on the weekend of the first week of august, we took naia to see her favorite animals. birds! this will be her second time to the bird park and i'm all excited to see how excited she will be. since she was still a baby, she was always amazed to see birds. she would stop crying if she sees one and she could be rocked to sleep while watching the birds in the park. when she gets a little older and able to walk, chasing birds becomes her favorite afternoon activities. she would chase them with her happy face, sometimes with a big laugh and a huge smile on her face, then she would mesmerized when she sees the birds fly off to avoid her. then she's off chasing another one again.
my dad would even get her so many bird toys, from the one that flies off on a thread hanged on the curtain rail, or those bird toys that can chirp & sing loudly every time we clap our hands. we have them all. so it's only natural that the next step is to take naia to see the real ones. her first trip to the bird park was when she is about 7 months old. at that time, she was not as excited as we thought she would. she was glad to see all the birds but i don't think she understands it yet. especially to see that there were different types of birds and sizes, and a bit different from what she sees in the book. plus they're in the cage or bigger in size, so she was mildly scared, i guess. also being outdoor in the humid weather was another thing that she couldn't stand, so she stayed quiet most of the times.
so 9 months later, at 16 months old, we took her again. this time, she was already happy (though sleepy) when she stepped inside the park and saw big birds chirping on the tree branch. she just ran and tried to have a closer look. she even tried to climb one of the rocks around the compound to get a better view.
first, we took her to see the penguins. she, literally, stopped right in front of the door and wouldn't go for another step. we weren't sure why. but it could be because the room was dark and there were some noises in the background that kinda scared her. so we did a detour and went another way. we stopped by the birds area in the cage. at first, she wasn't making any expression. i guess she wasn't sure what to do with them cuz they're all behind the cage. then, after a while, she saw that the birds were moving and flapping its wings, and she started to point and made some noise. at one point, she poke her fingers inside the cage and tried to touch the red bird who was standing near her on the other side of the fence. then she would give a big smile and tried to tell us 'stories' in her gibberish baby talk.
next stop, we went to the lory loft. this is my favorite place and i'm excited to see her reaction to see the birds nearby. lory loft is basically a huge birdcage that we can walk in and play with the lorries inside. but before we went in, we stopped by at the cafe next to the lory loft, eating ice cream next to the huge glass wall that connects to the birdcage. naia was eating her ice cream (by herself, of course!) when a little bird came to the window and just sat in front of her behind the glass wall. she was excited and started to "feed" the bird her ice cream, which of course only left an ice cream mark on the glass. she kept doing that over and over while pointing to the bird. she couldn't wait to touch the bird. so by the time her ice cream is finished, we took her in.
i think she was mesmerized to see all the birds inside. she watched how people are feeding the birds and how the birds were very friendly. so she started to chase the one that sits next to her. as she gets closer to the bird, she tried to touch it .. only to find that the bird pinched her with its beak. hurtless pinch, but i guess, it was enough to surprise her. so when her dad got a feeding cup on his hand and had birds standing on his arms and shoulders, naia refused to get nearby, let alone to touch the birds. she was watching the birds when i hold her, but that was all she wanted to do... with a very alert face. uh-oh..
so not to let her gets traumatized too long, we decided to leave the lory loft and took the tram back to the exit area. the tram was on its last ride so the attendant let us rode for free. there are plenty birds to see from inside the tram. ostrich, pelicans, flamingos, hawks, mandarin ducks, swans, etc. and we let naia see them from afar this time. by the time we get to the exit area, we took her again to the flamingo's pool where she was excitedly trying to see them for a closer look. i guess she really loves flamingos cuz just like on her trip to the zoo, she stayed quite long watching them.
soon after, we went to the exit door and stopped by the gift store where naia was choosing birds toys from the rack. we didn't get her any, but she was having fun choosing and hugging all of them and pretend as if she was trying to choose which one to take home. :D
as soon as we get to the car, naia was so sleepy and went to sleep in no time. i guess, we'll try to her again there within a month and hopefully she'll get a better time watching the birds. lovelies.
after many failed attempts to visit the singapore zoo, we finally went yesterday. it was one hot day and we were excited cuz naia has been very alert and learning a lot about animals recently. she refused to take her naps and was excitedly roaming around the house until afternoon.
we planned to go out from the house around 2PM so by the time we're there, the sun wouldn't be too strong and we can roam around in a more friendly weather. unfortunately, naia finally decided to sleep on the way to the zoo and was in a very deep sleep when we arrived.
while waiting for naia to wake up, we went to register for a membership at the zoo so we can go there, to the bird park or night safari with no extra charge all year long. plus we can take 2 more people with us, free of charge too. so we thought that was a good deal and we definitely will go there again when grandma and grandpa are here or just a nice monthly visit (perhaps, with some friends). they took a family picture to be printed on the membership card. but since naia is fast asleep in her stroller, the picture was just myself & hubby, with sleeping naia in the background. :D
after the membership card is done, we went to get a cup of ice cream at ben & jerry's .. again while waiting naia to wake up. i got a cup of choco chip cookie dough and hubby got a cherry garcia flavor. as our ice cream hit the bottom of the cup, naia is slowly waking up. so we went in to the zoo ..
first, we went to see small crawler creatures. naia was still in her stroller with no expression. i guess she was still not sure where she was and was still a bit sleepy. then we went to see the white tigers who were taking their afternoon naps. by the time we went to see pygmi hippo, naia started to make some noise, excitedly seeing all the fish swimming around the see through aquarium, along with turtles, and of course, the pygmi hippo. it's not the 'real' hippo cuz this one's is 'tiny' so it's cute but still huge compares to the fish & turtles.
after seeing hippo, we went to see the outback animals. naia was amazed to find a bird with a size that's bigger than her, the so called ostrich. and she can't stop looking at the kangaroos being fed and was standing quite close to it. at this point, she refused to stay in her stroller and started to walk on her own. then we visited the birds section, different types of monkey and the elephants. one of her reason to come to the zoo is to see the elephants in real life. and she was amazed to see them, she sat on the bench while munching on her biscuits and keeps pointing her fingers watching the elephants walking around in the field. after a nice break at the elephants bench, we continued our journey to see .. the flamingos!!
this is when naia started to really light up and couldn't stop talking and pointing and calling us to see where she saw. she was definitely very excited and happy. she even refused to move to other areas and just stood there watching the flamingos. after a bit of persuasion (and unwillingly to be carried off) we finally off to the exit areas. had some water & snacks in the dining area then off we went to the exit. on the way, naia again stopped to watch the fish in the pond and took pictures with the ben & jerry's cows.
from the zoo, we visited the new mall at the killiney road, orchard and had dinner at the "mussels guys". naia was having fun eating the baked rice and her homemade salmon porridge while mommy & daddy had our mussels.
it was a fun family time. naia seemed to have so much fun that she was giggling and talking and calling the animals in her sleep that night. :)
many girls dream about wedding and romance. they dream about spending time in love with that prince charming for ever and ever. girls love fairy tales. that is the reason why books, novels and movies about fairy tales never short of its die-hard fans. girls would love to see it even if the storyline is just pretty much the same from one to another.
in short, girls love to daydream on the fairy tale lives. and it's pretty much the same to all of them. live with that prince charming, in a beautiful house with beautiful well-cared gardens with beautiful kids running around. i think this stereotype is still implated inside every girls' head that many girls today still want that. beautiful house with well-cared gardens and playground. though, i'm not generalizing as i've met many girls who choose otherwise.
unfortunately, is it practical, logical or even ideal at this day and age to dream of the fairy tale life?
recently, my lil family was visited by a family friend. she grows up in jakarta her entire life and never been out of the country until that time when she visited us. during one of the conversation, she made a comment about our lives here in singapore, who must live in an apartment - away from the dream home she would imagine. she said that if she were ever to get married, she'd rather live in a house with gardens filled with beautiful flowers so he can spend her time gardening and play with her kids. does she even garden? who knows!
i do respect her dream as i too may have that same dream long time ago. i couldn't remember anymore. but i grew up to adulthood living from one apartment to another. aside from my childhood, only when i go back to jakarta to visit my parents, then i have the experience of living in a landed house.
but the question remains, in this day and age, would it still logical to live in a landed house? in jakarta, there are still plenty of spaces to have that kind of house. people live all the way in the outer part of jakarta so they can have an affordable house, landed with gardens where they can have their kids play & run around. but the consequence is that they must travel for soooo long to get to work, not to mention that the traffic is just getting worse every day. it's quite impossible to find an affordable house in the city center area cuz the price of land is way too high, unless you get it from your parents who owned that piece of land for a long time.. :P so the most ideal way to live to the city is to live in an apartment that's been popping up quite tremendously in the city center area. apartment price, of course still lower than buying a landed house, but it still doesn't come cheap. especially when you want to have the ones with nice facilities.
back to my question. if i were still live & working in jakarta.. i would still have that dream of a landed house with beautiful garden, but i'd prefer to stay in an apartment so i can be close to work. why? cuz i'd rather cut my travel time short and spend it with my family instead of dreading the long hours in traffic just to get home and found my daughter already fell asleep. after all, i am a working mother.
as for living in singapore, it just makes more sense to live in an apartment cuz landed house is too expensive and the maintenance also doesn't come cheap. at least for now, i opt to live in a nice apartment with full facilities so that my daughter can have access to enjoy the playground, the pool and walk in the park.
and slowly, my home dream is no longer a house with beautiful gardens and playground. and i've said it once before and i'm saying it again .. home is where your heart is. no matter whether it's one-storey high or twenty five-storeys high, with gardens or just a balcony, home is not just something you live, sleep, and eat. it's where you spend time with your family. quality time. no matter what, how and where it is.
just like people in indonesia (or other asian countries, for that matter), drinking tea is one of the most popular activities for singaporeans. they have their ways of naming it too. however, ever wonder what to order when you go to one of the kopitiam stalls and it has all these options of tea that you couldn't understand? you ordered tea, thinking it's just a plain tea, no sugar or milk. and there it comes, with sugar and milk.
i had trouble understanding how they call different way of tea servings in singapore, when i first came here. it's interesting, alright. given the different name it has.
so i'll share you a list. so next time you visit singapore, you order the right kind of drink! oh and yes, pronounce it as indonesians do .. teh. not tea.
teh (te-eh) hot tea with evaporated milk and sugar.
teh-o (te-eh oh) hot tea with sugar. no milk.
teh-c (te-eh si) hot tea with evaporated milk.
teh kosong (te-eh koh-song) hot tea with milk. no sugar.
teh-o kosong (te-eh oh koh-song) hot tea. no sugar. no milk.
teh tarik hot tea with milk and sugar, with froth from 'pulling' the tea with two cups.
teh halia (te-eh ha-lee-ah) hot tea with milk and sugar, with ginger water.
halia = ginger, in malay.
and if you want to have them iced, just use the word peng at the end. so, if you want to have sweetened iced tea with milk.. simply order a teh peng! or iced sweet tea, just say .. teh-o peng or as indonesians might refer to it as es teh manis! :)
well, of course, you can use the word iced when placing an order. but just in case you want to be as local as possible, you can try using the local way to order them.
if you don't like how much sugar they put in your tea, order it with the word siew tai (syu-tay) which means less sugar. so simply order teh-o siew tai for your hot tea sweetened with less sugar. easy, right?
oh this also goes with your coffee order. singaporeans also use the word kopi for coffee. just like teh, ordering a glass of kopi, means you're ordering a glass of hot coffee with milk and sugar. so, make sure you understand the so-called formula before you place an order. you may not get right servings for your desired drink... haha!
many girls dream about wedding and romance. they dream about spending time in love with that prince charming for ever and ever. girls love fairy tales. that is the reason why books, novels and movies about fairy tales never short of its die-hard fans. girls would love to see it even if the storyline is just pretty much the same from one to another. 
just like people in indonesia (or other asian countries, for that matter), drinking tea is one of the most popular activities for singaporeans. they have their ways of naming it too. however, ever wonder what to order when you go to one of the kopitiam stalls and it has all these options of tea that you couldn't understand? you ordered tea, thinking it's just a plain tea, no sugar or milk. and there it comes, with sugar and milk.
