Saturday, July 31, 2010

National Day Preview 2010

Posted by Dawn at Saturday, July 31, 2010 0 comments
This year, my school's choir was involved in the National Day Parade. So I had colleagues who had to go down every week for the full day rehearsal. So they have been watching the parade and the fireworks numerous times. They could tell me what time the fighter jets would appear and what time the fireworks would start.

So I took this opportunity to go down for the National Day Preview and decided to let the kids see mainly the fighter jets and fireworks. My colleague told me to be there by 615pm for the fighter jets and so we did. We parked at Marina Square and walked to Esplanade Bay area and waited for the planes to come by.

We first spotted the parachuters...


In between time, we took pictures of the surroundings while the kids were running about and just soaking in the surrounding atmosphere.





There were boats, helicopters occasionally passing us by.




When the fighter jets flew on top of us, Caleb and Danielle were pretty scared. Both of them started crying because it was way too loud for them.



After that, we went for dinner as the fireworks would start later when the sky gets dark. Had dinner at Thai express. While sitting in the restaurant, we could still hear fighter jets flying in the sky. Danielle quickly covered her ears and shouted, "Loud Loud!"



Well, at least it was bearable for her this time since we were indoors.

We ordered fried olive rice and noodles as well as a bowl of tom yam soup. The kids took the rice. They loved it.



Danielle enjoyed feeding herself. She didnt like anyone to feed her. If we tried feeding her, she would scream and start crying. Oh well, its good that she is more independent. We just had to bear with the mess. Its all part of their learning. I am fine with this kind of mess.



After dinner, we sat on the steps outside Esplanade to enjoy the live music while waiting for the fireworks. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. Bearable and very enjoyable. Both my children enjoyed the music and the breeze.





The fireworks came out from the bay area just in front of esplanade. So we were just in front of the fireworks and oh boy, I have never been so close to it in my life!



It was really an experience of a lifetime being so close to the fireworks. An experience I don't think I will ever do it again. Reason is because we were so close to the fireworks that all those black ashes from the fireworks started drizzling down on us! It was a real 4D experience!! It was fun but yet at times, we felt as if the fireworks may just burn us. Haha. But of course, nothing happened after that and we didnt suffer much from the effect. It was just scary at that moment since we have never experienced it before.

Anyway, we had a really enjoyable night and the children kept talking about it all the way home in the car.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Buffet @ Oscar's

Posted by Dawn at Monday, July 26, 2010 0 comments
Had buffet at Oscar's Cafe & Terrace in Conrad Centennial Hotel tonight. Food reviews of that place were quite good as I researched on the internet, so I was pretty excited. Went there because CT's American colleague and his wife invited us and one more couple from CT's company for dinner.



The buffet had so many variety of good, fresh, quality food! I was amazed at the wide selection!

I attacked the raw food first of course, as I would in any buffet! I am a sucker for sashimi and oyster! I could eat plates and plates of those and that would probably cover the cost of the buffet already!



They had lots of variety of sashimi like the sword fish which is my favourite. But they also had king fish which I have never tried before and raw fresh Jap Clams. Ooo..all so good and fresh!


And there would be a guy behind the counter shucking a whole bar full of fresh, unopened oysters in the ice for you.



After satisfying my oysters and sashimi craving, I attached the crayfish, crawfish, crabs, huge prawns, and mussels. Very sweet and fresh! I was even surprised at the taste of the crawfish as I had those when I was in New Orleans and the ones in Singapore seemed to taste much sweeter, meatier and fresher than in Louisiana which is very strange as crawfish comes mainly from New Orleans.


I was quite full after eating all those raw and cold dishes. Didnt take much cooked food except for claypot grouper which was nice and some fried stuff.

There was also a noodle shed outside the restaurant serving laksa, prawn mee soup,tiger prawn noodles dry, bak ku teh, bak chor mee, tom yam soup noodles, wantan mee etc.

I had the wantan mee, tiger prawns mee (which had giant size prawns) and laksa. All tasted quite authentic and good.

There was just so many varieties of everything...See what I mean..





So for desserts, I had gelato raspberry and passion fruit ice cream while CT had the banana crepe with chocolate gelato.




For about $70 per person, I would highly recommend this to anyone who is thinking of going out on a date or to celebrate a special occasion. Don't forget to order their Californian house red wine to go with the wonderful food. Enjoy!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Happy Birthday Godpa!

Posted by Dawn at Friday, July 23, 2010 0 comments
Mr Thoh's birthday is exactly one week after Caleb, which is on the 24th July. He turns 70 years old this year (if I am not wrong). He is so fit as he climbs Bukit Timah Hill at least once a week. He would venture into the forest and climb those few hundred gigantic steps which I would probably pant at the 30th step. Went once with him and he moves like a bullet train on the slopes and steady on the steps without any rest at all! Kudos to Mr Thoh!

I brought him and a few of my colleagues to Chin Lee Teochew Restaurant to celebrate his birthday as he likes Teochew food and since its nearby.



The food was nice as usual. Ordered fried mee suah

as well as a special tea jelly dessert which was good because it was not filling and moreover, we felt like it had some kind of cleansing and soothing effect.



Even the presentation for the dessert was nice!



Happy Birthday Thoh Papa. May you have a fruitful and happy life. Stay healthy and strong!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Shing Lee's Anniversary

Posted by Dawn at Thursday, July 22, 2010 0 comments
Shing Lee is one of the leading educational publishers in Singapore and to celebrate their anniversary, they invited schools to join in their celebrations by inviting us to the Singapore flyer for some food and to sit in the flyer for free. I was asked to go and together with 2 more of my colleagues, we made our way there.



I went there without much expectations or excitement as I have been on the flyer before and found it rather boring because it was moving very very very sloooowly. I didnt mind going again since they needed Math teachers to go and it was the company that really matters. Moreover, I hardly have the chance to go out with Serene and Suhaila. It was an opportunity which I didnt mind grabbing.

All of us were rather skeptical as to whether they will start pressurising us to buy books from them during this whole time..as probably we were 'trained' from our experiences in life that there is no such thing as a free lunch. There must be some sort of hidden agenda for bringing us down, treating us to buffet and giving us a free ride to the flyer which costs almost $30 per person (usual price). It must be too good to be true.





The door gift was rather cute. It was milk bottles. The idea is to thank us for 'adopting' them (the publisher) into their schools.


Anyway, in the end, there really wasnt any hidden agenda. They sincerely wanted us to join in their anniversary celebration. So right after our hi-tea buffet, we went for the ride in the flyer.





The last time I came, the casino resort was not constructed yet. So at least this time round, I saw more things. However, I was still bored and almost fell asleep during the ride.

After the ride, I met up with CT near the helix bridge before we headed to Marina Square for dinner. There was the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) sculpture there at Marina Bay.



We settled in a Myanmar restaurant, Inle in Marina Square for dinner. Because I had quite a lot during the buffet, I wanted to eat something light. So I had soup noodles which I regretted not because its not nice, but CT's fried noodles tasted so much better! Mine just tasted like I could cook that anytime at home.




We had fried gourd for appetisers. Quite interesting. Loved the special chilli sauce



And lastly we had Myanmar version of Ice Kachang



All in all, we were quite satisfied with the food. Only the service was a little tad slow. Costs us about $15 per person.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Racial Harmony Day School Celebration

Posted by Dawn at Wednesday, July 21, 2010 0 comments
Racial Harmony Day is celebrated annually on the 21st of July. This event is to commemorate the racial riots which took place on 21 July 1964. On this day, all schools celebrate Singapore's success as a racially harmonious nation and society built on a rich diversity of culture and heritage which we must appreciate and treasure.

So I strongly believe in respecting all cultures, races and religions and wish I could pass that on to my children.

I am thankful that Caleb's classmates are of different races. He has Korean, Japanese, Eurasian, Chinese, Indian friends in his class.

Anyway, to encourage my son to join in the celebration which he has in school, I borrowed clothes from many of my friends's kids and finally, I decided on this Indian costume which suited him and more importantly, he loved it! He didnt like the Chinese ones though...oh well.


When Danielle saw him wearing the costume, she kicked up a fuss and wanted to wear it too. So here's a vest which my friend lent me as well.


Anyway, happy Racial Harmony Day! May we live harmoniously with one another and appreciate the peace and security we have in Singapore.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Yet another celebration..

Posted by Dawn at Sunday, July 18, 2010 0 comments
Thank God for family and friends! Caleb's birthday celebration just keeps going on and on and on...

Tonight, I celebrated Caleb's birthday at my mum's place. But just before that, I went for the racial harmony celebration which is always a big thing in my estate annually with free games and food for the public.

The downside was that the weather was against us. It was drizzling. So many people seek shelter under the tents which was so crowded. So I didnt manage to walk through the whole stretch.

There was animal rides, paddle boats, reverse bungee, as well as free wii games for the children to play.






They also had free balloon sculpturing for the kids which I didnt take as the queue was quite long.



After staying for just a short while, we made our way to my parent's place for dinner.

Invited Marianne and family too since she's Caleb and Danielle's god ma. She brought a watermelon over and it was very nicely decorated by Phoebe!




There were lots of food! (why am I not surprised?)


There were roast pork, char siew, jelly, chicken wings, fish balls, sausages, bee hoon, macaroni salad etc.

And also a big pot of chicken curry as well as chicken rice wine.


The kids had lots of fun together as well.


They were busy feeding Ashley.



And they were playing with the tricycle, skate scooter and car.


They were also watching cartoons together.


Now that they are older, its more fun as they play together.

After everyone has eaten, it was time for cake cutting. I think Caleb has been eating lots and lots of cake this whole week! Am sure he is not complaining since he loves eating cake!



Ordered this cake from Prima Deli. When Caleb saw the cars, he was so happy and immediately played with it until it became like that....



Anyway, I was really glad he was having fun and enjoying his party!





The party ended off with the kids playing with the fire sparklers which the kids kept coming back for more.. The adults were so scared of their safety but thank God, there was no injuries.



This finally concludes Caleb's 3rd birthday party celebration for this year! Happy Birthday Caleb. May you grow up to be a brave and loving boy who seeks after God's heart as you touch and inspire the people around you. Daddy and Mummy loves you!

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