You know you are a dinosaur when the teenagers today go out and they don’t need you for transport home. Instead they come home by GrabCar (equivalent to Uber).
Yes, this is our baby, M2 the teenager, coming home with friends after dinner on a Saturday night. And on top of this, they all slept over, with permission of course.
Teenagers these days, I have no words to further elaborate.
In the midst of all this Chinese New Year preparation, we also made the effort to attend an uncle’s birthday celebration last night. Reaching the 70 year old mark, it was only respectful for us to grace the event.
I thought I would don my little black dress that I haven’t worn for ages. What was I thinking? I am certainly not little anymore! Hubby was being honest, when I asked if he could help me with the back zipper, he said that they were three inches apart and most unlikely to meet. Oooh… cringe.
So I ended up wearing something else, a big black dress that had a different effect. Sigh…
I guess not only the fingers became fat, other parts of the anatomy as well. My ego hurts…
I definitely have to do something drastic if I intend to don the little black dress ever again.
Just when I thought the weather change has arrived indicating Chinese New Year is around the corner, it has changed again. Global warming?
Even the birds know it. When it rains in the morning, they don’t get fed and they come right up to the terrace boldly, waiting for seeds to be put out at the table instead of in the tray on the wall. This morning I woke up to cloudy skies again. The breeze is cool and rather strong.
Another wet day ahead?
It’s without a doubt that I have gained weight when M1 was back for her Christmas holidays. Every day was an adventure in meals and race against time to check off her ‘To Eat’ list.
We did pretty good; covered almost all except for a couple of items: Dim Sum and Assam Laksa. She managed to check off the first item immediately upon arrival back in the US. But the second item will have to defer until her next return.
Sadly, not only my waistline expanded, I think my fingers too! I have fat fingers now. And there’s no excuse calling them muscles because gym session has not been excessive. The eating was plus I have been drinking my coffee with creamer and sugar again. Bad.
It’s very obvious because I cannot wear my rings anymore especially the few designer rings that I like. I tried; they were too snug for words and I had quite a battle to remove them.
Looks like I have do something about my fat fingers if I want to start accessorising again. But with Chinese New Year around the corner and no gym for the next two weeks, I am facing an uphill task ahead.
Sigh…
Today our M1 turns 20. My goodness, 20. I am speechless. When I was 20, I was in college, probably pulling in long hours to finish my design assignments but definitely having the time of my life, away from Mom and Dad.
Well, what goes around comes around? The firstborn is away at university, probably pulling in long hours to finish some Food Science assignment but definitely having her time of her life, away from her Mom and Dad.
Every year when the girls’ birthdays come around, it makes me ponder about what we have accomplished for them and with them or just their accomplishments alone. No different this year…
I am very proud of our firstborn for what she is today and how matured she has become – a wonderful and responsible adult. But no matter how grown up she has become, she will always remain my baby.
Happy birthday my dear. Love you to the moon and back!
Another Sunday dinner adventure at the mall! This was many moons ago.
It was at a crowded Japanese French restaurant and the three of us were seated at a table next to a young mother and her girlfriend. The baby was in a stroller.
I glanced over and the most high-tech looking baby stroller caught my eye. I have never seen anything like it before.
It was a beautifully engineered piece of contraption that doubled as a high chair and a stroller as well as a shopping cart without taking up a lot of space in the restaurant.
The baby was cute I must admit but I was more taken by the stroller and for a moment, wished how nice it would have been back then when my girls were babies that such amazing contraptions existed. I don’t recall there was.
Not that the one we had back then was not practical. It was. It was a lightweight foldable sturdy Combi stroller that lasted for both our girls. But glancing over my shoulder again at the red and grey thing, I couldn’t help but mentally compared that our stroller was not quite the three-in-one.
Although it moved the girls well without us having to carry them, it was hard to hang shopping bags at the back without the stroller toppling over. This situation became quite a balancing act especially if the child wanted to come out and the back was weighted down with purchases.
Also by comparison, our stroller was way too short at dining tables of most restaurants. The poor child would be looking at our knees instead of being eye level with us if left strapped down. The baby in the red and grey contraption however, was gurgling away at his mother happily. Cute.
Strange that I would rave about a baby stroller, something I certainly have no need for these days. Smitten not by the baby indeed.
I was at the hair salon last Friday to get a haircut in preparation for Chinese New Year and there was this lady, sitting on the opposite side and being such a show off in her conversation.
Yes lady, I heard you when you bragged loudly about the gemstone you intend to purchase.
Yes, I heard you when you asked if the stone was 12 carats and gushed about the color and clarity of it.
Yes, I also heard when you praised the vendor for the quality of the gemstone yet complained that the price was exorbitant.
Gee… There was no one else besides me and my regular hairdresser, you didn’t have to speak so loudly to let me know. Unfortunately I heard you loud and clear even though I did not want to.
Any person doing something like this should just be discreet. Openly bragging would just invite trouble.
Who was she trying to impress? Certainly can’t be me? I should have plugged my earphones in to drown out the conversation. It was distracting my reading the gossip tabloid about the UK Royals.
When I was done and at the counter to pay, there she was again, at my side, talking loudly. This time it was about a 15-carats stone.
What an obvious show off.
I started reading the book ‘How to Think Like Da Vinci’ a Christmas gift from hubby. It sure is an interesting eye opener not because of Da Vinci himself but more of the fact it made me recall my encounter with the Mona Lisa.
I have been to Paris twice. The first trip when we wanted to visit the Louvre, we didn’t know the museum’s schedule well enough. It was closed and we were due to fly home the next day. Disappointed, we vowed that if we ever went back to Paris, we have to make the museum trip.
Went back we did, a few years later – 2013. During the second trip, hubby and my sibling were off for a business meeting, so I was left to my own devices. I decided to visit the Louvre. Thankfully, it was open.
And like every other tourist, I had to see the great painting. It was such a huge crowd, I couldn’t get any closer. And having a barrier and protective glass over it, it sure was hard to have a good look at the masterpiece.
Was it worth the hoopla? Depends on which angle you look at it. For me, it was merely a ‘been there, done that’ moment; didn’t move me. Give me a Monet anytime, I’d be totally inspired.
So back to my book, maybe reading it and trying to think like Da Vinci may move me better.
We found out recently when M1 was back, that our latest pet Tuna the crayfish is a boy. Luna the previous one was a girl.
The Food Science student was able to identify the crayfish anatomy because she had taken a class that required her analyzing crayfishes. One evening we were just admiring Tuna, and M1 looked closely at its underside before pointing out that Tuna’s a boy! We were surprised.
I must say after Luna’s demise (for her gender, M2 and I did checked on the internet and can confirm she was a female), we did not bother doing the same when we acquired Tuna 1, 2 and 3. We just assumed they were females.
As there was aggression between the three and quick deaths that followed, checking the gender was the last thing on our minds. And so it was left in assumption that Tuna was a female.
Gender aside, Tuna has brought us joy again. He may not be as orange-looking as Luna (different species most likely) but he is quite a character and just as enjoyable to observe.
Always flaring the claws
Picky about his food. Leftovers on the bottom left
Doing a Spidey act
You know the holidays are definitely over and Chinese New Year is around the corner when the heat has arrived. The weather has suddenly changed. Last week, it was still very cool and even rained. Heavily at it too.
This week with everything settling into routine, the girls back in school and us back to work, the heat has crept in. Yesterday at gym, the humidity and the heat was really stifling, even indoors. As a result, the session became very taxing.
On the home front, the garden is thriving. Birds of different species come together and eat the seeds we put out. And big birds would just lounge on the dry deck!
It’s heartwarming to see such harmony but the heat… getting unbearable. Sigh.
M2 snapped this huddle from the kitchen
Angieneering 
Remarks