Auld Lang Syne...Final Blog for 2006

It is now almost 11pm and in another hour time, it will be 01 January 2007. This will be my FINAL blog for 2006.

We had dinner at 716 as mom cooked. After dinner, we headed for the new NTUC Hypermart and only one word to describe it - GIGANTIC. It was also very crowded. We are in for good times when the AMK HUB is fully operational.

The year 2006 has been an eventful year for our family.

Workwise - for adrian and myself - it has been a good year and things had been smooth. In June, i had a changed of General Manager. As for Adrian, he had 2 major oversea attachment in August and November - South Africa and Israel. Both attachements had very positive results.

Family - Anthea and Anders are growing fine and happy. Looking at them is also a joy for me and feel that all the hardwork had paid off. This year, we are lucky to be able to add a new car to our family asset. It has been a blessing indeed.

Overall, 2006 see the most of our extended family members travelling but it is always good to experience different cultures and lifestyle. It will make us appreciate Singapore more, i guess.

In 2007, i believe there will be more events happening in the family, i am really looking forward.

Now home alone with a bottle of Burbon coke and packet of party nuts, i am counting down to 2007 with the TV entertainment program. (Adrian has gone with his friends to Zouk for countdown,he asked me to join him but with anthea sleeping with me, this is not possible. Btw,anthea is now watching Winxs Club DVD. Anyway, i am used to counting down alone and i had trained myself to be very independent. ... : )

Lastly, may i take this chance to wish all a VERY HAPPY 2007 and may the year ahead brings lots of good health and happiness to all.

CHEERS !!!

Aces Family Treat

Finally it's the Aces Family turn to treat the family to a nice dinner. This is to Thank You all for their care and concern during the 7 weeks when daddy is oversea.

After some shortlisting we finally decided on Coca Restaurant at Ngee Ann City. Main reason for chosing steamboat is because of the rainy and cool weather. Also, daddy has too much meat for the past weeks, so it is good to eat something lighter.

Coca Restaurant served buffet style steamboat, so all we need to do is order from the service staff and they will bring the ingredient to the table for us to cook. We had 2 pot of soup - 1 chicken soup and 1 tom yam soup. The list of food includes - fish, beef, oyster, crab, pork, different kind of meats balls, fishballs, vegeatables, golden mushrooms and noodles. It was quite a nice spread and we had an enjoyable meal. The best deal is that they have Senior Citizien promotion so dad and mom had special priviledge.

After dinner, we went to shop in Metro Paragon and Anthea got her Princess Edeline from Yeye as a birthday present. (Her birthday is in April.. : P )

It was another enjoyable family gathering, looking forward to January 2007 when Louis and Eve return to SG, then we can really have a BIG TAN Family reunion.

Our home laptop is confirmed GONE by family Doc IT, 2 options: a) to change the Hard Disk or b) Buy a new one. With the later in mind, Adrian went with Terence to Sim Lim Square to check out some of the models. With something in mind, Adrian managed to get what he wanted and the best part is he has an ex-colleague with the Computer Company,so we are getting a new Laptop and Printer at a very very GOOD DEAL.... : )

Last Day with Intellect Childcare...

Today is the last day of school for anthea at her current childcare.

Last night, she said : "mommy, Tina will miss me. Amelia also cried...." then she started to tear a little. I told her it is not the end of her seeing her friends, we can also invite them to our house on weekends. Also in the new school, she will make new friends, only then did she cheered up little bit.

Well, being her last day at the childcare, i decided that i will baked some cookies for her teachers and few closed classmates as a Good Bye gifts. Anthea was happy while i baked and she came into the kitchen at interim to check if the cookies were ready to eat. I managed to packed the cookies into individual small boxes and wrote a small note of greeting for each box.

Time passed and she had been with this childcare for 2 1/2 years, so definitely there is feeling for the teachers and classmates. I am happy to see her growing and understand all this feeling.
Life is always full of gatherings and departures, it's only matter of time she learns.

To all her teachers (Ida,Sarah, 石老师 & 林老师)- I says : Thank you for all the wonderful guidances.

To her classmates : i say : Happy 2007 and may anthea has the chance to meet all of you again.

BYE FOR NOW....

Roast Leg of Lamb / Our Home LAPTOP is "Dead"

On Monday, hubby asked me : "this year lao pa no roast lamb?"

Well, for Christmas Dinner, we would usually have a meal of roast leg of lamb as this is one of adrian's favaourite dish. So on Monday, i called lao pa and made the requst. Dinner was confirmed for Wednesday evening.

This evening, we made our way to 253 for the BIG feast - Post Christmas Celebration for Adrian, since for the last 2 days he was still recovering from a fair bit of Jetlag.

Dishes included - Leg of lamb, fried chicken wings, sausages, baked beans, boiled vegetables, soup, baked potatoes and salad. We had a bottle of very good red wine to go along with the dinner. Wow...what a feast it was, the 2 A's junior also had a great time. Both of them finished their bowls of mashed potatoes with all the good stuff. After dinner, they had chocolates. So both of them enjoyed LIFE very much... : )

After dinner, we went home and i have arranged with Nellie to pass her Nicole's Christmas Present from Eve & Louis. I think maybe i had too much wine, i got the presents mixed up as i have wrapped up the presents. I passed Eileen's present to Nellie....so sotong...sigh!!! Finally i managed to get it FIXED...so now Nicole got her present correctly...hee : P

SIGH !! The Home LAPTOP is now in "ICU" ...hee. Our family IT Doctor is checking on it at the moment. Meanwhile, we are surviving on Eve's laptop. Once the diagnosis is out, we will make a decision if need to buy a new one. The current one has served us for a long time - almost 5 years already.

Christmas Presents...

On Christmas Day, we simply rest and relax.

In the morning, we had a chance to Skype with Louis and Eve, who are holidaying in London. Both Anthea and Anders were so happy to be able to see and chat with Uncle Louis and Aunty Eve. Especially Anthea, always curios to see their hotel room... : )

After the video conference, we made a trip to Toyogo Showroom to get an organiser for the children's toys as they are starting to adds up.

In the afternoon, we had lunch with dad, mom, Terence and Cherry at Cherry's Club. It was a very nice Country Club. Next chance, must try the swimming pool.

For this Christmas, Anthea and Anders had a good collection of Christmas Presents from the families Love one. Here is the List:

Anthea :
a) Princesses Haley & Isla - Grand-dad/grandma bought from Perth.

b) Princess Geneieve and Disney Princess Blous - Uncle Louis and Aunty Eve bought from Houston, Texas.

c) Princess Ashlyn - Uncle Terence and Cherry Jie jie.

d) Winxs Club Bag - from mommy & daddy

e) Princess Geneieve School Bag - from Da-jiu

Anders:

a) Safari Car - from yeye & nai nai bought from Perth

b) Bob The Builder Remote Control Scope - from Uncle Louis and Aunty Eve, Houston.

c) Cars set - from Uncle Terence and Cherry jie jie

d) Learning Laptop - From da-jiu

e) Remote Control car - from mommy & daddy

For myself, i received a baking book and Hardrock T-shirt from Louis and Eve. (ps: only problem i have is understanding the recipe, so must consult the 'si-fu' ...hee : ) )

We are Blessed with this wonderful family.

"Dear all, Thank you for making this Christmas so special for the Aces Family, we will treasure all these in our memory forever !!"

Merry Christmas, with love, ACES FAMILY.

Daddy's HOME for Christmas...

For the last 2 days, we were mentally prepared that Adrian's Homecoming may be delayed because of Heavy Fog in London. British Airway cancelled many flights.

On Saturday Morning, i managed to go online and Yahoo with adrian, according to him, the flight from Tel Aviv was delayed for 3 hours. Finally they departed at around 10 am in the morning.

Well, luckily they have a long transit hours, so finally he managed to meet up with Louis and Eve in their London hotel. Beside catching up, they had chanced for a packed meal in the hotel room. According to Adrian - 1 packet of duck rice and wanton soup cost almost 7 Pounds...!!! Really am lucky we are in SG where food are still so affordable... : P

On Sunday morning, i received an sms from Adrian saying that BA11 from Lon to SG was on scheduled. What a RELIEF !!!

In the evening, we went to the airport to fetch daddy...both Anthea and Anders were very very Happy to see daddy after 7 weeks of absence. It was quite an emotional but precious moment

Adrian brought back LOAD of PRESENTS for the family from Louis & Eve.

Daddy HOMECOMING is our Happiest Christmas gift and we are thankful for all Blessings.

( We had dinner at KO Japaneses restaurant on Saturday evening in Intercontinental Hotel. After dinner,we walked around Bugis Junction and saw this SHIMMERING X'MAS TREE, it's a Diamond Tree sponsored by Soo Kee Jewelry, can resist a photo)

Toys Museum & Wedding Dinner

This will be Anthea final excursion with her current childcare. This trip is to the Toys Museum. This is the 1st museum of its kind in the world. The place consists of three storeys and below is the breakdown of the enrichment program:

1. Arrival of students and warm welcome by Museum Bear - 5 mins
2. Exploration phase of program (led by teachers) - 60 mins
3. Refreshments breaks (cakes and drinks) in classroom - 10 mins
4. Exoression phase of program (workshop led by instructor)- 40 mins
5. Collection of Free Gifts from reception counter, playtime - 5 mins

End of the day, Anthea came home with a small cute and colorful bear, which we brougth to the wedding dinner and got DEFORMED in my bag. Not sure what material it was, but seem like those playdough thing.

In the evening, we attended Jeffrey Goh (son of grand uncle Liang Joo) wedding. This is mom's side of relatives. Well, it has been a long while since i last saw them, think since Louis & Eve's wedding in November 2003. Now all the children and grandchildren have grown so BIG... : )

And it was a very very Happy Gathering. Our table consist of : Dad, mom, Terence, Cherry, Anthea and me. Uncle Han Thong, Aunty Soopit, Kiat, Uncle Richard and Aunty Siew Gwee. Uncle Liang Joo was very happy and kept going to the tables to toast the relatives. And the last part of dinner, our table became Centre of Attraction - Because of uncle Richard, all uncles started coming to our table and kept on "Yum Seng-ings". I think this is the 1st time i had so many Yum Sengs during a wedding dinner. But it was a very very Happy Gathering, can sensed all these in their laugthers and cheers. Everyone is now looking forward to meet again next year at Keong's wedding dinner on 22 December 2007 and i know for sure, it is going to be the WEDDING of The YEAR... : )

(Oh..during Dinner, one of my MSN Kaki sms me "your car number comes out, got buy bo?" SIGH!!! Never buy 4D since last week because feel like giving up liao. Then this happened, only consolation is it is a CONSOLATION winning - so pain is smaller... : P)

Jolly "wet" Christmas...

For the last 2 days, it has been raining non-stop. All over Singapore, there are news of floods, trees falling, landslides...etcs. Nothing beat to be at home in this kind of wet weather.

On Monday evening, dad and mom fetched us from 313 and we had intended to go to the Bishan Community Library, when we were near Junction 8, the traffic jam was so bad that we re-directed to Thomson Plaza. Anthea and Anders had a good times, playing a few rides. Children will be children, no matter how the weather is, they are not affected by it.

On Tuesday, the new childcare centre admin staff called me and asked me about collection of some 2nd hand uniforms, as i requested for it during the orientation. The reasons are:

a. Children outgrow the uniforms very fast, so i don't intend to buy too many new sets. Probably 3 sets each.

b. Siti will be going back Indonesia comes April 2007, so i may not be able to handwash the children's uniform daily, like what she is doing with anthea's uniform now. So chances are the uniform may not be dry in time, so extras comes in handy.

c. Most Importantly - SAVE MONIES.... : )

Anders was down with cough and runny nose due to the cold weather, so i brought him to the doctor last evening. This resulted to me missing out on "Operation Hard Rock Cafe"..what a pity.

Yesterday, Louis wrote emails on planning trip to London for Adrian. For the return flight from Tel Aviv to Singapore, Adrian and his colleagues will be having almost 10 hours transit in London, so instead of sitting in the Airport and wasting time , they are visiting London city for shoppings and Fish & Chips.

This is also opportunity for Adrian to meet with Louis and Eve in London, he has been assigned as Ace's Family "santa claus" to bring back presents for the children. I know both anthea and anders will be very, very happy to get their X'mas presents from Uncle Louis and Aunty Eve.

This is the 1st time that both of them are getting official Christmas Present, as it will be arriving on 24 Dec 2006. Christmas Day is the Reunion of the Aces Family after daddy's 7 weeks oversea attachment.

(COUNTING DOWN to Adrian's Homecoming - 4 Days to 24 December 2006)

Orientation and Flight Fantasy Weekends

Childcare Centre Orientation, Saturday, 16 December 2006.

In the morning, i attended a Orientation session at the new childcare centre that both A's will be attending, comes 03 January 2007.

The principal in charge went through the rules and regulations. Also administration matters. I am impressed that they have this PTC thing (Parents-Teachers Conference) to be held 1/2 yearly, ie: June and December. I think it is important to obtain feedback from teacher on the child's development. Especially important now that Anthea is in K1, preparing her for her next embarkment to the Primary School in 2 years time.

AS for anders, it also a good chance for him to learn to be more independent, ie: eating on his own, playing with his schoolmates etcs.

From my observation, this is what is lacking in Anthea's current childcare's centre. There is no proper processes.

After the orientation, i went home for a light lunch and rested. Anthea went with mom,dad, Terence and cherry to the NIKE's sales at Expo. I heard from mom it was too crowded and they did not managed even to go into the hall. They ended having lunch at SAFRA Country Club.

Now that ye-ye & nai nai are back in town, it is the usual weekends enjoy life routine. In the evening, dinner was at Hard Rock's Cafe. Food portion was large. Dad ordered a steak, mom a 'pig" sandwiches and for myself - a nice ribs... : ) Terence and Cherry order a cambo platter, clam chowder soup and a fergita's (think spell something like dat...hee). well, it is another version on 'pop-piah'. After dinner, we had a nice and slow walk to Tanglin Mall. Took some photos. I must said, this is the 1st year we took so many Christmas TREES Photo. It must be the power of blogging... : )

After photo, we went to the basement of Tanglin Mall for ICE-cream. Both anthea and anders had a great time with the ANdersen Ice Cream. Finally we reached home at 11pm. Time passed fast when you are enjoying it.

Flight Fantasy, Sunday, 17 December

It is a Very Very WET Sunday. Rained the whole day and the weather is COLD.

In the afternoon, i went to NTUC to stock up some stuff. Saw the banner mentioning that they are moving on 31 Dec 2006. Did a quick check with the counter staff and was told that the new outlet at the AMK Mall will be start operation on 28 December 2006. This is a piece of good news to us. This means that grocery shopping will be nearer to us, finally.

Today is mom's hospital 10th anniversary celebration, as she had an extra ticket, she had kindly asked me to join her. I loves Dinner and Dance. Around 7.15pm, dad fetched me from 313. Anthea was all dressed up in a beautiful dress, like a little PRincess. She even wore her Barbie Crown.

The guest of honour for the dinner is our President, Mr S R Nathan and the 1st Lady. There are other few MP's as well. So it was quite a Grand event. The dinner was at Swissotel The Stamford - Raffles Ballroom. There was about 150 tables, the crowd was huge and most of the people came dressed to the event theme. It was really fun to watched the games and performance on the stage. It was a very well organised event.

We left around 10.30pm , missed the last dish as dad was waiting for us at the hotel lobby.

Daddy smses "Just drove a ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE as a grp outing. Two to a vehicle. We rode thru rough terrain, mountains n water to the Israel-Syria border. We got to see war-torn buildings and past Syrian village. We got as close as 4km to Syria. Kisses."

(COUNTING DOWN to ADRIAN's homecoming - 7 Days to 24 Dec 2006)

Guess What....

Princess HALEY & Princess ISLA arrives .....via QF71 from Perth to Singapore.

Last evening we went to the airport to welcome dad and mom aka Ye ye/nai nai.

While waiting for their baggage claims at the belt. Mom took out something from her bag and to Anthea happiest moment, it is 2 of the 12 Dancing Princesses. From outside, we could not figure out which 2 but from the look of it - should be the twins.

Wow...Anthea was so so HAPPY when she saw it. I told her ye-ye and nai-nai brought her such a BIG present from Australia, she must gave both of them a BIG HUG too when they are out of Immigration.

Anthea gave mom a BIG Hug when she came out and ye-ye, as usual, carried her and left the baggage trolley behind...haha. Terence took over from there.

Anthea is really lucky to have grand-dad and grand-mom who dotes on her so much.

Once we reached home, she started to play with the 2 Princesses and she was so happy that she did not want to sleep... : P

Christmas Lunch @ Ritz Carlton

Our department went for the yearly Christmas Lunch hosted by the company.

After some careful shortlisting process, we opted for the Ritz Carlton.

Enjoy a spectacular array of specialities as our culinary team showcases a gourmet selection of festive feasts.

Weekday Buffet Lunch
Greenhouse l 4 to 22 December
12 noon to 2.30 p.m.
Adult: $48 • Child: $29 (6 to 12 years)
price inclusive of mocktail

AS usual, the lunch was sumptous and we had a great time.

I am very lucky to have join this department as colleagues are all very co-operative and understanding. The best part - the General Manager is pretty easy going. Hoping that he can accomodate my requst for working hours comes 2007, when Siti goes back.

In the evening, dinner was at 253 - Home cooked hainanese chicken rice. Anthea and Anders enjoyed the dinner. Dage was home as he was on leave, he mentioned that during the day he brought Lao pa and Lao ma to Hangout@ Mt. Emily. He said it is a nice place. So probably we will bring our Tan's family there to try out.

Dage shared half of a Fruit cake he bought from Big Sister @ Market Place for me to try. He said if i like it, he will buy the whole cake for us. All these little things that he does for me and anthea (bought cheese for her when she said it is nice) are touching. Small act but means so much. I am thankful to have such wonderful brothers.

Daddy smses "Never had chicken rice for so long! Happy to hear christmas mood is high at hm. Countdown to homecoming. Hope the children hv a jolly good time. Kisses"

InterAct Event in Shenzhen...

Join InterACT Shenzhen!

We kindly invite you to join the InterACT Shenzhen event on Monday January 15th. The whole event will take from about 09.00 till 18.00hrs. The dress code for this event will be casual. More details will follow later this week. Please mark the date of January 15th in your agenda.

My company is organising an event titled INTERACT on Tour 2006 - 2007.

The last one was in Netherlands for the European teams.

For Asia, there are a few locations : Japan, Shenzhen and Shanghai. For our group in Singapore, we will be heading to Shenzhen for the event.

This will be mine 1st time leaving the 2 A's junior will be home alone with Daddy. I have brieftly mentioned this travel schedule to daddy and he said he would be fine with the children. Anyway, by then both of them will be going full day childcare.

I have spoke to Anthea and told her that mommy will be away for a few days for work purposes. She seem to understand and said she will be sleeping with siti jie jie. However, her 1st question to me is: "you don't want me already? ". I assured her that it is for work purposes and i will be back very soon.

This is my 1st oversea trip without the children, it is going to be an emotional one for me. I know i will miss them dearly... : (

Thanks goodness, it is a short trip.

Barney Show & Baking Sunday..

BARNEY SHOW

Sat Morning - brought the children to central to buy some stuff. We bought following items:

1. Apples - anders asked for this.
2. Bak kwa - anthea asked for this.
3. Watering container - I wanted to buy this so I can water our only outdoor plant.

Then we went to the bank to update daddy's bank account and the salary with bonuses is IN...yippy. I smsed to daddy and told him the good news and also asking for shopping $$.

Then we went home for lunch - simple meal of fish porridge with fritters. Simple but very delicious. After lunch, the 2 A's junior had their power nap. I went to wash the car and at the same time, gave the car another round of good wax. Understand from friends/forumers that waxing the car help to maintain the paint of the car.

After that, i had a short rest before we met mom for dinner. We went to United Square for dinner as this is the venue for the BARNEY Live Show, so thought of giving the children the chance to watch the show. We had dinner at The Soup Restaurant - the samsui chicken, prawns salad, the '老 黄 瓜soup, tofu and noodles. The food was delicious. Then at 7pm, we brought the children to the main atrium to see the Barney Show.

Anders and Anthea enjoyed the show. After the show, we went back home early as mom needed to rest. Her departure flight is Sunday morning.

BAKING Sunday

Sunday Morning - Brought the children to the playground near blk 422 as i needed to buy some baking stuff from Poon Huat. Today, we are Enjoying Life at 313 as all of the families members at not in town and Terence is busy with weddings.

So, after lunch, I baked a Chocolate Cherry Cake for our dessert tonight.

In the evening, after my usual jogging session, i went to central to packed dinner:

a) Anthea - MacDonald Happy Meal (Fish Burger, Corns, Apple Juice)
b) Siti - Mixed vegetable with rice
c) Astee - Grilled Chicken set

d) Anders - rice with soup

Bought a pint of chocolate ice-cream from Shop and Save, this will goes well with the cake.. : )

Well, this is the 1st time we are home on Sunday but the feeling is nice and wonderful. Guess sometime, being home ALONE is not too bad.

Daddy smses "Go ahead to shop! No Prob! U deserve it! Hope u received my email. Anthea really surprised me".

Ps: daddy saw the lastest blog on Keong's ROM and saw the photo of Anthea in My Humble House. He was amazed at how mature she has grown.

Okie, signing off now to enjoy life...yummy !!

Lau Chee Kheong & Angelyn Ng ROM

Today is the ROM of Chee Kheong & Angelyn. (chee kheong is mom's 2nd sister eldest son. he is a cousin of adrian.) They had a Solemnization Lunch Ceremony at My Humble House at Esplanade.

We met mom at AMK MRT and took the train to City Hall and walked to the restaurant. We reached there about 12noon. To our surprised, no one was there yet. The JP arrived almost the same time as us. Mom talked to him while waiting for the host families to arrived. Finally the Host arrived around 12.30pm and started to arranged for the ceremony. At this time, most of the family members and friends had arrived.

My Humble House is under Tung Luk Groups of restaurant, this place has a very nice ambience and it is catered for fine dinning. The couples had high taste.. : )

Ceremony Started - JP started the usual announcement to the husband and wife to be. After that the couples took their wedding vows. As usual, i find this moment to be very touching. (Only pity is that the area is a bit Big,so the vows and solemnization was a bit soft for the audience.) After the vows, the couples exchanged the wedding bands. Now they are Mr and Mrs Lau. Keong mentioned that his proposal ring was from Tiffany & Co..wow... : )
Their customary wedding will be held on 22 December 2007. Another date to mark on the calendar.

Lunch was a special set lunch catered and the menu was delicious:

- Soup :double boiled chicken consomme with bamboo piths

- Appetiser : Crisp Fried Tiger prawn tossed in wasabi mayo duet with crisp fried tiger prawn glazed with honey mustard on a bed of shell mushroom

- Main course : a) Wok grilled pork ribs in smoked BBQ sauce or b) Beef Tenderloin in lemongrass Sesame sauce.

- Wok Fried diced lamb tenderloin in black pepper sauce accompanied with fish noodles

Dessert : Chilled mango sorbet served with mixed fruits or Glutinous rice ball.

As this is a fine dinning restaurant, lunch started around 1pm and ended at 3.10pm..but it was indeed a very special one.

The 3 brothers and spouses/girlfriend - Adrian & Astee, Louis and Eve, Terence and Cherry - bought a set of PRECIOUS MOMENT Champagne Glasses for Chee Kheong and Angelyn as their ROM present.

After lunch, together with Aunty Siew Khoon,Hui Xian, Aunty Siew Geok, Aunty Soopit and Kiat,we went shopping at Raffles City. Mom bought a Winx Club DVD for Anthea and a Power Rangers TV Game for Kiat as X'mas Gifts. Both of them were very Happy.

Always happy to attend this kind of occassion especially it is for the families. Sometime, i find that as i aged, i treasure family & relatives more and understand the relationship in another perspective.

7 Years of Wonderful Marriage

7 Years ago, 04 December 1999, adrian & myself were at the Registry of Marriage. We solemnised our wedding vows in the presence of JP, our families, relatives and buddies.

Today, 7 years has passed by . It is time to walk down the memory lane, for the record - so the 2A's juniors will have a chance to know what was the prelude before their arrival.

Our JOURNEY :

*04 December 1999 - ROM - start our life as husband and wife.
- Renovated our matrimonial house in AMK Blk 313.

*May 2000 - Customary tea-ceremony & Wedding dinner in June 2000 at Meritus Mandarin Hotel.
- Adrian is the eldest grandson on mom's side of the family, so it was especially Happy for our grandmother to witness the wedding.

- Honeymoon in Europe (Switzerland, Paris and London),most memorable tour because of top class tour leader, Mr Chai aka "chaikosky".

* May 2001 - family road trip to San Francisco / Las Vegas and Los Angelas.
Main purpose of this trip was to attend Terence's Graduation Ceremony in Michigan, Anna Arbor. The trip was very enjoyable and memorable as it's was our 1st road trip as a family - Mom,Louis,Adrian and me. Eve joined us from San Francisco as she was there for business. Terence joined us after his graduation.

* July 2001 - Expecting 1st Baby and went through a very fun and thrilling 9 months pregnancy.

* 09 April 2002 - Anthea Tan arrived at Mt ALvernia Hospital at 1614 hrs. The labour was short and the delivery was smooth. I am always thankful that all went well.

* 09 April 2003 - Celebrated Anthea's 1st Birthday at Aloha Loyang with familes, relatives and buddies. Anthea has been showered with lots of love and care from both side of the family as she is the 1st grandchild for both Adrian's side and mine.

* July 2003 - Expecting Baby no.2 and went through another 9 months of pregnancy Ups and downs.

* 22 March 2004 - Anders Tan arrived at KKH at 1212hrs. The labour pain was short and delivery was smooth. I am really blessed.

* 22 March 2005 - Celebated Anders's 1st Birthday at the Botanical Garden Cafe. It was another memorable occassion.

* March and April 2006 - Anders is 2 years and Anthea is 4 years old now.

* Sep 2006 - Our 1st Family Trip to Sunway Lagoon and children 1st experience on aeroplane.

To be married and achieved so much in 7 Years is by no means easy. We know that we have a lot of physical and spiritual support from all the love ones around us. Most importantly, we know that we should never take each other for granted. I am lucky because Adrian is always very sensitive to my needs and he is always open to any opinions. Like what he said before marriage, we must never allow a problem to snowball, regardless how small it may be.

Dear, thanks for being there these 7 years for me, anthea and anders. With our strong family unit, i believe the Aces Family will achieve more milestones together.

Happy 7th Anniversary.

Daddy smses "Love,happy anniversary! Sori i can't be with u tdy. I definitely am very happy these 7 yrs. No regrets. Two kids also a blessing,so cute n lively ! Kisses"

Concert Day / Skype Conferencing

Today is Anthea's childcare Centre Concert Day. Although she was not performing, we were lucky that Yao Li's mother had an extra ticket,so we went to see the concert at the Yio Chu Kang Grassroots Club.The concert started at 10am and ended at 12noon.

We saw Anthea's classmates and schoolmates performed and i must said, they were impressive. Took some photos of anthea with her classmates: Amelia, Tina, Norvin, Yee Hung etcs. Anthea had fun watching them and talking to them. Quite sad though because she will be leaving these friends end december 2006.

At around noon time, i managed to set up the Skype conferencing with Louis and Eve, who are currently in Houston, Texas, USA.

Anthea and Anders were very excited and happy to be able to see uncle Louis and aunty Eve on the laptop. Also, both of them were happily chatting away with their fav uncle and aunty. When Louis and Eve asked the 2A's what is their prediction of their new cousin's gender, both of them said "Mei Mei"...hee : )

Regardless of the gender, we will be waiting excitely for Junior's arrival, to shower him/her with all the Love and Care.

We chatted a fair bit on Daddy's work and then Skype off, as mom was came to fetch anthea to 716.

With all these advanced technology, sometimes, although, the person is faraway, they are still so near to us. I must thanks Eve for loaning us her laptop which had the video cam function.

Evening, we went Vivo City for dinner, as Dad said that Anthea like the food at Imperial Herbal. After that, the 2A's junior went to this BIG BIG Playground on the 2nd floor open space. They had a fun time playing but i think it is a bit too crowded and there were too many children running here and there. Quite dangerous.

After playing,we went to Gloria Jean coffee chain for their cakes and hot chocolate/coffee. The day ends well for the children.

Daddy smses "Saw City of Nazareth,where Jesus grew up with Joseph and Mary. River Jordan where Jesus was Baptized,n Golan Heights, the disputed land between syria n israel. Saw an abandoned railway dat once liked the 2 countries. Interesting !"

(After reading daddy smses, i wondered to myself - when daddy returns from his tis attachement, will he start to convert the family...?? )

Treasure Hunt cum Christmas Dinner - 01 December 2006

For the 1st time, the company is organising the above event and one of my direct colleague is involved in this project. Thus as a result, i was roped in to help her on this day.

In the morning, all the helpers assemblemed at the function venue to pump up all the ballons, we pumped about 180 ballons. These ballons were used for ballon scrulpting. In simple words, these ballons can be twisted and turned into different formations, eg: flowers, dogs, bears etcs.

At 3.00pm, the Treasure Hunt event started and there were 6 teams altogether. After the tresure hunt, we proceeded to the makan venue. The food were not bad as it included Turkey as well.

It was a simple event and i think it was quite an effort on the organising committee, i think next year, my GM might nominate my name to be in the focus group. Well, i do hope that he will reconsider this option as i think it's not easy to do such major event.

In the evening, anthea's classmate,Yao Li came to our house and played with them. Yao Li will also be changing childcare in 2007. He will be in the same childcare as anthea and anders.

Daddy Smses "Looks like tis yr's xmas comes early for everyone.Countdown 3 weeks. My biggest present is to be home with family. I just cut hair at saloon. US$10. Very uneven,ugly.Tmor rest. It's the wkend. Sat tour to GOLAN HEIGHTS. Love n kisses"