Felurian and Emelia hit in off the
second we reached Lisa's apartment. No longer did Felurian live in my
room, she now had friends to play with in Emelia's Magical Reading
Den.
I only had 10 days in Singapore but
with Felurian so busy, I managed to pack the usual thousand and one
things into the short stay.
Although to be fair a huge amount of it was based around Emelia!
The Chinese New Year soon after I arrived, saw the lions once
more performing their incredibly noisy drum beating, cymbal crashing blessing around the complex.
It also brought everyone out of their apartments and allowed for a catch up time with old friends.
Following the lions, came the amazingly elongated dragon that wound his way around
the pool
gazing up at the people on their
balconies as he passed.
His final dance was one of the best I
nave seen with some wonderful foot work that looked so effortless but
none the less was timed to perfection.
With the new found strength and
movement from my weeks of yoga, Chi Gong, morning walks and afternoon
swims in India, I was now able to not only enjoy my morning walks
along the canal to the park each day
but I was also able to climb the stairs to the apartment instead of using the lift!
To be fair it is only on the third
floor but two years ago I couldn't even mange one flight without
holding onto the banister and hauling myself up in pain!
They say
every journey begins with a single step and that one tiny step I took
two years ago to get fitter was at last paying dividends!
I even had the bonus of being able to
walk undercover when the rains came as the walkway to the MRT was now
totally covered over!
Apart from the canal walk, I could now manage
about a three kilometre walk without even leaving cover!
After my daily walk, the mornings were
spent watching Emelia and Lisa as they 'played' with the morning's
activity.
Scientific experiments, colour card matching, letter shapes and sounds, it is amazing what a two year old can do given time and patience!
Lisa has decided to introduce Emelia to
the Montessori way of learning and they both seem to be thriving on it!
Emelia will happily spend well over an hour
quietly 'playing' set activities using the most intricate of skills.
Afternoons were spent doing play that I
understood and could join in with! Teddy picnics,
Building brick houses complete with doors and rooms,
plus a mixture of both!
Bricks just have to be one of the best
toys ever!!!
I got to built houses, busses, towers and with a bit of
imagination we created aeroplanes, taxi cars and even boats!
Lisa had been thinking of buying a
kitchen for Emelia to interact with and during one of our days to the
mall we spotted just what we needed as a started set!
While Emelia slept side cupboards were
made from cereal boxes, next came a fridge complete with magnetic
door.
Everything was set up with pots and pans given designated areas and her face when
she saw it all was perfect!
Cooking commenced almost immediately
and for the next few days every time I went over to Boon Lay to pick up my
fabulous Indian breakfast, I would return with addition plastic fruit
and veg for her to prepare!
Teddy bear picnics took on a whole new
dimension as entire meals were prepared and served from 'Em's
Kitchen!'
The transition from my diet in India to
Singapore food wise was also flawless.
As part of my daily ritual I
would visit Boon Lay food court to pick up my lunch that, although double what I had been paying in India was still incredibly priced at a whole S$2!
Evening meals were spent either at home
or in one of the many food courts eating …
yes you've guessed it wonderful
vegetarian Indian food!
The ten days raced by, Em and Felurian
bonded superbly and before I knew it, it was time to pack my bag full
of dive gear and head over to the Philippines to see Kris for three
weeks!
I tell you my life is so hard
sometimes!!
