Dora's biggest fan

Dear amigos ... Gaston and Kelyan,

You wouldn't believe what I did today ... I went for the 'Dora's Pirate Adventure concert'! I saw her for REAL! My concert partner was Chloe, who wasn't a real fan of Dora's but I think she became one after the concert. That's us, holding the Dora flag we received at the entrance.

I couldn't conceal my happiness ... I was ready to burst with excitement!

The adventure begins ...


That's me ... with that expression throughout the concert ... ha ha ha!

'Say Map!' ... We needed the map to get to Treasure Island

Swiper ... that cheeky fox!

During the intermission, I was running around giving my grandma a good exercise ...

What a cool ship yah?

We did it!

It was a great concert ... so much fun! Thanks mama, grandma and auntie Evan for taking us to the best concert ever. Chloe and I had a blast!

Wish you guys were there!

Big hugs and many kisses, Sera

To the Zoo

There is one thing (ok, there are other things too) I'm really proud of Singapore and that is her Zoo. I know, it can be a 'zoo' living and working here in Singapore but I'm referring to the Zoo that houses all the beautiful animals amidst a tropical rainforest environment. This morning, we went to the Zoo and had ourselves a really good time. (Manu and Sylvie ... you'll be able to tell from the photos why I was so sad when we were at the Doha Zoo. 'wink')

Looking fresh and awake ... ready to visit and chat with the animals.
I mean, she really did chat with them ...

Sera and I checking out the lazy Orang Utans

This orang utan, so human-like in his mannerism, was fast asleep. 'Shhhhhh', went Sera

Sera was whispering to the crocodile sweet nothings

She was so excited to see this jaguar ... but she kept saying 'Baby Jaguar', as in Dora the Explorer! I can't imagine her version of an adult jaguar.

Isn't he so handsome ... and calm, despite facing 'a little chicken'
(as in Sera) who was waving and talking so loudly?

Giraffes ... feasting on the lush greens

We caught a glimpse of the Asian elephants and their mahouts just before they on stage


I'm not so into the animal shows but most of the time, messages of conservation, appreciation and
awareness for these animals are conveyed to the audience


White tigers ... they were stunning

Passing the Orang utans, we managed to see the arowana fish jumping out of the
water to eat the dangling fish. Cool!

This orang utan found a drifting durian skin, walked over to it, used a branch to bring it closer to him

After the Zoo visit, we decided to treat ourselves to ice cream ... but of course!

Sometimes, my daughter thinks she is the queen ...

And yesterday, she thought she was the 'Queen of the hawker centre'. Ha ha. Nothing to be too proud of as, for my friends who aren't familiar with a Singapore hawker centre, it's usually not the 'cleanest', cosiest or comfortable of places to eat. It is usually frequented by locals who want to whet their appetites with tasty and economical food. So anyway, after Sera was done eating her noodles, she stood at the corner of the centre and started her 'queen wave' plus her 'Hi!', 'Goodbye!' and 'See you!'

And as you can tell from the passerbys, they were very humoured by her.

"Hi auntie! ... " (This auntie was caught by surprised)

"Bye ... see you!" (Ha ha, she couldn't help but laugh)

She was not at all choosy with whom she waved at ... anyone that passed her received a wave and a 'Hi'

Too cute!

I had to post this photo of Sera and her two friends in Doha - Kelyan and Gaston. This photo was taken on the evening we were going to leave Doha. So this photo was essentially the last one of them together, topless!

"What is it you wanted to say Sera? Oh ok ..."

Sera just wanted to add that her tummy is not so big nowadays ... ha ha. Thanks Manu for the photo!

It's hot, so what else but to the pool!

Another pool time, but this time at Evan's club. Yes, that is apparently what we like to do, fizzle down in the water, from the yucky humid weather. The girls had a great time at the children's water play park. They were tireless, especially since they had been playing non-stop the whole afternoon indoors. I, on the other hand, was physically finished by dinner time but not Sera and Chloe, who were still raring to go in the indoor playground. Thanks Evan and Chloe for a great time!

Check out the water play park. That's Sera, to the left of this photo.

The water was very shallow, a bit too shallow for Sera to do her 'swimming'. So eventually,
she jumped into the adults' pool and gleefully said, "Swimming!"

The girls taking their shower. Chloe loved having the water sprayed all over her but Sera, unused
to having showers, was very wary of the spraying water.

See-saw, up and down! They continued their play, after dinner.

To the pool!

Nothing makes her more happy than playing in the swimming pool. Well, she would be COMPLETELY happy if Johan was here, of course. But she had a great time at the pool with Chloe and Evan today. She ran into the pool, once her floaties were on, bobbing in the water, laughing and just being her same old self.

Happiness ...

Twirling in the water

Chloe, Evan and Sera

Chloe was very fascinated by the wheel

Seafood dinner by the beach

When she's happy, she eats ...

Lunch time!

Slurping up her bowl of noodles

Watermelon for dessert

A very messy affair when she had ice cream for dessert ... after dinner

The girls are back in town

We arrived in Singapore in one piece, very exhausted after the restless flight but very relieved to be out of the plane and on land. Thanks uncle Sam, auntie Ivy, uncle Kimmi and Nic for welcoming us home!

We're currently settling back in, although with some hiccups, mostly from Sera who apparently is suffering from a bout of homesickness and and a severe case of missing papa.

Sera: "Papa ... papa" (with eyes so sad and teary-eyed)
Me: "Sera, where is papa?
Sera: "Papa home." (as in back in Doha)

She's been an emotional wreck! So much so that she didn't eat for 3 days, except for her two feeds of milk. And of course, I was getting worried. But as of today, she started to eat again - her lunch and her dinner. Phew! Big relief ... I think she's going to be just fine now.

In between the hiccups, we did some catching up ...

Just before going to bed ... enjoying her milk

Lunch with Evan and Chloe. Sera had new Dora floaties, which she insisted on wearing there and then

Checking out the many rides at the mall

Chloe and Sera in their race car, about to 'paint the town red'

Ice cream treat after dinner ... Sera, Isaac and Aaron waited patiently for their ice cream

Three very contented cousins

"Goodbye ... see you later"

The packers came this morning to pack our unbelievable collection of stuff in boxes, and after about 5 hours, they left us with a semi-naked house. I have to admit that the house, at the moment, feel un-cosy and even cold. The past few days, while mama and I were sorting out things to pack, Sera went around the house commenting how 'messy' it was. Today, she walked in the house, after school and exclaimed 'empty'!

So the reality is that we're leaving Doha in a few days. I haven't really had time to reflect or reminisce about our departure but today was Sera's last day at school and I was getting a little emotional. I brought a cake to her class and like bees to honey, the kids just followed me to the table, eyeing the cake happily and greedily. Sera helped me distribute the plastic spoons, calling out the names of her classmates (most of them) as she went along. She bade everyone "Goodbye... see you later!", and was a little overwhelmed and confused by the extra hugs and kisses today, from her teacher and the assistants.

But life goes on and the remaining days, aside from packing the remaining stuff, I'll be making it a point to say not goodbye but 'see you later' to the friends I've made here.

Sera and her classmates wait patiently around the table, waiting for lunch to be served

With Ms. Vicky, Ms. Georgina, a very pregnant 7 month mama and Ms. Sally

One more hurdle crossed ...

For 4 months, it took us (most of the time Johan) a good 30 or 45 minutes to put Sera to bed at night. That included using a few tools like patting her to sleep, reading her a few books or even singing to her. Often times, he would end up falling asleep with her till the wee mornings. And since she got so used to him sleeping beside her, she would grumble or whine the minute he tried to leave the room. It gets worse because for 4 months, she would 'visit' us in the early mornings in our bedrooms, between 12am to 5am, expecting us to put her back to bed! Too tired to protest, we did this for many months ... telling ourselves it was just a phase. Oh, how accepting and silly we can be sometimes!!!

Anyway, it really got too much for both of us. Especially in the last few weeks, we were failing to convince ourselves that it was just another phase of Sera's. We were waking up feeling even more tired than we had been the night before. We were totally wasted ... and very, very desperate!

So when Manuela and Pablo (bless them, bless them ... bless them!) shared with us their technique that they called 'magic' and their 'salvation', we listened well and hard. We did everything they instructed, starting from buying a security gate for Sera's door. In our minds, we had a sinking feeling that she was sure to tear it down or climb over it. But we quickly brushed aside any negative thoughts and ploughed along, positively. So the method was really simple - a simple, unchanging goodnight 'script' before tucking her into bed, give her a cuddly, walk away and hope for the best! This also came with a timing sequence that informed us when to attend to her, during her cries and protests (which of course happened) till she finally fell asleep. The whole idea is that eventually, she would realise that her crying would come to naught, that she is big enough to sleep through the night, and best of all, she'd still see us in the morning.

First night, she cried for an hour with a few intervals, whereby Johan and I attended to her, as instructed. She woke up twice in the early morning. It was a little heartbreaking for me and mama was close to tears. Ha ha. So dramatic huh?

Second night, she cried for 45 minutes till she fell asleep and woke up once in the early morning. Improvement.

Third night, she cried for 5 minutes and fell asleep. She slept through the night. Huh???

Fourth night, she fell asleep with no tears or complains. She slept through the night. MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, Manuela said it took them 4 nights with Gaston but secretly, we thought it was nearly impossible to change Sera's sleeping habits so fast. But we were just blown away by the overnight change in Sera. Johan and I would just look at each other, in utter amazement. Our immediate thoughts were "WHY DIDN'T WE GET THIS METHOD FROM MANUELA SOONER?"

Ha ha!

It has been 6 nights since we implemented this sleeping technique. We love it, we want to shout to the whole world because we're just giddy with the success of it. We're going to seriously recommend that Manuela and Pablo conduct parenting seminars on it! We have crossed another little hurdle ... Yeahhh!

Johan reading to Sera a bedtime story before tucking her to bed ... no stress now!

Happy Birthday Mama!

Today, mama turned a year older and we were delighted that we could celebrate her birthday here, with us. And since, she was here and not in Singapore, she had to cook her own favourite Singapore dishes for herself and ... luckily, for us. We invited some of our friends over, and they tasted for the first time, food from Singapore. We hope they enjoyed it!

Our dear friends from France and Argentina feasting on some Singapore fare - Chicken satay with
ketupat (rice), spring rolls, fried egg noodles

Happy Birthday Mama and Grandma!

One more photo till we're all together again ... some day!

A traumatic Saturday morning

Our Saturday started like any other Saturday ... at the hospital. Sigh, yes it does seem like we visit the hospital pretty often but something puzzling has been happening to Sera and we needed to get it checked. You see, in the last two weeks, one toe nail has mysteriously dried and dropped off ... and two of her fingernails were on that similar fate too!

For a while, we thought it could be several things - the chlorine water, her strange habit of scratching at her crayons or the fact that her fingers and toes often get caught between doors and drawers. Anyway, the alarm bells started to rrrringggggg when I realised that her big toe nails were drying up too. Yikes ... ! So anyway, that's why the hospital visit today.

Ok, so according to the doctor, although it is uncommon, she apparently has some form of nail dystrophy, say what? To my understanding, some form of nail malfunction and the doctor said it was the side effects from her recent 'hand, foot and mouth' problem she had a few weeks back. He assured us that her nails should be back to normal in 4 months time. Gulp! My poor baby! And as an extra precaution, she went through a few blood tests to make sure her vital organs are functioning well.

She struggled when the doctor was checking her but during the blood extraction (of which two vials were filled), we had four people pinning her down - two nurses, mama and myself. She put up a big fight and nearly ripped off the needle from her arm. 'Faint'! But she was clearly traumatised because she wrapped herself like a koala bear unto grandma for a good 45 minutes, looking very despondent, very hurt and whispering 'pain, pain, pain' and 'tired, tired' for the longest time.

But the Sera that she is and we know, picked herself up and eventually joined the other children in the waiting area. Grandma also made her a paper air plane, which she zoomed all over the place. So we're still waiting for the blood tests results ... hope it turns out fine ... I'm sure everything is fine!

She finally peeled herself from grandma's arms and roamed the hospital's waiting area

Kissing the air plane before it takes off

And zooooommmmm, away it goes ...

Finally, just a photo of Sera and Johan in an aquarium at a Korean restaurant we went to in the evening