Vivo Viva with Grandpa and ma

I actually planned to spend today in the comfort of my home, reading but as my paternal grandpa called us out to spend today with him and ma ma at Vivocity, I obliged. Initially, I thought today would be better than other days when we went out together, maybe there were lesser quarrels=lesser trouble but I was wrong. Anyways, today was still OK overall. At least we got to spend time with them after so long cos these few months I have not been visiting them due to many commitments. [Ok, maybe these are just excuses but I really wanted to visit them more often]
This outing was especially memorable for all of us due to the simple reason that we had the pleasure of THE BLOB aka my brother as our company. I was quite surprised when he agreed to go with us but after much thought, I uncovered his motive: to explore Vivocity which he had not been to before! Oh well, nevertheless we got him of the one-eyed monster.

Entrance of V-I-V-O according to how Ye ye pronounce it!

One of the main aims of our visit was for the floating book fair exhibition onboard a ship called Doulos. Apparently my grandpa read about it somewhere so we decided to go see.

Ship With Books Ahoy!

younger sis and ma ma

Onboard the ship, I expected a wide array of books with various genres but turned out that moajority of them were Christian books and CDs....hmmm..not bad! However, I only wished that there were books in Chinese cos ma ma got quite bored.

Mama trying to make sense of the books!

As Maib aka my sister hasn't had her lunch and due to The Blob waking up at 1pm [he slept at 3am last night!] and there being insufficient time to have a proper breakfast/brunch, we went to B2's Kopitiam to recharge. Ye ye suggested going to Food Republic cos he wants to see the so-called fishballs which "came from Johor".

Finally! A foodcourt with a theme!

Normally in Singapore, all the foodcourts look the same: green and white setting, the clean look. That's why when I first got a glimpse of Food Republic and its "Early Singapore" theme, I got excited.hahaha....but don't you think it's true? I'm glad the management at Vivocity did something to quell the boredom of Singapore's typical foodcourts!

I think my grandparents loved the place, partly due to the nolstagia and the memories it brings back to them but also because of the food! Ye ye was so happy talking about the food man! You should have seen his face!

As Blogger is giving me problems again, I think I'll do the photos another time! Anyways, I'm sad to say that my brother didn't really interact with Ye ye and ma ma. He was just wondering behind at a distance, lost in his own world. Only when they talk to him will he give a monosyllabic reply. Maybe I'm asking too much. Him going out with us is already a miracle! I guess I'll just have to take things one step at a time.

We went outdoors on Level 3 for a breather and after that, we headed to Level 1 to source for more interesting things to do. Apparently, there was a James Bond Showcase going on. They brought in the Aston Martin, the car in the new Bond Movie, Casino Royale. I still think the new Bond guy looks weird! OK, that's besides the point!

Went out, took more pictures with the folks and went back.

Today may seem like a simple and effortless day but I beg to differ. As Ye ye couldn't walk fast [he walks with a cane now], all of us had to slow down to accommodate his speed and over the years, he's getting slower and slower but I can't blame him for that. At least he still makes the effort to go on walks by himself even though ma ma tells him not to venture outdoors alone due to his bad leg.

Sigh. Even though I complained about my brother being unresponsive, I think my attitude towards them was not that perfect either. I was rather impatient with them at times and even though I know they meant well, I still couldn't show them some patience. Argh! What's become of me?

I promise to visit them more often. I guess this would make them more happy and less lonely. Please pray for patience.