A Rainbow for Year 2008

Some weeks back, my colleague who sits in the room beside mine, discovered a rainbow during the late afternoon, and I had the great opportunity to capture it on camera as well. It was a warm feeling to be able to watch a rainbow from your own office window! It was great that she made it a point to tell everyone nearby about it, so that we all had a chance to enjoy the wonderful and beautiful rainbow.

Here's wishing everyone a beautiful year ahead, with lots of wishes fulfilled and pots of gold at the end of your rainbows!

Children's Garden

This is how we spent Christmas day last week. The kids went to explore Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, which is a new place built along Bukit Timah Road, near the entrance of the old NIE school. There were different areas to explore in the garden, from a treehouse, a suspension bridge, to a water-play area, to a sandplay area, and also, some exploration areas where you can touch and feel different plants, and make music from a tree-trunk. There is also a small amphitheatre where functions can be held in the premises.

The Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, opened on 1 October 2007 and was developed at a cost of $ 7.3 million with the support of the Jacob Ballas Trust, Dr Rossalyn Leong and Reef Holdings, occupies 2 ha of land at the Discovery Core of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, next to Bukit Timah Road. The main aim of the Gardens, is to provide a natural educational setting that promotes the theme that "All Life on Earth Depends on Plants".

Me, Santa?

What would Christmas be like if I were Santa Claus?

Then I would live in the North Pole, and get loads full of toys for the year. I would eat all the chocolates and ice-cream I want so that I can keep my tummy big, and grow a beard as white as snow!

Well, that is, IF, I were Santa Claus.

Christmas Party

Held a Xmas party for ex-colleagues recently, and it was heartening to see nearly everyone turn up. Every year, I take pictures of the kids so that we can appreciate how fast they change. This year, it was a challenge keeping everyone together.

We also took a picture of the ladies together. We had a good time catching up with all who came, and I will certainly organise it again next year!

J-Naito 2007 (Dinner & Dance)

It was J-Naito and everyone was looking forward to it. I didn't know what to expect, since it was my first attendance at the company's D&D. What I did know was that I could not understand why people would choose not to go for the D&D, when the door gift (just for showing up in the theme), is shopping vouchers worth S$150! I could not believe it! But dinner was just a buffet spread.

There were 12 tables of employees and their spouses/partners.

I didn't get any lucky draw prizes (there were only 25 prizes), but the program by the events company was really entertaining, not to mention someone who could imitate 'Simon Cowell' really well when making comments during the Best Dressed competition. My colleague's sarcasm was really witty and appropriate for the occasion! More photos in my flickr album.

Sophie's First Day at Eager Beaver

Sophie is eating breakfast in school with Ethan.

She has been "promoted" - she just started with the toddler class (teacher Jocelyn) in Ethan's school today, and it was her first day there. She has left Agape as it is too crazy bringing 3 kids to 3 schools. She didn't drink much milk, but was well-behaved and ate lots of food. She only cried when she was awoken unexpectedly by someone else in the neighbouring class. She only slept 1 hr for the whole day, when she should have slept at least 2 hrs like the rest of the kids.

Hope she sleeps and drinks better tomorrow.

Ethan as a Dolphin

Ethan's school had a song-dance item which was entitled "Rainbow Fish", and he was a dolphin in the last item for the concert - was very draggy waiting for him to appear, as the concert lasted nearly 2 hrs!! Cannot imagine right?

Anyway, Dad made a video of it in YouTube, and it should be cool to watch!

Zack's Year-end Concert

Zachary's school had a in-house Christmas concert in school recently, and his class performed a Choo-Choo train item. This is him in action, but he got distracted when he saw me, so he had to be carried.

The toddler class in his school were bumble bees and they look really cute!

Sophie at Work

Sophie's been doodling and she loves it. Here she is in action!

Ethan lost his first tooth

Here is Ethan with his new look - he lost his 1st tooth on Saturday without realising it. He said he felt funny and told Daddy about it. He had brushed his teeth, and apparently spit the tooth out into the sink without knowing. He told Daddy, and even though Daddy checked, he could not find the tooth in the sink. He must have rinsed really hard! Anyway, the tooth was already getting loose.

Well, so much about the tooth fairy...he wasn't the least concerned about it...

About Rotterdam

Spent a few days in Rotterdam last week on business trip. Landed on Sunday, took a quick nap, and did some shopping - bought only food. Learnt that there is a Sinterklaas or St. Nicholas, and bought some sweets (marzipan) to commerate the season.

I also ate some traditional Dutch food, including Stroopwafel, and Uitsmijter. The Uitsmijter is quite 'sinful' to eat - it's made of 3 pieces of bread, stacked with 3 fried eggs with ham and cheese. I also ate another one with bacon and eggs on another occasion during lunch! After this, I won't be eating eggs, ham or bacon for weeks! So 'ge-lak'!

Rotterdam is known to have a vibrant arts scene, I was told, so along the river, there were quite a number of sculptures that have no explanations - it's up to our imagination. Here's my version of the 'worms' along the river.

As it was a rather cold and wet week, and it turns dark after 5pm, there was nothing much to do, except to have dinner and go back to the hotel after work. The supermarkets here also do not supply plastic bags or bags for your groceries, so we are expected to bring our own bags when we shop!

BlackBerry 8707g

I've recently inherited a BlackBerry (from work), and wow, never knew it can be so complicated. Ethan looked at it and asked why it's called a Blackberry, when it's not a berry. Well, it beats me! Anyone knows?

Reading mails on the BlackBerry can be addictive - you feel like you are doing work all the time when you read your office email...and so, they say that our generation of people are so techno-savvy, I wonder what our kids will be using in the future when they work?!

Junior Dad and Tin Tin

We had tim sum at Yan Palace Restaurant with Dad junior (with glasses) and Tin Tin to celebrate his birthday. We also ate 'fried' ice-cream.

I Need a Pair of Boots

Somebody tell me where to get a good pair of boots. Am flying to Rotterdam next week, and need it for the cold weather! Couldn't find what I wanted today at Bata, OG, John Little or Robinsons.

An Office with a View

My new office (it's MINE!) is located on the 31st floor and has a nice view. It's very roomy, and I have a printer, fax machine, several drawers and storage space, etc...what you see is about 90% of the room, I couldn't take the right side of the room. What I would like to do, is to personalise the white wall space (beside my PC) a bit, so that it doesn't look so cold. I'm facing a super-gigantic map of the world (you can't see it) in front on my desk on the wall.....pretty awesome!

Work is busy, as I've already started hands-on stuff and also, catching up on current issues. It's an exciting time ahead!

Be careful what your kids watch on TV

You know the TV has a definite effect on your kid when the following situation happened to us:

It was a leisurely Sunday evening. We were watching the "Funniest Annimals" TV show after dinner. You know, the ones where they get home videos of animals in various situations, and give a funny commentary along with it.

Well, they were doing a feature called "Desperate House Pets", and Ethan, as if he was the commentator as well, said "Yah, like Desperate Housewives like that......" in a rather "I know what you mean" tone.

Wowwww, wait a minute there, he had never really seen any episode of the "Desperate Housewives" serial on TV, so I asked "How did you know it's like Desperate Housewives?" Ethan said, "Yah, I know, I saw it on TV before"...and by that I assumed that he saw the adverts.

Well, this is a classic case of kids absorbing what they watch on TV......it's fantastic. Imagine what they learn when they watch educational stuff. Of course, nothing beats learning hands-on, but in most cases, if you can't bring the kid to the classroom, bring the classroom to him....I think TV, to a certain extent, is a 'necessary' tool to educate the kids, if monitored carefully.

So, most of the time, they are watching DVDs borrowed from the library - eg. National Geographic nature shows, "Crocodile Hunter" shows by Steve Irwin, Little Einstein, etc etc...

What my desk looked like on the last day

I was trying my best to pack my things before my last day at work (I'm between jobs now), and it was not easy trying to pack things that you had accumulated over more than 5 years.

This is my desk and stuff, and the view while sitting down...I know I will miss it. It just hasn't sunk in yet.

What's Been Happenin'

You may have noticed that I've blogged less in recent months. Here is a run-down of what's been happening at my end:

1. Working late till 2am
2. PC konked out a few times
3. Return of some of my favourite shows - Desperate Housewives, CSI, Criminal Minds, Grey's Anatomy
4. Changing schools for Zack & Sophie
5. Changing job soon (not yet!)
6. Spending more time with kids

Well, would still love to blog anyway. It makes me reflect and calms me down in my daily hustle and bustle of activity. Here's to more bloggin'......

A Day at the Pool

Last weekend, the kids and I spent a day at the NTU Alumni Club's family fun pool. It was our 1st time at the pool.

As you can see, the boys had a great time at the pool, while I was silly enough to use my elbow for balancing and scratched it from sliding down the waterslide. What a day!

Will certainly bring them there again, since they enjoyed it so much!

Ethan and Lucas

We recently met Lucas who has just flown in from Canada, and he is a really adorable baby to be with. He is teething right now at 9 months, and had his fingers in his mouth when he wasn't eating. We had not met his Mummy and Daddy for some time, and was glad for the chance to catch up over tim sum lunch.

Ethan was really cheeky and did his 'pose' for my camera. It was a candid moment!

Around Sentosa

Recently, I spent a day in Sentosa with 2 colleagues, Jenny & Lily, who were here from China. We bought an Imbiah Lookout pass and had to conquer 4 attractions in 1 morning and a half, as they had to return to their hotel by 3pm to checkout.

We experienced 4D Magix which is a state of the art movie, with visual effects, surround sound, individually-controlled motion seats and special "live" environmental effects such as water sprays. It was really fun! We also went to the Carlsberg Sky Tower and Merlion, where we had a bird's eye view of Sentosa, as well as the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom.

At the Butterfly park, I had the chance to see how a new butterfly emerges from her cocoon - it was really amazing! Wish the kids saw it. Sentosa has changed a lot since the last time we were there.

Sophie at the Playground

Sophie's been very energetic and active recently. Today, she made a milestone by being able to climb up our home's sofa seat all by herself. She's also been practising her climbing skills.

You can see that she was about to climb out of this playground ride today, oblivious to how high she was away from the ground!

The boys were having their fair share of fun at the slides, and really needed them to expend their energy for today so that we could have a peaceful shopping trip later in the day.

Well, the shopping trip was rather uneventful, but Sophie used up a bit too much of her energy, and by noon, she was really cranky and needed to sleep. It was a relief when we all got home, and had a nice afternoon siesta!

Standing in the Corner

We usually practise 'standing in the corner' whenever the kids misbehave. Yesterday night, Ethan was told to 'stand in the corner', and Sophie promptly responded to Daddy's command, and also followed Ethan to 'stand in the corner'. It was such a funny sight! Ethan was sullen, and Sophie was looking at him wondering what happened with a very obedient face.

I couldn't resist, and repeated the instruction, so that I could get them both in this picture - however, as you can see, they found it funny, and the moment was lost. Nevertheless, I captured it!

These are the moments you cherish and it's what makes the kids so adorable!

Note: Sophie just sprouted her first pre-molar on the lower right side.

A Day at Botanic Gardens

Today, I took half-day off to follow the boys on their school excursion to the Botanic Gardens.

We walked the whole of Evolution Garden and had our picnic lunch at the Palm Valley in front of the Symphony Stage. This is where the Singapore Symphony Orchestra plays their "Classics in the Park" once in a while.

Anyhow, weather was on our side, and it was a pretty cloudy day, and it started drizzling only when the kids returned to the coach which brought them back to school. For me, I had to go back to work for a 1pm meeting. (Sigh).

Fun at the Pool

Last Sunday, the boys had fun at Ryan & Colin's new place. They played in the shallow pool and were chasing each other around with their water guns.

Sophie was happily eating some snacks with Daddy while the boys played - her swimsuit was at the school and we didn't bring it back home. She was eager to get in but the boys were really rough, so we didn't want her to go into the pool. She had fun watching the boys anyway.

How Does Poop Taste?

Ask Sophie. Yup, she must have tasted some! It was all over her face, shirt and bed!

Moral of the story: You must NOT wear only diapers for a baby who just pooped and went to sleep. Just when you think it's safe...it 'bites' you back!

Sophie fell asleep in the car on the way home, and she had pooped a small amount. So I wore her a new diaper, and let her sleep, thinking that she would be too hot to wear a pants over the new diaper.

I regretted NOT wearing any pants, as this is the result. I had left her alone in her baby room for about half-an-hour or so, and when I came back, a cheeky and smiling and SOILED Sophie was looking at me. She even laughed! I panicked and was screaming my head off as I carried her to bathe! She had poop all over her FACE and her hands, and her shirt, and the diaper was really really clean.

She must have escaped and pulled out of her diapers when she was awake, and then, conveniently pooped on her bed, and then, played with the poop! Poop was on the bed railings, on the sheets, on everything that she touched!!

EEEKKKS!

It's a good thing she is now on antibiotics (due to her cough), and so, we are not so worried...I hope she will not get any other infection from licking her poop. Who knows how much she licked......or ATE?!!!?! I cannot imagine!

Joy is...

This is what you get when Sophie is really happy. I caught this on camera while we were both attending my colleague's wedding party at Sheraton Towers hotel's ballroom on Saturday. She was seated at her pram most of the time, and did not give me any trouble. She is really a joy to be with. My other colleagues on the table were impressed that she was so well-behaved throughout the course of the Chinese dinner. Daddy had to babysit the 2 boys, as we did not want to bring everyone along to the wedding. It would be too chaotic.

Sophie's got the cough and fever today, so I'm home with her. Hopefully she gets better tomorrow. She didn't sleep well the whole of today...only episodes of half-hour naps.

At the Car Workshop

What do you do when you have to wait 1.5hrs at the car workshop for its regular maintenance?

I went about taking a few pictures and would have taken more if the battery didn't 'die' on me. Thereafter I spent most of my time reading a book.

I chanced upon this cute car, it's a mini SUV, which had a Hello Kitty decal on it. Dot would love it - I know. Too bad her Beetle has no space to put a Hello Kitty decal. Can you see that the car owner also had Hello Kitty locks on the wheel cover?

Mmmm...

A Shrew in the House 2

Well, it was not exactly all clear. The worst we thought actually happened. We had a live-in shrew for the past week (we dunno since when), but we suspected it must have come back into the house after we chased it out on Sunday night. Also, the house kept having the foul smell - so we were getting worried.

Suspicious signs came only on 2 days - once we saw some fresh 'poop' on Wednesday, and another time on Friday morning, in the kitchen. We had set up 2 traps in the house, but they did not catch anything.

On Saturday afternoon, Soon Guan heard something, and there it was - a shrew in the trap! It was finally caught! I have never seen one up close before, and neither have the kids - so we were all very very curious and intrigued. It has a long snout with whiskers and I was told that the distinctive feature is it's snout that differentiates it from the rat.

We also caught a gecko on the same day. Never seen one like that too!

A Shrew in the House

Ever heard of a vegetarian rat? That's how Soon Guan describes the shrew that was in our house on Sunday. I didn't manage to take a picture of it - it ran too fast. Here is a picture from http://universe-review.ca/I10-82-shrew.jpg.

It seemed to have stayed my house for a one-night as SG was suspecting something was amiss on Saturday as he complained about foul smells around our house. On Sunday evening, the shrew suddenly appeared in our guest room, and ran into our kitchen (fortunately) when SG was doing some housework in the room. EEEKS! He quickly closed the kitchen door, and I later heard that he managed to chase IT out of the kitchen to our backyard.

By then, I could REALLY smell the foul smell in our house. Apparently, the shrew had left his 'poop' around our house in about 6 spots, and with limited ventilation, it was really horrible! I promptly 'aired' the house on Monday morning, and I'm glad to say that it's all clear now!

Father's Day Lunch

It was a rare opportunity for 4 adults to dine without the kids. Yes, we had to plan for this because it was Father's day on Sunday, and Saturday lunch was the best time to have a quiet lunch with Mum & Dad.

We went to Clarke Quay area where there was a new shopping mall called "Central" and they even have a shop called "Ms Emily"! It's urban chic concept is refreshing.

We stumbled upon this rather quaint Japanese restaurant called "Tom Ton" and had an enjoyable dining experience.

Shrek 3

SG & I hadn't watched any of Shrek movies before until yesterday - Shrek 2 was on TV. Ethan had apparently watched it "20 times" in his school 'cos they had this DVD in school. It's a cute show.

MacDonald's has been giving out Shrek 3 characters as part of their happy meal toy, and Ethan has so far collected Shrek, Shrek's baby, the baby dragon and the gingerbread man. They also sold Shrek's ears for $2 (it's a cute hairband with Shrek's ears at the side) as part of their charity drive. We bought one.

I tried to wear one on Sophie but she refused. Zachary was in a good mood and willing to pose for me. I'm not a Shrek fan, but it's a good change from the usual kiddy cartoons that we watch most of the time.

Breakfast without Gulping

This is my typical breakfast on a Saturday morning at Tiong Bahru market, when the kids are at childcare, and I can have a decent meal without gulping my food down, or eating like an F1 formula car trying to win the race. It's my only 'peaceful' meal on a weekend with my dear hubby.

Today, SG's tea was served in a cup with a joke., or so I thought. After some online translation search, I realise that it was written in Dutch, but it doesn't make sense to me. The translated text reads: "Who says that jy reserve are?" "Not?"

Anyone knows what is the joke about?

Ridout Tea Garden

We were supposed to go to the Botanic Gardens today (it's a public holiday - Vesak Day), but we missed the carpark spaces, and ended up at the Ridout Tea Garden. This is where MacDonald's Queensway is located, and Far East Flora is just beside it. It is a perfect place for a short outing with the kids, as we discovered today. MacDonalds had installed a playground outside the restaurant (we haven't been there for a while), so Ethan & Zack had a swell time going through the tubes and slides.

Thereafter, we adjourned to visit the nursery, and went to the cold room to cool down, and bought 2 butterfly sticks - the type that you decorate your garden with. It was Sophie's first visit to see so many flowers and she kept wanting to touch them!

We also went to the pond where we saw many tortoises (or is it turtles?) basking in the sun. It was a hot day! The kids loved it tremendously.