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Am I Italian?

19 May

It was during Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year that we discovered some very enlightening facts about hubby’s side of the family. Hubby’s uncle and cousin had painstakingly researched the family roots, tracing back to his great-grandfather, who was born in 1881 and emigrated here from China.

This means his grandfather is the first generation of the clan, hubby the third generation and my girls the fourth generation. I was awed because on my side, my only sibling and I are first generation; my Dad came from Singapore.

During the PowerPoint presentation, the whole clan learnt of the beginnings of the ancestors: how they met, when, where and all. There were even mug shots of the great-grandparents and it was one of the mugs that I commented, “Gosh! He looks European! Almost like an Italian!” to which M2 overheard and perked her up.

“Am I Italian?” she said.

Tickled by her question, I merely raised my eyebrow. She persisted.

“Am I Italian?”

I rolled my eyes and ignored her.

“Hmm. I must be because I like pizzas!” she decided and beamed.

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Imaginary Friends

8 May

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When I was young, I had imaginary friends who were very interesting and loyal. Way cooler than real friends, they were constantly by my side and totally understands me. I never knew this trait is also evident in my children until I was spring-cleaning their room recently.

It was a Sunday and we decided to revamp the girls’ room a little to create two study corners. As boxes of toys were moved, we had to decide whether to give them away or keep them elsewhere to create space. In the midst of this, I stumbled upon a note written by M2 when she was young.

“Oh… Shaun! That’s her imaginary friend!” chuckled M1.

“Really? I never knew!” I said.

We opened the folded note and read it.

It was hilarious!

I must salute M2, for her imaginary friend was way, way more interesting than mine! And letters… classic. I never wrote letters to my imaginary friends.

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It’s Deciding for Me

18 Apr

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I thought all was fine with my iPhone4 after the last few scares; maybe it could last and I don’t have to give it up so soon. But I guess I spoke too soon! Last week, it blacked out on me again at a critical Kodak-moment! I was right about to capture the amazing birthday cake presented at an uncle’s birthday dinner when the phone froze and the Apple icon appeared before a black screen! Aaaargghhhh…. the cake was cut and I do not have a picture of the amazing cake intact. Hrmph…

I was annoyed to say the least. Hubby was sympathetic and suggested that night I should just have the new iPhone5S charged up, ready to be used instead of having to wait until my birthday to open the box.

My dear iPhone4, I love you but you chose your destiny.

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Beyond January and April

7 Apr

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When I was young, I had only 4 important dates to remember: my birthday, mom’s, dad’s and my only elder sibling. Mom, Dad and me are April babies while my only sibling, January. It used to be then one celebration in January for him and a combined one for the three of us.

Fast forward to the present. Both my sibling and I are married and separately, each with a family of our own. I now have the hubby, M1 and M2’s birthdays, spread across the calendar. And him, with his wife and children, the calendar is filled with even more dates to remember. In the family, April by far has the most number of family members having their birthdays. And combined birthday celebrations are done occasionally (especially when the children were younger) but the bigger picture being several birthday dinners and cakes in the year beyond January and April.

This year, we decided to do the combined celebration for the April babies again although Dad is no longer with us. One half of the twins is back from college and the April month is back to its three person requirement.

So happy birthday mom, my niece and me!

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Times Have Changed

13 Mar

It was a Wednesday and for two days in a row, we were going out for yet another dinner with friends. Hubby was just informing M1 about our plans.

“Going out again?! Why?” questioned M1.

Well, impromptu plans can coincide with plans made earlier. Indeed times have changed when it used to be the older questioning the younger but it’s the other way around now.

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Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

24 Dec

I cannot believe another year has gone by so fast! Wasn’t it just yesterday the whole family was visiting the US – the adults catching up with some of our dearest friends and the children seeing what I deem as my favorite places from my college days? Wait a minute, that was last year! Dang.

The past few days I was reminiscing about this time of the year and out of the blue, the song by Band Aid (Do They Know It’s Christmas?) popped into my mind! Wow. That was dinosaur years ago. Watching the music video when John Taylor (of Duran Duran) fleetingly appeared made my heart skipped a beat even after all these years. Sigh…

It’s such a classic and oldie now, that song.

This year I decided to host the family Christmas (eve) dinner, relieving my only sibling of this annual duty. I look forward to the usual happy, fun and boisterous occasion despite the reduced head count (the twins are away in college and the younger niece, at camp). The tree is up, the presents are in place, the wine chilled and the food prepared with love. This time of sharing will no doubt be cherished.

This year has been significant for me, in many aspects of my life. For starters, I tried Candy Crush (in March) out of curiosity and look what happened? I became so addicted to it, I qualify to be called a professional candy crusher. I also started this blog (in June) and have been going strong ever since. With 4,851 views and more than 200 ‘Likes’ so far, I must be doing something right.

This year also marked my M1 turning Sweet 16 and my M2 fairing well in her UPSR exam. Children aside, Hubby and I traveled a fair bit—not to new destinations—but to near and far and enough to keep our sanity in check to balance up the work stress that we face daily.

And this year I made more new friends compared to any past given year. Pretty unusual but then again, golfing friends are a unique breed and it’s nice that it has developed into wonderful friendships over many outings and dinners beyond the fairways and greens. I also rekindled old friendships, thanks to technology for making the world smaller and reachable. For all these, I feel truly blessed and yeah, it’s been a significant year for me.

So I’d like to end this significant year by wishing all—from the bottom of my heart—a happy Christmas and a merry New Year in its truest sense! Hope your 2013 was equally significant for you to reflect back in years to come with fond memories and a smile on your face.

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Butt-head! Bwahahahaha….

5 Dec

My little nephew recently learnt a new word. This is according to both M1 and M2 when they went to visit grandma two days ago and was playing with him and his little sister.

Looking at his little sister, he would go, “Butt-head!” for no particular reason and then break out in fits of laughter. “Bwahahahahaha…..!”

Eeeks! Is that a word? Should it be allowed? Now, which cartoon was he exposed to? M1 and M2 were both too tickled even to correct him. Grandma was definitely unaware of the situation.

Wouldn’t my brother dearest be appalled if he found out? Shh…

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Hah! About Time

28 Nov

Last night when we got back from dinner at a friend’s place in the city, I found that Candy Crush finally has the long awaited update for the iPad. Hah! About time, I thought and clicked on it.

Waiting, I mused over the casual dinner, smiling over the remark of the mismatched wine we all had. But does it matter? Food was hearty and delicious, company was great and ambience delightful, one can’t have it any better. Even M1 and M2 enjoyed themselves thoroughly. I suspect both have comatosed over dinner (and dessert) as they were very quiet in the car on the journey home. All in all, it’s a nice change to routine for a weekday.

And speaking of routine, not crushing candies on the laptop was suddenly an acceptable act. Honestly, I was getting tired of waiting for the update and having been stuck at Level 480 for sometime, the lengthy period has made the game lose some of its charm. Plus the fact that I only play it before going to the office and returning home does not help matter.

But oh! They are so smart this time, updating with two chapters instead of typically one! Yay. Maybe there is hope to reignite the challenge in me. Instead of just adding Sugary Shire (which I completed), Cherry Chateau (where I am stuck) has also been included. I guess I don’t have to rely on the laptop so much now until of course, I overcome 480 and come to the end of the Cherry Chateau chapter (Level 485).

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Stuck at 480 for sometime now

So let the crushing of candies continue. About time too, don’t you think?

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Things to Do During the School Holidays

18 Nov

School holidays are always tough to manage when we have to work and the girls don’t have school. The year-end school holidays has started and hopefully, both M1 and M2 will find things to occupy their minds until school resumes in January. After all, they are now older and technology is at their disposal. But it will be a different story if we go on a holiday.

When they were 6 and 10 years old, we used to send them over to grandma’s daily when we did not have a lived-in maid (then) to care for them while we went to the office.

Being girls and hanging out with their cousin sisters, they did this to M2…

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M2 subjected to the new hairdo!

And got carried away and ended up with this!

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Another angle…

I don’t think they will resort to this these days though…

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Chat

A Happy Occasion

14 Nov

Traffic on the small island state was a challenge when one is rushed for time. Luckily we made it on time. The solemnization ceremony took place at Four Seasons Singapore. The bride looked very pretty and the groom, dashing.

It was a sweet moment when they exchanged vows. I choked and could feel tears coming along. Oh no… Blinking hard, I managed to suppress it. Nobody was sniffling or crying and I didn’t want to be the only one!

Dinner that followed was a jovial time. Needless to say, it was a happy occasion.

Congratulations cousin, so happy for you and to your new hubby, welcome to the family.

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