Walk with Daddy

We went to the park today - just the two boys and Ethan had a great time exercising and playing with his daddy! This is also the first mobile blog from dad's new handphone-pda. We're getting ready to mobile blog for the coming of Ethan's little sister - yes, it is confirmed that she will be a girl!

Computer Lessons

Busy, busy, busy! Ethan is touching up his own website...

Mummy says this that is exactly what Daddy looks like...both in earnest concentration and when something/someone disturbs that focussed time on the PC.

But Ethan is extra happy with what he accomplished today. You see, Daddy watches Ethan use the computer and though he tries to teach the little bub a thing or two, Ethan has started teaching Daddy some things too. We knew the time would come, but didn't think it would be so soon.

You see, Ethan will rattle away and often finds some shortcut that Daddy didn't know about. Today he somehow brought up Computer Management directly from the desktop! It's a fairly advanced and esoteric part of Windows that most people don't know about it. I usually go to Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management to get at it and still don't know how Ethan managed to pull it up directly.

I looked away and when I glanced back, the web-page Ethan was fiddling with suddenly looked all tiny. Upon closer inspection it was zoomed at 40% which even my lasiked 20-20 eyes couldn't read. Further examination uncovered this shortcut that Ethan taught me! In Internet Explorer click Ctrl then scroll the mouse wheel up/down and this will zoom the page in/out. I only knew Ctrl-Shift + or - to zoom in/out. This mouse wheel one is better! Thanks Ethan...

Singapore Flyer

We took a trip on the world's largest observation wheel - the Singapore Flyer! It was Barker Rd Methodist Church's staff & family day so Ethan and Ivan tagged along with everyone else. It was a great outing.

Ethan was wide-eyed with wonder at the sights, and we were suitably impressed with how well the whole Singapore Flyer experience was done. They had nice restaurants, good staff, spanking new facilities BUT no diaper change tables! Shock and horror... how can a world-class tourist attraction have no diaper change tables? One staff said "Sorry, don't have" so we proceeded to change Ethan on a bench in the foyer whereby another staff came and said, "You can use the first-aid room!" First-aid room!!?! Knock off the red-cross and slap on some white diapers I say...

At the base of the Flyer is lovely garden. Singapore seems to be very good at doing this man-made stuff which, though a little sterile, was still pleasing and fun. Ethan enjoyed it!

In the Flyer itself, I am pleased to say that the airconditioning worked very well despite the heat of the early afternoon. Ethan was the smallest of the kids there. You can see that he wants to start playing with others but doesn't quite have the physical development just yet!

Children's Garden...Again!

It was so fun that went to the Jacob Ballas' Childrens Garden again! This time we stopped along the way to get some Adam Road nasi lemak for breakfast. Ethan and Daddy had a fun time sharing this breakfast! Ethan tends to like whatever Daddy likes and he loved his first nasi lemak ... without chilli and fried chicken of course!


Just look at that happy boy face! Ethan really likes doing things that Daddy does and eating is no exception. The day was turning out great with lovely weather and Ethan looking sporty in his new swimgear. He has outgrown his previous one and this entire set cost all of $7 at an Aussie discount shop we were at earlier this year.


A walk around the Children's Garden uncovered many treasures.  One was this cute suspension bridge.  The netting on the sides makes it safe for kids and Ethan loved the challenge of walking on the bridge. Doesn't he and Daddy look sporty!?


Of course we played at the water fountain. This time Ethan had lots of sun protection with his special sun-protecting hat so we stayed a looong time.


After all that play, Ethan changed into dryer clothes and we shared a peppermint ice-cream.  Daddy and Ethan's trick is to be fed using your mouth instead of your hands.  Coordinated aren't we?

Birthday Party

No, it's not Ethan's birthday but Kelly's, Ethan's cousin (actually their daddys are cousins). This was Ethan's first kiddies party, so he was younger than most of the kids but being there was great for him cos he watched all the others and learned valuable lessons on how to play!

A little magic show entertained the kiddies, and Ethan clapped and raised his hands on cue following all the other kids! He hasn't figured it all out yet but he sure knows it's fun!

Slave Baby

This cute baby was found cleaning windows, boxes, and balcony railings... and wearing only a loincloth too!

Henderson Bridge Walk

We took Ethan on the Henderson Waves bridge walk recently. It was a public holiday and half of Singapore was there. Squeezing into a parking lot that wasn't really a parking lot at Telok Blangah we made our way up the steep path to the beginning of the Henderson Waves bridge.

It was rather hot but a beautiful day so we made our way down towards the cable car towers. The bridge really is lovely with its organic flowing lines and wooden deck. It's a great place for the kids to explore and enjoy too. Mummy did superbly well and was able to keep a good healthy pace now being 4.5 months pregnant.

We finally made it to the cable car towers, enjoyed 2 cokes and more nice views but we didn't take any pictures there. We let Ethan walk a little on the way back and he loved the scenery. He and Daddy looked great together in their matching hats!

Little Chef

Someone has a tendency to clamour to watch the action when Mummy or Daddy are cooking in the kitchen. We often try to buy some time & space by giving Ethan his own utensils to play with but his favourite so far seems to be our South African Salad Bowl which looks a lot like the wok Mummy was frying up dinner in! We hope he learns to savour the joy and art of combining various ingredients and making them zing with his imagination and lots of love like his Mummy, Daddy & Grandma do!

Children's Garden at Botanics

We had a really good outing at the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden at the Botanic Gardens recently. Actually, we only made it as far as the water play station. There was plenty more but that was more than enough for us. It is really a fantastic place and we were the only the Asians there... all the other families were Caucasians!

Daddy got wet together with Ethan who got really wet. His big Ethan Cap worked really well cos not only did it protect his face from the harsh sun, it also protected his eyes from too much water splashing in.

Ethan played with the water cans and a little bit with the other kids but he was more engrossed with the water. We realized that this is actually more fun for him than the swimming pool cos he can move aorund a lot more here. Our little boy really enjoyed himself!

Latte Lover

Ethan has been a regular fan of Daddy's barista aspirations. He runs to the kitchen and stares whenever he hears the grinder going and stays to watch the final milk pour. I've been giving him bits of frothed milk previously, so this morning I decided to make him his own! Of course, it's not a cappucino but a coacacino - Ethan's very own mini cocoa latte!

Left to Right: Daddy's Cappucino, Ethan's Cocoacino

So how did Ethan like it? We took a few videos, selected the two best and stitched them together. Absolutely a must-see! Look for the wiggles of delight and turn on your sound to hear a toddler's appreciate aaaahhh!. This is one of our favourites of our fine food loving son!

A Happy Pair

Ethan just loves the view of the world on top of Daddy's shoulders... especially when we're dressed like a pair! We had just finished a lovely lunch at Pepper Lunch in Suntec City on our day off and we took a family stroll around. Now that Ethan is stronger, Daddy can get by just holding his ankles whereas before Ethan had to be held around the waist. This way entails more freedom and more fun!

Ethan Calling

Ethan shares his Daddy's love for electronic gadgets and we are continually amazed how fast he is to figure out how each gadget works! Last week Mummy was busy in the kitchen when she noticed Ethan being a bit too quiet for a while......it turned out he had retrieved her handphone from the top of the table and gone to a quiet corner to make his very first unassisted phone call to Gong Gong! It seems they had a good chat for a few minutes with Ethan cheerfully talking about how his day had gone. Too bad it wasn't in English but we are sure Grandpa appreciated it all the same!

Boats

Ethan's taking a liking to climbing in and out of tubs & boxes of late. Maybe its the happy memories he has of sitting in his bathtub, but with his eagerness to climb in & out of his tub even outside of bath times, we have had to pack it away to avoid the danger of tumble. Fortunately we've found another way to satisfy his love of boats -- we've found a new use for his pool float out of the water! Best of all its much safer on our rug than a tumbling bathtub...

Pastor's Pie

After a hiatus from cooking, Daddy is back again. Last week it was a bacon amatraciana with macaroni (aka daddy's delight). Ethan loved it so much that Daddy didn't mind slaving away at the stove again. I didn't have any name for it at first but it was yummy mashed potatoes with milk and butter that formed the base.

Sixteen servings of mashed potatoes need some delicious topping and it was a beef base this time. At only 90c/100g for this brazilian minced beef, $2.70 sure went a long way. I usually load up Ethan with sauteed onions, but Mummy noticed that his poo was especially smelly this week. So it was sans onions with other goodness instead - red and yellow peppers, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and basil.

After dishing out all the servings, it hit me! It was very similar to shepherd's pie with the mashed potatoes and the beef, but it was inverted with lots of other things instead. Therefore, Ethan's food filling our freezer is henceforth declared pastor's pie. In addition to the beef it has lots of love, joy, peace, kindness, and goodness. I hope there's not much self-control when Ethan eats it though. Will he like his new dish... pastor's pie?

Note: After telling this to mummy, she reminded me that pastor actually means shepherd! Ha hah ha....

Couch Climber

Ethan is now able to scale the couch! We found the cute little boy lying there and smiling at his parents, being extremely pleased with his new achievement. He's so adorable it just drives us nuts sometimes!

He will now climb up to sofa unassisted, sit down and turn on the television! He doesn't know how to select channels yet, but he's quite happy simply looking at the flashing "NO SIGNAL" display on our TV!

Registered for School!

Guess what? Someone is old enough to start school next year!!! We had always thought it would be quite a while away, but realised that he can actually join Nursery Class at Barker Rd Methodist Church Kindergarten from Jan 2009! Here he is at Kindy registration looking forward to the big step of being big boy and going to school next year. (sigh!) We can hardly believe it -- last year he was just a baby and next year our boy is going to school!! He sure is growing up fast....

The best thing about BRMC Kindy is that it is just downstairs from Mummy's office! Ethan had some time on his hands after registration so he decided to help Mummy with some of her work.

Aspiring House Cleaner

Ethan sure has taken a liking to house cleaning. We've concluded that he gets this virtue from Mummy and not from Daddy. The other day when the vacuum cleaner was off and on the floor he walked over and started vacuuming the floor. Way to go Ethan! And with jazz in the background too...



Then this morning Daddy was in the kitchen making his breakfast. He reached up spilled some powder so I had to get the broom. Ethan watched intently as I cleaned up the mess then after I was done, quickly grabbed the broom and proceeded to sweep not only the kitchen but the living room for a good 10 minutes! Good job son!

Now we know why people have 10 children.

Snow in Japan

On the last couple of days we went to a ski slope where there was still snow in the spring season. We stayed at a little pensione (like a bed and breakfast) and this was the view outside our bedroom.

It was just 3 minutes to the slopes, so we went there the next morning and made sure Ethan was warm enough. We had most of the gear for him already except for sunglasses and mitts (no gloves cos he's too small) which we got for just $13 each at the ski-shop. This is also the first time that Ethan kept sunglasses on, which is good cos he really needed them with the glare off the snow.

All this high altitude stuff was tiring, so everyone had a nice nap after lunch. This was why we chose a place only 3 minutes walk away!

We went back in the afternoon and rejoined the "snow park" for which we bought 500 Yen tickets to. It's specially for kids, with gentle slopes, and a covered travellator that goes up the slope! Since Ethan is still too young to learn to ski (min 3 years old) we went sledding instead!

He loved the action but Daddy had to brake using his feet which caused the snow to fly up into Ethan's face which he didn't like so much...

Maccha Ice Cream

You are witnessing Ethan's very first taste of ice-cream... and it's green tea ice-cream in Japan! The first bite kind of surprised him, and we weren't sure whether he'd like the taste especially cos it's not that sweet with the green tea flavour. But after thinking about it for a bit, he loved it and kept coming back for more.

This all happened in a quaint little town near the base of Mt Fuji. Though things were brown and not green, it was still very lovely.

New Cousin!

Our Sydney trip was all started, of course, by the arrival of Ethan's cousin. Here's a lovely pic of Josie with mummy Ruth. Both sisters and cousins look very happy and contented!

Ivan got to cuddle a newborn baby again. It made us remember when Ethan was this small... actually Ethan was much smaller than Josie. It also made us think of what it would be like having another one. Now our second baby is on the way and soon it will be a reality.

Sydney Memories

Sigh, we've been off the blog for a while cos Blogger was giving us upload problems and cos of many overseas trips. We also haven't posted much of the trips... so memories drifted back to Sydney . We stopped off one day at a lovely cafe for breakfast at Mosman, a rather posh area! Next to the cafe was a kitchen store (with many gadgets I wanted) and the vey cosy Mosman Library where they were having kids story time.

One of our great joys on each trip is to see Ethan thrive, grow, and develop with the myriad of new experiences that he's exposed to. Being away on holiday also gives us tons of time to play together as a family.

Ethan's World Turns Upside Down

Ethan's world is about to turn upside down... in early October to be exact. Yes, Renata is now at the end of her first trimester with our second one. Here's the little fella at about 9 weeks. Ethan's World blog will have to be changed I guess... we're not yet sure what it will metamorphisize into next.

Chinese New Year 2008

Although Chinese New Year was spent Down Under this year we made sure we spent some time beforehand ushering the Year of the Rat with Yeh Yeh & Ah Mah's homemade Yu Sheng (of which Ethan wanted to join in the festive Loh Hei and take his first nibble of!)

The New Year is a great time to spend unhurriedly with family so it was extra special this year when Ethan was able to pay his respects to Gong Gong & Poh Poh the first thing in the morning on the 1st day of the New Year in the apartment we were sharing together in Sydney.

Ashmar Farm Stay

One of the things we did while in Australia was to go on a farm stay. Ashmar Farm is near Gloucester, a small town about 2.5 hours north of Sydney. This was the first time on a farm for father and son! The cottage we stayed in was absolutely lovely. Ethan explored the whole house when we first got there and when we showed him his room (yes, he had his own room) he smiled and clapped his hands in approval!

The next day we all went for hay ride. Farmer Ian pulled us along in his tractor while we sat on bales of hay. Ethan was mesmerized with the views of huge open spaces and greenery all around.

There were all sorts of animals on the farm, including these parrots. Ethan was a bit scared of some of the animals, although he was fascinated by the newly hatched ducklings. Though he was a tad young for the full farm experience, it was wonderful memories for our little family.