Pink African Violets

Potted this a year ago from a small leaf which Gwenda has given to me. It started to bloom during the Chinese New Year holidays with lovely pink flowers.

Randson go to Abacus Class

Have signed up abacus class for Randson since last December, however the class started only today.

Randson refused to attend the class & dragged himself to the centre. He felt that why should he learn abacus as he knew how to count. I explained to him as I hope with him attending this class he is able to improve on his mental sums as the childcare teacher has been complaining that he is unable to do addition & subtraction (however this is not the case as I have tested him & he is able to do so).

Not long after arriving at the centre, he saw his schoolmate whom was in same abacus class & started to enjoy the session.

After the session, he asked "Mummy, can I come here everyday? It is very fun!". I'm stunned.

Work from Home

Was given 2 days medical leave due to my pulled ligament.

As these 2 days are considered monthend at work & it is really not a good time to go on medical leave as my colleagues will be flooded with orders too, so I decided to work from home. Luckily all things went on well & except I'm crippled.

Lion Dance vs pulled ligament

A lion dance troupe was at our area & Daddy invited them to our house. The kids are so excited to see the lion dance. While I tried to reach the camera which was placed a table which is quite faraway, I heard a "cracking" sound at my kneecap & the pain was so sharp that I fell onto the sofa & only managed to snap these 3 previous photos of the lion dance.

Went to the doctor in the evening as part of my knee started to swell due to pulled ligament. :(

Xindy's Housewarming

Was invited to Xindy's housewarming but didn't get to go cos Allyson is running a fever today.

Brought Mum out for praying

I have been applying long leave during Chinese New Year cos this is the only time Daddy is not working & we can spend some precious hours together. After going around Singapore for the past 2 days, Daddy asked me "did Mum go to pray?".

Mum has been helping us to take care of our kids on weekdays & only when I go on leave, she managed to go "on leave" as well. I will bring her along if I brought my kids out during school holidays, however it didn't come to my mind that during this long holidays, she will be alone at home (except the first few days of Chinese New Year).

Really appreciated Daddy for reminding me. So we brought Mum to pray at the Da Bo Gong Temple at Balestier & the Goddess of Mercy temple at Joo Chiat (she said that my aunts used to pray there). She didn't want to join us initially cos my sis is coming home for dinner & she is afraid that she does not have enough time to cook dinner. So we sent her home about around 4pm & hopefully she has an enjoyable trip with us.


P.S. Thanks Mum for helping out all these while, without your help, life will be very different!!!

Fourth & Fifth day of Chinese New Year

After sending our kids to school, both of us visited some temples & TOTO hot spots of Singapore.

沉默是金

“沉默是金”- 我倒不觉得。我觉得沉默是很恐怖的，因为你不知道他们在想些什么，想做什么？

我承认有的时候，你们的一举一动我都能猜到你们想要什么，可是那只是有时候而已嘛! 我可不是神仙! 对，我不是第一天认识你们，那又怎样？我就应该这样猜下去吗？每天生活在猜心事游戏中吗？你们快乐吗？身为游戏主持，你们有满足感吗？看到参赛者不停的猜测，急得象热锅上的蚂蚁般，你们心安吗？为何不给大家一点暗示或明示呢？难道这个游戏没有赢家？难道把答案藏在心里会更舒服吗？

告诉自己不能放弃要忍耐，连星座生肖也这么说! 天啊! 女人你到底要什么？？？

Third day of Chinese New Year

Jack, Beng Hwee, Jonathan & Hui Chien came to our house today together with Jasmine, Jason, Jaslyn (Beng Hwee's kids), Javier & Chloe (Hui Chien's kids). Wow, so many kids at home today!!!

We had pizzas, honey glazed chicken & potato salad (made by Hui Chien). Hui Chien told us that this is her 2nd try to make potato salad, can you imagine, we knew each other for 23 years & this is the first time we tried her cooking!!!

After they left our place, we went to Ah Wee's house where Daddy played mahjong for a short while & we proceed to Cousin Esther's house for dinner.

We arrived at her house at about 7 pm & surprised to see that 3rd aunt has not arrived so Daddy went to fetch them. While waiting for them, we just lazed around & watched TV. Have a short chat with Cousin Esther & finally, someone noticed that I have lost weight!!! Thanks Esther, no one say anything about my new "body shape" for the past 3 days (lol) & you noticed it (another accomplishment of the new year)!!!

We had steamboat & teppanyaki dinner & left her home about 9pm as the children got to go to school the next day.

P.S. Pity the dog as Sok Yin was afraid of her & she was being locked up in the backyard.

Second day of Chinese New Year

Went to my 3rd aunt's place today, trying to take a picture of Kailing (my niece? - cousin's daughter) but she refused to smile. Not sure she understood what I was trying to tell her as her mum has taught her to speak more Vietnamese than Chinese. Finally got her smiling (what an accomplishment).


The kids went to the room to play a game of carrom but Kaixin (Kailing's sister) climbed onto the board & that ended the game.

So they went to another room & started their pillow fights. This is their favourite game which they played with the 5 sisters for the past few years & they really missed them very much. They used to ask, "when are we going to the 5 jie jies house?"

We had Yusheng & steamboat at my aunt's place & it was so delicious always!!!

First day of Chinese New Year

Visited my parents-in-law, the kids have a wonderful time as they have wrestling sessions with their cousins.

After that, we went to my mum's place & had our lunch & dinner there.

First reunion dinner with my in laws

We got married in Year 1995 & this is the first time we are going to Gong Gong's place for reunion dinner!!!


So excited, FIRST TIME, not sure what will we be eating cos my mother-in-law is a vegetarian but I have tried her cooking on our wedding day (not bad, quite a feast on that day).

6pm - Daddy drove us to Gong Gong's place & to my surprise, my brother-in-law is the one cooking. He cooked leek, meat balls & corn, white, green & red carrot soup. He also bought a set of KFC chicken meal. Another surprise, my mother-in-law was no longer a vegetarian!!! My sister-in-law was teasing her that she should let Daddy & me know earlier so that we can bring abalone for the reunion dinner (hiaz).

The kids are supposed to eat in the living room cos the dining table is too small :

(they are my brother-in-law's children)

After dinner, we rushed home to complete our Spring Cleaning.

Last minute Spring Cleaning

Chinese New Year's eve!!! But our house is still in a mess, painting job not completed, etc. So we put our hands together & got everything fixed by 12 midnight!!!

Reunion dinner with mum, sis & bro-in-law

We decided to have an early reunion dinner at the coffeeshop with mum cos sis got to go to her in-law's house for their reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's eve.

We ordered the set menu which consisted of YuSheng, sharkfin soup, fried chicken, pork ribs, steamed sea bass, dried oyster with facai, prawn balls, hor fun & dessert. Sis & the kids loved to eat frogs so we ordered a plate of stir fried frogs with ginger & spring onion.

The dishes are quite big but not nice. Still prefer the one at Changi Village but I do not have their contact number to reserve a table (hiaz) for tonight.

不公平？？？

在这个世界上，有什么东西是公平的呢？有些人就是这样受到老天的疼爱，而有些人的运气就是差了一点。没关系，我们的十支手指也是不同长短，就象人一样，一定会有比较幸运的，也有一些比较不幸的! 牢骚发完就好了!生活是美好的，新年来了，万事将如意!!! 恭喜发财!!! 嘻嘻!!!

Valentine's Day - memories!!!

This is the first rose that I received from Daddy in Year 1992 (during courtship), that was our first Valentine's Day. We went for seafood dinner at East Coast with all his friends whom we used to go bowling with.

He passed it to me when I boarded his lorry. Not a single word came out of his mouth (as usual) but I knew he is too shy to say anything (maybe is his first time buying a rose).

I dried it & kept it in the same container till today & it is still at my mum's place which I managed to capture a picture of it recently. The container has turned yellow, but I can still see the rose, baby's breath & memories in it. It is so precious as this is the one & only rose from Daddy cos Daddy felt that buying flowers is not practical & a waste of money.

Not so nice Almond Cookie but delicious Pineapple tarts

I planned to make some almond cookies for Cynthia but I tried a different recipe from the one I did previously. I mixed grounded almond into the flour & topped the cookie with chopped almond... but it didn't turn out well, it is too dry cos grounded almond added & it doesn't melt in the mouth. Didn't give Cynthia the cookies, only let her try the sample & I kept the whole container in my cabinet (lol).

Luckily the pineapple tarts turned out well, in fact they are made by my kids except the dough. I left the kitchen to them while I had my dinner. The tarts are of different sizes of the tarts but taste good & they did made some tortoise shaped pineapple tarts too (creativity) - which I didn't managed to capture in the picture.

CNY coming... spring cleaning not done

Chinese New Year is just round the corner & I have not done any spring cleaning yet, always so busy at work. Everyone knew that our office will be closed on 19 and 20 Feb 2007, the orders seems to flow in non-stop. So tiring!!!

Furama or Amara???

We were out for lunch when Daddy's friend called him to collect something from "Amara". Daddy ask where is Amara so I told him it is at Tanjong Pagar, so we drove all the way there.

We waited & waited & there is no sign of Daddy's friend. Daddy gave him a call again & we realised it is "Furama" (but not the Furama that I knew at Chinatown) - it is Furama Riverview (formally known as Apollo Hotel). Wow... so much changes in Singapore, I'm lost!!!

1st attempt to make almond cookies

All this while, have been taking goodies bought by Cynthia so I decided to make some almond cookie for all to try. As this is my first attempt & I do not have a recipe for this, I decided to use the one which I found in Simply Hers (actually is Hazelnut cookies recipe) but I replaced hazelnut with almond. I also decided to use chopped almond instead of grounded almond which I feel by putting in chopped almond, we would be able to feel the almond in the cookie.

It really work out well & taste yummy, it melted in your mouth. As it was so tasty & it is my first try, we (with my kids) can't stop eating and all the cookies ended up in our stomach.

Sorry Cynthia, I will make more next time cos you are not coming to the office on Monday.

Water Play at the childcare

Wow, after a long wait, finally the school resume their water play session. I managed to get her a swim suit yesterday & she was so excited to see it & can't wait for the session today.

Picked her up after work & she told me it was very fun. We used to go to the beach previously but she hardly dare to walk into the water & hopefully with these water play sessions can help to eliminate her fear.

Make pineapple tarts

Try to make some pineapple tarts today with the help of my 4 kids but the dough turn out to be a bit hard but taste good...lol.

Cynthia's plant start to bloom

After taking care of Cynthia's African Violets for some times, one of the pots started to bloom. So excited, I took a picture of it every morning.

A trip to Tuas South Incernation Centre

Don't think much Singaporean has the chance to visit the Tuas South Incernation Centre, we were there today cos Daddy say he needs to clear some renovation debis. It is our first trip and the only complaint the kids have is "very smelly".

Upon entering the centre, we can see rubbish trucks discarding their contents to the "holes" (do not know what to call that). The "hole" is like a bigger rubbish chute that we have at our flat & Daddy throw the debis down to the "hole" too but we just watched at another corner. There is a big crane that carried heavy metal which were discarded by others at another area & the kids were amazed to see this. I dare not take any photo of the centre as I'm not sure whether it is legal to do so.

We paid $30+ for discarding the debris at the Centre (by weight) - so expensive but it is really eye opening to the family.

Shopping for Chinese New Year

As the years go by, I find myself having less & less time for shopping. Basically, everyday's routine is wake up, working, fetch kids from school, housework, ensure kids do their homework, sleep then the cycle start again. My life is like Johnson's hamsters running on the wheel, a neverending circle.

I applied for half day leave & went shopping today!!! Planned to start from WhiteSands cos I thought John Little was still there (didn't know that they have moved), what a disappointment.

However, I managed to get some clothes from Sense & was surprised to find the same salesgirl whom has served me last year. Finally one down, have settled my CNY clothings.