YZ turns 6!

my 大宝贝 turns 6 last Saturday!

this year, his actual birthday falls on a saturday but we didnt do anything special on that day.

we let him unwrapped 2 presents (from both grandparents) in the morning and the boys had the most fun building and playing with the 2 lego sets - iron man & hero factory!

in the afternoon, didi and me made a short visit to fifi's house for it was gareth's 满月celebration!

awww.. i forgot how small and cute babies are. :)

hubbi came to fetch us with yz at 5+ and we decided to went to dempsey for dinner.

we couldnt make up our mind where to eat when the birthday boy suggested eating "meat which others will cook for us...".

he meant korean bbq of cos!

and we ended up in chang bbq @ dempsey. just before a heavy downpour.

it was nice to have yummy bbq food when it is raining cats and dogs outside!

food was good but given the steep pricing, not exactly value for money though.

still, i was most satisfied polishing off a good 700ml of makkoli!

no kidding. as usual i ordered 1 whole big bottle only to have the husband drinking only 1 small cup. @_@

 @ Chang's - eating korean food the authentic way

today, both hubbi and me take leave to bring the boys out as post bday celebration for yz.

we reached early at his kindy at 9am to have a mini celebration with his class like last year.

think didi is happier skipping his own school and hanging out with us whole day!

birthday boy berry happy with his cake

design and flavor all chosen by himself - lychee & transformers

we left the school around 10+am for river safari!

with the smooth traffic, we reached in 20mins time!

though i know before hand that the place is not 100% opened yet but its size still came as a surprise..

we combed the place in less than 2 hours time i think. :(

and i was really looking forward to the red-bellied piranhas - ive never seen a real piranha before!

but there were like only a handful of 'em in a small display.................... zzzzz....

still, the place is interestingly enough for the boys

the red panda were very pretty to look at.

and jia jia was hiding in her enclosure and kai kai was like that all the time we were there.... @_@

after river safari, guess where we went since we had the whole afternoon free?

party world at liang court!

lol, the boys had fun singing all their fav. songs.

it was a happy 2 hours there.

dinner was at hai di lao @ clarke quay.

as usual, it was not impressive enough again for the husband. *snort*

oh well.

it was a fun-filled day for us even though we were super tired out by the time we reached home in the evening....

updates on some of my favorite activities..

finally, dear chee yong is back from his long trip. *teehee*
and the very hardworking and nice friend went round delivering the "orders" on the day he touched down at 7+am!
i was in town collecting my medical report so i met him to collect my loot on thursday. :D
and the good is as per what i expected - very chio! 

this is what he helped me to buy from paris-

givenchy pandora in pearl grey washed leather. :)

though i have said this many times but i will say it once again for the better of all mankind.

PLEASE buy bags from overseas. it really just doesnt make sense to buy in SG.

this bag is a good 30+% cheaper from paris as compared to retail price in SG. *wow wee*

and i have shopped abit the last 2 weeks which shouldnt be the case since i should be saving up for the upcoming trip in nov...

we are heading to taiwan & HK for our year-end family trip! 

and hopefully all my shopping moolahs will be well-spent in HK! (even though its only a short 2 days stopover there... :P)

i bought another black long sleeve top & a dress from gg5 @_@ and 2 pairs of walking shoes from sketchers.

yes, you heard me right. sketchers.

they are very very comfy no doubt but the design is nowhere near what i will fancy in the past.

all i can say is this is a sure sign of aging - where comfort takes over aesthetics when it comes to shoes.

and 2 pairs of my sandals had their straps came off one day after another!

i have send them to my dad for some fixing only dads are capable of... 

both of them are from bimba & lola and i think i will have second thoughts buying its shoes again...

on another thought, new quota for shoes from HK?

HK - staccato, pedder red, nine west and many more! 

at the drama front, im chasing so many currently that most of my weekday nights are well taken care of. :P
1) walking dead season 4 is back!! 
ive waited like a year for it and finally its back *sniff*.
airing at 1 episode per week, it makes my monday nights both happy and terrifying... ha

2) jap show - 半泽直树
this very popular drama just ended in japan last month and its ratings were in the top 5 of the last decade!
even the husband is hooked on it and kept asking me to watch every night...which i cant obliged due to other (drama) commitments... hehe
at only 10 episodes, the show is fast paced and akin to a 武侠 drama in modern corporate setting.
really 大快人心to see the male lead bringing down all those scheming, selfish top management in his way.
以牙还牙，加倍奉还！
yup, thats the tagline for the show.

3) inheritors 继承者们
finally after waiting a long year, minho is back with a new drama after his last one - faith - last year! :)
this serial is written by the famous scriptwriter who penned "secret garden" & "gentleman's dignity" no less! both shows were the top rating drama back in 2011 & 2012 respectively!
i have high hopes for this show. :)
so far its ep6 into the show (20 ep in all), it is already fast paced with all the characters fleshed out properly and a very engaging plot.
really have to give kudos to the scriptwriter.
and minho continue to impress with his acting and of cos long legs!
and this time round, his character wears pullovers with all kind of crazy prints but he can totally carry off the attires!

think it will be sometime before i revisit reading.
oh well.

some outfits for the week:

left: top from gg5, skirt from zara

middle: dress from gg5

right: top from ms selfridge, skirt from bysi

my baobei is all ready for P1!

宝贝勇智 has his graduation concert this morning!
we went to watch the concert and it was really a proud moment seeing the elder son went on stage to collect his graduation certificate in his graduation gown. 
just like that, 2 years passed and he is all ready for primary one next year.

ready for the next milestone in his life...

dear boy, may you continue to have the zest and interest in learning like how you have shown in your nursery and kindergarten years.

continue to make new friendships with others and create wonderful memories for the rest of your childhood in your primary school.

gravity and about time

caught 2 movies recently.
Gravity with the husband n boys during the week.
It was superd.
The director did a wonderful job portraying space as it should be.
Insanely beautiful and scary.
Dead silence,  absolutely nothing to anchor on and to me, scariest of all,  far flung from all the things that matter to you.
the success of the show lies not only from the spectacular visuals but also from the very humane plot.

It is almost a given that surely bullock will be nominated for best actress in the upcoming Oscars.
though there were already many movies out there showcasing how human spirit triumph in extreme conditions, she still did an extremely well job in portraying the character's emotional journey.
The script is really well written.  Such a wide repertoire of emotions the female lead has to go through and totally reasonable given the circumstances.

Hope can be a luxury in dire situation but hope may be exactly the thing to get you through.

Overall,  the tight 90 mins show is one of the best film I've seen this year.
The elder son enjoyed it while the younger boy fell asleep for a good hour during the show leaving us to enjoy it better.  Hehe.

Caught about time with zm n candice on sat.
I've rather high expectations for the show and felt that it did not really live up to its 7.8 score in imdb.
Having said so,  it is still a decent show.  Both friends found it good since they did not have much expectations before watching.
Funny and heartwarming.
But i personally prefer love actually, given both shows are penned and directed by the same person.

The message of the film is simple and known to most but hard to practice: enjoy and be thankful of each day with your loved ones.

Sidenote: wanted to watch prisoners & rush but they were gone before I can squeeze the time.
So sad. ...

Interestingly enough, I read up on picasso while waiting for the elder son to attend his enrichment class this morning.

Was thinking which book to grab from the shelf when I chanced upon an old art book bought by the husband as bday pressie ages back. ..

I was enjoying the section write up on his earlier Blue & Rose pieces.
But again when it comes to the cubism pieces- only one word: LOST.

But there was this particular quote by him that I find written seemingly just for me..
The main gist is like this (I can't remember the exact words):
"The fact that many people out there do not seem to think much of cubism is nothing.  Just like I do not know English.  An English book is a blank book to me.  But it does not change the fact that the language exists.  And so who else can I blame but myself for not understanding something that I know nothing of. "

And it strikes me,  or rather reminded me again we should not to let myopia take over us so often in life.

sometimes things that do not make sense to us are usually a result of us not making the effort of trying to understand more.

And if understanding still fails,   acceptance will be the next best thing to try,  especially for loved ones.

geniuses of the past

for a change, i read up on some of my favorite painters/sculptors these few nights when the boys are in dreamland (rather than chasing episodes!).
and i fall in love once again.
and i try hard to recall the moment when i set eyes on the real thing in all the museums which I've visited in the past:
uffizi in florence
borghese in rome
lourve in paris
vatican in rome
prado in madrid
alte pinakothek in munich 
dorsay in paris
van gogh in amsterdam
and sadly, i remember the rush of amazement at seeing masterpieces rather than the paintings/sculptures  themselves....

if you ask me, i think the relationship form between an art piece and the viewer is always personal and unique.
that is why viewing the same painting, one person will fall for it while another may find it mediocre at best.
and 2 persons liking the same painting will most probably than not dish out different reasons for liking it.
that is why i find browsing through a museum can be a particularly emotional draining and lonely experience.
but i relish the moment when an art piece reaches out to me and take away my breath.
im not an art expert so i do not know how to explain the techniques employed by the artist, the allegory behind the picture or even the period the art piece is from.

and the reasons for liking them are all different.
it can be how lifelike the painting seems.
it can be how wonderfully the story seems to spring out from the composition.
it can be the emotions evoked from me just from seeing the work.
and the list goes on.
but such a joy.

sharing my favorite favorite artists (like all times favorite, really!):
1) Botticelli (Renaissance, Italy, painter)
2) Caravaggio (Baroque, Italy, painter)
3) Bernini (Baroque, Italy, sculptor) 
4) Van gosh ((Post?) Impressionism, Netherlands, painter)
Artists which some of their works left an everlasting impression on me:
1) Albrecht Durer (Renaissance (?), German, painter)
2) Johannes Vermeer (Baroque, Netherlands, painter)
3) Hieronymus Bosh (Netherlands, painter)
4) Edgar Degas (Impressionism, French, painter)

and i must say modern art is totally lost on me.
and i dont understand picasso most of the time, especially his cubism works!

sick for too long & catching up with words

i thought with my (less than) frequent exercising and healthy (or so i thought) diet [i ate my greens and my weaknesses are only pokka green tea and sometimes potato chips], my health is pretty in the pink.
at least for the whole of 2013 so far, i was only down with sore throat once or twice at most.

hence, when i was down with sore throat and slight flu last last sunday, i thought nothing of it.
went to see doc and thought that with the usual flu/cough meds, the sick bug will be gone in no time.
wrong big time.
the mucus and phlegm did dwindle down by end of a week but guess what, my asthma was triggered.
ARGH!
and just like that, i was left gasping for breath for 2 long days and weakly recuperating since tues till now...
uber zzz.
so counting the days, i ve been sick for > 10days! gosh!
so much about thinking my constitution is good.
pui.

perhaps its time to admit the old age.
and modify the diet and lifestyle to suit my poor constitution.
sip more hot tea like zm and cut down the alcohol (my wine and soju!).
lesser dramas and bedtime by midnight aint so bad if it helps the wrinkles.

@_@

the only silver lining that comes out of the whole episode is i catch up on reading.
when you are stuck in bed without strength for most things, the least you can do is eyeballs moving.
and that was what i did.
i finished 2 books by neil gaiman - american gods and anansi boys.

i ve only read 1 book by him before this:- graveyard book which is more for young adult.

but nevertheless very very entertaining.

Ive always wanted to read american gods as it won the hugo & nebula awards in 2002 where china mieville was also nominated for his perdido street station! 

ive never read perdido street station but other works by mieville have always been fascinating.

so i want to read for myself just how good is american gods.

and it didnt disappoint.

his style is very different from mieville. very easy prose, faster pace and dry wry humor running through the whole book which you'll find out that its a trademark of him if you read his other books.

critics have remarked before that mieville can be overly ambitious with his plot and trying too hard to impress with his mastery of language (not that im complaining) but i can see why american gods may be a better novel if you weigh the overall factors.

so american gods is a good book though not impressive enough for me.

the ending is less of a wham than i expected. 

i remember his graveyard book delighting me more. maybe i should re-read it.

as for anansi boys, its rather like a pale imitation of american gods and not worth the time if you ask me...

but again, its my opinion.

anyway, i kept reading the new books i bought and leaving the old "new" books to continue sitting in the dust.

i need to divert more time for them....

but whenever i see the super thick "1Q84" and "reamde" staring at me from the shelf, i lost all interest! :P

and apart from them, there are another 3 more sitting there seemingly looking equally boring... *oops*

i hope they will make me glad of choosing them in the first place when i finish them... like eventually.

no turning back! the release is here!

in a flash, oct is here and 2013 feels like its already slipping through my fingers. :(
as with EVERY single month, i was kept occupied with closing for the first week.
mixed feelings for this month closing.
we actually finished all the closing actitivities by 7+pm on day 1 and was out of the office by 8pm - the earliest for this year!
BUT i was down with sore throat and flu for the whole week so it has been an uncomfy working week for me. :(
AND the new system release is going live in this month too!
system is all shut down by this thursday (which means we were very very free on fri and the whole of next week too!) and the new release will be going live the week after!
hope things will turn out well.

and referencing back to the bullshit i said in the last post about not rewarding myself, pls forget about it.
mr chee yong has processed my order successfully last night. *muhahah*
another 2 weeks before he is back from his europe-US long trip.
i cant wait. :P

and im grounded at home for this weekend.
no thanks to feeling unwell still and a choice made which i am already regretting.
more on that in another post perhaps. sighhh...

outfits for the week:

left: denim dress from I.T.

right: dress from MNG ( does anyone still buy from MNG nowadays?! the quality is atrocious...

i bought this like 2 years plus back...)