Travelling Around Singapore

Finally I got the time to sort out the photos during our trip to Singapore.

We were exposed to a different method of transportation while we were there. Be it bus or train.
Timmy had fun paying the fare with the MRT card. Heard it made the "Bip" sound as he tap the card. Here's the photo of Timmy while he was in the bus.

While Timmy was in the MRT, he enjoyed looking at the MRT train route with its blinking lights. We told him where we were going and he counted how many stops that we would pass through. By the time we came back to Indonesia, Timmy could still remember the names of the stations and wrote them on a piece of paper.

Travelling with public transport in Singapore is comfortable, convenient and safe, unlike here in Indonesia.

Going Back to the Care-free Day

Going to Singapore and meeting up with university friends brings back lots of memories and happy moments that we spent together.

I met up with Sisil~my best buddy when I studied at Monash University.
We used to have lots of fun together, studied at the library, walked the walk along Yarra River...

There was a day right before exam, I was talking to Sisil over the phone for our next day exam. Then suddenly bum! There was a black-out in my place. Sisil came over to a rescue with Phillip.
I ended up studying at her place and we got hungry in the middle of the night and we cooked! hahaha...


Met up with Yee Leng~ we stayed at the same Melbourne University dormitary: University College.
We almost always had meals together. Breakfast and dinner. We would call each other before we went to the dining room. hehehe...

She gave me lots of help in my Chinese.
The last time we met up was in 1999. 12 yeas ago! Time flies...
12 years later, I met her with her husband and son. Her son wanted me to go back to their home. "I want Auntie Helen to go home with us... Auntie Helen...Auntie Helen..." hehehehe.
He even enjoyed the stories I read him. hahaha..
It was fun to play with him. :)
I would love to play with him again when the chance permits.


Met up with Lawrence & Katerina, Kevin, Clint over dinner at Vivo City.
Law & Kat are happily married with a 9 month old son.
We were COSDU buddies when we were at Melbourne University.
They all stay the same. The way we had fun together...
The last time I met up with them was 1999. 12 years ago!
Gosh...time flies...

Met up with Paula over breakfast at Tampines. We studied together at Melbourne Uni. She is now a mother of a 2 year old daughter. She's now a full time mommy too, just like me. :)

Ah...it's a pity that I didn't took a photo with any of the friends that I met.
Perhaps I was too excited to meet up with them all... hehehehe...

5 1/2-year-old: Bragging

As quoted from Baby Center:

My 5-year-old now
"I can hit the ball better than that," your child boasts to his friend. Or "I can count to 100, too." What's going on? When did he become such a show-off?

One-upping is a normal tendency at this age. Your child is the center of his world right now — and he's feeling pretty good about all the skills he's mastering. His boasting is mainly an expression of self-confidence.

If self-praise becomes a chronic habit, point out that his friends might see too much discussion of his skills as bragging, which people don't like. Show him that he can be confident in his own gifts while also proud of others' accomplishments. Offer lots of positive reinforcement to reassure him that you know he's talented and smart. Compliment him when he congratulates his sister on her soccer championship, for example, or lauds a friend for perfecting his wheelie.

My life now
Parenting is a joy when you're all having a good time or your child does or says something wonderful. But when you have to raise your voice or lower the boom on a misdeed? Not so much.

Don't feel guilty, though, when your child forces you to be a firm disciplinarian. Not even when he bursts into tears or stoutly declares, "You're so mean!" Nowhere in the job description of parent does it say that you're responsible for making everybody happy all the time.

My responsibility is to raise a kind, happy, healthy person. And sometimes — quite often, in fact — that involves setting standards and laying down the law.

Ah...thank you Baby Center.

Thinking of Others...

In this selfish world, often we only think about ourselves...

This video was taken during the Australian National Championships in 1956. John Landy, the mile world record holder at that time, stopped to help a fellow racer, Ron Clarke, who fell down to see if he was okay. Upon finding that he's okay, he continued with the race, took off and won the race!

Personally, I think his attitude is magnificent.
It's not about winning the race in the end...
He has shown his good character on the humanity and the 'unselfish gesture', which is wonderful...
Yet still giving his best in what he does.

Like the saying goes: "Actions speaks louder than words"...

May this video inspire us to fulfil a better life...
Be a light to others...

John Landy stops to help fallen Ron Clarke. Melbourne,Australia,1956

Don't Despair When You Fall ~ Get Up and Keep Going

There are many obstacles in life...
but when we stumble and down,
don't despair...

Get up, and keep going again...
You'll never know what's ahead.

This video is very inspiring.
Had Heather didn't fall down, she would have outrun the others by a mile...

But Heather fell down...
However she got up, kept running and won!

In many occasions, we'll fall and tumble in life.
But what we do AFTERWARDS is what matters.
Let's get up and go again, whenever we are down ...

Wheel of Affection on Mother's Day

"A woman once fretted over the usefulness of her life. She feared she was wasting her potential being a devoted wife and mother. She wondered if the time and energy she invested in her husband and children would make a difference...

At times she got discouraged
because so much of what she did seemed to go unnoticed and unappreciated...

It was during these moment of questioning that she heard the still, small voice of her heavenly Father speak to her heart.
You are a wife and mother because that is what I have called you to be. Much of what you do is hidden from the public eye but I notice. Most of what you give is done without remuneration. But I am your reward.
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24"
-Excerpt from Roy Lessin, DaySpring co-founder and writer.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the world. :)

This Mother's Day, we made this:
Wheel of Affection

We used 2 paper plates,
-With the top part, we wrote the message: to me you are and cut a small window underneath it.

-With the bottom part, we snip complimentary words to complete our message such as "amazing", "wonderful", etc.

Timmy added: "Cannot play NFS (Need For Speed) :p
(Oh well, I admit that I cannot play NFS well). hehehe...

Timmy enjoyed playing with it at the beginning...

but not long after, he requested for another paper plate, and created speedometer instead. hehehe...

oh boy, oh boy. Well....boys will always be boys. hahaha...

The Clear Blue Sky

I like the nice clear blue sky...

Photo was taken after I sent Timmy to school.

When Doggies Socialize

When doggies socialize.....

the owner wait....hahahaha...

Happy Mother's Day

DaySpring E-Cards

Want to see a miracle?
Plant a word of love heartdeep in a person's life.
Nurture it with a smile and a prayer,
and watch what happens.

A little rain can straighten a flower stem.
A little love can change a life.

Speak words that make people stronger.
Believe them as God has believed in you.

Praying every loving, patient moment you invest will someday return to you in blessings to fill your heart for a lifetime.

God Bless Your Mother's Day

Love It!

This morning, we finished getting ready quite early.
So, I thought that there were spare time for stories.
We read Handy Manny story book.

By the time we finished reading it, it was 7.10 am.
Timmy said: "Hurry Mom. We should be in class by 7.15. So I can have time to play before the class start." (His class actually starts at 7.30)
Tim: "Oh Mom, that's why you shouldn't read me stories. I'll be late for school. Later after I come back from school, you should go into a time-out Mom for 33 minutes. I will eat my lunch by myself, while you are in the timeout. Ok Mom?"

So, by the time we came back from school, I went into the time out.
But Timmy's time out was much more lenient than mine.
He allowed me to sit down, while eating my lunch during the time out.

In the end, he pulled a chair next to me and started telling me stories of what happened during the day at school, while I was in the time out. :)

After I finished my lunch, he helped me to bring my dirty plate to the kitchen and offered me water. (I still stayed in the time out. hehehehe)

I totally love it when Timmy helped me to take my plate to the kitchen after I finished my lunch today. He then poured the cold water into a glass and poured the yakult into another glass. And handed them to me. I like being served by Timmy.

Thank you Tim for your love. :)
I totally love it!
Love you Tim, from Mom.

Making Easter Eggs

I was inspired by the Easter publications and we decided to make colourful Easter eggs.

Here's what we did:

With the first egg, Timmy tried to colour the egg with purple crayon.
It was interesting to see the crayon melt as it touched the hot egg.

Secondly, I poured food colouring onto the egg which was previously coloured with the crayon.

We saw how the crayon's wax provided a shield to the egg and the water colour couldn't blend into the egg shell.

Timmy tried to spray it with his water gun. hehehehe...

Thirdly, we tried the blue food colouring. I poured the blue food colouring into a glass, Timmy stirred it. Then he scooped the egg with a spoon, put it into the glass, rolled it around to get it even...

Funnily, the egg turned out to be green instead of blue!

With the last egg, we mixed blue with red food colouring to get purple! :) Timmy's favourite colour. Voila!

I like Timmy's expression when he saw the eggs. :)

With the remaining colours, we played around.
It was fun to take bits of colour with the spoon and made lines on the newspaper. I like to see how the watercolour was absorbed by the paper, while the oil remained separated.

We ended up trying to draw a chicken with the remaining colour and a spoon as the tool. hehehe...

Timmy had fun spraying the water with his water gun.

When we peeled the eggs, we had nice colourful eggs. There was 1 egg that looked like marbled eggs, another which looked like dotted eggs. hahaha...

We had fun that day!