at play

Joel has been quite grouchy of late. So i always give him my camera to play with when he starts to get restless. I saw these in my camera...

Other things i give him are
- biscuits
- pacifier
- toys
- water
- food
- anything "safe" on the table
(kinda in this order too. Haha!)

prints

Wish i worked in an office that uses these cool paper cups.

From Askul.com

tshirt shop

Saw this tshirt shop along ChangLe Road 长乐路. Interesting paper mache plates on the walls, and picture frames too.

Each collection has its own theme. This mens range is 3 Days. The ladies range is Blue.
(Mens tees are priced at ¥280/approx S$60)

I love the pillars on the ceiling.

friends on facebook

Hey, you guys, I know I've just fired all of you, but remember - we're still friends on Facebook! Not bad, huh!?

in search of a midnight kiss

As much as i dislike movies with seemingly "no ending", i highly recommend this lovely movie. From the producer of Before Sunset.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007)
In Search of a Midnight Kiss is a rollicking comic ride and tender journey though love, sex, and modern romance in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve. Wilson (Scoot McNairy), a twenty-nine-year old guy who has just had the worst year of his life, is new to Los Angeles, has no date, no concrete plans and every intention of locking the doors and forgetting the last year ever happened. That is until his best friend, Jacob (Brian McGuire), browbeats him into posting a personal ad on Craig's List. When Vivian (Sara Simmonds), a strong-willed woman hell bent on being with the right guy at the stroke of midnight responds, a chaotic, sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching journey through the black and white streets of L.A. begins. In the waning hours of the year, emotional vulnerability and bitterly honest humor seem to be waiting around every corner.

More info here.

P.S. There's nothing wrong with your TV set, this is a black & white movie (not sepia as shown on the cover).

weekends again

Somehow not many pictures to show... Probably coz i'm shy (to snap) when i'm with friends in a group. Haha! Or maybe i'm just as sick of it as you're looking at it... Basically, our weekends are more or less the same lah... It's nothing special from any other family...

it's Saturday again
Dimsum at Crystal Jade XTD with Ann & Kitty, THE ULTIMATE SALE at I.T., laze around in CoffeeBean, shopping at ChangLe Road & NanChang Road (Discovered this new shop on ChangLe Road carrying 2 HK labels - Doubledog & Globe. Also the same people behind Dusty at XinLe Road.), H&M, then walked back to square one...late dinner at Itoya, HOME.



P.S. Did you remember to turn off your lights at 8.30-9.30pm for Earth Hour? We did (coz we werent at home). HAHA!

it's Sunday again
Dimsum at Times Square Chao Ren Xuan 潮人轩 with Elvis' Sporean friends (and his friend-boss), Gymboree (we were late. so no photos), nothing to do so Elvis went dentist (HAHA!), nothing to do again so Elvis went for a haircut (haha. and this is the cheaper S$50 cut compared to last month's S$70 cut), went back home to take the salon card, salon, then late dinner in a yummy HK 茶餐庁 Boduo near the salon, HOME.



Dont you just feel like kissing this baby? ;)

P.S. O ya, the PINK building is the Barbie flagship store!

peach blossom

Many people go to Japan every year for their Sakura aka cherry blossom. Little did people know about China's Peach Blossom. I do not know what's the difference - appearance wise - but here's a picture of the latter.
桃花朵朵开

Taken from Shanghai Daily:
SHANGHAI'S Peach Blossom Festival will debut on March 28 in Nanhui District with folk entertainments in four peach gardens and the Shanghai Flower Port.

Tourists will be able to enjoy local operas and cormorant fishing in the Datuan Peach Garden, piglet races in the Nanhui Peach Village, and flower sculptures and tulips in the Flower Port, the Shanghai Evening Post reported today.

The other two festival venues are in the Xinchang Ancient Town and the Binhai Peach Garden.

15 months

I know i'm late in posting this...
Joel at 15 months weighs 10.4kg. He looks like a big boy (on photos) but when you see him together with other children, he's actually still very small built...doesnt look fat even! His legs are definitely skinnier too! Keke... ;)

He's still walking with support. He seems to enjoy walking - holding our hands. But once he falls (or probably feels tired), he will not get up and prefers to sit on his bum or goes back to crawling again.

very nice lah

Here's a special request from the hairstylist Elvis to show these shots of the very nice haircut... Very nice lah!
All pix taken from his iPhone.

i heart haiku

Last night we had dinner at Haiku. I love their food!

Both the group sitting on our left & right were so into Joel! On my left were 2 angmoh ladies here on holiday. They had a stack of (laminated) flashcards with all the nice places to visit. They spoke little English. I was thinking they probably knew of this restaurant from Lonely Planet. And on my right were a Chinese family - mother & father, daughter & husband. They spoke English and Cantonese. The lady was heavily pregnant, so this family was pretty curious about Joel. They kept smiling at us and asked some questions. The mother also said that Joel was a very good boy. Keke...

We ordered the teriyaki chicken salad, salmon & soba sashimi, tempura, eel rolls and beef hot pot (all with fancy names lah). As usual, everything was yummy! I sure miss their sushi rolls... Too bad there was only 2 of us, so we only had 1 of their rolls. YUM! ;p

The only unpleasant thing about going to Haiku is the group of beggars stationed outside the restaurant. Coz they knew this place was popular with angmohs and tourists. Yesterday, 2 women in the group was carrying young children - 1 toddler slightly older than Joel & 1 baby younger than Joel. Seeing that we had a kid too, they stood outside the window where we sat and kept "showing" us their poor kid who was really sleepy by then. :(

That's how it is here in Shanghai. During winter, lots of beggars will come out on the streets. Many will have young kids and even babies in their arms. It's like a past time for them, but it's still quite sad to see.

reminder

Yesterday, i went out and saw this reminder...

1 more day to Earth Hour 28 March, 20:30 - 21:30.
That's tomorrow!

new pants

It's quite amazing how Joel can still wear some of his 6-mths clothes (esp tshirts & rompers)...but he really needed new pants for home. He has been wearing the same home pants since he was born! The few dollars sure go a long way! Keke... ;p

So i went to buy these...

Looks good and costs only S$2 each. ;)

P.S. They were clearing sweaters since winter's over... I bought a few at only ¥15 each! That's S$3~!!! Hahaha...

365 days

Recommendation!

This hot chocolate my sis bought me from Singapore is really good! CocoaRich 365 days. Tastes a lot like those from cafes.

3-in-1. Dont need to add anything! Just that you'll need rather hot water to stir in the mix.

I sure can drink this 365 days! YUM! ;p

1-to-10

Sometimes (sitting here), i can hear Ahyi counting 1, 2, 3... to Joel. He has a few books on numbers from 1-to-10.

She told me she picked up numbers when she was working in the previous Xiang Yang Market years ago. Lots of tourists and angmohs go there to buy imitation LV bags, DVDs etc... (The famous Xiang Yang Market closed down in 2006 becoz of the Beijing Olympics)

The other day, i heard her counting again 123 58...12! I really dont know where she found the number 12 from!

(Faint)

camo-lovers 2

Love this! A mix of sequins & camo.

So glad i bought it!

soft spot

I have a weakness for camouflage, skulls & crossbones...


The camo, skull & crossbones are of jackets, tees, board shorts, accessories, bedroom slippers (i like it so much i had to buy a spare one in black!), scarves, bags, cap, pins & even on my Lolita umbrella (though the skull is fading already).

I think this is somewhat like camo too. Tokidoki.


Joel has quite a few camouflage, skulls & crossbones too...coz i'm the one who picks them out! He doesnt get his say - yet. Keke... ;)

P.S. I believe there's more hiding in the house...coz i remember i have a camo-print skirt somewhere...

dont snap me

Today, i went out to repair Elvis' Samsonite suitcase. It is not far from our house (at HuaiHai/XiangYang Road). My cab fare was ¥15 one way.

I wanted to shop along HuaiHai Road when i've dropped off the suitcase. Maybe walk to H&M, Parkson, XinLe Road...

At the Samsonite service center:
Me: My suitcase is spoilt. It's the number dial...
Man: (snap snap) It's done.
Me: HUH!
Man: It's ok now.

I was really puzzled and stood by the side trying to figure out what he just did. The first SNAP was to open the flap. The second SNAP was to push the red "setting" up. O, and there's a third SNAP - to close the suitcase.

So...i had to go home immediately with the XL suitcase.

(!!!)

high-cut

Pix taken from Ann's Facebook.
High-cuts from top left: Me in Converse super-highcut, Elvis in Converse Limited Edition John Varvatos highcut (only ONE PAIR in Singapore), Joel in "McDonalds" green highcut & Ann in Nike Vandal highcut (from Gloss).

P.S. "Deleted" Kitty's feet coz she's not in high-cuts today.

i'm a barbie girl

I've been wanting to blog about the "quite new" Barbie Flagship Store. It's a six-storey £20 million pink palace on Shanghai's HuaiHai Road - the first Barbie megastore in the world.

It think what's coolest is that you can customize your own Barbie doll (clicking away on the computer), and the staff backstage will dress her up according to what you designed! Your Barbie gets a birth certificate too!

I think all the barbie dolls featured here in the shop (see left) were also specially made for this store!

Not only will you see lots of grownup Barbie girls going gaga in the store - over the cosmetics, clothes and stuffs - you'll also see lots of "Ken" lugging shopping bags!

In a Barbie World...

Step into the glamorous Barbie® Shanghai Flagship Store, and enter a world where you can experience the ultimate Barbie® fantasy. From incredible shopping to the interactive design center, it’s a place where girls can be girls and where dreams really do come true!

a reason season or lifetime

Got this in an email... thought i wanna share it here...

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person..

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life,
whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

Terry was a reason, a season and a lifetime - almost.
2 March 2009
I always remembered this from an SPCA poster Sandra had
"To you he's a dog. To him you're his everything."

earth hour 28.03.09

Join us and spread the word by
• Adding earthhour@live.com.sg for updates on the Earth Hour initiative and be connected with other supporters.

• Viewing the Earth Hour 2009 video here to find out more about the importance of global action on climate change and how your participation can make a difference.

• Adding "I support Earth Hour 2009" or "I Vote Earth!" to your Windows Live Messenger name field.

• Registering at www.earthhour.org/singapore and switching off your lights for an hour on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 8:30pm.

• Inviting your family, friends and colleagues to do the same by letting them know that you are participating in Earth Hour and that they should as well.

Lights-off to see your world in a new light.

baby teeth

I have to post this picture here - as a reference - coz it's very confusing to me. Now i know babies can have up to 20 pearly whites... And this is the teeth development chart here.

Joel only has
- 2 upper central incisor (80%)
- 2 upper lateral incisor (20%)
and
- 2 lower central incisor (70%)
- 2 lower lateral incisor (5%)

Could this be the cause of his fever???

P.S. Joel's teeth development seems to be much slower than most babies his age.

oops

To the overwhelming response from my earlier post Nagging Mom...

Dear mommies,

Oops... I think you gals are a bit more x-rated than me! Haha... Coz i dont really bite on Joel's body parts! LOL!

Pinch/bite/smell cheeks, arms, thighs, butt, feet, toes... OMG!!! Haha... Lots of terrible mommies here! ;p

At the most, i will use my palms and SQUEEZE Joel's spongy fat thighs and butt! It has a very shiok "OOSH" feeling! Keke... ;p

Cheers,
A Normal Mommy Jo

panic

Joel was pretty clingy since this morning... (Actually since last week, he has been crying quite a bit the moment i'm out of his sight) I tried to take his temperature, but he wouldnt let me touch his ear.

After Ahyi left in the evening, Joel didnt want to stay in his play yard alone, so he sat quietly with me as i watched TV. In my heart, i was thinking, "O, he's such a sweet boy!" It was then i realized his head and hands were quite warm... After struggling with him to get the ear themometer in, i realized he's having a fever! 37.7˚c

The paediatrician had gaven me paracetamol in case Joel develops a fever after the MMR vaccination. After he took the medicine (2.5ml), he was still pretty active - playing with the telephone, smiling sheepishly when his girlfriends appears on the TV ad... After his last milk feed, he still didnt look sleepy... My patience was wearing thin. I hope he wasnt waiting for Daddy to get home coz today will be a late night.

Joel didnt let me take his temperature again but his limp hair was a little wet. It was pretty cold at home coz the temperature dropped again to below 10˚c...so i had the heater on and Joel was wearing 2 layers.

So i wondered if i should
(A) turn off the heater,
(B) remove his vest,
(C) sponge him,
(D) all of the above.
or perhaps even let him wear another layer since i normally feel colder when i'm running a fever. Joel also sleeps with a thick comforter at night. (Anyway, the old folks always say to sweat it out!)

Besides being allergic to mosquitoes and insect bites, this is the first time Joel's having a fever...so i'm pretty worried. O he's had a cold once before too.
.
.
.
.
He's finally asleep now and the fever has subsided. Phew...
What a night.

P.S. I just read from Anne's blog that any growing tooth also can cause fever... But Joel only has 4 out & 4 others popping... And those already out are not 100% out either. (Sorry, i dont know what are the specific names for teeth)

same junk

I wanted to wear Joel's clothes! Haha!

somers town

We watched this movie last night...and simply LOVED IT! I particularly hate movies with "no ending"...but this movie is just beautiful...and made up for its seemingly no-meaning-ending.

Somers Town (2008)
Tomo (Thomas Turgoose - This is England), just turned sixteen and released from social care, runs away to London from a lonely, difficult life in the Midlands. Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant, lives with his father who drinks with his friends most evenings after working on a construction site. Marek is a keen photographer, quiet and sensitive. He is not comfortable in his father's world.

Both struggle to make sense of their new world and a chance meeting in Somers Town, London, leads the two to form an unexpected partnership.

In equal parts moving and hilarious, Somers Town is a lo-fi masterpiece from Shane Meadows, the director who brought us This is England.
"In many ways, a perfect film" - Daily Mirror
"Hilarious, heartwarming British film-making" - News of the World

More info here.

back to our shanghai life

Saturday
After we cut Joel's hair (see post below), we met Ann & Kitty for lunch at 萃华餐庁 - a new HK 茶餐庁. They liked Joel's new hair! Haha! The restaurant is newly opened and the staff was very blur. Quite pissed when you get lousy service here in China. Haha! ;p

After that, we walked to Elvis' favourite Chang Le/Xin Le Road. Haha... 4 shopaholics on the loose. At Source, only the unrepentant Elvis bought an expensive polo tee from Vanishing Elephant. It was plain black with a plain pocket...and a plain "cross" on its collar. ;p
Before we went to Bali-Spore, we also came here and realized a new Dusty shop a few units away from Source...but today, the shop was closed. Hmmm... We've only been gone 2 weekends and there's also new shops up in Chang Le Road!

Many of the buildings (esp those along the main roads) are getting a new coat of paint. Some just plaster on new tiles on its exterior, leaving the inner building looking the same - i.e. very old. Haha! Shanghai is getting ready for Expo 2010.

Views from the taxi... and waiting for Elvis at the alteration shop (that's Ann & Kitty standing - in black & pink)...

Sunday
We went to Crystal Jade before Joel's play class...and bumped into Ann again! So she joined us for dimsum before she went into office. Elvis was cooking dinner so we invited her. As expected, she couldnt leave by dinner time. :(

Joel: "Let me check if all the food are here!"

Joel had missed 2 weeks of his play class. Even the girls at the reception counter misses him! Haha! Today's class was about balancing. Joel's not very good at it...but he's got a big bum that remained unmoved when they put all the babies on a "rocking mattress". Keke... But after a while, he got frightened and cried for us to carry him down! He enjoyed his lesson anyhow. ;)

It's FREEZING today! We headed to the supermarket for some last minute ingredients...and it's HOME!

These are what Elvis cooked for dinner:
- beef
- giant prawns
- cabbage
- chicken soup
Everything was very yummy except the beef was a bit hard to chew on. Still, i enjoyed the carrots in it a lot! ;)

BTW, China has gone environmentally-friendly for months now and people are encouraged to bring their own bags to the supermarket. You have to pay for the plastic bags if you really need them. So, i always have 1-2 foldable bag inside my diaper bag. So aunty! But of course, my recycled bags has to be a bit nicer lah! Haha!

joel's crewcut

Elvis gave Joel a crew cut this morning!

You can see from the pictures below we moved Joel from the highchair to the tub-in-tub. BECAUSE Joel shitted halfway...then with all the hair stuck onto his clothes, it got quite messy too. So we decided to stop and bathe him instead. As always, Joel was enjoying his bath. So...Elvis continued cutting away! Haha!
Note: Joel's limp hair was all wet (it's difficult to tell which chunk is long/short), so Elvis literally anyhow cut!!!

Fortunately, it came out quite alright. But i feel i'm looking at another baby. ;p

The funniest part about this episode is that Elvis was trying to act "professional" and looked at Joel's hair from the mirror while cutting!!! I was sooo terrified he'll accidentally snip Joel's flesh!!! Coz i think amateur hairstylist judge better when looking at the subject directly in the face. Keke... ;p

After this, we went out with Ann & Kitty and they both liked the new hairstyle! Phew...

camo-lovers

A fellow camo-loving friend reminded me of this Maharishi Camo beauty in my cupboard. It's sooo huge it's big enough to be used as a diaper bag...but it's so heavy!!!

confessions of 2 shopaholics

Upon special request by Hipo Mama & Anne (in the post below), here's the bulk of our hat collection inside these drawers.

I found this to be an excellent way to store away hats (which could collect dust if placed in the open).

Our caps and other "softer" hats in the top drawer. Our fedoras and some knitted hats (which i took out for winter) in the bottom drawer. The fedoras are stacked up, so i have to place all on the floor to show all of it. Some of the knitted hats still kept in our 'winter boxes'.

And below are some of Joel's hats... A few are in the wash today eg. his white beanie, his blue Gap hat (from swap), and the stripy "bola" knitted hat. I also saw this furry hat which was lying on the messy sofa bed which i havent washed coz it's still too big for him now. So his panda will model it here. I like this a lot! ;)

While i'm at it (and in this room), let me also show you the bags stacked in our cupboard. Lots more lying all over the house and on the sofa bed too! Haha! And the little pig guarding our door which has many many many scarves on him...and LOTS more stored away and lying around! Piggy is a 2-layered stand which you cant see from here. The scarves on the bottom layer is folded shorter and hung on the 4 rods. I believe we have close to 100 scarves at home! Wait till winter's over and i store them away in the special case! Haha! (I havent really worn much scarves this year coz i had to carry Joel most of the time)

We're really terrible!!!

For a glimpse of how my previous wardrobe looked like (in Singapore), click here. These are what i left behind. Keke... ;p

pix are up

I've just uploaded our Bali-Spore photos on Facebook! 3 Bali & 1 Spore. That's a whole lot of photos! (But there's even more not uploaded!) Haha!

If you're my friend, feel free to take a look. ;)

sunny day

It's a bright sunny day! This is what i see. I know it's not a very convincing picture that it's really a sunny day...so i had to brave the dust on the balcony floor to show you what i see when i look down...

Sunny, right?

The weather's been great this week! So good i had to go out shopping yday and we also met Elvis for dinner.

And that's my new fedora hat! It's actually quite similar to the other "orange-ish" woven fedora i have. But i had to get this for its leopard-print band! Wait till you see our entire hat collection - Elvis' & mine & Joel's! Haha! ;)