Teddy's Nautical Beach Birthday Party

My little boy turned one at the beginning of January, and we thought a birthday party by the beach would be something he would actually really enjoy.

We send the invitations out as a message in a bottle..

On the day, the fun started even before the party did, with our boys in their swimmers heading straight for the crab-shaped sand pit and sailboat pool we had brought in for the party...

The venue we had picked was Tanjong Beach Club, owned by one of our friends and one of our favourite weekend spots.  It sits on Tanjong Beach in Sentosa, and there's a beachside pool and bar plus restaurant. 

At the entrance we'd set up a little nautical photobooth with little props like flags , sailor hats and telescopes for guests to grab a polaroid with.

We'd put together a little guest book with photos from Teddy's first year, for guests to leave a message in, before Teddy received them inside the nautically- decorated venue.

Inside the dining room, a nautical buffet awaited the guests. The dessert buffet table featured a beach made of edible graham-cookie-crumble sand, with a scattering of sea animal-shaped cookies, edible candy-floss sea, and fish swimming in blue jelly.  It was awesome seeing the kids (and some adults) eating the beach straight off little spoons! 

For the hungrier guests, Tanjong Beach Club had prepared 300 little brown paper bags of fish and (truffle) chips, along with calamari and spaghetti.  And at the bar, TBC had arranged martini glasses of a specially concoted Blue Hawaiian Freeze for those people in search of a mid-afternoon cocktail.

Because a kid's party isn't complete without ice-cream, we set up an ice-cream station with a chef making live oreos-and-cream ice cream. The other flavour offerings were creme brulee and orange-lychee, and there was an assortment of toppings to add atop the sundaes.

Fun for the kids was our priority, and guests were invited to come in their beach attire. Some families hit the beach and pool, and the littler ones had a terrific time splashing in the sail boat pool and the sand pit set up on the terrace just by the dining room.  

And somehow, a pinata (an overstuffed crab one in this case) always seems to get children extremely excited....

We managed to get everyone together for the cake cutting...

And at the end of the party, the kids were invited to bring home a bucket of sand toys or their very own pet fish.

When the party was over, we went out to the beach and watched the sunset.

Happy Birthday my little one!

Photo credits: Andrew Lum, Gwo Wei and Kerry Cheah

Rainbows and Showers Baby Baptism

But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them!
For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children." - Matthew 19:14

My boys were baptised in December and I have just started to go through the photos. Needless to say, it was a really meaningful time for us. The grandparents and godparents flew in from various corners of the world to be with us - their Harabuji and Halmunee came from Seoul, Kyan's godparents Mark and Mari were just moving from Paris to SF and flew in from LA/SF, (his other set of godparents Joy and Alvin had just moved back from Hong Kong a year back), Teddy's godparents Zhining and Kee flew in from London, and his godfather Paul was living in DC and Seoul and flew in from a work trip in Beijing.  So glad that everybody managed to make it to share the celebration.

That's us! Just before the baptism

The baptism was an intimate affair, just our closest friends and family. Rev Chiu Ming Li, the pastor from Barker Road Methodist Church, the church where I grew up, came to our home for the ceremony. He shared a short but meaningful message, a reminder of how we want to bring up our boys - in love and in the knowledge of God's love.

John plays our mini guitar for the few hymns we chose to sing during the service.

I happened to come across little smocked christening outfits at the Raffles Hotel Shop the day before and I couldn't resist getting them for the boys - light blue stripes with a little train on it. Totally looked like dresses but just so perfect for the occasion!

Kyan gets baptised!

Luke's turn to get baptised!

Afterwards, we went downstairs to celebrate with a little Rainbows and Showers- themed afternoon tea.

A rainbows and showers-themed dessert buffet. Our very versatile Moooi Raimond lights became hot air balloons!

Lemonade jars with rainbow straws

A sweet selection of rainbow and cloud cupcakes, marshmallows, macarons and cotton candy.

No celebration is complete without our favourite Lana chocolate cake.

Kyan and Luke, we can't wait for the rest of your lives and hope we will bring you up to walk in His ways always.

That's us after, with our boys both happily baptised.

To a new beginning

I've finally done it! The thought of starting a blog has often crossed by mind, but it took my husband to start one for me to realise it is less daunting than I perceived, however tech-unsavvy I may be.  So here it is - my own online photo album of memories. a diary to pen down thoughts and musings. a catalogue of days, events, places that i don't ever want to forget. a folder in which I can toss in anything that inspires me.

Perhaps I should have started earlier! I wish I had captured my thoughts right after Kyan and Luke were born. Or the incredible journeys we took in 2011 when John had his gardening leave - like our month long holiday in South America, to unforgettable places like Patagonia, the windswept Eolo Lodge in Calafate Argentina, the amazing calving San Valentin glacier in Laguna San Rafael, Rio, the Iguazu Falls, sailing through the Chilean fjords. To see how my thoughts and opinions have evolved over the years too, I feel quite a different person from the days I was in medical school, or before I had the boys.

But here we are now, and I hope this blog will inspire others while helping me to cherish the blessed moments in my own life.

An Anthem

I desire, I aspire
To inspire
To be hot
And to be cool
To not be hard
And not be easy
To live it up
To not get down
To always travel
And always be at home
To work hard
To not be hard work
To be a mother
And always a child

To find God in faith
To find faith in God
To love to live
To live to love 

To new beginnings.

The end.