Back in Singapore..with NO FLU!!

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

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..

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!

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!

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 !!!

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..

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!