Anders 1st Library Card

Both Anthea and Anders enjoy bedtime stories and I will try my best to read to them every night.

It's a routine for us (me) to go to the library to borrow the books for reading. I would usually chose books that Anthea can read. I would encourage her to read and help her with words that she has difficulty. I hope this will encourage and cultivate her reading habit and become a Book Lover like daddy.

As for Anders, I will choose books that are of his interest such as: Animals, Cars, Dinosaurs and short Chinese stories book.

All these while, I have been using Anthea's library card to borrow the 4 books. I realized that 4 books are not enough to keep them occupied because the story kept repeated every night…haha.

Last Monday, when we were at the library, I decided to register a library card for Anders. I went to the customer service counter and wanted to register the card, the attendance informed me that I can DIY at the E-Kiosk ...this show how “mountain tortoise” I am... : P

So I register Anders card at the E-Kiosk and within a few minute, his card was ready and operational, I was so IMPRESSED!! Now Anders is officially a NLB card holder.

We went around the library and both of them busied themselves with the library books: “mommy, I want this book.” “Mommy, I want that book.” I was so busy looking at those books that they choose. Some are just too difficult for them, so I told them to choose an easier one.

Anders had requested for the “ya chong” (tooth bacteria) story book and we managed to find it. He enjoys reading this book. Ever since he read this book, brushing teeth had become his every night ritual...haha.

I am glad both my children enjoy reading and we will definitely visit the library as and when we are free.

三人行 的 第 2 个星期 天

The 1st week with Daddy oversea had flown passes so quickly and like I told Adrian before, 2 months will go by very fast, I strongly believe in this. Been there, done that!!!

Home alone with Anthea and Anders had NOT been as difficult as I had thought it would be. I think the main reason is – I am mentally prepared and also the 2 of them are now older and more independent.

Anthea is growing and maturing in her own way and I can sense that she knows that it’s not easy for me to handle both of them single handedly. Many times, she does things on her own and at times, she also helps me with little things like: keeping Anders toys and sharing things with Anders. At the end of the day, I will say “thank you, darling Anthea” & give her a BIG HUG. I will not take her little acts for granted.

Anders has been putting on his best since last Saturday and he has not been giving me any major problem. He will listen and cooperate with me as and when he is in his mood...haha. Likewise, when he did well, I will also praise him “good job, darling Anders” and give him a high five.

I know both of them miss their papa because every now and then, they will say “mommy, I miss papa...”. I will remind them that Papa is working hard for the family and so both of them must also behave well for papa. When papa comes back from oversea, he will buy TOYS for them...(opps...dear, you must remember this promise I made on your behalf...hee : P )

This morning weather was cool and nice. After breakfast, I brought Anders to the GP – Dr Tng to get medication for his runny nose/cough. My MIL brought Anthea for a morning swim at my youngest brother in law house.

For lunch, we met up with my da-ge and Lao ma and headed to Han's @ China Square. It was a nice and relaxing lunch. Both Anthea and Anders had a good time chatting up with their da-jiu.

We took a walk around China Square and there were many stalls at the Flea Market. I was so engrossed with all the little things that were selling. I almost bought a lunch box for Anthea but didn’t do so because the cover of the lunch box could not close tightly. I was worried the food may spill out. Must find a chance to go Chinatown Point…hehe.

After lunch, the children came home for their afternoon nap. I had planned to bring them for a gathering at Sentosa with some of the BB Forum families. As Anders is still down with flu, I thought its better not to let him go and passed the virus to other children. I hope the next chance, we will be able to make it, can't wait to see all these nice and fun people in person.

Dinner was with the families at Jumbo in NSRCC. Then after that we headed to Changi Airport T2 for Swenson Desserts. Both Anthea and Anders had a great time with all the uncles and aunties, yeye and nai-nai and of course, their lovely cousin, Faith.

My MIL shared with me a piece of good new - she is going back to work on 18 aug 2008. I knew that this will come along but never expected it so soon...haha. She had enjoyed enough of her retirement. So now i will need to re-schedule Anthea's friday lesson and make new arrangement for her next term lesson, if she is still interested to continue.

Happy 43th Birthday, Singapore!!

We woke up to a bright and sunny day. Anthea asked me: “when are we going to play games.” I told her after our breakfast.

Well, in celebration of National Day, there is a National Day Celebrations 2008 organized by the GRC. It was a whole day event from 8.30 am to 9 pm. There were carnival stalls and we had game coupons which were distributed via the Letter Box. The guest of honour is Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Around 10 am, we went to the venue and there were so many games stalls. We saw PM Lee left the place when we arrived, I was told that he had stayed for almost 1.5 hours long for the event. Wow...that meant he had come very early. He is such a busy man and yet, he still makes effort for this kind of event.

Both Anthea and Anders had great fun at the carnival, playing with the different games and also they had the chance to go on the motor rides.

Then we walked around the Flea market and I bought some very nice cards, in preparation for Teachers Day, and they were sold at 30 cents each. The children also bought some toys from the flea market and they ended with an ice-cream each. Such a lovely treat for a sunny hot day...haha.

After the carnival, we went to the wet market and I bought some soup ingredients. We had simple lunch and I prepared the soup for dinner, just in case, we may dine at home because of the National Day Parade. I know the children will enjoy the show on TV, especially Anders.

We had our usual afternoon nap after a good lunch and woke up around 5pm. As Anders is still coughing a little with running nose, I thought it's best to stay home for dinner.

It was the right decision as it started to rain a little as well. We had nice simple dinner of Fish & chips, fried hor-fun and a pot of home cooked soup... : p

We enjoyed life watching the Parade and this year seemed better that last year as there were more flight display and Anders Love the show.

In the evening, they had their 1st telephone chat with Daddy and both of them were very happy. Adrian is adapting well in his new “workplace”. He said time passed too slowly...haha. Guessed he still need time to get used to the different pace.

It had been a fun day for us may we wish our little island – Singapore “a Happy Birthday”

08-08-08

This is one of the lifetime most auspicious date and so many events happened on this day.

This morning I woke up feeling so happy and looked forward to a fun filled day.

Our general manager, Tony, recently celebrated his 15th wedding anniversary and he brought his wife and daughters to Bali for a family vacation. At the same time, they celebrated their anniversary there and re-took the wedding vow. He showed us the photographs and it was simply – So Romantic.

Our department bought for them a small wedding gift from Swarovski. In appreciation for the gift, Tony and his wife treated us to a lunch. It was arranged on 08-08-08 and the lunch venue was Raku Japanese restaurant in Greenwood Avenue.

It was a buffet lunch and we were treated to some really good Japanese food, which I had never eaten elsewhere. The presentation of each dish was very exquisite and the taste was delicious. It was my 1st time meeting Tony's wife and she is very pretty and also a very well groomed lady. From the conversation, she seemed to be a very DIY person. After lunch, we headed home. Tony had agreed to give us early released from work, in preparation for the Dinner & Dance.

I went back to settled Anders from childcare and then brought to my PIL's house as they had kindly agreed to help me babysit both Anthea and Anders while I attended the dinner. When I left my in-laws place, I decided to go to the salon in the Central to style my hair. Honestly for such a theme, it's hard to decide on hairdo. Anyway, I told them of the dinner theme and the rest is up to the hairstylist imagination. Luckily, the Lady Boss did a simple one and it was really cool. I meant because it was outdoor, so I need to tie up my hair, so I will not feel so hot...: P

I took the MRT and reached Fort canning in about 20 minutes time, it was pretty easy to get there. As this year dinner theme is Wacky Olympic, most of the staff came in their sport gear. It was quite a nice change compared to those usual fanciful themes. Some business unit even comes in the same dress code. There were some pre-dinner programmes – photo taking, different games station related to sports, face painting. I went to register my lucky draw and took my goody bag.

(She is the WINNER of best dress - Individual Catergory)

The dinner started with a short video show of some of the HODs passing the “Olympic torch” around Singapore (actually it was just in our company location). It was a very funny video and the staff had a good laugh with the video. Finally at the end, the CEO jogged in to the marquee with the “torch” and lighted up the “Olympic fire”.

The dinner started and there were many games in-between and some of them were very hilarious. It was so much fun enjoying the entertainment. My only regret was that I was sitting among a group of “aunties and uncles”, none of them wanted to participate along and just sat there quietly to watch. So “sian”..right. I should jump table… haha.
Anyway, I enjoyed myself wholeheartedly because like I say, this may be my last D&D with the company.

After the final lucky draw, it was almost 11.10pm, I quickly and took a taxi back. Per my last checked with my In-laws, they had brought the children back to our own home. I left a set of house keys with them, just in case.

I reached home around 11.30pm and both Anthea and Anders were still awake. I knew they need to see me before they can fall asleep.

I am so grateful to my in-laws for making it possible for me to attend the dinner and I was felt apologetic for making them stay up so late, especially my FIL, who sleeps early. Thanks mom & dad.

Also, another important letter that i received in the letter box from TGPS confirming that Anthea has been successful in securing a seat in the school. The orientation is on 17 November 2008 at 9 am.

The official Olympic in Beijing opened today too and we had the see it LIVE at the dinner.

It had been a very memorable 08-08-08!!!

Wacky Olympic

Yes, this is the theme of our 2008 Dinner & Dance and needless to say, it will be happening this Friday, 08-08-08. (Very Innovative!!! right...haha)

The location is none other than the famous – The Legends @ fort canning park. Don't ask me why this date and why this place...I have no clue at all.

Last year we had a great time dressing up to the theme but this year theme is a bit too general, so we really had no fanciful idea of how to dress. I suggested those Tankinis (beach volleyball) to my colleagues, everyone was laughing and claimed that “we can't show abs but we can show fats."

Finally we decided that our lucky table 18 will all wear a RED top, simply because RED is an auspicious color and also 08-08-08 is the eve of Singapore 43th National Day. So the RED hit many stones with one color...: )

Today at lunch time, I arranged with a colleague of mine to go shopping at Nike shop in Suntec Shopping Mall. My colleague has shortlisted a Tee that she like and wanted to get a slack to match it. At the same time, I also started looking around for something nice and I managed to get myself a Tee too.

Nope you didn't see wrong, it's a MUFC tee and it's NOT MINE...haha. I told my colleague that I had never own a Football club tee/jersey before and if ever I get a chance to buy one – it must be LIVERPOOL FC. (Actually, I almost wanted to get the MUFC tee for the group sake, but luckily it does not have my size... FATED!) Fyi, this colleague of mine is clueless on EPL, so it does not matter which club it is. However she said her hubby is a Liverpool supporter.. : P

So finally after some consideration, I bought this - FCB (FC Barcelona). I was very happy with my choice and the jersey looks good.

One of my long-timed friends works in Nike and she managed to get some good staff discount for us. Overall, we had a very GOOD Buy.

This may be my final D&D with the company and i hope that this event will be a memorable one for me.

Now, I am looking forward to dressing up for this Friday and hopefully can win a lucky draw prize.

江湖“妹子”

昨天中餐时间， 我决定到了Panasonic 的办公室索取了NTUC 的固本。根据纸 张说明，我应该搭地铁道红山站，然后转搭巴士到Panasonic. 到了 REDHILL Station, 我找不到我要搭的巴士。于是便向卖泡泡茶的小姐询问。

“请问这里有没有巴士到Panasonic ?” 我问。

泡泡茶小姐说：“噢，你要去那里，我带你去。”

我有点惊讶得说：“你带我去？你不用上班？”

她说：“还早，反正我也要去那里买东西。”

“噢，好的，谢谢你了。”我说。

一路上她和我闲聊，从中我 知道她的名字叫“阿Bee”. 在闲聊中，她抽了梗香烟。她很大方的说到她家事。虽然我们素未相识，但却好像是老朋友。在离开前，她还说: “有空来买我的泡泡茶。“

“好的，再见，谢谢了。“我搭到了我要搭的巴士。阿Bee 是我的贵人。她给了我很大的启示。

做人就要向阿Bee 这样潇洒，很有江湖大将之风。反过来，觉得我就逊色多了。说什么都要顾及到别人的想法。太辛苦了。

江湖中人讲的是义字，有的时候我们所谓的白领人 还得向他们多多学习。

最近 我们跟家里人开了个玩笑， 遗憾的是玩笑被误解了。 如果我们能过像阿Bee 一样大方把话说出来，这样误会就不会产生了。。

江湖妹子，谢谢你的出现！！

True Blue Singaporean

This morning in the wee hours, i was woken up by a song : "we are singapore, we are singapore.....blah..blah." Oh it was Anders Singing, i thought he has woke up and sang the song. I took a closer room and realised that he was still asleep. This meant he was singing in his dream and it's a National Day Song...haha. The childcare has been teaching the children National Day songs in celebration of the upcoming event. I am glad that they are enjoying the songs as these are really meanful songs for the occassion.

The childcare had planned a simple celebration for National Day today and all children were encouraged to be dressed in RED/WHITE. Being a TRUE BLUE Singaporean, how can we miss out this kind of celebration. So both Anthea and Anders were dressed in the recommended colors. I also wore a RED top to match their dress code for the day...haha.

We had the chance to take some photos in the childcare and these are specially for Daddy's eyes.

I am glad that at this tender age, the children are taught National Anthem everyday during the assembly. And also the pledge in both English and Chinese version. I understand that not all childcare practised the same as some are like "international school" so they don't enforced such practise.

To me, i am glad that Anthea and Anders had this opportunity to learn and be a real 新加坡人!!

Our New TV

Last week we were browsing through some TV's model at NTUC Extra in AMK Hub.
We were looking at Samsung models and trying to make some comparison. The promoter started to introduce us to PANASONICS LCD TV's.

We tried our luck to see if there is one that is MADE IN JAPAN, he mentioned that nowadays the LCD Panels are made in Japan and parts assembled in Malaysia. Well, we were quite happy with his explanation and most importantly, he was not “pushy”. There was some kind of discounts on offer and he didn't try those “Last Day trick” or whatever.

We took measurement of the TV and went home to check if our current TV console is able to sit the TV. Well, it was a perfect match; this means we cannot buy TV bigger than 32 Inch... : P

The next day, we went to the same sale person and placed our order with him. Well, the reason why we decided on this 32 Inch LCD TV is because:

- there was a direct $300 discount off the selling price of $1599.00
- There was a $200 NTUC vouchers (in reality, we are buying the vouchers.)
- we can accumulate Link Points for the purchase
- we can gain Credit card points too for the purchase
- extended 2 years warranty (normal warranty is 1 year)
- enjoy rebate as I am a NTUC shareholder

See how not to buy this TV with so many “PULL FACTORS”...haha. Anyway, TV at home is mainly for Anthea and Anders, I hardly had time/chance to watch any program.

The TV was delivered on Friday, 1 August and it was just in time for me to watch the final episode of the 9pm Chinese drama series – Babes, Beaches, Ball. (btw, the deliveryman "bought"my own TV for a good $40...not bad for our retirees.

Today during lunch I went to Panasonic Building in Bukit Merah to pick up the NTUC vouchers and submit the warranty card at the same time.

Somehow, I have been a loyal customer of Panasonic since the Black and White TV's day. I still remembered our very 1st TV was a National B/W TV, those long box types. Those days, it was a luxury to even own a TV, less talk about Color TVs.

These days, TVs are so advanced and can do so many things.

三人行 的 第一个星期天

This morning we woke up and I prepared breakfast for the children. Now that Adrian is oversea, I will need to make sure there is food for breakfast. Usually he will buy breakfast before going for his badminton sessions.

After breakfast, I did my Sunday household chores – sweep & mop floor, wash the toilets, do the laundry. When I finished all the tasks, I decided to go marketing to buy some ingredients to prepare a simple dinner. So I brought both anthea and Anders along to the market. As the weather was hot, I decided to bring them to the swimming pool for a dip after the marketing. Anthea was quite concerned and asked me – “mommy, you bring the food to the swimming pool, if the food spoiled, how?” I told her all these are raw food, so it's still ok for them to be put outside for a short while. Then she was happy.

We had about a good 30 – 40 minutes of water play and I noticed that Anders is now more daring to go on his own in the baby pool. Previously he will need me to walk around with him. I think I must bring him more often to boost his confidence.

Anthea requested for Maggie noodle, again, for lunch and Anders was asking for the same. So I prepared the noodles for them. Both of them finished the noodles in record time..Sigh, if only this apply same to eating rice..haha. After lunch we even prepared the Super Smoothie drink that Anthea got from her craft for little princesses book. It was a present from Louis and Eve from London.

While they were having their lunch, I prepared old melon soup for dinner. Both Anthea and Anders are soup lovers. I enjoy preparing soups for them because our tingkat caterer soup portion is small, so they can't drink more than they wanted. Now I must make it a point to cook soup for them on weekends.

After lunch, they took their afternoon nap and I rested with them too. When we woke up, I prepared dinner for them. Usually when Adrian is home, we will have dinners with the extended families.

Nowadays Anders is quite difficult at the dinner table and he eats very little when we dined outside. For the last few days, he had been reprimanded by the families for misbehaving and I am quite stressed each time when I eat out. So I will try to minimize eating out and will train Anders to behave well at home 1st. I hope he will learn his table manner, so that I will be able to eat in peace... : P

This is Aces family 1st Sunday without daddy and it has gone well.I know the children miss him and I will continue to motivate them that daddy is working hard, so they must put on their best too!!

Bon Voyage to Daddy !!

Today is D day for Adrian to go for his 2 months oversea working trip. He has departed on SQ 326 from SIN-Frankfurt and connects LH from FRA-TLV. At this time, he should still be onboard SQ flight.


In the morning after a good breakfast, we changed and got ready to go to the airport.
This is his 1st time travelling on Singapore Airlines for his working trip. He was very happy about it because he always drooled when he heard our extended families members always travel SQ for business trips... : )

The scheduled departure time was 1345hrs and we were at the airport Terminal 3 around 11am for him to do his check in. He was glad that he did not need to pay extra monies for his slightly excess baggage.

We walked around the Basement of Terminal 3 as this is our 1st time visiting the place. There was a very big food court and quite a few shops around the area. We had a simple lunch at the food court with the extended families joining us.


Adrian felt very appreciative towards his Parents, Brothers and Sisters-in-laws. Well, it has been a family tradition that whenever anyone in the family travels, we will make it a point to be at the airport either to say: Good Byes or Hellos, if time permits. This is how strong the family tie is. He enjoys their companionship and I know he will miss all of them for the next 2 months.

Saying good bye was not easy and I was very worried both Anthea and Anders may cry but luckily, they didn't cry at the point when Adrian went in. When we went to the toilet, both of them started crying...OMG, it was heartbreaking but I knew I must not tear in front of them or else it may worsen their feelings. So I told myself to be STRONG and the tears were all hold back. I try to settle both of them and thankfully, my MIL and SIL were with us at that moment and they managed to help to console both of them. A BIG Thanks mom and Eve and not forgetting Baby Faith for hugging Anders..It was so sweet.


Now I am home alone with Anthea and Anders, I do Misses Adrian ...but for the sake for his career advancement, I know we can go through these 2 months giving each other our Strongest Support.

Wishing Daddy a smooth working trip and a good 2 months stay!!

亲爱的：“一路顺风“

Stress “FREE” Registration !

Yesterday was the 1st day of registration of Phase 2C of the Primary One registration exercise. Adrian went to TGPS and registered Anthea’s name and came back, feeling so relaxed and happy. He said: “this is the most stress free registration.”

To be honest – I have to APOLOGIES to my children for not making the effort to try to enroll them in a BRANDED schools so that their next, next and next generations will be guaranteed of seats for LIFE.

Phase 2C – For a Child who is INELIGIBLE for or UNSUCCESSFUL in earlier phases.

While having breakfast with Adrian, we had a quick chat on neighbourhood schools. I told him that I had very good confidence that standard of such schools will rise in the coming years. Simply because the new age parents are more enthusiastic towards their children studies and will ensure that their child excels in their studies. It’s a far cry from our times, when our parents (like mine) who are non-educated will leave everything to the teachers.

These days, the schools are also more result driven than our Good Old times... hee : P

Looking at the trend of Phase 2C registration update from the "stock market", it seem like quite a number of neighbourhood school will need to go through balloting... : P

My alma mata seem to be quite a hot spot ...but as it is still a few bus stops away from our house, so i did not register Anthea for the school, although Old Girl will be earlier phase.. : 0

When Anthea came back from school, she said one of her classmate, Ryan, is also registered for the same school as her. I also told her that one of her friend from her previous childcare, Tina, is also registered for the same school. She was very happy to know that she will see Tina again.

Looking forward to the next phase of our Aces Family life and I do hope that my wish will come true... : )

TGPS – “Race to Success” Open House

This week I received a notice in the letterbox that informed us of the OPEN HOUSE event at TGPS on Saturday, 26 July. I decided to bring Anthea to the open house so that she(us) can have an idea of the study environment she is going to be in starting next year.

In the morning, after a good breakfast of my dad home-baked chicken pie, Aces family headed to Toa Payoh central to do some shopping for the children’s water bottles. They need a STRING bottle for their Zoo Excursion in Aug. After buying the bottles, we headed to Macdonald for a quick lunch.

Then we went for the open house event that was scheduled from 2 – 5 pm. Upon arriving, there was a receptionist counter that provided us with a “Game Card”, we are supposed to go to individual Station and collect stickers for the card. Each station will introduce the school curriculum to the parents/children. There are total of 14 stations – English, Math, Science, Mother Tongue, TG-ramics, Robotics, Parent-child race etcs.

At each individual station, there will be the teacher and children in attendance to explain the objectives of the games or the subject. It was a lot of fun, especially for Anthea and Anders as these are interactive games.

We won some presents at the games but I think the most VALUEABLE gain was Anthea had enjoyed herself immensely with the games and the environment, she kept saying: “this school is very nice.” : 0

We also had the chance to walk around the school compound and we walked her through the canteen. It brought back a lot of memories for us too. Those good old schooling days.

Times FLY so fast, comes next year, Anthea will be in Primary One and like all mothers, it seem like yesterday she was just a Baby... : )

“Small, Tiny, Miniscule”

On Wednesday, 23 July 2008, Adrian and myself went to view the showrooms of Condo Like Flats - Park Central @AMK. We viewed the 4 bedrooms unit as the 5 bedrooms are way above our affordability… : P

My impression of the unit is are described in 3 words :

SMALL – Living room is small and can accommodate a 2 seater sofa and small coffee table

TINY – 3 Bedrooms are tiny and they had built in wardrobes, all rooms had a 1 meter high balcony wall. This ledge is basically built next to the windows. So it takes up quite a fair bit of spaces. Safety is also another major concern.

MINISCULE – KITCHEN and UTILITY area is a real DISAPPOINTMENT. To me I always view these 2 as the most important parts of a home. I am not a professional chef but still I need a spacious kitchen in order for me to prepare a simple home-cooked meal for my family on weekends.

Utility area is also important as I hand washed the children clothing every day and I really need a good place to air dry their clothing during the day. Also on weekends I do heavy laundries of towels and bedsheets, can’t imagine where to hang all these in the utility area… : P

I think for this new property, the selling point is condo-like, so exterior must look neat and span, interior does not matter much.

I told Adrian that I am a typical HDB AUNTY/ Tai Tai as my top preference is PRACTICALITY and SPACE. Especially with children, all these are our daily necessities.

After viewing the 4 rooms and doing some in-dept discussion with my In-laws, we decided we will NOT try to ballot for the unit. We will wait for other opportunities that are more suitable and affordable for us.

My MIL even said that after viewing the showroom, we will appreciated our Home sweet home more than before and I AGREED wholeheartedly.

再见了！！八年"好友"

Recently I read on Vivien blog about her OLD Washing Machine that had served her well for 9 years. Usually, Home appliances lifespan are about 5 years; anything more than 5 years is a bonus...haha. Otherwise all the Electronics companies will have to close down... : P

We bought our current 29 inch Panasonic TV on 07 March 2000 from Courts AMK (i still keep the receipts for all our purchases for our home). We were very lucky at that time as the set we bought was MADE IN JAPAN. Nothing against products manufactured in other countries but somehow, it does not last as long as the Japanese made products.

Well, after 8 years of serving us loyally and faithfully, the TV set had decided to “retire” itself officially. Since last Sunday, we noticed that there were lines appearing on the screen and I suspect that its pixel is running off. Adrian said it might be due to SCV interruption but I told him there was no message from SCV that mentioned about faulty line.

Yesterday evening, we decided to used our room 21 inch TCL TV to do the testing in the Living room. Not surprisingly, the TV set works well and now it's now sitting comfortably at the TV console. We decided to let the Panasonic TV leave in good “memories”... : 0

Our next step – shop for a new TV set. I told Adrian since we had tested the Japanese technology, we should now try the Korean Technology as feedbacks from some Electronics experts are that Korean technology are catching up. Any feedbacks/recommendations on TVs are most appreciated.

Adrian was quite amazed at the rate that things are happening before he goes oversea for his work . I told him this is because he is the Handyman of the family/owner of the house/father to anthea, so we must ensure things (new tv/register for the new house/Primary one registration) are functioning properly before he goes oversea for work.

Or else I will have no one to S.O.S..: P

EXCITEMENTS!!

The Saturday Straits Times article "Condo-like flats for less than $700,00" got the families all excited. Adrian read the article and called my Parents in law to share with them the news. My Father-in-law is now working in the Property Industry as his retirement career. He started analyzing all the pros and cons of the units, judging by the picture on the article and ahem…we had “shortlisted” which block we would like to apply for. Knowing that we cannot afford a real condo lifestyle, I guess this is the closest we can get to…haha. My PILs and youngest BIL also planned to apply for a unit, looks like competition is going to be tough.

Eventually, it'll still depend on LADY LUCK at the balloting time.

Adrian is scheduled to depart for his oversea attachment on 2nd August and his return date is tentatively 04 October. The excitement at home is building up; he had started packing his luggage. Looking at him packed, I realized that our current Samsonite luggage bag is a bit small for his stuff. So I told him that it’s time to consider buying a new one. I told him that Samsonite had some kind of promotion, so if we are in town, we can check it out.

My MIL had to attend a wedding dinner at Marina Mandarin hotel, so it was actually to our advantage. We tagged along with my PIL and had dinner with my FIL at Swenson in Marina Square. During dinner, we had a very good discussion on our new potential home with my FIl and he was very encouraging toward us getting a unit. It has been 10 years that we had stayed in our current home and it would be good to make a change for the better.

For dessert we had a 1 for 1 Sundae coupon, so we ordered a Banana Split and Frosty Malt… : ) . We even managed to catch a glimpse of the “Black Knights” flying passed the hotel as there was the NDP rehearsal.

After a sumptuous dinner, we took a stroll to Suntec City – to the Samsonite shop. When we reached there, I had a sweet surprised – I met a long time friend – Lillian. She was actually a friend cum mentor to me during my Part time working days as a baggage promoter. I was so happy to see her after all these years. We bought our 1st samsonite bag through her almost 10 years ago. Now we bought our 2nd samsonite luggage with her again…this is 缘分。She even gave us 2 pencil cases for the children.

Now with the new luggage bag, Adrian managed to pack all his stuff inside and there are still rooms left. I am glad that we made this purchase.

We returned to Marina Mandarin hotel to wait for my MIL and since we still had time, we had a drink at the hotel lobby lounge. It was very relaxing and the children enjoyed their juices. We reached home almost near 12 midnite...what a day of excitements.

Our NEW Tingkat Dinner

“回家吃饭真快乐”！！

This week, we are on a 10 days trial with our new tingkat dinner delivery company – Jiale Buffet Services (家乐晚 餐 递 送 服 务).

Before deciding on Jiale, I have been following very closely with Stardust on her feedbacks of the few different potential caterers that we may use. The latest update on both Kim's kitchen and Neo Garden seem to be of negative effect on our decision making.

At the same time, I did some “homework” online and based on this website – Singapore Catering Directory recommendation, I decided to try JIALE.

I called and made a reservation for Trial dinner and the CSO – (her name is Adeline) who answered my call was quite professional. I told her I am ordering a 2 person dinner and only required rice for 1 person. Her replied was they only catered for 2 person rice and would not be able to provide for 1 person. I explained to her my situation and she LISTENED. When she understood my situation, then she agreed to arrange for 1 person rice. I was delighted with her service.

On Monday, the dinner arrived in a 4 tiers Tiffin. Actually it is easier for me with this kind of containers as I will usually heat up the food in my 2 tiers steamer. Previously with Buffet Paradiz, I will need to transfer the food from the microwaveable plastic containers onto those stainless steel plates and put them into the steamer. With the new Tiffin, all I need to do is to put them in the steamer. Only the rice needs to be transfer. Adrian mentioned that this change of caterer seem to be for the better and make life easier for me.. ha ha.. : )



(Also i felt less guilty now since i am not throwing aways containers everyday.. : P)

Our verdict on the food :

- Food taste is good and the children finished their food. (My top priority is always THEM!!)

- Rice portion is sufficient (actually seem to be more than the previous caterer)

- Only thing is soup portion is lesser compared to previous (important thing is children have enough soup, for adults, we are ok without it.)

- The situation awareness was tested. On 2nd day of the dinner, the deliveryman called me and told me that he accidentally dropped our RICE and kept apologizing to me, he sounded so apologetic and was so concerned when he said: “今晚你没有饭吃.” Anyway for us, it's very easier to buy cooked rice from the many coffee shops in our neighbourhood. So I wasn't too worried about it. The rest of the dinner was intact.

Overall we are happy and satisfied with the new caterer service and the food. They are on par with our previous caterer, so all my constant worries on this issue are now settled. We also managed to save a few dollars with the new caterer... : P

Adrian and myself are quite simple and easily contended when it comes to food. We are not fussy with whatever is on the menu as long as they serve our top priority – both Anthea and Anders happily 吃饭．

孩子们快乐，我们就快乐，大家都快乐！！

Happy Birthday to Andrew!

Some weeks back my Parents in law informed us that Aunty SK will be celebrating his son – Andrew aka Wenyi birthday at my youngest brother in law place on Sunday, 13 July. They had booked the BBQ pit and the function room for the party as he had invited guests of about 50 people.

Last week at work there was a Movenpick Ice Cream sale, so I thought that Aces family will contribute ice creams to the party. I bought 2 tubs of 2.4L ice cream – Minty Chocolate and a Mango sorbet.

The children had an early nap as they had planned to go for a swim at Uncle Terence place before dinner. We reached there around 5pm and coincidentally their favourite uncle Kiat also arrived at the same time. Quickly they changed into their swimming suit and headed for the pool immediately. As the sun was very good, they had a very good time in the pool with uncle Kiat and uncle Wenyi. Anders enjoyed his water play at the children pool.

An hour later, we rushed them to the house to have their shower and changed of clothings. By this time, the food was ready. We had an early dinner by the poolside with all the cousins, uncles and aunties. As usual, there were exchange and updates of each other happenings etcs. The children enjoyed playing at the playground just next to the BBQ Pit. There was so much nice food at the dinner table – mee siam, chicken wings, fish balls, otahs, curry puff, curry and fried rice.

We adjourned to the function room and the children had a great time watching movie on the big projector screen in the function room. We were all impressed with the function room – it had a kitchen area where there was a big fridge and a sink. We managed to put the fruits, cakes and ice cream into the fridge. While waiting for the rest of the guests to have their dinner, the children had the ice cream while watching the movie...what a treat it was for the...: P

Then around 9 pm, it was the cake cutting ceremony and the cakes were delicious. After that we starting packing up and get ready for home. There was food leftover and we managed to bring home some goodies... : )

Wishing Andrew a Very Happy Birthday and May his wish comes true.

陪读妈妈与“天下”

Recently Adrian attended Anthea’s Parents-Teacher-Conference, he came back and feedback the teacher's comments. Her English teacher – Ms Valentine said that her English is good and she had confidence in her works. Her Chinese teacher – 罗老师said her Chinese needs improvement as she is weak in certain area.

Well, I took the teachers comment very SERIOULY and started to source for Chinese lesson for her. Actually all these while, I had wanted to do something for her English and Chinese but LAZINESS took the better of me... : P

I did some researches and finally decided on this language school – 天下。 My colleague's daughter also did the same lesson in this school and her feedback was good. Needless to say, anything that had endorsement from a mother who is of HIGH STANDARD will win me too...hee.

We arranged for Anthea to have a Friday afternoon lesson after consultation with my mother in law for logistic support. As she is now retired, she agreed to help me bring Anthea for her weekday lessons instead of me “jamming her lessons” on weekends.

On Anthea first lesson on 4 July, my MIL brought her to the school. I guess because of the new environment and classmates, she was a bit tearful. After the lesson, Anthea asked my MIL not to make payment for the lessons. She will talk to me 1st. So after some talks and persuasion, I decided to follow her on her 2nd lesson. I asked the school for permission to sit in during the lesson and they were very kind to accede to my request.

On Friday, 11 July, I fetched her from childcare after her lunch/bath. We headed to Tien Hsia for our lesson. I followed through the 1 ½ hour lesson. The class was small and there are only 5 students in the class. Heard from the administrator that this is actually the 2nd class since the 1st class was full. Good for Anthea as she will have more personal attention from 云芳老师。The 1 ½ lesson was very enriching, the children learnt 拼音，认字，写字。 There is a 听写list for next lesson.

From observation, I know Anthea enjoyed the lesson and I think she just need a little more time to get used to the class.

When we reached home, we revised her lesson and even learn the 听写list. She was very eager to learn them. I am glad that she had interest in Chinese and I know for sure, I would be there to guide her along and ensure that she will LOVE 华文 as much as I do... : )

This was my 1st experienced as a “陪读妈妈“and I know there will be many more to come as she starts her primary school soon.

宝贝，加油，妈妈会支此你！！

The "Flying TOD"

Just received an email from Eve from her London Hotel –

“Our trip here on the plane was actually pretty good, mainly because Faith was alright throughout the trip. She had her meals, took an afternoon nap and was entertained the rest of the time either playing with the controls & gadgets on the seats or watching Barney on the portable DVD player. The portable player was a godsend, really :) “

It was a reassuring email from Eve, as all of us at home had been quite concerns about our little niece. Although Faith had travelled on airplane for numerous trips covering – Dubai, Beijing and Phuket. This would be her 1st long haul flight that lasted 13 hours. Glad that she did well on the plane, we are all so proud of her. GOOD JOB, Faith!!

Louis is on job assignment in London for 3 weeks or more, so it was natural choice that Eve and Faith will join him. The MNC that Louis works for is very Pro-family - they provide for the family travel and accommodation expenses as well… : )

Faith is officially the Tan Family flying toddle because of the nature of Louis job requires him to travel a fair bit. I always admired Louis & Eve for their capabilities and courages to travel with a toddle, especially when I see the number of luggage that they needed to pack… hee.

Last Sunday evening, we had our usual family (10 + 1 toddle) dinner gathering before Louis, Eve and Faith departed for London on Monday afternoon.

After dinner, we told Anthea and Anders that Faith mei mei will be taking the airplane to London and we will see her again only 3 weeks later. Anthea said: “mommy, I am going to miss Faith mei mei.” I told her: “yes, we will all miss her but 3 weeks will go by very fast and we will see her soon again.”

I am really happy to see Anthea expressing her emotion and feeling openly nowadays.

May Louis, Eve and Faith enjoy their 3 weeks stay in London, especially family bonding time.

Our New Luggage Bag

Nope, we are not going for another holiday….haha.

Recently after our Phuket trip, I was unpacking my luggage bag and realized that there was a SMALL Hole on the bottom of the bag. So I thought that I should try to claim via the Travel Insurance that I bought from NTUC Income for the family trip.

So Adrian went to submit the claim at the office in AMK Hub. He was advised by the insurance agent in order to file the report; the insurance company needed an official letter from the Airline concerned. I called Silk air and mentioned to them about my claim. The Silk air agent referred me to call their Airport handling agent which I did and lodged in a report on damaged baggage.

Last Saturday, the representative from the company came to our house to pick up the “Damage Baggage” and mentioned that they will try to repair it.

On Monday, I received a call from the luggage company and they mentioned that they are sending the luggage back to us. I thought to myself: “wow, not bad, repair is so fast.”

At lunch time, arrangement was made for the luggage to be sent to my office. When I met with the representative, I got a shocked. It was not my “DAMAGED LUGGAGE”, it was a BRAND NEW LUGGAGE BAG and it is BIGGER than my original. I asked the rep, “what happen to my old luggage”, he said: “cannot repair, we replaced a new one. If anything wrong, please call us again.”

I was impressed with the overall service that I had experienced with this baggage issue. The only hiccup was I actually logged in my feedback/comments via the SILKAIR Website but there was no response, so in the end, I called them personally. Other than this, the handling agent response to my call was quite immediate which made me think that standard in the Airline industry had gone up a mark since my airline days.

Okie, it's time to plan for our next family holiday since we have a new baggage...haha : P

Friendship Award

Thanks to LZmommy, i received my 1st ever Bloggers Award. I am TOUCHED and really happy to have found this new hobby of bloggings which allowed me to "know" LZmommy and other bloggers.

Having known some many cyber friends has been indeed a wonderful experienced for me. And i am even very lucky to have chance to meet up with some of these blogging friends. The knowledge and experiences that i had learnt from all these friends are PRICELESS.

The chinese say: "在家靠父母，出外靠朋友". So may all my FRIENDS ENJOY this award too!!

I would like to share this award with my regulars:

Vivien - Protector of My Life

Joyce - The Chiah Family

Stardust - All that Glitters about Vincent

Happypig - Obasan & Ajuma (ps: Angelcow has been awarded.)

“Ah SOHs” meet up – Cycling and makan session @ East Coast Park

One of my long time good friends, Cindy, has a son who is also registering for Primary One this year. Lucky for her, her husband,Dave, is an old boy and alumni of ACS, so needless to say, Angus will definitely get into this school. The other day, I emailed to Cindy and somehow we ended up arranging for a meetup on Saturday for a Cycling session cum dinner @ East Coast Park.


I told Anthea and Anders of our date with Angus kor kor. Both of them were very excited. They had an early nap in the afternoon. When they woke up, both of them were very anxious and kept asking me if we were still going cycling. Reason being there was heavy rain in the early afternoon. I told them: “yes, we are going as the rain had stopped.”

We met with Cindy and her family at the cycling park around 5.45pm. Together we started cycling towards the seafood centre. I had wanted to rent a bicycle which can seat Anders and me while Anthea will ride a kiddy bike on her own. But Anders decided otherwise, he wanted his own bike. So we ended renting 2 kids bikes. Cindy and Dave shared one double bike while Angus rides his own. I am so amazed that Angus had mastered the skills of cycling; he can ride without the additional 2 small wheels to balance. It is very motivating to see him ride on his own, I look forward to the day that Anthea and Anders can do the same.

Adrian jogged along with the cyclists while I walked along with Anders as he still cannot ride as fast as the rest. Anyway it was a beautiful day for cycling as it was very windy and the breeze was cooling. I enjoyed my walk...haha.

After an hour of cycling, we returned the bikes and the children had a quick changed of clothing before we headed off to Jumbo Seafood for our dinner.



Another of my long time good friend, Andrea, joined us for dinner. We had a sumptuous meal of fish, vegetables, meat and of course crab. I enjoyed the dinner very much, not so much because of the food but because of the companionship of my good old friends. At one point when we were taking photos, Dave even commented that it's the gathering of Ah SOHs (阿嫂)。Well, I believe we should be “摩登阿嫂“。哈哈！！

During our school days, we were quite a happening group – we were group of 7 girls and we named ourselves as L.P.A. De Somerset (Levantina Pink Asphalt de Somerset), don’t asked me what it meant, I just knew that it sounded Happenings during the good old days of Centrepoint kids and Far East Break dancers.. : P

Anyway, back to today, we are still in contact and I would always make it a point to be updated with each of them. So far, I am in constant contact with 4 of them. I really hoped that one fine day we can have a reunion of the L.P.A. de Somerset girls.. : )

"STOCK MARKET"

The Primary School registration has started on 30 June 2008. There are phases to the Primary School exercise. I am monitoring the registration stage as if I am looking at the “stock market”… : P

I guess Parents who had been through this phase will understand what I meant. At each phase, the Ministry of Education will update their website and indicate the available vacancies available for the next phase.

This is an update chart from the website.

School Vacancies for Phase 2A1 (Updated as of 03 July 2008)

Ang Mo Kio

School

Total No. of Vacancies /Places Taken Up at Phase 1/Vacancies for Phase 2A1/No. of Children Registered

Anderson Primary - 270 81 189 0
Ang Mo Kio Primary -240 82 158 2
CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ - 210 77 133 46
Da Qiao Primary - 210 45 165 1
Jing Shan Primary - 240 60 180 0
Mayflower Primary - 240 76 164 1
Teck Ghee Primary - 210 58 152 0
Townsville Primary - 270 91 179 0

We are in Phase 2C for the registration and the dates will be 29 – 31 July, so meanwhile I can only wait patiently and look at the chart after each phase to make a decision.

Actually Adrian and I are quite settled with our choice of selection, so there is not much stress on our part yet. Also it’s a normal primary school, so likely we will not go thru any balloting. I am just toying with the idea of sending her to a “branded” school because of Foster Parents eligibility. Anyway, looking at the chart, I think the chance of registering her in this school is getting lower and lower… : P

So far, our attitude towards the children primary school registration has been quite relaxed. We had not thought of enrolling Anthea or Anders into any “branded” school. I guess this is because neither of us is from such schools, so we would not want to Stress ourselves with all the NEEDS TO DO things to get into a branded school.

I was introduced to this website - http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/

After reading some of the articles, I am not surprised at what some parents does just to get their child into an elite school. I know every parent want the best for their child, especially in our society where paper qualifications are so important.

Good Lucks to all the parents (include us) who are registering their children for Primary 1 in 2009.



Happy Independence Day !!

Happy Birthday My Love !

Today is Adrian's 36th birthday !!

We had a nice dinner birthday celebration for him last night at Grand Shanghai restaurant, organized by my Parent in Laws. My MIL had a FREE birthday cake voucher and also enjoyed 50% discount on the meal.

There were about 4 birthday celebrations at the restaurant. The singer sang the birthday songs 4 times..hee.

At the end of the day, Adrian was very happy and said to me: “thank you for the arrangement of the tour and also looking after the children.”

I am glad that he had enjoyed the tour and the birthday celebration. Both Anthea and Anders were so happy at the dinner and both had a good time gulping the hazelnut cake. It was delicious and yummy.

A month more to go and Adrian will need to travel for his work detachment. It's not going to be an easy time for him too as the family is here and he's a FAMILY MAN. Anyway, I gave him my 100% support and will try my 100% to take good care of the remaining A's while he is away.

Happy Birthday to you, my dearest hubby. May you have a good year ahead!!