Kids are MAD

Don't misinterpret me for the blog title.
I love kids. I love obedient kids.
But I abhor kids that behave like they are from the asylum.

This is why.

Went to Gogobambini for the second time last Sunday. I reminded myself that they closed at 8pm on weekend and hence, decided to go there earlier to make sure that Ziv has enough fun time.

The moment I was at the vicinity, I was welcomed with the loudest scream and shrillest shriek ever, like there were ghosts inside the play area. It was hurly-burly!!!

When I entered through the main door, I envisioned myself walking through a thick jungle full of monkeys hanging on the trees, yelping non stop. Its too late to back off. Ziv already looked all excited and ready.

So then, we found a seat and quickly ordered cakes and juices to calm myself down. Kevin then brought Ziv into the "jungle" to play. He came out of the "jungle" 15 minutes later, shaking his head. "It seemed impossible for Ziv to play in the play area cause the kids were all running wild and they could step on him any time," I could hardly hear Kevin as he spoke. Then I thought, no wonder babies under 1 is FREE cause if not, parents will be cursing and swearing while stomping out of the place.

After 10 minutes of eating and doing nothing, Kevin nudged me, signaled that it was MY TURN now (to bring Ziv back to the "jungle"). Reluctantly, I did what I was told.

Those who know me, will know that I am no timid mouse, and I can be a TIGRESS if I want to. And while I was playing with Ziv at a quiet corner, this girl about 6-7 years old came running and almost going to knock Ziv down. Guess what? I scolded her. She asked for it. I mean she is so old (oldest there I bet!) already and still not using her brain, can't she see there's an infant trying to play within his own quiet area? Damn.

Seeing those kids, drenched in their own sweat and running frantically like they were supposed to be escaping from some jungle fire or something, really triggered me to really look after Ziv well, educate him well, and make sure he doesn't behave like morons. Yes, some people say kids will be kids, they like to play and have fun, but I guess, at least they must have the sane to know that they are only playing not tearing down the house, so no need of such wild acts that they literally ignore the safety of themselves and others.

Ok, back to play time with Ziv, I decided to let him crawl through a tunnel and took a slide down together, while crawling in the tunnel, a little girl tap my buttock (see, how rude she is to touch my sensitive area, if she is old enough, I will consider to sue her molest!) and signaled me to speed up. Again, asking for it. I took into consideration, that she could not understand what I was trying to tell her and hence made an effort to speak in broken English. "Cannot wait ah!" I snapped. And she ran away. I never see her appearing around me again. I am that BAD. I know.

But that is how I handle wild kids.

Anyway after a while, Kevin brought Ziv to the ball pool and he played for like half an hour. The thing is babies, toddlers, kids they are never tired when they are playing. I told Kevin, perhaps its time that we leave Gogo and proceed to Jumbo which is located opposite, to have a hearty dinner.

That was the best part of the day. Seafood platter, 1kg crab and mee goreng. 1.5hours of indulgence. Ziv somehow knows that its Mummy's and Daddy's turn to 'have their own time' and throughout the 1.5 hours, he quietly nibble on his biscuits and see us eat.

What more can I ask, when I have Ziv, so considerate, sweet and obedient. I will still go back to Gogo, but for Ziv's sake.

Birthday Party Preparation

Birthday Cake? ---- Checked (3D Barney Cake)
Guests List? ---- Checked (Invitation cards sent out)
Venue? ---- Checked (Frisk and Romp @ The Big Splash)
Food? ----Checked (Sushi Tei)

What else is missing?

I have to plan for the day and night celebration for friends (in the day) and relatives (in the night).

To plan a birthday celebration is so tiring. To source for the right venue to hold the celebration is even more difficult than expected.

To find a 3D Barney cake is even more more more difficult. Fortunately, we found one and it comes with a price. $221!

$221, I can buy a decent dress or even 2 during the GSS.

1 more month to THE day.

Ziv's Newfound Love

Needless to say, it has to be...

Fri, Sat, Sun

*****

Friday was Kevin's birthday. He is 29 this year. His birthday often fall on Friday the Thirteen. I brought him to Jaan on Thursday for dinner. Jaan is a swanky restaurant, 741ft above sea level, tucked at a corner of the 70 ^th level of Fairmont Hotel (then: Swissotel) with breath-taking views of the cityscape beneath. Unlike Equinox, Jaan is more exclusive and there are only about 10-15 tables in Jaan. The service staff are all very professional, polite and I rate them 5 out of 5!

Appetizer: Roasted Quail With Foie Gras And Black TruffleRaspberry And Red Currant Glaze

Kevin and I had Grilled Wagyu Sirloin and Maine Lobster 2 Way respectively.
The Sirloin of the size of one standard size snicker bar cost $120!

*****

This weekend is a bustling one.

However, I deemed that this Sat was a bad one. Unfruitful for all the outings.

First, it was Gymboree, in the morning. Gymboree III started at 930am and as usual (i.e late again) we reached at around 10am and that would mean Ziv has only about 15minutes to play with the other kids. :- I attributed our lateness to Kevin for he over-slept and the mysterious CTE jam, apparently, there was no accident and only road works by the road shoulder.

Later in the evening, we planned to meet Emily at Gogobambini at Dempsy. Alas, they closed at 8pm (so early for a Saturday! Duh!) and I reached there at about 715pm. Yet again, Ziv was restricted to play until 8pm. And yes, I didn't check their opening hours.

Every cloud has a silver lining, feeling despondent about the lack of play time at Gogo, we saw Ben's and Jerry's right beside it. Soon, the thought of having ice-cream waffles wiped out all my despondency.

What is wrong with Sat?

Well, at least the camera did not fail me, here are some pictures taken at Gogo.




Seems like baby Jayden wasn't ready for the snap, but his Daddy was all smiles.

Sun was slightly relaxing, no more hectic class to attend, and Ziv slept till 10am in the morning. Had a late breakfast and headed to the salon to straighten my tresses. Kevin dyed his hair ASH. Hehe...

******

Recently, I have been busy about Ziv's birthday party, which is like 1 month away. Busy writing and mailing invitation cards.

And last Sat, we bought him a car from Toy'r'us. From the picture, one can definitely tell that he loves the car very much. Ziv would keel over with laughter when he saw me preparing the car for him to sit on. It's hard to separate him with the car for the first few days.

Even Coby is fascinated about the car.



It's been a long long time since I update about our first SON, Coby. Yes, he is still very active and naughty and playful. Here's a picture of him, striking a pose (or not) to act cool. After organizing Ziv's birthday, it will be Coby's turn. His birthday is on the 1st Aug. I have to buy him a birthday cake specially for doggy and a human edible birthday cake to celebrate at my mum's place. Am still thinking very hard, on what to buy for him as birthday present.

From June to August, its all about birthdays.

Coby, I still love you!

Welcome to My Office

It is a quarter to noon. I have been doing nothing since the day begin. Maybe I should also add, I have been doing nothing productive since the day I started on my new job.

Apart from some stale course notes which I have to skim through, briefly, I am, for most of the time, genuinely clueless about what I supposed to do in this new job and what is expected from me.

Sometimes, I get lost in my day dreams, sometimes, my eyelids become heavy and most of the time, I feel like going home to take a rest. That's how bored I am.

The padded lime green partition in my office that separates me and the other colleagues or rather I prefer to call them cubi-mates (since I don't talk to them cause we 'served' different departments) from seeing each other, but that doesn't always prevent us from over-hearing each other's conversations.

What I heard from the snips of loud conversations always revolve around, lunch venues, online games, upcoming movies and whatnot, anything except work. Once in a blue moon, perhaps you will overhear something like, "Oh, we have to submit the proposal on...". Now, that is RARE.

The journey to the toilet IS an exhilarating one. All sorts of windows showing on the monitor screens, like Online Soccer Manager, online forums, Meebo, MSN, MP3 and the best part, they don't even bother to Ctrl-Alt-Tab when caught visiting such websites. Brazen. Even their cubicles look 'motivating' with pictures of demure, dainty and dyed-hair Japanese sirens, ever good looking Andy Lau, famous mumbler Jay Chou and the passe groupie (which I deemed) F4, etc...

So what will you do, if you are not doing work? Answer is almost universal, people EAT. Tea break is usually almost straight after lunch. Eat to kill time, eat to stop yourself from sleeping, eat to establish rapport among colleagues and eat to brighten gloomy days... The piling tibits on each of our desks tell people we are bored and the office looks like provision shops with assorted crackers, gums, chocolates, ice-creams etc.

And not forgetting to mention about the dress code for my office? Be it contract staff, permanent staff, dread-to-come-to-work staff, to them everyday is Dress-Down-Friday. Jeans seems to be the staple apparel for all. Yeah, some women actually did dress well for office but you know, when you see others dressing down, I somehow lost the mood to even put on makeup and dress-up.

That is how environment changes a person, I guess.

So that is my office culture, the place where I will be, most of the time.

The Things I Would Like To Do At Least Once In My Life

I told Kevin, I always have dreams, lots of dreams and plans about what I wanna do in life. Every so often, reality kicks in (so hard) and suddenly you will know that, not all dreams can be fulfill in this life.

I have regrets.

Even you place these regrets in your 'to-do wish list' there will always be an invisible ink indicating "Impossible". And don't tell me "nothing is impossible, if you try" cause that sentence is complete bollocks. We live in a realistic world so we better "behave" realistically.

What is impossible for me to achieve?
My dream job, becoming a PR Executive and my fantasy of becoming a socialite who does nothing other than going to party events and fashion shows.

Hence, its time for me rethink and rewrite my list:

1. Give birth naturally
2. Watch a World Cup match (preferably a match with David Beckham)
3. Be the proud owner of a Hermes Birkin
4. Tour Europe for months and even better that I can live there for a few months
5. Explore haunted houses such as Winchester Mystery House

The revised 'to-do wish list' are pretty much realistic. If I work hard enough, I am sure I will be able to achieve them.

I guess, I can only hope that Ziv will become a PR Executive one day and come home telling me, "Mama, I am busy these days because I am heading a major campaign!"

Or maybe I should add that to my "to-do wish list".

Wedding Galore!

"Ring Ring Ring..."

Can you hear the wedding bells ringing?

Many friends of mine have chosen year 2008 to tie the knot. And yes, that would also mean more red bombs.

From May 2008 onwards (till Dec 2008), I have like 8 wedding banquets to attend. Attended 2 in May, attended 1 in June and one more coming up the week after next.

Despite having to burn big big holes in the pockets, wallets, piggy banks and whatnot, it is still nice to see friends around you settling down, moving on to another stage of their lives. Building their very own abodes, having little adorable babies etc...

Each relationship has its own beautiful story but all the love stories end with the same outcome; couples to walk down the aisle together, holding hands.

Each time after a wedding dinner, I got the urge to replay my wedding DVD which often brings back the memories of my wedding day. And it tells me, not to take my partner for granted, and continue to love each other.

Here's some pictures taken during the last 3 weddings attended. And Ziv attended his first wedding dinner, the Cindy and BS's wedding, he was fascinated by the lighting as well as the loud music and seeing mummy on stage hosting the event. He was pretty well-behaved, clapping hands when people are welcoming the bride and groom, feeding mummy & daddy biscuits and viewing the video montage.

Cindy Goh's Wedding


Cindy Chua & BS' Wedding

Early morning...
The bridesmaids... from 5 down to 2.

Night... With one other bridesmaid...

Picture with Kris and Adeline... Poly mates.

Ziv needs to eat too...

With other poly mates...

Some funny candids with the groom... We knew each other for like 10 years...


The white cloth is actually a bathing towel. Trying to act handsome!! Duh!

This week...

Updated this via my mobile phone on the way to Ayer Raja camp on a cab.

This week is more of a training & wedding week rather than a working one. Since Tue I've been attending training at Ayer Raja Camp. And Fri is the very much awaited wedding of Cindy & Boon Xiang. Let's see if I can squeeze some time to meet with Charlie, RA and Samuel after the first part of the wedding ceremony.