** Memories **

Those were the days we became friends ...
Those were the days we played mahjong together...
Those were the days we cooked together...
Those were the days we travelled together...
Those were the days we "spluged" together...
Those were the days we helped each other...
Those were the days which were really unforgettable...



Same place, same house I am now previously but a totally different life without you guys around.

I miss you, my friends!!!

Keep in Touch!

More E-Vid

I made 1 more e-videos below from http://www.mypcmovie.com/ with some screen shoot captured with different styles.



Or Goto here






Fun! Fun! Fun!

E-Vid

Or go here

I came across the above video on Clarie's Blog... thus I have made one for Shannon too!!!

Our Exact Location

For friends who never visited us before...


Map extracted from here

Bordeaux, the capital of Aquitaine, is situated 350 miles southwest of Paris.

Aquitaine is a well-known name but a relatively unexplored corner of France. It offers an outstanding diversity of attractions including:

-Superb beaches, lakes, forests & mountains
-World-famous wines & regional cuisine
-Historic market towns & cultural sights
-Superb surfing, golfing & cycling
-Hardly a British person in sight!

Mission at Alternative Aquitaine is for you to share the enthusiasm for this region.Here's ten good reasons why...

1) it has the longest stretch of coastline in Europe...The Cote d'Argent - 250km of sand recently voted France's Best Mainland Beach.***

2) it is more than just a beach for culture and history... there are medieval villages and hill-top towns, chateaux, museums, markets and regular festivals.

3) it is home to some of the world's most famous wines...such as Medoc, St Emilion, Pomerol and Sauternes.4) it offers an amazing variety of activities...such as golf, surfing, cycling, sailing, hiking, bird-watching and horse riding, to name but a few.

5) it is next door to Spain for day-trips...to San Sebastian, Pamplona or Bilbao's Guggenheim.

6) it is home to the Pyrenees for wonderful walking country... and some of Europe's most exotic wildlife, including vultures and brown bears.

7) it is home to Western Europe's largest forest... and over 30 freshwater lakes for peace, tranquility and enjoying nature.

8) it is home to the French Basque Countryan ancient land... with its own language, culture, sports, festivals, architecture and cuisine.

9) its regional cuisine is noted even in France for its variety... from foie gras to oysters and the Spanish-influenced pintxos ( tapas ).

10) it is now so easy to get to by plane... there are six airports in the region, many served by low-cost airlines.

***The 50 Best Beaches in Europe, The Independent, 14th June 2003




Cazaux is the place where Daddy works (Green arrow) and we are staying in Gujan Mestras (Red arrow)

Gujan-Mestras is, with its 7 oyster ports, the first center of Oyster export in France. The Basin, with its 80% of shares of market, represents the first producer of seed oysters in Europe. The oyster production Gujanaise accounts for 55% of the totality of the Basin is approximately 50 0000 medical labels delivered in 1999. Production of 3600 tons delivered by 220 oyster culturists and 9 stores of forwarding of which 580 tons are sold with the breeding. 130 boats armed with fishing and approximately 300 sailors embarked, operating 280 ha on the Basin!
Extract from here

Hummpss... but I don't eat Oyster at all... paiseh..i want to puke even if it is taken too close to me... Opps sorry but please let me off with this slimmy thingy.. Well, Daddy and friends who had been here before said they love the oyster. It's fresh, big and juicy, mostly importantly CHEAP CHEAP MAN!

Artist At Work

What Does Our Birth Date Mean?

Jason's Birthdate: February 18

You are a cohesive force - able to bring many people together for a common cause. You tend to excel in work situations, but you also facilitate a lot of social gatherings too. Beyond being a good leader, you are good at inspiring others. You also keep your powerful emotions in check - you know when to emote and when to repress. Your strength: Emotional maturity beyond your years Your weakness: Wearing yourself down with too many responsibilities Your power color: Crimson red Your power symbol: Snowflake Your power month: September

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

My Birthdate: March 7

You are an island. You don't need anyone else to make you happy. And though you see yourself as a loner, people are drawn to you. Deep and sensitive, you tend to impress others with your insights. You also tend to be psychic - so listen to that inner voice! Your strength: Your self sufficiency Your weakness: You despise authority Your power color: Maroon Your power symbol: Hammer Your power month: July

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Shannon's Birthdate: March 23

You're not good at any one thing, and that's the problem. You're good at so much - you never know what to do. Change is in your blood, and you don't stick to much for long. You are destined for a life of travel and fun. Your strength: Your likeability Your weakness: You never feel satisfied Your power color: Bright yellow Your power symbol: Asterisk Your power month: May

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

My dear friends, any comments?

And for Shannon's Birthdate meaning har... xiao liao lah! Or maybe her parent which is us will strike Euro Million soon??? Or else, who is going to sponsor her life with travelling and fun??? hehe

How Cluttered is My Mind?

Your Mind is 58% Cluttered

Your mind is starting to get cluttered, and as a result, it's a little harder for you to keep focused. Try to let go of your pettiest worries and concerns. The worrying is worse than the actual problems!

How Cluttered is Your Mind?

Stressed

I hate myself for raising my voice when scolding her
I hate myself for spanking her occasionally
I hate myself for losing my temper so easily
I hate myself for not having more patience with her
I hate myself for not playing enough with her
I hate myself for not teaching her enough
I hate myself for not having more self discipline
I hate myself for procrastinating
I hate myself for being lazy
I hate myself for being selfish about my "personal time"

etc...

etc...

etc...

I hate myself for not being a better mummy in all ways. That's one of the reasons why I am reluctant to have No.2 earlier. I have no confidence to cultivate Shannon to become a bright child not mentioning No.2 when I have lesser time.

Being a parent or child at this generation is not easy at all. Singapore Educational Systems can stress you up to the wall! In Singapore, we can send our children to all kind of enrichment classes but we do not have that kind of spare cash. Over here in France, we have some spare cash but no enrichment class can be found here. Everything here is all in French, we have to teach them English and Mandarin ourselves. English is still manageable but Mandarin? I am not bad in Mandarin but have no confidence on how to teach all the hanyu pinyin and strokes...

During our times, parent can just leave us playing and playing for the first few years of our life. Now, you are expected to teach your child from birth! The children are expected to be able to read and write in K1! Nowadays, toddlers can read at 2 years old and be reading Harry Potters at 4 years old! I have no doubt on the kids who are taught since birth! They are really genius!

My goodness!!! My goodness!!! How am I going to attain that kind of achievement??? Worse part is I do not any excuse for not teaching her well because I am a Stay At Home Mummy....*_*

Sleeping Late Again

We have been sleeping around 12am and waking up at 930am these few days. Shannon slept around 2am due to the nap last evening, thus this morning I let her sleep till 12pm thinking that she will avoid her afternoon nap and sleep early tonight. Well, she did sleep early but maybe too early :( around 9pm and woke up at 10pm! I tried to coax her to sleep by patting and singing lullaby till I dozed off myself. I lost my temper at 1120pm and she finally fell asleep at 1145pm.

Sometimes, I really feel like giving up...I really don't want to stress her and myself over her sleeping patterns. Days when I just 'closed one eye' on her sleeping patterns were smoother and happier for both of us.

Drama...Drama..

She took a "power nap" in the afternoon. No matter how I coaxed her, she does not want to continue her nap. I gave up my intention after an hour and decided to let her sleep early tonight.

While she was drinking her soup during dinner, I took the dishes to the basin. The next moment I turned around, I saw her head turning left and right and then onto the table...

She actually fell asleep! Then I called out her name and took my camera out... hehehe





Hopefully, she don't sleep too late tonight.

A Major Decision

Finally, had a good long talk with daddy last night. We have decided to plan for "a" sibling for Shannon!

"A" - hopefully, it's an "a" not 2 or more... I really cannot handle ...

Frankly speaking, I am not ready or rather forever not ready for No.2 . After much thinking, I know one day I will give in to daddy. Thus I decided to give in earlier as I do not want their age gap to be too big.

Hopefully, everything will turn out well...

Wish me LUCK!

Outing Cancelled

Daddy got to work today thus La Coccinielle Outing was cancelled today. Well, a bit disappointed but surprising a good decision. The weather was not good today, a bit of sun and drizzing once a while. Definetly not a day for enjoying ourselves in the Park.

A boring day...

Merry-Go-Round

After breakfast at MacDonald, we went straight to Lye Kim Hak in Bordeaux. Got ourselves some stuffs and went shopping at Factory Outlets in Merignac. The place are big with several factory warehouse. However, we did not really spent much as some of the stuffs were still quite expensive. After walking around for 2 hrs, we went to Merignac Carrefour for more groceries shopping. We went to a Chinese Restaurant for a buffet dinner. It was 16 euro per adults and the spread was not attractive at all... I missed the sharkfin soup 3 years ago....

Summer Holiday Starts!!

Shannon will be on Summer Holiday for 3 L...O...N...G Weeks...

Opps.. I think I have gotten used to mornings without her... hehehe.. Okay Okay.. I know I am not a good mummy for saying that but going to playgroup few hours a day did benefit the both of us. She is more independent and sociable now, got few hours a day enjoying playing with her ever changing friends and she got to expose herself to more activities like playing with sand, sing-a-long and arts etc... As for me, I have more time for my housework, my blogging and net surfing...Hopefully, she will have no problem with the playgroup after the holidays...

I am so tired now cos I spent 3 full hours this morning packing, vacuuming, mopping the whole house despite my neck not fully recovered yet...However, I am looking forward to this weekend! As usual, Saturday will be a marketing and shopping day and this Sunday, we are going to Parc de la Coccinelle! It claimed to be the top children's park in Europe dedicated to domestic animals, 800 animals to meet, run around with and to stroke.



Sound really great right! I am going to take tons of photos and blog abt it.

Au Revoir, Shannon

When I picked Shannon up yesterday, there is this little French Boy running towards the gate and said Au Revoir to her with a pat on her head as well. **so cute**

Some of the photos taken at the playgroup's garden. Guessed they took their lunch in the garden yesterday.


This is the first hand painting Shannon did yesterday. I had pinned it up on the living room...

MOON

Recently, Shannon got interested in looking at the MOON... Everyday she will want to go outside and find her MOON. I brought her out to cycle after dinner for the past 2 days when she asked for it.

Below are some conversations between us.

Shannon - Mummy, where Moon? Moon?
Me - It's too early now... later you will see the moon.
Shannon - Ooorhhh...

Recently she "Ooorhh" alot and "Ooorhh" at funny times....Anyway....when she sees the moon, she will go...

Shannon - Mummy!! I see "the"(mumbled) Moon.
Me - Oh! Where is the moon?
Shannon - There! High "in the"(mumbled) Sky

Then she will continue to repeat the above and mumbled to me for a while but If she can't find it....

Shannon - Mummy! Where's "the"(mumbled) moon?
Me - It's behind the clouds.
Shannon - Oh No... (looking up the sky)
Me - Don't worry, when the clouds move away, you can see the moon!
Shannon - Mummy! Moon arh..Moon arh.. where?
Me - Can you see the clouds moving?
Shannon - Yes...
Me - So, when the wind blows the clouds away, you will be able to see the moon again.
Shannon - Yes!

Shannon looking at the sky waiting for the moon to reappear...

Shannon - Mummy! Where 'the' moon?
Shannon - Mummy! I find!
Shannon - Mummy Mummy! I find it. I see "the" (mumbled) moon!
Me - Oh! You found it... You found the moon! ..
Shannon - Yes, mummy.. I see "the" (mumbled) moon..High "in the" (mumbled) sky..

Then she will start the whole thing again.... going on and on and on.....

Happy 2 Years 4 Months Old

She knows how to open and close the door by herself now.

Not my day...

Not my day... "sigh"

It rained quite heavily when I sent Shannon to and fro playgroup this morning. I have to juggle between 2 umbrellas and Shannon when putting and getting her out of the car. She insisted holding an umbrella herself... ~_~'

I don't blame her at all cos she don't know or don't understand Mummy's neck has not recovered yet. Guess I should rest at home and not let her go to school today but if she is at home, I still need to carry her when she wants to.... so how to rest my neck????

Shannon Started To Paddle her Tricycle

Shannon started to paddle her tricycle!

My neck is slightly better today after taking "panadol extend" and chinese "Orh Yok Yee" plus pasting 2 "salonpas" I started to prepare and cooked dinner this evening and finally able to mop the floor which I wanted to do since last Friday. Pray hard that my neck is better tomorrow cos I need to drive her to school... sigh... I hate spraining/straining here and there.. .it takes longer time to recover here...

世上只有妈妈最好

I woke up with a very sharp pain on the left side of my neck! I couldn't even get up myself in the morning due to the pain. I didn't managed to see a doctor as Daddy forgot that the clinic open half day on Sat. ~_~

I should have taken some medicine before we go out to at least relieve the neck pain. However, we went ahead with weekly groceries shopping and reached home at 4pm. Daddy did try his best to help me with Shannon and everything he can.

Why am I having neck pain or stiff neck so often???

I really hate all this kind of neck/back/waist pain! I feel paralysed and helpless. I hate the feeling of relying on others. I missed my mum...she is the only one that I can totally rely on during this period. She will help me with everything and anything, she will make sure that I get enough rest and don't strain myself any further... I really miss her...