Cebu, Sunday is race day!

In the wee hours of the night/morning (whatever time it was, I was not sure. I was half-asleep) - I heard and was somewhat aware that the husband was awake and moving about, getting ready to leave for his race. He bade me goodbye and I continued to slumber...


The boy and I were getting into the groove of sleeping in on this holiday, and we awoke past 8am. How amazing is that! I was determined to try to work out to burn off much of the indulgence I had been consuming (burps) and brought the boy along with me to the gym.

Lift wefie series: heading to the gym

After the work out, we headed to breakfast. And without hesitation or delay, the boy zoomed straight to his 'second home'.

I picked a seat in the restaurant where I could watch him, whilst having breakfast.

After breakfast (everyone loves buffet breakfast in hotels hooray!), we proceeded to change and get ready to go meet the husband. He gave me a time of 12.30pm, and because I was not sure how heavy the human traffic would be (with no delay, it takes us less than 10 minutes to stroll from Movenpick to Shangri-La) so I opted to leave earlier with the boy. At 11.45am, we were on our way.

Marching onwards...

A busy street sight greeted us the moment we hit the main road. We walked a couple of steps and I decided to enquire about the race route. Turns out, I struck gold! The stretch that led us from our hotel to finish line, was the exact road that all participants will run past. I decided that we should find a spot along this road and wait to spot the husband; and so we did.

Still looking fresh. There was a drink station opposite our hotel.

As time went by, however, the boy started getting impatient. I found ways to amuse him - by teaching him how to stretch his arm out to hi5 and encourage runners as they went by. It took him a bit of tries - initially, he was slightly shy, then he got over-enthusiastic as he ran into their path - but he got it after a while. It was great seeing his face light up when someone acknowledged his presence.

Hi5 boy

That magical moment when we spotted the husband and his friends!

WE SPOTTED THE HUSBAND! Oh the thrill of spotting a familiar face amidst the crowds, it feels absolutely amazing! For us to travel all those miles in the foreign land, to be able to witness him run and complete his inaugural race - that was super and it felt great.

When the husband was still in happy spirits, i.e. not in pain

Thrilled! On a high after spotting the husband

After spotting the husband, J and I were pretty thrilled and looked forward to him completing the loop towards the finish line. However, that did not happen for a while. A... long... while.

Spot the impatient little man

Managed to pacify him a little, by offering him some food

While asking that he continues to cheer the runners on

When I could not hold him to the roadside any longer, we adjourned to the barricades closer to the finish line. I figured a change in environment will be good to distract him. I was doing mental calculations to try my best to figure out when the husband may hit the finish line, and there were moments where I doubted if it was possible that I had -GASP- missed him; but thanks to my perseverance and amazing distraction skills of keeping a 4-yo occupied, we managed to catch the husband again, before he crossed the finish line.

Waiting

Probably about the last 10m of the entire 70.3miles

After seeing the husband complete his race, I was relieved. The boy and I then moved to the designated waiting spot - where we had to wait for the husband to meet us post-race. We chanced upon a media session where the winners across the region were being interviewed.

The heavyweights of Ironman 70.3

I did not recognise or know anyone, but I know that they looked amazing. So relaxed and happy to have completed their race in amazing time. There was only that much toilet time, listening to these people speak, or questions I could field from my boy. As he had been pretty much a champ the whole time, even braving the tiny drizzle that -thankfully-passed, I rewarded him with ice-cream.

Waiting is more fun with ice-cream

Finally, the husband came and I was so happy to see him! I swear he turned 3 shades darker, and while he was limping slightly, he was in pretty good spirits.

Our family pic taken post-race, which garnered 350 likes on FB!
What a hero :)

Playing Dad

Making our way back to the hotel

I'm supporting 1228!

We were all pretty happy to be in an air-con room by this time, and were happy to rest in a comfortable space. The husband - besides being extremely tanned - was in decent spirits and while hungry, managed to place an order for room service more enthusiastically than actually eating the food.

Resting

After filling our tummies, I brought the boy out of the room to give the boy time to play, and the man some time to rest.

Life wefie series: pool time!

He lounged in the waters, scripting stories of fires and rescue with his toys;
I sat by the side with my beer. Bliss.

After the sun went down, we headed up to the room to change and get ready for dinner. Dinner was of low energy, because the crew was all knackered from their day of exertion. The only one bubbling with energy was, yup, this little boy.



Faking a ride on this toy



The day had been fantastic and in so many ways special. I am so proud of the husband - not just for his achievement of accomplishing the race (I never doubted he would cross the finish line), but for the fact that he worked towards it. I remember sometime last year, he said he wanted to do it, then one day, he told me that he had signed up. I saw him put in time to run and swim and improve his technique, borrow bikes and put in time to ride it across our island of Singapore... and it became more real as we started to book our flights and hotel... then finally made it there.

It has been a journey of perseverance, and I see the husband enjoying himself along the way. That is in itself a joy and I say it again, that I am so proud of his accomplishment.

We love you, baby, our very own iron man!

Teachers Day

I am not an 'active' parent, who goes the full 9 yards to purchase gifts for teachers on behalf of the kids, nor do I bake (not just for them, I just am undomesticated generally).


I do remind the children that it's teachers' day and they should draw a card for their teacher.  For posterity, here is a card that K prepared for her form teacher.

Front

Inside

I like how her brain functions more in words than merely pictures now, and while there are spelling errors, I also like how I am able to decipher what she is trying to say because she is trying to form the word using phonetics.


My little girl is growing up so quickly and sometimes, I feel at a loss how to manage her. K's not an overtly expressive child and she is still rather immature, though so sensitive and thoughtful at the same time.


Parenting is hard, and with all the hard stuff that is going on in the world, I remind myself to give thanks that my children and family are healthy, they are developing and they are learning each day, just as I am. I am also thankful for the brave ones who are with children as their jobs. Sure, I am a parent (and that is a job too) but teachers, they don't have it easy either.


I wish that this teacher's day, the children learn to love and appreciate those who guide them through their school journey, and may the children enjoy learning as much as can be so that they can flourish and become the most amazing people they want to be.


Happy Teacher's Day to all who dedicate their lives and hearts to nurturing our young.

Cebu, 6 August 2016 - a day of sun, sea, sand, pool and play

Today was a day dedicated wholly to J and his play. The husband was busy with preparations for the race, and in fact was awake before us to do a cycle test on the roads with his buddies, before checking the bike in.

J and I awoke leisurely and headed for breakfast. We got a table of our own, and J got a gift from the restaurant - a toy car and a toy aeroplane. We did not know it yet, but these gifts were best things ever and pretty much were staples throughout the rest of our holiday.

We started to eat, and the Olympics just started, with the opening parade flashing on screen. I remember feeling very excited to support Singapore! Within the hour, the boys (husband and his troupe) joined us for breakfast and it was nice to have company. After breakfast, I brought the boy up to rest our full tummies and change, for the day ahead. The husband left us as he went to do his race preparations and can I say at this point that while I knew he was busy, I think I under-estimated how detached he would be from us. So this is a lesson to learn and remember for me.

Lift wefie series: we are ready to hit the beach!

Like a boss

So, we decided to hit the beach first. I picked a chair, the boy brought along his toys (the car and aeroplane) and started to play. Our theme for then (& the next few days) revolved around storylines that involved the plane and car, and typically in some form of accident that involves rescue, siren and loud crashes. All in a day of a boy!

He complied when I asked him to sit under the shade. Sun was HOT.

After 2 hours or so, the boy was hungry and we got a snack. Thankfully, from our supermarket run, we had some bananas and Oreos.

Snack time

By 2pm, I felt so hot (yes, even while under the shade) that I requested that we move to the pool. There were trees which worked better than the umbrella and I was glad that we moved. The pool water was cooler, and we had just as much fun too.

Lounging in the pool

At about 4pm, I convinced the boy to get out of the water. He was turning super tanned and pruney from being under the sun and in the water. After a quick shower, we adjourned to some craft activity organised by the hotel. He wasn't too keen on it, but thankfully agreed to participate anyway.

Making necklaces and bracelets

After this short activity, we adjourned to have some proper food. The husband had joined us briefly after his swim and in between some noodles (our worst food order at the hotel), the boy stayed at the games area to play, and play.

He decided that he did not wish to nap so after having his milk in the room, I brought him to the next activity of painting sculptures. He much preferred this than the necklace activity.

Craft time at 5.30pm

Ice kachang. Kidding! It's actually a white model which J slathered
(too much) paint on generously.

Look at that cheeky smile

While he was painting, I was sitting by him and just chilling out. The sun was less intense by then and it felt very nice.

View

After painting 2 sculptures (which I returned so they can be recycled for the next child), the boy returned to his games room - again. It was becoming his favourite hangout at the hotel.

Foosball

Wii

He found some friends to play with him

It was dinner time then, but the husband was trying to rest so J and I left the room to continue more play. We stayed until dark and I even showered J by the pool showers.

Last boy standing at the play area

We had dinner by the games area and after a full day of play, play and play, he was ready to rest. It did not take him long to knock out when we got back to the room.

Fast asleep

The husband was getting ready for his race that started early the next morning, and we were all ready to rest pretty early that night. I believe the boy had the most fun as the day was truly dedicated to nothing but play! What a start to the holiday.

Cebu, 5 August 2016 - reuniting with the husband at Cebu

The alarm went off before sunrise. I leapt out of bed and joined the household, which was already buzzing with activity. The helper was up, K was up to getting ready for school, the mother was getting ready for work (she had stayed over the night before - as per plan given the we were supposed to be away already, except that we had an, uh, adventure),  and the last person to wake up was J who was co-operative too as he knew we had exciting times ahead. At 0635, we left our home and the lovely father came to pick all of us. We dropped the mother and daughter off at the train station, while the boy and I made our way to the airport.

Saying goodbyes, again

Unlike yesterday, the traffic was pretty smooth and as we zoomed along the roads, my breathing became more normal.

Admiring the sunrise

As we got out of the car, J and I were in high spirits as we thanked the beloved father for the ride and off we went! As we were already checked in, we headed straight for the gates. No time to waste! I always feel that the holiday feels like it's really started after we clear customs, as that is no longer the public area. Woohoo!

Priorities - coffee

We each had our own version of coffee and baby-cino, then went to get a magazine for me, then while I went to get us some breakfast of toast, J started his play time at the indoor playground.


At 4 years, 5 months of age, J is at this interactive, curious and fun age, I ask him plenty of questions (not as many as what he asks me though). Even before we did the activities of coffee/magazine/playground, I already outlined the plan to him so that he is aware. He is quite good at following the plan as long as he knows that there is something in it for him. And once he started playing, I also remind him of the time he has to play plus excite him of the next thing to go and he will make a decision to say 'I wish to play for another 5 minutes' or in this case, he said 'I want to go to the gates already'.

Onwards to the gates

We sat with the husband's friends, who were on the same flight and soon, it was time for us to board. Hooray!

Gangway to happiness

The flight was full, there was no personal TV, but there was food and we had J's milk which is the antidote to any form of fussing, so I was all prepared for the journey with him. Truthfully, he is so fun to be with. We can talk, he asks plenty of questions and I do try my best to respond as honestly and properly as I can. He also says the funniest things!

Let me list what I remember here:

1) While watching the safety video - and we watched it attentively as there was, well, nothing else to watch or do - there was a segment which said to 'place your feet firmly on the ground and lean over'.

The boy turns to me and says earnestly, 'Mommy, my feet cannot touch the ground! But, I can do this' - and he proceeds to lean forward till his head was touching his thighs, just like the video.

2) 'Cabin crew, take off station'

This is commonly heard when the pilot announces it, as we know. The boy turns to me and asks, 'Candy? Candy crew go where?'  I burst out laughing as I can imagine the glorious images of sweets and candies that he may have in his mind! I went on to correct him and educated him on the terms between steward, stewardess, cabin crew and ground crew.

3) Living to eat

Two questions I get asked pre-flight:

(a) 'is there TV?' (there was a sad groan when I replied negative) and

(b) 'we get food?'. Indeed, my children who inherited the love of food! We got to eat our catered food on one leg of the flight, then on the other, I requested for biscuits for us to share and someone was very pleased to get OJ. So happy that he requested that I take a pic of him.

'Take a pic of me now and send to Papa!'

Thankfully, J did take a nap and I managed to doze off too... and it was about 3pm when we touched down and cleared immigrations, and with happiness and relief when we were reunited with the husband. He looked well and had catered a van to collect us and the baggage. We took a while to get to the hotel due to heavy traffic, and in the van, I was already zoning out, feeling so relieved that I had someone else to entertain my chatty child.


At the hotel, we were greeted by a beautifully sunny and white lobby. It really looked like the pics on the website (not all places do) and I was so, so happy. The holiday was truly, truly happening. We headed to our room, and we all washed up. I felt terribly grimy after having travelled all those kilometres in the past 9 hours since I had woken up. By this time, it was closer to dinner than lunch (biscuits can be lunch!) so we opted to fill our tummy with proper food.

Lift pic series: refreshed after a shower and ready to eat proper food

As we entered the only restaurant at the lobby, we were greeted by an area where games were housed! How lovely. This was the beginning of a love relationship the boy had with this game room. There was a table tennis table, a pool table, a foosball table and a Wii machine. Toy heaven for a boy!

Foosball

Table tennis

Dinner was regular (expensive) food, but we couldn't risk going anywhere to eat street food in case anyone got sick, especially pre-race. So we paid the price (literally) by dining only in the hotel(s).


After dinner, we trotted over to Shangri La, the main host of the Iron Man event in Cebu. It was very festive, and there was lots of people and buzz around their ballrooms, and we spent some time at the expo walking about. Our evening ended with a supermarket run to a mall at Cebu Town, which was about an hour's drive away (due to traffic).


That night, we were all quite ready to lay down and go to sleep on the very comfortable hotel bed. Goodnight and I was filled with dreams about making it (or not) to Cebu. It took us a while but we made it!

Heading to Cebu (or maybe not), 4 August

Months back, when the husband and I started planning for this trip, we discussed it thoroughly and made the final decision (it was tough!) to bring one child along only, primarily (pun intended) because the girl has school. She is past the stage where we can simply take her out of school just because; and so the deed was done. It's becoming a familiar pattern as the husband and I are both extremely busy pre-holiday and end up frantically packing the night before/day of travel.


After a harried night before, our morning on this Thursday started very early. We made the most of our final moments with our big-little girl and sent her to school. We made it to school and back in time for the taxi that we had pre-booked. As we left the house and lugged our 3 big luggages (2 big luggages and a bicycle bag - I have never travelled with a bicycle bag before, it's pretty cool!), we made it into the chartered van. Having this much luggage for 3 people is quite amazing!


Usually, the mood of the holiday starts at this point... but on this particular morning, the mood was due to go south pretty quickly. What typically takes about 40 minutes (travel from home to the airport) dragged... and dragged.


By the time we were at the 40th minute mark, our vehicle had sadly only made it to the start of the 2nd expressway. We were seriously lagging. The ride soon became tense and stressful as we had to cajole the driver to try alternative routes that got us moving (barely)...

Distracting ourselves on the ride

Unfortunately, on this morning, I experienced my first-time of missing my flight. We had arrived at the airport right on the 40 minutes prior mark and the check-in counters had closed by then. Despite our best efforts in pleading, they did not allow us to board and take the flight. There was a moment of extreme panic as thoughts of what we had to forfeit flashed through my mind - will the husband make the race? It must be crazy fully-booked due to this event, what will we do?! *insert scream

The counters, while holding their fort (literally), declined to allow 3 of us to board, but they did say that the best they can do is to allow one to board, without any check-in luggage. The husband attempted to bring his giant luggage as hand-carry and was rejected (nice try). The next 10 minutes happened quickly. We both stooped over and opened up our luggage. I poured all contents of my hand-carry bag into the luggage and handed it to the husband. He scanned through his bag and picked out random pieces of (hopefully) useful items. We did a quick exchange (mostly to reiterate to the counter staff that they surely must help J and I get on-board the next available flight) and off he went.

It was dead quiet after he left (one nagging manager and one harried man); leaving one counter staff clicking away furiously on the keyboard (assuming in search of a suitable flight for J and I), one stressed Mom (me) and one crying boy (J). I think he must have felt some tension (much!) and probably shocked to see that his father had left without him.

I quickly assured him that it was ok (though I did tear too, feeling torn and broken from the stress) and told him that we had to stay behind to help look after the luggage (yes, all 3 giant pieces were still beside us). After several more moments of stress (waiting is stressful), cajoling (trying to calm the boy down) and relief (yay we got seats on the next flight!), the boy and I were in a good state. The staff had done an instant check-in for us, so our giant luggage would be held by them (I was already wondering how on earth I'd make the return trip airport-home-airport again with a boy and 3 luggage) and I held in my hands our passports with boarding passes. This meant that we were definitely on the next flight.

The husband rang me and he was on his way to Cebu, while I assured him that J and I got our tickets, and were on our way for coffee/milk.

A much-needed break

Once the boy had his milk, he was much calmer. So was I, honestly, after inhaling some coffee.

Happy with his baby-cino

I made a decision then to spend some time at the airport (since we made it ALL the way there!) and just will our time away.

Happy 51st birthday, Singapore!

We ventured about the terminals, and I discovered that there was this convenient tunnel that linked us from T2 to T3. Amazing!

Our day could only get better

The little man got to pick lunch and he made his choice swiftly and assertively with xiao long bao.

Appeased, and happy

After lunch, we explored the airport and decided to try out the slides that I had heard of before. So how it works, is that you get to redeem a ticket to use the slide. Every $10 spent allows you a free ride. Our lunch cost $23+, so we redeemed 2 passes (from the info counter at T3 on L1).

Through the gates

Excited to wheeeeee down

We spent time figuring out the slides, playing at the playground. And since we had all the time in the world, we finally made our way home leisurely via MRT. News of us missing our flight was pretty well-received by the family. I guess as long as everyone was safe, it didn't truly matter.


We made it back home in time to receive the girl from her school bus. She looked at us incredulously and exclaimed, 'Where's Papa?' We had to explain ourselves and since it seemed like any other afternoon, everyone went about their business as usual.


Our evening ended with dinner, putting the kids to sleep and at some point, the husband alerted us of his safe arrival in Cebu. And so, we were ready to (re)start our holiday again the next day.

A surprise dinner with the girl