~ Boyan's 1st Year Birthday ~

We just came back from a Birthday party. My colleague, Andrea's son's First Year Birthday. Children always love to go to birthday party since they get to eat and drink, sing Happy Birthday song, get goodie bags and have lots of yummy cake. I also get to see a couple of old friends and its nice to see their kids too.

Boyan of course is the highlight of the evening especially when he comes out in his Superman suit. So CUTE! He also got a BIG 3kg Superman Birthday cake. ^_^ Denver and Gladys have been eyeing on the cake and standing in front all the time. hahaha

~ Durian Durian ~

I am having my night teleconference as usual and guess what are the other members of the family doing? Clustering themselves in the kitchen and indulging in their supper - DURIAN! Although I don't dislike the strong smell, I am not a Durian lover. Luckily, the children are like their Daddy and enjoy the fruit a lot. This is one of the things that I am not able to join in with them.

Durian is a seasonal fruit and typically, the season for durians is from June to August in Malaysia and Singapore. (Same as mangosteen)... so usually around this period, we'll see many stalls selling them. Hubby has been 'complaining' that he did not see as many stalls selling Durians this year. The season is almost over and he has not been eating much of it yet. Lucky for them, bbil brought some over last night and I think they are very happy enjoying their supper without Mummy. hehehe

~ NDP 2010 - Observance Ceremony & Countdown Party! ~

Yeah! NDP 2010 Countdown Party is going to be held at our estate again! There will be lucky draw, shows and fireworks. Let's see if Denver can stay up for the firework display at midnight. :) I will be getting my camera ready to video this down. It's so cool to have the NDP celebration so near to our home.. Exciting!!!

~ QUEST collectible cards for grabs ~

Quest is an innovative reading initiative launched by the National Library Board to cultivate children reading habit through collectible cards. This is to reach out to boys aged between 7 to 12 who are reluctant readers. So far, there has been many positive feedback with more children (especially boys) going to the library and borrowing books.

Release Date: 01 Oct 2009
Successfully reaches out to 29,000 children aged 7 to 12 years old with 550,000 collectible cards fully redeemed since launch in June.

An increase of about 30% in loans in June and July 2009 as compared to the same period last year.

I too first learned about the Quest cards last year and recently, 60 new Quest cards are up for grabs! Each packet will contain 3 quest cards and this is redeemable with every loan of four books.

Denver & Gladys already enjoy going to the library since young and so redeeming the collectible cards is an extra bonus. We have increased our loans from 12 to 18 books per week and have collected 20 out of the 60 cards to date. Many of which are duplicates and I guess its hard to collect all the 60 of them. :) Still, we will continue visiting the library and our collection till the end of the promotional period.

~ Whole day out eating ~

We ate a lot of stuff today - from morning to night. (almost non-stop). :p After Denver's swimming lesson, we went straight to Ang Mo Kio's COURTS as hubby wants to try his luck to see if he can get some cheap promotional items published on today's Straits Times. No luck anyway. :p

My breakfast was fishball noodles, lunch was Yong Tau Fu and the kids had breakfast set. Hubby didn't feel its filling after having his Laksa and we went for another round of Chee Kueh - 水糕 and Zhu Chang Fen (猪肠粉). While making our way to AMK Hub, we had herbal bottled drinks and there are also free cups of orange juices for sampling.

We stopped by NTUC and here's where the children had fun playing with the exercise equipments. (They are always so energetic!)

Before leaving for home, the children said they are hungry and thirsty... so we bought another bottle of herbal drink and a packet of Muah Chee. Not to forget, there are more free sampling of orange juices as we exit.

After waking up from a good afternoon nap, I was still feeling quite full during dinner time and thought I won't be able to eat much at Feng Shan hawker center. Well, I was totally wrong! I finished my plate of Chicken rice while hubby had his Satay beehoon. Bbil bought some Satays and Chicken wings to share and we finished them all with the Sugarcane drinks.

Time to walk around to burn off the fats!! We went to the COURTS Megastore @ Tampines and Gladys specifically wants to take a photo with this lady in the poster. Who is prettier? Hahaha :D

We walked over to IKEA and being a member, we got 2 cups of free drinks. The children love the $1 hotdogs and it is their MUST EAT whenever we are at IKEA. (Yummy and value for dollar.) Denver gets to put a lot of mustard, tomato and chilli sauce while Gladys prefers to leave them all out. We finally completed our eating spree for today. Feeling fat!

~ Drawings - National Day Painting ~

Gladys woke me up early this morning asking me what should we do while Denver gor gor is away for his swimming lesson. Since the sky is gloomy... I said : "How about painting?" Gladys is so happy when I said that and she quickly took out the paints.

Most of the time I cannot figure out what Gladys is trying to paint. :) Her paintings or drawings are usually abstract. She likes to mix the paint until all the colours become dark and black. Unlike Denver who will usually tries to draw objects or people.

Gladys' abstract painting. :)

While Gladys is busy painting and watching cartoons at the same time.. I did a little painting of my own too. Hehehe (Just to pass time). Since National Day is around the corner, I drew a poster in celebration of Singapore's 45th birthday. I painted many Orchids in the sky as fireworks beneath the Singapore skyline and I'm pretty satisfied with the final drawing. :)

~ Lego (Duplo) time ~

We have a box of Duplo at home but usually no one wants to play with it. (such a waste!) Instead, Denver and Gladys play Duplo at my bil's place during the day. Maybe it's because of the companionship they enjoy since there are more children around and also because they already had fun in the day, hence they are not interested to play their own set back home.

Gladys was feeling bored and so I suggested to play Duplo.. she is only keen if Mommy joins in and plays with her. So there we are sitting down, stacking the Duplo pieces to make houses and trees. I wonder when will be the next time they'll open the Duplo set to play again. :p

~ Gladys - Night Cough ~

Gladys developed a bad cough since yesterday and being worse in the nights. She has been coughing and unable to rest well.. Hubby and I also lost sleep over it. Not sure how it will goes tonight but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Apart from taking her medicine, we gave her warm drinks. I also tried another "old wives tale" methodology. i.e. applying Vicks Vaporub on the bottom of Gladys' feet at bedtime and cover them with socks. So far she is sleeping soundly.. whether its a coincident or a proof that it works, I'm not exactly sure. Most importantly is Gladys can sleep better in the night and gets well soon.

~ Farewell, Pailin ~

Today is Pailin's last day before she relocates back to Thailand. Although she'll still be in the company, I can't help feeling sad and missing her. :( We have been colleagues for more than 4 years and she is a really nice person who is always cheerful and helpful. Ever since we moved our IT office from the city to the Biomedical park, many of our closer colleagues have left....and there are fewer and fewer female in the IT office now. =(

It's always sad to see a good friend leaving and bidding farewell is always hard... hopefully we'll meet again soon. All the Best!

~ Park Hopping ~

It has been extremely tiring for the past 2 weekends. We have purchased the Park Hopper 3-in-1 tickets which entitled us to visit the Bird Park, Night Safari and Singapore Zoo within the month(Valid till 9 August).

Last weekend, we visited the Night Safari (check out our travel blog) and today we went to the Jurong Bird Park. Not to mention we even went to the Singapore Garden Festival 2010 last night too. My body and legs are aching now from the extensive walking and carrying. Although the rainy weather helps to keep the weather cool, it is more difficult for us to walk around and enjoy the show. Once we conquer all the parks, it will be sometime later before we'll visit them again.

Among the 3 parks, we still prefer the Singapore Zoo. Reasons being the park is bigger, bigger water play area and most importantly it's not too far from our home. Hubby intends to purchase the "Friends of the Zoo" next time at $180 SGD. That will be free entry for our family to the Zoo for a year and other discounts included. ^_^ (http://www.wrs-itswild.com.sg/index.htm)

~ Nuffnang Movie Contest - "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice" ~

Nuffnang is giving out movie tickets to watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice by blogging on the following topic.

If you are a sorcerer’s apprentice, what would you use your powers for?

If I have magical powers, I would like to go back in time to prevent the falling incidents from happening. :( Denver had 2 bad falls injuring his forehead when he was 2 and 5 years old respectively. Ironically both happened in May and the 1st being on Mother's Day. It was a horrible and terrified experience and I will never forget it... Blood flowing out of Denver's head as we rushed him down to KKH. It was a very deep cut and Hubby and I felt so guilty for not able to hold him at that moment of time. He had stitches and that left a scar on his forehead. I cried...and for many days I blamed myself heavily for not watching over him.

The 2nd time when Denver falls I wasn't around but Hubby was traumatised. This time it nearly hit his eyes and thank goodness it didn't. We rushed all the way down to KKH again and this time I was in the room with Denver witnessing the doctor stitching him up. Denver was very brave and he was wide awake when the stitches were done. He didn't cry or complained.

Every month of May (especially near Mother's Day), I do get worried... and sometimes when I look at Denver's scars as he sleeps in the night, I do feel sad and guilty. The 2 scars left on Denver's forehead may have been physical.... but they have make a permanent scars in my heart and memory.

Catch The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Movie starting from 22nd July 2010 and join the Walt Disney Studios Singapore official Facebook and Twitter page!

~ My Princess @ 3 Years ~

Gladys is going to celebrate her 4th Birthday in 2 months time! She has grown a lot and becoming a pretty little girl. Although still acting very boyish, she starts to pick her dress, occasionally wants mommy to comb and tie her hair and sees herself in the mirror. Lately, she also refuses to have her hair cut. :p

Gladys with her short hair (帅气)

Gladys in her little dress (美丽)

Gladys posing in her casual wear (调皮)

Gladys in her school's P.E attire (童真)

That's my girl! Cheerful, active, expressive and full of tricks on her sleeves. ^_^ 

~ Punggol Central Racial Harmony Kite Flying Carnival 2010 ~

Punggol Central Racial Harmony Kite Flying Carnival was held 2 weekends ago (4th July). Hubby has been working through the late nights and hence the initial intention is only to pop by and have a quick peek at the kites. It has been raining for the past few days and the grass is muddy and wet. We had a hard time making our way to the tentage with puddles of water all around. EWwwww.. It isn't any better inside the tentage as well but I managed to purchase 2 goodie bags that comes with mineral water, raisin bun and a mini-kite inside. That is just nice for Gladys to play and the children will not fight over the kites.

The puddles of muddy wet waters didn't seems to bother the kite enthusiastics at all. Many people are busy flying their own kites while checking out the designs of the others. The carnival started early in the morning but there are still many people in the afternoon. Just look at the number of kites in the sky.. I lost count how many are there.

~ Alarm Clock ~

Since Denver is in the morning session, he has slowly accustom to waking up by himself with the help on his alarm clock. We bought a simple one which has a louder alarm 2 months ago. Alarm is set to ring at 6:20am on weekdays and he usually wakes up on his own instead of having us dragging him up. It is really handy and I'm glad we got the clock for Denver.

Of course, sleeping early (before 10pm) helps Denver to wake up on time in the morning. Through time, he has learned, developed a standard routine and not having to depend on us. After waking up, he'll brush, eats his breakfast (which Daddy prepares), baths, put on his uniform, wears his socks and shoes, prays and gets ready to go to school. The only constant reminder is completing each task at a faster rate since he usually eats in dreamland, takes his own sweet time bathing and putting on his school's attire.

I still recall when I was schooling, I tend to ignore when my alarm clock rings. I'll tell myself...another 5mins.. then another 10mins have passed until I'm force to wake up before getting late. Hence, I thought Denver was pretty alert and disciplined to wake up as soon as the alarm rings. (at least better off than me as I am still dragging myself up everyday.) ^_^

~ Farewell Buffet Lunch at Kuishinbo ~

12th July - It has been sometime since I last visited Kuishin-Bo for their 60 minutes buffet lunch ($21.90). Today it is for a special reason.. farewell to our dear colleague - Pailin. She'll be transferring back to Thailand very soon and so a few of us have gathered here to give her a treat.

I always enjoyed Japanese cuisine and Kuishin-Bo has a wide spread of food including fresh sashimi, sushi, tempura, handrolls, seafood, mini paper steamboat, soba, teppanyaki, soups and not forgetting the desserts and free flow of soft drinks, coffee and tea.
Unlike the times when I'm much younger.. eating buffet is not as 'easy' as it was before. :p The amount of food intake has reduced and I have to be selective too. :) It's always good to go buffet in a big group so that we can always share and try more food variety. ^_^

I love the sashimi, sushi and desserts... The mushroom soup is also exceptionally thick, creamy and delicious. Yummy. The only down side is the pricing of Kuishin-Bo getting more and more pricy and doesn't seems to be economical for us to go as a family anymore.

~ Crabs @ Uncle Leong Seafood ~

My team lead is in town and so we took him out for dinner to sample our famous Chilli Crabs. Since he can't really take spicy food, we also ordered the claypot crab bee hoon (just in case). The last time we came to Uncle Leong Seafood was 2 years ago. (http://phoebelau.blogspot.com/2008/06/uncle-leong-seafood.html)

Crabs are still big and meaty, the overall quality of the food is ok but no big surprise from when we tasted it on our first visit. I think I still prefer the Golden sand crab compared to the Chilli crab. Not too sure how Darron felt about his dinner... hopefully it is to his liking.

~ VIP from U.S ~

My team lead arrived from the States to attend a leadership training course next week. He pops by to the Singapore office today to meet me and tour around the plant site. It is really nice to finally meet him in person since we have been interacting over emails and talking over the phone for the past 4 years at least.

Darron is a nice guy and I'm glad that he is in town till next week. It's a shame though that he is only in the office for a day. It has be a tiring day for him since he arrived very early in the morning and with the different timezone and jetlag, it has been exhuasting.

Surprisingly, I'm also feeling very tired too.. probably due to all the excitement and anticipation. ^_^ It has been a great day and it's FRIDAY!

~ Casual Dining at Sakae Sushi ~

We are back to dining at Sakae Sushi again (within 1 month!). This time, we are here with my two brother-in-laws' family for a simple get together. Since there are 12 of us, we decided to go to the Sakae branch at Hougang Point as usually it is not as crowded compared to the other branches (e.g. Compass Point outlet where there will always be a queue). True indeed, we managed to get 3 tables even though its dinner time. ^_^

There are many purple round banners - "Sakae Sushi Welcomes the World" hanging all around the various outlets in support of Singapore hosting the YOG and welcoming our international guests in August.

We seated down and Gladys said the computer isn't working *again. I do enjoy picking from the ordering system instead of remembering what we would like to order prior to calling for the waiter? However, it would be even better if they can replace the current display and put up with bigger photos and wordings as I feel the current one seems to be a bit too small for me. :p Old liao.

Nevermind, most importantly is the sushi belt is still running. :D It would be worse if both failed. Hahaha..

Instead of indulging ourselves with plates and plates of sushi, Hubby and I ordered Kimuchi Ramen and Katsu Curry Don.

This is my first time having the Katsu Curry Don. Thick curry gravy over the rice and there are lots of meat and potatoes. I thought it wasn't too bad but Hubby still prefers his food to be hot and spicy. :)

Gladys always like to stand on the seat and pop over to look at the other side. Usually I will keep her seated and stop her from disturbing the other diners. This time it's a different case since her cousins are just right behind her. :) They sure made a lot of noise. Opps :p

~ Writing my name ~

Teaching Gladys to write her Chinese name is a big challenge compared to Denver. There are too many strokes in her name and even some adults have difficulty writing it correctly.

To start off, it all begins with teaching her learning some simple basic strokes, 横,竖,撇,捺 and eventually writing simple Chinese words like 大, 小, 上, 下, 人, 口.... etc. she started to recognize these words as she writes and reads.

Eventually, she was able to write 王 and 平 as soon as she starts Nursery but 馨 is simply too hard for her. (Why did we choose such a difficult word in the first place? :p) So, the word is 'broken' down into 声 and 香 where she practised writing it for a couple of weeks more. I guess the simple writings that Gladys did in Nursery school also helped to improve her understanding of Chinese strokes and enhanced her learning curve.

After 6 months of practising, Gladys finally learned how to write her Chinese name - 王馨平. Definitely an achievement for her! I didn't expect Gladys to learn this before she turns 4. She remembered the strokes and this is her name! :)

~ Decorative Wall Stickers ~

Wall decal is getting pretty popular lately... Not only to children rooms but also to living room, bedroom, kitchen, shower area and even on your cabinet, windows, mirrors, doors and fridge. Wall decals sticks onto all smooth surface and can be removed easily. It's quick and easy, no mess, no strong and pungent smell like paint, large variety of designs to choose from and you can mix and match! It transforms a plain, dull wall and brightens up your house. :)

Hubby and I bought 2 wall decals last month from the recent carboot sale at T3 (Changi Airport). Both cost less than $10 and we still got a little discount off!

I didn't have a chance or time to figure out where to stick them till this afternoon. After much thoughts, I decided to stick one of them on one of the walls of our long corridor. :)

It's very simple with only a few easy steps to follow: 
1) Clean and dry the surface with mild soap and water. Make sure that the surface must be flat and cannot have any curve.
2) Peel off from the backing paper.
3) Apply to the surface
4) Press firmly to squeeze out any air bubbles.

I tried it out on my own and it's really cool! The only thing is to be very careful when peeling it out from the backing paper. It is kinda fragile and easily torn off at the narrow section. I accidentally torn out the stem of the leaf and the tip of a narrow tree branch. Luckily, even if its torn, I can still stick them back right on position without much flaws. :)

Took me less than 1 hour to complete this! Most of the time is taken to peel out the stickers carefully and pasting them onto the right place.

The other piece I placed it in our bedroom.. just above our bed. Sweet and cute. The children like it! TOTALLY SATISFIED!

I found a few websites selling wall decals and they are so BEAUTIFUL! Don't you just feel like renovating your walls again? So tempted to buy more of it. :p hahahhaa..

http://prettywallstickers.blogspot.com
http://www.creativewalldecal.com
http://www.artukidding.com/

~ Sakae Monthly Bloggers Affair - June 2010 ~

Winning the Sakae Monthly Bloggers Affair in June is particularly special as I posted 2 entries this month. :)

Very happy to receive a bundle of free gifts during the Sakae's Welcome the World 2010 event and now winning another $50 dining voucher is an extra bonus.

August is my birthday month and September is Gladys... we may have already use up the voucher before celebrating these events. :) Not to forget National Day is a month away.

Denver will be happy if he knows I won again and may start bugging me when we'll be going to have sushi. Hehehe

THANK YOU once again SAKAE!

~ PS3 Game - Little Big Planet ~

Recently I found myself getting back to my old hobby..... playing games. It all started since I was young and being the only daughter, I played with my brothers all the time. We played all kinds of games together. Started with handheld games, board games, SEGA, computer games and eventually Playstation. Me and my brothers have played so many different types of games together and it has become our common topic which bonded us together.

After getting married and having kids, my 'gaming skills' have more or less gotten rusty. Time has become very little and too precious.... and gaming is a thing of the past.

During the June vacation, I got the chance to play Little Big Planet online (via PS3) with Brother Owen. It was so fun and really seems like going back to the good old days where we used to play together (although remotely). ^_^  The children also loves to play with 舅舅 since he is so good with the game and can help him grab new stuff. :) They enjoyed the game too since it looks so cute.

Little Big Planet is an old game but very interactive and fun which has won many awards so far. There are many different levels to complete, and you can dress up your little sackboy, design your pod, collect stickers and customes, and joining in a big social community.

Hubby bought me the Little Big Planet (code 1) today! Now I can download free customes unlike the code 2 version which doesn't work. Sounds addictive?? Not so much for me now since I only spend an hour or two after finishing the house chores, settling the children and work (provided I'm not too tired too).