bits and pieces from the life of a lazy blogger...who sometimes hoped to be abducted by alien before the go-live of a difficult project and safely return to Earth in time for the closing celebration
29 Nov 2011 - 04 Dec 2011
Bay is 2 years and 4.5 months old
We went to Hong Kong this year for our annual extended family tour. The 3 boys had been counting down to this trip for a long long time!
Day 1 (Travelling Day + Streets Shopping)
Enroute
An early start for this trip. Meeting at the airport at 6:00 am for our 7:55 am Tigerairways flight. Basically I dressed Bay in his nice long-sleeved t-shirt the day before, "plucked" him off the bed at 5.45 am and "chiong" straight to the airport.
Taking his first milk feed of the day @ the airport
Boarding...
Prohibited shots! (not phototaking on the tarmac! hehe!)
The most exciting part about flying from Budget Terminal... we get to go so close to the planes and the boys were so excited!
We must be one of the rare few who had our meals during the 3-hr budget flight
Tham brothers and their own in-flight entertainment
Lim boy and his in-flight entertainment
Fooling around...
Touch down!
The first thing that we did upon arrival was to go for lunch. Ok, I know we ate on the plane but it was lunch time already when we arrived.
Our 1st meal in Hong Kong...
Baked Pork chop Rice @ 美心 Express, Airport Arrival Hall
Happy "Angry Bird" after lunch...
The whole 20-seater big bus just for the 9 of us
HKD900 per trip!
On the way to Kowloon city...
Angry "Angry bird" checking-in to Hotel Panorama, Tsimshatsui...
our hotel for the next 3 nights
I am a mediator during the weekends. Bay and J2 loves to play together but they will play for 5 minutes, argue/fight for 5 mintues, I have to step in to appease them when I hear my name (三姨!!!), they will then continue to play for 5 minutes and the cycle repeats...
Their latest craze is Buss Lightyear from Toy Story. The kiddos are getting themselves familiar with the Disney charactors as a prelude to our Hong Kong Disneyland trip in December! I'm sure they will enjoy the new Toy Story Land even more now!
This is how boys play! To infinity and beyond... (or using Bay's version "munimini and beyond!")
Restaurant @ IKEA Tampines Do you know that they give free baby food for diners? I didnt until now! What a waste as Bay is off bottled baby food already. Kids' menu is S$2.90 per set including an ice-cream which cost $0.50 from the bistro If you ordered the kids' chicken nuggets meal, IKEA will donate $1.75 to help educate kids! That means the meal is like $0.65 only! What's more, for the month of November, for every $20 in the restaurant, you will get a $5 shopping voucher for home furnishing products. There's a little play area inside the restaurant for the kids to have fun while adults eat and chat!
Going gaga about "making" ice-cream... Bay is 27.5 months
Enjoying their after dinner treats!
Stay tuned to "Eating out with kids"... I will share more as and when I remembered to take pics!
Perhaps it's the effect of the Baby Plus Prenatal Education System which I used while I was pregnant with Bay or the nightly bombardment of youtube videos while I was bathing...
At 27 months, he absolutely loves music and is very sensitive to beats and rhythm. It's so enjoyable to listen to him sing and he is not shy to do so too.
ABC Song (vast difference from his AB"鸡" version @ 20.5 months)
ABC / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Ukelele jamming session with 姨姨 @ 27 months
Who says its bad to watch TV?After watching the BabyTV Concertino series daily and he can play the "cello" and "violin" @ 27 months already! hahaha!!!
Shin-Sapporo Ramen @ Century Square Kid's menu is available but I thought it's not so value-for-$ We ordered the set menu with 1 mini ramen and 1 mini don. (We had Menchi ramen + Oyaku don) With the FREE topup of ramen, (no free soup, just the plain ramen, so you have to keep some soup for the topup) this set meal is more than enough for the 2 of us.
Stay tuned to "Eating out with kids"... I will share more as and when I remembered to take pics!
I dont really like surprises in my mailbox, especially when it is my work mailbox as it means more "arrows" and more work.
2.5 weeks after Bay started Skool, I received the first surprise in my mailbox... a really pleasent one which totally brighten my dull day. How I wish I'll get such nice stuff everyday in my mailbox!
Showcase of all the Smileboxes that I received. The resolution is reduced but it is still fun to watch.
Suki-Ya Hotpot Buffet @ Tampines Mall, B1 Free for kids below 4 years old We had the double-sided hotpot and ordered a non-spicy soup base for the kids, they loved the udon, japanese fish cake and of course the softy ice-cream There is "free flow" of iPad at the kids corner! We were given a table near to the kids corner so the boys can play while we eat our dinner.
Stay tuned to "Eating out with kids"... I will share more as and when I remembered to take pics!
Edamame is a common food in our part of the world, readily available in the super market and easily prepared. It's a healthy snack with a nutritional punch! Fun too for the little fingers to practice their fine motor skills.
Bay is 26.5 months old and with some practice, he can "extract" the beans from the pod and separate the "used" pods. Choke hazard though, so do supervised your child while eating.
My memory of Children's Day celebration in school was that we had to learn and sing this "sa-ma sa-ma" malay song on the day. Till this day, I had no idea what the words meant.
This year we are no longer celebrating Children's Day on 1st October. The new Children's Day falls on the first friday of October. Bay is celebrating Children's Day in a Castle today!
He's suppose to dress up as his favourite fairytale character. I dont think he knows any of the characters, least to say have a favourite one! I happened to go shopping in Daiso a few days before and I found that they have quite a lot of cute accessories for dress-up parties. So, I picked up the less girlish one from the shelves, to go with his usual plain green t-shirt and jeans bermudas. Guess what Bay is going as for the party?
Frog Prince!
Pictures taken by teacher
Castle back drop for the glamour shots!
I sent a Frog Prince to school and he transformed into a tiger
Presents from teachers and aunties from Skool... Thank you!
For all young and those young-at-heart, HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY 2011
I eat out with my boy most of the time after he crossed the "ok to eat outside food" official age of 12 months. Most of the restuarants in Singapore provide some form of kids cutleries and high chair, so eating out is not much of an issue. Many places provide very reasonable kid's menu.
FAQ 1: Who said 12 months is the official "ok to eat outside food" age? Ans: Hmm... I dont know and I didnt ask!
FAQ 2: Am I concern about the excessive intake of salt, oil and MSG? Ans: Yes, of course! I will try to "wash" the food in warm water if I find them too salty or oily and I usually leave out the soup or gravy.
FAQ 3: What sort of food do you order for your boy? Ans: Usually I will check out the kids menu first and see if they have any interesting food. Most of the time he will share my food. I will have to order something non-spicy for him though. It is important to make a conscious effort to maintain a well balance diet while eating out. Meaning that there shall be protein, fiber and carbohydrate for each meal. I find that it is easy to forget about the greens when eating outside.
Here's the food that I ordered for my boy while eating out...
02 October 2011: NYDC @ Tampines One. We ordered the chicken little spaggy and they are considered enough to cut the spag into short length. No drinks included in the meal
Stay tuned to "Eating out with kids"... I will share more as and when I remembered to take pics!
21 September 2011 - 25 September 2011
Bay is 26 months old
婆婆 went for a tour with her friends and the last stop of their tour was in Shanghai. We decided to meet her in Shanghai. This was Dad's first trip to Shanghai and Bay's 1st trip with 公公.
As 姨妈 had to go to work early and no one will be home during the day, Kippy went for a 2-nights stay with 二姨妈.
Dad packed a plastic bag full of bedding and titbits for Kippy.
Dad dont even have to pack his own lugguage as Mum already packed it for him before she left for her tour.
2-nights boot camp for Kippy with Nala, Bimmy
Day 1 (Travelling Day)
As usual we took the noon time flight. The last time I took the same flight with Dad was almost 10 years ago. I always wonder where I got my "on the flight 饿鬼" genes from, my mum and my other siblings cannot eat anything on the flight, Bini even said she feels like puking during meal time on board... now I know!
Our oriental chicken rice set with chinese sausage (Dad's favourite!)
See... finished every single drop, he must be very hungry.
Bay was very sticky to me during the flight and insisted on sitting on my lap for almost the whole time, even during his nap. But he could sleep better when I was holding him, he slept for about 3 hours.
My view...
Soggy chicken nuggets child's meal for Bay.
He finished half of it as I bribed him with ice-cream and a mini Chupa Chups.
Having fun on board
Bay complained that his "ear pain pain" during previous flights, so I let him have a drink or sweet during descent. My new "秘密武器" is mini Chupa Chups. It's smaller that the normal one, so eventhough I would rather that he dont eat so much refined sugar, it's ok to take one.
"爱不释手"
I can't resist taking pics of the 云海... how I wish I have a better cam!
All eyes were on him when we arrived. Any vehical with signal lights on the top is a fire engine to him now.
@ 一茶一坐, our usual upon arrival dinner place
Day 2 (大拇指广场, 南京西路步行街, 外滩)
Mum was supposed to join us only from Day 3 onwards. Dad and us lazed in the house or hang around Thumb's plaza. Knowing my mum, she will want to join us and true enough, she called me in the afternoon and asked us to go over to 浦西 to meet her for dinner.
Morning: Running around Thumb's Plaza... and poor 公公 chasing behind him
Evening: With 公公 and 婆婆 @ 南京西路步行街
Our dinner at 望湘园 (RMB228) - crab roe beancurd, very nice fried black fungus (dad loved it so much!), steam rice in a small clay bowl, the legendary 剁椒鱼头, claypot chicken (not nice and no pic), fried mix vegetable (no pic)
Most restaurants in China will give free fruits after dinner and we got some free watermelon this time. I dont eat watermelon and we hardly buy them at home, in fact this was the first time Bay encountered watermelon with the skin on. I didnt have to teach him not to eat the skin, he knows! I told him that he must eat rice before he can have another slice of watermelon. H will eat 1 mouthful of rice and then asked for a slice. He had 7 slices altogether!
Tickets are RMB 30 per adult and free for Bay. (this is the cheapest hop-on hop-off bus service I've seen in the world!)
We got on the bus at Stop 2, Nanjing Road Pedestrain Street (West). Ticket is valid for 24 hrs and thus we can use it until next day's evening. I'll highly recommend this for any first time tourist in Shanghai as the route pretty much covers all the must-see area within the city. This was Dad first time in Shanghai and so we had to bring him to all the places. Definitely beats taking cab (fighting to get a cab) or driving (and looking for parking). We took a ride on the bus and it's really interesting to see the city at night from the top of the "cabriolet" bus.
夜上海! Hop-off at the bund
Day 3 (豫园, 东方明珠塔)
We waited for mum at home before heading out for our own sightseeing. The plan was to go for lunch at 豫园 (城隍庙), tea at 新天地, followed by dinner around Pearl tower.
豫园合影
Wanted to bring Dad for the famous 南翔 buns but it was too crowded and he was not interested to queue.
We went for a walk in the old streets around 豫园 and Bay fell asleep on the stroller. I have been to this area many times but have not got a chance to explore the surrounding streets. Just behind the new mega shopping mall are really old streets with local streets side stalls, such big contrast!
Guess what mummy did while Bay was taking his nap?
Shopping at my favourite H&M! I always head for the discount area first and there were loads of summer clothes on sale. Brought some shorts for Bay (50-70% off), 顺便 grabbed some accessories for RMB10 each (60-80% off)
We run out of time to go to 新天地, so we went straight to Pearl Tower on the City Sightseeing bus instead. Hop-off at the Pearl Tower stop and then cross the mega circular bridge to Super Brand Mall.
Running around on the mega circular bridge
Dinner at 桥江南 - 蒜泥白肉 (must try), 鲜青椒水煮鱼 (less oily version of the original 水煮鱼), roasted chicken, salad with sasame-peanut sauce, seafood 锅巴 (so so only)
Kudos to 桥江南 management who had decided to stop the sales of shark fins and bird nest in their chain of restuarants.
Day 4 (朱家角古镇)
Yeah! It's Saturday finally. After a lazy start, we finally decided to go to 朱家角古镇, which is about an hour drive from Shanghai city. A trip to Shanghai is not complete without visiting any of the 江南水乡. There are also 乌镇 and 周庄 but they are slightly longer drive away. After a take-out lunch on the car, we reached our destination.
Getting there
We drove. There are also bus services available from Shanghai city
There are different types of ticket packages. We bought the Line 1 package which includes a boat ride and entrance to 9 attractions. There is a 20% discount for online purchase of the tickets for Line 1 and 2.
The sales assistance at the ticket booth told us that we do not need to take the trishaw as it is just a short walk from the car park to the entrance. Somehow when the trishaw peddler approached us, we took it! It cost us RMB100 per trishaw for about 4 hours. Actually we were on the trishaw for less than 30 mins altogether as trishaws are not allowed in the old town! The plus point though was that the peddler doubled up as a tour guide to bring us around the town, if not we would be hopelessly lost.
New mode of transport for Bay
Zoom!!!
Map of the old town area
Stop 1: 城隍庙
Stop 2: 廊桥
Stop 3: 圆津禅院
Stop 4: 泰安桥
Stop 5: Strolling and snacking along 北大街
Stop 6: 童天和药号 (medicine shop)
Stop 7: 永丰桥
Stop 8: 大清邮局 (Post office during Qing dynasty)
Stop 9: 延艺庭 (a shop selling artifacts)
Stop 10: 放生桥
Stop 11: Boat ride
Stop 12: 课植园 (previosly home of a rich man)
For dinner, we went to the highly recommended 吉士酒家. We first tried this restaurant serving authentic Shanghainese food during the previous trip and I had been wanting to bring dad to this place since then. Each one of dishes we ordered are nicely prepared and delicious.
I will definitely bring all our guests in Shanghai to this restaurant. It is a small restaurant though with only about 10 tables and have to make reservation 2 weeks in advance in order to get a table. We tried to booked a few days ago and had to use Mark's colleague's connection to get a slot at 6.30 pm. Must try their 葱烤鸦片鱼头 (Baked Cod Fish Head with Spring Onion), remember to order this dish when you make the reservation as supply is limited. My cam ran out of battery and thus no pics for many dishes. Boo!
My koala bear and me (I had to 抱抱 him throughout the dinner!)
Dishes: 凉菜－老醋海蜇, 干煸刀豆 (I loved it but forgot to take a pic);
热菜－红烧肉 (no pic), 蟹粉粉皮 (Bay loved it!), 葱烤鸦片鱼头 (must try), 红烧海参 (I prefer this that the meat), tomota chicken clear soup (no pic); spicy chicken and prawn;
甜品－酒酿汤圆 (no pic);
Total price: RMB 900 and Mark had to give the manager RMB 100 tip for arranging the table for us at such short notice
Satisfied diners!
Day 5 (Home Sweet Home)
After a quick lunch at Thumb's plaza foodcourt, we proceeded to the airport.
Bay's performance while we were preparing to leave for the airport
I'm glad I took this trip with my dad. After spending 5 x 24 hours with Bay, 公公 has finally been promoted to playmate status!
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