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!

Final Christmas Celebration & Sport Injury

This is the year of Parties for the children. Up till Boxing Day, they had attended 5 parties and they had enjoyed all of them.

Guess what? Santa Claus sleigh was delayed for his homebound and so he was stucked in Singapore for another day…haha.

On 27 December, we attended the Christmas celebration for residents at our Zone RC.

We had attended the X’mas parties for the last 2 years. This year, Anthea tuition centre was involved with the sale of the tickets, so naturally we must give the teacher our support. We bought 2 tickets at $5 each.

The celebration started at 6pm and we were there around 6.10pm. There was a host and he was able to speak quite a few languages – English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese and Malay. I was really impressed.

The audiences are mixtures of senior citizens, the uncles/aunties and the children. Before dinner, Anthea and Anders had a swinging good time at the playground just next to the block.

Dinner commenced around 6.45pm and it was a buffet. Everyone queue up orderly and collect our food with the coupon that we had.

After dinner, Santa Claus came on stage and all the children were encouraged to go on stage to collect their presents. Anthea and Anders went along too. This is the 1st time I saw Anthea going on stage on her own will. Usually she likes to be an audience and just sit in her comfort zone. Anders tagged along with Anthea.

While the children were all on stage and collected their presents from Santa Claus, the Host asked them to play a game on the stage. I was very happy and quite surprised to see both my children able to join in the game and had fun.

After the game, there was a magic show by Professor Popcorn. I think this year we also watched the most children Magic Shows at parties. They had great fun and kept talking about him, even after the party ended.

Overall it has been a fun celebration and I think this year party has improved compared to last year.

My families are SPORT families. Every Sunday, my FIL and BIL will play badminton; Adrian will join them if he is in town. My MIL will go for her swim. Anthea used to follow my MIL for her Sunday swims too.

This afternoon, I received a call from my 2nd BIl mentioning that he was twisted his knee while at the game. As his mobile phone got disruption, so I didn’t hear him clearly. From his tone, I gather that it was those normal sport twist which a visit to a sinseh will solve the problem.

I called my MIL in the afternoon to check the injury situation, and then only I realized that it was a bit more serious that what I thought. He was on crutches and his left knee was on small bandage.

In the evening, we went by to his place and when I saw him, I knew it is not a simple twist. He is due for a review on Wednesday and I pray hard that the injury will heal on its own and need no more than just physiotherapy.

Having been through a sport injury myself, I can understand how he felt, physically and emotionally. It will be a tough week for my 2nd SIL but I know she can make it and we will be giving her our best support, in whatever ways we can.

Aces Family wishes Uncle Louis a speedy recovery.

Boxing Day Special

Originally I had a lunch appointment with 2 of my long timed MJ Kakis – Madeline & Linda. However, in the morning I received a message from Mag that her little girl was down and she can't make it for the lunch. So we decided to postpone it till next chance.

As we were corresponding via SMS, I did a quick check with Linda if she is an OG Card Holder and BINGO!! She is one. I had the intention to go OG to get May a Christmas Gift since I saw the advertisement on Christmas Eve Straits Times.

Finally, I arranged to meet Linda at OG Albert Complex after my work. She was on Boxing Day off. We had a quick lunch at Rochor Centre. As we walked passed some of the streets stalls, I was so surprised that Chinese New Year goodies are up for sale already. We started our shopping after a good lunch of the famous 肉脞面。

I bought the Thermal pot that was on special price for OG Member. It was almost 50% discount. All these while, I know that May is very keen to get herself a thermal pot as she love to cook. When I saw her at the BBQ gathering, she even commented that her electricity bills are soaring because she is making more soups nowadays. I know this thermal pot will be a very ideal Christmas gift for her. Although it is not one of those branded one, I had an ex-colleague who had used it and mentioned that it's of very good quality and work efficiently.

(Ahem...secretly I am also hoping by giving May this gift, we will get to enjoy one of her special dish – 猪脚醋. (Adrian loves this dish...: P )

After a good round of purchase, we had dessert at one of the shop nearby. Linda is a regular to this OG and she knows the surrounding very well. She even recommended me where to get the Chinese New Year stuff... : )

This Christmas Anthea and Anders received a handful of Christmas presents from families and childcare. They had a great time opening their Christmas presents:

Anthea received the followings:

- Barbie Pencil Case (大舅)
- Hello Kitty Lunchbox (uncle Louis & aunty Eve)
- Guitar (uncle Terence & aunty Cherry)
- A set of pajamas and some clothing(爷爷和奶奶)

Anders had the followings:

- Water bottle (大舅)
- Shinkansen Lunchbox (uncle Louis & aunty Eve)
- Ben 10 projection watch (uncle Terence & aunty Cherry)
- Clothing (爷爷和奶奶)

Both of them are very lucky to have uncles, aunties and grandparents who love them.

A “Food-Filling” Christmas...

This Christmas has been a very peaceful and of course – FOOD Filling one...haha。

As I mentioned in my previous blog of the numerous feasting gatherings, these are the after event thoughts:

Feast 1 – Christmas Eve Brunch

I joined my ex-colleagues in their office for the Christmas Brunch. My roast chicken and Swiss rosti were a success and general feedbacks were positive – Phew!! What a relief. There were a lots of food – Sushi platter, mini sandwiches, Nonya Kuehs, Pastries, Chinese style roasted duck and mini log cakes.

It was very good to be able to see all my ex-colleagues again and I had a good time catching up with them. 2 of my colleagues(Rachel & Pearly) even gave me christmas presents...i am really touched for their kind thoughts.

Feast 2 – Christmas Eve dinner

My 老爸 roasted the Ribeye steak that I bought for dinner and he did it to the usual perfection. Everyone in the family enjoyed the juicy and tenderness of the meat. Beside the ribeye steak, we had sausages, mashes potatoes, steam vegetables, ham, salad and soup. It was like a full course meal and I ate to my heart contentment. Of course, a glass of good red wine completed my meal.. : P

Feast 3 - HAPPY CHRISTMAS "BIRTHDAY” Celebration

A very cool and nice morning we had this Christmas day as it rained whole day on Christmas eve.

We had simple breakfast of some leftover cakes and sandwiches which I brought back from the brunch.

Then we went over to my 3rd Bil condo for a late morning swim as the children had planned on Tuesday night when we had dinner cum shopping with Terence. I saw Anthea swimming her “breast-stroke” and I was pleasantly happy that she was doing the stroke correctly. The swimming lessons that we started with the new coach has been rewarded.

After the swim, we had a quick shower and then had lunch with Terence and Cherry at their home. I brought over some of the leftovers (again) from my dinner. Terence also had special home made seafood baked rice, courtesy from Maylin and Bruce (Cherry's brother and sister in-law). The baked rice was really yummy and we had a nice meal.

Anthea and Anders enjoyed “ordering their drinks” from the Bar counter...haha. (I received a Christmas present from May, really appreciate her kind thoughts even though she is now heavily pregnant, she still went through the effort.)

After a good lunch, we went home for our afternoon nap.

Our dinner was at my 2nd BIL/SIL home, my 2nd BIL – Louis is a Christmas day Birthday Boy, so the dinner was a Christmas cum Birthday celebration. A few of the relatives also came over to join us for the dinner.

Well, both Louis and Eve is food gourmet and where ever they travelled, they would try out Michelin Star Chef Restaurants.

For this year Christmas dinner, the “Master Chef and her Sou chef " whipped up all the special dishes. We were treated to some very special and wonderful dishes.

The dinner menu was a 3 course dinner:

– Vietnamese fresh rolls
– Beef Stew
–Crab Meat Pasta

For dessert we had Tiramisu and of course a home baked birthday cum Christmas LOG CAKE!!! We sang the birthday song and a Merry Christmas song.

Our aunty also brought along their signature dish – Baked cheese and ham rice. Yes, it was a real feast as well.

For the different course, we were served different wines; we had White wine – Red white – Bailey Iris Cream.

Before dinner, we had the chance to video conference with Adrian from Louis's home. Adrian was very happy that he was able to chat with the families and I knew this meant a lot to him. Especially these are the people dearest to him.

Overall, this has been a very Blessed Christmas for us. I know great families, good friends and blessed food do not happen by chances and we will alway APPRECIATE what we have in our life...

Daddy Homecoming and Christmas Gatherings

In exactly 7 days, Adrian will be reaching Singapore around 7 am. He is really looking forward to this homecoming and we are also looking forward to welcome him back to Home Sweet Home.

His email said it all “My love, I can smell stronger and stronger the coffee you brew as the days pass. The Bar Chor Mee smell is also getting stronger.”

I am really glad that we had made it through this very trying period as a family. Adrian has gained a lot from this trip and we had also grown stronger on home ground. The children have given me their best performance during daddy’s absence and I am very thankful for each and every day.

We will be starting a New Chapter very soon in 2009 and I hope that this experienced that we had gone through will give us strength to walk the longer road ahead.

This is the Christmas week and as usual, it's time to be Merry and Feasting. I am going to enjoy delicious home cooked meal for the next few days and I am really looking forward.

Feast 1: Christmas Eve Brunch

My ex-colleagues are organizing a brunch in the office from 11 am to 12.30pm. They had kindly extended the invitation to me. It is a potluck session and I am preparing 2 dishes – Roast chicken thighs and Swiss Rosti. Hope the food will turn out fine, keeping my fingers crossed.

Feast 2: Christmas Eve Dinner

Our usual Christmas Eve dinner is at my parents place. My dad is a Western food specialist and I always love his home cooked western food. He is also very good in roasting. If Adrian is in town, we will sure have roast leg of lamb.

Since he will be back only next Tuesday, I took the opportunity to buy Ribeye steak from Mmmm store for our main course. Looking forward to a nice home roast ribeye steak with other yummy dishes.

Feast 3 : Christmas Day Dinner

My 2nd BIL/SIL will be preparing some very special dishes for dinner. My SIL will also be baking a log cake!!! Some of the relatives will be joining us for the dinner. The children will be enjoying my BIL's Christmas tree. This is the 1st Christmas tree that Anthea and Anders will be seeing in the families..hee. Of course, they also look forward to the Christmas presents from their uncles/aunties.

圣诞快乐 !!

Christmas Party At Club CSC

This week seem to be a party week for the children. They attended the K2 Graduation Party on Tuesday and attended the mini Christmas Party at Yao Li's house on Thursday night. Today is the Christmas party organized by the Civil Service Club.

This morning we woke up and had simple homemade sandwiches for breakfast. Then after breakfast, we got ready to set off for the party. Anthea and Anders were very excited about going to the party.

We reached the Club house around 10.45am and started with the registration. Each of us had a door gift and a goody bag. Then we proceeded into the Ballroom.

Then around 11 am, the party started. First to come into the hall was Scooby Doo and we went around taking photos with him.

The Magic show followed on shortly. The children had so much watching the Clown performing. He was really funny.

After the magic show, the compere introduced the arrival of Sylvester, Bugs Bunny and Scooby Doo to the room. At the same time, lunch commenced. There were Pizzas, mini sandwiches, sausages, fish balls, pastries, drinks and ice-cream.

Anthea and Anders their lunch and at the same time, went around the room taking photos with the different characters.

During lunch, there were different games booths set up at each corner of the room, so the children were entertained. They had cartoon tattoos; balloon sculpture, sand art and the compere were playing games with the children.

Then after lunch, in came Santa Claus and Snowman..So it's photo time. And after that it was another round of Magic show by Captain Dazzle. Children were all so engaged in this magic show and all wanted to go on stage to volunteer their help.

The magic show ended with the appearance of a real Rabbit and all the children started going wild and wanted to touch the Rabbit... : P

The Lucky Draw session commenced after the magic show. Although we didn't win any prize, I would say we had a fun filled 3 hours of party time and this is already a winner. The party ended at 2 pm and we went home to have our power nap.

I am glad that Anthea and Anders had a great time at the party and I told them – next year, we will come again...haha.

You Are INVITED!!

Yes, it's another MacParty and this time it is organized by the childcare K2 teachers and Principal.

This party is organized in conjunction of the K2 graduation and I think it's going to be a High School Musical Theme... : )

The most touching part to this party is the fund provided is from the 2 teachers – Ms Valentine and 罗老师 and the Principal – Ms Wendy own pocket monies.

It is very generous of the teachers and principal to do this for the children, especially under this kind of economy situation. I can only say a big “THANK YOU” from the bottom of my heart.

The party is taking place next Tuesday, 16 December at the childcare centre from 6.30 pm to 7.00 pm. I have also registered Anders for the party and for his participation; I will need to pay for it, which I am perfectly happy to do so... : )

December is a month parties – beside this MacParty, the childcare will also be having a Christmas Party on 23 December for all the children. Each child need to bring along a present for exchange. The value is capped at $5.00 for the present.

Then on 19 December, there is another plan of Christmas Party organized by one of Anthea classmate.

On 20 December morning , I have registered both Anthea and Anders for a Christmas Party organized by the Civil Service Club.

I believe all these parties will keep both of them very busy and I will be busy buying Christmas presents too!!

“Snowy” Good Time.

This morning the weather was quite good, so I brought Anthea and Anders to the swimming pool for a dip.

Luckily we had a quick swim because soon the sky darkened and it started to rain when we reached home.

Lunch was with my 大哥 and he brought us to IMPERIAL TREASURE LA MIAN XIAO LONG BAO in Marina Square. The 拉面和小笼包were delicious and the children had a great meal.

There was a Sesame Street Live Show and the children managed to catch a glimpse of the characters.

After lunch we took a walk in John Little. My brother asked me if Anthea needed anything for her Primary School, he said he would get it for her as a Christmas present. So I told Anthea that she can look around for a present. She was looking at TOYS again and I told her NO, she should look at something useful for her Primary school. Finally she chose for herself a stationery set... : )

Anders chose for himself a water bottle; again... : P

When we were done with shopping, we went to MOF for dessert. I had seen so many LOVELY Dessert from Obasan and Ajuma blog that I told myself – I MUST TRY the dessert and my determination was SWEETLY REWARDED. We ordered a Choc Sundae and a Kakigori. Anthea and Anders gobbled up the sundae till the last drop. We were all very satisfied and left home for our afternoon nap.

Dinner was with the families at New York, New York in AMK Hub. After dinner, we took a walk around NTUC Xtra and then my In-laws went home with my BIL's family.

On our way out, we saw that the Looney Tunes cartoon characters and took some photographs. Then I noticed that there were many children and parent hanging around and they seem to be waiting for something.

I asked one of the Security personnel and he told me that there will be a Bubble Blast & Snow Sensations at 8pm. Great, it was almost 8pm when I looked at my watch.

Then at 8pm, Bubbles started shooting out. All the children and parents were excited. Both Anthea and Anders started going around to “catch the bubble”. A few moment later, “Snow” started to flew in too...wow, the atmosphere were so joyful.

I am really glad that “Snow” is now in our town and we don't have to go all the way to Tanglin Mall for it.... : )

Anthea had such great time with the “snow”, she said she was imagining that she was a Princess changing her clothing in the snow...haha.

As for Anders, he was the Incredible Hulk going around chasing the “snow”.

I am really glad to see them had such a great SNOWY time, even though it is just manmade snow.

Christmas Day SPECIALS..

It's Christmas DAY...

It's a relaxing day to wake up to. The children had a late night, so they both woke up around 9.30am.

After a simple breakfast of home baked muffins and good cup of brewed coffee. We decided to go to town for a walk. Well, rather it was "I" who decided to go Marina Loft to try the 车仔面 by Old Hong Kong. I read on Sunday Times about this place and thought of trying it. Now i am into 茶餐厅 craze and love to try all the different kind of Hong Kong food.


Both Anthea and Anders enjoyed the noodles and i love the ingredients. It's a bit like our local mixture of "kauy chap" and "yong tau fu". No bad.


After lunch, we walked around the Marina Square and ended up in JL. I had the chance to shop around for clothings while Adrian brought the children to the Toys Department. I was pleasantly surprised that i managed to fit into a M size denin skirt when i tried it. I was looking for either the L or XL but there were only M left. So i though...what the heck..just try for fun.


It FITTED me...OMG!! This made my day...haha. Actually i would think that it is the cutting of the skirt, rather than the size. Anyway, i am really glad that the Personal Training is doing me good, specially now that my backache had subsided to a great extend.

Needless to say, i bought the skirt... : P

Happily, we went for tea break at Killiney Cafe, Anthea and Anders enjoyed the kaya toast, eggs and teh-C. Then we left home for the children's nap.

This Christmas - 25 Dec 2007 is SPECIAL because all members of the Tan Family are in SG, compared to 2006 when Louis & Eve were in US/UK for work and pleasure.

Since the Master Chefs are back in town, the chefs KITCHEN opens on Christmas Day. Beside being X'mas day, it is also Louis's Birthday. So we must celebrate it in style..haha. Dinner was a special treat at Louis & Eve's place.

Aunty SK and family, together with Aunty SG came over to join us for dinner.

The menu included - Home roasted Turkey and stuffings (prepared by the birthday boy), Quiche and a special mexican wrap ( prepared by Eve), Special beef rolled with golden mushrooms (prepared by Terence & Cherry), combinations of sausages and mashed potatoes ( contributed by the Aces family), Special baked rice ( prepared by aunty SK). There were fruits and desserts and a Durian Birthday Cake from Jane's Cake Station. ( Contributed by mom & dad). Last but not least , a bottle of nice champagne and white wine for the occassions.

This is the 1st time we had a home roasted Turkey and i must compliment the Chef/s for a job well done. The meat was still tender and juicy when we ate it, it was roast to PERFECTION.

Both Anthea and Anders had so much fun playing with Wen D's girlfriend, Sharon jie jie. The whole house was full of laughters by the 3 of them. We left the place around 10 pm, feeling so happy and truely the spirit of Christmas.


This Christmas, Anthea and Anders received so many Christmas Presents from all the love ones.

Anthea :
1. Ponyville ( Yeye & Nai Nai)
2. Princess Swim robe towel ( Uncle Louis & Aunty Eve)
3. Barbie as Island Princess Doll ( Uncle Terence & Cherry Jie Jie)
4. Dress - Barbie as island Princess ( Daddy & Mommy)
5. Playdough ( Childcare gift exchange)
6. Scrabble - children version ( Aunty SK)
7. Monopoly for both of them ( Uncle Louis & Aunty Eve)

Anders:
1. Thomas the Train set ( Yeye & Nai Nai)
2. Spiderman robe towel ( Uncle Louis & aunty Eve)
3. Transformers Truck ( Uncle Terence & Cherry Jie Jie)
4. Lego sets ( Daddy & mommy)
5. Fraction Learning Set ( Childcare gift exchange)
6. Ultraman Agul / Justic ( Aunty SK)
7. Ultraman Cosmo VCD ( Sharon Jie Jie)

Also 2 of them received a color pencil sets from the childcare. Abundance of gifts.

They are really very lucky to have so many people who thought of them during this festive season. I always remind them that they have to appreciate all these presents and especially the people who bought them the presents.

Another wonderful day of precious moment with the families. It is a Merry, Merry Christmas for the Aces Family.

Thankful Christmas Eve

Today is the Eve of Christmas.

Aces family has many things to be thankful on this special day.

Today morning, Adrian checked his examination result and he was told that he passed the exam. It was the Best Christmas Gift for him.

The children childcare was supposed to have a X'mas celebration but because of some cases of chicken pox going around, the Principal decided to cancel it. I was actually prepared to attend the party. Since it was cancelled, i went home while the children had their mini class celebrations.

Both Adrian and myself went to the temple to offer our thanks to grandma/grandad who had been watching over us. We are thankful that Anders is ok and the little incident that happened was a reminder for us to be more careful.

After offering our prayers, we went to the gym for our workout before heading to the childcare to fetch the children.

Both Anthea and Anders came home, very happy and with their X'mas exchange presents. I am thankful that both of them are enjoying every day of their school.

In the evening, dinner was at lao ma's place. As usual, we are thankful to my parents and my brothers for always looking after us in their special own way. Especially to lao pa for always cooking our favorite dishes.

Tonight dinner - Leg of lamp, slice roast beef, honey baked ham, baked potatoes, salad, baked bean, soup and a great bottle of white wine. What more can we asked for...as we are in the company of our love ones.

All these while, we are also very thankful for our extended families for sharing all our happiness and joy.

It's now 11.30pm and anothe 1/2 hour to Christmas Day. Aces family would like to wish our families, relatives and friends :

"A Merry Christmas and may your Dream comes True."

Jolly "wet" Christmas...

For the last 2 days, it has been raining non-stop. All over Singapore, there are news of floods, trees falling, landslides...etcs. Nothing beat to be at home in this kind of wet weather.

On Monday evening, dad and mom fetched us from 313 and we had intended to go to the Bishan Community Library, when we were near Junction 8, the traffic jam was so bad that we re-directed to Thomson Plaza. Anthea and Anders had a good times, playing a few rides. Children will be children, no matter how the weather is, they are not affected by it.

On Tuesday, the new childcare centre admin staff called me and asked me about collection of some 2nd hand uniforms, as i requested for it during the orientation. The reasons are:

a. Children outgrow the uniforms very fast, so i don't intend to buy too many new sets. Probably 3 sets each.

b. Siti will be going back Indonesia comes April 2007, so i may not be able to handwash the children's uniform daily, like what she is doing with anthea's uniform now. So chances are the uniform may not be dry in time, so extras comes in handy.

c. Most Importantly - SAVE MONIES.... : )

Anders was down with cough and runny nose due to the cold weather, so i brought him to the doctor last evening. This resulted to me missing out on "Operation Hard Rock Cafe"..what a pity.

Yesterday, Louis wrote emails on planning trip to London for Adrian. For the return flight from Tel Aviv to Singapore, Adrian and his colleagues will be having almost 10 hours transit in London, so instead of sitting in the Airport and wasting time , they are visiting London city for shoppings and Fish & Chips.

This is also opportunity for Adrian to meet with Louis and Eve in London, he has been assigned as Ace's Family "santa claus" to bring back presents for the children. I know both anthea and anders will be very, very happy to get their X'mas presents from Uncle Louis and Aunty Eve.

This is the 1st time that both of them are getting official Christmas Present, as it will be arriving on 24 Dec 2006. Christmas Day is the Reunion of the Aces Family after daddy's 7 weeks oversea attachment.

(COUNTING DOWN to Adrian's Homecoming - 4 Days to 24 December 2006)