Meeningfully

Ever since giving birth to the boy, not only has my figure gone out of shape, but my metabolism has also gotten a little out of whack. It’s been tough trying to lose that extra 7kg in the last 2 years as unfortunately, I am one of the not-so-lucky ladies who don't shed kilos very easily. In fact, it has become harder over the years. 

Before we had J, we always try to do something special on our birthdays, which usually ends up to be a short trip to some nearby destination. This year, we thought we should start exploring staycations. Relatively fuss free and we can spend quality time as a family of 3 exploring Singapore from the eyes of our 2 year old.

This year, we planned for an Elmo / Sesame Street birthday party for J both in school and at home because he is crazy over Elmo. He needs to have his Elmo wherever he goes these days. It is such a sight seeing him bring this stuffed creature around. So, once again, the parties did not really go as planned . But,  it is still nice to share what we did to bring the theme to life. The Cake We picked a fresh cream strawberry shortcake for all his friends in school. The cake was from Naomi Kitche n, a bakery that's run by a couple who started their business from a tiny food stall at Golden Mile food centre to  a shop unit at Crawford Lane. The cake we ordered had a nice, light and fluffy sponge with cream that's not too sweet.  The room of 24 toddlers definitely loved it as there was none left, and the happiest had to be the birthday boy who today still asks for his "Elmo cake"! The Goodie Bag We wanted to include some of Elmo's fa

We had our first ever kids' run at the Cold Storage Kids' Run this morning, and that means I can tick point 9 off my list of " 15 before 15 " . When we signed up for the run, I was rather apprehensive as I wasn't sure how J would perform. Yes, he likes to run but this is really different with the massive crowd.  In a rather ok mood as we make our way to the event ground.  We noticed that J tends to shrink into a shell when he is put in a situation with too many people. Basically, he does not like crowds,just like his parents. So, this run was a real challenge for not only him but us too.  The day started nice and sunny. I always love how they play such adrenaline pumping music at runs. It gets everyone happy and geared to go. Not my little one though.  Notice the pursed lips? That's J's signature.."I don't quite like what's going on here" type of look.  J insisted to take a picture with the Scotts' mascot, b

After last year's birthday party cancellation , we were praying hard that J will be able to have a proper celebration this year. We planned for an Elmo themed party both in school and at home. The home party was meant to be a small and cozy affair with just family and close friends. So, when we heard that J's classmate had hfmd just 10 days before his birthday, we took him out of school immediately. We didn't want to disappoint the little fellow when he was looking forward to the day his friends will sing the birthday song to him. He even practised singing,  complete with a clap and blowing of candles. Super cute right this boy?! It wasn't quite the right time to be juggling work and a "stay-at-home-kid" as it was an ultra busy period at  for me with a mega event , an advertising campaign and other projects on hand. Not to mention, we were actually on another cycle of SO-IUI. So, no surprises on guessing what happened after all these. Well, mummy&

I have read about playground bullies many times over on other mummies' blog and I know the time will soon come when I will have to deal with it. I used to think I can quite calmly manage unruly behavior, but at times I think that maternal instinct to protect overcomes me. This happened 2 weekends back at our condominiums's wading pool. There was only a girl who's about 4 years old and her father there. Her mother and grandfather were both sitting by the side of the pool watching her at play. J decided instead of playing at the water playground, he wanted to also splash around the wading pool (which is definitely big enough for 6 to 7 kids). So we let him, and sat at the edge of the pool while he wade around. This little girl, let's just call her "Pinky" (since she was wearing a pink wetsuit),  threw us a stare, turned to her father and said "I don't want them to play here. I was here first!" The first thing that popped up in my mind was

The one thing that people always ask when I say that we have been to Cebu for a family holiday is what is there to do in Cebu other than diving. So here's 5 things we did and I think we all enjoyed ourselves, although we though we would not have. 1) Visit a guitar factory. Other than their mangoes, Cebu is also well known for their handcrafted guitars, which are friendly to the pockets. Most guitar factories are located on Mactan island and the one we visited (Alegre Guitar Factory) seems to be one popular with the tour guides. Alegre seems to be the more expensive factories in Cebu, but quality also guaranteed. Even if you don't want to buy a guitar, these make a very nice souvenir to take home.  Even the tiny tot is having fun at the factory. Yes, we caved him and bought him one which is now collecting dust at home. And, this is a real mini guitar with 6 strings. Maybe we can get him started on music lessons soon ! Beautifully handcrafted guitars made