Aroy Mak Mookata + Tim Ho Wan & Lady M with HT & Alina + Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve with SS & XY and lunch at Poison Ivy + Minimalism exhibition with Potato + District Sushi with Justin + SKY 캐슬

30/3/19 Sat – 1/4/19 Mon: Potato stayed over at my place! We accompanied dad and mum to the market on Sunday mornings, played Escape room card games and caught “Brainiac”, “No Sleep no FOMO” etc shows together! Nice to have some time together over the long weekend for us~

2/4/19 Tues: PY suggested for dinner at Aroy Mak Mookata, together with Ning, Francine and me. I was the first to arrive at the Macpherson outlet, and I ordered for us four and tucked in first as I was already famished.

The ladies only arrived about 1 hour and 15 minutes later, so while I was eating and waiting for them, the staff would peek over once in a while, as if wondering if I really have three other friends coming or I intended to finish the four pax portion by myself? Lol.

Had some good laughs with them, and we even planned for a trip to Taiwan together early next year. I’m not a fan of mookata, and so after some time, I found the food to be “repetitive”. That buffet (drinks excluded) was about $20 per person.

4/4/19 Thurs: Met up with MY after so long for lunch at our usual hang-out: Tamako Meal. The salmon slices in my salmon don were big and fat today hehe! *Too bad they don’t have the Chuka Wakame then~*

8/4/19 Mon: Alina and HT didn’t want to have much rice for dinner, so we went to Tim Ho Wan instead. It was only my second time there probably, since the opening of Plaza Singapura’s branch in Singapore. Alina is a frequent customer, and so we left it to her to decide what we shared for dinner: fried noodles, carrot cake, prawn rolls, prawn dumplings, char siew bun etc. About $20 per person, but I thought it was not bad and filling enough. Had a good chat about our idea of having kids, especially since Alina love kids. 

Alina didn’t feel full from dinner, so we headed to Lady M for dessert. First time I had a whole slice of matcha cake ($9.50) to myself and I felt sick of it after finishing… too sweet.

9/4/19 Tues: Yip replaced Diana tonight, and the class was full! We worked in pairs mostly, and I must say some of the poses were fun and challenging! *The part where the class went “wow wow” while I was upside down lol.*

13/4/19 Sat: XY’s dad was nice enough to fetch me, SS and her to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve visitor centre from Yew Tee Point on a Saturday morning. We walked the Mangrove Boardwalk at the start, and saw squirrel, crabs and even a small venomous viper by a branch! *Forest bathing is indeed cooling and relaxing!*

It’s my first visit, and we realised we walked the same route twice after a while. So, three of us walked back to the Visitor’s Centre and looked at the map. We don’t have a lot of time till noon, so we opted to try out the Coastal trail (half an hour) instead of the main migratory bird trail which will take us two hours to complete.

Took some photos at the Mud Experience area~

We also posed at the Mudskipper pod where I saw one mudskipper. He’s so well-camouflaged, and had it not move, I wouldn’t have noticed it from a distance away.

Took photos nearby the bridge from the Kingfisher Pod, and SS kept wondering if the buildings she saw right across the waters were from Malaysia or Singapore? Haha.

Think we walked into the Forest Trail thereafter. *There were quite a few signs of “beware of crocodiles in waters”.*

John came to fetch us from Kranji carpark C and we went to have lunch at Poison Ivy café. Small portion of food, but I’m glad they enjoyed the nasi lemak and desserts especially. *I do agree with John, when it comes to volunteering, first lend a helping hand to locals or local organisations before considering going overseas to help.*
After tuition with Jayden, Potato and I went to National Gallery for free admission to the Minimalism Exhibition that’s coming to an end. I liked the first exhibit we saw, which was a three-faced walls of countdown-timers from 9 to 1, and then they blacked-out to signify ‘0’. Each counter had their own speed, and it was to show the “countdown of life”. 

There were many minimalism objects on display, and though I could not relate to all of them, some were still intriguing. Just like the one-tonne of dried pu-er leaves and the yellow-lighted room.

I had craving for raw food so we walked over to En Dining but it seemed that it has closed down. Wanted to try our luck at Standing Sushi Bar near SAM but it was closed too omg. Settled for Nihon Mura, and though the food was meh-meh, I was still thankful for the hubby's company as ever.

15/4/19 Mon: Had dinner with Justin at District sushi. I tried their super bara chirashi don ($20) but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the normal chirashi don at $13, or maybe like the salmon belly don ($16) Justin had. He explained some of the concepts of stock and how happenings in the world affects the US, China or Europe market to me. *Hopefully, I can remember them and put them to good use lol.*

“SKY 캐슬” could be the best Korean drama I have watched this year. The drama revolves around the lives of housewives living in a luxurious residential area called Sky Castle in suburban Seoul. They try to make their husbands more successful and ways and means to ensure their children goes into Seoul National University Medical School. The darkness began with the tragic of the death of a mum in one of the family, and how it all was linked with the tuition teacher and greed of parents wanting the best for their children.

Never felt bored during the 20 episodes, and there’s this cliffhanger at the end of almost every episode in the show. Those veteran actors and actresses as parents acted so well, and each and everyone have their own distinctive characters. The teenagers were pretty good too.

They probably didn’t have to act too much after all, given that the show is about only reflecting the competition and cruelty of society in first-class countries nowadays. The vicious cycle of the mental stress in a family, from life to work to school practically went on. We can see that in Singapore too.

The education part makes me ponder, if I ever want such things to happen to my kids (if I were to have in future)? i.e. Going into good schools and taking all sorts of supplementary classes. I know people say things like “You don’t know because you are not a parent…” and “You will do the same thing for your kids…” , and I can understand where they are coming from, but there is a degree of “defiance” in me. I think it has all along been within me; I don’t like to go or follow what the majority does.

Then again, my parents didn’t have to push me to study last time. I was already a “kiasu” kid myself haha~ They aren’t very well-educated themselves, and probably that’s why they didn’t stress me nor my brother much in school. Instead, they understand and help by allowing me to go for classes I wanted to. I will always remember that my mum said before: “You decide your own future.” After reading between the lines, do I resent that? No. I have always felt that my own future should be in my own hands, not for my parents to be responsible for it at all. *我看来还真懂事hor lol.* If anything, I am fully responsible, even if it meant making wrong decisions or taking the wrong path along the way. I think I’m not as afraid to admit to falling, nowadays. Who don’t? Even Saint does. What matters, is what you learnt from there.

Yes, there are moments of dilemma when I chose to go down another path (i.e. not Science but Arts when Science was seen as a more successful path to take down the road), but I try my best to bring up the pros and cons in such situations where no one knows what exactly happens or is best for a kid and make a decision. 

It’s hard for parents, and it’s hard parenting. Even parents are at a loss sometimes. Imo, being a parent is the hardest job in the world. I don’t know how I will handle it, but if there comes a day, I know we will do our best, and with the child’s best interest at heart. 

End of the day, I questioned myself quite a bit after watching this drama. Totally worth every minute of my time.

Rating: 5/5