Twin1 somehow decided to stuff his ear with a piece of wadded up tissue this evening. Had I been a first-time parent, I probably would have ran crying to the pediatrician or the nearest emergency room. But after having raised five children, I figured I could fix the situation with the right-sized tweezers, my HTC Desire’s Flashlight app, and a steady hand. And, with God’s grace, I managed to take out the minute ball of tissue.

This episode reminded me of a scarier one that involved OnlyGirl pushing up a peanut (!) into her nose when she was a preschooler. Thankfully, I managed to intervene while the peanut was still at the anterior naris — that’s the fancy medical term for the nostril hehe (more details here).

Here’s what I did: I pinched the affected side of her nose — I can’t remember anymore if it was the right or left — to prevent the peanut from going in any further. Then I took out the tweezers from my Swiss Army knife. (By some stroke of luck, I happened to have one with me at that time, way back in those days when they’re still allowed in carry-on luggage.)

The peanut was too big to take out with the tiny tweezers so I had to crush the peanut into smaller pieces using the tweezers and take it out piece by piece.

It took a lot of work, a lot of prayers, and ,surprisingly, a lot of cooperation from OnlyGirl who kept very still during the entire ‘operation’. The incident taught her not to do such a thing again…and it provided me with good teaching material to her siblings later on to deter them from doing such a thing. Too bad they didn’t extend the application to their ears *sigh*

Kids, don’t try this at home!

*Created using WordPress for Android

Anyway, I did broach the subject to the twins on several occasions to test the waters, so to speak.  Each attempt was met with violent opposition from them both, especially from Twin2 who’d vehemently declare,  “Adik tak nak jadi abang! (I refuse to become an older brother!).”

My very own Upin & Ipin -- Twin2 on the left, Twin1 on the right.

So you can just imagine how I almost fell off the driver’s seat tonight when, as we were driving to N’s house to see her newborn baby, Twin2 suddenly announced out of nowhere, “Dah lama kitorang takde adik!” (Literally: ‘It has been a long time since we’ve had a younger sibling’ — a form of statement that the twins usually make when what they actually want to say is ‘We never. . .’ as in saying “Dah lama kitorang tak pergi Switzerland” instead of saying “Kitorang tak pernah pergi Switzerland“)

As if on cue, Twin2 added, “A-ah! Abang nak jadi ‘Abang Abang’, Adik akan jadi ‘Abang Adik’!” (Yes! I want to be ‘Big Big Brother’,  Little Brother will be ‘Little Big Brother’!”)

I have no idea how this story will end. In fact, I did not even mean to put up this post just yet. But fate somehow intervened, making me click on “Publish” instead of “Save”. So help me God!

“First, you open up your head, then you open your skull, then you open your brain, then you take out the song. And then you pasang balik (put it all back together)!”

My twin boys, the joy of my life :)

So I took him and Twin2 to the nearest indoor (read: rain-proof) urban refuge — Suria KLCC Shopping Centre, the mall that lies at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers.

After munching on some pretzels, picking out their Transformers action figures, watching a Chinese acrobatic show at Suria KLCC Concourse, topped with a late lunch at Mandarin Oriental KL (thanks to DH, who was having a business meeting there), there were no more tears, only ear-to-ear grins.

Posted via WordPress for Android

Twin1 lounging at the pool of Sebana Cove Golf & Marina Resort, Kota Tinggi, Johor. Pic taken this morning.

Then I decided to take it one step further. How about ice cream cupcakes?

I remembered seeing one video about how it’s done so I googled it up again:-

I chose to use my favourite chocolate cake recipe for the cupcake base. In hindsight, it wasn’t the best choice for ice cream cupcakes given how runny the batter is. Some of the batter seeped through the ice cream cones, leaving only half inside the cone and the other half all over the muffin baking tin.

Note to self: the next time I’ll attempt making these again, I’d have to use a recipe with a thicker batter.

For the ‘ice cream’, I whipped up some buttercream frosting, mixing in 1/4 cup Krimwell (a type of vegetable shortening specifically meant for making frosting) with 3/4 cup butter so that the frosting would last through the heat of Malaysia’s tropical weather. I’m against using shortening and other forms of transfats but since I wanted OnlyGirl to take these cupcakes to school, the frosting must not melt so I had to relent.

After the cupcakes have cooled, I piped the frosting using a big star tip and made huge ice cream-like swirls on top. I splurged on a small jar of chocolate fudge at Cold Storage, which I heated up in the microwave as per label instructions, then I piped it on top of the ice cream. Some of the cones ended up with rainbow sprinkles, others were topped with a cherry.

The only downside to this recipe is how the cones end up being soggy — and at times, a bit too chewy — once they’ve cooled down.

If I do make these again, I’d serve them while still warm (and the cones still crispy!), scoop real ice cream on top, and let the kids have a field day putting their own toppings on their ice cream cupcake cones :)

RoundBoy at 3 years old. Pic taken at Imperial Aryaduta Hotel Lippo, Jakarta.

This is a true story.

When RoundBoy was around 3 years old, there was one weekend when the whole family went for a picnic at Hulu Langat river. I don’t remember anymore why RoundBoy and I didn’t go but the point is: everyone went off, leaving just the two of us alone at home.

It was noon. I was cooking a simple lunch that involved a Filipino dish called escabeche (fried fish served with sweet and sour sauce). Every now and then, I’d pop into the lounge to see what RoundBoy was doing. The TV and his toys occupied him but I had to keep an eye on him anyway.

Then suddenly, he burst into the kitchen.

“Mama, the other boy took my ball!”

I froze in my tracks. “What other boy?”

“The other boy,” he simply repeated.

I walked back to the lounge with him and looked around. I saw his ball under a side table in a corner.

“There’s your ball!“, I pointed out.

He shook his head firmly. “It belongs to the other boy.”

He never touched it for the rest of the day. Neither did I. And I took his word for it, knowing that he was incapable of lying at his age.

I told DH about the incident as soon as he got home but he simply told me that the important thing is that whatever ‘it‘ was, it did not disturb us.

Growing up in southern Philippines, old folks always talked about creatures whom they just referred to as ‘dili ingun nato‘, literally meaning “not like us” or “not one of us”. They told us stories of children getting lost in the forest, only to reappear in the hollow of an old balete (banyan) tree. We were admonished not to partake of any food offered by them and to ask for salt so that they would send us back to our world unharmed. We were even taught to say ‘tabi po‘ (excuse me) when passing by trails where humans rarely frequent.

I must admit that, as a teenager, I’ve taken part in ‘Spirit of the Glass’ sessions, usually held on late afternoons after classrooms have been vacated. (Although my friends and I have done it once at night in the dormitory where I was staying as a university student. Creepiest. Session. Ever.) Here’s how it would work: We’d take a piece of cartolina (manila card), write all the letters of the alphabet on it, as well as ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Think of it as a makeshift version of the ouija board. The difference is that, instead of the ouija board’s planchette, we’d have a glass. You know, as in, a glass for drinking water in. We’d turn the glass upside down, light a candle, tilt the glass a bit to allow some of the smoke to go inside the glass and trap it in there. We’d then put our fingertips on top of the glass and call out, “Spirit of the glass, are you there?”. Call it ideomotor effect or whatever you choose, but the glass would then start to move and land on ‘Yes’. We’d usually ask the ‘spirit’ for its name and sex before moving on to issues dear to naive teenagers, usually affairs of the heart. The ‘spirit’ would spell out the answer to each question letter by letter.

So yes, I’ve always had this idea ingrained in my mind that there are other beings out there who are ‘dili ingun nato‘.

The Malays — and all Muslims for that matter — also believe in beings unseen to the human eye known as jinn, created by God to worship Him. (“I only created jinn and man to worship Me.” Adh-Dhariyat: 56) As you might have guessed by now, the word jinn is the origin of the English word ‘genie’. But unlike the Western concept of genie, jinn do not necessarily grant people wishes. They are said to be capable of doing humanly impossible feats that involve strength and speed, such as in the story of Solomon and the jinn who brought the throne of the Queen of Sheba ‘in the twinkling of an eye’. The one thing that the jinn are said to be not capable of is foretelling the future, as they did not even realise that Solomon had died until God commanded a termite to gnaw away at his cane. Click on this link to find out more about jinn.

Stories abound of the presence of jinn among humans even in this day and age. I still recall a story about the construction of the Gombak Campus of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The sprawling piece of land where the campus is located now used to be a vast forest. (An ideal place for ‘dili ingun nato‘, if you ask me!) I was told that a deal was struck with the jinn who were inhabitants of that area to move them someplace else…by bus! The bus driver was said to have told people about how heavy the bus felt even though it looked empty.

It’s nowhere near Halloween but I ended up writing this post due to recent goings-on at home. Our maid of 4 months has been telling me countless times about hearing her name being called at random times during the day, something which I just tried to downplay. But then the other night, she told me that she finally saw the creature who has been calling her, describing ‘it’ as tua, rambut putih, tapi tak menyeramkan (old, with white hair, but not scary-looking). She could still smile while telling me the story, so I just assured her that it should be okay because that being does not disturb us. But it’s a reminder that, yes, there are other beings out there who are not like us.

The last time I visited the Science Centre Singapore (SCS) was in the early 1990s, way back when I was still single and was in Singapore with my girlfriends to watch ‘The Phantom of The Opera’. The SCS made quite an impact on me at the time that I made a note to myself to take my children there one day. That opportunity finally came some three weeks ago, when our family went to Singapore to join K and family, who were in Southeast Asia for their summer holidays. (I know, I know. I’ve been delinquent and haven’t been blogging in a more timely manner. Sorry!)

The SCS is conveniently located in Jurong East, easily accessible from Malaysia via the less-congested Second Link. [NB: The main bridge that connects Singapore and Malaysia is called 'Causeway' and is almost always congested.]

Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks SCS is a cool place to visit; SCS’ website says that it is the 3rd most visited attraction in Singapore. (The Singapore Zoological Gardens hogs the top spot, followed closely by Night Safari.)

As soon as we arrived, the children immediately got all psyched up. Who wouldn’t? What with this huge moving dinosaur model welcoming visitors at the entrance!

Photo from http://couchpootato.blogspot.com/

Most of the displays are interactive and we wasted no time to trying everything that could be poked, prodded, peeked into, spun, opened, and fiddled with.

Unfortunately, there were three busloads of schoolchildren that day. One huge group of those children swarmed into the Sounds section and in the ensuing confusion, Twin2 went missing. Trying to keep calm, I looked around the Sounds exhibition hall, looking into the Recording Studio, the ‘barbershop’, the Echo Tube. Nada. Exasperated, I walked into the SCS’s office, right next to the entrance. I stepped into the office just as they were announcing a ‘lost boy in a yellow shirt’ — Twin2! He jumped into my arms and bawled. He was still crying his heart out when we rejoined his father and his siblings. Fortunately, the electricity demonstration was just starting and the loud zap of electricity within the enclosed area made him forget his troubles.

Speaking of the Echo Tube, that’s just got to be my favourite interactive display at SCS. It’s, as the name suggests, a long tube where you can talk, sing or yodel anything and hear it echo. I had a blast channeling my inner Little Mermaid and singing the song that Ariel sang just before the evil Sea Witch took her voice away. I also creeped the twins out by making scary ghost sounds into the Echo Tube. I can be such a kid sometimes!

The Robotics section was small but it had a robotic arm on display that looked so lifelike…and moved.  (I have a video of it somewhere. Once I find it, I’ll upload it here.) Naturally, the twins just had to have their photo taken with a small model of Wall-E…

When us, adults, we started to feel tired, we took a break in the Science Centre’s library, located on the first floor. There was a small section for small children, complete with rubber mat, age-appropriate books, and some puzzles. The bigger children made a beeline for the computers that announced ‘Free Internet’. At a corner, I saw a console for signing up for free WiFi, which had a four-hour limit within the Science Centre’s grounds, a very pleasant bonus indeed.

Finally, we made our way to Nanotechnology, wandered around the exhibits until we found the lift to the highlight of the Science Centre — a hall where the floor lights up with every step you make. It was pure, unadulterated awesomeness to the max!

SCS is an exciting, educational yet inexpensive way to spend one whole day — or at the very least, half a day — in Singapore with your children. Or to indulge the inquisitive child in you. I’d pick SCS over Night Safari any day because you end up spending more time at the queues rather than the shows at Night Safari.

A McDonald’s outlet is located near at the entrance of SCS, right behind the dinosaur model that I mentioned earlier. There’s also a cafeteria within SCS’ premises.

Admission fees cost S$9 for adults and S$5.00 for children between 3 and 16 years old. IMAX movies are charged separately. A package ticket is available for entry to both the SCS, the adjoining Snow City, and IMAX. Click here for more information on admission charges and here to see SCS’s opening hours and location map.

Given the dim lighting condition of most of the SCS, for DSLR camera owners, I suggest bringing along a fast lens like the inexpensive Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D prime lens for flash-free pics.

…………………………………………..
Science Centre Singapore
15 Science Centre Road
Singapore 609081
Tel: (65) 6425-2500
Fax: (65) 6565-9533

In the blink of an eye, you have gone from this…

…to this.

Whenever I hug you and teasingly ask you “Where did my baby boy go?” and you’d tease me back by replying “Uh, grew up?”, I don’t think you realise that my heart breaks just a little bit each and every time.

Every time I restrain myself from kissing your cheek in public, I still feel that tiny twinge of pain in my chest.

How could 12 long years pass by as though in just the blink of an eye?

Happy birthday to you, my dear son! (And thanks for reminding me that we’ll have to go to Pendaftaran very soon to have your IC* done!)

Love always,
Your Mama

*IC = Malaysian identity card

Twin1 (left) and his younger brother (by 15 minutes), Twin2

I was driving one evening, with the twins sitting in the backseat. Out of the blue, Twin1 blurted out a question that totally caught me by surprise.

Abang: Mama, bila kita nak ada swimming pool? (Mama, when are we going to have a swimming pool?)

Adik: A-ah!

Me: Umm…we don’t have enough money for a swimming pool lah. Sebab tu Mama kena pergi Jakarta selalu — untuk cari duit. (That’s why Mama has to go to Jakarta frequently — to look for money <i.e. to earn money>.)

(A few seconds of silence)

Abang: Abang tak nak swimming pool lah! (I don’t want a swimming pool!)

Me: Kenapa? Sebab Abang tak nak Mama pergi Jakarta? (Why? Because you don’t want me to go to Jakarta?)

Abang: A-ah.

Adik: Alaa…Adik nak swimming pool sebab Adik nak cannonball. Abang! Nanti Mama boleh beli apa-apa. (But I want a swimming pool because I want to make like a cannonball when I dive into the water. Big Brother! If Mama goes there, she can buy us all sorts of things.)

Abang: Abang tak nak Choki-Choki. Abang tak nak Nyam Nyam. Abang nak Mama je. (I don’t want <brand names of food stuff from Indonesia>. I only want Mama.)

A few days later, I asked him if he wants a swimming pool. He answered: “Tak nak! Sebab swimming pool tak best!” (I don’t want one. Because swimming pools are not nice.)

Now you know why I haven’t been to Jakarta for quite some time now…

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Postscript: “Antara Mama Dan Jakarta” — which means ‘between Mama and Jakarta’ — is a wordplay on the title of a song called “Antara Anyer dan Jakarta“, popularised by Malaysian jazz queen, Sheila Majid.