Joecities

Had a brain-numbing day at the office yesterday, so wasn't really in a conducive state when we went to have dinner with Anne and Felix at their home.
But I did learn a couple of things about babies (from caleb, their newborn) when we were there:

1) Sometimes, there's no substitute for hands-on experience. When Caleb cries, only Anne or Felix can tell why he's crying. Sometimes it's the way he's being held, what he wants to see, whether he's hungry, made a poo poo, or just being fussy. There's no instruction manual. You really gotta just try it out.
2) A child is an extension of our own selves. I mean a kid is an individual human being, but the environment and the way he/she is brought up basically carries on from where we left off. I guess that's why so many parents want their kids to fulfil the dreams the parents have had. With the amount of love and attention Caleb is getting, he's got a great start to a good future.

Other news on the home front. We bought a new sofa ! The good news is that it's really plush. The bad news is that it takes 3 months to deliver ! And if shirley manages to sell our sofa soon, we'll be sofa-less for at least 2 months ! Oh well, at least we have bean bags.

Speaking of homes- while visiting friends' houses over the 2 week break in Singapore, it was really nice to see many examples of nice design, and all of the houses I visited left me a little green with envy. Mel and Di have this really classy entertainment area and dining bench-thingy; Fred and Lay have a huge bedroom and a nice balcony area; Ter and Pin have this mega plasma TV and a transparent kitchen to watch it from while they cook; Jon and Glo have this gi-normous photo-mural that Jon snapped... I didn't even get to see Sanjay's and Illy's place which is supposed to be fantastic.

If I put all these things together, it'd probably look like 'rojak' because they each have their own characteristics but I'm really happy for my friends that they've got such nice places to call home.

It's strange how things have changed, especially over the last three years in terms of priorities and perceptions.... Happy Belated New Years all ! Hope this year is a good one for you !