Random Photo

Zoo Trip

We took my dad and my sister to the zoo today. It rained when we left and I got a little worried for a while. But it turned out ok. The rained stopped by the time we arrived and we had a great time.

Bryan certainly enjoyed himself, after he got his ice cream.


And the animals loved the cool weather too. We saw some really unusual ones, like this iguana. We got some really awesome photos.

And it's not just about the animals. There were some really lovely flowers out there too. Like this orchid.

Family Weekend

My family came down from Malaysia for a visit. My grandmother (my sons great-grandmother) came with my grand-aunt. It's great seeing them after so long. We had a lovely dinner at Boon Tong Kee. I recommend the outlet at Blk 34 Serangoon Road. It has ample parking and it situated just next to the MRT station. They are famous for their chicken rice. But they have a variety of dishes, like coffee pork ribs, steam sliced garoupa fish in herbal sauce/soup, crab meat beancurd. Which are all really yummy.

I hope to go down to visit them with the kids end of the year or during the Chinese New Year. And sample some yummy KL food, like the Hokkien noodles. Which is one of my favourites.

Toys

This is one of Gabriel's favourite toys. It's handed down from Bryan, who got it from his cousin. Gabriel has to put in balls into the top, where it will follow the ramp down and appear in one of the tunnels at the bottom. Now Gabriel thinks it's for all balls. And he will try it on anything spherical. It may not fit but he'll give it a go anyway.

Meanwhile, the ruins of Leith Road...

BFF!

Me and my best friends had dinner yesterday to celebrate a birthday. It's been a while since we all had a girls' night out so it was incredible fun. We chatted about an upcoming wedding, hubbies, kids and of course scrapbooking.

We ate at a Turkish restaurant. It was something different for all of us. This is a bread dip, Hummus. Whatever that is, it's very good. And the bread is something different. And nice. We had other strange sounding food but they tasted great. The dessert was Baklava. It was super sweet. I don't recommend that unless you fancy cavities.


To many more years of friendship ahead...

Weekly Scrapz

I used mainly Fancy Pants 'Summer Soiree' and Cosmo Cricket 'Snorkel' papers, rub-ons. I did a lot of hand cutting for the waves. The chipboard letters and shapes are from K & Company.

Random Photo

Bryan's wearing hubbie's NS hat. And holding some note pads and pens from a recent CME lunch talk. He still looks very cute, even at 4 years.

Mini 50th Birthday Bash

Hubbie was invited to the Mini 50th Birthday Celebrations at Clarke Quay. So I tagged along. I have to say that the Mini is very cute. Especially the one above. It's the older model. But very cute. Just like Mr Bean's car.


Here's the latest model, a limited edition 'Mini Tiger'.


I liked that the car is very customizable. Here's one with the Singapore flag on the car and on the top (which you can't see).


And I especially liked the HUGE speedometer and other gadgets on the dash board. I've never noticed it before. A very cute car. But not practical with a family. It's only 2 doors and not much boot space...

Photos taken with my iPhone.

New Scrapbooking Lines

I'm eagerly awaiting my latest scrapbook shipment from the US. The latest lines have just been released there and I just put in the order late last week. I had a very long wishlist to begin with but later cut down the stuff I wanted to just the few that I would use.

My obsession with nice papers started when I was in primary school. I loved cute stationery, stickers and stamps. I remember I'd collect them and used them as notepaper, diaries etc. As I got older, my budget for these things grew bigger and I bought cute pens which didn't work very well. Pencils with furry ends. More and more stickers. And more organisers than I knew what to do with.

Now that I'm too old for cute stationery, ie. Hello Kitty etc. I moved on to new things.

Scrapbooking involves getting lovely papers, stickers, rub-ons, flowers, brads etc. Then combining them with my photos. It's not just therapeutic but gives me an excuse to get more stationery. And in the age of digital photography, I get to show off my photos in a very unique and textured way. Each layout/album is different and unique. I never buy/repeat the same papers and stickers again.

I hope that these albums will last and become a legacy to my children. Something that they can show to their children.

Weekly Scrapz

Layouts made with My Little Shoebox papers and diecuts. I cut out some the shapes like the houses and the owl and tree from one of the papers. Aren't they just so cute?

Zoo Fun

Today's trip took us down past the monkeys to the elephants. Usually we walk the other way to the kids world. But Bryan wanted to see the elephants today. He even climbed up a small hut and pretended to be a baby elephant. Gabriel meanwhile, just enjoyed his long walk.

Angels

It hasn't been a busy week but somehow I feel a little under the weather. Energy levels not what it used to be. I hope I'm not coming down with something. Maybe partly because hubbie's been busy at work with dinners and MIL has her own appointments. So I end up having to entertain my 2 kids myself. It's not too bad though. Bryan does his own thing and Gabriel just needs stuff to play with.

Then I have to put them to bed. They sleep in the same room so it's not difficult. I just have to keep an eye on Gabriel crawling around while I read Bryan his bedtime stories or help him with his activity books. Then I pretty much fall asleep with them.

These days Bryan's been very good when I'm around. He doesn't throw so much tantrums if he doesn't get his way. I generally try to compromise so he doesn't feel like he is missing out on something. Like, sweets/snacks only after dinner. Or we'll do something together only after he takes a shower. And I have to keep to my promises too, then he'll keep to his. It's working out so far. I think he likes playing the 'kor kor' or big brother role. So he tries to be helpful and good for his younger brother.

Meanwhile, Gabriel's becoming more mobile. He wants to crawl around and play with stuff. And he wants me to play with him when I'm home. I do have to watch him like a hawk now. He grabs and bites everything. And has a tendency to crawl up to edges to look over. I think 10 months is a lovely age. He's not so fragile but still very cute. And is starting to show a little of his personality.

It's really such a blessing to have 2 little angels in the house.

Weekly Scrapz

I used mainly October Afternoon Ducks in a Row papers and die-cuts. Rub-ons from October Afternoon and Hambly.



These 2 layouts used Basic Grey papers from June Bug and Lemonade. I love the little doggies on the papers. And I wanted to show off the lace die cut papers so I opted for a layered look on the layout. Stickers and chipboard letters are also from the same lines.

10 Months

Cuteness overload at 10 months. Gabriel crawls now and pulls himself to stand whenever he can. He can just about stand on his own too. Then he falls right on his bottom. He loves reading. He can flip the pages of a board book and loves looking at the pictures.

Happy Birthday Timothy

We were invited to Timothy's 9th Birthday party at his lovely home. The food was pretty good. There was lots of pasta and yummy pizza. Gabriel had porridge and vegetables. Bryan meanwhile was more interested in the toys than the food.



Both boys had lots of fun. Bryan got to play with his cousins and Gabriel got to explore a pretty carpet. And mommy really enjoyed the yummy birthday cake!

Marina Barrage

We were invited one evening to celebrate a couple of friend's birthday, at Marina Barrage. It's actually at Marina South. There is a nice Chinese restaurant there, 7th Storey Restaurant. And even sitting outside, it's quite cool because of the sea breeze. On top of the building, is actually a park. There were quite a number of people taking advantage of the wind to fly their kites. And then there is the gorgeous sunset, right at the cityline too.

Mount Faber

I haven't been to Mount Faber in years and years. Recently there's been a lot of media attention at 'The Jewel Box', which was previously the Mount Faber Cable Car Tower. There was a building built around it with one side of the facade in glass. So the view from inside the building is absolutely stunning. Especially the view of Sentosa and the sunset.



We tried out the Black Opal, a western themed restaurant on the second floor. Not only was the view lovely, the decor inside is gorgeous. Very nice for an intimate dinner party or for couples. The price on the other hand is breathtaking too. At any other restaurant in Singapore it would be considered outrages. But I suppose the price includes the ambience as well. On the same floor is an outdoor bar/restaurant, a souvenir shop and access to the cable car ride.



Up on top of the Jewel Box on the 3rd floow is a Chinese restaurant, Empress Jade. There is an outdoor setting as well as indoor. What I like about this wing of the building is that it is built around a tree. So the tree appears to be growing out of the building. At night I would recommend dining Al Fresco to fully enjoy the view. Again the price you pay includes the price for enjoying the scenery as well.

More photos will be posted on Facebook and Picasa.

New Neighbourhood

Just five minutes away in the next neighbourhood, is a new block of restaurants. It actually opened up a few months ago, but because it was hidden away inside the estate, we didn't hear about it. Until we received a flyer giving us a discount. So we tried it out. Well, actually, we tried it out the Italian restaurant. It was nice. I liked the decor. It reminded me a lot of Italy. We'll definately come back and maybe try something else too.

Weekly Scrapz

It's been a while since I've scrapped. Especially since I've been on leave and spending more time with the kids. So I felt a little rusty when I finally got back to scrapping. This week I focussed on the trip to Science Centre in June. I'm a little behind...



I used a lot of stamps in this layout. I especially love the swirly background stamps from Basic Grey and Little Yellow Bicycle. The text/journal stamps are from Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday. Paper, stickers and rubons from October Afternoon. Cardstock from Little Yellow Bicycle.



For these 2 pages, I used more embellishments. Flowers from Prima, buttons from Sassafras. It's not easy to see in the photos but I cut out a window from the background paper to showcase the trimmed photo in the centre. Paper, stickers and rubons from October Afternoon. I especially love their patterned papers in yellow. So bright and cheerful and easy to incorporate into layouts.

Playroom Fun

The playroom floor has recently been refloored with alphabet playmats. So that Gabriel has a space he can crawl around in and play. Usually he plays in his playpen so this is a whole lot more he can explore. Which he loves to do. A lot of Bryan's toys are neatly stored in plastic containers so Gabriel can't get to them. He plays with Bryan's old baby toys instead. Like the big lego blocks.

Happiness Is...

...Managing to hit some pins while bowling.



... Kicking and splashing in the pool.