HK Trip : 4 - 10 Dec 2006

Day 1 : Depart from Singapore Changi

Gwendolyn was thrilled to know that she's going to Hong Kong for holiday again! She loves sitting on the trolley and being pushed...when we check-in and deposit our luggage, she almost cried, as she didn't want the luggage to be out of her sight!

After checking in, we went through immigration checkpoint and head for our lunch. Where was lunch? Burger King, as Lyn Lyn wanted burger and fries...kids kids...you think she likes fries? She loves dipping ketchup on her fries even more!


Since it's approaching Christmas, Changi's been decorated with santa, reindeer, angels, etc...Lyn Lyn was running around the area and asking Mama to take pictures for her...

After a lot of running around, it's time to board the flight. On our way on the travelator, she kept asking Papa Mama to keep quiet and don't talk...but she kept saying "don't talk, don't talk", which is even more noisy!


To keep Lyn Lyn seated without moving around, Mama showed her the Entertainmet Guide and she spotted the Hi-5 show. She was watching attentively, sipping her apple juice and munching on her "nut nut". So comfortable...

After her entertainment and dinner, she slept in Mama's arms all the way until after we arrived in Hong Kong and seated in a cab...so nice being a kid!

Day 2 : Breakfast at McDonalds (Festival Walk) and Shopping at Causeway Bay and Dinner at Olympian City

After resting for the night, Por Por suggested for breakfast at McDonalds. With no objection from Lyn Lyn, we all headed to Festival Walk for breakfast! As usual, we ordered hotcake and sausage for Lyn Lyn...but the unusual was Lyn Lyn finished ONE cup of sweet corn and didn't eat much of the hotcake and sausage!

After breakfast, we went to Causeway Bay for lunch and shopping...Times Square's City Super, Sogo for all the Sanrio and Thomas stuff; Sesame Street clothings, etc...Mama can shop at Sogo for the whole day!

Lyn Lyn is now addicted to console games! She was running around the floor, looking for the console machines!

After a long search, she's finally found a jacket that she's willing to wear!

After shopping, Papa Mama brought Lyn Lyn to visit Auntie Celia (Hello Kitty Auntie) and Uncle George. As Lyn Lyn hasn't eaten since breakfast, she was very very very hungry. Auntie Celia gave her a Hello Kitty biscuit and she was eating very quickly!

We waited for Uncle George to come back from work for dinner. They brought us all to Olympia City Beppu Restaurant for dinner. Surprisingly, this Beppu is a higher-end one and the food is not bad! Lyn Lyn had a photo with Auntie Celia and Uncle George outside the shopping centre in front of the giant christmas tree!

Day 3 : Fever and Vomit...

Not sure what happened to Lyn Lyn, maybe of the weather has worsened her airways, which are already narrower than the ordinary people. She developed a fever in the middle of the night and vomitted. Mostly phelgm, not food...so Papa Mama thought that it couldn't be food poisoning...after Lyn Lyn threw up for the 3rd time, Mama's decided to bring her to the nearest hospital : Baptist Hospital, to see doctor...by the time we leave for the hospital, it was something like 5am...

Since there is no A&E in the private hospital, we waited for the night duty doctor to come down to the clinic and he inspected Lyn Lyn on the bed, pressing on various parts of her tummy, asking her if it's painful. She seriously touched her right tummy to say : here~~here...but when the doctor touch the other parts of her tummy, she said YES as well. In the end, the doctor cannot decide whether she was telling the truth. When Mama tried asking her again, specifying which side of her tummy, she said : LEFT side!

After about an hour or so, we went home and continue with our sleep...zzzzzzzzzz...but even after Lyn Lyn woke up, she still didn't look well and very stoned...it was resting at home for the rest of the day!

Lyn Lyn showing Gong Gong how to play her new TV console game!

Initially, we're supposed to meet Mama's cousins for dinner. In the end, Auntie Annie came to see Lyn Lyn instead...

My slave : special request for Fu Fu to feed soup soup!

Day 4 : All well now

Even though Gong Gong is not well, Por Por brought Lyn Lyn to the balcony to see the fish fish...this time, not only seeing them, but feeding them as well...she couldn't stop feeding and kept asking for more! Luckily, the fishes didn't have stomache...

After feeding the fish fish, it's time to feed the humans! We all went to the Shatin Jockey Club for lunch, so that Lyn Lyn can play in the playroom, one of her favourite places...

Eating with her new training chopsticks

Carousel : Lyn Lyn knows that it needs 2 coins to operate

Addiction...she thought the "gun" game is to pump petrol...so funny! She even acted out how to pump petrol using the pink gun!

I like the ball ball place!

Day 5 : Happy Valley Jockey Club

Initially, Gong Gong Por Por wanted to bring Lyn Lyn to the other playroom at the Happy Valley Jockey Club. Unfortunately, it's under renovation. But a pleasant surprise was to see the bouncy castle and the outdoor playground, which no one was aware before!

Enjoying her popcorn after her busy play!

Dinner was with Por Por's family and Mama's 9th uncle has brought his dog along. Lyn Lyn had a close encounter with her. Since the puppy is only a puppy and is scared of strangers, when Lyn Lyn touched the doggy on the face, it got scared and became defensive. She opened her mouth and bit Lyn Lyn's little finger on the right! Lyn Lyn was in shock and after being stunned for 2 seconds, she started crying : Doggy bite me...doggy bite me...no one dares to mention about the doggy any more! What a scary experience for her!

Day 6 : Public Transport

Lyn Lyn's been asking for bus rides in Singapore, but we hardly take public transport with her. So this time round, we have a chance to bring her to go for a bus ride...

MTR ride...she's even tried purchasing for a ticket!

Day 7 : Back to Singapore

Everyone's exhausted after this week...we have an early flight to catch this time round and it concluded our HK trip...look at all the purchases from HK...

Mario Pizza @ Faber Drive

Surprisingly, there is a "new" pizza place around our area, which Gwendolyn enjoys going to : MARIA Pizza @ Faber Drive. It's in a hidden little corner within the Faber Hills Estate, but their thin-crust pizza is very nice! Lyn Lyn loves to watch the "pizza uncle" prepare the pizza...she even remembers the procedures. When she first went about 2 weeks ago, she saw the "pizza uncle" preparing the pizza dough and just blurted out : This is a play dough! Everybody cannot stop laughing...but after Mama explained to her, she understood and laughed at herself as well!

From Expo to Paragon

Saturday morning, Papa and Mama planned to attend Sitex, a computer/IT exhibition at Expo, to get a new desktop computer at home. We went round the exhibition hall to collect brochures and sat outside to consider which has a better specification. After some careful selection, Papa and Mama have decided and bring Gwendolyn for payment. On our way back into the hall, Lyn Lyn had her eyes laid on the popcorn & sweet corn snack cart. She's asked for a cup of sweet corn and managed to finish almost everything by herself.

After the delicious sweet corn and confirmation of the computer, we all set off for shopping at Orchard Paragon to get some toys. But before we head up to Toys R Us, we went to the handmade soba/udon restaurant to have a late lunch. At the beginning, Lyn Lyn refused to go in, but insisted in watching the "uncle" make noodles. But the process is really too long, Mama asked her to go and order her food first and in the end, she's forgottrn about it and finished her noodles before asking to see again. By that time, the noodle making time was over...

After a sumptuous noodle lunch, we head to Aussino to get some new pillows and Lyn Lyn was so strong in carrying 3 pillows all by herself! Don't worry, all 3 are light goose down pillows...so nice!

Finally, we're at Level 5, where most of the kids toys and clothings are located. Lyn Lyn missed the carousel so much from Disneyland and she couldn't stop, but kept asking for a round of "horsey ride"...happy now!

After the kids rides, she discovered that there was a "gor gor" giving out popcorn! She was "thick skin" in standing in front of the "gor gor" and looking innocent, hoping the "gor gor" will giver her some. In the end, she's gotten herself a coneful of popcorn! When Papa was on the verge of paying, he noticed that there's a sign saying : FREE POPCORN! Maybe Lyn Lyn has actually read the words before standing there? Haha...

Learning Good Manners

Some of you may recognise this place being the Baby Changing room at Raffles City. What's so special about this place? Nothing actually, but with the 3 colourful children chair located in the room. Going back to the Precious Moments Signing Event, Mama brought Gwendolyn here to changed her nappies. As usual, after changing, Lyn Lyn requested to wash her hands! However, as she was about to pick the blue chair as her "stepping stone" to reach the adult sink, a family came in, consisting of a grandma, a mother, a girl who is slightly younger than Lyn Lyn and another baby. Without second thoughts, the girl sat on the blue chair and insisted on sitting on it. Lyn Lyn was showing a sad face to Mama and Mama was telling her to wait and let "mei mei" sit first and we take turns in using the chairs. Lyn Lyn was on the verge of crying and Mama kept pacifying her to wait. Without teaching the girl on sharing, her grandma said to Lyn Lyn : it's the same chair, why do you want the blue chair. Mama was quite surprised, as Mama would have thought that the adult would consider the behaviour of the child being over possessive and should instill "sharing" behaviour...Mama thought that it's hopeless to reason with this grandma and just asked Lyn Lyn to be patient and wait until the other mother finishes with the changing of nappy for the baby. Finally, they have left and Lyn Lyn can take possession of all 3 chairs.

Moral of the story : If you refused to share, you'll end up having ONE only. If you waited and is willing to share, in the end, you'll end up having THREE!

See how happy Lyn Lyn is when she's taken "possession" of all 3 chairs

Strawberry Shortcake & Ice-cream

Not sure whether anyone notice this blog has a lot of pictures on Gwendolyn AND Eating? But don't you find seeing her eat is a joyful and fun experience? Just see how funny her facial expressions are when trying Strawberry Shortcake for the first time and eating ice-cream below?

Bottom left pic actually shows her reaction to either cold / sour tastes...she'll shiver

Spot's supposed to be sharing ice-cream with her, but when Lyn Lyn didn't share, he acted a little disappointed!

Matching Game

Gwendolyn is getting bored with most of her existing toys, except her books and Papa Mama thought it's good time to start training her memory. Papa dug out one of the Thomas the Train Matching Game toy that Mama bought from Hong Kong some time ago. Since it's a "Thomas" toy, Lyn Lyn was thrilled and was so excited with it. She removed them all from the box and put the likes together. Both Papa and Mama thinks that it's not a simple toy, especially for a 2 and a half year old child!

Did you notice that Spot is seated on the coffee table? Lyn Lyn was supposed to teach him how to play!

Drawing at home

Mama is trying to take stock on some pictures taken some time ago, but were omitted for posting. This is actually one of them, whereby Gwendolyn was in love with drawing in school and Papa Mama decided to get her an easel board, so that she can practise further at home, exploring the use of other tools!

What is Lyn Lyn drawing? Tracing stencils with markers and colouring with crayons from printouts that Mama downloaded from the internet!

Finger painting

Mama has been refraining from letting Gwendolyn to play with paints at home, just in case she perform her masterpieces on the walls and furnitures! But luckily, with the advancement in technology, Crayola has come up with a solution to ease Mama's worries...paints that will only appear on special papers! Well, this translates to more expensive play materials, but it will save on cleaning costs or potential damages, which should be substantially higher than the cost of the special papers!

Japanese Food

Frederick Di Di and Gwendolyn are supposed to meet for swimming, but due to the recent monsoon weather : where morning is super dee duper hot and pouring with rain in the afternoon, both parents have decided to go for shopping and dinner instead (Lyn Lyn hasn't met Frederick Di Di for almost 2 months, excluding WCP McD's breakfast)!

Papa and Mama brought Lyn Lyn for an eye-check at noon on Saturday, to find out whether she has lazy eyes, etc...the optician noted that her eyes tend to be laxed when tired and will dissociate from each other...an eye condition that Mama and Fu Fu has. Nonetheless, nothing contagious is noted, as long as it doesn't affect the vision. During the eye-check, the Optician took videos/pictures of her eyes and she obeyed the instructions by looking into the "camera". After that, the optician asked whether she can recognise alphabets and she gave a positive nod! To our surprise, she managed to name all the aphabets. The fun part was when the optician accidentally showed her a row of alphabets instead of one-by-one, she quickly shouted : many alphabets! The optician, Papa and Mama all laughed! She was in fact correct! She enjoyed the check and asked for more! She's due for a review in 3-month's time. She can play the "alphabet game" again then!

I find the optician very friendly and patient. Her name is Janet! Information about the eye-check for babies from 6 to 48 months can be found in www.pediaoptix.com

After the check, we went shopping in Isetan before meeting Auntie Adele and Frederick Di Di at Takashimaya. At Isetan, Mama saw a pair of Nike track shoes, which looks very comfortable. After Lyn Lyn tried it on, she was very satisfied with it. However, the size was just nice for her now and she will not be able to wear for longer. After meeting Auntie Adele, all of use went to Suntec's Nike shop to hunt for the pair, but failed...maybe we'll try again when we're back in Hong Kong next week!

Dinner time...we're having trouble in deciding where to go. In the end, we ended up at Otori Japanese Restaurant at Gilman Village. Mama likes their a la carte buffet and this is not the first time that Lyn Lyn came here. Her favourite remains the soup udon. Both Frederick and her finished 3 bowls of udon! Scary...what else did she eat? 2 and a half Yakitori-s (to her, everything chicken = chicken wing), sea-weed from Papa and Mama's handrolls, vanilla ice-cream!

PINK?

How come? How come Spot and Steve are in pink? Coz they are from the TY Baby range...
http://www.ty.com/BabyTy_home

Normal Spot and Steve are from the Pluffies range...http://www.ty.com/Pluffies_home

Real name of Spot - Plopper ; and Real name of Steve - Dangles

How many does Gwendolyn has? Let's count:

3 x Ploppers

2 x Dangles

1 x Beary Merry

1 x Bloose (reindeer)

1 x Leapers (Frog)

1 x Puddles (Duck)

1 x Purrz (Cat)

1 x Tubby (Hippo)

1 x Winks (Elephant)

1 x Cruiser (Turtle)

1 x Kitty Cat

1 x My Baby Bear

1 x My Baby Bunny

1 x PJ Bear-sm pink

Vil'age

Everytime when Mama bring Gwendolyn to Auntie Nelly's shop to see soft toys, Mama will bring Lyn Lyn to eat at Vil'age! Even now, Lyn Lyn remembers and she will go : I want to play slides and horsey horsey! Her favourite remains as : Sausage, Rosti (french fries) and broccoli!


More about the restaurant - http://www.thevilage.com/

Papa and Mama disappeared?

Papa and Mama disappeared to Malaysia after Gwendolyn's performance in the concert! Why? What happen? How come? (Lyn Lyn's standard string of words when she's in doubt!)

Papa and Mama went for a driving trip to Malaysia in search for the next holiday destination for Lyn Lyn. Conclusion? Sunway Lagoon Resort, KL, Malaysia!

http://www.sunway.com.my/lagoon/

Surprisingly, Lyn Lyn didn't cry for Papa and Mama during her stay at grandma for the weekend! But complaints received from Da Gu Gu and grandma that she kept talking and refused to sleep...Mama realised that she's started asking "WHY" after returning from Malaysia...Hm...the start of the QUESTIONING AGE!

Some of the stuff that Mama bought over the weekend...

KL has more variety of Dora items than Singapore. Lyn Lyn was excited when seeing the yellow raincoat set! She was enthusiastic with the snowman and penguin ornaments and kept asking for more! You may ask : Why Enfagrow formula? Coz it's so much cheaper than Singapore!

Etonhouse Vanda Concert 2006

17 November 2006 was the annual year end concert cum graduation ceremony for the K2 students at Etonhouse Vanda. Papa and Mama took leave to support Gwendolyn for her first stage performance, at the tender age of 2 years and 7 months! Mama got to know her intended performance about 2 weeks ago and Ms Shu Ping told Mama that the Lilies children will be engaged in the practice in the 2 weeks leading up to the actual event. Lyn Lyn has been diligent in practising her moves at home and teaching Spot and Steve at the same time. She'll go : Show me an "L" ; Show me an "O" ; Show me a "V" ; and finish with an "E"...actioning on the letter formation as well! Her class, PN (Pre-Nursery) Lilies are performing the Hi-5 L.O.V.E. song, one of her favourites! Papa and Mama have been reminding her of her performance and Papa Mama's presence as well...why? To reiterate the learning from one of Dora's VCD on the Pirate show, where Dora was supposed to perform on stage and Papa Mama went to support Dora by clapping hands, which Lyn Lyn was very excited about! So few days before the actual event, Papa and Mama have been reminding her of the occasion and making sure that both attended this important event of hers!

On the actual morning, Mama put on her new Dora t-shirt, to remind her of the event...as both Papa and Mama brought her to school, she didn't want either to leave her inside the school premise...Mama need to distract her a little before leaving for the seats in front of the temporary stage at the playground, whilst Ms Shu Ping calm her down and prepare her for the performance.

Papa and Mama waited patiently in front of the stage, getting both digital camera and video camera ready to capture her first performance! The programme started with the graduation ceremony of the K2 Magnolia class, where all of Lyn Lyn's fans are...after their graduation, Lyn Lyn's fan club has to be disbanded, after all the Jie Jie's entered primary school...so sad...after that, will be performances by all children from various classes...

Graduation of the K2 Magnolia class

Surprise! Lyn Lyn was the "flower girl" to Ms Heather, after presenting the certificates!

L . O . V . E . - Poor Lyn Lyn, doing all the letter formation on behalf of the class!

Confident on stage : Moving and grooving to the music!

N1 Lilac - Ugly Ducklings 丑小鸭

K1 Daffodils - Dancing

K2 Magnolia - Dancing

N1 Lilac - 哈哈笑 (look at the smiley face behind their backs!)

N2 Tulips - Hawaiian Dance

N1 Lilac - Fire Engine

N2 Violets - Hey Mickey

K1 Daffodils - Chinese Recitals - Amazing story-telling skills!

K2 Magnolia - Chinese Dance - Done professionally like 中国杂技舞蹈团

Grand Finale - 我爱洗澡 - Lyn Lyn has finally spotted Papa and Mama clapping hands for her!

Bravo to the teachers for all the hardwork they have put in to prepare the children for such a great performance and thumbs up for all the children in putting up for such a great performance! It's amazing to see what the kids can do, especially the Chinese Recitals by the K1 class and the Chinese Dance by the K2 class! Both Papa and Mama enjoyed the performance so much...thanks for all the entertainment! Just wondering when would Lyn Lyn be able to do that, as she's just a PN kid, promoting to N1 next January. It will be another 2 years before she hit K1...

After the performance, Lyn Lyn took her fair share of snack to fill her tummy

Lyn Lyn : Yeah, my biscuit...yum yum

Lyn Lyn : What? You mean I can't eat my snack yet? Why? How come? What happen?

Mama : We need to find Spot and Steve. Let's go up to your classroom and look for them!

Lyn Lyn : Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, cannot find. Where is Spot? Where is Steve?

Mama : Okay, Spot and Steve are in the car. We can go down now and have your snack!

Lyn Lyn : After a long wait...finally...hmmmm YUMMY!

Vivocity - Playground

Mama decided to do some early Christmas shopping this year and Papa suggested that we re-visit the Toys R Us at Vivocity, so that Gwendolyn to experience the "star" experience to be on screen again. We set off after our breakfast and went straight to Toys R Us to buy some toys! Lyn Lyn was so happy, as Papa and Mama have gotten a Dora's playhouse for her. Shhhhhh...she's not supposed to open the present until Boxing Day!

Acting like a "Star", dancing in front of the TV screen

After that, Papa and Mama thought that it's time to bring Lyn Lyn to experience the outdoor playground for kids. It was very hot outside, but there are many kids running around the area. As usual, Lyn Lyn was excited about the new playground, as the games/rides available is different from those that she is used to. Challenges such as walking up a steep slope before reaching the slide...fighting with other older kids before she can sit on the slide...balancing herself on the balancing bar...being shook inside a "pipe", etc. Nonetheless, she enjoyed herself at the playground and has asked to return next time, as some of the activities are intended for older kids...she's looking forward to trying those next time...

Walking up and down the "slope"

Trying out the blue slide

Balancing herself on the balancing beam

Being shook inside a big "pipe"

My Christmas Tree

Papa started putting up the Christmas tree before Gwendolyn woke up on Sunday...when Lyn Lyn realised what Papa was doing, she quickly went over and help to decorate with the ornaments. After that, she was satisfied with herself and kept saying : Oh, beautiful christmas tree and requested to take picture with it!

Abalone

Sometimes, Mama would think: at such a tender age, how would Gwendolyn know how to appreciate abalone? Such an adult dish? BUT, Lyn Lyn does know that abalone is good stuff and asks for MORE! Why? She once had it when we went back to Hong Kong. Initially, she was resenting it...but once she's tried a little bit, she was asking for MORE!!! This time, before Por Por came over, she prepared a big portion and brought all the way from Hong Kong, just for her beloved grand-daughter! Good thing is, this smart grand-daughter didn't let her down, but kept asking for MORE MORE MORE!

Lyn Lyn: I want Aba-Only