Tanglin Tales

An afternoon outing with Yeh Yeh and Ah Ma began with tea, continued with swimming and ended with dinner. It was a great day! It seems that Ethan was eyeing the Corona on the table, but in the end both kids were enamoured with the crisp bread which thy munched all the way home!

Bought and Paid For

While the kids were in the supermarket trolley I playfully said, "I want to buy these children. How much are they?" Ethan promptly replied, "No, don't buy me! Jesus has already bought me!" We congratulated him on his good theology and began debating whether this was to be credited to WEFC PowerKids or BRMC Sunday School...

How to Relax and Fly Kites

We got a new kite! A very easy to fly $12 angel fish...so easy in fact that Ethan figured he could sit, then lie down while holding the kite string! We had a great time and I really liked Ethan's way of kite flying cos you can look up and have a great view of all the fluttering dancing kites above you.

Pretty Girl

Talia looks so pretty today she has her daddy smitten! We are on our way to fly kites at Marina Barrage and have stopped at this neighborhood playground to buy some food for dinner. Talia is fearlessly "balancing" on this rolling bar which you can't see in this photo. Pretty, athletic, and fearless, like one of Charlie's Angels!

Motorcycle Recycle

We are the masters of recycled toys! Somehow we often manage to find good stuff that people throw out cos they don't know how or can't be bothered to fix them. We got 2 cars previously, one if which is still with us, and look what showed up downstairs yesterday! The toddlers motorbike was in great condition but not operating. Some electrical work, soldering, and a battery upgrade and voilà! It is now charging the high capacity battery to welcome Talia to her first motorbike. Yes, it is Talia's cos it is a little small for Ethan but somehow I think Brother will get a few rides in...

Flying Kites

It was our first time ever flying kites and we had great fun trying! A beautiful hand-made and painted bird kite from Bali was high up in the air over Marina Barrage! Needless to say, the kids loved it! Ethan said his favourite part was holding the "red wheel" (the kite line) and wants to go again.

Baby Burgers

I had the grand idea of making "mini burgers" for the kids the other day. They can't eat burgers like we usually do cos their mouths are too small! So I bought soft dinner rolls for buns and made home-made mini beef patties with rosemary, grilled with melted cheese, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and topped with Daddy's special home-made tomato sauce.


"Wow!" said Ethan when he first saw his dinner waiting him. He promptly stacked the lettuce and mushrooms into his burger and took a big bite. When I gave him his second burger an audible "Ooooh!" and a clap of hands was all the appreciation a chef ever needed. Talia was less verbal about the food but I think that was because she was concentrating very hard as she was enthusiastically eating her baby burger. She has announcing her love for Daddy several times a day recently...which makes it very hard to leave the house to go to work! :)

Epic Adventure

We did it! Another Father and Son trip and this time... an epic adventure. Daddy gave Ethan a huge surprise by taking him on an overnight train from Singapore to Kelantan then back again on the next day to arrive at 10pm 30 June 2011... the LAST train to arrive at Tanjong Pagar Railway Staiton before closing and ending it's long history.

I was a bit worried that only upper bunks were available for our trip. It made eating dinner a little more difficult but we still had a very happy and full meal of nasi lemak and Ethan absolutely loved his top bunk. I asked him if he needed me to cuddle him to sleep but he said, "No daddy, you go into your bed over there!" and he promptly closed the curtains and figured out the velcro closures for himself. He slept all the way through the night while I read my Kindle, and woke up several times worrying whether we would miss our 6.20am stop in a tiny town called Dabong in Kelantan, just south of the Thai border.

The next morning saw a sleepy Ethan and Daddy get off the train in the dark in Dabong. Ethan wondered why we were getting off when it was still "night time." Soon the day brightened up and we got ourselves tea-tarik, roti cenai, iced milo and fried eggs.

Daddy chose this stop because it gave us 3 hours to "hang around" before we got on the return train to Singapore at 9.30am. We had considered bringing our Brompton with child seat, but the unfamiliarities and chance of rain dissuaded us so we went simple instead and walked around the town seeing the school, the different looking houses, and Daddy teaching Ethan little by little what it means that things are "different but still nice" and why we sometimes go to different places to tell others that Jesus loves them! There were still some smells that Ethan didn't like though!

We made friends with Wan, the Gemas station master who invited us back to stay with him next time (no need hotel!) and visit the waterfall. His wife works at the coffeeshop next to the train station from whom we ordered more delicious nasi lemak to eat for lunch on the way home.

Wan showed Ethan and I the antique token machines that were still functioning. He operates them using morse code and removes the giant keys to exchange them with the train driver. This gives the train the "license" to run on a certain part of the track.

Where and how else would Ethan have gotten to play with 100+ year old token machines at a real train station! Amazing...

It was a 13 hour journey on the way back. Some may think it's a crazy thing to do with a toddler! We spent 13 hours overnight going up, then immediately came back 13 hours again. But it's totally different on a train than in a car or aeroplane. Ethan loved the whole experience. He did colouring activities, jumped off when train stopped to buy drinks and snacks, and of course played "Angry Birds" but Daddy tried to keep this to a minimum

One moment he was colouring, and the next I felt a little head slumped onto my shoulder. The colouring pencil was still clutched in his left hand. I laid him down flat on the chairs and took an empty seat behind him. With children, 2nd Class is better than first class cos there is no armrest in between the seats! He had a glorious 2 hour snooze while Daddy had his own quiet time, Kindle time, thinking time, and thankfulness time.

By the time we pulled into Singapore it was dark and things were getting festive on the train. Another carriage was a standing party while ours was quiet with various people chatting. An elderly Sri Lankan gentleman was telling a photo-journalist about how when he first took the KTM trains it was a luxury experience and there was a carriage with a bar and a restaurant which cooked whatever you wanted! We were witnessing the end of an era with the closing of Tanjong Pagar. As the train whizzed by, we could see people standing in their apartments watching the last train go by and waving to us! We stopped at Bukit Timah station and there was another train waiting for us to say "farewell" as they were heading up to Malaysia. Throngs of people were at the normally deserted station taking pictures. We got off the station and Ethan had his hand at "changing tracks!"

Mummy waited for us to congratulate the boys on our highly succesful epic adventure. Daddy's pocket was very pleased because the whole trip including food cost us only $90! It was certainly the most memorable, historic, cheapest, and intensive Father-Son trip ever!

Swimming Class

Ethan is following in his sister's (brave) footsteps and has started swimming classes as well! We were not sure how he would fit in as the other kids in the class have been there for quite a long time and he is a little more cautious than his sister...... but he surprised us all by giving it his best shot even overcoming his aversion to getting his face in the water! He is now even able to do an assisted dive into the water and pick up little toys at the bottom of the pool! We think having positive peer influence and a good teacher really helped. ("I love Teacher Sam", he tells us quite often)

Here is the happy boy waiting for his swimming class to start. The classes continue even after we get home, when he then takes over Teacher Sam's role and patiently teaches his sister and bath toys the same excercises he learnt in the pool earlier!

Family Train Holiday

The impending closure of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station motivated us to do what we had been talking about for a long time... take a family train ride into Malaysia! We booked a 5 hour ride into the small town of Gemas and had a great time with the kids who absolutely loved the whole experience.

Hotel Tropicana is a small, simple, and very clean hotel just 3 minutes walk from the train station. It's the perfect place to stay a night while you eat local food (oooh...the prata was so good!). There is even an air-conditioned KFC near the train station if you really need something kid friendly and safe. Ethan and Talia are great travellers and have fun doing and seeing new things. In the morning, Talia wanted to be in Ethan's bed so we tucked them in like the loving brother and sister they are.

The train ride back was neither too short nor too long. They watched TV, coloured books, looked at the window, and enjoyed eating snacks. "Mmmmm.... train food is yummy!" is something we kept hearing over and over again.

The train is a great place for kids and a bonding holiday cos you slow down and spend lots of time talking with each other. There were times when even Mummy and Daddy got time "alone" as Ethan and Talia happily played together on their own two seats. Other times it was Mummy-Daughter cuddle time... this was certainly how our nap time went.
All in all, it was such a great (and cheap) trip that Daddy thought perhaps he should even do it next week with Ethan just one more time before Tanjong Pagar closes...

Night Toilet Training

We are proud that Ethan is pretty much in control of his toileting in the day time (that Good Boy chart was pretty good!) and we have recently started trying to train him to go to the toilet at night. He is quite a heavy sleeper so we are not sure how this will go but so far we have been waking him at around midnight before we go to sleep and take him to the toilet then. He's usually quite sleepy but cooperative enough to stand and pee at the appropriate time. We have also been trying to reduce his bedtime milk drink to only upon request. In the morning we have been telling him to make sure he pees in the toilet and not in the diaper!

So far we have been pleasantly surprised with quite a few dry diapers and only a couple of 'spillovers'! Well done son!

Festive Recollections

We were so busy and tired out during Chinese New Year this year that we didnt get a chance to post these cute pics of Ethan & Talia doing the Tea Ceremony on the first morning of CNY. This was their first time at offering tea (cold Chrysanthemum tea) to their parents & elders and they did really well without spilling anything! Ethan, of course, was the Master of the tea pot while Talia looked attentively on....

They then took turns carefully offering us the tea....

......before finally being rewarded with their ang pows -- comprising of 2 golden chocolate coins for the joy of instant gratification!

They did great at Yeh Yeh & Ah Mah's place as well.....and seemed to enjoy the visiting of relatives as well! Here they are enjoying their first lollipop ever!

Singapore Art Museum (Part 2)

More interesting exibits at the Art Museum -- here they are appreciating the solar powered "flowers" on the wall.....

You may just be able to make out a happy Talia dashing around these "trees" and scribbling on them with the markers provided.....

Happiness is decorating a giant cake for Mummy!

This one must have been Talia's favourite!

Ethan, on the other hand, had a great time building train tracks and watching them run and eventually collide into each other around him.....

They even had a tiny stage where he proudly sang to the rest of the gallery at the top of his voice and did a little joy jig for his Mummy Dearest! They are now big fans of the Museum!

Singapore Art Museum

We went to the Singapore Art Museum with 2 kids and minus 2 wisdom teeth from Daddy's extraction yesterday.

In this special exhibit many things are interactive and you can play with the exhibits. Young children are free but we had to pay $10/adult.

Cooling off

It's been simmering these last few weeks so here we are at the water playground at Nex Mall. The kids are loving it and were thrilled on the train ride up too! Cheap n good fun!

The Apprentice

Daddy has a young apprentice who deeply respects his work and has a keen interest to learn and help out as much as possible. Here they are putting on the finishing touches on a modified bike seat. Like any good apprentice he takes the art of craftsmanship very seriously (look at the face!)

The Poser

Ethan has been striking different poses for photos, finding that he adds variety to the resulting ensemble. We went another "Night Cycling and Satay Outing" during whin Ethan insisted on eating biscuits after the Marina Bay light show cos that's what we did the last time!

Loving It

Guess who just loves her swimming!

A Loving Drive

Our two critters were in a good mood this morning with lots of love and affection for each other. Here they are sharing a single seated Barney car after church... Quite sweet!

Tender Heart

Did you know a little boy can get so sad thinking about missing his Daddy that he throws up? Indeed these sheets look clean now but a short while ago...

We were having a nice bedtime, finished reading, and lying in Daddy's bed waiting for Talia to fall asleep in the kids room. I had earlier told Ethan that Daddy was going to East Timor next week and that I would miss him very much. After a long silence Ethan mournfully said, "I will miss you Dad," and a distressed sadness came over his face. His eyes were glistening and the edges of his mouth drooped down. "Ethan, are you sad?" He nodded as tears dripped down his cheeks. I hugged him and he began weeping, then coughing, then all of a sudden I was covered in penne, cheddar cheese, beef, tomatoes and once roasted vegetables that didn't smell nearly as good as it had 2 hours earlier! What a tender heart...hope he'll be okay while I am away!

Taxi Driver

Our son seems to have a knack for knowing how to relax and look like he is really enjoying himself. Work intensely, play intensely, and relax intensely...he gets this from both mummy and daddy! He does look like a taxi driver napping in his car though...

Dear Talia

Dear Talia,

Today you woke up from your nap with a plaintive cry. "I want Daddy!" you cried. Mummy carried you to me and you calmed down instantly when you put your head on my shoulder and gave me big hug. You stayed there for a long time and I just closed my eyes and soaked in your presence. I wrote to you when you were first born than I would be here to watch over you and protect you my sweetie. I remembered this when I looked at this picture of you holding me. I am so glad that you wanted your Daddy and came ti me. I will be ready for a hug from you any time my dearest daughter. Love,

Daddy