ON TRAINS & BEARS

.... rides! Yep, its random pics of my boy, on the rides ... once again. When will this little boy tire of these (damn) rides? Or more importantly .... when is his Mama going to stop taking those (silly) but adorable photos of her son, sitting on the kiddy rides?? We all hope & pray ... it will be (very) soon!

Below are also some pics of Ryan & his Daddy at an indoor kids playground. I heard that Lot 1 had a kid's play area (after their reno) on the upper level, not unlike the IMM & Sembawang Shopping Centre ones. I couldn't recall if the one at Lot 1 had a wet area too, coz my son hates those (he's kinda weird, in that way) but it works out for us really well coz we won't have to "argue" with a temperamental child that insists on playing with the water, when we've got no change of clothes .... hehe! This playground is kinda small compared to the other two malls' & it had a security fella there (dunno for what?). We also had to be "shoe-less" on this particular playground ... oh well, whatever!

As usual, my boy wanted to try the slides, so Hubby had to give him a hand. We stayed only awhile. Duh! there was also a small TV room nearby, for the kids to watch cartoons ... see how spoilt kids are these days? Or should I say ... how lucky they are! To be able to play on the slides AND watch toons too .... wow! I wish adults had that kind of luxury!

P.S : These were taken in mid Aug 2009.

Holding tightly to Daddy's hands.

Standing tall, all on his own!

Daddy giving Ryan a helping hand, on the steps.

Up, we go!

W-e-e-e...! Down the slide!

This train is mine! M-I-N-E! I tell you!

Hey you! Stop looking at my train ... its mine, I tell you!

Can we bring this train home, Mummy? Please, pretty please??

Haha! Mummy said we can take the train home! She must be in a V-E-R-Y good mood!

Let's give Mummy a cheeky grin .... since she's soooo nice, to allow me to bring this huge red train home.

Hey! Wait a minute ... why did my train turn into a bear??? Mummy, I don't want the bear!

TO T3, WE WENT .....

Anyone who's a true blue Singaporean, will know what I mean when I say we went to T3. Yep, T3 (or Terminal 3) is our newest, grandest (so far) international airport in far flung Changi. I can't remember how many times we've been to the airport with Ryan though. But I'm sad to say that all the trips to Changi airport so far (for Ryan), are just stopovers or hangouts ... never a plane ride out. Well, what do you do when you are a family living on a (very) tight budget. The only place my son has been to, overseas ... is nearby JB (by car!) to buy cheap groceries. I really hope to change that very soon ... who knows, in the coming years we will be able to do that.

Meanwhile, our trips to admire our fantastic airport ... will suffice, for now.

P.S : This is a back-dated post (mid August 09)

Hubby asking his distracted son to look at his Mummy, so that we could get a nice shot. Haha ... no such luck ... sonny boy wasn't interested!

Ryan ... raring to go & see the aeroplanes.

Whilst at T3, we chance about a bouncy-castle sorta thing (it was huge & flat ... more like a inflatable football field, I guess). It was erected by the people in charge of the YOG (Youth Olympic Games). As usual, my boy can't resist anything that he can bounce on like crazy. Of course, Hubby had to accompany him as Ryan's too tiny (for most activities) & we were afraid that he'll get bullied by the other older (much larger) kids, who can be a bit rough sometimes. Well, what can you do ... when your son is small for his age ... over-protect him? We try not to ... but sometimes its the parent instinct kicking in!

Hubby trying to run away from Ryan ... so that his boy will catch him.

He fell down ... but he was smiling, no damage done!

Ryan was very happy indeed.

At the Departure Viewing Hall, its time for the aeroplanes.

The (small) eager beaver!

Propping himself, to get a better view.

A short pose for Mummy.

Ryan : " Where's the plane, Papa?"

Daddy : "I don't know ... where's the aeroplanes?"

Still so many unanswered questions ....

Wait awhile Mummy, I'm not finished just yet.

Over there Papa ... I can see more planes!

My boy looking very serious ... errm, maybe he's deep in thought?

My two boys ... they look alike yet ... they are not exactly the same. Haha ... not carbon copies ... like some kid-&-parent combo ... haha!

The few rare pics of Mummy & son, this time in the Sky Train (I think that's what they're called).

Hubby ... the lone ranger!

Ryan ... the lone ranger!

I don't know why my camera's a bit off these days. A lot of times it takes photos that turn out ok but these days the pics are very blurry. Maybe its time to service the (damn) thing! Shucks! If we service it, it'll cost us money (which we cannot spare at the moment). Even then, the cost of the servicing might be more than half the price of a new digicam, with much better features & higher mega pixels. Sigh! buying a new digicam is definitely out of the question now. So whats a Mummy on a budget to do ... I ask you? Well, for this Mummy, we just live with it (no choice!) ... hope & pray that the digicam does not die on me too soon. Meanwhile, please excuse the grainy & very blurry photos on the blog. I'm really trying my best ....

Ohh! by the way, the main reason we went to T3 this time, was because I had the GREAT idea to bring my son to see the Butterfly Park there (I read it on a local blog recently). What I didn't realise was that the Butterfly thingy was in the Departure Hall for passengers only ... duh! Ok ok, I know ... I should have known that it wasn't open to the public (area) but I sorta assumed that since it was on the blog that it was free-for-all. I guess the one thing in life is ... NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING!!! Lesson learnt people!

RANDOM PICS - KIDDY RIDES

Well, its time for more random pictures. Yes, what else but those damn ... oops! cute rides again! Ryan just loves any ride that's shaped like an aeroplane or helicopter. He loves anything that flies ... except real flies, of course ... he finds them pesky (who doesn't?) & rather terrified of them ... or he'll try valiantly to swat them away with his tiny hands ... haha!

Oh well, back to the rides.

A rather sweet smile ... on a Sunday morning.

Its a good ride, Mummy!

In the arcade, posing on the bike rides with Daddy.

Don't move bike!

Wait a minute ... I'm about done here.

GROCERY SHOPPING UP NORTH

Moving right along, here's a post of one of our trips to Johor Bahru (its a back dated post).

About once a month (if we can), we try to stock up on some cheap groceries in JB. And although the jams at the Causeways (on both sides of the countries) can be vomit-inducing (Ryan can vouch for that!) & sore on me (big) butt ... we "endure" it as best we can. Shopping in Malaysia does saves a lot of money & sometimes the variety is different too. Not forgetting the halal stuff they sell there, far exceeds what we have here in Singapore. Fine dining (if you can call eating in cafes, that) is definitely so much cheaper, especially if they have similar branches back home - like Secret Recipe, Oldtown (which coincidentally, isn't halal in Singapore), etc.

We always end up spending a lot of the time in the bigger supermarkets. Whilst there, Ryan always can't miss out on the kiddie rides, outside.

Looking very confident indeed. See how he "siam" the many supermarket trolleys around him. He's actually pretty good at not knocking people down nor being hit by the other kiddy riders.

Can you see the serious-looking Ryan, peering at the corner of his eyes? He's actually looking out for some errant drivers (kids) around him. Haha ... he hates being hit by them.

We dropped by a kid's playground. Its pretty huge! You would never see an indoor playground, this huge in a Singapore mall.

Finally, its time to eat. We had our makan at a small restaurant called Vivo (I think they're from the U.S - they serve mainly Western food & have other branches across Malaysia). The food is pretty tasty & very reasonably priced. A lot of the restaurants in Malaysia are Halal certified (reflected at the entrance of the shop or on their menus). If in doubt, don't be afraid to ask!

Ryan scribbling on the promotion pamphlet.

Waiting for the food to arrive (which was so bl**dy slow) ... reason being? They forgot one of our orders, arrgh! (I forgot to take photos of the food - no mood by then).

Ryan showing his Daddy the food he wants to eat, next time.

Yes, its (yet) another kiddy ride ... at another mall! The things we do to make our children, happy!

Hubby, the ever-present bodyguard ... not that Ryan needs any protecting, hehe!

Looking to check if Daddy is still behind him.