A little adventure down east

A while ago, I chanced upon a message on Rachel's MSN indicating that she wanted to go kite-flying.

After much procrastination and faux talking from the husbands, the gals decided to plan on our own and told the men to just bring us to the place when the day comes.

And all it took was just 1 day of msn chatting, emails, sms-es and all was set to go! Gosh, and men always complained that we women always delay their time. Tsk tsk.

I must compliment the ladies for doing a great job in making the picnic possible. There were soba, sandwiches, hot dogs and when Jess offered to bring spirits, I didn't thought she would mean it literally!

We had a wide spread of food & snacks, sipping on ice cold bacardi under the skies. Enjoyed ourselves thoroughly chasing after the boys, trying to make our kite fly for at least 5 minutes before it crashes back on the ground.

We still failed to fly our kite and it was concluded or rather, we assumed that our kite is faulty. *denial*

So when is next time Mrs Tan?

The 2nd birthday

The thought of child birth used to give me the chills on which I swore that I will never go through such painful body experience.

730 days ago, I lay on the hospital bed with a drip on my hand, anxiously anticipating the birth of my son. I was going to be a mother. Somehow, the daunting bloody image on my head just disappeared.

2 years on, I still looked at Dylan and quizzed "Can you believe we're parents?!" The teeny weeny jelly bean that grew in my tummy has transformed into a talkative, inquisitive young boy.
Jayden loves to talk, sing & dance. Sometimes when we can't understand what he's talking about , the boy gets frustrated and he'll try his best to form short sequential sentences to get the message thru.

Nowadays, he repeats himself incessantly to make sure we fulfil our promises. I will always joke to Dylan that our boy is like a fly that we cannot buzz away. Heheheh...

I cannot help but reminisce on the times when he was just a cluesless infant, cheering on whenever our boy achieves a milestone. I have to admit. Our boy has grown. But I cannot stop wishing that time will go slow.


Our Dearest Jayden,

It is Fate that you become our son. We hope in years to come, you will remember the happy times Daddy and Mummy is trying our best to provide for you.

We don't know if you will grow to love or hate us. Daddy and Mummy will always love you, despite the many times you try to bully Daddy and Mummy has no choice but to be the disciplinarian.

The times when you fall sick, we end up having sleepless nights making sure you get well on track soon. We're certain that your body immunity strengthens each time and you will grow up happy and healthy.

Mummy is always cracking her head to make sure each birthdays spent is always memorable and enjoyable.

Looking forward to celebrating more years before you turn old enough to only want to celebrate with your friends.

Happy 2nd Birthday son.


We Love You Lots,

Daddy & Mummy

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** 17 Oct 2009 - Celebration at our abode **

Organising your son's birthday is alot harder than your own wedding. From the cake, to the food, toys, guests list - all has to be meticulously taken care of to make sure the son and his friends had an enjoyable time.

We're pretty sure Jayden enjoyed himself that evening as we could see that he has peeled himself out of his shy shell and mingled with everyone.

First, it was THE CAKE. Why I called it THE CAKE? It's because it cannot be just any other cake. The son has specifically requested for a Barney chocolate cake this year. We used to be able to overwrite his choices but these days, he dictates what he wants.

Of course when the son requested for one cake, the fervent parents decided to get all his favourite characters. There was a 2kg Barney & Friends cake, a Thomas the Train agar agar and Cookie Monster lolli cookies for his guests to bring home.

All thanks to Elsie's recommendation on this freelance baker, Jayden's wish was fulfilled! There was a slight boo-boo on the Barney cake as it didn't turned out what I've expected because I requested for a specific design. Fortunately, it turned out nice.

To ensure that the little guests were occupied, I converted Jayden's room into a play room. We even bought a big Thomas Train ball tent so that it can accomodate more kids in it.

It was rather amusing to watch Jayden's expression when he first woke up and ran into his room to find the surprises. He literally screamed TRAIN! MUMMY TRAIN!

We hoped the guests enjoyed their time in our tiny place. Sorry if we weren't a good host or the food tasted bad. (although we hoped it didn't taste horrible)

Thank you for taking your time to attend our son's birthday. On behalf of Jayden, we will like to thank you for all the toys and red packets. He is certainly one lucky and very delighted boy. His toys collections have manifested and have started to flood his room and the living room area. The only reason we will be moving house would be to find a bigger room to fit the toys in.

** A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL **

Jayden's 1st year

Jayden's 2nd year

And he is TWO

Happy Birthday our dearest son! You are TWO today.

Daddy & Mummy hoped you enjoyed your birthday celebration over the weekend. We're quite certain you had quite a smashing time because you had 2 slices of cake.

And what's next up for you today? Club Med Bintan!

Please behave in the next 5 days when we're there.

Birthday post will up when we're back.

Love,
Daddy & Mummy

Going to school

Jayden has attended the playgroup for the past 2 weeks. Initially, I was a little apprehensive if he would adapt well to the environment, given that he was always under the care of my in-laws or myself.

My worries were unfounded. Jayden would eagerly put on his school uniform and shoes and each time I asked "Do you like school?", my little boy will chirply replied "YES!". :D

The teachers left positive remarks on the boy's behaviour. Albeit there were times I would peek into the teeny tiny pinhole and find my son to be the only one running around whilst the rest of his classmates were quietly reading. -_- Dylan uses the excuse to call his son "OUTSTANDING".

But that doesn't matter. Our main objective to put Jayden in the playgroup is to socialise and interact. Expecting a 2 yr old toddler to sit through 1.5 hours without itching a butt is deemed to be too challenging. We will leave the 'focus area' when he is older.

In less than 3 days, our little terror is turning 2.

Ristorante Bologna

It could have been the misleading words - first, renowned, amazing spread, that tricked me into booking a slot with them.

Was really looking forward to authentic Italian food - pasta, vongole, ravioli truffle, aglio olio, pizzas & more. I even excused my already expanding waist for that day. Booked for the lunch buffet 2 weeks in advance and even excitedly reminded Dylan to block his calendar.

But the dining experience was such a let-down.

We arrived at the hotel lobby, hopeful and very hungry. It was a pleasant sight to see that the restaurant was almost packed at lunch hour. It was certainly delightful to see a wide range of food platter to choose from. It was not good news at all when we were told that our restaurant was actually oppsite across the isle.

It was then that we realized that our intended restaurant was empty.

The buffet spread was meagre - Baked vegetarian pasta, garden vegetables, fried garoupa (is it even Italian?), grilled chicken. The pasta of the day was overcooked. The penne was HARD.

The chef came out of the kitchen and greeted us. We could bearly raise our lips to smile. Dylan and I had to convince ourselves that perhaps it was cooked for Italians taste. Because the food didn't come close to any of the local Italian restaurants we've been before.

We munched on the butter bread bitterly - that was the only thing that could fill our stomach for a while.

We have tried all sorts of cuisines - Chinese, Malay, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indian fushion, Meditarrenean, Italian, American, what not. But seriously, nothing comes as close as bad as this.

We left the restaurant with a very unsatisfied stomach and wondered where did the dining award came from?