Bye-bye train(tracks)

So, on the same day Minister Khaw Boon Wan brought his wife, daughter and chihuahua for a final walk on the tracks, I too, brought the Hubby, Miss K and our westie for that "final" walk on the tracks.

The excitement started when we decided to follow a throng of  visitors up a slope by the main road, in hope for a short cut to the railway tracks. It was a short cut lined by a meter long lalang grass which terrified the dog. The dog stopped dead in her tracks and since there was a LONG queue of people behind me, I frantically started tugging the dog so hard that the dog broke loose from her leash; I screamed for the dog to stay; I can see the aunty behind me started to get rather nervous as we suddenly had a dog on the loose situation, so I frantically scooped the dog up and quickly proceed towards J and Miss K who were then struggling to cross this narrow 45 degrees slanted wooden plank to get down onto the the tracks!



Not too sure whether taking this short cut was a good idea afterall...all these commotion just to get to the tracks which is a mere 100m from our home!

But we did enjoy the short walk from hillview to the Bridge at Rail Mall.

Recollecting the times when the Railway was still in operation, those times when I (sometimes) have to wait at the manual operated level crossing for the train to pass when picking Miss K up from her infant care; hearing the whistle of the train speeding by when taking my nice evening stroll with the dog (this was before Miss K's arrival) ...I do have mixed feelings about bidding farewell to the railway tracks.

Beach and Friends

Miss K's Nai-nai (J's mum) bought her a new set of beach toys, so she has been pestering us to bring her to "Dig dig sand".
I was surprised when she requested for sandplay as her teacher did mention that she is still not keen and as excited as the other children when it comes to sandplay.

Well, she seemed excited enough for me to pester J to bring us to the beach last weekend.

So, off to the beach we go,

To dig some sand and burry my toe,

To the lovely friends I met,

Thank you for the fun we had!

                                    -Miss K-

This was how the events unfolded...

Initially, she insisted that mama sits next to her and plays with her.

10 minutes later...she was happily playing on her own.

J and I was sitting down, enjoying the sea breeze while having our snack when Miss K came running to us, insisting that she also needed a break.

This little girl and her brother came and asked Miss K to play with them.

Miss K and her new found friends(s)... :)

Gigi decided to join in the fun! Miss K was not happy.

And then it was time to pack up and go home..

But we will be back again very soon!

Miss Grumpy at Changi Boardwalk

I had wanted to bring Miss K and the dog to Changi Boardwalk for a while now, so when I saw that the weather was fantastic, I thought this day MUST be a great day for photos and a family outing ....

....I was soooo wrong. Miss K refused to nap on our way to Changi, she was all grumpy when we arrived, refusing to walk and sulking in most of our photos. Let's see, this was what she was like 90% of our time at the Boardwalk.

We managed to catch that rare smile at the boardwalk when I offered her my coke in exchange for some smiles for the camera.

The dog was much more manageable, she adorably just sat down and pose for the camera. Fuss free.

So, to add to the grumpy behaviour, she demanded to be carried almost all the way throughout the boardwalk; After carrying a sweaty 13 kg for about half the boardwalk, I tried to bribe her with a fruit bar, it worked for about 2 minutes...

...then its back to her refusing-to-walk "Mama, bao bao, BAO BAO!!!!" sobs which means, time for dinner then time to head home.

We had our dinner at this Peranakan Place:

Gd O' Times,
5 Changi Village Road.
Tel: 65422382.

As Miss K was still in her grumpy mood during dinner, I didn't have a chance to snap some photos of the Nangka Lemak, Ngor Hiang, Ayam Masak Merah and Babi Sio we had, but I have to say, very good nyonya food!!

I got this picture from streetdirectory.com and this is how the exterior looks like. We had an outdoor sitting because we had the dog with us. Total bill came to about $45 including drinks.

Dairy Farm Quarry

It was a nice early evening stroll at Dairy Farm Nature Park on a Sunday. We wanted the dog to have an extended walk, so decided to re-visit the Quarry at this nature park.
I love this park much more than Bukit Batok Nature Park, simply for the fact that it has a proper walking path which is stroller friendly, and it is ants-free, woohoo! (Ants = My dog's biggest enemy!)

The last time we were there, it was 15 months ago, Miss K was 6 months old. And if you have spotted it already, the dog has the red-shirt on, both then and now.

I'm going to sidetrack a little bit, here's the story of the red shirt back then:

The dog just had a S$1200 surgery to remove a spikey, 2.5cm-diameter seed which she swallowed. That seed must have been in her intestine for a while, but we only noticed something amiss when she started to vomit puddles and puddles of water, refused food and water, one day, her body went limp and she lay motionless at one corner. On our way to the vet, she had problems breathing, she was gagging for air, I thought she was going to die! Greed almost killed her! Red shirt was to prevent her scratching her surgery wound.

This time round, the dog is having some skin problems (common in westies), so shirt-on again to prevent her (1) licking the steroids and (2) scratching which will worsen her skin.

It was a pleasant surprise for Miss K to see huge carps, and other tiny fish (and a turtle) swimming in the quarry. Her teachers at childcare have been bringing her class to the nearby pond every alternate days for 2 weeks in a row now, so when we arrived at the quarry, she squealed with joy and said "Mama, pond, big fish" , "There, turtle swimming" then ran to get the dog "Gigi, come here, see fish".

The outdoor really provides endless prospects for exploration and discovery. And bringing Miss K to the Dairy Farm Quarry this past weekend was great as it reiterated what she has learnt in school that week.

Miss K's first visit to Bollywood Veggies & Hay Dairies

Breakfast in a farm in Singapore? That's exactly what we did on saturday!
Tuck in the north west corner of Singapore is Bollywood Veggies. Their Bistro, Poison Ivy serves fresh produce from their farm.
Sipping coffee and tucking into our breakfast, most of which came from the plants just 100 meters away from your table is something which I never thought would be possible in our city state.

So what's our pick?

Miss K's favourite would be the organic banana and tapioca chips which came with the nasi lemak (obvious, huh!).

My favourite would be the banana bread, kueh Bingka and Kueh Kosui.

J's favourite, his aloe vera drink!

Would love to come back here for lunch one day as they have jackfruit curry and organic veggies freshly picked daily from their farm. They use no MSG in their cooking and little salt. I have to add that they definitely got the right amount of sugar in their banana bread and kuehs, well done!

For those who wants to bring their pooch along, there's actually a dog run at the farm! On our next trip here, we will definitely be bringing Gigi along.

While walking around the farm, we saw this sign. 

I was seriously thinking of going in to check out the "sanctuary", but with Miss K refusing to walk and only wants "mama to carry" we had to make our way home.

So, here's my little koala, all fully "urbanised", refusing to touch any leaves, refusing to trod along the garden path. Sigh. I guess I have a long way to go in educating her to appreciate the countryside.

On our way home, we made a quick visit to Hay Dairies as I promised Miss K that we will go and visit some goats that morning.

I felt sorry for the goats. They were all caged up, looked thin and weary, (AVA does not allow feeding by public anymore, which they once allowed, I totally support this new rule)...and when I heard a few of them bleating away, I just felt sad for them. Having seen fat, healthy goats in Europe roaming free, grazing in the green pastures, I am sure these goats will be so jealous if they know that their europeans cousins are leading such a good life 6,000 miles away.

I had wanted to get Miss K to try some goat's milk, so I got a small bottle of chocolate flavoured one for her ($2) and suprisingly she loved it! Very fresh tasting, much fresher than cow's milk, actually. I love it too!

So, will I succeed in educating Miss K about appreciating the country side? Well, I can only hope...

Playdate at Sheryn's

Miss K is blessed to have so many friends of the same age.
This long May holiday weekend, we were invited to a playdate at one of the most amazing (and tidy) toy-filled home ever! Little Chloe has a huge collection of toys.

Sheryn and Chloe were great hosts.
All five mums (two dads) and todds thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
This is one picture which had the adults clowning around, behaving like monkeys, trying to get them to sit and look at the camera. And finally, thanks to Koala, we managed to get this shot.







What was the attraction of the day? The Playground! 

Miss K loved climbing up the 'ABCs' onto the slide (refer to last collage below). The slide was just right for our toddlers as it wasn't too high and steep. The kids definitely had lots of fun at the playground.

Climbing Up and Sliding Down

Miss K and her friends on the slide - such fun!


Thanks Koala and Sheryn for the lovely photos! (Didn't bring a camera and the phone wasn't reliable)
Here's to more playdates! Woohoo!
I am definitely not a Tiger Mother in the making - I allow Miss K to go on playdates.

On a Bicycle

Would (she) be scared? or have any kind of bicycle phobia?
Will (she) like it?
Will (she) sit still?
Will I manage the bicycle and a toddler in FRONT of me?
(* she is in brackets because it applies to both child and dog)

Miss K and I totally enjoyed our first cycling experience together!
She was not scared and sat rather still, holding onto the handle bars, sometimes fiddling with the bell but most of the time, she sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the sea breeze.

She constantly turns her head behind to make sure her furry friend and Papa are close by....or will hasten me to pedal faster if Papa and the little furry one is ahead.
Well, the furry one enjoyed herself too! We were glad she's just right for the basket!

At $7 for each bike fitted with either a basket (for the dog) or a bicycle child seat (for Miss K) for a duration of 2 hours, I think its really reasonable!
Looking forward to more cycling at East Coast Park.

Morning Fun at Sembawang Splash Park

It was a very hot and sunny saturday morning. Miss K and 10 of her little friends had lots of water fun at the Sembawang Splash Park.
(This Splash Park is at Level 3 of Sembawang Shopping Centre)

It was also really nice for me to meet my mummy friends again. No talks about work, just kiddy chit chats while enjoying the squeals of laughter from our little ones at play.

Miss K was NOT at her best behaviour this morning; she refused to put on her swimsuit, and refused to part with her hat when I told her not to get it wet. Well, I guess she is still a little lethargic from her DPT booster jab she had on Friday.

This is quite a neat place for both wet and dry play. I will definitely bring Miss K back again someday.
We checked into Astons Specialties, right next to the dry play area for lunch, value for money steak, I'd say!

The Wet - Thanks Itsy for the photos! :)

And the Dry

First trip to the Singapore Zoo

Kam came to my rescue (with free tickets to the Zoo!) when I started lamenting (on facebook) about how crazy I was getting the whole morning, trying to entertain my energizer bunny (who had 11 hours of sleep last night).
I was so glad that I need not crack my head further to think of fun places to bring her to, in hope that her energy level could be somewhat drained in the process, so she can have another 11hrs, uninterrupted sleep and (hopefully) I will not be overly exhausted.

This was Miss K's first trip to the zoo! When we got to the zoo, I briefly told her about the animals which we will be seeing in the zoo and she got all excited when I mentioned Elephant!
We arrived at the zoo at 4pm, so we managed to catch only 2 shows:
- The Animal Friends Show at Kidzworld Amphitheatre and
- The Splash Safari Show at Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre.

Personally, I still love the Birds and Buddies Show at the Jurong Bird Park more.

We spent altogether about 45 minutes at the Elephant Ride Area and the Elephants of Asia. Miss K is obsessed with Elephants.
  

Miss K's first Elephant Encounter.

Snapped these photos using my Nokia E72, not great, next trip will be with J's D60!

01.01.11 @ Jurong Bird Park

The first day of the year greeted us with lots of sunshine! Thank you Lord for such a beautiful start to the new year...

We had breakfast at the Hawk's Cafe, no seats outside as the morning show was on, so decided to just have breakfast inside the air-conditioned area. The nasi lemak was good!

Miss K loved the Birds and Buddies show at the Pool amphitheater.

It was a very sunny day, so I put on a hat for Miss K. Initially, we thought she would hate it and will not put it on at all but surprisingly, she loves her hat sooo much, she even refused to take it off when I was changing her diaper.

And before we left, Miss K has to check out the souvenir store; yes, hats on!

Mini playground

Decided to introduce the climb-and-slide and the rocking rhino at our mini playground to Miss K.

(This was 2 weeks ago. Her second visit was on Sunday. She had the playground all to herself both times! Will upgrade her to the larger one on the other side of the estate soon, this one is just right outside our lift)

She loves the rocking rhino, but got bored after a while. Definitely prefers climbing up and sliding down...



First time on the rocking rhino (with part of the slide on background)

 

Up to the top deck before sliding down

 I was holding onto her while she slides (hence no pictures of her ON the slide); might be deemed a little 'kiasi' but since that was her first time on the slide, I wasn't sure whether she would master the ability to slide down without falling off the side (I know... tell me I'm paranoid!)