Next Time When I Grow

Next time when I'm grown up I want to be a pumpkin farmer. And grow so many pumpkins. And grow 2021 million ten thousand one hundred pumpkins. And I grow lots of pumpkin. And I will give you one pumpkin. And my farm will be bigger than a vegetable farm, mine will be even bigger. My farm will not grow vegetables, it will grow pumpkin and watermelon. Because watermelons are so tasty. And if you want to make a scary pumpkin, you can buy from my farm! And if you want to make a scary watermelon, just come to my farm also! 

The Wonderful World of Libby

Woah. I just realised as I was typing the header for this post that Libby was probably a "nickname" of sorts for the word library. *slow click *

Anyway, I just discovered the wonderful world that is Libby - an app that libraries use where you can borrow books online, for free! As long as you have a library card for that library. 

I've heard about the app for a while now but just never got round to setting it up. But now that I have, I wonder what took me so long! 

It's all the wonderful things a library has to offer (free books!), without the ickiness of a library (books that you don't know who has touched). And with covid hanging around, I don't think I will be stepping into a public library any time soon. 

I'm so stoked! Cos now I get to borrow and read all those books that you kinda want to read but don't really want to fork out money to buy cos they are either too expensive or you aren't sure if you'll like it or not. Plus, there isn't much space left on my bookshelf for more books. 

Whee! 

The downside is that the more popular books might not be immediately available, but I guess with a bit of patience you'll eventually get to borrow a copy.

I'm halfway through Michelle Obama's Becoming, because I couldn't finish reading it before I had to return the book. But wah it's been a looooong time since I read a book that isn't targeted at little children learning their first words. 

Happy happy happy. 

I Love You, Mama

So the little one is now at that wonderful, endearing stage where he says "mama you're so pretty" and "I love you mama" every night when I am getting him ready for bed. He does this heart-shaped gesture with his hands, and touches his heart and moves over to mine. *Love*

He also is at the stage where he wants to buy so many flowers.. again because, "you're so pretty mama and I love you so much."

Such a little sweetheart. 

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The covid-19 situation is getting pretty scary in Singapore (of course, not as bad as some other countries) so we've been staying home. There are tightened restrictions on the number of people allowed to be out together (only 2, down from 5, which was down from 8) but thankfully the pools are not closed (the gyms are).

I had a work call this morning, so the 2 guys went down to splish splash in the pool so I could have some quiet at home. 

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Parents, nanny and myself have gotten both doses of our vaccine, and the husband gets his first dose this Sunday. Phew! Glad that it's finally his turn and feeling immensely blessed to be in Singapore where the vaccination rollout has been efficient and smooth. 

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Ok gonna Zzz now. Praying for the grace, strength and stamina to weather through this crisis. 

An Impromptu Day In The Sun

I took the day off from work today cos my old man was getting his first dose of the covid-19 vaccination. The family planned to have lunch together after, cos why not, and it's always nice to enjoy good food together. The little boy was particularly happy because he didn't have to go to school today. 

We had lunch at Din Tai Fung. With more of us at lunch, we could order more varieties of dishes and everyone left with full bellies and high spirits. 

Parents headed back home, and +3 and I brought the little boy down to harbour front MRT station at his request. He noticed that the Sentosa Express wasn't crowded, so off we went. Took the cable car (NTUC members got discount ya) and then got off at Beach Station to walk around. 

Sentosa has changed So Much. I can't remember the last time I was there, previous trips heading in to take the cable car not included. It's been so long since I walked around, let alone stepped on the beach. 

It was hot so we didn't stay too long but the boy was happy. I was the aunty walking around the beach with a brolly open to block the sun. However, I really should plan a trip there again next time with sun block, a hat, sandals and a mat. We took the tram around Sentosa, then headed back by cable car, back to Vivicity by Sentosa Express train then home MRT. 

The Perfect Pair of Shoes

So I decided to take a walk down memory lane today by reading some of my very old blog posts. Came across this post from Jan 2014 about my quest for the perfect pair of shoes, and 7 years 2 months and 3 days later, I am here to tell you that the perfect shoe exists. 

Enter AnotherSole, a company that makes the most comfortable and relatively affordable pairs of leather shoes. FashionJeannie introduced them to me a couple of years ago, and I finally made the decision to try and buy a pair last year. Or maybe in 2019. I forget (and blame Covid). I should have listened to her sooner! 

I wear these shoes to work every day. They are simple, comfortable and go with any and every outfit you have. Did I also mention that they are super comfortable? Cos, they are. 

Once I bought them, I started noticing that everyone was wearing them. Ok, not everyone but many people. That's how good they are. And no, I'm not being paid to gush about them although I'm open to be sponsored if you're reading this, AnotherSole. Hehehehe. 

Anyway, if anyone is reading this. Go get yourself a pair or two, and thank me after. 

1 Jan 2021

So the first day of the new year is almost over. And you know, once you get older, the new year doesn't really feel any different from the other days. 

Festive gatherings this year are kept to a minimum, due to the restrictions on the maximum number of people allowed to gather. I met a handful of people towards the end of the year - Lin and Sharon, some of my colleagues, some people from my coaching class, cousin.e, cousin.sf, Jeanne and Ching, and of course the parents. 

Christmas was a simple dinner with the oldies. There was roast chicken and lasagne, and way too many presents for the little boy under the Christmas tree. We headed out on New Year's Eve to buy a couple of stuff, then had a pasta dinner at home. Dinner with the oldies on 1 Jan, where ma made a Filipino (I think?) version of paella called arroz valenciana. I made takoyaki this morning in my brand new Bruno compact hotplate. 

Reflections on the year that just passed - 

Covid-19 really, really sucks. You can't help but worry about family and loved ones in countries that don't have things under control and all you can do is pray they take care of themselves and stay safe.

I feel so blessed to be in Singapore where life has somewhat gotten back to normal, at least as normal as things can be in times of a global pandemic. 

I love that our family has grown closer this past year, and that we got to spend so much time with the little boy. So proud to watch him grow into the kind, young man that he is. 

The boy's EQ is top notch! He is mindful not to say things like "ewww so yucky" but will gently say "it's a little not so nice" or "the taste is a little not good". He is stil obsessed with trains and now, the train map. And we spend many weekends taking the different train lines around SG. 

There are some food dishes that I love that was discovered in 2020. Wang's curry chicken paste is now a staple in our kitchen. Just add chicken, potato and water! Dalgona coffee is another regular item that I indulge in. Other stuff include Chinese style carrot cake, and eggplant sauce (onion and garlic blended, fried in oil, then add balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, sriracha and boom! You've got a sauce which can be used as a soup base, that goes extremely well with eggplant too). 

Food delivery was something we did fairly regularly too. We found a chicken rice stall/shop that we like (chicken rice is one of the boy's favourite foods. So is roast pork rice). Tenderfresh, Lenu, Arcade Fish Soup were also regular places we ordered from. 

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Hopes for the new year? Good health, good luck and good fortune to all.