(Me time) Best BSB concert ever!

2nd May was Backstreet's boys concert in Singapore. My friend and I went together... And seriously it was an AWESOME night. I had the best time ever. 

Before the concert, I was actually feeling skeptical. I was thinking about how good they could be given their age. 

They were so darn good! Like really, really good.

The Bsb sang sooo well together. And there wasn't any lip synching. Just good, powerful  and genuine voices that could harmonize together. There was this acoustic, acapella bit of the concert where they just sang and played the guitar + bass. Totally blew me away. 

They still had the moves despite their age. Sure, they're not as smooth as before. But seriously, it didn't matter to all us fans out there last night! We still felt like girly fan girls, all in awe of our boy band idols lol.

The Bsb are really damn good performers and entertainers. Nick carter was awesome at 'hosting' their performance. He still sounds so young, funny and lively. Brian was acting his funny self. Kevin, still very very serious and manly. I actually like Aj's singing a lot. And howie d was entertaining as well. 

They got the whole theatre of Singaporeans all riled up, crazy, cheering, swooning and dancing on their feet. I've never been to a concert where SOOO many people are singing their hearts out and dancing on their feet. I seriously went all out and had the best time ever. 

During the concert, I was telling J how I miss such music and lyrics. The good ol' music. Sounds like I'm getting old hehe.

I'm amazed at how many hit songs Bsb has had over the years. I sang along to so many songs though I'm not even the type who intentionally remembers lyrics or memorizes songs. *wistful sigh* oh man, seriously I would pay to watch them again. 

So glad we made the decision to buy the tickets. It was the best impromptu decision ever. We kinda got our youth back yesterday. To be all 12-15 years old again. 

I'm still feeling high from the concert. I think I'm going to be listening and watching a lot of bsb for the next 1-2 weeks lol.

April's Resolutions Review

It's end April! We're nearing mid year. Can't believe it! 

Time to review my progress on my 2015 resolutions:

1. Live a healthy life.

- Not sure why, we stopped preparing our good and yummy ABC juice =( Really slacked on this one. Time to buck up again! 

- I've still been trying to eat healthier lunches at work. Thank goodness I'm still not sick of yong tau fu. It's hard to find healthier choices at the hawker center. I guess I could eat fish soup (without the salty soup) and economical rice with more veges!

- Started taking supplements recently. Figured that maybe I should start Women's multivitamins and calcium (since I don't drink milk). I'm a lil apprehensive actually. I hope these supplements don't have bad side effects.  I started on Blackmore's vits and Biocalth calcium.

- Around march, I injured my knee and decided to stop jogging for a while. It was a difficult decision for me. I finally trained my stamina and didn't want to give that up. I stopped for about 2-3 weeks and I only started jogging again.

My stamina really isn't as good as before! I can only jog about 2km now. Trying to train up again without putting too much pressure on my knees. I got new running shoes from Asics so I hope that helps!

I'm currently around 52.5 to 53kg yay! I just hope to maintain this weight. Not looking to lose more but if I do, it's a bonus! 

2. Be a good wife.

- G and I don't really get to spend alone time on weekday nights. We usually spend time as a family with Leia. 

We still go for occasional date or movie nights but we haven't been able to fix a weeklyday to spend time together. Just seems difficult! 

I'm going to try to see if we can fix it on Friday! 

- I've been trying to buy little things for him whenever I can. This consists mainly of his favorite snacks hehe. 

- To be honest, I find it hard to minimize emotional dumping and blaming. Especially, the latter. There have been various occasions when Leia falls down under his care, and I blame him, although he didn't want it to happen too. 

It's something I find hard to control sigh. Something I really need to look into and work on. 

3. Be a good mummy.

I think I've made good progress on this!

- I try to go through ABC and 123 with Leia when I go home everyday. Trying not to make it a boring exercise! Salute teachers and mummies who can make learning engaging for children.

- Leia now knows how to walk and run! And dance haha. Credit also goes to my helper who guides her everyday.

- My little one has been learning to self feed with her hands and use the spoon. We expose her to this especially when we're out eating. It keeps her busy! 

- I previously found more play activities to enhance her fine motor skills and encourage her curiosity. Need to start doing more of those! Eg. Make play doh, print pictures for her to colour. 

- I notice that I've been taking fewer photos and videos of leia. Partly because she's more mobile and active now, so it's difficult to take photos. And partly because, I've become lazier! -.-  Really want to start taking more. 

(Little Leia) Happy 16 months darling!

Leia just turned 16 months! 2 more months to 1.5 years old hehe. 

1. We've started her with playgroup classes at Genius Tots at Buangkok. She goes for 1.5 hrs of playgroup class every Tuesday and Thursday morning. During the playgroup, she learns to play with others, sing songs, learns different themes, colours and a lot of other interactive activities. 

Leia seems to like her classes and interacts with her teacher and fellow tot friends hehe. Whilst she's the youngest, the teacher told us that she's a fast learner. The teacher seems to adore her!  Leia always listens and plays with her a lot. 

2. Very recently, she started developing a sense of humour and find certain things, actions or expressions funny. She's been laughing a lot more, in response to her or us doing whatever. Sometimes, she'll run around in circles and laugh. Just that day, she did the downward yoga pose and started giggling. She laughs more when we tickle or make funny faces at her.

3. She has learnt to imitate whatever expressions or actions we do! Like pouting or pretending to workship. It's hilarious. 

4. Her new words include 'bag' as in my handbag haha. 'Ba ba', the pacifier. 'Ta ta' for water. 'Five' to highfive. 'Boo' for her books. 

5. Leia loves to feed herself now! She loves to use her spoon and bowl when we're out. It's funny cause she hates it when we help her use the spoon properly. 

6. Our little one is a downward dog master. She recently started doing this pose a lot! Lol. The first time she did it, she kept giggling, watching the world upside down. 

7. She knows how to clean up when I sing our clean up song! I always get her to bring out her toys and put them back when I start singing the song. She gets so excited and sings along whilst cleaning up. 

(Family time) Our first family getaway!

We just had our first family trip on 12th to 14th April! It was amazing. Gerald, Leia, Jo, my in-laws, my mum and I went to Bintan for a short trip. Leia's first time overseas! We stayed at Angsana bintan and we were lucky to have seafacing rooms with awesome views.

The journey:

Our ferry rides to and fro went pretty well! Just a short 45 mins ride one way. Even though we didn't book emerald class, the economy seats were comfortable and the ferry wasn't crowded (Sunday is a good time to travel!)

Leia did well during the ferry rides! She slept through most of it and wasn't very cranky. She barely cried =D

The hotel:

G and I have been to Angsana before so we knew how it was going to be. I love that it's a quiet hotel with good service.

It has a good sized swimming pool with jacuzzi and cool big floats to play with. Beach is awesomeeee. Waters were clear and turquoise. Bintan is really much nicer in April compared to other parts of the year! What was disappointing though, was that there were tar/oil spills on the beach. All of us had our feet and slippers stained! -.-

Lots of greenery and flowers making the place very serene. Nothing beats being surrounded by all this nature.

Angsana's rooms are a bit old I must say. I thought they renovated but they still appear rather shabby. Their walls and furniture look old. Their toilets could be a lot newer and cleaner. I still prefer Nirwana's hotel rooms. But in terms of sea view, Angsana's was awesomeeee. 

What we did:

On the first day, we didn't get to do much. Just checked in, explored the compounds and checked out the beach!

We had 2 highlights at the beach haha. One was having our feet stained by oil spills. The other was discovering that Leia has an immense phobia of sand! She does! Not sure if it's common for toddlers to be so afraid. Basically, after we put her down on the sand, she started crying and clung onto us like a koala bear! She totally hated it lol.

We had dinner at The lotus cafe at Angsana. Food was good but soooo pricey. That's the downside of Angsana compared to Nirwana, meals are so expensive! 

On the second day, we woke up to the most gorgeous sunrise in our hotel room. Our view was breathtaking. 

Our buffet breakfast was good. Filled our bellies before we all went to the swimming pool! It was so exciting because it was Leia's first time swimming! She totally enjoyed sitting in her float and playing with the water. No fear, whatsoever. Lol. My in laws joined in swimming as well and we all had fun in the sun =D 

We headed to D'bintan for a massage whilst Leia took her nap. We weren't very impressed with the massage. There weren't any private rooms for us and the ambience just wasn't enjoyable. We were  all in cubicles, separated by curtains -.- massage was so so only. Lunch at Ole Ole was good though!

After we got back, we hung out at the beach where Gerald and I went into the sea. We let Leia swim again since she loved it so much! 

Our day ended with dinner at the Kelong. Food was surprisingly good and quite affordable. I was quite paranoid at the place because it was surrounded by the sea and the barricades weren't very extensive. Was so afraid Leia would run and fall off -.- But all was good and we enjoyed the dinner very much. Portions were big!

On the last day, we just had a very very full breakfast. Gerald, my mum and I went to have a massage at Angsana spa and it was soooooooo good. Much much better than D'bintan! Pricey but worth it. Loved the ambience, the massage, the tea and fruits swerved. Everything was just perfect. 

I really enjoyed the family trip. We had family and personal time. Really thankful for all the help we had for Leia. So grateful that she stayed safe throughout our trip. 

(Little Leia) Happy 15 months!

Leia is 15 months now! Every month brings new milestones because she's just learning so fast!

1. Leia doesn't just walk on her own now, she runs! A lot of times, we're trying to catch her befor she runs in something lol.

2. Some new words that she can say are 'hi', 'mamam', 'turtle' (the newest addition).

3. She recognizes sooooo many things now and can point them out when we mention them. The frog, bird, giraffe, turtle on her playmat. Leia can even point out the ladybird in one of the library books (Colette the cow). She really knows her stuffed animals like the owl and usual dog, popiz, elephant. 

4. Leia makes her little owl fly whenever we say 'how does owl fly?'. It's super adorable. She basically just brings it over her head and swings it around hehe. 

5. She knows her body parts now! She touches her head when we say head. Shows us her foot when we ask 'where's your feet?'. And her hand and finger when we ask her about them. Leia also pats her tummy when we ask her 'where's your belly!'. Oh! And she knows where our noses are but not her own yet hehe.

How does she pick up all this?! Maybe repetition, really is key.

6.  Leia just learned how to do the flying kiss! It's so funny. She it the right way with her right hand. But with her left, she only kisses her finger lol. My cheeky girl has such a character. 

7. I believe Leia now has a sense of self. When we look at her pictures and ask her 'where is Leia', she points at her photo.

8. We started disciplining her and saying 'no' fiercely when she screams. It worked! *crosses fingers that this continues* she has been screaming less now. 

(Little Leia) Toddler activities to try!

Leia's going to turn 15 months soon. She's been doing soooooo many new things and learning soooo fast for the past 2 weeks. I think some part of her brain just really lit up lol. 

I've been thinking of doing more engaging activities with her. They say toddlers pick things up really fast from 1 year on. And a part of me just really want to spend more quality time with her. There's some uncertainty going on in my life and I'm not sure whether I can spend as much time with her in the near future. I want to make each moment count.

So two days ago, I started to research online for toddler activities and what to teach Leia. I found this cute daily, bucket list on my Facebook:

There's a few things that I already want to try! Like blowing bubbles, playing with stickers, colouring, finger painting. 

I found this website called 'I can teach my child' and it has many fun and free activities too! I tried one yesterday and I'll call it 'Oatmeal sensory fun'. 

Basically, I filled a tin with uncooked oats and let Leia feel and play with the oats. She had so much fun just touching and transferring the oats! She sat there for like 40 mins lol. It was a dirty mess (I need to get some plastic table cloth) but it was worth it. 

There are quite a few activities that I wanna try:

- Making homemade, non toxic playdough

- Printing out real animal pictures (laminated or ziplocked) for her to match to her stuffed toys 

- Make a 'My family' picture book, using scrap paper and ziplock bags. 

(Healthy project) Trying quinoa.

One of my health resolutions, other than exercising, is to eat more whole grains or healthy foods.

The easiest way is for me to switch to brown rice. But it's hard to get that at my regular lunch places. And no one wants to have that for dinner, except me lol.

A few months back, I actually bought a a pack of red quinoa for leia. I saw some mummies feeding their toddlers this super healthy grain (or seed) so I thought why not. But till today, we haven't tried cooking it for her yet! Lol.  So yesterday, I decided to try cooking it for myself for a start. I wanted to experiment on the cooking method and make sure the taste and texture are fine for her.

Quinoa (keen-wah) is a type of seed that is super high in protein, iron, magnesium and fibre. It's commonly known as a superfood! You can prepare or eat it like rice so it's very versatile. 

I cooked and ate it yesterday and it's pretty alright! I had red quinoa which supposedly tastes more earthy than the white type. It's not smooth like rice probably due to the fibre content but I still find it acceptable. I can definitely see it becoming my dinner carbohydrate replacement. 

I'm going to try more of it and see how it goes!