Angry Over "Xiao Man Tou"

Everyday after work, I am pleasantly greeted by a cutie face and the adorable voice calling "mama". Lately Evans' favourite words to me become "train train" which means "to take the lift". I don't know what's the attraction of the lift that causes Evans to like taking the lift so much.

To be exact, his words sound like "troo-waain, troo-waaain". I have been trying to influence him that that is not a train but a lift, "dian ti". He would try to mimick me for the first time then after that, he would go back to his cheeky look and said "troo-wain, troo-wain".

Despite being very exhausted from the work and cough last evening, I brought him out for a short while... just to satisfy his desire to take the lift.

Later last night, I got some "wang zai xiao man tou", a baby snack to nibble. Evans saw and quickly took one after another to eat. It's his favourite. When we were left with 3, it seemed like he could not bear to eat them, so he was fiddling and playing around with the last 3. Then I just took one and popped it into my mouth. Next second, he was like pointing his finger at me, looking very very upset! Hahahahahahha! It was a funny sight.

We could tell he was so angry, cos' when was he pointing his finger at me, he was on the verge to break down in tears. We could see tears welling up in his eyes. And his nostrils were flaring with anger. He then looked away, as if he did not want to look at me at all. Sorry but I wasn't sorry about it then, I just thought it was really funny!!!! This was the 1st time he reacted like this.

To appease him, I let him take the last 2, one in each hand. And that worked well. Too bad, I did not take any photo of the angry boy. So that when he is older, I can show it to him!

If You are Late for Lunch

I have this group of funny colleagues who always give funny ideas and crack lame yet sometimes hilarious jokes.

We recently (ok not that recent) started this practice to penalise those who turned up late for lunch. Take the photo of the "offender" and spread it via our WhatsApp group chat. LOL!

Mr Kok started this when he snapped a photo of me and Ms Ang once we stepped out of the lift lobby, we were not even the latest!!! So we made it to the "Hall of Shame" first. It was really funny when all of us started taking photo of one another. Some photos were even so poorly taken that the offender's face could not be recognised! Haha!

This practice, though is funny, it does help a little to deter people from making others wait for them habitually. When we said NOW means NOW, go out and take the lift down NOW.... last time when we said NOW, some of us would still drag a bit, send an email or 2, go to the toilet, etc... so now, NO MORE of such "nonsense"! HEHE!

Mr kok, trying to duck

And it appears that Kok is the top offender in the hall of shame. Haha! And to think he started this "penalty" just cos he bought a new iphone! I wonder how long this will last... ...

Pastor Lee Jong-rak's Baby Box

On mc today. Happened to catch snippets of this documentary about this Pastor Lee who leads a church in Seoul.

What was special about his church was he created a Baby Box. A box, for parents who did not want to keep their babies. When the parents left the baby in the box, they would ring the bell so that the church could retrieve the baby.

I find it very heartbreaking to see the babies being left in that box. One was only 22 days old and he looked so adorable. Pastor Lee gave them generous love and care, he did not want them to be left elsewhere otherwise they might not survived the weather and from the stray dogs.

Pastor saying a prayer

I think it was very noble of Pastor Lee to do that. He helped many helpless (esp single moms) and abandoned babies but I am also not too sure will this encourage more abandoned babies. It was said in South Korea, there is a strong social stigma on single mothers. They did not want to be labelled as shame so would rather choose to let go of the babies. But why not putting them up for proper adoption then?  Tough. When the mother puts up her baby for adoption, she needs to register her name with the baby. Only when the baby is officially adopted, then the name will be off the mother.

So, most times, as long as the baby is un-adopted, the mother bears the name and the shame of having a baby, unwed. Usually when Pastor Lee sees a baby in the Baby Box, there will be a note with the baby, and it usually begins with "I am sorry...".

Pastor Lee's Baby Box is the best alternative for these young single mothers (as least they know their babies will be well taken care of) but he was forced to close down the box because of the legislation (all babies must have proper registration records). Pastor Lee has to give up the babies to the government and he couldn't bear to do so, esp those with disability. I feel for him because he has given all his love to them but cannot watch them grow. He was particularly concerned for those disabled kids also because he has a disabled son who suffered from celebral paralysis.

I think it is not only in South Korea but typically Asia countries, we cannot avoid such social stigma. We were taught the social convention to get married then kids. If not, YOU ARE A SHAME. Though I think probably such pressure is more evident in South Korea. In Singapore, under the media influence and exposure to western culture, I think it is a little 'easier' for unwed moms. But, of course, still not the approved way.

Anyway, back to the Baby Box, I just wish that people can be more responsible for their actions. Don't do something which you cannot afford the consequences. It's a precious little life.

"We just want happy kids"

Seeing Doctor AGAIN

As I said in my earlier post, this cough of mine is really persistent. I really want to cure this once and for all. So I went to see my GP again. This time, he gave me a totally different combination of medications. Nasal Spray, Anti-biotics, Flu Medicines

But what about the cough???? Doctor Tan explained to me my problem wasn't the cough per se. It was more of the airway and air pockets being blocked with the mucus. These mucus is formed because of my allergy towards the weather change. Behind our faces, there are many air pockets, so these air pockets are blocked by the mucus. Then the mucus starts to flow into the throat, tickling it and causes the coughing. So, he thinks that the cough medicine would not help to cure, but rather temporarily suppressed it.

Point taken. And I need to eat these medicines for 10 days!!!!!!! That means even when I am at Phuket, I need to eat them too! :( I am starting to wonder, can I even avoid cold drinks totally when I am there... cos it's really gonna be sooooooooooooo hot!

2nd course of medication, hope it works!!!

Boiled Coke with Ginger and Lemon

I was bothered by this very persistent cough for weeks. Started with what seemed very mild dry cough, it got worse with lots of phlegm. The night before was really bad that I had to go out of the room for 4 times in the middle of the night just to cough it all out. Applied Vicks at the nose and next minute, my nose was filled with thick mucus.

I recalled an old recipe which supposedly can 'cure' cough. So I tried it last night:

Boiled Coke with Ginger & Lemon

Ingredients

1 can of coke
1 inch of ginger
half a lemon

1. Pour the coke into the pan
2. Slice the ginger and lemon
3. Put the ginger and lemon in the coke
4. Boil for 10 min
5. Drink it while it's hot

Verdict? It tastes ok more like very hot lemon water with a hint of ginger flavour. I think I cannot really taste the coke anymore. This drink is definitely better than any cough mixture. So I drank the full big cup. Guess what, I think it kind of work because I did not cough at all last night!!! But the cough came back once I woke up this morning.

Well at least, I think this works to some extent! Highly recommended and I am sure to do this again if need be.

My favourite drink

Boil... magic potion

while waiting for the concoction to be ready... our fridge needs to be 'updated'

DRINK IT UP!

Flared Up!

For the 1st time, I really blew my top at Evans just now when I was trying to clothe him after his shower.

I really scolded him very sternly and gave him 2 tight slaps at the thighs. Ok, not really violent but I was really losing my temper in the room. I knew I was very frustrated... perspiring, unwell (kept coughing away). Yet this little boy was getting on my nerves!!! He chose to be naughty at a very wrong time that 'earned' him 2 slaps on the thighs. I wanted him to lay down, he insisted to sit up. I wanted him to sit up, he kept lying down!  I wanted him to wear his PJ, he wanted to run away. Smiling away cheekily... arghhh losing my patience.

Let him out of the room then I closed the door to chill. And he cried outside. Actually I felt really bad shortly after that. I shouldn't have scolded him like that. It was just because I was feeling very unwell... ... Sigh.

I went out and carried him.... tried to talk some sense to him, saying he was behaving badly and that I didn't like it. I don't know if he understands.

I felt very bad when I saw that his thighs were red. :(

Evans's First Passport

Went to ICA to collect Mom's and Evans' passports! It is Evans' 1st passport. All set to go Phuket!

Evans surely enjoyed his day out with Por Por. The MRT train never failed to fascinate him.

obediently sitting next to Por Por, while waiting for the train

On the train

After ICA, we headed to Tampines One and had out lunch at Kim Gary. Too busy at Kim Gary so forgot to take any photos. I tried feeding Evans with the instant cereal, to test it out. If he is ok with the taste, we can feed this to him at Phuket. But tooooo bad, he did not like it. It is rare for Evans to reject food so this one is really yucky. I think it's yucky too, a little bland yet with a hint of sweetness, and it's semi fluid... really not food. LOL.

May I go back to the train?

Ta-daaaa, Evans' 1st passport.... hubby was telling Evans "Now that you have passport already, you are a big boy!" LOL!

It was challenging taking this passport photo. (got rejected once!)

When Evans sees his passport photo, he calls out "kor kor". LOL!