The Bub in the Belly

Christmas 2013 was a very, very quiet affair; the most low-key Christmas that we've had in a long time.

The first thing we did on Christmas morning was to check for evidence of Santa Claus. The children had set out biscuits and a drink for him before they went to bed and, in the morning, Ryan was excited to note that the food and beverage had been half-consumed.



In the two weeks leading up to Christmas, Ryan visited Santa Claus at T3 Changi Airport twice. The first time was when he was filming a commercial at the airport. After we wrapped, and had dinner, Ryan wanted to go to Singkids but, having already spent the whole day there, Richard and I weren't keen on spending another two hours at the airport plus we had to fetch babydoll from her nanny. So we brought him to the Spongebob Squarepants pineapple house. Next to that, was Santa's lodge. Ryan was pleased as punch to see Santa. Ryan called him "Mr Santa".


The second time Ryan met Santa Claus was when we met up with Brayden and his parents at T3 for dinner and play. In addition to the pineapple house and Santa's lodge, the boys jumped around in the gigantic Spongebob Squarepants Bouncy Castle. After that, all of us took a ride on the airport shuttle train. The boys had tons of fun, as always.


Anyway, back to Christmas morning. The next item on the agenda, after checking Santa's leftovers, was to check the Christmas stockings. Ryan was over the moon to find a pair of yo-yos in his stocking. He opened the packet up straightaway and spent the next half hour learning to play it.

The rest of the present-opening followed the same pattern. Ryan would open a present and excitedly insist on playing with it straightaway. Some of the gifts involved assembly, like a scooter from his nanny and an inflatable football goal, so, as you can imagine, we took forever to get through his presents. In fact, we didn't open all of them and some are still unopened even now.

We went to church after that and, for Ryan's benefit, we went to the contemporary service - he enjoyed dancing and singing along to the music and survived the entire service. Babydoll needed to walk about a bit so I took her for a short jaunt around the grounds during the sermon.

We spent the rest of the day at home. For dinner, we chose a quiet meal at Cafe Melba, where the staff were very taken with the two littles and spent most of the evening trying to catch their attention.

So, that was Christmas 2013. Quiet, mellow, and peaceful.

It was quite a fun meet up and we got to meet some familiar faces (from previous meet ups) and some new ones too.

The next day, Ryan's friends, Brayden and Rou Ern, came over to play. Of course, their families came too!

Richard and I spent the earlier part of the day at the cinema (watching The Hobbit) and at the supermarket and deli picking up stuff for the gathering.

The gathering was, as always, a ball of fun for the kids. There was miniature tree-trimming for the three toddlers.


An impromptu puppet show about the story of the birth of Jesus.


Some fooling around with Shann, which sent the kids into peals of laughter as they chased her up and down the place.


There was food of course. Simple fare, given that there were only six adults among us. Richard whipped up our long-time specialty, fried instant noodles, and I tossed some spaghetti. We picked up some pork knuckle and rotisserie chicken from the deli (and I made a simple gravy for that), while Chris and Alicia brought the ham. There was chicken alphabet soup for the kids and I made some trifle for dessert. Shann brought a fruit cake, although we didn't get around to eating it.


Rachel yummed some of the spaghetti, together with the rocket and cherry tomatoes.




Not forgetting these two lovely cards from Brayden and Rou Ern which came for Ryan!



Christmas Day was another quiet day at home. We were quite tired from all the festivities and I'm still a little under the weather.

Ok, that's all from us. We are off to KL tonight! It's a spur of the moment decision! Yesterday, I was just telling a friend, Geraldine, that we didn't have any plans to travel during this time, and this afternoon, Richard said to me, let's pack up and go! Looks like I have to eat my words! We'll be back on Tuesday. Enjoy the last weekend of 2012!  

I wanted to check out Heguru because, from what I understand, its philosophy and approach are very similar to Shichida's. According to stuff I've read here and there in the past, which may or may not be accurate, the Heguru founders previously operated a Shichida school in Tokyo but later withdrew from the franchise to set up Heguru. There are a few differences between the two methods but, by and large, the two methods are based on the same theories and it would be pointless to measure one against the other. Each has its strengths and, in any event, results largely depend on a culmination of factors, including home environment and parental involvement.


Whatever its origins, Heguru has evolved into a brandname in its own right and is well-established in Japan for right-brain training and early childhood education. In particular, its students are well known in Japan for being able to do wave-reading (Hado reading). It is utterly amazing to watch the students perform wave-reading and watching them, you really start to wonder about the latent potential in all of us which can be realised with the correct training. Personally, I don't need my children to be able to do Hado reading but the fact that the Heguru students are capable of doing this is, to me, a sign that the method is on the right track when it comes to training the right brain. In any case, I understand that the focus of the programme that Heguru is presently offering in Singapore will not be on Hado reading, but rather, on helping the child build a strong foundation for learning in the future.

I mentioned in a previous post that there are three Heguru schools opening up in Singapore in January 2013. These are located in the west, east and central part of Singapore, respectively. Each one is independent of the other and they each have slightly different names, so if you are looking for information on a particular centre, you will need to go directly to that centre.

The centre nearest to us is the one at Eunos, which is having an open house this Saturday (22 December 2012) and another one next Saturday (29 December 2012). You can get the details on their website here. Also on the website, you can watch a video of the students doing Hado reading.

I had the opportunity to speak with the principal and the teachers from the Eunos centre and they are really lovely and warm people, all very keen and interested in right-brain training and early childhood education.

This is after he finished the outside track. After this, he added some landscape features, like a tunnel and some buildings, but I didn't get a photo of that.


Ok, so this is me signing off, have a good weekend everyone!

In the afternoon, we went to a party hosted by one of Ryan's classmates. Yes, the fun never stops. It was a "tree-trimming" party, although most of the kids were not interested in the tree and the few kids who were interested probably spent two minutes on the tree. They were more happy to be playing with all the toys in the place.

The grown-ups mingled and chatted without being tied to their children and there was a comfortable vibe all around. We were quite a large group and we filled up the space but there was a warm communal feeling. It was a lovely affair.


Ryan started feeling unwell towards the end of the party. He was really good though - he didn't fuss or cry or make any demands. He just climbed into my lap and when I asked him whether he wanted to stay, he just whispered, "I want to go home." So we went home and we let him sleep it off.


It's mid-week already! Time is going by so quickly and I still have tons that I want to get done in the next couple of weeks both at work and outside of work. I'm planning to have a quiet day in the office today to tackle a good part of my to-do list!

There was a cosy nook, with cushions and soft lights, for story telling (Christmas stories, of course).  There was a simple food and drinks stall as well - we skipped that! The stall that we were most interested in was the one selling cookbooks! Haha! Actually they were selling a special recipe book compiled by the school. The school asked the parents/students to contribute a family recipe each (with a photograph) for the book. Proceeds from the sale of the book also go to charity. I contributed a "tang yuan" recipe (glutinuous rice dumplings) with a photo of Ryan and me rolling the little dumplings. We picked up a copy.

The highlight of the event, at least for us, was Ryan's class singing "Jingle Bells" in Mandarin! Richard has the video of it on his phone and I'll get that uploaded soon. In the meantime, here are some photos!

This is Ryan's class. They are standing in a circle so not all are visible. Also, not all of his classmates are here. The fair was held in the evening, outside school hours and it is not compulsory to attend. The children are in their own clothes and not in their school uniform, as you can see. It was a very casual thing. The students in each class just steps up and sings a song and their audience is just their parents and class teachers. The other adults are roaming around the grounds with their own children.



This is the first time we've seen Ryan perform a song! He did great! All the children were wonderful and so so so cute!


It was a funny feeling for me, watching him perform. To see him confidently going through the moves and singing the lyrics - wow. He never practised the song at home, at all. It hit me that, now that he is in preschool, he really does have his own little life which is separate from me. His teachers, his classmates - they all have a part of him every day, a part which I don't. It's a feeling that I'm experiencing more and more, which makes me treasure the time that we spend together even more.

Ryan had to go for a fitting this evening for an advert that he is shooting on Monday. All went well and we went for a fast food dinner after that at McDonald's. The shoot has been postponed a couple of times, so hopefully it will really take place on Monday and we can focus on Christmas!

Yes, Christmas is near! I know I keep talking about it! I just love this time of year. I still have decorations to put up and gifts to prepare - it all adds to the merry mood!

In other news, Rachel is putting in lots of effort in learning to crawl now and I think she will be up and going very soon!

Haha! Actually, we were at the market for breakfast and to pick up some meat and vegetables for our kitchen. Yes, that's Ryan in the queue behind a stranger for the ATM in the last photo (I was queuing behind him).

I spent the rest of the afternoon studying while Richard cooked a soup for our lunch. I tried to put Ryan down for a nap but he steadfastly remained wide awake so we bit the bullet and set off for the playdate just before 5 pm.

The playdate was tons of fun for the children, as always. I do think that, everytime they get together, their friendship strengthens and they play better and easier together. Rachel was happy too. She was awake pretty much the entire time, unlike on the previous occasion we met up. 

I didn't take photos except for this one of Rachel. Chris handled the phototaking and gave us some prints on the spot. Chris and Alicia were wonderful hosts and they have a lovely place. We felt very at ease. The children were entertained non-stop and Alicia even prepared a vegetable-stamping activity for them - which ended up as a paint-the-vegetable activity instead, haha!


We ended the evening close to 11 pm and the moment we got home, I went back to studying. Only got to bed at about 3.30 am but my assignments are done! I can finally focus on Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas - here's our first Christmas tree shot taken at International Plaza after Shichida class on Sunday. Rachel is in the carrier, if you look very closely.


I spent the rest of Sunday afternoon cooking - something soothing and brainless after all that studying - and, in the evening, Ryan and I went to the playground while Richard and Rachel stayed home. Ryan has taken a fancy to climbing lately and it does scare me, although I think I have been able to hide my fear from him.


Here he is on the way home from the playground, looking very happy with his kick scooter and wearing the helmet that Ee Fann and Shann bought for him. Thanks very much for the helmet!