Navy Open House

Rain did not dampen our spirits as we made our way to the Navy Open House. We took a train to Expo where we boarded the free shuttle place to our destination. We intentionally went there early to beat the crowd.

The kids were excited.





It was still drizzling when we arrived. So we sat under the shelter while the kids were entertained by balloon sculpturer.

After a while, we walked around. The place was quite big. So it was rather tiring.


After a while, I grew bored of the ships as they looked almost the same to be.


I told CT that they actually looked like some ship in a very low grade, lousy graphics 3D computer game. They looked so plastic.


They had long queues of people waiting to go onboard the ship. There was also free duck tours on their amphibious vehicles




After looking at most of the ships, we went into the family zone area where there are lots of game booths.





I would say, this section of the Open House was the most fun as there were games suitable for everyone. CT had a go at the gun, while CT and I played a Memory Game and as for the children...they had bouncy castles. Caleb also went for a photo shoot in uniform! He looked so smart!





I was actually afraid he would back out and not do it after I paid for it. Thank God he didnt and he actually enjoyed himself, though he looked absolutely blur throughout. I think he enjoyed dressing up that's why.

Here's the final outcome we got from the photo shoot! Can't imagine next time when he really gets into National Service when he wears the uniform. I would be so proud!



All in all, we had a wonderful, but tiring time. Oh by the way, I met my 4T1 students there. Pleasant surprise. Spent about 5 hours there!

Place I call home

Everything that goes on everyday is a learning process and I feel I am just soaking it all in and trying to tell myself that I can be better each day.

I have interests in a lot of things (genes from my dad because he is known to me as jack of all trades) and one of those things would be interior designing. I love looking at property and the designs of houses. I would be one of those who buys home and decor magazines if something catches my eye for that particular month the magazine is out in stall.

So as I am staying in my home, I feel I wished I could turn back time and do things a little differently. I have been taking notes of what my dream home would look like and have.

Anyway, one of my regrets is having a coffee table which takes my most part of my living room. We brought the table to the side as my carpet was a little wet. So we needed to dry it. And now that the table is at one side, I feel my living room looked so much more spacious!



Will take note of this in future!

Anyway, the coffee table has served us well as we have our KFC and pizzas on it while watching TV. However, it has also given us lots of pain as we do once in a while accidentally kick our toes into its legs...ouch.

Whatever the case is, I would still call this home as I enjoy eating home cooked meals. My dream home which CT already knows is to have my own garden and growing my own vegetables and fruits so that I can use all that in my cooking for my family and friends.

I guess CT and I are just suitable living in the countryside, away from the hustle and bustle.

For now, I am just happy where I am and enjoying every time I have during meal times with my family.



There's Caleb and Danielle eating sushi. They didnt really enjoy it actually...oh well.

Phoebe turns 6 years old

How time flies..I still remembered when my god-daughter,Phoebe was a tiny little baby. Then at about 2-3 years old, she was very naughty. However, now, she bloomed into a young lady who takes good care of her friends and those younger than her. She has also followed her father's footsteps in becoming a gamer as plays like an expert with her Nintendo DS and Wii. And now, she is coming to 6 years old on 18th May.


Here's Godma with Asher and Danielle.


Party was fun as there were people doing face painting, games and art and craft.




Asher also had a go at it and he requested the painter to draw the Madagascar Lion.


Both Caleb and Danielle didnt want. So too bad, no shots at all.

Here's Phoebe and her friends..


And there's Danielle borrowing Phoebe's doll from the cake...


Then the kids had a game of smashing the Pinata. Caleb had a go at it too!


Once the kids smashed it right, lots of candy will fall off! So fun!


We had a really great time at the party. Thanks Marianne for organising!

Triple Celebrations

Today, we had dinner at one of my family's usual haunt for celebration- Grand Shanghai Restaurant. It is located at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. Intention was to celebrate Pamela and my brother's birthday and since we haven't celebrated Mother's Day,we decided that it shall be a triple celebration.

As usual, there would be live entertainment by the musicians and singer.



It was entertaining for the kids as well. Caleb and Danielle went to the front of stage and just stared at the people on stage.

The soup is as usual very nice! Would strongly recommend it!


So tasty..You can simply tell by the colour of the soup.


We also had stir fried eel. A dish which I recommend you to eat with rice as its quite salty.


Then we had peking duck. My all-time favourite dish and with the meat, we used it to wrap lettuce. Very light and tasty especially with the pine nuts and crunchy water chestnut.


Overall, yet another wonderful experience..

Happy Mother's Day

The day before our Mother's Day celebration, we had a birthday celebration for my mum-in-law at home.



Birthday cake was made by my sister-in-law.

Today, went Chin Lee Teochew Restaurant for Mother's Day celebration. I booked this the last time I was there for lunch with my colleagues.


Their service was very efficient.

We ordered conpoy and fish maw soup, which is one of the best I have tasted. Felt like I was eating shark's fin soup.


Then steamed promfret which came out to be so huge and fresh! I also liked their coffee pork ribs. (Some may not like as its quite strong but thats precisely why I like it), seafood roll with mango salad,


also ordered live prawns with herbs, stir fried veggies, braised sea cucumber & mushrooms


And lastly, yam paste with pumpkin.

Altogether 8 dishes for 9 adults and 4 children. Costs us $265.35 which was very reasonable in my opinion.

The kids grew restless just before dessert and thankfully, they have a playground just next to it!

So I would once again recommend this place for the food, reasonable prices and because its kids friendly, since the kids can always play at the playground if they at bored. You definitely need to book way in advance if you want to eat here.





I hope the prices will remain reasonable despite the crowd!

Huat Kee Teochew Restaurant

I have this colleague, Mr Thoh who loves to treat his friends. He is coming 70 years old in July and in my opinion, is probably the fittest among all of us since he hikes at Bukit Timah almost every day in the forest. His hair is almost all black-natural. Its amazing! Mr Thoh treats me like his god-daughter as his youngest daughter is around my age. So I feel rather privileged. Just few days ago, a few of us even brought him to watch "Ip Man 2" in the theatres as he hasn't been to the movies for about 10 to 20 years already!



He really enjoyed himself as he was laughing in the cinema and told us how happy he was.

Anyway today, he arranged to treat us at Huat Kee Teochew Restaurant. About a week back, we actually went to Chin Lee Teochew Restaurant (Bedok) for lunch but he recommended this one instead, which is at Amoy Street. He said that the food in Huat Kee is less oily.

So off we went once again for another food discovery journey.



There were only 4 of us. So we couldnt order too much to try.

We had braised goose meat

stir fried veggies, which looked and tasted like how I would cook it at home(so didnt really fancy having that in a restaurant like this)

then we had grouper fish head soup which was very nice as they added yam and it was thick and sweet.


They used the body of the fish to steam. This was probably one of the best steamed fish I have tasted


It was cooked to absolute perfection that it just melted in my mouth. Given how big and thick this fish was, every mouth of that fish was priceless...

Then we ended our meal with Orh Nee (yam paste) with pumpkin. Would not recommend this if you do not have a sweet tooth.

Frankly speaking, I still enjoy Chin Lee's teochew food in Bedok as the taste is suited to mine-slightly more oily and tasty. Even the price is more reasonable. At Huat Kee, the 5 dishes we ordered amounted to about $140. But I believe Huat Kee's food is more authentically teochew than Chin Lee's.

So, I leave that for you to decide which you would prefer.

Caleb's 1st wedding

For the longest time, I have been attending wedding dinners without the children as they not only sleep early but they can also be very restless and noisy, so for practical reasons, its best to leave them at home.

Finally today, we decided to bring Caleb along for CT's uncle's wedding at Conrad.

Moreover, Keelia (Caleb's cousin) was there. So we thought at least he has a playmate if he ever gets restless.


The food was quite good. Quite expected since its cooked by Golden Peony Restaurant- one of the top 50 restaurants in Singapore.


Dinner did not start too late as there was the ROM ceremony on stage before dinner. So most guests came early.

Here's Caleb trying to imitate the bride by putting a "veil" over his face.


And there's Caleb with his great granduncle (Tai Chik Kong)


Surprisingly, Caleb was very well behaved throughout the wedding. He sat down at his high chair for most of the time. So proud of him. Maybe I shall consider bringing him for the next wedding dinner...we shall see.

He amazes me...

Today, Caleb amazed me with his drawing. He has always been intrigued and interested in construction vehicles like the excavator and crane. So many times, he have been trying to draw the excavator.

This picture was taken about a month back


It has tried drawing cranes before but you could never tell it was a crane.

But today, he amazed me with his drawing of crane which looked exactly like it! The details he added to the drawing was mind boggling! I didnt even watch his draw that as I was glued to the TV until he showed me his final piece!


I am so proud of him.

Our very first kite

For a long time, I have always wanted to have my own kite. Every weekend, I would notice lots of people-young and old flying kites near my block.

Anyway today, CT and I finally went to buy a kite. So we brought the whole family to the open field to fly though there wasn't much wind (huge mistake given that we were rookies)

Caleb and Danielle had a go with it..




Danielle was just pulling the kite. Anyway, of course they couldn't get the kite to fly. So most of the time, CT was the one playing with it. Our kite trip ended up with Caleb bawling as he didn't have many chances to play and he wanted to play.



So I had to pacify him by passing him my camera to take pictures of us. And he did. So here's what he took!




After many tries and failures to get the kite up, CT finally succeeded with this one. So proud of him!



CT was so hooked on it that he stayed on to play by himself while we went back home.

Not a very good experience today with the kites since we failed so many times. I shall blame it on the weather since there wasn't much wind. Hehe. Anyway, hope the next time would be better. Guess, it just cant be any worse.