Merry Christmas!

To our dear family and friends back home and anywhere you may be in the world, here's wishing you a very merry and blessed Christmas!  

We hope your celebrations will be filled with family and loved ones,

lots of good cheer,

and merry laughter!

And your hearts be filled with love, joy and peace :)

Just wanted to share this fun illustration by artist Christoph Niemann, to get us into the spirit of Christmas!

Source: http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/let-it-dough/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=ab1

December 16, 2010, 8:30 PM

Let It Dough!

Bum(p) size - updated

I shall embarrass myself further and post some updated pics of the bum(p).  Taken last week at 36 weeks, after a 3 course dinner, although I don't think the dinner made any difference to the size :)

Fascinating Escher

Dad visited us a few weeks ago.  We went to the Escher Museum in the historical heart of Den Haag. 

If the artist's name does not strike a bell, here's a clue: 

The museum is housed in the Palace of Queen Emma.  Besides the drawings, equally fascinating are the 15 crystal chandeliers designed by Dutch sculptor, Hans van Bentem.  The massive "Rain Cloud" one below is at the foyer.

The museum houses many of Escher's lesser known illustrations:

This may look like a cut, copy and paste job, but the entire thing is actually drawn and painted on graph paper with accurate angles.

Escher was fascinated by the concepts of eternity and infinity, which are well conveyed in his drawings.  He was also interested in the mathematical concept of tessellation which can be seen here in his final print, "Snakes".  3 realistic snakes intertwine through the edge of a circular tessellation that grows progressively smaller.

For more pictures, see our album on picasaweb: http://picasaweb.google.com/110776657145071773017/EscherMuseum2010#



The Fathomless Deep Optical Illusion Box, one of the several interactive exhibits in the museum.

We ended the visit with a walk to the Parliament House by the lake.  5.15pm, with a beautiful full moon.



T'will be a White Christmas

It has started snowing.  Light powdery snow is everywhere :)  This is the view of the garden at our carpark this morning.

Frozen leaves.

Little paw prints in the snow.

Snowflakes on my jacket cuff.

Ais kacang, anyone?

I scrapped ICE off my car windscreen on Wednesday evening.  It had the consistency of ais kacang.  Thought to myself, "This belongs in the freezer, or in a bowl with lovely syrup and bits of corn, not on a car parked outdoors."  Bird shit, kitty pawprints, scratches - that I can understand.

I guess there is a first time for everything.  It was still a bizarre experience nonetheless, for someone who'd never lived in a cold country :)  Ok, so it gets THIS cold.

Snow is forecasted next week - 15 cm!

P/S: Sorry for the lack of postings.  Had a couple of nasty trojans lurking around in my notebok.  Could not access any of the google websites, including blogspot.  More posts to come soon!

Remember When

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzBr4ldUW8E

This is so sweet - just wanted to share it here (thanks to Pheng Aun).

Life is short.  Live it to the fullest, not with regrets.  Spend it with the ones you love.  Create your own happy memories.  Don't wait for others to do it for you.  And if things don't go as planned, take the bitter along with the sweet, and become a better person from it.

The clips in this video are from the Disney-Pixar animation, Up. For those who have not watched it, don't wait!

What happened to the sun??

For those who are wondering how cold it is, I will tell you how cold AND how dark it is now.

This is the view from our bedroom window at 5:45pm today.  It was averaging about 3 degrees C in the day time last week.  On good days, it is about 10-11 degrees C.  If the sun comes out during the day, it is a real bonus.  Otherwise, we are just happy if it doesn't rain.

The wind here is pretty fierce, you can get blown along when you walk.  Forget about using an umbrella if it is rainy and windy.  I have spoilt many an umbrella that way.  Just put on a hat or hood and walk in the rain.

This is The Pier at Scheveningen beach here in The Hague, on a typical wet and grey morning (photo taken last week).

Ok, more cheerful stuff in the next post - 6 hour road trip to Germany!

Bum(p) Size

Ok, for those who requested, here are some bump shots at end Oct, 30 weeks :)

Hotel Rebenhof, Baden-Baden



With Yin Hui outside Maurithuis, Den Haag



Other bump-related stuff - testing blood sugar level before my breakfast:

Thankfully, the readings were normal during the 2 weeks monitoring period.