Parenting
Happiness Journal 26/10/25
The son is obsessed with Light Rail Transit trains, so I suggested that we travel to Bukit Panjang LRT station. He then promptly suggested that we board bus 171 to reach our destination. Dumbfounded, I asked him how he had come to know of this bus service since I certainly didn’t know of its existence. He replied that he had noticed it while we were passing by Yishun Bus Interchange.
Anyway, so we boarded bus 171 and alighted at Pending LRT station. A part of Singapore I had never travelled to before. Captivated by the wall art adorning the facade of Bukit Panjang Community Centre, I took a snapshot of it, wanting to remember the time in which my adventurous preschooler son was able to plan what he wanted to do on a Sunday. May he never lose this zest for adventure.
Happiness Journal 28/10/25
These past two weeks, I have been consistently and gotten my son to read 《援助之手》 aloud. Thanks to my strategic use of spaced repetition, he is now able to read words like 特别, 玩具, 玩耍 without missing a beat.
Although I know very well that he is utilizing his muscle memory and won’t be able to recognise these characters in another book, I am still happy. Forcing my third-culture kid to utter some Chinese words is like pulling teeth, so anything that gives me the illusion of progress is a win for me.
只能阿Q地鼓励自己，铁棒磨成针。
Happiness Journal 29/10/25
Sneaked off work today to have a late lunch with a friend at Yishun Park Hawker Centre. Spontaneously decided to take a stroll at the nearby park after that and discovered that it was linked to SAFRA Yishun, which was somewhat within walking distance from my home! In a decade of living in Yishun, I have never realised that.
Many a time, we need something to shove our routine aside in order to make new discoveries. Realising that I could walk to Yishun Park Hawker Centre instead of relying on bus services is nothing to shout about in the grand scheme of things. Nonetheless, it differentiated today from other run-of-the-mill days, so for that, I’m walking to pick up my kids with a spring in my step and a smile on my face.
I weighed myself at the Polyclinic and found that I had lost about 2kg.
Pride comes before a fall. Just when I was about to lull myself into sweet complacency that my running was working and all that, my daughter pointed at my stomach tonight and chortled, “Tummy, big!”
Twice.
Middle age is no fun.
