Sunway Belfield | Lalaport | Times Square | Pavilion Bukit Jalil | Little Pirates Playland | Game On Sports Hub | Eight Restaurant | Xenri Japanese Restaurant

Brayden 8Y0M27D

Bevlynn 3Y9M22D

Here we go again. A week-long school holiday. This time we were spending it in KL. 

We went to Sunway Belfield for a swim. The view was amazing, the swimming pool overlooked the world's second tallest building. It was right in the center view. The jacuzzi and the children pool was also nearby. We went for a day swim and a night swim. Both had very breath-taking view. The lights were changing colours and at one short moment it flickered like the lights on Paris Eiffel Tower.'

The children loved swimming in the pool. Bev who was afraid of the water asked me to carry her around the pool. Bray was swimming around and played "find the stone underwater". It was a nice celebration for us. We had the whole place to ourselves, it felt very private. 

We spend a day at Lalaport. It was so near to Hubs old home. We took some nice photos with the historical entrance. We could recall how dark and eerie the front entrance used to be, when we walked from Hang Tuah to Times Square. There were hardly any lights from the street lamp and they used to say the place was haunted. But looking at how vibrant it is now, it is so different from before. 

We had dinner at Times Square, because I had to drop by at Low Yat to have my phone checked. Dinner at Times Square; and we told the children about our old times. 

We went to Pavilion 2 Bukit Jalil. 

First day, we played hopscotch. Brayden played it for the first time, properly with coins. He was so competitive and wanted to win all the time. Bev hopped in too. We had good laughs and so much fun. We then brought the children to Little Pirates Playland. It is one of the biggest playarea which we had brought the children to (16000 sq ft). It was a little crowded because of the public holiday. MH and children were there to join us. The children had so much fun. We went for dinner at Nong Geng Ji Hunan Cuisine to celebrate YY's birthday! 

Second day, we went to Game On Sports Hub. Purchasing the tickets were a hassle and not so easy online. But once we got inside, we enjoyed ourselves. There were karaoke room, roller blading, big ball bouncer, snooker, giant jenga, carrom darts, ball games, board games and Switch games. Our favourite was playing the Mario Party Jamboree. Bev was very cute when she missed all the cues; while Bray was very serious to hit every single beat correctly. At night, we had the whole place to ourselves as though we had the whole place booked. There were no one around, probably because the next day was still a school day. The place was closed at 10pm, we had our money's worth, and played until 9.30pm. 

For young children, the Little Pirates Playland is fun; however for teenagers and families, the Game On Sports Hub is a good family bonding place. 

We took the train several times. We had dinner at 八大八小 The Eight Restaurant. It looked like a simple Hongkong cafe but the food was good. The luncheon meat bun and the noodles were the children's favourite. 

On Saturday, we had lunch with HP family at Xenri Japanese Restaurant. The food was superb. Children loved the indoor koi pond, it was a shallow pond with white smoke coming out. It looked peaceful and relaxing; except for the children's excitement that broke all the silence.

We went for a swim at MH's home. Hub's close friends were there on last minute invite. It was very nice to meet them all again. The number of children was almost as many of the adults there. 

It was a good long week. 

Goyang Korea | Korean food Kkomakbibimbap

Brayden 8Y0M21D

Bevlynn 3Y9M15D

It was a week long trip to S.Korea for work. I took a midnight flight and arrived very early in the morning. The weather was chilly and nice. I was craving for some hot spicy tofu soup (sundubu jjigae). 

After arriving at the hotel Kintex by K-Tree, I walked over the Hyundai shopping mall and One Mount for lunch. There was a waterpark in the mall. I was wondering who would enjoy a waterpark in such a cold weather. I started to miss my two little ones. 

Every day after the exhibition, I will walk to nearby neighbourhood and explore some of the hidden restaurants. I had army stew, cold noodle, clam soup, pancakes and one of my new found favourite cockle bibimbap (Kkomakbibimbap). I am not a usual fan of cockles, but this is different. It tastes chewy, spicy and sweet. I had confused them for clams until a friend highlighted that they weren't. 

I didn't manage to go out often at night for shopping. The weather was around ~4 degC, I didn't want to get myself sick because I still have to travel to KL the next week. I mostly stayed in to finish some tasks and enjoyed a good face & foot mask. I bought a whole lot of daily vitamins too.

On one of the nights, Korean friends invited me for a cup of coffee while we chatted about life. One of the friends had family in the US and he'd been working hard to provide for his family from Korea. This is like a story from a Korean drama; a father sacrificed for his family. I am very thankful I always had my family with me all the time. 

I love to take a stroll in the evening ; saw some cute children in thick clothes. 

On the last day, I had a chance to walk around the Goyang neighbourhood. The weather started to warm up and the sun was bright. I managed to grab some last minute facial products. 

At the airport, I loved shopping in Terminal 2 compared to Terminal 1 of Incheon Airport. There seems to be countless of shops. I bought quite a lot (of Lactofit and Masks) and almost couldn't fit into 2 bags. 

It was a good trip. 

Story of Eva

Brayden 8Y0M15D

Bevlynn 3Y9M11D

Bro Gene stayed in Singapore for a few days. He was applying for visa to go to Taiwan to work. 

There are several things happening concurrently this week; Eva's (my current helper) work permit was not allowed to be renewed by Ministry of Manpower, I needed to work on selecting the interior design for my mini project in KL, and I am travelling to S.Korea for work this week. On top of that, I was super busy at work from the piled up work during my off-days. I had 2 weeks to clear all the details and have everything sort out. 

I was overly overwhelmed in these few days. I took small breaths and kept telling myself "one small step forward at a time". However, occasionally I lose my head and cried, especially feeling sad and do not know how to break the news to Eva yet. Also, I felt Hubs has not supported me enough through all these happenings and transitions. Of course, he was busy too working over the weekends. 

This week, I went through several profiles for a new helper. Unlike my first time hiring, I only went through less than 10 profiles. In 2021, I went through 200+ profiles before selecting THE ONE. Also this time, I am going for a not very experience helper. I am worried, she might not adapt to the new environment. But I guess I am willing to give her a try and opportunity. I can see from the interview that she was sincere and just trying hard to provide for her family. I remember the time I first started out at interviews and how I had wished for a company to give me an opportunity. 

I was also emotional whenever I mentioned of Eva and her story. She's been a big help during my toughest time (starting from 2021 when Covid lockdown was still a common thing, I gave birthed to Bevlynn and Eva joined me 2 weeks after) She was there for me to care for the children when Hubs had to return to KL for a month for Mom-In-Law's funeral. Whenever I travel for work, I am reassured my children were in good hands. Because of her, Hubs and I had some "we" time without the children. She was such a good help. 

But on her second year working with me, she made a mistake. She borrowed money from loan shark who was whatsapp-ing her randomly. She was baited. For ~sgd500, she had even paid back the principal amount loaned (albeit slightly late by 2 weeks or so), the interest had gone up so much and she could not pay back. I only found out when the loan shark started harassing her. 

She did not loaned from me because she said I was too nice to her (I had loaned her several times prior, so she was embarrassed to ask from me). The money she loaned was also to help her ailing family member. She had a tough life. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and this is one example of it. 

I guess after this, she would not have the opportunity to come here to work again. This made me really sad because for such a small amount, a mistake was made, and there's no turning back for her. I don't think she realised the severity of her actions back then that would affect her future. 

I still wish her the best in everything life has to offer. T.T

Brayden Birthday | Bevlynn Morning Crying Episodes | Music Revolution

Brayden 8Y0M6D
Bevlynn 3Y9M2D

On Bray's 8th Birthday, I came home early wanting to celebrate his birthday with a cake. But I started feeling unwell, feverish and vomited immediately right after dinner. Hub was sick too. We could only sing a birthday song for him. We suspected it was stomach flu. More than 10 of us caught it from last weekend. 

Gene is staying with us for a week. He was intending to change to another company. All went well and he's leaving for Taiwan in 2 more weeks. Such a rush but it was expected.

Bev had been crying every morning. She did not want to go to school. She'd held onto me tight and said "I love you mama, can you please no go work?" "Please come fetch me early". I love you Baby but work is tough. I've been having so much to juggle and had so little time. On another day, she said "I want to go gor gor's school" and plead with us to bring her out to breakfast. She loves to break the eggs during breakfast. 

Brayden said he is not like that at all. But I recalled, the same drama coming from him for more than 2 years when he went to childcare. The separation anxiety was the same. 

We were talking about music revolution in the past and got reminded of how we played with cassettes (reading the lyrics of the small prints on a piece of paper that came in a plastic see-through box), whenever we love a song - we'll "rewind" it using a pencil. Or push it in the cassette player in the opposite direction for one song and turn it again back. I always played the Westlife, Backstreet Boys, Nsync, Spice Girls, 911, M2M. Those were quite popular boy and girl bands. 

We also had CD's and DVD's with the Walkman. That's when everything got easier. Then there was Ipod. The first one that Hub got for me from his first few salary in Singapore. It was an apple green one. I loved to play my songs on it while I was at university. 

After that, came Youtube and Spotify. Everything got so much more convenient.