The twilight saga

Picture from Amazon.com

Oh ya! I've been reading alright! Its been months since I touched any books. So I thought why not go crazy and get 4 books and read them back to back?

I didn't think much about Stephanie Mayer's book Twilight series when I was in the book store. I was just thinking; Hmm... seems like a good read. And I think its a bit like Anne Rice as well.... See, I really enjoy reading Anne Rice's vampire books. Don't know why but I enjoy reading them. BTW, I don't know if vampire exists but then again may be they could have since there seem to have legends or folk tales about them. Any ways, I actually forgot entirely about the book after getting them home for about a week. That is I still have to get my quilt finish before I actually sit down to do some reading.

And boy was I hooked! It seems that I couldn't read fast enough to get to the next page, and the next and the next.... I still can't believe that I actually finish reading all of them in a week! The story is kinda like Romeo and Juliet only that Juliet/Bella gets what she wish for and even more. But its her journey getting there that is pretty interesting (I must say - seems like the author enjoy reading classics), full of "mishaps" and misunderstandings with her best mate, Jacob and the love of her life, Edward. So not to spoilt the book for those who haven't read it yet, I'll leave you to your quiet moment with the book.

PS: I really enjoy book 4: Breaking Dawn. Wonder if Midnight Sun will ever be polished?

They got to him!

Owen enjoying the sledge

YUP! Its officially winter today but we've got snow for the last 2 weeks. It snowed in the night for 3 or 4 days then it rained down here (but blizzard like conditions up there) and washes part of it away.

I for one do enjoy the snow for the past few years, before Owen arrives that is. Now I really don't like them as much. Probably due to the fact that I had to push his stroller last winter (had to at 6 - 9 months) and now I had to carry him in the back pack for 1+ year old. And mind you he LOVES being on my back when it snows but not me. Ya, I've carried about 15kg of stuff some time ago (make that a long time ago) but carrying him is way different this time. I was afraid if I'll slip and fall with him, even when I'm wearing my snow boots!

Any ways, we went sledging with a friend and his kids at Les Paccots station, Chatel Saint Denis. Took us about 25 mins drive from our place to arrive and its for free! I've not come across any free ski station before and most of the time they aren't cheap, especially in Switzerland - land of the moos, and not that I know anything about skiing either.

Owen did enjoy himself in the snow with Rodrigo and Rosalia. We were pretty worried that he'll cry or something he if goes too fast which he did. I mean I went pretty fast as well on the sledge. I think he likes speed like his dad and I think I'm beginning to like speed as well... hehehehehe... Will probably learn to ski or God forbid, snowboard in the future? Hm....

And OH! After the afternoon fun in the snow, we ate in this restaurant (Chatel Restaurant Le Tsale) which I think is typically Fribourgeois (Chatel Saint Denis is in Fribourg region) Swiss chalet. I had their soup (made with Gruyere, some macaroni, pumpkins, potatoes, cream and some other ingredients) which was served in a wooden bowl with a wooden soup spoon! Pictures are here to explain it better. JP had their cheese croute (melted cheese with a piece of bread some pickled onions & miniature cucumber - do we even call it cucumber?). Not my kind of meal but JP liked it. I prefer my soup any time.

We'll be going off to see the in-laws (his side) at Super Besse, central region of France for Christmas this Wednesday. Not that we celebrate Christmas but to just get away to see some family and enjoy the holiday season in the snow. Hmm... Which brings me back to this question; will I enjoy being in the snow, all cold and wet? I don't know but I'm gonna find out. I might bring a book as well for just in case. Me and the in-laws don't really have much in common to chat about any ways, unless of course if they're into crafting/movies/books/music as I'm getting pretty tired about kiddy talk ALL. THE. TIME.

Something warm and fuzzy

Owen enjoying his quilt... :D

PHEW!!! I've finally finish what I wanted to start since this summer. The whole process took me awhile. From choosing the material to actually ordering them online OR get them locally, cutting them up and putting the pieces together. I've never tried quilting before. Thought that this could be a chance for me to learn something more and give Owen something warm and fuzzy at the same time.

Mum told me that it'll take time and effort and man she is right! I could actually hear her right now with the I-told-you-so! Quilting is a pretty long process when you're a beginner at sewing - -like me. I had to learn it from trial and error along the way. I envy those who actually take up quilting classes. Thank goodness I bought a few extra (OK, half a yard/meter extra) of fabric. And no I didn't spend a fortune on fabrics (they were on sale) but I did invest on the hardware: a Janome sewing machine, rotary cutter, mat and ruler, since I think I'll be using them often from now.

The design is a free design from Victoriana Quilt Designs, called easy baby rail fence. I got my tips and heads up from friends at NNC (Thanks: Diane, Janet, Nik and Zarina!), from Quilting for Dummies (yeah, I am at THAT level! LOL!) and the Excyclopedia of Quilting & Patchwork Techniques. At first I was really confused with all the words quilters were referring to but after a while I got the hang of it with explanation of course. It was to me like talking in computer language, like the time JP taught me to built my own website (now abandoned project) awhile back. At least quilting "language" now are more familiar than computer ones!! LOL...

Pictures are here for you to enjoy the whole process of my quilting experience. OH! BTW, I've also made my 1st Needle pouch from a kit June of NNC gave me. I'm now going to put it into good use. Thanks June! AND... I might wanna make another quilt next year. But that's another story for another time. *wink*wink

Feels like a drag

I honestly don't know what the hell has got into me.... Last week seems like its going on and on forever! I've been feeling slightly depressed the entire time. Seems like I can't really finish stuff that I've just started. Perhaps its just the weather here recently and may be I've been staying indoors since its snowing pretty bad outside.

I remembered in the past, I felt this way as well. Was back in my final terms for 3rd year then. Back then what triggered it was the fact that my roommate actually talking behind my back about something - which I refuse to know what it was since I don't think I've offended her or any of her friends. "Friends" that actually believed her, start to avoid me at one point. But still I'm glad and thankful that there are still a handful of people that stood by me telling me to snap out it. Thanks guys!

BTW, to make matters worse; Owen is teething AGAIN!!! ARRGGHHHHH!!!!... I mean why can't babies grow all their teeth within 2 months or so and let us parents get some good night sleep?!?!? Since now that I'm a stay at home mum, it ME that has to drag my feet over to him while daddy continue his sleep in the other room. It's very nice "arrangement", no? Seriously, I'm rethinking our having-2nd-child option.

Rose, rose my love...

The rose

This was supposed to be posted on Sunday. I got caught up with quilting but that's another story.... As you know from my previous post, I've got us a rose baking mould from the Paris craft show.

That's green tea icing with some powdred icing sugar

The verdict: I love silicone moulds!!! No messy greasing and lining baking pans! Plus it comes in so many interesting choices in terms of shapes and size. For this try, I've made green tea cake and its green tea icing. Turns out not bad. The only down side for this particular motif mould is that I can't bake it as per normal temperature due to the "petals" - the petals part will be hard as it cooks faster than the rest of the cake. Instead of 175°C, I had to turn in down to 160°C. Thus cake bakes longer. But then again I just LOVE how it turns out! Next time I'm going to bake a chocolate cake - you know black rose? hehehehehe....

Paris craft show

Ladies, ladies every where!!

OK, its true that I'm not suppose to spend on crafting items until at least after Feb. 2009. Well that's according to my financial advisor (my inner voice on the financial department - call me CRAZY but I'm sure EVERYONE has one!) . And once again I've failed to adhere to the advise and scummed! hehehehee....

My newly acquired stash....

Above embroidered lamps. Below: Granny Square show!

Here are the items I've got. Well its not a lot since I went to the Paris craft show (http://www.creations-savoir-faire.com/) with the men in my life, whom one of them will glare (yes GLARE!!) at me if I decide to walk away from the show with more than 15 items. I think the guy practically keeps track of my numerous stash at home now.... Which reminds me; did he acquire another plant recently? Hmmm....

Fully hand stitched quilt. Amazing isn't it?

So back to the show. JP would say "average age was 50 and majority would be women". Yes its true but still 50 isn't OLD!!! The show was pretty interesting, with sections; needlework, jewellery making, art & deco, paper & scrap booking and cooking/baking. I think there were more quilting stalls than those selling cross stitch items and accessories at the needlework section. Saw a pretty amazing quilt by a member of the French Quilting Association. Took her 2 years to finish it and the result as stunning! I was so temped to buy fabric packs there as it was quite a good bargain but then again I prefer to buy when I plan for my next project. Besides I'm just giving quilting ago for the moment. Sad to say I walk away with only 3 charts as I can't really take my time to browse through and there were sooooo.... many ladies there looking at the same thing as I was!! So there's 2 Drawn Thread (I LOVE them!) and another by Dessin DHC (French company).

Silk paper wedding dresses looks dreamy & pretty....

She's making sure that its paper...

Cardboard items

A good thing here though, is there was an aisle specially done up to show off different crafts which could give my some fresh ideas. There's the crocheted themed (granny squares every where!), embroidery (lamp shades with really interesting motifs), paper themed (beautifully shaped out lamp shades & cardboard furnishings) and there's even several silk paper wedding dresses on display!! And not forgetting some 3D framed paper pictures, which took to a Christmasy themed.

Framed 3D pictures

Don't they look nice? Its made with paper using Fiskars

And then at the end of the aisle, both of us got distracted by a flowing chocolate fondue fountain..... :) Needless to say after tasting some "artisans" chocolate, we bought 2 boxes. heheheehe.... And then I saw some silicone baking mould. Ever since I bought my Winne the Pooh silicone mould, I really enjoy using these fuss free moulds - no need to oil/line the pan AND easy to clean/pop cake out. Besides its not only for baking, its also for my jelly making. So I finally bought a small piggy mould and big rose mould.

THE CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!!! How can you NOT get get distracted by it?!?!

We were pretty tired after spending half a day there. OH! There's another show in Feb. 2009 but this is only dedicated to needlework. I'd love to go and the entry fare is only 10 Euro (Creations et Savoir Faire is 12 Euro!) but I think there'll be a very slim chance that we'll go to Paris in Feb. But there's ALWAYS 2010 right? hehehehehe...

It has been AGES...

Since my last post. OK, OK I'll admit it. I might be a little bit slack on updating my blog but at least I did! :)

So to wrap it up, what I did for the whole of October was making blueberry muffin (it was really purple!!), made my 1st pizza, my 1st successful waffle (can never get the batter right!) and we went to Geneva for a visit.

My purple muffin batter.... :p

I'd always wonder why is blueberry call blueberry when they tend to squish out purple juice? May be it looks blue outside and from afar? HHmmmm.... Anyways, JP didn't like the muffin as it was bland. Well I didn't intend to make these for dessert actually. Muffins was actually registered in English as "moofin"in 1703!!!! So you see muffins have a pretty early history as Wikepedia here says. And why it turn purple? I think must be the fact that I add them in too early and also that its frozen blueberries - have you seen the price tag for the fresh ones? OMG!!! CHF4.90 for only 100 grams..... :p

Pizza pan and silicone mat at the background.

And oh! I think I'll make pizza every forth night on weekend from now since I've got the dough just right and I have my pizza pan to thank for! hehehehehehe...... BTW, you've got to try out silicone mat, no more fussing about dirty worktop as you just lift the mat up or wipe away! Plus stamp out cookies lift up so much easier here! I remember when mum used to make pizzas for us when we were kids. She didn't have a pizza pan but used the stainless steel plates so each of us have our own pizza! I even remembered we made our own tomato puree sauce from scratch. Back then it was kinda difficult and expensive to get dried oregano/basil, Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan, but still she made our Sunday late lunches at home fun!

Any ways, my pizza came out not as round as the ones bought but its still has a crispy crust. And no, I did not twirl it in the air like one of those Italian pizza man. If I did, I'll have to waste more dough to just throw it around!

Look my waffle is smilling! :D

See the picture above? I actually got this waffle cum sandwich maker for free (credit card points) sometime back. Made loads of sandwich but could never make "great" waffles - its either uncooked in the middle or its too tender. I now have it just right - batter the constancy of heavy cream and cook it double time on my maker.

Looks like a pianting right?

Don't you just love the colours of autumn like the picture above? It was taken while we were walking about at Geneva. We don't go there often coz it takes 1 hour drive from our place. In fact I think the ONLY time we go to Geneva was to the airport! :) We managed to visit Azni, my Terengganu girlfriend from school, who was at work in this luxury SPA in the heart of the city. It has been AGES since we last meet up, but I'm glad to just see and catch up with her even for 15 mins. I hope to see her and her other half before the year ends.

BTW, I've been finishing up a gift for NNC's 2nd Anniversary Gift Exchange and it's already to be wrapped and mailed next weekend. Can't say much on the item I've made, only that it has flowers and its in the green toned coloured family with ribbons as trimmings. I just hope that the lucky person likes it and will put it to good use. Next up, baby quilt for Owen and at the same time my kitchen curtains. I know, I know, I'm really behind on the later project but I'm going to buck up and hopefully will see it finish BEFORE new year eh?

Give thanks from Lody's blog

Copy and pasted this from Lody's blog. A fellow stitcher who made this into a contest and seeing that I have to re-post this as the R&R (rules & regulations), so why not? Tell me more about you and me fellow bloggers!

WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU FIND ME?
1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! And if we’ve never met in real life, leave me a comment of your favorite post I wrote and why it was your favorite.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually really funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you.

3. Do you read my posts from a reader, blogroll or is this your first visit?

Weekend pumpkin cookin

Its pumpkin season once again. Its funny how I've only ate pumpkin once in my 23 years of life while I was home. May be mum didn't really know how to cook it or what to cook with it?

Any ways, I rediscover the taste of pumpkin just these few years from friends and cooking mags. I even ate weird looking pumpkin custard - which is a Thai dessert and its delicious. Made pumpkin soup and pumpkin curry several times - my "guinea pig" (that's JP) seems to like it.

So now I'm a bit more "daring" (che-wah!! kekakeka....). I used pumpkin for our weekend! Made pumpkin and chicken pie for Saturday dinner and pumpkin and fish lasagna for Sunday. For the 1st dish - nothing weird about it as its a pie - normal-lar! 2nd dish is lasagna!! The favourite dish of Garfield!! And its made with FISH.... I know some people may think; YUCKY! but to tell you the truth its not bad if you season the fish fillets properly.

Not meaning to be selfish, here's the recipe to those wanting to try it. Its from Betty Bossi, a Swiss cooking mag.

Pumpkin & fish lasagna with tomato salad with balsamic & basil dressing

This is Owen's portion.

Mise-en-place & prep time: about 20 mins.
Cooking time: 30 mins
For a 3 liter lasagna or a square oven prof dish.

Light Béchamel sauce
600 ml cold milk
3 tbsp flour
3/4 tsp salt
pepper and nutmeg powder to taste

Sauce
700 g pumpkin, grated
400g fish fillets, sliced into 1cm thick
1/2 bouquet of marjoram
1 tbsp salt
pepper to taste

12 pcs of lasagna sheets
70g Parmesan cheese

1. Pre-heat oven at 200°C. Well grease the lasagna dish. Pour milk into a saucepan, stir in the flour, salt and nutmeg powder. Keep stirring until mixture to just a boil, then remove from heat.
   
   
2. Mix very carefully all the ingredients for the sauce, making sure that the fish fillets are not broken.



3. "Pile" up lasagna by alternating 5 to 6 tbsp of Béchamel sauce, 3 pcs of lasagna sheets, follow by the sauce/fish & pumpkin mixture. Repeat the process till the last of mixture and lasagna sheets are used up. Sprinkle Parmesan and pop it into the oven for 30 mins. When cooking time is up, remove from the oven and let it "rest" for 5 mins.

I actually like this recipe but JP finds that the fish smells. So perhaps next time I'll use minced pork instead and I'll even add in onions, some chopped potatoes, some chili powder and bay leaf to "spice" it up. I really like this version of Béchamel sauce. But still I enjoy using sour cream instead. As for lasagna sheets, I've always use the quick non-pre-cook type like the ones from Barilla. Fresh is great but then again, unless I live in Italy where there's an all traditional Italian pasta shop in every street corner OR have time to make my own, I'll continue to use the cheats way!

Weekend neighbourhood BBQ

Yesterday we had a neighbourhood BBQ just down stairs for our apartment block. We had our 1st BBQ last year when we moved in here. It was a great get together party.

As its a pot luck party, minus the BBQ meats/seafood/veggies (you bring your own for the grill); I brought orange fried rice as a side dish and green tea cake for dessert. Found green tea cake recipe here. Orange fried rice recipe here. A tip: after pouring the orange juice into the rice, mix really, really well. Then dish out but stand in serving dish for about 10 mins so that the rice soak in the juice. OR you can do what I normally do; pop the dish in warm oven for 15 min. For the cake: you've got to try their cheese frosting! I think the cake without the frosting taste ok but with is BEST!! Its not too sweet as frosting but of course depending on how a sweet tooth a person can be!

The martian like coloured cake mixture....

The cakes, decorated "sloppy" style!

For this BBQ get together, the concierge of our building told everyone that the main entrance, the garage door and the side entrance has to remained shut and locked at all times. I think its due to the recent break into the cellar between Tuesday evening and Wednesday. I heard from neighbours that the cellar (each family has their own "box") was broken into sometime back. And what thy took? Bottles/crates of expensive and rare wines!! I was like WTF?!?! Alcohol? As we don't drink wine that much (may be 3 or 4 times a year), our "box I guess will be safe from wine robbers!! hehehehehe... But still I do feel bad for the owner of the box that was broken into. I can still remember when my aunt (who lives in Germany) told me normally break-ins, and petty thefts are on their "high season" as the months draw closer to Christmas and New Year. Better to safe than sorry right?

So back to the BBQ! Last year, Owen was still so little to join in the fun - this year he ran with older kids! We get to stay on a little bit longer as well this time - at least till dessert! The last time was a "touch and go" thingy - we spoke, we ate and we left. All done within means of 2 hours!! The ang mohs seem to like my fried rice and cake. Well, we're the ONLY Asian family here, so have to make something different mar... heheheehee.... Too bad that that I don't know how to make mooncakes for this coming Mid-Autumn festival! But then again moon cakes are so mar fun/troublesome to make ALONE!

Want some kaya?

I know it look unappetising, but you don't know what you're missing here!

I was getting pretty upset lately of missing home food. I think must be from the fact that most of a pretty good friends are far away; back in their home country or working in others. Plus its been a year and a half since I was last at home. *sigh....

Oh well! If only I've won that Euro Million thingy - CHF 88,000,000.00 JACKPOT WOR!! *sigh... Never mind lor! Will try again next time. Next jackpot is CHF 112,000,000.00!! Who knows huh? hehehehe....

So as I was missing home so much, I decide to make something that reminds me of my childhood. Kaya. I remembered when mum used to make kaya, she lets us lick clean (I literally mean CLEAN!) the pandan leaves after she takes it out of the pot, of course! As kids we just LOVE it. And I still do it even now, all grown up and a mother myself!!

As I was stirring the mixture, another memory floods back to my mind. Grandma (mum's side) will let us buy bread from the next door baker - who only makes those big size kopitiam bread, and then keep the rest of the change!! Back then a mare 20 cents were like a million bucks for us. 20 cents can get us a pack of sweets (5 pieces), 1 stick of ice pops, a pack of crakers and 3 pieces of pound peanut cookie (my fav). She then slice up the bread, toasts it, slap on some butter on one piece and kaya on the other piece. She even let us have kopi-o with our roti bakar!! BTW we were about 5 or 6 then!! LOL! Imagine what my mum would have said if she found out about the kopi-o!! Too bad grandma died of diabetes as she loves her kopi-o very, VERY sweet...

Every time I make kaya now, it brings back fond memories of childhood. The carefree days of running, playing around with my cousins and or neightbourhood kids. Oh! How I wish I could go back to live it once again.... *sigh.... But Owen is pulling by my leg. He wants kaya too! OR wants to be kaya (rich in Malay)?

T'was my birthday

Was my birthday on Sunday. Yup! A year older and hopefully a little more wiser. So what did the men in my life did for me?

He sat around waiting for his lunch and then watch TV - its the Games remember? While the other little one is also waiting for his food, play around with my plastic containers and then nap time. Owen was being very well behaved on that day - THANK GOD! In fact I wish for nothing more on my special day that he being well behave and not make mummy really MAD. And for once he did as I wished. :-)

After all the baking, eating and cleaning up, I finally have the time to actually laze around and read a book. That is until Owen wakes up 2 hours later. Then its another round of "built & destroy", "flip & tear", hide & seek (not him - the cordless phone!) and, of course more cuddles & kisses.

Then we went out for dinner at the nearby Chinese restaurant. We can really seldom eat out now ever since Owen started walking. No. Make that ever since he was born!! The reason being; restaurants aren't made for babies and little kids. As soon as he gets bored or the hunger needs has been fulfilled, he'll be wanting to be let out from either the high chair or the stroller! If not he'll make loads of noise by crying or screaming!!

Gifts from June! YAY!

Close up of the needle pouch

So that was for Sunday, but TODAY I received some thing extra. Our door bell rang early this morning. It as the postman and with him its a parcel from home. I didn't wear my glasses - blind as a bat without them, so I didn't see who was it from, until I saw the name. It was from June of NNC!! She was my secret Birthday Exchange partner (organised by BJ).

The lovely work done by June...


The underside (do we call it underside?) of the Love Cube

So what's in the goodies bag? There's a red bag with a Love Cube lovingly stitched by June, a Cottage Patch needle pouch kit, a really cool Chinese paper craft book, some cute baby themed buttons (mental note: must think of where to sew it onto!! Its just too cute to be sitting around) and last but not least, a really COOL cardboard book for Owen. Its so cool that it caught his attention IMMEDIATELY!! WOW! Even the cardboard book we bought him were put aside...

My 1st try. Will get it to go ROUND the next time! ;-)

OH!! There's also a sushi making mold: we place the rice and other filling into it, then pop it out onto the nori! I've made a sample sushi using this and it came out just right: round and all ready to be warped in nori! Too bad hubs aren't into Japanese food, otherwise I'll have a sushi eating partner. Hmm... Which reminds me; perhaps a sushi party with my girlfriends? Since I don't work, can not do bento party right? hehehehehe....

Its POTTY TIME!

Hahahahahaha..... I guess you might be wondering if I spelt it wrongly.... But the truth is, I did not. I'm trying to potty train the little man in the house. Well, trying really hard.

I know, I know it takes lots of patience, silent cleaning up, creative ways to make it happen etc etc. Hubs isn't any help either. He'll go like; Errmmmm... I think he just poop! ARRGGHHHH!! Why can't men take proactive approach like keeping his mouth shut and change the poopy diapers for once when we're busy doing other chores?!? I seriously don't think poopy diapers are out there to get fathers who changes them.

I asked my 1st SIL about potty training her boys. She was like; But its too early to be training him now. Hm.... And so does the other advices online say; Its too early to potty train under 20 month old baby unless they show signs of readiness. So should I follow what they say? Or should I go ahead to get him to make "acquaintances" with Mr Potty while slowly getting him to make ngee ngee and shee shee in it? For the moment it seems like he's toying with the sitting on Mr Potty with his diapers on and knows where shee shee comes from (trust me, boys have a weird way of knowing!). So is this the sign that I should be looking for? Man! Am I confused!

WOW! Its been that LONG??

Since my last post! So what have we been up to.... Well I can say that there's nothing much but enjoying the summer and JP got his job back. Long story short; he was let go due to economic reasons of the company - AKA company in the process of a buy over. Then suddenly his old company find out that they could rehire him and so they did.

Eh! Where did the birdies went?

Which was great, as it meant that I won't be as worried and stressed out about him being unemployed with a family to feed. Which also means that he can get out of my hair while I do my stitching!! :-) I'm really WAY behind my stitching schedule at the moment.... He will sometimes complained that I'm neglecting certain things when I stitch. Well HELLO? What is that? The only time I stitch now is when the dishes are done, Owen's asleep and toys being put away. So I don't think its fair that I can't do my hobbies while he lingers almost every hour of the day with his precious bonsais!!

There they are!

It was pretty sunny on only a few days with lots of rainy spells for the month of July. So we had to stay indoors, which was a drag since summer is the only time of the year where we get to enjoy being out doors.

Ooooo...

But still we managed to bring Owen to a zoo and the next door tropicarium (well both small ones and fairly recent establishments) nearby one partly cloudy Saturday, and he seems to like it. I think its the space that he likes; all the space to run and wander about as he wants to! What impress him most were the birds what run freely in the bird park: he tried to run after them! The fast swimming African penguins, some swimming tortoise & goldfish (don't ask me why there's goldfish there), the very BIG bear and cub and last but not least the domestic goat! Must be from the pictures of his bedtime story book.

Wah! Look at hos fast they can go mama!

YEAH! Papa look! Got teddy bear!

He happily clapped when he saw the bear, which was funny because all the other kids were like "Wow! A big mean bear!".... The big cats (tigers, lions and lynx) did nothing to him. Or it may be that they were cat napping? But we did hear the tiger roar! And still he didn't pay attention to it unlike towards the bear.

The not so "dangerous" teddy?

At the end of the zoo/tropicarium visit, he just fell asleep within 5 minutes when we hit the road back home. Guess its all the bear excitement and running about that does it. Thank goodness all animals were well fenced in, otherwise he'll be seen as live easy bait to the cats, wolves and bears!

Despite the not so wonderful weather on the month of July, we got to enjoy the seasons cherries. All big, red, round, firm and juicy. Hmm... Now I sound perverted!! Well a picture says a thousand words!

Next we get to finally enjoy bicycle rides we JP got Owen his seat (fixed on my bike - for obvious reasons) and his very own cycle helmet! We took him for a spin to the local swimming pool. And boy did he enjoyed the ride - with the wind blowing on his face and the great scenery to match. He almost fell asleep on our way back. I didn't realised how heavy he was and unstable I handle my bike till I ride and paddle with him on the seat!!

Handsome or not? hehehhehe...

OH! Did I mentioned that he really likes to wear the cycle helmet? He refused that the helmet be taken off even after having reach home an hour! Once its on him, its on him. So now I don't have to worry about him taking the helmet off while I'm cycling OR even refusing to put them on, eh? hehehehe...

Nice 2008

Strange "men" on lamp posts...

Can you see the sea beyond?

I feel that we've been "moving" around a lot lately. As soon as we got back from Paris on Tuesday, we're off again on early Saturday morning and this time to Nice, South of France. We've been to Nice before but without Owen. He wasn't even born then.... It was great while it lasted; I mean taking couples without kids holidays.

For this trip its just for a short weekend; hub's uni friend wedding. I've always thought that from our place to Nice will take at least 8 hours drive but it took us 6 instead. We went to go through part of the Valais (a Swiss canton) Alps (the view was amazing!) and then through Italy; which seems fast since Italians drivers are like F1 drivers any ways!! The roads on the Alps are really long and winding with really long (LONG) tunnels. In Italy, it was really (REALLY) straight then when we reach the coastline, more tunnels but this time its one after the other short ones. :p

Its a good thing hubs decide to get a GPS in January, that way I won't be held responsible if I point out the wrong way! hehehehehe.... But then again even with the GPS system, hubs still take the wrong turn while in Nice town centre!! LOL! And there I though we purposely put on a woman's voice so he'd pay attention! I think its time to switch it to a man's voice.. Hmmmmm...

We arrived at the hotel at about 4pm or so. And since there's still sunlight and its still warm out, we decide to go to the beach. Their beach here is not the sandy type but the pebble type! Which means if one falls flat on it, one will either end up having blue & black all over, brake their nose or have some kind of head injury. Since it was Owen's 1st seaside visit, we decide to not let him run around. Well he didn't run around this time (uneven ground) and he's afraid of the waves! hehehehe... Reminds me when I was little for my very 1st beach outing in Melaka! :) He held on to me like it was for dear life! hehehehe...

Don't let me go!!

Here you go mummy....

The water wasn't that clear since it was near the town centre, but still it was quite warm. Hubs went for a dip in the sea while I stay on the beach with Owen playing throw the pebbles. By the time its time to go back to the hotel, he was sleeping in the stroller. Playing with pebbles seems to tire him!

Peaceful sleep...

We went to the old town for dinner after having fed him in the room. Had to, since there's no under 2 years old kids menu in restaurants. Went to the old town walking. Since there's so many places to eat, it took us 30 mins to decide which restaurant to seat in or out in many terraces! Finally decided to eat inside since there's just no place to put the stroller next to me. Its typical here in France (not so sure about any where else), they place tables & chairs so close to each other that if seated, I could hear the couple whisper at the next table! Not that I want to!!

All happy and ready to paint the town "RED"!

Since its the wedding dinner on Sunday (why Sunday? Don't know!), we went out for a walk in the late morning to the other parts of Nice all the way to the seaside. I think the sea breeze did a lot of good since made Owen fell asleep without a fuss! Besides it was really hot by the time we got to the seaside. Had KFC for lunch in town; (YES!!! Its been ages since I last had KFC!) which is about a block away from the hotel. The afternoon was just to hot for walks with Owen, so its stay in and enjoy the air-conditioning for us. Owen and I had our afternoon nap, while hubs was watching his Wimbledon finals (Federer Vs Nadal; Nadal won).

Just in case he forgot the words....

We drove to the other side of Nice called Beaulieu. The view of the sunset on the way to the Grand Casino was spectacular as the roads were built on a rather rocky and winding sides of the coastline slopes. Good thing we weren't late for the cocktail reception, as we get to listen to Yohann (the groom) sing to Delphine! Not this is a guy who doesn't speak a word of English and here he's singing an Eric Clapton song with the wedding band! LOL! Both of us think that he's been practicing for months for this surprise.... He sang it very well in fact.

The table of sweets! YUMMY!

The actual dinner takes place at the next hall where tables were decorated according to theme. The decorations were DIY by both of them as it was really creative and special. Our table was the Carambar candy car way. The few tables next to us was the Marshmallow men, the cotton candy (called Barbapapa here), the Snow White castle, the 7 Dwarf mountain etc etc. They hired a local blues band for the entire dinner reception where everyone got up to dance whenever they played.

Our 1st dance as mother and son

The very smart men in my life

The best part of this wedding is that they hired a baby sitter to attend to 3 babies (including our boy). So that way we got to enjoy ourselves amongst friends even more knowing that he is being looked after. By the time we leave it was 1am and people are still dancing away! Owen was soundly asleep even after when we moved him from the travel cot to the kiddie seat in the car, drove all the way back to hotel and back in the room.

Ginger bread Minnie & Mikey!

As all holidays/get aways/vacation has end, this one as well. I don't know when we'll come back to the south again, perhaps next summer when Owen isn't too afraid of the waves. ;)