Almost grown up

Kah Yen is going to Sentosa island today, without Daddy and Mummy.

She is going there with our Nanny and her entire big family, including one grandparent, four parents, two Korkors and one Jiejie. The Korkors and Jiejie are the one play with Kah Yen every afternoon when they come back from school and also every day for the June and December holidays. Now they are all going back to school next week, Kah Yen is also going to preschool, so the two families decide to bring them all out to Sentosa, to have a ball of time before they go back to school and also part their ways.

To worry about Kah Yen is totally unnecessary, she is so close to her Korkors and Jiejie she would follow them whereever they go, and cry when they leave her behind. Both Korkor and Jiejie's parents also dot Kah Yen a lot, they buy her toys and pretty clothes very often. And their Popo is both patient and affectionate towards the kids. I have no issue with them bringing Kah Yen out.

But, being the first time mum, the compulsive mum anxiety still kicked in this morning. I woke up early to pack her bag, even though I know our Nanny will pack for her. I wrote down a list of things to bring and check on every one of them, as if she is going to her Primary 3 summer camp for the first time. She is just going out for one day!

Kah Yen on the other hand, had no anxiety of any sort at all. She woke up jolly as usual, and when Daddy reminded her she is going to Sentosa today, she is all smiling. To make sure she knows exactly what is going to happen for the day, I asked her a few questions.

"Where is Kah Yen going today?"

 "Sentosa!" (as if she really knows what Sentosa is)

"Where is Sentosa?"

"... ..." (silence)

"Sentosa is an island where you can have lots of fun. Now who is going with Kah Yen?"

"Popo, Korkor and Jiejie!"

"Are uncle and aunty going with you?"

"Yes!"

"Is Daddy going with you?"

"No!"

"Is Mummy going with you?"

"No!"

Alright. Passed. I think it is safe to say she knows what's going to happen. And the fact that Daddy and Mummy are not going with her seems to bother her little, to my relief.

I then gave her my usual hug and kiss and told her I am going to work.

"Mummy is going to work! Byebye Mummy, Byebye!" Never before she had said "Byebye" to me in such an enthusiastic tone. I think if she is more expressive, this is exactly what she will say:

"Byebye Mummy, quickly go to work! I am going to Sentosa to have some fun yeah. Bye!"

I think this girl has, almost grown up.

Christmas in the sky

We brought Kah Yen to Singapore flyer on Christmas day.

Well, it all started from a flip-the-flap book I read to her on county fair a while ago. On the book there were a big wheel and a hot air balloon. She asked to take hot air balloon, I told her she couldn't because there wasn't any in Singapore. To make her feel better, I told her there is a big wheel called "Singapore flyer" in Singapore and we will take her there one day. I am thinking the one day will come only when she is 3 or 4-year old.

But everytime we read the book again, she will ask me "Kah Yen is going to big wheel yah?" And everytime I have to say "Yes, we are going there really soon". They say parents should not promise young children too easily, I learnt my lesson!

It so happened the husband saw some charity booth selling Singapore flyer tickets at S$10 each, so he bought six tickets. We went there with another family with two older children.

Kah Yen totally enjoyed it. I was afraid that she might be fearful of height, but nothing of that sort. In fact it is probably one of the safest places in the sense I can close my eyes and do not have to worry she runs into danger, 'coz there is no place to run to. The moment we stepped into the cabin, she started running and jumping around, pointing and shouting the names of things she knows. She also followed Korkor and Jiejie whereever they go and acted like a big girl. I can't even get here to stand still and take a decent photo. 





I have been to Singapore flyer once before and I thought I would never go up again for my lifetime. Come on, isn't it boring for us adults? But with the children, that 30 minutes felt just too short.

A paper Christmas tree

We didn't buy a Christmas tree for this year. As much as I want Christmas to be a family tradition for the children, I have to let it pass this year because we are moving house soon. So yesterday Kah Yen and I sat down together and made a paper Christmas tree ourselves.

It is a very small Christmas tree and very easy to make. Just cut out the different shapes, color them and glue them together. I cut mine from an A4 paper template, but there is really no need to use a template since the shapes are all basic shapes. They can be cut out from normal B&W paper, or color paper, or cupboard or even giant form. And you can make it any size you want depends on the materials you have.

For the tree trunk I cut a long piece of rectangle shape from a tissue box, it is more sturdy and easier to hold.

I printed my template from DLTK - Growing up together, thanks to the internet even people like me who had never made art & craft before can now enjoy simple crafts like this with my 2-year old. There are alternate decorating ideas for this Christmas tree too. For example, you can print on form or cupboard for a more permanent tree, you can poke a hole in the top to make a Christmas tree ornament.

We had a wonderful time making this together. And throughout the process we reviewed our colors, shapes and sizes. Kah Yen was very proud of her creation. For the rest of the day she kept asking me "Where is my Christmas tree? Where is my Christmas tree?" :-)

Merry Christmas!

Here is Kah Yen wishing everybody a Merry Christmas with her giant tree house!

A special Christmas concert

Children with special needs always have a special place in my heart. Well, I didn't really work with any or encounter many in my life. Maybe it's because of the movie "I am Sam" - a touching story of an autisic single father fighting for the custody of his normal daughter, or because of the book "A friend like Henry" - a powerful story of a mother's struggle to break into the world of her autistic son and how a dog changed everything, or because of the local blog I follow "Love and A leap of faith", or because of a few parents I know with special children - they always inspire me.

Or simply because I am a mum, because I see every child as a child, I see every child as unique and special.

On Monday night we had the privilege to attend a special Christmas concert for a group of Down Syndrome children. It is put up by parents and volunteers from the Singapore Down Syndrome Association. And all the props for the show are made by the children themselves. The lead singer is a local musician who is now teaching music to children with special needs.  I spent the first half of the concert clapping and singing along, and the second half trying to fight the tears coming off my eyes. It is one of the most special Christmas concert I have ever attended.


Children tossing "snow"during the concert



Choir singing and children dancing with their stars



Santa Claus has come to town early

I can't post the photos of the children without the permission of their parents. But, trust me, they are all angels.

As for Kah Yen, she fixed her eyes on the center of the room (which is also the stage) the moment we entered the concert. She refused to sit on the chair or our lap throughout the concert. Instead, she stood on the staircase, clapping and laughing along with the audience, and swinging her body and head whenever the music is on. For a moment I heard her screaming and cheering too, I think I am pretty sure she has gotten my genes.

This girl likes concert

Preparation for school - Part One

Finally Kah Yen is going to school!

I had a full taste of the difficulty of looking for a childcare center in Singapore. Before I had my own child I think people are crazy when they told me they start to hunt for childcare one year in advance, or even before the child was born! Now I think I will do the same for my second child and doesn't matter if you call me a "Kaisu" parent or not.

I only started to look for a childcare this year August after we confirmed we are buying a house in Punggol, Kah Yen was already 20-month old. I couldn't start earlier for I don't know where are we moving to and when. The timing was not perfect but I still have four months to hunt for a school if in order to send her next January. I thought it won't be that bad.

It was! Punggol is a new town. There are too many young families with children, too few childcare centers. After three months of calling, visiting and queueing, I only found two centers with vacancies. For some of the popular centers, my queue number in the waiting list is beyond 200, I think by the time they finally call me Kah Yen is well ready for primary one. For the two centers with vacancies, neither of them is a suitable choice, one is too far, the other one is over-priced. We are not looking for an IDEAL one, we just want a center that is nearby and within our budget.

I wrote a post about my idea of a good childcare center in August, I sounded like I was already an expert and had everything under control, but deep down in my heart, I was worrying, panicking, self-blaming and panicking again. Time is not on my side, AND, there is no plan B.

My panicking finally affected the husband, so much so that one day at work when he saw a center next to his office building, he walked right into it. And he fell in love with it instantly. Okay men don't really fall in love with something instantly like women do, they are not mushy as us, what I mean is, his first impression of the center was very good.

He has since visited the center twice and me once. Both of us liked it. The center has been there for 8 years. It is very near his office. The price is reasonable. The children look happy. They look like they are well-disciplined too. The teachers we spoke to are gentle and patient. The rooms are bright and spacious. It is right at the center of the heartland but yet it is secluded, away from all the noises and the traffic. The big playground in front of it is almost like the center's own. It is also right behind the library, so organized library trips are their pride.

At the start I was totally against bringing Kah Yen to near our offices. I am afraid the daily travelling is too much for Kah Yen, and there is constant pressure of knocking off on time. But after visiting the center, my mindset changed. Maybe travelling half an hour with Daddy each day is not a bad thing after all, a precious time for some Father-Daughter bonding. And while Daddy is in charge of picking her up, I can go back home straight after work to get dinner ready. Nobody needs to rush.

So last week I brought Kah Yen with me to the center to settle the registration, I was lucky they were preparing for their year end concert. With music and dancing going on, Kah Yen was able to relax and walk around the place on her own feet. Later Kah Yen sat on the floor with other kids to watch the rehearsal together, she looked like she is already one of them.

After we said goodbye to the kids and teachers, I asked her:

"Do you like school?"

"Yes!" she said.

"Do you want to go to school?"

"Yes!" was her answer again.

I am not sure if she fully understood these two questions, but I am just going to take "Yes" for a "Yes" and hope everything will turn out fine.

You and Me

We all know toddlers take some time to figure out how to use pronouns such as "you", "me", "I", "he" and "she". The book says they only master them between the age of two-and-a-half to three. The book is probably true, for Kah Yen is still very much confused by her pronouns.

Talking about "me", I thought she is good since I have taught her to sing "Jesus loves me this I know" and also "Good is so good to me" with a pat on the heart everytime it comes to the word "me", and she follows. But then the other day when I did a funny face to make her laugh and she wanted me to do it again, she kept saying "Mummy show you! Mummy show you!" Sigh...

She didn't quite get her "you" right either, though she can follow us saying "God bless you", I guess it is just a phrase to her. When she woke up from her nap and couldn't find her Daddy, she kecame to me and asked "Where is your Daddy? Where is your Daddy?" I had to hold on my laughing and resist answering her "My Daddy is in China. How about yours?" LOL.

I correct her by saying "You mean where is my Daddy?" and here is what happened after.

Kah Yen: "Where is my Daddy?"

Me: "Your Daddy is in the study room."

Kah Yen: "Where is my Mummy?"

Me: "Your Mummy is right here."

Kah Yen: "Where is my Kah Yen?"

Me: ...

...

Hold on. The good news is, she is learning to use her "I" correctly. Previously when she wants something, she either says "Kah Yen wants biscuit." or worse (and more often!) "Biscuit! Biscuit! Biscuit!" Look at what she says now:

Yesterday we were having lunch outside, I bought chicken rice for myself and minced meat congee for her, the moment I reached our table with the food. There she goes.

"I want porridge! I want rice! I want chicken! I want soup! I want I want I want!!!"

Opps, did I just say that it is a good news she has learnt to use her "I"? I apologize I have made a mistake.

Playthings

What is donkey doing with the cooking set?

And who are the boy and girl live on top of tree houses?

I took these two pictures after putting Kah Yen down for her nap. Usually I make her pack up her own toys after playing, but today I didn't because I want to look at what she has been playing.

She played with her cooking set when I was in the kitchen preparing our lunch. She cooked and talked to herself, and every five minutes she would run to the kitchen door and tell me what she was cooking. I don't know how the donkey ended up there, perhaps she was cooking lunch for donkey all this while.

After lunch while I was cleaning the plates, she played LEGO with Daddy, their favorite game these days. I heard them talking "This is for me, this is for you. That's Kah Yen, this is Daddy". Now I knew they have built mini-Daddy and mini-Kah Yen and together they lived on tree houses.

I know these are just simple things but having played with her and seen her play since a baby, I am truly amazed to see how her imagination and creativity evolved as she grows. Playtime has become more interactive, more engaging and more fun-filled. We may not go to many fun places and our house is not packed with toys, but we see her enjoy simple moments and simple things, and we celebrate with her. Everyday.

A Milestone, sort of

Well it is not really a milestone on the books but it is still part of the many growth and developments of a toddler that's worth celebrating.

Kah Yen learnt to wear her own shoes - the single strap type.

Well done girl! I guess what equally worth celebrating is the spirit of learning new things and learning to do things on her own, the spirit of two-year olds.

The prayer of a two-year old

I still remembered when my friend posted on Facebook the first prayer of her then two-year old daughter on Good Friday. And here it goes:

"Dear Jesus, in Jesus's name I pray, Amen!"

So cute! Isn't that the simplest and funniest prayer you have ever heard? Guess it is Good Friday so it is all about Jesus yah.

Kah Yen has not learnt to pray on her own yet. But we include her when saying grace before every meal and also we pray for her everynight at bedtime. So it is not surprising when I try to teach her how to pray she can repeat after me line by line, with her hands clasped, her eyes closed and her head bowed. Here is our prayer:

"Dear God,

I love you.

Thank you for loving me.

Please bless Popo,

Bless Korkor,

Bless Jiejie,

Bless Aunty,

Bless Daddy,

Bless Mummy!"

She followed me so far, then I came to a pause because my mind was thinking whether to continue with more names or to end here, afraid her attention might not last too long. And while I was thinking, Kah Yen shouted loudly:

"Bless Kah Yen, Amen!"

She just ended the prayer on her own. And I didn't even realize I forgot to include her name but she noticed and added it herself. 

How sweet to hear our children pray to God at a young age. How pleasant it is when from the lips of children and infants come forth praises.

I am a little builder

Two is a fantastic age. Just last week I was feeling all nostalgic that she has turned two and lost much of her baby-ness. Now I am all over it and I am totally enjoying her growing up every day.

It is amazing how fast they learn things at two. Everyday they discovery new things around them and pick up new words or rather sentences, and they don't just mimic your words and actions anymore, they internalize and create their own. They are twice more observant and imaginative than us adults. They never stop to surprise you.

Like talking. She is speaking more complete sentences now. She is able to strike a simple conversation with Daddy on the phone with a little guidance, such as "How are you Daddy?", "I am fine, how about you?" and "Byebye, see you tomorrow!" Just this morning, I went to the room where she was playing to tell her I am leaving for work. She said "Kah Yen don't go to work, Kah Yen go to Popo place." Well done girl but you made Mummy feel mighty guilt that you have learnt the reality of life so fast!

Then about toilet training, we haven't fully geared up to toilet train her yet (Can't find a block of time since I am working!). It is only in the morning when we have time we will let her sit at the potty to poo. Just 2-month back she still gave the confused look "Why do I need to sit on the potty when I don't feel like poo-ing now" and was reluctant to sit on the potty. Now she walks to the potty all by herself when I call and she can sit there for a good 5 minutes.

Then about playing. We bought her the Duplo Lego set on her birthday. We did not want to buy her earlier because she was just starting to engage in imaginative play with her building blocks, we don't want to flood her with too many toys too fast. When we first played with her last week, she was frustrated because she couldn't stack up the bricks properly, it requires stronger finger gripping and more precision as compare to Mega blocks they have at Sunday school. Then last weekend she just fiddled with them for a while and built something like this, when we asked her what it was. She said it was a train!

Daddy was very much encouraged and went on to show her how to build a tree (more like a tower to me though), she picked up quickly and soon she came to me showing her own tree.

And she went on to build three of them!

Look how happy she was when I asked her to take photos with her creations!

I am glad that we can be there to see her learn new things and celebrate with her each day.

Happy Birthday to Kah Yen!

Happy Birthday my little girl!

You have the sweetest smile I have ever seen.

The purest soul I have ever imagined.

The gentlest heart I have ever asked.


On this day,

I wish the smile on your face will never fade.

I wish the Lord will keep your soul, as pure as gold.

I wish you strong and healthy.

I wish you be a joy and a blessing.

I wish you know you are always worthy.

I wish you will never lose your way.

I wish you full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

For these are the best things you can ever have.

These are the prayers I have for you.

Kah Yen is two

I have been procrastinating this post. She turned two last week. We bought the cake, lighted up the candles, opened the presents and sang the birthday song, Kah Yen was very excited by all the attention she was getting. I doubt she fully understands the meaning of "birthday" but she surely knows it is something good because everybody was treating her like a queen.

I am very happy but deep down in my heart, part of me also wants to tone down all the celebrations, that part of me wishes she stops growing up too fast. Turning two means she is saying byebye to the toddlerhood phase pretty soon - a phase of discovery, of learning, of fun and of pure joy, a phase I have enjoyed so much.

She is curious, she is playful, she is full of energy. She does things typical two-year-olds do. She sees a puddle, she jumps into it; She dashes across field to chase after birds and wonders why they always run away from her; She says "Hi" and "Hello" to the cats and dogs on the streets and if I don't stop her, she will give them a kiss on their furry cheeks too; She points and talks non-stop in taxis and on buses; She wiggles her body to the tune of the music; She jumps and rolls on our bed naked after shower; She plays with her toys full of imagination on some days while on others she throw them all over the floor; She likes to be read to and pretends she can read; She opens the bottles, she opens the drawers, she opens everything that is openable; She giggles non-stop at the silliest of actions such as a tickle, a wink on one eye or a sticking-out tougue.

She is also learning to be independent, a "symptom" of two-year-olds I have been warned. She brushes her own teeth (sort of); She turns on and off the water tap on her own when washing hands; She wants to be the one to open the door when going out, and switching on the lights when coming back; She will be the first one to push the lift buttons, which sometimes leads us to the wrong floor; She applies her own baby bath and rubs her own tummy; She wants to take off her own pants and her own diaper. Sometimes it annoys me when I am rushing and she is trying to be "helpful", but most days I give in a little to let her feel "Mighty Big".

I have never dreamt of having a girl so sweet, so gentle and so affectionate. When I leave for work early in the morning, she hurries to the door to give me a "hi-five", a hug and a kiss. When I pick her up from nanny in the evening, she won't leave without saying "Byebye" to everyone in the house, including running to the kitchen just to say "Bye" to the maid. She remembers all of them in her night prayers, when I say "God bless Kah Yen", she follows "Bless Popo, bless Korkor, bless Jiejie, bless aunty", aunty is the maid. She gives the biggest hugs and the biggest smile. She brings her Baby Pooh with her everywhere she goes. She helps us take our shoes off the shoe rack whenever we are going out.

She hasn't learnt her ABCs, she still doesn't count in sequence, she is not very interested in her colors, she can't hold her spoon very well, and she is still in her diapers, but all of these do not change the slightest how I love her just the way she is.

Happy birthday, my little girl.

Dora girl

I forgot since when, Kah Yen suddenly became a Dora girl.

She must have learnt about Dora from the big boys at our nanny's place, that's how she got to know Angry Bird too. (The boys have an iPad!) From that day, she will point and call Dora whenever she sees one. Interestingly, she calls "DoDoDora" instead of "Dora", and the way she calls it is so cute that everybody else at out house and our nanny's house now calls it "DoDoDora", exactly the same way everyone ended up calling Baby Pooh "Ah Pooh" one year ago.

So now she wears a Dora T-shirt, she carries a Dora school bag, she just received a Dora water bottle for her birthday, and she only reads Dora the Explorer flip-the-flap books while in the library.

The interesting part is, Mummy knows nothing about Dora. Well I know she is a children character that little girls like, but who is she, where does she come from and what she does, I have no idea. So the other day I asked the husband.

"Is Dora a Chinese?"

"No, you don't know? She is a Latino, of Spanish origin." He gave me that look as if I am from another planet.

"But how can she have straight and dark hair if she is a Latino? She looks exactly like a Chinese doll." I was not easily beaten by that look.

"Her hair is dark brown, and straight hair because they want to keep the illustration simple." He replied as if he is an expert.

"What does she do?"

"You mean you have never heard of Dora before?" He was amazed.

"Well, it is just a generation gap." I murmured and turned my eyes to something else. I mean generation gap between me and Kah Yen, not me and him.

The next morning I went to wikipedia to get myself acquainted with Dora. Dora is a little explorer, a curious girl. She is always positive. She doesn't hold grudge against anybody. She gives others chances. She values her family. She is fond of Boots the monkey. She enjoys sports. She is also skilled at playing a wooden flute.

I was totally bowled over by Dora. She is such a positive character for Kah Yen to follow as compared to others. Hello Kitty is over consumerised. Barbie lacks character. Disney Princesses are too fairy. Mickey mouse simply draws children in front of the TV for hours.

Dora TV series is too old to be found. Plus there are a whole bunch of Dora the Exlorer books for me to read to her. If she can't learn anything from Dora, at least she may grow to love reading books.

So I am just going to enjoy her being a Dora girl.

It takes only three to make a party

It is Kah Yen's 2nd birthday this weekend. We did not plan a big party. It is going to be just Daddy, Mummy and Kah Yen. But on Friday Daddy had the idea of having a mini celebration at our Nanny's place before we pick her back, since her family had managed to find out about her birthday and have already bought her various birthday gifts one week ago.

Our nanny's children are married and live on their own, only two grandsons and one granddaughter come to the house every afternoon after school. They are the Korkor and Jiejie who play with Kah Yen everyday.

We bought a mini cake, a slice of cake to be exact, since it is dinner time for the children.

Jiejie had after-school activity so only the two boys were at home with Kah Yen. When we reached, we saw the two boys sitting at the bench chair drawing on a piece of paper each, Kah Yen was also doodling beside them. My nanny had told them to make birthday cards for Kah Yen and that's what they were doing. How sweet!

When I opened the cake box, the boys shouted "Wow, so small!" Kids being kids, they say what they see, even if that embarrasses you. The size of the cake did nothing to change their party mood though, when the candle was lighted, they clapped and sang "Happy Birthday" song the loudest.
They didn't just sing, they screamed their lungs out.

They cut the cake into all sorts of shapes and laughed at their own creation.
They gave you their biggest smile in front of the camera.

They hugged and kissed Meimei like there is no tomorrow one minute, the next they ran right into her as if she is invisible.

They presented their birthday cards right onto your face.

They did an impromptu "Gangnam Style" dance and was toally pissed when I don't know what is 'Gangnam Style".

They forgot it is not their own birthday.

Before we reached husband told me to use my high pitch voice to create the party atmosphere, the minute we stepped in the house, we found I was totally redundant.

It takes only three children to make a party.

A big girl in the making

Last night I was not at home. Husband sent me a few photos after puttting Kah Yen to bed. Before I click open the small image icon on my "WhatsApp" window, I wonder who that girl was. It was different from my baby.

I opened the images and I saw a big girl in front of me.

First time her hair was tied, by our nanny. I am a little bit guilty I am not the first one tying her hair. I have a girly girl at hand yet it can't motivate the old lazy me to start like shopping and appreciate more girly stuff. Gotta change!

Then first time she was carrying a big girl bottle. My nanny's daughter bought this pink bottle for her - something every big girl will have, from the age of 2 till they go to primary school. I am ashamed to say that I still let Kah Yen use her Pigeon Mag Mug Step 3 straw cup. And it is blue. I can't find any other colors when I bought the cup.


On another note, she can't wait to go to school, 'coz she sends her two big Korkor to their school bus every day. Now she insists on carrying her school bag to our nanny's place everyday.

I hope she will be fully prepared when we finally send her to school next January, to save her some tears and me some heartache moments.

iLoveSingapore Walk 2012

Love is going the extra mile to show you care.

We brought Kah Yen to the iLoveSingapore Walk 2012 last Saturday at Marina Bay Waterfront. It is an annual charity event organized by TOUCH Community Services and participated by the LoveSingapore network of churches. 

Bringing Kah Yen out for a walk with thousands of others is definitely one great way to spend a beautiful morning. The 3km walk is right at the city center, with Singapore river, the new MBS hotel and the beautiful city skyline right in front of us. 

We needed to be there by 7am, so we had to wake Kah Yen up at 630am, one hour earlier than her usual timing. She cried and refused to get up when we tried to wake her, but when we told her we were bringing her out for a walk, she immediately jumped up. Babies really love to go out.

We were waiting for the walk to start. Kah Yen was very excited by the helium balloons flying up to the sky.

Daddy carrying Kah Yen on his shoulder.

Two balloons, two children.

Singapore river just starting to wake up.

We passed by many interesting places. Kah Yen was especially drawn to the merlion, the boats and the many Christmas tree decorations along the riverside. 

I hope we have more chances to bring Kah Yen to participate in such events in the future. It is both fun and meaningful.

If I ran the zoo

I still remember when Kah Yen first learnt to stack up wooden blocks on her own, we were so happy and I even wrote a post on this "From the little destroyer to the little builder". I wish to say that from then on her building skill soars and we already have an architect in the making, but that's not the truth. On and off she played with her building blocks but nothing more than stacking up a few pieces and knocking them down. With limited imagination, her attention on building blocks remains short-lived, it can hardly sustain for more than 5 minutes if we let her play alone.

I was almost going to pack up the building blocks and buy her some more "fantasical" toys - toys that talk, sing, perhaps even dance with you, toys with a lot of buttons to press and lots of lights to blink, toys that say "come play with me" whever they are left alone for more than 5 minutes - hoping that she can thus be buried in her toys for a good one-hour on average!

Then out of sudden, one day, when Daddy wanted to play building blocks with Kah Yen and she only wanted to play with her miniature animal figures, they had a new idea - using the building blocks to build a zoo for all her animals.

And from then on, building blocks becomes the must-play activity before bedtime. And their imagination soars from here. Each time, Daddy let Kah Yen choose which animals she want to send in the zoo, which animal should be guarding the gate, what color blocks she want for the door, sometimes the animals have to cross a bridge to go in, sometimes they need to take a boat, sometimes monkey stands on the rooftop because there is no more space ......

They could be on it for a good 30 minutes each time and I have to send multiple reminders in order to get her to the bedroom.

I wish their creativity never stops here, maybe one day they will give me enough inspiration to write our own version "If I ran the zoo", maybe we can even beat Dr. Seuss, just maybe.

Dalat - The French Alps of Asia (Part I)

Dalat is eight-hour away from Ho Chi Minh City by bus. It is different from most other places in Vietnam. Dalat was where the French chose to build villas and houses for their summary get-aways during the French Colony. It is an European/French style resort destination built in the highlands. Hence it is sometimes called the French Alps of Asia.

I must admit I was a little bit disappointed when our bus first arrived the town. Having left most of the planning and preparation of this trip to the husband, I did not read much on Dalat and was half expecting something Shangri-La. It turned out Dalat was not exactly Shangri-La style. The town looked busy.

However, I soon fell in love with this unique place. It is tranquil on one hand - with its pine-covered hills, picturesque Xuan Huong lake, vivid blue skies, fresh air and French-style resorts, it is also lively on the other - just look at the night market, the alleys of shops and cafes, the roundabouts and motorbikes on the road. Yes there are motorbikes just like any other cities in Vietnam.

It is not exactly utopian but it is definitely a holiday paradise.

View of Dalat town from cable car station



The valley and the Xuan Huong lake in the evening, from our hill resort



If I did not fall in love at first sight for Dalat, I did for our resort - Dalat Cadasa resort. It is one of the few heritage resorts built by the French on poetic hills and overlooking the picturesque lake in the valley. It comprises as many as 22 fully refurbished villas, each unique on its own. Just look at the pictures here will take your breath away.



Dalat Cadasa Resort

Breakfast hall made of glass panels, right in the middle of the garden

Our villa on the hill, with the back window facing the lake

If our holiday had been longer, we would probably spend one whole day in the resort by doing nothing. But we only have one and a half day here so we don't have a minute to waste. To travel in and out of the town, we rented a motorbike. Yes, if you hadn't have the gut to rent a motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City, do it in Dalat, it is the best way to get around this place.

Our first station - Dalat Railway Station. This Art Deco creation was designed by French architects in 1932 and opened to public in 1938. Inside the train station we saw one Plateau rail road carrier and one steam engine locomotive. Both are quietly parked there to tell you something about the history of this place and the people who had come and go.


Dalat train station

The Plateau carrier

Taking a cable car ride over the pine forests, transquil lakes and farm houses, what better way to look at Dalat from this angle?

Cable car station

Cable car above pine-covered hills

Dalat Palace is one of three palaces and summer home of the colonial-era, last emperor of Vietnam Bao Dai. We actually thought it was a palace itself but it is apparently built to be a "Palace hotel" with its majestic style and historical architecture. It was built in 1922 under the French Governor. It is full of antiques inside. The front garden is huge and it's overlooking the Xuan Huong Lake. It rendered most hotels in Ho Chi Minh City just too average.

Dalat Palace

Inside Dalat Palace hotel

Front garden

We went back to the town center to have our lunch. The streets are bathing the sun in a hot and bright afternoon. Below is a photo of the one of the streets, on the left are are a row of cafes overlooking the street below. At the end of the street is the roundabout and the lake is just across.

Dalat street and its French symbol

Our cafe is right at the end of the street, with a glass panel separating us from the traffic and the heat outside, it is just the right spot to enjoy our food while comtemplating about a unique place and its past glory.



Our cafe at the corner of the street