I Love My Job

Berton - In His Grandpa's Eyes

On a windy relaxed Sunday night, I received text messages from Berton's grandfather, my father.

GP: We r going to karaoke. Where r u?
ME: Had dinner at J8, now we r in the library!
GP: Very good. Let Berton read history.
ME: Why history?
GP: Politicians need to know history. Berton has the politician look. Calm n wise on the inside.
ME: Hmm ok. I will start from ABC and 123.

To my kids' loving grandpa, first we have Datuk Tan Seri Bevan, now we have Mr President Berton. Not bad.

The Day Berton Went Swimming

Lesson by Daddy the coach.

Present Service Award To This Skirt

It’s a blue skirt, look like denim but ooh-so light. Matched it with a white cotton t-shirt, it’s so fresh and casual. Styled it with a pair of stiletto, black tube and shiny belt, it’s for smart casual dinner.

I went New Jersey Casino with it and boots. Wore it on first dates, when I had fever, for a presentation, for interviews, on a flight, on pregnancy checkups. It’s a hipster when I’m slim, on waistline when I’m fat.

It’s a benchmark. The first thing I tried on after giving birth was this skirt. It's almost my trademark. I wore it almost once a week for the past 5 years.

It has done its best, but now the seams are loose, colours are fading. I am officially announcing it's retirement. I would like to present it with the most honourable service award a skirt could have. Okay this is a silly post.

Meet Up Once A Month

The second weekend of CNY was lots of gatherings with friends. We jammed around the dining table, ate and drank and laughed. I almost ended every session by saying "wish we could do this more often", and I meant it!

My neighbours
This was the first time I met up with neighbours in my entire life. Five families met up, we realised we are friendly people with young kids. So we have lots of common topics - recipes, preschools, primary school registration, migration to Australia (!)

My cousins
The only Singaporean cousins I have, Amy and Adalene, have newborns this year. So we gathered with our 1 toddler and 3 babies. We made them wear the same shirts and took so many photos. Our gathering was the most-swanky-cousin-gathering I've had, with red wine, take away louhei from Sakae Sushi, durian cake from country club. Total enjoyment!

My close friend
Wenshan and Bernard, whether they are a couple or not, I still love meeting up with them. We are the kind of friends who can just hang our legs on coffee tables, watch TV, munch crackers, and talk nonstop.

My ex-colleagues. nus ex-schoolmates. xueni and jiaxin from KL. belinda from acjc. my hubby's buddies...and so many others. We haven't met up with some of them this CNY, but if I could meet up with these people once a month until I turn 80. That would be very, very nice.

Daddy & Son Went Toilet Together

Bevan ran out shouting "Mommy look Bevan very nice!"

Ran in to the toilet "Daddy! Mommy said it's too nerdy!", and ran out with a new style.

I like my son in the School Prefect look. Only that one, I made it quite clear to the Daddy.

Update! So Fa So Fun

This is the most wonderful CNY ever.

Of course there were lots of eating and visiting. Last year, I was the lonely pregnant weirdo slouching on the sofa, as the adults gambled, the kids pretended to shoot each other. This year, my relatives-in-law queued up as I typed in their chinese names on the geomancy website, and translated the analysis from (really quite complicated) chinese to english. I was never this popular.

We had time in the evening. We went to the park, strolled on the bridge, played basketball, played badminton (Berton was the umpire). We went to the library – read books to the children (like the mothers in movies), borrowed baby books. Hubby and Bevan swam a few times, and they went for bus rides.

It was so family, so educational. It felt like we are the most bonded family in the world. I almost thought I have retired in Australia.

All Red-dy

My handcrafted lanterns and firecrackers are up!

We made them together - Bevan sticking scotch tapes, and Berton crashing the readymades. Nice working-together.

The CNY goodies are sitting in a basket. Now we are all ready to get really happy and fat.

Fashionable Leggings

What do I do when a kid insist on wearing a 3mo pants over his pyjamas?

Let him wear it and take a picture.

This is a highlight of his fashion sense recently. And he is absolutely confident that it's fashionable.

Life, Name

When I was a student, the most important thing to me, was how to study really hard at home, and pretend not to be a nerd in school. When I've graduated, I was all into keeping slim looking good, 51kg was a thunderstorm, wearing medium was an insult, pimple was demoralising.

And then I got married, and then I have kids. My favourite song becomes twinkle twinkle little stars, favourite brand is Pampers, favourite topic is preschools, and favourite letter is B (for Bevan and Berton). I am completely transformed. I strive to give my kids the best.

(All the above to show that I was once hip and non-superstitious. And the following show how did I transformed.)

Until, a client, who is pretty and young, who has changed her name and swore her life has become much better, exclaimed how accurate this fortune-telling website is. I tried.

It’s really high tech and simple, I keyed in name, birthday, blood type. The gold-wood-water-fire-earth analysis was shown. I typed Lee Kuan Yew’s name and birthday, he scored a 95. I keyed in a few other names, researched a little more about people who changed their names for better fortune or health, I'm amazed how so many people swear by it.

I spent a few nights permutating the different combinations. Our names (Bevan's remains the same) are now with slightly different writings

斯韧，葆苹，睿恒，韶恒

Now that I believe in names with good fortune - I know I am a complete mother.