Snooze... Snores...

My Cheeky lil B!! This is what he did on typhoon day right after getting up from his nap!! haha!! Hilarious!!!

Jangmi Day Crafts

What we did on typhoon day? More crafts again...

Daddy went out and got us lunch while we stayed in nice and dry! Daddy bought 3 boxes of food!! Does he think that we will be confined indoors all day?

After lunch Mama asked if I wanted to do some art and craft since she had bought so many crafts for lil me to play around with. We decided to do 'My Family', Mama held my hand and drew the outlines of 3 people, then I was given different colored felt tees to choose which I wanna paste. After sticking on the tees, I wanted to stuck some stars too! Viola! Finito!! I showed Papa my work and he was proud of it and so was Mama!! :)

Jia You! Jia You!

Watching Taiwan Super Idol, standing on top on 2 packs of cat litter (he thinks its the stage??) and performing!!

This Could Get Big! Typhoon Jangmi

"Typhoon Jangmi, the most powerful typhoon to hit Taiwan this year, is predicted to
land on the island via the northeastern county of Yilan or the eastern counties of Hualien and Taitung this afternoon, prompting the government and the nationals to take countermeasures against possible disasters. "

http://chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national%20news/2008/09/28/176494/Typhoon%2DJangmi.htm

It was rated as Hurricane 5 on CNN, HOLY SMOKES!! Just chewck what a hurricane 5 is!!!

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml

"Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr). Storm surge generally greater than 18 ft above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required. Only 3 Category Five Hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records began: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Camille (1969), and Hurricane Andrew in August, 1992. The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane struck the Florida Keys with a minimum pressure of 892 mb--the lowest pressure ever observed in the United States. Hurricane Camille struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast causing a 25-foot storm surge, which inundated Pass Christian. Hurricane Katrina (pdf), a category 5 storm over the Gulf of Mexico, was still responsible for at least 81 billion dollars of property damage when it struck the U.S. Gulf Coast as a category 3. It is by far the costliest hurricane to ever strike the United States. In addition, Hurricane Wilma (pdf) of 2005 was a Category Five hurricane at peak intensity and is the strongest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb. "

Nite Out or Date Nite??

It was Gay Pride today in Taipei, I was supposed to have the day and night off to go out with some friends.

"Run the Rainbow Way

Time & Route
Date: 27 Sep. 2008
Time: Gather at 13:00, Leave at 14:00
Location: Taipei City Hall Square
Route: Taipei City Hall Square → RenAi Rd. → AnHe Rd. → ZhongXiao East Rd.
→ YatSen Rd. → RenAi Rd. → Taipei City Hall Square"

http://www.twpride.net/

BUT it was raining, and I was feeling kinda lazy and lil B was extremely adorable today! I couldn't bear to leave him... ayyy... So instead, we went on a date! Yep! Just lil B and I, we went for a lil stroll and an mrt ride to the chicken soup restaurant behind Sogo. Lil B ate a whole bowl of 'Mee Sua' and 1/2 a bowl of cabbage!! I'm so glad I stayed in and not go out!!

Larry called like 6 times after my dinner to asked if I wanted to go out, he was gonna attend a wedding dinner and wanted to take lil B with him. I refused!! I didn't want him drinking with lil B in tow, I know he'll drink at least a glass of whatever. I've never seen Larry so 'enthusiastic' about baby sitting Bren before!! His excuse? "He wanted to show Brendan off to his suppliers and workers". (well... he can do that in his sober state)

Miao Kou-- Keelung Nite Market

We decided to have dinner at Miao Ko, Keelung Night Market after the beach. It was the first for me despite being in Taiwan for 7 years!! Fortunately, Alan knew the route there and around Keelung well enough to navigate us. (Cos Larry didn't!!) We've only been to Keelung for seafood and to say goodybye to the Star Cruise (couldn't leave with an expired visa--this was before lil B came along).

Hmmm... what shall we eat? The night market was bustling with hawkers and people!! We couldn't decide what to eat, till Alan suggested that we try what Kellung Night Market was famous for: "Dingbian Zuo", it taste like rice noodles with meatballs and shrimp balls in mushroom and vegetable soup.

http://www.wintimes.com.tw/play/200/200.htm

Then we stopped for desserts after dinner. Yes, yes, we have a '3 Brothers Beancurd' on our food street too but it's different! They came from Keelung, so this particular branch might taste better? :)



Look at the rows and rows of crabs!! I had to have a crab! My favorite favorite food!! (boy! do i crave for chilli crabs from Singapore!!) So we ordered a crab to go... :) And I had to take a picture of the GIANT tentacles waiting to be bbqed!! Fortunately I don't eat squid, can't imagine having that squirming in my tummy!!!





http://tour.klcg.gov.tw/english/b/b01_01.asp?sid=33&id=384

Off to the Beach

We went to the Howard Resort exactly a year ago, Brendan couldn't walk the last time we were here. Now he's walking, running, jumping, he's everywhere!! :) So, the 3 Amigas and Amigos and the lil Amigos met up at the Howard Resort Greenbay for lunch and a whole day of fun at the beach and pool. It's $900ntd an adult which includes buffet lunch and excess to both the private Howard beach and pool, free for kids under 101cm.

We all rushed through lunch I believe everyone just couldn't wait to get in the water, it was such a scroching HOT day!! We started at the beach but it was kinda dirty, hmmm... whatever to the nice, clean beach from last year?? (must be the typhoon...) It was kinda TOO hot to stay at the beach and Brendan found the sea water kinda too salty!

So Tine's family and mine headed back to the pool area for some splishing and splashing in the water!

The lil ones were very hungry after the swim and they feasted on the yummy snacks their Mamas had brought them, then it was time to wash up and more snacking after clean up.

**was waiting for Papa to upload pictures from his iphone before i decide what to post here BUT alas!! simply ain;t uploading to comp. :(

Children's Museum of Taipei (CMOT)

I thought we go there again before they shut their doors in November. The Children's Museum of Taipei is closing!! http://www.cmot.com.tw Yep, how sad! And I thought they were doing so well, I blame Baby Boss! This is similar to Baby Boss but much smaller in size and it caters for younger kids or rather, kids under 3 are able to play in there unlike BB where you have to be at least 3 to be able to participate in the role plays.

So we met up with Kate, Conrad & Rita, Tine, Victor & Mila. The 3 Amigas and the 3 Amigos. Brendan, Conrad and Victor had a fabulous time exploring the museum and the various sections of it. Rolling the balls, Tractor (Bob the Builder), Cafe, Bubbles, Infant Play Area with slide and a 'tree house', Fire Engine, Supermarket, Stamping, TV Station, Building Blocks, there's also an area for crafts, painting and dressing up but of course our boys were not interested in those areas!

They loved the Supermarket and was so excited about scanning each and every item they could lay their hands on to hear the 'BEEP' sound! Pretty soon, they were pretty good at making their own sound effects too!

After about 2.5hrs of playtime, we decided it was snack time for the lil Amigos and headed outside for some snacks and I brought Brendan and Conrad up & down the elevator, making all the 'silly sound effect noises' whilst going up and down the elevator!! WHHHeeeezzzz... Lil Victor didn't wanna leave without Mama!!

The 3 Amigos went into Toyland for more play!! This time with Thomas the Train set...

*heaps of pictures taken, please view my flickr acct. if you wanna see more!

www.flickr.com/brendanchiang

Can I sue??

Nothing in life comes for free or cheap, I go by that belief and should have stuck to it!!! BUT who could resist cheap diapers especially when they went on further discount! Ayy... women and their 'cheap thrills'!!! (Thats what I used to hear in the casino)

Penny wise pound foolish

I guess Bren is just allergic to Mamy Poko!! The first time we tried MP, we rush to ER that night as his entire bum was covered with rash! Larry was really skeptical when I wanted to buy MP again especially this pack as it was really cheap...

See what MP has done to my lil one again!! :(

Sorry babe, no more cheap diapers ever again.

Sinlaku Day II

Ok, feeling kinda lazy today and it's Sunday! Larry came back from a BBQ and drinking session at about 5am in the morning!!! (no wonder he didn't wanna take us- Grrrr)

Bren and I got up at bout 12.30pm :) I was still lazing in bed while the lil one 'hunted' for food... (Cheerios) Then I finally got out of bed and went to get some real food carrying lil B with the Ergo.

Oooooooh Desperate Housewives Season III Marathon!! Does it come at a better time?? Back to bed... built Thomas the train tracks for the lil one to play by himself while mama watch D.H!! Lalalalala

Didn't really wanna get out of bed for dinner, but lil B wanted some food, didn't wanna eat leftover pizza. But someone did! ;)

Craving for Macs & apple pie, apple strudel!!
Mcdonalds, ordered at 11.30pm, delievered at 1.30am!! Can you believe that!! And the lil one would not sleep until he got his fries!! Oh well... typhooooon day!

WHERE CAN I GET GOOD APPLE PIE OR APPLE STRUDEL???

Art & Craft on Sinlaku Day

So what did we do on typhoon day? Arts and crafts!!

Mama drew me a tree so that I could do some cut and paste and some finger paiting too!

This is what you need:

1) Paper
2) Finger Paints
3) Green Paper
4) Cute stickers
5) Glue
6) Scissors

Ok, we finished the craft in less than 20 mins with a lil distraction from Sesame Street.

More indoor fun.........

Ravensburger color puzzle, kinda surprised Mama that I knew the colors and was able to put them all together correctly!! :) (do i get more Thomas??)

Mega Typhoon Sinlaku

All typhoons in Taiwan are over-rated!! Ok, most, not all. Apparently the media does it so that they don't get 'blamed' if a real mega one comes. How typical to shrink from responsibilities!

From a mega typhoon to a mediocre one BUT enough to cause enough rain so that we are not able to BBQ this Mooncake Festival!! :( And we were so looking forward to bbq at Tania's!!

"Typhoon Sinlaku lashed Taiwan on Saturday with powerful winds and heavy rains across the island that disrupted flights and train services as well as celebrations for a major holiday.
The typhoon also disrupted power and telephone services in nearly 50,000 households, the agency said.

Schools across the island were shut down for the weekend as a precaution and thousands of fishing boats were also sheltering in ports.

Organisers have cancelled or postponed outdoor celebrations in Taipei and several other cities for the weekend's Mid-Autumn Festival.

"Sinlaku is expected to be nearest early Sunday but its impact is likely to last till Monday as it is moving very slowly," a Central Weather Bureau forecaster said.

At 14:30 pm, Sinlaku was 90 kilometres east-southeast of Ilan on the northeast coast, moving at six kilometres per hour.

The bureau has warned residents across the island, particularly those in coastal and mountain regions, to take precautions against flooding and mudslides as the typhoon is likely to generate rainfall of up to 1,300 millimetres (50 inches)."

News excerpt