Compared to kids these days, I think I had a pretty carefree and fun childhood. My parents were at work most of the time and we were cared for by our grandmas. That meant that we spent most of the time just playing with the cousins. School work was hardly like how it is nowadays and my parents were quite relaxed so I had it pretty easy. These are some of my favorite memories:-

1. School holidays! Walking to the market hand in hand with all my cousins and grandma. We used to stay at my cousins' during the holidays coz grandma lived with them. She'll look after all 4 of us – me, Kel, SL, SM and later KH at the same time. Wonder how she did that… I miss my Ah Mah… I wanna be like her when I grow up.

2. Weekends! My dad used to play mahjong at my uncle's place on the weekends and we'd all go along. The cousins would play together while the adults play mahjong. I remember mashing up bouginvillas and rubbing them on our legs like medicine.

3. Going to the beach with my parents and sometimes with my cousins.

4. Family holidays to the US, Perth, Brisbane, Malaysia – we were not all that well off but Mum and Dad made it a point to bring us out of the country every 3-6 years. I went to the US/Japan/HK when I was only 6 and then to Perth when I was 12. But those were super memorable trips.

5. Going to the National Library at Stamford Road with my mum on the weekends.

6. Buying otak and bread from the stall outside my primary school. 10 cents ice lollies! Tuk tuk sweets! Mamee!

7. Chinese New Year celebrations, reunion dinners, ang pows, cookies, visiting, staying up late and playing with cousins etc…

8. Thomson Plaza (or Thomson Yaohan as we used to call it), spent lots of time there when we lived in the North. We only moved to Bukit Timah much later.

9. Playing badminton at SJI (now Singapore Art Museum) with a friend (can't even rem her name now!) and running to school at SAC when the bell rang. Playing 5 stones and skipping rope! Teddy bear teddy bear turn around, teddy bear teddy bear touch the ground… I sucked at zero point tho.

10. Mum making us writing letters to Santa and receiving what I wanted at Christmas on my pillow (this was before we became Christians and I realised that Santa did not exist!). So exciting!

Ooo I miss those days… My favorite times have been times spent with my grandma and cousins. I'm sure there are lots of other memories. Funny how I don't remember much of studying or stress but remembered only the fun times. I think the most memorable bits are mostly related to food and fun. Makes me think about the memories that I wanna help create for Sophie and Levi.

What about you? What were your favorite childhood memories? Being a mum sometimes I forget that I was once a child too.

… and I do what I want to!

I'm really bad at just doing what I want. I'm always doing something for someone else and feel almost guilty spending money to pamper myself. It's a bad habit and not a good thing at all because deep down, I really just want to do what I want to do and if it goes on for too long it festers into frustration and self pity! Yeeks!

But thank God, James knows me best and this birthday, he insisted that I go wild and I did!

We went to the Mount for sushi on Sat, bought a couple of Spring pieces from good ole Valleygirl, I had a whole lamb rack for dinner on the actual day, lovely pineapple and malibu cheesecake, and finally an absolutely well deserving massage at the local Matamata spa called Indulgence. Woo hoo! That's a real birthday treat! Ooooo and I almost forgot, Sophie gave me three dance performances on a stage at the place where we had dinner. So cutee….. I am truly blessed…

We spent the day at the local A&P show today. It was fun, fun, & fun.

Sophie had a couple of firsts – first cotton candy, first ride in a tea cup and on her own (she used to refuse to go on rides), first time seeing miniature horses, first time seeing someone spinning wool, first alpaca wool sweater…

I enjoyed looking at the antique farming machines and I saw a couple of antique cars driving past. Sometimes I still can't get used to the idea that I'm living in the countryside where farming is the main business. I saw little girls dressing up in their gear and getting ribbons for horse riding. I've only seen those on TV thus far! I even saw a girl pulling along her prize winning sheep with a couple of ribbons round it. So cute!

P/s Btw, A&P stands for Agricultural and Pastoral

My in laws left last weekend. We went up to Auckland to send them off and spent a night there.

It's been such a blessing having them around. They cooked for us every day, every meal for 6 whole weeks. It was such a luxury. My father in law was also the one who drove us to the hospital when Levi was about to be born. My mum in law helped to soothe Levi in the evenings so that I could have dinner in peace. Most of all, they were Sophie's main companions when James had to return to work and I was spending most of my time with Levi.

Sophie was inconsolable when they left. She cried and cried. Poor thing. She's grown so attached to them over the past 6 weeks. But it was good that she could grief like that. As grown ups, we always overlook the grieving process when people leave because we get so hardened. Looking at her grieve made James and I wished we had that kind of heart again. Once she stopped crying she was absolutely fine.

Sidenote:
1. Auckland is so fun! I love being in the city once in a while. James and I went on a date (Levi was our chaperon) on Sat night to watch the latest movie The Last AirBender. The show was so so but it was my first date with James since we returned to NZ in July and my first 3D movie. I know, very suaku but so shiok. Levi slept thru the movie and woke up in the last 30 mins to feed. Nice.

2. I drove back from Auckland. Woah! 2 hrs straight. I'm really starting to enjoy driving long distances.