Tonight's dinner: Fried Kailan & Steam Seabass, which has been blanketed by tomatos. Oops...

I've been confirmed in my role with the company. On the whole, I am happy here. And my Manager is generally happy with me too. :)

On the whole, I'm glad I've prayed for a nicer boss to work with and she is definitely more understanding and is so much more objective. The company provides flexi working time too although it's more consistent in it's policy for flexi-hours, compared with the previous company. As my Manager comes to work really early, she leaves earlier too and when I'm done for the day, I can just go off. Work life balance is a big thing for the vikings, I think. Lol.

Being able to get home to prepare dinner, ensuring the loved ones are provided with home goodness makes me very contented. Yes, the happiness I get is to be able to get home on time, prep my food and cook dinner everyday without fail. When we don't have plans on Saturdays, I cook too. Of course life is made easier with the help of the thermal pot, from which I make soup that can last us 2 days.

Happiness is all about the simple things in life. And I hope you find yours too. :)

We spent the evening at the hubs' aunt's place for the yearly Nepali Bhai Pooja. They stay just a train station away from us and so we took the stroller and walked there. K tends to want us to carry her after awhile and it's no joke carrying a 13kg weight so we've decided that she should sit in the stroller instead. Having not sat in her stroller for some time, she gleefully sat in it as soon as the hubs unfolded the stroller at our doorstep. Lol...

Having K is a good distraction for me, from the MIL's oft stupid comments and remarks. So she doesn't really bother me anymore in that sense. This year, we didn't have the youngest BIL join us as unfortunately he has been admitted back to the hospital due to the incessant headaches which  they finally found is due a viral infection after drawing fluid from his spine, for the 2nd time.

If I have mentioned it before, I am mentioning it again that the whole family has been admitted to the hospital this year. No surprises for the MIL of course. In fact, it'll be a surprise if she doesn't get admitted to the hospital. The FIL was second, the the hubs, who I must say was a scheduled surgery, and the same day the 2nd SIL had a miscarriage, followed by the youngest BIL on the onset of the terrible headaches then the 2nd BIL due to the accident. It's strange and hopefully, this is it.

The youngest BIL and family were supposed to to go on a holiday to Australia end October but he was re-admitted only a few days back and now has to be hospitalised and be on medication for 10 days, which means they will have to miss this holiday. The BIL had asked if the hubs and I would like to take over the tickets but unfortunately, I do not have 2 weeks of leave to spare. I'm sure the youngest SIL and nephew in law are upset but well, it's not a choice anyone would like to make. Hopefully, he gets well soon.

I'm kind of liking having public holidays fall on Wednesdays. It's almost akin to a 4 day work week. Work 2 days, rest, then work for another 2 days followed by the weekend. 

This morning, I suggested going to the Botanic Gardens for a walk. So after the laundry was done, the 3 of us headed out. Although I have been telling the hubs to park the car nearer to Bukit Timah, where the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden is, he stubbornly drove into the main carpark. Either he was stubborn or wasn't listening. It was so crowded and I was so frustrated with his attitude, I left him to decide what he wanted to do. He ended up exiting the car park as there were no empty lots and going to where I had mentioned from the beginning.

The children's garden is situated away from the main garden and we were lucky to find parking lots available. However, we managed to only spend all of 30 minutes due to the rain. The next time we go, I will be better prepared with K's swim gear as there is a water play area and she kept asking to play there. Thankfully, we were able to distract her with the many other play areas at the garden. Today is really just a recce trip, which was decided impromptu. Next time, we'll bring along her gear, some snacks and spend more time there. 

And because it rained, we drove off for lunch and by the time we reached home, it was about 1 pm, K's naptime in school. She had a good nap for slightly more than 2 hours, something which she hardly does when she's at home now. So that meant good rest for the daddy and mummy as well.

In the evening, we proceeded to the Pannu's house for a Deepavali dinner invite. Mavi and the hubs are childhood friends who grew up in the same neighbourhood. Their daughter is just 2 months older than K and attends the same childcare centre so the 2 had fun playing together although there wasn't much communication between them. It's funny just to see how they can play together without talking.

The 2 girls had their dinner separately, played together quietly and then not so quietly and when we left, K announced that she enjoyed herself! The Pannus even gifted K with a beautiful punjabi suit which Shareen has outgrown. Yes, she is a lot bigger than K although K is not exactly petite. On the whole, the hubs and I enjoyed ourselves too, ending the night with playing sparklers and party poppers that the good host provided. 

Whether K was a baby or when she reach 'toddler-hood', there would be something that we tend to buy frequently at some point. It used to be the Avent pacifiers, then tongs for her milk bottles as few times the hubs accidentally left them in the steriliser and needless to say, they warp at the end of the sterilisation session. Also, some broke.

Now that K's in her 31st month or should I say ever since she started school, guess what has frequently popped up in the 'have to buy' list?

Yes! Water-bottles! Somehow they don't last. After a while, they tend to leak. Although we did find the ones that we bought from our friendly neighbour across the causeway to be better and we finally also found the straw brush. 

This is just 5 bottles you see now. I cannot recall how many we have had to throw away already. I wonder what's next. Lol....

I have become such an 'auntie' that I hope it doesn't affect the way I look or talk.

I was supposed to pick K from school after work today but during lunch time, the hubs text me to say his evening meeting has been cancelled. The screenshot is self-explanatory:

I think K enjoyed herself the most. When we were there, we allowed her to take a kiddy car ride which only cost $2 for 5 minutes as opposed to $5 for 5 minutes the last time she took one at Vivo City. The makeshift stall is owned by a nice elderly uncle as opposed to a group teenagers hired to man the cash register. In short, it is very old-school and K got to 'drive' the car round the open area although most of the time she goes round in circles. 

When her 5 minutes of fun was up, we took a walk in the neighbourhood and was pleasantly surprised to see a few cafes sprouting up. We even finally managed to get K to try on a child's helmet, bought it and hopefully we can convince her to wear it if she wants to bring her balance bike or kick scooter down to the park.

A nice slow evening to end the work/school week. :)

Dinner tonight:

Pan-Fried Codfish dressed up in Omelette, Stir-Fried Spinach and left-over Baked Beans. 

I had wanted to cook a simple pan-fried codfish and was scouring the internet for a easy recipe. I modified it with whatever ingredients I had. I used Corn Flour to coat the fish, dip it in egg but didn't want to waste the balance of the egg, so I threw the remaining into the pan. And there we have a beautifully coated fish. Lol....

Although we had planned to visit the 2nd BIL at home following his discharge yesterday, today's visit back to his house was a last-minute call up by the FIL for a 'momo' party as the 3 siblings missed out on the recent Nepali New Year or Dashain.

As the MIL doesn't cook and we know the 2nd SIL is probably having her hands tied especially with the 2nd BIL's 2 broken wrists, the hubs suggested a pot-luck dinner.

The hubs' dish of Braised Chicken:

And my first ever Fish Head curry, which thankfully, was well-received:

And this evening, the aunties came over and prepared momo, which is really just a Nepali version of the xiao long bao. And then there were some other Nepali food prepared as well.

K enjoyed herself and the nephew in law, on the other hand, was his usual rude self. On both days that we were there, he was scolded by his mother and the 2nd BIL. He refused to let K play with his lego cars, which the youngest SIL bought from the Shell station during the recent F1 promotion. And when he did, he would raise his voice at K for 'spoiling' the toy. And then he'll snatch it back from K. And when his mother scolded him, he would get unhappy and hit his mother 3 times on both days. That's how he got scolded by the 2nd BIL. Anyway, I used it as a lesson to K. I asked if she likes to be scolded like that and that she has to behave herself so everyone would love her. I can tell that the hubs is irritated by his own nephew as well. So many times he tried to tell the nephew to lower his volume. And the 2nd SIL was so worried that the boy would accidentally hit his mother on the tummy.

Thankfully we do not meet all the time. It's worrying when K is at such an impressionable age and that she'll follow what she sees in other children. If these children are put in their place by their parents, I can use it to teach K as well but if the parents choose to ignore their children's antics, it's very hard for me to be telling K that she should not follow suit. And also, I do not want to always correct K's perception when she sees her cousin's behaviour. It just makes him look very bad and I feel bad towards my SIL as she is a nice person.

Like what they say; children do what you do and NOT what you say.

We're back from our short holiday and one that was filled with drama, no less! In order not to make this blog entry a drag, I'll summarise the events by each day that went by.

Saturday : 

Left home for the airport early as I had wanted to bring K to explore the airport. Singapore Changi Airport is not amongst the best for no reasons! Thankfully, we left home early too as the sky threatened to pour. And due to the heavy rain, we could only look at the Sunflower Garden from under the shelter. :( Another time, I suppose. Boarded the plane, which arrived slightly late but otherwise everything else was the usual. As the plane was descending to land in Penang, it suddenly took off again! It started ascending, going higher and higher for some time until it started cruising again. 

Captain announced that due to the heavy rain and strong winds in Penang, we were unable to land and we were circling for a while until the plane needed to divert to KL for refueling. We waited on board when we arrived in KL for almost 2 hours.

Finally, when we departed again, we managed to arrive safely into Penang airport at 8ishpm. What was scheduled to be a 2.30pm arrival time, saw us arriving at about 8ish. LC who had been waiting for us at the airport was advised by ground staff to return home as no one knew what time we would return.

Sunday :

Drew open the room curtains and saw clear weather. But the roads looked wet. Must have been raining while we slept. Decided to start our tour after breakfast and went to Penang Hill. Waited quite a while for the tram ride up and when we reached the peak, we were all looking forward to the start of a beautiful trip. Especially since K is aware of everything now. After a 5 minute walk, it started drizzling. The hubs suggested going to the coffee house to wait out. After cendol and an hour later, the rain was still so heavy! Back to the tram station for our ride back down. :(

Monday :

Finally, the sun is out and it's here to stay! Took almost an hour's taxi journey to the Butterfly Farm, where I must say we enjoyed ourselves. Then another hour's ride back to town. Not much of a drama here, other than the totally innocent kind. We went to a museum where they had a history of Penang, which we simply breezed through as our both countries' history is pretty much similar. Then the fun part was the 3D interactive museum! What drama K has! It was really fun.

Tuesday :

All good things must come to an end. We checked out after breakfast and the same taxi uncle who drove us yesterday sent us to the airport. At the airport, the hubs went ahead to the check-in counter ahead of us and I realised we didn't have our passports with us!!!! The flight was due to depart in about 1 1/2 hour's time! Thankfully, we have been talking to the taxi uncle and he had given his name card to the hubs, who then called him. I went to the check-in counter, borrowed a mobile phone and contacted the hotel and told them our passports were in the room safe. By then, we had only 1/2 hour left. 

Hoping that we could still make it on the flight but knowing it will be somewhat impossible, I went to check the next budget departure. The hubs returned to the airport about 15 minutes after the counters closed.

I paid for tickets for the next flight out, thankfully it was only an hour later. Went through immigration and saw our original flight taking off. :( 

This is the first time we made such a boo-boo and hopefully the last! A short trip on a budget carrier, using Bev's staff privilege ended up costing so much more!

Dramatic by no means but I would still want to return to Penang. The food and the sights that we missed due to the weather, due to the typhoon, will be what I want to enjoy once more.

We're off on a short trip to Penang tomorrow. Our first holiday for the year! Well, this year, K started attending childcare and I joined a new company so we weren't able to fit a holiday in. 

The first reason why I planned this trip was because LC has just given birth last month and her son is now a little over 1 month. She had traveled down to see K too during my maternity leave and I think I should do the same especially since she's such a good friend and of course the SG dollar being stronger. And at the same time, take a breather from everyday stresses, like finally.

And the hubs and I hope to come back to some good news when we return on Tuesday. *Crossing our fingers really tight*

So, have yourself a great long weekend and chill. :)

Conversations with K

Whenever it is bedtime now, K would have so much to talk about while we're lying on bed. And sometimes she sings. In a bid to get her to sleep sooner, I'll close my eyes and pretend to sleep but it doesn't bother her and she'll still call out for me. Last night was no different.

At first I wasn't listening to what she was saying until I realised that she was repeating it to me. When I finally understood what she was saying, it went like this:

K : Mummy, I dun wan my ducklings anymore. I want to give them to the baby. (We visited the hubs' childhood friend on Sunday and the Missus was due anytime, with a big bulging tummy)

Me : Which baby do you want to give it to?

K : That day the auntie.

Me : Oh, the auntie when we went to Uncle Mag's house? (Realised we never did mention the Missus by name, thus she doesn't know)

K : Yes, Uncle Mag's house.

Me :  Why do you want to give your ducklings to the baby? What if you play in the tub and do not have your ducklings to play with?

K : No, I am a big girl now. I dun wan the ducklings anymore. I wan to give the ducklings to the baby.

Me: Are you sure?

K : Yes.

Me : Ok, Mummy will pack them up nicely so you can give them to the baby, k. 

K : Hmmmm...

Me : That's very nice of you to share your things. That's the way to go. :)

K is definitely growing up....too fast for my liking though. :( Now she's been asking to drink her milk from the cup too! Although I must say, for this, we have been talking to her about it. But still, my baby's only 2! Slow down for a bit baby.....Mummy wants to enjoy the stroll with you.