LV Project: The Last Bit of Delivery

On Tuesday afternoon, the last bit of the furniture delivery is concluded - the sofa has arrived and this puts an end to all the new furniture delivery. Woohoo! It had been plenty of working from LV for the past month.

What is left now is the final shifting in a few day. 

LV is definitely very livable now. I had plenty of choices on where I wanted to work on Tuesday afternoon - the island counter, the kids' study table, the dining table. I told Daddy Lim that I could even take an afternoon nap on the sofa! Hoho. 

With all the new furniture delivered, I couldn't help but stepped back, take a look and snapped a few pictures. 

That was when I realised that our LV home isn't like those atas 美美 kind and that is understandable given the limited renovation investments that we put in. We didn't have the theme, theme or the glamorous ID nicely done up feel but what we have is a very comfortable livable home. Ok lah, can lah. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Zaky Core 4 Lesson 2

It was the usual routine and the usual long Q outside the rink scene when we arrived for Zaky's lesson. Daddy Lim got activated to Q while I prepped Zaky. Daddy Lim said that he was queuing at about the same spot as last week and there were plenty of slots on the 12.45pm session register then. 

I accompanied Daddy Lim in the Q and walked in and out to peek at Zaky. He seemed to be doing well. As I was doing so, there appeared to be some commotion right at the start of the Q. From what I gathered, a mummy had arrived at the rink really early to get slots for her son's bday party during the 3pm session but she didn't know that she had to join the Q. She only realised that when the Q started forming and the staff at the rink had eventually allowed her to "cut" Q resulting in many other upset patrons. This is particularly so when she wanted 10 slots and 3pm is a really popular session. 

Bcos of the out of the norm demand, patrons who were unable to get the 3pm session slots overspill to the other sessions. It was super tense, this weekly ordeal to get skating slots for the kids is getting more and more stressful. Fortunately, we secured the last slot for Lil Shauna. Heng ah!

Lil Shauna and Zaky went to the rink for ice time as scheduled. Remember Zaky bugging for new skates? I asked J's mum if J's old skates can be sold to us and we got to try on them. J is also Coach Raymond's student and had been skating with Lil Shauna for years. 

The skates were very fitting such that the original thick socks that Zaky used on the rental skates don't work. He felt a lot more comfortable when he wore jiejie's cutesy ankle socks and even better when changed into the new almost-not-there ankle stocking that I managed to buy from Diaso. I hesitated about buying over the skates as Zaky might be outgrowing them very soon. I asked to loan the skates for another week and was then told that they would like to gift us the skates. Woohoo! 

It took a while for Zaky to get used to the skates. He was absolutely thrilled to know that he would be having his own skates. He would be using them for his lessons on coming Sunday and I hope they will serve him well. 

Mummy Lim

Memorable Gathering

It was one of those normal grocery shopping evenings in JP. Coincidentally, I bumped into an ex-colleague whom I have not met for a long time. This called for an impromptu gathering with the usual gang. Hohoho. 

The others reacted just as enthusiastically over WhatsApp and soon the date was set. So efficient, just like old times. 

We visited one of the ladies' beautiful home and she whipped up a sumptuous dinner. I arrived shortly after 6pm. It was a great dinner and ever greater catch-up. We reminisce about the old times and they updated me about who and who and so and so; half of them are still with the Company. 

That was the Company where I spent 9 memorable years of my youth. I love the culture and (most) of the people. I literally "found" Daddy Lim in that place and also "rear" 2 kids. Hoho. Those ladies literally grew up with me and we slogged those long overtime hours together. 

Time flies, it had been 7 years since I left. I am glad that they are still all the same. Conversations flowed so freely. We didn't leave until it was 11pm and a promise to meet up again. They just tugged at my heart. 

Mummy Lim

Two Very Silly Blind Bats

Last Wednesday evening, with PSLE done, the kids dated their Centris friends and were playing afool on the pool deck. Given that it was Children's Day celebration in school the next day, I didn't call to nag them to come home. Instead, I got a call from Lil Shauna at about 8pm, asking for help. She said that both Zaky and her glasses were lost in the pool. Huh? How? They didn't go swimming. 

So, Zaky was running alongside the pool, tripped and fell. What's new? The impact of the fall sent his glasses flying into the drainage alongside the pool. It was shallow but the night was dark and the drainage was lit by luminous blue lights that blind. He tried to search for his glasses but in vain. 

Lil Shauna then came to his "rescue". Upon hearing his fate, she tried to peer into the drainage in attempt to look for his glasses. Lil Shauna loves big spectacle frame and her glasses often sit low on her nose bridge, as if they would slip off any time.

Just as she was looking into the drainage, her glasses chose the perfect time to slip off her nose bridge and into the same drainage. Zzzzzzz... 

The kids attempted to look for their glasses but it was dark, the blue luminous light blind and they are also very blind without their glasses. After trying fruitlessly for 15 mins, they knew that it was time to report the loss and call for help. 

It took me a while to finally locate Lil Shauna's glasses. The kids were helping to shine light via the handphones into the water as I waddled to and fro along the drainage. I was worried that the glasses would have been sucked into the drainage system. Not only would we have lost 2 pairs of very expensive glasses, we would probably have to pay to repair a damage pool drainage system. 

Lil Shauna's glasses was pushed by the draining pool water to the side of the drainage; I almost stepped and crushed it. It took me even longer to find Zaky's glasses. It was hiding among huge leaves on the drain cover. I was lucky again not to step on it too hard, crushing it.

So Mummy saved the day and the pocket too! I was worried that the lenses would have been scratched. The kids said that there were no scratches. Instead, the pool water had washed the lenses very clean. Hahaha. 

Mummy Lim

PSLE is Over!

Finally! Lil Shauna is a free bird! So am I! Hohoho. 

Lil Shauna had been feeling under the weather during the weekend. By Sunday night, she was complaining of a sore throat. Daddy Lim and Zaky were coming down with running nose. 

On Monday morning, the kids were pack off to school. Shortly after, the teacher sent Zaky home. We bet he must have enthusiastically told the teacher that he was sick. Lil Shauna was super unhappy when she was home from her Chinese paper to realise that Zaky skipped school. Errr... Not me leh, teacher sent him home leh. 

I was hoping that Lil Shauna's sore throat would recover for her Science paper on Tuesday. She needed to tahan one more day, to at least complete her Science paper. The HCL papers are extra and we can skip them in the worse case though it does feel really wasted; she had struggled with HCL for 2 years. She didn't feel better and she was very grumpy when I drove them to school bcos Daddy Lim had a sea trial. Zaky still had somewhat of a blocked nose but I shrove him to school anyhow or I would get hell from Lil Shauna, who whined about how bad she was feeling but Zaky got to stay home instead. 

She came home after her Science paper and told me how hard it was and that she didn't think she did well but she didn't care anymore. In her mind, PSLE is deemed over despite the remaining HCL paper. I was of course upset bcos I always have high hopes for her academically but what's done cannot be undone and it is now all in God's hand. Haiz.

PSLE is officially over with the completion of the HCL paper on Wednesday and she is over the moon. I also felt the burden lifted; whatever will be, will be.

We have timed the shifting to take place after PSLE and it was the perfect timing to clear her worksheets and workbooks. Lil Shauna enthusiastically took on the mission and cleared out a big pile in no time. Throw, all throw. 

She insisted that she wanted to help to dump the papers into the recycle bin to get a sense of satisfaction. 

Drum roll, pls!

PSLE has ended just in time for Children's Day. The school had some kind of Fitness Carnival today and there is no school tomorrow. I had assumed that Lil Shauna would be really happy but ironically, the end of PSLE and no longer the need to mug left her feeling very lost. She was grumpy about having nothing to do. Luckily, nothing that retail therapy cannot solve. She was chirpy again after some T-shirt shopping from Cotton ON. Haha. How I wish I am the one with nothing to do. Haiz. 

Mummy Lim

Zaky's Core 4 Lesson 1

Zaky wanted to continue learning and I have signed him up for Core 4 lessons. Many moons back, Lil Shauna got her own personal beginning skates when she barely started Core 2. To date, she has changed like 3 pairs of skates. Zaky is asking when I would buy him his personal skates. Hmmm... Let's see how it goes. Haha. 

Zaky was hoping that the same coach would be taking his Core 4 lessons and bingo. 

I got Daddy Lim to Q to register for the afternoon skating slot for Lil Shauna and I got to watch Zaky skate. The lesson was about crossovers and more crossovers. The boy was surprisingly not too bad with the crossovers! Some time back, I was actually hoping to take Core 4 with the boy when he resumed skating. I was tempted when Zaky took on Core 3 again. However, I totally chickened out when I was told that Core 4 has to do crossovers and 3-turns. I scare to fall down leh. Haha.

The kids went back to the rink in the afternoon; I was too tired and lazy to join. 

There was no whinning at all bcos he got a scolding from me right before we left the house for begin glued to the phone. 

Let's see how long his enthusiasm lasts. 

Mummy Lim

PSLE: 2 Papers Completed

Finally, Lil Shauna completed her English and Maths papers last Thursday and Friday. Two down and 3 more papers to go. 

I have nagged enough and "tried" to give her enough. She had HBL from Monday to Wednesday. On Wednesday, she kept telling me that she had to chill and that her teacher encouraged them to chill too. I wonder if the teacher would still say the same if she knows how much Lil Shauna had already been chilling. Zzzzzzz.

On Thursday after her English paper, Lil Shauna said that she needed to chill (again?) after completing her 1st PSLE paper. I let her go as the next paper was Maths and her strongest subject. She did do some revision later in the afternoon. 

The weekend was largely confined. We did hop off for a McD bfast and to Ikea, which have suddenly become very exciting excursions in the midst of PSLE. Lol. My camera so meitu. Double LOL.

Lil Shauna has 3 more papers to go and is taking her Chinese papers today. She seems to be coming down with a sore throat and I pray that whatever virus leaves her and stays away from her. 

Last evening, I ended up struggling with her to revise the 生字. I asked her a couple of times much earlier only to have her turn me down. Why must wait until the last minute to 抱佛脚? Haiz. She only went to bed at 10.30pm and was grumbly this morning - probably a combination of physical exhaustion and her least favorite subject.

I hope as much as her for the exams to be over. What's done cannot be undone and can only hope for the best and be thankful with whatever God has in store for her. Fighting!

Mummy Lim

LV Project: Nth Ikea Trip

Ikea is like NTUC for grocery shopping - there is always things to buy. On Sat, we made our Nth trip to Ikea and still went home with a big bagful. Even then, that is not the end to it; something can only be purchased at a later date after this, this and that had gone into the house. There will be more Ikea trips to come. 

Now that Lil Shauna is largely confined at home for PSLE, she was very excited about being allowed to go to Ikea. Haha. 

Meanwhile, we continue to move little by little, bit by bit to LV. As we do that, LV looked more and more inviting. I can't wait to just nuah at the big, windy, unblocked balcony. For 1st hand experience, Daddy Lim and I had our 1st coffee at the dining table that we had just placed in the balcony. Hoho. Very nice.

There were a couple of things that we bought from Shopee/ Q10 and they looked like they turned out very well. Like this water extender. 

Or this dish sponge holder. 

They are all inexpensive but appeared to be working very well. Hoho. 

The kids got to enjoy lunch at the balcony too while the parents busy unpacking and setting things up. 

I can also be the handyman. Hoho.

We have less than 2 weeks left before shift day. It is time to start packing up the rest of the stuff in Centris. We haven't start bcos it irks Popo to see boxes lying around and most of the things left are things that we are likely to need. It isn't fun to need something and have to guess which box and to open the wrong box. I think we are better off buying it. 

I managed to pack up the storeroom y'day and am proud to say that we didn't have too much rubbish after several previous decluttering missions. There will hopefully be a few more delivery this week; the furniture are on the way to be shipped to Singapore. 

We all can't wait to shift to LV. Yay.

Mummy Lim

Lousy Half RI

Out of the blue, Daddy Lim said that he wanted to do a slow spinning RI. He said that he could do it alone. Huh? Siao ah? So dangerous. So I tagged along, figuring that I would just slowly spin and enjoy my music along the way. We stated our intention and 2 other fellow cyclists joined us. 

The weather forecast said that there would be thunderstorm on Friday late morning and afternoon. It would be cloudy in the night. I was hoping that the roads would be dried by then. The last 2 RIs were completed in the midst of drizzle and wet roads. In fact, the last few rides had been really wet, which meant the need to clean up the bikes after that. No like. Pui. 

There was strangely no thunderstorm the whole day, not even much of a drizzle. The roads were dry and the weather fantastic when we rolled off at 7.45pm. Woohoo! 

It was indeed a slow and enjoyable spin and we took our 1st break at the usual Sinopec petrol kisok. 

We were then told by fellow cyclists that there it started to rain in JW. Huh? Rain? No rain forecasted leh. 

Fortunately the weather continued to be kind to us as we rolled down to Pasir Ris. Then a light drizzle hit us but was kind enough to allow us to press on to CV rainfree. 

The drizzle had ceased when we arrived at CV and it was dry as we tucked in yummy satays. Then the 1st misfortune hit - Daddy Lim's speaker was stolen. He probably left it on/ near the bike and realised it missing when we were ready to roll off. The speaker is only a few months old and cost about $150. Zzzzz. 

Auntie SL was also doing RI with her Punggol gang. While we were tucking in at CV, she was stuck in JW due to the thunderstorm. Heavy rain wor.

Then, we saw that the weather forecast had changed from cloudy everywhere to thunderstorm in North, South and West of Singapore. While East was still spared, there appeared to be a huge rain cloud heading towards the East. It didnt sound good when we are 50km away from home and we could only hope that the rain clouds move away from us as we ride towards home.

We hit TMCR at about 30kmh with one of the cyclists pulling. It felt easy; the wind must be helping. Woohoo! Then suddenly, it started drizzling and the wind started howling in all directions. I don't know what kind of wind was that but had never encountered such strong wind before. Our speed dropped to 22kmh and had to take turns to pull. My bike was wobbling when the wind came. It was so scary that I had to ask the puller to slow down. 

After like forever, we finally made it to ECP but the drizzle didn't let up and we encountered strong wind again at certain segments at ECP. Before long, we decided to take cover at one of the public toilets and we were not the only ones. It was a crowded toilet.

The drizzle turned to rain and it didn't let up. After considering our limited options, we decided to call off the ride and grab home instead. We were hoping to get a bicycle ambulance but no such luck at midnight. We were at least lucky enough to get 2 7-seater grab cars to get us and the bikes home. Daddy Lim and I managed to leave 1st and the other 2 cyclists fortunately didn't have to wait very long as well. 

Auntie SL aborted her RI too and also took a grab home from JW. It was my 1st experience ditching a ride midway for grab car home and am so thankful that such services exist now. The drivers who pick us and the other 2 cyclists were both very skillful in handling the bike; must have picked up many stranded cyclists like us. 

Grabbing home was definitely the right choice bcos the rain didn't let up throughout the car ride from ECP to JW. We would have waited like forever. In fact, this morning's WWF ride was cancelled bcos it was still drizzling. What was more irritating was the need to wipe down the bikes at 1.30am. Zzzzzzzz... 

The weather is so unpredictable as the year is coming to the end. Haiz. 

Mummy Lim

Last Weekend before PSLE

PSLE had been in our sight since the school year started. But what we didn't know is that time would fly by so quickly and now PSLE is looming around the corner. Scary.

Lil Shauna had probably worked hard. I am not too sure actually but she would definitely say "yes" if I asked her. Lol. She had barely gone through half of the exam papers that I had for the very 1st time spent money to purchase for the kids instead of relying on free test papers websites. She will go on about how much school work and papers the school has already given her. Then I got busy with work and LV to hawk her. 

The school work part is really real and I saw her working on papers after papers. Given so, I happily take a back seat and let the school drilled her. While she is at the stage that she grumbles at all work given to her, she didn't dare to not do those given by the teachers. Her Maths teacher is very on the ball. Looking at the amount of papers that she made her students do, she must be trying to push the entire class to ace PSLE Maths. That leaves me to nag and push her to do English and Science papers. Haha. 

We are really at the end stage and Lil Shauna had been whinning about how exhausted she is. I can imagine with the year's of hard work and the pending up stress and anxiety. I could only encourage and remind her that it is really the last leg, that she needed to hold up the last bit and soon it will be over. 

She had home-based learning these 3 days before her 1st paper on Thursday. I am not sure if it is a nation-wide special arrangement to keep the students safe from covid-19 or what. 

This morning, she looked at me and told me that PSLE is 48 hours away! Yes, go for it, try your best baby and leave the rest to God. Muaks. 

Soon she will be a free bird. No need to study, no tuition or enrichment classes and no student care! Wah, really enjoy life. 

Mummy Lim