Our monthly round-up of random videos and photos. This was October 2017:
Saturn V launch, from Mommy and Daddy’s bed:
Skipping down the sidewalk:
Drawing and laughing with Jayden and Jonnie:
Nyan wanted to be a knight for Halloween this year, just like last year. In fact he used the same basic parts that Mommy did such a great job making by hand last year. She juiced it up this year with a hand-painted shield and other bits, and we got him a longsword to replace the short sword and dagger he had last year.
People at the apartment complex organized a massive party in the function room down by the pool, with snacks and games. It was crowded and fun:
There was also a ‘haunted house’ – really just a dark room with scary effects. No pictures or videos; our hero, bless his heart, was scared to death and started crying a bit. He got over it soon enough though.
Rather than doing house-by-house trick-or-treat like last year, they had volunteers standing at various places around the complex, handing out candies. Here’s Nyan and Jayden, getting ready to go:
And hanging out with a mummy. They weren’t especially scared:
Maybe Nyan’s favorite part of the whole night was eating a blue lollipop and then surveying the damage:
Happy Halloween!
After Nyan’s Saturday soccer club played matches against (and got walloped by) some older, more experienced kids, his coaches decided to devote one session to learning some goalie techniques. Fine with Nyan, as he typically wants to just hang out in the goal anyway (rather than being part of the action. He’s not exactly all that into soccer, we have to admit).
So there were drills and whatnot. He seemed to enjoy.
On another Saturday they worked on various skills, like running and grabbing balls:
And another one where the kids would hold on to each other and then suddently have to wrestle for control of the ball. Nyan had fun at least:
He also signed up for an after-school soccer club at his school, on Monday afternoons. Here’s a video, rather grainy because Daddy shot it from far away, on a high zoom, to keep from distracting the boy:
We were hoping that the double-dose of soccer might lead to a rapid improvement in his skills. Eh, maybe, if he really cared, but he doesn’t. And that’s okay! We will keep him in soccer a bit longer, as it’s good to learn teamwork, meet new kids, have some fun, get some fresh air and exercise.
In late October, Tita — Jayden’s helper, who spends a fair amount of time with Nyan on playdates and walks home from school — had a birthday party down at East Coast Park, not far from our place. We headed over, along with Jayden, Jonnie and Lily.
Kids being kids, they spent a lot of time getting bucket of water to dump on the sand.
The main reason for the buckets: on the beach was the remains of a huge bonfire from earlier in the day. It was still smoldering a bit in places, so the kids were trying to put it out. Nyan someone came up with the name Ash Destroyers, which I think he meant to be related to what they were doing. Sounds pretty cool, even though it doesn’t quite make sense.
The kids also decided they would dig tunnels in the sand. Jayden wanted to dig all the way to Indonesia; Nyan was feeling a bit more ambitious and thought he’d dig all the way to Iowa, and then pop up in Grandma and Grandpa’s kitchen to surprise them. Didn’t quite make it, though.
Bonus: A week before this fun beach party, Daddy and Nyan had taken a stroll down to the beach to play for a bit.
In October, Nyan’s Uncle Oo — aka Mommy’s brother Sean — came to Singapore with a friend for about a week, on his way to a wedding in India. His visit coincided with a public holiday, so we were able to have some fun on a weekday. We decided on a trip to the Singapore Zoo, where Nyan hadn’t been in a couple of years.
It turned out that we were visiting on what would prove to be the hottest day of the year (36 degrees Celsius, about 97 Fahrenheit, with the usual equatorial jungle levels of humidity). But no matter: we still had a blast.
We went to a show that featured birds and snakes. At one point Nyan ran up to the front. Not sure why.
Nyan did a lot of animal viewing.
We snacked and ate too.
And check out these various critters, including the gorgeous white tiger, a hungry tapir, and a turtle who looked to be headless (he wasn’t really headless).
A really fun (if hot and sweaty and exhausting) day. We managed to take some other photos with Uncle Oo that week, including a few with Mommy and a goofy little boy.
A quick video look at a bit of what Nyan gets up to on his weekend days.
There’s his Saturday morning robotics class, of course. He’s getting better and better and starting to build more complex robots, and even starting to program a bit.
This one was, I’m pretty sure, built by another kid; Nyan was just playing with it. He’ll be working at this level soon enough though:
One Sunday afternoon, he came across a cookie recipe in a book he was reading, so he and Mommy decided to do some baking. Here he is, sending a little message to Grandma (with whom he also loves to make cookies):
So how did the cookies come out? Uh…. let’s just say that our oven is not very reliable when it comes to keeping a constant temperature, making it tough to bake anything. We’ll just leave it at that.
Nyan goes to what’s known here in Singapore as an international school. It basically means it’s a private school that’s intended for kids of ex-pats (as opposed to the local school system, which is quite difficult for ex-pat kids to get into, unfortunately). Among the benefits of an international school: your kid will certainly make friends from all over the world. The kids in Nyan’s class hail from places including Vietnam, Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, the U.K., the U.S., India, New Zealand, China and many more. It’s a great mix.
To celebrate all that diversity, the school held “UN Day” in mid-October. Everyone wore clothes representing their heritage; Nyan could have chosen the U.S., U.K. or Myanmar. He chose the latter, and wore his Burmese soccer shirt.
Here’s his class, parading around the school grounds
The highlight was a performance of a few songs that Nyan’s class had been practicing. It certainly attracted the attention of photographer-parents.
Here they are, taking the stage:
Here are the songs. A lovely piece about diversity etc. called Under One Sky, which Nyan had been practicing around the house for weeks:
And another one about all the different ways to say Hello in different languages. No mention of “mingalaba,” which of course is “hello” in Burmese, though:
Afterwards, the class posed for a group shot. Nyan had to be a goof, of course.
Nya got to spend a Sunday afternoon in early October with Adriana, Kyra and Kyra’s sister Chrysa. It started out at Kyra’s house, where there was much running around (perhaps as part of a game of hide and seek):
Then it was off to the National Gallery, an art museum downtown where they had some special exhibits on for kids. First they hung out on some stairs, listening to a concert:
The museum had lots of interactive activities and fun, color-splashed rooms:
And this exhibit that involved our brave heroes walking on glass across a deep chasm:
Also there was a room that doubled as a jail cell:
All in all, a fun afternoon with some of Nyan’s favorite peeps!
Bonus: later in October we spent a little time at his old school, MMI. Of course we had to pose for silly pictures.
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