Singapore Trip Dec '07 (Part II)

Day 3
I didn't set the alarm to wake up coz CE is usually an early riser. Anyway, I wanted the kids to have as much sleep as they needed. So we woke up at almost 9am. We were planning to go to Sentosa Island. In the midst of getting them ready, CE vomited on the floor (after his milk). I had to clean him up while PaPa cleaned up the floor. When we were about to go out, CE did it again. So another round of cleaning up. What a way to start the day.

We had breakfast at a food court, about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. CB used to eat there during his previous business trips. Then we took the cab to HarbourFront Tower Two, to take the cable car to Sentosa. The ride was much shorter than I'd expected. Anyway, CB and I have taken it before, so we just wanted the kids to experience it. Luckily they were not scared and didn't kick up any fuss. The view from the cable car ride wasn't that impressive. I remembered it was quite nice but now, there's a big construction site below (must be Resorts World). By the time we reached the island, it's about 12 noon already. Half a day gone and we've not explored anything yet.

~ in a cable car, towards Sentosa Island ~

Our first stop, The Merlion. Didn't know what they have inside but just bought the tickets, since we were there already. We came back out again as there were a big group of school children ahead of us. Got our tickets chopped and we'd return later.

~ The Merlion ~

Next, Underwater World (UW). The queue to buy tickets was very very long. So we had a detour again. Decided to go to Dolphin Lagoon (DL). Although they were at different locations, buying either DL or UW ticket will entitle you entry to both. We took the Sentosa Bus. It's free and there are 3 bus lines to take you to different parts of the island and places of interest.

At DL, we saw a wonderful performance by the pink dolphins - touching/hitting an object which was a few feet above water with their snout/tail, balancing a ball on their snout, 'flying' over loops, kissing a volunteer's face, and many more. However, I didn't get a good view as I was sitting down, carrying a sleeping CE. And XY seemed more interested in the packet of popcorns than the dolphins' performances.

~ at Dolphin Lagoon ~

We wanted to take the bus to go back to UW but there was a lot of people. Being a school holiday and weekend, there was a big crowd everywhere. We probably can only get on the 3rd or 4th bus and I wondered how long we have to wait. CE was still sleeping (slept since we arrived at DL). So we took a cab.

Good thing he woke up, if not, I'd probably break my back and hands carrying him. You see, he doesn't want PaPa to carry him most of the time. So poor mummy got to play Xena (Warrior Princess) - the strong and mighty lady. LOL The kids were quite fascinated with so many fishes at UW. I've been there more than 10 years ago and I still like this big aquarium. There is a 'Ray of Fun' pool where you can touch and feed the stingrays. CE was busy playing with the water, splashing with his hands. There are so many fishes to see. I especially like the tunnel with the moving travellator and the fishes swim around us. There are some very big fishes, sharks, dugong and a variety of marine life. There was also huge spider crabs on display (eeee... really geli looking at them).

~ aquarium at Underwater World ~

It was raining when we wanted to leave. Looking at the long queue at the bus stop, we decided to take a cab again. But it wasn't easy getting one as there aren't many servicing the island. So we're back at The Merlion again. At the entrance earlier, we were given a coin each and the attendant told us a mystery gift awaits us. We were treated to a short animation (movie) about how Singapura and the Merlion symbol came about. Next we were in a room where we put the coins into the mouth of the Mercubs and a small card came out, indicating which gift we got. All 3 of us got Gift A. Then we took the lift to the 10th floor. That's where the Mouth Gallery Viewing Deck (the lion's mouth) is and we can take pictures with the island as background. A staircase led us to the lion's head but we didn't go up coz it was raining heavily and it's not covered. I'd presume the view from up there would be nicer as can see more of the island. Emmm... or maybe not... spoilt by construction site? hehehe So back down again and into the souvenir shop. Here we received our mystery gifts. Gift A = Fan. There are 3 types of gifts - fan, key chain and if I'm not mistaken, paperweight. But we got fan, fan and fan. LOL

Next, we wanted to watch Songs of the Sea. As the Sentosa website puts it, "It brings you a mesmerizing show with a live cast and dramatic effects pyrotechnics, water jets, brilliant lasers, special computer imaging, bursts of fire, captivating music and stunning flame bursts." They have 2 shows - 7:40pm and 8:40pm. But the 7:40 show was full and we didn't want to wait for the later show as the kids (and us adults) were very tired already. So we decided to give it a pass and took the Sentosa Express to VivoCity. After taking some pictures of the Christmas decorations there, we took the MRT back to the hotel as the taxi queue was just too long.

~ decorations at VivoCity ~

Back in the hotel, we took our showers and we're too tired to explore anymore for food. Dinner was at the hotel's cafe (Kopitiam). The food... no comments. Nothing great, just good enough to fill our tummies.

What a tiring day.

An Unlucky Day

After we were back from Singapore, CE developed some rashes around his neck. It was quite mild, his skin just a bit rough and it looked very dry. I thought it was because we were sleeping in an air-cond room the whole night (at home, we normally just switch it on for awhile at night). So I just apply his Balneum lotion as normal but it got worse. He started scratching on Saturday and yesterday, the rashes got really bad, especially the area under his chin.

So I brought him to see the paediatrician this morning. Doctor said it's mostly caused by allergy. Aiyo... now I cannot track back what caused the allergy coz he's taken quite a number of new food the past week. I wasn't so cautious this time in introducing new food to him (although he's quite prone to allergy. I'm just cautious about seafood - how careless of me). Let me see... he had chee cheong fun (with sweet sauce), biscuits (Tiger and Lexus) and wantan noodles. Hmmm... it could be chee cheong fun coz it has dried shrimps in it. I've separated them but maybe there were still traces of that seafood in it. I seriously hope it's not the biscuits coz he likes to eat biscuits now, as compared to bread. Doctor prescribed Hydrocort cream and oral medication for his allergy and itchiness.

Then when we left the clinic, a little accident happened. I was reversing my car from the parking lot and suddenly "Bang!" Sh*t!!! I swear I didn't see that car, don't know where he came from. I only saw a stationary car at a distance, waiting for parking. Upon seeing that it was a place with many people (mamak stall nearby) and nothing fishy, I got out of the car to inspect the damages (to both cars). Must be very careful these days with so many incidents of car hijack and robbery after a little accident. The other guy's car was scratched lightly (but it's obvious) at the front passenger door. He suggested that I pay him 100 bucks. Immediately I called hubby and let hubby speak to him. After a long chat (he kept asking hubby to ask me to pay him, don't want to waste time lah, scared we run away lah, bla bla bla). Then I checked my back bumper. It was scratched badly too. Only when I wanted to take some pictures at home that I saw the bumper has dislocated a little. Anyway, he agreed that he'll wait till hubby's back from work to settle with him. Now I'm very sad coz I've scratched my car again (yes, again) and we've to spend extra to pay for the other party's damages too. :( Thank god no one was hurt. That's my only consolation.

~ a big patch above and scratches at the bottom ~

~ the dislocated bumper ~

Mishaps aside...

Wishing all a Merry Christmas
& a very Happy New Year!
And happy holidays too!

Happy Dongzhi & Happy 19 Months Old

Today is the Dongzhi Festival and Kakak made tang yuan (sweet soup of glutinuous rice flour balls) and onde onde. Wishing you a very Happy Dongzhi!

~ dessert for the day ~

Here's an update on 19 months old CE:
Statistics
Weight - 12.2 kg (measured on 12-12-07)
Height - didn’t measure

Diet
Likes to eat biscuits. He’s not too interested in plain bread anymore. Have to spread some jam on the bread, otherwise he won’t eat it.
Prefers rice than porridge. Gave him a few mouthfuls of plain rice and he liked it. Have just started to feed him rice with chicken and vegetable today. He’s happy with it.
Have introduced new food to him - spaghetti, bihun, noodles and cake. I think he prefers not-too-bland food now.

Sleep
Ever since we came back from Singapore, his habit and behaviour have changed a little. The past few nights he wasn’t sleeping well. Woke up a few times in the middle of the night crying. Sometimes he'll point to the door or walk down from the bed and stand at the door. I guess he wants to go out.
Then yesterday, I discovered that he wants to sleep with the toilet light on. I switched it off when he dozed off but once the light was off, he woke up making a fuss till I switched it on again. How weird.

Teeth
16 teeth in total. Not sure if he’s teething again as he’s acting weird lately. :D

Verbal
Continues to babble. Although he doesn't speak, he knows most body parts - eye, nose, mouth, ear, hair, face, hand and leg. He likes to point at our face and make us say the parts. Sometimes I purposely say the wrong thing, but he’ll keep pointing at it till I get it right.
When he wants to sleep, he’ll point at his bouncer.

Others
CE is now giving me bath time headache. He doesn't like to bathe, wash his hair and brush his teeth. But once he’s happy in the tub, he doesn’t want to get out. And after I managed to get him out of the bathroom, he doesn’t want to wear his clothes. Grrrr...
He likes to stack toys - to make a tower. And at other times, destroy towers that others are trying to build.
He’s learning to sort shapes. Learning to put the right shapes into the right slot.
Likes to play with the telephone. Takes up the receiver and put it at his ear.
Likes to scribble with pen, pencil or colour pencil. Of coz he's not holding the pencil the correct way.
He’s learnt how to blow (practised blowing bubbles). Today he got hold of jie jie’s whistle and he managed to blow quite loudly. And he was very happy with himself.
With his new found blowing skill, he’ll blow the insects (dead or alive) that he sees on the floor.
He’s our personal doorman. He’ll close the doors (bang, is more like it) when he sees that they’re wide open, especially the main door and the door to the kitchen.
Very interested to open and close drawers and cabinets. If he gets the chance (sometimes we’re a bit slow to stop him), he’ll take the things out and play.

Singapore Trip Dec '07 (Part I)

Day 1
We reached Swissôtel The Stamford, Singapore at 11+ am. Luckily we managed to get an early check-in (normally at 2) coz CB needed to be at the client's office at 2pm. Our room is on the 51st floor. It has the harbour view. I took pictures of the room but forgot to take the view outside (blur hor?). Anyway, there's a construction site below and it really spoilt the view. But the view with ships at the harbour is quite nice. The room has a king sized bed and we requested for a roll-away bed (for XY).

Then CB went to Raffles City shopping complex (just next door, very convenient) to pack lunch. We had MOS burger while CE had pumpkin soup with bread. Finally I get to eat the teriyaki rice burger. I had one and a half burgers and it was so satisfying. I really wonder how come it didn't survive in Malaysia. They used to have an outlet in KLCC.

After lunch, CB went to work. CE was still having fever (38+ºC). We rested and napped till 5+. For dinner, we looked around at Raffles City's basement (The Marketplace). There are quite a number of restaurants and we chose to eat at Din Tai Fung. We ordered crab meat 'siu long bao', noodle soup, fried rice and spinach. CB said the food at Dragon-i taste better. We didn't explore much after dinner and went back to hotel to let CE rest more. Wanted to make milk for him but realised I didn't have the scoop. I took a new packet of milk from the box but forgot about the scoop. Arggghh! So I just used the teaspoon to estimate. Before sleep, his temperature was 39.1ºC so I gave him a dose of suppository.

Day 2
It was a working day for CB. CE vomitted immediately after his milk and it dirtied the bedsheet, mattress protector, blanket and himself. What a mess! While XY and I were having some muffins for breakfast, the housekeeping guy came to clean up the room and I brought the kids to the swimming pool to continue our breakfast. They have 2 big pools and I doubt any of it is a children's pool. Throughout our stay, didn't have the opportunity to bring XY to play in the pool.

Decided to have an early lunch to avoid the lunch crowd at the shopping complex. Went back to Din Tai Fung again. And ate the same noodle soup like the day before. Well, as long as XY liked it, she'll eat properly. So save my trouble of supervising her as I've to take care of the lil boy.

Walked around for a short while (cannot carry CE for too long) then headed back to the room. After a short rest, my friend (WL) came to visit us with her son and aunt. Didn't stay for long as her son's getting cranky coz he missed his nap. Tried to make CE sleep again after they left but got disturbed by the hotel staff (asked me if everything's ok. duh...) coz I forgot to press the "Privacy Please" button. Hmmmpph!!

Since the kids can't sleep, I prepared fruits (apple and papaya) for their tea time. Another friend (YK) came to visit at about 6pm. Not long after, CB was back from work. YK didn't join us for dinner as she was rushing home to take over her daughter from her MIL. hehehe

Wanted to see the Christmas lighting on Orchard Road. So went there for dinner. After walking around (hungry and tired already), we settled for Dome. The pan-fried dory and lamb shanks were good, but I didn't like the salmon puff (very fishy). Overall, a satisfactory meal.

~ lighting along Orchard Rd ~

To me, the lighting wasn't that impressive. It was so tiring walking along Orchard Road coz CE only wanted me to carry him. Walked till my back also senget already. Good thing CE's fever has subsided. Was hoping he'd be in better shape for the next 2 days' activities. Stay tuned!

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged and I actually wanted to do this before I go off for my holiday. Unfortunately, I ran out of time. Sorry I took so long Judy. Hey, we have some things in common. I like blue and badminton too. Have not been playing for years already. Just couldn't find any sparring partners/friends. I wonder if I'm still able to run around the court without doing too much damage to my body. LOL

1. Do the following without complains.
2. Choose 5 people to do this quiz after you've done yours.
3. Tag the chosen one.
4. Start your post with "I've been tagged"

Favourites
Colour: blue
Food: dim sum
Movie: Mrs Doubtfire
Sport: badminton
Day: birthdays
Season: holidays
Ice cream: rum and raisin

First
Best friend: PL (in primary school)
Crush: a guy I knew from a badminton tournament in secondary school
Movie: no recollection
Music: no recollection

Last
Drink: plain water
Car ride: on Monday - went out for dinner
Crush: Raymond Lam Fung (yeah... I watch too much Cantonese drama)
Phone call: hubby
CD played: Raymond Lap CDs
Gone out with good friends: 2 weeks ago for dinner
Broken a law: turned at the traffic light when it was red... there was really no car leh
Been arrested: never

And I'd like to tag:
Wen
Jac
Sharine
Jo-N
Chanel

Back From Lion City

Halo everybody! I’m back from my holiday and I need a break! hehehe It was so tiring that we’re quite decided there’ll be no more holidaying (especially those long distance ones) for us in the very near future (the next 2 years, maybe?).

We followed hubby on his business trip to Singapore. We were there from 13 to 17 Dec. CE chose a really bad time to fall sick. He developed a mild fever on Wednesday late afternoon. As we were flying to Singapore the next morning, I brought him to see the doctor in the evening. Doctor said he has a very slight red throat and it should be a viral infection. So I took all the necessary medication - fever, flu and cough, although he didn’t have any runny nose or cough then.

That night we went to BIL’s place for family dinner. It was my little nephew’s (CH) 2nd birthday. We stayed on for awhile and left at 10+, came home and continued to pack till 2+. I know it’s bad habit to pack so last minute but if there’s a comprehensive list (which I didn’t do this round), it should be fine. So true enough, I missed out quite a number of essential items due to this last minute work.

It was really a nightmare going on a holiday with a sick kiddo. He’s extra cranky, extra clingy, not eating well nor drinking his milk like usual. Will write more about this later. XY is fine, just need to catch up on some sleep (as she didn’t have her usual naps in the afternoons) and CE’s still cranky and demanding although I think he’s fully recovered already. I’m still recuperating - napping in the afternoon and sleeping early at night. Poor hubby has got to go back to work, so no proper rest for him. Good thing today is a public holiday. I’ll try to post about the trip as soon as I can and will hop over to visit you all soon. But it’s going to be tortoise speed ya. :D

Bye-bye

Nope, this is not a suicide mission gone wrong. hehehe Although I've been feeling a bit moody lately, I wouldn't resort to suicide. Too chicken for that. If you've noticed, I haven't been writing very frequently and I've also blog-hopped less. I don't know why, but I don't feel very energetic. I used to be able to stay up till 3 am but the past week, I fell asleep together with the kids. Just couldn't get up to have some 'me' time. So I don't have much time to update my blog, read other's blogs and leave comments or watch my Cantonese serials. (I'm very far behind already. Too many AOD shows to catch up. The Astro MAX is running out of space!) Moreover, we'll be going for a short family holiday in 2 days' time. And I haven't started packing yet. So friends, please bear with me. I'll slowly pick up the momentum after the holidays. I'll see you when I'm back ya. Bye-bye for the time being.

Ok, back to the picture above. How did that happen? I was using a red pen but didn't realise it has leaked. And I got ink smeared all over my hand and fingers, and the computer table too. Then I remembered reading somewhere that toothpaste is able to clean up stubborn stains. So I gave it a try.

It was much easier to remove the stain from my hand with toothpaste as compared to soap. Yes, I tried to experiment with both. As for the stain on the table, the toothpaste did a good job. I've stained it before (previously was blue ink. I do sound very clumsy, don't I? LOL) but couldn't remove the ink with soap. Now my table is squeaky-clean... bye-bye stains!

Ushering In The New Year

This is a sponsored post.
We’ll be entering a new year very soon. And for the Chinese, the lunar new year is less than two months away. A lot of people like to spend the new year in a new house. So there'll be lots of renovation going on this time of the year. Quite a number of houses around my neighbourhood are undergoing renovation. It's no longer the quiet and peaceful neighbourhood that we first fell in love with.

You can apply for a loan when you purchase a property but you'll need cash for renovation. One option is to apply for a personal loan if you're a little tight on your cash flow. Apart from renovation, you also need to allocate some budget for furniture, electrical equipments and landscaping.

It's also quite common to overspend during this festive season, especially if you're using credit cards. Just buy and sign. In the end, you'll end up with a huge debt. In order to get out of high-interest debts like credit card loans, you can look into debt consolidation. You may want to check out Consolidate Debt Loans. It allows you to make single monthly payments to clear all your debts such as credit cards, housing, personal loans or any other financial obligations, with low interest rate.

If you have any debt issues, manage them today so that you can have a peace of mind ushering in the new year with your family and loved ones.

Kuala Selangor Trip - 1 Dec '07

Last Saturday, XY and I went for the Kuala Selangor trip organised by her kindy. They engaged a tour guide who's an environmentalist. Our first stop was the Kuala Selangor Nature Park. The bus ride took over 2 hours. She only napped for awhile in the bus. We went for a short walk along the trail towards a watch tower. The mozzies were having a big feast. I had forgotten to apply the mosquito repellent but it seemed that those who applied were not spared anyway. Along the way, we saw wild monkeys (silvered leaf monkeys) on tree tops. We were told to hold on tight to our belongings as these monkeys may snatch them away. There were also mangrove trees, mangrove ferns and big termite homes. We climbed up the watch tower. It has quite a spectacular view of the lake and the trees. We even saw some eagles flying across (quite far away, of coz).

The next destination was Bukit Malawati. We took the tram up the hill. Things of interest - lighthouse, cannons and monkeys (but these are the friendly type and they're not afraid of humans at all). I took a lot of pictures of the monkeys and I tried to capture one of the babies latching onto its mother for milk. But just couldn't get the right angle and shot. :(

Next, we went to visit a paddy field. The kids played with the paddy plant that the adults had plucked out for them. Too bad I didn't hear the tour guide's explanation of the planting and harvesting process as I was busy taking care of XY playing with her friends.

~ paddy field ~

I was already starving by the time we left the paddy field. It's dinner time. We went to River View Seafood Restaurant. They served 'ku lou yuk' (sweet and sour pork), fish ball soup, butter prawns, deep fried mantis prawn, fried chicken, mixed vegetable with tofu and green vege. The food was nothing fantastic. Maybe it's because of our budget or because they have to order food that's suitable for children. Anyway, XY finished all her rice coz she was competing with a friend who's sitting next to her. Moreover, she was highly motivated to finish fast so that she can play with the toy rides (that needs coins to operate). She only had one round of 'movement' (very lucky I have the coins in my wallet). Anyway, she's usually quite contented sitting inside without movement as I always tell her it's out of order or I've got no coins. hehehe

After dinner, we headed to Kampung Kuantan for the highlight of the day. We sat in the sampan with another couple and their daughter (one of XY's good friend whom she has been sticking to throughout the trip). Now they don't use engine to run the sampan due to pollution. So it was manually rowed. XY was so funny, she said she wanted to row the boat. It was really dark and there were patches of fireflies here and there, unlike many many years ago where it lighted up the whole stretch. According to the guy rowing the boat, the fireflies only feed on young mangrove trees, with good leaves. It was really beautiful... the twinkling lights, like a Christmas tree.

~ watched fireflies at Kg Kuantan ~

So that's the end of our trip. The journey back took 2 hours. XY slept most of it but I was wide awake, and feeling very tired. By the time I reached home, it was already 12:15 am. What a long and tiring day, but it was an experience of a lifetime.

True Blue Award

It's really great to have friends who'll stand by you, no matter what. So sweet of Jo-N for awarding me this. Thanks, my dear friend!
Dolphins are blue, so true blue, calm in the storm, they never sleep, so ever-present, they're friendly, so amicable, accountable, dependable, and protective.
This award is presented for bloggers who always stand by you!

Now I'd like to present this award to :
Jazzmint
Wen
Mummy to QiQi
Anggie

Dinner With Friends

I had dinner with some of my Uni friends. It was a get-together to meet up with LY who came back from the States for a short holiday. Just us 5 girls. CB was home looking after the kids. When I reached home at about 11pm, they have not slept yet. Can still hear CE crying upstairs.

We went for 'latt thong' in Sg Chua. Luckily they liked the food. So nice of them to come all the way to Kajang from KL (C and MP from Damansara, LY from Puchong and KC from her office in KL). It was really great to catch up with them.

World Best Friend Week

"Do you know the relationship between your 2 eyes? They blink together, move together, cry together, see things together and sleep together. Even though they never see each other, friendship should be just like that! Life is like Hell without FRIENDS. Its ‘World Best Friend Week’. Send this to your best friends to let them know you appreciate them."

Your Love is Ur Heart,
Your heart is Ur Spouse,
Your spouse is Ur Future,
Your future is Ur Destiny,
Your destiny is Ur Ambition,
Your ambition is Ur Aspiration,
Your aspiration is Ur Motivation,
Your motivation is Ur Belief,
Your belief is Ur Peace,
Your peace is Ur Target,
Your target is Heaven,
Heaven is no fun without FRIENDS.

Thanks, Jac for sending this my way. What would life be without friends? Being a SAHM, my circle of friends are really small. But ever since I joined the blogging community, that has changed and I'm really happy and blessed to have found some true friends. I'm dedicating this to all of you, my friends. Thank you for being a dear friend.