Universal Studios Singapore

SIL booked 2 hotel rooms for themselves and ILs at Resorts World Sentosa, and the rooms came with USS tickets. And if ILs were to go, there'll be no one to take care of the kiddos. I don't feel comfortable with them bringing the kiddos out to a theme park like that on there own and thus both Hubb and I applied for leave and joined them at USS for the day.

We left at 9 in the morning, and surprising, it does feel like we were on some holiday. The same excitement, as though we were going on a road trip. :) I had a bag packed with extra clothes, water and snacks, and we brought along our trusty Peg Perego. This stroller hasn't seen the light of day for eons!! :P

I would think the $66 price tag on the tickets was a little too steep. The park was small. We went in at about 1030am and we were done by 4pm. And that was including lunch and dilly-dallying. And it was rather disappointing that service wasn't fantastic there. The first bummer of the day was that our e-tickets were rejected at the entrance and there was this whole commotion about the hotel already printing the tickets out for us and so on. (Nothing on our booking told us that we needed to pick the tickets up from the hotel, and who would wait till check-in time at 3pm to go into USS?) Blah.. anyway, I'm sure that had that happening a lot cos people behind in the queue also had the same problem. And if that were the case, shouldn't they already have rectified the issue? And while we were waiting for the Guest Relations to settle the issue, and while the queue was building up, this other staff member came up, trying to alleviate the problem but did a real lousy job. He saw me standing in front of the counter waiting for the solution, and yet asked what my problem was. Well he got a "so do you really want me to repeat the entire thing?" and then he backed off!! :P He was simply bad at customer service and got a couple of scathing remarks from people in the queue.

Anyway, the entire park is just full of bad, bad English. When I say bad English, it is not just the usual slips of grammar, it is just bad-sounding English blaring at you all the time. While we were at the Special Effects sound stage, this uncle enthusiastically introduced Steven Spielbert to us and welcomed us to Universe Studios and to proceed to the next Special (effects) Soundstage. urgh.. !! While queuing up for Shrek 4D, we kept hearing this lady staff yelling and people to move in. Yelling. And, I think the seats were either busted during the show, or someone cranked the effects such that the seats moved asynchronously with the show. Not just the seats we were sitting on, when I looked across, there were sections of seats that were not moving. And no, they were not the stationary seats that were meant for the elderly/ disabled people.

The USS staff were seemingly not trained in politeness. You hardly hear them say please or greet. I even overheard this guy tell 2 kids to "'sit down!" as they were boarding the rollercoaster, in a tone that I would usually reserve for the boys when they run about during dinner!! There was no "please" or "thank you" either. At that moment, I was thinking, "if that guy used that tone with me when I get on, he's going to get an earful from me!!"

Before I went USS, I read/ hear people raving about how great Mel's Drive In was. Even in LA, Mel's Drive In was ok.. the great thing there was that we always had the food band so we could grab whatever we liked. The burger was not fantastic there but good enough. Over at USS, the burger patty at Mel's was so darn dry and rubbery. The cheese on the cheeseburger? It was dried up till it looked translucent!! Ok, Hubb said that the chilli dog was not bad tho'.

So what's the fun at USS? I guess that's just cos we were there with our boys. Kieran got on the Rapids ride with the 3-storey drop at Jurassic Park and Kiefer rode on his first rollercoaster at Shrek! :)

Despite the cloud cover, it was still really hot to be out the entire day. By the time we were done, we were really all tired out. I couldn't even keep my eyes open after eating dinner. I fell right asleep while the boys were watching The Mummy that night! The next morning, it was as though we were jet-lagged. Kiefer woke up at 5ish (am) and proclaimed that he has "finished sleeping"! and Kieran woke up at 630am and said that "it is sunny already"!! Hubby and I were so tired out that we simply turned on Playhouse Disney and we both fell right back asleep!! So the boys were on their own till 9+ when we next woke cos the kiddos wanted their milk. After that, again Kiefer was getting tired, so in the midst of putting him down for a nap at 10+, I too, went back to sleep with him till noon when Kieran started asking me for lunch!! :P Thus, had to wake up to get lunch for him. I was so glad that I had freezer meals ready so I could get his lunch ready in 30min. :D Gosh.. the one day at USS really knocked us out for two days!!!
This was the "Shrek's Castle" that the boys were bugging us to bring them to, ever since they saw it while we crossed the causeway into Sentosa last August.


Kieran went up on the Rapids Adventure ride with the 3-storey drop at Jpark with the 2 of us!! Bravo! Kiefer couldn't make the height limit. :( 

 
























Only the carousel was open at Madagascar. :(

Kiefer's 1st real rollercoaster. He barely made the height limit, he may actually have missed the height limit by 1cm. This was the Enchanted Airways (we call it the Dragoncoaster:P) at Far Far Away. It was really quite fast for a kiddy ride! And he loved it and wanted to go on it again, but we didn't think we should cos it was really quite a task to hold on to him cos he was so tiny on the ride and I could feel him swinging about in his seat even though I clutched onto him tight!!

Signs of growing up

Kieran is really growing up. He is asking to do things himself these days, like taking a shower by himself and wearing his clothes. Now he'll also know how to pour a cup of water for himself. He would climb up a stool to reach for a cup drying on the washing rack. I'm afraid that he'll fall or things on the rack would just fall on him. Thus, now I will always leave a couple of clean cups on the kitchen counter for him. But now I will always get a full cup of water sitting on the counter belonging to no one?!!




This is the cup of water that always appears mysteriously on the counter.


- Posted from my iPhoneq

Kiefer says...

Me: what did you do today?
K2: work
Me: work? (beams) what did you work?
K2: Barney
Me: you sang with Barney?
K2: yes
Me: you danced with Barney?
K2: yes
K2: I also play toys!

:P

K2: Mum? (since when I also became mum and not mummy to small fry?)

Me: fer sleep awhile
K2: I not sleepy?
He used to just yell "No!" versus him being able to express himself with a "I not sleepy" now!

SAHM vs FTWM

Saw a comment on someone else's facebook status that triggered this post. A person commented on how a SAHM only rests after the kids goes to sleep while the FTWM's work ends at 6+ . Hmm.. so I wonder, where are the FTWM's kids? Don't these FTWM have kids too? If they do, wouldn't they (generally) only get to rest after the kids go to bed? If that doesn't happen, then these would be FTWW (women) not FTWMs!!

Having been a SAHM for a while when both my boys were born and then returning to work when they were about 8 months old, I do see that SAHMs have really really busy days. SAHMs do not have an easy time at home cos they are practically on call ALL the time, tending to the needs of their children. However, I think it would be really unfair to say that FTWMs have it easier. FTWMs do get some reprieve during the hours at work, however, because of the time away from their children, many would try to use whatever leftover hours to make up for time lost with their children. They finish their work at whatever time and then continue to be mums to their children till their children go to bed.

For me, I think being a SAHM is a lot easier than a FTWM as I only have my children to focus on. How difficult is that? I don't have anything else to worry about other than my family. I would gladly return to be SAHM any time. Still, deciding to return to work was a lifestyle choice. I am a FTWM because I see the need to be able to comfortably provide the material needs (and some luxuries) for my family and I do have a good family support to take care of my boys while I'm at work, so why not?

Whether you are a SAHM, a PTWM, or a FTWM, at the end of the day, you are a mum. I don't think whichever gets it easier. Each would have their own challenges and dilemmas. These are all simply choices in life and how one goes about executing the actions in life.

To laugh or to pull my hair out?

During dinner today (now actually)

Kieran: Mummy! I want some more pasta! (yelled from the living room to the kitchen)
Me: Bring your bowl in, I'll give you some more! (yelled back from kitchen to living room)
*silence*
Me: Kieran! Bring your bowl in if you want some more! (more yelling)
*silence*
Me: Kieran! Kieran!
*silence*
Me: KIERAN! (short and sharp)

Kieran (reluctantly walking with his bowl towards the kitchen:
No. School never do like that. Teachers walk round and round (gesturing with his hands) and we like that (put up his hands). We never bring bowl (to kitchen)!

I don't fault the school, that's their routine. They can't have all the little kiddos running to the kitchen can they? So what did I tell this smart little boy?

Kieran, I am not teacher. I am Mummy. You bring your bowl to the kitchen. :P

My little boy

Kieran has been such a big boy for awhile that sometimes we don't quite see the little boy side of him. We were at Borders on Saturday and he was in his goofy mood. Also there was a balloon sculpture of an F1 car there and he was happy to take a picture with it. He made funny faces while I got a few snaps.



I thought he looked like Justin Bieber in this photo!! :p



- Posted from my iPhone

"sidewalk" drawing

Had a little fun this morning drawing on the newly cemented floor just outside our house.

See? I'm so proud of Kieran's drawing abilities. He sure had a lot of fun drawing on such a huge canvas!!



This was the completed drawing. It was a rocket with an astronaut standing next to it. He even drew the platforms (white) that the astronaut would use to climb aboard. The orange scribbles were the fire when the jet took off and the pink was the structure that held up the rocket. Creative huh? He also spelt out both his and Kiefer's name at the end. :)



- Posted from my iPhone

Some more kid's logic..

K1: Can you buy tickets to watch (the F1 races)?
me: I've got no money, the tickets are very expensive. Do you have money?
K1: then i have to find money. I can find money. I can find money from YOU! :P

Anxiety regression?

Kieran wet his bed for the last 2 nights. Since he's been off diapers a year ago, he probably only wet his bed at night like 5 times. And for the longest time, he's been holding up well. I was thinking about it and realized that it may have been due to all the stress in the last week. He seems to be undergoing some behavioral stage and has been fighting with Kiefer quite a bit. The small one is quite a force to reckon with too. He will scratch his gege whenever he is unhappy with him. Mostly, Kieran is the one that starts everything by wanting the toy that Kiefer is playing with. Being firstborn, Kieran still doesn't quite understand the concept of sharing and playing together. This has result in much antagonism and stress. And very often, he'll cry because Kiefer hit him or he gets reprimanded because he took something from Kiefer. It also doesn't help that he is such a routine person that his toys have to be placed in certain manner and he gets upset when things are moved. Anyway, I think all this led to the early morning bedwetting. :( I told him that there will be no more scolding today. He seems happier but the sharing hasn't improved. Got to start reading up again.

Here's a photo of my happy little boy this morning.



- Posted from my iPhone

Doing homework

Got the boys down to do some work after dinner last night. They lasted about 10 minutes and that was about it. And then they were off to disturb the daddy who turned on the TV.:P

By the way, Kieran loves to draw these days and he can sit there for hours just drawing!!

Stuff that the boys say..

Kiefer, upon waking up in the morning: Good Morning. Gege loves me! :D

Kieran, when we drove past his school: I like Ms Koh (his teacher). He (she) scolds me sometimes but I still love him (her). *he still can't get his gender specific terms right. More used to using he, him and his.*

A little roadtrip

It is the 1 week September break for us and as usual, we cannot bear to stay put at home doing nothing. So we decide to go on a little road to Malaysia. Our original plan was just to go up Melaka and spend 2 nights there, but hubb thought that 2 nights was overkill for Melaka as we will run out of things to do in one day. I don't know how it came about, but I suddenly suggested Port Dickson, and off he went and booked a wonderful hotel there for the second night.

We set off really early (615am) on Sunday morning and the road was nice and clear. We managed to sit down at Dim Sum Garden in Melaka by 9am for breakfast though we were driving at most 110km/h. We had loads of time after breakfast to drive around and even did most of our shopping before we even checked into Holiday Inn. Yup, we stayed at Holiday Inn this time round because we couldn't get good rates at Equatorial. (The cheapest at Equatorial was RM$600+ per night!!) It was pretty fun staying at Holiday Inn as well, cos afterall, it is a really new hotel. It's just that shopping isn't as convenient anymore cos Mahkota is not exactly walking distance from the hotel, and we had to drive over to Pahlawan. No more me going shopping on my own while the boys nap. Then again, the boys didn't nap all day!! :P

Kiddo enjoying his dimsum very much.


Don't know what they were whispering about. But it was a nice breezy morning, looking out to the sea and looking at people flying remote controlled aeroplanes nearby.



We had dinner at Bei Zhan again, but we thought that we really have to look for a new favourite in Melaka. Bei Zhan is getting expensive and they are not serving our favourite steamed Patin anymore. :( Anyway, cos the boys didn't nap the entire day (except for the 1 hour nap during the drive into Melaka), Kiefer zonked out during dinner and absolutely could not be woken. :(

Swimming at the infinity pool at Holiday Inn. The base of this float tore off when we were at Port Dickson. The 2 boys are getting to be too heavy to share a ride on it.

 
We had lunch at Mahkota the next day and started our drive to Port Dickson at about 1pm. Port Dickson is only about 1 hour away from Melaka, but the GPS took us by the small roads and we got stuck behind almost every single traffic light on our way out of Melaka. We were so relieved when we finally hit the highways. Each red light in Melaka lasts for 99 seconds. I always felt that one would really grow old while waiting for the lights!!

Port Dickson was fun. Not that there was anything there to do. However, Hubb booked The Legend International Water Homes and that was special because each chalet unit comes with its own tiny pool. The chalet was huge and the boys had such fun swimming all day (and night).

One of the highlights of our stay at Legend. The boys simply loved this buggy rides to our room.

Windows open to overlook the little pool.

The chalets were built on stilts, and each room has a little viewing panel on the floor.

Fighting

Back blogging this one.

The boys were in such black moods today that they kept fighting with each other. And poor Kieran got scratched by Kiefer during one of their squabbles.

Sometimes we just laugh at what the boys say..

Situation 1
#1: Where's daddy?
Me: Daddy's at work. Mummy needs to work too.
#1: then who's going to take care of the kids?!

Situation 2
#2: phlphttt..! (doing that blowing raspberry bubbles thingy)
Me: Kiefer, stop that.
#1: Kiefer, do it!
#2: phlphttt..!
Me: Fer.. stop it.
#1: Kiefer, do it (whispers)
#2: phlphttt..!
#1: Kiefer, do it (whispers again)
Me: Ge, stop that!
#2: Gege, behave!

Situation 3
#1: (cries) Kiefer crushed my paper!
Me: Kiefer, say "Sorry Gege"
#2: *no answer*
Me: Kiefer, say "Sorry Gege"
#2: sorry gege (very softly)
Me: say louder, fer
#2: Sorry Gege!!!! (Yells)
#1: Kiefer, that's not properly! Say sorry to me properly!

At home with the small fry

I came down a huge gastric flu bug this weekend and was practically lying in bed the whole of yesterday. Today l'm on sick leave with the little one at home. We were so worried that he was going to get the bug cos he threw up a couple of times yesterday and he didn't have much of an appetite. Anyway, our entire family of four was affected one way or the other. I had the bad gastric flu and everything that came with it, hubb had a massive headache and was feverish, smallon was puking and ran a slight fever, #1 was having a little bit of the runs. What a day!!

At least the small fry seems ok now. He's having fun fiddling on the iPad. As for myself, the pains still come occasionally, but nothing like yesterday, where not even the jab took the pain away completely.

Here's small fry on the iPad.

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Why? Why? Why Mummy?

Why is it so dark? Why (are) we going home? Why? Why? And this is coming from a 2 year (+ 3 months) old toddler!!! I thought that he is starting his whys a just little early!!!

A typical conversation goes like this:

kf: where are we going?
m: we are going to eat dinner.
kf: we are going Macdonald's
m: we are not going Macdonald's
kf: not?
m: we are not
kf: why? why not going Macdonald's?
m: :P

The hungry hungry caterpillar!

We bought four caterpillars for the boys last week so that they can learn a little about the life cycle of the butterflies. Bought them from Oh Chin Huat Hydroponics Farm for $3 a set. The farm had a tiny enclosure (Butterfly Lodge) where they had a fair number of different butterflies.

Anyway, the caterpillars took a couple of days to pupate and the first pupa only remained in the chrysalis for about 1 week. Our first leopard lacewing emerged yesterday and it was just beautiful!! And throughout the week, we've been reading Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. What a perfect match to their caterpillar watching!


The boys and their daddy trying to catch a photo of the butterflies in the lodge.


This is either a Mangrove or Common Tree Nymph.

 


 A blue spotted crow I think.


Our leopard lacewing caterpillar. The colours on the caterpillar is just beautiful. Love the vibrant red and yellow stripes. And this little fella just feeds and feeds. It's quite amusing to look at it chew off the edges of the leaves and leaving a trail behind. And these guys really poop quite a bit. See the little black ball? That's the caterpillar's poop.

Our beautiful leopard lacewing when it emerged yesterday morning. We took some photographs and videos of it and then let it go. We didn't want it to die of hunger.


This little fella lingered on the palm for the longest time before it flew away! Its wings were already long dry when we opened the container. Think it's just trying to get his GPS working!! :P

I can talk in sentences!

Kiefer has since moved from speaking in short phrases to now speaking in full sentences.

example:
Fer fer like this song. (when we played the Indiana Jones soundtrack in the car just now)

some of his short phrases include:
What (are) you doing?
Where fer fer('s) truck?

He is really talking very very well and he's only 27 months old!! we are so constantly surprised by him cos Kieran only started talking in very short phrases at about the same age. So bravo! !

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Budding photographers?

Bought a Fisherprice Kid-Tough camera for the kiddos for their birthday this year. They had fun with it for a week or so and than it disappeared for 2 months. We finally found it again in one of their toy boxes a few days ago and I pulled out the photos that were in the memory card.

I just loved some of the photos that the boys took.

Think this was taken by Kiefer. Just loved the expression on Kieran's face and the angle of the shot.


I don't know who took this. But the composition is great. The contrast between the Kor Kor and Di Di's sandals, awesome!

Our June Vacation (continuation)

After 9 days in Japan, we went off to Seoul. It's our first visit to South Korea and we really didn't know what to expect. But we had fun visiting a whole new country, just the 4 of us. We didn't do much, except a little sight seeing at a nearby Namsan. But we watched a great show, Cookin' Nanta, which the kids enjoyed very much.


Waiting for the public airport bus to get to our hotel in Myeongdong. Only 9000krw per person. Kids ride free. It was a 1+ hour journey from Incheon to Myeongdong.



On of the streets just downstairs of our hotel. Lots of cosmetic and clothing stores.



Cable car to Namsan



Steps up to Namsan


This was fun. It was a tourism board promotion thingy and it was free!


Octopus at the Noryangjin Fish Market. I think they look like a bunch of alien specimens! :P

Our June Vacation

We've been back for about a month already and I just haven't had time to blog about our June vacation. We were off to Japan and Seoul for a while. It's been 3 years since we last went Japan and it's great going back there again. We were at Japan with Hubb's parents and cousin's family and spent 9 days in Tokyo and Osaka, with some side trips to Nara and Kyoto. After that the four us continued on a short family vacation to Seoul.

'twas such a rainy day thr morning we visited Asakusa Sensoji Temple:


And with so many kiddos on the trip this time, we went to DisneySea. Although I must say, it didn't feel as "happiest place on Earth" as Anaheim Disneyland.



I remember having taken a photo with Kieran, exactly like this one, 3 years ago, also at Tsukiji Fish Market.



The 4 kiddos at Nara Park.



Feeding the super greedy deers at Nara Park

Who will take care of me?

I had to go work today and was all changed, waiting for the daddy to come home to take over childcare duties. Kieran saw me get changed and asked where I was going. Told him I had to go work. His first reaction was "who is going to take care of me?" The conversation went like this:

K: where are you going?

M: I've got to go work.

K: (with a worried look) who's going to take care of me? Daddy's not at home!

M: can u take care of yourself and Kiefer until daddy comes home? Lunch is in the kitchen. Get your own lunch later?

K: no.... cannot. Must mummy and daddy take care of me!


This is just how much the boys are very dependent on us and that they trust us so wholeheartedly. (Just wonder how some people betray such trust!!) As much as they are so pesky and naughty at times, they are just so honest and trusting and loveable. :D

I just love me boys.

Kieran's Jurassic Park Birthday

The theme for Kieran's birthday this year is Jurassic Park III - This time, it's not just a walk in the park! He had some dinosaur goody bag and a Jurassic Park III cake made by his 外婆. We had a great BBQ, fitting for a bunch of hungry dinosaurs!

Here are some photos of the day:


Grouchy boy who just woke up from his nap

Goody bags!

Yummy BBQ

2 Iron boys! :P

Kieran is 4!

Officially 2

Digital Kit from Peppermint Creative (Dadditude)

To infinity & beyond!!

We celebrated Kiefer's 2nd birthday last weekend and we blasted to infinity & beyond!! :P

Here are some photos of the event:

My baby is growing up!

My little baby Kiefer's gonna be turning two this weekend! He's just growing up so quickly!! We've got a little family party planned for him. One with cake, presents and cotton candy. Yums!! Photos after the event!

That's a joke!

Kieran: are we going for lunch now?

Dad: are you hungry already?

K: No. Haha! That's a joke!

Nevermind the unfunny joke but the idea that my little boy is cracking jokes? Ha! That cracks me up!