About a Nut

The world is changing so rapidly. Earlier this year, rides like Grab and Uber were introduced. And then a few months back, bike-sharing entered the scene. The transport scene has changed so rapidly. I’ve lots of thoughts about that, but today I wanna talk about hitching. 

Grab had a $6 promo code for GrabHitch, and my ride basically cost only $2 after the discount. My normal train ride costs $1.23, so I thought, why not? 

The idea of hitching is essentially carpooling. Drivers can pick up others near their workplace, and drop them off along their way back home. In return, hitchers pay a fixed fee calculated by distance. Grab simplfies this by precalculating and collecting payment on behalf. 

But all I’ve typed so far is actually not the point of this post. What was “interesting” about this ride was how much a total stranger can tell you in just half an hour. Here goes ….

• The driver has regular hitchers
• He feels some other drivers abuses the hitch platform because they can’t get the license to do it as a profession
• He works near me
• His scrapped his car last year
• His current car is from his recently deceased mum
• It has 1 year more before it has to be scrapped 
• He has a bicycle in his boot
• He cycles occasionally at MacRitchie reservoir 
• He believes excercise is important. 
• He thinks Sweden has basic income, which allows their people to spend time on more creative stuff, and thus they have so many inventions. 
• There’s a jap BBQ place Shima at Goodwood hotel, where you can eat but not come out smelling like smoke cause they have a booth that “febreezes” you
• Something about good jap food at Takashimaya basement 
• He’s weary about dropping me at the bus stop, because … cameras & fines. 
• The other 2 hitchers – one stays in Bishan, one stays near him in Toa Payoh
• 1 works at a JTC building, 1 works at Mediacorp

All this in just half an hour. This is just the stuff that I remember. It’s crazy how much one can tell a total stranger in such a short period of time. 

Btw, I hate small talk. But because I was sitting in front, I felt obliged to engage. 

So there. Haven’t tried another hitch so far, because … no promo code. 

D just turned 3. He has been speaking in complete sentences for awhile now. He doesn’t parrot and seems capable of deducing things. 

Like I was telling his dad the other day “shhh … didi is sleeping”, and D promptly said to his dad “Daddy, Mummy said you must be quiet”. 

He also likes to gives instructions:

D: I kick the ball to daddy, then daddy will kick the ball to you. 

After our recent Parent-Teacher session, we made another astonishing discover. D apparently also speaks complete sentences in mandarin in school. Also he’s the only one that speaks complete sentences in his class. 

It’s a surprise to us because he hardly speaks mandarin at home, and we were actually worried he might have problems with mandarin in future. 

We have also been using mandarin as our secret language whenever we want to discuss something, which we don’t want him to hear. Apparently he understands most of what we’ve been saying. 

We had our suspicions – S & my mum spoke Hokkien, and instantly he had a frown on his face and looked upset that they were saying something he couldn’t understand. 

A new secret language is necessary. Time for me to learn Hokkien. 

My almost 3 year old decided to forgo his nap. He might not need a nap but I most certainly do. Zzzzz. 

He also figured out dour knobs a week ago and has been happily letting himself in and out of rooms. We need to teach him how to knock. 

… just reach out and open it if that’s still where you want to go!

My almost 3 year old has finally figured out how to open doors. And he’s been happily letting himself in and out of rooms. 

Ahh … the joy of independence, and a whole new world to explore!

I find thunderstorms kinda therapeutic. The rumblings and the pitter patter of the rain drops. 

But now with D having developed a fear of thunder, whenever there’s a thunderstorm, I wonder if D is ok at school, if he’s freaked out. 

Hopefully he outgrows that fear with age. Then we can enjoy watching the thunderstorms together. 

It’s fun to see toddlers actually start holding conversations with you that show that actual thought is involved. 

And it also makes us mindful of what we say around him and how we react to different situations as he tends to mirror us when he talks. We usually ask him to “see my mouth” when he mispronounces  new words, and on occasions he likewise tells us to do the same thing!

Just today alone, these happened. 

Gong gong was asking Uncle to hurry up, and decided to carry D up with him to hasten the process. Grandma told D not to go up if not he’ll have to come down again, to which he replied, “Don’t worry Nana, it’s okay”. 

Then he was in the room watching TV. He stood right in front of the TV and yelled at him not to stand so close. So he went and stood at the side of the bed instead. 

Later that afternoon, he was trying to give Grandpa instructions on what to do outside. It involves cutting the branches of our tree. Lol. 

The funniest one has to be the incident involving peanuts. My mum forgot to buy chopped peanuts for her popiah party that evening, and was going around saying “I forgot peanuts! We don’t have peanut! Lemme call X and see if she has peanut!” And then she walked into her room. D ran after her shouting “Nana don’t call! Peanut (our dog) is outside! Peanut is here!” I guess that’s what we get for naming our dog after a food item. 

7 more weeks till N arrives. D has shown to be a pretty good big brother so far to his cousin, being gentle with her, and actually being interested in seeing her. Hopefully he will accept his role as big brother to N without too much jealousy or fussing. 

Not sure how being a mum of 2 will be like. I’m going to miss being a mum of 1, but at the same time look forward to more adventures as a mum of 2. 

Recently, my little toddler has taken to having long conversations on the phone, while pacing up and down the dining room. It’s mostly gibberish though, but it’s cute cause he’s actually imitating his grandma. 

His vocal vocab has gotten a lot more extensive, and it’s cute to see him practicing words on his own when he wakes up in the morning. He repeats words, including words introduced to him the day before, in that cute little voice of his. One of them was “sock shoe” as his attipas shoes are actually a sock-shoe hybrid. 

It’s amazing how kids pick up language without formal lessons. I’m thinking repeating words is part of the language learning process!

#21.5months

Today …

S: Do you want me to teach you how to read?

D: Yes. 

S: The fire station is open. Say after me.

D: After me. 

????

——

Last week …

Me: Are you a boy or a girl?

D: Boy. 

Me: Is daddy a boy or a girl? Daddy is a?

D: … Daddy

Me: Then how about mummy? Mummy is a?

D: Mummy. 

????

——

Some time back … 

S: Do you love mummy?

D: Yes. 

S: Do you love daddy 

D: No … 

S: Why?

D: Because Daddy is so … Daddy. 

#good???????????bad????????