Bubble Birthday for a 2 year old

Today we had a Big Bubble Birthday Bash for Nathan... our little boy is now two!! It was a wonderful time with all his friends and family. Check out our photo journal:

The invites on bubble bottles

The food - Frankly, Mc Donald's works every time!

My daughter seems to think that a party, is not a good party, until you have Mc Donald's!

Games Time

Then it RAINED!! So we did a ultra quick move to the Function Room. Over there, it was rest and makan time. Then came Cake Cutting.

We wanna thank Patty Tan who baked us this lovely cake and Edmund Tan who generously provided the props! The cake was delicious!

We recommend her as a baker who provides good affordable cakes & pastries, and you can order these yummies and pick up from her shop near Vivo City.

The whole party was really tiring, as we had to run and jump along with the kids, but it was worth it when we saw Nathan enjoying himself.

We also want to thank all the mummies, daddies and kids for coming to the party! You made it so fun! Also to our ever supporting family--You are the BEST!

Finally, special thanks to Uncle Raj who provided the Bubble Machine. It was a BLAST with the kids! And to all our helpers-Amber, Bear, David, Delphine, Kailin, Richard, Santhi, Xiao Shi and Yan Ming...you all really made a difference. Thank you for your love for our family!

Technorati Tags: Birthday tips for parents,bubble party

Tower Club – Panoramic Views

During the Chinese New Year Holiday, I was invited for lunch at the Tower Club.

Located at the 64th floor of the Republic Plaza, this private club is a premier business club for the elite in Singapore.

The club is only open to members and It was truly a rare excursion for me. Many Thanks to Stan and Abi for inviting me and my wife.

As the building was built next to Raffles Place MRT, we managed to get a really panoramic view of the city, as we dined in the restaurant.

It was really high, and the Singapore Flyer looked like a tiny wheel in the distance.

This is definitely a “chill out” place for the rich and famous…and it was nice…experiencing the ‘air’ up there.

Hopefully, I can get to come back here more often !

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Toyota Wish – Children’s Cup Holder

Recently, I was reminded how things change when you become a parent.

This is a picture of the dashboard of my Toyota Wish.

I am used to driving my car and having my favourite can of Coke Light or Red Bull in the Cup Holder. In fact, the cup holder found in the lower half of the picture, is the resting place for all my beverages.

Things have been like that since I got my 1st car…

However…

Nicole loves to sit in front!

Whenever I pick her up from school, she is always asking to sit in front.

Being the nice father that I am :), she gets to come to the front…however there are consequences to that decision!

I have lost all controlling interest of my cup holder!

Now…My cup holder is occupied by a PINK DORA WATER BOTTLE!!!

My coke bottle has been relegated to the back seat and DORA seems to have won the day!

First…You change your car…now you lose the essentials :)

To all Male Drivers – BE PREPARED!!!

Technorati Tags: toyota wish,baby cupholder

21st Birthday Celebration

On the 2nd day of the New Year, the ET zone leaders attended Lucas Chia’s 21st Birthday at Timbres.

Located at Mount Sophia, within the old compound, Timbres is a pub for local musicians.

Lucas managed to book out the whole restaurant and held a private function there.

The place was spacious with a nice “chill out” atmosphere. It was a really cool place to have your 21st birthday.

Gone are the days when your friends just bought you a cake, and you celebrated by just buying your buddies a few drinks. My leaders have definitely gone up one level! :)

It was also a chance for me to catch up with some of the older members. I could hardly recognize some of them, as they have changed so much!

Here is a picture of me and Lucas

For the uninitiated – he is kind of like the heart throb of City Harvest (for those under 21). He happens to be an MC on the now defunct Kid’s Central (that’s why your children might recognize him) and he is also going through NS at the moment (Kind of explains why he has no hair under that hat).

But he is a really nice guy, and I am glad to see him grow up into manhood. I remember him when he was in Sec. 3….rebellious and dangerous….but now he is confident and a real gentlemen! I hope that more of my youth can turn out like him! :)

The whole party was quite an experience and all of us enjoyed ourselves.

Lucas also gave a really moving speech to his mum at the end of the party, which brought tears to my eyes.

So, before I go…

Happy Birthday Lucas!!!

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Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is always a week of family gatherings.

The kids were kept busy as they had to be all dressed up, as they visited their grandparents, met their cousins, and very importantly, received their “Ang Pows”

The kids also took some photos with their grandparents!

Here’s a photo of them with their grandparents and their cousin.

Nicole has also been “On form” this Chinese New Year!

Every house she goes to, she has been singing and dancing for all our relatives.

Whenever we go to a new house, we will ask whether she wants to perform?

She always replies emphatically, “YES!”.

At one house, she even rushed into the bedroom after saying that.

I asked her, “Nicole, What are you doing?”

She replied, “I must hide in the room first (go backstage). When you announce my name, then I will come out!”

And when she is inside, Mummy tells me that she is adjusting her hair and looking into the mirror.

My daughter is a little PRIMA DONNA!!! (Haha!)

She is really growing to love the stage.

She does not even let me just sit and watch the performance. At her request, I must record every performance and take photos!

This photo even had a fan blowing her hair, to give her the “Movie Star” effect!

Here are the videos of our little girl’s performance. Just in case, you could not really see her dance at pre-school.

Chinese New Year performance from Ed Unloaded on Vimeo.

Singapura by Nicole from Ed Unloaded on Vimeo.

Technorati Tags: Childrens performance

Swimming for Kids

On Sunday morning, we put our new water float to good use!

This was also the 1st time we were using the pool at our condominium. The kids loved it!

It helped that our neighbours and friends brought out their floats as well. Nicole loved driving their car.

Nathan loved playing with his water gun

Nadine was the most relaxed in her water float. Check her out!

She actually slept in the pool. It seems that our visit to the mini water tubs really helped.

She was like a real expert in the water, and maintained her ying and yang balance.

Here is our little sage after she came out of the water, in her Obi-Wan look.

Btw, before I go, here are some videos that i took of Nadine’s Water Tub adventure. The videos really help to give you an overall perspective on her whole adventure. You can see how tense she is in this video!

Water baby from Edmund tay on Vimeo.

This is Nadine…definitely more relaxed.

Water baby 2 from Edmund tay on Vimeo.

Technorati Tags: water baby,toddler swimming

Pre School Performance

Nicole had her Chinese New Year Performance at her School on Fri.

Both Nic and Nathan dressed up for the performance. Well, we dressed Nathan up to add to atmosphere! Check out his pouty lips in the photo. Is it like Shu Qi?

Nicole has been practising hard for her performance and she has been looking forward to it.

She even told Daddy, “ Remember to record ok, so that I can watch the performance again!”

On that fateful day, parents turned up by the truckloads. Everyone was armed with a video cam, and tons of DSRLS. I reckon Canon or Nikon should set up a camera booth at the school – they would have made a healthy profit.

Nicole’s class was one of the first to go for the day’s performance and she really did very well!!!

She remembered all her steps, and was really very confident. Mummy was very excited. From where she was standing, waved at her during the performance. Nicole was so focused that she did not respond (Mummy asked whether Nic saw her after the performance, Nicole said YES, but she said “I can’t, I’m performing!!”)

You can catch her performing in the video below. I did not really get a good angle, as I did not really know which side she was going to come out from. What a waste!

Chinese New Year Nursery Performance from Edmund tay on Vimeo.

The school also set up a mini carnival for the kids after the performance. The ice cream man was a firm favourite with the kids and it was the 1st stall that Nic visited with her friends.

She also went for face painting, and she had her face painted for her teachers. I liked the 2 oranges by her cheeks but not the plant in the centre. Anyway, mummy likes it. What do you guys think?

You can check her out in the slideshow below:

Before I go, do remember to vote for the blog during this holiday season. Need all your help to move the blog up in the rankings. I am currently nominated in 4 categories. Below is one of the links for 1 of the categories.  Many Thanks in advance :))

Technorati Tags: Pre School Performance,Childrens Carnival

Swimming for a 9 month old Baby

Nadine had her 1st exposure to swimming this week!

Well, it is not exactly swimming, but she had to learn how to float, in “deep” water conditions.

The ‘pool’ was located at Harbourfront just next to Vivo City. It was free for us, as Nadine was treated to a swimming lesson by my sister in law. :)

As you can see, this place has been in the local papers!

How does a 9 month old baby swim?

The secret lies behind this ‘ring-like’ inflatable that went around Nadine’s neck.

The pool is also not exactly Olympic sized, but resembles your washing machine tub.

Nadine was frankly quite scared, as we lowered her into the pool! She has not swam before, and she was naturally very tensed, as she went into the pool.

You can see the fear in her eyes…

But as she began to relax (after crying for 5 eternal minutes), she began to relax and just float…

Here’s a picture of her kicking her legs in the water :)

It was quite a fun experience for our little girl, considering that she not gone swimming before.

After the swim, Nadine was treated to a massage, that really helped her to relax and put her into a deep sleep when we got to the car.

The whole session costs my sister in law $28, and we also bought one of those inflatable rings for Nadine.

We figured on letting her try swimming during the CNY period, so that she can really become a water baby. (The inflatable can be bought at $30)

Technorati Tags: Parenting tip,help baby relax

Shokudo - Japanese food (Marche Style)

We had a small gathering on Sunday, and we tried out this Japanese Restaurant at City Hall.

Located at B1, "Shokudo" is food served Marche Style. Similar to the Swiss restaurant at Vivo City, each customer is given a card, and selects his/her from a huge array of Japanese Food.

The interior decor of Shokudo is really nice and homely, and I was actually quite overwhelmed with the selection of Japanese food. The guys thought that I would go for the pasta, but I decided to try the Unagi egg rice bowl instead. It was nice!!!

If you are looking for a place with a nice ambience, this place is a good bet! We went there on a sunday night, and there was plenty of room!

For food that is unforgettable - This will not be the place. It was nice, but definitely not a place, where u will go on and on, about the food to your friends :)

A great plus for the restaurant is that they had a big play area for the kids. This place is definitely useful when you have 3 kids!

Before I go, here's a commercial that will help you relax and hopefully spark off your imagination!

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Weddings and our Flower Girl

Nicole just became a flower girl for the 4th time!

I think she has come very far since her first appearance as a flower girl. (U can chart her progress by watching these videos, 1st attempt at William & Alison's wedding, 2nd attempt at Jerb's wedding, 3rd attempt at Jo and Emily's wedding)

She actually likes it as well!!!

The original flower girl at this wedding was suffering from stage fright and our little girl was called to the rescue.

We were not very sure she could fit into her dress, as Nic has grown in the last few months, but after trying out her flower girl dress - she was happy to announce that she could fit!

This was also the first time, she made it down the aisle without parental assistance - she did an OMO (One Man Operation).

Daddy was not there to witness it, as I was down in Jurong, but after her performance, she called me and said that she did very well!!!

As her reward, she was promised chocolate ice cream! :)

As we were very busy throughout the day, we did not get a chance to buy one for her.

However, our little princess does not forget easily (I reckon that she has got an elephant memory, when it comes to food)

Before she went to bed that night, she asked mummy for her chocolate ice cream!

Mummy had to reassure her in the dark, that she will get one tomorrow...

Here's the Video and Congratulations once again to Kok Siang and Phoebe!

Check out Nicole's stress-filled face, as she goes down the aisle with her flower girl basket.

Flower girl at Kok Siang's Wedding from Edmund tay on Vimeo.

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