~ Blogging updates & backlogs ~

I finally completed updating our 5 days Shantou trip on our Travel blog! YEAH! Took me nearly 1 month to complete and all the hard work and late nights on sorting out all the thousand over photos! Phew!

Because of that, I have a couple of backlogs on our little fun trips these 2 weeks...Like going to T3, playing with the Slides and splashing fun at Jurong East Swimming Complex. There are also some previous holiday trips that I didn't have a chance to post up too. That will probably keep me occupied all the way till end of the year *at least. :p

~ Wedding Dinner @ Imperial Court Shark's Fin Restaurant ~

Just came back from a sumptuous wedding dinner at Imperial Court Shark's Fin Restaurant. We arrived early at the Grassroots' Club which is very near Hubby's office. Of course our good friend, "Ah Bao" looked smart and excited. :) Congratulations to him and really happy and glad that another friend has settled down. ^_^

ROM session start at around 8plus and I thought we probably can't stay long enough since we got to rush back to pick the kids. On the contrary, the service is extremely efficient with the waitress serving the dishes quickly.

Restaurant Address: 190 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, #03-01 (The Grassroots' Club) Singapore 568046

The quality and taste of the food is pretty good. Instead of the usual Shark fin soup, there is Buddha jump over the wall and you can see a full abalone in it. Inside the deep fried yam paste ball there is a scallop inside with a basket of scallop, vegetables on top of it.

I'm not a fan of eating duck meat but the "pi pa" duck's skin is crispy and sweet. Red Grouper on the other hand is average and didn't give me too much surprise.

I love the prawn balls.. crispy and sweet on the outside, meaty big prawns within. YUMMY! The fried rice is delicious and fragrant as well. The finale for every traditional Teochew wedding dinner is their desserts! YAM PASTE with ginko nuts! It's sweet but I would love it even more if it is not so watery. :)

Hubby and I enjoyed the dinner and probably may want to come back and dine again. :)

~ School Re-opens after June holidays ~

June holidays are finally over and today the children went back to school for the new school term. There goes the privilege of waking up later than usual... and I got to check the kiddos homework every evening.

Denver forgotten that he needs to pack his story books in his bag and didn't even remember what time he finishes class! Earlier, we also forgotten to pack his monitor badge in his bag when he put his uniform to wash. hehehe.. I guess the holiday was way too relaxing and we seems to be a bit disorientated. :p It will gets better in the next few days.

~ Happy 7th Birthday, Denver! ~

Denver is 7 years old and another good news is it still falls within the school holiday! :) He has been counting down and looking forward to have a good time today.

Since it's his special day, we travel all the way from Sengkang to Jurong East Swimming Complex. Why? Because Denver loves to have fun in the water and there are Water slides, Lazy River, Waver Pool and many more available at the JE Swimming Complex!

We woke up early in the morning and reached the pool at 930am. It's our very first visit and the children are so happy to see the slides and pool. ^_^ (More details on how much fun they had on our travel blog - to be posted later)

After having a great time at the pool and settling our lunch at KFC, we went to IMM. It has been many years since we go to IMM and there are many more shops and resturants. We shopped at Daiso, bought new shoes for the children and they spotted free popcorns and candy floss give-aways. Yummy.....

There are many kiddos rides within the IMM building and Gladys is very busy hopping up and down on the various big and small cars, aeroplanes, boats etc....

Sharing their desserts at Kopitiam

We picked my inlaws and met up with bbil's family at McDonalds @ Compass Point for dinner. The kids love their burgers, nuggets, french fries and cooling drinks. Not to forget the most important thing... Denver receiving his Birthday Present! A gift from Bbil and Bsil. ^_^ This was what he has been looking forward to since morning. :) A new pack of Yu-Gi-Oh game cards. Royston and Denver can now have more battles and challenges at home now. They already planned to do so on Monday. :)

After dinner, it's ICE-CREAM time! Swensons is just opposite and we popped in for Round 2. 

Here comes Denver's Birthday 'cake'. ^_^ Instead of 7 candles, he has 1. :) We all sang a HAPPY BIRTHDAY song and see how happy he looked. Wishing you a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my dear son. We Love You!

 

~ Meeting up with good old pals ~

A real friend is hard to find. A good friend that you know for more than 10 years is even harder... I'm lucky to still have friends that I have known them for almost 20 years. From secondary school till now.. each of us has taken a different path in our life and we are still able to keep in touch after so many years.

While being so pre-occupied with our daily activities, it's so heartening to know how each other is doing. There are many updates and the main highlights is that Rina and Iris are pregnant! Coincidentally, their EDD are end of this year! ^_^ So exciting!

Looking forward to the next time we meet again which most probably will be when their babies are born!

~ 拔牙记 ~

今天富生去拔牙了。从几天前起, 他就一直告诉我：“妈妈，要打针啊，会不会痛？我怕。”　昨天也是。。。　他每天一想到要去拔牙，便会问我。我没有说太多，只是说牙医姐姐会很小心，很温柔。不会有太多的疼痛。要勇敢一点！ 有时后对孩子解释太多反而可能造成他的压力。：）

今早我去上班了。我不去也好.. 孩子不会对我撒娇和闹别扭。 老公负责带富生去学校看牙医，不到１５分钟，就好了！富生一到家便打电话给我说：“妈妈，真的一点都不痛！我把牙齿带回家了。”　：） 我在想，该把它放在哪。。还是丢了算了?

富生拔了牙后，牙齿不整齐了。

富生第一次的拔牙记 - 成功!

~ OCBC Mighty Savers & Karate Kid ~

Took a full day off and planned a series of activities to keep Denver company. First, is going to OCBC Bank to activate the children's Mighty Savers account which we have applied last month. Denver and I sat down and counted all the coins which he has saved since the beginning of the year. Total of $43.80. I separated $20 worth of coins and we went down to OCBC Bank to deposit Denver's very first own personal savings. :)

I think Denver finds it interesting to see that the money is being passed to the lady at the counter and eventually stamp on his bank account book.

Denver gets to bring home a new card and stickers and for every $1 he saves, he will stick a sticker on his card. Once Denver saves up to $20, he can bring the complete card to OCBC bank and get a little Mighty Savers gift. :) Every month, OCBC will have a different gift for every $20 deposit. There is a whole series of ocean adventure book to collect + an additional gift which changes every month. Month of May was Mother's Day theme and this month was for Father's Day. I wonder if this will motivates Denver to save his pocket money more. Of course I didn't forget about Gladys and she too got her account activated with $20 deposit. ^_^

After having some fun and food at the Sakae carnival and got drenched in the rain, we took the train down to Bishan for a movie treat - The Karate Kid. It's a 140 minutes show starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. The movie was about Dre Parker (Jaden) who moves to China with his mother and got involved in a series of fights with the neighbourhood bully. He was saved by Mr Han (Jackie) who is a maintenance man at Dre's building during a brutal beating by the bully and his friends. In the attempt to make peace, Dre was forced to enter a tournament and the story went on with Mr Han training Dre Kung Fu in preparation for the competition.

I like the training session scenes and the interaction between Jaden and Jackie which has a mixture of humour and sense. Although I do find some of the fighting scenes a bit harsh and brutal, it was overall a very entertaining film. Denver felt the excitement, had a good laugh and also couldn't bear to watch the kissing scene. ^_^ We had a good time and today was well planned and spent.

~ Sakae Welcomes the World 2010 ~

I received an E-invite from Jacintha from Sakae last Thursday to attend an exclusive carnival - SAKAE WELCOMES The WORLD 2010 at the Sakae Building. Specially took a day's off to take Denver out for some fun before the school re-opens next week.

Denver and I took the Circle Line down to Tai Seng and Sakae Building is just right across the road after we exit. I happily thought and assume that it's not too far after all... but I was TOTALLY WRONG! After crossing the traffic, we need to make a BIG detour in order to get to the entrance. Anyway, we finally made it there and got to meet Jacintha in person! She is a pretty and sweet lady whom gave us a warm welcome as we arrived.

There are already children playing at the various game stations and Denver joins in the fun too.

Children can collect a game report card at the counter and there will be a mini free gift upon completing 4 stations and collecting 4 stamps successfully.

Denver going through all the 4 stations.... Top Skipper, King of Hoops, Top Challenger Floorball and the Incredible Rush.

Denver competing with his peers and had a good work out. :) Needless to say, the Floorball is his favourite. :D He queue up to join in the game..3 players in a team and the team who score a goal first wins. Denver played the game twice and he tried being the goalkeeper on his 2nd attempt. :) His team didn't win, but it's the fun that counts. :D

After completing the game stations, there are also other sport activities. The set up is exactly the same as what we saw at Compass Point Atrium last month. This is in conjunction with promoting YOG-Let's Play! There are table-tennis, handball, netball, soccer, basketball etc.. Children/Adult gets a free gift if they can score a goal. :)

 Denver did well and scored in netball, handball and soccer... :D So he got a few freebies! hahaha.

The other highlights for today's carnival is the launch of Sakae's latest Power Pro Bento Set. This is to promote healthy eating and active lifestyle. Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports is today's Guest-of-Honour.

Sakae also donated $25,000 to the YOG Sailors and Sakae fans can look forward to the limited edition sporty plush toys for archery, boxing, sailing and weightlifting this August.

  

We also received a free Sushi Pack each and that was our lunch. :) MMMMMmmm.. YUMMY YUMMY SUSHI! 

We left the event after staying there for more than an hour and while we are on our way out and taking a long walk back to the MRT station, we got caught in a heavy RAIN! :( Even my brolly cannot save us from getting WET. That is the only spoiler for the carnival... but we went back home with many goodies! Thank you Jacintha for the invitation! ^_^  

Felt kinda sorry and guilty that I didn't bring Gladys along.. :( so I decided to give her the cutest froggie. Denver protested for awhile cos he likes the froggie too.. but there is only 1 and he had all the food and fun for today.  So Gladys wins the froggie! ^_^ 

~ Father's Day dinner @ Sakae Sushi ~

We are back at Sakae Sushi again! Seems like we have been dining at Sakae every alternate month or so. :p This time we are utilizing the $50 voucher which I won in the Sakae Monthly Bloggers Affair in March to treat Hubby in celebration for Father's Day.

To avoid the long queue and crowd, we decided to pre-celebrate a week earlier. :) In addition, I also chose to dine at the Sakae outlet located in Changi Airport Terminal 2. Why?? Apart for plainly trying out at a new location, there are also other various reasons...

1) For a chance to be a Changi Millionaire when you spend a minimum of $60 in a single receipt at all outlets in Changi Airport.(More details: http://www.changiairport.com/at-changi/events-and-promotions/millionaire/faqs)

2) For every $30 spent at Changi Airport in a single receipt, you can redeem two tokens to ride the 12 metre slide located at Terminal 3!

3) Sakae is located near the viewing mall and there are many shops and activities around T2 and T3 where the whole family can enjoy after dining. :)

Here we are!! There is already a queue forming and luckily it is not too long. There is so much space around and the children can't help finding themselves running around.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Big Hugz from the kiddos.

After accumulating so many dining experience at Sakae, Gladys is now an expert and knows what she wanted. She already set her target on the Tomago sushi and once the plates are within her reach, SWOP.. its on the table right in front of her. Hahaha.. the excitement that comes from grabbing your food.

We had many plates of sushi today...I got so busy with taking the photos till I lost track on which one I have missed. :p

Cups for adults and for our kiddos. :)

I realized for the outlet at T2, they have a piece of damp cloth placed under the hot water dispenser. This is great as many times, the hot water tends to drip or over flow from the cup. In this way, the damp cloth will soak up the hot water keeping it safe, clean and neat. But it seems to me this is not available at the other outlets which we went. Maybe they can consider doing so for every Sakae outlets.

We had a good meal and the bill came out to be over $70! We get a chance for the Millionaire draw and also 4 free rides to The Slide @ T3. Hahaha.. It's not a bad idea to dine at Changi afterall. ^_^

~ Filial Piety - Touching Videos ~

Nowadays I rarely watch TV programs on the local channels and probably has been missing out a lot on what's the latest advertisements. I happen to come across this particular video online (The latest installment of National Family Council's Family campaign) and was so touched!


This advertisement brings out a strong message "How one generation loves, the next generation learns." How true indeed..... from the eyes of the young boy, he sees and feel that his grandmother has been a difficult person... but the father has always show patience, respect and honour his mother who took care and love him so much when he was a child. Isn't this something that we should reflect and learn from.

Here's another clip to share....

Tomorrow is Father's Day.. Here's wishing all fathers! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

~ 端午节快乐 ~

今天是农历五月初五 - 端午节。 这一天必不可少的当然是吃粽子。端午节在新加坡不是很热闹，甚至有好些人都不记得今天这个日子。可能是因为现在不必等到端午节也可以看到，买到和吃到美味可口的粽子吧。

说到粽子，咸肉粽和用纯糯米制成的白粽子配上焦糖很好吃。但孩子们还是比较喜欢娘惹粽。家里上个周末也包了好几个咸肉粽，自己包的当然特别香。明天它们就是我的早餐和午餐了。

~ 想做的事 ~

时间真的很宝贵，不知为什么，最近好像觉得不够用。总觉得要做好多东西，但一天就这样过去了。 除了工作，照顾与教导小孩，还有每天做不完的家务。 但工作之余也不能忘了娱乐和休闲。有太多的事情想逐一完成，但不知从哪一件开始。

六月假期已经不知不觉过了一半。我们还想带孩子们去看电影，放风筝，游泳呢。最近有不错的电影放映， 如 "Karate Kid", "Toy Story 3" 都是好想看的片子。除此之外，我还有好多篇关于我们近期出游的故事和照片没有上载在部落格。 父亲节和儿子的生日也快到了。 下周也得带富生去拔牙。

不仅如此，我还想可以的话，在开学前整理书本和橱柜。当然少不了观看戏剧节目和玩PS3游戏。昨天看见孩子们在玩 LittleBigPlanet 时又勾起我童年玩游戏机的‘辉煌’时代！哈哈！那时我还蛮不赖的。 有的游戏是考验你的机智与智慧， 所以我对那种游戏特别喜爱。

哎哟，我是不是太贪心了？ 不过有希望也不错，至少有期待。人生才有目标和乐趣吧。

~ 谢记 Hong Kong Dessert ~

After dinner, we walked around and dropped by a dessert shop - 谢记 Hongkong Dessert (around Jubilee @ Ang Mo Kio) to try out some of the desserts.

After browsing through the menu, I was amazed to see "双皮奶" in the list! It has been ages since I tasted that dessert for the first time when I first travelled to Hong Kong with Hubby. 双皮奶 can be served as a hot or cold dessert and it was really delicious.

Each of us ordered a different dessert to try.

- 双皮奶+ 蜜糖炖雪梨 (Milk Pudding + Double Steamed Pear with Honey - $3.80
- 杨枝甘露 (Mango Pomelo) - $4
- 雪花冰砂 (Snow Land) - $2.50

I was very disappointed with the 双皮奶 as it didn't has that extra thin layer of 奶皮 on the top (like the one I had in HK). That was what made the dessert special. The taste is also not as fragrant and milky... it seems like a normal cold milk pudding to me in this case. The double-steamed pear on the other hand is warm, sweet and refreshing. You can also eat the entire pear after drinking the soup. As for the Mango Pomelo, it is a fresh, fruity thick mango taste. Snow Land is another milk drink suitable for the kids which is rich in calcium and helps to strengthen the bones.

The overall presentation was good. Unfortunately, I feel it is a little pricy with the small servings and the lack of unqiue flavour.

~ Pre Father's Day dinner @ Chu Yi Kitchen ~

Next week is Father's Day. We usually dine together a week ahead to avoid the crowd. Hubby suggested to go to Chu Yi Kitchen located in Ang Mo Kio. The reviews online was pretty good so we decided to come here and try.

It is a pretty small cze char eatery place under the HDB block with a couple of tables. Looks like a coffeeshop style and yet provides catering and delivery service as well. Unlike the usual kopitiam where we'll be expecting many people dining, here is much quieter. We are also the only big group of diners filling up the table.

Chu Yi Kitchen (厨艺-美食之家)

Address: Block 151 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5, #01-3046 Singapore 560151
Operating hour: 10:00am - 10:00pm
Phone: +65 6459 2198

Signature dishes : Curry Fish Head, Big Prawn Hor Fun, Roasted meat platter

Nevertheless, we ordered the signature and recommended dishes like Big Prawn Hor fun, Curry fish head, Scholar tofu, Mixed meat platter, Yam Basket, Broccoli with scallop and Prawn paste fried chicken.

I particulary like the horfun, tofu and yam basket. For the Big prawn Hor fun, the prawns are big and serves on with a thick gravy. The vegetables are fresh and the hor fun taste nice too... unlike the usual that I normally eat. The ingredients in the Yam Basket is very fresh with bigger prawns, scallops etc and and the taste of the Yam is sweet and good. Scholar tofu surprised me with the prawn and cuttlefish paste within when I bite it.

As for the curry fish head, it wasn't as spicy as we expected it to be. In fact it was not spicy at all. Nevertheless, it has a unique sour flavour and serves well with the rice. Mixed meat platter is an interesting combination as it has pork, chicken and duck on a plate. Overall dining experience is satisfactory and the final bill is about $109 including the drinks and rice. Definitely will consider coming back again for another meal. ^_^

~ Denver's NASSA Bronze Certificate ~

Denver received his National Survival Swimming Bronze Award certificate today. (After passing his swimming test 3 months ago). It also comes with a badge and pin. ^_^ Definitely another acheivement from our boy.

With SwimSafer rolling out this July, this probably is the last certificate we are receiving from NASSA. By the time we enroll Gladys to swimming next year or 2, she'll probably be learning through the SwimSafer way. Will Denver continues to move on and get a Silver Award then?? ^_^