What we did over the long weekend: Rompin fishing trip

What did you do on the Vesak Day weekend?
For me, I joined Hubby, my gal friend Clare, and her dad along with some of hubby's friends on a fishing trip to Rompin.

 

 

Drove up in the wee hours in the darkness until day break!

We are finally here!

Open-air toilet. So close to nature.

See what is on my hubby's shirt.. Bueh tahan...

Clare is the yellow-tail expert! She caught so many of those until can open market already.

Uncle Roland got a catch!

What is my husband fighting??

Hubby's monster catch

Baracuda!

Uncle Roland so cute and comical, he says everything also need to take photo

As close to a Sailfish as we can get

One month no need to buy fish already

We ended the trip having dinner at the Kelong with our catches.

Barakuda claypot curry. Sedap!

Clare's yellow-tails.

I was a bit disappointed because I had solely wanted to catch Sailfish! But looks like the drizzly weather and season just weren't right. Thank goodness for the great company which more than made up for the bad weather.

And I missed my boys dearly! My 2, who when apart, want to be together, but when they are together, 1 of them ends up crying.

Which is exactly like me yesterday - when I'm away from them, I pine for them. But when I'm around them, 1 of us (me) ends up crumbling to the ground crying.

 

Oh my dear boys! Can't wait for you both to be big enough to join your Dad on fishing trips!

 

 

[Review] VMV Hypoallergenic skincare from Luxola.

Hi all! I won a set of VMV Hypoallergnic skincare courtesy of Luxola in their Facebook giveaway. Lucky or what!!

 

  

Nice little brown box with ribbon and additional samples. Happyyy :)
Can't wait to check out what are the goodies inside!

From left to right: Creammmy rich intensive moisture milk; Subtle shine lipstick; Re-everything face-hand-body lotion; Sweat acne and overall anti-bacterial Monolaurin gel; Sport full-spectrum water-resistant sunscreen SPF 70; ThisWorks perfect hands intense moisture cream.

 

Thank you Luxola for this generous gift, I'm gonna use the Sweat acne and overall anti-bacterial Monolaurin gel, and the Sport sunscreen for my fishing trip this long weekend!

I'm sure it'll protect my skin from the harmful rays when I'm out at sea with my Hubby.

If you haven't heard of Luxola, they are an online shop selling a wide range of skincare and makeup.

My favourite buys from them are their Dr Jart+ range. They also have SK-II and many other brands.

Do check them out!

The thing I like most about Luxola is their excellent service and FREE next-day doorstep courier service, regardless of your order amount, (YES you heard right) which is purrfect for impatient shoppers like myself :)

 

Join their Facebook page for giveaways and promotions.

Join their Facebook page for giveaways and promotions.

Join their Facebook page for giveaways and promotions.

 

 

[Contest win] California Baby and Silly Souls from Shopping Paradise.

Hi Mommies, if you're on my Facebook friend list, you'd known I won some prizes on Mother's Day just a week ago :)

 

 

The contest was held by Shopping Paradise, and the details were:

 

“Motherhood is a wonderful, rewarding, messy, noisy and sometimes crazy ride – but it’s all worth it.” – sittercity.com

In less than 50 words, share with us what’s the greatest difficulty that you have faced as a mother.

The most inspiring story will win a California Baby bubble bath set (8 different flavours) retailing at $59 and a pair of Silly Souls USA baby shoes retailing at $28 from us. ONE Winner will be announced on Mother’s day, 12 May 2013.

 

My entry was: As a mother, I am committed to love and protect my children. My greatest difficulty was when my child was born with complications and had to undergo surgery at six months old. I was helpless, petrified, guilty, hopeful, overwhelmed, all at once. Being a mother cannot get any crazier.

 

And so I was that lucky winner! I LOVE organic products, and we're HUGE fans of California Baby since Adam was born 4 years ago. The boys use their Shampoo & Body wash, and Bubble Bath range.

 

Here are my lovely prizes:

 

All 8 different flavours of Bubble Bath for the kids, plus a pair of Silly Souls shoes for Ashton. *Swoon*
Flavours: Overtired & cranky, Camomile & herbs, Super sensitive, Colds & flu, Light & happy, I love you, Party!, Calming.

Review time!

Soft PU leather shoes for early-stage walkers, Silly Souls shoes DO NOT support animal testing, and that's not all. A portion of your purchase goes to "Feed the Children". helping reduce hunger so the world's children can laugh and learn. Original: www.SillySouls.com
www.ShoppingParadise.com.sg is an authorised retailer of Silly Souls in Singapore so do check them out!

Non-skid rubber soles.

About Shopping Paradise:
"Shopping Paradise started with a passion to provide a one stop service for parents. It is not only a place for you to shop in Paradise, it is also a place that we want to care and share. "CARE" for the needs of your children and "SHARE" on information or articles that we come across which we think that it might be useful to YOU!

We will continue to source for more products at an affordable price JUST FOR YOU and your PRECIOUS LITTLE TOTS."
Like them on their Facebook page.
Like them on their Facebook page.
Like them on their Facebook page.

 Read more about Jen at Mums at Work :)
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Thank you Jen from Shopping Paradise for choosing me and for the thoughtful gifts.

This year, I'm officially a Mom-of-two with the arrival of Ashton and with his need for surgery, we faced tremendous difficulties and challenges as a family, and I emerged stronger as a Mom. 

I found out firsthand that a mother's heart knows no boundaries for her kids.

Once again, thanks Shopping Paradise. It is a pleasure writing this review for you :)

 

 

Adam's Transformers Fourth: a party in school

Our big baby turned 4 today and celebrated his birthday in school with his teachers and friends.

He requested for a Transformers themed party and being his slightly neurotic Mum, I obliged and went all out to source for everything Transformers that I could find.

 

First things first: all the behind-the-scene prep work!

 

Transformers blowouts

Transformers stationery sets

What goes into the loot boxes: Transformers stickers, pencils, ruler, notepad, paper clip, blowout, sharpener, and eraser. EVERYTHING Transformers!

The loot boxes for the kids at his party!

Partyware

And what's a party without balloons??


On the morning of the party:
Loaded all the stuff in my car and making our way to school.

I'd do anything for my children, even if it means driving with a balloon bouquet out of my sunroof!

Transformers Cake from Bengawan Solo. He chose this design himself as he wants all his favourite characters in it.

With his classmates. Thankfully his uniform is blue and red, very "Optimus Prime", I don't have to go sourcing for T-shirts. Phew!

His proud moment, surrounded by friends and family. Even Andy, Ashton & I are wearing "Optimus Prime" themed colours!

Cake-cutting

Someone is giving the middle finger!

Adam serving us cake. So loved. We are extremely proud of you, baby!

Our first time ordering cake from Bengawan Solo because all along we've ordered from Pine Gardens or http://sweetperfection.com.sg/. Decided to try Bengawan Solo after my friend told me they make Transformers cakes.
Surprisingly, the cake is very nice! The Blackforest chocolate & cherries are not too sweet and the fresh cream has a light taste and not too overwhelming. Thumbs up!
I rate it 4/5, bearing in mind it's meant mainly for children.

My baby had a fabulous time today.

 

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ADAM! We love you so much you have no idea.
May you be blessed with good health and a charmed life forever and always.

 

 

Mumzilla's no cry sleep solution

The kids nearly drive me out of my mind some nights. Especially nights when I desperately need to sleep and do not wish to see their faces till the next morning.

On Monday night, Adam slept at 1AM. At 3AM, he woke up with a cough & threw up. I woke up, cleaned him, changed him, mopped the floor, got both of us back to bed.
3:30AM: he woke. Again. This time it's a runny nose. Went to grab tissues from living room. Blew nose. Went back to bed.
5AM: Ashton woke up for milk.
6AM: time to start my day.
I can't make this shit up even if I tried.


It's Ok when he's unwell (like on Monday). But when it happens almost every night for no *valid reason like for the past week and if it continues, I might have to rehome him.
*Valid reasons: bleeding profusely, asphyxiating, life in danger.

Most of the time, I lay on the bed perfectly still and pretend to sleep until I really fall asleep and have absolutely no recollection of when/how the kids slept.
But sometimes, when all that coaxing, instructing, reasoning, and threatening (I do NOT want to see you out of your room unless your life is in danger otherwise..!!!!!) do not work, I do what I do best - resort to brute force.

When Adam is rowdy and does not follow my instructions after I issue them 500 times, and as a result wake Ashton up/ keep everyone wide awake because the maid has to come out to help hush Ashton/ Andy takes over and repeat same instructions, it makes me extremely fedup.
Wanna know how I deal with such issues when they crop up with my unruly kids?
Pretty calmly I would say. I punch the living day lights out of Adam so all noise would stop.
In Mandarin, it's called 狠狠揍他一顿. It usually works. He will whine and cry and complain to his Daddy and then fall asleep immediately after whining.
With Adam asleep, the house is quiet again and Ashton will go back to bed. With both kids asleep, I immediately dive into bed and get my sleep.

Welcome to my version of "No tears (from Mama, not kids) sleep solution". And let me assure you, I do love my children, but at 10pm, I do not wish to see or hear them again till the following day.

On certain days, Imma feel like this.
photo source: Facebook Famous Quotes.

Coin depositing service for kids

Did you know??

 

Coin depositing service for your kids is non-surcharge chargeable.
That means, you can deposit any amount of coins into your kids' Savings account (OCBC or POSB kids) and you won't have to pay the $1.50 surcharge per 100pc of coins to the bank for processing.



Below is the coin depositing guide for POSB. Coin depositing service for POSB is available from Monday to Friday during their bank opening hours.
For OCBC, their coin deposit service is available only on Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am-11am.

I only knew about this today from my mummy-friend Twinkle!
Silly me always find coins so heavy and usually use them up first, to buy small items or tidbits for Adam.

Now, we have a new motivation and incentive for Adam to save up! By the way, we counted $80 worth of coins from his piggy Border Collie bank tonight and I told him I will help him save into his bank tomorrow. Didn't know my Hubby has been so diligent.


Hope you learned something new today!

P.S. Be sure to sort the coins according to denomination and pack them separately. For us, we used small ziplock bags which my clinic uses for sterile consumables.