So I am the survival cook in the household who churns out food to feed the mouth
My husband on the other hand is the adventurous one
He likes to try new recipes and improvise on existing ones
Steak and pasta are his forte
He is usually the one behind anything that seems too fanciful on a weekday dinner platter

Two’s a crowd in our kitchen
I figured that out long ago thus I usually make myself scarce whenever he takes charge
He needs room to orchestrate his priced cast iron tools
To him, essentials that I couldn’t fathom

So last week, we had an agreement for him to come back from work to cook us something nice
I do the sides, he does the main

But unfortunately he was caught up at work
and I ended up taking over the cooking for his part

I had to tread into his territory

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I yanked out his magical grilling pan which, trust me, weighs a ton for my feeble arm
Slapped on the few chunks of meat
And within seconds, the mouth watering aroma filled the air
The best part was, I’ve got nice grilling marks on the meat
just like those signature cuts you’ve seen at the steakhouse

Hey, that was easier than I thought
In fact it was close to effortless
The magical pan does ALL the work

So that night we had juicy-tender-succulent steak dinner BY ME
If only I knew earlier and take his words for it, then preparing professionally cooked steak at home wouldn’t be such a far fetched dream

Then again, if I remained ignorant, I would have a genuine reason for my husband to cook for me

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Gosh, I digress

I should be writing about mashed potatoes

One of the sides that I did for that night was mashed potatoes
It was the best I’ve ever made
NO CREAM. NO MILK
Just Plain Wholesome Goodness

Here’s the magic recipe
Enjoy !

Ingredient
5 medium size potatoes, peeled and cut
1 clove of garlic
butter
Italian herb
black pepper
sea salt

1. In a saucepan, cover potatoes with water
2. Cook potatoes for 20 minutes or until soften
3. Drain potatoes and transfer in mixing bowl
3. In a frying pan, melt butter and sauteed garlic
4. Pour butter and garlic onto potatoes
5. Add herb, pepper and salt
6. Mash potatoes and mix well

I gave my elder son a little surprise the other day

A little something to remind him that he has not been forgotten even though he might be feeling so these days

I made him a bookmark stuffed with colour pencil shaves
A heart shaped one that is bigger than usual

big enough for his latest favourite comic series
big enough for him to hang around his neck, he said
big enough to make him smile all day

A heart big enough to accommodate both him and his little brother
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And since teacher’s day is just round the corner, I thought this will make a perfect gift for the teacher as well

What You Need
Colour pencil shaves
ribbon
clear book wrapper cut into heart shape

It’s really simple, but the children might need some help to thread the ribbon around the edges

One of those silly games we play in the morning that will keep them entertained and happy

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and made me realised that I need to hit the gym to tone up those arms

so as to make the fun last longer

Malcolm was asked to bring a used bottle or a tissue box for lantern making in school. Either that, or bring a home made lantern. We did the latter.

Last year, we made tanks and planes and they were a big hit at his school so much so that it is hard to beat this year

Then we read this story, a 12 year old boy who ran 15 km for 2 1/2 hour, in his flip flops, despite heavy rain, to follow the Youth Olympic torch relay in his neighbourhood

We were greatly inspired by the young boy’s determination, perseverance and passion

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So this year, in the spirit of YOG (Youth Olympic Games), we made an Olympic torch lantern

His teachers in school loved it so much that they have requested to borrow it to adorn the classroom

So this Mid-Autumn festival, my 6 year old will be running around like a torch bearer. HA !

What you need :

1 used kitchen roll
2 plastic food container
aluminum foil
acrylic paint
cardboard
stapler and blue tac
candles
printouts of YOG mascots, banner or logo for decoration

When the kids decide to wake up at 6 plus in the morning and refuse to let you laze

You haul everyone out of bed, picked up their fastest wheels and head over to the jetty

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to catch the sun rise over the quiet sea

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and watch the early risers reel in their catch

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and you thought,

ahhh, morning has got to be one of the most beautiful things in life that is free

We had some friends over at our place on YOG opening night for some home made cupcakes and chocolate fondue, with my elder son dictating the musical show to watch along with his freshly brewed coffee for each and every guest, followed by some tears shed when his plea for help to save his prized tank creations from destruction went unheeded.

At quarter past nine, most of our friends left for the night
At 20 minutes to ten, the last couple decided to make a dash to our iconic highway to catch firework for the event where history would be made
At 15 minutes to ten, the kids were bathed and clothed, ready for bedtime
At 10 minutes to ten, we decided to join the last couple who left 10 minutes ago

Note: We were expecting a grand firework display at the end of the event at 10 pm

I guess we were hoping for a one in a millionth chance to catch the display at the right spot, at the right time, just by cruising across the highway
We weren’t that lucky
All that greeted us were leftover smoke clouds

We headed for the U-turn hoping for better luck on the return drive but was immobilized under a bridge with like minded fellow countrymen
Our view was totally obstructed when the last rumble was heard

So much for our chase for YOG opening ceremony fireworks

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But all was not in vain as when we were driving home, we were greeted by the brightest flame that altered our city’s skyline

I was completely engulfed, by a feeling, called pride

Marching soldiers, rolling tanks

21 gun salute, fighter jets

parachutes

fireworks, a sick baby

And our first decent family photo of 4 in patriotic colours

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I can’t remember when was the last time I had such an eventful national day celebration

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We go diving

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Malcolm LOVES jumping off the board

plunging into the 4 metres deep pool

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I can’t say so for myself though

I am better off taking pictures from the other board

He hasn’t been behaving very well lately
In fact, he has been driving me up the wall
He tests his boundary, he talks back and he does the things that he knows he isn’t supposed to do
He has been nothing but impossible

I had tipped the balance
My constant care for the baby is to him, favoritism
It doesn’t matter that he is 5 years older and can do most of the daily tasks himself
He still wants me to fuss over him
He still wants my undivided attention

And his words cut me like the sharpest edge
when he said ‘I don’t think that you love me’

And I realized that it must have been very hard on him since the baby was born
As not too long ago, he was my one and only ….

I realized that I miss my sweet little boy just as much as he misses having Mummy all to himself

And I promise that I will love him more

These pictures of Malcolm playing with the balloon were taken one month before baby Marcus was born
I realized how much he has grown

My 6 year old has set his dream of becoming a pilot since like 3 years back and this is one thing that he has been very consistent with.

We all know how crucial it is for pilots to have perfect eye sight and apart from hereditary genes, straining the eyes over long period of time is the surest way of damaging the eyes.

As parents, we often emphasize on the harmful effect of excessive electronic games and TV, yet we may have over looked on what makes a good reading lamp. I was one of the guilty one until recently when I was introduced to 3M table lamp.

These eye catching icons summarize the special features for 3M Polarizing Light CR 2000 which include enhanced brightness and reduced glare with their innovative proprietary DESR reflective film and polarizing light filter.

After going through their product features I realized how inadequate our current reading lamps were.

What we had at home were standing halogen lamp (from IKEA), energy saving bedside table lamp (from IKEA) and a small portable LED reading light (by Energizer).

For the standing halogen lamp, I could direct it in the desired direction, but I found it too hot. It gets uncomfortably warm after a while plus I think it is not energy efficient.

For the bedside table lamp, a stylish and trendy looking one from IKEA which in fact is more of an ambient light than a serious reading lamp  It is too dim and the direction of light can’t be adjusted thus does not illuminate the book very well.

For the portable reading light, it is useful when I don’t want to disturb the sleeping kids.  But it does not provide adequate lighting.  After a little while of reading, my eyes get really tired.  It is also a chore trying to adjust the light continuously to illuminate the right spot of the page.

Common to ALL of these lights is glare. Biggest problem is that Malcolm’s books all tend to be colourful and printed on somewhat shiny paper.

So what is the problem with glare?

Why do we spend hundreds of dollars on sunglasses other than trying to look good?

Glare tires the eyes needlessly.  It reduces visual acuity.  It could increase the incidence of myopia as well.

So short of cranking up the lights and putting on polarized sunglasses, 3M proposes an alternative solution.

The idea is simple enough. Instead of polarizing the reflected light like in a lens filter or sunglasses, they put a 3M proprietary polarizing filter in front of the bulb, allowing only “good” light to come out.  The “bad” light gets filtered out and “re-cycled” back into good light.  The result is supposedly a 50-80% reduction in glare.

We were glad to bring back a 3M Polarizing Light CR2000 for testing

First look, the 3M Polarizing Light CR2000 is actually quite a handsome looking table lamp.

The quality of the build is good.

With a heavy base, the lamp sits firmly when the structure is pulled and tugged

My 6 year old can easily adjust the light so that it points to the direction he wants

The light is especially bright with its 20W energy saving light bulb which can save up to 80% of its energy used.

Unlike the flimsy table lamp we used to have, this one, with its strong structure is able to withstand the man-handling of my 8 month old baby

We like the lamp for its many special features, not to mention that we have always been very impressed with the quality of 3M products

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So now, the CR200 sits in Malcolm’s room, next to his bed.

And we use it every night for his bedtime reading.

Note : This is a paid advertorial post. The 3M Polarizing Light can be found at Popular, Carrefour, Challenger, Home-Fix, Best Denki

Somewhere in a small mountain village of Gimmelwald
in a public restroom of an old cable car station

I discovered a masterpiece

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perhaps that’s what windows are for

Baby Marcus is 8 1/2 month old
He has 7 sharp and intimidating pearly whites
and after having repeatedly shown how TEETH can BITE which leads to OUCH
He has now grasped the concept of these 3 new words and hardly attacks the one that nourished him

He is a ferocious eater who is constantly hungry
He needs to be fed every 2-3 hours
and he is less fussy with his food as compared to his elder brother
He eats banana, papaya, mango, apple, strawberry, orange, cereals, porridge, pumpkin, carrot, fish, bread, spinach
and is happy with soupy rice with mashed tofu whenever we visit a Japanese restaurant

He blabbered ‘papa’ during our recent trip to Switzerland
though it was more to the grazing herds
and to fields of spring flowers that greeted him

He has now progressed to ‘mama’ but is still clueless to its meaning
The only word which he seems to vaguely understand is ‘mum mum’
which he has consistently linked to food

He seems eager to talk, to communicate, to connect with his elder brother
but he can only manage noise

I failed miserably at coaxing him to sleep through the night
He still wakes up to feed at night
and enjoys being stuck to my breast
which makes me a very tired soul by day

He loves his toys
but not as much as your empty drink bottle, remote controls, camera lens cap, keys and anything that hardly resemble your typical colourful, fanciful, educational toys
During our recent trip, he discovered the taste of Swiss wild grass, hay and alpine flowers
but the taste didn’t impress him much

We also found out that he has an ingenious way of befriending strangers
notwithstanding the lack of a common language in a foreign land
thus displacing the elder and laying claim as the family’s undisputed lady killer

Last week, he managed to pull himself up to a standing position
and 2 days ago, he  sat up without help
He was in this push up position
with his butt sticking in the air
which I thought was a prelude to a funky dance move
but instead, with herculean effort
he heaved himself to a sitting position

He is eager to explore on all fours
but always ended up crawling backwards
until yesterday when he finally figured out the leopard crawl
and each time he masters a new position, be it standing, sitting or crawling
he would beam with joy
grin from ear to ear
turning his otherwise big eyes into little squints
flapping his little arms in exhilaration
as if doing snow angels in the air

He just melts my heart whenever he does that

My 6 year old was given a couple of projects during the school holiday
He brought home a small potted plant and parents were urged to help care for the plant during the holiday
In addition he was asked to create a 3D model of an icon of Singapore
All these, he was supposed to bring back on the first day of school

I was quite sure that if this was before baby Marcus was born
Malcolm’s small potted plant would have overgrown and probably need repotting when school reopens

His 3D model wouldn’t fall short of  an impressive spinning wheels decorated in great details or something to that effect

Instead, on the first day of school, I had to apologize to the teacher for killing the poor plant due to negligence

My son’s 3D model was a last minute congregation of sushi boxes, kebab sticks, used cardboard boxes wrapped with old newspaper sponged green and it was supposed to look like our country’s grandeur flyer

I felt so guilty

I have disproved my own hypothesis
That having a second child when the first born was older will be easier

My 6 years old needed just as much or perhaps even more attention than his 8 month old brother !

Wengen is a village in Bern, located in central Switzerland.
It is one of very few car-free resort villages in Europe, with a few vehicles for taxiing to and from the railway station.

The trains in the region is run by Wengernalpbahn, the world’s longest continuous cogwheel railway which was in service since 1893.

Since the village is car free, the only way to get around the region is either by foot or by train which explains the amount of walking and hiking we did.

We only use the taxi service in the village, usually very old minivan, when we arrive and depart as the chalets we stayed were usually some distance from the railway station and requires some walking up and down on steep slopes.

The picturesque scenery looks like a page from my son’s story book and it explains why The Sound of Music has been the boys’ recent craze since the trip.

To get there, we took a 12 hours overnight flight from Singapore to Zurich
Then a high-speed rail from Zurich to Bern
Change train from Bern to Interlaken Ost then to Lauterbrunnen before we finally arrived at Wengen
The total train ride from Zurich to Wengen took about 3 hours
It took us more than 20 hours including waiting time, to finally arrived at Wengen

The most convenient way to travel in Europe is perhaps by train. One need not have to sit behind the wheels for hours. The seats are more spacious then those in economy flights. No check-in is required and we save a lot of time, which would otherwise be spent at the airport security checks.

The traveling time might seem long and the journey a little too arduous especially when traveling with kids and elderly but knowing that a quaint village awaits, we will do it again if time and financial permits.

Here’s Malcolm in the train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen

Here’s us sitting on our luggage, after traveling for more than 15 hours, waiting for our train from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen

Crazy as it may sound
my boys are still suffering from jet lag
The worst one we ever had

It wasn’t this bad usually
and it wasn’t this bad when we travel there
perhaps it was due to switching back and forth time zones within too short a period of time
or perhaps traveling west to east really proved to be more disruptive for the body clock

For the first few nights, the boys did not sleep till like 3 - 4 am and woke up the next day afternoon
Malcolm had to have a hearty meal before he could finally sleep because his body was still tuned to dinner time when it was way past midnight on our side
And baby Marcus was happily giggling and chuckling away, ready for play when the whole neighbourhood was in slumberland

Today is the first day of school and last night the boys slept slightly before 12 midnight, a great improvement, thankfully Malcolm’s school only starts at late morning

We clearly have some way to go before we get back to  our routine

I guess it’s a little price to pay for all that fun we had