First "Comprain Letter" from Teacher

Email from Teacher:



Here's a brief update about Xt.



So far, I've observed that Xt is able to adapt better without his LV doll. As for the settling down , I think we shouldn't worry anymore. I heard from my colleagues that he is not crying in the morning. But, just be prepared that sometimes, he would act up, especially after a long weekend break.



Academic wise, Xt is ahead of others. That's great! Like I've said before, Xt is able to participate in class activities. I have no problem with him at all during lesson time. He loves it when it comes to painting time! Trust me! (: Ohh! And now, Xt starts to eat more. Most of the time, he will eat either 1 bowl FULL or more. He has never rejected the food except for spaghetti. I would usually serve lesser portion and will give 2nd serving if he wants to.



Socially, Xt is doing quite well. So far, I've never seen him pushing, biting or snatching toys from his friends. He is more secure now as compared to last month and I think he is ready for full day. Don't you think so?



Feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding Xt.



That's all.

Have a nice weekend ahead of you! :)



Email from Us:



Hi Teacher Zee,



It is always an exciting pleasure for us to receive your emails about Xt's progress in the centre. Thank you so much for taking time to update us about his learning and other development in the centre.



Recently, Xt has developed a habit of whining and/or shouting and screaming in an attempt to get his way. We do not tolerate this behaviour in any way and I will always ask him to rephrase his request or state his need/want in a soft and polite manner. When all else fails and he persists in his behaviour, I will make him stand in a corner as time out for him to stop his whining or tantrum fits. I just thought to let you know this so that you are aware of how we are handling him at home. While he can be a most adorable boy at times, we also know that he can be most trying and most demanding with his ways. We do not wish to encourage his self-centredness beyond the normal development stage (I am trying my best to be patient with him!) and we are most grateful for your patience towards him.



Please do not hesitate to let us know about his inappropriate behaviours in class so that we can reinforce the teaching of the appropriate behaviours at home.



Once again, thank you for your patience and care towards Xt and it is clear to us why you are his favourite teacher. :)



Reply from Teacher:



Dear Xt's mummy,



I am glad that you gave me feedbacks about him and I have to agree with you about his behaviours. I am surprised that we have the same way of handling him. At times, I have to be very strict with him. Especially, nowadays that he's familiarizing himself with the routine in the centre. He knows that after lunch, Flo will come and fetch him. He start to act up and refuses to follow my instructions and start throwing tantrums. He knows that I am very upset with him after making him sit the time out chair, and eventually he will stop. After he settle down, I talk things out with him. Not to worry, I will not let him have things in his own way, especially not when he demands for it.



Thanks for taking time to reply my emails. I really appreciate it alot! Don't forget to dress him up this Wednesday for the Chinese Day Celebration. (:



and... Happy New Year to you and your family. Enjoy your weekend.



I think the only reason our son doesn’t get more complaints from his teachers is because he is adorable at times. I foresee many a teacher-parent meetings next time. :I

Development of moral reasoning

Sometime back, I think I wrote a post on whenever XT was sent to his naughty corner, he would start regurgitating his memorised script of, "Mama is angry, XT is sorry, Sorry mama, Forgive u?" (little tyke still can't quite get pronouns yet).

Yesterday at the zoo, he was sent to the naughty corner twice cos he was whining to get his way (I swear there's a switch in all children which is automatically turned on between 18mo - 24mo that suddenly make them all whiny!). And if there's one thing I cannot tolerate much less condone in a kid, tis whining.

Hence when he started whining REALLY loudly at the air-conditioned viewing gallery to play with the food container, I sent him to the naughty corner.

He started talking to himself again:

"Mama is angry. Very angry. Mama doesn't like XT to eh-eh-eh. XT says sorry. Sorry mama."

Needless to say, after the requisite minute and a half, I walked over to him, debriefed him on his unacceptable behaviour, told him that I have forgiven him and kissed him on the forehead. I then insisted that he apologise to his dad cos he threw a tantrum as his dad's reply that he could not make a toy out of the food container. And the little one waddled over and hugged his dad's legs while attempting to say "Sorry Papa".

Kids' capacity to learn is amazing and he never fails to surprise me with how much he actually internalises. Sometimes, it's the adults ourselves who make excuses for them and don't hold them up to high(er) standards of expectations. Or sometimes, we are just too tired to 'fight' them cos they can really try your patience with repetitive display of unacceptable behaviour without any apparent retention of your teachings.

However, witnessing XT's rhetoric yesterday at the naughty corner makes us more resolved that we cannot give in the 'fight' and must be more consistent in our expectations of him.

Someday, hopefully, he will reach a higher stage of moral reasoning beyond introjection which is to just do what pleases his folks.

Little XT has left the nest. - Lovebell

This morning we took XT to the childcare centre as usual. Along the way, he didn't behave the way he used to do. Beyond the usual self-entertaining antics in the car, such as the singing of his favorite "twinkle ah", he was quite the normal self. There was no crying, no screaming, no clinging on to anyone.

"Blue car! Double-decker bus! Red train! Motorcycle zoom zoom!"

When we got to the centre, XT promptly went and sat down and took off his shoes, while demanding that we "take off other shoe ah!" (i.e. I would take off one and he would take off one). This was swiftly followed by him picking up his shoes and going "where's cubby hole?". He then pointed at his own photo and put his shoes neatly into the cubby hole.

(Yes, XT is prone to dictating to himself and talking about himself in the third person)

Zhao LaoShi was not there to take his temperature today, so he was a bit disoriented then. But when another teacher came out to greet him, he sat down at once and obediently opened his mouth and showed her his hands for the health screening.

After that, he stood up, turned around, looked at us as we said "Bye bye!" and then turned and walked inside without a word or tear.

Our XT has grown up.

Mixed Feelings

One of the things that we hope to develop in our son is a healthy self-esteem and strong sense of self-confidence.

Our (highly biased?) self assessmen of our son is that while he is generally a cheerful and obliging boy, we were a little worried abt his total lack of assertiveness which we have observed from his interaction with other children. If someone takes something away from him, our son will look at that person puzzledly and stare in wonder for some time. He wd not fight e other children for his toys and wd in fact give way to other kids who want to play w e playground facilities. While we r pleased that he is not one of those bullying brats who ride roughshod over others, we don't want him to be a doormat to be walked over by others too.

Today our help reported that xt's teacher had informed her tt our son pushed another kid in his class at sch n at e playgrd. We were caught off guard by this comment for we have never seen him exhibit this before. Just e other day, he was being chased by ano little girl for e slice of watermelon in his hands. That silly boy just kept backg away from fm the girl and nearly fell backwards in his attempt to protect his watermelon and save some for himself. So we r rather taken aback by this report.

We don't know e full context of e incident and I will try to find out more. Yet I am also of e view that for kids, e playgrd is a testg grd for their lifeskills and survival instincts. To be able to hold their own in life, e kiddos need to survive e playgrd first. I have met many a meek and timid people who were chewed up and spat out by other hunters in e corporate jungle. On e other hand, I have also met cowardly bullies who just basically push others ard wout any consideration or empathy for eir coworkers. Either archetypes r not what we want our son to grow up to be.

And so while we r def concerned tt our boy may not be having approriately and in a gd way, we also want to provide e space n opp for him to grow. I guess it is a balancing act that we will need to handle w care and finesse.

And isn't tt what parenting is abt?

And isn't tt e toughest part of parenting?

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This email made my day!

There I was, trying desperately to clear my emails, juggling the multiple documents that I have opened on my desktop and basically getting stressed out over the numerous school visits that I need to do without the necessary time to do them.

Then I received the following email:

Dear mummy and daddy,

Here's a brief update about XT and the activities we had so far.
I just want to share with you a piece of good news!
I think XT is slowly adapting and settling down. (:
On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, while I was conducting the activities, XT was able to follow and participate. He stopped crying.

On Monday, Toddler Zinnia had a fun time enhancing his fine and gross motor. For BusyHands, XT transferred water from one container to another container using a sponge. He was able to transfer all the water and continued his actions till I said it's his friends turn to do it.

Today, I read a book "If you're happy and you know it" to the children. XT was able to sit down and listen to the short story. At the end of it, I asked them to choose an animal for them to do their animal mask next week. XT picked an elephant for his mask. (:
We also did a Squiggle Painting. I introduced string and a chopstick to them. They chooses their own colour and painted on the drawing paper provided. XT was so engrossed doing the painting till he refuses to wash his hands for lunch. *smiling*

Ok, I think that's all for today.

And that email brought some tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.

Confused Kiddo

And so F was reinforcing e teachg of colours. She told xt that her skin is brown as she is a Filipino. Our son's quite tan himself n when she asked him what colour his skin was, he replied, "Brown. Xt is a Filipinooooo."


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Stonehearted Parents

And so xt started his first day of sch tdy.

Everyone has been warning me abt adjustment problem and bouts of crying.

I really wouldn't know as I decided to go cold turkey.

After settling all e paperwork, we left xt in e capable hands of Teacher Zee who was most patient and understanding towards him. When we bade e Principal goodbye, she reassured us that xt would be well taken care of and said,"Anyway your maid will be here, right?". I replied in the negative and I think she was rather taken aback by my hardheartedness. All the other kiddos who were there for their first day had their parents hovering around and gently steering them back to e group when ey wandered away. Xt's parents and auntie F merely kissed him goodbye and told him that we wd be back later to get him. Before he had any time to react, we walked out of the room.

Of course doppy and I spent the next two hrs talkg to each other and asking ourselves whether we did the right thing to send him to childcare at such a young age. Afterall he is only 20mo and most of the time, he still reliant on us for everything though he's beginning to articulate his wants and real explicit with his dislikes. When we saw how independent the other kiddos were in his class, we cdn't help wondering if he was ready for this. We sat at Coffeebean wondering just how bad was his cries and steeling our hearts against going back to the centre to peek at him.

We arrived promptly at 11.20am which is when he wd be finished with his lunch. The sight that greeted us was a teary-eyed, red runny nose toddler holding a slice of apple in his hands and saying,"I want auntie F to bao-bao ah". Amazingly though he cd find pause within his cries to bite off a chunk of e apple and chew it! And apparently that was what happened this morning. He wd cry but wd stop to eat and when he's distracted with things to do. When he finally spotted us, he immediately stopped crying, regained his cheerful disposition and obediently went around to hug the teacher and principal goodbye. Thereafter he was got excited abt taking the bus and looking for his dad to tell his father abt his day.

All in all the first day went as well as it can be. I guess the real test will come tmr when he realizes that the experience would repeat itself. F is alr stepping up on the psychological defense by rehearsing with him the greetings for the teacher when he goes to sch again tmr. We r most fortunate to be blessed with a sensible and capable help who works with us all the way to help xt grow up. When he woke up this afternoon from a nightmare, we both just let him cry it out and spoke to him in reassuring voices that if only he would open his eyes, he wd see that both of us r there for him. Hopefully he'll internalize this soon and realize that no matter what happens, his folks will always be there for him at the end of the day.

Stay tuned then for more updates of e little kittie in childcare wonderland. Thus far he has found an orange fish that is apparently hiding in e centre.

Our little boy is growing up.

Welcome Y2k10

And so a decade's come and gone. Tomorrow marks the last day of 2009. In less than 48 hours, we will be marking the new year of 2010. The decade of the 10s.

10 years ago, where was I on New Year's eve? I don't actually remember. I was probably out having fun, touring some city or dancing the night away with friends. I remember thinking that it would be cool to go to Japan to be amongst the first in the world to welcome in the new millenium, but never actually doing it. Memories have faded. Too many things have come and gone in these last 10 years.

10 years ago, I never would have imagined this is where I would be at this point of my life in the year 2010. Then, I was recovering from psychological and emotional issues stemming from a failed relationship and family problems. My parents were already starting to discuss their divorce in secret (although in retrospect, it was obvious). I had nothing to look forward to. I didn't want to come back to Singapore. National service followed by national servitude to the country was not exactly enticing.

10 years ago, I had all these silly dreams. I wanted to be a banker, a consultant, a jet-setting, high-flying executive, a geek in a dotcom firm, an engineer in an MNC, a researcher discovering cool things. My university friends were taking on all these fantastic jobs in fantastic locales. Hearing them talk, I thought I could be just like them. Hey, I was smarter than some of them, I definitely had good grades, and I thought to myself, if they can do it, so could I. Yet the bond was always around my neck, preventing me from realising any of these dreams. I knew I would never get any money to break the contract, and I was not brave enough then to look for jobs that would give me options. I had no mentors to call upon, no one to seek advice from, no one to tell me that I should go get an internship in my first summer.

10 years. The ride has certainly been interesting.

So here I am. 10 years later. Voluntarily working in a government job. I suppose this is what you call growth. I have learnt that life takes you to different places and that just because our paths cross doesn't mean we're going to the same location. My parents were not rich enough to send me to a top university on our own money, so I was merely there on borrowed time.

Now, this job gives me a good enough income for me to live comfortably with my family, and more importantly, I get to spend time with them. My short attempt to change timelines and cross over into consulting taught me that just because I can, doesn't mean it's the right decision. Maybe I was already in a different phase of life and I was no longer meant to go into that world. Now, my time with XT and L is the most precious to me and I always cherish the moments we have together. Nothing

10 years. I have grown a lot these last 10 years. So many major chapters of my life have happened. Graduating in 2001. Meeting Lovebell in 2002, starting work in 2003. Getting married in 2004, buying our own flat the same year. Changing job in 2005. Buying our dream home in 2006. Changing jobs twice in 2008. Moving into our dream home. XT arriving.

What will the new decade bring? Whatever it is, I'll be glad to be facing it together with L and XT. :)

No Song

XT has a total of 3 songs? now in his repertoire - Twinkle, twinkle little star, Baa Baa Black Sheep and the alphabet song.

He has sung e songs for us before on various ocassions without much prompting except for a straightforward request from us.

Today I decided to up the ante and turn it into a game with him. I'll start with "Mama wants to hear a song. Let's hear what e jukebox have for us tdy. Mama counts to three and press XT. 1,2,3, press," followed by an action to press his shirt button to activate e said juke box.

He promptly responds with a most cheeky grin and replies most gleefully, "No song!"

He is gonna be one heartbreaker when he grows up.

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Sitting in e ofc without connection nor computer

My work lappie has finally nbeen admitted to e clinic to get a quick reformat. Tis high time I get it done and there is never a gd time. Thing is e process takes an hr and all I have been doing is for e last hr or so was to disturb my colleagues with inane chatter n reading the news on my iPhone. I have done absolutely nothg except to note that I need to check if Cayden's high chair from Ikea needs to be sent in as e company is doing a global recall of e leopard model. I don't even know what model is ours but I guess I shd always err on the side of caution and just check it. God forbid that e adorable one suffers from an injury due to his mum's silliness. I have decided to write a blog post as I have finished reading all the news there is to read. However I cannot post this till later as I don't have an Internet connection and my data plan is still not activated! Oh well. Time to check on my lappie before I go for lunch. Ciao for now.


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Au Reviour Paris, Goodbye London

Day 10 – Science Museum & Shopping @ Oxford / Regent Street

Our final day in London was spent at the Science Museum which unfortunately was marred by the pain in my feet. I did not know how it happened or why it did but the tendons at the back of my feet was hurting like hell and by this day, I was actually hobbling along more than walking.  My most dreaded London Underground station was Green Park which was the interchange for the Jubilee line that our station, St. John’s Wood, was on. It was a huge interchange and the walk from one platform to another nearly killed my feet and it did not help that we were usually out and about in the early hours when everyone was rushing to the office and there you have a Singaporean tourist in her dirty white jacket (did I mention that the air in Paris and London were most dusty?!) hobbling along and trying to keep out of everyone’s way. Doppy was quite sweet and tried to wait up for me but I could tell that his enjoyment was diluted by the pain I was suffering. The Science Museum was a very big one but doppy was not impressed with all the galleries as he had seen some other better exhibits such as at the NASA museum. Nevertheless, the little grounds we managed to cover was still a rather educational one and I got to see the very first Apple computer! It was also interesting making the connections between the development in Science and Technology that we were seeing in the museum with the concurrent developments that were taking place in the same time period as shown by the exhibits in the other museums and one will truly be amazed at the developments that humans have made in the last half a century or so.

Our last evening was spent getting last minute souvenirs at Regent / Oxford Street but by this time, we were really quite exhausted from our trip. We had been doing non-stop walking (and I really do mean being on our feet from the moment we wake up to the second we drop off to sleep barring meal times) and it was beginning to exact a toll on us. We had a leisurely dinner at the brasserie at John Lewis mall and was contented to just slow down our pace and took in the last sight and scene we would see of London. While we were both sad that our trip was coming to an end, we were both happy at the thought of returning to Singapore and being able to see our son again. We have missed him very much on this trip and this is the first time since he was born that we had been apart from him for such a long period of time.

All in all, we both had a most wonderful time in London and Paris. While I feel the need to restate my disappointment with the closure of the Louvre, I was still glad for the trip we made to Paris for me to see the city for myself. London is definitely worth visiting even if it was just for the museums themselves and the English people (at least the ones I met along the street) were most polite and helpful ones (unlike the Koreans I met on a previous trip to Seoul). I contemplated writing a separate post about my musings for the trip but I think I shall save that for another day. Look out for the pictures that we would hopefully upload onto Facebook or Picasa soon and check out the sights that I have been blogging about for yourself.

Au REVIOUR, Paris and goodbye, London … for now.

Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men?

Day 9 – Natural History Museum & Les Miserables @ Queen’s Theatre

Second last day of our trip and of course we must make sure that we pay the Natural History Museum a visit. The dinosaur collection was indeed most awe-inspiring but I think I dampened doppy’s enthusiasm a little when I pointed out to him that the exhibits were casts and not actual fossils. I also had fun at the cocoon at the Darwin Centre where we saw classification of the natural world at work and I had a go at classifying beetles. I am trying to inculcate an appreciation for nature in XT and in our very limiting urban landscape and hot weather, that translates into taking him for walks at my estate to see whatever natural sights we can find. He’s currently fascinated with worms and caterpillars (most probably due to the fact that these are the only things we get to see in our walks) and my scientific knowledge is sorely lacking in my explanation. From the classification exercise, I learnt that the definitive characteristic of insects was that they had SIX legs. Though doppy insisted that we must have learnt this from our science textbooks at one stage or another in our education, nothing beats going through the experience of actually justifying my classification and having my reasoning clarified by the curator. I was most excited at this new found piece of knowledge I have learnt and most likely internalized and could not wait to share it with XT.

This evening was another special one as we were going to catch our 2nd West End theatre production. I had been trying to secure tickets for Les Miserables back in Singapore but was unsuccessful in my attempt as the seats left were right in the front of the theatre and we had been warned against neck strains. Fortunately, upon our arrival in London, doppy with the help of Oldman managed to secure 2 tickets for this show with decent stall seats. And boy, was it an experience not to be missed. When we first entered Queen’s Theatre, we were a little surprised at the stage size and commented we had expected it to be bigger. However, the sets used in the musical were most amazing. We were most impressed at the perspectives that were created and truly, the crew managed to work wonders with the limited space they had. The orchestra was fantastic too and needless to say, the songs were most awe-inspiring and well-written. When I was in Singapore, PJ had tried to share the songs with me as she fell in love with the musical too but they had not made much sense for me as I did not have the context of the play. After watching it though, one of the things I would be hunting for when I get back to Singapore would be the CD for the musical. We were too poor to afford the one that was being sold at the theatre but I was determined to get hold of it in Singapore. The players were most amazing and I fell in love with the leader of the revolution. Truth be told, I thought that Cosette and her lover were the most useless characters in the play and I had the least sympathy for them. I felt the most for Eponine (is that how you spell her name?) while doppy, the heartless one, remarked that she was real silly to have made such sacrifices for a love that was unrequited. We both enjoyed the musical very much and was really glad that we caught it. This was apparently doppy’s first musical of an international touring fame standard and he was very moved by the musical. I was so glad that we saved Les Miserables for the last and caught Blood Brothers first. While we had definitely enjoyed Blood Brothers, it was simply not in the same league as Les Miserables and I think we would both have been hard-pressed to appreciate Blood Brothers if we had caught Les Miserables first.

I am one good-looking girl in London!

Day 8 – Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Shopping @ Harrods & dining at the infamous Wong Kee

After helping Oldman with his luggage at the train station, we both set off for Buckingham Palace to see the change of guards ceremony which only took place once every other day. Unfortunately, the stateroom was not open for tour during the winter season but we still had fun snapping pictures away at the palace grounds. You would not believe the crowd that gathered around to witness the change of guards. I am not sure if you had seen the change of guards at Istana but believe you me, we really imitated our colonial master in many of their ways. Obviously the procession in England was a much grander one complete with the guards riding into the palace on horses to change their shifts. We could not get near enough to the palace to actually witness the ceremony (we took a while with breakfast) but seeing the procession and just being there with the crowd was a rather fun experience too.

After Buckingham Palace, we proceeded to Hyde Park despite the less-than-ideal weather and was pleasantly surprised by a winter funfair that was held there. It was then that I remembered oldman mentioning to me about a free-fall ride that I could take. We both enjoyed a hotdog in the cold, wet weather and you will not be able to believe how fragrant fried onions and crisp sausages would smell in the cold, chilly winter air. We had fun walking around the fair, admiring the many creative and exquisite arts and craft work but had no monies to afford any of them. The sight of many little tykes also reminded us both of XT and we just spent the time talking about the rides we want to take him on and imagining his excitement when we were to actually do it. We stopped at a most wonderful lovely place for lunch where it overlooked the Serpentine river and it was a most romantic afternoon spent at Hyde Park. How I wish that the weather in Singapore would be cooler so that doppy would take more walks with me in the parks too.

In the evening, we decided to pay Harrods a visit since it’s the quintessential English store. It was indeed a most up-market place and we really could only barely afford the things in the food hall. The experience at the Harrods Store was a most thought-provoking one for me. I was most tempted to get a Harrod’s bag to commemorate my trip but when I saw I had to pay at least 15 pounds (more than thirty Singapore dollars!) for a simple bag, I just could not justify the purchase to myself. The thoughts about consumerism and class consciousness in my Gothic class began to come back to me and I started questioning the reason that I want to own such a bag and the value of doing so. When we explored the other levels of the store and took a look at the price tags, I was most outraged at the prices of some of the goods. Undoubtedly, they were luxury goods and I am sure of the top quality, yet I could help but ask myself what’s the value of such highly-priced goods beyond an indication of one’s social status? Seriously, does a toddler really know the difference between a 200 pounds shirt and one that costs less than 10 and would that difference really even matter? Doppy was bemused at my wonderings and in his usual pragmatic way, told me that I must understand for the very rich, this 200 pounds would merely be a drop in the ocean, much like what 2 dollars would be for me. I could not help but remember the sight of the homeless people in Paris and the discussion doppy and I had about urban problems and the increasing widening income gaps between the haves and the haves-not and I most self-righteously proclaimed that I would very much rather donate the money to charity. Doppy was most amused at my reaction and remarked that I would probably think and feel quite differently if I was ever in such possession of such great wealth. And this is one of the things that I treasure about the trips I make with doppy – the opportunity for us to exchange our thoughts and begin to understand each other and appreciate each other’s position just that little bit better. And all this from wandering into a Harrod’s store. 

Our dining experience on this day was worth a mention. After many meals of sandwiches, we were both sick and tired of dough in the form of bread and craved some rice or noodles. So for this night, we decided to check out the infamous Wong Kee which friends and colleagues alike had said it was an experience not to be missed, more so for its notorious poor service rather than the quality of food. SAD also forewarned us and claimed that their service would only be impeccable if there was a good looking lady in the group. Otherwise, they would apparently just remind you to remember to tip them. Seeing as how we did not get our food thrown at us and were not reminded to give tips, I therefore drew the logical conclusion that I could pass for a good-looking girl. :P While the texture of the roasted duck noodles I had left much to be desired, I must admit that the duck tasted pretty good and we were both so deprived of Asian carbohydrates, we even found the noodles and rice palatable. We tried very hard not to think about the wonton noodles or roast duck noodles that we could get in Singapore for a fraction of the price we paid and just soaked in the so very noisy Chinese ruckus in a typical Chinese restaurant. We both left as 2 very satisfied customers and while I won’t recommend it as a die-die must go restaurant, I guess it’s fun to visit just so that you can proclaim, “I have been to Wong Kee!”. And we did.

British Museum Shop needs to take a lesson or two

Day 7 – British Museum, Bodean & Soho


Doppy diligently did his homework the night before and wanted to take us to Convent Gardens this morning. As our luck would have it, we woke up to a pouring sky. He changed tracks immediately and we decided to take a chance with the weekend crowd and go visit the British Museum.

Baby’s mummy (me friend and former colleague) was trying to console us about our missed Louvre trip by telling us that some of the exhibits at the British Museum could definitely rival that of the Louvre. We were certainly not disappointed. We arrived at the museum at about half past 11 and stayed till its closing time at 6pm. All the galleries were not just interesting but very educational. Hence, many of the shots I took were not of the exhibits themselves but of the explanatory notes that were very well written and concise and constituted a crash course in some of the great developments in human civilizations. The ancient Egyptian exhibition was definitely awesome, given that it was the largest Egyptian exhibition outside of Egypt. Doppy was most pleasantly surprised by the exhibit of the Rosetta Stone as he did not know of it beforehand. He was so touched at the sight of it that he teared as the significance of the stone to unlocking modern civilization’s understanding of the ancient Egyptian culture bore upon him. We were awed by all the displays and our senses were just assaulted by beauty and grandeur. An interesting gallery we visited was the ‘Life and Death’ gallery where the museum exhibited how different cultures deal with the harsh condition of the environment in the quest for survival. A particular exhibit that left a deep impression was a huge strip of cloth made up of pills that made up the time line of a person’s lifetime. This exhibit was accompanied with photographs of the key moments in a person’s life bearing witness to the different stages of one’s life. It really put things into perspective for us and made us stop for a moment to take stock of what it is that we want to get out of our limited time on earth. We also had a once-in-a-lifetime experience to handle ancient currency in the monies gallery and I got to see what cowries shells were which I have only read about in books. The museum had stations dotted around the galleries which allowed visitors to handle some of the exhibits under the curator’s guidance. We also overheard one of the guided tours and wished that we had the time to spare to join one of these tours as the guides were really knowledgeable and told interesting stories about the exhibits. After a most enriching afternoon at the galleries, I was most excited at going to the British Museum shop to get souvenirs but was sorely disappointed at their merchandise. When I was at the National Gallery, there were so many things I could get to commemorate the experience and remind me of my time spent there. At the British Museum shop however, the merchandising was pathetic. There was nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, that appealed to the two of us at all. Even at the Shakespeare Theatre Globe shop, doppy was able to pick out nerdy stuff that would appeal to me (such as a poster listing the new phrases that Shakespeare invented which I intend to frame and hang it up in our study) and that was when we did not even visit the Globe itself. In the end, doppy was convinced by me to get a paper weight replica of the Rosetta stone as I could tell that seeing it was really a big deal for him. Though the consumerists in us were not satisfied, the experience of walking the British Museum will probably stay with us a long time to come and we were both most happy that we managed to visit it

Dinner was a most charming affair meeting up with both Oldman and Baby’s mummy. I finally managed to introduce the two of them to each other, nevermind they were both heading back to Singapore soon. Oldman took us to an American BBQ restaurant along Portland Street, Bodean, to try the buffalo wings and we had a great time with beer and all the typical starters such as quesadillas and chili fries that kept us happy. What doppy and I failed to realize though was that we were actually in the bohemian? part of London and the moment we walked out of the restaurant, doppy’s gay radar was up and he was very much attuned to the environment. Just as he was asking Oldman what kind of place he had taken taken us to, a man walked up to doppy and attempted to proposition him. Doppy was deeply embarrassed while Baby’s mummy and I were most surprised. Baby’s mummy then remarked that she’s beginning to see doppy in a new light and for the rest of the evening, doppy stucked next to me like superglue and sought my protection. :P All in all, we had a most wonderful evening and managed to take a few nice shots with our dearest friends.

A most wonderful day to be out and about

Day 6 – Borough’s Market, Whiskey Exchange, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Tate Modern Museum, Chinatown & Regent/Oxford Street

Saturday was the last day that Borough’s Market was opened and so we decided to check it out that day. The weather was merciful to us and we had a good time at the market. One must always visit the market on an empty stomach for there were just way too many stalls that were selling hot-dogs and burgers of various kinds that would tempt your taste-bud. Doppy devoured one beef burger (the steak was absolutely sweet and succulent), one wild boar hotdog (which was surprisingly not gamey) and one jam muffin. I had a hot cup of cream of mushroom and bought a tiffin (imagine a flat brownie that’s chocked full of chocolate and shortbread) to try and both were really good. The market had fresh produce of all kind and I saw what Brussels sprouts look like before they were plucked. The orchids looked absolutely gorgeous too but both doppy and oldmand convinced me that it would be real silly to buy orchids in London and cart them back to Singapore. It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning and I even managed to get some jars of homemade jams which I hope will taste as good as they look.

Along the walk to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, we passed by a whiskey exchange. Given our alcoholic nature, there’s no way that we would give up a chance to buy a bottle or two. Faced with so many choices at such such affordable prices (starting from a mere 20 pounds!), we eventually picked out 2 bottles of single malt whiskies randomly. You have no idea how tempted we were to clear the entire store with the prices that were listed. If I live in this country, I believe I would completely subsist on alcohol for my beverages and throw a whiskey party every so often. If not for the liquor limit imposed by immigration and the weight limit for luggage, you can be sure that I would have been carting cartons back. Everyone who is reading this blog is definitely welcome to our stash. :)

We then proceeded to Shakespeare Globe but alas they wanted to charge us for a 45min tour. I much prefer walking on my own and hence decided against going for the tour. Unfortunately, as it was a working theatre, we were only allowed to walk the grounds outside of the theatre for our safety consideration. At least, that was the official story that was told to me when I approached one of the staff members. While I did not get to see the Globe Theatre, I had a whale of a time in the shop. Doppy was most evil. He knew all the nerd stuff that would appeal to me and pointed them all out. I ended up purchasing 2 posters, 2 comic books on Shakespeare’s play (for XT when he grows up mah … though Doppy asked me to stop using XT as an excuse for the things that I wanted to buy for myself) and love magnets. The merchandising at the Globe Theatre was a most successful one and I left the site a most happy and satisfied tourist.

Our next pit stop was the Tate Modern Museum. Though both Doppy and I were not exactly fans of modern art, we thought that since we were here, we should at least pay it a visit. Oldman settled himself in a café to do some work, figuring that we should be done with the museum by an hour or so. Even though it was not a large museum in comparison to the National Gallery, we still took 2 hours plus or so to cover 2 floors of the free main exhibitions. Surrealism was really not my cuppa tea and after 2 or 3 galleries of that, I was tired by the experience. The realist art were much better and we got to see Monet’s Water Lilies which was one of Doppy’s favourites. There were some cool installation art works too and the one that left the deepest impression was a display of an over-sized table and chairs and it was like we were brought down to XT’s eye level to see what it was that he saw when he ran around at home and walked under the table. Some of the modern art work were obviously disturbing (given the modern / post-modern condition of being disillusioned with the world and its perpetual seek of truth) and the films were the worst. Both doppy and I concluded that some of the artists had very disturbed minds or psychological states as we could see that through their art works. Alternatively, doppy suggested that they must have been high on some drugs. While I could profess that I enjoyed the tour as much as the one at the National Gallery, it was nevertheless an experience to see some of the popular art works that we recognized from popular culture (such as the Campbell Soup and Madonna prints) in real life.

After a long day of walking around, we went in hunt for Japanese food for an early dinner as doppy had been craving for ramen since Paris. Oldman took us to a Japanese restaurant in Chinatown which he had been meaning to try but did not managed to do so as there was perpetually a line waiting for seats. We lucky to not have to queue as we were pretty early (4pm plus to be exact and yes, the sky had already turned dark by then so we thought nothing of taking dinner at that time) and were seated immediately. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not serve ramen but doppy still satisfied his noodles craving with udon. I had a huge serving of katsudon which obviously doppy helped to polish off and we all imagined that SAD would really be taken by their tori karage rice as the fried chicken was really quite good.

After dinner, we parted ways with Oldman as he needed to catch up on some work and we ventured into Hamley’s Toy Store to get some thing for XT. From the crowds and the number of people fighting to get into the store at the entrance, you would have thought that the toys were hugely discounted or even imagine that they were going for free. Unfortunately, for poor XT, his folks were poor ones and we found everything rather expensive. XT is also at the awkward age whereby some toys were too kiddie for him and others, too grown-up. In the end, we got a boat that according to the packaging would skip on water and we hope that we could take him to the swimming pool to try it out. We had to call it an early night as my feet was hurting like hell from wearing my boots for such a long time and proceeded to go back to oldman’s place.

Along the way, doppy could tell that my feet was causing me a lot of pain as my gait was visibly affected. He was so very sweet and dragged me to buy a pair of sneakers despite my strongest protest. I thought it was real silly to spend pounds buying a pair of sneakers when I already had one at home. Doppy refused to give in to me and insisted that I purchased one as he rationalized that we had another 5 days or so of walking to do and he did not want to see my grimace of pain every single evening. In the end, he found me a real nice pair of black Nike sneakers which was really comfortable. My feet felt like they had been liberated from a tough prison and were experiencing freedom for the first time. In my Clark’s boots defense, twas not that they were not good. It was just that the cut of the boots was not meant for long walks to be taken in them and the soles were also not thick enough for those walks. Consequently, by the late afternoon in those boots, my toes felt like they were going to go into spasms from the constriction and lack of blood flow while the sole of my feet could feel each and every single protruding surface that I walked upon. I felt like ‘the princess and the pea’ albeit a walking version rather than a sleeping one. I hated the old streets in Paris where cobblestones were used as the uneven surface caused me many painful seconds, minutes and hours. After I changed into the sneakers, I felt like I could go on walking forever but alas we were both tired by then and decided to retire for the night.

Paris Hates Us

Day 3 – 5 Paris
*Warning: this is a very, very long post. Feel free to skim through it or skip it if you find it tedious. I just want to capture my thoughts and feelings for Paris, with many recurrent exposition on the disappointment of not being able to visit the Louvre.

TimHotel Le Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral & Eiffel Tower

And so we arrived in Paris via the Eurostar train. The train ride was a rather comfortable one but doppy was thoroughly annoyed by three chattering women who yakked non-stop (and I do mean non-stop!) from London to Paris. I was happily blogging and could tune them out but poor doppy was trying to catch twenty winks and was real amazed at their ability to sustain a conversation with nary a pause for breath for 2 solid hours.

We had decided to put up at the TimHotel Le Louvre primarily because we thought that it would be a most convenient location. The online reviews for this hotel was also decent and we thought we could give it a try. It did not disappoint us. We were 5 minutes walk away from both the metro and the museum and we thought that we got a decent deal considering that we bought the room as a package deal with the train tickets. Our room was spacious enough and we even had a small bathtub (which really came in useful on the second day when I needed a warm soak badly for my aching, tired feet). We did not linger long in the room but immediately set out to explore Paris.

Our first stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral where the famed Victor Hugo restored the church with his novella, Hunchback of Notre Dame. The cathedral was a sight to behold. The gothic architecture set it apart from the Westminster Abbey and I finally got to see how the various paintings that I admired in the National Gallery would look like inside a cathedral. Unlike the abbey, photography (albeit without flash) was allowed in the cathedral and I was busy snapping shots of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring paintings. Doppy laughed at me and said that there would be more to see and snap away at in the Louvre but it was fortunate that I did not take his word for it. Of course, we had to climb up the Notre Dame to take a look at the gargoyles and a view of the great city and though the climb nearly killed us both, every single step and the breath we panted was worth it once we were on the top and got a panoramic view of the cityscape. We even managed to reach the bell tower and touch the bell. Unfortunately, the souvenir shop at the Notre Dame was real pathetic and it didn’t help that we did not understand French. Hence we could not find anything to get to commemorate our trip. Nevertheless, the experience of standing in the cathedral and seeing the gargoyles in real life is one that will stay with us for a long time to come.

After the Notre Dame cathedral, we decided to head over to the Eiffel Tower to catch the night scene. On the way there, doppy was already beginning to warn me of all the tourist traps and told me to watch out for my belonging. We stopped at the Trocadero metro station and took a walk along the river to the tower. It was rainy and windy and truth be told, we could not profess to have enjoyed a romantic walk. Nevertheless, the sight of the Eiffel Tower was still enough to take our breath away and we were both excited at the prospect of doing our favourite activity, going up to the highest tower in each city. Wisely, we decided that we should not overestimate our fitness level and opted to take the lift up the tower. When we stood at the top of the tower, we were real glad that we did not think to climb up the stairs. The exertion and cold would have probably left 2 dead Singaporeans halfway up the Eiffel Tower. The night scene was spectacular and the 360 degree view of the city was truly magnificient. It was also a rather unique view as much of Paris was filled with low-rise buildings and not many sky-scrappers. Unfortunately, my experience at the Eiffel Tower was blighted by the touts who were hawking their wares. There were so many of them along the way and each and every single one of them would come up to us to ask us to buy their dubious goods tirelessly. I was also very sick of people coming up to me to ask if I speak English and if I admit that I do, they would promptly proceed to ask me for monies. It did not help that they all moved in a group and the touts were tall, dark and looked menacing. My feet were hurting like hell by that night and I sometimes trailed behind doppy in my walk. I must admit that I was frightened by the touts, so much so that I had to ask doppy to slow his pace down and walk with me. I was so glad when the police arrived on the scene and the touts all scrammed at once. However, the police did not give chase and the touts merely ran across the road, only to come back again once the police rode away. Truly, I think they are a nuisance and my Singaporean self says that the government should do something about it. Doppy and I were wondering about their business model for it’s beyond our comprehension how they could survive in Paris from selling things at 1 euro. Our uninformed, completely biased conclusion was that hawking things was their sideline while their main source of income probably comes from criminal activities. Either that, or they were laundering monies.

Well, after the Eiffel Tower we were both dead beat and trudged our way back to our hotel. Once again, we wandered into a random restaurant and it was another one of those fortunate finds. We both had seafood spaghetti and the food really warmed us up. Then it was back to our room we went to rest as we anticipated the next day to be a tiring one at the Louvre.

The Louvre (well, the exterior grounds, that is), Arc du Triomphe, Champs Elysees & Jardins au Tuileries

We woke up bright and early in great anticipation of going to the Louvre. The guidebook warned of long queues and we thought that we wanted to be there early to avoid that. We went out to the streets before it was light and not a single shop was open for breakfast yet. We ended up at the Golden Arches and I had a nice bacon and egg muffin. We were both excited at the thought of the Louvre and did not really care what we were eating for breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed down to the Louvre and we were really pleased to have the entire place to ourselves since we were so early. The building was simply awesome and the grounds were so huge and imposing. We went trigger happy with our respective cameras (doppy got the digital-slr while I held on to the point-and-shoot) and of course we went in hunt of the glass pyramid structure outside the Louvre. At about half-past 8, we decided to be the kiasu Singaporeans and promptly stood in line. We were not at the head of the queue and so I guess, we were not that kiasu afterall. After half an hour in the line, and the clock struck 9 (which was the opening hour), we started getting really excited. And it was also at this precise moment that a lady in suit walked out of the museum, pasted a notice that informed us the museum’s opening hours would be delayed and promptly removed the cords to let people who wish to leave the line exit. That was when doppy’s fears began to materialize. On the previous day, doppy heard talks about some museum strikes but we did not give too much thought to it since we had no idea what was happening. As luck would have it, the museum workers were on strike to protest against the government’s planned headcount cuts in the next few years. The government had proposed a replacement of 1 staff member for every 2 members who would retire from henceforth and the museums were protesting that they would not be able to carry out their work with the reduced staff strength. The lady at the Louvre informed us that the union workers were demanding a meeting with the Minister of Culture to open a discussion on the issue. Apparently, the strike had started on the previous day and the lady said that the Louvre had opened at 10.30am then. Thus we were hopeful that the museum would open later that day and hence decided to go see the Arc du Triomphe before coming back to the Louvre to try our luck again.

So it was to the Arc Du Triomphe we went and there, the workers were on strike too as the gates to the top were not opened. Since we had already taken in the birds-eye-view of the city the previous day, we were contented to just walk the grounds at the Arc Du Triomphe. The monument was erected to commemorate Napolean’s victories and the names of his generals were also listed on the arc. We found out an interesting fact about the names that were underlined – those were of the generals who had died in battle. There was also a commemorative plaque dedicated to the universal unknown soldier and a flame was kept burning there. Doppy remarked that it was an interesting contrast between this relatively recent dedication to commemorate the sacrifices made by the common man in war versus the olden days’ dedication to great heroes such as kings and generals. After walking the grounds, we headed down the street to walk along what I would imagine to be Paris’s equivalent of our Orchard Road and exclaimed at all the brands of which we could not afford any. We made a quick stop for snack at one of the fast food restaurants before heading for the metro station to go back to the Louvre.

By now, you would have known that we were not fated to visit the Louvre. The strike was still on and there was still no news of the museum opening that day. That was already the early afternoon and as reluctant as we were to leave, we both decided that there was no point in waiting indefinitely. Our disappointment was evident from the numerous video clips that doppy interviewed me at the Louvre with our Vado. I was on the verge of tears for we came to Paris not being able to afford to shop, but at least we thought that we would be able to marvel at the great art masterpieces and sculptures. I particularly wanted to see the real painting of the print that PJ had gotten for us from the Louvre and the Origins of the World which was what I had initially requested her to get. Doppy was there for the Mona Lisa and of course we both wanted to see the Greek statues and sculptures and goodness knows whatever else there is inside the Louvre. But it was not meant to be and twas with great disappointment that we decided to make alternative plans. While walking, we vowed never to take XT to Paris Disneyland. We cannot imagine having to deal with his disappointment and lack of comprehension should we meet with another strike that would cause the closure of the amusement park. Even as understanding adults who were sympathetic to the museum workers’ cause, I still found it difficult to manage my own disappointment. Afterall, we did fly across half the world to visit the Louvre and it is not a trip that we can so easily make again. We are both not sure when it will be next that we can afford both the monies and the time away from XT to come to Europe again and we were sorely disappointed that we did not get to visit the Louvre this time round. Our only consolation was really that we were still going to the British Museum and the Natural History Museum which would go some way in satisfying our appetites for the aesthetics.

And so it was to the Jardins au Tuileries that we detoured and though the gardens was a sight to behold for its sheer size and the art sculptures that dotted the place, the rainy weather was somewhat a downer. In the end, we shared a ham and cheese baguette while walking the grounds (yep, we were that poor!) and sat for a while in the park before making our way slowly back to our hotel. We were both tired and rather miserable by then and as much as we both tried to keep our spirits up, we just wanted to rest our feet and take a nice, warm meal. An unplanned walk into WHSmith filled an hour of our time and I got 4 books that I was rather pleased with. Two of the books were advice for husbands and wives and though these were dispensed in 1913 (the first edition of the book was printed then), they were still very relevant ones today and I could see both doppy and myself breaking some of the prohibitions listed in the book. If you like, you are most welcome to borrow the books from us, just to remind yourself on some little tips to keep our marriages going.

Fortunately, the day ended with a most wonderful dinner at a café near our hotel named Louise. I got to try the quintessential French cuisine, ratatouille, and it was a nice dish of stewed vegetables with poached eggs. Doppy tried the coq au vin which was essentially chicken braised in burgundy wine. The chicken was lovely and we both shared a carafe of rose wine and chocolate cake with ice-cream which completed the dining experience. We retired for the night after dinner as we were both exhausted from all the walking. It was also then that we found out more about the museum strikes from surfing the internet in our room and we held out our hope that we might get to see the Louvre the next morning before we leave Paris.

Montmarte, the Sacre Coeur & Place du Tertre

We went back to the Louvre bright and early on the third morning, hoping against hope that the Minister of Culture had taken some action and appeased the workers. We happened to live right next to the Ministry of Culture and every time I walked past the building, I was tempted to put in a personal appearance and appeal to the Minister for him to do something just so that the workers would open the Louvre for us. There was still a line snaking around the Louvre, filled with people who harboured the same hopes as us or those who were none the wiser to the situation. We knew that our hopes were in vain when we saw that the flags were brought out and all the workers were gathered inside the glass pyramid to listen to a rally. Initially, we thought that it might be the negotiations taking place but after a while we noted that there was too much applause and cheering for it to be the government officials making announcements of any sort. I was most reluctant to give up, for the worst was that there’s no definitive announcement that the Louvre would remain close. When I asked one of the staff members whether the museum would open later (as it did on Wednesday), all she could do was to shrug her shoulders and replied, “I don’t know”. That was the most frustrating part. I kept wondering if I walked away, would I be walking away from the once-in-a-lifetime-chance to visit the Louvre should the workers decide to take pity on the long line of tourists waiting in the rain outside the Louvre and open the museum for us. Finally, doppy exhorted me to be rational and concluded that we had limited amount of time in Paris and it was pointless to waste it on a bunch of people who we could not predict their next action. And so this time round, I really gave up any hope of seeing the Louvre and decided to enjoy the rest of the day as much as I can.

We went to Montmarte which was the definitive tourist destination and started our walking tour with a funicular ride up to the Sacre Coeur (the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart). On the flight of stairs leading up to the cathedral, there was a harpist who was playing beautiful tunes on his instrument. True to the guidebook’s note, we were astounded by the white, wedding-cake basilica structure of the cathedral. We stood for a moment to enjoy the music and take in the breathtaking sights before heading into the cathedral to be astounded by the stain glass windows with sunlight streaming through them. The cathedral was built entirely by donations from the faithful to thank God from freeing Paris from the Prussian invaders and we did our fair share to contribute towards the maintenance of this cathedral by purchasing souvenirs from the shop.

After the cathedral, we walked the streets and were greatly charmed by the artists and their works at the Place du Tertre. According to the guidebook, this was the original bohemian hangout place for artists but today, it has become a tourist attraction where one gets many offers to have your portrait or caricature done. The art works on display were most beautiful ones and I was really tempted to get a few. The price was a huge deterrence though with a small painting costing 30 euros which translates into 60 Singapore dollars. Doppy added his pragmatic consideration of logistics in terms of transporting the paintings back to Singapore and I was quite easily persuaded to rein in my desire to purchase a few of the art pieces.
As it would be our last meal in Paris, we treated ourselves to a three-course lunch at a nice café looking out to the artist square and had a most satisfying meal of liver pate for starter, beef stew and steak and fries for mains, and chocolate mousse and ice-cream for desserts. We also had 2 glasses of beer and it was a most happy couple who walked out of the restaurant to bid farewell to this beautiful city to head back to London.

And thus, our stay in Paris ended and while we were still sore about not visiting the Louvre, the experience of being in one of the most romantic cities in the world with its beautiful architectures is still something that we cherish. We hope that in our lifetime, we will be able to visit the Louvre once and hopefully, the next time, our luck would be better.

Post written onboard the train ride back to London. Gonna catch some shut-eye now. Au vior.

*update: Post was posted a day late due to tiredness. Had a late dinner with a good friend who was a former colleague studying in London. Enjoyed catching up so by the time we parted ways, twas already close to 11pm which our body would have recognised as 12am Parisan time.*

How is 3 days sufficient for London?

Day 2 – 1 Dec: Westminster Abbey, National Gallery & Blood Brothers

We started Day 2 with breakfast al fresco style. You know that it’s impossible to get doppy to do anything remotely al fresco in Singapore with me and so the first chance I had in a temperate country, I would definitely make him dine al fresco with me. Oldman was bemused by me but went along gamely and sat freezing in the cold with our coffees and 4 muffins (buy 3 get 1 free mah!). Speaking of muffins, everything is so freaking expensive in London. Then again, it’s primarily due to our weak currency against the English pound. Beyond Day 1, I have stopped doing the mental currency conversion in my head, or at the very least, I try not to. So I have come to expect that a meal will typically cost between 7 to 10 pounds and I try to stop the voice screaming in my head that says, “WHAT?! I am paying freaking $20 for breakfast which consists only of coffee and muffin?!” Once I learn to let go and accept the prices for what they are, it becomes a lot easier to eat. Doppy has been really sweet in this aspect. Most of the time, he tells me to just eat what I want and don’t think too much about how much the item would cost in Singapore dollars. Unfortunately, this generous trait of his does not quite extend to the gifts and geh-yan things I see and wanna buy. He never fails to exclaim at an item that I pick up and asks me if I know the price equivalent of the item in Singapore dollars before he proceeds to elucidate me. Bleah.

Anyway, I side-tracked. After we abandoned Oldman who needed to study, we went to Westminster to do all the touristy things. We came out of the metro right in front of the Big Ben and stood there in wonderment. Or at least, I did. To be able to see a monument that one has seen countless of times on the big screen and in pictures is an indescribable feeling. You must understand that for the longest of time, I have been poor (actually, I still am!) and my only travelling experiences consist of the Thailand jungles that my school paid for me to go and trek with my students. It was only after I have married doppy that I have had the chance to travel more extensively and to see and experience the things that previously would have only been accessible to me through books and my imagination. Thus I have never ceased to be filled with wonderment upon seeing great monuments in real life.

We spent almost close to 2 hours in Westminster Abbey, walking the grounds and admiring the church. It is a very interesting church as it started out as a Catholic one and then the Reformation happened and it came under the charge of the Church of England. I was initially confused about the church’s denomination for while it proclaimed its Christian nature, we found figurines of Mother Mary and Jesus and more tellingly, Catholic practices in its church service. Twas only after we have toured the church (and we dared not take the audio guide for fear that it would make us linger in every part of the church and stay on longer than we had time to spare) that we have come to an understanding of its nature. The coolest corner for me in the Church was obviously the poet’s corner. Twas where all the great English writers and poets were buried and I had fun competing with doppy to see who we would recognise and whose work we have read. Obviously doppy did not swallow the bitter pill of defeat easily and he promptly snubbed my lack of scientific exposure when we went to hunt for Issac Newton and Darwin’s dedications. There we came across Maxwell and doppy nearly fainted when I asked him if that was the maxwell of Maxwell coffee. He promptly launched into a lecture about how the entire foundation of electro magnetism was built upon Maxwell and Faraday’s works and I was sufficently contrite about my scientific ignorance to appease him.

The entire morning was spent with our walk around Westminster Abbey to make good the 16 pounds per pax we had to pay for entrance fees (and of course, I spent some time in the souvenir shop browsing) and we proceeded to forage for food while walking to our next destination, the National Gallery. Unlike PJ who will diligently do her homework for a holiday and mark out the recommended food places to check out, we are the sort who will wander around and see what strikes our fancy and fits our budget. This is the reason why we could never recommend people places to go eat in foreign lands as we are never purposeful with our dining places. We stumbled into a Churchill café and there we had a most satisfying lunch of lasagna, fish-and-chips and the quintessential English tea. It was the lunch hour and we were just amazed at the speed and efficiency of the wait staff in serving and clearing the tables. Suffice to say, we dared not linger too long over our cuppa tea but we were sure glad for the warm food that gave us the energy for the next leg of our journey.

The National Gallery was supposed to be our testing ground for the British Museum and the Louvre. Judging from our performance, I think we have some way to go in being more selective with the things we wanna see. We spent close to 3 hours at the National Gallery and truth be told, we did not even manage to finish the entire gallery. We started our tour with a chronological timeline in mind but ended up just wandering into the rooms to admire the art pieces after a while. We saw countless representations of the adoration of the king (Jesus, not the real English kings), and were bombarded with HUGE paintings that required one to sit down and take a few minutes to take in the entire painting. Doppy was happy with the Monet pieces while I was just contented to read interesting facts about the paintings and see a couple of the famous / popular ones that I recognize. What this tour has definitely convinced us though is the need to inculcate in XT an appreciation for art. And I think the philosophy in keeping the entrance to the National Gallery free so that great art is made available to all regardless of class and socio-economic status is a most laudable and worthy one. There is just something about great art that inspires the human mind and heart to believe in human goodness and the human capacity. Of course, the darkness of human nature is also exposed for discussion by art works which depict scenes of war and obviously the persecution and crucifixion of Christ. More subtle discussions of human weaknesses are also represented through paintings of the pagan gods and the games they play. Beyond the subject and thematic concerns though, the sheer beauty of these great paintings just serve to remind us that of Man’s tremendous creative energy and how if directed constructively, it can be harnessed to produce great masterpieces such as the ones we saw. Though both our feet were aching from the grounds we covered and our senses were reeling from the aesthetic pleasures that we were bombarded with, we did not regret a single second that we spent in the National Gallery other than to bemoan the fact that we did not manage to see all of its collection. I told doppy that if I were a resident In London, the National Gallery would definitely be one of my favourite haunts and I would love to take XT to it and discuss the feelings and emotions that the paintings evoke in us.

After being on our feet for the entire day, I must say that we were both glad for the respite that we were going to get in the evening as we were going to the theatre. I booked Blood Brothers which though was highly acclaimed and has been running for 21 years in London West End theatres, is a rather unknown musical to the both of us. Before the show, we had yet another good meal of pasta and calzone. We adjourned for coffee at Starbucks (surprisingly affordable due to the currency exchange) for fear that we might doze off from our jetlag and fatigue but we worried over nothing. The musical was a most engaging one with a simple storyline yet told most effectively through the songs and the narrative. I got to see one of the Spice Girls, Mel C, up close and personal as she was playing one of the lead characters. To my great surprise (or mayhaps I have been most presumptuously dismissive of the Spice Girls thus far), Mel C possesses a pretty strong voice and a commanding stage presence. I cannot say that I recognize the other players in the musical but they all possess very strong voices and performed their parts really well. I was glad that doppy enjoyed himself and the play definitely opened up a space to discuss the class issue in England through the story of a pair of twin brothers who were separated at birth with one being given to an upper middle-class English family to raise and another condemned to his family’s working class situation. Doppy, in particular, wanted XT to watch this when he turned into a teenager as the play also showed how teenage pregnancy could derail one’s life and doppy thought that it was a good play for teenagers to catch. The musical was a most entertaining one with hummable songs and suitable light moments to break the intense pace of the musical. We are both looking forward to Les Miserables which we finally managed to secure the tickets for on next Tuesday evening. It would probably be an even more intense experience than Blood Brothers but I am sure that we will both enjoy it.

Once again, this blog post is being posted a little late as I have just finished writing it on the Eurostar train that we are onboard for our trip to Paris. In typical mmf family style, we have absolutely no itinerary planned yet beyond designating the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre as must-see sights. Thus it is au revoir for now and I will be back with more thoughts and actions from our trip to Paris.

*update: No Louvre .. as museum workers are on strike. :( No any other museums too cos the entire museum workforce is on strike to protest against planned headcount cut. Sigh. Will be back with updates on Paris when I get on the train later to blog.*

London, Here We Come!

Day 0 – 30 Nov 09

It has been 2 years since doppy and I went on a long holiday together. Our last trip was to Seoul, Korea back in 2006. I got pregnant in 07 and gave birth in 08 and since then, we have only gone away for a weekend at Bintan. This trip to London and Paris did not come easy for I was initially reluctant to leave our son for such a long time. It was only when I was away in Brisbane for work and walking the streets by myself that I remember how much I have missed walking around in a foreign land with doppy. Hence, I finally made up my mind to bear the pain of missing XT and set things in motion for this trip.

Ironically, while doppy was initially worried that I would not bear to part with XT, it was he who missed him most. Last night we stayed with XT till the last possible moment to tuck him into bed at my grandma’s place. Kids are real sensitive creatures. I think XT could sense that we were going away and would miss him very much. In fact, we sat him down and told him that Papa and Mama were going to London and when we asked him to check for understanding, he said, “Papa and mama see lantern (close homophone with London)” and started singing “London bridge is falling down”. That really cracked us up but also made it all the more difficult to part with him. When doppy put him to bed, XT kept bugging him to play with him. When we finally had to take our leave to go home to do our final packing, we both teared in the lift and really missed the little tyke so much. When we stopped over this morning at Doha, I called home in the hope of hearing his voice. Alas, he was out playing with his full-time and part-time babysitter (my cousin) and hence we did not get to speak with him. Both us are really lucky and blessed to have a trusted help who we could trust to take care of XT. So while we are both sitting here in the plane watching movies, trying to catch some forty winks and missing XT like crazy, we are nevertheless assured that he is in good hands and he will probably survive the days apart from us much better than we from him.

The flight on Qatar Airways has been alright thus far. The first leg from Singapore to Doha was admittedly in a bigger and newer plane in which we had touchsensitive widescreen multimedia players. Though this leg we had to contend with much smaller screens, I am not complaining as there is still movies on demand and there are more than enough shows to occupy my time for this flight. I had finished watching “Endgame”, “Overheard” (a Mandarin show), started on “District 9” but abandoned it halfway and just finished watching a most heartwarming “Mothers know best”. Doppy has been trying to persaude me to nap for he said that no matter how tired we might be when we hit London, we must strive to stay awake till it’s time to go to bed so that our body clocks would adjust asap and we would suffer from minimum jet-lag. Since he is the more seasoned traveller between the two of us, I trusted him implicitly. However it was really not easy to sleep on a plane especially for me cos my back needs support. There are also the many movies to catch that can easily keep me awake.
We are approximately another few hours away from London and looking out of the window at the mountains we are flying over and the white fluffy clouds we are flying through, I cannot help but get excited about reaching London and finally getting the trip going. Oldman, who is kindly going to take us in for our stay in London, promised that he would pick us up at the airport with a placard that says, WELCOME THE MMF. I dared him to do so and actually thought that it would be a pretty cool thing to do! It shall remain to be seen if a LBS MBA student would degenerate himself to such a level all in the name of fun.

Not sure when we will have the internet connection to post this on our blog but will strive to write consistently so that we can share with all our trip and more importantly, have precious memories for ourselves. So stay tuned for the adventures of the mmf in a foreign land!
Now, will I be able to survive “Elizabeth” or should I opt for a lighter show?! Hmmm...

Day 1 – 30 Nov London

Have you ever fallen asleep on your feet?

I sure did for this trip.

We arrived at London at noon-time and after taking the metro to Oldman’s place (he’s very kindly putting us up and even offered us his bed!), it was 3pm when we finally took our lunch. Along the way to lunch, I finally saw London Business School for myself and was told that technically, the land that the school sits on belongs to the queen who rents it out to the school for a token sum of 1 pound a month. The building is a rather small and cozy one with a very nice courtyard right in the centre. Every single person, with the exception of Oldman, was dressed in nice suits and great winter wear. I had a whale of a time in London checking out everyone’s boots (some of them are to die for) and their winter clothing. For some inexplicable reason, all the Londoners look damn chic in their clothes. I think the monies they spent on their clothes probably have something to do with it.

We initially arranged to meet another friend who is studying in IOE for dinner. I have been meaning to introduce Baby’s mummy to Oldman for the longest time in Singapore but did not manage to do so. I thought that this time round in London, they would finally have a chance to meet but alas it was still not meant to be. We scheduled dinner for 8.30pm as we had a really late lunch but by 6.30pm, I was struggling to keep awake. I was literally falling asleep on my feet and rocking on the balls of my feet to stay awake. Both Oldman and Doppy could tell that I was not going to make it and suggested postponing the dinner to another day. Initially, I was still insistent that I could be decent company. However, the moment my butt hit a chair, I was literally dropping off like a fly. I decided that I really should not drag Baby’s mummy out to look at a walking corpse and took a rain cheque for the dinner. Thankfully, she was real understanding about it. I was actually looking forward to meeting up with her but I guess it will now have to wait till we are back from Paris.

And so it was to our friend’s kind bed we retire and I was completely knocked out till this morning.

Then the first real day of our trip began! Stay tune!

*sorry .. gotta go to bed .. gotta wake up at 5.15am tomorrow to catch a train and it's already past 1am now. :) Will blog on the train ride tomorrow. :P*

Missing out logging XT's Milestones

One of the reasons for this blog was really to record the things that happened in our lives so that they serve as good memories and lessons to the mmf. Unfortunately, I don't spend much time these days in front of the comp (despite me loving my iMac very much) unless it's at work and work these days is just clearing the sea of red and the work that my bosses are so very adept at delegating while I am honestly clueless as to what they do. One of the greatest regrets of my lack of blogging is missing out on recording XT's (he is XT now) growing up. Thus, I make a stronger resolve now to be a little more conscientious with my blog.

A quick one then before I gotta dash to Jurong West for a workshop.

XT is developing comprehension faster than we can say the word 'comprehension'. With it comes antics of all sorts, most of them hilarious ones if I did not have to be the disciplinarian and makes sure that he knows and understands that I mean business.

We have taken to trying to put him a naughty corner in a bit to correct his behaviour. Notice I did not say to teach him the right values or things to do because developmentally, he's not ready for that yet. He doesn't understand that he should not throw his half-eaten bun at his mama nor why he should listen to me when I forbid him to do certain things such as climb over the sofa. All he knows is, "Mama angry. Cayden go stand in the corner. Sorry, mama"  ... all these rattled off without nary a pause for breath and no remorse whatsoever. Obviously, you can tell that I have been drumming this into him so much so that he can recite it with no effort at all. While he might not understand why he's being punished, doppy said that it's good that we're at least teaching him logical, predictable consequences or the cause-and-effect relationship. You must really hear him when he goes into this recitation mode. He is hilarious but I need to keep my stern face (and sometimes it's really not that tough to do so since he can be real mischievous.

But he's a constant joy to behold. We're trying to teach him his name and one of the ways we do it is by making him complete sentences with him as the object. And hence, doppy asked him yesterday, "Who does Papa love? Papa loves ...." and he replied, "Mama!"

He is such a sweetheart, isn't he? :)

Je suis etudiant.

As most of you know, I'm currently learning French. I'm going through Elementary 4 right now, and I hope to at least finish E6 before deciding whether to go on to Intermediate. Each module is 8 wks worth of lessons and costs about 300 bucks.

Learning French has been a really good experience for me. I have lots of fun in class, and I feel mentally engaged and challenged. At the same time, I feel like I'm learning something useful, and who knows what this experience might lead to.

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy going to class and doing homework. Just as I like playing silly flash games, the reason behind this is in the thrill of completing a challenge. And getting the right answers for my homework really makes me feel good as it shows that I understand the lesson and have been able to internalise some of it.

To reach the next step of ability would require me to immerse myself much more deeply in the language. This would entail French television, books, or even a person to converse to in French. With that kind of practice, a lot of sentences would become much more second nature, rather than me having to translate from English right now.

Some day, I hope to be able to write a short post in French. I won't even try now. :P