Fatherhood Reflections L - One Normal Day

Today was one of the most enjoyable Sundays I've had in a while.

It was the most normal Sunday for me. I couldn't have asked for more.

It was the day after my birthday yesterday.

Woke up at around 9am.

My son woke me up to bug me to go down to play football with him because we tried to go yesterday around 5pm and it was booked out till 9pm, which left him rather disappointed. So we brought the football and basketball, dragged the wifey, and even managed to drag my princess daughter. We played football and boy his skills have improved! The girl and I team up against the boy and the wifey. 4-4 was the score. Then suddenly he realized that playing tennis beside our court was his primary school classmate, Joshua, who's watching his parents play tennis. We ask him to come over and he gladly obliges. Meanwhile, the wifey and I play a bit of one-on-one basketball. then it is back to football. We played in teams of me and my girl vs wifey boy and his friend. Friend is not as good, but obviously having much more fun that sitting in the sun watching parents play tennis. At 4-4, we swapped teams. Adults vs kids. Of course we gave chance. Kids ending up winning 8-7. They were so overjoyed. I love how happy the boy screams with joy each time he scores. So genuine and joyous. finished up around 1030am.

When we were done we quickly went back. And decided to cool down by going swimming! Again this time the girl was excited because she missed last Friday's session where I brought the boy to swim with the water gun I brought back from Vietnam. So she really wanted to try it out. I go with the boy and girl. Wifey stayed at home. The kids can swim or stay afloat pretty well already and I make them swim four laps of the pool's breadth, which is quite a feat IMHO. Also gave the girl a survival test of me pushing her into the water by surprise. Obviously it wasn't such a big surprise as I told her earlier that I'd do it. She took it pretty well to be honest. Then we went to the kiddie pool to play the water gun. We played crocodile. Basically we took turns being crocodiles who try to attack the hunters. And the kids took turns using the water gun to shoot me. There were some other little kids in the pool who saw how much fun we were having and wanted in on the action. To be honest I didn't want them to be part of it, but my kids are always so friendly to stranger kids and even gave the gun to let them selfishly play on their own. Boo that. Sometimes I wished my kids were more selfish with strangers. Maybe not as selfish as their father, but perhaps they will pick this up in time.

By this point I myself am quite tired. And it was lunch time. So we quickly took our baths. In fact I made them quickly plan who would bathe where so that they can get that sorted quickly. Then it was off to my favourite Sunday lunch place. 388 kopitiam beside Siglap Centre. And I ate my favourite, kway chap. The boy is starting to love it, so I order a portion for 4 pax which cost me $25, which came with four bowls of kway chap and a huge plate of innards and stuff. Absolutely delicious. The girl deviated slightly and insisted on a plate of cai fan which was completely fine. She didn't finish all the rice though. Been trying to subtlely get her to eat less so that she doesn't grow fat. Wifey also ordered a plated of yong tau foo from the original Fu Lin in the kopitiam (not from the other Fu Lin two stores down). SO FULL!

Then we drove the kids to their Berries class. The kids must be really tired and sleeping by this point. I know I was, but hte wifey wanted to go to the Decathlon store which we hadn't been before, so there wasn't much of an impression. Oh boy was I impressed. I felt like a kid in a candy store in Decathlon Bedok. It was like a Walmart or Ikea of sporting goods. It reminded me of the time I was in Denver, Colorado and my American friends brought me to a similar huge store of sporting goods, where everything was super cheap too! I think both of us were taken aback by the magnitude of the range available, and the cheap prices. It felt like everything was going for $3.90 or $4.90. In the end we spent $105 on 12 items, the most expensive was a pair of turf football shoes for me at $39.90. Everything else was like $5 and below haha.

I wish we had more time to spend there but alas we had to pick the kids from Berries. We got there a tad early, so dropped by the supposed newly renovated South Union Park cafe two stores down where Berries is, only to see that nothing in the dining area has changes. They closed for refurbishment for a good three months and nothing changed? Weird. Maybe they redid the kitchen. Anyway we hung around, realise we didn't want to eat anything, then left. Haha. Picked the kids and drove home.

Got home and asked them to take their nap. Myself and the wifey are knackered. Girl also goes to sleep. The boy doesn't seem to have been able to nap well lately.

Anyway at 530pm we are all woken up by the wifey because it is time to go to the in-laws' place.

We drive up to Sembawang, listening to 93.3FM, because weekends we listen to Mandarin radio.

My MIL is a fantastic cook and I love her cooking. And today she's cooked noodles with curry AND my favourite kong ba (3 layer pork in soy). It was delicious, but I am growing so fat that I cannot eat so much as before. I think to myself that I should go jogging later. Anyway then we hang around until around 830pm when they whip out a chocolate ice-cream cake to celebrate my birthday. We take pictures and all, have the cake, and then it is time to head home.

We reach home around 10pm, where lately this TV series called The Blue Planet is showing. The boy really loves to watch this series as it was about everything in the ocean, narrated by David Attenborough. That famous documentary narrator. Anyway it overruns and wifey wants the boy to go sleep liao. So off he goes and the TV is off.

I decide, hmm, I think I really should go run.

So I don my gear, and head out.

My usual route is to exit to ECP, walk the tunnel across and start running all the way past Lagoon Food Centre, Bedok Jetty, to the East Coast Sailing Club. A loop around the club and the adjacent People's Association obstacle course place and back would be about 8km+.I tend to take about an hour just because I am always so slow. Even the wifey runs faster than me. Anyway I start running at 1105pm and I reach back at 1157pm. So not a bad run by my own standards. I am absolutely drenched but it was a very good run which I really needed after all that sushi in Japan.

After a cool down and shower. It is 145am already and I will end off this post.

Have to work tomorrow!