Today..

I can't seems to be able to find a suitable title for this.. But, today's a weird day.. 

Weird Incident 1 :

First, someone called and tell me i owe his company some money which i dunno who or which company it is..

Then, another someone called and apologize, saying they made a mistake..

And then, another person called to tell me they have received the payment, and will send me the receipt.. 

Then, Weird Incident 2: 

I went to pump petrol.. Wanted to pay with the DBS credit card. For some unknown reasons, i had a credit card "decline status" which left me wondering if it's because i haven't been using the card for a long long time (since this card is mainly for the kiosk discount and i usually am not the one putting in petrol). 

Since i didn't bring another credit card along, i gave my atm card to the cashier which means i will not get all the extra discounts.. Weirdly, it also declined!.. 

I ended up having to go into the car to dig every corner for dollars and cents to pay up for the $45 petrol bill.. 

Then, i wasn't too satisfied that i had a decline status with my atm card since i am very sure that i have money in the account.. So i proceed to the atm machine and tried to check my account balance and was given a rude shock that there was only a mere 81 cents in my account!!

So i rushed home to check on iBank to see where did my money went, only to realize that internet banking website is down.. 

Hmm.. Until now, problem is still not resolved yet..  :(  Where did money go? I hope they mysteriously re-appear tomorrow just like they mysteriously disappeared today.. 

Gone Missing..

Hubby and me left on Friday morning. The 3 monkies were at Granny's.  As usual, i didn't feel good leaving them with granny even though she's my own mum, afterall, they barely looked after the kids, so i just didn't feel comfy. 

  

But since daddy has already approached granny and "i dunno what he did" to convince her to look after the 3 monkies over the weekend, so i just went along with the plans. 

  

It was only Friday morning that we flew out, and we were back on the 1st flight home this morning as something unexpected happened.. :(

  

Granny called at 7.43am this morning, i could remember the time so well cos i was staring the clock at the bedside cos it was supposed to be a holiday, yet, some irritating people had to call and disturb us so early in the morning!  From the caller ID, it was granny's home number.. I thought it could be the 2 younger ones missing us since they wanted to go back home so badly on Thursday and Friday night, giving granny all sorts of excuses.. 

  

I pick the call, only to hear a panic granny on the phone telling me that Nick and Grace are MISSING! My heart missed more than a beat! The first question i ask was "DID YOU LOCK THE WINDOW GRILLS??"  Granny said yes.. so i went on asking then what she meant by the kids are missing?  She says they are not at home, and they have likely left the house in the morning before anyone at her place woke up!  I went blank.. LEFT THE HOUSE meaning what? Is it for real?????  Granny told me that my sisters and dad are going around the in the estate looking for the 2 of them while she is waiting at home for them..  And they have already called the police to help search for the both of them!

  

SHIT!!! The image for that missing 6yo boy who drowned in the drain near home surfaced, but since there wasn't any huge drains near home, i was more worried they might fall off the building or get knocked down which attempting to cross the road!!.. 

  

I called the hotel operator and told them to book hubby and me out on next flight home, never mind if we had to top up for whatever reasons!.. Hubby and me next threw everything back into the luggage, rushed to the airport hoping to catch the a flight home..

  

On our way to the airport in the cab, my phone rang.. I was scared, scare that it could be bad news... I looked at the Called ID, and realized it's my neighbour's..  Picked the call... 

  

She informed that she saw my kids sitting at the stairs outside my door, so she took them, gave them some food cos they were still in pajamas and she called me.  She also knew i wasn't in town as we usually have the habit of informing each other before we go away, so she called to ask for my mum's number.

  

At that moment, i just couldn't tell anyone how thankful i was.. I just cried and cried and told her i will call my mum to pick the kids from her place... I just couldn't recite the number to her cos i was sobbing away.. 

  

We got home around 2+pm, cos there wasn't seats on the direct flights, so we took the flight via KL to return home.. We saw the 3 monkies and granny + grandpa at the airport waiting for us.. 

  

Thank god there are unharmed.. 

  

So we sat down to have a late lunch and tried to ask Nick what actually happened.. 

  

His story..

He woke up earlier than granny and meimei.. He missed mummy and daddy a lot, so he woke meimei up, asking her if she wanted to go home to mummy and daddy's house.  And  since mama (granny)  the night before said he cannot go home cos we (daddy and mummy) went out, so he thought we would have returned at wee hours.  So he quietly took his meimei, walked down from the 10 floors (as he wasn't tall enough to press most the lift buttons yet) to the ground floor and then walked to our staircase landing, and walked up 4 floors.. He knocked on the door and no one opened, so they sat there and waited.. And, Grace actually suggested to see if daddy's car is in the carpark, so they walked down 4 floors again, and they saw daddy's car parked there, and concluded that we are at home.. So they walked up to the 4th floor again, knocked again, and then decided to sit there till the neighbour found them..

  

When asked about the time they went downstairs, did they try to cross the road to daddy's car, Nick told us meimei went on the road, but he told her to come back cos wait the car bang her backside, and she obeyed.. So i suppose we had to thank god that at that time, there wasn't anyone who drove past in that carpark at that time cos i don't think Nick would know what to do if there was..

  

And we asked why he didn't "enlist" Sam in his big run away plan, he say cos Sam loves to stay at granny's place, so Sam will not run away.. 

  

Oh boy! A 4yo and a 2yo, can actually plan an "escape".. I am more than thankful we found them unharmed.. Phew!! No more trips without the 2 younger monkies for now!.. 

On a Trip Again...

Mummy and Daddy are going on a short trip, leaving the 3 monkies at Granny's.. 

Daddy has decided to change the original KL trip with the monkies to a "dunno number what" honeymoon with mummy at the 11th hour!

  

Don't miss them too much cos they will be home in 3 days time.. :P

Maybe, make a guess where are they going.. :)

 

Updates on the HIP Works and Home Reno..

Today, the workers handed over both the toilets back to us, removed the portaloo (which stinks like on one's business!!)  YES!! We have brand new toilets now!

Mid week, mummy and daddy were debating if they wanted a jacuzzi in the master bedroom toilet, but have decided against it since they feel that it's going to waste plenty of water which will cause an increase in our already sky high electrical and water bill!

They have also decided to redo our kitchen flooring, that also goes to say, we now have new kitchen cabinets (yeah, the old ones were just barely 3 years old..) and a brand new kitchen :)

They have also decided to upgraded the television in the hall to a 47 inch LCD as our good old 32 inch looks miserably small in the living area..  And where does the old 32 inch goes?  Into the study room, so mummy gets to watch TV while doing some work.. :P

NICE!! Mummy is happy, happy, happy! :)

Ohh, perhaps this is something sweet for mummy's ears, all the contractors thought mummy and daddy are newly wed couple with no kids and commented the house looks a bit too HUGE for just the both of them.. And boy, they were shock when they saw us 3 monkies hopping home and walking thru the door after school!! 2 uncles even commented that mummy looks only 25!  Looks a bit too young to have 3 kids! :)  That made my mummy's day! :P

Sunny Island, Sentosa (Day 2)

The monkies always have this problem with their alarm clocks.. 

  

On weekdays, mummy and daddy will have to keep nagging at them to wake up.. However on weekends, they never fail to wake up at 7am! Argh.. 

  

7.30am, we were the first few at the hotel restaurant, waiting for the restaurant to set up their buffet spread.. 

  

By 8.30am, the monkies were ready to have fun.. We headed out to the hotel pool for a morning swim first.. Then went back to bath (that's the main reason y we were there remember? :P)

  

We headed to the Sentosa Luge and skyride for some excitement.. Mummy and Grace shared a Luge, Daddy and Nick were on another while Sam had a chance to go on it alone..  

* pix taken from the sentosa website

1st round, we had a leisure glide down the slope. Then we took a skyride to head back to the top. 2nd round, the 3 luge decided to have a race down the slope, with daddy and Nick in the 1st place, mummy and Grace in the 2nd while Sam was the last.. He wasn't too happy about it so on the 3rd and last trip down on the luge, he made a mad dash for it going down the slope all the way without braking! As expected, daddy and Nick came in 1st place, Sam was 2nd, mummy and Grace were last.. :P

  

After the 3 rounds, it was almost time for us to check out of the room, so we took a leisure walk back, bath (again) before checking out and head home.. 

  

The monkies had such a great time that Nick asked if we can return to Sentosa again soon! :)

All Thanks to the Stinky Portaloo.. (Part 1)

It wasn't something that mummy and daddy had planned..  Mummy woke up on Saturday morning, asking Grace to remove their clothes and go to bathroom did she then realize that it was IMPOSSIBLE for 2 person to fit into the portaloo!! 

  

As usual, not much convincing was needed for mummy to convince daddy they needed to find a place to bath the kids for the weekend, so mummy proceed to her study room, hid in there for 10mins before reappearing infront of daddy informing him the room have been BOOKED.. :)

  

Of cos the cheeky monkies were excited when they saw mummy packing their clothes, pajamas and swimming wear, couldn't stop probing where are we going to bring them to.. Nick's favourite question has always remain as "Are we going to stay in a hotel?", Grace's one is "we going swimming?" and Sam's one was "mummy, did u remember to pack the passport?"

  

Once we are done with packing, we hurried the workers to work faster so that they can leave and we could lock up.. :)

  

By 2pm, we were out of the house, in the car, ready to move off with the kids still questioning us where are we heading too.. :P Cannot help but to realize that our Nick is so grown up cos the moment we turn into ECP, he already told us we are not going to Johor Bahru.. And the ECP is to lead us to the beach, the Singapore Flyer, Suntec City, Sentosa, Science Centre etc.. 

 

The car turned out at the vivo exit and Nick instantly say "I know we are going Sentosa!!" and then he started making plans on where he wants to go in Sentosa, from the underwater world, to Dolphin Lagoon etc.. 

  

Once we parked at the hotel, checked-in, the kids couldn't stop nagging they wanted to go swimming! So off we went with them in their swimming gear to the Palawan Beach.. 

Grace and daddy fighting for a piece of biscuit..

Nick playing with water..

Nick wanted to blow bubbles into the water, but ended up drinking a little too much water..

Grace "practicing" her Miss Singapore poses..

The monkies had a great time splashing water at each other..

After playing the whole afternoon at the Palawan beach, mummy, daddy and the 3 monkies took a tram ride back to the hotel, wanting to take a short nap, but somehow, the monkies were so energetic that we decided to go for dinner before catching a show at Songs of the sea.. Silly camera of all times had to fail us as we ran out of battery and we have left the charger at home.. :(

* pix taken from sentosa website

  

And after the show, we took a slow stroll back to the hotel. :)  

  

The 3 monkies were by now a little too tired to put up a protest and dozed off almost instantly the moment they got changed into their pajamas.. 

Stay tune for Day 2 (without photos again ):  )

Feeling 7 Up, 8 Down (七上八下)..

Citibank called me 5 minutes back.. Informing me i have an outstanding loan of $2300+ (i.e outstanding of 3 months equivalent) and i am the guarantor.. Which is weird.. Cos our current vehicle is under hb's name.. And, our car loan is paid thru giro.. 

   

i blurred for a minute..  Then went on to check with the staff on all the particulars.. It tally.. The car plate number and the owner is not someone i know.. And it's just so not me to be someone's guarantor.. 

  

I told Citi to check and come back to me on it.. Getting very upset over it now.. :(

  

Hope they revert soon...

I wonder...

Sometimes, i wonder if i spoiled my kids or what.. 

  

I look forward to the day my house has absolutely no toys on the floor, or not as many bookshelves as i have now.. Somehow, it doesn't seems like my wish can come true anytime soon.. 

  

You see why.. 

MIL came to my place.. Commented i spend a lot of money on my kids toys and books.. Yes it's true.. My home is cluttered with 2 huge bookshelves and a few other small ones, boxes and boxes of toys, stacks and stacks of flash cards and loads of art and craft materials so usually my kids are entertained at home with these stuffs.. 

  

My SIL has 3 kids too.. 2 elder ones are in upper primary already, so should have quite a fair bit of books, but i don't even see a single bookshelf in their house. Her 3rd child is as old as Grace, but hasn't gotten a single book or toy.. 

  

And the problem is.. 

The way MIL puts it is i am simply spendthrift.. Only spend my husband's money on all these things that we need not need.. In her opinion, book and toys are things that kids not need! But to me, they are absolutely necessary! What should the kids do without these things to keep them entertained? Watch TV all day long? Run around the house? Climb the windows and grills? Don't the books provide them with knowledge, or the toys helps in developing their creativity?

  

Perhaps we need not have so much.. But completely nothing does seems weird to me.. :p

  

What do you think?

HIP Work-In-Progress..

The workers are coming in today to start on the HIP (Home Improvement Program) works..

  

There will be loads of hacking work as they are knocking off the floor and wall tiles, removing the wash basins and toilet bowls and replacing the pipes. 

  

Hubby and me worked the entire night to get the cabinet, fridge and a portion of the house (which is half the living area and 2 other bedrooms) areas sealed up with plastic from floor to ceiling hoping the dust will not come in and dirty the place so that should reduce the cleaning for maria and her sir.. 

  

Our living / laundry area for the next 10+ days..

 

Our covered up master bedroom and kitchen area...

 

The workers moving in.. 

 

Our master bedroom toilet 

The common toilet

Oh and incase you are wondering where are we going to do our "business" for the next 10+ days since we are toilet-less.. Well, here.. 

Thank god for cameras, the little ones could self-entertain while daddy was busy instructing the workers of what to do and not to do in peace.. :)

Kite Flying (Part 2)

Daddy promised we would go kite flying again real soon, but, we didn't expect the real soon to be the next day!

  

Daddy and Sam trying to fly the 1st kite..

Grace admiring her own kite that daddy helped her to make and she pasted her favourite Dora stickers on it. 

The 1st kite is up. Nick following after daddy hoping he doesn't gives the kite string to Sam or Grace.

Now it's Grace turn to be beside daddy hoping daddy will pass the kite to her after it has gone up.. 

The special kite that daddy made for Grace to stick her Dora stickers on as we couldn't find any Dora kite available for sale..

This is a new way how to fly a kite without holding it with your hands.. :P  I suppose it should be called kite handsfree.. 

Kite Flying

Daddy picked us up from the Science Centre at almost 5.30pm, only to realize that mummy forgotten to feed the kids LUNCH!

  

So, off we went for our so called Lunch and Dinner.. And, out of the blue, mummy came out with this super idea that the platoon wants to fly kite.. So, rush to buy 2 kites and we off to the empty plot of land near Compass Point.. 

  

When we arrived, was close to 7pm and it was drizzling.. Mummy got sian cos Grace just recovered from fever, cough and flu.. Didn't want to take the risk of her falling ill again.. But, the boys just refuse to leave, so mummy came out with a bright idea since she's too lazy to walk back to the car and bring out the umbrella.. 

Sam trying to fly his kite.. But it just refuse to go up..

  

Daddy with Nick and Grace trying to fly the other kite..

Sam's kite.. It went up for a while, and came down again..

Daddy's kite is up, up and in the sky already!!

Nick gets a chance to hold on to the kite..

Grace monkie-ing around since she don't have any.. 

  

Nick as usual, being nice.. Offered her his kite for a while..

  

She took it and refuse to return.. 

 

Nick is about to cry.. Look at Grace's face.. BO HEW him!

And suddenly, a heavy downpour came that we ended up fleeing to the car!

  

Daddy promise we will be back to fly the kite again real soon!