~ Movies - Kungfu Panda 2 ~

Thanks to the organisation committee of Hubby's company, we got free tickets to watch Kungfu Panda 2 late last month. ^_^ Apart from the free tickets, there are also free canned drinks and popcorns too.

Kungfu Panda 2 is really funny and entertaining. The children had a good laugh and enjoyed the show very much. :)

~ Movies - Rango + Gnomeo & Juliet ~

March holidays are almost coming to the end and what have we been doing for the past week?

For a start, we brought the children to watch 2 movies. Rango and Gnomeo & Juliet. I seriously did not enjoy our first movie at all and even fell asleep in the cinema!! I believe this is the first time I actually DOZED OFF in the theatre! The storyline started out slow and it seems so ridiculous. I do not find it hilarious nor was it exciting. Sorry to say the entire show remained monotonous and boring to me. Gladys must have felt the same as she keeps asking me if the movie is over and when can we leave. I guess this movie is more suited to a different league of audience which I definitely do not fit in.

Gnomeo & Juliet on the other hand helps to bring the score back and gave us a fun-filled entertainment throughout the show. Unlike the well-known William Shakespeare's play where Romeo & Juliet's romance ends in tradegy, Gnomeo & Juliet had a happier ending. A simple, predictable story with little jokes cracked in between the scenes makes it a more family friendly movie for most to enjoy.

~ Movies - Harry Potter 7 (Part 1) ~

My company had organised a movie event to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows over the weekends. I paid $5 per pax and were given a small popcorn combo set (including a packet of popcorn and a can of coke). Weekend tickets price are generally expensive and with the combo set, it is definitely a great saving deal. ^_^

The movie is about 2 half hours long and the storyline is too difficult for the children to understand. Even I had difficulty following the names and some parts of the plot. There are also many dark and scary scenes that lead Gladys hiding herself under my arms. Denver on the other hand seems to enjoy the show pretty much though. Luckily the children have been well 'trained' after so many movie experiences in the cinemas. The lengthy movie didn't cause us too much problem or disruption except when I had to take Gladys to the washroom once.

Part 1 of HP7 ended with sadness as well as anticipation for it's next sequel.

~ Family Day Out on Deepavali ~

Happy Diwali and HELLO to long weekend! Yeah! Gladys seems to enjoy posing in front of the camera and never fails to show and remind me her cuteness and girlish nature hidden beneath her rough and boyish front. :)

Earlier this morning, we drove down to Suntec City and watched Legend Of The Guardians - an adventure about owls. The story is about how Soren, a young owl and his brother, Kludd got kidnapped by the Metalbeak owls (Pure Ones) when they fell from their treetop home. Probably due to jealousy, Kludd joins the evil owls while Soren managed to escape in search for The Guardians to restore peace once again. The only thing I feel uncomfortable about this movie is the betrayal of Kludd not only to his younger brother but also to his sister. Parental guidance shouls be adviced and checked on.

After the movie, we went to the Food Safari and Electronics fair held at the Suntec Convention Centre (Level 6) for our lunch. Denver & Gladysmanaged to take some photos with the mascots. :)

Next, it is heading down to Leng Kee Road - SIS Building to check what are the items on sale at the Bossini's Warehouse Sale. Promotion items starts from $3 onwards and the sale will be on from 3rd till 28th November. We managed to grab some polo tees for Hubby and Denver. :)
Then, we window-shop in Great World City, had dinner at Bendemeer market, played PS games at Brother Owen's home and finally stopping by Kovan to buy some groceries before making our way back home! Phew!!

It has been a very long time since we went out for the entire day without going home for a nap. Naturally all of us are very tired and we K.O within minutes. Good Night!

~ Happy 4th Birthday Gladys! ~

It's Gladys' 4th Birthday and we started our day as early as waking up at 5plus in the morning. Why so early? We are going to the airport to send my lbil's family who is going oversea for a vacation. :) The children loves going to the airport. It's breakfast at Mcdonald, play area at Terminal 3 with lots of space to run about and quenching their thirst whenever they see water-cooler units.

Gladys can't wait to open her presents when she got home. The anticipation on what is behind those pretty wrappers and it is fun to see her expression when she finally sees her presents. You'll know at that moment which is her favourite. :)

It's MOVIE Time! Hubby & I took the kids to AMK Hub to catch "Alpha & Omega". The movie, with a simple story focusing on how two wolves (Kate & Humphrey) tries to get home after being taken by the park rangers. In the meantime, back home, the rival wolf packs' conflict emerged with Kate's dissappearance and how they will help to restore the peace. It may not have the best graphics nor special effects one can ask, but it is a pretty funny and entertaining movie suitable for the entire family to watch and relax.

Gladys has really changed and grown a lot over the past year. She started going school, learned how to write the alphabets and numbers as well as her name in English & Chinese. She can spell a few words (eg. 1-10) and her recognition of words increases. Gladys looks prettier now (not so tomboyish) but she is quite tough and rough. Always yelling and shouting whenever she don't get her things. :)

Apart from liking balloons, Gladys loves bubbles too. She received a mini bubble gun in one of her presents and the children can't wait to go and play with the new toy.

It's Bubbles Everywhere. ^_^

After a whole day of fun, we had dinner at KFC with fil and bbil's family. A birthday won't be complete without a Birthday cake and Happy Birthday song. :) Gladys chose the design of the cake by herself and it is not difficult to guess what she likes. (Pink and Princess) The whole cake looks so sweet!

Singing a HAPPY BIRTHDAY song to GLADYS and it's time to cut the cake. :)

Is the cake Yummy? Is all written on her face. :)

HAPPY 4th Birthday Gladys

~ 1 for 1 Lunch treat at Swensen + Sorcerer's Apprentice ~

Hubby and I took leave today just to keep the children company especially so since Denver is still down with a fever. I spent the previous night checking on his temperature and it was going up and down like a roller coaster. The good thing is Denver is older now and he will check his temperature and tells Mommy or Daddy if he feels uncomfortable in the night.

It was pouring early this morning and hence we waiting till 11am before taking him to the family doctor. The kids are so familiar with Dr Khoo and Gladys practically kept herself comfortable (as though she is at home) in the doctor's room while Dr Khoo is checking on Denver. Apparently it is a flu and throat infection and Denver was prescribed with antibiotics, flu and fever medicine.

I guess Denver is feeling slightly down being ill on a long weekend and he misses some of the activities (even though he already had a lot). So we took the children for a 1 for 1 lunch treat at Swensen at City Square Mall. That surely makes them happy. Swensen was packed during lunch hours and we waited for about 20 minutes before getting a table.

Warm water for all and our lunch orders -  Baked Spaghetti Bolognaise for Hubby, Mac 'N' Cheese for Denver, Mega Burger for Mommy and Chicken Mushroom Mayo pizza for Gladys.

Denver enjoyed his macaroni and had his medicine. Gladys had her free cone ice-cream and I appreciate that Denver knows that he cannot take the ice-cream and let her sister took it.

We took the thermometer with us all day just to make sure Denver is feeling ok. So far so good and I love the siblings interacting together. Either they fight or they will hug each other everyday.

Later in the evening, we went to Cathay @ Downtown East to catch The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Initially I thought Gladys will be keeping me busy throughout the movie, but it seems that she is able to pay attention to some of the scenes. Denver enjoyed the show very much and was very contented.

After the movie, he asked if he can go to school tomorrow since he misses it. Wow! I thought children will take this opportunity to skip school instead. I guess that really shows he enjoys school afterall and that is great! So far no fever for the past few hours but we'll check again throughout the night and see if he is well enough for school tomorrow. In the meantime, it is early night rest for the children.

~ 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.

~ Movies - How To Train Your Dragon ~

This is one of the very few movies that Gladys says she wants to watch! The main reason is ..... DRAGONS! Yes! You heard it right! How To Train Your Dragon is a very entertaining movie suitable for the entire family and definitely one of the best I have seen so far. :p Many recommended that this should be watched in 3D.. but we didn't as Gladys will not be able to enjoy the show with the glasses on.

The story started with Hiccup, a teenager Viking, son of the village leader, who somehow gets into trouble whenever he tries to kill a dragon. He was being look upon as useless but things started to change when he managed to shoot down the dreaded Night Fury-Toothless. Through time and observation, Hiccup learned that Toothless & Dragons are not as dangerous as what they have always thought to be.

I love the interactions between Hiccup and Toothless as well as the training and fighting scenes. It has a good mixture of funny, heart warming and exciting moments. The story content is good which slowly build up to the climate in the final battle scene. Children as well as adults will definitely enjoy this movie! Fantastic!

~ Movies - Professor Layton & the Eternal Diva ~

Lately we have been watching a lot of movies together. :) Maybe it is due to the Rainy weather that limits the outdoor places that we can go. Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva is based on the popular and award-winning Nintendo DS puzzle game series. The movie is in Japanese with English subtitles and mostly involves Professor Layton solving the puzzles. I asked Denver if he understood the movie since he would have to depend on the subtitles and am glad he can catch the story and of course the puzzles. :) Gladys on the other hand, simply cannot appreciate the content and can't wait for the movie to end. Hehehe.. The best part she enjoys most is munching on her potato chips whenever we are in the cinema.

~ Shabu Shi + Alice in Wonderland ~

Denver got a good treat for passing his swimming test. ^_^ There is a newly opened buffet restaurant - SHABU-SHI at Hougang Mall - Level 2. Instead of the usual sushi, they serve mainly shabu shabu ingredients on the sushi train. Slices of beef, chicken, fish, assorted raw vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, shells, prawns, noodles and many more to choose from... The staff behind the train counter are always busy filling up with the sushi train with more ingredients non-stop.

If you crave for sushi still, the buffet also includes a smaller variety of assorted sushi. The taste and standard is not comparable to those you would enjoy in Sakae or other resturants. Still, Shabu-shi's buffet spread is good and the price is resonable.

Drinks, desserts & Ice-cream are free-flow. The resturant has a variety of drinks to choose from (waterchestnut, lime, ice-lemon tea etc) but the downside is there is only 1 kind of stick ice-cream and it melted. :(

Each table can serve 2 different selection of broth. There is Tom yum, Chicken and another Sweet base soup to choose from. Children can have their own separate pot while parents can enjoy their food cooked in the spicy Tom Yum broth. :) Only point to note is Shabu-shi have smaller tables and we have to make full use of the limited space. Fortunately, the waiteress were very efficient and are able to clear the plates very fast. They are also constantly helping us to refill our soup. Even the staff behind the sushi train were attentive to our sushi or shabu-shabu orders. Thumbs up for their service!

Shabu-shi is a pretty neat place and we really had a good meal. ^_^

So what's after lunch?? Movie Time! We brought Denver to watch "Alice in Wonderland". This is a classic story which I known since childhood only that many of it was forgotten. This movie shows Alice falling down the rabbit hole and returning to the Wonderland after 13 years... reuniting with her childhood friends. Stretching and shrinking herself with the "Eat Me" cake and "Drink Me" potion. How she finds her destiny, saving Mad Hatter, slaying the dragon where she eventually wins the Red Queen and stop her terror.

Denver finds the movie creepy due to the heavy makeup and effects. After explaining the story to him, he enjoyed it much better especially towards the 2nd half of the show. He said he likes the DorMouse most since it is the cutest among all. hehehe :D

So where is Gladys all this while??? She was at my inlaws house. The movie was too Big and Scary for her age. So to make up to her, we took her out to play too after dinner. She had food and also story telling session with me while Denver went for his Chinese tuition lesson.

~ Summer Wars ~

Sunny Day : We went out early to catch a movie at The Cathay! It is our first visit there ever since the cinema was closed for renovation and redevelopment in the early 2000s. Hubby said Summer Wars (Japanese anime science fiction film) is a pretty nice movie about a young math genius, Kenji who was asked by his older female student, Natsuki (whom he likes) to go to her family's home for a summer vacation job. During his stay, he receives a strange math problem on his mobile phone and broke the code over night. Only to realise later that he is being implicated in the hacking of a virtual world (Oz). With the help of Natsuki and her family, how they win this war and bring everything back to order.

Although the children are not new when it comes to watching movies. (especially Denver). I'm not too sure how much they can understand/enjoy as the movie is in Japanese with English & Chinese subtitles. :p Nevertheless, one thing they always love is FOOD! Their favourite popcorn, chips and drinks to keep them company in the cinema. ^_^

My handsome little boy and pretty little girl.

Hubby and I enjoyed the movie. I always appreciate anime animation because of its detailed and fine drawings, heartwarming story (never fails to make me shed tears) and the message behind each wants to brings out.

As for Denver, he paid attention to the show and I believe he got a pretty good guess on what the movie was about. How about Gladys?? She has been busy eating, drinking for more than half of the movie. Heheheh. Well, who can blame her?? She is too young and this is not the kind of 'cartoon' that she can appreciate and understands easily. Again, I must applaud that she stayed on throughout the entire movie. Bravo! ^_^

~ 大年初四 2010 ~

Hubby & I took leave today to relax a bit after an exciting and tiring 3 days of CNY. Somehow, today didn't turn out to be any easier either. Why? Because we had another day of packed events.
To fully utilize our time, Hubby & I went to catch the earliest show at AMK Hub - “大兵小将” (Little Big Soldier) starring Jackie Chan & Wang Lee Hom. Instead of him playing the Big General, Jackie took on the role of the Little Soldier. Nevertheless, I love his role and all his little ideas and tricks on faking dead and 'street-smart' ideas to bring the General through the journey back to his home country. There are a couple of funny scenes and although the ending was sad, that is what makes the movie commendable.

After having our lunch, we took the children back home at 2pm. Denver told us that he scored 20/20 (full marks) for his maths tropical test today! ^_^ (we were not informed about the test and this was really on the spot that the teacher gave it to them to do today.) I'm really glad and Daddy was happy. Now the kids will have more fun at Universal Studio Singapore later!

Hubby was tired and we all took a nap... only to wake up LATE!! Luckily Hubby shook me up at 3plus and by 4pm, we were all out of the house. Taking the LRT, MRT down to Habourfront station and then transferring to a RW8 bus to USS!!

We took over 300 photos!!! Some blurrrred some good... many duplicates. Please visit http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.com/2010/02/universal-studios-singapore-preview_18.html for more Photos on Universal Studios Singapore! IT HAS BEEN AMAZING and FUN!!!! (Even though it's only a preview with no rides or shows, but definitely worth the trip and the $10 tickets!)

~ 大年初三 2010 ~

Compared to Day 1, we have a rather free schedule today. As usual, mornings are going to the temple for prayers. Hubby wants me to take a photo of the banana plant that has grow a bunch of bananas and also the flowers blossoming at my Bsil's place.
Gladys is already all set to go! We are going to the Loyang 大伯公宫 and this is another popular spot where many people will come to pray for good luck and a prosperous year ahead. Personally, I just hope for the family to be safe & sound and have a healthy, happy year.

After prayers, we spent our afternoon in the cinema avoiding the hot blazing sun! (It has been super duper hot these days!) Apparently, many people chose to watch movies at this time and the tickets are selling fast like hot cakes!

With so many CNY movies showing, we settled in for "Percy Jackson & Olympians - The Lightning Thief" (http://www.percyjacksonthemovie.com/) Pardon me for my ignorance in the Greek mythology, I always find them very fascinating but did not go in depth to read and understand further. Denver finds the movie extremely interesting and wants to learn more about the Greek gods while Gladys just could not sit still towards the 2nd half of the movie. Lucikly, she managed to last through the entire show, and only dozing off at the final 20mins of the movie. We went back home to rest and it was nice to see Chunho and family coming to visit. As for tonight, we only had 1 visting and that is going to Kevin's parents house for steamboat dinner. The children are keeping themselves entertained while waiting... kicking the ball, playing badminton, and swinging on the swings.

It's already Day 3 into the Lunar New Year Holidays and school starts tomorrow!! :( Good times always past so fast! My favourite holiday of the year is almost gone... sniff sniff. Well, we are going to visit Universal Studio Singapore tomorrow evening!!! Hopefully the crowd will not be as 'congested' as what the papers have described and we will be able to have a good time.