Day 1 - Xi Men Ding @ Taiwan

Little Arielle was very excited this morning and did not throw any tantrum even though we waked her up at 6.30am.

Took a cab to the airport and off we were on our way to Taipei. As we took Cathay Pacific flight, we gotta transit at HongKong. As such, the journey took longer than usual.

What I was glad was that Little Arielle was so much easier to manage compared to her younger days where she would be very restless on flight and kick up a fuss. Though she did not really enjoy the food on board, everything was still okie.

Finally reached our hotel - Royal Castle and hmm....I did not expect the hotel to be so lok kok. Room is small and bo window. But what is interesting is they got a water cooler installed in the room. Buay pai siaz....

Went walking around our XMD and yum yum, I bought their bubble tea and it tasted GREAT!!! Did not shop for long as we were all tired.

Will rest early and continue our Taiwan expedition tomorrow....Tata....

Taiwan & HongKong, Here We Come!

The Tan Family is now waiting happily at the gates to board the plane! And where are we going? It's a 10 days trip to Taiwan and HongKong!

Yippeee....will update and upload pic when we are back!

Left Handed or Right Handed?

Mummy Me has already 'see open' and given the option to Little Arielle to decide which hand she waants to use. Feedback from her teacher is that she has yet to decide cos she is good with her left hand when it comes to writing but good with right hand when it comes to using the sissors.

Hmm....it will be great if she can use both hands at ease :)

Complaint from the School!

Often, we heard parents complaining about the school but today it's the other way round! Mama told me that Little Arielle kena complaint by the teacher cos she was talking away in class and did not finish her colouring work.

Though teacher commented that her colouring is nice but main thing is she was busy talking away! Oh no, she got my 'talkative' genes hee!

Heffalump in Parkway!

Went Parkway after work cos we were both early today :) As usual, the kiddy rides at level 3 never failed to attract Little Arielle. She will happily get herself into it even though it's not moving. One thing about her is that she will not throw a tantrum if she give her no coin. So, at times, she is still easy to manage, though she have her bad hair days too :)

*Sitting in the spiderman ride* - Uploaded on 29 Jul 2010

*A little boy hitching a ride from Little Arielle* - Uploaded on 29 Jul 2010

And, we went past one of the toy store and Little Arielle found Heffalump inside! Ahh....What's that? It's one of the character in Winnie the Pooh! It's a purple elephant that looks really CUTE!! We have decided to get one big one for Mummy Me and one small one for Little Arielle in Disneyland! Hopefully, we can find it there!

*How lovely she looks :)* - Uploaded on 29 Jul 2010

No Time!!

Mummy Me did not have time for Little Arielle tonight :( Was rushing to do my budget straight after I reached home! Only a few more days left to do before I'm on long leave!

Thank god that XP was all ready to help! He bathed for her and dressed her up, all ready for bed!

XP, thanks for being around when I needed help :P My darling princess, give me another few days and we will be able to enjoy ourselves in Taiwan and HongKong!

Flying on Cathay Pacific!

Yeah....all along, I thought that we are flying Jetstar to Taiwan! Then the worry came as I thought about the expensive drinks and food on board as well as the luggage weight limitation.

Then XP told me that we are actually flying on Cathay Pacific! That really made my day! Yeah....I just got very excited cos can get to eat cabin food and it would be easier to handle Little Arielle with food and drinks for her on board! Looking forward to our trip this weekend....

Roti Prata!

Mummy Me had roti prata for breakfast and greedy Little Arielle wants to try too! She was brave to try the fish curry first and surprisingly, she likes it!

Next she tried the prata itself and lastly, prata in fish curry! Slurp....

Glad that she likes it! At least, the whole family loves the same food :)

I'm A Cleaner??

Was busy packing up Little Arielle's room and I was sitting on the floor, wiping her toys. She came along and kept asking me to wipe this and that for her! And,
她送我一句,"你是cleaner mah!"

Win liaoz lor! I'm the cleaner cum her maid!

Squirrel?

Mummy Me finally got to register for Little Arielle's art class. Her official lesson will start on 6 Aug (hahaha, gotta miss the first lesson as we would be overseas). For 12 lessons, Passion Card members would need to pay $60 and non-members would pay $65.

After registering for it, we proceeded to attend the non-official lesson (since the teacher asked us to come hee, so it's FOC lor!). Today's theme is squirrel. Mummy Me was excited cos Little Arielle is fully equipped today with pencil, eraser, sharpener, apron, drawing paper and of course, her crayons. Ahh, teacher mentioned that I should be getting oil based crayons instead. Shit man....need to re-buy again! Anyway, it took Little Arielle a very long time to draw the squirrels, with pockets of time trying to laze! That pissed me off a little! Not sure why she was a bit listless today. Hmm, is it because the earlier fun at Ikea has drained some of her energy away?

Finally, the draft is out after 1.5hrs! Hmm, doesn't look like squirrel to me leh! Looks more like mouse with fat tail!

*The draft without the colours* - Uploaded on 25 Jul 2010

Then, her colouring took another 1hr! Yes....we already exceeded the time by half an hour!

*Colours by Little Arielle, with Mummy Me's help here and there* - Uploaded on 25 Jul 2010

Lastly, Mummy Me adding the final touch to it by helping her with the outline.

*Finally, the completed piece after 1 hr 30 mins!* - Uploaded on 25 Jul 2010

Ahhh....left the class at 9.40pm and apparently, we are the last to go. Not sure if it is because there were so many things to draw and colour that slowed down the process. Anyway, I have decided to go earlier next week so that we hoped that we would not be the last to go. So pai seh that the teacher gotta 'OT' for 40 mins!

Gong Gong's Lunar Birthday

We celebrated Daddy's lunar birthday today....It's a simple fare since there's only 4 of us + Little Arielle. Furthermore, we have already celebrated it at a restaurant on his actual date.

The simple fare is at a kopitiam in Tampines. While waiting for our food, took the chance to take pic of Little Arielle and gong gong!

*Smiling sweetly with gong gong!* - Uploaded on 22 Jul 2010

*Farnie look 1* - Uploaded on 22 Jul 2010
*Farnie look 2* - Uploaded on 22 Jul 2010
*Farnie look 3* - Uploaded on 22 Jul 2010

Check out the variety of dishes that we had!

*Uploaded on 22 Jul 2010*

*Birthday cake from the Pattisseur, $37 for 6" Melurie cake* - Uploaded on 22 Jul 2010

*The birthday song* - Uploaded on 22 Jul 2010

*Uploaded on 22 Jul 2010*

Blessed is My Kid....

Chanced upon someone's blog and this person was talking about the recent YOG ad. I clicked to view the link -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWx47qeCqyk and found the ad to be very familiar (think I seen part of it on tv).

After viewing the whole video, I really felt so fortunate to have a healthy sweet daughter.

Nothing else beats a healthy kid....

Sleeping Early

For the past 2 nights (inclusive today), we were home early as mama did not cook dinner. That means Little Arielle can sleep early too!

I took this chance to make her go to bed at 9pm and great! She was able to fall asleep. Hopefully in time to come, this would make her dark circles less obvious!

Missing Her....

Probably it's because I have spent the whole of yesterday with Little Arielle, it made me miss her so much today....

Arrgghhh, can't wait to go home and see my little daling!

Completed On Time!

Hee....at last, there is one piece of homework that Little Arielle can complete on time and submit on time :P

Just realised this afternoon that she has a piece of work that needs to be submitted tomorrow. Luckily, it's just colouring and not some craft work that requires me to do again.

So after eating the horrible macroni, I got Little Arielle to work on it. Almost couldn't submit on time cos 2 boxes of colour pencils did not WORK! No matter how hard I tried to colour, the colour just din come out! Sigh....no wonder there's a saying that goes,"一分钱, 一分货!" Those cheapo colour pencils that I got for $2 just CMI! Luckily, there's one other box that made it. Else, cannot submit the work on time again....

So I left Little Arielle to work on it on her own and I was surprised by the speed of her work. And yes, the result is satisfying too. I just helped her to touch up a bit :P Hmm, afterall, she did not always make me angry hee....

*Happily colouring the pic and her colour combi is quite good :P* - Uploaded on 19 Jul 2010
*Proudly showing the completed work!* - Uploaded on 19 Jul 2010

Nothing But A Failed Attempt!

Since it was just the two of us, Mummy Me decided to cook Hello Kitty macroni for Little Arielle. Hmm....this is something that XP doesn't really fancy. As such, can only cook when he is not in hee.

The first thing that got me really pissed off was the stupid can opener! It's useless being a sophiscated equipment when it is so difficult to use. It took me over 10 minutes to just open a stupid can of mushroom!! Felt like giving up but had to continue because there is already a hole in the can!

Finally, I managed to open the stupid can and was cutting the mushrooms! Little Arielle was so sweet to ask me to be careful not to cut my fingers. Yeah....started to fry the mushrooms.

*Frying mushroom with garlic* - Uploaded on 19 Jul 2010

Next, added in the mushroom sauce ->

*Mushroom with tomato based mushroom sauce* - Uploaded on 19 Jul 2010

Thereafter, I just pour over the sauce on my pre-cooked macroni. Check out the cute Hello Kitty design and flower.
*Looks not bad right?* - Uploaded on 19 Jul 2010

So I scooped into Little Arielle's bowl and she started to take the first taste.

*Nice?* - Uploaded on 19 Jul 2010

Sigh....just when I thought it should taste okie but I was totally wrong :( The sauce was so sour that I couldn't take it down my throat. Little Arielle didn't even want to eat her favourite mushrooms!

It tasted so awful that I decided to throw it away. Sigh....what a waste of effort and time :(

New Love!

Recently, we bought a dvd which featured this new character called Heffalump with Winnie and Friends. Ahhh....this new character is so cute that even Mummy Me loves it!

For those who don't know what is it, it's actually a cute purple elephant! Little Arielle loves it too and even know that Heffalump likes people to call her Lumpy!



Ahhhh....cute right!!

Passion Card Application

If there isn't any discounts for Little Arielle's art class, Mummy Me would not have applied for the Passion Card. Actually it's quite cheap. Just need to pay $12 for a period of 5 years and there will be discounts for the courses taken at the CC. I have also included Little Arielle as the supplementary card holder since it's free for kids below 18. What's more, I was quite pleased to get the following gift ->

*Pink Fila bag! Nice!* - Uploaded on 19 Jul 2010

After submitting my application, I was told that I can only register Little Arielle for her art class next week as the schedule is not out yet. Hmm....need to make another trip to the office liaoz....

It's Chicken Today!

Little Arielle was still running a slight fever and I asked if she wants to go for her art class. She firmly told me a Yes! Was very pleased with the kind of enthusiam that I saw in her. Even though I gotta double up as the teacher in class. It is all worth the while!

*I like the high level of concentration displayed in her :)* - Uploaded on 17 Jul 2010
*Tada! The completed masterpiece!* - Uploaded on 19 Jul 2010

Left Handers R Cleverer?

Collected Little Arielle's studio pic earlier on and saw the photographer's kid using right hand to write and I was so envious.

Guessed what....the photographer was telling me that she was trying very hard to get her son to use his left hand instead of his right hand. She said that left handers are cleverer as they know how to use the other side of the brain.

Hmm....so is my girl really cleverer??

Make Up Artist?

Mama was very angry and I could hear her scolding Little Arielle when I was at the gate. Found out from her that she played with liquid soap and made her whole leg wet. In addition, she went to use a marker and tried to draw her brows!

Wat biangz....she is really a vainpot lor! Hmm....is she practising to be a make up artist?

*Her fake brows drawing on her left brow* - Uploaded on 14 Jul 2010

Gong Gong's Birthday 2010

It's daddy's birthday today and we had a family dinner at Dian Xiao Er! This is the second time this month that we ate at Dian Xiao Er! Their duck is simply yummy! But the aircon there was very strong and mama is down with flu. Guessed she did not really enjoy the dinner. But, nevermind, got a second round this Saturday cos HDD will be joining us :P

Check out the nice food that we had ->

*Uploaded on 14 Jul 2010*

Finally Realised....

I think I am one silly Mummy who doesn't have basic knowledge or common sense! It was until I was coughing myself that I realised that sleeping in air-con room would make things worst! I was so naive to think that the air-con's air is clean and so that air should not cause irritation to the throat.

Ahhh....it was only today that Feli explained to me and I understood that the air would make our throat dry and therefore, it will cause irritation easily.

No wonder, Little Arielle and myself did not cough as badly when I did not turn on the air-con last night.

Bo pian....now must tahan the heat and only on the fan. Else, we won't want to be sick babies when we are on our trip!

Chill Out @ T3

It was really a hot day! So much so that we just felt like enjoying the aircon somewhere! So in the end, XP decided to drive to the airport!

Wow, it was so crowded at the airport! Hmm, everyone is here for free aircon?? Anyway, we had our dinner there and walked round the airport before going home :P

Check out the pic ->

*Uploaded on 14 Jul 2010*

Sneak Preview....

Mummy Me switched my hp to silent mode as we were in a movie. After shutting down and preparing to go to sleep, I remembered about my hp and decided to check if anyone was looking for me.

I saw Astin's sms which mentioned that she saw Little Arielle's pic in DreamGarden thread. Without hesitation, I immediately went to on my pc as it is not possible for me to wait until daybreak to check. Hee....I was too excited!

I went into DreamGarden Studio's website and I was unable to load the gallery page using my office notebook. Tried to load it using my own notebook and it din work too. Arrgghhh....got so frustrated leh!

In the end, when I looked at the message again....I realised that it was in SMH thread and not in their website! Arrgghhh stupid me! Waste my time for nothing leh!

Anyway, here's the 2 chio pic that I saw on the thread -> http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/450761/3541489.html?1278732502

*Sweet smile that goes a long way to melt everyone's hearts!* - Uploaded on 11 Jul 2010

*She loves to nui lai nui qu* - Uploaded on 11 Jul 2010

Toy Story 3

This is by far the 2nd movie that we brought Little Arielle to watch, with Alice in Wonderland being the first.

Hmm....she was pretty excited about the movie and I thought that everything would be fine i.e. she will watch patiently throughout....

The cinema at AMK hub was extremely cold. Even though Little Arielle had her sweater on, I kinda feel that she was still cold cos Mummy Me is feeling the freeze! So from her own seat, it did not take long before she started squeezing herself on my lap.

I guessed the cold wind made her cough badly in the theater and perhaps that's the reason why she became fidgety around mid of the show and wanted to go home. Luckily, we managed to convince her to continue watching. And she managed to laugh heartily at those farnie scenes.

What 'inspired' me at the end of the show is that, Little Arielle should continue to have her bear bear, even though it might not be as white and nice when she first had it in Nov 2007. Ahhhh....the bear bear is gonna turn 3 this year :P

It should be something that she can have it as memory and should continue to have it! What a sweet relationship that is!

P.S.: I found the movie to be nice and farnie! You should catch it if you have yet to do so!

Informal Audition

The long awaited audition is finally here! After so many rounds of reschedule, we are finally gonna meet up with Andrea from Impact Models!

It was an informal session where she explained to us how her company operates. She interacted with Little Arielle and Little Arielle tried to do a round of catwalk for her to see. When she tried to teach her the right way, Little Arielle was able to follow instructions. And so Andrea felt that she could give it a try :)

So, there goes my $180! I signed her up for photoshoot lesson (3 lessons niaz) and if she is able to take in instructions, I will top up for her to attend the catwalk class. Although it seemed to be a lot of $$ but at least it gives Little Arielle a chance to gain exposure. Just want to leave some memories in her childhood. At least, Mummy Me wasn't given such an opportunity!

Andrea mentioned that Little Arielle is suitable cos she is quite fair and has long hair. She told us that if there is any visible cuts to her exterior outlook, her company needs to be informed. So from now onwards, Little Arielle gotta take good care of her looks!

So, we will wait for class to be completed, take her professional photos and see if there is any jobs for her. Well, with so many other potential models, I think her chance is slim but nothing venture, nothing gains! So just give it a try :P

Art Class @ Joo Chiat CC

Yes....today is the day that Little Arielle would be assessed by the trainer and that would decide if she is able to proceed with her art class!

After the rush to redeem the Sesame Stress Live Show tickets, Mummy Me gotta rush down to Joo Chiat CC to meet the art class trainer. We were told by the receptionist that we could just pop into the class to take a look.

The class had about 10 - 15 students and all of them were quietly seated and concentrating on their drawings. I approached the teacher and told him our situation. The first question that came to me was that, is she able to sit still? Ermmm, that's a good question. Frankly speaking, I do not know if Little Arielle is able to sit still.

Before I could answer his question, he asked Little Arielle to sit down and he brought out a piece of paper and a pencil. He asked Little Arielle if she does drawing at home and if she knows how to draw. Little Arielle gave me a feeling that she was very scared and doesn't seem to want to continue. The teacher then started to draw rabbits on the paper and asked Little Arielle to do the same. Huh, in my heart, I was thinking,"Are you sure she can just draw like that?" She did not have any basic skills at all leh!

I was surprised that Little Arielle could really draw something out leh! The teacher said,"Everyone can draw, just a matter whether it's nice or not. We should practise drawing everyday and not only once a week!"

I stayed besides her and tried to guide her as much as possible, of course bearing in mind the trainer's teachings.

*Seriously doing the work properly* - Uploaded on 11 Jul 2010

After the sketches were completed, the trainer let her colour with crayons. Initially, I thought that the assessment is only for a few minutes. Never did I expect it to last until 9pm (end of class). Faintz....I have yet to have dinner :(

*Putting on her favourite colour* - Uploaded on 11 Jul 2010
*Yet to finish....* - Uploaded on 11 Jul 2010

Here's the completed work! Throughout the class, the trainer did not mention about allowing Little Arielle in class. I had to ask the question so that I know if I can register her for it. Yes, the trainer said Yes and was so kind to ask us to come by for the next lesson too. This means, we have unknowingly 'earned' 2 free lessons cos the new schedule actually starts on 23 Jul!

*She did the drawing by herself. Trainer coloured the butterfly and I helped with the outline of the rabbit :) Not bad hor for a first timer!* - Uploaded on 11 Jul 2010

After the class, Little Arielle kept asking me when is the next lesson and showed enthusiam in attending the next class. Hmm....she did not have such reaction when we attended Little Notes. Does it mean to say that she really has an interest in drawing? Oh well....hopefully it's really an interest of her! We shall see in the next few weeks!

Mad Rush!

Mummy Me continued my Motherhood magazine subscription when I went to their roadshow last month. As I did the renewal during the last day of the roadshow, they gave an extra ticket for the Sesame Street Live Show. We were given the following tickets and were supposed to redeem the actual tickets from 07 Jul onwards.

*The voucher for redemption* - Uploaded on 11 Jul 2010

The redemption time was available from 9am to 6pm (Mon to Fri) and 9am to 1pm (Sat). As I would be busy for the next few weekends, I have decided to do the redemption today.

Just when I thought that I can leave on the dot and reach the destination on time, something cropped up in office and I gotta stay for a while. In the end, I only managed to leave at 5.45pm. XP told me that it is not possible to reach in 15 minutes and suggested that I call and check if the person in charge could wait for me for a while.

I made the call and was happy that the person agreed. At least, I don't have to find another time to run this errand :P

Finally found the building and collected the tickets. I thanked the person and kena suan-ed!

Me: Hey, thanks for waiting for me :P
PIC: Oh, I wasn't waiting for you. I need to stay back to clear some work

Wat biangz....made me so lao kui! I showing my appreciation, she saying feng liang hua!

Suan le....important thing is that I got the tickets! Now waiting to watch on 11 Sep, 7pm :P


*Yeah....counting down to the live show :)* - Uploaded on 11 Jul 2010

2nd Opinion

Hmm....expensive medication doesn't work for Little Arielle. Apparently, the medication that she took from her PD (since young) doesn't seem to cure her chronic cough that has been on since Jan 10.

Mama was worried as her cough worsen these few days. As such, she took her to my family doctor and the total cost was only $33. Hopefully, she can recover this time round and be healthy during our overseas trip this month end....