My new found hobby

My Grandpa gave me a gift several weeks back and this is what I have been doing every night before I fall asleep.....

Yes, it is an iPod nano and it's all mine! Grandpa refused to give it to mummy when she asked for one....he said he will only give it to me and he did. :D

So this thing has been accompanying me wherever I go so that I can be kept entertained. I don't listen to the earphones as I find it a hassle to keep that thing in my ears so I just watch it silently and papa has downloaded so many of my cartoons already just for me. He is now looking for a baby earphone for me (if there is one out there).

My class buddy

I have a buddy in my music class whom I got to know several months back and came to like as well. Her name is Christie. We grew fond of each other and we both look forward to seeing each other in class each week.

As shy as she may seems, she only comes and play with me, not to the other children in class. Christie will be going back to Singapore real soon and last week would be the last time for her to attend my class. I am going to miss her for sure as I always ask Mummy where's Christie when I'm in class. She is also the only Singaporean friend I know so far so looks like I got a friend to meet up when I do go there next time.

Take care Christie...please ask your Mummy to keep in touch with us or better still, start a blog as well so that we know what's happening at your end! ;)

Our Christmas Tree

This is our Christmas Tree. It has been around even way before I was born. The pooh bear decors were bought since then and were saved for me for the time when I'm old enough to put it up on the Christmas tree myself.

Looks kind of grand eh?! and that present by its side (thank you Aunty Reena!) looks so big eh?!But how exactly big is the tree? well.....

Mummy actually planned to buy a bigger one this year since I'm old enough to help her decorate but since she spent so much already on our US trip among other things, she thought we will just postponed this idea to next year. But after realizing how small it is now, papa suggested that we go buy a bigger one. We shall see....

Feeling better now

Just an update on my fever. Sunday night was the last of the fever. It is the first time for me to have a fever that lasted 6 days but according to one of Mummy's cousins, her kids also have this now and then.

Anyhow, I'm still coughing although not that bad and have a little runny nose now and then. At least, I don't have to see any doctors for now although I do ask for "Dr Poo" (Dr. Foo) when Mummy mentioned doctors to me. I think she's reserving my usual Dr. Lee to be the bad guy for jabs and Dr. Foo for the "emergencies".

I'm extra clingy these days, actually I have been throughout our US trip and even more so when we came back home after that. Mummy claims I'm more naughty now and Papa will defend me by saying that I'm not well which explains it but Mummy is not convinced. Will post on this another time.

Mummy's entry - Monterey Bay

We left LA around 11am to head to Monterey Bay. The journey took us about 8 hours, including stops in between. We took the scenic route, Highway 1, which was very beautiful indeed and certain parts of the oceanic view reminded me of the Great Ocean Road in Australia.

Our first stop (other than pee and food stops) was at this place where we could see some elephant seals. It was interesting to see how lazy these seals were, well...lying there under the sun.

Halfway through the journey, the road was very winding and it didn't occur to us that the girl may get car sick. We put the car seat in between so that her papa and I can both attend to her throughout the journey. I guess that made it worst for her as towards the end of our journey as we're about half an hour away from Monterey Bay, the poor girl threw up. This was the first time ever that she had motion sickness. She didn't get this at all when we went up Genting Highlands or Cameron Highlands. I guess BIL (brother-in-law) was also driving kind of fast as we were trying to reach our destination before it gets dark which didn't help the poor girl.

After we arrived at the hotel, we settled down for a bit before heading out for dinner. We drove around trying to see what to eat and after a while, we decided to eat at Denny's which was very near to our hotel. I've been hearing about this restaurant (a common chain in US) for a long time now and so, it was good for me to try it out. Unfortunately for us, the service wasn't that good though and the waiter messed up our orders.

a post with BIL, her "unca j-chern" (uncle jason)

posing with her rocket cup that we got for her from the restaurant

Since it was getting late and the girl was eating so slowly (her usual bad habit), we told SIL and BIL to drive back as we can walk back to the hotel. And what a bad idea that was. Throughout our whole US trip, this night was the coldest ever and I was shivering all the way back. Hubby was carrying the girl while I ran like mad to the hotel. I think it was partly due to this (and the lack of sleep) that lead to my sore throat the next day.

The next day, we headed to Monterey Bay's Aquarium. According to SIL, this aquarium is one of the best in US and she was right, we enjoyed it alot! We saw so many marine lives that we won't see in a life time diving (well, for me anyway as I'm not into deep sea diving and i've not been diving since I was pregnant with the girl!)

feeding time


The different types of jelly fishes.....

doesn't this reminds you of "finding nemo"?

And the best part of the aquarium was the deep sea aquarium inside whereby you get to see a Great White Shark as well as the mola-mola (ocean sunfish) among other fishes. Hubby and I nearly had the chance to see the sunfish when we were in Bali for diving 4 years back but when we heard the current was pretty strong out there in the deep sea, we both decided to skip it and only saw the photos taken by hubby's brother. So when we both saw the sunfishes (they had two) at this aquarium, we were stunned and spent a fair bit at that section! It was hard to take pictures of them as we were not allowed to have flashes so the following are the best we got. Don't you think they look so pre-historic? Ugly for sure and yet so beautiful at the same time...hehe!

The girl was pretty well behaved throughout the time we were at the aquarium. Of course, she was running here and there and we had to take turns to keep our eyes on her especially when we were looking at the sunfishes. That aquarium was so huge, like a showcase! She was very keen with the marine lives too, repeating the names of them after we have told her. But she wasn't so keen in touching what we could at the "touching zone" areas. She would only play with the water while the rest of us would touch the kelp, star fishes, etc. This was the same at the other aquarium at Las Vegas as well as the little aquarium they had at the pier at Manhattan Beach in LA. She don't really like animals, afraid of touching them (this is why I delay in taking her to the zoo) and if any one comes near her like cats or dogs, she will start crying in fear. Definitely not my genes! ;)

After the aquarium, we had lunch and then headed off to 17 mile drive and also to Pebble Beach. When I heard of this, I didn't know what it was and why was it a tourist attraction. We had to pay to enter this 17 mile drive if you're visiting (they have loads of very nice houses in that area), I was just curious as to how would they know whether you're a visitor or not. Anyway, it was a beautiful drive and I didn't exactly read the leaflet they passed out at the entrance of the drive so I'm not in a good position to explain the history of this place. But I know for sure that Tiger Wood got famous when he won the championship here in 2000! And after we left that drive, I'm also dead curious as to who own those beautiful houses in that area. ;)

both of them konked out in the car on the way to 17 drive mile, had to force hubby to wake up when we were at the starting point of the drive

I think this was at the highest peak of the drive

This is their signature tree...I forgot why is it so important but I think it has got something to do with it being isolated on that piece of rock!

We stopped by Pebble Beach and while we, SIL, BIL and I wandered off on our own on the beach, the girl woke up and Hubby brought her down to join us...

her papa taking her for a walk among the dead kelp (would you believe that these kelp has a lot of uses in our products we used daily like yoghurt, toothpaste, etc)

a family pic

We stopped by later at one of the famous and most expensive golf course in the world, sorry, I forgot the actual name but I know it has got to do with Pebble Beach! ;)

Waiting for me as I was wandering around the place by myself!

Later that night, we went to the pier but couldn't find any restaurants that was of interest to us so we hung around for a bit before deciding to eat at Carrows (another common chain in US, similar to Denny's).

taking a spin on the car at the pier

Rye Li giving us that "see-how-strong-my-uncle-jason-is" look

this was where the girl slept at our room, kidding! we had a baby cot for her but she found it amusing that she can fit in the drawer.

The next morning, after breakfast, we headed off to San Francisco. On the way there, we stopped by a fruit farm to buy some fruits....

we never knew that brussel sprouts grew like this! hehe...interesting.

the girl enjoying the strawberries we got, they were really huge and mostly very sweet!

look at how big the strawberry farm is and it was like this for a long stretch of our drive!

Next to the fruit shop, there was a pumpkin patch and we decided to get some pictures as we don't get this at all back home.

This was also when the girl started her runny nose and cough, no thanks to me. Will post on San Francisco next....stay tuned!

Haven't recovered!

I’m still not well since our US trip more than 2 weeks back. It was like a roller-coaster ride, when we thought that my cough was just about to get better, I somehow caught some germs and it became worst again. The medicine was not helping either (mummy actually stopped giving it to me, thinking I can recover on my own). So when I started coughing in the night and vomited again on Monday night, Mummy decided to take me to the doctor the next day.

Again, my doctor was not in (he’s on leave), so we saw Dr. Foo (the one we saw when we landed to KL). After checking me, (I let him checked me hesitantly this time without making such a big fuss like I always do when I see doctors), he claimed again that it is the common flu and the reason why I wasn’t recovering fast was that I’d probably got some other germs that started the whole cycle again. Mummy told him that at least I’ve not gotten any fever since falling sick 3 weeks back.

She spoke too soon! That night itself, when I came back from the nursery, my fever started, it was at around 38 degrees. So I was given the fever medicine before my bed time and another one in the middle of the night when my fever came back. I didn’t have any fever while at the nursery the next day but it came back again that evening when I came home. And this time it went up to 39 degrees.

Since papa was so worried that I may have dengue, I was brought back to the doctor the next day. This time, even though my usual doctor was in, we still went and see Dr. Foo as I requested for him. Mummy asked me if I want to see Dr Lee (my regular doctor) or Dr Foo and I replied “Doctor Poo”. I really like him and I will tell you why later.

Dr. Foo checked me again and (I only made a little fuss) he confirmed that I do not have any infection from what he could observe physically. He said that it is common to have fever with the flu and that it should go away after a few days. To keep Mummy’s and Papa’s worries to rest, he said that if my fever doesn’t go away by Saturday morning, they should bring me in to do a blood test.

That night itself, my fever came back and the same on Friday night. And off we went to the hospital again on Saturday morning. Mummy asked me whether I want to see Dr. Lee or Dr. Foo and I replied “Doctor Poo”. I think she wanted to go back to my original doctor but she gave me the benefit of the doubt. And when I saw Dr. Foo, I didn’t make any fuss at all when he checked me this time. Again, he said all was alright, no infection from the physical check but said to test my blood instead.

So we went to the lab and were greeted by this friendly uncle but I wasn’t that fooled easily. He tried to take my attention away with a toy while another uncle was playing with my right hand, concentrating on my third finger. But I wasn’t fooled easily and kept looking at what the other uncle was trying to do with my finger. Next thing I knew, Mummy covered my eyes and I felt such pain on my finger that I screamed in pain and cried. I tried pulling my hand away but I couldn’t and kept crying. The pain went on for several minutes as the uncle kept pressing on my finger so hard. The friendlier uncle tried to calm me down by saying “Uncle give you a lollipop okay?” and I nodded my head yes while crying so hard! Finally, the task was over but they left a plaster on my finger which I wanted it out but Mummy said later. The friendlier uncle gave me a lollipop which I willingly took.

We had to wait for nearly an hour for the results and when the results came, we had to see Dr. Foo again. He confirmed that I have a viral infection and not any bacteria infection. So he said that there is no medication (antibiotics) that can help my viral thingy and that my body need to heal by itself. I just need medication to ease my cough, phlegm and fever. He also said that the blood test doesn’t show any dengue nor urinary tract infection. And to put Mummy’s and Papa’s worries to rest again after they had so many questions to ask, he said that if my fever don’t go away in 4-5 days time, to bring me back again to do another blood test.

As to why I like this doctor…he actually took the time to bond with me. On my very first visit there, he tried to but I didn’t allow him and cried throughout the check. On my second visit there, I also cried once I entered his room (this is what I always do immediately when I enter the doctor’s room). Since mummy couldn’t talk to the doctor in between my shouts of “I wan go owchide” (I want to go outside), she took advantage of Dr. Foo’s toy corner which had a little table full of toys with little chairs around it. It worked as I stopped crying and played by myself there while she talked to Dr. Foo. And while I played, Dr. Foo joined me to play with me. Then he distracted me with his toys on his desk which worked as I got up to go there. I told him “I wan dat one!” (I want that one) pointing to another toy on his desk. Then he asked me to sit on Mummy’s lap which I didn’t want to but Mummy took me anyway. I didn’t cry though coz I got to be closer to his toys on his desk. And while I played there, he took me by head and put his forehead against mine as if he wants to play with me. Then he asked my permission whether he can check me which I said no while I shook my head. Then he brought out his stethoscope and said he will check on Mummy instead and showed me. Then he said he will now check me and I let him since it’s over my shirt. When he put the stethoscope under my shirt, I made some my fuss but he managed to distract my attention to his toys. Then when he wanted to check my ears, I also made some fuss but both Mummy and him managed to distract me by saying there’s Mickey mouse in my ears. Next, when he wanted to check my mouth, after coaxing me several times, I opened my mouth to let him see. In between checking me, I kept saying “I wan go deh, I wan chor-chor (Cantonese: sit) deh” (I want to go there, I want to chor-chor there), indicating that I want to go to his toy corner and sit there. But Mummy said later and when Dr. Foo was done with me, Mummy let him down to play.

On my third visit there, I was happy going in to see him although I made a fuss once I saw the hospital. I recognize the hospital already and I associate it with the doctors. Mummy reminded me that I can go play with Dr. Foo toys and I was alright after that. This time we saw Shireen, Dr. Lee’s nurse and Mummy told her that I asked for Dr. Foo since I get to play with his toys. Think mummy felt guilty so she took the time to explain to her why we ended up at Dr. Foo’s instead. But Mummy like Shireen as she is really a nice lady, she always remember who we are and she is really friendly too. We can’t say the same for Dr. Foo’s nurses though. Anyway, after I was done with Dr. Foo, I refused to leave his room. I wanted to stay at his toy corner but Mummy forced me to leave the room.

On my forth visit to Dr. Foo, I didn’t even make any fuss at all. I let him checked me willingly which surprised both Mummy and Papa. I even told Dr. Foo that I wanted to play at his toy corner which I didn’t get to. As the next thing I knew I had to go to do the blood test which was no fun at all although I got a lollipop out of it.

It’s Sunday night now and I’m still having fever, my sixth night of fever. Funny though that it only comes at night. If the fever doesn’t go away by next Tuesday night, I will be brought in again to see the doctor for sure. I hope that it goes away!

Another thing why I don’t mind seeing Dr. Foo, Mummy promised me sweets when I’m done seeing him. So when I hear Dr. Foo, I asked for sweets! :)

Our updates on the rest of our US trip is still not up yet…please be patient yea. Mummy has been busy with work and when she’s not at work, she’s busy with me.