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Work blues.

Im back at work and im not loving it.

After spending the whole day cleaning the house yesterday, ensuring that my floor is stainless, corners are spotless, the children's toys are disinfected, laundry all dried and cleaned, I felt an immense satisfaction.

Prior to the Taiwan trip, I suffered a week long of panic attacks. The sudden increased heart palpitations came and went rather frequently. So did a huge load of negative thoughts.

Hubs brought me out on dates to relax but everywhere in Singapore reminds me of how crushed the people are becoming.

I think the long-term early morning rush I face daily is getting rather intimidating.

I worry about not being able to get on the train all the time. Drenched in perspiration by the time I reach the MRT station, surrounded by people who leash out at each other at the slightest accidental bump, its really hard to keep up with being mentally sane.

I load my phone with worship songs to remind myself to live upon God's grace. To see things from a different view and to understand that this is really not what the world is about.

I just dont look forward to working in an office anymore.

Taipei (Oct 2013) with Aaren and Megan

Flying back to Singapore feels like im returning back to a pressure cooker.. where my house is built in.

The people are generally tensed up and easily angered, the environment isn't ideal for the best of anyone's health, you're taxed for every single thing and the list goes on.

I felt so much more relaxed the last 3 days that I was in Taipei. 

Was it the much cooler weather, the warm hospitality of our friends in Taiwan or the absence of the typical kiasu-ism embedded with Singaporean's 'must fight everything for survival' spirit?

Bringing Aaren and Megan on this trip, it was very much less stressful than I was in Singapore.

Having them with us forced me to sit back, relax and enjoy every moment with them.

From them, i am reminded of the beauty of simplicity. 

Be it just a neighborhood playground or simply a tub, a few prawns and a stick with a hook, they are happy wherever they are, as long as hubs n I spend time n attention with them.

I am reminded to bounce back fast at every set-back. 

They never fail to amaze me how they make me feel so awfully bad a mother i was when I lose my cool n start yelling at them.. and how awesomely fast they would look remorseful for one moment and get on their feet to the next happy, playful moment again.

I am also reminded of the importance of routines. When things has to be done, it must be done without giving in to any excuses.

When its lunch time, even when you don't feel the slightest pang of hunger, you still have to eat.

Being a SAHM for those years, I lived alot on the 'moments' so breakfast could mean afternoon tea for me. Dinner was supper and my sleep time topsy turvy-ed.

Try giving in to a child's,"but mummy.. im not hungry now....".. and watch how the rest of the day self-destructs.

So thanks to Scoot's $24 deal, we managed to book a last minute round-trip flight to Taipei, all for $570 (tax inclusive).

The flight to Taipei was deemed the toughest and part of the trip because of the wee hours departure.

Aaren fell asleep the moment we settled down in the aircraft while Megan stayed awake for awhile longer, probably still excited because it was her first flight out of Singapore. :)

All glory to God, the kids woke up at 5am when the plane landed into at Taipei.

That means we needn't carry anyone of them at all! 

The trick was to create excitement in them so they would run all the way from the arrival gate to immigration check-point. Haha.

I seized the opportunity to explain immigration procedure to Aaren and involve him in the organising our luggage and all. 

Soon, we were up on the bus to the hotel to leave our luggage as it was too early for check-in.

Because of the last minute booking, I didn't manage to book any hotel in Ximending.

For the first time, we stayed at Shilin district. Star Beauty Hotel. (38-1, Chien Kong St., Shih Lin District, Taipei, Taiwan).

All the shops at Shilin were closed and the usual night market spots turned into an open-air market in the morning.

We had 2 plans, first was to Dan Shui and the second was to Baby Boss City (台北市105松山區八德路四段138號-京華城購物中心7樓).

Of course we were over-thrown by the kids to head down to Baby Boss instead... hahaha. 

It was really early even after a brief breakfast at the convenient store so we stopped by Ikari Coffee just opposite 京華城  to wait for time to pass.

Clearly a torture because Aaren and Megan literally kept their eyes glued to the entrance to convince us that people were walking in the building and that meant Baby Boss was already opened. lol.

Looking over at 京華城, where I once upon a time came for late-night clubbing.. never thought I'll be here with my kids for BABY BOSS... haha.  

As foreigners, we get 20% off so we paid NTD 1520 to get in. (720ntd for Aaren and 800ntd for both daddy and me). Megan went in free-of-charge and she was perfectly fine watching Korkor at 'work' instead. :)

The list of occupations to choose from was really long and each occupation takes averagely about 30-40mins to complete.

Aaren was given a citizen card to be scanned at the beginning of each job and at the completion, he will be paid 10 baby bucks which he can either choose to accumulate or spend his hard earned money at the departmental store.

The first occupation he chose was the Fireman. Aaren was given a crash course on the duties of a Fireman.

He even got to hop on a 'fire engine' and travel to a 'building' on fire to put it out. lol!

Next, he wanted to 'milk the cow' so we made it in time for the Dairy Farmer's session.

After milking the cow and learning to clean it up, the kids had to walk around to deliver fresh milk to their 'customers'.

We got pretty lost because the timing for occupations that Aaren wanted clashed so we picked the next available one, which was the Gas Station Attendant. lol.

Last occupation of the day was the Flight Attendant. 

The children were led into a room where the briefing of duties and roles were explained and assigned.

Parents were given a boarding pass to so when our kids have 'prepared' the aircraft for boarding, we will board and receive a warm welcome from them up in the mock-up place. Haha.

Aaren gave me the i'm-completely-lost look at this one. Hahahaha.

His duty was to give out blanket and magazines but because they spoke in mandarin, he mouthed the words but I doubt he even knows what he was asking................ hahaha.

My bad because he had wanted to be a pilot but we were told that it wasn't available that day so I signed him up for this one instead. Heeee.

By then, it was almost 2pm and daddy who was catching up with his sleep at the parents lounge decided it was time we move on our itinerary to visit some old friends at Min Quan East Road.

Aaren was pretty upset that we had to leave before he got a chance to be a Soldier and a Policeman. He got even more upset when we rejected his request to check out the indoor playground opposite Baby Boss City.

Hence, he decided to show us his 'anger' for the next 10 minutes which we managed to tackle and 'tickle' him to ease the disappointment.

It was a brief walk along the fish street but the old friends were reminiscing on how time had past after meeting the 'little baby baby' who has grown so much over the years and has his little sister along in tow this time. :)

At 4pm, we finally checked into our luxurious hotel room. Haha. I felt so cheated when I had to pay $250/night for a room in Taipei, the highest I ever paid so far... but I was desperate to get a room la. Hahaha.

It was love at first sight for the kids when they found the jacuzzi bath tub in the toilet. Hahaha.

Immediately, they asked for it to be filled up so they can jump into the mini-swimming pool. Hahahaa.

I guess we weren't disappointed with the room afterall... though I gather it could really be much cheaper. Bleah.

After successfully passing the get-the-kids-out-of-the-jacuzzi challenge, we tried to jump into bed with them for a short nap but they refused to even try. We concluded that we were wasting time trying to coax children who were determined not to miss any fun moment and so..........

With Megan carried in my arm and Aaren in the stroller (that was tearing apart due to the heavy weight), we took a cab down to Ximending. We weren't ready to call it a day until we had our usual steamboat buffet dinner. Haha.

By the time we reached the restaurant, the kids had knocked out.. and finally at the dining sofa seat, we could have a meal in peace. Hahaha. 

The next morning, I woke up feeling bad about promising Aaren we will be back one day at Baby Boss City to let him try out the occupations that he really wanted.

The fact is that I don't know when will we be back again as we are considering bringing the kids to Hong Kong and else where... with Taipei not on the list at all.

And who knows, the next time that we come back to Taipei, he would have already out-grown his interest in wanting to try the occupations out.

Thus, I decided to place them in priority and..................... RETURN BACK TO BABY BOSS CITY AGAIN!!!!!!!! Hahahaha! Live life with no regrets!

I had to go alone with them this time because daddy had a few important meet-ups to make.

Walking out to the main road, I caught Aaren putting his hands out, enjoying the breeze with a very joyful smile. :)

"Aaren, what are you doing? Why are you smiling so happily?", I asked, infected with a smile too. :)

"Mummy, I'm just enjoying the cool weather!", he replied. Sweet. :)

So this time at Baby Boss, he got to be a Policeman, a Pastry Chef where he really got to bake his own pastry and share it proudly with Meimei, an Archaeologist to 'find dinosaur bones' and a Soldier.

It was an impromptu decision decided at 9am and so we missed out the first session.. which means we could only finish 4 occupations again on a half-day ticket today. (Inclusive of time spent for lunch).

Never mind the money and time spent.. as long as the kids are happy. :)

Megan had a couple of meltdowns probably because she too wanted to join in but on one impossible condition : Mummy goes in with her too. Hahaha.

She stood outside the Fashion Parlour for quite some time admiring the Barbie dolls on display and also refused to go anywhere else but to 'accompany' Korkor from outside when he was at 'work'.

Thanks to the toilet-break after we exited Baby Boss, we had a slight preview of the indoor playground opposite 騎士堡-小美人魚的家.

That indoor playground looks super fun! Now I know where to go the next time we're in Taipei with young children! Hahaha.

I tried to google for children activities in Taipei but gathered nothing much except for the Taipei Zoo, Baby boss, 小人國 and 六福村.

Daddy wasn't ready to meet us yet as he was held up with some business partners and so, I went over to Wufenpu first with the kids.

It was really interesting watching them look out for each other after constantly warning them about motorcyclist appearing from nowhere, lorries and trucks that will drive into the small walking lanes etc.

I didn't manage to get much clothing because most of the clothes on sale were not suitable to be worn in Singapore.

Megan was the biggest winner though, nabbing 5 pairs of shoes at Wufenpu. Hahaha.

The kids soon complained that they were starving and so we sat at the park to rest our feet and have some cakes that I bought earlier.

I spotted a playground nearby and decided to skip shopping and let the kids have their fun. :)

Seriously, I've been here so many times, seen this playground so many times.. but never imagined I'll be here with my kids one day. :)

Soon, daddy was here with a friend and so we had to leave for dinner. :)

Dinner was at a restaurant, mid of Yang Ming Shan. The kids looked like they were having fun but I think the lack of sleep caused them to be super-hyper.... that we had a hard time keeping them in control.

Yea, and we finally headed down to Shilin despite staying a 10 minutes walking distance away. Hhaaha.

Korkor as usual, fell asleep the moment we reached Shilin so we had our usual taiwanese snacks, did some last minute shopping before heading back.

Shopping was at our minimum this trip because of the two kids... everything we buy, we had to consider loading them in and out of the taxi.

But if you ask me, there was never a moment I regretted bringing them on this trip. No matter how much they pushed my limits, seeing how much they enjoyed themselves with us was really an achievement by itself.

Because Aaren slept earlier the night before, he woke up early on day 3, the day we were due to fly back to Singapore.

It would have been mean to ignore the fact that he's wide awake and carry on with my 4-coming 5 hour sleep. So I pushed myself up to bring him down for buffet breakfast which was surprisingly not bad, and then to Qian Gang Park for a cool morning walk.

We spent some time at the playground again... so Aaren ish happy. :)

On our way back, we tao-baoed some 便當 for daddy and Megan who had just woken up and Aaren was pestering me to head back because he was ready to jump into the Jacuzzi with Megan again. Haha.

Soon, it was time to pack up and head for the airport. The kids left with a tinge of sadness.. and so did I. :(

As it was a day flight, Aaren's bag was loaded with activities set to keep for occupied for the next 4-5 hours.

Thank God they lasted well! Hahaha.

Megan had her late afternoon nap onboard too and that eased a lot of headache. Hiak hiak..

Back at home, my in-laws were telling us how much Nicole misses Korkor and Jiejie to the extend that every morning she wakes up, she will ask where is Korkor and Jiejie.

They couldn't bear to seperate them any further and so... they brought Nicole to the airport to pick us up. :)))))

So.. that's the end of our impromptu trip to Taipei, Megan's first flight out of Singapore. :)

Back at AMK, she sulked when we had to get off the car. Haa.

Needless to say, she's the bigger winner this trip... :)

I was in the toilet bathing Megan when I casually said," Megan, our house no bath tub for you to play in hor, not like the hotel's big jacuzzi bath tub."

"Mummy, our house also have bath tub what.. neh, this bath tub.", she said innocently, pointing to a green plastic bath tub hung on the sink but you know she meant with all her heart with absolutely no sarcasm.

It's about perspective. And being positive about it. That, I'm reminded by the kids too. :) 

Five love languages of Children

What a difference, a week makes.

Just a week ago, Megan had a super fabulous weekend. It was so intensive I didn't have time to blog it down before the week zoomed past again.

We had our first fishing experience with daddy and some church friends. 

On our way to the pond, daddy was smiling non-stop, in a super-good mood because we are accompanying him to one of his favorite hobby. Haha.

It was as rustic a feel as what daddy had described and a really good place for family and friends bonding. 

While I caught my first fish, Megan who was much braver than mummy, offered to hold the fish up and try to touch it.

Even when a snake-head jumped, she let it go and picked the handle up again. Proud of you, baby girl. :)

After our lunch at Amk hub, daddy had to go to the shop so we hopped on yeh-yeh's car back to Rio.

Fun hadn't stopped there for Megan because shortly after, daddy received these pictures on his Whatsapp. Hahaha.

Our girls were having fun at the pool while Korkor had his swimming lesson with Uncle Patrick. :)

They loved the wading pool and after so many years, I realised that there was a little button to press for the tiny water fountain to start running.

I had the impression it was timed. -.- lol.

Anyway, Megan didn't have her nap till late afternoon... all the way till 7.30pm.

There was a mid-autumn event so daddy left his shop early to join us. :)

It was a duper tiring day for me, especially.. but I totally enjoyed every moment of spending time with the kids... :)

Chinese Garden 2013

It was a nostalgic walk through Chinese Garden.

Firstly because a portion of my early childhood was spent at Jurong East before shifting to Queenstown.

I remember waiting for dad to be home, remember sneaking into my brother's room to disturb him, remember the parties my mum used to hold and invite all our relatives over, walking to the food market where my bro and I would spent time at the old dragon playground, the tailor who never fails to change my name from Hui-Na to Hui-Mei. (Beautiful) and watch me blush.. lol.

Besides that, Chinese Garden back then was a hit when it comes to taking actual wedding day shots.

Pea and I were often the flower girls of our aunties and one uncle's wedding.. and Chinese Garden was the place to go.

I looked at the huge display rocks that we were carried to in our often white, netted, prickly flower girl dress and photographed with the bride and groom.. memories. :)

So last night, we were there for our 2013 Jurassic Safari Mid-autumn experience. :)

The kids were super looking forward to it and kept talking about it non-stop. lol. Nai-nai and Yeh-yeh coming along on this trip made it even more exciting for them! :)



The most common multi-lingual statement I heard last night was,

"Aiya, you so scared of the dinosaurs, also don't dare to take picture with them"

"You see that little boy/girl, so young also not scared"

"Why you so scared? Those are not real"

Almost all the parents around us were convincing their children that the dinosaurs that looked pretty life-like wouldn't jump out and eat them all up.

I think it was the movements and sound effect that scared them all. Hahaahaha.

Aaren said he will be brave like "David who fight the giant Goliath".

Then when he was nearing the dinosaur, he almost changed his mind until he saw that people were touching the dinosaurs without getting 'eaten up'. Haha.

He asked if he could start touching the tail first. Then the body.. but still cautiously, he avoided the head.

Megan gave us straight "NO"s when we offered to carry her to the dinosaur displays.

Nicole didn't even want to look at them. It was that intimidating to the little ones... haa.

Aaren and Megan both enjoyed themselves \at recognizing the dinosaurs. I think it was a great exhibition to give them a 3D image of how these dinosaurs actually look like.

Balloon vendors never fail to make money from us at such places. And we would always feel so cheated after the short thrill in them dies off because...

We ended up being the one holding them for the rest of the walk while they continue running about like the pre-balloon acquisition period. lol.

Not that they didn't want to hold it but we had a couple of near-lost experience, for Megan especially. If not for my mil's fast responsive break-dance jumps, we would have just sent a pink dolphin up to Chang-er. lol.

All in all, I think my in-laws enjoyed as much as the kids did.

"You know, my parents are very boring people and you kinda brought life to their lives..", said hubby on our way home.

I think that's what a family should be, isn't it? :)

And the kids will be happy too.. with both sides of grandpa and grandma to have so much of childhood memories with. :)

Thank God it's Friday!

Nic shocked daddy when she whispered,"I want to press bell" when they arrived at school this morning.

I think its the power and influence from having siblings to grow up with.. haha.



Cant wait for the day at work to be over cos we're finally going Chinese Garden tonight! :)

Learning with Aaren and Megan

Megan jumped around and exclaimed," TADAH!!!!! I draw a T-REX!!!!

That got us all breaking into peals of laughter.

  

It was definitely hilarious to see her at her first attempt to draw up an image of a dinosaur of her imagination. :)  

But she indeed displayed the typical girl syndrome of being super ficker-minded.

One moment it was a T-rex, the next, she decided it was a Brontosaurus, then it became a T-Rex again.  

Meanwhile Korkor was at the other table learning his chinese characters.  

He has reached a stage whereby he cringe at every opportunity I seize to teach him Chinese. Haa.  

So mummy me had to work harder to make learning Chinese more interesting to him.

And my effort didnt go to any waste because he was sad that we were at the last character of the night. :)

So I hypocritically made a promise to teach him Chinese every alternate days.

Hypocritically cos I was deep down super happy inside lah! But had to pretend to be reluctant to keep his enthusiam intact.Hahahaha.

Alrighty, Ive reached Raffles place, the boring train ride lasted just enough for a blog entry. ttfn

 

Nicole's date with daddy and mummy

Nicole went on a date with mummy and daddy yesterday. 

Daddy picked little Nicole from the infant care before coming over to Marina Square to meet me. 

As the escalator descended, i spied a familiar back view of my precious baby and daddy looking at their reflection in the glass door with my darling trying to imitate daddy to hop. 

But she couldn't yet.. Its an age thing ya. Lol.   

Popping myself between the glass door and them to surprise them, Nicole squealed with joy and starting doing her happy baby dance. Lol.

Pointing to Carl's Junior, I said we were going there for dinner and Nicole followed-up repeatedly, "mum mum! Mum mum there!" :) 

I settled her in the baby seat while daddy made the order.

I always look forward to spending individual time with our kiddies because there will always be this immense indescribable joy felt in them. 

The joy of loving, the joy of receiving generously over-flowed :)

But of course, there were times when our little baby wants to be in control as well.. :)

Looking at Nicole, I knew this can't be our creation. This is God's creation whom he has blessed us with. 

Her big round expressive eyes, lovely mega-watt smiles, white bunny front-tooth, baby-licious cheeks, I could really kiss her all and night. :)   

Anyway, I'm elated that the repair officer at Samsung Marina Square changed my Note 2's screen for me FOC! In addition, he did the swop on the spot!   

Im fascinated, hopefully not over-reacting because Ive waited for hours at other branches before... Haha.   

Dad brought both Aaren and Megan back to his place so I could get my handphone repaired. Love you dad!   

Mum's in Cebu right now and the pictures she sent are amazing... Lol. Alrighty, shall end the entry for now.. TGIF tomorrow! Bye for now!  

School's out for the kids..

... and we checked in to a room at Costa Sand Resort (Pasir Ris) for a simple weekend. :)

Flash floods occurred 2 days straight prior to our arrival day so we were crossing our fingers and praying that the weather would be good to us.

Daddy had a shipment to deal with at the shop so he missed out day 1 of fun.

Aaren and Megan got really excited and started exploring the room the moment we checked in. They even counted that we could place 30 eggs in the refrigerator's egg tray. lol!

We did a pretty late check-in at 4.30pm because of the heavy morning downpour. 

Without much delay, everyone were cooperative enough to get changed and head down the beach.

We didnt approve of the beach because of the slug and mud as it poured pretty heavily the day before. Hence, the kids were given a choice. Xplorer kids or the swimming pool.

I was skeptical about their choice of picking the latter..  but went along with it anyway.

Lesson #1. No expectation = great satisfaction

Lesson $2. Make the best out of everything, live it to the fullest, even when you only have the simplest in life.

It was one of the plainest pool I ever been too. It wasnt even huge to begin with. But the kids had an equally great time in the water... hahahaha.

The next day had to be the highlight of the trip because daddy's back with us and we were going downtown East and then to Wild Wild Wet! 

We didnt have any pictures taken at Wild Wild Wet because I didnt want my camera to be in of any drowning situation.. but it was a great time spent there. 

Even before entering, we already spent quite abit getting swimming suits for everybody, including my in-laww. Haha.

5th September 2013.

I'm staying up for this entry because I want to remember everything that I'm feeling right now, in the aftermath of my best friend's wedding. :)

Being called somebody's best friend isn't simply acknowledging a new found acquaintance whom you get along well and enjoy current time with.

It takes years of effort, genuinely being there for that person no matter rain or shine, a mutual acknowledgement of friendship, knowing that even when the world turns their back on you, there is this someone whom you can talk to, who dares to cross the line boldly just to tell you that the path you're taking ain't all that shimmery.. someone who will never ditch you for the love of pursuing superficial relationships.

I told myself I will not cry though they are of joyful tears.

It is not only a celebration of the couple's love and official union... from a friend's point of view, it is also a celebration of our younger years that have passed.

Growing up together, going through the many many issues in life, facing them, braving through them, finally putting an official end to that phase of our life.. I feel a heart-felt warm welcome to this friend of mine into the world I've stepped into.

Single-hood is over, so is all kinda heart-breaking, falling-out-of-love issues.

I cheer at the addition of another khaki whom I can totally experience motherhood with all over again. :)

Being the God-mother of my 3 children, it was never easy trying to keep them close because of our hectic schedule... but I'm glad their Vimama has never given up over the years.

Like I said, being someone's God-mother isn't easy especially when you got to keep up the relationship with your God-children. It's amazing how Aaren and Megan loves their God-mother... :)

Now that I'm officially going to become a God-mother too, I'll look to this good example that Vimama has set! :)

Back to the wedding.

Spending time and effort doing something out of the norm helped in reconnecting old friendships and rekindling my love for catching up and having a good laugh with them.

I also appreciate the fact that mum, dad and my sister took the effort to attend the wedding banquet as well. :)

All in all, looking at the years that passed, especially in the recent years when the period of uncertainty over-stayed. Just by hearing my girlfriend's reply to my best wishes...

"我一定会幸福.."

Yes you will... and I'll be very very happy for you.

朋友, 我(们)祝福你.

Fish-farming with daddy

Daddy's finally not just bringing them to McDonalds.. but on his fishy adventures as well!

Going to the fish farms with daddy would always have its perks because our little ones will be showered with lots of goodies that mummy me forbids. 

We wanted to explore further but realized that those were private residential of the farm owners. How cool is that.. to live on a farm. 

Anyway, the kids had fun. Love it when they start asking questions about the names of fishes, discussing the colors and what food are fed to them. Positive influence. I like! :)

Spending our Saturday morning at AMK Hub.. :)

Prawning at Hai Bin

A few nights ago, when mum could help us with Nicole, we took the chance to use up daddy's remaining 2 hour prawning ticket.

We explained to the kids what were needed for prawning ( the collection basket, the rods, float, hook, bait), the right way to hold the rod and to watch the float so we know if we have a prawn etc.

Daddy opted for worms as baits and had to chop it up, disgusting both Aaren and Megan to the max. lol.

And my daughter did something I never dared to do......... which is to hold a live prawn with her bare hands and walk around with it. lol!

She was afraid at first but daddy slowly guided her to touching the prawn first, then slowly as she gained confidence, he further encouraged her to hold the prawn herself. :)

Soon, she became the appointed one who will collect the prawn that daddy catches and make sure they go into our collection basket.

Korkor on the other hand still isn't ready to try touching the prawns. lol. He rather be the one holding the prawning rod and 'fighting' it up from the water.

Never mind, still got time to train him so that hopefully he and Megan will be able to help daddy in time to come. Hehehe.

So after 2 hours, here's the kids and their trophies.

Megan may look especially proud but she's the one who was fussing to 'go back to mummy's house to bathe' while Korkor's already looking forward to the next prawning session. Haha! Till then!

Swim-my Saturday

That National day weekend was superbly long.. and awesomely enjoyable for the kids because well-rested mummy spent most of her time with them. :)

Nic got to go down to the pool again! While Korkor had his swimming class with Uncle Patrick. :)

Wearing Korkor's old swimsuit, she easily passes off as a little 'didi' instead of 'meimei'. Haha.

Korkor's improving at his swimming class as well.

Definitely enjoying his class with the swim mates.

Though he still can't swim independently, he overcame his fear and is now able to jump into the pool. Glad that he also found courage to try out some strokes with his head under water. :)

Later that evening, we headed down to United Square where my dear fil humbly chose to celebrate his 60th birthday.

It was Yeye's birthday but the kids received presents at Toys 'r us from Grandpa and Grandma instead. lol.

Left with nothing to get for a man who has everything he ever wanted, Hubs and I decided to get something he would never splurge for himself. Last year, we got him an automatic Omega watch, this year, we got him a classic Montblanc pen. :)

Chicken rice at Nam Kee was good and we'll definitely be back again! Except that because it was a full-house, we started feeling really hot and perspired though our meal despite the air-con and staff's attempts to ventilate the restaurant by opening the side entrance. :(

The kids were getting out of control so we decided to head back Rio to cut the birthday cake.

Bought dad my favourite black forest cake from Pine Garden.. and a sparkling candle which turned out quite lame... hahahaha.

All thanks to Hubs who told the kids that the cake would explode once it reaches the end.. so their eyes were kept on the cake the whole time. Hahaha.

It looks deceivingly mild in the picture but the actual flame was pretty awesome.

Now that the kids are bigger, I thought it would be nice to do some handmade gifts for Yeye.

Stayed up till 2am the night before to come up with the craft materials.

Aaren especially enjoyed the cutting and pasting of materials. Megan did hers in the car cos she was at my mum's place the whole afternoon and even Nicole, under my guidance, did the pasting too. ;)

Looks easy but the cracking of brain for designs, printing, planning, packing, making sure that everything the kids need is provided.. no joke. lol.

Was a long long day... but a very fulfilling one!

Oh yes.. and Yeye proudly pasted the first handmade gifts from his grandchildren on his wardrobe... :)

For my favorite boy who's down with fever and dislikes Chinese homework...

Keep on going and persevere son! :)

Macritchie Reservoir

It was the day of Ah-kong's cremation.

It wasn't as uncontrollably unbearable and emotional a farewell as compared to Ah-ma's farewell in 1995 as we all know he's already lived a very fulfilling life but I just couldn't help tearing at every moment of thinking of grandpa.

Feeling rather down, Hubs suggested bringing the kids to somewhere nearby that's relaxing.. and it has got to be Macritchie Reservoir. :)

Went home to pick up the scooters and off we went!

It is never easy bringing all 3 kids out.. and I always feel proud of hubs when he even agrees to try it. Hahahha.

Now that Nic's walking, she's always busy exploring everything around her. :)

She loves picking up twigs and pretending to 'draw' on the ground. :)

We stopped by to watch people canoeing on the other side of the reservoir, appreciate the blue-pinkish sky, watch a flock of birds fly by... was really relaxing, even with the kids. :)

Let's move on! Daddy said.

Megan said she was feeling tired and Korkor volunteered to push the stroller. :)

Moving on the to viewing deck.

Korkor was proud to have found the longest stick. Hahaha.

Love how Nic enjoyed herself and her new found independence.

Megan, however, was rather careful when she had to walk on the deck. My little Jiejie has always been very conscious on elevated grounds like this. 

She's never comfortable being on unusual grounds. 

Leave her on a sandy beach and she'll probably find somewhere to hop out of it or stand really still and scream,"MUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY!!!" lol.

Korkor spotted something coming our way.

This little monkey was really swift in trying to grab Korkor's water bottle that was hanging on the stroller away. Haha.

Then, the number of monkeys suddenly increased and all came running our way.

Spotted a mummy from the lot!

Nic got really distracted by the monkeys. Haha.

It was amazing to witness how when daddy posed for the camera, these 2 monkeys started 'discussing' something.. and the next thing we know,

It was as though they were discussing if hubs was a friend or foe lor... whether it was dangerous to get close with him. lol!

At the end of the bridge, we saw another monkey brushing her hands repeatedly on a smaller monkey's back, like a mummy loving a baby.

After watching for some time, we realized that the smaller monkey had a wound on it's back and the bigger monkey was probably trying to offer some comfort. So sweet. :)

"Daddy! Look at my walking stick!", Aaren exclaimed. lol!

Next. we moved on to the trail... didn't bring the kids far in bearing in mind that we are outnumbered by the children. lol!

The kids practiced their counting by picking up stones. :)

While I was with the 2 kids at the foot of the trail, Daddy spent precious time with our little princess, guiding her on her baby steps. :)

Soon, it was time to go back because the children were getting hungry..

One last picture before signing off this entry.. *smiles*