And One More Makes FOUR!

This post is long overdue. I have been wanting to update the blog but I have been so sleep-deprived lately that I started to have hallucinations about Facebook!

And here's the reason why I haven't been getting my zzzzz.....

Looks like an angel right? Couldn't be further away from the truth.... So one more makes four! We are now a merry family with two girls, though I suspect the merry part will only come later, like when the little one starts sleeping through the night and when she stops going through a 100 diapers a day.

I'm officially a mother of two, though that sounds scary, say that aloud and it makes me sound like a naggy 40ish housewife.

So far little Lauren has been very different from her older sister, from being a total piggy when it comes to latching on to feed, to having a fiery hot temper when she doesnt get her way, which is often when she doesnt get her milk FAST enough to suit her. From her weight and size, lots of people have been saying she will grow up to be bigger than Shannon. But she just lovvvvvvves attention! Talk to her, and she will coo back at you and smile incessantly. Her big eyes will follow you everywhere you go, and when you glance at her, she will give you a 'come here for chat with me, please...' look.

Shannon has been a total angel I have to say. She treats her little sister with so much love its incredible to see. SHe kisses and hugs her, and squashes her with all her might. She pinches her cheeks, and proclaims 'mei mei is sooo cuuuttte!' *pinch, pinch, pinch* She will come to me and whisper in my ear 'Mei mei likes me, mei mei loves me..' and she creeps into our room in the morning and perches on the edge of the bed, looking at the little one sleeping.

I can only hope that this will continue on and the two sisters will grow up close as can be.

Extreme Makeover : Shannon's room

By Shannon's mommy:

Finally, after ONE WHOLE YEAR, I am able to blog this down as a achievement. I had been itching to do up Shannon's room since she turned 1, and we started on the project in October last year, after much persuasion and convincing on my part to Mal. Men are just... men.... they will sit on their butts and procrastinate until the cows jump over the moon and nothing will happen.

Anyway, we finally got started with the wall painitng, and the gradual improvements took place over a year. I was really undecided as to what theme the room should have, coz what if we had a 2nd kid and it turned out to be a boy? No princess theme then? Luckily, that problem solved itself eventually... :)

I also had a super low budget and a hard time finding stuff which I thought could fit into her room decor.... Luckily, my SIL gave Shannon some wallabees which fit right in to brighten up the place.

And the rest finally pushed its way through when we decided it was time for Shannon to have her own bed rather than sleep cramped in her cot... The bright curtains was a find from Ikea and gives the room a nice cosy look, appropriate for a kid her age.

The result? She loved it! She had no qualms about giving up her baby cot for the 'princess bed' and the hanging drape-around curtains, all done up with minimal fuss and cost, even for a fashion idiot like me. :)

BEFORE look: The white walls and the baby cot with boring beige curtains

BEFORE Look: The messy place we used for her changing cum computer table!

TRANSFORMATION: Painting and fixing up of new drawers, courtesy of moi

MADEOVER!: Bed and drape-around curtains from IKEA, see the monkey sleeping in it the first afternoon.

MADEOVER: Wall lamps and a bright cheery curtain sets the mood

MADEOVER: Gone is the messy table, now with wallabies and a happy watermelon pig holder

MADEOVER: Scrap book pictures framed up for her wall

Stop! Listen! Clap your hands!

By Shannon's Mommy:

After almost a year at her current CC, it's the first time we get to see our little monkey in concert.

She was roped in in the school's annual concert on the 25th October 2008, Saturday, and it was with quite abit of anticipation that we were looking forward to her performance.

I have to say that with makeup on, my little monkey looks so grown up...

Here's her all dressed up, made up and ready to go before the concert

With her best friend in school, posing for photos

Here's the close up video of the dance.... she's dancing with her best friend from school, an energetic girl called Xuan Xuan. Mal thought she looked lost but I was charmed by the dance. There was doodles of laughter coming from the audience, and I think they were laughing at some of the other pint-sized dancers prancing around on the stage, but truthfully my eyes were glued on my little girl, so all else escaped me... :)

First 'Real' Drawing, Forgive the Doubting Mommy!

By Shannon's Mommy:

Forgive the clearly besotted parent, but if you are just like me, seeing your two and a half doodle and draw harpzardly on pieces of paper without any direction for the past year, you can understand why a event like this causes a stir!

Shannon's teachers have been mentioning that she needs to put more effort in her drawing colouring skills, coz she doesn't use much strength in colouring, so her art work normally turns out pretty dismal, a few lightly coloured 'chicken scratches' on the paper, and she will declare it's done. Actually, I can identify with that, I used to hate colouring, was always too lazy to sit properly at the table, and use effort to press my colouring pencil and diligently cover the whole area consistently.... genes really do pass down, you see?

Anyway, other then a love for painting everything in sight BLACK, (and she can say that black is her favourite colour, ohmigod, I hope we aren't raising a future Morph!) her drawing is likewise dismal.... just a few doodles, circles, and lines here and there, and she's done.

Today however, I left her by the table with paper and pen and went for my shower. When I came back, my dear little daughter proudly showed me her masterpiece. And boy was I shocked! Gong Gong and Po Po tesified that she did it all by herself, without any help from anyone.

She later proudly declared that it was a drawing 'Baby Cayden and Shannon'...

Cayden on the left, Shannon on the right

First Sports Day, Look At Them Hop!!!

By Shannon's Mommy:


Shannon's School organised a Sports Day on 8th August at Turf City, Premier Pitch. Yup, you read it right, a Sports Day for 2 - 6 year old kids!


Needless to say, we were all curious and wondering what the kids were actually going to do there, so not only did Mal make the time to attend, coz there was a Parents and Child race, (and it was obvious I couldn't participate!) Shannon's Gong Gong and Po Po also went along to check it out...


The camera does what words cannot, btw, the crazy woman laughing out loud was me, guilty as charged... and after you see it, I don't think you will fault me for it.... :)

Grumpy When Hungry, Just Like The Dad, And Stubborn To Boot!

By Shannon's Mommy:

Wow, two and a half years, they have flown by so fast! Now looking at Dearest S, and seeing all her tiny less than a year old cousins and friends around her (and there seems to be a explosion of them recently! Ben, Cayden, Momiji, Nicky, Ryers), it's hard to believe my baby is REALLY really no longer a baby.

Her communications skills have jumped by leaps and bounds now.

She now tells me 'I'm not a baby, I'm a small girl! I'm not a small boy, I'm a small girl!' And you double up with laughter when you hear her exclaim ' Aiyah! Mommy, not like this! Like this!'

Sometimes she break off in song and do a little wiggle and jiggle in front of the TV, and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little stars in both English and Mandarin are easy feats for her.

And its so adorable to hear her conversing in a real conversation with her good friend at school. She now tells me what happens in school, and will solmenly declare to you ' Mommy, I cry today. Why? Becoz' I looking for Mommy.'

Sometimes, it will be 'I fight with Xavier, cos he pull the paper, and Charmaine too' These words will make Mal and I scramble in alarm and question her teachers the next morning. We're not worried about the other kids bullying her, we're just worried SHE will turn into a bully!

But like all other toddlers her age, her character is so much more prominent now. I know my dear girl will get incredibly grumpy when hungry, just like the Dad, and she is stubborn to boot!

Mal says that is definitely from my side of the family. Well, stubborness can be a strength too right? But sometimes when you have a screaming toddler who refuses her meds and screams like a lunatic running away from certain death, non stop for 1 hour (I kid you not), you start to wonder whether you're doing the right thing or not.

But I love her at this age, the little poser who smiles prettily for the camera, and her priceless remarks, like when you ask her who does Gong Gong look like, she will promptly answer, 'Gongfu Panda, coz got big tummy!'

So for now, I'm enjoying this show...

Little Poser in front of the camera

Smiling prettily with Big Cousin Samuel

Amazing, We Did Angkor Wat!

After so many starts and stops, we finally made it to Siem Reap! We were slated to travel end of April, but fate would have it that Shannon fell ill two weeks before the trip and she just got worse and worse, so in the end we postponed the trip to June.

Alot and I mean ALOT! of people thought we were crazy, going to Cambodia, of all places and dragging along with us two toddlers, one baby and three senior citizens! But now that it is over, I am so glad we did it, it was a totally different experience and not one of the run of the mill holidays that's for sure!

7th June, Saturday
We jetted off on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, 7th June. It was a uneventful flight and we touched down in Siem Reap at close to 5pm. Our hotel transport was there to greet us and whisked us away from the swelthering heat straight to the cool confines of the hotel.

The service was great! From the receptionist who ushered us to the lounge sofas and gave us the room details to fill up, to the waitress who bought us cold lemon grass drinks with lemon grass tubes as straws, to the office manager who placed thin cambodian scarfs around our necks as gifts, it was overwhelming!

Our suite rooms were really comfy, with a living and dining area, and big bathtub and separate shower area in the bathroom. Twice the size of a normal hotel room, it was a really deal at only S$130 a night! And the amentities..... even we don't have a 48inch flat screen TV with over 80+ SCV channels to surf through at home! and One more 36 inch in our bedroom! Mal was in SCV surfing heaven. Just when I thought I could pry Mal away from the sports channel at home, he comes to place which offers him over 20 sports channels!

The and living and dining room with Shannon and Mal lounging on the sofa and watching TV on the 48inch flat screen TV!

Our Bedroom with king size bed and cot for Shannon

We opted to stay in the first evening and sat down to the hotel's complimentary Khmer set dinner. I liked the sour pineapple and lemon grass fish soup, really appetising. And I liked the stir fried beef and fish with preserved bean paste which I felt was good too though my mum had a different opinion about it...

8th June, Sunday, 8am
Today morning, after sitting down to a very hearty buffet breakfast of bacon, french toast, eggs done any way you like, teochew porridge, fruits, bread, noodles, and yogurt, we met Dara Ly, our tour guide for the next three days.

Dara, and his sister Ponheary Ly come highly recommended in the Tripadvisor and Fodors forums. We decided on Dara because we had young kids with us and wanted a slow and easy itinerary. Also, the main reason we decided on Dara was because both siblings had been actively helping with the poor village children of Siem Reap, and with the help of a American tourist, started the Ponheary Ly Foundation, which is aimed at getting village children off to school and giving them the much needed education they require to improve their poor living conditions.

We wanted to make this holiday trip a little different, and after reading so much about Cambodia's poor situation, and its people struggling to recover after the Khmer Rouge dictatorship, we thought we could help to make a little of a difference to these children. Hence, the meet up with Dara, and plans to visit one of their schools to meet the kids was on the cards for the second day.

Today morning we visited Angkor Thom, specially Bayon with its 64 faces. The ruins were magnificent and the craving in superb condition. Of course the kids couldn't appreciate the fine art, but it was a good long walk. After a while though, the cravings and the granite and stone just start to blur in front of you, and you get a little bored. But once the photos came out, the stark detail and intricate cravings shine through....

The Entrance to Angkor Thom

Look at the Cravings of the faces!

Group photo with Bayon at the background

After lunch at a restaurant near our hotel, Dara and his driver dropped us off for a rest and picked us up again at 4pm. Our aim was to see the famed Angkor Wat, but unfortunately it started drizzling, so we opted to go into town for abit of walk through the old market, dinner and the night market instead.

Lunch at one of the restaurants

The old market was all right, after seeing a few rows of stalls selling the same things, you mainly get a feel of what's it about, We did leave the place with a few beautiful handbags though.

I suggested Red Piano for dinner after hearing good reviews from the forums, and also the fact that Angelina Jolie dined there when she was in Cambodia filming 'Tomb Raider'. Though the reaction from our parents was doubtful as they looked at the smoking and beer drinking patrons on the ground floor, the second floor was pleasantly breezy and comfortable.

The restaurant serves mainly western cuisine and it was plentiful and good and reasonably priced! I had the Chicken with blue cheese cream sauce and french fries with a side salad and it was really yummy at only USD$7! Mum polished off a huge serving of fish and chips and Dad had his Chicken Cordon Bleu...The kids had a cheesy tomato sauce pasta which they rejected after a few bites in favour of snitching our french fries.

After dinner, Dara dropped us off at the Night market which mainly sold touristy trinkets and we walked about abit before heading back to the hotel for the night.




9th June, Monday
Today morning, we took a 45min ride out to Banteay Srey. The aim was to see the temple ruins of Banteay Srey, and later pay a visit to the Knar school, and lastly the Akri Landmine Museum.

Banteay Srey is a very small but beautifully preserved temple. Also known as the Women's temple, its red stone and intricate craving made it Wendy's favourite of all the temples we visited. It only took us about half an hour to finish the temple visit, but the gorgeous photos Wendy got from there! Really beautiful....

Bantrey Srey with a grouchy Shannon

Lovely photo which Wendy took of the kids

We left Banteay Srey to then visit the Knar School. We saw the kids hard at study and a few mischievous ones sneaking repeated peeks at us. It was a really eye opener, these kids with no shoes, very gruffy school uniforms and flies flying everywhere, trying to study. Dara told us that it only takes USD $12 to send a child to school for one whole year, but most villagers cannot even afford this amount. Though Unicef supplements some food which the school gets, it is hardly enough. Imagine 6 children sharing the smallest can of sardines we can find in the supermarket?!!


Until recently, all the school children studied in a wooden shed with a leaky roof and no walls. With incoming tourist donations to the Ponheary Ly Foundation, they were able to build a single story cement building for the kids. And the kitchen which the cooks churn out simple breakfast of rice and fish? It's two earthen mounds, thats' all.

The Old rickety shed where the kids have had to study in

Their new Classroom building

We looked at the school children and marvelled at how lucky the three kids we had with us were. Here we were debating whether to let Shannon enter into St James next year since she has gotten a place there, or letting her stay at her beloved Faith Montessori, and in a nearby country, kids are struggling to be fed and clothed and to be educated. The chinese saying 'Bu Tong Ren, Bu Tong Ming' really applies here.

The funny thing? The kids were always smiling and laughing. They looked at us with curiosity and some were so eager to pose for Wendy's camera.

Beautiful photo of the Knar School kids

They loved taking photos, courtesy of Wendy's camera

We left the place promising Dara that we would try to gather some donations to forward to them for their upcoming new school year in September.

We went on to visit the Akri Landmine Museum. Akri was a soldier who spent his early part of his life laying landmines for the Khmer Rouge. After the Khmer Rouge ended, he saw the destruction these landmines caused to his people and the helpless landmine victims without hands, legs or eyes. He vowed to help and started digging out as many landmines that he could find. He estimates that he had unearthed at least 50,000 landmines, with thousands left. The landmine museum showcases just some of the landmines and the destruction it has caused to Cambodians. Besides that, it also relies on donations to fund a home for landmine victims just behind the museum.

This place really stuck a chord with me when I read the stories of the landmine victims, most of them children, some without hands, arms, others without legs. It particularly hit home when I saw a photo of a 9 year old landmine victim, a girl with a blinded eye, the same girl I had noticed at the Knar school hard at studying.

We had lunch at the Kmer Resturant. Coincidentally, the Ponheary Foundation was bringing a group of school children to lunch there, courtesy of a Amercian family who was here so we met Ponheary in person, a very warm and friendly lady.

Lunch was really good, we had 6 dishes and it only cost USD$24 with drinks! (Btw, beer is cheaper than soft drinks there!) We had a fried egg and long bean omelette, very similar to the ones we find back home, pork ribs in sweet sour sauce, two different baked potato, beef, pork and cheese casseroles, really yummy, morning glory with small shrimp (which is really 'Kangkong' with 'He bi'), and Cambodian's famous Fish Amok, which is essentially small bits of fish, with chopped vegetables in a green curry gravy.

After lunch, and a rest back at the hotel, we headed to Angkor Wat at 4pm. Hmm, what can I say about this temple ruin? I think after seeing temple after temple, we did get templed out, so it was much of a blur for me since it was HUGE... especially when I had to juggle a 12kg toddler on my arm who refused to get down and walk on her own, and also refused daddy, Popo, OR Gong gong. I was really pooped by the end of the tour.

Pooped Lisa even before we went into Angkor Wat

But after saying this, I have to say the photos we took made it all worth while. Captured with clear skies and breathtaking scenery, the photos really show Angkor Wat in its past glory. It made me proud looking at this photo and saying to myself, 'hey, we did it! We did Angkor Wat and it was worth it!

The Pride n Joy of all my photos

Look at the beautiful clouds and sky! Wendy's Camera...

Stone cravings at Angkor Wat

The two kids taking a break

We ended the day with dinner at a Hongkong cafe with dimsum and surprisingly good fried rice! Dad chatted with the owner for a bit and it turns out he is a Malaysian who started this place about 8 months back. In any case, we satisfied any chinese food carving we had, and Shannon had her favourite Char Siew Bao' even in Cambodia.




10th June, Tuesday
Tuesday morning, and we were treated to a specially mashed potato and cheese casserole for out buffet breakfast. Mal was already commenting he was gonna miss eating all the fatty bacon he could for breakfast!

We went to Ta Phrom today morning. This temple ruin is famous because of the show 'Tomb Raider' and it was one of my favourite. The jungle had taken hold of this temple before restoration started, and because of this, many trees roots started growing along, on top and over the temple stones, creating a really beautiful and unique display of nature and man made creation together.

Tree roots reaching from top to bottom

Group photo

With a bit of time before lunch, we headed to Artisan D'Angkor. This is a school cum workshop where young Cambodians enter into apprenticeship for a number of years to become skilled craftsman in wood, stone and silk weaving. Establishments such as these are crucial to Cambodia as so many of its people were slaughtered during the Khmer Rouge, many of the old skills passed down from generation to generation are almost lost to the young. Here, we saw the apprentices hard at work cravings, sanding and moulding art pieces and displays of Angkor Wat cravings, Buddhist artwork and Cambodian murals.

We opted for lunch at another recommended cafe Blue Pumpkin, but it was a dissapointment for me, After hearing fave reviews about its crossiants which could rival its counterpart from France, well, I can only say, I was not bowled over by it food, atomsphere, crossiants or its ice cream.

To make up for it, Mal and I went in search of the mysterious Mango ice cream.... confused? You see, on our first day out, upon returning back to the hotel, we spied a couple carrying what looked to be a mountain high of mango pieces and ice cream in a big plastic bowl back to the hotel. It looked so yummy, I ask the doorman immediately whether he knew where we could get it. The doorman replied that it was from the cafe just next door... so on this free afternoon, we went on our search. It didn't take us long to find, just 3 doors down, we chanced upon the Puka Puka Cafe, which is located next to a Angkor Cookie Factory! We went in and checked out its cookies which apparantly was started by a Japanese lady living in Angkor Wat. The cookies were lovely and we bought a few boxes back to Singapore.

She also opened Puka Puka Cafe which serves pastries, bread and of course the most yummy concoction of shaved ice, sweet milk, mango syrup, Mango Sorbet and topped with chunky, sweet and juicy Mango pieces, mmmmmmmmm! We relished one and ta-po'd one back for Wendy and Alf....

For our last dinner at Siem Reap, Dara recommended a Khmer-French fusion restaurant in town. We were abit dubious seeing the arty farty exterior, but the dining area was charmingly Khmer so we opted to try it. It turned out to be a good recommendation. We sat on the cushions on the floor and the kids started rolling round in fun.

I tried the duck L'orange which was a bit tough but otherwise very nice. Mal had beef stew which was simply fantastic. The beef melted in the mouth and the taste was superb. As what Mal kept whispering in my ear, 'where else can you get good french food at USD$12???

'Though both my parents had opted for khmer one dish stir-fried chicken with different styles of cooking, it turned out very nicely as well.

Budding Talented Photographer in the Making - Ethan took this pic of Shannon

Sitting on cushions on the floor at the French Fusion restaurant

11th June, Wednesday

Today we are saying goodbye to Siem Reap. We had our last buffet breakfast at the hotel, with Mal mourning the loss of unlimited bacon, and me relishing the yummy pork porridge with salted egg.


Since our flight only leaves Siem Reap at 625pm, we were lucky enough to get a late checkout for all the rooms until 4pm, so that was really nice of the hotel. We packed our luggague and with lots of spare time left, decided to bring the kids to use the swimming pool. Shannon and Ethan had fun running around and wading in the shallow end, while Mal teased the two kids with the Helicoptor stunt.

The Hotel swimming pool

Shannon and Ethan playing in the shallows under daddys' watchful eyes

We decided to wander out alongside our hotel and explore the small cafes and resturants just next door for some lunch. We stumbled upon this Korean non spicy hotpot set lunch for four at only USD$20 and decided to give it a go. A standard meal comes with fishcakes, fish rolls, meat balls, vegetables, mushrooms and tofu. The soup base was very yummy and the chilli sauce which accompanied the meal had a tinge of bean paste in it, so it was a great complement to the meal. I enjoyed the food throughly though Mal was not very impressed by the set up.


We then went over to the cookie factory and Puka Puka Cafe next door and had a last Mango fruit sorbet dessert, gonna miss this when we come back to Singapore! I seriously doubt we can find this anywhere here!


We boarded the packed plane home to Singapore in the evening, and it was so full that they had to split us up. In the end I sat with Shannon and mum, while Mal and my dad enjoyed sitting on their own and getting some relaxing time to enjoy in flight service. We touched down at 930pm with a cranky and sleepy Shannon in tow, and rushed home in a cab...



Last Thoughts....
Alot of people, us included had this misconception that since Siem Reap is in Cambodia, it would be really rural, dirty and just plain poor. But that was so very wrong. With its many western cafes, restaurants, and posh hotels, too many to count, Siem Reap looked like Phuket!

Of course, there's no denying the fact that the people are poor, and we did see many begging children and many more hawking tourists sourveniors at the temple sites, but because of Angkor Wat and the thousands of tourists it draws every year, the people of Siem Reap are turning to this to survive. It is a stark contrast when we seeing row after row of english pubs, cafes, and restaurants in town versus the 4year old boy carrying a one year nearly naked baby begging for money at the temple. Yet there is no denying the economic boom that Angkor Wat and its temple ruins have bought to this survivors of the Khmer Rouge.

So to the people who are thinking of visiting, just go, and you will be surprised. But don't forget to stop to help the Cambodians, either through donations or through spending your tourist dollars on the kids selling the trinkets.

We were all tired out by the time we went home. But after all of us recovered from the hectic trip, I looked back at all the photos we took, and in retrospect, it was a great trip! I guess not many people would hazard a trip down Cambodia and fewer would do with with a bunch of young kids and old folks! But it was wonderful. Looking at the pics we took, I'm proud and happy we took the chance and went, we had a chance to do something different, and we did it on our own. These photos will bring us great memories when we look back and when Shannon grows up!

And we'll gathering donations right now to the Ponheary Ly Foundation to do our bit for the kids. Anyone interested can go to www.theplf.org for more details or contact me or Wendy.

Stop Asking Me Why!!!! I Dun Know!!!!

By Shannon's Mommy:

I always thought that the 'Why stage' would not come with Shannon. I mean people who meet me alway tell me she's really shy and quiet, so I could never imagine her peppering her conversations with 'Why...' and being a jabbering kid in general.

Boy was I wrong! She started last week... and from the looks of it, its gonna get worse.

A typical conversation nowadays...
S: Mommy, (my) shoes in the car?
Me: Yes, they are in the car.
S: Why?
Me: 'Coz we didn't bring it up.
S: Why?
Me: Coz you were not wearing them and we can leave them in the car coz you are going to school tomorrow anyway.
S: Why?
Me: Coz you have to go school everyday.
S: Why?
Me: So that you can learn new things.
S: Why?
Me: So that you can be smart and earn lots of money next time.
S: Why?
Me: (gives up and keeps quiet.....)

I sometimes wonder whether she even understands my reasoning and my answers to her.

I sometimes give her really tough answers like how the rain nourishes the plants and how sunlight is important for life on the planet, just to see her squint at me and stay quiet. Well, I heard kids learn like a sponge so hopefully my 'chiem' answers will be absorbed into her brain like Osmosis and one day she will be able to answer her own 'WHY' questions.

Call Me Ms Crazy But We Are Going Siem Reap, It's Official!

I never felt sooo hard pressed to come out with a vacation spot before but this time really takes the cake. You would think that it would be super duper easy to decide on where you wanna holiday, since almost ANYWHERE is better than staying at home right?


Well, I think I lost some grey matter in my brain planning this trip.


We started off thinking about Bali... hmmmm, lovely beaches, yummy food, balmy weather and clear crystal waters....halfway scouting for villas, I started hearing about big waves in Bali, and almost daily earthquakes in Sumatra which may tigger off tsumanis which in turn may hit the southern beaches of Bali, and they include most of the popular tourist destinations.

Oh well, we thought, maybe we can still go Bali but instead of staying in the south, we could look at Candidasa up at the north. But then it was like a 2 hours ride all the way up there?

So, ok, maybe instead of the beaches (shucks!), we could opt to stay in Ubud and relax amongst the rice padis. See how much research I put into this? I have the Bali map imprinted in my head now... anyway, after narrowing down 2 villas of our choice, Mal suddenly shushed me one morning while he was reading the newspaper, and pointed out a article talking about the possibility of a super 'Big' earthquake overdue along the Java Trench near Indonesia whose effects will certainly be horrendous.

Oh boy, that led me running to the PC frantically looking for articles of possible 'Big Ones' coming soon... So there goes Bali...... OUT!

Next we started discussing about Cruising. Having gone on 5 cruises, you can tell I'm a super big fan of them. I went hunting around for good dates to go and a good itinerary. We decided on the 4 day Phuket cruise, but alas, Super star Virgo was FULL all the way till March! And it was sailing off to HOngkong in April, with another ship, Superstar Aquarius coming to take its place.

We were ok with the new ship until I read reviews that Superstar Aquaris had 1 and half decks retrofitted into casino space, which effectively cuts down other facilities and activities that the kids can do.... so bye bye Star Cruises, I guess this trip is OUT!

We thought about Australia but Melbourne and Sydney was too long a flight for the little ones, and then we looked at Hongkong. Bingo! I was confirming our hotels and flights already (Hotel Paranoma!) until we started checking hotel and airfares, and whew!

Did you know it costs easily $800 a pax for a 4 day trip to Hongkong without food expenses? And it's only a 3 hours flight! We decided to turn our sights to lesser expensive locations, and it was really lucky we did, coz now with the deadly flu virus hitting Hongkong, I would feel really uneasy about going there.

After that, I went to Silkair's website, and iterally searched every asian destination on its route map! We looked at Vietnam, Danang, and Siem Reap, Cambodia. After ding donging for many days, and discussing whether Siem Reap would be doable with kids, we decided to bite the bullet and go!

People are gonna say that we are nuts, going Siem reap with the kids, but after we researched and did extensive reading on the country, I think we will be able to manage it as long as we take it easy and stay in a good hotel.

Though Cambodia is still getting back on its feet after the war, it has exploded as a tourist town due to the millions of visitors going to Angkor Wat and now there are just soo many good hotels springing up.

One thing which I learned and which we have incorporated into our intinerary is helping the underprivilaged kids of Cambodia with their dreams of studying. We're gonna plan a trip to one of the schools with the help of our experienced guide Dara, and see what we can do to help, be it a meal or money contribution to help them continue on their way.

Dara is the brother of Ponheary Ly, also a experienced tour guide, who is heavily involved in helping the underprivilaged kids of Cambodia. Through her committment and kind heartedness, the PLF organisation was set up. www.theplf.org.

I'm feeling that this is going to be the hightlight of this trip for me, seeing how the poor survive in this beautiful country, and being able to contribute to their welfare, even if its just by a little bit.

This is gonna be a real eye opener for us pampered and overfed Singaporeans, and I think we will come out of the experience enriched and more appreciative of our life.

So guys, watch out for the update after we return from our trip in late April.

Turning Two! And A Canon Powershot TX1!

This is way overdue, considering that Shannon turned two LAST YEAR! But It's not as bad as it sounds, since her birthday falls just two days short of the next year... come to think of it, we really cut it really close, I mean just two days more, and Shannon would have been the 'Da Jie' of her peers and classmates, rather than being the youngest chicken in her class now... but it's ok, I've always loved holiday babies, being one myself :)


Only traumatic experience for her next time when she grows up? Not EVER having a chance to celebrate her birthday in school, EVER! Talk about emotional scars, I'm still remember my envious look whenever my classmates blew out birthday cake and handed out goody bags in my school days! But I digress, in a talkative mood today you see....



Shannon turned two and we celebrated it with a quiet lunch at Peach Garden with my parents and brother and family, and dinner with Mal's mum, sis, and bro in law... apologies, I only have the pics of the lunch with me, coz we were handed a super big birthday present from my bro during the lunch, a Canon Powershot TX1!



Ok, for all you 'Suakus' out there who dun know what this gadget is (eh, me initally included, until my brother enlightened us), this is the about the world's smallest camera cum video recorder in the market now. Weighing in at about 500gms (I just dumped it on our weighing scale) it's also the lightest so far...



So what to do now? Take pics and videos lah..... but this Suaku herre still can't get the hang of compressing the huge videos to smaller manageable bits that Blogger can accept, so for now, its photos....



Winx Fairies Blueberry and Vanilla Birthday cake from Smiling Orchid Cake Shop

Our Little Happy Family of Three

Shannon with her Gong Gong and Popo who adores her!

Dancing Girl!

The Road To Wisdom Is Long And Winding

By Shannon's Mommy:

It's been awhile since I'ver updated Shannon's blog and with so many stuff happening, I think it's time I do this....

What's Shannon been up to? Well the most exciting thing is that she's started school, half day Childcare to be exact.

I know tons of people out there are going to be rolling their eyes when they read this, but hey, the road is wisdom is long and winding isn't it?

Anyways, we decided to place Shannon in childcare at this tender young age, NOT because we wanted to nurture a budding Harvard child genius ( though that wouldn't be a half bad thought, hmmm...), but because she gets soooo bored at home with me....

Everyday, I hear her grumble at me and telling me, 'Go Out, go out? Go Po Po house, Gong Gong house...'

And she loves playing so much with other kids, it looks like she's half deprived everytime she spots other kids running about merrily and starts chasing them in a bid to get them to play with her.

I dun blame the other kids for running away in sheer terror when they see this little laughing mananic bearing down on them, which is what most of them do when they see her heading towards them, poor thing! The children, that is.

So after checking out numerous childcare centres, we made our choice and sent her in on Monday.

I have to be proud and say that for a two year old kid, her first few days of school have not been too bad.

Sure, she wailed her heart out for the first time today when she saw me leaving, and still cries on and off when the chinese lesson is on, but for someone who's not been out of mommy's sight ever EVER, I think that's a great achievement so far.

Her English teacher laughingly remarked today that she returned her teddy bear after the heart wenching sobs stopped, and declared... 'I dun want my bear..' Way to go, Darling!

I'm impressed by the way she picks up things just after two days in childcare, and she is ever so much more chatty in front of strangers now. Whole sentences like ' I don't want to go school' (unfortunately...) pops out of her mouth with ease, and she started reciting the days of the week, 'Monday, Tuesday...'

And today, this mommy watched while she soaped and washed her hands, pulled a paper towel from the dispenser, wiped her hands dry, then used her feet to step on the dustbin pedal to open the dustbin lid, throw the used paper towel into the bin, and come out of the bathroom, all by herself....

Mommy's little girl is growing up so fast now...