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Monthly Archives: December 2016

Seaside Dining, with Planes

One of our favorite places to dine is an outdoor place on the southeast corner of Singapore. It’s right on the water, so it gives great views of ships and ferries and the sunset, and it’s also just before the start of the runways at Changi Airport. That means fantastic views of planes coming in for a landing — oftentimes literally right overhead.

It’s a great place to just chill and enjoy the breeze…

But the best moment comes every few minutes, when a distant light in the sky gets bigger and louder as it nears….

Of course you have to wave at the pilot:

Last time we visited, we even found a coconut that had fallen off a palm tree. Brought it home, cracked it open, enjoyed the insides. Not bad at all.

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Posted by on December 30, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

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Fun Times All Over the Place

Here’s a dump of a ton of photos and videos from the month of November 2016.

Splashing around in the pool:

Goofing around at a National Geographic exhibit:

Play-fighting with Adriana, one of his BFFs:

Goofing around in front of a mirror:

And finally: morning silliness.

 
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Posted by on December 26, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

The Robot Master

One of our Saturday routines is robotics class. It’s run by a former Silicon Valley engineer who now teaches kids to use Legos and computers to build little robots. Nyan’s a bit younger than the instructor – Coach G – usually teaches, but he agreed to give Nyan a shot.

Nyan’s been at it for about three months now, and while he isn’t always entirely focused for the entire 90 minute session, he does really well overall. Here’s a snippet of class from a few weeks back:

And a few photos from class, including a robotic Lego lion he built!

 
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Posted by on December 22, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

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Nyan Thomas, Reader

It’s no secret that Nyan loves books and stories. No matter what or when, chances are he’ll ask Mommy or Daddy to tell (or better yet, read) him a story. Before bed, at mealtime, when brushing teeth, on the toilet, on the bus…. ‘Can you read me a story?’

What’s much lesser known is that the young man is no slouch at reading himself. And  every once in a while, we’re able to grab some video evidence.

Here he is, back in November, reading some Curious George before school:

Also in November, reading some Richard Scarry before bed (apologies for the slightly soft audio):

And finally, one morning I had asked the little man to make his bed. I left his room and came back a few minutes later, expecting to find a made bed. Nope. Instead I found this:

Hard to get mad at him when he’s doing that though, isn’t it.

 

 
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Posted by on December 19, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

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Playdate at the Sports Hub

You read recently about the playdate Nyan had with Kyra and Chrysa at Gardens by the Bay. Not long after that, he met up with those two lovely ladies once again, along with fellow classmate Ming Xuan, for another Sunday afternoon of fun, this time at Singapore’s Sports Hub.

The Sports Hub is home to the National Stadium — a 60,000 seat domed affair — as well as a smaller arena, running tracks, tennis courts a large swim center, and (this being Singapore) a shopping mall. There’s also an exhibition space near all of this, and the day we went, there was some sort of tennis-related exhibition, to celebrate a big tennis tournament going on.

Some pictures of the kids:

We checked out the tennis bits, but the kids were more interested in goofing around inside the mall. Such as making goofy faces in the reflection of a car display:

Or just milling about among the crowds:

The real fun, though, came when we decided to get our swimsuits and head to the waterpark on the roof of the mall. It’s a small but great little play area, complete with water slides — here are Nyan and Ming Xuan cheering either Kyra or Chrysa as they come down the slide:

And general playtime:

Another great Sunday full of fun, friends and outdoor activities.

 
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Posted by on December 16, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

Jayden’s Birthday Party

One of Nyan’s best friends is Jayden, who lives in the same apartment complex as us. Jayden turned six back in October, and his parents threw him a party at a nearby indoor playroom. Nyan of course was more than happy to attend.

Here are a couple of silly boys:

Most of the action was just boys being boys. Throwing things, goofing around — just being kids, basically.

There were also a fair number of costumes and play areas where kids could dress up and pretend to do adult things. There was a pretend grocery store, for instance, and a pretend doctor’s office with doctor costumes and an examination table. Here’s Nyan, sort of dressing up as (we think) a police officer.

And finally, here’s Nyan pretending to be a (slightly chubby) stormtrooper:

 
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Posted by on December 13, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

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Much More October Fun

Nyan had a busy month of October. Lots of playdates and Halloween, as you’ve seen, yes. But also just general fun, silliness and simply being Nyan. Let’s take a look.

One day in some random shopping mall, we came across a display of F1 racecars. They were set up as driving simulators and video games that Nyan just had to try. He’s not a very good driver.

Some random photos:

Check him out as he dances and bounces on the bed:

More photos:

Of course, he always loves to just dance/run around the house/be silly:

Still more photos:

A little singing while he reads:

Yet still again more photos:

Finally, after watching a Peanuts movie, dancing to the catchy song in the closing credits:

 
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Posted by on December 10, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

Fun Times at the Playground

Long-time readers know that our apartment complex in Singapore is pretty great for a kid. There are three swimming pools, playground equipment, tennis courts, and a decent amount of open space to run around, be imaginative, play with friends, and just generally be a kid. Let’s take a look at some recent activities around the place.

Hopscotch and the playground equipment with some neighbor friends:

Goofing around with Jayden:

Scooting around the pool:

In the pool itself:

One day, Nyan’s friend Justin brought down a new toy drone. Nyan and several other boys commandeered the tennis courts to try it out.

Riding his bike, while wearing a goofy looking mask:

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Finally, sometimes Nyan likes to check out the gym. We never go in if anyone is in there exercising, because we don’t want to be a pest. But when we do get inside, Nyan has a blast, being his curious self.

It’s fair to say that our lifestyle in Singapore has spoiled us in a lot of ways. Having all these fun amenities is a major part of that spoilage.

 
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Posted by on December 7, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

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A Whole Lot of Tae Kwon Do

Nyan’s been doing tae kwon do for a few months now. Daddy usually sits outside the studio during his lessons, sneaking peeks in through the partially frosted glass door and taking pictures and videos. (Daddy tries not to be distracting, but Nyan often notices and waves. Oops.)

Point is, we have a *lot* of photos and, especially, videos of Nyan doing tae kwon do. Shall we look at a few? Or a lot? Okay. Let’s. These are from October and November.

Here we are, walking up the stairs to the lesson and then lining up with his classmates

It’s important to start a tae kwon do session by stretching.

They also always start a class by running around and picking up little balls on the floor.

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Sometimes they work on jumping. Pics:

and video:

And sometimes Nyan’s just silly.

Here’s a great example of Nyan noticing, and waving to, Daddy taking a video.

But of course, most of the work is on basic tae kwon do skills, like x-blocks and rising kicks.

And punches

Nyan’s starting to get pretty decent at running this obstacle course.

Another lesson: slamming medium-sized balls to the ground. I’m sure it’s meant to teach some important skill.

More practice:

And finally: martial arts are about discipline, and that means folding your uniform after you take it off. Nyan’s actually getting pretty good at it.

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Posted by on December 3, 2016 in Uncategorized

 
 
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