Nathan at the swing

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Nathan loves going on the swing. You can see it for yourself, all the smiles while he was on the swing - my boy, the wind in his face, mummie pushing him, and making funny noises, he absolutely adores it. I enjoy bringing him to the playground, though we can't go very often these days as the weather is fast turning cold earlier everyday. The best time to get out of the house is at noon, but that's also nathan's nap time, so i usually only bring him out after his nap about 2. Today's a great day to be out in the sun, but it is still very cold.

Mum's Inventions

It was not difficult at all, ideas came about due to boredom, and lots of recyclable materials, like packet milk and bottle caps, boxes of cereals and some straws.

I started to notice that Nathan is fond of bottle caps. He managed to screw and unscrew them from the bottles, and other containers, then I thought, how about making a ‘piggy bank’? So I used an used tea box, cut a circle, and have him put the caps through the hole. He succeed without any difficulty, and soon grew to love this new game.

I moved on to making a smaller hole using colgate box, I wanted something longer so he could put straws in. I cut the straws up into three parts, so its more manageable for his little hands. And again, he did it, and had fun.

The cool thing about this age is, once they get acquainted with a game, it tends to occupy him for a good amount of time. I should start recycling more things now in view of the limitless activities you can use them for.

Nathan@18months

Nathan turned 18 months this month. What has changed? Today at Sunday service play group, he got into a lot of trouble pulling people’s hair, scratching faces and hitting heads, got a few parents upset with his violent behaviour.

He picked up some new skills, like stacking according to sizes, finally, throwing balls in a given direction, do fly kiss. What surprised me was picking up a book I ordered. He got it right quite a couple of times. I would say, ‘ Nathan, bring mummie ________ (title of book), and he would go to the shelf and picked the correct one up. I don’t know how he recognised it, but he just did it. I’m definitely looking forward to discovering more about him everyday. This phase is not to be missed.

A Very nice Singaporean lady

Two Sundays ago, I was introduced to another fellow Singaporean family. They have two girls, age 5 and 7. Her husband is doing a PHD in theology and she stays home and runs a toy library in Cambridge for the past 3 yrs. Unfortunately, our friendship is short-lived, she was going to leave for Singapore very soon, in fact, as I am typing, she is catching a flight Monday noon.

She was such a great help. Being an experienced mum, she shared several tips about bringing a kid around Cam, where to shop for groceries and other kid friendly places to hang out. Sat evening, she came over with 4 large bags of dried food for me, some pre mixed and sauces. Then on sun, she passed me her well used wok and big rice cooker! She even wrote down her all time favourite recipe for play dough, which I will try it out with Nathan very soon.

Thank God for allowing our paths to meet here in Cambridge, I wish she could be here during my one yr stay, but I have to be grateful that we actually had the chance to meet. Perhaps God has other plans for me with some other persons … I guess.

Internationals

I have never met so many internationals in a single month in my entire life. Cambridge is unique in that aspect – a university town, made up of mostly students, and their families, or teachers, and those who work are in one way or the other related to uni affairs like admin, or serving the community like the markets and shops.

In just 2 playgroups that I go to each week, I have met Belgians, Germans, Mainland Chinese, Koreans (lots of them), Africans, Japanese, Turkish, Chileans, Irish, Iranians, Indians, Scottish, Italians, French and of course, the English. Wow, just how many nationalities are there? And these are the ones I’ve spoken to, quite a bit, know them by names and some, even dined at the table at least once.

Makes you realize how small the world is. If we really take the time and effort, we can learn from one another the diverse cultures and historical backgrounds, there is a lot to talk about. I’m so looking forward to it, should I start a travel log then?

Prisoner of Christ

From today’s morning women devotion, I learnt something about being a prisoner. Isn’t it a negative connotation? Not to Paul. He regards himself as a prisoner of Christ, for the sake of the gospel for the gentiles, he chose to become one, and he is not ashamed nor despaired about his choice. How many times I’ve been prisoner of my own confining responsibilities at home, and have I spared a thought for the gospel? I should looking out. There is a great opportunity where I am now, in the playgroup, where mums and their babies meet every week, there is no strict agenda for conversation, but I can make up one on my own – sharing Christ! I pray that God give me the boldness to do so.

Charity Shops

One thing Cambridge does well in is the charity shops. There are a total of 8 shops here. Chong and I have been patronizing them almost every other weekend. Got a number of good quality stuff from there, like sweaters for Nathan for as low as 20 pence a piece, board games, we’ve got battle ship, chong taught me how to play it, a rather brain free game that relies a sheer luck. And Otello.

My favourite purchase so far was a sling leather bag for 4.99 pounds, branded from Ecco. I’ve been looking at those from Accessorize and Top shops, they r all over priced, I’m so happy with myself that I waited for one good buy at charity shop, and I finally got it today.

I’ve been looking out for story books for Nathan too, they r good and well kept. Bought some toys for him too, a stack of plastic cups, and number cards, and my favourite, colourful buttons with treading string! Sometimes I wonder I bought the toys for him or me, cos I seem to enjoy them more than him?

Visit from Joy

This week is a little more exciting due to a visit from Joy. She arrived at Cambridge on Monday morning, and stayed with us till Thursday morning. First day lunch, we met Linette at Eat Café. We had sandwiches outdoors. Then we went to the charity shops along Burleigh St.

Second day, we did the tourist thingy again, visiting the colleges. I flashed my spouse Uni card to get in for free. Felt quite proud of myself, being able to walk the roads all by myself with Joy, without Chong around, he was at school. We ended at Castle street then back strack to Sainsbury, and home for dinner.

We had a lot of time chatting, playing games, having coffee, and basically, spending time together. It was nice.

More pictures at home!

These are taken as wished by my brother. Some interesting shots of Nathan during his bath time, still one of his favourite activities at home, besides throwing and kicking the balls. He enjoys stacking things too, so we chanced upon these colourful cup set and bought it or him, he had a good time stacking them according to sizes.

As seen in the pics, we have a fairly long corridor, Nathan loves running up and down, sometimes kicking his ball along. We have two bed rooms, one where all three of us sleep in, the other’s a guest room with a single bed, a large toilet, only Nathan bathes in the bath tub, and a good size kitchen separated from the dining hall. We have many windows in this house, perfect for ventilation and letting the sun gets through, but it can get really cold at night, even with the heating on.

Perhaps Nathan looks a little puffy in some of the pictures cos of his clothes, if you look closely, he has not put on much more weight recently, just grown taller definitely. Started him on cow’s milk two days ago, and he seems to take it quite well, but fresh milk also makes his bowels more fluid and thereby needs changes more frequently as well, which is not enjoyable for both Chong and I.

Past two nights were horrid cos he woke up in the middle of the night wanting to play. He was active. But thankfully, he could go on talking and tossing on his own without much participation from either of us, but I had to keep awake to make sure he stays out of danger, like rolling off the bed. I am just wondering why he started this habit of waking up before sun rise? I hope this is not a new pattern, imagine the winter’s coming, and there’ll b no sun till late … o boy.

We visited another church this morning, after the service, we reckon that we would stay with the first, nearer to home, and generally friendlier environment.

Lunch at St Edmund’s College

Chong insists that we should try lunching at different colleges, to see what other colleges are like, but really, it’s the cheap meals he’s after. A good course meal costs less than 3 pounds, a much better deal than cold sandwiches from Sainsbury or M & S, plus, free drinking water too. We’ve been to 2 other colleges for meals, - Hughes Hall (Chong’s college) and Wolfson College (a Singaporean friend). Both served reasonable food but not this one today.

Chong’s course mate, an Italian brought us there. The meal was horrid. The rice Chong bought me was practically uncooked, with some miserable portion of minced beef sauce. Chong volunteered to exchange his with mine, not much better, I ate it up anyway, cos everyone else on the table did, though no one really enjoyed the meal, we cleaned the plates.

The fellowship was better, the largest group of whites we came in contact with thus far. A French student doc in his 5th yr, another Italian undergrad and a German girl. But we’re probably not going to see this bunch of people very much more. Some more acquaintances , eh?

Home

Some pictures taken at home. Nathan is still ‘stuck’ to ‘wheels on he bus’. And we often make use of this opportunity to cook, clean the house, or sometimes when friends are over, he is occupied for a good half an hour.

Does he look fat in the pictures, and with his rosy cheeks, his uncle commented that he looks like a ‘china’ boy now, or ‘jap’? We’ve got a weighing scale, but hasn’t given us any accurate readings so far unfortunately, all of three of us seems to be losing weight, which is so utterly untrue. Our meal portions have doubled, and we o nothing but walk a few minutes a day, rather unhealthy life style here so far, Oh, chong managed to steal some time to jog this afternoon, I can’t imagine myself doing any of that outdoor activity, in the cold freezing wind, gosh, no way!

Colleges

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We finally did the touristie thingy in Cambridge since settling here for 3 weeks. We visited the more popular colleges in our vicinity, like Kings', Trinity, and st Johns. Thanks to being student at cam, we didn;t have to pay a cent to get in, else, as tourists, you pay quite a sum. Not spectacular, but rather majestic some of these old buildings. and each one of them as a story of its own.

Neighbourhood

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I particularly love the walk in the neighbourhood. In fact, I bring Nathan out everyday along the same path. We see cows munching on the grass, and ducks swimming in the river, a very pleasant site. I tell people that I don't have to identify these animals on children books cos now, I could point them out to him from a distance.

We love the fresh air, and nature ever more since we came. And we thank God for that priviledge.

New friends at Play group

Last wed was my first time to the playgroup at STAG (St Andrew the Great) church located right in the middle of city centre. We were there roughly around 10 a.m. There were many parents and children there, almost the size of a childcare centre. Nathan was rather sticky, perhaps he was cautious of the overwhelming crowd. There were many types of games too, from wooden jigsaw blocks to big wheeled vehicles and plastic toys. Nathan liked the trampoline most. He doesn’t know how to jump yet, he just squats on it and bounces off. Cute guy.

I met a Korean lady, Sue. She seems to have a wide network, and wanted to introduce me to some Singaporeans worshipping at STAG. We chatted for a long while, asking about bible study groups and possibly women group. If we were to stick to this church, we could get into a community life pretty soon, but we still wish to look around for other possibilities.

Finally met a true blue English lady at fri playgroup. Well, there are many whites in Cam, but haven’t met many English ladies. This one is nice. She looks very young to have 3 kids. We chatted a little, didn’t seem to have any problems communicating. I think the reason why some say about the stiff upper lip, it’s more like the fear of being misunderstood. I didn’t put on any special slang, just the usual Singaporean English, no singlish of course, and people understand me perfectly. This helps cos it gives me the confidence to get around., esp alone with Nathan.

So far, I have met and been introduced to many faces in Cam, mostly mums, or dads, yet no ‘real’ friends, the kind that you could safely invite to your place for tea and cakes? Everyone at the playgroups seem to have plans after, no one initiates for anything else, should I?

Weekend

It was a busy weekend for us, also a very good one. We had two great feasts over sat dinner and Sunday lunch. Calvin and Vicky, ex church members from home have been in Cam for two yrs, and they invited us to their place at Cherry Hinton, a 10mins bus ride away. We had dinner there, some dishes with rice. I particularly like the baked chicken prepared by Calvin. Definitely motivated me to make one for myself. Wah Onn, Shu En’s dad came to visit her over the weekend too, and he was there with Shu En and Linette. It was a fair night of eating and chatting. Feels like having an ARPC dg gathering, just not in Singapore.

Lunch was at our place, the same bunch of people, plus Grabriel, a young chap from the same hall as Chong, a Christian brother, a nice guy whom we are attempting to match mate him to one of the girls. We had steam boat! Yum yum, think everyone enjoyed the meal.

Weekends are made nicer with gatherings of friends over sometimes, rather than the usual shopping at market sq or patronizing the charity shops, to get more, well, jackets for Nathan. Shopping at the second hand shops can get quite additive, you may end up buying things you don’t really need. But we’re still looking out for a scrabble game set …

Cottage Stay @ East Sussex Oct 5-7

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Joelle and Luigi invited us to a cottage stay last weekend (Oct 5-7). It was a lovely place. A big old fully furnished house with 3 bedrooms. Her closer friends were there.

There was nothing very much to do in the small village. But it was truly the company that mattered. We did what we would do when we were teenagers like playing card games, scrabble, and my favourite, gramble. The guys introduced us to drinking games called the pyramid thingy, I was spared. I chose to distribute the cards instead, which clearly was an easier job.

The better part was meal time. There was always a lot of food on the table. 9 of us gathered round for breakfast, lunch and dinner, including Nathan, there would be laughters and lotsa of smiles. We even had an afternoon of bbq lunch, which turned up splendid. The weather was perfect for a wk end out. We found badminton rackets and net, and some metal balls, the outdoor games bonded us further. There’s something about team work and games that bring even the most unliked people together. We love it.

Thank you Joelle and Luigi for driving us to and fro Cambridge to the cottage, and taking such good care of us, and for loving Nathan the best you could.

Visits with Friends Oct 3-4

Thanks to Joelle and Luigi, they practically emptied their old flat and brought everything to fill up our cabinets. Much of it was kitchen stuff, but they even brought along their quilt and cover, comfy pillows, inflatable bed and my favourite, bath robes!! Really helpful during cold days when you want to wrap yourself up immediately after a hot bath. Boy, they must have worked doubly hard past week having to move out of their flat and pack for us… thank you so very much, friends!

Our first stop with the car was Tesco Extra at Bar Hill, outside Cambridge, some 20 mins drive away. It was a gigantic double storey supermarket, about 4 times the size of Carefour at Suntec city. Yes, I am not exaggerating at all. Amazing the amount of things you can find there. We filled our trolley to the brim, thanks to Joelle’s advice, buying our next month’s supplies – can food, sauces, frozen packs, diapers and wipes, and a big tub of jasmine rice grains, she nearly persuaded me to get two of those. I enjoyed myself so much shopping for groceries.

Next day, we visited it again, got our universal rain cover.

We didn’t go many other places around Cambridge, there wasn’t much to see beyond anyway. We went to Wicked Fence (reservoir and nature reserve) and Grandcester. Both were roughly similar, large greeneries with cows grazing on the fields, nice stream of water running through the grasslands. I thought Nathan had most fun roaming the big open fields, we were his good company, watching out for him to make sure he did not fall into one of those large cow dung.

Lake District Sept 13-17

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Chong been here once, and he claimed it is not a place to be missed in England. Well, after a 5 day stay here, I believed much of it.

Once again, the weather made all the difference. Back home, everyday is the same. You can either have sun, or sun with rain. Somehow, you don’t appreciate the sunshine much cos you have it all the time. Not so in England. People talk about the weather all the time. I really mean ALL THE TIME, cos you make your decisions based on it, a lot.


Orrest Trail

Just 10 mins walk from our B&B, another 30mins to walk all the way up. The trail was buggy-friendly, we could almost push it all the way up except for the highest peak where we had to carry Nathan and the pram separately. But Nat didn’t give us a chance to carry him in our arms, he insisted on walking all on his own two tiny feet. There were difficult terrains, but we congratulated him on his determination to succeed. The walk was made more trying with occasional strong winds. But when we reached the top, the view was breathtaking. We could only sit there to enjoy for alittle while, cos the wind and rain came shortly after. We had to walk down quite hurriedly. Thank God, we made it.

We had a nice encounter with a donkey along the way. It looked lonely and seemed to want some play mates. It actually followed us some metres before he turned and left. I was a little afraid that it might knock down the fence and come straight out at us. But a donkey is really very harmless.



Beatrix Porter house at Hill top

This wasn’t a track at all. We took a boat ride across a lake, then waited for the local bus to take us up there. We attempted to make the climb, but it was beyond us. If we had brought a carrier with us, it might still be possible, but not with the pram.

The house was nothing to ‘wow’ about, it was a cultural experience. It was known that there was where the famous author got all her inspiration for writing. We wanted to take in some creative juice from the tour.

Of course, I bought some souvenirs from the shop.

William WordsWorth grave

Sounds ridiculous, but there was only his grave to be found, not his house. Another famous writer of his time, I remembered studying some of his poems at University. He seemed to write on love and how it revolves with nature, like the wind, clouds and water, yes, lake district’s got many lakes around, the smallest one is bigger than any reservoir found back home.
There was a Ginger bread house. Bakes yummy ginger bread. The tourist guide book says that even getting into the bakery to smell the aroma is good enough.