Vacation in WA- Day03

It's Perth Zoo day! I was very excited because it's the first time we'd be seeing animals since we arrived. I mean that's one of the reason we went to Australia in the first place.

However, Perth zoo was erm... not worth your time at all. As you'll see in the pictures, it was so boring I almost feel asleep walking about. Now I know why the Singapore Zoo is one of the best in the world.

We thought it'd be a good idea to let Aidan ride in this so he won't be too tired walking about. Alas, seemed like we didn't know our son at all! He only sat in it for about 3 mins.

The rest of the time, he was pulling it. No kidding, I don't know where this kid get his strength. It is a very heavy cart. See the size of that thing compared to Aidan?

And so he continued pulling it. He didn't want any help at all. If we were to help, he'd pushed us away or yell or stopped at his tracks.

And he pulled for the rest of the way. I think for more than 1hr. Might as well because there was no interesting animals to see at all. Most of them were out of sight and even the kangaroos in the Singapore zoo looked happier.

The final stretch before returing the cart. I don't think Aidan looked at any animals at all.

This huge GIANT tortoise (not turtle) was perhaps the most exciting thing in the zoo.

And this midget of a monkey. Really there's nothing else worth looking at.

So don't go to Perth Zoo if you're there. Really a waste of time. Go to the Caversham Wildlife Park instead. It's a million times better. Will blog about that later.

I wanted to eat fish and chips again so it's back to Fremantle. Here's a first family pic of us against the setting sun. Funny enough, the only time Aidan would stay still and smile at the camera is when we're all taking the picture together. I would say: "Aidan, Daddy and Mummy and Aidan take a picture" and he would co-operate. After which, he would say: "more, more". So cute :)

Vacation in WA- Day02

Day 2 in WA and we're going to Fremantle!

This is the house we stayed for the first 4 nights in Hilarys. How much does a house this big cost in Sg? During vacation is probably the only time we get to live in a landed bungalow. It feels very shiok!

Our first stop! Brekkie at a very nice cafe.

Ok, we didn't know at that time that the portions are so huge and being the very greedy family that we are, we ordered 3 brekkie mains! When they came, I was thinking oh no...how to have fish and chips for lunch later? This is Aidan's pancake! Looks yummy?

DH's usual brekkie...his favourite toast, eggs and sausages.

Look at my eggs benedict! I am not even a fan of eggs but this is the yummiest egg benny ever!

Aidan forgoing the cutleries and just biting into his pancake. Smart kid.

After breakfast, we went to the Fremantle market. This is quite disappointing. It's really small. I love the Victoria market in Melbourne and this in comparison is a peanut.

While packing for our trip, I found this never used before hat and thought it's a good idea to bring it. But alas, it's too small for Aidan! I think it's meant to be for babies.

This is a cute picture of Aidan, however, I think it doesn't look like him at all. haha...

Oooh...this is my favourite beer ever! It tastes like honeyed caramel! Does anyone know where to get this in Sg?

The famous Kallis fish and chips? Not very nice. Oysters weren't nice either. Sydney's fisherman's wharf still has the better oysters. I realised after that there are a few fish and chips restaurants there and all claimed to be the award winning one. hmm...

Aidan's first time eating a squid. He likes it.

He ate alot in WA. More than he does in Sg...I think he prefers western food. hmm...

Or maybe he just like the chips...hmm...

Playground time. One of my favourite thing about WA is that there are playgrounds like this everywhere! You don't have to go too far or look hard to find one. It's so kids friendly over there.

After doing so many things, it's still early. So off we go to the Aquarium that we didn't have time to go the day before.

Aidan loves playing on the travelator more than looking at the sea creatures.

And that's it! We finished touring the Acquarium in just 1 hour! We could've gone the day before l.a.h! Then I realised it's called the Aquarium of WA, which means they have mostly only sea creatures found in WA. Chey..... I've been to the one in Melbourne and compared to that one, this is peanut ;P

And so.....it's STILL early! It's fantastic how one can do so many things and yet time seemed to past so slowly there.... is that why they say the pace of life is much slower in Oz?

So we decided to go to the Whitford beach very near to the house. We like to go to the beach during the late evening when the sun is setting and so it's not too hot. I love this beach. Quiet with nice beach and there are no rip in the current.

Look at what Aidan is doing. Clinging on tightly to me like a Koala.

We stayed in this position for some time much to the amusement of the family next to us.

After some time, I decided to just place him on the sand and walk away....he stood there not daring to move. haha...

still at the same spot...does he look distressed?

At last! We had to entice him by putting sea water into the can, pouring water on the sand and going back for more till he's no longer afraid hehe...

He enjoyed it so much, he didnt want to leave. But it was too cold, he was shivering as the sun was setting.

That's about all for day 2 :)

Vacation in WA- Day01

Wanted to finish writing all the entries of our recent vacation in Western Australia before posting but I realise I might never get it done. We're in the midst of moving out and there are like a million things to do. So I decide that I shall just write and post whenever I get the time.

Checking-in!

Our flight is about 1am so it's way past Aidan's bedtime. He fell asleep in his stroller when we were in the transit lounge waiting to board. So when we boarded the plane, he was half asleep, dead tired and really irritable. He'd never slept in another position other than lying down, so when I had to put him in a hugging position, sitting down when the plane was taking off, he was crying alot. But when the plane was in the air and he could finally sleep lying down in his seat, he slept through the flight.

We touched down in Perth really early as it was only a 4.5hr flight. Luckily, the owner of the house in Hilarys said we could check in early as no one was checking out that day. Neither myself nor DH slept on the plane so we were extremely groggy. I think on the way to Hilarys, DH actually dozed off for a bit while driving. I was fighting hard not to doze off myself so I could make sure that he stayed awake! Fortunately, we arrived safely.

Luckily Aidan was still tired despite sleeping on the plane and in the car and I could therefore catch a little nap. So all three of us had a nap before finally getting out of the house and seeing Perth!

Our first meal. The Whitford Shopping center was just a 5min drive from our house. We were famished and so quickly decided on Nandos! (I heard they're coming to SG soon! YAY!)

After our meal, we wanted to go to the Aquarium but realised that it was already quite late and they were about to close. So we went to Hilarys Harbour and Sorento Boardwalk instead.


In WA, there is practically sand everywhere you go. But Aidan doesn't like sand much as you can see here, probably because we don't bring him to any sandy places much in SG. Well, sand in SG just isn't very nice :P

So basically, it's a very chill first day in Perth.

Mad about ABCs

Still trying to upload pics and get the blog done on our recent vacation to Western Australia. More than 600++ pictures in 13days! The resizing of pics alone for easier uploading onto blogspot itself is a nightmare.

Anyway, this is me wanting to put a small note about how obsessed Aidan is about the Alphabet. Since like 3 months or maybe more ago, he's taken a huge interest in the Alphabet. He can't recite the ABCs in order which was what I thought most kids do in the beginning. But this has to do with the fact that he has got speech delay and doesn't recite or repeat words. He still can't sing and many of his peers have already started singing, which means he can't sing the ABC song. But yah, whether he's at home or out, when he see words, he will start saying the letters. He can recognise all of them and pronounce most of them accurately.

I am constantly amazed by this hobby of his. For e.g. when I am reading a mag, he will come up to me, look at the cover and start to say whatever letters or numbers he sees on it. When we're out and he's in his stroller and terribly bored, he will see and say letters. They can be anywhere, billboards, signposts, paperbags or anything like STARBUCKS, ION ORCHARD, PRADA hahaha...

As I am writing this, at 11pm, Aidan is still up, sitting next to his daddy and doing his alphabet puzzle. AMAZING. I have to teach him phonics soooooon.

Aidan through 3 X'mas

It has become some sort of a tradition. To pose for pictures at the huge Christmas tree at Takashimaya.

Can't remember that Aidan was ever this tiny!

And a year later, he's become this big!

This is Aidan now :)






And I just just only realised, while writing this entry, that although the huge tree is the same every year, the decor is different every year! hohoho...

Aidan, an update

Thank you to many of you who have expressed their support when I was so worried about Aidan. I think it's time to give you all an update.

About a month ago, I brought Aidan to see a child psychologist for a consultation to see if intervention was necessary. We did a checklist meant to detect autism in children. It's called an M-chat. The result was thankfully a negative. He saw no red flags that could determine autism although somethings were borderline negative, such as the lack of communication, eye contact and affection. However he said that he is very obviously behind in the terms of speech development and because I said Aidan forgets words he had learnt and used previously, he's worried that there might be some kind of cognitive problems. So he recommended going for speech therapy and structured lessons, which we have been attending for a month. I am happy that the therapist did not think that Aidan needs further seesions for structured learning and that he's fine in cognitive development. So he will only be going for speech therapy for now. I would have stopped that too because I think it's kinda kiasu on my part. Afterall, he's only 2 and many people reported that it's normal to have speech delays. But I have already paid for 10 sessions ($135 per hour!) and I do think that it's helping alot. Besides, he enjoys his sessions very much.

I am also very happy to report that Aidan has gotten alot more affectionate these days. He hugs and kisses all the time. He does that not only to me but to all his teachers as well. He can call MaMa and PaPa perfectly now and it's music to my ears. Just last week, he held hands with his friends and walked together. He's blabbering alot which I hope is the beginning of mature speech. Now in his music class, he is also enjoying himself alot. He can now stay in class from beginning to the end without fussing. During story-telling time, he used to demand to go out of the room but now, he will go sit right in front of the teacher and laugh at the teacher when she makes animated sounds. The first time he did that, I almost cried for joy. Today, the teachers commented that Aidan is a very different boy from before. What an amazing transformation! All in all, I am delighted at the progress he has made. I look forward to seeing him grow and develop :)

Role as a parent

Kahlil Gibran’s famous poem in The Prophet.

Your children are not your children. They are sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls. For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow. Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams!
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

Not trying to seek justification for my relationship or the lack of, with my parents. But as I was reading this article posted on facebook by sgparents, I couldn't help but think how much I agree with this. I do not belong to anyone. My parents were merely the vessel for which I was carried into this world. It does not determine how I should feel towards them. That should be determined by how I was treated after I was born. Why am I indifferent towards them? Perhaps because they were the same way to me when I was growing up.

This is the main reason why I have chosen to be a SAHM. I told myself long ago that if I were to have children, I must not behave indifferently. Some people seemed to think I have to show my kids that I am close to my parents because if not, my kids will learn the same and in future treat me the same way. What hypocrisy! I will not put on a 'show' to tell my kids to treat me nice. I want to teach my kids to be honest with their feelings. I believe if they can feel my love now, I will be loved in return. As such, I will try my best to be present and involved in their growing up years and be as good a parent as I can.

But how can one be a good parent? It is afterall such a fine line between controlling and guiding, being critical and being constructive, doing too much/little and just enough, indulging and loving.
Read this article and hope to become a better parent. http://networkedblogs.com/p19384925