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.