Mini Bathtub for HDB : Dec-09

During one of my lunch talk when we were discussing about how Koreans maintained their health by soaking themselves in hot-bath, I was wondering if there was any portable, small and cheap bathtub suitable for our little bathroom. Thus, I started surfing around, but after many hours of 'drilling', the success rate was actually pretty low. Most bathtubs are not portable or if they were, their length were rather long. The closest i got to was a wooden bathtub, which was small but pricey ($900), and it may not be good to have wood inside a Singapore's bathroom where humity was extremely high. I was about to give up my crazy idea when my last attempt to google the images of a HDB bathtub got a result of a list of small fibreglass SPA tubs. And even to my pleasant surprise it was a shop in Singapore selling this. Without much hestation, I rang the shop to quote for the price and it was $200! Hahaha... so here we got; a small, portable and cheap bathtub. The kids are close to disbelief when i told them that i got a bathtub, nevertheless, they were the ones who enjoyed the tub the most!

Potluck @ Mummy's : Dec-09

Since Mummy began her battle with breast cancer, various positive functions and Buddhist gods have appeared in her life to assist her in her battle.. giving emotional, spiritual and even physical support at different times. Two such kind souls who have constantly been by her side are Lin Yin 阿姨 and Poh Ta 姨丈. At every important juncture where a decision has to be made on Mummy's cancer treatment, they are there to offer invaluable advice and support. Not only that, they often fill Mummy's spare time with healthy mahjong, at the same time creating much fun and laughter in the house. Aunty Lin Yin is actually Mummy's sister, and with this acknowledgment, all of Aunty Lin Yin's sisters and brothers suddenly became Mummy's too.

This is the very first time where most of Mummy's 'long-lost' siblings get together to meet Mummy. Some nephews who are keen to meet their 四姨 were also present. Obviously, Mummy's biological family was a big one and my grandparents there actually gave birth to 17 or 18 children altogether!! So although Mummy was No. 9 amongst them, most of the Aunts and Uncles present are actually younger than Mummy except for 大姨 and 大舅.

X'mas Eve Dinner : Dec-09

Normally during X'mas, we'll just buy some litte presents for the gals and enjoy the public holidays. This year we decided to do something different, we'll cook a X'mas feast! So Shin Yang and myself pop-by NTUC supermarket to get some food and we started to allocate tasks. I'll BBQ the prawns & meat, Shin Yang cook the corn-soup, mama prepare the crabs and veg and the kids prepare the fruits and desserts. The entire experience turned out to be fun and rewarding, it's just like having another reunion dinner. However, I was so exhausted after the whole thing, cooking is really not easy stuff.

A nice X'mas gift : Dec-09

When some of my UK team members were in Singapore helping me out in my project, I'd bought some small gifts for their kids to 'compensate' for having their dad was away from them. In return, I'd received a pleasant video clip with their kids saying thank you and wishing me a merry x'mas. It was indeed a pleasant surprise to be able to see the kids.

Tour Bus Trip to Orchard Road : Dec-09

While shopping at Metro a few months ago, Shin Yang and Mummy managed to secure 8 free tickets to a ride to Orchard Road to view the X'mas lightings.

The day had quickly arrived and we broaded the top-less bus to the super-crowded part of Singapore, Orchard Road. The lights are very impressive, as well as the human and traffic jams.

Children's Party : Dec-09

Once every two years, my company will organise a party for the children of the employees; to celebrate year-end as well as X'mas. This is Qi's fourth and last time attending this party and for the first time this year, En'en is also able to join in the fun.

The party theme this year is "Camp GSK", where there are multiple stations for the kids to role play a vocation. The kids got the chance to become an artist, policeman, scientist, doctor, chef and musician. Each station will provide the kids with a small task to complete.

Overall, the kids have a great time. Qi and Xuan got first in their respective age group and En'en got so tired after so much activities that she just felt asleep on the hotel's sofa.

A Fruitful Afternoon @ Pasir Ris Park : Dec-09

Our family has never been the very outdoor-ish kind and seldom engage in sporty activities. Cycling to the girls, has always been playing on the tricycle when they were younger and pedalling on the 4-whkneel training bicycle when they got older. The girls have also no urge to learn cycing until they saw their cousins pedalling away effortlessly on the two-wheeled during the last chinese new year.

Despite the girls' enthusiasm for this cycling outing on a weekday, getting the girls to cycle after we were there was no mean feat. First, there was the sunny weather; then they could not pedal fast or long enough before they screamed i'm-tired and refuse to pedal further. And of course, there were the usual falling off the bikes and scratches and dark marks on legs. After much coaxing, negotiating, threatening and cajoling, the girls were finally enjoying their ride.

After a long while of pedalling on the tandem bicyle and a break at the playground, Qiqi was finally able to pedal the tandem bicycle away all by herself! She got so excited that she immediately wanted to return to the bicycle stall to change for a two-wheeler. Well, she got her wish and before long, she was happily pedalling away all by herself. Although her bicycle had an affinity to the lamposts and dustbins along the way, that was all part of the learning-to-cycle process I thought. I was very proud of her and at the end of the 2 hours, we all had a good time, lots of vitamin D and a good appetite for a late lunch!

Trey's first movie on sale : Dec-09

I was walking around in CD Rama when something familar caught my eyes, my bro-in-law's first movie was on sale!  It was proud to see a family member's achievement, and to share the joy and success, i took one without hesitation and bought it.  The gals were delighted to see their uncle on a DVD coverpage, and they'll be asking for his autograph very soon...

Jurong Bird Park : Dec-09

Since together for so many years, Shin Yang and myself have never been to the Jurong Bird Park. This is our first time visiting the Park as a family and it is a family for FIVE! Instead of taking the tram, we decided to have a good slow walk around the Park, resting frequently to enjoy the scenery. After a few hours, the first to wear-out is En'en, who woke up earlier than her sisters to remind me of the outing!

Standard Chartered Run : Dec-09

This was probably one of our main highlight of this year, the Standard Chartered 10 km run. We had registered this event many months ago and had been jogging regularly for this event. This was the longest distance i had run so far and man, it was really a far way to jog! All in all, the event was fun with so many people joining in and we managed to complete in 1hr25mins, not too bad for a start.

Xuan Xuan, the flower girl - Dec-09

A few months ago, I had received a phone call from Xuan's baby-sitter. Since they had moved away from our block, it had been six years since we contacted each other. It was a nice surprise, and even better, she called to inform that her son, Jeffrey, was getting married soon. This news sounded special to me, 'coz the boy whom i used to give tuition to 18 years ago, was forming his family! Then while talking, a special request was made, they wanted Xuan Xuan to be his flower girl on his big day! Xuan did not hesitate much in giving her help, i guessed it is also a small gesture of paying back a little gratitude to her baby-sitter.