Arrival of Baby Number 3!

Finally, baby number 3 is out! It's been almost a month and this time round, we have engaged a confinement nanny (none during the first 2 deliveries).

With the new baby comes more challenges and it also means we have got to give more love. Love for the 3 girls! The routine starts all over again- the constant wakings to nurse or pump, the clearing of diapers... and the need to divide myself to meet the attention of the 2 elder ones. 

But I am glad to have baby number 3! Imagine how the 3 girls would play together in the near future, and the constant bickering and fighting of course. Our wish now is to hope that baby number 3 will also grow up happily and healthily!

Out at the hospital! Hello there baby!

This shall be the last time we are doing this! (Factory gonna be closed after this! Haha!)

Super love this photo- the 3 sisters in their first photo together! Number 2 was crying because she saw me in tubes and thought I was in pain and Number 1 shushing her in fear of her waking the baby up. They are both sweet in their own ways. I am truly blessed to have them in my life!

Day 2 or 3? Couldn't remember. But this sight melts my heart! Sisters forever! May them be super loving to one another forever!

 Time to go home! In our 2nd hand Doona! I must say, this Doona is very useful! Baby wasn't disturbed during loading and unloading to and from cars! And we got it at a super great deal on Carousell! 

Till the next post! Welcome baby! And she is called Evette! :)

Ice-skating

Hubby and I have been contemplating to send QQ to learn ice-skating ever since she turned 3. However we didn’t because we felt that she wasn’t ready and it would be a sum of money if she didn’t like it. 

Fast forward to her 4th birthday in November, we took her for her first ice- skating session. Since hubby is a great skater, he guided her on the rink while I watched her at the spectator stand with XX. XX has got to wait till she is 3 to join the elder sis at the rink. We have been visiting the rink for a few times ever since.

Since it is the school holiday, I decided to get her to try an individual session with one of the coaches.  30mins of full attention for $70 (excluding admission and rental of skates) at The Rink at Jcube, I felt that it was totally worth the spend. Told her to try one session first and see if she likes it. We could continue if she likes. At first, QQ was quite reluctant. However after the session, she was willing to continue! 

The main reason why I choose to sign her up for individual private session is so that she can get full attention from the coach. This will enable her to improve faster and the coach would be able to correct her immediately. I fear that the coach would overlook some of her flaws and I don’t know if she could be focused enough if there are distractions (other students) if she were to go for group classes. Moreover, individual sessions means I can book QQ’s lessons if my schedule fits the coach’s and that means I don’t have to commit to a fixed timing ever week. 

I must say I was very impressed with the way the coach engaged her this morning. She was friendly and one could tell that she has had experience with small children. I’d like her to teach me too.. hee.. 

We will be going back for another session this Friday (don’t waste the chance since it’s a holiday). After which, I’ve got to see how I can arrange for her lessons since baby 3 will be arriving soon!!!

Ice-skating: dancing on ice.. super like!:)

Kids Fun Place at Hillion Mall

Hillion Mall is a relatively new mall in Bukit Panjang and the indoor playground here is a place that I've been wanting to bring the girls to. So when QQ's classmate's mum suggested that we go there for our play date, I agreed immediately! Holidays are meant to be fun and have lots of fun! So we were the first customers of the day and the children were super excited!

The playground is not too small, which I was amazed. Decorated in nice happy colours, it housed a sandpit (grains type), a moving air filled ship, some cars, a trampoline, some slides with "jungle" type  tunnels where the children could climb around, and some toys for pretend play. One really has to go in to experience the fun!

Emma was super excited and she rushed in after putting on her socks and sanitized her hands, without waiting for the rest of us! Esther had a great time following her sister and the rest of the bigger children! It was really nice watching them play and enjoying themselves. We stayed there for about 2 hours before we left for lunch and had to head back home for naps.

As it is now the school holidays, entry to the indoor playground is priced at $10 per child with adults free. They open at 10.30am and do remember your socks!

Lunch at Chilli Padi

Intended to stay at home today because I felt that I've been going out quite a lot last week (always tired to be truthful). Just wanted to stay at home and read to the girls and do nothing... But the in laws would not be home for the next 2 days (which means they will miss the girls), we decided to have lunch with them today!

My mother in law decided on Chilli Padi at NUS. Hmm, I do not know that there is one there (well, I haven't really been back to NUS ever since I graduated so many years back that I've already lost count).

It was buffet lunch! Not a fan of Peranakan food, I was skeptical on what I could have, more importantly, what the girls could have. After walking one round to check out the food, I was happy that there was something that I could eat!

The girls could have rice, the soup was good! But they chose to have cheong fun, some chwee kueh and hard boiled eggs(which were meant for the mee siam) and the plain buns for the Kong Bwa Pao!
Good enough!

The cafe wasn't too crowded at lunch times, which was great! The main attraction of the cafe was the robotic dish collector! (Call me a mountain tortoise!) We were all pretty attached by the robot that went around collecting dishes from the diners. Haha! The elder one finished her food so quickly that I was amazed because she wanted to let the robot collect her plates! Haha!

There was supposed to be a little play corner but I guess not many children visit this cafe and so it wasn't maintained. There was only a table and a few chairs in the play corner. The elder one brought some of her toys so she could play there. The little one was busily carrying and rearranging the chairs. SO it was still fun for them!

Overall, food was good, ambience was good too! Price was reasonable considering that it was Chilli Padi and buffet! Fro now till 29 September 2017, the cost of one person is $17.90 (usual price: $22.90 if I remember correctly) if you purchase the e-voucher from qoo10! There were 4 adults today and we saved quite a considerable amount! Children under 5 eat for free!

Tokyo Day 2- shopping at Odaiba

I decided that day 2 should be free and easy since we had just arrived and had a late night. So we went to Odaiba for some shopping!

Wanted to visit Nishimatsuya, a store that sells children and baby products! Needed to get diapers and baby food as I had only packed 2 days' worth of necessities. Travelling with 2 children was no joke, at least the packing was insane. So I had to downsize our luggage, packed the bare minimum so that we did not have to carry too much.

Was amazed by the amount of stuffs under each section.

Was delighted to find shelves of baby food!!! Had a hard time deciding what to buy because I wanted to buy all!!! Love the varieties! I heart choices!!

This was where Nishimatsuya was situated at- Decks at Tokyo beach. This was also where the Legoland discovery centre was which we would return a few days later.

   

The shop front.

Afterwhich, we went to Venus Fort for lunch. As the weather was not too cold, the walk was nice and we could enjoy the cherry blossoms along the way.

Theinter

 The European design of the interior of Venus Fort- more like Roman style I suppose?

 The iconic fountain at Venus Fort! 

These were the baby food that I have bought which could not be found in Singapore! They were mostly to be consumed within our stay as I did not want to carry such a load back. I particularly liked the packet porridge by Morinaga. There were 4 packets of 4 different flavours in the box. Could just heat up in hot water and ready to be consumed. Should have bought more of those home!

Father and daughter were super tired..

We walked to Venus Fort for lunch and window shopping after buying our baby essentials. Visited the Toyota car gallery and took some photos with the Ferris Wheel. 

 

Directions to Odaiba: we took the Ginza line to Toyosu where we changed to the Yurikamome line and alighted at Odaibakoen station. 

It was also possible to take the Asakusa line to Shimbashi station and changed to the Yurikamome line where the train would cross the rainbow bridge!

Flying to Tokyo with the 2 Es!

Japan has always been my favourite holiday destination, or rather, one of my 2 favourite destinations. Therefore when my mother in law suggested that we visit Tokyo, I just grabbed the chance and agreed immediately! This would also be the 2 girls' first visit to the wonderful land of sushi, udon  and nice people!

And so, we flew via ANA because it used to be my favourite airlines (after that flight to Honolulu a few years back). I love how the Japanese presents everything! The in flight meals for my 3 year old and 1 yet old simply looked and tasted delicious.

We reached around 7 in the evening and went on to take the Train to Chuo area (near Ginza) to check into our Airbnb. The apartment is a small but cozy and clean place with 2 rooms. My in laws took one and we took the other one with tatami. Easier for the girls too so that they wouldn't roll down the beds.

Our apartment was a recommendation by friends of my mother in law. The owner was a nice lady and she picked us up at the nearest train station with her husband and after which, explained a lot on how to get around the area. A very nice lady, the owner was!

The 2 girls were super excited! They ran around the apartment, touched around and tried on almost everything!! Haha! I would recommend this apartment to families who want to travel to Tokyo, and want the convenience of a kitchen and a washing machine. The location is strategic too with a few metro stations near it. (pm if you need the contacts!)

We set off to sleep and were really excited on our "adventure" the next day!

Cingjing farm

The first time I went there, I told my hubby that we should bring our children here someday. The lovely weather, fresh air and the cute sheep were all worth the effort of driving there. So this place was definitely a must-go this time round.

We set off from Taichung after lunch at around 1pm after we bade goodbye to our friends, who had so kindly hosted us when we reached the day before. We rented a car from 和運 and the drive took about 2 plus hours. This was the 2nd time we drove with the car rental company. This company was recommended by our friends from Taichung, for the wide variety of cars and the efficient and easy procedures. The 2 girls took a short nap on the way up the mountains and we had some peace. Haha!

Cingjing was known as Jian Qing (见晴） farm initially and I thought the name sounded pretty too! Since it was near the closing time of the 青青草园 where the sheep were, we decided to visit the 小瑞士花园, where the windmills and fountain show were. 

A leisurely stroll around the park followed by dinner at Carton King and then checked in to sleep early, i would say we had a pretty great time! Having young children sure inhibited us from doing much during the day, but I thought we had covered a good deal today! 

My dinner! 

 QQ sure had a great time! Eating and drinking stuffs I don't usually allow. Haha!

Look at the 2 sisters! 

 A shot at the fountain!

I love how nicely the toiletries were packed. All with sheep!

Going to the Green Green Grassland the next day!