Fish Spa

Today MOPS had a Mother's Day Out to a fish spa. If you don't know what a fish spa is, it is where you put your feet in a pool of water where fish are swimming around. The fish eat the dead skin off of your feet. Sounds a bit weird, but it turned out to be very nice.

The fish spa was at a fish farm in the northern part of Singapore which isn't developed. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this, at least from the outside. It was a warehouse/shed from the outside. On the inside they sold stuff for aquariums and then had the room for the spa.

After everyone got there, we washed our feet and then stuck them in the water. The fish went crazy and "attacked" our feet. It tickled a little and felt like little vibrations. Apparently these were the mild fish. At other places there are fish that are more "aggressive." A women said the more aggressive ones tickled even more. We were in there for 30 minutes and my feet did feel a little softer after I was done. I would recommend it to anyone.

Jenn's Afternoon Out

Today Toby watched Elyse while I went out for the afternoon. I wasn't really sure where I was headed, but I knew I wanted to go somewhere besides a Starbucks. I got on the MRT and decided to head toward the Boat Quay and perhaps walk around toward the Merlion. When I got to the quay I noticed a lot of activity near the Asian Civilizations Museum so I wandered over. It turned out the museum had free admission and was having a "Manchu Madness" exhibition with music and demonstrations all dealing with the Manchu. I went in and noticed the line, pardon me- queue, was loooooooong and didn't want to wait so I turned to leave, but then I realized there was a bunch of people waiting for something. I asked a man and I was informed there was an orchestra about to play some traditional Chinese music, so I decided to stay. I'm glad I did. After the orchestra, there were dancers- fun.

After the dancers I wandered downstairs and decided to try on some of the hats and get my picture taken. After I took off one of the hats and old Chinese man came up to me laughing. he asked if he could get a picture with me while I wore the hat. I said ok, but then a woman came up to the man and started pulling him away giving him a look, the man kept asking, but finally relented to the woman. It was an...interesting encounter.

Next, I went outside to see people in jumpsuits warming up and little kids running around with swords. I figured something else was about to start so I got some shrimp dumplings and waited. In a little while I was treated to demonstrations of wrestling, Tai Chi, and another activity that was popular during the same time. What a great afternoon.

Back to the Zoo

We went to the zoo again to day and had a great time. We have been there three times as a family (Elyse and I went with Grandma and Grandpa) and have seen new things each time. Today we got to see people feed the elephants, a orangutan pee from the tree tops that landed about 20 feet away from where we were standing (yuck), and a forest bio-dome among other things. I think the bio-dome was amazing. They have animals and insects just moving around you; no fences or glass between us. Butterflies landed on us, ducks crossed our paths, while bats flew by and sloths watched us from a couple feet away. There was a ring tailed lemur taking a nap on an outlook post and pygmy dear darted in and out of bushes. Very cool.

Elyse is saying hi to the ducks in their own language.

Here Elyse is asking the orangutan to sing the "ittsy-bittsy spidar" with her. He looks just like Joko.

We made it back to the water park.

Gymboree

There is a group here that I belong to which has a social once a month at a Gymboree. We went today and I started to think back about what Elyse could do at the Gymboree back in TX. She has come a long way. She now goes through tunnels with ease, she can balance better, she can climb stairs on her own, and today she climbed a ladder type thing for the first time.

Ponytail

This is Elyse's first full-fledged ponytail. It's not the neatest thing in the world, but it's a first.

Science Center (Centre)

Yesterday we went to the Singapore Science Center. After we got there we saw that most of the exhibits were created for school-aged kids (and very well done might I add), but Elyse found some things that she could play with anyway. There were buttons to push, levers to pull, and wheels to turn. There was one area that really appealed to Elyse: the Discovery Zone. In this area Elyse could slide down slides, climb stairs, play with water, and explore playhouses. It was raining so we were able to explore the grounds, but there is a water park and a tree house to play in. Although the center is not entirely age appropriate I think we could have some fun in certain areas in the future.

The is a picture of trash in an exhibit that had to do with keeping the earth clean. The reason I included it was because it struck me that this is definitely Asian trash. See the chopsticks and the spoons? In the US, the trash would look a bit different. Just an observation I wanted to share.

Ideal Kid Day

Perhaps we had the ideal kid day today. I read Elyse a ton of books and then we headed to the water park at IMM. There, Elyse was able to run around in the water until she decided she was done. After that we went to the playground. At the playground we met a girl about 7 years old named Ying Ying. She helped Elyse crawl through tunnels, pushed her on the merry-go-round and encouraged her to go down the slides. Elyse started following this girl around and did what she did. Elyse even let the girl hold her hand. After the playground we went to McDonald's where Elyse had her first happy meal. It was nuggets with apple juice and a side of yogurt. Not that unhealthy.

This video is from yesterday. I have been trying to get Elyse babbling to herself on video, but usually she stops what she is doing and heads for the camera. Yesterday she actually let me tape her (I did have the camera half hidden behind a book, perhaps that's why).

St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

MOPS Outing

This morning I went to the Botanical Gardens with the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group I joined. It was fun and I felt like I got to know some more moms since it was in a different setting than we are normally in. There were maybe ten moms in the group this morning. We walked from the visitor center to swan lake. It was definitely a toddler walk. We stopped and noticed a spider making a web and then we stopped to admire the fish, turtles, and waterfalls.

When we got to the lake the swans swam very close to our group. I think they heard we had food. A couple kids were nice enough to share the swan food (fish food and bread) with Elyse. Elyse thought the bread was for her so she would take a bite and then throw some to the swans, take a bite, feed the swans, etc. I wanted to get a picture of Elyse feeding the swans, but the place we were didn't have a fence to hold her back. Needless to say I couldn't take a picture, hold her, and give her bread (plus the other moms were busy holding their little ones back so couldn't ask them to take a picture). I wasn't going to go this morning (I wasn't feeling very social), but talked myself into it. I am glad I went.

Time Flies

My parents left yesterday and I already miss them. While they were here we had a great time. It was fun showing them our daily lives and all the sights of Singapore. In the middle of their visit, they went o Thailand. After they got back we went to a shoe store which happened to be by Orchard Road, so I was able to show my parents (where we stayed when we first arrived in Singapore. They also got to see the famous street with all the upscale shopping centers. My dad was able to go to an LPGA tournament here and while he did that Mom, Elyse and I went to the IMM playground. While we were there we visited the Japanese 2 dollar store and got all sorts of puppets. Now Grandma and Elyse have the same puppets and can talk to them on Skype.

Also while they were here we were able to go to the zoo and Arab Street, I learned how to make lasagna, Elyse had endless books read to her, and had a great time just hanging out in our apartment. (I seem to be having a hard time putting words together today so sorry if this post is a bit hard to read and doesn't flow.)

Best Daughter Ever

This morning is what I need to think of when Elyse is driving me nuts. This morning Elyse was wonderful. She was friendly to people as we passed by, she entertained herself at Starbucks while I finished my drink, and she actually followed me around and listen as we walked around the mall.

When we went to the library it was more of the same. We wandered in and out of aisles and she followed me, took one book of the shelf at a time, and brought it to a table to read. She even listened as I instructed her to go in a different direction. When it was time to go home, there was no protest and she got in her stroller without pitching a fit. I know Elyse has more good times than bad, but I tend to focus on the bad. Today I wanted to focus on the good and brag about my little girl. She is the best daughter ever!

Just Some Cute Pix