Quarantine

Caden is quarantine from the school.

School started yesterday, but Caden couldn’t go to school until next week.

The reason is that because we just came back from Bali, which started to have a few people who are down with the H1N1 flu.

Luckily, Popo and Kung Kung are coming tomorrow. Caden would be busy going out with them everyday, that he will have something to occupy his ‘holidays.’

I can’t wait for him to get back to school. I want him to get used to the drop-off system as soon as possible, so I can decide if I should move him to Nanyang Kindergarden next term or the term after.

Home Sweet Home

At the airport. Showing off his McDonald nuggets.

At Ulam Restaurant, buying some food to be brought back to Singapore

This Morning

With the pretty bride, Auntie Putri

With my cousin, cie cie Kasya

Breakfast at last...

The last time Caden eat his breakfast is a long time ago, when he was less than 1 year old.

But here in Conrad Bali, he ate a lot every morning. He actually looked forward to every morning buffet breakfast at the restaurant. Porridge, scrambled egg, a little bit of orange juice, miso soup, noodles, and of course not to forget, fresh milk.

I am just happy to see him eating his meal.

It's Party Time...

The party was glamour with a lot of attention to every little detail. The decoration, the cake, the MC Becky Tumewu (I always love her…she was the MC on my wedding as well), the food, the weather…everything was perfect.

Caden went down for about 10 minutes only, then I sent him up to sleep.

The party ended at 10pm with lots of great performances for the guests to see. The young couple and their friends continued to have their own party until….who knows what time…!!

Paul and I, the old couple, get back into our room right after the party ended to sleep!

Turtle Island

Yey…!! Daddy is here! He arrived last night at 9pm.

We decided to do more adventurous plan other than just swimming.

I asked the front desk what type of activities that we can do with a 2 year old kid, and one of them was ‘cruising’ to Turtle Island.

The boat was small, very noisy, very windy and we got wet a little bit here and there. We went out at 10am and we had the boat all by ourselves.

The boat ride was about 20 minutes one way with a stop for a few minutes in the middle of the ocean to see the underwater nature (this small boat is equipped with glass on the floor).

When we arrived, it was actually quite crowded. A lot of boats were docking next to the beach which the Turtle Island was located.

Once inside, Caden was stunned by the huge turtle which was told to be a 100 years old female. Then straight away I told Caden, “this is mommy-nya.”

Caden was brave enough to touch one of the big turtle on the back. He kept telling us that it was “Caden-nya.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t dare to carry the small one on his hands. I think it’s because the turtles were just keep moving their feet as if telling us to put them down.

There were actually more than just turtles. They have python, iguana, owl, etc. I carried the python and Paul were a little freak out. Hehe….

Caden tried a sip of fresh young coconut – he hates it! ^_^

We spent about half an hour there, just in time to go back home, showered and nap for Caden, while mommy was doing her make-up for tonight.

Expressions In Under One Minute

Monkey Forest

Ii Ani with the mommies and babies....

Looking at "Caden-nya" monkey eating the banana that we gave

Impossible to make Caden to look at the camera.

He was too busy looking at the monkeys and pointing at each of them telling us “that’s Caden – nya”, “that’s ii Ani – nya”, “that’s baby sasya-nya”, “that’s opa-nya” and many more.

I got confused after a while and he got confused too cos too many monkeys were there.

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He pointed at one that decided that it was 'Baby Sasya-nya' monkey, then he found one who were still carried by the mommy monkey (and smaller) and changed his mind to say that just now was 'Caden-nya', this one was 'Ii Ani-nya and Baby Sasya-nya.'

Bebek Bengil - Ubud

We were going to Bebek Bengil again. This is the 5 times Caden has been here so far. But up till now, never he touches the famous Bebek (duck) dish, not even once.

Ii Ani, who already been here in Bali for the past week, meet us last night at the hotel.

Caden, Ii Ayi and Suster took some pictures while mommy was queuing up.

Food was great as usual. But I starting to feel that it is not so much on the fried duck, but rather it was on the 2 [super yummy] chili that was given on the sides.

Next stop is Monkey Forest!

Waterbom Bali

We went to check out Waterbom Bali this morning. I was surprise to hear Caden told me that he wanted to take pictures with the mascot.

I thought it was a good sign to start the new adventure.

Once we were in, Caden was so excited to see the big yellow float. He insisted to ride on it.

So we tried the tall slides (the one that tailored for younger kids of course) twice. It was a far journey up the stairs; I think we have to climb up about 70 steps each time we want to slide down. And of course, half way Caden asked me to carry him.

Caden liked the first one and asked for a second one. We tried another slide which went down to a different part of the pool. Unfortunately, this one has a “night time” theme, so almost all the journey was inside the tube and really dark. I could felt Caden tensed up throughout the whole journey.

Then that’s it. He refused to go again even after I told him that we are going to the one that we did the first time.

The entrance fee was quite expensive. Cost us SGD$90 to get in and we only there for barely one hour.

Caden didn’t want to play at the play area, as it has a huge pile that could tip off anytime after it filled up (very similar like the one in the Singapore Zoo), which he scared off. And he didn’t want to play any of the slides.

So then I decided to go home and find other interesting activities for us today.

Traditional Instrument

Today is the first time Caden played the traditional instrument.

As usual Caden always stops and look at people who are playing anything that create sounds. So he was stopping at the side of this 2 men who were playing something like Xylophone made from bamboo.

One of the men that were closer to him just grab him and hold his hands and played the musical instrument together.

Caden was smiling all the time. One of his best experience in Bali, I guess.

Bali Safari

Wow I am surprise to know how clean and in-order Bali Safari is. Well, as you may have already known, Indonesia is NOT very well-known of its orderliness and cleanliness.

But this place is different. Even their toilets were very clean. I am surprised! But I heard this place only open not so long ago. The tricky part is, when you come again in a few years time, you should see if it is still up to the standard.

Anyway, the Safari has 2 sections; one is where we have to walk and explore around by foot and the other one is the part where you have to sit on a special mini-bus which takes us to to the part where we can see the animals run in the wild up close and personal. Of course I am sure the van was made in such away that it is very safe even at times when the animals go crazy.

Well, at least I hope so.

The part where we have to walk doesn’t have that much things for us to see, but the shows were pretty good. It was funny, engaging and in english!!!

[Caden was very scared at the part where some hunters were trying to (pretend) kill the elephants.]

The wild part of the safari was pretty good, too! I am again amazed on how creative they transform the place. The mini-van brought us to different parts of the world, such as Thailand, India, etc, and each has their own design and animals in it.

It was a worth while trip. We will definitely come back here in the future when we visit Bali again. I am just hopping that this place will get much better and nicer with more animals to see and touch, not the other way around.

Bali Here We Come....

At Changi
Proudly showing off our Mr. Bean soy milk

We’ve been travelling a lot this past 2 months. I am glad that Caden enjoys every bit of it. I always make sure that we go somewhere that interests him.

We are going to stay 4 nights in Bali. This is the second time we’re going to Bali this year. I know Caden will love it because I know he loves beaches.

We are here for my cousin wedding party, too. The party is on Saturday so the rest of the days are free for us to explore Bali one more time.

PS: Daddy is coming tomorrow night.

Friends

Caden and Erin

@almost 3 years old

Play and "Fight" a lot together

Look Mommy....

....my feet is gonee....!!!

Everyone Need Friends

The title says it all.

I do need friends, especially those who don’t judge me by the looks and those who have same interest [like trying to be a good wife and mother at the same time… fuih…that’s a difficult task you know!!!]

We share lots of tips and experiences that I always learn something new each time we meet. Although I never quite get the answer to one question for my friend, Leonny; “How can I take good pictures of Caden? One that is just right in brightness, contrast, etc…”

She tried to explain it as simple as possible, but I just never quite understand. I think I am a hopeless photographer!!

I always enjoyed my time with friends a lot. Meeting with those that have kids is even more enjoyable as Caden can enjoy, as much as mommy, to play (and “fight”) with their kids, too.

Back To Singapore

At Jakarta International Airport.

A very short trip to Jakarta. Always nice to see families and friends, although only for a little while.

Caden insisted that Sasya's come along with him. How I wish we can really do that... :(

Update on His Food Progress

So far, I should STILL say Caden main meal is milk [mainly formula and fresh milk, occasionally chocolate milk and soy milk].

But he makes quite a few progresses on other types of food. Now I know he likes chicken nuggets, fresh fries, mash potatoes, white rice porridge, certain types of noodles, chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg), Japanese udon, and eggs (soft boiled or scrambled).

The one that I still don’t understand is the way he eats his chicken nuggets and fresh fries. For chicken nuggets, he only eats the outer parts; it might be because they are crunchier than the inner part. And he eat French fries only the top and bottom part of each one.

Weird way of eating, but hei!! at least he eats…and furthermore, this kind of thing are not meant to be consumed a lot in quantity. So I am glad that every time we bring him to McDonald, he only eats only a little portion of his meal.

He also likes clear based soup very much. It doesn’t matter what is inside (for example, the strong smell salmon), he will still drink it, as long as he doesn’t have to eat the meat and veggies. Therefore, we make him different kind of soup with different kind of veggies and meat every day. Caden drink all the soup and we finish the rest.

I am happy to say that now, when the time is right and when he is in a good mood, he is willing to try new types of food/drink, although until now he hates most of them.

A Happy (and young) Grandma of Two...

Mommy wish that Mommy will look in shape like Oma when I am old!!

Caden: 2 Years 9 Months

Sasya: 10 Months

When Oma Spoilt ME!!!!

Oma was thinking of buying this in Singapore. Of course mommy said NO! Where will we put this huge car inside the apartment?

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So oma changed her plan and bought the car for the house in Jakarta.

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hehe...Caden loves it... Thank you, Oma!

Off We Go to Jakarta

At Changi -- trying to give his biggest smile ever

The "Little Big Club" Concert

We went out with Caden's friend, Amelie, who lives right below us. Both of them had a blast, although the show was not that good compared to the "Thomas and Friends" show that we watched a while back.

Mommy bought Caden a Bob the Builder plush toy that was almost half of his size. And auntie Adeline, Amelie's Mom, bought Caden a tambourine.

It was indeed a special day for Caden.

Holiday Program

I put him in Julia Gabriel’s 1 week holiday program just to make him busy this week.

It was ‘Mandarin Early Readers’ program.

Today was his last day; I was invited to see his progress of the week.

He was able to spot his name correctly, and when he found it in a split second, I waited for the teacher to say if that was right…because I had no idea of his Chinese character name writing.

It was a fabulous class with fabulous teachers and program.

They have lots of different approach to teach the children to read, all of them are very interesting and fun.

I will definitely will enroll Caden to their Mandarin Early Readers program next term.