Coming soon to an airport near you

On my recent trip home from France, as I my hand-carried bags were being "x-rayed" at the CDG airport in Paris, I noticed something funny.

I noticed that all the kids from my son's school group were told to take off their shoes and to put their shoes thru the x-ray machines. Odd, isnt it? That would be the last people that I would suspect of carrying explosives on board.

Instead normal men and women, like hubby and me, did not have to remove our shoes.

Who do you think was a bigger threat - school groups or individual travellers?

Anyway, I guess over there, they thought school groups were a bigger threat.

But have you seen the latest security screening machines that they intend to introduce?


Here's a peak of what's to come:

No mood

It's only 2 weeks to CNY, and I have yet to do ANY baking.

No pineapple tarts, no cookies of any sort!!

Nothing!

Why?

No mood, leh?

I think I need something to trigger it.

Or, maybe I am getting old, and the "novelty" of CNY is wearing off. Sigh!

Quick, someone! Send me some cookies or tarts to tempt my taste buds to get me into action!! !

Country Bumpkin goes to town

Have not been to the business district for ages. But I went today - to do a delivery to one of my customers.

Whilst I was there, all those places that I used to frequent when I was still working beckoned me. I went by to the Golden Shoe Hawker Centre - heading straight for my favourite gado gado stall. But was disappointed coz I couldnt recognise the lady selling. Not sure if it was the same one, I didnt want to risk buying, coz I was afraid I wouldnt enjoy it. Even the lady manning my favourite assam pedas stall at the same hawker centre didnt look the same. So i skipped that stall too.

But, the Long House popiah stall was still there. After that I headed for Zaiton, another Malay food stall which I frequented in the good old days. I had their mee rebus, mee siam, and kueh lopes, and I "ta-powed" the lontong. The food was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO satisfying - especially the mee rebus. One of the best in town, I must say.

I am now in this very satisfied state, and think I should be going more often to that part of town. Only problem is that parking is so expensive there!

No more bad hair days ... for a few months, at least.

My oldest had a nightmare the other night, and fortunately she was removed from the scary situation when her alarm rang. Suddenly she turned and there was this lady with a "vroom" hair (as she calls it), shaking her. She was out of bed in record time. I havent had problems waking her up for school so far this year.

I was at the hair-dressers yesterday. And my hair-dresser asked me: What happened to your hair?

I replied: I thought I should be asking you that question!!

You see, I have natural curls in my hair,and when my hair gets a little long, it tends to go "wild"!!

After much discussion, my hairdresser decide that I should re-bond my hair.

So, I sat there for FOUR whole hours, praying that he can perform a miracle for me.

At the end of it, my fringe is now as flat as pancake. Must say, I kind of like the flat look.

This morning, when I went to wake my daughter up for school, she said:" Mum, I am awake." But half an hour later, there was no sight of her. She had gone right back to bed.

Guess, there is no more that lady with the "vroom" hair to scare her out of bed.

But there should be no more "bad hair" days for me for a while. Guess that's what they mean by, you cant have your cake and eat it!!

The Alphabet ... as we get older!

Received this from a friend via email and I thot it was hilarious, and there is some truth in it.

A is for apple, and B is for boat,
That used to be right, but now it won't float!
Age before beauty is what we once said,
But let's be a bit more realistic instead.

A's for arthritis;
B's the bad back,
C's the chest pains,
Perhaps car-d-iac?

D is for dental decay and decline,
E is for eyesight, can't read that top line!
F is for fissures and fluid retention
G is for gas which I'd rather not mention.

H High blood pressure--I'd rather it low
I For incisions with scars you can show.
J is for joints, out of socket, won't mend,
K is for knees that crack when they bend.
L for libido, what happened to sex?
M is for memory, I forget what comes next.
N is neuralgia, in nerves way down low
O is for osteo, bones that don't grow!

P for prescriptions, I have quite a few,
Just give me a pill, I'll be good as new!
Q is for queasy, is it fatal or flu?
R is for reflux, one meal turns to two.

S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears,
T is for Tintinitus, bells in my ears!
U is for urinary, troubles with flow;
V for vertigo, that's 'dizzy', you know.

W for worry, NOW what's going 'round?
X is for X ray, and what might be found.
Y for another year I'm left here behind,
Z is for zest I still have-- in my mind.

I've survived all the symptoms, my body's deployed,
And I'm keeping twenty-six doctors fully employed!!!


HAVE A GREAT DAY !

some tooth matters

So many things toothy matters have cropped up recently:

First: During the recent chess tournament, my son, during a lunch break, whilst eating his garlic bread suddenly started "reacting": "my tooth has dropped!" But no, his tooth didnt drop out, but he had blood oozing out of his mouth. It was quite a sight. As a result he couldnt eat his lunch. I told him to go rinse his mouth and then to pull his tooth out himself. But he just couldnt pull it out! So no choice, I had to do it for him, or it would have affected his game in the afternoon. Well, that's the first tooth I have pulled out for ANY of my kids.

Second: My oldest had braces put in this past week.
Cost: An arm and a leg to me. To her: lots of pain and an inability to eat due to the pain involved. But, it's getting better :)
Result: I have gone back to carrying a small pair of scissors with me when we go out, and I have to cut her food really small - ala baby food.
Final Result: A beautiful smile from her in the future (and not the scowls I have been getting recently).

Third: Lil D has a shaky tooth!
And that's too early for me. Actually when I looked at it, it looks ready to be pulled out. But I think 5 is way too early for her tooth to drop, so I have left it in there. The older 2 only lost their 1st tooth in P1, which mean they were almost 7. Could this shaky tooth be the result of all those fish soup she's been drinking all these years ... in an effort to give her more calcium to strengthen her bones? And for someone with her medical condition, it is no good to change teeth so early, coz they are very prone to cavities. But there is nothing I can do about it. AND she is so excited, coz she cant wait for the tooth fairy to visit!

Fourth: I need to schedule a visit to the dentist. Have not been for a while. Must make the time COZ I want to have a smile as beautiful as my children's!!
:D

Cheers!

We were strolling by the alcohol section of the supermart yesterday when my eldest commented: "Hey, my classmates said they drank lots of Jolly shandy when they were at the chalet!"

Her class had a sleepover at the chalet during the recent school hols. Eldest did not join them as we were away on vacation.

I remember not so long ago there was some "hoo-ha" over Jolly shandy and how it was sold openly to all and sundry at convenience stores around the island. The "hoo-ha" was over the fact that it had an alcoholic element, and yet underaged teens were allowed to purchase it. I remember that the response by the authorities was that the alcohol content was so low ( I believe it is less than 1%), that it did not fall under the legislation of the liquor license board, and hence not regulated.

My reaction to her comment was: Do you want to drink it? I will buy it for you. It has alcohol in it, you know?

Her reply was: Yes, I know. But I dont want to drink it. Dont want to lose my brain cells.

Phew! What a relief.

I am one that would rather my child experiment with whatever drink at home, than with possible strangers at strange locations, so that these drinks will not be a novelty to them nor forbidden. I dont want them to do it behind my back. At least when they have it at home, I will know how well they are able to tolerate it, and we can share with them the dos and donts. Anyway, I am so glad she didnt want to drink it. (Yet!!)

Would you do the same?

The road warrior!

The children have been back in school for a week already, so the road warrior is on the roads again!

Yes, it tough getting back to this grueling schedule of ferrying the kids, all three in three different schools with different timings for dismissal. But I will get used to the schedule soon .... after that long break of 6 weeks.

I have always thot driving on Singapore roads was really stressful. But after that trip to Paris I have changed my mind. Driving in Singapore is really not that stressful - really!!

Over there, I just couldnt believe me eyes. Drivers were going every which way they chose, and the traffic jams were HORRIFIC!! For our personal safety, we made sure that we always looked both ways twice before crossing the road, even if it was a one way street! And then there were the cyclists to watch out for, and the "land mines" (dog poo, la!) too.

Even my daughter agreed after she came back that traffic in singapore wasnt that bad after all.

Happy New Year

A new Year and decade has dawned upon us, and I am a little late in wishing all a Happy New Year. Anyway - here it is -

"Happy New Year!!"

The past 6 weeks have blown by so very quickly for me .. and I guess time flies when you are having fun. As soon as the school closed, we left the very next day on vacation - to Perth. And when we got back,I was busy unpacking, and making all the necessary arrangements for our trip to France. In that one week, I also managed to organise a little birthday celebration for my Lil D (who turned 5) with her school friends. it was "blink and you will miss it" kind of party. The date was fixed on a thursday for a friday lunch gathering. Anyway, this poor dear of mine never had a birthday celebration with her friends previously, as most were travelling in previous years. But this year, we managed to get quite a few, and I must say she was "mighty pleased!!"

It was then off to France and then back, and preparations for Christmas began, whilst recovering from a jet lag. Pressies this year was easy (ok, I cheated!) Most either got chocs which we brought home from France, gifts from my oven, or movie vouchers (which was mainly for the teenagers - coz I really do not know what will interest them with my budget!!) So That was Christmas for me. It really came and went with the wink of an eye.

And post Christmas, my kids were (and are still) busy battling out the National Age Groups, so I was stuck up in Yishun for 3 whole days ( 8.30 to 5.30) until New Year's Eve. Today, my kind hubby has relieved me of that duty.

So that was my 6 weeks in brief.

Well, school reopens on Monday, and in 6 weeks time it will be Chinese New Year. I am sure the next 6 weeks will go by as fast as the last.

I trust your past 6 weeks have been as eventful as mine.