Adventures In Dubai Day 2

Day 2 in Dubai was a super long day for us.. because we woke up at 7am when Max went to work...

But it is understandable.. since that is equivilent to like 11am in SGP...


Ace was totally excited to be up and started to find things to play with. He ended up playing with his suitcase and all the clothes he brought and so to stop him, I got him to fold clothes for me... and then we made breakfast together..


Not knowing what to do, I asked Ace if he wanted to watch, Beauty and the Beast and he said YES.. so I went to download it and we watched it together. Alas, by the time we were done, it was only still 10am and so we went on to watch The Little Mermaid and then prepared lunch.

Due to limited resources, lunch for the day was Apple, Cheese and Honey Mustard Sandwich.. hahaha...


By 3pm, we were so bored we started taking funny photos of ourselves to entertain ourselves... but because Ace was so excited, he refused to take an afternoon nap...


5pm, I went to make up and Ace enteretained himself by taking even MORE photos of us.... and when they started chanting on TV at 5.30pm (I think the Dubai One Channel stops all programmes and chants the Koran everyday at 5.30), Ace took out his beads and started chanting too.. hahahaha...


When Max came home, he announced that he was bringing us to the Dubai Mall... The Dubai Mall is a super duper big mall like suntec city.. only many times bigger! It is a very interesting mall and has got an Underwater Zoo, Skating Rink and many other interesting places we can visit.


First stop was to visit and watch the musical fountain they have right outside the mall... it was really quite nice and afterward, we went to the foodcourt for dinner. As Ace wanted to eat Sushi, Max brought him to the Japanese stall and yew... tat was the worst jap food we ever had in our lives and it wasnt cheap lor!


Anyway, afterward we went to take a look at the BIGGEST fishtank in the world and went candy shopping in candylicious... I dun need to tell you how Ace must be super duper happy lah... cos Daddy bought him eyeball chocolates, one blue lollipop and a packet of POPPING sweets.


Afterward, we went to a mustafa centre alike place called Lulu Supermarket to buy all the daily necessities we need.


By the time we reached home, Ace took a bath and climbed back into his bed and slept without us telling him to sleep.. hahahaha..


I just wish he would wake later tomorrrow...


Previous Post: Adventures In Dubai: Day 1

Adventures In Dubai: Day 1

Well, the day that Ace has been waiting for is finally here! :)

After lots of countdown, we finally took a 7 hour flight and arrived in Dubai to be with Daddy! :)

Before we left, it was sort of crazy for me... I was really busy with my part time work and also meeting up with friends before I left that I barely had time to spend with Ace, much less have time to countdown and mull about or even get excited oir worried about going to Dubai. (Even though the thought of how I will surivive a 7 hr flight with Ace fleeted cross my mind..)

After everything sort of settled down for me.. on Saturday, I dedicated Sunday to packing.. to my surprise, it took much LONGER than I expected.. I finally only finished packing at 2am in the morning and set my alarm clock to wake me at 6.40am (since my flight is 9.40am).

Alas, my very excited son woke up at 6am and WOKE ME UP! :)

Anyway, thereafter it was a mad rush.. I took a cab to the airport with my parents, checked in, found out there are only window seats left and then had breakfast with my parents before I went into the departure hall...


My cheeky son told Popo at the end, "I think you will cry later.." And I think he cannot be more right.. when i went into the departure gate, my mum's eyes were red.. hehehe..


Anyway, we were lucky though tat we were seated with a very kind gentleman from Malaysia. He is a phillipino engineer who married a malaysian chinese wife.. he has four children and ever brought his son travelling alone when his son was 5 and so he perfectly understood my situation and was so helpful!

Thankfully, my son merely peed twice in the toilet and most of the time is just happy to watch movies, play games and eat.. he was given lots of snacks and drinks and he laughed so loud when he was watching Mr Bean that all you could hear was his cackling laughter...


Anyway, when we finally arrived, I marvel at how Dubai is so different from when I visited her 10 yrs ago.. but the people here are still as SLOW as ever.. it took us forever to clear the immigration check point but luckily because Ace is a smiley, handsome kid, people are mostly friendly to me as well :)


Anyway, when we finally came out of the airport and saw Max through the glass door, Ace started to scream and jump up and down for a full minute and laughed and laughed and laughed out loud...


When we finally went out of the gate, Ace ran to max, and jumped up into his arms into a tight hug and laughed and laughed while I was crying and crying... but we were both just expressing our happiness in different ways I guess:)


Anyway, we went home for a little rest and afterward went out for a walk. Max gave Ace a 50aed budget to buy a gift and Ace bought an activity book and a golf toy with the budget... we wanted to go to a taiwanese restaurant for dinner but alas, Ace was fast asleep by then and the restaurant was closed..


We thought we would make do with the italian restaurant nearby but alas, they dun serve vegeterian food and so we decided to go home and cook.

After dinner, we were all so tired and so we all went to bed at dubai 9pm.. which was technically 1am in Singapore.. considering tat we woke at 6am, it has been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG day indeed...

Previous Post: Mummy Go To Heaven Already!

Mummy Go To Heaven Already!

Two weeks before I was due to set off to Dubai I had dinner after dinner and meetings after meetings and my son got really upset because I was not at home to play with him.

At night, before I came home, my mum was out as well and when she reached home, she asked Ace, "where is mummy?"

"Mummy in heaven already..never coming back already.."he said angrily.

"huh?" My mother was a little shocked.

"Mummy in heaven already, not coming back already.." Ace repeated.

"Ace, do you understand what it means to go to heaven or not?" My mother asked him

"Ya, it means she die lor.." he said angrily..

"Aiyoh, Ace, you cannot curse mummy like tat..."

"Ya, she go heaven because she always go out. You see you see, so late already, she still never come back!" he insisted.

And then mum reminded him that everyone loves him and he insisted that Mummy dun love him, Ah Yee dun love him...

But when everyone finally came home.. he was a happy boy again and had lots of fun playing with us again ;) hahahaha

Before I slept, I told him I twisted my ankle and he lovingly helped me massage my ankle :)

Anyway, my mum only told about it the next morning. Guess I have to spend some time to apologize and join with him to make up for lost ground again:) Thank goodness today and tomm I will be bringing him out:)

Previous Post: Marriage Proposal From Ace

Marriage Proposal From Ace

The other day, my son proposed to me...

Out of the blue, Ace asked me... "Qiu qiu ni, mummy, can you marry me or not... please lah..." I asked him why.. "because I love you lor.. " and he hugged my hand.. "Why else?" I asked him.. "I love you lor.." and he repeat I love you 5, 6 times and each time hugging a different part of me.. wah lau, if i am his girlfren sure say yes!

And then i told him I am married to daddy already.. he asked me, "Can you cancel your wedding with daddy to marry me or not?"

I told him if i cancel my wedding with daddy and marry him, he will get a wife but he will lose his mummy and daddy. But if I am married to daddy and he marry another girl. he gets to keep his daddy and mummy who both love him alot and also another laopo who love him too ;)

And then he laughed and told me that he was just joking with me... HAHA!

Previous Post: I Can Feel You

I Can Feel You

When we have time, Ace and I like to talk.

Sometimes we talk about funny things, sometimes we tell each other about what is happening in our lives.. sometimes, we have MEANINGFUL conversation.. hahaha

This one time, we were talking about how Ace is the best son in the whole wide world and how the name, Ace, means being the best and doing his best. I teasingly pulled his hand up like when I always did when he was a baby and told him, "You are the greatest, you are the best, you will succeed.. you are the greatest, you are the best, you will succeed!"


And Ace laughed very happily.


I asked him why he was laughing so happily when i said that and he told me, "Because I am so happy.... when you say that, I can feel you in my heart and I can feel your love.. so I am so happy!"

Previous Post: I See God Everyday

I See God Everyday

For no reason, my son suddenly told me, "You know mummy, I see god very often... everytime I want to do something bad, god comes and tell me to do the good thing... I even touch god too... do you see god all the time?"

I told him I dun see 'god' but feel his presence. So curious to what is the god he sees like, I asked him to describe the god he sees to me. And without thinking, Ace went on to tell me what god is like...

According to Ace, god is half man and half woman. One blue eye, one red eye, one half black, one half white...

And then I explained to Ace tat diff people have different gods. They look different and have different names. To some people, their god is the buddha.. to some, is jesus chris.. to some, is allah, to some is guanyin... to us, gohonzon....

And Ace said to me, "My god's name is Nam Myo..."

Hahahahahahaha....... I think he meant Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo... which is the lotus sutra tat we chant. Hahahaha..


I am just happy that Ace believes that there is a higher power somewhere like me. Also surprised as his inate wisdom and spiritual awareness. Also quite surprised tat Ace actually understands tat god is oneness.. rather than the dualism tat we see so often in our everyday life.

Previous Post: Ace Spezzano?

Ace Spezzano?

Sometimes, children understand simple principals much better than adults do.

The other day, I told Ace I was going out to meet M. He asked if I was meeting M to discuss about M and S breaking up.

I told him, "yeah.."

And without me asking him anything else, he started to offer his Aceology about love.

"Actually mummy, tell M it is very simple one. Ask her to tell S I am sorry I love you. If S don't forgive her. Then ask her to say 求求你， I am sorry, I love you. And if S still don't forgive her. Then too bad lor, it means it is too late lor. Actually it is very simple.. so easy peasy!"

"Well, you are absolutely right. But when you do fall in love, please also still remember what you said today ok?" I told him with a laugh.

I am just amazed how succintly Ace could explain love, forgiveness and letting go all in a few simple sentences.

Anyone wants to attend Master Trainer, Ace Spezzano's POV workshop on True Love?:P hahahaha

Previous Post: Keep One For Max Chua

Keep One For Max Chua

Since I have always been always showing off about how much Ace loves me, it is now time to show off how much he loves his daddy.. hahahaha...

The other day I was eating this egg roll that I bought from Macau and just as I was thinking inside my mind about how Max will probably love this and too bad he is not here and whether I can bring some to him...

Just at the same moment, my son came up to me and said, "Mummy, can we keep one for daddy and bring to Dubai for him to eat?"

"Ya, I was just thinking about that.." I told Ace and after discussion, we decided we will write a note on the box to remind everyone to keep one piece for Max.

Ace brought me paper, pencil and asked me to write "Keep one for" and he will write "Max Chua".

So sweet of him to remember to share with his father, right?:P

PS: In the end, we brought another box of goodies for Max because this box was too big and bulky.. and because of Ace's note.. by the time we left SGP, there were still like 5 pieces of the egg roll left :)

Previous Post: It Is Not Your Fault

It Is Not Your Fault

Days before I was due to go dubai, I got really caught up with the sheer number of things I had to do. Add on some other stress I was feelig from something else... I felt really frustrated throughout the day...

One day, while I was busy at work, Ace kept coming to my computer and disturbing me and interferring with me and I got really upset and with every ounce of self restrain I had, I told him to "Please go away and do something else somewhere and dun come and bug me till I am done with my work..."

Later in the night while I was sleeping with Ace, I felt bad and told him that I am very sorry that I asked him to go away. It was not that I did not like him or did not want to be near him but I was really frustrated and so i explained how I felt and where my frustrations came from to him..

And to my surprise, my son actually said, “Mummy，你不用道歉，错的人是我。对不起”

"Why do you think it is your fault?" I asked him...

“Mummy, I am sorry, it is not your fault, you dun have to apologize, I am at fault, I shouldn't have disturbed you..."

So I told him that we were both at fault and since we apologized, we are best friends again...

Previous Post: Story Of The Best Mummy In The Whole Wide World

Story Of The Best Mummy In The Whole Wide World

I was trying to get Ace to take his afternoon nap and so I slept beside him and pretended to sleep. I was not feeling very well because I had infected tonsils and couldnt really talk to him at all so we couldnt have our usual before sleep sort of conversation.

But that doesnt stop Ace from expressing himself though:)

"Mummy, you be a good girl and sleep and I tell you a story, okay?"

And I nodded my head...

"Once upon a time.." Ace started off.."There was a little boy whose mummy is called Angel! Angel is the best mummy in the whole wide world. She takes care of him and she takes care of daddy. She gives them her love and she plays with him and tell him stories. Angel is the best mummy in the whole wide world. ..."

And he forgot he was the narrator and started moving from third party narration into this...

"And she takes such good care of me. She is so thankful and I am so thankful to her. Angel is a good mummy and she love her family... She is really my best mummy in the whole wide world and I love her so much..."

And the story ended with, "Do you love your mummy? Is your mummy the best mummy in the whole wide world?"

"Okie, the end already, mummy.."

I smiled at him and gave him a wordless reply in the form of a BIG, LONG HUG:)

PS: Ace told me since he told me a story of mummy, yday, his story before I sleep for me is storry about daddy. It started with "once upon a time, there was a daddy who went to work in dubai..." and ended up becoming the story of goldilocks and the three bears.. when I asked him abt the daddy story.. he said already finished. He cannot tell it again because it is very late, time to sleep.. one day can only tell one story.

Previous Post: Singapore Boleh!

Singapore Boleh!

I think we really have to give the Singaporean government a pat on their back for very successful implementation of National Education and for creating patriotic Singaporeans since young:)

My son is only 5 but I would say he loves our country to the bits. He knows and says "Singapore is the number one safest country in the world.."

But that is maybe not so surprising as hearing him compose a song about Singapore and sing about all the good things in singapore...

We were on our way to Yeye and Nai Nai's house. And then Ace started humming and singing a song he made up... and the lyrics go something like this...

There are so many people in Singapore
Singapore is the number one country in the world
Singapore is the best in the whole wide world.
We have so many people and everyone is talented
We have so many champions here
I love Singapore
I love to be in Singapore
Singapore is the number one country in the whole wide world
Yeah... yeah... yeah...
Singapore is the number one...


Totally AMUSING and AMAZING:) Hahahaha...


Previous Post: Ace My Hero

Ace My Hero

The other day, Ace had a very strange conversation with me.

I was putting on my make up and he was just sitting there and watching me and all of a sudden He told me, "Mummy, I had a dream last night leh. I dreamt hor that you and daddy quarrel and then daddy beat you...."

"Oh Ace, it is just a dream.." I told him, "Daddy will never beat me in real life one lah... because before we got married I already told him that he cannot do that because if he do that, I dun give chances and I will say bye bye to him.. so daddy will never beat me even if he quarrel with me.. anyway, daddy not violent like that..."

So Ace gave it some thought.. "It is just a dream..." he repeated.

"Yes, and dreams are not real.." I hesitated to explain to him how we are all having a dream anyway.. a dream of being awakened but felt this is not the best time to explain this and so I left it as that..

After about a 30 second pause, Ace said, "But mummy.. if one day daddy really beat you, I will buy a big house outside and we two live together. I will protect you..."

So I told my hero thank you for his thought but it wouldnt be necessary because, him, me and daddy will live happily forever TOGETHER! :)

PS: We are together with Daddy in Dubai now... Ace was laughing loudly and I was crying when we saw daddy at the airport... diff expression of the same happiness of being finally united again! :)

Previous Post: Mummy, I Don't Want To Grow Up

Mummy, I Don't Want To Grow Up

The other day, Ace and me were in the room and we were having our late night chats again.

Suddenly, Ace told me, "Mummy, I want to stay a child forever.. I don't want to grow up."

"Why?" I asked him, thinking it could be because he enjoys being a child so much he doesnt want to grow up.

"Because if I stay a xiao hai zi (child), then you will never grow old. If you never grow old, then you will never die.."

I was so touched when I heard that.


I explained to Ace, "But Ace, everyone will die one day. You cannot stop yourself from growing up and you cannot stop mummy from growing old. No matter what you do, one day mummy will grow old and one day mummy will die..."


And Ace said, "But I don't want you to die.. I will miss you too much if you die... I want to cry when i talk about this.." and he started to cry.


I hugged him tight and repeated to him that he has to accept that everyone will die. The buddha says tat everyone will go through Death, Aging, Sickness and Death.


But Ace still continued to cry. Finally after another minute or two, he seems to come to terms with the idea and he said,"When you die, I will still go and bai bai (pay respects) you to talk to you and I will tell you how much I love you and how much I miss you."


"Thank you, Ace. Remember that even after mummy die, I will always be still in your heart." I was tempted to go one step furthur and explain idea of everyone being in oneness to him but find it maybe not a good or right time to do so.. given that I dun have the right words to explain to him too..

"Mummy, how come lao ma so old already but she still haven't die?" I explained then that not all old people die. They will eventually die but everyone dies at a different time. The time you die is determined by whether the person takes good care of their health and stays healthy, whether they are hit by an accident, whether they are down with disease and sometimes whether they choose to continue living.


I told Karen Ganma about this and she said that she also cried when she realized one day that her parents will eventually die. I dun remember crying even though I remembering having this awareness one day in my childhood.


I am just basically very touched by Ace's love for me. Thank you so much, Ace ;) You are the bestest son in the whole wide world!

Previous Post: Daddy, I love you!

Daddy, I love you!

Near our place, there is a huge field. The other time when Ace missed daddy badly, we went ot the field to shout out our feelings of missing him.

Recently, Ace starting to miss Daddy again. The other day, we passed by the field again and so I let Ace shout out wat he wants to say to daddy again...


PS: Max, did you tear?:P


PPS: Counting downto when we can meet! :)

Previous Post: This Is What Happens When You Are Greedy!

This Is What Happens When You Are Greedy!

Ah Yee took out some ginseng sweets from her bag and left them on the table.

I told Ace not to eat them first and wait till tomorrow, thinking tat he already has eaten lots of junk today.

But my greedy, cheeky son tore open the wrapper the moment I opened my mouth and by the time I was done, he gleefully told me, "Too late, I already opened.."

And before Popo could make a comment about how Ace wouldnt like the very strong taste of ginseng, Ace already popped the sweet into his mouth.

One minute later, this was how Ace looked like..

Hahaha..

Ace asked me, "Mummy.. why this sweet so smelly one..." I told him that that is the taste of ginseng and ginseng is some sort of herb and it has a strong taste. Some people actually do like this taste and think it smells good and ginseng is good for the body and will give the body energy.
And then he sit in one corner of the sofa and quietly bear the discomfort while covering his nose.. about 5 min later, he really couldn't bear it anymore and asked me if he could spit it out..

I told him to spit it out into the dustbin and he quickly went to spit it out :)

Hahahaha.. I think he tried to bear with it for 5 min because he knew it was his own fault he had to eat this "Smelly Sweet" hahahhahahha

Previous Post: Say Sorry Lah!

Say Sorry Lah!

My grandmother was happily watching the Taiwanese soap opera, AI.

Ace always says he does not like the show so other than the parts where there is a little boy called Baodi, he will usually NOT watch the show and spend his time playing with toys and doing different things.

Anyway, the storyline came to the point where this baddie in the show had cancer and in the last moments of his life, he started to regret all the mistakes he made in life and he decided to turn around and be a tgood man.

Touched by his sincerity to change himself, everyone started to do things to help him too and his ex lover who bore him a son finally agreed to change his family surname to that of his biological father.

So the bad ass, Guo Congmin (he also calls himself Handsome Min) was very touched my their gesture and he said, "All of you are so good to me and so kind to me.. I really do not know what to say.."

(That is a common line in typical taiwanese soap operas.)

And my son, while still playing with his toy without even looking up said, "Say thank you lah... people do nice things for you how can you not know what to say.. so rude if you never say thank you..."

Me, my mother and grandmother had a good laugh! hahahahaha

Previous Post: Ace Likes Gu Cai Kway?!

Ace Likes Gu Cai Kway?!

Most children would love foods like cakes, pancakes, chocolates, etc...

My son is no different. BUT, he also has a very strange liking for GU CAI KWAY.. which is a chinese style food where chives are chopped, fried and wrapped in a skin made of rice flour, water and oil.

Gu cai kway does not look enticing nor is it especially tasty. In fact, the only people who like this food that I know are more than 50 years old lor...

Initially, he just always says that he wants to share the gu cai kway with me whenever my dad buys it for me for breakfast.

Only today, then I had an inkling of how much he loves this chinese snack!

It was early morning and Ace was throwing a tantrum in the bedroom. I asked him what is it about and he complained that he is upset because it is a sunday and gong gong did not buy the chocolate pancake for him.. because it is only available on sundays.

I told him if he wanted to eat that, he had to remind gonggong in advance and ask gong gong to buy. Gong Gong cannot read his mind and know what he wants to eat all the time.

My mum then said that it is because gong gong didn't want him to eat heaty food and chocolate is very heaty.

But Ace wasn't pacified.

I told him he has to choose something to eat or he can choose not to eat breakfast and stay hungry. He can make his own choice ;) He chose to continue to throw a tantrum.

And then, all of a sudden, I noticed there is gu cai kway.. so i told him I can share with him. And he happily decided to stop his tantrum and went to brush his teeth immediately so tat he can eat the gu cai kway..

After he finished brushing his teeth, he asked me if he could eat the kway by himself and not share with me. And since he liked it so much, I let him have it and so he told me that he loves me very much and gave me a big hug as a thank you..

Previous Post: Creative Ace

Creative Ace

Chidren are just so creative!

Ace and I were building some lego buildings and Ace said that the building is a jail.. then he took out his set of army soldiers and placed them around the building and said that these are the bad guys trying to break into the jail..

After a while of talking to himself, he got a little tired of the game and ran away and was quiet for a while..

After a while, he came to me and said, "Mummy, I want to show you something!"

He actually found a string and and he string up all the soldiers into a necklace and wear it around his neck because he says it is a gun that can shoot many bullets at one time...

Is't he creative?!

Previous Post: Mummy, You Lost Weight Already!

Mummy, You Lost Weight Already!

Ace asked if I could play with him and I asked him what sort of game does he want to play.


"Let's play handcuff!" and he started to handcuff my hand with his toy handcuff..

"Wah, mummy!"He suddenly exclaimed. "Very good leh, your hands lost a little bit of weight already.. now your hand a little bit 瘦瘦 already! Last time I want to handcuff cannot... now can handcuff already! I love it!"


Hahahaha..


Well, as it is.. my son keeps encouraging me to lose weight because he says I will be very sexy and look good if I lose weight. "Jia you jia you and quickly be slimmer than Ah Yee okie?" he said. Hahahahaha... dunno if it is his own wish or his daddy's wish leh?:P

Previous Post: Mummy Don't Love Me

Mummy Don't Love Me

It is one thing to like marvel at Lency's tips about parenting and quite another to apply it in real life:)

I have been watching myself carefully for the past few days...

But leh, there will still come a time where u cannot control your temper and the time came today when we were having dinner.

Ace was complaining that the edge of his lips is still painful from the cold sore he had and so he wanted me to feed him. But he was not co-operative and either turned away or ran about and so I got really fed up.

And then finally after reminding him to sit down for umpteen times, he sat down and when I fed him, he complained, "Ouch! So pain!"

And then I felt like he was taking my efforts for granted and that he did not even appreciate what I did and still complained.. so I flared up and said in a loud voice, "Why can't you sit down properly when you eat your dinner?! Feed you still complain.."

And then he cried and ran away. My mother caught him and told him not to cry and that everything is okie.. "Mummy still loves you.."

"No, mummy dun love me anymore.. because she talk so loud to me... she dun love me anymore.."

So my mum tried to be the mediator and said, "Mummy, do you love Ace?"

"Yes... and I love him to sit down and eat his dinner by himself quickly.." I said..

"See, mummy still love you.. go and hug hug... stop crying..."

And then me and Ace hugged and I said I am sorry I shouted at him.. Alas, he still had a sad face..

"I already said I am sorry.. why you still look upset?" I asked him.

"Because I don't understand why you have to shout at me and scold me... you could have told me nicely what.. next time talk to me nicely, okie? You tell me softly okie?"

"Ok," I told him. "I am sorry I made you so upset.." and proceeded to share with him how I felt and how I was actually very frustrated.

And then we hugged one more time and became best friends again:) I am glad Ace is quite emotionally mature and expresses his needs nicely to me.

PS: At night before we slept, I still felt a little bad and said sorry to him again... he apparently forgot wat happened right after we made up! :) Hahahaha... and he smiled and told me when I recounted wat happened to him.. "You are very funny leh mummy, if you do wrong things, you say sorry once ok already.. i already forgive you... you so funny.. why you hve to say sorry so many times?"

Previous Post: I Want To Draw Buzz Lightyear