World's funniest video

... could have been shot at the playground today.

Picture this. Big One on the swing, watching Small One and another toddler kick a ball around. Ball comes towards Big One. Big One instinctively extends one leg out to kick the ball. Only that he wasn't holding on to the chains. Big One loses his balance, makes a startled "Whooopppps!" and falls backwards, off the swing. He lands with butt and head in the sand, legs still dangling on the seat. The 2 toddlers stare at the Big One. They start announcing what they saw to each other. "He fall down!" says one. "Papa fall off! Papa never hold properly!" says the other. I couldn't stop laughing. I laughed so hard the toddlers started laughing, then Big One started laughing followed by the other toddler's Dad. Took a while before we ( the other dad and me ) regained enough composure to ask if the Big One was alright. He was but what an impression he made!

I was laughing too hard to notice but Big One said Small One helped him up by pulling his arm. Awww.....Mummy's terrible.

Happy Mother's Day!

Received 2 cards, a bag of cookies & a laced macaroni necklace from BY. He made them in school.

They also taught him to sing:
Mummy Mummy I love you,
you know that I really do,
so I sing for you!

Aw...

School Fees >>> $450/month.

Madam Contractor Part 2

After the unfortunate episode, we never got round to getting a new contractor to put up the woodwork for the bay windows in our rooms as originally intended.

After a couple of Lycheetinis & 3 complimentary fillet mignon's steak sandwiches at Morton's in Oriental yesterday, we walked over to Marina Shopping Centre, intending to buy a rice cooker. (Oh yes, we managed to get our hands on the free sandwiches 3 times! The Big One happened to be seated facing the main door and so, everytime the waiters came in with the laden trays, he would smile so expectantly at them that they couldn't help but offer him one.)

Detoured and ended up in a DIY Home-Fix store. Big One wanted to get some putty to fix the hole in our wall. Good idea! I told him to get some silicon sealant for the kitchen & bath areas as well and wandered off.

Spotted a roll of self-adhesive 'bamboo'. Somewhat beefed-up by the alcohol, yours truly decided to DIY.

*drumroll.......................................*



TA-DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


~the efficient housewife~ (It's working!!!)


.......................

On second thoughts, oh dearie me! We forgot about the rice cooker!!!

Right. Here comes the answers!

Stress Balls:

Remove 2 balls from the 8.
[1st Try] Weigh 3 balls on each side of the balance scale.
If it is the same, then
[2nd Try] Weigh the 2 balls you have taken aside to find out which is the heavier ball.

Bingo!

If it is not the same, then remove the 3 balls that are lighter. Keep 1 ball from the heavier 3 and
[2nd Try] Weight the remainding 2 balls.
If it is the same, then the ball you've kept aside is the heavier one. If not, the scale will show.

There you have it!

More stress leh:

Mark the balls properly so that you can tell which bag they came from later.

Remove 1 ball from Bag 1, 2 balls from Bag 2, 3 balls from Bag 3 etc... and weigh the 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 45 balls on the weighing scale. If it is 2 grams more that it should be, then Bag 2 is the one with the heavier balls. If it's 3 grams more, then it would be Bag 3 and so forth.

Hope you guys had fun!

Hokkaido Ice-Cream

Went for a walk with the big one last night. Stumbled upon this ice-cream shop at The Central @ Clarke Quay. We tried Black Sesame - tastes a bit raw, Strawberries & Blueberries - top seller, nice but only if you like berry yogurt & Green Tea with Red Bean - we both liked this one.

Big One: If you like Green Tea, it comes with Red Bean and if you like Red Bean, it comes with the Green Tea. So you must like them mixed together.

Me: But they have GREEN BEAN!

Big one: ?

More stress leh!

Well, was told "Stress Balls" is a no brainer.

Try figuring this one out:

Use weighing machine. You got 9 bags of marbles...in one bag, each marble is 1 gram heavier than the rest. So, in one weighing...how do u figure out which bag contains the ones with the heavier marbles?

Stress balls

Went for an interview earlier.

I was asked this question:

If you had 8 balls (not that I do) and one of them is heavier than the rest, how would you determine which ball is the heavier one with only 2 tries on the balance scale?

***WHA PIANG!***

Told him I could do it in three tries but he only allowed me 2 so I stared at the 8 balls he drew on the whiteboard.........and then suddenly, EUREKA!!! Yes yes yes! It can be done! Had to explain to him how.

He was pretty impressed.

***PHEW!***

I was pretty impressed with myself too!

***GRIN***

Go figure. Answers in the next couple of days.

Voodoo

When was the last time I mopped the floor?
Can't remember.
Picked up enought hair today to make a voodoo doll.
We don't have pets.

~ the efficient housewife ~

(positive affirmations I'm told, will make the chores go away!)

The Bark Cafe

Sparkles! This is near your mom's.

Had dinner with YL and the boy earlier at The Bark Cafe.

Boy ate: two skinless chicken wings (or equivalent) with ketchup / some mushrooms - insisted they must be cheese-free & the top bun - insisted this must be cheese-free as well - from the mushroom burger / half a potato wedge & some 'soup of the day' (mushroom)

We ate: What's above plus Escargot.

The Chicken Wings were lovely - big, nice & juicy. Burger was good only while it was hot. The Escargot came slightly burnt but was still tasty. Soup of the day though was a complete disaster - lumpy and lukewarm. Didn't send it back because I could feed the boy with it straightaway without scalding his tongue. Wonder why he didn't take more than 2 spoonfuls......(".)

Child friendliness
(1) they have booster seats
(2) because it's alfresco, there're no doors to run into & the kid can play safely on the grass patch nearby while you eat and watch.
(3) there's a squattie in the ladies and the kid can take a dump (which he did) without you having to worry about seat cleanliness.

Will I take us there again? Definitely.

Location: 1000 Upper Changi Road North.

Check out other reviews here.

Just now

I guess if you are a little more than two and a half and less than three years old, anything that happened, happened only "Just now".

Anyway, this is a picture I took "just now". Found a cave for you to explore after school today. When we got there, I told you 'we are going on a bear hunt' (just like the book) and you took to your heels!

Told you dad over the phone what happened and he said, " He ran into the cave?" I said, "No! He ran away, away from the cave!"

You were hugging me when I took this shot. Can tell from your eyes you were having fun and that you knew I wasn't serious about the bears.

Love you so much!

Community Happenings

Useful site. Check it out.

Thomas the Tank Engine Theme Song

They're two they're four they're six they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
red and green and brown and blue
they're the really useful crew

All with different roles to play
Round tidmouths or far away
Down the hills and round the bends
Thomas and friends

Thomas he's the cheeky one
James is vain but lots of fun
Percy pulls the mail on time
Gordon thunders down the line
Emily really knows her stuff
Henry toots and huffs and puffs
Edward wants to help and share
Toby, well let's say, he's square

They're two they're four they're six they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
red and green and brown and blue
they're the really useful crew

All with different roles to play
Round tidmouths or far away
Down the hills and round the bends
Thomas and friends

They're two they're four they're six they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
red and green and brown and blue
they're the really useful crew

All with different roles to play
Round tidmouths or far away
Down the hills and round the bends
Thomas and friends

Acedia

I did get a cake from HE........and it wasn't a brownie!

So, the little one sang me a birthday song (this was top on my list of happy things for the day), I made a wish, the little one helped me blow out the candles, we cut the cake, put a huge slice on a plate and shared it as a family.

Some many hours later, after HE and the little one have both gone to bed, ME, after reading up all those HR stuff, wanted to get under the covers as well. ME walks past the dining table and sees "A PLATE"!

I stared at the plate for a while. Maybe 5 seconds.

Right, have lost 5 seconds staring at the plate.

Could have used those 5 seconds washing it up.

So......I DID SOMETHING WHICH I SWORE I'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE!

I PUT THE PLATE,
THE EMPTY,
DIRTY ONE,
INSIDE THE FRIDGE,
AND
WENT
TO
BED.

Laurance of Margaret River Red 2003

Beautiful bottle. Stuff smells wonderful & tastes good. Would have been perfect if I had a slab of beef to go with it.

Description at the back of the bottle:

"This very elegant and smooth red is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot. This hand-picked grapes are harvested from our famly-run vineyard in Wilyabrup of Margaret River. Your nose will be seduced by fresh violets and taste buds tantalised by flavours rich in blackcurrant, mulberries and plums. It doesn't get any better. The epitome of Margaret River. ~Dianne Laurance"

Wait! I think I have some Bak Kwa lying around...

Currently reading....

The Pleasure of my Company by Steve Martin.

Review on Hou Ning

Wow.

WOW.

WOW!!!

"Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may (stop coughing!), I say." Not green eggs and ham, just some odd cud from a goat.

Vic asked if I've tried it to see how it tastes. Well, I went to the extent of scrapping the plastic vial, fit for lilliputians, with a toothpick to get every darn speck out. Taste them? You must be kidding. I rather eat gold. Cheaper!

32 and alive

Yesterday, HE said, " I didn't prepare anything!" to ME.
ME says, " Prepare what?"

and then, it dawns on me... MY BIRTHDAY! HE DIDN'T PREPRARE ANYTHING FOR MY BIRTHDAY!

ME replies, "Aiyah, it's been 10 years and I'd be stupid to expect anything from you on my birthday! "

ME thinks HE simply cannot be taught new tricks!

Friends will ask, " Will HE get you presents?"
Last year, I think I said, "Better not expect anything, else will quarrel."
This year, I think I said, " I didn't marry him because he knows how to get me presents."
Next year, I think I'll say, " If I expect anything, we might as well get a divorce. "(Because that will mean I still don't know him well enough)

HE says, everyday is a day for celebration.

ME thinks, "Hey, I'm not getting presents everyday either!"

Anyway, I had a wonderful lunch with DD at the SSC today while HE tries to pretend HE might have arranged something for me during that time. Hahhaaa! Not taken in!

ME parents are coming over later. ME will have a nice dinner with them together with HE and the boy.

Cheers! Because I'm 32 and still kicking!

P.S. It has rained every year on this day since I was 7. It might have rained the 6 years before that but I'd never know. Anyway, it's raining today and this always brings me back to the day when I turned 7. I remember looking at the raindrops as it fell in our school courtyard, feeling the nice cool breeze on my cheeks and thinking how nice it is to have a birthday.

Calcified cud

Gold price SGD$35/gram

Price of Hou Ning: SGD$60/0.37 gram/ box
>>> SGD$162/ gram

This calcified cud costs 462% more than gold, weight for weight!

You asked me what it was. I told you it was "Magic Milo" and cursed silently when some of it went over your upper lip like a moustache. Scrapped them off like an obsessive nut, back into your mouth, every single visible speck!

Hou Ning - Ingredients: Capra Hircus L. Bezoar 100%

(Source: WordNet (r) 1.7) Capra hircus n : any of various breeds raised for milk or meat or wool [syn: domestic goat, Capra hircus] / (Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) ) Bezoar n : A calculous concretion found in the intestines of certain ruminant animals (as the wild goat, the gazelle, and the Peruvian llama) formerly regarded as an unfailing antidote for poison, and a certain remedy for eruptive, pestilential, or putrid diseases. Hence: Any antidote or panacea.

Right... going to get these tomorrow. Hope to kill your month old phlegm with these goats!

A latch, milk powder & bottle detergent

Grocery lists

Before marriage:
Instant cup noodles / Chocolate

After marriage:
Instant ramen / Chocolate

Now:
Brown rice
Darn expensive fish
Darn expensive beef
Mushrooms / Broccoli (also known as 'trees')
Fruits
Milk powder
Bottle detergent
Diapers
Latch (from the hardware department)..... son has been sleepwalking recently. 4am: Son is missing from the room! 4:02am: Son is found sleeping in the living room, on the marble flooring with his legs dangling out from the window grills.