Penang Book Club

This past weekend we headed back to Penang with Sophie in tow. Her first trip out of Singapore and her first flight. Sheesh and she not even a year old. Oh well this is the world we live in.

Anyways the whole Malaysian household were awaiting the arrival of the new arrival and soon all were cooing and smitten by her presence. With Hainanese being the communication medium of choice and with the telly on either some violent cartoon or a Cantonese drama, I needed to find something to engage myself. With no Wifi as well I needed to get back to basics by settling myself down with a good book.

On one of my maiden trips there, I bought Home Beautiful magazine, in desperation, and I read it cover to cover, all articles, snippets and columns. I even played close attention to the ads. After that I became interested in home decorating and eventually that magazine became the inspiration for our current home. So began the Penang Book Club.

This time around I tried to go the magazine route but as I perused them in the plane, I knew I would be bored soon. When we were out shopping one of our stops was at a bookstore. I scrambled to find a good read. As the wife was queuing to pay, I more or less given up the search when I stumbled upon LaHaye and Jenkins latest release. These guys brought us the Left Behind series that kept me enthralled for nearly 10 years.

Luke's Story is a novel about Luke's life and how he became one of the authors of the Bible fictionalised to put it simply. Within two days I was half way through and was looking forward to continue my read on my flight home.  Guess what? Of all the things to get left behind in Penang, it had to be this book by the authors of the Left Behind series. Ironic. Now I need to scour Singapore for this book so I can continue my read.

M loves to read

Monday Blues

Telephone Call

**Rrriiiiinnnnggg, rrriiiinnnngg,**

**'Hello?'**

**'Hi honey.**
**This is Daddy.**
**Is Mommy near the phone?'**

**'No, Daddy.**
**She's upstairs in the bedroom with Uncle Dave.'**

**After a brief pause,**

**Daddy says,**
**'But honey, you haven't got an Uncle Dave.'**

**'Oh yes I do, and he's upstairs in the room with Mommy,**
**Right now..'**

Brief Pause.

**'Uh, okay then, this is what I want you to do.**
**Put the phone down on the table, run upstairs**
**And knock on the bedroom door and shout to Mommy**
**That Daddy's car just pulled into the driveway.'**

**'Okay, Daddy, Just a minute.'**

**A few minutes later**
**The little girl comes back to the phone.**

**'I did it, Daddy.'**

**'And what happened, honey?' **

'Well, Mommy got all scared, jumped out of bed with no clothes on and ran around screaming.**

**Then she tripped over the rug, hit her head on the dresser**
**And now she isn't moving at all!'**

**'Oh my God!!! What about your Uncle Dave?'**

**'He jumped out of the bed with no clothes on, too.**

**He was all scared and he jumped out of the back window**
**And into the swimming pool.**
**But I guess he didn't know that you took out the water**
**Last week to clean it.**

**He hit the bottom of the pool and I think he's dead.'**

*****Long Pause*****

*****Longer Pause*****

*****Even Longer Pause*****

**Then Daddy says,**

**'Swimming pool? ………..**

**Is this 486-5731?'*

**No, I think you have the wrong number……

M

Sept découvertes cette semaine*

 1) Likes the taste of Gripe Water.

2) Is completely reliant on His supply for the days' demands.

3) Does not like this time of the year. The season ends for all my
favourite shows. Bye bye Lost and 24!

4) Realised that Twitter is basically spam!

5) Thinks there is divinty in the time 11:11.

6) iPads all sold out!!! - was the title of the email I recieved at
4am from sister visiting the US. Just when I psyced myself on getting
one. Oh well!

7) Not only do I think but I know I am the most blessed man in the
world. Thank you Maju and Mojo. Thank you Jesus!

* Ha! Yet another change in title, more fitting yes?

M

Monday Blues

Ease your Monday blues with this:

After getting all of Pope Benedict’s luggage loaded into the limo, (and he doesn’t travel light), the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb.

‘Excuse me, Your Holiness,’ says the driver, ‘Would you please take your seat so we can leave?’

‘Well, to tell you the truth,’ says the Pope, ‘they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and I’d really like to drive today.’

‘I’m sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I’d lose my job!
What if something should happen?’ protests the driver, wishing he’d never gone to work that morning..

‘Who’s going to tell?’ says the Pope with a smile.

Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 205 kms.. (Remember, the Pope is German..)

‘Please slow down, Your Holiness!’ pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.

‘Oh, dear God, I’m going to lose my license — and my job!’ moans the driver. The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.

‘I need to talk to the Chief,’ he says to the dispatcher.

The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he’s stopped a limo going 205 kph..

‘So bust him,’ says the Chief.

‘I don’t think we want to do that, he’s really important,’ said the cop. The Chief exclaimed,’ All the more reason!’

‘No, I mean really important,’ said the cop with a bit of persistence. The Chief then asked, ‘Who do you have there, the mayor?’

Cop: ‘Bigger.’

Chief: ‘ A senator?’

Cop: ‘Bigger.’

Chief: ‘The Prime Minister?’

Cop: ‘Bigger.’

‘Well,’ said the Chief, ‘who is it?’

Cop: ‘I think it’s God!’

The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, ‘What makes you think it’s God?’

Cop: ‘His chauffeur is the Pope!’

M

7 Things*

1) Is starting to see distinct similarities between Sophie and me.

2) Health tip -- Symptom: Right shoulder pain can be a sign of indigestion.  Cure: Rub tummy in clockwise motion 80 times to increase blood flow which will aid digestion thus easing shoulder pain. Cause: There is nerve running from the digestive system to your right shoulder.

3) My mum has an inexhaustible repertoire of English and French nursery rhymes.

4) Children are like sponges they are constantly absorbing all they see. Imagine this bumper sticker : Adults beware, Children absorbing!

5) Loves Phaidon books! The CENTURY book we bought nearly 4 years ago is still an amazing book to flip while on the white throne.

6) Has given in to the high Pay-TV price to watch the 2010 World Cup. It better be good. :-)

7) God always shows Himself in places you least expect only if you care to look.

*Changing the title from 7 in 1 to 7 things

Children

Innocent little minds are like sponges, they are absorbing non-stop. Sometimes we adults take for granted the intense impression and influence we  have on them. I remember using the F-word many years ago when I was talking on the phone. My niece heard it, she was 4 at the time and started to repeat it to her mum who was in the room with my parents much to their horror as well as mine! That was nearly 16 years ago.

Now that I have become parent, I want to set the best possible example for Sophie. Of course I will do this in the best way I know how which incidentally will differ from other parents. Not only will they absorb our minor indiscretions but also our idiosyncrasies and soon they become the images of ourselves. Personally, its quite scary sometimes to fathom someone walking, talking and acting like me.

It’s quite a responsibility to shoulder. But I look forward to the day when Sophie does something good and someone says “Oh, she’s just like her Dad!”

M proud of my little girl

7 in 1

1) 50mm f1.8 lens has been a revelation of a lens and it's so cheap

2) Found out that meals are more satisfying when dessert is eaten
first. Much more!

3) Self improvement is better that static improvement

4) Cats are vile creatures

5) Loves Manchester United

6) Simple and thoughtful gifts are always sure winners

7) I work to live and not live to work

Mothers

Always under appreciated and very often taken for granted. Society has always labeled a mother's job as being easier than going out to work. Though I am glad that this notion is changing, personally being the primary caregiver of Sophie this past month, I can attest to the devotion, the unique heart and endurance it takes to be "MOM"

We folks who head out for work have it easy. If we feel demotivated at work we can always head out for a quick latte or have a chat to a colleague for relief. A mom hardly has this luxury, when she's demotivated she sucks it up and changes that dirty diaper, makes that bottle of milk or tries to pacify the crying child. But the greatness comes from the fact that moms are never demotivated and each thing they do is a labour of love. I am sure that none of us attend meetings, or give that presentation, or polish off that report in the labour of love vein.

I guess that's what separates mothers from the rest of us. It's all a labour of love. It's that consistent, unwavering and intense passion that allows or rather necessitates them to dig deep each and everyday. If our workday was anything like a mother's we'd be job hunting and quitting.

So Mums, here's to you and all the things you do. My admiration for you is bountiful but it cannot be compared to that labour of love. Nothing comes close to you!

Happy Mothers Day!

7 in 1

Just a new weekly post that I am starting; 7 in 1 which is basically 7 new things in 1 week. So enjoy!

1) Phoenix's 1901 is an awesome track for that quick pick me up.

2) Should skip lunch more often. Find myself eating it because it's 
lunch.

3) You can open a bank account online.

4) 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear
         -- this has been my mantra this week

5) Enjoys the bad habit of reading on his iPhone in complete darkness 
before bed time.

6) Just finished Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes, it was published 
posthumously. I will miss his storytelling.

7) Ruminate!

Do you speak baby?

Everyday is a new puzzle. Us adults are trying and trying to figure out why she is crying, or not drinking her milk or not wanting to sleep. What amazes me, is that there is always some explanation why things are not happening the way they are meant to happen. It is usually because there is something the “all knowing” adults have missed. It can get a little frustrating, I must admit because I sometimes get completely stumped.

Like today, after her afternoon nap she normally wakes up hungry and as usual I start to make milk, its a cocktail of EBM and Formula. So when feeding commences, she is not drinking. She’s struggling, complaining and so I tell myself not hungry, so I feed later. But it has been 4 hours since her last feed, she should be starving. So I try again after 15 minutes. Same result.

Perhaps she is wet, but the indicator on the diaper is still yellow not blue (blue is wet), the quality control engineer thinks maybe this diaper is defective just change. After the change, still the same result. Sweat is forming on my brow at this point. Hmmmm….perhaps its too warm lets move to the room. Nope! Same same!

After 4 attempts, I realise that she is really not hungry but she is whining that “hungry whine”. I try one more time and she rejects it. At this point, I am exasperated so I turn to prayer, I look intensely at the bottle and say “God, you have blessed us with this milk, Sophie will drink this with delight”. My intense stare at the bottle gives me my divine answer, WRONG TEAT!

Teat swapped and babe drinks, 140ML in under 10 minutes. So clearly, I do not speak baby, but my Heavenly Father does!

M enjoying Fatherhood

Playing Hookey

It’s funny. Its the 2nd week of Sophie at infant care, and in these two weeks she has stayed home 3 days. Of course this has been at my discretion because honestly, being at home without the little bugger is quite challenging. After I drop her off, I head for some breaky and then home. Once home, I count down to the time to pick her up. So rather than doing that these few days she has been wagging.

Not the best of examples that I am setting considering the fact that in 1992, I skipped a total of 73 days of school! But of course it’s only hookey, wagging, ponteng or truant when it is compulsory schooling and since infant care is somewhat “voluntary”, we are volunteering NOT to go. Perhaps the separation anxiety is still apparent………….who cares!

Oh well, I need to fully make use of this time as it is irreplaceable and precious. I have been given a great opportunity to spend this time with her and till I head back to work which will be soon, I want to spend that time with my little girl. What can I say, she’s my No. 2! If I could have my No.1 with me as well, then it would be bliss. Ah TGIF, means that the 3 of us will be back together again!

Happy Friday!

M super pleased!

Separation Anxiety

Another new experience for me. Tuesday this week was the first day for Sophie at Infant Care. Yes some of you might be scratching your heads wondering how can a 4 month old baby be placed into paid care. If you are one of these people: Sod Off!

Anyways the first day went by pretty smoothly. We left her there for half day and since we dropped her off late, she was only there for a few hours.

Today would be the real test. Kids are resilient unlike us adults. On Day 1,the wife was feeling the separation anxiety big time, I was ok. To be honest I was prepared and I knew if I was too emotional, I can picture us standing outside the child care centre, in the middle of the business district hugging each other as tears streaming down our faces. Hahahaha so mama drama.

However Day 2, I did the drop off by myself. Struggling with a stroller, some documents in hand and a large  baby bag, I fumbled to sign the check in sheet. Temperature was taken and before I knew it she was taken away.

I stood there alone and lost. I didn't say my usual bye bye and give her a kiss. I was, for lack of a better word, a victim of separation anxiety. I aimlessly walked out of the centre and headed for breaky.

As I ponder now over my toast and coffee, I can't help but wonder what Sophie is doing. Is she wondering why her daddy did not say bye and kiss her?Oh shit tears are forming. Mama drama liao.

M missing my 2 girls

Blog inspiration

The last time I did a post similar in nature I was introduced to some
outstanding blogs.

I have collected a few more and have been following them via RSS. But
most of them have fizzled out barr for a few which are still great
reads. So I am now asking my collective and mostly silent audience to
recommend me some of their favourite blogs.

Tell me which blogs you visit daily and feel disappointed when there
is no new post up.

M in need of inspiration

Lotsa Expression

When I first posted the first pictures of Sophie on my blog and Facebook, one comment that stayed with me was “she has so many different expressions”. It’s true, normally most kids under 4 months, very have few expressions. Here are the standard faces:

The Straight Face

The “Please Do Not Cut My Toes” Face

The Fully Fed Face – complete with drool

Of course there are The Smiley Faces that just melts all hearts:

Awwww!!

Starting the “non-standard” faces there are The Flustered and Harassed Face

The “You Owe Me Money” Face

One of my favourites, The "What you talkin' bout Willis?" Face.

Of course we have The Concerned Blur Face as well

and once in a while you get The Disguised Look where you wonder, “Hmmm who is this ah?”

The Hurriedly Worried Face

The Butch Face

The KKK Face

And of course The Coy and Adorable Face

Yes indeed Sophie does have many looks and she keeps us entertained. Here’s look’in at you kid.

M a Proud Daddy

Touchy Touchy

These past few days, I have been spending much time in the word. Recently PP has been speaking about meditation over God's word and how a verse can become so real in one's life. It's pretty hard to explain 
but suffice to say the wife got it down pretty well as she blogged here.

For me, every few days I find a verse that jumps out at me and that would be my meditation verse. What I also do is to make this verse as my Facebook status, just for fun.

What I did not expect was the verbal melée that ensued via status comments each time I made a posting. One thing is for sure religion is a touchy subject especially for the misinformed, misguided and misunderstood. I wanted to copy and paste the thread but after 14 comments, a blow by blow account would be too cumbersome.

It’s funny how people are quick to blame God for the things that He “made” us do. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is free will which is defined “as the ability to make a choice without coercion”. Lest we forget the consequences.

M Praying

Back on the Road

Well not exactly the road per se but more the path. My long awaited return to cycling has come. I guess the reason why it took so long was the mental block about just getting all the gear together and plonking myself on that seat and pounding the road. Now that I have finally, it is a good feeling. But as with all first time cycling attempts this was not spared from dramas.

This time around my best mate, Selvam and I after much, much, much talk (we have been talking like almost a year) we finally found time for to take a ride together. It was meant to be an early morning ride on the Changi Park Connector Network (PCN) but that would not be the case.

After dropping the wife off at work, I headed to Tampines to get Selvam. The weather which looked perfect took a turn on the way there with a sudden downpour of torrential rain. Thank God for the KPE which got me out or shall I say under. Soon we were on our way to Changi Point which would be the start of our ride on the PCN, when the rain came again. Thankfully the rain stopped when we hit the Changi Beach carpark.

We unloaded our bikes and just when we did, the heavens opened! This time it was here to stay. We ran to a nearby shelter and soon was joined by a crowd of people who were doing the same.

 

In the foreground are a bunch of students camping and learning how to tie knots. Yes clove hitch, reef knot, cross lashing kind of knots. In the background are “orange” guys from SembCorp who were supposed to be doing some landscaping work. All Stuck!

This was not how I envisioned my return to the road. After almost 45 mins of chatting and quietly laughing at the knots instructors cheesy attempts at humour, we had enough. If we are not going to ride we should do the next best thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It started with a warm cup of coffee to warm up but the rain did not let up so…..order up!

 

 

The food was surprisingly good. I messaged the wife to tell her that my bike trip has now become a foodie trip to Changi Point. While we were chilling out here, she was playing Incredible Hulk.

Eventually the rain slowed by mid morning (10ish) and so we decided to hit the road. I am glad we stuck to it. It was a great 30KM ride. The PCN was a great idea, there was no need to contend with heavy vehicles and drivers in cyclist unfriendly Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

We rode from Changi Point to East Coast Parkway before turning back towards Changi Point. On our return trip we stopped at these rest point and soaked in the view and the breeze. It was great!!!

I noticed on the other side of the pictured waterway was a large yellow beacon. We decided to head there to see see.

 

It was the Tanah Merah beacon. It was located on a tip of a break water and the view from there was awesome! Too bad just had my iPhone with me to take some okay pictures. Here is the view towards the East up the breakwater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s the view West wards, up East Coast Park and way in the distance is the CBD. This photo does not at all do justice to the view to be honest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So as we headed back to Changi Point, I was already thinking about our next cycling trip and promising myself that it will not be 3 months or 3 weeks later but 3 days later, unfortunately as luck would have it the bike is in the shop for servicing and hopefully I will get it back soon.

M Riding

Giving Back

Last Monday I was not in the best state of mind, it was Monday blues in a slightly different shade. I had mixed feelings of uncertainty, indecision and anxiety. I guess it is human given my state but I am on an extended break and to be frank there is little to be worried about. But on occasion these feelings to get the better of me.

So I was labouring to re-enter a state of rest, I tried everything to prevent these contagious thoughts from resurfacing. Most effective of course was just to look at Sophie sleeping, guaranteed smiles there but it was temporary. TV and reading did not help either. Then S woke up from her slumber, I picked her up and she did this.

As usual she rested on my shoulder but this time she just stayed there, awake but resting. It was almost as if she was comforting me and telling me in her way that “it’s all good Dad, REST!” No matter what she was trying to do, everything that was bothering me melted away and was forgotten in that instant. This small act of giving back from my almost 4 month old girl, set the tone for what has been and is continuing to be an awesome week.

Choose to be happy and not be defined by your circumstances.

M glad for S 

Sleep Patterns Study

Sleep is one of the most important human functions that is essential to survival. We all do it and we all need it. Did you know that anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

In any case, I recently conducted a sleep study of Sophie. Here are my findings:

Sleep time usually begins after 100-130ml of milk, following a bout of burping and about 10 to 15 minutes of winding down (no sleep deprivation here) before the eventual “dreamtime” begins. This is followed by me swaddling Sophie so that her movements are minimised. This is just a delay tactic for the eventual result as will be shown eventually.

 

The next stage that can happen anywhere between 5 minutes to 2-3 hours is the escape of the left hand. Always the left. This has led us to a possible pre-conclusion that Sophie is left handed.

 

The next stage is a mix of chaos and completely unpredictable in terms of timing or outcome thus, chaos. As is clearly shown by the next set of images captured on different days and sleep cycles, the results are random.

The next stage is the point between sleep and wake. This is a critical stage and the eventual outcome can be determined but is not always guaranteed by some careful steps. First with the introduction of a pacifier which will calm baby down followed by some light patting on the chest should return her back to sleep state. But as said earlier this is not a full guarantee as after a few minutes of sleep she might be in the next state as shown. 

 

This is the end of the sleep cycle and is normally followed by a change of nappy and some fun smiley times of play and discovery.

 

No matter what the case maybe, sleep is always an interesting subject for us adults to ponder upon. No matter what the case maybe or the “sleep” stage which the baby is in, to adults it always guaranteed to bring a warm smile to your face.

 

M studying S!

Brunch Anyone?

The word brunch itself spells indulgence. Its exudes that carefree, lazy, airy feeling that settles so lightly on one’s palate. Ah…brunch!!!

This was one of the things that MMM (Maji, Maju and Mojo) did together. Every morning I would search for a suitable place for us to brunch at. Someplace nice and cosy, away from the hustle and bustle of the usual weekday activities.

Of the many places we tried to go to, our favourite was nestled right in Bishan Park surprisingly. I expected to find something good in the Bukit Timah area but after a few forays there, Canopy was the favourite by far!

The place is gorgeously landscaped so you feel outdoors but not too stifled by the heat of the morning or shall I say mid morning (we are talking brunch) sun. Service was impeccable, we have been back a few times since and the server there even remember my name! That is top marks in my book.

Food wise, there was little to be disappointed about too. We sort of started a quest to find the best Eggs Benedict and so far Canopy’s has beaten quite a few top competitors! The pièce de résistance was the hollandaise sauce which was nicely balanced and just slightly tart to give it a full body. Yum!

The mushroom sandwich as well, a sure pleaser for the mushroom lover! With aromatic fresh shrooms with some melted Cheddar on multigrain bread, just perfection. Probably the spoiler was the fried which seemed like an odd accompaniment to such a richly flavourful dish.

Sophie too enjoyed herself, she was so excited soaking in the new surroundings that she fell asleep. So guys if you are ever in the area do drop by Canopy at Bishan Park next to Aramsa Spas, it’s a delight.

M Brunching

Restful Increase

This post was written quite a while ago but I am only posting it now. It took a bit of soul searching and inward reflection to get to a place where I was comfortable to share. So here goes;

Just before Chinese New Year (early Feb), I got the word that I was being let go, ironically it happened as I was watching the movie Up In The Air. It was a shock but, somehow I felt that He prepared me for this. I took the news well and chose to leave graciously.

To be honest, with this incident, I did feel anger which is only natural, as you can imagine but, I felt it for a good 20 minutes only. Following which my mental state was a mix of uncertainty as well as glee! Yes glee! This is really credit mainly to a super supportive wife, who alerted me to the silver lining as well as her similar experience a few years ago.  My soon to be ex-colleagues called me the happiest “retrench-ee” they had ever seen. To be exact I was giving the option of the two “R”s, I chose resignation instead.

I have been wanting an exit for a while now. Of course I would  have preferred it to be of my own doing but hey that's how the cookie crumbled. I was pretty satisfied with the package so I was not complaining. It was a case of true restful increase or in lay terms - paid holiday! So all things considered it worked out for the best.

Something else I did not complain about was the timing. The wife was going back to work soon and it meant that we (3 of us) could have some solid family time together. Believe me we did just that and to be honest it has been the happiest time in my life! So all in all it's been a time of blessed restful increase.

M humbly thankful