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you guys caught the inaugural yog opening ceremony on tv?

well, i didn't 'cos i was making my way to janet's room at marina bay sands for a look-see and also get free entry into the skypark. :) the entire property is huge including a long promenade overlooking the bay.

didn't spend too much time at the top since i was a bit late and we wanted to view the fireworks in the room instead. very good views from the skypark. crowded so i couldn't get a good spot to park my lumix for a decent night shot. :(

the room is big, the bathroom too but doesn't have a bath tub which i think it's disappointing considering how much it'll cost at its usual rates. janet encountered the now well-known "frustration" of trying to check into the hotel at the promised check-in time of 3:00 pm.

doris and thomas were there too. they had to take a cab from suntec city to mbs as the helix bridge was closed due to the yog opening ceremony at the float @ marina. since doris had warned me about the bridge closure, i took a train to marina bay and walked over instead.

after the ceremony had ended, we had wanted to go for drinks somewhere but it was too troublesome for janet and jason since there was a long queue to retrieve their car from the valet. so we settled for coffee at the makeshift foodcourt outside the swatch boutique.

ethan chua

the much anticipated arrival of ethan finally happened on 7th july at 1447hrs, just 1 day after my birthday.

when i dropped by at mount elizabeth, the proud parents showed off their new bundle of joy. they even brought along the laptop containing cayden's baby pictures for comparison. hehe... :)

and he does really resembles cayden. cute with lots of hair just like his brother, but bigger and more 'vocal'. :P

my mum asked me what did we do to ethan after i showed her this video... nothing, i swear that we didn't pinch his rosy cheeks or anything like that. it's just his usual crying. :)

vital statistics:

• weight: 3205 g


• length: 50 cm

surprise party

janet had planned this dinner gathering today to avoid any unplanned disruptions by her delivery. the last time when she was heavily pregnant with cayden, i think he wanted so much to join us for dinner that he chose that very day to come to this world. :P hehe...

even though janet had set up today's date weeks before, it ended up with single parents bringing the kids along. coincidently, one half of all the couples had something on tonight.

it was only in the afternoon that janet had sms-ed to say that it's going to be a surprise birthday party for cayden. caught me and doris by surprise too because we had not gotten a present for cayden. :(

prepared my usual salad for the gathering. jason likes the imitation king crab that i had bought for the salad. eric jested that we've upgraded from mere imitation crab sticks to imitation king crabs.

jason got the kids mad about musical chairs which later became musical chairs in the dark. this led to eric asking how much is the cover charge. haha... :)

fun @ east coast

doris booked a chalet at east coast costa sands resort and invited the jcgang to join her for some sea, sun and sand.

sl [wong], ky and i shared a cab there from clementi. eric arrived shortly after us. we just lazed around watching tv in air-conditioned comfort while waiting for janet and cayden. johann and diane surprised us by arriving before janet did.

doris, ky and i were just kitting up for our skate so johann and diane joined us on a rented “family” bike. that’s a tandem bike with a child seat right at the back.

janelle had been clamouring “bicycle, bicycle!” earlier. she seems pretty excited by it all since it’s her first time at east coast. i think she enjoyed herself very much today.

we skated/cycled over to bedok jetty. took a short break there to enjoy the sea breeze. we didn’t skate too badly considering that we haven’t been practicing for a few months. :) nobody fell. :P

after that we split up as we wanted to skate a bit more in the other direction while johann and family returned to the chalet. i was told later that janelle kept asking for “uncle mun yue” on the way back.

this is proof that nice cookies can buy your way into children’s hearts. :) haha…

dinner was at pasta fresca since we needed a big table and a child seat. unfortunately, it wasn’t one on the beach under the stars. after that, we bought desserts from the food centre back to the chalet.

i recommended my favourite cheng tng to eric and he likes it.

janet mentioned about cayden’s head being slightly big. the paediatrician will measure jason’s head at the next appointment to determine if it’s in the genes. then the talk went to cayden’s smelly poop.

doris wondered if that’s in the genes too. :) we couldn’t stop laughing... it was hilarious… haha…

we left at around 10-something. ky and i got a ride out to bugis mrt from eric since he’s going to pick tracy up.

and i thought i’ll be going home for a good night’s sleep…

sun with moon @ wheelock

this dinner was set up 2 weeks ago… yes, not easy to coordinate considering that we have to accommodate the quarter-end closing for some of us and a business trip for another.

sl and ph were early, they had already finished an appetiser when i reached the restaurant at 7:30 pm. yup, they’re that hungry.

we had a booth seat furthest away from the entrance. most private and good for conversations but also meant that service was difficult to come by.

since janet had sms-ed doris to say that they’ll be late as most couples with kids tend to be, we proceeded to order appetisers first.

i ordered the sun salad and yam cake while doris ordered the agedashi dofu.

sl and ph went on to order the okonomiyaki.

the sun salad came in a bottle. the waitress gave a bubble tea “mechanical doll” shake to it after pouring in the sesame dressing. the yam cake was bland in a delicate, japanese way.

the okonomiyaki had lots of cabbage and only half an oyster in the piece that i had. :(

by the time we’re about done with our food, cayden finally arrived with his entourage of janet, jason and nora. :) hehe…

cayden was in a good mood… we passed him around the table. haha…

i ordered the salmon kamameshi which is like a metallic version of our claypot rice. not a very big portion though. if not for the appetisers and the desserts later, i don’t think i’ll be full.

had warabi matcha which is green tea ice cream with green tea jelly cubes. nice!

the bill for me came to about $37. slightly expensive but a good place to go to for the ambience and when you feel like splurging.

lunch @ marmalade pantry

met up with doris, janet, jason & cayden for lunch.

haven't seen janet & cayden since i last visited them when he was just 2 weeks-old. i think it's their 1st foray into orchard road without the maid... quite a leap of faith, i say.

passed them the baby mickey jigsaw i done up for cayden.

marmalade pantry was fully booked. fortunately doris had made a reservation otherwise we would be left out in hunger with a "cranky" baby.

i had smoked salmon bagel, blush [juice of carrot, beetroot & celery], nutella cupcake and tea. the food was ok but a bit on the expensive side.

cayden had his milk and demostrated how loud he can fart. the whole table heard him.

and i discovered he doesn't burp easily. i guess that's how he channels out the air in his tummy. :P

new bundle of joy

1 more addition to the 2nd generation of jcgang. this time round by janet & jason. congrats to them on the birth of their son. ain't he cute? i love babies... only when they behave.

my close friends from jc all named their children with "j" names. starting with janine, janelle, joshua and jerrell. i'm still rooting for a "j" name, janet, as is the rest of the gang. but think this little guy is growing up as "cayden" most likely.