Last Weekend before PSLE

PSLE had been in our sight since the school year started. But what we didn't know is that time would fly by so quickly and now PSLE is looming around the corner. Scary.

Lil Shauna had probably worked hard. I am not too sure actually but she would definitely say "yes" if I asked her. Lol. She had barely gone through half of the exam papers that I had for the very 1st time spent money to purchase for the kids instead of relying on free test papers websites. She will go on about how much school work and papers the school has already given her. Then I got busy with work and LV to hawk her. 

The school work part is really real and I saw her working on papers after papers. Given so, I happily take a back seat and let the school drilled her. While she is at the stage that she grumbles at all work given to her, she didn't dare to not do those given by the teachers. Her Maths teacher is very on the ball. Looking at the amount of papers that she made her students do, she must be trying to push the entire class to ace PSLE Maths. That leaves me to nag and push her to do English and Science papers. Haha. 

We are really at the end stage and Lil Shauna had been whinning about how exhausted she is. I can imagine with the year's of hard work and the pending up stress and anxiety. I could only encourage and remind her that it is really the last leg, that she needed to hold up the last bit and soon it will be over. 

She had home-based learning these 3 days before her 1st paper on Thursday. I am not sure if it is a nation-wide special arrangement to keep the students safe from covid-19 or what. 

This morning, she looked at me and told me that PSLE is 48 hours away! Yes, go for it, try your best baby and leave the rest to God. Muaks. 

Soon she will be a free bird. No need to study, no tuition or enrichment classes and no student care! Wah, really enjoy life. 

Mummy Lim

Zaky is Ice Skating Too: Core 3 Test

Last week's last Core 3 session went without a hitch and I was daring enough to do ice practice with the kids in the afternoon too. 

It wasn't too bad but the initial excitement was lost. I think the kids can practice themselves from now on lah. Haha. 

Zaky was ready for the Core 3 test this morning. I don't think the Coach taught new stuff, it was mainly to test what were taught anyway. 

Towards the end of the lesson, the students were allowed to practice freestyle while the Coach concentrated on testing a student who was late. Zaky obviously took every opportunity to play afool. 

Did he pass? Of course. I have to say that he did improve a lot from the 1st time that he hit the ice after the long hiatus. 

He says that he wanted to sign on Core 4. Hoho.

Mummy Lim

 

LV Project: Week of Delivery

It had been a busy week and I had spent a good amount of time camping and working from LV, all thanks to WFH. 

On Tuesday, it was floor polishing. While the workers were busy grinding and polishing the living room's homogeneous tiles and kicking up a thin layer of white dust everywhere, I was hiding in the MBR with my laptop. This was the view that accompanied me. 

I have to thank the kids's beanbag that made working from the almost bare bedroom very enjoyable. 

The polishing took almost the entire day and I survived very well, except that there was no proper lunch. Daddy Lim was back in the yard and I survived on bread from home and snacks that I bought from the mama shop downstairs. 

Y'day was a full delivery day, mainly from Ikea and a few pieces of other furniture. We paid for the Ikea assembly service and it was the right choice seeing how efficient they were. It was still a mess and worse when adding on the layer of fine dust from the polishing. What is heartening is that LV is starting to look like a home. 

We were back this afternoon for our bed's headboard delivery. We bought our bed without a headboard 4 years back. I saw really creative ideas online to substitute the headboard but were all regretted by Daddy Lim. Haha. Let's just stick to the traditional ones. 

The headboard delivery was simple and easy. Daddy Lim couldn't take the dusty balcony or powdery floor and ended up washing the balcony, vacuuming and mopping the floor. We lost count of the times that we do those. 

We had been packing and shifting a little every other day. 

The trolley that we loaned from one of the WWFians is a life saver. 

The news just announced the relax in ruling in working in the office. Just when we thought we can slowly bit by bit shift, I think we better speed up. 

Mummy Lim

LV Project: Renovation

When we shifted into Centris 4 years' back, we knew that it wouldn't be our permanent home. It was too small and would become even smaller as the kids grow bigger, like literally bigger. 

By God's grace and timing, it is finally time to bid goodbye to this temporary home and move into our permanent home - LV. The kids would then get their own room and I hope this would stop Zaky from crawling into our bed. He said that it was bcos his current mattress is not comfortable and I bought him a very comfortable one. Haha. 

Our tenant had taken very good care of the unit such that there aren't much damage except for those due to wear and tear. We didn't want to burn our pockets over renovation and also preferred furniture over fittings for future flexibility. Thankfully for WFH arrangement, we had the flexibility to manage the renovation, furniture shopping and delivery with minimal time stress. I lost count of the number of Ikea trips and there are more to come.

We found a nice and reasonable contractor through recommendation when the last one who did our Centris unit turn us down due to a lack of manpower. As there wasn't major work to be done, the renovation was successfully completed in the 8 working days as estimated. The most expensive item is Lil Shauna's loft bed. 

Everytime Daddy Lim sees her loft bed, he will ask me why didn't we just buy a cheap one from Ikea. This one is tested and approved by the Princess ok. 

Now that the renovation has been completed, we have started to shift and unpack bit by bit in LV. The intention is to minimise unpack on the shift day, which has been fixed after PSLE. Things are looking good. We are looking forward to the delivery of the new furniture as well so that we can start to shift and unpack more stuff. Hehehe. 

Mummy Lim

Zaky is Ice Skating Too: Core 3 Lesson 3

Zaky continues to be really enthusiastic about the Core classes. 

Daddy Lim went for a spin in the morning and I drove us to the Rink. I thought it wasn't too bad, no jittery legs but Zaky complained that I drove too slowly and took too many attempts to park. Zzzzz. He should be happy that we didn't have to take the MRT. 

There was already a Q forming when we arrived before 9am. The people were queuing to register for a skating slot in the later part of the day. Apparently, the reservation system isn't the most effective one. Their updates on IG/ FB are not prompt and Lil Shauna and I had already on 3 (or more) occasions turned up at the Rink more than 1 hour before the session time to realise that the session had been booked out. Luckily we live near to the Rink. 

As I wanted to secure a practice slot for Lil Shauna in the afternoon and also wanted to skate with the kids, I became kiasu and joined the Q after settling Zaky. There was already a long Q when the Rink finally opened for reservations at 9.30am. 

The system isn't too fair as well. I was the 12th in the line but before it was even my turn, the 3pm session had been booked out. Somebody in the line before me had a long list of names added to the register and that somebody and his group was busy tallying to ensure that they didn't miss out anybody. Fortunately for us, we were aiming for the earlier session and got a slot. The lady right in front of me wasn't that lucky and feedback to the staff. I feedback too, hoping that the Rink would change their reservation system. Lil Shauna has cut down on her practice bcos we aren't sure of getting a slot and it is seriously stressful to rush to the Rink and then realised that it is fully booked. 

The staff encouraged me to write in to the Rink instead. The current system didn't seem to work very well for the staff too and they enthusiastically encouraged me to write in with my feedback. Lol. Of course I did. Hoho. 

By the time I was done with the registration, Zaky was also almost done with his class. He was telling me that he learnt the footwork for crossover but stationary. 

We headed back to the Rink in the afternoon and had a lot of fun. 

I practiced with the boy like how I used to with Lil Shauna. I remembered how I used to hold her hands while she practiced her 3-turns, mohawks, 2-foot spins and waltz jump. It brought back so much memories. Then I got to see Lil Shauna do her complicated spins and jumps up closed. She has gone beyond me many moons back. I am now reduced to helping her video her moves. 

Time passed so quickly and there wasn't much whinning from Zaky bcos he had me as companion. He was cooperative even when I was occupied with jiejie. While I can't do 3-turns, mohawk or crossover, I know how they are done theoretically, having gone through them with Lil Shauna many moons back. So Zaky had fun learning them from the theory tutor. Lol. He was so proud when he could do the crossovers. I also made him practice on his core. 

The kids were egging me to skate with them again next Sunday. Hahaha. I am popular choice leh. Let me think about it, I got sore back from the 2-hour skating. Old already lah. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Long Overdue Sushi

Many years ago, when we 1st got our new place and before the kids infringed into our space, I insisted on buying the sushi bamboo roller, telling Daddy Lim that I would make sushi for him. I used to have memorable sushi dates with the girls during our school days. That was when tons of sushi rice do not lead to indigestion or add to the waistline. Yes, the happy times. 

I never got down to making those sushi. Daddy Lim teased me for years! I even secretly threw away the bamboo roller but the mocking didn't stop. Haha. 

After like 13 years, all thanks to the CB, I finally got to deliver my sushi. While most of the preparation were done by Popo, I bought the ingredients and also instructed what to do. Hohoho. I will take all the credits!

Tadah! The long awaited sushi!

We even had it 2x! The kids had fun. 

The 1st time, I gobbled down a small roll and ended up with indigestion after dinner. I was cleverer the second time and went really easy on the sushi rice. 

Ya! I finally 还回来了. Hehehe. 

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 209: Full Ice

It is another rare full ice lesson and just as I expected, the rink was crowded with many other advanced skaters. Reaping on the benefit of WFH, I was able to send Lil Shauna for class and worked at the rink. During the session, my boss called me and I wondered if he heard the background noise. Even if he did, he was kind enough not to ask. Haha. 

What's new? Nothing actually. Haha. Everytime I see those advance skaters zooming past, I am in awe. They had so much strength in their spins, jumps and even strokes but yet so graceful at the same time. In comparison, Lil Shauna is like slow motioning. Haha. 

After class, while rushing home, I was telling her again about the advance skaters. She insisted confidently that she was skating much faster than usual, if not as fast as the other skaters. Huh? I think her contact lenses are not working. Hohoho. Otherwise, one of us must be sleeping. Cannot be me, I was working and sipping my home made coffee. 

Fortunately, she said that she can now almost 100% land her axle jump after Coach corrected her. I hope the time that I happened to lift my head and saw her slipped after the axle jump is that 0.001%. Haha. She also said that Coach helped her with the double salchow jump and she now slips less; she saw it in Coach's video but has totally has no feeling that she is slipping, whether more or less. 

Lil Shauna will have her last lesson next week before stopping for the PSLE. Yes, we want no injury before the biggest exams of her 12 years of life. Fighting.

Mummy Lim

Zaky is Ice Skating Too: Core 3 Lesson 2

Zaky is still very excited about his ice skating class. Daddy Lim and I were just very sleep deprived and sore having the RI. Hoho. 

We were cleverer this time and didn't lug Lil Shauna along. The lesson is afterall only 30 mins and we will bring him back for ice time later in the afternoon. 

Zaky has a lot of power in his strokes but lack of control and I see him flapping his arms like a chicken constantly in attempt to not lose his balance. Interestingly, the coaches taught them the single foot 3-turn. I don't remember learning that the last Core 3 that I took with Zaky; Lil Shauna only learnt that when she started her individual lesson.

The boy was of course very proud of himself for almost achieving the single foot 3-turn. Confirmed that he is too full of himself. I don't think he is very good leh. 

We brought the kids back to the ice in the afternoon. Lil Shauna had lesson and didn't have much time to entertain the boy. Even Coach commented on his flappy arms. I had actually the thought to skate with him but think I am pushing it with my tired body. Next week perhaps. 

Mummy Lim

Another Rainy RI Conquered

Something are just meant to be impromptu, like another RI. Haha. There appeared to be no short of people doing RI. Somebody jio-ed and we join-ed. 

It was on Saturday night, right after the kids' (and my) very sleep deprived "camping" experience. It rained the entire day and we didn't know if the RI would take place. I took no chance and squeezed in 2 cat naps to make sure that I would survive the RI should it really happen. 

The sky didn't let up the entire day and finally stopped at about 6pm. It didn't stop us despite the wet roads. We met the gang and rolled off in a light drizzle. 

There was fortunately no Mandai this time. The organizer had said that it would be a "slow" RI and the 2nd train was made up of MTB, gravel bike, foldie and even a fat bike. I toyed with the idea of riding my MTB but that is like courting death and I killed the idea super fast. #valuelife Lol. We did roll off reasonably "slow" to cater to the 2nd train but there wasn't a need to bcos those non-roadie riders were super strong and caught up with us easily. Heng I never ride my MTB or 死字都来不及写.

It was a wet ride. It started drizzling at certain segments. 

Fortunately the drizzle didn't develop into a thunderstorm. I wore the padded underpants that I recently bought online and had to wear an outer layer for modesty. It wasn't too bad; I had sore butt but nothing that cannot be tolerated. Yay! A way to combat tan lines!

This was us after TMCR. It was wet and dirty but so glad to be done!

All were good but my thighs threatened to cramp after the Keppel flyover and my neck was sore like hell. I blamed it on the camping. Hoho. I was so glad when quite a few of the cyclists agreed to slowly roll home from WCP. Heng I didn't cramp after smearing tiger balm muscle rub like no tomorrow. 

At 2.30am in the wee morning, I should be in bed but there I was, wiping down on my beloved Liv at the corridor bcos it was way too dirty. Yay! Another RI concluded!

Mummy Lim

A New Camping Experience

The kids had been asking to go camping. We talked about camping before the Covid-19 but never got down to doing it and then the CB hit. I wasn't too keen actually; my bed at home is calling and I totally didn't mind leaving this wonderful experience to Daddy Lim.

The opportunity came, though it wasnt exactly camping. Hoho. It also coincided with the school holidays and cannot be more perfect. We even invited Caitlyn, Torres and Boo. 

We went around hunting for a tent and was lucky to find somebody to loan us a 4-men tent. We aren't sure if the idea would work. The kids were asked to bring along their sleeping bag and in the worse case, they would just have to cocoon in their sleeping bag. 

So, what is this "camping" that we are talking about? No, there is no sand and mud and it is semi outdoor - to camp at the new LV's balcony. Hohoho. It is now a big open balcony before the furniture come in place. 

Daddy Lim had the chance to attempt to set up the tent in the afternoon. 

It didn't work completely as the pins were supposed to be secured into the ground but there is no "ground" to do so. 

He managed to use the 2 corners of the balcony to sort of secured the 2 ends of the tentage spine. The other 2 corners of the tent was dangling and the tent wasn't secured. He said that we needed probably bricks or weights for the non-secured ends. Huh? Where to find weights? Stun from the gym ah? 

The tent was brought indoors while we figured out better solutions. 

Our guests arrived in the evening after dinner. We attempted round 2 of tent setting up and it wasn't too bad! The cover was partially drapped over to simulate "camping experience" and also not risk the kids getting heat stroke in the tent. 

What did we use to secure the 2 ends? Did we really steal weights?

Hohoho. We are so clever. We ended up with 8 bottles of soft drinks and water and have plenty of stock for the next few months. 

The tent was secured enough for the kids to jump in and out. Yay!

It was meant to be a 4-men tent. I thought that it would comfortably fit the 5 kids but it was a real squeeze. Ok, some of the kids are very much adult size. They ended up lying side by side like a pack of hotdogs. We also set up the fan in case it was too stuffy. Fortunately it was a cool evening and night.

We already doubted that the kids would have a good night sleep. They were chatting and laughing until late night. I was so worried about receiving a neighbor's complaint. They finally hushed towards midnight and started falling asleep. In order to all fit into the tent, they decided to sleep 4 side by side and Zaky squeeze horizontally at the bottom. 

Somebody had to watch over the kids and I courageously volunteered myself given that it was my silly idea. Daddy Lim happily went home to sleep on our big bed. 

I was sleeping on a thin yoga mat with 2 folded up towels as pillow. I woke up like multiple times in the night. After sleeping in a particular position for a period of time, my arm/ leg/ whatever gets numbed and I woke up to change to a new position and repeat throughout the night. Then in the middle of the night, it got super chilly and I was trying to decide if I should sacrifice a blanket aka pillow. Lol. 

I checked on the kids a couple of times in the night and they appeared fine. The others mused that Zaky flipped 180 degrees in the middle night and at one point appeared to be hugging Torres' legs. Neither boys had any inkling of the incident. 

I woke up at about 6am and heard chattering from the tent. They were saying that they wanted to watch the sunrise. In my heart, I was thinking that the sun doesn't rise from the West side. Lol. The kids eventually figured that out. 

The idea was to end off the "camping" experience with a morning swim but it started raining in the morning. The kids ended up playing "nerds" in the "tent" with the covering removed for added ventilation.

Project accomplished and tent properly dismantled and packed. 

The kids were super thrilled at the experience and asked to do it again. Thank you but no thank you. I came to realise how thin sleeping bags and yoga mats are. Haha. Daddy Lim and the kids are again talking about "real" camping. I had my turn, it is Daddy Lim's turn. Hohoho.

Mummy Lim

Zaky is Ice Skating too: Core 3 Lesson 1

Ever since Zaky stopped his TKD and ActiveSG basketball, he has been super free during the weekend while jiejie spent a lot of her time at the rink. The inactivity is also not helping with his weight. He is getting chubbier and chubbier, a far cry from his scrawny younger self. 

I took the opportunity to encourage Zaky to take up the ice skating core classes again. He passed his Core 3 a couple of years back and it had been a long time since he stepped back onto the ice. He must be bored and happily agreed to the classes. 

In preparation, we sent him ice skating with Lil Shauna a couple of times before the classes. Last Sunday morning, he started his very 1st class. 

Coach Raymond saw him before class and asked me what happened to him. Ya, what happened, how come he is a balloon now? Lol. Coach said that ice skating is not enough and he should join the off ice class. Zaky immediately backed out. Zzzzz.

It is so rare for Lil Shauna to be sitting and looking from the bench. She said that it was so weird. 

The 30 mins' class went fine. The pre-practices have done him well and I think it is easier for him to take instructions and control his body now that he is older. He happily came back and tell me how good he is. Ya, right. Lol. 

The class came with 2-hour free ice practice and he has a choice to practice at any time so long as he keeps his waist band. We went back during Lil Shauna's usually practice time so that she can help me watch over Zaky.

It all went went. The boy is looking forward to his next class. He said that he wants to do figure skating after that. Hmmm... Let's see. 

Mummy Lim