Revolving stars

In a few months' time, we will be moving out of our BTO home. It is a bittersweet moment as we have painstakingly designed our place, putting in months of efforts. However, we (or mainly I) decided that we have outgrown this current flat, and require more space for our growing boy. (And it definitely does not help that both of us are currently working in a hybrid mode.) Our place before we shifted in: Our platform bed - You may be amazed that it fits a king sized bed We chose casement doors for the cupboards I love the spanish made wooden tiles! We got it at Soon Bee Huat Our customized racks in the bomb shelter The view from our home After moving in: The kitchen The living room It has been a good 6 years. 

 After 5 - 6 years of getting our BTO flat, I'm finally blogging about it. After living in for a few years, we have some renovation that we regretted, and some that were lifesavers. The 5 things that we did not regret choosing: 1. The rain shower set in the master bedroom toilet We pondered for very long before deciding on getting a Grohe set. In the end, our comfort won over the practical side of us. It serves us well, especially since we have to use it almost every day. I want to rave about their service as well. As you may be aware, Grohe offers a 5 year warranty on their shower sets. When our mixer was a bit tight, we contacted them and they scheduled an appointment with us to fix and change to a new one within 3 days. I was so wowed by their service. 2. Not doing the shower screen in the common bedroom toilet We were contemplating if we should segregate the wet and dry area in the common toilet as I have a pet peeve of stepping on wet ground. In the end, we decided not to in ...

 I'm back with updates about Hunter's N2 journey so far. We are quite pleased with his progress and nothing much to complain too. These are the activities that they have been doing in school: Quarterly field trip Role playing in school Making agar agar jelly in school for Mother's Day Putting in the fillings Painting Marble rolling activity Pasting activity Water transferring activity Pre-writing activity Feeding himself in school Cutting the banana on his own Bubble blowing Balancing game What a drawing! Having fruits at the playground Card making with beans Ball throwing Playing at the playground * I have deliberately not posted any group photos as some parents may be sensitive to it. I'm glad that we made the change over to this school. May Hunter continues to enjoy his pre-schooling years.

My cousin and I planned to go to the Istana for a play date, but when we reached, we nearly fainted when we saw the queue. We unanimously agreed that there is no way the two little kids are going to wait in the queue quietly, and hence, we decided to change location. Since we were around the area, we headed off to The Joy of Toys. We were surprised that the main area was already full (at 10plus in the morning) so we paid for the entry to the Riding Room.  We were worried that the two kids would be bored after a while, but no! They stayed through the whole hour. Pretty amazing for 3 years olds. Me holding on to Hunter because he tried to ride the zebra There are two sizes for these animal rides. Carrying the big stuffed toys around All in all, it was worth it for $8 an hour. Both parents could also enter, and there were no additional charges. For more information, you may wish to visit their website .   

Being parents, one area which we are very concerned about is the amount of Chinese Hunter is exposed to. I came from a dialect speaking family, and PL speaks mostly English at home too. So we hope to give Hunter a Mandarin speaking environment (much to the chagrin of many people) since we tend to mix some English vocabulary into our daily Mandarin conversation. Friends and neighbours recommended the Ihuman Chinese app to us, raving about its effectiveness. We tried out the trial version, and eventually paid a lifetime subscription for it after much deliberation. Payment First, I must state that the payment method is very efficient for apple users who can read Chinese, but not so much for non-Chinese since all the instructions are in Chinese. It is also relatively cheap as we are able to subscribe to a lifetime membership. If Hunter uses it consistently, we would reap ALOT of benefits since they teach up to 1300 words. (If Hunter learns a word a day, that's going to be about 3.5 yea...

At the last recent school closure, we brought Hunter to JB for a long weekend together with my parents. We took the KTMB train again and it was convenient and fuss free as the previous time . This would probably be the last time where Hunter gets to take the train for free. The rationale to choose Paradigm Mall was simple - a one stop centre for everyone. Since we didn't have our own transport, we chose an accommodation which is very near to the mall (2-5 mins walk) depending on which block you stay. The condo is called Platino and it's pretty new. Playground in the condo swimming pool This is how near the mall is. As usual, Hunter's priorities came first, which ended with us going to Utopia for both days of the trip. We signed up for the 3 entries package, which cost RM188. It comprises a free bumper ride and a welcome gift. One adult can also accompany him each time without additional fee. Socks are additional (RM 5 for a pair) because we didn't expect to go in so ear...

 It was a random fine day when we noticed that Hunter had a strawberry-shaped tongue when he stuck out his tongue at us. This was when he was about 14 months old.  Look at his tongue As a FTM, I was very concerned and immediately scheduled a visit to the polyclinic. After the doctor looked at his tongue, they gave a referral to NUH as well as to a speech therapist since Hunter has a speech delay. So, we went to the first session at CDU @JMC. The doctor was very good and she managed to engage Hunter during the first visit. There were a couple of forms to fill up and also a checklist to see if Hunter was exposed to excessive screen time. She also reminded us that young kids should not be watching too much TV/youtube. Subsequently, we went for another 3 visits, 2 speech therapy session and a development milestone assessment. Luckily, the results were normal and all pointed to his tongue tie for his speech delay. After much consideration, we decided to bite the bullet and brought ...

 Recently, PL and I were down with COVID (after 3 years of avoiding the virus).  Luckily it seemed like the variant of the virus that we caught is mild in nature and the main symptoms were coughing and feeling lethargic. What I felt helped us a lot were the following: - chicken essence This helped me a lot when I was feeling tired and suffering from sleep deprivation and it never failed me. Hence, I got PL and I to take it with me this time round and it works like magic. Of course, we coupled it with rest (a lot of it) - Fluimucil I got to know of this OTC medication when I went overseas with Yu Xi a long time ago. By dissolving the tablet into the water and drinking it, it helps to remove phlegm effortlessly instead of coughing the whole lungs out. It was truly a lifesaver when I was coughing out copious amount of phlegm every day. - Water We drank at least 2 liters of water each day, even when we don't feel like it. PL had a total loss of appetite when he was unwell but I wa...

 As a Westie, I love the Jurong Lake Gardens. It's a fantastic place to bring H on the weekends (if it doesn't rain). As we take public transport, we always end up starting from the same point and could not finish walking to the end of the gardens. (You will have to take the bus and get down 1-2 stops later to reach the other side of the gardens, which was what we did in the end.) Photos below are from various occasions as we are unable to cover all in one trip. Outing with the grandma Enjoying the gardens Resting after walking for a long while due to his short legs The futile attempt to shield him from the sun At the far end of the Gardens Too hot to sit on the swinging chairs Walking along the path First time at Clusia Cove, coaxing H to dip his feet into the water After 30 mins of coaxing We really enjoy Jurong Lake Gardens a lot, and if you are heading there, do remember to bring food and drinks along as it's quite hard to find them there. Tip: If you are heading to Clu...