XX turns 5

It's been another busy week. Christmas Day came by, accompanied by some hail and flooding. Luckily for us, we were affected by none. Only Hubby's hind wheels got stuck in the mud after he left it parked on the bare naturestrip outside our house during the storm. The interior of our house is more or less organised now and we were able to welcome and entertain some visitors over the holiday period. Only wish the dishwasher was working. After a failed attempt by us to install it ourselves and ended having to pay for an emergency plumbler in the middle of the night, it still won't work for some reason. I got a feeling we will have to wash more money down the drain before it can be used.


Speaking of money, we are right now feeling that a house is a big bottomless sinkhole in which you pour your money in. One of our friend commented that she will be a very rich woman if she had saved up all the money she'd spent on her house over the years. Probably she's right. There are so many expenses, large and small, which came up that we never had to think about previously. And now, our plasma tv is showing a yellowish screen, which I reckon is not an auspicious sign.


The year is slipping by so fast before I have a chance to report recent important events. I still owe XX a birthday cake. I feel so bad that this year, XX turned 5 one day after we moved in, I have no time to make him a birthday cake. I only used the oven for the first time to make some pre-mix whoopie pies for his kinder. At least he had his moment of fame in school with 28 of his kindy friends singing him a birthday song and I did get him a big Lego Creation set as a gift, but I still feel a gap. I have made the birthday cakes for both of them every year since we moved to Melbourne. This year, XX's cake was a $5 mud cake from Coles.


Cake or no cake, my little baby has grown up one more year. Come next year, he will be joining his older brother in primary school. Although it is just Prep (equivalent of K2 in Singapore), he will be donning official school uniform, packing a lunch and going to school 5 days a week for 6 hours a day. I'm so gonna miss him. Since we came to Melbourne 3.5 years ago, he has been my constant companion and I witnessed his amazing transformation from a baby to toddler to a young school going child. It is so amazing. I'm being made redundant at more and more tasks as he now takes over cleaning his bottoms and showering/shampooing himself. He puts on his own socks and shoes and knows how to put them into the laundry basket afterwards. And just one day before he turned 5, XX learnt to ride the 2-wheeled bicycle on his own! We were busy supervising the movers and he was paddling around the back with the bike. He found his balance for a few seconds and then he could balance longer and longer. Suddenly he's riding a few metres without falling!  


It's a natural progression for him and I'm proud of his accomplishments. I'm relieved also for more freedom but at the same time, I probably need a little more time adjusting and letting go. You know, I still like to carry him, cradle him (with his limbs hanging out) and smell his neck like a baby.


Here's XX's photo diary of his 5th birthday.

On my birthday, I went to the indoor playground with Brandon and Callum after my Prep orientation.

Hooray, I'm 5 finally!

Mom made whoopie pies for my kinder friends.

Me with my teacher blowing out the candles on a fake cake.

My birthday present which I constructed with help from Mama and KK.

   

We Moved In

So much has happened since my last post. We finally got our keys, gave notice to vacate the rental house and started organising the moving in. Appliances and curtains got installed, furniture delivered, we moved in officially, XX turned 5, Hubby and KK got their blue belts for Taekwondo, end of school year and it's Christmas tomorrow! 


In between all these major events, there were lots of unpacking, tidying and organising at our new home and the cleaning and handing back of the rental property that was our home for the last 21 months. There were also school orientations for XX as he gets ready for Prep next year and end of year Christmas concerts to attend (even XX's kinder had a mini one). Hubby and I were so tired these last few weeks that we basically just crashed into bed everynight. But there's the satisfaction of finally living in our own home which we've work hard to create and I think we're progressing well. Hubby has been very hard working especially, assembling furnitures and fixing up odd jobs around the house. He's even started working on some of the many home projects lined up, such as our timber deck and we even got the Christmas tree set up. 


Enough said, I'll let the pictures tell the story:

One of the first thing we had to do was to set up a post box.

Hob and Hood installed.

Blinds had to be in before we can move in. Here's the sliding panel blinds in our bedroom.

Bought some furniture pieces from Ikea which we had to assemble.

The plantation shutters in the Lounge room.

Panel blinds in the laundry room that we installed ourselves. Rails from Ikea, fabric from Spotlight. 

Yay, our first meal (Korean instant noodles) in our new home.

The timber arrive for our alfresco decking.

Hubby setting up the frame for the decking. Yes, we're going to try and DIY!

Looking homely and comfy for Christmas.

More pictures on XX and KK to come and as we settle in and tackle more home improvement projects. Meanwhile, have a Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!!
   

Burnt Garlic

A few moments of distraction was all it took to overheat the wok. I should have stopped proceeding but I thought I had a chance if I poured in the oil and pushed in the chopped garlic immediately. But it was too late. The garlic were burnt but I still pushed in the ikan bilis. What was I thinking? As I stir fried them around, I realised I had no chance to save this dish. The soup is gonna be bitter with the charred garlic. I'm gonna waste all the ingredients if I continued. I turned off the fire and started chopping fresh garlic again. 


Burnt garlic is no big deal. But like burnt garlic, some things in life have no U-turn. A moment of unthinking can be all it takes sometimes to make a irreversible mistake. This lesson was a valuable one for me, especially after the gift saga with KK.


We had bought 2 gifts of games, one Xbox and one PS3, for his friends. They were brand new so they came wrapped in plastic cling wrap. In his attempt to peel out the price tag, my son tore off the whole plastic wrapping completely. Not only that, curious he opened up the box to have a look at the instruction booklet inside, thereby breaking the seal on the Xbox game. Great. Now I not only cannot offer to get an exchange on the gift (if the parents object to the title we chose), it looks like we have bought pre-owned games instead. I was a pretty mad mum. 


I know he's still a kid and kids don't think so much when they do things. But the sooner he learnt there are merits to thinking before action or demerits to actions without thoughts, the better he will be at being independent. Too often, we read in the newspapers of teenagers or young people who get caught in situations such as molestation, possession of drugs or smuggling unwittingly. It might not be their intention to commit crime but it's a messy situation they can avoid if they were more alert, cautious and less ignorant. Certainly if they paused to think of the consequences of their actions, they might still be able to save themselves before it's too late. 


So the humble garlic has imparted some important lessons to life:

• Be on the watch out, a moment of distraction and you can get burnt.
• If something is not right, stop. You can't save the garlic but you won't destroy the dish.

More Delays

What do you do when things are not going the way you want and you can't do much about it? You sit around sulking or walk around grumbling or you pour it out in writing? Well I tried the first two, it didn't really help me feel better so I'm going to try the 3rd remedy.


At this final stage, the house is still not settled. Things took a dramatic turn for the worse when we went to do our "PCS" (Project Completion Signoff). Instead of signing off that everything had been completed, we found the site supervisor couldn't make it for the appointment as he was summoned to go to the head office urgently. Turned out he got fired that day. 


Turned out also that he has not been doing much at all about our house. Some of the items raised 2 weeks ago were being fixed on the spot by the substitute site supervisor who took over last minute. This new guy seems initially like a nice guy and one who has much higher standards. He saw some of the rectifications and agreed that it was a 'crap' job and had to be redone. Some other rectifications made no improvement at all. Like the garage door, it was still not sitting straight. 


We were very keen to move in and even agreed that some issues could be fixed after handover. However, I was reminded many times by different people not to do that. Most people had difficulties getting the builder to come back and fix things after handover. They are not one bit interested in you after they take your money. So we have decided to make them fix all the defects before we take over the house. Which means an indefinite delay.


To make matters worse, we discovered the concrete path outside our house had some serious defects. There appeared 2 long thin cracks in the concrete recently and when I mentioned it to the ex-site supervisor, he claimed it was within tolerance. He asked that we leave it and review during the 3 month maintenance period. I took his word for it then but we met another concrete trades person lately and he highlighted what a bad job our concrete was. Many parts were not even the minimum thickness of 100mm. Indeed it was and from then my eyes opened. I now suspect the cracks could be the result of poor workmanship. We raised a fuss with the builder about the concrete and they have still not responded how they are going to deal with it. 


That's not the end. On the day of the PCS, the new site supervisor got someone to come and clean up the exterior of the house. He did a good job but some water from his high pressure hose were forced into the house and there was a puddle on the floor boards near the alfresco sliding doors. It was highlighted to the site supervisor who claimed that he will get some towels from his car to mop it up later. But guess what? In his hurry to go off (to visit Grandmother and it's girlfriend's birthday), he forgot. That was Friday and when I reminded him on Monday, he claimed that it was done on Saturday. However when I went to the site on Wednesday, I saw huge stain marks on the floor and I suspect the floorboards have just got damaged from the flooding. One more major issue to repair = more delay.


I'm getting increasing frustrated especially when there's nothing much we can do except email them every other day about the progress. Yesterday, the furniture company called, claiming they can't hold on to the furniture (2 large sofas and a dining table) we ordered any longer. When we ordered them 2 months ago, I never expect that the house would still not be ready until now. 


On the other hand, I'm glad that all these things happened now, before we sign off and while we still have a bit of bargaining power to make them fix the problems. I thank God for the people He sent to remind and advise us. The contractual completion date is 23 December, after which the builder will have to start paying us $250 per week as damages. I wonder if this will really happen? From a project that have so much potential to be completed in 5 months to one that is overdue. I have no problems moving in next year but where am I going to settle the furniture in the mean time? 

3 Trophies

The boys in our family have added 3 little trophies to display on top of the tallboy at the entrance, together with the collection of photo frames showing memories of our lives together. The trophies are nothing major, just a little recognition for their love of the sport but I'm still proud of them. 

Hubby got a trophy for being the Yellow Belt Grading Champion for Taekwondo at our club. This is in recognition of him having the highest grading score amongst all the yellow belt gradings. He claimed this was the first time in his life he ever received a trophy for anything. 


Last Saturday, at the annual Christmas dinner organised by City West Taekwondo, KK was nominated and won the Junior Encouragement Award for Point Cook branch. There were 3 awards, Junior Champion, Junior Most Improved and Junior Encouragement. I supposed this is an award for showing encouraging performance during his training. For someone who started not serious and nearly couldn't qualify to take his Yellow 2 grading, KK has indeed come a long way. These days, his TKD instructors are happy with his improvement and commitment during training.


And our dear XX, not of age yet to join the Taekwondo club but already so inspired by the trophies (he calls them 'Piston Cups') his dad and brother had received, decided to make and award one to himself. He asked me for an empty drink bottle, started pasting paper all over it and finally had me write his name and the words 'Junior Champion' on it. I did an impromptu award ceremony on the spot, shook my little champion's hand and congratulated him as he proudly received his 'Piston Cup'. He took the 'trophy' and put it right next to his dad and brother's. One day, I know he will get a real one back to take its place. 

Rock A Fellas

There is never an end to the things we can learn. We thought that with a combined experience of over 70 years on earth between us, there is nothing that will faze us. But building our first house in Australia has given us that opportunity to feel like a little confused child again. Our latest crash course now is on  'Landscaping'.


In Singapore, landscaping was never an agenda for us. We kind of take it for granted that it will be there when we move into the HDB or condo estate. That timber deck, paved footpath, lush green lawn and stone benches, it's all done up nicely by the developer. We walked around and on them but have we ever wondered how it was made? Here in Australia, we're learning for the first time how to turn a piece of muddy ground into a garden. Where do we even begin? 


Apparently, the land has to be 'prepared' first. Like before putting on make-up, you have to clean your face and put on moisturiser first. The land has to be excavated by a bobcat and the trash soil taken away. Then you can put on the weed mats before you pile on top soil (which you got to buy). Only then do you plant the grass or turf. 


And if you want your garden to be more than just grass, a space that is both decorative and usable, which in our case consist of some timber decking, footpaths, garden beds and paving, the jobs add up. And getting landscaping done here is not cheap. The labour cost is high and can make up 60% of the total cost. We have gotten quotes ranging from $16,000 to $50,000. Which makes us think that it makes a lot of sense to DIY some parts of the landscaping ourselves. But how?


Unlike most Australian men who grew up watching their dads doing gardening and handy jobs around the house, my born and bred in Singapore husband is a total green horn when it comes to such tasks. And I'm even worse, can't tell the difference between a rake and a fork until recently. We are both very willing to take on the labour, especially if it saves us so much money, but our lack of technical and practical knowledge is a major setback.


So that's why currently we are on a steep learning curve. No doubt we will have to get the professionals to do some jobs like preparing the land and setting the concrete base, but I feel we should attempt to do the timber decking, garden beds and paving ourselves. There are some friends we know who has done theirs and we are hoping that we can learn from them. In the meantime, we have visited a few places that sell pavers and stones to learn more about the different materials available and their prices.


The range is mind boggling. Pavers comes in all sorts of shapes - rectangle, squares, irregular... and thickness, colours and feel. Even rocks are not so simple....Basalt, bluestone, sandstone....The strangest part is these rocks that comes freely from the earth are not cheap. One shop quoted us $80/cubic metre. Sure, some of them had to be mined and broken down but you know what, when builders build your house, they make you pay like $16K to excavate and remove rocks (called site costs) from your land. The rocks are taken to factories to be broken down and then sold to landscape suppliers...for you to later buy them back for your garden. 


I'm pretty sure that even with research and theoretical knowledge, we'll never be able to fully understand landscaping until we sink our hands into the mud. I just hope to be able to carry them rocks when they arrive.    

Almost Ours

If you're wondering if we've moved into our new house already, we haven't. But after almost one year from the time we bought the land, we're into our final leg of the building journey. Like an expectant mother in her final trimester, there is a sense of anticipation and impatience, for the official completion of our latest production.


The PCI (Present to Customers Inspection?) happened last Tuesday where we went through the completed home and pointed out areas that we were not satisfied with, things that needed to be fixed, repaired, touched-up. We already hired an independent inspector go through the house two weeks ago and he had prepared a long list of items that were not up to standard and had to be rectified. There were a few things that they will have to rectify or replace but in general, they were not major issues and the builder has agreed to fix most of them. I only hope they won't take too long to do it.


At this stage, we have already started preparing for the taking over of the house. The blinds for the whole house have been ordered, after getting 3 vendors to measure and quote and today we just paid the deposit for the fences. Next on our agenda is the landscaping. How we want the front yard to look, what to do with the backyard - footpaths, lawn, storage area, garden beds, veggie patch, laundry lines - where to locate, what materials to use, who to do the job (DIY or professional landscapers)? From the sourcing of suitable vendors to getting quotes, comparing quotes and selecting what we want/like, there is a string of decisions to be made. It is both fun and tedious. 


Being first time home owners in Australia, there are many things that are new to us and we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory when dealing with Australian construction standards and materials. At the same time that we are making important decisions, we are also on a steep learning curve. Inevitably, we are discovering some mistakes already. Some things we have to blame on our own ignorance and inexperience. Like the concrete driveway to the garage. Ours is just plain concrete and I don't think it looks very nice. Now we realize that there are numerous options when it comes to the type of pavings for driveways. In the concrete category, you can choose the concrete to come in almost any colour or 'exposed aggregate' (we just learnt this name and it's the latest trend - concrete seeded with pebbles). In the interim, until we decide to knock it down and build a new driveway, I learnt that we can still paint the concrete and seal it, but it will fade after a while.


At this point, there are definitely some things that we wished we didn't choose or vice versa but is now too late to change. Like we wished we'd chosen to "upgrade" to brickwork above garage door instead of standard strapping and FC sheet infill. We didn't even know what they mean by "strapping and FC sheet infill" until we see the final product. Of course, it is always possible to change it as long as we're willing to spend the money. But that will be for another day. Right now, we have to focus on more urgent and basic furnishings of the house.


It is exciting and getting more so as we neared completion. There're so many things to do, not to mention the packing up. I really can't wait to move in and start decorating the house!

O Jacky

Jacky Cheung has aged. Afterall, the 'God of Song' is only human. The good news is, he's not using botox and not ashamed to admit the fact that age has caught up.

After 27 years in the singing industry, this man is an icon in the history of Canto/Mandarin pop. I gathered he is about 50 years old, that's why he named it the "Half Century Tour"? Though his face is showing signs of his age, magnified on the mega hi-def screen on the stage, his super slim body is that of a twenty year old. And last night, at the Hisense Arena, he managed to entertain thousands of us fans with 3 whole hours of sustained singing and dancing. How many 50-year olds can do that? There were no guest performers, just his band, 12 dancers and him. Some of the time, it was just him on stage. And it was him alone that was enough. 

All of us were hooked by Jacky's singing. His strong and powerful vocal chords melted whatever self-consciousness there was, causing us to sway and sing along unreservedly. There was really no need for fancy costumes or pyrotechnics, although that added sparks to the ambience. He jazzed things a little with some glittering costumes change but the style was still somewhat conservative - shirt, vest, tie, jacket, hat combo. Okay, at one stage he did put on something like a skirt. 

The digital backdrop changed frequently with MTV footages, including some from his younger years, recorded images and even a cartoon film based on his childhood. I find them entertaining but also distracting sometimes. In the beginning, he performed a mini-musical series of songs to the theme of a love story, accompanied by an MTV movie, starring himself and Shu Qi as his wife. The cinematography and acting was good but I can't help but find it so fake as we all know who his real wife was. I think he would have achieved a greater impact if he'd put up some personal photos of himself and his real family instead. Afterall, we are gathered all here to get to know him more intimately. I would like to hear him share more about himself but I have heard that he is very protective about the privacy of his family.




Still, it was a solid value for money concert. I'm pretty intrigued by the fact that I actually attended a Mandarin/Cantonese concert in Melbourne. The number of Chinese faces occupying the whole of Hisense arena was unbelievable. I'm so glad I get this opportunity to see Jacky Cheung live in Melbourne. Afterall, how many half centuries are there in a lifetime?

Move The Body

It's probably been about 2 months since I've joined a local gym. Good news is I've 2 other friends who goes to the classes with me and I've been attending regularly, at least two to three times a week. 


The gym instructor actually 'prescribed' some circuit exercises for me. Things like going on the treadmill, cross-trainer and weights. But I hated such boring routine and so far, I've not done it once! One time, I went to the gym for Body Balance class and found out that I'd got the time wrong. Well, since I was there, I could have just gone up and spend some time working the gleaming training machines they have, but no, I turned around, right in front of my gym instructor some more, and went home....Naughty girl!


I guess I just have to be led when it comes to exercising. When there's an instructor in front of you, telling you to move this way and go that way, and everyone else is doing the same thing, you just can't help but follow. Since joining, I've tried a few of the classes and narrowed down to four of my favourites:


Body Jam : This is bascially a funky dance class. It's got some really strange moves, totally idiotic sometimes, but it's fun and the music's nice. And we love to watch our gay instructor dance. Feels like we're in a disco! 


Body Combat : Don't play play with this one. We do Tae Kwon Do, Karate and other martial arts moves. It will get your heart thumping and skin sweating starting from warm-up. Good for training power and strength. Also good for venting out your frustrations physically, especially therapeutic if you've just been jilted or angry with someone. If all's well in life, just use your imagination that you are being attacked by bad guys and you're punching and kicking the lights out of them! I really like this class. So far, it's got the best workout and who knows, a little martial skills could come in handy.


Zumba : Sensuous latin dance workout. Have a little trouble getting into the mood sometimes. I wish I could rotate those hips like the sexy instructor. She seems to enjoy it so much and is smiling from start to beginning. Other than that, not much sweat.


Body Balance : A combination of Yogo, Pilates and Tai Chi moves accompanied by slow, calming music. In contrast to the other faster and more cardio classes, this one aims to tone your muscles and improve balance. Not as easy as it looks.


At the end of the day, my objective is to get my body moving and perspiring. Whether I lose weight or develop those abs is not that important, though it's a good to have result. With regular exercise, I think my energy level has improved and hopefully, my cholesterol level has gone south as well. Well, I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but I feel less guilty too when I indulge in desserts and sinful treats nowadays!


  

Un-Kang (Unhealthy) Preferences

I don't know why and I wonder if other kids are like KK when it comes to healthy dietary choices. His name means "Health" but KK has very unhealthy preferences and the only reason why he is not a fat, sickly child with no teeth is because we have been obstructing him and preventing him from doing what he wants. 


He loves salty stuff, the saltier the better. Many a times, he complained that my cooking was too bland and would request to add salt. He loves eating dumplings and sashimi because he could dip them in lots of soya sauce. Chips, nachos and all those unhealthy crispy fried stuff in a packet are his favourite snacks naturally.


KK also like to eat chocolates. We don't buy any candies so he can't have them at home but it looks like we have to stop buying chocolates (which Hubby and I sometimes enjoy) too. We don't buy fruit juices as well as he will drink them if they are around, instead of water. His teeth are not very strong and every trip to the dentist reveals some decay.


His school has been learning about healthy lifestyle this semester but I'm pretty sure it had little impact on him. He was to keep a "Healthy Living & Lifestyle" diary about how he lead a healthy lifestyle and here are some of his inputs:


Day 1 - Eat all my veggies. (What do I feel about this choice: I feel healthy.)
Day 2 - Went swimming (I feel bored.)
Day 3 - Went Taekwondo (I feel cool.)
Day 4 - Go to fitness club (I feel like I'm going to die.)
Day 5 - Eat chips (I feel healthy.) ~ he insisted he REALLY felt ok.
Day 6 - Eat all my fruits (I feel forced to eat it.)
Day 7 - Eat 500g of chocolate (I feel fat.)


Haiz...when will he learn?


That said, I'm glad he at least likes most vegetables like broccoli and lettuce. He's also very active and gets lots of exercise. Just go easy on the salt and sugar son!

Health Hopes

The days have begun to turn longer. No longer sunset at 5 o'clock. Yipee! I think the coldest is finally over though it's still not time to head to the beaches yet. Although we have been heading to the swimming pools quite often. Strangely, swimming pools are good places to go for a weekend outing in Winter. Thanks so much to the heated indoor pools that we have. Our favourite is at Melton, where there's a lap pool to exercise, wave pool for the kids (and adults) to have fun and a steamy bubbly jacuzzi to relax in. We go with some friends and food and it's a party! 


The other thing we've been busy doing recently is exercising. Even I have joined in the regime. Lazy me, who hates exercising and sweating and loves watching TV, have signed up for a health club membership for the first time in my life. I'm not turning into a health freak overnight, but I do hope not to turn into an unhealthy freak when I'm older. Hubby has been gently nudging me to keep fit ever since he's got into Tae Kwon Do. Now, he gets to exercise at least twice a week and he feels good about it. 


It so happened that there were some promotions going on and I started by signing up free trial memberships at 2 health clubs with some girl friends who wanted to keep healthy as well. The health clubs are located nearby and we get access to all their facilities and classes. So far. I've tried Body Balance, Pilates, Boxing and Zumba classes in the evenings. And guess what, I'm even doing time on the threadmill! I've never liked threadmills, I find them so boring. You stare at the same scenery all the time when running. I have a small gym at the condo where I lived in Singapore but I seldom use them even though they face the swimming pool. But at the gyms here, they face a row of television screens or have built-in personal TV touchscreens. How wonderful can that be for a couch potato like me? You bring your own headphones, plug it in and hey, you're entertained while keeping fit! I usually go on the threadmill while waiting for KK in his "kids fitz" class (free for kids of members). I don't watch television programs at home cos the TV is always hogged by the kids so ironically at the gym, I get to catch up on a bit of news and advertisements. Then for the sake of watching more TV, I also do some cycling while waiting for KK to shower. I find this a good arrangement.


Knowing myself, I'm a bag of lazy bones. When it's dark and cold outside, I find it hard to put on my track shoes and leave the comforts of home. But if I have a friend going together, I'll have no excuse. And actually, it's nice to leave the kids' bedtime routine to Hubby and have an hour or two of time on my own. 


At the end of the day, I think no matter what exercise I do, as long as it gets my heart thumping harder and my muscles working, I'm taking a step closer to health. So with my full membership for the next year and hopefully with my friends' company, I will keep up this exercising routine at least twice a week. 

Three Scarves & A Beanie

Guess I've just found another new hobby. With Winter being rather chilly these days, knitting warm clothing seemed like a fine idea. It has been a good 15 years since I last picked up the knitting needles to knit something. Back then, it was a grey wool scarf for my then-boyfriend, now husband. I still remember it cost me more than $80 in yarn alone. And it got stolen in China after I lent it to my mom when she went on a tour. That was the first and last thing I've ever knitted.


With so little experience and the long time gap, I had totally forgotten how to knit. Luckily, I have a friend who knew and she helped me to get started again. My first project was a black ribbed scarf for Hubby after he mentioned that it was very chilly in the city when he walked from one office to another. Unfortunately, it was such a simple, repetitive yet slow process that I soon got bored. At the moment, it's only about half completed. 

 Left to right in order of completion

In the meantime, I experimented with knitting different yarns (there're so many types!) and worked on a few projects concurrently. So far I've made 3 scarves and a beanie over the last month. I'm now having fun learning how to knit more difficult patterns and playing around with mixing colours. I try to learn on my own by reading knitting books and trying to understand the knitting instructions. Since I started knitting, I've also been paying attention to the knitwear that people wear and appreciating the details and patterns that previously I've taken for granted. 



There's a big market for knitting in Australia as knitted stuff are really useful in our cold climate. Knitting for babies and children is especially popular. But despite the huge variety and relative inexpensive material, hand knitting is still pretty much a hobby, reserved for people with time, patience and love. It's really the self-satisfaction of a handmade product and seeing someone you love use your creation that keep knitters going. Economics wise, it doesn't make much sense to spent so much effort and time (months sometimes) to make a knitted cardigan, when you can get a beautiful, made-in-China, machine-knitted one for $25 in Target. A beanie like mine cost only $4 at The Reject Shop while mine cost approx $3 (after discount) in yarn alone. That's why small projects for kids are quicker and gives more satisfaction.    

Bunny & Stickman

Making craft dolls is not my forte nor interest but when push comes to shove, I just have to deliver. 


It all began in March when me and my big mouth promised to make XX a bunny rabbit during Easter. However I didn't have the polyester fill then and I told XX I can't make it until I bought the fill from Spotlight. Weeks passed without me making the trip and I thought XX had forgotten all about it. Then one day in May, I needed to go to Spotlight to get a roll of thread. As soon as XX heard I was going to Spotlight, he reminded me to buy fluff to make his bunny. Opps, so you didn't forget. No excuse, I can't break a promise and a child's heart.


Once I got the fluff, I was reminded and pestered everyday to start work on the bunny. One thing about XX, he can be quite persistent and naggy, in his quiet and not-aggressive fashion. He will keep asking until you give him what he wants. So with my elementary sewing skills, I converted one of his old baby jumper suit into a bunny. It really wasn't good looking but my son loves it. It reminded me of a similar bunny soft toy I had when I was a teenager. A friend had given it to me and I loved to hug it until it got so torn and tattered beyond repair. I even brought it to hostel in university and Hubby could remember it till now. 


Anyway, seeing XX get a bunny soft toy, KK requested to have one as well. In order not to appear bias, I agreed to make one for him. And he requested for a Stickman. A stickman? Not a bear or dog? How huggable is a stickman? But then again, my son is weird. KK's favourite cartoon drawing and favourite computer animation is stickman. Sometimes, he'll create some comic strip of 2 stickmen fighting. So I cracked my head again and used another of XX's old baby t-shirt pyjamas to make a doll with skinny legs, arms and body with no eyes.

So here we have it, the latest addition to the family: Stickman and Bunny.


Actually, these two dolls pretty much embodies the characteristics of my 2 sons. One is bony and kooky, the other cuddly and cute.

Progressing into Winter

This year's Winter is by far the coldest I've felt. Even in Autumn, I already felt like I was in Winter and Summer, it left no warmth in my memory. Apart from shuttling the kids, grocery shopping and visiting the construction site, I have been pretty much keeping warm at home. Even that I'm finding hard without turning on the heater and wearing a few layers of clothes. Arrgh, the inconvenience of Winter. Each time we dress/undress, we got to do that standing in front of a fan-force heater. And each change would entail at least 4 pieces of clothing to be either washed or sorted. Some days, getting out of bed is a challenge.


On a positive side, the winter chill has not hampered the progress of our house. There were pockets of good sunny days that allowed all the necessary foundation and structure to be set up. Now that the weather is more rainy, they are doing the interior jobs. So far, we're rather happy with Simonds on the progress. There were small hiccups like we had to re-select our bricks (due to nil availability) and front door (due to discontinued model) but it's been ironed out and we're happy they waived the upgrade cost for us after we had to select a brick from a higher category. Other small issues include pilferage of materials from our house. We found the two knobs for turning the awning windows missing after the long weekend. Also, the brick layers from the construction next door have been stealing our water. And phantom people have been using the construction bin outside our house to dump their household waste. It seems theft is quite common (the site supervisor barely raised his eyebrow when he saw the missing knobs on the window and just jotted it down) and apparently worse can happen.


I've recently got a friend to teach me knitting and got started working on two scarves and probably a beanie next. Due to the frosty weather, such accessories have now become a necessity. I had a pair of woolly gloves that I've never had to use over the last few years but this year, it's been especially handy in the mornings. I bet the sale of wool and fleece clothing have gone up over the last month! 


It seemed to us an amazing change compared to the year we first arrived. In 2008, I heard my friend telling us there was no need for umbrellas in Melbourne. The rain were just drizzles that passed in 5 mins. The Winters were mild and the Summers, hot and dry. Remember the forest fires of Black Saturday in 2009? But these last 2 years, things have turned around so much. The dams are now filled and we've started to get a mosquito problem during Summer, something that's not happened before for a long time. The terrain is now looking lushier and greener, the creeks are flowing with water and life again. This was how it was 10 years ago, before the drought set in. In a way, if this is Nature's way of finding a balance for itself, I'm glad. I just have to re-adjust my body thermostat and be more tolerant of the cold.

Site Start

After months of planning and hours spent pouring over our house plans again and again, we finally moved out of paperwork stage and officially went into "site start" on 17 May. This is the stage when construction of the house actually begins and all the plans on paper are put into action. And it started at an amazing speed.

Last Monday when Hubby went past the site, it was still mud with some pipes sticking out here and there. On Wednesday when I went over, I was surprised to see half a dozen people working on my land. The base of the house was already formed and being filled with waffle pods. On Thursday, the concrete was poured and the slab was officially completed. By the end of the work week, the timber frame of the house was constructed. I could now clearly make out all the rooms in the house and have an idea of the actual size of the spaces. Amazing!

It sure looked pretty easy to construct a house. The timber frames were all pre-fabricated and all the tradies have to do is to fix them together with a nail gun. It took 3 guys to put up the house frame (minus the roof) within a day. We were hoping they could put up the roof as well on the same day but given the size of our house and the number of guys allocated to the job, it didn't happen.

The reason why we wanted them to put up the frame faster was because we were paying for the generator hire. It was the result of an unfair clause in the contract which 90% of people are caught in. I hope people who are building their homes here will take note of this clause that stated "If there are any delays in Clients 'Connection and Supply of Power' to site by Local Power Authority, Simonds Homes may provide 'temporary power supply/generator hire' for construction purposes as required and charge the Client accordingly for any additional costs."

Simonds is supposed to pay for the electrical usage during the construction and they are supposed to set the electrical meter up for the house. The Local Power Authority need about 10 days to connect the power after the meter is ready. However, Simonds only set the meter up this week when the concrete slab is built, reason being they want to prevent its exposure to theft of its fuse and copper wires. Therefore when they need the power 3 days later to do the timber frame, 90% of the time the power supply is not connected yet. And clients now have to make a choice of paying for the generator hire or delay their project for up to 3 weeks. We didn't think there was much of a choice as we didn't want to delay the construction. Even though we felt it was unfair as Simonds should set up the meter box earlier so that power can be ready when they need it, we can't argue for Simonds to pay since it was explicitly stated in the contract. We really didn't expect to be caught by this 'Note Only' clause. We did not have the experience to realise that the connection of power would have a time lapse and it was not within our control when Simonds set up the meter. These are Simonds' responsibility but the clients have to pay the price for any delays. Does it make sense? Simonds should just be upfront to clients about this 'almost confirmed' out of pocket cost or make better processes to ensure that power will be available on site when needed. Until this is done, potential clients, if possible, negotiate for this clause to be removed during contract negotiation.

   

Testing 123

In Victoria, children in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 undertake the National Assessment Program - Literacy And Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests. KK is in Year 3 this year and underwent his first NAPLAN test last week.

Unlike his Primary 3 peers in Singapore, who are probably experienced exam warriors by now, KK is still an 'exam virgin'. And so are we as parents. We have never experienced the stress or anxiety of preparing our son for testing, except for that one time during his Tae Kwon Do yellow belt grading. Even though NAPLAN is the only national test conducted once a year across the state over 3 days, the entire event has little impact on daily lives.

We know that since the beginning of the year, the teacher started giving the children more homework. But it was only from the 2nd term on that they really started to prepare them for NAPLAN. All this while, the only advice given to parents was a memo on our role in our children's education in ensuring they do their home learning (home work). I thought that would have been a basic assumption but apparently here, the parents need reminding. Anyway, there was really not much that we could do to prepare for NAPLAN as there are no textbooks to revise or study. It is explicitly mentioned that "The use of services by coaching provders is not recommended".


Please don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining because I prefer it this way. I'm glad there is no pressure on us parents to ensure our children do well in the tests. The common understanding here is that the NAPLAN is to test how well the school has taught the children and whether they are meeting important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy. There is no pass or fail and no ranking, the results simply shows the school's average score and your child's final result is reflected in terms of bands (1 - 6). In other words, there are no adverse consequences other than you and the school knowing where your child stands in terms of his literacy and numeracy ability. 

Despite this, we are not taking the NAPLAN lightly. On our own, we bought two NAPLAN assessment books for KK to practise and we made him work diligently on completing the mini and sample tests the weeks before his NAPLAN. These little exercises gave us an idea of his strengths and weaknesses and enabled us to coach him on areas that he's not good at. His biggest problems were carelessness, bad handwriting and not planning his points for essay writing.  

Our behaviour might sound kiasu by Australian standards but more important than getting good results, we really want to take this chance to instil in KK the mindset of giving his best performance in every test and the importance of pursuing excellence in everything he do. He is still young and may not understand the value of a good acadamic foundation but I believe he can sense the emphasis his parents place on education and how serious we are that he adopts a good attitude to learning. We also believed it's time for him to start to learn how to take a little pressure as all these while his school life has been pretty much carefree. Initially he was resentful he had to do extra homework and learn Chinese on Saturdays when other kids doesn't. But now, he's starting to accept homework and Chinese classes as part of his lifestyle and be responsible for completing his work before they are due. 

The nights before his tests, we ensured that we do not upset KK over school work and give him undue stress. He still went for his Tae Kwon Do lesson on Tuesday evening and had his standard dose of relaxation activities. We made sure he slept early and had enough time to take sufficient breakfast before school. Perhaps as parents, that's the best support we can give them as once inside the testing room, it's all up to them.

The Hard Truth About Scones

There are many things that I learnt from books, amongst them baking and quilting. I made my first attempt at quilting after just reading a few quilting books & magazines from the library. Very often, I bravely tried baking cakes and bread just by following the instructions from recipes. Most times I succeeded but sometimes I failed.

The fact is, there are many things in life that are not taught in the books. We have to learn them through experience, gained either from our own mistakes or through someone else's experience. Here's the lesson I learnt from scones.

I loved scones with whipped cream and strawberry jam. One night, XX's kindergarten organised a Mother's Night and at the end of the session, the teachers brought out some scones (supposedly made by the children earlier in the day) as a treat. They were scrummy! I chanced upon the recipe and it was amazingly simple (or so I thought). There were only 3 ingredients: Flour, lemonade and cream. I decided to make some scones of my own and invited some friends and their kids/mums over for high tea. 

I spent the whole morning but the first batch of scones failed miserably. They were hard as stones. What went wrong? I measured the ingredients accurately and added the lemonade and cream to the flour accordingly but the dough was so sticky. How do I roll it out and cut out a round shape if it keeps sticking to my fingers? I started to add more and more flour to the mixture thinking perhaps I didn't use enough. Big mistake. It does not get less sticky at all. I then recalled that many years ago, I spent a long time trying to make scones too and I had the same problem - sticky dough that clings to your fingers as you tried to knead it. Something was wrong and after all these years, I still didn't know what. 

Luckily, thanks to the World Wide Web, I don't need to go very far or wait very long to get help. Thanks to Youtube, I need not pay for a crash course on how to make fluffy lemonade scones. Watching this video helped me so much. I finally knew where my mistake was.

   

See, recipes don't tell you to use a knife instead of a spoon to mix the dough. They don't mention that you can pour the dough out when it looks like a batter. They don't describe how you simply sift lots of flour over the whole lump and then pat pat pat press press press turn it over shape shape shape into a slab. Press your cookie cutter in and voila, here comes one scone. If a picture speaks a thousand words, a video speaks millons.

After watching the video, I was encouraged to make a second attempt. It only took me a few minutes to combine the three ingredients and cut out 13 scones. How easy it was and I would have never known!  

The end result. Fluffy and soft scones. Thank you unknown Cantonese lady from Hong Kong:)



Devonshire Tea for breakfast


Hmm, wonder if there are any videos on Youtube on how to bring up good children?

Mother's Election Hangover Day

It's Mother's Day and I'm having a hangover from too much partying during the last nine days. 

 

Not the normal partying but from an over consumption of political parties and rallies during Singapore's General Election. Even though we are miles away from our home country and two hours ahead, the election fever is burning hot here despite the cooling Melbourne temperatures. At our Mother's Day dinner, currently into its 2nd year, for the Singapore Mothers in Melbourne group, names like Chiam See Tong, Nicole Seah and Wong Kan Seng peppered our conversations as we dipped sashimi in soya sauce and munched Peking Duck. Pity there weren't any Bak Chor Mee or Teo Chew Porridge at the China Bar Signature Asian Buffet restaurant.



A Party of Mothers



Not that we can do anything to make a difference, as making a trip to Canberra to fulfil our national duty at our own expense is too costly, however many of us still felt a close connection to what is going to happen back home. It's ironical but I've never felt so close and interested in Singapore's political scene before I left. Maybe it was because we didn't have such good opposition candidates before. And now, thanks to the internet and social media, we watch rally speeches on Youtube every night and read news reports about the candidates from different parties on different websites, mainstream or otherwise. All of us knew this election was going to be different from the previous and were eagerly waiting for the results to filter in.



XX's Gift



Unfortunately, by the time the first results got announced, it was already 2am Melbourne time. My eyelids started to feel the pull of gravity as I tried to focus them on the tiny square box live streaming the election news on www.ge.sg. By then, there were a few unconfirmed reports that Hougang and Aljunied GRC has been won by WP. I tried to share the news with Hubby when he moved from his slumber but I'm not sure he heard me. I decided not to resist the z-monster anymore.

By the time I woke up at 9.30am the next morning, everything was over. PAP had formed the government and Lee Hsien Loong had held his press conference while I was in slumberland. It appeared that I did not miss much.I wondered if life will be the same again for people back in Singapore. Here, our Sunday progressed quietly. After checking up on the counts and margin, I went back to bed again after breakfast for a nap. And that's how half of Mother's Day was spent, tucked under the quilt, drowsily, feeling like age has definitely caught up on me. I can't even stay up late without feeling the after effects.

The sweetest thing for this year's Mother's Day came on Friday when XX brought home a handmade gift from kinder. The teacher had organised for them to decorate a glass bottle with colourful paper and glitter glue and turned it into a beautiful candle holder. There was also a small pouch of pot purri packed in a nice purple gift bag. I'll never forget XX's sweet face when he presented it to me. My first Mother's Day present from XX. Not to be outdone, KK immediately drew a drawing of 4 stickman (our family) with the words "Happy Mother's Day" on a piece of paper and presented it to me. I guess that counts as a Mother's Day card from him?



KK's card



I had originally planned to take my mom out for dinner to celebrate but due to the upcoming NAPLAN tests for KK next week, we felt it was better to postpone the dinner to the end of the week, after his tests. Instead, after sleeping off the 'politcal parties' hangover, I regained enough energy to make my mom's favourite cream puffs as dessert.