Farewell Asami

When she first joined MC as a replacement during Yuki’s maternity, she was pretty much BLUR, confused and almost not understandable… hahaahahah however, as time went by and she worked with good skill of patience, eagerness to learn and tried her best to adapt to our local culture.

Today, she became one pretty likeable lady whom we had pleasure working with and it was really great to see her improvement by the months. But sadly, she will be leaving us! Her husband was asked to return to Japan for a new assignment and she had to follow.

It was really wonderful to have her though she may not close to us like the rest. She never failed to join us for our private gatherings and someone willing to chip in for pot luck whenever necessary. Asami-san, it was really nice to know you and I do sincerely wish you all the best.

Farewell Moriyama-san

Our CRO Moriyama will be leaving SIN for his new assignment back in Japan this weekend. He, being the warm, friendly and sweet boss, visited us to bid farewell. It was really sweet of him and we will be missing his smile in the office...

We would like to wish you all the best in your new assignment and hope you stay in the pink of health. Thank you Moriyama-san and your presence will be missed. :)

Disney On Ice

School holidays’ is here again and I am happy that I finally managed to bring lady Faith to watch Disney On Ice.

Couple of years back, I wanted to book the tickets for Disney on Ice but somehow it was sold out within a few days after they released dates for bookings. I was obviously upset but then again, I thought to myself that Faith was still young and she may not sit still to enjoy the show afterall.

Last year, I wanted to book for the tickets as I know Faith was ready. Unfortunately the dates were not on our side as there were couple of events going on and we weren’t able watch once again.

This year, YES… FINALLY… we are going to watch it no matter what happens… Maggie kindly bought the tickets for us and what’s best was… we managed to get a discount using certain credit card as a promotion.

We are here today to watch this awesome show and our seats were great! Lady Faith was really excited and she was thrilled at every stories. I personally enjoyed the Beauty & The Beast and as for Faith and all the kids in the house, Frozen was their ultimate favorite! The whole indoor stadium was singing along ‘Let It Go’ and somehow the bad feeling with that song was gone for ONCE! hahahaahahah

It was overall a pretty good show especially for the kids. The dance moves and the music were superb and I enjoyed it very much too. I might consider bringing both Faith and Emma next year if they are coming again. J

D&D Committee Dinner Gathering

After all the hard work for the dinner & dance last year, our wonderful advisor kindly treated us to a sumptuous dinner at Tung Lok Signatures located at The Central.

He was very kind to order the dishes for us which he mentioned they were their signature dishes. We were all looking forward to each dish to be served. Our first few dishes were the crispy roast pork, salted egg-yolk fried fish skins, Peking duck and the star among these dishes were the SUPER DELICIOUS shark’s fin soup!!! It was extremely YUMMY as the soup was creamy and thick compared to those we had at D&D or wedding dinners.

The other dishes were abalone, bamboo clams, vegetables and porridge. The porridge is one of the extra-ordinary dishes and I simply love it after having so many super foods. I might say that the dessert is another STAR of the night. It was ice-cream in coconut and served with dry ice… SUPER SUPER SUPER! It was simply amazing and all of us enjoyed the SUPER DINNER!!!

While we were enjoying our heavenly dessert, they came in with a plate of red bean paste cake and started singing some Chinese song concerning bosses… it was funny but yet interesting. :0)

Thank you Kaiye Steven for the SUPER DINNER and thumps up for Tung Lok Signatures and can’t wait to visit again!

Till We Meet Again, Perth!

Woke up this morning feeling kind of sad as we are heading back to SIN after a week’s holiday! The thought of heading back to office is such a dragged feeling! Sighz… but guess every holiday will come to an end so that the next one will start…. J

After our home-made breakfast, we headed down to the nearby shopping mall for our last minute shopping since we have some time left before our flight. Our kiddos especially Faith is already missing Perth the moment we left the shopping mall after our early lunch.

It was about 15 minutes’ drive from the mall to the airport and check in was smooth too. Since it was about an hour before boarding, we walked and shopped around the Duty Free shops while hubby went to the café for his dose of coffee.

It was a smooth and peaceful flight back to SIN and both girls were enjoying themselves with TV programs while baby Emma took her beauty sleep.

Now we are counting down to our next holiday and hopefully we will be heading back to Perth again soon!

A Visit To Fremantle

Fremantle is one of the places to visit when you are in Perth. We planned our visit to Fremantle today as we will be heading back to SIN tomorrow. Yea…. Time really flies when you are having a great time.

We arrived at Fremantle Market after our breakfast and there was a crowd already. Though it will not be as crowded compared to Sat & Sun but finding a place for a short break is still kind of difficult. We walked around the market and little Faith was excited to see so many different kinds of stalls selling beautiful stuff like cute keychains, handmade dolls, toys and cushions that somehow attracted her attention.

It was really interesting walking the Fremantle Market though it’s not huge. We managed to get some stuff from there and continued to walk around Fremantle itself. We headed to Kailis’s Fish Market for our lunch but joined by some annoying seagulls. The food was pretty nice and Faith liked her fish & chips while we enjoyed the seafood with white wine on a hot day.

The beach was beautiful and I somehow regret not bringing the swimwear on this beautiful sunny day. Though it was pretty hot but was comforted by the strong cool wind.

We would love to be back to Fremantle again perhaps on a Saturday night as there will usually be more stuff to see like outdoor concerts, food stalls and other stuff for children.

After touring Fremantle for more than half the day, we headed back to our favourite hangout, Coles for marketing. Yes, I spent one hour marketing for our dinner for the night while hubby chilled out at the coffee shop located outside the supermarket. J I will be missing the supermarket in Perth when we return to SIN…

A Great Day In Perth City

Time flies and our holiday are almost coming to an end. Though we missed home but who wouldn’t want to have longer holidays right! We took the time out today for our souvenirs shopping in Perth City. 

Headed downtown to get the macadamia nuts, goodies, and some cute souvenirs for our family and colleagues back at home. Since we were in town, we invited Mike to lunch with us as his office was about 10 minutes’ drive away from where we were.

We went to the famous Good Fortune Roast Duck for lunch. It’s definitely a DUCK house so, we tried their duck rice and noodles while little lady preferred chicken over duck. The food was pretty tasty and price reasonable as the portion can be shared by 2 adults. 

In the evening, we went over to Mike’s place as the kiddos wanted to take a dip. They lived in a beautiful house near the city and simply love their pool by the garden. J Mike kindly prepared a spread for us. I was really impressed on how good and fast he dished out the dinner spread. It was really great opportunity to dine at their beautiful house and enjoyed the conversation while the kids played by themselves. 

It was one fruitful day and wonderful dinner indeed!

Exploring Swan Valley

This is one place to visit when you are in Perth, say many people. We decided to explore places of interests in Swan Valley and found out that there are many vineyards in this area and most of them are popular to tourists.

The first place would be the Caversham Wildlife Park on our agenda for today. It was about 20 minutes’ drive from our apartment and it was pretty easy to locate this Wildlife Park and the park was surrounded with many vineyards.  

It was another HOT day in Perth and we do hope that we can have some fun in this park. Lady Faith was really excited when we arrived and she could not wait to see the kangaroos and Koalas. We headed straight for the feeding of the kangaroos as that was what excites Faith most while baby Emma was more on the cranky mood due to weather.

Faith went to get a handful of kangaroo’s food to feed and being gentle feeder, she was somehow surrounded by many kangaroos and she wasn’t afraid of them at all. Baby Emma was not too interested perhaps she is still young to know.

After the feed, we went to check out the other feeding time for other animals. I was so glad that the area was an air-conditioned area where they had some birds, wombats displayed for photography. It was certainly an enjoyable time to spend inside this cooling area and Lady Faith was happy to see her favorite owl and was amazed how huge the wombats was when we had a family picture taken. The wombats was actually bigger than baby Emma!!! Hahaahahahah

Headed down to Chocolate Factory for lunch and lady Faith was so thrilled to see so many types of chocolates displayed before her eyes. She was really excited and started choosing the chocolates for her friends & teachers as a gift from Perth. J

Before heading to my favourite hangout (Coles Supermarket), we made a quick purchase at the Honey House to get some honey. It was pretty small but they had many different types of stuff made from Honey. J Thumps Up!

Our dinner was simple as that would be the quickest dinner to prepare after a long day. It was one fulfilling day as we enjoyed ourselves at the wildlife park, checking out the Chocolate Factory and the House of Honey.

Visiting Kings Park & Scarborough

I woke up very excitedly about visiting Kings Park and Scarborough as our scheduled plans for today. Both lady Faith and Baby Emma were excited about heading outdoor as they were all dressed up quickly.

Took a about 20 minutes’ drive from our apartment to Kings Park and it was a SUPER HOT morning! When we arrived, the temperature was about 35 degrees and our little Faith was kind of unhappy with the hot weather. She was complaining that she is sweating and feeling too hot to even to smile for the camera.

We went to the shades and try to enjoy the beautiful view. I wished the weather could have been cooler for a picnic instead of having a stroll around the park. This would be one place that we will visit again perhaps during a cooler weather. J

We headed down to Scarborough to check out the ‘much talked about’ beach and some popular cafes for our lunch. Indeed they have beautiful beach for the summer but we were not in our swimming gears! Instead, we went to have our lunch at The Sandbar which was one of the recommended cafes around.

The Sandbar, designed more like the beach side cafes and served pretty tasty food too. It was really casual, cozy and we enjoyed the services there too. Lady Faith wanted the fish & chips (their signature dish) while we ordered the pasta & mash potato to share. The portion was pretty huge for us and wished the portion were slightly smaller.

Since it was too hot to stroll the beach, we headed down to their nearest mall to do some shopping and obviously some aircon… hahahaahahah we took the opportunity to do our marketing too since we are heading home to prepare dinner.

I simply enjoyed shopping at their supermarket as I was able to get anything or everything I need except for baby Emma’s milk powder… we decided to have simple dinner since we were too stuff from lunch.

After a hot and long day outing, the kiddos were really tired and turned in early. Hubby & I finally had some quiet time together and we enjoyed our white wine, cheese & strawberries at our spacy balcony though it was pitch dark out there…

On The Road Again

We had a great time in Dunsborough and now it’s time to head back to the city. We set off right after our hearty breakfast prepared by Chef Mike and we were on the road once again.

The drive from Dunsborough to Perth City took about 3-4 hours and not including the traffic along the way as many Australians were heading back to the city after a long weekend. We were stuck in the traffic jam for about 45 minutes and that somehow messed up some of our plans.

After driving for about 2 hours plus, we stopped over at Bunbury for some marketing. I was so thrilled to do my marketing here as there were tons of fresh and interesting vegetables which made me can’t decide my dishes for the night.

We spent about 45 minutes shopping in this wonderful farmer’s market and yes… you might be able to how much stuff I bought and I wished I could stay a little longer. Anyway, it was one of the best markets so far in Perth.

After driving for about an hour, we stopped over at Hungry Jacks for a quick bite before continuing another 45 minutes’ drive before we reached Perth City. Honestly, I love Hungry Jacks! Yea… you might say it’s like Burger King in Singapore but somehow Hungry Jacks tasted better.

We finally arrived at Mike’s place in the late afternoon and after he settled down some stuff, he brought us to the apartment which we will stay for the rest of our trip. It was about 20 minutes’ drive from his place and the place was beautifully quiet.

I was really happy to check in to this beautiful property which was comfortably designed and the view from the spacious balcony was simply fantastic! The apartment was cozy for our small family and given 3 bedrooms, we were able to use one of the rooms for our luggage and damages… haahahahahaah

Hubby went to spend time with his bestie Mike for a soccer game and that somehow reminded them the days they used to watch soccer games together at our National Stadium during their younger days. J

Baby Emma Turns 15th Months

How time flies… she is 15^th Months today and we are happy that we can celebrate this beautiful occasion in Perth, Australia.

I am really proud of her that at this tender age of 15^th months, she was able to remain well behaved onboard the flight from Singapore to Perth. J Thumps Up darling!

Happy 15^th Months old to you and may God always watch and protect you!

Exploring Dunsborough

Woke up early this morning as we were excited to explore Dunsborough… we woke up to the wonderful smell of scramble eggs and found out that Chef Mike was behind the kitchen stirring up some delicious breakfast for all of us.

After we got ourselves ready and we headed out almost immediately. We took a slow drive Leeuwin Natural Park was really a fun ride indeed. The wide road, the view and friendly drivers in Australia certainly made the journey an enjoyable one.

It was about 15 minutes’ drive from where we were and when we arrived, we saw many people were already surfing in the sea and the VIEW… super BEAUTIFUL! The kiddos who just met each other yesterday for the first time hit it off so well that they somehow became best friends overnight. They walked together hand-in-hand leaving their parents behind enjoying their talks and singing.

This is one super beautiful place where the beach is lovely and soooooooooooooooooooooo CLEAN!!! The water was so shallow and clear that you can even walk pretty far out and they water level is still at your ankle. The kiddos enjoyed picking up shells and getting their imagination run wild pretending that they are pirates and find those dead corals as their treasures… so funny but interesting to watch.

We explore the place a little and found a playground nearby. The kids were happy to join the fun with the other kids playing swings and sand. Stella and I rested under a big tree chatting away while the kids had their moments.

After spending about 2 hours there, we drove around and stopped by at the Animal Farm nearby. We allowed the kids to check out the animals near the entrance as it was way too HOT to walk the farm! They enjoyed a short moment feeding the animals and being closed to them made them happy! Kids at this age are easier to please I guess!

Before heading back to the supermarket to do our grocery shopping, we dropped by at the Horse Riding School for pony rides. The kids were so excited to ride on their ponies and hurried us to be quick. They had a fun one hour ride with the help of the parents who had to lead the pony as one of the safety rules by the school.

Before heading home for dinner, we noticed that there was an Art Festival going on near the beach. We headed down and checked it out. There were many pieces of Art displayed and they were on for a competition. We were given a piece of voting slip and we were supposed to vote for the best piece of Art onsite. It was really interesting and we don’t get this type of event in Singapore.

Chef Mike cooked up another delicious meal for us tonight. The menu was tomatoes pasta with seafood and grilled rib eye. Man…. it was simple but yet DELICIOUS!!!!! I am actually missing it as I write this blog.

 

Exploring Perth

We are excited to meet Mike & his family later this morning and headed to Watertown for our breakfast after checking out of Four Points by Sheraton. We walked around Watertown to check out their eateries and finally decided to try out at The Coffee Club. This is totally different from The Coffee Club chain we have in Singapore… J

I ordered my Famous Benedict with Leg Ham while hubby had Mushroom Feta & Spinach Omelets. Their food were pretty tasty and portion was big too. J It was really comfortable to have breakfast & sipping on a hot latte under natural ‘air con’ at about 20 degrees. The kiddos were happy and energetic early in the morning!

After our delicious breakfast, we took a 20 minutes’ drive to Mike’s residence which is located near the famous Murdoch University. It was such wonderful feeling when you meet up a good friend & his family after a long time! We saved our chatting for later and started our route to Upson which will take us about 3 hours’ drive to reach.

I guess this is one of those rare long rides which I enjoyed. The journey was filled with excitement and with the beautiful clear blue sky with cartoon-liked clouds which we don’t get to see back home, I was somehow blown away. The ride to Upson seemed so short and we stopped by at nearby shopping mall for lunch before we continue our journey.

We took rest and our lunch at Caffissimo Treendale, known as Perth’s best café. Hubby & I shared the chicken sticks while lady Faith had her chicken nuggets & fries. The food portions were huge and we were thankful that we shared the food instead of ordering our own portion… we won’t be able to finish the food…

We continued our drive down to Dunsborough excitedly and after an hours’ plus of driving, we arrived at our holiday house for the weekend. This is one huge house I must say and simply love the surroundings! Our bedroom is overlooking the nature which we don’t to view back home.

After our short rest, we headed out to the Margaret River Woodfire bread. Heard that their bread are all freshly baked and many people came to queue for their bread daily. J I could smell the freshness of the bread when I came near to the bakery. It was simply interesting to find a breadshop somewhere in the forest!!! We bought a loaf of their Rock Rye and their super popular Valley Fruit Loaf back to try out.

We headed down to the nearby supermarket Coles to get ingredients as our home chef Mike will be cooking us dinner tonight! Woohoo! We bought some fresh prawns, vegetables, mushrooms and bee hoons. We will be having simple food bee hoon soup and stir fried prawns tonight!

It did not take Chef Mike long to prepare our dinner and this would be the first time for us to try out his dishes. I was surprised that he could cook so well and the bee hoon soup tasted almost like the one my mum cooked. The stirred fried prawns were yummy too and thumps up for his skill! Oh yes… we too tried out the bread that we bought earlier and totally YUMMY!!!! It was so fresh and I could wipe up the whole loaf if I am not saving my tummy for dinner. Bread Talk, Four Leaves, Pullman… STEP ASIDE!!!

Hello Perth!

It’s been more than a decade since my last visit to Perth, Australia. I clearly remembered Perth as a super laid back state in Australia where shops closed as early as 3:30pm. Yes… 3:30pm! I really wondered how the Aussie shop after their office hours… perhaps they don’t even shop at all.

This time, I returned to Perth with another state of mind. I checked out Perth before setting it as our family vacation location. When I browsed the websites of Perth, it changed so much that it lured me into planning. Hubby, having reunited with his best friend who migrated to Perth recently that made us confirmed the visit. J

We set off to the airport for breakfast while waiting to board and the kiddos were in high spirits. I was kind of worried for Emma as this would be her first longer flight compared to Penang. We tried to play with her and hoping that she will sleep onboard and somehow it worked!

During the flight to Perth, I was really thankful that Emma managed to sleep at least for a good 3 hours while I enjoyed the inflight movie, my drinks and my lunch onboard. Hubby & I were enjoying the drinks while little lady was enjoying her snacks with her inflight kids channels.

After 5 hours of flight, we finally arrived at Perth International Airport. I could see the changes immediately as the airport became brighter, cleaner and bigger than the one I set food on many years ago.

While hubby was waiting to collect our car, I went to get the local SIM card for easy access and communication with his friend Mike. Little Lady was anxious and excited about meeting her new friend tomorrow and kept talking about it.

To avoid her questions, I suggested that we take pictures instead and she was all set for any poses… haahahahahaha We went to Watertown for dinner after checking into Four Points by Sheraton. Watertown, a branded outlet mall was just located about 10 minutes by walk from where we put up. Thumps up!