Stepping Down and Stepping Up

Nana didn’t make it into the main team this year. We knew this would happen when she pai-ka-ed.. However, this doesn’t mean that she is exempted from the training. Even when she was paika, she had to be present to… pick balls? 

Anyway, now that she is in Sec 4, she is stepping down. 1st, it was her Student Council. I didn’t even attend the step-down investiture. I think there was one and I was invited. Hoho. 

2 weeks ago, she was counting down to her last 3 training sessions. NSG has ended for the B division. Her last training was on Wednesday. She and her batch mates went for dinner after that. 

Mookata wor. The kids must be quite rich. Nana said that she saved up for this.

With this, all CCAs have ended for her.It basically means time to step up for her O levels revision. She is now in the midst of WA2. She said that she had studied for it. With the change of tuition centre for A Maths, dropping Physics and focusing on Chemistry, I hope we can see some better results. Her Chinese prelim is on next Thursday, “we” have worked hard. She has done quite some practices on both paper 1 and 2 and I have pushed her hard. Her Chinese 10-year series is the most used compared to the rest. Fighting! 

Disgressing, she cleverly popped up at my brother’s place for dinner one of the nights before tuition and flex about how good the nasi lemak that Popo cooked was. 

Yday, we were at Speingleaf prata and the kids tried lambing soup for the 1st time in their life. 

I haven’t had this in many, many years myself. I used to “steal” this when my Dad bought it. #oldpeoplefood

Nana now have Monday and Wednesday afternoons free. I think NH’s night study classes are starting soon, where students voluntarily stayed back after school to study together but in the canteen. I don’t know how comfortable that is but should be fun to study with friends. June holidays would be intensive tuition and more tuition. Nana is mentally preparing herself and I am expecting tantrums. Zzzz. 

I don’t remember studying so hard for O levels but of course time is so different now. Jia you! 

Mummy Lim

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last bday, I planned for a family hi-tea at some hotel. This year, it fell on a Monday and I told Daddy Lim that we should go JB on our own. I know right, why am I planning for my own bday? But I rather do that than to let it become “another day”.

Were the kids upset that they are not included in the plan? Sort of - they have to go to school and our absence in the day is almost unnoticeable. Moreover, they were already “part of the bday plan” when we headed to my brother’s place for dinner on Sunday. 

Digressing, they got a new puppy. So cute!

That re-ignited an old family discussion of adopting a second cat. No!!!! I must not fall trap. The double care giving work will fall on me. 

On Monday morning, we sent the kids to school before heading to the Woodlands Train Station. 

For the past few months, Nana has been braiding her own hair, unless an event in school that requires her to have extra neat braids. 不需要我了. I missed braiding her hair a little but is happy with the extra time I now have in the morning. Hoho.

We parked at a block in Woodlands, as shared by Uncle C, who had done this several times. We were early but couldn’t find a nearby kopitiam to burn some time.

The Woodlands Train Station is across the road from where we parked and about 7 mins walk away. 

Our train was at 8.30am and the gate opened for checkin at 7.50am. It was a lot of following the crowd. People were waiting and queuing and so were we. At about 7.45am, we heard the train and saw people disembarking. It was a turnaround train.

The staff then started allowing the passenger to enter the “gantry”, which essentially is a doorway, manually scanning the passports with a mobile phone device. The tickets were tagged to the passport. Following the crowd, we cleared the SGP immigration, then the MYS immigration. All these were smoothly done and within  30 mins. 

We waited for boarding in an aircon room. Before long…

Free seating.

The train was filled and some passengers were standing, which didn’t quite matter bcos the ride was only 5 mins. Once we alighted, we found ourselves next to City Squate. The mall only opens at 10am and so we had bfast! 

I didn’t manage Daddy Lim’s nasi lemak. I thought it was heavy for bfast. He said that he would go lighter for lunch. Let’s see.

Bcos City Square wasn’t open, we took a grab to Southkey, which is about 15 mins drive away. The Grab fare was only RM8! At least we can roam the Southkey Mall a little while waiting for the shops to open. 

We had been to the Southkey Mall previously. It is a huge shopping mall. We systemically conquered the mall starting from the lowest level. 

Shopping is tiring, such that Daddy Lim didn’t object when I suggested foot massage. He is usually not a fan. Ya, I know, how could that possibly be? Unfortunately, all Singaporeans flocked to JB for massage too and the only available slots didn’t fit our schedule. We had fun with lunch instead. 

We also had har gao, fried carrot cake and porridge. The lunch cost us almost RM100. While it is probably expensive in Malaysian context, we gloat over how cheap lunch was. Was it light? 

We decided to grab back to City Square and refreshed up with coffee and cake. 

Happy birthday to me! 

We spent the rest of the time roaming City Square Mall and to buy something for the poor kids who couldn’t tag along. Finally at 4ish, we rested our tired legs. I duno why we were eating again. lol.

We were back at the station at 5pm for the train at 5.45pm. Boarding starts at 5.15pn. The return leg was slightly different. The ticket gantry is automated. Then we cleared the MYS immigration. The SGP immigration is after the train ride. 

It was about 6pm when we exited Woodlands Train Checkpoint. The whole journey was very smooth, just that we had very tired legs. Hohoho. We talked about bringing the kids maybe for an overnight weekend stay the next time. Hmmm.. let”s nail the Chinese O level paper on 27 May 1st. Fighting! 

Mummy Lim

Timbre+

It was a no-program Saturday. While I was riding, I saw Auntie J jio the Genting gang for a Timbre+ live band dinner later in the evening. 

Are we free? Very free. Hoho. Coincidentally, the other 2 families were also available. We decided to meet at about 7pm and all headed down from different parts of Singapore after some kids’ activities/ tuition/ enrichment. At least One-North is near to us. 

The food is like atas foodcourt price but less the aircon. It is open-air and fortunately not too crowded, which made the warm evening slightly more bearable. 

The Vibes was playing and the vocalist was super good and strong. 

The band was engaging as well. At one point, it was like a concert. Look at the flashlight! 

They invited guests onstage and QQ took on the challenge. 

Auntie TL said that it was her 1st live band performance. QQ was very impressive. It was also my 1st time hearing her sing onstage and her vocal is very strong. Maybe we have the next Singapore idol amongst us. Hoho.

The Fung Family left early. We stayed on until the band finished the 2nd set. The girls enjoyed the band. Nana said that the band sang all the right songs.

Zaky got bored but at least tahan-ed until almost the end of the 2nd set. He would probably ask us to go at 8pm if not for the companion. 

Daddy Lim was very happy. While the other couples shared like 1 beer, he alone down 3. Hoho. He was a red lobster. He has always like live band; I prefer to go clubbing. Haha.

We left at about 10pm. Daddy Lim said that we should do this more often. 

I drove home. I think this was like the 2nd or 3rd time driving the Audi. It was so foreign when I got behind the wheels. I think I need to drive more frequently. We got home safely ah. Hoho.

I like Timbre+ better than Timbre Signature. Maybe bcos there was more space or maybe the companion made this experience so much better.

Mummy Lim

Parent-Teacher Meeting for Nana

Several weeks ago, I received a notice on Parent Gateway for Parent-Teacher Meeting (PTM) for Nana. Now that I recalled, I think this is the 2nd time that I was invited to NH. The 1st was some mass briefing. There wasn’t even any one to one with the teacher then. SST does a better job in engaging the parents. 

The PTM was followed by some Principal speech, which I couldn’t attend bcos of work. Given that Nana is taking her Os this year, I was keen to meet the teacher to see how I can help Nana. 

It was a busy school day, and adding on PTMs. The school canteen was buzzing with activities. 

Nana came to pick me; we were supposed to attend the PTM together. 

We met her form teacher, who is also her Physics teacher and her Geography teacher. The form teacher wasted no time in telling us how bad Nana did for WA1. She is a 29-pointers for L1R5 and only a few topics were tested in WA1. The rest of the session was basically the teachers constantly pressing Nana’s panic buttons. Even I got very gen cheong leaving the session. Zzzzz. Fortunately, it wasn’t just during the PTM that we realised how fast O level is hitting us. We have also started strategising. 

Nana has decided that she would now concentrate on Chemistry and stopped her Physics tuition. She isn’t strong in her Maths and attempting to ace her Physics on top of the 2 Maths is stretching. Her form teacher even asked if she had thought of dropping a subject. That is to say, she would have free periods to concentrate/ study other subjects. My eyes sparkled! We can drop SS/ History! Only to be told that SS is the only subject that cannot be dropped. Zzzzz… while she decided that she will not focus on Physics (for now), whether she can really drop the subject will be dependent on how well she does for her Chinese. If Chinese is screwed, then Physics will have to be the fall back. 

We found out that the PTM was only for parents whose kids didn’t do well in WA1. When we headed back to the canteen, Nana saw her friends; they started comforting her that 29 points isn’t that bad bcos some of them did worse. Zzzzz… what kind of friends ah. Lol. 

Chinese tuition and self revision are going strong. We are working hard on the Chinese 10-year series. Nana is practicing her P1 for her tutor to mark. I hope she doesn’t hate Chinese even more after O-levels bcos there is still AO level Chinese if she made it to the JC. Hoho. 

Fighting! 6 more weeks to O levels Chinese! 

Mummy Lin

Nana is Baptised!

Nana left FMC when she was in Secondary 1 to join her CNL youth. I remembered the heartache I felt to let her go to another church but it all turned out well. It must be God’s plan and timing. 

Her youth group is small and thus easier to bond. While the age range is huge (in the group), there are several about her age and she bonds really well with them. Zaky has also started to join her youth after the youth camp late last year. He still joins me for Sunday service in FMC and I am very grateful for his companion.

A few weeks back, Nana asked if she can be baptised in her church. She sounded like she thought I might say no. Of course she can go ahead. I had been exploring the idea myself for a while. A long time back, I did picture our family being baptised together but am glad that God has spoken to her and made her go ahead. There is no need to wait for us. In fact, I couldn’t be more proud that she is genuinely seeking God and not attending church/ youth bcos we made her do so. 

Her baptism took place during church service on Easter Sunday. We have attended her church service several times but I still prefer FMC. It is that familiarity and “at home” feeling when I am in FMC. 

There were a total of 10 people getting baptised and the baptism took place at the start of the service while worship was on-going. Nana was getting baptised together with one of her youths. 

He 

The church videoed some of those getting baptised.

It was a very long worship… for like an hour. Zzzz…

I wondered what did the pastor tell her. 

After like a long chat, finally… 

Baptised!

It was such a touching and emotional moment. She is the 1st in our family to be baptised. What touched me more was when I saw Nana hugged Daddy Lim and Zaky. Zaky hugged her so tightly again after service. Daddy Lim and I are born in the era that such physical touches in family (with our own parents and siblings) is rare and probably awkward. 

Did you see the broccoli flower in Nana’s hand? Her friend gifted that to her. So cute right? Then I saw another baptised person has an even bigger bouquet of vegetables. So funny. 

I asked Zaky if he wanted to be baptised too. He said to wait until he feels that it is the right timing. I prayed that God will touch his heart too. Amen!

Mummy Lim

Chalet @ DownTown East

I cannot remember when was the last time I had stayed overnight in a chalet. I mean, it would imply that I would be in Singapore, then why won’t I sleep peacefully in my own room and bed? 

For the long weekend, we were originally planning for an escape to Desaru. I was searching for the transfer options, wavering between ferry (bad ferry timing but escape the custom jam) or driving. I was leaning towards the latter. Heng we didn’t. I read about the crazy custom jam to enter MYS, even at 5am. Hoho. 

We eventually missed Desaru bcos Daddy Lim remembered that he had to be on standby duty. I felt bad for the kids after hyping up the whole Desaru trip. I was intended to spent the $$ anyway and suddenly thought that we can book a chalet for the kids! They can invite their friends while Daddy Lim and I can have a peaceful long weekend. That sounds like the great plan. Right? 

The plan didn’t go as ideally. lol. 

We invited the SHSS gang for the 1st day and the big kids were invited to sleepover on the 1st night. There were 5 boys and 5 girls. I volunteered to stayover, just in case of emergency. Daddy Lim headed home bcos he was on duty on Saturday and there was simply no space. 

The boys met at 11am to go to WWW. Our room could see the big slide. 

As you can tell from the picture, the sun was scorching hot. 

The room is very decent and comes with 2 double beds. 

How would all 11 of us sleep ah? I am not the only one dwelling over the question bcos many of the kids came armed with their sleeping bag and Auntie TL brought 2 single air mattresses that were the boys’ life saver. 

The plan was to do BBQ but only for fun, thus I only ordered very little food. People are to find food from Ehub and there were plenty of choices. The boys were fed MacD when they exited WWW at 4ish. Perfect timing.

Uncle C and Daddy Lim set up the fire with the boys’ help.

The boys also set up their own “fire”, happily burning leaves and twigs. Zzzz. All kids like to do that right? 

The BBQ, though tiny, was a success. 

We had a surprise cake for Auntie R. She said that she felt very young again, to be celebrating her bday in a chalet. Haha.

The kids adjourned to the room, leaving the adults to catch up. The adults had to leave when the big kids started to chase the little ones away. 

The room, meant for 4, was messy when there are 11. We did some housekeeping, keeping the bags off the floor, so that there would be space for activities and to sleep. 

I was very efficient. The aunties left at 10ish, I was in bed, trying to sleep at 11ish. The kids went out to buy cup noodles for supper. Zaky went but came back empty handed bcos he said that he was not hungry. Then when the rest started cooking, he realised that he was hungry. Zzzz. So I got off the bed and went with him to get cup noodles. 

I saw the kids gathered on the floor, tucking in the noodles when I attempted to go to sleep. I think I did sleep despite the noise. I am glad that I am the auntie who stayed over bcos I don’t think any of the aunties would be able to do what I did. Unfortunately, I kept waking up, especially when somebody yell or loud laughter. They kept laughing loudly. T..T I pitied our “neighbours”. Then somebody grabbed my toes when trying to get off the floor to the toilet. Another time, T sat on my foot. Zzzz. I heard somebody commented that I should try to sleep deeper so that I don’t keep waking up. I don’t want meh? 

In the midst of my semi-awake periods, I tried very hard not to eavesdrop on their very interesting truth or dare and truth or truth story. I think they eventually attempted to speak their truth softer in case Auntie Dawn was eavesdropping and that lured me to sleep. The next moment, I was disturbed by the rubber rubbing sound made by the air mattresses. A while later, Nana was sleeping beside me. Finally, there was peace.

My alarm rang at 6.45am. So, the sleeping arrangement was - Nana, QQ and me on one bed, and the other 3 skinny girls on another. The arrangement didn’t quite make sense. Haha. The boys were scattered on the floor, some on the air mattresses, others on the floor in the sleeping bags.

I don’t think anybody slept well, some were stirring when I headed out for my jog at about 7am. 

I realised how “short” Pasir Ris park is. I think end to end is only about 2.5ish km. I haven’t jogged in a while. The last jog was before I broke my ankle and then I was trying to make my gym membership worth. Jogging is always so tiring. Zzzzz.

Some of the boys were up when I returned to the room. The sun was shining brightly but the day curtain worked very well. 

With the extra bed space, Nana must have slept very well after I left. So, V went to bed earliest at 2ish. The rest of the boys hit the sack at 3ish. The girls survived until 4ish.

The kids lazed around until about 9ish. I had to chase the boys out for bfast and they had MacD. The girls took time to use the toilet and finally made it out of the room at 10am too. I can see in C’s and QQ’s face, questioning life on why Auntie Dawn wakes them up so early on a Saturday morning. Lol. The girls went HDL for bfast. Never heard of that.

Auntie S was very nice. She made her way back to Downtown East to have bfast with me before heading off for her appointments. I earned myself a free bfast. 

There were more lazing around. In my half mental capacity, I managed to make plans to meet Daddy Lim at Suntec for lunch. At least that was half way home and I saved a tiny bit on grab fare. When one is that tired, all desserts make extra sense. 

I attempted to linger a little while more but my physical body didn’t agree. We left for home and I slept all the way home. Then it was mad unpacking and washing up.

The kids had different parents to eye power them though unplanned. Auntie J was there to pick ER for classes and stayed for a while after I left. Auntie R came with G shortly and enjoyed the slides in WWW. Then Auntie H joined in the evening. They only left after the kids had dinner.

The 2nd day chalet plan actually went haywire but yet worked out nicely. Nana had initially invited her youth to the chalet on day 2. Only Zaky and T were supposed to stay back. Then, her youth decided to meet somewhere, bcos there were still too many people in the chalet and it would be too crowded for so many. Nana went to join them but had to Uturn bcos she took T’s wallet by mistake. The sun was blazing hot, she was angry and tired to make the journey again and decided not to meet her youth. In the end, almost all the kids stayed back for dinner. They happily made their way to Swensen for dinner. Good life.

Nana managed to hitch a ride home from Auntie H. Heng ah, bcos we really didn’t want to drive all the way back to Pair Ris. By the time she was home, I had fallen asleep and didn’t even remember to check on Zaky. I had told him that he should call Auntie S instead if there is emergency bcos she is nearer. Hohoho. I don’t think Auntie S got any calls.

On Sunday morning, we had to pick the boys, the leftover stuff and checkout. To make full use of the journey, we did a little skate at ECP 1st. 

The boys survived and fed themselves MacD bfast again. I was pleasantly surprised that they also packed up the room and there was little to do when we arrived. 

With this, we wrapped up our chalet stay. The kids had enjoyed themselves very much. It took me the weekend to recover. I think I shouldn’t have such wild ideas in the future. Haha.

Mummy Lim