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!

Cutting of 19th & 20th Teeth

Finally, the last menancing 2 and we are DONE!!

Kimi Speaks

Many a times, I've been telling myself that, "oh, I need to get that down on paper/blog so that we can remember all these cute conversations". Kids really grow up too fast, too soon!

Some of these conversations date a few months back ... yup, should have done it soon so I'll remember the dates, but I didn't.. :(

1) I normally clip up my hair when we have our showers at night together. This happened during that period where it was SUPER warm and the air-con was not cooling down fast enough. So I left my clip on...

Kimi : Mama, take out, not nice!

Me : I was shocked! Where did he learn about what is nice & what is not? And he insisted till I removed the clip.

2) Kimi absolutely loves jelly and what he likes, he will guard fiercely. At lunch with our friend, Janice.

Janice : Kimi, can you share your jelly with Aunty Janice?

Kimi (turning to me) : Aunty Janice don't like jelly.

** He did the same to my mil later that night. Telling me that my mil didn't like it...so he needn't share ya? Haha!

3) I was on the way to pick hubby where we passed this stretch of empty land overgrown with trees. It had a slope so we can see the flat land area until after some distance.

Kimi : Mama, what is this?

Me : It's an empty land overgrown with trees, vegetation and grass. It's called a forested area.

Kimi : So many animals inside the jungle there! (He can get quite imaginative esp during pretend play)

Me : Oh is it? What animals are there inside?

As we approached the tappering of this higher land to a flat piece ... Kimi ignored my question and asked,

Kimi : Mama, what is this?

Me : It's a piece of empty land same as what you saw earlier. It's not a jungle, that's how it looks but we can't see it earlier because of the slope.

Kimi : No animals, animals in the zoo.

Me : *O* - surprised! It's amazing how quickly he can change his thoughts.

4)We were getting ready to go to the Park to feed the fishes when I thought I had better let Kimi have his fruit instead of after the outing. Reckon he may be too tired to eat later.

As I busied myself with peeling the apple, Kimi as usual stood on a stool and propped himself next to me. Just when I pushed the apple divider into the apple (it opens up like a flower which Kimi sees all the time),

Kimi exclaimed, "Wow!! Mama so clever!".

It's so nice to be praised sometimes especially from your son! :)

Cutting of 17th & 18th Teeth

Isn't it about time that these are out?? Am glad they are! Wow! Almost a year ago when Kimi last cut a tooth! Another 2 more and we are DONE!! I really look forward to NO MORE of all these teething woes!

28th Month Old Adult?

It's been a while since I last recorded Kimi's achievements. It seemed like just yesterday when he was learning to sit up, pull himself up and walk. Well, in this post, I shan't blog about his abilities but Kimi as a growing individual.

Well, he has progressed much ... he CAN argue with me now. Kimi didn't really start speaking as quickly (according to my aunty's milestone. But frankly, I do not find it any late at all!). He started to speak more intensely (is this how I should put it?) at around 21 months or so. But once he got started, I am amazed how quickly he caught up and he even knows how to use past tenses! Eg, when he sees my grocery bags, he would say. : "mama bought ....", etc.

At 28 months today, Kimi sure is fussy like me, in many ways (sad to say too). He chooses even which underwear he wants to wear and only if he feels like it that day else he wants to have diaper instead. We have flatly refused nakedness waist down in our house, much to Kimi's dismay. He is absolutely crazy over Wu Bai and dictates which song he wants to hear. Hubby & I have no say these days ...

Like me, he has a habit of putting back items in the right place when it has fallen over or mis-positioned. I tried it on him a few times and he will re-arrange it.

Ahhhh, how Kimi loves water and his showers! There were a few times when we went out and came back a little late and I just thought I could do a quick wipe down and sent him to bed. But, no, he will contest for a shower! In a way, I'm glad he's like me, loves a shower before jumping into bed!

Sometimes I feel I have OCD. I get paranoid with Kimi touching anything and everything. And of cos, Kimi LOVES touching and pulling everything! So, I'm always cleaning his hands. So much so that now Kimi will say, "clean hands, germs". In fact, there were a few times, he told me to clean his face too cos it was a little sweaty. I had cleaned it earlier though and didn't think it was necessary. How? What have my little baby turned into? Oh dear!

Now, I really dislike how Kimi LURVES to parrot me. Especially on days when I'm in a hurry (which days am I not in a hurry?). Conversation just before bedtime and it was really late already ...

Me : Kimi, do you want milk?

Kimi : Kimi, do you want milk?

Me : Yes or no?

Kimi : Yes or no?

Me : C'mon, hurry up, you want milk or not?

Kimi : C'mon, hurry up, you want milk or not?

Me : C'mon, Yes or no?

Kimi : Yes No.

Me - Fuming and made the milk

(on looking back, I can laugh but whenever Kimi does a parrot, I really do not feel funny at all)

Last 2 months, I sometimes find Kimi asking me questions that can really put me in a fix. He was watching National Geographic and he suddenly said, "Orrh, elephant died already, no more". I was shocked and couldn't understand how and where he learnt about life/death. Perhaps it's from the Bible stories which I have been reading to him about Jesus' rise from death?

And another time, there was this show which the actress was having a spa/massage and had her top off. Kimi asked me point-blankly, "Why take out shirt?". I was stunned a few seconds before I could explain that the lady was having a massage and needed to rub the oil on her. He knows about oil cos whenever he falls, I would apply Chinese Oil and he will ask for it whenever he has a painful/serious bump.

Recently, Kimi is also more open to speaking Mandarin and he is picking it up at lightning speed! I'm so proud of him! Kimi is full of cheeky antics that can either deliver a heart attack or let you laugh till you ached at your sides.

It's utterly stressful to bring up this rambunctious, attention-seeking, demanding, super-active, loud, independent, food-hater, strong-willed adult trapped in a toddler's body BOY but when he is sweet, he is very very sweet. The best Mother's Day gift for me this year (altho a little late) is ..... simple words from an innocent heart. It's far better than any present you can buy.

Today as Kimi turns 28 months, this was what he said to me when I handed him his milk before his afternoon nap, " Mama, thank you milk. Mama, bless you!"

Totally shocked and touched beyond imagination. I hadn't taught him any of this and I'm just happy and grateful that he is learning to appreciate others.

My wish for Kimi is to be happy and healthy always, Happy 28th months Darling!

Ebiko Lotus Salad

We have been rather busy and I've been lazy too. Here's a salad which I NOW love and I promise there will be more back-dated posts to be posted soon! :) Patience hor? :)

This salad is not only so easy to put together but so yummy, I love it! You can alternately the ingredients and add/remove what you like/dislike. That's the beauty of salads ya? This salad tastes wonderful when it is very chilled!:)

Recipe (Not even a recipe just what I throw in! keke)

• Fresh lotus root
• Cherry tomatoes
• Blueberries
• Ebiko (Japanes orange coloured fish roe)
• Japanese mayonaise (prefered, else the norm also can)
  

Method

1. Remove skin of lotus root and slice it thinly. Let it stand in a bowl of salt water for 5-10mins
2. Remove and dry lightly and let it stand in fridge to dry up moisture (optional)
3. Add in the rest of ingredients and stir in the mayo till well distributed
4. Return to fridge to chill and chomp when ready

Tips

• I did not have any avocado else it would have been a lovely addition to this salad. There is absolutely no fast rule to this salad, you can toss in some cubed apples, surimi, smoked salmon, pineapple, peaches or whatever that's in your fridge!

Playmobil

When hb and I were small, we loved Playmobil! So, when hb saw this huge farm set in Germany, he knew he got to get it for Kimi. Maybe it's more for himself? Keke!

I still love this toy!! You can have so much fun with it and it's such a quality toy. Playmobil was out of Singapore's scene for a long time but it is making its way back now.

We did not let him have the whole set all at once. Hb built the larger parts with Kimi (yes! with Kimi, you'd be amazed how they can take instructions and work those little fingers with intricate parts meant for 4 year olds!) and let him play with those first. We intend to let slowly let him take a few out each time.

Kimi loves his barn house!! You can start with a small set. There are so many themes to choose!! Check this out!

Kimi posing with his new toy
Eager to start fixing everything NOW! This child simply has ZERO patience!

Enjoying his first stage of the barn house - bringing in all his animals besides the Playmobil ones

Beautiful toy - Oops, see Kimi's little hand stuffing the horse thru the window? Haha!

Budding Architect

Don't you think that is such a beautiful structure? Well, I do. See how Kimi co-ordinated the pitch roofs to its respectively colour? I'm seeing Kimi displaying more and more traits like these - attention to details and colour co-ordination.

He's quite a perfectionist like me. I worry about that cos I don't want him to BE like me. I'd rather he be more flexible than a stubborn old cow like me. :( But architects have to be meticulous ya? Lol!

A Bad Fall

Kimi is such an active child that I need to keep tabs on him every other 10sec - I mean it. I had just gone into the kitchen to bring Kimi's dinner out when this happened. Thinking that hubby is in the hall with him would be fine. Well, accidents happen.

Kimi rammed into the window and slice his nose on the window pane! The next thing I heard was this most bone-chilling cry which all mothers know it's not the normal kind of wailing. My heart dropped and I knew something was bad.

I ran out and picked him up but didn't see any blood. But within the next few seconds, it oozed out and I could see that the flesh on his nose was 'pushed' up.

Then to stop the bleeding and to reduce swell, I had to push the flesh down - harrowing isn't it? After calming him down, I needed to check how bad the injury was. So I asked Kimi to blow his nose and he did it willing and without any fear and he didn't scream in pain either. In fact, Kimi calmed down very quickly. What a brave boy!

That somehow gave me some relief as I knew he didn't break his bridge or had serious nose injury. Then we rushed him to the clinic.

Thank God, there were no internal injury. He was back to his old self even before leaving the clinic.

At the clinic, waiting for Dr to check

Back home - happy and enjoying his apple!