The Artistic Genome

I have to say that I'm actually pretty good at arts and crafts. I learnt to paint instinctively, based on my own observations and practice.

So of course I had high hopes for my girl, hoping that one day we would spend afternoons painting together at home, the Botanical Gardens or even the beach. I even sent her for an art class for babies, just to get her an early head start.

Initially she showed some promise, but then she started to show immense dislike for getting paint on her hands! She even hated to get paint meant for finger-painting on her finger! -_-

The hubby was all smug about it and happily poured more cold water onto my enthusiasm by saying she probably had his non-artistic genes =(

However, one day after she returned from school, my mum-in-law informed me that baby girl actually commented that she liked to paint.

Her 1st ever painting she did solo!

And then it hit me! She does like to paint. She just doesn't like to paint with her hands, she wants to do it with a brush!

So I got her a brush, some paints meant for finger-painting (so that it cleans off easily and is safe for kids) and a sketchbook for easy storage of her art (you know I can't stand pieces of paper floating around right?).

Dipping her brush into the paints (and mixing up all the colours -_-)

Painting carefully within the paper after Mummy warned her sternly
not to get paint anywhere else

Just to show you that I didn't stage these pictures (which I sometimes do *hush hush*), here's a video to prove it! *laughs*

In case you didn't catch it, she was saying "涂啊, 涂啊, 涂" ("tu ah, tu ah, tu", which means apply paint in Chinese). Yup, she learnt it from her Chinese teacher at school =)

I proudly showed the final product to the hubby with a "HAH! See! My girl is artistic like me!" *smug grin*

Secret garden?

As usual the hubby was all, "so ugly can be considered art meh?", towards which I retorted, "you know what is abstract art?!" -_-

There is hope for us after all! =)

At the Beginning, 8 Years Ago

He joined our cell group together with a few others 8 years ago in Jan 2004.

I didn't really notice him till we started to work together on planning for events. Later I found out "going to buy birthday presents for a cell group member" was just an excuse to go out with me *laughs*.

In those days where we were hanging out as just friends, we discovered that we had a lot in common and had endless things to talk about.

On 7th Sep 2004, we met for dinner at the old Spaggedies at Tanglin Mall (where Chillis is now). After dinner we walked as we always do to the nearby Haagen Das for ice-cream before proceeding to the old Borders at Wheelock Place.

That spot at Borders (which no longer exists anymore *sigh*) taken a few weeks after we got together

It was at this spot in front of a bookcase that we sat on a bench a read a book together. Since we sat so near to each other, pretty soon I was leaning my head on his shoulder and he was putting his hand around my shoulder.

And that was it. No questions, no holding hands (yet), no nothing. Admittedly looking back, I should have played harder to get! *laughs*

Our 1st photo we took as a couple =)

I've always known that I wanted to marry an older guy who's mature so the hubby, who's 5 years older, fits the bill nicely *grin*

We loved to hang out near the beach so Sentosa, West Coast Park and East Coast Park were some of our favourite places to go when we were dating.

At East Coast Park

It's also why he chose to propose at East Coast Park too =)

Since then we met each other every single day (or called each other on the phone) because I'm of the opinion that if you can't even stand to see each other a few hours at the end of every day, how are you going to stand each other for the rest of your lives when you are married? Of course.. that's just us =)

And that's our story of how we met and became a couple. What's your story?

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*Note: Photos were taken with my "high-tech" 1.2 megapixel Nokia camera phone, which was actually considered an awesome phone back then. Sigh, how things have changed.

My Uphill Battle to Downsizing

If you remember, I mentioned previously how I lost 17kg after the birth of my girl 2 years ago. And then I got stuck at that weight, sometimes even increasing!

And it didn't help that I stopped breastfeeding and started to work full time. Where to find time to exercise?! I really needed to keep fit!

Alright, who am I kidding? I only exercise because I want to lose weight and not to keep fit. I mean if I were super skinny and wouldn't get fat no matter what I eat, I don't think I'd even bother! *laughs*

I suppose that's how God gets me to exercise..

Anyway, I usually find it so hard to keep up with my exercise regime especially after I started work. But recently, I got really motivated and finally dragged my fat ass on our treadmill, which we conveniently have at home but don't use regularly!

Treadmill right in front of the TV

What's so motivating, you ask?

#1: Hard Core Fitness Fanatics

When most of your colleagues your age, whom you see and interact with everyday, are talking about going to the gym during lunch, climbing stairs to get to the office, rock climbing/horse-back riding/spinning/going to the gym over the weekend, you've really got no choice but to get with the program.

Of course said colleagues are also single and have no kids, which explains why they are able to do so. But then again, we are supermoms right? *laughs*

#2: Inspiring Mom Bloggers

For some reason, fellow SMBs have been blogging about keeping fit and losing weight for the whole of last week. We had a mum who exercises by playing a game with her kids, a mum who lifts weights dutifully at home and yet another mum who is training for the vertical marathon!

Obviously I decided to join in rather than sit back and wait for my weight to magically drop, which incidentally happens to some people. Soooo unfair! =(

#3: Bridemaid's Duty

And finally, there is nothing like squeezing into a bridesmaid's dress standing next to the super skinny bride to get your ass right on the threadmill.

There is absolute no way that I'm going to look fat in the many photos that will be taken on her wedding day! Granted, everyone will be looking at the bride but still.. *laughs*

My goal is at least 1 kg every month till the wedding, which is in Jan. That works out to be approximately 3 kg in total. This is actually pretty achievable =)

Will let you know if I make it or not! *cross fingers*

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Juicy Yellow Goodness

We had potluck at Mr & Mrs P's last week.

Food, food and more food!

And like my cell group member commented, it was like feeding the 5000.. even though there were only 12 of us *laughs*

And amidst the mountain of food that we brought, guess which was our favourite?

Clockwise from left: Salad from Mel's Kitchen;
Authentic Taiwanese baby tomatoes made by our Taiwanese friend; D13 durian

It's obvious, especially if you know us well. And baby girl loves it too! =)

"I also want!!"

She was probably first exposed to it when she was in my womb as I ate a lot of durian when I was pregnant with her. And then one day we were eating durian on the floor, she crawled over to us and "pestered" me to let her try. She was only 7 or 8 months old! *laughs*

It was no surprise that we had a lot of food left over so we played a game of Texas Poker to finish it.

Texas Poker with a foodie twist

The bets are food and loser has to finish everything on the plate! And because of that, we did manage to finish all the food on the table! Zero wastage *grin*

It was fun but I went home feeling sooo guilty, I finally decided to start watching my diet and exercising 3 times a week!

Will blog more about that in my next post =)

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Laneige Makeup Workshop

I was invited to a makeup workshop hosted by Laneige a few weeks ago.

The line up of products (left) and tea break (right)

We were given a set of brushes so that we can follow along while our guru, Yugi, demonstrated how we can look like Korean movie stars.

Showing us how it is done! =)

It was a really enjoyable morning where I learnt many new make up tips which I'm putting into practice now. I also met up with fellow mum bloggers Ruth and Ai (this is the first time I'm meeting her).

With Ruth & Ai (left) & Yugi (right)

As Ruth has already introduced the products and Ai has nicely summarised the makeup tips in succinct detail, I really don't have to! *grin*

Head on over to read more! :)


Disclosure: An invitation to this event was received from Laneige Singapore. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions and text are my own.

Our Cat In The Hat Playdate

We went to watch The Cat In The Hat play at the DBS Arts Center last week with fellow SMBs and their kids.

Baby girl was super excited when I told her that mummy was going to bring her somewhere special.

Her super excited face! =)

This is the first time she has been to a play and she really took in the atmosphere as well as the many, many children that filled the theatre!

The theatre before it got filled with noisy little preschoolers

We sat pretty far at the back but we didn't mind as we could still see all the action rather clearly. Plus, the theatre provided us with plastic booster seats, which baby girl insisted on sitting by herself.

"I sit on booster seat myself mummy!"

When the play began she was mostly engaged in it because 1) she has been watching The Cat in the Hat on TV so she knows what it is and 2) it was pretty easy to understand what's happening.

After the play I asked her what she watched just now and she could answer, "the cat in the hat!" =)

We decided to have lunch together at a nearby TCC, where our army of preschoolers covered the little area with their incessant chatter. They also took full advantage of the many wooden swing chairs hung inside the restaurant, which they assumed was their playground -_-

Of course there's no way baby girl was going to resist sitting on one of these

Sharing her seat with Kenan (left) and Allysa (right)

We've been trying to plan a playdate with Ally (who is just 2 days younger than baby girl!) since one year ago and it has finally happened.

After a while though, baby girl became more interested in irritating joining in the older boys in their activities.

Trying to be inconspicuous while inching nearer and nearer

"I'm here but I'm not here..."

Of course the boys were not too thrilled but relunctantly allowed her to hover around them. It was really funny to watch! *laughs*

It was fun catching up and I look forward to our next gathering/playdate! =)

Our Road to a Diaper-free Kid

She is now old enough to know when she needs to poo so I thought toilet-training would be a breeze. I mean, c'mon, she started potty training at 6 months old and was actually successful!

But for some strange reason when she was around 18 months old, she started to reject the potty, preferring to just poop in her diapers. Obviously that didn't sit well with my mum-in-law who was adamant that all of her 3 children would have already been potty-trained by now.

She asked me to force her to sit on the potty until her butt was red and yet baby girl just would not go. But the moment we put on brand new diapers for her.. BAM! There it was in her diapers.

It was really frustrating! >_<

And then I realised that I felt frustrated because I really had too high expectations of my girl. I had this amazing vision in my head that I, the awesome mummy, will have this equally awesome, over-achieving child who will beat the norms and everyone else!

Only to have to face reality and be forced to eat the humble pie when she doesn't do as you expect her to. No. She was going to do it whenever she wants to and that was that.

Ah, motherhood.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out, she comes right along and pours a huge bucket of cold water on your ego *sigh*

So I learnt a little patience and finally decided to let go and let God take over.

And then one day, it happened.

She was screaming in pain due to her constipation as usual (I mentioned this previously remember?) and my mum-in-law casually suggested that she sit on the potty to poo. She didn't put up a fight, which was unusual.

And then after what seemed like forever, she suddenly pooped into the potty after rejecting it for almost a year! Of course her grandma and I cheered and praised her for her good work, which made her so proud of herself =)

Since then, there was no looking back.

Demonstrating how it's done! =)

Although she still only poos once every 2 or 3 days, it's always in this little blue potty that she has been using since she was 6 months old. I'm so proud of her =)

It's still a long road but I know she will get there, one baby step at a time.

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A Way to Spa Without Buying Packages

Ever since I started working, I've been going for regular facials, manicures and pedicures at various spas. As usual, I was strongly encouraged to buy a package in order to save money in the long run.

And then when I mentioned purchasing the packages to the hubby (wrong move!), he would raise an eyebrow and say, as-a-matter-of-factly, "What if they close down? Not good lah."

"That's what you said about my hair salon in JB but 4 years down the road, I'm still doing my hair there!" I retorted.

But he does have a point I suppose.

Then I was introduced to Blue Moon Valley, which was set up with the aim of providing spa-goers with preferential rates at participating spas (also known as Spa-ticipants) without having to buy any packages. No package means no worries =)

All you need to do is to sign up as a member ($12 for lifetime membership) and then make a booking through Blue Moon Valley.

Blue Moon Valley Website

The booking process is pretty painless really. I even managed to do it on my iPhone on the bus home from work. Took me like 5 minutes =)

Then you get to choose among the 10 spa-ticipants for the treatment that you want and then get to enjoy special rates which are exclusive to Blue Moon Valley!

As a big thank you for signing up as a member, Blue Moon Valley is also offering a range of heavily discounted treatments, known as Shika 111: 1st treatment, within the 1st month of membership, for the 1st time member. You can choose from a list of full body massages, manicures and pedicures and even waxing.

I decided to get a mani-pedi at one of Blue Moon Valley's Spa-ticipants located at Vivocity.

Treated like a queen! =)

I totally enjoyed their amazing service! I have to say it was a great experience being attended to hand and foot (literally!).

And here's the BEST NEWS!

Blue Moon Valley is offering ONE lucky reader FREE lifetime membership AND a complementary SHIKA 111 treatment!

In addition, consolation of FREE lifetime memberships will also be given to another TWO readers!

Here's what you need to do to participate:
(ALL 3 must be fulfilled in order to qualify)

1) Like Blue Moon Valley on Facebook

2) Like MadPsychMum on Facebook (if you haven't already done so)

3) Leave a comment with your Facebook name and email (for me to contact you)

And that's it!

Hurry! Giveaway ends on 23rd Sep 2012 (Sunday) and is only applicable to readers in Singapore =)


UPDATE:
Sorry for the delay! We've finally picked the winners the way we have always done it here on this blog..

The old school way by "drawing from a hat"! =)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Winners!

The winner of a free lifetime membership and a free Shika 111 is Adalia while Serene & Emily have won a  free lifetime membership! Blue Moon Valley will be in touch with you =)

Thanks to everyone for participating in our giveaway! =)


Disclosure: A complimentary membership & Shika111 were received from Blue Moon Valley for the purposes of this review and giveaway. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions are my own.

Our 1st Outdoor Photoshoot

Photo credit: Steph Tan Photography

When I made this my Facebook profile picture a few days ago, everyone was wondering why baby girl looked so unhappy. Well.. there's actually a looong story behind it.

When the both of us first arrived for me to get my make up done, Girlee started to feel pain in her stomach. You know, the kind that gets you to the toilet to take a dump. The thing is, baby girl has constipation problems like I did when I was a kid. It takes forever for her to pass it out.

And so she was screaming in pain but as my make up artist has already started, I couldn't do anything except to hold her hands and try to calm her down. Thankfully, my make up artist didn't even flinch as she has 2 kids of her own so she is used to it.

Just as it was the first time we're having a photoshoot outdoors, it was the first time that I had to change her diapers with full make up (false lashes and all) on! Thankfully there was nothing in her diapers as she still had problems passing it out so I didn't need to clean her up.

But that also meant she might just do it in the middle of the photoshoot, which may even be more bothersome (parents, you know what I mean right?!) *sigh*

And it also didn't help that the skies threatened to sob! Needless to say, I was praying a million prayers in my heart that the photoshoot at Bishan Park would go smoothly.

God answered our prayers!

Photo credit: Rachel of Catch Forty Winks

Not only did we have awesome weather that provided the best kind of light but baby girl was also very cooperative during the shoot. Although we didn't have many photos of both of us smiling but at least she wasn't crying! =)

It also helped that there were tea cups for a make-believe tea party..

Photo credit: Rachel of Catch Forty Winks

A large patch of grass to run around on..

Exploring the beautiful park

And boyfriends friends to play with!

Photo credit: Rachel of Catch Forty Winks

Baby girl trying to learn while Roo demonstrates how to climb a lamp post!

Despite the fact that a million things could have gone wrong for this photoshoot, I'm glad everything turned out great.

Photo credit: Rachel of Catch Forty Winks

Many thanks to the other moms Sandra, Adora and Regina and our photographers Steph and Rachel for a lovely day =)

Her 1st Teacher's Day Presents

Ever since Girlee started school for the 1st time 5 weeks ago, she has been really enjoying the lessons. I joined her lessons a few times and can see the effort her teachers put in to ensure that their students are learning and having fun.

Since it's Teacher's Day this week, I thought we would personalise some boxes of tea I got for them.

She wrote this in crayon with my help =)

 
Happy Teacher's Day!
To all my readers
Who are educators
Or even just parents
Who are their children's teachers
You are making a difference!

A Visit to the New Legoland!

I'm a HUGE fan of Lego!

I used to bug my parents to buy me a box every time we were at a toy store. So you can imagine my excitement when we were invited to the media preview of the first Legoland in Asia located at Johor Bahru, Malaysia!

Our family at Legoland Malaysia!

Private preview for media members & their families

The organisers kindly chartered a bus for us and we arrived nice and early at the entrance of Legoland. And immediately, we were greeted with everything Lego from the Hollywood-like sign to the name badge of the staff!

Lego, Lego, Lego!

On entering the park after retrieving our tickets, we were greeted by Legoland's mascots.

Who else but Legoman & Bricky themselves!

Of course we had to take photos with them. And then it was off to explore the five lands that Legoland has to offer!

#1: Lego City
Lego City is where the transport system from land, sky and sea gather! There's an airport (which wasn't opened yet), a fire station and my personal favourite, the Driving School!

Driving school for older children age 6-13 years on the left & younger children age 3-6 years on the right

This school is way cool! Kids get to steer Lego cars around an obstacle course, which was made very easy for younger kids and slightly more challenging for older kids.

Sadly, as Girlee can't steer her own car yet, we had to make do with this model version used for photo-taking.

Love, love the Lego cars! =)

Fortunately, Girlee was tall enough for the Boat ride just across the road from the Driving School.

As you can see, both young & old can enjoy this attraction! =)

It's fun because you get to steer your own boat! I could see that my mum-in-law really enjoyed herself =)

Trying to steer the boat while taking pictures! Multi-tasking at its best!

The queue was super long though as only 1 adult is allowed per boat but definitely worth a shot. Next we proceeded to the Railway to board the Legoland Express.

Lego Fountain

Legoland Express

The queue was even longer here as there was only one train (I have no idea why!) in service. Thankfully we were early so we didn't have to wait too long for the train. Everyone thought it was pretty boring and slow but I thought it was quite a nice way to see the whole park without having to walk. Having said that, they should introduce another train to reduce queuing time though.

My mum-in-law wanted to beat the lunch crowd so it was off to Market Restaurant for lunch.

Love the decorations at the Market Restaurant! Feels like we're in Lego's bread factory =)

I bumped into some familiar faces here and it is always nice to meet people in a foreign land *laughs*.

#2: Land of Adventure
After lunch, we headed off to explore the Land of Adventure, which is the least Lego-like of all the lands.

Land of Adventure

Most of the major rides such as the boat splash above were not opened yet so we were pretty disappointed. But baby girl had the time of her life playing ball in one of the indoor playgrounds there (see below, top left).

Clockwise from top left:
Ball indoor playground @ Land of Adventure;
Playground for preschoolers at Imagination;
Shipyard outdoor playground at Lego City;
Forestman's Hideout outdoor playground at Lego Kingdom.

Come to think of it, the whole entire park is filled with playgrounds, 1 in almost every land, which specially caters to preschoolers and young children age 18 months to 10 years old. Your energetic child would never get bored here!

#3: Imagination
Although all the playgrounds looked like fun, but the one that appeals most to Girlee was at Imagination land.

Imagination

Playground specially built for preschoolers

The walls were brighter, the slides were shorter, everything was made for a smaller child. Hence, it's no wonder my girl fell so much in love with it, she forgo her usual afternoon nap to climb up and slide down again and again!

She also especially love riding this mini train too.

Choo choo!

Initially my mum-in-law was afraid she would cry since it's the first time that she is riding anything alone but I was adamant that she gave it a try. And what do you know, she loved it so much, she sat on it again and again! I'm so proud of her!

Till now, she still can't stop talking about riding on this train =)

As there weren't any ventilation inside this playground (it was sooo stuffy & hot!), we had to pry her away (which believe me, was really hard!) and cool down by watching a short film at the 4D theatre next door. I loved the 4D show! The effects were awesome =)

Left: Girlee in her 4D glasses; Right: Kid Power Towers

After our shows (yes shows, we watched 2 out of 3), we took a ride on the cool Lego-ish Kid Power Towers.

#4: Lego Kingdom
We then proceeded on to Lego Kingdom for some dragon-fighting and princess-saving action. The most outstanding attraction in this land was of course The Dragon, which you could see from a distance away!

The Dragon, the largest roller coaster in the park

As most of us were parents with kids, this ride didn't have a long queue. But as the hubby and I weren't too keen on sitting on roller coasters, we decided to ride the much smaller version of the dragon which was meant for kids but we thought was just as fun as well as this round-about known as Merlin's Challenge.

Merlin's Challenge

We like to call it cheap thrill, ifyaknowwhatImean *laughs*

There isn't very many rides for young kids though at this land. Even this seemingly kiddy horse ride had a height limit of 95-100cm.

Horse-back riding at the Royal Joust

Baby girl is 91cm so she missed by just a little. Nevertheless, they were nice enough to let her sit and take a picture just for the fun of it =)

#5: Lego Technic
We stopped for ice-cream before we headed on to Lego Technic. The rides here once again catered to the older children, ages 6 years and up (younger children might be able to take it if they're brave enough).

Aquazone Wave Racers & Lego Mindstorms (bottom right)

The hubby and brother-in-law didn't like both of these rides but I thought the Wave Racers was quite fun. There was one roller coaster ride, called Project X, that looked really interesting but it was again not opened yet.

As baby girl had nothing to do while waiting for us, she decided to entertain herself with the water fountains and soon many other children started to join her!

Water fountains never get old with children

It was such a hot day that I'm sure the water must have felt really good! So good in fact she was so reluntant to leave that I had to literally drag her away!

#6: Miniland
After cleaning Girlee up, I wanted to make one last stop at Miniland to look at the awesome structures made of Lego. They used to have exhibitions like these at a small scale at the malls in Singapore and I remember taking lots of pictures of them.

So obviously I wasn't going to miss checking it out, even if the rest of my family abandoned me to take refuge in the air-conditioned souvenir store! *sigh*

Kuala Lumpur in Lego!

I simply love the attention to detail! Everything is so precise and amazingly realistic! =)

Lego structures of famous places

Realistic display of Singapore's famous river sights

And the best part is that the display is also interactive! The boats & trains move, the lamp post lights up, the Merlion spits out water, the Singapore Flyer rotates and they even managed to replicate the Duck tours land/sea vehicle!

I thought it was sooo cool! =)

I would have stayed there for much longer had it not been for the scorching sun threatening to burn a hole into my skin =(

But as usual, I love any chance to buy souvenirs!

Bought Harry Porter & Batman keychains & Legoman soft toy for Girlee as souvenirs!

There was also Superman too! So cute right!

How could I resist the Lego figures?! They remind me of why I love Lego so much in the first place! =)

As we left I begun to reflect on our experience of the day.

The thing about Legoland is, when you first enter, it doesn't take your breath away like some theme parks do. But as you explore the place, you begin to discover hidden treasures which do intrigue you. Plus, you gotta remember that their target audience are their little guests, not you! So everything is done with them in mind, from the short Lego statues to the many playgrounds.

Ultimately, you've got to be a big fan of Lego (like I am!) to truly enjoy all that Legoland has to offer. That, and being (or bringing a kid who is) about 100cm tall *laughs*


P.S: Check out our visit again during Christmas and the new Legoland water park. Please also visit my Travel Page for my travel itineraries! =)

Disclosure: An invitation to this event & complimentary tickets were received from LEGOLAND® Malaysia for the purposes of this review. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions and text are my own.