My First Run with my Kid

I won't really see myself as a competitive runner. But I do love running...because it is easy. You just need a pair of shoes. I get my heart rate up and I lose weight fast. I haven't been running for a while but when I saw the SAFRA Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2023, I decided to go with my kid. 

Whaattt...why are you pushing yourself so hard. Just so we are all clear, I am talking about the Families for Life 800m Challenge. You must be thinking why run with your child?

1. I was inspired. I read an article online that the kids will feel daunted by long distances but for short distances, they will feel more confident to take up the challenges. The parent wrote about running hand-in-hand with the child to finishing line. And I wanted that experience. 
2. They are not very strict. I managed to bring 2 underaged kiddo and even a stroller along. How cool is that!
3. You could sign up with a lot of family members with 1 slot. Even my Mum joined in, it was awesome!

But I want to be honest, it is not easy bringing your kid along. And the race isn't perfect. 

1. The race started really early and my kid couldn't wake up. He slept through the first half and we pushed him in the stroller in the 2nd half. Holding hands to cross the finishing line...it never did materialized. :'(
2. The race promised dinosaurs so I expected lots of mascots that will bring joy to my kids. It was pathetic. The cute dinosaurs that was even worth photographing were the participants.
3. And because it coincided with F1, it was hard to navigate to even reach the destination. 

But yes, it was all worth it, my kid and I even trained together a few times before the race. And it was those trainings that warm my heart and firmly etch in my memories <3 More runs, definitely!

Huggies Club Referral 2023 - Winner

Personally, I feel the pressure is a little high on this one, simply because we have won 3 years straight. This win marks our 4th year. We have always been trying our best to produce good parenting content, advise on the tools out there in the market. And we only talk about the things that we use ourselves. If we don't use those items, we can't really speak much on them. 

So thankew new parents/ experienced parents for giving this win to us (again)! Any form of validation is appreciated because I do put quite a bit of effort on the posts that are released.  I have 2 kids now so time is kinda of stretched, but still we will drop a note here and then whenever we are free :D

No Horse Run - Special Reviewer

Some of you may know already, I have a very special reviewer when it comes to ice cream/ gelato. This chap loves ice cream/gelato so much, he knows by now what is good and what isn't LOL. So sending him to review them was a no-brainer. 

He went to the newly opened No Horse Run - 3rd Outlet at Westgate because there was an opening special. You can get Free mushroom soup and Iced Lemon Tea for every main ordered. Also, the gelato was going on one-for-one. For the westies, it is something to rejoice about because No Horse Run's food is really value for money - quality food at hawker pricing. Check out the generous portion! There is no kid's meal but the serving was good enough for an adult and child to share. 

The kid had Fried Chicken with Waffle ($12.90) and trialed the Dark Chocolate, Cookies and Cream as well as the more unique Milo Marshmallow. His favourite being the dark chocolate, pretty predictable. The waffles are exceptionally good with the gelato! Apart from the more unique Milo Marshmallow, there is also the Soybean Youtiao and Yoghurt Speculoos which we will try the next time we are there.

 

For those who work from home, you can have your meal there because the pasta starts at $7.50 for weekday lunch and dinner! Really affordable. We are quite intrigued with the big breakfast set and because my kid takes very well to the mushroom soup and lemon tea, we will likely to make another trip down and test the the rest of the food. So, don't be too surprised if they appear on our Food Tour series, hehe!

Fuse - F&B Consumer Show

It was our first time at a F&B Consumer Show and it was sure eye-opening and stomach-growling. I am a person who love trying new stuff so this was really my thing. Love the location because it was centrally located at Marina Bay Sands. There were quite a lot of vendors, which would make the trip so worth it. 

You would need a pair of good walking shoes to roam the whole place. Bring lots of patience because the popular stores would have real long queues. Suggest to go in groups as well because you can try out more stuff and have a larger pooled budget. Speaking of budget, the price of the food there was rather reasonable much to my delight. 

There are different categories of food. Even for those who are there to feed the camera, you are bound to find something you like. My personal favourite was Anne Bakery C27 for its variety and generous portion. We tried their egg sausage roll and cheesed fried goodies which we love and was very filling. Their rainbow siew mais were a sight to behold. 

For the cookie lovers, give Yu Cookies - B21 a try. They have quite a bit of exotic flavours which is quite easy on the palette but I love the tea-based one best! If you are looking for value for money, go direct to No Time Hotpot C8. But mind you, the queue sure is crazy!

If you are bringing the kids (toddlers are not good, but kids above 5 should enjoy it), don't give astral candy - B19 a miss. Quite a lot of booths selling pizzas, pastries and sweets treats. Thirsty? there is alcohol available at Archipelago Brewery F52 and oatbedient - E18 (my favourite). But I wanted to try something new - Cocoxim. It doesn't have a particularly strong coconut taste. Didn't like the coffee flavoured, but the rest was awesome. 

There is not just food by the way, there are also booths for shopping and claw machines. If you are really tired, try to find a seat near the stage and you can enjoy some entertainment. A good day out and this show does have all grounds covered!

I upcycled our old Singer Sewing Machine

We had an old Singer machine which was so super run-down. By run-down, I meant it was rusty and the wooden planks were barely holding themselves together. Also, the machine was missing. As this was my late grandmother-in-law's piece, there was a desire for us to upcycle it and keep it around in the house. To be quite honest, cost was one of the biggest consideration. 

Firstly, it was pretty hard to find a carpenter who was even willing to do the upcycle work to create a furniture that we had in mind. Most upcycling shops were happy to "take in" the machine for free and you had to buy whatever their creation should you want to "have it back". It was ridiculous. 

Quite fortunately, we found @Homehustle_sg who helped us gave this sewing machine table a new lease of life and also within a reasonable budget. The whole process took almost 3 months. We needed to move this sewing machine out cos we were moving so they kindly helped us store for a month before works could start on it. Usually each piece takes about 1.5 months to complete. I changed my mind halfway and added a new drawer beneath the table which explains the delay for my piece. 

It is pretty similar to a renovation project.  @Homehustle_sg would consult on the laminate colour and design as well as the length. They would also advise on the piece that can be  salvaged. @Homehustle_sg is more of a hobbyist, but the final product was beyond my expectations in a good way. 

The workmanship was decent (not the finest), but given the price @Homehustle_sg was charging me for the whole project, I wouldn't expect perfection. The cast iron legs were polished and repainted. The side drawers were salvaged and the additional drawer even had soft closing. 

Moving forward,  @Homehustle_sg  will only be taking up projects selectively because he isn't profiting much. Nonetheless, I wanted to share this post to give families who want to preserve their old furniture an option they can go to. I am extremely pleased with my new work desk and I love how it has so much character and a story behind it. The sewing machine managed to reinvent itself for a new lease of life. 

Wheeled Board: Yay or Nay

If you have more than 1 kid, I am sure you are deciding whether to get a wheeled board.  I have seen some families with it and it seemed to work very well for them. Now that I have one myself, I think I can be better able to give advise on whether you should invest in one. 

 The consideration of the "mode of transport" would be (i) twin strollers, (ii) carrier and stroller combi, (iii) 2 separate strollers, (iv) a wagon, and (v) the wheeled board. I would say that all options are non-exclusive but you really do need to take into consideration where the family using hangs out and do you all take public transport/ taxi or cars most of the time. I have tried options ii) and v). In fact, I started with ii) and now we are pretty happy with v).

• Compatibility: Like many mothers, I have sunk in too deeply on my big-ticket items. So compatibility is really important to me because you can't really expect me to change all my items just to try something out. Our Hamilton Wheeled Board works very well (with some minor tweaks) with our current stroller even though they are not the same brand. 


• Ease of use: This seat was quite easy to fix. It is made of a few parts but generally after the first fix, we only need to remove the wheeled board and take out the seat so that the toddler has the option to either stand or sit. He chooses to sit most of the time. 


• Can it fit into a car boot? This is such an important consideration! I have said bye to some options like the wagons/ twin strollers because some brands just can't fit into the car boot along my other transport items. So what we do is we will take away the seat and flatten the wheeled board along with the stroller. It has went out with us so many times...even on a photoshoot!

• Price: It is not the cheapest at S$119 before any discount. But wait for the sales season or Baby's Fair so that you can get a better bang for your bucks. Also, I recommend to try it out first before purchasing, just to ensure compatibility with your stroller...and your kid!


• Make sure your kid likes it! This is really important because if the child hates it, this is going to be a white elephant...until the next child comes and you can have another go. But most Singaporean married couples only have 1-2 kids LOL! We were so pleased that our toddler loves this so much because it makes life so much easier and it is always great to have options!

Hope my consideration points help you guys! Am currently "researching" on more topics (not necessarily parenting related) so stay tune!