Midori Loves Papa

Our Sweetie Pie loves it when her Papa plays with her. Midori loves Papa!!!

Zam-buk To The Rescue

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.

Thank u, BB11 & MM99!

Picturesque Prague

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.

Oh, don't ask me about French! Except for the notorious French phrase, I can't speak Francais but I can understand the ingredients written in French cookbooks. Ha ha ha.

Alles Gute zum Geburstag, Tante N!

Heute hat die Tante N Geburtstag.

Herzlichen Glückwusch zum Geburtstag, Tante N!

Zum Geburtstag Viel Gluck

Zum Geburtstag Viel Gluck

Zum Geburtstag Viel Gluck

Zum Geburtstag Viel Gluck

Alles Liebe aus Görlitz,

Lily + Stephan = Midori

Up & Down

Our Golden Piglet can get up and down the couch and bed. She is better at getting down and still needs a little shoving up the couch and bed.

We Love Hamburg(er)!

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.

It was our first visit to the free & Hanseatic city of Hamburg and we totally love it. The Hamburgers (not the buns) are chic folks who dress to their nines. The bustling city is Europe's the second largest port and has over 2000 bridges. I particularly love the Fischmarkt for its very good bargains on fresh produce. Errrr we didn't see any fish auctions nor many fishmongers as we'd expected, but I was over the moon with my tutti-frutti bounty. The housewife me just couldn't pass off good bargains so we went home with crates of figs and peaches which kept me smilling for days.

S & U, thanx again for your great hospitalily! We'll see u in a couple of weeks with your lovely bundle of joy!

R, see u & your family in 2010!

Love,
Lily + Stephan = Midori

Hello Autumn!

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!

Chinese Spy From The Song Dynasty?

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.

Happy 11-Month Old, Midori!!!

Our Golden Piglet is 11-month today. Midori can climb up and down the bed and sofa and she loves to follow me wherever I go.

With 6 new teeth popping out at the same time, our usually happy Sweetie Pie has been whining and grinding her teeth quite a bit. Yes, 6! Wonder what's the hurry. Maybe the 4 top and 2 bottom teeth are catching up with lost time and rushing to make it to Midori's 1st birthday. I bought Dentinox teething gel to help soothe her sore gum.

Hang in there, Sweetie! At least, u'll look good (even cuter) when u smile on your first birthday next month.

Happy 11-month old, Midori chan!!!

Love,

Mama Pig & Papa Pig

Rekindling Old Friendship

Midori and I just came back from a 4-day trip to Salzburg to meet my high school friend SW and her wonderful family. Papa Pig had to work as it was a last minute decision to join my old fencing mate in RJC and her family for a short holiday in Austria. Stephan was the sweetest. He bought me a TomTom portable GPS car navigation system, lest we'd be lost in Europe.

My heart was beating faster minutes before I arrived at the B&B. I was both nervous and excited to see my long-lost friend whom I found through Facebook a few months ago. The now famous opthalmologist SW and her equally famous cardiologist hubby, E, had conferences in Munich so they squeezed in the time in between for a family holiday inBavaria and Salzburg with their 2 wonderful kids and SW's supportive parents.

I had not seen SW for more than 6 years and when she called me, I knew I had to meet her by hook or by crook. The last time I saw her was in Singapore when she drove me and her then-baby A to our fencing mate E's place. A will turn 8 this year and she has a charming 5-yr old brother D whom I met for the first time.

Despite her success and achievements, SW remains the humble, generous, bubbly and forever helpful girl I used to know almost 2 decades ago. Seeing SW revived my memory of the good old days we had in RJC, Singapore. Time flies and I feel old given the fact that we travelled with kids and family instead of backpacking.

So now u know why I had to drive some 720 km with a teething baby just to see her. U would too if u had a good friend like SW!

Thanx again for your invitation to Salzburg, SW & E!

Big hug,

Mama Pig & Golden Piglet