Osaka Grand Front Bornelund Kid-O-Kid

Situated on the 3rd floor of the Osaka Grant Front just outside JR Osaka Station, Kid-O-Kid is a playground by Bornelund - a maker of educational toys. The marketing concept was to attract the parents and children to the playground to try out their range of toys and then (hopefully) purchasing a set home later. Their designs were also very attractive in terms of colour, shape, concept (animals are little toddlers' favourites) and the mechanics behind it develop motor and fine motor skills, making the playground suitable for babies aged 6 months to 12 years old.

Entry charges were relatively high for per minute charges. 600 yen for 30 minutes, 100 yen for every subsequent 10 minutes, 500 yen per adult entry. 1-day pass is 1,700 yen for 1 child and 1 adult, which was still relatively high, but when you read more into the table, they also had a monthly pass which was more cost effective at 4,400 yen for the size of the playground.  

大阪府大阪市北区大深町3番1号 グランフロント大阪 ナレッジキャピタル 3階
JR大阪駅 ／ 地下鉄 御堂筋線 梅田駅 ／ 阪急・阪神 梅田駅

Travelling Overseas with a Baby

My friends had been very interested in how I manage to travel with a dependent - toddler and how I actually plan and execute the actual trips. As I am also a logical person and risk adverse, I started with a trial run to somewhere nearby.

Subject: 10-month old girl

Trial run key objective: Flight test, public transport travelling test, hotel bed sleep test.

Preparations: Toys and activities to keep the 1 year old entertained and occupied. Backpack carrier for baby. Clothes and loads of medicine spares for cough, runny/blocked nose, fever, diarrhoea, vomitting.

Considerations: Supermarket, departmental toilets, baby changing facilities, ease to get baby supplies/food, and security (risk of riots/protests at airport/child kidnap).

Duration of trip: 3D2N

Destination: Penang, Malaysia

Hotel: Traders Hotel Penang

Test observations:

1. Our girl was generally tame on flight. However, this behaviour was suspected to be due to exhaustion pre-flight. This was achieved by arriving at the airport early and allowing her to play at the baby entertain rooms, walking, climbing stairs, and simply observing all the sights and sounds at the airport.
2. Choose a seat where you think will have a higher chance of an empty seat, so when we choose seats, we choose seats with 1 empty seat in-between and hope that nobody sits there.
3. Meals on flight was difficult to handle single-handedly because of space constraints. She would grab the cutlery, cups, and anything shiny. I never knew I could finish my meal with 1 hand until that fateful day we flew on the plane with her on my lap for 1+ hour.
4. Take-off and landing was a jittery affair as she did not like to be buckled up. The stewardess were understanding and allowed me to only buckle just before the plane took up. This was also to minimise the restrained period and was critical to maintain good temperaments. Snacks like baby puffs and biscuits were essential to keep her occupied for that short 10 minutes.
5. Bring in an empty water bottle to fill water after the immigration counters. This is also to help hydrate both baby and self before the flight. Always change diapers before the flight.
6. The baby cot provided by the hotel was not comfortable and she ended up sleeping on the bed with us. Using a pillow to block the edge of the bed was sufficient to keep her from rolling off.
7. Having a big variety shopping centre near by would be very useful to get the much needed breakfast, lunch and dinners when you are exhausted from the full day of baby sitting and travelling.
8. Keep her warmer than normal to prevent any chance of catching colds. Err on the side of caution and make her sweat instead of feel cold.
9. Always upkeep good hygience through the trip by washing hands whenever there is a toilet in sight and before and after meals.
10. She enjoyed her trip a lot because her smiles lasted the whole day and everyday.

The Deuter Backpack carrier that allows you to place her on the floor when at the restaurant.

She sits and sleeps comfortably throughout the trip.

With an empty seat, she can comfortably sleep on the plane.

we don't seem to be hitting the right notes

Recently, when the PM announced the many possibilities that his ministries will be working on to boost the birth rates, it was active action of hitting the keys on the keyboard, but the tune didn't sound nice, just like how we complain about the national day song these days being no match against the national day songs from two decades ago.

There are many facets to the birth rate problems. The more obvious ones are money, time, job security, spouse support, grandparents support, maids, car, preschool, quality of life, standard of living, ...

If we drill down to the blocks of life, what every man wants from life, it's happiness. When we use happiness as the guiding principle, we will be able to see more problems beneath the visible problems.

Firstly, happy people will breed happy people. If the person doesn't feel happy with his life, not necessarily unhappy, he will ask himself why will he want to bring to life a child who will feel the same as him, if not worse.

Secondly, successful people breed successful people. A successful person will feel happier than an unsuccessful person. Those who are unsuccessful and say that they are happier because they are unsuccessful are living in self-denial. Our capitalist society has made us all very competitive. After going through ranking exercises in schools for tests and exams, we go through more ranking exercises at work. It breeds a majority population with low self esteem, and a minority population with high ego. Those who are constantly trying to climb to the top will eventually conclude that having children will add more burden to whatever burden they already have. This burden could be in the form of not being working hard enough to reach the top.

Thirdly, high cost of living is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everybody around you talks about how expensive it is to raise kids - milk powder, diapers, medical, childcare, tuition, enrichment, insurance, school fees, university fees. Over time, you think that that is the "normal" lifestyle, and when you try to adopt it, realise that it is really a high expenditure pursuit. This reduces one's life satisfaction index, and hence happiness. Innocently, having children implies increasing your already high cost of living.

Fourthly, over sensationalised balloting results in flat applications. People feel that there are not enough flats for everyone, hence being able to get a flat first is seen to be a big achievement, when it really is not. Going through all that trouble really makes people feel unhappier than happy. 

Fifthly, over sensationalised balloting scenarios in primary school admission. Parents even need to do volunteer work to get a chance to ballot for a slot in the school. This gives people an impression that there are insufficient primary schools in singapore, maybe it really is the case, but if it is not, creates that impression. However, I believe that there are insufficient schools that can meet the needs of the aspiring and competitive parents. When others see how grouchy parents become over just getting their child into primary school, they think that it's unlikely their children will be happy as well.

Sixthly, money makes people happy. Those who say that money doesn't make people happy are either filthy rich, or are being supported by donations. If you give someone $100 rebates, he is happier than his PR neighbour who didn't get it. If you give someone $10,000 in baby bonus, he is happier than the foreigner parent who didn't get it. So my point is, the bottomline needs to be raised, the individual needs to have that constant $100, or $10,000 appearing in his bank balance, so that he constantly keeps himself happy, instead of the government making him happy once in a blue moon, if not, only once in a lifetime.

Finally, I grumble once in a while that I have to spend ~S$20k/year on my little girl's childcare, medical, daily expenses. I haven't factored in my manpower cost to look after her, maybe make it cheap, S$10k/year. If I convert this into GDP, I am contributing an additional 30k/year to Singapore's economy. And I am convinced that the government wants me to spend a lot more, so that GDP continues an uptrend, just like their salaries.

what first words say about me

Recently yaya started to make more understandable sounds. She is 20 months now. Before that she babbles away and I can't make a word out of it. The first word she said was "stop", which should be one of the words I used with the highest frequency on her. She will stop just before the escalator and say "stop", and then raise both arms to wait to be carried. She will stop at the areas around our house, mainly the carpark entrances and exits, and where the roads are. But I am quite sure that she doesn't know that the road is where I want her to stop because when we are at other roads, she doesn't know that she has to stop. So I have started to train her to stop at traffic lights. She also stops on cue, when I tell her stop, she will stop doing whatever she is doing, or walking if she is walking. lol

The second word she said was "dirty", and I couldn't stop laughing when she kept repeating the word "dirty". She kept picking dirt up from the floor and then said "dirty". Our house is rather dirty, so I always scream at her, "dirty... don't touch" And it comes back to me like haptic feedback. She will also point to her wet diapers and say dirty, and then pinch her nose, which is the action for "smelly". The novelty stopped after a day though.

I have been very conscious with the words I use because I know that it affects what I hear from my mini boss. These two words shows how I have been training her. "stop" is for me to stop her without having me to grab her. "dirty" is for me to tell her not to pick up rubbish from the ground. But when I say rubbish, she will pick it up and throw it into the rubbish bin. It's funny too. I wonder how her brain is associating dirty and rubbish now...

Delphine Cleaner

A salesman came by today to demonstrate what the delphine vacuum cleaner could do. Their selling point is that it can suck dust at very low power, 50 watts, as compared with 1600 to 2000 watts vacuum cleaner. They claim this is because they don't use filter bags to trap dirt, hence they don't need the extra power to suck dirt through the cloth/paper filters. The design is very ingenious to an engineering person. The use of 3 turbines above a basin of water generates a core of low pressure that creates an air flow system that drops the dirt that is sucked in into the water. His explanation is that dust particles are positive ions and when sucked out from the air creates a negative ion atmosphere, which will diffuse all over the house, technically cleaning the whole house with the machine stationary at one corner of the house. So I asked him, do you mean that I will also be cleaning the corridors and all my neighbours' homes? He said no. lol...

First he showed how it can be used as an air purifier. After testing this, I confirm that the dust really left the surface of my house with this machine. We have a 2000 W vacuum cleaner which does only 50% of the job, and with the supermop we bought which is supposed to trap even more dust, and magic cleaner wipes, all in, still cannot fight the effectiveness of this machine. And it can do the job in lesser time and power, that was why I was sold.

Next he cleaned the mattress. I should have taken a photograph of the grime. The water looked like a big cup of cuppucino, the foamy parts were incredible. He said they are a combination dead skin cells and dust mites, as dust mites feast on dead skin cells. The design is also very intelligent. The machine vibrates the mattress to send the dust up. Maybe it's because it's the first time i see such a machine, but I was blown away by the design of the brush for the mattress cleaner... It has a helixical-shaped brush with gaps, instead of the standard straight brush, to create an air flow that covers a larger surface area.

After that, he said the machine can also clean air con pipes and air con filters. He cleaned our air con pipe but there wasn't much to suck out. We hardly used the air con, and few months back, we got all of them cleaned and serviced.

He also showed that the brushes can be used to clean the walls, curtains, table top, etc, not impressive, standard stuff.

He also said that the machine can clean choked pipes. I asked him to clear our toilet basin's choked pipe. The pipe was cleared in 3 minutes. Efficient. It was very very very very very smelly for the first minute. After the 3 minutes, the water pipe was as good as new. The water now drains out 20 times faster lol. Sold. I never thought that clearing a pipe means forcing compressed air through, much like blowing balloons into blocked arteries to force the grime to unlatch from their cushy spots and flush them down the sewerage system. I had been brain washed by plumbers since young that clearing choked pipes means sucking them out onto your own turf and then washing them down. That isn't the solution to choked pipes, much like clearing the phelgm in your throat.

The max power is 900 W, only used to blow choked pipes and suck air con pipes. Other times, vacuuming the floor requires around 100W, vacuuming the wall, sponge mats, because of static, require about 300 W. I am quite satisfied with the machine. Now I am just looking forward to see the electricity bill for this month. If it reduces, then I think the machine is not only efficient, but also productive.

Total cost of ownership = $3,424

It will be worth every cent if nobody falls sick in the house. I have already spent more than that on yaya's medical bills since the day she was born, so if it works, I will endorse it.

It claims that cleaning with this machine prevents allergies, asthma, eczema, and if you believe it, helps you maintain better skin and complexion. Well, it's not too hard to believe, if dust particles are a rare sight.

And maybe I should rent out the machine to cover the capital investment.

And and and... if I eventually come to terms to endorse it, each machine I sell purportedly gives me $500 commission.

On second thoughts, as long as nobody falls sick in the house for the next 1 year, the investment will pay off.

Oh, and the salesman carries a prada bag, dunno whether real or fake.

what yaya does at 16 months

I am always observing how yaya learns. I take note of how she learns and then use the same method to teach her the things I want her to learn. So she is learning faster and faster each time. She only took a few hours to learn how to press the play, stop, forward, volume buttons for music on the iphone, she knows where to get the ring tone, and shewill press them one after another, line after line, to listen to the different tones in amusement, she also learnt how to drink from the straw after possibly 5 tries. I used the normal straw from NTUC, 1 packet 60 cents, because I couldn't be bothered to buy those kids straws because it wasn't practical at all, I won't get such straws when I am eating out. The first few times was hilarious, she choked, face turned red, and looked frustrated.

Recently, even though she has been kept at home, she learnt how to turn her body 360 degrees, and she was tipsy after that. She definitely felt what it was to be giddy, and was very amused. She kept spinning and laughing and I kept laughing till I forgot about taking a video. She also looks for objects to step on, likes to feed herself with her hands, walk backwards, run with both her hands facing backwards, repeat after words she knows, nod or shake her head to answer you, and point to the object she wants you to get for her. After her diaper change, I will hand her the diaper, and she will walk to the dustin in the kitchen, throw it in, and walk out. She knows the kitchen boundaries when the hubby is cooking, she can only stand at the door.

Most importantly, she doesn't put everything in her mouth. She only takes food from people she knows, and dirt, chilli seeds, garlic skin, hair, etc, that she picks up from the floor will be dutifully handed over to me.

However, she is very demanding, just like me. lol... I need to always teach her new things to do to keep her occupied because she is a perfectionist who will keep practising until she always gets it right. After that she will be bored and wants to try something else. If it's something too tough for her to master, she will scream at me and throw her temper, so restraining that side of her requires the violent side of me. So that's the trick I use to teach her all the antics she has now, and also leave her alone to practice so that I have time to do other work. She hasn't started talking, but her 3 bodily hand signs are sufficient to get her fed.

15 months almost

The lack of updates has been partly due to the added workload, added even more after the last update, and also the arrangements that had to be planned for yaya's termination from childcare. After her being sick for the whole of december, my mudder practically called me everyday to "nag" at me to terminate yaya's childcare. I sourced for alternatives, checked for vacancies for infant care around convenient places, and also tried to look for nannies, all didn't work out, and then my mudder said she will look after only mon, wed, fri, 3 days a week, and told me to take leave for the other 2 days, told me to convert to part time, and other stressful things.

In the end, my mudder said that she will look after mon, wed, thu, fri, and the balance tue every week, I had to alternate with hubby to stay at home to look after yaya, then we submitted our one month termination notice, and her last day will be tomorrow. Other arrangements we had to make include planning how to shift all her barang barang in school home tomorrow, how to plan our tuesday for the next few months, plan what time I have to reach home, so that my mudder can go home to cook, and in the past few days looking for a car seat so that my mudder can still drive around if she needs to, instead of being grounded at home with yaya. This arrangement will only be till yaya starts her playgroup childcare on 1 June. That will be another round of planning.

The rest of the time, I was planning for our holiday trip, where to go, when, book air tickets, hotels, calculating expenses, and then leave arrangements. When there is something to look forward to, the shxt at work matter less. Work wise, I will only describe it as chaotic. My supervisor was reluctant to approve my 2 weeks leave, but he still approved it in the end, very reluctantly.

Him: Must you take leave in may?
Me: Yes.
Him: Can you adjust so that it doesn't impact the project schedule?
Me: Ok, then I take leave in apr.
Him: Have you booked?
Me: No. Check with you first mah.
Him: Can it be after june?
Me: And if the project can't end in june?
Him: But if you take leave so near the launch date, you need to be around.
Me: So I go for my holiday earlier loh. I think there is a lower chance that the project can complete in may than after june. (since it hasn't started yet)
Him: It will be better if it's later.
Me: Like when?
Him: Any time after june.
Me: And what if there is another last minute project like the one I only know in end jan and the launch is mid march?

So he conceded to my request.

Randomly, one day while on the way home from work, I thought to myself, if I were to lose my job or decide to quit without a job, I think I may have a higher chance passing off as a freelance copywriter than a freelance programmer. And private tuition seems to be getting more lucrative than ever.