Grandpa's 70th: The undelivered speech

A part of Grandpa's dinner celebration involved speeches honouring Grandpa. The plan was for Packrat and his brother to say something followed by Grandpa's best friend saying something and then, us the daughters-in-law saying something. It was going to be a night of speeches and with a bunch of young kids running around, we decided on a truncated version of the list of speeches. Inevitably, the daughters-in-law round was the round to get cut.

But Grandpa still wanted to hear what we had to say and it seemed like an apt way to round off the my entire series for Grandpa's 70th.

What we were going to do was to tell those gathered some things that they didn't already know about Grandpa.

And this was what Jordan and I came up with.

1. Dad always wanted a daughter but we think he got more than he bargained for with his wife, two chattering daughters-in-law and three non-stop nattering grand daughters who occasionally rise to decibels that only dogs can hear. We all love him very much but we sometimes wonder if he misses the quiet.

2. Dad loves and cherishes making memories. He isn't big on treating himself to big luxury items but has brought us all on holidays and never says no when we ask him to come on holiday with us. JED will grow up remembering both grandparents in all their early holidays. They do not stop talking about the holidays they have gone on, with their grandparents. In fact, when we travel without Grandpa and Grandma, JED ask where they are. 

3. Dad is a great cook and loves cooking for those he loves. We all look forward to Sunday lunches because it's always a feast. When we were in Hawaii last year with them, Muffin went through a phase where he only ate fried rice and it HAD to be "Ah Gong's" fried rice. Grandpa's dream is for his grandchildren to ring him over the week to let him know what they want for Sunday lunch. God bless him and Grandma when all 5 children each demand something radically different!

4. Dad's been a great influence on our children. We have two 7 year olds who are as excited to watch BBC's Blue Planet as they are to watch Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo. And our 4 year old went through a time where he only sang the Prologue from Les Miserables. Only Grandpa and Grandma understood why Muffin would spontaneously bellow '24601!'. (It's a Les Miserables thing)

5.This is from Jordan so it's Grandpa rather than Dad. Grandpa dreamt of being a hairdresser. How do I know this? He always has a comb in his back pocket. And when my hair is messy, he takes it out and combs my hair beautifully.

So there, the bits that were going to make up my speech to honour my 70 year old father-in-law, father to Packrat and Ah Gong to JED.

To many more years of love, laughter and long vacations!

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Undoing the damage

We have been back for almost two weeks. It feels like an entire life time ago that we were in the US. JED still talk about the holiday. It's the basis of their in jokes that no one else understands. We're finally over jet lag and we've had to start facing the reality of

a. Unpacking 9 pieces of luggage and facing Christmas at the same time and finding space for two sets of Primary One books; and that is paralyzingly overwhelming.

b. Buying uniforms, school shoes, bags and other school paraphenalia during Christmas week.

c. A spelling list of over 100 words. Even though they are simple words that the twins know, we still have to go through them to make sure they haven't fallen out of their heads.

d. The fact that they actually have a second language. A month of only speaking a smattering of Chinese has made their Chinese word recognition take several steps back.

But more dire is the need for us to undo a lot of their habits that they have inadvertently picked up over the last 5 weeks.

1. Stop eating junk food.

JED's grandparents like many others live to indulge their grand children and one way they do so is to ply them with junk food. They have eaten more ice cream, chocolate, french fries and burgers this last month than they have in their entire life time. Now that we're back, Evan continues to ask for ice cream after lunch and dinner. They ask for french fries at random times of day and ask for burgers when we eat out. I continually explain that it is different at home. We have access to other foods and the burgers here are crap; the burgers we fed them in the US were had fresh lettuce and tomatoes spilling out of them and we were constantly giving them burgers from In and Out and other joints that promised fresh rather than frozen crap.

2. Jumping into the water at all times of day.

Having spent 2 1/2 weeks  in the ocean or in the pool for 3 to 4 hours a stretch, being in the water became part of the every day routine. And this need to be in the water hasn't gone away. In fact, it has been the reason for many tantrums and tears. The weather now is blessedly windy and cold. This means that swimming is often not an option for them, from a mom's point of view. Of course, they don't get that and think that I am depriving them of pool time out of malice or ill intent. So it's been a battle every day when the first request the twins have once they wake up is to go to the pool or the beach.

3. Watching TV

The rule in our house is that TV is something that only exists for them on the weekend. On vacation however, they had free access to the TV. We needed it to be like that because we had to cook, wash their swim gear or basically just get a break from their incessant noise. Muffin, especially, thinks that he can still sit in front of the TV all day and not move, speak or blink. The twins are a little bit easier to convince and it is tempting to go back to that because they get pesky but as long as it is just Packrat and I, we try to hold out.

4. Sleeping early.

Traditionally, bed time is 7.30. On vacation, because they ate with us and we had to clear up and wash up after, bed time got pushed to 9 pm. That also meant, they didn't wake up at the crack of dawn. This continued back in Singapore because of Christmas and all the merriment. But with school 3 days away, we need for the older two to wake at dawn. So, we have already warned them that they were going to have a quiet New Year's Eve!

The adjusting and unpacking after the vacation makes me exhausted and I have declared over and over again, in the last 2 weeks since coming back that I need a vacation to really recover. I really has been an overdose of domestic parenting and part of me cannot wait for them to go back to school and for me to go back to work.

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Jet lag

We are back after a 14 hour flight to Seoul and almost missing our 6 hour connection back to Singapore. Airlines should not think that 45 minutes to get off the plane, clear security and board another plane is possible. It wasn't as Amazing Race crazy though because we had agreed before hand that it wouldn't have been the worst thing if we missed our flight and stayed a night in Seoul. My only condition was that we did not sleep on the airport floor regardless of how pretty Incheon Airport was.

Anyway, they held the flight for us as ground staff whisked us through security much to the anger of many others standing in line. My guess was that it cost less to hold the flight 10 minutes than to put up 6 people, who missed the flight, in a hotel.

So we are back.

And I have to face the much hated jet lag.

I have always hated the jet lag that comes with flying from the US. Mine manifests as morning sickness- nausea, dizziness and depression apparently brought about by the lack of sleep.

This morning, I had another revelation. That if my own jet lag felt like morning sickness, jet lag with JED naturally and truly does feel like having infants up at all times of night.

JED lost consciousness about 7pm and we thought that it was close enough to their usual bed time that they would sleep right through the night. Unfortunately, like when they were infants and we foolishly thought that going down for the night meant staying down for the night, it was wishful thinking.

By 2 am, the two boys had big big eyes and were awake and wanting to play, Muffin wanted to play with the shadows in the room and Evan wanted to go downstairs and watch tv. Even though the first thing I did was douse them with sleep inducing antihistamines, it took two hours for them to fall back to sleep. Muffin, like an infant, demanded two feeds of milk to make up for falling asleep on his dinner.

Jordan, who had slept through her brothers' shennanigans, woke an hour after her brothers fell back to sleep. She decided at 5 in the morning to be sensitive to my calling her "Baby girl" and burst into tears, once again, a throw back to her infant days. She did however calm down when I told her that I called her that out of love and affection. She declared then that she had "changed her mind" and was okay being called baby girl. If I wasn't so tired, I would have rolled my eyes. By that time, there was light in the sky and the familiar sour taste of bile in my mouth with a stomach churning.

The only difference is that with non-infant JED, both Packrat and I could coerce them, threaten them and show that our being annoyed at being woken at ungodly hours was an understatement. With an infant or two, there was no reasoning let alone yelling at them. Even as I write that, I am reminded of those brochures at the polyclinic blatantly imploring new parents to "NOT SHAKE YOUR BABY!".

Going, going, gone.

Unfortunately, jet lag features differently on holiday and back home. In reality, it means being muddled headed, getting JED ready for the day and cleaning them up before starting the day proper. Jet lag on holiday meant watching sun rises and allowing them to loll around in pjs while we tried to doze on the couch. There was none of that this morning.

One can only hope that tonight is better. And I remember the mantra of sleepless nights.

This too, shall pass. 

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Disney Lessons

We finally left the Hawaiian isles and went from heat, sunburn, sand and nature for the cold, gusty winds, chill burn and commercial crassness of Disneyland in Anaheim. It has been as different as night and day. Where there was miles and miles of sand and ocean, it became miles and miles of people.

We spent two frenzied days running from ride to ride and at the end of last night, Packrat and I wanted to just sit and soak our feet in the hot tub despite the crazy cold temperatures.

For JED, it was indeed the happiest place in the world. Their grins and shrieks threatened to split their faces. That being said, we realised that even though Disneyland is all about being commercial, it taught JED a couple of important life lessons.

1. Patience.

We went to Cars Land and decided to queue for the Radiator Springs Racers. To say it was a long queue would have been an understatement. The 5 minute race round the Radiator Springs required a 2 hour wait. And while Evan got whiny and Muffin got pesky at points, they made up games, they clowned around, they snacked, they went to the washroom three times and they waited.

2. Resilience.

By the end of the 2 days we spent in Anaheim, Jordan and Evan separately broke down into a puddle of tears. After a great amount of prodding, Evan told me that his feet hurt so much and Jordan said her hands, face and lips stung. It had been a truly cold and gusty wind and having spent the entire day out in the open, JED had chill burn all over and poor Jordan got it worse. And in all the time we spent out, the only time we sat down was for lunch or when we were in a ride. But for the most part, we were either walking from ride to ride or queuing for said ride. But through the day, they gamely ran round the park as if it were the Amazing Race and only at dinner when everything wound down did they admit to their great amounts of discomfort. Muffin was a bit more blatant about it. He would chuck a mega fit at any slightest provocation and then fall asleep almost immediately after. 

3. Prioritizing.

Each kid had favourite rides and we always knew the ride was a hit when at the end of it they exclaimed "AGAIN!". On hindsight, we should have bought a three-day pass instead of a two day one so that they could repeat their rides. Unfortunately, our lack of foresight meant they had to forgo repeats just to go try other rides. A wider repertoire of rides in exchange for accepting "no" as a response and swallowing disappointment.

4. Courtesy.

While there are things I don't agree with in the Disney Parks, there is one thing that never fails to floor me. All the Disney crew know everything. And however unreasonable you are, they deal with you in the most polite of ways. With the ridiculously long queues, the adults in our party divided and conquered. Some of us stayed with the kids on the rides while others queued for other rides. When we were done, we would race to the next ride that we were already in line for to hop on. For the It's a Small World ride, JED's grandparents had made it to the front of the queue before we got there. This meant we had to "Excuse me, sorry, please let us through!" a large number of people who were also patiently queuing. Grandparents who cannot stand to see their grand kids miss rides tried to circumvent rules and encouraged them to duck under barrier chains. This was when the Disney Crew member materialised and told us ever so nicely that it was dangerous for the child. No matter how much the grand maters thought volume could intimidate, the crew members were reasonable. And Evan noticed it. He pointed out how they were always smiling even though they must be tired and cold and they were always helpful.

5. Attention to Detail.

The wait for rides can be phenomenally long (see Lesson 1). But there is usually enough around us to keep us entertained for at least 15 minutes. Vignettes, installations, pictures and music. Muffin explored everything and the twins dance to the music and make up stories along the way. I loved that there were always things to look at and for the kids to discover. Much thought obviously went into everything, including a tunnel the train would go through and that's admirable. We were also told that the minute the park closes, the flood lights come on and an entire crew comes in, armed with brushes and a handy man tool belt, to touch up every single display so that it looks the new, bright and sparkly that we have come to associate with Disney. Someone once said that if anyone had Disney on the resume, it amounted to quite something. After observing how the place runs, I have no doubt.

JED had a great time and I am especially glad that Muffin understood and could enjoy more this time round. Unfortunately for now, all they remember of Disneyland is the blustery winds that caused them to be perpetually cold and resulting in chill burn all over their hands and faces.

Will we come back again? Not for a while I think. My feet need many more years to recover. 

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Achievement unlocked: Climbing a volcano

We're leaving Hawaii tomorrow. It's been 2 1/2 weeks of doing things that JED would never get to do in Singapore like hang at beaches with white sand and clear waters, waking up to the beach at the balcony and turtles swimming up to shore or seeing dolphins close up in the wild. 

They've scored many firsts this trip but the one that we are bursting with pride over is the fact that the twins, not Muffin because he had just woken up and it was too much to expect of him, trekked from the crater of a 300 000 year old extinct volcano (Diamond Head) right up to the rim of it. This meant a 2.6 km hike up to the rim and back down and that included 226 steps, much of it, steep or spiralled.

Between the two, Evan is often the one that will complain about how hot, exhausting, uncomfortable or painful any experience is. But this time, the sheer idea of being able to climb to the rim and look into the crater to where we had actually parked our car was enough to motivate him up the endless flights of stairs.

They stopped once, to drink some water but pretty much soldiered all the way up. I recently remarked that our vacation was extremely cushy and comfortable. This, after finding out that a friend of mine had taken his family to trek the Himalayas. Climbing Diamond Head doesn't really rough up our holiday much more but the fact that there was no whining, no dragging their feet and no one asking us to carry them/ piggy back them any distance of the way was enough to unlock a whole new level of achievement. And the looks on their faces, as they looked down and discovered how high up they were from where we started and how far they had trekked, showed that they had surprised themselves as well.

Their reward? Telling them we were most proud of them as well as a big bowl of shaved ice complete with that red, artificial sugar syrup drizzled all over it.

Evan has been telling us about how he has to do NAPFA in primary school and how scary and tiring it sounds. We're hoping to tell him that if he were able to climb the crater and back, he wasn't going to have any problem with any of the stations in his NAPFA test.

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Nature

Nature is majestic

 

The Kīlauea volcano in Kona. We had never been on a volcano, let alone the crater of the volcano with steaming vents. Evan was disappointed we didn't get to see some real lava flowing. The whole island is made up of lava rock and is constantly growing because of the lava flow. What struck fear in my heart was to be told that people on the island slept with half a tank of gas in their car at all times in case any one of the volcanoes erupted and they needed to be evacuated.

Nature is surprising

A 15 minute walk  from our apartment is the shoreline. It isn't manicured or disneyfied. It's raw and unadulterated. That means it's uneven and slippery rocks and extremely frightening for me to watch my mountain goat children prance from rock to rock. Amongst the rocks were tidal pools filled with little surprises for JED to discover. Sea urchins in different colours and sizes, sea cucumbers that their grandpa wanted to bring home to make soup with, living up to the Chinese stereotype that we would eat anything, hermit crabs that took walks all over Jordan's when she picked it up and I insisted had to be returned to the exact rock pool she picked it up from and tiny fish and crab that Muffin continually exclaimed about. We spent 2 afternoons there and I saw Evan, more than a few times, just stand still look out into the ocean's expanse and just smile.

Nature is whimsical

The twins discovered a large praying mantis just chilling on our rental car. Muffin fought them and insisted it was a grasshopper. They insisted Packrat remove it humanely and release it into a bush. But not before they pointed out all the differences and similarities between it and the grasshopper.

We took JED out on a glass bottom boat as well and while it was fascinating to see the coral fish in their natural habitat, the highlight of the trip was to come across a pod of spinner dolphins. They came close to the boat, they jumped, they spun and they twirled. It was an unrehearsed circus act. They stayed for ten minutes, turning around to beckon the boat to follow them. And just as soon as they showed up, they disappeared without a trace.

Nature is breathtaking

Sunset is about the most awesome time on the islands. The sky is a cacophany of colours and even though the drive was a long one back from the volcanoes, we could not help but be awestruck in wonderness by the colours in the sky.

Nature is frightening

When in Hawaii, do as the natives do. And what they do is to spend all their time on the beach. So that is what we have been doing. And the beaches are mostly lovely and inviting. JED fell in love with this beach 10 miles away from our resort called Hapuna, in Kona. So we went two days in a row; the second day with boogie boards that the twins were now itching to try. 

Unfortunately, Hawaii is also known for its huge crest waves that people surf and powerful rip currents that can pull unsuspecting swimmers underwater. And the second day we were at Hapuna, there were the ominous red flags planted all over the beach and more people on the sand than in the water. 

It took about 10 seconds to see and hear why. The waves curtaining most of the horizon were coming in fast and furious and crashing so loudly Muffin put his hands to his ears. Packrat remarked that the sea looked like Milo because of all the sand that was being tossed up by the force of the waves. 

No way was I going to let them swim but Packrat waded them a little out just to feel the remnant wash of the wave. They became pretty good at spotting the big waves and knew instinctively to run towards shore. 

My favourite snapshot of nature however can't be photographed. It's the multitude of bright stars against the black velvet night sky here. Because it's so dark in Kona, the stars really twinkle like diamonds. We even managed to see a couple of shooting stars. That has made Packrat barbeque dinner every night because it gives him the opportunity to sit and stare at the night sky while the meat cooks on the grill.

Our experiencing nature here isn't as if we were in Tibet, Nepal or trekking in the jungle somewhere. It's pretty sanitised. And even then,  in JED's words, 'it's still pretty AWESOME'.

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Water

We've been in Hawaii for 10 days and on the days that we weren't sight-seeing, JED have been in the water. They are not discerning. Pool or sea, there is always an attraction.

The twins' swimming instructor had told me that I needed to make sure they had time in the pool while we were away so that she didn't have to go back to square one with the strokes. She really didn't need to remind me of that because in this case, it was preaching to the converted.

The water highlights have been different for every one of them.

For Jordan, it was meeting a mermaid.
The resort we were at in Oahu had a 'Swim with a mermaid' thing. We didn't tell her about it but shepherded them in the direction of the mermaid. Even though the water was freezing cold and she was shivering, Jordan never once left the side of the mermaid. She touched her 'tail' and tried to swim with her, listening rapt while the mermaid told a story about polluted oceans and how the mer-people were suffering because of people destroying their world.

For Evan, it was a tunnelled water slide.
To be able to do it, the twins had to pass a swim test. Jordan went down it screeching in excitement. Evan was very hesitant till Packrat went down the tunnel. And once he summoned enough courage and he went down, he wouldn't stop. And went again and again and again.

Much to his disappointment, we couldn't bring the water slide to the Big Island. Thankfully, in the Big Island what it didn't have in water slides was made up for with a beautiful surf and waves that he could ride in on. He has declared that tomorrow, we are going back to the beach at Hapuna with boogie boards.

For Muffin, he needed to be coaxed into the sea water because to get there, there was sand. He was the slowest to fall in love with the water. Each time, he would play chicken with the waves, wading as far out as he dared to go and charging back to shore as the waves chased him inland. He never failed to generate an amused audience as he wrestled the waves. We knew he was comfortable enough when he asked Packrat to take him out to where the waves broke to float back in. If we ever came back to Hawaii, he would be totally ready for the boogie board that his brother is yearning for.

As for us, the water has been delicious. I am mostly terrified of the water being cold but the water and the waves have been inviting enough. Packrat lives in the water as long as the kids are in it and he hasn't complained either, relishing the cold and clear water. Apparently, even the salt taste is clean.


JED's colour are testament of how much time they've spent in the water. If it weren't so obscene, I would post pictures of their tan lines. Muffin however is a shade of charcoal black that I cannot imagine getting any darker and at this point, we have another 9 days on Hawaii.

It truly has been an epic session of water play for JED.

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Heat

The most important thing that I brought to Hawaii, after our passports and money, wasn't the medicines for the kids or diapers for Muffin but sun block.

Beach heat

 In Oahu where JED literally lived in the pool and on the beach, the sun was baking them a different shade of brown. The words "Slip, Slap, Slop" (the Australian-put-on-sun-block-to-prevent-skin-cancer campaign slogan) was constantly on the tip of my tongue. Even when we weren't on the beach, the heat was formidable.

To combat the Oahu heat and mindful to prevent heat stroke attacking my extremely stoked JED, I demanded

a. They dunk their heads constantly in the sea or the pool. Muffin was most displeased when I emptied an entire toy watering can over his head.

b. Constantly dragging them out of the water to drink water. Muffin proceeded to tell me that he peed in the ocean.

c. Go back to the apartment for lunch at mid day when the sun was at its fiercest.

d. Go back to the pool that was the shadiest; though that caused Muffin's lips to turn blue. The sun really made a difference in Oahu. The temperature between sun and shade was remarkable.

e.  Wear hats when they were on the sand or out with us. Pearl Harbour was beautiful for its significance and carefully manicured surroundings but there was so little foilage that JED sought refuge in the strangest places i.e. a cactus of sorts and under a Polaris Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM).

 Desert Heat

On Big Island or Kona where we are now, the heat is different. Dry heat. The Big Island is basically volcanic rock so the air is dry, the heat is dry and the brush is dry too. the threat of bush fire is always high. Desert heat, essentially.

Evan would not let us get away with being in Kona without going to see the volcano crater. He had fantasises of seeing red, molten lava flowing.

Note to anyone who wants to go visit a volcano, remember that a volcano is many thousand metres above sea level and is therefore very, very uncharacteristically windy and cold. So despite the idea of the intolerable heat from molten flowing lava, we were stunned by the cold winds with Jordan declaring it colder than freezing Korea.

The saving grace? Steam vents emitting volcanic steam that schizophrenically blew comforting hot air on us followed by chilly winds making everyone shriek.

So this holiday has had us occasionally thankful for the heat and other times dreading it and now JED know that heat isn't generic and not all forms of heat are equal.

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Food

One thing we do a lot of when we travel is to book accommodation where we can cook. It cuts costs, is much healthier and reduces the aggro of eating out with 3 children. In the Northern Hemisphere and in the USA, eating out is expensive. For a party of 8, just eating Tex-Mex pushes the bill over $100 easily.

So where ever we go, one of our first stops is always the supermarket. When in the US, shop like the Americans. Well, sort of. I take full advantage of the fact that a million grained, organic, hormone free, non-processed alternatives are available at a quarter of a cost they are in Singapore.

Jordan loves the fruit that we are able to get, Evan asks for spaghetti and meat sauce every moment he gets. He is in heaven because there is so much cheese and potatoes available at every meal. Muffin just keeps asking for fried rice, which is difficult to produce when we are out.

Their unanimous favourite, the Horizon milk that we got for them. In 4 days, they drank 6 litres of the milk.

Their grandparents derive a great amount a lot of joy seeing them eat with voracious appetites. Muffin and Evan have truly chubbed up in the recent months though Jordan still stay lithe (then again, she doesn't eat all that much)



I remarked to no one in particular that the children were getting rapidly Americanised. Milk at meals instead of water, something they have never ever requested in Singapore. They claim the taste of the milk is 'yummy'.

Every mother worries about how much their kid eats and it is a relief that they are eating well here. My only fear is that they demand the same kinds of food in Singapore. That truly, will break the bank.

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Sleep

Travelling half way round the world means that the body clock gets very screwed up. Because we are older, we are better able to cope with it but for JED, it has truly gone amok. Thankfully the both flights we were on flew off at night. We insisted that they slept.

This meant that
a.  we insisted they slept at home before we left for the airport.

b.. they were not allowed to be on any electronic devices.

c. we gave them cough mixture. Coincidentally, they all flew with coughs and the GP insisted they have cough mixtures. Happily we acceded.

d. they skipped all their meals and we let them.

e. us parents got a little bit of sleep although my grouse was who uses 747s anymore to fly long haul. Canned sardines had more space than we did.

Unfortunately, the sleeping through the flight wasn't enough for them. Muffin refused to wake up and had to be carried off the plane. The minute we got into the car to go to the hotel, the twins fell back to sleep.

At 7 pm Hawaiian time last night, JED were asleep though Evan woke at midnight, wide eyed and demanding to go to the beach in the middle of the night.  He complained that his body clock was still on Singapore time so he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. So, for And even though Jordan slept through the night peacefully, she woke up feeling green, massively miserable and nauseous. She is still sleeping (at 1230 pm) although now, she has migrated onto the couch.

Jet lag is really running amok with that one. I don't look forward to the jet lag homeward bound. But I won't have to think about that for a while more.

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Cold (Korea)

We have begun our epic 2013 adventure to Hawaii, Los Angeles and San Diego. It started with a 12 hour layover in Seoul. The airline, bless their corporate heart, gave us 2 rooms at the Hyatt with lunch vouchers for all of us.

That made us, parents, extremely thankful for somewhere for the kids to nap, chill and take a shower.

But for JED, all they can talk about was the cold. When we landed, it was 2 degrees Celsius.  They put their faces against granite pillars, hands in water in the hotel pond and breathing mist all the while shrieking at how cold it was.

As the one who was in charge of packing for the trip, I had groused at how cumbersome it was to bring heavy winter jackets for a twelve hour layover. I tried to sell Packrat the idea of just staying in the hotel room for 12 hours. Packrat's eyed glazed over at the imagined cabin fever and aggro JED would cause us in an enclosed room over the period of half a day.

It was a good thing I did pack it, gloves included because they had so much fun running in the cold and getting the tips of their ears so frozen it hurt a little bit. When we left, it was at freezing. And when you ask them about Seoul, that's all they will tell you, about how cold it was.

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