What a great day! I enjoyed performing with fellow moms our Poco Poco dance for the Teacher's Day celebration at Tampines Primary School. It was a lot of fun and training together helped me make some new friends.
We also started with a new tutor today from Reunion Island named Priscille. She grew up there and later moved to Nice. I met her through another French woman who I corresponded with on-line in my pursuit to find us a new teacher.
Coincidentally she tutors for a family that we met at the closing ceremonies of YOG. She mentioned she tutored two little girls whose parents were French and Malaysian and for fun I showed a picture on my camera of the family we met at the YOG. You never know! And it was one and the same!!
Priscille stayed for dinner so Papa and I got a chance to practise French too. It was great fun and a really good day!
Monday, 30 August 2010
Friday, 27 August 2010
Farewell YOG!
We really heat scored! Getting to go to the opening and closing ceremonies of the very first Youth Olympics was amazing considering many could not get tickets. We also saw the athletics finals and some field hockey games between Ghana and Australia, and Singapore and Belgium. Very exciting! Not to mention the games we watched on tv. It was a really fun week and with Frunty in a cast, a good way to rest indoors instead of playing as usual at the pool or in the park.
Our first year in Singapore has been so incredible as we approach our anniversary date and the YOG was really the icing on the cake. I can't believe my three boys even met the President. We have been so fortunate to have many experiences here. Some not so great...what with Frunty's broken arm but actually a colleague from Australia said it was a "good sign" because it meant that our son is active and not a couch potato. Interesting!!
Our first year in Singapore has been so incredible as we approach our anniversary date and the YOG was really the icing on the cake. I can't believe my three boys even met the President. We have been so fortunate to have many experiences here. Some not so great...what with Frunty's broken arm but actually a colleague from Australia said it was a "good sign" because it meant that our son is active and not a couch potato. Interesting!!
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Happy Birthday, Papa!
Today is Papa's birthday. Frunty has been home with his double-break and luckily his classmates have also been home on holiday for a few days so all told, he only missed 3 days of school. Frunty says he is pain-free which is great to hear. He has been busy constructing card board tunnels in our garage and was able to help me today to prepare for the party.
After I picked Pit up from school, the three of us put up birthday banners and balloons and then went to the "Icing Room" to decorate two little cakes for Papa. I hope to include some photos of our grand day. Papa came home to a big celebration with bubbly, music and tons of cheer! We skyped Nonna and Nonno and were grateful for Gramma and Grampa's call yesterday. We heard their message later during the Youth Olympics Game...Singapore versus Belgium. Guess who we rooted for?! You guessed it, Pit's hometown and boy was he happy when they won, 7-1. Anyway, with all the cheering, we did not hear the call but were happy to hear the message later.
Papa had to work tonight but we look forward to having part two tomorrow night with a dinner out by the river. Presents? Yes! Papa received a scuba diving watch and 4 tix to see "Elmo Grown Up!" in September! The kids made nice cards and we will play games on the weekend. I hope Papa had as much fun as we did! He deserves it!
After I picked Pit up from school, the three of us put up birthday banners and balloons and then went to the "Icing Room" to decorate two little cakes for Papa. I hope to include some photos of our grand day. Papa came home to a big celebration with bubbly, music and tons of cheer! We skyped Nonna and Nonno and were grateful for Gramma and Grampa's call yesterday. We heard their message later during the Youth Olympics Game...Singapore versus Belgium. Guess who we rooted for?! You guessed it, Pit's hometown and boy was he happy when they won, 7-1. Anyway, with all the cheering, we did not hear the call but were happy to hear the message later.
Papa had to work tonight but we look forward to having part two tomorrow night with a dinner out by the river. Presents? Yes! Papa received a scuba diving watch and 4 tix to see "Elmo Grown Up!" in September! The kids made nice cards and we will play games on the weekend. I hope Papa had as much fun as we did! He deserves it!
Saturday, 14 August 2010
Friday the 13th
I have never really believed in the superstition that Friday the 13th brings bad luck and I don't know if I have been convinced even though on this past, dubious day, our son, Frunty, broke his arm in two places. Talk about bad luck. We were playing at a jungle gym near Pit's school just before picking him up from his science class. Actually I had just sat down as I felt it was hot and I was tired. I was just going to ask Frunty if he felt the same when all of a sudden, he swung from one part to another but missed and landed very hard on the ground. At first, I only saw the blood on his mouth where he smashed his face. Oh no! Not that tooth again?!!
But when I heard the subsequent scream and saw his arm underneath him I thought oh no, please do not be broken. The fact that it was Friday the 13th never entered my mind until just now, almost two days later. Anyway, I still had to get Pit so I quickly found some ice for Frunty in the church kitchen, thanks to a helper. I thought that might help for a second. I then pulled Pit a little early from class and we jumped into a cab which said, "Changing Shift". The driver did not want to take us. All the other taxis were full. When I told "uncle" the situation, he took us directly to Changi Hospital where...
we were treated like royalty. Is it because we are foreigners? Is it because it's Singapore? I do not know but from the second we got out of the taxi, we were escorted and assisted every step of the way and even given a little kids' map for fun to help us navigate through the maze. The only thing on the tv in the waiting room between doctor's visits and xrays was an Elite Fashion show. We thought the models looked hilarious in these huge boots and crazy swimsuits. We laughed our heads off about a lot of things while at the hospital. I was impressed at how I kept everything light and humorous as it really cheered up the kids and myself.
Pit was quite scared to see the xray of Frunty's broken-in-two places arm. That night Pit asked me to tell him about what happened that day and afterwards, he surprised me when he said, "don't tell me that story ever again." Bless his heart.
Anyway, Frunty was extremely brave and only needed a little painkiller last night and a little more today. He has been a real trooper and very positive. I am not sure if it is good that he thinks it is a positive thing to get out of his music and karate lessons...I guess everyone can use a break! Frunty is also really great about elevating his arm which the doctor told him was important to do...funny how we have to remind him to wash his hands every single day and yet the doctor told him once to elevate and he does it...maybe I could learn something from her.
(for the record, I quit nagging about the hand washing until letter after letter came home from both boys' schools warning against HFMD and urging parents to remind their kids to scrub their filthy, virus-infested, fingernails...okay, that's enough about that!)
I will never forget August 13, 2010...a scarey and stressful Friday but humorous and fun at the same time! Hope you all made it unscathed!
But when I heard the subsequent scream and saw his arm underneath him I thought oh no, please do not be broken. The fact that it was Friday the 13th never entered my mind until just now, almost two days later. Anyway, I still had to get Pit so I quickly found some ice for Frunty in the church kitchen, thanks to a helper. I thought that might help for a second. I then pulled Pit a little early from class and we jumped into a cab which said, "Changing Shift". The driver did not want to take us. All the other taxis were full. When I told "uncle" the situation, he took us directly to Changi Hospital where...
we were treated like royalty. Is it because we are foreigners? Is it because it's Singapore? I do not know but from the second we got out of the taxi, we were escorted and assisted every step of the way and even given a little kids' map for fun to help us navigate through the maze. The only thing on the tv in the waiting room between doctor's visits and xrays was an Elite Fashion show. We thought the models looked hilarious in these huge boots and crazy swimsuits. We laughed our heads off about a lot of things while at the hospital. I was impressed at how I kept everything light and humorous as it really cheered up the kids and myself.
Pit was quite scared to see the xray of Frunty's broken-in-two places arm. That night Pit asked me to tell him about what happened that day and afterwards, he surprised me when he said, "don't tell me that story ever again." Bless his heart.
Anyway, Frunty was extremely brave and only needed a little painkiller last night and a little more today. He has been a real trooper and very positive. I am not sure if it is good that he thinks it is a positive thing to get out of his music and karate lessons...I guess everyone can use a break! Frunty is also really great about elevating his arm which the doctor told him was important to do...funny how we have to remind him to wash his hands every single day and yet the doctor told him once to elevate and he does it...maybe I could learn something from her.
(for the record, I quit nagging about the hand washing until letter after letter came home from both boys' schools warning against HFMD and urging parents to remind their kids to scrub their filthy, virus-infested, fingernails...okay, that's enough about that!)
I will never forget August 13, 2010...a scarey and stressful Friday but humorous and fun at the same time! Hope you all made it unscathed!
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Homemade Indian food a la Frunty
The kids are really growing up...fast! And it is fun because they can do more fun stuff. Yesterday Frunty sat on the livingroom floor with several cookbooks and made a meal plan for the remainder of this week. He went to the shops with Amy and came home with all the ingredients. Afterschool today, he helped Amy and me prepare the different Indian dishes and everything was just great. We put on our Indian music and danced. It was really fun and I am so proud of him.
While he cooked, Pit and I spent most of our time on the livingroom rug, practising phonics and spelling words. He is coming along well and read two books to me: Jenny in Bed and Stuck in the Mud. In the beginning, he would just memorize an entire book but now he is sounding out each word and when I ask him where a word is on a page, he can find it his little finger...which is still baby-like!
We had quite a busy holiday what with National Day coinciding with the Youth Olympics. On Monday night we watched the fireworks from the Choi's balcony and the National Parade on tv. The following evening we waiting in front of Frunty's school as the athletes ran past with the torch for the Youth Olympics which will start this Saturday night with the opening ceremonies to which we have tickets!
Like I have said before, the fun never stops here in Singapore.
While he cooked, Pit and I spent most of our time on the livingroom rug, practising phonics and spelling words. He is coming along well and read two books to me: Jenny in Bed and Stuck in the Mud. In the beginning, he would just memorize an entire book but now he is sounding out each word and when I ask him where a word is on a page, he can find it his little finger...which is still baby-like!
We had quite a busy holiday what with National Day coinciding with the Youth Olympics. On Monday night we watched the fireworks from the Choi's balcony and the National Parade on tv. The following evening we waiting in front of Frunty's school as the athletes ran past with the torch for the Youth Olympics which will start this Saturday night with the opening ceremonies to which we have tickets!
Like I have said before, the fun never stops here in Singapore.
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Happy National Day!
Today is Singapore's 45th birthday and we will go to a Singaporean colleagues home for dinner and fireworks tonight. We will bring red and white cupcakes, Adobo and of course, be wearing red and white. Yesterday we enjoyed a bbq and great swim at another colleagues' home by the river. Papa works with some really excellent people and we have the pleasure of getting to know them on personal levels as they are very friendly and like to get together outside of work. We did not experience this "family" feeling in Belgium. After the bbq we went to another colleagues home for pizza and Indiana Jones. He lives on the 36th floor so the view was incredible and the hospitality to match.
We are off to his home again as he invited us back for a swim today in a serpent-shaped pool. Off we go, in our reds and whites. It is fun celebrating so many national days...makes for a lot of great parties throughout the year.
We are off to his home again as he invited us back for a swim today in a serpent-shaped pool. Off we go, in our reds and whites. It is fun celebrating so many national days...makes for a lot of great parties throughout the year.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
-5 Celsius in Singapore!
Wow! Can you believe we played in "real" snow today in Singapore!? Yes, you read correctly. Today our family of 4 headed over, with a big backpack full of our Canadian winter clothes, to Snow City at Jurong East. In our bag we also carried our homemade hot chocolate with marshmallows, also from Canada, and sat in an igloo between tubing runs, sipping away. It was really, really fun. Two hours of ice cold entertainment. And so fun to see the kids in their snow suits which they tried on at home first! Snow goggles and all.
Inside a building next to the Science Center, we enjoyed tubing down a snowy slope, powdery snowball fights and posing next to ice sculptures for photos. At each Singaporean attraction, there seem to be several photographers snapping away. There was very loud music the whole time which added to the excitement. I liked when they played "Hark the Herald Angels!" Very festive. Frunty said the snow tasted yucky during the "blizzard" when snow was blasted from the chalet to us below. He stood there with his tongue sticking out. I can't believe I said "Merry Christmas" to both kids!! And they said it back with huge grins on their faces. What the heck!?
Afterwards, we headed over to another chilly building to see the IMAX film entitled, "Beaver". It was a real Canadian experience as the movie was made in Alberta. After the snow experience, it was really fitting and a nice way to rest. I think Papa had a wee nap!
We headed downtown for Sakae Sushi and then finally, after months of deliberations, we went on the Singapore Flyer at night. Boy, were the kids excited! They could not stop talking. As I write this, they are snoozing merrily away after a warm bath and a back massage. I really hope they have sugar plums dancing in their heads. I do!
Inside a building next to the Science Center, we enjoyed tubing down a snowy slope, powdery snowball fights and posing next to ice sculptures for photos. At each Singaporean attraction, there seem to be several photographers snapping away. There was very loud music the whole time which added to the excitement. I liked when they played "Hark the Herald Angels!" Very festive. Frunty said the snow tasted yucky during the "blizzard" when snow was blasted from the chalet to us below. He stood there with his tongue sticking out. I can't believe I said "Merry Christmas" to both kids!! And they said it back with huge grins on their faces. What the heck!?
Afterwards, we headed over to another chilly building to see the IMAX film entitled, "Beaver". It was a real Canadian experience as the movie was made in Alberta. After the snow experience, it was really fitting and a nice way to rest. I think Papa had a wee nap!
We headed downtown for Sakae Sushi and then finally, after months of deliberations, we went on the Singapore Flyer at night. Boy, were the kids excited! They could not stop talking. As I write this, they are snoozing merrily away after a warm bath and a back massage. I really hope they have sugar plums dancing in their heads. I do!
