A holiday coming up

We're leaving for a month long holiday to Singapore and Melbourne! :)

Quite miraculously by God's grace, dada managed to get a work trip to Singapore just when we're scheduled to go to Singapore again. So our Singapore accommodation and his air ticket are sorted out. After a week or so, we'll be visiting my cousin and her family in Melbourne for some R&R. Looking forward to it!

But before that, a 101 errands to run in Singapore...

Little monkey

Thankfully there isn't much of an issue brushing minibeanie's teeth. The trick is to make it a fun thing to do and it especially helps if either dada or me shows just how much fun we have doing it ;) After all, he's at a monkey-see-monkey-do age.

Enough of brushing for tonight!

And no, he hasn't learnt how to climb onto the table from us ;)



minibeanie is 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks & 2 days old

To be or not to be

The dilemma on hand is minibeanie's Singapore citizenship. Apparently, he's able to hold on to his Finnish citizenship until the age of majority, 21 in Singapore. Upon reaching his 21st birthday, he will then have to decide whether he prefers chicken rice or reindeer stew, durian or lingonberry :D

I think having a choice is always a good thing. Besides the luxury of choice, the pros are if we decide to stay in Singapore for awhile, education and medical services are always a lot cheaper for citizens. Then there's the government's Baby Bonus scheme. S$5000 from the government for daycares, kindergartens or even insurance policies. But $5k is not a princely sum. I loathe to think that I'm committing minibeanie to 2 years of servitude for that sum of money.

The servitude I'm referring to is the compulsory National Service (NS) that every Singaporean male has to submit to at age 18(?). We've nothing against NS. In fact, we believe it builds character and changes boys to men, as the cliche goes. However, my bugbear is that minibeanie apparently has to serve NS even if he decides NOT to become a Singapore citizen. I guess timing is the key here. He cannot renounce his citizenship until 21 while NS is served at 18. Then the second issue is the loss of freedom in living in another country after he passes a certain age without posting an exorbitant sum called the bond. I'm not sure what is this age and the amount but I remembered it was a 'choke-choke-gasp-for-air' figure. A search at mindef.gov.sg was futile. Does anyone know??

Decisions decisions....


minibeanie is 1 year, 5 months & 3 weeks old

Behind the Great (Fire)wall of China

Last year, we posted our frustration-then-triumph at having overcome China's firewall. To date, like so many inconveniences or quirks to put it mildly, it hasn't bothered me too much. Blogspot was once blocked and so was wikipedia but with the Olympics in August, they were suddenly accessible again. Recently, the Chinese threatened to block Google if it does not remove objectionable sites from its search engine. Good grief!!

I don't understand how the Chinese bureaucrats decide which websites should be blacklisted. Pornography...yes. Proponents for a free Tibet..yup. Sympathizers for an independent Taiwan... I think so too. Pediped.com, a US children's shoe company?? Unbelievable but true. I can't access Pediped unless it's through a proxy server.

And here's another incredible example. Valleyfarm.com.au - an accommodation at Australia's Yarra Valley. Go figure. I wonder how does a website make into China's infamous blacklist? Pencil pushing bureaucrats deciding they don't like its name? Throwing the dice? Spinning the bottle? Forgive me for my cynicism but its arbitrariness baffles me. Actually, the reality is that I've stopped wondering the whys, wherefores, hows etc. Many things in this country are done contrary to common sense (which goes to show it isn't that 'common' after all) so it's just easier to shrug it away with what a friend said the other day, "TIC - This is China".


minibeanie is 1 year, 5 months & 2 week old

Telling a Fib

It's inevitable, I know. But I'd no idea I'd be facing this issue so early on. Child development experts say, "Lying Behavior Begins Early - Children May Lie as Early as Age Three". Ok, but minibeanie isn't even 1 and a half!

This evening after dinner, he was bending over at his waist in obvious discomfort so I asked if there was kakka*. No, he replied by way of shaking his head. And lo, a few minutes later when there was an unmistakeable pong, he had massive kakka. Maybe he didn't understand, u may think? In fact, he'd answer in the affirmative 'Ugh' when there wasn't kakka. This had happened more than once with great predictability now, which suggested he had done so wilfully. Washing his bum probably counted as his least favourite activity as I always had the impression I was running after a chicken gone amok when it was time for the sink.

So, any suggestions on how to deal with this phase?

Where's your belly button?

A Happy New Year to everyone!

minibeanie is 1 year, 5 months & 6 days old

* Finnish for poop