3 is the magic number today. Because today is the 3rd of November. Because Stephan and I tied the knot in Denmark 3 years ago. Because there are 3 Pigs in our sty.
The 3 Lil' Pigs celebrated the occasion at home over homemade Sprinkles-inspired cupcakes. Oink Oink oink.
It's Halloween! Oh, how fun it would be to go trick or treating. Too bad there isn't such a tradition in this small German town. 
However it's Reformationstag (reformation day), a religious holiday observed only in the protestant former East Germany. It was on this day almost half a millenium ago that Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgence. That was the start of Protestantism
Anyhow, I wanted to introduce our Sweetie Pie to this fun American tradition, so I dressed her up as Mrs. Santa Claus and baked some cookies. Even though Papa Pig was out of town and we stayed at home, our Pumpkin was having a delicious sweet time. She loved the cookies! And her belly button!
Today is a very special day because one of my dearest oldest (in terms of friendship) friend, E aka Mrs Tan, was born some XX years ago today.
Midori woke up and started playing with her new toys even before she had her breakfast.
Thank u very much for the wonderful presents and for celebrating our precious moment with us! U know who u are.
Time flies. Midori turns 1 today! I can still recall vividly how we were in the hospital anxiously waiting for the arrival of our Golden Piglet last year.
Our Piglet is happy cruising and crawling around the apartment, exploring every corner and studying everything like the great detective Sherlock Holmes. She understands a few commands, words and names of her toys. Our Precious can also say "mama", "papa", "baby" and "bye-bye".
Our Piglet adores her belly button and feet like no other. Oh, she also loves babies and dogs and will point them out to us and squeal in delight whenever she sees them on the streets or on tv.
The guests showered Midori with presents and she loved it! Her new toys kept her busy and happy through out the day.
We let the birthday girl stayed for as long as she wanted, but by 8:00 pm she was too tired and had to call it the night.
It was a glorious day today. The warm sun lured the 3 Lil' Pigs out their cozy sty for a stroll in the fresh cool autumn air. Thank God, there was no big bad wolves.
A walk in fall is like no other. The cool fresh air spices up the romance, while the colorful fall foliage with its bright orange, red, yellow and brown on the trees is a treat to the eyes. Walking on thick piles of crisp fallen leaves is very therapeutic too.
We chanced upon a free admission to the local museum of natural history so we thought we'd just drop in for a quick 5-min look around. In the end, we stayed for almost an hour as our Golden Piglet squealed in delight and pointed at the exhibits as we went from hall to hall. Midori was totally fascinated by the museum.
Today is Germany's unification day. It is a national holiday, commemorating the day that East and West Germany re-united.
4.5 months ago, both of them were just sitting in their baby car seats without interacting with one another.
Today, Muslims around the world celebrate Eid ul-Fitr which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. In South East Asia, this holiday is celebrated for a month with family and friends over lots of delicious cookies and food.
Our Piglet missed a step and fell the other day, hitting her temple on the hard floor.
Thanx to her thoughtful MM99 who suggested to her dearest BB11 to send Zam-buk all the way from Singapore. The irony is Zam-buk is produced by the German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer, but is not sold in Germany.....at least not that I know of. 
The ointment worked wonders. Midori's boils subsided within an hour and the bruises were gone by the following day.
I'd been wanting to visit Prague since 1996 but never made it there until yesterday. Thanks to S, whom I met while taking French in Alliance Francais Singapore a decade ago, I can now strike the Czech capital out of my travel wish list. Incidentally, S is also my older bro's ex-classmate in middle school. Yeah, Singapore is small.
The weather was beautiful and we had a few hours to walk around before meeting S and her lovely Spanish friend, R, for coffee and cakes.
Prague is indeed one of the most beautiful and visited cities in Europe. Its baroque and renaissance architecture is attracting tourists from all over the world who pack the city and jam the streets and bridges.
Since Prague it's only 2.5 hrs by car from our place, we didn't stay the night and drove back in the evening. But rest assured we'll be back with more Czech Korunas to spend.
We drove to Hamburg last weekend to meet our dear friend Dr. R from India. Dr. R was on a short business trip to Hamburg so we decided at the very last minute to head north. Stephan's younger brother, U, and his lovely pregnant wife, S, were very kind to put us up for a night in Germany's second largest city.
S & U, thanx again for your great hospitalily! We'll see u in a couple of weeks with your lovely bundle of joy!
Today is the official start of autumn, my favorite season. I'm very happy to say goodbye to summer and welcome autumn with open arms. I'm one of those few "weird" people who long for fall during summer.
The days are getting shorter, while the nights longer. I love the cool air, beautiful fall foliage and fallen leaves. They create a certain romance in the air and make strolling such a joy during this time of the year. Ich liebe Herbst!
Our Golden Piglet loves to go through the garbarge. She likes to take out the papers and cardboard and starts biting them. Sometimes she even eats them! I suspect our Piglet is the reincarnation of a Chinese spy from the Song Dynasty. Either that or she is preparing herself for some detective works when she grows up.
