Temple | Jurong Lake Garden | Valentine's Day

Brayden 7Y11M22D

Bevlynn 3Y8M15D

We went to the Sattha Puchaniyaram Buddhist Temple on Sunday. Coincidently, it was the birthday of the young month there, so they had arranged a buffet to celebrate. 

We took a drone to try out at an open badminton court; which Bray claimed from his speech academy. It crashed multiple times, it's not so easy because it flew by very quickly (not in the direction you want). 

We went to the Jurong Lake Garden in the afternoon. But it was quite late. We took the bus from our home and arrived at the small entrance at the Jurong Town Hall Road. We had to walk pass the big field, Japanese Garden before we arrived to the Play Pavilion for the children. 

The children find it hard to walk on their slippers; with the long grass. It was itchy but fun. We walked passed the Eden Cafe and Canopy Restaurant in the Japanese Garden. This is the first time we came to Japanese Garden after the revamped. It was beautiful and picturesque, when we walked passed the pagoda, a large lily pond, bridge and latterns hanging at the entrance (I wonder if it is because of CNY). It was almost close to sunset, the strong wind had brought together with it some dark clouds. We were starting to feel some drizzle as soon as we arrived the play area. The children wanted to continue playing, it was empty with no children for the first time. We told them to stay beneath the canopy to avoid the raindrops. 

After a while, when the night set in, the children showered at the water tap near the toilet. We walked over to Fusion Spoon for dinner. The path was pitch black. My thoughts "What if the monitor lizard we saw the other day walked passed us?" we quickly walked with just a spotlight from our phone. 

After dinner, we played with our shadows and the children laughed so much. We found an unwanted styrofoam airplane in the pool and brought it home. 

On 15th day of CNY, we wanted to buy some tong yuan but it was not available in the store. So we ate it the next day instead. 

On Valentine's Day, I had a date with Hub at Westgate for lunch. I was late because my meeting at work lasted longer than it should be. I told Hub to wait at Coffee Smith. As I arrived, huffing and puffing from the running, I saw him at a corner with a bouquet of beautiful pink roses. He had not bought me flowers for ages.... We giggled as we could imagine him walking about with the flowers with strangers' eyes looking at him. I brought the flowers back to office, I loved it. It accompanied me as I rushed my work until late night by myself in the office. I felt very inspired, motivated - knowing someone is always there. 

To Hub: 

You are my love, my safety net. I don't know how I got so lucky with you. When times are tough and challenging, when I felt like giving up (everything), you stand by me. With all my imperfections, you accept me for who I am. My heart still beats quickly for you, like a young lover with a crush, even after all these years. (It's true) I love it most when we giggle and laugh at most random things. And when we are holding hands, walking behind our children (to their school or playground every day) watching them grow, as we grow old together. It felt like we are leaving a trail behind with lots of memories; the ones we will look back to one day and make us giggle with our wrinkly faces. Love you Bey💕

Penang Miao Hui - Temple Festival

Brayden 7Y11M5D

Bevlynn 3Y7M29D

Day 4 CNY, we went to Paragon Gurney to buy some nice dresses from Bebe Butterfly for Bro Max's upcoming wedding. The front overlooking the beach is gone, now there is a park. After the children had some Pokemon catching with bro Max, we headed to the city for the Penang Miao Hui (Penang Temple Festival). 

It was packed with people. The first spot we came to had a taichi performance. One of the boothes gave away paper caps in the shape of a dragon or snake for the children. Many people are dressed in beautiful colourful traditional clothes. Another stage has an opera singing performance. We went into several temples for the clans. There were antiques on display. There were young story-tellers sharing about stories from the past. There was one which I found fascinating in particular. In the past, when the folks from the town did not have enough money, they would go to the pawn shop "kedai pajak" to trade off their gold or personal belongings of value for some cash. Also, there is another practice, when the children were naughty, the parents would "trade" their children at the pawn shop for RM1. Alternatively, the parents would also give their children as "godchildren" to Gods. This they believe would turn the children good. I remember when Bro Gene was young and naughty, my mother did bring him to the temple to be a "godchild".

Hub was carrying Bevlynn on his shoulders, while Max was piggy-backing Brayden. I love it when they are at this age when they are following us in every moment. 

Another lane had all the CNY chops for completing tasks related to CNY. We continued for awhile more and there were Lion Dance performance and Violin performance. 

There is another lane which is displaying all the different instruments from different cultures and races; Malaysia, Indian. We played the galeman with the Chinese song "tian mi mi". It was fun. It definitely felt different from the time we came many many years ago. 

As soon as we were about to leave the place, Bevlynn started nodding off. She's too tired but kept awake for the excitement. 

Due to traffic, we were late for a dinner with family at Sungai Nibong. 

On the day we were leaving, Bro Max shared that he will be moving out from the family home after his wedding. Mom was upset. I can understand how a Mom would feel when her children decided to leave, but I am happy for my brother for his big step forward in life. Wishing him all the happiness! He will be registered a day after Hub's birthday.   

Happy Birthday Hub!

Eve, Day 1-3 CNY | Super Crab Best Seafood Restaurant | Flame Restaurant | CNY Georgian Reunion

Brayden 7Y11M5D

Bevlynn 3Y7M29D

This year CNY is celebrated in Penang. We had bought the tickets 1 year before. FIL came along on this trip. 

First, we visited the Penang Snake Temple. There are more tourists visiting because of the Snake Year. We went to the garden filled with green poisonous snakes on the trees, all staying still in their position on the branches. We took a family photo with the big python. 

On CNY eve, Brother-In-Law touched down at Penang too. We visited Uncle Chai's house at Paya Terubong. As usual, we had the steamboat and prayers for Uncle Chai and ancestors. We played cards with my Uncles and Aunties. The children, especially Brayden was excited with the card games. 

We had booked a reunion dinner at Super Crab Best Seafood Restaurant. We ordered the 9-course meal with crab yee sang, chilli crab and lobsters. The location is about 5 minutes drive away from our house. After dinner, we tucked the children in early. 

10 minutes before the clock strike 12 am, the loud bang and crackling sounds had started. Fireworks after fireworks started to lit the dark night sky. Bevlynn was awaken by the sound and she cried. But after awhile, all of us ran outside to get close-up view of the fireworks from the neighbours' houses and also played some at our home. The last fireworks ended around 12:40 am. That's how Penangite starts the celebration of CNY. 

Day 1-2 CNY, we have the families coming over to my home. We cooked some traditional CNY meals; mengkuang char, mee suah, seafood, abalone broccoli, butter prawns, fish; and the family secret recipe of "chim chor" - prawn meat fried dumpling. 

Mom could not cook because she accidentally cut her hand while preparing. Good thing, the rest of the family stepped in; Uncle Poh, 大姑 and Jaq all helped with the cooking.

At night, Mom wanted to go to Kek Lok Si. Max drove us there. It was really jam and Bev did not have her shoes with her. Bray did not bring along and gave me the "I don't know" how-this-happen-look. Max drove to Sunshine Farlim and bought new shoes for Bev. Before he arrived with the new shoes, we were walking about the base of Kek Lok Si, the old alley with the shops selling clothes. We explored the stairs and it led us to some old wooden houses. It felt like a memory from Salzburg (with the stairs) + Taiwan (of the houses). I was carrying Bev on my back, she is heavy but I am thinking to myself how much longer can I carry her like this. I loved it. 

We rested at Heh Cafe for cakes, pasta and drinks. They have a nice view of the Kek Lok Si as the lights slowly turned on as the sun started to set. Their cakes were a-ma-zing~~~ Blueberry cheese cake and chocolate cake were my top favourite.  

Day 3 CNY, we gathered at 小姑 home. They cooked and added a few more family dishes; chinese sausage rice and asam prawn. 

HuiYing and I visited SL's home. I also dropped by at HY's house uninvited; had a good chat with uncle and aunty. I've always dropped by whenever I was at Dad's office, 1 minutes walk away. Such lovely families and homes.

Every year 3rd day CNY, we have a Georgian reunion dinner. It has been awhile since I came back for this night. We gathered at Flame Restaurant at Air Itam (on the roof of DeView Hotel). It was a nice dinner location overlooking Kek Lok Si - although a little jam going in during CNY. With glass view of the surrounding, the night view of Air Itam was different. I had stayed more than 15 years at Air Itam but I never got this view before; a nice local little town, mostly kampung vibe but lively. Definitely had a good rush of memories from the past when we go around the town for chores, to Dad's office, Sunshine Farlim for dim sum, night market, Kek Lok Si, climbling the hill behind us. 

The Flame Restaurant had a nice presentation for dinner. There were dry ice & fire presentation and band singing. After a good catch-up and laugh with the girls, we took some photos together with Kek Lok Si as the background. To end the nice dinner, there was a fireworks from the neighbourhood nearby. It was a good choice of location for CNY and worth the money for the food and night view of well-lit Kek Lok Si (trick is not to park at the hotel but slightly further away so that we saved time from the jam).

Bev's mini-temper | Salvation Army

Brayden 7Y10M26D

Bevlynn 3Y7M19D

Bev and Bray have been fighting quite a lot these days. After I raised my voice at her for being naughty, she'd suddenly disappear from the living room. We'd always find her in the same spot at the bedroom, quiet at one corner and "waiting" for someone to search for her. When hugged her and asked her what is wrong, her standard reply would be "because Mommy you angry at me, I am sad". 

One of the nights, she wanted me to sleep with her. I rested beside her but then she'd sing out long and laughed as though it was fun to make everyone listening to her sing. I'd told her a few times to go to bed, but she'd still wouldn't stop her fun. So I told her I'd go sleep with Bray instead. After I moved, she'd turned so silent. Then I heard a soft breath from her. I asked her if she's ok, no answer. Then I went to hugged her, immediately she let out a loud cry. She cried so hysterically. Oh my poor girl, she cried silently to herself on her bed. She was sad but wouldn't show it. 

I recalled I was like her when I was little. I'd always cry on my bed corner. My parents slept in the same room but I would always cry myself softly to sleep, without being found out. This happened so often whenever I was sad. I just do not want my parents to worry but it was my way of release. 

She is so much like me, emotionally. 

She's been very naughty. Yesterday at dinner in a restaurant, she'd almost kicked and toppled the table over me, there was hot soup. I had to scold and punish her there and then. She was made to stand at a corner beside the table to finish her food. She knew it was wrong. I'll just have to be a little patient with this little 3 year-old. 

Yesterday I was at Salvation Army to hunt for some unwanted treasures. I found a carved wood decoration and a mother of pearl box. For CNY, they were having 20% off additional for the pre-owned items. I'll come back for more. This reminds of the joy of hunting treasures with my Dad at the Salvation Army in Penang when we were little. We'd always find some little hidden treasures at a corner somewhere. It's good to know that when we spend in the shop it would be donated to the non-profit organization as well.  

Back to 2017 First Pregnancy Story

Brayden 7Y10M19D

Bevlynn 3Y7M12D

First week of the year has gone and past very quickly. We had to adapt to the new changes at work. It was a busy week. I have two other colleagues who will be expecting babies this year. 

I recalled about my pregnancy moments. Although there were sweet moments, there were also moments I realised that had been traumatic for me. 

During my first pregnancy, I was excited to find the two lines on the pregnancy kit. It was a good early start, no morning sickness, no aversion to food. All were good until the 2nd trimester. I had a small cyst detected and low laying placenta. The cyst was growing and growing. We were still staying at Clementi at that time. 

When we did the first trimester screening, the doctor advise us the baby could be borderline having Down Syndrome. I was nervous, what should I do? I decided to proceed with pregnancy, no matter what we will pull through. 

At 19 weeks, I found small patches of bleeding. It was a shock to me, I quickly texted the doctor but he was overseas for a conference. I called to be admitted into Thompson hospital asap. That night, the scans showed baby was having normal heartbeat, no distress. The bleeding stopped after another 30 mins. I had to stay in the hospital for 2 nights. There was nothing much that the doctor could do but to wait for the bleeding to stop on its own. The nurses were nice. I was worried, now not just for the baby but the cost of such emergency hospitalization is costing very high. It had come up to more S$2k on the bills just for the 2 nights. I have asked for home-stay hospitalization for 2 weeks. 

At 22 weeks, I felt the first baby hiccups after having meals. It was cute and funny. Now baby is also responding to his name and kicked me whenever I call. Gestational diabetes is under control. The low lying placenta is still the same, according to doctor, sometimes it would go up when the baby is growing, so let's wait and see.  

At 24 weeks, my tummy felt hardened, suddenly I felt a rush of blood running through my body and my heart was beating really fast. I almost blacked-out. After resting for half an hour, it went back to normal. 

At 27 weeks, I was shopping for groceries and while carrying 3 big bags, I started to break sweat and felt slight faint. I must have been quite hungry and the recent hot weather wasn't helping. At 28 weeks, it happened again. This time at Chinatown temple. Mom, Bro Max and Bro Gene were in Singapore. I suddenly felt strong tightness to my tummy and started to have difficulty breathing. I sat on the floor waiting for the faint feeling to go away. This is the time when I am not bothered by gazing onlookers. I just felt like vomiting and I want the dizziness to go away. It went away after resting for 15-20 mins. 

I could feel little butterflies under my belly. It is a cute ticklish feeling. I feel the strong maternal emotions flowing; I need to protect the little one. 

At 30 weeks, I was out at Suntech shopping with hubby. I felt a warm gush of liquid coming out. I told Hubs I might have peed on my pants involuntarily. We quickly walked to the nearest toilet to clean up. 

As I went in there, I realised - it wasn't pee. It was fresh RED blood. I was bleeding heavily, I started to panicked. I tried to half lay on the toilet bowl, hoping and praying that would stop the bleeding. There were more and more blood. I texted Hubs about it. I told him I would try to hold my position to stop the bleeding, after more than 15 minutes, it didn't stop. I started to panic. I texted my Doctor, he was overseas but he mentioned that it is ok. I just needed to lie down. Now the whole toilet was full of stains of blood on the floor and sides of the bowl. I heard voices of ladies queuing in the toilet, and they were saying, how come people in the cubicles are taking so long. I started to knock at the side cubicle and ask for help. But no response. I tried again, no response. I know someone was there as I heard her going in but they just ignored my call for help. I texted Hubs again, I told him to quickly go and buy the pads so that I can put it on and we can go home and I wanted to lay flat. It took him awhile because he couldn't get anyone to come into the toilet to pass me the pad. Could he not have barged in since it was an emergency? I was scared, felt powerless. 

We went home and I took a nap of 30 mins. When I woke and sat up, more blood came out........ Oh no, I cried and cried. This is surely not normal. There were bleeding of 4-5 pads. I decided to be admitted into emergency of KKH. I was put on bed rest in the hospital. The tummy was having slight contractions; they call it "Braxton Hicks". The hardening of the tummy came and went. It started at 2am and stabilized at 4am. I couldn't sleep much. During my stay, I met other mommies who are having various complications (some are alot worse) and stayed in the same ward. We made friends and comforted each other. It gave us strength to pull through. I was discharged after 6 days of monitoring. I was given hospitalization and bed rest again for another 3 weeks. 

On 36 weeks, the bleeding came again together with "Braxton Hicks" contractions. It was on and off for 3 days. I had been sent to the delivery room multiple times just in case if I went into delivery. Doctor cautioned that I could go into delivery anytime and I needed to be ready, I was given the steriod injection to strengthen the baby. The visiting doctor asked me why I did not confirm with more tests for Down Syndrome, there is a possibility. Oh my goodness, how this comment messed up my emotions. I was hoping baby can wait a little longer, but he just wanted to see the world sooner. We needed to go into emergency C-sec because the baby was in breach position due to the low lying placenta. 

When I was in C-sec surgery, I was given epidural to numb the body. When they put the cold block on my body, I could not feel anything. The surgery started very quickly. I felt pushing and heavy pressure on the tummy area, but no pain. Then after awhile, I heard a baby cry. But the doctor told me that they needed to send the baby to NICU for some checking and monitoring. I wanted to vomit, I felt cold when were were sent to the recovery ward. 

While I was in surgery, Hubs was waiting outside. There were only 2 person there waiting and there came an alarm and announcement of Code. Doctors rushed in into the delivery suite. Hubs was thinking could it be me. After a while, he got the good news that I had delivered. He's a father. 

He got to see his son at the NICU all hooked up in tubes and a tiny diaper. He's safe. 

I felt relieved. We named him Brayden.  

Happy New Year

Brayden 7Y10M8D

Bevlynn 3Y7M1D

First day of the year. Such a good start. We went for prayers in the morning. 

In the afternoon, Hubs got a Getgo to go Jurong Lake Gardens. The children brought their bicycle. We saw a large monitor lizard wandering about, it was so close to the children. As usual this Mommy (me) was screaming frantically for the children to be as far away as possible, but their curiosity was stronger and louder.  

Bev was excited to find some milllipedes on the way. We had some ice creams stacked between two thin biscuits. Then we head over to the sand playground. Yum, the peppermint choc chips was my favourite flavour. They wanted to dig and build sand castles. But the sand was too dry and soft. They played at the trampolin, climbing the structure and mini flying fox.

In the furthermost part of the playground - after passing a hanging bridge, there is a sand area with water pump and loads of water. There Bev loved to pump the water non-stop; working very hard to continously have water flow. While Bray was at the sand pit, there was also continous water flow, so he was able to play with the other children to build the sand castle. 

This is Father In Law FIL's first time going there. He loved how green and nice the scenery was. But it was a little tiring for him as he had to walk more than his usuals. 

After dark, we drove over to JB 101 Seafood for dinner. We ordered our favourite Bee Tai Bak soup and KL Hokkien Noodle. The sotong with cereal is also quite good. The children played at the small play area. The playground is a little worn out, heavily used by children. Bev was complaining and showing me how some of the toys are spoilt. Nevertheless, they still had fun. 

We had to sleep in early, there's school for the children the next day. 

Bev was a little emotional these days as she had changed from half-day care to full-day care. 

"Mommy, can I come home early?" "Mommy, can you please fetch me home and fetch me to school please?" Mommy asked why. "Because you are my best friend, right." 

Awww.... so sweet, how can I say no to this little innocent voice and face. 

Every time she thought about her school, she will have some tears building up in both her eyes and mouth pouting. But she still put up a stronger front and don't cry out hysterically. I see so much of me in her.... I used to be like that too when I was little.

Bray was happy to be back to school. He can have his daily favourite breakfast dumpling.

2025 Start

  New year Resolution

• Have Sharp Focus of Real Life Goals for our Family to achieve our retirement target goals.

• To enjoy more time with the children as they grow, 8 yr-old and 4 yr-old are important age to build their character

• Be part of Max's wedding
  

• Finish home renovation

• Take more good care of health

• Spend more time with Hubby

• Plan for holiday overseas

2024 Summary

2024 in a nutshell: 

• Bray started P1
• JB trip with Hubby and Brayden multiple times
• Brayden Birthday with USM friends children
• Brayden 1st Piano Recital
• Kuantan Trip visit relative - Club Med Cherating, Jurrasic Park
  
• 10th year anniversary photoshoot
  
• Reunion for USM friends in JB Uniique Haus and Legoland
  
• Join mid-autumn festival, neighbourhood clean up, christmas cheer by the BB community
• Change of role at work
• Bought new bicycles for the children
  
  
• Explored many new play spots for children :
  Singapore
  1. Jurong East Swimming Complex
  2. Jurong Lake Garden 
  3. KidsSTOP
  4. Changi Terminal 4 Arcade and Slide
  5. IKEA
  6. Neighbourhood festivals
  7. Timezone
  8. JEMS Roof Playground
  9. Bukit Batok >10 playgrounds
  10. Bukit Batok Swimming Complex
  11. Urban Farm
  12. Jewel Playground

        JB
        1. Legoland
        2. Southkey Midvalley 
        3. JBCC Komtar Kidz Republic Dinosaur

        Genting
        1. Outdoor Theme park
        2. Bouncy Castle

        Penang
        1. KidsVille Waterfront 
        2. Cocoon+ Bayan Lepas

        3. Queensbay Baby Shark 
        4. Kidland Prangin Mall
        5. Kids Adventureland Sunshine Central
        6. Penang Beach Carnival
        7. Chew Thean Yang Aquarium

• Visited different countries
  1. S.Korea
  2. Thailand
  3. Malaysia (Penang, KL, Cherating, Genting, JB, Terengganu)
  4. Philippines
  5. Germany (Gunzburg, Ulm)
  6. Indonesia Bintan

Now that I reflect back, it is no wonder I felt there's just so much to do, so little time. It had been a busy, full and productive year.