Today is the hottest day since we came. Lowest of 20C and max of 37C! I have already anticipated that and have shut all the drapes, windows and doors in the house. Cannot let the hot air come into the house otherwise it is going to feel like an oven. It is so far so good. When the temperature rise, that means the flies are out!
The flies here can be super irritating! They will hover around you like blood sucker and when you are outside, you are practically waving your hand all the time. Matthew cried the first time when he was disturbed by the flies. Haha! Now he knows them as 'stupid flies'.
I think this summer is going to be very hot. It's not even December yet, and we are hitting over 30C temperature. I cannot imagine what it is going to be like when summer comes. Thank God Matthew and me will be going back to Singapore in January, where it is cooler during that time of the year.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
School hunting
We went to a visit a private school last Saturday morning. It is an all boys school, starting from Pre-prep (K1) all the way to Yr 12(JC2). The school only take in 1240 students, so there is limited space. We sat through the presentation given by the Headmaster and then went on to tour the Junior school section.
I like the idea of a single sex school, and the fact that it starts from Pre-prep, means that you will be attached to that school for most of your student life (provided you don't get kicked out or dropped out). However, the main concern is the cost of the fees. It starts from $10,000 all the way to $18,000 for Year 12! It is almost equivalent to paying for a university education. We just cannot afford that kind of money for so many years. We do hear people say that it's better to put kids in private school from Yr 7 onwards, so we might do that.
The most ridiculous thing is that parents are actually enrolling their kids even before they were born. As soon as you know the gender of your baby, you better go and enrol him into a private school, else the waiting list is going to be long. The problem with the selection is that it is not based on academic results, but based on the date you lodged your application. So the earlier you apply, the higher is your chance.
I never thought that I will have to worry about 'school hunting' so early. Matthew is not even 2 years old yet! I think we will 'shop' around some more and enrol him into a good school soon.
I like the idea of a single sex school, and the fact that it starts from Pre-prep, means that you will be attached to that school for most of your student life (provided you don't get kicked out or dropped out). However, the main concern is the cost of the fees. It starts from $10,000 all the way to $18,000 for Year 12! It is almost equivalent to paying for a university education. We just cannot afford that kind of money for so many years. We do hear people say that it's better to put kids in private school from Yr 7 onwards, so we might do that.
The most ridiculous thing is that parents are actually enrolling their kids even before they were born. As soon as you know the gender of your baby, you better go and enrol him into a private school, else the waiting list is going to be long. The problem with the selection is that it is not based on academic results, but based on the date you lodged your application. So the earlier you apply, the higher is your chance.
I never thought that I will have to worry about 'school hunting' so early. Matthew is not even 2 years old yet! I think we will 'shop' around some more and enrol him into a good school soon.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Let's Dig In
Last Sunday was the opening ceremony of the sandpit. Hee Juan ordered the sand and we wait patiently for the it to arrive at 3pm. After the sand was dropped off at the drive way, the 2 daddies (Hee Juan and Liam, our neighbour) had a taste of what coolies feel like. They have to shovel the sand into buckets and transfer it to the sandpit. After awhile, Hee Juan was perspiring for the first time.
The kids stood by eagerly for the sandpit to be filled up, getting ready their sand play toys and standing around trying to help.
Finally the last bucket of sand went in and before any signal was given for the kids to start, they were already busy digging in the sand.
As we bought the washed sand, they were still quite wet and needless to say, the children have sand all over them in no time.
The kids stood by eagerly for the sandpit to be filled up, getting ready their sand play toys and standing around trying to help.
Finally the last bucket of sand went in and before any signal was given for the kids to start, they were already busy digging in the sand.
As we bought the washed sand, they were still quite wet and needless to say, the children have sand all over them in no time.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Daddy, 'care-pull'
It has been more than 3 weeks since our last post. Time really flies. Out of those few weeks, we had the grandparents visiting. Matthew managed to master how to say 'Gong Gong' and 'Grandma' before they arrived. Before that, he was saying 'Gng Gng' and 'Ma Ma'. He certainly enjoyed himself during those 2 weeks, as 'Mr OK' (Grandpa) was here. Everything is ok and can do when grandpa is around. They also enjoyed themselves alot as Matthew has picked up alot of words and is able to communicate better.
We bought a shelf from Ikea last week, and only managed to piece it up 2 days ago. During the construction, Hee Juan hurt himself and got a scratch from the sharp corner of the shelf. I was checking with him yesterday about the wound, and Matthew was also very concerned. He kept pointing to the wound and said, 'Daddy pain pain', and then at the end, he added 'care-pull!'. Which means 'careful' in his yet-to-be-perfect English. After that, he smiled. He can be such a darling sometimes. I think he has began to be more aware of feelings now. For eg, whenever we just let out an 'Ouch', he will say, 'Mummy/Daddy pain pain', then he will come and sayang us by touching us on the head.
This is a picture of Matthew participating in our shelf building.
We bought a shelf from Ikea last week, and only managed to piece it up 2 days ago. During the construction, Hee Juan hurt himself and got a scratch from the sharp corner of the shelf. I was checking with him yesterday about the wound, and Matthew was also very concerned. He kept pointing to the wound and said, 'Daddy pain pain', and then at the end, he added 'care-pull!'. Which means 'careful' in his yet-to-be-perfect English. After that, he smiled. He can be such a darling sometimes. I think he has began to be more aware of feelings now. For eg, whenever we just let out an 'Ouch', he will say, 'Mummy/Daddy pain pain', then he will come and sayang us by touching us on the head.
This is a picture of Matthew participating in our shelf building.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Lawn mower symphony
Most houses/units have a grass patch in the front or backyard. It gets quite long, as most grass tend to do, so a regular cutting is required every few weeks or so, depending on your tolerance for unsightly yards.
I was told by a colleague that Sunday are de-facto lawn mowing days. This is probably because people who work, do not have time to mow their lawns on weekdays. Oddly enough, this becomes a ritual. As observed by my colleague, although retirees have the whole week (mon-fri) to trim their grass, they only do it on weekends. Another ritual observed is that after the 1st lawn mower starts, the sound (which sounds like brrrrrrrrr...) of the petrol powered cutter engine 'makes a call' to all other lawn mowers 'to join in' and shortly after, you will find the whole neighbourhood in a symphony of grass-cutters.
Being a first-timer, we bought a manual lawn mower, thinking "how hard could it be?". However it turned out to be quite a physical work out. Often getting stuck halfway, we needed to remove the clumps of grass and dirt stuck in the blades. Partly this was due to long-overdue grass cutting - longer grass tends make difficult cutting, especially with a manual. After an hour of hardwork, the job was done. However upon inspection later, the lawn as if it had been ravaged by some wild grass eating creature, with haphazard patches of uncut grass scattered at various places.
I guess another round of trimming is in order... next week.
I was told by a colleague that Sunday are de-facto lawn mowing days. This is probably because people who work, do not have time to mow their lawns on weekdays. Oddly enough, this becomes a ritual. As observed by my colleague, although retirees have the whole week (mon-fri) to trim their grass, they only do it on weekends. Another ritual observed is that after the 1st lawn mower starts, the sound (which sounds like brrrrrrrrr...) of the petrol powered cutter engine 'makes a call' to all other lawn mowers 'to join in' and shortly after, you will find the whole neighbourhood in a symphony of grass-cutters.
Being a first-timer, we bought a manual lawn mower, thinking "how hard could it be?". However it turned out to be quite a physical work out. Often getting stuck halfway, we needed to remove the clumps of grass and dirt stuck in the blades. Partly this was due to long-overdue grass cutting - longer grass tends make difficult cutting, especially with a manual. After an hour of hardwork, the job was done. However upon inspection later, the lawn as if it had been ravaged by some wild grass eating creature, with haphazard patches of uncut grass scattered at various places.
I guess another round of trimming is in order... next week.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
1st trip to the Doctor
Matthew caught a cold and had running nose 2 days ago. The stuffy nose resulted in him not able to sleep well and woke up every one hour at night. That made the 2 of us very miserable, so I brought him to the doctor 1st thing in the morning.
We went to a nearby clinic as recommended by the neighbour. It was a 5 mins drive away. You need to make an appointment for the clinic here. Some clinic can be really busy that you might not even get an appointment on the same day itself. Thank God we managed to get one before lunch time.
As it was our first time at the clinic, we had to fill up a form first. Matthew's cold was so bad, that his nose was literally dripping like a tap! Regardless of that, he was still playing with the toys there. When it came to our turn to see the doctor, Matthew was quite co-operative. He is actually quite used to being examined by the doctor. He used to visit the clinic more than we do, back in Singapore. After the examination, the doctor asked what was it that is worrying me. I was like, er, his running nose, can you not see that it is dripping like a tap?! I was actually expecting him to prescribe me with some cold medicine to stop the 'tap'. Then the doctor said, he usually doesn't prescribe any medicine for this kind of 'illness'. He said if you want, then give him some paracetemol, and give him time to heal. Cold medicine might make the heart works harder and make it more miserable for the child and might cause heart palpitation. But but but, my doctor in Singapore always give Matthew all sorts of flu medicine! Now, who is correct here?! I guess it's different practise and culture. People tends to self medicate here if it's common flu or cold. When it was time to go, Matthew waved goodbye, blow flying kiss, and even gave the doctor a 'hi five' on his hand.
I wasn't ready to give him time to heal, so I went to the pharmacy to get a medicine to stop his running nose. He is abit better now, at least not as bad as yesterday. I hope he will heal tomorrow and stop being so miserable.
We went to a nearby clinic as recommended by the neighbour. It was a 5 mins drive away. You need to make an appointment for the clinic here. Some clinic can be really busy that you might not even get an appointment on the same day itself. Thank God we managed to get one before lunch time.
As it was our first time at the clinic, we had to fill up a form first. Matthew's cold was so bad, that his nose was literally dripping like a tap! Regardless of that, he was still playing with the toys there. When it came to our turn to see the doctor, Matthew was quite co-operative. He is actually quite used to being examined by the doctor. He used to visit the clinic more than we do, back in Singapore. After the examination, the doctor asked what was it that is worrying me. I was like, er, his running nose, can you not see that it is dripping like a tap?! I was actually expecting him to prescribe me with some cold medicine to stop the 'tap'. Then the doctor said, he usually doesn't prescribe any medicine for this kind of 'illness'. He said if you want, then give him some paracetemol, and give him time to heal. Cold medicine might make the heart works harder and make it more miserable for the child and might cause heart palpitation. But but but, my doctor in Singapore always give Matthew all sorts of flu medicine! Now, who is correct here?! I guess it's different practise and culture. People tends to self medicate here if it's common flu or cold. When it was time to go, Matthew waved goodbye, blow flying kiss, and even gave the doctor a 'hi five' on his hand.
I wasn't ready to give him time to heal, so I went to the pharmacy to get a medicine to stop his running nose. He is abit better now, at least not as bad as yesterday. I hope he will heal tomorrow and stop being so miserable.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Matthew's Hide and Seek
Matthew has been very 'proactive' lately. He will initiate games that involve us. One of which is 'hide and seek'. He will drag one of us to the room, push us in, and then walk away. When he walks away, he will then whisper "go there" and point to the living room. It's like him telling us, "I'm going there, come and find me". He will then run to the living room, and call out to either daddy or mummy (depending who is inside the room), and then the other parent is supposed to respond with "where?" After that he will go looking for us, and we're supposed to 'scare' him and he will go running hysterically out to the living room.
He can do this over and over again, pushing us into different room each time. If you don't oblige him, he will whine until you give in.
He also wants to get involve whenever I am cooking. He likes to see and wants to know the different ingredients being used. His favourite food is by far, potato, carrot, tofu and fish ball. He's very picky with his food, or shall i say he's lazy to chew. He doesn't like to chew on meat or anything that is too grainy. He will chew and spit out whatever he can't. I'm still waiting for the day that he eats everything.
He can do this over and over again, pushing us into different room each time. If you don't oblige him, he will whine until you give in.
He also wants to get involve whenever I am cooking. He likes to see and wants to know the different ingredients being used. His favourite food is by far, potato, carrot, tofu and fish ball. He's very picky with his food, or shall i say he's lazy to chew. He doesn't like to chew on meat or anything that is too grainy. He will chew and spit out whatever he can't. I'm still waiting for the day that he eats everything.
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