Birthday Month

May is a birthday month where I have close friends and family whose birthday all falls on this month. Here's the list

6 May- Lycia (ex-student);7 May- Pamela (sis-in-law);7 May- Mother-in-law;14 May- Brother;18 May- Phoebe (god daughter);31 May- Sarah Toh (colleague)

However, this year's May celebrations has been reduced since my brother and Pamela are in US.

Anyway, celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday tonight at Changi Simei Community Club (CC) near her house.

The zhi char food is very nice. I would definitely recommend people to go there to eat!

Must order their prawn paste chicken wings

We also ordered frog legs with chicken essence for the children. But I suggest don't order this as its nothing special

The fish steamboat is also very good!

After dinner, the children went to watch cartoon at the CC. With great entertainment for the children and space for them to run, this place is really ideal for dinners!

Lower Seletar Reservoir Park

From the day I touched down from Australia, I was pretty excited to spend more time with my family as I really missed them so much. So I decided to bring them to have fun at the reservoir today. Found out this new place by my blogger friend, Pauline.


The skies were slightly dark but thank God, it was not pouring.

They have a big water area for the kids to play. And maybe because of the weather or that its still a new place, there weren't many people.



There was water practically everywhere..including these steps.




The kids had so much fun.






The view was also stunning.




After that, we had dinner at a seafood restaurant which we have been once and we really enjoyed it for its quick service, good and cheap food at Yishun!



We were so hungry that I forgot to take pictures only until eating few mouths of my rice. We ordered pineapple rice, steamed cod fish, stir-fry vegetables, lemon chicken and a claypot bean curd. Can you make a guess how much did this meal cost?

When I asked my parents, they said $50 - $70. Well, it actually cost us $32! Here's my proof. The bill says $33 but despite the low charge to this dinner, the waiter still get us one dollar off as I went back to him to double check, thinking he must have made a mistake!

Here's the breakdown-
1) Pineapple Rice ($5)- more than enough for 3 adults and 2 children
2) Cod fish ($13)
3) Lemon Chicken ($6)
4)Claypot beancurd ($6)
5) Stir fry vegetables ($3)

No service or GST charge!



If you are planning to go Yishun, do drop by this restaurant. But pls be warned that in order to avoid the crowd, be there when it opens at 530pm. I was there at 545pm and it was already quite packed. And if you like a place with ambience, where you can take your time to eat, dont go to this place!


Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant
Blk 701a Yishun Ave 5 #01-01

Last night in Malaysia

Watching sunrise is something I try whenever I go on holidays. I know its sounds crazy as holidays are supposed to recharge you and let you have lots of sleep. Who would forgo that to wake up early to catch the sunrise?

I guess my name has been given to me rightly or either that, I live up to my name very well as I do wake up early. Even during holidays, I would wake up at about 630am or latest maybe 730am.

Here's the view from our room.


We had our last service, where there was holy communion served before the camp ended. Right after service, we checked out and made our way to Malacca. We left the hotel at about 11am and reached Malacca only at about 1:30pm as there was a jam along the highway. We were starving. However, my dad and his convoy did not meet us for lunch as arranged because they left late and were still stuck faraway. So we arranged to meet straight at the hotel.

I brought my mum and CT to Restoran Peranakan-a lunch place which I loved from the last time I came with my colleagues.



Loved the ambience of this place as it looked like a museum.

Here's Caleb waiting for his food! He loves making monkey faces at this age now..cheeky boy!


There were only 3 adults. So we couldnt order much food.We had beef rendang($MYR 9), sambal sotong($10), lady's fingers($6), otah, soup ($5) and chap chye (mixed vegetable $7). My mum and CT enjoyed it very much. The otah was unique as it came with lime. Not too bad. Total bill was only less than $60 RINGGIT! That means less than $10 sing dollars per person for Peranakan food!




After lunch, we walked over to Jonker Walk for Chendol as well as freshly baked pineapple tarts.





After a satisfied lunch, we went to Hotel Equatorial to check into our room. We stayed on the 18th floor and it was newly renovated. The rooms were so nice, clean and modern! Loved it! The view was also spectacular!





The best part of the room was the day bed overlooking the view of Malacca. Great place to read my book and do my quiet time.


My bro and family arrived just when we checked in. We placed our luggage in our rooms before heading to Pahlawan shopping centre next door.

We went to A&W for a root beer float and curly fries while my bro's family went there for lunch.


Then its shopping time! There was a Padini Sale going on from 50% to 70% at the atrium! Bought two shirts for myself and one shirt for CT.


At night, I brought my whole family to Bei Zhan for dinner. I would always research on good places to visit or eat before my trips so that I can make the best use of it by enjoying the best food and visiting the best sites. So this place had great reviews and its near our place. Probably about 10 mins drive without traffic.


Thank God that there was space for us to dine in, despite not making any bookings.

Its a huge restaurant with two storeys, high ceiling and very colonial looking.



We ordered lots of food! There was a huge steam fish, homemade beancurd, mongolian fried lamb knuckle, roast suckling pig, veggies. All the portions were huge. Think it ended up only less than $20 Sing per person.






I also ordered potato apple juice which tasted just like apple juice.


Had a very enjoyable dinner. My brother had fun chowing down all the strange parts of the piggie, like the ears and the tail.


The only thing that wasn't too pleasant that night was the ride back. The road back home was so jammed that it probably took us about 30 mins to an hour just to get home. It was so near yet so far feeling.

Went back to our hotel at 10pm to catch the World Cup!

Ponggol Choon Seng Restaurant

Now that the students are having their holidays, teachers still have to report back to school for 4 hours from 8am to 12 noon. Its relaxing and quite fun actually. Today, we decided to have lunch together. It was actually a farewell lunch for 2 of my colleagues, Sherly and Alwin.

Went to Ponggol Choon Seng Restaurant for lunch, recommended by one of my colleagues. This restaurant was established in 1956 and was one of the best in the seafood business at the Ponggol End Jetty. They are famous for the chilli crabs and mee goreng.

We ordered a lot of food! It was a 8 course lunch, consisting of fried prawn pancake and ngo hiang



crispy baby squid, which was one of the best I have eaten so far as its not only crispy but very tasty as they added spring onions.


We also had Pipa crispy duck with po piah skin, 2 plates of vegetables (chye sim and brocolli) which was stir fried to perfection. There wasnt any gravy to the vegetables but when you put it in your mouth, it seemed so tasty and fresh! Seemed like a simple, non-complicated dish when you taste it but I dont think it is so easy to create such a dish with immense flavour, without having any sauce.

Then we had their famous mee goreng and chilli crabs


Initially, when I first saw the chilli crabs, I was a little disappointed as the sauce seemed oily and not the usual thick gravy. But then as I ate the crabs, I fell in love with the sweetness of the flesh...the gravy became secondary after that. In fact, the style of cooking, without corn starch in the gravy confirms how skilled and confident the chef is of his dishes.

We also ordered cereal prawns which was huge and succulent! I have to say, I seldom come out from a restaurant, enjoying every single dish that I ordered. Every dish was very enjoyable. I will definitely be back!



If you are interested to go, they are located at 23A-B, TurnHouse Road (Changi Chalets Locality)

Mother's Day Event

Coming back to Singapore makes me once again appreciate how affordable and convenient it is living here. When we touched down close to 10pm, danielle came with my mum and vicky. It was so nice to see Danielle staying awake to see us as if she knew we would be coming back. She was all smiles and jumping!! Yes, away from one week and she has learnt to jump like never before. She would constantly jump on our laps till our arms would ache from carrying her. So, she is just like her korkor-jumpy baby!

Today, brought my mother-in-law to church for a Mother's Day tribute service. The Mediacorp artiste,Jacelyn Tay and her mum came to our church to give their testimonies about how they came to know the Lord.


It was a wonderful and powerful testimony as Jacelyn came from a very staunch Buddhist background. She would go for Buddhist classes, have a Fa Ming (a Dharma name traditionally given by Buddhist Monk) and wear black robes. She was one who depends on luck, so she pray to all gods, in the hope of continually becoming popular and famous.

In Jan 2006, she took part in the Renci Charity Show and was injured. During the time of recovery at home, she actually received a letter from a lady, who is not her fan and is 57 years old. She said in the letter that she dreamt of Jacelyn and in her dream, God revealed to her to pray for Jacelyn.

After that encounter with the strange letter, she consequently met people telling her about God. The father of the chiropractor who treated her was also a retired Bishop in a church and Jacelyn actually challenged him to a series of questions she had to see if he could answer her. In the end, she was convinced by the answers and believe that there must be a God. So she accepted Christ.

Then one day, she wanted to be baptised but her mum, who was still a staunch Buddhist objected strongly. She even asked the Shifu to speak to her. Jacelyn told her mum that if the Shifu could not answer her questions, then she will go ahead to get baptised.

So Jacelyn asked the shifu, " As a Buddhist, I have to work very hard. I have to do good so that I can earn points in my report card, hoping that my next life I may be able to become a Buddha. And then as a Buddha, I have to work some more because I want to go to the world of 'nothingness'-Nirvana. If that is the case, who decides what I have done so wrong to fall into this wheel of reincarnation? What have I done wrong? Who decided my first life? What did I do to come into this world? Where do I come from?"

Shifu answered," From the world of nothingness" Then she went on," But if I come from nothing, which is the ideal state, what wrong did I do to fall into this wheel of reincarnation?"

The shifu could not answer her. So she said, " Everything is meaningless. I came from nothingness and I have to work so hard to go back to the world of nothingness." So in the end, her Shifu couldnt answer her and he told her mum to let her be baptised and be a Christian.

Anyway, finally, after a series of events and time spent with the mother, she also came to accept Christ.

I strongly believe that as long as you have a series of questions about life to ask, you will definitely be answered and eventually, you will realise that the Bible has all the answers.

That was how I came to know the Lord too as when I was in primary school, I kept wondering what will happen when I die and where will I go to. Will I be a bubble or just vanish without a trace and without any knowledge that I have died? I was so frightened that I started crying almost every night in bed. It was all these questions that made me realise that only the Bible has the answers and it is only right and logical to be a Christian as it gives me new meaning and purpose to life.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)



Anyway, the amazing thing is from this event, many went up to ask Jesus into their lives, including my friend's mum whom I knew personally. My ex-church friend brought her whole family to attend and her mum has always been attending such events in our previous church. But finally today, she decided to give her life to Jesus. It was very touching when I saw her go up to be prayed for by the Pastor. My eyes just welled up in tears as I rejoiced. I think I would just break down and cry if my in-laws and my relatives also come to know the Lord. I would be so happy. And I know my family and all the angels in heaven would be rejoicing as well.

After service, brought my mum-in-law for dinner, together with my sisters-in-law at Changi Village coffeeshop for zhi char. Food was quite nice as we ordered Frog Legs, Steam Fish, Yam Basket, Veggies with mui chai, beancurd, sharkfins melon soup, braised pork belly.



The only downside was Changi Village was so crowded that CT had trouble finding parking lots. CT dropped all of us at the coffeeshop first before finding a parking lot but he only arrived when we all ate finished. And moreover, CT didnt know he left Caleb all alone in the car as Caleb dozed off behind the car in his car seat. So CT had to go all the way back to the car, which was parked in the beach area to 'collect' Caleb. Ha.