Tan Family Vacation, Penang, 1 to 4 Dec 2011

The Tan clan consisted of the extended families which included my parents in law and my 2 younger brothers in law and their families. We were a total of 8 adults 3 children and 2 babies. After rounds of families’ discussions, we finally decided on Penang as the holiday destination.

Day 1: Thursday, 1 December

Singapore → Penang (MI 352) Dep: 1545 / Arr 1710

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the local agent with 2 mini coaches for our transfers to the hotel. We had booked the same package via a local agent and our accommodation was booked in the same hotel – G Hotel. We had total of 4 rooms and the hotel had given us rooms on the same floor – 1210, 1214, 1218 and 1221.

After checked in and settled down, we went for our dinner at the Gurney Plaza and we had it at Nandos. Same as previous experienced, the dinner was good and everyone enjoyed the BBQ Chickens.

As children were all tired at the end of the day, we decided to call it a night and went back to rest for the evening.

Day 2: Friday, 2 December

Our day tour started at 10am and our 1st destination was Penang Hill. The coach took us to the foot of the hill and we made purchased of the admission tickets and the ride began. Yes, the management had closed the Penang Hill Tram for about a year to change the tram to new ones with better and faster mechanism to bring the passengers from the foot to the hill top. The ride was pretty fun and thrilling and the children enjoyed it.

The view at the hill top was breathtaking and we spent a good hour and a half at the hill top. Children also had fun at the hilltop playground.

After 1 ½ hours, we decided to go for our lunch and we had it at Hei Yeong Seng Chinese Restaurant. I found this restaurant on the food blog review and thankfully, they served nice and good food. The families enjoyed the lunch.

We adjourned for a quick shopping tour after lunch and bought the usual Coffee Tree coffees and some other snack. Then we went back to the hotel for the kiddo’s nap.

Dinner was at Gurney Plaza at one of the Chinese restaurant. We had a light dinner as we planned to do early supper at my In-laws room. Yes, we packed fried kway teow, rojak, wanton noodles and appam (pancakes for the kiddos). Everyone enjoyed the supper and the children had a fun time playing in yeye and nainai room till we called it a day around 10pm.

Day 3: Saturday, 3 December

We had our buffet breakfast before setting off for our day trip to Butterfly Park. Penang Butterfly Park is reputable and had some good reviews. We bought admission tickets and when we walked through the entrance, we had a pleasant surprised. A park guide approached us and offered to give us a guided tour of the park. It was an eye opening experienced and we learnt a lot about butterflies and some other insects.

After the tour, we had lunch at Hard Rock Café Penang. Hard Rock hotel is located at the same place and the children had some beach fun after lunch. We even took a ride on a fishing boat and went cruising along the Batu Ferringhi beach. The weather was very nice and the view was great.

Upon returned to the hotel, the children went for their swim and we took a relax dip in the pool too. Dinner was at Kim Gary restaurant located in the shopping mall. Then after that, we adjourned to my in-laws room for our Last Night supper of Penang local delights. Children had their pyjamas party and it was really rare opportunity that they get to sleep in the same bed…for photos shooting.

Day 4: Penang → Singapore (MI 349) 1505/1655

It was a rest and relax day for all of us. We had late breakfast and then went back to the room and packed for home-going.

Overall, it had been another wonderful Penang experienced and it never long enough when we had fun.

Looking forward to our next families tour and till then….we shall remember these wonderful moments.

4 Days 3Nights 上海之游, 7 – 11 September 2011

My work brings me the opportunity to travel and Shanghai is one of the places I visit often. In August, my Director asked if it was ok for me to make a trip to shanghai for a forum on 8 September. After some discussion with Adrian, we decided to make it a work cum family holiday as this week is the school holiday week. Anthea and Anders were thrilled to know that they are going to Shanghai and also flying on an aeroplane with TV..haha.

Day 1: Wednesday, 07 September.

Singapore → Shanghai (SQ 830) Dep: 1010 / Arr 1510

As usual Althea and Anders enjoyed the in-flight entertainment and their special children meal. The 5 hours flights seem to pass fast when they were having a good time.

Once we arrived and clear immigration, we went to the Maglev station. I had taken the speed train from airport to the main city centre. So I wanted Adrian and the children to have a try at it. Also this is one of the tourist main attractions.

At the main city station, we took a taxi to our hotel – Renaissance Yu Garden Hotel. We had booked 2 connecting rooms and enjoyed the luxury spacious accommodation.

Upon checked in, the children headed to the indoor swimming pool and Adrian went for his gym workout. Dinner was local fare around Yu Garden as I introduced them to my 2nd home.

Day 2: Thursday, 8 September

I had a full day conference and thus Adrian brought the children around on their own via the Metro services. Right in front of our hotel, there is a Metro station known as Yuyuan Station on Line 10.

The places that they visited were Century Park and Science Technology Museum. From the photos and their description, I could tell they had a great time.

Day 3: Friday, 9 September

I had another client meeting in the morning at 10am. Adrian brought them to the Insectariums and they had the chance to feed animal foods.

We met up around 12noon and I started my Tourist mode from here onward. We visited the renounced Confucius Temple and had a good time looking at all the wonderful architecture of the place.

After the temple, we had a quick lunch at a local lunch place and then headed to XinTianDi. Another famous tourist attraction for its food outlet and nightlife. We had a simple tea break of Hagan Daz ice cream before going back to the hotel.

In the evening, we decided to do the Bund Cruise but due to rain, we decided to postpone it to the next evening. We had a sumptuous dinner of Roast duck at the famous Lao Beijing restaurant.

Day 4: Saturday, 10 September

Adrian did some research before the tour and there are few children attractions. One of them is 锦江乐园, so we decided to bring the children to this park for an experienced. No regrets as they really enjoyed all the different rides in the park. We had about 2 hours of fun before leaving the park as the rain started to drizzle.

We had our lunch at a Macdonald outlet and Anthea claimed that the Fillet O fish tasted better than home…haha. After a good lunch, we decided to do some shopping. We headed to Nanjing Xi Road and shopped around the area. As I had some discount voucher from my client, I managed to get myself a pair of running shoes. Hopefully to prepare myself for the next run.

In the evening, we headed to the Bund for our pre-booked cruise. It was quite an adventure as we had a hard time finding the ticketing office to get the cruise ticket. Luckily we finally found it and managed to board the cruise ship in nick of time.

The cruise was very enjoyable and we had a good view of both the PuDong and PuXi of Shanghai.After the cruise, we took another slow walk back to our hotel.

Day 5: Sunday, 11 September
Shanghai → Singapore (SQ 827) 0810/1325

As it was a very early morning flight, we took a taxi from the hotel to the airport. On the way, both Anthea and Anders told me “mommy, I am going to miss Shanghai”.

Yes, for the last few days, we had so much fun exploring the city of Shanghai. I must said the children had really “walk a mile” during this trip. Every day, we were commuting to places via the local Metro services. Every point to point was walking and I am really proud that they did not complaint too much.

A first trip to our 祖国 – China, Shanghai and it had been a great experienced for the family and I believe this has open the door to more China Trips.

4 Days 3Nights Penang Holiday, 3 – 6 June 2011

After our 1st trip to Penang, we (Anthea, Anders and I) felt in LOVE with the place. Simply because of its beauty, food and shopping. So this June school holiday, we decided to make a 2nd trip back to Penang. This time with Adrian and a main purpose – DURIAN. Yes, its durian season in Penang and according to the local, Penang durians is not exported due to insufficient supply for local demand.

Day 1: Friday, 03June.

Singapore → Penang (MI 352) Dep: 1545 / Arr 1710

The flight was smooth and snack was served on board.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the local agent whom was taking care of our arrival & departure transfers.

Once again, we were back in G Hotel, the same hotel we last stayed when we vacationed in December 2010. The hotel rooms had the added value of FREE Mini Bar and FREE WIFI. The mini bar was replenished daily and both Anthea and Anders enjoyed the drinks and the kit kat bars.
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After checking in the room, the children first activity was swimming. Adrian was busied checking out the hotel gym.

Children spent about 30minutes in the pool and we went back to shower and change after that. Our dinner was at Nandos located in the G Plaza shopping mall. It was the first time we tried this restaurant and the grilled chickens were delicious.

We took a slow stroll in the mall after dinner and had ice cream for dessert. Then we walked to the Gurney night market and experienced the husk and buzz of the night life. The last trip we didn’t get the chance to do this. Adrian bought a few famous dishes from the food stalls for his supper and we had them in the comfort of our hotel room. He had cuttlefish with kangkong and Penang Laksa. The children had cup noodles bought from the supermarket.

Day 2: Saturday, 4 June

We had buffet breakfast at the hotel café and as usual the breakfast spread was sumptuous. Our first tourist site was the Butterfly Park and we took a taxi from the hotel to the park. However, when we arrived at the entrance of the park, the guard informed us that the park was closed. Although disappointed but we proceeded to our next stop – Durian Farm. Yes, this was one of the main Bonus for the trip. The taxi driver drove us up the hill the along the way, there were few durian farms and he stopped us at one of them.

There were durian everywhere and according to the durian seller, it was the 604 breed that were available and 1KG cost MYR$20. We ordered 1 durian and were in for a real good “Taste-treat”. The durian was fleshy and sweet. The seeds were really small and we ate till we were so full. Both Anthea and Anders also enjoyed the durian.

After eating the durian, we bought some mangosteen back to the hotel. On our way back to the hotel, we decided to visit the Toy Museum as we missed it the last time. It was great fun walking through all the displays and figurines. The children were so excited to see so many of their cartoon heroes in the museum.

We headed back to the hotel and had late lunch after the museum visit. As usual, the children headed to the pool and had some water play before we went on our food trail. In the evening around 5pm, we took a walk from the hotel to the Tean Ean local products shop. We bought local products like 豆沙饼，马蹄酥 and some candies from the shop.

As we were walking along the Gurney drive back to the hotel, we went passed quite a few eateries and decided to so some food sampling at the different outlet. We had roti canai, beef noodles, spaghettis and tuna sandwiches. The food trail was very fun and Anthea liked the idea of the food trail and said she looked forward to more such trails in Penang.

At night, we went back to the night hawkers and packed Penang Fried Kuay Teow and rojak for supper. We also tried the Penang chendol. The children liked the friend kuay teow so much that they finished one packet in record time. Another fun filled day for us. Anthea was tasked by my eldest brother to do a journal (in Chinese) and shared it with them when we were back in Singapore. It was a good way for Anthea to practice her Chinese writing.

Day 3: Sunday, 5 June

We woke up around 9am and had our buffet breakfast. After a good meal, we headed out to George Town. We decided to visit the Peranaka Museum which was famous to Singaporean for its filming of Little Nyonya. We followed a guided tour in the museum and learnt some interesting facts of the Nyonya and its culture. The tour ended at the kitchen area when there was a little stall selling nyonya kueh and chendol. So we had a sample of the food.

We took a bus from the town and arrived at our next stop – a small shopping mall. As the mall was small and not so interesting, we decided to find the famous 義香豆沙饼 (Ghee Hiang) When we reached there, we were told 豆沙饼卖完了 (sold out). So we had to go back to the hotel empty handed.

In the evening, children had their usual swim before dinner and we had it at Gurney Plaza. Our late night supper was Fried Kuay Teow and Oyster omelets. Every night was a feast for us and we truly enjoyed all these local delights.

Day 4: Monday, 6 June

Penang → Singapore (MI 349) 1505/1655

We slept till late and had a good breakfast. Then went back to the room to chill out and I was busied packing for home-going.

We checked out around 1pm and did some last minute shopping before our transfer picked us up at the hotel lobby for our flight home.

It was another fun and memorable holiday for the family. Thought there were some misses but taking it in a positive manner. This only meant we had excuses to visit Penang again.

Till we meet again, thank you for the sweet memory!

Poll.Run.Results.

Wow…it’s already end May…time really passed so fast.

In April, I had the chance to travel to Melbourne, Australia for my work trip. Weather in Melbourne was nice and I had an enjoyable trip for the few days of 11 – 15 April 2011.

In early May 2011, we had our General Election Poll 2011 and it was very exciting time for me and I had truly learnt a lot from the rallies. Thus it was an awakening time for me..:)

As for the children, they were busied preparing for the midyear examination and glad to say all is over.

Soon after the examination week, we treated the children to a nice hi-tea session at the Equinox restaurant located at 69th floor of Westin the Stamford hotel. The spread was good and the children enjoyed the good meal, especially the dessert counter with all the sweets.

I also managed to complete my first 5KM fun run on 21 May 2011. This was the 100Plus Passion Run organized by the People’s Association. I completed the race in about 37minutes and Adrian said that it was a good timing. So I happily gave myself a Pat on my back for all the hard work.

Both Anthea and Anders did well for their Semestral Assessment 1.We are now just a day to school June holiday and looking forward to another family bonding time with a vacation treat to the whole family.

Happy 9th Birthday to Anthea !

Last year she had a Macdonald’s Party with her classmates. This year, she wanted a buffet lunch at Fullerton Hotel. After some discussion with Anthea, we finally decided on a birthday lunch at Ellenborough Café in Swissotel Merchant Court hotel. Much thanks to the Raffles Feed card from my in-laws.

On Saturday, we arrived at the hotel around 11.45am as lunch was booked at 12 noon. When we arrived at the hotel, both Anthea and Anders said: “oh…is this hotel, we came here for wedding before.” When we asked further, both said: “it’s Uncle Terence wedding.” We were quite amazed as they could still remember it was my youngest BIL got wedded in May 2008.

We were seated around 12noon and started our buffet lunch. Both anthea and Anders had a great time with the food selection. We had an enjoyable family lunch. At the end of the lunch, we decided to just have some photo taking with the birthday cake and keep the ceremony till dinner with the extended families. Anthea had chosen the Oreo Cheesecake off the cake counter from the café.

Seated beside us was actually a group of people attending a wedding lunch. This brought back very good memories for Adrian and me. We shared with the children that we had our ROM Lunch at the very same venue and area, back in Dec 1999. Now Anthea is already 9th years old.

We went home for a short rest and Anders had his swimming lesson in the late afternoon. Dinner was organized at the east coast seafood centre. We had it at Little Red House as Jumbo was full and the crowd was massive due to a heavy downpour in the evening. It was an enjoyable dinner and we had the cake cutting ceremony after dinner. Anthea shared her birthday cake with the families.

As it was still early, we decided to adjourn for another round of dessert. Original intention was Gelatore at Siglap Centre but the place was gone. So finally we ended up at Xin Wang café which had all the selection of cold/hot desserts. We ate desserts and chatted away happily, sharing our updates of the week. Around 11pm, we called it a day and Anthea was very happy that her special day had turned out to be SPECIALLY HAPPY.

Wishing my dearest Anthea – a Happy 9th birthday and May your wish comes true.

Happy 7th Birthday to Anders

Anders had expressed his intention to invite his classmates for his 7th birthday celebration. As he just started Primary 1 and I am not too familiar with his classmates parents, so I told him we should celebrate his birthday in school so that all his classmates can be invited to the party. He was agreeable to the idea and with this – I started the Party Planning.

The 1st step was to get his form teacher approval and arranged the party at recess time. A few emails correspondences with the form teacher – Mrs. Phua and we were all set for the party.

On 22nd March morning, I went to collect his cake and headed to his school for the party. At 9.25am, the form teacher brought the children to the canteen and we started with the cake ceremony. After eating the cake, we had some simple beehoon with chicken nuggets, fishballs and dou fu for their main meal. We ended the meal with a bottle of Vitagen.

It was a simple birthday celebration and I believed Anders had enjoyed it with all the blessings from his friends and teachers. Happy 7th Year old, my dearest Anders!

Anders 1st Learning Journey to Harbour Front

It was Anders 1st Learning Journey with the school and as usual, I volunteered my Parent Support for the outing.

The outing was on 9th February 2011 – we went to the school together and I joined in the morning briefing for the Primary 1 parent volunteer.

The journey started off at 8.30am and the children were all very excited as this was their 1st trip. I could see the excitement on their faces. Anders’s form teacher – Mrs. Phua had paired the children up and given them a number to ensure that they lined up according to the number.

The class children followed this line up worked out very well, on the bus and the road. I was impressed with the children adherence to the children instruction.

The 1st stop was the Sentosa Boardwalk. The children were introduced to the boardwalk and its official opening by the Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on 29 January 2011.

After the boardwalk, all the children were complaining of the heat and hunger. So naturally, our next stop is Snack break and we headed to the open Pavilion on the 3rd floor of the building. The children had their snacks and drink and enjoyed the shelter from the heat.

When we were done with the snack break, the teacher brought them to the next stop – the PLAYGROUND. All of them were really excited and started going around the playground to count the number of statues for their class assignment. Then after counting, they played for a while before we proceed to the next stop.

The harbor station was our next station. The children were tasked to draw a picture from the viewing gallery. It was really fun to see different child drawing their own thoughts. Some were more creative than other.

Soon it was 12noon and it was time for us to depart Harbour Front and returned to the school. It was a very fulfilling day for the children and I know they would surely look forward to the next Learning Journey.

女人四十！

Over the weekend, I celebrated my 40th birthday. Yes, it’s the BIG FOUR but I know I need to welcome it gracefully.

On Saturday, I had a birthday dinner with my extended families. We had a sumptuous Korean BBQ dinner at a restaurant by the same name. It serves Ala Carte buffet menu so it was a good treat for the family. I had a vanilla cake which was redeemed by using my own birthday cake voucher when I bought my membership with Care De Café.

After dinner, we adjourned to the Fullerton Hotel for drinks while waiting for my youngest SIL whom was attending a wedding dinner at the hotel.

The day ended around 11.30pm when we called it a day and it was a simple but fulfilling day for me.

On Sunday which was the actual day – I had a dinner celebration with my own family. My eldest brother brought us to a very nice restaurant by the pier. It is the Famous Crab King place by the Marina Bay Pier side. We ordered seafood dishes of fried mussels, salad prawns, steam crabs and fish. The food was delicious and the ambience was very relaxed. We also ordered a bottle of red wine for dinner.

To me, nothing comes closed to family time and having spent the 2 days with people whom are closely related to me meant more than anything.

Also having such a lovely family of my own, I can’t ask for more…: )

On this special day – I said to myself “感恩和知足“. Many thanks for all the love and friendship that I have had for these 40 years of my life.

2011 新年快乐！

This has been a very busy month for the Aces family. Yes, it’s the Chinese New Year and traditional festive gatherings with friend and families are the main event for the 2 weeks.

Day 1 – 正月初一

Our first stop is my parents in law place and after that we would go by my parents place for 拜年 and have a simple lunch with them.

Day 2 – 正月初二

This is the day where we go to my 大舅 house to 拜年 as all the relatives would be under 1 roof, thus making it easier for every to give and collect ang pows.

This year, cousin Ying Herng is back from Scotland to celebrate the CNY, thus it’s even more meaningful. She brought back a lot of culinary dishes.

The 3rd and 4th day were more of a rest days for us as we prepared the children for the school days ahead.

Following weekend was a gathering and feasting weekend. 2 Lo-Hei in a day with 2 different group of friends – my long timed sisters and Adrian’s buddies.

On Sunday it was the gathering of my secondary school mates from AMKSS.

Chinese New Year is a good time for good friend/families to catch up with one another progress. As day in and day out, each of everyone is busy with their own routine.

Rabbit Year – a good start for the Aces Family and may we take this chance to wish all our families/ friends: 心想事成，万事如意！

Company Event - Family Day at the Zoo

On 26 Dec 2010 on our way home from a lunch gathering, we drove passed Mandai road and the children saw the Zoo billboard. Both said they wanted to go to the Zoo. In reply, I told them: “yeah, we would come to the Zoo soon.”

In 1st week of January 2011, Adrian told me his company was organizing a family day event – we were going to the ZOO!

On 22 January 2011 was the event and we only told the children of the outing on the day before as we don’t want them to feel overly-excited.

Early morning, we woke up to a nice breakfast and then headed off to the Zoo. After doing the registration and collection of our goodies bags. We started our Zoo tour. Both Anthea and Anders had a Zoo map and they started navigating which way to go.

We went through the common area to view the animals and also managed to watch 2 live performances before gathering at the Forest Lodge for the lunch. Lunch was KFC meals and Pizzas. Also there was some kind of ceremony and performance in the air-conditioned room.

Anthea had requested for us to go to the Kids World but we had to reject her request as we don’t have the luxury of time and I didn’t pack their wetsuit along.

Around 1 pm, we left the Zoo and headed home to rest. After few visits to the Zoo, I am beginning to find the place a little boring and also the animals are not as lively as some other Zoos. Perhaps it’s time for a major revamp….hehe.