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!

Another happy week...

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!

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!

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...