Celebrations in the Zoo

The zoo also celebrates Chinese New Year. There are decorations at the entrance and in the park/garden areas of the zoo. We even saw the lion dance there.


The zoo was essentially very quiet though. The animal probably don't even realize what the fuss is about. We had a nice walk down to the reptile garden to see the Kodomo dragon and the tortoises. It's not on the main walk areas so it's a nice change. It was a cloudy day and a cool day for a zoo walk.

Resorts World Singapore

A bit of a disappointment really. Nothing much was open. Only the casino. But we did visit the lobbies of the hotels there just to have a look. We didn't go into the casino because there was a levy of $100 just for citizens/PRs to go in. And the parking fee was exhorbitant - $8 for 2 hours... Definately not going back there until the Waterfront area and the Universal Studios is open.

Melaka Drop In

On the way home to Singapore, we dropped by Malacca. And we had the very yummy 'bah kut teh' there. It's the soup that's so yummy. Even Gabriel ate his fill.

Ascott KL

We stayed in Ascott KL, just opposite the KLCC shopping centre. It's actually serviced apartments. But they were really luxurious. The two bedroom apartment we stayed in was big. And it had everything you'd find in a hotel room, including bath robe, slippers and toiletries by L'Occitance. Both bedrooms also had a full bath. And the master bedroom's bathroom has a bath and a shower. The two boys loved it there. I loved the pool and breakfast area, on the 22 floor. With an infinity jacuzzi area. I wouldn't mind staying a little longer there too...

CNY D3 Malaysia

These are the kids great-grand parents and great-grand aunt. It's such a blessing that they are still around to enjoy their great-grand children.

CNY D1 Singapore

Weekly Scraps

I'm off to visit relatives in Malaysia. So I'm not able to post much until I get back. But here's some scraps from last week...

In this one, I'm still using some old Little Yellow Bicycle rub-ons from last year. And I also managed to find papers from October Afternoon Report Card that actually suits the theme of the layout.


Bryan is always giving the camera a thumbs up and I decided to do a layout about that. I used mainly October Afternoon's Farm Fresh papers, stickers, rub-ons and journalling cards. It was such fun to do!


I just couldn't wait to use these Prima. The background paper already comes with the frame. All I had to do is fill in the middle. I used Hambly's lace prints, 7 gypsies tag, Maya Road envelope. And of course Prima's old e-line flowers, pearls and roses, and flowers.

Happy Chinese New Year!

It will be the Chinese New Year this weekend. It's so festive and busy. With errands to run and stuff to get ready for the New Year. The kids need new clothes and Gabriel especially needs enough supplies for the trip back to Malaysia. I've had to make sure Kandy and Dusty have enough food too.

This year is a special New Year because we are making a road trip back to Malaysia for a few days. Just to visit my grandparents and dad who lives back there. It's been a couple of years since we've been back and everyone's looking forward to it. We've already booked an apartment with a pool to stay in so it should be fun. I hope to have lots of photos to go through after this.

Weekly Scraps

I'm looking forward to all the new CHA arrivals, especially Websters Pages and October Afternoon. Since it's the new year and all, I've also pared down my scrapbook stash by quite a lot. I've thrown away scraps of papers, leftover stickers, rub-ons, alphabets. Especially the stuff that I've not used for over a year. Hence this week's scraps consists a lot of previous CHA items that I've horded.

And this year, I'm not going to horde stuff. Just get the stuff that I really like and that I would actually use. So I don't waste things.


I used an old kraft cardstock paper with October Afternoon's Farm Fresh. And a very old Little Yellow Bicycle rub-on for the tree, flowers and bird. (Finally!)


In this one, I used October Afternoon's Farm Fresh papers, Prima's fabric word 'Laugh' which was in my stash for a while. And some old Prima flowers and old American Craft brads. (I still have tons of brads and flowers leftover. So no more buying brads and excess flowers for me). I realised that I could use black cardstock with October Afternoon too!


I managed to come up with a layout using almost all my leftover scraps. Including the backgrond diecut from Jenni Bowlin, Flashcards from Elle's Studio, Hambly's transparency, stickers and rub-on. And even leftover letter stickers from Websters Pages. Yay! No wastage!

Beginning of the Festive Season

Everytime during the Chinese New Year, everyone gets together for a time to catch up. It's especially important for families. We see long lost cousins, aunts and uncles. It extends to friends/colleagues too. We make it a point to catch up and enjoy the good food. So over the weekend, we had a get-together with some friends.

Singapore Airshow 2010

I missed it because I had to work. But Bryan had a lot of fun. He was telling me about the show that he saw with the planes doing stunts. He sounded so excited. Now he wants to be a pilot.

February

I think I'm doing pretty ok with my resolutions for the year.

I'm trying to spend more quality time with the kids instead of just watching tv with them all the time. And it's been paying off.

Bryan's been very good. He's listened to me more. I've also tried not to yell at him or get too frustrated with him all the time. Instead, I've been explaining more. Like why he should sleep early, and why he should eat his veggies. It does take more effort on my part to make explainations simple. But Bryan's been behaving much better. And I haven't had to threaten spanking at all. Patience is definately a virtue when it comes to kids but it pays off too.

Gabriel's still quite a gentle baby. Although he does have his tantrums now and then. He's learning the word NO. I've noticed he's a bit more sensitive. Raising my voice or giving him a light smack makes him very upset. And he'll want hugs and cuddles after. So I have to be a bit more careful with Gabriel. Being firm is ok. But not too angry or fierce.

Being a Mommy is not easy. And no 2 children are the same. But it's a fabulous feeling when the child loves you right back. My heart warms and bubbles over.

Milestones

Both my boys are growing up so fast. Bryan's quite excited that it's a brand new year. And he's a 'big boy' in kindergarten. He has started taking the school bus home and he enjoys it. He sits with his classmate in the bus so it's not too scary for him. He's also decided that he will stop wearing diapers at night. I try not to give him too much to drink at night and make him go before he sleeps. But so far so good. He's managed to stay dry. Very proud of him. He also seems to be making some sort of progress with chinese. He seems a bit more confident with words but we still have a lot of work to do.

Meanwhile, Gabriel's good on his feet. He's running around and chasing the dog. He hasn't really spoken much. But he's generally pretty quiet. Except for the funny whining sounds he makes. Sometimes though, he will suddenly say 'dog' or 'car' or 'ta-da' or 'na-na' (calling nai-nai). But no one seems to be able to make him repeat it. He will say 'mum-mum' when he really likes what he's eating. He can scribble on paper and place shapes into the right places. I'm wondering if he's ready for playgroup yet though. Maybe in a few more months?