The Bub in the Belly

(Warning: photo-heavy post)

Christmas eve dinner at Chongqing Hotpot Restaurant, Tanglin Shopping Centre


Ryan and his Aunty Margaret


Christmas service on Christmas morning


Richard and his father


Ryan and his Uncle Jimmy, cousins Jerica and Justin


Ryan and his Aunty Margaret at Christmas dinner, Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck Restaurant, Paragon


Ryan opening his present from Uncle Jimmy and Aunty Margaret


Boxing Day dim sum breakfast at Red Star Restaurant



Justin and me


Boxing Day lunch at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, Dempsey Hill


Ryan and his cousins at Jones the Grocer, Dempsey Hill


Ryan and his Aunty Mary at Clarke Quay

On Christmas Day, giving thanks is easy - thank you Lord for giving your only Son to save us!

Now that I am a parent, I better understand the depth and the power of that sacrifice - it is so utterly unselfish that it could only have been motivated by the greatest of love. That, to me, is the foundation of Christmas, a love so great and so deep for our fellow man that it transcends age, borders, barriers and even religions. If only it can be Christmas Day everyday!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Richard's eldest sister and her family drove down to Singapore today, together with Richard's parents. Thank you for all that they brought with them - cupcakes, gifts, three kids plus lots of goodwill and cheer. Richard's second sister will be flying in tomorrow.

Whatever rituals or traditions are observed or discarded throughout the years, to me, the most important is simply being together at Christmas. Wherever we choose to spend it, however we choose to spend it, it should always be with the people we love.

When Ryan grows up and has his own family, I hope he will still want to spend Christmas with me and Richard. I know there'll always be a stocking hanging for him in my house.

Today I decided to take off early from work and so did Richard. Ryan was at the nanny's so Richard and I had some couple-time alone. We had lunch, did some shopping at the supermarket and came home to play mahjong with some friends. I'm grateful for little moments like these, when we can take a breath, slow down, talk to each other properly and truly appreciate each other's company.

One of Richard's favourite meals is Kentucky Fried Chicken. So it was to his absolute pride and delight that he discovered that Ryan finds it quite palatable (we gave him a little of the meat to try).

I suppose that would be something Richard is very thankful for!

Four days to Christmas, yabba dabba doo!

The next few days will be spent wrapping and delivering gifts, stocking the fridge, tidying up the house for our Christmas houseguests and issuing season's greetings. We will also be preparing Ryan's Christmas gift. Richard came up with a fabulous idea for it (I'll disclose what it is only after it's done, just in case it doesn't work out).

I was reading the newspaper yesterday and there was a report on The Boys' Brigade Sharity Gift Box 2009 . This programme aims to help the less fortunate by collecting food items for them and fulfilling their Christmas wishes. While monetary donations are always welcome, the main focus of the programme is to encourage donors to go beyond purely financial giving. Instead they are challenged to make the extra effort to buy gifts for the less privileged. The intended beneficiary will write his wish down on a tag and these tags are placed at "Wish Trees" at specified locations. The donors pick up a tag and shop for the item wished for. The donors can also buy basic food and household items and deposit these with the Boys' Brigade. The programme has been running for 21 years now and I think it is a wonderful way to help others and to promote community spirit.

Reading the report, what struck me most deeply was that several of the elderly beneficiaries had wished for a saucepan. Can you imagine that? A saucepan. Hopefully with a lid. To cook their noodles or their porridge or their curries. A saucepan for Christmas! When other people are dreaming of luxuries, these people are wishing for saucepans. I felt like carting all my pots and pans, all under-utilised, down to the Boys' Brigade.

These are doses of reality that put things in perspective for me. Whatever I may want for Christmas, ultimately I have all that I need and I'm grateful for that.

Today we went to "Baby Spa" at Northpoint. This is run by the same people who run Hwa Xia (the place where Ryan goes for his tubbing) and everything there is the same as Hwa Xia except that there is an additional tub for up to 4 babies to 'spa' in at the same time. Ryan had a go in this big tub and he enjoyed it very much - he got to move around much more and he didn't feel so restrained.


After lunch at Northpoint, Ryan went for his Shichida class (his last class for this term, the next term starts in January 2010). He got his term report which says, "Ryan was able to concentrate during flash cards especially the concentration cards. He was able to do his ESP games and he showed positive reaction whenever he was prompted by his instructor. Good focus during linking memory and 'which one' activity." Well done baby!

Richard got assessed too, haha! Richard has been accompanying Ryan for his classes since the fourth one and this is what the term report says: "Daddy was really a patient man who could handle Ryan well in class. Daddy was able to minimise Ryan's crying whenever he felt uneasy." Well done, Daddy!

In the evening, we checked out the newly-renovated Mandarin Gallery. Bought a lovely pair of pants for Ryan from there. Then we joined the crowd on the pedestrian walkway outside Ngee Ann City. They were snapping photos with these guys:

The Three Wise Men

The Roman guards (when a Roman guard wishes you Merry Christmas, that's something!)

It's back to work tomorrow... what a lovely five days I've had with Ryan. Can't wait for the Christmas weekend! On that note, I'm thankful to say that the weekend was very productive - we managed to get all our Christmas gifts ready. Phew!

Today we celebrated a birthday of a friend's daughter. She turns 4 today - Happy Birthday Melanie!

It was a small and cozy gathering of old university (Raffles Hall) mates and it was good to catch up with everyone. I'm grateful for old and familiar friends, it's always a nice feeling to know that you are still welcome in other people's lives!

The party was held at The Tanglin Tree. I thought it was a lovely place for kids - there is a small playground outside and the place was not crowded. The service was excellent as well.

Here are some of the shots from the party.