Cherating Beach with Mamie and Papy

Ten days ago, we went to the Club Med at Cherating Beach in Malaysia. We don't usually go to Club Med but we figured it would be a relaxing place to go with Mamie and Papy where everyone could find something to do - including Noah. 

Mamie had reserved the "Petit Club" for Noah to go play at. We were a bit skeptical as we wanted to spend time with our little guy and we figured he would rather be with us.... On our second day at the Club, we took Noah to the Petit Club and stayed there with him for a little while as he got acquainted with the GOs there and with the place. When we eventually left, he did not even look back... Here is Noah at the Petit Club playing with the toys and stuffed animals.

We picked him up after lunch and spent the afternoon by the pool. One of Noah's favorite pool toys is a syringe  which he fills with water and then either injects his "magic liquid" into a pail or into one of our arms...

Another favorite pool toy during the trip was his fish with which he went "shopping" around the pool and rode the waves (caused by a daddy monster).

The next morning, before he was even half awake Noah asked for the Petit Club... so much for wanting to spend time with Daddy and Maman! Besides having very nice GOs whose only job was to focus on Noah and make him happy, the Petit Club also had a Noah sized toilet... quite exciting for our little guy. Since a few days before we left for Malaysia, he has not had any accidents and has worn his "petite culotte" everyday (except for the five or so minutes it takes him to poop every now and then).

Again the afternoon, he spent with us at the pool...

The last evening before we headed back to Singapore, the Petit Club (composed of Noah and another little boy a few months older than Noah) was to be part of that evening's show. Noah getting his makeup for the show.

Our little tiger...

Roooaaar says the tiger.

During the show, Noah seemed happy to be on-stage and look around.

And jumping into the ring of fire. But mostly just looking around and enjoying the view up there!

The show is over - Bravo Noah!

High five!

At the after-party with Mamie and Papy.

Last breakfast at the club before heading out... Noah loved the buffet - it had lots and lots of fruit!

Bye Bye Petit Club pool and Petit Club. 

Mamie and Papy come to Singapore

On October 8 and 11 Mamie and Pay arrived in Singapore. Noah was very excited to see his grandparents and remembered them well from the last visit in Paris in July. 

We went to Sentosa Island. Here Noah at the Gaudi-like fountain on Sentosa. 

And to the pink dolphin show on Sentosa.

Mamie and Papy brought Noah many French books and some new "petites culottes" both of which seemed to be equally exciting to our little guy AND... they got him an early Xmas present... A two wheel big boy balance bike.

What a lucky boy! He is still working on balancing on the two wheels but is able to paddle around happily. After some time in Singapore, we all headed to Cherating Beach in Malaysia...

Padma Visit

A few days after Tetiana's visit (see previous post), our friend Padma came over from the US for a visit. I love life out here - good friends, warmth and sun year-round, a pool and facilities downstairs, and a kid friendly environment. HOWEVER it does feel rather far away from our previous lives (maybe because it actually is??? It takes over 24 hours to get here from the US and about 13 or so from France/Switzerland...) so we LOVE it when friends come visit. Although Noah does not necessarily remember our friends from earlier meetings, he seems to really enjoy having friendly people staying with us who read to him and even sometimes bring gifts! Here is Padma at the botanical gardens.

Noah also seems to enjoy opportunities to go to his favorite places... here showing the zoo off to Padma with maman.

As we were a bit behind in pictures at the time, I felt a bit reluctant to add to the pile of pictures to post so I did not take many during Padma's visit but there were many fun adventures including tea at the Fullerton Hotel, drinks on the Sentosa walk overlooking the water, parks and playgrounds.

Tetiana Visit and Virtual Tour of Singapore

At the end of August (Aug. 26-30), our friend Tetiana came for a visit from Switzerland. 

As we have not posted that many pictures of Singapore and since we visited the city with Tetiana, I thought I would include a few of these pictures here. Below is a vegetable vendor in Little India (a principally Indian part of town). Singapore has four national languages: English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese and is a very diverse place with people from all over Asia as well as a pretty sizable expat community from all over the world.

As well as being diverse in its population, Singapore is diverse religiously. There is no majority religion. In fact on certain streets, you will find a Buddhist temple near a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque. According to wikipedia, the religious landscape is as follows:

Religion in Singapore
religion			percentage
Buddhism			33%
Christianity			18%
No religion			17%
Islam			15%
Taoism			11%
Hinduism			5.1%
Others			0.9%

Buddhist, Christian, Islam and Hindu representatives each choose two important days for their religion and the 8 days chosen become National Holidays. For example, tomorrow is the national holiday of deepavali (or diwali), the Hindu Festival of Lights.  Below is a Hindu Temple in Little India.

Across the street from it is a little stall selling flowers and lays to be used in the ceremonies and the prayers. They smell amazingly good as you walk by.

The day after visiting Little India and Arab St. (which is the middle eastern headquarters), we celebrated Noah's birthday at Fidgets in the morning (see the 4th birthday celebration post) and went to the zoo with Tetiana and Audrey in the afternoon. Here Audrey carrying Noah.

Noah and I watching....

the orangutans...

After the orangutan sighting, we went to the elephant show which Noah really likes. When he was younger he would make the sign for elephant and then clap his hands to tell us he wanted to see the elephant show (now he just asks: "maman, je veux aller au show des elephants"... or mommy I want to go to the elephant show).

Probably my favorite animals at the zoo - the cheetahs. They are so powerful yet delicate and cute.

Zebras... 

Giraffes...

And Noah counting the flowers. It was very hard to pull him away from his flower counting. Audrey had to carry him away!

The next day, we explored the Marina area. Here lunch at the top of the Pan Pacific Hotel for some yummy Chinese food and an amazing view of the city (notice the Singapore flyer aka the big wheel in the background).

After lunch, we took a ride on the flyer. From the top you have a good overall view of the marina with the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (aka the boat) and the business district.

A close-up view of the boat.

... the Merlion fountain.

And the emerging structures of the new botanical gardens to open in the next year or so.

After all that visiting, Noah had his snack...

And we walked along the bay for another great view of the Marina Bay Sands area with the lotus flower Arts Science Museum and the waves which contain a big upscale shopping mall (with an indoor skating rink) and a casino.

Boat quay as the sun sets down. 

Clark quay - Noah loves to run around in these fountains. 

The lights for Hari Raya Puasa/Eid Al-Mubarak Al-Firtr or the breaking of the fast (a muslim holiday) which fell on August 30 this year. 

The Fullerton hotel with in the background the "durians". 

On Hari Raya, the president of Singapore opens the president's house and grounds for public visits... Here Tetiana, me, Noah and Audrey visiting the president's house.

 Noah in the president's park.

They had set up some activities for kids including face painting. Noah asked for a butterfly on his arm... (that way he can actually see it) and Audrey was a tiger.

That afternoon, we went to the botanical gardens. The gorgeous Swiss mountains and lakes have been replaced here by the amazing vegetation. I fell in love with it when we first visited Singapore in April 2009 and still can't believe I live in a country with banana trees and coconut trees and star fruit trees and orchids growing in the streets (Noah is also a big fan of spotting the fruit on the trees and pointing out the various trees he knows). A few close-ups. 

 

What a whirlwind tour of the city!