Gum Infection

On Friday, I had my dinner after my treadmill after realising that I always feel like vomiting if dinner was before. I wasn't too hungry bcos of the exhausion but still ended up eating a lot as the exhausion worn off. Lol. Anyway, the point was the aching gum/ teeth/ jaw at the right end while eating. Did I clench my jaw too tightly while I was on the treadmill? Never mind, it was something that I could easily resolve by chewing on the left side. At the amount of food that I consumed, I could safely say that it didn't affect me one tiny bit.

I thought that it was something that I could sleep off but woke up before 6am the next morning bcos of pain. The lower right end gum was swollen, angry and painful. Like I mentioned, it couldn't be the wisdom tooth that was removed years back. I suspected a gum infection.

The pain didn't stop me from the morning ride with Daddy Lim and the pain was still bad after the ride. I foresee a dreadful visit to the dentist. Noooooo!!!!

I couldn't eat much for bfast bcos I could hardly chew. Even swallowing water was painful. I complained to Popo, who insisted that I was too heaty and the swollen gum is nothing a liang teh (or 2) couldn't solve. She immediately "prescribed" me with 2 panadols and assured that the swelling would soon go down and the painkiller would take care of the pain. Wah, I got dentist in the house. 

For a while, I was tempted to follow Popo's instruction. I got a bottle of liang teh from the herbal drink stall and popped my panadols, which took care of the pain. I decided against it eventually given that I have a regional meeting coming up and in no position to take urgent MC. I was so lucky to find a walk-in slot at one of the dental clinics in JE and exactly the time while the kids were in class. 

Lunch was difficult too but it was really less painful. I was secretly happy, thinking that it would help with my diet plans that are constantly failing. I wasn't sure if it was bcos of the panadol or that the swelling had gone down. 

I eventually went to the dentist. Was I too heaty? Hehehe. Obviously not. It was a gum infection, just as I guessed. Why the sudden? That is why we have to go to the dentist every 6 monthly to get the teeth cleaned. My last visit was almost a year ago bcos dentist visits are too scary. 

The dentist cleaned my teeth and it was sheer agony when he cleaned the last tooth that is right beside the swollen gum. I was also prescribed antibiotics to fight the infection and bring down the swelling. The antibiotics must be really good bcos the pain came down drastically by evening, which also meant pigging out at dinner. Chey! Popo prepared steamboat for ah yee's homecoming and I have a soft spot for steamboat. Poor waistline.

Mummy Lim

Ah Yee and CY's Homecoming

It has been more than a year since ah yee and CY came back. They are afterall not a MRT ride away; their air tickets can easily cost $1k each. Then, there is the annual leave to take. I totally understand how precious annual leaves are. Haha.

Along the way, I caught up with Ah yee when I went for my global meetings in Europe. Of course technology makes connection so easy as well. With whatsapp, you are far but never too far away.

Finally, ah her and CY are back! The kids had been looking forward to their arrival so much. In fact, Zaky has been counting down in the final days; he volunteered the role to remind everybody of the number of days before D day. He said that he missed them so much bcos he hasn't seen them for such a long time. So sweet!

Ah yee and CY touched down on Saturday early morning. The kids insisted to set the alarm clock so that they would already be awake to welcome them. Daddy Lil and I were up at 6am for the morning ride and the kids were already awake before we left the house! They must be really excited.

Unfortunately, our house is super far from the airport and they opted for the MRT. They didn't reach until about 9am. I bet the kids' neck grew an inch from all the pinning.

We didn't see them for long before we had to leave for classes but had dinner together at home. Popo cooked bcos ah yee was craving so much for home cooked food. We would be hosting them while they are in Singapore; they would be taking the kids' room. This is their 1st time in Centris and though the room is tiny, they looked comfortable. The 2 elder Fs joined us for dinner last night. Ah yee is in luck bcos there is a huge pasar malam right downstairs and we went together last night. The kids were excited over the rides while ah yee and CY were so enthusiastic over the food. Haha. Ah yee said that CY is very happy to be living on top of a mall with plenty of food options just downstairs. Lol.

This morning, we dated them for swimming. When Daddy Lim and I came back from our morning ride, we bumped into them from bfast. They had kindly brought the kids along. There was a slight drizzle but nobody mind.

Now, with sporting facilities right downstairs, I hope they burnt all the calories before they head back to Paris. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 94

Coach Raymond was not available last week but we still came back for practice. Our practices now comes with 2 pair of skates. Lil Shauna will skate and warm up in her old skates before changing into the new ones to get used to them. Despite the attempts to run in the new skates by wearing them at home, it is still not working. Then again, we haven't been diligent recently.

Lil Shauna has always has such a low pain threshold. Last Saturday, she was whiney soon after donning her new skates. I insisted that she stayed in the rink even when she was screaming pain. I assumed that it was bcos of her low threshold. By the time she was finally let off the ice, she had actually developed a blister. Poor thing but she still has to persevere and run in her skates. Haha. Evil mummy.

Class wasn't much different today. She is still taking class in her old skates. We really need to run in the new ones soon if she is to use them for the competition at the end of the year. I thought her toe loop is much better now after we spent last weekend trying to correct it. She still didn't manage her flip jump or sit spin. I guessed she would likely go for Freestyle 3 instead of 4 for the competition. This is her trying to "find" her free foot during sit spin. It is one of the spin styles and she hasn't managed to find her foot yet.

After ice resurfacing, she was made to go back to the ice in her new skates and had to stay 30 mins. She was whiney at 1st but seems to progress fairly well. I saw her did great scratch spins and her jumps weren't too ridiculously bad too. Like usual, she was so eager to take off the new skates. She said that it was painful but it wasn't that painful. I am also eagerly looking forward to the day that I only need to bring 1 pair of skates.

Mummy Lim

Morning Ride

We had done 2 night rides so far and thought of doing a morning ride. Imagine watching sunrise while riding!

I wanted to start at 5am but Daddy Lim wanted 6am instead. I woke up before 6am bcos I suddenly have this swollen and painful gum at the lower right end. I have no idea what causes it (cant be wisdom tooth bcos it was removed years back) but the pain was so bad that it woke me up and kept me awake. Fortunately, I could still ride.

Anyway, the watching sunrise part didnt really take place bcos Daddy Lim was so troublesome; he needed to shower and poo poo. It was nearing 7am when we left the house and the sun was already rising while we were still making our way to the PCN. Chey.

Then my Sony headphone said that it was low batt soon after we started. What?! I had charged it the entire night! Spoilt already? Daddy Lim also refused to humor my request to sing in lieu of the Sony.

We took the same PCN but wanted to go further this time. Daddy Lim did his homework and found out that another connecting PCN could bring us to Buona Vista.

A little break before our way to BV.

We hopped onto this new PCN, which was really crowded. I am already thinking that we should come back one of the nights.

The PCN was very long and runs aside a huge cannel and there was this otter family! They attracted so much attention.

Can you see them? The kids would have been so thrilled but I doubt they can cycle all the way here.

We would love to go on but decided to turn back bcos of time constraint at the end of the PCN. We were somewhere near Sunset way. We did a total of 22km. It was a nice ride even without the Sony, I enjoyed the birds singing and the rustle of the leaves.

Happy! Just that the Sony still doesn't seem to be charging properly. Boo. Spend money time?

Mummy Lim

Another New Ride

I like cycling. When I was a teenager, I had a trusty mountain bike that accompanied me on my rounds at the Bedok Reservoir. It was just me and my 933 then.

Recently, I grew bored of the treadmill and swimming. I thought about cycling again but wasn't willing to spend a fortune on a bike. I had thought that all bikes are the same. Afterall, my cheap, trusty mountain bike then had provided me with so much joy. On that theory, we eventually lugged home a foldable bike from NTUC. It was fairly cheap buy at $150. I tried cycling on it a few times and didn't enjoy the ride. It dawned on me then; that a proper bike really does make a huge difference.

Daddy Lim had been enjoying his Monster a lot. A week back, he even went night cycling in town with Uncle C and showed me fabulous pictures of the ride. He was all praise and I was tempted. I also want...

I was further lured when Uncle C said that an expensive bicycle shop was having mega sales and I could get a very good and originally very expensive bike at $400. Even though the bicycle shop was in faraway Ubi, we made plans to travel all the way down in search of my precious ride. 

Did we get it? Of course not. All good things are snatched already. The cheapest was a 700ish bike and I would not spend such money on a bike. Fortunately, the area was lined with bicycle shops. At the Giant bicycle shop, we asked for a basic and cheap bike and was led to the back area of the shop. Well, back area or not doesn't matter. What matter is that I found my love. It wasn't love at 1st sight bcos the kids were so noisy to allow any love to blossom but the price was right. My love comes at a "price tag". I left the specs and details to Daddy Lim while I entertain the kids and make sure nobody smash anything expensive in the bicycle shop with rows and rows of over thousand dollars bicycles.

Finally! My love!

We had to remove one of the wheels and bring down one of the back seats to be able to fit it into the car. The bike sat comfortably in the car while the rest of us huddled together. The plan was to test out the bike in the night. Hehehe. Fortunately we had tired kids who willingly went to bed at 9.30pm. We were all ready and set off for our 1st night ride date. 

I am no pro and fear riding on the road. I am so thankful for the PCN. With a combination of the PCN and some pedestrian walkways, we rode all the way to West Coast Park! Woohoo!

We took a break at the Mac and had a vanilla cone. It was to hard to resist after the workout. I probably lost all that I burnt to that ice cream cone but I just had to reward myself for the hard work.

The ride back was much faster bcos we needed to burn the ice cream cone and it was getting late. All in all, we clocked about 22km and it took us almost 3 hours with all the breaks. 

The ride was awesome. This time, I really fell in love with the bike. It was so smooth, so enjoyable, so wonderful. To more rides coming up. Hohoho.

Mummy Lim

Ride

Last night, I heard Daddy Lim and Zaky talking about going for a ride. This morning, while I was still snoozing on the sofa, trying to coax my body to go to the gym, I heard the bedroom door opened. I thought it was Popo. It wasn't, but the little boy who remembered about the cycling date and went to wake Daddy Lim up. 

Instead of the boring treadmill, I joined the boys. Lil Shauna was totally not keen and opted to sleep in instead. 

Daddy Lim was on his power ride while I took the foldable bike and Zaky has upgraded to take over jiejie's bike. 

We cycled from Centris, all the way through Chinese Garden via the PCN. It was a great ride. The weather was fantastic.

We cycled all the way to JCube bcos the boys were hungry and we stopped for Mac.

With a full tummy, we ride all the way home, clocking about 10km. It wasn't tough for the adults but no easy feat for Zaky on his little bicycle. We are so proud of him. 

He has officially taken over jiejie's bicycle and jiejie would take the foldable bike. His blue bike is now way too small for him.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating at Home

When one is so desperate to break in the new skates and doesn't want to risk being crippled during class with new skates.

Once a day, at least 30 mins each time.

Power!

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 93: New Skates

Some weeks ago, Lil Shauna complained that her little toes were hurting. It basically means that we would need to change her skates soon. Her current pair is probably about $300 but had lasted her for about 1.5 year. I had expected it to be soon. Her new pair would definitely cost more as she progresses. I was actually more worried about the running in period. She took more than 2 months for her current pair and it was a nightmare with the constant complain of pain and numbness. Her current pain is so comfortable now and she can wear them for hours.

Coach S was recommending either Jackson or Edea skates. She said that there isn't much difference but Edea skates are easier to run in. Lil Shauna is using Jackson now. After checking with the experienced mummies, we decided to continue with Jackson, which is likely to provide more support. We placed an order a few weeks back and finally collected them yday. Her new skates were almost $500. Woohoo!

Lil Shauna wore her old skates for practice. There is no way she could go for her class in her new skates. When she headed to the 1/3 Ice, she was happily chatting with A.

All the while, I was busy lacing her new skates. The leather is so tough! I had a hard time lacing her skates and I wonder how much it would hurt to wear them.

Class was some footwork following by the various jumps and spins. I was thinking what Coach Raymond was trying to teach her.

At the end of the class, Coach Raymond said that we should be able to decide by next month if we are to go for freestyle 3 or 4 during the competition. Ahhh.. Lil Shauna competed in freestyle 2 last December. Freestyle 3 would encompass toe loop, salchow jump, forward-backward-forward spin and 1 backward spiral. Freestyle 4 includes loop, half loop, flip jump, sit spin and both legs backward spiral. Lil Shauna still have problem with backward spin, sit spin and flip jump. I would think that we probably compete in freestyle 3.

Lil Shauna was made to go back to the rink after class, she needed to try out her new skates! The blades are partially mounted and she has to make sure that the alignment is ok before the blades can be permanently mounted.

I expected her to whine in pain and told her to stay on ice for at least 15 mins. She was already whiny when I was putting on her skates. Lol. It was an antagonizing 15 mins. She looked like she was a beginner when she stepped on the ice and she couldn't wait to get off. She said that it was so painful at the end of the 15 mins.

We had the blades permanently mounted and collected them this afternoon. Lil Shauna practiced in her old skates for 45 mins and then changed into her new ones for another 45 mins. She could do most of the stuff though at a lower intensity. At the end, she was limping off the ice. Lol. It was so painful! She had red patches on various parts of her feet. I think we need to wear them and walk around the house to help with the running in. Hopefully, she would be comfortable to wear them for the December competition. Yeah!

Mummy Lim

Hort Park and Southern Ridges

Bcos our weekend mornings are packed with lessons, I drooled at the idea of a morning hike on the National Day morning. Among the hikes/ trails that we had done, the treetop walk is my favourite so far. I would go back anytime but Daddy Lim wanted to explore something new.

After some Mr Google, Daddy Lim suggested the Hort Park and the Southern Ridges. There is even a brochure on it.

It says that it is a 3 to 5 hours walk of about 10km, starting from Haborfront and ending at Kent Ridge. We weren't sure if the kids could take such a long trail but it would be a good training for the future hikes overseas. Moreover, this is Singapore, I was sure that if the little legs couldn't move anymore, we could find an Uber somewhere.

We met Aunty H and the 2 kids at 8.15am to start the trail. Of course a we-fie to mark the start.

The trail started with a long flight of stairs to Mount Faber. I was surprised at how popular the trail was. It was crowded! The climb wasn't so bad except for Pop with her little tiny legs. When she was almost at the top, she was wailing and pleading to sit in her stroller. Fortunately, while crying, she understood that she didnt have much of a choice and was climbing at the same time. It was actually a very cute sight. Lol.

It was great view at the top. A short walk led us to the Faber Peak.

I have never been to the top of Mount Faber and though the view on top was fabulous, the "Mount" was so much shorter than I imagined it to be. Cable car!

Guessed what? We saw cabs at Mount Faber and also car parks. If we had parked at Mount Faber, it would have spared us the climb. Haha.

More cable car!

Finally, the kids were willing to move on. Aunty H told them that there would be a playground at the end and that was what the kids were keeping their eyes on.

What greeted us next were the waves. It was a huge length of overhead bridges with wave lookalike structure. I was awed by the view.

The kids were more interested about climbing the wave structure.

They were rushed to move on or we would probably never reach the end.

We came to an exercise corner and the kids insisted on a workout.

Next was a series of "treetop walks". It was beautiful.

Ever since the climb to Mount Faber, it had been largely a descend. I couldn't help but wonder how bad it would be on the return trip.

The kids were asking about the playground the whole way; that was what kept them moving. We finally found a playground in the Hort Park. It was like finding gold for the kids even though it was a mini playground.

While the kids were happily playing in the playground, the adults were deciding if we should go find a nearby lunch place and take taxi back to the car or walk back to the start point. Seriously, it wasn't that bad. Accordingly to me beloved fitbit, it was nowhere near the 10km mark.

The final choice... We walked back. The kids were voting for Uber. Lol. They were eventually willing to walk back at the promise that we would go to Aunty H's place after that. So easy to bluff.

The walk back was much easier and seems shorter probably bcos we were all very focus on completing the return trip. There was barely much distractions.

Finally, after almost 4 hours, we completed our walk to Hort Park and back. A victory picture!

Overall, it was a great walk. The weather had been fabulous too. It was cloudy and drizzling at times but that would be much preferred than the hot burning sun. I still think that the kids had more things to see at the treetop walk. However, this was definitely easier.

Mummy Lim

Finished my Reads

Do I like to read? Well, I do like to pick up a novel sometimes but life generally gets a little too busy to make time for reading.

Last year, I was inspired by the need to have to read widely and started my resolution of doing 6 books per year. Of course I am referring to non-friction books. Since then, I have set aside time to read and have completed 10 titles, some really good ones and of course lousy picks that I don't remember much at all. 

I do miss the novels; those are usually so much easier to digest than the heavy stuff. Lil Shauna mentioned that she wanted to start on the Harry Potter series and I got excited too. We could share those. Hehe. We almost got them a couple of times only to back out the last minute. She always ended up buying the easier reads. Well, I would too if I were 9. 

Yday, we were at the Chan's place. Unlike us who prefers to visit the library to avoid cluttering the house with books, they prided themselves over bookshelves of books. One of my reads - the 7 habits of effective people, was from their "library". While the kids were happily self entertained, I was browsing for another good book but didn't find one that I heart until I went to the recently added "kids section" in Boo's room. I found Book 1 (Socerer's Stone) of the 7 Harry Potter books! I decided to loan it for Lil Shauna to try before we decide to spend money on the rest. 

Aunty H was nice and encouraged me to start reading since the kids are so independent now. Oh boy, I was hooked!

I have definitely watched the movie but it had been a long time ago and I don't remember how it ended. The book was a great refresher and I actually LOL at times. It was nicely written indeed. The book rarely left my hand. I was more than halfway through by the time we left Aunty H's place and I had to complete it back home. Of course I did and I was so glad to be reminded of how the movie ended. Now, I couldn't wait to get Lil Shauna onto the wagon and my hands on book 2.

This morning, I also finished the read that I had been doing for almost the last 2 months - the Upstarts, which is on Airbnb and Uber. My takeback? You need an unconventional idea to a big problem (disruptions) plus very persistent and clever leaders. Haha. On my way to the 5th book of the year.

Mummy Lim

Battle with the Monster

It was a Monday morning and we were later than usual bcos... it was a Monday morning. Haha.

I was at the table, rushing the kids to finish their bfast. Daddy Lim was in the toilet, unblocking his system before he starts his day. Just then, there was this huge something that looks like a bee. It flew in from the balcony and into the living room. The something was hovering around the ceiling light, behind the kids' back.

My panic button was hit but the kids couldn't care more and was happily eating their bfast. I was warning the kids about the bee lookalike while slowly retreating into the kitchen; nobody cares much about me despite my repeated pleads for the kids to join me in the kitchen hideout.

The flying something started flying around the living room. I started to yell for the kids to join me in the kitchen. My fear definitely penetrated into them bcos they were soon scrambling to join me in the kitchen.

Behind the safety of the kitchen glass door, we saw that flying something dancing from light to light, happily exploring the living room. The poor us were huddling in the tiny kitchen. Then brave Lil Shauna suggested that she would leave the safety of the kitchen to go switch off the light. She did just that and ran back to huddle with us in the kitchen.  It was pitch black in the living room and we couldn't see if that flying something was still there.

We stood in the kitchen for a good while until Daddy Lim was done and exiting the toilet. We too decided to get out of the safety zone and out of the house for school and work. That thing must really like the light bcos when I was leaving the kitchen, it flew right beside me into the brightly lit kitchen! Bloody hell!

Though my knee buckled, I had the decency to shut the glass door behind me. We then see the thing fly into the glass door a few things trying to get out. Ahhhhhhh!

Behind the safety of the glass door, we were trying to determine what the insect was. I thought it looked like a big black bee. Daddy Lim said that bees are with yellow stripes and furry and cute, thus that cannot be a bee. He said that it must be a hornet or wasp!

We were trying to decide if we should kill it with insecticide only to realise that the ONLY insecticide was inside the storeroom, accessible through the kitchen! Boo! Note to myself that we need more than 1 can of insecticide at home and stored at different location.

Without the insecticide, we thought we should at least cover the Monster with something so that poor Popo wouldn't need to battle with it later in the morning. I found a transparent container and the Monster was stationary on the floor; our perfect chance. Just as Daddy Lim opened the door, it started flying and I saw Daddy Lim threw the container at it and quickly shut the door.

After the entire commotion, it was still flying everywhere in the kitchen while the container lays dead on the floor. Lol. At least we were still separated by the glass door. The noise did wake Popo up and we did at least warn her of the danger. She simply said that it would fly out from the window later. Ok lor.

In the car, we were still googling and checking if it was a bee, hornet or wasp. We didn't have the answer bcos it doesn't look like any of them. Anyway, Popo said that it was gone by the time she woke up. Chey. We were busied over nothing and were almost late for school and work. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Last Junior NBA Session

It had been 6 weeks and we have come to the end of the Jnr NBA sessions. This time, Lil Shauna and I tagged along to see how it was like.

Zaky knew exactly what to do upon arrival.

After registration, he was soon in the waiting area with the rest. There were so many kids.

The session commenced with warm up and it was obvious that the boy was disinterested, barely going through the motion. I bet he thinks that the warming up was lame, like how I felt during Zumba classes. Lol.

Then, they broke out into their groups and started their drill. Accordingly to Daddy Lim, there were minor changes to some sets from week to week but mostly the same.

While waiting, we self entertained.

Daddy Lim pointed out a girl who was very talented and I couldn't agree more. She must be the best among all the running amok kids. Not only was her ball handing very steady, her footwork was fantastic too. I will be damn proud if that was my daughter.

The last 5 mins of the session asked for parents' participation and it was finally my turn to accompany the boy. It was a simple rolling ball drill.

That marks the end of the 6-week lessons. We read that there are some other basketball classes coming up in some of the sports hall. However, for 7 YO, it would be similar ball familiarisation exercises. Zaky was totally uninterested. Lol. He still thinks that he is too good for the basics. Zzzzz. He totally disagreed when I told him about that super talented girl, which he totally wasn't aware of and doesn't acknowledge.

He had fun though and was looking forward to his basketball classes every Sunday.

Mummy Lim