Little Guy celebrated his fifth birthday a couple of days ago. I sort of took a step back to observe and reflect, on how much he has grown. Five years – it feels like such a long time ago but also like not so long ago that he was just this tiny, gurgling, baby. But yes, oh how he has grown, and how warm and happy I’m feeling inside (it’s an indescribable, fuzzy feeling), that yes, we did it, we made it through, all three of us – five years of grappling, worries, sweat, tears, and the trillion other things that parenthood, babyhood, whateverhood – brought upon us.
I just feel so glad and proud that we have come so far. What’s next for us? What do mothers wish for in their children?
Looking at Little Guy, I wish all these for him – that he’ll
be forever happy;
be healthy;
be safe;
grow into a sensible, independent, responsible and honest young man;
always be surrounded by good friends;
keep the faith;
always have peace and love in his heart.
Of course there’re many other things that I would wish for him. But these are the ones that I feel are most important. These are the ones that will form the ‘foundation’ of how his life will turn out.
Happy 5th Birthday, Little Guy, we’re just so glad to have you in our lives!
I thought I would leave this blog for dead, but instead, it’s getting resurrected because of the dead – the late great Michael Jackson. He is so great, that just by mentioning his first name, most people will instantly know who you are referring to – much like Elvis, but Elvis isn’t as common a name as Michael.
I must confess to be a hypocrite for Michael – like millions of you out there, he was just someone at the back of my mind. How many of us actually thought about him before his sudden death? Would we have waxed lyrical about him if he was still alive today? I was not excited when he announced his concerts in UK – as we here in Asia seem always to get slighted whenever concerts are concerned. I did, however, hope that they will mark a comeback of sorts – a new album perhaps, a new sound?
But alas, all was not to be…
I sat through hours of Michael’s MTV Top 40 Videos, hosted by his good friend David Gest. And now it seems that Michael is stuck in my mind. I walk with Black or White ringing in my head. I go to sleep lulled by You Are Not Alone. I hear Give In To Me as the day wears on.
I’m writing this to get Michael out of my head.
These are three of my favourite Michael songs:
1. Rock With You
I don’t care that Michaellooked like a disco ball, but that was the disco era, wasn’t it? This song is timeless and makes me feel all good, each time I listen to it. And I love the way he looked – full cheeks, wonderful, truly happy smile, and those smiling eyes – Michael, pure and simple.
2. You Are Not Alone
I couldn’t bear to watch the original video that came with this single. Michael had already changed form – maybe I’ve watched too many alien cartoons with Little Guy, where aliens can change from one form to another. But yes, Michael had changed so much physically, to something I found difficult to accept. This ‘live’ recording did not have those scary close-ups.
I like this song as it makes me want to just hold someone close and do a slow dance. I also liked his crystal clear voice when I listen to it off his CD.
3. Give In To Me
I like this for its rock vibes, and of course for Slash’s guitar work.
Just these three songs alone show us the wide range of Michael’s work. The way his music progressed was just amazing – no one else has matched that yet. I think the only thing that we have not heard him do is Country and Western – and there was a report I read yesterday, that said he was planning a classical album? That would have been a blast!
It’s so sad how progressive he was in his work and yet, physically and mentally, he was regressing, killing himself and becoming a form (I find this word most appropriate) that few can understand and appreciate. Something happened after Thriller, and only he knew what.
Are hypocrite fans like me to blame? Did he know that we didn’t care if he’s Black or White? Would he have heard and appreciated us, if we had told him how much we love him (all the time)? Were we guilty of standing back and doubting when he was accused of child molestation? Did he know that millions of us were awaiting his comeback? Were we somehow the cause of his eccentricities?
I’m sure Michael is in a better place now, in his original Thriller form.
Good bye, Michael.
You’ve left an indelible mark on History. You have touched more lives (in so many ways) than any mathematician can ever fathom. How does one calculate the impact of your music, your dance moves and your charitable causes?
And how can I ever get you out of my head?
You’ll be treasured forever in millions of hearts (and iPods).
I’m not sure if it’s only here in Singapore that you hear some people say:
irregardless
in actual fact
‘overlook’ instead of ‘oversee’
‘I’m boring’ instead of ‘I’m bored’
‘low morals’ instead of ‘low morale’ (??!!)
And there are some people who can’t make out when to use:
‘fetch’ or ’send’
‘lend’ or ’borrow’
’see’ or ‘look’
‘live’ or ’stay’
‘hear’ or ‘listen’
‘close’ or ‘closed’
Yeah, yeah, I should provide some examples to show how we should use those pairs of words above. I’m just too lazy to do that. Let me know if you need help, yah?
I’m sure the lists above can be longer, but I don’t want to cringe any more than I had, while writing this. Help me add to the list if you can. I’ll appreciate that (and you do the cringing)!
Oh, and please stop pronouncing the letter ‘H’ as ‘heige’!
blogging – hmmm… sleep less, blog more or blog less, sleep more?
smiling – how to, when work is so depressing and sleep is so little?
ironing – sigh! look at that mountain of crumpled clothes! I definitely need help!
exercising – the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, terribly weak…zzzzzzzzz
drinking (more water, that is) – well, I suppose walking to the ridiculously far-away toilet at my office, more often, could count as a form of exercise?
reading – hmm… does reading bedtime stories to Little Guy every night, count?
buying more bags and shoes, and perhaps more wrinkle-free clothes – will need a sponsor for this
Things I should be doing less of:
slouching
eating carbo – waistline is getting unflattering!
surfing the internet past midnight
hating the boss
worrying – I’m a worry-wart, well, most women are, right?
Sigh! I’m sure the lists are much longer than what I can think of right now. But it’s good that I got them out!
Ahh… here I am, blogging in the midst of my relaxing holiday. If you don’t know where I am from the picture above, hey, where have you been? It’s time you visited Sentosa!
We wanted a relaxing holiday, which hyperactive Little Guy could also enjoy. I did consider some nearby Indonesian island resorts but eventually settled on Sentosa, as being familiar with the place does cut down a lot of stress seeking places to go, and things to do.
We’ll be here for two-and-a-half days – too many days, many people had quipped – nothing to do at Sentosa, it’s expensive, boring, blah, blah, blah. But hey, we are enjoying ourselves! We don’t want to have many things to do, we want to relax! (So relaxing that Big and Little Guy are having their afternoon siesta right now!).
And where we’re staying – The Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort, Little Guy is happy to be able to frolick on the beach and then run to the pool (after a poolside shower, of course). This guy is very happy with the holiday so far, just playing with sand and water. The hotel has several pools and many kids enjoy the slides at the kids’ pools right by the beach. The hotel also gave us a room with a king-sized bed, as we had requested, and the condition of the room is nice and clean and not run-down, as I had read in some reviews. I read some bad reviews on the internet but decided to trust the Shangri-La brand anyway, and I’m glad I did! The breakfast buffet had a good spread too, but too bad I’m the type who eats little, and Little Guy is happy with just waffles and pancakes. Big Guy had no complaints, except for the ‘hard’ chapati.
We went to visit some of the attractions yesterday – we are determined to experience as many of them as possible, since we had always avoided them, as they were deemed expensive. Previous visits to Sentosa were mostly spent at the beach. But this time, we are going the whole hog as we want it to be a REAL holiday. Besides, with the economic downturn, the entrance fees for many of the attractions (and hotel rates, too) have been reduced. That said, we are still going to give The Underwater World and Dolphin Lagoon a miss, as we had visited them twice last year.
First stop was the Sentosa 4D Magix attraction. The 4D movie currently running now is Pirates. Unfortunately, we are giving this attraction the thumbs-down. For $18 per adult, it was not worth it. We had expected better effects than what we had gone through there.
Next to this was the Sentosa CineBlast attraction. This is much like the 4D Magix except that this was much more exciting – we sat in ‘cabins’ and had to have safety belts on. Then off we went on the Extreme Log Ride. It was great fun and we wished it lasted longer! All of us gave this the thumbs-up! We had to miss the Desperados attraction at the same venue, as Little Guy did not meet the 110cm height requirement. But it looked like great fun too! Grow tall quickly, little one!
I’m now waiting for the guys to finish their siesta, then we’ll be off to do the Luge and Skyride. We will end the day with Songs of the Sea – hope that’ll be good!
So who says you can’t take a holiday in our tiny home country? And why do you need lots of things to do on a holiday?
I love holidays where I can take afternoon naps, with no worries about having to meet tour group mates at this place and that time, and all that rush.
Yawn! I think I’m going to join the guys on the comfy king-sized bed now!
Lately, there has been a squabble of sorts concerning the death of dialects in Singapore. It also drew a letter from someone in the Minister Mentor’s office. This letter included the very strong word, stupid. Now, this is a word that I have barred Little Guy from using (at least, for now, at this young age). But I thought that the letter to The Straits Times Forum page need not have to be so emotional and rude. Here is the stupid (I meant it literally too!)quote:
It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin.
Now, I think this is an over-reaction. We don’t need people to be learning dialects in schools or other institutions. What is the harm of screening some movies, drama serials or advertisements in dialect? It adds to the diversity of our culture. And dialects have a place here and have to be kept alive. What better ways than through the media?
I’ve come across kids (and I’m sure you have too) – who ask what that auntie or uncle is saying, why do they sound so strange, etc, etc, and these kids actually laugh at what they hear (but do not understand). This is a shame, because dialects are not funny and they have to do with these kids’ ancestries.
We need to create awareness and not lose sight of our ancestry, and our dialects are a big part of this.
Would the Minister Mentor and his people be happy if we become effectively bilingual in languages that do not belong to us, and in the process, lose our own languages?
So I say, let’s go out there now, order our food in Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and whatever dialects we have. Banter with your kids and friends in dialect – learn different dialects from each other too!
Yeah, I’ve been MIA for a while… I’ve been finally busy at work, after being bored to death with nothing to do in the past couple of months. Being busy at work is really a good thing. I’ve never felt so satisfied at work till lately.
However, with my head buzzing at work, my emotions could be hard to control. So Little Guy was at the end of my frustrations quite a number of times. But each time, I’m still able to exercise some self-control and also redeem myself before Little Guy feels starts to feel bad. I’ve reminded myself to be wary of what I bring back from work. I think I’m getting better at leaving the buzz behind, now.
Sigh! It’s tough being a parent isn’t it? When a child is born, he is literally a clean sheet of paper. He learns and picks up traits and mannerisms from the people and situations he sees around him. And being his parents, we teach him things unconsciously. Parents really need to be careful how they behave when a child is with them, otherwise, they might just see a mirror image of them in their child.
Little Guy has given us many surprises, some good and some bad. And each time we (Big Guy and me) will wonder where, how and why he says or does certain things. And sometimes, to our horror, we would realize that it came from one (or both) of us!
Big Guy is heavily prejudiced against women drivers and I fear Little Guy will be the same when he becomes a driver himself. You see, Big Guy is his official chauffeur and Little Guy is always safely strapped in the child-seat right behind him. So you can imagine how much he picks up from his daddy – the gesticulating at bad drivers, the condemnation of women drivers, and various phrases, including wah lau eh!
Now Little Guy hasn’t had the chance to apply all that he has learnt from his chauffeur daddy yet. But I baulk at the thought of the day when he can finally take to the wheel, and me sitting in there with a sense of deja vu – Little Guy becoming Big Guy, in more sense than one!
For some reason, even when Little Guy spends more time with me, I find that in many things that he does, and words and phrases that he uses (right down to intonation and pronunciation), he copies Big Guy! This is much to my chagrin, because I take pains to teach and to correct Little Guy when he speaks (whilst Big Guy happily continues his mispronunciation, monotones and Singlish).
Perhaps it’s a gender thing? That boys will tend to look up more to their fathers and copy them in whatever things they do?
Hmmm… just earlier today, Big and Little Guy were on the Nintendo Wii having a race. Big Guy uttered ‘Shit’ when he crashed and before I could shush him, you guessed it – Little Guy said ‘Shit’ too (his first time)!
We really need to keep watching our words and actions from now on.
