Summer of 2018

Salam my lovelies,

The Year End Concert was fabulous. Girl was one of the fairies in Peter Pan and she wholeheartedly channeled her inner Tinkerbelle that end of July morning. One particular Makchic and fellow Belang Mum (you can guess who she is by now?) actually stood with me at the door to the hall, and we were the kiasu first and second sets of parents allowed in.

My, oh, my! The seats were the best I have ever gotten in my life as a parent because when Girl was called to receive her best of Year 3 English prize, I was so close by! Congratulations, Girl. You did well and I am so proud of Ms. Chung and you. As I was away working, this prize has zero contribution from me. In fact, I did not prepare her for any of her exams at all except pray. Alhamdulillah and bravo for her independent effort!

After the Concert, Ms. Chung rang my mobile to ask Girl to collect a private gift. It was a lovely notebook for Girl to compose more stories or keep as a diary. So generously wonderful! 

We left with The Grandparents for Singapore on the first Sunday of the holiday and spent an entire week at Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa. Our arrival at the tiny island republic started with check-in to the hotel. They could not offer us connecting rooms so one of our rooms was left vacant for a week. What a waste but...what can we do? I have noticed the reservation details a few months ago and asked my MIL to ask her agent who promised to rectify it but obviously it was not carried through.

After that initial hiccup, we had a late lunch/early dinner before leaving for an evening at the famous Singapore Night Safari. The queue for a ride took us what seemed like forever. Luckily we had some ice kacang before that to cool down from the sweltering heat.

The following night, we obliged my MIL and took the kids to Garden by the Bay. Bean suffered a meltdown and insisted on leaving by Maghrib. The Other Half and I had to carry him to the exit and while the music was playing, Bean adamantly asserted that it was too loud for him. I really did not know what was happening to his senses but I prayed so hard he would be fine. As in, in his life.

While I carried him, he cried and kicked. I scored a few bruises, neck ache, arm pain and a broken heart. The Grandparents witnessed by then how difficult the situation was going to be for me as Bean's mum in this journey of nurturing Bean and we all silently reaffirmed that my decision to leave a fulltime job is probably the best solution. For everyone's sake. No matter how much good it is for my savings account and career, I will regret it if I do not give Bean my all during this testing period.

The following day, we went to Universal Studios Singapore. As well as the day after that. Repeated rides, leisurely walk, long queues, touristy stuff which everyone enjoyed.We even found and returned one iPhone in a feeder bus during one of our rides back to the hotel.

Another notable visit one rainy afternoon was to a Marvel Studios exhibition at ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. Bean truly enjoyed his time there and bought Spider-Man soft toy (which he brings to sleep with every night since and lovingly calls it "Baby Brother"). In order to understand his fascination with Marvel Studios characters, I promised myself to watch all the movies he has watched. Since then, I have better grasp of characters, plots and able to converse with Bean.

I am glad we indulged in some simple pleasures. Perhaps one of the most memorable activity for us was cable car return rides from Siloso Point Station to Merlion Plaza via Imbiah Lookout Station. The kids enjoyed their free play at mosaic water fountains near Merlion Plaza, water-play rock garden at Imbiah and were so happy to experience soaked shorts and feet during our ride back to Siloso Point Station just before sunset. The organic ice-cream at Merlion Plaza, the freshly squeezed orange juice from a vending machine at Imbiah Lookout Station, the ice-creams from bus stop vending machines at Siloso Point Station. Fresh air and sunshine. 

We also visited SEA Aquarium and Maritime Museum but The Kids somehow prefer Aquaria KLCC and the Sydney Maritime Museum. Oh well, destination checklist marked and struck off.

Another highlight of this trip for Girl was a play she was not expecting. We managed to get some really good seats for The Lion King. Magnificent production. Lights. Masks. Songs. Props. Backdrop. Make-up. Costumes. Talents. The works! (We cannot wait for Matilda to arrive so we had better start saving up!)

Bean cried at Intermission and refused to watch the second half as he was really saddened from Mufasa's evil plot. After much failed persuasion, I had to walk him out of the Sands Theater and brought him to the waterlily pond at Marina Bay Sands. He saw a DC Shop at the mall, and got himself a piece of cendol Green Lantern ice-cream cake which he forced me to eat after discovering that the coconut milk was not to his liking He got bored of walking at the mall and finally agreed for me to purchase tickets for him to run at an interactive light play area next to the food court.

Girl and The Other Half came to join us there after The Lion King. They were awed and obviously enjoyed the entire production. That night, we returned to the hotel for our TV/Room Service dinner before packing as we were leaving the following day. I was surprised I did not even make a trip to Orchard Road, or make any purchases for myself.

To be honest, our TV/Room Service/Bath/Story-time nightly routine was what held things together for Bean and us. Warm, secure, familiar family love works best.

Swift, short, sweet Singapore. InshaAllah we will be back.