Kathryn's Birthday Party

Last weekend, Noah was invited to his friend Kathryn's birthday party (happy birthday Kathryn :) ). Unfortunately, we forgot to bring a camera but Kathryn's mom graciously sent us a few pictures from the event. The party took place at a dancing/acting school for little kids and the kids did many fun activities. What was amazing to me (and Seth I think) was that Noah was completely independent. He went to play and do the activities and barely even looked back at us.

Here he was "bowling" and just made a few pins fall.

Playing with playdo.

Playing a dancing game. When the music stops, all the kids have to find a spot to stand in (as these were young kids, there were always enough spots for all).

Making a mickey mouse mask.

Getting ready for the next activity.

Helping to turn the sheet.

And again...

Heading to the snack room.

Even at snack time, he went to the table, got himself a plate and served himself (A LOT of hummus). So fun to watch him enjoy himself with friends and happily fend for himself. 

Doro and Mark visit Singapore

Early September, my friend (and ex-colleague) Doro came to Singapore for a visit. On her first day, we went to the bird park. She was chosen to hold the hoop during the bird show. 

Then, Noah and Doro fed the lories.

The next day, we went to the Gardens by the bay. Below you see the walkways a bit better - pretty cool (with the Marina Bay Sands hotel aka the boat in the background).

The "skywalk" with the boat in the background.

Noah and me...

After two weeks on the beach in Thailand, Doro and Mark came back for a day in Singapore. We went up to the Ku De Ta lounge at the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel from which we had a good view of the F1 cars practicing below.

The happy family :)

Suza Back in Singapore: Sentosa

After 10 days in Vietnam, Suza came back to Singapore for a few days. On Friday August 30, we went to Sentosa where Suza and Noah went luging (can you find them?).

And closer up...

Suza and Noah taking the chairlift back up.

We then went to the aquarium where we saw the pink dolphin show - the dolphin flipped his tail to throw the ball in the water...

and then brought it back.

Noah's favorite part though was probably the sea lions... so very cute.

Borneo: Monkey Forest and Market

On our last morning in Borneo, we walked to the nearby "monkey forest" (we saw no monkeys in monkey forest to Noah's great disappointment).

Suza, Noah and me and... Noah's "parasol".

Noah with his parasol taking a break from the walk.

Or, maybe it's a fan?

or the newest in shirt design!

After the forest, we walked around to find a restaurant open on Hari Raya and walked through this market along the way. Bye Bye Borneo.

Borneo: Cultural Village and Hari Raya

On our third day in Borneo, we headed to the cultural village which has different houses built in the styles of different Borneo tribes as well as traditional instruments and food - a bit kitsch we thought but friends told us kids really enjoy it so we figured we would give it a try.  

Noah at the entrance of the cultural village.

The place itself was gorgeous green and lush with mountains in the background.

Noah looking back at Daddy before crossing the bridge.

The troupe crossing the bridge.

View from the other side.

In the first hut, a man was making (or taking a break from making as the case turned out to be) sculptures out of coconuts.

Noah... clearly miserable!

In the second house, a women was making cookies.

Noah was very intrigued by her methodology.

He sat down in front of her and would not budge. We bought some of the cookies she made and almost had to bribe him with them to get him out of there.

Further in that house, a woman was weaving. Again, Noah sat down by her very interested and would not leave!

Noah standing at the top of a "staircase" looking a bit apprehensive...

 Climbing down.

Yay - he made it!

Next, Noah had a music lesson.

View on our way to the "show".

The show - traditional music and dances. Noah really enjoyed the show and happily sat through it. At the end of the show, they asked to see if anybody from the audience wanted to come up and dance with the dancers. Noah seemed interested but a bit shy. When he was finally mustering up the courage to go up, they announced the end of the show. Noah had missed his opportunity to dance on stage and he was very unhappy about that. He wanted to dance on stage with the dancers. So we danced outside with him and that soothed him a bit. 

View from the theater (I think).

After the show, we went to visit the last few houses we had not yet seen. Above, Noah found another instrument to play with.

In my (completely objective, of course) opinion, he sounded pretty good.

The quiet part...

And the finale...

Our little musician clearly very proud of his accomplishment and enjoying the accolades from well.. us (nobody else was around).

We had been told that at the end of Ramadan, on Hari Raya (also called Eid in some countries I think), many people open their houses to the public. We asked the cab driver if there were any such open houses we could go to... so we ended up in the house of the tourism minister (who according to our B&B host does not have a great reputation for arms-length dealings). 

Getting food at the minister's house.

Noah, who had just woken up from a curtailed nap seemed completely unphased and happily ate his noodles and drank his juice.

The minister's pool with people milling around.

Do you want this piece of bread Suza? Although Noah LOVES food, he is usually pretty good at sharing even the pieces he really likes.

The scene at the minister's house.

Selamat Hari Raya cakes at the minister's house... unfortunately the big day for Hari Raya open houses was the next day (we almost got to go to the governor's house but the open house for the public was tomorrow) but at least we got to experience a little bit of it. 

Home sweet home - back at our hotel "living room" for some relaxing.