Indonesian Restaurant: Sanur

We ate lunch at the Indonesian restaurant Sanur yesterday and had a delightfully spicy meal consisting of Beef Rendang, Kang kong, yellow coconut rice, and topped off with Chendol for dessert. Delicious!

Zoooooo

Yes, we went to the on Thursday. We saw Oran Otans, penguins, kangeroos, parokeets, elephants, otters, and ostrichs. We wrapped up the hot morning outing with some Ben and Jerry's orange sorbet.

 

 

 

 

Test Results and Food

On Friday, Mom received the test results of the latest CT scan and tumour markers. Overall the results were positive. This is very encouraging. Thank you Lord.

Foods Eaten

More Roti-Prata

 

The store - Open 24 Hours!

 

Buying at the store

 

Nina eating roti-prata

More food coming in subsequent postings.

Early Birthday Gift for Nina

 

Nina received her earlybirthday gift from her Kounkoun & Popo today. At the American Club, they bought Nina a pair of purple Crocs.

Escalators for Cool Nina in Singapore

 

Cool Nina

She has found a new love: escalators. With Popo & Kounkoun, she walks around the malls asking to go up or down. Singapore, with its plethora of escalators, is pure excitement for her. However, those moments are just the tip of the iceberg in the overall joy she has when with Popo and Kounkoun.

Some Singapore Pics/Videos

 

Pigtail Nina

 

Reaching out to touch the monsoon rain

 

Erin and Nina

 

Jam Nina

Nina petting puppy at the Singapore Botanical Gardens (10 seconds)


Movie star Nina (12 seconds)


Nina saying "Roti-Prata" which is a local Singaporean Indian food.

Skype Brings the World Together

This morning, Erin spoke with her parents. Skype is cool. The world is really a global village.

We went to the library at the American Club with Nina and ate a good lunch there. Ok, perhaps I ate too much at the salad bar. I had their version of Rojak consisting of jicama, bean sprouts, cucumbers, and
kang kong (Chinese vegatable). As I post these blogs and look for links, I'm learning things also.

In the afternoon we went to Takashimaya to look at shoes and kitchen supplies. Takashimaya is a large Japanese department store and it's amazing how many gadgets they have ranging from jars that can vacuum seal to preserve freshness, countertop boilers that keep water boiling hot, lime juicers, and much much more.

The Cancer Battle Plan made reference to Fit for Life.

I was particularly shocked with the chapters about animal protein and dairy products (excluding butter). My parents had first bought Fit for Life back in 1991 or so. I thought I had read the book, but I do not recall those two chatpers.

Monday Dinner & Tuesday

We went to Ngee Ann City in the afternoon during which Popo & Kounkoun took Nina while Erin and I went shopping together. All of us had a great time.

We ate a delicious potato/sweet potato salad and a baby green salad topped with dates, julienned apples, ground almond/flax seed/sunflower seeds, cut grapes. Pleasantly cooling given the hot weather.

Today I went for my first colon hydrotherapy. Send me an email if you want to know more about my experience.

Below are some pictures from our daily walks in New Ulm. Nina continues to ask about "Herman."






In the afternoon we went for a "swim" at the American Club. I say "swim" because Nina was getting acclimated to a swimming pool.

Cancer

I have not posted much regarding Mom's cancer battle and the current course-of-action.

The situation of her health has been positively impacted by all of the people praying for her. Thank you. In addition below are links to two critical books that Dad & Mom quickly implemented when cancer was discovered in January. The authors began a non-profit organization to assist others with cancer at Health Quarters.

Both the Singaporean Dr. Karmen Wong and the American Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez have been impressed by Mom's health. I believe that God has his hand in these results.





Currently Mom is following the nutritional regime, pancreatic enzymes & supplements, and coffee enemas per Dr. Gonzalez.

Please let me know if you'd like more information regarding any of the above.

Videos

New Ulm: Nina dancing to Signing Time's "I'm Really Good" (2:55)


New Ulm: Nina petting Lucy (0:38)


Singapore: Nina Chopsticks (0:07)


Singapore: Kounkoun, camera, & Nina (0:23)

Happy Father's Day

To all those father's out there, we wish you a warm Happy Father's Day.

Today is especially important because we get to spend it with Kounkoun (my father). He has had the pleasure of being able to walk with Nina while she holds his finger with her tiny hand. He was beaming with pride. It was a priceless moment!

We went to eat lunch yesterday (Saturday) during Nina's nap. We went to one of the nicer hawker centers that was air-conditioned and covered. This was beneficial because of the monsoon rain that began around noon until dusk. Erin had Char Sui with noodles and Chinese vegetables. I had an Indian Briyani with Mutton curry. For dessert we had Honeydew Sago.

For dinner we went to the American Club and ate in the Pacific room where we had delicious vegetables and a hot Chinese dessert of almond and black sesame rice mochi. Unfortunately I could not find a good site that accurately portrays this experience, however, during my searches I did find a site that seems to have good dessert recipes.

On Friday afternoon, we walked on Orchard road around Isetan then down to Ngee Ann City to get some gelato. We got two scoops: coconut and strawberry. Yum. A brief overview of gelato if you are not familiar is available on the this blog if you scroll down to Friday July 28, 2006.

Today we went to church then ate at home where we had honey baked cod, stir-fried Chinese vegetables, and pomelo salad. Kounkoun cooked the pomelo salad to adhere to Popo's dietary regime. It contained pomelo, apple juice concentrate, lime juice, salt, Chinese parsley, Chinese celery, lemon grass, and shallots. Deliciously refreshing!

On a different note: Having grown up in Burnsville, Minnesota, Nina has been accustomed to being surrounded by mostly caucasians. When we arrived in Singapore, following the 16-hour flight (LAX-SIN), at 5:35am, I went to get in the immigration line while Erin and Nina walked around to pass the time. At one point, Nina "ran" over to the escalators screaming "Daddy, daddy, daddy" towards the oncoming Asian men. To her surprise, I was not among them. :)

Nina knows to say "ready go" when the traffic lights turn green. Kounkoun and Popo have been teaching her how to dance Mauritian sega and how to say "ah la ma" with the Singaporean accent.

Friday

Nina saw palm trees for the first time yesterday as we were picked up from the Changi International Airport. Shortly afterwards she said the phrase "palm tree."

Yesterday, following arrival in the morning we went to eat roti-prata then went to the American Club to visit. We had a nap and afterwards did some errands and the Botannical Garden.

Following some jet-lag-interrupted overnight sleep, this morning Nina spoke "you're welcome" for the first time.

We were welcomed this morning by a monsoon rain that prevented us from going on a morning walk at the Bottanical Gardens.

Instead Popo opened the window and reached out to grab the rain. The rain was described as a straight falling rain because there's no wind blowing.

Travelling Day

Today we're taking the plane to see Popo & Kounkoun (Nicolas' Mom & Dad) in Singapore. We began the day with a morning walk with the all the hounds and Erin's Dad. Our fresh juices tasted that much better afterwards.

We'll be arriving in Singapore Wednesday afternoon around 5pm central time.

Pictures

 

Mother's Day

 

New Ulm: Nina at the playground at the top of a slide

Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend going for walks and enjoying New Ulm. Yesterday our Boston Terrirer Milo got acquainted with Herbert and Lucy. Previously, Milo had been a little antagonistic towards Lucy. Yes, the small little guy was the problematic one. However, yesterday, the threesome, John, and I went for an hour-long stroll. Everyone got along fabulously.

Yesterday the Erin's sister Kelli and family arrived in New Ulm for today's funeral for Grandma Berg.

Kelli's three kids: Lydia, Thomas, & Sam played well with Nina. Sam and Nina went running back and forth from the living room to the kitchen saying, "Nina Nina Nina" beaming with smiles from ear to ear.

Saturday

Nina said Thank you verbally today at lunch, very gently, and deliberately. That was a precious moment. Furthermore, while she was sleeping in her car seat returning from Mankato, she was wearing a little cardboard crown from the supermarket, but she had turned it upside down.

On a different note, Erin's paternal grandmother died this morning. She had alzheimers and had not been herself for many years.

Nina and Puppies

Nina has become acclimated to Grandma's (ma) and Grandpa's (pa) two puppies: Herbert (85lbs) and Lucy (90lbs). On this past Wednesday, Nina and the two puppies were very comfortable. Nina went over to Lucy in the bathroom and asked the light to be turned on, which I did, then she went over to Lucy and pet her head including her eye lid. Later on, when Grandpa was home for lunch, Nina and Herbert were best of friends. Each was on the ground laying with their heads towards she other, as if they were staring into each other's eyes. The moment and picture was priceless, so Grandpa and I each reached for a camera without success.

Nina's Nap

Naptime was another battle. She tried about 30 times to get out of bed. "No bed" she kept saying. Eventually a firm, but loving hand won and tonight, she has been a good girl and went to sleep sans a fuss nor a fight.

Unfortunately we were not able to climb Herman the German for we arrived at 10am and it opened at 11am. Instead, we brought Nina over to play with some Little Tykes slides. She really liked that.

At 11am we went to have lunch at Happy Joes, a smorgasbord of pizzas, fried chicken, soup, and a salad bar. As I did not know what a smorgasbord was, I have included a link to a definition. Essentially it's a buffet. I had never heard of this franchise chain before.

So much has changed in 32 years. Birthdays are a time to reflect.

Today

Today we're going to walk and climb the Herman the German monument here in New Ulm.

Birthday Morning

Nina did not go to sleep well last night. She did not wake up well morning either. At 5:40am, she got out of bed crying and went to her bed. This was followed by another disciplining session that lasted until 6:18am.

Following numerous "Go back to bed" and "Go to sleep" repetitions, she is asleep in her room.

A birthday morning for me.

I'm hoping that this battle will not continue for much longer. It's a beautiful morning outside, sunny and crisp.

Nina's Bedtime

Tonight Nina decided that she was not tired. She went to the door to open it and was put back to bed over 40 times tonight. Talk about a lot of sit-ups and climbing back into bed for a 22-month old! Abs of steel! Two hours and thirty minutes later!

A rite of passage this was that stressed the importance of getting enough physical activitiy for our little girl.

Flandrau State Park

This morning we went to Flandrau (pronounced flan drew) State Park to expose Nina to swimming and a sand beach. I recall going there for the first time and chuckling at the term "beach" however it's definitely a good, no a great getaway!

Erin was right about Nina. Nina took the entire morning to warm up to the "beach." The sand has small pebbles and so Nina did not want to walk on it. It took her quite a while before she wanted to even play with the sand. For those of you who have met her, she really likes things "neat" and makes us aware when it is not so. A sand beach to her, is not neat.

We're hoping to head back again prior to our trip to Singapore.

Stay tuned for the pictures.

Aunty Shannon

Erin's sister spent a year studying abroad in Birmingham England. She returned back to New Ulm about two weeks ago. Nina affectionately calls her "Ana" because that is her way of affectionately saying "Auntie."

Auntie Shannon smiled at Nina when they first met and was enthusiastic, but kept her distance. Shannon kept her distance and went back to her room. Erin said that Nina was cute as she slowly crept down the hallway, slowly expanding her comfort zone. Nina would peak into Shannon's room and hurry back over to safe Mommy. Eventually, Nina was comfortable and had built up her confidence to the level that she walks right up to Auntie Shannon's room. Sometimes Nina even goes into the room and is both comfortable and casual about it. Going upstairs to visit Auntie Shannon is always a treat for Nina.

Purchases

Just purchased Quicken Willmaker Plus 2007 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with CD-ROM) because our will is overdue for an update.

In addition, since we have been eating lots and LOTS of vegetables. To keep innovative, we've bought Feeding the Healthy Vegetarian Family

Last Day of Work

Today was my last day of work. I sent an email out to those I worked with and received a wonderful response of well wishes. It is sad that I will not be working with some as that chapter in my life is closing.

A new chapter is beginning.
Today Nina said "strawberry" for the first time! She was sharing my strawberry popsicle and suddenly spoke it. She had signed strawberry the first time when she was about seven months old. Earlier during lunch, Nina said "Daddy bread eat it" which is a pretty amazing four-word phrase for a 22-month old.

Today we looked into hotels at LAX airport on our return leg from Singapore.

One week ago, we sold our first car, a 2001 model silver Honda Civic EX sedan. Craigslist rules!

Carless for the long Memorial Day weekend, Erin and I went on the Schell's Brewery Tour on Sunday May 27th. During this tour, I learned the difference between an ale and a lager. This must be the start of my education! :D Seriously, it's amazing that Minnesota houses the 2nd oldest family-owned brewery in the nation!

On Wednesday, we purchased our tickets to Singapore! We'll be going from June 12 - July 18! Stay tuned for some different sights.

We'll upload some videos and photos later.