Sentosa Day 1

The last sentosa holiday was so delightful that we came back for more. We've covered so much today! We went to Vivocity for lunch, the shopping mall has this wonderful kids area to play and lots of kids-related shopping to do. After checking into Hard Rock Hotel the first thing Mountain Boy wanted to do was take the monorail. After that we went to the beach station and chanced upon the Siloso tram and took that as well, who needs to pay 60 bucks at Universal Studios when cheap public transport can do the job!

Halloween Hooters

We had a blast at this year's Halloween Party. There's nothing like hanging out with people you really care about, make memories together and always have something to talk about years down the road.

Here are some pictures from today.

3 Hooters! It's very hard to get a decent family picture taken.

Papa and Mama owl... I don't know why we look so formal here. I tell Mountain Man that we used to be more "fun".

Mountain Man and Boy together. Mountain Boy decorated his very own dorky specs with minimal help from Daddy. He is really a budding artist according to his teachers!

Getting his face drawn by one of the older girls. It's such a smart alternative to a mask, he had been refusing to wear his!

Making "music" with a butter cookies tin. The kids banged and clanged in unison, supposedly emulating STOMP. It wasn't too bad.

Here's our halloween pictures from 2007 and 2010. By next year i'll have a make a 4th costume for baby girl!

Husband talk

True stories.

Story 1

Overheard on the radio in a beijing cab. DJ says that if you observe a member of the opposite sex for more than 8.2seconds, it could be a sign of infatuation or what is commonly known as "love at first sight".

Taxi driver: WHAT? I observe everyone for more than 8.2s!

Me: (nonchalantly)Yeah seems a little short...

Taxi driver: everyone except my wife...

At this point i couldn't help but burst into a giggle.

Story 2

Immigrations officer tried to compare Mountain Boy's passport photo taken at 2 months old versus his almost 2 yrs old face and commented that his face has changed.

And then when the immigrations officer saw my passport photo the husband automatically volunteered information.

Mountain Man: This one's face also changed.

&$#@!

Mountain Boy is doing great

For those who've been wondering how Mountain Boy is recovering after the incident, he is very much well and alive, the stitches have come off, he is itching a little but it's overall healing perfectly.

We are barely making it though. The new nanny has been around for almost a week and Mountain Boy is blowing hot and cold. Sometimes he refuses to let her touch him, sometimes he waves goodbye to me and voluntarily plays with her. The sleeping has also been affected, we're basically co-sleeping now and he kicks up a fuss during naptimes so i break all the sleep-training rules. It happens i guess. Mountain Man and I are officially just tired all the time. 1 whole week of not sleeping through and i'm completely destroyed. Poor Mountain Man still has to go to work and have important meetings in Chinese!

Anyways, here's a cute video of the boy doing his favourite action song. I've been wanting a good video of it for a long time so i'm glad he was finally cooperative in front of the camera. Watch out for his expression at the end.

Belated birthday post

Mountain man celebrated his 38th birthday last thursday. It was a quiet one, just home cooked dinner and a birthday cake.

Once again, time flies... the first birthday i celebrated with Mountain Man (as a couple) was when he was just 33 years old. It was a Timbre with a bunch of friends... Wonder where those pictures went, stupid kodakgallery decided to monetize and deleted all the photos i think.

Anyway, we were still doing long distance then and he paid me a surprise visit, i was elated by his romantic gesture! I know something is wrong with the equation cos it's his birthday and not mine so why am i the one being surprised but it was good anyway.

My dear husband, Happy Birthday. Thanks for doing your best to be a good husband to me and for being such a wonderful Dad to our baby. I hope next year the celebration will be "bigger", if you know what i mean. Muacks.

I'm not the best at celebrating birthdays but cakes and candles are a must.

FYI he does not like chocolate. Spat out the cake after we fed him.

Our nanny (still deciding if i'll keep her).

Hello Hong Kong again...

To be honest, Hong Kong has not been my vacation destination of choice for almost 10 years now. Too crowded, too stressful, always 买东西吃东西，买东西吃东西 (shop and eat, shop and eat).... The older generation of hongkongers also come across as for the lack of a better description "no-patience-don't-take-your-sh*t-therefore-can-be-quite-rude" kind of people.Disclaimer: Of course this observation is a generalization of the older generation of hongkongers at large and therefore if you're hongkonger and reading my blog please do not be offended because i'm sure you are the sweet and nice.

Somehow, we ended up in Hong Kong for the 2nd time this year because A. No visa needed given the short time to plan, B. It's cheaper than Taiwan. C. We preferred somewhere warmer so we could pack lighter.

We enjoyed ourselves because we got to spend time together as a family. Mountain Boy brought us a lot of joy with his weird antics and he was surprisingly easy! Not easy as compared to his day-to-day but he was very cooperative. By the 2nd day he was taking 2hr naps in his stroller and he only woke up once to feed at night and went back to sleep fairly quickly, this was a far cry from the usual 4-5 wakes on holidays. He was still nursing a diarrhea but he ate like a horse on the first 2 days. He doesn't like to be fed much anymore so he takes matters into his own hands.

Out of the blue, he can feed himself using the fork and spoon!

Of course he gets tired and gives up halfway. Hands much faster.

To ensure that he was well-hydrated, we gave him alot alot of juice.

Mother/Son picture of the trip. Now i feel bad that i don't take such good pictures of Father/Son.

This trip i must say is quite different from other 买东西吃东西，买东西吃东西 trips. With Mountain Boy in tow, we took our schedule easy and decided to explore more children friendly places. We went to the Citygate Outlet Mall which was quite a disappointment because most of the fashion was off season, but we made friends with a father/son duo who brought us to a huge outdoor playground nearby. We spent a good mid-morning basking in the sun, letting Mountain Boy work off some serious steam.

One of our key destinations this time was the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Now I would like to do all future family tourists to Hong Kong a favour by clarifying that the HKZBG is not in Hong Kong park, and neither is it near to Hong Kong park. We've had different directions given by different people, some say admiralty station, some say central station. Took a cab straight to the Hong Kong park only to discover that we had to climb the Great wall of "China" with a 12kg stroller and a 10kg baby before we got to our destination. To make things simple, just take a cab and tell the driver you want to go to Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Hong Kong is seriously not child-friendly because of the multiple flights of steps and no options to take the lift or go up the ramp.

Lucky thing Mountain Boy enjoyed seeing the animals upclose so we didn't waste our breath climbing those stairs.

The loot. Well... Unlike other trips i didn't buy any clothes/shoes, in fact we were at different bookstores most of the time! I stocked up on parenting books, and the first 3 installments of the Charlene Harris' vampire series. Mountain Man got his usual non-fiction business stuff that i say kills imagination. Mountain Boy also didn't buy much, all he wanted was a storybook with a pig on it and tht's what he got. I splurged on a couple more books for him because he really loves to read and China is severely lacking in English bookstores.

I was however bestowed upon 2 gorgeous gifts from the generous, loving, handsome, humorous, very athletic, has great skin amongst other good qualities husband. *wink*

Miu Miu Bow Satchel in Palissandro.

Not a good picture- Cartier Trinity, regular size, without diamonds.

I've always been attracted to this ring because i love how playful it is. This is an advance for our 3rd wedding anniversary next year.

Merry Christmas from us

Have a blessed Christmas and a fantastic end to 2010.

1st Yr: Actual Day

Weather wise, i couldn't have asked for a better day. The sky was clear, the air was good, not too warm, not too chilly. Autumn is really the best time for alfresco events, the restaurant where the party was held had a huge veranda where the kids could play. I was so excited about the party because i had put in so much effort in making Mountain Boy's first birthday a special one.

There was ONE major glitch... The party was from 330pm to 6pm, Mountain boy had been napping pretty badly the past 1 week so i was really afraid that he would be grouchy at his own party. He struggled during his afternoon nap and slept late so he only woke up at 4:10pm, and then we were held up by a very bad jam enroute so we arrived at the party at 5:10pm! We missed a huge chunk of it, i felt so upset... Luckily Mountain Man was there to hold the fort and the party must go on. The guests had arrived and everyone was already chatting and eating and the kids were running wild.

I was like a madwoman bouncing here and there twisting balloons, blowing bubbles, eating, chatting, and then herding everyone into the restaurant to cut the cakes, and then herding them out again to play zero point, and then packing up by 6:15pm. Kind of like my wedding day, 2 yrs to plan and it was over in just 1 day! I wish i can go through the party all over again in slow motion.

Here are some pictures from the party..

Mountain Boy was very well behaved. He didn't cry, he didn't fuss. He just played along. I don't think he knew he was the star... But when he sees this post he will someday.

T-shirt from Rock Your Baby.

Mountain boy was pretty stunned when everyone sang the birthday song. He must have been wondering why everyone was staring at him and clapping and smiling. First timer at this birthday business.

A nice family picture for keepsake!

After the cake cutting, we adjourned with the Zero Point Championship. See me in action... I was doing the "five times" but i failed miserably my back almost broke. I used to be able to do "five times" 20 times no problem okay. It's the age and the extra weight. The Zero Point Champion turned out to be a man, and he kept insisting that boys played Zero Point too *roll eyes*. Anyway he was a real good sport and i sincerely thank him for humouring the crowd.

Just wanted to say a mega THANK YOU to all the lovely guests who attended the party. Sorry we were late but i hope u had fun regardless, if you didn't i hope u enjoyed the food at least. Mountain Man and Boy and I love u soo very much. Hope to see you again next year.

Click here for the rest of the photos.

A look into the Deep Blue

Over the weekend, we took Mountain Boy to the Blue Zoo. Being an avid scuba diver (or maybe i should use past tense because I can't even remember the last time i went scuba diving!) I had to give Mountain Boy a taste of the underwater world. I want him to appreciate God's marvelous creations in an up-close manner, and i wanted to make sure he knows what a fish is!

The mandatory tourist pose with scary shark shark.

Hey fishy fishy...

Father and Son in the crowded tunnel.

I think Mountain Boy was pretty confused when we pointed out the "wugui". The only "wugui" he knows of is fuzzy orange with colourful polka dots and vibrates to the tune of Baba Black Sheep when pressed.

Now that's a real shark shark.

After the visit, I really ached to plunge into the deep ocean so badly that i dreamt i went scuba diving that same night! And it's not the first time.

Pictures from B.Villa Bali

It was Mountain man and boy's first trip to Bali, and it had been 10 years since my last visit. I must say that i'm way more impressed with what the little island has become today versus 10 years ago. There's a great balance of shopping and relaxing activities which i think is great for a family holiday. And the food... I always tell people that the only Indonesian thing about me is my green passport and my taste buds. I ate my favourite indonesian cuisine with a vengeance.

I don't know why i never went back sooner, but we'll definitely go back there again soon.

Here's some choice pictures from the trip.

A family picture along the corridor leading to the villas.

Private pool in our villa. Mountain boy wanted to jump right in the moment we got there! The villa concept was great but the service was a bit disappointing.

My little pretty boy.

Mozzie bites on Mountain Boy's right cheek.

My favourite picture of the trip. Mountain boy grew 3 teeth in 1 week so this is probably the last near toothless grin we'll see.

We're back!!

We've made it through yet another family holiday. This time it was PEK-SG-Bali-SG-PEK, total flight time 18 hours. The flights were seriously horrible because Mountain boy is too big for the bassinet, but too small to have his own seat. And he is in the crawling/walking stage so we really struggled a lot on the plane. Poor passengers next to us had to endure his whines and constant poking, somehow he thinks it's sociable and funny to "chochok" people but i really don't think the dude who sat next to us today thought so.

Tip to non-baby people: Do not reserve the first row seats especially the 3-in-a-row ones because those seats are usually for parents with young babies who don't respond to reason such as "please keep quiet you are disturbing others" or "stop fidgeting your elbow might hit the other passenger". The poor guy today must have thought that he made a smart move by reserving an aisle seat with alot of leg room. If you are on the tall side and want to get the best seats with leg room, choose the ones near the emergency exit door because those will not have bassinets.

I must commend all the SQ flight attendants whom i felt were very thoughtful and attentive on all the flights we've taken. They were friendly and made sure that we had everything we needed.

Anyway, i'm completely destroyed for the multiple flights and packing/unpacking so i'm gonna leave the photo uploading till my energy has recovered. So till then!!

PS: Mountain Boy is practically walking since we touched down!

Just the two of us (updated photo)

It's been a while since we took a picture without mountain boy. The eyebags and lines are stamps of parenthood that we've earned over the past 10 months. We often talk about how much we miss the life we had before mountain boy. The freedom of travelling and staying out as late as we want to, going to places without worrying about how child friendly it is, watching inflight entertainment in peace instead of entertaining mountain boy throughout the airplane journey.

Fundamentally we've not changed as a couple. We still talk about our interests, work issues, we still love exploring new places, go on romantic dates, and we still break out into hysterical laughs until our stomachs ache.

Mountain boy has done nothing short of turning our lives upside down. But after a while we learn to live and enjoy a different perspective. And, it only makes 'us' time more precious.

Sent from my iPad

Why Father's Day is potentially huge-er than Mother's Day in my household

...because Mountain Boy idolizes his father. Of course he comes to me to play and nuzzles for comfort, but his Dad is the real rock star. He would stand RIGHT INFRONT of the amplifier to support his Dad. He even peed on that particular spot he was standing on to mark his territory, as if only HE can have the best seat in the world. (I know u're wondering what kind of mother am i to let my son run wild without diapers but he had a rash on his you know what).

Shake shake, shake that cute lil bouncy booty.

Mountain Boy practicing on his Xbox drums.

Mountain Boy: Dad, can you slow down.

To celebrate Father's Day, a bunch of Mommy friends and I planned a surprise "Daddies Only" visit to the pub to watch the Japan/Holland match, front row seats and first 2 drinks included. Mountain Man was honestly surprised when i announced at 630pm, in the midst of a massive housewarming party, that he could stay out as late as he wanted and not worry about cleaning up, bathing and putting Mountain Boy to sleep.

I think he was so touched he may have cried on the way to the pub.

Anyway, a father's day is not complete without tacky gifts. Here's a pair of matchy-matchy father & son water bottles. Mountain Boy was quite the trouper when he waited almost 40minutes at the kodak shop to develop these photos. He was so exhausted that he fell asleep on his stroller afterwards.

Guess what?

We've hit our 100,000 visitors milestone! Thanks for tuning in.

One Little Two Little Three Little Indians...(updated photos)

Red indian chief in full costume.

Cannot sit still as usual.

We love costume parties! Today we attended a friend's 2nd birthday party and we came fully committed to the Red Indian theme. Mountain Boy's costume was hand-sewn by the nanny and decorated by yours truly. And he won the Best Costume award!!

A decent family picture at last.

Probably the only time you'll see Mountain Man with long/so much hair.

Mountain Boy: Hey lady, we meet again.

Mencia: Oh what a pleasure to see u again my gentleman.

Mencia: Get your filthy paws of me!

Mountain boy: come on just a peek.

Luckily Mencia's chaperone came to her rescue.