"Power" Ride

Did I tell you that I heart my fitbit? It is definitely one of the best investments in recent times. I set for myself a daily 8k step target but pushed myself to meet 10k every day. This means the daily walk along the office corridor before work starts if I am in Tuas or conquering the dreadful never-ending stairs at the MRT when I head to the new office. These are complemented by the tiny walks around the house in the night if I fall short. Bcos the house is so small, I sometimes get dizzy from walking in small circles. That must be how a dog feels while chasing its own tail. Lol.

I still go to the Centris' gym faithfully on weekend morning, usually hitting on the treadmill. Recent 2 weeks, I hit the gym on Friday evening too after sending Zaky for his 天下. It thrills me to see my fitbit telling me how great a job I am doing. Hohoho.

This week hasn't been too bad. I was on the step machine on Friday night, on the treadmill on Saturday morning and decided to go for a swim this morning. Yes, I am making full use of the facilities. Daddy Lim is inspired too but nothing comes cheap for him; not even exercise. Zzzzzzzz. To think that he was grumbling when I wanted to sign up that atas Amore package. Bleh.

Remember his atas expensive racer bike? It was standing in the old house living room for a good while before we shift. In Centris, there isn't space for the bike to stand around and it was sadly banished to the kitchen toilet that was not used. For over a year in Centris, the bike had only seen the light once before Daddy Lim finally sold it away at a fraction of its cost. Zzzzzzz.

As per how things work for him, it wouldnt be long before he gets a new bike to replace the one that he lost. I know him too well.

So why sell the old bike? Bcos he wants a mountain bike now. Didn't he have a mountain bike before switching to the expensive racer bike? Oh, the racer bike needed him to bend at an angle that hurts his back. Ah.... don't bother, we just have a new bike at home now that took over the toilet space once occupied by its predecessor. Haha.

This one is much bigger though and the toilet door cannot close which irks Popo a lot. I didn't want to interfere in that war. Daddy Lim also needed to use a lot of strength to manuveour this giant to go through the tight kitchen and into that toilet.

Anyway, what is more important is that he is moving and getting the much needed exercise. He took his giant for a power ride this morning and he was all smiles when he was back except for the last part where he had to squeeze his giant back into its tiny home. He is aiming for the mountain bike trails next. Cool!

As for me, I had a nice swim this morning with my Jay Chow. Everything was right, the headphones didn't come off like it sometimes would. The new Decathlon $9.9 goggles is so comfortable and doesn't fog; I didn't need to adjust it at all throughout the swim. I was just praising myself for the good buy only to realise that I had deep imprints on my face from the goggles after the swim. Zzzzzzz. It was so bad that I had to wear my sunglasses when I left the house. Maybe it isn't such a good thing to be too comfortable. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 90 - Post Interschool Competition

My recent posts were all about ice skating. So boring. Lol. Even I felt bored blogging about them but persisted, thinking that these would be valuable notes in the future.

We are finally over with the Interschool Ice Skating competition and Lil Shauna is indeed in the 5th place. During the competition, I had already predicted that she would be either 5th or 6th. I am afterall the tuition coach. Lol. I also guessed who were the top 4 and 2 of my 4 guesses were correct. It left me wondering what were the judging criteria bcos one of the winners didn't perform better than Lil Shauna in my perspective and I also thought one other was great but didn't score well. Anyway, now that the competition is over, we all let down our socks. I didn't remember to ask her to do stretching on Friday or yday. Hohoho.

On Saturday morning, we arrived at the rink at 11am. I had reminded Lil Shauna to drop the stuff that she was working on for the competition and focused on her scratch spin that she lost, her sit spin that she hasnt mastered as well as the newer loop and flip jumps that she barely can manage.

She spent 30 mins in the crowded public ice before hopping over to the 1/3 ice. In my usual tiger mum mode, I would have pushed her to practice but I saw her TALKING to one of the skaters.

In her 3 years on the ice, she had only really talked to the peers from her core classes, whom are no longer taking lessons. She doesn't even talk to R and J, whom she had been taking off ice lessons with for over a year! She would only wave, do hand sign to communicate and offer her laughter at best.

The most amazing part? We had seen this girl so many times on ice but they never spoke, at most wave to acknowledge each other's presence. This morning, they were chatting like best pals! It wasn't the usual shy smile and awkward one word reply but they were really chatting and chirpy; like noisy little birds. It was my turn to be dumbfounded.

The girl - E, is 10 yo. She is more advance than Lil Shauna and I like it that she motivates Lil Shauna to try to do better. Lil Shauna said that E was telling her how to do sit spin better. I like.

Without the need to practice for the competition, the lesson was very much focused on footwork. Then 2nd half of the lesson was on loop and flip jumps. See, I have prediction power. Lol. I think she managed a few decent ones bcos I saw Coach Raymond nodding after a few of them. Then she was taught a new half loop jump, which she sort of got it after a few tries. Great!

We would be missing ice time today, as well as off ice. Well, I would take it as a break.

Mummy Lim

A Real New Phone

I inherited Daddy Lim's a few months old Samsung S6 Egde about 2 years back. He then got himself an expensive I-cant-remember-what phone. I only remember that it was expensive. Lol.

A few months back, Daddy Lim murdered the phone by drowning it in the toilet bowl. Dont ask me what he did before he dropped the phone into the toilet; the phone looked clean when it was home. Anyway, the phone was beyond repair and Yours Truly would never allow him to buy another expensive phone without contract. Ended up, he had to live with a cheap and low end Samsung. The phone only has the space to install 1 heavy weight game and was very slow. Too bad.

I did give Daddy Lim to redeem himself; Lil Shauna's bday was approaching then and he could buy her a bday present - a new phone(line) and use her line to buy himself a new phone. I tell you, his eyes sparkled at the idea. Haha. 

That was exactly what he did and Lil Shauna inherited his low end phone. She didnt mind at all and was overjoyed to just have a phone, any phone. She didnt have much use for a phone anyway. I did feel bad for her and was thinking of passing her my S6 when I get a new phone. I could recontract already but had been procastinating. Yes, it is still passing her an "old" phone but I am sure my "old" phone is so much more powerful than the phone that she inherited from Daddy Lim. 

The plan never materialise bcos the S6 screen cracked. Boo! 

We thought we could get it repaired only to be quoted $260 repair fee by the ah beng handphone shop. It was even more expensive if we get it repaired at the Samsung shop. Eventually, we dropped the idea. The phone is already 2YO and we didnt know how much it would last after the screen change. We thought we would get her a new phone with Daddy Lim contract when he can renew it in October. 

How about me? The Queen deserves the best!

Muahahahaha. I finally got myself a new proper phone; not one that is inherited. It had a much bigger screen than the S6 Edge. I always hated the idea to have to set up a new phone. This one came with the function to transfer all the apps and data from my old phone to new one. Sob! I am so touched! The setup ended up easy peasy. Oooooooo......

I am now blogging from my new S8+. How is it? Absolutely fine. Hohoho.

Mummy Lim

D Day - Interschool Ice Skating Competition

Despite the frustration the day before, we were all upbeat this morning. It is afterall D Day! Luckily, I was busy at work in the morning or I would have butterflies on Lil Shauna's behalf.

We headed to the rink right after lunch and had ample time without the previous day's mad rush. On the way to the rink, I reminded her of the importance to concentrate and focus on herself and not be distracted by the crowd. I suspect that it was the main reason for her lousy performance yday. We had a little prep talk, reminding her of the hard work that we had put in the previous 3 weeks.

The rink was less crowded as compared to yday and Lil Shauna practiced the different elements, concentrating on finding back her spin from the lost and found department. We saw jiejie C, one of the 1st few ice skating friends that she made, and she gave us valuable tips on improving her spins at the very last minute. C was also the MC for the event.

Lil Shauna practiced very hard and went over the program many times without complaints. It was so much better than yday. She was perspiring and panting by the end of the session, her cheeks were flushed; no need for blusher at all. Haha.

Coach Raymond came at 4.30pm and asked how it was and I told him that it was definitely better than yday. Lil Shauna was made to repeat the program again a couple more times and Coach Raymond made some corrections and comments here and there. Soon, it was time to leave the ice and we did some last minute makeup. Of course we had to take a selfie before the competition.

There was an item before hers at 5.15pm. She was allowed to warm up before her item starts.

The warm up took place in 1/2 of the ice. The skaters then q up to do their program at the other 1/2 of the ice. There were a total of 11 skaters competing in Future Star and Lil Shauna was balloted to be 2nd in line.

How was it? Her program went great! While watching her, my heart was racing; I think I was more anxious than her. If my will power could have her, she would probably be flying on ice. Lol.

Could she have done better? Of course but what is the most important is her effort; I could really see how hard she tried for the program. She flashed a beautiful smile at the judges after the program. My heart melted. She was looking so sweet.

I could have mistaken but saw Coach Raymond smiling happily at me after Lil Shauna was done. I think he is pleased with her performance too. Hehe. He gave her a big hug when she came off the ice and Lil Shauna said that he told her that she had done well. I couldn't agree more.

I was mega proud of the girl and told her so. Right after her program, she told me that she wanted to continue learning ice skating. She also said that she felt that the whole ice was for her while she was performing; she must have really enjoyed herself.

We waited a long time for the results and it was still not released when we left for dinner. We came back to check after dinner and there was still no news. However, we saw C, who gave Lil Shauna huge encouragements and said that she saw Lil Shauna's result. Lil Shauna was in the 5th place! I was uber proud of her. The little girl was slightly disappointed though bcos only the top 3 placing will receive a medal. Hohoho. I had to remind her that it is already a great feat to be 5th out of 11 skaters. That brightens her up. 

We left the rink after that as it was getting late and bedtime was getting near. We will find out the definite result on Saturady. Meanwhile, Lil Shauna met so many "friends", most of them she doesn't really speak to though. Lol.

I am looking forward to her next competition and many more. I do hope it comes with less heartache with each coming one. Hehe.

Mummy Lim

D - 1 Day

The rink was opened to the public before the Inter school competition at 5.15pm. Coincidentally, it was a session for advance skaters, which we have not experienced before. I thought that it would help Lil Shauna by squeezing in some more practice. I must be wrong. Zzz.

I was on half day leave and the kids skipped student care. We had to rush through lunch and homework. We also tested the hair style that she would be donning on D day.

We see that the so-call advance skaters session basically meant that the inner part of the rink was cornered by cones. The figure skaters can then do their stuff in the barricaded area and minimising the risk of whacking the public and vice versa. The rink was still opened to the public but the public is restricted from entering the designated area.

Did it help? I thought that the 1/3 rink concept works better bcos the cones are very distracting. But the figure skaters are not restricted by the zone and can go in and out as they wish.

Bcos of the dedicated skating session plus the upcoming competition, there were many figure skaters practicing. It was double whammy for Lil Shauna, who was not only busy avoiding the skaters plus also the cones on the ice.

It was devastating looking at her. I was expecting an enjoyable session given how much she had improved after the 2 weeks' of practice. I had to go to back correcting her basics and all the hard work practicing her hand motions had gone to waste. It was a mega heartbreak for me and she received a ton of scolding for me.

She wasted a lot of time avoiding the other skaters. I watched her repeat the 1st part of her program like 10x without completing the program bcos somebody cut into her way and she had to restart. She was going slowly just in case she knocks into somebody. Her salchow landing went haywired; she lost her spin. Yes, all these just 1 day before the competition.

Coach Raymond came by towards the end of the session bcos he has students competing in the evening. We grabbed him to make sure that the positioning is right. He tried to correct her Salchow and gave her some tips for her spins. He is definitely a lot cooler than I am; his parting words - that there is nothing much we can do now that the competition is one day away.

We left the rink after the session. I was so upset that I didn't want to stay on to watch the competition. On the way home, I tried asking the reason for her lack of performance, she either kept quiet or replied that she doesn't know. Arrrggghhhh... I was an erupting volcano. It was the 1st time in the 3 years that I really considering giving up her ice skating.

She did apologise later in the evening and we had our prep talk. She also tried to make up for the lack of performance by stretching harder in the evening.

The fate is in her hand; there is nobody that can help her when she is in the rink later today for the competition. She would still be heading down for practice right before the competition. I suspect the rink will be even more crowded with figure skaters. Haiz.

Mummy Lim

Sunday Ice Time

Lil Shauna and I arrived in church to find that there was no Sunday school bcos it was the 51st anniversary. We attended the service together. She said that it was boring and Sunday school is so much better. Lol.

It was an joyous occasion completed with bday cake for the church. Lil Shauna said that it looked like gold bar. I wish. Lol.

After church, we Grabbed to Jcube, leaving us enough time to snack on the cake and a much needed beloved Starbucks latte before we headed to the rink.

Lil Shauna's competition is on coming Thursday. She tried out the competition costume that we bought last year from taobao for Skate Bangkok. The shiny crystals are dropping off and I couldn't be bothered to fix them; I think she would outgrown her costume by the next competition. I also made a mental note to not buy costume with such beads next time.

The public ice was unusually crowded for the 2nd session and we had to retreat to the 1/3 for practice. 

Lil Shauna put in a lot of hard work, practicing the program over and over and over again. I took 14 videos during the 2 hours and that is after deleting the lousy ones. She has definitely improved as compared to when we 1st started. How do I know? I don't have a sore throat from yelling at her on this and that. Lol. Today, the concentration was very much on her hands.

Many figure skaters who made wonderful uses of their hands and dance gracefully on ice. They looked exactly like ballet dancers on skates and I can't help but wonder if they have ballet background. Lil Shauna is horrible at that. Her hands made her look sloppy. 

It is probably bcos she couldn't see herself and the videos don't help bcos she is a tiny speck in the videos. We tried to use the camera as a mirror and it helped slightly when she realised she could look better when she places her hand in a certain way. 

She skated and practised for 2 full hours. I was pleased not bcos she has perfected the program but I could see the hard work that she put in. Right after the hard work on the ice, we adjourned for off ice training. She was exhausted even before the torture started.

After the day's hard work, we spoke about the tremendous efforts that she had put in for the competition. I reminded her that it is not about winning but to try her best for that 1.5min or all her hard work would go to waste. I told her that it was how I felt about her Skate Bangkok; she had done better during her practices than the competition, throwing all her hard work to the drain. She seems determined to do better and said that she practiced harder this time than Skate Bangkok.

I am feeling the anxiety and jittery like the last competition. It is as if I am the one competing. We will spend some more time practicing during the weekdays before the big day. Fighting.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 89

My phone is full of Lil Shauna's ice skating video doing the same thing over and over again. We headed back to the rink on Thursday for an hour of practice after her phonics class. The practice was getting enjoyable for me bcos she seems to be getting it. Yeah! My job was very much about taking videos, showing her and pointing out what she can improve.

We left after an hour bcos the rink was getting crowded. Yes, at 7.30pm on a Thursday evening. Bleeehhh.

We had lesson yday. As usual, the rink was crowded and she couldn't wait to go on the 1/3 ice. Even the 1/3 ice was crowded and she kept stopping while going through her program bcos there was always somebody in the way. Arrggghhhh. She didn't practice much before she headed for class.

Coach Raymond helped her to revise some of the elements in the program and amended the movement for her eagle again. The rest of the lesson was on her backward spin and sit spin. I guessed there isn't that much to practice for the competition; most of the elements are what she had learnt a while back. It is basically practice on her own.

She was taught the camel spin, which is effectively spinning with a spiral. She cannot even do a proper spiral, so you can imagine how her camel spin looked like. Zzz.

After her lesson, she went back to the public ice to get a feel of the entire program and to test out the new eagle movement. It looked weird. We tried out a few times and the final time that I was videoing her, she just completed her second ballet jump and a crew fell beside her and swept her off her feet literally. I thought I was watching bowling. Fortunately Lil Shauna was not hurt but that also meant the end of our practice.

Mummy Lim

Love

When the kids were in the kindergarten, they each have their special “partner”.

There was this boy, J, who likes Lil Shauna and it was well known in their little school. He was braver in the earlier years in expressing his “love” but shy away in the later years.

Zaky has his fair share as well and has his E. They were another well-known couple in school. I don't know who likes who more but we were invited to E’s bday party when they were in K2 and I was so surprised that even E’s mummy openly admitted the pair’s chemistry. Additionally, Zaky was treated like a VIP at E’s party and E was constantly tagging along with the boy. I didn't know Zaky has that kind of lure.

Come Primary school, neither J nor E is in the same primary school as the kids. I had been asking Lil Shauna if any of the boys had confessed their love to her; she is afterall so pretty and likable. Sorry for selling my own yok-ko but I really feel this way. The boys are definitely losing out bcos none of them had done so. Bleh.

I didn't bother asking the boy. I thought he was much cuter and handsome when he was younger.

Earlier this week, I came home and saw this.

Who on earth is Ayana? Lol. She was from the same kindergarten as Zaky but she was in the morning session. She is now in a different class but the same student care center as Zaky. Same kindergarten… hasn't she heard about the Zaky-E couple? Hmmm, tsk, tsk.

I asked if Zaky likes her too and he nodded his head. I reminded him about his beloved E, which he matter of fact replied that E is now in a different school. My heart just bled for E. Lol. Lil Shauna is my spy and told me that she has saw Ayana holding on to Zaky’s hand tightly in the student care on several occasions. Roar, I must inform this Ayana to fill up application form and sit through interview 1st. Lol. Well, to be on the safe side, I did remind the boy that he is too young to really do anything serious.

Such things do start young now huh? This was from yday. I had to tell the boy to tell Ayana that he appreciates but stop giving him such bcos they are just taking up space at home. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Trampoline Fun

Lil Shauna and I headed back to church after a long break. This will be the arrangement for the coming weeks until Zaky complete his 6-week basketball training. Right after church, we Grab down to JCube to squeeze in an hour of practice before her Chinese made-up class at 2pm. It was hard work.

The girl didn't complain bcos she wanted the extra ice time too. She practiced her program at the public ice, which was initially empty until the bday party kids soon crowded the ice and she had trouble finding space. We then headed back to the 1/3 ice to work on her spiral and eagle. Her spiral still CMI and I hope all the daily stretching would help. Speaking of which, she has been fairly disciplined and sometimes worked on her stretching without having me to nag at her.

The kids had been asking to do something “fun”. School must have made them miserable. In the afternoon, we found ourselves at the Amped Trampoline park with the 3Fs. There is one right in Jurong East.

We arrived early and the kids were so excited. They had to hoard the stairways so that they could step in immediately when it was time. They so nicely obliged for pictures. Hohoho.

Right on time, the briefing started.

And the jumping started. Seriously, I cannot understand what is so exciting about trampoline jumping. I only know that it is very tiring. No thanks for old bones. The kids did attempt a few tricks but spent most of the time bouncing up and down.

They stopped only for water and soon disappeared back on the trampoline. They were sweatier each time they came back for drinks.

It was a super good workout for the kids. An hour passed quickly and I was surprised that nobody took breaks in between. The kids could have gone on if we allowed them. Zaky even found a young adult to spar on front flips. Lol. I also took the opportunity to make Lil Shauna do her stretching as she was all warmed up and met the quota for the day. Yeah!

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 88

We sneaked in an extra hour of practice on Thursday evening after phonics class. Lil Shauna had no complaints bcos she knew that she needed it. It was full ice and though not crowded, there were quite some skaters who were standing around on the ice and CHATTING. They also seemed to be intentionally not giving way to Lil Shauna who needed to practice her program.

Was Lil Shauna any better from last weekend? Not exactly and she definitely lost the fantastic scratch spin. Sob. At times, it was so fustrating that I wanted to grab her and shake her by the shoulders. Arrghhh. She did have the chance to practice the positioning though and had a good sense of it by the end of the hour.

Whatever the case, she worked hard. I hope she would get better with practice and would be ready for the competition.

This morning, we intentionally arrived at the rink later bcos we knew that the public ice would be crowded. After a short warm-up, she headed back to the 1/3 Ice where she worked on her elements.

Lil Shauna was back in her little skirt bcos the colors on her cheapo pants ran and stained her skates. I thought she looked great but she complained that she was girly. Girly good what. She took a while to get used to her "new" attire but was good thereafter.

At the start of the class, Teacher Raymond brought her back to the public ice and ran through the positioning, which he changed slightly. It was definitely better, giving her more space for the different elements.

Then they went back to the 1/3 ice and he worked on her spirals, eagle and spent quite some time on her salchow jump, refining her movements. The last part of the class was on her loop and flip jumps. I think she found her flip jumps. Hehe.

Lil Shauna willingly went back to the public ice after the ice resurfacing. She practiced on her new positioning and wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, there were too many people and she had to stop a few times. It was the least frustrating practice since she started practicing for the competition.

When we were leaving the ice, she asked if we can come back on Thursday next week. Haha. I like that she is so earnest.

Mummy Lim