Moving To A Promise "ROOM"

Last two weeks was a busy weeks for Chong’s family as we were packing and getting to move into another 'promise land'. Promise Land? No la, I am just exaggerating.... It's more like a promise room at Garcia’s 三 姨 house.

Image Below:Reading a book to Gracia while packing some of the items.




Image Below:Boxes at Pasir Ris ready to moves over to Ah Hon's house


Ya, we are permanently renting out our Pasir Ris house and currently finding refuge at my sister-in-law house at Potong Pasir.

I had a mixture of feeling. Excited to move into the new house, but quite sad and emotional about moving. Lina and I had this house decorated with many memories. We were pregnant with Gracia, and Pasir Ris house was to be our celebration of new life. Many beginning starts from there, and we walked through the foundations fantasized where we would put the cots, the babies’ things etc. However, there are bad memories I do not want to recall from it too...

My agent took less than two weeks to find me a suitable tenant. I admit it was quite a fast and furious act and I still couldn't settle down my heart if I had made a wise choice or not (like Moses, I need faith to move to another promise land/room). There are string attach and many area to consider, like the traveling time to my morning newspaper distribution and my mum not staying with us(as a result, I have to compromise my sleeping time to compensate for the extra journey ferrying Gracia to and fro) Oh God, give me 48 hours a day please.

However, there are also advantages staying at PP since it is pretty near city area. I will travel shorter distance to Redhill for my hp delivery and Lina save time travelling to NUS too. Furthermore, my sister and brother-in-law get along pretty well with Gracia and adore her very much and will sometime help us babysit while Lina can go take her shower without waiting for me to return home which was usually our practice in Pasir Ris.

There are surely a number of pros and cons if I want to list them down one by one. But most importantly is, we are not forced to made any decision to sublet our house, and if there is one reason why we want to made this changed, the reason would be improving our lifestyle and the well-being of our family.

Image Below:Unwrapping a new king size bed in our new room

Gracia to the dentist

Gracia teeth has becoming sharp as a result of her decaying front tooth, and this caused Lina unbearable nights when she breast fed her. We decided to do bring her to a dentist and see if there's any resolution to it. The dentist suggest only smoothing the sharper part because it's too young for a two years old to really do anything about it.


And Now there are a few things running around my head as I process Gracia decaying tooth at the age 2. The first thought is that is it because we didn’t do enough to help her have healthier teeth {I am thinking should we start brushing her teeth after every snacks, extreme?}. My second thought was that the dentists are only smoothing her from sharp teeth (that's to say, her decaying tooth will still spread), what if it spread all over her teeth.

And the most annoying part is my mum... keep describing her as wired, saying how come she only 2 years old and start having tooth decay, wired gal? lol....
I told her most probably due to breast feeding, but she insist no really that case since most folks from their generation also breast feed and don't seem to have such problem.... she insist Gracia is wired.... errrrr....

Anyway, we will try our best to prevent things for getting worst.
I'd recorded a video of the actual day when we brought her to the dentist, we didn't expect her to be so cooperative... take a look...

Gracia new song

Last two weeks whenever Gracia won't sleep at night while me and Lina is already tired from our work and activities thru out the day, I will sing a song to her. Very fast within a few days, she picked up the song and started singing back to me...

Marina Barrage

The Best For Your Child???

Every Parents want the best for their child. But "To Give The Best For Ones Child" could be a very subjective statement. How could we really define what is really best for our child? Top education? Good behavior? Good habits?

Many parents I know are extremely concerned about their child’s academic development and behavior. Now's a day, some parents whose children is only 2 years old are expecting them to know the letters of the alphabet and read simple words. Others want their child to have perfect manners—not interrupt adults, sit still for longer periods of time, etc. I am not saying whether it's right or wrong to have a certain standard for your kids, like I mention above, every parents only hope for the best out from their kids.... (and our little Gracia is 2 and knows her ABC song, but only because she really enjoy it)

What I trying to say is our expectation and hope for the best for our kids should not overwrite their ability, their passion, their likes and dislike etc.... and become over controlling into their life.

Mr Widjaja, 21, a final-year electrical and electronic engineering student at NTU, fell four storeys to his death at about 10.30am on Mar 2. A text file was titled 'last words' and was found in the laptop belonging to him. In it, the writer lashed out at his family - in particular, his mother. He described her as controlling. And this irked him so much that if his parents were to die, he probably would not cry. He then went on to say that he had had enough of his 'miserable life', having lived most of it 'in sorrow and suffering'.

This is what he wrote

'I live in a not normal family. My mother likes to control everything in my life (and also my brother and father),' he wrote.

'But even now, she still treats me as a child and somehow that irritates me.'

The writer described his father as a 'very kind person' who never complained or blamed others although their financial situation was not good.

'But too bad my mother often pressurises him, which often causes quarrel between them,' he wrote.

'Do you know how it feels to watch your own family shouting at each other almost every day when you were still a child?'

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A parents' concern about their children's future success can sometimes be a bit unrealistic. These may be well-meaning people who become anxious about their children having successful adult lives. Does the shaky state of our economy increase parents' anxieties about their kids' futures? Whatever the reason, something like the David Widjaja case for instance should let us think twice.

As For me, the present of my daughter is really good enough. Believe it or not, I really have no expectation whatsoever from her, though if she will do good and perform well in life, that will be a great bonus... but most importantly, i only want to love her and hope she love me as much. Below is a poem i like to share with all parents in the world




Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Gracia Singing A to Z

Our little Gracia has always love singing and dancing... and she is going to present you ABC song from A to Z...

I suggest you turn off the volume for my mp3 player on
the bottom to avoid interruption before you play the video.


She can also fully recite Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Will find a chance to record post it to share...

Gracia is two!

My little Gracia is two!



I’m happy that she constantly challenges herself to do better, get bigger, and learn more. I am happy she's growing physically and emotionally healthy. But I am sad that childhood is fleeting, and I’m sad that she won’t understand just how short it is until it’s too late. I’m sad because it feels like she was a teeny infant last week, and she turns two years old today. I’m sad that the days go by too quickly no matter how much I treasure each one.

I am proud of the person she is. She’s crazy smart and kind and sweet and sensitive. She loves to sing and color and dance. She sings the ABCs and counts 1-2-3 and more. She’s enthusiastic and affectionate and tenacious and curious.

I’m not so proud when she throw her tantrum on public and colors on my walls. I’m also not so proud that she do not want to share her seat with other inside my van(but she's learning to share).

I adore that she is daddy’s little girl and that she wants me to hold her, love her, soothe her, and protect her. (I like to ask her: "who will protect you?" And is joy to hear her reply: "Daddy protect me".) I adore that she copies everything I do and everything I say. I adore that she offers me a sip of her drink and a bite of her food, and always say hello to our neighbour. I adore that she paint the color of her world for me in the same way I’ve always paint mine for her.

I detest her decaying tooth and her involuntary to brush her teeth. But I love how her soft silky hair that has always made my photograph on her look so pro.

We(me and my wife) can't think of anything else in this world that I love to see more than her little grin and her sparkling eyes, nothing I love to feel more than her little fingers wrapper around mine, and no sound sweeter to my ears than her raucous laughter.


Happy Birthday, Little Gracia! We are happy to see you grow but so is the pain to know one day we have to let you go.... You'll always have a special place in daddy's and mummy's heart till the end of heaven.