I’m going to F1!!

 

I am totally pumped! Nic managed to snag two free (yippee!) tickets to the F1 match. He could have chosen Sunday tickets, but we had a family dinner on Sunday planned way long ago, so unfortunately we won’t be able to see acts like Mariah Carey or Adam Lambert (o still, my weeping heart…)

 

This is where our seats are!

Let me make it easier for you…

 

Grandstand seats at The Pit!

And the awesome-est part? Each ticket was worth S$1,288! Exciting!

Now the only question…

What do I wear?!? Yikes!

I promise, blog posts will be up of my maiden F1 voyage! Check back soon!

Yakkity-yakkity-yak

My son is a talker. And he says the funniest (and sometimes super-embarrassing -causing-Mommy-to-want-to-look-away-and-make-like-she-didn’t-hear-anything), and at the oddest of times.

With new faces or in new situations, however, he takes some time to warm up to the crowd before, you know, warming up the crowd with his antics.

So if you’re feeling blue about the weather or the huge traffic stall-ups due to F1, here’s my little yakking boy to bring a smile to your face!

***

While Mommy and Jay were waiting in line to make payment at a supermarket…

Jay: (Pointing to a stranger with a huge potbelly) Uncle has a baby too?

Mommy: (Red-faced, and pointedly trying not to see the abovementioned pot-bellied uncle) Don’t say that, Jay.

Jay: Why?

***

Grandmother trying to coax Jay…

Grandma: Do you want to play with my handphone, Jay?

Jay: Your handphone got games?

Grandma: … (She has an old ricketty Nokia, totally old-school, meant for, you know, plain calling! Haha…)

***

This is not about Jay’s yakking. But about his amazing wrestling ability.

It’s Daddy’s fault, see? In their rough play, Jay has developed a sure-fire win method. Yes. This small 14-kg boy can immobilize a much bigger-sized Daddy.

He sits on Daddy’s face. And Daddy’s usually at a lying position, right smack between some smelly pampers and the floor/bed.

I kid you not.

I will try to take a shot to prove this. But usually I am rolling over in laughter at his ingenuity to think of such a move, and the sight of such a scene!! Totally brilliant.

Family friendly places

For the past 2-over years, the places we’ve gone to visit as a family have had to fulfill certain criteria. When Jay was still young, we had to find places which offered good Nursery services for his feeds and diaper changes. Now that he has significantly outgrown that, we now look for places which offer loads of play-areas for him!

Our perennial fave shopping centre has got to be Parkway Parade, which the huge variety of shops to entertain Jay  (Borders, Isetan), shopping for me (M’phosis, Mango)… oh, and not forgetting the cute kiddie rides galore!

If you have your favourite family friendly spot too, well, good news is you can participate in a simple contest, and stand a chance to win good prizes!

Simply take a photograph with your family and the business brand and stand to win up to $15,000! The best part is, you can send it in via snail mail, through the website, e-mail, the facebook page or even MMS. Easy-peasy.

Different kinds of kids

I brought Jay to Polliwogs over the weekend, for some fun and great play-time.

I mean, I can't think of a better place for him to expend HIS energy while allowing me to conserve mine. Haha!

In the midst of the cacophony of squeals of joy and screams for attention, I think it is safe enough to say that kids at playgrounds probably fall into these categories:

1) The Screamers. Gosh. U can hear them from a mile. High-pitched wails. It doesn't matter if they are crying out in joy or cos another kid took their toy, but their screams are enough to induce a migraine for the other parents (and kids, I'm sure!) there. If they're young, it's still pretty adorable, and they can still (probably) get away with it to a certain extent. But 6 to 7 year olds screaming to get their way? Not a pretty picture. The older they get, the more grating it becomes.

2) The Lie-rs. Nope, I'm not talking about imaginative or un-factual talk here. It's that brats, I mean, kids that, failing to get their way, just plop over and roll along the carpeted floor, refusing to get up or be cajoled. Usually this is accompanied by whines and over-indulgent parents/maids.

3) The Followers. Usually younger and not as agile as their Leader (an older sibling or cousin), and toddles after them, trying desperately to catch up.

4) The Budding Gymnasts. You know the kind. Why slide down when you can do a somersault? Why walk when you can do a couple of kicks in the air and risk taking out someone's eye?

How about my Jayvon? Hahaha... U guessed it. He's 5) The Talker. "Mommy, wait here for me, I go and sit in the rocket/play with the balls/touch the moon, and then I come back." "Mommy! I am here!" "Let's go down the slide into the balls!" "I don't want to go home yet. Let's play some more." "I want to drink ribena/eat M+Ms, fries, chips..."

Amazing what insights a little trip to the playground can give you! Haha!

It just makes sense. Money sense, I mean.

I can (and have) spent a lot on Jayvon.

I buy loads of clothes for him. (Oh my gosh, I just spree-d online this month. Again. Twice. God save my wallet)

I have no qualms getting him a toy at least once every two weeks.

Food-wise, we are also more than willing to buy expensive golden kiwis and splurge on organic green grapes and the like.

Oh, and not forgetting his VERY expensive drinking habit. He doesn’t like any kind of milk except the Pediasure ready mix. Which costs S$2.50 a bottle. Which he drinks twice a day (once in school, once at night before bedtime). If you notice my Starbucks-less days, you’d know why. My prince is drinking my SB quota every day! Hahaha!

With all these expenses, I obviously try to channel some other purchases to other greener pastures, or aunties and uncles with deeper wallets (and preferably no kids yet). Like I said, it makes money sense. Sort of not putting all your eggs in one basket. ‘cept this is not taking out all your eggs from the same wallet basket. Haha!

Aunty Teresa was the recent victim generous soul. Jay had his eye on a shark hand puppet from The Better Toy Store at Takashimaya Shopping Centre. (Hearing the store’s name, you know this toy definitely ain’t going to come cheap!)

Once we got there, terrorized by Aunty Teresa’s rabid shark impersonation, Jay settled on another hand puppet. The more docile turtle!

 

He was happily showing off his new turtle toy to all and sundry!

P.S. He is still in love with that shark hand puppet from the Toy Store. And dinosaur. And zebra. And hippo… Presents from other generous souls will always be welcome! Hahaha!

Jayvon is in the Sticker Club! Or should I say Mommy is in?

The Sticker Club.

When my colleague first asked me to join, I thought it was a cute idea, and a good object lesson for Jay. But I have underestimated the enthusiasm of my colleagues. I think as of now, almost every staff who is a parent has been inducted into Sticker Club.

So what does it entail?

It is really a chain letter with a purpose.

Person A will find 6 other parents, who will each find 6 more and so on (you get the idea).

The fun part is (and what’s a Sticker Club without a fun part, ya?) each parent will just need to buy ONE sticker club to send to the child, and if none of the 6 parents break the chain, your kid will receive a grand total of 36 sticker packs! Good rate of return, if you ask me!

 

This is Jay’s present for his friend Tristan!

Before going to get the sticker today, I spoke to Jay about this whole sticker project we were embarking.

Me: “We’ll go and buy a sticker for Kor Kor Tristan later, ok?”

Jay nods.

Me: “And once we do, you will also receive stickers from other Kor Kors and Jie Jies!”

Jay: “Me?”

Me: “Yes! Isn’t it fun?”

Jay nods.

Fast forward to an hour later, as we were picking out the stickers…

Jay: “Buy farm sticker for Kor Kor…”

Me: “Ok!”

Jay: “And zoo sticker for me?”

Me: “Err…. but remember Mommy said other kor kors and jie jies will get a LOT of stickers for you?”

Jay stares at me. Obviously delayed gratification is a lesson that takes a while to learn.

I try explaining how the Sticker Club works again.

Still getting a stare. That silently screams… “Why aren’t you getting a sticker for MEEEEEEEEEEE Mommy?”

I buckle under pressure.

Me: “How about I get you something else? Barney DVD?”

My prince is appeased.

My wallet is emptier.

But isn’t it a good lesson to teach your kiddo? That whatever you sow, you will also reap?!

I am looking forward to receiving more stickers in the mail in the coming days. *coughcoughjaylovesanimalstickersjustforyourinfocough*

Wanna be a part of this Club? Drop me an email at tzaiyi@gmail.com!

A Little Boy’s Prayer

Daddy and Mommy brought Jayvon to the Night Safari.

On the way there, while still in the cab, a few fat raindrops plopped down.

Mommy turned to Daddy and said, “Oh no, looks like it is going to rain!”

Daddy turned to Jay and said, “Do you want to pray for the rain to stop?”

Jay turned to God and said, “Dear Jesus, thank you for the rain. Let the rain stop so that Daddy, Mommy, Jayvon, and Bear-bear can go to the Night Safari. In Jesus’ name. And all God’s children say…”

Daddy, Mommy chimed in, “Amen!”

(Though when he started out by saying, “Thank you for the rain…” we were a teeny weensy bit concerned…)

20 minutes later, as the cab reached the Night Safari and we bundled out of the cab…

The sky was cleared up!

Our Yummy Breakfast

I have heard so much about Wild Honey. From friends and colleagues who raved about their yummy all-day breakfast sets!

I wanted to order the I Love NY set, but as that was out, I settled for Sweet Morning instead.

Looks ordinary. But. Oh. My. Goodness.

Yummy.

The thick toasts were stuffed with sweet mangoes, and the raspberry jam made the perfect tarty and tangy taste!

Nic had the American breakfast. But his tastebuds (and wallet) have been spoilt by the yummy breakfast fare of Sydney! So he feels this is just so-so.

We were so stuffed from our breakfast that our next meal was dinner!

Jay had a good time at the restaurant too.

They gave him an exercise book and markers.

Look closely…

It’s a Japanese writing book! Haha!

Family Trip to Kuala Lumpur

This post is super long overdue. But I finally got around to download the photos from my trusty Canon!

We spent three wonderful days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is wonderful cos we managed to stuff our faces and have loads of rest in between!

Malaysia, more than Singapore, is a country that is at once both modern and yet old-school at the same time. Just check out the Chinatown area!

Quaint!

We had lunch at this Chinese Rice restaurant. All in all, we spent less than two hours – the weather was way too balmy for both Jay and I! Haha! My in-laws however, stayed on after lunch to shop a LOT more!

The majority of the time was spent at Pavilion Shopping Centre, where we walked and shopped…

 

and ate! Just check out the list of restaurants at the Shopping Centre! Glorious!

One fave restaurant was Ying Ker Lou – which offers Hakka cuisine.

I’ll let the yummy pictures do the talking…

Yummilicious!

Whatcha’ looking at?

Sometimes it’s really hard trying to get THAT shot of my little boy.

Which shows him the way we know him so well – cheeky, talkative and our bundle of joy.

It’s not for want of trying, my endless photo folders in my hard disk attest to that.

But it is hard trying to get him to smile nicely into the camera.

I find myself crouched in weird uncomfortable positions trying to get that shot.

It’s really tough, I tell you.

He is one camera-shy boy.

But then a gem pops along.

Making my bodily contortions worth while.

Or at least, I can find comfort in living to try again another day.