Travel anxiety

The next two weekends Sarah and I will be traveling on our own. This weekend it's at Singapore to meet with Juliet and other ex-Intel folks.  Next week is at the Philippines to celebrate Mama's 60th birthday. 

Exciting yep but a bit worrisome as I have to take care of everything myself - getting through immigration, pushing our luggage and her stroller!  I've been prepping her up lately, talking to her and asking her to be a good girl during the journey to not make it difficult for mommy.  Will blog about how things went after we come back.

Never too old...

I never had proper swimming lessons, I just 'learned' on my own.  I thought that as long as I can 'swim' from point A to point B, I'm good.  But since moving on our own place at Parkview Towers, where there is a common pool, I decided to cross out 'learn how to swim properly' from my 'things to do before I die' list.  Which will be another post soon.
 
Mr. Loo, a swim coach in Penang I googled, was agreeable to come to our apartment for a 10-session swim lesson. My colleague at work, Mi Mi, was also interested to get her two kids learn together with me and Reena, my 6 year old stepdaughter.  We made arrangements and last Sunday, the first session started.

Mr. Loo started by teaching us how to breathe properly - breathe in through the mouth and breathe out through the nose.  Being the oldest in the  group, of course I got it quickly. While the three kids were practicing breathing, Mr. Loo asked me to swim. After a short swim, he said everything I just did was wrong!  Which was not a surprise, after all I was there to be corrected.  He then proceeded to demonstrate the proper way of using the arms and legs.  From there, I practiced until the session was over.

It felt good to start learning something new again. At first I was a bit embarrassed being in the company of kids but like they say, one's never too old!   Older people shouldn't limit themselves in learning new things, it spices up life and makes one feel good.

Lost my phone...

I lost my iphone last night.  It fell off my (new) shorts pocket while in a cab going home.  (Apparently the new shorts pocket is not deep enough to hold my knick knacks.)   When we reached the apartment not even 5 minutes later after leaving the cab, I felt for the phone in my pocket and it was not there!  We double checked the baby bag and the rooms looking for the phone but it was not in the house. I ran to the landline to ring my phone but it was already turned off.  Several more calls yielded the same message saying the phone cannot be reached.  I know for sure the phone is switched on and on loud ringer as well since I talked to Ravi 10 minutes earlier before we boarded the cab.

I went downstairs to the apartment security post to check if they had noted the cab's plate number. Unfortunately though they didn't notice.  There are video cameras throughout the apartment area but first I have to get approval from the management office tomorrow to get the clips at the entry/exit points where we can hopefully freeze the screen when the cab's plates is shown.  From there, we can go back to the taxi terminal and ask the cab driver if he found anything.

The thing is, as Ravi has pointed out,  the fact that the guy turned off the phone already meant he has no intention of returning it back.  Otherwise, he would have kept it turned on and waited for any calls from the owner.  And my husband is most likely right.  The prospect of getting back the phone is really dim.

I called up the service provider (Maxis) and got the line suspended.  Ravi and I still have to report to the nearest Maxis office to get another sim card as the line is still in contract for another 10 months.

I have to credit my husband Ravi for not scolding me for losing the phone.  When things like this happens, his typical reaction is  'These are just things, that can be replaced.  The good thing is that no physical harm came upon you."  

Of course, the thought that I should have been more careful with my things still comes to mind.  But what to do?  It would never change the fact that it was lost, most likely never to be returned.  I just have to move on and learn the lesson from the incident.  A very expensive lesson at that.

Daddy's girl

She likes staring at her dad.  Loves taking off his glasses and pulling his chest hairs.  Follows his voice whenever she hears it.  Loves exploring his face (especially the stubble!).  Her dad is likewise enamored with her.  These pictures capture some of their special moments.

Sleeping (beauty) baby

Daddy the biter

sleepyhead girl

...about to wake up...

...and she's awake!