Core 4 Lesson 2

Our Saturday morning routine, without the little brother. Muahaha. Anyway, Popo said that the little boy woke up only at 11am and didn't miss us very much.

Looking at the pictures, I suddenly realised that our little girl has grown up so much.

Lesson 2 was uneventful. Teacher Sally was absent and a different teacher took over the class. It is actually quite disruptive cos different teacher means different style. Anyway, class went fine and Lil Shauna seems to learn fine. I thought she was pretty good with some moves.

Then, the free skate started and I accompanied Lil Shauna to the rink as per other days. Lil Shauna was bored after barely 30 mins and we took a rest. We did go down to the ice after the rest and that was when I fell while trying to do one of the criss-crossing move that Lil Shauna learned in class. I fell too 2 weeks back too and landed on my right knee while attempting the same move. Luckily, the fall wasn't too bad then.

This fall however, I would say that it was pretty "spectacular". Lil Shauna was behind me when I fell. I landed on the same right knee 2 weeks back and it hurts like hell. It took me a while to get over the pain before I could stand up again. I don't know if my face turned red from trying to contain the pain but I felt that way.  When I finally stood up, I saw that quite some people were looking at me. It must be quite bad. Lil Shauna was beside me and asking me if I was alright. Then she started to help me sweep the ice off me. Ouch.

I had to skate away to some corner and I was so glad that my knee was still there, still intact. I stopped and tried to get over the pain. Lil Shauna was still bored and I was glad when she said that she wanted to go.

I had some blue blacks. I don't see visible bruises on my knee and I can walk (thankfully) but my knee hurts when I tried to climb steps. Luckily, it felt so much better this morning. Note to myself - 35 years old, old bones.

Mummy Lim

Back to Hectic Weekends

Home sweet home. Despite reaching home late on Friday night and going to bed in the wee hours, our hectic weekend programs go into full force the following day.

Lil Shauna started her 1st Core 4 lesson on early Saturday morning. Daddy Lim mis-set his alarm clock by 1 hour earlier and I ended up dragging the poor girl out of the bed, robbing her of an extra hour of sleep. Zzzzz.. She could barely open her eyes. Daddy Lim hasn't seen his little girl performed in the skating class and accompanied us to class. We didn't even have to hush hush too much out of the house bcos the boy, having only gone to bed only at 1am the night before, wouldn't wake up even to earthquake. 

We had a nice Mac bfast – our tradition before skating class. 

Teacher Sally, the same teacher who taught Lil Shauna Core 2, was coaching her Core 4. Lil Shauna appeared to be the youngest of the group but some of her moves are definitely more precise than some other older classmates. Did you see the mummy beaming? Hehe. The class was full with 10 students to only 1 instructor. I think it would be pretty challenging to learn new moves but luckily, Teacher Raymond had gone through some of the Core 4 moves during the last lesson. I felt less stress (than Core 3) too given that there were quite a few students worst than Lil Shauna. Haha. What is the world coming to? Parent feeling more stress than their kids, who are the actual ones taking the classes. 

Teacher Sally didn't teach new complicated moves but mostly revised the different moves that they learnt in Core 3. I went on the skate practice with Lil Shauna. Daddy Lim left midway to fetch Lil Isaac and I heard the little boy slept until almost 11am. We left the rink at about 12 noon. We were both exhausted. Oh, by the way, Christmas is coming.

The kids had lunch and Lil Isaac had a haircut. He looked super cute sitting on the chair and flashed me a mega smile before his haircut.

They then went for their phonics class (make-up for Lil Isaac) and I took the free time for my long overdue dental appointment. I couldn’t express enuff how stress I was during the check-up. I thought I would die on the dentist chair but of course I survived. Lol. This is the 1st time I ever visited this clinic. Our kids had been using this clinic and they have a fantastic kids’ room.

My dentist appears young. She was generally nice and gentle but made super cold jokes and is super tactless. She wasn’t rude when she made those comments so I wasn’t offended. A few of our conversations went like this:

Me: I thought this used to be the kids’ room?
D: Oh, no. The kids’ room is right next door. Do you want to use the kids’ room instead?
Me: Errr.. no. (Hello, I am not a kid!)

D: It has been a while since you visited the dentist?
Me: (sheepishly + nervous laugh) Yes, hehehe. The last visit was about 1.5 year back
D: Oh, that is not too bad, I thought it has been years (hinting how dirty my teeth are).
Me: ….

Me: So do I have cavity?
D: I can’t tell until I have cleaned your teeth. They are so dirty and all the spots look very suspicious to me now.
Me: ….

D: So do you floss your teeth regularly?
Me: (another nervous laugh) No, hehehehe.
D: I can tell.
Me: …

D: So do your lower front teeth feel different now that they have been clean?
Me: Yes.
D: Right, bcos they were so dirty previously.
Me: ….

It turned out that I only have super dirty teeth and no cavity. Most importantly, I walked out of the dentist clinic alive and the next ordeal wouldn't be due until 6 months later. Phew.

We met up with the Chan family and Auntie S and the kids after class at ECP. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the journey from JE to ECP didn't take as long as I expected it to be. The kids had fun rollerblading and scooting under Daddy Lim’s care while I caught up with the aunties under the shelter. My investment on Daddy Lim’s rollerblade is so worth it. Lol. By then, my battery was running low and I was snacking like no tomorrow to keep myself awake. Bad.

Our kids must have some mechanism that can self-generate renewable energy. After the long day, they were still jumping with excitement when they found out that they were going to have chicken rice at Auntie H’s house. By then, I was on anytime-can-auto-shut-down mode. And you cannot believe the amount of running and jumping that took place in Auntie H’s house. We were constantly worried that somebody would get injured or would knock down their newly set-up Christmas tree.

We parted ways at about 9pm. It was only when we were in the car that Lil Shauna’s machine started to auto wind down. She was so exhausted and could barely walk home after we parked the car. Sleep was so easy. Zzzzz.

Mummy Lim

Taipei Day 8 - Home Sweet Home

It was our last day in Taiwan. We slept in, took our time, did last minute packing and lazed around before we ventured out. There weren't much to be done and we were hoping to some last minute shopping done at the Taipei Main Station Underground Shopping streets.

Unfortunately, most of the shops were not opened until almost 11am. Eventually, we managed to grab new shoes for the kids and we have happy kids. Daddy Lim was the only one who didn't manage to buy anything in Taiwan. Daddy Lim has expensive taste lah. Atas de. Hehe.

The taxi picked us up at 12.30pm and we arrived at the airport on time. Checking in and immigration were easy breezy. We had lunch and was waiting to board the plane. 

Scoot wasn't too trustworthy this time. Boarding time was delayed by 30 mins and the flight took off one hour late. Additionally, the Scoot TV that I bought didn't work and the kids were no doubt very bored. I didn't expect Scoot TV to fail us and hadn't downloaded sufficient games. Must make a mental note to be prepared the next time we take Scoot. Luckily, Lil Isaac napped shortly after the plane took off and he napped for a good 3 hours. At certain point, I wonder if he had fainted. Lol. Lil Shauna self entertained with a combination of art and craft, activity book and games. It wasn't too tough to entertain the boy after he woke up and we landed not too long later. I also realised the benefit of flight mode and how our iPad and mobile phones can be switched on throughout the flight.

The flight went fine except for some turbulences. We had some food as well and were so glad that they accept credit cards. We were that cash poor. The flight landed safely at 9pm and we ran for dinner after we cleared the immigration.

It was a long day and we didn't arrive home until about 11.30pm. Lil Shauna fell asleep in the taxi while Lil Isaac was very active and chatty. It was already 1am by the time I was done unpacking and was tucking the boy to bed. Jiejie was in lala land a long time back.

Overall, it was a nice trip. The weather though rainy, had been cool and nice. The duration was just nice. Any longer and Popo and I might craw at each other's neck. I also couldn't be gladder that the 2 Popos got along so well. Our Popo was happy with all her food purchases and I am glad that I had bought enuff kgs to bring all the purchases back. So, keep calm and start planning for the next holiday. Muahahahaha.

Mummy Lim

Taipei Day 7 - Babyboss

We were on our own on the last 2nd day and were heading to Babyboss at 京華城. Popo bought bfast for us and we took a cab to Babyboss at 9.30am. It was getting harder and harder to wake Lil Isaac up.

We were to meet my brother and family at 10 am. The kids were glad to see the 3Fs and they had so much to tell each other. 

As compared to last year, we were definitely better with the planning and there was little time wasted. The kids completed almost 10 jobs and got to try some that they didn't get to last year. 

The 1st job that they attempted was Policeman. They had to patrol one big round. Too cute. 

Then, the gas attendant. 

The archaeologist. 

The nurses at the nursery.

The hotel chambermaid. I thought Lil Shauna looked really smart in this uniform.

The cow milker (what do you call them?)

The fireman.

The artist.

The royal band.

The pilot and air stewardess.

The parents were invited onto the model plane while the air stewardesses served. The plane was so real.

Finally, the construction workers.

The kids get to earn Babyboss money for every job that they completed and the money can be used to exchange for gifts at the end of the day. For locals who frequent Babyboss, there is even a "bank" to deposit the $$.

We left Babyboss at almost 6pm when it was closing for the day. We parted ways with my brother's family and headed for dinner. Lil Isaac was so tired that he didnt last through dinner.

Then we took a cab to 宁夏夜市 and the kids had some final rounds of games before we headed back to the hotel. This particular fishing game lets the kids fish for fun and they get to exchange some lousy toys at the end. The locals get to bring the fishes back.

We also had desserts before heading back to the hotel bcos we needed the toilets. Haha. The deserts that the other old streets were definitely much better.

Back in the hotel was packing and dumping. We dumped a whole lot of clothes and lousy toys that we didn't want to bring back. Soon, it will be home sweet home.

Mummy Lim