Friven & Co. @ Tanglin

Yet another former Post Office being transformed into a lifestyle mall. Located at 56 Tanglin Road, Friven & Co is a lifestyle concept store that aims to be a one stop shop for your entire home decor needs.
Click on the picture to go to the website.

It is really a place you will just pass it by and never take notice. The building is located round a turn and that makes it difficult for drivers to notice it. How did we find it? Ask my wife. =)

The Tanglin Tree is a child-friendly restaurant.To be honest, it was not the food that drew our attention, it was in fact the outdoor tree house which helped us made the decision. The tree house looks a bit dirty cos it was after a raining day.

However, the food was quite decent. Check it out.

You can choose between dining indoor or outdoor. There were 2 groups of families when we were dining there.

There are plenty of things for the toddlers too. So that they can be entertained while the parents eat.

After a nice meal, the next stop will be a “wow” place for the ladies, at least it was for Kless. The kids section in Friven & Co. is really a nice place to have a walk. Even a guy like me finds the items really nice =D

Enjoy!

 

2 By 2

In a typical Singapore family, 2 kids is the norm. That makes it 2-by-2 together with the parents. Each parent can carry one child and there is no need for a maid. If you have 3 children, a maid will be essential. But I will leave that (to have a maid) for another blog in future.

So currently we have 2 girls and both of them makes a good pair with either Kless or me.

Kless and Joey. The homely group. You will be surprised, even tho Joey is super active, but she usually likes to stay indoor to play her toys or just to draw. Totally like Kless who can stay home for the whole day and do nothing.

Me and Jayne. The outgoing group. Ask me to stay home with the kids for a day, I will surely go crazy. There is nothing to do indoor except to sleep and to surf net. I would rather go out for a walk or meet up with friends for a cup of coffee. Jayne will always pull me to the door and looks at me begging me to just bring her out for a walk. To see is to believe.

Turf City Singapore

The search for more child-friendly place continues…

I have heard of Turf City for the longest time, but somehow the idea of Turf City linking to horse-racing has kind of delayed my trip to this place. Maybe I am just being paranoia..

Trying to find new places to bring the girls out will always be a challenge. Singapore is too small and we have limited options. However, I think it still boils down to being creative and making some effort to find the interesting things on this small island.

On one of our regular Monday offs, I have decided to drive over to Turf City. It was actually very near to Joey’s favourite uncle, Uncle Tristan’s place.

There is a wide variety of F&B ranging from economically priced kopitiam stalls to small cafes to famous seafood restaurants. And over a hundred 2nd-hand car dealers, parallel importers and local agents (new car) under one roof.

But the most interesting shops are those that sells kids clothes and stuffs. Check out the pictures.

Saw this signboard but was not able to find the place. Maybe it’s closed. =(

     

I think we will be back again. Maybe to try out the seafood? Any feedbacks on that?

Second Child Syndrome

We’ve all heard about it. Most parents will go through this. Maybe even ourselves are victims of it. Both Kless and myself are the eldest in our family. We each have a younger brother.

Psychiatrists suggested that birth order leaves a life-long impression on one’s style of life, the way he/she deals with friendship, love and work. Of course other things that influence a person are parental attitude, gender, social, economic and religious situation. Other than the birth order, what can be considered for such syndrome are the spacing of years between the siblings, the total number of children, and the parents’ situation over time.

So much for the experts’ opinion…

The truth be told…after the first child, the excitement is definitely lessen with the second child. The first step, the first words, the other firsts, it seems a little less remarkable with the second child. This could be the main cause of second child syndrome. As a father of 2 girls, both of them are pretty close to me. Kless always comments that both girls are daddy’s girls. Which I think she is right in a way. Cos Mummy is always about eating, sleeping and bathing. But Daddy is more about fun and play. Of course I am not saying my wife is a dull and stern mother. Exactly opposite, I am the disciplinary figure at home. Maybe becos of that, the girls treasure the fun time with me more.

It’s a constant reminder that I must be fair to both kids. If I buy something for Jayne, I must remember to buy something for Joey too. However, I realised that buying things is just a very small part of being fair. If money can solve the problem, it would have been so much easier in parenting. The key is TIME! I need to share my time with both girls equally. There were days when I come home from work and I just felt like having a bath, watch TV and sleep. But…
Joey wants to show me all the drawings she has done for the day, the puzzles she has completed. Jayne wants me to carry her. And when Joey sees me carrying Jayne, she too wants me to carry her. So I have to carry both lor…

I don’t mean to complain, cos the moment I see how my girls are fighting to have my time with them, I just feel so blessed. They are the best gifts from heaven.

Fatherhood is never easy. Fatherhood is not a task. It’s a commitment and I am committed to both my girls! Papa loves you 2…

 

Look Alike Family

The 3 most important women in my life. The more we spent time together, the more we look alike. How true is that? Judge for yourself.

Me & Kless. I met Kless since she was a school kid, wearing her pinafore uniform. Just like that, it was love-at-first-sight. Dated for 10 years, married for 8 years now. No wonder people always say we look like siblings.. hahahaha.. she is more than family, she is me!

Me & Joey. My first born. I think physically the most look alike feature is our eyes. Both of us have small but smart eyes =p
We are also very similar character wise. Joey is a born leader, since young she will be the one leading the other children to play this or to play that. She is me too!

Me & Jayne. Thank God her eyes are bigger than mine =)
But overall, I think Jayne looks more like me than Joey. Maybe it’s the smile? One thing for sure, she is equally stubborn like me.

The Kuan Family

The Name Says a Lot

Both our daughters have a very meaningful Chinese name.

Joey aka 以旋
The word 旋 is known as sound or music as in 旋律. We wanted our girl to grow up to be girl who is happy and to be filled with good music/sounds in her life. Music natures a person’s soul. And we are more than happy to know that indeed Joey is a very vocal and musically inclined girl. She likes to sing and can remember a lot of tunes after hearing it for 1-2 times. And of course, she is super vocal for a 4 years old girl. So much so we were wondering did we give her the wrong name =p
旋 also means another thing. To revolve, move in orbit. Just like how Earth revolves around the Sun. 以 is taken from 以马内利 (Emmanuel = God is with us). Putting together both Chinese character, we have the meaning of ‘revolving around God’. Isn’t that amazing?

Jayne aka 以心
心 means heart. Kless and I wanted the 2nd girl to be someone after God’s own heart, thus the word 心. But little did we know, Jayne captured more than just God’s heart, she practically captured everyone’s hearts. She is such a darling! Cute and witty =)
For people who have met her, you would know that she is a smiley baby. And her smile can really melt away any tiredness in us.
I think she really lives up to her name, having the ‘heart of God’, loving people and making people loves her back.

Beyond all the meaning a name can give. I truly believe as any father will hope for, my deepest and most desired outcome for my girls are for them to grow up healthy and be a loving and useful person in life.

Moustaches are Bad Guys

I really enjoy going out with Joey. She is at that stage when she has her own set of thinking and understanding. Sometimes the things she mentions just are so funny and interesting.

We were watching a show on TV while waiting for the car maintenance to be done. In the show, the bad guy wears a moustache. And so goes the conversation…

Joey: The bad guy is the one with a moustache. He beats the good guy and has a gun on the side just like the police.
Me: So the police are bad guys too?
Joey: NO!! Police are good guys, there and God are good people. They protect us and kill the bad guys.
Me: Then who are the bad guys? Both them and the police have guns on their side?
Joey: The bad guys are the ones with moustache lo…
Me: Why?   
Joey: They have moustache so people cannot know them, it’s a costume. (I think she meant to say a disguise)

There goes my dream to ever keep a moustache. I definitely do not want to be a bad guy in my daughter’s eyes.

3 Tips on Tackling Those Endless Questions

A short 4 years on Planet Earth, Joey has already mastered the skill of 长气. She can go non-stop asking questions on everything. Who says women talks a lot? Females in general talks a lot. Age is not the issue.

Found this useful article on DadsForLife website.

We have hope Fathers!

Here are some 3 tips that you can apply beginning today!

• Pay attention to your child’s questions. Do not dismiss them for example by saying “Stop asking so many questions!” or automatically respond “I don’t know!” Attending to your child’s questions tells them they are important to you. Remember that you are a role model of learning for your child. Instilling curiosity to discover and find out about new things reaps benefits for the future when your child starts formal schooling.

• Ask your child questions. From the time your child turns three, you can help her develop thinking skills by responding with a question like, “What do you think Susie? Do you think cars go faster than planes?” or “Look at the ant and the snail? Which one do you think is bigger?” instead of immediately answering your child. Likewise, when your child asks you, “Why?” ask her in turn for her own ideas before you answer. This helps you know how much information she needs. A simple response might be all that is needed.

• Demonstrate and show: experiential learning works well with many kids. Instead of just telling your child the answer, you can show him by comparing real objects to show that an apple is bigger than a strawberry or that by mixing blue and yellow, you get green. Kids remember much better through experiencing and doing.

“L” for Lor sor….

Joey’s Favourite Uncle

Joey is totally an extrovert girl. Let me give you the definition of Extrovert.

Most people believe that an extrovert is a person who is friendly and outgoing. While that may be true, that is not the true meaning of extroversion. Basically, an extrovert is a person who is energized by being around other people. This is the opposite of an introvert who is energized by being alone.

This definition totally describe Joey super well. When she is in the car, even for a short journey from home to the nearby NTUC, she will keep on nagging us to let her play the iPad or DS Lite or Handphone games. She just can’t keep still for a moment. You can imagine the stress I have to handle while negotiating the cab drivers outside and trying my best to keep the inside noise out of my mind.

Joey has many favourite uncles. It all depends on who is willing to play with her. Who is able to keep up with her boundless energy.

A few examples…

1) Uncle Tristan (number 1 favourite, tho he is always trying to psycho Joey to call him kor-kor)

2) Uncle Gerald (how can a girl resist a charming guitarist?)

3) Uncle Peter (being in the same cg, the fate was sealed)

 

4) Uncle Wei Wei (probably the liking dropped a bit cos during last week’s football match, Uncle Wei Wei accidentally hit her head with the ball)

 

 

Our Roots

Had a very interesting conversation with Joey. She is 4 years old now, speaks fluent English and Mandarin. Compared to most kids of her age, I think I can say she is doing pretty well.

But tonight I decided to communicate with her in Cantonese. The dialogue was funny =)

Me: Joey, do you want to eat rice? (remember all this is in Cantonese)
Joey: Huh? What are you talking about? (in English)
Me: Repeating myself again…
Joey: 你在说什么？(probably thinking I didn’t understand her the first time, hahaaa)
Me: 我在用广东话问你要不要吃饭。
Joey: 我不是广东人 hor…我不会听广东话。
Me: 你要学 lo..
Joey: 我们是 Chinese, 不是广东人。广东人不是 Chinese hor.
Me: Chinese 也是广东人。
Joey: Who tell you de?
Me: Speechless…..

I must really put in some effort to keep the roots in my family! We are CANTONESE!!!!

Terrible 2

This is a developmental stage that usually begins sometime in the toddler years. And it may start anytime during the child’s 2nd year, and so anytime after their 1st birthday. Characterized by toddlers being negative about most things and often saying ‘no’.

For Jayne, her ‘no’ is ‘mai’ very similar to Hokkien language.

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But she has her sweet times too…

Simply adorable!!!

Girls like Bad Guys?

This is an undisputed fact even in small girls like Joey. Like most fathers, I am definitely the ‘bad guy’ at home. I’m the disciplinary master, the cane-holder. Muahahaha…

Tonight she displayed the cheekiness of a small but smart girl.

After Kless has read her a story before her bedtime. She approached me to read the same story again in Chinese. Trying to be nice father for a change, I obliged and put her on my lap and read in Chinese (the last time I read a Chinese book was in school).

After reading the book, Joey gave me a big kiss and proceed to sleep. Kless was complaining by my side how she didn’t get a kiss for reading too.

‘Bad guy’ wins! Yea!

Dads For Life

I submitted my entry just for fun. Tweeted about it and got a few votes. But never have I thought that I would win something out of it. Until a friend who browsed the website told me I have won, then I know. Hahaha..

The prize was S$500 IKEA voucher. My wife is going to love it! She is already thinking of buying more storage for the girls’ toys and stuffs.

As long as the ladies are happy, I am happy… wise words from a husband and father =)