First post in 2012 - back in SG for holiday again

Dear SG, 


My goodness, I didn't realized my last post was so long ago. I am back in Singapore again for a holiday, it's been nearly 6 years since we've took flight and landed in NZ. 


What I've noticed in this trip:


1. A lot of my working friends doesn't finish work till 7 or 8pm
2. I need to lose some weight, I'm XL or XXL sized in SG (If a clothing is free-sized or one-size, I can forget about it unless they are men's tee shirt! Lol )
3. The English and Chinese vocabulary of those under 7 years old are amazing, Nursery 1 is now the Primary 1 of our era!
4. There are indeed more foreigners around
5. I couldn't find Orchard MRT as I was standing outside Tangs in Orchard Road. Then I realized it was under a brand new building
6. It's loud everywhere or maybe I've just gotten used to the quiet in NZ
7. Singapore is still a shopping paradise
8. An IT Fair still attracts a lot of people; Digital Cameras, Internet TV and intelligent massaging chairs are now part of the IT fair!?
9. Food are plentiful and people are always buying food... so why didn't they put on weight? ;p
10. I didn't come across a lot of "2nd-hand" smoke, maybe there are less smokers around. I really appreciated that. 
11. There's water play everywhere for kids! Malls, Zoo and even the bird park has one.
12. It is hotter than before or is it just us? (My mother-in-law who lives here seems to think the temperature is raising every year) But we did enjoyed a few cool days while we are here.
13. Almost every household has at least an aircon unit (or heat pump as known in NZ)
14. Almost everyone has a smart phone and even my older relatives are using Whatsapp on their phone
15. The new local communication methods are "SMS or better still, Whatsapp me", what happen to calling?  ;)
16. Singapore skyline has changed dramatically
17. There a lot more interesting architectural designed building around
18. A lot of malls did an external "face lift", i could see the original building encapsulated in a new shell. But that's probably because I knew what it looked like before. 
19. Every other person has a DSLR camera
20. A lot of young children are not in a car seat while travelling in a car even though it's mandatory for all children under the age of 8


Pictures we took from the Singapore Flyer. (Singapore Skyline)

I hope this will not be my last post for 2012. 


with love from SG itself,
Joan

Chooks and chickens!

Dear SG,

I have but a few minutes to spare so this blog will be super short. I've learnt a new word! It's Chooks! It means Chickens here in NZ! lol.... isn't that cute?!

Chooks = Chickens
Jandals = Slippers
Footy = Football\Soccer and Rugby too?

with love from NZ,
BM (busy mom)

You know you are in Singapore because...

Dear NZ,

We've landed, the night flight back was uneventful, we are really thankful for that. Karen was asleep 70% of the time on the flight, even though she had an evening nap before we checked in at the airport. We managed to get a family photo taken 3 hours after we landed. Everyone in Andrew's family was there. This was the main reason why we came back on such a short notice and for such a short time frame. We are rea lly happy that it's done, it was my mother-in-law's secret wish that there was a lot more family shot. It was such a simple wish, we are glad we've all tried hard to make it happen.

Now back to the fun stuffs!

You know you are in Singapore because...



1. The automated toilet in Changi airport flushed before you get to pee. Happened twice in a different bathroom! (but don’t worry, it flushed again once I’m done and moved out of range)

2. You picked up pace and started to walk and talk faster.

3. You smell the aroma of yummy food every where

4. You hear Singlish, (and you try to pick up all the new terms just so that you don’t fall behind)

5. You get sore throat.

6. Everyone has the latest mobile phones and is always on the phone or using them.

7. You get wifi everywhere

8. All the newer buildings being constructed are taller than those built last year

9. Cars and people everywhere

10. You had to use the word “excuse me” a lot more to get through a crowd

11. You actually tried to get through a crowd instead of “going with the flow”

12. You started sweating the minute you are out of the airport

13. Your kid sweated the minute the plane landed in Singapore! Lol... it’s true!!!

14. Your loud ringtone is now too soft, you can’t hear it.

15. The supermarket aisle are too narrow, kid can now stretch her arms and threaten to sweep all the items off the shelves.

16. Our small stroller is now too big. Everyone seems to have a nifty light-weight midget size stroller.


And we know we are slowly getting “Kiwi-nize “ because...

1. We keep forgetting to use a Parking coupon in the public car parks

2. We rent a car because we are so used to driving, only to find ourselves trapped in a traffic jam. We should have stick to the public transport; it’s probably much faster anyway.

3. We actually slow the car down so that the car from a side lane can go in front of us... in a traffic jam!

4. We thanked the cashier at checkout counter, I mean really looked into her eyes and thank them! Not the customary polite “Thanks!” that we used to dish out without meaning it.

5. We chat up with the sales staffs, make small talk, and attempt to be really friendly.

6. We self served in a serviced restaurant!!! Lol... The services staffs were so shocked.

7. We resent the amount of freedom we have to deny Karen because the environment isn’t that forgiving if she makes a mess or is too loud. Sigh...

No matter what, it’s good to be back again even though it’s another short trip.
with love from SG,
J

Terrible 2 has arrived...

Karen might only be 17 month old but we are feeling the full effect of her Terrible 2. Gifted with a set of powerful lungs, the ability to scream in the highest pitch imaginable, the tantrums she can dish out are unbelievable. The first time she had a tantrum was approximately 2 month ago. She threw a fit because she didn’t want to go upstairs and kneel face down over on one of the floor mat, with her bums up high to cry. That first tantrum was seriously funny to see. She wasn’t trying very hard and would look up now and then to see if I’m paying attention. I continued to do my chores and ignored her. When she started to try harder, I decided to just leave her in the hall crying on the floor mat and go upstairs with my clean laundry.

Karen looked up only to find that no one was in the room with her, even the dogs had left her and followed me upstairs. She stopped crying to look around the house for us; I was observing from the stairs so I called out to her and told her we are all upstairs in the bedroom, she can join us when she’s ready. She crawled up the stairs and was caught by surprise to see me at the landing waiting for her, immediately she bended forward and buried her face on the stairs to continue her tantrum. That, was a priceless moment. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. I picked her up because the stairs is a dangerous place for tantrum throwing but once she was safe in the bedroom, I continued to ignore her until she gave up. That first tantrum didn’t last long but I couldn’t say the same for the tantrums she can throw now.

Karen still doesn’t or couldn’t express herself vocally but she could understand us perfectly. While I know that speech is something that every kid develops in their own time, being unable to express her needs or wants makes it more likely for her to be caught in frustration. We had a whole series of outburst during this Christmas season and it was made worst by her teething (I spotted 4 new teeth!!), persistent fever and allergy (cause by a new medication for the fever), all happening at the same time. The poor kiddo was spotted in red, with a swollen face from the allergy and swollen gums. Luckily she is probably too young to remember her 2nd Christmas and this will just be a small phase in her life to come.

Cross Post from Multiply "Karen's baby step"
http://joantohlau.multiply.com/

Forgotten my password to Multiply - Karen's blog

You know you haven't blog enough when you've forgotten your own password.... this is bad.

Since we started daycare for Karen officially (as in we actually started payment ), our lives have been one busy week after another. I guess when one is trying to adapt to a new schedule, and when a good friend is coming to visit soon, making a new change work (and cleaning and tidying the house for our visitors) becomes a challenge. We've learnt to cook with Karen running afoot, we've learn to feed her anything so that she can have her breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and a snack before dinner (if dinner is late), then dinner and milk for just-before-bed. Yes, she's an eating machine, will and can consume anything....

We've learnt that since chores are endless, we'll need to take time to slow down once in a while and simply enjoy what we have. With the fine summer weather and long daylight, we'll take a stroll around the neighbourhood after dinner to simply wind down. All our dependants (2 dogs n a toddler in a stroller) enjoy the slow walk. Every now and then we'll let Karen walk on her own with Kiki's old puppy leash so that she can walk her imaginary dog. Karen's usually pretty exhausted after day care and is happy to sit in the stroller during the walk and goes to bed around 8pm. She is enjoying her days there and I will blog soon about that (I hope) because I want to be able to remember all those silly stuffs she did in the day care centre.

Cross Post from Multiply "Karen's baby step"
http://joantohlau.multiply.com/

3rd day of Day Care

Picture taken at the Auckland airport watching her grandparent left for Singapore

I found Karen playing outside with the other kids, for the fun of it, I didn’t “announced” my presence, I just sat by the bench in their play area and watch her for a minute. The silly child ran past me twice without realizing I was there! Haa.. Even the staffs found it funny. Yup they say, your kid is pretty absorbed when she’s playing.

By the 3^rd time running past me, she looked at me for a moment then ran to me for a hug. Then she held my hand n drag me to the door! She was impatient to go home! This kid certainly knows what she wants.

Today’s report had an additional attachment, a simple report saying that Karen had fell and hit her head in the centre, and they didn’t call me because other than a bump, she seems to be alright. However I should observe her closely and bring her to the doctor if she isn’t well tonight. More details were hand written by the staffs that had witnessed it and they told me how it happened. I wasn’t upset or surprised; As long as she’s fine, a few bumps or bruises are to be expected. In the report, one of the items was “Action taken by the stuffs:”, and one of them wrote, “Lots of cuddle”. That’s so cute.

Karen had a really good 3^rd day. She wasn’t totally without tears but there were short and few. They noticed it usually happens when she’s indoor and is bored with all the toys. If she’s outside, she’s ok. She loves the songs and dance, the water play and is good during meal times (that’s no news to us but the staffs seems to be fascinated by that particular behavior, I wonder if all the other kids gave them grief during meal time) She still doesn’t like to speak much and is very independent. But she conform to the routine well as witnessed today when she woke up early from her nap; she found the rest of the kids were still asleep, so she lay back down n wait for them to wake up.

Seeing Karen coming home with that bump on the head, a small bruised on the thumb, in a pair of soaked shoes, wearing sand filled clothing, and carrying a stubborn ink mark on her face that won’t come off. She looks like she had thoroughly experienced all that life can offer, in one single day, and came out just as strong and happy. I’m so proud of my little bubba.

Cross Post from Multiply "Karen's baby step"
http://joantohlau.multiply.com/

Our kid has Singaporean blood

Karen might be “manufactured and produced” in New Zealand but we’ve found out she has Singaporean blood.

Report from the 2^nd day of Day care

“Karen is always the first to get ready for meal time” – Kiasu, scare that the food will be all gone

“Karen is very loud when displeased” – Singaporean are usually very loud with our complaints. Lol…

“Karen had a 2^nd helping during lunch” – I can bring this kid to buffets in Singapore and she will make it worth the price.

“Karen keeps saying ‘Ai-Ya’!” – haa… Singapore slang! She must have learnt that from her grandparent and us. The reason why it was brought to our attention was because one of the staffs was a Singaporean 19 yrs ago. She recognized the word and was so amused by it.

According to the staffs, she showed her displeasure couple of times during the day but was otherwise pretty alright. She won’t let them remove her coat or wipe her running nose and so they left her alone else she “complains loudly” again. ;P

 

Enjoying her meal of pasta and broccoli

 

Cross Post from Multiply "Karen's baby step"
http://joantohlau.multiply.com/