Still home bound

It seems like I am doing my second confinement here in Singapore. I have been here since a week and has not visited anywhere.

My foot is getting better and the wounds are slowly drying up. Still, I cannot go out as my foot is swollen and I can't walk properly. I am glad that I brought books here to read. There is also WII for us to play at home.

Baby A is getting used to the weather. At 4 months old, he is trying to turn over on the bed. He manages to turn his body but he does not know how to place his arm underneath so it is stuck. We have to help him and my mom is watching him closely.

All my friends find baby A cute and I find all their babies cute too. Babies, they all grow so fast. I guess this is the time we find our children the cutest.

Freak accident happens

How heavy is a car? Very heavy indeed but not enough to crush my toes. Thank God!

This morning, my left foot got run over by a car. The car stayed on my foot for some seconds before moving forward to release my foot. The following events happened as it should; rushed to nearby clinic for consultation, took 2 panadols, sent to Changi Hospital by ambulance, consulted the doctor at A&E, took an X-ray to assert the situation. No bones broken. Dressed up the wounds, retreived the medication, paid the bill and left home. My brother was with me all the time and Elena came and fetched us home. I shall not dwell into the details of the accident. It was after all a freak accident and no one is to be blamed.

I was conscious through out the whole ordeal and at one time, even found it funny as I could not decide if the red on my toes were my nail polish or blood. I am sure I will be a little depress upon seeing the state of my toes when the bandages are removed.

I am not able to walk properly. I called up my credit card company as I paid my air tickets with them and travel insurance was included by default. They were really proactive, calling me from France to check on my situation and offering to help me in any ways possible. That includes getting assistance to get out of the country if necessary and paying up front for my hospitalisation bill. I needed none of that. We shall see if I am apt to travel alone back with baby A in 3 weeks time. Good thing that the accident happened in the beginning of my visit and not at the end. I will have forced rest at the comfort of my mom's home.

I was also impressed with the efficiency of the medical team here. The paramedics assured me and updated me on my situation throughout the ambulance journey and the hospital staff were professional. Many thanks go to Elena and Carmen who helped greatly and also to well wishes from friends and relatives who came visit. We held a mini-celebration for baby A's home-coming to Singapore this afternoon. Yes, the SHOW MUST GO ON!

Paris in August

Each July/August, part of the quay is closed to make way for Paris Plage (Paris beach). We went for a walk along the quay and was surprised that there was not many people on a weekend. It was pleasant walking along the banks of the Seine. The Paris Plage had lots of actitives and they were free of charge. The sun benches were all taken up. There were tai ji classes, massages, gym machines, water sprinklers etc....

After exiting from the quay, we walked along rue Saint Honoré and saw a Barbie foot in a boutique. It was so cool.

I'm sure any guy who is a baby foot fan will go crazy over it.

Compiegne

We went visiting Compiegne for the first time last saturday. Compiegne is about an hour's drive north of Paris. I know of this city only because Jessie's parents-in-law live there. Other than that, I know nothing else.

The highway roads were classified 'black' on saturday as it was the day of the "grand depart de vacances". Everyone was heading south for their summer vacation. Going up north, the highway road was smooth flowing and we mostly saw dutch and german cars heading home after their vacation in France.

Upon arriving in Compiegne, we easily found a public parking lot. The town was quiet. It was definitely not a vacation destination in August. Most shops were closed. There was an open market and we bought 2 artichokes. Seb and I loved to visit fresh food market. After lunch, we walked up to the castle and visited the castle's park. The castle looked well maintained but I only noticed a tour bus. As for the castle's park, it was calm. There was hardly anyone.
As in any outing, a little shopping for me obliged. As it was the post-sale season, Okaidi was having extra promotion. Buy an item and the second item was at 2€ and the third article at 1€. I got 3 sets of summer clothes for my boy. At Petit Bateaux, I bought lots of body suits. For the moment, I have enough clothes for my boy until the end of the year.
As usual, baby A slept throughout the trip except during his feed. I guess I will visit Compiegne again. We saw a museum of figurines and were sure that Angel would be interested to visit it. We will come with him when he visits us again.

Angel's visit

Angel had been in france several times this year due to work. We met up again in july as his schedule permitted. I invited him over to our place for lunch and cooked him a simple meal with tomatoes and mozarella as entrée and lor bak(braised meat) as main dish. After lunch, we visited the Cité Université and Parc Montsouris. I always wanted to visit this area of Paris. Cité Université was basically a big hostel for foreign students studying in Paris. There were many different buildings with an international theme. There were the Japan house, the Canada house, Brazil house, India house etc...
As for Parc Montsouris, it was crowded as with any park in Paris on a sunday. There were playgrounds and amusement rides for children. There was also little pony rides available. We had a pleasant time strolling in the park.

We met up Angel again a few days later for a falafel dinner at rue des Rosiers in the third district of Paris. It rained heavily during the evening. Still, we had a good time. Angel was kind enough to help me bring back 2 tins of milk powder. My boy and I will be in Singapore soon and I appreciate Angel's gesture to help lighten my luggage bag.

Singapore day goodies bag

Sam gave me a goodie bag from the recent Singapore day event held in London. Thanks a lot Sam. As I wrote earlier, I missed out on the event as it was near my delivery date.

Look, there's a lot of "I love Sg" stuff. There's a cloth bag, a t-shirt, a CD of swing, an eraser, a pin, a picnic mat, a black diary and a paper ball that I used to play. Most of all, I like the "Chope" wet-tissue pack. It is so Singaporean.