Fatherhood Reflections XXI - Yellow Belt Warrior

Another parenting milestone checked.

Another achievement unlocked for the boy.

So proud of him.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 2016

The country is changing so fast.

It looks positively different from my last trip already.

This new Le Meridien hotel that we're staying in is up to scratch with many top hotels worldwide.

Manchester United 2 Crystal Palace 1

FA Cup winners!!!

It's been too long since I celebrated so much as a Man United fan.

We've finally won another trophy after two barren years post SAF.

Wayne Rooney really carried the team on his shoulders once we went a goal down. That wonderful run past so many Crystal Palace players followed by cross to Mata to finish. Also his cross-field passes and defence were very good. This guy seriously wanted his first ever FA Cup winners medal.

Jesse Lingard's volleyed goal during extra time was sublime. Who would have thought an academy product would decide the final?! At least one would've expected Rashford to be that someone.

DDG was his usual superhuman self. Not many saves to make, but had to be alert to a few tough saves.

Martial and Rashford were a thorn throughout as well.

All in all what a wonderful night. Screamed myself hoarse at Chijmes with friends.

Thank you LVG but now it is time for you to go.

GGMU!!!

小红 V2.0

A 10yr-old brand new mega tech upgrade!

Beach Road Prawn Mee @ East Coast Road

Still sedap!

Just...really expensive though ($5.80, $8.80 and $11.80!)

Plus the ngoh hiang is still there kio-ing the good business!

Fatherhood Reflections XX - The Passion Of Collecting

Had a long chat with the dad yesterday about our passion for our collections. His teapots, my comics & cards.

It started out as innocent chatter about our visit to the National Gallery (a must-go if you asked me) and my appreciation for art. Some veering took it to our present day aging collections.

I've had my comics & trading card collections since I was 13. That's more than 20yrs ago. Over the growing years, I'd scrimp and save just to buy these comics and cards like a crazy obsession, wanting to be the proud owner of the actual item AND the knowledge of knowing its contents. And till this day they are still stored properly albeit having been remotely visited lately.

Truth is, right now my collection is in this storeroom somewhere.

Yet I know that each time I revisit them, an overflowing sense of nostalgia envelopes me, almost like taking me back to my heyday of collecting. Each comic issue, each card reminding me how I painstakingly got my hands on them, how I went through the easy or hard journey of making each and every one a part of my collection. And it feels good. Seriously. The memory rush, just cannot be shared. It has to be felt personally.

Because not many people can proudly say that they have managed to amass such a big collection of something they are so passionate for. They may not be worth a lot (at most twice the value of what I spent on them), but to me, these seldom accessed dimes are priceless. They are a piece of my personal history. A part of who I am today, is simply based on the various influences from my journey of collecting and reading these things.

Like dad says, sure you could sell them now (he was referring to his teapots) and reap a very, very nice profit, but deep down inside you, what do you gain? That amount in profit can never buy back the memory you have had for that item you took so much pain in procuring, taking care of, storing, cherishing and remembering it. And you spend it on a nice meal, and then it's all gone.

Right now, these are the very things that help you cling on to your joyful memories, which is an extremely precious commodity as you get older. I'm already feeling the effects of aging. You simply cannot remember as much of your past even though you want to. Some things you will never remember without seeing an item associated with it, or an old friend helping you relate to it. Without the friend or the item, the memories die a slow death inside you, hoping to get revived or jogged, if ever.

And this is why I try to participate in old school reunions more often now. I visit old places and haunts on my own sometimes, and more importantly I try to store whatever items that are memorable to me. Even the Avengers and X-men movies help. Because once it is lost, it can never be replaced or relearned.

And so I understand why there is a reluctance for dad to sell his teapots. Because if it were up to me, I would rather keep the memory of my comics and trading cards with me till the day I die, safe in the knowledge that I can play with them and reminisce the good old days, which no one else will fully understand, and then whoever inherits it after I'm gone, can do whatever they want with it for all I care. If there is value, go cash it in and live a better life, if there isn't, then preferably give it away to someone else who can appreciate it as much as I did.

For they say, one man's treasure, is another man's trash.

The National Gallery

World class.

Truly impressive.

That's all I have to say.

The main atrium.

That drawing by autistic savant, Stephen Wiltshere.

HDB bus.

Scary shit.

The Enchanted forest.

Who's In The Woods interactive design room. Can you spot Papa Bear?

Arty farty Nasi Lemaki #looksbetterthanittastes

Atas performance.

My dad was actually able to correctly identify all the above paintings as that of a famous Indonesian artist! I had no clue.

In an actual prison cell.

Someone Just Upped The Ante!

22nd May. 

The FA Cup Final.

Crystal Palace vs Manchester United.

Remember the date!

The stakes are super high!

We'd better win!!!

GGMU!!!

Insecticons

Found this boxed set on sale for $39.90 compared to an original retail price of $119.

Shut up and take my money!!!

Funnily enough, it was nostalgia that made me want this set so much. The beetle insecticon on the right called Skrapnel, was one of the first ever transformers that my mother bought for me.

Up until yesterday, I've always known this robot as Shrapnel - ingrained in my head since I misread it (probably) when I was a young boy.

I probably still have the original lying somewhere in my mom's place.

Kenna Bird Shit

So unlucky!

There I was on my own minding my own business having a cold tea when suddenly this huge dollop of bird crap splashes on my arm and and pants!

Sibeh suay bong!

And cannot even wipe off somemore!

Think anyone could tell where the crap hit...

Went to buy 4D and Toto after that.

Huat ah!!!

Fatherhood Reflections XIX - Saving My Child From Drowning

Twice.

Dramatic as it may sound, I did. Thankfully we were close by to make sure we could step in if anything untoward happened.

'Twas just another kindergarten friend's birthday party and this time it was a pretty massive one with pool time included.

The condo pool was pretty cool with a 0.5m kids pool with slide and a 1m kids pool on the opposite end.

The kids set out to play in the 1m pool. Most 6 year olds in the boy's class could swim pretty well, so I'm glad my boy could handle himself pretty competently.

Turtle power! The boy is hugging the right  front flipper.

The girl on the other hand still hadn't even learned to dip her head in the water, yet was eager to join all the other older kids having so much fun. 

She latched herself tightly on the head of the turtle float and held on to the two handles firmly. But older kids will frenziedly pile onto any flotation toy that came close. And so it was that when 3 kids simultaneously leapt onto the giant turtle, it flipped. 

That's my girl at the turtle's head.

I was on hand right at the pool side when it first happened. So I could even calmly remove my slippers and walk into the pool knee-deep (it was a sloppy pool type) while she was struggling to keep her head above water and frantically grabbing at anything. By the time I pulled her out she had already had a few gulps of water, but nothing really serious. Yet she wailed like the greatest hurt on earth was upon her. I calmed her down and brought her to mummy, enjoying a drink in the shade.

After the attention was all gone and she'd calmed down, the girl staged a revival of enthusiasm and ran back to the pool to play with everyone again. Guess quietly sobbing in mummy's arm was not much fun for any attention seeker.

The second time it happened, same setup, still determined to head the damn turtle. Even had the confidence to give several shouts of 'Look at me, papa!', from the distance. By now I sort of had an inclination that I needed to be prepared for round two, this time removing all contents in my pockets, slippers also removed.

As expected, a minor flip took place, but a sharp-eyed parent (Jared's daddy - bless his heart) had grabbed her before her head dipped into the water. I was startled enough to get of my deck chair, but thankfully no need to get into the water, or so I thought. Even waved a manly salute to said parent who helped the girl.

Then just shortly after, the turtle came nearer, at which point the 6yr olds started leaping onto it via the perimeter of the pool. Usually one or even two kids leaping full body wouldn't cause too much trouble for the massive turtle float, but somehow there was so much tugging and jostling for space on the turtle's back that it took one boy's perimeter jump to cause the turtle to flip. 

This time around the turtle did a 180, and  my girl went full under. I leapt out of my deck chair and charged straight in. Yet my first foot's entrance into the water met the slippery tiles along the sloppy ridge and I slipped and fell on my bum. Thankfully I calmly got up right away and wading in time to get to my poor girl who by now was grasping at straws, drinking water by the mouthfuls.

It took her awhile to calm down, before she went into wail mode again. This time around probably more traumatized, as she had drank loads. 

Thankfully she was safe and sound, even if I was soaking wet from the torso down, and she, a wailing truck. In fact by the time I got home, my son saw that my boxers that I was wearing when I slipped, had ripped right down my entire butt line! Think I even sprained my pinkie when I fell :(

All in, there really wasn't that much danger of her drowning, given the proximity of so many adults looking on. Yet I know that this was an experience for my little one she would never forget, and hopefully she will learn from the trauma.

As a parent, I am even more adamant that my kids need to learn to swim as soon as possible.

Glad to have been my daughter's hero.

God bless.