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Sunday Morning Snapshot – Giant Snail!

Sunday Morning Snapshot – Giant Snail!

Sunday. Rain. ?cool weather.

Lounging at the dining area, watching the raindrops ? splitter splatter on the balcony, when we spotted a brown patch on the wall.

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It’s huge! Check out its size in proportion to the plastic milk bottles on the bottom of the picture!!

There were lots of squealing and exclamations ⚠️⚠️. Because we are a bunch of suaku urbanites. Even though my childhood was spent catching tadpoles, grasshoppers and other-unnamable-bugs in the gardens, I haven’t seen such a huge snail. The ones I’ve seen were usually half its size or flattened ones.

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Check out a close up shot of it! What a beauty!! Ok ok it’s not exactly a masterpiece shot. I was carrying a wriggling 小小宝贝 (who happens to weigh 11kg and was excitedly waving his arms and gesturing at the snail) with my left arm, and trying to snap Mr. Snail from an awkward angle so that it’s not against the light. So, ya, that’s the result of it.

One of the little things to appreciate in life. Taking time off to smell the roses and snapping snails.

Coincidentally, 宝贝 and I are in the midst of reading this book – the snail and the whale.

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A fine good read by the same author who wrote the award winning “Gruffalo”. Beautifully illustrated with a simple yet thought provoking storyline and wonderful rhyming words. How a whale brought a little snail on an adventure around the world and how that tiny spelling snail eventually saved the life of the huge whale.

Moral of the story : Spelling is important. Every creature counts, even small little ones.

Ming Ming’s Diary – Singapore Roll!

Ming Ming’s Diary – Singapore Roll!

I woke up nice and bright this morning!! Mr Sun was up late though. This Mr Sun is getting lazy, making Mr Moon work overtime. Tsk tsk. But it’s ok, when Ming Ming is up, everyone gets up too.

??? Wakey Wakey everyone! Rise and “shine”!!

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Eh eh! Mama! Wake up! *nudge nudge* Papa!!! 起来!

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Hmmppffrr!! I’m being ignored!!! ??? *Papa’s snores*

No one ignores Ming Ming!! This calls for drastic measures!! ?

So I rolled..

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On Mama! Mama shouted “what the heck?!” Hee hee! Then I rolled…

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And rolled…

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On Papa. I was rewarded with a “ooh!!”

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And yes! Everyone has woken up. Morning call folks!! ✌️

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What?? Too early?? Only 5am? Oh ok! Everyone please go back to bed again.

Ming Ming’s Diary – The Early Bird Catches the Phone!

Ming Ming’s Diary – The Early Bird Catches the Phone!

The early bird catches the worm. Some people (who try so hard to be funny, unlike me. I’m a naturally funny baby) will say “that’s provided you are not the worm.”

Anyway I’m very sure that I’m the extremely cute early bird. Everyone else is still zz in the house. The whole house is mine!! Mine!!! Muahahah! And guess what I’ve found!!!

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A Samsung phone!!! It even has my picture on it!! It’s meant to be mine. Most have been a belated birthday present (ppssst! My birthday is on 4 jan. I accept presents for my next birthday. ☺️)

Now I don’t have to borrow Mama’s phone to update my blog. I’ve my own phone now.

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This blog updating is serious matter. *press press*

Hang on! Why am I in pink?? Mama why did you dress me in pink?? I told all my girlfriends in school about my blog URL. Now they are all going to see me in pink! Omg!!! How am I going to Kao girls from now on?? *face palm*

Nnnooooooo!!!! Take it off!!!

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Hmmpphh! I’m not Mr Pink!!

Ming Ming’s Diary – It’s a Wonderful Day!

Ming Ming’s Diary – It’s a Wonderful Day!

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE! Rise and shine!!! ???

First things first! What do Singaporeans like to do?? Complain?? No lar. We like to take food instagrams!! Do I have an Instagram account? Of course not! I’m already busy enough sneaking updates for my Blog. I’ll be a dead baby if my Mama finds out that I’ve an Instagram account as well!!

So as a true blue Singaporean baby, here’s my first food photo of the day!! Ta da! My breakfast!!!

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What’s this? Can’t you tell??? My Papa will be so hurt. It’s rock melon (lovingly blended by Papa) cereal. *nom Nom nom*

You don’t understand why when food arrives, we shout,”don’t eat!! Take photo first!!”?

Orh! You are not a Singaporean then.

Yippy! I’ve international readers! Look! Food is an important part of our lives. We.worship.food!!!

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I’m a goner!! Someone’s whispered to me that my Mama has found out about my blog!!! I need to hide! I need a plan!! I need HELP!!!

Who?! Who has told her about it?!

Goodbye sweet world!! ?

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*gulp* maybe this would help. *Shimmering tearing eyes with repentant look*

My Jie Jie does this all the time. She has large eyes with thick eyelashes. I think they drew the puss in boots image based on her photo. Papa always forgives her when she does that. Erm… Not sure if it works for Mama though.

✌️I promise I’ll be a good boy. Nooo!! You stupid fingers!! Not the victory sign!!! 3 fingers!!! The promise sign!!! I’m so going to be dead meat!!!

This calls for desperate measures. My Plan B!! My “I love Mom” romper and my best smile!!!

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Mama I so so so so LOVE you!! ???

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Ah ha!!! See!! Women of all ages simply can’t resist my charms.

Mama says that I can write my blog as long as it doesn’t affect her phone usage and no swearing online. Sheesh! Who does she think I am? Al cappuccino??

✌️✌️✌️✌️

Ming Ming’s Diary – My Maiden Blog Post

Ming Ming’s Diary – My Maiden Blog Post

 

Hi! My name is Ming Ming and this is my maiden blog post. ?

To introduce myself, I’m posting my first selfie in my best suit (complete with a tie). Ta da!

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Hey! I heard that! What do you mean by “he’s just a baby!”

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But I can’t post very often because… *looks to left and right* pssttt… Let me tell you a secret…

Cross your heart and promise you won’t tell anyone…

I’m secretly using my Mama’s phone to write my blog. So I’ve to do it really stealthily! Because I’m on a tv/iPhone/iPad/computer ban right now.

It’s so hard to gain access to her phone. I’ve to type really quickly and put her phone back so that she doesn’t find out!

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Mama brought me to school this morning. I learnt how to ride a duckie. It’s an absolute must to learn that. You think it’s cool to drive a Lamboghini?! Nah! That’s so gen y! Passé!! This is how I pick up chicks! On my trusty duckie!

I rode too fast for the photo. Giddy up Duckie!!

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Oh man! It’s all physical at school today! So tiring! But a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do! I climbed and climbed up all the stairs. Literally climb ok!!! On my fours!

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Pant pant! I’ve reached the top. I swear I’m fit enough to climb Mt Everest with all this training!

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Wa ha!! It’s a really long way to fall! Hold on tight, Ming Ming!! Shaky knees there! For a while I thought I had acrophobia. Luckily I don’t. Or else the Singapore mountaineering team would lose a future talented climber like me!! How many people can climb Mt Everest on all fours??

Ahh! Cool view! Things DO look different from the top!

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Sunday Morning Snapshot – Sexy Swimsuit Babe

Sunday Morning Snapshot – Sexy Swimsuit Babe

It’s been a looong while since I’ve updated my Sunday Morning Snapshots. Ever since I shifted 宝贝’s swimming lessons to another day, I hardly have time to take the idyllic Sunday Morning photos because it’s always been a mad rush. Or maybe it’s because the routine has been broken.

Anyway… Here goes… The sexy babe!

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Hehe… Not sexy enough? Ok, get ready for the real sizzling hot ?stuff!

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Ah! If anyone needs a hot swimwear model, come speak to her talent manager. Ya. That’s moi! ?

Joy is…

Joy is…

Joy is him clutching my fingers in his little toddler hands while he sleeps. Because I know that one day his hands will outgrow mine and he won’t need me anymore.

Joy is him wanting me to cuddle him while he sleeps. Because I know that he will soon outgrow my cuddles and cease being a mommy’s boy.

Joy is having his sweet sleeping face just a breath away from mine. Because I know that he will soon want to have his own bed and room and a life of his own.

Joy is to savour the present moment and appreciate how lucky I am.

Homemade Almond Milk

Homemade Almond Milk

Hmm… I seem to be doing a lot of posts on food lately. Trying to be more domesticated for the sake of the children.

The food stuff I do aren’t too adventurous… pretty idiot proof on the whole. Well, considering my less than illustrious track record in home economics, they are usually very simple to prepare. I should list out my home economics exploits one day…

I have been ordering almond milk (original and unsweetened) from Iherb. 2 liter bottles and believe or not, the children finish them within 2-3 days!! Ok I do drink some of it (figured that since I pay so much for it, I should benefit from the high calcium and low fat properties too!)

However, the supply has been erratic because Iherb decides every other day to discontinue it!!! Gah!

I had to turn to a more expensive local source – silk almond milk from cold storage or market place. And even that source isn’t too reliable either. We buy up all the available stock (just 5 packets) at any branch whenever we see it!

I googled on the almond milk recipe and decided that it’s within my idiot proof skills to make it. So I started stocking up on organic almonds, for rainy days….

It doesn’t come any cheaper than the store bought ones (not factoring the p$ per hour of my time that I used to make it) but it’s awfully tedious!!! And messy… Maybe it’s just me… ?

Anyway, here goes …

2 packets of 213g of almonds yielded just about 2-3 liters. Only….

Soak the almonds in water, just enough to cover them for 1-2 days to remove the phytate. By removing the phytate, the body is able to absorb more of the goodness in the almonds. Basically, the longer the almonds are soaked, the more water they absorb, thus yielding a higher quantity of creamier almond milk.

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My fat almonds – after being soaked for almost 2 days…

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Add the almonds into the blender. For every cup of almonds, I use 2 cups of water. If you don’t like the original unsweetened taste of almond milk, you can add maple syrup / honey / other sweeteners to taste. Or you can even add pandan juice to make pandan almond milk!

Anyway it’s for the children, so no sweetener was added.

Then… Blend… Pretty no brainer right??? Hehe.

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I pour the blender almond milk into a soup cloth to strain the almond bits out.

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Looks yummy eh?? Why is it in a plastic container… I wasn’t quite prepared for it. No glass bottles at that point of time. So I just “hum tummed” any empty container I could turn out in my cupboard!!! Made a mental note to pick up proper glass bottles from Ikea. And a funnel too. I used to have one, but don’t know where it disappeared to. Sigh…

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It’ll probably last 2-3 days.

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I air fried the leftover almond bits at 160°C for 15 minutes. Quite crunchy and fragrant after that. 宝贝 has been eating it during snack time. Healthy snacks! I’ve been adding it to my breakfast cereal. Probably it can be added to cooking and even baking! So no wastage!

But damn! It was hard work!!! I drank a big cup of it to reward myself!

小小宝贝’s Milestone – First Haircut

小小宝贝’s Milestone – First Haircut

I intended to hold off his first hair cut as long as possible (cheapskate – to save money lar… I don’t see why I should pay someone to snip off his fringe??!!) and trim his fringe (so that he can see without having a curtain of wispy hair obscuring his sight) myself.

 

It seemed that it was no longer possible when…

 

for the last few mornings, when he sent 宝贝 Jie Jie off to school, the schoolbus auntie started greeting him, “Morning Mei Mei!” and “Bye Bye Mei Mei!” That bad meh?! Did he look like a girl??!! Granted that on some days, he was dressed in 宝贝’s hand-me-down pyjamas which were, erm, a little on the red side.  (OK OK.. fine! Sometimes a tinge of pink…)

 

His Daddy thought that he might turn into a sissy and really treat himself as a girl after continuous brainwashing… So I brought him to the same hairdresser who cuts 宝贝’s hair as she needed a haircut too.

 

But when I walked in with him, the 2 hairdressers exclaimed, “Aiyo! Mei Mei is here to cut hair too??” WTH?! Mei Mei?? This time he wasn’t dressed in pink, in fact, I dressed him in the most manly attire I could find in his wardrobe – Blue romper and jeans. Which Mei Mei wears blue and blue?!

 

“Erm.. He’s a Di Di.”

“Ohhh… Di Di! He’s got yu xiu features (delicate features) like a Mei Mei! See! Big round eyes, long eyelashes and fair skin!”

Hmm… so it’s not his clothes…

 

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There he is… All wrapped up and sitting quietly in the chair, in anticipation for the next… adventure?! Just a sidenote : Does he look like a girl?!?!?

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And so.. it began.. Like the sheep shearing I saw in Australia and New Zealand.. Lambs up on the block! :p

He felt a strange sensation and heard the weird humming sound of the shaver and so what did he do?!

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He turned around to look for the source of the strange sound.

And he turned and he turned and he turned… It was quite amusing to watch him turn left right left right, trying to find the shaver only to always not find it.  Hahaha. Mean mom here.

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Much easier to look at himself in the mirror.. Ah… starting to look like a boy now!

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Final dusting…

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Final Product : I’m a BOY!!! (He’s in BLUE ok!!)

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He behaved beautifully during the cut.  Of course, the hairdresser Jie Jie cut at lightning speed.  The only thing he did was just to turn his head left and right during the cut to find the shaver.  I would have cut his ear or something, and that’s precisely why I’m not a hairdresser… :P

 

Back to being a boy again!!

Adding On to 小小宝贝’s Purée Repertoire – Asparagus Purée

Adding On to 小小宝贝’s Purée Repertoire – Asparagus Purée

小小宝贝 has finally sprouted 2 tiny teeth, after 12 months. He’s a late “teether” just like his sister, for his Mama (yours truly) was an even later “teether”. According to my parents, my first tooth sprouted when I was 2 years old. They were going to make dentures for me as they suspected that I would be going through life without teeth!!

The good thing with having a late “teether”, especially when I’m breastfeeding him, I don’t get bitten. And the teeth start deteriorating later.

So I’m still putting him on purée diet although I’m now making his purée more chunky. And some soft fruits and vegetables like bananas, strawberries, pumpkins etc, he’s started to take bites out of them instead of being purée fed.

And I’m expanding his food repertoire so that he gets to taste a wide variety of food in their natural form without mixing them together.

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Asparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fibre, protein, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and selenium, as well as chromium, a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus, as the asparagus plant is relatively rich in this compound.

I chopped them up in small pieces. Steam them for 15 mins then blend.

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All yummy and ready for consumption!

Food diary summary…