Hairdo

I started putting a hairclip on Chloe's hair since she was about 4 to 5 months old and she never once resisted. However, ever since she turned 1 yr old, I've not been able to clip her hair successfully as she will remove it the moment I put it on! Perhaps it is due to the discomfort it causes her....

Surprisingly, on one particular weekend when we were on our way to Vivo City shopping centre, my sister Jaslyn asked Chloe to sit still as she was going to tie up her hair just like what she normally does to Anthea's hair. I was extremely surprised when Chloe remained so calm whilst my sister tied her hair.... When it was finally done, Chloe looked really pretty and was smilling happily, an indication that she too was satisfied with my sister's efforts. I just could not resist running my fingers through her hair gently...

This was definitely a rare ocassion, so I quickly whipped out the camera to take a few quick shots as soon as we arrived at the shopping mall.

The two lovely cousins posing for the camera

Walking around the shopping centre hand in hand.......

Genting Highlands

It was recently reported in the newspapers that despite the upward revision in the cost to complete the two new & upcoming Singapore integrated resorts (i.e. a more ‘sophisticated’ term for casinos….. haha), both the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World @ Sentosa are well on track to be completed by December 2009 and 2010, respectively.

In light of this development, we decided it was high time we started Chloe on her journey to become the world’s best poker player……….cause we figured, ”If you can’t beat them, join them.” And if you want to be a professional, you need to start at an early age…….. [Mom, dad – if you’re reading this…. I’m just JOKING !!!!]

We headed off to Genting Highlands for a 3D2N stay via the Grassland Super VIP Coach on an early Sunday morning and Chloe was allocated her own coach seat. As comfy as the coach seats were, it was of little consolation as we only got there after a gruesome 8 hour bus ride. Nonetheless, the long and tiresome journey did not erode any of the anticipation and excitement that we had…….we’ve planned for this trip for quite a while, and we wouldn't allow the longer than expected travelling time to spoil a sweet and much-awaited holiday.

In terms of family-oriented entertainment, Genting has an outdoor theme park, an indoor theme park, as well as Snow World. Our original plan was to explore all three …….but then we realized that Chloe was probably still too young to enjoy the outdoor theme park and Snow World. So we ended up spending most of our time at the indoor theme park , where we bought ourselves a Family Day Pass which allowed multiple rides/access. It was the usual suspects : the carousel/merry-go-round, the bumper cars, the ferris wheel, the train/kiddy rides, gondola ride along the indoor lazy-river, etc, etc…... Chloe enjoyed them all.

One personal observation that I had whilst in Genting was how inflated/exaggerated the F&B prices were……. Typical hawker fare and soft drinks cost about 3 times more than their usual prices in Malaysia. I must say that I was totally shocked and appalled. But there’s a catch though. Drinks (coffee, tea, etc) served inside the casinos were F.O.C. and the food (such as sandwiches) were at much more reasonable prices. I suppose it was Genting’s way of thanking their customers for ‘contributing’ to the group’s continued success……hahaha.

The journey home was pleasant and memorable. Pleasant - because the bus ride home was much smoother and quicker. Memorable - because Chloe finally got her own personal lollipop from Mummy (which is a rare ocassion as Chloe usually only gets to taste Anthea's lollipop). Lookout for the big grin on Chloe's face in the photos below, as she savours her own mini lollipop!!

If you can't see any photos, please click on the cross (x) at the top right hand corner in order to start/continue the slideshow. (total of 39 photos)

Go-Go Bambini

The greatest luxury in life is time.

Juggling between work and family, it always seems as though there is so little time left for ourselves to pursue the things we enjoy doing. Children often can’t wait to grow up, but in retrospect our growing years as kids are probably the best in our entire life. Time was aplenty and life was to a large extent worry-free (except for those school examination periods).

Play-time used to mean hanging out with friends doing silly things outdoors (and because they were “silly”, I’m not going to mention any of them here.….haha). Kids in this day and age (especially in Singapore) go through a lot more pressure/stress whilst growing up – perhaps due to the significantly higher expectations that parents have of them. So what should parents do to offset this additional stress? Well, they can try taking their kids to Go-Go Bambini at Dempsey Hill!! At least that is what Clare and I did (haha……as if Chloe is under a lot of stress….).

Go-Go Bambini calls themselves the “premium indoor children’s entertainment centre”, offering active pay-for-play in an air-conditioned environment for children aged 0-11 years. It has an enormous custom-designed interactive playscape that promotes active play such as climbing, sliding, bouncing, balancing, crawling, etc. Parents themselves can either spend time at Café Bambini or the Nail Spa, both located within the same premises.

As you can see from the photos below, Chloe enjoyed herself. At the beginning, Chloe felt some apprehension due to the new/unfamiliar environment but after about 10 minutes she was back to her usual joyful self. Clare and I accompanied Chloe as the three of us manoeuvred through the various obstacles – I’m glad I made it through in one piece…… all I can say is that Go-Go Bambini was never designed for adults !!! haha…

At one point, Chloe was playing hide and seek with a little boy….. and it all appeared nice and cute until it suddenly dawned upon us that Chloe would one day grow up and experience her first “puppy love” !! Parents who have daughters tend to worry more about these things. If I had it my way, Chloe wouldn’t even start dating until she is about 20 years old !!!

After spending about an hour there, we decided to call it a day. On the way out, Clare turned to me and asked “When are we coming back again?” – at which point I almost fainted. I suppose the appropriate answer would have been “As soon as my back hurts less dear”…. Hahaha!

It's a Girlie thing

Reported cases of hand foot and mouth disease (“HFMD”) in Singapore were declining, so we decided it was about time Chloe re-commenced her playgroup sessions at Gymboree. The session was at 3pm but we arrived at Vivocity at about noon. With a fair bit of time to kill – we did the natural thing: Shop! We headed to Toys “R” Us to see if there was anything we could buy for Chloe (in no time, I may have to get rid of some of the furniture to make way for her new toys...*faint*). Chloe wandered up and down the various aisles, picking up various toys as she went along (whilst leaving a “trail of mass destruction” hahaha)….. As you can see from the photos below, there were a number of toys that caught her attention a little longer than usual….

When it comes to toys – all children are naturally “greedy”…. you ask them to pick one item, and they come back to you with 3 !! hahaha…. Anyway, Clare ask Chloe to pick her favourite item and she finally chose the mini baby stroller – I guess all girls are born with a natural maternal instinct??

“Mummy – can I have this, pleeease ??”

Back home, Chloe quickly placed her “Nana” on the baby stroller and took it for a ‘stroll’ around the house. Nana is what Chloe calls her piglet soft toy – and up till now, Clare and I still can’t figure out how the name Nana came about! By the way, do you notice Clare’s slippers on Chloe’s little feet? For the past week or so Chloe has been ‘fighting’ with her mummy over the slippers…..and each time Chloe wears those slippers it makes me laugh because it looks as though she is waddling like a duck around the house!

Back to the stroller. Chloe started feeling ‘guilty’ for neglecting Barney and offered him a ride too! Nonetheless she soon realized that it was not meant to be – Barney was just too ‘oversized’ to fit comfortably into the stroller and hence had to be reluctantly ‘removed’……hahaha….

Step 1: Chloe gently placing Barney into the stroller.

Step 2: Chloe experiencing difficulty in pushing the ‘overweight’ Barney around.

Step 3: Chloe consoling Barney and giving him a kiss before ‘removing’ him from the stroller….sob sob….. poor Barney!



The ‘stroll’ with Nana continues……

Kurobuta

I am infatuated - with a little black pig.

Yup, you read correctly. I am head over heels over a little black pig – commonly referred to as Kurobuta (in Japan) or the Black Bershire Pig (in the US/UK). I guess it all started when the British government gave the Berkshire pigs to the Japanese as a diplomatic gift (wow..... you hardly see this happening these days...... imagine Malaysia giving 'black chicken' to Singapore as part of diplomatic relations.... hahaha). I understand that Kurobuta pork is fancied and prized by the Japanese (as much as the Kobe and Wagyu beef) for the superior taste, texture and marbling. To those who are curious - “Marbled meat” actually refers to the flecks or thin streaks of fat that run throughout a piece of meat, enhancing its flavour, tenderness and juiciness. The process of “marbling” is the desirable intermixing of fat and muscle fibers in good meat produced by feeding a high energy diet when the animal is still young (definition courtesy of Wikipedia).

Ok. Enough about pigs. This blog is meant to be about Chloe and I seem to forget that whenever I start ranting about food.... haha... Anyways, my parents and Aunt Rebecca were in town so I recommended that we have dinner at this eatery called Tom Ton @ The Central to celebrate Father's Day. It specializes in all things ‘kurobuta’ – salads, sukiyaki, tonkatsu, ramen with kurobuta, shabu shabu, pork ribs…..you name it, they have it (then again…..maybe that’s stretching it a little too much – I don’t recall them having kurobuta ice-cream on the menu!!! haha…). Naturally, we ordered the Kurobuta Shabu Shabu and the pork ribs......the slices of pork that came with the shabu shabu (i.e. steamboat) were really tender and yummy. On top of that we ordered 'otoro sashimi' (tuna belly) as well - it was really expensive at $55 per serving of only about 5 slices, but since it melts in your mouth I suppose it’s worth every dollar?? Haha……and the best of part of our dining experience came when Aunt Rebecca generously offered to pay for dinner!!! (thank you Ah Yee…)

Tom Ton @ The Central, Clarke Quay


Kurobuta shabu shabu


Kurobuta pork ribs


Otoro sashimi


Chloe with her grand-parents and 'grand-aunt' Rebecca

Before dinner started though, Chloe was starting to get restless so we had to quickly resort to giving her some plain white rice to snack on (or play with – depending on how much of it actually gets into her mouth, because most of the rice grains either end up on the floor or on her clothes….) – this seemed to be the "current” most effective trick to keep her occupied & to prevent her from roaming around the restaurant aimlessly…. Strangely, Chloe seemed to have enjoyed her plain white rice as much we were enjoying the kurobuta dishes!! Seeing her ‘savour’ her white rice was heart-tickling – occasionally I would lean towards her, and out of goodwill (& pure love for her dad) she would very gently place two tiny grains of rice on my lips. In all honesty and with my hand on my heart – the rice actually tasted sweeter than the kurobuta pork…..…it was definitely a wonderful Father’s Day gift.

The Father's Day celebration continued at home where Chloe displayed her musical abilities on her small little drum…... but you really have to be extra careful when watching her perform…..if you’re not alert enough, the drum sticks will end up on your head rather than on the drum !!!

Barney landed in Spore

It's Barney show time! Finally, the much awaited show was here....the Barney concert for Chloe and Anthea! It was held at Suntec Convention Centre, and we watched the 3.30pm show on Sunday. As expected, it was really crowded with parents and kids who were all huge fans of Barney.

Anthea holding on to Chloe's hand, all ready to rush in to meet Barney.

Barney and friends....






The girls were so engrossed looking at the stage when Barney and friends first appeared on stage.

The atmosphere was great and so many “little fans” out there went "crazy" over their purple idol. I realised that the parents who attended along with their kids could sing Barney tunes really well (including myself! heehee). I was singing and guiding Chloe to sing along.....though she was humming rather than singing...

During the 20 mins breaktime, Chloe was feeling extremely sleepy and she almost dozed off...but she got all excited again when Barney and friends re-appeared. I can tell that she was "fighting" against her sleepiness and she finally dozed off during the last 15 mins of the show despite the music being really loud and the hall being filled with laughter from the energetic young crowd.

Glad that the girls enjoyed their Barney show even though Chloe missed the last part of the show……

Right after the show ended, we took Chloe to Toys"R"Us to pick a Barney soft toy…..it was a gift from Aunt Rebecca..

Love at first sight!

Crocs craze

I’ve always wondered what the true fascination behind Crocs shoes/footwear was. Every corner I looked, someone is bound to be wearing a pair of Crocs – why the craze? Never understood it and not sure if I ever will. Nonetheless, Clare recently suggested that we too get a pair of baby crocs for Chloe and before I knew it we were off on a shopping spree……….all for the sake of my baby girl (haha….).

Surprisingly, despite being somewhat a phenomenon the world over (which includes Singapore) there are only two main Crocs boutiques on the island – one at Vivocity and the other at Marina Square. We brought Chloe to Vivocity to try on her first pair of Crocs and I was thoroughly amazed at the diversified range of shoes that they had! Did you know that Crocs was first intended as a boating/outdoor shoe because of its slip-resistant, non-marking sole? I didn’t, and I bet no one else did too (haha…… just trying to console myself for being ignorant…).

At the official Crocs website you will find the following business model/vision: “We are committed to making a lightweight, comfortable, slip-resistant, fashionable and functional shoe, which can be produced quickly and at an affordable price to our customers.” Lightweight – yes. Comfortable – definitely. Slip-resistant – can’t argue with that. Fashionable and functional shoe – true. Affordable price - WHAT???? The prices for these sandals range from S$50 – 80 and they call them affordable?? Hahaha….. I do however applaud the company for its innovation and creativity – when I last checked its website it listed 90 different products. Obviously there are loads of folks out there who must be truly obsessed with Crocs (in order to motivate the company to come up with 90 different products!) - I am now utterly convinced that I’m the only person on this planet who has not fully appreciated the value of Crocs (my loss…).

Oh…..back to buying Chloe’s first pair of Crocs. Chloe tried on about 2 – 3 different designs/models - some were obviously more comfy than others. These models were called ‘Mary Jane’, ‘Kids Cayman’, ‘Dora Flower Kids’ etc. Chloe felt most comfortable in ‘Kids Cayman’ and actually ended up wandering out of the shop in a fresh pair of Crocs before we had the chance to pay for it! Then it was down to choosing the right colour. Pink was our favourite but size 6/7 wasn’t available at the Vivocity outlet. So we made reservations to collect a pair from the Marina Square outlet instead. Two days later when we finally set foot at Marina Square to collect the shoes, we came across another colour called ‘Pearl White’ which wasn’t available at Vivocity. Chloe already has 5 to 6 pairs of existing shoes/sandals in pink – so we unanimously decided on the ‘Pearl White’ model instead. On top of that, we bought a couple of cute little “jibbitz”, which is the ‘official’ term used to describe the clip-ons (available in a variety of shapes/designs such as Dora, Disney characters, flower, beetle bug, etc) that are used to accessorize the shoe……. can’t figure out the term “jibbitz” ?........not to worry, you’re not alone……..hahaha.

Clare is now obsessed with Chloe’s crocs. She spent half an hour just choosing 3 jibbitz – and I’m certain that she will not stop at 3. She has already ‘convinced’ herself to buy more of these to match a variety of Chloe’s clothes!!
Chloe's pearl white crocs

The 'Dora' jibbitz

Example of how jibbitz help 'decorate' the shoe.....