changi airport, going to check-in!




that's ian's new ultraman bicycle, nathan likes to hold the back of the bicycle all the time...don't know why.




didn't know my dad plants eggplant at the backyard, it's ready to harvest




our boys favourite moment! holding the steering wheel pretending to drive!!!




my home's garden, this is just a small part of it, we have a very beautiful garden, all the flowers are blooming too :D




this is something new to me, instead of the normal white and red version, this is a colorful 湯圓!!! i ate 3 bowls of this




1st day of cny, my whole family (absent: 2nd sister family)
from left: eldest sis family, my parents, my bro









my niece, jingci :D nathan is coughing and having runny nose, so i can only give him ice cream cone, he loves it.



ian is enjoying his ice cream :D









lion dance! the boys were fascinated by it.









this is early morning ok, the boys already all wet before we went out 拜年




cny goodies, the kids' all time favourite




ian's got bicycle, nathan got this...don't know what it calls...we've got one in singapore, so nathan enjoyed himself a lot with it.




what's this!!!?? mannnnnn!!! i absolutely love love love this dish...i grew up eating this okie, my old home used to have a mango tree at the backyard! always request for this whenever i go back!
it's mango (those not ripe and sourish) dipped with thick black sauce + cut chilli padi + sugar

uhmmmmm.....yummy!

you know...i've got one frustrated moment back home!

visit one of my mom's employee home during cny...and they cooked mutton.

just a quick recap, for those of you who didn't read my previous entry about cannot eat mutton during pregnancy...i don't know what dialect believe in this...generally most the chinese people believe that you can't eat mutton during pregnancy for fear that your kid/baby will hv fits!!! all because there's a word 'lamb' (in chinese term).

so knowing myself don't really care about this 'fits' thingy because there is no medical proven, but based on 老人家說的, i was about to take some...

then i saw at least 2 hands covering the mutton pot!!! stopping me from taking it! i was so so so mad ok! if that's the case, better don't eat lah!

lamb - fits
cow - mad cow disease
poultry - bird flu, 發雞瘟
vege - turn vegetable next time
egg - all exam results will get 0%

nevermind!!!

i'm back in singapore now! call me a rebel!!!
tonight!!! we shall go to my mom in law relative's place for dinner! have nasi briyani!!! and with lots of mutton in it!!!

i shall eat till my heart content tonight!!!

sorry, you can't cover the mutton pot now!!! too far away :P

happy cny!!!

came back from my hometown, tawau yesterday. glad to celebrate cny with my family! it's been a tiring trip for me, but my boys enjoyed themselves very much :D

we went back for a week only. the first 6 days, i was rather disappointed with the whole trip overall, coz though we're bk, i didn't get to sit down and talk to my family at all...all are so busy. parents busy with cny prep, bro just got attached so was out most of the time, eldest sis still needs to work and busy with her 4 kids....and needless to say, i myself, busy with the 2 monkeys and exhausted at the end of the day...no...by noon, i already 'bo lat' liao.

feeling as though i'm facing 'home' shock! in singapore, our home space is small enough for me to watch the boys without having to go too far...but not in my home town...my parents' house is huge, double storey, nathan loves the stairs...and he loves to walk up and down without holding the hand rail!!! mannnn, that really scare the hell out of me. all of sudden, i felt i can't handle my boys, though i don't have to worry about ian so much, but physically i'm drained out. i have plans to meet my old schoolmate in the afternoon, i simply couldn't do it...too tired.

so that's where jem's perception of having a maid becoming more possible and a must. my parents have 2 maids, they can cook very well, the home is like in a typhoon mess today, but sparkling clean the next day when you wake up. i can eat in peace during dinner because the maid helps to look after the boys, they wash and iron clothes for us...all the plus plus points you can think of...my parents' maid won jem's heart :)

i've got my wish granted when bk to hometown, ate all the must-eat food...ie.
- 板面 (ban mian), it's totally different from singapore version..i still prefer my hometown version
- 生肉面
- 焦低米粉
- 乾撈面
wish i have a bigger tummy or bottomless one, then i can eat many times in one morning or one day, coz i only managed to eat them once...before the shops closed for cny.

so i mentioned we're bk for a week, 1st 6 days was a bit disappointed due to no heart to heart talk to family yeah?
the last night of our stay, i got it finally...with my eldest sis and bro...3 of us...can't remember what time we started but we ended around 1 plus am...good time sharing, silly and serious and laughing. believe it or not, this is the FIRST TIME we do that. there are so many things happening in my family, simply listen to it whatever matter there is, i'm emotionally drained and helpless....all i can cling on is God's hope and at most is to pray. having some heart to heart chat with sibling is absolutely rare in my family too. that's why, when i see how close jem is to his family, nat's family and betty's family, it's an eye opening to me.

anyway, will post out some photos and more sharings :D

in my hometown now...back 3 days ago.

it's always been nice to go home to celebrate cny with family. my tummy still very full now...yap! it's 11pm, still feel full...been eating a lot ever since we touched down...

my boys enjoy themselves very much. my mom bought them new bicycles to cycle around the house...there are at least 6 bicycles at home...each grandchild has one...there are 6 of them here. i wish i can take this opportunity to rest a bit more at home, but i guess i have more work than last trips. first of all, i have 2 boys who can't sit still and ask me to cycle along with them too, ian getting fussier in food and he has not been eating well but junk, each meal is a challenge and lots of threats...still don't work :P. secondly, my parents' home are very big, it's hard to keep an eye on both boys when the house is so big and have many fragile items!!! one walking up the stairs, another running out of the house! running everywhere!!!...ian broke one big vase already :P anyway, poor jem normally has good rest in every tawau trip...used to wake up after 9am previously, but now...he gotta wake up at 8am latest, i have no choice but to get him help watching the boys.

i wonder how would that be like when all the siblings back for cny...my parents will have 10 grandchildren altogether :D, wohhoh!!! the whole house would be very happening. looking forward to that day to come!

this trip has made me realised i've changed quite a fair bit in my thinking...not gonna share in this entry.

will send out invitation to read my blog once i'm back to singapore okie. haven't got the time to compile name list yet. very tired...not in the mood too, haha!

take care! and happy chinese new year

it's confirmed...can't go wrong now...

is a boy. come come come, money lip lai!

had detailed scan today...(my mistake, it's not friday)...the first thing the radiologist said about my baby is "wah, he moves a lot"...she got quite a tough time trying to do the measurement...and the only easiest part is to find out the gender...our boy here proudly showing off his bro (that's what the radiologist said). i can feel his movement quite a lot now...still very small but first time experiencing his strongest kick this afternoon...i actually stoned for a while...i started to think i might have another stronger version of nathan.

i wonder....will this baby be another me...
my in laws said
ian's temperament more like jem - that means...gentle, ie..easier to manage
nathan's me - ......leave to you to figure out...but i still love my nathan no matter what people judge.
baby #3 - ???

still thinking of names...
jem likes the name "isaiah"

my in laws don't like...father in law said it sounds like "i say yeahhhhhhh"
then my mom in law's been singing with her hands lifted up "i say yeahhhh, you say yeahhhhhh, everybody say yeahhhhh". our ian found it so funny that he danced and laughed along...

joyce likes the name "ethan"
it flows with the 2 older bro names....ian, nathan, ethan...all 2 syllabus.
but we also know our friends kelvin and candy's firstborn son also named ethan too.

me? i thought of "jonathan". why? i don't know.

what else? we once brainstorm names like 'julian, gabriel, eli, aidan, dean.....etc...can't remember liao...then slowly all crossed out...

still thinking...

nothing much to share today...but definitely want to show you what my grand in laws cooked for dinner...i had 2 big bowls of this...

hainanese beef noodle soup


superb!

of course, if i have the luxury of standing there without interrupted by my boys, i would definitely want to learn how to cook it. both my boys ate quite a lot too. anyway, cannot always blame my boys yeah...haha. but i hope they will cook this again soon...

though our flat is still for sale...i've started to get some reno ideas, slowly and bit by bit...just in case the day has come...
collecting pictures, jotting down what are the must-have things to do in my new home, what not to have...quite fun.

not sure whether we'll get an interior designers (id), but i try to gather some recommended ones just in case we need one. came across this singapore forum called 'renotalk', was info loaded in the first few days, especially when they share about their horrible experiences and great ones with id or contractors. decided not to read them after that...feel too much for me to take note. jem is the steady one...all he said is "just ask friends to recommend".

i bought 2 kitchen related magazines...one is an aussie version, another is malaysia/singapore version...the aussie one makes me drool...can only get their color combination ideas, the rest of it can only fulfill in my dream...ngiao! all are big kitchens, so beautiful and nice. some kitchen sizes are as big as my 2 bedrooms combined altogether...i bet this people clean kitchen till 'siao'. most of them have the luxury of having this thing called 'kitchen island', i wish to have that too...hehe. i guess unless you stay in those old hdb type which always come with big kitchen space or a landed property...the kitchen space in current new hdb are very small...like mine. anyway, my new kitchen will be light color!

we'll have our 1st viewer tomorrow...yaaaay!!! i already started to hope that God will psycho the 1st viewer, to fall in love with our home straight away that he/she offers to buy our home there and then...wohoh!!! case closed! just talk only...only God knows the perfect timing.

father in law brought back some leaflets today...you know...those property agent leaflets?
this particular agent is very confident is his statement, but i guess that probably captures those desperate sellers...like....me :P but i won't call lah, jem will stop me...

3 months already, still no buyers?
Then you need to call
Miracle Bernie
(not real name, sorry ah, bernie, borrow your name)

haha, mine not 3 months yet...but feeling a little desperate...not because i can't wait to move near in laws...but more of...our property value may drop more few months down the road.
before the financial crisis, people tend to top up at least 10k above their property valuation. now? you can see almost in every ads, they either sell at value, or ask for low cash, and some even sell below valuation, as much as 25k...then can still can negotiate somemore if the seller is desperate enough to sell.

*yawn*

talk again...nite.

hi all,

i may start to make my blog a little more private...which means only those i invited can read my blog...which also means you may need to key in your username and password in order to read my blog. for those of you who read mine but didn't receive invitation, you may email me @ yeefw@hotmail.com

i might be too open to my feeling and other information...so...and when talking about my kids and family, i may expose them to unnecessary danger...to ppl i don't know who read my blog.

might start sending out invitation next week.

cheers

sorry mates, been wanting to update my blog but...either too many things to share and no chance to do it or simply...don't want to talk about it...anyways...

the 2 small boys and 1 big boy are sleeping...i can use the comp all by myself now.

a bit at a time okie...topics shall be
1) ian's first week of school,
2) house hunting + personal
3) don't know, will find out as i update

ian first school day
started his school last week...parents are allowed to go in the assembly hall and joined the class in first 2 days...i attended his 1st day and ponteng 2nd day...got reason lah, but can't remember why. 1st day of course ok, i was around...he warmed up pretty fast in class...first activity in class is playing toys, ice broke very easily, followed by toilet time, then makan porridge then toilet time again...
when comes to quite academic stuff, he didn't quite participate liao...all the kids sat on the floor listening to their teacher talking, he sat on a chair behind where all the parents sat observing..story telling, singing, dancing...before i knew it, he has moved to the back of the class...sitting quietly. teachers left him alone as it's only 1st week...

anywayz, 2nd week...parents are not allowed to send kids to assembly hall anymore but to leave them at the 'sidegate' where many teachers take turn to either bring in or carry kids to the assembly hall...this week is an emotional week...a lot of kids crying. ian refuse to let me go when teacher was about to take him away, saw his about to cry look and teary eyes...very heart pain...
i guess once they sit together with other kids in the assembly hall, they'll be alright...left with parents who are not so alright by then....still standing at the sidegate, trying hard to see whether their kid is alright...i'm just one of them. trying hard to see how is he, can't see but still standing there.

i hope he adapts to his new environment soon...

house hunting
by now, we've been viewing quite a lot of units around my in laws area...just my in law's block alone, have 4 sellers liao. whenever i see newspaper, the first thing i turn to is the property section, to find out any new listing...visited and got all the records about each flat, all the agent numbers...etc...all info are at my fingertips. yap! that area still worth at least half a million...despite financial crisis. the difference is many sellers go for low cash or sell at value nowadays...which is good but still half a million for a hdb flat.

we knew how much our flat valued now, just got it 2 days ago. now is the selling action...which i said in my last entry...it takes God's intervention to have our flat sell off....as our units response are very poor...we have no viewer so far.

then here comes the xxx (sorry, i don't know how to describe my feeling) part...of which jem brought up to me 2-3 days ago.
private property value is down, and since we're willing to spend at least half a million on a hdb...why not consider all staying under one roof on a private property...money well invested...

he's not pressurizing me, just something to think about, and if i disagree, we can always go ahead with our original plan...

would you rather invest your money on an abt 30 year old hdb which only give you ownership of 99 years, and now left abt 70 years, or 999 years on a private property??? (not that i care how long, coz i would stay with Jesus eternally by then, anyway...what am i talking about...).

have i not thought about this before? of course!!! i thought about many many things...i can think many things in advance, just that many of them i hate to face it.
i don't wish to bring it up coz i don't want, but still brought up somehow....

again, let me tell all of you once again.
nothing wrong with them. all are wonderful, the greatest, nicest people i ever met in my life...am absolutely blessed.
it's only that they're very unfortunate to meet not so nice, not so grateful, not respectful person like me.

ALL! everybody in the family WISH to stay under one roof...it's natural for them to think that way...

except me.

oh yeah, quite close with God ever since then too, coz i really pour out my thoughts (none is nice) to Him...begging Him to change my heart!!! be like them.
how nice if He simply change my heart, then i can be a wise wife, just follow with the best solution even though i may not agree with it but absolutely easy going, a nice daughter in law, all live together happily ever after yeah! wouldn't be wonderful?!

alright, talking about other topic now.
this friday...i shall have a detailed scan, scanning for baby gender, weight and length, blah blah blah...for those who voted for girl may STILL get a chance to win...
though we saw that little birdy that day...but still it could be a mistake. let's see okie!

another update on nathan's sleep training...

i wish, i hope he's weaned by now, i mean totally. he has not been nursing for the past 3 days. he didn't ask for it, oh...maybe he did but 2 things i do to make him forget...
1) offer him powder milk/fresh milk, can tell he's very contented after drinking...
2) offer him water....he hates this the most :P
i guess is the right time now, my body has made new changes recently, making nursing extremely uncomfortable. my tummy is quite big now, tummy gets bigger easily when you have more than one pregnancy...i remembered when i first pregnant with ian, tummy only started to show a bit at 4th month...now? if you can't see, you must be blind!!!
anywayz, nathan still wake up once or twice at night, but all i need is to cuddle him back to sleep...much easier job.

all i hope is he's really totally wean off nursing.

oh oh oh!!! i can feel baby's movement now, so exciting!!!
tab tab tab on my tummy and he would sometime respond. each time, i can't help to feel amazed that there's a little baby growing inside...

ian starts school tomorrow...
time flies yeah...my boy is starting N2...will be with him in the class in first 2 days. i wonder whether he's aware of this though we've been telling him he's going to his nursery soon (and now is tomorrow!!!).

as it has been a holiday seasons for the past 2 weeks, we stayed at in laws' place more than our own home. after staying for 2-3 nights, ian would ask to go home..."mommy, i want to go home, i don't want bishan, i don't want to sleep in ah gong house"...ah hah, now then he knows how nice our own home sweet home is, own home still the best yeah!!! you really think he feels that way????

想的美!!! whenever we go home, he would ask "are we going to ah gong house?" the very next early morning....shortly after he woke up. ngiao! so much for missing home!

valuer is coming to our home tomorrow...to take photos and evaluate our home value...hope to get a good high valuation. jem and i went home to clean our home today, my home has not been so so so clean and tidy for a long long long time...simply love it, hope to stay that way but with the boys ard, that clean look can only last 2 days :P am very tempted to do another round of decluttering...i can easily give away or throw things nowadays...only thing is to go through jem's approval is a little tougher.

alright, have a good week ahead :D

that's nathan's favourite powder time, ian is applying powder on him



i always see kids wearing super big bib when they're doing some artwork in play school. i wanted to buy too, but decided to let my boys wearing my unwanted shirts. they can stain the shirt all they want.


check out the peg behind nathan's. neck hole too big, so customized according to his size


ian's 'xian' look after daddy takes over


that's weiye and serene's son, isaac. very photogenic!!! smile immediately when we're taking photos :D

it's a nice cooling night, my boys are sleeping about 2 hours ago. am surfing websites about buying and selling properties. it's been 2 weeks since we advertised our property, our agent does it for us, it's a one liner advertisement. we've got interested viewer initially but we've left our home that week, so we've missed a potential buyer. 2nd week, no phone call. i looked at our suburb's property ads every sat, mannnnn, we're facing a heat competition, a lot of people are selling their properties around our area too...

honestly, only God can help us...

we continue to view flats in bishan...saw one recently, same block as in laws', very nicely renovated, jem likes it. we can't do anything about it now...not till we sell our flat...

i just met up with an old friend recently, vely. she's leaving an expatriat life in brunei and having holidays in singapore. great time catching up with her and i must say i have not having a good laugh for a long time. God is good, send her to me. simply feel so good and happy when catch up with old friend. oh oh oh, jem was on leave, so left the boys for him and in laws to take care...i'm free like a bird that day! oh well, about 2.5 hours i think?

love to listen to her testimonies....really encourages me a lot a lot...she shared the kind of prayer she made to God and how God answered her by sending her to brunei, haha...she listed down all her concerns and how God answered them all one by one. how God helped her sold her car and found tenant for her current home within a week, God's favor upon her in the midst of financial crisis, her spiritual struggles when she's alone in brunei...i don't know about you, i'll feel more when hearing this testimony from someone close to my heart....it's very nice to hear God's goodness in people's life.

then i heard from vel that roy's mom passed away last monday. we met couple months ago, he said his mom's cancer relapsed, now she went home with the Lord. hope i can be there to comfort this dear brother. i always remembered roy shared with me once about his mom, always pray for him. he used to be a 'pai kia', a gangster, if not because of his mom's prayer, he wouldn't be who he is. when he shared this with me, he was our church zone supervisor back in zion praise harvest days, a very good boy liao :D

so when comes to praying for our children...roy's mom is my model, i'm not saying this because she passed away okie, somehow roy's sharing about his mom has always been in my mind. i've never spoken to her, but roy's sharing alone about his mom is enough to motivate me :D
now that i have children, and trust me, call me a worrier, i worry about anything, everything about my boys daily...their behavior, their safety, their health, and soon ian's starts his N2, worry about whether he'll mix well with friends, will he get bullied, is he the rebellion type....etc.

looking at roy, one thing i must learn to accept, prayers may not be able to stop my boys from mixing bad company or doing ungodly things. i can only pray like roy's mom, that God will continue to give him a still small voice, to send christians around his life, His protection...etc...till he makes the right choice to walk His ways, to accept Him as personal Savior.

Happy New Year!!! thought of your resolution already? i thought about it for the past few days...have a few now. not gonna share in the blog. don't like lah, feeling as though i've to be accountable to what i write...although it should be that way right, be accountable! nahh....not in the blog.

look! i can play better than uncle bernie!!!

ian interested in winning eleven recently. every after dinner, he'll setup and insert the disc himself, gosh, only at the age of 3, the spirit of winning eleven manifested so soon...

with the influence of kor kor, nathan wanted to involve too, but because we have only one controller, he use the remote control.

so...what happen to their father???

this is what's happening whenever we're home okie....jem would choose the country, the type of match...etc before starting the game, then ian will play...
not that ian knows how to play lah, he anyhow press the controller...then whenever he hears the word 'GOAL!!!', he'll shout with excitement...i think it's the opponent scores goal.

then all of sudden, you'll see papa jem's very compell to intervene...."ian, let daddy help you okie, i help you score"
whether ian likes it or not, jem takes over in the end...

my favourite salad

i ate this salad at jem's relative's crab party....

i like it so much that i almost devoured them all...it's one big big big salad bowl okie. so would like to share this recipe with you if you want to try it...i tried to make one 2 days ago, jem likes it too. i took a picture of the salad that night, not very pro looking, using my hp, but at least give you the idea how small or big you should cut the ingredients.

2 celery - diced, only the stem, no leaf
1 apple - diced
raisins - 1-2 packets
mayonnaise
lemon juice

the amount of mayonnaise and lemon you add on the salad depends on you...if you like sour, add more lemon...all agak agak...

the original salad have lettuce and toasted pecan...i don't quite like it so i excluded them in my own version.

can serve how many people?
1-2 persons
people like me can finish all by myself, so you can equate connie = 2-3 persons.

enjoy :) and happy new year!