Happy 1st Birthday, Midori!!!

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".

Midori's hearing is very keen and any noise will immediately catch her attention. She also has eyes of a hawk which enable her to spot and eat tiny crumbs off the floor.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.We threw a birthday party for Midori this afternoon and invited friends over for brownie popsicles, lime cream cheese cupcakes served in ice cream cones and Thai curry sausage rolls washed down with mango lassi served in baby food bottles with straws. Yeah, lots of carbs and cals, but what the heck they were yummy.
The guests showered Midori with presents and she loved it! Her new toys kept her busy and happy through out the day.

Our Piggy loved her vanilla and chocolate mango birthday cake. Then again she loves anything sweet because our Pumpkin has sweet tooth just like her Mama. Actually, 8 sweet teeth (4 each on top and bottom)! 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.

Too bad Midori's dearest Opa, Oma, Tanten, Onkel, KongKong, MahMah, 11, 99s, 99mas, cousins and cool Aunties (u know who u are) weren't here. Wished u were here!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie Pie!

Mama & Papa wish Midori health, happiness, love, beauty, intelligence, wealth (toys) and peace always.

Hugs & Kisses,

Mama Pig & Papa Pig

Beautiful Fall

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.

Einheitstag

Today is Germany's unification day. It is a national holiday, commemorating the day that East and West Germany re-united.

We stayed at home, which by the way is in the most eastern part of Germany, and I made takoyaki. I know, it has nothing to do with Einheitstag nor Germany. But who cares! They are so oishiiiiii!

Schönen Einheitstag, Deutschland!

Let's Play, My Friend!

I noticed Midori has been reaching out to babies and kids. She squeals in delight and points at kids whenever she spots them. However, I had yet to see her play with kids until today when my Japanese friend, Y, brought her baby, A, to our place. It was the first time that Midori and A played together!

Y and I were amazed and amused at how our 2 golden piglets seemed to understand each other via their baby verbal and body languages. They enjoyed chasing each other on fours which left us laughing and snapping away with our cameras.

4.5 months ago, both of them were just sitting in their baby car seats without interacting with one another.

A, is exactly 6 weeks younger than our Sweetie Pie. Technically, she is our Pumpkin's first friend because the 2 Eurasian piglets have known each other since they were still in our tummies! However, the first few meetings weren't fun as both babies cried when they were put next to each other.

Selamat Hari Raya!

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.

Festival likes this makes me miss South East Asia. Oh, how I crave for rendang, sate, kue lapis, pineapple tarts and many more mouth-watering yummies. Yeah, I'm greedy!

Of course, I could cook up a feast here in Germany, but that would miss the whole point of getting together with friends of different cultures and joining them in their celebrations.

Living harmoniously in a multi-cultural society is both enriching and delicious!

Wishing all Muslims around the world a wonderful Eid ul-Fitr!

PS: Selamat Hari Raya to my dearest friend X and her family! X, loosen your belt and feast!

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

Model Midori

I brought our Sweetie Pie to a photo session for "The Best Smile" contest organized by Spiele Max today.

Our Golden Piglet wore a golden baby cheongsam by H&M. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Midori wins the 100€ Spiele Max voucher. If not, all is not lost cos our Cutie Pie had fun.

My New Camera

Stephan bought me a new Olympus Mju 1030SW after my Fuji camera went dead after just 9 months. Not only did he have the careless me in mind, but he also thought of our lil' Piglet when he bought this "tank" camera which is:
shockproof (Midori likes to bang things and I tend to drop things)
waterproof (Midori puts everything in her mouth)
freezeproof (the freezing winter)
crushproof (in case I/Midori step/s on it)

Check out its witty advertisement!

Yes, it's in midori color and I can take pix and videos underwater!

Our Sweetie Pie tested it right away and was very happy with her Mama's new toy. Thank U, Honey!!!

Mahlzeit

Stephan insisted that we buy only Hipp products for our Precious after watching a documetary on Claus Hipp, the chairman of Hipp Baby Food. Papa Pig was very impressed by the humble millionaire.
Our Piglet is showing more interest in food other than breastmilk, but the latter is still her favorite. She loves all kinds of fruits and most vegetables but dislike meat. I've also started feeding her bread and rice, even though she only has 2 short bottom incisors. Apparently it's normal for exclusively breastfed babies to be late at teething. Guess, it's nature's way of sparing nursing moms from a lot of pain. Already my Milk Pi(g)ranha almost always bites me whenever I nurse her. Ooooooouch!!!

Papa Loves Midori

When Stephan came back from Nuremberg last month, he bought not just one but 2 Steiff stuffed animals, a lamb and a hippo, for our Precious. He grew up with stuffed toys from this classic German brand and insisted that Midori should have them too. Lucky Piglet!

The Closing Ceremony Of The Beijing Olympics

We invited a couple of friends over to watch the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics over tea and brownies.

Midori's First Visit To The Playground

I brought Midori to the playground at Luthersplatz to meet the other Indonesian ladies and their kids. It was Midori's first visit to the playground and she loved it. Our piglet was the "star" and made new friends who volunteered to babysit her. We'll be going there more often.