Snow in Singapore

A few days ago, it snowed in Singapore. Below, the Christmas tree prior to the snowfall.

It's snowing.....

Christmas tree under the snow.

You might have noticed that the snow seemed thicker towards the ground than the sky... that's because, the "snow" was actually soap bubbles jetted out of a cannon.  Below, kids playing "in the snow".

Noah was a bit tentative but very much enjoyed watching the "snow fall" and checking out the soap.

Look - snow!

Lots of snow on the ground...

Any snow left up there?

Gathering snow...

... to make a "snowball". Some kids were lying on the ground trying to make "snow angels"... quite funny.

Overall, it was a successful outing. If you did not look too closely, it actually looked like a snow storm and Noah was all giddy and excited though he remained tentative when it came to getting "snow" in his eyes!

A New Cousin For Noah and Mango

We recently learned that Noah's Aunt (aka grasshopper) Abby and Uncle Ron are expecting a little baby for this summer. So exciting. We cannot wait to meet you little Thunder. Noah is looking forward to playing with his baby cousin and Mango is still a bit too young to understand (!) but I am sure she will be thrilled to have a cousin so close in age. Big big hugs to you 2.5 out in Maine. 

Sad News: Onaka is closed!

A while ago, Noah opened a restaurant in our apartment. It had a name: "Onaka" and a menu with appetizers, main courses, deserts and drinks with prices for each item - most of which Noah himself had written (with spelling help). Almost every day, he would tell us that Onaka was currently open (sometimes it was closed) and ask us if we wanted anything to eat. We ordered from the menu and he made the food in his kitchen. After a yummy meal (which almost always involved multicolored pieces of shredded paper along with actual wooden/plastic ingredients), we paid based on the totals Noah calculated from the menu and he gave us back our change if change was required. 

Last week, Noah announced that "Onaka is closed". I expressed my sadness at the disappearance of my favorite restaurant and he explained that "there are too many restaurants in Singapore. Onaka is moving to Thailand where there are fewer restaurants" (!). What???? Where did he get that notion from? I had to try hard not to crack up.

A couple of days ago after we had repeatedly expressed our concern over our favorite neighborhood restaurant being closed, he announced that he was going to remodel the old Onaka restaurant and make a "big and nicer" restaurant - the new restaurant will be called "Strawberry Banana" I believe though the name has not been finally determined yet and the menu is still not ready. Meanwhile, Onaka is almost ready to open in its new location in Thailand! 

Hanukkah: Food, Craft and Present Extravaganza!

This year for Hanukkah, Noah and Daddy prepared all kinds of yummy food. Below, Noah with the pile of latkes he and Seth made. 

Noah cutting dough to make sufganiyot.

Cool!

Seth demonstrating how to fill them with jam and seal the top.

Noah making his "I know how to do it, my turn" face. 

Noah's turn...

Noah with the finished product.

Noah received a great Hanukkah present from his Aunt Renee and Uncle Tom... a hanukkah cupcake decorating kit. He just had to make cupcakes to try out his new kit. Below, Noah making chocolate cupcakes.

Noah and the finished product: chocolate cupcake with peanut butter icing and dreidel shaped sprinkles with Happy Hanukkah cupcake holders and little decoration.

To top it all off - Noah and Seth made some bagels... sooooo good. Noah showing off his handiwork.

In addition to toys and books from us, Noah also got some great books and an awesome playmobil set from GG and Grandpa and his Aunts and Uncles. Below Noah playing with his playmobils. 

To thank everyone, Noah and I made some Hanukkah thank you cards (with inspiration from the internet: Hanukkah Tinfoil Card ). Noah gluing pieces of blue paper, ribbons and feathers onto a big piece of tinfoil.

With a little gluing help from Maman.

All done with the shredding and gluing portion (by the way, a very good project to do with a preschooler who loves shredding and gluing :) ).

The result... three cards.

Up close...

Noah selecting which card goes to which person.

Another project (it took 16 rolls of toilet paper....) - a hanukkah wreath (Hanukkah Wreath Instructions). Noah did a great job painting all the rolls of toilet paper blue and really got into it. 

We also did the traditional dreidel playing... a big hit especially since he got to chose a piece of candy/chocolate to eat at the end. 

He was very excited because "he won" - he was the first to lose all his chocolate/candy and was then the first to be allowed to eat a piece!

And of course... candle lighting and singing which Noah really enjoyed. 

Last night - Noah looking at the Hanukkiah.

Up close...

Pretending to blow out the candles.

Now - that was funny!

Happy belated Hanukkah everyone. 

Singapore Walks: Bukit Brown

Last weekend, we went walking at the Bukit Brown Cemetery. The cemetery was opened in the 20s  on  213 acres of land and in the 70s it stopped being used. Now, as wikipedia explains, "the cemetery is home to many bird species and wild life, and has as such become popular again–this time, with nature lovers". Unfortunately, at the beginning of 2013, they will begin tearing it apart to make way for a highway.  Below, Noah exploring (we only had our cell phones with us so the quality of the pictures is not very good).

Petting one of the many sculpted lions.

Checking out another lion...

More lions!

The place was very big and green and beautiful. Noah got to do his first real bushwacking which he enjoyed though longer pants and closed toed shoes might have been a bit better! It was very hot out that day but we all enjoyed our tour of Bukit Brown. Next weekend.... the Tree-Top Walk at the Macritchie Reservoir Park.

Singapore Walks: Mount Faber to Hort Park

For the last few months, Noah has been able to happily keep up on long walks without needing a stroller. Soon, we will be needing a stroller again but for now... here we come Singapore! A few weekends ago, we took a cab to Mount Faber Park which is up on a hill above Vivocity, portal to Sentosa. Below is a view from Mount Faber Park (unfortunately, we did not take any pictures of this walk but I got some off the internet...).

From Mount Faber, we walked to the Henderson Waves Bridge - a funky wave-like bridge that was even written up in the NY Times. 

It looks even more spectacular at night... 

The pedestrian bridge is all wood.

From there we walked along the Southern Ridges Walk to terrace park... 

And further down, on suspended bridges. Signs kept telling us to beware the monkeys but unfortunately (or fortunately), we did not see any monkeys. We saw lots of birds and butterflies and little bugs though...

From there, we walked to Hort Park.  

The total walk was about 4k and Noah seemed to really enjoy it. So... the next available weekend, we went to Bukit Brown Cemetery and Nature Reserve ... (see next post).