Day at the zoo - May08

Family went to the zoo. ZQ's third visit to the zoo and he is happy playing at the children playground and getting himself wet. Brought our new domestic helper and it's her first time there despite being in Singapore for 3 yrs. Her ex-employer does not bring her nor their own kids out to such places. She enjoyed herself too and also taken quite a few photos for her.

ZQ loves this swing at the zoo. His first try and he can swing by himself but we told him to hold on tight. A few times he tried the stunt to come down and almost fell - quite dangerous. Below also has him making faces - cheeky face. An enjoyable outing. ZQ slept for a short while during the penguin show .... by the time the show ended, he woke up! haha. Missing the most impt part of it.

Haircut @ the professional

This is ZQ's first haircut @ the professional. Previous disastrous haircuts were either by MIL or ex-maid. I am glad I finally did it. Just look at the difference. His old haircut does not make him look boyish at all. In fact, alot of people mistaken him as a girl, calling him meimei and I had to correct them. Now, I think it's hard to mistake him as a girl right? Of course the hair looks better after mommy's trimming.

Brought him for a professional cut. He has had his share of crying and wailing and we had to use alot of sweets to calm him down to get this decent haircut. Both hubby and I think it looks a bit too BENGISH for him so I had to do abit of trimming.

Final product - after going through mommy's magic hands. I think he looks much better after the slight trimming. So boyish now .... no longer can be mistaken as a girl anymore.

A happy mom.

ZQ's 2 year old birthday

It's been 2 months since his birthday and I am only finding time now to update his pic. See how he is enjoying his piece of cake, sitting on the birthday seat : )

New updates on ZQ - 2 yrs and 2 months

Songs
******
ZQ has slowly mastered a few songs which he can sing and it's rather impressive - to me at least. I guess children nowadays are really very clever.

One of the songs he can sing is the chinese song "Ma Ma Hao". It melts my heart when he always sing it .... Another favourite is the chinese song "Huo Che Kuai Pao" - train running fast. He will sing this song day in day out ... sometimes he will even substitute the "Huo Che" with some other words. hehe quite ingenious.

Another one he used to sing is the "Ming Yue Ji Shi You" ..... which I taught him cos I had this poem written on my bedroom wall and he loves to have me sing it to him. He also picked up the first 4 phrases. There are quite a number of songs which he knows how to sing and sometimes even those I don't he will sing it to me. As I had been teaching him same songs, I think it's time to find new songs to teach him else he'd be like a broken recorder, always repeating the same things.

Playing Bubbles
**************
ZQ's new playtime fun is to play with bubbles. We bought 2 machine operated bubble blowing machines but it seems they are not working too well. Sometimes it does not work as well as we'd like it to be.

ZQ even learnt this "Tomorrow play bubble" .... and sometimes he will just tell me that after he has had his bubble session that day. So cute.

Whining & saying Bu Yao
***********************
He has picked up this habit of whinning when he does not get his way. As I do not normally give in to him, he has learnt to turn to the new maid. As she is new, she gives in to him and I had to instruct her to be more firm.

ZQ seems to like her alot - perhaps she is vv slack with him? giving him whatever he wants?
I have to monitor as it's bad for someone to sing a different tune with me if I want to train and discipline ZQ. Once, he even turned to her cos I said No and insist that he cannot do it. He did not even want me to carrry him afterward and only asking for "auntie".

Kids are really smart to know who they can "bully".

Help arrived and life is much better now

Having extra help is a wonderful thing for a preggie. I finally managed to get my new domestic helper. It was by chance as I walked into a different agency which I meant to go and interviewed 2 domestic helpers which I found one rather suitable. It was within few days that she came on board to work for me.

She is so wonderful in comparison to my previous one. Not having another to compare we'd never know what we're missing out. It was a good thing that I stood by my decision not to renew my old maid as she was planning to go to Canada and was using us as her stepping stone. During her last few months, her performance deteoriated and her attitude was bad. Lots of arguments and excuses to go out of the house to do her personal things. Work was sloppy and badly done and causing me lots of stress and unhappiness.

When she left, I managed to do what she does in the entire day after my full day work and in fact I felt I did better! My house was not well cleaned and often she left my clothes unironed but to think I managed to do it myself though I am working full time - can imagine how slag she was. She talks more on her hp than anyone I ever know. The time she is not talking is prob when she is bathing.

Nonetheless, I have now a new helper whom I am rather satisfied to date. I hope that she will not turn out to be like the old one. She did all the work (cleaning the house, packing up stuff, ironed all the clothes - even my bedsheets, etc ) within 1 week of coming to my house. My hubby was vv impressed -- haha, of course now knowing what my old helper had not done.

My place is kept cleaned most of the time and she does not keep awake till midnite, yet she completes all her work. She even took initiative to pack my drawers, etc. Good work and hope she keeps it up.

The only thing she needs to improve is probably her cooking.

Knee pain, back aches

Coping without maid? Apparently not. There are so much household chores to be done. Hubby felt that we both can cope without a maid for now since we have not really manage to find a suitable one. I beg to differ.

Day starts with ZQ waking up for milk at ard 5ish-6 (instead of his normal 3-4ish). Wake up ard 7am to prepare for work and dress ZQ for school. Day in office. Upon returning home, I have to prepare dinner(depending on if hubby is doing it or we dao bao), feed ZQ, clean up, bathe him, play with him, get him to sleep. After ZQ sleeps, I have to do the laundry, hang them and then iron the clothes. On alternate days, I still have to handwash ZQ's clothes which are stained.

This will get me busy till almost midnite. This is no easy life for a working mother. Desperately need home help but no sign of suitable maid as yet. I hope this "suffering" will end soon.

Just the weekend, I had to dismantle ZQ's cot and fix it up in my room. It's a nice change to have him sleep in our room, makes me feel much closer to him. He is also happier to sleep having me around and waking up to find me smiling at him. So far, he had been sleeping well and not waking much at nite. This is something really nice for more bonding with my dear son.

I've made it almost through a week without maid and MIL

Since last Sun, we returned home to my own place after my maid left on Sat. No MIL to help as she is at her own place. It was to my horror that there are so much things to be done. Of course, thanks to the mess my maid left behind too. She is not the tip top clean kind of maid you know and now, we have to clear the dirt.

The initial 2 days was a nightmare. I had to worry about dinner cos I dun cook and it's too much work. Furthermore I am in the middle of my 2nd pregnancy and what I need is rest. Just the other work on bring ZQ to and fro from school, feeding him, cleaning up, bathing, playing and putting him to sleep can already take up most of my waking time. In addition, I still have to wash his clothes (some handwash due to stains), wash his bottles, prepare his school bag and not forgetting my own laundry. Not just that, ZQ also has a habit of waking in the middis of the nite between 3-5 to ask for milk. I was so tired out after 2 days and my back is already aching. Guess now I appreciate the amount the work that needs to be done .

I am trying hard to get him to kick the middle of the nite feed if possible and thank God, for the last 2 days he did not wake up. Haha, perhaps my psychoing works. Let's hope.

My knee is also hurting and I have to wear a knee guard. It has been 2 weeks and only last 2 days there is improvement. Let's hope this will improve soon.

So now, a few things on my agenda. Get a parttime maid, get a full time maid, get my knee pain problem fixed and one of the biggest headache, selling my own place as my hubby is intending to do so. Pray things will go well and right.

Lao dear

I call my hubby "Lao dear" ... cos many people calls their partner "Dear" "Dear dear" and when we walk on the street, we really don't know who is calling for their dear. Hence, I invented this Lao dear .... don't think anyone else is using it .. afterall who wants to admit they are old? haha. By the way, my hubby is not old at all.

So recently, ZQ is pretty good at picking up words from us and he learnt the word "Lao dear" and started calling my hubby Lao dear. He will wake up and first word he says is "Lao dear" .... so funny. He will say it even in public lifts are the shopping malls .... and people will turn their head and wonder who is this kid calling "Lao dear". hhaha.

Maidless days

My maidless days has started since Saturday.

Having a domestic helper is really a blessing when she can helpout with the household chores, cooking and the daily chores of feeding, cleaning the kid. Leave me to spend more quality time to teach and have fun with the kid.

Now having no help at the moment, before I find a suitable one, I have to assume the role of the maid. It's not easy when I had been so spoilt for the past 2 years. My maid's contract had just ended and we could not renew her as she intended to go to canada and her application will be confirmed in 6 months' time , which is when my 2nd baby is due. I can't possibly sabo myself and start getting a new maid when I am in my confinement right? Had already an experience without help during confinement, I am not gonna put myself in the same spot again. My maid is a classic story - will tell her story another time.

It's not that easy finding a suitable one. Initially I thought it was easy but guess I was wrong. Having waited for her contract to end and also let her find her new employer (else she'll be sent back to philippines and her canada dreams shattered) before we start our maid search , hence, ended up maidless for now cos maids are getting demanding these days. Really hope to find one soon.

I must salute those working mothers who has no external help and has to take care of the kid daily. Mothers are really amazing.

Who is the father of my son?

This is the father of my son. Yes, that's the handsome guy in the previous post.
Hope he reads this ..... hhaha, he says I never praise him. Ahem, I am doing it right now .. and for a specific reason ;)

My wedding pic - long overdue

Fished out my wedding pics this morning as a colleague wanted to take a look. Here's a few nicer ones which I thought might be good to blog it ... and remind ourselves how young we used to be .. haha.

All about me

My most beloved Papa and Mama

Playground

Enjoying at the playground.

Update pics of ZQ - going 2 years old!

These are the recent pics of ZQ @ 23 months. He's turning 2 soon.
Look how he runs ...... a future athelete in the making.

New Year - a new life begins

Been a month since I last posted. Why? Cos I am busy with my bad MS. What's MS? Morning sickness to be precise. Yes! I am expecting my 2nd baby this year.

This time round the pregnancy seems to be more difficult ... I'm suffering from rather bad MS ... i can puke 4-7 times a day. Whatever food I consume, it comes out half to an hour later. Eating is like going through the motion. I eat, puke it out later, becomes hungry and eat again. Not a good feeling. Good thing is that my work is not that busy during this period so I can actually rest more.

Went for my scan one and half weeks back and the results of the OSCAR test is good. Nurse from TMC says that so long the gynae dun call me, it means good news. Anwyay, the gynae's nurse called to say the results are good, no worries.

Going for another checkup tonite and hopefully he can check if there's any "stick", else it might be a girl then! Hurray, hope so.

Trip to China, GuangZhou in Dec

Been few weeks since I've returned from GuangZhou - a trip with hubby's relatives. A rather fine trip as we do not need to do any planning. Hotels, transportation, meals are all arranged. We just have to just wake up in time and follow the itinerary.

The only woe - we ate too much during the trip. Breakfast is always tim sum, lunch and dinner is a 10-20 course meal with fish, prawn, roast goose, meat, etc etc ....... spoilt our tummy.

Papa's white cap

Don't I look good in papa's cap? Mama bought me a new cap for 18-24 months but it is way too small for my "big" head. They dun sell for > 24 months old cap, hence I think I fit an adult cap better!

Christmas party in the CC

Today, brought ZQ specially for a Christmas party celebration in school. So in the morning, we had to catch a cab. Being the first day of the ridiculous fare hike for taxi, a 35% of journey's fare during peak period, I decided not to take Comfort Delgro's taxi today. Saw a smart taxi and hopped on to it, but this is only temporary, by next week, all the cabs will be following suit.

ZQ kinda remembers that when we reach the CC, mommy will leave for work, hence, he started to cling tightly to me and wanted me to carry him. Thoughout the celebration and presentation by the other older kids at the CC, he refused to come down. Later, we gave him some milk and played a little with him in his classroom.

It was later at the eating session that he was enjoying himself more.

Afternoon, we brough him to the Singapore Science Centre and he had a wild time going around looking at the interesting exhibits. He was also running around alot ... well, afterall, he had his nap on our way to the science centre.

Noticed that he keeps crying for mama recently , especially before he sleeps and also when I pick him up from the CC after my work. I hope this is only a phase, quite SIM TIA to see him crying more. He seldom cry at home though.

Vivo once again

Had a great time splashing @ Vivo in the afternoon while mommy went shopping. Mommy decided to create this nice poster with the pics at Sentosa Costa sands resort - a very lousy place.

Third day at the CC

I went to check on ZQ during lunchtime but the principal told me not to go in to distract him as they are getting the kids ready for nap time. So I left.
Only went back to pick him up after work. When I reached there, ZQ saw me and immediately teared. I hugged him and then he pulled me into the room 2 watch Barney. Shortly we waved goodbyes to the other kids and then made our way home.

ZQ has a good appetite during dinner - I guess he did not eat much at the CC. They only fed him 2 milk feed. Not sure if he had his nap and finished his meals at the CC cos when I reached, the teacher already left for the day. I was also rushing off, so I did not check on anything else.

He seemed rather sleepy so by 9pm, we made him sleep. A while ago (3 ish) he woke up crying for milk and mama. Gave him 240ml, he finished it quickly and shortly cried for more milk. Gave him another 120ml and then he falls back to sleep.

Is he hungry or just adjusting to new routines, environment that he is crying at nite. Feels a little bad that he is having some reactions to it but then again, it is inevitable. Just a phase they have to go through. Hope he adjust quickly to the CC.

So far, I think he is doing well except for the times when I have to leave. I was asked to say goodbye to him and tell him I will come back later ... this made him more aware that I am leaving, hence the reaction - crying, being upset. I tot I may just disappear but it seems it is not recommended.

It seems that he will revert to his playing quite quickly - once he is being distracted from thinking about me leaving him there. Other than this part, he is pretty fine there.

Still thinking if I am bringing him in tomorrow. Perhaps give him a break and let him have some space being at home? Afterall I am busy tomorrow as well. Let's see.

Finally get to play at the playground

ZQ : "I finally get to play at the playground on my way home! I love to attempt to climb up via this method. Mama always say that it is dangerous but papa leave me to climb. Mama will place her hands in front and behind me as she is afraid I will fall. She also told papa to do the same but papa is not so uptight.

Recently I also learnt to count in English and Mandarin to 20 but I only know up till ten sufficiently well. In English, I will skip "seven" cos I cannot pronounce 2 syllabus yet. Whenever I climb steps I will count in English. For Mandarin, mama will play a game with me ..... she will go "Yi", I will go "Er", then she goes "San", ...... we'll do it till "Shi" ..... after that, I will always say "Shi Si" (fourteen) .... cos both words sounds alike, it's easy. Every number after "Shi" is "Shi Si" ... so easy right? Mama always laugh when I say it, it's so cute.

See me in action ok? (Hmm, seems like the uploading of the video has some problems ... I'll check and repost)

Having fun at the CC

ZQ : "See how much fun I am having at the CC. My favourite toy .... never fail to play with it. Since most of my friends don't really fancy this toy, I can play with it all the time.

It's lots of fun here cos there are so many GeGe and Jie Jie and friends in my class. Though I don't quite like the food they provide and I cannot sleep much cos it's few hours ahead of my normal nap time, but overall I like the place.

When mama leaves me here, I feel sad and cry , scream for her but after a while, teacher will give me a toy phone to ring her. I am sure she knows that I am doing fine.

The friends here are a little weird ... they cry all the time. On my first day, I saw this girl who cried alot and I went over to sayang her. She still cry most of the time but stops sometimes, for about 10-20 seconds when the teachers give her attention. She is quite good with her sentence but I seem to hear only one - "I want to go papa, mama, gor gor there" .... hmm, while I am still struggling to speak in 2 syllabus, she is very good. *My idol - for the speech part only.

I get really hungry when I get home and sleepy too. Sometimes I will sleep on the way home. Since it had been raining, I did not get a chance to go to the outdoor playground, I really miss it. Hopefully on the way home, at the playground downstairs from YeiYei's house, mama can le me play a little while. In the middle of the nite, I had also been waking up to ask for milk. I am hungry .... i just drank 240ml + 120ml .... now I am back to my beauty sleep.

Update real soon! "

Initial days at the CC

Monday was the first day ZQ started his CC. So far he survived 2 days rather well but I was there most of the time on day 1, together with the maid too. ZQ was ok.

Day 1
******
Woke up early to go 2 CC. When ZQ reached the CC, he cannot wait 2 dash into the class.
Managed 2 get him screened by the teachers and he walked into the class like he is an old timer. There were some wailing kids who eventually stopped except one girl who is the oldest amongst the few toddlers. When ZQ saw them crying, he went over to them and sayang them. He is a peace loving kid and dislikes fights, loud noises.

He took abit of cereal for breakfast. For lunch, he ate part of the pasta. Nap - he could not sleep and I had to go off and leave my maid to make him sleep ... he took a while and managed some sleep. I came back after 2 hours and he was up and playing again. Looking happy, I was not too worried.

After he woke up, he wanted milk and as I was not around, maid also "skived" outside talking on her mobile .... he went to the trolley bag, took out the milk container, open it and then tried to scoop out the milk powder! The teacher only saw it then and prepared milk for him. It was because he din eat much for his lunch.

Everything went well and he had his dinner when we went home. At nite, we tried to get him to sleep earlier but it's a change in his daily routine so it took a while.


Day 2
*****
Hubby and I brought ZQ to CC today. Morning was ok, he did not eat his breakfast on the cab and when we reached, breakfast time was over. Later, he asked for milk and I had to give it to him cos he is hungry. The teacher said they try not to feed them anytime ... ya, but he did not eat his breakfast ... so she agreed.

Lunch, they gave rice with fish soup in mixed vegetables(pea, corn, carrots) which are things he does not like. So he only had 3 spoonful of rice and stopped eating. By lunch, we left him there cos we were distracting and the teacher advised us to come back later.

ZQ cried when we left but the teacher distracted him using a fake phone to call us. Teacher oso said that he din take his nap, followed the teacher and during her lunch, he wanted her food. She fed him some rice and soup and also the honeydew (which he rejected earlier) but this time she pretended that it is vv delicious, he ate it all up.

We returned around 4 ish and he was happily playing with the kids. Joined him until we left around 5ish. Once, I left to the washroom and he cried.

When we were on the way back, he KO. As I had to go buy something, I had to carry him. When hubby wanted to take over, he seems to know and refused, making alot of noise for the changeover. He is heavy - 14+ kg ... but well, he's my son, he "ain't" heavy ... haha.

Day 3
*****
Brought him in this morning alone. He had a pow for breakfast. Then when they had assembly, he refused to go, wanted to stay in the classroom to play. So I finally managed to bring him out. Shortly, the teacher came over and told me to say good bye and go off. I waved goodbye and left, ZQ was there wailing for me. Took my bag, din turn back and left .... now I am in the office typing this. On leave today but well, since, I cannot be there, then I might as well do some blog updates ;)

Be going back to check on him later.

I hope he will eat his lunch and also take his nap. Hope he can cope well cos now reality of mama not being there might start sinking in ..... hope he does not get too upset. He is a happy boy and I dun foresee him having much problem adapting. Let's pray I am right.

Playing with keys

It's time 2 keep the house key somewhere not within reach to ZQ. Not only does he know how to select the correct key and put it into the keyhole, he now knows how to turn it. He even locked us in the house .. until now. Due to the faulty door, he put the key into the maindoor from inside of the house, now I cannot open the door. I can only wait till hubby comes back and open from outside.

Look at how pro he is now .....

Stage where the kid learns to choose and be independent

Making own decisions
ZQ has learnt to express what he likes and what he doesn't. He has become choosy ... he choses his food, his DVD/VCD, his songs ... except his clothes.

He will normally nod his head when we ask him questions and only when he dun like it, he will shake his head. He also learns how to "Teh" with me ..... saying "Hmmmmmm" (in a teh voice) ... i faintz. Boyz, teh wat.

Being a good eater, he is also not eating properly recently. He loves soup and white rice ... no nutrition at all. We suspected that it was due to the Pork Floss that my MIL had been feeding him. I stopped her and requested she dun give it for every meal - I hope he will eat the dishes rather than just plain rice.

Maid also said recently he stopped drinking in the middle of the nite, I hope this continues. He seems to know that I am concerned ... so perhaps he wants mama not to worry too much about him? * I had been trying to tell him not to wake up at nite for milk. Hee. Such a dear. *This is called consoling onself. Hahaa.

Taking out his own shoes
ZQ is also vv good at taking out his own shoes now. Hiak hiak. Must train them to be independent young. Now he is so expert that he can even bend down to pull out his shoes when he reached home and I am still carrying him. Next, i wan him to learn to put on his shoes.

Washing hands upon returning home
ZQ knows that he has to wash his hands once he returns from outside. He will push the chair to the sink and then climb on top, pour the hand soup and wash his hands like an adult .... but gotta watch him that he dun push it to the window where the grills are not locked and also the risk of falling off if no one is supervising.

Shares his food
Since many months ago, ZQ started to share his snacks with the fanily. He will asked for cereal and then feed us with it. Aye, but sometimes, he will bite half of it and put the other half into my mouth. *Sweet but the thought is yuks.

Double syllabus words.
At the moment, ZQ can only say 1 syllabus words - except for those which are repeated syllabus - mostly chinese words.

For biscuits, he will go "Bi-ba bi-ba"
For Cereals, he will go "C"
For water, he will go "Wor"

ZQ sings the Do Re Mi song (first word only)

Sometimes we run out of ideas of what songs to sing with the kid, so, recently I remembered the Do Re Mi song and i started singing to ZQ. Amazingly, he can remember the Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Di , Do ..... So he will say the first word Do and I sing the sentence then he will continue with the next word, Re ... and so on until Do again. It's quite fun playing and singing with him in this manner. *Will try to post the video - hopefully sometime soon :)

Had also bought him some toys on shapes which I taught he does not know well cos often, when I show him the flash cards on shapes ... he looks disinterested and dun seem to be able to point to the correct shapes. When we got home with the shapes (wooden flat pieces which u place on the wooden board) - hubby started playing with him and next we realised that he actually knows all the shapes! They were just playing a speed game to place the pieces back to the board. And dear ZQ is so funny, he will try to place the pieces in and when he realised that it is at the wrong place (ie Oval shape he was trying to fit into the Circle shape) , he will mumble to himself "No no .... " .. then try another place.

Tried on the ABC ones but he is not too keen cos the pieces are rather small - prob keep it for a while later. Perhaps I can go get the color ones?

Latest update on ZQ

Been a while since I've posted some real updates on ZQ.

I guess he is at this stage where they learn alot of things quite fast. He has started talking but mainly single syllabus words which are repeated. Chinese hence becomes easier to teach at this point. Recently I taught him numbers 1-10 in both mandarin and english. He will repeat the words one by one after me ... of course he cannot pronounce "seven" very well but the other words he can say pretty ok.

Last Sat, we were at a friend's house and there are some steps within the house. ZQ got interested and kept going up and down the steps. On his own accord, he started counting "One, two, three" and I was delighted. Of course there are some other kids of his age - the genius Jayden who is way ahead but well, ZQ is on schedule .. haha. So he kept going up and down the steps repeating One, two , three. Last nite, he actually can count up to ten on his own. We are all happy to see his progress. I guess it doesn;'t matter when but when it happens, it brings joy to the family. He is such a cute little boy.

Now I am waiting for him to count 1-10 in mandarin .. haha.

I have to credit this to the constant repetition through games, interaction sections with him. For recognising things, he is pretty ok but for recognising words, he is not too good. I guess different children learn differently. He is not interested to look at words ... so my words flash cards are still lying around untouched.

He has grown much ... it feels that he is almost 90cm ... din get to measure him but he really looks big for his age. Still at 13.5kg, he is eating very well. Attempted to cut his middle of the nite feed of 240ml but he is still not willing to give it up

ZQ @ Nov 2007

Marathon Charity Swim from Batam to Singapore - 11 Nov

A hectic weekend just passed. Hubby and a group of other ten swimmers - 11 swimmers swam on 11/11/2007 from Batam to Singapore. A total of 20 km was the original distance but in the end they swam more as the tides were pretty strong. When they were nearing SAF Yatch Club, they were swept by the strong currents towards the restricted zone and even the navy was alerted and on a few occassions, it triggered the siren. Finally it took them 7-8 hours to complete the swim.

It was definitely not an ordinary achievement. Who would dream of swimming such a distance and imagine from Batam! I had taken the boat ride to Batam and it is already a long enough journey. Imagine to swim that distance? On top of that, the kind of huge gigantic sea transports they have to be mindful of - the tankers, the ships, speedboats, sails, surfs .... and not to imagine the strong currents from Indonesia waters to International waters to Singapore. What about those sea creatures which might pose a danger to them? The jelly fishes, sea snakes .... and the unnatural items - plastic bags, oil spills, seaweeds, floating stuffs. One really takes a lot of courage to simply even imagine doing that swim - not to say, complete it.

Seeing them eventually complete the course one by one was a relieve and admiration. I have problem completing 1 km, not to say 20 times of that or more. I am happy that things went really well on Sun and no mishap occurred. The success of this swim means more of such in the future and more work for me ..... (having body aches and legs are aching big time), however, if it means to raise more funds to help the kids in Singapore, what is my little effort compared to the swimmers who braved the sea to swim that distance despite all the odds to do their bit for charity.