Epic Outing Story

I had much anxiety when Lil Shauna 1st started going out on her own with her friends. Now, it is 家常便饭 and I don't even bat an eyelid. Monkey see, monkey do and Zaky had gone out with his classmates a couple of times. Nowhere far, usually JP or his friend's place in JW. 

About 1 to 2 weeks back, he had been half asking and half telling me that he has arranged to meet some do his classmates on Good Friday in JP for brunch. There was a possibility that one of the boys' (A) parents could send them to ECP skate park after that. He was very excited but the friend was alternating between going and not going. 

A few days before the date, he excitedly told me that the ECP date was firmed. He would  meet some classmates for brunch at JP and A would come later to meet for lunch and his parents would then bring them to ECP, expecting to return to the West at 4pm. 

Go lah, go lah. I don't want to see black face. Since we have no plans for the day, we had  planned to meet up with the Easterners - T & C at ECP and to pick Zaky up ourselves. 

Lil Shauna had her very last ice skating lesson on Friday morning. By the time we were home, Zaky had left for JP with his scoot, water bottle and wallet. What about helmet and knee pads? Zzzzzzz.

Of course it was mummy to the rescue. I arrived at JP only to see that Zaky and his friend J waiting for A at the MRT station. The plan was to meet him and then they would go to the Mac at Jurong Park before A's parents send them to ECP. This is where the epic story starts. 

I didn't leave Zaky and J. A doesn't own a hp and had given Zaky his mum's number. When Zaky dialed the number after A failed to show up after 30 mins, some lady picked up the call and claimed to be his sister. He told the boys to go to Jurong Park instead. Really? When Zaky tried to clarify, she said that she would call A's dad to verify and call Zaky back but she never did. In fact, she avoided Zaky's call. How did I know? I decided to drive the boys to Jurong Park and used my phone to dial the same number and she immediately pick up after letitng Zaky's call ring through many times. This is so not right for an adult to treat a child. By the way, I asked and she is 24.

Her story goes, she doesn't have the full story. She is A's mummy duno who and A's mummy was not available. A had left with his dad but she doesn't have the dad's number when I asked for it. She said that she would try to reach A's mum and call me back... the same old story. When I finally received a call about 10 mins later, we just arrived at Jurong Park MacD. This time, it was a man, who isn't A's dad but duno who. He apologised that the plan had flopped and that ECP wasn't happening. He said the same thing about A's mum being unavailable and only back 15 mins later. 

Just then, Zaky and J found A in the MacD at Jurong Park with another group of his classmates. Wah lau eh. I was fuming but decided that the boys would resolve among themselves. Despite the whole drama, A acted like no drama had taken place. Now I realised how much more responsible our Zaky is. 

Zaky and J were still very excited about ECP and J's parents had also started calling to understand the situation. A insisted that ECP was happening. I asked A to call back the man who just rang me to say otherwise. A decided to ring his mummy instead, who is supposed to be unavailable, remember? 

It sounded like the same lady picked up but when she heard A's voice, his mummy miraculously became available and took over. What the... She told A in mandarin that ECP wasn't happening but after A insisted, told him that they have to wait until 2pm. Zaky and J were still hopeful. I pulled the plug. I told Zaky that we would bring him ourselves, having arranged to meet C and T. J's mum called and they had also came to pick J. I encouraged J to leave bcos I have no faith in this A anymore nor his parents. 

I took Zaky home and A's mum actually had the audacity to call me at 1.45pm to ask where A was. I told her that about the boys waiting 45 mins in vain and his mummy was not at all apologetic. I was dumfounded and got upset this time. The kids being irresponsible, I can understand but the parent acting the same way, I cannot. 

Was Zaky upset over the incident? He wasn't really bcos we still ended up at the skatepark. 

T and C eventually couldn't join us but the boy didn't mind. It started raining not long after and the boy still didn't mind bcos he had his fun. Since we were already in the East, I bugged Daddy Lim to drive us to Jewel. We are mountain tortoise. 

We went all the way to Jewel for the foodcourt. Hoho. Then to take the iconic photo before home sweet home. 

Bucket list ticked. I is Singaporean.

Mummy Lim

First RI 2021

I wrote in my diary that I wanted to do 1 RI per quarter and completing 4 in 2021. Something went wrong bcos Q1 slipped by and I didn't do any RI. Hohoho.

Now that Daddy Lim had gone back to the shipyard to work physically, he doesn't even have time to do the weekly Saturday rides with WWF. Yes, I had gone on lonely WWF rides without him and realised how nice it is to ride with him and know that he is always looking out for me. Fortunately his schedule allows us to ride on Sunday mornings with some of the usual gang. 

The RI opportunity finally presented itself - the eve of Good Friday. The eve of long weekends are the best for RI as it offers ample rest thereafter. We gathered a couple of the usual guys and had 2 of them on non-roadies. One of them even loaned Lil Shauna's hybrid as his bike was being serviced. Ya, they power. 

We started the ride at 7pm. The spirit was high but the roads busy. It was the usual route. Oh boy, it had been a while. We agreed that it would be a friendly speed RI. Along the way, we saw so many cyclists in all shapes and sizes - roadies, foldies, mountain bikes, so many. Most of them were on pavements but the sheer number amazed me. Now I know why the bicycles are out of stock in Singapore. 

The RI went without a hitch but took a long time. Why? Bcos it was friendly speed to begin with, then we had a 2nd dinner (after the 1st one at home) at Changi Village and then supper at WCP MacD. Hoho. Then on the way home, right at Shenton way, I had my 1st puncture of my life. 

I had always imagine punctures to be very dramatic but apparently nothing of the sort. I felt a ppppffff and then when I looked at my front tire, I saw that it looked like it had gone flat. I had thought that it was an end to my RI bcos we have no lining to replace. So sad. 

While we don't have anything, the guys have everything. Somebody whipped out the new lining, the tire lever and the pump. Whole set. 要什么，有什么. Then the guys also jumped in quickly to replace the lining. 

What was my role? To stand one side and make sure that I don't hinder the action. Lol. At best, I was helping to take pictures and shine some lights to enhance visibility. Hoho. Oh, I didn't forgot my selfie too. Ya, when the rest were pouring sweat over my tire. Hohoho. 

The culprit? This tiny skinny piece of wire. Seriously? 

We made it home at 2.40am. It was a very long 8 hours ride. We spent too much time eating. Hoho.

Zaky was in lala land when we were home. We expected him to be but I found him on my bed after shower. No, he didn't play punk but was bitten by mosquitoes as he had left his door and window opened. This also confirmed that the "hives" that we assumed the last time were really mosquito bites. He had like at least 5 angry big swells. Daddy Lim and I spent the next good 5 mins in his room trying to kill those pests and boy they do fly nimbly and didn't look like normal mosquitoes. Must be commando trained ones. 

The original plan for Daddy Lim to sleep in Zaky's room was aborted bcos we couldn't kill the final 1 (or 2) that we saw flying around and didn't want they to have a feast on Daddy Lim. They were seriously too fast for us with old and tired eyes at 3am and after a RI. We ended up all squeezing in our room and then we saw a mosquito in our room too. We tried but couldn't find it after a while and were just hoping to sleep in harmony with it. 

We have emailed both the MA and also NEA. Hopefully the mosquitos infestion can be managed soon. 

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 233 and 234: Preparing for Elementary Competition

Lil Shauna passed her Elementary Test in January and she had to repeat her camel spin bcos it was barely good enough. Nevertheless, it was a pass and earned her an opportunity to compete in the Elementary competition after competing 2x in the Preliminary competition in the last 3 years. Ya, it means that it took her that long to finally "master" her camel spin that is still "squeaky" at times. 

We were told that the National Competition would be in March 21. It was then further pushed to beginning April 21. Lil Shauna was super reluctant to take part, just like how she was so uber stress over her Elementary test. I was all for her taking part. Afterall, the elements for the competition would be very similar to what she had in her test. Why waste? So, it was decided. Hoho, mummy helped her decides. 

There were some changes to her program, like 40% of it. Coach also added in axle jumps. It took a while for her to finally learn her program and there was very little time left to practice with music. Not that we don't know how crowded the rink is but it is really very crowded in the last month. Ended up, when she is finally ready to practice with the music, she usually get to do her program max 2 times and sometimes once. Then she will always screw up when she get the chance to skate with music. Zzzzzzz. So much so that I also asked Coach if Lil Shauna is ready. Coach says "Just Do It lah". Ok lah. 

We had SISA ice on Wednesday. The last of the last few sessions. We got her to don her costume to try it out. 

She must be in good mood and acceded to my request for pictures. 

Coach must have seen how unprepared Lil Shauna is and asked if she wanted a final lesson this morning. Confirmed want. This is like the last of the 佛脚. 

Despite being very sleep deprived, I drove Lil Shauna to the rink this morning and the rink was so very crowded. Obviously, she is not the only one who hoped for some extra last minute practices. 

We also saw the other 3 competitors and while they are all much younger than her, they are all doing axle jump in their program. The youngest is only 8 and already doing a double slachow jump in her program. More difficult elements = higher points. Stress. 

Then Lil Shauna's camel is not very cooperative and she struggled with her sit and broken spin combi. I can only comfort her to not compete with others but with herself. The other 3 may also have been training for Elementary for a longer time. I also reminded her that the rink may be closed for renovation for up to 18 months come July 21. This may be the last time that she gets to compete before the ice closes for renovation. Fighting! Go for it!

Mummy Lim

Finally Met Up with the Chan Family

Long long time ago, we met up with the Chan family so very often, whether a visit to their place or a run in the park. These meet ups are usually fairly impromptu. 

Then Covid came, then Lil Shauna became very busy such that impromptu no longer works. The Chan family had tried to date us several times in the past months. If it is not bcos Lil Shauna has something, it is bcos we are meeting my brother's family. 

Finally after so many months, we met up with the Chan family again. We dated Boo to Stingray but both girls eventually decided not to do it. Companion or not, Zaky was happy with what again turned out to be an individual session/ lesson. 

He learnt another few more tricks and already asked to go back again next week. Kallang very far leh. 

We met the Chan family for dinner. The girls had so much 悄悄话 and didn't want us to join them at the table. 

The kids happily ran around in the open space outside popeye after dinner. It is so funny that running around can be so fun. Lol. 

The parents eye power only. In fact, Daddy Lim and I don't even need to eye power our kids anymore. Hoho. 

Before long, it was already 9.30pm and time to go home. I wonder when we will be able to find time to meet up again. Secretly, the aunties had been meeting more regularly than the kids. Muahahaha. Shhhh...

Mummy Lim

Learning to be a Parent (of a Teenager)

I thought that I was "there" when Lil Shauna started displaying teenager traits last year. One of the main adaptions is her busy social life. We have started getting used to not seeing her on Saturdays bcos she is so busy. If we have anything that we intend to plan on Saturday, we have to check with her and date her in advance. #大忙人

As we approach 2021 and Lil Shauna starts her new secondary school journey, I realised that last year was only the tip of the ice berg. Being a teenager is a hard thing and living with a teenager is equally hard. 

Lil Shauna is starting to embrace her new-found independence, from shuttling to school via public transport, to taking the train to town to meet her youth group friends, to spending a lot of time in her room, to vocalizing her opinions, to taking on social media... We are learning to let go as she is learning to embrace her new identify.  

The differences didn't particularly hit me until the recent cruise trip where we got to spend so much time together again. It was hard to accept that she wasn't as enthusiastic as I thought she would be when just before Covid, the kids embraces all kinds of trips and holidays passionately. She rolled eyes at so many of the cruise activities and suggestions that I brought up that I think she could see her brain multiple times. I am even worried that her eyes wouldn't roll back. Lol. 真的长大了.

Just a few days back, she was upset when a boy classmate found our blog and started sharing her pictures around. While I didn't think it was a big deal bcos I blog about good stuff and post QC approved pictures, it wasnt the case for her. Well, I supposed her reaction is understandable if I stand in her shoe. As such, our blog is now locked up. Not that we have thousands of followers to begin with but I just enjoy using the blog as a diary and I find it so useful to trace back which hotel we stayed, when who started what classes, how bad were their eyesight at which time... the trouble of giving accesses to family and friends are particularly painful though.

Alright, let's continue to embrace and grow together as our precious 1st born treads through these challenging but also exciting teenager years. For one, she is totally enjoying her school, her CCA and her youth groups. PTL.

Taken from her IG. Is she going to kill me?!!?

Mummy Lim

Stingray @ Kallang Wave

I think the kids' 1st taste of the flow ride was back at Sunway lagoon a long time ago. Zaky fell in love with it but there aren't many places in Singapore with the facility. After procrastinating for so long, so much so that the Flow Rider in Sentosa has closed down, I finally signed Zaky up for the lesson at Stingray @ Kallang Wave. That was in February 20, right before we went into the lock down. 

We signed Zaky up for a 2nd lesson right after and Lil Shauna was also keen to try but the lesson never take place. Every now and then, Zaky would remind me to check but the lesson never resumed. 

His interest for the Flow Rider was re-ignited during the cruise. I like it too when Zaky goes for physical activities. Hoho. I was reminded to check the Stingray classes and while the classes are still suspended, the Stingray is opened for public booking at $35 per pax per hour. Let's go! 

We booked Zaky a 6.30pm slot last Saturday. It was a single kid Saturday bcos jiejie was fully packed with her youth group activities. Zaky didn't mind all the attention that he recieved from the parents. Fortunately the afternoon thunderstorm also passed right on time and we arrived to no sights of lightning warning. Yay! 

Only 1 parent/ guardian is allowed and I had the honor to accompany the boy. Daddy Lim found himself a spot to watch Netflix while he waited. Zaky was the only 1 booked for the slot though it allowed up to 5. 

Though it was a public session, there was a dedicated lifeguard and another staff manning the station. I remembered the staff to be the same instructor who coached Zaky in his last lesson. Neither of them recognize each other. Mummy knows best. Haha.  

It started with a safety briefing by the instructor. He was calling for Zaky, who didn't hear him. Thinking that Zaky is probably some Chinese kid, he ended up calling (again) and speaking to Zaky in Chinese. What ensued was a funny conversation in Chinese until Zaky had to ask if they can converse in English instead bcos his Chinese is so poor. Lol. 

Before they start the session, I was asking if there is a difference between the Stingray and Flow Rider. There is and the instructor went on to explain a ton that went over my head. Lol. Yay, lesson start!

We didn't know what to expect. Given that it was a public session, I had thought that Zaky would be left to do whatever. To our pleasant surprise, the instructor ended up coaching him and bcos he was the only person, Zaky ended up with an hour of private lesson. Hoho.

Zaky was taught various poses and even standing up, which he said was so straining on a particular knee. He also some barrow tricks that looked like him rolling around at the edge. Lol.

All these while, yours truly was busy taking pictures, videos and playing my sudoku. The time slot was perfect with the setting sun, unlike how it was on the crusie. Hoho. I didn't expect Zaky to last the entire hour, I can imagine how tiring it can be, but he did. Of course he was exhausted after the session and was telling me how more difficult the Stingray is bcos the FR is bouncy and this is not. Huh? Never mind, exercise is good for you. Hoho.

Mummy Lim

Quantum of the Seas Day 4

All good things come to an end. Though it was a short holidays, it was a decent length one to kick start after a year of hiatus. 

I had been wondering about the disembarkation procedure. What had been made known to us via the Royal app was that the disembarkation would be at 6am but no what or how. 

Information was provided on Day 3 via hard copy pamphlet and luggage tags were also provided. We could check in the luggage or lug them off the cruise ourselves. The luggage tags are numbered from 1 to 34 and disembarkation starts as early as 7am to 10.15am accordingly to the number on the luggage tag. Given that we only have 1 medium size luggage, we opted to move it ourselves. Easy peasy. 

Auntie S and kids were in the forward of the ship and given number 1 luggage tags. They were scheduled to leave at 7am. We were at the middle of the ship and our luggage tags were numbered 16, scheduled for 8am. 

Bcos it was too early for them, they decided to skip bfast. We didn't bcos I know that we will have hungry morning people. 

It was initially difficult to wake the kids until I reminded them that we are in Singapore and their data plan works. The next moment... So easy...

The windjammer was opened as early as 6am and was crowded when we arrived. Back in the cabin after bfast was a waiting game but nobody complains when there is aircon and gadget. The disembarkation announcement was made over the PA system as well as on Channel 24 on the TV. 

It was our turn shortly after 8am. By then, Auntie S and kids were already home. Disembarkation was easy and clear. There wasn't much of a crowd as well. 

Of course social distancing via the familiar "footprint" labels that we constantly saw throughout the cruise. 

Everything else was just as smooth and we were home before 9am. That marked the end of our cruise holiday. 

While the teenager had complained a fair bit and rolled her eyeballs probably enough to circle the earth, we all had fun. Zaky loves the boogie boarding. Lil Shauna enjoyed a few of the activities and we all had a great time with the bumper car. I particularly enjoyed the time with the kids. It had been so long. It is a pity that Daddy Lim can't join us this time. 

In my opinion, the cruise was particularly good bcos of the 50% capacity such that the line for the the activities were much reasonable. I think we must make full use of this privilege such that I jioed Auntie S to book the cruise again during the June holidays. Hohoho. 

Ya, cruise booked already. We are fast hands, fast legs. This time, Popo will not be tagging along. She finds the casino too tiny and would rather go to her Genting Dream cruise instead and had already planned on in end April. This time, we also jioed Auntie J and kids. Hoho. Daddy Lim isn't sure if he would be able to make it for the cruise and will see how his work schedule goes. 

This time, we will make sure to arrive as early as possible and book as many bumper car sessions as possible. Hoho. Oh, we need to stay away from late night performances too; we are not as strong as what we think we are. 

We are lao jiaos already and very much looking forward to June 21. Hoho.

Mummy Lim

Quantum of the Seas Day 3

C said that she wanted to jog on day 3 morning. 

While jogging is not my thing, I was glad to have companion. In fact, I had the whole gang with me. The girls ran ahead followed by the boys, then me. Auntie S' poor knees don't agree with jogging and she took on the all important sweeper role. Soon, I caught up with the boys, who decided that they would rest on the beach chair instead after 2 rounds. 

The map says that one round of track = 553m. I don't think so. The girls stopped after what they say was 5 rounds. I should have ran 6 and only took 18+mins. I can't have ran 3+km in 18+mins. My Garmin best, it recorded 4.5km and exclaimed that it is the fastest ever recorded run that I have. Lol. 

Obviously GPS and Garmin don't work very well in the middle of the sea. 

I bet it was about 2.5km at most. With that little burnt, I made the kids do HIIT with me. Hoho. Only C tried to entertain me, Lil Shauna hates HIIT and didn't do much. Zaky was worse. He was just playing dead on the beach chair. Lol. 

We didn't complete the session, probably just 2/3 of the 30 mins session bcos the kids were whinning too much. What's next was bfast and bfast obviously was a better option. 

Remembered that we couldn't rebook one of the shows? We were told by the staff that we could approach the guest service to see if they could help. While we still didn't get slots for the show, the staff managed to help us book ONE precious bumper car slot for ONE person on day 3 morning. We didn't share this with the kids bcos it sounded like the perfect trigger for murder plot. 

Anyway, we wanted to do the boogie board after bfast only to realise that the q was bloody long under the freaking hot sun. The kids agreed to go for a dip instead and after some game, Zaky snagged the single slot for the bumper car. At the door, we found out that people can still go for bumper car even if they didn't manage to make a reservation; they just have to q. With that, we got the whole gang to do the bumper car again. The q was definitely longer than the 1st day but moved quickly.

Nobody take photo for me, I take myself. Hoho. 

The boogie board q was much manageable after that. The boys went several times until the q started lengthening and we decided that it was time for lunch. As a result, lunch was later than usual. 

In the afternoon, we took part on some guess the lyrics activities and we realised how bad we all are except for Lil Shauna. 

Of the 20 songs, we made 8 guesses and 7 were by her. We got 歌神! The rest of us just looked at the screen blankly. Only when the answers were revealed and the songs played, we went "ahhhh" and "orhhhh" and happily sang along. Lol. 

By Day 3, we were a lot more tired and spent more time resting in the cabin. Many of our plans were also not going according to plan, like the dancing classes. The kids were probably pleased with that. There were line dancing, morning fitness dance, k pop music dance and we did NONE of those. I was adamant about the last pop music dance at 4pm and make sure that nothing goes in my way to attend that session. Hoho. 

None of the kids were keen. Only Zaky hold true to his words and went to the pop music dance class with the 2 aunties. Haha. It was an easy dance to 2 songs but much enjoyable. In return for his companion, I brought him to boogie board right after that and it was the last opportunity given that the session closed at 5.30pm. 

There was a Q and a fairly long wait. Zaky was the last few in the Q and they opened up the entire surf pool. We waited for about 45 mins before his turn but he thinks that it was totally worth it. Fyi, while he was waiting in the sun for his turn, so did yours truly in the no shade, direct sunlight spectator area. I can literally feel sweat rolling off my back and wrapped myself in beach towels. 

Zaky was exhausted after boogie board and didn't even want to swim with T. We heard that Auntie S donned her biniki *cat whistles*. We retreated to the room and didn't have dinner with them too bcos we were still full from lunch. In the end, dinner was at the complimentary pizza and snack place. 

We took a long break after dinner. The next and last program was a performance at 10pm. But the long day of activities, sun and sea wasn't helping. Zaky fell asleep at 8+pm and asked me to wake him up for the performance. Lil Shauna outright declared at 9+pm that she wanted to skip the performance and go to bed. Lol. 

The kids on the other side weren't doing any much better. In the end, we decided that we should just skip the show and go to bed. Soon after, the kids were both in lala land and I headed down to the casino to look for Popo. She had spent more time in the casino than anywhere else on the cruise. Lol. 

I had thought that she would be spending the last hours in the casino but declared that the limited jackpot machines were no fun, which basically means that she wasn't winning. She too decided that she would turn in for the night. 好吧, let's all sleep. 

Good night to the last night on cruise. 

Mummy Lim

Quantum of the Seas Day 2

There is a gym on the cruise but the earliest appointment starts at 8am and that clashes with bfast. I did my HIIT on the open deck instead. I am not the only healthy nut but the deck was busy with people doing their morning run. 

Good morning Tuesday!

Hello Mr Sun!

The kids were still sleeping when I was back. It was very difficult to wake sleepy heads. 

The plan was to have bfast at 8am and then the boogie boarding at 9am. We went for boogie boarding a few times on day 2 and 3 that I lost track of the actual number of times. We all tried except for Auntie S bcos she didn't want to get "wash away" unglamorously.

I got do ok, just that nobody take my photo. I do have videos of me screaming bloody murder, which isn't the wisest thing to do bcos I took 2 gigantic gulps of water when I got washed away. Oh ya, it is chlorine water and not sea water like the last cruise. 

The boys love this and they have learnt the different patterns during the few short sessions - kneeling, one foot up, sitting down. I did manage to kneel eventually but got washed off. The 1st time was when I took the gigantic gulps and the 2nd, I whacked my head on the cushion. While I don't think I have a concussion, I had a sore neck muscle after that. Old already ah. 

In between the boogie board sessions were swimming and more rock climbing. 

Long time ago during the Phuket holidays, I had a pact with Auntie S that we would wear bikini on the next beach holiday. Hoho. The beach holiday didn't come but the cruise swimming pool holiday did. We did both wore out bikini to parade the swimming pool but at didn't time. Hahaha. Lil Shauna just rolled eyes at me. Her poor eyes must be very tired for the constant rolling. 

Other than the boogie board, the highlight of the day must be the magic show. My kids never grew out of magic shows. While we lament that there aren't much stuff to do after dinner (except for another swim), we were all tired after dinner. The dinner took exceptionally long bcos of the crowd and we were all tired by the end of it. 

Good night cruise. 

Mummy Lim