June Holidays and the Young Talent Project 2013

This June holidays, I felt, had been a holiday most well spent for Renee and being so, it had, in Renee's own words, 'seemed longer' too, :).

Since the time she's started formal schooling last year, I've been looking forward to these school holidays when we can relax abit on her daily routine and look forward to some outings/fun, but not this June.

From the very first day of the holidays, she's had her violin exam at Nafa and then, concert(Vienna's) rehearsal the next. 

On Monday, together with the other 9 grand finalists of the Young Talent Project 2013(the finals were held a couple of wks ago), she was at Mediacorp's for an interview and some publicity activities.  Needing a mobile phone replacement(my i4's damaged by Rachel, :D), we were dropped off at Paragon and ended up with a Samsung S4(papa's choice).  Then, it turned out that it was only the LCD screen of my i4 that was damaged and repairable at a minimal cost of $70, not like what the staff at M1 had advised - its motherboard damaged...

Tuesday, as we have not packed the luggages, I planned to have a nice quiet dinner at home but papa thought it'd be nice for all of us to dine out and we could also try to get a new pair of sneakers for Renee, for the trip.  The unpleasant experience at the Streats restaurant(they had refused to let Rachel have her own home-prepared food and she was crying whilst we repacked the food back into its container before leaving the place in frustration) spoilt our mood, but as we were already too late to go back to Swensons(need to re-que), we headed for a quick bite at Macdonald's.  I've already lost my appetite by then...  Luckily, we managed to grab what we needed at the last minute and rushed home to complete the packing.  When it was time to leave for the airport, Renee came out of her room, hugging her meimei and crying sadly.  Why? Well, we had initially planned to go on this trip as a family but we had to cancel my and our toddler's tickets when we were informed later, that the arrangements might not be convenient/suitable for our younger one afterall, haiz.  We had to forfeit a  good amount of the ticket fares(both SQ's and the internal flights in Europe) as a result.  Anyway...  Renee cried all the way from home to the airport and our little one wasn't spared the separation agony too.  She kept crying for chehcheh and papa and was so tired that she dozed off sobbing.  I was prepared for the 'saying goodbye' part but I didn't expect that she'd wake up every 20-30 mins after I left her in the room, thinking that she's fallen deep asleep....   However, it didn't take her long to recover from her 'sadness' and was 'okay' the next day onwards.. Perhaps, she really  understood the need of papa and chehcheh going on this trip.  Of course, my being home with her and the rather frequent visits from my sisters had helped too I supposed, and I'm truly thankful for that.  Rachel even got cosy with my gf, Vicky, when she came over, :).

15 days passed quickly and Rachel was really excited abt their return(18/6)  but the holiday mood had to 'end' for Renee as she had only a few days left, to prepare for the Gala Concert.  Due to jet lag, the few days following their return were really bad, and though there had been some practices, they were minimal and hardly of any quality as Renee was constantly feeling lethargic and sleepy...

Then, on the same week, we received a pleasant surprise! - an invitation by the Symphony92.4FM, to go on an exclusive live interview on the news radio 938Live(on the 25/06, 7am) with their VP, Ms Wang Ya-Hui, whom is a renowned International conductress before she joined the Mediacorp.  We are honoured and thankful for this special opportunity...

Ms Wang had kindly arranged a violin loan for us and although we were presented with 2 newly custom-made ones, 1 of which came with a really good bow.  Unfortunately, Renee's unable to use the violin as the bow's much shorter than what she's currently using and we also did not want to paste any cushion padding(which Renee would feel uncomfortable without...) onto the instrument(s).

On 26/06, Renee was dropped off at Mediacorp's, for a pre-event get together session with the hosts and on the 27/06, Rachel was brought to my sister, Eileen's home, as I had to stay with Renee at Mediacorp(for some sound tests/runs, which lasted til ard 8pm).  Prior to bringing Rachel over, I've actually prep-ed her, letting her know that we needed to put her there as I was required to accompany chehcheh's somewhere(related to violin).  She seemed to understand the situation when I spoke to her and told me that she will not cry when there. She really kept to her words, but maybe Li being there to keep her company had  helped too.

28/06 - the day which all these rushing/preparations were all about/for, was most exciting for Renee.  As required, we had arrived at the tv theatre since around 1pm+, for the final sound-tests/runs and whilst the pianist(s) were allowed to go off for the break at mid-afternoon, we had to stay behind.  Many were seen practicing during the wait-in-between hours but we didn't quite manage to find a quiet corner to let her do it, so I simply let her have a break.  She did however practice abit on her own during dinner break(teacher had also stayed around).

Parents were given complimentary VIP tickets for the event but with Renee being so young and nervous, I thought I had better stay at the back stage.  She had said it was ok for me to leave her there by herself, but I felt I should just be there for her.  Fortunately, I did, 'cos when it was near her turn to perform, she was sooo nervous that she almost cried.....  Facing a big event like this(a competition that's going on tv...) for the 1st time, I guess it's natural for someone as young and inexperienced as her to feel such great anxiety, nevertheless, I still felt for her. However, there's really nothing much I could do at that moment but to tell her that, at that point, it's no longer about winning as we're already very pleased for her to have come this far, and all she needed to do was simply to enjoy her playing/music.  Needless to say, the words didn't work its magic and she was still extremely nervous and had played the piece abit too fast, :).  Although we can't blame her for her nervousness, we hope that this experience can/will help guide her on how to gain more control over her nerves and playing for her future competitions/public performances(if any)...


*This event/competition has been a great learning experience for Renee and though she didn't win the competition, we all felt that she's already done a great job to have come this far and compete at the grand finals against experienced performers and award winners(something which we only noted later from the programme agenda provided).

We thank all whom had gone to the tv theatre to render their support to Renee that day and our sincere appreciation to her teacher for his dedication and moral support...

As requested by the station, I am unable to upload her performance on that day but, for the benefit of those whom would like to listen to her playing the piece, here's another video:

http://youtu.be/lktU-mGWCGk

Rachel's 2!

Time flies, realllllllly flies and today, we celebrated Rachel's 2nd birthday!

 

During the cake cutting session of her 1st birthday celebration, Rachel had behaved alittle shy/wary of the people/crowd, kind of resembled Renee(when she was younger) and thus, I had not expected her reaction today! Anticipating that she might not do as bidded, she surprised us by blowing off the candles willingly, and not just once, hahaha.  I know, this is just a normal gesture to some, but with the idea that some coaxing would be needed, this unexpected reaction did appear cute-sy to us, :D. She was just sooo 'ok' with the whole thing and I wished we've had that moment recorded in motion video, arrrrghhhh...  But, luckily, a quick browse through my camera, there are still some photos that my sister had captured, so I guess it's a *phew*(better than none right?), :D

With all the guests over at our place, the birthday girl must be sooo tired without her nap, 'cos after finishing up the bun her chehcheh gave her, she climbed onto my lap, snuggled close to me and fell asleep, almost immediately! hahaha. She even voiced out her displeasure when I told her that she needed to take her chinese medicine(to clear the remnants of her cold) and brush her teeth, hahaha. So papa said to let her be... :)

Renee's 8th Birthday Bash

Although we've initially planned to hold a princess party for Renee(promised to her should she get selected as a soloist at Nafa's concert), the party theme was amended to accomodate the boys(as some of her classmates have boy siblings whom wanted to come along) too.  In any case, the girls were still encouraged to dress as their favourite princess for the fun of it.

 

Good thing I've gotten the goodie bags packed up a couple of nights ago(which caused me really bad backache), so all we had to concentrate on today, would be the decoration of the function hall and the preparation of finger food for the kids.

 

Having never encountered any such 'problem' at other premises before, it did not occur to us that we should perhaps double-confirm our booking with the management(however, this job was delegated to the guards!) and when we went down to check if we could go there slighly earlier to do our set-up, we were greeted with a super unpleasant surprise - they have taken a double booking for the hall and the other party had already set-up there(and they told us can only go there at 4:30pm!)!

 

With the caterer already there and no other choice, we were left only with the option to hold our party at the lobby @the ground level.  Fortunately, the weather was cool today but what I didn't like is that the floor outside the clubhouse is wet(rained) and it's 'open' and near the pools(which can be dangerous to any unsupervised children around).  Again, we're fortunate that the party group is small and thus, manageable(with most of the attendees' caregiver present).

In any case, all's well in the end and Renee had a great time with her friends and that's what really matters, :)

 Birthday girl, 1st on line to have her face painted ^-^

When I realised that we could actually opt for arm painting instead(when 1 of the
girls refused to have her face painted and I suggested painting on her arm),  I quickly asked
Renee if she'd like that too(though I was glad that she had spontaneously went for the face painting).
But she refused to let me take a photo of her before whatever's already painted on
her face was removed, hahaha

But... Gotcha! :)

 

The decorations, thks to my sis, Li...

 

Even the boys got it too! 

Rachel and friends, ^-^

Games time!

 

 

Should have taken a peek/photo of the cake straight upon its delivery, the

fondane's started to melt(forgot to tell them that I don't want any fondane!) and we
decided to leave the toy/doll decoratives out(packed separately for us)...

Some of the guests/friends have already left by this time...

My family came up to our 'new' place when the guests have left the

clubhouse and teasing Renee, they asked her to lie with her presents

for a photo take but she made her meimei do it instead!

And laughed herself silly, tsk tsk tsk, ^-^

She was finally persuaded to join her sister, lolz

 

 

Weaning IV

Today's the 6th day of weaning and during this period, I'd try occasionally, asking Rachel if she'd like to latch but most of the time, she'd remember the taste of bittergourd and declined.  However, she still yearns to latch during those moments when she woke up in the middle of the night and, when she 1st woke up in the morning.  She would kick her legs in frustrations and during the last 2 days, she even told me "ma ma, go" when she realised that she couldn't latch, :(.

Yesterday, she woke up rooting for the breasts(even lifting up my top at the nursing opening, yeah she knows where, haha and yes, I'm still wearing them-homewear & outing's[can't wait to wear 'normal clothes' soon], for ease of expression to relieve engorgement) and surprisingly, she almost, just almost, took to latching again!  Thinking that she should be almost weaned-off by now, I pretended to let her to latch and she must still be feeling abit goggy from the sleep, 'cos she opened her mouth to! Luckily, I was awake and so, managed to pull back on-time and gently reminded her "bitter bitter, you want?", immediately she declined, heeeee.  Then she got abit frustrated and since it's already almost 9am, I decided to wake up with her and teased her out of her aggitation, :).

Another thing,  I woke up this morning with rashes and abit of hives on some areas and initially, I thought that I've got bed bugs but the symptoms/signs that followed later didn't seem so and the doctor told me that they aren't and are more likely to be some allergy reaction.  Felt abit better after the medicine, but still went out to get a new comforter set, heeee(waste $ again...).  A mummy friend just told me that this could also be due to my hormonal reaction since I'm weaning bf now...  I hope it is too...

 

Til now, I would still feel abit sad about having to wean her off and many told me that this is a very normal hormonal reaction but I feel I'm hving it alot worser this time round.  Then again, I had been alot more emotional during my pregnancy with Rae as well(even during confinement period), so I guess this is really normal in a way for me, :*(.  I only hope that she'd lose her urge to latch totally real soon and that she'd take to drinking milk again some time soon...

Weaning III

It's day 3...

 

Things were alittle better last night, though she still woke up feeling aggitated, it was less aggressive than the 1st night.  She still kicked her legs in frustration when she woke up in the middle of the night...

 

Today, it seems like she's finally getting the idea but she still appeared frustrated and though I know it might be due to her being weaned-off bf, I tried not to give in too much to her tantrums.

 

She also tends to wake up earlier these days but it was nice that she asked to sit on my lap this afternoon, after her lunch(just before cheh cheh comes back from school), and fell asleep... Awwww, this is what I've been wanting her to do since she's a few months old, :).  I don't know how long this will last and I certainly hope it'd be here to stay.   However, I told myself to totally enjoy this precious moment whilst I could(but I still put her down onto her bed shortly to avoid it becoming another habit to be weaned off...)

 

I've just managed to tuck her to bed and I'm not sure how things will turn out tonight, I hope she'd soon get over this and sleep through the night without any fuss again, like she did when she's around 2 months old...

Weaning II

It's day 2 and we both woke up zombie-d...

 

Not long after she'd fallen asleep last night, in fact, just 45mins later, she woke up crying... Then it's every other hour and it's driving me nuts.  However, I had to keep my cool for her.

 

At one point, hubby told me to just let her latch and start again today but hello? I've only just re-started it yesterday, I'm not going to give up now that we are going to put a stop to it!  It's not going to give her the correct signal if I give in to her this time round, isn't it?

 

In any case, she woke up at 8am+ today and refused to go back to sleep.  She insisted that I wake up and go out of the room with her, refusing to let papa carry her, haiz...

 

Yawning the morning away, she 'tahan-ed' all the way til about 3pm when she finally fell asleep, sitting on my lap, from watching the going-ons out of our bedroom balcony and I prayed that she would have a good nap before I went to catch a short one myself.(15-20mins into my nap, Renee came in and asked if she could take a break from her practice, haiz...)

 

2 hours+ later, she woke up feeling more energised with better mood and was finally eating her dinner but now I dread to think about bedtime tonight...  Wish me luck!

Weaning

For the benefit of both of us, I have no choice but to give the bf weaning another go.

Again, I chose to start from the day and as we both woke up late at around 9:30am today, the weaning proces 're'-began from that fateful hour...

 

Was told to apply some balsam cream on the nipples but fearing that it might be too 'hot' for her, my sis Eileen suggested using bittergourd instead.  I had thought it a better idea and had in mind to use either that or lemon to deter her from latching.  Luckily for me, I've bought a new bittergourd from the supermarket the other day and the moment she requested for milk some time later, I cut a slice of the gourd, rub it onto my 'n's(both sides, just in case) and though I didn't taste much of it from the slice, Rachel rejected latching right away.

 

The morning was still ok but she couldn't take her nap due to the 'inability' to latch and at around 5pm+, she finally couldn't take it further and asked to latch again.  I rubbed another fresh slice of the bittergourd again and hving seen me performing this act earlier, she quickly realised what's in store for her and refused to latch.  I was in and out of the bedroom with her sooooo many times that I felt as tired as her(if not more...).  Eventually, my hormones reacted again and I started to tear... She saw me tearing and had thought it funny at 1st, thinking that I was trying to trick her but when she realised that I was really crying, she came to me, stroked my hair and arm, hugged and kissed me.  Then when I spoke to her, she pouted and wanted to cry with me, that made me feel even sadder...  Arrrrghhh, I really wish this ordeal would be over soon!  Good thing, being the bubbly her, she soon recovered, went in search of tissue paper, took 1 piece and started to wipe my tears away, before she tried to make me smile again, oh my precious Rachel, I really hope this ordeal wouldn't be so difficult for you and I wish it'd be over soon...

 

Finally, she fell asleep on the high chair after 2 spoonfuls into her dinner, poor thing...  And I took the opportunity to quickly have our delivered pizza with Renee.

 

Then the most feared hour came, Bed-time and as anticipated, she couldn't tolerate and asked to latch again.  I pretended to give in to her but remembering the bitter taste, she didn't dare to take it...  She cried, she fussed, she vented her anger(by facing the wall, :<), begged me(but yet daren't latch)...  I coaxed, I coo-ed, I sayang-ed, I played with her and even with her favourite - having her back scratched, couldn't get her to sleep...  Finally, just half an hour ago, she finally gave-in to lethargy and finally fell asleep and I dread to think what will happen later when she awoke midway....(not forgetting the engorgement I'm feeling the whole day now)...

 

 

Welcoming 2013

I believe many, parent or not, feel the same and that is, Time flies!

It seemed like not too long ago, our Renee was just entering P1 and today, she's attended her 1st day of P2!

 

There had been excitements, adjustments, new friends and even 'experiments' and at the end of the year, although I hadn't the time nor energy to coach Renee with her work, I was still alittle disappointed that she didn't get to the top 3 or 10 within just her class, but with her 90+ mark for all her subjects(though there was a 80+ for her Chinese during the 1st term), I'm contented.  Then suddenly one day, I received a Certficate of Academic Achievement from the MOE, for being in the top 25% in terms of academic performance in the level and course and good conduct in school!  This came in as a really pleasant surprise to me and I hope this would help boost her confidence('cos she's been feeling kinda sad that she didn't come in 1st 3 in the class/school).

Anyway, P1 level is known to be easy and there are going to be new and perhaps tougher challenges which I hope she'd be able to cope well and that, this new year will bring her more learning opportunities, both academically and in the music region.

Another Failed Attempt in Weaning II

Since this morning, Rachel's requests to latch for milk had been declined and though super heartaching, I persevered all the way til her nap time. 

 

Earlier, I had tried to express milk into a bottle and I thought, if Rachel had watched the expression, she might take to the milk knowing that it's my milk afterall, but I soon found out that the suction of the breastpump is no longer competant compared to a toddler's suckling and I didn't manage to get alot of milk out.  She had been making light requests to latch whilst I was expressing but would gently stroke my arms, kiss me when I told her that I couldn't feed her.  From this scenario, I thought, hey, I may succeed afterall but no...  Around noon, her requests to latch got stronger and when I offered her the bottled EBM, she strongly refused, recalling the taste she'd experienced last night(she covered her mouth)... She even lost her apetite over lunch and I began to wonder if I'm forcing it too strongly on her.  Not all kids react readily to the weaning process at the same age after all.  With half finished lunch, she cried, she 'begged' "mama please, mama please...." and cried non-stop.........

 

Normally, she wouldn't lie on my shoulder for more than 5seconds but today, when I told her that I'd carry her to sleep(when I refused to nurse her), she lied on my shoulder for the longest time, sobbing away, and when I told her that I'd carry her on my arms til she sleeps, she didn't protest either...  Minutes later, all the cryings must have made her really tired 'cos she showed big signs of falling into sleep and she even allowed me to put her on her bed and pat her to sleep! I kissed her cheeks just before she fell into dreamland and told her that I love her and that she's done well and I saw a smile on her tear-stained face, :(.

 

The above brief narration does seem to make my weaning process seemed successful, doesn't it? But no, it's not...  Soon, I caught on the 'mummy weaning bug' - hormonal changes...  Surprisingly, this came on super fast!  Signs of depression slowly seeped into me and before I knew it, I was tearing away at the laptop, whilst making payment online!(Good thing Renee had gone to the pool with the helper, else I'd have to face her numerous questions and I don't think I'd be ready for that).  Earlier, whilst googling for tips on a less traumatic weaning process for Rachel, I came upon an article that told me that bf weaning will also affect the mother due to hormonal changes when she stops breastfeeding.

 

Although b/fed, Rachel is not as attached to me as Renee had been but during this short weaning period, she showed signs of clinginess, separation anxiety and she kept 'mama please, mama please' me..... I guess I'm also not ready to wean her, and decided to give ourselves abit more time.

When Rachel awoke from her nap, she smiled at me but pouted immediately when I 'pretended' to deny her of her request to latch again...  Even after I've given in to her request(I continue telling her that I'd need her to stop latching one day soon), she still clung to me like never before...

 

In any case, out of love for the kid, I've failed in my weaning mission and for now, I can only pray that she would one day, soon, self-wean herself off b/feeding...

 

 

Another Failed Attempt in Weaning

I've been telling Rachel that she'd soon need to be weaned off breastfeeding but she simply do not hear of it!  Each time I tell her, she'd go - shake her head and said "ma ma" even when she was merely a few months old!  Since her 1st strong display of bottle rejection, I've been half-hearted about weaning her off - she had cried non-stop, for a good 1.5hrs+! and even refused to latch-on for milk after that, at a tender age of 1mth+, I certainly couldn't bring myself to go through the process when she's at a age of neither here nor there(neither too young to understand nor too old to really wean off).

Besides not wanting to disturb her older sister's sleep('cos she attends the morning school), the home movings and the holiday trips also deterred my determination(had initially planned to give it another try during these few wks of the school holidays).

 

I had wanted to start off with the day feeds but I've heard that if the night feeds are weaned-off, it'd be easier and thus, a week before we depart for Bangkok, I gave it a shot but failed...

Prep-ing her for the 'ordeal' tomorrow, I talked to her just now when she asked to be nursed to sleep.  Again, each time I told her to take milk in a bottle, she'd shake her head and give me the milk hand sign, indicating that she wanted to latch.  I continued talking to her even whilst she nursed and prior to that, I even brought out the breastmilk pump and a new box of milk bottle to show her.  Suddenly, she stopped, got up from bed and showed me that she's willing to give it a shot too and I was elated!  I thought a miracle has happened and quickly, I went to fix her a small bottle(only 160ml worth of FM mix as I'm not sure how much she drinks now), but upon a 1st sip, she gave me a look of disgust, shaked her head, covered her mouth with her hands and began to cry, :(...

 

I've recently met a mummy whom told me that, to successfully wean off b/feeding, I have to give milk in an alternative - spout/straw, instead of a soft teat 'cos that would only remind her of me.

 

In any case, it has been a failed attempt and I hope, I would have better luck tomorrow, with EBM(expressed breast milk)...

Our Christmas @Bangkok, Thailand

Phew, finally, Rachel's fever is also residing after a dose of the chinese medicine we've gotten from the Physician this morning...

 

This trip, prompted by hubby's clients/friends, wasn't arranged last minute(thank goodness) but somehow, we didn't have the mood to pack til the eve and hubby even needed to 'push' me to get me going, heee.  Luckily he did, 'cos it made me realised that I still had quite abit of stuffs to pack! hahaha.

 

Actually, I was rather skeptical about the trip. Firstly, although I've heard alot about the generosity and kindness of the people whom we'd be travelling with, I couldn't help but worry if we could all get along well and most importantly, whether our young kids might cause them any inconveniences.  However, it turned out that they are really nice people and even helped us with our kids!  They were so kind that even Renee felt abit sad when they returned home a day earlier than us(they arrived a day earlier too).

 

Our flight was at a good timing, 5pm(Rachel napped on the plane) and we arrived at Baiyoke Sky Hotel at close to 9pm(Thailand time).  We arrived at a good timing and were greeted with a parade/performance of some of the fairy tale characters and thereafter, the choir started singing and the characters/'Santa Clauses' went around distributing Christmas cookies and we were given quite a handful, lolz.  Our companinions had wanted to wait for us to join them for dinner but it'd be too late, so we told them not to.  Neverthelss, they still packed some food for us and luckily, they told us on time whilst we were trying to find food on our own, :). 

 

As I hadn't been as enthusiastic about the packing this time round, I had only remembered to pack in the kids' travel meds but not the adult's, :(  and so, when the 2 teenager kids of our group fell ill, I hadn't got any of mine to offer.

 

Arrangements had already been made for us to join a local tour @6:45am the next morning and due to the early hour, I only managed a 3hours sleep!  We were brought to the infamous floating market which we've been hoping to have a chance to try!  It was a nice experience though Rachel clung on very tightly to me in the carrier during both boat rides(one motorised and one manual) and my legs almost got numbed from the cramp during the ride on the 'manual' boat, hahaha.  We didn't buy anything from the rides, heeee.

 

Next, we headed to the elephant village where papa and Renee(reluctant initially) rode on the elephant but as Rachel's afraid and refused, I didn't get to try...  Anyway, I don't think it's gonna be easy for me to go onboard carrying her, :).  We were then brought to the wood carving and the gem factories, after the snake show(which Rachel and I missed). The wood carvings were really really nice and we were tempted to buy a cabinet but the price tag put us off the idea, hahaha.

 

After our half day guided tour, we went for our own lunch and though it was already past 3pm, we still managed to do some shopping, grabbed dinner at a chinese restaurant and came back to the hotel for a room change(co-incidentally, this room was also given to 1 of our companions but they had rejected it on the spot).  The 2nd room, though abit smaller, has a king size bed, so it's better for us.  Earlier, on our way back, we had stopped by Amari Hotel and there was also some performances going on there and again, a 'Santa Claus' gave Renee a present, :).  Whilst I got the kids ready for shower/bed, papa went for a massage with the rest, all except me - the one who needed it the most since I carried Rachel the whole day! :(

On the 3rd day, we did more shopping and after our sumptous Japanese dinner at a Zen restaurant, we headed back to the hotel where again, I was left alone in the room to take care of the kids' needs whilst papa went to join the men drinking in 1 of their rooms.

The 4th day was a miserable one.  The night before, I had already felt something coming and I woke up with a high fever, bad phlegmy cough and feeling extreme lethargy.  The paracetemol didn't help and for the whole day, I fell in and out of sleep in the room.  Had wanted hubby to bring Renee along to shop but with my condition, she had to stay in to help watch over Rachel(but she was playing game on my iphone the whole time! lolz).  This turned out to be a better idea 'cos there had been alot of walking involved and Renee would have complained and killed papa's shopping mood, hahaha.

Fortunately, I had felt better on our last day and though I very much hope to sleep-in, I knew I had to wake up early so as to catch on some lost shopping.  Hubby needed to go back to 1 of the shops to do some size exchange, so he left us at the nearby wholesale mall where we only spent 1hr plus before we decided to return to the hotel room 1st.  Thereafter, when we have checked out of the room upon his return, I told him that I wanted to go back to the Platinum shopping mall and we managed to buy some more stuffs(mostly and mainly the kids', hardly any of mine) before we had to rush back to the massage parlour near our hotel as hubby needed another round(haiz) and before we knew it, it was time for us to come home... :)

As I had to carry Rachel onboard the plane, she caught the cold virus from me and got a high temperature when we got home, :(.

We had been to the physician's this morning and thankfully, she's feeling better already, after the 1st dosage of the medication.  Next would be my recovery I hope...

*Bought quite abit of stuffs this trip but mainly, papa's and the kids', :)  Not as much photos taken as well but they can be viewed at facebook, :).

Renee's 1st Solo Performance

Finally, the feeling of a heavy stone is finally relieved today, shortly after 4pm at The Lee Foundation Theatre.

 

At the beginning of this year, we were told that Renee was elected to audition for an opportunity of a soloist performance at Nafa School of Young Talents' annual year end concert.  After a few months of nagged preparation during the 1st semester, she was selected and it was around July or August that they started to prep her on the concert piece.  A few months of tensed/nagged enivornment(due to her laziness to practice!), she finally made it through today!

 

The pre-concert rehearsal began at 1pm and we were set to leave home around 12:30pm BUT, we left her dress at home and had to make a U-turn and thus, we were a little late.. Luckily, the young ones from the Prep Group took a tiny bit more co-ordination/arrangement, so we weren't deemed to be too late(her teacher was just about to ring us when we showed up though, hahaha).

 

As Rachel was not allowed in the concert, we took our helper along so that she could help us look after her when the concert begins.  However, she has to do that even before the concert starts because I was needed at the backstage.

 

We had thought that we could be allowed abit of time for a quick tea break after the 2 hour rehearsal(the whole process run-through), but we were told that the 1st batch of performers are to go to the dressing room straight away and thus, papa had to rush over to the bubble-tea shop to get Renee's/my favourite oreo vanilla shake + chocolate waffle.

 

Having detoured to look for papa, I had to bring Renee to the dressing room myself and had ended up at the 'groups' room but the Dept Head of Junior Music told me that there's another room at the other side for soloists and told us to go over...  However, that room was smaller and not wanting to go in there, I went into the next one(with more toilet cubicles) instead and got her ready there.

 

Her teacher then came by whilst we were munching on our waffle, and told me to get Renee to warm up a couple more times but the latter wasn't quite willing and did only half-heartedly, haiz...

 

When the concert was about to begin, the programme director(I'm not sure if this is her actual job title, hahaha) came to fetch Renee up and her teacher told me to go along with her.  On the way up to the backstage, the lady asked if I've got a seat ticket and if so, then I should go to the audience hall.  So, I went back to the dressing room, pick up the violin case, dress cover, etc etc and rushed back to my seat only to find that my hubby's not there...

 

Soon, my sister Li and good friend Vicky came in with hubby and before we could even say a proper hello to each other, the concert was ready to begin...

 

Sitting there, my heart was in a turmoil - between the want to go check on Rachel and the desire to be with Renee at the backstage, to give her more support if not to keep her warm... But I had to stay put in my seat, if I were to catch my precious girl's very 1st formal concert performance and so I kept telling myself to stay 'calm', hahaha.

 

When it came to Renee's turn to play(she was the 2nd soloist to perform after the prep group's performances), I daren't breathe.  I was secretly praying that she won't trip, make no mistake and a 'smooth' performance.  I'd held my breath til the very last bow she did and finally, I felt sooooo relieved!

 

After her performance, I waited for an opportunity for me to sneak out and straight away, I went to look for her at the dressing room.  I saw her sitting there, alone, looking kinda 'sad' and my heart went to her but she immediately light up the moment she saw me and I quickly gave her a hug.  Told her she did a good job and I'm proud of her.  She said she wasn't sad but felt tired and I guess this is what anxiety(she was really nervous then!) could do to one.

 

Although we felt that some of her home practices(even during rehearsal) had been better but this being her 1st formal performance and that she'd felt really nervous, we think she did not too bad, :).  Hopefully, should she be given another opportunity to perform, she'd do better.  For now, we're happy and glad that the concert's over, so we could concentrate on the next item on the list - Moving home tomorrow!

*Rachel had been good and had slept through the concert(outside the theatre hall, with the maid)...

No Time To Unpack

Oh geez, I've only just begun my unpacking of the luggages/loot when hubby reminded me of the gathering his client has organised for us(he said this meetup will not materialise if papa's not present) this evening... And then, with an almost empty refrigerator, what can I do?  I had to stop my 'work' so we could go to the supermart to get some food stuffs and before we knew it, it's time to get ready to go to the client's house.

 

Tonight, I finally get to put a face to the names hubby had mentioned to me numerous times, including an acquaintance with their wives, :).

 

Renee even had great fun after befriending 1 of the clients' daughters! lolz.

These bottles were left around on the table, with nothing to do, Rachel went to arrange them neatly! 

Ta Da! 

Hello, bear

 

Now, what are you doing, going so close to the bear, Rachel? 

 

Oh! hahaha

 

On our way home, we saw many firemen along the road and as we drove past, we see big clouds of smoke coming out/up from a nearby warehouse/factory. Oh my, it's soooo near our premise!  As we were entering our building's carpark, we saw a fire engine driving out of our compound too...  Geez, this piece of news would surely be reported since it seemed to be quite a big fire...

Our Trip To Korea

Oh my!  Time really flies!  I can't believe that my last post was dated more than 3 months ago!  I've been so caught up with the daily stuffs and I dunno, somehow, I just lacked the energy to blog...  However, this trip is something memorable to me(us) and I want to jot it down if possible, so here I am, heeee.

 

Those who knew us well will know by now that our trips(due to hubby's work commitment/schedule) have to be planned 'last minute' and this one I must say, was really super last minute - it was only planned, confirmed and booked just a few days before we depart!(hopefully our next one won't be soo last minute)

 

We took the midnight departing flight and so the kids slept on the plane... :D.

 

Whilst waiting for our flight(we had tim sum whilst Rae fell asleep and Ne self-entertained, lolz)

 

Arrived! Waiting for our stroller
(cheh cheh had gone with Papa to look for the stroller but the staff brought
ours, together with some others', to where we were waiting, heee)

 

We first stayed at Polaris Hotel at Bucheon as it's nearer to the Incheon International Airport and was recommended by papa's business associate.  The room was very spacious(due to upgrade), with a platform for beds, a living area, etc... It was raining when we had settled in the room and so, we didn't explore much further and had only the nearby restaurants to try our luck with. We really had some difficulty placing order for our lunch!  Luckily, a young man who came into the restaurant later understood abit of English and helped us with our order - but, we still ended up with 2 claypots of this popular ginseng chicken due to miscommunication, hahaha:

 

Their kimchi seem to taste different(better) this time, perhaps it's becos we got to taste them at non-tourist area restaurants, unlike our 1st trip there, when we'd joined the tour group

 

Our 1st 3D2N at the Polaris Hotel

The Jaccuzzi tub where the 3 Tohs had their bath, together, every night there, :)

 

There wasn't much around for us to explore around this area, so we didn't get to buy much(as it's not in the shopping belt, which is in Seoul, and the things there didn't look any good to us), but since it's only the 1st day, we weren't 'worried', heee.

 

 

It was better in the evening, we 'strolled' out further, found more eateries and finally settled for 'Mr Pizza'.  The food tasted really good! lolz, but with Renee being a small eater(unless it's her favorite food), we had to pack some of our pizza back to the hotel.

Gearing up for the evening outing 

 

 

Look how nicely they've packed up our 'un-finished' food!

 

This was what Rachel would ALWAYS do whenever we got
indoor(and she felt warm) - Fussed to have her jacket taken off!

 

And this, was what she'd do whenever we need to put the jacket on her whilst still indoor!

But, once we're outdoor, she'd freeze in action(try to watch out for her 'frozen' look in the pics), lolz

 

 

Day 2, we woke up early to go for our breakfast so that we could be ready on time for papa's Korean counterpart to pick us up. 

Cldn't resist this shot when I went to wake them up after I've gotten myself and stuffs ready, :) 

Honestly, I was prepared and hadn't minded to stay-in at the hotel as the kids really enjoyed playing in the room(climbing up and down the platform was Rachel's favorite pastime[used to be Renee's], hahaha) but from the experience we've had at lunchtime the day before, papa was worried and wanted us to go with him - a pretty long ride to the factory! but well... another experience for the kids, :)

Hey, the staff was even allowed to bring her puppy to the office!

They took us to a sumptous lunch and when the kids(errmm, actually it's Rachel, haha) started to fuss, one of them turned on the cartoon on his mobile phone for some kiddos' distraction, hahaha:

 

 

We were brought back to the hotel after the visit/meeting at the factory so that they could continue with the meeting at their office, and the kids could have a rest/break.  In the evening, not wanting to go through the same search for a restaurant within the area, we decided to go back for more pizza but this time round, we even had to pack the whole plateful of chicken wings/tenders appetizer back to the hotel, :P.

 

Self-entertainment whilst waiting for papa's return to the hotel, :)

 

Yes, we're back at Mr Pizza, haha, with a food-fussy kid and one whom's too young

to be too adventurous with food, we have no choice and daren't take the risk... 

Just look at what this notti girl has done with cheh cheh's shoulder/neck rest? lolz

 

Her signature posture when out in the cold and she'd not move even
an inch when u fuss around her during those moments, hahaha

 

 

With a cab on call(taxi fares r really ex in Korea!), we proceeded to and stayed at the N. Four Seasons Hotel(where Namdaemun market is near to) from day 3 onwards, and right after our lunch at a nearby restaurant(surprisingly rather cheap and good), we went shopping!

 

The room @4 Seasons was smaller, as compared to the Polaris' but it's
super new and clean, so I like it! :D (we dun need e space, I had a hard time watching over Rachel at Polaris'! ) 

This is the result of not drinking enough water, haiz....

They sell these paos freshly steamed and seeing the crowd waiting,

we couldn't resist but to give it a try.  It's nice and got us returning for more another day, :)

Rachel wanted a try-on too, seeing cheh cheh enjoying her new box
of rings(and she lost this particular one she's put on!), lolz

 

Day 4, and it's fun time @Lotte World!  There didnt seem to be much changes to this place since the last time we've visited but Rachel was frightened by the parade which started right when we got in!

 

 

We had only just entered Lotte World when papa said we had to go out(more choices)

for lunch 1st, oh man! hahaha

 

Renee's enjoying the parade whilst Rachel got frightened, lolz

 

 

The only 2 characters that Rachel's not afraid of, :)

 

Saw Renee looking at this big carousel but she didn't ask for a ride, so we didn't join the que...

 

 

The que to the 'hot air' balloon - our kids got to experience what we've had before! :) 

 

To kill Renee's boredom, we left papa + Rae at the que and went for some games but

we didn't know how they work mostly(incl this...), hahaha

 

Trying to figure out how this game works, hahaha

 

Back at the que, I saw a young guy(whom we later shared our contacts with, after

chatted with him further) came back with ice-cream cones and I asked

him where I could get them - wanted to cheer Renee up 'cos dunno

why, she didn't seem to be up to the holiday mood yet

 

Boarding the Gondola

 

View from the hot air balloon

 

Some of the rides from bird's eye view, lolz

Look at the que for the Viking! (wonder how long was the que to the mini indoor roller coaster!)

In the que for some Tea in a Cup!

 

This is a shorter version of their 'tea-cup' ride.  See how Renee was wondering at e speed

of the other tea-cups? hahaha, Papa was busy video-ing his girl that he forgot to figure out

why their cup was the only slow moving one, hahaha!

 

 

It was total darkness inside the Mirror Maze but some TV screens were made available

outside for companions like myself to watch what was going on within and I saw Renee

doing really well in the 'laser' section - she's managed to avoid all laser rays, unlike Papa, haha!

 

Not sure which of my girls will be the 1st person to use these clips, :)

 

On reminder, we even managed to get her specs customised the same evening!

(though I wonder if she'd really get to use it at all since it'd be school holidays by the time we got home, hahaha)

The original plan was that we spend our 1st day in Seoul shopping at the nearby Namdaemun market, Lotte World the next, Everland on the 3rd and more shopping on the 4th.  However, upon learning that it'd take us 2hours(either by taxi Or by train + bus) to and fro, to Everland, we decided against it on the last minute of that morning.  We felt it'd be such a waste to spend 4 hours on travelling to get to a 'fun land' where all we could do was merely 'sight-see' ('cos from what we remembered, most of the rides are for older kids/teens) and so, we went shopping at Dongdaemun market instead...  But before that, we stopped by their History and Cultural Park :

 

Since the time she was asked to collect leaves for an artwork @Nafa Arts and thereafter by her current school, she's always been keen to collect leaves...

 

Having a break in-between more shopping!

(although I was afraid that so much of cheese, coupled with caffaine

might trigger my migraine but I simply cldn't resist!...)

 

After shopping, we went to catch a glimpse of their lantern festival

 Their X'mas Light-up along the way

We thought to give this a try but not sure how to go about it and being tired from a whole day outing, we decided to spare ourselves the language barrier agony + crowd squeeze and give it a miss, hahaha 

 

 The slope that led to our hotel and it's what helped burnt our calories, hahahahaha

I really loved this rice ball!  Even tapao-ed to the airport, heee

Papa's biz associate'd bought a bag of these(he chose walnut type) for Renee,

when we stopped for a break on the way to the factory, it's nice! 

 

Saw some local ladies taking pic of this - just see how high this man can stack his stock on his bike!

 

We spent our last day shopping at Itaewon.

On our own, we got to travel around on their subway, which is a better experience

for the kids & their fares are cheap too! Many hadn't bothered to buy tickets even, geez!

(we got a shock initially when they simply followed us through the wider gates[for strollers/wheel chairs] when they were seen to be making phone calls standing nearby and we were actually wondering why they were on the phone talking whilst still inside the station instead of getting out 1st)

 

 Can you spot it? - Pigs can Fly!

We try to make it a point to try out the known fastfood outlets in other countries

(we managed to try McDonald's and KFC there, amongst their local ones, heee)

 

Lazing around...

 

 

Managed to find these shoes last minute!

 

 Were greeted by this 'scene' when we arrived @ the airport for our return flight home

 

cheh cheh pre-occupied, so mei mei had to find her own entertainment...

 

 

 

I know, and in fact, I've told myself not to get these 'cakes' cos they're rather common in Singapore these days, but when I saw these fish shaped onest at the airport, I cldn't resist, hahaha

 

Cheeky Rachel trying to wake a napping in-transit passenger!

Enjoying her in-flight 'Men in Black III' movie(whilst papa & cheh cheh were sleeping...)

 

This trip reminded me of how I dislike what the cold/dry weather does to my hair - makes it flattened!  My hair became super manageable after we came back! hahaha.

 

*Hope I've 'captured' most, if not all, from the trip...(there r of cos more pics/buys than what're shown here, :D)