Little Japan

If i may, this would be my description of Dusseldorf! haha.

everytime we need a japanese "fix" (read authentic japanese meals, japanese snacks etc), we will head to Dusseldorf.

and that's what we did on Saturday (again!).

I am so grateful for Dusseldorf. It's a little oasis to me when i am tired of the "european-ness" (surely i made up this word!) of life here.... ;)


(above) my lunch :))))

it was indeed a japan day yesterday. japanese lunch and dinner, plus japanese snacks and supper!!! At a price of course ;(

dreaming of the day when we can go to Japan again for a holiday.

Kaira's Second Year Journey

Kaira's going to be 2 in a couple of weeks' time.

taking this time to remember the year that has past. so much happened and she has growned so much!! thank God for a great 2nd year. so so so much more fun than the first! ;)

Fall Fashion

As modelled by little Kaira!!

Colors of Autumn

p/s Ah Gong and Ah Ma -- the jacket you gave kaira last year, she can finally wear it this year!!

What's Up with Kaira?

hmmm, lazy mummy here hasn't been updating on her monthly progress the last 2 months ;p too much happening .... so much so that i cannot remember all that i wanted to blog down!!

tsk tsk. lazy bum.

so much has happened the last 1+/2 months.... using the potty for her pee and poop @ home, converting her baby cot into a toddler bed, switching from milk bottle to cup for her milk feeds...are the major milestones.

speech wise, she's been so expressive and holding such "meaningful" conversations with us that i cannot help but be amazed by this 小大人! she has learnt to "bargain" with us sometimes and can be so stubborn, i wonder who she inherited that from??? ;p
like when i ask her to do A, she will sometimes tell me she wants to do B for one last time before she will do A... if i say no, she will whine and cry and keep repeating her request till she gets it!!

tho she can't hold a tune very well yet, she likes to "sing". sometimes when we are out and about, she will suddenly sing out loud and look meaningfully @ the uncles and aunties around her. i think she's expecting them to praise her!!! hahaha. funnie sight. and obviously, the strangers are oblivious to what she's "singing".

she has suddenly developed a "fear" of cartoons. she actually asked me to swtich off the TV for her on several ocassions. and most days, she doesn't want to watch cartoons any more unless she's accompanied by my or hubbie. think it all started cos there was a "witch" on Dora and she was afraid of the "witch". then she started to be fearful of most of the cartoon characters including thomas the train.

been trying to explain to her that there's nothing to be fearful about, guess she will need some time to overcome whatever she's afraid of.

she has grown taller. from the "agar-agar" measurement we take @ home, think she's ard 88-89 cm now.

socially, she's still shy @ times. but she's very sharing and would gladly share her toys with others, especially to the younger ones. she has yet (should i hope that she doesn't ?? ;p) to reach the stage where she monopolises toys or snatches toys from others. but she's abit more "assertive" these days. in the past, when she's playing with something and another toddler comes and tries to snatch it from her, she will let go of the toy. these days, she holds on so tightly to the toy that the other party can't take it away from her and she will "run away" from the other party ;p

she's into art and craft these days. love to use the glue and paste things. coloring -- well, let's just say she can focus for a few minutes on coloring. after which, mummy here has to do the coloring for her. she;s likes to draw and is very imaginative -- a few strokes and it can be an aeroplane, crocodile, whatever !! hehehe.

so there, what a busy little toddler we have. so many things happening @ the same time for her!

Rich Poor Divide

港貧富差距全球最懸殊


Although the headlines refers to hong kong, if you read the article, there is mention of Singapore and it is apparently ranked #2 just after hong kong!

is that a surprise?

is this something that is unavoidable as our economy develops? can something be done to address this? will the government recognise this as a "problem" and address it?

will be disappointing if the government tries to "explain" this away (again!)......

I hope they do something to improve it!

Drop in public transport share in Singapore: survey

saw this news today.

wonder if there will be any improvement to the sg public transport. those who know me know that the public transport system in singapore is my pet peeve.

if something good comes out of this .... that will be a wonderful thing.

If it doesn't, then we know that some people are definitely sitting in their ivory tower.

my personal philosophy is this. if the public transport network is so good, why would i want to own a car? my 4 years in hong kong, i saw no need for us to own a car.

cannot say the same for our time in singapore! whether in the past when we were living there or in recent years, when we spend at most a couple of months back home each year.

i hope something good comes out this.

Does one really need to be PC all the time??

????????????

Cannot believe we met a family of pigs today!!

what a weekend. first my handbag was stolen @ the city centre on saturday.

and today, we went to our neighbourhood winkelcentrum and met a family of pigs! *grrrr*

we were circling round the carpark looking for a carpark and cos this is the sunday of the month when the shops are open, there's obviously a crowd and parking lots are limited. many cars were circling round, looking for lots.

after sometime, we spotted a car preparing to come out of their lot and hubbie stopped near the lot and put on his signal lights. and we waited.

as the car came out and we were about to move in, guess what? a car driving in the opposite direction just swerved and parked in the lot! I am like ... *&%$#@@ u cannot see that we are waiting??

k, so hubbie gets off the car and told the driver of the car that we have been waiting for the lot.

the guy simply ignored hubbie and mumbled something like we have been waiting as well (yeah rite ... u were looking for a lot for some time we know, but u were definitely not waiting for THIS lot!) and walked off with his wife and son.

We were apalled! What a piece of shit!!! piece of dutch shit to be precise!

even the passerbys and other car drivers "sympathised" with us ... but so what???

what a fine example he set as a parent!

he obviously knew that we were waiting but he still cut in to take the lot. what kind of a person is that???

i am truly apalled.

honestly, my experience with the dutch the last 1+year though generally civil has been dotted by several unpleasant encounters. this being one of the worst.

i really do not like this place at all. not at all.

O God, what a testing weekend this has been.

I am really very angered by this encounter. at that moment, dear Lord, i do not know how to respond in a Godly manner. My initial reaction was the desire to curse the person -- that the Lord's curse be upon this person. and maybe scratch his car!!! ;p

but tonight as i was praying with little kaira before she slept, the words that the Lord, you have put in my mouth was so different from how i felt. i actually managed to pray for his (and his family's) salvation and pray that he will not exhibit such inconsiderate behaviour to other people in future.

honestly, i am not sure if i really meant it. but the words just flowed as the spirit moves.

this weekend has really been a test of my reaction to unpleasant situations and thus far, it looks like i am going to receive an "F" on my report card! ;(

please forgive me Lord! and Lord, please help me so that i will be a better child of God, a better testimony of your grace and love. by my own strength, it's very difficult cos i am such a sinner! Only by your grace and strength can it be done.

Amen.

Stolen!

yesterday, while out shopping with hubby & kaira, my handbag got stolen!!

my first experience and i hope my last! wished it never happened cos it's not about the $$ lost -- it's the inconvenience of losing my credit cards/debitcards/identity cards and so forth that really stressed me out!

had to go through all the trouble of calling the various banks to cancel my cards, filing a police report etc. it was not just a lost bag. it was a lost day ;(

and how did it happen?

well, i was trying on boots and the bag was on kaira's stroller & hubbie was supposed to keep an eye on it. i guess, with a kid, his eyes were off it for a moment and in a flash, it was gone :(

i had a friend with a similar experience (but thank God for her, she spotted the person trying to take her bag and shouted after him and in a panic, he dropped her bag and dashed off) and was just telling hubbie the other day that we ought to be more careful with our belongings! and haha, my bag was stolen. what a JOKE.

damned pissed with myself. even more pissed with hubbie for dropping the ball!

OK OK, i shouldn't be pissed with him, he had to look after kaira while i tried my shoes on! so i should be more pissed with myself! why did i not carry my own bag huh??

and after the incident, i kept thinking and thinking about it. and the more i think about it, the more upset i got. the more irritated i got.

anyways, nothing i could do, it was gone.

reported to the departmental store security and the guy told me there's nothing he can do. except take down my name and contact number and if he finds it, he will give me a call. and suggested that i go to the police.

thanks very much. that was really helpful!

walked round the departmental store trying to spot my bag (maybe the thief took off with the cash etc and left the rest of contents lying around??) no such luck.

in the meantime, do the very important thing : make phone calls to the banks to cancel/block the cards. That is the single most important thing to do i feel when one loses one's personal effects. make sure all your cards are cancelled/blocked whatever.

K, after that is done. made our way to the police station to file a report.

making our way to the police station, i can't help but "scold" hubbie. he on the other hand was praying.

how holy. surely he will be steps ahead of me, the day that the Lord Jesus returns ... cos i am just so so so so so unGodly especially in times like this. anger and frustration easily got the better of me.

alright, so we reached the central police station. and lucky me, I met the "friendliest" lady police officer there. i hope i never have to step into a police station here in eindhoven ever again.

ok, report filed. nothing i can do now. felt so drained all i wanted to do is go home and "beat" myself up even more for losing my handbag.

reached home and the phone rings.

Wow, security guard from the departmental store called to say he has found my bag.

Praise God. Hubbie's prayer worked!! i was too flustered to pray really. and was so upset that i thought is there any use of a prayer as the bag has already been stolen? God, could you have prevented it in the first place and save me all these heartache!

anywayz, so it was a rush back to the store (cos they close in 30 minutes).

inspected the bag and yup, cash/creditcards/debitcards were missing and kaira's raincoat! aaaargh. why did they take that? that was like my favorite favorite item for kaira :(

security guard told me they found the bag lying on the floor in the handbag section. and reminded me to be more careful in future. U BET!

really thank God that i got almost everything back! and my ID cards etc were all intact. if those were lost .....it would have been very troublesome to get them replaced and what have u.

O, and i am so the very glad the thief did not take my bottega wallet! he/she obviously 不识货！hahaha!that was the single most expensive item in my bag.

and so last nite, i was reflecting on my reaction to the incident.

Felt terribly ashamed actually. The ungodly of ungodlies! sigh. felt like i didn't pass the test that God has set me.

seriously, how does it help the situation that i express anger/frustration to the people around me?? hubbie felt very bad about it already. and really, what's done cannot be undone.

would have been far better if like him, i have stopped for a minute to say a quick prayer to the Lord and leave it in His able hands. and calmly face the situation.

and this experience will only help us -- cos we will be more mindful of our belongings in the future. and that can only be a good thing.

so, why make an unhappy day even unhappier by showing anger/frustration??

i am just very glad that the day is over and hope that i never have to go through such an experience ever again.