Zhi & the Sunglass

I found these series of Zhi wearing sunglasses and I thought they looked funny.




The first picture, he was wearing his sister's sunglass. The second and third, he was wearing Jas' which he took from her bag and tried to put it on himself.














Ning also loves to wear sunglasses. Now I've got two pairs of sunglasses in the car for each of them to put on when it gets to bright for their eyes when on the road. Let me go and look for her photos and I'll post them here.

Brazil vs Singapore Soccer Friendly

Monday, 28th July was the friendly match between Brazil Olympic Team and Singapore Selection Team (the Brazilian team came over to S'pore to have their pre-olympic training). And WF got two sponsored grandstand tickets for this match.

I'm not really a soccer fan and neither is WF. But since we're staying close to the Kallang stadium (15min walks), we might as well go and watch. And this is my first time watching a live soccer match.

Even though it was a Monday night, the place is about 70% filled. Musics and cheerings from both side of the supporters are very much active. There were drums and tambourines with the Brazilian supporters dancing to the samba beat. The singapore supporters cheering on the home team with big banners. And of course, we did a few rounds of the Kallang waves. Which I thought this was the highlight of the match, to me solely.

The match was almost unexciting and predictable. With the Brazilian scoring 3 goals and Singapore none. Nevertheless, our players did make a shot or two at the opponent but most of shots went skyrocket. And our goalkeeper managed to save quite a few shots which otherwise, the score might have a wider margin.

So much for my first live soccer match!

US Trip - Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders' Meeting 2008

Every year, on the first weekend of May, the world congregates in Omaha to attend the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting. And it is touted as the "Woodstock of the Capitalists". Bill Gates who is a shareholder also attends the meeting (you can find out more by googling this company).

This company owns many US corporations like Coca-cola, Dairy Queen, See's Candies, Gillette, Mars bar (the company that produces M&M, Mars etc) and many more. So during this shareholders meeting, there will also be roadshows and exhibitions set up by these various companies (see pictures).

The meeting is one full day. Started early in the morning at 8.30am to 5pm. The thing is, if you say Singaporeans are kia-su. Then people going to the meeting who are non-Singaporeans outbeat me. We went at 7.30am, thinking we must be crazily kia-su and got a shock. There was already a long queue and people are already queuing at the entrance to the convention hall as early as 6am. Despite the strong winds and cold weather. Last year, there were some crazy caucasians who started queuing at 5am and in the rain. Who say we're being kia-su? Btw, the convention hall can seat every single person attending.

The meeting itself is a full day of Q&A. And the world's richest man is indeed an intelligent man. Answering questions from anybody for hours straight. And that was the highlight for WF. For me, it was the exhibitions.

Days before the meeting and after the meeting, there are functions for shareholders to attend. There was the cocktail reception at Borsheims (the jewellery store that sold Bill Gates the engagement ring for Melinda Gates), BBQ at Nebraska Furniture Mart (US largest single furniture store) and shareholders dinner at Gorat's (Buffet's favourite steak house).

Of course, being first time, we attended these functions (except the BBQ) and we met some interesting people too.

Here are some pictures we took. Too bad, we can't take photos with Buffet even though we had an autograph session with him as we're international shareholders. But I've got his autography on my credentials. Yeah!

Back to US Trip - Omaha

I promised to follow up on our US trip. But apparently I didn't. I had been taken up by the relocating to our new place and also activities that centred much around the kids that these US posts were parked aside. Nevertheless, since I had nothing much to write about, let just revisit this trip again.

We went over to Omaha after a few days stay in NYC. To attend the Berkshire Hathaway's Shareholders Meeting and also to get a chance to meet Warren Buffet in person. All international shareholders will get a chance to meet him up close and personal.

If you look at the map of US, Omaha is in the state of Nebraska (next to Iowa) and it is almost right smack in the middle of US. But being in the centre of US doesn't mean it is an advance city or a busy place. In fact, it is quite a boring place as compared to LA, NYC etc. However, the place is so huge that their main street, Dodge Street (and only a STREET) is like our TPE. You need a car to get from one place to another. Even their supermarket is huge. One of the pictures in the slide showed the extensive varieties of beans you can get there. I am so amazed that I had to take a picture.

We went there two days before the shareholders' meeting, rented a car and tasted the famous Nebraska beef. Generally the people are much much friendlier than in NYC. Only thing is, this place is so boring that shops close early and there weren't much tourist attractions. Even the locals admit that it is a boring place. Most of us believe this is the reason why Warren Buffet can concentrate on his work (= passion) because there aren't much distractions or entertainment around.

I've included pictures of what we did and visited during our 4 days' stay, excluding the shareholders' meeting. Mainly, we visited their local theme park, with the roller coaster rides and go-karting facilities, drive around the area and take a look at their prime residential area. Other than that, it is eat and eat, especially for WF.

Bicycle Bicycle Goes So Slow...

For a period of time last year, Ning loves to sing this song "bicycle bicycle goes so slow..." because the teachers in her school were teaching them. She'll do it with the cycling action while lying on her back. It quite funny because the lyrics itself is about the slowness of the bike.

And since we stay so close to East Coast Park, we've been going there rather often on Saturday mornings. Tired of just going to the beach and build some sandcastles, we went for cycling last Saturday.

We rented a kiddy bike for Ning. And needless to say, her bicycle "goes so slow" as compared to our bigger wheels.

It was fun, albeit tiring because we had to constantly U-turn back to catch up with her. Zhi was seated comfortably in the kiddy seat on one of the adult bikes. And from the pictures, looks like he enjoyed the ride too.

While taking a break at the lagoon and watching the water ski-ers, Ning had a go at taking pictures from the camera herself. I thought some of the pictures were pretty neat. Here are some samples:

I have to agree with Joshua and Shirley, the way kids take pictures are quite different from adults. They have a different perspective when capturing the shots. I wonder what goes on their minds when they're taking pictures.

NDP Full Dress Rehearsal

Last Saturday was the NDP full dress rehearsal. And WF booked a room at the top floor of UBS's office in One Raffles Quay so that we can watch the fireworks up close. The office has a restaurant and we get to enjoy our dinner while watching the beautiful skyline.

The kids enjoyed themselves pretty much. Because we had the entire room to ourselves, we don't have to worry about them running around and knocking over people and dishes.

The view was fantastic. We get a nice view of Raffles Place, Marina Bay area and Suntec. And this time, I can capture closer pictures of the fireworks since its almost at eye level (50th level). Here are some pictures to share.

Preview to NDP Airshow & Fireworks

We stay very near the Marina Bay Golf Course (the golf course you pass by when driving along ECP towards Suntec City) and we've going there almost weekly to watch people practise their skills at the driving range and have our dinner at the Canopy Cafe at the same time.

One month before the NDP, there are rehearsals at the Esplanade every Saturday (or so I heard). So we took the opportunity to have a preview of the airshow and fireworks at the cafe last Saturday.

Good thing I bought my camera along. Here are some pictures I took:

Ning is 3!

Yup, cheeky little turned three years old on Tuesday. And because we're also inviting friends and family members to our new place these past two weeks, she gets to have her birthday celebrated too. So this year, the lucky girl had 4 birthday celebrations. Three of which were held at home and one in school.

I've attached some pictures to view.

Ning's First Visit to the Dentist

Yesterday, Ning got her teeth cleaned at the dentist. I'm glad she's brave enough to let the dentist do the scrapings and polishing.

Initially when I told her about the dental visit, she was all so excited and looking forward to it. Telling everybody that she's going to get her teeth "shiny" again.

But on the day itself, Tuesday, when she walked into the clinic and saw those equipments, chairs and lights, she backed out. The dentist, assistant and me took 30 mins trying to convince her that it will be painless etc. But she kept insisting she 'don't like it'. When I asked her what she don't like, she pointed at the equipments. I supposed this is her first time seeing all these and that makes her scared. My fault for not telling her more about dentist and their equipments.

So eventually, she didn't get her teeth cleaned. But I made a second appointment the next day where I will get my teeth cleaned and she's going to sit in and observe. I wanted to give her an idea of what teeth cleaning is all about and how its not scary at all (ok, I admit, I like going to dentist). She promised she'll get her teeth cleaned after Mummy does.

This strategy worked. Because after my teeth was cleaned, she readily took the seat. But initially she was still reluctant to open her mouth when the dentist took the polishing equipment. I'm thankful the dentist is so patient and friendly with her. He let her touched the spinning tools with her fingers and prove to her its not painful at all. Eventually, she was convinced and opened her mouth.

All of us were so glad. And the dentist did a terrific job of cleaning away her brownish teeth stains (which was caused by food substances).

Of course, I took a picture of her first trip to the dentist. Here she is, showing off her pearly whites.