discovering the joy of play outdoor with kids..

About 3 months ago, I wrote a post to encourage parents putting down their smart phone and spending more time with kids. So during this 3 months period, I did follow the 3 suggestions I gave to myself, and other parents about how to cut down time spent on phone.

Just in case you might be wondering, did I end up spending more time with my kids? Definitely! And how's the result??? I must say I am extremely satisfied so far, Renzo being the usual Renzo still have his little drama episodes at times but overall I think he's getting back on the right track! The result on Rynus is indeed even more obvious. He's getting more and more interactive, vocal and expressive. The worries about our late bloomer's "speech delay" (as compared to Renzo only) were all gone by now.

Especially during the past 3 weeks, we've sent our be loved helper back to her hometown for her son's primary school graduation. And she will only be back in another 2.5 weeks, right that's a total of 5.5 weeks holiday for her, hooray!!! So this, allows forces us to spend a lot more time with the boys outdoor. By the way, the whole Chan family is pretty homely kind except for little Rynus who seems to enjoy playing outdoor more. So in the past when we have our hardworking helper maintaining the house spick and span at all times, we didn't mind letting the kids lazying their entire Saturday and Sunday off on the couch. But now, we rather bring them out during the weekends, time flies faster, their energy get exhausted faster, and we can clean up the mess at home faster also, considering there won't be much mess since most of the time we are all out.

So during our 1st "maid-less" weekend, we made an impromptu trip to Malaysia Legoland and stayed 1 night at their Legoland resort hotel. Daddy Chan's last minute decision to visit "The Little Big Club" nearby was brilliant! Hearing the boys' loud cheers upon seeing their favorite Thomas Train made the trip all worthwhile, and being able to take a ride on it, is definitely a dream come true to them.

 

I had so much fun editing a simple video clip from that trip and seeing the boys sitting down side by side to watch it again and again, made me chuckle nonstop with them too. 

And nothing beats this marvelous piece of drawing from Renzo a few days after our trip, he did it purely based on his memory about the legoland hotel, water park, theme park, and even the traffic jam at the custom.

During our 2nd "maid-less" weekend, we brought the kids to Wild Wild Wet at Downtown East to enjoy some wet play time with their cousins. And also to Pasir Ris Park for the boys to practice some cycling skills and get rewarded with their ice creams on the beach.

 

And during our 3rd "maid-less" weekend, since the boys have had enough water play and sun tanning, we brought them on Rynus' favorite 518 bus ride to Renzo's favorite indoor playhouse - Cool de Sac and Suntec City. Although Renzo seems to have outgrown his interest in this playhouse, and Rynus seems to only enjoy the first half of his bus ride, they both slept peacefully on their journey home after a short few hours of play.

Outdoor play is a great way to encourage parents give their undivided attention to kids, no time for phones except for taking pictures and videos. We forged deep bonds with the boys by playing with them and there are just so much more laughter and pleasure in moving up and down the slides or dipping in the water (than reading a book at home of course). I got a strong sense of accomplishment while watching them build their muscles along with their imagination and confidence. I feel so proud hanging out with my children and playing like a kid myself. And we have so much more fun topics to share after lights off time at night in bed!

Overseas trip without Renzo? Not possible anymore..

The previous time Daddy and Mummy Chan went for an overseas trip alone, was in September 2012. It was an extremely short trip, 2D1N getaway in Bintan Lagoon Resort. We only went for an hour massage at a spa a few kilometers away from our hotel, and the rest of the time, we stayed in the hotel room or at the resort beach to pass time, although we didn't have too much time to "pass"..

Renzo's grandma voluntarily took care of Renzo for one Saturday night, and a whole Sunday till we returned home at about 6pm. Overall he was doing pretty well, but we couldn't afford to extend the trip any longer as my mother-in-law has to work during weekdays and we could not imagine if Renzo is able to cope well for even just one more day.

It's till my very recent trip to the States, I started to realize how difficult it is to go overseas without Renzo. Well I understand it's indeed a good opportunity to let him learn to be independent, but he's really at the age that he understands what's going on and is able to express his feelings (especially when he's upset). It's not fair to just make our own planning/decisions without factoring in his needs and preference. So the moment I returned from my business trip, I made the call to book a ticket for him, to fly to Bali together with us in April. One of our best friends is holding his wedding ceremony in Bali and we booked our tickets in last December with the initial plan to leave Renzo to his grandparents, since we know that it's impossible to get "drink, drank, drunk" with all our besties with this little boy around in a foreign land. But now,  I just have to admit that it's so heartbreaking to leave him behind the moment I think about how he behaved while I was away. So even though his one ticket costs the same as the tickets for us two, I rather just bring him along and let him enjoy some fun bonding time with us. 

So here we go, to Bali in April, TOGETHER!!

Renzo misses mummy, mummy misses them all

This is my 2nd business trip after having Renzo and again, I had to take a 18 hours flight from Singapore to San Francisco, including one hour layover in Korea, and stay 8000 miles away from my 3 darlings for one week, that's a torture, really..


For the past few days, I didn't have the courage to do a video call with Renzo, because my little sweetheart is extremely sensitive, emotional but, with a very logical brain. So I am worried that he will get super excited to see my face, on screen, but the moment he realizes I am not able to get back till a few more days later, and his logical mind kicks in, daddy will have to clear a whole lot of mess after the call then.

Of course I know how much Renzo misses me and I feel the connection between us is even stronger although we are far away, but I was still a little surprised when Daddy told me about their conversation, as I just couldn't imagine how much information is being processed through his little brain around the fact that "Mummy is away on business trip".

Monday night, before Renzo went to bed, Daddy kissed him and said "Daddy and Mummy love you Renzo!"
Renzo: "No Daddy, don't say Mummy, because Mummy is working!"
So Daddy had to tell him "Daddy loves you" instead, he then happily nodded his head and slept.

Wednesday morning, Renzo woke up early at 6:30am and asked Daddy: "Daddy, is Mummy coming home? I think, Mummy is coming home, cos I cannot see the sun!!"

Gosh why is my little boy this sweet to me?!! That makes me missing him, and in fact missing all 3 of them even more!!

Renzo's week with Mummy aboard

I admit that I have been more of a laid back Dad when it comes to administering Renzo's daily routine since forever. Apart from his daily showers and sleep time, I probably know less than Mummy or Renzo's auntie Jona. You would probably find me in front of the PC or on the bed most of the time, with the exception of Renzo's after-shower activities such as reading or maths time or even colouring/tracing.

But when Mummy Chan goes overseas, I see myself stepping into the role of full-attention parenting quite comfortably (much to my own surprise). My first encounter of such a situation was a little less than 2 years back in May 2011, when Mummy Chan was away for a business trip. Back then, Renzo was still little and didn't have much of a concept of what a "business trip" was, so we simple told him that Mummy went on holiday (he knows that from his Hi-5 DVD) and he seemed to take it pretty well... and to think that it was a 12 day trip. Kudos to the little one... haha

This time round, Mummy is away to USA again. Having spent the last week explaining to him what was going to happen, Renzo apparently was reluctant to be separated from his dearest Mummy and in fact replied, "Mummy, I want to go US too. Mummy you wait for Renzo to wear shoes, I also want to go (A)merica~"... The thought of him having that impression not just melts the heart, but kinda leaves that sour feeling when you know the kid wants so much to be with Mummy yet we know he can't be. Alas, such is life, not everything turns out the way you want it to be. Thankfully Rynus hasn't come of age to even know what is going on...

On the morning that Mummy was US-bound, we sneaked out of the house early in the morning while Renzo was still in bed to avoid having to deal with a cranky 3-year-old who would refuse to let Mummy leave without bringing him too. We made it to the airport smoothly thanks to the empty 7a.m roads and had a simple breakfast there. With a kiss, Mummy went through the gates and I set off on my way back home to take on the role as Dummy (my quite appropriately self-coin term for a Daddy+Mummy hybrid... without the motherly instinct).


Just when I was at the front door... I heard the unmistakable "Noooo... Noooooo... NOOOO"...wailing of Renzo... I knew he was awake and knew that Mummy had left him behind in Singapore and pacifying him wouldn't be easy. It was an pretty one-sided conversation from the start, with every action/word of mind drawing a tantrum kicking response. So I decided to let him wail till he got tired, only then did I crawl slowly into the bed and, with an iPad in hand, so him this very blog of himself. I trolled through the blog to find the entry describing Mummy's previous trip and what had happened and praised him for being a good boy back then and that we are sure he would be this time round. The pictures of Mummy and her voice from the videos finally brought a smile to Renzo. He then calmed down and took a moment to go through a few other videos before going back to his usual Angry Birds and Plants vs Zombies.

He skipped breakfast totally and refused food till I told him I'd bring him to eat some Andersen's Ice Cream, only then was he ready to end his iPad regime and head out with me. Knowing that he was tired from the morning's tantrums, I brought him to Suntec City by bus and sure enough, Renzo slept through almost the entire journey and woke up just a couple of bus-stops before our destination.

The renovation works forced us to take a detour around the building and we entered via a side entrance and just down the escalator was a Burger King. Followers of Renzo's would know that Renzo ain't a stranger to fast food joints and was more than happy to settle for a mini-sundae at BK as opposed to walking to Marina Square for Andersen's. Travelled halfway across Singapore just to have lunch at a fast food joint. Well, at least I haven't had a BK burger in months. =/

After touring around Suntec City and Marina Square (where Renzo thoughtfully (albeit a little randomly too) picked out a pink headset for Mummy, insisting that it would look good on Mummy) we headed home by MRT as Renzo requested and we reached home a happy boy. So satisfied in fact, that the rest of the evening was easy for us too. He showered early, had his dinner without fussing, completed a couple of Maths questions (ooo... he is into the hundreds+hundreds now...) and went to bed himself.

As I write this post, Renzo and Rynus are happily tucked in their beds beside my computer table and I can hear both of them snoring away in sweet rhythmic melody (at least to my ears)... Now I just need to repeat and maintain these incredible feats of awesomeness until 4th Feb and I'll be able to handover the superhero cape back to Mummy...

Round the world with Renzo?

A few days ago, Renzo shared with me that his classmate Kaleen went to Disneyland in Japan, well that's how interesting topics among toddlers get nowadays in school. It's not just about Hello Kitty or Mickey Mouse anymore, they do share their travel experience and you will be surprised to find out, almost every one of them go for overseas holiday with their parents very frequently. I always believe overseas travel is an eye opener that allows children to experience different ways of life. And the great thing is they won't even realize just how much their little brains are soaking up, all without a book or classroom in sight!

Renzo went to Australia with us in 2008, when he was barely a 3 months old fetus inside my tummy. And at the time we brought him along to Phuket for his 1st year birthday celebration, he couldn't even walk on his own. Last August, he enjoyed a 2 weeks holiday with us in China, it was definitely a tough trip for us as he was trying to cope with a new life without his auntie AyeAye. He gave us all kinds of unreasonable requests from eating up a big icecream cone on his own (that's when he had his first taste of icecream), to opening windows in the plane (yes he meant literally opening the flight window, not just lifting up the blind). For the past one year, we have not been traveling around due to the arrival of our Baby Rynus, but we have been trying our best to arrange for Staycations at local hotel. And it seems that Renzo loves hotel stay even though it's not an overseas travel.

How do we know that?
He remembers which floor we were staying at during our last staycation, and when he commented that my office is NICE, he added, "But, my hotel is NICER, Ritz Carlton Hotel Mummy!!"

Daddy Chan and I decided immediately to keep our Marriott Vacation Club membership, which allows us to stay at more than 2000 hotels under Marriott worldwide (including Renzo's favorite Ritz Carlton of course), after hearing this comment from Renzo. Although we were pondering about selling it off initially since we do not have much time to travel with small kids.

So up next, where should we bring little Renzo to, for a better family bonding experience??

- The States? Most likely I am going there again for business trip next year so the family could tag along, but the 20 hours travel time is still my biggest concern..
- Bali? Our best friend is holding his wedding dinner there next April, but how to "drink, drank & drunk" with little Renzo around??
- Abu Dhabi? Renzo knows that daddy's brother and sister-in-law are there, we could have visited them together with my in laws earlier this year, if I wasn't pregnant with Rynus..
- Phuket, again? The villa under Marriott property is a great place for relaxation, I won't be surprised if Renzo could still remember that place..
- Australia? I have 3 cousins there so for sure we could get some "babysitting service" while enjoying our couple time, but wait, aren't we talking about family trip here? LOL...
- Taiwan? A place Daddy Chan and I both love a lot and maybe Renzo will appreciate the food there??
- HongKong? Well every time we plan to go to HongKong, I get pregnant.. so.. OUT!!


I realized that when mapping out an overseas trip with young kids, nearby countries are always favorable due to convenient location and comfortable weather.

And maybe, I should plan a trip to Universal Studios with a night stay at one of the RWS hotels, since not just Renzo, even Daddy and Mummy have not visited USS so far, LOL...

Ritz-Carlton Staycation! - Day 3 (and 4)

Continued from Day 2 Staycation@Ritz-Carlton~

Woke up to another great morning, greeted by the warm scenery of Singapore's morning. We spent most of the time lazing around in the morning and had a simple breakfast (unlike the day before where we had a splendid buffet breakfast...haha)

One of the things that we haven't do since coming to Ritz was to visit the swimming pool, so we prepared the stuffs. Mummy Chan recently chanced upon a "Blow Up Thomas & Friends Hammer" while on one of our little shopping trips and immediately we thought would be fun for Renzo to wield while in a pool. So we brought it along during this staycation and even brought along the separately purchased foot pump that we bought from Kiddy Palace. Renzo unhesitatingly began working on the pumping and before long, was holding on to his prized possession in his chubby hands.

Half expecting the pool to be empty at this time of the day, the pool was surprisingly populated, though not to the extend of having to jostle for elbow room, but one couldn't complete a lap swim without having to stop somewhere in between and wait for those who swam the width of the pool. Not too much an issue for me as I was the primarily to soak myself and to see what mischief Renzo was up to with a hammer in hand. So into the waters I went, with Renzo test-dipping his toes into the water for temperature checks, while mummy comfortably nestled herself into one of the sundeck chairs and keeping herself dry.

After Renzo got used to the water, he immediately started splashing and rolling around the pool's edge and when I throw the hammer at him, hell broke loose. Renzo became a miniaturized Thor and began his crazy hammering. Everything in sight (except passersby, fortunately) was given a series of hammering. From a leaf, to the markings on the edge of the pool, to Daddy Chan, you name it, he smacks it. He even attempted to throw the hammer at me from a distance but fell short (you need more training kid.)

When we got tired, we retired back to the room and slacked the day away. Dinner time came and we couldn't resist the temptation of going back to the Greenhouse@Ritz Carlton again for the wonderful buffet spread. And so we did. And as expected, the decision didn't fail us. A wonderful dinner made the evening just that much more wonderful. So we ended the day knowing that tomorrow we will be checking out. So we did our final checks and headed to bed early because Renzo still has school tomorrow~

The last day of our staycation was planned as such that we would wake up early, take a cab back home to pick up Renzo's school bag, his beddings for school and to unload some of the laundry and stuff. After we deposited Renzo at the school, we then proceeded to slowly make our way back to the hotel to check out. But not before we enjoy a morning Starbucks time. While the rest of the population were hustling and bustling to get to work, we walked anti-directionally to a Starbucks outlet at Marina Square, picked out a couple of magazines off their racks and basically chilled the rest of the morning away sipping coffee and having mindless chit-chats.

All is well and we would most definitely be heading to Ritz Carlton again for another lovely staycation in the near future~!

Ritz-Carlton Staycation! - Day 2

Continued from Day 1 Staycation@Ritz-Carlton~

Waking up to the lovely view of the heart of the city, we decided to indulge ourselves in the buffet breakfast, undeterred by the steep price because we wanted to treat ourselves as 'tourists', considering this is a staycation after all and being 'tourists' it wasn't uncommon to splurge a bit on things that you don't normally do.

The breakfast buffet at Greenhouse@Ritz Carlton certainly didn't disappoint. In its usual fashion, they didn't overwhelm us with a ginormous variety (which is passable for buffet standards), but instead, amazed us with the quality of the food. Delicately made and fit for a king, it ranged from croissants and pastries to bread and Edam cheese to porridge and siew mai. And the best part is that we can slowly enjoy our breakfast, and when Renzo started to get a little cranky or needed to poo, either one of us could just zip back to the hotel room within minutes and comfortable settle the little one and get back before the food even turned cold.

This breakfast probably lasted us for hours before we decided that we should move on and turn our attention elsewhere. Back to the hotel room we went and Renzo continued with his multiple 'water play' sessions in his favourite bathtub until mid afternoon when we had enough of swapping in and out of the tub with that little guy. He soaked himself inside long enough to have his skin wrinkled and he looked at Mummy Chan sadly and asked,"Mummy~ Why is my hands like this? =( "

One great thing about Ritz was that they provided complimentary colouring materials and toy puzzles for kids and even have stroller for loan, free of charge. So we requested for one which was duly sent to our room just in time for us to bring Renzo out.

The walkway out of the side wing of Ritz led us directly into Marina Square shopping centre where we took a leisurely stroll around and before long, Renzo fell asleep comfortably in the stroller like we expected. Waking up early coupled with the fact that he has a long playful time in the bathtub and skipping his usual afternoon nap could only end up with a tired body...haha... We ended up at KFC where we settled dinner with the new Double Down meal (did i mention that it is the best thing that happened to KFC since the Zinger Burger?) and stopped by a little convenience store stocked with all things Korean. So we bought some tidbits and a copy of Puss in Boots Movie for some family movie fun at night... ^_^



Renzo enjoyed that evening, i think... and we all drifted off into lalaland and into Day 3 of our staycation~

Ritz-Carlton Staycation! - Day 1

Ever since we held our wedding at Ritz-Carlton, we have been mesmerized by the wonderful hotel. So years later when we came to know of the Marriott Vacation Club membership and that Ritz-Carlton was a subsidiary of Marriott, we signed up and haven't looked back since (or at least I haven't... haha)

So now that we had points to spend and weren't really looking for an overseas vacation, we decided to settle for a staycation at Ritz-Carlton Singapore instead. So after Mummy Chan's hardwork, we managed to book a room and will be checking in on a Friday and checking out on a Monday afternoon.

So the day came for us to enjoy our family trip to Ritz. Mummy took a ½ day leave and went over to Ritz first to check us in. So while I was busy slogging away at work, Mummy Chan happily rested herself in the comforts of Ritz's first class service and recharged herself enough to make her way to Universal Studio Singapore @ Sentosa to get evening tickets for us to catch the fireworks show. When the time came for me to leave office, I rushed back home to get Renzo changed and this little poopersaurus had to pick that very moment to exercise his little bowels. So Mummy Chan wandered around Sentosa for a little longer than planned but eventually we meet up just in time for a simple dinner and a little trip to the candy store before the show.

For most people, USS meant gravity defying carnival rides and cam-whoring with life-sized cartoon characters with disproportionated head-to-torso ratios. But for us, we prefer the evening serenity and cool breeze and a simple walk down elaborately decorated streets where everything (store fronts, statues, and retro American muscle cars parked just about everywhere...) just seems to be shouting out for your attention. Fireworks being fireworks was a joy to watch and it being Renzo's first, he wasn't too accustomed to pyrotechnics being something that Daddy and Mummy Chan would approve of, constantly reminding us,"Fire is dangerous, so must be careful" and "Fire hot hot! Renzo don't like fire". A few fireworks did catch his attention, mostly those that shot into the sky and exploded into what seems like little golden snow flakes that gently glitters as it made its way back onto earth.

Did manage to take a few pics with my phone camera, but nothing that does justice to the fireworks display. In fact, one of the picture may be convincing enough for one to think that USS got hit by a terrorist attack.

After the show, we made a quick exit before the rest of the stampede came upon us and we quickly hopped onto a cab and back to Ritz for a good rest so that we are full rested.

Stumbling back into our room, we were pleasantly surprised by the scenic night time view from our room. The kind of urban skyline decorated by streetlights meandering the tarred river into as far as the eye can see. Peaceful and serene.

And all this time while we were absorbed by the view, Renzo made his way into the bathroom and attempted to climb into the tub, eager to start the first of fifteen bathtub soaking sessions (about 4-6 a day i think... -__-'). After which we settled down and all went to bed, where a funny little comment from Renzo had us laughing and smiling to ourselves the entire night. As we dimmed the lights and lower the window blinds, Renzo looked around this comfortable but unfamiliar environment and whispered to us so softly that we couldn't catch what he was saying.


"Mummy~," he'd say... "where is the ..."
"What did you say Renzo?"
"Mummmmy~ where's the ...."
"Renzo, louder~!"
"MUMMY~ WHERE IS THE KITCHEN?"

Hahaha... The written version of this episode simply does not inject the humour that made us literally laugh out loud. Apparently through Renzo's little eyes, every proper "house" has to have a kitchen... preferably stocked up with his favourite bananas, soya bean milk and yogurt.

So we all laughed ourselves to sleep that night and was more than ready for Day 2 of our Staycation!

"Maid-less" life has made Renzo a stronger boy

On Saturday, August 20th, we sent AyeAye to Changi Airport Terminal 2, she took a Silkair flight at 7:55am to Myanmar with her slightly over-weighted luggage. We then headed to Terminal 3 to board our SQ flight to Shanghai at 8:05am. That ends Ayeaye's 1 year and 10 months employment with us.

I had imagined in the past that upon Ayeaye's departure, we would have thrown in a delicious meal, a beautiful farewell cake, thoughtful gifts and warmest hugs and kisses at the airport. All these didn't happen somehow, but she did ring me from the plane right before taking off, and I let Renzo talk to her for a little while. Our little boy followed my instructions and said 3 things over the phone:
"Hello Auntie Ayeaye"
"I love you Auntie Ayeaye"
"Bye bye Auntie Ayeaye"

It's a long story about why she chose to go back to her hometown, in a nutshell, she decided not to work as domestic helper anymore and we decided not to hire anyone till our new condo is ready and we move out from my in-laws' place as they are not used to a life with maid.

So officially, we are "maid-less" now!

I remember mentioning how important Ayeaye is to us in one of my posts before, there is definitely a significant impact to our daily life. Win has to help out with housework again (just like the period when I was preggy), floor mopping and laundry are things he does everyday. I still need to cook during weekends, and take care of other household chores. Even my father-in-law started to iron Renzo's school uniform and my mother-in-law's responsibilities is probably the heaviest, to pick Renzo from school and cook for the family during weekdays. And the worst part is, we won't be able to spend our time freely and easily with Renzo like before... unless we could get the housework settled in the blink of an eye.

But I can see everyone starts to get a hang of our new lives in a few days. Even Renzo seems to grow up overnight. He was acting like a super glue throughout our trip in China and insisted to cling to me only, and at night, sometimes he even had nightmares and woke up crying for his auntie Ayeaye. But when we returned to Singapore and started sending him back to school on Monday, he immediately got back to his usual routine without making any fuss.

Win has been sending him to school these mornings and I've heard from him about how well behaved Renzo is, that makes us feel really proud of our little boy. Deep in his heart, I am very sure he sensed that things have changed. On a few occasions, while he was playing his toys on the floor or eating and stoning in his high chair, out of sudden, he mumbled, "Auntie Ayeaye go home, no more", "Renzo is a big boy already!".

Now he is able to eat well, play well and sleep well without the presence of Ayeaye, although I am not sure if he has fully accepted the fact that his Auntie Ayeaye will never come back again, but sending Ayeaye back and bringing Renzo for a 2 weeks holiday at the same time, is definitely a wise choice. He has definitely picked up a lot new stuff during his trip, see how a 2 years old play with his seat belt in the plane!!

Mummy Chan is away for business trip

For the first time in the past 21 months, I have to leave Renzo to Win for a couple of days, indeed 12 days 11 nights to be exact, for my business trip to the States. Luckily Win has just quit his job and will be staying at home till I am back from my trip, at least Renzo is in the good hands of his lovely daddy, my lovely husband..

Monday, May 16, 11:07PM
Home
Renzo and Win are sleeping in the bedroom and I am sitting in front of the dinning table in the kitchen, finishing up my last minute packing and preparing to set off in another 4 hours. Our little boy knows about my trip, I am pretty sure about it. I've been telling him that mummy will be going for holiday and back in 12 days, since he understands "holiday" from his "HI-FIVE" DVD. The last time I went for business trip and left Win alone for around 10 days, was before we had Renzo, about 3 years ago when I went to Mexico. I am going to miss the two like crazy!

My next update, will be either at Singapore or Hongkong airport, when I have internet access. Or else, it's going to be May 18 around 5am when I reach the hotel at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Tuesday, May 17, 5:13AM
Changi Airport Terminal 3
Yes I am at the airport and waiting for boarding around 5:20AM. I am using the free internet access here, woot nice service!!
Took a cab here with Win around 4AM, kissed Renzo before I left home while he's sleep soundly.
I have to rush to Gate B5 now and I love you Win and baby Renzo!!

Tuesday, May 17, 12:19PM
Hongkong International Airport
I reached HK at about 9:50AM, did some quick shopping to get a few more souvenirs for my US colleagues, and happily queued up at the boarding gate at 11:00AM. But after a long wait of 30 minutes, we were told that the flight got delayed due to technical issue. What a day!!

I chose United Airline over Singapore Airline so to save some traveling time as there's no direct flight to Chicago from Singapore by SQ. But ended up, I will reach my destination at least 6 hours later than planned. I am sitting at departure hall in HK airport, with no phone service (not sure why the starhub network is not working on both my office and personal phones), and a laptop with only 58% of remaining battery which is not going to last me for too long. Btw let's give our Changi airport and Singapore Airline service TWO THUMBS UP!!!

And no visit to COACH Oshkosh factory outlet for me today, as I will reach around 10pm instead of 4pm local time, so my friends who requested for COACH bags, please do not blame me as I might only have time to shop when I reach Santa Clara next week.

Renzo baby must be having his lunch now, hope he will have a sound sleep during his nap time later.

Tuesday, May 17, 7:20PM Chicago Time
(Wednesday, May 18, 8:20AM Singapore Time)
Chicago Airport Terminal 2
The moment I heard Renzo's voice, i burst into tears..

After a tiring 14 hours long flight, and almost 1 hour of wait at immigration checkpoint, another 40 minutes to get my luggage checked in for the next flight from Chicago to Appleton, finally, I'm all set. But here I do not have free wifi access, instead I have to pay 6.95 USD for 24 hours, but who cares, I just need to talk to someone since my phones are not working. And I have to thank the person who invented credit card, I managed to ring home with my beloved credit card for a few minutes. That was when I heard the little boy's voice..

Probably the only thing I like about this trip so far, is my "Bailey's Irish Cream on the Rocks" I ordered on the flight here. But to think about my previous trip to US via SQ, I bet I will never want to travel by any other airlines for my future business trips. And we Singaporeans should be really really proud of our Changi airport, it's definitely the world best airport, seriously!!

Heard our poor boy had a fall at the playground, and he cried this morning when Win sent him to school, he even woke up at 6AM these 2 mornings to ask for "mummy hug hug", oh dear, i just miss him so much!!

Tuesday, May 17, 10:40PM
(Wednesday, May 18, 11:40AM Singapore Time)
La Quinta Inn, Oshkosh, WI
Finally, I checked myself into the hotel room, sitting in front of my laptop and talking to Win via skype video call. The flight from Chicago to Appleton was quite pleasant, I slept through for that 50 minutes. And my colleague Chris picked me up at the super small airport and drove me to the Hotel. So that's it, I have to get ready for tomorrow's meeting, but now, I just want to wait for my lovely boy to be back from school, kiss him good night before i go to bed...

Wednesday, May 18, 9:40PM
(Thursday, May 19, 10:40AM Singapore Time)
La Quinta Inn, Oshkosh, WI
I took a cab earlier on and went to purchase 8 purses + 1 scarf from Coach Factory Outlet, and 6 pieces of clothes for little Renzo at Oshkosh B'gosh outlet. I saw Nine west and some other branded stores there but don't have time to visit those. I feel super exhausted now and decided to sleep right away and talk to my little boy in another 10 hours time, right after his shower.. Can't wait to bring him to swimming pool when I am back, as I promised.. and, he still remembers that, he kept going "Mummy bring me to swimming pool!" at home.. such a sweetie =)

Thursday, May 19, 9:00PM
(Friday, May 20, 10:00AM Singapore Time)
La Quinta Inn, Oshkosh, WI
I went to buy a new luggage earlier on as my luggage handle was broken when they sent it from Chicago to Appleton, well I probably will still get a new one even if it's still in one piece, just because I did too much shopping the night before and i can't squeeze everything into the old one anyway. Then I joined the team here for bowling but just for a short while, and now I am back at the hotel patiently waiting for Win and Renzo to get online.

Friday, May 20, 10:00PM
(Saturday, May 21, 10:00AM Singapore Time)
Avatar Hotel, Santa Clara, CA
I took one hour flight from Appleton to Minneapolis and spent another 4 hours to reach San Jose airport, then I grabbed a taxi and it cost me 25 bucks to reach my hotel about 5 miles away from the airport. And from my hotel room, I could see my office building just across the road. I bought this "packers" football at Appleton airport for our little Renzo, he was pretty excited when he saw that through webcam, but his favorite toy for now is still daddy's ipad2. I am going to bed now as my boss is picking me up tomorrow morning for lunch and shopping, it's so great that I am having a break finally during the weekend.

Saturday, May 21, 11:30PM
(Sunday, May 21, 2:30PM Singapore Time)
Avatar Hotel, Santa Clara, CA
I went for a whole day of shopping with my boss but I did not manage to get anything for Win and Renzo. But I guess this little boy is only interested in Ipad2 now so I will just pack my loots and go to bed now =)

Wednesday, May 25, 11:30AM
(Thursday, May 26, 2:30AM Singapore Time)
Yahoo Great America office, Santa Clara, CA
Here are my achievements for the past few days:
- Went out on Sunday alone, took public transportation back to the Great Mall and shopped for 6 hours non-stop, loads of loots of course
- Visited both GA and Sunnyvale HQ offices, my favorite, is the salad bar at cafeteria, I can get very cheap but good quality food there. Both offices are breathtakingly beautiful!
- Went to spa with 2 colleagues here, and spent 165USD on a 80 minutes facial. That's the ultimate stopper for me to get another piece of adorable dress at a boutique store, as I've been overspent like crazy during my trip
- Went back to the Great Mall for the 3rd time to help some friends to grab COACH stuff, but this time round, my best purchase is a box of LEGO blocks (310 pieces) for Renzo for about 20+ USD

Friday, May 27, 11:30AM
(Saturday, May 28, 2:30AM Singapore Time)
San Francisco Airport
Finally, I am all set to fly back to Singapore. I took my boss' advice and booked a shuttle service to San Francisco airport this morning. It's a wiser choice than my initial "public transportation plan" of taking Light Rail, then Caltrain and then BART train, because my 20kg of luggage is quite a challenge indeed. Besides minor hiccups during check in, everything went smoothly and I spent my last 100 USD in the airport getting souvenirs for my team. While waiting for boarding, a Singapore Airline aircraft just landed at the airport, and I finally realized how much I miss Singapore, HOME SWEET HOME!!

Baby Chan's first overseas trip

First post from Mummy Chan.. haha..

2 weeks before we got to know the big news, we just paid for a deposit of our family trip to Australia in early Feb. That became the biggest worry to me as I knew that it is not advisable for pregnant lady to travel during first trimester. And if I was to call off the trip because of that, my parents will be really disappointed as this is the first time we are going for a holiday together as a family. After a 2 hours discussion, we decided to leave the final decision to the expert - Dr Lim.

During my checkup prior to the trip, Dr Lim advised me that I was having this oversized "yolk sac" (don't ask me what is that exactly, after much reading on the net, I was still confused about the cause and implication of it).. All I heard from Dr Lim was that a normal yolk sac should be 5mm and mine was already 7mm, which might cause early miscarriage. What a shocking news? How about our Australia trip then?? Fortunately, Dr Lim is a super calm and open-minded gynae, he asked me to go ahead and enjoy my holiday. And, as long as I am not going for the roller coaster in Gold Coast, I should be perfectly fine... (Gosh, who cares about the roller coaster, I will never try that even if I am not pregnant)...

Just as what he predicted, I had plenty of fun with my beloved Winson and parents, of course not forgetting the presence of our baby Chan.. haha.. It was quite a short trip but we had a total of 15 hours flight (including a domestic flight from Sydney to Melbourne). Luckily our little fetus did not let me suffer from any morning sickness at all, I could still eat and sleep well on the flight.. And we covered quite a long distance by foot daily (my parents simply enjoy walking..). Somehow I think not just me, but maybe the rest 3 have also forgotten that I was almost 3 months preggy at that time, haha.. I only had a bit of cramps like normal menstrual cramp at night, that was quickly eased off with our relaxing and interesting itinerary.. Win is a true great partner, he was taking care of every tiny miny details while I just enjoy.. comfy hotel room, nice scenery with good food and friendly people around.. all great memories that we can share with our baby in the years to come..

One week after our trip, we headed down to Dr Lim's clinic on Valentine's day. Dr Lim said my yolk sac disappeared and baby is doing all good (I am sure he had forgotten all about the yolk sac thingy until I asked him). Till now I still keep thinking back, how amazing it is that we brought baby Chan along for his first overseas trip, when he was just about 12 weeks old growing happily inside me!!!!