Lyo and Merly Sightings

This morning after relaxing, playing, and Skyping, we left for a walk to Somerset 313.

Steven was desperate for a haircut. My friend Amanda recommended a place for haircuts called QB House. Her husband has been there and has been happy with his haircuts. There is a QB House at Somerset 313, so we grabbed some toast at Ya Kun Kaya Toast, and then headed down to B3-17 of the mall.

Here, the stores in malls have numbers, for example, B3-17. The first number tells you the floor in the mall the store is on. The second number tells you where on the floor the store is located. It's very convenient. If you're looking for 17, and you're at 10, you know you're not far. I guess the malls here need a system like this as elaborate as they all are.

At QB House, Steven slid a $10 bill into a machine, and he received a haircut card. Good price! Even better than back home.

Brandon and I ran around the mall for a bit while we waited for Steven. Once Steven was done, we grabbed some lunch on B3 before walking over to the Paragon.

On our way to the Paragon, we saw Leo and Merly, the two mascots for the Singapore Youth Olympics.

Lyo (pronounced "Leo") is the "Lion of the Youth Olympics". Legend has it that a prince visited a lovely island years and years ago. On the island, he spotted a beautiful lion, and therefore named the island "Singapura", which means "Lion City". Today, the five million people of Singapore have adopted the lion as their national symbol. Lyo's mane represents the passion and spirit of youth. It also refers to the tagline "Blazing the Trail." Lyo's paw is shaped like the island of Singapore.

Merly gets her name from the word "mer" ("sea") and "ly" ("liveliness" and "youthfulness"). Merly is a merlion, a mythical sea creature that is part lion and part fish. She represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village and Singapore's folklore. Her paw is shaped like a heart.

Steven and Brandon posed for some pictures with Lyo. Brandon was so fascinated with Lyo, but he wasn't a big fan of standing so close to him. He grabbed for Daddy's neck!

At the Paragon, we took Brandon to the new playgym. Not too large, but very nice. Only thing that was annoying was that it was so crowded. It's usually crowded on the weekend. The best time to go is during the week.

We walked home from the Paragon. At this point, we were all exhausted. Brandon, Steven, and I all took long naps. It was wonderful!

When Brandon woke up, we thought about going to the pool. However, we didn't want the pool water to irritate his boo boo, so we decided to pass. Instead, we took a cab to Plaza Singapura. Steven had never been there. He was amazed by the sight of another big mall. We spent some time in Carrefour, where we learned that we will need to start saving some money for piano lessons. Our little Brandon loves music. He wasn't very happy when the other little boy tried to play the piano with him. He told him, "No!" :)

Tonight was family pizza night. Jo and Jessie also stopped by for a few minutes.

Now, Brandon is in bed, so it's Mommy and Daddy movie time. Yay!