Pizza & Beer Party

Hubby had friends over yesterday evening and we hosted a pizza and beer party. One of his friends brought his 15 month old daughter A along and I had the opportunity to monitor P and A together. It was the first time I had to look after 2 kids, and the hindsight was quite depressing. I realised my attention was mostly on A while P was pretty much on her own. Even with toys, if A wants something P is holding, I'll get P to give it up to her.

I told hubby about the whole incident during bedtime and confessed I felt so guilty after that. As we approach June to start trying to conceive #2, I suddenly felt a sense of trepidation. I don't want to 'neglect' P when the younger one comes along. It sets me thinking whether I'm ready to give up the 二人世界 times with P. I think not, ugh...

Vesak Day

It's Vesak Day today, and the day started with a heavy downpour early in the morning. Hubby made plans with SIL to go out for a quick drive (she got her driving license recently and is really enthu about driving), and brought P along. With some time to spare, I on the Kinect and had a great workout. Hubby came home alone 45 min later and told me P wanted to follow SIL home, so we'll go over for lunch and pick her up later.

We made our way to Amara shopping mall (think it's called 100AM after the revamp), and boy, has it changed a lot since the days I was working at Tanjong Pagar area! We ate dessert at Honeymoon Dessert, and it was a strange experience. Have you ever had a restaurant staff staring at you all the way while you ate? Yes, that's what happened. The moment I put down my spoon, he came to clear the dessert bowl. You'd have thought there's a long q outside to explain his behaviour. You know what? We were the only customers in the store. 

I have an ex-colleague staying at the Pinnacle@Duxton, so we dropped by their place after dessert. They own 2 rabbits, and P had fun chasing one of them around the house, and shoving hay in its face. The poor rabbit must be terrified of P. It was also quite amazing how quickly P warmed up to my ex colleague and her husband, and their house as well. Pretty soon, she was making herself at home by going into their bedroom and helping herself to their soft toys. She even rolled on their bed, much to the delight of my colleague, who is currently trying to conceive. Hope they get their baby wish soon!

Needless to say, P's nap was long overdue. We left at about 2.30pm and made our way back to 100AM for our car. Shortly after we enter the mall, P fell asleep. We took the chance to get some Gong Cha before going off. The rest of the afternoon was spent on naps. 

We have plans to hit the Safra Toa Payoh pool tomorrow morning. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. P was really excited when she saw me inflating the float, chanting 游泳，游泳 all the way. 

Happy Vesak Day to all!

Playing with toys from her younger days

Care bears sit sit

Cold Storage Kids Run 2013

The Cold Storage Kids Run turned out to be a Cold Storage Parents Run for us. P fell down after running less than 20 steps, and refused to run after that. The whole 1st aid team came running over to check on her, but no major damage done. I picked her up and continued to run. Hubby took over halfway through the run, and passed her to me when approaching the finishing line. My parents also came down to support P, and we had breakfast together after the run. I'll let the pics do the talking.

At the starting point

Papa took over

My little winner with her medal and oversized shirt

Tan family effort

P with grandpa

Eating KFC with grandma

Art Garden & DBS Marina Regatta 2013

It was a program packed Saturday. Hubby had to go pay his school fees at the Dhoby Ghaut MDIS, so we had intended to go there for lunch. Unfortunately, the parking didn't work out and we just waited in the car while hubby went to make his payment.

Go gai gai!

It was a program packed Saturday. Hubby had to go pay his school fees at the Dhoby Ghaut MDIS, so we had intended to go there for lunch. Unfortunately, the parking didn't work out and we just waited in the car while hubby went to make his payment. The heavy traffic caused us to end up at Millenia Walk, where we had Mos Burger for lunch.

After lunch, we headed for the Singapore Art Museum (SAM). I had heard from a close friend that the museum was going to showcase some exhibition for children, and it's called Art Garden. We left our car at Millenia Walk and took the train to Bras Basah, just a mere 2 stations away. It was International Museum Day, so entrance was free, but if you haven't heard by now, Singaporeans and PRs get free entrance to all museums wef 18 May 2013. P was super taken with the fountain inside the main museum, so we spent a fair bit of time there until the weather got unbearably hot.

Papa, baby, mama

We had thought that the Art Garden was situated within the main museum, but this was not the case. It was held at the SAM extension called 8Q, and you need to exit the museum and cross Queen Street in order to get there. It's just beside a Methodist Church, and they have a uber big poster of the Art Garden, so it's hard to miss.

The first exhibit we checked out was the The Enchanted Garden City by Sandra Lee. Shoes are not allowed in the exhibit area. I was really fascinated with the colorful exhibition area. You can hardly find a tinge of black and white (except for the pandas) and I think kids will really love this place. The fact that it's air conditioned scored more points in the hottest month of the year.

There was table where kids could do some coloring. It was only later that I found out they could actually flash your coring/drawing on a screen (think "Mirror mirror on the wall", and it was quite cool. P did her coloring with the kids, but her work was truly not impressive enough to flash on the screen, so I just quietly kept it for my own appreciation, haha.

Papa supervising behind

Look at the vivid colors

Next up, Around the Day in Eighty Worlds exhibit. Nope, I didn't get the exhibition name wrong, it's truly Around the Day in Eighty Worlds. This is a very black and white exhibit.

Hubby's artwork. The nose/mouth is just a piece of metal string, and you could tweak according to your imagination

Also had coloring activities here

Some kids made the hot air balloons and had their work displayed

Stellar Cave II was next. It was like a glow in the dark area, and if you are wearing white (like hubby did), you will glow. First impression was that the strings making up the artwork reminded me of spider webs. I'm sure hubby thought the same coz he's been killing a lot of spiders in our house lately.

Les rêves engloutis – Glossy Dreams in Depths was our last stop. Each family could sit on a chair and they will rotate the chair to transport you into a secret room. Using your 3D glasses, some of the artwork actually look quite scary. The staff discouraged us from using the glasses on P because of that.

It was certainly a worthwhile trip to the museum. I'll look forward to visiting other museums in the next few weekends. 

Since we had to go back to Millenia Walk to get our car, what's Millenia Walk without Hokey Pokey? P spent the next 1.5 hours there, while me and hubby took turns to juggle her. 

She likes trains too!

Potty training the doll? Erm, maybe we should work on you first!

My little fireman who can't see her way.

At 5 plus, we made our way to MBFC for dinner, and that's when I recalled the DBS Marina Regatta 2013 was on at the Promontory area. We watched 2 races before going for Japanese pasta dinner at Yomenya Goemon Japanese Spaghetti House. Hubby really liked their salad and pasta, so much that he slurped up P's kids set. Haha, we'll definitely be back.

That marks the end of the program packed day. I was great to be able to 'accomplish' so much in 1 day. P had fun, and was so tired she slept through without waking for her usual 3am feed. Happy happy!

Marymount Kindergarten Registration - Phase 3

It was a night of weird dreams. I dreamt that hubby and I went to q for MMK, but the q was so long when we got there and we gave up. Dejected, we went for Korean BBQ.

I did a time check after being rudely awakened by the dreams. It was 3.50am. Hubby's alarm was set for 4.50am. I didn't go back to sleep, and chose to go to the living room to watch my Korean dramas instead.

We left house at 5.30am and reached MMK at 5.45am. It was pitch dark but we spotted 2 cars at the porch in front of the school. As we neared the main door, we saw a couple of people, definitely earlier than us. We were #7 in the q, guaranteed a spot for pre-nursery. I had called MMK the day before to enquire on vacancies for today, just before they close at 3pm. There were 13 slots for morning session, and 30+ slots for the afternoon session.

A Chinese teacher arrived slightly after 6am, and suggested for us to move our cars as the school buses will be dropping the kids there later. Unless the registration takes place on weekends when there are no lessons, I'd encourage you to park at the carpark uphill.

The people in front of us sat on the steps leading up to the main door. Luckily, we brought along 2 plastic stools, so we had a seat during the wait. It was also interesting to note that most of the people in the q were fathers. I thought it will be the other way round, but then again, I wouldn't feel safe to let my wife q in the pitch darkness.

Registration started at 7am, in batches of 4. We were asked to fill up a form (front and back), and sign 2 copies of confirmation (front and back). They also needed the immunisation certificate (I think you can get it printed from the NIRS website) which I didn't have. I only had P's health booklet with me, so they made a copy of the immunisation page. Within 20 min, they cleared 2 batches, not too bad.

We went for prata to 'celebrate' the registration success. Now, we need to head back for our beauty sleep.

Tips for MMK registration
1. Stools/chairs and mosquito repellent will be crucial for the long wait. I guess this only works for this year, since next year's registration might be at the new building.
2. Enquire on vacancies the day before, so you can gauge your chances and what time to start q-ing.
3. The toilets in the school are only accessible when the 1st staff comes and open the main door. You might want to avoid snacking or drinking too much during the wait.
4. It's pitch dark before 7am. No point bringing reading materials like magazines. Your best pal will be your electronic devices. Make sure they are fully charged before you leave the house.

Boohoo, school fees are going to increase. Just when we enrol P...