Downtown East

Dearest Little Skyler,

We brought you to a place that neither Papa nor Mama remember visiting today, Little One. It’s a place called Downtown East – it is situated in Pasir Ris. The main reason for our going all the way there was the warehouse sale by Toys ‘R’ Us. We had hoped to get some toys at a lower price for you – as sort of a Children’s Day present. =D

The trip turned out to be a major disappointment. The types of toys that they had on sale were not suitable for you and the number to choose from was not that big to begin with. To make matters worse, they were not much cheaper than the standard retail price. The number of people who were walking around looking for toys was not very big either. However, the queue to pay for the toys was very long! So, you can imagine how inefficient the entire operation was – so few people shopping but such a long queue to pay for the goods. Oh well… Never mind, Mama and Papa will get you toys from other places.

MPH Bookstores were having a book sale as well next to the toy sale. We went over there as well. We managed to get three books – all Blue’s Clues! =D You were so excited by them. We were glad that we managed to get something for your Children’s Day celebrations! :D

After browsing through the ‘sale’, we took a walk around the rest of Downtown East and were further disappointed with how there hardly seemed anything worth looking at or visiting. There were several types of food outlets and some shops selling stuff but nothing out of the ordinary. Mama and Papa simply could not understand what the interest value of the place was. We kept on telling ourselves that people came to stay in the chalets and play at the Escape Theme Park and Wild Wild Wet but we could not convince ourselves that these places were actually worth visiting.

Well, Little Girl, this trip reminded Papa that there are many places that we can bring you to in Singapore. Some of them will be worth our time while others may not. Whatever the case may be, these places are still part of Singapore so Mama and Papa will bring you to visit them again when you are older so that you will have a better idea of what Singapore has to offer. We cannot be ignorant about our own country.

We love you,
Papa and Mama

Skyler’s 9 Months Old!

Dearest Little Skyler,

You are 9 months old today, Little One!

Time has really zoomed past very very quickly! You are so able to do so many things now. You’ve totally impressed both your grandmas with how you can play with them and how you are so aware of what is going on around you. You can sit by yourself without any support (but you really really scare Mama and Papa with your tossing yourself backwards while you are sitting. If we weren’t there to catch you, you would have landed on your back very hard which you have done a couple of times already). You can roll over onto your front and back to your back without any effort. You can snatch your Papa’s and Mama’s spectacles off their faces before they even realise it. You can sit in your high chair and eat your big bowl of cereal without any problems – unless you don’t want to eat which means that we take forever to get you to finish your meal.

Papa and Mama are both so glad that we chose to take care of you ourselves with minimal help from family and friends. This has allowed us to watch you grow every step of the way. We know your every expression and every move and this knowledge of and time with you has given us endless joy! This is why it is difficult for us to understand some parents who hardly spend any time with their own baby boys and girls. They ‘foster out’ their precious ones to their maids, parents or even infant care agencies. We feel that they are losing out on so much. I guess they have very good strong reasons for their decision and that they have their own sources of joy from their little ones. Mama and Papa simply can’t do that. We need to be with you as much as we possibly can.

And that is why Papa feels so bad. Papa has been extremely busy with school work and has been totally exhausted these few days. Thus, I have not been able to spend as much time with you as I want. Mama has been taking care of you herself and I feel so bad about that because Mama is very busy with her own studies and work as well. Mama has been going to sleep only in the wee hours of the morning because she can only start working after we have gone to sleep. This leaves her with very little sleep as well. But, no matter how tired we are, we will never exchange our time with you for anything!

Papa and Mama were going to celebrate your 9th Month Birthday with you no matter what! We went down town for a very short dinner this evening in honour of your birthday and Mama and Papa got you a slice of cake to celebrate. You may not remember it very well as you were sleeping when we ate it. :D

Happy 9th Month Birthday, Baby Girl!

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Popo's Birthday

Dearest Little Skyler,

Today we celebrated Popo’s birthday! We all went to Kow-fu’s and Kow-mo’s place for dinner tonight as part of Popo’s birthday celebrations! It was also a special night because Gong-Gong was around as well. You had not seen him since sometime in February as he had gone back to Hongkong.

Mama, Papa and you had gone shopping for presents the week before for Popo. Mama was wracking her brains to figure out what presents to get that would be meaningful and useful for Popo and we spent quite a bit of time walking around shopping malls looking and looking until we finally decided on a few items.

One of the presents was a bottle of Honey and Vinegar. Apparently, drinking vinegar is a new health approach. The vinegar is mixed with different kinds of other flavours and together they serve different purposes for one’s health. We also got Popo a bottle of Honey with Dates. Again, this is for Popo’s health. You must have figured out by now that honey is a very healthy component in all kinds of food, Little Girl. Lastly, we got Popo a pashmina. This is shawl made out of wool and it had a very nice pattern. So, we were well prepared for Popo’s birthday! =D Because Gong-Gong was in Hong Kong during his birthday, we decided to get a gift for Gong-Gong too. We bought Gong-Gong some Pu-er tea. The uncle at the shop explained to Mama that this is a tea that tea connoisseurs would enjoy. The value of this tea was supposed to appreciate with time too, much like wine. Interesting, isn't it?

We spent the evening at Kow-fu’s and Kow-mo’s and you were the star of the evening rather than Popo as everybody fussed over you both before and after dinner. One of the highlights for Popo, more so than the fact that we were celebrating her birthday, was your being in a pretty dress that Mama had bought for you. =D That really made Popo’s night.

After Popo had sliced her birthday cake, we brought you home as you were very tired by then.

Remember, Little One, celebrating family birthdays is a very important ritual. You must never miss attending any family member’s birthday celebrations as it is a time of bonding and sharing of love.

We love you,
Papa and Mama

Mâko has gone home... =(

Dearest Skyler,

Today is a sad day. Mâko and Uncle Peter have gone back to Canada. Their stay here was quite short and we only saw them a few times – two dinners, an outing to Sentosa and a Sunday (lunch to dinner). Now they’ve returned home and we won’t be seeing them for the next three years. While it is a sad time, Papa and Mama are also very glad that they did get this chance to meet with you before you became much older and bigger.

We had a farewell dinner last night at our usual coffeeshop near Grandma’s as Uncle Peter did not want to have any restaurant food. We were celebrating his birthday a bit early so he got to choose. Besides, Mâko and Uncle Peter missed simple Singapore food. The whole family once again had turned up and everyone fussed over you – even your cousins Reika, Yujin and Kenji. Everyone wanted to carry you and play with you!

Mama and Papa had brought gifts for almost everyone as well. We got Uncle Peter a gospel music CD by Paul Baloche, a pendant for Mâko, lanterns for your cousins (as it is almost the Mid-Autumn’s Festival), photos (one of them was a 5R print of the big family photo we had taken on Sentosa the previous Saturday) for Mâko, Tua Pek and Grandma. We had also brought along a couple of mooncakes for everyone to share.

After dinner, Mâko and you had a fun time playing and dancing together, and Mâko even let you walk on a pebble path below Grandma’s flat! You enjoyed Mâko’s company SO much, Baby Girl!

Papa and Mama were thinking of seeing Mâko and Uncle Peter off the next morning as it would be the last chance we had of seeing them for three years, so we went home after that. You were very tired by then as you had not napped for some time. Their flight the next morning was supposed to take off at 8.30 a.m. and they would be there at 7 a.m. However, we ended up sleeping quite late that night. When it was time to wake up, we were too exhausted as we had had very little sleep the whole of the week as it was a very busy and exhausting period of time for both Papa and Mama. So, sadly, we had to give up the idea of going to the airport. Oh well…

We miss them very much, Little One, because they are family and we hardly get to see them. This is one of the things that Mama and Papa think about often – whether we can let you go stay in another country and be away from us. We are so attached to you that we cannot imagine letting go of you, so NO, we’re not letting you get away from us. We love you too much! =P

Love,

Papa and Mama

Sentosa with the whole Family

Dearest Baby Girl,

This was a special week for the Goh family. This week, Mâko and Uncle Peter came back from Canada for a visit.

Mâko is your Aunty Florence. She is Papa’s Chēchē (elder sister). She married Uncle Peter all the way back in 1982 and they emigrated to Canada soon after as Uncle Peter’s whole family had gone over there. We seldom see them as Canada is really very very far away. It takes more than one whole day to fly there in an aeroplane. Therefore, we only see them maybe once in three or four years for a few days.

Anyway, they came back on 12th September and we visited them at Tua Pek’s home the following evening. It was the very first time that Mâko and you met! She loved you so much that she spent a big part of the evening just playing with you. She had also bought several pieces of clothing for you – brought all the way back from Canada!

The next time we met up with Mâko and Uncle Peter was when the whole family converged on Sentosa on Saturday. We were supposed to have joined them for lunch but because you woke up late and then went back to sleep after a while, we gave up on that idea. We wanted to let you sleep because you were so tired. Thus, we asked them to go ahead and that we would catch up with them later on.

After you woke up, we decided to go to Causeway Point to buy a stroller rain protector just in case it rained while we on Sentosa and there was no cover to bring you to. We did not want to let you get wet as it had been raining the past few days. Papa and Mama also needed to have lunch. :D

By the time we finally got to Sentosa, it was 3 p.m.! Today’s visit to Sentosa was a first in some ways for our family. We actually drove in to the island. The Sentosa Development Corp had allowed cars to be driven in for some time but we had not visited Sentosa for years and thus, this was the first time for us. It was quite an interesting experience. Previously, the only way we could get onto the island was via the ferry and cable car. Then they built a bridge that we could walk over. They also had some special buses that visitors could take to get across.

We parked our car at the Visitor Arrival Centre and took a shuttle bus to where Grandma, Tua Pek and his family and Mâko and Uncle Peter were. They had gone to the 4D Magix Theatre for a show / ride. As Mama and Papa had not visited Sentosa for a long time, we were very surprised by the number of changes that had taken place. The monorail train system had been shut down and they are planning to use an express train to replace it. But this new train system will not be ready until the end of this year. In the interim, they have set up a bus system to take people around the island. The buses were quite big and flat. There were no steps on the bus so it made it very easy for people to get on and off. The best part was that the aisle was quite broad so we had no problems getting your stroller on and off it. And yes, today was also the first day you took a bus! =D

We finally got to the correct place. As they were still in the ride, we waited a while for them to come out before we went over to the beach. It was a very long and convoluted journey to the beach where we had to switch between buses and trams a few times. A couple of the buses were the old type and Papa had all kinds of difficulties in getting your stroller on and off them as we could not fold it up as we had all kinds of stuff in the basket!

After we got to the beach, we had to seek shelter as it started to drizzle. We spent the time in a food court there. We tried to feed you your cereal but you were not hungry – either that or you were too cold as we were sitting directly under the airconditioner vent. (Papa had forgotten to bring your blankie.) We still can’t figure it out. After the rain stopped, we took a walk along the beach. While we were walking along, Mâko put a flower behind your ear. You looked so cute!

Grandma then wanted to go watch the Musical Fountain but Papa and Mama felt that you would be too tired to make it so we opted to not join them. Thus, we had our dinner at the same food court at the beach while they left first. As we now did not have anyone to help us with the stroller, Papa and Mama decided that we would take a slow walk back to the car all the way across the island. It was next to impossible to get the stroller on and off the buses and it was dangerous as the buses and trams would be packed with people.

The walk was quite interesting as it allowed us to see some of the changes that had taken place on the island. Papa and Mama have always enjoyed taking walks together and this was especially nice as we had not taken a walk for a very long time. Along the way, we passed by the Musical Fountain so we decided to stop by there to catch a part of the performance. It was very packed with people. We thought of looking for our family but it was too difficult so we just sat where we could in the mass of people.

After a while, the show started. Very shortly after that, it started to drizzle. Since the show didn’t seem to be all that interesting, Papa and Mama decided to leave just in case it started to rain heavily. However, after we left, the drizzle stopped.

We made our way back to the car. It had been a fairly long walk but it was definitely fun. As we drove out of the car park, we decided that since we were already on the island we might as well take a drive around it and that’s what we did. The roads are so well developed now. After exploring for some time, we went back home.

It had been a long and tiring day for you, Little One. But we got to spend some time with Mâko and that was simply great! You may not remember this trip, Skyler, but this was your first trip to Sentosa with Mama and Papa!

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Skyler has a Cold

Dearest Skyler,

You had a very bad cold over the weekend and this tortured your Mama and Papa to no end! It hurt us tremendously to see you in such discomfort.

The cold had left your nose blocked and it was very very difficult for you to breathe. Thus, it made it very difficult for you to sleep as well. This resulted in your waking up every few moments crying in distress. You cried so piteously that Mama and Papa were totally filled with anguish!

To help alleviate your discomfort, Papa and Mama tried to help suck out the mucous that was preventing you from breathing. And when we did that, you cried so loudly that we felt that the whole neighbourhood could hear you! So sorry, Little One! We so didn’t mean to cause you even more hurt but it was for your own good. Sometimes we were successful in clearing your nose for a short while and you were thus able to fall asleep for some time. This sleep was very important for you as your body needed the rest to help fight the cold bug.

Today, we couldn’t take it anymore and decided to visit your doctor, the ‘Balloon Uncle’ (Papa started calling him that because he usually gives you a balloon before you leave when we go to see him for your vaccinations, etc. :D), to see what he could do. He gave you some medicine – nose drops and some syrup for you to swallow. Papa and Mama administered them immediately on our return home as we wanted you to recover as quickly as possible.

You didn’t really like them but we forced them on you and once again, you cried so severely in protest! But, you soon got over your cold after that and you were well again by the end of the week! Praise God for that!