今年，我们破例，让 WY 和 WF 一起到元明寺祭拜 GF。
这几年来，我自己也很少参与祭拜活动。 通常，Mother、C2 和 AhYee 都是一齐到蔡厝港的坟场祭拜 GF。 我们这一代，多半都没跟着去。
可是，今年却不一样。 因为，当 Mother 问 C2 和 AhYee 要不要去祭拜 GF 的时候，他们每一个人都一口挽拒了。C2 说他们不想去，AhYee 说“活人我们都不再想去探望了，跟何况是拜祭死人！”
最后，我们见 Mother 苦恼万分，每天都念着说， 死人若是没有后人来祭拜， 也会受到其他的死人的取笑、让它们看遍、看不起， 跟活人的世界，没有两样！ 所以，一连几天我们听了这一番话， 也明白 Mother 的想法， 最后就‘自告奋勇’地说我们开车送她去元明寺祭拜吧。
因为 WY 在学校里听说了 “清明节”这个节日， 也想去看一看，这个节日，到底是怎么一回事、人们是怎样庆祝的。
在我和 Mother 左思右想后，我们终于决定让 WY 和 WF 这两个小瓜，体会一下祭拜祖先的活动。
星期日，我们到文化艺术团上完了课，就回到 PLW 载 Mother 到元明寺去。我们提了 Mother 几天前就准备好了的祭品，还有我临时买的祭品 （有金饰、手表、眼镜等等，还有好几种冥票），开车来到了坐落在 Upper East Coast Road 的寺庙。
原来，元明寺已经经过大翻新了。现在，公德堂已设在二楼。公德堂的布置，仍然很朴素； 环境还算清幽。 现在，来祭拜先人的人，都只能烧一种像蚊薰的香，不再用传统一支一支的文香了。
我让 WY 点了两片香，然后再把 Mother 带来的水果摆放好。我们也带来了一包茶叶，也把它放在水果的旁边。除了这些，Mother 也准备了一个发糕和一些不同的糕点。 跟往年比起来，祭品真的是简朴了许多，气氛也淡化了许多。
我们跟着向 GF ‘拜拜’了一下，就到内堂去看一看 GF 的灵位牌匾。Mother 很快地就指出GF 牌匾的位置：第２０排，第３层。我看，这也是 WY 第一次亲眼瞧见灵位牌匾的模样。
趁 Mother 正在对 GF 诉说为什么今年只有她单枪匹马来祭拜 GF 时，我就跟 WY 简单地说一说公德堂是让先人的灵魂安息的地方，牌匾是灵魂的一个代表、一种像征等等。 我想，这一些比我们这一代还更年轻的后辈，也应该开始认识一下这些‘知识’了吧。
再 'bua-buay' 之后，Mother 便带领 R 和 WY 到一楼烧冥纸的地方，把三包祭品点燃了，‘烧给’GF。 WF也好奇地问道，为什么要点燃这些祭品? 哎，这个小瓜还小，等他长大些，才解释吧。
过了一会儿，Mother 教 WY 怎样把水果收好，再用 'bua-buay' 的方法，向 GF 辞别一番。然后，我们就到佛庙的正堂，简单地恭拜一下，才离开。
我们到 Kallang 的麦当劳吃汉堡包，还让 WY 帮大家买了雪糕。WY 和 WF 都吃得不亦乐乎！
在回家的路途中，我心里一直想，这样的‘三代同堂’的祭拜活动（即使是从简的），其实也是很难得、瞒有意义的。 或许，我们应该安排一下，明年的清明节，大伙儿一起再跟 Mother 一起去祭拜吧？
Monday, April 9, 2007
Nose Bleeds
WF's nose bled last evening just as we were tucking into dinner. We were all very shocked because unlike the previous 2 other occasions when WF had nose bleeds, he had not sneezed hard last night.
Anyway, we managed to get him to tilt his head backwards to stop the bleeding. He also cooperated well when R placed the cool-pack headband on his forehead. (I think this was what YP told me to do to elevate nose-bleeding, when I asked her the last time WF had a nose-bleed.)
The blood stopped dripping after a while, but WF asked to be fed his dinner (instead of sitting to eat by himself). I obliged, and it was rather funny to see him still tilt his head slightly backwards as he chewed his food.
*******************
CH school is closed today for its Anniversary celebration. So Mother is taking care of WF today.
When she came up to our flat this morning, I told her about WF's nose bleed last evening so that she can look out for any other bleeding throughout today. As we discussed, Mother shared with me how she got her one and only nose-bleed. See onlysonsmatter for the story.
Anyway, we managed to get him to tilt his head backwards to stop the bleeding. He also cooperated well when R placed the cool-pack headband on his forehead. (I think this was what YP told me to do to elevate nose-bleeding, when I asked her the last time WF had a nose-bleed.)
The blood stopped dripping after a while, but WF asked to be fed his dinner (instead of sitting to eat by himself). I obliged, and it was rather funny to see him still tilt his head slightly backwards as he chewed his food.
*******************
CH school is closed today for its Anniversary celebration. So Mother is taking care of WF today.
When she came up to our flat this morning, I told her about WF's nose bleed last evening so that she can look out for any other bleeding throughout today. As we discussed, Mother shared with me how she got her one and only nose-bleed. See onlysonsmatter for the story.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Exercises
When I was trying to publish my post on More Cakes And More, there was some problem with the connection to Blogger.
To cut a long story short, some paras went missing somehow. In those paras, I 'confessed' to the sorry state of fitness we all seem to be in now. And of course, to the lack of exercising these days.
Sigh. Really must do something about this soon.
To cut a long story short, some paras went missing somehow. In those paras, I 'confessed' to the sorry state of fitness we all seem to be in now. And of course, to the lack of exercising these days.
Sigh. Really must do something about this soon.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
More Cakes And More!
It has been a 'cake-y' time these past few days.
On Saturday, R and I had not intended to celebrate R's birthday, but not knowing our intention, Mother proceeded to tell YP to get a cake anyway. YP got a Delifrance cake, which was quite light but flavourful. It's a pity we don't have a picture of it because we didn't have our camera with us then. It had M&Ms on it!
Then, on Sunday, we went to Suntec City to catch "Mr Bean's Holiday". On our way home, we saw some more Thomas & His Friends cakes and to WF's delight, we got this:
Yesterday, I went shopping with a colleague at Tg Pagar. From an obsucrely-located cake shop, I selected a plain-looking cheese cake. The friendly saleman asked if the cake was for a birthday celebration and said that if it were, he could dress it up for me.
So, he made the cake prettier and this was what we had with Father and Mother last night:
**************************
After we enjoyed the cake last night, R and I decided that we would allow WF to finish watching his VCD before we went back home. WY could then also have some time to relax a little before I went through his homework with him. I took the opportunity to get some details from Mother for my postings on onlysonsmatter.
When it was time to go home, R was the first to walk up the stairs. As he reached the landing between 12th floor and 13th floor, R spotted OL waiting at the lift lobby! R instinctively retreated and we all decided to go back into Mother's house to wait for OL to be gone before we proceeded home.
As the boys went about taking off their shoes again, I peered into the peep-hole. After about half a minute, I saw OL walking down the stairs slowly. Through the peep-hole, she looked rather 'uncertain' as she looked at Mother's door, then paused to look at 胡先生's door, then she looked up again at the staircase leading up to 13th floor.... then, to my shock, she took 2 steps down the staircase leading down to 11th floor!
Then, she suddenly turned and looked at the direction where her own flat is, then she retracted her steps and then walked back towards her flat!
I told Mother what I had seen. Mother wondered aloud if OL was making her way to UpperPL. But I pointed out to Mother that OL was dressed in her home clothes and didn't carry any bag, so she didn't look like she was going out. Anyway, it was close to 10pm. Mother said that C1 had previously mentioned that OL had visited him at UpperPL on 3 occasions at 3am!
Just then, I checked to see if OL was gone.... as I peered into the peep-hole again, I saw OL walking back once again towards Mother's flat! She fiddled with something in her hand, then after pausing briefly, she walked up the stairs again. She really looked like she was so unsure where to go...
After about 10 minutes, R and I decided that we would proceed home anyway. To avoid finding ourselves in the same lift as OL, we decided that we would just walk up to our unit instead. Luckily, as we raced up the stairs, OL was nowhere in sight.
When we finally reached home, WY and were exhausted. R was also panting. Only WF was cool and relaxed - of course, lah! R had carried him up all the way, mah!
As we went about getting the laundry hung up, checking WY's homework and getting the boys ready for bed, R and I thought that both of us had been rather 'silly' in trying so hard to avoid OL - not worth getting ourselves so exhausted, leh!
But we rationalised: Yes, it is probably ok to see OL and to have her see us, but knowing her mental state and skin condition these days, it is best to avoid any 'direct' encounter with her. Afterall, it will not surprise us if OL were to start asking R or me (more likely, R) to help to open her door/mailbox etc and we would have been in such difficult position to say 'no'.
Both of us laughed when I said, half in jest, "Aiyah, there was mega drama on my birthday. Now, even on yours, there was this interlude. What a way to end the evening, hor?!"
*************************
This morning, R and I decided that henceforth, if we were to meet OL, we will simply say hello from afar, then say we are on our way home/out and then quickly proceed on. The important thing to remember is not to 'linger around' long enough for OL to start asking us to help her open her door/mailbox etc. Or for her to start scratching herself in front of us - a habit which she seems to have gotten into these days when she speaks to Mother.
It is not that we want to be hard-hearted or unhelpful, but we all know that OL's problems are more than that. And there is not much that we can do.
On Saturday, R and I had not intended to celebrate R's birthday, but not knowing our intention, Mother proceeded to tell YP to get a cake anyway. YP got a Delifrance cake, which was quite light but flavourful. It's a pity we don't have a picture of it because we didn't have our camera with us then. It had M&Ms on it!
Then, on Sunday, we went to Suntec City to catch "Mr Bean's Holiday". On our way home, we saw some more Thomas & His Friends cakes and to WF's delight, we got this:
Yesterday, I went shopping with a colleague at Tg Pagar. From an obsucrely-located cake shop, I selected a plain-looking cheese cake. The friendly saleman asked if the cake was for a birthday celebration and said that if it were, he could dress it up for me.
So, he made the cake prettier and this was what we had with Father and Mother last night:
**************************
After we enjoyed the cake last night, R and I decided that we would allow WF to finish watching his VCD before we went back home. WY could then also have some time to relax a little before I went through his homework with him. I took the opportunity to get some details from Mother for my postings on onlysonsmatter.
When it was time to go home, R was the first to walk up the stairs. As he reached the landing between 12th floor and 13th floor, R spotted OL waiting at the lift lobby! R instinctively retreated and we all decided to go back into Mother's house to wait for OL to be gone before we proceeded home.
As the boys went about taking off their shoes again, I peered into the peep-hole. After about half a minute, I saw OL walking down the stairs slowly. Through the peep-hole, she looked rather 'uncertain' as she looked at Mother's door, then paused to look at 胡先生's door, then she looked up again at the staircase leading up to 13th floor.... then, to my shock, she took 2 steps down the staircase leading down to 11th floor!
Then, she suddenly turned and looked at the direction where her own flat is, then she retracted her steps and then walked back towards her flat!
I told Mother what I had seen. Mother wondered aloud if OL was making her way to UpperPL. But I pointed out to Mother that OL was dressed in her home clothes and didn't carry any bag, so she didn't look like she was going out. Anyway, it was close to 10pm. Mother said that C1 had previously mentioned that OL had visited him at UpperPL on 3 occasions at 3am!
Just then, I checked to see if OL was gone.... as I peered into the peep-hole again, I saw OL walking back once again towards Mother's flat! She fiddled with something in her hand, then after pausing briefly, she walked up the stairs again. She really looked like she was so unsure where to go...
After about 10 minutes, R and I decided that we would proceed home anyway. To avoid finding ourselves in the same lift as OL, we decided that we would just walk up to our unit instead. Luckily, as we raced up the stairs, OL was nowhere in sight.
When we finally reached home, WY and were exhausted. R was also panting. Only WF was cool and relaxed - of course, lah! R had carried him up all the way, mah!
As we went about getting the laundry hung up, checking WY's homework and getting the boys ready for bed, R and I thought that both of us had been rather 'silly' in trying so hard to avoid OL - not worth getting ourselves so exhausted, leh!
But we rationalised: Yes, it is probably ok to see OL and to have her see us, but knowing her mental state and skin condition these days, it is best to avoid any 'direct' encounter with her. Afterall, it will not surprise us if OL were to start asking R or me (more likely, R) to help to open her door/mailbox etc and we would have been in such difficult position to say 'no'.
Both of us laughed when I said, half in jest, "Aiyah, there was mega drama on my birthday. Now, even on yours, there was this interlude. What a way to end the evening, hor?!"
*************************
This morning, R and I decided that henceforth, if we were to meet OL, we will simply say hello from afar, then say we are on our way home/out and then quickly proceed on. The important thing to remember is not to 'linger around' long enough for OL to start asking us to help her open her door/mailbox etc. Or for her to start scratching herself in front of us - a habit which she seems to have gotten into these days when she speaks to Mother.
It is not that we want to be hard-hearted or unhelpful, but we all know that OL's problems are more than that. And there is not much that we can do.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Shaky Tooth No More & Sunday's 'Celebration'
WF's shaky tooth has fallen off yesterday during breakfast in CH school!
Mother and CP are both very relieved and happy - they say it's better this way because there was this 'danger' of the tooth being accidentally swallowed if it remained so wobbly. Although I am also quite relieved that that tooth has finally decided to make way for the new one (which is nothing close to emerging yet), somehow I feel a tinge of 'sadness' about it.
Perhaps, it is because I know the falling-off is premature and that gap on the gum will probably remain for a long time. And when I saw the fallen tooth yesterday, it was really so much more hollow than WY's equivalent - which probably meant that it had really stopped growing since a long time ago. Sigh.
Fortunately, WF remains very positive about the whole thing. He told me quite happily about the shaky tooth falling off, when R and I went to bring him home from CH school yesterday. In fact, he was quite gleeful about it! All the time when his teacher was explaining how the tooth had fallen off and was in his lunch-box (WF had placed it there just like we instructed him to do if the tooth fell off whilst he was in school), WF went on grinning at R and me to show off the gap where that tooth had been!
Then later in the evening, he asked me if the new tooth is 'going to come out'. I told him that it won't be so soon because it is still growing and is not ready yet. I think we will fix an appointment with his dentist for a check-up soon.
**********************
Last Sunday, we went Junction 8 because WY was keen to make use of the Yoshinoya discount/special offer coupons which he had obtained when we went to the Yoshinoya outlet at World Trade Centre/Vivo City with HA and J during their December 2006 visit.
After the lunch at Yoshinoya, we walked about a little because we wanted to buy a pair of 'eyes' for his Speech & Drama hand-puppet. WF and R decided to go look at the TV-related stuff at Best Denki shop (again!) whilst WY and I went about looking for the 'eyes'.
To our disppointment, we found nothing close to what we had in mind. Then we ventured into this gift shop selling many different types of beads which are often used to make handphone accessories and bracelets etc. Some of the colourful beads were a little like 'girly' stuff, but others looked quite gender-free. Most of the beads were glittery although some actually looked very 'matt'.
WY and I both agree, however, that they all looked quite exciting, and rather 'in'! As we browsed the trays and trays of beads, we saw that some beads actually had letters printed on them! So, after a while, we decided to buy a pair of beads with the letter 'O' on them as a 'standby' which we would use as the 'eyes' for his hand-puppet if we really couldn't find anything more suitable. That pair of beads cost me $1.80. Woah!
Later on, we also custom-made a stainless steel bookmark using the letter-beads for WY's best friend in CH school because that boy is going to quit BASC at the end of this month. I know that WY is rather sad about his friend's impending departure, and so even though I knew that the bookmark would cost quite a lot of money (it finally cost $8.40), I agreed to pay for it.
WY went about selecting the beads he wanted, and then he also asked if he could pick a tiny fish-toy to be attached to the end of the bookmark. WY explained that to him, the fish is part of Nature, and so the fish-toy would represent the common passion for Nature/National Geographics which he shares with this friend of his. :)
从这个小小的举动， 我再次肯定 WY 真的是一个多么有情感的孩子啊！
After we paid for the bookmark, we met up with R and WF once again. Then we proceeded to the basement carpark. Just as we passed by the Polar cakes & pastry outlet at B1, WY and I saw one particular cake amongst those on display. Woah! WY and I instantaneously agreed that WF would definitely be delighted to see this! Without any hesitation, I decided to get it for our 'post-dinner dessert':
Pretty, right?! WF was so thrilled to see this cake in the evening that he readily posed with it just before we cut it - and finished it! R had to make some green tea for himself to go along, though, because it was a butter-cream cake! :)
*********************************
When we cut the cake on Sunday evening, R mumbled a fair bit about why we were cutting and eating a cake when it wasn't anybody's birthday etc. Actually, that was also true lah, we just had my birthday cake the week before and there wasn't really a need to buy a cake for 'dessert'.
But then, I was so attracted to that cake, and just couldn't resist bringing it home, mah! Especially since WF is such a great fan of Thomas & His Friends, how could I resist grabbing it before any other kid's parent buys it home, right?!
Well.... then, on Monday, I read from Kay-AngMo that Sunday had been HA and M's 7th wedding anniversary! What coincidence! So, we had unknowingly and remotely 'celebrated' it, lor! Hahahahaa....
To HA & M: Happy Anniversary! :)
Mother and CP are both very relieved and happy - they say it's better this way because there was this 'danger' of the tooth being accidentally swallowed if it remained so wobbly. Although I am also quite relieved that that tooth has finally decided to make way for the new one (which is nothing close to emerging yet), somehow I feel a tinge of 'sadness' about it.
Perhaps, it is because I know the falling-off is premature and that gap on the gum will probably remain for a long time. And when I saw the fallen tooth yesterday, it was really so much more hollow than WY's equivalent - which probably meant that it had really stopped growing since a long time ago. Sigh.
Fortunately, WF remains very positive about the whole thing. He told me quite happily about the shaky tooth falling off, when R and I went to bring him home from CH school yesterday. In fact, he was quite gleeful about it! All the time when his teacher was explaining how the tooth had fallen off and was in his lunch-box (WF had placed it there just like we instructed him to do if the tooth fell off whilst he was in school), WF went on grinning at R and me to show off the gap where that tooth had been!
Then later in the evening, he asked me if the new tooth is 'going to come out'. I told him that it won't be so soon because it is still growing and is not ready yet. I think we will fix an appointment with his dentist for a check-up soon.
**********************
Last Sunday, we went Junction 8 because WY was keen to make use of the Yoshinoya discount/special offer coupons which he had obtained when we went to the Yoshinoya outlet at World Trade Centre/Vivo City with HA and J during their December 2006 visit.
After the lunch at Yoshinoya, we walked about a little because we wanted to buy a pair of 'eyes' for his Speech & Drama hand-puppet. WF and R decided to go look at the TV-related stuff at Best Denki shop (again!) whilst WY and I went about looking for the 'eyes'.
To our disppointment, we found nothing close to what we had in mind. Then we ventured into this gift shop selling many different types of beads which are often used to make handphone accessories and bracelets etc. Some of the colourful beads were a little like 'girly' stuff, but others looked quite gender-free. Most of the beads were glittery although some actually looked very 'matt'.
WY and I both agree, however, that they all looked quite exciting, and rather 'in'! As we browsed the trays and trays of beads, we saw that some beads actually had letters printed on them! So, after a while, we decided to buy a pair of beads with the letter 'O' on them as a 'standby' which we would use as the 'eyes' for his hand-puppet if we really couldn't find anything more suitable. That pair of beads cost me $1.80. Woah!
Later on, we also custom-made a stainless steel bookmark using the letter-beads for WY's best friend in CH school because that boy is going to quit BASC at the end of this month. I know that WY is rather sad about his friend's impending departure, and so even though I knew that the bookmark would cost quite a lot of money (it finally cost $8.40), I agreed to pay for it.
WY went about selecting the beads he wanted, and then he also asked if he could pick a tiny fish-toy to be attached to the end of the bookmark. WY explained that to him, the fish is part of Nature, and so the fish-toy would represent the common passion for Nature/National Geographics which he shares with this friend of his. :)
从这个小小的举动， 我再次肯定 WY 真的是一个多么有情感的孩子啊！
After we paid for the bookmark, we met up with R and WF once again. Then we proceeded to the basement carpark. Just as we passed by the Polar cakes & pastry outlet at B1, WY and I saw one particular cake amongst those on display. Woah! WY and I instantaneously agreed that WF would definitely be delighted to see this! Without any hesitation, I decided to get it for our 'post-dinner dessert':
Pretty, right?! WF was so thrilled to see this cake in the evening that he readily posed with it just before we cut it - and finished it! R had to make some green tea for himself to go along, though, because it was a butter-cream cake! :)*********************************
When we cut the cake on Sunday evening, R mumbled a fair bit about why we were cutting and eating a cake when it wasn't anybody's birthday etc. Actually, that was also true lah, we just had my birthday cake the week before and there wasn't really a need to buy a cake for 'dessert'.
But then, I was so attracted to that cake, and just couldn't resist bringing it home, mah! Especially since WF is such a great fan of Thomas & His Friends, how could I resist grabbing it before any other kid's parent buys it home, right?!
Well.... then, on Monday, I read from Kay-AngMo that Sunday had been HA and M's 7th wedding anniversary! What coincidence! So, we had unknowingly and remotely 'celebrated' it, lor! Hahahahaa....
To HA & M: Happy Anniversary! :)
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Perfectly Great Sunday!
R and I had a leisurely breakfast at Toa Payoh after we sent WY and WF to 文化艺术团. We actually had time for refills of our tea - incredible, hor?! Usually I would get a cold Milo rather than hot tea because there wouldn't be time to even finish the hot tea.
Then we took a leisurely walk back to wait for WF to be dismissed from class first, followed by WY 20 minutes later. The boys were rather excited that we were going to visit CP at AMK that day. WF kept asking:
WF : Mama, what are we going to do at DuaYi's house?
me : Papa is going to help DuaYi set up her new DVD home theatre system.
WF : Then what are we going to do?
me : Erm, then we are going to have pizza at DuaYi's house - remember? DuaYi told GeGe yesterday that she will order pizza for us all?
WF : Then after that, what are we going to do?
(I pondered a while, then it suddenly dawned upon me that WF was trying to sound me out if playing computer games was on our programme for the day.)
me : Then we will see what DuaYi needs us to help her to do, lor.
WF : Erm, then after that, what are we going to do?
me : After that, I don't know yet.......
WF : Are we going to play computer games?
(There, see what I mean.)
me : Erm, I think yes, after you and GeGe have showered and eaten your lunch.
WF + WY : Yeh!!!!
On our way to AMK, we decided to make a detour to Junction 8. We took a leisurely stroll in Best Denki to check out the LCD TVs available. No lah, we are not changing our CRT TV any time soon, but just kaypoh-ing to see what is available these days - CP is considering to change her TV to 'match' her new DVD home theatre set. She has been so thrilled at her winning the 6th prize at her company's D&D lucky draw! And it has been such a properous and very lucky year for her, so far so good!
The range is really quite wide, be it brand, quality or price, but my personal favourite is a 42" one (I think it is a Samsung, cannot be sure though). For CP's place, maybe good to get a 32"; anything smaller will be quite insignificant and look quite dwarfed.
Whilst browsing at Best Denki, R and WY were together. WF and I walked ahead of them. At one point, WF and I went to view some Philips LCDs but WF quickly got distracted by some other TVs which were showing some cartoons. He tried to pull me to view the cartoons but I told him that we would do that together after I had seen the Philips.
Not surprisingly, he refused. I stayed on at the Philips corner. From the corner of my eyes, however, I could see WF walk off all by himself (just like what he did once in Ikea). So, without calling him aloud, I decided to keep watch from a distance out of his sight.
After watching the cartoons briefly (he probably got bored), he walked away (not towards the Philips corner but back towards the direction where we had been much earlier on). Maybe he was trying to get to R and WY, but he couldn't find them anywhere nearby. So he retraced his steps to the cartoons and then towards the Philips corner again. This time, he was clearly looking for me but of course, couldn't see me either.
From where I stood, I could see him pick up his pace whilst looking frantically left and right. So I headed back to just outside the Philips corner (where he would be able to see me more easily) and stood there waiting for him to emerge from the maze of TVs.
And true enough, moments later, he spotted me and sprinted to me in a flash, his face all red and wet with flowing tears. In between loud sobs, he asked accusingly:
WF : Mama, I couldn't find you! Where have you been?!
me : (sounding cool, calm and collected) I have been here, but you walked away from me all by yourself!
WF : (crying aloud now) I couldn't find you! (continued crying....)
me : You walked away all by yourself again, just like you did last time at the other shop (ie Ikea), right?
[By now, the bottom half of my t-shirt was already quite wet with his tears (and mucus!) - yikes!]
WF : No, I don't want to do that again. (crying now subsided to sobs....)
me : Ok, if you do it again and you cannot find me, then you will have to find your way home by yourself, understand? (In a much sterner tone) Would you want want that to happen?
WF : (tightening his hug and resuming loud sobs again) No!
me : Don't walk off by yourself again, understand?
WF : (wiping his tears off with his bare hands) Understood.
Sigh, I hope he really learns his lesson this time.
When we joined R and WY at the EzyVideo located inside Best Denki, we selected 'The Banquet' DVD and one 'Hi-5' vcd for CP's place. After payment, we proceeded to Haagen Daz - I have a 30% birthday-month discount mah. I chose a few pints for take-away and we were about to return to the car when I suddenly remembered that CP had said that we should pick up some fruits if we could.
So WY and I made a quick dash into the supermarket to grab a watermelon and some persimmons, then we were on our way to AMK. First to deliver 2 pints of Haagen Daz to a colleague because she had given me a lipstick for my birthday, then to CP's house.
****************************
The afternoon was spent entirely at CP's house. R took charge of the setting up of the DVD system. I got the fruits ready while CP ordered the pizzas and saw to the boys' showers. WY and WF started their games on the computers as I had promised them - there were 2 laptops because I brought mine there.
At about 4pm, WF asked to take his nap and was soon sound asleep. And I took over the laptop to check emails, draft a blog posting and place an order for borage oil. After WY had exhausted his one-hour time limit on the PC, he started to study the game manual - to prepare himself better for his next try at the game mah!
How come boys cannot use this same thinking when it comes to school work and study ah?! How wise and sensible that would be!
Anyway, later on R and WY were assigned to buy dinner. And it was a truly sumptious spread! Apart from the fishball soup with 'yellow noodles' which WF ordered, here's what they bought: 福建面、新洲米粉、海鲜炒河粉、XO酱鸡翅膀、麦片虾、虾枣.
Woah! For anyone who might be envious (yet again), here's a picture of the food for you to savour - visually lah!
As school was going to restart early next morning, we didn't want to stay till very late. So we packed up soon after dinner and washing up.
Just before we left, however, Mother called with a very weird and funny OL story. CP didn't elaborate, but I roughly guessed that it was a troublesome one.
******************************
As soon as we got the boys showered and changed after we got home, I received Mother's call - so I got to hear the same weird and funny story plus an update. Check out onlysonsmatter later for a summary of the drama.
After speaking to Mother, I proceeded to shower. Midway, I suddenly got a bit worried - what if OL finds her way up somehow to our unit and asks to be let in?! Woah lao! I quickly called out to R to tell him to be mindful if he does answer any call at the door. I managed to re-tell the story to him only after I finished my shower.
Sigh, what a drama-tic end to a perfectly great Sunday!
Then we took a leisurely walk back to wait for WF to be dismissed from class first, followed by WY 20 minutes later. The boys were rather excited that we were going to visit CP at AMK that day. WF kept asking:
WF : Mama, what are we going to do at DuaYi's house?
me : Papa is going to help DuaYi set up her new DVD home theatre system.
WF : Then what are we going to do?
me : Erm, then we are going to have pizza at DuaYi's house - remember? DuaYi told GeGe yesterday that she will order pizza for us all?
WF : Then after that, what are we going to do?
(I pondered a while, then it suddenly dawned upon me that WF was trying to sound me out if playing computer games was on our programme for the day.)
me : Then we will see what DuaYi needs us to help her to do, lor.
WF : Erm, then after that, what are we going to do?
me : After that, I don't know yet.......
WF : Are we going to play computer games?
(There, see what I mean.)
me : Erm, I think yes, after you and GeGe have showered and eaten your lunch.
WF + WY : Yeh!!!!
On our way to AMK, we decided to make a detour to Junction 8. We took a leisurely stroll in Best Denki to check out the LCD TVs available. No lah, we are not changing our CRT TV any time soon, but just kaypoh-ing to see what is available these days - CP is considering to change her TV to 'match' her new DVD home theatre set. She has been so thrilled at her winning the 6th prize at her company's D&D lucky draw! And it has been such a properous and very lucky year for her, so far so good!
The range is really quite wide, be it brand, quality or price, but my personal favourite is a 42" one (I think it is a Samsung, cannot be sure though). For CP's place, maybe good to get a 32"; anything smaller will be quite insignificant and look quite dwarfed.
Whilst browsing at Best Denki, R and WY were together. WF and I walked ahead of them. At one point, WF and I went to view some Philips LCDs but WF quickly got distracted by some other TVs which were showing some cartoons. He tried to pull me to view the cartoons but I told him that we would do that together after I had seen the Philips.
Not surprisingly, he refused. I stayed on at the Philips corner. From the corner of my eyes, however, I could see WF walk off all by himself (just like what he did once in Ikea). So, without calling him aloud, I decided to keep watch from a distance out of his sight.
After watching the cartoons briefly (he probably got bored), he walked away (not towards the Philips corner but back towards the direction where we had been much earlier on). Maybe he was trying to get to R and WY, but he couldn't find them anywhere nearby. So he retraced his steps to the cartoons and then towards the Philips corner again. This time, he was clearly looking for me but of course, couldn't see me either.
From where I stood, I could see him pick up his pace whilst looking frantically left and right. So I headed back to just outside the Philips corner (where he would be able to see me more easily) and stood there waiting for him to emerge from the maze of TVs.
And true enough, moments later, he spotted me and sprinted to me in a flash, his face all red and wet with flowing tears. In between loud sobs, he asked accusingly:
WF : Mama, I couldn't find you! Where have you been?!
me : (sounding cool, calm and collected) I have been here, but you walked away from me all by yourself!
WF : (crying aloud now) I couldn't find you! (continued crying....)
me : You walked away all by yourself again, just like you did last time at the other shop (ie Ikea), right?
[By now, the bottom half of my t-shirt was already quite wet with his tears (and mucus!) - yikes!]
WF : No, I don't want to do that again. (crying now subsided to sobs....)
me : Ok, if you do it again and you cannot find me, then you will have to find your way home by yourself, understand? (In a much sterner tone) Would you want want that to happen?
WF : (tightening his hug and resuming loud sobs again) No!
me : Don't walk off by yourself again, understand?
WF : (wiping his tears off with his bare hands) Understood.
Sigh, I hope he really learns his lesson this time.
When we joined R and WY at the EzyVideo located inside Best Denki, we selected 'The Banquet' DVD and one 'Hi-5' vcd for CP's place. After payment, we proceeded to Haagen Daz - I have a 30% birthday-month discount mah. I chose a few pints for take-away and we were about to return to the car when I suddenly remembered that CP had said that we should pick up some fruits if we could.
So WY and I made a quick dash into the supermarket to grab a watermelon and some persimmons, then we were on our way to AMK. First to deliver 2 pints of Haagen Daz to a colleague because she had given me a lipstick for my birthday, then to CP's house.
****************************
The afternoon was spent entirely at CP's house. R took charge of the setting up of the DVD system. I got the fruits ready while CP ordered the pizzas and saw to the boys' showers. WY and WF started their games on the computers as I had promised them - there were 2 laptops because I brought mine there.
At about 4pm, WF asked to take his nap and was soon sound asleep. And I took over the laptop to check emails, draft a blog posting and place an order for borage oil. After WY had exhausted his one-hour time limit on the PC, he started to study the game manual - to prepare himself better for his next try at the game mah!
How come boys cannot use this same thinking when it comes to school work and study ah?! How wise and sensible that would be!
Anyway, later on R and WY were assigned to buy dinner. And it was a truly sumptious spread! Apart from the fishball soup with 'yellow noodles' which WF ordered, here's what they bought: 福建面、新洲米粉、海鲜炒河粉、XO酱鸡翅膀、麦片虾、虾枣.
Woah! For anyone who might be envious (yet again), here's a picture of the food for you to savour - visually lah!
As school was going to restart early next morning, we didn't want to stay till very late. So we packed up soon after dinner and washing up.
Just before we left, however, Mother called with a very weird and funny OL story. CP didn't elaborate, but I roughly guessed that it was a troublesome one.
******************************
As soon as we got the boys showered and changed after we got home, I received Mother's call - so I got to hear the same weird and funny story plus an update. Check out onlysonsmatter later for a summary of the drama.
After speaking to Mother, I proceeded to shower. Midway, I suddenly got a bit worried - what if OL finds her way up somehow to our unit and asks to be let in?! Woah lao! I quickly called out to R to tell him to be mindful if he does answer any call at the door. I managed to re-tell the story to him only after I finished my shower.
Sigh, what a drama-tic end to a perfectly great Sunday!
Sunday, March 18, 2007
BiRtHdAy 2007
We had tonnes of ironing to do this week because we haven't been ironing for 2 weeks in a row! Back-breaking chore....
But the simple but great evening that followed more than made up for it.
We had steamboat for dinner. And because we started at about 6pm, we could savour the sliced pork, sliced fish, sliced liver, prawns, sotong balls, meat balls, fish dumplings, various yong tau hu items, 3 different greens plus tang-hoon and yellow noodles, all at a leisurely pace. Phew! What a mouthful that was, right?! :)
Of course there were also items which I don't take - eg cuttlefish slices. And there were 3 different chillie sauces, but my favourite was still the dark-purple yong tau hu sweet sauce. Somehow, this always tastes so good with the tang-hoon and yellow noodles. Mmm.....
There was plenty of time to relax after the steamboat. The kids migrated to Mother's room "automatically" for their GameBoy sessions. Poor WF wasn't allowed (by the older boys) to take part, so he shuttled between Mother's room, the living room (where he switched the TV channels every now and then, much to our dismay and irrirtatedness) and the kitchen (where he would ask to be given a cup of F&N orange - each of which he said would be "the last one"!).
Father returned from work after we all had finished dinner. So instead of enjoying his dinner over the steaming-hot pot, he had his dinner cooked for him by Mother. Mother said she had prepared the OL's dinner the same way earlier too.
WS had another serving of his special soup. Some Chinese herbal concoction which is usually taken by boys close to onset of puberty. Said to 'lengthen' and 'strengthen' the skeletal frame. I think Mother also gave it to HA last time, if I remember correctly. And as was done for the previous 2 servings, WS got the privilege of having multiple chocolate bars to accompany the super-bitter brew. Except that this time, cheeky and bored WF hijacked one of the bars for sharing with YP. Hahahaa....
Shortly after the soup had been drunk, we proceeded to take out the Secret Recipe cake which YP had bought, for the cake-cutting. Heeeheeeeeheee....... I think YP will now always remember how I had criticised some other cakes she had tended to buy off the shelf on an impromptu basis last time.
(But isn't it true that as we become more exposed to other brands and places, our tastes and experiences will become more 'sophisticated', so our expectations will also go up mah! And because we need to be more conscientious not to over-indulge calorie-wise, we should now be more selective and try out new or better options rather than simply heading for BengawanSolo or AngieTheChoice or Emicakes etc only, correct? It's definitely not a price issue, because the BengawanSolo, AngieTheChoice and Emicakes are also not exactly cheap, hor. Anyway, simply said, to me, it is a reflection of the thoughts which have gone into the cake lah.)
So this time it was Mango Delight from Secret Recipe. All of us enjoyed it. Mother was especially full of compliments for the cake - she said it was not chocolate-y at all (she doesn't like the chocolate-y ones) and not too sweet. Even Father enjoyed his slice 'gleefully' ('gleeful' because Mother had teased him about giving a birthday angpow lah).
So, this is the pretty and delicious Mango Delight we had for my birthday in 2007:
But the simple but great evening that followed more than made up for it.
We had steamboat for dinner. And because we started at about 6pm, we could savour the sliced pork, sliced fish, sliced liver, prawns, sotong balls, meat balls, fish dumplings, various yong tau hu items, 3 different greens plus tang-hoon and yellow noodles, all at a leisurely pace. Phew! What a mouthful that was, right?! :)
Of course there were also items which I don't take - eg cuttlefish slices. And there were 3 different chillie sauces, but my favourite was still the dark-purple yong tau hu sweet sauce. Somehow, this always tastes so good with the tang-hoon and yellow noodles. Mmm.....
There was plenty of time to relax after the steamboat. The kids migrated to Mother's room "automatically" for their GameBoy sessions. Poor WF wasn't allowed (by the older boys) to take part, so he shuttled between Mother's room, the living room (where he switched the TV channels every now and then, much to our dismay and irrirtatedness) and the kitchen (where he would ask to be given a cup of F&N orange - each of which he said would be "the last one"!).
Father returned from work after we all had finished dinner. So instead of enjoying his dinner over the steaming-hot pot, he had his dinner cooked for him by Mother. Mother said she had prepared the OL's dinner the same way earlier too.
WS had another serving of his special soup. Some Chinese herbal concoction which is usually taken by boys close to onset of puberty. Said to 'lengthen' and 'strengthen' the skeletal frame. I think Mother also gave it to HA last time, if I remember correctly. And as was done for the previous 2 servings, WS got the privilege of having multiple chocolate bars to accompany the super-bitter brew. Except that this time, cheeky and bored WF hijacked one of the bars for sharing with YP. Hahahaa....
Shortly after the soup had been drunk, we proceeded to take out the Secret Recipe cake which YP had bought, for the cake-cutting. Heeeheeeeeheee....... I think YP will now always remember how I had criticised some other cakes she had tended to buy off the shelf on an impromptu basis last time.
(But isn't it true that as we become more exposed to other brands and places, our tastes and experiences will become more 'sophisticated', so our expectations will also go up mah! And because we need to be more conscientious not to over-indulge calorie-wise, we should now be more selective and try out new or better options rather than simply heading for BengawanSolo or AngieTheChoice or Emicakes etc only, correct? It's definitely not a price issue, because the BengawanSolo, AngieTheChoice and Emicakes are also not exactly cheap, hor. Anyway, simply said, to me, it is a reflection of the thoughts which have gone into the cake lah.)
So this time it was Mango Delight from Secret Recipe. All of us enjoyed it. Mother was especially full of compliments for the cake - she said it was not chocolate-y at all (she doesn't like the chocolate-y ones) and not too sweet. Even Father enjoyed his slice 'gleefully' ('gleeful' because Mother had teased him about giving a birthday angpow lah).
So, this is the pretty and delicious Mango Delight we had for my birthday in 2007:
哎，唯一美中不足的，是我自己那两个宝贝都不知道是谁的生日！听到生日歌，才恍然大悟！！ 哎。。。。。。。。
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