Category Archives: Outing

Ryan’s First Movie

@ 43 months 4 weeks 1 days

I’ve always wanted to bring Ryan for a movie. When Up was showing few months ago, we missed the opportunity. Not sure what I was busy with then but somehow we did not make it.

I came across Princess And The Frog on paper last week and I was adamant to bring Ryan this time. Afterall, lil B will be arriving in approximately a month’s time. After the arrival, I would definitely be less mobile. :( So yesterday off we went to Cheras Selatan for the 1.45pm show. I was optimistic we would be able get good seats therefor I did not make any advance booking. That proved to be a mistake. The good seats were all taken and I was left with the option of seats 6th row from the screen. I decided to take a rain check.

This morning, Ryan woke up around 9.40am. I’m very sure he will skip his nap so I made plans to go for the movie today. Lesson learned. I made an online booking for the 1.45pm show at Mid Valley for 2 adults (RM9 ea) and Ryan (RM6 ea). I chose the seats on last row. Wise choice.

It was bumper to bumper traffic around Mid Valley. At 1.30am, we were still nowhere inside the parking lot. Luckily the entrance to the Premier’s was still accessible despite the red indicator. I managed to get a parking space without much effort and we zoomed straight to the cinema hall to collect my tickets. 

Ryan was very excited. He was full of questions the moment we settled on our seats. He was curious to know every tiny details from the cinema settings, lightings, screen size down to the speakers behind our seats. Ocassionally I also acted as the movie’s narrator for this little fella. I’m not sure if Ryan truly enjoyed such a show as certain parts were quite wordy for a child his age but I for sure have no regrets. I especially love the part Ryan leaned on my arms quietly watching the flow of the story. So S-W-E-E-T.

The movie ended about 90 minutes later. I asked Ryan if he enjoyed the movie. He screamed YES! without hesitation. I’m not sure if he truly understand the whole story line but it was indeed a good experience for both of us. I have no qualms and I’m very sure we would have our 2nd experience again pretty soon.

 

Singapore Formula 1 Night Race

@ 41 months 2 weeks 6 days

Hubby has been a F1 fan for more than a decade; since Aryton Senna days. For me.. I don’t follow each and every race  as much as I used compared to when I was in my Uni years. Now I only keep abreast with the general F1 news.

Hubby bought the tickets many months in advance to enjoy the early bird discount ($248 pp). This year we decided to get the grandstand tickets as opposed to the walk about tickets which we opted for last year. It was simply too tiring walking around without a fixed spot to sit. I was telling hubby it was a decision wisely made, otherwise I doubt I would be able to keep up his pace walking around with my current condition.

Ryan knew about the impending F1 race weeks ahead the actual day as we passed by the route every morning when we send hubs to work. He would tell us he wants to bring along his camera (our old Canon IXUS 50D is Ryan’s possession now). You should see how excited he was just by looking at the prep work (fences, seats, lightings) the organiser put up. We wished we could bring Ryan along but kids below 7 years old were strongly discouraged to attend due to the loud noise. We dare not take the risk. :( Hopefully we could bring him along to Sepang’s race next year, at least the track is much further from the seats/spectators.

Day 1 – 25th Sept. I decided not to go for the practise session as I felt heavy hearted leaving Ryan at home alone with my helper 3 days in a row. With a spare ticket on hand, Hubs invited his friend ‘Machine’ who was more than pleased to go with him. Normally Ryan would watch the race with Daddy but tonight he watched the live telecast on TV with Mommy. He asked so many questions about the sport (what team, what they were doing, what was this and that, etc) to which Daddy proudly proclaimed Ryan’s interest on motorsports is definitely from his genes. I have no doubt about that.  

Day 2 – 26th Sept. I felt extremely heavy hearted the whole day anticipating Ryan would be very upset when he learned we had left him behind for the race. Just before we leave home, I quickly got him ready for bed - sponged him and brushed his teeth. He was in the play room with Loida when hubs and I sneaked out. It has been a while since hubs and I had to sneak out. Ryan had been a darling, waving goodbye to us when we were going out for a long time until recently – a couple weeks back to be exact. I could only assume it’s because of the little person in me. Mmm….

The qualifying race is at 10pm but we sneaked out earlier at about 8.00pm anticipating the bad traffic. We reached Suntec at around 8.30pm. So we took a quick bite at Cartel’s Cafe @ Marina Square.  I had their award winning St Louis Pork Ribs and hubs ordered Cartel’s Pan Fried Macaroni. Yummy!!

At about 10.30pm, Loida texted me – “Ryan cried a lot and just slept”. Oh dear.. poor boy. Slept at 10.30pm!! That was kinda late.  :(

The qualifying session lasted about an hour. It ended at 11.15pm. There were people everywhere. So many F1 enthusiasts. I guess the night race is a real big catch and this year there were many supporting races and shows. After the qualifying, we walked a distance until we reached the Suntec Convention Centre to hail a cab. We were lucky. There was no queue and we reached home around 11.40pm.

Loida told me Ryan refused to sleep. He cried so much and demanded Harry-Boat-Harry stories (it’s actually 3 different bed time stories which I would tell Ryan every night. First is about Harry visiting the zoo/animal kingdom, followed by Mickey and Minnie on boat ride and lastly a story of Harry again – can be any storyline) but poor Loida had no idea what stories were they. It doesn’t helped Ryan only wanted the 3 stories and no others.

   

Day 3 – 27th Sept. Ryan woke up demanding us to tell him where we went last night. We told him we went for the race. He seemed to understand that he is too young to attend but can’t denied he was still visibly upset. Poor boy.

We had to leave before 6.30pm for the 8pm race. I had intentionally allowed Ryan to skip his nap today so he could sleep early. I briefly told Loida about the stories in hope tonight will be a smoother night for both of them.

We had our dinner at Crystal Jade. At about 8.30pm, Loida texted me. I was so relieved to read that Ryan did not fuss as much and he was asleep after the stories. Phew. I found out the next morning Ryan slept after 1 Harry story. When I asked Ryan about it, he said it was because ‘kakak”s story was not nice. Hahahaha……

The race ended around 11.00pm. Overall it was a boring race, hahaha at least for me. F1 is really a TV sport. Being on-site is really for the feel and atmosphere. You could only see the car zoomed passed in split mili seconds.


Safety car – I think it was during Heidfeld (BMW) and Sutil (Force India) impact

The race organisation was really poor too. We were literally shoulder to shoulder on our way out. It doesn’t helped with the very limited exit points. Thumbs down to the organiser!

The next day, to make it up for Ryan, I brought him to pick Daddy after work.


He saw this pair of shoes and fell in love with it right away. I thought they were ugly…


Having fun at the indoor playground @ Marina Square


His latest craze is Bob the Builder


Looking extremely auntie and pregnant here @ 22 weeks 2 days

 

Mother’s Day

@ 3 years 3 weeks 5 days

Mother’s Day came and gone. As usual, we made no special plans. In short, no celebrations. :(

On Saturday morning we went to Fidgets, an indoor playground. We had been there for 2 consequetive weeks because lil Ryan just had so much fun everytime we were there.

The week before, Ryan showed us how brave he was when he slid down this 2 storey slides by himself. I was taken by huge surprise when he did that. Frankly I failed to bring myself to do the same. Yes, I’m that scaredy. Having said so, this week he refused to repeat his achievement. Instead, he preferred to slide down with Daddy. Hopefully not another scaredy cat in the making.

On Sunday morning, all three of us woke up at around 9am. I threw the idea to bring Ryan out in the afternoon to hubs. He was indifference and gave no answer. Feeling lazy, I also did not persist.

At around 2 plus, Ryan woke up from his nap. I continued my beauty nap. Afterall,it was Mother’s Day, I thought I deserved a little bit of pamper, don’t I? At 4pm, hubs came in the room and woke me up. ‘Let’s go shopping’, he said. I jumped out of my bed. Hahahaha…

We went to Centrepoint in Orchard. Bought Ryan a dump truck and a 1 series BMW die-cast model to add to his collection. He was estatic. Little boy, so easily pleased.

After a short stroll, we popped into Geox. They were having 10% discount storewide. How pathetic, 10% only. There was a pair of pumps I was eyeing but even after the discount, it’s still pricey. Grand Singapore Sale is around the corner, I may have more choices then. Afterall, I don’t have the soft spot for expensive shoes. (Bags yes… :P). So I came out of empty handed, whereas hubs leaving the shop beaming happily with a new pair of shoes for himself.

So, on Sunday, Mother’s Day, we have a happy daddy and a jolly baby. Their smiles, their happiness, somehow mean so much more to me on this special day. I am a happy mommy (wife) for sure and I hope my own mommy is feeling the same, always happy, always able to keep herself busy following her TVB and hokkien series.

I may not say this everyday but I hope she knows eventhough I am now married, living in Singapore, may not be able to visit her that often and gossip with her about our neighbours, friends, yee ma ku che, etc etc… my heart is always thinking of her. Distance sets us physically apart but our hearts definitely grew fonder for each other. I do miss her and am utterly grateful and thankful for having blessed a mommy like her. She may be a strict mom, but thinking back, I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for her strict moulding to ensure I grow up a good kid. I love you, mom.

Mother’s Day artwork from Ryan

Sasha, the pretty momma, sent Ryan a pair of Ultraman PJs and lots of Cars stickers for his birthday last month. The PJs is still a little big but the mask fits nicely. Ryan absolutely loves it. Thank you soooo much!

On Monday was a Wesak Day holiday for Ryan’s school. So a few mommies organised a post Mother’s Day celebration at Marriott Hotel. We have decided to meet at 12.30pm, so at about 11.30am I asked Sotong to tuck Ryan for his nap and I conveniently sneaked out. I took the train down to Orchard which was just 3 stops away. Since I was early, I even managed a quick retail therapy at CK Tangs. Bought a new pair of pumps @ a small fraction of Geox’s price. So happy. Hahahaha…

Buffet lunch at Marriott’s was so so. Their main course spread was not very impressive, appetiser and dessert were acceptable but could be better. Somehow I find the buffets in KL hotels offer so much more varieties. We spent a good 3 hours there. Had a blast of time until the captain had to interupt us to settle the bill as they needed the table for hi tea reservations. After we settled the bill, we dwelled on for another half an hour before we call it a day. I know.. what a bunch of uncooperative mommies but hey, we don’t get to do this very often, you know. :D

Happy Mother’s Day to my mommy and all deserving mommies out there…

Over the weekend….

@ 29 months 3 weeks 6 days 

We went to Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden on Saturday – Asia’s first children’s garden. We have heard so much about the place but never got the chance to visit. It’s always zoo, zoo, zoo during the weekends (Ryan’s favourite). Weather was kind on us that morning. We reached there about 9am and the morning sun was shining bright down on us. Places like this is usually packed with people during the weekends but luckily we got there early. There were still ample parking space available.

We were greeted by the water play area as soon as we entered the garden. The area was already packed with kids. We could actually hear the kids’ screams and laughter at the entrance. Ryan too wanted his share of fun but we convinced him we will be back for more after checking out the rest of the areas. We stopped at the photosynthesis exhibit next. Ryan was definitely captivated and refused to leave. He kept cranking and cranking the handles of the various stations (sunlight, carbon dioxide, water and phosynthesis). His favourite was  the photosynthesis station which releases mist as he turned the handle. It’s pretty amazing.

 

We walked around for another 30 minutes or so. We visited the A -maze – ing Play, Sand Play, Match the Plants & Animals, Playground and Water Play. We actually thought we combed the whole garden. At least that was what hubs convinced me but we later found out we were actually far from it. There are still at least another 4- 5 attractions in the vicinity to cover.

We went back to the Water Play area. Ryan absolutely love water. The Aqua diaper and extra clothing we brought for Ryan proved to be a wise decision. By 10am, the water play area was full of kiddos running around, showering under the water fountains, queueing for water at the manual water pump. Ryan had such a great time there.

     

The few watering cans available there were such a scarce. Literally all eyes were on them. It’s like now you have it, now you don’t. Ryan was visibly longing for one. Poor boy. But thanks to another kor-kor who voluntarily gave up his and passed it to Ryan. Oh-so-sweeeeet.

 

At night we went to Ngee Ann and Paragon. We wanted to get a watering can for Ryan so we could bring along the next time we go for water play. The trip down town was a futile trip. The place was jam packed with shoppers and simply too crowded to stroll along serenely. We went home empty handed. Who says economy is bad…..??

We didn’t do much on Sunday. We wanted to go zoo in the morning but we overslept and since hubs wanted to catch his live F1 telecast at noon we decided to stay in. At night we went to this cosy Forture Seafood Restaurant along Bukit Timah Road for dinner. Their Salted Egg Yolk Crab is one of the best we have tasted. Yummyyyy…..


Salted Egg Yolk Crab

 

Over the weekend

@ 22 months 3 weeks 6 days

Last Sunday we went for Disney on Ice, Mickey & Minnie Amazing Journey. This time we managed to get good tickets to the show; 4th row from the ice ring because I’ve learned my lesson from the last show and booked the tickets as early as January this time.

The show also features Disney characters such as Lilo & Stitch, Lion King, 101 Dalmations, Peter Pan and Little Mermaid; all alien to Ryan. He only knows Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy. So when they came on, he was really excited.

Overall, I think the show was not as entertaining as the Mickey Mouse Live show back in November07. Nonetheless, Ryan enjoyed it (I think). Though he has not seen the other cartoons, he behaved and watched intently throughout the 2 hours, amazed and mesmerised by the skating and hanging by the wire performances by the characters. 

I brought along my long neglected Canon Ixus50 to the show. Conclusion, I miss ya. Oh, So handy. Hehee…