Kung Fu Panda II

The 1st cartoon instalment had me laughing so hard, i had stitches.  Not to mention I only watch the last 10 mins of it.


So, I had an itch to watch this 2nd instalment.  And, with no available babysitter and not willing to waste my leave, we brought Ashley to watch... YES! Her 1st movie in a real cinema (at a grand old age of 4yrs 7mths).  Haha!  It helped that I had brought her to Science Centre in the last month, and we watched an IMAX movie.  She was (expectedly) scare of the wide screen and dark atmosphere and told me several times she's scared.  But I am proud of her because when I asked her if she wanted to go out of the theatre, she said no, n bravely watched the whole movie.  Of course, it helped that other kids (some younger than her) were in the same theatre as well.


We had an enjoyable time watching the movie.  I gave her 2 booster seats, so she could watch the screen easily.  Munching on popcorn, we all had great laughs.  I did anyway, I laughed alot and aloud.  After an especially lousy week at work, this was a great temp stress reliever...  Ashley didn't really understand the movie, I think she's more captivated over the 1st time experience of watching a movie in a theatre.  She was also the self-appointed popcorn person, holding the tub and handing us popcorn when we want to eat.  Towards the last 15 mins of the movie, she started getting fidgety.  Worried that she may disturb others, I offered to let her sit on my lap, which she did contentedly.  :-)


We are going to watch another movie soon... Transformers III... is it rate G, i wonder?

Hokkaido 2010

Sweet memories from Hokkaido!  Those are the famous Kobe beef, about SGD200 for a plate like u see in the pic below.  Ultra expensive, but absolutely mega-delicious!!!

P.U.K.E

You know how sometimes, you jinx it when you say/think that something will not happen to you, and then IT DOES!!!
 As I read about a puking incident that unfortunately happened to LJ, I was counting my lucky stars that it had not happened to me.  Well, that must have jinxed it for me... bcos it HAPPENED to me, and it was worse, much much worser than LJ's experience.


We were on the way back from Bintan.  I'd expected I'd feel a little woosy from seasickness, but thought it would be mild (as it was for me during the trip there).  I was so so wrong.  About 10 minutes after we sailed off, we could see the sea was rather turbulent, with lots of choppy wave.  And the darn jerk who manned the wheel kept riding the waves and increasing the ship's speed.  It got worse as there was a stupid stupid group of idiots sitting in front who kept cheering n egging him on.


I was feeling giddy and sick, so didn't detect that Ashley was not feeling well too.  Ashley got all whiny and kept insisting to sit on my lap.  She was hot and sweating all over, so I lifted the back of her t-shirt to cool her down.  And she kept telling me her stomach pain pain.  I didn't even catch on that she might be seasick too, and kept rubbing on her stomach.  Goodness! Now that I think back, I may have made her feel worse.  And then she P.U.K.E.D!  I was in the ship, our luggage was checked in, I didn't keep an extra set of clothes for her and myself.  The ship was full of passengers.  The stench from the vomit was overwhelming, and it made me who already teetering on the brink of vomiting myself, almost doubled over as well.  Ashley's t-shirt and jeans, and my t-shirt were all splattered with Ashley's breakfast - mostly bread and scrambled egg.... GROSS!


Immediate reaction: I closed my eyes, and tried to convince myself "it isn't real, this isn't happening..." for all of 3secs bcos I opened my eyes then, and saw my darling's face.  She looked downright miserable and scared.  I couldn't bear it, so I hugged her hard (yeah, with all the yucky stuff on our shirts and hair) and told her "it's ok, it's ok, mommy will take care of you."


I carried her to the toilet to clean up, with Alan following me.  On the way, we saw one of the crew members, explained the situation asked if we could get my luggage bag.  Initially, he said cannot, but I think he saw the pathetic situation we were in and told us he'd try.  And bless the guy, he actually came through and Alan was able to secure clean clothes for us.  I managed to clean Ashley up first.  And as I was cleaning myself up in the toilet, I also P.U.K.E.D (yep! it finally got to me, the seasickness and the pungent smell of vomit).


P/S: You can't possibly imagine the relief I had when I stepped onto solid ground...

Bintan getaway

We couldn't go for a year-end trip this year because Alan and I couldn't sync our work schedules to accommodate each other. So, I had to just make do with a weekend away to Bintan, along with my ils ( I suggested it, as I think they deserve a break too... )


It was a rainy day when we arrived in Bintan, but since it was late afternoon already and we still had to accommodate Ashley's nap, so we kinda just laid-back in the room for a light snooze...


The next day was a bright and sunny day and we enjoyed some sunnies outdoor at the beach... After breakfast, we brought Ashley to the beach. I was worried whether she'll reject the water and sand because of the unfamiliarity (yeah, u guessed right, we are not your regular beach bums... ). To my delight, Ashley enjoyed the sun, water and sand. Initially, she was a bit fearful of the water - currents coming towards her and lapping up on the beach... but I thought of a game for both of us. I told her to focus on the water coming in and when it's about to reach us, we need to shout "water coming, run..." and then, do a u-turn and run towards the inward shore... It worked perfectly, after awhile, Ashley was thoroughly enjoying the game and also the sand...

After a couple of hours frolicking in the beach, we went back to the room, cleaned up. Everyone was kinda lazy to saunter out again and so we stayed in the room, watched TV and relax. Ashley had fun going from our room to my ils' room using the connecting door. After all the activities, she dropped down on the bed and conked out. I let her nap for 2hrs before waking her up, as it was near to dinnertime.


After our dinner, we headed to the leisure centre for some R&R. We rented Wii for the kids. Ashley and Ryan had fun playing, even though Ashley doesn't know how to play and just imitated Ryan's actions. It's so funny to watch her play. She would swing the control here and there, make excited sounds at regular intervals and jump up and down to show her enthusiasm...

We left Bintan after brekkie the next day. It was really too short to be deemed a holiday, so Alan still otang me a trip... >.<

V-cruise pics

Long overdue pics of my cruise.

Cruise experience

Super boring, i tell you.. I don't think I'll ever pay good monies to go on a cruise anymore.

Let me count what are the good memories i brought back:

- Beautiful view from the balcony of our cabin
- Lounging and lazy walks along the deck
.
.
.
tt's it...



Here comes the lousy stuff:

- This tops the list : strangers who walk up and without asking for permission, start touching my Ashley's face and holding her hand, and telling us what a pretty girl Ashley is. There was 1 particular lady (no guessing who's my No. 1 hatelist now) who kept touching and caressing Ashley's face, even though I had literally used my whole hand to cover Ashley's face, such that she was only touching my hand. Stupid woman didn't get the obvious hint that I don't want her touching my Ashley. I had to go to the toilet to wash my hands after that! It got so bad that Alan told Ashley to beat the next person's hand if they want to touch her! kekeke...

- Mediocre mass-produced buffet breakfast/lunch/dinner (lucky i had dining credits, which allowed us to enjoy a sumptuous jap lunch and chinese dinner).

- Too many XXXIXXs (made me wanna puke)

- Boring activities (the most happening place for us was the video arcade. imagine tt, when we wouldn't normally waste time in arcades... huh huh)

- Lumpy bed, flat pillows (yeah yeah, we r too pampered at home sleeping on Sealy mattress and Akemi pillows)

Afterthoughts : I guess it would be great for people looking to "doing nothing" and just lazing around. But for us, wif an active toddler, we need much more interesting activities to spend the time.

Pics will come later... when i have time to upload.

All aboard, ahoy!

We are going for a cruise... Finally!!!

Alan had been badgering me for some time now, but i've always found it not worth the $$ to go for cruise. BUT... this promotion did me in! It's literally a 1-for-1 deal. :-)

Family Day III

3rd stop: Fishing

Family Day II

2nd stop: Potting a plant

Family Day Part 1

Last Sunday, we went for a family day event (those who know me know that i m not usually into these events, but had no choice last week bcos the organiser was none other than Alan).

Anyway, we had really great fun there and i didn't regret going one bit.

We did alot of stuff that day and REALLY, since Ashley was born, that day was the longest time we were out (from 7.30am - 5pm)...

I observed alot of things about Ashley that day and I am really pleased with all of them. She's grown more gung-ho and open to new things like potting a plant, fishing, running on the grass, walking on muddy paths, walking along the goat farm (and keep telling me chou-chou while scrunging up her nose). I am so glad she enjoyed all these outdoor activities. I don't want her to be a "hothouse" flower.

Let the pics tell u the story instead.

1st stop: Bollywood Veggies Farm

Adventure in Japan - pics

Ok, here are some of the pics:

Wif her face scrunched up, Ashley looks as if she hates breakfast cornflakes (which is just the opposite). She got her fibre mostly from the cornflakes she has every morning.


I love the hotel lounge. It's almost always empty, as if for our exclusive use only, n not forgetting the free cappucino... yums!


Rarity to get Ashley to walk. See the little boy at the far end of the pics - he did it! Well, of cos not directly! We told Ashley that gor-gor walk walk, so Ashley oso must walk walk. This trick has a 80% success rate, i would say.


Behind is the famous Asakusa Temple. I love it there, so bustling wif life, people. And it was real fun shopping down Nakamise market, eating some local snacks.


If only Ashley is willing to dorn all the "extra" accessories (knitted cap, muffler, gloves), she probably wouldn't have fallen sick.


I spied this outside Harajuku station. For a fee that you decide yourself, this guy would write your name n other stuff on a piece of drawing paper and board it up for u. Too bad Ashley was real grouchy then, as it was her nap time, otherwise, i was real tempted to ask him to do one for me too!


Lady dressed up "Harajuku" style

Inside Shinagawa station. It's bustling wif activities!

Having bf, while waiting to board the flight back to SIN. See Ashley's listless look. Poor deardear was still having slight fever then!

The Land of the Rising Sun

Weather was sure chilly in Tokyo. I did bring enough clothes for both Ashley and myself, but most of the time, my deardear didn't want to wear the knitted cap, muffler and gloves tt i brought. She doesn't like "additional" things on her (atypical of a girl?). Most of the time, we would point out other kids who are also wearing the same things, n then she'll agree to put it on.

The first couple of days we were there, Alan has to go to work so Ashley n i would juz laze around in the hotel. I tried to go out on my own, with Ashley once. But did a U-turn at the subway station. Why? 1stly, Ashley didn't want to walk on her own and insisted on being carried. 2ndly, the haversack containing our barang-barang was rather heavy. Even if i can carry Ashley all the time (which i most definitely can't) plus the haversack, i wont be able to sight-see or window-shop at all. So, in the hotel we stayed, only venturing to nearby shops n marts for buying lunch. Luckily, there was a hotel lounge which is free for our use 24/7. It's vv spacious n comfy. And for the 2 days we were there, we were practically the only ones there. If i weren't worried of caffeine overdose, i'd treat myself to the free flow of cappucino the whole day long (yeh! tt's how addicted i m...)


Where we went/What we did:
- We hit the few major spots in Tokyo - Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ueno market, Asakusa temple and Nakamise market.
- I tried and failed in my 1st n only bargain of dried scallops in Ueno market. Hahaha...
- The piping hot pumpkin n apricot pies sure was deeeelicious in Nakamise market.
- The people in costumes (which we had eagerly anticipated to see) was disgustingly few. Only a handful, which we captured some in pics.
- The subway stations r huge, one can easily get lost in it! No wonder Shinjuku is named as the most busy subway station in the world!


What we missed:
- Disneyland. Haiz... Ashley came down wif fever on the nite b4 our planned day in Disneyland. So, the plan went ka-poot! Till next time, then, Mickey Mouse!


What we saw:
- A sea of blacks, beiges, grey, browns. I mean the winter coats. In subway stations, with the swarm of people passing thru, I seem to drown in all these colours. Of cos, we were also part of the blacks.
- Japanese r Starbucks fans! Every Starbucks cafe we went, it's all full. But i wonder whether it's bcos they really love Starbucks coffee or they dun hv a choice. Unlike here where we hv Spinelli, Coffee Bean, Gloria Jeans, J.Co, etc, the main coffee cafes in major shopping areas in Tokyo r dominated by Starbucks.
- Lots of yummy mommies pushing their baby darlings around, looking young, hip n sexy! Yeah, sure was eye-candy!
- Lots of small eating cafes in subways. One moment, you could be slurping down a deliciously piping hot bowl of ramen, and the next moment, you r in the train on your way home.
- Noticed a different set of practice in supermarkets. The cashiers doesn't help customers pack the groceries into plastic bags. Instead, they will give you plastic bag n after u hv settled the payment, you need to bring your basket to the counters in front to pack your own groceries. (Hmmm... wonder if i buy a trolley full of stuff, how will they know how many bags i need???)

Pics will be up soon... when i find time to upload it...

Setting off for Japan

Whoa! A gazillion things to get ready before i could leave for Japan and a million things i have to bring, such that my mind was on overtime, always going thru all the what-nots to bring.

And wif my previous experience of missing a morning flight (yeah! i overslept... :-p) , i took no chances this time and set 2 alarm clocks far away from me, such tt i will need to walk over to shut it off in the morning! :-p

Anyway, we had a wonderful flight to Japan. Ashley was a wonderful traveller, except for the incessant questions of "wat's this? wat's tt?" n repeating all the things i say, n telling me all the things i know (in multiple times). Other than tt, she was perfect, took 2 naps, a short one during take-off, n a longer one after lunch. I even managed to catch 1.5 movies while she was napping/watching Thomas & Friends on Krisworld.