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.

Jinxed or what??!!

I have to admit, I am always so unlucky with electronics. Electronics goods that are of reliable and reputable brands can just spoil/get faulty for no apparent reason at my hands. My friends said I am just unlucky when it comes to buying such items.

Here are some examples:
- Fujitsu laptop. Failed to boot up the first day I bought it. When I sent it back for repair, tech guy told me the hard disk is corrupted. Hello, first day only, can't even use it, hard disk is already corrupted. What ever happened to Fujitsu QC??

- Palm Tungsten PDA. After a year of moderate usage, it went faulty. The battery, fully charged, will only turn on the PDA for less than 15mins and then showed that the battery is flat! And I don't even abuse it in any way. I just used it to record my appointments that's all!

- Mac Mini. The first day we bought it until now, it can never detect any portable hard disk. Thumbdrive yes, but not portable hard disk. When I called to check with Mac support, apparently, I've got one that has some faults in the drivers. That is why the system can't detect. And I thought Mac is supposed to be reliable, of good quality? Looks like I got one that didn't pass the QC again!

- Nokia phone. The digit "7" on the number pad wasn't working when I first got the phone. Demand to have a new set but Singtel cited "company policies" can't replace a new phone for me. But tell me to send to Nokia service centre for repair, FOC.

And the list goes even to trusted brand of watches. I think I better stick to trusty old Casio or some pasar malam brands.

And you know what, within days of us moving in to the new place:

- The Fujitsu laptop (which I had endured its erratic behaviour for 2 years) went crazy and I couldn't even open any applications without seeing a barrage of error message.

- Mac Mini went bogus and will shut down automatically by itself within 1 minute of boot up.

- The "7" on the Nokia phone pad is malfunctioning again. I had to pressed at least a few times and hard enough for it to detect. Warranty had expired so I will have to pay for repair works.

- My watch of trusted brand STOPPED. And did I tell you I refused to pay a single cent for the repairs when the servicing guys called me?

I decided it is time I need to retire the laptop. Enough of putting up its idiosyncracies. I went to get a new one on Tuesday. I told the young chap, get me one that is most reliable and won't break down after 2 years.

He replied," Buying electronics actually depends on luck too. Some people can use a Dell for 5 years and still good. Some people can use a branded and premium one and only lasts for 1 year." I had to agree with him. All the "unlucky" evidences where pointing at me.

So eventually, I bought a BenQ laptop that is really value for money, one of the cheapest models and good enough for me to work on. WF tells me I should get one that I won't regret later and it will be useful and up to date, not so much on saving that few dollars.

I tell him, this time I am buying on luck.

View from Pebble Bay

The grilles will be installed tomorrow, so I better post some pictures for us to enjoy.

We get to see the bay view from our balcony and masterbedroom. The other two bedrooms enjoy the sea view. It really windy here. It has come to a point that we don't switch on the air con at night now but just leave the windows open. Talk about saving electricity bills.

On weekends, we see a lot more activities along the Kallang Bay where a lot of canoeings and dragon boat practices get going. Quite a nice and peaceful sight.

Brewerkz and other restaurants around the Indoor Stadium is just a stone's throw away. You can always call WF to join you guys for a beer if you want!

So here's a peep at our living area with WF sitting on his new armchair.