Journey to the West

Western Australia that is. But this time is a solo trip. The good thing about travelling alone is that one can go anywhere, anytime they want without wasting time. Food is also not a problem because you decide what you eat.

Hearty breakfast in a cold weather. Must eat my fill to accomplish bigger things - SHOPPING.

Perth CBD is really.... ...like a CBD. Everything closes right after 530. Sometimes, even finding dinner is a problem. Who eats dinner before 530???!!

So all the good food have to eat before the sun goes down. Forget about night life in Perth. So grocery shopping is also a form of night-entertainment.

And all of these were done in a day. Yes. All that snacks to bring home!! After all the merry-making, it's back to real work for the next few days... ...

Moving on to another school

Dear Son,

This post serves as my letter of explanation to you as to why I have decided to put you through another tormentous round of new environment, new friends, new teachers next year.

It has seemed like we have been changing school every year. As much as we try to avoid, the previous and the current ones just didn't fit the bill. When you were 2, we wanted to put you in a playgroup so as to build your social skills and understand the concept that your life just didn't evolve around the 4 walls of Bishan Street 13.

Even at the mere age of 2, school was already competitive with the atrocious long waiting list. And so you only enjoyed playgroup at Brightstart Montesorri with Teacher May for a couple of months before you moved on to a proper pre-nursery at Thomson Church Kindy.

Life was pretty smooth-sailing and you enjoyed your 3 hours session in school with Teacher Patrick and 陈老师。And there, we witnessed our once introvert son performed on stage to the music of "Round the clock" on your pre-nursery graduation day. We cannot be more proud of you, son. But family obligations never quite meet your life expectations and so we were once more made to believe that putting you in a daycare center would be the optimal choice.

I do not wish to recall the 26 cold calls I dialled sounding like a fanatic mom with no home for my son. I also do not wish to recall the heart-wrenching moments witnessing your 1st week at school, wondering amidst your tears why does school last from 8am to 6pm. And after all the ordeal, you have moved on being a more confident, conversant and independant boy. Good on you boy!

We thought we could finally put our minds at ease and Jayden can nuture his growing years in Agape. Unfortunately, finding a good school is like striking lottery nowadays. In a span of 10 months, the nursery class has changed 6 teachers - yes both English and Mandarin teacher! *covers jaws dropping* Some re-cap of their special characteristics.

Teacher Leela - Started her disappearing acts once Jayden joined school. Would only come to school once or twice in a week.

张老师 - The goofy one. She looked like Abigail twin sister. Once, Jayden came home in his inverted underwear - when I meant inverted, one of the thigh area went into waist area. *gua gua gua*. Finally left because she said she missed 娘家。-_-


Then Teacher Amy - Hooray! Local teacher! But this high class teacher only work half day because she has 'other commitments' in the afternoon. Fine. We accomodate. Unfortunately, she couldn't tolerate the kids and left. Very high class lor.

陈老师 - Sounded like a definite Malaysian but insisted she was from China. During the MTP, she even said kids at these age shouldn't put so much stress on studying so Jayden not being able to lift the pencil is a small issue. Somebody!! Please tell her she should be a nanny not a teacher!

Finally with Teacher Elnie and 庞老师。They are still around. I have lost hope trying to interact with them.

We have tolerated not switching schools despite the lack of discipline in maintaining the quality of the teachers. From local teachers, it dwindled to hiring only Filipinos and PRCs. I have no adverse feelings against these two nationalities. After all PRCs do speak proper Mandarin. But the last straw came when the entire school became infested with Filipinos who couldn't even convey proper messages to me when my son got hurt in school. I was further appalled to see Jayden doned in another classmate's uniform. Didn't the Filipino teacher notice the names on the name-tag?!? My son is not Rendall Seah! *smacks forehead*

Anyway, enough of grieving. My dear son, I hope you understand why Mommy and Daddy is putting you to another school. We're not sure if it will be better because we're not admitting that we're always right and know what's best for you. So we hope you have an enjoyable birthday celebration at Agape before you move on to your new environment at Elfa and make more friends.

Remember, Mommy and Daddy will only want the best for you. Keep smiling.

What's going on with the Yips these days?

Well, I haven't got much to say.

The man in the house is half the time out on weekends working and I cannot bring myself to get out of the house in the sweltering heat. I am almost ashamed to confess that the son and I spent most of the time doing unproductive stuff at home too.

On some days, we spent building sandcastles - not in the air but literally. The son has a penchant for getting himself muddy and wet and we reckoned that it's healthier to do some outdoor activity before he becomes a hermit and hides himself behind an iPad.

Just the other day, I finally embraced the courage to hand-make some cards together with the son for his teachers day. I was under the impression that he only had 2 teachers to prepare until he list out the rest of them he knew from playgroup to K2 that he insisted to give pressies to. *hears wallet crying*

So after holding his hand to write 10 teachers day cards, I am almost certain that next year it would be less labourious that I just print out labels instead. Thank you technology!!!

And lastly, in return of appreciation, the teachers decided to hold a surprise tea party inviting the parents to watch their precious one perform a surprise act. When I meant surprise, I was supposed to be there with an astounded-jaws drop-overwhelmed look when you watch your kid do his trick.

Well, I wasn't because Jayden got too excited and practiced it in front of me every night. Nonetheless, it was nice to see the son being comfortable on stage and enjoying himself. :)

And that pretty much summed up our lackluster lives these days. Don't you think we need a vacation soon?!?

83 days

Is the number of days we have to countdown to our next holiday... ...

It has become almost like a yearly ritual to celebrate the son's birthday at Club Med.

The conversation with the son goes like this.

Me: "We're going to Phuket this year!" *excited*

J: "Why? I want to stay at home!"

Me: "Zzzzzzzz"

J: "Mommy, there got french fries and milk shake?"

Me: "Yes."

J: "Ok I go!"

Me: "!!!!!!"

I just can't believe it's taking this long to get to that day.

In the pink

And so another year older has gone for me. I cannot be more than grateful than to have lived another year unscatched, healthier and happier.

I did say I wanted a low profile celebration this year. But this group of friends had never failed, rain or shine, to keep this day free just for me. And this year was another surprise again. They arranged to go to a long lost poly friend's restaurant. Four of us used to hang out together, after lectures, skipping lunch to go to one of their houses for a quick nap and long coffee chats at Starbucks after school. Those were the days... ...

Definitely felt like a superstar that night!

Superb Japanese fushion food! I am salivating as we speak!

Thanks my dear friends for having me in your thoughts as always! Of course, not just the gifts but all the yummy treats as well! I can certainly feel the tightness in my pants now.

Ok, after all the appreciation, it's time to show off. Please bear with me. Bleah.

Gift no. 1: Goyard St Louis GM
Gift no. 2: Classic Chanel logo necklace in Swakorski crystals

Got the hub to get the Goyard St Louis when he was in London. Super happy as we didn't had the time to go to the boutique in Paris. :D
Yes, another bag. *yawn* But bags of different shapes and sizes, patterns and colors, suits for different occasions. So how will one complain about having an extra accessory right? :D

Gift no. 3: Loewe Amazona boston bag in blue slate color

Ok. This was never part of the gift plan. But I'm sure people will understand love at first sight. *goes on digressing and indulging* After having a few shoulder bags, I felt the need to get a hand carry boston bag. And this color, according to the SA is a limited edition shade.

That was it. She said the magic word - LIMITED EDITION. Just take my credit card!!!

Gift no. 4: Gucci zip-around wallet

This was part of the scheme. But after I got Loewe, it was slightly forgotten until I saw this. Similiar shade with my Loewe !! How to miss right! *sigh*

Gift no. 5: Tory Burch belt

This was an impulse buy. I have never own a belt for more than $30. But but but the material was soft, the design was pretty and it was on sale, blah blah blah.

Alright.

So after all the impulsive self indulgent and getting the limelight, it is also time to reflect.

2010 was a rather traumatic year for me.

I contemplated whether or not to share my life on a public blog. But I thought it served as a good reminder as well and not to take things for granted.

I discovered something and went to do the necessary tests. Thankfully, the results came back negative but the doctor could not pin down the cause of it. It was a constant nightmare having to wonder what was wrong and if the diagnosis was really benign.

After almost what felt like a year, I took up the courage to seek a 2nd opinion and decided to get rid of it from my system. The process was swift but excrutiating. I really hope that is the last of it.

So now, being in the pink of health is my life's priority. I cannot be more thankful that I'm still here receiving love from people who cares about me.

On another note, work has become extremely up my neck. They say with greater power comes greater responsibilities. I got my promotion and a handsome remuneration package. Now I just need the time to spend it. :p

Summer vacation

After pinning months and months for our Europe trip, it was well over and done. That was 2 months ago.

Our hearts started to itch.

Where shall we go again?

Having missed Hong Kong last year due to Dylan's new job, I decided that I have to do a good tour shopping around the land of 买东西，吃东西 .

This time I did my homework. And planned a full itinerary for our 5 days. We will leave no stones unturned, no streets unwalked.

We took Cathay Pacific on the red-eye flight. Reached HK at an unearthly hour. And since we couldn't check in to our boutique hotel yet, we made full use of the time for a day trip to Macau.

30 bucks for one-way per pax for the jetboat to Macau! Dylan and I were still cajoling each other to bet $120 on the table to recoup our transport losses.

First stop. Our favourite restaurant in Venetian. They serve one of the best honey char siew that melts in your mouth. Even better than Yung Kee I must say.

If you come to Macau, it is a sin to go back not getting their pastries and snacks. They have quite a few popular brands but we both personally like Koi Kei. I cannot imagine having to spend 100+ on snacks to bring home. I even lamented to Dylan that we should have brought a trolley bag along.

Other than eating and shopping, one must take photos to look like tourists. Having been to Macau before, we decided to forgo visiting the rest of the attractions due to tight schedule.

But it didn't long for us to be back to eating again. We ended the first day with a bagful of Macau snacks, probably 1kg heavier and 100% stomach satisfcation! :D

Despite the hotel room rate included breakfast, we decided to give it a miss as the spread was really mediocre. We were very thankful there was an awesome breakfast place just downstairs our hotel. I had toast, eggs and milo dinosaur almost daily!

And there begins our shopping journey. We went to Space Warehouse, Horizon Plaza at Ap Lai Chau. Decided to be adventurous and commuted by bus. So morning was spent shopping at factory outlets, come afternoon, it's back to the luxury streets.

We stumbled on this nice ramen restaurant at IFC mall called Wakayama. And me posing with my 1st birthday gift from Dylan - St Louis Goyard all the way from London. *beams*

Since being in HK, one must know how to live the yum cha life. So how can one miss not having dim sum at Maxim Palace? Surprisingly, other than the egg yolk custurd bun, the rest of the items wasn't really sensational.

This is where I found my 2nd love... ...

And here I am again, posing with my birthday gift I got for myself. Hehe. I was telling Dylan how I didn't own a hand-carry boston bag and how ESSENTIAL it was for different functions, waving my arms in excitment while I explained to him the context of my purchase. I don't think he ever understood a single word.

So if you can't talk sense to the man, you talk to his stomach... ...

This place opens till 1am daily! It serves a myriad of food and desserts and pretty affordable prices.

As you can see it, I am not proud of my impulsive purchases. But then again, a holiday is a time where you buy some happiness back with you right? RIGHT? :P We brought 2 large luggages along and we were still short of space! I am also secretly appalled by the husband's sudden vanity. He bought 2 pairs of shoes! And I didn't even get one!

At first, I thought 5 days were too much to spent in HK. I was SO WRONG. We only covered the main areas of Hong Kong Island. We did not even venture to Kowloon.

So with that very valid reason, I am sure we will be back in HK again soon!

His first field trip

It was meant to be a solo trip. I wanted to see if the son could handle an excursion on his own. Yep. It was a hard pill to swallow. My boy has grown up. But a mommy suggested that I go for the first time t get to know his friends better as well.

It was really amusing watch the kids mingle together. When we arrived, the kids were pinching their noses and screaming in unison "Ewww...so smelly!" I only had a thought in my head "How to go army like that?" -_-

I had a shock when I first saw his classmates. Are they really 4 years old?! All of them are so tall!

See? Shortest in the class. *gua gua gua*

Theme of the field trip was Cats Discovery. So we went to this amphitheatre that housed the skins of all kinds of cats - Jaguar, Cheetah, Leopard, Tiger, Lion. And my, I couldn't even tell the difference!

At the end of the day, it wasn't an easy task being a parent volunteer. The weather was atrocious, the kids were running all over the place. You had to make sure your own kid doesn't 'assault' anyone. I even witnessed a parent trying to feed his kid snacks along the way and during class on condition that he sat still. In the end, the rest of the kids were distracted and wanted a share of it. How annoying right!

Overall, it was still a good field trip with the son. I'm sure next time, the boy is ready to go out on his own without his Mommy albeit I'm still not sure if I'm ready to let his hand go.