HBD Daddy Lim!

It is finally Daddy Lim's turn. This year, we are all stuck at "home" and we decided to do something "fun". We thought of doing a staycation only to realise that it cost so much to get a tiny room to crowd together. I almost click on the "book" button so many times only to turn away the last minute. Cannot lah, the kids can just turn on one the room's aircon the whole day and have all of us stay in that room and use phone non-stop. Same, same. 

We started off the day with a chill ride and bfast at the WC market. 

Eventually, I made a booking for escape room at 12.30pm. I was on half day leave. We opted for the kids' friendly Kungfu Panda game so that nobody will tell me of nightmare in the night and find a chance to squeeze in with me. Hoho. 

We didn't make it out in time but were allowed to complete the game with the given tips. Not bad lah, we completed like 80% of the game. 

I had to take a call at 2pm bcos I forgot to apply for leave and my calendar filled up. There was a meeting that I couldn't push. Ended up, the kids benefited from ice cream while I took the call. 

At 3ish, we were nicely seated at Park Royal Line, ready to enjoy hi-tea. 

Woohoo!

We must be hungry people. When I had this hi-tea with the girls, it took us like 2 hours to finish and there were leftover. With the kids, we were done within an hour and ALL gone. Hoho. Only left with good memories. 

The hi-tea was obviously too little bcos we started thinking where to go for dinner next and ended up at the Korean restaurant at Sunset way. The bulgogi and ginseng chicken were perfect to end the day. 

Ah kim sent Daddy Lim a birthday cake but we didn't have space to savor it. 

The feasting continued today. Like that can roll already. 

We finally got to eat the cake.

Nobody wants to take picture with the bday boy but at least they oblige to recreate this picture.

Fb prompted me this old picture. I think it must be at least 6 years back. So different now. Haha. 

Mummy Lim

Independence

Lil Shauna has moved into the adolescent phase and slowly gaining her independence. She had been so busy during this school holiday, so much so that she needed to keep a calendar to track. 

Her school bookshop part time work is still on-going and she worked a few hours per week, still without knowing how much, when and how she would be paid. Lol. Bcos we are now further from school, traveling to and back from school is a hassle. Ended up, Daddy Lim is activated to pick and/ or send her and he ended up getting busy too. Lol. Then we have to factor in the rainy days, where we would have to pick her from the bus stop and also "got lost" days - she boarded the bus 172 instead of 180 (Q side by side at interchange) and ended up at some really ulu Civil Defence Academy. Daddy Lim was in the yard and I had to activate a Grab to pick her up. 

She has joined her old Kindergarten Church youth group with a weekly Saturday zoom meet up from 4pm to 6pm. The timing is really not ideal and we now have to wait her for to be done at 6pm before the next family activity.  Otherwise, she had to take the call in the car, which isn't conducive, like last week. Zaky had been bugging to go to ECP skatepark and Lil Shauna had to choose between taking the call in the car or forgoing ECP. 

She got to the park. 

She also remarked a few times that we haven't been supportive of her youth group meeting. Sob.

She is also busy with Faith Methodist SunJam. The SunJam teachers did a fantastic job engaging the tweens despite Covid-19. Just last week, they had a baking session. 

That is not the end of her list. She asked to volunteer for her kindergarten church camp and had been helping at the church for the past 2 days. She came home exhausted every day and exclaimed that she didn't know 5YOs are so hard to manage. Lol. Now you know ah. Daddy Lim and I then have to make arrangement to send her to and back from church. Just that day, she was in the prep meeting that overrun for 45 mins. Poor Daddy Lim and I were sitting and waiting silly in the car. Right now, we are waiting for her to tell us what time to pick her up. 

Then she has her youth group camp coming up on 19 and 20. Due to Covid-19, the "camp" is in small group basis and hosted by the church's member. It was supposed to be an overnight camp at an allocated host place but we were not comfortable in her sleeping over at some strangers' house, Christians or not. We agreed for her to attend during the day instead.

In addition, she had a couple of outings with her friends, ice skating classes, church graduation ceremony.... Busy right? Confirm busier than me.

While waiting for her in the car the other day, Daddy Lim and I talked about it. We were complaining that we had to wait for her and that her youth group zoom call is at a lousy timing only to recall that it was the same when we were teens. It dawned on us that we are the ones who have to learn to slowly let her go. At some point, she will have to decide if it is family time or church/ social/ school time and sacrifice one. It is an uncomfortable phase bcos it is new for all of us and we all had to make adjustments. We shared that with Lil Shauna, who found it very logical as well. I have the feeling that she will adapt better than we do. There are afterall so many activities to distract her and I am sure these are more interesting that accompanying her old folks. Awww... I miss my baby already. 

God is good and keep her safe in the right company while she grows and spreads her wings. Amen. 

Mummy Lim

Updates:

Lil Shauna finally got paid for her part-time job!

She earned $87!!!! She was paid in cash and had worked a total of 27 hours, which means a hourly rate of $3.22. Hahaha. Is that even legal? 

But she is very proud of herself and so are we - earning her real 1st bucks at 12 YO. 

Ice Skating 218/ Ice Skating 2

Lil Shauna had her ice skating full ice on Thursday morning and I could accompany her at the rink with my laptop. It was nice to be able to see her do her lesson. 

The full ice was super crowded with a mixture of advance skaters and what appeared to be non-skaters. Hmmmm.. was it a public ice session? Fortunately, nobody got seriously knocked over; the skaters all have common sense to give way to the very advance skaters who would be executing that very difficult jump. Speaking of which, I saw how the skaters cleared the ice when one of the advance skaters started her program and filled the ice after she had completed her very difficult jump. I was reminded of the railway market in Bangkok. Hoho. 

Lil Shauna was practicing her program for her elementary test. At the end of the session, she exclaimed how expressive she was with her hands during the program. Got meh? How come I never see? 

What I saw was her attempt at camel, sit and scratch spin, a combination required for her test and how she flop on the ice bcos she couldn't hold her spin. Hahaha. She has plenty of work to do. 

Bcos Lil Shauna had other commitments on last Sunday afternoon, Zaky took jiejie's usual Sunday session with Coach Raymond. This is his 2nd individual lesson. 

We arrived slightly earlier to warm up. While he doesn't have expensive Zuca bag, I at least bought him a backpack to carry his skates instead of the recycled bag. The skates can be safely and securely tucked at the side pockets. 

I also bought him skating pants. With the right attire, his pro-ness increased by a notch, regardless of whether he can really skate or not. Haha. The pants have also lengthen his legs and the oversize T-shirt covered his tummy. Wah, so 显瘦! What he needs is a face mask to hide his chubby face lah. 

Zaky hit the ice and had forgotten what he was taught the last lesson. *Palm-face* I vaguely remember the mohawk, the backward crossover and got him to practice those. 

It was more 3-turns and footwork during lesson and he was also taught how to do 2-foot spins. We continued practicing after lesson and I was so reminded of the times when Lil Shauna was little. Bcos Zaky is older, he also grasped concepts easier. He is a lot more daring too as compared to when Lil Shauna 1st started her individual lessons. What doesn't change is how they all whined to leave the ice after short practice. Zzzzz. 

Lessons for the kids have been booked for December. With 2 kids on the ice, it also meant more pain on the pocket. Aiyo. 

Mummy Lim

Secondary School Selection Done

Right after the PSLE results are out, the students were given a week to opt for their secondary schools. We were given 6 choices and opted to submit the S1 form online. 

I am impressed with the guide that MOE gives to every P6 students.

I don't remember having something like that when I was in P6. At my time, we select the school before the results were released. Don't ask me how I ended up knowing what to choose bcos I don't and it is by God's grace that I got into SHSS. I didn't even know where the school is and never heard of it before I put it as my 2nd choice. 

It is only recent years that I found out that the the choice order does not give more priority. I was shocked with my SIL shared with me. This is in MOE website. 

"For 2020 P6 cohort, the order in which a student lists their school choices *does not* give them priority in determining who gets a place". If 2 students have the same aggregate score and vying for the last slot, it is determined by a computerised ballot, regardless of choice order. If the vying is between 2 students with 2 different scores, the slot goes to the student with a higher score, regardless of choice order. I couldn't tie my head round the same score concept; I bet there are many with the same scores until my SIL reminded that decimals probably do the trick here. Ahhhh.... So clever.

Lil Shauna and I discussed about the school choices and tagged out the possible ones before the results were released. In a worse case scenario, we were looking at the schools near to our home though they don't have many exciting CCAs to offer. Interestingly, I have managed to influence my daughter to find a school and get into a fun team sports CCA. With the released results, we scrutinized the choices earlier identified and further narrowed down to the final 6 choices. 

The decision for the choice placing was left to Lil Shauna. The idea is to put the highest 2020 COP score schools at the top and so on. In the event of schools with same COP, then she should place the one that she desired to get in more on top. I wanted her to have some ownership in the selection. We put in 2 schools with COP above her score. If she gets in any of the 2, it is indeed God's blessing. Out of the 6 schools, 3 of them are girls schools. The girls schools' CCAs offering is really interesting. Out of the 6 schools, 3 of them are Christian schools. Some of the choices are really far and Lil Shauna has prepared mentally to travel. 

This blind selection is really nerve whacking. Though she makes her choice knowing her results and the last year's school COP is made known, we cannot tell how many will chose which school and whether the COP will be jack up. *Nail biting* The results will be released in the last week December. Then there is school reporting, buying of school books and uniform. It sounded like a busy last week already. 

Mummy Lim

D Day - PSLE Results

It is finally the Day. I didn't know what to feel or expect. Lil Shauna had been a consistent performer and usually performs better in year-end exam (SA2) than the mid year one. However, PSLE is a T-score, in comparison to the rest of the P6 cohort and nobody can really tell how one would perform. 

She didn't do that well for Prelims and she was exhausted when it was finally PSLE. I still remember how she came back from her Science paper declaring how tough it was and how she couldn't care any more. That was scary. 

Maybe it is a 1st born thing or maybe she had shown academic performance, I have high hopes for her. She had been keeping her eyes on RV but that will require her to do really, really well and I felt that bubble burst after her Science paper declaration.

Finally, it is D Day for PSLE results. There was unspoken anxiety and stress y'day. I felt it and it was mounting for me but I didn't want to verbalise and stress her. Only every now and then, we hear Popo remind us (as if we needed reminder) that PSLE results will be released today. 

We didn't talk much about it and went to bed. I then had a dream about Lil Shauna's PSLE result. In my dream, she scored 237 and she wasn't pleased nor sad about it. There was even breakdown of her scores that was handwritten - EL 80, Maths 92, Chinese 77 and I can't remember for Science. Then her form teacher wrote "Well Done, Shauna!" underneath the score. She then told me in the dream that she wanted to go to Bukit Timah Secondary School. I remember feeling disappointed with her results and was asking her if she had tried hard enough only to realise that it was pointless to ask. With that, I was jolted awake. 

It was 5am in the morning. I was disturbed, so much so that I couldnt fall back to sleep. I am that kind who can fall asleep at night within seconds and that kind who turned on the lights and TV to sleep in hotels when I travel for business. So losing sleep is a HUGE thing. After much tossing and turning, I grabbed my phone and started checking schools with 237 COP. Then tried to google Bukit Timah Secondary School's COP. It turned out that there isn't such a secondary school. Hahaha. Is that a sign? I was hoping so badly for her to attain at least 243 in PSLE bcos that opens up so many more options. 

Lil Shauna was up early as well and told me that she too had a bad dream. Is that a sign too??? It turned out that hers was about screwing up the elementary ice skating test. Lol. I shared with her my dream and she asked me about her HCL score, which wasn't shown in my dream. Haha. 

I took a day's leave and had a morning walk with Lil Shauna. We talked about the PSLE results and assured her that bad scores is not the end. I am sure that she would at least get into the express stream and there are more chances following her secondary education. 

Daddy Lim and I then went for bfast without her. She was too nervous to eat. Then she spent the rest of the morning rushing us to school. She was to arrive in school by 10.30am. I had expected a lot of waiting but she was too much nerves to wait at home. 

Only 1 parent was allowed per kid and the parents were arranged to wait in a classroom next to the kids. The kids would receive the results on their own then head to classroom next door to "collect" the parents. On the way to her classroom, I kept making her pause for me to take pictures. No more chances le leh. 

The sitting arrangement for the parents was the exact of the kids. I am surprised that Lil Shauna is at the 2nd row despite her height.

There was a fair bit of waiting before the VP's speech, sharing about the overall school results. 

Ok, 11.1% above 250, crossing my fingers. Then the outstanding performers' name was flashed and I didn't see her. Aiyo, bubble burst le, bye bye RV. 

Finally, the results were released to the kids. It comes in the form of an A4 size leaving school certificate, A4 size result slip and an envelope containing the S1 option form. Soon, the students came one by one to collect their parents. The wait was antagonizing. There were a couple of girls who hopped by that I had thought was Lil Shauna - all tall with glasses and pony tail. Lol. As I waited, I had to release my stress by texting Daddy Lim who in turn was so irritated. It was like the perfect brew for panic attack and the mask didn't help. I needed the distraction.

I had guessed that it was by class registration number and I was right. After like forever, I saw Lil Shauna ran excitedly to me. She was the no. 35 out of 43 students. Must be good score, right? It turned out that she didn't know her score bcos she didn't know where to check but was excited bcos she saw her grades, which were really decent. The score was actually covered by the envelop. Hohoho. 

Lil Shauna was overwhelmed when she saw her results. It was definitely above her expectations and she started tearing. Luckily I got bring tissue paper. Lol. With her good results, she was happily checking out her friends' scores as well to realise that many of her classmates, ex-classmates had done well. The top scorer in her school scored an amazing 270 and was one of her bffs! 

Her results absolutely called for a celebratory lunch and we were so overjoyed that we almost forgot to pick up Zaky who went to Student Care. Luckily for Daddy Lim's reminder. 

With the stress done, hunger set in and so did tiredness after the whole episode. We all deserved a good rest. 

We spent some time looking through the guide given by MOE and refining the original secondary school choices that we had earlier identified. Lil Shauna had some decisions to make before we submit the S1 form by next week. 

The big question - am I satisfied with her results? True be told, I am not sure what to expect after her Science paper and that dream. Haha. I always know what she is capable academically and thought that she had indeed achieved her potential this time. It is actually Lil Shauna herself that is more amusing. After finding out her friends' score, she now thinks that she could have done better. Hahaha. 

Mummy Lim

Many Firsts

Two Saturdays ago, we attempted the 1st house cleaning for Cookie. Lil Shauna was in school and only Zaky helped. There was a fair bit of washing and drying and wiping with the anti-bacteria spray. Daddy Lim had the easy job to watch over Cookie while we labored over the cleaning. We had almost 2 sets of his accessories and he was soon comfortably settled back in his cage with new and clean bedding. 

The only appreciation that I got was to minimize the tunnels. It is so difficult to clean and for weird reasons, Cookie loves to pee and poo in the tunnel and then get himself all stained. I have been like cleaning tunnels like almost everyday. 

Last Saturday, it was cage cleaning day again. This time, we are a lot more efficient and faster. Both kids pretended to be busy and I had to call out to them a couple of times. Zzzzzzz. Lil Shauna did the washing this time while Zaky got the easier job, watching over Cookie. 

Cookie now has more IG followers than I do and update his IG so much more frequently than I do. Lol. Daddy Lim takes so many pictures of Cookie and I swear that he takes Cookie in a nicer angle than he did for us. 

The school holidays have officially started. Lil Shauna has found herself a part time job - the school bookshop auntie has hired her to prep for the book sales coming up. Lil Shauna said that it was bcos the bookshop auntie likes her. Well, not only that but I think she looks big and strong and good for carrying books. Lol. 

She worked 2 hours last week and it was mainly manual work, carrying books and papers. She came back and complained about paper cuts. This morning, she was told to report at 9am only to be told that Auntie has wrongly scheduled too many helpers and asked her to report again at 3pm. Daddy Lim had to be activated to pick her up and sent her back at 3pm. Her work has made Daddy Lim very busy too. Lol. The best part? She doesn't know how much she will be paid per hour or how she will be paid. She only know that her wages will come next month. When next month? No idea. Lol. I am quite sure that it is cheap labor but a good experience nevertheless. 

This school holiday is the 1st holiday in a long time that we didn't travel. With the home-based learning and all, Zaky had spent way too much time at home. He is bored and gets lethargic after the entire day of gadget time such that he becomes whinny and grumpy at the end of the day. For the 1st time in his 5 years in Student Care, he actually asked to go to Student Care during the school holidays. He reckoned that it would be more fun than staying at home and facing his parents. Haha. I had been worried that Zaky would be reluctant to attend Student Care after jiejie graduates. The worry is unfounded and he has so many Fontnite buddies in Student Care. 

He came back from Student Care happy and relating about the non-school work that he had done. He only asked to go back for only 1 week as a trial bcos he has his Netflix series to catch up on for the rest of the school holidays. The kids sure are busy. Let's see if he would ask to extend. 

Lil Shauna has camps and outings with her friends lined up. Zaky also had his 1st outing 3 weeks' back. His classmate had invited him to his place where he spent the whole afternoon petting the pet bunny and watching Crime Watch on TV (??!! Haha). 

I had initially thought that the date wouldn't happen like how kids always made arrangements without their parents' consent only to be jammed break. He had such a great time that he didn't want to come home. The hosting family was so nice to invite him for dinner too. Look at the table of good food! They have arranged to do it again next week and Zaky wanted us to send him over at 6am so that he can have the entire day. Siao ah!

I think I should also make some plans with Daddy Lim without the kids this holiday. Hahaha. 

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 216/ Ice Skating 1

It happened to be full-ice on Sunday morning for JCube ice and of course I grabbed, only to have Lil Shauna complained that it was too rush for her Sunday church zoom. Zzzzzz. 妈妈很难当.

Coach Raymond suggested to book the full hour and to share between Lil Shauna and Zaky. Nice. Bcos Lil Shauna wanted to be on time for her zoom, she offered to go first. Zaky was happily playing his hp until Coach Raymond spotted him and told us that he could hit the ice too for warm up. 

He wasn't too sure what to do on ice after skating a couple of rounds and kept going back to Coach and jiejie, disturbing them. 

Coach Raymond is helping Lil Shauna to prepare for her Preliminary test. She needs to do a sequence with a 2-min +/- 10 sec music. We have extended the Despicito piece that we had originally intended for her last competition and it does look like she still have a lot to work on. 

Lil Shauna hurried off the ice after her lesson though she could still practice and skate. Zaky was up next and being his 1st lesson, Coach Raymond made him do all the basis crossovers to see where he is at. The lesson was spent all on 3 turns, mohawk and backwards crossovers. It brought back so much memories of when Lil Shauna 1st started. Then midway, he came asking for water. Lil Shauna would never do that; she would rather die of thirst then to open her mouth to ask for permission for breaks. Haha.

Zaky totally enjoyed the lesson and he went on to tell me how much he perspired. From doing 3-turns and mohawks? Haha. 

The kids got to practice on the 2/3 public ice that was extremely crowded. Lil Shauna gave up after a while. Zaky was more enthusiastic. Not bcos he wanted to practice but he found a couple of boys who were about his age and he was happily showing off his limited skills and then pushing to push them on the seal. Lol. Whatever.

Mummy Lim

First New Bike Rides

Daddy Lim and Lil Shauna were on a quest to replace my beloved Giant MTB that we easily and quickly sold off on Carousell. She wanted a hybrid bike too so that she could go as fast as Zaky. She could fit a size S bike and it wouldn't be too difficult looking for one for her. Daddy Lim tried persuading her to get a roadie instead but she rejected him flat. Haha. 

Unlike Zaky who bought the 1st bike that he could fit, Lil Shauna did a fair bit of "shopping". She tried a brand new Velo, one of those small wheels bike that could go fast but she thought the handling was too twitchy. She also tried a brand new Raleigh hybrid and this time, Daddy Lim said that it wasn't good enough bcos the parts were the "best parts" from China. She eventually settled for a 2nd hand Giant hybrid. Daddy Lim drove her all the way to Tampines to try the bike. Ya, better buy after the need to drive so far. 

The bike was a few months old and we paid $560 for it. I don't think Daddy Lim bargained. We were told that it was on sales as the seller had changed to another bike. 

On Friday night, we took the new bikes and went for our 1st new bike rides. We started on the PCN and switched to the pedestrians walkway in between connecting PCNs. It was not fun trying to navigate bumpy and winding walkpaths, which was made worse having to share with pedestrians. Then we switched to the roads on segments that were quieter. The kids were no stranger to road cycling but it is better to be safe than sorry. 

We rode all the way to Riverside. 

We were lured by the many cafes only to see that they were all crowded. We eventually settled for a drink and snack at one of the kopitiams on the way back. 

I had envisioned us cycling all the way to the barrage and beyond and back but I think that was too much to ask for a tiring Friday night. Nevertheless, the kids easily nailed 30km. They were definitely faster. Lil Shauna has again secured her 3rd fastest rider title. Zaky struggled a little on the returning trip but all good nevertheless. The kids had plenty to learn on how to work the gearing and road safety. 

Most of the times, Daddy Lim was leading while I swept bcos I didn't know the way. Haha. At many points, I saw how much the kids have grown - from their kiddy bikes to PCNs on their MTB to the adult size hybrids today. 他们又长大了. So emotional!

Mummy Lim

Online Shopping

I have to pat myself on the back that I have been fairly disciplined during the many initial months of WFH and didn't spend crazy money on online shopping. Then we started browsing alot for furniture in preparation of the move to LV. Most of the shopping were still done at brick and mortar shops. It was tough, we somewhat need to feel that sofa/ chair/ dining table/ shelf before we commit. 

The online shopping frenzy only started when we were shifting. There were so many interesting little household gadgets to buy online. They didn't cost much (on its own) so I wouldn't feel the pinch if they turn out to be lemons. Interestingly, I have not regretted on the online purchases so far but instead had to throw away a lousy shoe rack that I bought from a shop. More interestingly, there seems to be always something to buy. How come my house is so lacking? Hohoho. It will be Redmart grocery today, another box/ shelf tomorrow, a door mat/ rug the day after. Aiyo. 

The thrill from the buying is only so-so and it is difficult to feel the pinch with the electronic payments. But I have to tell you the immerse excitement of waiting and receiving the delivery. Hohoho. The parcels really make my day, even if they are groceries. Haha. 

The we found Carousell while trying to find Zaky's bike. Hoho. Another joy. We also bought the 2nd hand Cookie's cage and tunnels online. With Zaky's new bike, Lil Shauna also declared that she needed a new and faster one. Ok, the number of bikes have officially outnumbered the people in our household. This calls for some clearance and for the 1st time in my life, I have sold off something via Carousell - Zaky's old Trek and my beloved Giant MTB. 

We sold my Giant MTB for $200, slightly more than 50% of the price that we bought it for, after 3 years. These are the only pictures left. 

Zaky's Trek needed quite some servicing and we sold it for $160, less than half price of what we bought but better than to leave it idling or to pass on for free. 

Daddy Lim asked the kids to behave. Now that we have found Carousell, we can sell anything, including Cookie. Hoho. 

Mummy Lim