Central Park *heart*

 Staying in Manhattan for a month, we have found that the 20mins walk in the cold winds to Central park is always well worth the effort. Each time we go, we will venture to a different part of the huge place and discover and observe nature at it's very best.

 The funny bit is, Central park is everything BUT natural. It is completely human designed and made with the sole purpose for the rich to walk around and enjoy a 'garden' like their English counterparts in Europe. It was build and designed in the 1800s and since then, has become the most sought after postcode of residences plus a life giving set lungs to the city of NYC. We are thankful for it.

 There's the ponds brimming with ducks and geese of many varieties, living in a peaceful and serene environment. It was lovely to see them together as 'couples' as families floating away.

 The fountain has it's on 'biblical' (some bibles) history as well...and stories to tell. It was said that the angel represented the Bethsaida pool where angels will descend to stir the waters from time to time. Anyone who comes straight after the angel will be healed with whatever sickness they had. It was also mainly to represent the clean and pure source of water for NYC since is was built when the first aquaduct was built for the city.

 To think that thousands of people had to give up their homes for this lovely park as it had to fit the design. The design had to fit the rocky grounds and high terrains (not suitable for residences) is now wonderful for kids and families alike to experience the park in all it's richness and glory.

 Our first visit to Central Park on the 2nd day of our move to NYC. It was suppose to be spring but the temps warmed up to a high of a winter's day..cool, VERY cool!

 There's always entertainment and kids fun things at the park. Play areas with different levels of excitement and challenges are spotted all over the park. We were so happy to find them suitable for big kids as well as babies..

 Fresh air for little baby to zzzz by and he slept a looooong time...must be good!

We are yet to see about 1/3 of the park and it's surrounds. The girls are dying to go on a carriage ride (think we'd save it for a special occasion) and have their portraits painted by the various artists along the way. It's a lovely place, it's truly the highlight of Manhattan (the museums are nearby) and it is a family favorite destination. We will be back, again and again..

Blessings! - Manhattan Madness!

So much has happened and time has zipped passed so fast, I decided to summarize my thoughts of the past 2-3 months in chunks. I can't help but to see the entire time as a long list of blessings and I will slowly and surely record them as a reminder of God's hand in our lives (yes, we love God and we are Christians!)

Thank God for Facebook as I am able to look back into my own status updates to remind me.

23hrs~ The flight itself seems never-ending. For a family who is quite 'bad' with flying, this is the ultimate trip for all of us. I made sure I drugged the weaker members (including myself) throughout the trip and after a messy 8hrs to Brisbane, we were soooo happy that we made it this entire trip, high and DRY (you guessed it!)...to me, this is something I am thankful for!

A great little apartment to start off with~ after a 2day of 'time lag' in grogginess and excitement. We finally settled into our little 2bedder REALLY convenient in midtown Manhattan with everything at arms reach. If I can't cook, we had a range of restaurants to choose from, if I wanted to eat on a budget, there's many pre-prepared food to buy to heat up, if we had enough energy to fight the cold, we'd venture out to a restaurant somewhere....and yes, we still missed out DIN TAI FUNG, our Kopitiams, our FOOD republics, as well as our KIM SAN LENGs in Singapore but, we are thankful for the short time to breath in NY to it's fullest, to it's max and as local as possible, paid for!

Carson turned ONE in NYC~ though by choice, we'd like for him to be surrounded by his grandparents, his family/church friends and his network of mommy's friends that loves him to bit but alas it is not to be so. The highlight was it made us appreciate the moments we have with little Carson as well as being aware that his little life is a gift in itself to us. Carson is a little person with so much personality and charisma. He is the best thing that has ever happened to his sisters and we're immediate benefits of this beautiful ever growing relationship. He is indeed chalk and cheese different to the girls with the mere fact that he is ALL BOY and they are both girlie girls. This special day, we ordered a home delivered chinese feast after a long happy day in the world famous FAO Schwarz toy store. Carson was treated to a baby's story time plus lots of looks, touch and see of toys he can't have. He had his first icing birthday cake but only seemed to enjoy the plastic decorative things on it. Maybe on his 2nd birthday, we would have enough friends to have a baby 'party'..

More to come..

77 DAYS

I was browsing and commenting on a friend's blog and it dawned on to me that I have not been updating our own blog for such a long time.

Yes, exactly that, we have now been in the US for 77 days.

We have had a whole month living in the heart of Broadway, right opposite the "Wicked" theatre and survived the ambulance, fire trucks, taxis and police sirens, nightly, hourly and extremely loud. Living in the city does has it's benefits, as with living anywhere in any country, the taxis are at your beckon call, the metro is a walk away, restaurants, shops and banks are also a short walk away. The biggest difference we found is, Manhattan is like 50times the size of Orchard rd Singapore, noisier, less prettier and less upkept.

We've enjoyed Central Park, visited the key museums (after a while, one can get all museum-ed out), had daddy home regularly for 'LUNCH', attended a musical, went shopping in touristy places, walked the same streets as what we see on DVDs and TVs. We have also spent time dealing with banks, with government authorities, with property agents, with car dealers as well as with many many more characters to help us see the US as it is presented to us....real!

The most recent is, the girls have safely integrated to the local school systems here. I have worked hard in logging our days via our status updates on facebook and have failed miserably to update here. To cut the long story short, the girls only had 10weeks of school for Primary 5 & 3 respectively in Singapore and a long 2 month break while we holiday, move and travel to enter into the end of the US school year with only 3+ weeks to spare. We were concerned that they were hardly educated in this particular school 'year' but the teachers here seems happy enough for them to move up the grade with the rest of the kids. Hence, Letitia is 'graduating' to Middle school in September, Mathena is moving up to Grade 4.

We are discovering the region here slowly as we get use to the life here, we are enjoying the slow transition of cold weather (and rapid unpredictable weather) to sunny summer. We are loving the freshness of less humid air and the fact we can actually not use the AC in our cars when we drive in the mornings. And yes, we are ALREADY used to driving on the 'other side' of the road. Let's see what pics we have for you..

 Before we left... kids unsure of the "I love NY!" bit..

 Our little guy celebrating his FIRST birthday at the famous FAO Schwarz Toy store.

The second birthday celebrated in our new abode...in red velvet, of course!