Happy Birthday to Daddy!!

Today is Adrian’s 37th birthday. We had a simple birthday celebration for him on last Saturday.

We had dinner at Bottle Tree Park @ Yishun as Adrian had craving for its 炸猪手 (Chinese style Pork Knuckle). We arrived at the place around 7pm and the place was crowded with families. Compared to our few previous visits on weekdays, it was a vast difference. We booked a table of 10 for the air-conditioning dinning area.

Dinner was great and as usual, we brought our bottle of Red Wine for the occasion. My 2nd BIL’s family bought a Durian cake (猫山王榴莲蛋糕) from Pine Garden for him.

After dinner, we decided to adjourn to my youngest BIL’s home for the cake cutting ceremony and enjoy the cake in comfort.

I had originally plan to buy Adrian a birthday present but was too busy and occupied with so many things that I overlook on ordering his present…hee. Anyway, I had paid for his new mini laptop and will take that as his present, unless he decided to pay me back the monies… : P

Wishing daddy A Very Happy 37th Birthday and May his wish be fulfilled.

亲子团 三天两夜游

Anthea and my In-laws came back from another fantastic Club Med holiday. I went to the Ferry Terminal with my youngest brother in law to welcome them home.

Anthea was very happy and said that she had very good times in Club Med and wished that it could have been a longer holiday…haha.

This was her 1st solo trip without us and I am proud that she did well and my in-laws were able to enjoy their short break too.

They managed to take some photos and from the look of the photos, I knew the trip had been a good one for all of them.

My in-laws told me that upon checked in; they were told that their room has been upgraded. I think my contact person in Club Med may have put in some good words for us…hee. The room was so big and nice. The balcony overlook the seafront. Anthea even had a cozy corner bed to herself…: )

This trip Anthea also picked up the game of badminton from my father in-law and she said she enjoyed the game.

She also had her usual good fun at the swimming pool and by the beach. I am glad she is just like me – active going and enjoys all type of sports.

Of course not forgetting to mention FOOD Glorious food…haha. As usual, they had BIG feasts with all the buffet serving and drinks whole day.

Glad that she had this travel opportunity with her grandparents and I know she had a good bonding time with them, simply by ENJOYING LiFE!!

晚餐服务

Yesterday afternoon I received a call from my tingkat dinner caterer – Jia Le Buffet.

“Mrs. Tan, 我们将停止晚餐服务到你那一区。你的最后一天是星期四.”

I was a little caught off guard when I heard the news that they will be stopping dinner delivery service to my area. After asking the WHY question, the lady mentioned that it wasn’t profitable anymore for the company to deliver to my area.

Sigh….I had such good impression of Jia Le dinner and so far their service is excellent and food are good. No complaint.

Well, same as previous caterer, it’s always the cost issue and I can understand it from the company standpoint.

We started our tingkat dinner with Jia Le since July 2008 and it would be 1 year in about another month but this 1st year anniversary did not come true. Sad but this is reality about such relationship.

Now I am on my “Search Mode” for a new caterer and had booked Kim’s Kitchen for a 5 days trial starting next Monday.

Many times, I would ask myself – “should I start cooking on my own?” But I am still convinced that tingkat dinner served us better.

There are a few reasons to the dinner delivery service:

1. At times, when I have pressing projects, I will bring work home and spend the afternoon at home finishing my project. If I cook, this will mean that I would not have enough time to complete my work.

2. Usually on weekdays, I will hand wash Anthea’s school uniform and on alternate days, I will mop the house. On these days, I would finish the household chores almost near to 4pm. This means I would have to prepare dinner from 4pm onwards and I would not have time to revise Anthea’s homework with her.

3. On weekdays, I still do my regular jogs. So if I cook, I will not be able to jog. I need to exercise to de-stress…hehe.

4. The amount of time spent on planning, preparing, cooking and washing for a meal is just too challenging for me and the dinner catering is more cost effective for us.

So far, dinner catering has work well with our family lifestyle and as long as the children are happily eating their dinner, I am happy to continue with the same routine.

Let’s hope that our new caterer will be just as good as our current one. Like I said before:

天下没有不散之宴席。。。

Club Med Bintan Again !!!

On Friday morning, I received a sms from my father-in-law indicating his keen interest to bring Anthea and Anders to Club Med Bintan for a short break. My mother in law had applied leaves this week to look after Anthea.

After getting my FIL’s message, Adrian checked with him the dates that they preferred to travel but it seem like they are flexible. Immediately I emailed to Elaine - my contact for Club Med and checked with her the availability for room on this week from Tuesday to Thursday and her replied was also immediate.

With the correspondences to and back, we confirmed a room for 3 of them for 3 days 2 night stay at Club Med Bintan. I decided against Anders going with them as I am worried he may still look for me in the middle of the trip and also it would not be easy for my in-laws to take care of 2 of them. Anders was agreeable to stay home with me and Adrian. I know he would love to go with Anthea jie jie, so I told him we will go back again next chance. I Love Club Med holiday too…hee!!

Anthea is very excited about the short trip and is looking forward to a good time in Club Med. She said it’s going to be buffet, buffet and buffet…ha-ha. I told her this time round she can join in the older group for kid’s club event and she will sure to enjoy them.

This school holiday has been lots of fun and entertainment for Anthea. She had travelled a week to Sydney, Australia and now she is going for another short break in Club Med Bintan. No wonder she said “it’s the best school holiday!!”

Of course, amid all the enjoyment, we had not forgotten about school works. She had completed her school holiday assignments. Now she is back to her tuition class, preparing for her academic when school starts in about a week time, if no further extension from Ministry of Education. *finger crossed*

This one month school holiday seem to has passes by so quickly too. In about another week, it’ll be back to school again. It’s our 1st one month school holiday break and I know there will be more to come. It has been a very fulfilling month for the family. We had our holiday and I had the chance to catch up with friends and ex-colleagues for lunches and meet up.

Next week, we will be going back to our NORMAL routine of waking up early again…haha : P

新迷你电脑 & Happy Birthday to 爷爷！

On Saturday morning, we went to Funan Digital mall to collect our Free 20 inch luggage bag from the Travel Store. This was our free gift from our Hong Kong trip booked with Chan Brothers. I told Adrian this luggage is just nice for Anthea’s Club Med trip. We even bought her a luggage tag to write her own name on it.

After collecting our free gift, we shopped around the IT Mall for a new net book aka mini laptop. Adrian is scheduled for another oversea work detachment in mid July to end August. He would like to get a laptop with a built in camera for his travel use. This will allow him to “talk” to us when he’s oversea. Having his own laptop will be easier for him, rather than to always borrowing it from his friends or room mate.

So after walking a few shops, we narrowed to 2 brands – Acers & Lenovo. After further discussion, we bought a Lenovo S 10 mini laptop @ $649. There were some freebies that came along with the laptop and he also bought an external portable DVD for the laptop.

We had tested the video chat function of the laptop and all the software are set up and operational ready.

In the evening, we celebrated my Father In-Law 63rd birthday at Sze Chuan Court @ Fairmont Hotel. As usual, we had a very enjoyable feast and a delicious Black Forest Cake from Pine Garden.

Anthea and Anders had a fun time with their little cousin, Faith, who just came back from a one week vacation from Hong Kong. We were treated to the traditional famous 恒香老婆饼..Yummy!

On Sunday, we had lunch with my Parents and 大哥 at 天津阁 at the Bras Basah complex. It was our 1st visit to the restaurant and we had some nice treats - 锅贴，葱油饼， 小笼包，拉面 和 豆沙烧饼。After lunch, we went to TCC at Bugis Junction for coffee and tea.

Dinner was home cooked meal at my In-laws place and after dinner, we adjourned to the newly opened MOF @ AMK HUB for their desserts. Finally we had some good places for after meals desserts in AMK HUB, otherwise, we are stucked with the Macdonald’s Drive Thru…hee : P

Anthea spent the night at my In-law place. It’s has been a long time since she slept over in my in-law place. Anders kept telling me that he misses Anthea when we were in bed. When they are together, they are always “fighting/quarrelling” with each other. When one is away from home, the other one is missing her…glad to see that Absence makes the heart fonder…: )

Anthea will be away for a short trip from Tuesday to Thursday and I know we will all miss her presence.

5D4N Sydney Family Experience, 8 – 12 June 2009

欢乐时光终是过的那么快。。嘻嘻！！

We are back from another amazing holiday experienced from Sydney, Australia. Both Anthea and Anders had truly enjoyed themselves and brought back fond memories of the vacation. I know this experienced will stay with them for a long time.

Day 1: Monday, 08 June

Singapore → Sydney (QF 32) Dep 0940 / Arr 1905

This was our 1st time on the new Airbus A380. We were all excited and looking forward to some new experienced. This was the 1st time we can literally viewed the Take off of the plane via the Sky cam that was fitted to the plane. Also the screen was interactive, so there was no need to use the remote control at all unless playing the games.

Service on Qantas was very good & professional. We were being served throughout the 7 hours flight. In-flight entertainment was on demand, so we can watch the movies on our own schedule. The children were kept occupied watching Ben 10, Dora the explorer and all the different online games. They were also served children meals onboard. Anders didn’t even complained a bit about the 7 hours flight compared to the Hong Kong flight..haha.

We arrived on schedule and immigration clearance was a brisk. As we had some instant cup noodles and milk powder for the children, we declared our luggage and clearance was equally fast. After clearance, we approached the Sun Bus counter for our transfer to the city hotel. It took about 20 minutes to reach our hotel – Mercure Sydney.

We checked in the room and went to survey the facilities – gym & swimming pool. Then after that, we went across the street to Macdonald for our dinner. Yes, it’s Macdonald again…haha. It was windy and cold while we took a quick walk along the street.

Then we went back to the room to change and rest for the night. There was a little incident that happened in the middle of the night. Anthea vomited a few times in the middle of the night and I brought her to the A&E of the local hospital. After 2 hours at the hospital, we were told by the doctor to let her rest and drink enough fluid. No medication was prescribed and doctor said I could get the medication from the pharmacy next day morning. I was told by Adrian that unlike SG, oversea hospital does not prescribe medication. Luckily after that, Anthea was better and had a good sleep. Now I am waiting for my bill from the hospital. Likewise, they didn’t ask me to pay and said would send the bill to our SG address.

Day 2: Tuesday, 9 June

We woke up late after an eventful night and had cup noodles as our breakfast. I told Adrian we would monitor Anthea’s situation before confirming on the next day tour.
After breakfast, we went on our shopping assignment for Jurlique products as requested by families.

My youngest SIL had bought Jurlique products from this duty free shop - Sun Song and recommended it to us as it gave good discount. We managed to get all the products from the shop at a very good rate.

When we were done with the shopping assignment, we went to the food court, opposite the shop and had our lunch. This is the 1st time I see Food Court concept in Australia. The food court was very similar to our local food court. They had different stalls selling different cuisine – Vietnamese, Thai, Korea, Western and Chinese food. So we had no lack of choice. I ordered a wanton noodle for the children, the dish was priced at A$6.80 and the serving was big. Adrian ordered the Korea seafood hotplate and the portion was HUGE. The dish cost him A$10. Overall, the food price in Sydney is pretty reasonable and the servings are big.

Adrian had been to Sydney in 2003 and so he was our Tour guide for this trip.

After lunch, we went on the Tram ride as the children kept asking to go on it. Then we took the monorail to the Darling Harbor area. He brought us to the Sydney Aquarium. It was really an eye-opening experienced for the children and they had great fun touring the Aquarium and seeing all the different species of fishes.

We completed our tour in about an hour time, and then we headed back to Chinatown to pack our dinner.

As the weather turned cold in the night, I would prefer to eat in the comfort of the hotel room than to fight the coldness while walking on the street. So we packed back some noodles and porridge dishes back to the hotel. We had a nice, hot meal in the room while watching their local news.

We had an early rest after dinner as we prepared ourselves for a full day fun tomorrow. I was glad that Anthea had recovered well from her stomach virus.

Day 3: Wednesday, 10 June

*Warning: DO NOT CONT”D READING IF YOU HAVE PHOBIA OF REPTILES*

Port Stephen Tour - We woke up around 6.30am as we were scheduled on a Full Day tour to the famous Port Stephen to see Dolphins. After breakfast of breads and cup noodles, we got ready for our pick up at 7.35am @ the hotel lobby.

We were brought to the coach meeting points to board our tour bus for the day trip. In Australia, the coach driver up doubled up as local guide too. While driving, he would also do introduction of the places to the tourists.

For the day trip, our 1st stop was a Reptile Park and both Anthea and Anders were in for a good treat. We had been reading a lot on reptiles, especially snakes and both of them were so excited to know we were going to see them for real.

In the reptile park, we had the chance to see Koala Bears, Kangaroos, Emu, Lizards and of course Australia famous types of snakes. Anthea and Anders even had the chance to feed the Kangaroos and Emu.

After the 1 hour visit of the reptile park, we proceeded to our next stop – Port Stephen. We were scheduled on the 1.30pm ferry and we arrived at the wharf around 12.20pm. We had an hour time for a quick lunch.

There were many eateries around the wharf area. Adrian and the children had Subway sandwiches for their lunch and I ordered a Fish & Chips meal for myself.

We had a nice and lovely lunch by the wharf and the children kept feeding those seagulls that were waiting for food outside the restaurant.

We boarded the ferry around 1.25pm and set off for our experienced with Dolphins. The ferry took us out to the middle of the ocean and then suddenly, we saw a few dolphins swimming along the side of the ferry. Everyone onboard was very excited and they even had a monitor for those who preferred to stay inside the ferry to see the dolphins.

It was another 1st time experienced for the family and we had a fun time. The only thing was the sea was a bit choppy and the wind was very cold. Anthea got a little dizzy from the bumpy ride. We quickly let her sit down and rest. Luckily I brought along my thermal flask of hot water and I gave the children warm water to drink to keep them warm.

The Dolphins tour lasted for 1 ½ hours and we returned to the wharf around 3pm. Then the coach driver drove us to our next destination – 4WD tour on sand dunes. Both Anthea and Anders had the chance to try sand-boarding and they enjoyed the thrill of it so much. : )

Upon disembarking from the 4WD tour, we boarded the coach for our return to Sydney.

As there was a major traffic jam on the main highway, the coach driver brought us on the suburb routes and we get to see the small towns. Also we did a dinner stop at a local Macdonald as we were running quite late and the driver also needed a rest before he drove on.

We arrived at our hotel almost near 8pm and rested for the evening. It had been a very memorable day trip for the family and especially the sand boarding experienced for the children.
Day 4: Thursday, 11 June

Taronga Zoo – originally we were booked for a Blue Mountain & Wildlife Park tour with the local agent. However after some careful consideration and discussion with Adrian, we decided to forego the tour and to bring Anthea & Anders to the Sydney Tarongo Zoo instead.

We set off for our Zoo trip from the hotel around 10am. We took the bus to Circular Quay and then bought our Zoo package from the wharf counter. The package included Ferry tickets + zoo admission tickets + cable car ride. Yes, Sydney Zoo has a cable car within the Zoo compound.

To get to the zoo, we need to 1st take the Sydney ferry from the wharf, the ride took about 15 minutes. Along the way, we got view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House. We arrived at the Zoo around 11am and took the cable car to the entrance area.

Anthea and Anders enjoyed the cable car ride up the hill and we get a very panoramic view of Sydney city from the island. It was really magnificent and breathtaking. Too bad I don’t have a professional camera to capture all these…hee.

The tour of zoo started upon our arrival. As usual, the children were excited to see all the different animals. I must say this – the energy level in the Zoo was much higher than our local zoo. All the animals in the Zoo were up & walking around.

There were Zoo keeper talks at the different animals holding. The Zoo keeper would bring out the animal and explain the nature of the animal and its behavior.

We also managed to watch the Bird Show and it was really impressive and world class performance.

We had a quick lunch and then proceeded to the children Zoo area where Anthea & Anders had the opportunity to feed the farm animals – pigs, sheep, turkeys and chickens.

Then we continued to tour the Zoo and see more animals up close and personal. We ended our tour around 3pm. It was a very educational 4 hours tour of the Taronga Zoo.

We took the ferry back to mainland Sydney and Adrian brought Anthea & Anders to IMAX Theatre while I took a walk along George Street. This is the main shopping street and along the way, I can see many different shopping buildings.
Adrian and the children came back to the hotel around 6.30pm and Anthea decided to go for a quick swim. The hotel has an indoor swimming pool.

We had packed dinner back in the hotel room; I think we enjoyed eating in than dinning out..haha.

Day 5: Friday, 12 June

We decided to have hotel buffet breakfast since there was a promotion. (Children eat FREE with every paying adult.) After a good hearty breakfast, we checked out of our hotel room around 12 noon. The airport pickup was scheduled at 1.10 pm, so we decided to take a walk to Paddy’s market. The market opens on Thursday to Sunday.

There are many stalls in the market place and they sell different products ranging from clothing, bags, and souvenirs and there was a wet market area too. We bought some tee-shirts and also a bag for Anthea.

Then we headed back to our hotel for the airport pickup and it was Home-Sweet-home all the way.

We took the A380 from Sydney back to Singapore too and needless to say – its top class service and flying experienced again.

Sydney → Singapore (QF 32) dep: 1625 hr / Arr: 2230 hr

This has truly been an amazing Sydney experienced for Aces family and if there is another promotion for Sydney again, I will not hesitate to go for it again…haha.

出发了！！

再过十二个小时，我们将出发到悉尼了。这是孩子和我第一次到悉尼，很期待一个欢乐假期。

Yes, a few concerned friends had asked about Australia having H1N1 cases and I also checked with the agency on the cancellation policy. However, as Melbourne is the city that is listed by MOH website, so travelling to Sydney is still considered ok. In the event, if we cancelled our trip, it will be 100% forfeited. I don’t think we can afford to lose so much money; especially it’s all hard-earned monies by daddy… : P

So after much consultation with the families, we decided to go ahead with the tour. Along in the luggage, I had packed masks, hand sanitizer and the children vitamins. I hope with all these, we can minimize our contact with any influenza. *Finger Crossed*

I am looking forward to another good family holiday and I know we will have a fun time. So with this blog, I shall be on my usual “SILENT” mode for the week.

I will definitely be BACK to share all the experienced with my families, friends and blogging kakis.

Meanwhile, chill out and have a GOOD WEEK Ahead…till we meet again!!

See ya Mate!!

Ben 10 Live Show

On Friday, I read on Straits Times that there was a Ben 10 Live show at United Square. Anders is a BIG Fan of Ben 10 and so is Anthea.

As Adrian needed to go to Velocity @ Novena Square to collect his Mizuno Run stuff, so I told him we should cross over to United Square for the Live Show.

The Live show was scheduled at 2pm; we reached United Square around 12.30pm. We had a quick lunch at one of the fast food chain. While eating, we were also monitoring the Q for the Live Show.

Halfway through the meal, I saw the Q was getting a bit long, so I told Adrian that I would go and join in the Q first while he finished lunch with the children.

Around 1pm, the Q was along quite long as expected. Also since it’s school holidays, I know more parents will bring their children for the show.

Both Anthea and Anders were excited and looked forward to the show.

Around 2pm, the show started and Anders was very excited to see Ben 10, Wild Mite and Four arms. The show was very entertaining and all the children were very excited to see the good fight against the bad ones. I was really glad that we had the chance to catch the Live Show before we are off for our vacation.

After the show, we shopped around the mall and I bought a pair of walking shoes.

In the evening, dinner was at my parents place as my dad had cooked one of Adrian favorite dish – Oxtail stew. Also my dad brewed some 燕窝soup for the family and had asked us to drink some before our holiday.

After dinner, we went home and I continued with some of our final stuff to pack into the luggages. It seem like there are always add on till the day of departure..haha.

"M3" & SKII

This is the 1st week of school holiday and my mom has been helping me to look after Anthea while I am at work.

At her place, Anthea has the chance to get to know one of my mom’s friend daughter – Xin Ni and coincidentally, she is also in Primary 1 this year.

After few days of playing with XN, Anthea said she enjoyed her companionship very much. Yesterday after work, I brought XN to my place. She wanted to go swimming with Anthea. It’s was also the 1st time I get to see her in person. My 1st impression of her – a very quiet girl. She comes from a Single mom family, so I guess she has limited exposure.

As she does not has a swimming costume, so she wore one of Anthea’s swimwear. I brought both of them to the pool and Max also joined them at the pool.

Brenda and I had arranged for a coffee session at Toast Box in AMK Hub as I wanted to pass her the thermal wear.

The children had a great hour of fun at the pool. Brenda and I had a good time chatting and lazing around the pool…hee : P

We went home around 4pm and the girls had a simple tea break after they bathed and changed.

In the evening after dinner, we brought the Anthea, Anders and Xing Ni to AMK Hub. I told Adrian I wanted to get her a set swimming costume.

While walking to the Hub, Adrian commented this is the most ideal family size – parents and 3 children. Yes, I agreed with him but I told him I cannot go through the whole process anymore. Age is the main concern and also my energy level is not as before. Looking after 2 children is already driving me to my max, so I don't think i will be a M3 (mother of 3) in my life... : P

After shopping, we sent XN back home and Anthea said she was very sad that her friend was going home. I told her there will always be opportunity to play with Xin Ni again.

I am not into beauty care and matter of fact, I consider myself as “Lazy” in taking care of my skin. Recently, there was a very good bargain for this beauty product – SKII, which I find it hard to resist. So I decided to splurge a little on myself. Also since I had my small bonus for the month, so I gave myself a treat. I had heard so much about SKII Miracle Water – Facial Treatment Essence; I decided to buy a bottle to try. Hopefully, in about few weeks time, I can see miracle happening on me…haha.

Today in the afternoon, I also took the opportunity to go back to my ex-company to see my ex-colleagues. One of them also bought the SKII products, so I delivered them to her. It was good to catch up with all of them and it feel like 回娘家。。哈哈！！

This 1st week of school holiday has passed by so quickly but it was a very fulfilling week for me, having the chance to do all my things and having lunches with friends.

I will treasure the rest of the 3 weeks and make sure I fully utilize them as well.

Our 1st JUNGLE WALK@ MacRitchie Reservoir & Monster Vs Alien

Anthea and Anders are very “PAMPERED” children and when they walk a little mile more, both will be screaming TIRED. I had a very bad walking experienced with them when we were in Hong Kong.

So in order to prepare them for better physical endurance, I told Adrian that we must trained them for distance walking, especially since we are going to Sydney soon.

On Sunday morning after breakfast, we made our way for our 1st family trip to MacRitchie Reservoir for our 1st Jungle Walk in Singapore.

As it was the 5th Sunday of the month, so Anthea swimming lesson had a break. So it was just good timing that we do our walk.

We left home around 10 am and reached MR in about 20 minutes. We were pleasantly surprised to see the new car park facilities at the park and later from the Sunday Times; we realized that the new phase of the upgrading was completed. Soon, there will be an amenities centre.

We started with our walk and Adrian led us into the Jungle Trail. As we walked along the way through the reservoir, we also took the opportunity to explain the function of the reservoir to Anthea. She was very surprised to learn about it and kept asking us questions… : )

As we started our Jungle Trail, Anders was getting a bit frightened and kept telling me: “mommy, so scare…” and he hold my hands very tight…hehe. I told him there is nothing to worry about as there are no dangerous animals there.

Along the way, we saw many joggers and also families with children.

Our 1st animal encounter was Squirrels. We saw many of them and they were jumping from trees to trees and at one point, it seem like they were flying. The next animal we saw was a monitor lizard. Adrian was the one who spotted it amid the grass and the children were excited to see it and said that it was a komodo dragon…haha. After that we saw fishes/turtles by the water and we “secretly” fed them with a piece of bread. The last animals we saw were Ander’s favorite – monkeys. They were many of them and they were playing with once another. We dared not feed them food as we may get FINED…hehe.

As we walked, we also had a few “pit stop” – the children had the home baked cookies during the rest and they were so delighted.

We completed our 5 Km walk by noon time. After washing up and changed at the park, we had lunch at the Long House. We had a very nice and delicious lunch of duck rice, bak-chu noodles, popiah, fish & chips and goring pisang.

Both Anthea and Anders kept saying that they had a wonderful walk in the jungle and I am glad we did the walk and hopefully, they can do distance walking in Sydney too.

In the evening, before going to my In-laws house for dinner, we went to watch the 5pm movie. No prize for guessing what show …hehe.

It’s MONSTER vs. ALIEN and it was a fun movie. The children had a good time at the movie, especially with Popcorn and drink to keep them busy.

We had dinner at my In-laws house and there were plans made for Father’s Day/ my FIL’s birthday and many makan opportunities.

Yes, school holidays is all about having fun with the families. I know I am going to enjoy this month.