Looking forward to the New House...

The news came both as a surprise and a shock...

I was surprised I can finally have my own space... But at the same time, I know we are not financially ready for it yet.

As much as I had been looking forward to this new house since 2007, I now secretly prayed that our key collections and/or renovation can be delayed as much as possible...

After visiting my brother's new house, we started discussing about our new home. And I suddenly feel like checking our the Punggol.org website which I hadn't been checking for a while. I was dumbfounded to know that 603A and 603B had received their HLE request letter and someone in the PL thread had estimated that I will receive my letter by October. This would mean, I will be able to get my house by end Dec...

I remembered I had hoped to celebrate Jamie's birthday in the new house or Xmas in the new house. Now that I can get in end Dec 2010, this will mean I maybe able to spend my CNY 2011 in my new house.

But we had an issue. We weren't financially ready yet...

We knew even if we only get the keys in June 2011, we may barely have enough too :( And to get it end 2010 will definitely be not enough.

Nevertheless, we are both secretly happy over the new house still...

We decided to have a look on our own to see if the forum is telling the truth. And yes, it's true... See my new house picture...



It was a super hot day on Sunday (29/08/2010) when we visited the PL site, but then even Jamie was thrilled.





We then shopped at IKEA and Courts to check out the prices of the furnitures and electrical appliances. Saw somethings we like but since we are not sure when we can get the keys, hence we cannot place deposit yet. Pray there will be a better sale end of this year :D

Jamie had her fun too, trying out the potential children furnitures :P



We involved Pyone as well for the furniture choosing because she will be staying in the new house with us for 1.5 yrs before she decided whether to extend her contract. Though I had asked her before and she said she will like to come back to work for me after her contract ended and after a visit back to Myanmar, but then we really never know how things will turn out to be. As much as possible, I will wish to convince her to shorten her visit back to her homeland if not I will be very handicapped when she is not around.

Anyhow, I told her she would be sharing a room with Jamie so it's good that she can give opinions on what type of furniture we can get for Jamie's room.

A second child? Guess the idea has to wait. I don't think I will have a second child if I don't have a good helper. I even told Pyone that I will have another child only after she returns.

Laogong said I sounded as if I was threatening her but then her response was really positive and felt very appreciated :D

After the visit, we headed to ECP for our dinner at BK. For the first time, I let Jamie tasted French Fries. It was cute to see Jamie biting the fries :D It reminded me of how I used to bribe her with Mcdonald Fries before each gynae checkup :P

AT LAST, a swimdate for the two little cousins...

Had been looking forward to this day.

Had went for a swimdate with other children and friends but yet to go for a swim with my niece and my da sao.

It was a wonderful experiences for both Jamie and myself.

Last Saturday (28/08/2010) which was one day before my mum's birthday, we decided to pay my brother a visit at his new house. We had yet seen it since he moved in in early July. Since it's a condo, we also get to use the swimming pool.



I could see that Jamie really envious her little cousin... It makes me hope to decorate her future bedroom nicely :D







And yes, my house is ready by end of this year. Will talk more about this in the next blog entry...

Other than the kids had fun together, it was a great time swimming together with Laogong too. He rarely bring Jamie out during his free time, so every moment of dayout with Jamie is so precious to both Jamie and myself :)







After the swim, we had KFC for dinner and ended the Family Day together with my mum's birthday cake cutting. Jamie for the first time, tried cake (egg white) and she seems to like it. She too tried Tomatoes and she loves it~!!!

I am so looking forward to next year when the two kids will be able to run around the house together holding hands...

Re-Opening my SgShopper.com

Yea. I had been inactive in SgShopper.com for more than 6 months.

At first it was because of baby, then when my helper came in, I started to look for a job. When I found my job, it took me a while to settle down. Finally, I am all ready to start my business again :D

Did some revamp to my website.

Add in some Facebook and Twitter Function :D

Will update the products soon too :D

So Stay Tune :D

My Little Terror...

Now that Jamie has started crawling and learning how to stand, she is no longer as inactive as before. She is not only proactive but very verbally expressive too.

She now can make the following sounds:
1. Mama
2. Baba
3. Mum Mum - Food
4. Nai Nai - grandmother

She called out to me 'Ma Ma' when she saw me walking out from the lift just now.

And she called out to her daddy 'Ba Ba' really loud so that he would walk out of the room, when she wanted to show off new stunts to him.

She called out to my MIL (her grandmother) when she wanted to play with her.

And we knew it was no coincidental because she made all these sounds sound purposeful.

Other than these sounds, she can do the following now too:
1. Walk when leaning on something
2. Stand up when holding on to non-movable objects
3. Commando Crawl very fast
4. Can hold herself up in all fours.
5. Change from Sitting to Lying down and Lying down to Sitting position easily.

And now that she can sit up sturdily, she can now play with my niece Claris. After not seeing Claris for the past 2-3 months, I realized she had really grown up a lot. She now has really long hair, which can be tied into two pony tails.

However, though she had started interacting with other children of her age in the childcare centre, she had instead grown very shy. She didn't even dare look up at Jamie when Jamie tried to invite Claris to play with her.

It was rare of Jamie to do that to other children of her age too. But after much observation, I realised Jamie isn't anti-social, she just doesn't like playing with the boys. Jamie is very friendly when she sees little girls.





Yes, Jamie doesn't really like boys I think.

She had been kicking Kayden korkor and Boxing Lucius korkor... But the strange thing is, she seems to be okay with Asher didi... So I am really not too sure what she is thinking.







Maybe she is defensive and worried about kena bullied by the big brothers, so she decided to show them she is not a push-over first?

Nevertheless, she had grown up alot over the last 1 month, and I am looking forward to more new stunts from her.





Can you see her 4 full grown pretty teeth? Heehee... She can bite her biscuit easily into two... And also pick up her favourite gerber starry biscuits with her thumb and second finger and put it into her mouth ^^





Last but not least, I noticed her favourite character is Mickey Mouse~~~ So I am going to give her a Mickey Mouse Birthday Party for sure :D

White Fungus Dessert (Hot/Cold)

Last week, I bought a packet of white fungus soup/dessert ingredients from NTUC. Had always the dessert and the instructions on the packet of ingredients looked really simple, I decided to buy the packet and give it a try.

Frankly, I had always fancy cooking. However since I don't have an oven, nor staying in my own house, hence it will be hard of me to take over the kitchen. But because the new house till TOP in 2Q 2011, hence I had decided to start to learn how to cook from now onwards, so that I can make our own meals next time.

So I am going to start with this white fungus desserts (hot/cold). This is how you make it:

1. Wash the packet of ingredients with tap water and rinse them dry.
2. Boil a pot of 2-3 litres of water.
3. Pour the ingredients into the boiling pot of water.
4. Turn to low fire and let it boil for 2-3 hrs.

If you will like to make it like a soup, you can add in chicken or pork meat too. However, if you like to have it as a dessert, you just need to add rock sugar on top of the packet of ingredients.

When the time is up, you can either drink it hot or put it into the fridge to chill it down. It tastes really nice when it's cold :D

I like it chilled :D

I heard it's really good for pregnant woman, because it helps to build up the lungs for labour. Kids with asthma or cough can take this too to strength the lungs.

What a Scare...

Had a bad scare from yesterday to today.

I was on my way to work yesterday when I received an SMS from Laogong saying that Jamie had rolled off the bed. Laogong fractured his feet last week and hadn't got better, so he decided to take an MC yesterday. I guess it was all fated that at least Laogong was at home at the point of the accident.

I immediately U-turned and drove home to see Jamie, even though Laogong told me Jamie was alright. I felt guilty that because I had thought Jamie would be safe with a playpen on one side of the bed and Laogong on the other side of the bed, it would mean the possibility of her rolling off the bed would be slimmer. However, little did we know, she actually had the strength to push the playpen away and dropped to the borrom where there was a bolster. She was lucky that the bolster had reduce her drop to the maximum. I was told Jamie did not hit her head on the floor.

Jamie was actually very happy to see me back home. I took 2 hrs off to ensure everything was ok with Jamie. She seemed cheery and even giggled when I asked if she had pushed away the playpen to roll off the bed. And when I reprimanded her for the act and told her she won't be as lucky the next time round, she sticked out her tongue.

Haizz.. what a cheeky girl...

All was okay other than Jamie slept more in the daytime and was wide awaken till late.

The next day (which is today) when I left the house to go work, I purposely put Jamie into the playpen so that she won't rolled off the bed again.

At 5pm, Pyone called me and said Jamie had been crying non-stop and she did not know what's wrong, except that Jamie's left hand seemed to be in pain. I was rushing some work and could not head home immediately so I told Laogong to go home to check on Jamie first. He then updated that the whole of Jamie's left arm, hand and fingers seemed to be numbed and it hurt badly when she moved her left arm, hand or fingers.

I headed home at 6.15pm but was caught in the traffic till 8pm. By then, Laogong said Jamie seemed to have recovered fully and could move her left arm, hand and fingers already. To play safe, we still brought Jamie to see the doctor.

The doctor checked her and said it maybe just temporary side effects and if there wasn't no abnormalities happening to Jamie and if she did not vomit non-stop, then she should be alright already.

Jamie got home and took a nap and till now she is wide awake and playing.

Really hope she is ok... It's really a big scare for both me and Laogong...

Carebears counting down to Jamie's First Year birthday party...

3 more months to Jamie's first year birthday party~!!!

Jamie just had her 9mth routine checkup on 14 Aug. Everything is great and she has no hearing issue. But she seems to be either stubborn or distracted easily :P

She seems to be purposely ignoring the sound which the doctor plays into her ears with a device. And when she was told to look in front at a toy, she purposely looked around instead. I guess my naughty girl was trying to be cheeky. Anyway she did response after 3 times of playing the noise in each ears.

Jamie is 69cm now, weighing 8.3kg. Cute height and good weigh :D Jiayou Jamie :D

She can sit upright very steadily now and can stand up on her own with support and while holding on to something. She can crawl faster on a bed than the hard floor.

The pillows are no longer enough to barrage her. So we moved in the playpen and made it comfy for her to sleep. This will be where she will sleep in the daytime and at night, she will still sleep with us.

She is more cheery these days and ever so adventurous about food... I think she has tasted more food than any of her peers had...

Her hair is getting thicker but I hope it can be longer by her first birthday :D

A Confusing Movie - SALT

Laogong and I watched this movie on Friday night.

Heard a lot of good reviews on it from my friends.

But most mentioned about the actions and all. I was quite looking forward to watching this movie. But I was actually quite disappointed with the movie.

I was expecting it to be like Angelina Jolie is really NOT a russian spy and set off to kill all the real spies... It turned out that she IS the spy and ended up killing both the spies and the CIA...

Hmmm... Kinda of weird and things are happening too fast...

Don't really like the storyline :X

But I have to admit, the actions are great :D

A Movie that triggers some thinking - Old Cow Vs Tender Grass

Guess most of you won't watch this movie?

I heard of friends who said they don't support local movies. And some who is anti-J team after the Jack Neo's incident. To me, I am pretty neutral about the incident. I always believe when something happen, both or all 3 parties were at fault. Anyhow, I didn't remember seeing the J-team sign in the movie.

But apart from it being a local movie, there may be other reasons for not willing to watch this movie. On the other hand, there are many reasons which enticed me to watch the movie.

One of which is, I am very curious what type of message will the movie be broadcasting?

But one thing for sure, the movie only said it's OKAY for an older SINGLE man to be together with a younger SINGLE woman. We remove the fact that it would happen to older MARRIED man too, who keep a younger SINGLE woman or even younger MARRIED woman as their mistresses.

And the brilliant part of this movie is that we are assuming the young SINGLE woman is RICH and the older SINGLE man is POOR. So when the young woman express fancy to this older man, the possibility of liking his money is not possible.

Okay, so how is it be possible for a younger pretty rich single woman to fall in love with an older, ugly, poor single man? After watching the movie, you will believe it's really possible...

1. The woman must have a hard-to-forget previous relationship, eg. the ex boyfriend died in an accident caused of her wilfulness.
2. The woman is super wilful and the man is super patient.
3. The man had never had a girlfriend before and hence he still has the 'first love is the best' belief and hence willing to do everything and anything for this girl unconditionally.
4. The man had seen worse women.
5. The man has nothing to lose because he is a lonely man with no family member left in this world. Hence spending time and money with this young woman makes him feel life is more meaningful.
6. The man is simple minded and easy to please.
7. The woman needs someone who is more mature to listen to her and to advise her.

With all these factors involved, it's definitely possible for an ugly older man to be with a pretty younger woman.

But seriously hor, I won't go for an ugly older man :X

Jamie's First Animation Movie - Despicable Me

Heehee, guess I just had to leave out some blog entries lah... If not do a short short one :P

Wanted to leave this two movie reviews altogether but really don't feel like doing it if I can spend just 5min writing each of them.

I still remember the last time Jamie watched a movie was when Pyone just joined us in end March. Because Pyone was still new and had some language barrier, hence we normally bring her along together with Jamie when we went out.

4plus months had passed and Pyone had proven herself to be a great worker, who is not only hardworking but efficient and effective in her tasks.

This is another movie treat for her. And of coz Jamie, to test if she would be as obedient as she was in a cinema when she was still very young. Jamie proved herself to be not only obedient but also enjoyed the movie alot. Other than the little soft whining towards the end of the movie, when it was close to her sleeping hours. However, after minutes of patting, Jamie dozed off even with the loud sound system blasting away.

The storyline was simple and nice. It was about a man who chose to be a villain because he wanted to do something that makes his mother feel proud of her. But he was too kind to be a successful villain. He took in 3 orphans in hoping to get them to fulfill a mission, which will eventually allows him to steal the moon. However, it turned out that he was touched by these 3 orphans and became really nice. And eventually, he learnt how to be a good father and care for other people.

In the end, it turns out that his mother is proud of him when he becomes a good fatherly figure and able to show care and love to the 3 orphans.

I had been thinking about the morale of the story for a while... And I think this should be it. Sometimes we need not be the greatest people in the world to feel good or proud of ourselves or to win our parents' over or makes them feel proud of me. Being who we are and learning to love, care and share for other people, is actually a more priceless gift and hard to attain skills which will make your parents feel proud of you.

Hence people out there who are busy trying to earn as much money as you can so to give your family or parents a good livelihood. Slow down and think. Maybe by spending more time with your family members and parents is actually more important than bringing in more bread and butter for them....

My Fruitful Long Weekend Part 2 - Two National Day Dinners

I realized it's really quite tough to keep up with my blogging...

Hahaha... But then I won't give up so soon yet... :D

Ok, this is a backdated blog entry again :D

Remember I was saying I had a very fruitful long weekend last week? Yeah :D This is part 2 of the blog entry ^^

I really had a very fruitful long weekend. Before I elaborate further, take a look at what I did last weekend.

Saturday (7 Aug)
9am to 2pm - Half day Work
3pm to 4pm - Shop for red tops.

Red is something you don't get to see very often in my closet, hence having so many NDP Dinners to attend will mean I need to top up my closet with red tops :D An excuse to shop ^^

4.30pm to 6.00pm - Get Jamie, myself, Laogong and Pyone ready
6.30pm to 7.00pm - Gather at Sandra's house and walked over to the Tampines Central Park for the NDP Dinner
7.00pm to 10.30pm - NDP Dinner
11pm to 1am - Mahjong session at Sandra house
1.30am - Home Sweet Home

Sunday (8 Aug)
10.30am - woke up and prepare to go out
1pm to 2pm - Jamie's playdate with Klaire and Asher at Peekaboo
3pm to 5pm - Jame's playdate with Lucius at Ivy's house
5.30pm to 6.30pm - Prepare to go for NDP Dinner
7.00pm to 7.30pm - Fetch my parents and headed towards the ACE the Place NDP Dinner at Woodlands Ave 1
7.30pm to 10.30pm - End of the dinner, fetch my parents home
12am - Watch Movie

Very fruitful right? These days weekends are so precious to me that I will try to pack as many things I can in it :D Today is an exception. Yest was another long day out. And I guess I need a rest to relax and browse for Jamie's birthday party ideas, as well as recee her party venue to know how to do the table arrangement etc. Last but not least, to catch up with my blogging and drafting the guestlist for Jamie's party :D And to think abit about how to kick start my online business again.

Back to the topic of the blog entry :D

I guess this year's is both Jamie and my first time attending NDP Dinners. And one shot, we attended 3 dinners so far. I believe there are more to come in the future and it's definitely a good time to catch up with my bosses, colleagues, friends and family members. I always love attending the NDP in the stadium because it gave me a sense of belonging. Similarly attending the dinners with my bosses and colleagues gave me the same feeling too. I feel belonged to where I am working now. And there is no longer the need to feel shy about where I am working. Take a look at the plaque I took on behalf of my organisation ^^

If you are curious where is this place... Feel free to Call or SMS me for more information :P hahaha...

On 7th August 2010, we attended the National Day Dinner at Tampines Central which was very near to Sandra's house. It was in fact, just 5min walk away. It was a great opportunity to catch up with them and feel the same feeling we once did when we attended NDP together many years back. However, it was a pity Ivy wasn't able to join us.

This time we brought along the stroller, but Jamie was only willing to sleep in it. Most of the time, she rather sat in our laps and looked at what's on the table and on the stage.

Frankly, it was my first time receiving a plaque from a MP and I thank my boss for giving me the opportunity to receive the plaque on he behalf of him who was attending another National Dinner in another location.

Heehee, I wore the early bird prize again but then it was just a body wellness voucher which I think comes with a lot of gimmick. Most likely I won't be using it.













I guess it was an eye-opening for my helper too to attend all 3 National Day Dinners with us. And it was a great chance to treat my parents to a good meal too.

I brought my parents to the NDP Dinner on 8 August at Woodlands Ave 1. It's a open field opposite the Singapore Sports School. A nice place to fly kites.

But I realized I was quite tired after the long day out with the two playdates that I forgot to take pictures with Jamie. And also I chose to dress her up in something more casual and comfortable ^^ And I think she liked it because she won't be feeling so warm then.











Oh yea.. that's my boss taking the plaque :D A very nice and patient man. Someone who shows appreciation when the jobs are done well.

My Fruitful Long Weekend Part 1 - Two Short PlayDates on the Same Day

Last weekend was our long weekend National Day holidays.

And indeed I made full use of it, packing in as many activities as possible for Jamie, myself and Pyone. Frankly, I can simply stay at home and rest. However, I feel that since Jamie does not get to see me all the time now, hence there must be something for her to look forward to every weekend. And since I sometimes work late on weekday nights, all the more I need to spend time with Jamie over the weekends.

And it is not just about Jamie.

Most helpers in Singapore has dayoff, other than those who takes care of the old folks. However, Pyone does not have dayoff. She is very sure that she is here to work hard to bring as much money home as possible. The thought of it already makes me very sad. However, I cannot be selfish and keep her in Singapore after her contract ends in end March 2011. She has her own children to take care too.

And I feel it's important to bring Pyone out every weekend because on weekdays, she doesn't get to go downstairs with grandma for her usual walks.To maintain our healthy well-being of our mind, we need to relax and enjoy life a little. Same goes for Pyone, even when she is only a helper in Singapore. I believe as human, she needs to take a break from work and enjoy herself abit. After all, I know my little tyrant makes her so busy that she hardly has time to sneak some rest before my inlaws come home. I feel it's important to take good care of my helper since I had decided to put Jamie's safety in her hands. Only when she is healthy and strong physically and mentally, she will continue to be a good helper.

Another reason for willing to squeeze my time table so tightly, is because I had observed that Jamie has been quite on her own. I feel that there is the need to expose her to more children, so that she will become more sociable.

Guess what? After kicking Kayden korkor the other day, Jamie has proceed to kick and scratch Lucius korkor in he face and pinching Asher didi...

Yaa.. Jamie is so defensive these days...I really wonder if it is genetically because of me.. because I was a tomboy when I was very young and I will always stood up when someone bully me :P

Last Sunday we went for two playdates in just a few hours.

We met Rachel-Asher and Caryn-Klaire at Peekaboo-Kallang Leisure Park from 1pm to 2pm. It is a nice place for the kids and what's more it's free for babies below one years old. What a good lobang Caryn has introduced to us :)

Asher seems to be the second boy that Jamie doesn't mind playing with. The first is Lucius. And the interesting thing is how Jamie expressed her jealous when:
1. Asher looks at Klaire when playing with Jamie
2. I praise Asher or/and Klaire





















After lunch at the food court, we headed to Ivy house to meet up with the rest of the girls and Lucius. Lucius seems to have grown taller again. He is such a big boy now!!!

And Lucius and Jamie was initially okay until Lucius started crawling over Jamie unintentionally. And notti Jamie decided to 'punish' Lucius by a flying kick and a scratch on his face. OMG~ I feel so embarrassed about it and kept apologising to Ivy.

Sighh I really wonder if it is a good thing for Jamie to be so defensive :(

But she definitely has to learn to socialise with other children.