Nikita's First Piano Exam

After two years of learning piano, Nikita finally was ready to take the formal ABRSM exam and advance to Grade 2.

It was a sunny Friday as we drove her to the venue which was the Hilton PJ, and the girl was excited, we told her in brief what to expect and to perform for the examiner.

As we were early, we waited about 40 minutes before it was Niki's turn, the usher came in to call her name and off my daughter went for her exam, Mummy was feeling more nervous than she was and was pacing up and down the corridor, the exam will take only 10 minutes, from down the hall I could hear her going through the motions ie. scales, broken chords, aural exam, before playing the designated 3 pieces. And then, it was over.

Niki ran down the corridor with a triumphant smile, and I knew she had aced it. I couldn't be more proud of her. For now we will await for the formal results to be out in late August.

Another milestone for my Nikita.

Week 23

I'm currently in week 23, and due to my age (ahem!) I have had my triple screen blood test done plus another one other test, and hence because of that my doctor has advised me to take it easy and hubby told me to sit in one place before he left home just now.


And because I'm such a lazy arse I shall do as told!


My all day sickness abated when I was about 3.5 months in, and was down to 49kgs and I have now gained back my pre-pregnancy weight and then some, I haven't had any cravings which means I can't throw a hissy fit when I don't get what I want.


Baby is now kicking up a storm inside and I am so excited everytime baby does that.

I Have News!

Just noticed the last time I posted was in October 2011, goodness gracious!

Anyways, I have news ---- our family will be welcoming another new addition, yes, I am expecting and am now in my 11th week. And the early weeks has been far from fun as I had the worst ever all day sickness, I have successfully lost 5kgs during this time and apparently am at my preferred BMI weight!

But anyhow to not overshadow the good news with my new Marie France bodyline -- here it is again -- We are expecting!! Woohoo!

Life can be unexpected that way but it's a wonderful surprise and we get to be new baby parents once more -- so exciting!

Nikita is going on 8 this year and my God, how time has flown by, she's grown into the most beautiful young lady both inside and out and we are just so proud of her :)

Well -- I'm gonna start up my blog again and there may be belly shots coming at you soon -- so wait for it :)

And we're now in October!

Peek-a-boo, guess who.

After months and months away, I told myself that I owe it to Nikita big time to continue this.

I can't stop just like that, we.... well we have been fine. Lots of stuffs happened in between and I now regret it wholeheartedly that I did not blog about any of our trips and the new makans we got.

Nikita has just finished, yes, finished her finals and I'm glad to report that the girl scored well in all her school subjects (Mummy & Daddy are very proud) and Daddy thank God that the iPad he got his little darling is now well deserved, supposedly Daddy was to get the Pad for her only if she got really good scores in her finals but Daddy bought it two months back.

And now Niki and the rest of the lower primary are busy practicing for her drama, and school is officially slowly winding down and I know before you know it missy will be in Primary 2.

October being Deepavali month, we're all prepping up with gusto, new clothes, baking, cleaning and etc is now in full gear, and to top it off we're having a dinner party on the 29th, so tons of things to do and what not.

November 1st is also on the horizon, Nikita's finally turning seven after exhaustively telling people she's 6+, guess women of all ages, doesn't like to age period! More on this later.

I don't want to get ahead of myself and over blog since I'm slowly easing myself back into blogging.

See you soon!

All's Well

Dear Blog,

I'm back ... thanks to Unify, out with the darn Celcom broadband snailspeed I was previously on.

Niki's well into her Primary 1 and has completed her mid terms recently, her grades are pretty ok, and school's life is pretty ok as well. I realized that my writing's are quite shot, when the word pretty is used twice in one paragraph

We're leaving for Manila on Wednesday for a short break in the middle of the week! Oooo, can't wait neither can Niki, will blog from Manila?

See you soon!

Yippeee, we're back!

All

All

OMG Last Published Mar 20th

Cannot fake it to make it.

I am so sorry dear blog I have abandoned thee for so long, guilt-ridden, but in my defense I am busier than the PM right now I think, somedays I don't even have time to eat my lunch and people asks me about my frame. Yesterday my lawyer J, said OMG Claudine, have you been dieting while chomping on her lunch in PP as I looked longingly at the Ju-Hoo Char she was having (I on the other hand has been running on empty!) to which I replied no J, stress is a better diet plan it works wonders and there is no binging coz there's basically no time for that.

The only consolation was that very evening us and another couple are meeting up at Zeta for drinks, and had a blast of a good time! Danced like we were back in '93 so to speak!

Assessment #1

Niki's assessment will be in a week's time, and I feel like I'm the one sitting for the assessment!

It's Niki's first real test so to speak since she started Primary 1, and I am extremely nervous. Daughter taking the test, mummy getting all jittery, go figure!

Nikita & Her Besties!

Blue Cookies

Sonia, Niki & Elissa

The three besties

Niki is very fortunate to have not one but two besties.

Best of all they both live in the same taman as us.

Which means the kids can just drop by to play anytime during the weekends.

And sometimes the kids go all "junior masterchef" and even bake cookie monster inspired cookies ;-)

Dinners Functions = Excuse to Dress Up!

Hon & Riana's Wedding Dinner

A black tie affair

Nikita's 1st Cross Country

Recently Niki's school had a cross country run, my daughter who would rather be carried at this age than walk on her own actually came in 11th in the lower primary girls category. Medals were given to the Top 10, so Niki was rather glum she didn't have a medal to take home, but like the champ that she is, she realizes that there is a next time.

Next week is their first term school hols and it's for a week, but the week will have to be spent going through her lessons at home because the school planned for theit first assesment the week after, so there would be no rest, this is what I call a bluff school holiday!

A random Niki moment

Here's a pic I've been meaning to share ... from early last year.

This is Niki with Archer, a Siberian Husky belonging to a friend of ours. Yes, it was their first meeting but they got on like a house on fire. And Archer is much, much better than a throw pillow anytime!

Three Months In

Nikita is officially in her third month in Primary 1, and I must've been crazy when I thought that Primary 1 is going to be a breeze, so now I know it's not so much of a breeze and more like a typhoon. And on most days I can't help but wish that we were still in kindy, now that was a breeze.

Homework is beginning to pile in and time management is getting to be tricky, but we're hanging in there, and we're giving Niki our 110% support in whatever that she does. And though we try not to baby her so much, we still do.

TG, It's still CNY

I've not been posting as regularly as I have been and hopefully come March it'll all be better!

Of course, to welcome in the new year I must now post my auspicious CNY greeting, moreover it's the bunny year, which is my year! Yay, the year is mine! mine! mine! and of course other rabbits as well ;-) And then wait for another 12 year cycle till the next one. I'll by 48 yo the next time it comes around in year 2023! And I was only 24 yo the last time it was here!

But let's not stray from today's post with Maths, Vicky, Nikita & I would like to wish everyone who visits our blog,

KUNG HEI FATT CHOY, MAN SI YU YI, SAN THAI KIN HONG AND SANG YEE HENG LOONG!

which translates as Wish you good luck & riches, excellence health & may your business/work/career prosper! All good things in abundance!

Happy Bunny Year to All!

I have been busy...

Really, I have, been unbelievably busy.

It's incredible to think I'm craving to get away again, and it's not even a fortnight yet from my last escapade.

On a really big milestone type note, Nikita is now in Standard 1, can't believe, well neither can I.

We've been so busy, and our routine has since turned upside down to accommodate, well this new routine.

I've been getting up even before the crack of dawn and have been going at it with no more than 6 hrs of sleep every night, it's a wonder I can get through the day but somehow I am, maybe it's the euphoria knowing that my firstborn is now in formal school!

And yes, I do have cutesy pictures of her in her uniform, having lunch at the canteen, sitting in class, yes, nearly every minute of her first day in school is in pictures, but by the 3rd day she was flying solo. It's amazing when I think about it, and then reminiesce my own horrific Standard 1 Biru experience. I cried, I was scared, I didn't what to do, and I knew I didn't speak to anyone, and was heavily relieved when school was done, fast forward 29 years later and it's a whole new ball game. Kids nowadays are of a different breed altogether, Teacher Sue said that it was most probably the DHA and what not that is in kid's formula nowadays, I don't disagree!

But apart from all the lack of sleep, I am so profoundly happy that my baby is now going to school and is slowly speading her wings. She tells me that primary school is really different but she thoroughly enjoying her new experience although it's hard finding a new BFF! She still misses Jyin Tzer, Sonya & the gang :)

But it's the dawn of a new chapter, a chapter that will last a good 11 years right up to secondary school, all I can say is well we better be ready for the rollercoaster ride!

Shanghai Tang

We were pleasantly surprised with what Shanghai had to offer, to say the least, it is a beautiful city with a lot, and I mean a lot of shopping malls! Every corner and every exit of the metro there's definitely a mall. Ironically with the abundance of shopping malls, I didn't really shopped much, but I did unfortunately indulged in a lot of holiday eating, and to top it off I don't feel the least bit guilty! We had a wonderful time, the weather was a bit chilly towards the evening but we woke up to sunshine every day!

We're Off To Shanghai

We're heading off to Shanghai in a few hours time,

So excited!!

The Bund, here we come!

Xintiandi, we're seeing you for happy hours :)

And, we would like to take this special season to wish each & everyone of our loved ones,

"Blessed Christmas, Happy New Year & Happy Holidays!"

HO! HO! HO!

It's never a splurge!

A lesson learnt is, there is never such thing as a splurge.. when we were in Hong Kong in October Vicky bought me a nice leather jacket which was to die for, it was soft and comfy & smelt heavenly. Ok, at first I thought that it was more of an indulgence but as soon as I realized that we're travelling soon into an icy, cold winter, and in that kind of weather I need not bother of what I have underneath because nobody is gonna see it, but at least on top of it I have my nice, leather jacket that will look great with my boots!

So, there's no such thing a splurge in a girl's vocab, it's more like, I'm sure there will come a time that I'll need it!

Hot Mama Birthday shoutout

A gargantum shoutout to my MIL who turns a young 58 today!

Yay! Happy Birthday, Amma!

We love you, tons ...