valentine's, always epic

valentine's, always epic

Every year, Valentine's is pretty epic for us. Last year, I fell off a chair. This year, oh, this year. All I can is  someone one up there is pushing us to top the game each year.

For the life of me, I couldn't decide on what gift to get G this year even though I started thinking about it waaay early. Actually, I haboured a secret thought for a long time - I absolutely hate the pair of shoes he wears to work and I had thought Valentine's was the *perfect* excuse to get them changed; but I also knew those shoes are what I wanted for him, not quite what he'd want for himself. 

Furthermore, upon embarking on my shopping trip for a decent pair of shoes, I was SO bored and confused! All men's shoes look THE SAME and I couldn't quite remember if he was a size 42 or 43. And then the design and colour - do Asian men wear anything other than black? Would anything fancier than plain be too loud for work? 

So. I waited till the morning of Valentine's itself for some divine sign to fall into my lap. But it did not. I sat at Starbucks, between an interview and a lecture, mulling over it. Finally, at 11.51am, Saint Valentine spoke to me. He ordered that I get a spa package for both of us because... Wait, do you actually need a reason for a spa??

But... how do I present this gift to G? I can't possibly print out the receipt and maybe laminate it before presenting it to him like some certificate, can I? The latent Martha Stewart in me was about to explode. So after class, I went shopping for some materials so that I could make a voucher of sort that actually looks like a gift. Oh dear comrades, you don't decide to embark on a crafts project a mere 4 hours away from dinner. You just don't. It is mission kazikame. 

The envelope was the only thing that turned out decent-looking, because it was first to get done.

So after the great battle of paper, glue and scissors (hey, this should be a new game!), I finally got down to dolling up and picked out a pair of vintage heels to go with my dress. By vintage, I literally mean that my shoes were 5 years old, but never worn because I couldn't find an occasion. Almost immediately after stepping out of the house, THEY SPLIT RIGHT OPEN ON ME! The horrors!

When I eventually tottered my way to dinner on the alternative pair of 5 inches, I was 20 minutes late and my toes were yelping for help. I was all ready for face the wrath of the hungry man. But oh that man, that good man. He sat me down, ordered us a bottle of wine and everything was better at once. In fact, everything was perfect. How can it not be? Candle flickering between us, lights and stars glittering all around us, the clink of wine glasses surrounding us. Mostly, us. I couldn't ask for more. Happy Valentine's, my dearest.

Oh right, my camera just had to die at the exact moment I asked for a photo of us.
Thus the noir-et-blanc to save the lousy iPhone flash. 

CNY traditions, old & new

CNY traditions, old & new

Width of smile is proportionate to the amount of alcohol in this family.

My family is not too big on Christmas and New Year's, but when it comes to the CHINESE New Year, boy, that we're super big on. I secretly suspect it's Mommy favourite festive season of the year. We go on a crazy mission to rid the house of every speck of dust, decorate the entire house (which includes but is not restricted to the lift lobby) in red and gold, plaster posters of the favoured animal for that respective year on the walls, cook enough to feed an army or maybe two. I always describe my CNY as nonstop action-packed!

Being my mother's daughter, I am crazy enough to add new traditions of my own to the list and make the fullest of the festivities to meet up with all my loved ones! Of course, it starts at home with a huge reunion feast, prepared with so much love by Mommy, topped with copious alcohol. It's always a battle between Daddy and I, to see who loses the war with the Z monsters after. Hahaha.

Then it'd be a trip to Glenn's, usually on the second day, to bai nian to his parents and extended family. And I tell you, his extended family really redefines the meaning of "extended". There are so many aunties, uncles, grandaunts, granduncles, cousins, nephews and nieces! And man, you definitely do not want to mistake the niece of your boyfriend as his auntie. But luckily, or should I say unluckily, for us, his nieces and nephews are actually all little enough for me not to make that kinda mistake.

I sincerely hope no one mistook our relations. It must have been a such a shock.

This year, with Glenn's jiejie being away, we were in charge of taking the little tots down for a walk. Man, this walk in the park was definitely not a walk in the park. And these are two people who did not have much sleep the night before due to mahjong kaki duties. We were up till 6am and went to bed just before sunrise! I even have a Hello Kitty toy to prove my visit to McDonalds in the wee hours (the only hour when any 22yo dares to order a Happy Meal and ask for the toy, really)!

And of course you'd totally expect me to have friends who love the festivities as much as I do and celebrate as religiously as I do too. It's been an annual gathering at Phuay's since we were in JC and we've been keeping it up every year since then! It's always like JC reunion, except better, with pineapple tarts and angbaos!

Then it's our annual pig out session at my place with the closest and the oldest friends, who all love my wonderful Mommy more than they love me. Yes, over the years, they have sort of given up on hoping that I'd inherit some of those culinary skills. I've been declared a lost cause in the kitchen. Hahaha. This year I invited some of the touch girls and mixed up the group a little and everyone enjoyed the new dynamics very much! What friendship can't be forged over a pack of poker cards and some loose change from the angpaos?

See, I really wasn't kidding when I said CNY is nonstop action-packed for me. How was yours? (:

of rainbows

of rainbows

Glasgow, 2010.

On the eye of the Lunar New Year, after a magnificent bout of afternoon showers, a double rainbow rose over the Singapore skies. It was beautiful. (Or so I've learnt afterwards, looking through the endless stream of photos on Facebook.)

In another time and place, we were together, our feet soaked from the wet grass, standing atop a hill, in the middle of the Necropolis. Then the evening sun peeked out for a wee bit, its rays hitting the tiny droplets that were dancing in the air, forming a rainbow halfway across the sky. I was so thrilled. This must be a sign that, put in the most cliched words, we will brave all our storms together. 

Rainbows, I hope they'd always remind me of that afternoon in Glasgow. 

2012 so far

2012 so far

I am bouncing and bursting with excitement as I type this. Not the usual I'm-so-excited-about-this-party-I'm-going-to kinda excitement. It's more of a rich sense of anticipation, like watching a good movie and smiling before the end reveals itself because you just know. 2012 holds so much potential for and promise of beautiful things waiting to happen and there's such a certainty in my heart that I'm about to first implode then explode with joy.

In this moment, as my fingers dance across the keyboard following some cosmic choreography, this is the last day of 2012 and the last day in forever. In this moment, I imagine life to be a long, winding railroad cutting through breathtaking landscape and snaking through dark caves. In this moment, I alight at a platform perched on a cliff, where I have the astounding view of the past, the present and the future. The platform is today, the last day I'll know, until the next day comes. 

So, the last day. We won! And damn, it feels good! It's been a long time coming. Fast backward a couple of months. I was stuck in a rut, sick of commitments and tired of trying. I didn't want to play anymore. Somehow I stayed. Somehow I played. Today, I remembered why I love this game and why I love this team. I am good at this. The dive, the speed, the hands. I've got it. Today, we showed it. 

40 minutes and a victory later, I see a text from G, wishing me luck and reminding about Uncle G's birthday dinner. Boots in hand, dress unkempt and bag over my shoulder, I ran barefooted to the lobby into the cab that I called. In a rush. Headrush. Heady from all the love and attention from people who are quite suddenly, family. 

"How's your eye?" "How's your eye?" "How's your eye?" 

In the year 2012, I had a serious eye infection. I saw four different doctors and spent a Sunday evening waiting at the A&E. But I've never seen this love so clearly before. This love is fierce. This love is tender. This love has cradled me through pastoral paradise, brushed past jagged cliffs and brought us into the heart of the stoic mountains that stand majestic. We are in a clam, serene place. It's a good place to be in. 

I stand on my tiptoes and cast my eyes further into the days. The rest of 2012 in retrospect: wearing my sparkly prom dress to a wedding dinner, witnessing the exchange of vows as the sun set over the ocean, being an hour early for class on the last first day of school, cannonballing into the sea from the roof of a yacht, partying like a rockstar at my first hen's night. 

This moment is over. The whistle has sounded, the conductor beckons. I step towards the train, one foot on the tread, and took one last long look, not quite believing that I've sort of tumbled and cavorted through all of that in the span of 17 days.The whistle sounds again and the wheels chug. Here we go, 2012! I absolutely cannot wait for the rest of the 348 days. 

found: valentine's gifts

found: valentine's gifts

While looking for some ribbons and stickers, I opened up old boxes and found cards, letters and various mementos that I've collected over the years.  These are the Valentine's Day gifts I've received from G over the years, each one with its own story.

2009.

2009 - our first Valentine's together. A sleek black box, labeled Angel. He told me about the days he spent in Germany, where he walked as a lonely man on the streets when he found this. Jumper and Angel came in a pair, and he bought them both, knowing some day he'll find someone for Angel. He did.

2010.

2010 - our second Valentine's together, but away. A long red envelope, addressed to me. I waited and waited, running across the small apartment to the door each time I heard the postman's footsteps. It was a white Valentine's in Montreal, beautiful but lonely. He asked "Do you know how much I love you?" I do. 

2011.

2011 - our third Valentine's together, again. An old brown box, yellowing with age. It said "G, give this to the woman you love." A story from sometime long ago, before I knew him. Deutschland encore, a special person in his life made a prophecy about us. He gave it to the woman he loves.

Maybe, I could have loved you before I met you. 

of elevens

of elevens

The music is too loud, we complain. We are getting too old, we concede. The night is still young, we concur.

Moscato wine from the bottle, favourite place by the river, eleven our magic number.

High and giggly from all the alcohol, we stroll along the skyline of our city, humming softly. The urban fireflies dot the skies, stars in the background. Why did they say the city is not made for love? We are. And that's quite enough.

We feel young and almighty, the weight of the skyscrapers light as feather. We make pacts for the future and get lost in the present moment. A lie is a cooperative act, but we speak only the truth. Your reputation precedes you, but I say love precedes us. And it'll be here a long time after we're gone.

Do you believe in absolute truths, I ask. Nothing about this moment is real. We live in our construction. We construct us. We create the world in our imagination.

Some time in history, light years ago, in a form different from what I am now, I imagined this moment.

Eleventh of the eleventh, eleventh of the eleventh of the eleventh.

(This word begins to look like an elephant. Maybe I'm a little drunk. Incoherent poetry for those who live in dreams. Postmodern. But I digress.)

11:11. 11/11/11. One and one, always a pair, never alone. Isn't that what everyone wishes for?

Happy 11th, my wish-came-true.

double deux

double deux

I was actually going to blog about my birthday celebrations on time, but I was waiting and waiting for that birthday dimsum with my family, which never quite happened because we couldn't find a free day! We even postponed it all the way to late April, so that Mommy and I can celebrate together with my brother, but even then, we couldn't find find a good Sunday morning to do dimsum! I think we're waiting for my dad's birthday now, which is in September. Hahaha. Fingers crossed. But before you go away tsktsktsking at what a terrible modern busy family we are, let me assure you we've had countless dinners together, enough to celebrate 10 times over. :D

So anyway, because I love celebrating birthdays, I've had 3 celebrations this year! :D

On the day itself, with Glenn: 

Check out the wall murals and G's birthday card for me. 

Fake lomo. Hahaha.

We headed to Greenwood Avenue for the famous pizza, and boy, was it worth getting lost for awhile! I thought it was unnecessary to make reservations for a weekday night, but it turned out that I was completely wrong. The place was packed, even at 8pm! So we hung around, and played the "Shall we be nuts and order the largest pizza?" game before we got a table and decided not to. Haha. But one day I will go back and have that hugeass pizza, I SIMPLY MUST!

Over the weekend, I celebrated with some of my oldest friends:

Dinner at the underlit Overeasy.

Lovely skyline calls for a long stroll and many photos.

The girls (and boys) and I had breakfast food for dinner at Overeasy, One Fullerton. Not a bad place, with an awesome view of the MBS! It was so dim inside that if I weren't such a breakfast food lover who cannot wake up in the morning, I'd have had a hard time convincing my stomach to down the breakfast platter. I love how the girls managed to get me a cake in secret!

The next day, a very late brunch with my touch girls:

Finally, happily seated.

Really, who needs dinner food??

 

  Camwhore in the ladies!

I really, really wish Wild Honey would take reservations because the queue is CRAZY long. Bless Nana for reaching early to get us a place in the queue. It was my first time at Wild Honey, and honestly we waited close to 2 hours for a table and no surprise, yours truly wasn't very pleased, so I gave them the dagger eyes while Karen smiled her ever-so-charming smile and somehow they presented the birthday girl with a birthday cake on the house on top of some complimentary muffins they served to prevent us from fainting from hunger. In conclusion? We had a lovely, lovely taitai brunch! I totally want to be doing this 10 years down the road still. :D

So yes, I did have a very, very happy birthday. (And yes, I am still waiting for that family birthday dimsum meal to materialize come September. Haha.)

one big family

one big family

Glenn's little sister turns 18.

This is how it is at every celebration with Glenn's family - everyone takes time off and comes together. This is when I start to miss home and family - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. This is when I realize... big groups are nightmares for waiters-turned-photographers - I don't understand how the waiter missed Glenn altogether TWICE; he was sitting on the far right, NEAREST to the waiter. So I photoshopped him in. Hahaha.

falling for you

falling for you

Why I fell for G - too much food at Marché.

I spent this Valentine's being late, setting a new record for speed-shopping for presents and ogling at Natalie Portman at Black Swan. Later in the evening, I made sure Glenn remembered this day well and good - I broke my good old sturdy swivel chair while leaning in to give him a kiss, and fell onto the floor with a loud "blop!". He broke out in fits of laughter while I tried to glare at him. Yeahyeah, a very romantic Valentine's Day to you too.

I remember Hamburg

I remember Hamburg

I remember Hamburg. And I want to write a song, or a story, so that you will remember Hamburg as I do.

The strange woman we kept running into, in her queer dress. It wasn't loud and flamboyant, nor was it anything striking to remember by. It was stark and stern, her face without a smile. We were placing our orders by a roadside cafe, smiling and gesturing to the waitress who didn't speak the same language. The strange woman was tall and alone, marching on with her eyes set on a horizon we couldn't see. I remember her roaming the streets of Hamburg. I remember my backward glance at her as she walked on. I remember Hamburg.

The blue lake with its white boats. The blue sky with its white clouds. We talked and laughed and built castles in the sky. You held my hand and I smiled in secret, dropping a coin on the pavement, making a wish by my own tradition. I close my eyes now and I can feel the German breeze in my face and hear the song of ducks splashing in the water. Small white petals floating in the air, dancing, like fairy dusts, like it was snowing in spring. I remember my fascination and endless questions. I remember you laughing. I remember Hamburg.

The dark, Gothic buildings looming on the opposite shore, beckoning. Landmarks of a strange land. It was a destination, a terminus for tourists on a pilgrimage. It was a long walk around the lake. We stopped for pictures, framing the city as we remember it. The buildings have names and stories, but I don't quite remember them. Yet I remember the pair of friends who walked by as we crossed empty streets to get to the aged cathedrals. I remember being the only ones in the quadrangle, as if Hamburg belonged to us. I remember Hamburg.

The bright orange that decked the streets, people cheering. 11pm and the sky was still bright. It was a nation at war, eleven warriors in black against eleven others. We marveled at the roar of the city. I bought a flag, striped black, orange and yellow, an emblem of my transient loyalty. You holler with the boys, the patriots, the vagabonds and the uniformed men. I remember the old gentleman, with his white hair, black suit and brown walking stick, smiling with a gap in his teeth and wrinkles around his mouth as we gave our seat to him. I remember the Ghanaian on the subway, the loner wayfarer in a foreign land, standing by his homeland. I remember the rest of Hamburg smiling at him, a city celebrating its country's victory, embracing all who have come to Hamburg. I remember Hamburg.

I remember Hamburg. Do you?

happy CNY 兔 you!

happy CNY 兔 you!

Reunion steamboat at home. (Beginnings of overeating)

Reason for overeating. CHECK OUT THOSE CUTE RABBITS! Mommy made them by hand, from scratch!

Culinary queen at work.

The task of doing up the house falls to me every year (under Mommy's supervision of course, but let me claim whatever credit I can, please. There really isn't much. Hahaha). I really quite enjoy putting the red stuffs all around the house!

Always a time for family and friends. And angpaos! :D

Happy CNY 兔 you!

pompeii: italy/singapore

pompeii: italy/singapore

Entrance to the exhibit. That's a dog contorted in its final moments of death.

Glenn and I had a very intellectual date the other day - we went to the museum, again! This time, we didn't just decide to go because we've never been before; we went to see a specific exhibit - Pompeii, Life in a Roman Town 79CE. I whipped out my phone and dialed Glenn's number the moment I read about it in the papers. How could we travel a gazillion miles to Pompeii (and miss its museum) AND miss this exhibit now that the mummies travel the gazillion miles for us?? We have to go!

The prettiest hostel we stayed at, which is right beside a super scary old church with a sealed entrance. Hostelworld described the landmark as a "little red church". Imagine my shock.

We had to take a million trains and subways and more regional trains to get there. Pompeii is near the Italian city of Naples btw. And have I mentioned we missed our last train back and had to take a cranky old bus which took 2 hours on cobbled streets and then WALK back to the hostel at 1am? It was mad scary cos Naples isn't exactly the safest city in the world and the fact that the police didn't speak English didn't help. In fact, I was so scared at one point I almost screamed and wanted to pick up an empty beer bottle along the roadside for fear of the drunkard across the street rushing over to rob us or something! This is why you stick with the boy even though at some points you feel like jumping off the moving train. And I apologise for the exceptionally long caption. Hahaha. One gets carried away with travel tales.

Authentic Italian food (for tourists) to start our day (at Pompeii, if you're confused by now Haha).

So after much planning, we re-visited Pompeii some 6 months after our actual experience of the Roman city which was completely buried by the first Plinian volcanic eruption (or the first that was so named) within 24 hours. The pyroclastic flow happened so fast that the people were buried in the act of running, and forever fossilized in that manner. Okay, there were not reaaally fossilized but they left impressions in the hot lava which a clever archeologist guessed correctly and then they poured resin into it and created the statues we see today. Or something to that effect.

I think I should add an disclaimer here: historical/archeological facts are NOT accurate. This is not Wiki, and even Wiki isn't 100% foolproof as all you academics should know by now! I'm sure you guys don't read my blog for geographic/historical information ANYWAY. Right?? Hahaha. I sincerely hope you don't.

Casts of the bodies and lots of artefacts excavated. Bottom one is an exhibit here.

So anyway, the point is that the town was buried for a good 2000 years and disappeared from the map and from history until someone found it about 200 years ago! The archeologists then dug up the 6 meters of volcanic ash and whatnots, and voila! Pompeii reappears on the world map! They found that much of the architecture was intact, or as intact as it can be following a volcanic eruption, so now we can walk through a town that is 2000 years old.

Main square of Pompeii town upon entering.

This is the volcano that erupted and took the town off the map.

It is pretty amazing because the streets are almost gridded, which is the system used in Manhattan today! There are eateries (the Pompeiians were very modern and loved to eat out), bath houses, stadiums, holiday chalets and even brothels! The roads were pretty well-paved, and if you look closely, you can even see two strips of dents created by the wheels of the carts (I assume).

Love these two shots and how the grey skies make for great contrast against the ancient stones.

Here's something you don't see at the exhibition - 2000yo brothels! The murals serve as some kind of karma sutra, inspiration for those who need. Hahaha.

Stadiums where gladiator fights took place. They estimated the size of the population in Pompeii by measuring the circumference and then dividing it by the average width of a person. Creative!

The exhibit in at the National Museum of Singapore did pretty well in recreating the city for us. The long murals bearing images of the city walls, the layout of a typical house, the strategically placed exhibits and the short 3D film depicting the eruption were really quite well done. Imagine the details that the curator has to pay attention to! Prior to this guided tour, I always thought curators had shit boring jobs, like wiping down the glass tops of exhibits and stuff. New found respect!

Imported mural and the ones at the actual site.

They imported this whole fountain so that we can see the details of the mosaic. Check out the shells embedded in there!

All other things that I enjoyed at the museum - the colonial architecture, the 3D film and the readily available clean toilets!! And of course, my outfit, which actually emits some form of fashion sense that completely disappeared in Europe with the constraints of a suitcase.

Anyway, the exhibit will go on for another 2 weeks, and guess what? It's OPEN HOUSE! Which means its freeeeee! I finished the last leg of my Europe tour at the exhibition, maybe you could start yours there!

Until the next!

best memory: december 2010

best memory: december 2010

Steamboat, old friends, sangria, a round of never-ending pictionary with heaps of laughter, pitting brains against brains at bridge, waking up to love in the new year. The best memory of the month is seeing the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 with the oldest and the dearest.

merry christmas!

merry christmas!

Have a blessed one y'all!

three's a crowd

three's a crowd

So one day, WTL didn't wear me out enough, and I decided that it would be an excellent idea to bring all 3 dogs out for a walk. With ONE leash. Because Kiki (mother) and Bimo (brother) came over for a visit and no one had ambitions so grand as to walk all 3 of them TOGETHER, there was no extra leash. But me, being me, was so excited about seeing all 3 of them that I whined Glenn into bringing all of them down for a walk with me.

It was a nightmare from the beginning. The moment we took out the leash, all 3 of them started whining and barking NONSTOP. Because all 3 of them were excited about going out. And when we finally put on all their collars and ushered them into the lift, the lift had to open on the 6th storey, where an Indian couple was waiting for the lift. The 3 doors, all hyped up and unleashed, dashed out of the lift barking at the top of the lungs. The Indian couple wanted to kick our furry monsters! ): We apologized profusely, and then hung on to them tightly when the lift door opened on the ground floor.

Glenn, knowing the dogs better than I do, chose to cradle Bubblez and hold Bimo on the leash. So I was left with Kiki. Now, Kiki is the size of a little sheep! And she has the energy of a cow! She kicked and struggled and scratched until I yelped for Glenn to decide on a spot to let them down. Once they were all running amok, things were good for awhile. Until we realized that Kiki has the tendency to run and bark at every human being who was not us. Especially little kids.

Kiki is in the bottom right photos - doesn't she look like a sheep??

Looking good for photos huh?

This is how it was like in reality!

Always trying to run out of sight.

So we had to move them away! Away from the the shady playground and into the sunny exercise corner. Once we were there, we let them all roam loose. Glenn stood in the shade holding on to Bimo's leash while I ran around like a headless chicken chasing Bubblez and Kiki to make sure they didn't get lost. Or knocked down by a car. Or kicked to death by someone else they terrorized. Or actually catch a bird and kill it. Or get scratched by a cat. (Yes, Bubblez is scared of cats.)

I tell you, I played 2 full touchrug games that morning, and nothing came close to chasing 2 crazy dogs who love to chase people and birds respectively!! And on top of that, they each shat at least twice and I had to pick the shit up while still yelling BUBBLEZ COME BAAAAAAAACK and KIKI SIT DOOOOWN! Glenn decided that his job for the afternoon was to remind me that it was NOT a good idea to bring all 3 of them down for a walk at ONCE. So he only came to help me when I was on the verge of tearing my hair out. So mean right!

And when we finally headed home after 30mins, we were EXHAUSTED. And the dogs? Happy and satisfied. No more barking symphony for the rest of the day. :D

Favourites, at the end of the day.

thru the boy's eyes

thru the boys' eyes

What do you think of when you walk into a store with decor such as the above? COSMETICS! FACIAL CARE! EVERYTHING PRETTY!!! Right? And then you start the endless debate on which brand, which product range, which shade, which price, which... It goes on.

Now, let me share with you what was going on in the boy's head the whole time I was battling the million little voices in my head. When I turned to him, and asked him, "So how, babe? Which brand to go for!"

He replied calmly, "Have you noticed how they cut the whole piece of acrylic just so they can fit ONE product nicely into each slot? Every slot has the exact dimensions of the product it was made for. Now, what if the company decides to change the design of the container? Or even simpler, make bigger bottles of whatever's inside there? It's not very practical, is it?"

See these were the little potholes that attracted his attention.

And there were MANY of them. Bad.

I blinked twice, and dragged him away from the little potholes on the cosmetic shelves and ventured towards another counter with perhaps less precisely cut potholes.

"Hmm, should I give Sephora's house brand a try or should I stick to the tried and trusted but very expensive M.A.C.?"

He went on, "And now if you look at the way these mirrors are tilted... A girl your height would find it perfect. But how about a taller girl? See, someone my height won't be able to see her face in the mirror. What if there was a sudden increment in the average height of the population?"

I plodded on, dragging him towards the very pretty display of the colourful Sephora bath gels, hoping it might distract him a little. And what can he say about a simple glass cabinet, right? Afterall, there were neither precisely cut potholes nor weirdly angled mirrors.

But the boy proved me wrong: "And I was looking at all these shower gels. Notice how certain colours are never full while others are filled to the brim? And it's the same old colours with an empty gap in the bottles. I suspect there's ethanol in those few colours, and the ethanol evaporated, therefore leaving the gap."

I marched out of the store, with the boy in tow, and a sweet smile on my face, "Let's go look at boys' stuff now." I was truly afraid that too many long minutes of boredom would do further damage to both our brains.

Post-script: Photos stole from all over Google and her.