Our neighborhood beach

These are really backdated pictures. But I want to put them up because I was the photographer. Ha. Most of the time hubby takes the pictures, so when I saw this batch of photos, I felt they were quite refreshing. We have such distinctly different styles!

Took them with the small point and shoot camera, but the colours turned out ok! :)

My mum was staying with us at that time. It was a cool weekend morning and we decided to chill at Sembawang park. After playground time, we settled ourselves into a pavilion. My mum listened to music and read her scores. The kids ate snacks and ran up and down the slopes, their favorite! Hubby and I read papers.

After that, we brought the kids to the jetty. My mum stayed in the pavilion, I'm not sure if she fell asleep. It was so windy. It was a very good and relaxing morning.

The kids love to see people catch fishes and crabs. One day, we're going to bring them on a real fishing trip, as in using rods and big nets for the crabs. My mum is already planning. Hehe.

After that, we had a good lunch at the only eatery in the park.

I love spending family time like this, close to nature, without the hustle bustle of the city. Somehow, away from the noise and crowd, time seems so ample. No rush, no stress. Nice.

天上飞的交通工具

I've finally completed the 2nd part of our chinese homelearning theme on 交通工具. See here for the first part.

Previously, we did an aeroplane craft. I showed the kids youtube videos on aeroplane and helicopters' lift-offs.We noted the difference. Aeroplanes have to go faster and faster on the runway (跑道) before they can take flight. Helicopters, on the other hand, will have to let its rotor blades spin faster and faster before it can lift off directly from the ground!

So, I asked the kids, does a helicopter need wheels like the aeroplane?

Drew these on the board and let them hold the aeroplane/helicopter following the arrows.

Then, with some instructions, Mandy drew a helicopter.

Stuck on straws to place emphasis on the rotor blades (螺旋翼和尾翼).

I also jumbled up jigsaw pieces of an aeroplane and a helicopter. They pieced the 2 pictures and stuck them on a piece of paper. Mandy did the helicopter, Barry did the aeroplane.

Still on the topic of flying, I made them 'spinning helicopters'. See the video to find out what they are.

Can you see the paper spinning? 

I quote from the science craft book: " The helicopter falls to the ground because of gravity. Instead of dropping straight down like most things do, it spins gently to the ground. As the helicopter falls, each blade hits the air, forcing the air out to one side. This makes the helicopter soin and slows down its fall."

The kids were so thrilled to see them spin. I explained gravity (this part is in english, I don't think they would be even interested in listening to me if I start spouting things like 地心吸引力. Ha.) by telling them I was going to jumo, touch the light and not come down to the floor. They grinned and asked me to give it a try.

After a few failed attempts, they tried too. All of us inevitably came back down. I told them it was gravity at work. Whatever we throw, they will fall to the ground too.

Then I quoted the book and they kind of switched off. Ha.

If you're interested, here's the instructions for Spinning Helicopter.

Have fun!

The organic experience

Received our first batch of organic vegetables bought online last thursday.

We were quite ecstatic to see such luscious green and plump vegetables, many with roots still attached and with purplish tinge on them. The bananas look ordinary but tasted great.

We are organic converts.

First of all, why the switch? I tell people it's more a push than pull factor that drew us to organic produce (and whatever we can afford). Because reading about the toxins that go into our food these days scared the shit out of me and hubby. What those toxins can do to us, subtly everyday and in the long term, is stuff of nightmares. And learning about the politics of the food industry (and most every industries), we know that it is up to us consumers to make the informed choice for our own health. Regulations are simple insufficient and not always dependable.

But there are pull factors too. What about the superior nutrients and flavour of organic produce? So far, we have been very pleased with how the organic vegetables and fruits taste. Simply yummy. Although they're more expensive, at least it's worth the money and we're not paying for stuff harmful to us.

Let me quote from The Good Body Guide.

"A plant cannot make minerals. For a mineral to be in the food chain, it has to have been in the soil in the first place.... Slowly, we are beginning to realise that current farming practises give rise to acid soils, salination and ultimately, dessertification."

"... but there are other problems with synthetic fertilisers. Recurrent applictions tend to increase the acidity of the soil, reducing its fertility. This problem is widespread throughout the modern agricultural world. Many minerals.... can only be taken up by a plant when the soil is neutral - neither alkaline nor acidic. Even when soil analysis reveals adequate minerals, they may as well not be there if the soil is so acid that they're not available to plants."

"In a 2000 British study, David Thomas scanned past editions of the respected authority The Composition of Foods, by McCance and Widdowson, and found some alarming trends. The overall decline of calcium in all food and vegetables was 46 percent, of copper 75 percent. Carrots had lost 75 percent of their magnesium, broccoli 75 percent of its calcium. An Australian study conducted by the Organic Retailers and Growers Association of Australia was also compelling. It examined beans, tomatoes, capsicums and silver beet for levels of calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, iron and zinc. Nutrient ranges in the organic products were commonly ten or more times higher than in commercial specimens."

"There is no reason to believe that there is any 'safe level' of substances such as lead, mercury or dioxin. Yet as they permeate the environment and the food chain, we have invented 'allowed limits', a neat way of side stepping the issue. The allowed limit implicitly admits that the substance can cause harm, but it also implies that at this level, it is unlikely to do so.... On the face of it, these criteria seem comprehensive. However they fall short by a long way of ensuring safety."

"The PCB or pesticide molecules pose danger because they are:
- toxic in their own right to nerves, the brain and other organs
- toxic to genetic material, and therefore potentially cause cancer and genetic mutation
- toxic to enzyme systems either through direct damage or overload
- gender-benders which can result in both malignancy and infertility"

I also want to caution about the use of preservatives. You know they're bad but here's more details.

+ Nitrites: The main usage is in cured meats for protection against the deadly organism Clostridium butolinum. They've been strongly linked to childhood cancer. (read the labels. Ham, sausages etc all contain high levels of nitrites)
+ Sulphites: These are usually present as sulphur dioxide. The ability to handle them depends on genetic factors. Their presence is associated with asthma, irritable bowel and migraine. (I always see sulphite in dried fruits. It helps preserve the fruits' bright colours. Luckily, I always go for the ugly ones without sulphites)
+ Benzoates: These are used to control the growth of yeasts and moulds. They are linked to behavioural disturbances and to the same illnesses caused by the sulphites.


I hope I don't sound preachy and longwinded. I just, you know, want to share what I think is really important. Maybe some of you already know all these. But I'm sure there are those who still don't. I mean, I wish someone would tell me all these stuff sooner so I could have lived a healthier life. That's why I share.

Anyway, here are the drool-worthy pictures of the organic vegetables from Green Circle.

My mum came for a visit the next day and I showed her the vegetables and fruits. We had ordered $41 worth of vegetables and our fridge's vegetable compartment was filled to the brim. I wanted to give my mum some. 

She wooh-ed and ahhh-ed at all of them and gave a lot of comments. The captions are my mum's comments.

Sweet potato leaves $2

 "哇! 这个番薯叶很美哦!" She was a bit sad that I only have one bunch and she couldn't take some home. She told me to let her know when I'm ordering again because she would like to order some too! :)

Pandan leaves $2

$2 for such a big bunch! Not expensive at all. I used some of it to cook sweet potato soup today. I couldn't believe my nose when I placed only 2 leaves in the bubbling hot water. There was an almost immediate whiff of fragrance! Very very fragrant. Hubby and I were still bemoaning that pandan leave these days have lost their flavour. Now we know where to get good ones!

By the way, the soup was delicious with the sweet potatoes, also organic of course. :)

Sweet corn $5.60

The website says these grown on their farm, are so good and fresh they can be eaten raw. My mum taught me to preserve the leaves to wrap rice and meat and steam! What a good idea! Oh, do you know the corn silk is very nutritious and when cooked in soup, the soup will be very sweet. You can also add hot water to the silk to make corn silk tea. Wow.

Sio bai cai $2.50

These shrunk so much after cooking! I must buy 2 packets the next time. They taste sweeter and crunchier then the commercial ones. But slightly more bitter too, though in a vege way, if you know what I mean. Hubby loves them!

Broccoli $15 per kg

 

Look at that purple tinge on the stem. Beautiful ain't it? And there's still so many leaves attached to it. Broccoli leaves, being the most nutritious part of the plant, can hardly be found on the commercial ones.

You'll never find such fresh organic broccoli at supermarkets, I think. And at Cold Storage, organic broccoli is $20 per kg.

This one tasted much crunchier then commercial ones, be it from Chine for Australia. It doesn't soften as quickly when cooked and retained a very pretty green colour. It was also yummier.

Lettuce $6.60

Considering how expensive commercial salad lettuce are, these are very cheap! And very safe to consume raw. Best of all, they're very YUMMY! My kids were practically fighting for them during snack that afternoon.

Mandy was going "Mmmmm. Very nice!" all the way chomping down on the raw lettuce. Such scenes make me very happy. :)

Oh and the purplish lettuce don't taste bitter at all, unlike the commercial ones which both kids shunned. This one, they liked. They finished a big plate of lettuce in minutes.

Brinjal $2.80

"They say, this kind of brinjals taste the best! Small with ugly skin, but very delicious!"

I'm cooking these soon. They're one of Mandy's favorite vegetable. So we shall see if my mum was right.

Ladies fingers $2.80

My kids adore ladies fingers. My mum said I will finally know how yummy ladies fingers can be after I tasted these. Ha. Looking forward to it.

Wild bayam (large) $2.50

I believe they're also called round spinach. Sharp spinach is phuay leng or 波菜. Correct me if I am wrong. They are all super nutritious.

"Wah. Very nice. See the purple tinge on the roots? These must be very nutritious." My mum thinks purplish roots = superior in nutrition.

She was so impressed she took back 2 of the roots (with leaves and stem still attached) and said she will try to grow them at home. In a POT! Ha. Good luck mum! She looked around and saw that I have another packet of spinach, so took one whole packet home. She also took some lettuce. I think she wanted to take more. Haha.

We also ordered 1kg of bananas which cost $4.

Aiyooooooooooo. I've never liked the small variety but this one..... *slurps* DELICIOUS!

I urged my mum to try one and she was like WOW! Nice! We agreed that these bananas have no siap siap taste. Not 涩, and so doesn't leave a dry aftertaste in the mouth like the commercial ones do. And these are very very very sweet. We're going to finish off the last few tomorrow. *sob*

Ok. So I've updated my online shopping experience for the few of you who are interested. If you have more lobang buying organic anything, please let me know too ok? Thanks!

By the way, the vegetables were mostly wrapped in papers/newspapers and loosely packed into a big crate when they came. :)

Hope you find all these information useful!

This new year

I had a great start to this year. It started with a short jog. It didn't matter that I only managed less than 3km (what with the grogginess and empty stomach and hubby's nagging to not overtire my body), what mattered was I managed to climb out of bed to do it! I'm hoping I'll keep up with it and stick to my resolution to exercise more this year!

Barry started his playgroup today and he did very well. Although, my presence and the teachers' choice of toys for the day (huge set of food toys!) helped a lot! Hehe. When it was time to keep toys, most of the children froze, but Barry, being well 'trained' at home to keep his own toys, set to work immediately. He knew exactly what to do. He even helped stack the baskets and placed the whole stack back into the shelf. He also listened to the teachers quietly, did what he was told, and generally not create any nuisance.

After class, he was a different boy from the weepy "I don't wanna go school!" one. He said he wanted to go to that school again. Of course little boy, you'll be going there for a long.. long... time. Hiak hiak.

Another resolution of mine is to eat, feed and cook more wisely. It's actually an ongoing task. As a person, and especially as a parent, it is in my opinion, of utmost importance that we provide good nutrition to ourselves and our family. I read in a book which said that as the kids grow up, there'll be less and less things that parents have control over, so we should really take note of what they eat, as much as we can. They do still spend a considerable amount of time having meals/snacks with us.

Their tummies are smaller, so whatever small amount of toxic, chemicals or substance harmful to our bodies will create a considerable bigger harm to theirs! Plus, because their tummies are so small, they get full easily. Adults can, say, eat half a packet of chips and still consume one bowl of rice and with vegetables, meat etc for dinner an hour later. Kids might not be able to do so.

Anyway, hubby and I had a wake up call about food after reading this book. Go read it. It should jolt you up and make you rethink what you eat. I'm sure you'll never see food the same way after you read the book.

I'm also reading a whole food encyclopedia. It's really fascinating! For example, do you know that brocolli contains twice the Vit. C than an orange and almost as much calcium as whole milk? Its calcium is also better absorbed than that of the milk. Wait, do not rush out to buy broccoli! Because if you read The Good Body Guide, you will also know that if the broccoli is not organic, it probably is grown on soil leeched of nutrients, sprayed with pesticides and therefore, the vegetable might not even give us much nutrients at all!

It's like you know fish is great but you pan/deep fry it and unknowingly destroyed what's so great about the fish in the first place.  Frankly, as I read more about food, I feel a bit cheated. Like tuna. It's a good brain food but did you know eating canned tuna doesn't give those purported benefits? You will have to eat it fresh. So, if you don't have these kind of knowledge, you end up wasting a lot of money, thinking you're filling yours and your family's tummies with good stuff.

Oh, since I'm on that. These are the fruits that have the highest level of pesticides residues: strawberry, apple, pear, raspberry, cherry, nectarine, peach. The vegetables that have the highest level of pesticides residues: sweet pepper, spinach, potato. celery.

Nonorganice fruits and vegetables that are essentially free of pesticides are: avocado, banana, onion, brocolli, blueberry and cabbage.

I've tried cooking some organic vegetables and I got to tell you I'm totally sold! Their flavour is far superior than the commercial ones. Try the,m! Cook lightly though, so you can taste the subtle flavours. They're much crunchier too!

Recently, the NTUC near my place is selling organic apples at $4+ for a big bag. What a steal. I bought a bag. The kids tried the apple first. After the first bite, they were oohing and aahing about how delicious the apple was! They are already fruit lovers so the apple must be great! We couldn't resist and had a taste too. You know what? Hubby quickly bought another bag the next day. Now, all the kids want to eat after their meals, is apples, apples, apples. :p

Oh, commercial apples are all artificially waxed. You know that. But do you know the wax contains crushed insects? Urgh.

Really. Go read The Good Body Guide. Please.

OMG. I can really go on and on about food. So back to this year. I've been on a row, cooking. Almost daily. They all tasted and looked good. *ahem* And I am happy in the knowledge that so far, my family HAS been filling their tummies with good stuff.

This is what I cooked for them a few days back:

Stir fried asparagus with abalone mushroom (I've since learnt that blanching asparagus is preferred)

Stir fried nai bai with carrots

Baked teriyaki chicken with ginger and abalone mushroom

Sweet and sour prawn

Actually I'm guilty. I love stir fries but they're not the healthiest. I haven't perfected the steam fry method. I'm always too lazy to reach for the wok cover. Hehe. And I should really steam and bake more lah.

We're looking to order organic vegetables online. Will let you all know how it goes. Very excited.

In short, people, eat well. The consequences of not doing so are far reaching. It can affect you 10 years later, it can affect you subtly without you knowing.I can go on about how some food choices have had unbelievable effects on us but you really don't want me to go on. Haha.

I am no health freak and I don't cringe when my kids eat a bit of junk now and then (I do too!). But toxic, that should be frowned upon. Toxic, my friend. So choose wisely.

Oh, I recommend this website: http://www.cornucopia.org/ There's an article on DHA and ARA found in milk formula. And others on hexane, eggs etc. Very informative.

Read. Eat. Exercise. Rest. And enjoy life!

The year 2010 (part 2)

May:

1. Mandy had a nightmare last night. Amidst the wailing and flailing, she screamed, with her eyes still closed: "THIS DIDI AH! SO NAUGHTY!!!"

2. Mandy looked at Barry rather enviously and said: "How come didi can do so many funny things....". Sometimes, I really feel for her.

3. The 2 kiddos' eyes are glued onto the TV now, watching Stevie Ray live in concert. I still do not understand why they love him.

April:

1. I was looking really unglam jogging with Barry in the stroller at the park.. when I passed by a HUGE group of SMOKING HOT bare bodied army guys. Still, it's kinda cool. :)

2. At the buffet, I asked the auntie if I need to pay for my kids since they're both under 3yo (ahem). One look at Mandy and she immediately said "Ah, she don't need." Then, she peered very long at Barry.....

3. At a public toilet, Barry put his finger into the urinal to 'dig dig', then proceeded to put the same finger into his mouth. Luckily hubby stopped him in time. Ewwwwwww.

4. Everybody! I'm gonna get myself strong and fit! And you're NOT stopping me!!!!!

5. My Furla bag is here! Lovessssssss....

6. Hubby got me a bag from Reebonz. I asked him how he knew about it, he said he saw it on Karen Cheng's blog. Thank you Karen Cheng! Haha.

7. Got chased out of the room by my kids. They wanted to play by themselves. For once, I don't need to feel guilty surfing the net while they're awake.

March:

1. After only 2 days of holidays spent at home, hubby declared that we should have been DINKs. "Ah, you don't complain!" I said. "I'm a DKNI."

2. Mandy scratched Barry's face and Barry bit Mandy. Seriously kids!

3. Wanted to jog in the park but it started raining. So I jogged up and down 36 storeys of steps. My legs....

February:

1. I was nagging at Mandy to finish up her brinjal because "Vegetables are good for you. You have to eat vegetables for lunch and dinner!" when I looked down on my plate of very black char kway teow... uh oh...

January:

1. 超级无敌爱卢广仲!

2. Caught 20 fishes at Bottletree Park today. Barry toppled over and drank some of the water though. Eeeeks!

3. Mandy has discovered this wonderful thing called 'friendship'. :)

4. Mandy: Mama, why is the turtle so slow? Is the battery weak already?

5. (Kei) misses playing percussion in RubberBand

And there you are folks! It's been a great journey!

The year 2010

I have a lot more updates about my life, the kids etc on Facebook than here. More entries but not in details. So I thought a recap of my FB updates in the going-to-be-past year will be a great trip down memory lane.

Just a few of my favorites! :)

December:

1.No big feast today, just a simple homecooked meal enjoyed by the whole family. :)

(Braised taukwa with dried shrimp. prawns and spring onion; Stirfried beansprouts with capsicum and ginger shreds; Stir fired chicken with abalone mushroom, red onion and ginger)

2. It's still Christmas, isn't it? And oh, my kids are at the 'gotta wear identical clothings' phase.

  

3. OMG! Hubby walked in to find Mandy lying on top of Barry. She said they were making babies. The result of watching too much animal documentaries. Yes, ONLY documentaries. Must I start sex education, NOW?

4. Barry said he wanted to watch Cars. Then he said he wanted to watch Finding Nemo. I asked him to decide. He thought for a while and said "Um... Finding Cars."

November:

1. Barry took the toy hotdog bun, pressed it into my forehead a few times, grinned and said "Didi use hotdog bun kill mama!". Death by hotdog bun.

2. The two kids have finally realised there is power in numbers. At ages 4 and 2, they have started ganging up against me. Retribution, anyone

3. What the kids busied themselves with for 20 minutes 

Skyride. The pillow was the bar

 

Then it's Luge time. They made up the whole thing themselves and went on the rides again and again. Somebody's missing Sentosa!

 

 October:

1. Barry boy might be too big for his highchair. Halfway through gobbling down his lunch just now, he frowned and said "Didi's poor tummy stuck already!" Really cracked me up.

September:

1. When the kids demand so much from you that you can hardly breathe, take a deep breathe, let go of every other thing, then, give them all of you. They will feel the love. They will feel secure. Then, they will loosen their clutches. I am still learning.

2. My mum is quite impressed with what I dish out for lunch and dinner (almost) everyday. That makes me really happy. She is my cooking mentor after all!

3. (Kei) is glad to have fostered stronger friendships with the mummies and built new ones with the daddies! To more staycations/trips in the future!

4. Have been cooking for my mum since she moved in. I'm really enjoying this role reversal.

5. Mum moved in. And brought her Sudoku craze with her. Even Mandy is doing... the very very very simple ones.

August:

1. The kids are so wonderful these days that I'm actually glad they're missing school, so I can have their company the whole day. Such joy.

July:

1. 刚刚在电台听到 "路边摊", 想起了 '最熟悉的' 老地方. 好想念那段时光啊!

2. Nothing like Crowd Lu for some positivity in the morning!

3. Braising meat, eggs and mushrooms for a kong bak bao picnic at the beach tomorrow. Hope weather will be good!

June:

1. My naughty, clingy, pui pui little angel.

2. From Sembawang to Lower Seletar reservoir to Sembawang shopping centre, then back home again. Hubby estimated we cycled about 20km just now. My bones!

 Alritey. That's half of 2010 for you! Shall continue another day! :)

Non-ginger bread man and cookies

Christmas, I woke up thinking, "How boring to eat bread and jam again for breakfast. It's Christmas, let's have a change!" But since it's already 8am and the kids (who woke long before me) were near to starving, I had to make do with something simpler.

This:

It's a gingerbread man without the ginger. (They tried the real thing and didn't like the taste of it) It's actually very lame. It's just bread and peanut butter, decorated with dried cranberries, rice crispy, cheerios and froot loops.

They had a bit of fun, nevertheless.

Yesterday, we made Apricot shortbread cookies.

The result wasn't very tasty. The kids still ate but the girl shunned it after a few pieces. Hey, she shuns most of the commercial cookies/biscuits too ok?

I'm a novice at baking so I cannot tell if the recipe is bad or if it's just me. Anyhow, I won't post the recipe here lah. :p

Gosh, I have so much to blog about before the year ends. Not going to make it in time. Still, Happy 2011 everyone! I had a most wonderful 2010! Hope you did too! :)