Zayden

Zayden: “Mommy, look! The door is camouflaged.”

Yesterday, I decided to bring the boys to one of those “live” shows of Chuggington at City Square Mall. I’ve never brought them to one before Only because there was once Guan and I brought Zayden a couple of years ago to the same event at the same mall only to find out that the show had ended less than an hour ago

As I knew my kids, my limits and that I would be outnumbered, I asked my Mom to be the much-needed extra pair of hands. She ended up roping my brother along as well so that made the ratio of kids to adults pretty even

I was a little surprised that they weren’t as excited or moving as actively/vigorously during the show. Zayden looked like he was outgrowing the series. So when it ended (with “snow” falling), I pulled both boys aside and asked if they enjoyed it.

“Yes,” they said, in their flat voices.

“I don’t like the snow,” Reuel said, trying to get the foam off his hair. I tried to explain it wasn’t real snow and that, really, it was just soap foam but he wasn’t really keen on listening.

“Zayden, why didn’t you dance along to the songs?” I asked him.

“I don’t want to be tired,” was his reply.

I guess they were tired since it was around their usual nap time. Not to mention Zayden had an on-off nose bleed from 5-7 earlier in the morning

The obligatory photo with the trains:

Reuel and Zayden :)

Reuel and Zayden

Oh! It’s almost 4 a.m. now. Happy Birthday Mom!

Seating plan for The Hobbit trilogy in 3D

Seating plan for The Hobbit trilogy in 3D

I sent the above to my BFF Rey saying, “What’s left of The Hobbit trilogy, and here I am, thinking we get the wheelchair berth and bring our own chairs

I mentioned it to Guan and he was like, “Just go with wheelchairs.”

One of those weird quirks I have would be thinking about something that leads to another and on to another and another and when I try to explain why I was spacing out for a minute, it would take a long time to explain that train of thought.

So, anyway, I had forgotten to buy a loaf of bread earlier while getting dinner and went to the mart to grab one. While walking on the way back home (it was about 8.30 p.m.), I saw several old folks sitting on the benches downstairs, and I thought about how I miss sitting down at void decks, talking and chilling with Perr into the wee hours of the night, maybe drinking, maybe listening to house or trance. And I thought that the next chance would probably when I’m old like these folks, with not much parental responsibilities, but I wouldn’t be sitting till the wee hours and I wouldn’t be with Perr (unless she’s miraculously my neighbour. Ha!)

And while I was thinking about Perr, I thought about this video that I shared on her Facebook. It’s so hilarious that I was chuckling to myself every now and then, gathering weird stares from people who passed me.

Okay, after writing that down it didn’t seem long any more

This domain has been around cyber space for more than a decade And, yes, it has been pretty neglected as well.

I guess it came to a point where I am not really sure what to blog about, since I have not been writing, blogging or journaling for some years now. And because of the long periods between, I do not feel as comfortable blogging like how I used to when I first started or when I continued on up to the last of my regular posts.

Holding on to this site is like holding on to my memory box. I have lost my old posts from my older websites before I got this domain. Being the sentimental person that I am, I cannot help but to just keep renewing this yearly.

I guess we shall see how it goes

So, after two years, I’ve decided to switch hosts (again). BigScoots has been awesome so far and I hope it stays this way

And it has been a really long time since I last cared about this site With the multiple hackings and whatnot, I have to admit it has been pretty abused

Everything needs to be updated (contents, links, theme?) so, for now, only my blog posts will be current.

I just got off the phone with someone who had my name and cellphone number, trying to get me to sign for an AMEX card. But I’ll talk about that later.

A few days after I wrote my last entry, I brought the boys to the central to get some groceries when I was stopped by a credit card sales person. Urg! I thought he would let me pass but I guess seeing me with two kids makes me a great target for him.

“Hi miss!” he said brightly. “Do you have a credit card?”

“No,” I said, still walking, but slowing down to be polite.

“We’re having a promotion where we will give you $80 when you sign up with us.”

“Thanks, but I’m not qualified.”

He seemed a little baffled. “Uh, miss, what do you mean you’re not qualified? Are you 21 and above?”

“Yes,” I replied, laughing inside because I know where this conversation was going.

“Are you a Singaporean?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re more than qualified!” he sounded brighter than before.

“Uh, don’t I have to earn at least $30,000 per annum?”

“Yes.”

“Well then,” I said. “I’m not qualified then.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” he assured me. “You can include all your bonuses as well.”

“Well, I’m still not qualified.”

“Aren’t you working, miss?” he sounded quite sad by now.

“Yes, but only part-time.”

I gave him a smile, didn’t bother to wait for a response while I walked on.

What struck me was the fact that he could not fathom that someone like me was not earning $30,000 a year. I mean, hellooo? Chancing upon me at 11 in the morning on a weekday should give you at least a clue, right? Throughout our conversation, he looked really puzzled and surprised. Are adults like him so clueless about the wages of the lower middle-class these days?

Now back to what happened on the phone earlier.

I got a call from a landline that was not in my contact lists. I usually let it ring endlessly because it’s always some telemarketer trying to sell me credit card/insurance/something I can’t afford or don’t want or need. Most of the time though, I tend to miss the call since I’m never around my phone when it is actually ringing. Since I happened to see it ringing and I happened to have my hands free (both boys were down for their afternoon naps), I decided to entertain whoever it was on the line.

“Hello?” I said in my most bored voice.

“Hi ma’am!” a male voice greeted me. I hate being called that.

Before he could continue rambling, I asked, “Who are you looking for?” (Since he didn’t greet me by my name, I assumed it was another cold call. Then I could just cut the call short.)

“Are you Ms Soh?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I’m calling from AMEX and you’re selected to have this gold card…” Blah blah blah. Okay, actually, I forgot what he said because he went on and on, not giving me the opportunity to refuse him. I heard something about making the minimal payment with zero interest fees and getting discounts from a certain petrol station and from a certain sushi place and getting some kris flyer rewards (did I get that right?) with Singapore Airlines and I so badly wanted to tell him I don’t fly and have never sat on a plane before but that would be like mind blowing him too early into this phone sale.

Anyway, after he was done with his sales pitch, he proceeded to ask, “So, m’am (darn I hate that!), may I know if you’re earning $40,000 per annum?” (And I was thinking, I don’t earn the minimal and this is like… even more? :neutral: )

“Uh, no.”

“No?” (Yes, with a question mark.) He sounded surprised. “How about this: Do you earn $3,100 a month?”

“Uh, no.”

“Okay, then do you earn $30,000 a year?”

“Nope.” I can actually feel his mind about to explode any time soon by then.

“What about $2,500 a month?”

“Nope.”

“Huh? You don’t even earn $2,500 a month? You earn less than $2,500?” he sounded like the above mentioned guy by now.

“Yeah, I earn less than $2,500.”

“It’s alright then,” he tried to recover. “We’ll keep you in our database and contact you again in future.”

I guess I was a wee bit annoyed when he stopped being professional for that moment when he was trying to get the fact that, no, I don’t meet that minimum wage that all credit card companies require. If he acted professionally throughout the whole phone conversation then, he wins and I lose because I did not get my entertainment.

I should have told him to just take me off the database or whatever but I figured I could use some entertainment in future.