Matcha and Red Bean Butter Cake

Another cake. This time, I was really inspired by HHB. I love all green tea cakes - chiffon cake, butter cake, swiss roll etc... It did not turn out too sweet, like HHB's because I used homemade red bean paste instead of the canned ones. It has a subtle green tea flavour, but I couldn't really detect the red bean. Nevertheless, it was still delicious.

The recipe can be obtained here.

Cream Cheese Bread Loaf

I had a block of cream cheese left and I have to use it up before our trip back to Singapore. I remembered that I came across a cream cheese bread loaf recipe in one of the baking blogs that frequently visit. The blogger commented that its one of the softest bread she has baked so I decided to bake it! Its such a challenge to find soft bread here in Mongolia. The bread loafs here are all dry and crumbly. Not like the Gardenia bread that we are so used to in Singapore.




The bread turned out really soft, just the way I like my bread. Lester thought it was ok, but I discounted his opinion as he is not a bread fan.



This is the recipe I used, courtesy of KWF

Choc Chip Cookies

Had a craving for chocolate chip cookies the other day. Not the soft and chewy type, but the crunchy type. Went online and found a recipe from Allrecipes. They turned out really good! I substituted the all purpose flour with bread flour, as I read that it will help to make the cookies crunchier. I also do not have any shortening, so I used all butter instead.



Recipe from All Recipes site.

145 g butter flavored shortening (I omitted this and used butter instead)
150 g butter, softened
200 g white sugar
220 g packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
15 ml vanilla extract
440 g all-purpose flour ( I substituted with bread flour)
5 g baking soda
6 g salt
120 g chopped pecans (optional) - I omitted this
335 g semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips. Use a measuring tablespoon to round dough into balls. Don't roll the balls, just make them rounded. Place onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until centers are set and very lightly browned. Don't overbake. Cool 2 to 3 minutes before removing from baking sheets.

Class Photo

Cayden has been attending ISU for 3 months now. 2 weeks ago, they took a class photo and an individual photo for the year book. We were there when they were taking the photos and Cayden looked really scared. Lester and I were just laughing at the side. Evil parents.


This is the photo that they will use for the yearbook.




Pre-school 1 class. The class is not complete as 3 of them were absent.

Cayden writes his name

He writes the "N" like a "H".... At least we are getting somewhere...

What to do?

I have been very anxious about Cayden's place in ISU. I was worried if he would be able to get into the Pre-school 1 class. So on Monday, when I received a call to go to school with Cayden for an interview, I was elated! 

So we went and saw the Head of Primary. I received a terrible news. The pre-school 1 class has been re-scheduled from the original timings of 8.15am - 12.15pm, to 1.15pm to 3.15pm! How stupid is that? 

First of all, the class time falls right during his nap time! Correct me if I am wrong, but don't MOST 3-year olds take afternoon naps???? 

Second of all, what can we expect them to teach the kids in 2 hours? 

Lastly, they tell parents 1 week before school starts? How on earth are we going to reschedule his nap time within a week? 

The reason given to me, was that Pre-school class (both 1&2) are overcrowded. In total, they have 36 students with 1 foreign teacher and 2 assistant teachers. So they decided to split the class. Pre-school 2 class is from 8.15am to 12.15pm. Pre-school 1 class is from 1.15pm to 3.15pm. Priority is given to 4 year olds, as they think its more important for them to learn. 

They can't split the class into 3 hour blocks, because the teachers then won't have time to eat. They need to eat with the rest of the teachers during lunch time or it won't be fair to them. 

They won't employ another foreigner pre school teacher so that both classes can run at the same time because then the teachers won't have anything to do in the afternoon. Its a waste. 

All in all, I feel that the school has then made the 3 year old class as a sacrifice. 

Who cares if they will all be sleepy, and will be in the least attentive mode when class is on?

Who cares if they learn anything or not? 

Who cares if 2 hours is not enough. 

As long as the rest of the school is treated well. We must be fair to the teachers. We must be fair to the 4 year olds. 

I have a good mind of NOT enrolling Cayden in this school, but I have no choice. There isn't any other International school around. The American school takes students from 5 years old onwards. I have to enrol Cayden this year, or I risk him not bring able to get in for Pre-school 2 class next year. Priority is given to returning students and not new students. 

What am I doing here in Mongolia? Why am I here? Cayden has no school to go to! 

LL. Bo bian. But I am still pissed. 

ISU

I am getting a little anxious now. I still have not heard from the International School about Cayden's acceptance into ISU (International School of Ulaanbaatar). 

I sent in the application months ago, sometime in Apr/May. But I was told that the school is undergoing some administration change (i.e. change of direction and some teachers) so admission decisions are put on hold. Rumors are that there are more applicants than spaces, as the American school has closed their pre-school class. So everyone is flocking to ISU. There aren't any other options.

School starts on 13 August, and today is 1 August. Still no news. I called the school earlier and they told me we will find out next week. Fingers crossed that Cayden will be able to get in. If not, I have no idea we are going to do?

Painting

Last week, we went to Orgil Centre at Third District to buy some apple juice (wholesale). On the 2nd floor, they were selling some art supplies, like paint, crayons, brushes and plastercine. 

I managed to buy some paint and brushes for Cayden. Today, we stuck some paper our garage walls and let Cayden do his stuff. 

That's his smiley face. He always draws figures like that recently. Kinda cute. Notice he even draws the eye brows. 

Sad

I just found out that one of my friend lost her baby. Its extremely sad. His name was Gabriel and he passed away after 10 days of brave struggle at ICU due to a heart malfunction. As I heard the news, I started tearing. I can't imagine the pain my friend is currently feeling. 

My heart goes out to her and her family. 

This really makes me think that life is fragile and unpredictable. 

I am so grateful for what I have. 

My boy loves me

Cayden, Nomin and myself walked to Sky Department Store to buy some ice-cream. As we were walking there, being my clumsy self, I walked into a hole and kinda fell over. Cayden just stared at me, and suddenly started wailing! I mean, its was a loud, dramatic cry, with tears sprouting out and all. 

Me: "Why are you crying? I should be the one crying!" 

Cayden did not reply and continued wailing. 

Me: "Don't cry. Mama is ok! Look, I am not hurt!" I say that while trying not to limp. 

Cayden wailed even louder when he heard the word "hurt". 

Me: "Shhh... stop crying. Mama is ok. And you should stop watching Dumbo." 

Cayden always gets very sad when he watches the cartoon Dumbo. Especially the part where little Dumbo tries to climb into the wagon to find his mama, but he can't. And his mama got to stick her trunk out to "hug" him and cradle him to sleep. 

The first time Cayden watched that part, he teared up and asked "Where's my mom?" He hugged me tight. 

My boy loves me. He is sad when he sees me hurt. That's my boy.

Why? Why? Why?

Cayden is going through the "why? why? why?" stage. 

"Cayden, don't touch the oven! Its hot!" 

"Why?" 

"I told you, its hot!" 

"Why is it hot, mama?" 

"Coz I turned it on to bake some muffins." 

"Why you bake muffins?" 

"So that you can eat some." 

"Why I eat some?

"So that you won't be hungry." 

"Why I won't be hungry?"

... and the conversation goes on until one of us give up. 

Usually me. 

Me

This is me, getting ready to go out to do our usual Sunday errands... go to the supermarket, Mercury market for fresh green veg and then lunch. Had lunch at Sakura, the Japanese restaurant at Kempinski Grand Khan Hotel. Yum...

Mongolian skies

Pictures I took this morning on our backyard. Not a cloud in the sky... 

Doing The Karen Cheng

I have been a silent reader of Karen Cheng's blog for a long time. I admire her - her parenting style, her creativity, her fashion sense etc... She is the hippest stay-at-home mom I know, and I draw inspiration from her. 

Anyway, she has been photographing herself, showcasing her outfits, her moods, her hairstyle. Its great! So I will do the same. I shall start to photograph myself, since there is no one here to photograph me! I think I'd better take more photos of myself while I am still young, in case my life past me by without "documentation"! Its a great way to remember as well. 

I am totally inspired. I shall start tonight, coz I will be going out for dinner with hubby and one of his colleagues from Singapore. 

Me

A pic of me taken before we went out for dinner with Edmond, Lester's colleague from Singapore and Uwe, Lester's colleague in Mongolia. We had a lovely dinner at The Silk Road. The beef dish that I ordered was a Jamie Oliver recipe! I found it in one of my Jamie Oliver cookbooks. 

Big boy now

My baby is no longer a baby. He is a big boy. He has finally emigrated to his big boy bed. Over the weekend, we converted his cot to a junior bed and he is loving it! He is so proud of it. 

"I am going to sleep on my new bed now, mama!" he says proudly. 

I was expecting some sleeping troubles, but so far, nothing too drastic. 

On Sunday night, after hubby has put him to bed, I heard him singing and talking to himself for about 20 minutes. Suddenly he appeared by my bedside and said " Excuse me, mama. Are you reading? Can you read in my room?" I had to bring him back to his room and sat with him for a bit. 

My boy is no longer a baby. He is a boy. 

Cayden's Latest Update

Brought Cayden to see Dr Tan this trip back to Singapore. She thinks that he is growing really well, and he is developing normally... except for the fact that he is still wearing diapers! Actually, he is toilet trained... except when we go out, I don't want the hassle of keep looking for toilets! What if he can't hold it in and we can't get there in time???  

Cayden also had an eye test, but unfortunately, he wasn't very co-operative. He refused to read the alphabets on the chart, even with the promise of giving him a toy car. The nurse thinks that he can read, but he is shy and refused to. Nothing we could do would make him read. Stubborn little one. I wonder where he got this trait from? 

Anyway, his latest stats are as follows: 

Weight: 17.1kg 

Height: 100cm 

Riding Pinto

Cayden is going through the "pinto" stage. All horses are "Pintos" We had some our overseas guests from Singapore over the weekend, we brought them to Terelj, the tourist friendly countryside, so that they can get a glimpse of the vast grassland and typical Mongolian countryside. 

We went to see the Turtle Rock (a rock formation that looks like a big turtle) and there were some horse

s there. Tourists can ride the horses there for a fee. Lester just plonked Cayden on a horse and asked the boy rider to bring Cayden for a ride... Surprisingly Cayden was not scared. He just rode the horse calmly, without saying anything. 

Facebook

Facebook - I am sure practically everyone has a facebook account now. Its great, coz it helps me get in touch with many people whom I have lost touch with many years ago. Its especially useful for me, as I live overseas and it helps me keep in touch with my friends back home. I like it...

B1,B2,B3,B4

Cayden is growing up so fast that it scares me sometimes. 

Recently he has been watching Bananas In Pajamas. He started to label himself as "B1", Daddy as "B2" and Mummy as "B3". When he is in the "Bananas In Pajamas " mode, he will call us by our B-numbers, e.g. "B3, where is B2?". 

Our babysitter, Nomin had this conversation with him yesterday: 

"Hey Cayden. If you are B1, who is B2?"

"Dada"

"Who is B3?"

"Mama"

 

"Who is B4?"

"Let me think..." (while putting his finger to his chin) "Its Noddy!"

"Why is Noddy B4? Nomin wants to be B4! Can Nomin be B4?"

"No, because Noddy is B4." 

"Please??? I want to be B4." (Then she pretends to cry) 

"No, Nomin. Don't cry. Nomin is B5 because B5 is bigger than B4! Don't cry. No sad. "

"Oh! ok then. "

Funny how children thinks. He has started to grasp the concept of value of numbers. 

Hong Kong May 2008

Instead of throwing Cayden a huge birthday party like last year, I managed to convince hubby that we should bring him to Disneyland to celebrate his 3rd birthday. Took some convincing, but we made it in the end!

We spent 5 days there. It was fantastic! It was not our first trip to HK, but this time, I had a totally different take of the place. I think we appreciated the place more, since we spent the last 2 years in ulu Mongolia. If we were still living in Singapore, I think we won't appreciate it so much.

So what did we do there? Disneyland, of course. The touristy thing we did were visiting Lantau Island and The Peak. We also went shopping! I tracked down some specialty baking shops and bought so many things! Things like whipping cream (yes, we do not have whipping cream in Mongolia), green tea powder, Mickey Mouse baking tins, cookie cutters, baking chocolate etc... The list goes on...

Obviously the main focus of this trip is Disneyland. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. For me, it was my first time at Disneyland too, so immediately, I was drawn into the fairytale world. There is something magical about that place. 

One thing that hubby noticed was the lack of HUGE crowds. He said that when he went to Disneyland in the States, he had to wait at least 1hour for each ride. But here, we waited 15min, maximum. 

Here are some pictures we took at Disneyland:





Mickey Train


With Winnie the Pooh. Cayden was so scared, yet he wants to go near him.


Cayden loved the TeaCup Ride. We took it 3 times

All in all, this trip was a success. Now we are planning for our next trip. Tokyo? Maybe... 

Row Row Row Your Boat

We were about to start Cayden's bath. I was in Cayden's room, pulling out his PJs, tidying the room etc... Meanwhile, I have asked Cayden to go into the bathroom and take off his clothes. After a short while, he was belting it out. I went to check it out. This was what I saw:

What have I been doing?

Hubby went back to Singapore for a conference and meetings since last Sunday. So what I have I been doing in the evenings, after Cayden goes to sleep? Watch my sob Korean dramas, of course! Its a great opportunity to watch, as I am all alone, and no one will laugh at me if I start sobbing! Hubby always laugh at me when I cry during shows.

This is the second time I am watching this drama. The story line is so touching that I still cry when I watch this second time around! I am hopeless. It helps that the male lead is super good looking too. 

Another family leaving...

Just received this text message from another friend here in Mongolia that they will be leaving too, after 1  year here.  They will be leaving in 4 weeks time! The last time we spoke, it seems like they really does not like it here. I was expecting them to leave soon, but not so soon. Oh well... seems like a lot of expats are leaving... 

Unexpected snow

This was what greeted me when I opened the curtains of our bedroom this morning... snow... in spring! 

One of my friends told me that her son was so disappointed when he saw the snow this morning... he lamented "Oh no... you mean summer is not coming?" 

Back in Mongolia

Actually, we have been back in Mongolia for 1 month already. Time flies... It was freezing cold (minus 30 degrees Celsius) when we arrived in Mongolia, but luckily, our driver was already waiting for us at the airport. :) 

Cayden went back to school the very next day, but I was afraid that he will cry, as he had not been attending that school for 4 & half months. I accompanied him to school. Thankfully he was ok. No fuss, no tantrums. He seemed to remember the school. 

When we returned, we hear that more families will be moving away from Mongolia.  So far, 4 families. Brisbane, Sydney, India, Indonesia. *envy* When will be our turn? Seems like we will be here for quite a while. Maybe another year? 

Cayden fell sick once we returned to Mongolia. He developed blocked nose the very day he attended school. Slowly it manifested into a flu blown cold, with cough, phlegm and runny nose within a week. The full works. Then he passed the germs to me! I was sick too. Took us 1 week to recover. I think its the polluted, toxic air in UB. 

Welcome back to the cold! 

Mosquito bite

We went out for dinner earlier with my parents, brother and sis-in-law.

I normally feed Cayden and try to get a mouthful of food myself. While Cayden was chewing his food, he saw the BCG injection mark on my arm. He thought it was a mosquito bite. He asked me "Mama, is it pain?" while touching it. I replied "No". He asked again "Mama, is it itchy?" and he started to scratch my "mosquito bite" for me. *smile*

Oh by the way, Cayden shocked all of us by eating a total of 3 strips of Pai Gu Wang (deep fried pork ribs). If you don't know, Cayden rejects meat. All types of meat, cooked in all ways... that is until today.

My brother concluded that its not the food that Cayden is rejecting. Its my cooking... not tasty enough...

Thoughts

I was reading this book "The Good Life" by Jay McInerney. At the beginning of the book, there is a paragraph that really struck a cord with me. Very aptly written which reflects my thoughts too:

"Manhattan was an existential town, in which identity was a function of professional accomplishment; only the very young and the very rich were permitted to be idle. Russell (the main character;s husband) had initially supported her maternal ideal, though, as the years went by and their peers bought vacation homes in the Hamptons, he couldn't consistently disguise his resentment over their straitened finances, or his sense that his stay-at-home wife had become translucent, if not invisible, within the walls of their loft - a nanny without salary. "

Though I can't say that I am being resented by hubby (that would be very bad!), but it more or less sums up my current situation - feeling like a a nanny without salary. Hubby has not voiced out his resentment being the sole breadwinner of our household, but he does nag quite often about finances. I guess while we are not struggling or worrying about our next meal, we are conscious about our spending and expenses.

As you can see, I am still struggling to decide if I should or should not return to the work force. No answer yet.

So malu!

I was out with Cayden yesterday. We decided to go to Orchard road for a bit of shopping and people watching.

Cayden wanted to go to the toilet to pee-pee so I brought him to the toilet. After he is done, I wanted to pee too, so I told him to wait for mummy. Mummy needs to pee pee too. He said ok.

We have always taught Cayden to pee standing up. So to him, pee pee = stand up. Poo poo = sit down.

While I proceed to sit down, Cayden said in his innocent but LOUD voice "Mama, you poo poo????" I whispered to him "No, mama pee pee, not poo poo".

He didn't understand. Why is mama sitting down when she goes pee pee? No, she must be poo poo-ing!

So he repeated "Mama, you poo poo????" That's right. Announce to the everyone in the toilet what mama is (NOT) doing! I didn't answer him this time.

Bad move. He proceed to repeat "Mama, you poo poo????" again and again, till he got a response from me. That's right. You are not loud enough! Not enough people heard you.

Sigh. What an embarrassing moment.

Toto

Just went online to check on the Monday Toto results. I won! Out of 7 numbers, I won 4. Ok, the amount is negligible but better than nothing. I won $90! Enough to buy me something pretty to wear for CNY. *Grin*

Little Gems

Remember these biscuits? I used to eat so many of them when I was in kindergarten. I would bite all the sugar top off first, then ate the biscuits. I guess all kids do that.

Cayden is no exception. I gave him some of these little gems on the drive to school. When I turned back to check on him, I saw that the box contained only the sugar-less biscuits!

Though I didn't want to encourage him, I couldn't hide my smile.

Talk, talk, talk

Cayden has been talking nowadays. Some funny moments, some sweet, some just downright rude!

Some memorable moments:

1. I have been trying to introduce Mandarin to him. So far, quite unsuccessful. However, after a while, he has finally recognized that his Mandarin name is Ming Hao. I am teaching him to respond to his Chinese teacher in school when she calls his name. I called him "Ming Hao" and taught him to respond "Shi!" (which means Yes) when I hold up him hand. Funny thing is he will only respond "Shi" when I raise my hand. That day, my mom wanted to try this trick, so she said "Ming Hao!" and held up her finger instead of her hand. He told my mom "No! Not like this! This is No.1! Its like this!" Then he held up his hand and showed my mom.

2. When anyone of us sneezes, he will come to us and ask "Are you ok?" with a concerned look.

3. He is crazy about Blue's Clues. He will sing along, dance, imitate everything that Steve is doing, including taking a note book and declare it his handy dandy notebook. If you are familiar with Blue's Clues, you will know that Blue The Dog doesn't talk in the show (except when he is in Blue's Room) but makes this "wow wow wow" sound effect.

2 nights ago, when I was putting him to sleep, we had this conversation:

Cayden: Mama, I - Blue, you - Steve, ok?
Me: OK (without thinking much of it. Sometimes, I do that. I zone out because he talks non stop!)
Me: Cayden, can you drink your milk?
Cayden: No! I am Blue!
Me: Sorry! Blue, can you drink your milk?
Cayden: OK! (Then he follows up with imitating the sound the Blue makes in the show - wow wow-wow WOW WOW!)

He makes me laugh

This little boy makes me laugh all the time. Not because he is a comedian by nature, but because of the things he says.

Today, I was helping him poo-poo. I lifted him onto the toilet bowl and sat down on the floor and waited... He was constipated, so he took a long time. I thought I would show him some support by making a "trying-hard-to-push-out-my-poo-poo" face. Immediately, he stopped 'pushing' and asked me "Mama. Are you angry?" Ha-ha! I couldn't help and started laughing. He laughed together with me.

Up the Stairs

When we are back in Singapore, we stay with my parents at their house. Its a 2 storey house so usually we are quite paranoid about Cayden climbing the stairs by himself (in case he trips and stumble down the stairs).

Earlier today, I left him playing downstairs with his new train set (under my mom's supervision) while I went upstairs to check my email. Suddenly, I found him upstairs, just next to the staircase, with my mom chasing after him! My mom told me that he went around the house looking for me - in the kitchen, at the backyard and the garden. He asked my mom "Where is Mama? I want to look for Mama" and before she knew it, he was climbing up the stair on his own, without holding the railings!

Oh boy... he is growing up so fast.

Mineral Makeup

My sis-in-law from the US got me interested in mineral makeup. We were talking about makeup and she mentioned that she started using mineral makeup. She told me that mineral makeup offered good coverage without looking cakey, and it does not irritate her skin as her skin is acne prone. Plus its all natural. Plus it take all of 1 minute to brush it on your face. That is a BIG plus.

She recommended 2 brands - Philosophy and Bare Escentuals.

So I went online and found out that there is one store in Singapore that brings in Philosophy stuff - True Colors at Ngee Ann City. So I went to check it out at the store. I found that the prices were too extorbitant. So much higher than if you were to purchase from US. They sold the face primer, The Present, for S$64 (approxmiately USD45) but I remembered my sis-in-law telling me that is about USD25.

I decided to go home and check out some US websites and see if I can buy them online. I went to www.drugstore.com (recommended by one of my girlfriends) and saw that they carry Philosophy stuff! I bought some immediately. Bare Escentuals was not available on drugstore.com. Oh yes, I also bought the Hylexin Eye Cream at a fantastic price of USD95! They are selling this eye cream in Singapore for S$218 (equivalent to (USD152)!

Primer - to use before we brush on the foundation powder!

The mineral foundation powder

A seriously good buy! Only USD95!

As drugstore.com does not ship to Singapore directly, I used my vpost account and had them send it to Vpost USA and have Vpost send the parcel to me. It works out because drugstore.com offered free shipping within US for purchases above USD25. Now I am so excited! Just waiting for the parcel to arrive.

Cayden's Development So Far...

Thought I should jot this down before I forget...

Latest Stats
I brought Cayden to the pediatrician recently (20 Dec 2007). He is:

Weight : 16.5kg
Height: 97cm

He is getting really heavy. Saw an article about overfed babies on the Straits Times a couple of weeks ago and I am getting really worried. In the article, there was a chart on the ideal weight for children and Cayden is way off the chart! I distinctly remembered the chart:

12kg - 2 years old
14 kg - 3 years old
16 kg - 4 years old

Cayden is about as heavy as a typical 4 year old! I really hope he won't be obese in future.

His faves
1. Recently he has been talking and singing lots. He loves Blues Clues (for now) and he mimics everything Steve does in the show - walking, sitting on his thinking chair, kneeling down on one knee, singing all the songs.

2. He also loves to play with his Thomas The Train. It was his Xmas present from my brother & sister in law. He has been in love with it ever since.

3. Iced Milo. Eversince we returned to Singapore, he has been addicted to Iced Milo. My mistake. Just tonight, we went out for dinner with my dad-in-law and sis-in-law before she returns to the U.S. Its just a casual dinner at the coffee shop downstairs. I fed Cayden his dinner first before going for dinner. He had a full dinner, but when we were at the coffee shop I ordered him his favourite Iced Milo just to keep him occupied. I did not expect him to finish the drink because he just had dinner. To my amazement, he finished the drink in 10 minutes. He finished it even before our dinner arrived. *Faint*

4. Fishballs. He loves fishballs and he has been eating them at almost every meal since October. But in the recent 2 weeks, we stopped giving it to him. Why? He is allergic to it. Well, to qualify, I think he is allergic to the perservatives in it. He doesn't like the home made ones. He likes the commercial ones. They are springy. These springy fishballs gives him eczema. Too bad, so sad. No more fishballs.

His Dislikes

1. He still hates meat. Once I was feeding him minced pork porridge and he managed to store all the minced meat on one side of his mouth.

2. He still would not try most fruits. Only eating bananas and sweet pears (lai).

3. I think he is becoming tired of his formula taste. He has been on Gain IQ since he turned 1. Normally, he drinks a lot of formula milk, up to 1 litre a day. But recently, he has practically halfed his intake. I am waiting for him to turn 3 before I start him on Grow.

Resolutions for 2008

A bit late for my new year resolutions, since its 7th Jan already! But nevertheless, better late than never.

Here is a list of my new year resolutions (listed not in order of importance) :

1. Eat healthier. Less junk food, coffee and red meat! More fruits, veg and MILK! Drink more water!

2. Remember to take my vitamins!

3. Be more sociable. I gotta get rid of my bad habit of turning down an invite because I am too lazy! Also would like to host more lunches and playdates/tea gatherings for friends.

4. Spend more quality time with Cayden. I need to draw up a timetable as a guide for both of us! For example, Monday afternoon is playdate day, Tuesday afternoon is Numbers day, Wednesday afternoon is Alphabet day etc...

5. Spend wisely! Everything is getting so expensive nowadays!

6. Teaching Cayden to speak Mandarin! So far he knows "Cayden is Ming Hao" but he won't respond when I call him Ming Hao. He repeats after me when I say 1-10 in Mandarin, but he won't say "liu 6" or "jiu 9". Guess he can't master the pronunciation yet.

I guess that's all for now. I am not hard on myself at all, aren't I? :-p