Sehr kühl idyllisch Samstag morgen... Musings on a cool idyllic Sat morning in Koblenz

It's a blessing to be able to visit Germany, a place that I've always wanted to visit. For some reason or another, something about Germany's history and culture draws me. Nope, it's definitely not because of the beer or wine, both of which I'm not a fan of. The rustic buildings and architecture, sculptures, and the rich history in the soil of this land somehow intrigue me.

It's been a busy week of meetings, but the journeys from Munich to Koblenz and to Frankfurt allowed me to see and experience the German culture. Germans are sharp and efficient, yet they know the value of family time. Yes they work hard, and sometime long hours, but time with their families is something that's common with most Germans. Going home for dinner is a priority for many of them. Perhaps that's why the shops also close early at 8pm. Family activities like running, strolling by the river, cycling are common sights, esp on an idyllic cool Saturday morning like today.

Anyway, this observation has caused me to reflect quite a bit over this week away from home. There're just too much "distractions" back home. TV, Internet... It's time I pulled the plug on some of these when I get home. It's nice to "de-rust" my German language that's not been used for a good 8 years! I enjoy the German culture here, BUT I still miss the 2 women in my life... =)

Emma's Daddy signing off from Koblenz.. off to Frankfurt and then home!

things that make her go "eeeeeeeeeee.....!!!"

Emma's got this thing about cleanliness.
- She'll suck her fingers, take them out, and then stretch her wet fingers towards us and say "eeeeee!", until we wipe her fingers clean.
- She'll point at a strand of noodle that landed on her thigh, and go "eeeeee!", until we wipe her thigh clean.
- She'll point at her soiled diaper and say "EEEEEEE!" as we're taking it off, ready to clean her.

These are the very common daily instances that make Emma go "EEEEEEE!".

But just this morning, another thing made Emma go "EEEEEE!" She woke up in bed, rub her eyes and stretched herself as usual... then she turned to see mommy as usual... only this time, she added an exclamation "EEEEEEE!" and pointed at mommie's.... erm.... face.. =P well, yes, mommy's very sad that Emma "EEEEE!" at her this morning...

alright.. shan't disclose anymore... u can ask mommy what exactly made Emma go "Eeeeeeeeee!" earlier this morning... hehehe

Nice Sat morning and "Driving Ms Emma Joy Foo"

I didn't realise how long it had been since we've blogged... it sure had been veeereeeee long! The last blog was about how Emma was heads over heels over Hello Kitty and Friends. Well, she still is. haha.. no surprise over that right? anyway, one of the Hello Kitty songs was "Green Machine" sung by the froggie Keroppi. It's about his green sports car, which he boasted in his song about being the best car, beating all others to the checkered flag, and sending all the other female kitties screaming "green machine! green machine!"... u should hear it, and especially with the additional backup vocals provided by Emma Joy. =)

well, we went out for breakfast yesterday (saturday) morning at Ghim Moh hawker center. Nice lazy Saturday morning it was, with a nice bowl of beancurd as starters for me, and fishball noodles for Ade. Emma of course snacked from our food. Alright, I did have another few slices of roti prata.. so much for controlling my calories and fat intake, in my bid to control my cholestrol level.. yes, it is HIGH!! so fine, I'm fat on the inside... time to up the ante in my running regime, perhaps to twice daily instead of daily runs that I'm already doing now... sigh...

As we were heading back to the car after breakfast, we saw this bunch of kids going around in battery operated toy cars in an open space just next to the playground. Sure looked like fun, and it sure captured little Emma' attention. We set her down, and she walked around the "garage" of cars, and she seemed to like ALL of them!!! gosh... anyway, there was this "green machine" with froggie pictures on it. It looked very much like Keroppi, and perhaps his Green Machine too. We chose that green car for Emma, since it had a remote with which I could control the car without bending down to hold the steering wheel and strain my back in the process... hehe... that's unmanned remote technology for u!

Needless to say, Emma had a ball of a time "driving" around in her "green machine"... Ade took a video... enjoy the video, and keep your eyes out for Emma's squeals and her "Queen Elizabeth" hand waves. Yes, I think she has lots to learn in terms of keeping her eyes on the front while "driving", but anyway, she didn't mount any sidekerb this time. =)

After seeing how Emma loved the driving experience, I wonder if she'll grow up to be like Ade in liking small but exorbitantly priced cars (like the Mini-Cooper Sports, or the VW Beetle).... *gasp* !!!

Hellooooo....

Kitteeeee! yes yes.. my little daughter has developed a high degree of liking for Hello Kitty & Friends!

She stops what she's doing (including fussing) and starts dancing when she hears the theme song in the Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends cartoon.

She instinctively says "there!" and points to mommie's Hello Kitty shower cap whenever she sees mommie wearing it.

She will somehow notice Hello Kitty in the midst of the busy shopping mall or packed store shelves, and points at it and says "there!"... or she'll drag us over..

She becomes a lot more alert and interested in our outings whenever she sees Hello Kitty, e.g. @ NTUC recently, and @ BPP Watson's today (where she actually even let mommie's hand go just to stand at the Hello Kitty shelf, and where she stopped as we passed by another stack of Hello Kitty stuff on our way out of Watson's!)...

what a girly girl! =)

[ps. Now Charlotte has a fellow Hello Kitty fan.. =)]