one day
I left my camera at my parents' place last night and now I feel sort of lost without it. It's one of the few items I always have with me, apart from my phone and my wallet. I guess I could take (crappy) photos using my iPhone but it really is not the same.
Anyway, since I have no way to take photographs till I get my camera back, I'm going to post lots of photographs instead. A couple of weeks ago a couple of my besties, C and Y, got together for a hotel staycation which involved lots of eating, shopping, and talking. I didn't stay overnight because of The Bun, but I spent many glorious hours in their company, eating and luxuriating in cups of tea and long meals without having to wrangle an active baby at the same time.
Since Y was due to move to Bangkok the following week, I decided to capture the entire day for posterity, based on the LJ community adayinmylife, from wake to sleep. It's an interesting process and always fun to look back on. I think the last one I did was in 2006, but those photos are no longer available in my LJ archives because the server I hosted them on expired.
I'm cross-posting these photos on the community journal, which is fascinating, by the way - often mundane, sometimes extraordinary. My favourite post features a guy who showed his readers his day working at a research facility in Antarctica. An amazing look into life there. The captions I have seem a bit redundant to Singapore readers, but the community has a lot of international readers so I'm trying to make it easy for everyone to read.
Up and awake. I think this is 9am, all of us had a late night.
J is still asleep.
As is The Bun.
Breakfast for myself and the usual rounds of e-mail, LJ, and Facebook.
Peaceful mornings are always good.
Get some laundry started.
Time to wake the boys up!
Good morning sunshine!
J gives him his bath. We need to get out of the door soon.
Yogurt for breakfast. Nom.
While J feeds The Bun and cleans up after, I grab a quick shower.
Facepaint - only the basics for now.
Dressed and ready.
Time to go!
To grandmother's house we go!
My mother is going to help J babysit while I'm out.
Walking towards the elevators, to go up to my parents' flat.
Tobey greets us at the door!
My mother is busy cooking lunch.
I'm in a rush, no time to take more photos so J and I hand off the baby and leave.
We decide to take Tobey with us for a car ride, which he loves.
On the road, heading towards town.
While we are on our way, I get text messages from both girls and realise we're meeting only an hour later.
So J and I make a quick stop at the Botanic Gardens, which is located nearby.
One of us enjoys this walk in the hot sun more.
Lots of nice trees and greenery.
Flowers. I don't know what the one on the left is, but the one on the right is a banana flower.
Time to leave the park and meet my friends. The sun is getting to me; it's almost 1pm!
I'm way too excited to see the girls and only remember to snap photos once I'm in the hotel room.
We're in the Hyatt and pleased as punch!
Adding our own drinks to the bar fridge (guess which ones!) and presenting Y with her going-away gift.
We're starving so we head out for lunch at a ramen place. I think it's almost 2pm at this point.
I have unagi (eel) dry ramen.
We work off our carb-laden lunch by trawling for cheap shoes.
Unfortunately, nothing looks interesting. It mostly looks... cheap.
So we head off down the road to Tangs, another mall.
Looking through clothes; I love their changing rooms! So huge and comfy!
Bathroom break and a snap in the mirror.
After more shopping (in which I buy a pair of shoes!), we grab some tea and downtime in a cafe called Jams.
A view of Orchard Road, the main shopping street, from above.
We stop off to browse through magazines; I look through the graphic novels and kiddie books.
Back to our hotel room to prep for dinner!
Love these girls.
Dinner is at one of the restaurants located within the Hyatt, called The Straits Kitchen.
It's a chi-chi buffet serving all sorts of local cuisine.
We dig in and slowly eat our way into a food coma.
Spicy shrimp and chicken with rice; laksa (a shrimp and coconut gravy and noodle dish)
Dessert offerings: lots of coconut, palm sugar, and tropical fruit. I am stuffed.
After dinner, we waddle back up to our room.
We vegetate in front of the TV for a while, cackling like hyenas at some silly show.
We put on some paper skincare masks! Good for your skin, better for laughs.
It's time for me to head home; I have an early start the next day.
Looking more normal (and with more hydrated skin), it's time for one last photo.
No photos during my cab ride back because I didn't want the driver to think I was nuts.
I arrive at my block of flats.
Home sweet home. That cab ride took only twenty minutes!
Cleaning up and a big glass of water before I head to bed.
No photos in bed because I didn't want to wake the baby, who sleeps in his crib beside me!
Anyway, since I have no way to take photographs till I get my camera back, I'm going to post lots of photographs instead. A couple of weeks ago a couple of my besties, C and Y, got together for a hotel staycation which involved lots of eating, shopping, and talking. I didn't stay overnight because of The Bun, but I spent many glorious hours in their company, eating and luxuriating in cups of tea and long meals without having to wrangle an active baby at the same time.
Since Y was due to move to Bangkok the following week, I decided to capture the entire day for posterity, based on the LJ community adayinmylife, from wake to sleep. It's an interesting process and always fun to look back on. I think the last one I did was in 2006, but those photos are no longer available in my LJ archives because the server I hosted them on expired.
I'm cross-posting these photos on the community journal, which is fascinating, by the way - often mundane, sometimes extraordinary. My favourite post features a guy who showed his readers his day working at a research facility in Antarctica. An amazing look into life there. The captions I have seem a bit redundant to Singapore readers, but the community has a lot of international readers so I'm trying to make it easy for everyone to read.
Up and awake. I think this is 9am, all of us had a late night.
J is still asleep.
As is The Bun.
Breakfast for myself and the usual rounds of e-mail, LJ, and Facebook.
Peaceful mornings are always good.
Get some laundry started.
Time to wake the boys up!
Good morning sunshine!
J gives him his bath. We need to get out of the door soon.
Yogurt for breakfast. Nom.
While J feeds The Bun and cleans up after, I grab a quick shower.
Facepaint - only the basics for now.
Dressed and ready.
Time to go!
To grandmother's house we go!
My mother is going to help J babysit while I'm out.
Walking towards the elevators, to go up to my parents' flat.
Tobey greets us at the door!
My mother is busy cooking lunch.
I'm in a rush, no time to take more photos so J and I hand off the baby and leave.
We decide to take Tobey with us for a car ride, which he loves.
On the road, heading towards town.
While we are on our way, I get text messages from both girls and realise we're meeting only an hour later.
So J and I make a quick stop at the Botanic Gardens, which is located nearby.
One of us enjoys this walk in the hot sun more.
Lots of nice trees and greenery.
Flowers. I don't know what the one on the left is, but the one on the right is a banana flower.
Time to leave the park and meet my friends. The sun is getting to me; it's almost 1pm!
I'm way too excited to see the girls and only remember to snap photos once I'm in the hotel room.
We're in the Hyatt and pleased as punch!
Adding our own drinks to the bar fridge (guess which ones!) and presenting Y with her going-away gift.
We're starving so we head out for lunch at a ramen place. I think it's almost 2pm at this point.
I have unagi (eel) dry ramen.
We work off our carb-laden lunch by trawling for cheap shoes.
Unfortunately, nothing looks interesting. It mostly looks... cheap.
So we head off down the road to Tangs, another mall.
Looking through clothes; I love their changing rooms! So huge and comfy!
Bathroom break and a snap in the mirror.
After more shopping (in which I buy a pair of shoes!), we grab some tea and downtime in a cafe called Jams.
A view of Orchard Road, the main shopping street, from above.
We stop off to browse through magazines; I look through the graphic novels and kiddie books.
Back to our hotel room to prep for dinner!
Love these girls.
Dinner is at one of the restaurants located within the Hyatt, called The Straits Kitchen.
It's a chi-chi buffet serving all sorts of local cuisine.
We dig in and slowly eat our way into a food coma.
Spicy shrimp and chicken with rice; laksa (a shrimp and coconut gravy and noodle dish)
Dessert offerings: lots of coconut, palm sugar, and tropical fruit. I am stuffed.
After dinner, we waddle back up to our room.
We vegetate in front of the TV for a while, cackling like hyenas at some silly show.
We put on some paper skincare masks! Good for your skin, better for laughs.
It's time for me to head home; I have an early start the next day.
Looking more normal (and with more hydrated skin), it's time for one last photo.
No photos during my cab ride back because I didn't want the driver to think I was nuts.
I arrive at my block of flats.
Home sweet home. That cab ride took only twenty minutes!
Cleaning up and a big glass of water before I head to bed.
No photos in bed because I didn't want to wake the baby, who sleeps in his crib beside me!