Christmas 2007

Every year on Christmas Day, we will gather in Da Yi's house for a makan and gift exchange session. There are no Christmasy delicacies like roast beef, honey baked turkey, mince pies, yorkshire pudding and log cake. On the contrary, we had Nasi Brani, Chicken Curry, Fried Fishballs, Hor Fun and Swenson Ice Cream Cake! Look at the spread! Rynae had a lot of fun playing with Asher Di Di's toys and watching Jayden play computer games on Yi Zhang's Mac. Rynae dashed to her gifts that were arranged neatly on the sofa when she woke up. Without hesitation, she tore the wrappers to reveal what actually lies beneath. Favourite gift? A fishing game by Ah Ma. Least Favourite? OOops! No la.. better not say it... Hohohoho...

Magic Painting

"The pages in this book are printed with a very special ink. Using clean water and a clean paint brush, carefully paint each part of the pictures and the colours will appear as if by magic!"

My intention initially was to buy only 1 of these magic books as a X'mas gift exchange but eventually I bought 1 for Rynae as well. I guess she will like it because she loves to paint. The best part is there's no need to use paints hence no need for messy aftermath clean up too! Just water will do the act. It was an ease painting with just water (but with lots of smirches of course). Rynae coloured 4 pages in about 5 mininutes and I had to stop her from going on, if not she could have completed the rest of the 12 pages in 1 session! I asked her to pose with her proud piece of work and see how she did it?

Caught Sleeping Again

The wet spell has been keeping us indoors and Sunday's accommodating weather couldn't be better for us to hit the mall. Recalling IMM's recent announcement of an upgrade, we decided to pay that once familar place a visit. We paid $3 (for 1 hr) to get our little one into a pushy buggy but ended up paying $4.50 for 1.5 hr because someone fell asleep in it! Going marketing with kids are troublesome. We decided to load them all into a NTUC trolley and maybe traffic them off!!

Wheely Trolly

We considered ourselves lucky to be able to choppe this FREE 2-in-1 car trolly cus we heard there're only 5 in Fairprice Xtra! Parkway Parade had similar push carts but they're put on rent. Rynae was but of course gleeful. But poor me.. this big pushy isn't light and is not the least easy to navigate in the crowded supermarket. I could feel my stomach muscle craunch whenever I maneuver any bends. There weren't much things to buy in AMK Hub but I did buy a small Dora puzzle (S$1.90) from Mums & Babes. Should have bought more as Christmas present giveaways. Argh...

Kong Fu Sleeping

Mummy and Daddy played host to Uncle Leslie and Auntie Maggie today by bringing them to Vivo City and Plaza Singapura. The rainy weather aren't too conducive for outings but that didn't dampen our spirit. We had a sumptuous lunch, many snacks in-between and a great time together. Everyone also took turn to run after the little sprinter who refused to seat in her pram. We speculate that she would fall asleep by 5ish but she did not. In fact, she missed her nap totally and knocked out only in the taxi on the way home. Upon reaching home, I had to wash and dress her up for bed but she was so worn-out that she could sleep anywhere, anyhow... What a pose..

Early Christmas Gifts

Christmas arrived early for Rynae this year when Santa Clause Uncle Leslie and Santarina Auntie Maggie descended from Hongkong on 8 Dec. Look at the wonderful gifts they showered my little tyke with! They sure can read her mind cus they're all her fav! Hip Hip Hurray!!!

Got Milk?

These photos reminded me of the infamous 'Got Milk' moustache. But then, Rynae's moustachio aren't traces of milk! They're made by Nestle's Drumstick Minis ice cream! A bad example of food wastage though...for that, I'm gonna starve her for... err... 2 hours!

Sticker-holic

Rynae's recently having a craze over stickers and has been 'decorating' my house with 'Spider Man', 'Poor Bear', 'Mickey Mouse' and 'Want Want' stick-ies. We have to not only guard the house to make sure any of these stick-ies are removed, we also have to be vigilant not to be sabo-ed by her! What an impression I'll make if people were to find a Spider Man hanging for dear life on my butt!? Well, well... taking it out on herself is better than vandalising my wall or my butt lah... hor?

My 1st Laptop

Rynae's grandma has been talking about 'a computer' for the longest time, over the past few weeks. Everytime we met, she would update me from 'out of stock' to 'supplier increase in price' to 'distributor undecided whether to consign the goods or not'. She's full of praises of 'the computer' that I, myself cannot help but look forward to see how wonderful this piece of toy is. After the long wait, the day finally came. When Rynae saw her 'computer' she was so elated and engrossed in it that you can leave her alone to read your whole week of Straits Times! (I exaggerated it a bit la...) The S$18 toy (U.P. S$15) could recognise hundreds of different cards and read out the words, interactively when user pressed on it! Product design aside, its function is almost comparable to Leap Frog. Quite a good buy (for once) this time, Grandma!

Trip to Changi Airport Terminal 3

As usual, we have to crack our head on where to go when it comes to every weekend. Expo is abuzz with exhibitions this week but that also meant a lot of human crowd! It struck me suddenly when i recalled Changi Airport Terminal 3's Open House Ad in The Straits Times. I did a quick google search and confirmed that the Open House is still on. The new airpot was ravishing and spacious. Lots of natural greenery and flora. However, the viewing mall's a bit disappointing though. Not only was it constructed a distance away, the 'specially designed shades' are blocking half of our view of the run way! The Architect is afraid of heights or what!? I was dying to see the Crown Plaza but it was non-accessible. In fact, it's still under construction! Well, CAAS, you had beta buck up cus Jan opening's not too far away!

What I want to be... FIRE FIGHTER!!

Rynae is learning about occupation nowadays and she takes particular interest in a kind of job called 'fire fighter' after she watched Richard Scarry's Busy People Video Ever! She has been pretending to hold a water hose, spraying water onto me, mimicking a scene from the VCD. Things couldnt be more coincident when her cousins gave her an extra fire fighter's hat from their Civil Defence participation. Now.. what she lacks is the uniform and perhaps the fire engine! Haha..

9th Indo Trip Home

It's a semester break for me which means another trip back Indonesia again. Rynae was elated and was very cooperative in all task delegated, when we told her we were going back then. Needless to say, she rode up and down the island (without the need for a helmet) in a motorbike, roamed in and out, front and back of the house compound throughout the day during her stay there. Someone has to always keep an eye on her in case she wonders off and fell into the sea water. Can be tiring actually. Aren't I glad for once I live in a confined HDB flat.

Do you believe the bike was in movement and I was a pillion rider when I took the picture of Rynae on the bike on the left? Skillful photography skills right? Ghee..

Favourite DVDs

Now that I'm a premium library member, I try to frequent the library to look for entertaining and educational audio visual materials for my little tyrant. Afterall the membership is only for a year. I borrowed only DVDs because of errors trying to install CD ROMS borrowed. Initially, I was awed by the collection of titles the library has but I came to realise that most aren't suitable for her age or interesting enough to capture her attention for long. I chanced upon Little Einstein's Mission Celebration (without having heard of it before) and it was a hit with the little queen! Do you believe that she will be glued to the show for as many as 3 repeats? I myself find the series a good educational material that teaches listening skills, music appreciation, task solving, colours and numbers etc. Takashimaya children's department is selling each VCD at $12.90. I wonder if I should own a few titles... erhem.. any sponsor??

Chinese Garden on 22 Sept

It was an uncalled for decison to visit the Chinese Garden's Underwater World theme lantern parade this year. Lazing around after dinner at my mum's place, I threw the suggestion to visit the Chinese Garden. Surprisingly, everyone was ok and we went in my sis's bf's car. The entrance was crowded with people however queue for the purchase of tickets was fast. Visitors to the premises were mostly families with kids (like me). Youngsters, I reckon, rate these events as out-dated, boring (to a certain extent true) and uncool and they would rather squander their time in Orchard Road. I wouldn't consider the event 'worth the money' as there wasnt much entertainment and light-ups that made me go 'WOW'. The Organiser was wary of infringing copyright by its careful simulation of similar yet differenciated little mermaid, snoopy & nemo. $12.50 for such an event, we felt was a little dear so we decided to make it more worthy by staying for the 10pm fireworks. As expected, the short fireworks wasnt very fantastic but something is better than nothing right?

CCK Swimming Pool on 21 Sept

Joe was off on 21 Sept. With an excellent weather and impromptu request by Rynae, we decided to go swimming. Woodlands swimming pool is under going renovation now. We heard from a friend that Chua Chu Kang has a family friendly swimming complex with slides and playground. Thus, after a quick research on the net, we headed for that ‘neighbourhood big splash’. As it was a weekday, we each paid $2 to get in (Usual is $2.50/pax). Rynae rightfully, has to pay 80 cts but she didn’t of course. We smuggled her in. (Expected of us? Chey!) It was a disappointment that the kid’s activity pool was closed for maintenance. Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves on the slide and the hourly wave pool.

1st Library Card on 20 Sept

I've slacken in my blog postings again.. been really swamped with heavy shit assignments past few weeks one after the other. I think my astigmatism has deteriorated because of my long exposure to the computer screen. World without glasses looks more blur now. Anyway, I'm into my 2nd semester's study week and that leaves me a little bita time to update some recent happenings. Rynae has always loved going to the library, to mess around with the books actually. Hence after completion of my 2 weighty assignments, I decided to compensate some time back to her by bringing her to the Woodlands library myself on 20 Sept. I've long wanted to let her have her very own library card so on that day, armed with her BC, I applied for her, her 1st membership card. The application process was fast and FREE! Hmm... maybe I could use hers when I exceed my 4 library books loan limit. Scheming huh?

Makeover on 4 Aug

Today is the day I felt strongly that I have to do something about an outstanding issue - Rynae's long hair. She's been refusing to let my MIL tie her hair and ended up with patches of rashes across her shoulder and back. Remember last failed attempt to cut her hair? I'm gonna be more shrewd and scheming this time and make sure I succeed. I began sweet talk and preempted her on her salon visit. On the way to the hairdresser, she choosed a pack of tidbits and i gladly paid for her. She was waited on like a queen during the 10 min of hair cut with my MIL feeding her bite after bite of her tidbits and the hairdressor working on her hair. Quite cooperative... surprisingly.

Wild Wild Wet @ Clarke Quay on 29 July

We've run out of ideas on interesting places to visit that are child friendly, not too far off and hopefully new and engaging. We visited Square 2 last week and contemplated on the outing venue almost the whole morning. I've proposed countless times to east coast park but was jolly gun down cus of the recent dengue outbreak. Finally, we decided on Chinatown for today's outing. Yeah..what an exciting place right? Why? Cannot go there rekindle our cultural roots meh? Actually we wanna bring Joe's parents to the much talked about Buddha Tooth Relic Temple to errm.... look at the tooth! Kidding la. The temple's a ravishing hybrid of tradition and modenity. Didn't manage to see the heavily guarded tooth though. We proceeded to Clarke Quay where Rynae finally succumbed to her tiredness and fell alseep in her pram. I enjoyed a good 1 hr of shopping in Central while Joe and his parents chilled out at the Singapore River bank. Within walking distance, we crossed over to Clarke Quay. The massive nips and tucks this night spot has under gone totally bedazzled me. It gave the once dead tourist hub a new lease of life and to me, is every cents worth. Rynae requested to play in the fountain and we gave her permission to 'touch' the water. But never expect a child to keep their promise lah! Anyway, we're glad she enjoyed herself.

Milk Inventory as at 22 July

Joe first alerted me when he spotted Dumex Mamil Gold with a refreshed packaging and an even fresher new price. Dumex attributed the increase in price to the addition of a new breakthrough - a nutrient - Immunofortism, which as the name implies, is supposed to strengthen your child's immune system. The last price increase, i remembered, was slightly more than 1 year ago when Dumex claimed to add in SA (saline acid) which is evident in breast milk only. (Google it and you'll know it's benefits) Apparently a marketing gimmick, we frantically sweep old formula off the shelves to stock up. But not long after, I received a call from Dumex to offer me free delivery of buy 4 get 1 free which amounts to $14.72 /tin of step 3 Dumex Mamil Gold. This is definitely a steal, as outside is offering it at $18 to $21! Kiasu, we ordered another 10 tins. No wonder Rynae is beaming in the picture lah. She jolly well knows that her parent has stock up enough to last her till she's almost 3 lah... Oh and regarding if she got a new hair style, her persistance and determination paid off. She won the battle in retaining her long hair... for the time being...

Hair Cut on 777

I used to cut Rynae's hair when she's younger… with lotsa tiresome coaxing and coercing. (Don’t doubt. It’s true. My youngest sister’s fringe was cut by me too when she was small. I could have an undeveloped talent in hair cutting! Gaaagaga..) Most kids I reckon are frantic when it comes to hair cut and Rynae is no exception. She wld wail and fight with me whenever I approached her with a scissors last time. Hence, I've choosen to leave this dirty job to the hair dresser. My MIL has been pitching to me to snip off her long hair and I actually agreed to give Rynae a make over. However, when the hairdresser asked me to remove her back pack after she’s done with Rynae’s fringe, the little fellow turned hysteric again and refused to abide so. Picture you see here was taken split seconds before she riot. Want to know if eventually she got a new hair do? Stay tunned and you shall find out...

Ikea Trip on 1 July

I'm like a criminal waiting to be sent to the noose - trying to accomplish as much posting outstandings as I can before dreaded new school term starts. This Sat and Sun is an outing weekend for us. The day after the zoo trip, we brought the little fellow to Tampiness Ikea and Giant. There was 1 thing that I noticed pleasantly new only in the Ikea branch - the children's play station in every section. Who was the diligent person who came up with this suggestion cus it really eases my shopping in Ikea! Usually, Rynae would be running around the vicinity and I would be too busy keeping an eye on her to focus on the merchandises. With these stations, she kept herself occupied long enough for me to satisfactory move on! Needless to say, she enjoyed her excursion with the highest rating probably for the children's section...

Zoo Trip on 30 June

Our 'Friends of the Zoo' membership is coming to an end on 31st August but we have been putting off going to the zoo because of er... plain laziness. Don't know what powered us that make use move our butts to go on 30 June - the last day before GST increased to 7%. We had lost count, but we should think that was Rynae's 4th trip to the zoo, the 1st being on 16 Sept 2006. To be brutally honest, the zoo is a boring place! The animals are inactive (most of the time snoozing away in the shade), their man-made habitat stinks and walking under the blazing sun in the 28 hectas foreland is no fun! Ask Rynae what she wants to do in the zoo and she'll say she wanna go play see saw there. Indeed, the children's world play land is a smart development within the tourist attraction, with not only a KFC outlet but an indoor and 2 outdoor dry and wet playgrounds. Rynae never fail to make this her pit stop. We always try to cover or engage in different activity on each trip there. This time, we paid $4 to get Rynae a pony ride. Now, try asking her what she wants to do in the zoo and she'll change her statement to 'I want to ride a HORSE!' (nah.. she still cannot differentiate between pony and horse, just like a gorilla being called a monkey!)

Art Class Conducted by Mami

Rynae seems to have grown out of 'normal' toddler toys and am now asking for toys that needs a certain level of skills to play. She has 3 wishes in her list now - a scooter, an electric organ and a drum. We didnt buy her any, apparently. Reason being, her interest level only lasts 5 minutes! The other time she asked for a saxaphone. Took me some time to scout for one decent looking and realistic one for her but before i finished my bath (i bathe pretty fast one ok?), she's already chucked it one side. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake again, I look out for educational crafts now that could at least get her to play beyond the usual time she spends with a new toy. I chanced upon a painting kit with foam stamps ($6.90) one day and I thought this should be a good activity to do with her. Happily, I chucked the box on top of my Ikea cupboard wanting to wait for a suitable occassion and mood to conduct the 'art lesson'. My plan fell through when Rynae spotted it while playing in the room one night and insisted we gave it to her. Well, no time is best time hence I decided why not do it then since she's interested? Tell you.. she l..u.r..v..e it! Look at her artwork! She even refuses to let me clean up when her bedtime's up. I guess this time my money's well spent....

Rasa Sentosa 15 to 16 June 2007

I cldnt believe my last blog was actually posted in March! That's awfully long to keep you guys waiting for my update! Now that i've got 2 or rather 1.5 weeks of holiday, I know I have to update this and trust my good self that i'm going to keep it up-and-running with the latest news about me and my family. To start, let me share with you some nice pictures of our 1 day get-away at Rasa Sentosa on 15 June. Thanks to DBS credit card offer, we got a 9th floor sea view room at only $250 nett with complimentary breakfast for 2 adults. I'm glad I made a wise decision (for once) cus the room we were given not only has an excellent view, the room was clean and staffs were friendly. Rynae for sure likes the Kids Club most. Well, the only complain we have was of the TV set lah - kept blacking out. Songs of the Sea was fantastic too. For those of you who has no idea what i'm talking about, this is an outdoor musical show with pyrotechnics, laser and water jets - choreographed to replace the musical fountain. Entrance fee was a mere $6/adult for a 25 min entertainment. Sounds reasonable unless it rains cus no refund! Sentosa is a money sucking little island indeed. Everywhere you go you need to pay for entrance (with the exception of garden walks lah) and tickets. The only attraction we paid for is 1-way sky ride - $5 per adult. Rynae met the 90cm mark and we were so delighted. An adventurous and fright stricken ride that gave us a bird's eye view of the surrounding. We're definitely looking forward to the next outing that's worth every effort travelling to and spending for.