I scaled Bukit Timah Hill on sheer will… and on my Daddy’s back…
Climbers need strength, so I stole some rice crispies from a fellow young climber and attracted some attention… I wonder why…
I tried to bring some geese home for Mummy to cook dinner. Alas, I was attacked by one of them. Just wait, you silly goose, when I am taller than you…
Why not have some fish if we can’t have goose?
After all the adventures, some nourishment of the mind.
… running free in a lovely green field…
… looking for creepy-crawlies…
… and splashing in the pool with Auntie Crystal!
With the year-round humid weather and unforgiving temperature, we are never fans of local attractions or places of interest. We nevertheless made our way to the Singapore Flyer last June. Being on top of the world (the flyer) and taking into the views around the business district enticed us. Of course, how could we deprive the little one of such an experience – not that he would remember anything! 
My dear friend HL brought her little one Xavier along with us. Baby X, as I always call him, is two months younger than Rui. Aren’t his eyes and ears the cutest? 
Now that we’ve done the Flyer, I guess we could give places of interest and attractions a rest, till Rui is old enough to pester us for a trip to the zoo/national parks. Well, we will sit back now and deal with it then…
October 2006.
That’s the last time CH and I travelled for a holiday. It was to glorious Italy where we had our fill of pasta, parma ham (yes, please!) and luscious olive oil.
Of course, from then til now, we both travelled but only for work. Tomorrow will be the first time when we hop onto a plane without lugging a laptop or with piles of documents.
As with all of our holidays, I plan where to eat (Hidemi Sugino, Sadaharu Aoki and Pierre Herme, here I come!) and he plans how to get there…
While I certainly look forward to a break, this holiday would be a little bittersweet as we are not bringing Rui along with us. I will certainly miss the little one (I miss him already when I booked my tickets) and that explains why this will be the shortest holiday we’ve ever taken – all of 4 days and 3 nights!
Be good, my little one! Mummy and Daddy will miss you!
Like I mentioned, Rui’s birthday bash was really Daddy and Mummy’s party. Or in Chez Lim, every family member’s party, with the little one oblivious to the fuss.
The two grandmas picked his outfit to be worn at the party.
My helper picked the shoes.
Daddy prepared the guest list.
Mummy prepared the food list.
And I think, Mummy had the most fun preparing for the bash!
For Rui’s party, I didn’t want to do a lunch or a dinner party, with catered food like bland noodles or soggy deep fried food and syrupy punch… no, no, no… too predictable. I wanted to do a tea party, with luxurious but fun desserts and yummy sweets. I visualised a buffet table lined with colourful, bite-sized desserts, elegant finger sandwiches and little squares of exquisite chocolates, with a cupcake tier as a centre piece.
Coincidentally, one of J’s friends, a really nice lady, GH’s son shared the same birthday as Rui. She asked me to make a cake for her boy and I suggested the idea of a cupcake tier. She gallantly accepted the idea and graciously allowed me the freedom to do whatever I feel was best.
I started work on the cupcake tiers a day before the party, painstakingly handcrafting both the cupcake tiers from cake boards, styrofoam, the cutest pokka dot felt and lovely satin ribbons. I basically made GH’s son what I had prepared for Rui – two tiers of cuppies and a top-tier of fondant-covered cake (for cake-cutting). The two sets of cakes were differentiated by colour scheme.
And the flavours of the cuppies? Simple but crowd-pleasing vanilla, some of which were infused or swirled with fruit puree to become a fruity-flavoured vanilla cake, and chocolate, of course. The top-tier cakes were a super moist carrot cake, delicately spiced with ginger and iced with orange cream cheese icing – a recipe modified from Martha Stewart.
Besides the cakes, our friends at the party were also treated to:
- jewel-like pink and cream macarons (vanilla with salted caramel – I could taste these in my dreams… mmm…), fresh fruit tarts, durian puffs and brownie bites (made from a batter which includes cream cheese), courtesy of my dad’s magic kitchen
- finger sandwich (some savoury to counter the sweet)
- deep-fried (fresh and crispy!) vegetarian snacks for veggie friends (you know who you are… )
- Godiva chocolates (If I don’t spoil my friends, who will… wink, wink…)
Though some of our older relatives missed the usual savoury buffet fare, I was glad most of our guests enjoyed the food and one commented that he felt like he had gone to sugar heaven! Haha…
And the birthday boy? He got a bite from one cuppy. The rest was too sweet for him, so one bite was all he got this year.
Well, there is always next year!
What a long overdue entry!
Oh well, friends who knew me would know… Procrastination – it’s my swan song!
Anyways…
My little prince turned ONE on 22 June 2008, Sunday! What a happy occasion it was. Of course, the birthday boy is oblivious to the fussy adults around him as he busied himself with his new toys, fidgeting in his smart, albeit very warm, white attire, while little fingers tore up wrapping and explored the little colourful buttons on his new gadgets.
Since the birthday boy has very few friends, he spent his big day with some of Daddy and Mummy’s closest friends (thank you for coming, the wonderful gifts and red packets of which would fund Mummy’s shopping… I mean, Rui’s future education ), and relatives.
And speaking of toys, Rui received a truckload and among them, a big and mean Harley-style police motor-bike which he could ride on – a really generous present from his grand-uncle and grand-aunt. Rui got his first robot (Okay, the second. The first is built out of Lego pieces, courtesy of my helper), a mini-basketball set and an innovative painting set that utilises water as paint (I foresee Daddy and Mummy indulging in this new set of educational toy), and many others.
The little boy was obviously tired by the end of the day, having been kissed / hugged / cuddled / pinched / cooed at many times during the day. As the birthday boy drifted into peaceful slumber, CH and I finally had the chance to snuggle on the sofa for a break.
I was certain Rui had an exciting time dismantling and rattling his new toys, seeing the mischievious grin on his face. CH and I, most definitely, had a wonderful time catching up with friends and sipping the celebratory red wine. It was more our party than Rui’s… haha! We were so grateful and happy that we could celebrate this day with our friends and family.
Indeed, Rui has been in our lives for a year. Wow!
For the lack of a better word, yes, that is the one word I would use to describe the first year of parenthood – WOW!
Happy Birthday, my little one!
The little prince got impatient with the endless photo-taking.
Displaying his creativity in an artistic stroke…
A couple of friends text me recently, wondering what’s happening at Chez Lim and why this blog has not been updated for some time.
A thousand apologies for the long hiatus! Well, it is not really a hiatus. Everyone at Chez Lim has been quite busy lately, including the little one!
So what happened during the long pause?
- Work was crazy for me! I flew to Japan for an overnighter for work and bought these lovely cakes and pastry from the likes of Sadaharu Aoki and Eric Kayser. Anyone who has the good fortune to try Aoki’s creation would know that his pastries epitomise elegance, creativity and of course, great taste. I am truly inspired by his work of art.
The cake on top is called Valencia, if I remember correctly – a delightful combination of yuzu mousse with chocolate mousse. I love the zen look of the green tea opera cake – clean, elegant and original. The taste did not disappoint either – bold dose of green tea balanced the rich taste of the chocolate cream.
And the loot from Eric Kayser? They were worth every single moment of hassle when I lagged the pastries and bread back to home. Yes, I brought a baguette home from Tokyo, with the long baton poking out of my carry-on bag on board. It’s that GOOD!
- Made this for J’s little boy Xuan’s first birthday. The cupcake class I went to sparked my love for fiddling with fondant and opened my eyes to its possibility. Though the weather in Singapore is less than favourable for working with fondant. Pre-requisite of fondant-play? An air-conditioned room or very cold and dry hands.
- CH, as usual, is busy at work and pursued his interest quite avidly in the weekend. Great for him to develop an interest, but we can’t help feeling a wee bit neglected…
- And Rui? Well, Rui is busy exploring the world! crawling everywhere he could, dismantling anything he could get his small hands on and standing on tippy-toe to sweep the items on the TV console to the floor with those little hands.
Yes, he is the busiest among the three of us…
Mothers’ Day has come and passed.
This is the FIRST year in which I am qualified to celebrate Mothers’ Day. I was busy that Day, delivering cakes and making desserts for my family.
What a day. What a year!
Ever since my little one came into my life, I begin to understand joy, the purest joy…
… of having his little head lying snugly on my shoulder and gently drifting into sleep
… of having his wet, saliva-drenched, chubby little hand scratching my face
… of smelling the cutest breath in the whole world, better than any perfume money can buy
… of seeing that cheeky smile and that twinkle in his eyes
… of seeing him blinking his eyes when I ask him, “Show mummy your beautiful eyes.”
… of that proud moment when he learns recognises a new flash card
… of feeding him a new food and looking at his reaction
… of watching him drink milk and marvelling at how fast he grows
… of seeing him crawl towards me to greet me when I get home
… of him crying out for my attention, I feel so loved
… of sharing every single day with my little one
Motherhood.
I lose a part of me when I became a mother but I gained a whole new world.
J came to visit today with her four boys – Hang, Xiang, Xuan and her big “boy” TH.
Xuan was born about one month before Rui. Though he’s smaller in size than Rui, Xuan is an active and alert baby, with large, round and inquisitive eyes. He seems more aware of his surroundings and is more agile than my big baby. J said that’s Xuan’s survival instinct – he needs to be more alert and aware, so as not to be bullied by his two older brothers! Haha…
Don’t the babies look adorable together!?
How time flies! Both babies will be celebrating their first year birthdays soon.
Two naughty babies tearing the house down!
