Napping Issues

Today Sam refused to nap at my mother's.

Goodness knows why: though he hasn't been to the place for 4 months, it wouldn't be the 1st time he naps there.

After all, he fell asleep for a good whole hr in his 1st visit to his Great-uncle's place yesterday.

So why, despite my 4 separate efforts over 3 hrs this afternoon, did he refuse to nap???????

All he did was close his eyes for a little rest while he nursed. After drinking his fill, he'll lie on the bed on my urgings & suck his thumb, a normal prelude to falling asleep.

So I was happily getting drowsy next to him, only to find him getting up 10 min later, fully revitalised & raging to go again!

After 4 tries I gave up.......anyway, it was past 4 pm by then, too late for a proper nap.............

So had a difficult time getting him for bedtime just now.

Sam made a big fuss for his bedtime routine. I got kicked by him numerous times trying to change his diaper & put on his pyjamas.

Only managed to put on his socks by starting his latest fav: wriggling his toes & reciting the "This little pig went to market" rhyme.

Finally gotten to fall asleep at 7:45 pm. Already he's woken up once crying. And cried out loudly (& I mean really cried out, to the extent I thought he was awake) once in his sleep. Wonder what he's dreaming about.

Sigh! Looks like a long night ahead........

Sam the Peanut Shell Eater

Sam at his 3rd Great-Auntie's:

The peanut, he munched, & munched, & munched.

Then spat it all out.

The peanut shell.............

He swallowed together with a slice of "bak gua".

What else can I say?????!!!!

The Year of the Dog

No, I didn't make a mistake in the blog post title.

This, 2008, is the year of the mouse.

But darling Sam was born in the year of the dog. And we think that may be why he's showing such doggy characteristics:



In the end, he only like the preserved red dates: ate 3 ~ 4 of them during the course of the dinner. The preserved lotus roots & carrots, he spat it out after munching on them for a while.

P.S. highly recommend the 年糕 at the Peach Blossoms restaurant in Marina Mandarin hotel. Tried 2 different flavours, both were wonderful when eaten warm (as when they served it), but esp. loved the coconut flavored one! Next year must remember to go there and eat again.......

1st Day of Chinese New Year

Sam's 1st encounter with a tricycle while visiting his 2nd Great-uncle.

The owner, his 9 month old cousin, can only look on & babble while his property got violated, and was pacified by his toy hammer while Sam continued to play with wheels of the cute duckie tricycle & push it around the flat.

Today Sam also had numerous firsts of his life:

Ate mee sua for the 1st time at home, in celebration of his grandfather's birthday.

1st time on a public bus travelling to his 2nd Great-aunt's.

1st time on the Singapore MRT travelling to his 2nd Great-uncle's.

Ate keropok for the 1st time at his 1st Great-uncle's, and he loved it!

Tasted pistachios for the 1st time: though he 1st put it in his mouth shell & all, we managed to teach him to eat the de-shelled nut alone, which he munched to bits before spitting it out.

My Fav "New" Restaurant

Today found a "new" restaurant that I wanna visit again: MOF's (short for Ministry Of Food) My Izakaya in Bugis Junction, Level 2.

Seldom do I find a Jap restaurant with so many types of Jap desserts plus Jap food: sushi, shabu shabu, ramen, soba, bento set, Hokkaido soft serve ice cream, Jap style sundae, Jap mochi, etc, etc, etc. They have 1 menu for the food & 1 menu for the desserts!

But most importantly, they have 2 kids' menu served in a very cute bear-shaped bento bowl! I must remember to take a photo of it the next time I go: 2 plates stacked into a bowl & topped with bear-faced lid, complete with 3D ears.

Sam loved it! He kept pointing to the picture in the menu, so I gave in and ordered the udon/egg & crabmeat sushi/fried salmon cutlet set for him. The food was served on a Doraemon-shaped serving plate, which Sam liked too.

The food was up to standard. Found the drink that came with the set too sweet though, and Sam was too young to appreciate the nata de coco in it. Which was a bit sad, cos the menu didn't mention at all the drink contained the nata de coco (just said it was juice drink), else I could have changed it to Ribena.

I myself ordered the Jap sweet potato & yam served with Jap red bean & soft serve ice cream. The yam & sweet potato are great!!!! Me now still thinking of it.............

Hubby ordered oven-baked Jap rice cake, served with Jap red bean & Jap soya powder. (Sorry, can't remember the proper Jap term for the desserts.) It was pretty good; serving not too big, which was wise, cos started to get a bit sick of the rice cake aft eating half the dish.

If I'm staying in Singapore, I'll most probably sign up to be a member - despite the S$10/yr membership fee - cos wanted to try so many things on the menu! Think I'll easily earn by the fees through the 10% discount on the foods. Not to mention the free coffee/tea for members............

Must time my visit to the temple next week properly, so that can eat at My Izakaya again before I go back to KL!!!!!

Water Pressure

About the only thing I cannot tahan about my Singapore flat is the shower head's water pressure!!!!!! Really very frustrating, esp. after the strong gush of water from the KL apartment.

I feel as though I have to take a longer time to rinse the shampoo off my hair. And not really much point in simply letting the water run to enjoy a mini simple water massage, the low pressure makes it feels much more like little scratchings on my back!

Maybe this is the goverment's way of helping us save water???!!!! ;P

Or maybe it's because I'm staying on the 2nd highest floor??? Have always wondered how big an increase in the water pressure I would get by simply living on the 2nd storey? (according to physics, should be sufficient to keep me happy.....)

Or maybe I shouldn't have used the instant electric water heater. A friend once mentioned the gas storage water heater gives higher water pressure, but I thought it too troublesome to install. Now regretting.............

Going Home for Chinese New Year

Yes! Going home tomorrow for Chinese New Year holiday!!!!!!

This time, hubby got 2 whole weeks off, so hopefully this trip back won't be too rushed. Last time he went back, was meeting some friend or another every single day, very tiring.

Will be taking Tiger Airways back tomorrow. Hubby managed to get the promotional tickets for the new route between KL & S'pore: free tickets for KL -> Singapore tomorrow, only have to pay the airport tax!

So looking forward to a slightly less tiring trip than the 5 hr ride on the bus. Though will still be a challenge, timing Sam's nap to coincide with the plane's takeoff. Hoping very hard will be a smooth journey with Sam.......

Gotta go finish packing.

And also finish watching the latest taiwanese idol drama serial episode! Gonna miss 2 weeks' worth! That's about the only thing I'll miss for this trip back home!!!!