Wordless Wednesday : Impromptu Trip to Malacca Town

It was an unplanned road trip to Malacca.  Thanks to hub's enthusiasm to get away for a night! 

I challenged myself to take all these pics with my iphone.

Warning : drooling to be somewhat expected. :p

Pit stop and sights captured along the way.

Checked into our first stay in boutique hotel. Quaint, cosy and VERY CLEAN! Very impressive modern decor and friendly service. We will be back again to stay there the next round!

The moment we had been waiting for.... seafood feast at Portuguese Village! Yummy lala made my day. :)

Chendol dessert... die die must have!

This morning's road side dim sum breakfast before we hit the road home.

Wordless Wednesday : Living the Moments

When besties get together once in a blue moon yet able to pick up where we left off.

When everyone in your family comes together for a meal with differences aside.

When I know my children loves me as much as I love them.

When you are being recognized for being an inspirational woman.

They ain't heavy. They're my kids.

This year has been particularly challenging. Especially with the boy marking his milestone in PSLE, I find myself constantly reminding him to put in the extra hours to do his revision.  In his term, it is called "nagging".

Call me 'kiasu', but I really can't help but join in the rat race. At a certain point in their primary school life, you will be put in a situation whereby you are reminded that your children need to achieve higher standards. Because if every other student are getting super good grades, then my children who are above average achievers will not be considered that great in nationwide standard. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I can hear many say, "come on, let them enjoy their childhood", but it's really not that simple in this day and age. If it is so easy raising children in Singapore, I think I wouldn't mind having more!

As a parent, I want to see my kiddos successful in their endeavor. When there's a way for us parents to help them achieve their dreams, who wouldn't do it?  I often find myself telling them that the best years of their lives should be when they are still in school, enjoy the camaraderie with friends and earning themselves good enough grades so that they can have a wider choice in deciding what kind of life they want. All they need to do is keep focused and reach for their goal, have faith and learn to be persistent in all their undertakings. 

Now, this is what I deem success.

~~ Image extracted from https://www.facebook.com/grandmaquotes ~~

Making the right choices for my children

When Brandon was in P1, we enrolled him for taekwondo lessons at the community club. Apart from exposing him to be more active in sport, we secretly wanted him to know physical defensive skills.

Over time, we got tired with the routine of sending him for his weekly lesson.  But we persevered for his sake. Watching him in the arena and giving his all made me proud somehow and more so when he got through his grades smoothly for almost 3 years when he decided it was enough. He already earned himself a brown belt. Just 2 more and he would have gotten a black one! However, I personally don't believe in forcing the boy if he has lost interest in the activity because he will not be at his best. So TEHHHHH.... (buzzer), it was not the right sport for him. An experience? Sure it was. Useful? Hope so. Foresight? Maybe not.

~ The photo on the right was taken when Brandon was 8 years old ~

As for Megan, well, it was always my dream to dress my little girl in tutu so I sign her for ballet class. But mainly I wanted her to build up on posture and self confidence. So when she was in K2, I enrolled her in ballet, also at the community club. It was all fun and play at first. Until she was training for her 3rd grade and the teacher noticed her disinterest because the steps got more difficult. It is crucial to dance in proper postures all the time. After much encouragement from us, I'm so glad that she has continued and has moved on to grade 4. 

~ Photo above taken when Megan was in grade 1. Below is photo taken when she was at grade 3. She is now in grade 4. ~

Many parents I've met wonder if ballet is a waste of time. As long as she has the passion for performing arts, I will support it. I have also found out that a decent dance background would help if she enrolls into a secondary school with a dance niche program. So I choose to think that it is foresight.

Two children. Two different paths. I make right choices and sometimes none.  As long as we keep our faith, encourage them to do their best, they will be their best.

I totally love them to bits - whatever their choices in life may be and as parents, we will help them achieve their goals and dreams wherever we can.

Dear Mum...

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for never giving up on me when I was having a trying time finding my identity during my youth.

Thank you for the time you spent with me when I was in my confinement. Albeit little but meaningful nonetheless.

Thank you for showing me how to bathe and take care of my first newborn baby.

Thank you for teaching me to cook all my favourite dishes that I now share with my children.

Thank you for showing me how to be a loving and supportive wife as you were with dad. 

Thank you mum, for being you. I won't be where I am now without your constant encouragement and love. 

I love you!

And a Happy Mother's Day to all who are celebrating! 

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Other People's Dirty Laundry On My Doorstep

Less than 2 years ago, the most unfortunate thing happened to my HDB unit.

As per the usual morning routine, my husband opened our main door to pick up the newspaper only to find our home vandalized by the loan sharks! 

It was a horrifying sight for me. With green paint splashed all over our corridor, gate and door. We were also locked in our own home, with a bicycle chain locked around our gate.

Now, you may be thinking we have been borrowing money from these illegal lenders since they did this to our home. But this is so not the case! Apparently, this is the loansharks new tactic to involve neighbors so that the borrower will feel more pressure to pay up. Heck, the O$P$ on the wall was not even my family's surname, nor our unit which was neatly written on the wall near the lift landing!

And personally for me, the most offensive moment was when the police arrived, one of them asked me, "so m'am, how long have you been borrowing money from the loansharks?"  I was flabbergasted. I retorted back, "surely you can see from the writing on the wall that its not even my unit number?"  And he went, "oh yah". tsk tsk tsk.

Anyway, I lived in fear for the next few days. I cannot imagine if the runners decide to come back to my unit again that further endanger our lives. I diligently scrubbed off the dried up paint on the corridor, door and repainted our gate. It was the most unnecessary chore to do that took me 2 whole days. I was not at all happy to be cleaning up other peoples' mess.

I hope that these illegal lending business will come to an end and not get other innocent parties involved.  I also hope that people who are hard up for money will not resort to borrowing from loansharks despite knowing the kind of trouble they will be getting into. When there is a will, there will always be a way - a proper way.