Extended Stay at Lone Pine.........

Birthday Celebration at Lone Pine (1)

Our Little Angel is Two Exactly!

Musikgarten Class

Zerlynde resumed her Musikgarten Class after an absence of more than half a year. This time round, we joined the toddlers' class which is so much more fun and exciting. I think it's mainly because Zerlynde's participation is now more active as compared to before when she was still at the crawling stage.

The first day I brought her to class, she was a little bit shy but obviously liked the company of all her little friends. It didn't take her long to warm up to the extent that when her teacher asked everyone to "nod" their heads, Zerlynde promptly stood up, walked to the door, and "knocked" on it, saying "knock, knock", very pleased with herself. All of us mothers cracked up watching her innocence. She was also particularly thrilled to form a circle, hold hands with the persons next to her and move to the various round dance music.

Lately, granny has been joining us in class as I am a little indisposed....

We Love Minnie Mouse

Dressing Up

Uh-Oh...

Another Hectic Weekend

It's the weekend again!! Daddy is home and spends Saturday morning playing with Zerlynde.



Since Zerlynde loves birthday cakes and blowing candles and also because she's born in the special month of August.........



It's Sale Carnival time at Metrojaya. So, we spent the whole afternoon shopping there. Zerlynde had a grand time at the toys department, touching everything at sight as usual. We later brought her to KFC for snacks. She obviously loved the nuggets and the mashed potatoes. And we adults were totally impressed with the new Cheesy BBQ Meltz, a must-try.

Bar Dinner at Equatorial in the evening. The stand up comedians were really funny. We all cracked up, especially during the "Itinerary" and the "Salesman' stints. Later, we all mingled at the Bar outside the Mutiara Ballroom. I immediately knew one of my good friends were far from sober when she called my hubby "Eugene". Kenzu had his share of fun, consuming no less than 8 beers and 3 whisky, I suspect. And of course, he must have enjoyed his cigar and his 1 minute glory as "James Bond". Do check out Eugene's Blog for more details and pictures.







Sunday afternoon, we headed to Batu Kawan for lunch at one of Kenzu's favourite restaurants but it was closed. So we adjourned to Hai Siang at Simpang Ampat instead. The food was delicious. We had crispy duck, fried mee tiau, tu-bo-s'ng, curry assam pompret and also ordered some steamed scallops for Zerlynde.

There's a mechanical car and pony outside the restaurant. We never used to slot in coins to operate any of these mechanical rides due to Zerlynde's apprehension. But daddy this time slotted in some coins to operate the pony and eventually helped Zerlynde overcome her fear. She was crying for more rides toward the end.


















Later in the afternoon, we went to St Anne's Church. Zerlynde was still scared of stepping on the grass but we managed to persuade her to walk and jump on it after a while. We also introduced to her the word "Angel".















"The Pieta" reminds hubby and I of the original we saw in St Peter in Vatican Rome....


















The original:-


In 1498 after Christ, Michelangelo, only 22 years old, writes a contract, guaranteed by Jacopo Galli, with the French Cardinal of San Dionigi, for the realization, within a year, of a "Pietà" (pity) in marble destined to be placed in the Basilica of San Pietro.

On a piece of marble personally chosen in the pits of Carrara, Michelangelo represents the isolated aspects of the Virgin Mary holding in her arms the body of the Christ right after it was taken down from the Crosse, according to an iconography that, during this period, had found a large consensus on the other side of the Alps.

1.74cm high, the "Pietà" of Michelangelo presents strong particularities in the anatomy and also in the finishes of the drapes, with translucent effects of accentuated by the way in which the light seemed to caress the marble superficies. One of the things that most surprises on the sculpture is the aspect extremely young the artist wanted to give to the face of the Virgin Mary; this choice, strongly criticized by the contemporaneous, finds its justification in the abstract character of the composition. In the intentions of the sculptor, the Madonna probably represents the entire humanity and as such, using the words of the "Divine Comedy" of Dante, she is the "Virgin Mother, daughter of your son". On the face of the Christ are absents the signs of the Passion, Michelangelo, in fact, does not desire the objective representation of the death but expresses his own religious vision in the abandoned and, anyway, serene face of the Son, as a testimony of the communion between man and God sanctified with the sacrifice of the Saver.

It is said that Michelangelo, not used to firm the own works, after he had casually heard some visitors from Lombardy say that the "Pietà" was the work of Gobbo di Milano, went to the Basilica of San Pietro on the night itself, and engraved on the work the writing: "Angelus Bonarotus Florentinus Faciebat".The sculpture was placed in 1499 after Christ in the Chapel of Santa Petronilla in San Pietro, where it stays until 1517 after Christ when it is moved to the old Sacristy. Since 1749 after Christ the work is placed in its actual location and it has abandoned the Basilica of San Pietro only to be welcomed to the Universal Exhibition of New York from 1962 to 1964. Following the gesture of a silly person, who in 1972 damaged the work with numerous hammer beats, after the restoration it has been decided to protect the sculpture with a crystal wall.

And it's so good to see my parents being so loving to one another. I pray that St Anne blesses them with longevity and good health so that they will be celebrating Zerlynde's 21st birthday together with us in 2 decades.