Upset Zaky

The boy woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. In fact, he had a hard time waking up. He claimed that he "didn't sleep" at all when we woke him up. When he was given the chance to snooze for another few minutes, he started snoring within seconds! Poor boy. It was strange when he actually went to bed on time last night.

Daddy Lim picked the kids from student care today. I was told that he yelled at Zaky in the car bcos he was squabbling with Lil Shauna and was super whiney. The boy cried of course but he was happily playing with the neighbour kids by the time I was home. I thought it was over until the kids were home.

I was busy packing the kids' bag when I heard the boy whinning away. He was so upset, complaining that Popo only praises jiejie and never praise him. I don't know what was the trigger. Anyway, he went on about how he is always the one in the wrong and jiejie is always right. He must be feeling really bad!

Well, Lil Shauna did set an impossible benchmark for Zaky. I hope he would feel better after a good night sleep. I did assure him of how much I love him and gave him a good night kiss before he drifted off to lala land.

Mummy Lim

Weekend Fun, 2 Times

It was the monthly affair - the SHSS girls' gathering. There weren't so many of us this time, actually more so a manageable number of kids. Auntie H graciously and bravely opened up her place for the gathering. It had been a long while since gathering was at somebody's place. Having all the kids in the house is equivalent to having a tornado sweeping across. No joke.

Auntie H did so much to prep for the gathering. She baked a huge batch of chocolate chips cookies in the morning. They were so popular that none was left by the end of the gathering. I cannot imagine the amount of butter, sugar and chocolate chips we digested. I was very helpful in clearing the cookies too.

We had home made pizza for dinner, starting from the dough. Of course the kids had mega fun.

The adults? We had mega fun eating.

The pizzas were fantastic, thin crust with generous toppings, completed with chocolate chip cookies and fruits. My belly was so full at the end and I had to crawl home if it was not that we have a car.

We stayed until almost 10pm and still had to chase the kids home. They were very well self-entertaining through the many hours of play and still had the energy to go on for more. Maybe it was the chocolate chips, which lasted them the entire car ride home too. Thankfully bcos exhaustion kicked in the moment we reached home. Zaky sat on the toilet bowl and actually fell asleep. He kicked up a fuss when I dragged him into the showers. I couldn't let go, he was sticky and sweaty. Ewwwwwww...

One weekend fun wasn't enough. On Sunday afternoon, we met Boo again bcos we were in JE and they were planning to visit the Science Center. The kids are never sick of the Science Center and companion made it even more fun.

With 2 sessions of fun over the weekend means happy kids. The mummy? A very tired one. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 77

This is the 1st ice skating lesson for March 2017 but we made it a point to have weekly ice time, even the last weekend when I was in Barcelona. Lil Shauna was given the choice to skip ice time and she opted to do so alone while Daddy Lim was in the dental clinic with Zaky. I had to applaude her for that. By the way, Zaky was much braver when he went for his 2nd nerves treatment with Daddy Lim. There was no tears when given the jab. It must be me.

While shopping in Barcelona, ah yee spotted this furry jacket and insisted to buy it for Lil Shauna. She thinks it would be perfect for the little girl to wear during ice skating. I knew Lil Shauna would love it bcos she likes anything furry, shiny or pink. It is so easy to guess her taste. There had been occasions where she asked to buy such clothing too but I never. Why? Bcos I dont think they would withstand Popo's washing. Lol. Ah yee was adamant, even suggesting that I hid it from Popo and find a way to wash it only after several wears. I have to admit that the jacket is really pretty and value for $$ given that it was on sale.

So, ah yee bought it and it took the 17 hours plane ride with me back to sunny Singapore. Lil Shauna was thrilled, as expected. I of course remembered to bring it for ice skating today and made her modeled for pictures before she hit the ice.

It is fitting just nicely now. It may not last long given how quickly she is growing. Maybe we can pass it down; provided that the fur is still intact after the washes. Hehe.

Lil Shauna was initially concerned that it wouldnt protect her with adequate warmth bcos her arms were exposed. It is probably meant for winter bcos she asked to take it off shortly after hitting the ice. Lol. Then she wore it again bcos it was too cold and probably too pretty to be sitting on the bag.

The public rink was super crowded today. There was also a bday party and it was full of people. The crew stopped Lil Shauna from practicing her jumps just in case someone gets hurt. She headed over to the 1/3 for more practice before lesson. I particularly love her waltz jumps today; how she arched her back and hold up her leg up during landing. She thinks that she hit some loop jumps today. I can't tell anymore if she complete a full circle.

Class was alright. At some point, I saw her tugging at the jacket and offered to take it for her but she rejected. Teacher Raymond said that her loop jump is progressing well and taught her the flip jump. She definitely needed more practice to nail that.

The tugging continued until the end of the lesson and she said that she was so warm when she left the rink. Lol. She was perspiring. I cant tell if it is bcos the jacket or she worked extra hard today. I would like to think that it is the latter.

Mummy Lim

Strongest of Us All

The winner is.....

The is girl doesnt need much sleep. I remembered how I gave up trying to make her nap before she turned 3 bcos it was too antagonising. After I stopped nap time, she rarely naps. Even on days that she is exhausted, she will resist until bed time. I am not sure of her reason for resisting naps. Like we always say, she will realise how precious naps are when she's an adult. I am speaking from experience. Haha.

When she started the morning session in P2, she barely clocks 8 hrs every night. It was difficult trying to chase her to bed. Things are a little bit better when Zaky joins her in primary school and bedtime is now before 9pm but she never fails to test her boundary and asks for the extra 5 mins to stay up.

With the start of the school year, she had asked for an alarm clock. On several occasions, she mentioned that she woke up in the night to check the time. A month back, she said that she wanted to use the shower before Daddy Lim and is now the 1st to wake up in the morning at 5.25am. The routine goes: she will wake me up to bun up her hair then she goes to the shower while I flopped back for another precious 10 mins' snooze. Daddy Lim goes for his shower when Lil Shauna is done. I don't take morning showers; it is freaking cold. Zaky is just plain lazy. Haha. On some days, she was already fully dressed and had taken her bfast while we were still struggling to wake up.

I don't know if the alarm clock is creating her anxiety. This morning, the same routine took place. After her shower, she commented that the alarms didn't ring like they usually would. We have so many alarms at different timings bcos we are always very tired people. Lol. I chased Daddy Lim to the shower and stole another few minutes of snooze. Then Lil Shauna came back and said that her watch is spoilt bcos it was showing 4.41am instead of 5.41am. O.O

Of course the watch is working fine; it was really 4ish in the morning and I had to break the news to Daddy Lim, who was already in the showers. Hahaha. He promptly dried himself and went back to bed. The girl was fully dressed and it didn't make much sense to change out or climb into bed in her uniform. I got her comfortable on the sofa instead and accompanied her.

I was drifting in and out of sleep. She said that she didn't sleep and she was dead tired after school today.  Then again, the evenings seem to be able to chase away all traces of exhaustion; she was happily playing with the neighbour kids until 7ish.

We took away her alarm clock tonight. I promised that I would act as her alarm clock and wake her up at 5.25am tomorrow. Sob, my beauty sleep! I better keep my promise and I hope she will have better sleep without having to check time.

On the flip side, Zaky has only awoken easily once and that was on his 1st day of school. Thereafter, he recognised that school is no fun and every single morning is a pain. He is the 1st to go to bed, usually between 8pm to 8.45pm and yet the last to wake up. He is definitely his mother's son bcos just like me, he will squeeze in the last minutes to snooze. Lol. Until today, we have to literally pull him off the bed every morning bcos he is always "so tired" every morning regardless of what time he goes to bed. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Bye Barcelona

We departed on Saturday. There wasn't much time after bfast before the arranged car picked us at 10.30am for the airport. I regretted not bringing a bigger luggage. It was stuffed to the brim and I almost couldn't bring back the complimentary wine. Lol.

In the car, we realised that we were heading to different terminals. The driver was nice enough to do us a favor and dropped us accordingly. I was tempted to drop with ah yee and then to find my own way to the right terminal. It should take me 15 mins by shuttle bus and give me more time with ah yee. We eventually decided against it. I don't think I want to get lost and miss my flight. Ended up, I had loads of time in the airport and visited the lounge for comfy chair and wifi. Nice. Smart phone and wifi = perfect combination for long waits.

The flight departed on time. Leg space!

The movie selection was exactly the same. Yawn but I still spent the entire leg watching movie after movie. It was my last luxurious moments.

Hello Dubai.

This transit wait was a lot more painful bcos I was tired and sleepy. I was already dozing while waiting to take off from Dubai. I barely watched 1 movie before I drifted off to lala land, fully utilising the "bed". The next moment, I was awoken for bfast. Yeah, home was about an hour away.

I received a free toiletry bag. I think these were only given out for night flight.

Of course I was overjoyed to be home. I am always amazed by the Singapore immigration efficiency. It barely took me 5 mins to clear immigration. Woohoo!

This is me, on the way home and feeling totally exhausted.

How was the Barcelona trip overall? The flight was alright but very tiring. The air stewardesses took great care of the business class passengers, constantly checking to make sure that we were comfortable. I don't remember the Swiss air stewardesses being so caring. However, the movie selection sucks, particularly the Asian movie selections. I was hoping to catch up on some interesting HKG and Korean movies but they were so limited. The food was nothing to rave about too. I didn't finish most of the meals largely bcos they weren't tasty enough for me to sacrifice my calories. Still, I shouldn't complain. How often do I get to fly business class? Haha.

The weather, bread and shopping are what I missed about Barcelona. It is so vibrant and the people are a lot more warmer than the Parisans. *Wave ah yee* Lol. I spotted this in the toilet at the airport and there were syringes in it - things that I don't get to see in sunny Singapore.

Did I miss the family? Of course I did. Throughout the week, I only communicated via watsapp with Daddy Lim and didn't at all speak to the kids but am sure that they were in good hands. I was regularly updated about the fun that they had in Penang in real time and with tons of pictures. Daddy Lim did bring back 2 right kids in the end. Lol.

Once I was back and met the kids, they were suddenly very needing mummy. I heard them called out to me so frequently for the rest of the night. Lol.

Sleep was so good last night. Ah.. my comfy bed. I went to bed early but was still feeling so tired this morning. I don't think it was jetlag; it is probably more old age than anything else. Lol. Back to work, to war and I should start planning for another short getaway in place of the Penang that I missed. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Barcelona with Ah Yee

This was the highlight of my trip; to spend time with ah yee. I would love to spend days with her and visit her "not so new" home in Paris but I had been away from the kids for too long a time. Ah yee offered to visit me; I am thankful that Paris is so near to Barcelona.

Our agenda was super simple: chill, catch up and shopping. We weren't keen on sightseeing; there wasn't enough time and I am not much better than the kids when it comes to sightseeing. The cathedrals all looked about the same to me after the 2nd one. Lol.

We done a lot of chatting on Thursday night, turning in only at 3am. The next morning, we were up at 7ish to catch the hotel bfast. The kids would be envious of us, taking our time to enjoy the bfast spread. The cold cuts and bread were fabulous. I miss the bread already.

Ah yee wanted to look for the Zara and Mango outlet, which were supposed to be nearby. The map proved to be no good. I seriously cannot recognise the Spanish street names on the map and ah yee is no good with map reading. Eventually, Google map came to the rescue. We did find the outlets but we're disappointed with the finds.

We walked so much, that we decided to take the metro back to the town center. My poor legs and my back!

It was supposed to be the end of winter but it was fairly warm especially when the sun was shinning. That was when the jackets come off. It was constantly wearing and taking out jackets.  Very busy. Luckily no kids.

While the outlets were disappointing, the normal Mango and Zara stores were wonderful. Mango is slightly cheaper than in Singapore and Zara was the go to place. Mango and Zara were EVERYWHERE. On a street, we can sometime find 2 Zara stores, even though the merchandise were similar. Bcos Spring is around the corner, there were some pieces suitable for sunny Singapore too. I bought quite a few for the kids. HAPPY!

We had a late lunch, just like the Spanish style and al fresco some more. It was fantastic to people watch and enjoying the cool weather. Totally thumbs up.

We did spend the entire day as intended, taking a leisure pace. On the way back to the hotel, we passed by the square where hundreds of pigeons gathered, waiting to be fed. I was reminded of how thrilled the kids would be if they were present and at the same time, I was secretly happy that they weren't here. Otherwise, I would be busy yelling at them not to touch the bird and poo and would have a hard time tugging them off. Lol.

Dinner was easy; we had BK in the room. It was St Patrick's day and ah yee said that there would be crazy drinking in the night. I would love to do that and stay up the whole night to chat with ah yee. Unfortunately, the body is weak and I knocked out at 9pm. Seriously, I was freaking tired.

Mummy Lim

Barcelona

The hotel was less than 30 mins car ride from the airport. I was surprised to see people walking on the streets unlike Geneva that goes dead after 5pm. Apparently, Barcelona is like Singapore and shops are opened to 10 in the night. Cool.

I got my room quickly upon arrival and spent the next hour settling in, preparing for the next day and tossing around the big bed. Nice. Wine and coffee must be really cheap here. I got a complimentary bottle of red wine.

Though I am not a wine person, I am still impressed. I thought of lugging it home but had such limited space in the luggage. There were also expresso machines everywhere, including in the room!

Daddy Lim would be thrilled. I only fancy the chocolates that come as part of the welcome pack.

Sleep wasn't too bad, largely bcos I was so tired. Day 1 meeting went fine but I was dead tired by 5pm. Maybe it was the jetlag. Tired or not, the team dinner didn't end until 11pm. Zzzzzz. You can guess that the 2nd day sleep was 200x better bcos i could hardly lug my body onto the bed.

Day 2 meeting come and go. We had another dinner on the 2nd night and I was so glad that it ended at 10pm. I retreated to my room for a much needed rest while some of my powerful colleagues continued with a drink at the bar back in the hotel.

Half of the 3rd day was team building and we spent 2 hours walking the famous streets of Barcelona and visiting iconic sites.

It is a city with lovely sights. I particularly enjoyed the cool breeze; I am so sure to miss it when back in Singapore. 

Coincidentally, it was a day where the taxi drivers were on strike. Even more coincidentally, we found ourselves in a spot where the protesters pass. It was loud, they were throwing some firecrackers, shouting slogans and basically making a lot of noises. There were many of them protesting and I wouldn't flip an eye to know that many weren't taxi drivers but there to join the "fun". It was an intense experience; I would never see this in Singapore. Nothing even close to this.

My meeting officially ended at 4pm but there was some more drinking at the end and saying goodbyes. It was too early to do nothing and I headed out to experience the shopping paradise with my colleagues. I love ice cream in cold weather.

I was back in the evening to wait for ah yee. I had a good and long nap before she finally arrived at 11pm. 

Barcelona was still bursting with life when ah yee reached.  We had a last night snack and had the tapas with this famous Spain drink that ah yee said I must try. 

It was red wine and sprite. I could taste a lot of red wine. Zzzzzz. 

Anyway, the point was really catching up and we chatted until 3am. I was totally up for that having taken a 4 hour nap before she arrived. I was totally powered up Lol. 

Mummy Lim

Business Trip to Barcelona

It is my annual global meeting and this time it is held in Barcelona instead of Geneva. Untimingly, the trip falls exactly in the week of the school holiday! I was crushed at the thought of not going on a holiday but was at least saved by the fact that I could be recharged by being away from the kids. Hehe.

Poor Daddy Lim would have to handle the kids on his own. He then decided to bring the kids to Penang on his own with the Chan and Lim family. So damn brave. I had to applaude him. And yes, my husband had planned to go on a trip with my friends without me. Sound strange isn't it?

Unlike my usual night flight, I decided to take a day flight to Barcelona this time so that I could spend an extra night with the kids. On Sunday night, I was feeling depressed; the thought of not being to join them on a holiday totally sux. The anxiety wasn't helping too, I couldnt help but remind the kids for the 100th time to behave and to stay close to Daddy Lim. What if Daddy Lim only comes home with 1 kid???!!!!!

I left home at 7.10am on Monday. I took Emirates and flew business. Nice, I know. Hehe. Emirates business comes with arranged transfer. Totally cool.

My ride was a Mercedes wor.

I arrived at the airport right on time and took my sweet time doing cosmetic shopping. I had been doing my shopping so regularly at so the airport that I even applied for the rewards card. Haha.

I also spent some time looking for the playground bcos Daddy Lim and the kids would be flying off from the same terminal the next day. Viola! Found, status and location reported.

I also couldn't help but a selfie with Lee Kwang Soo. Muaks.

I was dressed very comfortably. My new sneakers.

And I have Lil Shauna's watch bcos I didn't want to flash Daddy Lim's expensive watches around.

Time passed so quickly when there is no kids. Soon, I was in the plane. Woohoo! Look at that leg space.

Touch screen.

The last trip to Geneva was a night flight and I had to turn up for work upon touch  down. Sleep was very much needed. This time, it was a day flight and I will have a night's rest before the meeting. Thus, the business class flight was totally a luxury.

As you can tell, I was enjoying the flight meal in peace and I watched movies after movies. Muahahaha.

Emirates' service was great and the stewardess came so regularly to check that things were fine. Of course they were.

After 7.5hrs, I touched down in Dubai and had 2 hours of transit before another 7.5hr flight. The wait wasn't too bad.

The 2nd leg of the journey was great too.  I was trying my best to stay up in order to combat jetlag. However, I feel sorry for traveling business if I don't at least catch a cat nap on the seat that can be converted to bed. My cat nap turned out to be 2 hours. Hohoho.

Finally, after almost 18 hours, I was in Barcelona!

Not looking too bad huh?

The driver of the arranged transfer was waiting for me at the arrival gate. I like traveling in style. Hehe.

Mummy Lim

Legoland Again!

Teacher Raymond was not available for class and mummy's antena started sourcing for activities to fill our Saturday.  Coincidentally, it was the 1st day of the March school holiday. Of course we must do something big to commensurate the occasion. Haha, any excuse for something fun and BIG. Let's go Legoland.

Our last trip was more than a year back when ah yee and C were in town. Then, we were at Legoland way too early and spent a long time waiting for the park to open with bored kids. This time, we strategised for bfast in Singapore before heading in only to learn that there was a massive jam at the 2nd link. Zzzzzz.

We spent an hour clearing the Singapore custom.

We exchanged Popo for Felicia and I think the wait for the kids was slightly less painful.

We were hoping that the Malaysia custom would be a breeze. Fat hope. It was another 1 over hour wait in the car crawl. It was so painful. Why were there so many other cars going to Malaysia?

It was already noon when we finally reached Legoland. The car park was surprising empty, which also meant that the park was empty. I like.

There was almost no Q to the rides. The weather was tolerable too.

The heat was a little too much and we hid in the air con lego car workshop. The kids had a blast.

Did you spot what were the parents doing? Let me give you a closeup...

Don't play, play. It took years of training to build this foundation and be able to sleep anytime, anywhere.

It started raining when we left the workshop and we decided to have a late lunch. Nobody complained of hunger anyway bcos of the huge amount of snacks we had in the car while stuck in the jam and Popo brought our entire fridge from home for the trip. The timing was perfect and the rain stopped when lunch was done. The rain did fantastic in cooling the weather.

We caught the new ride too. It was good. The best part was the Q; we barely waited 15 mins.

We took a few more rides and it was nearing the time to go. We past by the Flume ride and I was reminded how wet we all got when we rode it with ah yee and C a year back. Hohoho.

I remembered ah yee asking me if we would get wet while q-ing. I had never taken the ride but confidently told her that we wouldn't. We ended up soaked to our underwear. Lol.

To end off the trip, the kids went to drive some lego cars.

Zaky was some bad ass driver who tried an illegal u turn and got stuck. Lol.

We left the park at almost 7pm. Jump shots to complete the trip.

Dinner was at our favorite korean bbq place.

You could tell that the boy was hungry from all the fun right. Lol. He had a big portion of the bbq chicken.

We finally reached the custom at 9ish and thankfully, it was a breeze. Phew. It was a great trip. The kids had fun; they always do with the 3Fs.

Mummy Lim