Stomach Flu

Upset, frustrated and exhausted.

Upset cos Kimi caught the bug as I needed to let him go to school on Thursday. He has not been attending school since last week, averaging once a week. Kimi started throwing up on Friday at 10.10pm. When he threw up the 2nd time at 11.20pm, we whisked him to the hospital.

Frustrated cos the school did not do any sort of clean-up, whatsoever even when one (as far as I know cos I only have this parent's contact) of Kimi's classmate and subsequently teacher had the bug!

Exhausted ... 'nuff said.

Now even hubby has caught the bug. I'm the last man standing ...

"Father God, please keep me strong so I can care for them both!"

Be back soon.

Moscow Houston Part 2

We arrived in sunny Houston, USA on the 28/8/09. It was to be a short 3 days stay. As we had not reserved a car earlier, the car rental branch near our hotel did not carry any car seat. So, there out my outlet shopping and frolicking in the countryside out of the window.

Nevertheless, we make the best of the situation and shoppped near us and ate and ate!

When we were back in Moscow, we were so disappointed that the Moscow Circus was closed as it was the 1st day of school and it had a private performance. Hence, we spent the day at a large amusement park which was rather nice too but we had to pay for every ride despite paying a high entrance fee.

Well, at least Kimi saw some animals and sat on a pony so he was very happy!

Kimi insisted on his hat and sunglasses as we walked to the mall
This shop sold very insteresting puppets - all full sized and lots of detailing! I love the Llama!

This has got to be the best cheesecake I've eaten and we love the food served there too! Cheesecake Factory

My FAVOURITE!!! Carrot Cheesecake. This is the 1st time I eat something and I wasn't sure how to recreate it! I'm still working on it. It's the best carrot cake ever! Yummmm!

Sorry, the photography didn't do justice to the cakes as the lighting was really dim. This is the Lemon Raspberry which was delightfully sour so it didn't feel as heavy.

Look at the row of bottled water we drank! All 35 bottles of them, not including a few large PET bottles too! We were a thirsty family! Haha!!

Kimi's fave finger sign - no.3. Happy to be going for a dip in the hotel's pool.

Back in Moscow and inside the ticketing office of Moscow Circus. Kimi was so disappointed but he was understanding and did not kick a fuss. Good boy, Kimi!

From there, we walked to a nearby park to have our breakfast - bread with jam and Milo

Kimi saying Grace before brekkieThe large amusement park

My lunch - a hotdog wrap. It was rather nice as the crispy pickles was cushioned with a rather bland mash potatoe which was a nice combination. The wrap was too large though so alot of leftover wrap at the bottom with no fillings.

Kimi's ride on the pony

The most expensive toilet I've ever used! And it was jus a hole that you use inside this cubicle. No flushing system and no place for you to wash your hands after, inside or outside of the cubicle. Yikes! I had to slather on loads of sanitising gel after wet wipes! I couldn't use the toilet knowing there are 'goldfish' there! See the lady there? She stays in the cubicle and some of these ladies decorate them like their rooms. I couldn't snap a pix as she looked like she could eat me.

Look at the beautiful 'rainbow' that came about from the scorching sun against the vapour of the large musical fountain. Such a lovely sight!

Kimi sat on this tiger for a pix. It was so tame! Why? Cos it sat up when it's trainer walked towards him. This is what most trained dogs would do.

This bonobo really has the makings of a photo-model. As people gathered, he started posing! Vanity? Keke!

Kimi is so happy... why? Cos I was about to give him his dummy! Haha!

Guess what is the above? It's a bakery kiosk! Many operate their businesses out of such kiosks. Even a sundry shop!

Kimi playing with his playmobil and chomping on his apple. Even as we travel, we try to let Kimi have his servings of fruits. ;)

Moscow Houston Part 1

It was a 10 day working trip for hb and we decided to tag along. It was a rough week cos Kimi was not too co-operative, rather grumpy but he really enjoyed Moscow Zoo. Nevertheless, it was an eye-opener for us all to see how post-communism people lived. Well, if I had a choice, I might not visit Moscow again but I wouldn't mind going into the countryside for a different experience.

Moscow Zoo was a pleasant surprise. Entrance fee was only S$7 and they have loads and loads of animals, really! In Singapore, we have to visit a few places just to see animals, birds, etc. In Moscow, there are all sorts from insects to iguanas to even a cayote and snow leopard and all under 1 roof!

Despite the huge variety, I feel the animals are not as well cared for compared to our Zoo. We were happy to catch a whte tiger a glass panel away and even a family of Gorillas! Moscow Zoo is a must go.

It was past 11pm and Kimi is still awake - too excited to sleep, I reckon. Kimi admiring the water feature at Transit Hall T3
Cute Post Office bus

Kimi snacking on wafer and said it was a turtle. :)

At Hotel in Moscow - See how happy he is?

Lovely! At night the arc will be lit with lights

One of our few family shots - St. Basil's Cathedral

People would throw coins after a wish and this old lady was walking around picking them up. Kimi wanted to imitate her! I had to stop him!!

A rather modern looking high-chair? Useless.. it is fitted with wheels WITHOUT brakes! Kimi was 'skating' away in this. Anyway, it was in Macs

Our 1st Russian meal - and it is Mac Donald's! haha!

At a park inside Red Square

Lovely blooms - even the flowers are so 'disciplined and organised'. Teeheehee!

I really wonder how they keep the minarets/domes so shiny!

Look! How long the escalator is! Going down to the trains

How interesting - wooden escalators and numbered every 5 steps. Organised.

Stroller ramp Russian style. It's for strollers and wheel-chairs

Yay! Moscow Zoo. Kimi's favourite

So happy at the bouncy castle. There is a mini amusement park in the zoo

Kimi patting a horse

Brown Bear!

Cheetahs real close!

A large pond that has all kinds of ducks, flamingoes, etc. Nice. They were even little huts built for these water friends.

Post Updates

These are posts which I've to blog for my record purposes. Pls read if you like, else skip on to the latest for a dose of yummy soup! More updates to come later and oh ya, holiday pix!! Keke!

1) Fire Station Visit

2) Farms and All Things F

3) A Bad Fall

4) Budding Architect

5) Playmobil

6) 28th Month Old Adult?

7) Cutting of 17th & 18th Teeth

8) Kimi Speaks

9) Cutting of 19th & 20th Teeth

Apple Chestnut Soup

We normally do not eat the ingredients except for corn. I love corn and so do Kimi! Above for phototaking purposes. You can discard or eat it if you like.

This is one of Kimi's favourite soup and it is so easy to make and definitely nutritious! Good for keeping bad 'fire' in check and nourishing the lungs and clearing the phelgm.

I like using my thermal cooker these days for cook and forget meals. It frees up my time over the stove. And this soup is one that still taste relatively good despite only in the thermal. Of course nothing beats those 'old fire' soups but well, somtimes we must learn to accept something to preserve some sanity. Haha!

If you do not have any pork ribs, fret not! You can replace it with 1/3 cube of Maggi Chicken Stock Cube (No Msg version).

Ingredients

• 300g pork ribs OR 1/3 cube Maggi Chicken Stock Cube(no msg)
• 1 corn
• 10 pcs of water chestnut, peeled
• 2 small apples or 1 large apple (you can use the Fuji/crunchy variety. Do not use the soft powdery kind)
• 2 small or 1 large honey date

Method

• Blanch pork ribs in boiling water. Remove and rinse with running water.
• In another pot, boil about 1 litre of water, once boiling, add in all ingredients except apples.
• Let it boil on high for 20mins.
• Remove corn silk and cut into sections.
• Add apples and let it boil for another 20mins.
• Remove and place in the thermal cooker.
• Serve 3-5 hours later during meal.
• Add salt to taste if need be (if used chicken stock cube, OMIT this).

Tips

• To save time and heartache, I use pre-peeled vacuum packed fresh water chestnuts. It cuts down loads of time and you won't have to deal with rotten ones. Many times, some look alright on the outside but once peeled, it is rotten.
  
• If you do not have a thermal cooker and want to use the coventional way to boil this soup, you can do so. This soup will probably take about 2 hours to make. Add in the apples only during the last hour. That means, after the first 20mins for high fire boiling, reduce to low fire to simmer and add apples after 1 hour.
  
• If not using pork ribs but only the cube, then add cube and then add the ingredients. Boiling time and adding of apples as above.
  
• Do not use chicken if serving to someone with cough or phelgm

Holiday Peeps

Here's some sneaks to our holiday - more coming up after I get some decent rest! Keke!

Geoboard Fun

I'd never expect to be away from blogging for so long, Wow!

Lots of things had and are happening and we've been really busy now that Kimi staying at home. I'll talk about that in the next posts (I've got so many to back-date!).

We've also just returned from a nice holiday and I'll share that when we are more settled.

I just did this today and Kimi enjoys it! I found this great idea from here. It is not only easy to make (I spent about 20 mins, including drawing out the grid) and cheap too.

This is great for road trips or for whatever distractions you need to throw at them. I've made mine with a white background cos I like things that look 'cleaner'.

Besides learning shapes, I was thinking about making scenes/pictures like a house, tree, sun, etc. Anything. There's quite a bit you can do with this.

I'd recommend that you get those hair bands without any metal connectors so it won't snap and hurt little fingers. I'm going to change mine.

I got all my stuff from Daiso (It's now just next to my home! Yay!). If you like the dark contrast, you can get the black wall coverings. The clear push-pins were out of stock so I just used the colourful ones.

So, you keen to get started? Here's what you need:-

• 1 board
• Some push pins
• Covering with adhesive
• Ruler, pencil and plain paper or graph paper
• A small hammer
• Some hair bands

How?

1. I bought the board that has a bevelled edge and ready for making signs so I don't need to sand and all.
2. Then I drew up my grid. I used a 5cm x 5cm spacing (you can use bigger or smaller).
3. After which I cut the wall paper to fit the board and stick on it.
4. With the grid on top of the pasted on wallpaper, I used the push pin to make a hole-marking.
5. After all the markings been done, I remove the grid and hammer in the push pins.
6. Once that is done, your geoboard is ready!

Board, wall coverings with self-adhesive backing, push pins and hair bands (these were the only ones left). I got everything from Daiso.

Little helper busy with hammering. You can let your little one help you but pls be very careful. This is good for hand/eye co-ordination.
The completed geoboard

Making shapes!

Kimi busy playing. He told papa that he was making a hexagon! Haha!

Kimi giving a thumbs up to his new home-made toy! Yay!