Little Toez

If you have 2 little girls, the orbit of whom you circle around, and who adores fairies and flowers and everything nice, most likely you are an online shopaholic like me, constantly checking online stores on the look out for quality and stylish products.

When Chinnee told me about Little Toez, I was pleasantly suprised to discover that there is now an online baby boutique store in Singapore that carries stylish baby products.

Little Toez is an online baby and kids fashion boutique based in Singapore and it has 6 signature products.

The baby boutique carries handmade baby and kids hair accessories by Amelie B of Australia, baby fashion by Qictoria Baby Fashion of Australia and C.J’s Closet, featuring a wide range of pettiskirt and tops.

They also carries stylish socks from KM Baby Socks of USA, baby and kids fashion from Oobi of Australia and soft soled leather shoes from Cheeky Little Soles of Australia.
Incidentally, Little Toez is also the sole distributor for KM Baby Socks USA and Amelie B Handmade hair accessories in Singapore.

I used to spend a fair amount on shipping fee in getting Oobi’s cute little can-can skirts or ruffled rompers from Australia to be couriered over here.

Now with Little Toez’s baby and kids boutique, you save big on shipping fee. Not only that, you also get free shipping for delivery within Singapore if you purchase above $60.

The first thing, among others, that attracted me to Little Toez are those fabulous April skirts, from the latest collection of Oobi Designs. I am a big fan of Oobi Designs. Ha! Ha!

 

Aren’t these so pretty?

These multi tiered skirts has different fabric or design on each layer. It also has elasticated waistband, hidden prettily with a sash, which will be really comfortable for the little one’s tummy.

Little girls are going to look so gorgeously stylish in those ruffles.

So, go check out Little Toez now! And remember that if you purchase above R$60, you also get free shipping for delivery within Singapore!

Happy online shopping,all !

Blogger’s Picnic

I know I am supposed to continue with the holiday posts, but will take a break and post on the bloggers picnic instead, since its a shorter posts and won’t need memory recovery. The holiday to Hong Kong seems a long time ago now. Haha. Speaking of which, I am also roughly 2 weeks behind in bento posts. haha. Will catch up on them as soon as time permits.

Anyhow, on the 7th day, Yan Yat of CNY, Laundry Amah arranged a picnic. Wasn’t that fabulous of her? On CNY no less.

It was Kimberly’s and Ashley’s first picnic ever !!

We almost didn’t make it, cos Ashley was throwing up the whole night. I was changing bedsheet after bedsheet and p.j after p.j. Phew. anyhow, by 11 am, she seems fine when she woke up, so I thought we can make it to the picnic after all.

It was at Taman Rimba at Taman Tun. It was a long time ago since I went there, and with my first visit, I had followed someone’s car. So I had a hard time looking for the place and end up at the other park across the school. This one is the one across the Indian temple.

As Ros from My Mom’s Best’s forum ( a breastfeeding forum I used to frequent) said before, this park is one of K.L’s best kept secret.

Following Jacss’ style, I am just going to post the pics.

This is a group photo. I had needed to get these from Annie and Laundry Amah.

More group photos

The 2 Ashley’s.. Chumsy’s Ashley and my Ashley… both thirsty kids. haha.

Kids in the park. That’s Kimberly and Kieran playing badminton….Kylie taking a stroll, and Chumsy’s Ashley walking towards the group. The two little hensems are not fully visible.

Fearles showing off his catch. Is that a bug???!

Annie in action.

Barbara in action.

Jacss and one of her hensems.

Jacss and me.

With silver bells and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row.

Actually, with muffin cups and chicken wings, and pretty moms all in a row.

It was a great picnic.

Peggy bought lor mai fun. and ridsects and insect repellents, I was told. *grin*, Jacss bought dim sum, Barbara bought char siew pau-s , Annie brought chicken wings and I got us a basket of fruits. Cos with Ashley like that, the food was the last thing on my mind that day. For food pics and more pics, go Barbara’s blog, ok?

We had the picnic around 11 am, but I got there late about twelve. Come 1pm, the rain came and we all scattered for the safety of our cars. Not before everyone exchange angpows though.

I didn’t remember to pack angpows for the kids in my haste that day. Lucky there were some angpows not distributed over CNY from a few days before left in my wallet *embarassed smile*

So that’s Kimberly and Ashley’s first picnic ever. Being their first picnic, they don’t eat much. I think they probably took one muffin each and some jellies and then scoot off to play.

But it’s a great way to spend Yan Yat nevertheless. Good company, good food. Here’s happy CNY to you guys, whatever is left of CNY. haha.

Have a great day today !!

Christmas in HK Disneyland

This year, we spend Christmas in Disneyland.

We have always dread going away.

Reason being Ashley would cry non stop the whole night through in a strange hotel room. And if we were on a flight, she would cry non stop throughout the whole flight until she is too exhausted and fell asleep.

With the uneasy sleeps and the night-through-fretting being the main deterence, we have always avoid vacations where we need to spend several nights away. The one night of fretting we can withstand, but a whole stretch of 4 or 5 sleepless nights is another matter.

However, we have promised Kimberly that we would bring her on a holiday. She has been saying, “Claudia went to America, can we go?”, “Lauren went to Japan, can we go?” etc etc. I think it’s unfair that Kimberly has to take a step back in view of her sister, so this year we attempted a short holiday with a short flight for Kimberly’s sake.

So Hong Kong, it is.

Because Hong Kong has Disneyland. haha !

DAY 1

 

Hubby went in office for awhile in the morning that first day to sort something out and the office boy offered to send us to the airport, so hubby paid him the limo rate just to be fair.

With ample warnings of, “Ashley, the plane will be noisy, okay?”, the flight with Ashley turned out to be a smooth one. I rather think at her age she is more ready for flights as compared to when she was 12 months old, the stage where she thrives on familiarity.

Both kids drifted off to slumberland after having their meals and woke up fresh and feisty when we touched down.

When we reached the hotel, which is at Tsim Sha Tsui, we dumped our luggage in the rooms and strolled along the many rows of stores there looking for food for the kids.

We had noodles and rice at one of the many char-chan-tengs lining the streets. I had beef brisket noodles, the kids had wonton and hubby had barbeque pork rice, but being the bad blogger than I am, I forgot to take pictures.  I had wanted to show how the wontons are bursting with prawns, unlike our wontons back home. You will find that throughout our vacation, I forgot to take pictures of food as well, among other things. haha.

After food, we checked out the stores along the streets and I got the kids some Princess Disney bedroom slippers, kids’ thick long tights, Hello Kitty hairclips and knee lenght socks just cos they are cheaper than back home.  Then we walked back to the hotel to hit the sack.

Ashley didn’t cry at the hotel that night. It was a relief. Each time we spend the night at Genting, she would fret the whole night through and none of us would get any sleep. But in Hong Kong, she was fine. She slept soundly. Maybe it’s the exhaustion of travelling. But was I glad ! And was I refreshed from a good night sleep the next day ! ha ha !

DAY 2

 

The next day, we went the much awaited Disneyland.

Kimberly was excited the moment she woke up. 

I had wanted to go Fantasyland first where all the princesses are, but hubby say we go to the nearest first.  Not a wise choice, cos with all the queueing Kimberly didn’t get to explore Fantasyland much.

So the first stop is at Tomorrowland.

Took some pictures and the kids played at the giant watergun playground.

That watergun actually shot out large sloshes of water upon thumping on the huge button.

Then we spotted Donald and Daisy and decide to queue for a photoshot.

It was a long queue for the photoshot so Ashley hung around the ornamental christmas tree while we lined up.

It was a christmas eve so there was a huge crowd. Each photoshot queue  and rides turned out to be an hour long, so we didn’t get to try out many rides.

This is Kimberly lingering around the window displays.  They are rather awesome window displays.

This is Kimberly asking the Wizard of Oz whether he is the Wizard of Oz.

Having fun is thirsty business.

That’s the princesses’ castle in Fantasyland back there.

We got Kimberly an autograph book and she ask Buzz LightYear to sign the autograph after the photoshot with Buzz. Ashley keep calling him ” Bus Liar” but too bad he couldn’t correct her. haha !!

Ashley saw an almost lifesize Mickey doll and wouldn’t let go.

… so we took a picture.

Ashley dozed off soon after in her stroller and Kimberly went to the Tarzan and the Jungle walk, the Sleeping Beauty Enchanted Castle Pillar Magic walk and other rides with her dad while I mind Ashley.  She came back raving about it. I should have left the camera with hubby. He caught them on video though. Now if I can just figure out how to put them up here.

Ashley woke by then and Kimberly was starving, so we tried the buffet place at the “castle”. There queue was way too long so we stopped by the next first food place we saw. It was fastfood !! Haha.

We were happy to find that for a fast food chain,  they offered braised honey chicken wings with corn on the cob, and got that for picky eater Ashley,   Hubby, of course, opt for the pork chop bun cos we don’t get non-halal food at fast food chain back home, and we got Kimberly a mini chicken burger with fries. Don’t you just love food places that offered kid’s portion?

I thought those paper cups are so festive !

Kimberly’s kid’s chicken burger is so itty bitty but any food there is well worth the money cos the kids ate everything.  Back home they dont even eat even if they are starving if they don’t like the taste of the food. Abd I like the fact that even the hawker fares at Disneyland offers mostly braised and/or steamed food, unlike the fried fares we get at fastfood chain and hawker stalls back home.

Price is slightly steeper for just a small burger at HKD32 but its to be expected. 

By the way, this is the one and ONLY food picture I took in the entire vacation. I forgot most other times.  *sheepish grin*

Me, I was stuffed after wolfing down all the hawker fares whiile waiting for Ashley to wake up and for hubby and Kimberly to get back from those walks and rides. I thought it’s great that the stalls there offered snacks like soya and peanut sauced squids and soya braised chicken which is a refreshing change from those snacks sold back home at vacation plcs like Genting Highland, Zoo Negara etc, ie. hotdog, fried chicken, fried chicken and more teeth cracking fried chicken. Ha ha.

And I love it that Ashley likes the food in Hong Kong.  

I didn’t get to take pictures of most of the walks and the rides cos Ashley had woke up by then and wanted to be carried everywhere.  But fortunately I didn’t miss out on the parade.

 This is Snow White and Cinderella..

Another picture of Cinderella, just because her castle float is so pretty.

Alice in wonderland

and her “carriage”.haha.

i don’t remember what this is, though, but its pretty.haha

The Toy Story float

When the float parade is over, we went to Fantasyland again for the “It’s a small world”  ride. Bad blogger me forgot to take pictures again, and was trying to lighten Ashley’s fear of all the lifesize dolls.  She loves those with white background but cringe at the jungle theme background and the darker shades backgrounds.  Those dolls sang the song in different languages. Cute !

This is the enchanted castle that changes colour every so often at night.

We stayed back for the fireworks. it was amazing. But I couldn’t locate my camera in my dense backpack.  *another sheepish grin*

Hubby and I had seperated and so I got Ashley this Princess Disney swirling lights thingy to pass the time while waiting for him and Kimberly to catch up. 

A photographer asked for permission to take picture of Ashley and start snapping away in quick successions till hubby turned up. Then he asked to take pictures of Kimberly as well.  Wonder what it’s for though.

This is the crowd after the firework. That’s fake snow falling down to the ground. haha.

 

Isn’t Disneyland pretty by night?

It took us a good 30 minutes back to back walk out to the exit. 

We got back at the hotel around 10.30pm.  Again, we unloaded all the heavy stuff, then walk out to the streets for some light shopping and looking for supper.  it was a good and relaxing day.

Will blog about the rest of the trip later when time permit. And oh,..haha.. forgot to take pictures of the Disneyland loot. Not much loots but will post at the next post anyhow.

Meanwhile, have a great new year ahead, all, and here’s to a wonderful new year celebration tonight !!!

 

 

 

 

Kids !!

It just struck me how many other stuff kids experienced away from our sides that we are not aware about.

Ashley found a comb and proceed to brush my hair through with it. As she was combing, she commands, “Say, Owieee…Momma ! Say Ow !”

She has her own hair washed at daycare by the school’s kakak and blown dry by the teachers everyday before naptime. I guess the brushing must have hurt.

However, I didn’t think that my kid would have “expected” brushing to hurt and accepted it as a daily routine of life.

I was also thinking about how quirky kids can get.

Just the other day, Kimberly was chatting to Ashley on our drive out to Renaissance Hotel for long buffet lunch. Ashley was hanging on to Kimberly’s Enopi blocks cos we left right after picking up Kimberly from her Enopi, and Ashley wouldn’t let go. She said she wanted to bring it to school (ie. kindergarten)

Kimberly then proceed to explain to her in her best chieh chieh tone that it isn’t done to bring toys to school.

“You get punished if you bring toys to school” Kimberly said.

Ashley looked at her chieh chieh without comprehension.

“You know what is punishment?” Kimberly asked her baby sister, leaning across from her car seat to Ashley’s car seat as close as she could.

Ashley shook her head.

“Punishment is where you go stand in a corner and be quiet” She announced in a know-it-all way.

“Ohhhh…” Her baby sister exclaimed with widening eyes and bopped her head up and down, showing understanding.

She then proceed to return Kimberly’s Enopi blocks to Kimberly’s receiving outstretched palms and smug grin.

Haha ! Aren’t kids just so refreshing? You get glimpses of these every now and then and it makes all things worthwhile.

And haven’t so much have changed since our time, subtle or otherwise?

These pictures were taken at One Utama sometime last month.

As I was clicking on the shutters, both Kimberly and Ashley yelled in unison,

“Ben 10 !!!”

These here were taken at The Gardens.

At the bird cages, upon taking pictures, I said,”Say cheese !”

Kimberly yelled, “Birdie !!!”

At Ikano, I told Ashley, “Say Cheese !”

Ashley yelled, “Christmas!!! ”

What happened to our old fashioned, “Cheese !!!” ??? Things have sure evolved from our times, hasn’t it? Ha ! Ha !

Just in case I haven’t got a chance later, to all readers who celebrate Christmas, may you have a wonderful wonderful Christmas !!!! Happy Holidays !!

Ashley’s School Concert

Today is Ashley’s concert day. She has been showing me her moves at home.

She has been telling me, “momma, I plakthish like this, like that”, showing me her moves. The closed fist rolling towards the chest in clockwise and anti clockwise motion, spreading her 3 fingers upward and almost pinching her cheek with her forfinger and thumb, lying down on the ground …. and I had guessed that she would be a kitten.

Ashley has always been one who likes to dance. I thought she could dance really prettily too, swaying her hips and clicking her feet gently to each other to the left, to the right. All the hands moves.   She would dance in fast rhythm whenever she hear fast music, unlike Kimberly, who like to sway to slow music.

Anyhow, true enough, today when we reached her school, her teacher handed me a brown leopard print tee and pants. We were told to send the kids to school by 3.30pm cos the concert starts at 4.30pm.

You would have thought that with all her showing off to us at home, she be eager to groove away.

Not so ! haha…

The little one was overwhelmed at her school being flooded with so many strangers aunties and strangers uncles (parents of the kids) that she clung to me. When I tried to get her to wear her costume, she abandon me and clung to her father, getting her father to get away by straining away from me.

I knew that Ashley is a timid one, but then she has also been an obedient one. And one who would eat when her teacher told her to, even if she doesn’t feel like eating.  So I wasn’t prepared that she would balk at performing.

Anyhow, seeing her distress state, we decide that we would just watch the show instead. So we went right to the back of the hall and settled down to watch.

After a few video clips, Ashley was settled enough to want to go back to her class , where all the kids were waiting their turn.  So we walked back to her class. And she let one of her teachers take her from me.

Her teacher got her dressed in her costume.

I thought I checked her out, and what do I see. Crying again. Haha.

So I sat on a chair besides the stage with her to watch instead , and see if by the time it came for her turn, she would be ready.

2 other kids, Dale and Aidan, about 6 months older than Ashley, were crying too, but they had settled down and sitting with their classmates already.

As for Ashley, each time, her chieh chieh find it fit to remove herself from her friend, Diana, whose kid brother ,Dale, is also in Ashley’s class, she would walk over and yell at Ashley over the noises, pointing towards the stage, with 2 hands on her hips, befitting of a chieh chieh,

“It’s your turn, Ashley, sit there with your friends !!”

Ashley would then burst into tears again. haha. And each time one of her teachers came by and kindly say,”Ashley, you ready to dance or not?” she also burst into tears as well. haha!

Anyhow, come her turn, I nonchalantly maneuver her to standing position from my laps, then pushed her to the back of the lining up kitties.

She hesitates but I nudge her along with the line. She walked up obediently to the stage…but stood there with quivering mouth, with eyes about to swell up with tears and holding back her sobs. haha. Okay, okay, so I went forth and took her back. The poor thing.

So this is the little kitty who didnt perform. haha.

Not her first show anyhow.

Fortunately, come the last part of the show, where everyone in school sang a song, she deem it comfortable enough and condescend to walk up the stage together with other kids without nudges and sang a song, It’s a small world.

So we managed to catch some memories of her concert (with her participating) on the video cam after all. And I quickly snap lots of pics. Whatever I could anyhow. haha.

I didn’t catch a lot of the show on camera cos she was at my lap and I had left my camera at my seat.

Managed to catch these only.

At the end of the show, the school provides some light snacks for the parents. 

This is Ashley posing with her classmate, Aidan, at the end of the show.

Two parents had quarrelled when they couldn’t catch video clips of their kids.  And one parent seems to “deliberately” bump another parent while walking past because the fella keep blocking her view despite her reminders. 

These little fights seems to happen quite frequently nowadays. sigh. I see them at Barney shows at One Utama, at Barbie shows at Times Square etc.  Mostly at kids shows where eager parents tried to catch moments of their kids on camera or video and were obstructed.

Anyhow, had to leave early cos the kids’ Koh Poh were admitted to the hospital. FIl and MIL is down and had spend some time with her at the hosp. The kids’ Koh Poh is FIL’s elder sister and lives next door to FIL. We are quite close to her. She is a real lady who had it tough in life and managed to bring up FIL and other siblings when their parents passed away. She then married into a comfortable lifestyle and continued to raise her siblings till they were of earning capacity age. I admire her for her strenght and her resourcefulness and I do hope that she will be alright.

So that’s the day of Ashley’s concert. Her very first concert !