no-brainer

it is an established fact that more often than not, it is the gormless s’porean caller who gets picked to go on radio to answer the most idiot-proof of all quizzes and win prizes.

this morning on ninety-one point three FM:

DJ introduces Gormless Caller (GC) and explains that to win a prize, he has to sing the next line to a song.

Studio Guest (SG), a local singer wielding a guitar, says she will sing a suzanne vega song since she will be performing in s’pore next month.

GC has not heard of suzanne vega, guitars, or music. it is a miracle he managed to dial the number of the said radio station in the first place. he probably meant to order a pizza or KFC buddy meal for himself.

SG proceeds to sing the first line, “My name is Luca…”

GC clams up.

SG begins to understand the gormless nature of radio callers in general and decides to be generous by continuing second line of song, “I live on the second ____.”

GC is still decidedly clueless.

DJ and SG try to cajole an answer out of GC with numerous clues. “It rhymes with door… more… four… etc. Let’s say you live on the ninth…?”

GC attempts.

“… storey?”

:S

of diaper cakes and candy-filled socks

inspired by grissom after watching an episode of CSI where he dispensed trivia about the origins of bridesmaids and bridegrooms, i set out to find the origins of baby showers. however, i didn’t manage to find any interesting historical stories, except that it’s part of an americal culture, like… MTV?, which has since permeated to this part of the earth, and embraced by our generation of party-loving people.

(oh, and by the way, the role of bridesmaids is traditionally to act as a ’shield’ to ward off evil spirits lurking around at wedding ceremonies, and bridegrooms dress up like the groom himself to ‘confuse’ them evil spirits, in case they get nasty and decide to, i don’t know, possess the groom into screaming out “i don’t!” at the altar or something. cool huh? like power rangers protecting the wedded couple liddat. only in better outfits. ok, i’ve been watching way too much kids central.)

so aaanyway, as i was saying, where there’s an occasion where food and girly fun is involved, you betcha i’m in! (coz really, we need as many excuses as we can to stuff our faces and leave the husbands at home, preferably with the kids.)

can you tell it’s going to be a girl? no??

more than that, it’s rallying around the mum-to-be (even if it’s her first or fourth kid!) for support as she enters the final lap of that arduous nine-month journey called gestation, and showering her with the last bit of attention before the baby comes out and all eyes would then be solely set on the cute, crying, screaming bundle of joy. honestly, don’t you mums out there feel like you get sidelined and practically ignored the moment you’ve squeezed every ounce of your being in labour? hey, we need some lurving and celebrating for ourselves too, dammit!

so as you can see, i like the idea of baby showers, nevermind that we’ve pilfered it from western culture, and i’m glad that i had that memorable experience once myself too. (how can i forget that girl-on-girl kissing game?? lol!)

good luck and have a safe delivery… insyaallah.

now, who’s next?? *rubs hands in glee* babies popping out everywhere, you know!

manhattan fish market

this was, believe it or not, our first visit to manhattan fish market. we saw it at jusco, jb but wasn’t really craving for fish at that time. but when we realised that they have a branch in singapore, we decided to give them a try to see if they can rival our number one fish joint, fish & co.

so to celebrate the wifey’s birthday, i decided to bring her to the restaurant. typical saturday night crowd at plaza singapura, just getting into the carpark took 30minutes, but luckily, we managed to park the car almost immediately. must be birthday girl’s luck.

there was a queue at the restaurant but at least, it was moving. we got seated by 15 minutes and the staff there were fast and attentive to our needs. we ordered the salad and mushroom soup for starters and the kids’ size fish and chips for aniq. i must say, for a full house, the orders came pretty fast!

the salad which was coleslaw with raisins tastes just like the one from kenny rogers, crunchy! the mushroom soup was thick but i felt that it was a bit bland, though the wifey thought otherwise. she kindda liked it.

the main course was the seafood platter for two. this was exactly like the fish and co seafood platter but with a twist! it came with the usual calamari, prawns, fries and garlic rice. the difference was that they had this tasty fried mushrooms that i love! crispy on the outside and all chewy on the inside. the fish was also generously large.

what literally blew me off was the torch-carrying waiter. when i thought that he wanted to place the pan on the table, he stopped two steps behind and began to blow-torch the prawns! the flame blower reminded me of my secondary school days doing experiments with the bunsen burner. kindda had the same effect. anyway, after he practically almost burnt the prawns, he finally placed the pan on the table. although the prawns looked cooked, they tasted of LPG. but at least the sauce tasted great.

the calamaris were just ok, i still prefer the ones at fish and co, but perhaps the best was the fish. crispy and light, just nice. the rest of the seafood were just ok. although MFM was generous with their fish, they skimped on their prawns and calamari. the garlic rice was tasty but still cannot compare to the basmati-like rice of fish and co’s rice.

the verdict? the servings and service are excellent. but the food just fell short of the standards set by fish and co’s. but at least they are way ahead of the naked fish shoppe.

awakenings

it’s nice to hear updates on his progress from someone other than mum. i don’t talk to them often since i don’t send him there myself everyday, but i know i can call anytime, like a few nights ago, which is nice.

coz now i know where he got the word “rainbow” from, along with the other songs and stories he participates in, the antics he gets up to, the friends he interacts with daily.

i also got an update on adam, who has a HEYUUGE crush on this chinese girl, whom he apparently looks at all adoringly and doe-eyed when she comes in the morning, lol! adam’s terribly shy, though, so he NEVER talks to her, which got her to conclude to their teacher: “adam cannot talk.” so, the teacher tried to get her to talk to him instead, and well, she attempted all right!

without success, i might add. now, let me try to recreate the scene. ahem…

girl: do you want some? (referring to her cereal at the dining table)
boy: *nods*
girl: can you say ‘please’? say ‘please’? please?? (continues pleading)
boy: *zips mouth*
girl: (to teacher again) adam cannot talk.

alamak, so cute can die!

of course, adam can talk very well, VERY VERY well, in fact. and count and read. but cute girls are a different ball game altogether, huh, hunny? :p

i’m not sure which one she is but i think she’s the one on the far right, coz i’ve seen him sitting next to her a few times when i dropped by. addendum: (from dadam himself) “the girl on the far right is chloe not sharmaine.” oops, my bad! lol!

my little one, on the other hand, is busy pursuing different ‘interests’ at the moment, like occasionally assisting the teacher to lay out the breakfast cutlery, and matching coloured beads with disastrous results (teachers end up vacuuming the floor), and doing the skinnymarinkydoo, and well, other stuff.

next year, fees will rise, which kinda makes me choke and cough a little.

so just how much has he benefitted from this daily, two-and-a-half-hourly experience?

i can see the pros, of course. for one thing, it keeps him busy for that part of the morning when his mind and body is freshest, most active and receptive. i’m still not keen on keeping him cooped up at home all day with little else to do except watch tv and play with his few toys (coz mum refuses to have her house littered with them), that’s for sure. mum is around in the mornings but she leaves for the hospital during the kids’ afternoon naps to visit the dad. so that leaves only the helper as his companion and ‘conversationalist’ for the rest of the afternoon, which is ok, but, you know, if only she could do more than just give custodial care. too much to ask for from a helper? well, of course. they do go by specific instructions, after all.

so ARE we asking too much, we working mums? i guess so. it’s all that guilt for having to be away from them for a good part of the day that makes us question how much we are really doing for our kids. sure sure, he’ll be ok and will grow up normal and fine and all, just like most of us with working mums did.

it’s just that… you simply can’t help but wonder if you’re doing enough. you know? :S

the spirit of “on-ness”

i have a very “on” bunch of aunts on my mum’s side, and on the rare occasion that one particular ‘prodigal’ aunt flies down from her brisbane home for a holiday here with her two kids to see their aged grandma and grandpa, they’d always attempt to get everyone together for a photo-taking session. coz everytime, it’s always in mind that it could be the last that the complete family gathers under one roof, and the last opportunity we’d have to take a picture with our two elderly for posterity.

it was, to say the least, GAMAT.

the first and second generation

the third generation of grandchildren (two more girls cut off on the right) – i TOLD ya we have too many boys!

the fourth generation of great-grandsons – see, what’d i tell ya, MORE boys!

i think that’s the nice thing about having a big family like my mum’s – the “on-ness”. eight siblings, eight individuals, eight nuclear families, one solid foundation.

being in a two-sibling family, i can see the vast difference in our own lack of “on-ness” compared to theirs. perhaps because they’re older, their solidarity forged from growing up and playing together, fending and looking out for one another, helping out each other in times of need, simply surviving hard times together. or perhaps because we come from a different generation, us who more or less grew up in an individualistic, self-sufficient environment, with little or no crises to test our strengths.

i’m quite sure we won’t be able to churn out as many kids as our grandparents did in their time, it’s certainly not possible given our current age and, well, lifestyle. but as few as our own children will be, i hope they’ll grow up being “on”, always remembering their old farty parents, who used to bring them to many exciting places and do many exciting things with and for them, like throwing nice little parties on their birthdays. :p

Supertod Turns Two!

so we had that small do after all. what can i say, his mummy’s a sucker for celebrations.

and it was DEFINITELY worth it, coz the wonder mommy and green lantern daddy had a great time as well…

thank you to all the little superheroes who took some time off their busy world-saving duties to join the fun.

and of course, their sidekick parents and other adults who made sure they had their cake and eat it too!

save the cheerleader?

it’s gonna be a super day today, i hope…

who knows, maybe i’ll save the world!

then again, being a villain and causing mayhem and destruction is kinda cool too.

hey, they don’t call my newly-acquired age the Terrible Twos for nuthin, right? MUAHAHAHA! *evil mirthless laughter*

to be continued…

13 going on 30

thanks, guys!

for the non-prima deli cake, hurhur…

for the bbq smoke in my lungs…

and for being around at the stroke of midnight to officially be the first well-wishers of the day, heh.

i guess i’m supposed to come up with something reflective to say about turning thirty, but… i don’t have any, really. not right now. let me sleep on it, maybe i’ll be more philosophical tomorrow when i’m thirty years and a day old.

or not. :p

dress up that fish

i asked izad if he does bad food reviews.

he said no.

so… you know where this is going at.

it was mum’s birthday last weekend and we decided to bring her somewhere she hadn’t been to. we headed to the grassroots club, where we’d heard of the n/a/k/e/d fish shoppe.

i’ll try not to sound too, erm, critical and harsh about the place, the food and the service, so i’ll just go over our chosen menu.

right, adam had the kids’ fish & chips, aniq had the fish cutlet sandwich, which was shared with his paklong and his fries pilfered from everywhere else. needless to say, he concentrated on the fries more than the sandwich. he’s turning out to be pretty much like mummy, the fries monster. oops. (but did you know, mcdonalds touts their fries as being high in fibre? haha.)

i had this, or rather, WAITED for this, while everyone else had almost finished their meals. some bits of prawns, fish, scallop, squid and obviously i asked for fries, but it came with rice, so it got sent back, only to be returned the same thing with extra fries in a basket. (apparently, the exact same thing happened to my bro & SIL too when they came here previously.)

the rice was laden with cheese, which the kids kinda liked, coz they like all things gooey and gross, so i managed to get rid of quite a bit of it to them, heh. the scallops i didn’t touch either coz i didn’t like the smell and taste of the slimy stuff, however nicely it’s been cooked. the rest of the fish… let’s just say, nothing beats fish&co., ok? ’nuff said. :S

i also gave away these fish to izad, something like large… anchovies?? we have NO idea, but he liked the fish roe in them, and i didn’t. yeah i’m weird like that. i like my fish, err, egg-less and barren.

now, WHY did i even choose this, in the first place?? *scratch head*

mum had this, grilled barramundi or barracuda or something, topped with lemon butter cream thingy. ’twas alright.

ouuuh and see that thick mango juice at the back? it was sent back a couple of times due to the extra protein (ie. ants) discovered floating around in the jug. yes, a couple of times. but i guess it came together with the juice, you know, like selasih in rose syrup? AND it turned out to be twenty freakin’ bux when i looked at the bill!! my SIL said perhaps without the ants it would’ve cost fifteen bux. sigh.

well, at least the kids had fun running around shooting each other afterwards. they hadn’t seen each other for a week coz of the school hols and adam is looked after by my SIL at their own house.

he said the sweetest thing, that he’d dreamed of aniq.

and yesterday, aniq woke up from his nap at my mum’s and cried out “babang! babang!”. apparently he too missed his partner in crime and dreamed of him as well. awww.

oh, and to my supermum and their superoma, who’s exactly thirty years older than me this month, happy birthday. may you be blessed with more lovely grandkids.

superheros are ok…?

a whole year later and i finally break open one of the boxes of toys from his first birthday, inspired after we watched an episode of ‘thomas the tank engine’, which i found INCREDIBLY dull, especially the male narrator. i mean, i like them british people speaking english and all but ho boy, that fella’s like reading from an encyclopedia or something. and why IS it called the island of sodor?? creepy. but at least i learnt the word “shunting”, which i’d never otherwise know if not for thomas, ha ha.

aaanyway, it was definitely a good way to distract him from any more tv. although, err, mommy isn’t exactly bright when it comes to fixing things like train tracks. (see box with pile of unattached tracks.)

well, obviously! i’ve never played with these stuff!

this was as basic as it could get, and at least i got the train moving by placing the battery in the right place. :p

it didn’t take long before he decided to get the train off-track, and on to more exciting adventures over cliffs of sofa, through tunnels of chairs, and across fields of carpet.

by the way, izad was browsing a shop and picked this book, “Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence” by Gerard Jones.

sounds promising. coz i may need to debunk my long-held notion that violent cartoons and gun-toting action is all bad, after all. and this would serve as justification, heh. basically, the author is saying that there are actual positive developmental aspects of fantasy and make-believe through violence, in that it helps children conquer fears and develop a bold sense of self. which hmm, may have something to it coz whenever the little one sees something he doesn’t like, say cockroaches, lizards, his paklong giving him the evil eye for being unruly, he’d brandish his finger and thumb and go “bang bang!”.

a commentary from a website about the book:

Although it may make adults squirm, the idea of the healing power of confrontational media makes a lot of sense when we place ourselves in the shoes of a child. Children are here to learn and adults are here to impart knowledge, but if “knowledge is power” then the lack of knowledge equals powerlessness, which is the central and foremost fact of a child’s life. We grownups know that our kids will eventually be able to do everything we can do, but we tend to forget that “eventually” is a lot further off in kid-time. Constantly frustrated by their inability to control most of the aspects of their own lives, it is only natural that children will seek empowerment in the one area in which they do have control, their fantasy lives. In fantasy, kids can be superheroes or dinosaurs or ninjas, people with the goods to overpower things which scare them, people who can’t be hurt. In this way children achieve the self-confidence to continue to meet the challenges of parents’ expectations, a growing society of peers, and one big damn scary world.

Compare that message with the ones coughed up by parent-friendly fare like Barney, in which the point seems to be “as long as you never stop smiling, you’ll never get hurt,” or Teletubbies, where the grotesque little gremlins constantly make messes but never have to clean them up, and emulating the self-actualization and courage displayed by the Power Rangers looks even healthier. That’s some righteous mojo there, and before parents attempt to discourage such violent play, we should ask ourselves what the effect will be of telling our kids that the fantasies which make them feel better are bad.

- popmatters.com

and so much for thomas’ train tracks, coz you can guess what they ended up being.

oh well, you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em… (yes, mummy was toting her own toy gun off-camera too.)