Welcoming 2016

When we were younger, we used to head to friend’s place on New Year’s Eve for the countdown. The host will usually prepare dinner and snacks for us to last us till mid-night. Those were the days and now, our life has reached another level.

We tried celebrating the New Year with friends while their kids were younger and managed to keep their children awake till the countdown but now, it seems too difficult to do so anymore. We, as parents can’t even keep our eyes open when it reaches ten o’clock… hahahaahah

This year, we had our dinner at the comfort of our home and it was a simple and quiet celebration. Our kiddos were happy and we get to celebrate & did the countdown with them though we somehow took a nap and woke up just in time for the countdown…

Welcome 2016!!!! May this year be a better and fruitful year for everyone!

Our Yearly Yearend Gathering

Though we meet each other pretty often in a year but we never fail to meet again before the year ends.

This year, no exception, we met for high-tea at Le Espresso located at Goodwood Park Hotel. We did not manage to meet for Christmas this year and we had our gift exchange at the same time too.

This would be my 2^nd time dining at the Le Espresso and the spread remains fantastic! Besides their normal spread, they included some Christmas specials too and man, we enjoyed every bit of it.

Each time when my gang gets together, we are always cracking up with many funny stuff… and that’s makes me love them so much! We somehow never fail to create wonderful and memorable stunts at each outing.

During this meet up, we too took the opportunity to discuss about our up and coming trip together and it really got us really excited that we mentioned so many stuff to do like as if we are going to be away for a week!

Oh yes… we are sooooooooooooooo looking forward!!! Woohoo!!

Catching Up With Buddy

Office closure is the best time to catch up with pals before year ends. J

Today, I am happy to have met up with my buddy Rie whom I missed working with… we totally had so much fun during those days in office where we will start to do silly things whenever the boss is not around. Honestly, we did some other ugly stuff even the boss is in… hahahaahaha

We went to have our lunch at Angelina located at Capitol Building and this would be my first time trying out the food there. Both of us were kind of lost in that place though there was not much choice early in the morning… hahahaahah

We settled for their set lunch which was totally a treat! It was a $39++ 3- course lunch set with soup/salad, main and coffee. We both opted for the salad and man… it was superb! The portion was pretty generous and so delicious that I would like to have another portion.

Then came our mains… I had the ravioli truffle and she had the king prawn fettucine in cream sauce. Both were fantastic!!! After the wonderful set of lunch, we were left with no space for desserts…

Though it was a short meet up but we totally enjoyed each other’s company and of course the funny conservation we shared… hahahaah…

Boxing Day

It has been a tradition to allow the kiddos to open their Christmas presents on Boxing Day and I am really happy that Faith kept that in mind.

Early this morning, she actually reminded me about opening her presents and asking me when will be the good time…

Faith      : Mummy, when can I open my presents? It is Boxing Day today right?

Mum     : Yes sweetheart, you can open them today but perhaps after dinner.

Faith      : Huh… how come have to open after dinner? I will be having lunch later right? Cannot open     after lunch?

Mum     : mmmh… don’t you think it’s better to open your presents with the family? We can wait for     Papa right?

Faith      : mmmmh… Okay lor… but I have to wait so many hours until it’s after dinner… I wish we      can have DINNER now!

Mum     : **Eye Rolled**

Baby Emma wasn’t sure what she was doing but somehow happily tearing the presents and smiling when I helped her to open some of the gifts.

 Thank you everyone for your gifts.

Christmas @ Cousin’s Place

It is a yearly affair that we will have a family gathering during Christmas season as one of the bonding session. J

This year, we celebrated Christmas with someone closed missing in the family. My dear Third Aunt who passed away just a day after Emma was born. It was one of my greatest regret not being able to see her for the last time and not able to send her off.

My cousin BG invited us to her place for Christmas dinner gathering but I do feel her presence though she is no longer with us. She was the one who taught and spoke to me in Teochew since I was little and I do miss her pretty much. Mmmh….

I am pretty proud of my cousin BG who single-handedly prepared the food for us with very little help from my other cousin’s helper. Cousin BG, someone whom I know with very little knowledge of cooking could now stirred up a table of delicious food. Thumps Up!!

This would be the 2^nd visit of Emma to cousin BG’s place and though she is pretty much unfriendly towards my relatives but at least, she was comfortable to be left alone to play at least for about 20 minutes. :0)  

Though it was a simple gathering but to me, it was a great session and fellowship the family. Our kiddos are happier in receiving X’mas gifts from their aunties while the adults enjoyed food, talks and laughs.

Merry Blessed Christmas everyone!

MC Annual D&D 2016

This year’s D&D is slightly different from the usual as we celebrated MC’s 60^th Anniversary during our event. Many programs were aligned for this special occasion and I would say I am very happy to be part of the committee.

Since the theme is Glamorous 60^th so, we requested my best buddy Rie to do our make up for the night and man…. she did such a fantastic job! Not only that she was our MUA but also the partner of Jessie so that she can join us for the dinner too.

The crowd tonight for the event made an historical number of 440 guests which is one of the highest numbers! Though the ballroom was able to accommodate maximum tables of 42, we somehow managed to squeeze everyone in and there were still room for walking. J

The night began with the Taiko Drum as the opening and followed by GM’s speech, Long Service Awards and we arranged a cake cutting ceremony to mark the 60^th Anniversary for our company. The cake was distributed to every table after the ceremony and was really happy that it was enough to feed all. J

Before the dinner was served, there was a slide presentation of our company’s history back from 1955 when our company was established. I was happy that everyone enjoyed the slides which I had prepared and I did received good comments for it too. J Woohoo!!!

I was able to enjoy the dinner with old colleagues as we invited the pioneers to join us and with their company, it made the event even more special. The program did not bore us as there were many performances by staff and we added bonus draws in between the dinner to surprise our guest. Besides the bonus draws, we too prepare 25 lucky draw prizes compared to the usual 20 prizes. :0)

 

The entertainer that we chose for the night really brought the whole event to the highest point of joy. Charles the beatboxer, who did such a fantastic job and the whole ballroom, was filled with excitement and everyone was so attentive to his performance. For me, I wanted to bring him home to be my personal radio…. Hahaahahahaha

Thought it was just a few hours of fun but at the end of the event, I felt a sense of relieve and satisfaction for it went very well. I really want to thank the SUPER DUPER GOOD MC Joshua Tan who made the inactive crowd to join in all the games and making them enjoyed the event! Thumps Up! 

A big THANK YOU to my fellow committee members who worked so hard for this event and deep appreciate your kind effort and cooperation!  Cheers!

 

 

Star Wars Craze

The Star Wars movie released yesterday and many of my friends managed to get the tickets for the premier or the opening screening. For me, I would love to go but can’t get the tickets as most of them bought the tickets a month or 2 ago.

Samantha saw the news about the Star Wars Ez-link cards to be on sale today at selected 7-Eleven stores and I rushed down to get the cards this morning! I was Feeling happy that I was their 1^st customer to buy the cards since the sales opened. J

Well, though it’s the Star Wars craze is only for the time being but being a big Star Wars fan, the craze will last me as long as it takes… J

Goodbye Penang

After a wonderful 3 days of adventure in Penang, today marks the last day of our family holiday for the year. At breakfast, our kiddos were not on high spirits as they were told that we will be heading home and no more indoor playgrounds, shopping and chilling with the cousins.

It was a happy breakfast with the family until baby Emma cried as I have stopped giving bread as she had too much… she started crying and I thank her sister Faith and cousin Gen for the rescue as they tried to soothe her and made her laugh again. J

We settled our lunch at the hotel café since it’s was our last day. I thought the food at the café was pretty tasty especially their Hor Fun which our parents ordered. As for me, I took their Penang fried kway teow since I did not get to enjoy the famous one the other day.

It was our baby girl’s first ever flight experience and was a good one from Singapore. I do hope that she will have a pleasant flight back to Singapore later… J

Penang, I am sure we will be back again… J

Penang Adventure Continues

We have exciting program for the family today as we discussed over breakfast this morning. We planned to visit the 3D museum and hoping to check out their famous street paintings.

We set off to the 3D museum right after breakfast and we were lucky to have hired a van for the day since we have a couple of places to visit. Our driver was one super punctual and nice guy. It was by chance that we were connected with him when he took his taxi last night and he started to introduce Penang to us which ended up hiring him for today. J

Our 1^st stop 3D museum was pretty refreshing to all of us as this would be the first time we visit a 3D museum. Hahhaahahaha…  it’s always great to be early so that we can beat the crowd which follows up not too long after we arrived. J

The journey in the museum started off with history of Penang and those war days which did not interest the children at all. But when it reached the objects like bicycle, trishaws and some interactive stuff along the way, the children became very awake and ALIVE!

The background or pictures on the wall were very pretty and what made it more interesting was the turnout in your camera… simply fantastic! Both adults and children had loads of fun in the museum.

After an hour of fun in the 3D museum, we told the guide that we would like to visit the streets where we can see those beautiful wall paintings and it wasn’t far from where we were. The sun was too hot for us to walk the whole street and we managed to get some pictures of the famous one…J

Slightly before lunch, we headed down to Chinatown so that the elderly can do some of their shopping. To our disappointment, there is nothing much to see or buy at Chinatown except for many Baju Kurong. We went to have lunch at the nearby coffee shop instead and the food was good but I wasn’t in the mood as the weather was too hot!

Before heading back to hotel to chill, we went to their local souvenir shops to get some local goodies for our friends back home. Mum was happy to shop and man… she bought quite a bit of stuff despite me telling her that she only had one cabin luggage!

Day 2 In Penang

We definitely had a great night sleep and the kiddos were excited over the day’s program when we told them over breakfast this morning.

After our breakfast, we walked over to the nearby shopping mall it housed the indoor playground. It was recommended by Maggie’s friend who went there recently and told us that it will be great fun for the kids.

The indoor playground was pretty big and the kids should be able to enjoy the entertainment provided for them while the adults and the elderly started their shopping in the same premises. As it was early and many shops were not opened yet but I was still able to get some stuff from the gift shop located beside the indoor playground.

As for luncheon, hubby suggested to head out for Penang’s famous Char Kway Teow while the kids will be taken care of by Maggie & Amos. We went back to our hotel to settle down our shopping bags and took a cab to the famous street that served delicious char kway teow. Honestly, it wasn’t far from our hotel but under the scorching sun, it’s better to get a cab. J

When we arrived at the coffee shop, we noticed that there were many people standing around waiting for seats and I was quite concerned about little Emma might be cranky due to the heat. When we finally got seated, we ordered the famous kway teow, rojak and their ice kachang.

The so-called famous char kway teow was overrated in my opinion. It was tasty but I preferred the one back in Singapore located in Bedok! That is my favourite and will be my only LOVE. J The only thumps up will be the kway teow wasn’t as oily as what we had in Singapore.

After our sweaty luncheon, we returned to hotel and went to chill at the Club Lounge. We were happy that our rooms were upgraded to Club and able to use the facilities especially when our elderly preferred to chill with their coffee. :0)

For dinner, we headed down to Gurney Drive for seafood and it was pretty delicious with good reasonable price. That’s wraps up the 2^nd day of our adventure in Penang. J

Penang, Here We Come

My last trip to Penang was about 6 years ago when I was pregnant with Faith. This trip is kind of different as we are back with our 2 girls and this trip marked Emma’s virgin air travel.

Initially I was afraid on how Emma will react on plane as it’s her first time but I am really thankful that she managed to sleep through the 55 minutes flight. When we arrived in Penang, weather was somehow similar to Singapore’s – it was raining in the late afternoon but I do pray that we will have good weather throughout our trip.

We checked ourselves into Hotel Jen which is located at Georgetown and we had a short rest and left for our early dinner. We walked to the nearby seafood restaurant for our 1^st dinner in Penang and it turned out to be GREAT!

The dishes we ordered were delicious though not all were seafood. The kiddos were enjoying the food especially our picky lady Faith. After dinner, we went back to our room for an early night to save up our energy for tomorrow. J

Baby Emma Turns BIG ONE!

OMG! Our baby girl Emma turns ONE today! They are growing too fast till I can’t even catch up! I wished she is still the little baby whom I carried in my arms and sleeps after every feed.

Now she is ONE and started crawling quicker than ever… I guess in no time soon, she will be starting to walk and then will be talking back at us when we scold her. L

After that celebration during the weekend, we had a simple cake cutting ceremony at home since I kept a part of her cake. J She seemed happy and even clapped when we sang her the birthday song.

Happy blessed birthday baby EMMA. May God continue to bless, watch and protect you always. We love you very much!

Emma’s BIG ONE Party

How time flies… I remembered that I started my maternity leave from the end of the 1^st week of December last year and this year; here I am celebrating her 1^st birthday!

We arranged the birthday party to be near our home as we know how cranky our little will get when she is hungry or sleepy. Thank God for the wonderful estate that I am staying where we are able to get a private function room at Pasta Mania to hold this simple celebration for her.

We arrived there earlier to oversee things but it was all set up and ready for our party. Not too long later, our guest arrived punctually and we started the party on time. J It will be 1^st time to meet Ms Emma for some of my friends as they did not make it for her full month celebration in January.

We are not too sure if she knows what is happening but she was a happy baby though seated on the high chair most of the time. She was entertained by her sister Faith, cousin Gen, Shevaun, Shevelle & other friends of mine who came forward to play with her despite her screaming at them. J

When most are settled in, we started the cake cutting ceremony and photo sessions. It was all good and quick so that we have more time to spend with our friends and family who came for the event. We were happy that everyone enjoyed the food and many had a second or third serving of the birthday cake.

Thank you friends & family members who came for the party and sincere thanks for your lovely gifts too… most importantly your presence!

Cirque Du Soleil

I remembered the last time we watched Cirque Du Soleil was more than a decade ago and I am so happy that they are back to Singapore once again!

This time, we brought along our little lady to watch this fantastic show at the MBS. We went for a quick dinner at Marche before heading down for the show that I have been counting down to watch since the day I bought our tickets. :0)

Our view from our seats were pretty good for a cheaper price but what made the show even more worth it was we were allowed to fill up the more expensive and better view seats just after 5 minutes after the show started. J

We moved to the side center and we had a better and closer view of the performers. Our little lady got really excited as she had a better view than our actual seats. The show started with a bang as usual and the stunts were refreshing and fantastic!

All the items were very stunning but my favourite would be the stunts performed on a single high wheel where they ride and balancing the bowls on their heads. Little preferred the item performed by this lady who danced around with the small rings round her body… that was fantastic too. :0)

This is one of the circuses we would definitely wouldn’t want to miss a bit. Let’s hope that they will be back again in the near future!

Wine Tasting

Leaving office early for wine tasting is such a wonderful feeling and yes, that’s what I am feeling today! We were heading for wine tasting for our D&D at the Wine Merchant located at Chinatown. We left the office slightly early and headed down to Chinatown to check out the wines.

The Wine Merchant is a small little shop situated near the Hong Lim Market and though wines displays were not as impressive as Wine Connections but they sure have pretty good wines in the shop. As we got down to taste the wine, we started off with the 2 types of white wines. Personally, I like red more than whites but this white wine that I tasted was really good and I can’t seemed to stop drinking. J

The reds were good too but surprisingly, I preferred the white this time. Oooopppsss… I guess I will be drinking more of whites during our D&D rather than red… :0)

Dinner Gathering @ Hana

It was a long delayed dinner gathering with Minowa-san and finally, we met up today to dine at Hana, located at Cuppage Plaza. It was recommended by Minowa-san as usual who knows good Japanese restaurants.

It was a small & cozy shop that served pretty good Japanese cuisines. We left the ordering of food to Minowa-san as I have simply no idea what is good. I could only request for my octopus, squids etc… and it was usually granted. J

He ordered pretty interesting dishes like the Uni Sashimi, grilled stingray fins, fried octopus, seasonal fish and the yummy garlic fried rice. I would say that the food they served was tasty but not too sure of the cost as it was a treat from Steven. J

Dinner was good but the companion and fellowship was better. :0)

Shevaun Turns 6 Years Old

Baby Shevaun is baby no more! We celebrated this little young lady’s 6^th birthday party at Tiara Society located at UE Square today. Maggie planned this party about 3 months ago and told me that the kids will be happy to be at the party as they will get to dress up.

When we arrived at the party, Faith was really excited to know that she will be able to dress up like Cinderella – her favourite princess in the Disney serials. She did not take long to change into the princess costume and had chosen her tiara to match.

 

The program started with costume changing, playtime, cupcakes decorating and then games for the kids. The program really kept the kids busy while the adults managed to enjoy their dinner. Kids were asked to gather for the photo taking with the birthday princess as they sang the song and followed by cake cutting ceremony.

Royal dinner was served to the kids… well, not exactly dinner but more like snacks and cakes. The dining table was set up pretty and the kids were happily enjoying themselves. The party did not end after the snacks but continued with story-telling at the royal carriage where kids sat around and listened attentively to the host. :0)

Faith was happy and still full of praise for the party though very tired after playing princess for the last couple of hours. J Thanks for the wonderful party and having us to join this wonderful occasion.

Happy Blessed Birthday Shevaun! May God continues to watch and protect you always.

Baby Girl’s School Concert

We were told by teacher every year that there will be a K2 school leaving concert and we did not join till today. Since the day of the announcement of the concert date, the kiddos started practicing their performance.

When we arrived at the concert venue located at Tampines, I was excitedly to get a glimpse of our baby girl but all the kids were in their costumes already. After a few minutes, I found her with her friends walking up to the concert hall to get ready and I managed to get her to pose for a picture before she headed to the back stage.

The concert started with 2 of her K2 pals being the Master of Ceremony for the day. They spoke in both Mandarin and English fluently which was really entertaining. With the program lined up with the first performance from kids who took Piano lessons. They played simple nursery rhymes and were good.

Followed up was the items by Faith’s classmates and then it was her 1^st performance on stage. I was really excited to see our little girl on stage and spoken well. Feeling very proud of her, my tears somehow flowed down uncontrollably…

After her 1^st performance, I was waiting patiently for her 2^nd performance which was the dance she practiced so hard in school and at home. They came out in their Kabaya and danced along with the song ‘Rasa Sayang’. It was really well-practiced and I was overjoyed to see how well she danced.

After a 2 hour of fantastic entertainment by the kids, they ended the concert with the presentation of the K2 students in their graduation gowns. It was really sweet and I will be witnessing that next year when baby girl receives hers.