All and Sundry...

We want to thank you -

for the unbelievable outpour of support, concern, advice, prayers, but most of all - Love.

His grace was revealed through (all of) you.

Love back,

The Chans

One Day in Spring

DAFFODIL: Regard, rebirth, new beginnings, unrequited love, you're the only one, chivalry.
DAFFODIL, SEVERAL: Joy, happiness.

The 'meaning' of flowers is said to have evolved from the medieval and Renaissance period. Artists of that time attached rich visual symbolism to different blooms, and managed to aptly capture the 'essence' of emotions in which each flower evoked.

It's no wonder why flowers are given on special occasions. But let's not delve into that.

Isn't it amazing how flowers are able to affect moods? Just today, I took a rather lengthy walk with Danielle and we were (or, at least I was) instantly cheered by a sea of daffodils growing willy nilly on the grass patches at Clapham Common.

We stood there in silence - almost afraid that a single utterance from us would destroy that quiet moment of Beauty.

They were God-sent, those flowers. Just the boosters I needed today, and perhaps a little while longer. God certainly has sweet ways of telling you He's there and that everything will be alright...

I told Danielle that the Daffodil was my favourite flower today. I scarcely think she will remember it. Nevertheless, I hope when she looks at them some day, they will fill her with a distinct sense of déjà vu.

And she will remember the indescribable joy those daffodils brought Mummy, that beautiful day in Spring.

Even great poets have been touched by the daffodils' quiet charm. William Wordsworth describes them in a way I never could. Through his poem, he pays homage to the daffodil I feel it so rightfully deserves.

Daffodils - William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

In sickness and in health...

I do not want to make a big deal of it. Afterall, we've been praying unceasingly to God for healing. But it's still very disconcerting seeing Dee the way he is...

He's lost the ability to move the muscles on the right side of his face. His happy grin is now lopsided, his pout is a knotted mess, his right eye looks glazed all the time, and even his speech seems just a tad lispy.

And I'm just scratching the surface.

He can't tuck heartily into a burger, has to be careful not to let soup dribble out of his mouth, and his right eye is dry & crimson from the lack of blinking. We tried to put an eye patch on the 'bad' eye today but it ended up making him dizzy.

I worry. And yet I try to rein myself in from thinking abject thoughts. But I feel utterly helpless seeing him like this.

Still, I quietly thank God that Bell's Palsy is a temporary condition. At the very worst, he will take 6 months to recover from this fully. And I'm thankful despite his 'semi-paralyzed' state, his limbs are fully functional.

But even with his mobile limbs, I get a semblance of how it might feel living with a paraplegic.

And it scares me.

Isn't it true how we take the health and well-being of our loved ones for granted? We expect to see them today, tomorrow, the day after, & the day after that. We think of them forever ambulant, robust & in the pink of health.

But in reality, we can be able-bodied today, infirm tomorrow. Life hangs on a thin, fragile thread. And Life is transcient.

We may be architects of our own future, yet we do not hold our future in our hands.

It takes an incident like this to make me wonder how life would be like with a loved one ill. Will my love know no boundaries? In all honesty, I do not know.

Just like I do not know why Dee has been plagued by this sudden disorder. But I'm sure God has His reasons.

We'll just wait for Him to reveal His plans to us...

To my dear friend in Oz...

I've said it before, but I'll say it again - the great thing about photographs is how they leave footprints in our minds. Whenever I revisit old photos, they bring me back to cherished bygone days and it almost seems Time's stood still... So even though Mich left Singapore for Oz in early 2005, it seems only yesterday that I saw her off at the airport.

Happy Birthday, dearie! Thoughts of you & G.S are never far from my mind...Hope you can wear the dress! Pictures, pictures!

* I have it somewhere in my memory that you like this song. It kinda stood out as I was thinking of a song for you. Hope I got it right. So here he is, George Michael with 'Kissing a Fool'...

Half a Smile

WHAT IS BELL'S PALSY?
Bell's palsy is a condition that causes the facial muscles to weaken or become paralyzed. It's caused by trauma to the 7th cranial nerve, and is not permanent.

HOW DO THE SYMPTOMS OF BELL'S PALSY PROGRESS?
Very quickly. Most people either wake up to find they have Bell's palsy, or have symptoms such as a dry eye or tingling around their lips that progress to classic Bell's palsy during that same day. Occasionally symptoms may take a few days to be recognizable as Bell's palsy. The degree of paralysis should peak within several days of onset - never in longer than 2 weeks (3 weeks maximum for Ramsey Hunt syndrome). A warning sign may be neck pain, or pain in or behind the ear prior to palsy, but it is not usually recognized in first-time cases.

WHAT ABOUT RECOVERY FROM BELL'S PALSY?
Approximately 50% of Bell's palsy patients will have essentially complete recoveries in a short time. Another 35% will have good recoveries in less than a year.

Regardless of the trigger, Bell's palsy is best described as an event - trauma to the nerve. As with any other injury, healing follows. The quality and duration of recovery is dependent on the severity of the initial injury. If the nerve has suffered nothing more than a mild trauma, recovery can be very fast, taking several days to several weeks. An "average" recovery is likely to take between a few weeks and a few months. The nerve regenerates at a rate of approximately 1-2 millimeters per day, and can continue to regenerate for 18 months, probably even longer. Improvement of appearance can continue beyond that time frame.

Why am I posting all these up? Yesterday, Dee was diagnosed with B.P after complaining that half his face felt 'paralyzed'.

We thank God it's not a permanent condition. Nonetheless, please pray for his recovery.

I miss his full smile.

Fabulous - Fashion - Faux Pas

London Fashion Week ended on 16th February having showcased some of the world's most fêted designers. During the course of LFW, fashion editorix(es) scrutinized, frowned on, and gave their unanimous nods of approval to the creative talents of fashion heavyweights - Marc Jacobs, Nicole Farhi, Christopher Kane and 'It' designer of the moment, Giles Deacon, amongst many others.

Did you know fashion reports are quite a hoot? To read, that is. I found that out when I started surfing the web on LFW, having had my interest piqued by the large marquee setup outside the Natural History Museum.

After religiously surfing the Net for hmmm... 2 days, I'm proud to announce that I can do an A~Z listing of fashion brands or designers, tell you Anna Wintour (editor-in-chief at Vogue) is THE Miranda Priestly, Posh favours designs by Robert Cavalli, and the hottest hair trend to sweep London city is the elfin platinum look. And oh, I can spell M-A-N-O-L-O B-L-A-H-N-I-K at last! There!

But 'label dropping' is not my thing. Neither am I fascinated by intricacies on a garment, the composite of colours, or the ingenious use of material. I'm more interested to know who wore what where, who had frontrow seats, who's the belle de jour/celebrity muse for say, Lagerfeld, or what the scoop is on the 'size zero' issue. Oh, and did you know Alexander McQueen married his documentary filmmaker partner on a yacht off Ibiza, and Kate Moss was their bridesmaid?

I remain, and probably always will be - a tabloid junkie.

Anyway, back to fashion, or more explicitly, runway fashion. I gawped at some of the 'designs' that made it to the catwalk.

Oversized Bearskin
(palace guards wear them on their heads, skinny models wear them to keep warm )

Eyelash coat
(prefer them curled? Use Volume Shocking Mascara by L'Oreal)

The 'barb-wire' headpiece
Looking at the world through 'obstacled' eyes

Danielle, it seems, is quite the fashionista. She sported a new fashion trend by putting this newfangled 'hat' on. And guess what, Prada had the same idea for their Fall collection 2007/08!

Tea cozy caps... they're all the rage this coming Fall!

Absolutely fabulous, dahh-ling!

Taking Stock of CNY Traditions

CNY decoration @ Leicester Square

Seeing how Chinese New Year is celebrated over a 15-day period, I guess this post isn't that dated?

Pop Quiz:
Q: If you're more than a thousand miles away from home during an important & auspicious festival in the Chinese calendar, whaddya do, whaddya do?
A: You try to replicate the raucous atmosphere & 'fweeeling', of course!

Here's a checklist of customs & traditions which we took 'pains' to observe during our 1st CNY in London:

1) Clean the house before the CNY
On Fri (16th Feb), I took on my haus frau duties with unbelievable gusto. I cleaned, washed, Dettol-ed, vacuumed the whole house. And it wasn't even Monday!

2) Don something new
Danielle wore a new chinese 'samfu-like' garment, all set to show off some nifty gungfu manoeuvres! Kee-yak! In stark comparison, the only new thingamies the Mister & I had on us were... our underthongs.

Can you tell? Heh heh heh.

3) Stock up ye CNY goodies
Meiling made delicious pineapple tarts & kueh bangkit one weekend and graciously gave us her 'best' batch! My mum sent us GLORY pineapple tarts which we're still savouring ever so slowly. They arrived all crumbly but the buttery pastry goodness was left intact. My sis sent Bee Cheng Hiang 'ba hu' which was walloped in one sitting! CNY is all about gluttony too, in'it? :P

3) Steamboat
No CNY is complete without the proverbial steamboat dinner. Lucky for us we brought along our steamboat appliance, perfect for an occasion like this. We had 2 kinds of soup - the clear meat-based one, and spicy Taiwanese mala. Our dishes consisted of home-made dumplings (Meiling), luncheon meat, golden mushrooms, assorted fishballs, prawns, thinly sliced chicken/pork/beef, tung hoon etc etc. It was a most scrumptious spread!

4) Gambling
Dee played the 'banker' & we played '21' into the night (well, the other 3 did. I was completely knackered, & slept together with Danielle). Everyone was a winner... we played for kicks not money.

5) CNY music
What is CNY without the cacophonous sounds of cymbals clashing and drums pounding?! We tuned into FM95.8 on Meiling's laptop, cheered as Singaporeans did the CNY countdown & shimmied to the 'dong dong dong chang' music.

6) Roll in an 'ong lai' for good fortune
Ahh yes, we did the whole 'roll in a pineapple thing' just for laughs. With a nice, ripe pineapple waiting at the door, we cued the lil one in for the 'ong lai' ceremony! She took it very seriously, she did.

7) Mee Sua for breakfast
An age old tradition at my in-laws. Meiling played matriach for a day by cooking us steaming hot bowls of mee sua with dumplings & egg, eaten with red cut chilli. Oh Mummy!

8) Ang pows
Lucky Danielle got ang pows from 奶奶, 公公/Grandma, Ah Yee/Ah Teoh, and her 1st London ang pow from the newly-weds, Mr and Mrs Andy Lane! Keerr-ching!

9) Bring on the bubbly! *hick*
We popped champagne, guzzled Guinness, emptied our wine glasses and... drank copious amounts of tea?!

10) Be with Family
The most important thing about CNY is spending it with family. And on Sunday, we (together with the Lanes) made our way to church to thank our Heavenly Father for His grace and blessings for another year!

My Funny Valentine

* so super back dated, I'll let you decide whether it's worth the read. :)

If the multitude of rose bouquets sold here are anything to go by, you'd think Valentine's Day is a national holiday in the UK...

T'was the night after Christmas.

At the stroke of midnight, supermarkets London over raced each other to purge themselves of any last traces of Christmas. Holly wreaths were chucked, fir trees jettisoned and Christmas goodies crammed onto discount racks. In their place - big, ostentatious hearts of every hue and size.

You'd think at the velocity Christmas was being maneuvered to the lay-by & overtaken by Valentine's, one would quickly have to 'shift gears' from speed feasting to speed dating...

Now, if there's one country that's well acquainted with transformations - switching from one festive season to the next, at breakneck speed - it's Singapore. Who can forget the Santa Clause at Tanglin Mall that became the God of Fortune come Chinese New Year? In the same vein, I reckon the Brits could do a marvellous job transforming Santa to Cupid. All they'd need to do is to send Santa for a FULL body wax (yeeeeowch!), attach fluffy wings to his back, buff him up a bit, revamp his wardrobe (in with the skimpy, scanty white underthings!), and voila! cute, cherubic Cupid (ok, maybe this one's not that cherubic. But hey, at least he's dishy, right?!! heh heh.)

Our neighbourhood Tesco certainly outdid themselves with the amorous decoration. Leading up to Valentine's, the store decorators piled on the heart-shaped streamers and tassle, placing them strategically over the floral bouquets section. On the shopfront, heart-shaped window decals screamed: Don't forget Valentine's Day- 14 February. One would literally have to be blind to miss these barefaced reminders.

And perhaps a barefaced reminder was what I needed to get what I'd asked for this Valentine's.

Instead of a beautifully wrapped box of exquisite truffles, I got a box of Cadbury's chocolate fingers and a Kit-Kat party pack (12 individually wrapped pieces!). Oh the nerve!

I couldn't find any boxes of chocolates at Sainsbury's Local, was the earnest reply.

Yeaaah right. Bet you didn't even bother checking the confectionary aisle at Tesco, did you? Maybe they should have hung their lovey-dovey streamers over their 'half-priced' chocolate section? I'm sure that, would've caught your attention! Bah, humbug!

And that, dear friends, is my man for you.

Although, I should add (in his defence) that he did try to plan a nice, romantic V'Day celebration for me (complete with expensive dinner, tickets to a musical etc). Unfortunately, those plans were shelved. I'd opted for a simple dinner at home (cooked by me, of course. See pix below). I asked for no flowers, or presents. Although... I thought a nice box of chocs would be nice. To share, of course...

But Kit Kat was what I got. Gee, thanks a lot, buddy!

++++++

It's one of the oldest cliches but truly, we shouldn't need a day like Valentine's to remind us to appreciate or love each other. If this day deserves a Post-It note on our calendar, then the calendar should be brimming with Post-Its reminding us to say 'I love you' to our beloved, every single day.

In all honesty, Dee could've gotten me an Easter cremed egg for all I cared. I would've still loved it.

For all his faults (and chocolate misdemeanors), I love my silly funny Valentine just the same.

Doing a 'Dee'

Danielle played witness to a crime today. She saw someone steal a wallet. Had she taken her crime fighting PC role seriously, she'd probably have highlighted the heinous crime to me as it was being played out infront her. I'm quite certain her usual braying would've gotten my attention immediately.

But alas, she chose to be silent this time. And with that, I lost my wallet forever.

I scoured the store frantically, hoping I had dropped it along one of the aisles. Please God, let it be somewhere on the floor...But all too soon my hopes were dashed- Danielle told me 'a lady' had taken Mummy's wallet. I bent over the pushchair to probe further but as you'd expect, it's no easy task questioning a 2YO.

My mind raced trying to recall how much I had had in the wallet, what bankcards and important documents were in there.

Thank goodness the loss was not too damaging: 13-ish pounds, all my UK bank cards (now cancelled and re-ordered), Tesco/Sainsbury's/Boots cards, photographs of our family, my T-mobile top-up card. But oh, I did have my Singapore Drivers Licence in there. And it was my beloved black wallet. Dee had gotten it for my birthday 5 years ago...

How did I get my wallet stolen in the first place? I was naive thinking I could sling my shopping bag on the pushchair. It could've happened anywhere but I think I should've been extra careful seeing I was shopping in the very crowded & bustling Tooting Bec. Sigh... a hard lesson learnt.

I'm still feeling sore from the whole incident. But at the same time, I thank God Danielle and I were pick-pocketed as opposed to being mugged . I'm thankful we were not held at knife-point, or worse, gun-point. I'm relieved I didn't have any of my Singapore bankcards in there, or my all-important IC.

I remember Skiver A losing her wallet once. Although she was upset, she said she'd hoped the money in there (I think it was in the range of S$200) would be of help to someone out there. Yes, I have very kind, altruistic friends. In a similar vein, I'd like to think whoever pick-pocketed my wallet will benefit her in some way too. Even if it were ill-gotten.

This is definitely not me trying to be altruistic. It's more for self-preservation, a peace of mind, and a better sleep at night.

This, is exactly how Dee would have approached the matter. And I can see why. If thinking positively amidst adverse situations can help you get along with life, and be a happier individual, then I don't mind taking a shot at it.

Wouldn't you?

1 girl, 3 different CNYs

In the twinkling of an eye...

CNY 2005

CNY 2006

CNY 2007

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

Happy 4th Birthday, our special Valentine Girl

It gets harder and harder with every birthday posting. I fear I have done myself in, raising the bar that bit higher with each entry.

So this time, I've decided to keep it simple. Especially since it's for a 4YO.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, dearest HUI!
Ah Yee, Ah Teoh, & Danielle miss you dearly and can't wait to see you back in Singapore! In case you thought we forgot your bday, here's Danielle (representing the Chans) singing you 2 songs, and err...blowing out imaginery birthday candles in UK, on your behalf!

We love you.

THE STOMPING GROUND

If the 1st day of the week is characteristically known as Manic Monday, then the 2nd has to be Tumultuous Tuesday. Well, at least it was, yesterday...

Remember the rather off-beat poem that goes:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread,
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

I say 'off-beat' becoz I've always thought it an oddity to promulgate such acts of discipline (read: child abuse) in a childrens' nursery rhyme. Furthermore, it 'exposes' children to the realities of life - an old, single parent with obviously NO means of birth control, no wonder she's highly-strung! And let's not get started on why she's subjecting her children to such deplorable living conditions! I mean, why live in a shoe, for crying out loud?

But I digress...

Today, I read this nursery rhyme with new-found understanding and empathy.

Hell, it ain't easy juggling that many kids. So old woman, I salute thee.

Callous as this is going to sound but when you're out with 20 children, you too, would be tempted to 'whip' them into order!

And such were the thoughts that flooded my mind (389,280,201 times!) as I tried to compose myself, surrounded by Danielle and her other little primates playmates who were having the most RIOTOUS time at the Natural History Museum.

This, is how it is on a (nursery) school excursion...

By a stroke of luck, Danielle's nursery organised an all-expense paid trip to the Natural History Museum on Tuesday. Thank goodness we didn't bring Danielle to the exhibition the last time! We go in for free now! Hoorah!

We were told to gather at school at 9:15am. Children who, like Danielle, attend school part-time, had to be accompanied by a parent. So including myself, there were 4 other parents participating in the excursion. Us sad ol' victims.

(Cute boy clad in the yellow anorak is Leo. Bunmi is the little black girl in the 2nd row. They were Danielle's unfortunate 'victims', remember?)

The kids were in high-spirits knowing they were going on a field trip. After waiting for the last child to arrive, we finally set off at 9:40am.

Now, if you've been out with children before, you'd know it takes FOREVER to take them anywhere. Coupled with the fact that none of the children were on buggies/pushchairs, it took us 20 minutes to lug them to the Tube station, another 40 min to haul them onto the Tube (we changed at 2 stations, walked up a million steps to different platforms!). When we finally arrived at the Museum, it was 11am! Phew!

Once at the Museum, we made a bee-line for the 'Dino Jaws' exhibition. Danielle was quivering with excitement, especially since I've been reading her Ian Whybrow's Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs. She couldn't wait to see T-Rex, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus 'in the flesh'!

I think she was a little disappointed to see more dino bones than the real McCoy (well, she wouldn't be able to since they lived 230 million yrs ago, but you know what I mean) but cheered when she saw a lifelike moving T-Rex. I think that was the ONLY highlight for the kids! It was so lifelike, its penetrating stare was just a little unnerving...

Half an hour into the exhibition, some of the kids started getting restless. They slumped over showcases/exhibits, rolled on the floor, started wandering away from the group, started whining and whinging etc... Most of us parents had to double up as 'carers' for other children since the more eyes we had on each child, the better. So, I often found myself dragging Danielle with one hand, and some other kid with the other, to keep up with the rest. And because each child walks at a different pace, it was simply EXHAUSTING trying to get each of them to catch up with the other.

By lunchtime, all the adults had a slightly glazed look in their eyes. Everyone was flat out. Lunch was a welcome respite for us and between feeding the children, and ourselves, we exchanged niceties and bemoaned the 'trials and tribulations' of motherhood. I really respect some of the mothers I met that day - so many of them are mothers to 2 or more children(!!!) - I found myself slightly in awe of how they juggle it all. Just HOW do they do it??!

And I found myself asking the question: Can I do it too? *shudder*

After the last mouth was wiped clean and their clothes given a dusting-off, we bundled the kids to the Mammals Exhibit. Stayed there for another 1/2 hour or so before declaring the excursion O-V-E-R. The kids were starting to get cranky and irritable - reasons enough for the adults to take to their heels and get the hell outta there!

Caroline (Zack's mummy), Margo's au pair and I opted to take the bus instead of the Tube. We figured it would be a lot more leisurely. It turned out to be a fantastic alternative because with less kids, and thus less strength in numbers, the 3 kids behaved themselves a lot better. Margo & Danielle had a swell time playing with each other's Triceratops during the bus ride.

And they were even cheerful enough to pose pretty at the bus stop. So here are Margo, Danielle and Zack posing genially after an eventful (but absolutely exhausting) school excursion!

Let's hope my recent streak of pandemonium* ends its run today. I'm in dire need for a Wonderful, not Wretched or Wired-Up Wednesday!

* Monday was absolutely manic coz Danielle threw up, not once, but TWICE. Had to do a MAJOR clean up and the launder the bedding! Oh, the whiffs and the pong!
** Oh, and a Happy Valentine's Day to all! *muuuuacks*

Love xxoo, Saggs & Danielle

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Monday is my vacuuming day (gawd, I sound so much like Dad) and when I turned our Hoover on yesterday, guess what? So did Danielle...

So there we were, mother & daughter, happily hoovering and 'vacuuming' together. Is she Martha Stewart in the making? Who knows? :)

Little Miss Chinatown 2007

On our right, we have 編號一 ... Joooo-yce Tay!
Joyce is a vision of pink in this cute cheongsum with matching pastel slippers. Joyce turns 4 in February and is not only a voracious reader, but a keen swimmer. She is a brilliant orator and hopes to channel her talent to helping philanthropic organisations such as Kids Who Speak Like Their Parents, Help! My Dad Burps in Public, and Potty Training Blues. She feels her experience in these areas will contribute to the lives of many children. In her spare time, Joyce enjoys playing with her younger sister, Anna. She also enjoys regaling others with her dulcet singing voice.


Our next beauty contestant is 編號二... Daan-ielle Chan!
Standing over 90cm tall, Danielle looks stunning in this dreamy gold cheongsum with delicate peony embroidery. Danielle is 2.5 years old and her hobbies include singing nursery rhymes and doing the chicken dance. She also enjoys whipping up exotic culinary delights in her kitchen. A freshman at nursery, Danielle pays her way through school by working part-time at a green grocer's and the local library. When she grows up, she aspires to be a human rights barrister. She feels strongly about standing up for the rights of others', but more importantly, her own.