Annual visit to Orchard

I am definitely a country gal. Give me a house built in mountains or in big fields with my own animals and crops, and with hardly many people around, I am a happy girl. That is why I hardly go to Orchard Road...unless there is a good reason to.

So annually, we would bring the family to Orchard to view the Christmas lights. But before that, to make my trip more purposeful, I took the train down with the children to Novena, Square 2 first for the Lego fair where they could play Lego there.

I love Lego too as you can build anything you like with it. So simple and creative!

If you like Lego as much as I do, here's a short Lego animated film about how it all began..




The Lego play area will be there till 26 Dec. So if you are interested, do drop by Square 2 Mall for a time of fun for both you and your children.

 

 

After that, it was time in Orchard where we were supposed to meet daddy for dinner before viewing the lights. But we went earlier to walk around first. Caleb got his hands on my camera and he started being trigger happy! Here's some of his shots!

 



 I have to admit that Caleb has a great eye for detail and he also have the 'thickskin-ness' to be a good photographer as he is unafraid or not shy to take pictures of other people.


Met hubby for lunch at Itacho Sushi, Ion Orchard. Better to be early if not there will be a long queue.
The sushi there is fantastic. That is why I didn't even take a single shot of it because each time it arrives, I couldn't wait to put it in my mouth..

 

 

Now my 6 year old son has been made my official photographer!

 

After dinner, we walked from Ion Orchard down to Centrepoint and turned back on the opposite side back towards Tangs.

 

 



Danielle was so tired that she kept pleading with us to carry her..Sigh..I regret giving away my prams.

Finally had a chance to take a picture of my photographer..

 

And here's my all-time favourite mall that puts up great and more importantly, meaningful Christmas decoration each year!

 

 

 

Had an awesome time with the family but was totally drained!! Thank you Lord for the wonderful cooling weather that made the walk so enjoyable!

Belated Birthday Celebrations

As my birthday was held during my church camp, I've got friends who celebrated my birthday after I came back. Am so thankful for their kind thought and gesture in treating me. Knowing that I like Japanese, I have been eating that for my celebrations. Yippee!! Here's what I had at Haramiya, The Central. (very reasonable price for lunch!)

Ate one and a half bowls of Japanese rice, seafood soup as well as BBQ beef. I enjoyed the food a lot! Here's another meal I had with my ex-students, Zhi Hong and Lycia (who has since became my children as they call me mum)..but this time was at Vivocity Basement 1. I had beef again! No guessing what's my favourite meat,huh?!

Zhi Hong recently went to Florida,US for a study trip and he and Lycia shared and bought me this for my birthday, as they know I love watches, esp Fossil ones.

After lunch, we watched Snow White and the Huntsman before going back home. Thanks guys for all your treats and present. I really appreciate all of them and your company as well.

My Unforgettable Birthday Celebrations!!

This year has been an exceptional year for me. I feel that I have been so blessed. This year for my birthday, I had the most wonderful gifts that I could ever receive and birthday celebrations too!

I invited my parents and brothers' family over to my house for dinner as I feel what better place to celebrate than at the comfort of my own home. Also feel that birthday is not about me, but its about serving people and making others feel happy.

So prepared a scrumptious meal for my family. After dinner, we headed to the Punggol Promenade for a walk since my parents and brothers' family has not been there. The kids had lots of fun running around and playing.



Another celebration I had was with my colleagues. My colleague, Thoh "Papa" and good friend, Sarah went to the Japanese Restaurant at Changi Village Hotel for lunch. Great authentic Japanese food! I ordered all that I like as Thoh "Papa" treats me and Sarah as his own daughters..

Just looking at the pictures again, makes me salivate and crave to go back there again for the food!











Everything was good! Think it costs us $150 for the 3 of us!

Anyway, my next birthday celebration was with my Sec 4 Math students. I only started teaching them this year and I am amazed at how close I have bonded with this class.

On my birthday, they came with a cake filled with 31 candles that cannot be blown! It was those trick candles that will always have the fire.


The funny thing was that all of us freaked out as we thought we would be setting the whole class on fire since 31 candles cannot be blown out! We needed the fire extinguisher!

My students gave me a recipe book as well as a weekly planner to plan the meals I would cook. So sweet of them. They also made for me a huge birthday card with all their thoughts in it. I really appreciate it and was very touched.

Guys, if you are reading this..thanks so much for making this birthday such a special one!





Then for lunch on my birthday, I met up with my good friend, Marianne. She treated me to yong tau food at Siglap...one of my favourite place to eat Yong Tau foo! Met in Siglap as I have been putting up at my old house since my parents went for church camp to Malaysia. So wanted to do a staycation there and help them to look after their fishes and my lovely dog, Ashley!



Was looking forward to dinner with the family. Actually planned to eat at LemonGrass Thai Restaurant but CT last minute said he cant come back to join us for dinner..so I just walked out with the kids to have a meal at the food centre. Slightly disappointed to be honest but was still happy as at least, I still get to be with my children.


Life will always spring disappointments but I just choose to focus on the positives and move on!

After dinner, we took the longer route home as I wanted to buy some stuff to make me happy :) Went to Royals Cafe to buy food for tomorrow's breakfast and the kids ended up having fun there!



Also dropped by at Udders Ice Cream place to buy myself a treat!


Not only was it the unforgettable different birthday celebrations that I had with various people, but it was also the wonderful gifts I received.

Here's what I got..
1) Ipad 2 and Diesel watch(dearest hubby)

2) cluedo and life adventures card games (Bro and Pam)

3) Challenger Voucher (parents)
4) nice bag which I love (sis in law)
5) Hush Puppies polo tee (mum in law)
6) Boogle card Game and jelly beans (Sabrina, my colleague)
7) Gifts from taiwan (Sarah, my colleague)
8) stylus for my ipad (Serene, my colleague)


9) Fun gifts like USB port, US dollar toilet roll, cup cover (Shu Xian, my colleague)
10) Recipe book and meal planner (students)

Feel so loved..and blessed.

One of my students asked me a very valid question- what if no one celebrated my birthday. How would I feel? I did tell him honestly speaking, I would be sad but I would not blame them. Instead, I would reflect on myself and ask myself what's wrong with me? But then again, I must also remind myself that with or without celebrations or presents, I should still choose to be happy!

Polliwogs Indoor playground

Since it was still the holidays and CT took leave, we brought the whole family to Polliwogs at East Coast Park. We had a 1-for-1 admission tickets to the place all thanks to POSB card promotion! So it was about $20 for two of my children!



They had a special place for infants or young toddlers.


And also a big, 3-storey obstacle course for the toddlers and older children.



They also have an outdoor slide which is rather high. Caleb went for it immediately once he saw it!





I prefer this place to Go-Go Bambini at Dempsey as its more spacious and open. From the cafe, we can see everything that takes place.




After playing for more than 2 hours, we went to Waraku Japanese Restaurant for lunch that is just beside Polliwogs.

Here's what I had for lunch! A steamboat set and also ordered soft shell crab as sides. The kids were very hungry after all that running and playing in the morning!



Had a wonderful time together! Love the school holidays!