Mummy's Birthday - 22/07/2010 To 23/07/2010 (Part I)

Oh mine! Another candle to be added on my birthday cake. Time sure slipped by fast without one noticing! It seemed like only yesterday when we went on a staycation at St. Regis. This year, Daddy booked a 1 night stay at St. Regis and buffet dinner at The Carousel to celebrate my birthday. The highlight for me is a session at the Remede Spa in St. Regis while Daddy took care of K. Mmmmm.....a really, really pampered treat (^-^) Thanks dear!!

P/S: It was a BIG mistake to let K check-in with us when she had to attend school shortly after as she insisted on staying with us and threw a BIG tantrum but of course she had to go! Hmmm.....I guess she could still remember the enormous fun she had during the last stay :P

Luxurious spa session at Remede after K went to school

K & Daddy monkeying in the bathroom after school

Watched Little Einstein while waiting for mummy to be ready

Pictures with mummy in the room and sitting pretty in the lift

Sumptuous dinner spread at The Carousel

Pictures in the restaurant

K swallowing jelly from a test tube

Happy family!

Outside the restaurant

Delicious cake back in hotel room after dinner

Seemed like K's birthday instead!

I wish...I wish....

Pant-less + A wide grin {^.^}

Sand Art - 19/07/2010

Bought this sand art kit by Alex from Borders as there was a promotion. Though Krissa has never done this form of art before, it seemed pretty easy according to the instructions and true enough it was simple for K to manage on her own yet challenging at the same time as she has to patiently peel off the stickers with care. K was extremely happy with her finished piece and asked for more :)

Eager K!

K working hard

An extremely happy and proud K

We're Going To The Zoo...Again - 17/07/2010

Thanks to Joycelyn...yet again...we were able to visit the zoo for free! Yippeee....apart from the zoo, K was thrilled to be able to meet up and play with Trishelle jie-jie. If K has a list of her favourite playmates, Trishelle jie-jie definitely will be at the top of the list :)

2 pretty girls posing for the camera. I love the way K pretend-played with her toy camera (see the bottom 3 pictures)

Daddy is a strong man!

Bubble time after a showHighlight of the trip: Waterplay!!!
2 hot babes and 1 old hunk...hahaha!!!
The 2 girls monkeyed around!Bonus: a kiddy ride after waterplay! Very happy indeed!

K did this Noah's ark animal sticker scene after the zoo trip

K's 2nd School Excursion - 17/07/2010

K should be in for a good time this field trip as she will be on the bus and ride on the MRT for the first time. Any idea yet where we will be going? Drum roll.....Changi Airport, Terminal 3 via MRT at the Tanah Merah MRT station. True enough, she became very excited the minute she sees the buses at the carpark! We took the bus to Tanah Merah MRT Station.

I shall let the pictures do the talking:

K's bento lunch: Three cheese tortellini in bolognese sauce, baby carrots, brocoli, mango and strawberries
Parents and children waiting in the classroom before setting off for Tanah Merah MRT Station. A friendly and approchable staff of the station gave an informative briefing.

All children and adults listened attentively

K with her MRT pass

In the train with Maximus' pretty mummy, teachers Auntie Shuyee and Auntie Sunying

Arrived at Changi Airport MRT Station

The girls were hungry and snacked while waiting for the Skytrain to Terminal 3.

Left to right: Ella, K & Joyce

A garden theme exhibit at the airport

After much efforts, we finally have a decent group photo

Daddy met us at the airport :)

So sweeeeet!!!

Playground time & home-sweet-home

K Progresses In Reading - 11/08/2010

I am really happy that K is progressing well in reading and loving it! I have started her on the Ladybird Level Keyword Readers (Peter and Jane series). She has finished level 1 and will start level 2 tomorrow. As K progresses each day, I can see her confidence level rise and clearly she is happy that she is able to read the whole page/book on her own. However, although K likes to read, her concentration span is very short. On average, she can only sit through 3 to 4 pages at one go. I would let her continue with the readers whenever the opportunity rises e.g. during her daily poo-poo time...hahaha!!! Rule of the thumb: Stop before your child wants to stop. See how applicable Glenn Doman's teachings are?

Apart from the Ladybird readers, we read other books too but of course, these books are filled with vocabularies strange to K. Unlike the readers which she would "snatch" to read on her own, K would patiently wait for me to read each sentence and then repeats after me. If the vocabularies appear again in the book, there is a good chance that she is able to recognise and read them aloud!

R&R(Romantic & Relaxed) Phuket - 14/05/2010 To 16/05/2010 (Part II)

Hotel breakfast; mediocre in my opinion

Our tutuk driver, Mr Man, whom we engaged whenever

we go to Patong Beach because Cape Sienna is located

highup on Kamala Beach

Phuket is hot, hot, hot! Bought a big hat from this lady

Unable to escape the clutches of Junky "M"

Hubs enjoyed 2 hours of body massage here while

I had an hour of massage and another hour of cuticle pampering

Idyllic soak at both Sienna Rocks and the hotel pool

after our massage

The overhyped and definitely over rated(food wise) Baan Rim Pa Restaurant

You can't miss the restaurant with its ice carving and huge golden signboard at the entrance

Beautiful staff and numerous accolades adorned its wall

The patio

Inside the restaurant; very romantic ambience and good view

Come here only if the ambience is of primary concern

e.g. a proposal and you have extra cash to spare for it is not cheap

The restaurant was so dimly lit that the staff had to give

each diner a table lamp so that we can read the menu clearly

For the record, we were dressed too casually(especially hubs) for at our next table,

a caucasian gentleman wore a tuxedo(yes!) and his partner a cocktail dress

Food which looked better than they tasted

After our dinner, we went to the Phuket Town Night Market

which is about 20 minutes drive from Patong Beach

and is opened only on weekends

Food and shopping aplenty in the night market to keep one busyYou wouldn't believe it but yes, we went back to Patong Beach

after the night marketing for a last round of seafood feast

before we leave Phuket! A dog's life?! A super fortunate canine
Back at the resort :)
Enroute to the airport, the taxi driver brought us to a popular

local stall which sells Mango Glutinous Rice. Yummy!!

Finally, my first and last drink in Phuket - Ice Buay!!

We had a great time in Phuket and indeed, it was relaxing and pretty stress-free the few days we were away from K but we missed her badly. Surprisingly, it was me who seemed to miss K more. Machismo act up for hubs? Hehe.....

Still, I hope to take a similar vacation soon. After this short getaway, I am now a firm believer that "couple only-time" is very, very important to keep a relationship healthy and alive (^_^)