Here's what the kids get up to on weekends. Cycling and skate scooting with Grandma and Grandpa! :) (P.S. Please ignore the fact that I was holding the phone up the wrong way when taking the video!!!)
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Recipe Alert: Chicken Parmesan Crockpot Recipe
I've yet to try out this recipe, but it seems yummy based on the reviews I've seen. :)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (ie. 1 to 2 chicken breasts)
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (you'll find this in a small bottle, e.g. Masterfoods, on the shelf together with other bottled herbs and spices)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (I usually skip pepper if the kids are eating)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 beaten egg
- sliced mozzarella cheese
- your favorite jar of pasta sauce
Spread olive oil at the bottom of your crockpot. Have your beaten egg in 1 bowl. Mix breadcrumbs, seasonings and parmesan cheese in another bowl. Dip chicken breasts into egg first, then dip into mixture of breadcrumbs, seasonings and parmesan cheese. Make sure entire chicken breast halves are coated. Place chicken breast pieces at the bottom of the crockpot. Layer 2-3 slices of mozarella cheese on top. Then pour in pasta sauce, covering everything already in crockpot. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours. :)
Serve with your favorite pasta or rice! :)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (ie. 1 to 2 chicken breasts)
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (you'll find this in a small bottle, e.g. Masterfoods, on the shelf together with other bottled herbs and spices)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (I usually skip pepper if the kids are eating)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 beaten egg
- sliced mozzarella cheese
- your favorite jar of pasta sauce
Spread olive oil at the bottom of your crockpot. Have your beaten egg in 1 bowl. Mix breadcrumbs, seasonings and parmesan cheese in another bowl. Dip chicken breasts into egg first, then dip into mixture of breadcrumbs, seasonings and parmesan cheese. Make sure entire chicken breast halves are coated. Place chicken breast pieces at the bottom of the crockpot. Layer 2-3 slices of mozarella cheese on top. Then pour in pasta sauce, covering everything already in crockpot. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours. :)
Serve with your favorite pasta or rice! :)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Finally, DD's Homeschool Curriculum is Ready
After 8 months of procrastination, I finally sat down one night and planned out DD's homeschool curriculum for the next 12 months. I had intended to start on some formal (read: planned rather than adhoc) homeschooling for DD since the start of this year, but somehow didn't get around to doing it. However, in recent weeks, DD has been showing great interest in reading some simple Chinese readers and writing/drawing. So I think now's the time to start. Here's what I have planned. By the way, if you come across any broken links, please drop me a note to let me know! Thanks!
Reading (English):
Writing (English):
Chinese:
Reading (English):
- Books to introduce the letters of the alphabet and their sounds: For example, Bruno Munari's ABC, 26 letters and 99 cents, and some books from Letterland.
- Letter lapbooks to reinforce each letter of the alphabet. Here's an example of a letter B lapbook.
- After DD is familiar with the letters of the alphabet, probably sometime next year, I'll start the Reading Made Easy program with her.
Writing (English):
- Tracing of letters will be incorporated into the letter lapbooks.
- Copywork, which is included at the end of every Reading Made Easy lesson.
Chinese:
- 我 会 读 Chinese readers
- I Read and I Learn series of Chinese readers
- DD also loves to read from DS's Berries class textbook, so we will continue to help her along when she wants to do that
- I intend to enrol DD in Berries from January next year, where she will join the Nursery 2 class.
- First Step to Building Thinking Skills, followed by Building Thinking Skills @ Beginning.
- Mathematical Reasoning Through Verbal Analysis: Level A and/or Mathematical Reasoning Beginning either book 1 or jump to book 2
- Depending on what kind of learner DD is, I might use the Montessori method instead or in addition to the above. If so, I will use the Math activities in David Gettman's book "Basic Montessori: Learning Activities for Under-Fives".
- Maybe some local Maths assessment books. There are some very fun and colorful ones which DS occasionally pulls out to do, so I guess I should buy some for DD too.
- We'll start with easier books like Judy Allen's "Are you a ... (e.g. ant, bee, dragonfly, etc)" series of books
- We already have a lot of "science" type books at home, especially how-your-body-works books, for example, You Are Weird and See Inside Your Body.
- "Why? The best ever question and answer book about nature, science and the world around you" is also a great book
- And other Usborne books like Planet Earth, Weather and Living in Space.
- The kids have access to art supplies everyday (e.g. color pencils, crayons, marker pens, craft scissors, white and color paper, etc) and they do pull them out on a daily basis to do some drawing, coloring or cutting. But I would love to do a more "unique" and "creative" art activity with DD once a week, since DS attends Creative Art lessons in his preschool weekly and thoroughly enjoys the experience. I recently bought the highly recommended "Art with Anything: 52 Weeks of Fun Using Everyday Stuff" so we might try some activities from there.
- The Klutz books are also really good. They come ready packaged with the materials needed to do the activities so it's easy to pick up one of these books on a week that I haven't been organised enough to prepare materials for a more fanciful art project. Some of the Klutz books include, Chicken Socks Totally Tape, Hand Art, Super Scissors Book (yes, it even comes with 2 pairs of scissors!) and Paper Flowers.
My First Mass Breastfeeding Event...
...and the kids' first face painting. OK, not really face painting since I requested that they get their arms painted instead. I mean, why would I even want put myself in a situation where I have to wash off paint from their faces, especially if the paint was around their eyes?!? And a sign at the face painting station wrote, "Simply wash off with soap and water!". Hello? Have they ever tried washing around a 3-year old's eyes with soap and water?!? :P
Anyhow, here's what they got painted on their arms. Racing cars!
And now, back to the mass breastfeeding event. In conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week, the Breastfeeding Mothers' Support Group (BMSG) organised a mass breastfeeding event on 28th August where 120 mummies tried to breastfeed at the same time. Given that DD may self-wean anytime, I thought I should participate in my first mass breastfeeding event this year. As expected, DD, who now dictates WHEN she wants to nurse, stubbornly said, "No!" and refused to latch on. Haha! Well, at least I tried!
Anyhow, here's what they got painted on their arms. Racing cars!
And now, back to the mass breastfeeding event. In conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week, the Breastfeeding Mothers' Support Group (BMSG) organised a mass breastfeeding event on 28th August where 120 mummies tried to breastfeed at the same time. Given that DD may self-wean anytime, I thought I should participate in my first mass breastfeeding event this year. As expected, DD, who now dictates WHEN she wants to nurse, stubbornly said, "No!" and refused to latch on. Haha! Well, at least I tried!
DD is Drawing!
I was beginning to think that maybe DD wasn't interested in drawing, because she had almost never attempted to draw anything. So it came as a big surprise when DD suddenly picked up a pen two weeks after her third birthday and started drawing. So far, she has mainly been drawing "Mummy and Caelynn standing beside Mummy" (in her words!). Here are her first few drawings:
Note that the black spots that she drew on my face aren't pimples. According to DD, those are mosquito bites on my face. I found it really funny that her first few drawings all had people with mosquito bites. I guess it reflects the "mozzie season" that we are having here in Singapore due to intense heat coupled with heavy rains every other day!
In the picture of me below, she talks about how it was very windy, hence my hair was being blown around. OK, I guess this is her impression of me - that I have messy hair most of the time!
Here's another drawing of me with DD. Thankfully, I only have one mosquito bite on my face this time. Hang on! Maybe that black dot wasn't meant to be a mosquite bite. Maybe she was drawing that nasty pimple I've had on my chin for a while. I'll have to ask her tomorrow!
And the drawing below is the most surprising drawing of the lot. Here, she draws 3 of her friends and they are "all falling down". OK, I wonder where she got that idea from! And I wonder who her 3 friends are!
Note that the black spots that she drew on my face aren't pimples. According to DD, those are mosquito bites on my face. I found it really funny that her first few drawings all had people with mosquito bites. I guess it reflects the "mozzie season" that we are having here in Singapore due to intense heat coupled with heavy rains every other day!
In the picture of me below, she talks about how it was very windy, hence my hair was being blown around. OK, I guess this is her impression of me - that I have messy hair most of the time!
Here's another drawing of me with DD. Thankfully, I only have one mosquito bite on my face this time. Hang on! Maybe that black dot wasn't meant to be a mosquite bite. Maybe she was drawing that nasty pimple I've had on my chin for a while. I'll have to ask her tomorrow!
And the drawing below is the most surprising drawing of the lot. Here, she draws 3 of her friends and they are "all falling down". OK, I wonder where she got that idea from! And I wonder who her 3 friends are!
Lucky Cats!
In the past few weeks since DD turned 3 years old, she has been hitting one milestone after another. :) My baby is growing up! OK, this is not exactly a milestone in itself, but after 3 years (ok, only 2 years if you consider the fact that we were away for a year with no cats!), DD has finally plucked up enough courage to touch the cats. Previously, she would not touch the cats with her bare hands and would not even want to sit beside a cat. But since last week, she has been stroking and playing with the cats everyday! Lucky cats! I don't think they have had so much love and attention ever since DS was born 5 years ago.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Bungling Mummy and Chocolate Milk
DS and DD got a rare treat yesterday - chocolate milk (as requested by DD at the supermarket earlier in the day). But I was wondering why they were not drinking it up as quickly as they usually do, when DS said, "Mummy, this chocolate milk doesn't taste nice!". On closer inspection of the milk, I realised I had bought them coffee-flavoured milk instead! Argh!
DD then said, "I LIKE coffee!". ARRGGGHHH!!!
DD then said, "I LIKE coffee!". ARRGGGHHH!!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
DD Turns 3!!!
It's so hard to believe that my tiny (literally!) baby...
... is now a stylish (haha!) 3 year old.
DD asked for a Spongebob birthday cake as she is always so tickled by his antics on the Spongebob Squarepants cartoon show. Here, the kids are helping to put up the decorations.
Yep, Spongebob table cover and lots and lots of Spongebobs!
Everyone enjoying the food. :) We had yummy satay from City Satay, curries from Golden Pillow, and mee siam cooked by our domestic helper, amongst other foods.
The moment DD had been waiting all week for. :) Here we are, cameras ready and getting the kids in position to sing the birthday song.
Singing the birthday song. The look on DD's face was precious. :) She was so pleased!
DD knew just what to do after we had finished singing the birthday song. Afterall, she had attended so many birthday parties with DS. :) Look at her puffed cheeks!
Taking a break from eating their cake to show mummy their chocolate-covered fingers and teeth!
Since it was National Day, the kids had to get their National Day tattoo! They were all happily in the queue waiting for their turn.
Tatts! DS and DD showing off their tattoos with Power Ranger poses.
Sweet cousin Jovita showing us her tattoo.
DD favorite present - the one her brother gave her! :)
... is now a stylish (haha!) 3 year old.
DD asked for a Spongebob birthday cake as she is always so tickled by his antics on the Spongebob Squarepants cartoon show. Here, the kids are helping to put up the decorations.
Yep, Spongebob table cover and lots and lots of Spongebobs!
Everyone enjoying the food. :) We had yummy satay from City Satay, curries from Golden Pillow, and mee siam cooked by our domestic helper, amongst other foods.
The moment DD had been waiting all week for. :) Here we are, cameras ready and getting the kids in position to sing the birthday song.
Singing the birthday song. The look on DD's face was precious. :) She was so pleased!
DD knew just what to do after we had finished singing the birthday song. Afterall, she had attended so many birthday parties with DS. :) Look at her puffed cheeks!
Taking a break from eating their cake to show mummy their chocolate-covered fingers and teeth!
Since it was National Day, the kids had to get their National Day tattoo! They were all happily in the queue waiting for their turn.
Tatts! DS and DD showing off their tattoos with Power Ranger poses.
Sweet cousin Jovita showing us her tattoo.
DD favorite present - the one her brother gave her! :)
Monday, August 9, 2010
DD's Birthday Cake 2010
I'm devoting an entire post to talk about DD's birthday cake because DS helped to design it! The wonderful and ever-patient Chef Lim at The Line, Shangri-La helped bring the design to fruition. Below is DS's drawing of the side view of the cake. The top of the cake will have a picture of Spongebob, which DD chose. DS had originally wanted purple icing lining the bottom part of the side of the cake but Chef Lim says the icing will slide down the cake over time. DS also wanted cookies in the shape of stars placed along the side of the cake but due to the weight of the cookies, this wasn't ideal as the cookies will move downwards too. Instead, Chef Lim lined the side of the cake with star-shaped chocolate, which was thin and light enough to stay put at the side without migrating south. Chef Lim was kind enough to promise that he will incorporate as much of DS's design onto the top of DD's birthday cake.
Ta-dah! The end product. Notice the grey stripe with colorful crosses just below the words "Happy Birthday"? It looks exactly like how DS drew it in his design above. And the row of "stars" above Spongebob's head? There are 7 "stars" in exactly the same shape as how DS drew it. And the colors of the "stars" are in the same order of colors as what DS had in his drawing too! Finally, notice the thick stripe of reddish icing behind Spongebob. It was probably difficult to get the same tone of purple like what DS had in his drawing, but look at the blue lines! DS had them in his drawing too. Needless to say, DS was thrilled to have his design included in DD's birthday cake. We can't thank Chef Lim enough! And the chocolate mousse cake tasted so delicious!!!
Lastly, the side view of the cake showing the chocolate stars! :)
Ta-dah! The end product. Notice the grey stripe with colorful crosses just below the words "Happy Birthday"? It looks exactly like how DS drew it in his design above. And the row of "stars" above Spongebob's head? There are 7 "stars" in exactly the same shape as how DS drew it. And the colors of the "stars" are in the same order of colors as what DS had in his drawing too! Finally, notice the thick stripe of reddish icing behind Spongebob. It was probably difficult to get the same tone of purple like what DS had in his drawing, but look at the blue lines! DS had them in his drawing too. Needless to say, DS was thrilled to have his design included in DD's birthday cake. We can't thank Chef Lim enough! And the chocolate mousse cake tasted so delicious!!!
Lastly, the side view of the cake showing the chocolate stars! :)
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sibling Cooperation
Now that DD is almost 3 years old and knows all about snatching and rushing for the same toys that her brother is playing with, or simply being quite good at standing her ground when her brother is trying to prise a toy away from her, I find that my job description as a mum has expanded yet again. I am now also a referee, and I find myself having to be a referee at least a few times a day. I've been reading up about how to set ground rules, how to prevent sibling rivalry and promote bonding and love between my 2 children. Of course, it is inevitable that there will be disagreements and "fights", but I hope that at the end of the day, the kids will love and take care of each other. I came across this article on API (Attachment Parenting International) and found it quite useful. I hope that I can remember to use some of the tips in this article, especially when the kids are a bit older.
Sibling Cooperation
Sibling Cooperation
Monday, July 26, 2010
Recipe Alert: BBQ Crockpot Chicken
The person whom I got this recipe from called it "Fussy Baby Chicken", meaning, if you've got a fussy baby due to teething or whatever, use this recipe!
Preparation Time: Less than 10 minutes.
Ingredients:
- Whole chicken or your favorite chicken parts (I usually use drumsticks, thighs or wings)
- Whole bottle/jar of BBQ sauce (or less depending on how much chicken you use, but the BBQ sauce should cover all the chicken well)
Cook on low all day. That's it!!! It's so easy, it's unbelievable!!! :)
Preparation Time: Less than 10 minutes.
Ingredients:
- Whole chicken or your favorite chicken parts (I usually use drumsticks, thighs or wings)
- Whole bottle/jar of BBQ sauce (or less depending on how much chicken you use, but the BBQ sauce should cover all the chicken well)
Cook on low all day. That's it!!! It's so easy, it's unbelievable!!! :)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Baby Product Alert: Petit Terraillon All In One
I thought the "All In One" part sounds too good to be true, and this product has an interesting name, but the full name of this item is: Petit Terraillon All In One: blender/ food warmer/ food steamer/ bottle warmer/ bottle sterilizer. I came across it on a parenting forum in a thread that discusses about how to provide a baby with food when travelling. The reviews seem to be pretty good and the product is compact enough to bring along when travelling. I guess this will be useful if one has a baby who is drinking from a bottle and/or still eating blended food. You can see it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petit-Terraillon-All-one-steriliser/dp/B000HHKKLK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petit-Terraillon-All-one-steriliser/dp/B000HHKKLK
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Checking In Quickly
If any of you are wondering, yes, I'm still committed to finish blogging about our now not-too-recent holiday in New Zealand. It is taking quite a while and I'm only on Day 6, but yes, I want to finish blogging about it...eventually! Haha!
June passed by rather quickly, probably partly due to DS being home half the time instead of at school. Hand, foot and mouth disease is currently above epidemic levels in Singapore (whatever that means!) and unfortunately, three children in DS' preschool came down with it. We therefore kept DS away from school until there was no evidence of further transmission within PMI (DS' preschool).
I've also spent a bit of time changing the layout of my blog. On the right, there is now a section whereby blog posts are organized according to labels. This makes it easier for readers of my blog to read the posts that they are interested in. I've also re-written the "about me" section to, well, talk about me rather than the reason for starting this blog. Readers who wish to follow my blog can now also subscribed via email at the bottom of the page. This means that whenever I publish a new blog post, readers who have subscribed will have this new post delivered to their email account.
OK, that's all from me for now. I'll be writing again very soon!
June passed by rather quickly, probably partly due to DS being home half the time instead of at school. Hand, foot and mouth disease is currently above epidemic levels in Singapore (whatever that means!) and unfortunately, three children in DS' preschool came down with it. We therefore kept DS away from school until there was no evidence of further transmission within PMI (DS' preschool).
I've also spent a bit of time changing the layout of my blog. On the right, there is now a section whereby blog posts are organized according to labels. This makes it easier for readers of my blog to read the posts that they are interested in. I've also re-written the "about me" section to, well, talk about me rather than the reason for starting this blog. Readers who wish to follow my blog can now also subscribed via email at the bottom of the page. This means that whenever I publish a new blog post, readers who have subscribed will have this new post delivered to their email account.
OK, that's all from me for now. I'll be writing again very soon!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
21 Creative Projects with Kids
I came across this great post! Wonderful ideas for things to do with kids at home, especially with the rainy weather that we've had recently!
21 Creative Projects with Kids
21 Creative Projects with Kids
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
NZ Vacation Day 6 (Part I) - Queenstown
We spent the morning at Skyline, taking the gondola all the way to the top of the mountain called Bob's Peak and having lunch at the cafe there. Queenstown's Skyline gondola is supposed to the steepest lift in the Southern Hemisphere (not that there are many countries in the Southern Hemisphere anyway, haha!). At the top, there are also observation decks for visitors to get breathtaking views of the lakes and mountain ranges.
This picture was taken from the cabin of the lift on our way up. See how steep it is!
We were almost at the top of the gondola ride when we spotted a protruding ramp for brave souls to do bungee jumping! The ramp is 400m above ground level and according to the Skyline website, jumpers can even choose to jump off the ramp on a skateboard, bike, snowboard or in-line skates. Unfortunately, we didn't see anybody doing a bungee jump when we were there.
Finally, at the top! The view was simply breathtaking! I think besides Milford Sound (look out for my blog post on Milford Sound later on!), the next nicest scenery was at Queenstown. Unfortunately, we couldn't take more pictures of the beautiful scenery from another angle because the sun was shining right at us.
Grandpa brought a pair of binoculars along but didn't get his turn at using it! The kids were hogging it and taking turns to "admire" the scenery with it. I do wonder what they were looking at through the binoculars.
This picture was taken from the cabin of the lift on our way up. See how steep it is!
We were almost at the top of the gondola ride when we spotted a protruding ramp for brave souls to do bungee jumping! The ramp is 400m above ground level and according to the Skyline website, jumpers can even choose to jump off the ramp on a skateboard, bike, snowboard or in-line skates. Unfortunately, we didn't see anybody doing a bungee jump when we were there.
Finally, at the top! The view was simply breathtaking! I think besides Milford Sound (look out for my blog post on Milford Sound later on!), the next nicest scenery was at Queenstown. Unfortunately, we couldn't take more pictures of the beautiful scenery from another angle because the sun was shining right at us.
Grandpa brought a pair of binoculars along but didn't get his turn at using it! The kids were hogging it and taking turns to "admire" the scenery with it. I do wonder what they were looking at through the binoculars.
Monday, May 31, 2010
The Slide @ T3
We were at our usual hangout (Changi Airport!) over the weekend and chanced upon The Slide @ T3.
Singapore's tallest slide, and the world's tallest slide in an airport opened last week at Terminal 3, Changi Airport. The slide is 4 storeys tall (or 12m high) and one can reach a top speed of 6m/s while sliding down. Members of the public would have to spend $30 in a single receipt at Changi Airport to redeem 2 tokens to ride the slide.
Thankfully, there was a shorter slide, one-and-a-half storey tall, that one can ride for free. DS took DH and I by surprise when, after spending some time observing people whizzing down the slides, he indicated that he would like to have a go at the shorter slide. Now, this may not come as a surprise to parents of playground slide-loving preschoolers, but our DS didn't dare go down a regular-length, playground slide until he was about 2 years old! And our DS is also a generally cautious boy who didn't climb up and down the furniture in the house when he was a toddler.
We gave DS some time to consider if he really wanted to take the slide. After some deliberation, he said that he'll give it a go! Yay! Here's DS waiting in the queue with the entrance to the slide in the background. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and wanted to join the (long!) queue again immediately after the ride! Well, we told him that we'll bring him back on a weekday when there's no queue. :)
Picture showing the starting and ending of the shorter slide.
Picture showing part of the taller slide.
It looks like we'll be back at the airport again very soon, since DS wants to ride the slide again. This time, we might take the kids across to T2 to visit the Changi Aviation Gallery.
Singapore's tallest slide, and the world's tallest slide in an airport opened last week at Terminal 3, Changi Airport. The slide is 4 storeys tall (or 12m high) and one can reach a top speed of 6m/s while sliding down. Members of the public would have to spend $30 in a single receipt at Changi Airport to redeem 2 tokens to ride the slide.
Thankfully, there was a shorter slide, one-and-a-half storey tall, that one can ride for free. DS took DH and I by surprise when, after spending some time observing people whizzing down the slides, he indicated that he would like to have a go at the shorter slide. Now, this may not come as a surprise to parents of playground slide-loving preschoolers, but our DS didn't dare go down a regular-length, playground slide until he was about 2 years old! And our DS is also a generally cautious boy who didn't climb up and down the furniture in the house when he was a toddler.
We gave DS some time to consider if he really wanted to take the slide. After some deliberation, he said that he'll give it a go! Yay! Here's DS waiting in the queue with the entrance to the slide in the background. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and wanted to join the (long!) queue again immediately after the ride! Well, we told him that we'll bring him back on a weekday when there's no queue. :)
Picture showing the starting and ending of the shorter slide.
Picture showing part of the taller slide.
It looks like we'll be back at the airport again very soon, since DS wants to ride the slide again. This time, we might take the kids across to T2 to visit the Changi Aviation Gallery.
More DD Pictures!
I seem to be taking more pictures of DD than DS lately, I think simply because DD is still home with me almost 24/7 while DS is away for half a day at preschool. Although, DD keeps insisting that she's "ready" for preschool. But that's for another blog post. :P
DD is very different from DS. She really enjoys dressing up, preferring to choose her own outfit for the day, with matching shoes. On this day, she insisted on wearing sunglasses to go with her outfit.
She also has this very "stylish" way of tilting her sunglasses down to look you in the eyes if you are talking to her. I have absolutely no idea where she learnt that from since both DH and I do not do that!
We went to the Novena Post Office at Revenue House after dropping DS off at school last week and DD asked me to take a picture of her with this water feature. I'm sure this water feature has something to do with fengshui since it's right in front of Revenue House. :)
DD also loves trying on my clothes and shoes, something that DS has hardly taken an interest in, even when he was younger. DD tells me frequently that when she is bigger, she wants to wear my clothes. I tell her, "Of course you can do that!" but I'm sure that when the time comes, she will not be caught dead wearing her mummy's clothes!!! Haha!
DD is very different from DS. She really enjoys dressing up, preferring to choose her own outfit for the day, with matching shoes. On this day, she insisted on wearing sunglasses to go with her outfit.
She also has this very "stylish" way of tilting her sunglasses down to look you in the eyes if you are talking to her. I have absolutely no idea where she learnt that from since both DH and I do not do that!
We went to the Novena Post Office at Revenue House after dropping DS off at school last week and DD asked me to take a picture of her with this water feature. I'm sure this water feature has something to do with fengshui since it's right in front of Revenue House. :)
DD also loves trying on my clothes and shoes, something that DS has hardly taken an interest in, even when he was younger. DD tells me frequently that when she is bigger, she wants to wear my clothes. I tell her, "Of course you can do that!" but I'm sure that when the time comes, she will not be caught dead wearing her mummy's clothes!!! Haha!
Friday, May 21, 2010
NZ Vacation Day 5 - Queenstown
Today was the day we had all been waiting for - the long journey (330km) into Queenstown. Back in the days of the year 2001BC (Before Children), travelling 330km would have been a piece of cake to us. We toured New Zealand's north island then and could stop whenever we wanted to, or drive on for as long as we liked without stopping if we didn't need to. Now, with young children in the equation, making a long drive would be impossible without strategic planning. Packing enough snacks (and it has to be those that the kids love eating), being able to entertain the kids when they got bored, planning our pee breaks (basically no one is allowed to stop for a pee break unless one of the kids need to go!) and having the driver step on the gas and driving as fast as safely possible to cover as much distance as we can as soon as DD dozes off, are all part of the battle plan.
Here we are, at an unscheduled pit stop. DD was getting annoyed as she was tired but couldn't fall asleep, and couldn't get out of her car seat. When she wasn't interested in snacks or songs anymore, and nothing could distract her from crying, we knew that we had to stop. While I nursed DD, the males got out to enjoy the scenery and to empty their bladders.
Here's the little stream where I presume the boys had a pee. I certainly hope there were no guided tours somewhere downstream with the tour guide encouraging tourists to take a drink from the "pure" mountain spring water.
After coaxing DD back into her car seat, we drove on for about two more hours before finally getting our first view of the beautiful scenery that awaited us as we neared Queenstown. Behind us was probably Lake Hawea, and the next picture, Lake Wanaka. We weren't sure if we were identifying the correct lakes as we drove pass them.
Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka lie beside each other, with a small strip of land called The Neck (1000m wide) separating them both. These two lakes were supposed to have been excavated by huge glaciers more than 10,000 years ago!
It was past lunch time, so we decided to stop at the Puzzle Cafe in Puzzling World, Wanaka, for a quick lunch before heading into Queenstown. Puzzling World in Wanaka is a tourist attraction "specialising in puzzling eccentricity". It has a maze, rooms with optical illutions, "eccentric architecture" and other oddities. The cafe has several puzzles to keep diners occupied during a meal too.
The picture below shows the Leaning Tower of Wanaka, which appears to have been pulled out of the ground, balanced on one corner of the Tower and leaning at an angle of 53 degrees to the ground. Even the Leaning Tower of Pisa only leans at an angle of six degrees to the ground.
Here's a picture of the family using a Roman-style toilet, which were just holes on a "bench" with running water under the seats. Apparently, the Romans used to carry on them a brush as part of their personal toiletries, to be used in place of toilet paper! In the picture, DH was pretending to use his handphone while sitting on the toilet. Oh, and me pretending to have a stomachache.
DH again, this time pretending to be severely constipated!
After lunch, a quick 30-minute drive and we were at Villa Del Lago, where we stayed for 3 nights. This self-contained house, built slim and tall like many houses in Queenstown (it had 3 floors - top floor had one bedroom, middle floor was the main level with kitchen, living and dining area, and a "basement" with 2 bedrooms. As you can imagine, we had lots of exercise during the 4 days we were in Queenstown, especially with chasing the kids up and down the stairs!), had a magnificent view of Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables mountain ranges. The view was so beautiful, and the house was so clean and tidy that we had a very pleasant stay at Villa Del Lago. It was great waking up to beautiful scenery, or coming home after a tiring day out to enjoy the view we had.
The beautiful scenery once again, taken from the balcony.
Here we are, at an unscheduled pit stop. DD was getting annoyed as she was tired but couldn't fall asleep, and couldn't get out of her car seat. When she wasn't interested in snacks or songs anymore, and nothing could distract her from crying, we knew that we had to stop. While I nursed DD, the males got out to enjoy the scenery and to empty their bladders.
Here's the little stream where I presume the boys had a pee. I certainly hope there were no guided tours somewhere downstream with the tour guide encouraging tourists to take a drink from the "pure" mountain spring water.
After coaxing DD back into her car seat, we drove on for about two more hours before finally getting our first view of the beautiful scenery that awaited us as we neared Queenstown. Behind us was probably Lake Hawea, and the next picture, Lake Wanaka. We weren't sure if we were identifying the correct lakes as we drove pass them.
Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka lie beside each other, with a small strip of land called The Neck (1000m wide) separating them both. These two lakes were supposed to have been excavated by huge glaciers more than 10,000 years ago!
It was past lunch time, so we decided to stop at the Puzzle Cafe in Puzzling World, Wanaka, for a quick lunch before heading into Queenstown. Puzzling World in Wanaka is a tourist attraction "specialising in puzzling eccentricity". It has a maze, rooms with optical illutions, "eccentric architecture" and other oddities. The cafe has several puzzles to keep diners occupied during a meal too.
The picture below shows the Leaning Tower of Wanaka, which appears to have been pulled out of the ground, balanced on one corner of the Tower and leaning at an angle of 53 degrees to the ground. Even the Leaning Tower of Pisa only leans at an angle of six degrees to the ground.
Here's a picture of the family using a Roman-style toilet, which were just holes on a "bench" with running water under the seats. Apparently, the Romans used to carry on them a brush as part of their personal toiletries, to be used in place of toilet paper! In the picture, DH was pretending to use his handphone while sitting on the toilet. Oh, and me pretending to have a stomachache.
DH again, this time pretending to be severely constipated!
After lunch, a quick 30-minute drive and we were at Villa Del Lago, where we stayed for 3 nights. This self-contained house, built slim and tall like many houses in Queenstown (it had 3 floors - top floor had one bedroom, middle floor was the main level with kitchen, living and dining area, and a "basement" with 2 bedrooms. As you can imagine, we had lots of exercise during the 4 days we were in Queenstown, especially with chasing the kids up and down the stairs!), had a magnificent view of Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables mountain ranges. The view was so beautiful, and the house was so clean and tidy that we had a very pleasant stay at Villa Del Lago. It was great waking up to beautiful scenery, or coming home after a tiring day out to enjoy the view we had.
The beautiful scenery once again, taken from the balcony.
Monday, May 17, 2010
My Little "Aunty"
I have no idea where DD learnt to carry her handbag in the following manner, but she does have this, well, "aunty" way of carrying her bag. She'll either carry it on her shoulder like this, with the bag squashed tightly under her arm, or sling it on the hook of her arm (see the next picture).
She'll then shuffle along, taking small but quick steps. Her bag usually contains her baby doll, a small Pooh bear and a clock-cum-calculator device which she pretends is her handphone.
In case anyone was wondering, yes, that's a Vera Bradley bag. She's starting young! :P
She'll then shuffle along, taking small but quick steps. Her bag usually contains her baby doll, a small Pooh bear and a clock-cum-calculator device which she pretends is her handphone.
In case anyone was wondering, yes, that's a Vera Bradley bag. She's starting young! :P
Lamborghini Gallardo!
I dropped by United Square a while ago to pick up some groceries when I saw this car in the car park. It's a Lamborghini Gallardo! How often would one see a Lamborghini parked in a crowded car park?
According to Wikipedia, from the time the Gallardo was in production (2003) to 2009, only 9510 have been built. And here's one of them! I wonder how many more Gallardos can be found in Singapore.
By the way, can someone please tell me how to earn obscene amounts of money to stand a chance of affording a luxury car? I'm obviously in the wrong profession now! :P
According to Wikipedia, from the time the Gallardo was in production (2003) to 2009, only 9510 have been built. And here's one of them! I wonder how many more Gallardos can be found in Singapore.
By the way, can someone please tell me how to earn obscene amounts of money to stand a chance of affording a luxury car? I'm obviously in the wrong profession now! :P
Friday, May 14, 2010
Visit to Ang Mo Kio Fire Station
DS' school organized a visit to the Ang Mo Kio Fire Station last weekend. DD and I tagged along. :) In Singapore, fire stations have a structured programme for groups of 10 or more people wanting to visit the fire station. It's free of charge, but an advanced booking two weeks prior to the scheduled visit is required. For groups of less than 10 persons, all fire stations except Jurong Island Fire Station have open houses every Saturday morning from 9am to 11am. During the open house, walk-in visitors are welcome with no registration required.
DS got to wear a real fireman jacket and helmet! These thick and heavy fire-resistant jackets protect the brave firemen when the fire is too close to them. However, as the jackets are not fireproof, the firemen have to spray water around themselves while walking through or near fire to prevent getting burnt.
DS got to sit in the driver's seat and pretended to drive the fire-engine!
DS also got to sit on a Fire Bike with his teacher, Ms Ida! The Fire Bike can quickly respond to small fires and is equipped with an Impulse Water Canon. An Impulse Water Canon is a hand-held fire-fighting equipment that can fire out small amounts of water at high velocity to put out small fires.
Here's a real fireman, all decked out in his full gear - helmet, fullface mask, BA (Breathing Apparatus, a cylinder which provides breathable air), fire-resistant jacket, pants and boots.
DS posing beside the Red Rhino, an all-terrain vehicle. The Red Rhino, also known as the Light Fire Attack Vehicle, is unique to Singapore and found nowhere else in the world! It is able to travel off roads and also maneuver within small spaces such as HDB* carparks and HDB void** decks! What a brilliant idea, proudly designed and conceptualised in Singapore, and even built by a local company, ComfortDelGro!
And finally, DS posing in front of a fire engine. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the fire station and the firemen were happy to answer any questions that the kids (and adults!) had. The firemen even demonstrated how they slid down the fireman's pole, "Singapore style". Apparently, the way our Singapore firemen slide down the firepole is somewhat different from how their American counterparts do it. I guess in many ways, we are really "uniquely Singapore"!
*HDB stands for Housing & Development Board, which is Singapore's public housing authority and in charge of all public housing in Singapore.
**Void decks are typically found under apartment blocks built by HDB. Void decks occupy the ground level and apartments usually start from the second level onwards.
DS got to wear a real fireman jacket and helmet! These thick and heavy fire-resistant jackets protect the brave firemen when the fire is too close to them. However, as the jackets are not fireproof, the firemen have to spray water around themselves while walking through or near fire to prevent getting burnt.
DS got to sit in the driver's seat and pretended to drive the fire-engine!
DS also got to sit on a Fire Bike with his teacher, Ms Ida! The Fire Bike can quickly respond to small fires and is equipped with an Impulse Water Canon. An Impulse Water Canon is a hand-held fire-fighting equipment that can fire out small amounts of water at high velocity to put out small fires.
Here's a real fireman, all decked out in his full gear - helmet, fullface mask, BA (Breathing Apparatus, a cylinder which provides breathable air), fire-resistant jacket, pants and boots.
DS posing beside the Red Rhino, an all-terrain vehicle. The Red Rhino, also known as the Light Fire Attack Vehicle, is unique to Singapore and found nowhere else in the world! It is able to travel off roads and also maneuver within small spaces such as HDB* carparks and HDB void** decks! What a brilliant idea, proudly designed and conceptualised in Singapore, and even built by a local company, ComfortDelGro!
And finally, DS posing in front of a fire engine. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the fire station and the firemen were happy to answer any questions that the kids (and adults!) had. The firemen even demonstrated how they slid down the fireman's pole, "Singapore style". Apparently, the way our Singapore firemen slide down the firepole is somewhat different from how their American counterparts do it. I guess in many ways, we are really "uniquely Singapore"!
*HDB stands for Housing & Development Board, which is Singapore's public housing authority and in charge of all public housing in Singapore.
**Void decks are typically found under apartment blocks built by HDB. Void decks occupy the ground level and apartments usually start from the second level onwards.
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