MotherKao - 12/59 - Motherkao

Ben Kao Getting all sentimental now Milestones and growing up

Baby boy no more

December 2, 2015

At the Kao household, we are bracing ourselves for some major changes.

One of them involves two dirty words – PRIMARY SCHOOL. Well, at least to me. It’s “dirty” because it robs me of the feeling that I can’t baby my firstborn anymore.

Sob.

So the Primary One registration process from start to finish has been a breeze, thank God. There were no tears, no struggles and no heart-stopping moments. For that, we thank our parents from the bottom of our hearts for putting us in good schools when they made their choices. Whether they had foresight 2 decades ago (3, for Fatherkao, hurhurhur) or did it because of convenience, I am so glad to be counted among the few blessed ones to have options of schools.

All we did was to make the major decision to move back to the west so that the travelling time to and from school would be painless, and we pretty much had all things set for our children with Ben’s entry to a decent school in Primary One.

We had uniforms, textbooks and workbooks, school bus and even the ECCA settled for our firstborn on 2 separate days last month. There’s one more orientation coming up on the 30th this month for him to orientate himself in terms of classroom and school buses, and he’s all set to enter the forays of formal education.

Excuse me while I go cry for a while. Was it just a while ago I said hi to him in the delivery room back in KKH?

As a former educator, I am also bracing myself for the fact that Ben will be entering a dungeon filled with unknown dragons to slay – peer pressure, the pressure-cooker system of assessments and performance-driven tasks, expectations and demands from teachers, school and possibly even from me; not forgetting the largest demon called the PSLE, which probably would render most of us at home incapacitated for that year – and I am wishing, right now, with all my heart, that he would remain my baby forever and I would never have to send him into this dark abyss where I can no longer mother him like I would a baby.

This is also a time of change for me. Once upon a time I had toddlers and preschoolers. Now I have one that’s growing up way too fast.

A few months ago, Ben started calling me ‘Mom’ (instead of ‘Mama’) and that just about changed the dynamics between us officially in this new phase. He’s showing me he no longer wants to be ‘babied’, oh why oh why. ‘It’s more grown-up to call you Mom, Mom,’ he tells me. A month ago, he was officially the bo-gay that would sing ‘All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth‘. A few weeks ago, he shed many tears looking at his graduating photos of himself with his friends from K2, telling me with sadness in his eyes that he missed them all and he is just “too sad that he’s growing up so fast”.

And just a few days ago I had to make sure he made a pinky promise with me that I would be his best friend forever. And that he would tell me everything that’s going on – in his mind, in his class, on the bus. ‘Ok, Mom. I won’t keep secrets from you,’ he says.

That’s my way of making sure I can still baby my firstborn. That’s also my way of holding him hostage to his words should he ever read this blog some day.

Meanwhile, the work to prepare him for dragon-slaying is on full-steam. We had a few things put in place the entire year for him. This includes making sure he enjoys the Chinese language through conversation and stories (he has a Chinese tutor come in to do some work with him and enthrall him with stories like Journey to the West), encouraging his progress beyond the K2 syllabus for Math and English (lessons at BlueTree, board games and story books are best for this!), developing his creativity and adaptability through craft and innovation (we have a craft trolley filled with recycled raw materials and LEGO for that!) and getting him to pick up a sport of his choice (more on that experience soon on the blog).

This baby’s all grown up now!

No need for kids’ size – Ben is an ‘S’ now!

0 Comments

Everyday fun! Invites & Tryouts Reviews The Kao Kids

LEGO play at home – it’s all about patience, focus, creativity, and fun!

November 20, 2015

This article first appeared here: http://lego.featured.yahoo.com/post/125410540036/how-to-bring-out-your-childs-personal-sense-of

***

What trains a child to be focused, develops his patience and encourages his creativity?

No surprises here but I’ve always found my answer in LEGO. Give my kids a box of LEGO bricks and I am likely to see them play for hours on end. From the Quadro and Duplo they were used to playing as toddlers, my children have now progressed to the basic-brick level where they have the opportunity to play without structure and to build and take apart as necessary, in more ways that they could have imagined.

I love what LEGO does for my children. They come up with the most awesome themed LEGO sets. The themed LEGO sets that the stores sell come with specific instructions which encourage children to build with what the LEGO Learning Institute describes as ‘systematic creativity’, which is defined as a “particular form of creativity that combines logic and reasoning with playfulness and imagination”. In every themed set, step-by-step illustrations help the builder visualise, make sense of shape, size, angle, positioning and develop cognitive awareness of the different elements of building. After the themed set is built, it invites the child to imagine and play – although the play lends itself to the theme suggested by the set that’s built.

In building the themed set, a child would have had the opportunity to focus, sit attentively, and patiently flesh out an image, brick by brick.

Now, what happens the day after, or after some time, is what gets really interesting.

For a while, a child can live with a model he’s built; but trust me, the novelty of the pictured toy will soon wear off and it becomes all-too-tempting to break it up and build something else. How much more awesome is it when you get to make a supersonic giant of a plane combined with a helicopter that’s overrun by wizards and random minifigs ranging from a pirate rocker to a two-faced cop atop an alligator? After all, these are the dreams that LEGO play’s made of.

Recently the Kao kids have been given yet another wonderful to sit attentively and direct their focus on building something. After the last ‘March Holiday Special Project’ which they did together that cemented their sibling love, they were all ready to conquer yet another themed set. This time round, it was still my eldest who could last through the entire building process, constructing both the big and small; the younger two helped out by putting the minifigures together and affixing the stickers to the respective items that called for them.

It took Ben two hours to put this together without any adult help. He’s gotten so much better in understanding the construction logic, and is able to create this LEGO City Training Jet Transporter effortlessly.

But watch what happened barely an hour later, when all three of them started playing with the created set together. Apparently, some ‘explosion’ was planted by a baddie and then there was half a plane left and the original creation very much destroyed (I hear the baddie is Nat). Something’s got to be done and things needed to be rebuilt. Ben was a little bummed, but what about LEGO that he knows and knows well, is that he can always make something awesome again. Exposing him to LEGO play at a young age has given him that confidence and resilience – he knows there’s always something bigger and better he can build, and nothing stays constant forever.

And thus began the creativity play, spanning over days – unhindered, unrestrained, unimposed. Everyone started building their own versions of their imagination, played together and had lots of fun while at it (they didn’t forget the jet transporter but it was no longer ALL about it). Ben led his siblings by showing them what he could build, and Nat and Becks quickly caught on, following some basic logic of adding wings and wheels, and fitting one another into their imagined LEGOverse.

I’m always in awe of how much mileage a themed set has. I’d thought my children would be playing around the theme of the airport and have flight-related conversations. But there were little ponies, triceratops (that was made by Nat, a figure with a long green rectangle head), wizards and men on stilts, someone needing badly to perform a balancing act on his head, a bald witch with two heads, plus rogue Vikings that are planning to escape on a boat, and a Mexican cop all ready to help people check-in their flight.

It was altogether refreshing, amusing and amazing.

My children never fail to surprise me.

LEGO never fails to surprise all of us.

1 Comments

Becks Kao Milestones and growing up

Words of gold, Becks Kao style

November 13, 2015

At bedtime one night…

Me: Oh, it’s Dada’s turn to read you all a story.

Becks: Ok, I’ll choose a book and ask Dad.

Minutes later…

Nat: Erm, Mom… Dad says he will read it tomorrow. He’s tired.

Becks: Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. Always saying tomorrow.

Me: -_-

~~~

One afternoon…

Me: Let’s go through some words today, Becks. Let me look at your worksheets from enrichment class.

Becks: Erm, maybe next time?

Me: Next time, next time, I may not be free next time.

Becks: Then you make time, ok!

Me: -_-

~~~

At bedtime, some nights ago…

(Becks makes it a point to spread everyone’s blanket at bedtime, like a turning in service she provides. I know, she’s such a sweet soul.)

Fatherkao: Becks, are you going to spread my blanket tonight?

Becks: (clearly in the midst of something else) You got to learn some patience, ok!

~~~

Becks, the sweetest, loveliest thing that happened in our lives

3 Comments

Getting all sentimental now Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

I’ve got a new name

October 22, 2015

How fast are my children growing?

Fast enough for everyone to give me a new name.

The name’s Mom.

Mom, mom.

What happened to Mama? That’s what I’d like to know too.

I’m still dealing with being called this new name and losing the baby-talk-term-of-endearment. When once upon a time, it was ‘Mama, look! Me draw circle!’ Today, it’s ‘Hey, Mom, check this out. Way cool, right?’

When a year ago, everyone would be whining and crying, ‘I want Mama!’ Today, it’s ‘Bye Mom, I love you, I miss you, and have fun at work.’ Believe you me, my three-year-old speaks in this manner too.

Too fast, kids. Way too fast.

I guess my only consolation that I still have some babies left in the house is at bedtime where everyone still wants their Mama sitting next to them and tucking them in bed.

Please leave a space for Mama in your heart always, babes.

0 Comments

(Self) Examination Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

Settled and happy

October 15, 2015

It’s been past a month since we’ve moved, and everyone is settling in our new place quite well. It’s now really cosy (hurhurhur, smaller, that it), and because we’ve spent a bomb on carpentry to stow and tuck things away and created a wooden, earthy feel to the new home, it very much feels more like HOME than ever.

And it’s great – so, so, very great – to be living near amenities again! Oh, the happiness to find a taxi stand 2 minutes away; the MRT station – fully airconditioned – 5 minutes away; cafes, restaurants, coffee joints, ATMs and even an ice creamery in our vicinity just a stone’s throw; and to be living near cheap and good hawker fare where we find good ol’ local folks take pride in the food they make that it’s almost a guarantee to have to queue for my bak chor mee, lor mee, kway chap, lei cha fan and carrot cake at lunch time and breakfast on weekends (which I’m really not complaining to be eating at $2.50 a meal). I now can proudly say that a 24-hour Fairprice is behind me and a 24-hour Cold Storage is in front of me, and that I will never have to rummage the larder for a snack or a cup of ramyeon ever again.

We’ve been spending our weekends exploring the ‘hood and just scooting to places. The Kao kids are all too thrilled to be on their kickscooters and bicycles doing that. I am happiest with good food, having zi char one day, claypot rice the next, and then get thrilled by the thought of Nakhon Thai near me, as well as Gastronomia, Crystal Jade and Baker & Cook, and there’s also Phoon Huat (my favourite Red Man), and being next to a community centre (where in the past I am near nowhere and every where we went we had to drive) where my kids can finally enjoy the good ol’ PA courses at less-than-a-hundred-bucks-a-term and play at an indoor basketball court for free. It gives a whole new meaning to being in the heartlands.

Keep guessing where.

Ben tells me he misses the northeast where we used to live, and to be frank, I miss the prata and teh tahriks at Jalan Kayu and to be able to buy my eggs from the wholesaler at $5.50 for a tray of 30. Not forgetting the ribs at Jerry’s and the bak kut teh and chilling out at Cedele’s at Greenwich V. But then I discovered the gem of the wet market that’s only 50 steps away from me selling eggs cheap too and even baked wares like tarts and pies and steamed baos and I quickly stopped reminiscing the quaintness that’s in Jalan Kayu and started seeing my new neighbourhood with a renewed sense of hope.

House-moving was previously dreaded for the unknown, but I think I am one happy gal post-move.

More importantly, we’ve hit a milestone in this family – sourcing, renovating, packing, relocating – and adjusted to the move as one. No tears. No ‘I wished we were back there’. No regrets. And this new place feels more homely than ever, because the family has become tighter making this move, and that’s all that really matters.

P/S: One of the best things about this move was that we de-cluttered. Like MAD. It’s like a good detox on a whole new level. We’ve never felt lighter and better.

0 Comments

Happy days Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

The Friso Play Experience, Kao Kids Style

September 21, 2015

I shared a while ago we’ve cut our living space and moved. Which also meant that prior to the move, we threw/ donated / recycled / left downstairs (for garang guni aunties and uncles of our previous neighbourhood to scour, hurhurhur) truckloads of stuff.

Boy, did we have A LOT of stuff. Toys and books and playsets and bath things that everyone has outgrown. Clothes that we would never wear. DVDs that we would never watch. STUFF that we would never use.

So the kids were feeling a little trodden by the month-long throwing out.

And it was nice to have the good folks from Friso come a-knockin’ our way last week, telling us they will be placing this right smack in the middle of our place. Which, of course, made the kids extremely thrilled. You mean, we can have new things to play with? was the first thing that crossed their mind.

More details on how you can redeem this, or experience this, at the end of the post

Yes, apparently so. Thanks to Friso Singapore, who’s all very keen to get children to experience PLAY, Nat, our littlest, together with the older two kids, had a chance to play – and play a lot indeed – with the Friso Experiences Play Set, consisting of a Friso tent, a Friso slide with basketball and hoop (in blue or pink), a Friso storage box with 2 cushions and a green carpet à la astro turf (a rather big piece, I must say).

So this was how Nat played:

When the play set first arrived, Nat was stoked to see something he was familiar with outdoors but not indoors. So off to the slide he went. We laid out the artificial grass, put the slide with basketball hoop on top of it, and the small spongy green ball given was quickly exchanged for a real junior basketball (because, really, you’re talking about Nat here) and here, you see the pro at play:

Ready, set, play!

There really isn’t any rules to slide and dunk, right?

The next day, I saw my older two join in the fun. Ben and Becks have been told that the slide is not suitable for older children and might not take their weight. But clearly, it became nevermind, Mom, we can get really creative, because it doesn’t mean we have to physically slide down a slide to have fun:

Making some obstacle course-ball-sliding down-but-won’t-make-too-much-of-a-din-and-mama-will-be-happy kind of thing ‘play’

How creative are my kids? Oh, so very. They are always ‘inventing’ things like that. The slide with the chairs and stools in the house, plus pillows and wooden sticks from the tent have seen more than 5 combinations already to make some “super machines” since the play set came. I’m just waiting for them to turn the slide upside down and discover a whole new world.

A few days later, I heard a great deal of swooshing and whooshing in the living room, and when I headed out, I was tickled by what Nat was doing, completely with commentary F1 broadcast teams would be proud:

It’s time for…. HOT WHEELS!

Cars down the slide, here we come!

The pictures I took were posed versions with cars, obviously. When I spied him with my little eye without my camera, this boy was racing four cars at once.

That weekend, we also brought the tent to Grandma’s place to try “camping” out. Ok, I have to say that the tent is a tad small for 3 children, so…

First, the kids tried to fit in the tent...

First, the kids tried to fit into the tent…

Next, they got comfortable

Ok, how about let’s do dinner here? Oops, no space!

So much for camping. They had fun, nonetheless, trying to make the tent work. I suspect if you throw them more rods and cloth, they might end up constructing a super tent big enough to fit the extended family, Grandma and Grandpa included.

So this was how the Kao kids did it with the Friso Play Set – play their own creative way!

***

Friso wishes to encourage parents to experience more together by engaging in creative play with their little ones. From 1 September 2015 to 31 October 2015, parents who spend $350 on any Friso participating products at participating retailers will receive the Friso Experiences Play Set (worth $300). It will consist of a tent, a slide with a basketball hoop, 2 cushions, a storage box and a green carpet so that parents can bring the outdoors into their homes and experience more together with their child.

The participating Friso products included in this promotion are Frisomum, Friso Gold Cereal and Friso Gold 2, 3, 4. It excludes all infant formula for 0-6 months.

There will also be a special Friso Experience Play Zones at FairPrice outlets and Sheng Siong outlets. Parents are invited to take pictures with their little ones at the play zones. Friso ambassadors will be on-site to snap photos, print it out and present it in a Friso Photo frame to the participants during the weekends.

The outlets for the Play Zones are:

FP Xtra Jem Mall — 1 to 30 Sept
FP Xtra AMK Hub — 1 to 30 Sept
FP Xtra Sport Hub — 1 to 30 Sept
FP Xtra Nex Mall — 7 to 30 Sept
FP Xtra Jurong — 1 to 30 Sept
FP East Point — 14 to 30 Sep
Guardian Plus Takshimaya — 17 to 30 Sep
Guardian Compass Point (B1) — 17 to 30 Sept
Guardian Causeway Point (B3-4) —28 Sep to 4 Oct
Sheng Siong Woodlands 6A — 1 to 31 Oct
Sheng Siong Bedok 209 — 1 to 31 Oct

Find more details here: apps.facebook.com/frisoexperience or follow Friso on their FB Page for more info.

***

“Play is a drive, a need, a brain-building must-do.” – Jeff A Johnson & Denita Dinger (Let them play: an early learning (un)curriculum)

Disclosure: We received the play set from Friso to play. The kids played. I watched. We bonded. All opinions here are our own.

0 Comments

(Self) Examination

After the radio silence comes the ramblings

September 15, 2015

This has been the longest radio silence the blog has been left to transmit, and now I’m back – which means the transmission of silence officially ends (hopefully).

I blame it on life.

Life has a way of making you reevaluate and reflect. Life has a way to get you busy; busy to the point your world spins out of control. Life has a way of putting up check points for you to check-in and take stock.

So this year, and these past months, I’ve made some bold moves in life. I’ve started the journey to entrepreneurship. If you know me, and have hung around long enough, you would know that I am a person teeming with crazy ideas, big dreams and a heart for social causes and education. I’ve decided not to silence them nor hide them in the guise of motherhood anymore. I am usually not one who would take the first step but I’ve decided to start meeting people, learn from them, ask to be mentored by them and surround myself with like-minded friends. I started meeting people who were willing to incubate ideas with me. We discussed endless possibilities.

As a mother, I embraced life. I decided to give one thing free rein at home. I allowed my kids to play. We stopped homelearning. We stopped doing activity books and worksheets. Inspired by the Reggio-approach, I exposed my children to everything open-ended. We gathered loose parts, Yakult bottles, dried leaves, twigs and toilet rolls. They ran barefoot everywhere, sang plenty of piggy-back songs and role-played. We played games. We drew. A lot. We made up stories.

As a teacher, I returned to school. I attended night classes. I met people who were hungry to learn and made new friends and began my academic pursuit for early years enrichment education.

As a family, we made big changes. We moved neighbourhoods and are now back in the West, where nothing much has changed, except that everyone around us got older. We started our family on a journey of ‘less is more’ as we downsized our space, and it has made us more appreciative – for what we have; and creative – with what we have. Nothing has humbled me more than the fact that living in a mature estate meant seeing old, lonely, sometimes grumpy, but most of the time kind and friendly elderly folks, and that it was always good to be reminded that we can always be a little kinder, a little more considerate of others – walking behind them, holding lift doors, putting on a smile and saying hello.

So like I said, life has a way of keeping you up, spinning you in circles, forcing you to stop at check points and making you reevaluate at pit stops. And that’s what I have been up to.

This blog has morphed more into a space for chronicling personal journeys more than motherhood journeys. Although there’s much to learn as a mother of a 6-year-old-soon-to-be-primary-school-going-child-who-is-sassy-with-retorts-every-waking-hour, a 5-year-old who’s still trying to find herself and blossom like she should, and a 3-year-old who only wrecks your nerve with his wit and mischief on good and bad days, these things have become increasingly private to me – things I wish to privately savour. I worry about the exposure the children have on social media, as the blog has grown and morphed into something quite beyond my control. We’ve come a long way, since 2012, and people are beginning to recognise the kids on the streets because of our public persona. I’m not sure if that’s something they want, now that they are older. I have thoughts like: what if someday my children become fiercely private people, and resent what I did? And I’m thinking perhaps this blog should be more of me than them, for now, unless it’s something that’s worth sharing – like a meaningful event or an engagement that benefitted the whole family.

But one thing remains: this blog is my gift to my children – a gift of my words to them and their growing up years chronicled for them. Because sometimes in life, we tend to forget. And may this space always serve as a reminder of how they have made my life so complete, and that because of them, I chose to pursue a life that was worth something.

One of the better quotes I’ve read, and always want to remember

P/S: Perhaps my co-writer might continue to share his fatherhood journey on the blog. But nope, not gonna be changing blog domain just yet.

0 Comments

Invites & Tryouts Reviews The real supermom

Minus Calories 30-Minute Workout at Active Hive [+Giveaway]

July 25, 2015

Many people wear their post-workout soreness like a badge of honour for having pushed their limits and worked their muscles hard.

But me and lactic acid build-up – neh, we don’t usually go together. I don’t welcome it, and as a result I don’t like to exercise. When I do exercise and suffer the wretchedness of a sore body, I’d start swearing to myself I will never again exercise – and so begins the love-hate relationship with exercising and this damn thing called lactic acid.

So it remains then that should you take lactic acid away and dissolve it into the abyss forever, you’d find Motherkao all raring to go exercise.

Cue the Minus Calories Workout at Active Hive.

When I was invited to try it out for 5 sessions for a consecutive 2 weeks, the thoughts that ran through my mind were: me not eager. me not keen. I can think up a gazillion legit excuses, if I had to to avoid lactic acid.

Actually, I’m all for exercising, keeping fit, moving away from my sedentary lifestyle, lowering my cholesterol level, getting more cardio workouts, building my muscle mass, reducing my fat mass, and burning away all those calories from my sinful indulgences of bacon, egg yolks, organ meat and butter – things that I live to eat. I think I have more reasons to work out than not BUT the aching was my biggest issue.

And then I was told I would not ache a single bit if I did the Minus Calories 30-Minute Workout and I.was.sold.

I had to see this for myself – CAN I WORK OUT WITHOUT ACHING? Really?

Ladies and gents. I’ve tried it, done it, tested it.

And I’m here to shout out loud: IT’S POSSIBLE TO WORK OUT WITHOUT ACHING. REALLY.

At Active Hive: a Body Composition Analysis first …

The exercise machine within the Minus Calories machine

Step in and work out!

Apparently, this “miracle” invention of a machine (of course together with the exercise equipment) promises you that a 30-minute workout is all that you need to burn calories five times more than the usual workouts. The infrared which is the secret to the NO ACHES, NO LACTIC ACID BUILDUP and ionized air not only optimises fat burning but also makes you sweat more and effectively remove toxins quickly.

So what if you had to work out in the sauna-like infrared enclosed space (totally safe level, by the way)? I didn’t mind that at all.

What I hear is in exchange for 30 minutes of my time (and watching my favourite hk and k-drama on tablet while at that!) and keeping my pulse rate at 75%, I get quintuple the effect of a normal workout, I sweat my toxins out, and the infrared technology improves the rate of my blood circulation, metabolism and absorption of anti-cellulite or slimming creams (I had anti-cellulite cream applied on me before every session. BURN, BABY, BURN!). The ionized air also supplies purified oxygen to rejuvenate my skin cells and improve my respiratory system and speeds up the process of purging toxins and weight loss.

By Session 2, I was encouraged by Nikki from Active Hive to push to burn more than 500 calories. Or course, the infrared was turned off at 30 minutes. And I continued to use the Step Exercise Machine.

By Session 2, I was encouraged by Nikki from Active Hive to push to burn more than 500 calories. Or course, the infrared was turned off at 30 minutes. I continued to use the Step Exercise Machine. And yes, I was watching some random HK drama.

This was by the 4th session. And Running Man kept me company.

I had a really incredible time pushing my limits (while keeping within the acceptable pulse rate) progressively throughout my five sponsored sessions – I absolutely felt no soreness nor any lactic acid build-up. ZILCH. I looked forward to sweating like a pig, catching up on action in dramaland, and drinking that slow-juiced glass of goodness from a concoction of beetroot, celery, spinach, xiao bai cai, carrot, lime and orange after every workout.

A treat I look forward to after every workout

Definitely won’t have taken beetroot under any circumstances!

…Or drink a concoction of celerey, spinach, and all imaginable leafy greens!

The result that I lost 0.2 percent of my fat mass was just the cherry on the cake. I enjoyed the workout more than anything, only because I didn’t have to deal with any horrible morning-afters, also known as wretched lactic acid build-up.

Such should be the happiness of exercising.

Working out the sweat, with anti-cellulite cream smeared all over my belly, thighs and even my double chin!

More details:

The Minus Calories 30-Minute Workout is only available at Active Hive (65 Ubi Road 1 #02-88, Oxley Bizhub, Singapore 40872 | Tel: 6385 2758).

Active Hive will be conducting a holistic wellness workshop on 15 August 2015. Learn how to ‘Get the Right Balance’ to improve your overall health. Register for the event here.

AND NOW, for a GIVEAWAY:

5 readers will stand to win a free trial workout at Active Hive on the Minus Calories machine, complete with 1 free Body Composition Analysis and 1 post-workout juice worth up to SGD103*.

To participate, all you need to do is:

1) LIKE and SHARE Active Hive’s Facebook Page

2) Comment here on this blog to share one tip on how you handle soreness after you exercise

Giveaway ends 31 July 2015.

*Terms & Conditions*

Winners must provide Active Hive with full name, email, mobile number and NRIC before Active Hive issues a letter for redemption.
Winners will liaise direct with Active Hive for their trial redemption.
Winners must utilise their trial session by the stipulated time provided by Active Hive.

Disclosure: I didn’t want to exercise, but I went, because I was sold on the ‘no-ache’ part. But it was in exchange for working out in a machine that had infrared technology for about 30 minutes. I was cool with that – that was my ‘no pain no gain’. I received no monetary compensation for this review, and all opinions here are my own. Oh, and the glass of slow juice after every session was a chockful of veggie-fruit goodness I wouldn’t otherwise ingest if I had a choice. Do tell them if you absolutely hate something.

3 Comments

(Self) Examination

Sorry for the Silence

July 23, 2015

This blog has been silent for a while ever since my last post on running the Sundown Marathon with my eldest.

While there is so much to unload, reflect, examine and share, like you, I have only 24 hours. Something’s gotta give, and so much gave, this year. One of it is this blog which has been my virtual space for solitude and as a repository of memories. They say business – and to build a successful one – is all about training, discipline and hard work. I couldn’t agree more. Tis’ so true. Plus, I think “hard work” is an understatement here; I’ve never known myself to work harder than now.

And so, before I get to enjoy the fruits of entrepreneurship and find some leisure time to reconnect with the wordsmith that I am and the thoughts in my head, I’m bringing in another writer on the blog.

Yep, you heard me right. Someone else will be writing on this blog.

Well, we’ve made a semi-permanent arrangement here. I want so much as well for this someone else to share about parenting, with its ups and downs, complete with the spills, bills and thrills.

So everyone, wait for it.

Fatherkao will be coming to the blog.

AKAN DATANG.

0 Comments

Ben Kao Happy days Invites & Tryouts Milestones and growing up The real supermom

Sundown with love, running at sundown with my loves

July 10, 2015

I wanted to give up long before race day. There were more than enough reasons to anyway.

I needed to focus on work and cancel out any distraction. There were processes to settle, curriculum to prepare and ideas to incubate. I didn’t have time to train (except for the five calories-burning sessions at Active Hive – another post on that soon). My husband, who was taking part in the Sundown Marathon with me, was not well for a long while with a phlegmy cough that didn’t go away. Ben had been having the sniffles too with his sensitive nose acting up a lot these days.

But a commitment is a commitment is a commitment. I said I’d do the 5km Fun Run for Sanctuary House, which I’ve been attempting to canvass donations for.

When Race Day arrived – and we were supposed to report at 7pm – I was already totally exhausted from being at work 6 hours earlier in the day. Fatherkao had a headache and popped two panadols that evening. The only one raring to go was Ben. And I had two other whining, unhappy, digruntled children who wouldn’t give me a break with their incessant grumblings about why they had to stay home with the helper. Not even TV helped.

But still we went, because a commitment is a commitment is a commitment, and boy, were we glad we did. That cool, lovely evening on 4 July totally made it to one of the high points of my year.

It was beautiful to be running at sundown.

The sunset view from Fatherkao’s phone camera

Add to that, the thoughtful organisers timed the Fun Run flag off to coincide with the fireworks from the NDP Rehearsal. We stopped after 1 km, stood by the Singapore River facing the Fullerton, and took in the breathtaking sights of the fireworks display before our eyes. Absolutely spectacular.

How close did we come ti soak in this spectacular sight?

How close did we come to soak in this spectacular sight?

This close. What a treat for the run!

And then being able make it to the half way mark with my firstborn – holding hands, encouraging him to press on, and sometimes looking at him from the back (yes, he got ahead of his very exhausted Mama) and thanking God that I have been blessed with lovely, healthy children.

Had this picture of the boys’ back edited as a sketch because it’s more poignant that way. I want to give thanks for the fact that in front of me ran two healthy boys!

And also extremely grateful that my husband, who hates running very much, was doing this with us with nary a grumble, encouraging Ben and me along the way, and teaching my firstborn some of life’s precious lessons. Overheard many times was the father telling the son to press on, not give up and reach for our goal. There were so many precious bonding moments no amount of money can buy.

When we held hands and made it through the finish line, it was touching to see the look of pride my son had on his face. That beaming, proud face after experiencing his first 5km-run. That look that says he’s grown up a little more after that evening.

Just the 3 of us

Ben’s well-deserved medal!

We had a lovely night after the run, being hosted by the organisers for dinner at the VIP tent, and talking a nice long walk to the MRT station talking about the events of the day and what the run was like for us. It was really, really nice to be walking hand in hand – just the three of us – like we were the best of friends and it was a beautiful and special moment for our firstborn too. I want to be doing this some time soon with Becks and then with Nat. I think that would be equally incredible.

Thank you, OSIM and Hivelocity, for the invitation to join the Sundown Marathon as a Sundown with Love Ambassador. We received more love that day than we could give.

Donations for Sanctuary House via the Sundown with Love platform closes 31 July 2015. If you could show a little love, click this link.

Disclosure: We were invited to be social influencers for the OSIM Sundown Marathon. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions here are our own.

0 Comments

Older Posts

Newer Posts