Tuesday, December 30, 2008
For the past few weeks I have been spending precious time with the family. The last minute trip to Malacca with the sis & Hyung-Bu was a good relaxing getaway. Simple, by coach, not much shopping, tons of eating Korean & Japanese, lots of walking around old town, old places, old buildings. Christmas day, we were celebrating the birthday of the family bachelor, yummy dinner, all 14 of us at Sedap Corner. My first visit to Marina Barrage was with the whole entourage too. Strolling by the bay,chilling wind, daddy with the 'tongkat', mum shouting at the cucus who's running rampage in the dark night. Earlier today, we send off the little Xiao-mei to Jakarta - almost the whole clan,brother, sister,mum,dad, 4 kids. Then a nice lunch at T3. After weeks of non-retail therapy, the siblings & the mum(sans the Xiaomei that is) headed to Singapore Expo to check out the Warehouse sales. I am very proud to say I carried myself well, parting with less than $100, most of which were for the husband,mum & kids. Looking back at the past few weeks, I would say its a good end to the year...
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Its pay-back time. Right after we got the all-clear from our family doctor I brought the kids out practically every other day. First was swimming at the brother's pad, then countless trips to Toys R Us from Vivo to Paragon to Suntec, outing at Jacob Ballas with my primary school chums & finally earlier today, roaming about town with my 'other' Kak Long with her brood. & I wonder every night why my ankles hurt & my knees feels like it has a mind of their own. But I'm a happy mummy. I even manage to finally meet up with Abbey & her son & did a good round of afternoon shopping sans our kids that is. The meeting was made even better when she told me that her sister is a bigger K-drama freak than I am and practically has tonnes of DVD dramas that I can borrow. How sweet is that. For a start, this week, I got 5 DVDs from her & in addition to that, she even gave me a complimentary home-made kimchi to go along the Korean fever I suppose. Speaking of Korea, I read Awin's blog & had a good laugh reading her funny entry(as always). She, Ley & Ratna are about halfway through their vacation in Korea & they've been to places like Jeju Island(reminds me of 'My Girl' &'Goong") & also Mt Halla(wonder if there's any left-over signs of Hyun Bin & his Samsoon at the peak). aaaah...so lucky those singletons....
I'm left with about 1 more episode of "Foxy Lady" recommended by Ley & it is quite a an enjoyable watch. In the tradition of series like My Lovely Sam-Soon and Snow White, new drama Foxy Lady presents a lighthearted, yet touching "older sister/younger brother" relationship, only in a more realistic context. Ko Hyun Jung and Chun Jeong Myung show great on-screen chemistry, and the fabulous supporting cast, including newcomer Kim Eun Joo, drama regular Kwon Hae Hyo, and veteran Yoon Jeo Yung, bring both comedy and gravity to the story. Chaotic, colorful, and laugh-out-loud funny, Foxy Lady shows that love is possible at any age.
Single 33-year-old columnist Go Byung Hee (Ko Hyun Jung) works for a racy men's magazine. As her alter ego "Miss Go", she writes candidly about sexual liaisons; in real life, she is woefully inexperienced in matters of sex and love, and still awkwardly waiting for the perfect guy. Then one drunken night, she ends up sleeping with her best friend's little brother, 24-year-old Park Chul Soo (Chun Jeong Myung). The two agree to pretend the night never happened, but seem to keep growing closer over time. Soon Byung Hee meets a handsome doctor, and just as things seem to be falling into fairy tale place, Chul Soo declares his love to her.
Now with barely 2 weeks to go before the new year, I finally realised there is quite a bit to do before school finally reopens. Why is it that when just when you thought that time is crawling with you, right when you are about to have fun, it sprints ahead & almost tug you to spur forward in time leaving you breathless...
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Just when we thought it was safe to step out . Just when we were about to finally start the school holiday plans again, we were greeted yet again by another hump. The lil red pox decided to make an appearance on Amirul's almost skeletal bony body. Thankfully, as we had predicted & as the dr had preempted, it was a mild case. Just a few sparse red dots, all over his body & a few tiny pimple-like spots on his chin & nose. But with Amirul the feeling of being quarantined indoors is not too bad as he does enjoy staying at home rather than going window shopping with his ummi-unlike Amira, neither does he like to walk & stroll around aimlessly shops after shops til the feet gets sore- unlike Amira. So I guess life is quite back as per normal minus the outdoor venues that we have planned for him. Also I am ever so grateful for Okto :)Aidiladha took a slightly humble tone this year. The day began like the other years, a visit to the in-laws in the morning, back to Clementi in the afternoon. This year in the afternoon, I went to do my little bit to help out in the Qurban ceremony. I came in the thick of action and by that time 136 sheeps have already been sacrificed. There were about 30 odd sheeps left to go. So I assisted my sis, who was there since morning, to manage the guests who took part in the Qurban ceremony. Its a fairly simple task, guiding them to the proper designated area to witness the ceremony and then assisted them back to the waiting area while waiting for their share of meat to be given out.
For the first time ever, I witnessed, up-close, the slaughtering ceremony. I was humbled. My heart stirred, initially for the sheep, and then, most importantly remembering Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, Prophet Ismail. And for the first time too, I witnessed my very own Qurban sheep, sacrificed in the name of the husband's late Auntie who passed away less than a mth back. Everything was over by 5. With whatever energy was left, we next headed to Bt Timah, where my cousin hosted this years' family Raya reunion.
It was a very,very simple but memorable day for me. Unlike other occasions, I did not even fuss about what we were going to wear for the family, instead opted for our already-in-closet punjabi garbs for all 4 of us. So simple that the pictures I took was of the Qurban sheeps ;p
I think we have a few days to go before Amirul gets the all-clear. And luckily I still have some more 'Quaratined-Activities' items that I have when Amira was down, so I suppose I'm more prepared to be cooped-up for a few more days...& it helps, of course, to look forward to the end of the day, almost everyday, to be entertained by Ellen at 5 & Gong Yoo & gang at 6 :)