After a buzzing week of new information at work and social engagements, and 2am knock-out time every night, I was ready to wave the white flag come Friday night… I had only squeezed in two yoga practices by then and felt kinda out of sorts. That said, I’m not complaining. New environments always appeal to my senses and I’m one who relishes in good conversations with new and old pals cos connections kinda rock, no?
However, I realised as social as I am, I’m also extremely introverted. I love, crave, hanker, yearn for alone time. By Saturday, I was like “Woohoo! Lonesome time!” and was seriously deliriously happy that when I was supposed to head out on Sunday arvo for a catchup with a dear old friend from school, I felt a sense of dread. Seriously. Who behaves like that?! And it’s this extreme behaviour that always has me befuddled why some people simply cannot be alone. I just go “Huh? Really???” when I hear tales of others not being able to have a meal or movie alone. Too weird, these people…
Moreover, I had the pleasure of my little nieces and nephew hanging around me that day, making me feel as if I was a damn cool aunt to be seen with. Actually, it was just Kirsten begging for her toenails to be lacquered and loser Seth was begging the same even though his big sis and I were both insisting it wasn’t something boys do… And little Kayla was intrigued by the colours so I had Kiks and Seth sitting in front of me side by side as Kayla was my little assistant, pretending to ‘apply’ nail polish remover on her siblings.
When I finally had to tear myself apart (you get the idea where my nieces and nephew get their dramatic antics from…) from them, I hopped onto a bus and plugged on my iPod and this song by Stars came on…
and brought a smile to my face. That’s the beauty of having 10,000 songs embedded in your iTunes, you keep discovering and rediscovering music.
Immediately I felt so at ease, despite not being able to spend some ‘alone’ time cos it was on the journey that I realised as long as you feel at home with the person that you are, you’ll feel it’s home wherever you may be. It’s always about the journey, not the destination, no?
It’s been ages since I’ve travelled with my family so when my sister asked me if I would play tour guide to her and my little niece and nephew in Hong Kong, I couldn’t say no. I thought about being plagued with incessant whining and chattering but still, I couldn’t resist the idea of spending some quality time with my loved ones.
No thanks to the number of photos I took of Seth, it became blatantly obvious he was the apple of my eyes among my sister’s three kids. (Even though Kayla, the youngest but feistiest one has presented Seth with some fierce competition… Kiks, I hope you’ll never read this; that by the time you realise your horrible aunt has a blog, she’s already, erm, a deservedly old and ugly hag… But I’ll still pass down all my fancy dresses and bags to you, like I promised. So… truce???)
Hansum Seth
Seth's little foot takes on the crowd in Tsim Sha Tsui
Seth kept asking if it was time to leave the plane two hours into the flight and I told him to fly out of the plane on his own if he so fancied. And that shut him up. Hurhurhur.
Forced to model in H&M's kids department
Angwee at epic cab queue at The Peak
"Look Yiyi, no head!"
Didi is too kawaii here! <3
Looking excited about the hotel's pool but it's all lies...
Cos he wouldn't even step off the ledge of the pool despite having floaties on. Such a L.O.S.E.R. Can't say it out right so gotta spell it.
So he looks forlornly on as his cool-as-cucumber big sister has the time of her life.
When his mother tries to carry him into the pool, he protests with all his might... While Kiks is still too cool for school.
And she continues to impress with her agility in Triangle pose...
And Butterfly pose!
And even though my sister sometimes stares out of the window (in this case, the tram's) and ponders what she's done to deserve such a cowardly son...
She still smiles affectionately at her son, like all good mothers would...
Kiks sometimes stares out of the window too (and in this case, the plane's) but she is more concerned about taking over the world...
OK, I was really having a field day writing those photo captions…
And of course you can’t see it here but those two JUST. COULDN’T. STOP singing Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” throughout the entire trip. They sang while we were in the immigration line (HKID pass, I’ve missed you.), they sang while in cabs, they sang in public toilets. I was ready to kill myself but somehow found myself singing along with them instead… O_o And their mummy would always start to step away slowly whenever they started singing so she could pretend they weren’t her kids. Mother of the Year, much?
Happy family <3
It was in the hotel’s bathroom where I discovered I’d put on 4kg and am now weighing at my heaviest. For the rest of the day, and for the first time of my life, I became obsessed and kept asking my sister “do I look bloated?”, “are my thighs chunkier?!” and the quintessential “do I look fat?!” My cruel sister simply quipped, “I’m the same weight as you are now” and she’s a mother of three… And continued to eat like she was expecting a fourth throughout the trip.
When my brother-in-law finally arrived in HK from Guangzhou, where he was in for business, I had the day off (I sound like a domestic helper…) and met some of my favourite people!
My fellow scones lover!
With the beautiful Debby!
With the awesomest colleagues!
And of course, my girlfriend SO whom I was lucky enough to meet twice but didn’t have a single shot with! The horrors.
That makes my nieces and nephew do silly things to satiate my evil need to laugh at them, I made them do these yoga poses one day…
Due to my knowledge limitation of yoga asanas, I’m not quite sure if there’s such a pose. But Kirsten insisted there was so whatever goes…
Seth’s attempt at Downward-Facing Dog. Sorry, he couldn’t understand me when I told him he should push his tailbone to the sky…
Then he eased effortlessly into Plank Pose and Chaturanga (yah, as if) and moved into Upward-Facing Dog. Sorry, he couldn’t understand me either when I told him he shouldn’t hunch his shoulders… Poor teacher or poor student? :’(
Seth’s version of Half Lord of the Fishes Pose. He’d gotten rather shy about his yoga practice at this point…
And he decided to give way to his more acrobatic big sister instead… See, Kirsten even got her discerning one-year-old sister’s attention.
I don’t quite get this too. But I’d learnt the hard way to not question Kirsten when she insisted she’s right… (*raises eyebrows*) Partner Yoga, perhaps?
And they settled into seated meditation… Sorry about my niece’s constipated expression.
Seth’s totally feeling the ‘Namaste’.
And because I am the aunt that I am, you know this is probably just part one of a series right? HEHE. I love you kiddos!
That’s all for now, folks! Gotta go scoot off for a day of afternoon tea, catch-up with old schoolmates, girlie conversations, pussy mountain ice-cream (don’t ask) and guitar hero!!! Wheeeee
The past two weeks have been such a whirlwind! So many (mostly positive) stuff have happened and I can’t wait to share but gimme more time and I’ll definitely air it here. So, so, so excited!
Meanwhile, I captured some videos of the kids when I was back home in Singapore the week before. I managed to witness Seth’s horrendous singing in real life and it was as amusing as it was, erm, bad. But on a more positive note, this is a video of him playing the doting big brother to Kayla:
Aww, so adorable that little boy! Matt and I also managed to bring him along to the cinema to catch Shrek. We were supposed to bring Kirsten but that girl wasn’t completely well from her cough yet so my sister wanted to swop kids. Awful Uncle Matthew, who has a blatant favouritism towards Kirsten, was a little sulky about the switch so I death-stared him to shut him up.
I have to say, Seth was so effortless during the movie! He asked for milk even before the show started and I was panicking cos I couldn’t find any milk in his bag! So I’m thankful that boy is a glutton who’ll eat anything so I basically stuffed bread and seaweed into his mouth throughout the whole show.
Then the toilet-trained Seth asked to pee 3/4 through the movie. Even though he was wearing a diaper, I decided to be a good aunt and not ask him to disrupt his training by bringing him to the toilet instead. While I was trying to remove his pants and diaper, the boy started to dance to Lemon Tree, which was playing in the airways. And I was like “Didi, you’re damn cute when you do that little dance but would you stand the hell still?!?!” in my mind.
And I’m sooo proud to say he wasn’t fidgety at all throughout the movie. He was rather enraptured by the “green monster” and “fat cat” and even managed to ‘roar’ like the green monster after the show.
However, he went home and first thing he did was to excitedly share with his father about the “green monster and black monster” and Matt and I were like, “Who the hell was the black monster in the movie?!” Ah well, two-year-olds!
OMG, I can’t believe how horribly awful Seth is at singing. The other day, I was on the phone with Che when I heard some noise in the background. I could only make out as a sorta-singing voice through a mic. It was rather loud and I asked Che what the hell was that all about!
She laughed, slightly embarrassingly, and said it was Seth singing. I was like “Oh… That’s pretty awful…”
In this video, Che managed to capture Seth’s, erm, performance. Please don’t expect too much from him. I guess, after a while, you can at least make out he’s singing “Happy Birthday”???
I hope his musical inclination will evolve over time……
The world gets a little noisy. I guess even more so when you live in crowded Hong Kong and have to walk past all the sounds of merry-making in Soho to get home to your cocoon on a Friday night.
Today is when I need the world to quieten a little. But of course it wouldn’t. So I gotta turn it off for a while. Most of us speak a lot more than we listen so for the past few days, I try to do the latter a bit more. I listened more. But when all you hear is whining, complaining, lying and gossiping – you’d wished you hadn’t do that doing so in the first place.
I miss inspiring, motivating and thought-provoking conversations. I wish you can talk to me about some invigorating ideas. No, I do not need to hear about you and you again and neither do I need you to talk to me about me. I just want good ol’ conversations. Can we talk about dreams, fantasies and ideas?
I miss the people I love most in the world. I miss my best friend who makes me feel at ease talking about anything, without reservations. He and the people I love will chide and laugh at me for my exaggerated thoughts but I know they do it entirely out of love.
And I miss sitting at the kitchen with my mummy gushing to her about how happily in love I am cos I know she, more than anyone else in the world, wants to hear that and wants to know that.
I miss having the most ridiculous conversations with my niece and nephew about astronauts, monsters, tunnels, mei mei and the weather because, you know, it plays a big crucial part whether they get to swim or cycle.
I miss that time where I called my brother to come fetch me without a reason when I was going through heartbreak cos I needed to leave and he did come, without asking anything before and during the trip home.
I miss the crazy early morning rides to the airport with daddy where we would talk about the kids and he would just grin. Did I mention my daddy has the most beautiful smile? When he smiles, I smile.
I miss the late night chats with Che when we were sleeping in the same room. She was my best confidante and she indulged me like no other person would. She was the perfect confidante and when I think of my childhood and teenage years, I couldn’t not think of her cos she played a huge role during those periods.
And I miss the way Matt looks at me when he looks at me. Cos no one ever sees me the way he does.
Oh yes – how about we have conversations built out of love instead?
That would be nice. No?
I want you to tell me about the first time you know you found the right person. I want you to tell about your wildest dream. I want you to tell me what you learn about yourself when you were going through your most devastating breakup. I want you to tell me what you love most about our relationship. I want you to tell me if there’s one thing you can change about your life, what would it be? I want you to tell me your earliest memory. I want you to tell me where you wish you can be right now at this moment.
I want to know all that about you – if only you would stop the complaints and gossips. Cos there are a lot more to be known about everyone. So much more.
I was just reading Che’s entry on Kiks and Seth acting like the big sister and brother now and it pains my heart knowing that poor little boy cries himself to sleep sometimes! :’(
I think that’s it from Che! I’m certain (and I think she’ll make darn sure it’s definite) she’d ‘closed factory’ for good. Three kids in this day sounds like a handful, doesn’t it? It made me wonder how did our mothers and grandmothers do it man. Che is a full-time SAHM and has a helper and I’ve to confess I’d underestimated how tough it is to be a SAHM until a few days ago when I was at Che’s.
Can I just confess that ever since Seth came about, I had always secretly prefer him to Kiks? OK, before you accuse me of being an awful aunt (which I already am, most of the times anyway), lemme explain!!! First, I’d always preferred boys to girls. Boys are just cuter, you know? Girls are just too pretty and precious, sometimes. I think I’m being competitive though? Hahahaha
Secondly, Kiks had a MAJOR case of jealousy when Seth first came about and naturally, you side the ‘dark horse’? And Didi’s such a major loser that it’s actually really endearing. Kiks’ the ballsy, out-there girl who dares to do everything Seth doesn’t dare to. And the little boy doesn’t get shy or embarrassed about his lack of courage. He’ll just smile and tell you “Didi is scared.” Ahahahaha
But during the past few days while I was back in SG, I had completely saw Seth’s true colours and how misunderstood (by me) Kiks’ been!!!
Seth and Kiks really have a love-hate relationship. They’re each other’s favourite playmate and I can’t help but giggle ALL. THE. TIME whenever I see them interact:
Seth awaits his sister’s return from her half-day school every day at noon and will greet Kiks excitedly and that day, he asked her if the weather was very hot. Hahahaha
Till it’s time for Kiks to shower and the competitive Seth will insist on showering too. He would run to the bathroom and stand under the shower, waiting for his clothes to be removed. Big Sis Kiks walked in and told Seth calmly: “Didi, you shower tonight OK? Che che just came back from school so Che che has to shower first.” And with that, Seth would be satiated and walk out of the bathroom agreeably.
Oh when Seth cries during shower cos he hates having water in his eyes (that’s why he’s afraid to swim. Hahahaha), Kiks would tell Seth: “Didi, look up! (I think she meant “tilt your head up”) So the water won’t go into your eyes.”
Moreover, Kiks no longer grabs things from Seth’s hands. She would convince (or some people say ‘manipulate’, hahaha!) Seth why the toy he’s holding is not that great when actually, she wants it for herself. But well, that’s a much smarter move than plain grabbing right?!
For several times now, I’d witnessed Seth was always the one stirring shit up and when he threw things at his sister or hits her, she wouldn’t return the blows. Kiks would tolerate it for a while until her little brother’s pushing his luck with her. Hahhahah.
Seth, the brat.
Awww, the whole point of the above entry is that… I’m super impressed by Kiks’ maturity!!! And now, I’m swelling with so much affection and love for her that no, I no longer favour Didi! I love them both! But it pains me sometimes to see Kiks being bullied by her younger bro. :(
I was there with the kids when Mei mei (aka Kayla) returned home for the first time. You should see Kiks! She didn’t leave Kayla’s side for a full hour! She was just sprawling on the bed, staring at her little sister and telling her what she did in school today:
Didi was surprisingly OK as well. According to Che, he had bouts of jealousy but nothing as fiercely jealous as Kiks was when Didi was first born. The other day, he wanted to go into the room to see Mei mei but was apprehensive so he asked me to go into his parents’ room with him.
Kayla was hungry and cranky so she was crying. Seth sat next to her and just stared. Hahahaha! I taught him to pat Mei mei’s little tummy to coax her and tell her “Gor gor is here, don’t cry OK?” and he did that and miraculously, Mei mei stopped crying! Seth was pretty happy he was being a big brother. He smiled at me and said: “Mei mei stopped crying!” Aw, such a sweetheart.
I know I barely said anything about Kayla but ah well, third kid already what, not so excited anymore??? Hahahaha, I’m allowed to say this cos I’m the third and accidental kid as well!
Matt and I went over to Che’s on Sunday night and Matt actually stood next to Kayla’s crib and looked at her for quite a while. I told him he didn’t have to pretend to be polite and he chuckled a little embarrassingly and insisted he wasn’t being PC and even commented Mei mei’s quite a cutie. Haha, that boy loves kids but he gets daunted by the sight of wee little babies. Hahahaha
OK, more on Kayla! Erm, she was born on 29 March, 16 days before Che’s estimated date of delivery, and weighed 3.75kg, just like both her siblings – everything that Che texted me while I was in Beijing. Hahaha. She’s an… Aries! Just like my ah kwa. And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing… Ahahaha, loves you Karen!
And if you stalk my sister’s blog about the kids as well, sorry for her lack of update! She’s still in pain from her C-section and is trying to recover while managing two toddlers who fight like there’s no tomorrow EVERY DAY.
With the third one coming along anytime now in two weeks’ time, I was reminiscing the times when Kiks and Seth were smaller (I talk like I’m a mum! Crazy talk!) by going through some old pictures. Hehehe. I came upon these few and thought they were incredibly funny pictures of Seth. He was about 16 months then:
I think the boy perfected how a scowl should look like at an early age. And I absolutely love the last picture! What were they whispering about?! I had no idea.
Oh mei mei! You gonna have large shoes to fill seeing how your big sis and bro were so damn cute! You better be just as adorable, if not more! Cos I’m, erm, biased about appearances that way. (So not mum talk anymore. Horrible aunt, I am.)
Why I love spontaneity: last min cancellation of dinner plans, went to bookstore, couldn't wait to get home to read so sat down with tea and 2 days ago
All-time favourite shot of my big sis and me. 😊😊😊 We were running around (I was! My sis was the ever obedien instagr.am/p/KnMrCENS6W/2 weeks ago
