Sophia

This week end we decided to take a bus to Singapore to visit our grand daughter who Repin has not seen since last month. The journey was uneventful - we both slept like logs along the way , woken up once at the rest area for a 20 minute toilet break and then off again. Sophie had grown almost an inch since we last saw her -she's all legs now. She had never been plump except as a tiny infant and now as a little 4+ she's even skinnier. A rather picky eater,she loves Japanese food - sushi and seaweed being her favorites. Yesterday, the first thing she said when she saw us was "how long will you stay?" It makes me feel so sad because I think she wants to see more of us but because of Repin's and my busy schedule, we cannot do that.

Sophie is now learning the piano and can play a few tunes - Twinkle twinkle little star and Three Blind Mice as well as another piece I don't even know the title of. She was excited when I gave her the sticker book I had got her in London as well as some dresses and a Kath Kidston bag. In fact the sticker book was a great hit- I wish I had bought more. We immediately got to play with it and started doing the stickers as soon as I unpacked it.

We went to the Botanical Gardens the next evening - another example of Singapore's real love and appreciation for nature, as opposed to our Government's attitude of oh its okay to cut a few trees - after all what are trees compared to buildings? The Singapore Botanical Gardens is not just a place where you can actually learn and wonder and be fascinated - it's a beauty and it's so appreciated.There are so many people - walking their dogs, playing with children, just walking and enjoying the beauty of nature and also appreciate the fine arts - the Chinese Symphony Orchestra was giving a free concert and a lot of people were sitting there, just enjoying the music. How I wish we had such things here in Malaysia. Sometimes I feel that we are really such apes - philistines really.



Sophia with her grand dad





the Chinese Symphony orchestra at the gardens

After about an hour of walking and admiring the different plants they had we decided to call it a day and went off for tea at the nearby cafe. There are a number of eating places here catering to different styles and appetites - fine dining, canteen style and fast food. There are also places where we can have picnics as I can see some families having fun picnicking under the trees! A good day for all.