B2 is walking about 80% of the time...Still not very stable,yet she tried to mimic adult's behaviour, hang sister's bag around the neck,walk to the gate,pretend to go out...
2009-08-31
2009-08-30
2009-08-26
Julia Gabriel's Trinity Guildhall assessment
Homework! Oh, Homework!
by Jack PrelutskyHomework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
away in the sink.
If only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're giving me fits.
I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the homework
my teacher assigns.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're last on my list.
I simply can't see
why you even exist.
If you just disappeared
it would tickle me pink.
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
It's B1's assessment at JG today.Picked her up from school at 3pm, and she's to change and take light snack in the car on the way to JG.
When she practised reciting her poem in car, she suddenly forgot part of it,and her folder's with her teacher in JG.
Luckily,I called hb,passed the phone to B1 and asked her to tell daddy to search internet for the poem.He managed to find it,and let B1 practise over the phone.
At night, head hb praising B1 for having smart idea of calling daddy to search internet...When B1 told him that it's Mummy's idea, he just kept quiet and stop the conversation about the poem and test.
Anyway,B1 said her teacher commented that she did very well for her assessment.
2009-08-25
As if I am not Suay enough...
while driving on a narrow,2 lane small road,with vehicles illegally parked at the roadside yesterday,I heard a loud "Pop" sound,turned and saw my left side mirror broken.
Thought something,like a stone hit and broke it.
Knew I was wrong,when I drove my car to Toyota Bodycare Centre at Pandan crescent today,with B2 along.
The cover at the back's gone! I must have hit may be the side mirror of the illegally parked vehicle and the impact caused the cover to fall off,and mirror broke.
Changing just the mirror is cheap and easy,but with the cover is another complete thing. They need to spray paint the cover, which take about half a day! With B2,I couldn't afford to wait there for so long.Taking her+stroller+stuff to take a cab home first,then take a cab again down to collect is going to be troublesome.
Decided to just fix the mirror and cover, come for the spray painting another day, probably on Thursday.As Wed need to pick B1 from school after her recess for Julia Gabriel's Trinity Guilldhall assessment.Friday B1 has school in the morning session.
What is the damage? S$200+ to fix,inclusive of labour and spray paint, plus the time and taxi fare to make few trips to the workshop!
Sign...as if I am not SUAY enough!
2009-08-23
New Phone-Nokia N86 8MP
Bought Nokia N86 yesterday,with hb's $500 Singtel voucher.Hb top up the difference...as early birthday present for me.
Checked out various places for the price without contract before buying.Price starts from $739 (not sure if this includes GST),$750,$768,$798, to the most expensive one at Singtel Shop $868.
Mine comes with a free bluetooth kit, which later i realised that it's redundant,as I don't use bluetooth, and hb already had a few bluetooth kit.Should have asked for micro SD card instead,since the phone doesn't come with memory card.
It's bigger and much heavier than my 6220c,but I am fine with that,since I usually carry my bag with me,so could just leave in the bag when not in use.
Until today, I am still trying to figure out how to solve my "problem" with this new handphone.
After restoring data from my old phones,I kept getting "not enough phone memoray to perform operation...delete some data....".
Realised that ALL messages in my old phones are transferred to the "Draft" folder on my new phone, I deleted all the messages.Now I am able to do some general and phone set up,but after that I get the same message again...not able to do anything due to "Not enough phone memory" again!
Setting up email is a breeze,but not so for the Wi-Fi.Still not able to get it up,even with their "wizard". Totally clueless, and hb has been very busy this few days to help me.
The package comes with some trial games, and 1 Free Download of the trail game. I don't usually play games or listen to music on my mobile phone,but I think B1 would love the N-gage game.
GPS also seems easier to activate than my 6220c,but I doubt I'll be using it at all.
2009-08-22
Longchamp Legende Clutch
http://www.longchamp.com/en/collection/women/lines/legende/showroom-255.html
Saw this Longchamp Legende clutch and fell in love witth it. Even B1 said the patent one in Taupe looks nice!
The patent one cost SGD669,whereas the leather one cost SGD800+.The leathers one all come with gold hardware,so I don't like it,even though I love touching the buttery soft leather.
I have never had any patent leather bags before,heard too much stories about color transfer,cracks and peeling etc, never dare to buy any patent leather bag.
2009-08-21
Restaurant: Grandma's...It's so local...
Tried out this restaurant last Saturda. It's located at B1 of United Square,next to Cold Storage and Guardian Pharmacy.
Food is more Asian or Malaysian style.
Beef rendang's portion is quite small,but enough for two.I prefer smaller servings actually, so that we could try more dishes, or have some room for desserts. Beef is tender and absorbed all the flavours of rendang.
For King prawns,min order of 2pcs are required.We ordered 4pcs,and cost $30+.
Dessert order is "Monkey Business".Nothing fantastic,just 1 scoop of strawberry with another may be 2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream,with slices of bananas,some nuts,whipped cream.
The service staff are quite polite,but the service is rather slow. Took quite long for them to serve all the dishes.Normally when we had lunch at Tang Dian Wang or Swensen, we are still left with lots of shopping time before picking B1 up.At Grandma's,we are left with very little time.
Overall the food is ok, but so good that I would like to keep coming back for it.If I need a comfortable place to dine in (especially with B2) and wanted some local food when I am in United Square,I don't mind to come to this restaurant again.
For Citibank credit cards,every $50 spent will entitled a $25 voucher for next visit(min order of $50 again).
Shopping at Ion Orchard
B1 has no schools on Thur & Fri due to PSLE Oral Exams.
Planned to go taka today,but changed my mind and turned to Ion Orchard instead. Since B1 is around,she could accompany B2 when I tried on clothes at Uniqlo.
B2 would cry very hard if I leave her outside fitting room.
O-Glow $45, O-Plump $45
Sephora at Ion is much bigger than Taka and carries a lot more brands. I am glad to see Smashbox,MD skincare,Peter Thomas Roth,Make Up Forever,Burt Bees etc there. A pity Nars is not in. Wish they could carry less of those department store brands and bring in new brands.
Bought Smashobox O-Glow and O-plump,selling at USD26,and USD24 respectively in US, but both at SGD45 here.
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P175109&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=3728
Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral cost USD30 in US, sells at SGD70 here.
Went for lunch at Aoba Ramen before heading to Uniqlo.
B1 had Saba fish set...nothing special...or the only thing 'Special" is the tiny teeny slice of Saba fish.
I order Zuwai Kani Ramen, cost SGD19.80.Soup base is good,not too salty.Ramen not as Q as I've liked to be,but still acceptable. The crab is just ok,and can still feel that it's chilled.
Bought two bra top and one black cropped jeasn at Uniqlo. Both at offer price.
Too lazy to re-queue for fitting room,bought the jeans without trying.Luckily it fits well.
Jeans are on offer at $49.90,but theirs are mainly skinny jeans and boot-cut jeans.Not the usual straight-cut, or slim-straight that I like. Plus the pockets design are quite plain,so I didn't even bother to try on.
The customer service staff told me that there are two nursing room, one in B1, another at L3,but I found one more at B3.
The designs of the nursing rooms are quite bad. Hot & Cold water dispenser,changing station,sink and a chair(presumably for feeding) are all in the same room. So if someone is feeding inside, others would have to wait outside, even if they just want to change the baby or get some hot water.
I have also seem Ion staff and other customers going in to get hot water. A teenage girl who waited outside B3 nursing room, told me she waited for "Very long" (later found out it's 10min), asked me to knock on the door and even suggested asking the cleaner to open the door. I have to explain to her that it's normal to take that long to feed babies and it's not right to ask the cleaner to open the locked door.
The lifts are indeed quite confusing. We went in to Lift B, thinking of going down to food hall, but it brought us to ONLY swensen restaurant instead.
The car park exit is also confusing. Go straight to Orchard Turn or Right to Orchard Boulevard.
Just as I was wondering should I turn to Orchard Boulevard,and what they meant "for Passenger Cars only", I headed for Orchard Turn Exit and Got chared another round of ERP within seconds!
Overall experience at Ion?Good to see a lot of new brands but .I think I prefer to shop at Takashimaya more.
Bra Top $19.90,Black Cropped Capri Jeans $39.90
Zuwai Kani Ramen $19.80
2009-08-19
Very Suay...
Last night found out that 1 side of my diamond studds is lost.I couldn't even figure out when/where/how I dropped it. The last time it's lost, I found it in bathroom floor. Most likely It got pulled off when I towel dried my hair after washing.Not so lucky this round.
Then tonight,my cousin's wife msg me and called me, just to tell me that my handphone number came out in today's 4D- 2nd prize!
I didn't buy!
Probably if we went to get a new handphone last weekend, as we have planned, I might buy my handphone number....
I just don't have luck anymore... :(
2009-08-17
Quit Julia Gabriel's Edudrama class?
B1's supposed to take Level 3,Trinity Guildhall's assessment this month.
1st they sent out examination notice to the correct address,my name and with someone else's child name.
Then came the revised notice on Friday, with test date and time during B1's school hours. Previously her tests were during her JG's class,and we were never told that the test will be schedule during weekdays.
Hb tried to talk to the teacher..either B1 has to miss her school lessons or she join other class for her assessment...there seems to be no other choice, and half-way through, the teacher refused to talk further as she "has to go for her lunch'....She mentiond "from P3 & P4 onwards it's all schedule on weekdays"...but later denied saying that.
Hb complained to the counter staff, and someone more senior came out to attend to hb.
Actually, we are not very happy with her current teacher for quite some time.Unlike all B1's other teachers, this one doesn't communicate much with the parents.No emails to parents to update, no comments on the kids' program summary on their performance, no briefing to the parents on what's being taught during the lessons, even Open House that are supposed to be held every 10th week of each term were never arranged and informed!
It's time to either drop JG completely, or switch her to other classes and Readers & Writers or Performance Arts,since B1's schedule can't fit into other Edudrama's classes.
2009-08-16
New Phone N79,N86 or?
Hb has a $500 Singtel voucher. He is still happy with his E71,not intending to get a new one.I am thinking of getting a new 5MP camera phone to replace my 6220 classic,which doesn't come with WiFi.
N79 seems to have quite good review,though it doesn't have Xenon Flash which my 6220c has.
N86 has 8MP camera,but the feedback from users at hardwarezone doesn't seem good....
I would only go for Nokia phones with Symbian OS, and camera must not be worse than my current one...so I am left with few choices.
I just found out that N79 is out of stocks in many places.The SA at 3mobile said N79 has been out for very long,and since there are many new models coming up recently,most retailers don't re-order N79 anymore.
Wonder if I should get N86 instead...
2009-08-12
Happy 1st Birthday to Bertina !
She's able to walk 12 steps at one go just before her birthday. Weighbs 7.73kg,has 2 lower central incisors teeth,can say baba,mama,dada,tata,daddy. I trained her to asks for milk by clapping her hands since around 8th month. We also taught her signs of asking for "more". She made muching action whenever I say "eat porridge",eat cereal","eat apple", "eat kiwifruit","biscuits" etc.
She's able to wave Hello and Bye Bye, even to strangers at around 7months, knows how to do fly kiss" before 8th month.
She loves music and dancing, and can recognise various songs with different dance moves and gestures. Like her most family "twinkle twinkle little stars".
2009-08-08
Bertina can walk..
08 Aug 2009
B2 has been walking about 2 to 4 steps since about two weeks ago. Today, I saw her walking from our white arm chair where I was sitting, to the TV cabinet, a total of 12 steps!
At 11mths 3weeks, she's able to say "Daddy" now, though we sometimes wonder whether she really understood Daddy means her Ba Ba.
She could understand "face","tongue","hair","head","ear","fingers","arms up","eye","nose","chin","mouth","wave","eat" etc..Thanks to the Your Baby Can Read Flashcards!
She would do her munching action, whenever we say eat,eating,biscuits,porridge,cereal,pumpkin,apple,kiwi fruits. She obviously enjoys food very much!
She's still as friendly as before, wave and fly kiss to strangers everywhere...in the restaurants, at shops, in the lifts.
But there's something she does that is embarassing us...she screams and shouts outside, in the restaurants especially...something B1 never did at this age, or even older.
We bought this dress for her to wear on her 1st birthday paryt, but it seems toooooo long,and the design make it impossible to alter at the bottom.
We probably will dress her in denim dress with a brighter top instead.
Her first pair of shoes, from OshKosh.See how clever they help parents to get perfect fit for their baby.
Some clothes we bought for her recently...while the sales is on...
2009-08-05
Lucky Dip at Jurong Point -Aries Gold Ladies Watch
Bought party stuff at JP2 Level 3. Evey $30 (1 F&B receipt+1 other receipt) entitled 1 lucky dip and lucky draw.
Won a Aries Watch,selling at H2 Hub for $79. Chose pink strap so that I could give it to B1.
Took photo of it, but don't have time to upload to PC.
Hb said my luck is coming back...YES!
Gifted Education Program GEP
B1 just brought back the form from school.
Both Hb and I don't intend to sign her up for the tests.
2009-08-04
balloon sculpturing/sculpting for B2's birthday
Hb wanted something to entertain the kids.
Found this,not sure if it's good.
They charge $130/hr, unlimited supply of balloons.
http://www.4parties.sg/index.html
Another one, whom I met at Yew Tee's emicake during Father's Day promotion,charges $150/hr, limited to 10-15 kids,addiitonal kid @$5/kid.
2009-08-03
Tamiflu-It's no miracle drug
From "Today" or todayonline. I have trouble putting up the link..
It's no miracle drug
05:55 AM Aug 03, 2009
I REFER to "The trouble with Tamiflu" (Aug 1). It used to be thought that the side effects of Tamiflu occur in only a small percentage of people, but it is alarming that the latest United Kingdom study suggests it affects about 50 per cent of children who take it.
Beyond side effects, the real trouble is that Tamiflu is widely-regarded as a "magic bullet". Governments around the world spend billions to stockpile it. Doctors prescribe it freely. As the report noted, whole classrooms of UK students used to be given the drug if just one of them caught the flu. Here in Singapore, a friend who is a tuition teacher tells me that several of his students have been given Tamiflu at the slightest flu symptoms. And people take it without questioning.
Doctors and lay people view Tamiflu as the solution to the flu. Yet, medical literature tells us that anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza are only effective in reducing flu symptoms by about one day. Considering the typical flu patient suffers symptoms for about 10 days, this works out to be a mere 10 per cent improvement. For that small improvement, consumers put themselves at risk of side effects that, according to the United States Food and Drug Administration's Division of Drug Risk Evaluation, include: Panic attacks, delirium, convulsions, depression, loss of consciousness and suicide.
How many who take Tamiflu read (or are told about) the warning label that states: "People with the flu, particularly children, may be at an increased risk of self-injury and confusion shortly after taking Tamiflu and should be closely monitored for signs of unusual behaviour"?
Even the Health Promotion Board (HPB) does little to highlight the side effects of anti-viral drugs. The HPB recently distributed a booklet, Frequently Asked Questions on Influenza A (H1N1 - 2009). It mentions in passing that side effects may occur, but does not elaborate.
As for the possible side effects of flu vaccination, a number of prominent doctors in the US have written commentaries to point out that vaccination may possibly cause far greater harm than the flu itself. Yet HPB's booklet does not mention any possible flu vaccination side effects.
URL http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC090803-0000025/Its-no-miracle-drug
Copyright 2009 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved
2009-08-01
mourning part 2...
In less than a month's time both Uncle Lim and His wife were gone.
Last night my neighbour told me only 3, and not 4 of her sisters are visiting her from Malaysia today, as her mother's admitted to hospital, and one of them will stay behind to look after the mother.
Before noon, neighbour told me her mum's in ICU, by 3pm+,got a msg from her that her mum has just passed away. 6pm,they,including the 3 sisiters who just reached S'pore in the afternoon, were on their flight back to Malaysia.
Her prolonged cough must have developed into something more serious, she couldn't breathe well, and doctor said there were blood clots near/around? the lung.
Just a few days ago, my neighbour was telling me she wanted to visit her mum during the Sep holiday, and asked her mum to come to S'pore for a short stay, to cheer her up and kept her company... She wanted to ask her mum to teach her how to cook,, so as to keep her mum occupied and not thinking of her late father too much...
Busy Sunday
Tomorrow will be a busy day for B1.
Need to be in school at 6.30am, to attend National Day Observance Ceremony at CCK Square which starts at 7am.
Her class today is pushed to tomorrow as her GB's acitivity dragged to 1.30pm today.She has 6 school assignments to complete.
Hb and I couldn't decide on which cake to order, may be will leave the last vote to B1.
Neighbour's father just passed away, now her mother also in hospital's ICU...her 4sisters already planned to come Singapore today, 3 of them go ahead,leaving one in Penang to take care of the mother.
Her mother has fear in visiting doctor, after seeing how her husband died after admitting to hospital...she refused to see doctor for her prolonged cough and now has difficulty breathing.Doctor said there is clogged blood near her lung.
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