Happy 14th Anniversary!

04 Dec – 2013 : Yes, our marriage is as old as old first HDB home in those days it’s the SOP: wedding proposal – buy flat – weddings – matrimonial home.

14 is not a big numbers and neither is it considered small in term of Marriage years. We had truly grown as a family and understood now why the older generation said a family is incomplete without children.

Looking back at the years that the kids were born and growing, the marriage became stronger as we learnt to manage all the difficult situations that aroused from those times.

Today, we are stepping into a new journey with the new home and new environment but all the familiar movement and people.  We are still growing and learning every day to live and love each other our own special way.

Happy 14^th Anniversary!

 (PS: almost left the wedding portrait behind during the recent house moving…)

 时间过得好充实，十四年了！这十四年我们都很努力的经营这个家和婚姻。一段姻缘来的不容易，所以我们必须用心和爱，还有许多耐心去好好培养它。没有一段婚姻是十全十美的，我们从不完美中学习保护它和克服任何困难。

新的家“诞生”了，希望它代表新的生命力和毅力让我们勇敢的走向另一个婚姻的领域。

注：在搬家的时候，竟然差一点忘了把结婚床头照带走。。:P

Our Wedding Portrait

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.

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！

1st week of school in 2011..

It had been an exciting start for Aces family for 2011. Yes, this year marked the beginning of 6 years of primary education for Anders.

On 1st day of school – 4 January 2011, I accompanied him into the school compound. Parents were allowed admission of the 1st two days of school. After saying goodbye to Anthea, I brought Anders to his class – 1 Bravery.

Most of the children had reported to class and I noticed only a few seats were left in the classroom. So he took his seat and waited for his form teacher to start introduction.

The school had kindly organized a Kopi Session aka Parents information session for the P1 parents. We were led to the AVA room on the 3rd floor. Breakfast of fried bee hoon was served with coffee/tea and water. During the 2 hours breakfast session, the school gave some valuable tips to the parents and also provides a breakdown of the P1 Holistic Assessment.

After the session ended, we went to the canteen and were allow to watch from far how the P1 children lined up and bought their food. Each P1 child had a P5 student to buddy them and help them with the buying of food for the 1st week.

Anders was very happy and I could see him enjoying his 1st purchase from the canteen. Then he came over and asked if he could buy a drink. I told him Yes. : )

Recess was ½ hour and when it was over, all the parents were asked to leave the school compound. I went home to prepare a simple lunch for them and returned at 1pm to fetch both Anders and Anthea.

Day 2 – 5 January: we had 2nd day of Kopi session provided by the school. This time, the different subject HODs gave introduction of the school curriculum and also some important pointers on social network behavior. There was also a talk given by the Parents Support Group and I signed up for some ad-hoc activities.

At recess time, I saw Anders bought himself a bowl of noodle soup. It was a good improvement and knowing that he was able to handle a hot item on his own was quite assuring.

Day 3 – I said goodbye to both Anthea and Anders at the gate and went off for my exercise.

Now that both of them are studying in the morning session, it makes it easier for me to plan my own morning exercise and work routine.

Recently we bought a new study table for Anders as he wanted something similar to Anthea and the new table was delivered on Wednesday. Now the room is my home office cum their study area.

A new year and a NEW routine with the new beginning. I am looking forward to an exciting year of 2011 !!

Farewell 2010!

2010 has been a really fruitful and fulfilling year for Aces family.

This year in February, I started on my long timed dream job – work from home mom. My role is a Client Services Executive and as my office is in UK, I am able to work from home. This allows me to continue to tend after Anthea’s afterschool care.

Anders graduated from Kindergarten level in 2010 and he would be starting his formal primary education comes January 2011. It would be another challenging year for me, now that I have to look after both their afterschool needs.

Anthea did well in her Primary 2 academic results and we were proud of her achievement. Next year would be a more demanding year for her as she would be dealing with new subject in school – Science.

As for myself, I believe I would grow more in my role, both domestic and in work, and I hope I would have a better achievement for 2011 as well.

Adrian would be busy in his work and may likely be doing a Full time diploma course and so he would be looking at another milestone.

We have been blessed with love and care from our families and friends and we know we would not take all these for granted and we would cherish them more in the going years.

With this note, the aces family would like to wish all our families and friends a Happy New Year and all the best in 2011!!

Cheers!!

Our 11th Year together..

4 December always bring fond memories as I remembered how we had walked together for so many wonderful years.

We have been lucky to have so many supports along this road that we walked together. Not only thankful to our families, we also had great friends whom had seen us growth as a family and shared with us all the joy and happiness.

On Saturday, 4 December 2010 - it was our 11th year anniversary and knowing that Adrian had always wanted to see River dance performance. We decided to watch the 8pm show. Before we went to book the tickets, we asked for some logistic help in taking care of Anthea and Anders.

When all were settled, we went to the Sistics Counter and bought the tickets for our evening show.

As this was the 1st time we were watching a Live Performance at the Sands Theatre @ the Marina Bay Sands, we decided to go earlier to check out the venue and had a quick before show dinner.

It was also Adrian 1st visit to MBS area and he was impressed at how big the place was and how exquisite some of the Celebrities chef restaurants were. We had a simple dinner at the Rasaputra Masters (aka Food court )..haha.

The 2 hour show was mesmerizing and we truly enjoyed the world class performance. We were also surprised and honored to see PM Lee and Madam Hoy Ching at the same performance.

The song and the dances are closed to our daily lives as we are playing so many different roles very day.

May our years ahead be strong just like the Dance as every step we move; it would be full of energy and power.

Happy 11th Year to us !!

New Shoes/ Swimsuits

It had been a very busy working week cum sport week for me.

I am having quite a few upcoming web conferences and I am busied preparing for them. Also I have an upcoming RoundTable meeting in Melbourne, thus I will be travelling again soon.

With Adrian’s blessing, I am truly enjoying my new home based job which allows me the time to be with the children, especially comes 2011, Anders will be in Primary 1 and I will be taking care of his after school needs as well.

Besides being occupied with work and housework, we are also kept busied with our Saturdays badminton session at the sport hall. I had been booking the badminton hall on all the Saturdays to give Anthea the chance to practice her badminton skill and I know it’s getting better each time. : ) also Anders is enjoying the sport too and hope that he will be able to join the school team too when he starts Primary 1.

Anders will be graduating from the childcare in another 1 month time. I am looking forward to his graduation ceremony in mid November. They had their graduation photo taken on last Thursday, 30 September 2010. Because of the photo, he was required to wear a pair of covered black shoes, so on Wednesday, I went to Marina Square and bought a pair of Reebok for him. Now he is wearing them for his badminton game.

The children celebrated Children Day on 1 October 2010 and thus there was no school on that day for Anthea. We decided on a morning swim at my 3rd BIL and both Anthea and Anders had a great time playing with their cousins – Faith, Saige and Taeia

I noticed that Anders had “bubbles” from his swimsuit and knew it’s time for him to get a new one. Since he is now progressing well in his swimming lesson, it was time to invest in a good swimwear for him. On Saturday, after dinner with the families, we went to Velocity @ Novena Square and bought him an Arena Swimsuit. He is now all ready for his new challenge. Let’s hope he will be able to do his bronze test soon.

“LIFT” us up

Since our last E-polling in August 2008 for the Lift Upgrading Program, renovation work started about 1 ½ years ago. Yes, we endured all the inconveniences of daily dust, noise and walking up & down stairs when the old lift was out of order for a few weeks.

Finally after all the above, our new LIFT is up & operational few weeks back. Now we had lift landing on every floor. To celebrate the occasion, Anthea and Anders have been pushing their own bicycles downstairs in the evening and ride around at the open space.

Our old lift were built in those old days and it served mid floors to the units. This mean if I stayed on the 4th floor, the lift will only bring me to 3rd floor and I have to walk flights of stairs to get to my floor.

An ex-colleague of mine had asked me: “since you already had a lift, why do you want to VOTE for a new lift? You need to pay government monies.” He said his estate has been voting against LUP.

I told him - During my younger days, I was very active in sport and got a sport injury during a badminton game. I had a minor operation in my right tendon and was on hospitalization leaves for almost 2 months. At that time, I was in cast and had to walk around with crutches.

I was still staying with my parents during those days and thankfully the new block we stayed in had lift landing on every floor.

Yes, LIFT is that important to a person who is partially incapacitated because even one flight of stair proved to be a painful challenge.

Beside this point, there are other users like parents with prams, wheel-chaired bound person and senior citizens who may have difficulties in going up and down the stairs.

So the lift is a saver to many of us…: )

Now we are enjoying the convenience of our new LIFT Services and it has definitely lifted our spirit to a new level too… : )

A Toy Story Celebration

Last week had been a very busy week for me. On Tuesday & Wednesday, I was busy with Round Table meetings. On Thursday, Friday and this Monday, I went along with my MD for meeting with clients.

It had been a very steep learning curve for me but I truly enjoyed these meetings and trying my best to soak up as much information as I possibly can.

Honestly, in Asia culture, nothing beat a simple handshake or hello and this will make a world of difference for future correspondences.

On Saturday, one of Adrian’s buddies – Kenneth, celebrated his son 9th year old birthday at his home. K’s wife (Joanne) had kindly extended the invitation to our family a few weeks back. As Adrian was scheduled to work on the NDP, I decided to bring the children to the party on my own.

As their home is near to Buangkok MRT, so our easiest route was to go via MRT-CIRCLE LINE- NEL. For the 1st time, Anthea and Anders had the chance to travel on the Circle Line. Honestly, it is pretty much like MRT, so it does not really make much difference to them. The only complaint they had was – why were we changing so many trains…haha.

We arrived at K’s home around 6.30pm and coincidentally, as we were walking toward his home, we saw the F16 flying passed us. They were heading toward the Padang for the aerial display.

The birthday celebration was held at the BBQ pit and there were lots of delicious BBQ food. Both Anthea and Anders had great fun at the playground located just next to the Pit. While we ate, we also had the chance to catch up with his buddies on their latest development.

I am impressed that all of them are upgrading to condominium and living an impressive lifestyle. Well, I guess that’s why the Chinese saying – “一种米养百种人“。 We belong to the Low-income family group, thus we can only stay in our humble HDB home…keke : P

To me, the utmost import thing is family happiness and health. Seeing the children growing each and every day and learning the right values in life beat the luxury of life. The best deal is we are debt free and I am able to choose my current role as a work from home mommy. Truly able to take things in my own stride and as the family progress, the role can be upgraded too. I believe in 一份根耘，一份收获。。

友谊万万岁！！

Last Saturday, I had a wonderful gathering with a group of closed friends at the Global Kitchen in Pan Pacific hotel.

I had known this group of friends since my working day with the travel agency. After I left the agency in 1995, we still keep in touch. A few of them are still in the Travel industry with their new employer and some left the industry totally, like me.

Our last meet up was 2 years ago at my house and this time round we decided on a Hi-Tea meet.
We arrived at the venue around 1pm and everyone started, eagerly, to find out who is doing what now and where the person is working in…hehe.Throughout the 3 ½ hours of gathering, there were so much laughter and noise coming from our table. As the saying goes - 三个女人，一个巴刹。。There were 6 of us…: P

Beside enjoying the food and great selection of teas, I truly enjoyed the company of my dearest friends. The 3 ½ hours passed by so quickly.

When the Hi Tea buffet came to a closed, everyone was asking “where are we going next?” well since the mood is so HIGH and MIGHTY, we should go to Marina Bay Sands. I proposed and all concurred.

So we took the FREE shuttle bus from Pan Pacific hotel to MBS. As one of my girlfriends has a contact point in MBS. She contacted the person in charge and the Sales person brought us around the Hotel, the casino and Convention area for a quick tour. We even had the chance to visit the Sky pool. The view from the 59th floor was magnificent and we took the opportunity to take some group photos.

After the tour of MBS, we said thank you and good-bye to the Host. It was almost 6.30pm when we left MBS. As the evening weather was still good, we decided to walk back to Pan Pacific hotel. Along the way, we saw the Helix Bridge and try a walk on the bridge. It was a bit shaky and my girlfriends commented that it felt like earthquake.

At the same time as there was NDP rehearsal at the Padang, we saw the Singapore Flag flying passed above us and also the F15 jets. They were flying so low and so near to us, the sound was deafening.

Four of us decided to adjourn for a drink while the other girlfriends left to join their family/friend. My girlfriend brought us to the Mandarin Oriental hotel poolside for a drink. We were considering viewing the NDP fireworks from the poolside.

We ordered our drinks and some light snacks to go along with the drinks. As we drank and enjoyed the snacks, we were watching our time. Yes, at 8.15pm, the fireworks started and we were pleasantly surprised that we had the best spot to view the fireworks. This year, the fireworks displayed not only came from the platform, there were also “firing” it off from rooftops of Ritz Carlton hotel, a few buildings in CBD and the Padang too. So imagine our excitement when we can see all the fireworks from the different spots. It was just too spectacular.

When the fireworks ended, the hotel guests whom were at the poolside with us, clapped their hands in appreciation. At that point, i felt so proud of our NDP Fireworks. : )

We continued with our drinks and food after the fireworks and chatted till our hearts contended.

We, finally, called it a day around 10pm and went home feeling so Happy and High in mood. This had been the best gathering for our group and I know there will be more fun outings with my 大姐们 and I look forward to our next meet. Till then – 谢谢你们真挚的友情和陪伴。祝我们友谊永柱！！

Kids in Charge & Happy Birthday Daddy

We had another sport-fun and indulgence weekends. Yes, it was the annual Kid’s in Charge event organized by Anders childcare – My 1st Skool. This year the theme was Sport and the event was held at Serangoon Stadium on 26 June – from 9 am to 12 noon.

In the morning we worked up early and had our breakfast. As Adrian was involved with the NDP, he could not join us for the event this time. We took a bus from our place to the venue.

Upon arriving, we saw the childcare teachers all busied escorting the children to the waiting area. Then the Guest of honor arrived around 9am and the “march passed” started.

After the march passed, the children were allowed to go to different corner of the stadium and play with the different sport. This will be our last time attending such an event. But somehow, I still like the one we attended in 2008 when it was smaller in scale and more personalized.

In the afternoon, we went back to rest before meeting our families for dinner at Eatzi @ Safra Yishun in the evening.

On Sunday, we had a Yum Cha lunch with the extended families. The original plan was to celebrate Adrian’s birthday at lunch but in the end, we decided to have the celebration at dinner time.

(aces family with our 1st niece - faith Tan)
My youngest Sister in law is doing her confinement and Adrian has been drooling for 猪脚醋and thankfully, my youngest brother in law invited the family over for dinner and Aunty ML has specially prepared the dish for Adrian…hehe.

So dinner was simple and yet sumptuous meal and Adrian ate till his heart was contented. I had picked up some tips from aunty and hopefully I can brew a good pot of the pig trotters…hehe.

After dinner, we had a simple cake cutting ceremony and everyone had a great time with the cake and also analyzing the World Cup results. : )

Happy CelebrationS!!

This has been a very exciting week for me and also a happy one for the family.

On Monday, I attended a farewell lunch at ex-company. My Ex-manager had completed his 4 years expat terms in Singapore and is going back to USA. I had worked for him for 2 years and he was really a nice boss to work with. Took the opportunity to wish him all the best and may our path cross one day. I was really thankful that my ex-colleagues still regarded me as part of the team and invited me for the occasion.

On Tuesday, my youngest BIL and his wife decided to induce the delivery of their baby girl – Taeia Tan. And Taeie arrived in the early morning of Wednesday. All was well for my SIL and her baby, they were discharged on Thursday.

On Friday, together with Anthea, we went to visit my niece at my BIL’s home. She was very adorable and pretty. Anthea enjoy her time with her new cousin and kept saying she is cute. She even had the chance to sample some of the confinement food and she said it was yummy…haha.

After visiting, we went to the nearby food centre for our lunch; the whole place was newly renovated after the market was burnt down recently.

On Saturday, we had a dinner with my in-laws and 2nd BIL’s family. As Adrian was involved in this year National Day Parade and he was scheduled on duty, thus he could not join us. After dinner, we went to my 3rd BIL’s home to do a birthday cake cutting for my FIL. Also at the same time, we celebrated Father’s day for the 3 fathers whom were there, so it was double celebrations.

On Sunday, we had a late lunch at New York New York@ AMK Hub. As it was Adrian birthday this month, so he had some vouchers and freebies, so we decided to give ourselves a good treat.

In the evening, it was a Father’s day dinner with my parents at a Zi Char stall in AMK Ave 10. Anthea and Anders managed to catch up with their 大舅，阿公和阿婆。They were busied chatting away and asking them different questions.

After a very sumptuous meal, we went home to rest and also caught the World Cup matches LIVE on starhub. Yes, every 4 years, we will watch the LIVE matches and both Adrian and myself will analyze the scores and the situation. Sometimes we may even place small bets on the matches. It’s the thrill of watching LIVE Matches, especially when your dollars are on the underdogs…: )

“Executive” Family Treat

We were booked for a weekend stay at the Fairmont Singapore and this time, we were given Executive treatment…hehe. Yes, my MIL has extended her Raffles Inc. membership and with the package, she is entitled to a FREE night stay at the hotel Executive floor and had kindly offered the room for us to use.

Since the last time we had already tried out the executive room in Swissotel Stamford. This time she booked for us the Executive Room at the Fairmont Singapore.

On Saturday after Anders’s tuition class, we fetched him and went straight to the hotel and checked into the room. We were given Room 2330 which was on the same floor as the Executive Lounge.

We had a Harbour View room and we can see the new Marina Bay Sands building from our room balcony.

As usual, the children 1st and foremost request is always – Swimming Pool 1st. So immediately we changed and went to the pool for water fun. The poolside was crowded with families with children. I believed many families were also enjoying the staycation fun.

After swimming and playing around for about ½ hour, we went back to the room to change and rest. As we were on Executive Floor, we had the privilege to use the lounge. Cocktails were served from 5 to 8 pm. So I went to the lounge and took a nice cup of drink and had some finger snacks. At the same time, the receptionist also allowed me to bring back some snacks to the room for the children. The lounge does not allow admission to children below 12 years of age so they allow parents to bring food to the room.

When I brought back the snacks to the room, both Anthea and Anders were delighted and had a good time enjoying their tea break in the comfort of our room.

My parents in law brought my eldest niece to the hotel room in the evening to meet with us before the family dinner. My niece had a fun time playing with Anthea and Anders in the room while my in-laws went for the cocktails at the Executive Lounge.

After their cocktails, we walked over to Asia Grand Restaurant @ Odeon Towers for our usual weekend family dinner. My youngest brother in law and Sister in law are now in great anticipation on the arrival of their newborn this week. So our family tree will likely be expanded this week…hehe. : )

We went back to the hotel room after dinner for rest & relaxation with the families. We had tea/fruits and nuts as dessert and the children continued their play on the beds.

At around 9.30pm, the families went home and we rested for the night.

The next morning, we had our buffet breakfast at the Alligator Pear, it was by the poolside. This was our 1st time having breakfast by the poolside and it was a nice experienced for us.

We went back to our room and have a good rest after a sumptuous breakfast. Then around 11am, we went to the swimming pool again.

We swam for a good ½ hour before going back to the room to shower and change. We simply chilled and relaxed in the room till our checked out time at 2pm.

Then it was home sweet home for us. Another great staycation for us and we truly enjoyed the Executive Experienced.