William Curley

I ordered a birthday cake for Gabriel from William Curley in Richmond. This time I ordered the Strawberry Frasier - not the signature dish but perfectly pretty to attract me.

William Curley is famous for its die-for-it chocolate and pastry. If you are a chocoholic, it is a must, I think it is better than Godiva. The truffles....melt in your mouth, and not too heavy!! They are very expensive but I assure you, it is worth the taste.

Don't think any girl (boy too) on earth could resist the deliciously splendid look of William Curley goods. So I decided to sit down, have drink and a cup of the chestnut mousse that I have been eyeing! This is a pre-birthday treat for Gabriel, not really, mummy love it too!!!

I love the colour, the look, and the taste...........

See the following expression.......

.....wowowow......

.....ah....yhum....

.....hmmm....yummy!!!


OK, the chestnut mousse is not bad, the taste is good but I don't like the chocolate chunk bottom, it don't go well with the mousse - oh not that I am a chocolate connoisseur ; - )

100% Daddy Mummy

This is fun - you can see your child look more like daddy or mummy...the meter determine and let you know. Gabriel is 50% daddy 50% mummy, very fair! And I wish he is 100% daddy brain plus 30% mummy hardwork....superb ideal!! ; - ))



Will do another check next year, see how he grows.

Holiday?

We just came back from our short trip in Barcelona. Should we call it a holiday?? Mmm...Daren and me ponder for a while and decided it was not - not with a 2 year old, or to be precise, 3 days to 2.

We don't mind the extra trouble manoeuvring our little sweetheart, but because he reach the age of massive exploration, we had 10 times extra effort to get him to listen.

Gabriel fell in love with 'boat' in Barcelona. When he saw them, his mood heighten and he ignored us completely. His 2nd love - car. When he see AUDI and HONDA, he call 'daddy' excitedly to tell us it is daddy's car. If you ignore him, he will explode into a monstrous state. His 3rd love - ball, this include anything come in the shape of ball. If he see any of them, you are in with him for a roller-coaster ball-search ride! SO....on top of our sightseeing trips on foot, our days in Barcelona were to deal with his interest chases, plus his occasional tantrum outburst - by end or mid of day, we were a wreak.

The beach.......

Barcelona beach is beautiful. It was packed with beach lovers, largely holidaymakers. We are not beach person, so no sun bathing. We stroll along the beach while Gaby slept soundly in the buggy. By time we came to end of beach, he woke. I brought him to the beach - for a fair bit of Barcelona-sand experience.

Barcelona is a seafood paradise, but no chilli crab for Singaporean ; - ) Market Boqueria is very interesting and attracting. It is a good place to have seafood the local way. We didn't experience eating in the market, no way with a 2 year old!! We love seafood paella, so does Gabriel. You can find paella everywhere but taste vary largely. We were disappointed as the seafood weren't fresh as we expected. Must go to right place for good taste. This restaurant is good, must rememeber in case we visit Barcelona again, it is call ' '.

We had good time in Barcelona as a family. Most memorable was the nite at the beach, daddy and son were playing catch with the penguin. The scene is warm and beautiful, with Gabriel giggling loudly. City walk was not easy with Gabriel, but the running about at the port proved to be fun, and challenging.

Generally, holiday with toddler is tricky. You get to learn the challenge but before you are able to respond, new things come up. Everytime I said 'this will be last'....but it is hard to say no. Before I recuperate energy, I think for next holiday, swear to be a better one. I must say for all trips we did last 2 year, despite the catastrophes we attracted one after another, we never fail to enjoy our time with Gabriel, however short and exhausting! When you see his smile, your heart melt.

...the following photos are edited, they are my favourite.

We concluded from this trip - no more city tour with Gabriel until he is older. So next holiday we will be planning around Disney....until then, next travel to asia in Dec, visit home.

The slide is a good memory for Gabriel for his 1st visit to Spain.

...Gabriel, you drained daddy mummy completely during this trip but you had good fun. You were excited to see boat, you enjoyed so much at the port. Mummy wonder would that be an indication of you becoming a sailor one day?! Please let mummy know how you think. I love you.

Frequent Traveller Jr.

Sometimes I am bit jealous....baby can travel to so many places at such young age while mummy only get to see the other side of world much later. Daddy said the same but we agreed to take him along whenever possible, it is heart-pain to leave him behind, plus we don't have babysitter. We enjoyed all the trip though there were few minor catastrophes. One particular incident was Gabriel crying non-stop at the last hour of flight back from Johannesburg, the young passenger sat next to us shoot dagger at us, very hostile! As a new parent we care and were panic to calm our baby. But for now, we don't care, baby come first!

List below are places that junior set foot in...

Malaysia - Gabriel was a little star in KL, huge fun with everyone!!
Singapore - home sweet home...another shinning star...good fun too!!
Johannesburg - fantastic trip, better than we can imagine with a 7 months old
Korea - not baby friendly but heaven for shopaholic mummies
Prague - beautiful and romantic, our 14 months old enjoyed running at the bridge
Slovenia - not much to see but what you can see and eat last for life
China - family visit to Xiamen and Shantau, invaluable experiences!
Hong Kong - just a nite for dinner, Gabriel had his 1st taste of lamb at the Jap res.
Phuket - good spot for family, great time at Marriott, we will go back!!

...not much travelling in early 2007, nearest trip coming this Saturday to Barcelona. Another trip to Haikou in December and seeing family in KL and Spore,can't wait!!
Cannes trip in October yet to confirm, finger cross!!!

Kudos to this young traveller!!.....or rather, to the parent!!!

Fretful Mummy

Today is a bit strange. Everything went as usual until dinner time. Gabriel threw a sudden 1st degree tantrum - rejecting food, crying and screaming for cuddle. He looks sick and weak. Suddenly I recall he fell from highchair this morning. Fear and guilt washed over me instantly - horrible thought of internal head injury flash clear & loud in my head. Daddy managed to cuddle him to sleep....I told Daren about my fear and he said it can't be. I was not assured so I keep checking to make sure he is alive....Yes he is breathing hard - good boy!

This is the silly mummy who always think the worst when things goes wrong. Gabriel is just tired - after a 40min swim and a 50min play in the park. It is funny to find my over-zealous son to sleep at 7pm (for the 1st time). We feel strange but relieve to have a peaceful nite. Believe it or not, we are already missing him....



No idea what would happen tonite. We are betting he would get up at 1am, catch up his dinner, then back to sleep. Honey we love you, big kiss.....muak!!!

....this is Gabriel new hair style,took him to the salon today - tough job!!

Root Searching

I have just compiled all my pictures taken last year, and intend to display them on slide. I made a special clip on our trip to Shantau, titled Root Searching. This was the family annual holiday for 2006, taking the whole Chia's crew to visit the family root in Shantau - the Chia's 'kampung'!

It was a very fulfilling trip - we got to see the places our ancestors lived, taste the local food and most importantly, meeting up with the extended family, this include Ah Ma's brother. It was kinda of a family reunion!! Credit to our Chia uncles & aunties who done the retracing to make this trip real.

We travelled from Xiamen to Shantau, 2 hours coach journey. Thankfully Gabriel was not difficult on road, and we had lot of help on hand. I must also say thanks for the car seat specially arranged for him. Everything went well, and we had load of fun!!

The 'Youth Forum' was introduced in this family retreat, where the young are given chance to share their thought, opinion and idea. This is another good bonding especially for the elders to understand the need of the youngs. Smart move!

I look forward to the next family gathering - distance make heart fonder!!

Family Visit

My family visited me in May, for 3 weeks. And my mum stayed until August. It was great having them, my house was crowded with noises and mess, laughters and fun. It was amusing watching Gabriel and Fiona playing together, and they fight too. But also scared me and Daren the challenge having 2 toddlers under one roof...no joke!! Miss them...I wonder when they will visit me again. I made my mum promise to come next year(even she is not keen),at least I have a potential visit to look forward to. Lot of fun pictures - sure these last for decades.

...Gabriel - mummy is very happy to see you in Wah Ma's warm cuddle and care for the last 3 months. You had a wonderful time with her. Sometime you bullied Wah Ma, making her goes round the merry to meet your demands, but you never forget to kiss her whenever you kiss daddy and mummy, that was very very sweet!! When you grow up you can see from the picture and video, sure you have big laugh!!