February 2017

One of my favourite memories growing up, is when I would help my Mum cook. Mostly it would just be things like cakes or pancakes. The pancakes were probably my favourite to cook because I got to use the frying pan and would pretend I was a famous chef. Although as far as eating goes, cakes win hands down.

Carrying on this tradition, my wife, SO, and I have made it a regular activity that we cook with our son, Jay. Unlike cooking with my Mum, we tend to cook meals together as a family. We have done desserts or cookies a couple of times, but we don’t really make cakes and things like that very often. Largely because I’m the only one who really eats cake. Yes, I have eaten a whole cake by myself on occasion (over several days that is). And cookies aren’t something we like to have too many of around the house because Jay and I do tend to pig out on them, and we have become much more conscious of our health and weight. I talk about Jay’s weight issues here. read more

Jay’s been sick this last week, and still is. He had last Thursday and Friday off, and it’s now Monday, and he’s off from school again. It’s not anything that out of the ordinary, just a regular cold, but it’s a difficult time for him, and as a result, for the rest of us.

Wednesday night when we got home from work, he was complaining about a fever and he didn’t feel well. It quickly became apparent that he wasn’t going to school the next day, when his fever was going up and he started throwing up. Fortunately we still had some medicine he could take. Unfortunately, when he gets this bad, he doesn’t want to take it and will fight not to have any. read more

My son, Jay, came home from school on Friday a little disappointed. “I got basketball” he told me, with a hint of sadness in his eyes. It wasn’t what he was hoping for, but after a bit of a chat, he decided it was, not just okay, but a potentially good thing.

You see, here in Singapore, primary 3 students (that’s elementary grade 3 for the North Americans) get to choose a CCA (Co-Curricular Activity). The choices include things like science, music, dance, martial arts, scouts, red cross, a few different sports, and some others I can’t remember at the moment. I think there were about 16 choices in all, and the students get to list the 3 they are most interested in. read more

It’s Julie’s first day of grade 5 and her parents are excited and decide to tell everyone they know by taking a photo and sharing it with friends and family on facebook. There she is in her school uniform and her parents leave the comment “First day of grade 6 for our princess at Whatchamacallit School”

It’s what we all do, right? Tell our friends and family what our kids are up to and share their lives. For people like me, living in Singapore, with family in Australia, Indonesia, and Canada, it makes sense sharing online. read more

This past weekend was the Chinese New Year, and like most years we headed back to Indonesia to celebrate with my wife’s family. This is something that we try to do every year, since it’s an important time for SO and her family.

For those who don’t know, SO is Indonesian, born and raised there, but is ethnically Chinese. Both her parents were born in China and moved to Indonesia when they were teenagers, and as such still follow a lot of Chinese customs. This means family is very important to them, and a family gathering at CNY is always done. read more