Final part of Day 1 - Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven - 天坛 - was another beautiful site! This was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.Inside the Temple that is now closed off to the public...The Temple grounds is made up of three main groups of constructions, all built according to strict philosophical requirements:
1. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - 祈年殿 - a magnificent triple-gabled circular building built on three levels of marble stone base, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests. The building is completely wooden, with no nails.

2. The Imperial Vault of Heaven - 皇穹宇 - a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base. It is surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over large distances.

3. The Circular Mound Altar - 圜丘坛 - the altar proper, which is an empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather. It was built in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor and rebuilt in 1740. Juliana had a lot of fun running around outside all of the buildings...
This was the Altar of Heaven, a circular mound looking south. The number nine represents the Emperor and is evident in the design of the Circular Mound Altar: a single round marmor plate is surrounded by a ring of nine plates, then a ring of 18 plates, and so on for a total of nine surrounding rings, the outermost having 9×9 plates. Here's Juliana and I on the Circular Mound, which is very symbolic of the Chinese beliefs...
All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, representing the Heaven. Each color has a different representation as well as animals too (will get to later).

A neat tree on the way out...

It was a wonderful Temple to visit with a lot of symbolism and helped us learn more about the ancient Chinese culture and their beliefs.

Outside Forbidden City & Tian'amen Square

After our leisurely stroll through the park, we ended up just outside of the Forbidden City. We decided to wait on visiting this until we had a full day, but we got to see the outside and the views of Tian'amen square from this side of the street. The building are so ancient and massive... This is the view from the Forbidden City to Tian'amen square before we crossed over...

After going through security, we got in! Tian'amen square is separated from the Forbidden City on the North side by the "Gate of Heavenly Peace." It is the largest city square inthe world and the site of numerous historical events for China's history.It was first built during the Ming Dynasty in 1417 and has been restored over the years.

In the middle of the square was the "Monument to the People's Heroes and the Great Hall of the People."

A great view of the Forbidden City entrance in the back...

Yet another picture of Juliana and this one was so cute!

Juliana dancing and gathering an audience...

After Juliana's running around and dancing, we headed out the other gate to do some shopping and then head to the Temple of Heaven. This gate was also gorgeous with so much detail...

Beijing - Day One

We arrived at the airport after our 6 hour flight and Juliana had rested plenty on the plane. She immediately got excited, knowing we were somewhere new and we explained to her that we would be in Beijing for the week.

After checking in to our hotel around 8:00am, Juliana passed out very quickly for a morning nap. Jacob took some pictures of the hutongs outside our hotel window to show how most of the locals live...
After eating breakfast and resting, we headed out to explore and discovered Chang Puhe Park just down the street from our hotel. Here's the entrance...

It was beautiful with the water, willow trees and flowers. Since it was a Saturday, there were lots of people taking pictures with Juliana too, which she didn't seem to mind at all. The pictures here and for the rest of the trip truly do not do any justice to the city and all of the sites. It was breathtaking!! Here we are in the park... And under the gigantic fans...

In this park and in other parts of the city, we got to see locals practicing Tai Chi and Qugong as well as singing and playing music. There were also a lot of families and couples playing cards, drinking teas and just chatting by the water on stone tables and chairs.

Stay tuned! Next entry is our passing by Forbidden City (which we later visited), Tianamen Square and the Temple of Heaven.

Back from Beijing

Beijing was a remarkable trip with one breathtaking site after another. Of course, the Great Wall was our greatest adventure, however we crammed our trip with tons of visiting and fit in as much as possible. I can't wait to blog about each day, but for now, just a short hello since we're back! Hard to believe we actually stood on one of the World's Great Wonders!! It was massive and stretched on for miles...

I simply had to get this and fit in with the culture! I didn't get to bring the hat back with me though since it was too bulky. Oh well, got to enjoy it in China!

Juliana was surprisingly well-behaved besides the melt downs around nap times and bed times and a few long days. We truly did push her well beyond her limit, but it ended up being worth it. She did have a blast though at all the sites, was a spectacle among the Chinese people and enjoying dancing her way through the city (videos to come!). If I could have charged for all the pictures taken of her, our hotel would have been paid for! But it was fun to see her smile so much and pose for pictures like a little model. Someday, I would love to visit China again and take in more of the food, culture and sites since there is so much to do, in other cities as well.

Update

I know it's been several days since I have written. My mom's visit was wonderful and relaxing. Since this was her third trip out to Singapore, we skipped some of the sights she had already seen. We got to spend a lot of quality time together and also do some new things as well. It went by far too fast and we miss her already, I can't wait for the next visit to the U.S. so that we can see family and friends again.

Last week, Juliana took a bad fall on a cement stair and landed on her chin. She didn't get stitches, but they glued the cut and she didn't seem to be in much pain. She was a very good girl for the doctor and remained still the entire time!!

After Juliana's hospital visit, I had a visit of my own to a new doctor and discussed some of my own health concerns. We are trying a new course of medications for two weeks and then I'll return for a follow up to see what to do next. Of course, I got sick over the weekend and I'm having a hard time fighting it off. Always happens with a trip coming!

So the good news? We are going to Beijing on Saturday for a week!!! We're really excited to be able to visit Beijing, see the Forbidden City and Great Wall, among other things. I picked up our visas today, so we can officially enter China! It's our first big trip since coming out to Singapore, so we're excited and nervous. Juliana has been exhausted the last two weeks, but I showed her pictures of where we were going and she got excited. She called the Great Wall a "Big bridge!" It's going to be an adventure we've been looking forward to for a few weeks now.

Other than that, not much has changed and we're just going through the days. I can't bellieve it's already nearing the end of May...this year has flown by!

Happy Mother's Day

Motherhood - "great movie" review

In this great movie about the ups and downs of motherhood, Eliza (Uma) is a stay-at-home mother of two children who used to be a writer and is now blogging about being a mom. There's so many different part of her life that are easy to relate to. Also helps me some of what I have to look forward and how I can get through all of the different seasons of motherhood a bit easier.

In one scene, Eliza and her husband are talking and she talks about her life as a stay-at-home mother and how it affects her:

It's just that every day until the second I pass out cold, my day, like the day of almost every other mother I know, is made up a series of concrete, specific actions. And they're actions that kind of ware away at passion, if you know what I mean. The actions are petty and small, like refilling coffee cups or folding underwear, but they accumulate and in this really debilitating way that diminishes my ability to focus on anything else.

Throughout the day, Eliza is trying to write an essay for a parenting magazine and it is something that speaks to the hearts of all mothers:

Motherhood is about accepting the limitations of time and energy, which stretch beyond you, even though it feels like they could consume you. Search for and hold on to your own true self, because without that, what mother can you be? Things are always changing, no matter how much we might want things to stay the same. You could take a picture of your kids every single day and every single day, they'd just be getting older. That's a fact, a heartbreaking fact, but still a fact. So seize your days and dwell on them fully. Look to your children because they know how to inhabit brief periods of time with extreme passion and for nothing more really than the sake of those moments, they can help you remember that. If you only slow down and let them. Be fortunate because chances are good you actually might be.

I personally loved the movie and think all moms, especially stay-at-home moms should watch it, but that's just my *review* I love being a mom, it's the most rewarding role/job in the world, but it can be challenging on so many different levels. For me, I struggle to be a toddler along with my daughter some days, to get down to her level, to play, to color for hours on end, to simply try to see and learn through the eyes of a 2.5 year old. Other times, it's the stubbornness I have to deal with, the tantrums or the crying when she doesn't get her way. Or it could simply be the selfishness of wanting more time to myself, to pursue things I'm passionate about, because I too feel as though they are diminished. Sometimes, I truly believe I've forgotten parts of who I am, things I may like or dislike, or what I enjoy about the world I live in. But in the end, it's all worth it to look into Juliana's beautiful eyes and feel my heart beat with love for her. Her passion for life is more than enough for me right now and in the process of being her mom, I will try harder to seize my days, be fortunate and most importantly, to find my true self.

A beautiful surprise

This will be my third Mother's Day and it feels incredible to celebrate my role as a mom for my beautiful daughter. I found out that Jean is very creative too, because she had an activity with Juliana to make me a Mother's Day picture.

I would never think of something this creative...
I'm amazed it kept Juliana's attention, because this must have taken a lot of work! The final piece! I think they were going to hold on to it until Sunday, but Juliana was so excited, she pulled it out to show me the second I walked in the door!! It's so beautiful and unique. I can tell she was proud with all the praise.

MISunderstood

MISunderstood

Confusing, distracting,
Emotional, ravenous,
All of which are
MISunderstood.

Happy, compassionate,
Lonely, breathtaking,
All of which are also
MISunderstood.

There’s a cloud over my head,
A blur in my eyes,
A hole in my beating heart and I am
MISunderstood.

People choose to judge me,
Others decide to hate me,
Those that truly know me understand I feel
MISunderstood.

I try to express my emotions,
Explain myself to people,
But not one gets it or me, because I’m
MISunderstood.

If I had it my way,
I’d scream it to the world,
That it’s simply okay to be
MISunderstood.

I would tell them all to listen,
open their eyes and ears,
And then they would know I may not have to be
MISunderstood,
Anymore.

Bike riding at East Coast Park

Yesterday, Sue Lynn and Mun Cheong picked us up to go bike riding at East Coast Park. It was a great day for it and Juliana was excited to see the girls.

They got the two seated bicycle, so we decided to try it out too. Here's Juliana ready to go...
We may look silly, but it was fun!

She absolutely loved it, especially when we went fast. She'd say, "Faster, faster!"

They looked better at it than we did and the girls were racers practically...

Yeah, I heal the camera behind my back for this one, so it's a bit close up, but she's so cute...

Juliana got to try Bethel's bike, with daddy's help of course...

How cute is this? Juliana kept chasing Eden around trying to grab her hand and then she would run along side her while she rode her wave board!

After bike riding, we headed for some gelato and Juliana found this hat clip in the door...

Yum yum! This stuff is so good!

Another wonderful day. We seem to do all the fun things with them :-) and look forward to many more opportunities!