We took a short cruise to Malaysia the last 2 days and it was tremendous fun for the boy.Apart from the thrill of a stayover on a cruise ship, he had fun with the activities on board the ship, enjoyed ice cream during late hours in the night and was able to stay up late for both nights.
It was a kind of a finale to the end of the school holidays for him, since school is commencing in less then a week. For hb and I, we appreciated the family time we spent together.
This year's Christmas was a little different.
It started with me totally not in the mood for merry-making, feasting or parties. And the ultimate mood dampener, was this; I found out about 2 years ago from WIKIPEDIA that December 25, wasn't even the actual day that Jesus was born, and the date and symbols used in Christmas (like the Christmas tree) all have pagan origins. Fabulous, All of that, together with the frantic consumerism during Christmas and don't get me started on Santa Claus…
So this year, there was no Christmas tree at home. Which I was rather pleased about anyhow. I used to enjoy putting up the tree and hanging up the ornaments, but hated taking down the tree. So I skipped the hassle and concentrated on the presents.
I thought this comic strip from Calvin & the Hobbes put it ever so aptly.
Christmas is really not about Christmas trees, mistle-toe, Santa Clauses, or even the presents.
However, we still practiced gift-giving during this season, as it is a way to show our love for our family and friends, to demonstrate our appreciation for them in our lives.
I am like the most boring gift giver ever when it comes to Christmas. Generally, I think getting gifts for friends or family is extremely hard. It was worse in the past when I was not able to do any handmades. It got easier getting gifts for the ladies in the gifting list, as almost all the ladies in the list got a handmade. The guys in my list got books, all except hb. There was no present for hb this year, and he did not get me a present either, as the both of us have the same attitude towards the consumerism of Christmas.
Traditionally with my extended family, we celebrate Christmas with a family dinner and gift exchange. Incidentally, Christmas eve is my mom's birthday, so Dec 24 becomes a 'double celebration' of sorts.
For Kyle, it is an exciting time for him, Despite knowing about the significance of Jesus' birth during Christmas about 2000 years ago. He's like Calvin from 'Calvin and the Hobbes', it is still fundamentally about the presents.
Nonetheless, the more significant memories which I am sure he will always remember about Christmas time, are meeting with his friends (actually, mommy's friends' kids, who has also become his friends).
He thoroughly enjoys their company and talks about playing with them for the next couple of days. Which reminds me that gatherings like these should be organised more often, without needing any specific occasion for a reason to meet up.
What's still the same for us is that, Christmas is all about the love of God for humanity,
It is all about Jesus really. No matter what I think of the commercialism and paganism that surround this holiday season, we cannot deny the love of God that was demonstrated in His coming through Jesus. For we are the reason, that God from Heaven came and live on Earth so men from Earth can make the choice to have eternal life in Heaven.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
I am now thinking of a way to make Chinese New Year a bit different for the coming year. Seriously, I have never been a fan of festivities. Maybe I will just have to find somewhere soon where the 3 of us can 'disappear to'…
November was a crazy month for me.
It definitely has to be the crazy crafting behind the fund raising effort that really topped the crazy experience for me. I was almost crafting day and night, only stopping for meals and toilet breaks, and grudgingly going out with hb when he asked 
I still will want to do this fund raising next year, but will surely have to plan the crafting schedule way in advance.
So then, what is the 'fruit of my labour'?
Felt Electronic wire holders + keychains (for smart phone users)
Felt Double pin badges
Felt pin badges
Felt pin brooches
Some of them are available in sets from http://handmadesforcharity.blogspot.com/
Do pop by to view the items for sale before they get sold out.
Amid all the craziness, 2 birthdays were celebrated in November; Nick's and hb's.
As for December, it's more crafting again. All the ladies in my gifting list are all getting handmades from me!! Now it's back to the drawing board for some ideas…
He was terrible during the rehearsals.
Refused to walk down the aisle quoting that he was feeling 'moody' that day. Then when he decided to participate in the rehearsal for the bridal party down the aisle, he deliberately walked so slowly and then ran down the aisle, leaving poor Janae the flower girl behind.
Hb and I had to give him a good talking-to after that.
When he realised that he had a really important job; leading the bridal party and passing the rings to the Pastor, he decided to be compliant and follow through, despite having high fever the night before and then nursing a slight fever through the late morning.
Still clowning in front of the camera despite the fever (with flower girl Janae, BIL's niece)
Holding on to the ring pillow
Leading the bridal party and getting ready for their entrance
Ready to roll…
Some moments before the walk in;
With Grandpa and Grandma
With Nana and Granddad
Grandad with the flowergirl and ringbearer
Then, during the solemnisation…
The ringbearer got really bored and decided to fiddle around with the DSLR,
Striking plenty of poses for his friend Alex, who took his photos
Then when it was his turn to use the DLSR…
He took these photos of hb and I, and Alex
The ringbearer had a great time at the wedding despite his fever spiking to 39.1 degrees moments before we left for home.
It has been a taxing day for hb and I, not that we had alot to do for the wedding. But rather, we had to ensure his temperature was kept under control and that he got his rest in between the day wedding and the evening dinner.
Doing his 'yam sengs' at the wedding dinner
His fever spiked to 39.2 degrees celsius during the tail end of the dinner, hb and I even resorted to using a table napkin soaked in ice cold water to keep his temperature down. He was still really active throughout, so we left early and lethargy only set in when we were in the car on our way home.
The fever did not return last night, thank God for His healing hands on Kyle. He seems to have battled the flu bug and is on his way to recovery this morning.
I realised this when converting my photos this morning; that I have not been taking photos of Kyle consistently for the last couple of months. It used to be that there will be new pictures at least every few days, and I realised that I have been a rather slack when it comes to taking photos for the last 6 months.
One of the best thing about this blog when I look back at my old posts have to be the past photos that I have taken of Kyle and the family. So this really reminds me that moving forward, I really need to be consistent in taking more photos, at least on a weekly basis. As Kyle is really growing up too fast before my eyes, and soon (sob sob) he will be out of his preschool years 
We got to enjoy a couple of our favorite things this afternoon; sushi and sashimi for lunch! Kyle simply loves Tamago sushi and Chawanmushi, while I am a fan of Unagi Sushi and Sashimi. I would usually go for the cheaper option of Chirashi sushi don, which is bits of sashimi on top of a bed of sushi rice. Well, Japanese food is one of Kyle's and my favorite cuisine, not for hb though. But he is always a sweet and accomodating dad and hb to often go with what we feel like eating. I think these days, eating out is really expensive in Singapore. We had our lunch at Akashi at Orchard Hotel, and it cost us almost $90.00 for a 4 Tamago, 2 unagi sushi, a tini box of Chirashi Don and a Tonkatsu Pork cutlet set for hb! Overall, the Akashi experience is slighly overpriced for the so-so quality of Japanese cuisine that is equivalent to some of the other Japanese sushi chains. Have to eat out less often and improve on my cooking skills!
We went on to another of our favorite things to do as a family; foot massage!
Kyle is this foot massage junkie that loves getting a foot rub. Every night before he goes to bed, he will ask me for a couple of seconds of foot and back massage!
For an active child like Kyle, it is quite a feat for him to be able to stay still for 30 minutes while the therapist gives him a foot massage. For the next 1 hour, while waiting for hb and I to finish our massages, Kyle was quietly playing with his matchbox cars on the chair.
It was only after when I walked to the reception area that the receptionist told me that a certain caucasian lady who was seated on the left side of hb's chair complained about the noise that Kyle made. Kyle in fact was really quiet and compliant while waiting for us to finish our massage, he crashed his matchbox chairs together for less than 5 minutes, then when I told him to stop, he quietly played with his cars on his chair for the next half an hour.
Our post foot massage experience was shortlived when we heard about this other customer and her complaint. She was so irate to the point that she took the email addresses of the prioperter of this foot massage chain of shops to complain about her less than satisfactory experience here. Just too bad I did not get to hear about it from her and meet her, I would definitely not stay silent on this.
First of all, this massage premises have an open concept where chairs are laid side by side with only a wooden divider that can be used in between the chairs, so it is inevitable to hear noises from other patrons. In fact, each time when we visit their premises, we will always hear a patron who will be fast asleep in his/her chair, snoring really loudly and consistently throughout the next 30-60 minutes! Morever, there is no rule that children are no allowed in their premises, especially since Kyle was a patron in this instance. Also if she wanted exclusivity, she should have paid for a 'personalised and behind close doors' foot massage service and not a foot massage that cost $29 per half an hour, with patrons seated next to one another.
It is people like that, who give expatriates a bad name. The expectations that they have for that little amount of money that they spend are not reasonable. And besides, this really demonstrates a low tolerance of assimilating in another's culture. We learn to be tolerant and gracious of one another and noise in an open concept like this. If she demands total silence and peace, she should jolly well pay for that! I have to say this, what a cheap ang moh she is!
Arrgghh…this is just one of those days that a seemingly relaxed and quiet weekend afternoon is spoilt. Just had to rant a little in this space…
For the longest time that I can remember, I always found that showing affection does not come naturally to me. I can't say that this is an issue of nurturance, since my sister and I brought up by the same set of parents, and she is a very affectionate person (at least a lot more than I am). So maybe I may simply be “wired” to be the less affectionate sort.
I think God has a fabulous sense of humour and a great sense of irony. He paired me up with an affectionate hb, and we have a sticky and a very loving little boy. I think this is all in His plan for me to mould me into a more loving person.
The little boy is extremely generous with his random hugs and his "I love you mummy," Often clings onto my left arm during nights when he bunks in our bed and sleeps in between hb and I. One some snappy days, I will bark, "Don't cling on me tonight, sleep by yourself and leave me alone." And hb will gently remind me that I should not never turn Kyle's affections away in case of negative consequences. Needless to say, I end up with not too good quality of sleep whenever he bunks over.
Kyle makes it up the next morning by planting a kiss on my cheek before he crawls out of our bed. As for the other times, he will always ensure that there will be some light body contact when we sit together on the couch to watch TV, either his shoulder will be leaning on my arm or he will put his little chubby leg on my lap. He is extremely fond of stroking my hair when I carry him, despite me having to constantly remind him that he needs to stop touching my hair as it will start to feel quite creepy when he gets older.
As for how affectionate he is towards his dad? He has done this everytime when hb falls asleep in front of the tv in our bedroom. All without any one prompting him to do so. When he notices that hb is asleep, he quietly enters the room, turns off the tv for him, reaches out for the air con remote control and turns on the air con. Afterwards, he pulls his little blue chair below the light switch, turns off the lights in the room and closes the door behind him. Then he quietly comes to me to announce, "Daddy is sleeping."
I can't help but feeling all soppy when I think about how enduring Kyle can get. So I guess God's plan is working pretty well, motherhood can really change a person indeed.
Christmas for the family usually starts on the eve of Christmas day. A time when…
1. There will be a 'mountain-load' of presents waiting to be unwrapped
2. The most excited person in the family will be for sure Kyle, who will always get the priviledge of unwrapping one present before everyone else does.
3. We will enjoy a wonderful feast laid out for us, this year specially prepared by my brother, Nick.
4. Our furry family member will be drooling throughout the dinner…who unfortunately, got only a few tiny morsels.
5. Where the post-dinner before-dessert activity, will be distributing presents and then opening them…
6. And a birthday celebration for very special person…
7. And more excitement that evening when K gets to dabble with his new toys
1 ) A ride on a bus to town, while standing all 30 minutes of the whole journey. K was surprisingly patient and did not complain about being tired at all.
2) Travelled on the MRT with mum, his first ride on the train was with dh. He concluded that he liked the MRT better than the LRT, as it is much cooler in the airconditioned cabin of the train. (The last ride we had on the LRT was not too pleasant as the aircondition system broke down).
3) Visit to Bugis Junction. K has a very good memory when it comes to places that he has visited before, when we got to Bugis, his first remark was, "I have never been here before…"
4) It's been raining so often these few weeks, that it has been hard to find a good evening to fly a kite. We finally got around doing it this evening at West Coast Park.
5) Caught a glimpse of the sunset at West Coast
and got a little distracted by a stick he picked up from the ground. He decided that the stick was more fun than the kite…
Away from home that is.
Blessed with free accomodation in 2 different hotels in 3 days, a first stay-cation for us. It was a thrill for K, who exclaimed many times during the first day at Resorts World about how he loved hotels and showed his appreciation "oohing and aah-ing" loudly when we checked in to the room for the first time.
We explored Festive walk the first night, just K and I (dh was attending a gala dinner), was not too thrilled by the selection of food available and headed back to Vivo for Ramen and sushi.
Headed towards Imbiah Lookout the next morning to check out the sights…
No thrills, no 3D shows, just beautiful nature for us nature lovers.
Displaying cheeky little poses for the camera along the way
A visit to the under-water world, always a part of our itinerary each time we are at Sentosa
More fancy poses along the way. I still can't figure out where he gets his inspiration from…
More 'waiting for the bus @ the bus stop' poses
We ended the evening with 'Songs of the Sea' which K absolutely hated.
After whining 'I want to go now', we left early and
missed the best part of the show; the finale with the fireworks.
Next morning, crazy queues for breakfast at Festive Walk so we hopped on the train back to Vivo for tea, pork floss toast and a game of 'Old Maid'
Checked out at 12pm and headed to our next stay-cation at Park Regis at Merchant Road
Pretty cool being the first to experience the rooms even before the hotel's grand opening…
Great place to stay for any business traveller.
And the people at Park Regis went that extra mile to prepare a room to ensure a comfortable stay for the 3 of us.
Lunch @ Central at the restaurant with the view of Clarke Quay.
Savoured the best Ramen in Singapore.
We really love our Japanese food, K and I…dh is left with little choice since majority wins 
The family had a great time at our first stay-cation, especially K.
The only complain that I have is of a stiff neck.
Been forced to sleep in strange positions on the hotel beds,
since K insisted on clinging to my arm for all three nights while sleeping…
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