The-Upperroom.com

I am a strawberry!

Then I became chicken little!

Philson wanna be chicken little too!

The mummies gang decided on an impromptu picnic at Upper Pierce Reservoir again this Saturday morning! The weather was fantastic, cloudy yet windy!

Dee was supposed to come with Prata as breakfast for everyone and cheese and egg sandwiches for the kiddos but she was late again! hehe! so while we waited for her family to come, the children was treated to Pokka sticks by Connie and had some fun playing with bubbles first!

We brought cookie ger along and Isabelle and Nathan had such a good time walking her. Isabelle even nodded emphatically when her mummy asked her does she want to bring cookie ger home! hahaha!

The girl taking a break!

Then the food, I meant Dee and her family arrived!

Glorious food!

And the girl shamelessly kept a tight grip on the bread much to the chagrin of her mummy!

Doesn’t matter that my mouth is full of bread, better hang on to the bread!

More bubbles time!

I love bubbles!

Somehow the girl fell in love with this exposed tree root and will take breaks now and then there, even Nathan was attracted to go sit there for a while!

Can I sit down please?

Then the mummies thought would it even be possible to try to seat all the toddlers together on the tree root?

My shot was one second late and Philson stood up. I think Dey managed to get a shot of them all seated!

Me me! take a pic of me!

We left for lunch around noon and it was a well spent morning with lots of good food for the kiddos, bubbles chasing, ball kicking and rolling and dog walking!

I am officially on leave! and because of that, I have been bringing the girl for the June holiday programme at Zoophonics. The theme for the 5-day program is Mother Goose Rhymes and for the last 4 days, she has been learning one nursery rhyme after another.

The class is rather interesting with songs, nursery rhymes, art and craft, introducing new things according to the topic that day. The girl is able to focus her attention on the teacher most of the time but I noticed she tends to get bored during story telling time and would like to go to the back of the class to dig for toys she knows that is kept there. Art and craft, snack time and bubbles time at the end of the class are her favourite activities. But I am very perturbed that when she doesn’t get her way, she starts screaming! aiyo! and when other children accidentally knock into her, she makes such a big fuss! Have I got a ngeow ngeow girl on my hands! *blink blink*

Doing art and craft on the first day! Creating a bowl of Peas porridge!

After which the kiddos were given some porridge to taste.

Yummy!

At the end of the class, the toddlers were treated to a bubbles popping time!

Pop pop pop!

Hugging the teacher bye bye!

Trying to feed the mice cheese during the second day when the nursery rhyme of the day is Hickory Dickory dock!

Doing her “walk-about” in the room with a ball she stole from the back of the classroom! aiyo!

The third day was not a very good day for the girl. She had 2 accidents with a very big-sized (18kg) 24-mth old boy in the class. The boy can hardly sit still and spends the better half of the day bull-dozing around the room and it has to be the girl he had a collision with, sending the girl toppling onto the ground with him landing on her. You can imagine how she cried and how she started crying again the moment he enters the room again. I thought I better switch to a class at a different timing, didn’t think it would be a good idea if she start crying the moment she sees him again.

Painting a pig’s mask on the fourth day during art and craft!

Tomorrow is the last day of the class and today after the class we had a good time shopping at ntuc. Ahh! the luxury of being a SAHM, going for grocery shopping at my whim and fancy! hehe!

Going shopping with mummy at ntuc!

Grabbing a phone when mummy was making some enquiries at a bank branch!

Last Sunday after church, the sun was at its full force, so we decided to seek a place of refuge at Dempsey Hill. We found the setting of Ben and Jerry’s The Ranch Home to our liking.

The Ranch Home recreates the rustic ambience of an all-American ranch home, with a fireplace, an intimate study and TV room, loft area and play area. First, we took the large couch in front of the fireplace. When the “intimate study” was available, we shifted over and enjoyed a good 2-3 hrs there.

Talia slept throughout, Jaime read a pile of magazines while I watched the latest Indiana Jones on her iphone.

When Talia woke up, we decided to check out the Southern Ridges of Singapore. In particular, the recently completed Henderson Waves.

After we parked the car, we had to walk up a pretty steep slope to get to the top of Telok Blangah Hill. Talia girl refuse to walk the slope, I had to carry her in one arm and support Jaime’s lower back with the other pushing her forward. It was like back in the NS days doing log PT charging up Pengkang hill. Ok, not that bad, since I’m carry a 11kg princess and not a wooden log.

The Henderson Waves is a bridge that connect the two hills of Mount Faber and Telok Blangah Hill. At 36 metres above Henderson Road, Henderson Waves is the highest pedestrian bridge in island Singapore.

While I was telling Talia about the bridge connecting two hills, she found her own connection with a Gor Gor.

She saw him seated leaning against the bridge and decided to sit next to him. She gaze briefly at him every now and then.

She then followed him around for the next 10mins and refuse to move on with us. The gor gor family had to move along together to get the kids moving.

OMG! Am I suppose to be glad or sad.

I moved the family quickly towards the center of the bridge, played with her tossing her up in the sky a few times to distract her. Now she couldn’t help but kept her eyes fixated on her daddy.

So glad that I regained the attention of my princess.

Soon, she wanted nothing but her Daddy’s hugs.

Overall, the bridge is a nice piece of architecture. Certain portion of the bridge actually creates a feeling that you are in the Noah’s Ark.

It’s a nice addition to the southern ridges, however the crowd it draws destroyed the peace and charm of the usually quiet slice of paradise.

My heart saddens when somebody forwarded me the open verdict made by a certain State Coroner Victor Yeo Khee Eng.

A TOP civil servant whose car hit a Victoria School student along Marine Parade Road in October last year was yesterday cleared of criminal negligence in the fatal accident.

State Coroner Victor Yeo came round to this view following testimony by several witnesses at the inquiry into the death of Secondary 4 student Wrixon Chew Teck Cheng, 16, who died six days after the accident.

The driver of the car was Ms Chin Li Fen, 48, an Assistant Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras)

…

Coroner Yeo, returning an open verdict, said evidence suggested that Wrixon could have failed to keep a proper lookout for oncoming vehicles.”
(Source: AsiaOne)

I could not believe what I read.

Is this the same court that ruled in favour of the wife of an americian millionaire who was killed in a car accident when he deliberately violated the traffic laws?

I did some googling and found the previous case “US MILLIONAIRE IN CAR ACCIDENT AT SCOTTS ROAD, Driver ordered to pay $2m“.

THE jogger may have run right across the yellow traffic box junction outside Goodwood Park Hotel along Scotts Road and disregarded the pedestrian crossings.

Still, the Singapore driver who hit and killed him had to bear 45 per cent of the blame for the accident, the court found.

…

The traffic lights were in Madam To’s favour. She was driving past the junction of Scotts Road/Stevens Road and Draycott Drive, when he ran across the yellow box junction in front of her car.
(Source: SGForums)

It turned out that the jogger was Mr Henry Adolphus Lassiter, 48, an American self-made millionaire who had a thriving technology company and assets worth nearly $40 million at the time of his death.

Does it mean that if you are a rich millionaire, you can violate traffic laws, run across a yellow traffic box junction, get killed… yet the driver (with traffic light in her favour) had to bear 45% of the blame?

But on the other hand, when you are an average 16 yrs old student, you are 100% at blame for getting yourself killed because you have failed to keep a proper lookout for oncoming vehicles?

I don’t get the logic.

Or perhaps it’s not about you at all. It seems to me that the verdict could have depends on who you are contesting against.

My heart saddens…such is the state of X@#@#……..

How am I going to teach Talia Ann about right and wrong in this country? Should I tell her that when you see a rich man crossing the road, you MUST stop the car. When you see a commoner, just speed on, knock him down as long as the light is in your favour?

Certainly not.

As a sailor, I know that the rule of sea always state that the vessels with the higher mobility gave way to the lesser or vessel restricted in their ability to maneuver.

As a NPCC cadet, I learnt that the same rules apply. Cars should watch out and give way to motorcycles and bicycles. ALL motorised vehicles MUST watch out and give way to pedestrians.

With such court rulings, it’s not surprising that so many cyclists and pedestrians get killed by reckless drivers each year.

Something must change regarding the double standards in such verdicts.

This reminded me of what Edmund Burke said, “Evil Prevails When Good Men Do Nothing“.

We need CHANGE.

I am like taking every opportunity to take Talia out now that I am still mobile. Yes HUGE but still mobile! keke!

So last saturday, we went for a play date at Philson’s. Hannah, Belle, Ivan also came along. I think there has been a lot of benefits in exposing her to kids her age frequently. She is hardly shy when she goes on play dates and is game to try new toys. I see her being secured enough to roam around the place exploring. And there has been ample opportunities to teach her to share. Although at 18 mths now, they are still not really playing with each other, but there has been an increased awareness of each other. Suddenly an abandoned toy in the corner is interesting again just because some one else is playing with it. And this girl would sometimes want to snatch the toy out of the other toddler’s hands. And she is no pushover either, if someone do that to her, she will shriek and refuse to let go! OH NO! i may have a bully-in-the-making! Geez!

Getting ready to go see my friends again!

This is belle! She jumps around agilely and inspired Talia to start jumping at home too.

This is the little host philson! Philson and Talia are partners in FOOOOD!

That is Hannah in the background! She doesn’t seem to be too interested in the “biscuit buffet”

Philson and Talia feeding the fishes!

After the playdate, we decide to explore that Choa Chu Kang/Lim Chu Kang part of Singapore since we hardly ever go there.

We chanced upon this place called Gardenasia and I was pleasantly surprised that it’s really quite nice inside. There is a cafe right next to a rather large pond with lots of rocking chairs at the side!

There is also this area where they were selling some landscaping stuff and we thought the place was quite well done up.

Talia roaming around…

and in the compound, there is a restored house I think formerly belonging to an Eurasian family. The place looks perfect for a small corporate function or even a birthday party! At the corner was this goose that the girl dashed right up to!

The goose’s nose! When we ask her where is the nose? wahahah!

After that we went to this koi farm where they had these enormous kois!

Her reaction to the huge fishes were hilarious! Her eyes went very round and big and she kept going “ooh ooh!”

We also wanted to visit the goat farm in the area but unfortunately the farm has already closed for the day and Talia has already fallen asleep in the car.

We went for dinner at the Bukit Timah food centre and she woke up just when we finished our food and had her dinner.

Then we decided to go shop at one of the shopping centre in the area that we have never ventured inside before -Beauty World Center or something.

And found a toy store that is packed to the brim with YES! you guessed it PLASTIC TOYS!

Plastic toy cars of every shape and size!

We reached home at around 8.30pm and were totally exhausted from a day of playing, adventure and shopping! Activities during the weekend revolves round the baby right now but I tell you, we are enjoying every minute of it!

I am almost 32 weeks preggo already and have missed the golden second trimester to try to get to anywhere on a plane. To console poor me, Kev thought at least if we have a little chalet getaway, it might be fun. So we hastily booked the only available chalet at Loyang for the next week for a 3 day-2 nights get-away-from-home adventure.

Packing was OMG wahaha! Had to pack her potty, her pillow and bolsters, her sleeping bag, her snacks, her milk, her clothes, her swimming costume, her bathing stuff, her food to be cooked, her toys…mine was just a little haversack while hers was a HUGE luggage size bag! *faint*

First thing we did was to plonk the girl into the pool and oh my! how she enjoyed it! The baby pool allowed her to walk around and she was grinning and shrieking because it was so fun to try to chase the little ball in the pool!

See how she is grinning from ear to ear!

That night we had a little family bbq. We only chose the yummiest food to bbq, like squid in balacan, asparagus wrapped in bacon, marinated chix wings, fish, pork belly *YUMZ*, beef, Japanese sweet potata etc.

Our helper Rose was so happy because this was the first time she had a bbq.

The little girl ate so much fish and potatoes and capsicum and beef! And from all the excitement, began to rub her eyes at 9.30pm. We dragged the mattresses onto the floor for her and she was fast asleep by 10pm and the adults had a good time chatting and even time for a midnight swim.

The next morning, we decided to take a stroll along the beach.

Good morning!

Talia was adamant that she be the one to walk cookie! So here she goes!

Getting dragged along by cookie!

After that we went to the children’s play room for some fun!

Balls balls balls!

After we got back, the girl took a little nap and by the time she woke up, it’s time for her lunch!

LUNCH!

and I must self-feed!

Talia is better these days, while she is feeding herself some veggies, I could try to stuff in a few mouthfuls of rice with fish! Thank God for small favours! You cannot imagine how messy it is when she tries to self feed rice with fish! arrghh!

After lunch, it began a drizzle a little so we thought we will go outside for a little shopping. We went to White Sands and decide to just pop into the library for a while.

The girl, as usual, was busy carting all the books back to the table which she refused to read. She is only interested in transporting them back to the table. We finally managed to interest her with one book about how a little boy is getting ready for bedtime.

Looking intently at the book

When she saw the bed in the book, she made the zzz noise and proceeded to rest her head onto the book! It was so funny!

Zzz!

When we passed by the arcade, she was so excited she dashed right in!

We put her onto one of those daytona cars and she was so happy!

Drive away!

Change gears!

After we got back, we went for a swim again!

and this time the daddy even took her down the slide! That thrill-seeking baby was shrieking at the top of her voice throughout!

After dinner, we went for a walk around the place and ventured into the games room. This time in addition to the daytona cars, the girl wanted to ride on the motorcycle as well!

vroooom vrooooom!

and when we wanted to go, she refused and sat on the floor! aiyoo! Have to coax her by saying cookie ger is waiting for her, then she is willing to move her butt!

I don’t wanna go!

The next day by mid morning after a swim, we packed and left the place!

It was a totally enjoyable experience and I thought it was a nice way to spend some time with Talia before her brother arrives. It was so satisfying seeing how she explored each room and dashed around taking in new things. I must say perhaps this period would be one of her cutest period…ahh toddlerhood, how fast it will pass!

For many moons, my favourite children program has been “The wheels on the bus”. Daddy taught me to say “Bus” a few months back and whenever he says “The wheels on the???” I will say “Bus!!!”. I love it! Every nite after dinner, I will just walk around the house and say “Bus!”, “Bus!”, “Bus!” and the adults will know I want to watch “The Wheels on the bus”.

Sitting in the car seat while going out used to be so boring. I hate car seats, I’ll make lots of noise and try to get out. One day, Daddy brought “The Wheels on the bus” CD into the car and since then, the 1st thing I say when I get on the car is “Bus!”. I enjoy my “wheels on the bus” for almost every journey since.

I still love “the wheels on the bus”, but I found a new love it’s “In The Night Garden”.

Daddy said it’s produced by Ragdoll Productions, the company that created “Teletubbies”. I don’t know what that is and I don’t care. I just love my friends Upsy Daisy, Igglepiggle, Makka Pakka, the Haahoos, the Pontipines, the Wottingers and three Tombliboos who live in a garden.

I also get to play “In The Night Garden” game (Click here) on the computer.

I like Upsy Daisy, she is a rag doll of Afro-Caribbean origin. She has her own special bed, which can move around the garden; sometimes Upsy Daisy has to catch her bed when it decides to run away. She loves to say “Upsy Daisy” and “Daisy Doo!” What I love most is when her hair stands up when she is excited.

I also like the three Tombliboos - Unn, Ooo, and Eee. Daddy said the names Unn, Ooo and Eee reflect phonetically how a young child might say the numbers One, Two, Three, and the Tombliboos always appear in this order by saying their names. They are very cute and always hang their pants on the line.

What I really wish to have is the Pinky Ponk. It’s an airship, speckled with many fins. I dreamt travelling in it and sipping the “Pinky Ponk juice”, they look so yummy.

Yes, “In the winter Garden” is my new love.

I went on a date with Philson gor gor last sunday to the Jacob Ballas Gardens. ssshh! Don’t let Megan hear it! It was so nice! Just the two of us (oh well our parents are there as well but never mind them!)

Oh! both of us tried to spin that as fast as we can to light up a durian on the tree!

Then we had a little rendevous in the little house on the prairie

Eh! where did Philson go?

Go take a look from the window

Ah! there you are! Where did you go?

Let me have some fun at the giant fruit puzzle!

I then spend about half an hour digging at the sand! Filling up every container that was brought along. Needless to say, men being men, Philson gor gor had no patience to wait for me to finish my colossal task and wondered away after a while!

After which we both changed into our swimming suits and had some fun at the water play area!

me in my new red beetle suit!

Trying to sneak up on Philson gor gor!

Eh! no more water!

Go and get some water!

Maybe steal some from here?

It was FUN FUN FUN!

Who else wanna come next time?

Related Post: Conquering The Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

The past week the little girl suddenly decided she will no longer be the docile little baby when it comes to feeding. She has decided that food that comes from anybody else’s hand is yucky and must be spit out! And food must be eaten in order, cannot be mixed! And being vegetarian is cool! arrrgghhh!!!

So with her fork, she will poke poke at her veggies and feed herself and you cannot offer her rice when she’s eating her veggies, or she will even spit out her veggies. Firstly she will eat her capsicum, followed by corn, then carrots. If the carrots are too hard, after chewing, she will spit out too! No meat on her fork please, if accidentally she gets meat onto her fork, she will use her other hand to swat it away!

After she realised that is no more veggies on the plate, you can offer her rice nicely. If she is in a good mood, she will eat a few mouthfuls, if not will spit everything out too!

I’ve been told by my mummy kakis that their babies have been doing this for the longest time already and I am to be welcomed most warmly into their club! oh geez! The girl will act up once in a while in the past when it comes to feeding but she can be pacified or distracted with a song or dance routine or a new toy or nicer food. Now, no way! no song or dance or the yummiest food can deter her from her new assertion of her independence.

We were at Ikea yesterday and spend 1 hr in the cafetaria where she self-fed herself capsicum, carrot and potatoes and bread, in that order thank you very much! After that she took a few mouthful of rice. But at least she was happy and we just need to occasionally catch the falling carrots coming from her mouth! sigh!

Oh we have been hunting around for a little table and chairs for her and we found something we like at Ikea yesterday. And how the girl enjoy shopping at Ikea!

zooom zoooom….

turn and turn…

When she saw this study room setup with the computer on the table, she insisted to be put in the chair. That’s what she has been doing at home all the time too. She will dash to the study room and insist to be put at the computer while she pounds away at the keyboard as though she is typing some important document!

Typing away…

Oh back to the table and chairs, we bought a white gulliver table and 2 minden red chairs!

The new table and chairs…

I hope Talia will have a great time at her table, doodling, drawing, playing! YEAH!