Sleeping Arrangements

Lately, Bryan has managed to work out how to climb out of his cot. Onto the bed next to his cot and then down onto the floor. Then he'll open his door and come looking for me. All without making a single peep. The next thing I know, he's in my room, with his messy, just-woke-up look. Which gave me a big scare.

So I've decided he's going to need his own bed. But until then, he's going to have to make do with the higher adult sized bed. With lots and lots of pillows in case he decides to roll around. And putting him to bed is going to require a whole lot more time and energy since he now has access to all his toys and books. Which means more distractions, more stuff he wants to do before going to sleep.

When I think about it, Bryan's learning so many new things and growing up so fast. He can take off his clothes and shoes. He's working on putting them on. He can eat on his own. Which is fabulous when we take him out for dinner.

Now the only other thing I have to work on is getting him out of diapers.

In Loving Memory

1998 - 2007: Krusty. The sweetest, most tolerant, most obedient dog. Ever. His furry presence will be missed by all. There will never be another that could ever take his place. His fatal illness only manifested itself in the past few days so his passing came as quite a shock to many. May he rest in peace.

Krusty was with us in Melbourne, Australia. He went jogging with me, he slept at the foot of my bed. He was with me through my long distance relationship when my husband-then-boyfriend was away. He was shipped all the way from Australia to Singapore. He was in our wedding photos. He was with me when I was pregnant and when I had Bryan. He understood when I had a baby to look after and I couldn't spend as much time with him. He was always there whenever I called. I love him and miss him so much.

This photo was only taken last week. I had wanted to do a couple of scrapbook pages on him, so I took some pictures. And in the past couple of months or so I had decided that I wanted to spend more time with him and actually made the effort to play with him more. Coincidence? Or God? I like to think it was His way of making it that much easier to accept this loss.

Random Photo

This is Bryan's 'cheese' smile. He usually makes this funny face when you ask him to smile. So the trick is to ask him to say 'cheese'. Or make him laugh. He enjoys taking photos. He'll stand at the right spot and stay there until the camera clicks or flashes. Then he'll come up to you and he'll want to see the photo straight away. The wonders of a digital camera.

Today is my darling hubbie's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING!

Zoo Sept 2007

We had promised Bryan to take him to the zoo today. But the day started out a little wet. And it rained where we were at home. Bryan however woke up and was so excited about going to the zoo. He acually remembered that we told him we'd take him to the zoo. So even though it was raining, a promise is a promise and we thought we'd just drive there and then have breakfast and drive back.

However, when we got to the zoo, the rain had already stopped over the zoo and the weather was nice and cool. Which was great. And because the weather was so cool, all the animals were out of their caves and dens and were enjoying themselves. We could even see animals in their enclosures on the top of their hills or on tree tops while riding on the zoo tram from a distance.

Bryan's a little older now and he could name some of the animals, like monkey, giraffe, zebra, lion, tiger. I think he enjoyed himself a little more this time. He heared the lion roar and kept repeating to himself that the 'lion roar'. He also wanted to walk instead of using the pram. I think he feels like a big boy if he walks.



I think the zoo's a great outing. We missed a lot of the animal shows this time around. I think we'll try to catch some of the shows next time. Bryan would love to watch the animals doing their tricks. Thank goodness the zoo has a family membership for $150, which gives unlimited entries for a year and free parking. That saves us a lot of money if we visit often enough since each trip costs $15 or so per person. So I figure if we go at least once in two months or so, it would be worth it.

Closet Cleanout

I'm in the process of cleaning out my closet. A yearly affair. Clothes that I have not put on for the past year goes into the Salvation Army pile. There are lots of exceptions of course. But at least it makes me feel like I've done my closet spring cleaning.

So I've noticed that I've lots of white, black and sweet pink. I've dug up some bright colours that are so in season now which I haven't put on in a while. I realised that I wear dark colours quite well. Like cobalt blue, fushia, deep violet. Not orange and green though. Well, maybe only mint green. Then I notice that I don't have yellow at all. And I really like the light butter yellow colour.

During lunch the past couple of weeks, I've been trawling the stores nearby hoping to find something nice in yellow. And would you belive it, I can't find a decent piece. Not in my size anyway. Shops should really stock up more on XS, since it's the one size that seems to run out all the time.

The dress above is from Miss Selfridge. Nice.

I Want!

Probably the closest thing I'll ever get to the IPhone. 8mm thin. Multi-touch screen. 3.5inch display. Wi-fi web browsing. Watch movies. Show off photos. Of course listen to music. Syncs with my Apple Macbook. All in 120g. SG$698 for 16GB. SG$498 for 8GB. Available on Apple website.

Sentosa's Facelift

The last time we were in Sentosa was a while back. Even then we just drove into the island and headed straight for the Underwater World. So we didn't explore the island at all.

This weekend, we were invited to Sentosa to watch their new show, the Songs of the Sea. Initially I thought it was the musical fountain show. But I was wrong.

We went in by the new Sentosa rail which replaced the old monorail system and linked the island to the mainland of Singapore. The monorail journey started out at Vivocity, the shopping mall. It was after dark when we went in so I didn't make out much. But after a while, I worked out that the monorail made a couple of stops before the last station, the Beach Station. Which turned out to be I think further down the old Siloso Beach.

When we got out of the train. I was really amazed at how much the place had changed. From just a beach with a park beside it, it had transformed into a welcome terminal. There was Coffee Bean (& Tea Leaf), 7-eleven, a gift shop. It reminded me of the old ferry terminal on Sentosa.

The show was now actually in the sea, instead of a pond in the old musical fountain. There was an old Malay fishing village built a little way out in the sea, which hid the pipes and other equipment for the light and sound display. The seating capacity is apparently 2,500 now and the stands were very nicely done.

The show lasted I think half an hour. And it was really quite spectacular. Laser and light moving images were projected onto a fine spray of water which acted like a screen. The show incorporated a story with music, laser light display, water and even fire. The finale even included some fireworks. It was very well done.

Bryan really enjoyed the show. Except at the end where there were the loud fireworks and he got a little spooked. But he calmed down after we decided to get some ice cream. His cousins who were there as well, really enjoyed themselves too. They weren't ready to go home after the show.

On the way back by the same monorail train, I noticed that the old ferry terminal and musical fountain had been razed to the ground. In it's place was a huge hole in the ground where trucks and machinery were working. It was a little sad to see the place all torn up. I had lots of good memories there. I guess that's where the new Sentosa Integrated Resort is going to be.

I think we will definately be headed back there sometime. Just to see the new attractions and other new developments going on there. Bryan will definately remember a different Sentosa to the one I knew.

Hi 5 Circus

Hi 5 from Australia is here from 31 August to 9 September. They were playing at the Singapore Expo. Bryan is a very big fan so we decided to bring him to watch it. Now although it says on the banner 'tickets from $38' in reality, the decent seats are actually $68 and $88 a pop. It's insane. And yet tickets are actually sold out. I called up SISTIC and asked if Bryan needed one of those incredibly expensive seats. It turns out that as long as he is happy to sit on my lap, he doesn't really need a seat of his own. That's a big relief. Now I still had to fork out $140.20. $2 of which consisted of their ticket admin fee. I don't really understand this fee. After all, I bought the ticket online. And the $0.20 takes the cake. It's the fee they charge for ME to collect the ticket PERSONALLY from the ticket counter. ??!!


Today was the day of the Hi 5 Circus show. We had gotten him the tickets to the 7pm show. Bryan was so excited. He was told that when mommy got home from work, we would bring him to watch Hi 5. So the moment I arrived, he rushed to the door and insisted that he should put on his 'nice shoes'. And he went straight to the car and wanted to be strapped in. He refused to get out even though I still had to have my dinner. He patiently sat and waited in the car in his car seat... until I was all done.

At the entrance, there was this big Hi 5 hand. We were lucky to be able to snap a picture of him on it without any interruptions from other children. There were also booths selling Hi 5 VCDs and other Hi 5 merchandise. Bryan wasn't keen on anything at the time. He didn't want the hat or Jup Jup. In the end he decided that he wanted that headband one with the flashing neon green lights.

Once the show started, Bryan sat on my lap and watch, entirely taken in with the whole performance. The seats were pretty ok. But the category A seats would have been even better. The Hi 5 team was onstage, singing and dancing in their bright coloured costumes. Bryan clapped along and waved at the right times. There were new songs and some old ones. It consisted of 2 halves of half an hour each and with a 20 minute break in between. At the end of it, after saying 'bye bye' to Hi 5, Bryan was a little disappointed to be going home. He wanted 'more Hi 5'. Then when we were walking out, there were people selling Hi 5 balloons so we got one for Bryan. I wasn't actually keen on getting it but he actually asked for it.

Now he is sleeping with the balloon in his room, tired but very happy. I really shouldn't spoil him too much. But this is a special outing for him. I didn't want to end the night with him being disappointed.

Notables

Recently I watched the 5th season of the Apprentice. Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump has replaced Carolyn as one of the judges together with her brother Donald Jr. I've heard of her but she's never really been in the spotlight much. And she seemed more down-to-earth than most of the other heiresses, like Paris Hilton. And she sounded quite intelligent on the show. So I checked up on her. She's a year younger than me. She attended the Wharton School in University of Pennsylvania and graduated magna cum laude from her class. She was a model while she was studying but now is vice president of her father's Real Estate division (She's only 25!). And she will be launching her own line of diamond jewellery collection. Now that's somebody with beauty AND brains. I would really like to meet her one day.

In the news lately, Pavarotti has passed away at age 71, from cancer. He's probably the only one of the 3 tenors whose name I can remember. Aside from Domingo and the other one (What's his name?). After my honeymoon to Italy, I have come to appreciate Italian songs. And I discovered that Italians are probably born to sing. Even the restaurant entertainers are exceptional. I would really like to watch an episode of Italian Idol. They would put even the American Idols to shame, much less the Singapore Idol. Hmm Singapore Idol, I thought that was some kind of a joke.

Random Photo

Bryan has never liked getting his hair cut. He always kicks up a big fuss each time. But it's about time he had one. The last hair cut was almost 3 months ago.

So, hoping for a cry-free hair cut, we brought him to one at United Square. This one had toys to play with and a TV to watch, so there were lots of distractions. He was persuaded to sit on my lap and he let the hairdresser cut his hair with a pair of scissors. Started off pretty ok. He was cross with me but seemed to tolerate it well. It was only when she used the clippers that Bryan started to fuss. But in the end, he sat through it all and got a great haircut. At twice the price ($18!) but half the fuss. I think we will be going back there at the end of the year.

We had promised to buy Bryan some fishes and a fish tank if he got his haircut. And we did. Actually I think it was more like my darling hubbie wanted it for Bryan. It's only a small tank and now has only a few plants and fishes in it but hopefully it looks much nicer once it's nicely filled. Now it holds 10 cardinal fishes and 2 flame gouramis.

[EDIT] The new tank did not agree with some of the cardinals so after getting water softeners and conditioners and what not, they seemed to be going ok. We got some more fishes too. My favourite: The ghost knife fish. It is really fascinating to watch. My son calls it the 'black fish'.