Weekend at Tioman

Last Friday afternoon, our family made our way to Tioman for a short break over the weekend. We thank God for a most wonderful time there. The weather was lovely the whole time we were there and we spent every day frolicking in the sun, sand, sea and the swimming pool (until we got rather sun burnt despite slopping on loads of sunblock). The accommodation was nothing to shout about but the beach was lovely, and the sea clear and sparkling, and it was shallow a long way out such that you could walk out quite far into the ocean and watch the pretty little fish dart around your feet near where the rocks were. The food was also really good. :)

God willing, we hope to go again ( and we would still choose to go back to the same resort again)!

All packed and ready to go. Ethan asking Daddy if he needed help with the luggage.

The 40-something seater plane on which we flew there and back. The journey took just 35 mins each way. It was ethan's first plane ride and he took to it very well (though i personally found it a wee bit scary especially on the way home when we met with some turbulance - during which ethan simply slept through).

Ethan loved playing with the sand. The strange little boy mostly refused to put his feet down and stand in it but he was very happy sitting in it and playing with it and can do so for a remarkably long time, with (too) frequent requests to his daddy and mummy to get water for him from the sea when all they really wanted to do was this :

Besides playing with sand, ethan really enjoyed the pool.

Notice that ethan is still in his swim suit while munching on his biscuit in his high chair waiting for lunch to arrive. During the time we were there, we simply got out from the pool and went straight to the restaurant (which had set up the plastic deck tables and chairs for the swimsuit lunch crowd) located right beside the pool for lunch. :)

* Just an interesting note: Ethan woke up from his nap after we arrived home, and the first words he exclaimed were "Tioman! Tioman!"

My Two Boys

Both love their food, and their sleep, don't drink enough water, preferring sweet drinks if given a choice. Both are bookworms and computer cum handphone junkies, make a mess and sometimes do not seem to be listening when spoken to. Both like to make music and sing, like to watch tv, can make hilarious animal noises and seem to need a haircut much too soon. Both can exasperate but both make me laugh.... and thankful for them and each day with them.

Where We Like to Hang Out

On a weekday that is... not a weekend when it gets way too crowded. We do pretty much the same thing each time we're there, with a little variation now and then. Breakfast at Toastbox, walk around the sprawling Giant and gape at the sheer amount of, well, everything there, browse through the wide selection of books at PageOne (ethan loves sitting by the glass panels at the children's section, flipping through the nice new books and looking out for the colourful trains that ply to and from Sentosa) and visit the water fountains. It's just a nice, spacious, and quiet (on weekday mornings, that is) place for roaming, exploring and hanging out.

Ethan gazing at the water fountains. He would ask to look at it every time we're there.

Ethan also likes to look at the macaroon-inspired patterns on the glass panels of Bakerzin.

Besides Giant, we sometimes go to Daiso to gape.


Ethan loves to sit and pretend to drive at the many kiddy rides just outside Giant.

Lunch at The Soup Spoon

His most favourite of them all - the kids' water play area.

Logging On

hmm... now, what is the password?

ahhh... i remember! P...O...C...K...Y...

Can you do this?

yay, I've found my fave utube clip. (I have 137 fave utube clips)

ahh.. i could do this all day... (if only daddy and mummy allow me)

I Can (Almost) Draw

Come, Come! Look at my piece of art.

Ethan holding up one of his finger puppets and saying "wah!" on the puppet's behalf.

A close up of Ethan's first art piece (or rather the first of Ethan's drawings that landed mostly on a piece of paper and not on the floor or table or wall)

Culinary Adventures

Roast Chicken Stuffed with Celery, Mushroom, Garlic & Onion

Aglio Olio with Shitake Mushrooms and Zucchini

Baked Parmesan Herb Chicken with Country Beans and Potatos (erm.. chicken abit over-baked.. turned out that the recipe said 'oven baked', not 'over baked')

Mango Vanilla Smoothie (the stuff on Ethan's face)

Signs of Growing Up

In mid-Jan, Ethan bade his final farewell to the pacifier. We thought he was never ever going to be weaned off it. But one day, we told him, "ethan, your choot choot spoil' (which was somewhat true because his Po Po lost the cap to one of it). To our surprise, Ethan accepted that to be a reasonable explanation and did not clamour for it again. However, he would, in the ensuing 3 weeks, suddenly turn to us and say "Choot choot spoil!"to which ben and I would exchange knowing looks, nod solemnly and reply "yes, choot choot spoil". He has since stopped mentioning about it and I decided to throw the last of his pacifers this morning. :)

Ethan has also learnt to drink (without much spilling) from a cup. His favourite drink is apple juice, soya bean milk and whatever daddy and mummy are having (which is sometimes coffee or tea or the radioactive green kickapoo that daddy likes, all of which of course we don't give ethan).

Ethan also now brushes his teeth with his own baby toothbrush instead of the finger ones that mummy used to brush his teeth with and have her fingers almost bitten off.


Before

After

Last but not least, ethan had his first paid haircut by the hairdresser who cuts daddy's hair. But it might possibly be the last cos he absolutely hated it (the hair-cutting experience that is, not the hair cut).



"Your love , O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies." Ps 36:5