Birthday Celebration at Gim Tim

Tonight we celebrated my niece, Keelia's birthday. Her birthday actually falls on Teacher's Day (1st September). However, her celebration was brought forward as she would be going to HK during her birthday period.

We had the dinner celebration at Gim Tim. The food was quite nice and tasty. It's a similar concept to Chin Lee Teochew Restaurant at Bedok as its a restaurant at HDB flats.


The children were playing while waiting for the food.

Here's Danielle in Keelia's princess hairband.


And there's Caleb playing with the chopsticks as he pretends that it is a gun. Typical boy.



And here's our scrumptious dinner!

We had spinach bean curd (a common dish in most Chinese Restaurants now) which was very tasty and smooth.



Fried cod(snow) fish. Initially,I thought it would not do justice to a cod to fry it as its a very delicate and light fish which is tasty already. But I truly enjoyed this dish as it was still soft in the inside and very tasty! Loved it!



There was also braised duck with a lot of ingredients in it. Huge plate of that! However, duck was not as tender as I would like it to be.


And we also had longevity birthday noodles which was delicious!


I did enjoy almost every dish. Even the kids ate a lot!

After dinner, Keelia and Caleb was busy playing with a programme in iphone where you are supposed to take care of the cat by feeding it or stroking it etc.

A programme with good intentions to probably teach your kid to love animals ended up with Caleb becoming more violent as he used his fingers to hit the cat till it fainted and there were stars all over the cat's head and Caleb also kept feeding it milk till its stomach was bloated. Sigh...Caleb found humour doing that. Scary!



We also had orh nee for desert and a birthday cake made by Ally! So blessed to have so much food!


We all had a great time celebrating Keelia's birthday as we enjoyed the company and the food! Happy 3rd birthday Keelia!


Gim Tim @ AMK
157 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4
#01-546
S(560157)

Enjoyable times

When my helper,Vicky went back to Philippines to attend her father's funeral and to settle her passport, it was an anxious time for both me and Vicky as we communicated with each other quite often as she first told me that the waiting list for the renewal of passport was very long and the earliest she could get her passport was mid-September.

Then a few days later, she told me she could only get it in October. I was so helpless as my no pay leave only ends on 21 Aug and its not very nice to extend as I am teaching 3 graduating classes. I was even prepared to hire a new helper and to send back all Vicky's things at my place to her house in Philippines.

Anyway, with much prayers from my church friends and family, Vicky could finally get an air ticket back to Singapore without renewing her passport! It was a miracle because immediately after the day she came back, there was a newspaper article that wrote about how the Philippines is now very strict with their helpers leaving the country.

Anyway, to be frank, the children did learn more things when Vicky was not around. They have learnt to be independent as I taught Caleb to wear his own clothes, wash his own dishes all within the first week.


Putting them to sleep, which I first thought would be challenging, wasnt so. I really do believe strongly in the power of prayers and I truly enjoyed my time spent with them, despite feeling so drained physically.



Taking care of them felt so natural. When they were tired, they just knew how to fall asleep on their own. It's not the same when Vicky is around as she would spoil them and because of that, they would depend on her and stick to her when she is around. But thank God, the kids didnt miss her at all. In fact when I asked them if they miss Vicky, they just looked at me with a blank look.

Here were some interesting things that made me enjoy spending time with them.

When Danielle does silly and funny things like this!





We also made our own pizza with the kids. It was fun as we sat down getting Caleb to decorate his own pizza with the available ingredients in front of him.

Here's his masterpiece!


The floor was of course very messy. But that's all part of learning.

As we were waiting for the pizza to cook, Caleb was stealing pineapples! He kept popping them into his mouth non-stop!




We were all sitting on the floor, picnic-style as we waited for the finished product to attack! And once each pizza came out of the oven, we grab a slice and ate it straight from the plate- nice and hot!


We all had so much fun!

Here's one of our finished product! Would love to do this again with them! (shall wait for Danielle to grow up first so that they both can decorate together)

Caleb's 1st PE Lesson

Today, Caleb's school invited the parents over for us to take a look at their PE lesson to give them feedback on whether they should implement it or not for the children. So to give my support to both the school and Caleb, I went despite having a lunch appointment and was busy with making arrangements with my mum in law to place Danielle there as I rushed from place to place. Anyway, it was definitely an opportunity to see how Caleb interacts with his fellow peers.

Their PE lesson sure looked fun.
They were made to take a ball each, put it over their shoulders and throw it. Then they were told to bend down and touch the ball by stretching.



Whenever the coach get them to clear the balls, the kids were all so excited to help him. Its really sad thinking how enthusiasm declines with age for most of the children here in Singapore.



The coach will always give a scenario and let the kids imagine that the ball is something else. So the kids would be listening as he explains the story as he would make it really interesting.



So this PE lesson not only make them exercise but to allow them to use their imaginative skills.

Then lastly, the coach sets up an obstacle course where he would explain the story of animals crossing the river.



For each obstacle, they were supposed to do something with it. So as the coach tells the story, he would show them how it was to be done.


As I saw it, I thought it was too difficult for the children to understand and imitate. But I was surprised. They followed and knew exactly what to do and how to do. Very impressed!



It was really nice to see how much fun Caleb was having.



Hope he will continue to enjoy everything he does and be an active learner till he grows old.

Satisfaction

What are some things that make you satisfied? Some things that bring a smile unto your face and you just imagine a hand petting you on the back that says, " well done. I am so proud of you."

Well, I know mine comes from cooking for the family and seeing them enjoying the food and finishing it up. And the other is probably putting my 2 angels to sleep as they end up sleeping like a log and waking up smiling to you.

I experienced that now since Vicky has been away and I have to do the cooking and handle the kids.

Here's a simple dinner which I cooked during one of the nights.

Stewed chicken with Japanese seaweed, mushrooms and tau pok and stir fry cabbage with dried shrimps as well as a carrot, turnip soup.



And here's another meal where I tried cooking pork bulgogi. Bought the pre-marinated ones from Cold Storage. It tasted really good! Great meal to go with rice.


And here's what I mean my sheer bliss and satisfaction just watching this as I slowly open the room door to take a peak.



I guess in life, we just have to learn to find satisfaction in the things you do so as to keep you going and making your life more purposeful. I don't believe in the mindset where you think this is a waste of time or this is boring and you just stay in that state of mind-feeling down, hating what you are doing, accepting that life is meaningless and accept it.

We need to always look for a positive perspective to do the things we do as we handle life's obstacles that come our way.

6th Wedding Anniversary

Celebrated my 6th wedding anniversary at the hotel which we had our wedding dinner in. We stayed for a night together with the kids. How time flies..back to this hotel with 2 kids after 6 years.

We first had lunch at Golden Peony Restaurant (award-winning Cantonese Restaurant) in Conrad Centennial Hotel.


We felt really uncomfortable when we stepped into the restaurant as the ambience and decor seemed too high class to bring young kids. Its not any regular Chinese Restaurant like Crystal Jade but, I would say, its even more posh than Hua Ting Restaurant in Orchard Hotel.

The dim sum that they serve is so exquisite. Fine dining style. Most of the dishes came in individual portion.






Even the xiao long bao came in individual portion.

Now, dont think that this is the usual size steamer with 6 xiao long bao inside...


It's actually a miniature size bamboo steamer.


With only one xiao long bao in it for each person.



That's probably fine dining for you- small portions, highly priced and makes you still hungry. That's why after ordering about 6 dim sum dishes, we still went on to order fried rice, seafood hor fun as well as fried mee sua with tiger prawns just to fill our stomach.





The food tasted really good, but its too highly priced. A plate of fried rice for maybe 2 pax costs us $20 over dollars. An individual portion would costs about $10-$12. Its madness!

In the end, we spent about $40 over per person for lunch. Oh well..

After that, we checked into the hotel.

The first thing I usually do when I reach the hotel room each time is to jump on to the bed. And that was exactly what my kids did!



After settling down, we went for a swim at the hotel pool.


And of course, the kids also looked forward to the toilet bath tub where they can take a bubble bath and play in there!


We then went out for dinner at Modesto's at Orchard Parade Hotel. I wanted to have good Italian pizza and pasta.



We ordered a kids meal- carbonara with ham, wood-fire proscuitto pizza as well as squid ink pasta with seafood.






The crust of the pizza was nice and crispy while the pasta was excellent. So light and tasty!

The kid's meal came with apple juice and ice cream which the adults ended up eating and drinking! No complains.



After dinner, we walked around for a short while before heading back to the hotel. Didnt linger too long as Caleb was having a fever.

The next day, we went to Wendy's for breakfast


I wouldn't recommend coming her for breakfast. Didn't taste nice at all. But if your curiosity gets the better of you, try it but don't regret it!


After breakfast, we walked around before heading back to the hotel to pack and check out. Though the kids were with us, it was still enjoyable celebrating our wedding anniversary.

Without Vicky...(Part I)

Almost the end of August, Vicky's dad passed away suddenly in his sleep. I was at a loss as she wanted to go back and I didn't know what arrangements should I think about when she's gone- do I bring my children over to my parent's place or in-laws? How about Caleb's school bus? Do I get a temporary helper? But even if I have a temporary helper, I wouldn't know how much I can trust the new one. I probably still need to place the helper and the children at someone's house. I was very helpless.

There have been nights and days when I could just cry out to God to help me because there's just too much options and too little time to decide. Which is the best? Finally, CT suggested that I can also take no pay leave which I didn't think of. It was a brilliant idea as that would minimise any disruptions. Life would still go on for the children. Well, so I went ahead to apply for my no pay leave...and of course, it still wasn't so smooth. Encountered some obstacles but thank God, managed to finally take leave (3 weeks as she needs to renew her passport back in Phillipines) and to prepare myself mentally and physically for what is to come as I spend time alone with the kids during the day.

We, as a family, sent Vicky off at the airport. Getting tickets for her was also another obstacle which we faced as her passport's validity was less than 6 months. The airlines refused to issue her a ticket. So we kept calling and speaking to different sales guy and finally, we booked the flight for her. Sigh.


Surprisingly the kids didn't even kick up any fuss when she left. We simply explained to them and they just accepted it without any questions or expression of longing for Vicky. Thank God.

For the first week, I had a wonderful time carrying out my role as mother and wife- spending quality time with them by cooking for them, fetching Caleb to the school bus, putting the children to sleep, doing laundry, ironing, vacuuming the floor, mopping the floor, cleaning the toilets, making the beds etc.

Here's some pictures of Danielle having lunch which I personally prepared for her!
Stir fried veggies dish and pork ribs...


And noodles with chicken, pumpkin soup.


And fruits after her lunch


My mornings were more or less fixed. The children would wake up at about 730am. Brush their teeth. Serve breakfast (e.g cakes, bread, cereal). Bathe them together. Change them. Switch on the TV while I go do my own stuff on the computer (e.g emails, read online news, facebooking, blogging, games etc) till about 945am when I go prepare Caleb for his school by changing him to his uniform, preparing his water bottle and school bag.

At 10am, I go down with Danielle to send Caleb off to the school bus as it comes at about 1010am. Then I would sometimes bring Danielle to the playground or bring her straight back home and put her to sleep for her morning nap. She would sleep till about 12 plus pm. So I have about one and a half to two hours of personal time.

During this time, I may choose to do housework like laundry, iron the clothes and at the same time, watch TV in my computer. I love to multi-task as I get lots of things done in a short period of time.


Though it is a major shift from my regular work in school, I enjoyed myself as it felt really rewarding as I would accomplish quite a lot of things during the day. I was quite proud of myself.

Almost everyday, I would have piles and piles of unending amount of clothes for me to wash and iron. Its crazy. I really pity Vicky now that I know how much she has to 'suffer' doing all this!


Then Danielle would wake up from her morning nap and have her lunch. After lunch, she would watch Hi-5 till about 2 plus. Then she would play till its time to go pick Caleb up from school at 330pm.



Sometimes, Danielle may be tired again after lunch and at about 230pm, she may go back to sleep. So while she was sleeping at home, I would quickly scooter off to pick Caleb up from his school bus down at my block as I pray Danielle doesn't wake up. Thank God, of all the times I left her alone in the house sleeping, she did not wake up. In fact, she would be sleeping so soundly for about 2 to 3 hours. As for Caleb, when he comes home from school, he doesn't really sleep since he would sleep during the bus ride. Only rarely, he may request to nap.

So they would sleep till about 4pm. Then I would play with them after that. At times, I would do art and craft with them and since National Day was around the corner, I printed out a Singapore flag for them to colour and use chopsticks to stick on it so that they can wave the flag around.



Then they would watch TV while I go prepare dinner till CT comes home.

Sometimes when Caleb is off to school, I would bring Danielle out if she is not too tired. I even took train with her to Kovan and just walked around. It was fun spending alone time with her.


I am not sure how long I can last without Vicky...