You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August 2008.
Here’s a belated birthday song from Qianyi to Chiaki and Luoyi who turned 4 a few weeks ago.
To Chiaki in Melbourne:
To Luoyi in Singapore:
Notting Hill Carnival 2008 took place on Sun (Aug 24) and Mon (Aug 25, Bank Holiday). It’s Europe’s largest street festival with hundreds of thousands of regular visitors enjoying live Masquerade bands, sound systems, street food and dancing.
We joined in the fun after lunch on Sun. The streets of Notting Hill became so alive with giant sound systems and the vibrant costumed dancers. Many people were dancing on the street and enjoying the exotic food.
We didn’t stay too long because Qianyi was scared of the thunderous sound. We bought her a whistle to make her happy. When Hubby was taking a photo of me and Qianyi, a kind lady approached us and offered to take a family pic for us. 
Here’s a photo of our little Jamaican fan. She’s Usain Bolt’s friend…hahaha…
We spent 2 nights in beautiful Balestrand. During the 2nd day, we joined a memorable excursion to an actual glacier. Later we educated ourselves with a visit to the nearby glacier museum; Qianyi was really scared of the historic iceman there, she thought he was real!
The next day we left Balestrand, taking a long cruise to pretty Bergen. The journey was a bit tiring for the little one but the scenery along the way was absolutely breathtaking.
Bergen was the ancient capital of Norway. Character and cultural wise, she is much more interesting than Oslo. We took a ride in a pretty ‘train-bus’ which toured the lovely city, Qianyi certainly enjoyed herself very much!
Leaving beautiful Bergen with a heavy heart, we took the famous Bergen train ride all the way back to Oslo; the journey is reputed to one of the most scenic in the world.
We made one last trip while in Oslo – to the Oslo City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is given out every year. It was a very educational and inspiring experience indeed.
Overall, it was a superb holiday. We enjoyed the fantastic hotels, the magnificent wonders of nature and Qianyi was such a good girl; reading her books during the long journeys.
Do you wish to get away from life’s hustle and bustle to enjoy some peace and quiet? If yes, then Balestrand is the ideal place for you to lower the tempo. It’s a picturesque fjord village with its view across the widest part of the Sognefjord.
We stayed at the historic Kviknes Hotel by the Sognefjord. There’s a balcony at our room where we could enjoy the beautiful scenery. We just couldn’t resist the scenic beauty of nature. The magnificent mountains and the breathtaking landscape of the fjord…ah, it looked as if we were surrounded by a beautiful painting!
It’s great to have a leisurely stroll through the village of Balestrand too. It’s tranquility and splendid scenery would make you relaxed and happy.
Here are some photos of our little darling. She loved the hotel.
Here’s our family photo…
We are back! Norway is a very beautiful country. We had a lovely time there.
Here are some photos of our first moments in Oslo. I’m still very tired now. Will update more when I have time. Enjoy the pictures!
We are flying to Norway on Thu. I’ve prepared a packing list. Going to start packing soon.
I’ve been telling Qianyi that we are going on a plane soon. She won’t be able to go to the nursery until next Thu.
Hope we’ll have a great holiday in scenic Norway!
Some of Qianyi’s friends are leaving the nursery. Those who turned 4 before Sept are going to big school next month. It’s Esmee’s last day today. Shantelle, Qianyi’s teacher told me Qianyi enjoyed playing with two big girls, including Esmee. If Esmee is a big girl, Qianyi is definitely one too.
It’s Ptolemy’s last day too. I just got to know this lovely boy because Shantelle told me about him two days ago. She told me Qianyi talked to Ptolemy! She couldn’t believe it and she wished she could have it recorded. When Ptolemy said “Qianyi, come!”, my girl ran to him and said, “I play with you.” Qianyi, you should talk more!
It was drizzling when I walked to the nursery before 11am. I wondered if the party at the garden would be called off. The drizzle didn’t dampen our high spirits. All the kids put on their hoods or hats. It’s a 5-min walk to the private garden where Esmee’s parents have access to.
It’s great to have the party at this garden. It’s quiet and we had the whole garden for ourselves. It reminded me of the movie, “Notting Hill” especially the part where Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant sneaked into a private garden.
Qianyi didn’t eat much because she couldn’t wait to play on the swings and the slide! When she’s on the swing, she kept shouting in her baby language. Her friend, Sumie asked her mum what Qianyi’s saying. Her mum told her, “She’s saying something like IT’S SO MUCH FUN!” Yup, she has invented something for herself to shout when she wants to express her excitement.
We had a lovely time. We thanked Esmee’s parents for the party and left before 1pm.
I’m really worried about Qianyi’s speech delay. Although she has improved quite a bit, she’s still way too “behind”.
She would go through her books everyday. I’ve borrowed 20 books from the library for her. When she’s reading, she would talk. Hope she will talk more soon!
Among the library books I borrowed for Qianyi, there’s one called “Fred Bear and Friends – At the Doctor’s”. It’s quite an interesting book. “Betty, one of the bears has got a tummy ache. Join her going to the doctor’s and discover how the doctor helps her to get well again.”
When I went to the nursery to pick Qianyi up some time ago, she was reading at the book corner while waiting for me. She couldn’t wait to show me the book when she saw me. It’s “Fred Bear and Friends – The New House”. She was really excited to see the bears. So, we bought her the whole series from Amazon, 6 books in total. She was very happy when the package arrived.
Before I prepared our dinner yesterday, I drew Fred bear, his 3 cuddly friends and Dolly on a colored paper. I cut them out and pasted them on a cardboard (my recycled stuff) and cut them out of the cardboard later. They were not that fragile now and were ready for Qianyi to play with.
Qianyi’s very happy to see them and told me the name of each character. At first, she put them under the pillow. Next, she hid them under the sofa. She tried to place them behind the radiator too. What a funny girl!
I made her some little beds using Lego blocks later and told her to put her friends to sleep.
While I was cooking, I kept giving her ideas to play with her friends. She started feeding them rice, soup and noodle..haha..
It’s really a good way to keep my darling occupied while I was busy in the kitchen. I hope I can come up with more fun ideas to keep her well occupied when I prepare our dinner.
We visited the British Museum last Sat. The entry is free. It’s huge and crowded. Hubby and I think it’s beautiful.
We didn’t get to see much with Qianyi around. To her, it’s a nice place to run around. She didn’t give us a chance to appreciate the cultural treasures from around the world.
We had our lunch at a restaurant there. The little one kept drinking water. That’s the reason why she couldn’t go out without a pull-up diaper. During our outings, I would bring her to the toilet whenever we see one. When we are on the bus or tube train and she needs to go, she would just pee in her diaper.
We joined a very long queue for the ladies at the museum. My girl was impatient and went straight in without me. She walked past the basins, went on to the toilet cubicles and entered one at the far end. I quickly ran to the cubicle because I thought it should be out of service since nobody was using it. When I reached there, she has started removing her trousers. The toilet was actually clean. So, we managed to jump queue with Qianyi’s help..haha..
We brought along her favourite books to keep her occupied in the restaurant. It worked. She kept talking while reading the books.
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