Of Beaches, Bugs and Buildings

I have been very busy at work over the last week because of a major restructuring and reorganisation exercise our company is currently undergoing. I've been spared the axe, but some of my colleagues were not so fortunate... It'll be a couple more months of this madness before everyone settles in properly into these changes... bosses, processes, seating location, roles and functions, ...all affected. Changes are always hard to swallow once you're in your comfort zone for far too long, but I think it's a step in the right direction. We'll have to rethink how we can work more efficiently.

Because of the things happening at work, I couldn't take leave during the March school break to bring the kids out or something. Cheryl did mention that she had wanted to have a picnic at the beach, so this morning, the whole lot of us (our family, my sis and kids, neighbour Sean & family) trouped our way to (where else?) Tanjong Beach at Sentosa. Unfortunately for us, there was some company family function being held there that day, so we had to "share" the beach with a whole lot of other people... But we managed to find a nice cool spot near the sea. The kids had fun playing in the sea water, and with the sand. Isaac's wearing Cheryl's previous swimming costume, that's why it's pink! I'm trying to get him to wear another one but he insisted on wearing this one...

We adults just sat back, watched the kids and enjoyed the sea breeze. We stuffed our faces with snacks. The weather was perfect. In fact it threatened to rain, but finally it just remained cloudy. We had sandwiches for lunch.

Soon after lunch, Sean had to go back for his swmimming lessons, so the rest of us remained in Sentosa and we decided to visit the Butterfly Park. With the Islander card, we got a 20% discount from the usual $10 entrance fee. It's interesting but I think it's not something we or the kids would want to visit again anytime soon. We're generally not insect lovers! TT & I literally went on a photo-taking frenzy. Many of the preserved (dead) butterflies and insects on display were extremely beautiful. The live fluttering ones, on the other hand, were quite a let-down. I managed to take this closeup pic of a live black butterfly.

This is a picture of rows and rows of live dangling butterfly pupae housed in a viewing cage. Several new-born butterflies had already broken out of their pupae and simply waiting for life to flow into their wings.

Got the kids to take this pic in the butterfly enclosure. Notice the interesting bug stools they were sitting on. The look on all their faces were pretty candid as well. Lauren was being spooked by a nearby fluttering butterfly while the rest looked on! I think the offending butterfly is that blurry brown thing at the bottom of the photo.

The park also houses many species of bugs and beetles. If you're squeamish about creepy crawlies, avoid this park. My sis and I were like going "Eeeeeewww..." at practically every live bug/worm exhibit. Look, this beetle's actually enjoying fresh orange juice, using his proboscis as a straw!

This live exhibit of some massive green stick insect thingy scored one of the highest points in our Eeeewwww-o-meter. Just compare it with TT's finger.

A preserved exhibit of some horny stag beetles! Let's give them some privacy... Hey, wait a minute, they're dead! Can almost hear the male beetle protest, "I swear I didn't do it!!"

A preserved exhibit of some not-so-lucky "fatt-fatt" (88) butterflies!

It was around 4pm when we decided to head back home... Isaac was too tired and fell asleep in the car. However on the way back, Sean's dad called us and said they were heading to the Singapore City Gallery at URA Centre at Maxwell Road. Sean had found out about this place from the book "Fun Singapore!" my sister had given him for his birthday. It's really quite an interesting place to visit. Lots of models of the city and urban landscape in Singapore, as well as other exhibits on Singapore's city and buildings. Here are the kids looking at the map of Singapore. We even managed to find the buildings we lived in! And below is the model of the IR and Singapore Flyer (Ferris Wheel) at Marina. Cool stuff! Unfortunately Isaac slept through the whole thing and we left him in the pram. Definitely will be bringing him here again some other day. I'm sure he'd love the place.
The Gallery closed at 5pm and we proceeded to the nearby Maxwell market for an early dinner. Isaac was rudely awakened by a lion dance troupe that was trawling every stall in the market. Hey, isn't it way past the Chinese New Year already? What's more I think the whole troupe consisted of non-Chinese members! Anyway, we had to tolerate the noise for a good 30min or so while we ate. Would have enjoyed the food more if not for the migraine-inducing din. Well at least Isaac finally got to watch a lion dance (or what he terms a "tong-tong-cheang") really up close. Here is the lion near a goreng pisang stall (btw, the pisang was good!).

Sun, 10 Sept - Horses at Pasir Ris Park

We decided to go to Pasir Ris Park today as we were going to Tampines later to visit my in-laws. We wanted to go to the playground area but I remembered reading about the other adjoining park having some stables where we could see and ride horses, so we decided to make a slight detour to have a look at the place.

It's called Gallop Stable and they have a number well-kept horses. The area looked clean and there was hardly any stench. We were too late to book a pony ride for kids so we'll try again another day though Cheryl said she was not that keen to ride a pony. We did, however, manage to touch the horses and Cheryl got one to eat hay from her hand.

After that we proceeded to the part of park where they had the really large playground and all kinds of apparatus.The weather was cloudy, so even though it was past noon, it wasn't too hot. The kids had fun climbing, swinging and playing around with some new apparatus which we didn't see the last time. One of them was this revolving cup which got Cheryl rather dizzy (see pic below).

After lunch at TT's sis place, we went back home as our maid was taking half the day off. In the evening we went to Suntec City for dinner. At the last minute, Cheryl got "kidnapped" by our neighbour Sean and she decided to have dinner at Sean's place instead of following us! On the way there we saw the really beautiful flowers planted along the roads for the IMF meetings. The workers were still doing some last minute planting. The food court at Suntec City was suprisingly not that crowded and we managed to find a parking lot with little problems. We figured most people stayed away from the area because they thought it was closed for the IMF-WB meetings. But road closures would only start from 10pm later that night and we figured we should be heading home before that. Also school would be restarting tomorrow, so families with school-going children may not find it a good idea to go out tonight...

We arranged to meet my sis' family at the food court. After dinner we headed to Toys R' Us where we got Isaac a train set for his birthday, and also a Mr. Potato head toy for Olivia whose birthday was also approaching. My sis bought her a Polly Pocket toy. I think she was the happiest girl today. Isaac also had a mighty fine time without his sister. He was riding on all the kiddy rides along the way, climbing up and down staircases, running around the store with a toy pram (!!) He must have been so tired he slept in the car on the way back.

Personal Favourites

PLACES TO GO
Pasir Ris Park
One section of this park has a very good playground area, not as big as West Coast park, but with equally engaging playground apparatus. The other section is where Gallop Stable is. It's more serene in this part and more suited for cycling. You can also do bird watching, walk through the mangrove, play in the garden maze, or just sit beside the beach to enjoy the breeze. This was one of our favourite parks before Isaac came along.

Sunday, July 23 - The Day After ...

Phew! The party's finally over! I'm quite happy things went according to plan and there was enough food... It's all thanks to me... the best Mummy in the World! a.k.a The Super Anal Organizer Mummy! HaHa...

With the party out of the way, I can now look forward to a relaxing Sunday. While the kids were having their own breakfast and watching PlayHouse Disney with our domestic helper, TT and I sneaked away for a quick breakfast at Alexandra Village food centre. We both had the Depot Road Claypot laksa, which was delicious with all the harmful "harm" (cockles)! Unhealthy and yummy!

Then it was off to Botanic Gardens, our favourite park, with the kids... Weather was pretty good - cloudy and not too sunny. Still, it was hot and humid. We did our favourite activity, which was to feed the fishes and turtles with all the leftover bread "donated" by my sister. Thereafter TT played badminton with Cheryl, while Isaac played with his ball. I took the opportunity to exercise our new Canon IXUS 800is camera, taking macro shots of flowers and insects and also closeup shots of the kids.

Back home in the afternoon, while Isaac was taking a nap, I finally found some time to patch the grouting of our floor, and Cheryl even helped me for a while. But somehow the colour of the grouting appears lighter... I dunno, got a feeling it'll start to disintegrate soon, if Isaac and Cheryl continues scouring the house with the trike and scooter. (Update 1 week later: As expected, grouting has all come off already)

Isaac woke up in the late afternoon, and he had an early dinner of porridge. Then we set off to the National Library to return the books we borrowed three weeks earlier, but decided to have our dinner first instead. We ended up at a restauarant called Mint Cafe, along Seah Street which was situated at the basement of the Mint Museum of Toys. I had mushroom penne in cream sauce while TT had seafood ariabiata, and Cheryl had kid's spaggetti. Food was good (even Cheryl said so), serving staff was very friendly and the place was very cosy, though I don't know how they can survive with so little tables. I figured the place must be pretty new, because Isaac was the first baby to use their brand new Mothercare high chair! The kids had lots of fun at the large cosy lounging area with comfy designer sofas and also clammering up and down the white stairs leading up to the street level. They also provided activity sheets and crayons for the kids (but probably should invest in better crayons).

After dinner we walked back to the Library. We had less than an hour before closing time at 9pm. It was Cheryl's third time there, but Isaac's first, and he loved the open spaces and the children's area. He played hide and seek with the rows of bookshelves and it was really difficult to control his delighted giggles and laughter. On the other hand, Cheryl was the model library goer, reading a Madeline book with Daddy. They had designer plastic chairs (called Troili designed by Eero Aarnio) which TT thought was really ingenious. You can use the chair at 2 heights and also use it as a rocking toy. I wish I had brought my camera to take pictures, but you can see them here anyway. It costs ₤95 each! We borrowed a couple of Madeline, Eric Carle and other books. We couldn't find any Harold and the Purple Crayon books which we had returned earlier (thinking we could find them again later... without paying renewal charges of 50cents... cheapskate right?).

Personal Favourites
FOOD
(All 3 stalls mentioned below are located at the outermost column nearer to DBS Bank at Alexandra Food Centre)
Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa.
Mee Pok (1st corner stall facing Bt Merah Rd). TT likes this stall.
Teng Yu Chee Cheong Fun. I like this stall's handmade chee cheong fun with fillings of prawns or char siew. Sauce and chilli is also unique. May need to wait sometimes because it is made only when ordered.

PLACES TO GO
Botanic Gardens. Shady and cool even on sunny days because of all the big trees in the park. Lots of fishes and turtles to feed. Bring lots of leftover bread. Some people even bring fresh loaves though I think it's rather wasteful. Parking at the visitor centre can be a nightmare.

National Library. I love the open spaces there, though the central borrowing area at B1 is a little crammed when crowded. Children's area is pretty cosy but lack non-fiction & information books compared to say, Queenstown
Library (the other library I frequent). Or maybe I just haven't got time to explore the place, having to keep an eye on Isaac most of the time. I haven't really explored the rest of National Library yet but anything new is nice! Love the clean toilets too!

BOOKS (Children)
Harold and the Purple Crayon (Crockett Johnson)
Magic Beach (Crockett Johnson)
Madeline Books (Ludwig Bemelmans)
Where are you Going? To See My Friend! (Eric Carle and Kazuo Iwamura)
Draw Me a Star (Eric Carle)

Saturday, July 22 - Cheryl's 5th Birthday Party

This is the backlog blog I was talking about... This one is about Cheryl's party held last Saturday, July 22. Cheryl actually turned 5 on Thursday, July 27, but we held her party earlier. I have been making preparations for the party weeks beforehand. You know, only mothers do this, and me being an organising freak on top of the compulsive packer ... Went to the Concourse the previous Saturday to get party stuff. There're lots of shops on the top level selling everything you'd need for a party, esp. all kinds of party favours. If you are giving out goody bags to all your kid's classmates in school, this the place to go. If there's one thing I'd like to recommend for a party, it's a 3-way partitioned plastic plate. I couldn't find this anywhere else. It's a plate with three partitions costing $9 for a set of 24, I think. They're not that cheap but you'll find it's made of sturdier plastic. Good if you have satay gravy, sauce or salad that you want to keep separated from other food. Snacks and sweets are not really cheaper there, so better get edible stuff from the supermarts.


I spent a few minutes late each night doing this cool overhead rainbow decoration. I used normal A4 coloured paper, trimmed each A4 piece into 4 strips, and joined the strips lengthwise. The linked rings decorations were made by Cheryl herself (can't really see them clearly in the photo). I bought a pack of coloured paper strips from Daiso at IMM. Somehow I can't find this anymore. The night before the party while everyone was asleep, I single-handedly put up the decorations, except for the balloons, which I put up the next morning. Where are the men when you need them? (ans: they only appear duringWorld Cup.)


We ordered a Swensen's ice cream cake a week ago and Cheryl chose a cake with a rainbow picture. That's where I got the inspiration to do an overhead rainbow, so at least there was some kind of a theme. I chose chocolate freckles (choc ice cream with choc chips) and cookies & cream, which was a pretty neat combination. If you are an NTUC Income Policy holder, you can also make use of the 20% discount coupon they send you near your birthday.

For the food, I got my sister to cook her mee siam. She's doing small-time catering, so if you're interested, you can check out this site (I designed the site for her, but it's not complete). We bought fishballs, otah and satay. We also made a fruit salad and a non-spicy fried bee hoon for the kids. For drinks, we made a fruit punch from a galon of wildberry juice mixed with F&N ice cream soda.

This is a blow-by-blow account of the day itself, just so that one day Cheryl realise how much trouble Mummy & Daddy went through for her party:
While Cheryl had her usual Chinese class at school in the morning, I did the final preparations for the party. TT was having a game of badminton with the junior team at the Sports School (by the way TT's team were trashed!). Then in the late morning, we had an unplanned little "excursion" on the MRT train. Isaac is currently crazy about trains and can stand by our window just watching trains go by the whole day. So myself, Cheryl, Isaac, our neighbour Sean and his dad Ryan took the train all the way to Changi Airport, took the skytrain from Terminal 2 to 1 and back again. We had lunch at Burger King before heading back home. Isaac slept on the train on the way back. By then TT was back home with the Tiong Bahru fishballs. He drove us to Clementi where I accompanied Cheryl for her music class at 3pm, then he went to Ghim Moh to buy the otah. When class ended he picked us up and we went to my sis place to collect the mee siam and her kids, Lauren and Olivia. My sister would be coming later on as she was still making some durian puffs. On the way back we popped by at Alexandra Village to collect the satay. Then we headed back home. TT brought the kids swimming while I continued to make preparations and do the fruit punch. My mum and maid had already fried the bee hoon. After swimming TT went to Holland Village tocollect the ice cream cake. After that, party went quite smoothly. And fortunately we could borrow our neighbour's fridge to store the drinks and ice cream cake!














Now thinking what to do for Isaac's 2nd birthday in September... :o(

Personal Favourites
FOOD
Peranakan Mee Siam (catered from my sister, who also does kueh pie tee)
Lee Wee & Brothers Otah (Ghim Moh Food Centre, Whampoa or other outlets)
Punggol Satay (Alexandra Village Food Centre, chinese stall - can order pork satay, gravy comes with pineapple paste)
Tiong Bahru Fishballs

PLACES TO GO
MRT Train ride to Changi Airport. Really cool station at the Airport Terminal 2. Isaac is at the age where boys get obsessed with transport vehicles, and now he's transfixed on trains and cable cars. I have taken more cable car rides this year than all the other years put together in my entire life.