No, it’s not our wedding anniversary (we don’t look that old, do we? ), but the anniversary of the day we first met each other, ten years ago in 1998.

It was 30th October 1998 when I approached Catherine on the Jurong East MRT Station platform. Since then, we got together rather quickly and we are still happily together a decade later, and bearing our fruit of love, Darius. ^^

Anyway, I took a day off from work but frankly did not know what to do for the anniversary. Having Darius with us now does limit the activities we can do together. I have thought of bringing them for some nature time but after the Admiralty Park incident (see Day When Things Go Awry (Part 2)), I decided otherwise.

And so, with a suggestion from Catherine, we decided to go down a place that is getting out of reach to us parents — Orchard Road.

We called a cab before noon and down we go town again. This will be Darius’ second trip to town.

"Where are you bringing me to again?"

We alighted at Centrepoint, and decided to check out the Robinson’s store. However, it was past 11.30am when we reached there, which was Darius’ feeding time. So off we went in search for the Baby Room.

After checking with a security guard, we went up to the 6th floor and located the Baby Room. It was more like a restroom (with cubicles for both adults and children) and a small room for feeding. There wasn’t any arm rest from the chair provided, and Catherine had a tiring time feeding Darius.

A lady actually came in to use the toilet when we were inside

After the feed, we finally walking towards Robinson’s. The place was quiet and it sure was a comfortable and relaxing experience shopping without a crowd.

I was mesmerised by the Christmas tree decoration section on the 5th floor, as I have always loved setting up our own Christmas tree, which had only come true a few years ago after we got married and moved into our flat. The previous decorations were golden in theme and this year round, I will make it more colourful (to attract Darius’ attention better) by adding some red into the decoration. After some choosing and imagining how things will look on our tree, I bought some red ornaments and ribbons.

We then proceeded to the kids’ section on the 6th floor, and the first thing that caught our eyes was this:

Seeing the bears sitting and moving around on a ski ride brightened us and got us a little closer to the Christmas mood. It sure was an innovative deco.

While we were looking around in the section, I spotted this cute car and decided to place Darius (who just woke up) in it.

"I don't have a driving license, you know?"

He seemed pretty stunned when he was inside the car, but enjoyed it quite a bit when I pushed him around. Fortunately, the shoppers were few and the staff did not stop us from ‘having fun’.

After checking out the Motherhood outlet on the ground floor, we proceeded to Swensens beside Crown Prince Hotel for our lunch. Darius was sleeping soundly and we were hoping he won’t wake up in the middle of our meal as his feeding time is nearing.

After the meal, I took the opportunity to give Catherine a card I prepared (not self-made but with many words I wrote on it). This is a ‘tradition’ for us as we have been giving/exchanging cards during celebrations since we knew each other. We now keep a full box of these cards in our study room. ^^|

We then proceeded to Paragon next door, and after feeding Darius, took a walk on the 5th floor, which was the kids section. We didn’t find the shops interesting, except for one, which we placed Darius into one of the exersaucers. We have wanted to rent one for him but seeing that he was still struggling to sit properly in it, we thought to give him more time before we introduce this new toy to him.

We then proceed on to Takashimaya across the road, and checked out the kids section on the 3rd floor. We went to the nursery to feed him but were taken aback by the sign on one of the walls, which read: ‘BREASTFEEDING ROOM: MALES NOT ALLOWED’.

The important amenities shouldn't be placed beyond the 'restricted zone'

Yes, it’s understandable that men are not supposed to go into the shared breastfeeding room for obvious reasons, but the problem was that the water dispensers, rubbish bin and sink were all situated beyond the room. I could pretend not seeing the sign (which I did once) and just walk past the breastfeeding room (which was curtained up) and proceed to wash the milk bottle etc, but there’s always the worry of causing unnecessary attention and misunderstanding.

In the end, we decided to let Catherine do the washing etc while I helped changed his diapers after Catherine had fed him. I was disappointed by the layout of the nursery, but guess some lazy fathers would probably appreciate this place a lot as it gave them good reasons not to tend to their children. ^^|

At the toys section, Catherine took a big Elmo soft toy off the shelf and playfully moved it in front of Darius. He seemed pretty amused by it and we couldn’t stop laughing at his expressions.

"Sir... What are you?"

We then went across to the Kinokuniya Bookstore on the same floor. We managed to locate the children’s books section, which was on top of a platform. Catherine and I had to carry the stroller up, only to realise that there was a ramp on the other side.

The section was huge and there were plenty of books for toddlers and children. Catherine, having read from the Net on recommended books, chose three books from the large selection.

Phew! We were tired out after this long trip and decided to head for home. We boarded a cab and Darius was getting uneasy on it. He was probably feeling tired too, or was quite afraid of the darkness in the vehicle. Fortunately we reached home without Darius getting too cranky, thanks to Catherine’s whispering songs and my mobile phone.

What a long day this was! Our legs were all getting wobbly after this. On the hindside, it was a pretty fruitful trip as we had managed to buy things we need.

Hope Darius had a great time too~

Related posts:

1. 13 Years! 13 — That’s the number of years that has passed...