Superman Returns

If you haven't already figured it out, Jesse is in his Superman phase now. One minute he's mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, the next minute he's unbuttoning his shirt and baring his chest all over town. It seems like you can't take any shot of boy minus the pose. It's infuriating.

As you can imagine, he's got a growing collection of Superman paraphernalia, including the costume. But it's not enough that he has the suit, he also insists that I get one. Thankfully, they only have t-shirts for men my size. Just imagine me in blue tights and red underwear. Not a pretty sight, believe you me.

Anyway, Mae decided to get in on the action and got herself a Superman t-shirt too. However, in his eyes, Mommy is Wonder Woman. Now, does anyone know where can I get my hands on a Wonder Woman costume? Please understand that it's not for my kinky fantasies enjoyment. I'm just doing this for my boy. Really.

No Eye See

I have a tendency to leave my spectacles all over the place, so this morning's episode wasn't terribly unfamilliar to me. Except that after over one hour of searching, the damn glasses were still nowhere to be found.

"Honey," I called Mae on the phone, "did you happen to see my glasses?" Nope. "What about Anie," I asked if the maid had seen it. No again.

By then I had overturned the entire house. I was late for work. And the bloody specs were still nowhere to be found. So, I decided to go to work blind. As I left, I called the wife again.

"Maybe Anie accidentally broke them," I presented my conspiracy theory to Mae, "and decided to get rid of the incriminating evidence." While I spoke, I found myself making my way towards the trash disposal room, half expecting to rummage through this morning's garbage. Thankfully, I came to my senses.

As I drove, I called Mae again. "Maybe you took my glasses."

"Of course not," she snapped, quickly losing her patience. "I can't wear your glasses without getting a headache!"

"Maybe you put them in your handbag by mistake," I suggested, sheepishly. I was getting desperate. "It could happen."

"Don't be silly," Mae scoffed. Damn woman scoffed at me. And I took it like a downtrodden little boy, defeated. Wasted and spent, by my cheap hundred ringgit glasses. And a wife who scoffed at me.

Half an hour later Mae calls.

"Erm... hehe... I have good news and bad news," said a self-righteous monkey of a klutz on the other end of the line.

Ho ho ho. Sweet revenge.

Christmas in PD

We had a nice little Christmas getaway this year. Most of the family were away and we decided to get out of town too. Also, I had been working so much that it was a nice change of pace for me.



Ever since our last beach holiday in Pangkor, Jesse's been re-enacting his little playtime on the beach. It was quite cute, but quite sad all the same. He'd bring out his sand castle bucket and spade and play pretend burying his own feet in make-believe sand. So we decided to do this for him.



This time around, Jesse decided to give swimming a pass. For some reason, as he grows older, he seems to be more fearful of stuff. I could see the fear in his eyes as we got into the water. I would have like to throw him in but that would probably cost me in therapy fees in the future.



We stayed in Guoman. It was a lovely place and there was a nice manicured garden where folks flew their kites. And we flew our kite. Now it must be said that I only learnt to fly a kite when I was 18, and that was the only time I ever managed to get one airborne. So I wasn't so sure if our kite would pull a Charlie Brown on me. Thankfully, the wind was great. But it didn't matter much to Jesse. For him, all the fun in flying a kite was the running around.

And now, on with the program! C'mon 2008, we're waiting. :)

Waiting

I'm in Johor again. But if it seems like I never left there since my last blog entry, please accept my apologies for my half-assed attempt at blogging.

When I left for here on Sunday, I told the boy I would be back by Thursday. "When's Daddy gonna be back?" I asked to make sure he understood me. "Thursday!" he shouted at the top of his voice, cheerfully. A little too cheerfully, in my opinion. Hmph!

Still, I have come to accept the fact that life goes on, even if I'm out of town. He's got so much to keep him occupied that I'm surprised he even remembers who I am.

But today at bedtime, Mae calls. "He refuses to sleep," the wife reports, "he says he wants to wait for Daddy."

I'm grinning from ear-to-ear just thinking about it. I guess my boy does miss me after all. And that is surely a good enough reason to update the blog. :)

Away From Home

Today I leave for Johor on business. It'll be a 3-day trip. And in about 2 weeks, I'll have to go again - for 5 days.

I used to look forward to getting out of the office but these days I just hate the idea of being apart from family. That, if anything, is a sign of growing up. Or growing old. Ugh!

This morning, I explain to the kid that I would be gone for a few days. And like I always do before I leave, I impart a little fatherly advice and instruction."You take care of Mommy, okay?" I told the boy. "Okay, Daddy" he answered sincerelt, and added, "Jesse play with Mommy"

Hah. At least I know Mae will be entertained while I'm away.

Musical Adventure

On Friday, I got a couple of passes to Yamaha's Asia Pacific Junior Original Concert. The APJOC is a showcase of talents borne out of Yamaha Music's Education System, and boy, what a showcase.

Every year some 35,000 compositions are submitted from all over the world. The best from Asia Pacific perform at the annual APJOC all around the region. This year, however, the concert is hosted here in Malaysia. The last one was in 2001, and the one before, I attended in 1996.

We took Jesse there, since its probably the only concert he'll be allowed in at his age. Besides, we were curious to see how he'd take to such a show. He was so into it that he sat quietly for most of the 2-hour concert.

The music was amazing, ranging from charming little numbers on the piano to complex symphonies played out on the Electone. With the quality of the compositions on show, it's easy to forget that these kids are actually performing there very own original compositions.

Halfway through this 8-year old's riveting piece, Jesse starts bouncing on my lap excitedly. "Daddy, I wanna learn this," he says, pointing at the handsome Electone on stage. I smile weakly at my son, while, in my mind, I'm working out monthly repayments, interest rates, and stuff from home I can bring to the pawnshop.

So yeah, if anything, the APJOC is a great big propaganda to get you to enrol your kids at Yamaha. Next year, Jesse will be learning music with the school's Junior Music Course. And Daddy will be eating cheap instant noodles for lunch everyday.

NOTE: Go read Dustyhawk's review of the concert.

Yamaha APJOC

The Yamaha Asia Pacific Junior Original Concert is an annual event held in countries around Asia Pacific. This year is Malaysia's turn to host. The last one in Malaysia was held in 2000. It features kids, from 7-15 years of age, performing their own original composition. However, if you think that this is a kiddie affair, you would be shocked. These kids write stuff far beyond their years.

I have 4 pairs of press invites to this sold out concert. However, these are reserved for bloggers only. The concert is tomorrow (16 Nov 2007, Fri) at 8:00pm at the Dewan Sivik Petaling Jaya in PJ State. If you would like to experience the APJOC, do mail me at thatjames[at]gmail[dot]com.