Prawning

This is my niece. I brought her prawning and she was addicted. She keeps asking my sister to bring her over to my house so that I can bring her there again.

A Trip to the Vegetables Farm

I went to many places on the 14 September 2008. The final stop was at a vegetables farm just beside the Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve. It is an aeroponics farm. It means that they grow their vegeatables plants in an air or mist environment. The plants are not even grown in water (hydroponics). Can you see the roots of the plant hanging in the 'air'? Anyone of you know the name of the plant??

There are so many plants there and I don't even know their names. I know that they are edible, but I do not know how to cook them. Enjoy the photos...
An unripe strawberry...
A corn (maize) plant...A papaya tree...A stool?? That was what I thought at first. But I was wondering why was the stoll place right in the middle of nowhere. Upon a closer look, I realised...
It was a pumpkim...
A starfruit plant...

A cotton plant... That's the fruit. When it opens up, you can see the cotton inside. (Sorry, forgot to take the photo of the cotton inside. My son was busy plucking out the cotton and I was trying to stop him.)


A toad?? I saw a group of children crowding around it and so I went to take photographs of it too...
A ginger plant... The ginger is underground...
A Indian Cherry plant...

A grasshopper... Can you see it?



A pineapple plant...The watermelon flower... (so sorry, it's not very clear)

There are many species of gourds... I'm sorry... I am not familiar with them. Let me know their names if you know them. They were hanging there, looking fat and juicy...










I must go to the vegetables farm again to learn more about these plants. The next thing is to learn to cook them... See ya!

Climbing up the Bukit Timah Hill

After going to the Kranji War Memorial, we went to the Bukit Timah Hill. Jia Yi has been there before, when he was 3, and now has no memory of it.

Jia Yi was pratically running up the steep slope of the hill. I was behind him trying to catch up, but my legs were unwilling. He tried to ask me questions about the signs that he saw at the side of the path, but I was too breathless to answer. It was the determination that I would not lose out to the rest of the group members, and to 'save face' in front of Jia Yi, that made me climb all the way to the summit.

There isn't many pictures to show because my hands were shaking so much that I could not take any nice pictures. But, I had to take the evidence to show that I had reached the summit.

I will go there again after I have trained up my stamina. And I will bring my husband along, to show off my stamina.

A Trip to Kranji War Memorial

My son and I went to Kranji War Memorial on the 14 September 2008. That was my first time there. I was there in the morning at about 8am. The air was refreshing. It is a good place to go to.

Having forgotten to bring along my digital camera, I could only take the pictures with my handphone, so the pictures may not be very clear.

This is where the first and second president of Singapore lies.

The one above is Yusof Ishak. He was the first president of Singapore from 1965 to 1970. Yusof Ishak died in 1970 at the age of 60. You can still see the picture of his face on the notes used in Singapore.

The one below is Benjamin Henry Sheares. He was the second president of Singapore from 1971 to 1981. He was then 74. The Sheares Bridge was named after him.

As we entered the Kranji War Cemetery, we can see rows and rows of tombstones. However, it was not frightening at all. Instead, I felt very peaceful there. There are no bodies buried under the ground, but the tombstones were there to remind us of the number of deaths caused by the war.

As we walked up the aisle, we saw the following,

Behind this, are walls and walls of names. Names of the people who had died in the war. (I just realised that I didn't take photographs of those walls.)

They even keep a register of those who had passed away in the war.

My son, who wants to be a soldier, wants to fight for his country. I am proud of him. But, I wouldn't want to see a war start just so that he can fight to protect his country. In a war, many people die and their families suffered. Let peace goes on forever.

The Delivery

I was very calm when I arrived at the hospital. This is my third time there and I know what to expect. Even my husband was very well-prepared. (He wore his long-sleeved shirt, long pants and sports shoes because he knew that it was going to be cold in the delivery suite. The last time he was there with me, he was freezing.)

Soon, I was brought to the delivery suite. I was still sleepy so I thought I could just sleep there, but the contractions started coming once in a while. Time seemed to pass very slowly. At about 8.30am, the doctor ordered to speed up the contractions. This was when the pain started to get intense. I could not lie down properly on the bed because the pain was so unbearable. I wanted to keep moving so that the pain would go away. (It worked for Jia Yi and Jia Ya) But, this time, it did not worked. (Probably, I am older now.)

I started screaming whenever the pain comes. My husband was shocked. (I did not screamed when I had Jia Yi and Jia Ya.) I screamed louder and longer as the pain became more intense. My husband tried to cover my mouth. He even offered me ice so that I can keep my mouth shut. But that did not stopped me.

The nurses from other delivery suite even came over to ask if I need pain relief so that it would not be so painful and I would stop screaming. I rejected them. ( I did not use any pain relief for Jia Yi and Jia Ya, so I wanted the same for Jia Ye.) I just continued screaming all the way till about 9.40am. That's when my doctor said that my baby is ready to come out.

I knew that I should not scream anymore. I had to use all the energy to push the baby out. I stopped screaming and concentrated on pushing the baby out. It seemed like forever. The doctor kept telling me 'just one more' but that was not true. I was soon breathless. Three nurses had to help me. My husband was holding my hand and encouraging me to keep pushing. I could feel the baby coming out, but somehow he was stuck there. Finally, I managed to push Jia Ye out. It was relief for me.

I could hear Jia Ye coughing and the nurses commenting that they now understand why I was screaming so loudly. Jia Ye is huge. Even my husband was shocked when he saw Jia Ye. My doctor commented that she expected the baby to be big, but not so big. Guess how much he weighs?

I was sent to the ward to rest after the delivery. It was really an unforgettable experience with all those screaming.

Coincidence??

Hi! I have finally delivered Jia Ye on the 17 March 2008 at 9.56am.

I do not know if Jia Ye understands me or is it just coincidence. When my doctor told me that I may deliver earlier than the estimated delivery date, I told Jia Ye that I do not want him to come so early. I wanted him to be just like his siblings, who arrived after 40 weeks of gestation. (People say that these children are fully-developed in the womb and are healthier.)

Then it was Chinese New Year. I had Jia Ya just before Chinese New Year and I missed eating all those Chinese New Year goodies. So, I told Jia Ye, 'Come, after I finished eating all those Chinese New Year goodies that I have bought.'

I managed to finish all the Chinese New Year goodies during the first week of March and the weather started to change. Usually, it is very hot in March, but this year, there is lots of rain. I told Jia Ye, 'Do not come on the day when it rains. It's very difficult to hail a cab in the rain.' I also told him, 'Do not come in the middle of the night.' He did not.

Jia Ye came right after the estimated delivery date (after 40 weeks of gestation). I had finished eating all the Chinese New Year goodies. And when I had my first contration, it was already 5am in the morning. The weather was good and it was not raining.

Do you think he heard me? Or is it just coincidence??