Our Christmas Party

Our customary Christmas party was held as usual on Christmas eve. This year it was held in the condo (the house is not ready yet). Everyone arrived early this year. Why? Because there were several other units in the condo having a party and our guests also wanted to avoid the crowd heading out for Christmas celebrations.

So by 7.00pm everyone was here. Including our Christmas turkey that Uncle Sin Tien had brought along. Our guests were kept entertained with a movie and later some music while Ah Ma was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner. On top of the turkey there was roast chicken thigh, prawns, sausages and 2 salads. Everyone certainly enjoyed the dinner. It was delicious. Even you enjoyed yourself, sitting at the "children's table" with your 2 cousins, tucking in your dinner (sausages and chicken).

After dinner, we relaxed a while and then you kids picked your Christmas stockings. It was hung low enough so that you could take them yourselves. You were all excited when you discovered a stuffed toy, a handmade gingerbread man, smarties, candy cane and a boxed drink. Ah.. but that was not the end of it. You kiddies had to "work" for it. Yup, you had to give out the presents to the rest of our guests. Well, it was more like Anna che-che working (it's her 3rd year working! *grin*) while you and Abby were preoccupied with your toys in the Christmas stocking.

Everyone opened their presents and next was time for dessert. What was on the menu? Cake and ice-cream. Ah Ma had bought the famous chocolate mud cake from Sunflower while 5th Great-Grandaunt baked an apple cake. Uncle Sin Chuan brought with him Movenpick ice-cream. It was a wonderful party and I'm sure everyone had a wonderful time. I know you did. You got so many presents. I'm also sure that Abby had a wonderful time. She did not want to go home when everyone else left!

Here are the pictures. Daddy took quite a lot, so I put them in a slide:

Who Came Visiting?

Ee-ee came to spend some time with us. I had initially planned to leave you with daddy, but after giving it some thought, it was easier for me to leave the house with you than to leave with you crying away with Ah Ma as I close the door. Ee-ee had to work half day so she left work at around 11am to pick us up.

She stayed around to play with you before we headed out for lunch. She treated us to Dim Sum in Forum in a place that you can recognise, Island Plaza. You certainly enjoyed the lunch. I guess best of all is the pau. You love to eat pau.

After lunch, we went to kai-kai a bit in Metrojaya. Nothing much to see, so we headed home. By then, daddy was already back from his golf game and playing his games. Ee-ee chatted a while and you kept her entertained (or is it stressed) with your new fishing toy. She even tried to take pictures of you. Of course, being the cheeky you, you quickly looked away the moment she takes out the camera! In the end, she managed to get around 8 decent looking ones.

We had a great time with ee-ee. Here's a nice shot of you and her in Forum:

Bye-Bye Sing-nang-por

Wow.. time sure flies. It's our last day and we woke up early to say bye-bye to Ee Poh and Teo Kong before they went to work. Also our flight was at 11am, so we had to get ready and head to the airport. We chatted with Ee Poh while Toe Kong got ready for work. You kept telling Ee Poh "We're going to the airport a-ginnn" and kept repeating the "a-ginnn" word. Haha..

Managed to get this picture of you with Zowy. You sure love to pet her. She's a very patient dog.

By the time we arrived at the airport, Ah Kong and Ah Ma were already there. You'd dozed off on the way to the airport but the moment I got off the taxi you woke up. We checked in and took this beautiful picture:

Wow, even the airport is all nicely decorated for Christmas. While waiting for our flight, we took the train to Terminal 3. You loved riding on the train. Too bad we didn't have more time to let you ride more. Before heading to the departure hall, we quickly stopped at the toy shop for you to pick a train.

The flight was full and the moment we sat down, you asked me why the chair wasn't red, like the one you sat on our way to Singapore. You next question was where was the pink Smarties that you'd dropped on our trip to Singapore. You sure do have elephant memory. you even thought that we'd be having fried rice like we did on our way to Singapore. Instead they served pizza or fried noodles. Daddy ordered the latter for you. And you ate 1/2 of the portion.

We arrived and Uncle Sin Chuan was there to pick us up. You must be very tired as you dozed off in my arms again on the way home. We're home and I hope you had a wonderful holiday. I know daddy and I had a great time with you.

Our Day Out

Daddy woke up really early. Why? Because he had to reach the ferry terminal by 7.30am. Where did he go? To play golf, where else. He was to meet Ah Kong, Uncle KK and Uncle Phang to go to Bintan Island to play in the Ria Bintan golf course. What were we going to do while he was off? Well we slept in until around 8.30am. Mummy had initially planned on going to IMM but Ah Ma insisted that we headed to town to join the ladies. Sigh.. there goes my plans.

So we had breakfast and Aunty Connie helped call us a taxi which came 5 minutes later. They sure are efficient there. Thankfully you sat (rather) quietly throughout the whole trip to the city and we headed to Ah Ma's room. When everyone arrived, we headed to VivoCity. Looked around, bought some stuff and even went to Toys R Us. It was so crowded and the queue to pay was so long. So gave up and since Aunty May wasn't feeling well, we left. We wanted to go back to rest but since you said that you weren't tired, we headed to Tanglin Mall (if I recall correctly) for tea. You had ice-cream while the ladies had some Chinese desserts. Yummy. Before we left, you managed to see Strawberry Shortcake make an appearance.

Went back to the hotel for a rest. It was already close to 5pm by then. Instead of sleeping, you insisted that you wanted milk (darn.. should have brought along that box of milk that Aunty Connie wanted to give you). So we had to order room service and after a rather lengthy wait, the milk came. You finished the whole cup before finally falling asleep. Ah Ma woke us up and mummy quickly gave you a shower before Aunty Ruth arrived. We headed to Long Beach Seafood Restaurant and the ladies ordered some fried rice for you while waiting for the men to arrive. Of course, you were up to no good and being naughty and spat out your food. What to do? Mummy was already very tired and you got a good scolding from me. At last daddy arrived and took over from me. The seafood was delicious. Uncle KK even ordered the special Sri Lankan crab that was very big (around 2.5kg) cooked Chilli Crab style.

Aunty Ruth and Uncle KK dropped us home and as usual, everyone was sleeping by then. It didn't take us too long before we all headed to la-la-land.

Wedding Dinner

We had no time to rest after the zoo trip. Your Ah Pek (Uncle Eu Jin) and Ah Mm (Aunty Lourdes) wanted to meet up with you too. So we quickly got ready and Teo Kong was kind enough to give us a ride to Ah Kong's hotel. Shortly after we arrived, your Ah Pek and Ah Mm arrived. What did they bring with them? A Christmas present just for you. You're such a lucky kid. They never fail to get you something when meeting you. In fact, the same goes for all your other uncles and aunties! They were kind enough to even include the batteries. You wanted to open the present, but when told to open it at our party, you happily obliged and did other things to keep our guests entertained instead.

Soon it was time to go down to wait for Uncle Phang and Aunty May who were also staying at the hotel as well as Uncle KK and Aunty Ruth. Dinner was at the Grand Shanghai Restaurant which was just across the road. When everyone arrived, we walked to the restaurant. Or should I say: we walked and daddy carried you....

As with all wedding dinners, it started late. In fact, a lot later than the dinners in Malaysia. While waiting for dinner to be served, you fed yourself the peanuts and luckily mummy brought along a packet of biscuits for you too. Oh yeah this Katie, Uncle Stanley's daughter's wedding dinner. On top of that we were kept entertained by this lady who sang songs from the 1940s (I think). And you loved the songs. (Eewwww...)

You clapped and danced to the songs especially when the bride and groom made their entrance to the song "Cha cham-bo"! That really amused the other guests sitting on our table. Dinner was fantastic but by 9.40pm, we had to make a move. WE needed to catch a taxi back to Ee Poh's house which was 30 minutes away. Since it was late, we waited and there was no taxi in sight. In the end, we walked to Ah Kong's hotel and asked for them to help us get a taxi. After a short wait a taxi came.

By the time we reached home, everyone was asleep. Walked up the stairs and as usual, you had a lot to ask:

Evan: Mummy, where is everyone?

Mummy: Shh.. they're sleeping. Talk quietly

Evan: Why is everyone sleeping?

Mummy: Sshh... not so loud, you'll wake everyone up!

Evan: Why?

Hhmm.. try as I might, you refused to whisper. Instead you chose to talk loudly. Went up to change and you decided that you wanted milk. Sigh.. our room is on the 3rd floor! I wanted to sneak down quietly to get your milk, but by the time I struggled with the lock you heard me and so we had to head downstairs with you talking loudly again! Up we went again and shortly after drinking up all your milk we were all asleep! What a tiring day.

What will we see at the zoo?

What will we see at the zoo? What will we see at the zoo-zee-zoo?

And that's what is sung in your Barney DVD that you have. When asked this question, you'd say: nai-yan (lion), monkey and tiger. Sometimes you'll also say gi-yaff and zebra. We hoped you'd like the zoo as much as we did when we visited the zoos when we were studying.

We woke up early in hope of spending a lot of time at the zoo. So by 8.30am we were ready. But er... your uncles (Julian and Ashley) were not up yet. So we watched TV while waiting for them to get ready. At last we packed into Teo Kong's car and headed for brunch The Prata Place. The Sinagpore Zoo is actually very nearby to Ee Poh's house. Mummy ordered some banana prate for you, but you weren't too interested. Instead, you downed all my Milo so i had to order another one. After breakfast we headed to the zoo.

Goodness me, it was crowded! I guess with it being a Sunday and a school holiday, the zoo was one of the places to be with children. So while Teo Kong queued for the tickets daddy went to see if he could rent a stroller. We didn't want to bring your stroller along from Penang since we've experienced MANY occasions where you refused to sit in the stroller. Daddy said he managed to get the last stroller available for rent. While waiting for Teo Kong to buy the tickets (it was a VERY long queue) mummy pushed you around in the stroller which you were keen to sit in (very much to our surprise).

At long last our tickets were bought and in we went to the zoo. The first stop (for everyone entering..) was a place where you could take a photograph with the parrots. We just stopped to look for a while before heading to look for the crocodiles. Daddy wanted to take you out of the stroller to have a better look at the crocodile but shortly after lifting you out of the stroller, you insisted to be placed back in. Ok.. looks like you've taken a liking to the stroller.

We stopped and looked at many animals, including the kangaroo and monkeys and the white tiger, and stopped for a drink before you decided that you'd had enough of the stroller. That was when you got daddy very angry. You wanted to push the stroller and the zoo tram was moving on the road. Try as I could, I could not convince you to get back into the stroller. In the end, we had to force you into the stroller (which included a lot of wailing and crying from you) and pushed you towards where there was an elephant show. We rested a while while looking at the elephants. After that we walked a little more but seems like everyone was getting tired. In the end, we headed towards the nearest tram stop and hopped on to the tram for a ride to rest our weary legs. WE hopped off at one of the stops since it was feeding time for the polar bear. But it was so very crowded and by the time we arrived, the polar bear had eating. So back we went onto the next tram and took another round until we came to the stop near the orang utans. On one of the tram ride there was a nice man who even shared his son's KFC nugget with you.

We walked and looked at all the giant cats: lion, cheetah, leopard. Enjoyed the beautiful flowers hopped onto the tram again to head towards the nearest exit. By then it was already 2.30pm and we needed to rest before our dinner. It started to drizzle a little, so it was perfect timing that we'd decided to go off. Before that we headed to have some tea since we only had brunch. Instead of eating, you fell asleep on the way to brunch and only woke up after we finished. So we went home to get ready but before that, Aunty Connie made you some bread and Milo.

Sing-nang-por, here we come!

Have been trying to get you prepared for out trip to Singapore and the airplane ride. But you only seemed to be interested in going to the airport. Maybe it's because most of our visitors will "go to airport" when the time comes for them to go home. Anyhow, of course last night I tried to get you to sleep earlier, but the excitement of packing kept you up. And you finally went to sleep past 11pm.

This morning, we woke up to have a leisurely breakfast but let you sleep on. We didn't want a grouchy little guy to bring along to Sing-nang-por (that what you called "Singapore"). You finally woke up by yourself in a very cheerful mood at close to 9am. Fed you your breakfast and got ready for our trip. We packed Ah Ma's car and off we went to the airport, dropping y the golf club along the way.

We checked in while daddy parked the car in the factory and waited for Uncle Sin Tien to pick him and drop him at the airport. While waiting we looked at the fish and since it was almost noon, we bought some of your "favourite chippies" for you to enjoy. When daddy arrived, we went into the departure hall for you to enjoy looking at the airplanes.

Enjoying your chippies

Soon it was time to board and as expected, you refused to sit on your own seat. Nevermind.. the plane was not taking off yet and it was very hot inside the plane. At long last we took off and I managed to convince you to sit in your place as we took off. Lunch was served and you had fried rice. In fact, it was a full course with jelly and juice (which you didn't want) and also plain water. After that you ate some of the Smarties that was in my bag (which caused my handbag to be scanned twice!). You got a bit upset as you finished all the chocolate and dropped one pink one on the floor.

We arrived in Changi airport and on the outside of the departure hall you saw this:

Of course we had to stop to take a picture before going to clear immigration and collect our luggage. 4th Ee Poh was already waiting for us. Aunty Ruth and Uncle KK was also waiting for Ah Kong and Ah Ma. We went off in Teo Kong's car while Ah Kong and Ah Ma went with their friends. You dozed off in the car but woke up as I carried you into the house. Why? Because their dog, Zowy barked at me. Ee Poh gave you some toys to keep you entertained, but after a while we were too tired and the 3 of us went off to take a nap. Woke up and freshened up before dinner time. What was on the menu? 4 Teo Kong had cooked up a storm! He was showing off his "culinary skills" with a full course dinner: lentil soup, steak and gravy complete with salad, mashed potatoes and green peas and complete with ice-cream for dessert and of course wine.

Yummy mashed potatoes

Steak.. oo-la-la

Picture time with Teo Kong, Ee Poh, Uncle Julian and Uncle Ashley

After dinner, we headed down town for a look at the Christmas lights along Orchard Road. By then it was close to 9.30pm and yet there was traffic jam! Can you imagine that? Still, no trip to Singapore during Christmas time is complete without looking at the lights and decorations on Orchard Road.After enjoying the sights, we headed home for a late night drink of milk for you before going off to bed. We have a busy day planned for day 2 in Sing-nang-por.

Early Morning

I guess since you had enough sleep yesterday and also had been sleeping in over the long weekend, you had enough stored. Why do I say so? Because you decided to wake up at 6am and ask me to sing a song for you. So I sang a (half-dead sounding) Jingle Bells. But noooOooo... that's not what you wanted. You asked me to sing you another song, but I ignored you and tried to continue with my sleep. Thankfully you decided to lie around (and on me too!) until my alarm clock rang. Even after that you were lying around and I thought that you'd gone back to sleep.

My mistake. You let me get out of bed and give me a few minutes alone in the bathroom before I heard a "mummy.." and the sound of little feet running towards the bathroom. Sigh.. there goes my morning. I had to help you brush your teeth and you wanted to help me with my contact lenses.. Asked you to go accompany daddy in bed, but you refused. Sigh...

When I told you I needed to get ready to go to work, you told me that I needn't go to work. Aiyo.. then you also said that daddy didn't have to work too. So of course you had to be persuaded to let us go to work when the time came for us to go off. At first you asked me to wait for you to finish your multi-grain. Then you stalled further by asked me to feed you your milk. When that was finished you still insisted that I stay with you.

At long last after telling you this and that you finally agreed to let us to go work. Of course before we left, we were each given a kiss and a big hug from you. What a way to start our day. Makes me wish I was back at home playing with you instead...

How did it go?

Sigh.. I have been relaxing so much over the long weekend and totally forgot to post on how daddy's birthday celebration went. A week ahead I had asked Ah Kong and Ah Ma to keep their day clear. So we were all set for dinner. But where to? The first place I had in mind did not accept reservations. So after thinking for a while, I decided to scrap that place. What if we ended up having to wait a long time for a table in the non-smoking area?

On Thursday morning as we were driving to work, daddy lamented that there is no chance for him to go to the new Irish restaurant with me. Why? Because I don't drink. So.. I decided to try my luck and booked a table for the night. In fact when I called the manager, he said that they didn't have a baby chair, but he'd go get one for you. Lucky you...

Good thing daddy didn't have any late meetings, otherwise dinner could easily be as late as 8.00pm. Anyhow, we arrived home earlier than other days of the week and everyone freshened up before heading to Shenanigan's Restaurant and Bar. It's only been open for 4 days. Hehe.. so we ordered our food, but had to wait quite a while before we were served. Sadly the food left much to be desired for. The service was slow and nothing spectacular about the food. But.. at least daddy and Ah Kong enjoyed their Guinness and Kilkenny.

Went home for this:

You were so excited when you saw the candle. In fact I had to light the candle a second time because you blew out the candle even before we finished the first line of the birthday song. The lady who made the cake could not deliver. So lucky thing Ah Ma could go pick up the cupcakes.

Happy Birthday to daddy again...

Birthday Pictures

What did you do yesterday?

Daddy took leave to accompany you yesterday. Why? Because there was supposed to be no electricity in the house and he worried that you'd get too hot. So he planned to bring you out to one of the malls. There was supposed to be a generator, but we thought that it would be for the lifts only. It turned out to be for the whole condo. Anyway, since daddy had already taken leave (and mummy couldn't..sigh) we met up for lunch. You guys picked me up and we went for lunch.

Before we could eat, we needed to wait for Ah Ma to come to QueensbayMall. First stop was to look at the Christmas tree. You were so awed and excited to see the beautiful decorations. Next we took you to sit on one of the rides and then bought you a pair of dungarees and Ah Ma wasn't there yet. So where to next? Went into Jusco to play drum. I'm surprised that you can still remember and even how to get to the amusement area since it's been a long time since we've brought you to Queensbay Mall.

Ah Ma finally arrived and we had lunch in Dragon-I. We ordered some food and you enjoyed the fried beef noodles, ate 2 of the "Siu Long Pau" and even ate the "Chung Yau Peng" (I saw that you had noticed the greenies on it.. but you ate without a sound and even asked for more!). After lunch Ah Ma dropped me back at the office while daddy brought you to continue with your kai-kai. You didn't even look back at me after saying "bye mummy". Sob... So excited about playing that you just about ignored me when I walked away. Then again, it's better this way than for daddy to struggle with a crying toddler.

You were there at the mall for another 30 minutes before you both left and daddy called to say that you'd fallen asleep on the way home, despite telling daddy that "Evan not tai-yad (tired)". In fact you napped for almost 3 hours. So when mummy arrived home, you were all alert and happy.

That wasn't the end of your day. We went out to have dinner at Starview with Nanna, Ah Chor, 4th Ee Poh, 4th Teo Kong and your 2 uncles. After dinner we went to their hotel to cut daddy's cake, chat a little before leaving at close to 11pm!

Way past your bedtime, but you stayed awake longer than daddy! I guess daddy was all tired out from taking care of you for the whole day. I think you had a wonderful time yesterday. To make things worse, you refused to let us go to work this morning. Yup, you slept so late, but you were up at 7am. I wonder where you get all that energy from.

Happy Birthday to Daddy

More New Words

Mummy hitched a ride back home with Ah Kong one of those days since daddy had a dinner with his friends that night. And Ah Kong mentioned that you had picked a new word. What was it?

I think so..

Of course, this big procrastinator never got around to posting about it until now. In fact, you have picked up a few new verses. What else?

I don't think so

And even when we're talking you'd tell me O course. So many new words. This morning you woke up early and we were drawing in the small room and you told me One for you, two for me, one for you, two for me. But when you said "two for me" you gave yourself one marker only.

And you've started to negotiate too. You didn't want me to go to work, so what did you tell me? Wait for Evan to minish (finish) Milo first. Then mummy can go. BUT you drank some of the milo and stopped. So how can I leave if your Milo was not finished yet?

Worst of all are the little ears listening and copying. We were driving out for dinner on Friday and you heard "Why the h*** did I take this road?" and shortly after that the owner of the little ears also repeated the same phrase (twice!).

So lesson to everyone (everyone at home has been warned)... Little ears are always listening. Be careful of what we're saying..