回忆 二零零八

Today is the very last day of the year 2008.

Looking back at the year, I know the aces family had been blessed in many ways.

We had gone through a very fulfilling year and learnt through everyday experience.

Our family 2008 Milestones:

- Anders turned 4th on 22 March 2008
- Visited Gold Coast, Australia, 21 to 26 March 2008
- Anthea turned 6th on 09 April 2008 and had a MacParty celebration in her childcare centre
- Terence and Cherry Wedding of the year on 10 May 2008, Anthea was the Flower Girl
- Visited Phuket, Thailand, 25 – 28 June 2008
- Changed of Tingkat Dinner delivery from Buffet Paradiz to Jie Le Catering
- Anthea registration for Primary One education on 30 July 2008
- Club Med Trip, Bintan Indonesia, 02 to 06 November 2008
- Anthea Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony, 21 November 2008
- Adrian oversea detachment for almost 5 - 6 months ( August to December 2008)

Looking back at all the events, it has been very enjoyable year for the Aces family and we are really thankful.

In the evening, dinner gathering was at my 2nd BIL house as the aunties had organized it. The children had a quick swim with uncle kiat and uncle Wenyi before dinner.

Dinner menu was simple & nice. After dinner, we had wine with Thai desserts and some Japanese crackers. We watched Mama Mia while chilling out and Adrian had a good time catching up with all the relatives.

At 10pm, everyone started going back home and I contacted my cousin, Juneil. She was at the airport as she was leaving for Switzerland for her 6 months study. We went to the airport to see her off.

As we were leaving the airport for home, it was almost 12 midnight and we welcomed 2009 as we reached home.

Wishing all families and friends – a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

REUNITED!!

This morning I woke up at 5.15am and starter brewing the coffee. Yes, it’s THE DAY that Adrian will be home. I did a quick check on the tele text and his flight SQ 25 was confirmed to arrive at 6.32am at Terminal 3.

After the check, I started to change and get ready to go to the airport. Anders woke up after I changed…oops… I wasn’t planning to bring the children to the airport. So I tried to put him back to sleep.

My 2nd BIL had initially wanted to pick Adrian from the airport but due his injury, he is restrained from moving around. I am very grateful for his offer to go to the airport so early.

At 6am, my mom came as planned. I had asked my mom to come at 6am to standby for the children, so I can make my way to the airport. I didn’t mention to Adrian about my trip to the airport as I wanted to give him a SURPRISE!!

I reached Terminal 3 around 6.33am and when I checked the arrival information, I saw that his flight has landed at 6.35am.

I called his mobile around 7am and we had a quick chat. When I told him “see you at the arrival hall.” He sounded surprise and asked “you mean you are at the airport.” I told him YES…haha.

I know Adrian is a very FAMILY man and he would love to see the families. Finally, when he met and hugged, he 1st question was: “where’s the rascals (referring to Anthea and Anders)”. I told him that they are home with 阿婆。

Then we made our way back to home sweet home. On the way home, we saw my FIL’s car and Adrian waved to him. Adrian also called my MIL to let her know he has arrived home safely.

When he reached home, he gave BIG HUGS to Anthea and Anders…haha. Both the children were so happy to see that Daddy’s home.

This will be Adrian’s final trip for 2008. There are more of such trips coming up in the years. With this year as a stepping stone, we know what to expect for the future trips. Meanwhile, we will enjoy daddy company while he is home based.

Final Christmas Celebration & Sport Injury

This is the year of Parties for the children. Up till Boxing Day, they had attended 5 parties and they had enjoyed all of them.

Guess what? Santa Claus sleigh was delayed for his homebound and so he was stucked in Singapore for another day…haha.

On 27 December, we attended the Christmas celebration for residents at our Zone RC.

We had attended the X’mas parties for the last 2 years. This year, Anthea tuition centre was involved with the sale of the tickets, so naturally we must give the teacher our support. We bought 2 tickets at $5 each.

The celebration started at 6pm and we were there around 6.10pm. There was a host and he was able to speak quite a few languages – English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese and Malay. I was really impressed.

The audiences are mixtures of senior citizens, the uncles/aunties and the children. Before dinner, Anthea and Anders had a swinging good time at the playground just next to the block.

Dinner commenced around 6.45pm and it was a buffet. Everyone queue up orderly and collect our food with the coupon that we had.

After dinner, Santa Claus came on stage and all the children were encouraged to go on stage to collect their presents. Anthea and Anders went along too. This is the 1st time I saw Anthea going on stage on her own will. Usually she likes to be an audience and just sit in her comfort zone. Anders tagged along with Anthea.

While the children were all on stage and collected their presents from Santa Claus, the Host asked them to play a game on the stage. I was very happy and quite surprised to see both my children able to join in the game and had fun.

After the game, there was a magic show by Professor Popcorn. I think this year we also watched the most children Magic Shows at parties. They had great fun and kept talking about him, even after the party ended.

Overall it has been a fun celebration and I think this year party has improved compared to last year.

My families are SPORT families. Every Sunday, my FIL and BIL will play badminton; Adrian will join them if he is in town. My MIL will go for her swim. Anthea used to follow my MIL for her Sunday swims too.

This afternoon, I received a call from my 2nd BIl mentioning that he was twisted his knee while at the game. As his mobile phone got disruption, so I didn’t hear him clearly. From his tone, I gather that it was those normal sport twist which a visit to a sinseh will solve the problem.

I called my MIL in the afternoon to check the injury situation, and then only I realized that it was a bit more serious that what I thought. He was on crutches and his left knee was on small bandage.

In the evening, we went by to his place and when I saw him, I knew it is not a simple twist. He is due for a review on Wednesday and I pray hard that the injury will heal on its own and need no more than just physiotherapy.

Having been through a sport injury myself, I can understand how he felt, physically and emotionally. It will be a tough week for my 2nd SIL but I know she can make it and we will be giving her our best support, in whatever ways we can.

Aces Family wishes Uncle Louis a speedy recovery.

Boxing Day Special

Originally I had a lunch appointment with 2 of my long timed MJ Kakis – Madeline & Linda. However, in the morning I received a message from Mag that her little girl was down and she can't make it for the lunch. So we decided to postpone it till next chance.

As we were corresponding via SMS, I did a quick check with Linda if she is an OG Card Holder and BINGO!! She is one. I had the intention to go OG to get May a Christmas Gift since I saw the advertisement on Christmas Eve Straits Times.

Finally, I arranged to meet Linda at OG Albert Complex after my work. She was on Boxing Day off. We had a quick lunch at Rochor Centre. As we walked passed some of the streets stalls, I was so surprised that Chinese New Year goodies are up for sale already. We started our shopping after a good lunch of the famous 肉脞面。

I bought the Thermal pot that was on special price for OG Member. It was almost 50% discount. All these while, I know that May is very keen to get herself a thermal pot as she love to cook. When I saw her at the BBQ gathering, she even commented that her electricity bills are soaring because she is making more soups nowadays. I know this thermal pot will be a very ideal Christmas gift for her. Although it is not one of those branded one, I had an ex-colleague who had used it and mentioned that it's of very good quality and work efficiently.

(Ahem...secretly I am also hoping by giving May this gift, we will get to enjoy one of her special dish – 猪脚醋. (Adrian loves this dish...: P )

After a good round of purchase, we had dessert at one of the shop nearby. Linda is a regular to this OG and she knows the surrounding very well. She even recommended me where to get the Chinese New Year stuff... : )

This Christmas Anthea and Anders received a handful of Christmas presents from families and childcare. They had a great time opening their Christmas presents:

Anthea received the followings:

- Barbie Pencil Case (大舅)
- Hello Kitty Lunchbox (uncle Louis & aunty Eve)
- Guitar (uncle Terence & aunty Cherry)
- A set of pajamas and some clothing(爷爷和奶奶)

Anders had the followings:

- Water bottle (大舅)
- Shinkansen Lunchbox (uncle Louis & aunty Eve)
- Ben 10 projection watch (uncle Terence & aunty Cherry)
- Clothing (爷爷和奶奶)

Both of them are very lucky to have uncles, aunties and grandparents who love them.

A “Food-Filling” Christmas...

This Christmas has been a very peaceful and of course – FOOD Filling one...haha。

As I mentioned in my previous blog of the numerous feasting gatherings, these are the after event thoughts:

Feast 1 – Christmas Eve Brunch

I joined my ex-colleagues in their office for the Christmas Brunch. My roast chicken and Swiss rosti were a success and general feedbacks were positive – Phew!! What a relief. There were a lots of food – Sushi platter, mini sandwiches, Nonya Kuehs, Pastries, Chinese style roasted duck and mini log cakes.

It was very good to be able to see all my ex-colleagues again and I had a good time catching up with them. 2 of my colleagues(Rachel & Pearly) even gave me christmas presents...i am really touched for their kind thoughts.

Feast 2 – Christmas Eve dinner

My 老爸 roasted the Ribeye steak that I bought for dinner and he did it to the usual perfection. Everyone in the family enjoyed the juicy and tenderness of the meat. Beside the ribeye steak, we had sausages, mashes potatoes, steam vegetables, ham, salad and soup. It was like a full course meal and I ate to my heart contentment. Of course, a glass of good red wine completed my meal.. : P

Feast 3 - HAPPY CHRISTMAS "BIRTHDAY” Celebration

A very cool and nice morning we had this Christmas day as it rained whole day on Christmas eve.

We had simple breakfast of some leftover cakes and sandwiches which I brought back from the brunch.

Then we went over to my 3rd Bil condo for a late morning swim as the children had planned on Tuesday night when we had dinner cum shopping with Terence. I saw Anthea swimming her “breast-stroke” and I was pleasantly happy that she was doing the stroke correctly. The swimming lessons that we started with the new coach has been rewarded.

After the swim, we had a quick shower and then had lunch with Terence and Cherry at their home. I brought over some of the leftovers (again) from my dinner. Terence also had special home made seafood baked rice, courtesy from Maylin and Bruce (Cherry's brother and sister in-law). The baked rice was really yummy and we had a nice meal.

Anthea and Anders enjoyed “ordering their drinks” from the Bar counter...haha. (I received a Christmas present from May, really appreciate her kind thoughts even though she is now heavily pregnant, she still went through the effort.)

After a good lunch, we went home for our afternoon nap.

Our dinner was at my 2nd BIL/SIL home, my 2nd BIL – Louis is a Christmas day Birthday Boy, so the dinner was a Christmas cum Birthday celebration. A few of the relatives also came over to join us for the dinner.

Well, both Louis and Eve is food gourmet and where ever they travelled, they would try out Michelin Star Chef Restaurants.

For this year Christmas dinner, the “Master Chef and her Sou chef " whipped up all the special dishes. We were treated to some very special and wonderful dishes.

The dinner menu was a 3 course dinner:

– Vietnamese fresh rolls
– Beef Stew
–Crab Meat Pasta

For dessert we had Tiramisu and of course a home baked birthday cum Christmas LOG CAKE!!! We sang the birthday song and a Merry Christmas song.

Our aunty also brought along their signature dish – Baked cheese and ham rice. Yes, it was a real feast as well.

For the different course, we were served different wines; we had White wine – Red white – Bailey Iris Cream.

Before dinner, we had the chance to video conference with Adrian from Louis's home. Adrian was very happy that he was able to chat with the families and I knew this meant a lot to him. Especially these are the people dearest to him.

Overall, this has been a very Blessed Christmas for us. I know great families, good friends and blessed food do not happen by chances and we will alway APPRECIATE what we have in our life...

Daddy Homecoming and Christmas Gatherings

In exactly 7 days, Adrian will be reaching Singapore around 7 am. He is really looking forward to this homecoming and we are also looking forward to welcome him back to Home Sweet Home.

His email said it all “My love, I can smell stronger and stronger the coffee you brew as the days pass. The Bar Chor Mee smell is also getting stronger.”

I am really glad that we had made it through this very trying period as a family. Adrian has gained a lot from this trip and we had also grown stronger on home ground. The children have given me their best performance during daddy’s absence and I am very thankful for each and every day.

We will be starting a New Chapter very soon in 2009 and I hope that this experienced that we had gone through will give us strength to walk the longer road ahead.

This is the Christmas week and as usual, it's time to be Merry and Feasting. I am going to enjoy delicious home cooked meal for the next few days and I am really looking forward.

Feast 1: Christmas Eve Brunch

My ex-colleagues are organizing a brunch in the office from 11 am to 12.30pm. They had kindly extended the invitation to me. It is a potluck session and I am preparing 2 dishes – Roast chicken thighs and Swiss Rosti. Hope the food will turn out fine, keeping my fingers crossed.

Feast 2: Christmas Eve Dinner

Our usual Christmas Eve dinner is at my parents place. My dad is a Western food specialist and I always love his home cooked western food. He is also very good in roasting. If Adrian is in town, we will sure have roast leg of lamb.

Since he will be back only next Tuesday, I took the opportunity to buy Ribeye steak from Mmmm store for our main course. Looking forward to a nice home roast ribeye steak with other yummy dishes.

Feast 3 : Christmas Day Dinner

My 2nd BIL/SIL will be preparing some very special dishes for dinner. My SIL will also be baking a log cake!!! Some of the relatives will be joining us for the dinner. The children will be enjoying my BIL's Christmas tree. This is the 1st Christmas tree that Anthea and Anders will be seeing in the families..hee. Of course, they also look forward to the Christmas presents from their uncles/aunties.

圣诞快乐 !!

Mama Mia – The movie & 冬至

Finally after waiting for almost 2 – 3 months after the release of the movie, the DVD/VCD is out for sale.

The other day while queuing to buy lunch, I heard a very familiar tune of Abba Song “Does your mother know”. Immediately I looked into the shop and they were playing a short scene from the movie.

I saw the DVD/VCDS displaying and straight after lunch, I went in to the shop and bought the DVD.

I miss the movie while it was showing in the cinema and I know I must add the DVD to my collections.

On Friday afternoon while the children were napping, I took the opportunity to watch the DVD in quiet and peace.

As usual, the songs never fail to lift my mood. However, compared to the MUSICAL – it is still a very far cry away. Actually really cannot compared at all... : P

For someone who is 1st time to the movie (whom had not seen the musical or does not know the storyline, may be missing some parts of the story.)

In the 2 musicals that I watched, they started with “I have a DREAM” but in the movie, it was the ending song. So it's a bit pity because this really makes a world of difference.

As for the singing, of course, we cannot compare the Actor/Actress to those Profession Broadway singers – the feeling are just difference.

I am glad that I had the chances to see the Musical and with this DVD, I can always watch it on days when my mood is low and down...haha.

If the Musical return to Singapore again, I know I will be there AGAIN because simply “I HAVE A DREAM”...

冬至 falls on Sunday and as usual, my parents prepared the 汤圆and small feast. Last night we had a wonderful 冬至 dinner at my parent's home. 回家吃饭的感觉 真好.

After dinner, Anthea insisted that she wanted to go over to my BIL's place as there was a mini BBQ session at his new home sweet home. Since we finished dinner early and they just started the BBQ, so I brought them over to his place.

This gathering is a get-together for the immediate families. We had the chance to see Cherry’s grandparents. Also Cherry's father shared some of their recent China trip experience with us. Both Anthea and Anders had a great time with Cherry younger sister, Charmaine, whom we mistaken for Cherry at the introduction point...so paiseh, Cherry and Charmaine are starting to looks like twins. I also had the chance to chat with Maylin and she will be due soon in April 2009.

This is the 1st time we had stepped in to their home after the renovation. The place looks different after the makeover and the overall impression was quite nice. Now Anthea and Anders will have more opportunity to swim at their place.

Christmas Party At Club CSC

This week seem to be a party week for the children. They attended the K2 Graduation Party on Tuesday and attended the mini Christmas Party at Yao Li's house on Thursday night. Today is the Christmas party organized by the Civil Service Club.

This morning we woke up and had simple homemade sandwiches for breakfast. Then after breakfast, we got ready to set off for the party. Anthea and Anders were very excited about going to the party.

We reached the Club house around 10.45am and started with the registration. Each of us had a door gift and a goody bag. Then we proceeded into the Ballroom.

Then around 11 am, the party started. First to come into the hall was Scooby Doo and we went around taking photos with him.

The Magic show followed on shortly. The children had so much watching the Clown performing. He was really funny.

After the magic show, the compere introduced the arrival of Sylvester, Bugs Bunny and Scooby Doo to the room. At the same time, lunch commenced. There were Pizzas, mini sandwiches, sausages, fish balls, pastries, drinks and ice-cream.

Anthea and Anders their lunch and at the same time, went around the room taking photos with the different characters.

During lunch, there were different games booths set up at each corner of the room, so the children were entertained. They had cartoon tattoos; balloon sculpture, sand art and the compere were playing games with the children.

Then after lunch, in came Santa Claus and Snowman..So it's photo time. And after that it was another round of Magic show by Captain Dazzle. Children were all so engaged in this magic show and all wanted to go on stage to volunteer their help.

The magic show ended with the appearance of a real Rabbit and all the children started going wild and wanted to touch the Rabbit... : P

The Lucky Draw session commenced after the magic show. Although we didn't win any prize, I would say we had a fun filled 3 hours of party time and this is already a winner. The party ended at 2 pm and we went home to have our power nap.

I am glad that Anthea and Anders had a great time at the party and I told them – next year, we will come again...haha.

Graduation Party - “ 毕业派对“

"Mommy, what time are you fetching us today?” Anthea has been looking forward to the day and kept asking me of the day agenda...haha.

Yes, it is the day of the K2 Graduation Party; I believe this is like a “mini-prom” night for them, minus all the glam.

I fetched both Anthea and Anders from the childcare around 4.30 pm. Anthea had expressed her preference to be in Party Dress than school uniform, so I brought them home to take a bath and changed to their party clothing.

Then we went back to the childcare centre around 6pm. The party was scheduled to start at 6.30pm at the Multi purpose room. While waiting, we were entertained by the children singing Christmas Songs. They sang both the English and Chinese songs.

The party commenced at 6.30 pm with a simple Thank You speech from the Principal, Miss Wendy Sim. The graduation ceremony followed after the speech. Each child was presented with their graduation certificate and a gift set from Miss Wendy.

Then we proceeded to the open area where the Macdonald crew had set up the game sessions. The children played a few games and they had so much fun. Parents were seated by the side and having fun watching them playing the games.

When they were done with the games session, the children were guided to the dinner tables where Happy Meals were set up for them – Bon Appetite. They ate nuggets, cup of corn and drank apple juice. While eating, they were also chatting happily with one another.

The centre had prepared some fried bee hoon for the parents; it was really very thoughtful of them. The bee-hoon was tasty and very delicious. I even 打包 home for my dinner. Anthea and Anders had 2nd round of dinner and they loved the bee hoon too...haha.

After the meal, the crew started giving out the happy meal toys to the children. Anthea received a set of fork & spoon and I thought this will be very useful for her bento next year. Anders received a set of toy.

Anthea presented Ms Wendy, Ms Valentine and 罗老师 with a small token of appreciation from the Aces family for their effort.

Then it was time to bid good byes and the Party came to an end. A few mommies are planning for another get-together this Thursday; hopefully, Anthea will be able to join them after her tuition class.

One of the mommy commented, hopefully these children can maintain their friendship even after their graduation day. I wish the same too.

孩子们，毕业了！！

A “COLD” weekend…

Anders caught the flu bug this week and while taking care of him, I also got the “COLD” bugs. So far I am quite proud of myself of being able to keep healthy throughout Adrian’s detachment. I believe this is mainly due to the gym routine that I have been maintaining.

Of course, the body will still succumb to some viral in one way or another, which means the system needed a rest…: ) (短暂的休息是为了走更长的路)

So this weekend is mainly for me to recover from the cold and get well for all the events happening, next week.

This morning we woke up around 9.30am and it was drizzling and I quickly smsed the swimming coach. He mentioned that the lesson was still on and will only be cancelled if heavy rain.

So we had a quick breakfast and headed to the swimming pool. The weather was turning better for a moment when Anthea started with her swimming lesson. She was the only one who came for the lesson, so she had 1 to 1 personal coaching from the coach, not too bad.

Then after about 10 minutes warm up, he brought her to the deep pool and said that he wanted to build up her confidence. Anthea did a few laps in the pool with the coach swimming beside her. She had a great time and enjoyed the lesson.

Then we had lunch with my Mil who also does her usual morning swimming session at the pool.

After lunch, we went home to rest and I had a good power nap as the weather was so cool and nice.

In the evening, we had dinner at my parents place, really misses my dad home cooked 海南鸡饭 and I had a good time eating the 文昌鸡that my parents brought home from 海南岛.

Next Sunday there will be another round of feasting in celebration of 冬至. This marks the countdown of a month to our Lunar New Year and we are also looking forward to Adrian’s homecoming.

You Are INVITED!!

Yes, it's another MacParty and this time it is organized by the childcare K2 teachers and Principal.

This party is organized in conjunction of the K2 graduation and I think it's going to be a High School Musical Theme... : )

The most touching part to this party is the fund provided is from the 2 teachers – Ms Valentine and 罗老师 and the Principal – Ms Wendy own pocket monies.

It is very generous of the teachers and principal to do this for the children, especially under this kind of economy situation. I can only say a big “THANK YOU” from the bottom of my heart.

The party is taking place next Tuesday, 16 December at the childcare centre from 6.30 pm to 7.00 pm. I have also registered Anders for the party and for his participation; I will need to pay for it, which I am perfectly happy to do so... : )

December is a month parties – beside this MacParty, the childcare will also be having a Christmas Party on 23 December for all the children. Each child need to bring along a present for exchange. The value is capped at $5.00 for the present.

Then on 19 December, there is another plan of Christmas Party organized by one of Anthea classmate.

On 20 December morning , I have registered both Anthea and Anders for a Christmas Party organized by the Civil Service Club.

I believe all these parties will keep both of them very busy and I will be busy buying Christmas presents too!!

老爸/老妈 回来了…

我的父母终于完成他们中国 45 天 海南岛探亲行程。 他们于今天回国。 大哥为他们洗城 而安排了大家一起共用晚餐。我打从心底的开心。。。我好想念他们。

晚餐安排在 金沙海鲜煮炒 (Golden Sands), 二哥也一起来吃晚餐， 好难得。 一家团聚。

孩子们也 特别开心，因为他们也很挂念 阿公和阿婆。他们也一直问起阿公和阿婆几时回来。

晚餐大哥点了几道招牌菜 ：

- 金沙螃蟹
- 金瓜豆腐
- 泰式鱼头
- 南乳排骨

这一餐我吃得好尽兴。和自己的家人吃饭， 感觉很自在。想吃什么就吃什么，想说什么就说什么。不用顾及那末多。

(周末于外家吃饭，吸取了之前的教训， 现在不敢乱乱开玩笑或提起任何话题。只管多吃少说的观点。。嘻嘻 ！！)

爸爸和妈妈还在中国给孩子们买了一些衣服， 也买了手电筒和2009 日历 给我们。

真得很感激家人一直以来的爱护与关心，没有这份关怀，我们的这一路也不会走的这样顺利。。我是幸福 (姓符）的!!

我很丑,可是我很温柔。。。

Last Saturday evening, we had the chance to video- conference with Adrian. Noticing, he is more relaxed now. The interview had happened on 4 December 2008 – our wedding anniversary date. The feedback he received from his officer was “faired better than average. The only thing that can stop them from going to the course if their cohort back home did better than them.”

I am glad that the interview went well and Adrian had got good comments for his effort. During the conversation, he showed me a photograph of himself. He said his direct supervisor had prepared a CV for both himself and his colleague. The photograph was taken 2 hours before the interview.

The interviewers were quite impressed with the CV and I told Adrian that he looks quite good in the photo.

Both his colleague and himself even bought a new Polo Tee shirt especially for the interviews. As his superior said: “must dress well to show respect for the interviewers” which I totally agreed.

Now I will let the photo do the talking....

Looney Tunes – Christmas Carnival

Angie is so “SPOT-ON” when she said that we are like Ge-Tai singers during this December month. We are really Q-ing up for the shows. Lucky for me, Anthea and Anders had outgrown some of the characters like Sesame Street, Barney and I didn't even introduce them to Hello Kitty...hee.

So this year the numbers of shows that we have to run after are quite limited. Phew...thanks goodness.

This morning, we had our usual breakfast and then headed to the swimming pool. I started Anthea on her swimming lesson, again. After the last swimming lesson, she said she wanted to stop and I didn't force her to continue. Now I thought it would be a good time to start again as she will be in Primary One soon and one of her CCA is swimming.

She was a bit reluctant to start on swimming but I gave her my best encouragement and luckily after the lesson, she said she likes the new coach.

After a good 1 hour of swimming, we went home for lunch and the children had their power nap.

They woke up around 5.30pm and I told myself -“ok, we should change and go to Q for the Looney Tunes Live show.”

The childcare bath and changed and as we were leaving the house around 6.10pm. I told them that there is a Live Show at AMK HUB and they were very excited.

When we reached the AMK HUB, the Q had started and we joined in. we were in the middle of the Q, so not too bad.

Around 6.50pm, we were seated and there was a Host to warm up the crowd. He played games with the children and kept them entertained. At 7pm, the show started and Tweety, Sylvester and Bug Bunny came on stage. All the children were very happy.

The dance show and game lasted for about 15 minutes. Then the host gathered the children to go on stage to take photo with the characters. NO PURCHASE REQUIRED. So Anthea and Anders had the chance to take a photo with them on stage.

After the show, we had dinner at the food court near Macdonald. Anthea had her Subway and Anders had his Duck noodles. They had requested to go to the Bubble and Snow play again, so after dinner, we had another round of fun before going home.

What a fun and enjoyable day it has been for us.

WINX CLUB – Enchantix Christmas

December is always a busy month to catch LIVE SHOWS at the different Malls. Anthea is a WINX CLUB Fan and I know she simply adores the Fairies. Knowing that the Fairies are LIVE in town, how can I not do some ground work...haha.

After reading some negative feedbacks on last year Winx Club LIVE show, I decided not to bring her for last year show, anyway, last year we were all packed for different shows.

So this year I thought I should make an effort to bring her. The 1st thing I did was to go do a pre-view of the LIVE Show before deciding on bringing her. As the show place was near my current workplace, so last Friday, I went to view it first. After seeing the show, I told myself – Yes, Anthea will like it.

Early this week, I contacted one of her classmate – Lydia's mommy to ask if she may be interested to bring her girl along for the Live Show. She said she would like to bring her girl too. So we worked out a plan.

The plan was I would go to the venue and Q for the show 1st; Lydia's mommy will go to the Childcare to pick up the girls and meet me at the show venue.

Today after work, I went to the venue and as it was still early, there was no one in the Q. So I went to run some errands before coming back to the Q area.

Around 1 pm, I saw people started Q-ing, so I went to join in the Q. The 3 of them arrived about 1.20pm and they went to walk around the Winx Club toy section. Both Anthea and Lydia were so excited and going goo-goo and gaga over all the merchandise.

Then at 1.50pm, we were all seated and we had a very good seat near the main stage. The show started on time at 2pm. Both of them were so happy to see the characters came on stage. The dance moves were quite good.

The show lasted for ½ hour and when it ended, Anthea was quite sad and asked me why the show ended so fast... : P

After the show, we went to Ya-Kun and have a light teabreak. Both of them enjoyed each other company so much that they want to go to each other house to play.

We had invited Lydia to our home on Monday for breakfast and then they can play till their heart contented.

I am really happy that Anthea has such a good friend and I know she will miss Lydia when they go to different primary schools next year.

交情

It had been a month since I joined my new company and I am learning the job as the day goes by. I am also adjusting to my new ½ day routine which I am enjoying at the moment.

Now I get more time to do all my own routines – household chores, washing car, gym routine and even going to the library to borrow books (for the children and my own readings).

As my Manager is a One-man-operation team, so in our department, there is only him and me. I don’t have any fellow colleagues working in the team, so at time I do miss my ex-colleagues where we used to chat about anything and everything.

I have been keeping in touch with a few colleagues whom I can connect better as we shared a lot during my days there.

This week, they have been posting emails to me on 2 great “lobangs”. There was a Mövenpick Ice cream sale and The Great Year End sale.

How can I miss it out, especially it is ICE-CREAM....so I immediately put in my order. I ordered 6 Tubs of ice cream – 2 Swiss chocolate, 2 Maple Walnut, 1 Tiramisu and 1 Vanilla.

Adrian had told me the last time to stock up if there is any sale as he's also an ice-cream lover, just like Anthea and Anders. So they are all in for a good ice cream treat.

My youngest brother in law new home sweet home is almost ready after few months of renovation. With the current Great Year End sale, it was a good chance for us to buy the house warming gift for their new home. So the Aces Family bought for them their wish list items – Juice Blender and Steam Iron.

On Thursday, I was on my day off and arranged to pick up all the goodies on the day. The collection of the ice-cream was schedule from 4 – 5 pm, so I went to the office around 3.30pm. This gave me a chance to visit my ex-colleagues and chatted up a little. The feeling was great to see some of them again.

After picking up the ice-cream and the stuff, I bid good-byes to them. I am really glad that they still have me in their mind and I do hope these friendship can walk a long, long way ahead.

Happy 9th Wedding Anniversary

"Will you love him, comfort him, honour and keep him in sickness and in health and forsaking all others, be faithful to him, so long as you both shall live?"

9 years ago we were at the ROM and were both asked the same question on this day – 4 Dec 1999.

Till today I can still remember the SPECIAL DAY where all our families, relatives and very closed friends shared our happy moment in life and joined us in our celebration as HUSBAND AND WIFE.

Today - 4 December 2008 - no fanfare as my Dearest is striving his BEST for the family.

Wedding Anniversary dates, to me, is a date for me to reflect on those good and bad time spent together as husband and wife.

On the good times, we must remind ourselves to be thankful for what we have in our life. Especially our 2 lovely children.

For those bad times, we needed to reflect on ourselves and remind ourselves that it is the learning curve in our life and must take it with an open mind.

These few months of Adrian being away for his job attachment has made me realized that we must never take the presence of our Love ones by our side for granted.

I also know that No Matter how far apart we are from each other, we have each other right here in our HEART, where its really matters...

To my Dearest,

Happy 9th Wedding Anniversary and remember whatever the outcome is, my answer is the same as 9 Years ago –

“I WILL.”

Love,
Wife dearest.

Anthea Graduation & Concert Photo

This evening when i went to the childcare to fetch Anthea and Anders, Miss Wendy passed me her graduation photo and also the CD of the concert photographs.

Hopefully, in another 15 years or so, i can see her in a real convocation ceremony... : )

Now we are all waiting for her concert DVD to see her performance again.

“Snowy” Good Time.

This morning the weather was quite good, so I brought Anthea and Anders to the swimming pool for a dip.

Luckily we had a quick swim because soon the sky darkened and it started to rain when we reached home.

Lunch was with my 大哥 and he brought us to IMPERIAL TREASURE LA MIAN XIAO LONG BAO in Marina Square. The 拉面和小笼包were delicious and the children had a great meal.

There was a Sesame Street Live Show and the children managed to catch a glimpse of the characters.

After lunch we took a walk in John Little. My brother asked me if Anthea needed anything for her Primary School, he said he would get it for her as a Christmas present. So I told Anthea that she can look around for a present. She was looking at TOYS again and I told her NO, she should look at something useful for her Primary school. Finally she chose for herself a stationery set... : )

Anders chose for himself a water bottle; again... : P

When we were done with shopping, we went to MOF for dessert. I had seen so many LOVELY Dessert from Obasan and Ajuma blog that I told myself – I MUST TRY the dessert and my determination was SWEETLY REWARDED. We ordered a Choc Sundae and a Kakigori. Anthea and Anders gobbled up the sundae till the last drop. We were all very satisfied and left home for our afternoon nap.

Dinner was with the families at New York, New York in AMK Hub. After dinner, we took a walk around NTUC Xtra and then my In-laws went home with my BIL's family.

On our way out, we saw that the Looney Tunes cartoon characters and took some photographs. Then I noticed that there were many children and parent hanging around and they seem to be waiting for something.

I asked one of the Security personnel and he told me that there will be a Bubble Blast & Snow Sensations at 8pm. Great, it was almost 8pm when I looked at my watch.

Then at 8pm, Bubbles started shooting out. All the children and parents were excited. Both Anthea and Anders started going around to “catch the bubble”. A few moment later, “Snow” started to flew in too...wow, the atmosphere were so joyful.

I am really glad that “Snow” is now in our town and we don't have to go all the way to Tanglin Mall for it.... : )

Anthea had such great time with the “snow”, she said she was imagining that she was a Princess changing her clothing in the snow...haha.

As for Anders, he was the Incredible Hulk going around chasing the “snow”.

I am really glad to see them had such a great SNOWY time, even though it is just manmade snow.

Parents-Teachers-Conference

Both Anthea and Anders PTC were scheduled between 10 am – 11.00am on 29 Nov 2008. We had a good home made ham& cheese burgers with scrambled eggs for Anthea and soft boiled egg for Anders.

Then I started to prepare simple lunch of chicken porridge before heading off to the childcare centre.

The 1st PTC was for Anders, 10am – 10.30am:

Both his English and Chinese teachers – Ms Kelyn and 张老师 gave me their assessment of Anders performance in the 2nd half year of 2008. I must say both their comments were very positive and I am very glad that Anders had such improvement.

His progress reports were as follow:

他能感激 别人的帮助，以及尊重长辈和别人的意见及看法。

Anders enjoys sport games such as bouncing ball and relay games. He displays very good team player spirit and as a good role model to all his peers. He has become more expressive in class as he will share his views with his peers. He has become more inquisitive during class activity time.

He will be starting K1 on 1 December and sad to say, his 2 teachers of Nursery class will not be taking them through K1 which I was hoping they would... : P

His K1 teachers will be Anthea existing English and Chinese teachers – whom are also very caring towards the children and I know Anders will enjoy his K1 lessons, like Anthea did so.

The 2nd PTC was for Anthea, 10.30 am to 11am.

This was her final PTC with the childcare and soon she will be going to Primary school and it will be a totally new experience for all of us.

Spoke to both her English and Chinese teachers – Ms Valentine & 罗老师。Feedbacks were also very positive and improvement had been observed, especially in her Mandarin.

Her reports were as follow:

艾妤上课时注意力短，但能回答老师的多个问题。她能人读很多词汇。好！

Overall for her English and Math, she is doing fine and she should be able to transit to Primary one quite smoothly. This was my understanding from Miss Valentine.

Anthea had been very fortunate to have these 2 teachers for her K1 and K2 classes. They had made a very great impact on her improvement in her respective areas.

Up till today, I am glad that I had made the decision to send both Anthea and Anders to NTUC Childcare. Their curriculums are very well organized and children learnt a lot through different activities: Hands on Activities, Gross Motor activities, English and Chinese Literacy programs etcs. The children had truly enjoyed all their lessons and playtime in the childcare.

Of course, the one person that should not be forgotten is the Centre Principal – Miss Wendy Sim. She is a “People Principal”. She is very approachable and always asking for feedbacks from parents. This is the culture of NTUC Childcare - 3 Ways communications. She runs the centre very well and I think for Parents who are visiting the centre and considering sending their child to the centre will be bought over by her knowledge and her professionalism...: P

Like what the K2 children said in their graduating speech: “NTUC Childcare is the best, of this I can truly vouch!”

Likewise, I would say the same. No fanciful name or fanciful game or even fanciful picture to showcase their children talent.

It is the everyday smile and lovely stories of the children that really matters.

Wok Of Life...

Last Sunday on the Sunday Times – Lifestyle section, there was an article about stalls that are selling high class dishes at Zi Char prices and this caught my attention.

The article mentioned a total of 8 Zi Char stalls and to my greatest surprise – one of them – Golden Sands Seafood is in Ang Mo Kio and it is pretty near to my house.

Golden Sands Seafood

Block 215, Ang Mo Kio Street 22,

#01-877

Tel: 9029-9608

Open: 5pm to 12.30am daily

I told my 大哥about this Zi Char outlet during our Sunday lunch outing and he said we can go and try it out for dinner on this weekday. 说吃就去吃。。。So last evening I invited my Parent in Laws to join us for dinner at this stall and they readily agreed.

My PILs came by to fetch the children and myself as they were on their way back from work; we met up with my 大哥 at the coffee shop. When we arrived the place around 6.45pm, it was pretty quiet. Initially I was worried it may be crowded due to the write up.

We got our seats and started to order the food. The article had recommended 2 dishes – Kailan Leaves and Steam Fish with celery sauce, which we didn't order...haha.

We ordered the other chef recommendations:
- 南乳排骨
- 香酥鸭
- 带子西兰花
- 酸甜鱼片
- “老鼠粉” (claypot style)

The dishes were all very delicious and all of us enjoyed the dinner. I think the best dish was the Pork ribs. It was really fried to the taste and the meat was still very tender on the inside. This is the 1st time I enjoyed such a dish...even now as I typed, the taste still linger in my mouth...haha.

During dinner, we had a good chat. My brother was asking my PILs about their career path and asked if they had changed their jobs before. Both my In-laws had served their ministries since they started working. My MIL said she had been in the nursing industry for 44 years. That is a very long time and I know till now, she still has great passion for her job. That's why the company offered her the 2nd career opportunity.

Then my FIL asked me about Adrian situation and I mentioned to him about the stress on the upcoming interview. My FIl gave me his words of wisdom. He said: “tell Adrian don't be stressed, it is all fixed. The interview is just a formality.”

Honestly, after hearing what he said, I think it does make sense and I emailed Adrian of my FIL words. Of course, we won't know if the fixture is for better but we shall not take for granted.

Adrian was very appreciative of all the encouragement that he is receiving from home and from his mentor. He said he felt better and will try his best for the interview this Friday.

In his own words:

“Nevertheless, it is also silly to go down without a fight. If I didn't make it after putting up a fight, at least I know I tried my very best. I don't know if I can withstand some more mental pressure but I will fight on.”

Well, if Zi Char stalls can offer high class dishes at Zi Char prices, I believe Adrian can do the same for his interview. ..haha.

Life is like a wok...you will use your best ingredients (knowledge) to cook up a good meal for your love ones... (achieving a higher altitute in your work life)..福满人间!!