[ J - FOR THE RECORD]

[All too quick...]

2012-01-27T13:34:00.004+08:00

Can't believe that January is almost over! And Chinese New Year has come and gone... well, not technically, as there is still a few more days left of the traditional 15 day long celebrations. We are still not yet visited out, as there are a few more relatives (older folks) and friends (younger folks) left to cover! All the better to practice our styling on the 2 girls.
The other thing that has been very much a pre-occupation is our coming trip to JAPAN!!! This time around, we'll be travelling up north to Hokkaido, where hopefully there'll be LOADS of snow... The girls are excited, and even better, this trip will be with Popo and Gonggong. V has been doing me proud snapping up snow things for the girls, himself and me on eBay, basically fulfilling his role as family stylist to the T! haha...
So far, the flight tickets have been booked, accomodation sorted and now just the activities of the days that we'll be there to plan out. I will be documenting the various days as per all our previous trips - HERE, HERE and HERE. :)
We have also been experimenting a lot with the camera lately. Instead of just using the default "P" mode, we're venturing into "A" (aperture priority) and the more unpredictable "M" (manual!! Eeps!) So, lots of failed pictures, but here are the ones that I thought were really good...
2nd Day CNY celebrations at New House. Chockablock of cars!
Girls at the entrance.
Styling credits:
G : Top - Gingersnaps, Bottom - Gap, Tights - as before, Shoes - CottonOn
K : Top - Gingersnaps, Bottom - Gap, Shoes - CottonOn
Funny facial expressions - models own....
Me and the girls

G has the funniest and most animated facial expressions. V documented it well here:
a) Listening attentively to what the other person is sayingb) Trying hard to get a word in, and talking really quickly (sometimes TOO quickly!)
c) this is when she finally calms down and talks properly. I think she's agreeing to what E was talking about! Gotta love little friends and playdates :)
Taken with the iPhone and unedited - G and V. Love the spontaneity of this pix!
The weather has been so good in the evenings and it's a great place for the girls to just scooter about and let off steam!
Me and the girls. Love how this picture totally captures the mood of the moment. The laughter and the funny things they do! Love love love them to bits...
Snack after dinner - home made butter cookies and grapes.

[Dragon Year 2012]

2012-01-25T07:39:00.003+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year!! We ushered in the Year of the Dragon with minimum fanfare but with lots of good food and snacks as usual. 1st day of CNY was a mad rush to visiting, from V's side of the family, to my side of the family. The girls LOVED the visiting - angpows and 'forbidden' snacks - what's not to love about it!! K too had her 1st new year (i don't think she remembered the one 2 years ago) and she was thrilled to be dressed up. You know you're a parent when you love dressing up the kids more than yourself!! Hah!
Our annual family portrait. We love styling the girls, so here's the credits :
G's clothes - Dress - Olive Juice, Tights - Cart at Bukit Timah Plaza, Shoes - Gap
K's clotehs - Dress - Gap, Socks - Cart at Bukit Timah Plaza, Shoes - Cotton On
Traditional AngPow giving to the girls - and our wishes to them for the year.
Arranging the table decor
My first attempt at Chinese New Year goodies! It was fun but so much work!!

My favorite shots of the girls that day. Incredible how much they have grown since the last CNY. We were watching old videos of the girls when we were living at New House before the house was completed, it was utterly adorable!
Love this candid shot too of all the girls :)
A shot of us, in the same chairs which we took our wedding portraits in - 10 years ago!

Go here for more pictures of CNY...

** On a side note - we're going to JAPAN!!! **

[what we do in the mornings before school..... etc]

2012-01-15T08:35:00.006+08:00

We have been very organised and have drawn up a timetable which we have been following quite religiously for the 1st 2 weeks of school. Let's see how long it lasts! It's been rather loose though, as sometimes we do playdates instead of art or lunch out instead of at home.
G thrives on the 1 on 1 attention and is really such a sweet personality when she is outside of the competitive jealous environment caused by sibling rivalry. She has repeatedly told me these past 2 weeks - thank you for spending so much time with me mummy, i love you very much!! awww....
Playdate with D at Loewen gardens... love the pink decor!
Playdate with L & N while mummy finishes up the site visit checks.

Since I've been cooking a lot more at home, and have stocked up the house with all sorts of food - from a designated weekly marketing day no less! - there's lots of opportunities to have wholesome homemade food, minimal hassle and lots of good nutrition!
This is "almost" fastfood - wholewheat bread, ham slices and fresh lettuce and cheese. The only thing sinful are the chips, but then again, we would have finished our run before indulging!!
The girls after Gym class in their new $5 leotards which we bought for a steal at an obscure shop in Katong Mall....

Brought the girls to Keppel Island off the mainland last weekend, mostly to scooter and also to just work away the post-xmas and new year lethargy! V was trying out the new Aperture priority settings and it turned out quite good.

[1st day of school!]

2012-01-15T08:10:00.006+08:00

It's been 2 weeks since G first started her "big girls" education, and we all had to make some pretty major adjustments to our work / life balance! It has been a great 2 weeks though, I get to spend quality 1 on 1 time with her in the mornings, while K gets the undivided attention of her grandparents in the afternoons. Plus 1 day a week, when I have to be overseas for work, V gets to spend 1 on 1 time with his precious daughter. So far it has been working great, except for some last minute adjustments in the morning when we both have to be in meetings.
Here's the pics of her all grownup and sooooo tall in her school uniform:
Taming her unruly hair at lunch.
Having lunch out before schoolAll dressed up!
Putting on her brand new shoes
Thankfully the 1st day was the only day with a super heavy bag. Most of the books are being kept by the teachers at school.
Proud mummy with my super grown up girl
Look at that smile!
Waving goodbye, ready to take on school!
Being cheeky
The first 2 days of school, parents were allowed into the school at recess time (to observe from behind a fence!) how their offsprings were doing. G had a p2 buddy that she really liked and she was happy to follow her around. This is her complaining to me that her sandwich was all dried up!
After school!! Meeting up with friends and munching on snacks... The girls are always famished at the end of a school day and will devour whatever was remaining of their snacks.
Proud daddy posing with his daughter outside school.
A very relieved mummy that the school days went well for G! :)

[Happy 2012!!!]

2012-01-01T09:53:00.008+08:00

Another year is over and a new year has begun! The girls are oblivious to the fact that it's the New Year's - no presents = no hype = no interest....sigh. That's the hard, commercial reality of the hierarchy of holiday "spirit" for you!!

This year has been a wonderful year for us as a family, we started the year in great spirits and visited Japan on our long long awaited Japan holiday (feels like such a long time ago!).
January - Our first year without a proper Chinese New Year celebration but we still had a good reunion lunch which we all dressed up for.
February - The expressions on the girls faces as they see their first snow was so priceless!
March marked G's last birthday as a kindergarten child, next year she's off to the "big-girls-school", she has been talking about it every since the Kindie organized a P1 excursion.
In April, we went again for a little holiday at the nearby langkawi, it was a great little trip, good to relax and just chill on our private beach.

May - End of term party, prettying up the girls with elaborate hairdos.... we love having little girls to dress up! Also the girls have really progressed in their writing and drawings skills.
June - Lucky girls had 2 trips in this month alone - 1st with my parents to Tumpat on their fav mode of transport, and again a driving trip to Malacca with all of us. We also had a lot of weekends spent cycling, as G just mastered the 2-wheeler.
July - G's new obsession was playing the piano. She keeps bugging us to teach her, this is her handwritten score which she "practiced" quite regularly! Also, their sketches are more and more detailed and super cute!
August - We had a staycation at MBS. Watched the fireworks from a VIP podium and the girls were thrilled!
September - G had her first dance recital. So proud of her!
October - Our sweet little K turned 4 and what a fun celebration we had! Lots of girlie stuff like manicure, face painting and makeup. This little one had a blast!

November, December - All too soon it's the end of the year, and as always, after my birthday in Oct, the rest of the year always seem to fly past so fast!! Characterized by lots of playdates outdoors, lots of crafting, baking and another staycation this time at RWS (while G went on a solo trip with my parents), it was such a lot of days crammed into 2 short months.

So there you have it! 2011 in summary. I loved doing this, and as I looked through the pictures in iphoto, I realised that I should blog much more - the things we did, the funny things the girls say... ok, next year! I'll start also putting up videos of the hilarious games they always play.

For 2012, I'm not really one to make new year's resolutions, but I feel that as we grow older, we should really concentrate on the LIVING of our lives. V and me have had some really in depth conversations about where our lives and careers are going, how we are shaping the girls, the sort of experiences we would like to have in the coming months, years, the sort of lifestyle (and consequently income) we would like to have. Too often, life falls back into cruise control mode, no real challenges or hardships to jumpstart the adrenalin. I think this year, my resolution will definitely be to live in the moment. I'm excited about the new routines (g starts primary school!) our new work ambitions (more on the work blog)... Even though i'm not scrapbooking the memories very much, i do keep up with the other scrapping bloggers... The AE inspired OLW is making it's rounds through the blogosphere.... And after much thought, my OLW for this year will be 'FOCUS'.

So, as we ring in the new year, let me wish my dearest readers and all friends and family a very Happy, Fulfilled and Healthy 2012 ahead! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

[New Year's Eve]

2011-12-31T22:27:00.007+08:00

So, the next post up will be the annual "Best Of .... " post, but before that, I've TONS of pictures in my HD that i NEED to post up!
Most of them are of playdates, family time and lots of EATING. Between Christmas and New Year's, we were supposed to have closed the office for a week of relaxation, but somehow the week became the craziest week in Dec! The girls had a blast though, we spent some of most of the days in December with them, and it was so nice to see them really enjoying themselves. We have to keep reminding ourselves that they grow up too fast and should really cherish the times we have with them.
Playdates with S and her bunch. Lots of girlie games...
15min swim in freezing cold water and impending stormy skies. Of course the girls were oblivious to both.

Hilarious shot! Shows the drama of girls.... even little K, she who started bawling when the older girls refuse to share the ipad with her.....Love this shot of K at West Coast Park
Testing out new Apps on the phone
G the little monkey!
More apps effects
Taking a break!K's plasticine modelling. Very cute that she's more into the 2D compositions and G has always done everything in 3D.

We had our New Year's Eve celebrations at New House, which meant another few rounds on yummy yummy food.
Playing with baby E, the cutest chubbiest baby ever! (and nope I'm not getting clucky.... )
Thanks P for the most delish cupcakes from HERE.
Sooooo good.....
G doing her colouring
The Spread
The girls
Cousins
Clowing around in the playroom.

We bought the girls brand new bedlinen for their room for the New Year, of course they couldn't wait for 2012 to arrive before insisting that they slept in it! Luckily for them, we were only too happy to oblige as I'm a huge bedlinen junkie :)
Hello Kitty ones for K, Little Twin Stars ones for G
K posing.
This is why I didn't get a pic of bedspread or G posing
My little bookworm

[Christmas 2011]

2011-12-26T15:07:00.004+08:00

We continue the tradition of Xmas day dinner at New House, culminating in the pressie frenzy of yesteryears (and here). It was great to see everybody all in the same place, having a good time preparing food, feasting, playing, and generally getting to know and appreciate each others company. Ultimately, that's all Xmas is about, family & good food!
Here are the photos taken on Xmas weekend 2011:
G and my mum.
Yummy food spread - the Salmon with Nonya gravy was divine!
Satay and mac & cheese
Roast Capon Chicken, bolognese Linguini, salad and garlic bread.
Chefs hard at work!
The Christmas tree at New House with all the pressies :)
Getting the little ones to sit still for a photo op before the gifting begins...
Look here! girls and boys!
Finally, everyone is sitting properly..
Waiting impatiently for the presents to arrive!!! Unfortunately, in the midst of all that present confusion, we forgot to take pics!!! But it was such joy to see all the kids opening the presents and exclaiming in excitement at their presents.
The girls wisely kept some presents unopened underneath our Xmas tree, so on Christmas morning, they were up and jumping about (too!) very early and ripping all the presents open with glee.
Not surprisingly, they received MANY crafting presents, so the first thing we did on Christmas day was to get stuck into a whole morning of crafting and making things (more of that in the next post)
In the meantime, on the last day of the looooong Xmas weekend, here's wishing you a brilliant Xmas holiday period and till New year's day, from all of us..... have a great week!!!

[Dec Highlights]

2011-12-19T21:23:00.006+08:00

As the months and the year draws to a close, I realise that i've been so busy "living" that I am left with so little time to do the "recording" aka blogging! hah! Owells, at least i still have another week or 2 - to tidy up the house after day after day of intensive playing of the numerous playdates, to finish buying and wrapping the last few (most impt!) xmas presents, to compose and write the annual reminscing blog post, to plan and partake in the feasting and making merry with all that is closest and dearest.....
So, before all that, here are the pictures that have made it to the december highlights:
Attended the wedding dinner of my littlest cousin. So sweet and so hard to imagine that she is getting married! Time flies!!!Gorgeous bride and handsome groom!
These 2 little girls had a whale of a time playing "princesses" in the ballroom.1 of MANY playdates every week in the hols. This is how my house usually looks like!! hah. Not the cool architect-designer space one would like to inhabit. :)
We had our 1st crafting playdate (which is such a hit we're going to try to do another one before the end of the year!) We made Salt Dough ornaments.
Of course we had to have some snacks! These were surprisingly good - courtesy of Betty Crocker - 3 berries delight... or something similarly cheesy sounding.
Recipe was from HERE - we also wanted to make xmas cards but i think the girls had enough after the ornaments....
So simple to make and the result looks divine!
Stamped their names and birthdates
This was mine.Lunch was a similarly crazy affair with 5 girls all under the age of 7! But luckily, it helps to be next door to a very good italian restaurant, who served their food with dishes up to us!! :) Talk about a private kitchen at our doorstep... heh. The food is good too!
Last weekend we were in Jurong, so brought the girls to their favorite indoor area - Safra Jurong Kids Amaze.
It was mayhem as usual! Even more so with the Dec hols. There was only so much we can take of the noise and crazy crowd, so we left after going down the 2.5 storeys spiral slides for more than 10 times!!

On the crafting front, I finally mastered sewing ZIPS!!! I have always been terrified of them, somehow i never did get around mastering the technique. But I am proud to say I'm on my way to perfecting the zippered pouch. Now to continue experimenting with different shapes of pouches!
A collection of the pouches that have been made, sold and about to be gifted!
Love the french linen fabric.... so lux and so good!
My stack of nicely gift-wrapped pressies for a custom order - how's that for good service!!! Free delivery too :)
Had some ME time to catchup with an old (since high school days) girlfriend. We had the most enjoyable time and it was so great to have some adult time :)Collected my clay creations from the studio. Not quite what I was expecting, the glaze didn't turn out that nice IMO.
Sushi platter. The white glaze was supposed to be much more opaque. That is the thing about clay, it is an experimental medium. Must remember to make more so that I can fire them with different effects!

[Xmas Crafting / Gifting]

2011-12-12T10:05:00.000+08:00

Having some time to do some crafting, i finally dusted off the sewing machine and started crafting for some commissions and also my own gifting:Lavender scent bags
Bible covers
Patchwork pouches - i finally conquered my phobia for doing zippers so made up a lot of zipper pouches!
This one is my fav of the lot - using nice linen fabrics and a handembroidered patch (both of which I've been hoarding)

[RWS mini-staycation]

2011-12-10T09:33:00.011+08:00

This December, the long awaited Club Med holiday for G finally arrived! She was so excited to be going on a 5 day trip with her favoritest cousin, che che E, for an 'only grandchild' holiday with my parents.V and his girls... they are growing up so quick!
Me and my 2 little princesses.G was at this point getting a little teary eyed about leaving us behind, but of course, her sunny personality shone through again once inside the ferry terminal.Left with only 1 child, we checked into Hardrock Hotel at RWS for a mini break. K was beyond delighted to be the ONLY child.... i believe this is the first time in her young life (that she remembers) where she had the absolute undivided attention of the 2 of us. And for 5 whole days!!! The room was spacious, the only grouses were that it had very bad local internet connection and also no long bath.
Totally girly girl, she was picking flowers and posing at every opportunity!This pix of her cracks me up everytime I see it.... so funny!
We took the trams and buses on the island, it feels almost like we were on holiday! Haha.
K doesn't really like sweet things as much as G does, but one thing that she can't get enough of is icecream!!! She will willingly eat up all her lunch / dinner, if only icecream is the chosen dessert. :) Here she is with the very 1st icecream of many on that mini vacation.
The pool at the hotel had it's own private beach! Artificial sand and wierd water pools, but the kids don't really care.
For the next 2 days, we also went to the "proper" beaches on sentosa.
K finally got to watch her fireworks display while I had my long awaited BBQ ribs at Coastes.
Reading, basking in the sun, eating icecream - that's basically all we did!
Group timer shot before digging into MORE icecream
It was really great to spend some 1 on 1 time with K. Sometimes she acts up and becomes all whiney and difficult, of course it helps that there is nobody here to drive that bad behavior even worse by taunting and mutual quarrelling!

Happy happy girl. She loved all the attention and couldn't stop talking about how fun it was at Sentosa!

The rest of the time, we had meetings to attend to because it was still a work week for us! So we took turns to have 1 on 1 time with K.
Having icecream again at Ikea where she finally bought her canopy for her bed.
Then V brought her to watch Barney at USQ. She was soooo excited and happy!
Will follow up with more pics of my crafting!

[Gap Casting Call 2011]

2011-12-10T09:27:00.004+08:00

Even though we didn't take part in the Gap Casting Call this year (blame it on our inability to queue or wait anywhere longer than 10min!), lots of people with the cutest kiddies did! And after all that waiting and queuing and coaxing the little ones to take part, it is only right that we do our part to choose from the pictures - which really isn't hard given the cute pictures uploaded! So, go facebook.com/gapsingapore...... and to the following:
To view a child's photo, please follow the following steps:

"Like"the page and then click on the Gap Casting Call tab on the menu bar on the left
Click on the link "Click here to start voting"
Click on the photo of your favourite semi-finalist and then click on "Vote"

Voting ends 25th December, so go on.... make someone's day!

[movie nite!!]

2011-11-25T08:40:00.005+08:00

Thanks to the nice people at Sony Pictures and the even nicer people at Qais consulting, we were given a whole bunch of tickets to preview the movie - Arthur Christmas.

Ever wondered how Santa manages to deliver the presents to every child all over the world? This movie starts with a really interesting question that is on every child's lips come christmas. It definitely was on the girls - same as the tooth fairy questions :) But I suppose because Santa is always depicted as some western big beard man, they don't really "believe" in his existence as much as those little kids in the west. It was a totally enjoyable show though, the girls totally loved the fact that it was in 3D - it was their first 3D movie - and they looked so adorable in the little kid-sized 3D glasses. I quite enjoyed it too! There were a lot of special effects, lots of fantastic sets, and the characters were great... totally believable and very heartwarming.
Here's some pix from the press pack :
The girls LOVED the elves, they all had little personalities that were really cute - there's even an "indian-sounding" IT elf! haha....
Santa's behind the scenes operations on Christmas Eve
The elves and Arthur - the protagonist who is Santa's youngest son
Arthur again....
Santa's command centre - it was a delight for the girls - i keep forgetting they grow up in a digital age and something like that is just so believable to them!

The more familiar Christmassey mood sets - the richness in colour was incredible in 3D
More elves
They loved this little elf best! Little packing elf.... :)
So, bring your little ones to watch Arthur Christmas this holiday, as G says - it's about Santa forgetting about 1 present, but it's also about how every child is important. Spot On!!

There's a current "Arthur's Mailbox" promotion going on at Cathay - Go HERE to see more details.

While we were there, these are the other movies that we'll also be catching this Dec hols :
BARNEY - mostly for K
PUSS IN BOOTS - another 3D movie

will be trying out this Moms & Tots promo too!!

[Junior Gymnastics Meet]

2011-11-20T21:51:00.006+08:00

We attended G's very first Gymnastic Meet at HCJC today. It's an annual event that was organised by the girls' regular gymnastic centre. Of course, it took quite a lot of persuasion to cajole her into actually joining the meet. Plus we had to get there by 7.15am in the morning!! Too early.... we are so glad the girls will not be attending the morning session when G starts Primary school next year....
Understandably, she was equal part excited and apprehensive about the whole event. I think this photo captures that mood exactly!The event floor, this was during the warmup sessions.

Sample of photos of G's routines. They had to do 4 routines in total - Floor, Unequal Bars, Beam and Vault. Incidentally she won silver for this event!Receiving her medals
She was thrilled to receive 5 medals in all!
Her team won 2nd and she had an individual 3rd place overall! Not bad at all for a girl who "did not want to join the competition" a single bit! heh....
Whilst the older girls were busy at the competition floor, the little ones had a blast playing with their friends and running around the spectator stands.
Life is so fun when you're 4!
Giggly giggly little girls. They are all in the same class and have older siblings competing in the competition. Plus most of the parents were busy video-ing, taking pics of the competition, so these girls had pretty much free rein the whole morning!
After 4 whole hours, the competition was finally over and G could have her well-deserved sandwich! She was absolutely starving as she refused to eat in the morning due to pre-competition nerves.
Happy G with proud grandparents.
Group shot.

The girls
The competition was also a great place for making new friends - G with her new friend B. So nice to meet another 6 yr old of the same height! :)

[Graduation Day!]

2011-11-18T22:47:00.008+08:00

This post is all about G's graduation from Kindie..... As mentioned on my FB update -

"Tissues check, camera check, video check.... All set for g's graduation. Can't believe 4 yrs of Kindie is over for my firstborn...."

Unfortunately, I didn't check the BATTERIES in the camera... grrrrr....! So, this post will sadly be only with iphone photos of G in her graduation gown (until I get the proper ones from school) But it's the sentiment that counts right?!!
The girls have been looking forward to this day for a loooong time. G especially so! Throughout these years, she has always maintained a very close and warm relationship with all the teachers. We love hearing them talk about their 'babies', how each and everyone of the children that passes through the kindie is special. They remind us on the good points of our children and raise alarm bells on the not-so-nice points. Luckily for us, we can continue this relationship with them as K is still in kindie :) I think we will miss this warmness and closeness most of all when G goes to the "big girls" school. She will too, perhaps that is the main reason why she went through a phase of acting up so that she can be 'baby-ed'.

I still remember so vividly the first time we stepped into Bethany. Even though we do not share the same faith, somehow it was by such chance that we walked into this church kindie, that it was almost like divine intervention that led us straight in! From Day 01, we always had a good feeling about sending our girls there. The love and passion that the teachers and support network had for the children really made us very thankful that they both can spend their formative years under such care. It's not the sort of place where everybody is all about appearances, there are no designer toys, and no 'prescribed method' of teaching, no doing this or that just because it's the current "in" think in early childhood development. It's more about the love for the children and it really does show in the way the girls learn and grow, emotionally and academically. So.. a BIG BIG thank you! from the bottom of my heart to all you hardworking teachers and pastors and all the aunties and uncles at Bethany (yes, i know you will read this :)

Indulge me in more reminiscences....
- here's a post of G's 2nd day at Kindie - so super tiny and so so cute!!
- on school friends and the activities in school
- more on that 1st year
- G's 3 yr old bday in school - she looks so much like K now... it's uncanny, down to the Barney obsession.....
- End of year concert with bff Gis - incidentally they will be 'reunited' in P1! :)
- another End of year concert - can't believe I haven't blogged much about school! although there were many many outings together with pictures to prove!
- a more detailed post on the girls and what they do in school

And finally, here are the pics of Graduation Night!!
G with her fav teacher S
Principal / Teacher EH with G - she looks awfully grownup here!
K with her little friends and me in the background taking a vid
comparing sticker tattoos
Waiting patiently for their turn to go upstairs to the dressing rooms.
my little monkey with pigtailsThe graduating class - 18 kids!!
Walking to stage in her graduation gown and mortarboard... she was thrilled to bits... look at her smile!
So proud of my little girl!
More pics with Teachers S and HM
Last but not least with Lao Shi!
And yes, at the end of the night, they all were super hyper and no more prim and proper! hah!

[Gap Casting Call 2011]

2011-11-18T08:37:00.003+08:00

We interrupt the regular programming to bring you a little blurb from GAP!!
Remember the previous feature I did (was it already a year ago?!?) HERE? Well, it's back again! YES!! Your little one might be the next face of GAP kids asia. Wow.. I know it's a huge huge thing, and I guess GAP knows as well, so they have extended their casting call by another weekend and also made a few additional locations - our nearest will be at Vivocity again. Go HERE - https://www.facebook.com/gapsingapore for more info on the various locations and good luck!!!

Here's what we did last year! :)

[last day of kindie]

2011-11-16T23:38:00.004+08:00

Tomorrow will be the girls end of year concert, and G's graduation concert from her kindie. Both of them are super excited about the concert, G especially, she has been telling everybody that it will be a super "special" concert cos it'll be the 1st time she's GRADUATING!! She literally "grew up" at Bethany, where she first attended as a super blur and rather obnoxious 2yr old little tot! Hard to believe that this is the same 'baby-face' girl who was decked in those cute bloomer shorts and pinnie :) Look at her now! I wish I could just let her know - cherish those moments, cherish your friends, your teachers.... life is going to get slightly harder from now on! But of course, she's so so anxious to grow up, to be a big girl, to do all the big girl things. I just want her to slow down and not grow up so quick!!

I recently attended the last excursion of the term (and year!). Managed to capture all these fleeting moments as they enjoyed themselves so thoroughly. I must remember to make time to attend more of these as the delight in the girls faces when I said I was tagging along was absolutely priceless :)
The Peace class children - most of whom have also 'grown up' in the same kindie.
Best friends!!

The girl gangs!
Her 'boyfriend' M who used to ask her "will you marry me grace?" when they were wee 4 yr olds... of course I had to almost drag him over to take a pic with her now!
Look at that face! hilarious!
Little ones...
becoming Not so little ones.... too quickly!
awww.... she was soo happy I was there for excursion!

over the weekend, we baked some cupcakes
in princess cupcake liners no less.
and.... I finally completed my necklace!!
Here's a pic of me wearing it :)

[Anticipating the Dec Hols]

2011-11-12T21:23:00.002+08:00

Now that the "winter" months are here, the cool weather and breezey days makes the beach the ideal setting to just chill out. Especially with our little red tent, which was so easy to cart around (we propped it up on top of the pram) and to setup. As V was busy studying for his upcoming exams, we brought the girls out for some outdoor time to give him some peace and quiet to mug.

The girls were very lucky to be able to spend some quality beach time with kong kong and po po-
We started the very sunny! day off right with hotcakes and happy meals picnic from McD's in their little red tent.Then it was straight onto the serious business of building sandcastles!
Look at that face of concentration
Snapped a shot of G looking all grown up when she wasn't looking
Popo and kong kong took turns to help the girls with their sandcastle making (and to partake in the halloween candy gorging!)
The weather was great! The sun came out sporadically, but thankfully spent most of the time behind the grey clouds.

Finally, the sandcastles were done and duly decorated.
We went back to our shady spot under the tree and made little old fashioned bubbles
In the afternoon, we spent most of the time cycling, it was the first time the girls visited the "road safety park" and it was a hit!! :)

Looking forward to many more visits to the beach over the holidays.... it definitely is a great way to spend a lazy day out!

[inspired]

2011-11-05T22:00:00.006+08:00

Working in the creative line, it is truly difficult to be constantly inspired and motivated to create. At work, the inspiration has it's ebbs and flows, it can be full months of frustrating setbacks, lots of questioning and requestioning - are we pursuing something worthwhile or is it just totally barking up the wrong tree? (figuratively of course). We deal with this by relying on a plethora of external inspiration - the web, magazines, visiting places and of course talking to fellow creatives. Which we ought to do much more of! Instead of griping about the sad state of design in the local context, we should really be more pro-active about it all. Workwise, there are some latest developments that has made us truly inspired and motivated. To see our designs realised into built forms has a primal satisfaction that is difficult to put into words. V has been faithfully updating our work blog so you can see what we've been up to!
Crafting-wise, it has also been a few months now that i've even come close to starting out on anything new. Even with the arrival of dreamy fabrics, after a short spurt of creating these 2 love birds, I didn't have the time to make anything else. So, today was a much needed injection of design mojo. We visited the Public Garden event (which I have been invited to take part in but unfortunately had to decline due to above mentioned lost of mojo... i hope next time!) and it was all it promised. Lots of fantastically well made pieces, lots of beautifully laid out stalls, yummy food.... and best of all - A/C comfort! hah. I walked away with so many nice things, I wished it opened for more days, so that i could come back again to spend more time browsing! So... yes, totally inspired now to lug out my sewing machine, kick start the pottery wheel and fish out those knitting needles.
Some pix:
G enjoyed herself immensely drawing in meticulous detail her ideal breakfast :)
It was green eggs, chocolate, icecream, apple and pink milk
In return, she was given a polaroid of Messy Msxi's breakfast.
Here's the link to the quirky and irreverent website of Messy Msxi :)
My personal fav stall by Mimi P
We loved the truly photogenic Cupcakes (which passed the taste tests too) by Milk Bar.
G scoffing down the lemon tart cupcakeMet a kindred spirit in Smeowly Cats.... and they have cute sock monkeys too!

Loved all the linen wares here but forgot to get a card!! Lovely stall displays too :)
This is from a cool local shop - Supermama, designed by a wellknowned Japanese Architect. the ingenious-ness of it meant i HAD to get it :)
G with puppy dog eyes trying to convince me that $12 was worth spending on that little teeny little figurine. (the eyes won)
My Loot!! :) Loved all the things i bought.... we really should have more such events (or maybe not!)
Another fair I went before this, at the club. These 2 pots in front are Chocolate fondues. You pop them into the microwave and the pots keep them nice and liquid for dipping! Love the packaging, it's all the way from France! The tubes behind are library book bags... so cute!

Impressive were also the calling cards. So much love into making them.... Here are the people behind them - Windowsill pies for the yummiest tarts :) and to the fair for those choc fondues!

Lastly, our relationship with the girls, as parents, have also to be constantly inspired. Not just on the "good" bits, but also on the "tough" bits. As we all know, in parenting, there is never a hard and fast way of doing things. What might have worked when they were tots are hardly ever going to work now. These last few weeks, we have been faced with really puzzling behavior from G. Once bright and cheerful every morning, she has been acting up before and during school. Initially we thought it might have been due to the attention paid to K during her recent birthday bash, but then it started becoming chronic and didn't abate a single bit! So we talked about it, we cajoled her, we threatened her, we nagged her, we scolded her, we talked about it some more .... all to no avail. The same behavior infuriatingly persisted..... until together with her brilliant teachers at school, and the other caregivers (aka my parents), we decided to try a different tack. Instead of trying to understand "the problem", we simply discuss it with her (when she's not in one of the "moods") and when she starts to talk about it, we change the subject or totally ignore the topic. It has worked pretty well so far!! Hopefully it will wean her off this behavior just in time for the yearend concert.... for which I have already stocked up on tissues!! :) Look at her, all grownup and so beautiful!!
This is the G that we know and love, the one that never fails to bring a smile to us with her silly antics
The one that is constantly hyper, always giggly.
She's so tall that i often have to remind myself that she's only 6, not the tween she truly resembles!
Finally, a last shot of little miss K, absent most of the time from the other shots as she was content to be in the pram.....

[Another month is over!]

2011-11-01T19:39:00.004+08:00

Wow, can't believe that it is now November, just 1 more month away from the last month of the year!!! Gosh. time flies by sooo quick. We are relishing the cool cool weather and getting out for a large part of the weekend. Our typical weekend goes like this :
Saturday - Ballet in the morning for G while me and K enjoy our leisurely breakfast whilst waiting for G. Lunch after our weekly grocery shop and then onto some R&R at the library. It is then back home for K's nap while G reads and finishes her library books (!) and all too soon it is time for Gym lessons in the late afternoon / early evening. Our strategy was to schedule all classes on Sat so that Sun will be a "free" day. Normally up super early, the girls are our very vocal alarm clocks and they drag us out of bed by 8am (if we're lucky!) Morning is an outdoor activity - westcoast playground, sentosa, east coast park..... and either we head indoors for the library (if we have not gone on Sat), or perhaps a playdate at a friend's, or lately, we have "discovered" afternoon movie treats at the club :)
Here's the pictorial diary :
We had an unexpected treat of visiting the funfair at MGS after ballet last weekend....
It was an expensive and hot afternoon for me, but of course the girls had the time of their lives...Candy floss and carousel rides.... what more can little girls want!Later that evening, we skipped Gym classes for a wonderful time at Auntie S's place.
G was a magician's helperFabulous cupcakes from HERE.... (they are the best tasting cupcakes I've had.. hands down)

Hot hot hot!! at West Coast Park.... we LOVE these swings :)The girls and V
G enjoying the swing in the hot sun!
Me and the girls :)

[the enchanted forest]

2011-10-19T11:43:00.005+08:00

You might remember not too long ago, we brought the girls to the nearby Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. I might have let slip that it was going to be the Enchanted Forest, hence the total lack of excitement and anti-climatic outcome of that particular visit!! hah.... So, last weekend, we chanced upon the same nature reserve, but at a different part. O! The thrill of discovering something so unexpected and so good! The girls were over the moon. We, loved the serenity and calmness of it all.
Here are the pics:
It was sneaker day
K with her trademark "bossy" pose
Checking out the spider webs
A view at the end of the walk - what a nice clearing!
The girls started drawing on the bench with water...
The artwork.. i love how they can just amuse themselves so easily!
Preview of a future teenage "gei lek" (swagger) ?!?
The best part has to be the playground!!
K loving the swings
It almost feels as if we were in a temperate country like Japan... except for the weather of course!
Nestled in the rainforest is this fantastic slide.....
Down down down....
and Up Up Up!
My little monkey :)

Definitely coming back again.... most likely this weekend!

[Happy 4th Birthday Katie!!]

2011-10-09T14:03:00.006+08:00

To our dearest Katie... It is impossible to imagine that it was only 4 short years ago that yo u came into our lives. You are the most loving and gentle natured little girl. You are also the epitome of the most princessey and girlie girl I know. You love dressing up, always asking for your "skirt connected to the shirt", preferring dresses over pants (much to the chagrin of jeans loving daddy) You are outspoken on your own opinions, yet have the maturity beyond your years of saying the right things at the right time. You still need the security of your 'Barney bu bu' to fall asleep, but can independently pack your camping over night bag without our assistance. You are meticulous and exact in what you want. You will also not budge once you've set your mind onto something. We are often amazed by how conscientious you can be, packing up your toys after playing with them and even compartmentalizing the smaller items into their own boxes).
We love you our littlest girl... :) mummy & daddy
Lucky girl had 2 birthday parties! The 1st one, coinciding with the Childrens' day celebrations, was with all her friends in school. Here's the happy little girl, who kept telling everybody - no, i'm not 4 yet! my birthday is on Sunday.... she was so super thrilled with the princess cake, which she has specified a loooong time ago, and which i spent the day before stressfully constructing out of 2 readymade round cakes (6" + 8") and lots of buttercream frosting! :) The look on K's face when she first saw it made it all worthwhile!!
We all went to celebrate her bday with her in school as usual.
Blowing out her candles all by her self..
The princess cake :)
Check out the gleeful expressions on their faces! Soooo cute!

The weekend started with another birthday party for her, this time, for the family and close friends.
Princess goodie bags.
The decor
K wanted all the girlie girlie things, so we had manicures, pedicures and glitter tattoos
Happy girl with the glitter tattoo
The 2nd cake we had for her birthday was totally outsourced (read: mummy can't take another stressful night of baking!!) Cupcakes were from Artisan Sweets, and I bought the princess cupcake stand.... (which came with all the cupcake toppers)Checking out the cupcake and making dibs on the ones they wanted to eat first!
Blowing out the candles with help from jie jie.
Family shot
Of course, the best part of the party - opening up the pressies!!! :) She loved all the pressies (which she smartly chose beforehand by getting mummy to put up a birthday registry on FB - see how organise she is!) A big huge thank you for all the little friends, cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents who turned up and made it such a special day for her!! :)

Flashback through the years :
K @ 0, 1, 2, 3!

[A year older.....]

2011-10-05T19:51:00.005+08:00

Thanks all for all your wonderful birthday wishes!! It was a little quiet celebration dinner on the actual day with my parents and over the weekend, we had sunday free for a super mini celebration - just us and the girls.
V being the person that knows me best, gave me a little surprise bday pressie - an icecream making workshop!! It was the perfect gift - combining the eating of desserts (yum!) my favorite activity (cooking!) and 3 whole hours of "me" time!! We made a total of 4 little tubs to bring home, plus recipes for 6 different varieties (and methods) of making icecream. Who knew icecream could be made so easily!! Of course I then spent the afternoon making even MORE icecream at home...

Here's some pix:
Ice cream buffet... yums!
Making the double chocolate icecream
Cooking the custard
A very happy me after the class is over with my spoils :) And 2 very eager tasters!

Below some pix of the girls at our mini celebration lunch...
K enjoying her complimentary icecream with the free kid's meal at Brussels Sprouts.... A really great deal if you have kids and if you like mussels and frittes! This was the one really near one of my projects at Robertson Quay, will definitely try out the one in East Coast Park soon as well....

The girls looking for an avenue to workout all those carbs and sugar after the lunch!
K in her super cute jeans and hand-me-down pink converse

During the week, we took a break from work to look at some museum offerings. It is a good way to rejuvenate the mind, and whilst doing so, clear up some cobwebs for some new inspiration.

These were taken at the museum at UCC. A new find by V when G was having her ballet concert.
Archival display circa the early 19th century
Birds.
Totally worth a visit for a good quiet afternoon of musing around long forgotten artefacts. The concept of the exhibition is really interesting too - it was all about how a museum came into being - raises really interesting questions on colonial thinking and strategies.

K's birthday card to me... :) Love the sketches as usual....

A preview of K's princess cake for her celebrations in school tomorrow..... More of that in a later post!! :) The cakes are store bought but everything else was made this afternoon!!

Last but not least, the past few months, we have been working on this project.... by a fellow blogger / designer mum I whose blog whom i've been lurking on for months! She's a brilliant person and the images of the apartment shows it at it's best. Looking forward to the fully styled photos (a 1st for us!) and working together on future projects!

[Perfect summer weather for.....]

2011-09-21T23:12:00.005+08:00

Lately, the weekends have been very breezy and so it was great to spend time outdoors. We went to another portion of the ECP last sunday, right in front of the Road Safety Park (I remember going there as a kid and spending a very fun and educational afternoon driving little gokarts on miniature roads. The mini petrol stations and tiny traffic lights are still there although the go-karts are gone!) This part of the beach had nice temperate looking trees, which provided shade over the whole afternoon. The girls of course loved it and I wish i brought a more comfy mat to lie on to take an afternoon nap!
YUMS. snacks by the beach... what a life!
She looks 6 here.....
and about 12 here!!!
Doesn't she look really grown up? Slow down please baby!

Also, K's been asking since about 4 months ago - when is my bday coming. Now that it is only a month away, she has been stepping up on all the bday prep. Of course we had to take some pictures for the invite :)

i'm going to be "four"
no "five"
haha... actually 4!

I've also gotten back into pottery. It is quite a time consuming process, as I have to drop of the pots to be bisque fired, then go back again to glaze them, and finally to collect them! Let's hope the next time I visit the clay studio will not be in another 5 weeks!!!

Loving the way the glaze slowly gets absorbed into the clay.
Can't wait to see the final outcome!
Another work in progress.... this is inspired by some of the fabulous fabric seen online!Lastly, really proud of all the little plants on my roof top patio that I haven't managed to kill! :) Does anybody know of a non-insecticide way of killing off ants? There are tons on the herbs.

[G's 1st performance on stage]

2011-09-11T22:36:00.005+08:00

G recently performed on stage as part of her ballet school's bi-annual event. It was entitled the World of Dance and she was in the Gypsy dance segment. It was a great eye-opener for her, she got to see how things worked in a theatre, how the various dancers looked all madeup and 'performer-ey', and best of all, she got to put on make up and get all dolled up to the nines!! She was beyond thrilled! However, it was also one of the worst experience I ever had with the school. Before this, I've already had "issues" with the way the school admin worked, they were super disorganised and could never get the correct information to the parents on time. Plus her teacher was often not around and a relief teacher in her place. So, imagine the day-to-day inefficiency but magnified like a zillion times in the performance event. First off, the girls had to be holed up in a teeny tiny dressing room from 11am to 11pm!!! 12 whole hours!!! If I wasn't a parent volunteer, I would never have realised this. No idea why this had to happen. Worst of all, nobody from the school organisation was in charge of the whole backstage babysitting, just me and 3 other hapless mums, who were totally unprepared for the scale of our tasks ahead! I have taken videos of this totally inhumane situation and plan to definitely write in to vent. Probably would just be brushed under their dis-organisation and be written off as another neurotic parent. The best quote of the evening - (from a disgruntled parent) - "what sort of Attitude do you call this!!!" (the ballet school is called Attitude Performing Arts) lol.....

Griping aside, G was so cute in her costume, all pretty and demure (except when all hell broke loose with 34 of her friends in the dressing room!) She was busy telling all her friends that daddy used to play in all the performances before when he was in the band.
Here are the pics:
So thrilled to be putting on lipstick. I think her first time doing so!
Doing her makeup and hair - Guess where K is! :)
K was so excited too! Cos ku ku was bringing her out on her own special date that day - to watch Smurfs the movie! Look at her expression! She was soooo happy :)
Can't wait for her sister to finish up with the whole makeup process so that she could be on her own adventure! Thanks to P for babysitting K the whole time we were with G at her performance, and also letting her "camp over". She is already planning her next sleepover!

So after all that, here are the pix of the little performer:
My little gypsy girl
Getting into her poses
The can-can pose
Love this one!
So grown up... can't believe she'll be in P1 next year! Time flies....
One of the last decent poses before she slips into the G that we know and love....Starting to clown around as usual....
Monkey face!
See, I was not joking about holing them up in this teeny tiny room!! It was soo ridiculous that they all needed to be IN COSTUME, FULLY MADE UP, a full 3 hours before show time!!!! Bad organisation or what! grrrrr......

[It's the HOLIDAYS.... again?!?!]

2011-08-29T16:53:00.005+08:00

Wow.... didn't we just have our vacation???? This month and next is shaping up to be a holiday packed month - this week alone we have "holiday in lieu of the election", "hari raya", "teacher's day" - the girls only go to school 1 day this week and it's their term excursion! O the fun!! And the whole of next week is term break.....
Unfortunately, we are deskbound with some deadlines so it was only sporadic mornings that we can spend time with the girls. The weather has been incredibly kind though, the whole weekend was super cool and rainy!! Perfect weather for long long snoozes in bed (although it would have been even better if there was no early alarm clock in the form of the girls!). After polling (no, he was not elected), we indulged in curry fishhead (well, me rather as V is so not a spice loving person). G is shaping up to be a "peranakan in training" as she loves spicy food and will gamely try anything.
Some highlights of the month of August:
Our dear friend's dd turned 2, and she had the most wonderful cake ever! Cake's from here - www.crummb.com (sooo nice right... :) Since they have relocated to Hongkong, we hardly get a chance to catchup, so it was really nice to just chill and yak non-stop while the girls get hyper on cake and helping to open up the pressies! They even spent the whole afternoon there with a very generous birthday girl who shared all her presents!
How many architects does it take to cut a stacked cake?
G's list on what she wanted off the cake.... (i like the last sentence)
Group shot - this is what 4 architects with their respective offspring look like.
The girls and the cake.
K looking sleepy

We usually spend sundays now with the girls either at ECP or Sentosa, so that they can ride their bikes and we can have some outdoor time. Unfortunately, this Sunday, poor G fell off her bike and her lower lip took the brunt of the fall - resulting in a rather large graze below her lip. Lots of TLC was required and of course she was jumping about in no time with seemingly no traumatization towards riding again (phew!)The bruiser of a lip. It's totally healed now! I'm always amazed at the resilience of the kids and their healing speed!
K at ECP with her favorite iPad / iPhone game.
Have a great (cool!) week ahead and hopefully I will get to take nicer outdoor photos soon if the rain stops!

[staycation : Aug 2011]

2011-08-16T22:47:00.008+08:00

We were very lucky to have been able to book a room at the Marina Bay Sands & also received VIP tickets for the NDP event over the National Day holiday period :) *thks F!*The girls chilling out on the super big bed and giant fluffy pillows. :) They loved the big big bathtub as well and it was as with any other hotel stay - pool, bath, pool bath....
The sky park on the 57th floor was astounding! No matter what one's opinion of the architecture is (re: massively expensive eyesore, etc) this building has succeeded in creating a space that is pretty amazing! The knife edge pool, the paranoma views, even the sheer crowd can't detract from it's gravity defying experience. I would have thought it would be vertigo inducing, but somehow, when you're floating on the edge of the pool, it takes away quite a bit of the "falling off the cliff" sensation. Even K, the notorious scaredy cat of the family, really enjoyed herself floating on the knife-edge and pointing out the various floating barges that were preparing for NDP 2011 on the water 57 floors below!
Here's the little missy, all hot and bothered. She loved the pool, especially after arm bands were procured!
Kong kong and Po po joined in too on National Day itself for a little dip!
On National Day, we took a short drive from MBS to the nearby Marina Barrage. There were lots of people there already in the morning, the girls chilled out at the water fountain, while I sat on a picnic mat and caught up on my reading....
This must be one of my favorite shots of them for awhile! Look at their expressions... G as usual the creative one that found a cool space to hide (behind the water fountain), while K follows her big sister there but refuses to look through the water as it makes her feel "blurry".
After the splashing about, there were BIG big bouncy castles and slides to play on! It was super expensive though, $3 for 3 minutes!! Crazy! and even more so when K took one turn on the slide and declared it was "too scary"... sigh.. G of course loved it, that's her right at the top and K following closely behind.
After the day spent at the barrage and the afternoon spent in the pool, we dressed up and headed over to the convention side of MBS for our VIP reception and the long awaited fireworks.
G LOVES food!!! I'm always astounded to how much she can pack into her little body. And am often so glad that she's always so hyper, as I can imagine it all that eating must lead to a weight problem otherwise! Here she is literally "vacumning" the food into her mouth, whilst tiptoeing to get to the right table height.... O, and next to her is a tray of ketchup which she summoned a waiter to specially get it for her.
K waiting impatiently for the fireworks to start.
And getting a teeny weeny bit impatient about it all.

Here's the video of the fireworks display..... really really great and our seats were just perfect!!
The next day, we rushed to the pool to have one last swim before checkout.
2 sweet little girls :)
1st time at Marche at 313. Highly recommended if you would like an uninterrupted lunch as the kid's play area is awesome! Quality toys, a REAL heidi cottage... what more can the kids want! They wanted to spend the whole day there... and we would have let them if only we didn't have work to complete. boohoo.
Recently the kindie's website had a little bit of a malfunction, so when i check the website to see the girls' weekly antics in school, it brought me back 3 whole years, to when G first started at the kindie. What a delightful find! Brought back sooo much memories. Coincidentally, the 3 closest friends of G are also in this page (of course they were not best friends then) and o! how much they have all grown....

[July Highlights]

2011-08-08T00:51:00.006+08:00

Wow, time really flies by and yet again, it's almost been 1 month since my last post! Lots of last minute packing happening (mostly V) as we'll be spending the next few days at the MBS for a mini stay-cation. The girls are oblivious to all this harried activity happening around them, as they have no idea and it will be quite a pleasant surprise! I'm a fireworks junkie, and when living in London, have been known to drag poor V all over the parks and rivers of the city when there were major fireworks displays :) Can't wait to experience this thrill with the girls, the last time we came anywhere close to fireworks was when G was about 2, WAY before K was even born! The logistics of 2 of course made it all the more difficult to trek to the various vantage points to watch the fireworks, although I'm sure after witnessing it firsthand this year, the girls will make us bring them to future fireworks displays (shhh.... that's my secret plan, so it'll be 3 against 1.... *evil laugh*)
Pics of this month:
My little indian princess in a sari (which she absolutely hated... but obliged for the start of the morning cos we begged her to!)
Attended little baby E's 1st month and love how the candid pics of the girls and their cousins turned out!
Little miss Atas
G being the clown as usual
Me and K sharing a little joke
Trying on sil's sunglasses.... nice?

Otherwise... we have been keeping up with the Sunday "excursions" as the girls call them. We will head out in the morning, have a leisurely breakfast out, then it will be the beach, cycling or other outdoor stuff, before heading the library to cool off and stock up on the weekly staple of books. The girls love it and we reckon it is something that is truly making use of where we are geographically! Today especially was amazingly great weather, after a downpour in the morning, the air was cool and windy, we had the best time outdoors, having a cheap and good lunch at the lagoon before G totally wow-ed us with her almost instant progression from training wheels to a 2-wheeler! The joy and pride of watching her ride away on her own is soooo bitter sweet :)
Here's the link to the vid on FB

ETA: more pix from the iPhone
K and her iPrincess app on V's phone
Me and K after our bike ride
K on the tennis courts. The girls love their weekly tennis session with kong kong.

[Mommy's Day out - Part 2]

2011-07-15T17:25:00.007+08:00

Due to crazy work schedules, i have not been able to complete my mommy's day out the last time i visited the delightful Dot. Luckily, she has been able to do another day out session for me, this time it includes something I've been wanting to try out for quite awhile now. All my friends have been raving about this amazing manicure treatment - yes! it's the Gelish manicure!! Dries hard as nails, it does not chip, does not peel, dries almost instantly after application, does not look fake (unlike plastic extended nails). It is almost too good to be true! Especially if you know how klutzy yours truly is, I have always steered clear of getting manicures done, as it seems such a waste of money to have it all nicely done up, then just after one modelmaking session in the office, or baking with the kids, the entire nail polish chips off or my nails get torn etc. You know the feeling - that of walking out feeling like a million dollars with perfect mani / pedi, just to have the nails blemished as soon as you do any activity more strenuous that typing on the keyboard! And having to live with the blemished nail until the next treatment which could be anywhere from 2 weeks to a month away! I really hated that, which was why I ended up not having any manicures done at all.... I spent a blissful 90min having a full mani/pedi and even a paraffin wax spa and witnessed the magic of the Gelish manicure - just 5 min under the LED light - poof! Baked to perfection. :)

True to it's word, I'm already at the end of the 1st week of my polish life span. Not a nary of a blemish anywhere to be seen! I'm soooo happy to have found this and thanks to Dot, it is a really cool way of looking like a million dollars (without actually having to pay that much!) Next time I'll try the French Manicure, but the Gelish version of course! So, if you're like me, super klutzy and can't get your regular manicure to last more than a day - you definately need to try this out! And the deal that is currently at Dot's is super worth-it (esp since these are Power Nails! haha... they last longer than the regular, so you def make your dollar streeeeetch!)

The blurb:
Gel nail manicure - $60 OR
6 gel nail manicures - $320 (Guinot Istitute Hydrademie OR "peel in, peel out" (U.P. $160) FREE!
Plus no extra charge for removal of existing gel polish (U.P. $30)

If you take away the cost of the facial, it works out to be really affordable at only $27 per manicure - (or $700 worth of treatments for only $320!) a really good deal if you ask me!

PLUS: if you quote this blog, say "GraceKate", Dot will also throw in the following at HUGELY discounted rates:
1. Hydradermie treatment - $68 (U.P. $160)
2. Gel Manicure - $28 (U.P. $60)
3. Dolly Lash Perm - $28 (U.P. $60)

So, yup! I believe that we mummies should treat ourselves once in awhile, and what better way than to take a mummy day out and pamper yourself with any of the above.
This is what it looks like in liquid form - mine had a little bit of glitter in itOther stuff - top coat etc....
I've also started to get back to pottery making! What a delight that the manicures were so tough and can withstand all that clay work :)
My lovely nails - and a very grubby table! hah!
Dot also has a large range of Chanel colours - yummy ones for pedicures - which don't really chip off so easily so we didn't do a Gelish colour on them.
Little known fact - Do you know that most of the OPI carrying salons in Singapore are not approved? I didn't, and also didn't know that you could even have FAKE nailpolish!
And yes, Dot's on the list!

And yes, i did promise to update on my attempt at being a grownup - well at least where the whole beauty regime is concerned.... :) So, I went back to Dot for my followup Guinot facial. I must say that overall, i definately felt that my face texture and skin is a lot less dry, and when makeup is applied, it went on more evenly and was absorbed better. Hopefully this means that i'll be able to age as gracefully as Audrey Hepburn.... haha. I'm now fully converted to maintaining a proper skincare regime - wash, tone, moisturize - repeat after me!!

Now, next on my list of "me" upgrades - looking properly at the food we eat and coming up with a more or less healthy diet!! (especially after watching Food Inc, which has TOTALLY put me off fast food for life!!!)

[sand, sun & sea - part 2]

2011-07-12T22:37:00.004+08:00

The girls loved cycling so much that we decided to do another 'whole day' sunday out to East Coast park with them. This time, we were well-prepared, we brought our picnic mats, our beach toys and all the other picnic periphenalia that goes with the outdoors.
We also parked at a different portion of the ECP, although more crowded at the start, it was nearer to the Southern portion of the park, where it was much quieter and the terrain was flatter too. The best thing about it had to be our "rent 1 hr, free 1 hr" cycle deals. And to make the deal even sweeter, the bicycle shop was so nice to the girls, we first rented 2 adult bikes with child seats (as we didn't think the girls would be able to last cycling on their own for 2 hrs!), then, after the 1st hour, we swapped for 2 bikes with training wheels for each of the girls... then the last half hour, the uncle at the shop said we could swap AGAIN for bikes with no training wheels for G! So, in total, the girls had 2 bikes each to play on, PLUS G had a chance to start 2-wheeling on her own size bike! Fully recommend this bike shop - it's the one just on the right of Mcdonald's. You can't miss it!
Loving sisters - unfortunately, this does not happen very often, although last Sunday has to be record amount of time spent together not squabbling!
Checking out the ants on the ground while V tries unsuccessfully to steal a group shot with his girls.
Jeans - too small for G, too big for K - but i think she looks super cute in them!K's elaborate hairdo.
Cuddling up with K - cherishing these moments when I can still pick her up, cuddle her and snuggle close. There are no shots of me and G as she was too busy checking out the flora and fauna, didn't even want to stay still for a shot!
G on the bike with trainer wheels
K on her own bike - she said to me after this - why didn't you tell me there were bikes MY size! :) heh... she absolutely loved the independance...G with V - a daddy's rite of passage - teaching his daughter the 2 wheeler. I still remember my dad teaching me probably on the same stretch of pavement along the ECP!
K on her bike- LOVE her cheeky face!
G with V - such a big girl now!My little leopard! Climbing and jumping from up high is irresistable to her!

[sand, sea & sun- Part 1]

2011-07-10T22:37:00.012+08:00

These past 2 weekends, we have been making our way all the way East to enjoy the 3 S's by spending the whole day there. Now that the girls are older, only K needs her afternoon nap. And sometimes she can even go without.... We are finding it easier to just pack up enough activities for the whole day, almost like if we were on holiday! It definitely brings back memories of my own childhood, where our family with cousins will head down to ECP whenever there was somebody organising, and later when we were older, it became a tradition to while away the hours with dad while mum worked on her shift on a sunday.

It all started as we started the morning with all great intentions to bike around town, starting from HERE. Our friend's uber cool shop in a lesser known part (but becoming pretty trendy!) of town by the singapore river rents out bikes by the hour.
Unfortunately (or fortunately in this case), they didn't stock trainer wheel bikes, so that leave us without the option of having G bike together....
The girls were already all prepped up with wanting to go for a bike ride, so after a little bit of a wander around the area, we packed them up and headed off to East Coast Park.
Clowing around along Robertson Quay....
V took K on a bike - she absolutely loved it! It has to be the 1st time she remembers sitting on the bike. The last time we did this, she was probably too young to remember....
G had her own bike, as you can see from this expression, she was having the time of her life!

Watching G cycle around like a hyperactive spider!
Taking a much needed break by the sea.
Best place for a "potong" icecream
Ice cream eating style #1
Ice cream eating style #2
Ice cream eating style #3
They loved the trip out, we ended it off with a cooling off session at the nearby library... coming up next - our day out to ECP (again!) the following weekend!!
Just had to post this up too - every since G discovered Piano Lite app on the iPad, where she has been teaching herself how to play "my Grandfather's Clock" on the piano, she has been bugging us to teach her how to play it "properly". Here she is trying to get K to play a simpler song. So cute!

[July Giveaway!!]

2011-07-01T13:56:00.002+08:00

A very good friend of mine P, who has now moved away to perth (boohoo!) - made this little top that K's wearing. I own a few of her lovingly handmade items and they are one of the best tailored garments in my wardrobe :)

The reason for a mention in this blog is that she's having a whole dress giveaway on her blog for the month of July!

DO CLICK now for the chance to win.

[Malacca June 2011]

2011-06-26T21:17:00.005+08:00

The girls were thrilled that right after coming back from a week-long holiday in Tumpat, Kelantan with my parents, we were going away AGAIN! haha.... this time for a last minute 3-day short trip up north to Malacca.
I didn't bring the DSLR with us this time, so there pics are c/o V's iphone (the 4G quality of pix are WAY better than mine!)
Posing along the Old Town.
We had some really good food there:
Bei Zhan - good quality chinese food - it is also relatively easy to park as it has it's own standalone building.
Ole Sayang - Comfort food!!! Very yummy peranakan dishes - the girls LOVED the babi hitam and of course the chendol. :) A definite Must-Eat in Malacca.
Jonker 88 - We had to make many pitstops for drinks and snacks (it is no wonder I gained so much weight!) and of course we had to try the famous Durian Chendol here.... Yup, it is good.
Makhota Parade - We stayed right next to Makhota Parade, where there was lots of shopping (however, don't go to the Brands Outlets - it wasn't that great) - Daiso, Reject Shop... We managed to pick up some nice dresses for the girls and G spent all her pocket money at Daiso.

All in all, a good 3 days - 2 nights short trip up! Now back in Singapore, I'm determined to lose all that extra weight after the full week of feasting!! hah!
Playdate at S's place with her 2 girls. The girls had a lot of fun and we would have cancelled on G's chinese class if it wasn't so expensive! lol.... def will try to arrange for a whole afternoon playdate the next time....

[Mommy's Day out - Part 1]

2011-06-21T20:53:00.003+08:00

The girls were gone for a whole week, so when there was a chance for me to do a 'mummy's day out' in exchange for a review, I jumped on the chance! First off, I have to qualify that I'm definitely no expert in skincare, spa or such 'hi-maintenance' up-dos. It's not even one of those -"it's because i have 2 kids and do not have the time for it" situation, as even before the girls, i hardly ever did the monthly facials and bi-weekly manis and pedis that most working women practice. Much to the chagrin of my very much more well-maintained mum (who has nagged me time and again to go for a facial!) To me, i hardly see the point of spending hundreds of dollars at each session, and avoid the recent beauty parlor chains like the plague as i've had many occassions of being hounded to sign up for thousand dollar packages. However, this time round, i agreed cos i've known Dot for a few years now, introduced by my Sil, who goes there regularly for her bi-weekly manis and pedis. She has now moved from just walking distance from new house into town (just next to lasalle).
As my session was on a weekday, we started with a half hour detox soak in a bubbly jacuzzi, a much needed transition from a whole morning of intensive meetings.
After that, Dot took some time to explain my skin type (oily and prone to breakouts- yay >.<) and we selected the best treatments from the range of 5 star treatments from the French beauty label - Guinot. It's a series of treatments that will bring back much needed moisture into my seriously dry skin, and hopefully will also help to slow down the onset of wrinkles (something that has also been alarming me lately) The "hydrodermie lift" treatment will also visibly lift your skin almost 1 cm! It's like a botox treatment without all the needles :)
This is part of the whole wall of Guinot products that was used throughout the session, so you definitely get your money's worth in facial products!

After a full hour of treatment, my skin definitely felt less dry, and I left with the renewed hope of a much better looking skin (of course I had to buy a whole series of products.... But as I hardly spend any money on skincare, I thought it was pretty justified- "shh... Just don't tell V how much I actually spent!") Felt so adult with my full skincare regime every morning & night... I remember looking at my mum while she religiously did her daily morning and night routine. In 2 weeks time, I'll be going back for part 2 of my mommy's day out, will report on how my skin is doing!
This is the range of products which I've bought, so far, I've been using them religiously day and night, haven't really had much compliments on my complexion since, but then again, I've been on holiday! The 1 product which I've really enjoyed using has to be the exfoliating cream - this amazing chemical basically transforms from a gooey gel to a liquid cream as it breaks down the dead skin cells, there's something magical about the chemical reaction which gets me really excited everytime I use it (yes i'm nerdy like that)

So, to my readers out there, what's your skincare regime like? Do you believe in the monthly facials? All comments (and advice) welcome!

Details of my spa experience below:
Little Dot Haven
80 Bencoolen Street, #02-03 The Bencoolen, S189646
T: 6275 5886
W: www.littledotshaven.com.sg

[while the girls are away......]

2011-06-16T12:30:00.004+08:00

The girls are away with my parents on a week long holiday in Tumpat.... as the kids-free days and nights are drawing to an end, here's some recap of what we did while the kids were away... :) *featuring lots of eating!!!* hah!

Finally tried out the much-reviewed Tanjong Beach Club at Sentosa. I will fully recommend going there, especially for a weekday lunch. :) The food is really good, and not sure if it was due to it being a weekday, but the service was immaculate. Plus the chef through in some tasting complimentary dishes - and who's to say no to freebies!!!
Starters compliments of the chef- sundried tomatoes with crisps toast. Walnut and honey bean salad.
The interiors were lightfilled and very pleasant.
It was a setmeal of 1 starter + 1 mains for $28.80, so I chose the corn chowder soup as my starter. The fresh scallop and avocado puree elevated it from common to sublime.

The rest of the dishes were so-so, although the dessert was pretty good too - we had the sorbet platter.

On the night the girls left on the night train (incidentally the same one that everybody has been taking cos it's going to stop leaving from Tanjong pagar) we flew up to KL to have a belated weekend celebration for V's bday.
A not often visited part of KL, we dropped by KLPAC, a performance / arts venue recommended by our malaysian intern.
The architecture was interesting - it used to be the KTM (malaysian railway company) main headquarters, and the main performance hall was a converted building.
It even had a japanese style restaurant in it's premises, although it was rather old and looked disused when we walked there.
Unfortunately, there weren't much performances up that day, so we caught a cab back to town after walking in the sweltering heat.
Outdoor spaces with interesting (but not very practical) public furniture.

We spent most of our time around our hotel where there was lots of good food and shopping.
For V's bday dinner, we booked a table at Alexis, which looked like it had pretty interesting food and ambience.

The pictures don't really do the food justice, but we ordered some mains and starters to share - Duck confit with pear, Miso Cod with beans, Turkish bread with hummus. The quality of the food was so-so, nothing to shout about, but the desserts and apparently the Laksa is supposed to be good! Next time we'll definitely have to try them!

After that, we caught a movie at the inhouse cinemas.... really nice! Premier seats for the same price (ie. in RM, so it's a 60% disc!) as the ones in the Gold Class singapore. :) Next time we have to bring the girls here.... there's lots for them to do as well. And they can share the desserts with me!

Next up - a "mummy's day out" review....

[Art Friday's... continued]

2011-06-11T13:06:00.007+08:00

We continue our June hols Art Friday's with a visit to the Art Museum.
There was a Children's Season section, where various artists from all over the world created art pieces with an interactive (workshop) session for kids to engage with the works. This particular exhibit were paper crafted fruits. Unfortunately, the pieces for the children to piece together were much too fiddly, we mummies had to do all the work instead!
K glueing up the pieces that have been pre-folded by moi.
G showing off her completed fruitThe next exhibit was more fun, it's called Paramodelling. It's a site specific art installation, using toy train tracks and styrofoam and green felt. It forms a surreal landscape within closed spaces that has to be experienced to fully appreciate it's intricacies. The tie-up workshop was with the artist, where the children were given the train tracks and had a go at para-modelling. The completed train tracks were all combined and they had toy trains to set loose on the tracks and to watch them go in loops. Super engaging and the girls had so much fun there!
Paramodelling workshops with parents (and helpers) enthusiastically helping with the train track building!
Our 4 girls really working together making the tracks. Love how it became a combined effort!G posing with the elephants outside. Taking a little break from all the activities.
In the popsicle room - I love the vibrant colours! And the girls were playing catch in that room.... it was a great outlet in an otherwise "hush hush" museum.

Another room was for dressing up. They didn't quite like that, rather surprising given that it was 4 girls! I suppose the dolls weren't appealing enough?
Saw this sign and thought i should have one in my room :)
All in all, it was a really fun day out!! The girls actually went back again after G's class with my SIL and MIL.... :)

[June birthdays]

2011-06-09T22:42:00.005+08:00

June is a busy birthday month, with Grandma's birthday, followed closely by my dearest Papa, and 1 day after, V's.... As you grow older, birthdays do not have the same 'special-ness' of my childhood yearly occasions. They lose the enchantment of waking up with that precious anticipation, that perfectly delicious 'top of the world' excitement to see what goodies are in store. At least that was what made birthdays super special to me while growing up. Now, birthdays are just another workday.... where only FB wall posts and early morning phonecalls / sms remind us that it is a little bit more special than other days.
We can however, now count on the girls for making every birthday all that more special by the things they say and do:
K to V today - Daddy, happy birthday.... can you come inside my heart?
G to kongki (her nick for papa) - Happy birthday to Kongki, i need to go shopping with Popi for yr present!
G made 2 sets of personalised notebooks for V (for his bday) and me (in case I was jealous), K wrapped a little angpow with some stickers for her daddy.
It is afterall the little thoughts that count :)

So, to my 2 June babies, Happy happy birthday...... may the coming year treat you well, may the girls continue to be as affectionate and loving, may you grow stronger and wiser... may only good things happen to you..... as you both mean so much to me and always will.

love J

Totally unrelated pictures.... here are the girls at the Philatelic museum and the Singapore Flyer last weekend:
K after lunch at the Singapore flyer - can't believe they spent 2mil to replicate the 1920s feel of streetside hawker space!!! Totally uninspired.... and the food was exhorbitant and so-so.
G and K holding hands (or trying to!)
G with her friend M whom we bumped into at the museum.
K after her nap.
K and V

Some of G's latest drawings... I am absolutely in love with the way they are drawn! The symmetry, the composition, the colour choices, the expressions.... kicking myself for not giving her proper paper, now i have to think of a way to make this "frame-able". Will have to see if she can oblige by drawing more of them!

[Girlfriend playdates Art Village]

2011-06-04T14:33:00.004+08:00

We - as in good friend S and I - have decided to designate every Friday morning as "arts day out" with the girls. But this week, she'll be at church camp, so we brought forward our art morning to Monday instead.
The first day of the June school hols is usually filled with lots of anticipation. For us, it was a welcome break from the routine of school dropoff and site meetings.
We visited the Festival Arts Village - it's done by our friends at Esplanade Park. Unfortunately, due to some of the venues not being ready, the activity venues were not open in the morning. The girls however had no problems entertaining themselves - with picking flowers from the ground, watering the plants, walking around reading the little notes put up by the other visitors.
We are coming back again on Sunday, where hopefully there'll be more activities, and I've booked the girls in for a crafting session in the afternoon.
Esplanade Park is accessed via the Esplanade underpass (below the highway). The lovely structures make for a nice photospot.
We were early, so there was hardly anybody around!
After meeting up with S and her troupe, we headed towards the nearby Asian Civilisation Museum, where the flower / seed picking continues....The 4 girls after a really HOT and SWEATY morning!
It was rather nice to be in the civic district, on a Monday morning, watching all the office workers rushing about their day, knowing that we are not 1 of them!! Heh. The joys of a flexi-workday!
K walking back to the Esplanade. We're looking forward to our next Arts Day Out!!! :)

[Bird Park cousins outing]

2011-05-31T20:17:00.005+08:00

We too rarely do outings with cousins, something that is quite unfortunate given everybody's busy schedules. There is something about growing up with a whole circle of instant friends - lots of cousins playing together almost every other weekend, like what we used to do while growing up. It wasn't even anything fancy, mostly just a picnic (with lots of yummy food) on the beach, or a mahjong session (for the adults) at grandma's. Plus we spent all our 'after school' hours at the same place for most of our growing years together. It's a pity the girls do not have the same experience, as the nuclear family gets smaller and smaller (blame it on the 2-child govt policies of the 70s), and most of our cousins are scattered all over the island.
So, when we had a chance to go out together with little R and her parents, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Even V who had a childhood phobia of feathered creatures managed to quell his fear to let his girls enjoy the day out. Yup, we went to the Bird Park at Jurong!
G loves being the big sister to R
A cranky K being all hot and sweaty!
Striking a pose
This was quite a nice one.... G making a silly face as usual, and K's just warm!A nice one of the girls
Taxidermied birds
Many eggs
Birds of a feather....More pics of the girls....

The Jurong Bird Park wasn't such a great outing place - the weather was pretty unforgiving, and for some reason, the Sunday that we were there, it was FULL of tourists. The girls enjoyed the show, but the penguin enclosure was closed that day, so there is only so much one can enjoy about looking at bird after bird.... Plus the park was small - only about a quarter the size of the zoo. Luckily we had complimentary entry (thanks to uncle R), otherwise i will not recommend going there if you had to pay the full entry price.

R also suggested a wonderful place for lunch. It is right at the top of Jurong Hill. It has been there forever, according to my parents. A great spot for date nights!
The look-out tower with the restaurant at the base.
Inside the lookout tower
K walking up the ramp with her treat of the day - a mango slushie tower!
Girls playing at the top of the lookout tower.

Thanks Uncle R for the free tickets to the park, we really should make an effort with all those cousin outings! :)

[Arts Weekend]

2011-05-17T14:47:00.007+08:00

We caught the last day of the Art Biennale last weekend. It was a scorching hot day, and it didn't help that the venue did not have a single air-conditioned room! It was an eye-opener though for us, to visit the defunct Kallang Airport. (it really should be re-purposed, the venue will be great for architectural studios / art workshops)

Here are the pix:
The Old Kallang Airport
The nice grey walls are great for taking pictures
Sisters posing (or attempting to!)
Favorite exhibition in the Arts Bienalle has to be this one by Micheal Lee
Collection of simple forms
He has A LOT of assistants to help do all the cutting!!!
Another exhibit - we were more interested in the table structure + form than the exhibits!

The girls loved this interactive artpiece - the radiowaves react to the movements of the shadows, they had a fun time jumping about and prancing.
They were pretty intrigued by the metronomes as well.
Footwear!
We like this art piece as well - something about the simplicity of forms....
and this one for it's repetition and sense of scale.After awhile, the exhibits (and the heat!) wore them out!Remember the milo truck!? We were telling the girls how this truck used to be the highlight of every primary school sports day. :)
Ice cold milo... great for a really hot day!
There was also the crafting - we made a kite each and also a badgePosing with K just before leaving - I also thrifted a $2 gucci vintage sunglasses and a nice necklace :)Posing with all the balloons before we left. A fun day out.
Next weekend, we're going HERE. Can't wait!!!

[Mother's Day 2011]

2011-05-10T15:54:00.006+08:00

Wow, time really flies by. I'm often reminded about updating this blog, whenever G or K does something interesting, or we discovered something interesting, or I just made or cooked something. It is always at the back of my mind to update and pen down some thoughts, but of course, the days are often too short and the nights are usually spent winding down with some TV or catching up on my crafting / reading.
So, since I'm now comforably ensconce in my armchair, the day's meeting notes and other miscellaneous niggling stuff (almost!) out of the way, this will be my now 'once in a month' blog post. Hah!
The other reason the blog has been suffering is also because V had to be tied down with work and his studies, often I'm out solo with the girls, or we choose not to go out at all, so being a mummy and a mummy-razi at the same time is super tiring! Hence no decent pictures, which means no blog posts. :)
So much has happened since my last post - the trip which is quickly fading into memory!

Mothers' Day with my girls:
We attended the SSO concert at the Botanical Gardens on Mother's day for a chill out session. The weather luckily cooled down from the scorching heat that was around the whole morning and afternoon. It was nice to be enjoying something in the tropical surrounds, and to see that so many people actually bother to venture out for an early evening picnic on the grounds. The girls liked the adventure of doing something different, but as usual, were bugging me to allow them to scooter instead of watching the performance.
K with the backdrop of the crowds behind her. Parking was a nightmare, point to note in future - definitely arrive there earlier!
We continued our Mother's day celebrations onto Monday, as it was a school holiday due to the polls on Saturday. (more on the election fever later)
G looking forward to the promised treat of ice cream at Ben & Jerry's :)We visited the girls' favorite indoor playground - Jurong Safra as well in the previous long weekend. They absolutely LOVED playing in the padded zone. It was up and down, and up and down for a full 2 hours!!

Cheeky cheeky little grins from the 2 little monkeys :)

K's been drawing a lot more now as well. Lately, she's rather conscious of her drawing ability (i guess having an older sister who keeps pointing out that her drawings are not pretty does not help!) and have asked me to teach her how to draw the "eyes" properly. The above picture of G and V, the 2 of them being the only ones in our family who have to wear glasses. :)
G has also been very conscious of her penmanship. Her class in Kindergarten have been doing a once a week "write and tell", and for that, she has to pen 5 lines of any subject. It is really interesting to see how conscientious she is with school work. She will write and re-write her 5 lines, until she has them absolutely word perfect and properly written. I only hope this attitude of perfectionism will last all the way into primary schooling and beyond!
My girls, how much you have grown. This Mother's day, I thank you for being so genuine, your personalities are totally a mixture of me and V. I see myself in you all the time, and as every day goes by, I hope to learn the bad of myself in you, so that I can change to be a better role model. I hope to also celebrate the good of me and V in you two. The ability to retain that enthusiasm in life, that evergreen joyfulness in the little little things that you do. You 2 have thought me so much, not only the indescribable pain and joy of mothering, but also the truly magical warmth of unconditional loving. You often asks me which I love more, and I always answer, I love the 2 of you with all of my heart and more, it is impossible to know who I love more, as we love you both for different reasons, and at different stages of your lives. Of course, not forgetting Happy Mommy Day to my dearest mommy as well, who has only 1 of me to love, but who has also managed to give up all of her time and love to these 2 little girls of mine in the most precious and unconditional way only a grandma can.

Reminiscing as well on how time really flies - go Here (2007) and Here (2008) and Here (2009) and Here (2010) for past Mother's Day posts on this blog :)

[Langkawi 2011 - back and burnt!]

2011-04-17T20:50:00.008+08:00

We are back!!! It felt like just yesterday morning we left the house and now we're back again.... of course the mountain of laundry that i just put to wash attests otherwise.... boo :) I guess because we didn't really DO much - just mostly bask in the sun and swam in the pool - repeat ad nauseum.... the days felt super short! Plus we were so tanned and burnt that everybody slept early every night!
Photos......
1st off, our room. The resort is made up of 400+ of these quaint little chalets dotted around a rainforest (actually more like jungle?) landscape of hilly terrains - great for jogging as V reported! Not for those of you who like your 5* comfort of 400 count bedlinen and 5 piece bathroom, but it was a good compromise for us - not too expensive for a getaway, and a certain rustic uniqueness. Anyways, for the girls, anywhere is fine so long as they have the beach, long bath and pool! There was the main entrance hall, which had all the facilities annexed to it - the restaurants, pool, changing rooms etc... and the chalets were all a distance away from it. So, in order to get to and fro the beach / swimming pool, we had to call for the tram that will take us there. It was probably the most fun thing for the girls! They loved the tram ride, even making friends with the tram drivers....
One day, we decided to take a tram ride around the whole resort - these were some of the premier chalets up near the beach side.
Us on the tram... it's really quite fun and chill! And to have a tram at yr beck and call is quite cool! :)
We didn't actually see any jellyfish, although i thought i might have seen a dead one.... but it was a good thing to scare the girls with when I didn't want them to venture too far out into the water..
View of the beach - it was amazingly private, as our resort was the tip of the whole stretch of beach, the only other people on that beach were the other resort guests... and as it wasn't near any school hols or major holidays, it really was pretty empty!
Perfect to sip your breakfast cappucinos...
The most wonderful thing about this trip had to be how the girls are playing together so much more.... of course there are all those silly fights and bickering that go on all the time... but they are also getting a hang of entertaining themselves with games like Snap, Uno and also monopoly!

Here's what sisters are great for!! -
Feeding you breakfast when you're too busy playing with sand :) and before you say - poor K, she has the advantage of getting rid of the parts of the pastry that she doesn't like..... an altogether win-win situation!Jumping waves with and making up silly songs all the better for splashing in the water!
Spotting swimming fishies in the clear clear water..
Chatting non-stop with about all the silly things they can think of....
Writing yr names out in the sand....
And doing fun poses with them when mummy says so!

Girls, I hope you remember this holiday as much as we do, we love how you are so much alike and yet so so different... we love the many ways you drive us totally crazy with your constant episodic intense dislike for each other, but also make our hearts warm right to the core when you watch out for each other and take care of one another, and laugh and chatter nonstop with each other. We love how cuddly you are and how clever the things you say. We love the total optimism and unfailingly enjoyment you have in every little thing. How just being able to spend time with us is enough and how you both will exclaim every time of the day that it is the BEST holiday ever! lol....

Signing off with my favorite shots of you -
K, you with your impish grin, you are starting to be such a little miss know-it-all... you love all the little girl things like cuddling up to mummy or daddy, yet insist on being a big girl by eating all by yourself, packing your own bag and making sure that che-che has the same amount of treats as you do. You never fail to make everyone around you fall a little in love with you, when you say please and thank you so sweetly, and prance about without a care in the world. You complain every single morning that you don't want to go to the beach or the pool, yet when you are there, you sheepishly say actually you quite like it there and might have been a little bit silly to throw a tantrum back in the hotel room. You love to sleep in and take a long while to adjust from sleepy to awake.... you probably take after me in that respect! :) G, my little teenager in a 6 yr old body, we have often been bewildered by your intense behavior. You have definately grown up so much with every holiday that we take. No longer do you collapse into tantrum-y sulks and screaming matches with yr sister, you also don't lose your cool at the drop of the hat. You still test all the boundaries we set you, but are so much better at keeping within the lines. We are starting to look out for signs when you are over-stretched on your emotions, we know now that when you are tired you start to become a lot more hyper, and we cut you quite a lot of slack when that happens. The change of attitude to yr behaviors have made it so much easier on all of us than it has been to have met you headon.. You love your little sister so much sometimes it is so wonderful to see you take care of her when we least expect it. You love making her laugh and i can only hope your non-stop chatter with each other will last through the growing up years. You are so beautiful when you hold your own in all our conversations, you're curious about everything and everyone. You form your own opinions on things and often act on your own accord to make things right (although mostly for yourself!) You are so brave about so many things, and yet have a lot of fear if you are doing the 'right' thing. You make me feel so loved when the first thing you did on the beach was to draw a little heart and in it that said 'i love you mummy'. You are my little me and I love you...

love mummy & daddy

[blogging on the beach]

2011-04-15T13:58:00.003+08:00

We are on holiday!!! :) Well, kindof, as lots of work and also V's upcoming exams have made the trip a lot more of a 'work/play' sort of escape. But, can't complain, the girls are napping now while I'm blogging. Wi-fi at the beach also lends a certain joie de vivre to the everyday tasks of checking and answering emails, drawing etc....
We are staying at the Berjaya Langkawi, a very quaint series of chalets (we're in the rainforest one), although the ones that are perched on the water look pretty cool too (but a little scary for us over-paranoid parents as none of the girls can swim!) So far, we are on Day 02 here out of 4 days, and we just went to our favorite eatery - The Loaf - which conveniently has an outlet a short drive away from our hotel!

No pics as yet of the holidays, as I did not bring along the download cable (i need to figure out this flash drive thing on my MBP..... so perhaps there can be some pics later!) So, here are some pics of our bedroom (more like photo vignettes) as I finally did a little decorating :)
Entrance into the room... our arty wedding pics are on the wall..
Lacey doilies and my old childhood teddies obscure us from any peeping neighbors!
My quick 'make-up and go' station
Bedside lamp & books on my side of the bed!

[April 2011]

2011-04-13T19:27:00.006+08:00

We are madly finishing up our work before we jet off for a mini-break at the nearby island of Langkawi over a long weekend. Last weekend, we visited the newly opened Bishan Park (well, part of) and had a Mc-D's brunch at the same time. Here are some of the recent pics:

K posing w popo with her new fav outfit from kuku's hkg spree :)
G looking all grown up on the new bridge connection into Bishan Park
K loved scoottering around, and I think she must have practiced in school quite a bit....
Happy that G, who learnt rollerblading when she was 4, has not forgotten her wheelies :)
After the morning workout, i caught these priceless pics of the girls in the car..... am constantly struck by how gorgeous they are! :) Love their silly faces and giggles...
Rosy rosy cheeks
G and her fav softie
Afternoon activities over the weekend include making a little house with blankies and the dining table and chairs.

Recently, their kindergarten also organised a little outing to East Coast Primary school, for the K2 kids to have their 1st taste of the "big girls and boys" school. G was super excited!! She was a little apprehensive about the buying of food from the canteen, but we rehearsed it at home and she finally did it by herself with her friends at the primary school. An excited pre-primary girl
Counting out her change for the food.... well, actually snacks, all of them zoomed straight to the 'snack' stall!
G and her best girlfriends posing for mummy
School's over!!!
Proud Daddy!
Saying bye bye to mummy and daddy...

Gosh, time flies so quickly! Can't believe that we are parents to an almost primary school goer!! (sometimes we can't believe we are parents.... period... )

[falling off]

2011-04-05T16:32:00.005+08:00

Again.... i'm falling off the blog-wagon. Too much things on my plate, too much to do, too many things to organise. Plus I haven't been taking many photos with the "proper" camera, only lots of iphone shots and vids. Before I forget, I need to blog about a certain Major milestone in our home - the girls are finally sleeping in their own room!!! :) I know i know, they are already 5 (oops 6) and 3, and should have transitioned looooong ago. But somehow, through the years, the major events like #2 arriving, then moving house etc, have always delayed that process. They were in their own rooms for the longest time, just that it was always with 1 parent who will sleep through with them in their room. Lots of times this was justified, as usually G or K will wake mid-sleep and wake the other up with their wailing, on which a speedy exit from the room was required, else the other sibling will wake and it will be a night of disrupted sleep for all! We realised this happened less and less now, so finally bit the bullet to let them sleep through the night by themselves!!! And it worked! hurrah! It is bittersweet naturally, and I feel like a mum of a newborn when I walked across the hallways every other hour till 3am to check on the 2 of them. But.. now I can (finally!) start to think about decorating my own room... definately something to look forward to... if only I can also find the time to do so!

So, what have we been up to :
Been going back to knitting, using chunky needles and chunky wool this time- so fun!
Also, Gocco-ing at a friend's (thks E!) and can't wait to go back there to letterpress on them... :) soon soon....

Finished up a commissioned MonogramWe went pony riding at the saddle club
Some priceless goofy faces from the girls
Making art on the patio
Playing dress up at Cotton On Kids... heh.
G's vocabulary - she wrote these using her phonics. We were pretty impressed!
This one is a real fashionista wannabe. She will pick out her outfit for various activities - and they are pretty specific! Flower dress, fancy handbag, pink clips, flipflops etc... sometimes sunglasses too!Lots of picnics at Botanical Gardens. This was taken before the mosquitos attacked!!
Finally, a recent pic of G after i cut her hair. Her long long hair is now a shoulder length bob. A breeze to wash and dry!!

[Absence makes the heart grow fonder]

2011-03-18T23:31:00.005+08:00

The girls were away from Sat - Thurs with my parents on a week-long driving holiday into Malaysia. Much as we love spending lots of time with them, this trip came just at the right (or wrong!) time as we were totally swamped with work. It has been a few 20hr days leading up to the weeklong school hols, and it was just as well that they were on holiday, otherwise there will be 2 very cranky parents who are just frustrated we can't spend lazy mornings with them.
Also, it gave us a chance to catch up on being 2 again (thanks mummy and papa!). Although many of our friends and family assume that because we are together 24-7, because we spend our working time together, we do not need much 'couple-time'. But work tends to be pretty much all-consuming, so there isn't really a chance for any relaxed moments during the workday, and the only real time we get to unwind will be when the girls are in bed. Even though we had the week 'break' without the girls, we really only managed to catch a couple of nights out, as work was too pressing and took up the rest of the time. It was still good though. :)

Some pics of the week:
Took up my knitting again. This time around to make chunky cowels :) I bought this from Etsy a really long time ago, but it is still my favorite to wear whenever we go anywhere cold. So, let's hope I'm creating another one that will be a favorite too! Here's what i'm trying to make - The Loopy :) Of course, if you don't want to go through the trouble of knitting it yourself by hand, you can always buy it online - from HERE . Next up, making jewellery - lots of inspiration from HERE.
We go up to KL quite a bit for work, and tried for the 1st time the Rendang at Madam Kwan's. YUMS.
Loaf of course was another "must eat"... we go there for breakfast and supper all the time!
After dinner desserts - why does my head look so big in this pic?!Food at Ippudo, Mandarin Gallery. It was disappointing to put it mildy. Even though the food was reasonably good (although I realised I don't really care for ramen), the ambience of shared seating, loud clubby music, horrible service and dark dark decor made for a really bad date out :( Totally wouldn't recommend it unless you REALLY like ramen and can put up with all the above grouses!Homemade meals continued our repertoire of food journeys. (somehow without the girls, it seems that we eat a lot more?!)
Found this in the photo archives. I'm thrilled that I actually managed to still keep in touch with some of these friends (FB makes these much easier!)
K waiting for G to finish up ballet last sat. She looks so adorable with her curls and that sweet smile :)
We brought the girls 'ponyriding' (a very sweaty G waiting for her turn)
She absolutely LOVED it! :) Look at that posture.... i think she could be a horserider in the making!! (now if only it didn't cost an arm and a leg for pony riding classes)
Enjoying an icecold drink before lunch.
Looking small and cute next to V
Looking so much bigger with her hair bunned up for ballet. :)

Just booked our April hols online, looking forward to a little break. Also, found this website via archdaily - Exotic hotels (can't wait to try some of them!)

[G's 6th Birthday]

2011-03-05T17:04:00.009+08:00

Six years ago, you made your surprise appearance 2 weeks early. We had hardly setup the cot or washed any of yr newborn clothing when you decided that you have had enough of being in my tummy. From the very start, your joy and love of LIVING is so much in your personality. You do nothing in half measures... You laugh hard, play hard, cry hard and most of all love hard. You wear your generous heart on your sleeve constantly. To watch you is to know you. You love your favourite people indiscriminately and expect nothing less in return. We hope you will always be so affectionate (Although your trademark 'carry-hug' might have to cease quite soon as you are so big now!) You have always been inquisitive and that has progressed naturally into an almost insatiable thirst for knowledge ever since you learnt how to reAd. We love how you can talk about everyday topics and tell us yr views of it. Your laughter is infectious, your sense of humor borders on the quirky, you are easily tickled, especially by really silly things. This past year, you have grown so tAll, so lanky, so absolutely gorgeous (our biased view of course!) You are our very own princess through and through and we love you so much Gracie. Happy 6th Birthday!

Below, chronologically, your best moments at your birthday parties through the years:

1 yr old BBQ party at grandma's

2 yr old home party

3 yr old party : barney party at bethany (1st kindie party) - most talked about item = barney cake and all the barney stuff she received as pressies!

4 yr old school then beach party at sentosa - most talked about item = the huge room we stayed in and the wonderful beach at it's doorstep.
5 yr old fairy party (1st friends party) : most talked about item = the house we painted and the fairy cupcakes we had.
6 yr old birthday carnival party : most talked about item = princess bouncy castle & ice-cream cake.

More pix from today:
We rented the part next to our house as the venue for this year's 'birthday carnival' party. It was a great space - full of large shady trees and also a very good size pavilion to do up the main party food etc and even an annex for setting up a photobooth (which in the end nobody used cos they were all too busy with the bouncy castle!) We re-used K's bday banner and V printed out G's name in maze (like last yr- from HERE).
We printed little banners with the same font 'stencil' as the party invites - quick and nice way of creating a birthday theme - we used scrapbooking paper as the backdrop for all the printouts, and also made little hearts with toothpicks to decorate the food.
Made pom poms as per the instructions HERE.

Candy floss maker machine was a VERY big hit. The kids (and adults!) crowded round like bees to honey :) Unfortunately, the maker was pretty slow at satisfying the kids cravings... haha, after that, we decided to make super mini ones so that everyone had a tiny one to start off with!
Bought the candy floss maker from HERE.... but hey, just drop me a line if you want to borrow it!

6 hrs rental for the bouncy castle is a great asset for any bday party! Fully recommend it, the girls had SO much fun playing in it. We rented it from HERE.
Bouncy castle fun!
Wonderful tasty icecream cakes from island creamery - best thing about it, we get 2 flavors!
Singing birthday song

G cutting cake with her besties!
Everybody (well almost!)
Finally, the happy little 6 yr old with all her pressies!!! :) Thanks to everybody for coming by and making this day so super special for her!!!!

[Tokyo : Day 09, 10 - Tokyo Metropolitan Children's Hall & Asakusa]

2011-02-13T15:15:00.006+08:00

Our 2 last days in Tokyo... our 10 day trip is drawing to a close - So quick!!! :( Boohoo....
We ventured into Shibuya again, V researched about this place near the station (about 5 min walk) and it was such a great find!! The girls declared that it was even better than Disneyland! haha... It was indeed a great public facility. Totally shows the care and love for the children that the Japanese culture has. Wish there was a similar place in Singapore. It would definitely help mothers / grandparents who are home by themselves and the kids.

K sporting her favorite purchase - the minnie mouse ribbon
G enjoying the breakfast - every morning, both girls will finish up their thick toast with butter and jam, a pot of yoghurt, a full glass of milk (or juice) and sometimes even the cracker!
Clowing around with V
The Music room at the Children's Hall. Link and address below.
Craft stations were set up all over the place, the girls were so entranced. They immediately got stuck into making all the things.
Glue stations. Ingenious use of recycle things like bottle caps, waste cardboard etc.
G helping her sister with the glue
Crayons
Watching the girls craft
Indoor playground on Level 3. The girls had a lot of fun here too. The architecture that housed the facility was also pretty interesting. Brutalist with just bare concrete and vinyl flooring, it was obviously done quite cheaply. But as most things in Japan, everything was done with so much care and precision, so even the cheapest things looked aesthetically pleasing! The furniture was 1 good example - most were old chairs etc, but they all had nice fabric upholstery that obscured the old fabric.
Clowing around outside the hall. We spent a good part of the day here... well worth the time! And best of all, totally free!!
My personal heater. :)
Mastering chopsticks
Dinner!!!

Tokyo Metropolitan Children's Hall:
1-18-24 Shibuya Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002 Phone (03)3409-6361/Fax (03)3407-8364

Exit 13A from Shibuya station. It's just a short walk. :)

http://www.fukushihoken.metro.tokyo.jp/jidou/English/index.html

We had snow on our last day in Tokyo!!! But it wasn't the nice fluffy white snow flurries, but rather more like salt crystal wet sort.

G loved it anyhow. She was thrilled!
Hoodies came in very handy! We were all snuggled up in our hoods and scarves.
Last minute shopping at the ROX seiyu supermarket.
Picked up quite a lot of good last minute buys as well. Most importantly, we had to buy 1 additional carryon bag for all our shopping! hah!
Weather cleared up in no time. G fooling around as usual.
K modelling the rainboots and umbrella. So cute!
Vending machine lunch. Yum......
Raw tuna with rice
Tempura
Just leaving our hotel. Our 2 bags.....
V wheeling the bags while i pushed K in the pram. Quite proud that we managed to just confine all our luggage + shopping in 2 bags! :) In the end, we had to just add 1 more cloth bag as the weight of the big luggages were over the limit allowed.
Kids meal on Delta. Pretty impressed with Delta's service, will definitely fly them again! :)

[Tokyo : Day 08 - Disneyland!!]

2011-02-13T14:48:00.005+08:00

The girls have been waiting for this day for ages!!! K kept on referring it to Hongkong Disneyland, making G really annoyed... lol.
Here are the pics :

Raring to go!
Walking a LOOOONG walk to the disney entrance :)
Paying through the nose for the tickets....
Taking pics with characters are some of the most fun things the girls enjoy, so it was a little disappointing for them at Tokyo Disney as they didn't manage to catch much of these. Plus no princesses :(
Fairy Godmother signing on G's autograph book
Japanese Mickey and Minnie, they were doing a little puppet show
K waiting patiently for her Dumbo ride
Dumbo!!
Double prams are a must as Disney is quite big. Plus the cold weather makes them tired and sleepy quite fast....
Doesn't this look like the one we took so long ago HERE at Lotte World in Korea
Playing around with the cam and having a quiet coffee break while both girls sleep in their prams
Dinner! Train station at Ueno. Yums.
K enjoying her latest purchase -the minnie headband. She was so thrilled with the 'earrings', kept fondling and touching it even though her fingers were freezing!
V's meal from supermarket.

[Tokyo : Day 06 & 07 - Ueno, Shibuya, Harajuku, Daikanyama, Ebisu]

2011-02-12T00:01:00.000+08:00

The weekend in Tokyo was supposed to be for us to get some good mornings at parks or shrines, then visit our fav Tokyo shopping haunts at various parts of the city. Of course, the last time we did this, we only had 1 child and she was pretty much sleeping the afternoon away. Plus she was pram bound. This time around, we had G who at 5 going on 6, wasn't allowed to be in the pram, and K who was quite happy being in it the whole day. Had quite a few arguments about this arrangement, but we stuck to our guns, and only caved in at Disney and also on the 1 day she literally fell asleep on her feet. So, we didn't get to accomplish much shopping-wise, but the girls hopefully did enjoy the experience of Tokyo, especially since we discovered some really cool kid-friendly places right in the heart of the city.

Taking pics in front of the Ryokan marks the start of our day
Walking up the slope to Ueno
G as usual, climbing everywhere
Peony exhibition at Ueno
So tall!
K watching her sister
On the swings -the favorite part of the park for the girls
Shopping at Ueno street markets
Lunch at Ottimo Kitchen - Very good PIZZA!
Reading at the bookstore in Ueno station
One of our best finds in Tokyo - the rooftop play space above TOKYU department store - so quaint!
K loved the playground

Riding the trike
G - pippi longstocking!
Her fav - bumper cars
And the rides were great too!
They sat on most - expensive though, 200Y each ride!
I hopped into one too

Enjoying their Morinaga chocolate icecream. It was so good we had 1 each!
Dinner was at the highly recommended MIDORI at Mark city. Lots of reviews about it online.
We ordered a seafood sushi platter - LOVED the sea urchin sushi
This was pretty good too!
Yum! Totally worth the half an hour or so queue to get in!
Sunday breakfast was Jap at the ryokan - Can't get enough of the food here! Super yummy...
G practicing using the camera - this is her taking a pic of us on the subway
We decided to hit the shops at Harajuku, forgoing the planned visit to Meiji Shrine as the girls should conserve their energy - especially G!
All dressed for shopping - comfortable shoes - check! wooley scarf - check! sling bag - check!
One of the 1st stops - Kiddyland!!! :)
The girls managed to entertain themselves pretty well while we browsed our shops, some toys we bribed them with helped of course!
Cool bikes in Tokyo - there were people riding everywhere! Didn't remember seeing so many cyclists when we were there last!
Such a cool car / truck / limo
Stopped for lunch at Maisen - thanks to M for the recommendation!
We were seated in the lower dining hall - really atmospheric! And super quick service too!
Can't wait for the camera to be put away and to dig into the food!
We found this little shop :) this year's birthday card?