We were quite upset when our Town Council tore down our favourite playgound and would be replacing it with a newer children's play area PLUS a fitness corner.

It doesn't really make sense as there was already another fitness corner just around the corner. And it didn't help that the exercise machines became a nusiance as they were badly maintained. Imagine waking up at 4am in the morning to squeaking paddles or clanging bars.

Most upsetting was, they removed the neighbourhood's one and only pair of swings. When we called and wrote in to them, they informed us that they have no intention of replacing them as there need to be a safety clearance of 2m all around the swings.

Now that the playground has been refurbished, we were utterly disappointed by the bad planning in the placement of their equipment. Honestly, if the Town Council had seriously looked into the space constraints, as well as listen more intently at their resident's feedback (though they claimed they have seek the R.C's feedback, who represents the residents...No RC members have approached any of us for feedback), including a pair of swings would be possible.

Anyway, we got around the problem by puchasing our own swing. We were shopping at Ikea yesterday and came across a swing that cost only $19.90. So everytime we wanna have a go at the swing downstairs, we can simply bring down our own and hook them on a low monkey bar! Tah Dah! Boy, it became a kid magnet and brought joy to the other kids who were playing around as well. Will take a better photo of the swing during the day...

Realised I haven't been posting any blogs for 2 whole months!! Blame it all on work. Well, we got a new boss at work recently and a string of programs all lined up till end of the financial year. So on the grounds, our team have been working like mad horses, scrambling to meet deadlines.

I'm finally working on a 4-day work week as I have quite a few days of 2009's annual leave to clear. I'm often on leave on Monday mornings to get away from the monday traffic as well as the monday blues. So here I am, taking a breather from work and back tracking the happenings at home... thank goodness there wasn't anything eventful to mention about. Peaceful is a good word to use during these times.

We have been bringing Yee Sinn to Royce Gym quite frequently in Oct. (Frequently means twice in a month). Her membership was about to expire at the end of the month and we were hesitant to renew it cos she was about to outgrow the toys and games available at the gym. The membership didn't come cheap... it's about $50 per year in addition of $12 per hour of playtime. So hubby and I decided to be quiet and hopefully, our dear girl will forget about Royce Gym eventually. How wrong I was cos she actually asked us to bring her there after she woke up from her nap yesterday!

One good thing about bringing Yee Sinn to Royce Gym that she was able to play with a huge variety of toys.... which means that we as parents, need not be stocking up these play stuff at home. (We are already living in a pigeon hole and am wondering where to keep her toys if we keep buying new ones for her). She particularly likes to hoard on the Barney soft toy while she's there. Her another favourite section of the gym was where they put all the cooking toys. She always attempt to "cook" or "bake" us some strange looking stuffs or make us drink some strange sounding drinks from the toy kettles there.

We have also been hanging out at the Botanic Gardens after our weekly trips to Grandma Chang's. I thought it would be good exercise for me to walk a little more to keep fit while Yee Sinn feeds the fishes with stale bread. Other favourite activites that we engage in at the garden includes kicking a football, blowing bubbles or just lying down on our mats looking at the cloud formations. It's just simple, cheap and clean fun for the entire family.

In early November, the family took another staycation at Sentosa to chill out and to take a short break as I was getting a bit too big to travel overseas. As usual, we spent our time at the beach, the pool and exploring the island. Yee Sinn got to do all her favourite things like playing with the sand and just soaking herself in the seawater. While I got to sit in the shade and just relax as hubby played with her. In the evenings, we took her to see some fireworks and laser show on top of a hill ( can't remember what it was called) to avoid paying the entrance fees. The storyline of the laser show was still the same since we went in Aug apparently. Wish the management in Sentosa could be more creative in their programs to attact repeated customers like us.

When we got the know that the Christmas light up was ready along Orchard Road, we headed down the 2nd day after the official opening by the president. What a big disappointment compared to last year's. Apparently there were much less activities and lights compared to the previous year's. The decorations were also pretty much standard with nothing elaborate. Am wondering if there was a lack of sponsors for this year's event or the management of the light-up just had a smaller budget.