4 Day 3Nights Phuket Rest & Relax Families Trip, 26 – 29 Nov 2010

This was the Tan Clan inaugural families trip and I must say – it was a successful trip. We were a party of 8 adults, 2 children, 1 toddle and 2 infants. First time we managed to go on a short vacation with all of us included.

Day 1: Friday, 26 November

Singapore → Phuket (MI 754 )Dep: 1320 / Arr 1405

It was a 1hour and 45 minutes flight from Singapore to Phuket. We were seated all near to one another. It was the 1st flight experience for my youngest niece – Taeia Tan. She took it really well.

Upon arrival at the Phuket airport, we were met by the Holiday Inn resort representative and we had 2 minivans for our families transfer.

We checked into the hotel and was given a Superior king-sized bed for our family. The other families had queen sized bedroom. My 2nd brother in law booked a family suite for his family.

As usual the 1st activity was swimming. Yeah, the children were all very excited and had great fun at the resort’s kid’s pool. Even the 2 infants also came in for a quick water play.

In the evening, we had dinner at the Hard Rock café and then adjourned to the hotel lobby for the welcome drinks. Then we called it a night and had good rest.

Day 2: Saturday, 27 November

We had an enjoyable buffet breakfast and then the children went to the kid’s club and had some fun at the club.

Then we headed to the poolside again and they played for some time before we went back to the room to change.

Lunch was arranged at Jungceylon shopping centre. This shopping mall was huge and it housed many familiar brands – Robinson and Carrefour can be found in this mall. It’s very close to home shopping. We had lunch and then explored the shopping mall. After that, some of us took the Tuk Tuk back to the hotel and we decided to walk back. It was about 10minutes walk to the hotel and along the streets, there were plenty of street shopping and amazing discoveries.

In the evening, we went by to the beachfront and we negotiated a deal for a Banana Boat ride. Together with my 3rd brother in law, his wife and my Father in law, Anthea tried her 1st ride on the Banana Boat. The ride was very fun and they were overthrown at the end of the ride when they were near the beachside. She enjoyed the ride so much and kept telling us about the fun of it.

We had dinner at the Thai restaurant in the hotel. Then we headed back to the rooms for a good night rest.

Day 3: Sunday, 28 November

During our last trip to Phuket in 2008, we did Safari tour. So this time round, we decided to try something different. We booked our family of 2 adults and 2 children for the ATV (all terrain vehicles) tour. It was a 2 hours of thrilling ride in the mountainous terrain.

As it was drizzling in the morning, it made the slopes very slippery and muddy and these add on the excitement of the rides.

After the 2 hours, we were all dirty and tired. We headed back to the hotel for a quick bath. Then had our cup noodles lunch in our rest before resting for the afternoon to regain the energy.

For dinner, we headed out the beachside for some seafood dinner. It was a simple and nice meal by the beach. After dinner, we took a stroll back to the hotel. On the way, we even stopped for Haagen Das Ice cream.

Day 4: Monday, 29 November

Phuket → Singapore (MI 753) 1455/1740

We woke up to a nice and relaxing buffet breakfast. After that, we started to pack and got ready for our home going flight.

We took a minivan from the hotel to the airport it cost us THB 1200. Then it was checked in time and home sweet home.

Overall, the 4D3N had passed by very quickly. We had so much fun and great families bonding time with the extended families. So it was a really good experienced for the Ace family.

For now…we look forward to our next families travel, would this be Beijing 2011?? To be continue….

毕业典礼- Anders K2 Graduation Ceremony 2010

19 November 2010 was a BIG Day for me. Yes, finally, Anders is graduating from his kindergarten stage and would be going to Primary 1 in 2011.

This time round, my first Skool had decided to do the ceremony as individual centre based rather than a combined concert with other centers.

The concert was much smaller in scale but the importance and significance of the celebration remained HUGE in meaning.

The graduation was scheduled to start in the evening at 6.30pm. Around 6.15pm, Anthea and I took a slow walk to the centre. When we arrived at the centre, we realized that the Guest of Honor – Dr.S Vasoo was already making his speech. We entered the centre discreetly and quite luckily, we managed to be seated in the 1st row of the concert.

After his speech, the graduation began. The K2 graduands marched in with pride. They were all wearing the graduation gowns and mortarboard. It was a very special MOMENT for all the parents when they saw their children and cameras were busy flashing away.

Dr. S Vasoo presented each one of them with their graduation certification. After that, they took a group photo with the centre Principal and Teachers in charge.

Then the concert began – the program was well lined up and we had great fun and were well entertained throughout the 2 hours.

Finally when the show was over, we were treated to some light refreshment prepared by the centre aunties. The food was simple and delicious. The children were having a great time, eating their food and chatting with their friends.

For some of them, this would be the last month attending the childcare as some would be going on the next stage in their life.

This was my 2nd time attending a graduation ceremony and I found it to be much more meaning than those big scale show. It really allowed the parents to see the talents in their own child.

Once again, I am a PROUD mother for the day!

亲爱的勇学，

终于毕业了。这是新的开始。。路会很长不过妈妈会陪着你！希望你会勇敢的学习。

爱您的妈妈。

Double UP…

The children had been feeling a lot of excitement since the day we ordered the Double Decker bed for them.

Yes, after some consideration that we would be staying put in our home for the few years ahead, we decided to do some adjustment to the “hardware” of the home.

The children had been bugging us to get them a double decker bed. Each time when we went to the furniture showrooms, they would take the opportunity to try the different types of children double decker beds.

As our bedrooms are all installed with a ceiling fans, we were concerned about the safety issue, especially with the fan’s blade going fast and furious. A few months back, we decided to change the children room fan as it was having some technical problem. After some researched, we bought a new TDK Ceiling Oscillation fan.

Once the fan was changed, we went to Rozel furniture showroom and checked out their double decker beds. To our luck, they were having some promotion on one particular bed and we decided to go with that promotional item.

This week on Monday, they delivered the bed and it’s now the new novelty of the home. The children enjoyed the “Tree house” in the room.

忙碌的十一月..

Just came back from another fruitful working trip in Shanghai. Weather is very cooling now in China and truly enjoys the walk in the cool evenings.

November had arrived and it’s going to be a very busy month for our family.

Work wise – I have loads of upcoming meetings and I hope to gain more out from these meetings.

Children – Anthea had completed her semestral exam and now we are waiting eagerly for her final results. So far, she had done very well for all her papers and we are very happy with her performance.

Anders will be having his K2 graduation ceremony on 19 November and now they are busy with the rehearsal. After that we will be attending his Primary 1 orientation. I am really looking forward to seeing him starting his formal primary school education in 2011.

Holidays – yes, we are going for our augural families holiday with our extended families in November. It’s going to be quite an experience for all of us.

A few months back Anthea felt ill and was pale from her illness. Then we decided to let her try Brand Essence for children. After the first few bottles, I noticed a slight improvement in her health. From then onward, she becomes a Brand Essence fan and she drinks 1 bottle everyday during her SA.

With some connection, I managed to get bulk purchase of the Brand Essence at a good rate and now we had stocked up on them. We will make sure the children drink them regularly to maintain their energy and health.

Looking forward to all the upcoming events and fun time ahead.