Reegan loves to stand

These days, wherever we leave him, he'd always try to stand.



But sometimes, he decides to be a woodpecker...



He tries to read everyday because reading is so much fun!


I try to let him play a little longer in his little tub...


Everyone is happy he is mobile now. He can come to look for Mummy on his own!

Mum turns 60

Mum turns 60 today. When I was younger, whenever I hear people turning 60, they were already wearing the Ah-Ma clothing and looked somewhat old. But Mum certainly don't look like that. We all three sisters decided to get her a U-squeeze and surprise her when she returns home from work today.

We went to Canton Wok for dinner yesterday. She liked the food. That was good.

Meredith made Popo a card and wore the hair band she made herself that night.








Reegan was still hungry after dinner and decided to check out what else he could eat from the fridge.

When the craving kicks in

We have to get those Tau Sar Piah again. This is the Loong Fatt piahs at Balestier Rd we are talking about. You gotta try it if you haven't. It's going to be one of the things I will miss soon. We managed to get a parking lot easily. There were no lorries around to disgustingly cut the queue and snatch a lot. But we were surprised by the unusual large crowd at the store. There were lots of aunties buying by the boxes. This is something I will not miss. But despite the crowd and the seemingly tired expression on their faces, the people in the store were still very polite and patient to their customers.


We got what we wanted. And enjoyed it with a cup of green tea in the afternoon.

When boys are still boys

Met up with the boys. It was two years ago when we last had something like that. They are my first batch of boys who went through band from P3 to 6.

It was like going back to the old times. They talked back, argued...etc. But the sweet ones are still sweet. The quiet ones are still quiet. The blur one is still as blur. And the dragon who used to spew out fire in his speech claimed he has toned down a little. But they have all grown up....physically.

Here, they were trying to build the next tallest tower in Asia. And then they next sort out the plates according to their colours...pink, green, yellow...etc. Jacintha said its a boys thing. Must be.

While we are waiting...

We are still deciding when to move. Perhaps there may be changes to our plans.

I just realise today, that I should be feeding Reegan with more vegetables. I think I have been doing fine but I am going to really cut down his fish or chicken intake. He is otherwise going real well. Just today, he started to stand on his own holding to the sides of the bed. Now the bed is no longer that safe. It used to be the safest place but now we would need to watch him.

He enjoyed his first swim last weekend...ya, we need to get him some swim gears...

He is funny when he does his can-can with his right leg. He always does this kicking movement as if doing a can-can.


And he loves his yoga. He is even doing it in his sleep...












He also started attending Bible Class. But the older boys seem too loud and noisy for him. He is real quiet in class and is happy playing by himself. I was imagining if he would be like that when he attends school some years from now.

And this is Preston, one of his friends from Bible Class. He is very happy here with his miniature basketball. And no, he wouldn't share anything...yet...and he loves o-yange.

And this is for breakfast

The house (for the family) we've been talking about...

with pink hearts on the roof...

Meredith's Children's Day

Meredith has been looking forward to this day. She got to go back to school again, what more, and go on an excursion with her friends! The kids went to Snow City for their Children's Day celebration. She talked about the trip the whole night after she came back home. And one thing she learned very well - the temperature there was about 5 to 12 de-grams.

She got up early in the morning too to make a surprise breakfast treat for her friends. We call it the 'Zoo', made simply of biscuits, peanut butter and celery.


We nearly gave it a miss but were glad we made it for their last performance. The Athenarts Performing Troupe put up a Children's Day special at the Esplanade. They were singing selections from musicals and Disney cartoons. The songs were strung together by a simple storyline.

I have not heard about the Athenarts but must say the soloists had indeed strong and powerful vocals. And its easy to tell why they were given the soloist parts. I do not know their purpose for putting up the performance, but I think besides training up the vocals, they should really also work on the props and costumes of some of the kids.


By appearance, I thought this girl was the most inappropriately dressed and look at the broom she was using! She was supposed to be Cinderella, but she looked just like any kid out on a normal shopping spree and the broom would need some dressing up!

However and however, she was the one who moved me to tears with her "Think of me.....think of me fondly..." Her voice was strong, sweet and beautiful...wow! I was blown away.

We thoroughly enjoyed the show. We now can't get the music off our head...

Our day out

We decided to go to the library after receiving a fine...of $0.30. It's been quite a while anyway. It turned out to be a nice, relaxing day although a little tiring.

We could take forever at lunch (but I still had to hurry Meredith or else she would take hours!). But she was really good taking care of Reegan while I tried not to wolf down my Vietnamese noodle, singing loudly at the food court entertaining him.

We could take forever looking at the interesting things in the mall. It's been a very very long time. But we were very disciplined. We did not buy anything, except the Pocky at the supermarket, our favourite snack, which was going at a very low price.

We also took forever at the library. And after so long, Meredith and Reegan finally got their membership cards...from the machine! We certainly had no problem choosing 12 books!

Meredith took forever at her Water Art. I had no more excuses this time. So she could finally sit there and very carefully finish her art.



There was no rush...no pressurizing "Are you done?", "How long will you take?" or "Hurry up."

What a day! We should do this more often.

Ten years...of many precious moments

I knew I had to get this when I saw it at the shop. It shows where we are now...ten years on...Meredith at 5 years old and Reegan at 6 months, still an infant-in-arms. And it came with a tag..."Thankful for my family"...indeed I am so very grateful for that. I just wanted to be happy on this day...and it was great! We had a full of fresh, juicy, sweet, refreshing oysters dinner at the Shangri-la. We had to cheers to Meredith's 5 years whenever we clanked the glasses to our ten years. Meredith just wanted to be fair.

Are you crawling?

We think Reegan is getting ready to crawl. He's in the crawling position a lot these days, and can nudge his way to the desired objects.
















And Meredith has been doing a great job taking care of him while Mummy cooks or clean up. Reegan certainly enjoys the silly acts Big Sister puts up for him. Meredith can always make her brother laugh out loud. I am so thankful Meredith loves her brother so much.

Today also, Meredith received an email from her best friend, someone she'd expected who would write to her. She promptly replied the email and sent her a photo they took together on Father's Day.

I am growing up!

Reegan is 28 weeks and yesterday, I spotted his 2 front teeth! Wow!

He is also beginning to be able to sit on his own for longer periods of time.

Snack time!

We've been making quite a few things these few days. But we have to be quick in all these or else Reegan will protest being left alone.

We visited a local baker's store and bought a few tools to make some local snacks. We were excited to try a few things.

I love pineapple tarts, but just the pastry and not so much the pineapple paste. So we only made the pastry part from the recipe. This one is of a better recipe which claimed to be melt-in-your-mouth pineapple tarts. I was glad I found this recipe. It's simpler and healthier and its got the right texture I like.

Here it is...unglazed, but yummelicious....!

We also tried Ang Ku Kueh. And I explained to Meredith how this kueh got its name. She thinks it's silly! Anyway, it was quite fun knocking out the kueh from the mould and then see one of my favourite snack there staring at me. Quite unbelievable at first. I used to drive all the way to Jalan Bukit Merah to buy it when I have the craving. But now I can make my own. Just that I need to find a more natural ingredient for the colouring, don't really feel good using the articficial colouring.


Inspired by a friend, I tried making mooncakes. I did quite a bit of researching before my attempt. I think the pastry part was ok but I did not like the ready-made filling I bought from the store. But anyway, I have got a few mooncakes from friends and relatives. So I think that's enough of the mooncakes for this year.

These are my mooncakes, from a traditional mould and a Hello Kitty mould...

Just a reminder...

Meredith has been patiently waiting for Daddy to bring back her printer from the office. She came up with the idea of putting a note in Daddy's bag. She drew up this picture as a note to remind Daddy.


Here, Daddy is wearing jeans. Yes, Daddy always wears his jeans to the office.
He is using the computer. Working for Daddy means using the computer.
The 'lips' on the top corner? That's the air-conditioner. Daddy always needs the air-con when he is working.

Someone is watching and observing you Daddy!

Are you guys going to the ZHOO?

We went to the zoo, the Singapore Zoo. The weather was too kind. It was cool and breezy in the morning and rained most of the afternoon. We had a leisurely breakfast at Casuarina before driving up further to the zoo, just me, my sister and the kids.

Meredith took notes of the names of the animals. It was helpful.



She was always confused between the panda, koala bear and polar bear. When I showed her pictures of the polar bear and she said koala bear, she could check at her notebook. Very good!

We took lotsa of pictures and here are some interesting ones...

This little fella had just pee-ed and poo-ed...ya, in mid-air, and now he is airing his armpits. Must have had the best release of the day!



These two rhino have been fighting and pushing each other since we arrived. Just don't bump into me...yucks!



And we heard the lion's roar. Wow, how majestic! The King of the jungle indeed!




The elephants sure work hard for their food. They are trying to get the bananas in the pail to fall out. We saw this when we stayed on after they told us the show was cancelled. We think this was already good enough to watch!



It rained most of the afternoon...boo boo...and all the scheduled animal shows were cancelled.



They said come October, this amphitheater is going to be torn down to make way for a weather-proof dome. What a good idea!

Last day of school

Today is Meredith's last day at school. We made the decision about a month ago thinking that things has firmed up, but obviously there are now changes...again. I do not know when things can be finalized. It is really difficult living in this uncertainty. We do not know when nor how to get ready. It is very difficult...and somewhat frustrating!

Meredith started full-day childcare when she was 18 months. She still wears the same uniform and we only need to upgrade her t-shirt up a size once. Here's some pictures of her when she was younger...



She made some keep-in-touch cards for her friends. We printed them from the computer but she painstakingly cut and personally autographed every one of them with her drawing.


Meanwhile I have to plan how to occupy her days at home. I have some ideas, but we'll see how it works out...

Pearly shells...by the ocean...

Meredith loves this song. And for those of you who have heard it, its set as the ringtone of my mobile, with Meredith singing it.


These shells are another of those things that brings a big smile to my face.

We were at Bintan, for a rather desperate Chinese New Year getaway. Those days when I was still at school, I just couldn't wait to go away for a quick break.

So we were by the beach and Meredith was just about 2 or 3 years old. She picked up these shells and said the biggest one is Daddy, the medium one Mummy and the tiniest is her.

How sweet.

I promised to frame them up. I will, one day and soon.

This is NOT a mushroom

We were doing a little packing and a few things brought back fond memories.

One of them is this little cutesy. Do you remember this Aunty Wendy?

We must be at Coffee Bean with a few friends lamenting about the realities of life...We were then having some coffee and cakes. This little mushroom came with the cake I ordered and we had a good time figuring out if this was edible.

We examined it, smelled it, hit it, even attempted to bite it, thinking that it could be a candy since it came with the cake... all this, to the bewilderment of the waiter, who must be shocked when he saw what we were trying to do. He promptly warned us that it's NOT edible and is just for decorative purpose.

We all had a good laugh after that. Ha ha ha!...and yes, how embarrassing...

It's time for a good dinner

It's been quite a while since we have a satisfying eat-out dinner. Yesterday, we were to meet Daddy at City Hall but the horrible traffic jam and long queue to the car park simply put us off.

We heard about the revamped Dempsey Hill and decided to head there. Parking was equally competitive, and the place was indeed transformed. The time we were there buying furnitures just about under a year ago, we could still see some roosters and hens and their little chicks roaming about. Today its just house and house of upbeat and posh restaurants.

We were at CA California for a sandwich dinner. Its in the same house as Ben n Jerry's. Are we lucky or what...last night was the first night they serve dinner. Otherwise, they are open only for lunch, till 3:30pm. The high ceiling, fans and simple decor make the already air-conditioned place airy and very pleasant.

We ordered a burger set and Meredith had her own miniature kid's Hamburger Hamburger. We had to place our order at the counter although there were abundant waiters. They say its Californian style.

We love restaurants that serve bread before the main course. And this one does. And the warm bread was very good.

Everything we ordered was good ...unpretentiously good! The beef patty was 'homemade'. It wasn't the MacDonald's full-of-fats patty. And we love the soup. It's called the Ferry Plaza Garden Soup, which, in simpler terms, is called pumpkin soup.

The service was also superb. The waiting staff were friendly and were eager to tell us more about their food and store.

Meredith dropped her burger and got it replaced ...no questions asked...and not that we asked for it. The waiter took his own initiative to give us a new set. Bravo on that! And to make Meredith happier, there was also a play room for kids...with the big slide as the main attraction.

All in all, I would give the place and food 5 big stars! On the receipt, it says The Ranch Home, The Happy People Co. Pte Ltd. All of us came out happy and very satisfied indeed. We will go back there again for sure. What a HAPPY dinner!