Happiness is... creating a treasure trove of memories

生不带来，死不带去。

We bring nothing with us when we are born, we take nothing with us when we die. That is why I think that tangibles like money and valuables as well as intangibles like fame and power should not matter so much to us during our lifetime. At least, I don't think they matter a lot to me.

What matters more to me is building up a drawer upon drawer of cherished memories, spreading kindness to family and friends, finding the simple joys and making sure that we love hard, love deep and love from the heart.

In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about creating a treasure trove of memories because that is what I think we bring with us when we pass on. A contented heart, a fulfilled life, and countless happy moments from the past.

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For my 40th birthday this year, I got for myself a present that I've been wanting for years. Nope, not diamond rings, luxury bags, designer shoes, expensive cosmetics or giant bouquets of roses. Those truly don't interest me at all and I would rather not spend a penny on them. But for this, I would willingly save up for months and then spend everything on it.

Look! This is my mini treasure trove containing lots and lots of love and happiness. These 36 pictures were specially curated because they each represent a memory that I hold close. Together, they kind of tell the latter half of my life story, starting from when I got engaged to the hubby on the Eiffel Tower. 15 years on, we are now Mum and Dad to four lovable kids and still have a lot more to learn and grow in this parenting journey.

Weekends are precious family time so even if they are usually filled with bickers and non-stop nagging, we still make sure we do things together and spend quality time with the kids. The FunFam Sports Fest 2023 was a nice way for us to bond as we conquered the station games one by one, including walking on planks, balancing on blocks, shooting down cup pyramids and wearing hoops on our heads for the others to aim and throw balls in.

I wish we can continue doing this kind of stuff even when the kids are much older. Please don't say you don't wanna hang out with your old Papa and Mama already, okay?

We love visiting our airport because there's always a lot to see, eat and do. Jewel is a great place to hang out and we can never get enough of admiring our majestic Rain Vortex. This month, we went for a night's stay in Changi Experience Studio where we got the opportunity to stay in a tent, paint and craft our very own airport, and the kids also had a chance to go on a flight simulator and interact with a real life pilot.

Water playgrounds are still well-loved by the little ones. This was Ansel's first visit to the one at Kallang Wave Mall and he had lots of fun! This little one is very blessed to have his Korkor and Jiejie to take care of him and play with him. Among the four, the firstborn is the one who is least keen in water play and now that she is all grown up, such playgrounds don't appeal to her anymore. So while the rest were having a splashing good time, I took her downstairs for some one-on-one time as we shared a scoop of gelato and a glass of iced chocolate. There are the moments that matter.

See this boy who is fast growing up? We were debating if his romper was that of a pilot or security guard but I decided on the former and he looked so cute with his pretend luggage. Well, at two years old, he still hasn't gone on a flight yet and I'm not sure when will his first experience be, but it's surely something we look forward to because holidays are always so much fun. Travelling as a family of six costs a bomb though, I know, and that is why we have to plan such vacations sparingly. 

Bouncy castles are always fun for the kids, especially when you get to jump, run and play with your siblings. We were at Jumptopia for the preview and had such a fun time there that we returned after dinner for more playtime and were among the last to leave. I guess the good thing about having more kids is that, despite the incessant bickers, they will never have to be alone. I also made sure I joined in the fun so toward the latter half of the night, I put down the phone, got into action and played with them. Memories are not just captured on camera, right? If anything, the heart is the best camera so make sure you leave behind moments that last and memories that matter to the kids.

At the airport again? Yup, I think we come here pretty often because there are so many events being held here. I would say media invites have been far and few this year and that is because I've greatly cut down on writing and sharing on social media too, but we are still thankful for every opportunity we get. The kids particularly enjoyed scaling the walls at Climb@T3 because indoor climbing is always so much fun. I challenged myself too and it was a nice feeling being there and trying my best alongside the kids. We always feel a sense of achievement when we get to the top and I am glad to see that all of them are enjoying this sport.

We love theatrical productions and will continue to support them for as long as we can. I feel that it's so much better to see real life people acting, dancing and singing on stage than to let the kids watch big screens only, you know what I mean? We caught Shaun The Sheep's Circus Show on stage and the antics were truly entertaining.

Despite what I just said about screens, we've always been avid moviegoers and the whole family loves going to the cinema. This month, we caught a couple of nice movies, including Transfers: Rise of the Beasts, The Little Mermaid and Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 and the kids were happy.

We made a trip back to Pasir Ris fishing pond so that the kids could try fishing in the sure-catch pond again and we could have fresh fish to eat afterwards. Haha. Just look at their happy faces when they pulled these huge mangrove jacks and seabasses out of the water!

Family meals are one of the best things ever and no matter how messy the house is, it is more important to come together to have a nice time over home cooked food, don't you think so? It is also the time when we talk and catch up with each other most. Don't get me started on the bickers, they are part and parcel of mealtimes too, haha. But I hope that these moments will leave behind heartwarming memories in the kids and one day when they are all grown up, these are the times that will be dearly missed.

One of the things we still love to do at home is dance! I think it might get harder as the kids get older and bigger and have their own genre preferences, but hopefully we can still come together to boogie to the beat every once in a while. Dancing makes us smile and makes us happy, and memories such as us dancing to Waka Waka and making human formations are something that I hold very close to my heart.

The hubby turned a year older this month and we had a simple celebration for him at home. The kids presented him with their handmade cards and I particularly loved how they drew submarines and personalised the cards for him. Like me, he doesn't need fancy celebrations or lavish presents to be happy and I think it's our simple mindsets that drew us to each other in the first place. 

He did suggest going to the beach and so we did it despite it being a scorching hot day. We spent a couple of hours in the sun, didn't really catch anything with our rods, took a walk on the sand, attempted to build sandcastles but didn't really succeed, yet we went home with our hearts full.

The last highlight for this month was my one-on-one date with the firstborn and guess where we went?

Yup, we went for our first concert together and of course it HAD to be a BlackPink concert. This girl is a Kpop lover and I was glad for being able to spend half a day with her because it's truly rare. We went for dinner and had ramen together, then made our way to the Indoor Stadium, stayed till the very end of the concert before squeezing with the crowd to take the train home and stopping by 7-Eleven to have cup noodles for supper before that. What a fulfilling night, what a closetful of memories.

That concludes the month of May for me and I think it was quite an happening one where I made lots of precious memories for keepsake. This is also why I still insist on jotting down these events and things that we did as a family - to remember.

I hope you are creating a treasure trove of memories in your life too and spending quality time with your loved ones. They are what truly matter at the end of the day.