Meg's 4th Birthday!

I think Meg's the only girl I know who blew out candles on birthday cakes 4 times in 5 days...no it wasn't a case of giving her a cake for each year.

We had a good dinner at Tung Lok Signatures at Vivocity on her actual birthday, a simple celebration with family.


Yen and I took the day off to be with Meg, and took her to the underwater world at Sentosa (Meg's first time to both Sentosa and UWW)

Yen using his off camera flash to light meg against the beautiful jelly fish display.


Portrait on the beach

Family Day At Kindergarten

One of the things I fear about blogging is that anyone and everyone can easily read what's happening in my life, what my child and husband look like, what school she attends, etc, etc, basically whatever I post. I try not to post anything too personal, only for fear that it may fall into the wrong "eyes" and be abused. But I suppose, with everything that one does, there is always some degree of consequence, but I'm weighing this against the sole purpose of this blog, which is to share our lives with my loved ones and friends. So the next best thing for me to do is to make this blog known only to people whom I would like to share it with.

So we went for Meg's family day organised by her kindy yesterday. It was raining all morning, so the ground below the huge tentage was still rather muddy, but it was a small discomfort. Meg was a little quiet throughout, and even her teachers, Mrs Saw and Ms Joyce noticed this and commented. Their comment revealed to Yen and I that the little one is actually quite talkative in school, not that that's any surprise after all. We didn't stay long as both of us had to go cover the National Day Parade Preview 2007 so had lunch, put her on some rides and made her as happy as she could be during the two hours we were there.

Dropped Keys

This is the first time it's happened to me/us. The little one insisted on engaging in her almost daily routine of opening the letter box. She still has some problems doing it properly as there is a certain technique of turning the key which she hasn't mastered yet. So the little one (not so little anymore actually as she turns 4 on Monday) passed the keys and a single letter to me after the job was done but I asked her to hang on to it and pass it to her papa, since I was holding on to so many bags. She was walking in front of me towards the lift, and Papa was holding the lift door open. Before I knew it, we all heard the keys drop, and then disappear... Meg had dropped them at a strategic spot between the lift door and the ground floor and the keys were instantly swallowed up by the slit in between the two. Uh-oh! Meg said, "Sorry Mummy, sorry mummy!". Luckily I had my set of house keys or we'd be spending the night outside our front door. All this happaned just past midnight last night (technically early this morning) and I don't believe I've given my mum a set of our keys, so getting a spare is out of the question. I sometimes don't bring my keys along but fortunately, yesterday wasn't one of those days.

The EMS (Essential Maintenance Service) guy came at 10.40am this morning, and made me flll out a form and then proceeded to retrieve the keys. It was a three minute job at best, and I was asked to help in the process by holding the door open for him so he could climb down a wall attached ladder about 2 metres down to retrieve the keys which I'd identified for him. I asked him if this happens a lot, and he said, "Yes, a lot", though he didn't elaborate on the figures. Within 2 mins, I had the keys back in my hands. The whole experience was painless enough, and I have to give a special mention to the people at EMS. From the time I called their emergency hotline number til the time I retrieved my keys, their service has been excellent. Their officers who man the phone were polite even at midnite, and another called me to let me know what time to go downstairs to wait for their guy to arrive, and I've just received a "follow-up" up call to ask if I've gotten my keys back. This, I say is really service which makes my day! And if you're wondering what the bottom of a lift shaft looks like, wonder no more...

The floor of the lift shaft is filled with scraps of paper, strewn with discarded flyers, and any other junk which made its way through the slit.

The slit hole which swallowed up the keys. It's a good inch and a half wide, so beware!

Fenway or Brookline?

I'm trying to decide between the two. Fenway so that the Back Bay Fens is nearby, providing Meg with a place to run about and play. It's also walkable to school, though I've gotta be on the west side of the Fens. It looks walkable on google maps, but I see that I've got to navigate across a highway...hmm wonder if that's a good idea. Also, it's nearer to TL, Fern and Bryan who live across the river in Cambridge.

I've heard good things about Brookline, how it's family oriented and has good schools and a nice library. People who live there say they love it. But I've gotta commute to school. It's about 4 stops on the green line. Too far to walk especially if it's in the dead of winter. And we'll be further away from our friends.

I've been looking at Craigslist every day, but I wonder if it's too soon to look as I don't leave for another month. By that time, all the postings I see now will be gone.

Of course the ideal place would be 580 Comm Ave, a BU run housing for graduates. In my blurness, I always thought that was a dorm and I never bothered to check it out as the word dorm put me off right away. Well, in my desperation, I decided to check it out and it turned out to be one hell of an apt block! Looks great in the pix, new and clean, and they're actually apartments, not dorms. And the icing on the cake is that it's right next to the COM bldg! Bugger! And I only just chanced upon it. I signed up immediately and asked how long the wait list is...I got a reply a couple of days later and...hold your breath...it's 500 people long! FURGET IT!! The rent isn't cheap anyway. It's almost 1500 (usd of course) for a 387 sq ft (TINY!!) place but the location is its great attraction. Anyway, if by some miracle I'm able to get the 1 bedroom apt, (only 11 available out of 290 units, the other 279 being studios) I'm going to grab it!

So now it's back to Fenway or Brookline, Brookline or Fenway?!?!?
Decisions, decisions. Why can't life be simple and decision free? Bahh!

One Month To Go

I've got about a month left before I leave. I was telling my boss earlier that there is one thing that could put a stop to all my plans...and that is the results of my medical check-up. I will know in about a week if I have a major blocked artery or if my cholestrol level is sky high rendering me unfit to continue with my plans cos I'll be confined to a hospital bed preparing for an angiogram or something. Am I a pessimist? I'd like to think not...

Blog Name "Choped"

I shall attempt - please note the word ATTEMPT - to keep and update this blog while I'm away in Boston. This is more for the benefit of my family and friends, so I don't have to keep repeating myself in emails, not that I find it a chore, but more so that I can also post pix (a great way to blog without actually having to write much) and still update everyone. I will, of course, still reply to emails which are most welcome for someone living alone in a foreign land for 3.5mths. So I've 'choped' this blog name when the thought for this suddenly came to me - while I was sitting on the throne, no less. I'm inspired by Shermaine's blog...she writes so well and although my writing is so lousy, I'll ATTEMPT to replace writing with pictures, which I hope I can do a decent job with at least, seeing that I'm doing my Masters in it! So enjoy this and comments and correspondence are most welcome!