Our Weekend

23 Jul 2007

Our weekend went well - slow and uneventful. On Saturday, it was hubby’s birthday, but I did not manage to bake him a cake because we had no electricity for most parts of Friday. Therefore, no cake. Sorry… We went to a Japanese restaurant, Sakura at the Khan Palace Hotel for lunch and enjoyed it very much. It was good Japanese food, although we only ordered all the cooked food. Still have not worked up the courage to try sashimi here in Mongolia because I am afraid to get food poisoning. Seafood is not exactly readily available here.

We went to Terelj again on Sunday. It was a spur of the moment decision to go. We left home at 11.30am and arrived there at 1pm. We could have arrived there earlier, but we took a wrong turn. Thank goodness Hubby had the sense to turn back. I would have just continued on the wrong path. haha.

Terelj was fun for Cayden. But he flew off the slide and landed on his face literally! It was like a scene from the cartoons! The slide was really steep and hubby was on top of the slide with him. As Cayden went down the slide, hubby then realised that he was going too fast and I wasn’t there to catch him. To Cayden’s credit, he did not cry. I think he was more shocked. But after a minute, he came to me and said “Mama, pain” pointing to his face. I couldn’t help it but laugh because he was so dirty! He looked like one of the homeless kids we see around the city. Evil mom.

Check out Cayden’s dirty face

Also took some pictures of the inside of the gers (mong gu bao). Its really like living in a tent, except the tent is not as flimsy as the ones we use for camping. Everything is small and low. There also isn’t space for any big appliances like the fridge, or stove cum oven. Many of the Mongolian still live in a ger.

bed

stove

overall view - to give an indication how small a ger is

Am I Vain?

20 Jul 2007

Went on Jean's blog and saw her post today. Decided to take the test too. Ok, I am quite-the-vain women. Haha.

You Are 59% Vain

You're a little vain, but more than anything you have a healthy amount of confidence.Thinking the world of yourself is great. Just don't think less of those who aren't as pretty as you!

How Vain Are You?

1. On days that I do not have appointments, I am actually quite low maintenance. I do my usual wash-tone-moisturize-sunscreen routine (ok i use more than just moisturizer. I use some serums too). No makeup.

2. I try remember to exfoliate and apply face mask once a week.

3. When I return to Singapore, I will go to my usual beauty salon and have a facial. That's when they clear all my oil clots, blackheads, whiteheads etc.

4. When I had shoulder length hair, I have to spend 10 minutes blow drying. Its a hassle. Now I have short hair, its fuss free.

5. I have to at least draw my eyebrows, apply some Benefit Lemon aid on my eyes before I make short trips - like picking Cayden up from school or run to the supermarket.

6. I love buying makeup. Love them, have loads of makeup. But I am quite lazy to do the full works everyday. Find it unnecessary since I am living in a vast land of nowhere - Mongolia. If I was a working woman, I will make the effort.

7. My eyelashes don't curl up, no matter what I do. They are lazy - kinda like me.

She quit on me

20 Jul 2007

Sigh…Today my helper, Nyamaa, told me that she cannot work for me anymore. The official reason? She said that her husband found a job working at the countryside so she has to stay at home and look after her kids. She cannot work long hours anymore because she has to send her kids to school and pick them up in the evening.

I think otherwise… I think she just wants to take other part time work with other households. By working part time she will earn more money than working for me only. Or maybe she wants to work for other household who can pay more. There is a difference in helper rates, depending on where you stay. For most helpers working at households in the Star Apartment compounds, they do get paid more, about USD50-100 more than others. People staying at Star Apartments are mainly people working for the embassies (like US embassy, Japanese embassy etc…) Well, people staying there are richer!

Anyway, I have decided against full time help now. Too much hassle. I will get someone to clean for me twice a week. Cayden goes to a play group in the mornings starting September, so I might just get a part time babysitter to come twice a week in the afternoons to make sure Cayden doesn’t kill himself while I cook. On other days, I shall take care of him myself. I will use the opportunity to work on more lessons with him.
I have asked Nyamaa to do the cleaning 2 mornings a week. This will be temporary arrangement. Meanwhile I will look out for some helpers. I don’t think she is going to last. She will find a job elsewhere very soon.

That’s life. S**t happens.

First Attempt

19 Jul 2007

Its not technically a lesson. I just sit Cayden down and introduce the letter “C” to him. Pointed out all the things that start with “C” in his room - like cup, cayden, chair, clock etc… After that, I asked him to colour the wordsheet “C”. Told him to colour within the lines, but as expected, he coloured all over the paper. Thats ok.

I will concentrate on one letter per week. This week is “C” week. Later, I shall ask him to point out all the things that start with “C” in the magazine and I will cut them out. Make a collage.

We are off for a slow start… better than nothing.

One Down, Two to go...

19 Jul 2007

Forgot to mention that during my trip back to Singapore, I managed to buy one of the items on my wishlist! I bought the TODS peggy bag that I have eyed on for a loooong time. It was on sale (GSS) 30% discount! Furthurmore, it was the colour that I wanted so I grabbed it. Buy first, justify the purchase later. Haha. Hubby was none too pleased… heh. Too bad, I have to “scratch my itch” once in a while, right?

As for my Cartier watches, I have started to drop serious hints to hubby. As usual, he pretended not to understand. Patience… he will crack somehow.

I also discovered that now Benefit cosmetics is now available in Singapore! I am a big fan of Benefit cosmetics. They are great. Love the names of all the items and the packaging! I discovered Benefit many years ago, when an ex-colleague of mine was using one of their items. It caught my eye and I asked her. Searched online and found its website. Started ordering and have been a faithful user. My faves are Lemon Aid (because my eye lids are really alot darker than rest of my face), Maybe Baby perfume, Bathina body cream and Dr Feelgood.

However, when I went to their counter at Tangs, I realised that all prices were alot higher than when you order online! I did not buy anything because I couldn’t bring myself paying such a high price. Also I just ordered a bunch of items online and there is a promotion of free international shipping for orders USD85 and up! With free shipping, the cost is a lot lower than when you get them at Tangs. If you are interested, go to their website (www.benefitcosmetics.com) and order. The promo is still on.

I ordered the “Have you done the sexy sweep” recently. It is a blusher cum highlighter. It is great! Easy to use and great results. I love it.

Told her

19 Jul 2007

Ok, I’ve done it. I told our helper, Nyamaa, that I will not be paying her during the 10 days she will be away in the countryside. She agreed, but I get a feeling that she is not happy. Towards me, she is cold. She used to talk to me alot, but not anymore. But towards Cayden, she is still loving and caring. So I can live with that. I absolutely feel that I am being fair about this.

Today, I decided to bring Cayden out to Sky Shopping Centre with me. I had to buy a top up card for my mobile phone and also wanted to get more eggs. With Cayden at home all day, we use up more eggs! He loves eggs. Sky Shopping Centre is not far from where I live - its technically opposite our estate, but we have to cross 2 busy roads to get to it. I put Cayden in a baby carrier and off I went. I thought that it would be good exercise for me too. Luckily Cayden did not fuss during the trip. He was a good boy. We even met Kauri and Max while shopping there. She is so busy during summer because she has lots of guests coming to visit her. It was good to see her.

How to Brush Teeth?

17 Jul 2007

One major problem I face with Cayden now is that he refuses to brush his teeth! When we first started to teach him how to brush his teeth, he was really interested, but he was also trying to assert his independence - he refused to let us help him. In the end, he just started sucking the toothpaste (baby toothpaste - edible) and chewing the tooth brush. We tried demonstrating to him, helping him to hold the toothbrush, did all kinds of silly things, but still no success.

When he was younger, I used a soft wash cloth to clean his teeth and tongue every day and he did not resist, until recently. He will bite me so hard that my fingers will still throb with pain after 2 hours.

During our pediatrician visit in Singapore recently, we asked for advise from the doc. She said to use an electric toothbrush to entice him first, get him acquainted with the concept of brushing teeth. Then slowly switch to a normal toothbrush. We tried, again, no success.

Suggestions, anyone?