~ Bye Bye Vios ~

Hubby will be getting his new car tomorrow! We upgraded from a "Manual Vios" to an "Auto Vios". :p Ok la.. no $$$ to afford a bigger/better one ok. At least the new Vios seems to be slightly bigger and its NEW!

Here's some history of the cars that we own before....

Our first car was a 1.5l Daewoo Kalos. (Chevrolet brand replaced the Daewoo brand and I think the Kalos is now rebranded as Chevrolet Aveo). We bought it in Year 2003 when Denver was just born. Unfortunately, this car consumes too much petrol.. we have to pump every week and it's ripping us off! Even though the car plate number has brought us some luck, we can't maintain it in a long run. Hence it was sold off after 2 years in 2005. Still, our Kalos has taken us on many of our trips in Malaysia and we really felt 舍不得....

After surviving without a car for 1 year, we bought our current car (Toyota Vios) in 2006 when Gladys is born. This car is definitely much more maintable but never had the chance to drive out of Singapore. Maybe thats it's not as lucky as our first car :p...Nevertheless, it has 'serve' our family well for the past 3 half years taking us all around Singapore.

So here we bid farewell to our 'old' car and looking forward to welcome our new Vios and the Chinese New Year.

~ I Survived!! ~

YEAH!!! HUBBY is Finally BACK! You can imagine how delighted the kids are to see their Daddy home. Practically running to him before I even finish their bedtime story.

Hubby was carrying a few bags of stuff.. Of course, there are presents for the children! Naruto cards and CDs for Denver and a Hello Kitty toy for Gladys. (Hubby says don't know what to buy for his little girl :p). It surely cheer them up!


Apart from the presents, Hubby also did not forget to buy some Chinese New Year Goodies from Muar. He knows I love Kuey Bangkit and bought me one. :) There are also Pineapple tarts, peanut and almond cookies for our home and gifts for my parents & his god-parents. (To see more details on Hubby's Muar trip, pls visit http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.com/2010/01/pre-cny-day-trip-to-muar.html)

I'm so glad and relief that Hubby is back! The good news is the children seems to be feeling better now.... Bad news - I'm starting to feel worse... a lot of air in my stomach and starting to feel feverish again. :( Signing off and going to bed.

~ Home Alone with the Children ~

Hubby went to Muar with my inlaws and friends early this morning.. too bad the kids and I can't make it for this trip due to sickness. Denver was disappointed cos he has been looking forward to go. (No choice ah). Never mind, at least Mommy and Gladys are staying back too.

Denver has been having diarrhea and dirtying the bed for 2 nights now.. I woke up to wash the bedsheets and dirty clothing at 5am plus. Then Gladys vomited her porridge on the sofa and it was another round of scrubbing and cleaning. :(

It's a daunting task to look after 2 sick children especially so when I'm alone and also caught the virus as well. Apart from making sure they have intake enough fluids, I tried to introduce food back little by little... starting with a few mouths of plain porridge.. some bananas and wholemeal bread. So far so good.

The children looked listless and tired... all we did the entire day was resting and watching TV programs. Fever came on and off for all of us and I have been hitting the toilet for at least 4-5 times so far. The stomach pain and diarrhea makes me weak and I can only hope the medicines will be able to last me till Hubby is back from Muar later tonight.

~ Stomach Flu ~

The virus continues to spread.. Gladys started having diarrhea and vomiting 2 days ago and developed a fever last night. Just as she is starting to feel better and getting bubbly again, it's now Denver's turn to fall sick.

He vomited in school and also having the same symptoms as his sister. However, it is easier to manage Denver as he is able to communicate better and rush to the toilet to puke. Gladys on the other hand (being younger), cannot control as well and ended up making a mess on our bed/floor.

Since vomiting and diarrhea can lead to dehydration, it is important that they still intake some water to replace the lost fluids.

• Sip small amounts of clear liquids or suck on ice chips
• There are oral rehydration solutions for infants and children
• Gradual intake of food that is bland and easy to digest. (Some recommendation on the website include, toast, apples, bananas and rice)
• Avoid diary products, caffeine and alcohol.

Now this duo are on medication and hopefully both of them will get plenty of rest and recover soon.

Keeping good hygiene is also critical and following should be noted.

• Wash our hands frequently and throughly.
• Remove and wash the dirty clothing that is contaminated (hot water & soap)
• Flush or discard the vomit/stool in the toilet and making sure the area is clean.
• Throughly clean and disinfect the contaminated surfaces/area after an illness.

Hopefully Daddy & Mommy will not be the next victim!

~ Falling Ill ~

A lot of people seem to be falling sick lately. Started with Royston having fever and vomitting and it pass on to Jasper the following day last week. Mil has also caught the virus last friday and had an injection while Bsil has been coughing for ages. Even the 3 year old child whom my inlaws help to babysit also has been feeling ill till now.

That is what will happen when one falls sick in a big family. Our family is just like a mini-childcare center and virus tend to spread and pass on from one to the other. Now Gladys also seems to catch the virus and started with constipation for 3 days! She finally poo today after feeding her with yogurt and some meds to loosen her tools... However, she also started vomitting since yesterday. I just cleared a big pool of vomit awhile ago when she caught me off guard and puke a big mess on me and herself. Haiz.....

Apart from that, Dad has been experiencing pain on his left knee. I took him to TTSH for his periodic spine review and it was not too satisfactory also. However, we are more concern with his leg's condition and there is a possibility that Dad will need to go through an operation. Brother Owen will be taking him to see the Doctor again this Thursday and hopefully things would not be too bad.

~ CNY 2010 Decorations ~

Chinese New Year is just about 3 weeks away and over the past weekends, we have been shopping around for CNY Decorations for our home. I particularly enjoy browsing at those stalls and looking at all the different types of Bright Red and Gold Decos. There are so many to choose from!! Lanterns, Flowers, Angpows, Paper Decos, Lights...... Just looking at them makes me happy! ^_^

Since the Year of Tiger is approaching, there are many different types of tiger/tigeress designs. I had a hard time picking as most of them seem to look like a mouse or cat rather than a Tiger! This year, the children get to pick their favourite for their room and Hubby and I will always buy a “财神爷" every year without fail. This is meant to symbolise abundance of wealth!

We finally bought most of our decos from a stall at Kovan as it's so much cheaper to get them from the neighbourhood compared to those selling in Chinatown. One of the deco which we saw in Chinatown is $4 more expensive compared to the same one selling in our neighbourhood!!


I finally completed putting up all our Decorations that we bought in our home. ^_^ Mostly in the living room and some in the children's room. We also have decos outside the common area. Hahaha.. My neighbours all knew we will put up a few on the walls to build up the CNY mood. Many appreciate my effort and said it really look very nice. (For those decos outside, I generally put up those that was left over from the previous year.)


We are almost set to celebrate Chinese New Year! Mommy will need to work harder in the next few weeks on Spring Cleaning!! (with a bit of Daddy's help of course!)

~ New Travel Blog ~

Announcement: New Travel Blog for the Heng Family

I just created a new blog to capture all our past holiday trips and the future ones that we may have.

Reason being there are so many photos and I really didn't want to miss out any of the memorable shots or videos of the places we have been and the food that we have tried. It will take me quite a long time to transfer all the details out... but bit by bit it will be there in time to come. There are still so many more trips that I have yet to post.

So in the meantime, please bear with the messy layout and incomplete details. ^_^

New Blog URL : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.com/

~ Happy 8th ROM Anniversary ~

Hubby & I took the day off from work to celebrate our 8th ROM Anniversary today. (Considering we pass the "七年之痒"? Hahaha) :p It was a Rainy Day, even so, we left our car at Bbil's place and took the MRT instead. We had breakfast @ Kopitiam at Plaza Singapura and nothing beats having some peace & quiet moments together. ^_^

I also get to shop at THIS FASHION for my CNY clothings. (It's really hard to do my shopping if the children are around...) Hubby is very sweet today to wait for me patiently and paid for my 2 tops. He even got me the THIS FASHION membership card (which is more economical). ^_^ THANK YOU!!

Lunch was at Aquamarine @ Marina Mandarin hotel. There is a 1-for-1 Lunch Buffet promotion (priced at SGD$38++) for UOB card holders. We didn't make any reservation in advanced and it was fully booked when I tried to call for reservations yesterday. We tried our luck and luckily there are some cancellations and we are in! :)

Service at Aquamarine is very good and it serves a good buffet spread of International Asian food cuisine. There is a sushi bar where assorted sushi & sashimi are displayed and served.

I love the pumpkin soup as it was thick and creamy. :) Very tasty and Yummy. Their seafood are also very fresh. There are so many choices to pick.. we had mutton, chicken, beef, otah, tofu, fish, shells, rice, kwaytiao etc.......

Aquamarine also has a very good spread of desserts to offer... their home make cookies are very tasty too.. Too bad I'm already too full to try all of them.

We went to catch a Movie after a good lunch. Hubby & I always enjoy Jackie Chan's show ever since we are kids. His fighting scenes, actions and stunts never fail to impress us. Even though there are comments that there are lesser actions, lesser innovations and creativity in his stunts & movies, I think it is still worth to watch and it's something that Hubby & I share and enjoy together.

We didn't have any special plans for today nor did we crack our brains on what presents to buy for each other. But just spending personal time together and holding each other hands as we walk has been great!

There are various terms Wedding Anniversary are being symbolised depending on the country.

中国对婚姻的说法：
1年纸婚；2年棉婚；3年皮婚；4年花果婚；5年木婚；6年糖婚;7年手婚；8年古铜婚；9年陶器婚;10年锡婚；11年钢婚；12年丝婚；13年花边婚；14年象牙婚；15年水晶婚;20年瓷婚； 25年银婚；30年珍珠婚；35年珊瑚婚；40年红宝石婚；45年蓝宝石婚；50年金婚；55年绿宝石婚；60年金钢钻婚；70年白金婚；80年钻石婚

Going into our 8th Year together, Happy BRONZE Anniversary Dear!

~ Meaty Fried Rice ~

I have been eating Instant noodles most of the time when I work from home. Cos it's easier and faster to cook and clean.. Today, I am in a 'cooking' mood and decided to make Fried Rice. (My 2nd attempt since November last year :p)

Mince pork, luncheon meat, carrot stick, eggs and plain rice. Put some soya sauce, stir fry and that's it! Not very fantastic but it is surely easy and quick to do too. ^_^

~ Nuffnang ~

http://www.nuffnang.com.sg/

I have heard and seen nuffnang ads many times in the various blogs which I read/visit sometime ago... Just that I was lazy to try adding one to our blog.. :) Well, I finally made a new addition! Very curious and certainly not sure if it will bring in any earnings (maybe yes in a very very long run. hahahha) but I surely like the analytics and reporting feature nuffnang generates. ^_^

~ The Monitor ~

2 half weeks have past since the start of the new school term. Almost everyday I'll ask what has Denver and Gladys been learning in school? Are they enjoying it? etc... Like today, Gladys will interrupt her Gor gor and wants to tell me what she has been doing in school first..

Gladys: "Mommy, 我今天吃面".
Mommy: "你今天有写字吗？"
Gladys: "有！今天写竖"
Mommy: "妹妹有唱歌吗?"
Gladys: "有！"
Gladys: "今天有画画和colour colour.... 老师帮我写名字.. Gladys"

Mommy tells Gladys that she'll need to remember how to spell her name lor and writes on her own soon. ^_^

As for Denver, he started bringing 'lunch box' to school a few days ago. He wanted to eat sandwiches and so we packed 2 pieces for him to bring along to school. Nevertheless, he still have space to stuff a little snack after finishing his bread. -_-

Denver: "Mommy, my form teacher come today!"
(Denver's form teacher has been MIA for a few days in a week)
Denver: "She assign leaders... guess what I am??"
Mommy: "What are the options?"
Denver: "Thermometer, Group leader .... "
Mommy: "Thermometer???"
Denver: "YES, You guess correctly!"
(Mommy and Daddy puzzled... still thinking why leader is called Thermometer????)
Denver: "Got many things to do... after recess must make sure the students line up etc"
(Mommy still thinking and finally got it)
Mommy: "Ahhh.. You mean "The Monitor"?"
Denver: "Yar! I am THE MONITOR!"

Aiyo... either his pronunciation got problem or Daddy & Mommy's hearing is fading. The monitor becomes thermometer.. Hahahaha...

Denver: "Got a Monitress also"
Mommy: "Ok.. Then you have to be a good boy, listen to teacher and set a good example ah."
Denver: "Ok."

I wonder how will he fare being a Monitor but I am surely glad as this means he should be behaving well in class so far. 加油!

~ Drawings - Finger Painting ~

It is a lazy and slow Sunday as we have no plans on going anywhere at all. Apart from visiting my parents and staying there for lunch, we have spent our afternoon napping. I needed my rest too to nurse my flu, cough and sorethroat which have been bugging me for days. The medicines have not been helping and I might see the doctor again if it's not improving.

After a good nap, I spent some time doing finger painting with the children. While they were doing they own finger art and making a mess with the colours:p, I also did one of my own while waiting. A picture of some flowers since CNY is around the corner. Not too bad huh. ^_^

~ New Bike & New Fountain ~

Although Gladys is a girl, she does not like to tie her hair up or doll herself up. I guess this is one of the problem being the only girl in the family and mixing/playing with a bunch of boys. Anyway, it was really very rare that she allowed me to tie her hair up today and not pulling it off after that.

With her dress and hair tied, I saw some resemblance of her with the cute little girl "Boo" in "MONSTERS, Inc". (only that her eyes are not as big and round) :D

Today, we bought her a 14" bicycle from Carrefour (using up our free vouchers before it expires). Denver already has a bigger bike (1st Prize which we won from a food fair contest few years ago) and now the siblings can learn cycling and have some fun together.

Next is hunting for a water fountain... Hubby has been thinking of getting one to help improve his luck. He has checked the floor plan and asked 3rd uncle for advice. We drove down to Chinatown and had no luck finding anything. Even the CNY Decos are more expensive than those which are found in the neighbourhood!

Anyway, we managed to find a rather simple water fountain at 流水家园 (Flowing Water Homestead) located in the Fu Lu Shou Complex. It has the meaning of "川流不息" and we bought it for $230. 愿平平安安，好运常来。^_^

~ Doraemon Lucky Charms ~

Recently McDonald has come out with a new set of Doraemon Lucky Charms for this coming Chinese New Year. There are 12 of them and it was suppose to represent the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac. (十二生肖） Umm.. Except for 1. There is no PIG. Awwww.. :(

In the earlier press release last week, McDonald has decided not to include the pig toy to avoid offending the Muslim customers. Hence it was replaced by Doraemon Cupid toy instead. (http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_475296.html)

Since there is no pig in the series, it became meaningless to collect all the 12 of them. So, Hubby & I only bought our family's representation of the animal zodiac sign. (Tiger, Snake, Sheep, Dog). Just earlier, we managed to buy the Doggy Doraemon Toy from McDonald to 'complete' our personal set. hehehe. Looking on the bright side, we do not need to spend so much too. :)
Right after we got our Doggy lucky charm, we went to shop at NTUC Xtra @ Hougang Point. For every $50 spent, you'll get 1 lucky spin. There are only 4 free gifts to be won. Looking at the prizes on the wheel, the main prize is marked as "春". The rest is either blank space (which means no prize) or a small packet of biscuit, a packet of cracker etc. We got 2 free spins and Denver & Gladys each gets to spin for 1 time.

Gladys starts first and missed getting any prizes. Next, Denver's turn to spin and he strike the best gift. :p So LUCKY! I can see the envy crowd behind us. hehehe..

So what did we get??? Beautifully Designed Coasters from Tiger Beer. :p

~ Schooling - Observations & Thoughts ~

It's the 2nd week of school and Gladys Really seems to have settled down. Unlike her older brother who cried through Nursery and even K1, Gladys is more confident and brave. (I'm still observing her and keeping my fingers crossed!)

On the other hand, how's Denver doing so far?

• Need to get use to waking up early at 6:10am. Daddy/Mommy has to spend about 5 mins to wake him up. (I'm thinking of getting him an alarm clock to slowly cultivate that habit ^_^).
• The Buddy system will end this week and Denver was able to purchase his food by himself during recess time today. (Looking at his expenses report so far, the maximum purchase he had was $1. I have been reducing his pocket money from $1.50 to $1.40 and $1.20. Maybe $1 is next. :p). What has he been eating? (spaghetti, kway tiao, coco crunch, pizza, chicken rice...). He wanted to buy Jelly and Soft Drinks too but I will have to say no to those for now.
• His Homework/Curriculum file has been helpful to keep all the forms that I need to vat through. There has been a couple of forms and payments made so far. (e.g. Subscription to some Chinese Magazines - $14.80 and Art Pass Program - $10). Awww.. $$ $$ $$..
• CCA - For term 1, the CCA program for P1 will be Dancing. We did not enrol Denver into the program (which is Optional) due to the timing. Every Monday (3:15pm to 5:15pm) will be too tiring and difficult for my Fil to take Denver to & fro from school. Maybe next time...
• Timetable - We received his Timetable last week and personally I don't find it reader friendly. :p So I make my own version of the Timetable with slightly different formats and fonts. heheheh. One A4 size version so that Denver can review it while packing his school bag daily and another smaller booklet size version in his Pupil's Companion Book so that he can check his lesson schedule.

So...why tracking the details?? In another 3 years, it will be Gladys' turn to go to P1 and by then Mommy will have some notes and pointers to reference to. Hahahah. It will also be interesting to compare the differences/changes 3 years can make.

~ Good & Bad News ~

2009 O-Level Results was announced earlier today. I received an sms from Hubby that Eileen scored very good grades for her exams. She got L1B5 for 11 points and L1B4 for 9 points! That's very GOOD even though she was disappointed to get a B4 for her English. Nevertheless, it was Fantastic News! She can opt to go to a good JC or even Polytechnic with her results. All of us are so HAPPY for her as her hardwork and efforts for the past few months have paid off.

==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==O==

Unfortunately, we also received terrible news that my Bsil's sister had an accident and was admitted to the hospital. Apparently she has a head injury when her bicycle was being hit with another student cyclist. There is blood cot in the brain and we are still not sure how everything is now.. Gosh!!! :( We just got news that the operation has complete and hoping and praying that she is fine now.

~ Dining @ Sakae Sushi with the Kids ~

We are BACK at Sakae Sushi AGAIN! This time with Denver & Gladys at Century Square. ^_^ Still felt a little bit guilty that we didn't bring them along the other time. So here's making it up to them.

As usual, we are early birds again.. but we did not go for the buffet this time round. So we
make a lot of our usual orders ahead.

While Denver is waiting for his Kiddy Set, he is already feeling very hungry and wasted no time grabbing his favourites from the conveyor belt. Mommy has to remind him to eat a few sushi only so that he has space for his Mini-Bus set later!

Gladys also spent most of her time eating and Ummm playing with her food (unfortunately). She only enjoys the eggs and not the sushi rice. So she will always 'peeled' off the egg from the Tamago sushi and Daddy & Mommy has to help her finish the rice. (Cannot waste food ah!!) -__-

Denver saying "Hi!" and Gladys keeping herself entertained looking herself at the glass.

Mommy's Order: Chicken Katsu Don - one of my all time favourite.

Hubby ordered the Spicy Kimuchi Ramen. Since he always adores SPICY food, he made special request to have the Ramen EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA Spicy.

Well, it does look spicy but Hubby still find it not Shiok Enough. :p Maybe there can be some new menu on really Spicy dishes for those who crave for Hot Stuff to stimulate their taste bud? ^_^

On the other hand, Denver is starting to get a little bit upset. Why?? "Daddy's and Mommy's food has been served.. Where's mine!??? Sob..." True enough. It has been a pretty Loooong wait for Denver.. Most of our orders already came except his! I made an enquiry with one of the waitress and it was only to be served after waiting for another 5 mins later.

Well, the Yakult came fast but his food came really late. Not too sure if it generally takes so long to prepare the kiddy meals? Unlike adults, kids usually lack the patience to wait especially if they are hungry. When the Mini Bus was finally served, Denver was excited to see the food beautifully displayed in the box. Unfortunately, he did not enjoy his meal as much as he would have been and wasn't able to finish his Kiddy set since he was already stuffed with more sushi while waiting. So Daddy & Mommy helped to finish his leftovers *again.

I was thinking if Sakae can serve the Kiddy meals first before the adult's? It will avoid the disappointment and also the kids will have more time to eat.Nevertheless, we finished over 90% of the food with minimal leftovers! Total bill came up to more than $80!! WOW! We sure are Big Eaters! :p

~ Casual Weekend Activites ~

It has been a week of getting used to our new routine with Denver going to Primary School now. I'm so looking forward to weekends for a break. Phewwww.

Yesterday evening we took Jasper & Royston to join in our recently new found activity - kite flying. It is their first time experience and there is a big open space where the children can run about freely. Still, I think the cousins enjoy and prefer coming to our home to play the PS3. :p

**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

We went to a couple of places today. Morning was Denver's usual swimming lesson. His coach has asked us to fill up the NASSA Bronze Award Registration form for Denver. Although we are not too sure when the test date will be, it is still exciting for Denver to try if he can pass this Survial test! (More details available at http://sportssafety.ssc.gov.sg/publish/sports_safety/home/water_safety/nassa.html)

After lunch, it was a trip down to Takashimaya. We finally utilized our "un-used" Takashimya vouchers to purchase a pair of new shoes for Gladys & also new bedsheet set for the coming CNY.

Evening was a night out at AMK.. There was some performance and the kids went straight to the front of the stage seeing the lady from Japan juggling, making balloons and performing other fun stunts act.

Before heading back home, we stopped by near Anchorvale CC again. Don't be surprise there are still many people flying their beautiful lighted kites in the night sky. Kite Flying has really evolved a lot from the time when I was still a child... From it's design, shape, size and now you can even fly your kite in the night.

Just learned of the following event for kite enthusiasts. Maybe we can pop by and have a look. :p

Event: Singapore International Kite Day @ Punggol and Teens' Day 2010

Date: 30th - 31st Jan 2010

Venue: Punggol Field Walk (vacant field adjacent to Blk 128C)10:00am to 9:00pm

More details: http://ska.askwing.com/