Brian Junior

I can't help it but to post these... Ethan looks exactly like his father...cuter of course. But the carbon-copy of the face, its scary!

From Godson to Godma with Love

"Hello Godma"

"Merry Christmas to you too!!"

"I love it! Wish I could visit you in London"

"Wonder when I'll be able to finally meet you...."

"Thanks Godma for the lovely x'mas gift. Mommy says London is too far for me to travel at the moment. But if I have the chance, I'd love to visit you in London & give you a big big huggie for ALL the pressies you got for me since I was born. Maybe I'll see you in Singapore next year ok? A little huggie for Danielle too pls - that makes her my God-sister doesn't it..."

Little Ethan's First X'mas

"Hei...what's this colourful looking thing"

"And all these bright boxes - I duno what they are but they sure look good, can I have them?"

I want this one"

"ok now I'm really confused. What is X'mas??"

We brought little Ethan up to Central Coast's Ettalong Beach Hotel, 1.5 hours drive from Sydney, to spend his 1st x'mas. On x'mas day itself, he appeared 'bewildered' by all the colourful things I kept making him 'hold' to give to his grandparents & Yew Peng Shu Shu. As expected, the gift giving session turned out to be a 'photo-shoot' galore, with a frantic effort by everyone to capture Ethan's 1st x'mas moments...

About A Boy

Was on msn with a dear friend yesterday. Somehow I can't resist not writing about him coz he just never fails to make me laugh. Not coz he has a great sense of humour, but coz of his trade-mark "humourous" nature and his most-of-the-time CRUDE vocab.
Seriously, enter a conversation with him, and you'll NEVER NOT hear words from him like KNN, WTF, CB.... (if you duno what they stand for, which I'll be really surprise if you're a S'porean, email me & I'll spell it out)

He has recently also proposed to his galfriend! She said yes of course (not that he didn't know she'd say yes btw..) And with his "pattern-more-than-badminton" self, handmade a 'Marry Me Babe" banner & hung it outside the gal's window. Cheesy? but quite touching ...unfortunately the gal's mom requested that they take it down, not long after he took so much effort to put it up, as she was afraid passerbys might think that they are proposing to their neighbour. Duh!!...that's when "WTF" came in of course.

Alright, in case I'm starting to make him sound like a typical ah beng who is seriously in need of language therapy, I have to say that I have not met anyone more talented & gifted with nature than this boy. Thou' small in size (**no pun intended**), this boy has been blessed with a talent not many people have. He has the ability to name every single plant/ leaf/ flower/ weed/ seed you come across anywhere - you point it, he names it.

Check out his unique, one of a kind garden, meticulously hand-planted by him and him alone. He also transformed his Tillandsia plant into a mini x'mas tree. Priceless.

Sandy's mini Tillandsia Christmas tree.

Also a father to 11 kiddogs: - minnie, prowler, krispy, dino, fuzzy, donut, chipolata, dunkin, fluffy, maggie, mico + 3 cats, his house is literally like a mini zoo!

Love his self-designed X'mas card for biz clients

Other than always wanting to kill my cat, I'd say he's a Human Wonderbra (remembering u were always protective of my boobs) to many around him -- always uplifting, supportive and making us look bigger (thou not necessarily better). I'm sure those who know him agrees, that there's not a time spent with him that we dun end up getting cheek cramps.

Obviously Sandy..... I do miss you.

More Pictures

Fettish on baby's feet!

Since most of my family and friends are all over the world now- S'pore, M'sia, London, Canada, US...this blog serves as a great way to update everyone - with lotsa photos.

Baby Brendon

Baby Brendon turns one month today!!! Yes now little Ethan has a new pal to play with....

"I'm still sleepy...."
Sleeping like an angel....apparently he won't even wake up when his father puts a hot towel on his face!! And look at the amount of hair he's been blessed with!

Happy Trio...congrats to Ad & Gerard on completing the 1st month milestone of parenthood.

A special note to Ad - kudos to you for sticking to the traditional Asian practice of NOT washing your hair for the entire confinement!! Next to you giving birth to a 4.1kg Brendon naturally and losing 10kg in 1 month.... well done sista!!!

My New Toy

After 6 months of mind boggling consideration...I finally did it!!!

Ain't it a beauty!

2 + 1 = 3

3 years on ... and a family of 3

3 cheers for Brian and Michelle on our 3rd Wedding Anniversay!

As with every year, Brian embarked on the search for a degustation menu and found this superb restaurant overseeing the Harbour bridge called Quay.

What a luxurious meal we had!

Signature Menu:

Sea Pearls
2001 Chandon Blanc de Noirs, Yarra Valley Victoria

Mud crab congee
2004 Moorooduc Estate Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria

Slow poached quail breast, baby radishes, spring onions, kabu turnips, pink garlic, fresh milk curd, Oloroso reduction, baked milk skin
2004 Curlewis 'Bel Sel' Pinot Noir, Geelong Victoria

Crisp confit of rare breed suckling pig belly, gentle braise of green lipped abalone, cuttlefish, handmade silken tofu, Japanese mushrooms, chive flowers
2006 Spy Valley Pinot Gris, Marlborough, New Zealand

Poached Wagyu beef fillet, braised mushrooms, spinach shoots, Tasmanian wasabi butter
2004 Teusner 'Avatar' Grenache Mataro Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia

Mulberry granita, vanilla milk ice cream
Caramelised raspberry and rose scented cream mille feuille
2005 Yalumba 'hand picked' late harvest Viognier, Wrattonbully South Australia
Tea, Coffee
Petits Fours

Drooling eh?

Of course, we need to give special thanks to my mil who so kindly agreed to stay home to look after little Ethan so that Mummy and Daddy can have some 'lo-man-tiac' time together.

Wha' u claving for huh?

One of the worse things of being away from home is missing the yummies in Singapore. Been such a long time since we had 'Cze cha', sitting in a kopi tiam, sweating & sniffing away while eating sambal chilli bbq stingray...si be zhua but dam shiok the feeling...
Lao Pat Sat's chicken wing, Macpherson's claypot tien ji zhou, teochew giao mee, Aljunied otak, KL's char kuey tiao & wan tan mee, you tiao rojak, ice kachang ... aiya, be tah han liaoz lah!*slurp slurp*...

Wondering why chicken rice not in the list? Hmm...coz Brian makes chicken rice that's even better than Chatterbox's!!!

Zhu Kai Xin

My Cheeky Bom Bom ...like his father

Never Say Never

Brought Ethan to visit Boomerang today...finally...after being 'bugged' since the day he was born.

Also marked as the first time I brought him out all my meeself *Argh...nail chewing moment* .

Said a little prayer request before I set out:
1. Dun cry in the car
2. Dun cry at Boomerang
3. Dun cry on the way back in the car
4. Basically, just dun cry

1. Got there in peace. So 1st prayer answered.
2. Whinged a little at Boom - only coz he was really sleepy & being handled by so many strangers. 2nd prayer considered answered.
3. Only for a minute - knocked out with 'motor motion'. 3rd prayer answered.
4. Basically, all answered. Praise God!!

Came home, pop into the shower & all of a sudden, had this 'self-awakening moment' about my life. Has it ever occured to you that the more you do not want something, the more you'll get it?

Here's my list of "I'll never..."

• Get a boyfriend same age as me --- 1st & 3rd same age. In fact, married one!
• Have a baby coming out from my 'thing' --- ;P
• Wanted a baby gal but God gave me a baby boy --- wouldn't switch Ethan for anything else now
• 'Leave' my parents --- ended up migrating to Sydney
• Live with in-laws --- can't run away from this one
• Stop working --- might have to if Brian really goes to Canada
• Give my baby pacifier --- 算了吧!

My point? Never say never...or maybe wish for the opposite instead?

Today's Heaven May Be Tomorrow's Hell

Obviously, these days I have more time, as evident from my much more updated blog.
Why??? -- Answer lies in the beauty of a Hammock, imported from Singapore, hand delivered by my mom in law.

Ethan boy naps in this hammock in the day & sleeps in his cot only after the evening feed. It has made a huge difference in my day - I even have time to read now! Its just much easier coaxing him to sleep as all we need to do is to 'yao-ah-yao'...

I know I know, many moms will shake their heads & strongly advise me against this - especially when we've been told time & time again that we need to teach babies to fall asleep on their own, in their cot. I have taken a shortcut, I am aware, and will probably have to pay for this when the time comes to remove him from the hammock. But my mom-in-law advocates this - saying that all her 3 sons slept in hammocks when they were little & had no problems sleeping on their own when they got bigger....I have to trust her on that, or at least it makes me feel better believing in that. So, since it provides me with sanity for today, I figured I shall worry about the future when the time comes.

"... But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all will be given to you...Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of his own."
Mathew 6:33-34