Pa

The past few days seemed to pass by in a blur, yet so much has happened. I am physically exhausted, but I also feel emotionally recharged to be a better person. To be someone with a big heart - like my Dad. 

During the past few days at my Dad's wake, I learnt more about him. I always knew my Dad had a generous heart, but I never thought much of it. But during his wake, I had the opportunity to hear anecdotes of how my Dad helped various people unselfishly. I feel proud of my Dad, but only if he could be around to share his stories personally with me. I wish I had made the effort to know him better. I wish I had spent more time with him. I wish I was there to spend his last days with him. 

So many regrets. It is a hard lesson learnt. Never to take my loved ones for granted. I have been on leave for almost  11 months, but I spent so little of it with my dad even though he was ill. During this time, I visited my Dad less often than I would like to, conveniently hiding behind the excuses of taking care of my kids and physical exhaustion. Now I really regret it and I don't want to make this mistake again. 

To me, the bright spark from my Dad's wake was how my relatives rallied around my family during this difficult and exhausting period. Aunties took charge of the admin stuff, uncles deprived themselves of sleep to do the night duties, cousins joined us for the rituals (even though they didn't have to), my maternal granny was present everyday from morning to night, and everyone contributed every bit they could from folding "gim zua" to clearing the tables. To everyone who contributed their time, took leave from work, and/or sacrificed their sleep for my dad's wake, a BIG thank you. I always thought of my extended family as a typical Chinese family, but now I realise how extraordinary my family is. My family members may never utter mushy words of concern, but their actions reflect their love. I never knew how blessed I was to be part of this family, but now I do. 

Also thanks to everyone who took time from their busy schedule to attend the wake, friends who kept me in their prayers, and everyone who expressed their care and concern in one way or another. Friendship is an invaluable gift I treasure.

And to Pa, I miss you. I really wish you are at a better place - happy and healthy. 

Birthday Thoughts

Today, I turn a year older. And I am starting to feel old.  This day every year reminds me that I am definitely aging - I just hope that I don't look and feel older than I should. 

My gosh, am I really in my mid-thirties? When I was much younger, my image of someone in her mid-thirties would be someone who was very old. If I had to describe her, she would be wearing spectacles, hair tied up neatly in a bun, and dressed in a business suit (note: skirt has to be knee length). In short, she looks traditional and well, just old. Thankfully or not, I don't feel that way yet.

Fifteen years ago, I thought nothing about jumping around along Orchard Road and making a din. I was also thrilled to slide down a muddy slope blindfolded, and to walk through a cemetery in the middle of the night. In fact, it was so fun I wouldn't mind reliving those days again. But as one gets older, people often expect one to behave with a greater sense of propriety and decorum. I recall members of the public (presumably the adults) called and complained to the university that we were a nuisance at Orchard Road.  Didn't they know we were just having harmless fun? The feeling of liberation and satisfaction when you perform funny & awkward (but totally decent) acts in front of total strangers - you have to experience it to understand the kick of doing it.  I miss those crazy years, but am glad that at least, I still have the memories from those years.

Just recently, A and I attended Mayday concert and we behaved as if we were 10 years younger.   We jumped, sung, yelled and cheered non-stop to all the great tunes the band performed.  I have never felt so carefree and relaxed. My key takeaway from the concert was to live life to the fullest - 要活得精采！I hope to attend all future Mayday concerts and I never want to become too inhibited to belt my lungs out and jump about. 

Back to the reality of today, today was an ordinary day. A is overseas for work, my son is running a high fever, my daughter continues to test my patience by not finishing her milk, and the air smells bad (apparently PSI level is above 100). Other than a mini celebration after dinner, today felt like any other day. I didn't even stepped out of my house one bit. But I am happy - happy that even though there wasn't a "high" to my day, at least there were no "lows". Well, I did treat myself to wholesome homemade almond butter for breakfast, and also cheered myself by watching shows on iPad. I guess what makes today less ordinary is being remembered by friends and family and receiving their birthday greetings. 

The positive part about growing old is that I have learnt to appreciate the little blessings in life. In fact, I think I am now more excited about my kids' birthdays than my own. Celebrating their birthdays and seeing the little faces light up makes me feel as happy as if I am also celebrating my birthday. 

So today is coming to an end. My final thoughts? I guess I just have to accept that growing old is part and parcel of life. I hope the wrinkles and white hair will stay away for many many years to come. And I never want to feel old. Here's a toast to feeling young and happy always! 

Happy Mother's Day?

12 May 2013

As a mum to an almost 5-month old baby (C) and 3 year old toddler (J), this is how I spent Mother's Day today.

1:30am  Missed my 12:30am alarm and overslept. Fed J milk (because he did not take his afternoon nap, fell asleep while having dinner, and missed his milk feed just before bedtime). My son decided he wanted to sleep with Daddy who was asleep with C in the other room and he went off.

2:30am 1st pumping session of the day. Kept myself awake via online shopping :)

3:30am J walked back into the room smiling cheekily. It was obvious he wasn't sleepy at 3:30am in the morning! I ended my pump session and persuaded J to brush his teeth by promising him a YouTube video on tooth extraction.

4am Brushed J's teeth.  Wanted to show J the agreed YouTube video, but he decided they all seemed too scary. I took the opportunity to remind J that he should brush his teeth everyday otherwise his teeth could decay just like those in the YouTube videos. Switched off the lights and we finally went to bed.

8:20am Overslept again! My alarm was supposed to ring at 7:30am. J woke up when I moved him from my bed to his. Spent a few minutes pacifying him as J is usually whiny when he is sleepy.

8:30am 2nd pump session of the day. Read news on my iPad at the same time.

9:30am Rushed to wash up and pack stuff. As I was brushing my teeth, A got J to wish me Happy Mother's Day and give him the gift he made in school.  Cheeky J insisted on giving me the present my colleague gave him instead.

10:30am Brought J to my aunt's country club for a swim.

11am Finally had breakfast - I am famished! After breakfast, spent some time chatting with my aunt and entertaining C while A & J had fun at the water playground. Managed to read some news while C napped in my arms. 

12:15pm Fed C milk. Changed diapers for C as she pooped while drinking milk.

1pm Lunchtime. Reprimanded J because he did not want to eat his fried rice. He was only interested in the chicken wings and orange juice. Managed to feed J a few mouthfuls of rice. J became sleepy and fell asleep in A's arms.

2pm Headed home. J woke up just when I was about to help him wear his diapers. 

3:20pm 3rd pump session of the day. Played candy crush to keep myself awake. 

4:20pm Decided to cook dinner for J as he did not have a proper meal the entire day. Prepared J's dinner after my pump session.

5pm A was exhausted and taking a nap.  I deliberated between tabao-ing or cooking dinner - decided to cook a simple meal since I had ready ingredients and it didn't require more effort than heading out to tabao.  Instructed the maid to wash and chop up the ingredients for dinner.

5:45pm Printed a family photo that J's teacher had requested. Photo colour was horrendous but I had no time to resolve the issue as I smelt a burnt smell emitting from J's porridge!! Thankfully I managed to salvage most of the porridge. It is during such moments when I really appreciate having a maid - in her absence, I will have to spend the next hour scrubbing the burnt pot.

6pm Caught J peeling the cork coaster and reprimanded him. Fed J dinner and got him to apologise. Happy that J was eating much better than he was at lunchtime. 

6:40pm Cooked fried bee hoon and had dinner thereafter. In the meantime, A showered J.

7:30pm After a short chat with my mum and giving C my bedtime kisses, I took a shower.

8:20pm 4th pump session of the day. Blogged this entry at the same time. C is sound asleep but surprisingly, J is still very energetic even though he hardly napped today. J kept asking A to read him storybooks - I am glad that J is oblivious to the iPhone in my hand. Not once did he ask me for my phone!

10pm J wanted to drink milk and finally, he is starting to yawn. But all signs of exhaustion dissipated when he saw 爷爷 and 奶奶 who were just back from a holiday. 

10:30pm J showed off his "doctor equipment" in a role play as a doctor. He would squeal in delight as we pretended to revolt when he tried to feed us medicine that was too bitter. I also packed Joshua's schoolbag.

11:30pm 爷爷 and 奶奶 heads home. I brushed J's teeth and then washed up. 

12am Finally put J to bed

One word to describe Mother's Day? Exhausting.  I don't need breakfast in bed or a luxurious spa treat. All I really really need is sleep. I know I should be more positive, but I am really really tired.  Tired Me = Grumpy Me. It will get better though...I can't wait. 

Smile Pinki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CamEXQ8x72c

SMILE PINKI, the captivating story of a desperately poor little girl in rural India whose life is magically transformed when she receives free surgery to correct her cleft lip. 

Channel News Asia screened the above documentary last Friday.  In a way, I can identify with the children in the documentary, and yet I am tons luckier.  There are millions of children who are still awaiting treatment, and many of them face ostracization for a condition that is beyond their control.

I just hope there is greater awareness of the plight of these children, and that more can be done to help them so that they have a reason to smile.

Blogging

I enjoy blogging. This seems odd given that my last blog post was in Apr 2012, and I only posted 3 FB notes in 2012. But I have reasons for my few posts:

1. Lack of time. Other than blogging, I have also  given up on other hobbies since I entered parenthood. It is really hard to find time for hobbies when I am already so sleep deprived. I really miss practising on my keyboard, but plan to resume learning the keyboard when my little ones are older. I have not touched my Swarovski crystals in ages - no point making my own accessories when I do not have time to dress up anyway. My number one priority nowadays is catching up on sleep because I get extremely grumpy & lethargic when I get insufficient rest.

2. I have actually been blogging when I am free e.g. on my way to work. But due to the limited time I have to blog, I have several unfinished posts. 

3. I am a hugely private person. Sometimes I choose not to blog because I deem a particular issue to be too personal. And when I blog, I tend to be careful in my choice of words - I want to share my life and yet I do not think I should be pouring out all my woes publicly.

I enjoy blogging as it is a good way to vent my emotions when I experience a particularly trying or upsetting incident. Plus I want to remember those happy special occasions. In fact, blogging seems essential if I wish to remember the unique incidents which stirred up extreme emotions in me. It is literally a walk down memory lane as I relive the emotions I experienced whenever I read my older posts. 

For a start, I am going to post my uncompleted entries. As for the privacy issue, I guess I will just continue being selective in what I post.

J's First Day at School

9 April 2012

Today is J's official first day at school. Last week was parent-accompanied orientation week. From today onwards, J is attending school like a big boy - all by himself. My only concern is whether a 2 year old is ready to attend school all by himself.

I do not recall crying when my Ah-Ma sent me to kindergarten at the age of 5. Perhaps I was too ignorant (in other words, dumb) to fear school. But there could be another reason, one which I tend to subscribe to - that is, I was mentally ready for school and I was not afraid. I knew my Ah-Ma would be at the door waiting for me when school ended. If this is true, then perhaps toddlers at age 2 are not mentally ready to face school all by themselves. I hope my theory is wrong, because regardless of what I think, I have made the overriding decision to send J to school.

So I am at work but can't stop thinking of J. I wonder whether he is adjusting well to his independent life, whether the teachers will notice when he hides at a corner to poop, how he will nap without his Ye-Ye or me, whether he will be able to chew his food properly without choking, whether the teachers will get him to drink more water,...

So many wonders and ponders, and no answers. If I could, I would drop my work, head to his school, and secretly observe him from a corner. But I can't. Sighz.

At least I know he did not cry when my in-laws dropped him off at school this morning. That is a good sign.

I really hope J will enjoy school, and the teachers will take good care of him. It is not easy to entrust my precious little one to a stranger, which is why I do not let the maid take care of J. And I believe J will benefit tremendously from going to school and interacting with other children, which is why I am starting him at school at 2 years old. I have chosen what I think is a pretty good school, because I want to be certain that the teachers will take good care of him.

For now, I'll just trust that I made the right choice, and hope that he adapts to school quickly.

Maids Again

Hiring maids has given me reasons to write about them.

I have now employed my 4th maid, and she has given me good enough reasons to attribute a blogpost to her.

She joined my family on 5th Dec with no working experience, so it has only been slightly over a month she has been with us. One would think that no brand new maid would dare to slacken or do anything funny within her first month. Not this one though. She should be given an award for her boldness and acting ability.

I wonder if her boldness is common for Filipino maids as she gets advice from her experienced relatives. She is on the phone with them almost every other evening...so maybe they taught her how to deceive her employer. Or maybe it is just her greedy nature.

Thankfully my family has yet to suffer any huge loss to our knowledge, but her little dirty acts are suffice to raise my blood pressure.

Within the first few days of her arrival, I accidentally saw her eating off the skin of the orange while she was cutting it up for me. I brushed it off as an unhygienic act but didnt think of confronting her.

When my mum-in-law unexpectedly returned home one day, she caught my maid rummaging through the biscuits. My mum-in-law did not mention anything but my maid subsequently spoke to her about it - she claimed she liked the biscuits my mum-in-law gave her and was looking at the brand earlier so that she could buy for herself in future. What an ingenious reason.

There was once when she finished her jam and did not inform us. As she has the bad habit of not telling us when her foodstuff has finished, I wanted to wait a few days before passing her the jam. She still had butter anyway. But my mum-in-law cautioned that she may end up consuming our jam instead. So I strategically positioned my jam jars in a certain way that evening - true and behold - the next day one of the jam jars was in a different position. Sighz.

There was once my mum-in-law asked her to cut some fruits. Right under my family's nose, my mum-in-law saw her keeping a slice of the persimmon under all the fruit peels. It was only when my mum-in-law decided to cut the fruits herself that my maid told her she had accidentally left out one piece under the fruit peels - wow what an accident.

The final straw came two Sat ago when my family was out and I could not access the video camera remotely. I suspected my maid had turned off the camera - which was exactly the case. The camera was still switched off when I got back and she promptly received a harsh reprimand from me. She explained her feet had accidentally hit the switch while she was cleaning the grilles. She got frightened when she switched the camera on again because the camera was revolving non-stop. I actually believed her story.

It was only on Sunday evening when A and I pieced the real story together. Because we found a piece of our cookie missing - we had counted our cookies the last time we ate them (yes we have to resort to such measures! ) and surprise surprise, there was now one less cookie . I questioned her (nicely), even reminded her she is a Catholic and should not be lying, but she was adamant she did not eat the cookie.

But the facts are obvious. She has turned off the surveillance camera while we were not home and helped herself to the cookie which was placed right next to the camera. I am not sure what else happened when the camera was switched off. In retrospect, the odds that she could have accidentally switched off the power switch were one in a thousand. Given the chunkiness of the camera plug and the location of the powerpoint and power switch, it would require more than an accident to switch off the camera. She might as well crashed my camera and said the camera fell off the table by itself.

I could close one eye if she only stole my cookie - it was not her first time anyway. Or maybe we really miscounted. Perhaps she did switch off the camera by accident. But for both incidents to happen at the same time is too much of a coincidence. If she is bold enough to switch off the camera, I cannot imagine what other tricks she would come up with in future. She is a liar, a thief, and a very audacious one for the matter. I certainly hope other Filipino maids have more integrity and pride in themselves than the one I have hired.

So I am off to hire maid no. 5, and we have decided that our experience with this Filipino is so horrendous we are sticking to Indonesian maids for a long time. All I want is a honest and hardworking maid - is that so difficult to find?

PS: Over the weekend, I noticed that a bottle of snacks which my family has never opened did not look as full as it should have been. Further, the scotch tape that was used to seal the container was pasted in a messy manner and had bubbles all over. I don't want to speculate but there is a huge likelihood someone had opened the container to taste its contents and tried to seal it back unsuccessfully. A thinks it was probably done before we alerted her that we knew she stole our cookie. We may be wrong of course, but we just do not trust her anymore. I want to give her a piece of my mind and send her back now, but A prefers to wait till the new maid arrives. She frustrates me so much I can't wait to kick her out of my house soon!

A Huge Decision

7 Nov 2011

Today marks the day on which A and I made a huge decision. In less than 24 hours, we made up our minds to commit our lives to it.

It was love at first sight - halfway through the introduction I knew this was for us. And we were not even actively looking. I guess love has a way of knocking on your door without you looking for it.

For someone who is extremely particular with design and style, I was willing to overlook the imperfections and focus on the attractive attributes - location and price.

For the rational me who would usually think umpteen times before taking the plunge, we made THE decision in less than 8 hours. 18 hours after the first introduction, we made our decision official.

I am extremely grateful for the advice and support from my family members, which reaffirmed our decision.

For the first time in many years, I think I will probably live on bread and milo for the next few months. And my online shopping will have to come to a hiatus - and I just came across two dresses I simply adore! The only exception will be J - I will continue to pay for what I deem as essentials for him, although I will have to think twice before buying that toy.

I am eagerly looking forward to my payday - I have never been as excited. Because every cent counts. We'll just need to settle the initial payment and the rest should be fine, by God's grace. I am thankful and very blessed that I have the opportunity to make this decision. It was a quick decision, but not a hasty one, I hope.

For the many months to come, I will have to learn to exercise self-discipline when it comes to shopping and try to save up as much as I can. Holidays will probably be taboo - but I still hope to bring my little J traveling - we'll see how. To me, J comes first. Whatever is best for him. While the next few years may be a little hard on us, I believe J will benefit from our decision plus A really likes it - which makes it all worth it.

Maids - Again

I am on my way to changing my maid again. This would be the fourth time this year, and apparently if I exceed four changes a year, I would be called up for a counselling session by MOM.

The first maid was clever and started to cut corners after a month or so. She wanted to go back home under the excuse she had to sell her land to pay for her brother's wedding. We think she probably found out that the salary for other Indonesian maids had increased.

The second woman, whom I don't even want to think about, was a huge mistake. I don't see how other households can tolerate her for the medium-term.

My current third one, completely new from Indonesia, is a bit slow but her attitude is alright. But she has the bad habit of repeating mistakes...one day she would get it right and the next time she would get it wrong. She is afraid of the dark and wanted to sleep with the lights switched on her first night. When I left her to stay with my in-laws for a few days, she was afraid to sleep alone and waited till my in-laws were home. She doesn't like to eat instant noodles and wants rice for all meals. If she is already getting simple things wrong, no way am I going to allow her to cook her own meals. Both my mum-in-law and I are so frustrated with her.

After working with us for about 1.5 months, she wanted to transfer, probably because I scolded her for repeating a mistake when she got it right previously. We were fine with that, especially since it has been so frustrating trying to correct the mistakes of someone who does not understand me.

I decided I would avoid reprimanding her since she was leaving soon. But I had to give her a piece of my mind two Fridays ago. For the last few weeks, I noticed that undergarment looked out-of-shape and I attributed it to them being worn out from normal wear and tear. I even asked my mum-in-law to demonstrate to her again how to wash them and reminded her to wash them carefully. But on Friday morning I realised a particular piece looked really distorted, so I went to check the rest and noticed that even a relatively new one was out-of-shape. I asked my mum-in-law and she told me she had the same experience as me. And then we found out she had not been washing in the manner we instructed her to.

The solution now is to wash them myself because for some reason, she cannot register our instructions. For the next few days, I also had to check how she was hanging my laundry and noticed that she did not take care in hanging my undergarment out to dry. And I had just reminded her and shown her how to do it the day before.

Just last Friday, I was so stressed out from reprimanding her. I was rearranging some stuff in the kitchen cabinet when I realised kaya was smeared on the inside of my cabinet door. I checked and realised that she had opened and consumed a new jar of kaya even though she had not finished her jam. She explained that the jam was sweet and caused her gum to hurt. To me, it is a lousy reason because kaya also contains sugar and she could have just consumed her bread with butter. Moreover, I never told her that jar of kaya was for her consumption. And I have also told her that she has to refrigerate her bread spread after opening. Otherwise, she would get a stomachache. So she probably never understood me, or she is just finding excuses. After she went back to sleep, I found out that my washed bedsheet was still in the washing machine. So I woke her up to hang the laundry.

This is the type of maid I am facing and I do not have the energy or time to be checking on her everyday. I can't wait to kick her out of my place. I cannot even trust her to wash or hang my clothes properly even though we have shown her how to do it a few times. And all she is responsible for is housework - she doesn't even help to cook or take care of my son. Isn't that easy enough?

I admit I am not the most patient person around. But I was never harsh with my first maid. For this third one, she just finds things to ignite my temper. And even my mother-in-law is frustrated, so her quality of work speaks for itself. As it is, my maid seems to be in poor health and always have a health issue every few weeks. She initially complained of weak legs from eating instant noodles, and then she had dizzy spells, followed by cough. Most recently she complained of painful gums, and just a few days ago she fainted (she claimed it was because she ate bee hoon, not rice for lunch). All in 2 months, and her appetite has grown so much she eats more than me already. On hindsight I think I made the right choice to change maid. I just hope she does not faint again before my new maid arrives.

I think I would be happier without a maid. But I also recognize without a maid, I will have to perform daily chores which would take my time away from J. I just hope my next maid will be better...after having three Indonesian maids, the next one is a Filipino. I suppose there will be pros and cons, but at least I am assured our level of communication would be much better. Let's wait and see...

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

I do not know Steve Jobs personally, but his talent has touched the world and impacted our way of life so tremendously, I feel a sense of melancholy as if I did know him. I am inspired by his passion, positive attitude to life and boundless creativity. He is definitely someone very special and created by God to touch the world in a very special way. I sincerely hope he is at a better place and he will definitely be remembered for many many years to come.

I read the following article on yahoo today...it's an irony how we get to know more about a person after the person is gone. From the article, I caught a glimpse of his imperfections, but at the same time, the love he has for his family.

9 things you didn’t know about the life of Steve Jobs

For all of his years in the spotlight at the helm of Apple, Steve Jobs in many ways remains an inscrutable figure — even in his death. Fiercely private, Jobs concealed most specifics about his personal life, from his curious family life to the details of his battle with pancreatic cancer — a disease that ultimately claimed him on Wednesday, at the age of 56.

While the CEO and co-founder of Apple steered most interviews away from the public fascination with his private life, there's plenty we know about Jobs the person, beyond the Mac and the iPhone. If anything, the obscure details of his interior life paint a subtler, more nuanced portrait of how one of the finest technology minds of our time grew into the dynamo that we remember him as today.

1. Early life and childhood
Jobs was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955. He was adopted shortly after his birth and reared near Mountain View, California by a couple named Clara and Paul Jobs. His adoptive father — a term that Jobs openly objected to — was a machinist for a laser company and his mother worked as an accountant.

Later in life, Jobs discovered the identities of his estranged parents. His birth mother, Joanne Simpson, was a graduate student at the time and later a speech pathologist; his biological father, Abdulfattah John Jandali, was a Syrian Muslim who left the country at age 18 and reportedly now serves as the vice president of a Reno, Nevada casino. While Jobs reconnected with Simpson in later years, he and his biological father remained estranged.

2. College dropout
The lead mind behind the most successful company on the planet never graduated from college, in fact, he didn't even get close. After graduating from high school in Cupertino, California — a town now synonymous with 1 Infinite Loop, Apple's headquarters — Jobs enrolled in Reed College in 1972. Jobs stayed at Reed (a liberal arts university in Portland, Oregon) for only one semester, dropping out quickly due to the financial burden the private school's steep tuition placed on his parents.

In his famous 2005 commencement speech to Stanford University, Jobs said of his time at Reed: "It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5 cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple."

3. Fibbed to his Apple co-founder about a job at Atari
Jobs is well known for his innovations in personal computing, mobile tech, and software, but he also helped create one of the best known video games of all-time. In 1975, Jobs was tapped by Atari to work on the Pong-like game Breakout.

He was reportedly offered $750 for his development work, with the possibility of an extra $100 for each chip eliminated from the game's final design. Jobs recruited Steve Wozniak (later one of Apple's other founders) to help him with the challenge. Wozniak managed to whittle the prototype's design down so much that Atari paid out a $5,000 bonus — but Jobs kept the bonus for himself, and paid his unsuspecting friend only $375, according to Wozniak's own autobiography.

4. The wife he leaves behind
Like the rest of his family life, Jobs kept his marriage out of the public eye. Thinking back on his legacy conjures images of him commanding the stage in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans, and those solo moments are his most iconic. But at home in Palo Alto, Jobs was raising a family with his wife, Laurene, an entrepreneur who attended the University of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton business school and later received her MBA at Stanford, where she first met her future husband.

For all of his single-minded dedication to the company he built from the ground up, Jobs actually skipped a meeting to take Laurene on their first date: "I was in the parking lot with the key in the car, and I thought to myself, 'If this is my last night on earth, would I rather spend it at a business meeting or with this woman?' I ran across the parking lot, asked her if she'd have dinner with me. She said yes, we walked into town and we've been together ever since."

In 1991, Jobs and Powell were married in the Ahwahnee Hotel at Yosemite National Park, and the marriage was officiated by Kobin Chino, a Zen Buddhist monk.

5. His sister is a famous author
Later in his life, Jobs crossed paths with his biological sister while seeking the identity of his birth parents. His sister, Mona Simpson (born Mona Jandali), is the well-known author of Anywhere But Here — a story about a mother and daughter that was later adapted into a film starring Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon.

After reuniting, Jobs and Simpson developed a close relationship. Of his sister, he told a New York Times interviewer: "We're family. She's one of my best friends in the world. I call her and talk to her every couple of days.'' Anywhere But Here is dedicated to "my brother Steve."

6. Celebrity romances
In The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, an unauthorized biography, a friend from Reed reveals that Jobs had a brief fling with folk singer Joan Baez. Baez confirmed the the two were close "briefly," though her romantic connection with Bob Dylan is much better known (Dylan was the Apple icon's favorite musician). The biography also notes that Jobs went out with actress Diane Keaton briefly.

7. His first daughter
When he was 23, Jobs and his high school girlfriend Chris Ann Brennan conceived a daughter, Lisa Brennan Jobs. She was born in 1978, just as Apple began picking up steam in the tech world. He and Brennan never married, and Jobs reportedly denied paternity for some time, going as far as stating that he was sterile in court documents. He went on to father three more children with Laurene Powell. After later mending their relationship, Jobs paid for his first daughter's education at Harvard. She graduated in 2000 and now works as a magazine writer.

8. Alternative lifestyle
In a few interviews, Jobs hinted at his early experience with the psychedelic drug LSD. Of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Jobs said: "I wish him the best, I really do. I just think he and Microsoft are a bit narrow. He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger."

The connection has enough weight that Albert Hofmann, the Swiss scientist who first synthesized (and took) LSD, appealed to Jobs for funding for research about the drug's therapeutic use.

In a book interview, Jobs called his experience with the drug "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life." As Jobs himself has suggested, LSD may have contributed to the "think different" approach that still puts Apple's designs a head above the competition.

Jobs will forever be a visionary, and his personal life also reflects the forward-thinking, alternative approach that vaulted Apple to success. During a trip to India, Jobs visited a well-known ashram and returned to the U.S. as a Zen Buddhist.

Jobs was also a pescetarian who didn't consume most animal products, and didn't eat meat other than fish. A strong believer in Eastern medicine, he sought to treat his own cancer through alternative approaches and specialized diets before reluctantly seeking his first surgery for a cancerous tumor in 2004.

9. His fortune
As the CEO of the world's most valuable brand, Jobs pulled in a comically low annual salary of just $1. While the gesture isn't unheard of in the corporate world — Google's Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt all pocketed the same 100 penny salary annually — Jobs has kept his salary at $1 since 1997, the year he became Apple's lead executive. Of his salary, Jobs joked in 2007: "I get 50 cents a year for showing up, and the other 50 cents is based on my performance."

In early 2011, Jobs owned 5.5 million shares of Apple. After his death, Apple shares were valued at $377.64 — a roughly 43-fold growth in valuation over the last 10 years that shows no signs of slowing down.

He may only have taken in a single dollar per year, but Jobs leaves behind a vast fortune. The largest chunk of that wealth is the roughly $7 billion from the sale of Pixar to Disney in 2006. In 2011, with an estimated net worth of $8.3 billion, he was the 110th richest person in the world, according to Forbes. If Jobs hadn't sold his shares upon leaving Apple in 1985 (before returning to the company in 1996), he would be the world's fifth richest individual.

While there's no word yet on plans for his estate, Jobs leaves behind three children from his marriage to Laurene Jobs (Reed, Erin, and Eve), as well as his first daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/8-things-didn-t-know-life-steve-jobs-172130955.html

Shoes - An Update

Finally had my shoes back after 1.5 months of waiting. Width of shoes still felt a bit tight - an ominous sign.

Day 1 of wearing my artificially expanded shoes - Horrible. Heels and both sides of my feet were abraded. It was so painful I had to use plasters on the heels and bear the rest of the soreness.  Shoes that ill-treat my feet like this will usually be given the cold shoulder and left to rust and decay in my shoe cabinet. But not this pair given the amount it costs me - I must persevere! 

Day 2 - Still quite bad. I now have a blister on the right heel and it hurts just walking in the shoes. Plasters to the rescue again and I ended up in flip-flops most of the day.

Day 3 - Shoes are still abrading my sides a bit. But my heels feel fine. Not the most comfortable pair of shoes but at least it is now wearable.

Day 4 - Shoes still feel a bit tight, but yay, no more plasters! 

A week later - My shoes took a 5-day break at home as I brought my trusty crocs overseas for a holiday. When my feet met the shoes again, the hard leather felt foreign and uncomfortable compared to the soft cushioning of my crocs (I just need crocs to design gorgeous shoes for work!). Nevertheless, my feet adjusted after a while and I survived a 10-hour workday with my shoes.

So this whirlwind relationship continues...but at least now I am assured of a long-term (though slightly uncomfortable) relationship with my shoes :)

Shoes

A person's outfit and accessories can give great insights to a person's personality. For instance, I can usually tell whether a person loves dressing up from her choice of footwear. The more practical ladies are usually in pumps or flats, whereas the fashionistas can be found in towering stilettos suitable only for the runway and nowhere else.

Despite shoes being one of the least conspicuous accessory, I personally believe it is the one accessory worth splurging on.  With my many experiences with blisters and sore feet from wearing ill-fitting shoes, I have learnt that the quality of my shoes can make or break my day.  And I have also learnt the hard way that branded shoes do not necessarily mean quality shoes.

During my recent trip to Italy, I decided to splurge on 2 pairs of leather shoes from a brand raved by most as having very comfortable shoes.

I was extremely thrilled with my purchase of 2 pairs of gorgeous shoes. But my excitement turned into frustration within an hour my feet met my new shoes.  Even though I bought half-a-size larger than my usual shoe size, the shoes gave me blisters and squeezed my feet till it hurt just standing in my shoes (and I was already wearing stockings to reduce the friction).

I decided to bring the pair of shoes to the local boutique in Singapore.  The saleslady told me that the shoes I purchased in Italy were of "C" cut, and the Asian boutiques usually carried "D" cuts to fit the broader Asian feet.  I tried the "D" cut and the shoes were evidently looser.

As I had another pair of "C" cut shoes I have not worn, I asked if I could exchange it for a "D" cut.  The answer was negative, as the Asian boutiques usually did not carry "C" cut shoes.  The saleslady explained that the local boutiques were only partly owned by the original owners and they could not accept cuts/designs they did not sell.

So there I am...after forking out a mean sum for branded luxury shoes, I am stuck with shoes that don't fit me. It is a wonder why non-luxury brands can accord good exchange/refund policies to customers, but not that luxury brand -particularly when it is obvious the customer is paying a high premium not only for quality products, but also exceptional customer service.  The brand had not only failed me in terms of quality, its poor exchange policy has left a distaste in my mouth. I was half-expecting the local boutique to charge me for the shoe expansion service, but thankfully they didn't.  I have to wait over a month before I can collect my shoes though.  

My search for nice comfortable work shoes continues...in the meantime, I can only hope that the artificial shoe expansion will improve the fit of those stubbornly uncomfortable shoes. And would I ever purchase another pair of branded shoes? I hate to admit it, but I probably would.  I still believe that a price must be paid for good craftsmanship.  But next time, I would have to be doubly sure the shoes fit like a Tee before I buy them.

First Words

26 Jul 2011

At 16 months old, my little J can say a variety of words, although his favourite language is still babbling.  Being a chatty boy who is full of expressions, he would go "orh orh orh" or "ng ng ng" when he doesn't know the actual words to say.  This is a little compilation of J's word of vocabulary so that I can remember his dearest first words:-

1. Bear - J's first word spoken on 5 Jun 2011. He looked at Berry (my pink toy bear) and said the magic  word. And then I showed him a picture of a bear (Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?), said "bear", and he repeated the word after me.  J was evidently very happy with his accomplishment, cos for the rest of the evening he was going  "bear, bear, bear..." non-stop, even at bedtime. Both A and I were delirious that our baby has uttered his first word!

2. Ball - This is J's favourite toy since he knew the concept of toys and playtime.  I heard him say the word on 16 Jun 2011, when he came home with his grandparents and a brand new ball. My in-laws later told me he can say "ball" - looks like J had charmed his grandparents into buying him a new toy! 

3. There - One of J's most powerful words because it gets him to places. The first time he pointed at a certain direction and said "there", his Ye-Ye did as he directed and J had extra time out of the house! 

4. Bus - Whenever a bus passes, J'll point at it and go "Oh!". When we ask him what it is, he'll say "Ba" - his very own pronunciation of his favourite vehicle.

5. Bag - Noticed J was pretty good at pronouncing words starting with B, so I showed him a bag, pronounced the word, and he immediately repeated the word after me. Clever boy! 

6. Bye - J can do a nice smacking goodbye kiss and say bye at the same time.  This little boy doesn't like to stay at home, and is especially enthusiastic in giving a flying kiss when it means he gets to go out! 

7. Bao - J pronounces this with an ang mo accent and outstretched arms whenever he wants someone to carry him. 

8. Names - J can scream Ye (for Ye-Ye), pronounces Nai-Nai as Ngair Ngair Ngair, says Da or Ba (for Daddy) if we ask him to, he can pronunce Gu (for Aunt), but doesn't call me unless he is crying. Occasionally, he will say "Ba" when I ask me to say Mummy, but there were a couple of times he pronounced Mama perfectly when he was in tears and wanted my attention.  I can't really figure out why, but it seems that my little darling pronounces Mama only when he really wants my attention. 

9. Complete the word - J can complete selective words/phrases too. If we say "question", he will add on "mark". "Motor" is completed with "bike" (which sounds like mark but it sounds so adorable nonetheless!). "Air" is joined by "Ple" for "Apple".

10. Car - J recently learnt to pronounce "car" on 17 Jul 2011. I pointed to a car, repeated the word a few times, and then J said "car" very softly.  This is the only time I have heard J whisper! 

11. Woof - J loves animals, and he goes "oh" (his personal mimiction of a bark) whenever he sees a picture of a dog. Just a few days ago on 19 Jul 2011, J went "moo" when he saw pictures of cows! 

A Movie and A Book

The Movie
On my flight back from Italy, I watched a movie titled "Be with me" by Royston Tan. It contains a documentary of a 61 year old Singaporean lady, Theresa Chan Poh Lin, who has been blind and deaf from a young age.  She is an inspirational figure because she continues to lead life to the maximum despite her handicaps.  She even managed to pick up English despite her handicaps, and remains positive about life. This movie won a Special Mention Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2005.

Many a times, I complain and even get angry at the smallest things (e.g. the Chinese man who cut my queue at the airport this morning), but God has shown me that I am so blessed. So blessed that I can see the beauty around me, hear my son's adorable voice, and being blessed with the ability to appreciate life to the fullest. I have had some downs in life, but they are minuscule relative to what this courageous lady had gone through.  I should be more appreciative and really, seriously, count my many blessings. May God bless this lady richly.  

The Book
One of the privileges of having great in-laws is that I can travel with A, catch up on my sleep, and read a book.  I started to enjoy reading in the past few years, but reading becomes a luxury and an almost impossible task when one has a young and active toddler. Anyway, I had the opportunity to read during my Italy holiday and picked a book from Amazon's list of bestsellers.  The title of the book would grab anyone's attention - Heaven is for real, A little boy's astounding story of his trip to heaven.

I believe in Heaven and Hell, and this book offers glimpses into what is awaiting us after this life.  It offers hope to those who have lost loved ones and reaffirms the faith of those who believe. In one of the chapters, the little boy shared that he met his unborn sister in heaven.  He did not know that his mother had miscarried previously and his sharing helped to heal the pain his mother had carried for years, as well as soothed the grief of another lady who gave birth to a stillborn. 

Obviously on the extreme, there can be 2 reactions to the contents of this book - as aptly displayed by A and myself.  A is not a believer and thinks the father (who is a pastor) could have cooked up the facts.  I believe in the truth of this story - what good would it do to falsify a story like this, and besides if he were really a pastor, he would know that it would be terribly wrong to do so.

This book will serve as a reminder to me how life should be led. When heaven is in perspective, it makes me look at things differently.  I will recommend this book to anyone because it has blessed me so much. 

Italy - Going Home (15 Jul 2011)

Our 2.5 hour train trip from Florence to Milan airport was thankfully problem-free.  We had proper seats this time round, and our luggage remained intact even though we had to leave it unattended at the baggage area because we there was no place to fit it where we were sitting.

We were greeted by chaos at the airport though.  At the queue to claim my tax refund, a Chinese man tried to cut my queue until I told him off.  And at the queues to check our hand carry bags and to stamp our passports, there another man who successfully cut our queue.  He would nonchalantly just stand beside the lady in front of us, as if he knew her.  A thought they might be a couple who quarreled and were not on speaking terms, but he was mistaken. We were glad we arrived early at the airport, as it took us almost 2 hours to complete the immigration procedures.

Italy - Firenze Day 3 (14 Jul 2011)

Today is the final day of our holiday. 

Having missed visiting the Duomo the day before,we woke up bright and early for breakfast in the hotel and headed for the Duomo.  We reached the Duomo at about 9:50am, 10 min before its opening, and were greeted with a long queue of visitors that snaked down the side of the church till we were lost at the end of the length of the church.  We finally managed to enter the church before 10:30am, and were in time for a free guided tour (this is definitely a first time!).  The tour was conducted by volunteers helping an organization called Art and Faith (or something similar). 

The most stunning part of the church would be the painting of the dome at the front part of the church.  Apparently, the construction of the huge dome was of significance too, as it was deemed almost impossible to construct such a huge dome during that time.

After visiting the Duomo, we had a quick pizza lunch and wonderful gelato at a popular gelato shop - Grom.  I had tried the gelato the day before and was extremely impressed with its pesca (peach) flavor.

Our hotel had helped us reserved 2 tickets at the Uffizi for 12:30pm, so we rushed there to collect our tickets.  The Uffizi is apparently the must-visit place in Florence as it stores a huge collection of art pieces, including those by Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rafaello.  Again, I must admit that the uncultured me felt sleepy after about an hour, but managed to peservere - we were in the Uffizi for 4.5 hours! Oh, and the most exciting part of my visit was my purchase of 2 gorgeous pop-up story books at the Uffizi bookstore.

Right after the tour of the Uffizi, we were both feeling very overwhelmed by art and culture, and our stomachs were grumbling a little.  A chose a nice restaurant, Osteria Dei Centopoveri, for dinner, and he had an excellent Italian dinner comprising of Florentine beef steak.  Our appetiser, melon with prosciutto, was quite yummy. My lasagnette (which looked like mee hoon kuey cooked in tomato sauce) was not bad, and I must say A's steak was the best of all - A actually single-handedly finished his 0.5kg slab of steak!  We were also given Tuscan sweet wine and some pretty delicious biscotti to round up our meal.  It was a great final meal in Italy.

After the meal, we took a bus up the hill of Piazzale Michelangelo, where we were treated to a spectacular view of Florence.  Very nice way to end a holiday.  I am obviously a little sad my holiday is coming to an end, but on the other hand, I can't wait to hold my son in my arms and tell him how much I miss him.

Italy - Firenze Day 2 (13 Jul 2011)

We decided to sleep in and skipped the hotel breakfast.  Instead, we had brunch at the Roberto Cavalli cafe and consumed the most fabulous chocolate eclair.  It was in this upscale cafe where we noticed some interesting people.  

A noticed a lady decked out in a shiny patterned dress that subtly reflected light as she walked - one could not help noticing her not only because of her fabulous dress, but also because of her supermodel looks and confident strut.

I was observing this English elderly couple who was seated near us, and wondering if they could be English royalty on a personal holiday.  Unlike some people who try to look rich, this couple was obviously extremely wealthy. The elderly lady, who looked like she was in her 70s, caught my attention because she was decked out in a skin-tight spaghetti strapped long dress that seemed more appropriate for a cocktail party.  Her hair was bundled up with a Dior hair clip, her feet wore Chanel heels, and on her finger was the biggest diamond I have ever seen - my best guess is that it must be at least 2 carats (it was about 1.5cm wide in diameter and I am not exaggerating). Her items were obviously very branded, but slightly old-fashioned, so quite suitable for her age.  Her companion wore a simple white shirt (the material looks expensive), brown slacks and white leather shoes.  My personal opinion is that white shoes are usually reserved for either the male fashionista, or the terribly rich. Most people, I believe, would choose a dark coloured pair of branded shoes over a light coloured pair for practical reasons.

After our interesting "people-watch" at the cafe, we went to visit a small church, Basilica Santa Maria.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos of the church interior.  It was a relatively simply decorated church, but had these stunning paintings that looked as if they reflected light.  

Our initial plan was to visit the Duomo, but changed our mind when we reached there.  There was a long queue even though it was half an hour to its closing at 5pm.  We visited the Palazzo Vecchio instead - where the ceiling of every room was filled with paintings.  Being not too culturally inclined, I have to admit I was a little overwhelmed by the paintings and my neck ached a little from having to stare up the ceiling of each room.  But I was a little puzzled why there were paintings of gods from Greek mythology (e.g. I learnt that Jupiter would have been eaten by Saturn, his father if not for his mother's intervention, and the mother was apparently the father's sister. Jupiter married his sister, Juno, as well) as well as paintings from the Catholic faith - to me, paintings of such diverse origins should be mutually exclusive. 

A thought it would be nice to have a non-Italian dinner for a change, and we headed to Hard Rock Cafe.  This is an immensely popular restaurant, and when we went there at 8pm last evening, waiting time would be 2 hours. Anyway, we went earlier and managed to get a table immediately (phew!).  

The food was okay (we shared a appetiser platter and pulled pork burger) though portions were humongous.  If we were just listening casually, the restaurant was filled with atmospheric rock music, which was actually quite nice cos it made the restaurant lively and very "hard rock cafe".  There was a huge MTV screen right at the front, and we couldn't help watching the MTVs while waiting for the food.  And we were appalled (more so for me) that 3 out of 4 MTVs screened had titles that ridiculed the Christian faith and the content was totally absurd and would anger any believer.  I don't even want to recall these MTVs.  A even commented that the content of the MTVs was inappropriate for a family restaurant.  He also found it interesting that this popular restaurant was screaming a controversial message when the rest of Florence seemed pretty religious. 

Italy - Shopping and Firenze (12 Jul 2011)

Woke up feeling pretty excited cos today is the day I get to give my credit card a workout.  After a quick breakfast and some time spent figuring out our directions, we drove to the Prada outlet at Montevarchi.  We only managed to arrive at the outlet after stopping at 2 petrol stations to ask for directions - and each time before A could ask the question, the kiosk staff would pre-empt him and ask if he was looking for Prada outlet.  Seems like all tourists visit this town with the same purpose.

We would have totally missed the Prada outlet if not for the directions given.  For some reason, it was called Space outlet and there were no Prada signs anywhere.  Even the paper bags were Space bags.  The outlet was huge and full of people.  I reckon Asians made up 50% of the shoppers.  I concentrated mainly on the bag section and made up my mind after about 90 mins - the damage was 3 bags.

Next, we went to The Mall at Reggello.  This was a huge shopping area with numerous brand outlets.  I was pretty focused and zoomed straight into Gucci, Ferragamo, Bottega, Prada (again!) and just for fun, other brands such as Dior and Burberry.  Gucci had a good selection of items though I am not a Gucci fan.  The shoes at Ferragamo were in odd sizes so I didnt buy any shoes even though I liked some of the off-season designs.  Bottega had some nice designs, but very pricey even at the outlets - I was eyeing a huge red bag that was selling at a discounted price of 1,890 Euros! The Prada outlet was much smaller than the one at Space, and was jammed with people.  We had to wait 15min outside the store (under the scorching sun) before we were let into the store.  

For most of the stores, the designs carried were obviously from previous seasons, and came in odd colours and designs that one probably would not purchase.  It seems that the classic designs, being evergreen designs, would never make their way to the outlet stores.  Nevertheless, I had fun window shopping - it's not everyday that I have the guts to walk into several high-end shops in a day. It was also not a wasted trip as I left the place about 3 hours later with a yummy slice of pizza in my tummy and a gorgeous new wallet :) 

After the massive shopping exercise, we returned our rented Ford Fiasco at the Hertz outlet in Florence (or Firenze in Italian).  We then took a cab to our hotel.  

We stayed at NH Porta Rossa, which had a great location, being located within walking distance from many museums, tourist spots.  It was also right next to the shopping belt - I was excited cos my shopping antennae have been activated after the initial shopping experience at the outlets.  

Other than its central location, our hotel is done up pretty nicely too.  The lobby has an old fashioned feel with wooden panels, a stained glass ceiling, and other traditional finishes.  In contrast, the room is done up with a modern touch.  White is the theme of the room, with clean white sheets, lamps, cupboards, tables, and even a white TV! The hanging lamp in the middle of the room looks like inverted wine glasses and the room feels cosy (A thinks the room is a little small, but I think it is fine), modern, and new.  No doubt this would be my favorite accommodation from this holiday. In the toilet, I love how the brightly colored toiletries set in one corner contrast against the grey walls.  The mirror is framed within silver boundaries, there is a great rain shower, and finally, clear shower panels.

After settling down in the hotel, we headed straight to the shopping belt - today is shopping day!  When we were in Ferragamo, A noticed that almost all the shoppers were Asians - in fact all the customers trying on shoes are Asians, and there was a pair of Japanese ladies trying on at least 8 pairs of shoes.  Wow, is there a major Saldi for Ferragamo shoes? I don't see any Saldi signs though.  

After a quick shopping trip to 2 shops, I emerged with a lighter wallet and paper bags containing 2 pairs of shoes, a bag and a purse (a gift).  I was delighted with my buys, particularly since I have been eyeing the bag for a long, long time, but held off purchasing the bag as it had a higher price tag in Singapore.  The great incentive in purchasing in Italy is the 12% tax rebate for purchases above 150 Euros - so it can be pretty difficult to resist shopping in Italy, particularly if you are a fan of Italian brands.  However, I also felt slightly guilty with my splurge and decided I had shopped enough for the day - lucky thing most shops had closed for the day too.

It was just slightly after 7pm, but thanks to the long days in summer, the sky was still bright and we strolled around a little.  We walked towards the Piazza Della Signoria, the heart of the city, and it was brimming with people.  The sun was just setting and it was the perfect timing to photograph the numerous statutes in the Piazza, including the huge water fountain (which is supposedly ugly to many locals) and a copy of Michelangelo's David located just outside Palazzo Vecchio.  We then walked towards Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge where gold is sold.  The bridge was lined with jewellery shops, and when we arrived, the shopkeepers were just winding down for the day.  It was interesting to see how the shops were being locked up.  Mostly, huge locks were used and there were thick wooden panels pulled down to protect the windows so that no glass is visible from the outside.  

We had a late dinner (8+pm) at L'Osteria De Giovanni where we were served salty fried dough (reminds me of my favourite you tiao) prior to our main course.  A had juicy milk-fed veal chop which was excellent, and my beef stew was so-so.  The portions were huge, and our stomachs were so full from the mains that there were no room for dessert.

Overall, Florence is a lovely city filled with culture and beautiful architecture.  Can't wait to explore more over the next few days! 

Italy - Montepulciano (11 Jul 2011)

Woke up slightly later this morning at 9+am and headed for breakfast at 9:50am - in our typical style of rushing for breakfast before it ends at 10am.  

We had lovely soft toast and 3/4 cooked eggs (all DIY style) which was interesting to me because I have never boiled my own eggs in a restaurant before.  There was an apparatus with egg holders and boiling water, so one just has to place the egg in a metal egg holder, dip it in boiling water, and wait.  When one thinks the egg is done, one has to deftly transfer the egg onto a ceramic egg cup, wait for the egg to cool abit, and then either:
(i) (as A demonstrated) crack the top of the egg shell with the back of a metal spoon, peel away the top portion of the egg, sprinkle some pepper/salt on the egg, and then use a small spoon to dip into the egg the same way you'll eat a kiwi, or 
(ii) (as how the couple beside us ate their egg) use a butter knife to slice the top portion of the egg, and then use the half-cooked egg as a bread dip.  
I made a mental note to purchase an egg cup for J when I am back home.  It seemed so much easier to feed him eggs using an egg cup instead of peeling the entire egg and then mincing it up.

After breakfast we went back to our cottage and found that the staff were cleaning the cottage.  I initially wanted to just sit in the living area while they were cleaning up, but the strong stench of bleach literally chased me out.  I was a little unhappy that they used one of our empty plastic bags (which I hung at the edge of a chair) to fill up rubbish.  It was obviously our plastic bag because it was an NTUC plastic bag, and plastic bags are a precious commodity during travels.  Anyway, what's done cannot be undone so I'll just let it be.

We later headed towards the nearby town of Montepulciano.  I think this town is built along a hill, because the streets had never-ending upslopes.  It was definitely some exercise for our calf muscles as we slowly made our way up the streets, and it would be unwise to lose your way (as we did while looking for a particular restaurant) because you'll have to scale the sloping streets more times than you really need to.  

The city centre (Piazza Grande) was a lot quieter than I expected, with the Townhall  (Palazzo Communale) and Cattedrale located next to each other.  I later saw a poster that indicated the Townhall at the city centre was a filming site for the movie Twilight - New Moon.  I'll try to rewatch the movie in future to see if I can identify the place.  

We had lunch at Caffe Poliziano, a cafe established in 1868.  We had a balcony table which overlooked the stunning Tuscany landscape.  I was feeling pretty lethargic by then, and didn't enjoy the scenery as much I would like to.  I was just glad that my spaghetti carbonara wasn't salty and the texture of the spaghetti was just right. A's arrabiatta penne turned out harder than we are used to - tasted a little undercooked.  By now, I am used to expecting Italian food cooked in styles very different from what I am used to back home.  I love Singaporean-styled pizzas (think Hawaiian) and pasta, but here in Italy, they seem to like it all plain (e.g. magherita pizzas and spaghetti pesto, sans meat). 

After lunch, we drove towards Tempio di San Biagio, which was a short driving distance from the town.  I was awed by the sheer size of the temple - I felt so small relative to the temple, and wondered how did men in the past ever manage to build such a huge building.  It must have been a massive job back then.  Having seen quite a number of cathedrals, it made me realize that the Italians of the past must have been a pretty devout group to have spent so much time, labour and finances to not only construct these massive buildings of worship, but to also adorn them with various paintings, statues and carvings.  

This is our final night in the villa, and we again had a great dinner - stuffed vegetables, fusilli with pesto, beef steak and alcoholic parfait for dessert.  However, instead of the usual service staff whom A thinks is very good, a lady waitress replaced him tonight and she was much slower in her service.  Dinner was supposed to start at 8pm but she had yet to finish setting up by 8pm.  We also had to wait about 20min after we were seated before we could order our drinks.  We had our appetizer at about 9pm and dinner only ended at about 10:20pm.  Nevertheless, food was good and the garden ambience was the perfect setting for the dinner.  A very nice way to wrap up our stay at the villa, and also the end of our tour of the Italian countryside.

Italy - Montalcino (10 Jul 2011)

After a decent breakfast at our villa, we headed towards Montalcino, the town famous for its Brunello wine.  In terms of architecture, the town paled in comparison to the other towns we have visited.  Postcards of the place showed pictures of the clock tower and the fortress - so I suppose other than wine, these are the 2 key highlights of the town.

We headed towards Poggio Antico for lunch and the hope of a wine tour.  We were surprised at the number of cars parked outside the restaurant, given the place was located a distance away from the town and not visible from the main road.  It was a scenic drive-in lined with cypress trees.  According to trusty Lonely Planet, Poggio Antico is one of the top wine producers in the region and also serves good food.  The selection of homemade bread served was warm and soft - so yummy I had three buns! But my dish of spaghetti was so salty that mineral water tasted sweet in comparison, and I only managed to stuff myself with half the dish.  I later found out from the waitress and chef and the dish was cooked with Cinta Sienese Pork Cheek which had a very strong flavor (which I took to understand that the meat had been overladen with salt to preserve it).  The saving grace came in the delectable cold pistachio cream dessert with hazelnut sauce (which tasted and looked like chocolate sauce).

We were lucky that a wine tour was happening at 3pm, about the same time we finished our lunch.  As part of the wine tour, we were shown the sophisticated machine used to wash the bottles, how nitrogen is then used to fill the bottles before wine is poured in (to avoid contact with air), and then only a certain type of cork (the type that must be pre-ordered a year in advance and costs 1 Euro each) is used to seal the bottle before labels are stuck onto the bottles.  The grapes are handpicked and selected, with the inferior grapes being discarded.  We were also shown the area where the grapes are placed into huge metal containers with controlled temperature and humidity (what the lady termed as spaceships) where they are left for initial fermentation and compressed (using machinery, instead of the au natural way of using feet).  The grape juices are then transferred into wooden barrels, where they are left to ferment for a few years.  Depending on the wine-making recipe, the grape juices would be placed in different types of barrels for various number of years.  I never knew there were so many steps to wine-making, and the wine tour was really an eye-opener.  There are a total of 55 rules that the winemaker has to adhere to in order to make Brunello wine - no wonder the cheapest 1 litre bottle cost us 35 Euros.  We bought 2 bottles after the tour - the classic bottle and the Altero (which is the modern version of the classic Brunello).  Both A and I preferred the lighter-tasting Altero, although being the non-wine drinker that I am, I much preferred the fruity aromas than the actual taste of alcohol in my mouth.

After the wine tour, we headed towards Abbazia Di Sant' Antimo, a restored church.  The church was very simply decorated unlike the other Duomos we have visited.  Music was floating through the air as we stepped through the wooden doors, creating an ambience of reverence and tranquility.

On our way back to Villa Cicolina, we stopped along the road a couple of times to snap pictures of the stunning Tuscan landscape - valleys of green blended with fields of golden yellow, as well as my favorite field of cheerful sunflowers beaming under the Tuscan sunlight.

We wrapped up the day with another sumptuous dinner at the villa.  We went with high expectations after last night's dinner and were not disappointed.  A was so impressed with each dish he went "mmm" each time he tasted a new course.  Dessert (my favorite part of the meal) was Tiramisu, and while it was yummy with a strong caffe flavour, we both thought the apple tart the day before was more stunning.  Anyway, we have decided we would have dinner at our villa tomorrow night again - this is one of the best meals I have eaten in my life and it seemed a bargain in Italy to be paying 33 Euros for a great-tasting four-course meal.  I actually think the same set menu would easily burn a 3-digit hole in the pocket back in Singapore.  

We spent some time surfing the internet in the common area after dinner, and looked through some videos of my little J.  Boy, I miss him so much! But I am glad that he is in the good hands of his grandparents who dote on him more than his parents do.  Afterwards we went back to our cottage and watched some news on BBC - I never knew BBC programmes could be so interesting.  With a demanding toddler back home, we never had time to watch much TV programmes, and I am glad we are away on a holiday rewarding ourselves with some time of our own, without having to fret over our little prince.  

One of the BBC news segment covered the lack of food and water in Somalia, and how families would walk for days and even weeks without food and water, in search of a refugee camp that would provide them with the basic necessities to survive.  Many young children and babies die within days from reaching the refugee campsite from malnutrition, and more and more graveyards are dug everyday.  And the available supply of food and water is limited given the increased number of refugees.  The saddening truth is that people in other parts of the world are caught in the cycle of poverty and have difficulties having their basic needs met.  And here I am enjoying myself at a holiday, with a roof over my head, and ample supply of food and water to support an expanding waistline.  I am truly blessed and really thankful.