Guinness Awards for the most number of expressions within a meal ....

Amos entertaining us once again with his adorable expressions while dining at Fish & Co last Sat...

Zac is hurt

This gate is supposed to act as safety devices for the children but it can proved to be more hazardous. Zac's thigh is caught in between the gap between the blue extension & the wall yesterday while my maid is cooking dinner. She closed the gate to prevent the boy from getting into the kitchen. Suddenly, he heard Zac moaning in pain & struggling to release himself from "somewhere"........ My maid was freaked out bcos she cannot imagine how Zac could have stuck his thigh there, the more she tried to loosen the screw, the gap becomes tighter. Till now, I still cant figure out the "in" (stuck) & "out" (release) of the whole incident. I was in the hospital with my mum yesterday............... else, the accident could have been prevented.

This next photo shows my boy's bruised thigh, can still see a "blue black" mark about the size of two S$1 coin. This is the 2nd accident that happen to him after 2 mths......when his right middle finger was caught in the groove of the LRT lift while my maid pick him up from school. He can still recall the accident now that we passed by that lift. He will tell us that it is DANGEROUS!!

The long wait ...

I stayed over at the hospital yesterday nite to take care of my mum.

In fact, I just came back from the hospital not too long. My sis will stay over with her tonite.

She will be discharged tomorrow morning, thankfully ....

Her surgery wound (abt 10cm long) was cleaned & dressing changed (see equipment on the left) this morning after waited at the doctor's specialist clinic for a total of .......................... 2+ hrs. Can u believe it? Priority is not even given to her (she had an operation near her spine on Thurs & is still coping with a weak body) despite constant reminder to the nurses that she cannot withstand the long wait. I was expecting the nurses to say something like "Oh ok, we will try to arrange to let her see the doctor first", but NOT AT ALL !! The nurse can still say that there are 2 more customers in front of us... well ... well, what a disappointment!! After waited for an hr, there is still another customer. I look around again & realized that the customer who came after us have also been served. We are in fact the ........................LAST !! This is how they treat their hospital patient. According to the nurse, it is up to the doctor to select which patient he wants to see first. OMG !! I didn't want to make a big "hoo haa" when the doctor finally came to see my mum as I don't want anymore DELAY & also my mum's wound is still at his stake. I do not want her to suffer anymore. Anyway, really grateful that everything is over & my mum can finally return to her ward to have her lunch at nearly ... 2pm ... for someone who has diabetes also... sigh...

In case u are wondering which specialist clinic ... it is at MtE.

New Kids on the block

Have you tried this ?
Anything is a line of 6 carbonated soft drinks in cola, cola with lemon, cloudy lemon, apple, fizz up, and root beer flavours. Whatever features 6 non-carbonated tea drinks which includes white grape, lemon peach, apple, chrysanthemum & jasmine green tea. In a twist, the company has introduced a surprise-packaging concept such that every beverage has a generic design, ensuring that consumers are unaware of the flavour of the purchased beverage until they drink it. Check out www.anything.com.sg for details on the drinks! Imagine telling the kopitiam uncle/aunite that u want “whatever” & “anything” lah. HAhaHahA...

In a BLinK of an Eye ...

My mum visited this doctor 16 yrs ago....
I came to visit her everyday in the hospital after her operation the last time as it happened to be my school vacation.
Life is so unpredictable, ...

she undergone the same operation to overcome these old history of pain that she endured over the years. In layman terms, "soft" bones near her spine area has been accumulating over the years.... these added pressure on her nerve causing her to experience constant numbness. It could happen anywhere & anytime, this caused inconvenienced & prevent her from carrying out her daily routines. The pain was so unbearable (she could hardly moved, not even stand) last week that she decided to visit the doctor for another round of operation. The decision was fast, pre consultation, x-ray, confirm operation date, pre admission, operation, recuperating in hospital.... , tentative date of discharge is next week. She has slight diabetes & is on insulin for the past days to keep the level within the normal range.

Looking at her lying on the bed, she has really aged a lot ... Time has taken away her once strong body who has taken care of 8 children. I think it is really time that she should take a good rest. But she is those who cannot help not worrying about us despite that the youngest child, ie, me is already a mother of 2.

I don't know if I will be as brave as her when I am her age...

Mummy, we all love you & hope you could once again regain your strong legs to "come screaming after us" ..... :)

Mummy's mummy .... speedy recovery....

I have been rather busy recently bcos my mum is hospitalized.
I have to shuttle between the hospital, my dad's house & my home.
Very tiring...

I will return very soon with more updates of what happen...

Best of Mummies Blog ... Vote for Me

Just get to know abt this. But it is never too late if you support me lah.
See the badge on the left side? "Best of Blog 07"?

If you think my blog is good, vote for me ... ok?

Thank You.

Thomas The Train

Zac is crazy over Thomas The Train recently.

He wanna sit the train ride, wear the train tee shirt & play with the toys.

We have quite a few versions of the train now at home ... managed to take picture of these 3 trains at the moment now cos I am not able to locate the rest of them. Toy missing in my house is very common, but it will "appear" a few days later. ;p

Scare to let him see the toy at the toy shop now cos he will just stand in front of the toys .... implying.... "Mummy, I want this!"... then randomly choose one of them & hold it tightly as we walk around the shop.

We bought one of the set (see pic on left $29.90) before bcos he refused to let go of the toy.

He likes the train but the funny thing is ..... he is scare to watch the video. *puZzling*.

He can recognize the vcd & will tell us that he is scare. How come huh ?!?!?! Till now, I still don't understand. Anyway, luckily, he don't like the video, else I cannot imagine how much poorer I will be.... HAhAhahA

This reminds me of the craze over Teletubbies abought 6 yrs ago. I duno why the kids are so crazy over it, I don't find the character cute leh. I heard pple commenting before that there is some "spell" over the toy which will lure kids to its liking. How true is it?

This is the only teletubbies toy we have at home. It is actually an electric lantern. I guess he chose this bcos it is..... guess what?........ A TRAIN..... though not Thomas The Train, "Tele" The Train also good lah !! I borrow a hokkien verse : "no prawns, fish also good" (In my humble intepretation, I think it means, if you don't possess the thing u want, the next better is good enough!) *LOL*

A stress free dinner

We usually went over to my mum's place for dinner on Sun. However, she is not cooking today. As such, we went out for dinner. After much thinking, I decided on Jack's Place.

Initially, I thought we will have a hard time cos my maid is off today.... we have to handle the 2 kids alone mah....

SurPrisingLy, they were both v obedient today. They remained seated throughout the whole dinner. I'm not sure if it is the place or the food that makes the difference.

For a change, I ordered Spaghetti Kids Set (spaghetti + orange juice + one scoop of ice cream) for them. Zac is a a"noodle person", he prefer noodle to rice & porridge. Luckily, we managed to finished feeding them before our food arrive. This is bcos our set comes with FRIES..... their favourite. *yummy*. Zac has surprises one after another.... after finishing his spaghetti, he snack on the fries, hotdog, carrot (from my mixed grill combo) followed by orange juice & strawberry ice-cream .... all his yummy "delicacy". I think that is the reason that makes him sit patiently waiting for the food to arrive.

This is indeed a stress free dinner for us. I still have ample time to enjoy a good latte & dessert, mango delight. *slurp*

Most of the time, we have to gobbled down our food cos the kids cant sit still, they will struggle to leave once they are done with theirs.... w/o thinking that their starving mama & papa have yet to complete their meals. *haIz*

Amos is cheerful as usual making the dinner really enjoyable & pleasant.

White Dog Cafe

Finally get a chance to dine at the "White Dog Cafe" at Vivo on Fri nite after the zoo outing .... w/o the kids. (Why I say finally get a chance bcos my sis has been telling me many mths back that they have tried the restaurant & thought that their food is worth trying.) We quickly sneak out of the house while they are still sleeping. It is really good to have a helper at home. Occasionally, we also need to have some freedom to enjoy a good meal, shop & movie ... *smile*
As it was still early (abt 6pm), we managed to get the window seats. This give us beautiful scenery of the iconic Merlion, cable car, sea & the cruises...
I did not bring along my camera, else would be able to show you how nice the scene is.

Took the photo using our HP though.....

We ordered the mushroom soup, crispy duck confit & crispy salmon with roe. We were told that the restaurant do not serve set dinner, so all ala carte please.
We were starving & forgotten to take a pic of the mushroom soup. haha
The soup has plenty of mushroom bits, the taste is not too bad. The portion is big enough to be shared by 2.

The crispy duck is fantastic. I am those who don't usually take duck meat bcos I cannot stand the "duck smell". This duck meat is wonderfully tender & panfried to a crispy skin which sets it apart from other duck meat. The skin is crispy yet not oily and the meat has got enough spice. The overall taste when chew together somehow resemble our familiar KFC original recipe. This dish has change my perspective of duck meat ... I am surprised that it can turned out to be so tantalising.


This salmon smells fishy when it was served. I duno why....
But after a while the smell is gone. The meat is soft & easily sliced apart. The roe is fresh & crunchy. It goes well with the sauce.
However, I am feeling rather full half way through the dish. This makes me ponder if the starchy mushroom soup could be the "culprit".

As such, we did not order any dessert.

Overall, it was a good & relaxing meal after a tired day. The dinner cost S$50+. Try it @ White Dog Cafe, 1 Harbourfront Walk, #02-131/132 VivoCity Singapore 098585. (65) 6376 9970

Friends of the Zoo

Brought the kids to the zoo yesterday. This was their 2nd time there. The first time we went there in Nov last year.
We reached the zoo around 10am. Reached there in time to catch 2 shows : "Wonders of the Wild" at 10.30am & "Splash Safari Show" at 11am. The latter is a new show featuring penguins, manatees, pelicans & their lead actor, the sea lions. The Exhibit seating area is too small to accomodate the huge holiday crowds. We managed to find a seat at the stairway. It was really uncomfortable with the scorching afternoon sun shining above us. The 2 kids were drenched. Zac was uneasy & throwing tantrums, luckily, I brought out his favourite want want seaweed biscuit in time. He was able to remain seated while munching away ...

After the show, we catch a tram to the Children's Playground area for lunch at the KFC. Zac was excited on seeing the playground & immediately zoom off to play. Hub accompanied him while I ordered food. Amos has already dozed off, he was super tired ... wake up 6am this morning. Luckily, I managed to locate a seat in the aircon dining area.

We spend about 3 hrs at the playground, majority of the time at the water splash area. They had a funfilled time roaming the place & mingle with the other children. I am busy snapping & recording video shots of the 2 boys at play while hub took a rest at the bench nearby.
Finally, Zac was willing to take shower which I guessed he must be feeling exhausted.

We took a tram to the tram alighting point. So coincident to be the White Tiger feeding time when we reached. Their food are rats. You could see the hungry Tiger waiting eagerly for their rounds of food, using their powerful jaw & strong body to target at the rations thrown at them.

Then, we walked around the eastern side of the zoo which we didn't get a chance to do so the last time. We visited the Cheetah, Zebra, Lion, Rhino, Giraffe & Reptile Garden before taking a train back to the entrance. By then, it is almost 4pm & everyone was tired. We stopover at the Ben & Jerry's for a finale dessert to sum up the day. 3 scoops cost $9.90 after less. Expensive but the satisfying look on the kids were worth all the effort of bringing them all the way here.

This trip was more enjoyable than the last time we came. I think he has grown older & more aware of the things around him to enjoy better. Visit to the zoo was not really to look at the animals.... haha.... cos we spend more than half of the time at the playground. ;p

The kids were so tired that they doZzzzed off on the way home....

Detox Drink

Are u having a constipation? If yes, u may want to try this detox drink.
Confirmed u will "lao sai" (LS) ..... the detox is working lo ...
From my experience, for a start, do not consume the whole bottle, take mebbe half of it.
This is bcos the first time I try the drink, I had 2 mouthfuls. I LS ONCE immediately the next morning, this is a good thing considering the fact that I constipated.
You ask me if I will take the drink again. Yes, if after a heavy buffet meal. But not any other day as I do not like the thought of a sore ass.
It cost $2/bottle at United Sq B1.

Card Game

Bought some card games for Zac yesterday at Popular. I only realized that I have forgotten to utilize my Pop Club 20% discount voucher after payment. Sigh!!

This is one of the game that Zac quite enjoyed. It is also the most ex of the lots that I purchased yesterday. It is a fun way to learn words & arithmetic. He is able to form quite a couple of words. The 2nd pic is the output of his works. Pls check out the video of how he "played the game".

Candid Camera

This is an amusing photo of Zac
My sis took this photo of my hub (left), me (right) & Zac (centre) at one of the Hotel Cafe.
While everyone is getting ready for the camera, Zac felt a sudden urge to scratch his itchy ear...
At the same time, we were telling him to smile at the camera. As such, he gave a funny look like this as shown in the pic.

"Expression of a itchy ear" + Say "cheeze" in front of camera = Combined look of happy & torture.

Can u figure out the look? He's so FuNnY & CuTe right?

Autism

What is Autism?
Autism is a brain disorder that typically affects a person's ability to communicate, form relationships with others, and respond appropriately to the environment.

At one stage, Zac is diagnosed to have slight Autism. This is bcos :
1)He is not speaking at age 2
2) He likes to play with the car wheels
3)He likes to watch moving vehicles
4)He do not like eye contact
5)He do not like crowded places
6)He cant stay long in enclosed places

The weekly visits to the speech & occupational therapist at KK is a huge cost to us.
I am 5 mths pregnant with Amos then, the growing burden acts on to the stress that I am facing. I stopped bringing him to the specialist as we do not see significant benefits from the visits. My hub n I believe that he is just a "late talker", we pray hard that he could open his "golden mouth" one fine day....

Miracle-ly, he started to "talk" somewhere near my 3rd trimester, cant really recall that it is during my 3rd trimester or after I have given birth. Oh gosh, I think I'm really getting old. [As I am writing this, I consulted my maid, she said Zac started to talk after I have given birth]. What I can remember vividly is that he recognized the letter "B", "M" & "L". Initially I thought he just jackpot on the letter "B" but when I show him the letter card once again, he repeated "B" (Bee-ee).
Also, after I came home from hospital with Amos, he suddenly knows how to fix up all his puzzles effortlessly. He could even show my mother in law that she has fixed wrongly by getting the right puzzle in place. *applause*
We once visited a medium who told us that Zac will be a "late talker" bcos he has slightly shorter tongue (!?!?!?). But everything will be ok after I give birth. Fate? Miracle? Luck?

Looking at him now, he has grown so much.... not only can he recognize all the 26 alphabets, he could also spell words & write them. He can spell & write: Zachary (his name), Amos (Didi's name), Janice (my name), Apple, Cat, Dog, Fan, On, Go, Stop & etc. This may not be great achievements to some parents maybe their children can go way beyond all this. But to someone whom we fear so much to bring him out bcos of his peculiar behaviour in public. I think we really need to kudos to him.

People with Autism
Seek to be Understood
As they seek to Understand...