Exclusive Bonding with Jovin!

Today I took another day of leave. Initially planned to stay and have ample rest at home after all the visiting. However, last night, mum accidentally caused my camera to fall to the ground, thus causing vibrations when taking shots. Hence, I immediately brought the camera to Sony Service Centre at Wisma this morning as I can't survive without camera. I was elated as the camera could be repaired without additional costs though it's no longer under warranty. Apparently, there was a mass repair service for this model's camera series due to the lens. Thus, I benefitted from this as mine was all along ok till the drop last nite. I urged them to speed up the repair if possible, so the receptionist said he will try his best to return me by Fri, else will be next Wed. Jovin had an additional day of rest too as her school is closed for the day, so I brought her along with me.

I didn't feel like lingering in orchard. Hence, brought her to Bugis instead. We had MOS burger and Jovin finished the whole serving of Teriyaki chicken burger and half cup of corn soup! She loved the burger so much and her tummy really felt so bloated! She even told me ' Mummy, I have 5 babies inside!' Haha, by quoting 5 babies, really meant she was very full. Her level of fullness is equated to the no. of babies. If she replies one, it will indicate she's not full. After a hearty lunch, we started browsing around the shops and happened to view a lion troupe performance. Jovin was very excited and even tried to mimic their actions. Guess what? she pestered me to buy a lion troupe performance vcd to fulfill her dance cravings. Goodness, the whole house is now upside down as my little prince also joins in the fun.

There were lots of post CNY sales and the mall was still very crowded to my surprise. We didn't shop for long though. In fact spent more time at the fountain outside BHG. Jovin wanted to join in the wetness too but I didn't bring spare clothing for her so she could only stand aside as a onlooker. We also spent time at the arcade. Bought $5 worth of tokens for her and we played spider stamping, crocodile slamming and drum hitting games. Both of us had so much fun and I really felt so blissful and enjoyed exclusive moments with my princess.

We went home around 4.30p.m and Jovin was dead tired then. The train was very packed but we met 2 kind souls who gladly gave up their seats to us. Jovin slept on the way home cos she was really exhausted. Well, I had to carry her on the journey back home. It was a great afternoon spent with Jovin and I look forward to Jovan growing older so that I can bring both of them all alone by myself :)

Gongxi Gongxi continues......

Our visiting continues on day 2. We went to James's grandmother's place. Every year, it's a real challenge to be there as it's a 3 room flat which needs to house so many of us. Imagine my mother-in-law has 13 siblings with children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren. Can you imagine the crowd? Last year, we were exempted due to my advanced condition as there's practically no room to move around. This year, it's Jovan's first year of visiting and everyone was delighted to see our boy. He was very cooperative and allowed people to carry him. Jovin joined the same age group and guess what? They did colouring haha but it was a good way to keep her entertained. The situation was so 'chaotic' as we were merely collecting and distributing angpows. I've practically no idea whose angpows were they. The only thing I kept asking James was, have we given this kid? Very confusing indeed.

We stayed till 5p.m as Jovan had a good nap which lasted about 1.5 hours. We went to my mum's place for official visit and gathered at Bishan Kopitiam near my sis's condo for louhei. The dishes were average and portion seemed to have shrunk. Guess all due to CNY. Nonetheless, the kids enjoyed the louhei. We shouted for good health, may Crystal achieve outstanding PSLE results this year, career and family blissfulness etc. Jovin happily joined in as James carried her to join in the fun. All these took place when my little prince was sleeping so I could enjoy my dinner in peace. After dinner, we went to my sis's place so that the kids could play and enjoy. We left around 10p.m as the kids still needed to attend school tomorrow.

The past 2 days had been rather hectic as we spent long hours at the visiting places but it's an annual affair and the kids love it. Next year, I bet Jovan will stary enjoying it as he would be almost 2 then. Gonna rest now. Need to 'recuperate' for weekend visits. Good nite :)

CNY Visiting Day 1!

Yesterday was the 1st day of CNY! I woke up very early around 7.30a.m to pack all the necessities for the visiting. Well, bringing a toddler and baby around for a full-day visiting is definitely no easy feat. We have no luxury of going around with 2 mandarin oranges which we used to before marriage. Now =, I had to get ready milk bottles, powder, porridge, diapers etc.before we can set off. Nonetheless, I bathed and dressed up the 2 little 'Js'. Jovan was dressed in the traditional blue outfit with a matching cap and he really looked so adorable haha. Jovin was even dressed up to the nines with her halter neck pink dress with matching pearl accessories. After getting ready, it was almost 1p.m and we went to James's granny's place as usual. The timing was so perfect as we met my in-laws and James's siblings too in the car park. Jovin was so sweet and presented the oranges to the elderly and put her collected angpows in the barbie doll sling bag. She would even take Jovan's angpows and pass to me to ensure safe-keeping hehe. The elderly had a great time chit-chatting while the youngsters ( hehe, we still consider ourselves in this category)had some card games. Great Granny carried Jovan in her arms and she looked so blissful. Jovin was happily entertaining herself carrying the chairs here and there and of course, not forgetting helping herself to the goodies.

Around 4p.m, we left for my Ah Gim's place and it was the usual meet-up point for my family members. There were many guests and my relatives were busy cuddling Jovan and trying to catch his attenntion with all sorts of tricks. Jovan was rather selective in allowing people to carry him. So some of my relatives had to amuse him for rather long before he allowed them to carry him. Jovin had fun with her cousins running in the house, playing heart-attack card games etc.

The nite ended long and we were exhausted when we returned home around 10p.m. The kids were dead tired too. So it didn't take long before they slept. It's Jovan's 1st CNY this round. Time really flies. Still remembered last CNY, I was heavily pregnant with Jovan and he was just born a week after CNY! Haha, friends commented I really timed my delivery so well as I need not be confined during CNY and could savour all the delicacies before I went into delivery. Well, annual CNY visiting is always the same. Eat, gather, play card games. The procedure never seemed to change since I was a kid. But it's all traditions which I believe, should remian and pass on to my little ones. Ok, gotta prepare for the next round of visiting today. Happy CNY to all my dearest pals and wishing u all the good tidings u may have for the year!

Chinese New Year Eve!

This year's CNY eve happened to fall on a Sun, hence we had a great rest at home before proceeding to both parents's place for reunion dinner. Late morning, we even went to nearby Sembawang Shopping Centre and surprisingly, the queue was short and the mall was rather empty, though shops were still open. We grabbed a quick bite at the eatery shop and went to Giant and Daiso. Bought some sundry goods and Jovin enjoyed running around as there wasn't much crowd, so she could have her way, though James had a hard time chasing after her hehe.

In the evening, after settling Jovan's dinner, we set off for my in-law's place and reached around 7p.m. Apart from the norm steamboat, there were great delicacies like stewed abalone, cereal prawns etc and all were whipped up within minutes as it was really tasty. Jovin loved the stewed mushrooms and her panda fish cake which my in-laws specially cooked for her. The most hilarious episode was, as all of us were enjoying the sumptous dinner, dear Jovan happily grabbed a toilet roll within his reach and happily munching it. Oh my! Dear commented our dear boy was so pitiful haivng to eat toilet roll for reunion dinner haha! Jovan stared at us innocently as we took away his toilet roll which he was fiddling with. After dinner, James enjoyed some card games with his siblings while I took care of the little kiddies.

My mother-in-law soon distributed angpows and Jovin was so dear to wish her gongxi gongxi and even was so fearful that we would snatch her angpows haha. Of course, Jovan was too young to understand anything so he let Jovin had her way when she took away his angpow. Soon after, we left for my mum's place and my brother was already there. This year, we bought a new set of steamboat cum teppanyakki and it was very good, really felt like the pro teppanyakki food we have outside. Told my mum we should have this more often as the kids loved it too. We had scallops, prawns, beef etc but all through hot-plate teppanyakki and dear ate so much too. To add on, we had almond jelly with longan and all ours stomaches really felt so bloated.

After clearing up, Jovin and Jerad ran around and played with the luminous bangles we bought from Daiso. Jovan happily crawled around as he played with the tupperware mum had in store for the delicacies hehe. Our final programme was temple praying at Upp Thomson and Guangming Shan . The crowd was still manageable as it wasn't midnight yet. Mum carried Jovan to pray around and dad led Jovin around, teaching her how to bow and pray to the dieties. She was really so pious as she bowed to the dieties , clasped her palms together and kneeled down on the floor. Even passer-bys found her adorable and couldn't help but took a second glance at her haha. At Guangming Shan, Jovan was exhauseted and he fell asleep soon after. We completed all the prayers at 12.30a.m and had some vegetarian food before going home.

It was a late night but was a great experience for the kids, especially Jovin so that she understood it was CNY eve and the need for reunion dinner and temple prayers etc. It's essential these Chinese traditional values remain so that it would not be forgotten as the kids grow up. Looking forward to the CNY visting in the next few hours... BTW, my prayers are really answered as my back pain is slowly recovering. Hurray!

Little 'Js' Bonding Session!

I derive great pleasure and find it very heart-warming when I see my 2 little 'Js' love to play with each other. I've told my friends, Jovin and Jovan really love playing together and all I need to do is give them a basket of mega blocks in the baby cot and both of them can keep themselves entertained for at least an hour. This precious one hour enables me to do so much things. It's so sweet when I see Jovin trying to construct and show her brother her completed 'infrastructure' from the mega-block building. Think there's some truth to the old saying that, elder sisters tend to show more concern and dote on their younger brothers compared to same gender siblings. Be it truth or not, at least I've seen some truth in my 2 'Js' :)