BBQ on 双十节

In celebration of 双十节, my brother decided to organize a BBQ session at my place.(Actually it's was impromtu and it happened to be on 10 -10, what a coincidence.)

Yes, at our block podium, there are 3 BBQ Pits for residential use. Having stayed in our home for 10 years plus, we had never once used the BBQ pit..hehe.

Last week, my eldest brother called me and mentioned his keen interest in organizing a BBQ session at our BBQ pit. So immediately I went to the Resident Committee office to check regarding the booking for the pits. I was informed that there is no reservation required and it’s first come first basis. Also the usage is Free of Charge...: )

I informed my eldest brother of my findings and we confirmed our Saturday BBQ appointment. He set off to buy all the food stuff and then gave me instruction of things to bring on the day.

As it was just our own family BBQ, we kept it to the minimum and simplest.

On Saturday around 5pm, we went downstairs to play a game badminton and as well to “chop” a pit. I heard from the RC person that there were few queries for the pits.

Around 6 pm, my eldest brother came with my parents and we started to set up our BBQ pit for the grill. My dad also prepared some bee hoon and potato salad.

We took about 30 – 45 minutes to start up the fire and when the charcoal was ready, it was BBQ TIME. We had chicken winglets, lamp chop, sausages, corn & sweet potatoes.

As we BBQ, we also chatted and shared our happenings as a family. I guess this is the fun part of BBQ. While the adults were busied with the BBQ-ing, Anthea & Anders were busied playing badminton with our neighbor 哥哥 & his friend. They were running all over the place and having great fun.

There was another group of people using the BBQ pit next to us. They were a BIG family group and they were celebrating a baby girl 1 year old birthday. The whole place was very lively and the atmosphere was good.

We ended our BBQ around 9 pm and cleared up the places. It had been a very good 1^st BBQ experienced for our family and I know we will be organizing more as Anthea kept saying that “she hopes we will have more BBQ!!” : P

Hari Raya Holiday Outing @ JBG

Since her school learning journey to Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden a few months back, Anthea had been talking so much about this garden and her strong wish to visit it again.

Since Hari Raya falls on a Sunday and we had no other program, so I told her we can plan a visit to the garden on Sunday, subject to weather. She was very happy and on Saturday, she even called one of her classmates – Aloysius and asked if he would like to join us.

We woke up to a bright & sunny Sunday morning. After a good breakfast, Anthea called Aloysius and checked if he would be going with us. She was very happy when Aloysius’s parents allowed him to join us for the outing.

On our way to the garden, we went by to Aloysius’s place and picked him up. We reached the garden around 10.45am and the weather was good.

Both Anthea and Aloysius knew their way around very well and they played “Guide” to us..hehe. We walked around the garden and saw many interesting plants and different species of trees.

Then we reached the Tree House and the children had fun playing the slide. After playing at the tree house slide, we had a short refreshment break. I brought along biscuits and bread for the children.

After re-charging, we continued to explore the garden. When we reached the A-maze-ing Play area, the children had so much fun running in & out of the maze and Adrian was busy chasing them…haha.

Our last stop was the Four sided blocks and the children had the chance to try out using different woods to create ‘music’.

Our tour of the garden ended at 12.15pm. It had been a very wonderful outing & playtime for the children.

Then we headed back to AMK HUB for lunch. The children had requested to have Subways Sandwiches. Adrian commented that this generation are into Subways and no wonder there are more and more outlets coming out…hee. So shall we call them Generation-SUBs…: P

Then we went home to bath and changed. Aloysius came along to our home and had fun time playing all the different games that Anthea & Anders had. His parents came by to fetch him around 5pm..

Then we had dinner with our extended families before calling it a day.

Cohesion Day Event & 便当前面的故事

Friday was cohesion day for Adrian’s company and the company had organized a morning walk session at Telok Blangah Hill. As it was also an off day for Anthea as her school was closed for PSLE comprehension. So we decided to join Adrian for his morning walk.

It was the 1st time that we were at this famous hill. We arrived at around 9.30am for the registration. Then we went up to the meeting point. Adrian showed us the famous Henderson wave and according to the site – it is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore and it connects the 2 hills of Mouth Faber and Telok Blangah Hill.

Then around 10am after his officer had a short brief with the men, the walk commenced. It was a 4.8km walk that covered the Hilltop & forest walk.

Anthea and myself joined in the walk and it was a very good morning exercise for both of us. We truly enjoyed the scenery and the fresh air.

The walk ended around 11 am and the group adjourned to Harbour Front city for lunch. As lunch was optional, we decided not to join them. Instead we headed to Mouth Faber Safra for a swim. I had packed along our swimming gears.

We reached Safra around 11.30am and there was a Mooncake road show at the clubhouse. I had received an SMS a day before and knew of this moon cake road show. Raffles hotel was one of the participating hotel but they were only scheduled to be there on 19 September 2009, so we had no chance to sample their moon cakes.

Goodwood park hotel was at the road show and we sampled their signature D24 durian snow skin moon cake and it was really YUMMY!!

After sampling, we went for our swim and Adrian went to the gym. We had ½ hour of good swim and then showered and changed for lunch. I had heard good feedback of the Japanese restaurant from The Chiah Family and decided to give it a try. Adrian ordered the Sushi set, I ordered the daily special and Anthea ordered the child meal and we had a very filling meal. SAFRA card get discount on the ala carte menu.

Before leaving the clubhouse, we bought the Good Park Hotel moon cake home. Anthea likes the Mango with pomelo while I love the durian, so we bought one of each. These moon cakes will be our after meal dessert for the next few days as the sale person said we need to eat them up in 3 days…: P


便当前面的故事

終于买到了！！！

This is a booked written by a blogging friend – Angie. I started following Angie’s blog few years back. She had another Chinese blog named - Obasan & Ajuma. This blog is co-written with her very good friend – Happy pig. I truly enjoyed this Chinese blog as it was a blog that really shared with readers their 酸甜苦辣。 And the episode on “西游记“leaves a very deep impression in my mind. Till now when I remembered the blog, it still send a smile to my face.

Angie’s family blog on Kinigu is also my daily MUST READ blog. I believe it’s the way that both Angie and Clement writes and their photographs that bring many of us to their blog.

Angie is very expression in her words and her feelings are always very genuine. I had never felt any hidden agendas in her blogs. I really admired her for her courage and free form of writings.

So when she decided to write a book, I was really happy and looking forward to the published of her book.

Finally today – 19 September 2009, I found it on the book shelves of Popular Bookstore. Prior to this, we were advised that the book is out at Kinokuniya but being a typical Aunty, I waited for the books to be out at Popular because can get membership discount..hehe.

Now I have the book, it will be my readings “mate” for the next few days and I know I will draw great inspirations of life from Angie’s book.

祝彦频：新书卖的满堂红！！

Our 1st visit to ION

It rained the whole day on Sunday and we were home from morning till evening. As 1 September is Teacher’s Day, I told Anthea we needed to get small gifts for her form teacher as a token of appreciation.

I was thinking of baking cookies for her teacher but thought otherwise because I was simply too lazy to go into the baking gear…hee.

In the late afternoon, the rain stopped and I called my eldest brother and asked if he would like to go to ION with us.

I did a quick checked and found that there was an Art box shop in ION, so I thought it would be a good place to get the gifts. At the same time, it was also a good time to explore the much hyped – ION.

My eldest brother fetched us around 5.20pm and we reached ION around 5.50pm.

As we know parking in ION was crazy because of traffic jam, my brother parked at International Building and we walked across via the Paterson link from Borders.

When we reached the entrance of the link, I was totally fascinated by the building. It was really huge!!!

Our 1st shop was Art box and it was located at B4, can you imagine shopping underground…hee.

We managed to get 2 presents – one for her class form teacher and 1 for her tuition teacher.

After getting the gifts, we headed to what Straits Times had written about - the MOST Expensive Food Opera (food court) for our dinner.

Anders had chicken macaroni @$4.50 a bowl and Anthea had a plain/egg pratas @$3.40.

Overall I would think the price was still considered ok and the food serving was bigger than the normal food court.

My eldest brother ordered 10 sticks of satay and a rice dumpling. He said the satay cost 70cents each.

We had a simple and enjoyable meal and I told my brother, next time we must try the special Peking duck wrap, saw people queuing and buying from the stall. It looks delicious…slurp!

After dinner, we took a walk around the building and as we go to the higher floor, it was the boutique that housed all the branded stuff. I jokingly told my brother that I am a lower class person so I can only shop at the basement level, the higher floors are all for the rich & famous… : P

We saw the Market Place at 5th level and we went in to get some groceries. That was the last stop of our tour. I must say – I was impressed with the Toilet and baby’s room facilities.

Then we headed back to the car and left ION with sweet memories and I know I would want to be back soon…for the FOOD!!...haha.

Come Together @ Teck Ghee

Last year we attended the event and both Anthea and Anders had great fun at the games booth, so I know this year we must do it again.

This morning we woke up around 9.30am and had a simple breakfast and then headed off for the event at the open field nearby.

The Guest of Honor was our PM – Mr. Lee Hsien Loong and we saw him walking around the game stalls when we reached the venue.

We saw many games booth and I heard there were 20 stalls of games. Anthea and Anders went around with their game coupon and tried their hands at the different stalls.

This year they don’t have the children motor bikes thing but instead the organizer brought in the real racers and there was a mini “F1 race course” for the F1 enthusiasts. As both Anthea and Anders were underage for the racing, we can only watch from the track side.

However, they do have those arcades racing game and Anders had fun riding on one of them.

This year, the Underwater World from Sentosa was also at the event to promote their admission ticket. Along with them, they brought a seal and we took a photo with the seal. The children had the chance to come up close with the seal and even touch the seal. It was chargeable for the photo taking but it was worth it since we need not go all the way to Sentosa..haha.

After we had used up all our game stall tickets, we went for the On-the-spot coloring competition. This event was organized by Anthea’s school and her form teacher was also there manning the station. Anders took part in the contest but due to some unforeseen situation, we didn’t complete the coloring thing…hee. : P

After all the morning fun, it was time for lunch and we packed our lunch home and had a nice meal.

The children had their usual afternoon nap and then in the evening, we went to my parent’s place for dinner again. Yes, Anthea had requested to eat there because she wanted to see Anne again…: )

Our 1st JUNGLE WALK@ MacRitchie Reservoir & Monster Vs Alien

Anthea and Anders are very “PAMPERED” children and when they walk a little mile more, both will be screaming TIRED. I had a very bad walking experienced with them when we were in Hong Kong.

So in order to prepare them for better physical endurance, I told Adrian that we must trained them for distance walking, especially since we are going to Sydney soon.

On Sunday morning after breakfast, we made our way for our 1st family trip to MacRitchie Reservoir for our 1st Jungle Walk in Singapore.

As it was the 5th Sunday of the month, so Anthea swimming lesson had a break. So it was just good timing that we do our walk.

We left home around 10 am and reached MR in about 20 minutes. We were pleasantly surprised to see the new car park facilities at the park and later from the Sunday Times; we realized that the new phase of the upgrading was completed. Soon, there will be an amenities centre.

We started with our walk and Adrian led us into the Jungle Trail. As we walked along the way through the reservoir, we also took the opportunity to explain the function of the reservoir to Anthea. She was very surprised to learn about it and kept asking us questions… : )

As we started our Jungle Trail, Anders was getting a bit frightened and kept telling me: “mommy, so scare…” and he hold my hands very tight…hehe. I told him there is nothing to worry about as there are no dangerous animals there.

Along the way, we saw many joggers and also families with children.

Our 1st animal encounter was Squirrels. We saw many of them and they were jumping from trees to trees and at one point, it seem like they were flying. The next animal we saw was a monitor lizard. Adrian was the one who spotted it amid the grass and the children were excited to see it and said that it was a komodo dragon…haha. After that we saw fishes/turtles by the water and we “secretly” fed them with a piece of bread. The last animals we saw were Ander’s favorite – monkeys. They were many of them and they were playing with once another. We dared not feed them food as we may get FINED…hehe.

As we walked, we also had a few “pit stop” – the children had the home baked cookies during the rest and they were so delighted.

We completed our 5 Km walk by noon time. After washing up and changed at the park, we had lunch at the Long House. We had a very nice and delicious lunch of duck rice, bak-chu noodles, popiah, fish & chips and goring pisang.

Both Anthea and Anders kept saying that they had a wonderful walk in the jungle and I am glad we did the walk and hopefully, they can do distance walking in Sydney too.

In the evening, before going to my In-laws house for dinner, we went to watch the 5pm movie. No prize for guessing what show …hehe.

It’s MONSTER vs. ALIEN and it was a fun movie. The children had a good time at the movie, especially with Popcorn and drink to keep them busy.

We had dinner at my In-laws house and there were plans made for Father’s Day/ my FIL’s birthday and many makan opportunities.

Yes, school holidays is all about having fun with the families. I know I am going to enjoy this month.

Sports – Membership - BBQ

On Friday, as arranged with Brenda, she came in the morning around 7.15 am to fetch Anthea to the sport complex for the Sport Day event.

The day before I baked some muffins for them to bring along as snack, just in case the food Q may be too long for Brenda to handle with 2 children in tow.

After work, I meet up with Brenda and the children at Junction 8. She brought them to Macdonald for lunch. When I asked Anthea how was the event, she said it's was boring...haha. Yeah, I reckoned that she may feel this way because she is not in any race and sitting at the stand and doing nothing can be quite bored. Hopefully next year she may get a chance to race in one of the event.

Then both Anthea and Max wanted to go to Popular bookshop, so we went along. At the bookshop, Brenda told me that the children had received their Primary School Student pass, so I thought I should apply for the Popular Members card since she has the pass now. For the Popular Student Membership card, I only need to pay $5 per annual. This card was highly recommended by Mommy Nel, as she said I can buy assessment books at a good discount. : )

After buying some books from Popular, we left for home. Both Anthea and Max had enjoyed each other companionship for the day. I also had a chance to know Brenda better and I was really grateful for her help.

In the evening, Adrian's company had a BBQ session at the SAF Chalet at Changi. Family members were invited for the dinner.

When I arrived at the chalet, I had a real surprised at how the place looks now. The place had a major renovation and now it looks so resort like and much cleaner and modern.

We had a lot of delicious BBQ food. His colleague also brought along PS3 game to the chalet and the children had a good time playing the games.

There were other children who came along, Anthea and Anders had fun playing with them too.
We left for home almost near to 11pm..: P

This weekend will be a rest and relax weekends. Anthea will be having her Oral test next Thursday/Friday and I will need to give her more practices.

Also her Semestral Assessment 1 will be taking place in the 1st week of May; we will need to do more revisions with her. Hopefully, she will do well in the SA.

On Thursday, Anthea received her 1st Trophy on Stage and she was so proud of it. She came home and told me i must set aside more space, she is looking forward to winning more trophies..haha.

美丽的“香格里拉”

Yes, thanks to my youngest BIL, we will be going to 香格里拉酒店 for a weekend stay on this coming weekend. And this Saturday happens to be Valentine Day…haha.

This will be our Aces Family 1st Valentine Weekend getaway. Reading from the Straits Times on Tuesday, Shangri La hotel has the most expensive Valentine Package deal @ $99, 998 for a night stay. Wow…cannot imagine if anyone will buy it. Lucky for us, we get the night stay for complimentary.

I am really grateful to my Terence, my youngest BIL, because he had extended this invitation to our family not once, not twice but 3 times. So how can we reject his invitation? His complimentary hotel stay expire end of February, so this is the best time to utilize them.

Well, my previous consideration was Anthea’s swimming lesson on Sunday, however, considering that hotel buffet breakfast are included at The Line, I think sacrificing 1 swimming lesson is worth it for the family treat (馋嘴妈妈)… : P

Of course, not forgetting the hotel facilities – swimming pool, gym and the spacious room.

I know for sure, both Anthea and Anders will enjoy the hotel stay. As for Adrian & me, we will pamper ourselves by chilling out with a bottle of Bacardi freeze and some cocktail nuts and enjoying a movies or 2 on HBO/Star movies etcs.

喔……
香格里拉~
这美丽的香格里拉
这可爱的香格里拉
我深深的爱上了她我爱上了她。。

Family Carnival @ Orchid Country Club

This morning we had fried carrot cake for breakfast as requested by Anthea last night. This is my 1st attempt in home-fried carrot cake. I find it not bad but my critic said it is not nice...: P (of course, cannot compared to the uncle's fried carrot cake.)

Anthe and Anders had requested to go to the park to ride bicycles. However, there was a bit of overcast so I told them we should not go to the park. While they were watching their morning shows, I did the chores. Then around noon time, the sky cleared and the sun was out.

I told them to change and we go ready for our Orchid Country Club outing. The children childcare had provided information about this Family Carnival with some free game and popcorn coupon, so I thought it would be good to take a visit. The pamphlet also advised us to bring along our swimwear. The Carnival takes place on 15 – 16 November, 12 pm to 8 pm.

We took the MRT to Yishun station and from there; we took the OCC shuttle service. It was very fast. When we reached OCC, the children were very excited to see the many games stall and also the pool slide.

We bought the $5 coupons and started playing at different games stalls. We collected colour sticks after each game and these sticks can be used for redemption.

Anthea and Anders played archery , shoot the dinosaurs and football games. After playing the games, we went to the poolside. Both of them were very happy when I told them I brought their swimming gear. They changed and got into the children pool where they were different animal floats on loan. There was a BIG water slide in the pool.

Anthea has fun going through it, Anders was a little apprehensive about the slide, so he just played with the Dolphin float by the poolside.

They had about an hour of water play. Then they showered and changed. We had a simple lunch at the Carnival. There were food stalls, so we bought 2 bowl of 拉面, with mixture of fish ball, sausages and satay. There was also a Magic show on going at the lunch area.

After lunch, we went and played a few more games before calling it a day. We left OCC around 3 pm and reached home about 3.30pm.

The children had their usual nap and after such a fun packed outing, both of them were totally knock out. They slept till almost 7pm. I decided to prepare a simple home cooked dinner instead of rushing them up and out for our usual dinner with the families.

Last evening, we had the chance to video conference with Adrian and it seem like it may be hopeful that his interview may happen after all in his current work location. A few high ranking officers will be making a trip to their current work place, so they may do the interview with him onsite, rather than to wait till he return end December. Rumour is their stay may be extended for a week so he may be back in January 2009.

F1 "Fever" – Nico Rosberg

Our decision to dine in last evening was the right move. I had the chance to watch the “LIVE” coverage of the F1 race and I was glued to the TV for the 2 hours.

Prior to the race, I was clueless of F1, the only things I relate it to be Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari.

However my view changed after watching my 1st F1 race last night. It's more than just the above 2. It's a test of man's STRENGTH / WITS/ CAPABILITIES.

Looking at how the racers and his team of supports worked together, they drew my greatest admiration. It's man against clock.

Seeing some of the technical mishaps and crashes, it makes me realize how fragile a minute can become. Now I know why so many people become F1 fans.

The race result:

1. Fernando Alfonso – ING Renault
2. Nico Rosberg – Toyota
3. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – Benz

This morning in the office, the main topic of discussion was the F1 race. We (ladies) were going “hoo-wah-hah” over how handsome some of these racers are… : P
(Especially ICEMAN, he was so cool...)

Before lunch, one of the colleagues from Brand Management came by to our office to distribute notice that – NICO ROSBERG is coming to our office at 3.45pm for a Meet and Greet session. There will be an autograph session as well.

Our company is one of the official sponsors for his team, so the company managed to arrange for this rare opportunity.

So when it was about 3.30pm. My colleague from Brand Management came over to get some markers for him to do his autograph. We asked her “is he here, should we go to the showroom now?”

She said: “nope, stay in the office; he will be coming by the office.” At this point, we were so excited and can't contain our excitement.

Then suddenly he appeared along the corridor and walked in the direction of the Brand Office, which is just opposite our office.

He came in for a quick chat with the company CFO, then as he was leaving the office to go to the main showroom for the Meet & Greet session. WE caught hold of him for a quick photo shot.

I took him with my 2 colleagues – R & B. R is an overnight F1 fan and B's husband is a F1 fan. Both of them were so happy and guess what? We even printout the photo and got Nico autograph.

The excitement was so high and we were like those teenage girls chasing after their idols, except these are “aunties” chasing after F1 heartthrobs. ..haha.

Although it was only a short 30minutes session, we were truly won over by his boyish smile and cute look.

Think I am converting soon too!!!

"CONNECTED"

Lately, I am hearing this from Anthea:

“I'm blind-folded on this roller coaster they call life.

Keep trying to make it through the next turn, knuckles white and holdin’ tight.

So here I go, takin’ a curve,But I know that I’m never alone.

I think of you, I know you’d never let me go.I feel connected, protected, it's like you’re sitting right with me all the time.

You hear me, you’re near me,And everything else’s gonna be alright.‘

Cause nothin’ can break this, nothin’ can break this, nothin’ can break this time.Connected…connected inside.”

This is none other than the theme song of Barbie Diamond Castle. The lyrics are so meaningful especially at this phase of our Aces Family life. Although Adrian is far away from us but he is still deeply “CONNECTED” with the rest of us at home.

In our daily life, we are doing simple things and yet these are the things that CONNECT us together.

# 1: Breakfast

Since Adrian is on away, our weekend's breakfasts are now all settled with simple breads and to make it interesting. I do shapes for the children. For the 1st time today, we had pancakes for breakfast. The feedback was mixed as usual. Anthea loves her pancakes but Anders still prefers his peanut butter bread.

I tried out the new Hello Kitty and Star shaped frying pans for the pancakes. They turned out good for a 1st timer.

# 2: Lunch

I had been trying my best to prepare lunch for them on weekends, especially Saturday, because of Anthea's Chinese lesson. I am glad so far that we are on time with our Saturday napping routine. Also during lunch time, I shared different discussion topics with the children.

#3: Joy ride/dinners
This evening, our dinner place was Tung Lok Signatures @ Central. So after Anthea's Chinese lesson, we took the MRT from Bishan to Clarke Quay Station. Anthea enjoyed the ride and I am glad that she is very used to the public transport.

Weekends dinners are always time for the children to connect with their grandparents, uncles, aunties and little cousin.

This evening, at the Central mall, there were chains of events happening in relations to F1 event. I believe STB is trying to create a street carnival atmosphere for the tourists.

We even had the chance to see Robin Goh performed and the children were his faithful audiences during his performance.

Another 1 week and Adrian will be home. Moral over there is now high and all of the men are looking forward to coming back to their lovely families as their CONNECTIONS are all here waiting for them.

Gyming ~ Cupcakes

Last Friday, my sister in law attended a Cupcakes baking class at Shermay’s cooking school. The Aces family has the honored of sharing the “cups” of her labour. On Sunday morning, we had cupcakes for breakfast and they were delicious. I simply love the Nutella cupcakes.

Also on Sunday morning, Adrian went with my PIL’s for Qing Ming Prayers to our grandparents. He brought home the famous Tanjong Rhu Bao, fruits and drinks. So we had the minis叉烧包 and 肉包 at breakfast too... : P

After a good breakfast, we decided to bring Anthea and Anders to the Kid’s gym at Safra Toa Payoh. Adrian had mentioned this gym a few times whenever Anthea and Anders played at the Macdonald children play area. He said the gym is much bigger than Macdonald and true enough, it was BIG. Anthea and Anders had so much fun at the gym. The price is very reasonable at $4.00 per child. It can be used for the whole day during opening hours.

While the children were at the kid’s gym, I took the opportunity to go to the Energy One gym at the club. Adrian is a member and he has some Complimentary guest passes. The gym is also very big and had many types of equipment. I had a good workout.

After our gym sessions, we left the club and went to the Macdonald Drive Thru to buy Happy Meals for the children for their lunch.

In the afternoon, the children had their power nap before meeting my PIL for dinner. We had dinner at Jumbo Seafood by the River walk. My youngest BIL - Terence and his GF, Cherry joined us. During the dinner, there were so many discussions on their upcoming wedding in May 2008.

It is a BIG family affair and Anthea is looking forward to being the Flower Girl for the wedding march in (if there is no change in the plan...hee : )

Terence had suggested for Anders to be their Rings bearer but I have reservation on this request. I know Anders is a shy boy and he may not be able to perform to the task. Now they are considering another alternative or may not even has one... : P