Bespectacled Family!

One pair of spectacles… Three times the fun!

Of course, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at who actually owns the specs!

He didn’t allow either of us to parade the shots for too long! Haha!

Check out more photos of my bespectacled boy here!

Jayvon & His Guitar

We bought a quarter-sized classical guitar for Jayvon for Christmas. It is a very nice guitar, and Nic even tried to use it in his CG thanksgiving – and it sounded good!

Of course, at 23 months, he is still too young to really learn to play, but he has always loved music from young, so we thought it best to encourage this aspect to grow and mature!

He looks so grown up with this guitar!

Last night, we showed him our favourite young guitarist, Sungha Jung. He is a young South Korean (I think he is only 12 or 13 years old), and a guitar whiz.

Check out these great Christmas carols played by him!

He is a genius! Hope you enjoy the videos, and before it is too late…

Merry Christmas!

Yummy Log Cake

I ordered a log cake from Lil’ Foot, an online cake shop. I’ve always been a huge fan of their durian cake, which is simply divine.

This year, I decided to try out their Rum & Raisins Fever! Logcake. And boy o boy… it was goooooood! Their raisins were lovingly soaked, and full of yummy goodness!

 

What a blurry photo ya? Jay’s trying to sneak a few of those mini M&M’s into his mouth!

This is the best log cake I’ve had this year!

Christmas Presents Galore

Jay’s mountain…

went though a turmoil early Christmas morning…

which ended in a mess of wrappers…

and created a wonderful mess!

From his favourite – Little Tikes’ Snuggle Bug…

To musical instruments…

To books…

To more of his favourite puzzles!

Thanks to the many uncles and aunties who has given fantastic presents to Jay!

Complete Christmas!

Christmas is now complete.

Cos my mom has completed her batch of pineapple tarts.

I am probably biased. But this is the best pineapple tarts ever! I love to eat these tarts, but my taste buds have been spoilt silly by my mom’s tarts. And so I usually save my stomach (and the calories) to Christmas and Chinese New Year – the only two times a year my mom makes these! From the pineapple filling, which my mom personally cooked, to the soft dough surrounding these sweet centre… this is tart-perfection. :)

Feels Like Christmas!

I loved the Candlelight Service in church today…

It really makes it feel simply so… Christmas-sy!

 

This is one of my favourite carols and I love these two versions! Enjoy!

We Rode The Hippo!

Jayvon’s recent pet phrase has been…

“HIPPO BUS!”

And we finally managed to bring him to ride the Hippo bus on Monday! The Hippo Bus departs from Suntec City every 25 mins, so we took the chance to grab a bite. But even from inside the Food Republic foodcourt, Jayvon could not keep his eyes off the Hippo Buses waiting at the bay!

And finally… it was our turn! And we even got to sit on the Purple Hippo bus – Jay’s favourite colour!

And we’re off!

 

The Hippo was an hour’s journey, and we chose the City Route, which brought us through places like Clarke Quay, Botanical Gardens and through the Orchard Road stretch.

Each ticket (for a non-stop ride) was S$15, and free for children below three! For tourists who wish to ride to Hippo to see places of interest, they could pay S$23 for a ticket which allows them to hop on and off the Hippo!

Here’re some of the places we went to!

Nic & I were so glad to be able to fulfill our little boy’s wish – to ride the Hippo!

Till the next time we go… and Jay wants to go for the DuckTour and sit on the Flyer next!

We’re tourists in our own land… Haha!

I Love This!

Random thing-of-the-moment…

The Blackberry Bold 9000… in an awesome WHITE!

Sooooo pretty!

Pity it is only available for Starhub users. It almost makes me willing to give up the Javelin in favour of the bulkier Bold once again. Then again, the new Bold 9700 is out soon too. And of course, there’s always the ABC (Apple-Berry Club… for people who can’t decide which is better – the iPhone or the Blackberry – and so use BOTH phones!).

Christmas’ coming ya? A new handphone is a present i definitely won’t mind! Haha!

Susan Boyle

I absolutely love her.

I mean, if i can sing half as good as her… I’d be one happy (song)bird! Haha!

Remember that first performance of hers on Britain’s Got Talent? Simply amazing.

And so it is little surprise her debut album has topped the charts in both UK & US! In fact, her album is touted as being a strong contender for the best-selling US album of the year. Awesome work! I want to get this album too!

Read more about it here.

It is Snowing !

Well, I’m still in Singapore.

Where the sun shines 24/7.

But hey… it’s snowing on my Firefox browser! Haha!

 

I love the little snowman on the top right hand corner!

Which reminds me…

I have presents that need to be bought, and no time to  buy them! Argh!

Happy Birthday, Wen!

Here’s a shoutout to my friend and great co-worker, Wendy! Happy birthday!! May your year be one filled with great joy and greater breakthroughs!

Thanks for fighting in the “trenches” with me! Haha!

 
The HR & Office Admin Dept!

 
Plus our friends from the MIS & Finance Departments!

Hong Kong-style Breakfast

I brought Jayvon to the nearby Old HongKong Tea House, at Katong Village for breakfast.

This is a cosy little 24-hour place, and the food’s quite nice. The decor is so-so and pretty sparse, as you can see.

But they display photographs of Hong Kong actors and actresses of ‘old’!

And we settled in for a nice cosy breakfast…

Yes… authentic Hong Kong wanton noodles! After reading friends’ blogs on their recent trips to Hong Kong, it has made me reminisce the wonderful food they had there!

Plus yummy iced Horlicks!

What a perfect start to our Saturday! Read more about the rest of Jayvon’s day – Julian’s birthday party at The Polliwogs – in Jay’s blog!

Power of Fasting

Fasting is an important concept in a Christian walk. It is not about merely abstaining from food or dieting, but there is a crucial spiritual aspect to it!

Pastor Kong Hee has done up a new blog entry on The Power of Fasting, which is phenomenal as usual. He lists the benefits of fasting, as well as many practical tips on how you should before, after and during a fast, as well as when you should not be fasting.

 

Check out this very informative read!

Hiding Behind Your Keyboard

(Picture courtesy of Flickr)

In the world we live in today, it can get a little scary to see the things that people will write on online forums or even on Youtube.

For example, on a certain popular online forum in Singapore, its Terms of Use includes this:

“All members are advised not to use any form of obscenities and vulgarities in your posts/threads and/or PMs. This includes the use of language as well as images… Don't attack others. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully… without insult and personal attack…”

Yet the site is one where vulgarities and coarse language fly unbridled. Away from the keyboard, would the same person still be as mean-spirited and vulgar and coarse in person? I suppose to a certain extent, but hiding behind that keyboard sure gives him the boost to behave five times worse.

It blows my mind.

If a friend shares that he is getting depressed and having negative thoughts, would you tell him to go kill himself and make a quick ending of it?

If a friend celebrates a victory, would you be a cold blanket and insinuate that “something” must be up?

Sure, you can argue that on the vast Web, there are no such things as ‘friends’… but surely there are still communities and basic human respect?

Please… Don’t dance under the “freedom of speech” banner and conveniently hide behind that. With the freedom of speech comes the responsibility of that speech. Hiding behind that keyboard makes people write things that they ordinarily would not. Surely there must come a point where anonymity cannot merely used as a cover!

I think Spiderman summarised it best with this…

With great power comes great responsibility!

Blogging Tips

I love to change the look of my blog ever so often.

Make that ever TOO often!

Haha! But with my limited poor non-existent Photoshop skills, this can be a challenge, to put up nice designs.

So some of the places I frequently stalk refer to for great blog ideas are (in no particular order):

Kevin & Amanda
(See the nice fonts on my sidebars and blog titles? All from this cool site!)

TCBOTB
(The Cutest Blog On The Block – how cute a name is that? Great backgrounds!)

Shabby Blogs
(More blog backgrounds!)

April Showers
(She has easy to understand tutorials & awesome blog design! I always love her designs…)
April Showers Blog Design is having a HUGE giveaway and celebrating her OPEN waiting list that starts January 1st! April not only does blogs - but also invitations, announcements, calendars, cards, business cards, custom illustrations, and so much more! Just by pasting this paragraph on my blog I'm a winner!

Blog Doctor
(This is one of my go-to websites for all things Blogger! Think of anything you may want to do in your Blog, and chances are, this site would have the tutorial for it. Totally extensive!)

Proof That We Can Shop…

…anytime, and anywhere!

The girls over at the community services side were having a mini ‘fundraising’ and selling these gorgeous shoes imported from Korea to the rest of us.

How do you say no to a good deal and a good deed?

Not very easily, as it turns out.

Anyway, I do need some formal shoes on occasion, and this beautiful black pair was a mere S$15!

My Very Own Phone Pest

Honest, I totally hate it when people call you on the phone and insist on not identifying themselves and say inane things like, “Guess who I am?”

It irks me.

It irks me.

IT IRKS ME A LOT!

I mean, like… what is your problem? I know my phone plan allows for incoming calls to be free, but hey, my time is still precious, ya know? What are you, like 10 years old? (Sorry to all the 10 year olds out there who don’t even do such things…)

I have my very own phone pest.

He calls me from a ‘unknown’ number (thus making me unable to call back and blast him) and talks with a drawl (that I think makes him think he is one cool cat. But in reality is irritating) and goes “Hey… hi… it’s me again…”

Oh. My. Goodness.

The first time he called, I asked him who he was (very politely and nicely, cos I thought I honestly forgot who he was, and was so apologetic!) … and even from that 1st phone call, he refused to say who he was, and insisted I guess. I mean, I don’t know. How to guess? Gosh. I cannot begin to express my irritation at this guy!

But that initial phone conversation went on for maybe five minutes, all along with me asking him who he was and he trying to coyly asking me to guess. Then I decided to put the phone down. Nic (who heard my end of the conversation) asked me:

“Who was that, dear?”

“I have no idea!”

“Then why waste so much time talking to him?”

Aah… Words of wisdom from the wise. Nic would know. He has experience handling people with mental illnesses, and sometimes attention is the one thing they crave and seek after.

But since then, this phone pest has tried calling me several times, and never ceases on that same “But you KNOW who I am” line…

So dear sir, if you are also my blog stalker as well… and in case I wasn’t clear on the phone…

I don’t know who you are. I am not going to guess. Either tell me who you are. Or do not call me. Ever. Again.

Ok, end of rant! Haha!

Day With My Jay

I entertained the thought of being a SAHM once. (To the uninitiated, SAHM stands for Stay At Home Mom.) Well, while I love spending time with my little bundle of joy, I think it is too much for me.

Today, I applied for leave.

There are loads of things that I love to do on my off days. Like pedicures or shopping or massages… and did I mention shopping already?

Today was anything BUT that.

Nic didn’t have an easy day either. He was on a late shift (starting after lunch, ending at 9pm or so), but had to wake at 6am to reach our Tampines house by 7am together with my domestic helper, to get the place back from our tenants and start with the cleaning work. And while our tenants were really pretty okay people, the house needed loads and loads of work.Imagine dusting, mopping, scrubbing, trashing, wiping, washing, painting…

And I am not using the word ‘imagine’ lightly.

Cos see, I wasn’t there.

I *ahem* was at home with Jayvon.

But see, I had a whole different kind of work cut out for me. The kind that involves temper-throwing and mock-crying (where did he pick this up?!? It is SO irritating!), buttock-smacking, feeding, cleaning, feeding, cleaning, feeding, cleaning, more tempers and more disciplining.

I’d be hard-pressed to say who had the tougher time.

 

Me.

 

And soon after his afternoon nap, which instead of his usual 3-hour long nap was somehow cut by half today (of all days), I trudged him down to the house to pick up my maid and finish up on the house cleaning.

Then we went to the nearby mall, braved the crowds (it is a Tuesday afternoon… where did all these people come from?) and went to Toys ‘R’ Us to buy him a water gun and a new jigsaw puzzle. He had his eye on a few more toys, but I had to exercise restraint, for my wallet’s sake! Haha!

Upon reaching home, barely catching our breaths, I brought Jayvon on another long hike to Little Big Creativity Centre, where I finally submitted his registration forms! He’ll be starting school next March/April! Whoopee!

I am so glad we’ll be moving nearer to Little Big, cos that hike took me close to 20 minutes one way!

I should have stopped here.

And spent the rest of the evening resting my tired knees.

But then… there was dinner to be had, and I remembered promising Jayvon to get him his favourite snacks from the nearby supermarket.

g.r.o.a.n.

(That was the sigh coming from my legs…)

By the time we finished our little hike around the neighbourhood, it was already 8 p.m., and he barely reached home, played with his new jigsaw puzzles, and finally collapsed with barely a whimper at 9.10 p.m.

Me?

I am still lamenting the rest day that never was.