Mount Faber + Henderson Waves

Bcos Daddy Lim had to work on Sunday, we made our own plans. 

Lil Shauna has finally finished her end of year exams. She has no paper on Friday and need not go to school. It is marking day on Monday and Tuesday and she had exclaimed countless times how fantastic it is to have a super long weekend and NO homework. She has all sorts of ideas on what to do over the long weekend and hiking was one of them. Let's go!

We had wanted to do the Treetop walk but the weather forecast said that thunderstorms were to be expected in the late morning. Late morning is supposed to be what time ah? Playing it safe, we decided to switch venue to Mount Faber. We reckoned that it would be easier to escape the storm at Mount Faber than in the midst of the reserve area. 

To avoid the rain (and the sun), the kids were dragged off bed as early at 6am. Fortunately nobody complain. We got a grab and arrived slightly before 7am. We had planned to be earlier only to have the 1st gojek canceled on us and the 2nd grab taking forever to come. Nevertheless, the weather was great and we were off for a great start. 

The last (and 1st) time we attempted the trail in 2017 with Boo and Pop, the kids were so much tinier then. The walk started with Marang trail that is basically flights of stairs up and up and up to Mount Faber. I thought it wasn't too bad and in fact better than the Treetop walk.

Right at the top!

Hello Sunrise!

That is like the only ascend and the rest of the walk was downhill. Easy peasy. As we walked, we reminisced about our last hike. The kids remembered parts of the last hike; it was like a memory lane walk. 

I had remembered that it took a long time to reach the Henderson Waves. I must have remembered wrongly. Shortly, we were there. 

I am not sure if this is still part of the Henderson Waves, the zip zag bridges. 

At the end of it, it is already the Hort Park. We are done? I was contemplating to trick the kids to continue another segment of hike to Kent Ridge but the tummies were protesting. We ended up with MacD bfast at the ARC instead. 

That marked the end of the hike. It is so much easier than I remembered it to be. The kids are so much bigger now and with longer legs, this hike feels like nothing. Let's attempt the next one soon. Hoho.

Mummy Lim

 

 

Blind Bats Eye Check

It is time again for the routine eye checks. At times like that, I am more anxious than the blind bats. Correction, they are equally anxious bcos they know that their mother is going to scold people if their eyesight deteriorate. 

Lil Shauna started preparing me and told me that she thinks her bad eye is getting worse and she cannot see clearly with her bad eye even with her glasses. My heart got stabbed. Why like that? We just changed her glasses in April 2021 bcos her bad (left) lazy eye went up to 425 (from 375) and the difference is too great to keep her old lenses. It had been 6 months and deteriorated again? I saw her patching and training her left eye regularly as well. 救命啊!

I was prepared to switch Lil Shauna to hard contact lenses that are designed to control myopic. These are worn during sleep and contour the eyeball, such that the user gets almost perfect eyesight the next day. Boo is on them now and is generally glasses-free in the day. There are hassle involved with the wearing and taking care and they of course come with an interesting price tag. Finger crossed. 

Since we were at the optic shop, Zaky got his eyes tested as well. The verdict??!!! 

Zaky's eyesight maintains! Yay! The hoya lenses are working really well for him and his eyesight had been maintaining since he started on them in February 2020. Before that, they had been like deteriorating at 25 to 50 degrees every year.

I was super worried for Lil Shauna. The optician finally exited with her from the testing room to say that her degree for her right eye is good (maintained) but she struggles with her left (bad) eye. The degree remains the same but she is now at -6/6. That means that she gets to keep her glasses. Phew. 

Mummy was in a good mood. We were in JP early and went for A&W. It was our 1st visit ever since it's opening many moons back.

Hmmmm..  there is definitely a lot of hype over A&W. It didn't taste as fantastic as I had imagined it too with all these hype. It had been a long while since I had A&W, having not crossed the border to our neighbour for almost 2 years. The waffle is a lot harder than I remembered it to be and I am very surprised that it is a lot more expensive. Like Carl Junior kind of expensive without the big portion. Oh well, curiosity satisfied and it would probably be a long while before we come back. 

Mummy Lim

More Rollerblading

Last week, Zaky suddenly asked if he should participate in his school talent time competition. But he cant play music, sing nor dance leh. I remembered that when I was in primary school, it was always that boy who played the violin and that girl who played the piano who won the talent time competition. In those times, being able to afford learning and play a violin in a neighbourhood school is a big thing. Those with no musical talents all 靠边站.

Zaky enlightened me that it is no longer physical performance but a submission of video clip, thus allowing students to showcase beyond musical talents. Zaky decided that he would submit a clip of him doing aggro skating.  

He has time until mid November to submit the clip and is intending to string together the different jumps and grinds in one. We already have many video clips but it wouldn't harm to take more and select the best. Video taking started Friday night with rail grinding. 

Daddy Lim had been toying with the idea of a P rail. I rejected the idea totally bcos there is very limited space in the storeroom for storage. Just a couple of months before, I had to repack and reorganize the storeroom to make space for the new longboard and skates. Zzzzzzz.. we have too many wheels in the house for 4 people. As you can guessed, most are not mine. No prize for the right answer. 

My opinion has been ignored when I one day found out that he had ordered it regardless of my objection. I fumed. Then I fumed again when it was delivered. So long. Put where? Hmpf... 

Thankfully, our storeroom ceiling is tall enough to take it and we manage to squeeze it in. 

On Friday evening, the boys brought it to the carpark for some grinding work. 

Zaky diligently waxing it. Yay, it is basically some wood foundation and a plastic pipe for grinding. It is hand made and it cost $130. 

The carpark was warm and dusty and the boys sweat buckets. I think we got one or 2 videos. 

On Sunday morning, it was the usual skating routine. Zaky was given a choice of the Bishan or Kallang skatepark. He opted for the latter as he wanted videos of him on the half pipe. 

We were pleasantly surprised to find the skatepark empty and the boys could do all the warm up and video taking without much interruptions.

I was on my trusty skates with the tapes. Hoho. 

They still serve me very well as I go round and round the tracks. Heng I didn't waste $$ to buy new ones like what Daddy Lim said I should. 

I stopped at 9.30am when I had completed my half marathon, resting and waiting for the boys. 

We left at 10am and it was such a humid morning. 

Sunday morning skating done. 

Mummy Lim

Home Repairs

It had been a year since we shifted into LV. Soon after we did, wear and tear started showing, like the mound/ stain on the floor/ wall, the chipping off of the bedroom door, the warped kitchen cabinet doors, the scratches here and there. Haiz. Our ex-tenant really took great care of the unit. It was as good as new when they handed it back to us after 3 years. I always wonder if they spent most of their time outside of Singapore. I do know that they have a 2nd home in Dubai. Otherwise, how can a family of 4 kids + a maid be able to keep the unit in such good condition? 

Anyway, my heart bled a little each time I saw a damage. I must have accumulated buckets by now. 

On Friday late morning, I saw puddles of water accumulating at different spots on the floor of the kitchen island. For a moment, I had thought that somebody had spilled drinks until we realized that the problem was a bigger one - water was seeping out from under the kitchen island (circled in blue). S**t!

My only thought was some burst water pipe and that doesn't feel like an easy problem. I even started googling on whether that is our unit's water pipe or the neighbor downstairs and whose responsibility it would be. I was also worried about the damage to the kitchen island cabinet carpentry. We all know that water and wood don't go hand in hand. What is we need to hack the whole island to rectify the problem?!!!!? I didn't find an answer but thankfully before I pulled more hair, the staff from the Management Agency turned up. 

After checking, they concluded that there was probably some choke at the floor trap, thus overflowing of water when the washing basin is used and suggested hiring a plumber. Choked pipe sounded like an easier problem than burst pipe. Phew. Then, they said that it is hollow below the kitchen island and the skirting was only for concealment. Double phew. 

Daddy Lim got the handyman to come over in the afternoon. The kitchen island is really hollow supported by stand. 

Now we know. 

The handyman 1st thought that it was leaking aircon pipe. Huh? Pls not be it, that is another big headache bcos the aircon pipes are concealed. After some checking, he agreed on the choking floor trap. He thought he saw what looked like pebbles and stones choking the floor trap and advised that these need to be removed before he flushed the pipe with strong acid.

The handyman returned the next day morning with the right what looked like home-made tool. This is what he dug up. 

Eeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkk.....

He said that these are harden grease, accumulated over the years. 

After the digging, he flushed the pipe with strong acid and reminded us to flush the pipe with hot boiling water regularly to flush away grease. We asked for some of those acid to flush the drainage at the balcony. The balcony is covered with dust and dirt at an amazing rate and those are washed and flushed down the drainage. I always wonder if it one day would get choked. Sob.

Daddy Lim says that the acid looked super strong and there was bubbling when he poured a little down the balcony drainage. I hope that dissolves whatever that needs to go away.

We are $160 poorer but I willingly pay this $$ to resolve the problem. Anywhere in the house with seeping/ dripping/ pooling water is no fun. 

Mummy Lim

 

WFH and HBL

I lost count of the months that I had been working from home. When the covid situation improves, I had several face to face meetings and discussions and was just starting to appreciate how effective face to face discussions can be. Just then, the restrictions kicked in and WFH becomes the norm again. What I did realize is that I did not at all miss the commuting to work. Hoho.

Zaky has started his HBL a week ago. With so many episodes of HBL, he is a pro already. I still needed to help him to download the calendar but he is otherwise very much independent. Thankfully, the laptop and links worked very well and there are no technical issues. There are random school work related questions that come in the midst of my meetings/ tasks but we survived so far, though frustrating at times.

Like the previous HBLs, not all lessons are zoom lessons. Zoom classes made up the minority, about 1 or 2 zoom classes per day and sometimes none at all. The rest are homework or SLS assignments. Even for the zoom lessons, the classes sometimes end early and I seriously doubt its effectiveness. Oh well, what can we do? As a result, Zaky ended up with many pockets of free time in between. As the HBL week progresses, so did the times that the gaming and YouTube appeared in between lessons. Haiz... I also got to work and cannot hawk over him leh. 

During HBL, Zaky doesn't go to the student care, which means that he has a lot of time at home. Once HBL ends, SA2 will start soon after. I heard that HBL will be further extended. Why? Why? Why? Will SA2 be cancelled? That would mean that the next big exam will be P6 SA1. That sounds so scarily near to PSLE. Haiz. 

Meanwhile, SA2 mugging operation continues, regardless of whether SA2 is taking place. It is good for him to be prepared and more importantly, he has way too much free time at home "after school". Auntie H has passed down papers that Boo didn't manage to complete last year and that saved me some money. I have been making Zaky do half or a full paper a day, adding on his tuition homework and trying to get him to learn some Chinese every other day. It is hard work trying to nag at him, especially Chinese. Oh my 天... Haha. 

Just when I am lamenting that this HBL doesn't seem very effective, Zaky says that it is school holidays today and tomorrow bcos it is Children's Day. Never even work hard and celebration le. Haiz. Since morning, I have been hearing him gaming with his friends. He said that the celebration doesnt start until 11am and "everybody" is gaming now. Don't see, don't hear, don't know, live longer. 

Meanwhile, I have been buying and buying earphones and pens.

With Zaky doing HBL, these are disappearing or otherwise not working at an amazing rate. Zzzzz.

Fighting!

Mummy Lim

When Daddy Lim is on Leave

Daddy Lim got to enjoy very normal working hours for 3 years before he had to return back to the 没日没夜 working environment. 

For the past 9 months, he had been working hard, long hours and sacrificing his weekends and PH. Finally, the ship has sailed and he took the opportunity to give himself a long weekend, taking leave on Thursday and Friday plus not needing to go back over the weekend. 

He had wanted to go down to the Bishan skatepark on Thursday morning only to wake up to wet roads and drizzling sky. Lil Shauna benefitted bcos we drove her all the way to school, saving her a wet morning commute.

Yours truly was very excited as it was my 1st (actually Daddy Lim's too) in 9 months. Such that we had to take pictures for memory sake. Hoho. Cheap thrill.

I teased that I would yell "baby, bye" super loudly when she got off the car.

I didn't lah, but that didn't stop her from hurrying down the car in case her crazy mother really did so. Hoho. 

The weather was damp the whole day and Daddy Lim spent the day nuahing over gaming and Netflix. Sounds like an enjoyment.. I would like to do that too. 

On Friday morning, I finally got Zaky to go for a walk with me. We had been talking about it since the start of his HBL. The boy was super unwilling, dragging his feet the entire 5km walk. Nothing perked him up more than bfast did.

He has no zoom classes on Friday morning. We returned at 8ish, way past his 7.30am "school time" to start his classes. 

I took half day leave to go 买东西, 吃东西 with Daddy Lim and without the kids. #patorday

We ate many 东西, started with Aston lunch.

To tea break at Paris Baguette.

We didn't forget the kids and got them snacks too. 

Ending our Suntec date...

I was super happy to wake up on Saturday morning to realize that it was only Saturday and weekend had just started. Long weekend = shiok.

We had wanted to bring Zaky to Kallang skatepark but the floor was wet from the night rain and it started drizzling when we got into the car. It became a bfast date instead. We eventually did bring him to the skatepark in the afternoon. 

The kallang skatepark was overcrowded. Even the tracks were mega crowded. We cut short the trip and headed for dinner instead. Interestingly, Kallang Wave Mall was so much quieter. Singaporeans must all be very healthy and active, all go exercise. 

We must make full use of the long weekend and went for a ride this morning. Daddy Lim used his gravel bike and I must 陪君子 with jiejie's hybrid bike. We had intended to visit the rainbow bridge, wherever that is, I is blindly follow, only to find that it is closed. We tried the north of the green corridor and it is closed too. Zzzzz. We had a good ride nevertheless. I got reminded of the times where we were rolling neo tiew in our MTBs.

We ended our nice weekend with a dinner at Sushi Go. 

Lol. Keep eating only. We need more of such weekends. Hohoho. 

Mummy Lim

Last Sunday before the 2 Pax Restrictions

We had planned to head to the Kallang skatepark on Sunday morning. T & C decided to date us. T had wanted to learn how to rollerblade and C wanted to practice her skateboard. Heng ah, bcos right after that, Government announced the 2pax restrictions. 

Like usual, the Kallang skatepark adventure must start with a hearty MacD bfast. The teenager sacrifice her beauty sleep to join us, also bcos her youth service is online due to the arising covid cases. 

After much dilly and dallying and getting lost for the nth times despite us driving to Kallang so frequently, it was almost 8am when we reached Kallang and geared up. 

The boys headed to the skatepark and did their usual stuff. Lil Shauna loaned her freestyle skates to T and she brought along her skateboard to skate with C. Yay, we are all at that stage where our feet sizes are about the same and the skates can interchange and share freely, so long as one can tahan how the in-sole will be damp from the previous user's sweat. Ok, TMI. LoL. 

At certain point, after getting bored with going up and down the ramps on his skates, Zaky tried the skateboard. T then tried Zaky's aggro skates to get a feel of aggro skates.

We left the skatepark at almost 10am, all sweaty and tired. I did my half marathon on my little wheels. Hoho. 

Lil Shauna went for her usual Sunday ice skating practice followed by off ice. 

If you have realized, Zaky has totally given up on ice skating. Hahahaha. His last pair of 2nd hand brand new skates gave way and we ordered new ones for him since mid June but it never arrive. The delivery kept getting delayed bcos production was delayed. We were told 3 more weeks when I checked last week but of course no guarantee. The seller is also finally willing to entertain our request for a refund after repeated requests and delays. Ya, the boy lost interest since a while back and made the final decision to give up on ice skating. Off ice is even harder work and since many moons back, he would tell me how hard he already worked at the skatepark and have no more energy for off ice. Oh well, save my $$ if he is not interested. 

For some unknown reasons, Daddy Lim is feeling rich and said that he would bring us to good food dinner on Sunday evening. We are non-foodie and whenever that happens, it often ended in some disappointment. It is either we couldn't decide on what to eat and end up with normal food bcos somebody would want to eat subway or 可爱鸡 or pastamainia. Or we are way too unadventurous with food choices and still end up with safe food. 

This time, we googled and made reservations at Chang BBQ. Dempsey Road ok, don't play play. 

We ordered bbq meat and ginseng chicken soup to share. Got server to bbq for us some more over charcoal fire. 

The kids were very impressed bcos we rarely go to such good food atas looking restaurants. Haha. 

Did it cost alot? Well, definitely much more than the usual restaurants that we patronized. It is super good? Hmmm... It is an authentic Korean restaurant but I think I have had better bbq meat. The ginseng chicken is good though. Maybe we should have opted for more Korean dishes. 

I had to save the day with ice cream! We attempted to find desserts in Dempsey but eventually left in search of less crowded places. Nevertheless, the ice cream is still damn nice. 

Goodbye to dining in for a while. 

Mummy Lim