Our Home. Our Life

As there is only 1 more week before the children go back to school, Irene and I made plans to bring the kids to The Art Garden at the Singapore Art Museum and the Philatelic Museum on Monday.

THE ART GARDEN

Posing at the entrance to the Art Garden of the Singapore Art Museum.  May-June is the children’s season where young children learn to appreciate contemporary art in a fun and interactive environment.

Entering the Enchanted Forest where imaginary animals roam freely and clouds formed in the shape of sheeps.  Children can be inspired to create their own imaginative story.

A corner where children colour butterfly images and then cut them out and paste them on the wall behind.

Floribots – 100 giant robot flowers that responds to motion.  We got to see how these flowers “grow” from a bud until they “bloom” once our motion was being detected.  It was fun to see the flowers in action.

The children learnt to fold origami flowers.

The completed origami flowers were then pasted on the garden wall behind the Floribots.

The Funky Forest and Daisies was fun and interactive.

By helping to direct the water stream on the floor to the root area of the plants, we saw how the plants changed from wilt form to green and growing with flower budding.

The daisies disappear when one stepped on them.  It’s like how the mimosa grass reacts to our touch.  The children had tremendous fun running up and down the flower patch.

THE PHILATELIC MUSEUM

The stamp collection museum is really a big eye opener for me.  Here at the museum, we learn how stamps are created.  The past series of Singapore stamps are all showcased at the museum.  Not only that, we get to see stamps from other countries too.

It’s interesting to see Harry Potter appearing on the stamps in China.

It’s not difficult to understand why New Zealand featured characters from Lord of the Ring as stamps.

The Heritage Room

Before we set off for our Australia trip, I’ve suggested to DQ that we could arrange to have her 3 boys come over to our place for a get together with our 2 girls and my nephew. The plan was to have her 3 boys over for the entire day. So they can drop their boys off before they go to work and then pick them up at night after they get off from work.  I promised DQ that all the 3 meals of the children will be provided with snacks in between.  It will be a fun day for the children since it’s the school holidays.  Our 2 girls and nana were very excited as soon as the date for the gathering was determined.

The get together for the children took place last Thursday, 17th June.  Qi, Xuan and Ting were dropped off by WH at 9am and I made pancake with hash-brown breakfast for them.  WH and DQ have disciplined their children very well.  They are such sweet and courteous children and it’s such a joy to have them over for company.  Honestly it wasn’t hard for me to handle all the 6 kids.  The 4 boys are all older than my 2 girls and preparing meals for them was a breeze.  I was thrilled that they all loved what I fed them. Hee…. I even had time to sit down and watch my Korean show while  they were watching theirs.  Sometime a change to my normal routine wasn’t such a bad idea.

After breakfast, the boys started their first movie session, Percy Jackson.  While all the gor gors’ eyes were glued to the tv, the two cheeky girls were trying to distract them.

The boys were engaged in the strategy game, Blokus.

All the boys are learning Chinese martial arts.  Nana started his wushu class since Primary 1.  The Choos boys started taking lessons about 6 months ago.

Xuan was deeply engrossed in putting together a Chinese dragon from the pre-cut wooden chips.

After a Bart Simpson movie, the children started some craft work while Xuan concentrated on his dragon.

Even though they split up, they were all involved in something during that period.

Children are creative little people.  In the absence of computers and hand held games, they will come up with ideas to get themselves occupied.  The 6 children had a blast playing hide and seek in my humble home.  Not big to begin with but they still had tremendous fun finding places to hide themselves.  The older children even ganged up to trick the 3 younger ones.  It was really funny to watch them play.

It was a great get together for the kids that day.  The purpose for disallowing them to bring any hand held games and denied them access to our computers was to ensure that they could have as much interactions as possible with one another.  That goal was undoubtedly fulfilled.  Bravo!!!!

We signed up Yuxin, Yuen and Kaylen for a 1km kids walk organised by Dumex on 19 June, Sat.  This event was specially organised for preschoolers aged between 3 and 6 years old and was held in conjunction with the World Milk Day.

This milkathon also aims to raise funds for the less fortunate.  $5 of the $12 registration fee will be donated to the Compassion Fund, which provides financial assistance to needy students in low income families in a crisis.

We came to know about this event fr KH & CX.  They have also signed up Andreana and Anders for the walk.

Kaylen changing out into his outfit at a corner.

By the time the walk began, it was already 9am.  It was getting hot.

oh my 2 cuties….

Yuen was happy to be handed a balloon after the 1km walk.

The children were queuing up to play in the inflatable bouncy house.

There were other fun activities like face painting, sand arts, balloons sculpting etc to entertain the kids.

Papa was only able to join in the fun after we completed the walk as our car was scheduled for a service that day.  Thus we were at East Coast at 7am for a breakfast at MacDonald and then the 3 of us took a 20 min walk to Big Splash Playground where the event was held.  That walk itself must have been at least 2 km.

We were glad that my sister and bro-in-law were able to bring Kaylen along for the event.

Clara was picked to be interviewed for Mamil’s tv advertisement that will be shown over Channel 8 next week.

Before this trip materialised, we never thought we would return to Australia within 9 months for another vacation.  Thanks to our Herworld subscription which entitled subscribers to 7 nights free stay at a resort anywhere in the world subject to availability.  Well the catch is, we can only book our 7 nights free stay at most 1 month in advance to our departure date.  The resorts available for selection are normally not located in major cities.  Thus we found Coffs Harbour, a small town situated 5 hrs away from Brisbane or 6 hrs away from Sydney by driving.  Thanks to the effort of KH and CX that we found a good deal with Emirates Airlines that flew us to Brisbane.

We rented a 8-seater van to move ourselves from place to place.  Really fun to travel together in one vehicle. Really missed those road trips we had in USA.

Went grocery shopping at Woolsworth after we checked in to our resort.

Preparing breakfast for everyone.  It’s more economical to cook our own meals and besides, the apartment came with a kitchen complete with almost everything, including a dishwasher.

We were very satisfied with our delicious breakfast that cost us only a fraction of what a restaurant would have charged us.

It was great that both Yuxin and Yuen became good friends with Anders who is 5 months younger than Yuxin.

The 4 kids had such a wonderful time together during the trip.

Looked fun but I chickened out and offered to stay back with Yuen.  Honestly, Yuen was allowed on it if she had wanted to.  I was kinda of glad that she refused.

Yuxin loved it and went on it again for another round.

The icy cold sand and the chilling wind did not hinder the kids from having fun at the beach.

Little mushrooms found growing near the pond outside our apartment.

All the 4 kids love the horse riding experience. We paid A$25 for each child to have a 30 min ride on the horse.

We were initially worried that Yuen might not like the idea but she amazed us all without putting up any fight.  In fact she loved it and her sense of balance was very good.

Little Yuen was so proud of herself for managing her first horse riding experience so well.

Poor papa had to walk the field 3 times with the girls. He was dead tired by the end of the whole experience.  We had very much wanted to go back to the ranch for another round of riding experience for the kids but the last 2 days of our stay at Coffs Harbour were greeted with stormy weather.

My favourite place at Coffs Harbour has to be the Pet Porpoise Pool.  This place offers interactive experiences with many of the animals.  You can’t get any closer to a dolphin than this… how magical!

Yuen gamely stayed still while waiting for the dolphin to stick out her head for that magical kiss.

KH was wet after his intimate encounter with the seal.  fortunately his jacket was water proof.

We all had fun touching the belly of the dolphin.  There were 2 dolphins swimming round and round for us to pat them.

As there weren’t that many people at the park, the kids had so many turns feeding the little blue penguins with small fishes.  They must have queued up  at least 6 times.

So cute to see little people feeding little animal.

The dolphins loved playing with the ball.

We had a picnic at the park with fish and chips.

Oooh… yum yum.

Saw pairs of parakeet outside a confectionery.  Papa only managed to snap pictures of 3 pairs although there were 5 pairs perching on the wooden fence.  How extraordinary to see so many pairs together.  Not sure if it’s the mating season.

KH insisted that we should have a bbq during our stay at the resort and thus his wish was our command.

Brought the kids to an indoor playground as there’s pretty much nothing to do on a cold rainy day.

The children went wild when the playground dimmed the lights and put on catchy music with bubbles.

Stopped by the Tropical Fruit Farm on our way to Gold Coast.

A mommy kangaroo and her joey.

Yuxin and Yuen loved having the kangaroos ate out of their hands.

A little train ride within the farm.  Something new for us and it was quite fun.

Our dare-devil loved the thrill of playing on the flying fox.

Yuxin was brave to swing down on the flying fox by herself.

Although it was our second visit to Movie World in 9 months, we had a different experience at the park with both the girls slightly older.

They still love the Tweety bird cage ride.

This bumper car ride was something they didn’t try during our first visit 9 months ago.

They were definitely thrilled to see their familiar characters.

A nice group photo.

While jiejie was queuing for a second bumper car ride, meimei seized the opportunity to pose with Tweety.

I was so glad that I could stay back with Yuen and not take this Wild Wild West ride.

According to papa, Yuxin was scared stiff when the boat plunged down.

After the Wild Wild West ride, this was chicken feet to Yuxin and she went up with Andrena and Anders without any hesitation.  This was considered her favourite ride.  She has indeed become bolder.

We were at an Italian restaurant celebrating Yuxin’s birthday.  As we only ordered two kids meals, they had to share the 2 ice-cream cones.

After dinner, the girls dressed up into little fairies. Our girls’ outfits were present from CX and KH. As we did not find anything suitable for Anders, he was in his pjs.

We only managed to buy a small mousse cake for Yuxin.  We noticed that it’s not easy to find nice birthday cakes in Australia.  Also all grocery stores closed at 5.30pm.  We were really spoilt with choices in America, so easy to find a nice and cute princess cake.

Our last night in Gold Coast.

It was Yu-Xin’s turn on Tuesday to go on a school excursion and Yu-En got to stay home.  All K1 and K2 students visited the Kid’s Kampong at Pasir Ris.  Both Yu-Xin and Yu-En had been to this interesting place with their Meili gugu.  So it was not new to Yu-Xin.  Nonetheless, she was still very excited to be able to return again with her friends and teachers.

Yu-En went on an excursion to the zoo with her school this morning.  As all the teachers were deployed to accompany all the pre-nursery and  nursery classes on this excursion, K1 and K2 students have to stay home.  Hence Yu-Xin didn’t have to attend school today.  Without a doubt, since the day Yu-En knew about this impending excursion, she was very excited and was really looking forward to this special day.

The school bus came at 8am to pick up Yu-En and she was sent back at 2.35pm.  She looked very tired when she stepped off the bus but could tell that she had a great day at the zoo.  Kudos to the school for taking tonnes of pictures to share with all the parents on Facebook.  I managed to spot Yu-En in some of the photos and was glad that I’m able to share them in this entry.

We got acquainted with Paula and Chee Wee in Phoenix in year 2004.  They moved back to Singapore 2.5 years ahead of us after spending a long time in USA (13 years for Paula and 16 years for Chee Wee).

Paula initiated the firefly trip to Kota Tinggi by inviting us along.  I thought since we will pass by my in-laws’ farm, it would be a great idea to bundle both visits together.  The Lows loved my suggestion and hence the trip materialised last Saturday (27 Mar).

Papa managed to capture the whole chicken family, how lovely!

All children love piglets.

Like my girls, Kayla was born in Phoenix, AZ.  Oliver on the other hand was “made in Singaore”.

Our scheduled boat ride out to see the firefly was 8.15pm.

It was a rather interesting experience watching the fireflies.  We were apprehensive at first that we were able to see them but as soon as the boat arrived at the designated spot, the bushes and the trees that those insects rested on turned into christmas trees.  Although the light intensities were not as strong as the blinking lights on a real christmas tree, it still felt magical.

Just realised that my last entry was done exactly 2 months ago.  This long MIA was due partly to my laziness and partly because we had a guest with us and thus was kind of distracted from my usual routine.  Hahaha, trying to push all the blame to poor Sandi.  Anyway, we are back!!!

Time flies quickly. Sandi came and left and is now safely back in Phoenix, still recovering from jet-lag.  Her 6.5 weeks stay in Singapore seemed long but this actually allowed her to really experience what it’s like living in Singapore.

From her first MRT ride to her first visit to a wet market, Sandi got to witness the life of a normal Singaporean.  Our   daily walk  to our grocery store with me was initially hard on Sandi who is so used to driving everywhere in Phoenix.  But soon, walking became our daily exercise and I was glad that I did lose some weight myself!

Getting to spend the entire CNY in Singapore was really quite something for Sandi.  Our family commitment required us to go in and out of JB and the various visits with friends and families could overwhelm someone who is not familiar with our culture.  The lion and Chinese unicorn dance at Daniel’s house was a big eye-opener.  The steamboat dinner with the MGD gang let us tried out a new sesame and soya based broth which I simply loved.  A big thank you to all our friends and families for being so hospitable to our guest.

We felt like tourists ourselves when we brought Sandi to the various places of interests. The heat and humidity can be taxing on one’s body.  Kudos to Sandi for enduring the high discomfort during her stay in Singapore.

Some of the visits like to Little India and the Kuang Yin temple at Bugis were made when the girls were in school.  We really have to plan ahead what we could achieve in those 3 hrs when they were not around.  Staying near a MRT station does make our task of planning easier.

On Sandi’s 4th week stay in Singapore, we embarked on a 4 days and 3 nights trip to Bangkok.  That was our first trip to Bangkok but the second time for Sandi.  It’s a revisit for her after spending 1.5 yrs (military commitment of her husband)  in the city 40 years ago.

It was a fun trip although poor Sandi had to sleep in the last 2 days due to a serious sinus problem.  The filthy air and super hot weather were some of the challenges we had to contend with.   Just look at the picture below and you can see how bad the air quality is in Bangkok.  We were having breakfast on the 78th floor and yet we couldn’t take a good look at the city.

Fortunately we did not witness any red shirts activities and the actual rally took place on the day we departed Bangkok.

Sandi had about a week left in Singapore after we got back from Bangkok.  It was also the girls’ school holidays.  We revisited Chinatown, 3rd times with Sandi actually. Not only was it interesting to Sandi, I enjoyed browsing the stores (mostly galleries) along Pagoda Street.

The last weekend before Sandi departed for Phoenix, we went to Sentosa and the Botanic Garden.  Sure accomplish alot in those 6.5 weeks.

Hope Sandi had a great time with the Ongs.  Till the next time we meet again, take care!

We have been waiting for this day to arrive since sometime in December last year.  We were all really excited when Sandi finalised her travel arrangement to Singapore and so with great anticipation, she arrived in our sunny island at 1pm on Singapore Airline this afternoon.

I’m sure the last person Sandi expected to see at the airport was Dillon.  Although Sandi knew that Dillon is still in town with her mother, she did not know that we had also made arrangement to pick up Dillon from her mother earlier due to some personal commitment that Faizah had to attend to.

And thus right now, we have Sandi and Dillon sleeping in our house.  What great reunion!  We will have Dillon for this weekend and Sandi will be in Singapore for the next 6.5 weeks. We will sure have lots of fun!

I have not been very active with blog updating lately.  There were some really cute pictures taken in our last two visits to my in-laws’ farm that I thought I should post and share them here. Although late, it’s better than not posting at all.

We were all thrilled to learn from my father-in-law that these ducklings were just 1 day old.

Our children are indeed lucky to be able to have some “hands on” experience with some farm animals that city kids these days may not have a chance to touch.

This is why we love to bring our girls back to the farm whenever we can find the time.

Holding a new born piglet with gugu.

It is indeed rare to see a cluster of durians hanging on a tree at such a height.

Another fun thing to do at the farm that the girls don’t get to try in our SG flat.

Their grandma always comes up with cute and fun ideas for the girls.  They definitely had lots of fun with the motorised bike.

Xmas presents from shushu and shenshen.

We were at the farm again two weeks later with the Phoon family.  We all had a chance to savour some organic durians.

Yu-En loves the taste of durians.  We had to restrain her from eating too much of the heaty fruit.

Yu-Xin and Huiying getting up close with the piglets.  We could tell that these little animals were scared to death.

Yu-Xin finally plucked up enough courage to touch them after these frightened piglets were being forced to a corner of their sty.

The kids were intrigued with the mimosa.

Really love this picture with the kids running… so carefree, so innocent and happy. Children should be given lots of opportunity to connect with nature and learn to appreciate its beauty.  A fun childhood is what we want to give to our girls.

Following gong-gong around while he looked for ripen durians.