Plaza Singapura

This morning Brandon and I took a cab to Plaza Singapura with Jo. Plaza Singapura is a mall located at the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. It's so hard for me to do much shopping with Brandon, and Jo offered to go with me.

There is a store at Plaza Singapura where everything costs SGD$2. It's like the dollar stores in the U.S. I loved this store! I bought several items, including two wine glasses, Ziploc bags, refridgerator magnets, an elephant watering can for Brandon, and, of course, another ball for Brandon. Jo was so helpful. She took Brandon out of the store and entertained him while I shopped. She was also great company. We had lunch at the mall.

There is also a department/grocery store at Plaza Singapura called Carrefour. I bought Brandon some generic Croc sandles. The sandles that I bought back home are still too big for him. I also bought Brandon a toy rotary dial telephone. He loves talking on the phone, so I figured he might leave our phone alone if he has his own. (Yeah, right!) I also broke down and bought Brandon another Playskool Busy Ball Popper. (See video.) It's the same one that Grandma D got Brandon for his first birthday. It was his favorite toy at home, and we couldn't bring it with us. At home, the toy probably costs around $20. Here, I've seen it for about $45. Today, I saw it on sale for $30. I called Steven about it, and we both thought that it was worth the money. I waited until after Brandon's nap to open it. He went wild when he saw the box. "Ball. Ball. Ball." I've gotta say that I was a little disappointed though. Brandon liked the toy, but he didn't seem as into it as he was at home. That's how it goes though, right? I'm thinking that he will play with it more later. He goes through all of his toys when we spend time at home.

This afternoon, my friend Wendy came over for a playdate. I realized that this is the first time we have had someone over since we've lived here. It was really nice. Brandon and Sophia played together and fought over toys. They were both screaming and having a little trouble with the idea of sharing.

This evening I put some pictures on the refridgerator with my new magnets. Something little that makes this feel a little more like home...

Mr. Brandon is learning how to scream and make noise when he doesn't get what he wants. He use to just point at what he wanted. Now, he points and grunts and/or screams. He is still a very, very happy boy. But, he is learning more and more each day that he has his own mind and his own will. Isn't this not suppose to happen until Brandon is 2 years old? :)

BALI

Wow. So much to tell!



On Friday, Brandon and I went ahead to our Friday playgroup. We didn't have to leave for the airport until late that afternoon, and I wanted Brandon to have some playtime with friends before his nap. Our friend, Kristie, was hosting this week's group for her son's first birthday. Kristie has a lovely three bedroom apartment. I think that her apartment rent is reasonable too. Maybe we will look into those apartments. As I've mentioned, we currently live in a serviced apartment. Serviced apartments are more expensive because of the amenities (maid service). I might be willing to trade the serviced apartment for more space. The only issue is that serviced apartments offer furnished living and short leases. I did hear though that some non-serviced apartments can come furnished with short leases. Worth investigating...



While Brandon took his nap Friday, I packed and cleaned like mad. I didn't want to leave dirty dishes in the sink, and I wanted everything to be ready when Brandon woke up.



Perfect timing. When Brandon woke, we took a cab to Steven's office to pick him up from work, and then from there we headed to Changi. Something neat - On the way to the airport, the cab driver pointed out that all of the plants in the median on the road were moveable. He said that in case of war, the plants would be moved, and the median would serve as a runway for planes. Cool. He said that there is another place for this on the west side of Singapore.



Two things I noticed at the airport. 1) They had a kids' playground. What a great idea! A place for kids to play while parents are waiting at the airport! 2) The airport security is at the gates. I enjoyed this as there were no long lines of security. We just had to go through security for our plane flight. No crowd. No line. Yay!



We flew Jetstar from Singapore to Bali - Denpasar. Our flight left at 18:35 pm. Really happy that we were able to leave on Friday instead of Saturday. However, the late flight wasn't ideal for Brandon. He was okay on the 2 1/2 hour flight, but it was the most difficult flight we've been on. He is so active, and he just didn't want to sit still. Luckily, the plane wasn't full so we were able to walk Brandon up and down the aisles with his ball, and he was able to climb into many different rows of seats.



We arrived in Bali, on time, at 21:15 pm. Brandon did sleep for 15 minutes on the flight, but I could tell that he was crashing quickly. We had to wait in line for about an hour to get our passports stamped at immigration. It cost $25 U.S. dollars per person to enter Indonesia.



Hotel transportation was waiting for us when we exited the airport, and it was about a 30 minute car ride to the hotel. There was quite a bit of traffic out, probably because it was Friday night. The roads were nicely paved, but I could see that the sides of the roads and entranceways to shops were dirt. The driving was crazy too! Motor scooters were zooming in and out of the cars. It looked and felt very dangerous, but the drivers seemed good at working with each other. I wonder if there are many bad road accidents in Bali?



As we were driving to the hotel, I noticed that we were going up in elevation. When there were breaks in the trees, I could see lights down below on the coast. Gorgeous.



Poor Brandon fell asleep a few minutes before we arrived at the hotel and woke up once we arrived... :( He was ready for bed!



I was so impressed when we arrived at our resort. Even pulling into the entrance, I could tell that the Nikko Bali Resort and Spa was going to be wonderfully luxurious. Large, open air, hot tea served to enjoy as we checked in. Ahhhh... Below is the link to where we stayed. I took some pictures, but once we returned I wished I had taken more. It was kind of nice, though, to not have the camera out all of the time. More of a relaxing vacation. http://www.nikkobali.com/



One thing that stood out to me was that our resort was built into a cliff. We entered the resort at the main lobby, but then we had to take the elevator down to our room (from floor 15 to 8). Very cool.



Our room was very nice. We were upgraded from a standard ocean view room to a deluxe ocean view room for free (special promotion). As soon as we had Brandon down to sleep, we enjoyed some room service and drinks out on the balcony. Chicken satay, ice cream, and some beer - Heineken and Bintang. Bintang means "star beer", and it is the best selling brand of beer in Indonesia. The sound of the ocean and the breeze created instant relaxation and vacation mode. Life is good. :)



On Saturday, we went down to one of the restaurants for the breakfast buffet. Great variety of ethnic foods. Bacon and eggs, vegetable curry, and congee to name a few. After breakfast, we took Brandon down to the beach and the pool for a bit. The Indian Ocean was beautiful. Very blue! I was impressed with the strength of the water. Very, very strong undertow. It also looked like there were quite a few rocks in the ocean. Not many people swimming in the ocean all weekend. The area of beach in Bali that we stayed in was Nusa Dua. A pretty quiet area. A more popular area is called Kuta. Kuta is known for its active nightlife. I also think that people go there for the great surfing waves.



Brandon loved the water and the sand!!!



After some time in the water, we took Brandon back up to the room. We had scheduled a babysitter at the hotel for a few hours. The hotel had a Jungle Camp for children, which was one reason we chose this particular resort. Although the playroom was geared for children from 4 to 12 years of age, children younger could go as long as they were accompanied by an adult. I was worried about whether or not Brandon would be okay with us leaving him, but he did fine. We kept checking in on him throughout the three hours, and he seemed to be keeping busy. The Jungle Camp wasn't very busy while we were there. Most of the time, Brandon was the only kid in there. I think that at most there were two other (older) kids at one point. So, Brandon didn't really have any other kids to play with, which kind of bummed me out. I was hoping that he would have more socializing with kids. Oh, well. Mommy and Daddy sure enjoyed their time off! We swam in the four pools, went down the water slide, had yummy drinks, and lounged. Nice to not have to chase the little man around for a while. Also, it was nice to be out in the sun, but not have to worry about Brandon getting overdone due to the cold/allergies he has had.



We picked Brandon up from the Jungle Camp before his nap, and we all had a nice little afternoon doze.



The pool and beach areas were quieter in afternoon. The resort was on a private beach, and it seemed like most of the people came out in the morning but went inside or left the resort in the afternoon. We took Brandon down to the pool again after his nap. One of the pools actually had a beach. Brandon loved playing with the basketballs and volleyballs on the beach. He also had a blast throwing the sand, most of which ended up in his hair. I noticed that the sand was larger and more course than most sand I've seen before. It wasn't easy to get the sand out of Brandon's hair, as we couldn't really give him a full bath. The tap water wasn't safe to drink, and Brandon loves to drink his bath water. So, we just sprayed him down with the hand shower as best we could before bed.



After we put Brandon to bed, we had another babysitter come from 9 pm to midnight. We went down to The Shore, the restaurant right on the beach. We lounged on a couch, enjoyed tapas, drinks, and dessert by candlelight, and stared at the stars. Heaven. The weather in Bali was amazing. Not too hot or humid like Singapore. And, at night it was perfect. So comfortable to sit outside - probably around 70 degrees with a cool ocean breeze. Again, ahhhh...



Brandon didn't sleep very well later into Saturday or Sunday night. Because we were all in one room, he would wake up in his crib, see us, and then want to be with us. We tried getting him to sleep in our bed, but he couldn't get comfortable. The nights were rough, but Steven and I were able to take it easy enough during the day to catch up on rest.



Sunday morning we had the buffet for breakfast again. Brandon was quite cranky from sleeping poorly the night before, and after being awake for a couple of hours, he went down for a nap. This is not like Brandon! He must have been exhausted! We were happy, though, that he took a morning nap, because he was in a good mood for the babysitter and the Jungle Camp again on Sunday. He did cry when Daddy left the room, which was so, so sweet. I could tell that Brandon really enjoyed having the extra time to spend with his Daddy. We kept checking on Brandon at the kids' club, and he was fine a few minutes after we left.



It was strange having time in the day away from Brandon. In a way, we didn't know what to do with ourselves. And, I missed Brandon! It didn't stop me from enjoying my time away from him, but he is so much a part of us now. As a friend of mine said, we are no longer a couple now. We are a family.



But, time away was refreshing. We lounged by the pool. As it was Mother's Day, we both thought we would treat ourselves to Balinese massages at the spa. Steven had his massage in the morning, so I was completely by myself for an hour with NOTHING to do. Hmmm.... I guess I'll order a mojito and doze. :)



I went for my massage while Steven put Brandon down for a nap. What a Mother's Day!



Late afternoon on Sunday, we left the resort and went to a outdoor shopping and restaurant center called Bali Collections. We visited a souvenir shop where I bought a couple of items. I bought a carved wooden mask, which was colorfully painted. Brandon also bought me a wooden handicraft. Won't say what it is in case he also bought one for each of his grandmas. :)

The currency in Bali is the rupiah. U.S. dollar to rupiah is about 1:10,000. So weird carrying around a 50,000 bill!

We passed on food at the restaurant center as we weren't all that hungry. Plus, once we put Brandon to bed that night, we had the sitter come again. As this was already our last night in Bali, we wanted to enjoy drinks on our oceanfront couch again.



Monday, we left the resort at 5:30 am. While we were only in Bali for three nights and two days, we felt like we had a vacation that was longer. Great time together as a family. Great time together as a couple. Very worth the traveling and money. (I did tell Steven "Happy Father's Day" and "Happy Anniversary" while we were there. :) )



We flew Air Asia back to Singapore. Our flight left Bali at 6:55 am and arrived back at Changi at 9:30 am.



Brandon was difficult on the plane. Although he stayed sleeping until we arrived at the airport, he was still very tired. We thanked Uncle Ryan again for the first birthday present for Brandon. We played the Baby Einstein DVD on Steven's computer, and it really helped calm Brandon down for the last 20 minutes of the flight.



Sadly, we took a cab from the airport to Steven's office. Brandon had fallen asleep in the cab. Very hard to part ways with Steven after such an amazing weekend.



When we returned back to our apartment, I wanted to cry. Actually, I did cry for a minute. Just a wave of homesickness. It was a very strange feeling to go on a vacation and return to Singapore. Normally, you go home after a vacation. While this is what we did, it was awkward when I didn't get that feeling of "home" when we returned.



Since Dino helped me get our bags up to the apartment, I was able to keep Brandon asleep. I even took a little snooze with him. It was still early, but it had been a long day.



When Brandon woke up, I was a bit lonely, so we went down to Jo's apartment for a while. The kids were at school, but I wanted to find out how their weekend was. They also traveled over the weekend. They went to Bintan. Bintan is also an island in Indonesia, but it is close enough that you can take a ferry over from Singapore. Maybe another excursion we can do later!



This afternoon, I took Brandon back to Dr. Chiang for his follow-up appointment. Dr. Chiang took him off of the cold and cough medicines and one of the inhalers. Since Brandon still has some cough, Dr. Chiang wants to see him again in two weeks. We were going to also have Brandon's bloodwork done on Monday, but as he was tired and cranky I decided to wait until our next visit. Great vacation, but exhausting and busy for the wee-man.

Brandon weighed 10.4 kg with his clothes and shoes on. That's a bit less than 23 pounds.

Brandon and I made a quick stop at the grocery on the way home from the doctor's office. As I was checking out, I heard Brandon saying, "Dog. Dog. Dog." I told him that there weren't any dogs in the grocery. Then, I looked up and saw a statue of two dogs. So cool! He told me! :)

I was even so tired that I crashed at 9:30 on Monday night. Why is it that you often need a vacation from your vacation?



Don't know if we'll ever go to Bali again. If we do, we'll try to see more of Bali. Since we wanted to relax on this trip, we spent most of the time at the resort. We've heard that there are some amazing sights there. There's just never enough time...



It was definitely a weekend to remember!!! I just wish that it was something that Brandon would actually remember too. :)

Mum's Gift!

This morning Brandon and I walked to The Coffee Bean for our Thursday AWA meetup. Unfortunately, we are having trouble getting everyone together for meetups due to different nap schedules and a wide range of babies' ages. Babies range from about two months to two years. So, I wasn't sure how many people would be at our play date today, and I was very happy when three other moms were there.



After The Coffee Bean a couple of us with older children walked up to the playground in the Forum. I love taking Brandon to play because he has so much fun AND because I am able to talk to other mother's at the play areas.



This morning, I struck up a conversation with an American woman. I could tell she was American by her accent. I still can't tell England, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand apart...



Not only was this mom an American, but she was from Schaumburg! So nice to talk to someone from the Chicago area!



Wendy met her husband when she was studying abroad in college. He was from Italy, so after college she moved to Italy for six years. I think they also lived in Switzerland for some time. After that, they moved to Minneapolis. They came to Singapore in January and stayed for a month. Then, they spent the past three months in Sydney, Australia. They have been back in Singapore for a week, and they will go back to Minneapolis in two months. Like us, they are living abroad for six months.



Wendy invited me over to her place in the afternoon so I could see her apartment. Since we are considering moving, I wanted to see what her serviced apartments are like. Very nice and soooo many amenities! Her apartment is connected to a mall, the pool is ginormous, there is a bar/restaurant next to the pool, and there are three playgrounds for kids! Very convenient to be able to take the elevator down to a playground! We'll have to investigate these apartments more...



Brandon and I had to be back at our apartment by 6 pm. I asked for one of our maids to come and babysit Brandon for an hour or two this evening. I didn't have any plans. I just wanted Brandon to spend time with someone other than me. He has started to become more of a Mommy's boy since we've been here, and he even seems to have a little stranger danger now.



When Laila came, I asked her to play with Brandon while I spent some time getting things done around the apartment. I spent some time in the kitchen and time in our bedroom away from Brandon. Brandon definitely knew I was still there. He kept knocking on the doors and checking for me.



After about 45 minutes, I decided to go down to the pool for a bit. I wanted Brandon to know that I was gone for a while.



I only spent 20 minutes down at the pool. I was just a little nervous that Brandon was having a meltdown.



When I got back, Brandon started to cry. It looked like he had been crying a little while I was gone. I also noticed that Brandon had two small balls - one in his hand and one in his mouth. We bought these for Brandon a couple of weeks ago, but we put them away since they are a choking hazard. I told Laila that Brandon couldn't play with the balls because of the choking danger, so she put the balls away.



I figured that I should grab a shower while I had an extra pair of hands. It felt sooo good!



But, when I got out of the shower, I saw that Brandon had the two small balls again! I was very frustrated about this to say the least. I told Laila again that Brandon could not have the balls. As Brandon only wanted to be near me at this point, I went ahead and let Laila go. Definitely glad we had her come for a short trial.



When Steven got home from work (earlier) tonight, I told him about the incident. I wanted to know if I was overreacting by being angry with Laila's actions. We had also planned to have Laila come on Saturday night so we could have a date night. Now, I was even more nervous about this. Steven agreed with me. He said that we should absolutely not have Laila again. That made me feel much better!



And.... It turns out that we won't need Laila on Saturday night anyway! Steven pulled some papers out of his computer bag this evening and said, "Happy Mother's Day!" I looked at the papers. Plane flights to Bali! I was so excited! I was even more in awe when I saw that we are leaving tomorrow! Steven said that he got me the flight to Bali, and Brandon got me the flight back from Bali. My two guys sure do treat me well!



So, I've gotta go! We have to book a hotel for Bali now, and we have some packing to do. Hooray!!!



We are returning from Bali on Monday morning. I will post about our weekend adventure then, as I will be taking a break from blogging this weekend. :)



Happy Mother's Day to our two wonderful mothers! We love you both so much. Thank you so much for giving us our roots to grow and our wings to fly. (And, sorry that we took that literally and flew to Singapore. :) )

Hump Day

Not too much to report for today.

When I woke up this morning, I noticed that Steven had washed a couple of dishes for us last night. Yay! What a great way to start the day! We also got to talk to Jer, Jen, Adam, and Zach on Skype this morning. So, so great to see them. We miss them all so much!

Brandon and I went to Royce Gym this morning after we left Steven at the train. He loves playing there, and I always find nice people to chat with while our kids play. Today, I spoke to a friendly mom from South Africa. She has been here for four years. Her son is 16 months old. It's really nice when I can meet people who have kids right near Brandon's age.

When we got back home, Brandon played on his own for a while. I was happy about that because I didn't want him to take his nap too early. When he does this, he crashes so early at night.

Housekeeping came by before Brandon's nap and that kept him entertained for a while. He was so interested in watching the maid clean and, especially, vacuum!

Last weekend, our cable company, Starhub, changed its channel lineup. When it did, we lost most of our channels for some reason. So, for the last few days, we haven't really had much tv. Starhub sent a technician out this afternoon to check our issue. They gave us a new cable box, and we are up and running again. Maybe I can catch American Idol on Star World tonight!

We went down to the pool this afternoon, but we didn't change into our suits. The last couple of times we've gone down to the pool, Brandon hasn't been that interested in swimming. He just wants to walk around and make his best effort at getting past me to the tennis courts. It was sooo hot out. Jo bought a cake today for Dino's (security guard) birthday. After a quick little birthday celebration, we headed back inside.

We had plans to meet Steven downtown for dinner tonight. We usually take the train down, but I was worried that even a ten minute walk to the train station might be too much for Brandon. Since our ER visit over the weekend, I have been very, very cautious with Brandon. I just don't want that to happen again, and he still isn't 100%.

It is always so good to see Steven for dinner. We were able to take a nice little walk together, as well as enjoy a meal together.

Brandon and I were able to take the train home as it had cooled a bit in the evening. We made a quick stop for some diapers and milk on the way home. We got home a bit after dark. It felt good to walk home at dark. A nice change from being out in the sun.

Brandon is starting to talk more. Today, he said "dog". Words he can say now - "ma ma", "da da", "bye bye", "mum mum", "hi", "more", "ball", "dog". Sometimes, I think he can say "yeah", but not completely sure about that one. So cool to hear him talk. I think I love it even more when he gibber gabbers at me. I know he is trying to say something, and it's so cute to watch him try to communicate. I especially love how he talks with inflection in his voice and personality. Sometimes he will even point and shake his finger at me while he is talking. Such passion for such a little person. :)

American Club

This morning Brandon and I walked down Orchard Road after dropping Steven off at the train station. We were on our way to the American Club to meet a friend.









They are setting some booths up on Orchard Road with advertisements for the Youth Olympic Games. The games will be here in mid-August. There is also a large clock on the corner of Orchard and Paterson that is counting down the time until the games begin. If you can't see the picture well enough, it says that there are 102 days until the Olympics. I don't walk past this clock every day, but I think it read that there were 139 days until August 14th when we got here. Actually, the time has passed rather quickly!



I also took a picture of the nutmeg sculpture in front of the Orchard Ion today. I've seen the sculpture, but I've never really taken the time to stop and investigate it. Why a nutmeg? Apparently, the mall's building site use to be a nutmeg plantation. Orchard Road also takes its name from the orchard and nutmeg plantations that were located on that site in the early 19th century before commercial development. Good to learn a bit of local history.



































Brandon and I got to the American Club a little earlier, so I let Brandon run around in the lobby while we waited for our friends. While we were waiting, my mobile rang. I almost didn't answer it, because I didn't recognice the number. I'm so glad I did though! It was Dr. Chiang. At first, I was worried that he wanted to see Brandon for some reason. However, he just called to give me the names of some great parks to take Brandon to here. We were talking about this at the appointment yesterday, and Dr. Chiang couldn't remember the names of a couple of the parks. I was so impressed that he not only remembered, but he also took the time to pick up the phone and call me. Wow. He could have even waited until next Monday's follow-up appointment to tell me, but he didn't. So, so nice!

Brandon and I enjoyed our time at the American Club today. They have a very nice playroom, and Brandon loves playing with new toys! They also have a great lunch menu, and we enjoyed a nice lunch by the pool with our friends afterwards.
















I wanted to get home before Brandon's nap, but I was also trying to wait until close to 1 pm to get back. There was some building maintenance going on today, so they had our air conditioning off until 1 pm. I really didn't want Brandon taking a nap in a room with no a/c, especially in this heat! Luckily, the air was back on when we returned.







This afternoon, Jo, Jake, and Jessie came down to visit for a while. They have been such a blessing to me here! Brandon and I love their company!


A couple of neat things Brandon did today -


When he got up from his nap, he was a little cranky and laid his head on my shoulder. After a couple of minutes, I asked him if he wanted to turn the light on. He popped his head right up and pointed at the light switch. Just so cool when I know that he understands something I say.


Brandon was playing with a red transparent baby wipe case today. He was holding it up over his face. I saw him look up at the lights on the ceiling through the case. He must have noticed that he was seeing red because then he kept moving the case on and off of his face. He was looking at the lights without the case and then through the case. So fun to watch Brandon learn and discover his world!

Date with Brandon

Pictures -

Din Tai Fung's steamed pork dumplings

Marche - A usual morning stop

Ya Kun Kaya Toast

This morning Brandon slept until 7:15 am. Yay! Lately, he has been getting up around 6 or 6:30. So early! :) Steven asked me the other morning why Brandon doesn't like to sleep in on the weekends. We both just laughed!

I decided that we would still walk Steven to the train this morning. Brandon definitely wanted to go out, and it's not too long of a walk to the train. After we parted ways with Steven, I decided to try something new for breakfast. Ya Kun Kaya Toast is a chain restaurant which sells kaya toast, a favorite snack here in Singapore. Kaya is a green spread/jam made of eggs, sugar, and coconut milk and flavored with pandan. It is spread on toast, often with butter. Pretty good! The spread was sweet, but light. I also didn't think that the coconut overpowered the flavor too much. I'll eat coconut, but I'm not a huge coconut fan. Not sure I could really even taste the coconut. I'll definitely have some kaya toast again.

As it was still early and not unbearably hot, Brandon and I walked to Mt. Elizabeth Hospital for his follow-up appointment with Dr. Chiang. It was just a ten minute walk from the train station.

I really like Dr. Chiang so far. He checked Brandon and said that his lungs sound much better. He wants us to continue the breathing treatments and cold and cough medicines for one week, and he asked that we come back in one week for another follow-up. It sounds like Brandon had a cold, as well as some allergies, asthma, and/or bronchitis.

Brandon weighs about 10 kg still, which is just over 22 pounds. He was 77 cm long at the appointment today, which is just under 30 1/2 inches. His temperature was normal today (36.8 degrees Celsius under the arm. 37 degrees Celsius is normal.)

Dr. Chiang told me that he went to medical school in Singapore, but he studied in England for one year, as well. His son went to medical school at Duke University in the States. (I specify where because I think there is a branch of Duke University Medical School here in Singapore.) His daughter is an attorney here in Singapore. Dr. Chiang has three grandchildren. He had many pictures of them in his office. It is good to feel that your child's pediatrician really does love children and his profession. Makes me trust his decisions even more.

Next week, when we go back to Dr. Chiang, he will run labs on Brandon's bloodwork. Not looking forward to that. But, we need to see if Brandon's iron is up since we started giving iron supplements at 12 months when he was classified as anemic. Also, I am anxious to check that all of his labs look good.

Since it was still a good hour before Brandon's nap, I decided to go into the Paragon before heading home. The hospital is located just behind the mall, and I thought that Brandon would enjoy a nice play at the playground on Level 5. He was so happy when I got him out of the stroller to play!

After Brandon played for a while, we were both hungry for lunch. Rather than trying to get him home and make him something to eat, I decided that we would have lunch together at Din Tai Fung. I was craving xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings)! We have been to Din Tai Fung before. Supposedly, Din Tai Fung, Taiwanese cuisine, was ranked as one of the world's Top Ten Best Restaurants by The New York Times. Delicious!!! I don't know that I've ever taken Brandon to a sit down restaurant by myself before. Luckily, he was in a good mood, hungry, and the food came quickly. He loved the pork dumplings and the pork and egg fried rice. I was so happy that Brandon ate the egg. He hasn't wanted egg before! Not that I needed the caffeine, but I also enjoyed the hot jasmine tea that was served with lunch. Mmmmmm...

After our nice lunch date, Brandon and I took a cab home. The Paragon isn't far at all from our apartment, but I just didn't want to overdo it. The cab ride was fast, cheap, and cool. The best decision.

After Brandon's nap, Jo, Jessie, and Jake stopped by, and then we all headed down to the pool. Brandon wasn't really in the mood to swim today. He just wanted to walk around the pool, and then he wanted to go to the tennis courts. I didn't want to let Brandon run around on the courts today though. I figured that he would run around too much which could bother his chest congestion. Also, there are so many trees around the courts that I was worried about any allergies that would complicate his breathing. So, as the pool wasn't as exciting today, we headed back inside.

I've been having a little trouble getting Brandon to eat vegetables. So, today I thought I would try giving Brandon a jar of baby food vegetables. He ate the whole thing! It's not something I'll do all of the time, but I was just so happy that he ate the vegetables. Maybe I'll start mushing up his vegetables...???

After eating and changing out of our wet swimsuits, we headed down to Jo's for a while. Jo had said that Jessie was having a little trouble with her math, and I volunteered to help Jessie with her assignment that is due tomorrow. Jessie is in 3rd grade, and her homework involved her finding the perimeter and area of figures. She also had a couple of questions about the number of faces, vertices, and edges in some 3D figures. And, I was impressed to see a problem that involved the net drawing of a cube. I'm looking forward to getting into a school or two here for some observations. Really hope I can find a time to do this!

Mum's Day Celebration

Pictures -

Singapore desserts - I didn't take this picture. I pulled it from the internet. However, these are some of the desserts that we were served at our Mum's Day celebration

Baby Bites - aka Mum Mums in the U.S. Notice that these are Chicken with Vegetable Flavor! Don't have this kind in the U.S.!

Baby cereal - Heinz in one of the main brands I've seen for baby food here in Singapore. I wonder why Heinz doesn't market and sell baby food back home?

This morning Brandon seemed to be doing much better. I was so relieved! I could still tell that he had some chest congestion, and his nose was very runny in the morning. However, he wasn't weezing, and it didn't sounds like his chest was rattling. His breathing had definitely slowed down too.

I wanted Brandon to take it easier today. Since he was itching to get out of the apartment a couple of hours after waking, I took him down to the pool. It was definitely hot outside already (at 10:30 am), but there was some shade over the pool. Also, the pool water was cool, and it was so refreshing. I think I even felt a nice breeze a few times! :) Jo, Jake, and Jessie came down to the pool for a bit, which helped entertain Brandon and me. He doesn't really enjoy the pool if there are no other people down there. I also walked Brandon over to the tennis courts where some older boys were playing. Brandon was so intrigued. He watched them hit the ball back and forth. I'll be very surprised if Brandon isn't interested in sports when he is older.

While Brandon was napping, Mommy was able to go down to the pool by herself! First time since we've been here! Steven was working from home, so I enjoyed a nice thirty minutes actually swimming and lounging down at the pool. A vacation!

At 3 pm, Steven spent some time playing with Brandon, so I could go down to the Mother's Day celebration that our apartment manager had organized. It was wonderful! There were probably 10 - 15 other moms from our building there. We each received a hot pink carnation with a hot pink ribbon which had our name painted on it. We were served tea and desserts. Yum! Some of the desserts were local desserts that are served at high teas here. For example, I had dadar gulung, an Indonesian pandan pancake with coconut filling. (In the dessert picture above, these are at the far left - the green rolls) Pandan is a tree that grows in Asia, and the leaves from the tree are sweet. The leaves are used to make a pandan paste that flavors desserts.

There was also had a huge chocolate cake for us. So yummy! I didn't have my camera with me, but we did take a group picture of all of us mums. I will have to get a copy e-mailed to me and post it later.

We were treated in style today! I had a nice manicure down by the pool before heading back up to see Steven and Brandon. So thankful for Mum's Day, one week early! :)

This evening, we went to Tanglin Mall for dinner and grocery shopping. We enjoyed food at Chili's. A nice taste of home...