On A Non School Day

Posted by Jewelle Tan on January 20, 2012 No comment

As I was tucking in my daughters, the eldest said, “We had a great day today, mom“.

It was a non-school day and they were up early. They were outside by 7 am on their scooters or bicycles – and they probably woke everyone else within hearing distance too.

In one hour time, they helped me prepared pancakes for breakfast – and nearly finished them before the plate even reached the table.

Then they were back outside for some more rounds before they started their favorite in-house activity – running a “restaurant” from our spare living room which is now only useable by others when they are in bed at night.

Throughout the whole day, sounds of little feet were heard upstairs and downstairs and no adults were left unpestered with their “What’s your order?” and “Here’s your order!” – and we can’t even “drink” or “eat” our “ordered food” in peace.

With their running up and down – taking and sending “orders” not to mentioned riding outside at any time of the day – they were often hungry and they ate nearly all the time!

Tired out from their busy day, they were in bed early and were asleep in seconds.

And as I watched them breathing contently in their sleep, I can happily say that, I too had a great day having them at home.

What Engineers See

Posted by Jewelle Tan on December 31, 2011 No comment

Through the eyes of engineers I have around me, I have learn to see some things I would not normally pay attention to.

Instead of taking in only the scent and sight of gorgeous shoes, bags, perfumes, cosmetics, books as I walk around any malls, I would also notice leaking pipes, impractical sink basins, unusual switch covers or poor traffic flow design.

Not that I welcome this tendency.

Although I must say, it can sometimes be a good distraction to have your attention snapped back down to earth when you are lost in a useless debate in your head on whether to get that handbag that you don’t need but oh-so-want, and you are unceremoniously asked to look down and see cracking floors.

Dreaded Ferry

Posted by Jewelle Tan on December 31, 2011 No comment

A few days ago we were supposed to board the ferries from Menumbok – Labuan – Muara for our trip back to Brunei.

But several days before that, my husband suggested that we take the overland drive home instead. Bad weather was expected and this would mean rough ferry rides or worse, being stranded in Labuan.

It was not a welcome change of plan because having driven back on many Decembers, we know what it would be like.

So instead of enjoying sceneries of Menumbok, Labuan and Muara port activities with huge ships, boats on curt trailer hitches – we spent a lot of time not-enjoying the sight of a long line of cars stuck back to back as we waited for our turn for the ferry across the Pandaruan River from Puni to Limbang for 3 whole hours.

The worst part about this river crossing that always means hours of traffic jam in December is that, it barely takes 5 mins.

Failed Pirate

Posted by Jewelle Tan on December 30, 2011 No comment

A certain take-note message received this morning had me going through a lot of sites to find a certain movie to watch in full – online.

But as fast as I found the right site, it was also quickly removed and my progress status at this time is – FAILED.

It’s not that we do not want to spend that $6-$7 that it cost to watch a movie in a cinema but there are various legit factors why learning how to download videos from youtube is a useful skill.

Such as, the movie is not being shown in “the cinema near you”.

Or that the movie is so old that nobody even cares about it – but you.

Perhaps you just want to watch a little snippet of the movie before you decide to watch the whole thing elsewhere – and a trailer just does not cut it.

As for this particular attempt, I have given it up and will therefore only look for the book.

Christmas Expectations

Posted by Jewelle Tan on December 30, 2011 No comment

There was a site that posted disappointed/angry/annoyed Facebook statuses of people who did not get their desired Christmas presents – expensive electronic gadgets and even cars!

How sad that it has become simply a time to demand and expect specific items.

How stressful it must be for people in this kind of community and mentality to face Christmas – knowing that certain expensive things are expected.

How did it become to materialistic?

Perhaps it all started with the simple and innocent question asked to small kids, “What would you like for Christmas?“

Growing up with this kind of expectation, it can easily turn from “A Barbie!” to “A purple bicycle!” to “A white iPhone!” – with the list becoming more exclusive and expensive by the year.

In some ways, it is good training for kids to demand and be more assertive with what they want.

But good training or not, my kids are not asked what they wanted and they were happy with whatever they received – stationery, t-shirts, books, hair accessories and etc.

And they mostly enjoyed being with the whole family and that is what Christmas should be about.

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