Life is short...Live it Well !!!

Be grateful for what we have...

2011-07-05T23:17:00.003+08:00

Have been reminding myself these days to be grateful for what I have and not to focus on what is lacking .

I am so grateful to my kind and dear friends who came forward to make me feel better last month. :) Tks to M dropping by with a bottle to chat with me; Tks to N for readily offering contacts for help ; Tks to Ching E for providing all her usual wise advices to make me see things from different perspective ; Tks to P for the timely call and encouragement and the wonderful list of weblinks...:)

There are also so many weddings happening these few weeks. These couples are so lovely and I really feel deeply they are meant for each other and complete each other. JM& Su, Jasmine&Philip, Zihui&Jack.. remember to be grateful for each other and cherish!

Congrats and wish you a life time of happiness together!

Bali Retreat....

2010-11-28T12:54:00.004+08:00

So glad I went along with Annie and Kodi to the Yoga retreat holiday in Taman Ahimsa in Seminyak, Bali. This was my first time in Bali, and such a lazy and relaxing time really did me a lot of good (well, beside being woken up by Cock crowing and dogs barking before 6am).

Felt like I was having a holiday with a big family in a big house, taken care by a group of friendly and caring professionals. One dining room with a huge antique wood table so everyone sits together at every meal time, next to the kitchen; always served plenty of fruits and juices and also home made cookies for snacks during tea time; lots of lounging on comfy day beds, enjoying the sea breeze in a tranquil setting with lovely gardens. Blissed out.....
I managed to think a bit too, I am glad I have come to a point of acceptance of myself. Really, life is too short to attribute blame, just have to deal with things and look forward. Also, have realized the one single significant problem that needs to be worked on -- "Control".
I am still not there yet, and a lot of areas in my personal life that I fumbled through or even tumbled over, has to do with the lack of "Control". I know I am improving now, and will consciously work on it.

Meanwhile, I can't wait to plan another relaxing holiday to Ubud, perhaps next year...Ching E is already suggesting a villa that she fancies.....

Purpose, and positive changes..

2010-11-11T23:51:00.005+08:00

Dear blog, sorry I have not taken the time to write, nor to change the template to a more decent, respectable one (promise will do that soon..).

Have been busy reviewing, bidding adieu to old stuff, and to envision a new way of life... a new road. I remember and feel so strongly with that quote from the movie "Eat Pray Love" :

"Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation."
Well, sometimes we have to hit bottom, and reach total destruction before full re-construction can happen.. and to look at it in a good way, with ruins, the only way to go is up. Strengthening my mind, and consciously making positive changes here....I have been a master at ruins so far, time to construct the new road now...

Purpose... will have to spend more time thinking about that...

Lessons...

2010-10-04T00:08:00.003+08:00

Life is truly a learning experience. While we continue to think and search for the purpose, there is so much to learn along the way...
I finally know that I have never really shown enough care for another.. It's true that it's not about what you say it's what you do, and you cannot ask for what you have not given. To those that we truly love, we should only give and not ask for anything in return...
That being said, we also need to know what we want and it should be a conscious choice to allow only those who "fit" to come into our lives. It is indeed heart wrenching and painful when that choice means you need to let go.. so be it. We need to be strong and march forward and strive for a better life ahead....Each of us is responsible for his/her own happiness and life.. good luck everyone!

Not taking for granted...

2010-06-14T00:03:00.004+08:00

Many of us, very often, take the people closest to us for granted. I am guilty of this too, but I have become very aware of this and trying hard to avoid neglecting my loved ones, and try to improve my attitude and to spend more quality time..When possible, I ask myself everyday now -- What am I grateful for? ...

So glad that YongMan is back with Su (and so happy her parents have recovered), and the kids get to spend some timg doing things together too. Had a dinner party at mum's place to show appreciation to her brothers/sisters, and I am glad the catered dinner turned out to be of supreme quality, and we all had a great time...
High tea this afternoon was highlight for the kids, and all were well behaved and enjoyed (even though TingQi thought the one at Swissotel Stamford had more varities and was more exciting).

My Just-do-it trip..

2010-05-16T22:52:00.003+08:00

I am so glad I did it! My Spontaneous trip to GZ/Macau/HK in 4D3N. Visited younger brother and "Prolexis" , met my old friend - Zhu Dan - and her talented daughter for dinner (finally had the "Zha Niu Nai" (Fried Milk fritters), missing it for 10 years! ); had lunch at the 2-michelin starred L'atelier de Joel Robuchon, and revisited Macau after more than 10 year !(watched "Zaia" and stayed in the Venetian)

Catherine was such darling for planning our Macau itinerary, and arranging dinner outing at "Rice Paper" with her friends , had such a wonderful time chatting away in the outdoor dining area with a a beautiful harbour view.

All in all, such a cool holiday.. .and it's really funny that I went through the HK customs so man times in 4 days! Also was so lucky that Mr. Robuchon himself was at the restaurant when I went for lunch, so I had a picture with the "Chef of the Century"!

Happy Mothers' Day!

2010-05-09T22:09:00.003+08:00

This week started with a little shock and some surprises, and with the early shift (meaning lack of sleep) and super busy markets, I still managed to pull through and round up with a night out at the MBS (Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort) on Friday till 2am. Was quite fun!

Met Mum on Saturday at Bugis TCC for tea after both of us finished our shopping separately, then quiet dinner among us back at home, a warm and cosy pre-mothers' day dinner.

SiewTin had to skip high-tea with us on Sunday as Elsa was sick. YingHong and I went on with it, with Kholifah tagging along. Was very relaxing and food was as usual, creative & exquisite!
Hope that we win the prizes from the Mothers Day lucky draw!!

Feeling weird in April....

2010-04-25T12:43:00.004+08:00

Have been really lazy and distracted, even with the mini-excitement of a trip to Phuket on 10th April have not inspired me to post anything on the blog so far... mmm... think it's just the entrance into 2nd quarter of the year that's sinking in... haa..
I must say I have made some progress in coming to terms with my inner self (though still lots of other stuff to work on in my life..) , thanks to my best pal..
It was cool to accompany Yinghong to DownTown East to watch the "Wanda" kids made a record largest number of people dancing Cha Cha in the Singapore Book of Records.
Also cool to make it to tea with the girls at the super cool yet casually lavish "Oomphatico's" for tea yesterday. The cupcakes are surprisingly good!!!
Then there is the inspiring postings in a blogsite I read that open me up to the many discussions of human behaviourial biases... mmm....

Lots of fooooood...

2010-03-27T08:28:00.007+08:00

Thinking back, realized I had quite a few food-outings since last Thursday -
- Saraceno (my fav restaurant for now) with Joyce and Berlina ...thanks to Joyce's last minute crave to go out for dinner...the dishes were all great, finished off with the lovely Tiramisu. Never disappointed!

- Axis Lounge .... with my long time girl friends...Cocktails are weeeeeeak.. horrible. Tapas so so, only went there for the cosy atmosphere.

- Dolce Vita in the Mandarin Oriental .... Nice ambience and superb food!

- Shiraishi in the Ritz Carlton ... High quality Japanese food, and those in our dinner party who ordered the set had a surprise when their grilled dish came with an accompaniment of Sea Bream Sperm! Yeeeeeee.. 2 creamy pouches with ... well, creamy content. How did it taste? "Not fishy, quite alright..." was the comment from our adventurous diners (definitely not me). The special off-the-menu item "Beef Tataki" was really good(with a price tag to match). Me being the boring person at a Japanese restaurant only had a California Temaki and the red bean + rice ball dessert... :)

One new experience every week...

2010-03-27T07:55:00.005+08:00

My new mission... to bring mum out to a new place every weekend -- just to make sure she gets out of the house to experience different things. Ying Hong loves spending time with her PoPo too, and when PeiShan and TingQi are able to join us, the trio always have a wildly fun time!
Last week, we zipped off to The Vista --by the ECP beach --for breakfast, and Yinghong showed off her "S-board" skills to her cousins, then we went on to Kallang Leisure Park for bowling. Dinner was out at Canopy in Marina Golf Club.. a relaxing, no-frills Cafe with a stunning view of the city in the background. They have changed the menu, raised the prices a bit, service standard is still far from desired.
Nevertheless, we had a good time chatting and enjoying each other's company..

2010-03-14T00:46:00.000+08:00

Was ALL fun on Saturday!!

2010-03-14T00:35:00.004+08:00

The March School holidays have arrived!!! Promised Yinghong I will bring her to Hediard Cafe for breakfast, so she can have her favourite Croissant and hot chocolate and the highly-rated Scrambled eggs (turned out so so .. hefty price for a bowl of scrambled eggs).
The hot chocolate, however, was to die for!!!! faaaaaaaaantastic!

Organized dinner at NoSignBoard seafood restaurant @ the Esplanade, so Yinghong and her cousins can have an oooooomphy start to their one week holiday.. they had sooo much fun, and I have never seen them enjoyed their dinner so thoroughly...... felt so happy..

What a weekend!!

2010-03-07T21:33:00.003+08:00

I was thinking of the logistics of moving the bicycle and myself to the Sunday's OCBC Cycle Challenge and this idea came to mind --book a Spa package stay at the Ritz Carlton!

Yinghong enjoyed herself tremendously, and we had such a wonderful time... and even did touristy thing on Sunday -- went onto the Singapore Flyer!

I am so glad I parked the bike overnight at the F1 Pit Bike Park, and only had to bring myself on Sunday to the start point of the Race.. .cos I overslept!!! The alarm clock didn't go off, and it was 6:15 am when I woke up when the flag-off time is 6:45! Changed and dashed like an Olympic sprinter to the F1 Pit and managed to collect my bike, fasten the time chip and get to the start line just on time!!!! But forgot to take my SoyJoy bar for breakfast, so was sooooo hungry during the ride.. Not too bad.. made it under 2 hours! :) Went back to the hotel, bathed and still in time for breakfast with Yinghong at the Cafe..heee
mmmm... The Ritz was so fun, we are already contemplating booking it for the National Day fireworks...

Chinese New Year Week

2010-02-17T22:20:00.004+08:00

Its CNY again, but this year is so different from the rest...
A quiet week of family time for us. Some tears at the temple when we offered prayers to our ancestors , and to dad....but mum got happier in the following few days. Having elder brother, myself and the grandchildren around her really added warmth and comfort at home.
Glad that Yinghong and Tingqi enjoyed their outing to Night Safari, and the adults were happy to watch TV most of the time.. hee :)
Was a good thing I suggested going to ShinYeh in Liang Court for lunch on Monday. We had such a fun time, and walking around clarke quay without the usual crowds was a relaxing experience.

Food for thought...

2010-01-19T23:18:00.004+08:00

Heard this on the radio today :
"If you love BECAUSE of differences and imperfections, not DESPITE of them, then you have found the one.. "

...

think that is very true.
Was talking to mum , and she said there is a difference between the chinese word "Teng"(Adore) and "Ai" (Love)...
"Teng" is intense and unconditional, simply a strong feeling that does not need any justification.
"Ai" is an intense emotional attachment, affection, and can be dependent of factors.

I think... a relationship can last forever with someone you "teng", not "ai"

I would think if you adore someone, it will last a long time..., while love can be very draining, and may change or wither..

mmm...

Back ... in order...

2010-01-04T21:54:00.005+08:00

Hmmm.. finally back to my blog, which I have been neglecting.
Life is slightly back in order now, (along with a couple of kgs more on me too!!!) and I must say I had a marvelous new year weekend surrounded by family and good friends!
Ying Hong turned NINE on Saturday and she had such a good time with her friends at her party. And me... a great afternoon visiting Siewtin's home, and on to a great evening with a simple yet splendid dinner (thanks to Jackie's excellent culinary skills) with fantastic company! Couldn't have asked for more... hope every day in 2010 will feel as good!

1st day without maid...

2009-11-30T18:03:00.003+08:00

We survived our first day without our trustworthy domestic helper!!!
Ying Hong cried at the airport, bidding her beloved Auntie goodbye at the departure area.
She was keen to help with Laundry and dishes in the evening, turning out her dad's pants to dig out coins, paper, etc before putting into the washing machine.. and said it was fun doing household stuff.. so proud of her.
These few days she will be spending her day in mum's place, with her hamsters tagging along (mum freaking out!).. haa.. what holiday fun for her.
And then soon we will be off to our holiday in Japan!!! yippie!

Sumptious movie.. Julie & Julia

2009-11-20T23:04:00.002+08:00

Just watched "Julie & Julia" (dvd of course, and technically I have not "watched" cos I am still watching it now) . It's so enjoyable and inspiring.. 2 women who were hard working, passionate and determined, gave all their heart to doing something --- cooking --- and were rewarded in the most deserving ways, and proved that with a will, everything is possible.
That's the way to live...

Changes..

2009-11-15T21:07:00.005+08:00

I am so lucky to have a wise and loving mum. She is so right about one thing.. we often ask for commitment before we willingly commit. How many of us can love unconditionally and give selflessly out of love.
From now.. will just stop asking for commitment from others. Will let go, and just focus on how to grow myself into a better version of me.
Am glad mum was able to join Yinghong and myself for tea just before we started shopping at "Tampines One". YingHong was so happy to see "popo". And of course, she was delighted with her macarons, and the raisin bread.

New discoveries!!!

2009-11-08T21:10:00.005+08:00

Thanks to Alicia and Joyce, explored 2 F&B outlets and they are both superb!
KPO (Killiney Post Office) is super cool.. love the ambience, and food! An ideal chill-out place.
"District 10" cafe also have surprisingly good quality food.. yummy! Ying Hong loved her Spaghetti Carbonara. Will definitely return..

Dinner at Saraceno... MaMa Mia!

2009-10-17T10:21:00.005+08:00

Am so glad BeeYean picked "Saraceno" to go for her belated birthday dinner treat , simply wonderful. The lighting in the restaurant was a little too dim for comfort, but it does give a warm, cosy, private dining room feel. Everything else after we seated was perfect! Even the bread in the bread basket served were delicious...

Bee Yean's duck confit smell sooooo good when it arrived, made us hungry instantly!

My mains of Lasagnette pasta with prawns, zucchini, butter and sage was soooo yummy. The portions were just nice, not too large, so we had room to sample the desserts, and how glad we did.

The Tiramisu was moist and flavourful, just the right amount of cocoa powder, and it came in a paper-thin wafer cup that's so crispy and light, without the over-baked or greasy taste at all. A perfect combination of texture! The Panacotta with berry compote was so enjoyable too!

This place is definitely a must-try in my list, and not to mention the very reasonable price..

Tipped over...

2009-10-13T22:55:00.002+08:00

Never have I been so eager to regain balance and equilibrium.
Have tipped over , and lost focus for a while. Peering hard but unable to step out into solid grounds. Sigh... Don't think it's worth it anymore.

Glad I am able to refocus this week. Promise myself I will re-apply discipline back to my life, and be constantly aware of how valuable I am. Need to just believe in it, and let it happen. Am sure happiness and joy will return and fill my life.
Thanks to all my dear friends... you know who you are..

Taking a day off...

2009-09-09T19:08:00.007+08:00

Took the day off to spend some quality time with Yinghong. Started the day off with a good workout roller-blading in east coast park, and had breakfast at Starbucks - BigSplash. Felt really good without the usual crowds.. :)
YingHong was thrilled that I joined her at her riding class. Even prompted me to watch her when she's doing the "jumping" practice.

Headed off to Cafe Hacienda in Dempsey Road with mum and YingHong to indulge in the infamous award winning mushroom soup (a tad salty for me, otherwise the flavour is rich and fresh!!! Yummy! ) and Mexican Spicy wagyu beef burger (Tasted great , but was soooo filling even though it doesn't look that big).

The Yuzu lemon cheese cake was nice but a little

too sweet for me. Prefer the Tofu Cheese cake at Eden

Santuary, Rochestor Park... hmmm.. miss it..

Overall, a really nice place to chill in the afternoon. Brightly lit with large windows looking out to green foilage, and a few nice sofas, and indoor plants.... simply relaxing. Service is impeccable too. But somehow, beside returning for the burger, I would most likely re-visit Green Room (Bishan Park II) more often than this one. Green Room is just more relaxing and has a more carefree feel. Nevertheless, glad to have tried Hacienda!!

Bloomberg's Office Awards Night -- WOW!!

2009-09-05T20:40:00.004+08:00

Had so much fun at our office awards night at the National Museum (Glass Atrium) , the first time its not held in the office... ha!
Initially everyone felt awkward about the theme - Fashion forward Avant Garde , but turns out everyone dressed up nicely, and with the nominees striking a pose against the vinyl screen with spot light - casting a sihouette, and taking a walk down the runway, with disco light.. the atmosphere was really amazing.. felt like you were really at some fashion week event. Thanks to the marvellous marketing team!
The awards and programmers ran smoothly and very tightly, no time wasted. The audience loved the "Wonderboys" (guys from sales and data department) performance of "Nobody" .. all the screams and shrieks, wanting more... ha. And of course, with a good dinner spread and free flow of drinks, it was a great party for everyone. ..surely a night to remember. .

What a surreal week ...

2009-08-29T13:53:00.003+08:00

This week started with a mixed pot of feelings, intense and almost unbearable. But managed to contain it, and determined to focus on happy feelings, and taking things easy, it helped!
The week got better, and actually got quite fun.... hung out with Ali at Starbucks for a casual tuition session on editing blot templates (haa.. yes, hence this new template..) ; and ended Friday with highlights --- had my hair cut and colouring done, a good dinner and drinks with Ali at the Prego, and CitySpace (Wow.. I am sure to return to this cool bar for its super relaxing ambience!). Funny that Ms. Kai-Xin-Guo was so disgusted by the couple smooching away in front of us.. haaa.. thought she very "ang-moh" bred and can be oblivious to anything.
This morning was fun too. Brought Ying Hong to her school for the rehearsal of their upcoming Teachers' Day performance. Gotta run now.. else she will be late for her art class....

Afternoon in FortCanning Park

2009-08-02T11:33:00.002+08:00

Have been lazy so this update is really about the afternoon we spent at Fortcanning park, 2 weeks ago on 18th July. It happens that Little Artist called and postponed Yinghong's drawing class on that Saturday afternoon. So after we gave a lift to BC to Tangjong Pagar to take care of his band room errands, Ying Hong and myself drove to Fortcanning centre to meet Elsa & Erica to go lunch, and thereafter spent the whole afternoon there while Elsa had her preparations for that evening's "Ballet under the Stars" performance. Was a fun experience for Ying Hong, and we did enjoy the 1st hour of the performance (For free!!! from the patio of Fortcanning centre) before heading home.

Pot Luck dinner!

2009-07-12T09:47:00.002+08:00

Hmm , another posting about dinner, but this time ... finally in a different household!!!! Joyce kindly invited Sharon and myself for a potluck dinner at her place, for a get-together after so many years. The host was obviously so excited, texting me like 10 times in the morning to confirm.. haa. but kudos to her winning receipe of Spinach with mushroom and baby abalones!!
Also the zealous host cook like soooo much, enough to feed 20 people lor..
This time, I had more time to really look at Jame's collection of Lego Star Wars in the study.. wow.. really impressive.
Alicia... my blog about another dinner is just sooo bland, and PALEs vs your adventures & surprises in your blog lor.. but still need to post.. hee..

More hanging outs at Jackie's place

2009-07-05T13:25:00.002+08:00

Can't remember how many afternoons we have shamelessly hung-out at Jackie's place.. just did that again 2 weeks ago, and had lovely Lasagne for dinner!!! Yinghong was thrilled to hear about Lasagne so we had to go.

Then during work week, finally made it a point to go to the "Genesis" Cafe on Circular Road for the first time. Their "Therapeutic brown rice set" and Lentil Lasagne were both good.. we also shared a plate of seaweed roll with carrot juliennes topped with a little cashew nut sauce. Very tasty and healthy vegetarian meal.. yummy!

Great family fun!! - with Jackie's family

2009-06-14T15:05:00.003+08:00

So thankful to my BFF -- Jackie --for having Yinghong & BC for a one night sleep-over at her place. Joined them the next day and we did bowling in Kallang leisure park, followed by lunch at her place -- healthy and refreshing vietnamese rolls --, blockus game , napping, and the 2 mothers sneaked out to Marine Parade central to get herbal tea, and had some soft ice with mangoes (yummy). And while the fathers brought kids to rollerblade in ECP, we prepared dinner (I only helped with some easy stuff like mashing potatoes.. hee) -- Roasted Lamb, chicken legs, vegetables, mashed potatoes.. yummy! Ended the great evening with a round of charade games where the kids took turn to pretend to be animals, movie characters for adults to guess. Sooo much fun!

Food thoughts...

2009-06-06T09:44:00.006+08:00

Want to share some of my recent food adventures (some, not so recent but had no time to write about) : The goods and the bads. It was yesterday's dinner at a new dim-sum restaurant in Neil Road with the funny gang (cookie,Ali,Clee) that made me want to warn all the innocent folks out there NEVER to go to this place, unless you want to throw money away and get very disappointed.. and puzzled (is this dim sum?) ... ok the list from rank of 1 (lowest of all = DON'T GO!) to 10 (Must try at least once)
1 : DONT GO - "Dim Joy" along Neil Rd - waste of time. Only gullible tourists who happened to walk past and think the conservation house building looks pretty will drop in to surprise themselves with the tiniest servings of dim sum they will ever find. True blue hongkonger comment from cookie (Linda) : "Wah!!!!! never seen dumplings so small!!! Claypot rice has no black soy sauce taste?!" (funny thing is , we asked for a dish of black soy sauce to add, when it came, each of us tasted and were so shocked--Tasteless!) ---- sorry Ali, I know you are about to start your "Alidontgo.com" domain, but you are so slow and I am just so impatient I have to write about this super-CMI restaurant lah... shocking!

2: GO IF NOWHERE ELSE TO GO - "Max Sandwich Grill & Creamery" - B1 in "Tampines1" - talk about value, this one definitely rank at low end. Just a open cafe with a counter and some seats scattered around the atrium of B1, serves focaccia sandwiches, but so flat lor!!! Can hardly see or taste any fillings in the sandwich. The scrambled eggs and cheese one I ordered is slightly bigger than my blackberry, and so flat I think there was only 1 tablespoon full of scrambled egg in it... Price? $6+ . Coffee is half the size of a small one from starbucks but charged close to 5 bucks. Feel ripped-off. Don't know why they think they can charge a premium, when there is totally no ambience or service to talk about...

6 : ENJOYABLE - "TeaDot" in "Tampines 1" level 3 - nice cafe with cute seats and ambience.. definitely worth spending time here over a nice cuppa..only downside is the staff are slow at clearing the tables.

8: GOOD FOOD WITH CLASS - "ShinYeh" restaurant in Liang Court - Traditional Taiwanese cuisine with fresh ingredients, an extensive and exciting menu, a classy decor, good service, plus a nice view of Clarke Quay. Go for a quiet weekend lunch with familly... lovely.

9 : MUST TRY - "Vansh" at Indoor stadium promenade - good quality Indian food in a posh setting with hip Bollywood music, and very professional waiting staff. Entrance of restaurant looks intimidating, but once stepped in you feel welcome. Not sure about price though..((didn't pay.. heee). See the picture of the papadum rolled like a cigar..

Impromtu High tea...

2009-05-09T22:01:00.005+08:00

Had an impromptu high-tea appointment with Jackie at Ritz Carlton that turned out to be such a good value, and full of exquisite surprises!
Not a wide buffet spread of savouries, but every single one proved to be a delight, and all look sooo delactable that you really want to try every single one... Excellent quality, taste, presentation.
My favourites are the cold crab cake with pomelo, and the scallops. All are served in bite sizes which is great!
Other surprises include the iced lemon tea that comes with round balls of flavoured ice cubes; vodka chocolate, Chocolate Soufle . Their dessert section has the theme "Chocolate" and we thoroughly enjoyed them. The infused pear in chocolate soup was my favourite!
We both had such a good time, and feel the price of $40++ per pax is definitely worth it!

More on Easter Weekend...

2009-04-29T20:04:00.006+08:00

Thanks to ever-ready super host, Jackie, we had a great time on the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. Cindy came with Alex and Ryan too.. cool to get together after so long.
The kids played really well together, no arguments nor fights... WII Sports ; Hide&Seek..
The next day, attended the "Beautiful Sunday" series of free concert (Boon Chong's SWS performed) in the Esplanade Concert Hall ..Jackie's and Chris's families joined us. We managed to sit together and the kids behaved quite well. Clarice and YingHong were taking care of Keeran all the time.... the threesome look so happy together..

Good Friday Holiday..at the zoo

2009-04-10T16:58:00.004+08:00

Have been looking forward to bringing the kids together to the zoo together. Ching signed up for the FOZ card too, so it's easy. Highlight was the Kid's playground where there was a water park, and playground. I have never seen the zoo sooooo crowded! But good that we were early and got a table, and had our breakfast there. Suresh couldn't stand the crowd for too long though.. good thing we saw quite a few different animal display area, so it was not solely a playground-outing only. Left separately for lunch after that... next will be pizza dinner at Ching's place later... and WII night...

Good value Buffet Dinner... yummy!

2009-04-10T16:53:00.003+08:00

Told Ching about the April promotion by Citibank and UOB credit cards, so we went to "Azur" at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Airport terminal 3 for buffet dinner.. one adult per table dined free, and Ashwin and Keeran ate for free too! We all had a good time.. some nice , classy and relaxing dinner together for a change..

BBQ night on 28th March -Earth Hour

2009-04-10T16:42:00.003+08:00

Forgot to post these pictures earlier.. Had another fun BBQ night at Ching's place, and we observed Earth Hour (8:30pm-9:30pm) by shutting off all the lights in the house. Saw sooo many stars in the sky that night, quite magical..

Sunday Fun at ECP !

2009-03-22T18:17:00.006+08:00

YingHong requested to go Roller Blading today with Ashwin, right when we got back from KL to Singapore last night... didn't promise her since it was raining and we won't know if the grounds will be dry enough, or if Jackie's family will be free to join us. We were in luck! And the afternoon was great fun for kids and adults.. Went to the quieter end of East Coast Park- near the Bougainvilla park - after Ashwin's Soccer training. Bladed there for a while, had lunch at "Sunset Bay" , then bladed along the shady roads to the Food Centre for cold cold "Ice Kachang"!

2D1N in KL

2009-03-22T17:57:00.003+08:00

Glad we went on a short 2 Day 1 Night driving trip to Kuala Lumpur instead of embarking of something too ambitious. Think we are all getting a bit sick and tired of long trips.. packing& unpacking luggages, planning, plus the obviously higher cost , with higher risk of returning more tired than rejuvenated. The Imperial Sheraton Hotel along Jln Sultan Ismail is a pleasant surprise, got a clubroom, so was nice. The Monorail is right next to the hotel, and we could get to KLCC, Bukit Bintang, Berjaya Time Square, and Jln Petaling (China town), all within a few stops.
Shopping was great this time round, most of the shops in the Pavillion were having sales, and we got good bargains at 50% - 70% discounts. Tried the Claypot "laoShuFen" (short rice noodle) in "Jian Lian" coffee shop in China Town-recommended by Nicholas- was delicious!
Took some Kiddy rides in Cosmo World, Berjaya Time Square to satisfy YingHong before we drove home. Only down factor - again we paid the "compound fine" to the "friendly" traffic police at the road block on North-South highway on our way to KL.. bargained and paid a RM100 "processing fee" - it's become budgeted in every of our drive along NS highway now.. even if we diligently make sure we are within speed limits.. when one's supposed to pay, you gotta pay.. no arguments.. Fine...Nevertheless, we had a great time!

Good friends, good food, at Urai's birthday....

2009-03-22T17:50:00.004+08:00

It's been a while since I get together with the famous crazy bunch - Jasmine, Christian, Alicia, Linda (Deasy joined us too..). And it was Urai's birthday, so how could I say no to such a fabulous outing. We had such great fun at the buffet lunch at One-Ninety, in Four Seasons Hotel. Sooooo exciting watching Urai unwrapping all those "Hello Kitty" presents.. The pictures say it all....

New Experiences... this week

2009-03-08T15:40:00.003+08:00

Have been feeling fatigue the whole week, but thinking back, there were a few new experiences that spiced up things a little (all food related... hmmm).
Went to Beary Cafe -- the new setup that took over the space in Republic Plaza II from Cedele Depot-- for lunch with Angela. Cool place with cool menu, but food was not impressive. Really like the way they do up the walls...(see picture)
Then one of the mornings, had breakfast at Quinoz with Urai.

On Friday after our facials, had a late dinner with Jackie at Hong Kong Cafe (Xiang Gang Cha Can Ting) on East Coast Road. .. not bad.. simple setup but at least all the items we ordered turned out satisfactory.

And last night, BC returned with the much awaited Nespresso Touch and the Aerocino , plus lots of capsules.. hee.. quite a chic piece of add-on to our kitchen, and we had our first cup this morning.. hmmmm.....

Finally... Tree Top Walk

2009-03-08T15:27:00.002+08:00

Finally we made it to the Tree Top Walk in MacRitchie Reservoir, last Saturday on 28th Feb. :)
The whole round trip from the Venues drive car park spans about 10km (carpark->Ranger station already a 2.8km, then another 2-3 km walk to the Tree Top Walk ). There are many slopes along the path, but we were lucky to have a cool weather, and saw 3 groups of wild monkeys during the walk. And after the approximately 3 hours walk, we rewarded ourselves (we are good at that.. hee) with Roti Pratas at Casuarina Road!!

What we did on Valentine's Day..

2009-03-01T16:58:00.003+08:00

As usual...no candle light dinners, no flowers... but bought BC a chic Gucci wallet, while he gave me a very unexciting looking Motorola phone (lasted me 2 weeks...).
Nevertheless, Valentine's day itself was much fun for all of us --- Attended Ann Nee's wedding at the Botanic Gardens in the morning with Yinghong, and Siewtin & her girls.
Then spent the evening at Ching's place making our own pizzas.
Was really a great way to spend time with friends...

Happy spirits during CNY

2009-02-01T13:51:00.003+08:00

However modern or Cosmopolitan our city has become, Chinese New Year is still an important and fun festival for all. Somehow, everyone still gets entwined in the hectic preparation - getting new clothes, hair-cut, spring cleaning, stocking up the goodies, decorations, etc etc.. We feel the rush and stress, but when the 1st day of CNY arrives, we could only feel happiness. At least I am able to immerse myself in the festive moods and experience the joy of entertaining our friends and relatives who visited. It's a time that reminds us of the simple joy of togetherness - with families, relatives, friends.
This is the only time of the year when all will make the best of efforts to make themselves available for families and relatives. This year, Ching-E and family celebrated their first CNY here, which I am sure is a lot of fun for them too..Ying Hong's participation in the Chingay Parade also brought new experiences for us. May the new year of OX brings luck, wealth, and health to all my friends!

The avid dancers.....

2009-01-02T11:33:00.003+08:00

The avid fans of High-school-Musical and Hana Montana - Ying Hong and Elsa - volunteered a dance performance at our condo's xmas party... the girls choreographed their own routine, and had a few rehearsals in Yinghong's room a few days before.. turned out to be quite entertaining.. even though nt perfect.

Xmas week...

2008-12-31T20:07:00.002+08:00

Not sure if anyone else noticed that the Monsoon period is rather dry this year..
Anyway, that's good for all of us trying to have some fun in the last 2 weeks of the year.
Was hoping to go to a nice restaurant to celebrate our 10th anniversary, but BC was not keen. So being a thoughtful mummy & wife, suggested we go somewhere casual but fun.. picked "Mykii" in Holland Village, which is a new Greek-inspired restaurant with white-washed interior brightened up by sofa seats lined with ocean-blue cushions. very refreshing decor.. we love it!
Cocktails are drinks are also impressive, but food is not something to wow about.. there's effort to use fresh meditarranean ingredients, taste is ok, but portion is small, and variety is not impressive.Would be a nice place to come for a drink, and order some food as a side, rather than a dinner place. But to pick one dish.. .it would be either the Baby rib, or the Prawn Caserole (smaller than expected serving).
Saturday was the usual.. Art Class for Yinghong, and BC and I managed to picked up some stuff from Beeyean's place, dashed to eat Katong Laksa at Ceylon road, before I went back to fetch the girl. Her artwork is really beautiful and she looks so happy working on it. Think children are most childlike and innocent when they are doing art & craft....

JiuzhaiGou - other pictures

2008-12-28T21:46:00.004+08:00

Picturesque JiuZhaiGou

2008-12-28T21:08:00.003+08:00

JiuZhaiGou Natural Reserve Park truly feels like a paradise.. with all the different lakes, streams, rapids, and waterfalls along the long walking trail, and 9 preserved Tibetan villages (thus the name "jiu zhai" which means "nine tribe villages" in Mandarin). Our day long trekking tour to the various scenic spots (heavily serviced by the park buses with guides) in JiuZhaiGou, 3500 metres above sea level, was followed by a Tibetan dinner hosted by a Tibetan household and a cultural show.

more pictures from Chendu Holiday

2008-12-28T20:53:00.003+08:00

We were so impressed with the JiuZhai Paradise Hotel that we took so many pictures...

My Holidays in Chengdu....

2008-12-18T21:24:00.002+08:00

The rest of our holidays in Chengdu.. sigh.. wasted quite a lot of time.
* Domestic flight to Jiuzhaigou was delayed 25 hours .. boarded the flight 3 times in between, and spent 6 hours in a incredibly shabby hotel, and spent a night in a slightly better hotel. Was supposed to reach Jiuzhaigou on Monday afternoon, but reached there on Tuesday afternoon instead. But once we are on the way from airport to the hotel -- JiuZhai Paradise (JiuzhaiTianTang) -- the scenery rewarded us handsomely... making all the trouble worthwhile.
The next day was even better... a full day in the nature reserve park .

* We went through lots of trouble after that to rearrange our return flights etc. and thanks to Zhipeng and Yangchun, we finally got those settled. The only remaining full day in Chengdu was rather fun too -- went to the Panda Base and saw many "toddler" pandas in a huge cot (no photo-taking allowed there); followed by a stroll in WenShuFang (WenShu Square) area; and a dinner at "Lao Ma" hotpot restaurant where they had a stage with "Bian Lian" performance. This place consists of 3 levels of restaurant area, and a 4th level for tea-drinking (with dim, soothing lights almost like those in a pub), and a 5th level dedicated to displaying antique and cultural display including exhibits that illustrate the daily lives of Chinese people in the past decades..very interesting!

*Our last day in Chengdu, we had a long and nice breakfast at the Tex-Mex grill restaurant (where we'd been there twice before for dinner!) , then ventured to the "Renmin" park to have tea at "He Ming" teahouse. The park also has an area with children rides.. quite fun! But we had a panicky episode when we tried to get a cab back to the hotel to pick up our luggage before heading to the airport -- couldn't get a taxi for almost 45 minutes!
So by the time we got home ... we were really glad.. but still.. am happy that I went for this holiday...

Day 1 in Chengdu

2008-12-06T08:14:00.004+08:00

Thought I should put down my thoughts before I forget..
chengdu greeted us with a fine sunny weather, 9 degrees celcius. BC's colleague -zhipeng took off to fetch us from the airport to the hotel --- a unique old style si-he-yuan format hotel named "jing li ke zhan" in "jing li" cultural street, right next to "Wu Hou Ci" (temple for ZhuGeLiang).
Took a walk along jing li street... was so much fun! There is even a starbucks here.
This place is full of street stalls selling traditional crafts -- "chui tang" (blow candy), "tang hua"(drawn candy), bo-si tang (almost like the dragon-whiskers candy) which we bought a box to try.. lovely..like that it's coated with soy been powder so theres this lovely aroma of it, and not too sweet.
Dinner was a "hong xing jiu jia" (Red Apricot restaurant) near Zhipeng's home. Traditional Szechuan fares... yummy! I realied the authentic dan-dan mian does not taste any bit like the ones we have in singapore. No sweetness at all, just spicy and numbness..
Went over to zhipeng's apartment after dinner to meet his wife and daughter.
Got back to hotel, but none of us felt like showering, cos the water is sooo cold. the heater takes a long time to heat up water. Day 2 will be a day to visit Le Shan Da Fuo... will update again.
Pictures to follow..

Fun Week

2008-11-30T16:49:00.002+08:00

Did a couple of fun things this week....
* Met Alicia for lunch on her Birthday ... too bad I have not got a satisfactory present for her yet, so need to "otang" a bit and pass her later. But of course she wouldn't mind, since her "Baby" already blew her away to cloud nine with the romantic evening he planned for her... heeee...
* Met Ching for a quick and short dinner in Century Square, and had a nice chat. The super-mum-wife view a few furniture shops at one go, and signed her lease document for the rental house during the day.
* Went with Angela to meet our client for lunch.. was fun chatting about parenting..
* After-work drinks with Yvon,Joe,Ouiyoung,Eepin,Royce... talked about so many things...
* Roller-bladed with BC and Ying hong on saturday morning, followed by our usual breakfast at Cafe Cartel (took a long time to vote for Han's but still ended up at Cafe Cartel cos the girl wanted it.. sigh) . Yinghong attended Geoff's (one of her best playmate in our condo) birthday party (the play started long before the party) , and everyone had so much fun.
* Went to Mustafa early in the morning .. 8am! Yinghong had never been so motivated in the morning..... woke us up, and headed straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth, washed face and went to change and got ready within 15min! Mission? Went to Mustafa to buy her new School bag... Then we had roti prata at a corner Coffee shop, washed down with Teh Tarik and Milo Dinasaur... SHIOK!
Ahhh.... so much fun for a week... getting ready for the next....

Back from Bangkok.... before the Protests!!!

2008-11-30T16:33:00.002+08:00

So glad we went on the bangkok trip, was really fun.. and more glad we got back on last Saturday midnight, right before the last push by the PAD to overturn the government. Can't imagine getting stuck at the airport and not able to return.. :(
What did we do in bangkok? Mostly shopping.. not so much of eating.. a bit of sight-seeing (Wat Pho, Grand Palace, Wat Arun), and enjoying taking the hotel's private boat transfer and the sky train. Yinghong will always remember the visit to Clyde, June and Tammy at their home where she had a great time playing with their silk terrier, Sherry. She must be the only dog that eats Vegatables!!! This dog will do anything you ask her to do just for a bite of long bean!
The last day was spent at Chatuchak market, and I am surprised Yinghong could endure the heat and walk , and actually enjoyed shopping there. Bought lots of those imitation LeSportsac little coin purses for use as goodie bags gift at her upcoming birthday party. Overall we had an exciting and fun time!

2nd week of November

2008-11-17T22:18:00.004+08:00

Yinghong was still having a cough, but still excited to go for her Salsa competition at ChongPang C.C. It's tiring for both of us (I got the flu from her too!) to stay there from 10:30am till 6pm. But she had fun performing her 2 mins of Salsa and Reet Petite dance. Most of the children have proper costumes...glittering,colourful, tight-fitting dresses... quite an eye-opener for us. Yinghong only had her tight pink T-shirt (hand-decorated by her dear mummy) with her black skirt.. she looked great though!
I didn't bring my video cam.. which is a big regret (of course BC scolded me lah.. )as many of the young dancers are soooo talented and put up such good performances of Cha-cha, Jive, Rumba.. wished I could take dancing class and dance on a regular basis too!
The next day we slept till late, and took it easy. Only went down to the function room for a couple of hours during lunch to celebrate En Xuan's 1st birthday. En xuan is the second daughter of BC's niece... which makes her Yinghong's niece!
The cake looked lovely! (I didn't wait till they cut the cake.. went back to nap in the afternoon, the flu making me really drowsy)
Rested well.. feel much better today though my voice turned very hoarse from all the coughing.... but should be well enough to fly off on Wednesday for our short holiday in Bangkok! :)

1st week of November

2008-11-17T22:05:00.004+08:00

Have been sick the last week, so have not been updating this blog.
Thought would post some pictures taken during the first weekend of November, during our "expedition" to Changi Beach Park cycling path to try out the new "Tandem" bike pole that Boon Chong ordered from the U.S. I even took a few video shot while cycling on my own bike.. hee.. very skillful!
Yinghong also had a great time at XinMin's post-exam celebration party (supposed to be a belated birthday party since her birthday was during exam period). As usual XinMin's mum -- BJ -- organized team games for the children, the first being a challenging "Mathematics SNAP" where the teams need to compete to work out solutions of multiplication sums...sounds scary, but still, the kids had fun.. BC and I were glad to be able to leave YH there and sneaked out to William's studio for an hour to help him fix up his new laptop. While there, I conveniently helped myself to some of William's silver, glittery ribbons.... which I used to decorate YH's plain pink T-shirt which she was wearing for her salsa competition on 15th Nov. Hee.. saved me the time and hassle to buy sequins from Arab Street....
More updates on that in the next post...

Last 2 weeks of October

2008-11-02T18:26:00.002+08:00

Sorry blog, have been neglecting you..
Nothing special in the past 2 weeks, but we have been to 2 parties -
1 bbq party at Meiping's Jalan Kayu house, and again she proves to be a great cook and host.. everyone had fun, and yinghong played with a girl her age (but much smaller in size than her) -- Hannah, and we all had fun just watching the family of gerbils in Meiping's fish tank, which are really the offspring of our gerbils.
Yesterday we gathered at "The Clearwater" condo function room for my cousins' birthday party. Simple party but all the kids had great fun making their own balloon creation and playing at the playground. Also posted a photo here of my latest favourite --- BBQ pork ball with dry vermicelli -- a vietnamese dish from Viet Express, at China Square Central... soooo yummy! But I can't say everything there is good. At least a bit disappointed with their Beef Pho and the sugar cane prawn.
adios... that's all for now.. will update again with more fun things next month!

We like IKEA.... but bought from COURTS

2008-10-12T09:40:00.004+08:00

Have been looking around for a writing desk for Yinghong to replace the kiddy one in her room. We all like to shop in IKEA, but while the 2 writing desks we saw, with pull-out table and drawers look nice, but they just don't look sturdy or reliable enough to pay more than $400 for. Courts had a cheaper and nicer one which YH had her eyes on. But we finally returned because BC spotted a mega-sale ad, and we got a computer desk that has enough shelves to make YH happy, and yet small enough to fit the bedroom corner... phew..
I was just amused to see the row of shoes at our doorway --- a whole row of pink shoes for Yinghong, and a whole cupboard of black ones for me... took a snapshot just for fun.
Saturday night was a real treat - we went to "Silk Road" at The Amara hotel for a splendid Sze Chuan dinner. I've been there a long time ago with Linda& gang, but have forgotten about this place for a while. Food, service and ambience are impressive. Authentic Sze Chuan Fare - you know it when our lips went numb after the
chao shou". Ordered the peking duck (yes, not szechuan dish, but I have craved for this for a while and since it's in the menu, I went for it), good but not outstanding, can afford to skip this. Redbean pancake was yummy! They added breadcrumbs to the crepe before frying, which made it look amateurish, but the taste is superb!! Redbean paste filling is smooth and not too sweet, the crepe thin and crispy, it's simply delicious! Too bad we were so busy eating I forgot to take any pictures... very unusual.
Already I have decided to return here with mum for her birthday dinner....

some silly thoughts...

2008-10-12T09:18:00.003+08:00

A week of chaos in the stock market, but I was more hounded by yinghong's constant nagging about wanting a puppy for her next birthday. No way... good thing Boonchong stood on the same side as me.
Had a free dinner on friday, thanks to BC's colleague. Never knew there is such nice Japanese ala carte buffet in Miramar Hotel - Ikoi Japanese Restaurant. On our way home, the traffic on CTE slowed down near the ERP gantry... we realized it's 30 seconds to 10pm when the charges will change from $1 to $0.50. Took a picture of that for fun.
And at the dinner, Yinghing made date with Celeste to meet in the park on Saturday morning so she could play with Celeste's dog - Belle...so she was happy for the weekend... and after a few rounds of picking up dog poo, she gave up the idea of having a dog for now.. haaa.

Weekday Time Off!

2008-10-07T22:00:00.003+08:00

It's really a nice feeling to take off on a weekday!!! BC and I left home early at 7am and cycled a good 8 km to the end of Changi beach cycling path, then back home to bring Yinghong to lunch before sending her to school. Changi is full of it's old quiet charms on a Monday morning... a shame that they closed down the food centre for renovation so we didn't get to eat the "internationl" nasi lemak :(
"Rewarded" ourselves with Pratas and Masala Dosai, washed down with Teh Tarik...yum yum. We made new friends too! Met 2 young-at-heart exercise enthusiasts - Johnson and Jason, who are enjoying a fruitful retirement life now. Johnson came up to chat with us when he saw BoonChong's "clone" Stryda bike. Funny that BC was also eyeing his "carry me" bike earlier when we cycled past them along the beach.... Nice chaps! Afternoon was not as productive...went to a few places to look for a writing desk for YingHong only to find the shops no longer there.
Well..will continue to check out a few other options this weekend then..that gives me a reason to go to Orchard road... heee hee...

Finally... my b-day...

2008-09-27T20:02:00.005+08:00

This week is the week when Denise, Myself, and Caroline turn one year older.... and WISER! First surprise came when Kelly and Geraldine bought me a cake to cut in the office. BC got me what I have always wanted... the mesh-heart silver ring , plus an extra surprise..ooooohhh.. so unlike him to get something with no "investment" value nor "useful". Really happy... hee.. Yinghong even presented a surprise magic show to unvail the presents to me.. so touched!
ChewChew and Cookie attended F1 on friday, but the rest of the funny gang are soooo sweet to bring Caroline and me to a surprise location for a nice, warm and cosy dinner.
THANK YOU folks! It made me feel really special.
The after-dinner tour to Urai's new condo was really fun!
Hope some of the nice places will have a good price adjustment next year, so we can have an opportunity..

Rather exciting week

2008-09-14T23:02:00.006+08:00

Have been neglecting this blog, simply because I have been soooo busy.
Work is busy busy busy, but managed to join Jasmine for her birthday dinner on thursday.
This weekend is definitely exciting!
Yinghong made a lattern during her art class, performed her salsa dance at Elias C.C (Community Club) open day, there was a Mid autumn festival celebration evening at our Condo tonight!
Messed up a bit on my diet though... have been eating the different assortment of mooncakes since last weekend... gotta get back on track next week..

http://www.youtube.com/v/afNsTvHV4v8

Weekend of celebrations!

2008-08-30T22:00:00.002+08:00

Last weekend was a hectic but happy one... Ching was here to celebrate her birthday with us. Was great catching up with her. We did so many things together in 2 days.. high tea, lounging (plus catching the fireworks performance which was part of the August national carnival); Spa, and dinner at Jaan. And all of us are impressed with her new trim figure...:) I am definitely more inspired and committed to cultivate a healthy eating habit from now on! (27% body fat means I am OBESE! Also means there is 16kg of fats on me!)
All the girly talks really helped ... we sometimes need to be reminded we are not alone in not having it all perfect in our lives, and Ching really show us we can work things out if we are determined to make changes or make things happen... do not give up easily. We all sort of know we need to stay positive and think positive... but I have been reminded this time to try to look at the positive sides of the people around us, especially our loved ones. Thank you Ching! You have given me a valuable present during your birthday trip here !

Botanic gardens...

2008-08-09T16:23:00.003+08:00

Woke up late this morning, so had to skip our usual roller-blading. Went to the Botanic Gardens for a stroll, and we have not really visited this place with such a relaxing pace... it's wonderful!
Yinghong happily fed those already well-fed fishes and tortoises in the Symphony lake; we played frisbies and badminton on the big lawn under the shade of those huge tropical trees... lovely.
Followed with a relaxing and stupendous lunch at Halia Restaurant (one of my favourties now... and this time, it is FREE!!!.. heee those from my workplace will know why).
Will load the pictures later.....Now the next big thing is to reserve Au Jardin for Aug 23..... :)

Is there anything the Chinese can't do?

2008-08-09T16:13:00.002+08:00

Missed the 8:08 pm live broadcast of the Beijing Olympics opening, and saw only the Sportsman march-in. Luckily Channel U was re-telecasting at 11:30pm, so I rushed into the bedroom to watch that till 1:40am... totally worth sacrificing a bit of sleep for.
I love the drum performance at the beginning, totally awesome. So much creativity! So artistic and so much precision, definitely impressive. I have to take my hat off to Zhang Yi Mou. Trust him to intertwine a meaningful theme & storyline with visually pleasing performance that is still worthy of being called ART! I think it takes so much passion and Patriosm for the performers to be so committed to slog through 10 months to put up such a seamless performance. Truly an enjoyable experience for everyone.... BRAVO!
Today, Singapore celebrates its 43rd birthday with a parade and performance at Marina Bay... hopefully it won't be overshadowed by the Olympics opening ... I am sure the organizers must have been very stressed with fear of being compared with the Beijing's extravaganza..... nevertheles...
I LOVE SINGPORE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! May the new direction of the Singapore Flyer brings in more wealth and fortune and luck for our country!

Pulau Ubin....finally

2008-07-26T20:45:00.003+08:00

Thanks to Arthur and Nancy who suggested going to Pulau Ubin, else we won't have made it. Have been talking about it but as usual, kept procrastinating the plan. The bumboat ride is still the same as many years ago, the jetty looks and feel better, but the bike shops and coffeeshops near the jetty all looks the same. We were lucky that there was a thick overcast , so it never get too hot. Drizzle for a while, but cleared up pretty quickly. The girls enjoyed picking weeds and wild flowers, and the cycling was quite fun, a mixture of paved roads and gravel and muddy paths, some slopes here and there. Glad the children managed to complete the course.
Lunch at Sim Lum Huat was really good. Try the MeeGoreng and Fried Bee Hoon, simply yummy!! The crab beehoon was good too (but can't compare to SinHuat coffee shop in Geylang still). All in all, we had a great time!

Weekend in Bintan!!

2008-07-14T21:34:00.002+08:00

Finally made myself sit down to update the blog, especially since we did something different last weekend - went to Bintan -Angsana Resort! The pictures tell half the story of white sandy beach, blue sky (rained on saturday afternoon, but we took advantage of it --> Napped!), carefree fishes in clear water, some jelly fish ecounters, plenty of hermit crabs, romantic settings for private dinners on the beach (not for us, of course!). The other half of the story : pricy food in the hotel restaurants (US$6 for bottled water in the cafe)! For one weekend, ok lah, we still allow ourselves to splurge (by our standard) a little on buffet breakfast and meals in the cafe, since if we hired a car out to town would mean easily $$$40 on transport, 45 minutes of travel, and probably another $$$30 for a no-guarantee-to-be-nice meal.
It's really wonderful to swim in clean sea with soft sandy beach, in the midst of nature....once in a year would be a good idea.... hmmm.. slept with a smile on my face last night... :)

Busy weekends...

2008-06-22T22:54:00.004+08:00

Was too busy last weekend, out all the time so had no time to update this blog.. phew. Feel bad about that. Last Sunday finally did the Anlene Orchard Mile run (or rather walk) with my aunts... (organized by cousin Zing who only showed up after the run :) ). Was fun, and followed by breakfast, and a full day of shopping in Wisma Atria and Bugis. And thanks to Zing's recommendation, I tried the best "Cha Can Ting" cafe (HK Tea cafe) in Bugis Junction...think it's called "Wang Jiao".
Work was so busy last week so weekend came pretty soon (relatively). And tomorrow will be the first day of school in the second term .. so no more bus# 3 for me... won't even try to board one.. probably packed with students to the brim. So back to packing my shoes in a bag and walk in my splippers to the MRT station. Meanwhile, have to start researching a few spas ... for our August girl outing when Ching gets here. Went to have a quick tour of the Raintree Spa in Labrador Villa road, which is in a standalone colonial style bungalow, but facilities are not too impressing. Will check out more next weekend..

Thinking aloud...

2008-06-07T16:18:00.002+08:00

Just some fragments of my thoughts this week.... rather silly ones...
Amazing that Yinghong lost 2 teeth this week! (Both upper canine teeth). she washed them up and kept them in her "milk teeth holder" box... no more tooth fairy routine.. hee.
It rained the whole day today , on a SATURDAY!! so we missed our roller-blading. grrr.r..
But Ching & Alicia(my 2 friends that is concerned about my high fat%) ! rest assured, I went to the gym to do brisk-walking to work off 150 cals. So this rainy weather kept us in our home, and while BC and YH are playing their favourite Starwars game on the WII, I am just lazing on my bed, and gazing out of the balcony to enjoy the view. I reallylike the view of our swimming pool, those green palm trees really soothes and relaxes you... so here, I am posting the pictures of Yinghong (short of her 2 teeth), her milk teeth holder, and .. the view from my bed... heee...and no pictures of FOOD at all this week!!

Quality time with family!

2008-06-07T15:50:00.002+08:00

This week, I did pretty well in terms of spending time with my loved ones. Took Monday off to bring Yinghong to roller-blade in East Coast Park.We had a tremendous time there - bought Mcdonald's drive-thru breakfast; and also taking our time to wash up and changed clothes in the EMPTY changing facilities before heading to Takashimaya to catch her WINX CLUB show (twice!) while shopping intermittently to get a birthday present for Peishan and some clothes for myself . :)

I am glad I made the tough decision to take Wednesday off. Brought dad for a morning walk at the "Henderson Wave" bridge; then met my younger brother, his girlfriend (these 2 are here from Guangzhou for holiday) and my mum and headed to town for a few activities - Lunch, walk and took pictures in Raffles Hotel, and walked to the Singapore Flyer where brother & Sue took a ride on the Flyer and I had a 30mins of FISH SPA treatment - which is so ticklish and so much fun too! - for only $28!
And we all ended the day with dinner at Long Beach seafood restaurant in East Coast Park to celebrate Peishan's 12th birthday.....
Can't believe my niece is already 12! This is the age at which she will start to grow distant, and start to spend more time with her friends and take her friends' words more seriously than her family's . She's a sensible girl so not much to worry about. But the girl hardly smile, and is a tad too anxious about studying to get good grades... sigh.. Well.. I should be happy she will take care of her own school work and work her way through her PSLE exams this year.
Seeing Peishan brings me to another thought.. the character of a child really show the influence of his/her parents and family environment. My cousins (Zing and Fanny) are such cheerful, warm, and happy-go-lucky girls because their parents are such, YingHong is a rather happy girl because BC always play and joke with her. I really believe Peishan rubs off the "serious" personality from her dad. I am not judging or saying if it's a good or bad thing.. but I will be definitely happy to see her smile more and be more relaxed and more spontaneous.

Last week in May....

2008-06-01T15:43:00.003+08:00

The last week of May.. weather is getting erratic, hot & sunny days but the next moment the clouds gather and you get drizzles/showers. Still I had a few interesting "outings". One of them during lunch -- Kelly, Geraldine and I suddenly had the idea of eating congee and we braved the rain during lunch to walk to "SuperBowl" in boat quay to have our congee. We didn't expect the restaurant to survive till now, but there it is! However, they no longer serve our favourite "zha leong" (fried bread dough wrapped in cheecheongFan).
Wednesday evening the ADSK people had fun gathering at The Rice Table in International Building (Orchard) for dinner- to celebrate Ouiyoung's birthday! The birthday girl was super-happy and sweet, in the company of her BF... we all feel privileged and surprised.. and dinner was good too!

Friday's dinner at "St. Julien" french restaurant was the finest dining event in the week. Appetizers, middle course impressed, but main and dessert was ok, except for the wild fresh strawberries (which I didn't order) which was aromatic and full of flavour. My middle course was "Zucchini flower stuffed with lobster dices and fish mousse", really wonderful.
Then on saturday, we finally made an outing to the Jurong Birdpark with Zing and her friend, Joanna(with Zing's free corporate pass) and Ying Hong . It was so much fun! Will wait for Zing to send me the pictures so I can load them into facebook.
Err.. and the only bad news (but expected) for the week is.. my body fat is 28% (1% above normal)... gosh.. there goes Nasi Lemak..

Dempsey Hills Pictures

2008-05-19T16:12:00.001+08:00

Hortipark pictures

2008-05-19T16:06:00.003+08:00

Super weekend!

2008-05-19T15:33:00.003+08:00

Managed quite a few activities again this long weekend. Did our usual roller-blading followed by breakfast at Cafe Cartel, hmmm.. redeemed a free Orea Frappe with vouchers we earned from the last visit. Evening was spent at my second uncle's place for dinner gathering with families from my mum's side. It's the usual once-a-month potluck my uncles take turn to host in their homes. The kids were made to queue up (by my cousin-Derrick) for their cone of Gelato, before they went to play at the playground. Not sure why, but all my cousins are fond of and good at taking care of children. With Yinghong tagging along with my brother's children to sleep-over at my mum's place, BC and I decided we can finally attempt a long distance cycling trip the next morning from our home to East Coast Park! We did ok for the 10 km, reaching East Coast Park connector behind Safra Resort, but I think we really exhausted ourselves by the time we reached home, after a total of 3.5 hours of cycling. The EFFECTS on our thighs were only felt in the afternoon, when we were shopping in Great World City. WAHH... so painful and tight muscles! We would have been able to cover more distance if not for the small wheels of our foldable bikes. With a proper mountain bike or racer, I am sure I could reach East Coast Park McDonalds in 1.5 hours.
Good thing we recovered from our painful thighs this morning after a good sleep. So we continued our exploration of the new bridges in Alexandra road. The Horticulture Park turns out to be a very nice surprise. Will surely bring my Mother-in-law one evening.
And we went to Dempsey Hills for lunch! Food was not fantastic at the "C.A. California" restaurant, but it's got a nice, homely,casual restaurant that resembles an american country diner. The in-house Ben & Jerry counter makes it an exciting place for the kids too. There's this little corner with wooden panel folding doors which can separate the corner for children party, but the carved decor on the wall makes this corner feel like a chapel. The cute thing is the hole in the wooden folding doors are in the shape of an ice-cream cone!
Nice place to bring your family to, they even have live band playing in the night...
Ok , that sums up my weekend..enjoy the pictures!

More pictures from the weekend....

2008-05-12T22:33:00.003+08:00

More pictures from the weekend of 11-12 May....

Mother's Day Weekend - Part 2

2008-05-12T22:22:00.002+08:00

Sunday (May 11) - Went cycling in the morning.. hee.. took the long way via the Park-Connector to the Century Square in Tampines to have breakfast @ HANS.
Went to my mum's home for lunch.. she's happier and insisted on cooking for us - my brother, myself and her precious grandchildren...refusing my original idea of going out for lunch.
Then went to Singapore Concert Hall to catch a concert by the SCO (Singapore Chinese Orchestra) , thanks to BJ who got the complimentary tickets from our old friend, the Conductor. The children enjoyed it as it was more like a narrative music class on different Beats (2/4, 3/4, 5/4 etc) intertwined with a slew of melodious pieces. Met a few old friends from the old orchestra days too...Dinner with BJ's whole family at the Korea grill restaurant in East Coast Park... and went home with our clothes and hair smelling of barbequed meat... but what a fulfilling weekend!

Mother's Day weekend - part 1

2008-05-12T21:56:00.004+08:00

May has been a busy month so far, at least socially.. .hmm.
Saturday -- Went roller blading ; went out for an early Mother's day lunch with my MIL , took some nice pictures at in "Zhou's Kitchen" restaurant and in the surrounding area "Far East Square" ; then brought Ying Hong to Isaac & Elyna's church wedding service ; had tea and the marvelous Lychee Martini Tart @ the Coffee Club (with BC, Urai, and of course YingHong).

Exploring the new "e!Hub"@ Downtown East

2008-05-12T21:44:00.002+08:00

May 4th outing to NTUC "DownTown East" - Couldn't find time to load these pictures that we took when we checked out the new extension "e!hub" of Downtown East in Pasir Ris. My advise - Don't bother taking that Ferris Wheel ride! So small and slow, not exciting at all, yet you have to queue and pay $6.50 per person! More exciting looking at it from outside the building. With the kaleidoscope of neon lights, looks quite pretty, but that's really all.
Nevertheless we are excited about this place, since it has a movie theater! We watched "Iron Man" the following week here. It's quite amazing how they squeeze so many restaurants, cafe, a ferris wheel, a bowling alley, a super market, a huge children indoor playground (exorbitant charges though..). After exploring the new wing, we went back to the older wing, and Ying Hong enjoyed a $3 per 10 mins ride on a "Pony" so much more than the Ferris Wheel ride. She got some good exercise too, as its' a mechanical pony that requires you to stand up and down to push it to move.

I wish.....

2008-05-09T23:10:00.004+08:00

Been a busy week but I suddenly have so many thoughts in my mind.. can't remember yesterday's thoughts now (yes.. memory fading.. aging). There are many things I wished for and if my wishes come true, I truly believe the world will be a better place... I wish that...
All humans can eat less meat and be more compassionate. It is obvious by now to those who read news reports - it takes xx more times of crops to rear one cow, we would save so much land, resources if we could eat less meat. Compassionate... share your food, or at least don't waste them. I remember Boon Chong told me once that one of his ex-colleagues always asked for more rice when he orders lunch from a food court, but he will always leave a thick layer of rice behind when he's finished lunch. When asked why, he said he's worried the plate is not clean enough, so he will only eat the rice that did not come into contact with the plate!!!! Horror! Using precious rice to line his plate. Disgusting!

Human population should come under control, and people should just get out of places that are not suitable for inhabition... I have long wanted to voice this, but I am sure lots of humanitarian groups will hate me for this. But isn't it so true that there are not enough resources in this world to sustain the ever-growing human population? Why are all other beings subjected to the natural life cycle, but human get to artificially extend their lifes (through medical means) and at the same time terminate other creatures and also squandered resources in the name of economic development... besides diseases, we really don't have any natural predators .

only video/computer games that promote goodness exist. Humans are sinners, it is SOOOOO true. Most popular games are those that includes violence, vices. The latest review I read in the papers is about a game that allows you to walk around in the "city of liberty" to assume a role of a new immigrant who found work for the thugs and gangs. Apparently it included many gun-fight scenes that look very real lor.. Why waste time worrying about how to educate, influence, control and limit access, etc... if you know it's bad, just ban it lah! It they don't exist at all, then no need to worry mah, why waste time and resources doing damage control.. If such games are popular it only prove one thing.. that people actually would like to do bad things, but since they can't (or at least someone would need a BIG motivation to go against the law) do it in the real world, they do it happily and without qualms in the virtual world. Children, teenagers or adult, there will be some kind of influence from such games. And who says we must be open and allow companies to be creative? Pathetic man... the only reason for those companies to create such games is simply to make money lah. And those suckers who really pay and play, are just fooling themselves to say it's fun.. when truly they are satisfying their own secret dark souls in them to do some evil.
Thats why I like Nintendo WII.. sports, cooking..good clean fun.

Ok, enough of nagging here.. going to bed now.. good night. Tomorrow is weekend, hurray!

Catching up with Friends...

2008-05-03T17:19:00.003+08:00

Its a nice feeling to catch up with good friends. This week I happened to do that a few times ..
Wednesday - Facial and chat with my trusting and caring Beautician Jennifer, and had a nice dinner chat with fellow Libran and good mate Bee Yean at "One-Ninety" in the Four Seasons Hotel. Finally got to try the liquor jellies - "cocktails can eat". Their new menu with smaller size appetisers and main courses is simply wonderful!

Thursday - had a good chat over phone with Ching, my dear friend in Sydney. Too bad we had to cut short our conversation when work got busier.

Friday - The lovely and funny Catherine Li arrived from HK and made a dinner date with us fellow bloomies. Dinner was great fun, followed by a nice chat at Nectarie in Clarke quay.

Saturday- went roller blading with Nancy, Arthur and Amanda. We all had great fun, and the kids went for a swim in our Condo pool after that, and played on the "WII" . Had a good chat with Nancy, sharing our parenting experience.

Childhood

2008-05-03T17:07:00.002+08:00

Childhood memories are most precious. I suddenly remember I have not taken a picture of Ying Hong and her daily playground gang before, so when I had a chance to watch them play this Monday late afternoon (thanks to being on early shift), I got them to pose for 2 pictures.

Last weekend was fun too, I had a chance to quickly shop at Raffles City and had a nice sandwich brunch at "Ah Teng's Bakery" at Raffles Hotel, such a nice and free feeling! This was all while Boon Chong was out in Toa Payoh and Bukit Merah running errands with Ying Hong tagging along. We subsequently met at National Library to read some books, then head to Hans Cafe before heading home. Was fun!

Sail...Sail....Sail....

2008-04-20T18:37:00.002+08:00

I started the day early today to make sandwiches and chinchow drinks for our sailing outing with Mike & gangs. My earlier worries that YingHong might be bored, or BoonChong feeling left out were unfounded. Yvonne was so nice to accommodate Ying Hong and played all sort of silly games with her in good fun.... the girls surely had great fun. We even dipped into the sea for a short swim.
What a great Sunday outing.. thanks to "Dugong Mike"!

Love is in the air....

2008-04-20T18:20:00.002+08:00

Met our neighbour in Pasir Ris Park playground this Saturday morning, and she related an episode where she got a client's email on Friday afternoon 2 hours later she heard that he had passed away. She was shocked and recalled reading an article about the importance of expressing your feelings to our loved ones everyday so you won't have regrets when unexpected events strikes and take your loved ones away forever.... I believe we all have been reminded at some point in our life about this, but I must say I am guilty of not expressing gratitude and love everyday. So often, we are so busy and get led away by everyday tasks and events.. but we can certainly make an effort to remember to be nice and expressive towards our loved ones.
Then in the afternoon at Nerissa's church wedding, Father Terence again touched about what Love is -- is to Care, Share, Bear... this is soooo true.. and a promise to stay together needs lots of efforts to hold true. Communication and reviews are so important.
It was a wonderful wedding, and I am SO truly happy to see 2 young people being sure, brave and committed enough to make their vows to each other.. Congratulations and Many years of love-filled happiness to Nerissa and Brendan!

Interesting Steamboat place for lunch

2008-04-05T21:12:00.005+08:00

Peiling and I went to "Guo Fu Zhen Guo" chinese restaurant at China Square Central for lunch.. for the first time!!! And it was a good experience and pleasant surprise. We ordered the ala carte buffet set and found the portion to be larger than our expectations, quality is satisfactory, and the complimentary side dishes such as pumpkin cakes and xiaolongdao are quite tasty.
Really don't mind going there again...
Friday's after-work drink with Eepin and Haresh was quite fun too.. have not done that for a long time. Joined Amanda and Caroline at a Japanese Barbecue restaurant in Chijmes afterwards, and was just in time to order desserts together. Great that they have my favourite mochi with macha ice cream and red bean.. and it was a novice idea to grill the rice cake myself over the barbecue!
Good start to the weekend! Indeed... the culinary experience continued this afternoon... we had our own home-made Chocolate fondue with fruits and walnut bread..well.. will revert to healthy eating tomorrow...

A nice house-warming party

2008-04-05T20:49:00.006+08:00

Joyce's house-warming party last saturday evening was a pleasant gathering. Well, it was not meant to be my gathering... since she invited most of her colleagues, but was a pleasant surprise to see a few familiar faces. Not to mention her well-renovated apartment is warm, cosy and real cooooool.. Even YingHong had a great time playing in Clara's room.
Was also interesting to look at Jame's Lego collection of his Star Wars mini-fig, and the big LEGO Eifle Tower.Forgot to take a picture of the kitchen which has a well fashioned island in the middle...which looks like a perfect place to knead pasta dough!!!
Looking forward to a cooking party there soon..... hee.e..

Back in Singapore..with NO FLU!!

2008-03-16T14:51:00.003+08:00

Back home from HK, free-of-flu! In the streets of HK, we did see many people and children with masks, but people were just being cautious and taking precaution, no sense of panic there. We were lucky to have sunny weather throughout our stay there, had we been there a few days earlier, we would have been caught in rain and been at risk of catching flu.
I am glad yinghong had the chance to meet up with my 2nd aunt and my cousins ,less my 3rd cousin who's a "madam" (CID). Ying Hong really likes 2nd aunt, and had a good time playing with her dogs and cats, and also had a girl-to-woman private chat with her in the bedroom.. she even cried and say she misses "er yi po" when we were travelling to the airport to catch the return flight.
YingHong also spent the whole afternoon playing in Clarice's home...for a surprisingly long time..and we all had a great time having dinner at the NIHON MURA restaurant. Both Celine (Clarice's mum) and I were surprised that the girls spent so much time together without a single quarrel! Maybe being away for a while made them miss each other....heee...
Too bad my SD card in the camera is corrupted so I lost all the pictures taken on day 3 and 4 of our trip... sigh.. Nevertheless, some pics here to share with my friends...

In Hong Kong with Ying Hong

2008-03-11T17:47:00.003+08:00

This is our 3rd day in HK, having lots of fun! Catherine brought us to a new shopping mall -"Elements" for dinner. This new mall sits right above the "Kowloon" MTR station. Marvellous place with many up-market shops, and there is a ice-skating rink in it which Ying Hong is keen to return for a session of ice skating. Think we will try to come back on Thursday.

A full day in Disneyland yesterday.. the usual.. - rides AND shopping!!

Today we did the most.. starting with a walk along the Avenue of Stars, along the promenade, and took the Stary Ferry to WanChai Harbour, followed by a tram ride to the Mid Levels Escalators --- the world's longest outdoor escalator (800m). Then we walked through the Pottinger st. to reach "The Landmark" to look for the 3-Michelin star cafe I read about...."Le' Salon De The's La Boutigque" ...... a truly remarkable place in terms of food and service!!! Took a picture of the "Le Coueur" (a heart-shaped dessert with white chocolate mousse with raspberry and chocolate biscuit bits inside) .... but will have to post it later..
The next place is... here.. Pacific Coffee Company at the Victoria Peak!

Going to head back down town soon to catch the 8pm city light-show back at the Promenade at Kowloon side. Ciao!

Something different..

2008-03-02T18:53:00.003+08:00

Because of the rain on saturday morning, we didnt do our usual roller blading. Yinghong still insisted we pack our gear and go try roller blading by at the beach when the rain was still a drizzzle. The little girl quickly changed her mind and suggested we go to Lili-Putt indoor golf at the Big Splash at east coast park. She had quite a good time there, the effects at each hole are different and fun. Our favourite is the MRT station set, where the mini MT really carried the golf ball to a different place....
The afternoon was spent with my mum, sis-in-law and niece& nephew hainv high tea at Equinox. The kids discussed and decided to all stay over at my mum's place for the night So I stole some time to do a pedicure...
That was when boonchong sms me that he bought me a surprise present....hmmmm.
Turned out the next day that its an ASUS mini laptop... the one that I told him I would love to have since last year's pc show.... quite cool! I can hold it on one palm.. and updating my blog on this small thing now... hee.. must show SingChuan,...he would want to have one too...that's my weekend. Now its time to enjoy the usual sunday night movie on tv.. bibi.

What a weekend!

2008-02-24T21:02:00.004+08:00

This week seems to past a little faster than usual, not sure why. Saturday was fun, we did so many things! After our usual morning roller blade session, we went to Big Splash in East Coast Park to try the food at Old Town Cafe. Decor was the only cool thing about this place.. an old kopitiam feel with nice seats. But service was slow albeit friendly, most food are less than satisfactory : The Rendang Chicken rice and Nasi Lemak was pretty good especially the chilli. But the portions are less exciting, plus the drumstick had much less flesh than a normal one the same size has. That is the same observation for all the servings... which prompted us to speculate that the kitchen had cut off some of the flesh before frying to use for Ipoh Hor Fan. The only really good dish worth recommending is the Ipor Hor Fan - there is only soup version - very tasty.
Afternoon, we have Mayumi over at our home then we all went to Changi Sailing Club to meet Mike for dinner.. was really fun!
Sunday was a heavy workout day under the scorching sun! We got over the shock of learning about Boon Chong's DAHON bike being stolen, and had to borrow Calvin's bike (our neighbour) to continue with our grand plan of cycling to Changi to attend the Singapore Airshow. The last stretch was the toughest, since the police "guided" every pedestrian to walk along the single foot path leading to the airshow complex (I believe for its for security reason), so we didn't manage to move fast, and burnt a good 15 mins there. When we finally made our way in, we were met with a pleasant surprise - President Nathan and a few ministers were there! We chilled out at the air-con chalet of Thales most of the time, only making a quick round to view the planes on exhibit. The highlight was watching the Aerial Display from the roof top of the Chalet, was really impressive. The way back was slightly easier as there were more down slopes . :) Reached home only at 4:30pm... phew.. a long day. Just finished watching the Sunday movie blockbuster on TV. This has become our regular Sunday night activity recently.. nice way to wind down a little and get ready for work tomorrow....ergghh.. another week to start....

WAN SHI RU YI in the new year of RAT!

2008-02-16T21:59:00.014+08:00

I'ts the 11th day of CNY (Chinese New Year) of RAT, and we went 2 rounds of home visiting today - Urai's and my Aunt Lily (to savour the fabulous Hock Chiew specialty -- red wine chicken soup with meesua). Last year during CNY, we were vacationing in L. A. This year we stayed home to embrace tradition, and indeed, it's a heart-warming feeling to gather with your family, relatives and friends. Festive moods abound with everyone exchanging well wishes, and children happily collecting HONG BAOs (I am truly happy giving them out too). My brother, YongMan, even made his way back from Guangzhou for 4 days.
So far we accomplished these visits:
Day 1 - Boon Chong's brother's and sister's families came for lunch and dinner
Day 2 - Went to Mum's home for lunch gathering and "Lao-Yusheng"
Day 3 - Mei Ping's house for dinner; the kids were so thrilled to play in the big garden and with the big red bike!
Day 4 - Bee Yean's house and Boon Chong's Niece (Shuyi) home.
Today - Urai's home and Aunt Lily's home.

I have been too tired from work the past few weeks, and busy with CNY preparation, so there was simply no time to update this blog. So paiseh when Christian asked me twice why I didn't update my blog... hee... Thanks for Christian and Alicia for supporting my blog!!!!

Also planning to bring Ying Hong to HK for a short holiday during the March School holiday, so exciting cos Caroline will be joining us with her daughter Jean-Anne..... the only dilemma is whether we should go visit Disneyland while we are there, will see how it go..

Well, to all that I know and care about, a wonderful year of RAT in 2008 with good health and good luck!

1st week of 2008! HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

2008-01-03T21:43:00.000+08:00

Haha.. a BIG and NEW discovery in 2008, thanks to Zing -- finally found this "Compose" button to edit my fonts and colours.. goodness.. I'd been looking for this but never clicked on this tab.. Well..... New Year day itself was a no-event. At this age, I really want regularity in my life.. the usual morning cycling to Pasir Ris park, followed by late breakfast. Katja, the little girl from right below our apartment, came to our place to play for the 2nd day in a row. YingHong would have preferred to play in Katja's home, but all her toys were packed into cartons as she was moving to NZ for a year with her mum on Friday. The girls had a good time, and YingHong gave her a beetle toy from McDonald's as souvenir. Then, Quintin (a boy from 2nd flr unit in our block) came to join them for a while. His subsequent visit to the loo kicked up a big crisis..(sigh). The OL (old lady) at home actually blocked him from going into the toilet and complained that he should have relieved himself before coming to our home.. etc. etc (what the ?????).. a big quarrel with the master of the house followed after that... so our new year day didn't end too well.... but YingHong and I still managed to catch "Sinbad- Legend of the seven seas" on TV ... fun!

Ok... 2nd Jan was a contrast -- a happy and exciting day! It was Ying Hong's 7th birthday, and her first day in Primary school! She was very proud of herself and carried her own school bag all the way as we walked to Elias Park Primary School. As expected, there were lots of anxious yet proud parents crowding around the hall , and later at the canteen (during recess) to observe their children and take photos (myself included). The kids were happy by tired at the end of the day, good thing that the school arranged for shorter schooling hours for the P1 kids this week. It's also cute to see them pairing up with a primary 2 student so they have a buddy to guide them to buy food & drinks in the canteen. So cute!! Ying Hong said she didn't want to eat initially, but the P2 buddy told her "no, you must eat"... so she didn't want to disappoint the buddy, and ended up buying a drink and a chicken Pao (bun) to eat...

Looks like for a while, her favourite time in school will be the recess where she can explore the canteen!!!

Best time of the year..

2007-12-26T17:40:00.000+08:00

Have been super lagging with this blog. Here I am again... back from beijing holiday, had a fantastic time and am so glad my girl experienced a variety of things - sight-seeing(the great wall), history(Forbidden City), culture (Beijing opera), food, activities (indoor playground, aquarium, Skiing).
Ate too much last week (3 barbecues sessions and 2 parties), so have to really start winding down and go on a rigorous exercise schedule soon. The holiday weeks passed by so quickly, I am already feeling a bit depressed thinking that this merry period will be over soon. We are approaching a new year, and soon we will have to face a whole new year of challenges! My new year resolution ? Save more money (no more designer bags! -- but will accept them as gifts.. heee), and be more focused and patient with Yinghong since she will be starting primary school - a whole new milestone in her life! To my beloved family and friends out there : A super-duper 2008 filled with Joy & Happiness & Luck!!
Let's hope more people will be more conscious about saving our environment (drive smaller cars pls!) and save our mother earth from more disasters!

Another happy week...

2007-12-05T11:58:00.000+08:00

My brother, yongman, came back last friday to spend the weekend with mum & dad before flying back this Monday. Had a quick dinner gathering at our favourite "Shan Ding Cha Can Ting" in the C.C. near mum's place. Spent Sunday afternoon at our old neighbour's (Florence) place, poh piahs, curry, beehoon, birthday cakes.. hmmm. and the great company! Missed the group! Ying Hong had a great time catching up with Ratchel and Natasha too. Heading to Beijing this afternoon, so gotta rush off this post and leave for airport soon.

Kindergarten graduation is a big deal!

2007-11-18T16:25:00.000+08:00

Have been very slack on updating this blog since I signed on a facebook account and been struggling to learn a little more about that.
YingHong's primary school orientation and Kindergarten graduation (her 2nd time) is on the same day - 16 Nov. Their little concert at Post Office centre Auditorium in Paya Lebar was quite a delightful one. Was hilarious watching the little ones mess up a little here and there. Most funny of all was one of Yinghong's friend who danced fervantly, twisting her body and butt, but her face was all the way expressionless...just her mouth in an "O" shape. Pictures to follow later.
Eeling's wedding dinner last night was fun! The pretty bride was enjoying herself, and our table was the most photo-crazy(with Ali-baba around, of course!) one!
Photos to follow....

Hurray High Tea!

2007-11-03T20:00:00.000+08:00

The long awaited high tea afternoon with BeeYean, Jennifer and the girls is here. The girls had lots of fun, but the adults were kept busy making sure no one breaks any crockery...the pictures tell the story...

Opinions....

2007-11-01T20:29:00.000+08:00

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but people with authority or in position of leadership should know better to shut up when they do not have wise things to say.
A "someone" in some political party just trumpeted today that sexy women are a distraction and are making men losing sleep. Blaming others for his own weaknesses. Human beings are born with many weaknesses...we are selfish, we are easily tempted, we are greedy. What makes us different from animals is our sense of moral and our ability to educate and restrain ourselves. This is the foundation of the human society. It is good to dress and behave decently in public and observe moral standards, but it's a bigger crime to blame other people for your inability to do the right thing. Imagine a place where everyone is free to do anything he/she desires???? Imagine the law punishing the victim of a burglary for being wealthy and tempting the burglar???
My opinion, and my advise to that "someone": Learn to restrain and do not excuse yourself by blaming others.... in another words, do not seek the easy way out!

A week of dinners and conference calls

2007-10-27T18:12:00.000+08:00

My recap of the week is conference calls and dinners... Yinghong picked on her dinner on Monday night and kept nagging about going to Coffee Club. Finally made a deal with her to have her finish dinner within 15 mins, and brought her and Kholifah there for tea and hot chocolate. The girl was sooo thrill lor. Tuesday we had a dinner party at New Asia Bar with our chairman, but half way through still dialed in for our weekly team call. Wednesday was conference calls and dinner at home at the same time..Thursday... quick dinner with Mike and Rickson, then drinks at Scarlet Hotel (thank you Rickson!) before we headed back to office for conference call. Last night's dinner with clients was at Mortons Steakhouse...ambience and service is ok,but waiter has typical american showmanship lor.. can't leave you alone to read menu, must push out so many things to "show-and-tell"..my goodness! Food was quite good but not the type I will miss and return for, at that kind of price lor. My favourite was the Jumbo lump Crab Cake... marvelous! Steak was good, but by the time I am half way through, it got harder and dryer (cos I got asked for an "almost done"). Funniest is the steam broccoli, two quarters of broccoli, I felt like I was in a market! Got the waiter to bring them in to cut them into smaller bite-sizes for us. Another best is the chocolate lava cake!!hmmmmm.....heavenly! Today, after Yinghong's art class, we explored "Botak Jones" american fare in a food court in Depot road. It's definitely yummy food at good prices! The Chicken Gumbo and Stuffed Jalapeno (see picture) are very good! Ying Hong enjoyed her fish n chips too!
Last night when I mentioned to a dinner guest that I have a blog, she asked me "oh.. you have a FOOD blog?". I explained it's not a food blog, but a blog to share what's going on in my life with my friends.. but maybe this edition is really qualifying as a "food blog" ...heeee
Finally, thank you so much for the thoughtful gift from Ali-baba!! So sweet of you... With the whole week of eating, tomorrow better do lots of exercises....

A dynamic week...

2007-10-21T17:43:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Alicia, else I would have postponed my long over-due hair-cut appointment indefinitely. She also gave me the perfect reason to "chim" in Starbucks for a while before the hair-cut, have not done such things for a long time.
With the new hair trim and colour, last week seems more colourful too! Despite the annoyingly frequent conference calls, managed to squeeze in a drink and dinner with Mike and Rickson at Prego's! How I miss that bread they serve there! So much so I had to take a picture.... Bumped into Owen - my ex-colleague at Tokai Bank many years back- at "His Grace" cafe.. and this was right after Vincent told me Owen came to our office the previous day to attend seminar and missed meeting me as I was out at that time!!! What a coincidence. Then on Saturday, when my Aunt Annie came by my place to collect her Tupperware, I sent my maid down to meet her as I just reached home after an afternoon of shopping with Ying Hong and was too tired to step out. Guess what? Today as we were cycling in Pasir Ris beach park, we saw her there!! Quickly got Yinghong to pose for a picture with Aunt Annie...As always, thanks for all those wonderful kueys you make for us!!!!!
And one other thing I have not done for a long time.. I did it this week , i.e. reading a Novel!! Boon Chong passed me this book he bought from Chennai airport - "for one more day" by Mitch Albom. Not a bad read at all, a little sad as the story telling involves the character losing his mum. Mainly, how you wish you can have one more day, or one more conversation with the loved one you have lost. When she/he was around, you always thought you have plenty of time.... sound familiar?
Oh, and today I went to the new Coffee Club in White Sands to have a nice glass of iced latte and read the book there, while Ying Hong was at her friend's birthday party. This place is cool!!! Nice green retro swivel chair (actually very comfortable!) and a row of red sofas with the table in a dug-in hole! Like a tatami style! I am sure Ying Hong will love it! True enough,when I told her about it just now, she said "Let's go now!"... will wait till next weekend anyhow.
Hmmmmm.. back to real life.. Jasmine and Alicia have been talking about their FACEBOOK experience, Urai has succumbed to their persuasion and opened an account... don't think I could do that.. far too much time needed to maintain another on-line psuedo social circle..
my real-life circle of friends are the best!

Ready to be active again!

2007-10-13T20:47:00.000+08:00

Finally the flu virus is gone and cough is subsiding. This week seemed so long. Work was frustrating, with many unproductive and interruptive conference calls(3 in this week!) in the evening, and having a wrecked body didn't help. Was so lethargic. But was glad to be able to squeeze in a quick dinner with Suresh on Monday, my favourit "kei tak sek" dessert in liang seah st with Urai, and a dinner with my ex-colleagues from Tokai. We had a good time sharing what had happened in our lives these years. The restaurant - HojJin (Japanese), was weird though. Service was bad - they didn't bother to even bring us more menu at first, then kept serving the neighbouring table's food to us. Just not a place I would recommend my friends to go to.
This morning we went to the new Children Garden at the Botanic Gardens, and bumped into Joseph Tan and his family! Not a bad place but less exciting then I expected.
Pampered myself with a pedicure while Yinghong was attending her art class. The Barbie face towels Joyce bought from Tokyo for Yinghong are so cute and came with a nice packaging! Took a picture so Beeyean can have a look... (marketing idea). Thank you ah nia! Can really trust you to buy the right thing! The are exactly the ones I have in mind, and YingHong loves them too!
Made Cha-wan Mushi again for dinner, varied the proportion of Dashi and eggs, didn't taste a lot different from last Sunday's. Still feel it's lacking something, but can't tell what it is, may be should add more shoyu the next time. Will continue to experiment...
Tomorrow is hair-cut day with Ali-baba.... looking forward to trim away all the dry ends and tidy up the mess a bit, maybe some new colours too...long overdue...
Lastly, loaded up a video that YingHong choreographed and voiced over. She directed and recorded this "advertisement" with her daddy's phone last Sunday night. When I refused to do all that acting and singing (due to the bad throat), she changed tactics and persuaded/forced me to act and do lip-sing while she lent the voice) Quite hilarious... well, have a good laugh my friends, and have a happy Sunday and good week ahead!

I am Back!!

2007-09-30T19:52:00.000+08:00

Firstly, thank you so much you pals for all your birthday wishes. I stole private time to walk around in Taipei a little with my best friend, BeeYean. Trip was great.. eat a lot of local snacks, and tried out the yummy chinchow dessert at "Dong Qu Fen Yuan" once more. Also checked out the 24-hour pay lounge "My Fun", where we used the internet, drink tea and slouched in sofas reading comics.
Taipei city may not be as immaculately pruned and kept tidy like ours, but the people are definitely more disciplined and genuinely more friendly, and social conscious.
Before last week, we drove up to Genting Highlands for Ying Hong's talent competition.
She had a lot of fun, and lived her dream once of singing on a proper stage.
Her principal brought some sparkling eye shadow and mascara to touch up for her, she was sooooo excited. Here's some pictures to share...
Then today we went to the Barbie Movie (The Island Princess) premiere at Picture House, which was followed by a meet & greet session with the main character "Princess Rosella". Again, thanks to Bee Yean for reserving tickets for us.
That's all for now.. it's back to work again tomorrow...... s..i..a..n......

We celebrate life by eating..... more on weekends!

2007-09-10T23:06:00.000+08:00

A socially busy week... met my "sister" Bee Yean after work on friday for dinner; had lunch on Saturday at "Nihon Mura" at Tampines swimming complex for the very reasonable $0.99 per plate sushis with family, a potluck dinner at our Condo function room with neighbours, then joined the "crazy" gang at Pepporoni Pizza and Chocolate Factory to celebrate Jasmine's birthday... Sunday was more sane, with Joyce & family coming over for a quick cup cake baking session. Forgotten to take some pictures of the girls playing together as I was busy in the kitchen the whole time...

One thing I read in the Saturday's paper shocked me though.. about a chap who went to the Primary dispute Resolution Centre (PDRC) in 2004 for his motorcycle accident case. Poor guy got awarded for $188 as the district Judge ruled in his favour and costs the plaintiff (woman) $1200 in terms of legal cost. HER appeal case in High court won (that PDRC was not a court and the order was invalid) and poor chap was ordered to pay $63000 for appeal costs, which was subsequently brought down to $45000, but his previous lawyer also claiming a separate $80000 legal fees against him???? Think most people who read this would be like..."what the ?????"
Firstly the fact that the Subordinate Courts issuing a directive that all settlements reached through the former PDRC (now e@dr Centre) would require an endorsement by the courts to give them the weight of legal judgements...indicates there was imperfection of PDRC? Funny right? We allow a judge to make judgement there but high court agreed the order was not valid, and because of this the guy who won the first case have to bear the cost of appeal???? dont quite make sense (common sense, not legal sense).
If someone chooses to appeal, it can only be to his/her benefit.. cos he/she is buying a second chance , so why don't he/she just pay for this second chance?????
The other person didn't AGREE to have a second judgement leh.. So shouldn't the person appealing be committed to pay the cost? Else, then anybody will suka suka appeal right.. nothing to lose mah (except for the case where you lose and the judge mete out a heavier sentence, meant to discourage frivilious appeals).
Well.. just thinking aloud here.. better not complain too much in case someone come after me and sue me...

Lastly, a line from "High School Musical 2" -- Once upon a lifetime .. means no second chance...
Think thrice before we act.. every thing we do has consequences... some mistakes we can afford to make, some... rather not or else you will spend your whole life regretting or paying for it..
Same goes for things you NEED to do.. like telling your loved ones you love them, before they are gone... remind yourself to be kind to your parents no matter how irritating they may seem, cos a parent's love is the only true form of unconditional love and its ever-lasting (whether you like it or not, be grateful..)!
This last paragraph is hasty.. cos feeling sleep now, need to go. Adious!

The Dirty side of Charity?

2007-09-03T23:12:00.000+08:00

While it's good to contribute to charitable causes in terms of donations or social good deeds, I find some events are going too far to promote themselves. In the name of creating awareness or education, they implement creative marketing strategies to win more attendance at their events. Many of these do not yield effective results to the actual cause, instead they generate other damages. Sounds familiar? Sounds like the previous NKF saga, and also the recent Korean Missionary group that was kidnapped in Afghanistan?
Close to home in Singapore, we are not short of examples. The Yellow Ribbon Walk held yesterday was one that I witnessed with much regrets and ANGER!!!
* The organizers did not cordon off the walking path from the newly paved cycling path, the huge crowd was walking at snail pace, blocking the entire Pasir Ris Drive 3 (both sides of the road!) while they do their 3.5km walk. I could imagine their thoughts : Sorry lor... this is for Charity leh, so all other pavement users please do not come this way ok!!! ??? (errr.. what CHARITY had been done through walking huh?)
* The Organizers gave out mineral water sealed plastic cups (disposable ones of course.. we are a "developed" nation mah) without setting up proper disposal points One of the ushers explained that they reminded people to dispose of cups into dustbins at bus stops...(err.. thank you for being so THOUGHTFUL hor.. those few miserable dustbins at those few bus stops can hold SOOOOOOO many cups meh? Your organizers don't know how to do simple CALCULATIONS hor? ) We therefore had the OPPORTUNITY to see piles of plastic cups thrown along the entire drive 3!!! Horrendous heaps of rubbish in our beautiful town.. what a sight to greet the residents on a Sunday morning! What happens to all those talk about being environmental friendly? We have campaigns to EDUCATE/ENCOURAGE people to use fewer plastic shopping bags, but don't care about using KILOS of plastic cups which eventually get blown into the canal that's along the path and get sweep into our sea? Wow liao.. really TEKONG man..
* The worst thing is, the majority of those participants are students from various schools..soooo ORGANIZED... which makes me wonder.. if these obviously EDUCATED people still throw plastic cups anywhere they like when they have been taught since kindergarten it's wrong to do so, why bother to ENTICE them to the ending point of the walk --- "Prison Link Centre Changi" to view an EDUCATIONAL exhibition??????Too difficult lah.. they sure cannot UNDERSTAND!
Plus I am sure a bulk of the participants have no idea/interest whatsoever about this Project. They joined the walk because of the FREE yellow caps given at registration, plus the chance to win LUCKY DRAW, plus GOODIE BAGS at the ending point lor... (how many people agree with me on this???)
* Wanna do REAL charity? My suggestions -> Spend those budget, sponsor's money on the actual cause (do whatever you need to do).... don't always look to create publicity (education?) and create more mess. Want the public to work out & sweat out? Get them to volunteer to clean up the trash in Pasir Ris beach and East Coast Beach lah! Throw in lucky draws.. .I am sure there will be quite a lot of sign ups.. maybe queue to register somemore! Hey, why not get some celebrity to grace the event lah... lagi more people will show up for FREE!
Ok.. enough of gripes... but one last thing... my husband just drove past Pasir Ris Drive 3 this afternoon and saw half the rubbish (plastic cups.. remembers?) still lying around!!! Congratulations to the Yellow Ribbon Walk organizers..you have created 2 days (or more) worth of trash lor!! SHAME ON YOU!

A weekend of activities!

2007-09-03T22:55:00.000+08:00

Wished I could use a different title, but this is still the most apt. Will post a separate one to discuss some more serious issue so its easier for my pals to choose to read either...
For fun, we went for Boon Chong's company outing to visit a Soon Kuey "factory" and Otah "factory" (Lee Wee Brothers). Not really factory, just shop houses in Hougang that handles production, with retail counters. The following visit to "Animal Resort" in Jalan Kayu was more fun. The children had lots of fun running around in the Kampong area, feeding rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, geese, fishes, cranes and pigeons. The buses made a final stop at Jalan Kayu Roti Prata shop for prata before calling it a day.
In the evening, we watched the movie "Ratatouille" and enjoyed it thoroughly!
Sunday was unusual too, cycled all the way to Changi Village in the morning, then we waited for the rain to stop in the afternoon, and went over to William's workshop/office to finish up my long planned project. Wanted to do this painting myself, but end up only painted the base coat of white paint a few months ago, then painted a few final brushes.. William did everything else, and gave me tips on what "accidentals","textures" are all about. Ying Hong also did a small project of her own oil painting... quite fun. Now all that's left is to find time to hang that big painting in our living room...