Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas to all our friends!

Ho Ho Ho.... Merry Christmas to all our friends!!

Ben, Shirley and Nathaniel.

Merry Christmas 2007!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Barney!!!!!!!!!!

9 December 2007.

Guess who I went to see today!! It was such a treat! Daddy and Mummy brought me to Marina Square to see Barney and friends!! Daddy thought the show was at 4pm, but later found out it was 5pm. But that was great for me, because we got there early and we queued to get into the area closest to the stage. But they only allowed one parent. Mummy sacrificed and watched from the second floor. Daddy and I went in! We managed to sit on the right side of the stage! So cool! My first close up with Barney!! By the way, Daddy told me that he was excited too, imagine that!!

Anyway, Barney came on and then BJ and then Baby Bop! So cool! And oh yes! I got a fright (scared scared) when they shot the little stuff in the air! It went with a loud "pop" sound and it came raining down on us. It was fun! Thank you Daddy and Mummy!

Nat Nat

The Barney Show at Marina Square

Baby Bop, BJ and Barney

I am an aspiring musician

8 December 2007.

Daddy got me a set of musical instruments. And this is one of them. Dad said he used to play this in primary school and he called it a "di zi." But Mummy said it was a "recorder." Daddy and Mummy did not agree with each other. Anyone wants to comment?

By the way, my mei mei, Mikayla loved the way I played the wind instrument!

Nat the musician

Sesame Street Gang!

7 December 2007. It was a Friday evening. Daddy rushed all the way back home after work to pick me up. He then rushed all the way down to Ngee Ann City to try and catch the Sesame Street show at 7pm. But traffic was so bad. Daddy was so frustrated. When we finally got there, it was already 7.20pm! The show had ended, but at least I got to see Ernie, Cookie Monster, Elmo and Bird! Thanks Daddy for making the effort!!! Thought that counts!! Nat Nat :)

Sesame Street Gang

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Father and son

I could not resist blogging this photo. We were mucking around on the bed, and we decided to take this photo. At that time, Nat could not do the peace sign yet, so we made do with victory!!



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Saturday, December 15, 2007

Barbara's or Ah Kou's birthday

21 October 2007.

Ahhhh... another birthday, but this time on your dad's side, Nat. This was a family dinner held at a Hokkien Restaurant at OCBC Centre. Ah Kou brought her boyfriend, Jacob along. Who knows one day he might be your uncle.

Barbara with Jacob. Barbara's birthday celebration

Nat with Kong Kong. Barbara's birthday celebration

Por Por's birthday

28 September 2007.

Wow, time really flies.... and we are celebrating Por Por's birthday again. The 3 sisters and their families gathered at Christina's house for a family home cooked meal. Of course it was delicious! Being whipped up by Uncle Peter and Wilma!

Por Por's birthday_28 Sep 2007

Schichida

22 September 2007.

We had been attending this Schichida thing with Nat once a week for 2 terms. But we had decided to stop this as it was expensive and we felt that it was time to look around for some playschool or nursery for him to socialise. The Schichida, I felt was more to stimulate his mind and improve some fine motor skills. It was only 1 hour a week and there was hardly time for Nat to really make good friends.

These photos were taken on his last session.

Nat with Teacher Ivy 22 Sep 2007

Nat with Ivy and one twin_22 Sep 2007

Nat with the twins

Nat reading?

22 September 2007.

We got these little books with pictures from his grandma for his 2nd birthday. Nat seemed to follow everything we do these days like read the newspapers, books etc. Though he does not spend that much time on them, I guess its just great to see him enjoy the books. These 2 photos shows him flipping the pages and going into some form of english. Quite cute I must say!

Nat reading 22 Sep 2007

Nat reading (2) 22 Sep 2007

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Nat's actual birthday

19 September 2007 was Nat's actual birthday. Your parents took leave specially to bring you out Nat. We started by treating you to a Macdonalds breakfast at Downtown East. All I can say about Macs is that their marketing is really effective. Even a 2 year boy is attracted to the golden arches as well the clown himself! All you new parents out there, try to limit how often you go to Macs. You don't want your child to eat too much fast food!

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We then brought you to the zoo! We wanted to introduce to you some animals that you have seen in photos etc. We ran straight to an elephant show when we reached the zoo. You were clapping but crying at the same time. Clapping because you enjoyed the elephants but crying, we believe because the speakers were quite loud and possibly because the elephants were quite big and a little aggressive? Well, we don't really know the reason, but we hope you enjoyed the day at the zoo.

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Nat, you also visited the zebras, monkeys, orang utans, seals, penguins, hippos, kangaroos (which you saw in Perth already), polar bears etc.

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The kangaroos.

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A seal ashamed!

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Nat on a "seal"

We then headed back home and got you a tiny cake for you!

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Nat's 2nd birthday celebration

We celebrated Nathaniel's 2nd birthday a few days earlier on the 16 September 2007 at home. We only invited immediate family members to the party. We had some simple home cooked food, which was great! And of course Daddy got Nat a "Bob the Builder" cake from Sweet Secrets! Nat, we sure hope you enjoyed this day!!

I just cannot believe how fast time flies. It was just the other day that Nat came into this world, a tiny 2.98kg. Just look at him now! And he is saying things everyday that surprises us!

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"Bob the Builder, can you fix it, yes we can" cake from Sweet Secrets

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The food! Yum Yum!

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Nat with his parents

By the way, Nat we all sang a happy birthday song to you, and we helped you blow off the 2 big candles!!

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Nat with Kong Kong and Ma Ma

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Nat with his parents and cousins

One Degree 15 Marina Club

14 September 2007. We were invited to a "makan" session on board a boat which we got on at Sentosa's One Degree 15 Marina Club. We had good food as usual. But the boat was really something. So luxurious!

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Nat with Mummy at the front of the boat

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Nat on the Captain's seat!!

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Nat with Daddy, with the boat in the background

Hi-5 Concert

Now that I have completed the holiday we took to Europe, its now time to update everyone about Nathaniel's activities.

7th September 2007. We went for a Hi-5 concert at IMM. This group is one of Nat's favourite. This was Nat's first official sit-down concert. And we hope that he enjoyed it. We also brought along his cousins, Enrica and Eedena. Personally, I enjoyed it too as I too watch the DVDs/VCDs of the group with Nat, and thus could identify with some of the characters. Two members of the cast were replaced for this concert. Tim by Steve and Kathleen by San.

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Momsy with Nat



Daddy with Nat and his two cousins, Enrica and Eedena

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The Hi-5 cast in Singapore. Kelly, Nathan, Charli, Steve and San

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Last day of our trip

Saturday 3rd November 2007.

Our last day in London saw us heading down to Oxford Street again. We managed to get more stuff from Primark before heading to Buckingham Palace to see the change of guard. But we saw the Marble Arch first before getting on the train to Buckingham.

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Marble Arch. Can't beat the one in Paris (Arc de Triomph).

We managed to get to Buckingham Palace, but the place was so crowded that I was quite disappointed to not catch much action!!

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Outside Buckingaham Palace. So crowded!!

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The "new" guards coming to take over the "old".

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Just look at that!! Just seeing the crowds made me feel like "Oh man!!"

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Our final photo in London and the holiday.

We then headed back to the hotel to check out. We then struggled with our bags in the TUBE. I stood all the way to Heathrow. Thank goodness we could check in at the SIA Raffles Class counter, or we would have be stuck in a long queue! Well, we are now back in Singapore, and now wondering when will be our next holiday!

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Back in London

We were back in London at about 2pm. Bought our open tour bus tickets at the station before heading back to our hotel at OLD STREET Station (Travelodge London City Road). We then headed out taking the TUBE to London Bridge, where we hopped on the bus for a city tour. We hopped off after 2 stops I think to get on the River Thames cruise which was free when you buy the bus tickets.

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Shirley on London Bridge and the Tower of London in the background

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Tower of London.

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Westminster Abbey and Big Ben

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The London Eye

We saw quite a bit of London by night on this bus and the above photos were some excerpts of our limited time in London.

Our last day in Bacup... off to London

Friday 2nd November 2007.

It had been a great few days spending time with the Coong's. We felt "pai seh" but we really enjoyed their company. They were great hosts and we are very grateful to Ming for taking time off from work to spend time with us. Zen was great too preparing some meals for us and just talking with us. Little Ethan is such a cute boy and we really love his smile.

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Little Ethan snuggling up to Shirley.

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The cute one.

It was with a heavy heart that we said our goodbyes to Zen and Ethan as we hopped in the car to Manchester to catch our train to London Euston Station. Thanks Ming for everything. When you come to Singapore next, we are going to pay!!!!!!!

YORK

We continued into York after Hepden Bridge. Personally, I loved York. Dunno what it was about that town. Its bigger than the usual small towns. Or maybe it was because of Betty's Tea House.

We finally made it to a tea house. Was looking forward to that. And I was not disappointed. We wanted to pay for the meal, but Ming just refused!!! But we made a deal that we would pay for dinner that night!!!

I simply loved Betty's. I can confidently say that this could count as one of my favourite places to eat in England!!! The pastry, wow! Up till today I can still smell the aromas coming from the signature tea I ordered and Shirley's Earl Grey. In fact, I am trying to re-live that here in Singapore with my Earl Grey!! I did not check whether Betty's was selling their signature teas, if they do, I am sure regretting not buying it home!!

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Shirley and I at Betty's

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The food at Betty's. Notice the 3 tier??? That was mine! The pastries were just excellent!

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So nice. I would have taken more if I was not that full.

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Shirley drinking tea, English style!! Check out her pinkie!! So English!

After tea, we went to visit the York Minstry. A huge church. Anglican I believe. Could hardly distinguish it from a catholic church. We had to pay to tour the church.

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Inside York Minstry

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We then walked around a little more in York when we decided that we should head back to Bacup to meet Zen and little Ethan for dinner. It was a long drive back, but we made it in time for the dinner. Dinner was an Indian meal at a place called Ashoka, if I remember correctly. The food was good and authentic. Of course the company was better!!!

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When we went back to Ming and Zen's place, Ming brought out his chinese tea to brew for us! Wow! After a hearty and spicy meal, this was just great! We drank tea as we watched TV! Such great hosts!!

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