Operation Daffodil

I decided that it's too sensitive to talk about Muffin Tops (for those who read my earlier entry)...so now we talk about Operation Daffodil.

It's the Class 95 deejays' creative way of telling you where the police traffic speed traps are 'in progress'. They call it "Operation Frangipani", or "Operation Daffodil". Recently, they are naming the operations after flowers.

Gotta listen to them right now a.k.a go to work!

SI's Exposure

We have a fascination with supermodels in swimsuits - who doesn't?

Anyway, we bought a book recently that showcases Sports Illustrated's collection of photos taken over 10 days in Harbour Island in the Bahamas. Featuring 8 supermodels: Rachel Hunter, Rebeca Romijn, Daniela Pestova, Elle MacPherson, Yamila Diaz-Rahi, Elsa Benitez, Veronica Varekova and Carolyn Murphy, it is a lovely coffee-table edition and a sight for sore eyes.

Lovely.

Red Star, Esplanade, Ben & Jerry's

What do the Red Star, Esplanade, Ben & Jerry's have in common?

It was our Sunday morning outing with our Tahitian friend, Laurence.

We were supposed to go to the Bird Park yesterday, but postponed it because the sky was overcast. We ended up having tim sum breakfast at Red Star Restaurant, walking from Esplanade through Citylink (the underground mall) to Raffles City Shopping Centre, and having Ben & Jerry's ice-cream for brunch there.

Red Star Restaurant is one of the few tim sum places that still uses push-carts to serve the food. You have to be quick in chasing down the popular tim sum dishes on the carts, as the carts may never reach you, or the food may be gone before you realise it. It is an exciting experience nonetheless.

For Dot who loves donuts, we passed by a donut shop called "Donut Factory" in Raffles City that had a long queue waiting. You know, when S'poreans queue for something, it must be cheap and good - and so I read. On the very same day, it was featured in the Sunday Times as the top 5 queues recently. It was opened last month, and it was an instant hit with its light and fluffy donuts made on the spot. 30 people are in the queue before it opens, and average waiting time starts from half-hour to 1hr 45 mins. It costs $10 for a dozen plain donuts, and $11 for assorted flavours of your choice.

We discovered Ben & Jerry's by chance, and had a rolling good time eating and watching the boys enjoy their ice-cream.

The question is, how do you eat 3 ice-creams at one time?

Outing with Grandparents

Sophie went out with Grandma & Grandpa today to Takashimaya, and had a rollin' good time being pushed around seeing the typical crowd on a weekend there. There was surprisingly fewer people even though Taka was having a Sale plus additional 10% off for members...

We think the crowd is still trying to get over Vivocity, and have not yet re-discovered Orchard Road.

Mummy took some portrait shots and videos of Sophie today.

Bad Reaction...

I tried to join YouTube to download some videos, but got a bad reaction instead...

Understanding Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gelatofan

I've just discovered Flickr and have spent the past 1.5 hours navigating in Flickr and managing my photos and profiles for the 1st time. It is not exactly the best thing to do before you go to sleep, and need to get to work by 8.30am. Plus, your stomach makes hunger pangs and you resist in the interest of weight management.

Be patient while I add more photos to my Flickr collection in due time.

Good night! (or should I say, good morning!)

Blowing Bubbles

You never realise that blowing bubbles is linked to language development. When you blow bubbles, the art of pursing your lips together and blowing is actually quite a complex oral-motor skill. It helps us to work the muscles that make our lips round like for the /w/ sound. It also makes us use better breath control.

We learnt this during a speech therapy session for Zachary and the childcare teacher (who joined the session) promptly bought these special straws for use in the classroom. They are special because they are longer, and make a sound when you blow them. The toddlers in the class love it, as it allows them to blow, and play with water at the same time.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

We celebrated Ethan's birthday yesterday during Sunday school. He loved the car and motobike that came with the cake, though he was quick to add that they didn't come with 'eyes' - refering to the movie 'Cars' characters.

We also discovered that Sophie has sprouted 1 more new tooth (front top left tooth), and would be expecting the 4th tooth anytime soon (front top right tooth).

Look I Can Stand!

Sophie can stand on her 2 feet in the baby cot sometimes. She is really happy when we play peek-a-boo with her!

She is wearing one of my favourite suits - a halterneck, off shoulder, tweety-bird suit, bought by grandma recently.

Zack Discovers Orange Juice

I dunno how to say this, but Zachary recently discovered that he loves orange juice. He insisted that we cut up the orange into half, and then, he was digging the insides to extract the juice out with his finger, then, lick his finger for the juice!

My only regret is that I forgot to capture that photo moment!

Also, Sophie decided that she wants to blog.....here are some of her comments to Zack's orange juice extraction method...

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Click, Clack, Moo

Zachary recently discovered this DVD and loves it a lot. Auntie Dot bought it 2 years ago, and so far, we have seen it many a time, but Zack discovered that it is now his favourite DVD.

I must say it is a milestone, as the narration in the DVD is clear, and slower and less action-packed compared to the other usual DVDs that Zack watches. This means that he has acquired a more patient and listening approach towards this particular DVD, and even imitates the 'moo' sounds in the narration - much to our delight! Zack also imitates the jumping action by the ducks at the end of the "Click, Clack, Moo, Cows that Type" story.

Thank you to Auntie Dot for this fabulous, witty and fun DVD!

About Grey's Anatomy

Writing about Grey's Anatomy yesterday has made me jump in to read about the new Season 3's epsiodes on the 'Net, and I've managed to read all 11 episodes of the upcoming season in 1 night.

Oooh...I'm going to get 'panda' eyes in the morning. Give me some eye cream!

64th Annual Golden Globe Awards

One of my fav shows - Grey's Anatomy, won the Golden Globe Award for Best TV series (Drama).

I saw McDreamy on TV, and it made my day...well, what else can I say? That was all that mattered for the whole program. Here in S'pore, we are still waiting for the next season of Grey's Anatomy to be aired. (Sigh).

Happy Sophie!

These days, Sophie is really smiley, bouncy and active. She can bounce on her feet even though she is not walking yet.

Today, she had her first taste of egg yolk, and I was told, she ate it all up! She has a healthy appetite and loves cereals - she can eat 2 bowls of it for lunch!

She can also lift herself up from a crawling position, to a kneeling position, if there is something attractive within her reach. Her favourite toy is a blue ball, which she chases around the room whenever she rolls it off. She was also laughing away as she hit the blue ball endlessly, deciding that it was really hilarious to imitate my mad-cap actions of hitting another ball together with her. It was her version of music and drums!

Who Eats Fish Biscuits and Leaves Behind the Tail?

Answer: Zachary.

I didn't know biscuits shaped like fish tasted different in different parts of its anatomy.

Well, apparently, it mattered to Zack. The teachers in school told me that he ate the biscuits, and consistently left behind the tail-end of it. He didn't like the tail.

No one can explain it but him. Funny...

Dance of the Era

I had dinner with Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and the A-Go-Go girls.

No, let me say that again. I had dinner with 999 other people at Shangri-la Hotel at my company's Annual Dinner & Dance. Elvis and Michael were my Managing Directors in Retro and Modern.

It was the Dance of the Era. Retro vs. Modern.

It was fun. The compere, Justin, did a great job getting the 100 table crowd to enjoy ourselves as we were entertained by his wit, humour and antics on stage. Special performances included the Director's item, as well as hilarious games organised for audience participation.

It was a wonderful evening, and I had a great time! Never enjoyed a D&D so much compared to previous ones. Thanks to Mum & Dad for helping to take care of Sophie the whole night while I had a break from the kids!

What It Feels Like to Win a Lucky Draw

Recently, my division organised a Christmas party (I know, it was a while ago), and there were 3 hampers to be won. There was a 1 in 12 chance for me to win one, and I WON!

Wow, imagine my surprise when I returned to my desk to find that I had ACTUALLY won myself a hamper. Well, it was a small one, but a hamper none the less.

Just a box of chocolates, a bottle of wine and a packet of biscuits.....it felt good.

BTW, I've yet to savour my winnings.

Accessories for Girls

I just discovered how much it can cost to buy hair accessories for baby girls.

I dunno how I did it, but I coughed up $4.00 to buy this cute little set of hairclips for Sophie, which I would never have bought for myself.

Immediately on the same day, the heart-shaped part fell out of the clip - it was just glue that kept it together. Wow - I guess I will examine clips more carefully before I buy them next time.

When the Internet is not going your way

I'm going nuts with the internet connection today. I posted the blog at least 5 times before I got it going.

I hate such days when the 'net is not working for me. (Sigh).

Sunday is blog-free day

I've discovered that it is challenging to blog on a daily basis. Thus, I've decided that Sunday is blog-free day for me.

No bloggin' for me on Sundays!

Sophie has teeth

We just discovered that she has sprouted her first 2 teeth today!

Can you see it?

It makes her gums really itchy and she wants to bite anything and everything.

Discover Tahiti

I never knew where Tahiti was until I met a Tahitian today.

It is in the South of the Pacific Ocean. It is not a country, it is the largest island of the French Polynesia. Although much larger than Singapore, she said that the population in her country is about 300,000 with majority of inhabitants living in Tahiti.

She took 8 hours from Tahiti to fly to Sydney, then 1.5hrs from Sydney to Brisbane, and 7 hours from Brisbane to S'pore. It was a long flight.

She's here because she will be working as an intern for 6 months in my company, and is studying in a university in Paris.

Why Gelato?

Because I love ice cream, because I often see the gelato cafes but seldom have a chance to sit down to savour the moment. Because I'd rather eat ice cream in the comfort of my home. Because I always have at least 4 varieties of ice cream in my freezer at any one time.

BECAUSE I LOVE ICE CREAM!

Capsule Zone

I recently collected the full set of the movie "Cars" collectibles from S$1 contributions to capsule zones such as the one featured here. Believe me when I say that we probably spent about S$30 before I actually collected ALL 14 different cars.

You must be amazed by what the little cars can do to a grown adult...

The Gotheborg

The Swedish ship Gotheborg was in town at the Vivocity Promenade today, and we had a taste of what it was like to see what we always imagined as a pirate's ship (it's not!).

This ship is on a historical voyage from Sweden to China and back. It left Sweden on 2 Oct 2005. After stops in Vigo, Cadiz, Recife, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Fremantle, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, the ship finally arrived in Singapore waters on 30 December 2006.

It was fantastic that we now had ships calling to port at a convenient location next to Vivocity, which opened its doors in November 2006, looking very much like a huge shopping mall in America. It is the Singaporean's favourite haunt right now.

New Year Resolution

A working mother of 3 attempts to blog as part of her 2007 New Year resolution.