Grillicious!

Hubby's good friends SB and Jasper, together with their families, came for yet another grill party in our home on 7 August. Hubby and I love grill parties for the friendly alfresco camaraderie amongst the "grillers". This time round, the hubbies would be our butlers for the evening - grilling food galore for the lucky wives and kids! 

Our 3 hubbies were busy grilling and barbeque-ing all sorts of succulent delicacies like satays, juicy hamburgers and crayfish (which were sadly forgotten when the hubbies went out for a break, and hence burnt!). 

On top of that, we fried some bee hoon, ordered a pizza, and prepared salad for the kids and hungry mummies, while waiting for the hubbies to finish grilling! So it was truly food heaven!  

Meanwhile, the 6 kids and 1 baby had a fantastic time bonding over toys and games. It was encouraging to see all of them eating their dinners obediently and independently together - talk about positive peer pressure! It was even more heartening to see them giggling, chuckling and chatting with each other as the evening progressed, so that the mummies had all the time in the world to chat, while the daddies busied themselves in the sweltering outdoors, grilling our dinners! I think both daddies and mummies cherished the bonding sessions over these lazy chats and delightful discussions. 

With so much food on the dining table, and imbued with the contented feeling of being waited on, we mummies felt so blessed ;) 

But We're Trash...

It was electrifying. Dazzling. Sensational.

Hubby and I were rapturous. Delirious. Euphoric.

For we were experiencing the thrilling exhilaration possible only by watching one of our favourite bands performing 'live' passionately on stage. To our favourite indie rock tunes from the 90s. Transported back to a seemingly recent era of carefree, idyllic simplicity.

On 3 August, Hubby and I yet again attended a concert that rocked our old, jaded world, thanks to my Mum who agreed to stay the night with the Bees.

We joined a few thousand fans in the Singapore Indoor Stadium to watch Suede perform all their glorious songs - and we were bedazzled to a frenzied mania. Yes. Even at our grand old age. This is what the brilliant vocals of Brett Anderson and the resplendent music of the rest of his Suede band can do to us.


Brett Anderson and the rest of Suede performing their magic

At the first song, She, followed by my absolute favourite Trash, we were up on our feet, dancing, singing, waving our hands and utterly immersing ourselves in the magic of their exquisite music. The concert peaked to a crescendo at one of the last songs, the crowd favourite of The Beautiful Ones, which got the entire stadium singing and dancing on their feet. But to me, every single song performed that night was bewitching.


Amazing crowd...

At times, I looked at Hubby in the middle of their songs, and we grinned foolishly at each other like we were crazy teenagers, unabashedly vellicating our bodies, contorting our mouths and gesticulating wildly to every song they sang. It had been quite a while since we had lost ourselves in this abyss of frenetic bliss, of sweet madness. But we relished the fact that somewhere deep within the recesses of our wearied middle-aged souls, there is still a sliver of youth waiting to be unleashed in such occasions.

This was our second Suede concert in Singapore, but we both agreed that this was our best concert ever, yes, better than Tears For Fears, Duran Duran and even Suede themselves back in 2000! Perhaps comparable to Depeche Mode for me, but that is another scale altogether :)

It was first-class performance by Brett Anderson, who amazed us with his 44-year-old sizzling, sexy energy and captivating showmanship! The rest of the band played magnificently as well. It was just pure, great music and total magic. Nothing else. No corny, flashy costume changes. No majestic stage backdrops. Just. Simple. Mind-blowing. Music.

The splendid 90s. A decade that remained in my memory banks as the years that I entered young adulthood from junior college to university. To getting to know Hubby in university.

From graduation to the first inklings of a career. From learning about books to learning about office politics. From university jam-and-hops to weekly clubbing sessions with wonderful girlfriends. To the ravishing songs of Suede.

From bohemian singlehood to Hubby's marriage proposal under the stars, amongst the mountain tops of Nepal. From living with parents to purchasing our first home together. From being a singular "me" to a double "us" after we registered our marriage as the 90s drew to a close.

All the while listening to Suede.

I do miss those times.

Her English Reading Progress

Little Bee has shown a tremendous interest in reading this year, especially since she is now a budding reader and appreciates interesting stories. Being such a girly little child, she particularly enjoys stories of fantasy, princesses, love and family. She is also starting to write little short phrases on her own here and there, and I had started her on journal writing since March (albeit rather infrequently!), which she is increasingly enjoying now. 

She was struggling with phonics in the beginning of the year, when she just turned 4, so I stopped teaching her phonics, and used the whole-word approach with her instead. Being such a visual learner, the whole-word approach appealed a lot to her, which is why she is also fairly proficient in recognising Chinese characters. 

Surprisingly, she loves the Peter and Jane stories, and is now into book 5b of the series, which she can read independently with very minimal help from me. 

These days, we only read Peter and Jane once a week, which is why the recent progress had been slower, because I want to expose her to other stories and also Chinese books. But it is heartening to see her opening up the Peter and Jane books eagerly, despite their 70s retro illustrations! I guess it helps that she "grew up" with Peter and Jane, right from series 1, so sometimes it is rather amusing to hear her discussing about them to me, as if they are her old friends! 

Her school teaches phonics in interesting and fun ways, and uses the Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) series, which is superb in building reading skills in little kids through progressive accumulation of vocabulary and same characters (like Peter and Jane) who grow up with the little readers. I guess for reading, it helps if we have some continuity of characterisation and plots for the children. She is now in Stage 3 of ORT, which is mainly for kids from 5 to 6 years old.

I hope she will be an avid reader just like hubby, Big Bee and me!

Breakfast With A Peacock

Some time ago, we went to the newly renovated Rasa Sentosa Resort for an alfresco breakfast. It was such a restorative break from the hustle and bustle of urban Singapore, as we gazed out at verdant treetops, the serene sea and the azure swimming pool. It almost felt like a holiday!

As we chomped on our food, our idyllic chats were interrupted by a big, bold peacock ambling to the empty but yet uncleared table next to ours. The Bees watched it in fascination, as it pecked eagerly on the salad plate of the previous diners, gobbling down a cherry tomato and many more vegetables! 

The Bees then followed it all around the dining verandah, and Big Bee attempted to take photos of it. Here are her photos, enjoy! 

Hm, what shall I eat??

A-ha! I saw something d-e-l-e-c-t-a-b-l-e!

Yumz!

After a nice breakfast, the peacock hopped up to a shady tree and settled down for a nap

Love For Writing = Love For Reading

Big Bee writes every school composition with relish and gusto, focusing a lot on using apt, descriptive vocabulary to bring forth her points. I am thankful that she has a strong foundation in her English grammar as well, therefore, every once in a while, her compositions would be selected by the teacher to be displayed on the class' notice board. I thought this is a good practice to instill pride and accountability in the children with regards to their school work.

I guess her love for writing stems from her voracious appetite for reading. I could hardly buy or borrow enough books for her. After chomping through entire fantasy and boarding school collections of Enid Blyton (from Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair to Malory Towers and St Clare), this bookworm is now bulldozing her way through the Famous Five series, which consists of more than 20 books and, at $11+ a book which she can read in less than half a day, I thought they are rather expensive to buy! So, she ended up reading each of her books umpteenth times in between our book-buying sprees. 

She had also read Roald Dahl (not a big fan), CS Lewis (she loved "The Lion, The Witch..." book, but claimed that "Prince Caspian" was boring, so she stopped reading him!) and the abridged, made-for-children Shakespeare stories (which, strangely, intrigued her a lot!)...and many more. 

Last night, she came back and informed me that she was one of 3 kids whose compositions were selected to be displayed again. I thought of sharing this composition, written entirely in class, which garnered these comments from her teacher: "Good attempt! Interesting story with lots of details. Good job!"

Hope you will enjoy this as much as I do...

My challenge now is to ensure she has similar writing skills for Chinese, and a love for reading Chinese books. But sadly, that is still an uphill challenge for me!

*******************

A Shopping Trip

“Could you help me buy some sugar and butter from the grocery store?” Mother asked me.

I took a brisk walk to the grocery store which was a stone’s throw away. While I was walking past the beautiful dress shop, I tripped over a small stone but did not fall. I did not realise that my precious ten-dollar note had dropped out of my purse.

I trudged to the grocery store to buy the sugar and butter for Mother. When I went to the cashier to pay, to my horror, I could not find my ten-dollar note anywhere in my purse! I stood rooted to the ground, shocked and not knowing what to do.

A kind shopkeeper asked me what I was looking for. I told her that my ten-dollar note was nowhere to be found. I stood there, wracking my brains to think how I could have dropped it. I was extremely worried. The kind-hearted shopkeeper helped me by telling me to retrace my steps.

I immediately did what I was told and when I walked to the dress shop, I found my ten-dollar note, swaying in the gentle breeze. I heaved a sigh of relief and picked it up. As quick as light, I ran back to the grocery store.

I paid for the sugar and butter and thanked the shopkeeper whole-heartedly. I was immensely grateful to the shopkeeper for her help. 

My Little Baker

July 30 marked the first of many consecutive weekend birthday parties that the girls would be attending - all the way till end August! On this day, Little Bee was invited to a baking party - her first! - for her classmate HY's birthday. 

With birthday girl HY

My 2 girls relish in making homemade cards for their friends, and here is one for HY! 

Little Bee, being the gregarious creature that she is, had been looking forward to this good friend's party the entire week! So, it was no wonder that she was hopping about excitedly, with zealous anticipation, the entire morning before the party. 

I love baking parties because typically, parents would not be allowed into the premises during the initial process for hygiene reasons. Hence, I was able to go for more an hour's shopping around the premises, while waiting for Hubby and Big Bee to join us after her usual classes. 

Eventually, I went to peep at Little Bee, and was proud to see her meandering around different friends and the baking instructor in full confidence and ease. I guess I could throw this little girl anywhere and she could survive on her own! 

With her best friend, Sara, and her beloved jie-jie

It was truly gratifying and a wee bit bittersweet to see my little one giggling and chuckling with her friends, frowning in concentration when it was time to ice the cupcakes, munching away on snacks while fooling around with good friends, and singing the birthday song heartily in her booming loud voice. 

With her 2nd best friend (in her own words) Chloe

My little one has indeed grown up, ready to join the ranks of her big sister...and now where would that leave me? Sigh. 

Hard at work lathering the icing on the cupcakes

Big Bee joined her little sister and provided her with some help during the icing of the cupcakes. It was beautiful to stand aside and observe the dynamics between the 2 of them - their teamwork, their mentor-student relationship, their cute little chats, and their little scuffles now and then! 

It was amusing to see Little Bee totally ignorant to the baking instructor's directions when helping to decorate her friend's birthday cake, and sprinkled rainbow rice and sugared hearts on the cake a few more times than was allowed. I guess it would take her some time to learn and understand the rules of establishment, being the maverick that she is now. 

In any case, it was a novel and meaningful idea for the kids to take turns decorating the main birthday cake with little sugared trinkets and rainbow rice. 

In all, we had a fun-filled afternoon in the party, and certainly looked forward to more of such parties to come! 

I must say these cupcakes were absolutely delicious!!! 

Lunchtime Painting...and Musings About Parenthood

As a working mother, I spend very little time with the Bees, unfortunately. However, as the Bees grow older with the commitment of long school days, especially in primary school, I stopped feeling guilty about not spending enough time with them at home - because they were simply not at home during substantial parts of the day! 

I do feel twangs at my heartstrings during school holidays though, because the Bees would be at home the entire day, and my mind would be constantly drifting to them at work! 

To ensure maximum time spent with my Bees despite the fact I work, I will 1) try to come home a couple of times a week during lunch so I could cuddle or do some simple learning with Little Bee and 2) leave work punctually on most days so I could run through Big Bee's homework and do my usual evening tutoring with her and Little Bee. If there is more work to be done, I will leave it till the Bees turn in for the night, before embarking on the 3rd shift of work. This arrangement had served me very well through the years, with the only disruptions in the guise of overseas work travel, which thankfully, I had been trying to cut down on. 

Hence, one lunchtime, when the Bees were both home on a single-day school holiday, I came home from work and decided to do some painting with them, before returning to work once they completed their paintings. 

I simply showed them some paintings in an art book and the Bees selected and painted their own preferred pictures.

It was such a relaxing activity and it truly rejuvenated me for the afternoon at work. The Bees were also much happier, even if it means spending a short 2 hours with me over lunch. 

Big Bee, who is an ardent beach lover like me, painted "Sunset On A Beach". She blended yellow, orange and red paints together to create stunning sunset hues. 

Little Bee painted "Outer Space". We used an old toothbrush, painted it white, and sprinkled white paint from it onto black paper to resemble the gazillions of stars in space. She then painted a rocket and a few other planets. 

I guess it is not the amount of time we spend with our children that matters, for I had seen far too many parents busy texting friends on their phones or playing games on iPad whenever they are with their children. To me as a working mum, every single precious moment counts (because I don't have much time with them!) and I try to make quality time for them as best as I could. 

Of course, as parents, there are days when the kids fight and make us so angry that I just want to hole up somewhere and ignore them altogether! There are also different phases in parenthood that really test us as adaptable parents. Phases where we need to adjust to changing mood swings from toddlers, then big kids, then tweens, then the scary adolescent stage (although tweenhood is beginning to scare me now!) and finally, young adults. Such undulating phases in our lives truly make parenthood very exciting, albeit challenging, and I am glad life is never boring after we have kids :)

Dinner With Ballerinas

We had a delightful alfresco picnic dinner at charming Fort Canning Park, complete with joining the crowds watching "Ballet Under The Stars" on 16 July - all thanks to Hubby who bought tickets to the show pro-actively by himself, much to my pleasant surprise. 

We descended to Fort Canning on an alluring Saturday evening at 6.30pm, imbued with the glory of a promising sunset and consistent, much-welcomed evening breezes. In our hands were pizzas, pasta, fruits, tidbits and picnic mats in readiness for a cosy evening of ballet and food! 

The crowds had already filled the vast field in front of the stage by the time we sauntered into the park. We settled down in a nice corner at the perimeter of the crowds - just by the pavement, so the Bees would have ample room to run about before the show started or during the intermission. 

It was a resplendent evening indeed - we were blessed with balmy breezes that caressed our hair gently throughout the entire night, providing a welcome respite from the typical humid weather. The Bees loved chomping on our scrumptious dinner in the brilliant golden sunrays of a setting sun which gradually faded into enigmatic lavender of the gloaming.

 

The Bees were now at a comfortable age group where Hubby and I were able to sit back, relaxed and observed them lazily, rather than incessantly chasing after them with a hawk's eye during their toddler years. I guess we are also blessed to have 2 girls who had been sitting quietly through long shows since each of them was 2 years old. 

This was to be Big Bee's 3rd ballet show, after the Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, and Little Bee's 2nd (she was a little young when we watched Nutcracker) - albeit their first long performance outdoors, so I was truly thankful for the beautifully windy weather.

They were enthralled by the performances by the Singapore Dance Theatre, which was speckled with a few guest performing groups. Being avid little ballerinas themselves, especially Big Bee who is on the school performing team, they were able to observe the professional skills of these ballerinas and hopefully, gain even more inspiration from them. 

Big Bee insisted on taking photos of the swiftly moving ballerinas in the dim lighting, which proved challenging. These are some of her performances shots. 

We received an exquisite surprise in the middle of the performance at 8pm, with some gorgeous fireworks emanating and exploding into the night sky from the National Day Parade preview! The crowds were exclaiming in excitement at the colourful fireworks display while the ballerinas pirouetted on - what an enchanting backdrop for the dancers! 

The Bees also spent a good amount of time running about in the dark during the intermission, stretching their legs and taking a little break.

Unfortunately, the show lasted much later than their usual bedtime. By 9.45pm, the Bees were visibly tired and sleepy, so we packed up our stuff inconspicuously and sneaked out of the show. 

It was a lovely evening, and we look forward to many more of such simple, idyllic pleasures in life!

Red And White Resplendence

We spent National Day in an idyllic way, which was just what we needed after 2 very busy weekends of socialising! 

I had the wonderful opportunity of sneaking out of the house early in the morning when Hubby and the Bees were still asleep to indulge in an hour of gloriously invigorating yoga in a nearby yoga sanctuary. Thereafter, I came home just when the family's rousing from their sleep - recharged, revived and invigorated after an active practice :) 

Big Bee suggested to me that the whole family should be dressed in red and white since it was our nation's birthday. 

I must give credit to her school's Social Studies because she knows a lot about our country's history and National Day too! 

A collage that Big Bee did for her art class in school

We then spent a substantial part of our day in Ikea, analysing how we could redecorate the girls' bedroom, and Anchorpoint. It was therapeutic to be by ourselves, without any social occasions or enrichment classes to rush to! 

Back home, the girls were fascinated by the National Day Parade, and both of them sketched out our country's flag when watching the parade. 

Little Bee's Singapore flag

Big Bee's Singapore flag - sorry, too lazy to rotate picture!

Although this year's musical format was a little different from previous years, I kind of enjoyed the parade show because it provided a very succinct history for the Bees in an easily understood mien. 

All in all, a lazy and relaxing sort of day - my type of day! 

Life Cycles

Finally, we had decided to complete our 2 interlinked homelearning themes of "Earth Sciences" and "Space" (with the exception of one final craft!), and progress to another new theme - "Life Cycles"! I truly enjoyed the themes of Earth Sciences and Space, hence my reluctance to touch on another theme, but I guess we need to move on!

Little Bee's depiction of a sunflower's life cycle

Which also meant re-looking at the sensitive but fundamental issues of .... mating! This literally life-changing word popped up everywhere we read. It is a quintessential element of any life cycle, and the Bees had been asking, "Mummy, what is mating, and what is a mate?" I told them a mate is like a wife or husband. 

And in this theme, it is inevitable that we will be revisiting the origins of human life through discussions about the birds and the bees - again! Big Bee is becoming more aware (and curious) about such issues in her tweenhood now, so it is essential we keep the dialogue open on this crucial aspect of life. 

We had read many books on life cycles these couple of weeks - ranging from spiders (a fascinating look into a spider's unique life affirmation cycle which we read tonight), turtles, crocodiles, ladybirds, butterflies, sunflowers, etc. It should be a fun theme! 

Railway Trek

A few weekends ago, on 10 July, we joined the throngs of curious Singaporeans at the abandoned Bukit Timah railway tracks and bade farewell to a historical monument that had been so much a part of our lives yet remained modestly in the backgrounds of our consciousness. 

It was a sweltering hot morning as we trudged along the railway tracks. What struck me was the hundreds of Singaporeans who had already converged on the tracks, despite our nation's usual aversion to the blazing sun and humid, windless weather. 

I usually detest crowds of any sorts, but these legions of people seemed rather comforting in our common alacrity to caress the dame of our nation's railway history with our multifarious footmarks. 

Hubby, Big Bee and I were busy snapping photos of the majestic tracks, whereas Little Bee marched stalwartly on the rocky and uneven tracks. The tracks were beautifully maintained, and I loved the splendid juxtaposition of the wooden tracks against the granite rocks. 

We crossed the prominent Bukit Timah railway bridge dauntlessly, despite a "no crossing" sign! The Bees were almost melting in the heat by now, but we continued our trek tirelessly. 

What I loved most about the trek was when we traipsed onto the small and rather decrepit signalling station and the many rail tracks alongside it. We explained to the Bees the intricacies and importance of signalling for trains. They were intrigued. 

We explored around here for a considerable time, and we particularly loved the dense primary forest around us. We ambled along the dirt track in the woods for a while, admiring all kinds of little colourful wild flowers and unkempt shrubs whilst listening to the contented chirpings of unseen birds. 

It was amazing how the silence of the forest permeated us, despite the crowds, almost as if everyone was hushed in their expressions within the presence of many verdant giants. 

Hubby and I fervently hoped that this green abundance would not be destroyed like so many of their predecessors before them, just to make way for yet another cold, unfeeling and utterly uninteresting urban landscape.  

It was noon by the time we decided to leave the refreshing forest for the hustle and bustle of a typical city life. We were glad that the Bees got to see a crucial pillar of history that shaped Singapore into who we are today. 

More importantly, we wanted them to see how civilisation and wild nature could exist harmoniously alongside in the past, unlike the senseless destruction of woodlands in most parts of Singapore to make way for dire over-urbanisation now. 

The Bees looking for mimosa and other interesting plants...

I have an uneasy hunch that we would not be seeing much of this breathtaking wilderness in time to come, despite our government's claim that they would be preserving this green belt "amidst other developments". Let's hope I am wrong. 

More photos here!

The Bees were fascinated that these were not just another set of serial numbers, but represented the year in which the Bukit Timah railway bridge was built.

I loved the intricate architecture designs of the bridge

We are so in need of such quaint, tranquil dirt tracks amidst gorgeous wilderness in Singapore! 

Sisters trekking together, hand in hand

Onward we march...

Big Bee was trying to emulate Hubby, who had earlier on posed for a photo as a "victim" trapped on the tracks!