~ Good Friday ~

Ok, Good Friday is loooong over. This is an outdated post where we brought the kids to Jurong Point to 'window' shop and eat. It is not the usual spot that we'll go due to the long distance. Since JP has expanded to JP1 and JP2, it is quite a big area to roam about.

We later had lunch at "ZHOU's KITCHEN" and I consider it kinda expensive with the limited selection spread of food. The kids however like the porridge and the desserts of course. :) I like the salmon sashimi and some of their dimsum.

We went to the John Little Sale at Singapore Expo after lunch and OMG, it was a HEAVY DOWNPOUR and there is a loooong looooong queue for payment. We gave up on purchasing any items (cos it'll take us an hour just to pay) and went to the book fair at the next Hall. We bought a Learning to Type CD which Denver wanted and then headed back home...

~ Appointments ~

Took a day off today to bring dad to TTSH for his medical reviews. As he still didn't have strength on his legs, I do not want to risk him suffering from another injury or fall. Hence we'll call the ambulance whenever he needs to go to the doctors.

He had Physiotherapy early in the morning and was taught some basic movements to be done at home daily to help him strengthen his legs muscles. My worst fear came the moment I step out of the clinic... RAIN!! and it was a HEAVY DOWNPOUR!! Dad has another appointment at 11am with the Foot Care and Limb Centre which is opposite TTSH and there are no shelter!!! :( I only have half hour hoping that the rain will stop.... 15mins passed and it is still raining.. I figured I may have catch a Taxi instead... Luckily, 2 kind uncles ferry dad and I over to the FCL center out of good will! I am so grateful to them!

Dad finally reach on time and got his right leg fixture to assist him walking to avoid the tendacy of foot drop. The rain has stopped by then and I can wheel him back to TTSH to meet hubby who has just reached. We took Dad to have lunch at Pasta de Waraku for a change. Shop around before going back to wait for his last appointment with the ENT.

It's a very long wait... and I nearly fall asleep... Dad was tired by now and he took a short rest. We waited for an hour before it was Dad's turn to do his hearing test and see the doctor. I was glad that dad was willing to put on a hearing aid even though it's going to cost more than 1k. Scheduling him to see the doctors again next month and it will be another long day event. Glad that things are going well and hope that Dad will recover his strength and confidence again.

~ Creative Learn and Play ~

Denver has been attending his Creative Learn and Play class with SKCC for awhile now. It was his last lesson 2 weeks ago and the teacher has prepared the class for a short play on stage! The only BIG BIG disappointment is Mommy was not there to see it. :( Cos I was suppose to take Dad to see the doctor and hence have to give it a miss.

Lucky Daddy took pictures and video it down. I was very delighted and happy to hear that Denver did well on stage. The play is a well known story where the chicken needs help from the animals to make a delicious dish. However, all the other animals were lazy, giving excuses and refuse to help the chicken whenever he asked them. Denver played the role of a lazy Pig and I heard that he spoke very loud and clear such that the audience from below can hear. He also looked confident on stage and I am so very PROUD of him!

Denver already started his new lessons on the continuation of the Creative Learn and Play class last Sunday. I heard from the teacher that the children will be involved in a more difficult play this time. Parents will also be asked to help the children with the props. I hope I can watch him perform on stage for the on-coming play. Looking forward to it!

~ Relieved!! ~

It has been a terrible month of March! Finally April has come and I am seeing more light...

Dad's condition has improved.. Brother and I took him to TTSH for medical reviews and I'll be taking him again next Wednesday. Although it's tiring as we need to call the ambulance everytime, I am happy that Dad is well.

Another good news is Owen has just went through his surgery for his broken right arm on Wednesday and was discharged earlier today!! I am so delighted and really felt so relieved. Good to see him playing with his PS2 again and hope that he do not suffer too much pain in the recovery process.

I can finally have some rest and peace of mind. I have been falling sick since March and never recovered. My flu and cough has got worse and till now I am still having a bad cough, phlegm and a block nose. I didn't dare to take my medications as they will make me drowsy and unable to concentrate at work and home. So, every night, I will take them before bed and it'll make me so tired in the morning that I got to force myself to wake up.

It's Good Friday! TGIF!

~ Delirium ~

I have been physically and emotionally stress for the past week and was so exhausted that I simply had no time and mood for anything... Have not been keeping the kids company, not been doing housework, not been focusing at work, not been eating meals on time....

Ever since dad was re-admitted two Sundays ago, things havent been going well.. Dad went for another MRI scan and the inital diagnose was there are abscess at the spine area. Dad went for his 3rd operation within the month last Thursday. It was a very loooong operation.. We waited very long... from morning till evening. Finally get to see Dad at around 6plus in the evening.. he looked so tired and in a daze.. I thought it was the GA effect.. later did I figure something more serious were to come...

Started to hear news on Friday that Dad started to talk to himself and having funny actions unknowingly... I told Owen about this and he immediately went down to visit him that night. After observation, Dad is really behaving and acting very strangely... Despite a broken arm, Brother went down again early next morning to speak with the doctor and he says it's normal and Dad was discharged last Saturday.

But there are more to come... we try to get all the things ready for Dad.. Grabrails, bed, wheelchair, walking frame etc... Brother and I thought things will improve when Dad is home where he'll feel more comfortable and familiar with. Still, things seems to go worse..

Dad continues to have weird actions like taking his medicine out and eating them... drinking water. etc His eyes were always half or fully closed. He starts to mumble and talk to himself about stuff as though someone is actually there! He lost a lot of strength to walk too! 90% of the time he is in daze... I had to put my kids with hubby and my inlaws and stay back with my mum and brother to look after Dad.

That night was horrible! Lucky Owen was around as well... I was terrified and worried that we have to bring him to see a doctor at IMH early Sunday morning. Even when we manage to drag him to his bed and rest, he wasn't sleeping at all. Talking through the night..

All of us were in a bad state.. not enough sleep. Still we have to wake up and get ready as the ambulance came at 9am to take dad to IMH for checkup. Doctor says that he is having mild delirium and advice us to take him to A&E at TTSH to have a scan and check if there is any infection affecting the brain. Brother and I struggle for awhile on what to do next. Finally Owen decided to take dad home first to observe him for the night and if his condition didn't improve, we'll take him back to TTSH.

Later that day, we continue to observe him and it seems that he didn't have that much of the funny actions or talking to himself anymore.. This is a Good Sign! By noon, I am really exhausted... Big brother has arrived and I had some beehoon and doze off completely... Owen was also so tired that he slept on the sofa..

That night, I went back home to rest while Owen stay on for another night... I was sooooo tired that I couldn't do anything.. my whole body was aching and I am completely knock out.

Over the next few days, he improved and started to get walking with the walking frame again. The only thing is he don't want to see doctors and keep taking his 0ld medicine unnecessarily. I had to keep all his old meds... but no one can persuad him to go for the CT scan. Sighz.... I can only pray and hope and things will be better.

~ In Pain ~

Have been neglecting the children lately and so Hubby and I took a day's off on Thursday to take them out. Went to visit dad and collect my passport in the morning. Manage to have a nice lunch at Sakae Sushi and then went Expo to Robinson Fair and Food Fair.. After that, I was so tired that I slept throughout the afternoon... Don't know if the kids enjoyed it but at least Denver gets to watch movie with Hubby yesterday. I hope he don't feel too left out this March holidays.

Dad started from having mild pain to severe pain on his legs by now. We tried giving him all the strong painkillers that were prescribed by the doctor. From Panadol, Arcoxia to Tramadol.. But none of them helps.. Brother and I had to call the amublance and take Dad back to TTSH.

Dad was injected with Morphine to substain the pain... he was again being admitted.. :( There wasn't enough bed and Dad has to wait at the temporary ward till late evening. This is really sad... just at the moment we thought he is improving, regaining his strength back, his pain has to come back at this time after a week being discharged.. :(

I can only pray that all is well and he can go back home soon...

~ Sick ~

Once again, I have succumb to the flu bug. Wasn't feeling too well on Sunday night already.. I couldn't sleep well the whole night and when I was in office on Monday, I felt my nose itchy and stuffy. My body also started to ache. :( Luckily Nicole was able to ferry me from office to Owen's house at Potong Pasir.

We were suppose to take Dad to the clinic to clean his wound.. It was challenging to help dad down the stairs even though it's only 1 level down. The first attempt scare the hell out of us... Dad seems to lost his balance while trying to put on his slippers and landed on his buttocks. I hope he didn't injure or strain his back.. :( We started to ponder maybe it's not a good idea to make him walk down afterall and wanted to do a housecall instead. But Dad seems abit depress and Owen decided to let him try again after a rest.

Lucky hubby was around to help him... we finally made it. At least Dad seems happier and felt more confident. The useless me perspire so much and I finally raise my white flag the next day falling sick.. I went to get a stronger flu meds and slept the whole afternoon... Praying hard that I get my strength back soon.

~ Discharged ~

Dad finally got the green light to be discharged from the hospital last Friday! :) Yeah!! He is definitely Happy and I am Relief!! I was feeling really stress and tired lately.. My flu came on and off. I was feeling really cold a few nights ago and end up popping panadols and flu meds. Luckily I didn't fall too sick. I couldn't sleep well too.. my mind is always active thinking and worrying about stuff. Then I felt guilty about neglecting the kids, hubby and home... Hubby was also more tired than usual as he was helping me with my dad... I didn't have energy and time to keep the kids company and read them books.. I was also sooo tired that I didn't do the house chores for 2 weeks! Since Dad's admission to the hosptial, I have not been productive at work too. Will need to buck up especially since we heard about the big news where my company buys Scherling Plough. I wonder if my rice bowl will be broken..

As there are many things still not being sorted out, I took the afternoon off to pick Dad back to Owen's place from TTSH. Was feeling a bit frastrated earlier over some minor tiff... anyway, Hubby and I had lunch at Bendemeer market before reaching the hospital. I went to settle the billings, packed Dad's stuff, arranged an ambulance to send Dad to Owen's house, checked the meds and also look at the medical kits that he needs. The ambulance which was suppose to reach at 2pm was late by half an hour.. luckily they still came on time at 2.30pm and we can wave goodbye to the kind staff there.. They were so warm and Dad also happily waving back to them.

Hubby and I went to the Salavation army and manage to get a walking frame and pee pot and a cheaper rate. We headed back to Owen's place to help settle Dad down.. I can't help worrying but don't know whats the better option for now.. All I can do is try my best, do what I can and hope for the best for everyone.

~ Dad's Operation ~

The past few days have been extremely tiring.. the kids are down with fever on Friday and Dad's condition did not really improve... He has persistent pain and had to be on a lot of painkillers and do physiotherapy to relief some of the pain. He has to be assisted when he wants to go to the toilet. Many times, he cannot sit up and we have to help feed him with his food. Really heartache to see him fallen ill.... :(

All of us tries to do our bit to cheer him up. Big brother visits him almost every night and buys him newspaper. I chit chat with Dad, feeds him and on hot days, helps him to wipe his body... Owen will buy nice food, access his condition and he also brought his portable DVD player so that Dad can watch movies and won't feels so bored. Denver drew a picture for 公公 and Dad was very happy when he sees it.

It has been a week since Dad was admitted. He has undergone MRI scan, CT scan, blood and urine tests... Doctor says my dad's bones have detoriate and there are significant changes... white blood cells count was high indicating there is an inflammation somewhere which the scans and tests did not show what was causing it. He has UTI and a compression fracture too.

We were being adviced today that it is recommended that Dad go through a surgery to remove one of the bone (L4-5) at his back which was pressing on the nerve controlling the right calf/foot. While we were still hesitating on a go or no go... (because the surgery will not be relieving his back spine pain). Dr Tan says he has a free slot tonight and it's the best time since Dad's white blood cells count and UTI has gone down. If we decided not to go ahead now, the next available time for the surgery will only be in June and the bone pressing on his nerve may hinder his leg's movement especially when he is doing physiotherapy. Dad is also feeling numbness....

Luckily Owen is around.. and weighing the situation and explaining to Dad, we decided to go ahead.....

It's considered a medium-major operation with a small percentage that will cause a stroke or paralyse. After the operation, Dad will have to stay in bed for at least 2 weeks... I went to visit Dad at 4pm and he was already getting ready for the operation... at 430pm, he was being pushed to the operation theater.

I went back home to wait for news.... 930pm.. no updates yet. I called the ward and they told me he was just back. The operation seems to be successful. Heard that Dad is complaining about giddiness.. it should be related to his GA... Will be meeting Owen tomorrow and visit Dad again.

~ Visiting ~

I have been visiting dad everyday at TTSH since he was admitted... He is still having severe lower back spine pain... suspected slip disc.. but was able to sit up today and looked much better. Being in a better mood, he talked a lot more and smiled.. I hope he gets well soon..

Owen treat me to eat lunch at Old Hongkong.. I'm still worried about his right arm though. Hopefully he will recover soon too.. Sighz..sooo many things have happened.. Praying hard better things will come.

~ Emergency ~

Quite a fair bit of things happened lately.... Last month hubby and I just got into a car accident. Dad had a surgery 2 weeks ago... and on Monday evening, Mom called me in panick saying that Dad could not get out of bed! Hubby and I rushed down and took Dad to TTSH.. He was having a fever and his back was in pain.. :(

We went straight to the A&E and registered him at the counter.. Only 1 person is allowed to enter with the patient.. I kept Dad company while hubby waited outside.. It was a long wait.... I can see that Dad was in pain and he was enduring it... Owen arrived shortly.. he was in bad shape too. Brother says he fell in the toilet at home and fractured his right arm. :( His arm is in cast and could not lift up at all.. Sighz...I do hope its not serious and he gets well soon..

9.20pm

Dad finally gets to see the doctor. He was being examined and I took him to do an x-ray. It was bad.. he could not turn and he was in pain. The nurse advice me that I can request to put him on a trolley bed instead of the wheelchair if there are similiar situation next time. Dad will not be inconvenience and he'll feel more comfortable. The nurse was very kind and helped me to get a trolley bed, put dad on the bed and also help me to find another nurse to push him back to see the doctor.

9.45pm

The Doctor draw some blood for testing and injected painkiller so that Dad would be relieve of some of the pain. By now his fever has rised to 38.5 degrees. I went out to inform brother and hubby of the situation. Initially we thought of leaving Dad in Owen's care but his arm is in bad shape and he wouldn't be able to manage alone if Dad was able to go home. So we decided to wait for the blood test results which will be another 1-2 hours time.

10.10pm

Dad was pushed to the observation ward 25 to rest.. The painkiller seems to have taken effect and dad is not in severe pain.. but he is still feverish and started to shiver. I can only enter when the doctors have left.. There were no chairs as visitors were not allowed to enter in the first place. I sat by the bed, hold on to Dad's hand as he rest... Dad didn't feel the urge to urine yet.. so we were not able to take his urine sample for testing..

10.45pm

I had to wait outside the ward as the doctors came.. He examined Dad and shortly the nurses pushed him to the toilet to take his urine sample. Big brother arrived shortly and waiting outside with Owen and hubby.

11 plus

I was still waiting outside the ward checking out on the situation.. couldn't really see if Dad has return to the ward.. Finally, I saw the doctor talking to Dad and asked if I can enter.. The nurse let me in (Thank goodness) and the doctor advice that at his age, his bones are detoriating.. he has a minor lung infection and possible slip disc condition..Oh dear :( Dad would need to be admitted for further observation. I went out to prepare for his admission registration.

Met up with hubby and my brothers and told them on the findings.. at least Dad is currently being monitored and care for by in the hospital. I just hope he would not be in such pain..sigh..I also called mum and updated her so that she can go and rest... We waited for quite awhile before settling the admission procedures...

12am

Dad was pushed out and heading towards the ward. Brothers and hubby finally get to see him and we were allowed to follow. He was temporary being put in the observation ward 11A till tomorrow. It was a Class B ward and it's so cooold! Only my dad and another patient is in the 4 bedded room.. We asked for another blanket, left our contact numbers and leaves Dad to rest.

Big brother left and Hubby sent Owen back home... I was sooo hungry and bought a $2 McChicken burger... Munching along on our way back home.

1am

We finally reached home... The kids were asleep with my inlaws tonight.. Hubby said the bed looks so big and empty and he felt something is missing.. I had a quick bath and rest... Hubby was fast asleep... I am busted too but I find myself tossing and turning on the bed thinking and wondering if Dad is sleeping well.. if his fever has subsided.. or if he is shivering cold... :( Reminds me of the time when I gave birth to Denver and I was pushed to my ward in the middle of the night.. managing the pain after delivery, groaning and shivering cold for the whole night not able to sleep.. I pray and hope Dad would be sleeping well and recovering soon...

~ Ice cream cake + Pandan cheesecake ~

Hubby bought 2 tubs of ice-cream and I tried to be funny and made an ice-cream cake out of it.. First, I set the base with biscuit crumbs and freeze it.. then, a layer of chocolate ice-cream. Set to freeze again before setting another layer of biscuit crumbs and finally the top layer of vanilla ice-cream filled with biscuit crumbs toppings.

Taste: Urmmm.. I can only say its weird.. :( Lucky I only made a small one.

I made another cheesecake with the kids last friday.. Denver has been asking me to make one with him.. so they did the easiest part.. Squash the biscuit to tiny tiny little crumbs.. :) Denver and Gladys watched as I did the rest. This time I made it to go with Pandang flavour.. The final outcome didn't come out to be what I wanted.. Hubby also didn't seems to like the combination.. But I had a similar version made by my ex-colleague and it really tasted soooo nice! Hmm.. I wonder where did I go wrong.

~ Rainbow ~

It has been raining lately.... Yesterday we went to Hougang to buy some bottles of Johnson & Johnson baby bath. Along the way, I stopped by a shop and bought a 6 inch square tray so that I don't need to buy disposable aluminium trays all the time for my cheesecakes. :p

While crossing the road, Gladys keep shouting "RAINBOW, RAINBOW!" I thought she was just blabbering to herself again.. but she keep pointing to the sky and when I looked up, true enough, there was a nice Rainbow in the gloomy dark sky... In fact, there were 2!! One arc above the other... :) NICE!!!

Denver and Gladys were SOoooo excited.. They only get to see rainbows in storybooks...so it's their first time seeing a RAINBOW in the sky! :D We stood along the shophouses and watched it. Gladys was so happy and Denver says "Mommy, I finally saw a real rainbow!". :D

As the sky starts to turn darker, the rainbow disappear... Gladys was kinda disappointed and shake her hand : "没有 Rainbow 了"... :)

~ Handicraft - Paper Plate Art ~

Last Sunday, Denver brought home a handmade fish made from paper plates from his Speech & Drama lesson. It's pretty simple actually and you can put your hand inside... Since there is only 1, I decided to make another paper plate fish for Gladys so that they can play together.

The following day, I made 2 more paper plate crabs and a paper plate starfish using the same concept. The kids simply colour on their own paper plates (Messy.. hahahhaa) while I helped them to touch up and staple the pieces together. :)  Took me some time to draw and cut out the shapes...but they had fun colouring and afterwhich they started making up stories together. Worth spending my effort and energy.. :)

~ No Bake Yogurt Cheesecake - Part 2 ~

I tried making the cheesecake 2nd time using a 7 inch tray and made some adjustment to the receipe.

Ingredients

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

12 digestive biscuit, crushed

4 tablespoon of butter, melted

1 package of 250 gram Cream Cheese, softened

⅓ cup of plain low-fat yogurt (about 3 tablespoon)

⅓ cup sugar (about 4 tablespoon)

½ teaspoon of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of gelatin

5 tablespoon of warm water

Instructions

1) To make the base of the cake crust, coarsely chop digestive biscuits. Mix with melted butter, and finely crush biscuits with fork.

2) Line 7 x 7-inch square pan with cling wrap, with slightly extending over all sides. I used an aluminuim foil tray for convenience..Press biscuit mixture firmly onto the base. Store it in the freezer.

3) Mix gelatin into warm water. Let is set down for 5 min, and then stir it till dissolved.

4) To make the filling, put cream cheese, yogurt, sugar, lemon juice and dissolved gelatin into a large deep bowl. Beat mixture with electric mixer at low speed until well blended and smooth.

5) Take out pan of crust from the freezer. Spoon filling over crust. Use the back of the spoon to smoothen the surface of cake.

6) Cover and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, or until firm.

Optional: I put additional layer of jelly on top of the cheese layer.

1) Mix jelly crystals in 250ml of hot water and stir until it is completely dissolved.

2) Pour in 250ml of cold water and mix again.

3) Pour the mixture on top of the cheese layer and refrigerate it for a couple of hours.

If you did this at night, the cake will be ready the next morning. This time, I put more gelatine and the cheese holds better and looks thicker. Quite happy with the shape of the cake. :) This time it didn't looks like a biscuit.

Sampling time.. Ummmm.. Hubby prefers the previous version without the jelly. He felt that it was a bit too sour with too much lemon. But on the whole, he says it's ok. I think I like it without the jelly too.. maybe I chose the wrong flavour. But then again, the cheese layer definitely looks thicker and not too soft compared to the previous time.

Hubby took some of my cakes and gave it to my neighbours to sample. Gosh! I wasn't confident enough yet! One of my neighbour says it's nice except he felt the lemon flavour can be stronger. Hmmm.. I guess different people prefers it differently. :) Still, it was a successful attempt. Maybe next time I'll try chocolate or Oreal :) Enough CHEESE for a week.. getting fatty.

~ No Bake Yogurt Cheesecake - Part 1 ~

I have been trying to cook lately.. developing a new interest? Hmmm.. I dunno.. but I have been practicing. :) Just yesterday, I cooked rice, steam egg (again), steam chicken which Hubby has marinated and fried hotdogs for dinner. Not a very healthy meal.. cos there are no vegetables. Got to try make some next time.

I was browsing through a couple of food blog and discovered this delicious cheesecake receipe..The best part of it is there is no baking required! Since I don't have an oven at home.. this is PERFECT!! The other good thing about this receipe is the ingredients required are very simple.. really a good try for first timer like me!

Told hubby about my plans... picked up the courage and bought the stuff... I went back home and started following the receipe.. End result... urmmm not too bad... just that the biscuit is not thick enough.. the cheese layer also seems to be too soft.. Hmmm.. I ended added another biscuit layer on top to increase the depth.. Ehhh.. Now it looks like a cheesy biscuit than a cake. I tried a piece and see if my stomach runs before letting Hubby and Denver try them. Hubby said it's Not Bad and Denver likes it too! :) Don't know if Hubby was hungry or what.. but he very 赏脸 and finished half of my 'chesse biscuits' in a day.. :D

~ Hospitalization ~

Dad has been bleeding during urination... so he was scheduled to have an operation to remove the stones in his bladder the past Thursday. I took a day leave and Hubby sent us to TTSH. We registered at the Day Surgery Centre and I kept Dad company at the waiting ward where he changed his clothes and the nurse measure his blood pressure and asks some questions. He was later pushed to another ward for his operation at 11am. It's going to take about 2-3 hours...

Hubby went off to work while I go home and do some house cleaning. Left home again and have lunch at Compasspoint. I bought some Chinese magazines for Dad and travel down to Novena. Along the way, hospital called to say Dad's just finished operation and they'll call again. I went to walk around the shopping malls... but not really in a mood. The hospital finally called again that I can come to visit.

Dad looked really tired after the operation. He was feeling dizzy and in pain. I was glad I was there as the nurses came to ask a lot of questions. I managed to speak with the doctor later. Apprantly there was another condition with Dad which I didn't konw. He had a prostate enlargement and during the operation, both the stones and part of the prostate was removed. Part of it was sent to the labs for testing to make sure it wasn't cancerous. I hope the results would be fine.

I kept Dad company for the rest of the afternoon and talked to him abit.. Later, the nurses came to inform that Dad needs to change ward as there are now beds available in the Class C ward. I was running late already as I need to go home to pick the kids.. Lucky big brother and Pat has come to visit and I leave for home first.

It has been a tiring day and I fall sick the next day. Worked in the morning for half a day and went on MC.. Hubby fetched me to visit Dad in the afternoon... he was looking so much better. The doctor says he can be discharged on Saturday if his condition is good. :D

After waiting.... Dad finally got home this morning! He would have to watch out for his health and go hospital if there is fever or bleeding again. Doctor also advice him to be careful at home, no carrying of heavy stuff and walk slowly to avoid falls.

Although Dad is 74 years old, he is very independent. During the stay, he can answers the questions well and listens to instruction. I am really glad... The prostate results will be out after a few weeks.. hopefully everything will goes well.

~ Car Accident ~

We had a shocking evening.. Hubby's car was being hit by a lorry from behind while he was driving from a slip road turning out to the main road at Sengkang. Denver, Gladys and I were sitting at the back at the time. It was a loud BANG and we were SHOCKED!

Hubby's car boot was badly damaged... :( He was already sick and lost his voice.. so I had to be his translator..I helped to call his agent, insurance company and the tow services.. Actually I also caught a flu earlier and was on MC yesterday.. now all the talking also make my throat uncomfortable and dry. sighz...

Luckily none of us were injured.. Denver even got down the car to see the damages.. he even walked up to the lorry driver and ask him "Uncle, why you knock my Daddy's car?" ....... and that uncle actually reply him that it was an accident.. So funny. Well, hopefully hubby can claim the payments smoothly.

We took pictures, wrote down the details and hubby drove back home. The tow servcies say they will come at 9.30pm to tow the car away. We waited and they call up to say it has to be changed to 1230am cos all their drivers are out... Fine.. we waited again... by 12 midnight, the guy called again and ask if we can change it to 6am instead.. -____- I was kinda frastrated by then... cos I am tired..just ended my late night meeting and my hubby waited for them to come..Now they are telling me that they couldn't make it! I wasn't too harsh on him and kinda indicate that it wasn't too fair for us.. making us waited for sooo long.. Then again, there is nothing he can do. Well, no point waiting... I request that they'll be punctual at 615am instead....which they did. I got an early morning call at 6.10am and the car is finally being towed away for repairs..

Hubby managed to loan a replacement car.. a new Toyota Vios model. Denver likes the 'new' car and finds it cool.. It will be with us for another 10 to 12 days as that's the amount of time before our car is returned. That's very looooong and I hope all the accident payments eventually get sorted and settled soon.

~ Cooking Time! ~

I always wanted to try cooking... especially as the kids are growing older. I only know how to make instant noodles, eggs and canned food. Yesterday I finally cook my own rice using the multi-tier steamer (After 32 years!). I opened up a can of luncheon meat and also tried steam egg too... The whole meal took me about 30 minutes to prepare and ready to eat.

Final outcome, not too bad for the first time attempt. The rice is just nice...urmmm.. except that I mis-calculated and cooked too much rice. The steam egg was not salty enough too. I guess I was on a cautious side on the amount of salt to put in. Well, that can be overcome with adding a bit of Soy sauce. :D

Good attempt. I'll try something else next time :p

~ Black Thursday and Missing Child ~

Tomorrow is Friday 13th.. the so call Black Friday.. but I already had a lousy lousy day today.

Had a late night meeting yesterday till mid-night and woke up by my blackberry alert at 615am. After that continuous issues start to pop up. I had a busy busy morning... Then I received a phone call from Denver's Chinese teacher that he had a slight injury while playing in school. Apparently he and another student knock against each other accidentally and Denver's lips was injured. Luckily it wasn't serious....

Afternoon wasn't any better.. I started to have a headache and felt sleepy.. A couple of complain emails also came in.. Felt so tired.. Just as when I thought it's the end of the day and I can go back for dinner, Hubby called to say Denver is nowhere to be found! OMG!

He picked me up and we rushed back to my inlaws's place.. I called sil and she said Denver is not back yet! :( I was SOOOO WORRIED! Hubby and I went to search around the nearby blocks.. but no luck... So I decided to go up and check.. Sil came down this moment and said Denver is back home! PHEEEEWWWWWWW..... such a big relief ....

Denver looked very tired when I saw him... He didn't bath and said he was not hungry. We didn't scold him.. only reminded him that he should tell his grandparents or an adult before going anywhere... Apparently, he heard the baby at 13th floor keep crying and went down to have a look. Somehow, he stayed there and didn't return. Luckily my mil heard his voice and manage to find him.. Mil said he doesn't look right and suggested that we bring him to pray.

We had a quick dinner and went back home.. The earlier scare tired me off completely. Nevertheless, we took the kids out to Punggol Plaza for a Japanese meal which is Denver favourite. That cheered him up abit. We also bought jelly and watermelon which he likes..

Upon reaching home, I had a little personal chat with Denver.. telling him that he really made all of us worried sick today. Also the importance of telling an adult in the family before leaving the house. I know that Denver started to feel upset again... but he promise me that he won't do it again. Sometimes children can be very careless and mindless.. As parents, we can help to remind them and hopefully they will learn to be responsible and be safe and sound.

~ The night without BB and Laptop ~

15 days of the CNY holidays are finally over.

I was rather happy on my way back yesterday.. It has been ages since I came home without my laptop and not being disturbed by my Blackberry... Why? Because my account is being migrated and I'm not suppose to logon in the progress. So happy... and the load is definitely lightened... I did not read my emails and can have complete rest and concentration at home. Too bad it's only for a short night...

It was 元宵节 and I get to 捞鱼生 for the 4th and final time with my family, sil and inlaws. :D After that, we went back home and open up all the angpows the children have collected this year. Denver and Gladys love to tear up the red packets.. seeing the $2, $10 notes lying all over the bed.. Final count $1112... It wasn't as much compared to last year but it's considered a substantial amount especially due to the poor economic situation lately. Time to save up!

Don't know why I felt so tired all of a sudden and really doze off for awhile.. I missed seeing the full moon which was suppose to be the largest in the past 52 years. I could have had the chance to go down and take a nice picture but was too lazy and tired to do so.

Lately hasn't been happy at work.. can't tell exactly why... I guess I am getting too tired and wanted to spend more time with the kids. But $$$ is still an important factor to consider.. I can only wish and hope that Hubby strike a big Toto prize or Lottery. Ah Well.. back to my realistic world.........

~ Another stress weekend ~

After enjoying a couple of weeks of peace due to the CNY holidays, I am back to the weekend support for the 4th time. Frankly speaking, I still haven't got the hang of it... and luck isn't on my side too.

I had 2 alarmpoint message on Saturday morning right after my duty starts.. and I couldn't close the case because it was an overlook on my side. Lucky I spot the mistake and got it fixed. Another page came in on Sunday morning 248am... I drag my body out to the living and realise there is a case which I should have done at Sunday 1am and not Monday 1am.. Aiyo.. apparently I got the time mixed up.. :(

Anyway, I must have been too tired and couldn't think properly.. was unsure of the case and ended up calling up my lead for advice again. Opps. Finally finished off the case at 3 plus am and I was tired.. but, I couldn't sleep.. :( Soon, I started to sneeze non stop and nose started to run. I ended up sleeping in the living room through the rest of the night till the next morning when Gladys came yelling for Mummy.

Hubby helped to feed the kids and bathed them, while I catch a couple more minutes of sleep. Still, I woke up at 8.30am and got ready to take Denver to his Speech and Drama class. At noon time, we went to Compass Point for lunch and took them to the library to borrow some books. Just as I thought that we can go window shop for a little while more, my Blackberry got alerted again. :( We headed back home straight and I worked on the case again.. By now, I was very tired and try to take a little nap but ended up being page again an hour later.. sighz... couldn't sleep after that and I keep Denver company by reading storybooks together with him.

Everytime I went out for lunch/dinner, I will pray hard that the alerts don't come in.. so that my family can eat in peace.. Today's dinner was ok and now I have another 12 hours to go before I can hand off my weekend support duty. Hopefully I can have a good night sleep. Yawnzzzz

~ Expiring Passport ~

Hubby wanted to plan for a short, budget trip to Vietnam this April/May.. There was a promotion by Tiger airways where the airfare is on 33% discount. Really looks attractive and the hotels are not too expensive.

He was ready to make the booking online yesterday when we realise that my passport is expiring in September this year! Hmmmm... it's going to be within 6 months of expiry and I doubt we can go ahead and make our bookings.. :( I called up Tiger airways this morning and true enough, even if I renew my passport, it will be over the promotion period and booking via the phone does not enjoy the 33% discount airfare.

Well, there goes our travel plans... I will have to find time to renew my passport first and see if we can make plans for other on-coming trips.

~ End of CNY Visitings ~

Today will be our final day of visitings for this CNY. We went to Jason's parents house for lunch and then head to Meiqin's house. I realise that I keep forgetting to take photos with them.. Urggghhh...Sighz. We seldom get to meet up and so I am really happy to be able to have a small gathering and do some catching up this time. The children warm up very soon and in a moment, you can see them running around the house.. keeping themselves entertained. hahaha.

Our final stop for the day is at Kevin's parents house at Tai Keng Gardens. Auntie will always prepare steamboat for us and we had dinner there.. Denver loves to come here because there are toys to play, a nice swing and also a backyard where he can play ball. The children ran from the swing to the grass, inside the house and out again. They really had a good time.. Well, the most important thing is they are happy and really enjoyed this CNY.