Visit to Punggol Beach

We have stayed in Punggol for almost 3 years already and we still have not visited the beach yet. Finally, we decided to go since it was CNY holidays and we had no more visitations to do for the rest of the day.

We brought a book there as we checked out the place. Check out the vastness of space here.

Punggol is a place for bird lovers as I heard there are interesting birds that come by here. Spotted one species on the railing in the jetty..
Along the wall, there are a lot of grafitti writings...

Being always caught in the hustle and bustle of life, it was nice to visit here with lots of tall trees and water (though I wish it can be cleaner and clearer). It was a great visit such that even seeing lots of lalangs made me happy and excited. Haha..

A kelong was spotted nearby...

After walking for quite a while, we rested and I started sharing about insights from a parenting book which I have been reading and we discussed about some issues. I do enjoy moments when I can talk to CT about such stuff and just reflect.

Had an enjoyable time indeed. Not a place if you expect great sand and great place to relax.

CNY visit

During one of the CNY holidays, my family as usual would go to our 'carrot cake' auntie's place. I call her 'carrot cake' auntie because she will always make really good fried carrot cake for us with sambal blachan. Yum yum..

I brought my camera along to take pictures of my relatives as requested by my dad. He came along to visit as well. Yippee..

Let me introduce to you my family and relatives...

Here are the Wongs...

My cousin, whom I always call as "ting ting" is now in Year 1 University. He is studying computer. Definitely not surprise as from young, he has always been spending his time on computers and games. Beside him is my aunt. (My dad's sister) She has been a teacher for a very very long time and I really admire her for that. My family thinks my brother and I got her genes since both of us became teachers. My aunt now is involved in CCA band in HQ, always taking SSO students overseas for competitions.My uncle is retired. Used to be an accountant, but now, he spends his time wisely by doing what he loves- orchid and fishes! This family has 2 more children but both of them are now in Australia.


Now, introducing to you...the Lings.

My aunt on the left of picture is working as an accountant in Hyatt. She has been there for a very long time as well. She is very hardworking and meek. She works even on Sats and Suns at times, especially when closing accounts. I find her very gentle and a very thoughtful and thorough person. My uncle on the right is my dad's brother. He is a very filial person. That is my observation of him. In between them are my carrot cake uncle and auntie. That uncle used to be a chef in Majestic Hotel...but is hard of hearing now and he sleeps a lot. My carrot cake aunt is the one who cooks great carrot/yam cake. She accepted Christ a number of years back already and enjoys being with her friends in church. I also heard recently, that my carrot cake uncle,having a simple faith, also just accepted Christ in hospital. Praise God!

Now, here are my parents-the Lings too!

This is my dad's first time to their place ever since his accident in 2005. He must have enjoyed himself. My dad never fails to amaze me even now as he still works and brings in customers for his real estate business. He has passed down a lot of wisdom to me which has helped me since young and both my parents have been a great role models. My mum is a housewife ever since she gave birth to me...but she always seem really busy, living her life to the fullest by dancing in church, leading bible studies, taking care of dad by bringing him for physio etc etc. She used to be more busy doing much more but I guess now, her focus is to take good care of my dad and support him.

Now, let me introduce to you my brother's family..hmm,the Lings again!

There is Janine, my niece who is 1 year, 1 month old. She can run real fast now. Very cute little one who smiles a lot. Pamela, my sister-in-law who works in Mindef and my brother, who is a teacher in Meridian JC-General Paper tutor, who is going to quit soon to study theology so that he can be a missionary in future to SEA countries. Dont they look alike? Last time, people always thought they are brother-sister and I was the girlfriend. Hmm..Anyway, now that they are married and have a kid, people will know. On the right is my carrot cake aunty's son. He is a part time actor who has starred in many chinese dramas, including I not stupid 2. Hard for anyone to recognise him as he plays all small roles. Haha..

Last but not least, here is CT and I..the Gohs.

Both of us wearing bright red shirts. I have given all families my thoughts. Here are my thoughts for my husband. Chee Tiong (CT) is a very smart guy, always aceing in his subjects which makes it quite sickening because as I student, I hated such people. Haha. He is still trying to understand how I can get Cs and Bs for my subjects. Sickening, right? He is also a very blur person who just went to Anglican High for his secondary life because his friends put that as a top choice and he just simply follows, not knowing where the school was.

Even when he went NUS, he just applied for Chemical Engineering because that was a hot choice during his times then. Sigh.. I always tell him, aiyoh, how can u always follow people and not knowing what you really want. Now, he regrets a little as he told me he wants to be a medical doctor now but its too late because he do not want to waste his time studying now and neglecting me. However, in my eyes, he would always be my Dr Goh. :)

Another thing I liked about him is his drums skills. He had been in the band since primary school and playing the drums. To me, he is the best natural drummer. He is another talented guy when it comes to computers. He can spend the whole day just on internet and I can never figure out how he can spend those hours on it as much as I like computers. Ok, enough about him.

As for me, I am just a simple girl trying to live my life to the fullest-trying to do my best in what I do and just keep looking forward and not the past. Just cant wait to be a great parent now that I am pregnant and at the same time, to be the best wife, best teacher, best daughter as I can be.

Early Reunion Dinner

Today is my family reunion dinner with our relatives including my god sister, Chloe and her husband, Chung. They are both close to us as they do not have family members here in Singapore. Chloe is from HK while Chung is from Malaysia. So, my parents became their god parents. Chloe is the same age as me and was my dad's physiotherapist is SGH, who also happens to be attending the same church as me. Chung is a doctor, both husband and wife from the medical field. My mum invited them over to her place for dinner...potluck session. We had lots of great food as usual.

My mum prepared roast duck, fishballs, ngor hiang, mixed vegetable bean curd dish with fa cai and mushrooms(one of my favourites). My relatives brought kweh pai tee (one of the regular dish brought), fresh huge prawn fruit salad, yu sheng, fried crab claws (with real crab meat inside), and prawn crackers. My mum thought it might not be enough and as usual, she prepares more than what we can eat by ordering 2 "curry in the bun" delivery- one curry chicken and one curry mutton. Sigh...too much.

Anyway, we all tucked in and enjoyed. However, CT couldnt join us because of his shift work. So, I had to take away his dinner for him. After a sumptuous dinner, we celebrated my uncle's birthday.

My uncle is already 70 years old and is retired, spending time with his fishes and orchids at home. He has a huge collection of orchids which I was totally amazed when I went his house.

In the background of the picture are Baby Janine (my niece), my mum and pamela (my sis in law).

This is how tall Janine is at 1 year old. She loves to walk up the stairs on her own and stand here overlooking the dining area where the people are to 'scare' them.

Updates on pregnancy

So far so good. Though I feel more queasy at 13-14 weeks,I really thank God that it has been smooth. Many people came up to me and told me that they still can't see my tummy. Haha..I take that as a compliment cos I am really afraid of becoming too "fat".

Yesterday, went to visit the gynae and I was the first customer in the evening so, I didnt have to wait at all for my turn. So cool. I heard from friends who told me that sometimes, they wait very long for their turn.

I did my usual routine when I first entered the clinic- take my weight and my blood pressure. My weight has increased so far about 2 kg since my pregnancy. So not so bad.

Got to know the gender too! And the gynae told us that it is going to be a boy! Yay! Actually as expected...Many friends and family members all told us that it would be a boy from their "feeling", including my students! No one has ever mentioned that it might be a girl.

Anyway, the strangest thing for some who do not know, I have already chosen the name of my son even before I was married and even before I ever knew CT existed.

I used to play "Neopets"-this online virtual world game in the internet. I set up many accounts to earn more points so that I can get trophies and get better things for my pet. So each account, I needed to choose another name and surname to set up. I have always liked the name Caleb and usually use that for my character name in whatever games I play because I find that name rather heroic sounding. Anyway, the game needed the surname too, so I thought Ling doesnt sound nice with Caleb and so I chose a surname that sounded good with it, which was Goh. I thought Caleb Goh sounds good.

So many years after that, I finally met CT and who know's? I got married to a Goh! Haha..and definitely, you should know now what name I would give my baby boy. :)

So prophetic and amazing I must say!

Here is Caleb Goh-about 14 weeks old (according to gynae), but according to my own calendar, I think I am about 15-16 weeks old. So, am quite confused now...

This is quite a clear picture of the baby. Its slightly more than 7cm long.