We - the Japanese Food Fans Family

Anyone could label us as this, for we’re so in love with Japanese food!

Initially it was me who drool at the sight of this delicacy. Now… my dear 4.5 years old joins in. The hubby too was tempted. Ha! And our youngest member in the family enjoys what’s been sending into his mouth while we dived into the feast.

This day, we visited Sakae Sushi, one of their branches located at Suntec City, Tower 3. We arrived early, 10 mins before 6pm, as Dylan was hungry. It was no joke when my little man said he was hungry, because for that dinner alone he wiped out 7 plates out of the 9 plates and sushi and handrolls. And he had a fair share from our dishes as well. Man, this boy sure can eat!

We ordered Curry Udon, Tenzaru Soba Ramen, Chawanmushi, Spicy Kimuchi Beef, plus 9 color plates! It was a little too much for us though and that was the consequence of being hungry when ordering. Blah! But still, we finished everything, not a single grain of rice was left on the plate. It’s a sin to waste food ya.

Oh yes, Dylan had his first sashimi – a slice of fresh raw salmon. He loves it!

Anyway, we were there for more than an hour! Not that it took us an hour to clear the food, but due to our dear son who insisted to have his food from the restaurant’s ceramic bowl, painted with pretty pink flowers at the side. Not only that, he demanded to feed himself (something he had not done before)… and gosh, it was a mess – a disastrous act of his! He had his porridge in his nose, on his cheek, all over his mouth and clinging to his cloth.

Still, we had a great dinner. The ability to eat to our heart content is simply awesome. *grin*

Read more...

A New Phase in Life

For the past two and a half week, I was missing in action in the blogosphere and I had neglected my personal blog all these while.

I felt bad. I had those withdrawal symptoms while away from my blogging – a habit that was with me for the past coming two years.

Well, as some of you might have known the reason, I was working my days and nights out on my online store – Scrappin’ Love! Yeah! I finally had it up and running after pondering for a few months, and a few delays here and there. But I’m glad things are falling into place and I’m blessed with all the supports and encouragements I received from friends and most important of all, my family.

Dear friends, you know who you’re, too many sweet and encouraging people for me to list down here, my deepest appreciation and thank you for your words. Love you all!

My dearest man in my life, thank you for all the things you’ve done for me – help me run errands, doing purchases, the oh so valuable endless supports you had given me right from the start when I told you I want to setup an online business. What can I say, I’m so blessed to have you! Thank you dear.

……

This, is a new chapter for me. I choose to work from home – not because I have to, but because I WANT TO. I could’ve just been a SAHM taking good care with my boys and having ME time as and when I’m able to. Yet I choose to go beyond that, to do more of what I had chose to take up 3.5 years ago (resigned from my design job and moved on being a SAHM). I dislike the thought of being stagnant - doing the same thing for years and not moving forward.
Are you in this situation where you work for years in an organization and don’t seem to be getting anywhere? Are you comfortable with where you’re now? Or are you too comfortable to do anything out of your usual routine life? Think about it.

The desire of wanting to accomplish something pushes me to move forward, to take up challenges, to work for the satisfactions.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a smooth sailing journey for me, but I’m ready to clear the obstacles. It’s only through hardship and being adventurous will one become a better and stronger person.

"we all need to belong to something bigger than ourselves, the 'big' inspires us, we inspire the 'bigger'." -Jim Rohn

Life is short, live it to the fullest and enjoy the journey. Be someone you yourself are proud of. Do what you love. Be who you are.

Have goals. And LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

……

Thank you for remembering me and dropping by. When you’re able to, do drop by here often and swing by my online store ya!

Read more...

Look Who’s Looking

During our dinner in a Japanese restaurant, I took out my camera to snap some pictures.

When I was trying to capture Devan with the lens, instead of reaching out to grab the cam from me, he moved his face so close, as if trying to see his own reflection within the lens.

It was a rare chance for me to hit my shutter button at such a close range. So close that I could see biscuit crunches on his lip.

Read more...

I LOVE Toy Story 3

Love love love it to bits!! It was such a fantastic show! Even better than its part 1 and 2, can you imagine that?!

Well, if you’ve yet watch it, you’re seriously missing out all the fun and laughter.

I was in cloud nine when I saw the email from Nuffnang that I was rewarded with a pair of complimentary pass to catch Toy Story 3! Woohoo! All thanks to the blog post I wrote Here. And a big thank you to Nuffnang too.

So, we set off to catch my favorite movie one afternoon. Pardon me, but I was so excited. So much so that I find myself behaving like a little girl waiting longingly to enter the cinema, grab the seat and all ready for the show to start. I was extremely happy that day! We spent only 7 bucks to get all four of us into the cinema. Ha!

And, we sat through the show with 90% of the time spent laughing. Dylan was glued to his booster seat. Devan was fascinated and didn’t fuss a single bit. Cool.

Mr Potato Head – my favorite character, he was hilarious! There was this session during their escape mission – he used a piece of ham to act as his body, poking his eyes, nose, limbs, every parts of him onto the ham and wiggled his way around. Buzz Lightyear, he suddenly became a Spanish guy when Rex pressed on his reset button for too long. Oh boy, there were just too many scenes that made me laughed my head off.

Don’t be surprise when I told you I nearly cried, twice to be exact. One scene where the toys were fighting their dear life to escape from the furnace. They came to a point knowing they were near their ends and they started holding each other hands for comfort and reassurance. Oh man, I was so touched with this simple yet powerful gesture of theirs. But of course, someone came to their rescue – the Squeeze Toy Aliens a.k.a. the LGMs (Little Green Men), the three cute little aliens who call Mr Potato Head their Daddy. Haha.

The second scene that made me all so emotional was when Andy was struggling whether to let Bonnie have Woody. The words he said sure touched me deep. I was once in that position – debating to or not to pass my toys to someone who needs it more than I do. And the faith Woody has in Andy – it makes me feel oh so fuzzy and warm.

Gosh, will there be a part 4? Since part 3 was such a big hit. I hope so!

Read more...

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Yeah! Finally! We finally visited the Children Garden after making two U-turns on two separate occasions due to rain.

We have wanted to get to know this place better after hearing good reviews from friends… erm… or rather it was me who wanted to bring the boys there. I’ve been bugging their Papa to pay this place a visit since many many months ago.

Anyway, we were there at last – on a HOT afternoon. But thank goodness it was a breezy day.

It always feels good to be among the natural, away from the busy street, huge crowd and polluted air. Both the husband and I are not the outdoor people, but now with two little monkeys in the house, it’s wise to head out to use up their energy! Save me some sanity!

There was the Tree House where Dylan went wild with the slides and sand. There was this log laid across a mini river where we got to cross it. There was this station where it teaches us the concept of photosynthesis. There was this hanging bridge where we had fun crossing it. And there was the water-play area where the kids had some fun (though I wish for it to be more massive).

All in all, it was a good experience, though we have yet combed every corner of this awesome place. It already feels good to be close to the greens.

Read more...

A Boy with a Big Appetite

Dylan was a 90 percentile baby since birth. And this might just explain of his BIG appetite.

Since an infant, he drinks lots and drinks very well. Hardly a single occasion of milk strike or food rejection. He took in whatever we gave him and would gulp all up happily. He was an easy baby when comes to food.

Now, he still is an easy toddler who eats a wide variety except for spicy and bitter stuff. And he’s constantly asking for food. He needs his three main meals plus his morning and afternoon tea break. Occasionally topping up with healthy snacks here and there.

He’s a bread and egg lover. If you were to give him a breakfast set of toast with half-boiled eggs, ah… he’ll be so delighted and probably finish up everything before you could ask him to share. He would also ask for bread barely an hour after a heavy meal.

Still,

I’m grateful to be blessed with such an easy and big eater, though it could be a little heavy on our pockets. Ha!

Read more...

Best Pal on Earth

There were times when I would find myself staring at my boys’ back, smiling away. I discovered I had lots of pictures of those too.

Seeing the two of them being side by side, with their back facing me, seems to be always an enjoyable moments. While Dylan’s tall for his tender age, Devan looks little standing beside his elder brother. My soon-to-be 18 months old truly adores his big brother – follows and imitates whatever his brother does. He’ll let Dylan to hold his hand and follows willing to whichever direction his brother led to him. He would run after his brother. He would allow Dylan to feed him. He does what his brother asks him to, almost all the time. He loves his big brother.

Dylan has realized that he being an elder brother holds many more responsibilities than just playing with his baby brother. He speaks to Devan tenderly, most of the time. He looks out for Devan when they are out and about. He asks for Devan when he’s not with him. He spontaneously volunteers to attend to Devan when I was occupied with something. He must hold Devan’s hand when they’re out of the house. He will check on Devan when his baby brother overslept during his naps. He has accepted Devan whole-heartedly since the day his baby brother entered his life.

Having kids of the same gender does ease the parent off some load, and with the sibling of a certain age gap too plays a part. Devan plays what Dylan plays. Dylan’s independent enough to care for himself while helping us to keep an eye on his little brother. They’re each other’s playmate and companion.

Of course, they do fight over toys, argue over who be the first to taste that cup of ice-cream, cry or make a big hoo-hah when being provoked. That’s how kids grow up I supposed. Need a bit of shoulder rubbing and tears to toughen them up.

They’ve this invisible rope that binds the two of them together – a bond that holds them close forever.

Read more...

Prevention is Always Better than Cure

[Read: the following content might be a little too serious or heavy for some of you. But if you choose to read on, good for you! I’m sure this post will do you good. *wink*]

Ya, we all know – Prevention is better than cure. But how many of us really belong to the Prevention category? Think about it.

How about Cancer? Does it sound very familiar to you? It is, to me. I was surrounded by this irritating deadly illness for a period of two years – a period where five people in my life passed on after a long and suffering battle.

What can be more hurtful than to witness the person you care for slowly waste away and yet you can do nothing to help ease the suffering and pain. I can never ever erase those memories, especially of my dear aunt. She had passed away for a few years now, and every time of the year when we celebrate Dragon Boat Festival (端午節), I always miss her so. She made the most delicious nyonya dumpling in the whole world.

Her life started crashing down when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and everything seems to be a rollercoaster in super fast forward mode. She had to have her whole womb removed. I saw the pic the surgeon took of what was taken out of her, besides being bloody and all mashed up, I could make out the tumor that was eating up my aunt.

Rounds and rounds of radiation therapy and chemotherapy tortured her. She was fighting for hope to survive. Still, after a year of wrestling with this illness, she left us. Finally, she was released from all the sufferings and be at peace.

This was what cervical cancer did to my aunt.

…

Do you know that cervical cancer kills one woman every two minutes, worldwide? Here in Singapore, more than one woman dies of cervical cancer every 5 days. It is the 6th most common cancer found in our hometown.

And do you know as long as you have sex (no matter how young or old), cervical cancer might just be knocking at your door?

The good thing is - cervical cancer can be prevented. Guard yourself with regular pap smear test or get a cervical cancer vaccination. Don’t ever have the thought that you won’t be the next one on the cervical cancer list, anything is possible and surprises always come unannounced.

Be prepared. Be protected. So you’re able to protect your family.

Power Over Cervical Cancer (POCC) is a campaign that depends heavily on the power of word of mouth to help save as many women as possible from Cervical Cancer. I learnt more of this deadly yet preventable illness after visiting the website.

So, if you’re a babe, do share this valuable information with your girlfriends, mom, and sister. But if you’re a dude, don’t think this doesn’t concern you, tell your partner and the people you care about it. Make your pledge to support this campaign to protect all the women you care for now!

Power Over Cervical Cancer is a campaign that aims to make Singapore the country with the lowest incidence of Cervical Cancer and they need your help to spread the word. Pledge your support for this cause and protect those you care about by telling them about Cervical Cancer. Together, we have POWER Over Cervical Cancer. Click the button below to begin!

Read more...

Couch Potato

This is what my 17 months old will do when I told him it’s time for Sesame Street – his favorite show.

He would put down whatever he was busy with, OR stop his tantrum immediately and RAN over to the couch. Climbed up, set his butt comfortably, lean back and enjoy the show. This little man sure knows how to enjoy life huh!

What’s more, sometime he even helped himself with the tv. He knows which switch to on among a row of multi-power plug. He knows which button to hit to wake up the tv. But yet to figure out how to turn on the volume.

I had found him a number of times sitting quietly on the couch, with the tv remote control in his hand and staring intensively at the screen without the volume on.

Hmm… we see the possibility of activating the child-lock function in our tv set. Ha!

Read more...

A Moms-Only-Dinner

It was a long time ago since I had a moms-only-dinner. This time round, I got to meet up with the gals whom I have known them from a forum.

You might have guessed, and yes you might have got it right. The Singapore Motherhood Forum.

When I was pregnant with Dylan, I joined this forum whereby all the moms or moms-to-be got together to share particularly everything and anything that’s related to motherhood. We had gatherings, play dates, parties. We watched our kids (born in the same year, same month) grow from tiny babies to now four years old toddlers. It has been five years since we first got to know one another by our nicknames.

Time flies.

As Devan came along, I got myself involved with another bunch of fun-loving gals. We connect further through Facebook, and that’s when I was able to match the nicknames with real names and faces. That’s how amazing social media can do – bringing people together and closer without physical contact. Love it!

This was my first time meeting up these gals, and oh my, it was FUN. We were like a group of school gals chatting non-stop over yummy food. It was a miracle we were not asked to leave after making so much noise!

What’s more, I got to sit comfortably while chewing slowly on my food (rather than swallow them down as a whole). Sipping my glass of lemonade gracefully (rather than gulp down some water before running off to attend to something).

It was a terrific night.

…

Hey babes, round table for the next date huh? ^ ^

Read more...