In October, I posted an entry on Zhi's laughing. Many people thought WF was tickling him to make him laugh. Nope, in fact, he was just making some cooing sounds and my son went laughing away.
WF always call Zhi a joyful baby (then again, he used to call Ning a happy baby until her terrible two stage) because he can laugh at the most simple words said to him (see second part of the video).
We managed to capture two moments of him laughing. He really likes peek-a-boo when he's in the sarong. He's supposed to be tired and sleepy but he still wants to play.
Interestingly, we never achieve that kind of results you see in the second half of the video when we tried to say "hello, hello" to him again. Somehow, he wasn't amused anymore. Good thing we captured that!
Have a good laugh and here's wishing all readers a better year in 2008.
zhi laughing 2.mov
P.S: We're going for a short HKG trip this week so the blog will be inactive for 1 week. Will share more when we're back.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas Log Cake
I mentioned in one of my previous post that I will be baking the Christmas log cake. In fact, for two years now, I have been baking quite a few durian log cakes. I can see that WF is getting kinda sick eating them. That's why I only made durian swiss roll once a year. Last year, I did the traditional swiss roll type. Durian mousse spread on the sponge and then rolled up. Comments was, the durian was good but can be more! Ok, point taken.
So this year, I decided to do it differently where the core is filled with durian mousse and only a layer of sponge covering it (see picture). Just like the Goodwood Park Hotel's durian roll. It took me some time to figure out how to make the core. I bought the Goodwood's durian roll to try (in June), searched for a cylindrical mould, consulted a few recipes to see how to make mousse into a shape and improvished here and there. I was so nervous when unmoulding that first durian mousse. Luckily it did turn out fine.
Fyi, the durian flesh are real D24 durian flesh.
Other than the "improved version" of my durian log cake, I also tried out mango log cake which turned out to be pretty good too. Its a new change from eating the heavy-tasting durian log. I was inspired by Stefanie. She told me last year during our Chrismas gathering that she love durian cakes and mango cakes. So I promised her that I will go and figure out how to make it. So here it is! Hey, Stef, I remember! Probably, I'll do a strawberry log cake next year?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Jumping Jelly Zhi
Nope, I didn't create the "Jumping Jelly Jean" name for my blog because my son loves to jump. It's just a coincidence that the blog's name and his favourite activity is jumping. I chose "Jumping Jelly Jean" because of the three Js and it rhymes with "jumping jelly beans".
Back to Zhi. He loves to jump. For whatever reasons I do not know. But I guess its because he's been put on the exersauce when he's 6 months old. The exersauce is like a walker but without wheels. And it allows the baby to rotate 360 degrees and also jump (you'll see that in the first part of the video).
There are times he refuse to sit and want us to carry him so he can jump about. He really loves to jump and we love to see him jump. Its cute. But sometimes I wonder if it is good for his developments. Now at 8 months, he doesn't really know how to crawl. Instead, he's crawling backwards (just like Ning)! He gets cranky whenever we put him on his stomach and urge him to try crawling.
I hope he'll start to crawl soon. So that he'll be more mobile and less dependent.
Anyway, here's a short clip of him jumping on two different occasions.
jumping jelly zhi.mov
Back to Zhi. He loves to jump. For whatever reasons I do not know. But I guess its because he's been put on the exersauce when he's 6 months old. The exersauce is like a walker but without wheels. And it allows the baby to rotate 360 degrees and also jump (you'll see that in the first part of the video).
There are times he refuse to sit and want us to carry him so he can jump about. He really loves to jump and we love to see him jump. Its cute. But sometimes I wonder if it is good for his developments. Now at 8 months, he doesn't really know how to crawl. Instead, he's crawling backwards (just like Ning)! He gets cranky whenever we put him on his stomach and urge him to try crawling.
I hope he'll start to crawl soon. So that he'll be more mobile and less dependent.
Anyway, here's a short clip of him jumping on two different occasions.
jumping jelly zhi.mov
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Crazy about Cupcakes
There's so much craze about cupcakes this year (just like last year's chocolate moulding craze). I see cupcakes in wedding receptions, baby's full month celebrations, parties and on dessert tables. And these tiny sugar packed pastries have even replaced the good old sponge cake as birthday cake! Well, at least it saves us the trouble of having to divide and cut out the birthday cake.
Its even a trend to bake cupcakes nowadays. I see so many cupcakes supplies and equipments being sold at Phoon Huat and Bake It Yourself Store.. Frankly, I find them rather expensive. Those stands, icings, sprinkles, piping tips etc. There are even cupcake classes being launched.
So I embarked on my very first try on baking cupcakes. Since WF is getting so sick and tired of eating my bakings, I made these with the intention to give it to Ning's class for tea and I decorated them with pastel colours and Christmas sprinkles (see pictures).
I have to admit, its fairly easy to make but not the washing! There are certainly a lot of things to wash up especially when you're doing the icing. And really, if you can avoid eating cupcakes, please do. Compared to sponge, muffins and even log cakes, the amount of fat (i.e. butter or oil) and sugar is astonishingly high. And with the icing design on top whether it is buttercream or royal icing, one bite and I felt so sinful.
I still think muffins are better. Easier to bake and have higher nutritional value. One mouthful of muffin, you can get to eat carrot/raisins/chocolate chips/cheese. But a mouthful of the cupcake, you get to taste sugar and butter. Of course, some of you might say that is heavenly and smooth. You are not wrong. Once in a while, we should indulge in these... especially during this festive mood.
Its even a trend to bake cupcakes nowadays. I see so many cupcakes supplies and equipments being sold at Phoon Huat and Bake It Yourself Store.. Frankly, I find them rather expensive. Those stands, icings, sprinkles, piping tips etc. There are even cupcake classes being launched.
So I embarked on my very first try on baking cupcakes. Since WF is getting so sick and tired of eating my bakings, I made these with the intention to give it to Ning's class for tea and I decorated them with pastel colours and Christmas sprinkles (see pictures).
I have to admit, its fairly easy to make but not the washing! There are certainly a lot of things to wash up especially when you're doing the icing. And really, if you can avoid eating cupcakes, please do. Compared to sponge, muffins and even log cakes, the amount of fat (i.e. butter or oil) and sugar is astonishingly high. And with the icing design on top whether it is buttercream or royal icing, one bite and I felt so sinful.
I still think muffins are better. Easier to bake and have higher nutritional value. One mouthful of muffin, you can get to eat carrot/raisins/chocolate chips/cheese. But a mouthful of the cupcake, you get to taste sugar and butter. Of course, some of you might say that is heavenly and smooth. You are not wrong. Once in a while, we should indulge in these... especially during this festive mood.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Winter Wonderland
The rainy & cold weather is here again. Like what Jean Danker (Class 95 DJ) said, this is the closest we can get of the winter weather.
As Christmas approaches (plus the cold weather), I can't help but remember the white Christmas we spent in Finland in year 2005. We departed on Christmas eve and landed in Santa Claus land on Christmas Day. Of course, we visited Santa on that same day too.
Everywhere we go, it is white, snow, wet and below 0 degrees celsius. It was so cold that we were wearing layers of clothing. As we were in the Arctic region, the sun rises at 10am and sets at 12noon. Even though we were doing reindeer sleighing at 3pm, it was like riding the reindeer sleigh on a 10pm kind of dark night. I always remember, it was minus 25 degrees that fateful night. Because it was also the night we managed to see the Northern Lights (also known as the Aurora Borealis").
To cut the long story short, we hired a taxi driver to drive us to some place to view the lights. The best spot to see the lights is a vast field, lake, forest or a flat plain that is in total darkness. Because any lights from the ground will dis-illuminate the Northern Lights up in the sky.
I tell you, we trusted whole-heartedly with this driver when he really drove us to some remote forest. And in the cab, we sat and waited. No sign, just the "crown", a greenish streak of light across the sky. Then he turned around and tell us,"you need to whistle to attract the light to come to you." We were thinking to ourselves,"Another local myth." But he went out of his cab and started whistling. True enough, in a minute, the lights came. And from green, it turned into yellow, then to orange then to red. Right above us! If I can describe it, it was like burning curtains hanging from the sky. These lights are in constant movement. So they change colours constantly as they shift in wave forms.
The sight was awesome. It was amazingly beautiful. We probably spent 2hrs for this experience as we continue deeper into the forest and to a lake. Too bad, we couldn't capture any of these sights as you need a SLR camera with wide exposure set on a tripod, given the limited amount of light and cold temperature.
I find that the best substitute to see a moving Northern Lights is the first 5 and last 30 minutes of this movie call "Brother Bear" by Disney. I think its the other best option from postcards (which is still).
For those who are interested, the peak seasons to see the Northern Lights starts from September to October. And from end January to April. You need to have a clear sky to be able to see this natural phenomenon. That explains why its peak is in the beginning and end of winter when the clouds are clearing.
So much about Northern Lights, here are some pictures we took from our trip. Yep, we did eat the reindeer meat other than riding it!
As Christmas approaches (plus the cold weather), I can't help but remember the white Christmas we spent in Finland in year 2005. We departed on Christmas eve and landed in Santa Claus land on Christmas Day. Of course, we visited Santa on that same day too.
Everywhere we go, it is white, snow, wet and below 0 degrees celsius. It was so cold that we were wearing layers of clothing. As we were in the Arctic region, the sun rises at 10am and sets at 12noon. Even though we were doing reindeer sleighing at 3pm, it was like riding the reindeer sleigh on a 10pm kind of dark night. I always remember, it was minus 25 degrees that fateful night. Because it was also the night we managed to see the Northern Lights (also known as the Aurora Borealis").
To cut the long story short, we hired a taxi driver to drive us to some place to view the lights. The best spot to see the lights is a vast field, lake, forest or a flat plain that is in total darkness. Because any lights from the ground will dis-illuminate the Northern Lights up in the sky.
I tell you, we trusted whole-heartedly with this driver when he really drove us to some remote forest. And in the cab, we sat and waited. No sign, just the "crown", a greenish streak of light across the sky. Then he turned around and tell us,"you need to whistle to attract the light to come to you." We were thinking to ourselves,"Another local myth." But he went out of his cab and started whistling. True enough, in a minute, the lights came. And from green, it turned into yellow, then to orange then to red. Right above us! If I can describe it, it was like burning curtains hanging from the sky. These lights are in constant movement. So they change colours constantly as they shift in wave forms.
The sight was awesome. It was amazingly beautiful. We probably spent 2hrs for this experience as we continue deeper into the forest and to a lake. Too bad, we couldn't capture any of these sights as you need a SLR camera with wide exposure set on a tripod, given the limited amount of light and cold temperature.
I find that the best substitute to see a moving Northern Lights is the first 5 and last 30 minutes of this movie call "Brother Bear" by Disney. I think its the other best option from postcards (which is still).
For those who are interested, the peak seasons to see the Northern Lights starts from September to October. And from end January to April. You need to have a clear sky to be able to see this natural phenomenon. That explains why its peak is in the beginning and end of winter when the clouds are clearing.
So much about Northern Lights, here are some pictures we took from our trip. Yep, we did eat the reindeer meat other than riding it!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
My Baking Adventures
Every year end starting from mid-November and all the way till Chinese New Year period, is baking time for me. Somehow, the festive mood will get me into baking almost every other day.
Hmmm... I can hear some sniggers and laughings from my Secondary and JC classmates. "Jean, baking?" Yah yah, I know I did badly in Home Economics during the lower secondary years. My rock bun turned into some kind of UFO because it was supposed to be half an egg but I put in one whole egg. They all just ballooned when I took them out of the oven. It was so embarrassing because I used up my classmate's share of the half egg! And it doesn't help when my home econs teacher was screaming away because she's gotten just enough egg for the class and there were no extras for my unfortunate classmate.
But people do change and improve. Now, I do BAKE and I dare say I baked pretty well. There are some mishap here and there like how my first quiche dough broke or my swiss roll sponge sticked to the wax paper when I was trying to roll it. Not to mention the plum flan which turn out to be sooooo sour because the fruit itself was sour (not because I squeeze too much lemon). Nevertheless, I'm still proud of my "achievements" and I've uploaded some "supportive evidences" for you to see.
And every Christmas, I'll be making my very own version of durian log cake. I'll share more in my next entry. But here's a preview of what my last year's log cake looked like.
Hmmm... I can hear some sniggers and laughings from my Secondary and JC classmates. "Jean, baking?" Yah yah, I know I did badly in Home Economics during the lower secondary years. My rock bun turned into some kind of UFO because it was supposed to be half an egg but I put in one whole egg. They all just ballooned when I took them out of the oven. It was so embarrassing because I used up my classmate's share of the half egg! And it doesn't help when my home econs teacher was screaming away because she's gotten just enough egg for the class and there were no extras for my unfortunate classmate.
But people do change and improve. Now, I do BAKE and I dare say I baked pretty well. There are some mishap here and there like how my first quiche dough broke or my swiss roll sponge sticked to the wax paper when I was trying to roll it. Not to mention the plum flan which turn out to be sooooo sour because the fruit itself was sour (not because I squeeze too much lemon). Nevertheless, I'm still proud of my "achievements" and I've uploaded some "supportive evidences" for you to see.
And every Christmas, I'll be making my very own version of durian log cake. I'll share more in my next entry. But here's a preview of what my last year's log cake looked like.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
O Christmas Tree
For the past two years, we only display a half-meter christmas tree on top of our sideboard. Boring it was but it was to prevent Ning to "destroy" the tree since she's too young to understand what can or cannot be touched.
This year, WF decided we should get a big christmas tree for the kids to admire since Ning should be able to understand the tree is not a toy. And we thought why don't we get a REAL one. It makes perfect sense for us because I don't have to pack it away after Christmas when we're tight on storage rooms at home and it'll be nice to have a real one as our first Christmas tree.
Choosing and having a real tree needs experience. Here's what I had concluded:
1. Go to the florist end Novermber, not too early and not too late. Not too late, so you can have more choices in terms of height and bushiness. Not too early, see point 2.
2. Don't have it at home too early, unless you're going to switch on the air con 24/7. Best is to get it delivered in Dec. The tree SHEDS! And if you have it too early at home, by 25 December, your tree might be 'botak'. For some of the florists, they keep the trees in cold storages before they're sold, so it does prolong the life of the tree.
3. Get a really bushy one. They will shed their firs everyday by the loadfuls. So if you get a bushy one, it'll not look bare on Christmas day.
4. Measure the space allocated for the tree at home first. The trees comes in all kind of base sizes though the height is quite standard, depending on the growth. Remember these are real trees, some are in shapes of fat triangles, some in slender triangles. We chose one that is slender at the base because we have limited space in the living room.
5. Get one that does not have any holes or "lobang", especially on the tip of the tree. You can't expect these real trees to have firs all over like those fake one. For us, it was the first time, we got one whose base fits our allocated space but its got a hole or empty growth on the tip! Eventually, I had to get two snowmen to cover this gaping hole.
6. Get one with a sturdy trunk and twigs. You're adding weight on the tree by coiling the lights and hanging the decorations. So getting a strong and sturdy one will prevent the tree and twigs from breaking easily.
7. Feed the tree with ice. Throw the ice into the stand and let it melt. These trees are accustomed to cold weather, so watering them with ice helps prolong their life.
8. Check the stand and see if it leaks before the delivery man leaves. For the inexperienced us, we didn't check. Until I started to water the tree then I realised it leaks. We got a new stand that same day, but three men to change it and put it upright again.
So much for tips. I was so excited about it that before the tree arrives, I had done all the wrappings and tyings of ribbons the night before.
Here's some of the pictures I took. Because the tree sheds its firs everyday, I can't place the presents below. Eventually we got a gold organza to cover the stand instead.
This year, WF decided we should get a big christmas tree for the kids to admire since Ning should be able to understand the tree is not a toy. And we thought why don't we get a REAL one. It makes perfect sense for us because I don't have to pack it away after Christmas when we're tight on storage rooms at home and it'll be nice to have a real one as our first Christmas tree.
Choosing and having a real tree needs experience. Here's what I had concluded:
1. Go to the florist end Novermber, not too early and not too late. Not too late, so you can have more choices in terms of height and bushiness. Not too early, see point 2.
2. Don't have it at home too early, unless you're going to switch on the air con 24/7. Best is to get it delivered in Dec. The tree SHEDS! And if you have it too early at home, by 25 December, your tree might be 'botak'. For some of the florists, they keep the trees in cold storages before they're sold, so it does prolong the life of the tree.
3. Get a really bushy one. They will shed their firs everyday by the loadfuls. So if you get a bushy one, it'll not look bare on Christmas day.
4. Measure the space allocated for the tree at home first. The trees comes in all kind of base sizes though the height is quite standard, depending on the growth. Remember these are real trees, some are in shapes of fat triangles, some in slender triangles. We chose one that is slender at the base because we have limited space in the living room.
5. Get one that does not have any holes or "lobang", especially on the tip of the tree. You can't expect these real trees to have firs all over like those fake one. For us, it was the first time, we got one whose base fits our allocated space but its got a hole or empty growth on the tip! Eventually, I had to get two snowmen to cover this gaping hole.
6. Get one with a sturdy trunk and twigs. You're adding weight on the tree by coiling the lights and hanging the decorations. So getting a strong and sturdy one will prevent the tree and twigs from breaking easily.
7. Feed the tree with ice. Throw the ice into the stand and let it melt. These trees are accustomed to cold weather, so watering them with ice helps prolong their life. 8. Check the stand and see if it leaks before the delivery man leaves. For the inexperienced us, we didn't check. Until I started to water the tree then I realised it leaks. We got a new stand that same day, but three men to change it and put it upright again.
So much for tips. I was so excited about it that before the tree arrives, I had done all the wrappings and tyings of ribbons the night before.
Here's some of the pictures I took. Because the tree sheds its firs everyday, I can't place the presents below. Eventually we got a gold organza to cover the stand instead.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Graduation Performance
Yesterday was Ning's school's K2 Graduation Day and it was also Ning's "Ride a Cock Horse" performance (see Nov 26 entry).
Like what the teacher had told us, the kids were all stunned to see such a big crowd and they were all frozen on the stage for the entire 3 to 4 minutes of performance. It was hilarious to see the kids' "non-performance" and many in the audience were laughing away.
Frankly, WF and I are very proud of Ning. Yes, she was stunned for a moment but when the song started playing, she began to do the action. I can say, she's the only one who did 80% of the action and correctly while most of the kids were standing on stage. Even her teachers commented that she did very well.
WF managed to video taped down her performance. Its a bit wobbly because he was standing on a chair right at the end of the hall. You can see for yourself how steady she was.
graduation performance.mov
Like what the teacher had told us, the kids were all stunned to see such a big crowd and they were all frozen on the stage for the entire 3 to 4 minutes of performance. It was hilarious to see the kids' "non-performance" and many in the audience were laughing away.
Frankly, WF and I are very proud of Ning. Yes, she was stunned for a moment but when the song started playing, she began to do the action. I can say, she's the only one who did 80% of the action and correctly while most of the kids were standing on stage. Even her teachers commented that she did very well.
WF managed to video taped down her performance. Its a bit wobbly because he was standing on a chair right at the end of the hall. You can see for yourself how steady she was.
graduation performance.mov
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Something about Zhi
Its been quite a while since I wrote something about Zhi. The last few entries had been on Ning and Ning and more Ning!!! To be fair, I'll write something about him today.
He's into his 8th month today and anytime now, he should be crawling or teething. He's considered late in teething. But Ning's teeth sprouted out later than her peers too. So we're quite used to this lateness.
Zhi's been drooling a lot for the past few months. Lately, he's developed this habit of sticking his tongue out and biting his lips too. I supposed these are the signs of teething. Let's just wait.
I've taken a series of him smiling and playing with me recently. I'll share it here.
And also these three shots were taken during his feeding time. I thought he looked so adorable.
He's into his 8th month today and anytime now, he should be crawling or teething. He's considered late in teething. But Ning's teeth sprouted out later than her peers too. So we're quite used to this lateness.
Zhi's been drooling a lot for the past few months. Lately, he's developed this habit of sticking his tongue out and biting his lips too. I supposed these are the signs of teething. Let's just wait.
I've taken a series of him smiling and playing with me recently. I'll share it here.
And also these three shots were taken during his feeding time. I thought he looked so adorable.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Ride a Cock Horse
This is the title of the song that Ning and her class of Playgroup '07 will perform for the K2 Graduation Day on 1st Dec. The entire class has been diligently practising everyday for the past one month. So much so that Ning will always "perform" for us back home because I downloaded the song from the school's website.
Its really nice to see her dance and sing. But of course, like what the teacher had prep us. Most likely the kids will "freak out" on the actual day when they see so many people watching them and snapping the camera away. Her teacher told us to be prepared that the kids will be so stunned and frightened that they'll just stand there!
So we took the opportunity of video taping her practice down at home. Here's the "sneak preview" for her upcoming performance.
The lyrics of the song goes like this:
Ride a cock horse, to Barnsbury Cross.
To see a fine lady up on a white horse.
Rings on her fingers, bells on her toes,
She will have music wherever she goes.
ride a cock horse.mov
Its really nice to see her dance and sing. But of course, like what the teacher had prep us. Most likely the kids will "freak out" on the actual day when they see so many people watching them and snapping the camera away. Her teacher told us to be prepared that the kids will be so stunned and frightened that they'll just stand there!
So we took the opportunity of video taping her practice down at home. Here's the "sneak preview" for her upcoming performance.
The lyrics of the song goes like this:
Ride a cock horse, to Barnsbury Cross.
To see a fine lady up on a white horse.
Rings on her fingers, bells on her toes,
She will have music wherever she goes.
ride a cock horse.mov
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
What's my name?
There are bound to have some "mishap" bringing up kids. Of course, we hope that these mishaps are more positive than negative.
Here's one of our "mishap" with Ning:
We've come across a few of our friends and neighbours calling their partners "daddy" and "mummy". And we find it rather interesting since a wife is not a mummy to the husband and vice versa. But our friends justified that they call each other in this manner so as to educate the kids and to show them this is the way to address their parents.
For WF and I, we don't address each other like this. We prefer to call each other by our given names. There are times though, WF will call me "lao bor" and I will reply him back as "lao gong". Even in front of our kids.
And yep, it did "backfire" one day. This was what we found out (click to see the video)...
what is your name.mov
Mishap, you can call it. But it was more hilarious than anything. At least she got her brother's and maid's name correct.
P.S: The video was taken some time after our first discovery. It was so funny I had to take it down and show it on the blog. Until today, she still remembers my name and WF's name as "lao bor" & "lao gong".
Here's one of our "mishap" with Ning:
We've come across a few of our friends and neighbours calling their partners "daddy" and "mummy". And we find it rather interesting since a wife is not a mummy to the husband and vice versa. But our friends justified that they call each other in this manner so as to educate the kids and to show them this is the way to address their parents.
For WF and I, we don't address each other like this. We prefer to call each other by our given names. There are times though, WF will call me "lao bor" and I will reply him back as "lao gong". Even in front of our kids.
And yep, it did "backfire" one day. This was what we found out (click to see the video)...
what is your name.mov
Mishap, you can call it. But it was more hilarious than anything. At least she got her brother's and maid's name correct.
P.S: The video was taken some time after our first discovery. It was so funny I had to take it down and show it on the blog. Until today, she still remembers my name and WF's name as "lao bor" & "lao gong".
Friday, November 16, 2007
Hot Air Ballooning
During our France holiday in Sept, we went over to Dijon for a few days. I chose Dijon as a stop because I wanted to visit the vineyards of Burgundy. Dijon is the main city in the area of Burgundy. And Burgundy is the place for good wines. The world's most expensive vineyard, Romanee Contii is located right in the heart of Burgundy too.
We did hot air ballooning during one of our days there. It was a new and wonderful experience, flying over countless of vineyards, small towns and the forest areas where we get a nice view of the autumn foliage. WF managed to capture the entire experience on video. And I've edited the clip where it showed how the balloon got inflated and how we flew up.
hot air ballooning.mov
As for landing, we can't record it down as we needed to brace ourselves for the fall. Ask me when you see me in future. Its easier to describe verbally.
If you're interested in doing hot air balloon in Dijon in future, you can contact Air Escargot. They don't fly everyday, so make sure you get the dates right before you start to plan the trip.
And in all French style, we celebrated our landing and the enjoyable journey with champagne.
We did hot air ballooning during one of our days there. It was a new and wonderful experience, flying over countless of vineyards, small towns and the forest areas where we get a nice view of the autumn foliage. WF managed to capture the entire experience on video. And I've edited the clip where it showed how the balloon got inflated and how we flew up.
hot air ballooning.mov
As for landing, we can't record it down as we needed to brace ourselves for the fall. Ask me when you see me in future. Its easier to describe verbally.
If you're interested in doing hot air balloon in Dijon in future, you can contact Air Escargot. They don't fly everyday, so make sure you get the dates right before you start to plan the trip.
And in all French style, we celebrated our landing and the enjoyable journey with champagne.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Yellow Fellow
Some of you may know I teaches in Republic Polytechnic. And during the 2nd semester, I'll be teaching this module call "Contemporary Issues in Culture & Aesthetics". We're into our 8th week of the semester and usually the second half of the semester we start to focus on aesthetics issues.
For this week's problem, we talked about things that have an aesthetic value or what defines beauty given this phrase "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder". Sounds so philosophical, you might say. Well, let me tell you, there is actually a "formula" that the academics had came up with that defines whether an item has an aesthetic value or not.
Anyway, I'm not going to spend another half day talking about that. The interesting part was, I was sharing with the class my liking for yellow colour and things that are in yellow, I find them attractive and beautiful. My liking for yellow is so great that a lot of my kids' clothings and toys are yellow (since I'm usually the one who shops for their stuff, I get to decide!).
I did a search at home just now. And I found, in the kitchen there are quite a number of things in YELLOW too! Wow... I didn't know I'm such a great fan of yellow.
So, here's some of the pictures I've extracted from the kids' albums in which they're dressed in some shades or patterns of yellow (inclusive of pillow cases, bedsheets). Plus my favourite yellow tulips, durian mousse cake, ladle rest etc.
And nope, you guessed it wrongly, I DO NOT like bananas, mangoes and pineapples. I bake durian cakes but I don't really fancy durian as the fruit itself.
Maybe I should named this blog "mellow yellow jean" instead...
For this week's problem, we talked about things that have an aesthetic value or what defines beauty given this phrase "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder". Sounds so philosophical, you might say. Well, let me tell you, there is actually a "formula" that the academics had came up with that defines whether an item has an aesthetic value or not.
Anyway, I'm not going to spend another half day talking about that. The interesting part was, I was sharing with the class my liking for yellow colour and things that are in yellow, I find them attractive and beautiful. My liking for yellow is so great that a lot of my kids' clothings and toys are yellow (since I'm usually the one who shops for their stuff, I get to decide!).
I did a search at home just now. And I found, in the kitchen there are quite a number of things in YELLOW too! Wow... I didn't know I'm such a great fan of yellow.
So, here's some of the pictures I've extracted from the kids' albums in which they're dressed in some shades or patterns of yellow (inclusive of pillow cases, bedsheets). Plus my favourite yellow tulips, durian mousse cake, ladle rest etc.
And nope, you guessed it wrongly, I DO NOT like bananas, mangoes and pineapples. I bake durian cakes but I don't really fancy durian as the fruit itself.
Maybe I should named this blog "mellow yellow jean" instead...
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Inactivity Explained
Some of you may wonder how come this blog had been inactive since Tuesday. Well, my kids were sick and eventually I got the virus too.
Zhi had been coughing on and off since two fridays ago and on wednesday, he came down with fever. So I've been busy during the nights taking care of him and comforting him to sleep.
Good news is, as of now, his fever is down. And the antibiotics are clearing out his throat infection.
Bad news is, I am down with stomach flu since yesterday evening and Ning is not spared either. Both of us are down, puking and diarrhea-ing.
So much update for now. I am going to have my rest again.
Zhi had been coughing on and off since two fridays ago and on wednesday, he came down with fever. So I've been busy during the nights taking care of him and comforting him to sleep.
Good news is, as of now, his fever is down. And the antibiotics are clearing out his throat infection.
Bad news is, I am down with stomach flu since yesterday evening and Ning is not spared either. Both of us are down, puking and diarrhea-ing.
So much update for now. I am going to have my rest again.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Pulau Ubin
Some of you may know WF had just resigned and is now taking a 2 months break from work. Which also means we have more time for family outings and activities.
Last thurs, 1 Nov, the first day of his "holiday", we went to Pulau Ubin with Ning and my parents. Its Ning's first time to this island and also taking the bumboat ride.
We had an enjoyable time there. We visited one of the residents staying on that island. An old uncle who's a teochew, rears an old wild boar and some rabbits. Ning had a good time feeding the rabbits with tapioca leaves as well as sweet potato leaves (trust my mum to identify these vegetables from the messy overgrowth in front the house) while we chit chat with the old uncle about life in Ubin.
Interestingly, we passed by this house which has a cookie monster statue in front. We were so surprised to see it that we took pictures! So lame... you can say.
As usual, I've uploaded some of the pictures to share.
Last thurs, 1 Nov, the first day of his "holiday", we went to Pulau Ubin with Ning and my parents. Its Ning's first time to this island and also taking the bumboat ride.
We had an enjoyable time there. We visited one of the residents staying on that island. An old uncle who's a teochew, rears an old wild boar and some rabbits. Ning had a good time feeding the rabbits with tapioca leaves as well as sweet potato leaves (trust my mum to identify these vegetables from the messy overgrowth in front the house) while we chit chat with the old uncle about life in Ubin.
Interestingly, we passed by this house which has a cookie monster statue in front. We were so surprised to see it that we took pictures! So lame... you can say.
As usual, I've uploaded some of the pictures to share.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Delta @ Atlantis
Last week, we went to Delta@Atlantis located inside Delta Sports Complex. A pretty small outfit, I would say. Explorer Kids at Downtown East is much much bigger. But it'll be ideal to hold the kids' birthday parties or a mini gathering.
Anyway, we brought Ning there to spend the mid-morning since we didn't really have any plans or activities to do. And I took some pretty nice pictures (as usual). Too bad, when she came down from the slide, I snapped the trigger too early. So the image of her in that picture is rather small. If you can zoom in, she had one of her most brillant smile there.
Anyway, we brought Ning there to spend the mid-morning since we didn't really have any plans or activities to do. And I took some pretty nice pictures (as usual). Too bad, when she came down from the slide, I snapped the trigger too early. So the image of her in that picture is rather small. If you can zoom in, she had one of her most brillant smile there.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Video of Ning Singing Happy Birthday
After I posted Zhi's video, there were some good feedbacks. So I thought, to be fair to Ning, I should post something of her too.
Ning loves to sing 'Happy Birthday'. And everyday is somebody's birthday. That day, we passed by Jane's Cake Station and decided to get a durian cake to try. At the same time, we asked for a candle so Ning can sing and blow the candle, even though its none of our birthday that day.
My brother's birthday is in Nov. Thus, in the video she's imagining its Jiu Jiu's (uncle) birthday.
happy birthday by ning.mov
Ning loves to sing 'Happy Birthday'. And everyday is somebody's birthday. That day, we passed by Jane's Cake Station and decided to get a durian cake to try. At the same time, we asked for a candle so Ning can sing and blow the candle, even though its none of our birthday that day.
My brother's birthday is in Nov. Thus, in the video she's imagining its Jiu Jiu's (uncle) birthday.
happy birthday by ning.mov
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
France Vacation Photos
I am still trying to label the France vacation photos nicely in webshots. My god, I didn't know I took like 400 over pictures. This is the convenience of having digital cameras, you just take and take.
Anyway, in order not to prolong the publishing, I've uploaded some photos and share on this blog.
If you want to see the full album, you can click here.
Anyway, in order not to prolong the publishing, I've uploaded some photos and share on this blog.
If you want to see the full album, you can click here.
Flexible Barriers in Dijon
Some of you might know, in Sept we went for our holiday in France. And one of the place we stayed was in Dijon. Both of us liked that place a lot. Unlike Paris, its gives a more "homely" feel and is less crowded and noisy.
We spent about 4 days there and had new adventures we never did before. Like going on a hot air balloon. I'll try to put up a video of that.
But what impresses us on our first day in Dijon are its walking streets. The shops are interesting and everything looked so attractive. You can spent the whole day just walking, shopping, window shopping or sit by a sidewalk cafe and people watch.
These streets are for pedestrians and no vehicles are allow. EXCEPT the free shuttle buses and probably some registered vehicles. So how do the town council solve the problem of preventing vehicles from travelling these walking streets but at the same time allow the buses and pedestrians to use the lanes?
They have something which I called the "flexible barriers". Watch this video to find out more.
flexible barriers.mov
We were so amazed.
We spent about 4 days there and had new adventures we never did before. Like going on a hot air balloon. I'll try to put up a video of that.
But what impresses us on our first day in Dijon are its walking streets. The shops are interesting and everything looked so attractive. You can spent the whole day just walking, shopping, window shopping or sit by a sidewalk cafe and people watch.
These streets are for pedestrians and no vehicles are allow. EXCEPT the free shuttle buses and probably some registered vehicles. So how do the town council solve the problem of preventing vehicles from travelling these walking streets but at the same time allow the buses and pedestrians to use the lanes?
They have something which I called the "flexible barriers". Watch this video to find out more.
flexible barriers.mov
We were so amazed.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Yee Zhi's Laughing
I realised I have been sharing my thoughts about issues that doesn't really involve my kids on all the previous posts. Kind of contradicting since the blog's title is my kids' name.
Here's the first input. A video taken in August when Zhi is 4mth plus. WF was making funny faces at him (NOT tickling him, as most had accused) and recording his laughing at the same time. At the end of the video, if you're able to notice it, he laughed till so hard he had tears in his right eye.
xiao zhi laughing2.mov
Here's the first input. A video taken in August when Zhi is 4mth plus. WF was making funny faces at him (NOT tickling him, as most had accused) and recording his laughing at the same time. At the end of the video, if you're able to notice it, he laughed till so hard he had tears in his right eye.
xiao zhi laughing2.mov
It seemed to be the 'in' thing to join Facebook lately. I've received quite a lot of email requests and even sms-es. No choice, I really got to join to see what is so good about this portal.
I find it rather confusing initially. All the gifts, the eggs, the poke and superpoke applications. Messages flooding my email with notifications and more invitations to join the many applications. Most of the applications reminded me of Tamaguchi and MLM. Send an egg and see what it hatches. More people you invite, more varieties of superpoke you have.
I wonder what is the fun factor about being bitten by zombies, vampires and werewolves. And then after accepting the bite, I got to spread the "bites" to my friends.
Of course, I get to find and connect my friends, ex-colleagues, classmates in the portal. But for most of them, we're already keeping in touch via emails, yahoo! Groups etc.
But the most interesting thing happened when this morning I received a friend's request. I couldn't recognize her picture in the profile. And the someone I know who's called "Claudine" doesn't look like the one in the picture. I did a little search and looked into her photo albums.
Finally.... it sinked in. I was her secondary 1 & 2 classmates!!! Of course, I only know her Chinses name. She probably added her Christian name after we parted. She must've found me in Facebook while doing some random search I supposed. I was so surprised. We completely lost touch for more than ten years and now we "found" each other in the non-physical world.
Now, I'm doing some random search to find my old classmates and ex-colleagues too.
So this portal is not too bad afterall... minus those applications.
I find it rather confusing initially. All the gifts, the eggs, the poke and superpoke applications. Messages flooding my email with notifications and more invitations to join the many applications. Most of the applications reminded me of Tamaguchi and MLM. Send an egg and see what it hatches. More people you invite, more varieties of superpoke you have.
I wonder what is the fun factor about being bitten by zombies, vampires and werewolves. And then after accepting the bite, I got to spread the "bites" to my friends.
Of course, I get to find and connect my friends, ex-colleagues, classmates in the portal. But for most of them, we're already keeping in touch via emails, yahoo! Groups etc.
But the most interesting thing happened when this morning I received a friend's request. I couldn't recognize her picture in the profile. And the someone I know who's called "Claudine" doesn't look like the one in the picture. I did a little search and looked into her photo albums.
Finally.... it sinked in. I was her secondary 1 & 2 classmates!!! Of course, I only know her Chinses name. She probably added her Christian name after we parted. She must've found me in Facebook while doing some random search I supposed. I was so surprised. We completely lost touch for more than ten years and now we "found" each other in the non-physical world.
Now, I'm doing some random search to find my old classmates and ex-colleagues too.
So this portal is not too bad afterall... minus those applications.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Moliere
WF and I have always lament that after LOTR (Lord of the Rings) series ended in 2003, its so hard to come across any really good movies that is really enjoyable. So far, for this year, we've watched Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Carribean, Transformers etc, all of them failed to meet our expectations.
But I would strongly recommend this movie, Moliere. Watch it.
The plot is well-written. The dialogue witty. The acting superb. And the setting realistic.
I walked out of the theatre 2 hours later feeling good. Its not those typical blockbuster movies with lots of CGI effects, explosions, adrenaline rush etc. But it is entertaining, humourous and intellectual.
If you read the movie summary and look at the poster, it won't attract you much. Moreover it is only shown in Picturehouse. And it is a French film (there are english subtitles though). But, this is what I overheard after the show from the french. Moliere did really exist in France. He's coined as the Shakespeare of France. And students in France have to study his works in high school. The movie is based on a certain period of his life. So at least there is an element of reality unlike fantasy/supernatural movies.
So... Watch it before it ends!
But I would strongly recommend this movie, Moliere. Watch it.
The plot is well-written. The dialogue witty. The acting superb. And the setting realistic.
I walked out of the theatre 2 hours later feeling good. Its not those typical blockbuster movies with lots of CGI effects, explosions, adrenaline rush etc. But it is entertaining, humourous and intellectual.
If you read the movie summary and look at the poster, it won't attract you much. Moreover it is only shown in Picturehouse. And it is a French film (there are english subtitles though). But, this is what I overheard after the show from the french. Moliere did really exist in France. He's coined as the Shakespeare of France. And students in France have to study his works in high school. The movie is based on a certain period of his life. So at least there is an element of reality unlike fantasy/supernatural movies.
So... Watch it before it ends!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
New Links Added
We've taken so many pictures of our kids. But I rarely share it with people. WF (Wah Fong) keeps bugging me to share or post etc. Reason being, I just keep adding new photos to the 2 online albums I created for them. And it gets more and more as time goes by. So its kind of troublesome to annouce periodically to people that "hey, new photos added to the albums again." A bit thick skin too, I feel.
So, finally, I've added the two links of the 2 albums on the right hand side of the page. You can click and check out the additional photos I've added to their albums from time to time.
So, finally, I've added the two links of the 2 albums on the right hand side of the page. You can click and check out the additional photos I've added to their albums from time to time.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Getting Started...
I know I'm really lagging behind the trend of setting up a blog. I supposed you can call it procrastination. Then again, I'm always lagging behind so many IT trends. From digital cameras, IM, MP3 etc.
So finally, I signed up. I only hope my students don't get to chance upon my blog. Then they'll know so much about me. Both good and bad.
I think like most mums I know, they post events, milestones etc about their kids. Well, looks like I'm no difference. But I hope I'll not dwell too much about my kids... it can get boring. To me at least. I'm sure Uncle Lim (husband) doesn't mind.
Ok, first entry is it. Wonder when's the next entry...
So finally, I signed up. I only hope my students don't get to chance upon my blog. Then they'll know so much about me. Both good and bad.
I think like most mums I know, they post events, milestones etc about their kids. Well, looks like I'm no difference. But I hope I'll not dwell too much about my kids... it can get boring. To me at least. I'm sure Uncle Lim (husband) doesn't mind.
Ok, first entry is it. Wonder when's the next entry...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
