We don't celebrate the boys' birthdays like we did when we were young. Back then, birthdays were big affairs and we would invite our friends and classmates - imagine a class of 40 kids at your home.
But I still feel it's important to celebrate in a simple way, even if it meant just having a small piece of cake.
It seemed like only yesterday that we left Hong Kong to come back home to Singapore. In actual fact, it had been 11 months. After almost 8 years in Hong Kong, we had relocated back to Singapore. In the 11 months that followed, much has happened.
JW was drafted into the Singapore Police Force. It was tough initially, but having his friends from SISHK who were his seniors at the Home Team Academy helped. Even his favourite teacher from SISHK joined them during his first weekend back from camp.
After 5 months of basic training, he graduated and as proud parents, we were there for his passing out parade.
JW turned 19 in January. We happened to have dinner with Wing's aunt at Tanglin Club. The cake was a nice surprise for him.
JJ attended JC as an immersion student when we first returned to get a feel for JC life and to see if he liked it. As expected, he did not and decided to apply for Poly instead. It was a time-consuming process to get all the information and attend Open Houses at the various polys over one weekend. It was an eye-opener as we did not realise that there were so many courses available. Facilities at the polys were also so good (compared to when I was at Ngee Ann Poly). It was a trip down memory lane when JJ and I attended the Open House at Ngee Ann Poly.
In the end, JJ got accepted into Temasek Polytechnic and he has just started his 3-year journey which will culminate in a Diploma in Hospitality & Tourism Management.
His 2 months working full-time at a seafood restaurant in Fullerton Bay has been really helpful. It was really hard work for him, having to work 12-hour days and on weekends as well. Even during Chinese New Year! But he was treated very well and I must say, it's one of the few restaurants where the boss treated the staff very well. During Chinese New Year when they had to work, they were treated to a 10-course dinner that included abalone.
As a staff there, one of his benefits was a discount and of course, we took full advantage of it. That was where we celebrated my birthday! Getting old...
So it turned out to be a really busy period for him, working full-time and going for basketball practice and matches twice a week.
It was an anxious wait for our new place to be ready. I had hoped it would be earlier. Eventually, we got our keys in June. But we were lucky in that we were one of the first few to get our keys. In a development of 700 units, we could have been the last to get our keys in July!
The 3-year long wait for our apartment was worth it. We got a gorgeous million dollar view - from the balcony and all our bedrooms. Absolutely unblocked views.
Without any renovations needed, we moved in in May. Since then, I have captured the breathtaking sunset.
With the unblocked view that allow a panoramic view of the horizon, it's really interesting to see the impending rain when the sun sets, as you begin to see dark clouds.
You can even see how the rain moves. What I did not manage to capture was the lightning which on a stormy day is literally a lightning storm.
Yup, it's been an eventful 11 months and we are finally home. In our forever home. For now at least. Because just as I believe you should never say 'never', you should not say 'forever' as no one knows what the future brings.
