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Author: Zhiwei

New Year Resolution – Jogging!

New Year Resolution – Jogging!

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Yesterday, I decided that I shall fulfill my new year resolution (erm… My 2015 New Year Resolution actually… *blush*)! I shall start JOGGING again!

I tried to jumpstart it, but I didn’t get past the door.. (my bedroom door). There was once when I put on my running gear, and then, chickened out….

Yesterday, I finally decided to put my foot down (literally!) and stop PROCRASTINATING!


I dugged out my Asics from my shoe cabinet, blew years of dust of it and checked out the condition. I had a very BAD feeling… that it wouldn’t last. When I was actively running, one pair of sports shoes could last me for years and years and year. But once I stopped, even a fairly new pair would fall apart after years of disuse because the rubber parts have hardened. Ok.. I was trying to find a new excuse not to start. ?

Taking a deep breath, Huff Puff! Here I go!

I started off slowly, very old already, ok… Ain’t spring chicken anymore! Hmm… where should I go? I hate roads. Ok, I should stay off the roads so that I wouldn’t have to breathe in the exhaust. Park connector?? Ok, there’s one behind my house. ?

Eh.. Dead end! Changed direction. Then I discovered that the park connectors didn’t come with directions, but only a sign that said, “PARK CONNECTOR”. Sigh… Noob runner. OK fine, I would just run around the estate and admire the houses then.

Argh…! Slopes! Right, they were not as bad as the ones which we used to do at NUS Kent Ridge (the killer slope near the old Engineering faculty) BUT, for someone who hadn’t ran in years, it felt like it had the same gradient as that!! ???

20 minutes later, my knees started to hurt. Now, I remembered why I stopped. I carried on for a while and then decided to take it easy, slowing down to a brisk walk instead. I ”
DIE DIE” MUST hit my target of 30 minutes!!!

AND… I survived!!!

But my Asics didn’t….

RIP Asics!

Now I need to buy another pair of running shoes and some knee braces….??

Car Rides with the Little Ones! I Love THEM!

Car Rides with the Little Ones! I Love THEM!

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“How do you know whom she has recess with every day? And that she plays badminton during recess?!” the Hub asked in surprise.

“Of course! I asked her when I drove her to school.  Don’t you talk to her when you drive her to school every day?! You have already driven her for half a year!!” The hub is 宝贝’s regular chauffeur, aka taxi driver. I took over as the relief driver when he had to go overseas for a business trip.

“No leh… Both of us are very tired in the morning. So we just listen to the music on the radio… ”

Well, I LOVE car rides to bits!

I have been chauffeuring my 宝贝s to classes, because my job has more flexibility with regards to working hours. (However, that means that I can practically work round the clock! I often go back to the office at 6pm in the evenings, after dropping the kids home after classes.)

I have always believed in interacting with them even when they were babies. (Ok. I admit that I’m Miss Talkative!) Even before they started talking, I would carry on monologues with them in the car, while I drove. They would be able to reply in their own baby talk, even though they were not able to form words yet. Or we would sing nursery rhymes together (they chimed along in their baby language) as we sped down the expressways.

When they get older, they would tell me what happened in schools and what they have been doing at home.  Even my 小小宝贝 would actively participate with his limited vocabulary. It’s hilarious to hear his descriptions and he often surprises me with new words, which he’s probably picked up from here and there.

This is the best time for parent-child bonding, when we are enclosed within the space, when we are in “a world of our own”. In the car, she tells me who her BFFAE (for the uninitiated ones, it means Best Friend Forever And Ever) is, who her BFF (Best Friend Forever, yes… there IS a differentiation.) is, who the naughty kids in school are, what her aspirations are, how many times her little brother hit her, how proud she is of her small little achievements. It is also during these car rides, when she learns to ask me about others, how great-grandmother is, when she will be discharged from the hospital, what I did for assembly when I was in primary school and more.

So, if you think ferrying your children around is a waste of your time, think again. Time is never wasted if you know how to utilise it. We were on this topic during this morning’s car ride (yes… the Hub is on business trip again…).

She queued twice to get 2 plates of chicken rice because she was hungry after devouring one plate (I have no idea where all these extra food went on her skinny frame) and she didn’t have time to go to the library or play badminton because of that. So today, she’s just going to queue once and buy a bigger portion.

So, I tell her, during the car rides, that my aspiration is to be her BFFAEAE! (must be one up from the BFFAE!)


 

HFMD (Hand Foot Mouth Disease) Aftermath

HFMD (Hand Foot Mouth Disease) Aftermath

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HFMD, the dreaded infectious disease that’s every parent’s nightmare! Some of my friends went through numerous times of HFMD in the household. It’s strange that we never had this when we were young. 

Anyway, if you have young children, this is something you’d never want to get. The symptoms are high fever, followed days later by red spots, which eventually turn into blisters on the soles of the feet and palms. They may appear in various degrees of seriousness and some children may even get rashes on thighs and arms. At the same time, red spots or rashes appear around the mouth and ulcers in mouth and throat. Just think of the most terrible sore throats you’ve ever had. That’s it!!

The first time it appeared in our household was in the first year of 宝贝口水妹’s nursery. Her symptoms were pretty mild, I assume. Because she was eating like nobody’s business when she had it. Maybe just a little wincing when she swallowed her food. But, it sure was infectious. She managed to spread it to the adults. YES! Adults can get it too!!! And when adults get it, it’s 10 times more painful than the child’s!! It may also be that we are more articulate (kao Peh) about it! Besides, I was pregnant at that time. It was sheer torture!

We recently had a bout of HFMD. This time it happened to 小小宝贝. We didn’t even bring him to the doctor although we quarantined him at home for a week til he’s fully recovered. His symptoms were relatively mild too. Besides the fact that he had the blisters on his palms and feet, he was behaving as normally as a little boy should – wreaking havoc at home (at the despair of his grandmother who’s his caregiver). 

It’s only recently that I discovered this… 


Just a week back, I read on Facebook that one of my friend’s daughter’s nails have fallen off due to HFMD. ? Yes, there’s a particular strain of HFMD that causes this. When it happens, it causes the nails to stop growing. When the body has cleared itself of the disease, the nails started to grow again. So the nails crack due to this. His isn’t too serious. It’s more obvious on his thumb, but if you look carefully, there’s a slight crack on every single nail. 

It looks really painful (I’ve had bruised nails detaching themselves from the nail beds before. Owww!). In actual fact, there’s no pain at all. I think Mommy is more anxious (gan Cheong) about it than he is. 

It is happening now, which is about 8-10 weeks after his HFMD. So if your child’s nails are falling off after HFMD, don’t freak out!!! Take a deep breath. It’s all OK! ?

Uprooting Myself After Many Good Years…

Uprooting Myself After Many Good Years…

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I have always been toying with the idea of getting my own domain name.  Because, technically speaking, if one day, WordPress decides to terminate my account with them, all my writings, pictures, videos which I have posted since 2002 (Yes… I have been blogging for 14 years! Albeit on and off though… I was one of the pioneer bloggers who have gone nowhere. LOL!) will be gone!

Excuses, procrastination, everything that you can think of.  Finally, I have done it! I have got myself a domain, a webhost and migrated the whole website over.  Believe me, the migration was as bad as moving a house where you have lived in for last 12 years.  It was PAINFUL. Maybe because I was very cheapo, I did everything myself and refused to pay a fee to migrate the information.  It took me one whole day! It’s also because I am terribly noob at the technology. So instead of paying movers, I figuratively moved my “furniture”,  “boxes”, “belongings” all by myself  (and I’m only 5 feet tall… ).

So my new “house” is ready (well, kind of…) with the bare walls. I’ll maneuver myself through the tech part to beautify it later. So, yes, the new site works but just not too awesome looking (with my noob skills it’ll at most be so-so lah!) unless I pay a pro to jazz it up. Then again, that wouldn’t be me anymore. Let’s look beyond the physical beauty and go for the content. ?

Come visit me at my new place www.myonecentthoughts.com!

Please Let Her Remember Me.

Please Let Her Remember Me.

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I haven’t been sad, really, really sad for a long, long time. Angry, yes, many times. But today is truly a sad day.

My grandmother has been hospitalised due to a stroke. The doctor classified it as a mild stroke, because she has a slightly slurred speech and her hands aren’t as nimble as they used to be.

That’s what I thought too. Until I visited her with 小小宝贝 this evening.

She asked me, “why did you rent your house out?” I simply didn’t get it. Huh?

“What are you talking about?”

It went back and forth until it suddenly occurred to me that, she’s referring to her ward. And the nurse was the maid and the guy in the next bed was the “tenant”!

“This is Changi hospital!”

“What Changi hospital? It’s your house! There’s no such hospital called Changi hospital!” (She stayed there for 1 week just a month back.)

Then she proceeded to call my son my cousin’s name. My heart sank.

“Do you know who I am?”

She looked at me in bewilderment. A part of me died. I am her favourite grandchild and she doesn’t remember me. We slept in the same bed for the first 10 years of my life. And we shared the same room until I got married. I was her everything, until my brother came along. Then both of us were her everything, with me having a bigger share.

After a long while, she finally managed to say my name. She remembered 小小宝贝.

Suddenly she asked me where my brother was.  I told her, “Germany. For work.” Her reply was, “What are you talking about? He’s in primary six!”

Her memories have been jumbled up. She mixes up the past and the present.

She played with 小小宝贝 for a while. It made her happy.

I sat there, looking at her while she was playing with him. My grandmother, who is my pillar of strength, with the most lucid mind, can’t really remember me. I know, because she asked me for.. me. I’d never thought that this can ever happen to me. This only happens in movies, dramas, but not, to me.

Today, I have lost something precious.  I hope she remembers me when I see her tomorrow.

We hugged and kissed her and told her that we loved her. She sat in her chair, smiling and waving at us as we left the ward.

Last week we had lunch with her at home and when we left, we also hugged her and kissed her and she waved good bye.

But today, she doesn’t remember me.

I realise today, that the most painful thing on Earth, is to be forgotten by the person who loved you the most.

Our recent family photo during 宝贝’s birthday celebration
Ming Ming's Diary – Monday Blues….

Ming Ming's Diary – Monday Blues….

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It’s Monday. Why do adults call it Monday blues?? I like blue! They should call it Monday blacks. 

After the fun filled weekend, everyone’s gone to school/work. Except for me. I’ll just have to do self play. Unless you want to come and play with me???

I can share my toys with you!!! 


Hmmm… Now that everyone’s gone out, I need to plan my day and think of what I should do next. Let me drink some of my brain juice first. 


*suck suck* I find it helpful to my thinking process when I’m drinking.

What am I drinking??? Beer of course!! Haven’t you seen the advertisement?!

Give that man a tiger! RAWR!!!! ???


What do you mean mine’s not beer? I’ve been drinking beer since I was born!!

How can I not know if it’s beer or not??

?


Ahhh!!! You are trying to bluff me! Just because I’m little doesn’t mean that I don’t know what I’m drinking! 

我喝beer比你喝水多！

Drowning my sorrows in beer? Certainly not. I’m still trying to decide what I want to do today.

You are disturbing my thought process. ?

We, men, are focused minded creatures. Cannot multitask. Ya! Since caveman days….

Focus focus Ming Ming!!!


*suck suck* 

Should I play with my cars? Or my train? Or my building blocks? Or my Legos? Or my walker?

Oh man!!! Choices choices choices! 


Maybe rolling my eyes up can help with my focus. *roll eyes*


What??? You mean I’ve spent the whole morning thinking that my Jie Jie is back from school???

Yippee!!! No more thinking is necessary! Now I can play with with Jie Jie!!!


HEHEHEHE! 

I’ve thought so hard for her to come home and now she has!!!

The universe has answered my request! Mighty Ming Ming!

Jie Jie! Come! Let’s rock n roll!!

Ming Ming's Diary – Slippery Slip Module 101

Ming Ming's Diary – Slippery Slip Module 101

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Look at this engineering wonder at Punggol Park!
Hahaha! I didn’t build this. I’m so flattered that you think I did. 


Hey! Papa! Watch me ok!!
This is how you crawl up a slide. For you you need to turn sideways so that you don’t get stuck. 
Teaching Papa the playing on the slide module 101. 

Ming Ming's Diary – My Papa is such a baby! 

Ming Ming's Diary – My Papa is such a baby! 

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Hey! Papa! What’s up? 

Oh! You want to play while waiting for the food to come???
You want to play pat-a-cake?! C’mon! That is for babies!!! I’m a big boy now!
Oh you want to relieve your babyhood?? Ok ok fine!!! Anything for you Papa!


*resigned look* pat a cake pat a cake. *yawn*

Ming Ming's Diary – Visit to the SEA (Aquarium) 

Ming Ming's Diary – Visit to the SEA (Aquarium) 

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Have you ever been to the SEA?? Well I have?? Gosh! I wonder why they call it the aquarium when I saw more people there than fishes. 
The fishes must have had a whale of a time watching the human exhibits. 

Anyway, we can’t possibly go there all the time. So Jie Jie and I take turns to pretend that we are visiting the SEA. 
Make believe is supposed to make us smarter! And I do so want to be smarter. And so…


It’s my turn to visit the SEA. 
Woah!! Look at the shark!!! Hey! I see a turtle and… A mermaid!!!
HEHEHEHE just kidding!! ?


Check it out!!! That fish is waving at me!!! 


Hmmm… The glass is dirty… Obstructing my sea view….
*hor….* *blows hot air onto the glass to clean it*


Ok nice and clean. Hi mermaid!!
Huh??? My turn?? So fast?? You mean it’s my turn to be the fish already? Awww… I was just getting warmed up. ?
Oh oh well… 


*blurp blurp blurp*
I’m a fish! I’m a fish! *goldfish lips*
I’m totally professional at this!
*blurp blurp blurp*


Ah ha!!! Is that a fish stick?! I’m going to bite it!!!! 
See the sticker there?? It says no knocking on the fish tank! ?

Gosh! All that fish blurping thing is tiring. Need some food. 

Ming Ming's Diary – I'm Back!!

Ming Ming's Diary – I'm Back!!

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Oh hi everyone! I missed so many days of blogging because I thought so hard about who to choose (Laura or Taylor) that I conked out for so long. 
But I’m back in town today! 


These 2 (garethfoo, ivozboy ) tsk so blatant!!!

We can’t discuss this on social media ok!! We need to take it offline. Offline!!! Ssshhh!!

@xeolye Jiu Jiu, tips ah? Let me see…. I need a new phone… It’s so hard to get my hands on a phone at home these days. So difficult to update my blog.. A new phone in exchange for tips. How about that?? It’s ok… I can settle for an iPhone 6. Doesn’t have to be iPhone 6s. ?