The Aunties Gathering

Bcos we are such a big group now and bored "big" kids are no fun, we think hard before deciding if we should include kids in our gathering. We decided that February should be a no-kid gathering, bcos we have entertained them enough for Christmas and CNY and also that we have time to catch up. 

Speaking of which, this was from Christmas, with the kids all trying to stand very tall, so that they can be taller than others. The teenager girls and boys tried very hard. 

Two months later, we have this.

Nana insisted that she is the same height as C. Ok lor. Hoho. 

For this month's gathering, we met in town, somewhere central, so that no one will cry murder about the distant. I headed to town early, after the 9am church service. Why so early? Bcos Zaky has joined Faith Methodist youth group and they do 9am service, followed by cell. I was early and had the time to do some shopping in town. Town leh, so rare. 

Lunch was sumptuous and desserts were good. 

More catch up was done over cups of kopi and teh. Old people lah. 

Little G was the only kid and our photographer. The picture was so well taken. Catching up and spending time with the aunties is always good. 

Speaking of being old, I have conceded defeat to my old flower eyes. Several months back, after suffering from the inability to read small fonts at near distant, particularly in the morning and night and when the lights are dimmed, I went to the optician and got my 1st pair of cheapo long sighted glasses to try. 

These are only $15 but so helpful in the past months. The lousy frame broke and I super glued it back. It is time for new glasses but I wasn't willing to spend on old flower glasses. 

Eventually, I got myself these from lenskart. 

There is an one for one offer. Regardless of whether I buy 1 or 2 pairs, it is at $148. Even though I don't need a second pair, I got it anyway. 

Why didn't I let Daddy Lim or the kids have the 2nd pair? Bcos they have complicated eyes and need expensive glasses. Lenskart simple lens are no good for them. Hoho. 

Mummy Lim

Bye JCube and the Rink

A couple of years back, there were news that the Rink would be closed for renovation. The Rink is about 10 years old and high time to do a major overhaul. This would require the Rink to be closed for a good 6 months or probably longer. The news never materialised, we kept hearing rumors but it never happened. 

Then, a bigger news came - the land that JCube is sitting on has been identified for future commercial and residential use. The Centris model immediately come to mind and there is now obviously no need for any renovation anymore. 

It was all quiet again and no more updates on the Rink's future. Soon after on FB, the advertisement to indicate interest on the future JCube condo kept popping up. The developers obviously smelt money and moved fast, much faster that the coaches and skaters were being updated of the Rink's future. 

Few days ago, the news finally came. 

Not that it affects us greatly, but any news about ice skating still tugs at my heart. Nana was just telling me last week that she did miss ice skating a little. I also wonder what would happen to the Coaches' livelihood. 

The same week, I saw the SISA email about the upcoming ice skating competition. My heart skipped again. We would probably be busy practicing for the competition if it had been 1 or 2 years back. My heart... I need a plaster. 

I missed seeing Nana dancing on the ice. 

Mummy Lim

Parents Engagement Session @ SST

It was on Monday morning, 8am to 10am. I contemplated skipping it but the parents' chat made it sounded like such a big deal. Of course I kiasu and attended the session. 

It was a late day for Zaky but he woke up early, so that we can go to school together. I have been to SST more times in the last few months than the 3 years Nana had been in NH. 

Zaky appeared to like his school as much as Nana's loyalty to NH. He voluntarily stayed back most days after school to work on the class decoration, something that I don't see him doing when he was in Primary school. I was told that he lacks initiative when his Primary School relinquished his Assistant Head Prefect duties. Oh yes, I am still bitter about it. 

Bcos Zaky spent so much time and effort on his class decoration, he excitedly talked about it and asked me to pay attention to this particular board. He said that he singlehandedly put it up, not the design portion, but he fixed it up as per the designer's instruction. He is hoping that his class would win.

The boards were indeed impressive. I peeped at the other classes' board and the others paled in comparison. 

This is the one put up by Zaky. Not bad.

The parents were seated by 8am and the form teachers gave a quick run through of what had happened in the last month, the class' aspiration, etc. We then moved to the auditorium to listen to the school management. 

Now, this part was boring. There wasn't much take back except for this timeline.

Even the questions from the parents were very similar and old. I think I almost fell asleep. The auditorium chair was comfortable, the aircon was nice. Hmmmm... The session overran. I left at 10am sharp. 

I was more interested in the CCA selection. The students went through 3 weeks of tryouts and Zaky kept telling me that he doesn't know what is the next step. Then the same afternoon, Zaky shared that he was shortlisted for basketball and the Singapore Youth Flying Club, with the latter being one of the most popular CCAs in SST and usually only shortlisted students are selected into the CCA. Robotics and media are equally popular. Hmm.. you can tell why these are popular in SST, right? 

What did he choose? Basketball of course. I had been strongly encouraging him, luring him with the idea that he needs the exercise to be tall, lean and strong. Hoho. Speaking of which, he lost weight, largely from skipping lunches. He said that he is not hungry. Losing weight is good but I think growing taller is better. Hoho. 

Nana is officially the shortest person in the Lim Family. Hoho.

Mummy Lim

Japanese Classes

The story goes back to almost 30 years ago, during my 1st ever aeroplane overseas school trip to Japan, Nagasagi, with the SHSS ladies (girls then). I fell in love with Japan and opted to major in Japanese studies in my university years. I am not sure how majoring in Japanese studies helped me in my career but there were many interesting modules and I had an enjoyable time in my university years. Hoho. 

Among the many modules, there was the Japanese language. Unfortunately, I have no flair in languages and struggled through the Japanese language modules. I finally gave it up after 2.5 years, barely scripping through the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficienct Test) level 4, which is the most basic level test then. I had so many hours poured into learning the language and memorising vocab. Those were the days. 

I have forgotten most of the language and I couldnt speak or understand Japanese anymore. This was proven in our last Japan trip. While I didn't enjoy the Japan trip as much as what I imagined I would be, I still missed the language very much. 

Come 2023 and I am bored. I have been trying to find something to learn and my interest in the language was re-ignited when I started working with my new Japanese colleagues. Then, there is the skillsfuture credits given by the Government. 

I found a "Japanese course for busy people". Yes, I am busy people. The facilitator had suggested that I start from the beginner course given that I last learnt the language more than 20 years back. 

He is very wise and right. When I 1st received the notes for the trial lesson, I barely remembered the hiragana and the katakana, lack alone the many vocabs that I have poured sweat memorising. I got motivated and started revising and memorising them. 

These are like alphabets or hanyu pinying.

 

The trial lesson took place on Wednesday at 7pm. They have online class but I wanted to experience if physical classes work better. It was a brain draining 2 hours lesson for me, who still retained a little bit of the language and I wondered how bad it was for those who have zero knowledge. But I like and am excited. Hohoho. 

I have been looking at the notes, trying to memorise some of the common phrases, ranging from greetings to saying thank you and sorry. 

It is painful but interesting at the same time. 

Yes, I have signed up for the full 12 weeks weekly lesson. After the skillsfuture $550 subsidy, I only need to fork out $150. Good deal. I duno how much I will learn/ remember after 12 weeks but I am looking forward to the next lesson. Yay!

Mummy Lim

Mummy Lim

New Garmin Forerunner 55

I actually like my Garmin Vivoactive Element 3 watch very much. The shape, size, color, aesthetic are all right. The screen is colorful and bright and the touch screen is so easy to use. I like it so much that I even bought the same model for Zaky, when he needed a replacement and the model was on sale. 

This Vivoactive Element is one of the lower ends of the Garmin watches. I didn't need a powerful watch anyway, largely to tell time and record my gym activities. I figured out shortly why the model is so cheap - the battery life sux. It is so bad. 

When I 1st got the watch, I had to set it in the best way possible for battery saving. It served me alright, needing a charge every couple of days. I can live with that. Then, in the last few months, the battery life becomes erratic. A full charge can sometimes only last 1 night and I ended up charging the watch every day or worse, 2x a day. Zzzzz. There is no way to track sleep anymore bcos it was always charging in the night. 

I lived with it, until I cannot anymore. I bought the watch in July 2020. I think it has served its time. The last straw came when it was fully charged and an hour later, the battery dropped to 17%. I read and bcos it is such a cheap watch, there is no point trying to change the battery. Sounds that I am better off with a new watch. Hoho. 

I like Garmin. I had switched from fitbit bcos I found fitbit so boring but so hardy. Lol. Like the typical me, I 不舍得 to spend a lot on a watch and finally got a Garmin Forerunner 55. It is again one of the lower end watches and no touch screen but the battery is supposed to last for days! 

I chose this largely for the round clock face. It definitely takes some getting used to and to remember what all the different buttons are for. The 1st treadmill activity has been recorded and it looks good so far. Hoho. 

I am not the only one with "new" stuff. We have finally switched Mochi's litter fully. He was using this pellet (from SPCA days) that breaks down when wet and it stinks as the days go by. I was recommended this Atas cat litter (seriously ttas is the brand name) by a colleague with many cats. 

We were supposed to switch Mochi slowly and finally after 3 weeks, he is fully on the new litter. 

The sand clumps up when wet and I can easily scoop up and remove the clumps and poo poo. Very easy. No smell. I like. The only problems are how fast the litter is used up and Mochi kicking little sand out when he tries to cover his tracks. Nevertheless, I am sticking to this. 

The only person who didn't have "new" thing is Nana. She lost her phone yday. She thinks she left it in the toilet. We bought the Samsung S20FE in November 2021. Zzzzz. The kids had thought that Singapore is so safe and had been leaving their phone, wallet, belongings anywhere. She had "lost" her phone a few times and was able to find it bcos some kind soul either left it where it was or sent it to the lost and found. She had thought that everybody is so kind. Unfortunately not and she has learnt her lesson this time. 

We went through the trouble to replace her sim card but she has to use one of the old phones and opted for Zaky's old oppo phone. I duno if that phone still functions well; I will hear about it at the end of the day. She will have to live with the phone until her birthday. She has to learn to keep her things properly. 

Mummy Lim

A Pack CNY 2023

With the covid restrictions coming to an end, we aren't the only ones busy with CNY. For many years before covid, we used to make use of the CNY long weekend to travel. We have tried Malaysia and Batam and were part of the immigration jam crowd, both on land and sea. Covid has definitely trained me well and I didn't feel that I must travel even with the 4 days' break. Interestingly, this CNY isn't any less exciting than the ones when we traveled. 

It all started with Reunion Dinner at our place on Friday night. The CNY 不能少的 steamboat. 

Daddy Lim was stuck at work and didn't join the dinner and family photo. I was very nice and left him a big bowl of food. He was well fed. 

On CNY Eve, and the only morning where it didn't rain, Daddy Lim headed to the ECP skatepark with the kids while I went for the usual morning WWF ride. 

Then, the rain started in the afternoon and it didn't stop. T.T

We had Reunion Dinner at Nainai's place and I forgot to take photo. Hoho It was steamboat no. 2 and there is never too much of steamboat during CNY. 

On 初一, Daddy Lim managed to get an off day from work. We had intended to ride but eventually decided to skate at Kallang only to have the rain spoilt all plans. We had round 3 of Reunion Lunch at Daddy Lim's aunt's place. She used to arrange for the extended family to come and visit separately on CNY eve and 初一. This year, it was all-in-one. 

This is the one of the few times that I have seen all (almost) of Daddy Lim's extended family under 1 roof. 

Daddy Lim's cousins are much younger and a few of them have just started their family. Nana and Zaky are the big jiejie and gorgor of the pack. 

One of the little ones wasn't too pleased to be awoken just for the group picture. Then, the littlest was made to "smile". Lol, kena bullied siol.

The last stop of the day was dinner at my brother's place. Ya, I realised that I haven't really stop feasting since Christmas. Lol. 

The girls decided to show that they didn't eat that much actually and had their "6-pack" to prove. Hoho. 

The kids had a sleepover at my brother's place. I took the opportunity to use the laptop to download and saved the hundreds of photos into the hard disk. Yay! Spring cleaning for my phone.

On 初二, I was hoping to go skating at the Jurong Lake Garden but of course it was 下雨-ing. With Daddy Lim at work and the kids at my brother's place, I was so bored that I decided to go window shopping at JE, even when most of the shops were closed. 

Nana had invited her youths to 拜年 in the afternoon. While she had managed to convince Popo, it was a painful event bcos Popo became more and more grouchy as the evening progressed. I just wanted to get out of the house or hide in the room. I told Nana that the next time she invites her friends over, either only popo or I am home. It is too painful. 

This was Daddy Lim and my shared dinner bcos we didn't want to stay home and there weren't many stalls open. This special mee goreng cost us $9. 

I had arranged to go for a ride this morning. At 5am rain check, a fellow cyclists sent us the weather forecast and called off the ride. 

The rain cloud was so big that the whole Singapore was hidden. Luckily we didn't ride bcos it started raining soon after and it just didn't stop. Zzzzz. Nana and I ended up doing some morning shopping instead. She needed to get a birthday gift for her bestie Boo. 

Yes, the Chan Family is back for CNY visitation. Not only did she bought presents, she got herself a dress too on mummy's account. She is not a dress girl but realised that all her friends are so well dressed up this CNY. 

Our last CNY celebration was the SHSS gathering at Ms Teo's place. We were supposed to buy McD chicken nuggets but were told that there was simply too much food and to just go empty handed. I at least brought snacks. Hoho. 

Just nice for our hungry tummies. The food was all set up when we arrived. We were the latest to arrive as we had to wait for Daddy Lim to knock off and we are from the faraway Jurong. 

As usual, we had a good time catching up. The kids were bored at times as they were left to self entertain and the rain didn't help. 

Another 全家福, without the hubbies. Hoho. 

Finally, the end to the celebration and time to properly diet. Hoho. It was fun and a better CNY that I have experienced since a long time. Huat ah!

Mummy Lim

Sold! No Scammers this Time

I previously blogged about the scammers' attempts after I posted Nana's old ice skates on Carousell. Then it was silence. I know ice skates aren't the easiest to sell. I took a long time when looking for a pair of Edea skates for Nana, then asking the seller a ton of questions. Hoho. 

Then there was 1 enquiry and the person made an offer but gone quiet after I told the person that we are in faraway Jurong. Got so far meh? Lol. 

I wasn't hopeful when I received another enquiry. Like the 1st one, she is currently skating in Kallang. She didn't have many questions and didn't even need to try the skates. She asked for a lower price and was willing to travel to Lakeside to meet me and collect the skates. Too good to be true? 

It wasn't a scam. It was COD. The buyer turned up on time on Friday afternoon. It was a teenage girl who had just started skating in Kallang. I also duno what she saw in Nana's Jackson bcos there are other cheaper and lower end pairs on sales in Carousell. Maybe she did her homework and know that this Jackson Freestyle will last her a long time? Nana mastered her single Axle in this pair. 

Sold! $130! We got these in December 2018 for $520. She used them until her new (2nd hand) Edea Chorus skates in May 2021. 

As we sold/ gave away Nana's ice skating stuff, a little of my heart went with it too.

Mummy Lim

Mochi Health Check

When we brought Mochi home, we were told that Mochi needs to have his monthly check at the vet until he is 12 months old. In a wink of eye, we had Mochi for more than a month. Ya, we are late, we haven't given him his monthly fleas/ ticks medication too. We had been busy/ lazy. At least we kept up with his weekly/ biweekly nail trim and ear clean. We also gave him his 1st bath, which is another story for another day. 

We finally got down to making an appointment and brought him to a vet nearby yday. Mochi is a house cat and never get the chance to exit the house except for the time he came home from SPCA and another occasion where Nana let him escaped the house. I almost had a heart attack then. 

So Mochi is foreign to his portable bag. 

He didn't look too pleased. 

We were the only patient at the clinic. The clinic was manned by a female vet and a few other female nusrses/ staff. Mochi charmed them all and every single sentence was punctuated with somebody exclaiming how cute Mochi is. Ikr. He has those Puss in Boots eyes. 

The regular checkup was done faster than the registration procedure. We got to know that there isn't a need for monthly checkup but an annual one. The next one can be done when we bring him back for his annual vaccination in October. 

Mochi weighs 3.8kg. He was below 2.5kg when we brought him home. No wonder we all think that he has grown bigger and heavier. Daddy Lim said that eveybody in our household grows fat, people, cat, hamster. T.T, 

Mochi is all good except that the vet can feel poop in his tummy bcos he didn't poo poo yday and got me all worried. I didn't even worry this much when my own kids are constipated now. Lol. He also had an upper baby canine that is shaky and should drop on its own or medical procedure would be needed in the future. He is missing one lower canine but it is unlikely to affect him much. He was so well-behaved in the clinic  even when the nurse helped to feed him the deworm pill. Everyone was smittened by him.  

With that, we ended our 1st official vet visit and were $75 poorer. Mochi took the visit well and wasn't at all traumatise. He also finally popped. Hoho. It is probably rare to find somebody so happy to clean sh*t. 

How is the adaption getting along? Popo still gets very upset when Mochi gets into rooms/ areas that he isn't supposed to be. Somebody should just learned the habit of closing door. We are ok. He is just a curious cat and is happy to exit the room/ area after he had completed his thorough inspection. This applies to Puffy too. 

We have moved Puffy from the top of the shelf to the floor bcos Mochi tried to murder his once by toppling his cage to the floor. It was our 1st time hearing Puffy hissing in anger. Fortunately, Puffy is still fine. We have also moved my Harry Potter lego to other part of the shelf bcos Mochi has killed many of the characters, pawing them around. He didn't even spare Potter. Haiz. 

While he is an active boy, he also spends a lot of time sleeping. 

His favorite spots changed from time to time. The recent one is under my work desk and he napped there for several hours yday. Good life, I also want. 

We are enjoying Mochi and we hope that he feels likewise. 

Mummy Lim

Late Days

With Zaky entering secondary school, he gets to enjoy late days as well. For this term, he has 2 late days per week, starting school 1 hour later than usual, at 8.40am. 

On usual days, he would leave the house at 6.30am with jiejie, hitching a ride from Daddy Lim to the MRT. Then the kids would take the train to Clementi together before switching to different buses. 

The late days started for him this week and I got to travel with him bcos I was heading to the office. He told me that it usually takes him 40 mins to get to school and we planned to leave the house at 8am on Monday. 

Then I got anxious. We should make some time buffer right? So we attempted to leave 10 mins earlier which resulted in me rushing him non-stop. He was just very chill with me asking him to hurry up, 快点, walk faster. Aiyo. We only boarded the train at 8.06am and I was worried that he might be late. He didn't look at all worried. Chey. He eventually made it to school at 8.33am. Phew.

Today, both the kids have late days. Nana starts at 8.30am while Zaky starts 8.40am. The difference? Nana hates even the thought of being late and was out of the house at 7.25am; Zaky just got out of bed. I was again rushing Zaky out of the house and we made it barely at 7.45am. He is again very chill. 

He purposely inched forward to look taller in the picture. Hoho. This time, he was definitely in time. 

School has started and so has homework. Fighting!

Mummy Lim