Playground at Live Oak

Unlike in the suburbs, it can be difficult to find a playground in a city. Fortunately, the apartment manager was very helpful in directing us to this playground, which is about 15 minutes walk away from our apartment. Of course, mommy and daddy could not wait to check it out.

It was the first time that our little girl sat on a see-saw. She seems to enjoy it very much.

Trip to California- Sheri's first plane ride

We stayed in a hotel on last Tuesday after we handed over the apartment. That was the last night in Allentown as were scheduled to take a plane at Lehigh Valley airport at 6 am in the next morning. We woke up at 3.30 am. Fortunately, the traffic was very smooth and we were able to reach the airport very quickly. However, we spent quite sometime clearing the security check. It was not easy clearing the security check nowadays after 9/11 as they demanded that we took off Sheri's shoes and jackets as well. Furthermore, there are a lot restrictions on the amount of fluids that we can bring on board. I made a request to bring some hot water up on the plane so that I can make her some milk on the plane ride. Even though they acceded to my request, we still took quite some time for the clearance as they had to test the water. It was the first time that we had to run to catch the plane as we heard our names being announced once we reached the waiting area.

I guess it was not easy travelling with a toddler in a stroller. Anyway, we made it! Three cheer for mommy and daddy!

With all these commotion, it was not easy for our little girl to fall asleep even though she woke up so early in the morning. It took her awhile to settle down on the plane before she fell asleep. We were glad that she took the plane ride pretty well. She slept for 2 hours and we kept her entertained for the rest of the time by introducing her to the things that she could see through the window. Fortunately, it was in the day time, so it was more interesting to peep through the window.

Goodbye, Pennsylvannia!

United States is a very large country. We could see different terrains as we flew from the east coast to the west coast. According to daddy, the bottom right picture is a view of the deserts that we saw as we approached California.

I wonder what those red patches were.

Finally, we arrived at California after enduring a six hours plane ride. Our little girl did well. After the plane had landed at San Francisco airport, one of the passengers who sat in front of us even turned back and commended on Sheri's good behaviour. Mommy and daddy are so proud of her. Three cheers for Sheri!

Farewell, friends!

Hi everyone, Sorry for not posting on my blog for quite awhile. As some of you have expected it, we were busy preparing for our move to California. We left Allentown on last Wednesday.

Life takes us through many turns and avenues, but Allentown will always have a special place in our hearts because of the many good friends that we have here. We are deeply honored to have their friendships and we wish to thank them for their care and concern. Before we left Allentown on last Wednesday, we managed to meet up with a couple of them.

Thank you, Uncle Garret and Auntie Sandra, for preparing such a sumptuous dinner for us at their lovely home.

Thank you, Auntie Kuang Yi and Uncle Lin-Shu, for the farewell lunch at daddy's favourite Chinese restaurant, Evergreen.

We also managed to meet up with our fellow Singaporeans. Uncle Keng Yong and Auntie Shirleen prepared a farewell dinner for us. We had Korean food which is one of our favourites.

One last parting shot with their lovely dog, charcoal.

A farewell lunch with Auntie Jocelyn, Uncle Edwin and Uncle Hui Hong. Thank you, Auntie Jocelyn and Uncle Edwin for putting us for the night before we handed over the apartment. We appreciate all the help that we have given us.

Auntie Jess and Uncle Jeff also brought their two lovely sons to bid farewell before we left. Thank you, Auntie Jess, for giving mommy such a beautiful gift.

Watering her pets!

Mommy has always been inculcating in our little girl the importance of drinking water. In the past, I used to indicate to her that it is time to drink some water by writing the phrase 'drink water' on the writing board and she would usually pick up her water bottle to show that she understood what was written on the board. Nowadays, I can just instruct her verbally. Recently, she takes good care of her 'pets' too by making sure that they are well-hydrated. Her pets are the cuddly toys. It's always hilarious to see her pointing the spout on her water bottle at the mouths of her teddy bears and puppy dogs.

Our little girl is an animal lover. Very often, we have to enlist the help of animals to convince her to do certain things. For instance, one of our daily ritual during bedtime is to tell her that almost all animals need sleep and we have to use animals that she is familiar with like tigers, zebra , elephant, pigs and etc, as examples. The list will continue until she finally falls asleep.
The same goes for eating. Sometimes, we just have to tell that animals need to eat, so she makes no exception. I know it sounds pretty absurd, but I guess we just have to relate to her world, which is probably a world of animals.

A tough decision to make

For the past year, we have always been wrestling with the idea of whether we should go home. It all started from the time when my parents were here for 2 weeks after I delivered Sheri. After they left, Daddy told me that he could see the radiance from my smile when I was chatting happily with my parents at the dinning table. At that moment, he felt very remorseful for robbing me the joy of being with my parents. However, we have been putting off this idea of going home because the pull factors are very compelling.

Unlike the scorching hot weather all year round back in our country, the four seasons here really makes life more interesting as there are different activities for us to engage in during each season. We also love the tranquility of a suburban lifestyle here, and if we ever want to experience the hustle and bustle of a city, we can always drive to major cities like New York and Philidephia, which are just a few hours of drive from here. Furthermore, living in a house with a yard is more achievable for common folks here as it is not reserved exclusively for the rich unlike in our own country. Herce, kids have more open space to roam and are closer to the nature, which we believe is beneficial to their development in their growing years. More importantly, these two years of working in a multinational company have been very fruitful for daddy. He has several pending patents and trade secrets. With what he has achieved, we believe that he is well-positioned for career advancement in the next few years.


In the light of these compelling pull factors, we could have easily settled down here for good. However, life is not that simple after all. There are other factors that we have to consider besides ourselves. Daddy has been away from home for almost eight years. His mother misses him and being parents ourselves now, we can understand how she feels. Furthermore, after working in the industry for two years, daddy feels that his real passion still lies in doing fundamental research in an academic institutions. Hence, the best way for us to be close to our family and at the same time, fulfil his scientific aspirations is to return home as an academic. Hence, daddy has decided to take up a research position in UC Berkeley in the interim to reestablish his acdemic credentials.

This is not an easy decision for daddy, but mommy respects his decision and fully supports what he wants to do. Life is short and we only live life once. It is important to do what we really want to do in life rather than face with the prospect of having a sense of regret in the future. Moreover, being passionate in what he loves and being filial to his parents are just the two qualities that mommy sees in him when I gave him my hand three years ago.

Life takes us through many turns and avenues, but this place will always have a special place in our hearts. This is the place where we had our first bundle of joy and we had so much fun seeing her growing up in the first two years of her life. Hopefully, we will be able to visit this place again with Sheri in the future, a place which holds so much fond memories for all of us.

Sheri's favourite nursery rhyme

Mommy and daddy did not grow up with this nursery rhyme. In fact, we did not even know its existence until we have our girl here. It seems to be a popular nursery rhyme. Well, as the saying goes 'In Rome, do what the Romans do, this nursery rhyme has become her favourite ever since from the day that mommy taught her. Sometimes, she may want me to sing it to her in the middle of the night and I will usually tell her, 'No more pat-a-cake, it's time to sleep.'

Last Weekend

Last Saturday morning, we made our usual trip to the library every three weeks to return the books and to borrow a new set of books for our little girl. Library is always one of her favourite places. She can spend hours flipping through the picture books in the library. Fortunately, there is a designated reading area for her to mess around. Of course, mommy and daddy have to end up clearing up the mess for her. There is an arm chair in the reading area that she loves to sit on it when she is reading. Mommy took a picture of her sitting on the arm chair a couple of weeks ago, but I did not have the chance to post it.

After we came out of the library, we spent some time in the pavilion just outside the library before going to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping.

Later, we just spent the whole afternoon lazing around at home and we ended the day with an evening swim. Swimming is also one her favourite pastime. Nowadays, she likes to reiterate the word 'swimming' while holding her swimming diapers in her hands. When we ask her whether she wants to go swimming, she never fails to reply us with a resounding 'Yes'.

We found this swim ring in the shape of the duck at the pool. I do not deny that the people here are very generous. Sometime, they may just leave theirs toys behind to let other kids play with them. Our little girl absolutely adored the little duck ring that she found at the pool. See how intimately she kissed the duck in one of the pictures.


Unfortunately, it is getting a bit too cold to go swimming nowadays. In fact, we are the only family who still goes to the pool in the evening nowadays. We could not help but feel as if we have our own private pool. I guess summer is coming to an end and autumn is approaching.

On Sunday morning, we went to take a stroll in the park to enjoy the morning sun. It was sunny and breezy.
After a good workout in the morning, we took a rest at home in the afternoon and we ended the day with a dip in the pool in the evening again.

Daddy's birthday 2008

Yesterday was daddy's birthday. Mommy wanted to give daddy a surprise by singing a birthday song with the birthday cake in hand when daddy returned from work. However, the weather foiled mommy's plan. It started raining in the late afternoon and mommy received a call from daddy to pick up the cake that his colleagues bought for him from his workplace. Mommy had no choice but to accede to his request since it would be very inconvenient to carry the cake with him on his bike. When we reached home, mommy hurried daddy to take a bath with the hope of giving him a surprise when he came out of the bathroom. However, daddy caught mommy red-handed with the cake when mommy was trying to light up the candles. Too bad! No surprise
birthday for daddy!

Happy birthday to daddy! Many happy returns!

See how much our little girl has grown over the year!

Unlike last year, our little girl can wish daddy 'Happy birthday' now.

Happy National Day 2008!

9th August is our country's national day. This year, we celebrated the event with fellow singaporeans from Air Products Singapore who were here on business trips.

Greetings from Pennsylvania, United States! Happy 43rd Birthday, Singapore!

What could be a better way to celebrate this event than to savour our own local delights. Yummy! Yummy!

Of course! We could not forget our national flag. Who is the great artist here?

It is none other than our host for the cookout, Yang Lik!

What's cooking, cool man?

Who is this pretty girl?She is Ann, Yang Lik's beautiful daughter. It was nice of her to share her toys with our little girl.

It's time for some outdoor games. Sheri loves the swing and slide in the neighbour's yard.

The backyard has a nice scenery, isn't it?