Buckley here we come!

After about 20 months at Neptune, it is time to say goodbye and usher in our new home for the next 24 months. Neptune was a great place and we really enjoyed ourselves there with the big compound and lovely view. Mummy and Daddy says they will miss the sea view from our study room and also the friendly neighbors there.

At Buckley Classique, we are located just next to my new school at Pat's Buckley and also about 5 mins from Gor Gor Reuben's school. This will save us a lot of time traveling especially when Daddy is out on business trips and Mummy has to send us to school. I am very happy with the new place as we get the swimming pool right in front of us and there is also the nice clubhouse which is a remodeled conservation house. Daddy and Mummy plan to have regular BBQ sessions but apparently there are a lot of mosquitoes due to the lushes vegetation there. We shall see.

Thank you Neptune and hello Buckley!

USA

We headed to the United States for about 12 days for an exciting holiday. We arrived at San Francisco and spent about 4 days here and then Daddy drove us along the Pacific Coast Highway for another 4 days before we arrived at Los Angeles where we spent another 4 days mostly in Disneyland.

We flew by EVA Air which is a lot cheaper and just as comfortable, if not more, compared to Singapore Airlines, according to Daddy. It took us 4.5 hours to get to Taipei where we transit for 2 hours before making the 11 hour flight to San Francisco. we enjoyed the flight as I watched my movies and played some games and slept quite a bit.

SF was interesting as we visited most of the highlights. Fisherman's Wharf, Sausalito, Golden Gate Park, Crissy Fields, Palace of Fine Arts, Ocean Beach and Marin Headlands were the highlights. Along the PCH, we also visited Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Dennis the Menace Playground, Santa Barbara and also Santa Monica Pier. Before spending another 4 days in Disneyland, we also enjoyed Farmers Market in LA.

Gor Gor Reuben and I had a great time, although there were many times we fought and fussed and got Daddy and Mummy mad but I think generally it was a good trip and we all enjoyed ourselves very much.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

I celebrate my third birthday today! Hippee!

Mummy and Daddy took the day off from work to celebrate my birthday. Mummy managed to get Aunty Linda to bake me a nice Peppa Pig cake. She asked for a simple Peppa Pig cake but when we went to collect the cake from Aunty Linda, we were surprised to receive an awesome cake! Together with many smaller Peppa Pig cookies! It was simply awesome. Aunty Linda should start a business and I am sure she will do very well with her baking.


Gor Gor Reuben was suppose to go to school after my celebration in school but he didn't want to miss the fun so Mummy decided to have him skip school and spent the special day together. We had brunch at Group Therapy Cafe at Katong V and had lots of fun running around outside the cafe. 

We were suppose to go to the zoo but I was not feeling too well so we ended up at Polliwogs. We spent a couple of hours there and it was nice and not too crowded as it was a weekday. Gor Gor Reuben and I had fun together. 

When we got home in the evening, we had a small celebration with Nai Nai and also a small nice mango cake. It was not very eventful but I had fun as I got to spend the whole day with Mummy, Daddy and Gor Gor.

Yu Guo Chinese Physician Acupuncture

Mummy was recommended this acupuncture for children and she thought I should go let the chinese sinsheh take a look. We got there just in time before they close for dinner so the wait wasn't too long. Mummy was told the wait can sometimes be about an hour long.

After the sinsheh took a look at me and gave Mummy some instructions on what and what not to feed me, I was placed on this bed and another physician started giving light massages all over me, starting with my hand, and then my back and finally my face. Apparently, certain points on our palm are linked to various parts of our body system so that is suppose to help when it is massaged. It was quite soothing and I kinda enjoyed it. There were some kids who fell asleep while being massaged and even drooled all over.. eewww.. I have to be back next week for another follow up session.

NDP 2014

This is the first time we attended a National Day Parade. Although it is only the rehearsal, we were  very excited with this new experience. In fact, it was also Mummy and Daddy's first time attending a parade. We got tickets from one of Mummy's friend who is volunteering for this year's NDP parade. Daddy thinks there might not be many chances to see a parade at the Floating Platform now that the National Stadium is up and there are talks that the Floating Platform might be removed.

We took the train to Promenade station and walked to the platform. On the way there, we were distracted with the ice cream man. We couldn't resist and had a couple of chocolate chips.

The pre parade show started at 5.15pm and the actual show started at 6pm. The atmosphere was electrifying as the whole platform was packed with a sea of red and whites. The highlights were the parachute jumpers and also the helicopter flypass as the national anthem was played. For me, the highlights were the goodies in the goody bag that was given to everyone. 

The grand finale were the fireworks and we were pleasantly surprised to see the whole works and not just a little bit cos it was just the rehearsal. I fell asleep halfway through the fireworks and only woke up when we almost got home. We had a great time and don't mind doing this again soon.

Khao Lak

Mummy and Daddy wanted to bring us to a  new place with the beach and a nice swimming pool so we can have fun for a couple of days. Aunty Mavis agreed to join us and brought her family along too for the holiday. Daddy's friends Aunty Sharon and Aunty Alice was also part of the holiday.

Khao Lak is about a couple of hours bus ride from Phuket. Initially we almost couldn't make it for this holiday as there was a military coup in Thailand. However we were told that tourist are not really affected, moreover Khao Lak is away from the capital so should be fine.

The first day we arrived at Khao Lak, heavy rain descended on us after we checked in. So we just rested in the room and waited for dinner. Just after dinner, we prepared the lanterns which Aunty Sharon and Aunty Alice bought from the shops when we were resting. It was really fun as we lighted many lanterns and allowed the hot air to fill the lanterns before letting them go and seeing them float over the ocean until it was out of sight. Beautiful!

The next morning, after we had a heavy buffet breakfast, we were surprised to find a baby elephant at the children's playground. We fed the elephant with bananas from breakfast and took pictures with it, while some of the other kids played at the swings.

We then headed to the swimming pool and had a ball of a time swimming and playing on the slides. Gor Gor Reuben had a lot of fun coming down the slides but I was too small to go alone so Daddy went with me. It was awesome! After spending a couple of hours at the pool, we decided to check out the beach. The waves were quite strong so we could only play along the edge of the water and build sand castles. We had lunch by the beach and the kids were playing until dark clouds moved in and started raining.

Time to head to the children's playroom and do some kids' activities. Jie Jie Eva and myself decided to do some batik painting with the help of our mummies. It was quite fun and we had to wait till the next morning before we could see the finished product. After the painting, we headed back to the room to get some rest before dinner. 

We went to pool again on the second morning after breakfast but we spent more time at the beach that day. Thank goodness the weather was perfect and we could do what we planned for. We even signed up for an elephant ride and Khao Lak local market tour in the afternoon. Gor Gor Reuben was very excited as this was his first time riding on an elephant after having rode on camels and horses before. I didn't quite enjoy the ride and wasn't very excited on the return ride after the waterfall. But we all had fun with the Burmese tending to the elephants as they took many pictures of us with our phones as the elephants walked on their own.

On the last day at breakfast, we celebrated a simple birthday for Jie Jie Eva and Mummy made a simple cake out of the cup cakes available at breakfast. We were given back the batik painting we did and it was beautiful. Unfortunately in our excitement over the birthday celebration, we left it behind at the restaurant. Mummy was very upset when she found out we didn't take it with us. 

We had a good trip with everyone and looking forward to our next trip!

Pulau Ubin

Uncle Jason had been planning this trip to Pulau Ubin for some time now and finally we are here in Pulau Ubin. Mummy and Daddy took leave today to spend the day with Uncle Jason and Uncle Justin and their family. There were a total of 5 adults and 5 children so it was quite manageable.

Started the day with a heavy breakfast at Changi Village hawker centre but Mummy wasn't quite satisfied with the nasi lemak, probably cos it was not the world famous stall. We then took the ferry across to Pulau Ubin and because there were so many of us, we decided to charter the whole bumboat for $30 one way. We headed straight to the bicycle shop upon arriving at the island cos we realized we didn't have much time as the last ferry out was at 5pm.

Our intention was to visit the Chek Jawa Wetlands and were told it will take only about 45 mins to get there. That sounded easy except that first we had some trouble with the kid's bike and had to change it halfway into the journey, then it started to rain and we had to take shelter in someone's house which reminded Daddy of the house Great Grandma and Grandpa stayed in in Hougang long time ago. Our journey was interrupted a couple of times because of the rain and when we were almost there, we realized that there were a bunch of wild boars at the entrance to Chek Jawa and they looked kinda fierce, so we decided not to proceed and to turn back. I was riding as pillion with Daddy and at one slope, our bike turned over and from then on, i was too traumatized to sit with Daddy. Mummy had to calm me down and put me with her.

After returning the bikes, we ended up in a coffee shop selling food and were delighted that they serve crabs too. The meal was simple yet very delicious and everyone looked contented after well deserved lunch. As we still had some time before the last ferry, we decided to check out the beach near the jetty and found small fish and lots of hermit crabs there. The kids were thrilled to see so many hermit crabs as this is probably the first time we were introduced to this strange creature.

Chinese New Year 2014

Reunion dinner this year was different. Nai Nai decided we should eat out instead. So we reserved a table at Golden Sand Restaurant at Changi Beach Club, as recommended by one of Nai Nai's friend. 

Yee Sok Steve got back from Dubai in time for dinner and also to spend the next 9 days with us. Food was not too bad but I was so tired I slept through the first half of dinner. When I woke up, dinner was almost over but I still got to eat some pretty good food. 

After dinner, we decided to check out the beach area outside the restaurant. Unfortunately the boardwalk was closed to the public so we just hung around the pool area. We took some nice family pictures and had lots of fun with the monster face shots. 


The next day, we woke up and Daddy and Mummy showered us with nice wishes and also an ang pow each. We then had steamboat breakfast and changed up for our visitation. We went to Bishan for some more breakfast with Ma Ma and Gong Gong, then headed to AMK to a grand aunty's house for more food. I guess it is all about eating during Chinese New Year. At about 5.30pm, we headed to 3rd grand aunty's house to meet up with more aunties, uncles and cousins. 

East Coast Beach

After Berries today, Daddy and Mummy decided to bring us to the beach near our place. We haven't been there since we played there with Eva and Vera about a month back. At first it was quite cloudy and we were having fun playing sand. Then it got quite sunny and hot and so we decided to move towards the shade.

It was fun playing sand and building sand castles with Gor Gor Reuben. We dug holes in the sand and buried Mummy's legs in there. We also picked sea shells which we will use for our art and crafts. We were there for almost 2 hours and had to leave for dinner at home. On the way back, we bumped into Ballen and his parents. It was kinda strange seeing my classmates outside of school. We were kinda shy and didn't really want to talk much.

CNY Celebration

Eton Schoolhouse celebrates Chinese New Year today. Mummy and Daddy took the morning off from work to join in the celebration with me. They were suppose to have breakfast at Kampong Arang Wanton Mee before heading to the school but we wasted much time waiting for a parking lot so we ended up without any breakfast.

When we got there, the teachers were performing a dance piece to the tune of some Chinese New Year song. They also performed a skit showing what happens during a CNY preparation and celebration because we have many foreign students with us so they might know what we do during CNY. There was also a chinese calligraphy station but Zillie and I ended up just painting the whole piece of paper black. Zillie is my best friend in school. We have this love hate relationship because we will fight over "mummy" and "mummu" but at the end of the day we will be playing happily together. 

Mummy and Daddy left for work after our snacks. I wasn't too happy with that but I guess they couldn't stay with me the whole day. I guess I will play with Zillie till they show up again.

Junior Gymnastic

Mummy wanted to enroll me into this gymnastic class and thought I should have a trial class to check it out. The gym is a lot bigger than the other gyms I have been too. Actually this is an actual gym located inside Hwa Chong Junior College. There are many kids who attend the gym classes there over the weekend. Mummy got to know about it through Aunty Linna who brings Amelia, Sarah and Hannah there for the gym classes.

From the moment Mummy dropped me off with the trainer (Aunty Jenny), I started crying as I am not too fond of being left alone with a stranger. Although she was very nice and tried to get me to participate in the activities with the other kids, I continued crying. I did try out some of the activities like tumble roll and walking on the beam and thought they were quite fun. After the session, as we were walking back to the car, Mummy asked if I had fun. I said "YES!" She asked if  I wanted to come back again and i also said "YES!" I guess she will enroll me in the class since I liked it so much.