Hard Rocker

Ace sure knows how to enjoy himself...

Every now and then he will suggest going to Hard Rock for dinner...

Went to HRC again the other day for dinner and since it was uneventful.. din really take much pictures:)

But Ace seems to have a change in taste buds recently... while we ordered the same things we usually ordered.. Ace, who usually does not eat the nachos we order started munching happily away with us...

When Max challenged him to eat the spicy hot chilli in a dare (winner gets 10 dirhams), Ace gamely said OK and ate it!

Surprisingly, he said it is not spicy lor!:) Dunno wat came over him tat day:)

Since we did not eat alot and had space in the tummy for more food... we ordered some desserts.. YUMS :)

Then after he finished eating, Ace got restless and started doing funny things with the crayons HRC gave him....

I told him about how when I was working, me and one of my colleagues did a series of XMEN pictures and put pens between our fingers to become WOLVERINE and so Ace tried to do the same.. (Yes, we were tat boh liao.. we also stuffed white tissue behind my colleagues's glasses so tat we can take photo of "Storm".. hahahahha)

On our way home, we saw a lovely bike and Ace went to take photo with it cos he was impressed too.. BUT somehow at this age, he doesnt seem to know how to smile naturally anymore...

Previous Post: I'm Sexy And I Know It

I'm Sexy And I Know It

Ace loves the song I'm Sexy And I Know It and I think he has already memorized the whole song since it is one of his fav car tunes and he has probably heard the song at least a hundred times (and I am NOT exaggerating!!)

Yesterday, he came home from school and told me that his classmate, S, told him that he has watched the mtv of this song and that he did not like it because it is disgusting...

When I asked him what S meant by that, Ace explained..

"S says the video is of this man.. because he is so sexy.. the woman all want to touch his muscles.. and they also go and touch his peanut! Eeeeeee........ " he said, while giving a look of mock disgust... (Peanut is Ace's codeword for "penis".)

"But I thought you like the song and want to be sexy?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I want to be sexy.. but not THAT sexy.. I don't want women to touch my muscles or my peanut.." he said.

"Then you just don't be sexy lah.." I teased him....

"Cannot! I have to be a little bit sexy..." He insisted..

"Why?" I asked him...

"Because I still want to attract girls lah..."

FAINTZ... He is not even EIGHT YET!

Previous Post: Surrogates Can't Have True Love

Surrogates Can't Have True Love

Watched the movie, Surrogates together with Ace...

Ace was really fascinated by this movie.. which is a sci fi movie about how some time in the near future, all the human beings can buy robots called Surrogates to represent them in the world to interact... the surrogate can look perfect and they can do anything, go to work, talk, run...

All the human being needs to do is to stay at home and control the robot in the comfort of their own home...

I had to explain a little of what is happening here and there because Ace did not understand some parts...

But midway into the movie when he figured what was going on... he told me during the commercial break that if one day, in his life time, there are surrogates available, he will still choose to be himself and not use a surrogate... cos he figured that a surrogate hugging a surrogate will transmit no love...

Anyway, the ending of the movie (Spoiler alert if you havent watched the movie) is that something happened and all the surrogates were disabled and the human beings were forced to come out of their rooms and stop hiding behind the robots...

Ace declared to me that it was a great ending and a good ending "Because this is good for the people... you know mummy.. if they are just surrogates, they cannot hug each other for real and cannot really love each other... and they also cannot make babies and have children.."

I am so impressed that he thought so far! And also impressed that he seems to have a good grasp of what is important in life... that is.. till he added...

"If I choose, I dun want to have surrogate also.. because I want to feel real love and I want to have babies and have a family.... PLUS HOR... mummy.. if I were surrogate, I might DIE.. because of that virus the bad man created! I don't want to die!"

Wah lau... I tot he like so impressive and so chim like tat.. all that talk about love and family.... so the real reason is just tat he dun want to die by the surrogate virus! wahahaha...

But then again, that is also a good grasp of what is important lah.. SURVIVING is impt in life too:) haha..

Previous Post: I'm A Mar-ther Far-ther Gentleman!

I'm A Mar-ther Far-ther Gentleman!

Everyone knows how Ace is besotted with PSY and how Oppa Gangnam Style has been sort of his favourite song...

So when Psy's new song came out, I din think to like preview it and just asked Ace to watch with me..

But leh, here comes the problem.. in the chorus of this new song called Gentleman.. Psy keeps singing, "I'm a Mar-ther Far-ther Gentleman.." Take note also that his koreanized english pronunciation is really bad and so he ends up sounding like he is saying "Mother_f-ker gentleman..."

So I told Ace that this song is not suitable for children and not to sing it because the chorus sounds like a swear word... he asked me what word it was and I told him it is "Mother fucker" and it is a bad word..

Max also told Ace that he shouldnt be listening to such songs and we even had a discussion about how this song is not suitable for children..

Then leh.. Ace came home and told me that he kenna detention again...

This time.. I say he orh bee good...

Cos leh, he was singing the song... and then he wanted to imitate the "Mar-ther Far-ther Gentleman" but with a slip of his tongue, he said instead "motherf-ker gentleman.." The girls in his class overheard him and told the teacher... so he kenna lor! wahahaha..

And to think the day before he was still exclaiming to me that his classmate was silly to say a swear word in class because it meant he had no play time.... wahahhaha...

So I went one step furthur to explain that MF is a VERY VERY BAD swear word...  very much worse than just the word FUCK or words like SHIT..  I made him promise not to sing that song again.. ever in school.. because I told him.. that even if he managed to imitate correctly, people who overhear what he is singing might still think he is saying MF...

His dad came home and round two prep talk...

Then next day, went back to school, went to vice principal's office and round 3 prep talk..

So now that he is very sure that MF is a very very bad word.... he came home upset again today!

Why? Because he said that a prefect in his school bus scolded him Fuck off and also MF.. So now he super angry cos now he knows it is a super bad word.. hahaha...

I asked him if he was going to tell on her.. I was two minds about asking him to tell on her.. I mean telling on someone is not something nice to do.. but prefect leh.. how can like tat right? So I decided to let him decide what he wanted to do. I asked him if he would give her a chance and he said he already did because the prefect  already scolded him the F word once a few months back... so he already gave chance.. now he is not going to give chance and he says he is going to tell his teachers.. because this prefect also scolded the school bus custodian F word too! Gosh.. tat girl is only 10 or 11 leh.. what is it with kids these days man...

PS: Ace is going to perform in his school as PSY and doing Oppa Gangnam Style next week! wahahahaha!

Previous Post: Ace's School Marathon

Ace's School Marathon

Ace's school has been having lots and lots of fundraising activities.. these year's parent teacher association chairperson is very xiao on i think:) wahahahhaah...

So far they have done the usual bake sale, pop corn sale, they even had DUNK YOUR TEACHER... and also wear PJs to school for a token sum...

Just a few weeks back we received yet another fund raiser...

This time, it is a fund raising MARATHON ;)

Apparently, the children will swim for twenty minutes, dance for twenty minutes and run for twenty minutes in one school day for the marathon and the funds raised go 50/50 to Dubai Centre for Special Needs and also to the school to buy new stuff for the students.

We told him he can go and present to our friends what he is doing and if he can get them to donate.. good for him lah...

So first day he decided to do that was when we went to the Singapore Consulate for a party....

Aunty WL who is very supportive of all forms of charity work did not even ask Ace to present.. hahahaha... She merely read, and saw that it is for charity and decided to donate 100 dirhams :)

So because of that F jie jie also donated 100 dirhams...

Easy peasy for Ace lor...

At the next gathering ,we told Ace he will have to present properly...

And what did he do? He just read from the paper what it is for...

And thrilled our friends to bits!:)

And so he got another 300 dirhams worth of donation.. 100 from Uncle G, 100 from Uncle A, 100 from Uncle C:)

Ok lah,. at least he improved from asking people to read themselves to reading loudly for them what this is about :)

Many thanks to the uncles and aunties, gor gor and jie jies who supported Ace in the Marathon!:)

Previous Post: 0 To 10 Massage

0 To 10 Massage

Ace and his dad came up with a new game called 0 to 10 massage...

Ok, to be exact, Max was the one who came up with it...

The game goes like this.. you are supposed to use your finger to gently trace out the numbers 0 to 10 on the other person's tummy...

It is currently Ace's fav game and every night... he will beg me to do 0-10 massage for him before he sleeps.. wahahaha:)

I wonder though how long more before he will get tired of games like these:)

Previous Post: Cupcake Decorating Workshop

Cupcake Decorating Workshop

 The shopping mall we lived near said they had some sort of cupcake decoration workshop.. so I asked Ace if he would be interested to attend.. they said there will be certificate of attendance and balloons lor...

So I thought it is a class and there will be a teacher to teach the children how to do it or what..
End up, we walked 20 min the the afternoon sun (oh yeah, stop complaining that Singapore is hot please.. Dubai is now close to 40 degrees:P ) only to find that they just give you some ingredients and you just sit there and DIY...

 Since already walk here.. so do lor...

 Supposed to put the cream on the cupcake but our good fren too bz tasting the cream!

 The design he did..

 It din last for long though...

 Soon it ended up in his tummy!:) wahahaha

On a side note, a little more about his outfit today..

It was recyclable energy day in his class and Ace woke up at 6.30am in the morning to tell me that he has to DRESS UP AS RECYCLABLE energy..  Wah lau, where to get props?

So I told him he can wear school uniform instead...

He insist must dress up and then he decided to dress up in blue and brown cos he say cos water is recyclable energy and so is earth.. 

When we arrived in school, true enough, there were many children who were just dressed in blue or green,.. phew...

Previous Post: Mummy Always Sick One...

Mummy Always Sick One...

Max is down with a bad cough and so when Ace called him today at work, he asked his dad.. "How are you? Not bad right.. Mummy's recommendation.. you have to follow her recommendation when you sick.. it is good one.. because mummy always sick one.. so she expert in what to do when you fall sick..."

Me: Oi, why you talk bad about me..
Ace: I never say bad things about you! I say your recommendation very good!

FAINTZ....

Previous Post: My Mother's Day Surprise

My Mother's Day Surprise

True to his word though.. Ace really did prepare a lovely mother's day gift for me..

His very own rendition of a song written by him... Oppa MOther's Day Style :) wahahaha...



Super funny.. he even confesses to kicking me at night when he sleeps! :)

Well, FYI, this is actually already TAKE 3... as he comes up with the lyrics ad hoc... if you are very free.. you can also check out Take 1 and Take 2 posted below... JUST FOR LAUGHS:)





Once and again, Happy Mother's Day to all mothers:)

Previous Post: Mother's Day

Mother's Day

This year mother’s day, it was bitter sweet I guess… Since the Chinese saying goes, 先苦后甜, I will start with the bitter part I guess.

Bitter is of course because of the fact that I cannot be with our mothers and their mothers. I missed my mum… Missed my mother in law.. Missed both my grandmas….

The fact that I could only send an e-message sort of bugs me and while typing the message out, I was sort of emotional and teared a little. I remembered that when I was young, whenever it was Mother’s Day or my mum’s birthday, I, for some unknown reason, seemed to think that stationaries are the best things in the world and always end up buying her notebooks! (Many of them became  Ace’s drawing board later..hahaha)

I guess it is also because when  I was in primary school, other than the school canteen, the school bookshop is the only “shopping mall” I frequent without my parents:)

Anyway, back here in Dubai, Mothers day was.. well, like any other day. In fact, it was even more of a hard work day than anything else. As it was Sunday, and it was my only “off” day where no one in my office will send me any email or ask me to do anything… no meetings on skype… it was the day I can catch up on my Big Bang Theory and do the things that I wanted to do.

Maybe I was in a foul mood that day.. . because despite having free time, I just did not feel like doing things like watching the movies I wanted to watch… I certainly did not want to work as I have been working NON STOP for the week..  and many a times through wee hours in the morning.. or even during my family time…. I had just tried my hand at making 9 layer cake on Saturday and failed.. but someone has to eat it right? So no baking or cooking…

And what did I decide to do in the end?

House after the GREAT Clean Up

I cleaned the house! Wahahahaa…. I did quite a thorough clean up if I may so say myself. And so when my bestie messaged me to ask me how was my mother’s day, I told her it was hard work for me.. as I had just cleaned the house and cleaned the toilets! Wahahahaah…

Anyway, I had been bugging Ace about my mother’s day present and he kept saying that it was going to be a secret and that he will only give it to me on Sunday.

My son's drawing of me. I think he sees his mum as a messy hair crazy woman always doing housework cos apparently I am wearing an apron:) And he refused to draw my ears cos he insist is covered by my hair...

Well, he din make this for me on Mothers day.. I found it while packing up but nevertheless, it is still sweet:)

Sunday morning came.. Ace forgot it was mothers day.. TILL he read my FB with me and saw many people talking about it. And then he wished me Mother’s day.. then he told me that his present was himself and a sword he made… wah lau, dun even have card for me lor… At least he made a nice card for Popo and a nice card for Nai Nai…

The card for popo.. he says popo always wear jeans... and got short hair.. and popo always call him Feng Feng.. so he sign off as feng feng...

Nainai has a pony tail.. cos she always ties up her hair.. but hor nai nai very seldom wear skirts one.. dunno why he draw her in a skirt :)

Went to Mac Donalds for breakfast over the weekend and Ace said this is my mother's day present.. wahaha.. it is just a pot of flowers on the table:)

Then he came home from school…

I told him since is mother’s day, have to send his godmas something… So we decided he will sing a song for his 5 god mothers over whatsapp.. wahahaha… And all the singing and joke telling (Some of them he told some ad hoc joke) inspired him and then he told me he had a mother’s day present for me.. And then he started singing gangnam style in his own lyrics! I laughed till I pengz.. I told him that is very good.. can he do again for me to video.. and he gamely did so… THREE TIMES
Each time he did it.. was impromptu.. that is why the lyrics are all different! Wahahaha….
Maybe he can be a song writer when he grows up.. my frens cracked up when they watched one of the videos I posted on FB.. wahahah…
So that is the sweet part lah…

And the best of the sweet part is that a friend shared about this contest where you talk  about your most memorable experience with your kid or your mum… so I decided to take part.. the prize was a stay for two in some resort in BKK… and just for the heck of it,  I asked Ace if HE wanted to take part… He did! End up, his most memorable experience was the same as mine—our stay in MBS :) So leh, I sent it in as one entry..

A friend who read it said she was very moved …  and… WE WON! I think it was Ace’s heart felt write up that tipped the scale.. so too bad..even I win, I cannot TMM alone with Max because  Ace says he won so he should go too! Hahahaha…

Previous Post: New Discovery: Golden Roaster At Samaya Hotel!

New Discovery: Golden Roaster At Samaya Hotel!

 Latest discovery in Dubai.. finally a restaurant that can do authentic Singaporean/Malaysian foods like MEE GORENG... HOR FUN.. etc... THAT IS VERY NEAR TO OUR PLACE! Yeah!

It is a new place and some time back, a friend told us about it... apparently is malaysian chef:)

 The only thing I will complain about is that when we asked for green chilli, they gave us only the vinegar without the chilli! wahahaha.. WHY? Cos the staff all PRC or Filipino :) They dun understand our food culture at all! But well, as long as can eat authentic sgp food.. VERY SHIOK liao!

 That is the vegeterian hor fun:)

 WHile we are on the topic of food..  want to share something I ordered from Singapore Deli the other day.. never see before and because me and Max were curious, I ordered it...

It looks like malay style he ye fan lor.. it came wrapped up in a leave.. open it up.. inside got petai, got chicken, got tempeh and even salted fish.. very strange .. but taste quite interesting.. my only complain is not veg... and I still prefer the nasi lemak chilli :) wahahah

Previous Post: Into The Woods

Be My Guest Contest Entry

The most memorable thing I have done with my son is to actually go for a mini staycation with him when he was around 5 years old.

I had always been the type of mother who needed a breather from my son every now and then. While some mothers cannot bear to leave their children for more than a few hours at a time, I, on the other hand, could not bear to face my son and spend time with him non stop. It was not that he was ill behaved, neither was it that I did not love him. We spend a lot of time together on a daily basis but I just feel like I need the breather from the heavy burden of motherhood every now and then. Even when my husband got stationed overseas, I would often leave my son with my mother and go out to have some “ME” time away from my son.

A friend booked a room in the MBS but had last minute cancelled out. She asked if I would be interested to stay in MBS for a night FOC. Since I was free, I decided to go on the staycation with my son. It was our first holiday together. Alone! For more than 24 hours! I have never spent more than 24 hours alone with my son before.

I was a little apprehensive but  excited. We took the MRT to Marina Station and walked over. The long walk meant we had a lot of chance to do all those sort of touristy things like taking pictures of the beautiful scenery around us, posing in front of the Ferrari store.  It gave us a chance to really talk and hold a heart to heart conversation as well.

After checking in to a beautiful room, we decided to visit the Sky Garden and do some swimming. Alas, we were told it is closed due to bad weather. My son then discovered the jacuzzi pool and we spent a good 15 minutes there before it started to rain.

No rain could dampen our increasingly joyous holiday mood. We were determined to enjoy ourselves anyway and so we decided to continue having fun back in our room.. in the bathtub! We had such an enjoyable bubble bath together, playing with bubbles and scrubbing each other’s backs.
 

Thank god the weather was good the next day so we still got to spend some time in the pool. And what did my son want to do before we check out?

“Can we do bubble bath again?” He said it was his favourite part of the trip. And so we did.

It was the first time I spent such a long time alone with my son and we had so much fun. That trip was a turning point for me as we started to learn how to be great companions and friends and how to spend more time together without me feeling like I was suffocating under the burden of motherhood.

PS: When I asked my son to write about HIS most memorable experience with me, I was pleased to find that he remembered this special day fondly too.

Here is what he says...

 

 

Into The Woods

Ace came home the other day and said he wanted to go and watch his school musical...

Some months back, Ace came home and said that his school is going to put up a musical.. they actually do so every year and last year, we did not watch because it was in the evening and I find it a hassle to get to school on my own...

And then this year, because Ace had some friends performing and because the teacher in charge is one of his fav teachers- Mr M... so he kept bugging me initially to let him audition..

I couldnt though.. because it requires weekly practice and I was not ready to fetch him every week as I am much more tired now that i work...

So he bugged me to bring him to watch the performance instead.. and so I did..

I was totally bowled over by the performance.. Max was supposed to play football but decided to join us last min and he was also very impressed!:)

THe children sang so well and they acted very well too.. almost as good as those adults performing in the malls lor! And the musical was sooooooooo long:)

THere were so many funny moments too!

I asked Ace if he would like to take part next year, he says he just likes to watch...

I think just as well.. he wouldnt stand a chance with his singlish accent! wahahaha..

But one thing is that some of them had really thick accents I had a problem trying to understand what they were saying..

Like there was this character who was the boy who cried wolf.. I kept wondering why he came up and said FROG or FOX or something.. and Ace told me later that he was the boy wh cried wolf an dhe was acting like an idiot.. so he said.. "FWOLF..." And i tot he said FOX lor!

Hahahahaha...

Previous Post: Ace's First Porsche

Ace's First Porsche

Ace loves to eat those Kinderjoy, Kinder surprise eggs...

The other day, Max had to travel to Oman for a meeting and knowing that his dad is going "overseas", he asked if his dad can get him a present...

His dad bought him a Kinder Surprise and it was a box of 5 eggs. When he opened one of them, inside was a blue MINI PORSCHE.. and Ace was so excited...

"Look, mummy! My first PORSHCE!" He said excitedly..

Hahaha.. he is in a "I wanna be an inventor phase now.." And the other day, he told me he is going to invent a super car...

While we were out for dinner,he drew out the car that he wanted to invent and even came up with an ad for it...

He indeed takes after his mum as a great marketeer!:) wahahahahahahha....

Previous Post: Ace's Wins Bookmark Design Contest

Ace's Wins Bookmark Design Contest

 Ace won himself another art related prize...

He took part in a bookmark design contest and he was supposed to draw his favourite story book character and he chose to draw Horrid Henry.. He won second prize and it was some sort of stationary set with stickers... I forgot to take picture of the bookmark.. so no pics here..

Actually, he also took part in an art contest and the theme was Dubai, My Green City...

He din win for that though.. but I thought the picture is very nice:)

 Anyway, Ace is really creative.. the other day, he won the drawing contest and won this pencil with a car on top..

The other day, I saw him sharpening it and asked him, "I thought you say you can't bear to use this pencil? Why are you sharpening it?"

And then he told me that he has a new plan. He drew a line on the pencil.. so he will sharpen it and use it till he reaches the line.. he will saw it off.. and use those holders they use to put balloon on stick and put it in.. then it can stand up as a display item..

I asked him who taught him that.. he said he came up with that idea all by himself!

I am very impressed!

Well, sometimes my son also uses his creativity on boh liao things...

For example.. using the table legs  and doing this.. while asking me.. "Look mum, looks who's on TV?"

Boh liao lor.. but very funny.. hahaha:)

Previous Post: I’ve Got A New House!

I’ve Got A New House!

Before I arrived in Dubai, a certain someone promised me that I will only need to come over for 2 years.

This Aug 29, I would have been in Dubai for two years (Ok, actually less than that since I spend about 2.5-3 months in SG every year. Because I have had the mentality that I will be going back to Singapore soon, I have been living in the simplest possible way as this place to me is transient. It is not my home, and certainly not my house.

I was unwilling to invest in anything to decorate it or make it nicer or whatsoever. Anything I buy, I only buy if it has practical value. If I already have it, I make do with it.. But during the appraisal this year, someone’s boss told him that “It will be better for your career if you stayed on for another two years…” I am not surprised.. the way I see it, I think he means also that it will be better for HIS career if his right hand man stayed on for another two years to help him out. (Update: This person just resigned to go back home.. well, so much for bosses who make promises...Guess what, after all the promises and two bosses later, Max is still here and the so called bosses are all somewhere else.. haha)

Then I remembered what my Japanese friend L told me. She has been moving around with her husband for more than 10 years (2 years in Singapore, 10 years in Dubai). When I complained to her once how I very much wanted to go home, she told me this, “Angel, to be really happy in Dubai, you have to think… Oh, I am going to stay here forever and live life as if you will be staying here for good.. then you will be happy…”

This year, when we had to think about whether to shift or not (our lease is yearly renewal), I asked Max this question… “How would you live your life and what sort of place will you live in if we were staying here for good?” We were all squeezed into tiny 1 bedroom apartment because our thinking was we were going back soon. Not that it is not good.. it is great that it is cosy and that it is easy to clean.

But it means Ace’s overflowing stack of toys has to be in the living room… And that Ace sleeps next to me and will have the chance to KICK ME IN BED when he is sleeping. It also means any baby making activities will always have to be after ace falls asleep and has to be done in.. the living room.. because we have nowhere else to go… hahahah. In short, my thinking was just to save money and “make do”.

In the end, because of the increasing prices of the overall rental and the fact that I have to factor in my travelling time to work, Ace’s school and also because I am starting to get used to the neighbourhood we are staying in and at least I know where to go for wat stuff… and also that our place is next to an interchange metro stop, near to a mall that is upgrading to include Carrefour and a Cineplex soon… we decided to stay on for another one more year at this place.

But asking myself that question made me think that maybe there is a better way to live my life in Dubai instead of just MAKING DO. I mean, I have so many friends who have been here 5 years, 10 years… Max doesn’t seem prone to move back unless something big happens… so do I really want to MAKE DO for another 5 years or 10 years? And so, we decided it is time to INVEST in a proper SOFA;)

 Our new sofa!

 New home for my gohonzon...

Our last sofa was a second hand one that Max bought because then me and Ace were coming over to visit him for a month and so he bought a sofa bed that Ace can use to sleep in at night. The springs in the sofa bed where getting from bad to worse.. when we sat down at night to watch our K dramas, we could feel like there is a HOLE inside the sofa.. even though it still looked fantastic from the outside:)

And since we are going to invest in a Sofa, I thought it is time I invested in a nicer table for my Gohonzon as well.. better still, make it a set of drawers so that I can keep more stuff;) After a few trips to Ikea and various furniture shops, we decided on what we had wanted and bought it! I was so excited when the new furniture came.. because after packing all the things in, I feel like my house looks like a different place! ;) Now I dare to ask people to come my house.. wahaha..

If not, ask my DXB friends… most of them have never been to my house at all ;)

I can’t say I have totally gotten rid of the MAKE DO thinking ;) I am still dam cheapo and think can save just save lah… But I have started on making a photo wall in our living room.. and have come to think of this tiny space we live in as our home…

PS: I asked Max that question and he said if we were going to stay for 10 years, he would probably have invested in a place to live in in the first place ;) He assured me that we are certainly going to improve our standard of living since his next increment will come with a percentage increment on his allowances…

Previous Post: I Don't Want You To Grow Old