再见 2009…

Today is the last day of 2009 and in another few more hours, we will be welcoming 2010.

2009 has been a good year for Aces family. We were blessed with good health and happiness. Of course in between there were mixture of sorrow & sadness but these were part and parcel of life.
2009 marked the start of Anthea formal education life and we were very happy with her achievement, both academic & non-academic. This year also marked the start of my role as a Part Time working mommy and taking care of her after school needs.

So far the logistics arrangement had been smooth and along with great support from my parents and my in-laws, the year really swift by so quickly.

2009 marked our 10 wedding anniversary and being still happily married is considered a good sign for us and may we walk a long together for many more years.

2009 – Adrian finally got his long deserving promotion. On the other hand, this meant added responsibilities and travel frequency will definitely increase. Well, as the saying goes – 一份耕耘，一份收获。

2009 – a year that the family enjoyed quality bonding time through our travelled to Hong Kong & Sydney.

Yes, we really had gone through quite a fair bit in 2009 and now looking forward to 2010.

Knowing life is so precious and we should always Live each day to each fullest and not wait for regrets.

I am looking forward to a new role in 2010 if all goes well and may I take this special moment to wish families & friends – a BLESSED 2010 !!

圣诞快乐…

It has been quite an eventful week for the family.

Yes, Adrian youngest cousin – xian had passed away on Saturday night after a few months of battle with her cancer. On Wednesday it was her funeral and we went to bide a final farewell to her and may she find peace in her new Home.

This week we did a 3 days 2 night chalet stay at Aranda country club. As this had been long booked before the holiday, we could not cancel the booking or else we would be penalized. Anyway, we stayed for a night and then went back to my mom’s place for the 冬至dinner on Tuesday night. I told Adrian since we were back in Ang Mo Kio; it would not make sense to go back to Pasir Ris to sleep for the night..haha. So we checked in on Monday and checked out on Tuesday.

The important thing for the stay was we had a good family dinner with my extended families on Monday evening and on Tuesday; the children had good fun at the wild wild wet theme park.

On Thursday when I opened the letter box for mails, I received a letter from People’s Association to inform us that Anthea has been awarded the Edusave Merit Bursary 2010.

I had received the form a few weeks back from our PM – Mr. Lee Hsien Loong stating that she had done well in her school exams and qualified for the award. So I thought I should just submit the form and see if she can get the award. She is now confirmed for the award.

She will be receiving the award on 3rd January 2010 and I am really happy for her. These monies will go into her education fund.

This week had gone by so quickly and today is Christmas Day and we will be having another families gathering at my youngest brother in law home in the evening.

May I take this chance to wish all families & friends – a Very Blessed & Merry Christmas!

40th JWOC Promotion Ceremony & Dining In

17th December 2009 marked an important day in Adrian & our life. Yes, it the day that he officially graduated from his Warrant Officer course and promoted to his new rank.

For the last 10 weeks, he had gone through a lot of hardship and learning new skills and roles to his new appointment. I know he had set himself a very high target, even though he did not achieved what he hoped to, I told him he already did his best & we are all proud of his achievement.

The graduation ceremony was held at The Chevron. Adrian told me that we would need to leave the house by 2.30 – 3pm for the event.

So I arranged for my makeup artist – Lynnette to come over at 1pm to do the makeup session. Around 2.10pm we were done and I changed to my dinner gown.

We left our home around 3pm and arrived at the event venue at 3.30pm. Many of his course mates were already there and they were getting dressed up in the hall for the ceremony. I can feel their excitement as they dressed up and joked with one another.

Most of the spouses were also there and they were all beautifully dressed for the occasion too.

There were a few photos taking sessions happening and we went from Hibiscus room on 1st level to the Ballroom on the 3rd level for the photo shoot.

Then after that we went to the 2nd floor for light refreshment before the actual ceremony commenced.

The programme started at 5.30pm. Adrian had invited his CO – Major John to grace the event and he was to ursher Maj. John from the car park to the 1st floor room. I went with him to welcome his guest. There was a reception for all at the room while waiting for the Guest-of-Honour.

Then at 6.00pm, the GOH RADM Chew Men Leong, Chief of Navy arrived. After the reception, we went to the 3rd floor ballroom for the promotion ceremony.

The presentation of the ceremony was as followed:

• Entry of 40th JWOC Graduates
• Arrival of GOH at the ballroom
• Presentation of the Promotion Certificates
• Presentation of Book Prize Awards
• Address by GOH
• Valedictory speech by 40th JWOC course leader
• Donning of Warrant Officer Rank Insignia
• Singing of the “Warrant Officer Song”
• Reciting of the “Warrant Officer Creed”
• Presentation of Token of Appreciation

Yes, there were so many sequences to the ceremony and each sequence was a significance moment to both the graduates and their spouses/partner.


It was a very PROUD MOMENT in my life when I had the honor to don his new rank for him. In our 10 years of marriage, I had seen Adrian work hard in his job and I know he deserved this promotion.

When I heard the WO song, I was all smiled because Adrian had been playing the song at home and both Anthea & Anders had practiced singing the song too.

The office creed was another emotional moment for them and I know they would uphold the creed as long as they are in the force.

Token of appreciation was presented to spouses/partners & loved ones for their understanding, support and encouragement. Throughout the evening, I received words of Thanks from his CO and other officers for giving him all the support. Like what the GOH mentioned in his speech – we are the pillar of strength for all the graduates and I know I will always be there for him.

At 7pm, the ceremony ended and we went back to the 1st level Hibiscus room for the concoction ceremony and photo taking with the GOH.

Then at 7.40pm, we proceeded back to the Ballroom for our dining-in. It was a 5 course set dinner. Adrian ordered the chicken with red wine menu for me. Dinner was enjoyable and we had a great time chatting with his officers and friends.

After dessert was served, there was a loyal toast for the President of Singapore. Then the dinner came to an end when the GOH took his leave.

It was my 1st time attending a Military Dining In function and I would say the experienced was great and an eye opener for me. With so many Officers dinning in the same room, I would say – I really felt so honored.

THEY will defend Singapore with THEIR LIFE – as promised in their creed.

Bonus Staycation at Shangri La Hotel

Thanks to my 3rd SIL – Cherry, the aces family had another wonderful weekends hotel stay at the Shangri La. Cherry is a Golden Circle member and the points that she accumulated earned her some complimentary stay at the Shangri La groups of hotels. We had the choice of Rasa Sentosa, Shangri La & Traders hotel. Since we had just stayed in Rasa Sentosa, our next choice is definitely Shangri La. We had stayed there once and we enjoyed the rooms and facilities very much.

On Saturday, Cherry went with us to the hotel and did the check in for us. She booked 2 connecting rooms for us. After that she went to meet with her friend for shopping spree.

After checked in, the very 1st request from anthea and Anders was “hit the pool”. I agreed with one of my ex-colleague – she said actually for our children, a hotel with good swimming pool is sufficient to entertain them, no need to travel oversea…haha.

Unfortunately for us, Shangri la hotel’s pool was under renovation. However they allowed guest to use the pool at the service apartment. Well, like I said, for my children – as long as I provide them with a swimming pool, they will be happy guests.

So we walked over to the service apartment for our swim. The children had as much fun as usual.

Then we went back to our room to change and took a quick rest. At the same time, my in-laws came over with my little niece and she had fun checking out the room facilities too.

In the evening we had dinner at Tanglin mall. As we walked back from the mall to the hotel, I took the opportunity to take some Christmas shoots for the children.

Then it was rest & relaxes in the hotel rooms.

In the morning, we had a sumptuous buffet breakfast at The Line. Complimentary breakfasts were included in the FREE room. I always enjoyed the spread at the Line. Their selections were so wide and we were spoiled for choices…hehe.

After breakfast, we rested a while in the room before heading to the pool AGAIN…yes, their favorite pastime. Then as we were going back to our room after the morning swim, the hotel staff informed us that their pool is OPEN and we were able to swim. Immediately we went to the pool and had a quick dip. That’s really satisfied the children’s needs.

Then we went back to the room to bath & changed. Adrian bought back Subway sandwiches for lunch. We simply dined in at the comfort of the room.

We checked out around 3pm as the hotel had accord late check out for the 2 rooms till 4pm.
Then it was home sweet home. This staycation holiday had proved that in SG, we still can enjoy ourselves to our heart content.

We are now looking forward to our chalet stay at Aranda Country club.

TOP Voter Prize

Recently one of the Blogging Mommies – LZ mommy took part in a Blogging contest organized by Dumex. In order to win the contest, she needed as many votes as possible.

Being an ardent follower of her blog and knowing her to be such an amazing mommy to her 3 wonderful children and a loving hubby. I told myself that I would cast in as many votes as I can.

Every day, I would log on to the contest page and cast in my votes. Initially it was one vote per day as the organizer had arranged. Then it changed the voting system and we could vote every 3 hours..hehe. It was quite thrilling to see the vote’s number running higher each day and at times when another blogging mommy votes overtook LZmommy votes, I would feel the “pinch”…haha.

Nonetheless, at the end of the contest – LZmommy won the contest with a very HIGH VOTES and good lead.

The other day while on face book, I received a message from LZmommy telling me that I had won the highest voters prize.

It was quite a sweet surprise to me. I cast my votes daily on the basis that LZmommy is like a “cyber twin” to me and thus, I had to give all my best to support my twin, regardless if I win anything.

So after hearing what she told me, I went to the contest site and check out on the winning detail and true enough I saw my name on the Top 3 voters – I was the 2nd highest voters...hehe.

I contacted Dumex and told them about my name being mentioned on winning the contest. The person in charge was very nice and kind enough to allow me to pick up my prizes today, instead of tomorrow. ..: )

For the prize winner – we won for ourselves $100 Robinson vouchers & $120 Mamil Gold Hamper. Not bad for a 1st time voting contest for me and it’s a small windfall too..haha.

So we shall be doing our Christmas shopping soon, Thanks to LZmommy!!

十年了...

04-12-1999 是我们的註册婚姻的日子。当年的气氛好热闹，现在回忆过去，好开心。

十年了。。这一路走得还顺利。当然不是一切都没问题，只是我们都会尽量小事化无。记得阿姨一句话 – “婚姻是要好好经营的”。

十年不算长， 因为前面还有很长的路要走。

曾经读过一位朋友的部落阁，她也庆婚姻十周年。她的文章留给我很深的印象。文中提到能和丈夫过十年周念算是幸福美满了， 因为她提到生边许多好友不是离婚，就是分居。很难百头到老。

很多感触。。所以在今天只希望我们能继续共度十年。。。

It’s had been a smooth 10 years of marriage for us so far. I know the road ahead is still long and with our commitment and belief in each other, I believe we can walk another 10 years together.

Being married for 10 years is not considered long and to many – it’s just the beginning of more hardship. As our romance/love faded slowly, it’s take times to cultivate our trust and belief in one another so that we can support each other in our life.

This 10 years had not been easy on us, especially for me, I had taken so many different roles in order to fine tune what work best for the family. The sacrifices were small but the challenges were huge. I had not fallen yet but honestly at times, I don’t know how far I can stretch.

May we be blessed with more good years ahead and may I gain more knowledge in life to be a better wife to my husband, a better mommy to my children and a better daughter to my parents/in laws.

Happy 10th Anniversary to US!

Rainbow Restaurant

For this term of school, Anders has been learning about different kind food & fruits.

The teachers had been bringing them around to places like wet market, NTUC Supermarket and also they visited KFC to understand how a kitchen operates.

During school days, they also had “cooking lesson” and he came back telling me that he had been trying different dishes in school.

They were also taught of different roles in a restaurant; e.g. chefs/waitress/cashier etcs. All these were in preparation of the opening of their own new restaurant – RAINBOW RESTAURANT.

30 November 2009 was the official OPENING of the restaurant and parents were invited to visit the restaurant. So on Monday evening, with our invitation letter, I went to the official opening with Anthea. Anthea was very excited about the opening ceremony. We arrived at the restaurant at the time slot given to us 7 pm.

The waitresses were standing by to welcome all the guests. Then we went in and placed order on our food.

Anders was CHEF in charge of Drinks..haha.

They were serving drinks, egg mayo sandwiches, kebab & fruits salad. Anthea was going around the place and placing her order, using the coupons that were given to the guests. Then she registered her coupon at the cashiers.

We had a really fun time, seeing the “Chefs” all busied at work and the waitresses serving us diligently.

The foods served were delicious and the service was TIP TOP…: )

The shift ended at 7.30pm as the next group of invited guests were waiting outside the restaurant for their meals. (these were the K2 Graduation event)

Then the "chefs" changed shift and had their break after a hard day of work...hehe.

Anders has been displaying keen interest in cooking and each time when I bake/cook, he would come by my side and asks me a lot of questions. He also volunteers his help willingly. I have been telling Adrian – if he cont’d to display keen interest in culinary, maybe one day he will become a CELEBRITY CHEF….haha. Then I can enjoy plenty of nice dishes, if he’s willing to cook for me by then…hehe.

A “Windfall” Haji Weekends

We had another relaxing Haji long weekend break. It was a weekend of good food and good companionship.

On Friday, one of my long timed MJ kakis, Linda, organized a house warming and invited us to her newly bought 3 ½ room HDB flat in AMK for lunch. I had known this group of kakis since my SDS days. Yes, I was an active social development service member before and we had so much fond memories of our good old days. Matter of fact, I got to know Adrian via the SDS network…haha.

Linda’s ordered a mini buffet lunch for her guests and we had a great time catching up. There were many children in the home and it was very noisy and fun. I think we really WARM UP her house.

Then before we left her place for the day, I gathered all the kakis and asked them to pool in $10 for a small bet on the weekends 4D…hehe. So we decided on buying Linda’s new home unit number. There were 5 shares altogether. I am not a DIED-HARD 4D fan but when there is inspiration, I will be motivated and like what people say 有卖就有希望。。嘻嘻。

In the evening, we had dinner with my extended families at my youngest BIL’s home. After dinner, we had a quick game of MJ and in the end – I won $1.20…haha. Then we headed to the AMK Macdonald Drive through for our supper before calling it a day.

On Saturday, we went to Nova Furnishing centre and ordered a new study desk for Anthea. I was also considering getting a new wardrobe as the old one is giving way soon..hee.

In the evening, we had dinner with my parents and da-ge as my mom also had some small windfalls during the week with her 4D. I was planning to recommend them to try a new place – House of Seafood @180 but due to my negligence, we ended up at the wrong place and had different food instead. Anyway, it was the companion that mattered more to the food. (self-consolation : P)

Sunday was a relaxing day for us as we went around with our usual exercise routine and in the evening we had crab noodle from Mellben Seafood. My FIL will usually 打包the Crab Noodle from the stall and we would eat in comfort at my in laws place.

Then around 7 plus in the evening, I received a sms from Linda and she mentioned that our 4D betting number had came out and we had made a small windfall. Indeed a very good ending to the long weekends and I agreed with what Linda said – Group Luck = GOOD LUCK!! I am looking forward to our next groups gathering and hopefully we will have a chance to play MJ again… : )

三天两夜圣淘沙游/ 颁奖典礼

The title reminded me of my good old days working at the travel agent planning for inbound tourists to Sentosa : P The weather had been very kind to us for the last 3 days and I cannot be more thankful for it.

Friday, 20 November

In the morning, I attended Anthea’s school prize giving ceremony cum concert. The mood was generally happy and most of the children were happy to go on stage to collect their prizes. I was happy to see most of her tuition classmates were there and most of them were also 1st, 2nd & 3rd of their respective classes. Wow…the tuition teacher must be very happy to see all her students did so well…: )

After the ceremony, we had a quick snack at the canteen as Anthea said she was hungry. Then we went home to get ready for our resort stay in Sentosa.

In the afternoon, my eldest brother came and picks us up and we headed to Tiong Bahru Hawker for our lunch before proceeding to Sentosa for our check in. the new market was big and had many food stalls, we tried different varieties of the food and they were not bad.

Then my brother drove us all the way into Rasa Sentosa resort for our check in. We were allocated room 510 and it was seaview deluxe room as booked. The room size was comfortable. We had a twin sharing bed joined together and beside it was a sofa bed. So it was very comfortable for our family of 2 adult and 2 children. I had booked the resort Staycation package deal for the 2 nights stay and it came with daily breakfast for 2 adults / 2 children.

While we were checking in, I had a called from Cindy and she was asking if we had any plan for the day. She took ½ day leave to be with Angus and she had no planned of where to go. So I invited them to join us at the hotel and she agreed. The children were very happy to see Angus again and they immediately went to the poolside for their water fun.

The swimming pool has 3 children slides and the pool height was just nice for all of them. They had great fun at the pool and I saw that Anders was getting braver with the slide. He even tried different style of sliding into the pool.

Then they requested to go by the beachfront to play with sand. We went along with them. While the children played with sand, we had a good chat on our children examination results.

Around 5pm, we went back to the hotel room to change and they left for home as they had some prior dinner appointment.

For us, after bathing and changing, we took the hotel shutter bus to Vivo City to meet Adrian for dinner. He came after his event @ Marina Barrage and met us for dinner. We ate at Earl Swenson in Vivo City. As usual, Anthea & Anders enjoyed the salad bar buffet. After dinner, we headed to Toy R Us to buy her present from my PIL. Because of her good result, my FIL had told her to go and chose herself a present. Finally she chooses the Scooter for her gift. : )

Then we bought some donuts for our late night supper and drove back to the hotel. Parking at the hotel is complimentary and based on 1st come 1st served basis.

We had a very relaxed evening in the hotel room and the children enjoyed the games too.

Saturday, 21 November

We woke up to a bright and sunny beautiful morning. We went for our buffet breakfast and the spread was very sumptuous.

After a good breakfast, we started our itinerary for the day…hehe. Our 1st stop was the Sentosa 4D Magix and we watched the Pirates show. The show was very interesting and the 4D effect was very entertaining too. Anders was a bit scared of the pirates and dare not put on his glass. : P

After the show, we went for the Sentosa Luge & Sky ride. As we were at the hilltop, so we started with the luge ride 1st. Anthea shared a cart with Adrian and Anders shared one with me. The ride downhill was very exciting and Anders kept saying he had great fun and asked if we can go another round..haha. Then we took the sky ride back to the hilltop.

There was a new Megazip Adventure Park and we decided to check it out since we had a Free ticket from the hotel package. But we were there too early; the park opens at 2pm, so we had no choice but to give it a miss.

As it was almost lunch time, we decided to pack lunch back to the hotel room. Anthea and Anders had requested to go to the pool, so I took them for a dip before lunch. Adrian took the opportunity to do his studies in preparation for his test on Monday.

The children had great fun at the pool slide again.

After about an hour of water fun, we went back to the hotel to bath and change and then had our lunch in the room. Yes, we packed Subway sandwiches and a pizza for lunch. Then the children had their power nap. Around 4.30pm, they woke up & Anthea went to the resort Toot’s club and did a face painting session at the club. This is like a kid’s club and parents can sign in their children into the club and the parents can do their own stuff around the resort.

In the evening, we were booked for Song of the Sea show at 7.40pm. We reached the show place around 6.30pm and saw a long queue for the show. We made query with the show usher and was told there was a FULL HOUSE Situation for the show and since the seating is based on 1st come 1st served basis, we decided to go in and chopped the seats 1st.

While waiting for the show, the children had some light snack as we planned to take dinner after the show. The show started exactly at 7.40pm and we were all mesmerized by the show. The show featured pyrotechnics, water jets, brilliant lasers, captivating music and other dramatic effects. It was a fantastic show and Adrian commented that he was surprised and impressed we were capable of such spectacular show on Sentosa Island.

(these are the special laser graphic that was caught off the waterjet..i am happy that my new camerca can capture these...)

The children also like the special effect and kept talking about Oscar the fish and the beautiful Princess, even after the show.

Then we headed to Sake Sushi for our dinner and took the beach tram back to our hotel and rested after an eventful day.

Sunday, 22 November

We woke up to another bright and sunny beautiful morning. We proceeded to our buffet breakfast and this morning the café was crowded with tourists. We saw many families with children, so presumed that they were also holidaying in Sentosa : )

After a good hearty breakfast, we went back to our room to rest our stomach. Then we went to the pool again. Adrian joined us at the pool and since he was there watching the children, I took a quick swim at the adult poolside and it was great.

The children simply enjoyed the pool slides and had great fun going up & down.

Around 12 noon, we checked out of the hotel and since I had bought the Merlion Tower tickets in advanced, we did a quick tour of the tower. The tower was quite ok but nothing much for the children, luckily I only bought 2 tickets and Anders went up with me. Anthea was too tired to walk the Merlion Tower and stayed with Adrian at the car park. : )

We decided to have a quick lunch at Kou Fu at Palawan beach before leaving the island for home sweet home. The place was crowded with tourist and families who came over for day trip.

Overall, the 3 days 2 nights Sentosa discovery has been a very fruitful trip for the family. The children enjoyed the hotel and its facilities and of course, the buffet breakfast...haha.

Next year, when the Resort World is operational ready, we will plan for a family trip there again, to explore the new Universal Studio.

A Special INVITATION & My New Camera

2 weeks ago, Anthea showed me a letter from her school regarding the following week schedules and also the dates of collecting and returning of the report books. The school also mentioned that there will be a Prize giving ceremony cum concert on Friday, 20 November 2009. Only parents of prize winners, all P6 students and performances need to attend the event due to space constraint.

I saw Anthea’s SA 2 results and told myself that likely we need not go to school on the Friday, so we just need to prepare ourselves in the morning for our Sentosa check in on the same day.

However, on Monday, she showed me a form after school. Yes, it was the INVITATION for the ceremony on this Friday. I was very surprised and happy to see that she is one of the prize winners as she is 2nd in her class. : )

I was totally over the moon with the news although I had not seen her report books yet, I knew she did well enough to gain 2nd placing in class.

Today is the report book day and she has made me a very proud mother with her wonderful results.
English – 94.0%

Chinese – 99.0 %

Mathematics – 88.0%

She scores Band 1 for all the subjects and A’s for all the others subjects – Art/Social study/Health education/ Music & Physical Education.

Only her Math was below 90% and after seeing her papers, we know where her weakness was and hopefully she will learn from it.

So this Friday, I will be attending her prize winning ceremony and thereafter we will proceed to Sentosa for our grand celebration.

For this special occasion and our Sentosa weekends stay, I decided to invest in a good camera to capture more photographs…haha.

I had been considering getting a DSLR camera and was seriously considering Panasonic Lumix DMC GF1 after hearing some very good feedback from the Club Snap forum. I had visited MS Color shop in AMK 2 – 3 times to check on this camera but so far, the shop does not has stock of the camera and advised me to wait till next month.

Today, I went to Chinatown to run some errands and there were few shops selling different models of cameras and I told myself to try my luck to see if the shop has my preferred camera. Yes, it has the G1 model that I was looking for…: P

Immediately I made my queries with the sale person and he showed me the camera.
The salesman explained to me the basic function of the G1 DSLR and also the pros & cons. In order to get a good zoom, I would need to buy extra lens and he said that would cost about another $600 (almost a price of a new camera…: P )

Then after knowing my needs, he recommend me another Panasonic Lumix – model FZ35.

This camera has what I wanted and he also mentioned that for a beginner to photography, this camera will suite me better than a DSLR. He said once I get used to playing the FZ35, he said I can go back and look for him for a DSLR camera. There was one sentence he said and impressed me – he said the FZ35 will make the photo “看起来有生命力”. Wow what a way to put it and the price was few hundred cheaper than G1. So it’s a win-save situation for me.

Finally I bought the FZ35 and the package include a 8GB SD Card, camera case, a tripod and he even gave me a free card reader and lens cleaning stuff.

I truly admired his professional knowledge and he was so openly sharing his knowledge with me and talking to him really make me learnt so much about the camera. I am really grateful to have met him in my pursue of a new hobby.

Okie, now I am reading the operating manual for my new camera and hopefully on this Friday, I can capture 有生命的照片。。哈哈！