Kyan turns One

2 weeks fly by when you're having fun! We're going home tomorrow, but there's still one more celebration to go before we say goodbye to Gong Gong John and Mama. A week after my birthday, it's my brother's turn to cut his birthday cake.

But first, a morning walk along the jetty after breakfast and a chance to take more photos..

Finally, Mummy gets to take a photo of us!

I know you're feeling cold Mummy, but there's no need to squeeze me so tightly..

We're back at Grandaunt Philippa's house for the celebration.

Birthday boy looking his one-year old best!

Lovely blue skies and bluer sea.. I'll never get tired of the view from the balcony.

Kyan trying to gesture his age... and getting it wrong...

Deja Vu... It's the birthday song again, but this time, we sing it for Kyan.

Yum... now that I've licked off the cream, can I get a bite of that cherry too?

Birthday boy throwing tantrums because the cake is gone! And with that, we said goodbye to my first holiday in Australia. It has been a lovely holiday!

McLaren Vale

We visited a vineyard today and I saw for myself the birthplace of Kyan's favourite fruit on this trip - raisins. Actually, they were supposed to be grapes, but it being winter, the round purple fruit that I imagined in a vineyard (as seen in the vineyards on the Discovery Travel & Living Channel) was nowhere in sight. Nevertheless, it is still an amazing place and I've never seen such wide open spaces of green before. It's also the windiest outing of this whole trip so far and I kept thinking that I would be blown away, literally speaking.

Mama and me posing in front of the grapevines.

My aunt and uncle (who's attempting to blend in with the surroundings!)

Kyan looking like he's going to be blown away by the fierce winds!


Family photo (with Daddy missing from the shot as usual..)

Lunch @ The Barn

Shopping in the City

Today, Daddy and Mummy decided to explore the main shopping district in Adelaide, so we took a train to Rundle Mall - Australia's first pedestrian street mall. Although I think we spent more time walking around than actually shopping, I did have fun observing the action from my 4-wheel drive. Mummy got me a frisbee to play with at the park, but I ended up using it as a steering wheel. The colour even matches my suitcase i.e. my pretend car!

Posing for pictures in front of a sculpture commonly known as "The Mall's Balls"(its official name is Bert Flugelman's Spheres)

The best part about the trip however was the toy store. I think my parents were rather sneaky coz they pretended not to hear me when I pointed out the huge giraffe picture, but I'm too smart for them! I told them that it meant my favourite place, the toy shop was straight ahead, so off we went to visit it as our last stop.

Although I've been to various Toys'R Us stores back home, this one beats them all! Its Huge and even my parents couldn't hide their excitement over the rows and rows of toys, some of which we've not seen before in the Singapore stores. Best of all, the place was very empty and I had entire aisles of toys to gaze at all to myself and not have anyone block my view! In the end, we got Kyan a set of little cars as an early birthday present, and I became the proud owner of a toy microwave oven that has a turntable, lights up, and beeps exactly like the real thing when the 'food' has been cooked. (The Singapore stores don't have this range and I could have owned more household appliances if Daddy hadn't stopped Mummy from buying the dishwasher, the vacuum cleaner, washing machine...I think she secretly wants to play with them herself!!)

I fell asleep in the stroller during the train journey back, and, like most other shopping trips, it ended with us boys acquiring more stuff than our parents!

Home and Garden

Week 2

I'm beginning to enjoy the space and natural surroundings here. Told my mummy this morning when I came out the front door that I like this place because it's so quiet here! Mummy was surprised coz I'm usually so noisy and she didn't think I'd appreciate a quiet environment..Anyway, it's definitely a change from my home where the outdoors is further away.

Oh look! What lovely flowers : )

This is Mama's backyard where I discovered a talent for watering the plants! My favourite morning routine is to fill up the pail and give all the plants and weeds a nice cold drink. I could probably do it for hours if it weren't so cold sometimes. I've also learnt about a new weed called a dandelion which bursts into little parachutes when I blow on it. Hmmm, how could anything so beautiful be called a weed?? Pity we didn't get to take any photos of me blowing on it.

Another morning routine I look forward to - helping Mama make fresh juice for breakfast. Look at all the yummy fibre squishing out!

Tristan turns 3

It's been a week since my overseas adventure started and I'm settling in to the new environment. Apart from Kyan waking up almost every night to cry and demand milk and us falling sick mid-way through the week, we've settled into a comfortable routine. Of course, the highlight of the week was my birthday and we celebrated it at Grandaunt Philippa's house with a small party.

Posing with my favourite coloured cake - Brown!




Singing the "Happy Birthday" song, while Mummy tries to prevent Kyan from reaching for the candles.



That's a dangerous looking knife...




Tucking in. Yum!



A very contented-looking me together with my grandparents. The cake was finger-licking good!


A "rare" family shot (the camera man decided to take a break for this one!) Hmmm, I wonder if my brother ate more cake than me. He forgot to get rid of the evidence...!
The celebration marked the end of Week One in Adelaide. Wondering what surprises the next week will bring.

Kyan's day out with Mummy and Daddy

Mama and Gong Gong John took me out together with Ku Jie and Uncle Colin today while Daddy, Mummy and Kyan went out on their own. So this was what they were up to without me huh.. The cake and muffin looks huge and oh so yummy! More about cake in the next post!

Glenelg

Having fun at Glenelg

We visited Glenelg on the second day of our Australian holiday. It's a beachside resort suburb and after the adults had lunch and coffee, we went outdoors to take in the sea breeze and take photographs.

I had fun chasing birds.

Glenelg Town Hall is in the background.

Kyan looking rather dubious at Mummy's attempts to make him pose for the camera.

Kyan says: "Aha, now that my ears are protected from the cold, I feel much better. Thank you Mama for the nice, warm woolly cap : ) "

Kyan says "Erm, Ku Jie, you're embarrassing me!" Hmm, I wonder why Kyan looks like that.. I would have been flattered by a kiss from a pretty lady anytime! Heh Heh.

We spent the afternoon at a fantastic place called The Beachouse. I've never seen such a big indoor playground so empty before! The fun places back home are usually crowded and noisy, but here, we seem to be the only ones around, apart from the staff. Then again, it was a weekday afternoon and all the children would have been in school.

We had to look around for someone to start up the bumper cars for us (they're called dodgems in Australia). Even so, there was only one other car to dodge - Ku Jie and Uncle Colin's. Hmmm, it'd been more fun with more cars around. Then again, I might have been a bit scared. As it is, I think I look quite tense figuring out how to drive this machine.

Other fun things we did - a train ride with Mama and my first golf lesson with Gong Gong John.

Adelaide - The journey there

My First Overseas Holiday

We're going for a holiday! Finally, I'll get to see the inside of an aeroplane instead of only seeing it high up in the sky or parked at the airport. Daddy and Mummy are taking us on a trip to Southern Australia, specifically, Adelaide where Gong Gong John and Mama live. Now I get to see them up close and personal instead of only talking to them via the computer screen.

We'll be going to stay with Gong Gong John and Mama at their house at Brighton together with Uncle Colin and Ku Jie for a grand total of 16 days! That's the longest I'll be gone from home.. Hope I won't miss my bed and car too much..Since we'll be there for the 1st half of June, Kyan and I get to celebrate our 1st and 3rd birthdays away from home too.. But more of that later..Right now, the excitement is building as Mummy takes us shopping for my very own luggage bag and some warm clothing coz it's going to be cold at this time of the year. There's also the never-ending packing to be done (Mummy and Daddy's job, not mine). I keep hearing them say how amazing it is that the littler the passenger is, the more there is to bring!

In case anyone's wondering where the photos are, there aren't any to document our pre-trip preparations. We didn't even manage to take any at the airport coz our adventure started even before we left Singapore.. Our flight was scheduled to leave around midnight, and because we already did the online check-in and Daddy had to work till about 9 plus pm, we arrived at the airport at about 10 plus pm thinking that we would have plenty of time to check in the baggage. Daddy and Mummy went to do that while I waited with Uncle Colin, Ku Jie (who were there ealier) mama and Gong Gong. And I waited and waited and waited... Turns out that Kyan's name was not on the passenger list because there was a mix-up in his birth certificate number and his passport number (which is not the same number in his case). So the counter staff had to rectify the situation otherwise Kyan would be entering Australia illegally. By the time the paper work was done (the poor guy had to even call someone in Canberra), we had to rush through immigration and were the last to board the plane.

Before I knew it, the plane had taken off and we were in the air. Kyan was already sleeping when we got to the airport, and he continued sleeping like a baby (literally) in the bassinet throughout the 7 hour journey till we arrived in Adelaide. I was too excited at first to sleep even though it was way past my bedtime. In fact, to Mummy's surprise, I even chose, and ate up all the pasta, something I normally make a fuss over. Maybe food tastes different when you're so high up in the sky. Fiddled with the entertainment system for a while but Daddy couldn't find any car racing game for me to play with. Finally, with 2 hours more to go before touch-down, I fell asleep on Mummy's shoulder. I've not much recollection of the plane landing. The clearing of immigration and customs took another long while, especially when Daddy had to open the luggage for inspection because Kyan's booster seat and a pack of diapers showed up suspiciously on the screen. Eventually, we were walking out of the airport and windbreakers were hurriedly put on as the cool temperate air welcomed us and Gong Gong John and MaMa drove up in their cars to take us back to their home. Australia, here I come!

Week One

Ok, for everyone who has been patiently reading this rather long narrative and wondering if they'll see more than just words, its time to reward your patience = ) So, here're the first few pictures of us in Australia. They're all taken at Grandaunt Philippa's gorgeous beachfront home!

Uncle Colin, Ku Jie and I posing for the camera against the beautiful sky at sunset. The beach starts just beyond the lamp post. I've never seen the sea this close to a house before!

In the picture below, Mama is trying to educate me on the fine art of champagne drinking. Er.. I'm still far from the legal age right??

Mummy and Kyan

Me hamming it up for the camera.