Visit to BabyCare Festival 2009

In case you're not aware, Expo is buzzing with events this weekend! Natas and BabyCare Festival are both being organised in the same time frame and the expected crowd is gonna be horrific! I don't wanna be stampeded so I choose to go on a Friday. The line up of participating merchants and starbuys at this year's BCF was attractive and now that I am preggy, there's an even valid reason for me to check out promotional bb products and services! Praise the exhibitors for organising BCF in Hall 6B because I do not have to cut through crowds along the long and squeezy hallway.

Big brands like Avent, J&J, Cordlife and OCBC had their prominent brand presence in the hall. There were genuine great buys everywhere! Maternity bottoms on sale from $25 onwards, toys at more than 50% discount and baby skincare products at special prices! I had to exercise monetary self-control many a times. This event is also an opportunity for merchants to collect database sales lead hence there were many free samples/gifts to be collected, on condition. Do a survey with NTUC and you get a bib. Give your feedback on healthcare to Parkway Health and you get a bladder weekness slim pad plus a pair of mitten. I completed several of such 'non obligation' forms and got away with a bagful of freebies. I know that I would be bombarded with phone calls and newsletters but if these sales people are not aggressive, I'm fine with the information they provide.

I sat down for a lengthy consultaion with Cordlife too - my main reason for being there actually. I gained some insights but I did not sign up with them on impulse. I needed to do the necessary research so that I know I have made a good choice. With the knowledge on cordblood banking, I would then be a good adviser to many people and I bet you will trust my advice then! Stay tuned if you're interested. Once I've got enough information, I'll do a post on 'cord blood banking'.

Sushi Doh

I thought it was a sushi masa masa set at first sight but after flipping over to see the pictures on the reverse packaging, I realised that it was actually a sushi doh making kit! Interesting!

It was so coincidental. We just had a meal of Sakae Sushi the night before and these delicacies are still fresh in Rynae's mind. I grabbed it as it was just $5 (U.P. $18.90). Our friend was elated when I presented her with the gift. She chuckled with familiarity when she made the sushis.

Baby Cow

I've a piece of good news to break herein. I'm knocked up again! This time, I was told I am gonna expect a boy. Let me call him cowboy for now. I'm into my second trimester and am so glad my bloated-ness, nausea and my headache are all gone. In fact, I'm now eating like there's no tommorrow! Sis Rynae is conscious of the arrival of her little bb brother and is looking forward to the day Mum bombs.

Because of this little, helpless life that is dependant on me for survival, I'm on weekly dose of cordyseps and am also watching what I eat now. For donkey years, I've never felt being such a health freak!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day this year falls on a Saturday but it's another ordinary family day for us. Hence, Daddy and Mummy's not having any special line-ups for today. We spent a wonderful afternoon at the extended Jurong Point SC and Daddy received a free Cornetto ice-cream cone from Walls as a prelude for its 'Show your love' campaign. BUT THEN, dinner that evening was mouth-dropping and so must-blog! Daddy cooked noodles for us! It was Rynae's first taste of food cooked by him for the past 4 years! He's no cook hence getting a bowl of home-cooked noodle from him is the best one can expect. I gotta record it somewhere, I gotta take pictures and I've gotta tell the whole world - Our Daddy made our Valentine's Day so romantic!

My Gardening Update

Here's an update on my gardening project. Many weeks back, I planted some black beans, some green beans and a potato. I'm so proud to tell you today that they've sprouted! Though not all the beans survived, I'm already glad that at least 1 of each type managed to push itself up the soil! What a wonderful boost after many failed attempts. Both Rynae and I are looking forward to the day when we can harvest our own beans.

Teaching Chinese

Rynae has a strong interest for English language. She articulates well in English, understands English and is a competent reader albeit her young age. On the contrary, when it comes to Chinese language, she showed not the slightest interest, even when I offered to read her Chinese story books. The set of Chinese words flash cards I bought her were left idle. I hear alarm.

When she was small, I did some labelings like 'door', 'chair', 'fan' etc, around the house in a bid to help her to recognise the words. I removed all these during spring cleaning as she already knew how to read them. It seems that I have to use the same method, in Chinese this time, to help her recognise some simple household words. Below are some of the cards I DIY-ed. It doesn't take much time to print and laminitate though. To make sure she pays attention to the words, I asked her to repeat after me, thereafter paste each onto the respective items.

Adding on, I also made her a set of Chinese Numerical Dominoes. Remember I preach Learn Thru' Play? I hope this does her good. Afterall, she responded well to the Time, Dora and Dots Dominoes I made for her so this shouldn't go too wrong. And boy! Was I happy when she suggested the card game herself. If this method goes well, I'll make her more Chinese Dominoes!

Moo-ving into the New Year

Every year without fail, we'll be back to Indonesia for CNY and this year's no exception. We had a lengthy 1 week stay there gorging on new year goodies, otah and karopok. I think I should have easily gained 4 kg on this eating spree.

If you agree, CNY this year is exceptionally dry and hot. There was hardly any rain and because of the dry spell, Indo's house's rain water reserve was used up and the whole family has to use spring water (bought from the government) from big barrels. It was SO SO SO... inconvenient and troublesome not having water running from taps. I count my blessings not having to worry about the shortage of water, food or electricity in Singapore.

My girl celebrated her English birthday on Lunar NY Day 4 in the pleasant company of grandparents, many cousins, uncle and aunts. She collected a lot of additional ang baos too!

Catching guppies for good luck. 'Cos... 'Nian Nian You Yu'!

Swallows are abundant in Indonesia. Some Indonesian Chinese striked it rich by just selling bird's nest. During yesteryears good times, a kg can fetch S$2000! My god. If you convert to rupiah, this earning can last them a few months! Because it is so lucrative, Yue Niang in Little Nyonya was trading in birds nest too! I borrowed from grandma some freshly picked, unprocessed bird's nest and snapped some pictures for fun sake. Not many people has the fortune to see raw bird's nest hor.

Self-made Ang Bao

For fun sake, Mummy thought of showing Rynae how to DIY ang baos. Construction work was divided into 2 parts - folding of the origami cows and the ang baos. I folded the cows while our friend helped to draw in the eyes and the spots on their body and well, that's her contribution thus far. Separately, I folded cows from white paper and asked her to decorate it in whatever way she likes but she just filled in the 'necessaries'. No matter how I cooed her on, except asking me why the cows didn't have tails, she just refused to add anymore stokes or drawings on them and argued that this is how cows actually are. Period. Chey! No creativity. After completion, I gave out these 2 ang baos with money to her younger cousins.

I'm four!

Mummy cooked rice vermicelli for Rynae today because today is her chinese birthday! She's 6 years old according to Chinese calendar mind you! Haha. I did not make a big hoo-hah over this special day and merely told her that it was her Chinese birthday and Daddy's gonna buy her a birthday cake tonight. She acknowledged and went on with her daily activities. I was actually expecting her to ask for birthday presents but she didn't! She's happy enough with a birthday cake. I attribute that to how we brought her up - never expect more than what you're given.

She's really excited and proud to be 4 years old now. If you were to challenge her with a task and claim that she cannot handle it, she will emphasise that she's 4 years old already! Not a baby anymore. My little angel has grown up another year...

Sentosa

Daddy took leave today to enjoy a long weekend holiday. Initially we only wanted to shop around for CNY clothes but an impromptu request from Rynae made us ended up in Sentosa. She said she wanna go Sentosa to play sand and as we're done with our shopping in Vivo, we gladly abide. Quick-witted Daddy bought a $2 sand kit from Daiso and within minutes, we transcend onto another island. Rynae had almost an hour jolly time on the beach before the gloomy clouds began to let up. We took shelter from the sun in a coffeeshop and Mummy ate a $8 plate of sambal tapioca leaves. Slurp!

Happy New Year in Admiralty Park

Everything seems normal when we woke up today. But... it shouldn't be so! Today is a new start to year 2009 and we should feel energetic, forward-looking and zestful! To avoid the public holiday crowd, we hid home whole afternoon until Daddy suggested visiting the nearby Admiralty Park that was officially opened by Mr Khaw Boon Wan last year. The park was serene and crowd-free. Only a few joggers and strolling families.

There was a nature trail but I wasn't too interested in trekking in it on fear of mosquito bites. However, Rynae was encouraging and said she would help me out of the forest. I reckon she wants to be as adventurous as Dora so I went ahead with the idea. Thank god I came out bite-free!

There was a Sakura restaurant located at the West entrance of the park. We paraded one round and decided not to dine in it because of the holiday surchange. Another time perhaps. I'm sure I'll make it here to makan one day.

New Year Resolution

Gosh! Year 2008 is coming to an end! What meaningful and worthy achivements have I clocked this year? Could I even remember how I have spent the 365 days? Not exactly.

Every year around this time, everyone will be talking about setting new year resolution(s). I do not have the habit so. I mean not that I do not have any ambition or goals but most of my resolutions are well... on-going like... slimming down and taking better care of myself and my family. I do however, set short term goals where I try to complete within a specific time period. Anything that is dragged for too long, I either forget or loose interest.



I find myself having difficultly keeping up with my postings. Sometimes, I lagged so far behind that I cut-out some events which I wanna post initially. Yes! I am terrible at time management and this has been a teetering problem.

Here's a 'wishlist' that I have drafted. I hope to achieve most. God bless me.

1) (What else?) Have better time management

2) Spring clean my house

3) Inculcate the love of Chinese in Rynae (Very difficult task but I'll try)

4) Have a drastic new hairdo

5) Learn to cook more variety of dishes

Yeah... That's all for now. I'll update as and when I have inspiration. Happy New Year to all!

Metro and Popular Sale

Ah ha! It's another shopping spree for me. After getting wind of Metro and Popular's Back to School Sale at Singapore Expo, I made an arrangement to drop by in hope of catching some good deals. Thank god the crowd for both events was manageable and I need not have to queue up for entry.

Honestly, I do not have much expectation of such sales as I know that it is a dumping ground for companies who wish to get rid of off-season and less popular items. Hence, each trip was like a lucky dip for me.

As the theme implies, Popular's merchandises were mainly stationaries, bags and assesment books in preparation for the new school semester. I tried to control my impulse buys and after much contemplation, I grabbed some thin, saddle-stitched English story books, writing materials and Chinese story books for Rynae. Some were sold at an unbeliveable price of $1!

Boxing Day

Today is Boxing Day. Together with Rynae's Aunt and cousins, we planned for a fun day out at the Singapore Zoo. After watching the Safari Splash show, our gang proceeded to the main attraction - The Rainforest Kidzworld for another good splash. It was supposed to be a happy outing but something disastrious happened - Rynae's cousin slipped, fell and lost 1 front adult tooth. Ouch! With a foul mood, they headed home right after the incident, while we stayed on.

We promised Rynae we would do something different for each zoo trip so this time, we allowed her to ride the carousel for $4 and took free rides on the tram (weekday member privilege). The white tigers are back to their enclosure after many weeks of 'consultation'. However, we noticed that there are more cautionary signages like an emergency number and warnings mounted on the barricades now. Good initiative. But maybe the management should consider the possibility of attempted suicide in the crocodile pond near the main entrance too....

Celebrating Dong Zhi

We don't particularly celebrate Dong Zhi but as it falls on Sunday this year, all of us congregate at Grandma's place for a scrumptious meal of duck, chicken, pork, noodle, curry and Tang Yuan. Mummy wanna let Rynae experience the process of making this traditional dish so I fetched her to grandma's place early in the morning (well, you can see that she's still clad in her pyjamas in the pix). Expectedly... she was more of a hindrance than a help. Most of her Tang Yuan are not yuan and grandma had to re-knead them... She got the 'worst helper of the year' award.

Sweet Orchard Xmas Lighting

Rynae has seen much of daytime Orchard but it's her first visit to a Christmasy and shimmering night Orchard. She was so full of awe when she saw the lollies and sweets hanging down the trees and from the lamp posts. The shopping belt has been coated with much sweetness that it has attracted so many 'ants', especially along Orchard Walkway (fronting Wisma Atria), Paragon and Tangs Building. The crowd was worrisome and photography sessions were a headache.

We travelled on foot from Plaza Sing, where The Christmas Village is, and all the way down to Ngee Ann City. Lightings and performances were concentrated in these 2 areas as the rest of Orchard is still undergoing a major facelift. Our little friend requested for an ice-cream break and she had her wish fulfilled. We sat her on a parapet with a good spot along Orchard Walkway. Daddy and Mummy had our breaks then too. From our privileged spot, we can see the stretch bursting with good news of Christmas in song, dance and drama. Buskers performed for their tips too.

Orchard is indeed the right place to go if you wanna soak in the spirit of Christmas.

Back to Kampong Days

Our friend, chilling out on Ah Gong's bridge that is leading out to the sea.

It was a torturous 1 week 'cold turkey' break from technology. There were no internet access, no phone calls and no messaging. Even watching television programmes was a luxury as there were periods when there weren't any electricity supply. Mummy kinda felt being cut off from the rest of the world. So where on earth have I landed? A rural island in Indonesia.

Our Bong family had gone back to Indo during this school holiday to attend Rynae's cousin wedding as well as to visit family members. Rynae loves going back to Ah Gong's house as she gets to pillion on motorbikes, eat coconuts, play with sand, throw stones into the sea and roam about freely on the vast, unconfined home compound. Actually, it felt good loosing ourselves into laid-back kampong lives to relax and recharge, once in a while. There're no stress, no heavy traffic and no human crowd. Then again, there were a lot of mosquitoes though...

Christmas Tree Decoration

Have you heard of the carol that rumoured Santa Claus is not coming to town this year? It is true that this and the next few years are going to be tough hence we've gota watch where we throw our moolah! Rynae is now at an age where she understands meaning of festivals and celebrations so I really wanna create a joyful christmasy mood for her this year by decorating our house with Christmas ornaments. I aimed to get a Christmas tree, a not too expensive one.

I came across an advertisement that Carrefour is selling their Christmas tree for only $9.90. This is unbelievable! Thankfully it is not a sales gimmick. Their 150cm tree is genuinely being sold for less than 10 bucks! Whee! I managed to get a decent-looking lighted Christmas tree for less than $25! Here's my breakdown:

Christmas Tree: $9.90

100 Xmas Lights: $7.90

Xmas Balls: $3.90

Gold Garlands: ($0.90 x 2) $1.80

Other Decorations: DIY

Tree Topper: Free

Gold Drap: Free

Total: $23.50

It felt good owning a pretty Christmas tree without the guilt of being a spendthrift. Rynae loves the Christmas tree and has been boasting about it to her cousins!

A bottie tree deco I made with Japanese soft clay.

Rynae's masterpiece. A leaf. You can tell ya? Hee..

Zoo Trip

Everyone's talking about the new Rainforest Kidzworld in Singapore Zoo. Well, now that the attraction is finally completed, we have a valid reason to renew our Friends of the Zoo membership which entitles us to unlimited visits to the zoo for a year. We got it free last year but this year, we had to fork out $180 (used to be $150) for it. Ouch! We felt the pinch.

Oistein Kristiansen was at the Zoo yesterday for an hour-long interactive workshop but we couldn't make it down because of Rynae's Orientation class. Maybe we'll catch him, Dora, Diego or Spongebob Sqaurepants some other days. We went for a new Rainforest Fights Back animal show at 10.30am but it was like watching a lengthy drama. The script was long with breaks of expected animals sneaking out for a short presentation. If you're a frequent visitor of the 3 parks under Wildlife Reserves, you would agree with me that the shows are similar. I bet it must be directed by the same director.

With the new Rainforest Kidzworld, animals are no longer the purpose and highlight of a zoo visit. In fact, the motive of ours (and many others) is to check out the widely publicised attraction! So, right after the show, we took a short cut, neglected the animals and headed straight for it. It's a kids' heaven alright! The wet playground has not only expanded so many times its orginal but its features are also boosted! Our friend spent a good 1 hour in the wet land and had it not been for the drizzle, she would not have left it.

The bulk of our time was thrown into the Kidzworld. It was a self-sustaining attraction on its own. Rynae ate her lunch, played in the playground, rode a pony, stole the pony's hay to feed the goats and abused the bunnies. She was so reluctant to move on but we abducted her to the new fragile forest (I suppose it is new 'cos I haven't been to it). I applaud the gardeners for the effort they took to revive the crops in the Tropical Crops Plantation. We really do see fruits this time!

Orientation for 2009

Rynae's school organised an orientation for Pre-Nursery and Nursery 2009 classes this Saturday and though not compulsory, we brought her there just to catch up with some teachers and her classmates. After the MP's speech, children are allowed to play in the 5 activity corners that the teachers had came up with. There were books to read, toys to play and crafts to do. After she tried her hand at sewing (something similar to the sewing cards I made for her), the teacher in charge of the activity commented that Rynae has good fine motor skills and asked me to challenge her to more difficult tasks like making her do cross stitches, cutting the holes smaller and closer etc. Alrite.. points taken...