I was telling Janice, our previous neighbour friend how disappointed I am with our contractor over IM at work today and in the evening, we had to force a lights out in the kitchen from as early as 8pm.

After dinner, I was in the kitchen and storing something in the vegetable compartment of the fridge when I push the door in a little too hard, I think, and the main kitchen light came on, by itself. Yes, the switch was off but the light came on. There has been a fault with the main kitchen light for a couple of weeks now. Yes, welcome to the hubs' world of procrastination. 

I have been nagging at him to get it checked. Some time back, when I switched on or off the light, there would be a spark in the switch, which you can see through the fine gap. And sometimes after switching the light off, the light would flicker a bit. I was so afraid of being electrocuted! But everything seemed fine again the recent 2 weeks. 

The hubs decided to open the switch case and pull out the wires because the light won't go off even when he flick it on and off again. So this is how it looks like now.

Thankfully, I do not need to cook dinner tomorrow because the hubs' aunt is arranging the yearly Bhai Pooja for the brothers and her son at her new home. But it will be laundry day! Let's see how I am going to manage it.

The hubs' distant cousin organised a gathering at her home again, yesterday. Her condo also had a Halloween party and they had bought some tickets for it. Initially the hubs wasn't at all keen for the party and had wanted to head down to his cousin's early and so we could leave early. So he says. But knowing how I always get frustrated, I said no because no matter how early we go, we always leave late. But on hearing that the youngest SIL was going earlier because they had to leave at 6pm to attend another party, I changed my mind.

When I was all ready to leave when they had to, the NIL asked to be allowed to go to the Halloween party and the hubs, somehow although wasn't keen in having K join in initially, decided to let her do so. But I guess she would have asked to anyway, since the NIL made it quite clear.

And thus, we were gathered with other revellers waiting for our turn to enter the zone but the wait became so long, we decided to skip it and try another. But while queuing at the next zone, the NIL chickened out. And so we headed straight to the club house and ate instead. But we ended up leaving at 9pm anyway and brought the NIL and MIL back home with us. The youngest BIL and SIL then came to pick them up a while later.

Anyway, I got angry with the hubs because like what I had predicted, We went early, but we still left late. I told him if his youngest SIL does not go for the next gathering, neither will I. He can bring the girl with him and I will go do my thang. Because as usual, he was at the table playing blackjack for a good few hours straight. If not for the SIL, I will be literally staring at the wall.

And today, we had a Deepavali dinner invite and K caught up with the youngest daughters of the Victors and Salahudeens, with the 2 older girls no longer interested in child's play. Lol.

I had to do school pick-up duties yesterday and today. Yesterday was because the hubs attended the wake of a 35 year old lady, daughter of the FIL's good friend. She died of cancer. Too young but I heard that she went on holidays and according to her brother, she died with no regrets. That is good to know. And today, well, the hubs had an event at work.

Times like these, I miss staying at Redhill. I could easily meet up with the bestie for dinner and bring the little girl along. I have a long over-due dinner date with her because I need to keep up with my once a week exercise routine. The exercise that I have no choice but to do...otherwise, my back will get at me for the lack of it. The hubs hardly has any personal time other than having to work past the usual working hours. Thus, having this hour off to do my exercise every week is a bonus to me. Because we want to share the time spent with the girl.

The girl's childcare is within walking distance to our home now...so it's very convenient to drop her off and pick her up. And if we want a break from eating at home, usually just once a week, or if we want to go the swanky nice malls, it's always the big 4 ones which is just a 5 minute drive away. There is really no reason for us to head to town anymore. I can't even remember when was the last time we went to Orchard. My strong guess is that the next trip there will be to see the Christmas lightings. Lol...

Tim came by yesterday evening to settle some insurance matters. The hubs has been really supportive towards Tim's first career. Hopefully Tim stays on and makes big in this.

This was last night's dinner, yes for the 3 1/2 of us. I should have added another dish but have nothing else in the fridge...a soup would be nice and sufficient. But we had fruits after and so our dinner was filling. 

It's nice to have someone join us for dinner once in a while so we can have an added variety otherwise it's usually always just 2 dishes for the 2 1/2 us. Anyhow, preparing dinner at slightly after 6pm and ready to eat at slightly past 7 is an achievement, me thinks...especially cooking for 3 adults and 1 child who eats better than Bev.

I'm just glad to be able to still enjoy cooking for us and feeling satisfied that the meal is enjoyed.

Earlier in the week, the hubs told me his mother reminded him of a Malay wedding today. An old neighbour's daughter. I thought about it for a day and told him no. No because really, who are they? Maybe more of an invitation to the MIL. So, we ended up at home during the day, just how I had wanted it. 

While K and I slept in, the hubs went for breakfast at his usual prata place and brought home some for us. We spent the day in, with me putting K's laundry to wash and hang and cooking lunch. While the 2 of them napped, I managed to mop the house. 

In the evening, the hubs suggested we check out the Deepavali lights at Little India and so we did! 

But first, we changed K's car seat to a more grown-up booster seat. I was quite emotional about this. Though not the crying time of emotional but the missing kind of sadness. Once the car seat is removed and K promoted to a booster seat, it only means she's grown up. And we will never revert back to the days where she is strapped up in the comfort of the cushioned car seat. Since 2 or 3 months old till now, she has sat through 3 car seats. The last one we have, the foam in the cushion was flaking and every time we remove the car seat to fill in more people in the car, brownish fine bits of foam would fall out. To be honest, that was the main reason why we decided to change it or rather get rid of it. How I'll miss the sleeping K in the comfort of her car seat.  

Thankfully, she's not too short for the booster seat. The only concern is when she falls asleep because there is no more side support from the arch of a child car seat. The hubs bought a 'Frozen' neck pillow much earlier so hopefully, K can get some support from that should she fall asleep in the car. Anyhow, it's only a matter of time and I have to accept it. 

Anyhow, we enjoyed the evening out at Little India. At 1 point, K asked the 2 of us why are there so many Indians there! Lol....

The 3rd SIL text me on Friday morning to invite us over to their place for dinner. In fact, when she came over on Thursday to borrow a cd, she already mentioned that she was going to cook pumpkin fried rice, which she had just learnt. But the husband didn't bother getting back until she messaged me again to ask. And so after school and work on Friday, we took a stroll to their home in the lovely weather.

As usual, K was delighted to go to their place because Esther plays with her. And after dinner, while waiting for M to make her croissant sandwiches for us to bring home, it started pouring. We could have waited the rain out a little but the hubs kept wanting to go home! So we had to brave the very strong winds and rain and of course got almost drenched walking to the bus-stop because the strong wind just blew the rain into the void decks. But K got to experience what it feels like being caught in the heavy rain. Lol.

On Saturday morning, we picked the eldest SIL up from the train station near our place and the 4 of us made our way to JB for a day trip. We had requested for her to come over in the evening initially because The Victors have invited us to a bar for Gaye's 48th birthday. And being good friends, they really wanted us to be there with some others we know. It's a small group of us really. But the hubs changed his mind and decided to pop by JB for some shopping and eating during the day so Ivy met us mid-morning instead. 

As usual, we enjoyed shopping and feasting and K gets to be allowed to sit on rides, which we do not allow for here. All thanks to the exchange rate.

The drive back after the belly-bursting dinner at a Korean restaurant was smooth and when we got home, the hubs and I showered to change again for the night out. The girl did not even ask where we were going and when I asked her later, she innocently thought that daddy and mummy went to work!

Anyway, we were the last to turn up at the 'party' and I think we all pretty much had fun. I had 2 1/2 bottles of cider and another drink in between which was red bull and a strong mix. I don't know what it is but thankfully, none of us threw up. My workplace has trained me up to be able to hold my drinks better, I think. Lol.

The hubs and I were so tired after lunch today that the 3 of us all napped. The girl napped for 2 hours as well. Thankfully, I could still magic-clean and mopped the house before we went down for dinner. How I can defy age? It took me nearly a week to recover after our 8-day trip to Tokyo and then another day from a late night out. Lol...

Last night, the hubs was recounting to me a conversation he had at his now hang-out joint. Which incidentally is the usual place we go on Saturday mornings for our prata fix. That is when the girl and I are up to it. 

Because the hubs has a colleague from the HR department who stays fairly near us, they sometimes have coffee at the shop when they get off work earlier. Apparently, the hubs met someone there while with his colleague not long ago and during his recent trip there, he was introduced to a principal of a secondary school, which is just a stone's throw away, literally from the shop.

So the hubs was talking to the chap about schools and with only 2 years to finish her pre-primary education, we have sporadic talks about which school to send K to. The hubs have always insisted on sending her to his alma mater. I, on the other hand, have no personal preference but would rather that we send her to a nearby school. My primary school is located at Orchard and although it was a seamless entry to secondary school because of affiliation, I did not enjoy my secondary school days at all. 

I suffered from low self-esteem especially after being a victim to bullying. In fact, I do not have much memories of secondary school. Definitely more from primary but no fond schooling memories really. While there are those who still keep in touch with their school mates from eons past, I only have the 1 bff to speak of who has really known me even when I was a child. Although very scant memories.

So anyhow, I've always make open my preference to send K to the neighbourhood school behind Jerry's block and which Josh, Gideon have graduated from and where Esther is still studying in. Josh and Gideon did so well in their PSLE that they've gone on to schools with 6 years integrated programs. The 2 brothers argued that it may be different with their sister and urged me to wait for her PSLE results next year before I commit myself.

Anyway, back to the conversation that the hubs had with the school principal. The chap told the hubs that almost all primary schools are as good as the other now. It's the secondary schools that really matter. My thoughts exactly. It used to be the other way round right? Strong foundation in primary school so that it's a smooth transition to secondary. But with so much focus on primary school education these days, I think it's fair playing ground.

And another of my reason which I always emphasise to the hubs. Distance. When I moved up to secondary school at Farrer Road, my family have moved to the west. The travelling home every evening after school was such a major turn-off that I get headaches so frequently. Granted, at that time, there was no MRT. And I had to change 2 buses, which means, yes, it took me 3 buses to get home. And by the time I reach home, I was almost almost completely knackered. How to revise any work, you tell me?

I do not want K to go through what I did. Travelling while in school, is not fun. You carry a heavy backpack, squeeze with the morning and evening crowds. I hated it. 

I want K to be able to come home after school, have our dinner together and able to sit down, revise her work and throw in some tv time, if possible, without rush. I can imagine sending her to either the hubs' or my alma mater and then rushing the evening through every single day. Why add on to life's daily stress? Afterall, I just want K to have an education and not end up being just a product of an already competitive school life.

When you take a long break from work, you can expect heaps of emails and work to work on when you return and that was exactly what happened. Although I managed to clear them in the first few days, the time when you get back immediately is the most stressful. 

And I'm still so worn out from the Japan trip and  that was probably why I had a migraine attack on Tuesday evening after the weekly exercise session. I was already having a headache at the end of the workday but not something I felt I could not deal with. But while in the train home, with my body feel hot and sweaty and the aircon blasting, I developed a migraine and started feeling nauseous. I was praying someone would alight so I could grab that seat and close my eyes.

Even after bathing, I was feeling horrid. Lied down, the hubs kept nagging at me to eat something so that I can pop a panadol and me needing the lights off and lying on bed. When he tried to help, he pressed down on a point so hard, I finally vomitted. But still didn't feel any better. 

Consulted a GP on Wednesday, gave me mc and bless her, told me I really just need to rest. So no unnecessary medication prescribed. No more migraine but still light-headed. But being someone who cannot sit still, I put the girl's laundry to wash, hung them up, washed the balcony, mopped the house and made dinner. I even text the hubs that I'll pick the girl up from school and he was there too, to surprise me. 

On Thursday evening, the eldest SIL came over wif Bev for the night because school is closed on Children's Day Friday and thankfully for them because I was so busy at work that day. Met the 3 of them after work at Westgate, treated them to dinner and then we sent them home, all the way to Tampines. The girl was so sad when they alighted that she cried. No wonder, she must have had the time of her life with ice-cream, Japanese rice-crackers and don't know what else the eldest SIL has indulged her with. Just because it's Children's Day.

Anyhow, we are thankful for her being able to help us out and always without questions. And K's stash of presents from her teachers.

And so, we are back from our 8 days vacation in Tokyo, Japan! The weather was hot and the poor hubs had to lift 2 hardcases in the train stations. Because they are so 'advanced', their train systems were probably built quite a while back and thus many do not have escalators. Even if you come across a station that has one, you will be greeted by a flight of stairs a while later.

K was the most cooperative. She impressed even us when we decided not to bring the stroller out from day 3. It's no joke up and down those steps. And boy can she walk. We walked so much that my menses that was supposed to come at a later date, came earlier. My back acted up some time during the 4th day of our stay and I could not walk for long without stopping to take a rest.

The flight to Tokyo and back were good. In fact, I'm happy that the aircraft was not a jumbo plane. So K and I sat beside the window, with the hubs across the aisle. Perfect arrangement. It can get too cramp being 3 in a row. K slept almost 80% of the return flight and did not even have her meal on board.

We are so happy with the wifi router we rented, that we will definitely rent it again for future travels. The money I converted just for my own shopping came back untouched. We did buy a lot of snacks for family though. So, with the rising Yen, I'm taking it easy to convert whatever balance we have back to our local currency and earn some! Thus, we didn't spend much. Mainly on transportation and food for the 3 of us. 

Would I go back to Tokyo? Probably not. I do not know if it's because I'm older but from a city life to another busier city life, it doesn't attract me much. Tokyo is so crowded! I told the hubs probably Kyoto, Osaka or Okinawa if we ever return to Japan.

But nevertheless, we are glad for the trip. We covered almost everything that was planned. Now, it's back to the grind.