My baby announced the minute she woke up, "I am nine years-old today. I don't want to be called Bee (her pet name which is short for baby) anymore. Your can call me Rihana, if you like." I turned to Erica and we burst out laughing together. We were trying to imagine a out of tune Rihana croaking Umbrella. Honestly it is quite a shock to me that my baby is 9 today. She seemed to grow up so quickly despite her tendency to fall sick often. She has two huge tonsils so it was high fever once every 3 weeks since she was 6 months old. It gradully became once every 6 weeks. Her relationship with her tonsils are improving.... only losing it when she is stressed-up...

When it comes to cooking, I have accepted the fact that I am destined to be a noob forever. Noob not in the same category as this ironchef-in-disguise-noob, but noob in the true sense, know very little and have no will to learn. I no longer live in denial, buying cookbooks after cookbooks dreaming of being my Mister's Domestic Goddess. After trying at the most two recipes from the salad/entree section, I would be demoralised. Mine would never ever look and taste anywhere near that described by the book, even though I put in twice the amount of time in the kitchen. Nothing wrong with those cookbooks, it's just me ... poor execution due to "no-interest" subject matter...

To my elder girl, he is the BEST-LOOKING guy in this whole wide world. Her everything Pattinson craze has been going on for a while and I never understood why, until last December ....... I finally got curious when she was watching Twilight for the 10,000th time. I joined her. Initially I was bored but when the perfect in an eerie manner Pattinson appeared I transformed into an excited teenager and became more excited than my tween! When the movie ended, I told my daughter, "Erica, let's watch one more time!". She was beaming with the "I told you so" look. We ended up watching three rounds of Twilight and two rounds of New Moon. I had a smashing time....... Â...

I have never been one good with traditions, frankly I suck at them. Since young I never saw the significance of Chinese New Year. To me it was (and is still is) merely another flipping of the calendar day. I only enjoyed the extended days of holidays that came with it. Before marriage it would mean holidays overseas with friends, but after marriage everything changed. I needed to be a responsible daughter-in-law and mother ....... certain chinese new year must-dos needed to be done even though I do not believe in them. During Chinese New Year it is customary to prepare "goodie bags" for family and friends. I enjoy putting together personalised gifts each year. I...

It's about time I pull myself away from my "latest hobbies" and daily responsibilities to spend some time here dusting cobwebs. I need to make an effort to update this blog/journal of mine more often else my envisioned trips down memory lane in the future would not be possible. What have I been up to since I last document my resolutions for the year? 1. Original Bootcamp, thrice weekly -  this is my 3rd month and I am so hooked/addicted to it. My dear hubby thinks that I am nuts to wake up at 5.30am and rush to the field for an hour of hell. Not sure why but I kinda like the kick-ass pain, plus the released of happy hormones after each session - simply the...

I used to have a love-hate relationship with January 1st. I love that it signifies a new beginning, new dreams, new hopes but at the same I hate it due to all my un-met resolutions! Two years ago, I finally grew-up (i.e. matured) and stopped making a big deal out of the New Year, and stopped making a long list of not likely to meet resolutions. January 1st became another flipping of the calendar day. I reasoned that I can do up a to-do-list aka resolutions anytime of the year. The biggest challenge is to stay focused and get it done. So how was past two years since I stopped making resolutions? Were they more fruitful than the ones with resolutions? Not sure but I...

I spent the first couple of days after cancelling our holidays puting up a brave-front in front of my girls. I was my usual chirpy and happy self keeping my elder girl company while she does her work, and helping my younger one with the daily crafts planned for her. When my girls went to bed I sulked and took out my frustration on my husband. The poor guy took it all in a stride ...ever so sweet. I was having so much trouble getting myself out of the in-no-mood for everything in my life. I needed something badly to get me back on track. When I found out about The Original Bootcamp (OBC) from another blogger I was convinced that it was just what I needed to get mys...

Hubby and I made a painful decision last November. We cancelled our planned 6 months in advance, eagerly awaited year-end holidays abroad. It was painful, difficult, awful but we did it. At times I wish that we are less responsible, I wish that we love our daughters a little less, I wish that we are more selfish , I wish, I wish, I wish ..... My elder girl's teachers felt that she has the ability to secure a government scholarship to study abroad. As the exams are going to take place in September next year, we were advised to prepare early (huh?) and send her for extra coaching during the year-end break. Being the non-typical Asian parents (Asian parents tend to...

This is the perfect scene I would love to wake-up to everyday, if I have my way. I always dreamt of living  by the sea with my man during our retirement days. We will have our dream house then, incorporating two of our must-haves ....... a whole floor for his music room and a super humongous craft room for me filled with all my "toys". Here we will live our perfect lifestyle, away from the hustle bustle of the city life, with the sea as the backdrop. We will start our days with an early morning run by the sea, followed by a full session of pilates and many many hours of crafting (for me) and reading (for him). Here no cooking is required (yeah!), and my man wil...

A couple of months back, I was asked by Lai Kuan, of the very popular Food-4-Tots to check out Craft Passion. I did, and I was glad. Since then I have been a huge fan of this very talented lady (Joanne), who has been churning-out lots of amazingly creative stuff that never fails to blow my mind off. Do check out her blog. You will not be disappointed. Here are some of my favourites; "The Dazzled" - I am still waiting for her to make me one. This is one of Joanne's earlier projects. She did this for a charity auction to aid a home for abandoned kids.  On the night of the auction, her sister got her the bag (by being the highest bidder) because she knows that Joan...