the max threshold for that exercise, which he deduces from the agony on our face when we attempt the exercise. Hahahaha. I duno if that is the best measurement/ assessment but he is the expert. 

For some of the exercises, we now struggle the last few reps. E said that our need to fully rest that 90 secs between exercises is also a good indicator of whether we have reached our threshold. Next week, it would be the same concept - for those exercises that we are already at threshold, the weight may be the same but the rep will increase by 1. 

I prefer to do heavier weights but lesser rep. E said that heavier weights with lower rep builds strength faster with the opposite builds endurance. Both are equally important. The session also ended before the hour was up. This time, I was happy to end earlier. Hoho.

Daddy Lim is very motivated. He has a new gym in the office now, and even did a session on his own during the weekday. 

I duno when we will do another weigh in assessment but E said that the ability to lift heavier and more rep is already a good indication of us getting stronger. With more muscle, metabolism will also become higher and thus leaner. I don’t think we have any visible improvement yet. It is afterall a once a week session and we are eating the same. Let’s see how it goes. 

Mummy Lim

Nana’s A Level Prelims

It is now Nana’s turn to get back her results. 

Nana takes 3 H2 subjects - Maths, Physics and Geography and 2 H1 subjects - GP and Economics. She has cleared her H1 Chinese in the beginning of the year with a B and had happily dropped it. She has also passed her Project Work, which is a prerequisite for Uni. For entry to university, she would only need her 3 H2 subjects and GP.  If she does well enough for Chinese and/ or Econs, these can be used to pull up her overall score. Otherwise, she can discard them totally. Nana has already decided that it is the latter and has placed minimum effort on Econs. Oh boy, Econs used to be my favorite subject. 

Nana was very worried about her prelim results bcos she felt that she did badly despite mugging really hard. It is ok, A level really makes everybody doubt their self worth. I remember doing badly for prelims too and got all confused if I was studying the right thing before the actual A levels. I survived and so would Nana. She is so capable academically but always think so little of herself. 

Finally, the prelims results are back. I think the results are better than she had expected. She got a D for GP bcos she wrote out of point for the essay and said that many of her friends got D too. At least she now know what constitutes writing out of point. For the other 3 H2s, she has obtained Bs. She said that they are mostly borderline Bs. 

It is ok, there is still time for the final dash. I googled and ACJC, like many JCs, tend to set papers harder than A levels. I thought her prelim results are already quite decent. 

Nana is indeed making the last bit worth and studying every hard. A levels will start in November. Meanwhile, Zaky starts his O levels today with a Chemistry practical. He said that it was ok and that there was a chemical that he couldn’t make out the composition. He peeked at the boy’s beside him, decided to write down the same compound and turned out to be correct. Ya, he peeked! 

I had the chance to send Nana to school on the day that we attended Zaky’s graduation ceremony. 

This is my cue to tell the kids how it was when I had to walk the serene path from the MRT to ACJC 30 years ago - the unsheltered pathway and without the commercial buildings that have now replaced the grass patches and trees. I used to count the number of Mercedes that stopped outside of the school gate to drop the wealthy kids. Do I miss my JC days? No.. JC life is indeed too hard. 

Mummy Lim

SimplyRetro x 2

This has become our regular Saturday hangout.

I only have the aunties as my regular friend groups. Relationship takes too much time to maintain and I am introverted with people that I aren’t familiar with. It just takes too much time and energy. While there are other friends/ ex-colleagues that I meet up once in a blue moon, the aunties are really the only ones that I make a lot of efforts. The monthly gathering aside, we meet up in smaller groups every now and then. Maybe a lunch during work week, a random dinner, an ad hoc weekend meet up, and recently, the SimplyRetro. 

These are not only my normal kakis but my party kakis when I was growing up, from Ridley, to Mdm Wong, SOS, China Jump, Double O, St James… ya, we grew up during the retro songs era, coupled with the Barbie girl and butterfly. Hohoho. Not all of them are party people though and it was partying with different sub groups at different points.

It had been so many years and we never really stopped partying. Actually it was just Auntie SL, S and I. However, as we get older, a good dancing place is hard to come by. Most of the time, we feel so old standing beside a 20 something. Never mind that the 20 something can’t dance and just wanted to get wasted. We can now afford the booze but just didn’t want to feel and look old. The last frequent (like once in few months) hangout was Mambo at Zouk, until they crowded the place with young kids, giving free entry to students. Ya, that young. Zzzzzz. 

Then we found SimplyRetro and a big group of like-minded middle age people who simply wanted to dance and have fun. We have visited it so frequently, that we made “friends”, familiar faces that we hi/ bye and dance with but don’t even know their names, even exchanging friendly hugs. Then the endless gossips/ small talks in our group chat after the night of partying. Auntie R has now joined the dancing club. Hoho.

I went to SimplyRetro with the dancing aunties earlier in September. 

Auntie SL and R left slightly earlier while Auntie S and I stayed until the lights were turned on. 

I almost went deaf. My eardrums hurt and I think I would get NID soon with all the loud music from the gym classes and SimplyRetro. So I got myself this. So atas and pretty!

Last Saturday, it was with Auntie SR and H and partners. Auntie SR belongs to the dancing aunties group but up to today, we have yet to find a slot that fits into her busy schedule. 

After all the drinking experience, I figured out that we might actually saved more $$ if we buy a bottle. Oh gosh, the last time I did that with friends, I was in my 20s! 

It was the 1st time that we celebrated birthday at SimplyRetro. Happy birthday Auntie H! 

 

I met many familiar but duno names people. They were like “where are your (real) friends?”. Another day, another day. I had a good time like always. Hoho. Auntie SR and Uncle B danced the whole night too. Uncle B is an energetic bunny. Auntie H and C fomo and joined in the fun at some point. Daddy Lim guarded the table the whole night. I think he was bored and I can now go SimplyRetro with the aunties and without him. Haha. 

The loop earplugs worked fine. It was still loud but not deafening. Auntie H and Uncle C left slightly earlier. They managed to catch the last bus. The rest of us left a little before closing. 

The next one, if I managed to book, would be with the dancing aunties. It is so difficult to book an indoor table now. The slots open up 28 days before and I am not keeping track. We still have a quarter of a bottle left that needs to be consumed within a month. Ya, only Daddy Lim and Uncle B drank a lot more. The rest of us are very conscious of our kidneys. Lol. 

Mummy Lim

Zaky’s Graduation Ceremony

I don’t fancy attending the school events, be it the PTMs, open houses, leadership investitures, whatever ceremonies. I do attend if needed and usually the major ones. The rest? If the kids said that they are not that important, I skipped. Well, I just feel that time can be put to better use than to listen the speaker (usually Principal or equivalent) talks for an hour. They almost always send the same message, just in different forms. The kids grow up anyhow. 

Having said so, we can’t miss Zaky’s Graduation Ceremony. That is a “major event” in my categorisation. It was on last Thursday morning. I supposed the school assumed that most parents have annual leave to take. 

Zaky has to report to school at the same time, at 7.40am. The original plan was to park in the school, drop him and we wait for the ceremony, which was starting at 8.45am. Then we were told that there was no parking in the school, so Daddy Lim had to park at the nearby HDB. 

I bought bfast for Zaky and wanted to wait but realised that I was the only crazy parent who did that. The school was just full of students. 

At least Zaky was willing to still hold my hand, even in school. 

I decided to join Daddy Lim for bfast and we went back an hour later. Google map said that the walk was 22 mins long. Luckily I didn’t gong gong follow the map and was at the kopitiam in 7 mins. We lingered until it was nearly the time, then we walked to SST. 

The ceremony was held at the MPH. We walked past the colors flag. 

Zaky is in Red and they are last?!!!! Wasn’t he the house captain last year, who promised to make Red great again in his election speech? Lol. Bluff people one. 

The hall was already crowded when we arrived and we were given a card to write a message for the kids.

I remembered that Zaky was in 4-10. Actually, he is in 4-01. Zzzzzz. At least I got the numbers correct. I only found out when his class was called and he walked into the hall with his class. It is ok, I was just being fair. I didnt remember Nana’s sec 4 class too. 

We happened to be in a strategic spot and got to see Zaky everytime he walked past. The students went up the stage one by one to shake hand with the Principal and received a bear.

Which also meant that we had to watch 200 students do that. It was so painful. 

Daddy Lim left at 11ish to go for lunch and then work. I had to go back to office in the pm too but always have more flexibility at work. I was so super bored waiting and ended up watching my Korean drama. Don’t judge me, I was definitely not the only one. 

The ceremony finally ended with some dance and singing performance. The students sang their school song as the finale.

The parents were ushered to the level 1 for light refreshment. It was light and very crowded. I found Zaky’s card and brought it back to the right table. Else the Isaac Wong in 4-10 would have 2 cards. Hoho. 

I didn’t do the refreshment; I had to leave for the office too. The students were still in the MPH, watching the special messages left for them by their teachers. I passed Zaky’s his “bouquet”; I made one for Nana 2 years ago. 

Nana and friends didn’t finish much of the sweets and chocolates 2 years back but Zaky and friends are different story. With so many boys in his class/ school, no problem at all.

I made it back to the office on time. I have done my part. Zaky, happy graduation! The last little bit. All the best to your O levels! 

Mummy Lim

Zaky’s O Level Prelim

Zaky has completed his prelims before the school holidays. Am I worried about his O levels? Absolutely!

Nana is the hardworking one and never fail to show/ tell us how hard she is studying. 

I duno why Nana was trying to squeeze everything into that one piece of paper. 

I barely get to see Zaky studying. It would always be too late/ early/ tired/ hot/ cold/ sunny/ rainy/ whatever to study. He said that he did and studied hard, but I barely get to witness. I got even more anxious when I heard that the other 3 tigers are doing well - ER got DSA via vball to ASRJC, T got EAE to do Business in TP and V, who is always the hardworking one has set his eyes on a good JC. What about Zaky? Sob!

His prelims results have come hack since school re-opens and he did quite well. He has got A1 for Emaths, Physics and Electronics, A2 for English and Amaths and B3 for Chemistry and Geo/SS. He totally didn’t expect the Geo/ SS results, as he wouldn’t need humanities to go to Poly and was giving it much less focus. His Chinese O levels is a B3 but I don’t think he would need his Chinese grade (hopefully not!) for his L1R4 or R5. 

Based on his prelims, his L1R4 would be 7 points and L1R5 would be 10. While he did much better for prelims than Nana, I wasn’t at all worried when Nana got 15 (L1R5) got prelims bcos NH is notorious for setting extremely hard prelim papers. SST is not as academically driven as NH. I can only hope that he could ideally improve a little bit more for O levels or at least maintain the same standard. 

I have always think that Zaky is as capable academically as Nana. While Nana is more hardworking, Zaky grasped concepts much easier, making him stronger in Maths and Sciences. I have been trying to be more positive. The truth is that he wouldn’t have any issues getting into that SP Engineering course that he is eyeing. It has a COP of 13 points and I am confident that Zaky can do much better than that. What I wanted is for him to do very well for O levels and make us proud. Or do so well that he would be tempted to go JC. It is for my own selfish motives. May God grant me the heart to take whatever results. 

Next up, Nana’s prelim results. While she only has 5 subjects, her prelim stretches forever and her last paper would be on coming Friday. I am less hopeful for good results. Everybody struggles with A level prelims. 

Mummy Lim

We want to be Healthier… and Fitter and Slimmer

I do a lot of cardio exercises, going for my Fitness First (FF) gym classes up 5 classes a week. I usually go for the Bodycombat and Step classes. I have almost totally ditched the treadmill, elliptical and HiiT, unless I travel and make do with what is in the gym or any open space if there isn’t a gym. 

The cardio classes that I do come with some, but very little strength exercises, usually the squats, lunges and push-ups, which made use of body weight. I don’t like weights, core, and equipment since my 1st encounter with gym in my secondary school days. Gym sessions are so boring; give me high impact, loud music cardio classes anytime. 

They say that we lose muscle mass in our 40s. They say that while cardio exercises are good, we also need to do weight training to maintain muscle mass. I know. 

Finally, I put the nagging voice to action. I have decided to look for a Personal Trainer (PT). There are plenty of PTs in FF but many of them look dodgy, like they themselves built some muscles and then try to be some PTs. The PT sessions at FF are not cheap too, each 1 hour session cost $120 to $150, depending on how many sessions signed up. 

I wanted a PT so that I don’t mess with the gym equipment and injure myself. At the same time, I wanted to be pushed to do more. More importantly, I thought that I can accompany Daddy Lim, he definitely needed the extra exercises more than I do. With his medical condition, a good PT would be crucial. I think he would also be more disciplined and motivated if I am to go for these sessions with him.

Thankfully for Google, I managed to find a few trials. The 1st one was at a boutique gym a short drive away from home. The trainer looked young and the hour was spent trying out a few exercises on a few machines. That cost us $19.90 each. We didn’t sign up with the gym - the PT looks too inexperienced. 

The 2nd one was at a gym pod in Hougang. A gym pod is a little gym in a container placed mainly in parks. We have to pay $90 for this session. 

The PT was another young chap, who 1st praised that I look younger than my age, then bashed me by revealing that his mother is younger than I am. Lol. This PT worked us so hard that I already felt my muscle aching by the end of the session. We didn’t sign up too bcos we are more worried about him injuring us than training us.

Two Sundays ago, we went for a consultation with the Oompf gym, another boutique gym somewhere in Katong. It was a good 20 mins drive away. While we didn’t do any gym, the PT, E sounded very experienced. He has been PT-ing for the past 12 years and shared his experience of working with seniors and people with medical conditions. That is us. Lol.

After some thoughts, we signed up the buddy package - 9 sessions for $1,119. This is a pretty standard price. We tried our 1st session last week and it was an easy session. E said that it was to find our baseline and the following session would be more tiring. Then I realised that the exercises that we do are all the same - squats, some back push, then pull, deadlifts, shoulder lifts… E said that this is typically considered as a “all rounder” session. If we go more frequently, then we can do more targeted areas per session. It is ok, once a week sounds right. The gym is solely for training with PT and we got the gym to ourselves. 

It was fun to workout with Daddy Lim. E took special care of Daddy Lim and he got to do different exercises given his mobility constraints. Daddy Lim is so motivated and even wanted to start eating healthier. I wouldn’t be surprised that he would start losing weight and building up very quickly. Haiz, how come it is so much easier for men? 

At some point, when we are confident with the equipment, we can then start doing the regime on our own. The PT is there to keep us safe and of course to push us. Weight fitness really needs hard work. 

I got no muscle ache from the session. Let’s see how it goes this weekend. 

Mummy Lim

Some More Snowboarding

For a period of time, Nana was very excited about graduation trips. My guess is that it signifies the end of A levels and the freedom to travel with friends and without parents. In her excitement, she has agreed and bought tickets for 2 grad trips. She is heading to Hong Kong in December with a few of her secondary friends and to Taiwan in January with her JC friends. Where is the $$ coming from? Savings and partial loan from yours truly. The kids will also get some monetary incentives for their grad trip if they meet the agreed expectations for A and O levels. That is to say, she is spending future $$.

Anyway, she has regretted about the Hong Kong trip. It is with friends that she isn’t close with or keep in regular contact now. I think it was the fomo and grad trip vibes that got into her head then. Then, mummy came to the rescue. I never miss a chance to travel and I want to go Shenzhen to snowboard again! 

Bcos it is HKG, Zaky wants to go bcos he wants to go to Disneyland. Since we are all going, Daddy Lim might as well tag along. Yay! Another trip planned! Snowboarding again! 

I am so worried that I would lose my snowboarding skills. Since the Shenzhen trip, I have gone back to the open session once. It is the school holidays and I asked if Nana is keen to join me. Let’s go! Her last time on Snowmonster slope was a long time ago. 

Bcos the year is ending and every other person is learning skiing or snowboarding for their snow holiday, the Snowmonster classes are very packed. Almost every other class is full. That means barely getting 15 mins out of the supposedly 1 hour class. I still have 24 lessons in my package and didn’t want to take classes with so many people. That was when I realised that the package can be used for open sessions, just that I would end up paying more when using the package than paying direct. Hmmm.. better than paying direct and then also wasting the package right? 

Nana and I were at Snowmonster on Tuesday 6pm for our open sessions. I think there is over-usage. Everything in Snowmonster feels like they are breaking down. The boots feel wonky, the elastic for the guards are getting loose, the cushion in their helmets is disintegrating, the bindings on their snowboard is not holding properly. Even the enoki on their slope are getting botak. I hope Snowmonster is replacing as needed. 

Snowmonster is having their school holiday camp for little kids now. Nana said that so many kids were rolling around the slope when she arrived. We got to use the big slope when then kids finally cleared out. 

One of the instructors who once taught us was free and stayed back for a good 20 mins to look at us. She gave us some advices too. Actually, I was super frustrated after I last attended her class. She taught a different technique from the previous instructor and then there wasn’t enough time to practice and so I lost my J turns. Of course I didn’t tell her. Haha. She remembers us but thought that she last taught us about a month ago and was surprised that we can already linked our turns. I am quite sure it had been much longer than a month. Nevertheless, the truth is that the self practice during open sessions really help.

Anyhow, we didn’t lose our turns. Hoho. The instructor commented that we are quite steady in our turns. I asked her what else to learn and were told to try to turn faster and not hover for too long after completing a turn, 

In this photo, I looked so pro. But actually I was falling down. Hahahaha.

I want to go snowboarding on snow. 

Mummy Lim

Everybody needs New Glasses

It was Nana who triggered and said that she needed new glasses bcos her current pair is so scratched. The kids do wear contact lenses but Nana is on her glasses more often than Zaky. 

They had been on Hoya myopic control lenses since they were in Primary school. The lenses are really expensive and each pair of their glasses used to cost $400, then inflated to $550 along the years. I hated it when they made remarks like “I can’t see clearly”, bcos that could mean $500+ flying away. The fortunate thing is that the Hoya lenses really helped and their eyesight had been stable for many years. If there is a need to change glasses, it is usually bcos the lenses are scratched, then they grew bored of the “look” and wanted new look. Checking back the blog posts, I think the last time the kids changed their glasses was back in March 2024. 

It had been 2.5 years. Nana had been bugging for new glasses. She said that her lenses are so scratched. Instead of the usual Hoya and JP optical shop, I thought maybe we can now do the Lenskart type. They are already in their late teens/ early adulthood, their eyes should be stable right? I took the chance to change out my old flower glasses lenses too. I think my eyes have deteriorated. My glasses are also from Lenskart and changing lenses only cost $20. I am officially moving to +150. #oldpeopleproblem Cannot see means cannot see, don’t try to fight and pretend. Lol. 

Nana was happily selecting her frame and there is a one-for-one promo, so Zaky got interested too. 

Buy lah, buy lah. 

Both their eyesight got worse. I duno if it is bcos it is a different optical shop and have different testing standards or they are both going blind(er). 

Zaky’s.

Nana’s.

Nana has a really bad eye. A problem that we knew since she was little and thankfully Hoya lenses managed to keep the eyesight stable. In the future, she shall earn $$ and hopefully get lasik. 

Eventually, they went slightly lower in power. I asked the optician if that damages that eyesight but she said that it really depends on how comfortable the users are before deciding what degrees for the lenses. 

The optician also said that eyesigh only stablises in the 20s and advised us to also get the myopic control lenses. We had to pay $270 more for the lenses. At least 2 pair of glasses now cost $470, cheaper than a single pair of Hoya. I really hope that the Lenskart glasses and so called myopic lenses don’t spoil their eyes. 

Mummy Lim

Battle with the Ants

Rio is a matured establishment and naturally pest could be a possible issue. The saving grace is that we rarely cook and thus there isn’t much food lying around. The Chis are usually hungry and their food got hobbled up quickly too. 

I haven’t seen any big roaches (Choy!), thought we encountered a couple of lizards. But, the ants had been a problem. A few months after we moved in, we had the ants problem, which went away after we set up the ant trap/ bait. What we are more worried about, is Mochi eating the ant trap, and we poison him instead of the ants. So, the ants traps have to be in strategic places that are in the ants track, yet in areas that we think Mochi wouldn’t get them. Actually, I think Mochi is just clever enough not to eat the traps. Heng ah. 

The ants problem has come back. We lived with it for a while, then realised that we needed to do something about it bcos they are increasing in numbers. They were all crawling towards the aircon in the living room and they didn’t come out after that. Did they build a nest in the aircon? 

We found the balance of the ant bait and tried to place them on the ants track. This time, it didn’t work. I think the baits are from too long ago and have lost its effectiveness. I see the ants happily eating the gel in the bait but the number of ants didn’t decrease. Ironically, they increased. Maybe the gel made them stronger. Zzzz.

The problem had become so bad, that we know that it is time to get new ant trap. We opted for the gel form this time.

According to the instructions, this is good for cracks and crevices. We tried this before back in Bukit Panjang and it was effective. 

Daddy Lim was very generous in dotting along the ants track. I kept stopping his generosity bcos I don’t want to kill the Chis. Within minutes, the ants swarmed the gel. 

Yes, the ants problem was so bad. It looked so gross. I have to tell myself to ignore and not to look at the spots. 

This morning, the places where we placed the gel were left with small yellow stains, which we cleaned away. Miraculously, the ants are almost gone! Hooray! We won the battle! 

The Chis are very much alive too. 

I don’t want to jinx it; I had thought that it would take longer for the problem to go away. I really hope that this is it. Fighting! 

Mummy Lim