Medicine*Music*Chocolate*Life

Bean Performs!

This morning was Bean's big performance. Her pre-school, a big one, had their annual graduation cum concert in a big auditorium filled with parents.

All the kids looked sweet as pie and cute as buttons, but of course everyone thinks their own child shines the brightest.

Certainly, we may have had one of the larger contingents - Hubby and I, Annie whooping in one corner, and my mum-in-law and sis-in-law waving furiously when the curtains opened to our little Bean.

Bean was a star. The tallest of her class, she was front and centre and all decked out. She had flowers in her hair, a pretty pink tulle-layered princess dress, and her self-chosen white shoes with diamante buckles (she dragged us round SIX children's shoe shops last weekend before she found a pair she was happy with, ye gads).

When the music started up, the kiddies started tapping their toes, then launched into a full dance.

We squealed with laughter, overcome by cuteness. It is always fantastic to feel renewed by little ones.

After her dance, and then the big finale, we hugged her tight and praised her for being "good". She was getting tired and tearfully demanded to be fed lunch. So we hurried out and changed her back into street clothes......and headed off for lunch.

After a hearty meal at Crystal Jade, we took her home to chill out. Then I went off to meet Ella....woo hoo, shopping in the flesh, at last! (we hit Suntec, but that's a tale for another entry.)

Jap-Six

Hubs and I are finally getting a holiday. Our first one un-entangled with work stuff. Since our honeymoon. Ye gads, it's been a while.

Of course, Bean is coming along. She's a crucial member of the family, and a holiday wouldn't be "proper" without her.

We're going to spend six days in Tokyo in December.

Since Bean is a good little 3.5-year-old, we'll be spending a day at Disneyland, and at least another half-day at the Sanrio Puraland. Hubby was joking that he should just bring a pink wardrobe to match the girls.

Jokes aside, because of the fluctuant nature of the household ironing, I've packed.

In essence the bulk of my stuff is from *drumroll* - UNIQLO. Yeah, guess what. They make good stuff. And I'm adding a bit of sauce with three pairs of rock-sensible jeans. One pair from Aussie shop SportGirl which I've had for AGES, with a bronze phoenix running down one leg. The second pair from Cheap Monday - black and drainpipe with corset-laces running its length from hip to ankle. The third pair - most recently acquired - from Pull & Bear.....a dark blue distressed skintight pair slung low with two double-large riveted buttons. Shoes? One pair of flats with good soles, and one pair of booties - black and again, a little bit rock n' roll.

The topper is my cashmere-blend dark moss-green Aquascutum coat which has to have been the best thing I've ever bought from Harrods. To go with it, splashes of ochre and hot pink in the shape of cami's, tanks, and a large pashmina from our Bangalore adventure.

I will most likely be rockin' diamonds and silver. Or faux both. Would like to finish the look with a bright matt pink lip, but I haven't got one of those. Maybe it's time to spend those Bodyshop vouchers.

The only "ugh" point right now is my half-up half-down hair, which looks ridiculous in an Elvis quiff, too old if left limp, and too severe when sharply side-parted as I usually do for nights out. Perhaps the broad leather hairband should come along......with feline eyes. Hmm. That could be it.

Hubs has his Sinatra hat and overcoat. And under those, he'll likely be in a sweater, a polo tee, and jeans.

Bean will be in sweet dresses, baby tights, warm shoes, a zip-up jumper/hoodie, and her pale pink quilted Burberry coat. She has her own mittens, which she is awfully proud of, as she loves the nursey tale of the three kittens who lost their mittens. I can't wait to see her all bundled up in layers of pink pink pink......eeee.......

Nigel the Alligator visits the dentist

Today we finally got Bean to a dentist, for the 1st time. We went to T32 @ Camden Medical Center. They have a brilliant business model going, and a very large base.

In preparation for her big day, we had been reading about Nigel. She has a little Ladybird storybook from the "Stories for ___ Year Olds" series (Ladybird Mini). One of those stories is about a little boy with a pet alligator named Nigel. And it goes something like this:

Nigel loved to eat, but one day, he developed toothache. Nigel was taken to see a dentist, who checked his teeth thoroughly and found....a cherry pit stuck between his back teeth! The offending cherry pit was removed, and Nigel was back to a cheerful obedient good alligator.

When we got to T32, we did our registration paperwork. Bean was ushered into the children's area, equipped with a very child-oriented waiting room - toys, Wii, DVDs on tap and a lot more - where she immediately made herself at home.

Then she was introduced to her dentist. For the sake of anonymity, we'll call her The Princess Dentist, a pretty and dynamic young lady in a sweet pink labcoat. Bean made friends and then was introduced to The Princess Room. Done in pink, with wall decals of all the Disney princesses, 2 princess mobiles hanging from the ceiling corners, and various extreme girly paraphernalia, it made Bean smile and she felt right at home.

Her Princess Dentist then slowly introduced the rest of her equipment - the magic chair, Mr. Big Mouth (the dental model), and the tools. They went through a toothbrushing tutorial, with her dentist using Mr. Big Mouth, and Bean using a brand-new Hello Kitty top-line toothbrush (a free set was given to her at the end, with toothbrush, toothpaste, and flossing kit).

She was then tucked into the magic chair properly with a little cushion to hug, accompanied by her doll. I then swapped out of the room with Hubby, because I was being seen to by my dentist in the next room.

At the end of our consults, we regrouped  in the waiting room. Bean came out beaming, her smile now brighter and her little teeth clean. We were cautioned about watching her bedtime milk (risk of nursing bottle caries), then settled the bill and left.

It was a brilliant 1st experience for Bean, and highly-recommended.

My kind of Sunday-busy

Today was a hearty day. On the whole, it was a fairly hearty weekend with enough food and activity featured throughout.

Today I was awoken by a pounce from Bean, followed by a gob-smacking little kiss and a loud "Good MORning, Mommy!" (meaning: it's time to get up and play with me....)

We had a great time in the morning, composed of Angry Birds, Jigsaurus (a recently added and much-loved app on my iPhone), lots of reading from the Pocket Nature book, and generally sponge-like childhood learning.

Then we went for lunch with the folks: Bean in a pretty Breton-striped mod dress with a Minnie-Mouse red bow on one shoulder, with matching red maryjanes; Hubby in a Banana Republic brown polo tee with fine white lines; I was in a bright yellow Junkfood tee with my Valentino-like off-white skirt from Womb.

After a large buffet spread, we came home to get Bean ready for chinese class. She had recently begun, and the first class had been a bad experience. Because of it, this week, her third class, was approached with instant tears and a sullenness usually reserved for Hubby when he had refused her something "life-changing".

Good thing is, I had pre-empted this reluctance the last couple of days by telling her tales about how the chinese words got their shapes. We had spent the time doing add-on stories like the below:

"Da! (大!)" she said, jumping akimbo with arms out....

"Xiao! (小!)" she said, making her body straight, legs together, and just her little hands sticking out.

I explained the word "bed" ("床") as a wooden frame, with mattress, sheets and pillow laid on top, the word "table" ("桌") as a wooden surface upon which something was placed, and the word "chair" ("椅") as a wooden back, and a big man sitting on a seat. Of course, we also covered the word "person" ("人") as part of this, and "fire" ("火") and "head" ("头") too. She was getting the hang of the innately-descriptive nature of mandarin. Annie was also listening intently to all this.

At any rate, back to today.

After ensuring that she was starting to integrate a little, Hubby dropped me off at Tangs and went back to work. I spent an hour researching the worth of an iron. Yes, the sort you get your clothes done with. After going between Takashimaya and Tangs, I finally bought a gruff-looking Braun TexStyle 7 that promised to have Hubby's shirts look like washboards. Had to sort this out because ours had conked out, and we really need one!

After that, headed back to fetch Bean. She came out dimpling her little smile, and LaoShi was pleasantly surprised that she had been good in class, and knew her lessons, despite the first 2 lessons' fiascoes. Because she had been so good, I rewarded her with a choice of treat.

Bean jumped up and down and asked for gelato - her favourite sort of ice-cream. There is a little family-owned shop nearby that sells lovely chocolate gelato, and so we walked over and had ourselves a little respite from the day's heat. YUM. I like it plenty too.

After that, we made our way home. I piggybacked her "wee wee wee all the way home" and we had a few giggles as she spotted things on the way, and I explained as best as I could. Some examples: "Look, Mommy! That plant is climbing the wall!"....."Look, Mommy! There's a snail shell!".

We got home and Annie took off Bean's clothes, as she was all sweaty. My little buck-naked baby then giggled and wiggled and ran off into her room to play. She wanted to go for a swim so we changed up and hit the pool with her triceratops-shaped float. Hubby was back just in time, so he came along to relax by the pool before his booked massage.

After a hearty swim (I managed to get a few laps in too, while Hubby watched Bean) we came back up for our showers. And so here I am, a faceful of Malin + Goetz, and a headful of Rainforest Hair Mask, whacking out this blog entry before I have some late dinner.

Bean gets smacked

Today was a first.

Little Bean, all angry little-girl eyes and stern pout, resolutely refused to apologise for doing something fundamentally wrong. Even worse, she refused to admit that she was wrong, although I knew that she could see the logic in how I had explained why.

So.....she got the first smack of her little life. Not because I was angry but because this type of stubbornness (as opposed to competitiveness or not-giving-up) is a bad way to exhibit her strongwilled trait, and I don't intend for it to grow beyond a bud.

Good little Bean

Bean's been a wonderful little girl this weekend. She did a grocery shop with us on Saturday, and stayed in the trolley seat the whole way through. She helped Hubby pick out fruits, and was custodian of the grocery list (which she read off for us).

On Sunday, we had a good swim, and she did something for the very first time. With her tyre-shaped Minnie-Daisy pink float, she got into the adult pool with me and I floated her around several times while she rested her head on the leading edge, and flopped her arms out akimbo to balance the weight.

She took her meals, baths, and naps without fuss. We made up a couple of new games.

It's great being her mommy :)

3-Bean Soup

The first celebration

My little Bean turned 3 on Thursday. It was the last day of school and so Hubby and I took a day off and went over with cupcakes and candles. The little ones were delighted at the boxful of 16 individually-docorated/iced cupcakes.

"Oohhhh!"

"Ahhhhh!"

The little ones stood very close to the table, each eager for a cupcake. Some of them were already earmarking which ones: "I want the pink one!".

My little Bean was smug as smug can be as she stood there, the centre of attention, while her cute classmates sang her the birthday song, and waited for her to make a wish and blow out her three big neon candles.

The second celebration

After that, it was time to go home, and so Bean bid her classmates and teachers farewell, and we took our leave. We headed home to freshen up, and Bean chose her own lunch engagement outfit - a hot pink broderie sam-fu trimmed in pale yellow.

We met up with Hubby's folks at the Straits Kitchen at the Hyatt for a family lunch. Little Bean had chicken rice and then explored the desserts, and went off for a walk with Annie. The rest of us chomped our way through the buffet.

The third celebration

Earlier this hot and humid Sunday, Bean had her big-bang birthday party.

We had booked the poolside function room and picnic tables (al fresco). Mum and Dad arrived early just in time to help hang up streamers from the ceiling. Meanwhile Annie and I opened tables and arranged chairs, and brought tonnes of stuff downstairs, including inflatable dinosaurs.

The caterers from Smiling Orchid Pte Ltd did both the cake and the food, and I think they did a fairly decent job.

We had the aircon on in the function room, so that adults could mingle and talk. There was a play corner for the smaller children - decked out with playmats, toys, books and balloons. The bigger kids were outside in the kiddies swimming pool, overseen by some parents and nannies, and thoroughly sprayed with SPF-50-strong sun lotion.

When it came time to cut the cake, we corralled the kids back into the function room, and debuted the cake. A big round of gasps, oohs, and aahs went up as the kids came up close to see the "Jurrasic Park" themed cake with a cohort of dinosaurs, a jelly-cream volcano spewing candy-floss, and a pterodactyl nest perched on an island.

We then whipped up a little excitement, and then asked them to "look out for our special guest" who was "big, purple, and loves to sing!". Right on cue, the Barney theme song kicked in, and Hubby's sister, dressed in a very convincing Barney costume, came in, to delighted shrieks.

Everyone then sang the "I Love You" end-song together with the movements, and then we switched over to sing Happy Birthday. Bean then blew out her candles, and we invited the kids to pick a plastic toy dinosaur each off the cake.

Everyone had cake, more cake, and some drinks, and then the party carried on for another half to an hour before children started drooping from nap-less-ness, and guests began to leave.

 

The Bean wants a new school

My little round Bean is completely bored out of her skull with her current school. She keeps asking me when I am moving her to the new one, which we took her to scope out a couple of weeks ago.

The new school is nearer to our new place of residence, and seems more international. This sort of goes with the whole philosophy of not being "just Chinese" but being comfortable in our own skin and proud of our heritage, and yet at the same time, agile in a global environment.

The little Bean outright told her current class teacher that the classes were "boring" and that the teacher was "awful". The principal hasn't said anything yet, but that may also be on account that Hubby blasted her over the phone for messing up our payment records. Yes, they were not aware which school fees we had paid, although we have a GIRO arrangement that automatically does it at the same time on the same day every month.

As for the new place, we're sort of settled in now. To the point when furniture is no longer an issue, the kitchen and utility areas are fully-functioning, and we have had our first "in-house event" last weekend. Even my little Bean's pet fish has a new (larger) tank and 2 new little friends. I must admit that fish-watching is therapeutic to a level that engenders brainlessness.

New Home for a little Bean

We're moving house next week.

We found this place in March and it took about 10 weeks for the sale to be completed. Just received keys to the place last week actually. Topping that off is the fact that our current rental lease ends mid-June.

We had set ourselves an extremely tight deadline. However, because I'm such an OCD slave-driver, and Hubby is a one of those On-Time sort of fellas (everything has to be punctual), we told ourselves that 2 weeks was no big deal to sort out EVERYTHING.

What do we mean by everything?

Well, the place needed a lick of paint (every single internal wall), ugly built-in wardrobes needed ripping off the walls & news ones put in place, we wanted a new front door lock, new ceiling fans in every room, tonnes of furniture to buy, the marble & parquet floors needed re-finishing, and we had to ensure that all the electrical appliances and fixtures were accounted for.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Because we knew what date we would be receiving the keys, we planned ahead by calling relevant tradesmen to turn up for a look-see the very day after. In  the meantime, having taken measurements of all the walls, etc. beforehand, we started furniture shopping 2 weeks ahead of the handover, and getting the furniture companies to deliver everything next week.

So....work started this morning with an almighty din as workmen hacked away the built-in wardrobes. Simultaneously, the painters were doing the ceilings and the living & dining areas. We were expecting to see concrete walls/floors once the wardrobes came down, but unexpectedly they were all fine. What was a bummer was the fact that there was a big irregular hole in each of the three plaster ceilings where the wardrobes had stood.

At about lunchtime, the locksmith rocked on it, prised out the old rickety front door lock, gave the door some love, and put in a fresh new realigned Yale. Nii-iiiice. Just a short while ago, the emergency plaster guy turned up, assessed the damage, and agreed to pop in tomorrow to repair the ceilings.

I kept the head painters in the loop about the above plans.

So far so good. The only thing that did not get done today was the removal of the three ceiling lights where the fans would then be installed (with drop-down lighting under each). Methinks Hubby and I will be back with his dad's electric power-drill/screwdriver sometime this evening, sigh.

My little Bean has already made her little adamant opinion known to all. "Pink, Mommy. I want my room to be pink. Aaa-llllll PINK!" After which she cheesed up her dimpled little grin, and then shot off to the sofa to watch BabyTV.

Tomorrow Hubby will be indahouse to supervise. I'll need to do a blow-by-blow handover to him sometime this evening.

Yep, that's me. The remote-control renovation contractor.

Cheongsam 2011

Found these beautiful cheongsam pictures using images.google.com and they really do give the cheongsam its correct "mood". This dress was never made to be showy or provocative. It was meant to be demure and graceful, showing the body like a vase.

   

This last photo is my fave! My little Bean has a hot pink version of that little girl's Sam Fu.....and I have a mellow dusty pink cheongsam from Somerset Bay, MetroJaya KL. Now if only I can do my hair like that.....