PaPa's Shirt

Renee woke up this morning and hurriedly came to my side and showed me this :

She was busy at her table last evening, drawing lines on a piece of paper and now I know what the lines are for! hahaha, daddy has been wearing checked shirts and she must have noticed, lolz.

Reliving our Old Routine

Since Renee need not go to the CC today, I was supposed to 'follow' daddy so that I could 'ferry him back' when he's driven the audi for servicing. However, as I won't be going to the office, the 2nd part of 'fetching and ferrying' would be too troublesome and thus, he changed his mind. Hurray, that gave me the freedom to enjoy a 'free' day with Renee! When daddy heard that I wanna take Renee out, he readily agreed to take the audi instead and let me know the v, haiz, what to do, his 'bao bei'...

We both got outta bed late at past 10am, heee and I told Renee that she'd have to practice yesterday's lesson before we can go out and she obeyed deligently and even complained when I delayed abit to help Eileen on her webby stuffs.

Being young is one obstacle, not willing to give me her full attention another and ended up, it took me more than 10mins to make her understand when the 'natural' key should be played. With my focusing on only the 1st line, the practice was smooth and we managed to go out by 2:30pm. However, 'terror' set in when I decided on a last minute short practice to complete the job. Never had it occured to me that there're notes that Renee had not been taught yet and being not entirely well-versed with the notes/finger position, I had a hard time figuring whether she's learnt this and/or that note. I tried to contact the teacher but failed so daddy said, just forget it and let her practice the usual pieces, hahaha. Meanwhile, Renee's understanding of what I've 'taught' her this afternoon comforted me(I really hope I've not taught her wrongly 'cos it sure will create alot more difficulties/confusion if I did!).

Ok, just to relax my tension now, I shall post what we've got during our little 'shopping' today, heee :

saw this new brand of polishes some time ago but only managed to spend some time looking at them today. They cost about the same if I'd order OPI from USA directly(local price wld cost more) but minus the wait and I thought why not give it a try...

not sure if we could find this from the USA merchant, but I find it worth trying out

and this interesting hat with UV protection. what I like about it is that it's adjustable

so both Renee and I can wear it :)

H1N1

Renee's violin lesson finally resumed today. Ms Mok kept commenting 'so cute, so cute' when I showed her the video of Renee playing the Happy Birthday song at our mom's birthday celebration, :).

It's been raining the past days and I decided to turn back to grab an umbrella and Renee's rain coat. Good thing I did, 'cos although it was only drizzling when we got to the carpark, but it was raining very heavily when the lesson's over.

Today's lesson touched on the 'natural' keys and to explain to a grown up with no musical background is already hard enough, let alone to a young child. Ms Mok explained it on piano 'cos she said it's easier but to me, I found it even more confusing, hahaha. In the end, I've finally sorta grasp it but we've delayed the time abit(about 5mins or so, 'cos our dear girl had to go poo, hahahahaha).

I had initially planned to go to Compass Point for lunch with Renee since I was driving but there was already a long que to the carpark and thus, I have to U-turn(which is something hard to do with S60 due to its turning radius) back to home. Of cos Renee wasn't happy and had even suggested going over to Hougang Mall, thinking that it'd be less crowded, hahaha but she was pacified pretty easily this time round.

Whilst I was rushing to cook our lunch, I received a sms from the CCC's principal that she's just been informed by 1 of Renee's classmates' mom that her son has got the H1N1 virus! Oh man! According to Mrs Teoh, the boy was still well on Friday and thus we all hope that he's not spread the virus to anyone... However, for precaution's sake, it is suggested that we return on Wednesday since Tuesday is a school holiday(I guess there's no obligation to close the class on 1 case and it's totally up to the parents to decide attendance since most would have to work). We've decided to skip school tomorrow and Renee was disappointed 'cos she's been looking forward to present her 'gifts' to the teachers. When she was tidying up her toys/stuffs on Saturday night, she had even quickly brought the bag of gifts out and placed it where her trolley school bag stood, for fear of forgetting to bring them along, :). She finally relaxed when I told her it's because her classmate's 'very sick' and that she could still pass the gifts to the teachers when she returns.

A Dinner Treat

Our water purifier agent couldn't make it today and thus I asked Eileen if she wish to come over today instead. She came, with my order of Macdonald's, hahaha(aiyoh, like that how to loose wgt, haiz...) and we began going through/editing their web pages.

As we were midway through, I suddenly heard door bell rang rapidly a few times, followed by urgent loud thuds on our front gate. Seconds later, shouts of "Postman", geez, why do they have to do that?! Since I've not been informed by the spree organiser about the postage of my stuffs, I've not expected any delivery nor registered post today, thus this came really a shock to me.

Daddy was out since morning but he managed to return home by 5pm so we could go over to my mom(she's giving all of us a treat, heeee) which we did only half an hour later. To familiarise myself with the other automobile, I took over the wheels today, without any prior 'trial drive' like I did with the audi. However, this is even more manageable and although also with turbo engine, it's power injection is still less powerful than the a6, phew... Good feel, faster pick-up as compared to my previous C4, oh oh, I might get used to this, daddy... hahahaha.

Instant Re-delivery

DHL delivered my parcel at 12:15pm but we've left the office at 12:05pm. Upon returning to the office at 1:30pm, I quickly called the no. given on the notice and after some minimal hassling to re-arrange another delivery, they finally agreed(given that they've mistaken our office as a pte housing estate and had delivered during lunch hours) to make another trip down between 3-5pm since the next one at 7-9 would be too late and we won't be in the office tomorrow.

At 3pm, I received a sms update from that that my parcel is now with the courier again and here's what indicated on their web :

Delivered - Signed for by : xxxxx / 15:43

Singapore - Singapore / With delivery courier / 14:51

Singapore - Singapore / Delivery attempted; recipient not home / 12:15

Impressed? I know I am, at least with this shipment(which is also the 1st time I've 'dealt' with them), :)

So, now it's waiting for the postage of my other sprees' items, heee...

Courier

My recent order from an online Japan merchant is to be delivered by DHL, a well known international courier service provider. Upon tracking my parcel yesterday, I was further impressed by the updating system and even the notification options they have made available on their web. I've opt for their shipment notification via sms(u can even choose which mode u wish to be updated and what you wish to be updated on) and this morning, I was informed that my parcel has cleared the custom and I'm to be prepared for its delivery soon. Hopefully I could get them today!(since latest online tracking on their web indicated so - with a list of full details on its process) :).

Result summary
Air waybill: xxxxxxxxxx

Friday, August 28, 2009/Time/Location

With delivery courier/10:51/Singapore - Singapore

Scheduled for delivery/10:23/Singapore - Singapore

Arrived at Delivery Facility in Singapore - Singapore/10:22/Singapore - Singapore

Departed Facility in Singapore - Singapore/09:20/Singapore - Singapore

Processed at Singapore - Singapore/08:59/Singapore - Singapore

Clearance processing complete at Singapore - Singapore/08:41/Singapore - Singapore

Arrived at Sort Facility Singapore - Singapore/08:41/Singapore - Singapore

Departed Facility in Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong/03:05/Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

Processed at Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong/02:21/Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

Clearance processing complete at Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong/01:19/Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

Arrived at Sort Facility Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong/01:18/Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

Thursday, August 27, 2009
Departed Facility in Nagoya CBD - Japan/21:33/Nagoya CBD - Japan

Processed at Nagoya CBD - Japan/21:13/Nagoya CBD - Japan

Arrived at Sort Facility Nagoya CBD - Japan/20:00/Nagoya CBD - Japan

Departed Facility in Nagoya Outskirts - Japan/17:23/Nagoya Outskirts - Japan

Processed at Nagoya Outskirts - Japan/17:22/Nagoya Outskirts - Japan

Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Shipment on hold/19:27

Nagoya Outskirts - Japan
Shipment picked up/17:55

More Books

I've reserved 2 books from a mommy selling books in the forum but haven't been able to make good the collection til yesterday. Renee sure is happy but me? - creating trouble for myself - I'd now have to read more to her! hahaha :

Berries, Berries and More...

We've all heard alot about the benefits and high antioxidants of berries(ie. blueberries, strawberries, Acaiberries etc). So, when my sis received her birthday month specials notification from Brands, we each ordered cartons of berries essence, :D(I've still got boxes of their bilberry chewable tablets).

Daddy on the other hand, wanted those where he could mix up and bring along during his golf games and so I asked him to go check out the GNC's AcaiBerries drink mix during lunch yesterday.

Since it's also my birthday month and there's a special member discount, they began to promote other products to me and when they mentioned calcium supplements, I told them that I've taken sooo long to finish my previous supplies of VitC and Calcium 'cos their tablets are all sooo big. That's when they told me that there're liquid types available now and I'm delighted! Calcium is very much needed by women, even more so for those whom has given birth. I remembered the 1st few months after Renee's birth, 1 of my toe nails dropped off voluntarily and it scared the hxxx out of me! I quickly phoned up the clinic and when I learned that I could still consume the balance calcium tablets they've prescribed during my pregnancy(more so to take if I'm still b/feeding), I started to take them and results calmed my nerves, hahaha.

I've also gotten a bottle of VitC gummies that came added with Zinc and 'dunno what', hahaha. We've bought this for Renee before but she didn't like gummies then, so they ended up in my tummy instead. Now that she's began to love them, I decided to get these for her again since they'd very much be better than her chewing on those gummy sweets.

Can't find pic on exact product, but it's the same range

Adjuster

Renee's been complaining about the selt belt, though it's indicated that the car inbuilt car seat's good for children with height from 97cm, it still seem to 'cut' onto her neck. Although it didn't really hurt but it sure is uncomfortable. So, I suggested to daddy to get the padded sponge protector and today, Renee pressurised him into really getting it sooner(good, 'cos only she can make him move his butt, hahaha), :).

So, off to compass point we went and without saying, we ended up with her favourite food - charsiew and roasted duck rice, hahaha. The protectors looked very sweet in pink but they do not come in longer size(mostly for babies/toddlers only) and being me, not giving up, I continued searching and there finally I found this, which daddy said is even better :

RP : S$19.90

The one we've got is beige in colour(only 1 clr avail.) and soft material, not leather as shown here

The Apology and Forgiveness

Whilst Renee was eating her lunch on Saturday, I chatted with her and I asked why she had not wanted to go back to school the day before(she didn't say she doesn't want to go but when we mentioned abt staying home, she was very happy which surprised us) and she said "because Liling pinched me"...

Then yesterday, she mentioned about playing with Liling happily and I asked if she's ready to play with Liling again and she said "Yes!". This is actually a good thing 'cos it shows that she has a big heart but in order for her not to be taken for granted and also, I felt that the girl should know that she's wrong for inflicting such physical hurt, I told her that she should wait for Liling to apologise and she just replied "Ok".

This morning, although I had a hard time getting her up from bed again(don't understand why, she had gone to bed at 10pm and had fallen asleep almost instantly...and on non-school days, she can wake up early by herself even if she's gone to bed later than 10pm, haiz...), she was very happy to be at 'school' again. The teacher received her at the door and I asked her about incident. She said that she had not witnessed the incident personally but that she's applied medication(which I thanked her for) and that's when Liling came to Renee and apologised. I showed teacher Diana the mark which was still there and I commented to her that "it's actually quite bad, as you can see the mark is still here". My purpose of telling her this was so that if in the event the parents are responsible enough to check back on how's Renee, she could inform them.

Renee's had some minor 'accidents' before, in her preschool, but I've never felt so protective like now 'cos I know these accidents bound to happen when children play together(just citing an example : like the time when Vanessa had caused her to fall and a bump appeared her foreehead - read here) but this time round, the hurt inflicted was worser(the girl had pinched with her fingernails dugged into her skin and had even held on for quite a while, Renee should have pushed her away, haiz, and that's what we've taught her that night) and intentional, so I can't help but feel otherwise.

No Lesson Again?

Just before I took my breakfast, I thought I should switch my mobile on in case of any messages from Ms Mok. Indeed, 1 came from her, citing her being down with fever....haiz, wasted my trial drives with the audi! hahaha Not exactly I supposed, at least now I'm not so afraid should I have to drive the vehicle again.

But, oh no, I've left the violin in the car last night thinking that we'd be going for the lesson this morning! I hope daddy's put the spare key in the other veh so I don't have to go up and down to bring back the violin later when we go out...

Granny's 70th Birthday!

Today, we're celebrating my mom's 70th birthday at a chinese restaurant and it's also a day marking Renee's and my first! First what? Well, for Renee, it's her first 'public' violin 'performance' and for me, nothing big deal, just a first real drive out to the road with daddy's a6, hahahahaha(supposed to be driving to and fro e rest. to familiarise myself with its acceleration/braking power/turning radius but we were running late and daddy suggested he drove there first, heee).

During her 2 days(yesterday and today's) practice on the Happy Birthday song, she had played the song both times(1st normal tune and the 2nd with more dynamics - 'drag', 'ritard') with better confidence but tonight, although she played the 1st set nicely, she had fumbled midway during the 2nd set 'cos she missed a note...heee. Nevermind, it's ok, the more important thing was that she had this opportunity to play infront of a bigger audience in the open :). However, I noticed when she had carried on playing her other tunes, her most attentive 'audience' was her Ah Gong!(pity daddy didn't take the camera over from me to capture that) hahaha. He seemed to have enjoyed it the most amongst all the rest, well, at least her efforts was not wasted, lolz. On the other hand, Elsie was very concerned as to how we're going to follow her rythm(she's new afterall, haha) and what we have to do whilst she played the other tunes(nothing actually, keke), , :D. And oh ya, for playing the violin, she was rewarded with another Ang Pao from Ah Ma! hahaha.

*Time flies, last year today(exactly, :>), she was still 'pretend playing' on her toy violin and hummed the birthday song('cos we've not sent her to the class then) for her grandma on video...

Back home later, I found another way of wearing the 'dress' actually looks better :

Worn it this way. Used to tie a big riboon with infront

but she wanted it at the back tonight instead :

A Good Old Ride

When the rain showed signs of stopping at around 4:15pm, Renee told me happily "mommy, the rain has stopped!". After quickly getting the balance ingredients into the soup and getting ourselves ready, we left home at around 5pm. This time round, the 'walk' to the LRT station had not seemed as long as before and Renee was even keen to take the train back home, hahaha.

I took the opportunity to ask her if she'd be ok with the walk if it's gonna be a daily affair when we go to and back from her school and if so, we could resume schooling with the pre-school, she didn't really answer that though, hahaha.

In the train, the minute it moves off, Renee exclaimed "Oooh, hahaha, Oooh hahaha", soo funny! She was like soo 'sua gu' that a young man sitting opposite couldn't contain himself and laughed... This reaction had been sooo different from her very 1st train ride when she had been alittle afraid, but then again, she was much younger then, :D.

I've earlier asked daddy the time he would be able to meet us at the mall, but not wanting to depend on the answer, I decided to bring Renee to have her dinner first. Without saying, to let her have a 'proper' meal, I have to bring her to the foodcourt, where she could have her favourite CharSiew + Roast Duck Rice. It was past 6:30pm and this foodcourt, as usual, began to jam up with human crowd. I spotted a table but when I reached it, a young boy irritatingly dashed to it. I was stunned, geez, I'm with a young child and you have to snatch it from us? Doesn't he has any sense of social grace nor even the courtesy to let me have it especially when I was already approaching and near it. Anyway, I believe that one will get better 'ending' when one's wronged/cheated/bullied and true enough, we found a BETTER table, :). It was also very near the stall and so, I told Renee to stay seated there and went to get her the food and when I've just returned to the table, daddy text to say that he'd be late and we're to dine on our own and pack some back for him. I wasn't feeling hungry due to the late lunch and thought that since I can't go around to look for what I'd have for dinner, I told him I'd pack mine together with his. However, after feeding Renee for a while, she asked to self-feed and that's when I suddenly felt like going for some dessert. There was only 1 pax left when I checked the stall out and I thought I could make a quick buy and told Renee so. It was a bad decision! 'Cos although our table area was within my sight, but Renee, being sooo small, was not quite visible to me. Well, it was still alright actually had the lady not deliberately taken her own sweet time to fix up even a bowl of dessert! All the time I was waiting for my bowl of dessert, my heart was thumping hard with anxiety and when I finally got my order(needless to say, a long que had formed by now), she must have seen the look of frustrations on my face that she gave me very very little of the ingredients, aiyoh, what's wrong with these aunties ar?! Why do they choose to work in such speed demand places when they want to take their time to do things?('cos it's very obvious they're not slow due to age) Simply cannot understand...

When we got home and had finished our dinner, daddy said that he's going to transfer some of his stuffs to the new S60(yes, he's finally collected it today) and I suggested that perhaps I should also give it a test drive. When I got to the car, I realised that it's not that 'big' after all and what made me felt that it was earlier, I dunno, hahaha. Perhaps it was the lighting of the showroom or could I have compared it to the C4, which then of cos would make it so... Anyway, daddy felt that I should be getting myself familiarised with driving the audi instead but that one is really one that I don't wish to, partly becos its body's much longer and wider than what I'm used to, 2ndly, I wouldn't want to cause any delay or price reduction to its sale if I should cause it any scratches... Pressurised man! But daddy said that he doesn't want to choke up the mileage of the A6 anymore and if I were to drive the volvo, he'd have to take the A6 and thus, I test drove the Audi just now...

After driving a few rounds + up and down the carpark to familarise myself with the accelerator power/speed and turning radius, I suggested driving out to the road and when we came back, daddy said I'm to drive it out to the dinner place tomorrow evening, oh no!

During the test drive, I found that the steering was really very light and daddy said that it's because the actually, the citroen's very heavy, hahaha. Oh, I didn't know and when I made the 'infamous' U-turn to our place, I realised that he's right, 'cos with this audi's, it was pretty effortless for one to guide the steering back quickly. All in all, the test drive was still ok but then again, the main purpose of me wanting to drive either of the car was because I knew daddy will surely want to go for his golf game this Sunday since there're still 2 cars now and the path to the carpark at Ms Mok's is super super narrow, even daddy had to drive verrry slowly there and I'm really afraid that I might scratch his car... Oh no please no! *crossing fingers*

A Good Nap :)

We'd skipped 'school' and office again today. No no, not becos of yesterday's incident(actually the more I'd like to hear from the teacher on what/how the other girl's parents had commented/reacted) but daddy had a few errands to run, so we'd have to pick her up earlier again and we wouldn't want a repetition of today's tanthrums she's displayed at the car polishing centre yesterday, :>.

I had planned to bring her out to Compass Point - yes, by train! But the weather forbidded us to do so... :( So, we both went to take a nap, heeeee.

Daddy had just came home to park his A6 and he's left again, by taxi(heee) to pick the S60 up. He won't be coming back immediately though as he had a few other places to go to, shall see if he could be back early to take us to the mall, then perhaps I could give the car a test drive, kekeke.

Janice called me just now 'cos I've told her earlier that we're contemplating if to resume school earlier with Kinderland preschool and she told me that the school's got 2 H1N1 cases currently and though that particular class has been closed for a week, it is however not a good time to return. I told her that we're only thinking about it last night and had actually thought against it in the end, 'cos it might not seem convenient afterall to go by trains - though it'd do mommy good to burn off the extra weight gain, lolz. Anyway, still too early to finalise anything, so things shall still remain for the time being...

A Vicious Pinch

After daddy's client's left the office, he suddenly declared that we'd need to go pick Renee up early as we need to collect the car before 4pm - and I'm on standby mode to drive the car...

When approaching the school's gate, I saw Laoshi went upstairs. I asked 1 of the teachers there if the children were still sleeping and she replied that Laoshi has gone up to check. Apparently, she had actually meant that Laoshi has gone up to wake Renee up 'cos when I followed her up, I saw her trying to wake Renee up, very gently. Too gently I would say, 'cos our dear precious did not even stir, hahahahaha. Laoshi finally gave up and asked if I would like to wake her up myself. I went in as quietly as I could in order not to wake the other younger kids and the 2nd time I tapped on Renee's arm, she woke up with a 'fierce' look but actually she's more shocked than 'angry', like she couldn't believe that 'mommy's here', :).

Then as I was collecting her bag, Laoshi came to inform me that Renee's hand was 'pinched' by a fellow classmate, Li ling and that teacher Diana had left a note in the communication book. From the marks left behind, I would say this girl has got a worser temper and even quite 'vicious'! It seemed that she had dug her nails into Renee's hands when she pinched her and had held it there for quite a while, Geez! Later, at dinner, I asked Renee about the incident and in order to get the whole incident properly, I told her to tell me truthfully what had happened exactly and whether she had snatched the toy from Liling at all. I assured that it'll be alright to just to tell me the truth... She said again that she didn't snatch and had actually asked Liling if she could have the toys or even join her in the play but this girl just pinched her like that, unwilling to let go of, nor share the toy. I asked if she's cried 'cos it obviously hurt quite abit since the marks are still very visible, even now and 1 even showed abit of peeled-off skin when I first saw it. She told me that she had not cried but had gone to teacher Diana about it. The story ran on and some part of it was quite funny 'cos there was another girl, Rachael who also likes to pinch others...- ok, not going to elaborate here since it's a different story, lolz.

After we've all had our dinner, I told her that if anyone bullies her like that again, she's got to defend herself. Not to fight back, but she has to learn to defend herself. In this particular situation, she has to 'ward' off the pinch by pushing the girl's hand away. Same applies to anyone who might try to 'hit' her in the future. I recalled some people saying that physical 'punishment'(let's not confuse punishment with 'abuse' here but it's totally necessary on the kid(s)'s really really naughty days) will teach the children violence and this case I think, was a scenario to prove it otherwise. Even when daddy was guiding her physically on how to ward off these 'attacks', she didn't even register a hard enough defence, aiyoh and daddy had to go through with her a few times to ensure that she'd better defend herself in the future.

The girl, did not apologise, even when teacher diana had told her to...

Here're the marks...

photos taken after shower

This is what the teacher's wrote in the teacher/parent communication book

*the 'medication' part already told us how bad it was...

New Skincare

Since my Spa retreat during our trip to Thailand with my friends, I've been thinking and thinking about trying out the shower gel that I've tried then, 'cos I really liked the effect of this brand of products/treatment then.

Finally today(yeah, after sooo long, hehehe), I decided to really give it a try! Well, I guess my recent lousy skin condition kinda helped firm up my decision, heee. So, equipped with a list of a couple other products I've gathered from their web which I found worth trying, we picked Renee up earlier from the CCC and went down to Shangri-la Hotel. Why the hotel? It's becos only the Spas at this and Traders' hotel carry/use this brand of products.

My list had included a couple of travel kits(to try more products) but they do not have them on their retail shelves and as I've a few questions on hand, a therapist was buzzed up to attend to my queries. Eventually, I ended up with products different from my list and upon paying, I was at first shocked at the total cost(but although they are of the higher end spa retreat, they didn't push all their most expensive products to me, *phew*) but relaxed immediately when I recalled the amount of money I'm already spending on my current Dermalogica's, kekeke.

So, from now on, my new skincare regime will include these, :) (the 2 smaller bottles are samples) - hopefully they will do me skin good! :

Supposed to collect our V S60 this evening but we've asked them to send it in for paint protection coating and they've done so too late(instead of our instructions to send in the AM), thus the vehicle wasn't ready when we went to collect it. Perhaps tomorrow, anyway, we aren't in a hurry...(the more I look at it, the more I don't think I wanna/dare drive it, daddy still said it's not big. ya, compared to his, it's not as long lah, but it's different, to someone who's not driven for long and whose 1st car was a C4 which is only a 1.6 car ! :<)

Cards Making

Another stay-home day for Renee 'cos we wanted to stabilise her temperature further. Feeling bored myself, I had wanted to bring her down for a cycle but the agent needed to come over to get some documents signed. By the time he left, I have to get Renee's lunch ready and though I decided to go down later, this girl has to go and throw tanthrums that I decided to 'call it off', :(. In the end, I got sooo bored myself that I took out some paper crafts and told her that we'll make some cards. The 1st card was a flop even though I've picked a supposedly simple design(I guess what makes it harder is 'cos the book showed one but we've to make a few!), hahaha. And... finally, 5 cards were done but I was sooo tired and my back ached! Shall put up pics later...

Renee's apetite at night didn't seem as good and she's asked for only soup but not sure if it was due to the rice or perhaps it was becos of her having drank soup consecutively for 3 days, she didn't quite managed to finish it...

Then, just after I've showered her and getting ready for mine, the agent has to come over again as he's got the signatures on the wrong portion of the documents, aiyoh...

A Day of the 'Past'

It's a good thing that we've decided to let Renee stay home today 'cos it turned out that her fever hasn't fully subsided and had came back this morning. Though the temperature wasn't as high, it'd still be good for her to stay home.

Today's also been a day of rest for me(without any rush) and I was even able to do some drawings with her. She seemed to have enjoyed it 'cos when we suggested another day of home-rest tomorrow til she's fully recovered, she didn't protest(though she did mention once about wanting to go back to the CC). However, being an 'active' girl, she wasn't entirely satisfied with being couped up at home the whole day and had came to me a while ago and asked where we would be going to tomorrow. Again, I have to remind her that we won't be going anywhere since I no longer drive - she doesn't like the idea of taking public transport, esp. the MRT/LRT. Although she's enjoyed those rides before but it's those times when we had to squeeze with the people in the train that 'scared' her. Besides that, she's also too lazy to walk the way home from the LRT station and I remembered those times before I started driving, I had to bring the stroller along whenever I brought her to & from the preschool so she doesn't have to walk! tsk tsk tsk... Taxi? She had never really quite enjoyed taxi rides... Anyway, there's no necessity for us to be out so, this is not an issue now 'cos if need be, I could try dragging her to the nearby mall, hahaha but not tomorrow, since we need her to recover asap.

No school, no speech and drama for her tomorrow then...

"Happy Birthday"

I couldn't put up the video but I've extracted the part when she played the birthday song for me, on her violin(but u can hear mostly of papa's voice, hahaha), :) :

New School Bag

As promised, we went to get Renee a new bag* today 'cos the current one can't contain 1) a change of new clothes, 2) bath towel, 3) small cup wif toothbrush/paste, 4) communication book, etc. Thinking that since it's near to the Physician's and also that it might carry a wider range of schools bags since it's supposed to be 1 of the bigger branches, I had suggested going to the Kiddy Palace at Toa Payoh hub.

TP hub used to be irritatingly heavitly packed with human crowds but today, as with most Singaporeans, it seemed like the people's interest had died down and it's a place with breathable space again.

However, the range of school bags at this branch's really miserable as compared to what I've seen at Compass Point branch. Still, we managed to find one(that is not so cheena, kekeke) - the last piece even for the design(no other designs available anyway, for this size, haiz...). Initially, Renee had requested for a 'Barbie's trolley bag but I really dislike this character, heee, so I told her that she could choose a Disney Princesses' but, in the trolley style, neither of these characters' are available in the medium size. Somehow, I spotted a Minnie Mouse's and whilst waiting for daddy and Renee ventured to look at the toys, I had to carry it around with me 'cos it was the ONLY piece in this size! Aiyoh... should have just made daddy go back to Compass Point regardless of its carpark jam, heeee. When I first showed this to Renee, she had exclaimed : "I want a Princess one!" but when I told her that it's a trolley bag and that the other characters' are too big, she immediately came over to check it out and when confirmed that it is truly a trolley bag, she said "ok, I want this one", aiyoh....

*We've made Renee 'pay' for this bag - this is to let her learn to pay for her own stuffs and not to ask parents for everything she wanted. We of cos didn't actually take her money but apparently she still can't understand the value of money 'cos she's insisted on giving 50 S$1 coins to her daddy when she was only to 'return' 40 of it, hahaha. But, this shall b e a start, from now on, she'd be 'paying' for her own stuffs now and then... :)

How time flies, it had seemed not too long ago that the USAMOMO pink rabbit backpack was still too big for her but now we have to get her a bigger one(but actually, it's only because we needed e space for her barang packed to CC, heee). For the record, both bags cost about the same, close to S$50 and there are a few others(though bigger in size) I saw that cost about S$80 each! Geez, why are children's stuffs so expensive these days! And guess what, I just realised that 1 of the bag's charms was missing!

We came home straight thereafter and seeing that it was very windy, daddy suggested a kite flying adventure later but Renee later changed her mind and requested for a session of blowing bubbles, citing that "kite flying is sooo difficult", hahaha. I had wanted to take some shots of her at play but later decided to stay back to rest - yes, I'm that tired...

Renee's fever seemed to be subsiding but daddy said to let her rest at home tomorrow and thus I don't have to go to the office either, hurray! Heee. But Renee was not willing! She had wanted to use her new school bag asap and in compromise, she asked "so I go to the office?" and began to think about what to pack into the new trollery backpack, hahaha. And when daddy told her 'no, u're not well, so you rest at home', she turned to me and asked "then where do we go?". I replied "no where, mommy doesn't have a car now" and she went "haiyah..." hahaha.

No Birthday Song

Indeed, as expected, there's no playing of the birthday song but it's not becos the 'violinist' wasn't keen but she was attacked by FEVER!

This is the 2nd time since we've placed her with the CC that she came home with fever, and on both occassions, on a Friday night... I can't say much for the 1st time, but this time round, I think she's truly very heaty as well. I can feel the 'heat' from her breath even! This girl, after the 1st attack(since the CC), had been obediently taking in more water and soon as the incident was long forgotten, she began to slack again. Me not being there, can only tell her, urge her and I've even requested Mrs Teoh to alert the teacher that she doesn't drink much water thus, getting heaty and succums to falling ill easily. Still, the pattern came back... This had been the very reason why I've always have to be very careful with her food intake(avoid giving her too much fried/heaty junks or at one/close period of time).

Elsie was concerned and urged us to bring her to the doctor and since luckily, daddy's golf game's cancelled(he had suggested that I called the violin teacher to 'retrieve' the slot back but I told him it's pointless since Renee hasn't been practicing at all, hahaha), we decided to bring her to the physician tomorrow.

Morning, Day and Night

Since the day I began going to the office, my daily lifestyle has been rushing mornings, not so rushing(sometimes even quiet, hahaha) afternoons and No-Rest evenings/nights! However, there's a little change today.

We started off, the 3 of us, at a slow pace, well, minus the first morning rush of cos and afternoon, it was still manageable though due to some work, both daddy and I had a rather late lunch. It was near evening when the rush set in... First, we had to bring Renee to get her gift of 'cakes' for her aunty PC and to avoid too much of a rush, we decided to simply dine at the mall although both of us weren't hungry at all.

We got the cakes and arrived at Eileen's before 7:30pm and she was quite happy when Renee called out to her loudly and cheerfully at the door. However, she didn't sing the birthday song as she said she would but when Eileen gave her a piece of the fried chicken she's cooked, she said she'd play the song on the violin for aunty tomorrow, well, we'll see about that when the fried chicken's long forgotten in her tummy the next day, hahaha.

Anyway, we didn't stay long 'cos it's marketing day today and I needed to get the foodstuffs individually cut/packed before we had to rush again, down to Ms Mok's. Due to the school's concert tomorrow and also, many of her students are going for the coming ABRSM grading exam, it was lucky for us that she's able to slot us in at such short notice, for our violin to be fine tuned. We were supposed to go over at 9:30pm but something else cause a further delay. Recently, we've been getting this script running error message on our desktop and daddy, thinking that it's the 'extra' windows programme that he's loaded in(it's already running on Wins XP), had gone and removed it last night. That, however, created a problem, not for him but for MOI! 'Cos my ISP email account run on Outlook Express and it was via the said programme! Not only that, it kinda messed up the log-in connection and when I called up the Singnet Broadband hotline, the technical help guy told me, after a series of questions, that it's a problem due to our network card and we've to bring our CPU down to any computer shop for verification. Oh man, what's this? Anyway, I've encountered a number of cases with them previously and knowing that 1 phone call usually will not solve the problem, I made another. I'm lucky this round, it was a female 'technician' and she helped solved the matter! and the whole process was quite an experience(to me, 'cos I've never been guided via this way before!)...:

Me : *relating the problem all over again since she couldn't find the record of my previous call, which was less than 15mins ago

She : "don't worry, I'll help you solve the problem. I'll need you to do a screen sharing ok"

Me : "Ok, tell me what I have to do"

She : *guiding me through

Me : *going through all the downloads...

Me : "does this screen sharing means that U'll see what I see?"

She : (can't rem exaclty what she said but it's something like that:)"don't worry, I'll be able to see your screen and I was like 'huh?'"

She : "Ok, can you see me moving your cursor now?"

Me : *amazed*, "Ya!"

She : "Ok, can I remove this..."

Me : "errmmm, honestly, I don't know... but if you think it'll help..."

She : "I think this might be the one causing the problem"

Me : "ok then, remove"

*I'm literally looking at my screen being controlled by another person, invisibly and finally I couldn't stand it, I blurted : "Oh man, this looks scary, like a horror movie, hahaha". She also can't help and giggled, then "this is your first time seeing this? u've never been through this?". Me : "Ya, never been guided through this programme before, really quite scary, hahaha"...

Finally, it's done but though I'm now able to log in to my email account but since it's using the 'old'/original outlook's, I've lost all datas and my contacts(good thing the older version one still has some of my contacts in it), Arrrggghhh! This is gonna take quite abit of my time to 'restore' I guess, haiz...

Umbrella & Windmill

I had not known what this was, and had initially mistaken it for a hat(esp. when it doesn't have the 'handle', probably dropped off, heee) til I see this word on its inside... Since she's started with this CC school, I've noticed a few quite interesting works guided/initiated by their chinese language teacher. Though they're aren't some 'big project' kinda work, but personally I feel that simplicity could be easily/better appreciated by these younger children since they won't reequire much of adults' assistance to complete, thus they could proudly claim full credit, hahaha.

Mommy's Present

What's this???

It's Renee's birthday gift to mommy!

A few days before my birthday, she had been rather stingy when we teased her about getting me a big birthday cake(oh yes, she can be pretty stingy sometimes, hahaha). But later, she 'felt guilty' and decided to give an even bigger one - a S$100 contribution! She proved it by taking 100 S$1 coins out from her coin bank, put them in her bag and said that she wanna use this amount of money to buy me a gift. Daddy later told her that she could share and contribute to the gift daddy will be getting for me and she said "Oh yes!" And she even drew me a card, awww, ain't that nice? :).

Then tonight, just before she went to sleep, I told her about her aunt Eileen's birthday today and she went "again?", hahahah. I reminded her that she's already agreed to getting aunty a cake with a S$10 contribution, then she said "Ok, S$9" and went to dig from her coin bank happily, hahaha.

New Car?

After we've picked Renee up yesterday, daddy took us to view the car he's set his eyes upon when I told him that he has to also sell his car. However, what I wanted him to replace it with is a smaller car(so that in the meantime, I could still drive it occasionally to do my stuffs since he's too lazy to fetch me) probably a 1.6/1.8 or even a 2.0 but in a medium sedan size but he doesn't quite like it and this, a Volvo(the only brand we know so far, that has in-built childseat) S60 is small to him. Haiz, anyway, it's still managable(to me) as compared to his current A6 I guess...

Renee hasn't been practicing on her violin since her lesson on Sunday and with 2 songs to achieve this time round, we'd made daddy REMEMBER to bring up the violin on Tuesday night. Last night, we got ready for practice but guess what? The violin, having been left in the car for 2 days(bumping here n there) is sooooo out of tune! Haiz... another day without practice. If we're unable to get it tuned by tomorrow evening(Ms Mok just informed me that she won't be back home til 9pm at least for the next 2 days), then I guess we'll have to skip this week's lesson...

A Thoughtful Child

"Mommy..." was what I heard muttered sofly beside me early this morning(before the first morning light). I was sooo tired that I didn't even stir but I could hear little footsteps, directing back to the princess' bed... Then, a soft sob jotted me up from my sleeping position and when I reached her, "why darling, why are you crying?", she replied with a sad face and amidst her sobs "I had a scary dream". Oh geez, my little girl's frightened by a bad dream(must be due to the scary image she saw on tv - repeat telecast of e S'pore Idol last evening), had not even want to wake me up and yet I've failed to react instantly...

Daddy, woken by my alarm this morning, asked "why is mommy sleeping on your bed, baby?" Good thing I've heard her sobs and managed to comfort and offer her a sense of security on time, :).

Finally, Phew!

Again, another 'lack of sleep' day for me today and Renee too! Why? 'cos despite being tired and sleepy, she didn't fall asleep(or was woken up when about to, due to daddy returning home) early though I've tucked her in before 10pm.

And, after almost 2 weeks of hassle(created by the dishonest dealer - TW) and complaints to the relevant authorities/associations last week, the SVTA, not condoning the acts of the dishonest dearler, had told us that this matter(regarding the sale of my car) will be resolved BY today. Good as their words, we finally got the transaction finalised(with payment) this noon, via another agent. The dishonest dealer even got the cheek to get this agent to request for their letter of indemnity back from us, hahaha, OMG!

We're still not sure if the authorities/associations would be strict enough to penalise them and even get them off whatever seats they're panelled on with the associations, so as to prevent them from continuing to use these good names to trick/swindle others in the future.

Wake Up, Darling...

Having slept late the past 2 nights and only got home after 9pm from Li's last night, I woke up a zombie today. Since Renee's more or less adjusted to the new 'school', it's gotten harder and harder for me to wake her up in the morning. Each morning, I'd have to 'play' with her in order to get her fully awoke and get up. Now it's struggling but I'm feeling the frustrations setting in...

As a client has invited daddy to a group lunch today, I had to pack something back to the office(for my lunch) after breakfast, which I did, with another bag of fruit - 'Luk Gu Bang Sak'? heee. Enjoying!

However, when daddy came back to the office around 3pm, he told me that we'd be picking Renee up early as his overseas client(let's name him Mr T for easy reference in the future, heee) is here again and he has to send us home first so he could take a nap as well. He must be happy lah, don't have to shower princess. :D.

Since her violin lesson on Sunday, we've not began any proper practice and I thought, since we're early today, perfect! We could do with some practice tonight but Renee, when she heard me telling her about practice, went to the room, came out and told me this : "but mommy, we've forgotten to bring the violin home again". Oh man, what a waste!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

For my birthday this year, we decided to book a room with 1 of the hotels facing the stage as Renee's been bugging us to go to 'hotel room' and it hardly seemed possible that we'd be going for any holidays anytime soon. However, we've only decided last month on this and thus, the deluxe rooms have been fully booked when I called them up. We have no choice but to reserve one on the premier floor, with of cos, guaranteed firework view, :).

We had came home late from the dinner last night but I still wasn't 'allowed' a late sleep-in 'cos I've yet to pack our stuffs. Good thing it's only going to be a one day/one night stay, so it was pretty easy on the packing, :).

I had earlier cancelled Renee's violin lesson also for this week but, when I realised that we'd only be checking in from 2pm, I quickly phoned the teacher to 'retrieve' the slot back, heee. This perhaps wasn't a very good idea 'cos we've totally slacked on her practice last week(also, we had been busy the past week and had been coming home late), thinking that she'd have another week to do so on the same piece-Allegretto. This morning, the teacher commented that although Renee's basically ok with the song but she didn't seem very familiar with all the notes(a couple pauses though very short, still it's no good), so Ms Mok said to give her another week before she embarks on the actual 'staccato' playing of this piece as it's not easy. Nevertheless, she engaged her on a new song(which I like, heee) plus another extra piece from the 'Exam book'... Honestly, I don't know if we'd have enough time to do that or not, :(.

Anyway, after the lesson, we headed straight to Marina Square(despite daddy's suggestion to go back home first after the lesson) for a quick lunch and glady so, 'cos daddy remembered last minute that the road will be closed from early/mid afternoon!

By the time we got to the hotel, there was already a que at the check-in counter but luckily for me, I was attended at the 'special' table, hehehe. The person whom attended to us offered to send a birthday cake up when he noted my birthdate on my ID and even allowed us to check out later than 3pm(which is the max even when there're rooms avail.) the next day which was however regretfully un-necessary since we're checking out earlier to go to Li's place, :)...

We went back to the mall for a little shopping(for my birthday gift) after a short rest but it didn't seem possible for me to find one within the short timing esp. when I don't have anything I wanted in mind and so we just went to pack our dinner from Tony Roma's - as per Renee's request and headed back to the hotel, complete with drinks, ice-creams and titbits, heeee.

Back in the hotel room, I was wondering if I could have requested for a tiramisu cake but guess what? They really sent me one! and at the time daddy's requested - 8pm, before the fireworks began, hahaha.

It was one of the rare occasions that I'd watch the NDP parade on the tv but this year, being so close to the event and also, hving nothing else better to do, we watched it both on TV and at the actual location from our hotel room, :).

Renee, I must say, has been the one whom enjoyed the hotel stay the most. For the past 2 weeks, she's been counting down : "Mommy, is it your birthday this Sunday? Can we go to the hotel room now?" and since the time we got to the room, she's been asking if she could have her 'bath' already. One must be wondering why was she asking for a bath so eagerly... Well, it's because I've told her to get her daddy to pack his swimming trunks and have some water-play with her. Pity I couldn't join them in the tub, but I was in there nevertheless, taking pics and videos :D

The crowd that was neither here nor there, heee

Tiramisu, yum!

When Eileen heard about the 'tub play', she had commented : "aiyoh why bath tub?" Simple, 1st-Renee has always enjoyed water-playing in the tub and 2nd-we don't have to share the pool with others(hygiene wise, not very enticing during such epidemic period), 3rd-it's late, 4th-we could fill the tub with bubbles and warm water(with no fear of her catching a cold outside). So, with these reasons, why not? :D

Hey, I should be the one getting all these! :D

Why was the fireworks sooo scarce this year?-view last year's here. Wrong timing(wasted at the beginning, causing 'false alarm'?) or cost cutting? In fact, wasn't the whole parade/event shorter this year?

Dinner + Auctions

The earlier mentioned temple's holding the annual big dinner event tonight and though daddy was given up to 7 tables from the auctions he's bidded last year, he only took up 3, reason-the auction money should go to the temple's use/donations(some even got their indian/china, etc workers over just to fill up as many tables as they could). For our 3 tables, we've invited some of his clients to join the dinner('cos his clients always invited him too) and as I realised last minute about some vacant seats, I asked a couple of my sisters but as expected, they declined due to the distance.

These dinner events had always been graced by the appearances of VIPs. Last year, the event was graced by the appearance of our Minister for Finance and this year, MPs Dr Amy Khor and Mr Ang were present. Many businessmen also attend this dinner every year and thus the auctions' biddings usually scored high markings. This year, the biddings even soared up to a high of >S$150,000 for 1 of the blessed banners(due to overwhelming demand, there are 3 blessed banners this year), with the rest no less than S$100,000 each.

As before, due to the number of items on auction(both acquired by the temple and donated/sponsored) the dinner lasted beyond 11pm and we had only just got home not too long ago. We are to check in to the hotel tomorrow and I've yet to pack our bags! Anyway, can do so in the morning, sooo tired now...

Toilet Revamp and Again?

After PX's left, daddy fixed up the new toilet seat(I like the glitteries, heee) whilst I quickly try to make some changes before leaving for my facial appointment.

I was recommended a new treatment today but I opted for the anti-stress one. I'm glad that I chose that 'cos it provides a longer and stress-relieve massage and what's better, I later found out that it's cheaper too! I also tried the eye treatment that uses ultrasound(1 out of the 4 free ones that came with the new pkg). I must have been sooo tired that despite the short nap I took after daddy and Renee's left home that I even dozed off several times during my facial treatment... Perhaps the massage was that good? :)

Daddy was supposed to fetch me back from the mall but he didn't, using Renee being still napping as an excuse. So I packed our dinner, took a cab home and rushed to cook Renee's meal. Thereafter, I busied myself with the re-arrangment of toilet fixtures - moved all of Renee's stuffs over to the master bedroom's with a brief trial run - seemed ok. However, when the actual routine began, I started to feel that it's afterall not really that feasible and so I began moving everything back! Hey, what's the man of the house doing? Aiyoh... Well, I'm used to it by now. Anyway, One thing remained 'changed' though I still moved it to the common toilet as per Renee's request(instead of holding all of ours, it nw holds her toothbrush, rinsing cup and face towel, :>), is this :

I've seen this sometime ago on an online spree but didn't get it, then when I saw it at
West Coast Plaza few days ago, I quickly grabbed it. Renee loved it!

Too bad, last 1 at the shop, else I would've taken 1 more, hee

New Toilet Seat

We came home really late last night as there was another major ceremony at the same temple and daddy had only realised it last minute. As such, poor Renee couldn't even have a proper shower last night due to the late hour, :(. Luckily, she's already had a shower in the CC and it's funny how she always smelt like a baby when we pick her up from the CC despite the fact that the teacher still uses Renee's shower soap that I've packed over and not theirs... Anyway, by the time we got home after picking the vegetables up from Eileen's, it was already way past 10pm and thus, another shower(incl hair wash) was certainly not advisable(but I think daddy gave her a quick rinse still...). Good thing it's only half day school for her today, :).

Renee had insisted on going to the CC and thus I tried to wake her up this morning. She woke, but due to not having sufficient sleep, she was sooo cranky that she fussed soo much and cried when I tied 2 ponytails for her instead of 1, aiyoh.

I've orderd a 2-in-1 toilet seat a wk+ ago and today, it's arrived at the organiser's! Co-incidentally, her place was very near the temple and we quickly went to pick it up before going for the prayers :

I'm still comtemplating which toilet should we install this cute and convenient seat(I didn't know that the adult's seat is also padded!) after PX's left later and then guess what? I saw another CUTE design on the organiser's web!!! Oh NO!!!

Daddy's now on the way home with her now and I shall cook her favourite mee-sua + spinach + codfish meal, :).

The School Work

Renee must have had 'play' in her mind so much that she couldn't remember exactly what she's learnt in the CC. And after my conversation with Mrs Teoh last Friday, when she offered for the teacher to pack her worksheets/artwork for me to view, then I realised what has been 'covered'.

However, I was only shown the work by laoshi and on Monday, when I saw teacher Diana, she asked Renee why she has not brought the worksheets back. Oh, we didn't know...and then again, we've forgotten about it again yesterday, hahaha. So today, as I was telling the teacher that I'd be picking her up before their nap-time, Mrs Teoh arrived and asked if I've seen worksheets. I told her that actually we've forgotten to pick them up and she said she'll re-arrange with the teacher again.

So, here they are :

I like the 'effect' of the 'blow paint' on the 'fire'(1st piece of the worksheets)

Under this 'country theme', I like the 'chain' their laoshi has got them making. It's very interesting and i find the 'linkage' helps them to remember the animals' origin. Thus, when laoshi and teacher told me that this particular piece of work will not be compiled into their portoflio due to its size, I requested to keep them and they agreed, ;)

Sssnake

The Walk

The taoist temple at Jurong is celebrating one of the Deity's birthday/big day(if I'm not wrong abt the title) and as it's the biggest event of the year for this temple, daddy had gone for the pre-prayers last night and came home around 3am(according to him this morning). Today, the ceremony started at 4pm.

Renee was unhappy that we're to pick her up early so daddy told her we'll just pick her up after he came back from the temple. However, he didn't count that things might be delayed and I guess, it had been quite impossible for him to phone me since he's helping out at that moment, I only got to know that he'd be later than the latest pick up time at the CC - 7pm. He never seem to register anything that I've told him before! Men! I've told him before, about the pennalty that some CCs would impose on parents for picking their children up late - I supposed this is to prevent parents whom happily leave the children there whilst they have their dinner/get their stuffs done. It's not so much about the penalty but the fact that the both our girl and the attending teacher have to wait, just isn't to my liking(if I can help it). He just told me to tell them we'd late or I could walk/take a cab there. It was already past 6:45pm by the time I knew that he'd be late and thus I decided to rush and lock up the office and WALK to the CC(I reckon it's gonna be hard to hail a cab from there and Also, going by the correct route, via car of cos, it takes only about 5 mins, so it seems kinda silly to take a cab?). Anyway, being the route direction blind me, and partly due to the rush, all that I had in my mind then was "oh no, already so late, my Renee how", it didn't occur to me that I should have gone the same route as I would have if I'm still driving. Instead, I chose the wrong route, thinking that it would also lead to the destination. Aiyoh, sooo silly of me! . In my heels and the lack of 'walking exercise', I began to feel the ache in my legs and I was lost! I phoned Mrs Teoh to confirm the road's name since she's unable to help re-direct me to the CC from where I was - if they're not able to, then how could I, a West area alien find my way out? Luckily the main(small) road wasn't far and I managed to hail a cab. Renee was the only child left in the CC and I thanked & apologised to Lao Shi whom had stayed to look after her. I guess it's because this was a genuine delayed case and that we've always been one of the earliest to pick Renee up, so they didn't penalise us like what we've heard other CCs would normally do.

I've requested for the cabbie to wait for me whilst I went into the CC to pick Renee, so we don't have to walk back nor stand near the main road to hail for another cab. And when we were near the office vicinity, daddy phoned... He's already on his way back, aiyoh, why did he tell me that he might take a while more! *Fed-up*

Anyway, we were all hungry, well, more like the both of them, I was more tired than hungry... and Renee, being 'hooked' with Dian Xiao Er's food, requested to go there again. So, we ended up at one of their branches @ West Coast Plaza, :).

Missed Violin Lessons(Again)

Renee had missed her violin lesson today. This time it wasn't the teacher's 'fault'. I had told daddy much earlier that should my car be sold, he would have to avoid going for his golf games on Sunday as we'd need him to send us over, but he went... Poor Renee would have to miss 2 weeks of violin!

I had wanted to go to Tonkichi again for our dinner but daddy came back and informed that we'd be having dinner with his client at 'Dian Xiao Er' restaurant. Well, good also, since Renee loved to eat their 'Tong Po Rou' and 'Herbal Duck', so I don't have to cook her meal, :).

It's been quite a while since we last met up with the client and surprisingly Renee could recognise the wife! She even warmed up to them pretty fast as well. Probably because of the nonsense/junk food and treats the wife had bought her the last time, hahaha.

When we got back home, we were entertained by a 'splashes' of fireworks!(there was a pre-NDP dinner held here):

Dishonest Car Dealer

Today, the unscrupulous car dealer gave us more problem. Why? According to them, we did not pay them service charge, thus they're not liable to do anything for us and in this case, if we don't do our own adminstrations or whatsoever, the indemnity they've provided us is void. What nonsense?! In the market, the proper/correct rule is that the buyer(the one whom has engaged their service) has appointed them is the one whom has to pay for their services - which they would have attained from the commission they would obtain from the buyer's loan, insurance premium. And for that, whatever that is required for them to fulfil the deal, be it documentations or any services rendered, they have to ensure the job's done. And how can an indemnity given be voided? Ridiculous! Good thing we've got the relevant documentations from them(I've to insist from them).

In any case, we'll be bringing this matter up with the various related authorities. We wonder how many customers(who aren't aware of the usual pratice) they have swindled into paying hundreds of UN-necessary administration costs(their own policy, not market practice's).