Ice Skating 167: SISA Ice

This is the 2nd SISA ice in prep of the competition. Last week during SISA, Lil Shauna got to do her program with the music a couple of times, which is good bcos SISA ice gets really busy nearing the competition. She stumbled a couple of times on her dance steps but was decent overall. Lil Shauna said that she really likes SISA ice (full ice) and was looking forward to more.

We went back to ice on Sunday for more practice. It was after much coaxing that she finally agreed to practice her axle jumps. Why? Bcos she is constantly falling down but who doesnt fall down while learning axle? I was busy helping her to record the jumps. I have no idea if she is getting there but Coach Raymond peeped at her and mentioned that one of the axle jumps was quite good! Dont ask me which one, they all looked about the same to me.

We were back for SISA ice on Wednesday evening. We had a rare guest!

He was more interested in Netflix than his daughter skating leh. Chey.

Lil Shauna managed to do the program a couple of times too.

Unlike the previous programs that were totally/ mostly designed by Coach Raymond, he had asked Lil Shauna to improvise on the actions to accompany the dance steps this time. We drew inspirations from other ice skating competition videos on youtube and came up with some fairly cute ones. Hohoho.

Not bad lah. We just need more practices and have booked 2 more SISA ice. Yay!

Mummy Lim

Happy Busy Saturday

Lil Shauna is in the eco-literacy CCA, which is a combination of English and Science. From time to time, they do and showcase their projects. Lil Shauna loves it and rarely complains of the extra hours after school.

Since a few weeks back, she had been telling us about this event taking place at TPY, where she would be promoting some books with her eco-lit mates. She was so enthusiastic about it and shared that the President will be gracing the event. We even had to change her ice skating lesson for her to attend the event. 

On Saturday morning, she took a bus to school for the arranged transport at 7.45am. Her parents were busy riding on the WWF 3rd anniversary ride. Hahaha. We came home, took our own sweet time before bundling Zaky to TPY HDB hub to go support jiejie. 

It took us a while to locate her. Luckily we bumped into another parent who pointed us to the right location - outdoor.... very hot leh.

The same mummy was so nice to send me the picture that they took with the President.

Lil Shauna was a little upset with us bcos we were so late. Lol. She said that all the other parents were so much earlier than us. 

It was the Festival of Diversity. Lil Shauna's job was to lured little kids to their booth to do coloring.

There were many other booths and Zaky was thrilled. It had been a while since we attended such an event and he went around exploring and learning. 

He was so cute and went around collecting souvenirs.

Which he proudly pinned on his T-shirt, then onto his bag.

I know, that little cap is so cute!!! Even when it was on Daddy Lim. Hohoho.

In the late afternoon, we met up with the SHSS gang at ECP as per Lil Shauna's request. We bought an ice cream cake for a belated bday celebration for Lil Shauna. The weather was freaking hot and the cake was gone in less than 10 mins. Ice cream cake is the way to go when you dont want wastage.

The huge playground didnt entertain the kids for long before they all start bugging to go to the beach.

Well, ECP beach wasnt too bad.

The kids spent so much time digging holes and filling it up with sea water. We had to chase them off the beach for dinner. 

Thank God for good weather and greater companion.

Mummy Lim

#TOGOWBD Challenge

Daddy Lim and I usually cycled once a week with the WWFs. I am a weekend warrior and top up my weekend regime with a treadmill run on Friday evening and Sunday morning. That had been the routine for many months. Treadmill is really boring but takes only 30 mins and is valued for time.

It had been over a year since we started riding with the WWFs and 9 months since we switched to roadies. I thought that I have improved and am now able to go further, faster and climb better. Many of the WWFs cyclist cycle a lot more and did so much better than I do.

About a month back, I thought of cycling more and the WWF is no lack of people who are willing to cycle with us and connect us to their other cycling kakis. Cycling with groups is much more enjoyable than alone.

For the past 2 weeks, we had been cycling on both Sat and Sun, clocking decent mileage. Then came the ToGo Parts Cycling Challenge - to pay and register to clock 100km within 2 weeks. Those who do more than 300km within the 2 weeks get an additional virtual medal.

I never understood why people would join marathons. I dont see why there is a need to push oneself to the limits. Yet now, I am thinking about doing Round Island rides, something I have yet to achieve. Hohoho.

To clock 300km in 2 weeks for us basically means a lot of riding during the weekends and an additional ride during the weekday night. Somebody has to man the kids and I willingly sacrifice myself to do so. Hehehe. So conveniently right?

We started our challenge last Saturday. It was the long weekend and the perfect opportunity for a short getaway with the SA1 done but I was bluffed to stay in Singapore for the challenge. Such great sacrifice.

We did 60km with the WWFs on Sat morning. The ride was well rewarded with a nice bfast at the Clementi market.

On Sunday morning, we did another 50km. 

Despite my strava "eating up" my 7km, I safely achieved my 100km. Yay! I am happy, anything extra now is a bonus. Daddy Lim worked hard and went cycling for another 50km with Uncle C on Sunday night. He did 100km in a single day, no joke!

While we are the weekend cheongsters, the mileage clocked by some hardcore cyclists made my eyes popped. The challenge leader has clocked 930km in 4 days since the challenge started. Seriously???!!!!!!! 

Well, let me just be happy with my 100km. Hehehe.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 165: Music, Music

Lil Shauna has been wavering about joining the interschool competition in July. The added pressure from SA1 didnt help but I somehow knew that she would say "yes" eventually. Training for competition is just so much more interesting. She loved it during the last competition despite the loads of hard work that she had to put in.

In the midst of SA1, the girl suddenly confirmed her interest in the competition. There isnt much time left and we spent the next few nights looking for the right song. No more Katy Perry pls. We also needed something age and speed appropriate and Lil Shauna didnt want any love songs. We thought of some classical music but that is seriously tough with the short time for training. It was eventually Justin Timberlake that won our heart after Megan Trainor got rejected by Coach Raymond for being too fast. "I got this feeling inside my bones..." yay!

The music needed to be "treated" as the requirement was 1'30" +/- 10". Coach Raymond had been helping with the editing so far and did the same this time but choosy mummy didnt quite agree on the end product. It was then that I realised that there are so many free mp3 free editing tools online. I was able to come out with an improved version without much sweat. Exactly 1'39". Woohoo! The tuition teacher has now taken an extra hat of the song editor.

Lil Shauna wasnt supposed to have lesson this weekend as Coach Raymond had a function to attend. We then had to move her next week lesson due to a school event. It was a blessing in disguise as Coach Raymond was able to move her to the rink ice time on Monday morning. As it was a PH, there was no group lesson and it was full ice for 2 hours at the fraction of SISA ice cost. Though it was more crowded than usual SISA but still 赚到...

The ice was opened since 7am but we only arrived at 8.30am bcos sleep is precious. Lil Shauna knew that Coach Raymond would be teaching her the program and was excited despite nursing a full-blown flu. She had 30 mins of warm up before class.

I am impressed. We had obviously come a long way from when mummy had to help her record the program on paper for the 1st competition so that we can do extra revision to her being able to remember half the program in that half an hour class. While part of the dance steps were from the earlier competition, there were some improvisations too. She will be doing a lutz, loop combi this time and needed to hold 8 revoluations for her sit spin.

When things are so exciting, time flies too. The lesson ended as quickly as it started and Lil Shauna willingly stayed on the ice to practice. She asked for help to record; I like that she is pushing herself. Again, I was impressed that she was practicing at a nice speed and wasnt looking down at the ice bcos the ice was so crowded and she needed to keep her sight to avoid banging into another skater. Haha. Regardless of the reason, I like that she is looking up.

Lil Shauna is motivated and had asked to go back to the ice for more practice. I no time leh. Well, at least the next practice on SISA ice is tomorrow. Let's work hard!

Mummy Lim

Happy Growing 11

I still clearly remember the Mothers' Day 11 years ago. I woke up with a bleeding gum that miraculously stopped at the dentist but started again after Mothers' Day lunch. Well, at least I got to eat lunch. The gum bleeding warrants a trip to the A&E and frenzy events ensued, including a direct ticket to the delivery suite bcos of my exceptional high bp and my almost 35 weeks' VIP status then. I was quite sure that the "excittment" got my bp pumped up. Anyway...

In the following hours, we had a girl who was too eager to meet the world despite being still so tiny, so much so that she landed herself with a luxurious 2 weeks' stay at the NICU and extended 1 week's stay at the nursery, under the dedicated care of the NUH nurses. She was sp eager that she didnt even give her dear mother a chance to get an epidural shot. Win already.

In a blink of eye, the years had flew by. The eager baby has turned 11 on Sunday. Unlike the younger years that were celebrated with fanciful bday parties, her bday was a much quieter one. Afterall, it is right smack before SA1. The kids had been lamenting about my bad birth timing such that their birthday both fall during the exam period. Hello, it is not my fault, Lil Shauna was too early and Zaky came out late. My timing is perfect; they would do great if they had cooperated and greeted the world at 38 weeks.

Other than the need to mug for SA1 over the weekend and on her bday, it wasnt too bad. Her Chinese tuition teacher got her a present and mini cakes on Friday. We had dinner and more cakes with nainai on Saturday.

The Sunday routine stayed and she continued with her on ice and off ice practice.

And got the mighty beans that she asked for.

Zaky benefited too from being the bday girl's brother?! Ha! What about being the birthday girl's mother?

She had wanted to go to the trampoline park but stalled the idea as everybody else was busy and exchange for a picnic at the new Lakeside Garden instead.

The kids didnt enjoy the picnic bcos there were too much to explore.

Daddy Lim and I benefitted instead.

We found dinner at a small eating place near Yuan Ching.

The food was ok only but the dart machines scored with the kids. At $2 for 2 games, the kids were well-entertained before and after meals. The game would probably end quickly for the experts but lasted a long time with the "aimless" kids. The other guests were so nice and gave the kids pointers, helped them operate the machine and even moved Zaky out of danger range at times. The kids are already bugging to go back.

With that, Lil Shauna's bday came to a close and we ended the rest of the night with more mugging. No choice - English paper on Monday leh.

Dear baby,

May you grow up healthy and happy and that God will bless and surround you with many loving people. We love you 3,000.

Muaks.

Mummy Lim

Hello Merlion

It had been a long while since we did something outdoorsy with the kids on weekends or PHs' morning. Well, the kids are busy little people and their parents are busy cycling on Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) mornings too. Otherwise, the idea of sleeping in on a non-work/ school day was just too attractive.

Then, May Day came. The next moment, the kids were responding excitedly to our idea of a long morning ride. I think Daddy Lim and I 1st discussed about turning back at the barrage, which is a freaking 50km ride. There were 2 challenges - the kids ride painfully slow and that long a ride would bring us into the mid day with the scorching sun constantly eyeballing us. Secondly and more importantly, the kids' maximum distant many months back was a humble 22km and we arent sure how would they handle 1 that is double the distant.

I dont think we had a conclusion. Daddy Lim had the tires pumped up and prepped the lights the night before. I simply fell asleep. Hohoho. I didnt have too great a night, waking up a couple of times bcos I was too excited. I finally got up at 5.30am to prep snacks and water for the ride.

We had to start early to take advantage of the pre-sun morning. With little people and plenty of slow-mo-ing, we only started our ride at 6.45am. Well, that wasnt too bad; we were only 15 mins later than scheduled.

The sky was already starting to lit up, which was good for our little blind bats.

The 1st few kms went smoothly bcos the enthusiasm and energy were high. Yes, Lil Shauna is using my beloved Giant MTB!

The PNC was a familiar route and brought back memories of when Daddy Lim and I started cycling on our humble MTBs.

The ride went smoothly and I was thinking to myself that the kids are so much stronger now and had improved tremendously on their bike handling. Soon after, while entering the PCN towards the spiral bridge, Zaky ramped his bike and his left ring finger into the PCN yellow barricade. Zzzzzzzzz.

There were a lot of crying and tears. He had an cut and a bruise on the finger. It look bad and must have really hurt. I was hammering myself for forgetting to bring plaster. How can I forgot 1st-aid when riding with a reckless boy? For a while, we were worried that we had to turn back bcos the boy insisted that he couldnt ride on. It took a while to coax and comfort him before we finally continued journey.

We completed the PCN after the spiral bridge, which was the furthest the kids had ever done. We went on successfully to the PCN leading to Commonwealth MRT and completed that too! Woohoo! The kids had never been on that PCN!

Daddy Lim led us on pavement in search of the other PCN that starts at Alexandra. Along the way, we stopped at the petrol kiosk for toilet and snack break and managed to buy plaster for the injured pinky.

 The boy and his ouchie finger.

We continued our way and soon found the PCN.

The idea was to have bfast along some cafe at the riverside but we were too hungry and took bfast at one of the kopitiams instead.

It wasnt long before we finally arrived at the riverside.

Then Clarke Quay and Boat Quay.

The change in scenery was very much welcome. That part of the route was very enjoyable. There was so much to see, including the otters family!

Finally, we were nearing our destination - the Merlion. While waiting for the crossing, Lil Shauna went, "oh, that is the esplanade and the MBS and the ERP.." lol.

It took us almost 4 hours to arrive at the Merlion. We had to take the obligatory picture. The big Merlion was having a makeover and we had to squeeze with a hoard of tourists for the mini merlion.

Daddy Lim's Huawei camera phone is so good.

With that, we decided to turn back. Though the weather had been fantastically cloudy, any further and we probably would have problems making it back. We had to take a little break at Liang Court for some bread and coffee before setting off back home. The kids were eating non-stop and we were spending so much money on snacks and food.

The journey back was much quieter. We did spot so many monitor lizards.

The blisters and sore butts were settling in for the kids having not rode for so long and this kind of journey. Then Zaky had to slip and fell again and scraped his knee. At least he didnt cry this time.

We know that we needed another break nearing Tradehub 21. It was almost 12 noon and water was running out. We stopped for lunch at McD. Eat again. Lol.

The last part of the journey was painful. The kids were tired and whinny. Then Lil Shauna fell on one of the road crossings and scrapped her knee. Zzzz. There was no obstacle, no slippery patches; she just slipped and fell. For the remaining of the journey, she was very quiet while the boy was very whiny.

We did make it home; there was no other way out. Haha.

Woohoo! A new milestone achieved!

The ride left all of us very exhausted. I think it will be a long time more before we attempt such a ride again. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 162: Working Hard

所谓 "校场失意,溜冰场得意" - Lil Shauna was surprising very much looking forward to her ice skating and off ice class last week.

We didnt have class the week before having stolen a short break in Austin Heights. Off ice was also stopped for 2 weeks due to the absence of her peers. I absolutely love it seeing her enthusiasm even before we hit the ice.

Lil Shauna had been working hard on her own for her axle jumps. She hasnt got it but her efforts were obvious. We are both excited at her learning the axle jump bcos it is like the level up milestone. I was hoping to see Coach Raymond help her work on her axle jumps last week but it was spinning class.

Her sit spin is a vast improvement after the competition having worked so hard for it. She was trying to do a combined sit and pancake spins during class and a combined camel and sit spin thereafter. She didnt nail either of them but was fire up and asked to stay on after ice resurfacing. Serious! She asked to stay on! Even Coach Raymond was surprised to see her still practicing after he return from his lunch, asking if Lil Shauna was doing OT. He jokingly said that it was tuition time. Hohoho, I am tuition teacher.

We hit the ice again on Sunday afternoon. Again, Lil Shauna was all passionate and pushed herself to do the needful. Wah, I really need to record and remember this rare time. Hahaha. I really wanted to step back too and let Lil Shauna learn how to motivate and push herself and step in only when she asked for help. Well, this is a good start and let's hope we both keep it that way.

During off ice, Coach Raymond asked if Lil Shauna wanted to compete in the inter-school competition in July. She will still be competing in the Preliminary level. If yes, it means that she should start preparing soon. Again? But I really love seeing her dancing on ice. At least we had the choice to change the song and the program this time. Yes, it is no big deal! I hope it is not a Katy Perry again. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Fighting for SA1

What? SA1 is coming? No, it is here? That's not fair! How could it crept and steal a silent attack? Ahhhhhh... we are wounded.

With the new system, SA1s are supposed to be removed, except for the P4s and P6s. I was surprised but glad that school is keeping SA1; I needed something to help me gauge if the kids are on track and to make remedy otherwise. Lil Shauna is doing it full suite while Zaky only had to do the paper 2.

I heard multiple times about how it is a step up in P5, where some schools clamp some P6 work in the same year to buy extra time for PSLE revision. Some schools also start their PSLE revision early, like P5 early. I witnessed for myself how the load jumped for Lil Shauna. It doesnt help that she willingly took on Higher Chinese, which really is a stretch for her. The subject resulted in a shitload of homework and she takes a painful long time to finish those. She tried hard but when I looked at the completed homework, I sometimes pity the teacher. Why do they want to offer the subject to kan tang kias to torture themselves? Haha.

We have prepared past years' SA1 paper from good schools. The progress had been really slow bcos Lil Shauna had been so busy with school work. The next moment, SA1 is in less than 2 weeks' time. What?!!? The bigger surprise was Lil Shauna coming home from school one day last week and said that she had the listening compre for both English and Chinese. We didnt even realise that SA1 has started for her. Die.

She just had her Higher Chinese P1 yday. We went into panic mode last weekend, cramping whatever we can in prep of the paper - the memorising of the 好词好句 is a pain but the only way for kan tang kias like her to appear to be "there" in writing. She has worked hard; we both have. Whatever will be, will be.

Now, to wear the armour to fight the SA1 monster in 2 weeks. Fighting!

Mummy Lim