Minister of Ponding

Another hilarious post from mrbrown. It is an interview with the fictitious Minister of Ponding, Midas Jin Jue Lui (whose name in Hokkkien means lots of money). The humour in the video is likely by appreciated much more by Singaporeans because it pertains to recent happenings in Singapore. Click on the Yahoo link for the video.

Yahoo link: http://mrbrwn.co/zqSv7Z

Pay Cut

I saw this on the mrbrown show and it cracked me up big time lol. It is a tongue-in-cheek post of the recent ministerial pay cut as perceived through a fictitious MP and Minister Midas Jin. Really funny. :)

(uploaded by mistabrown)

SCGS CNY Gathering

Like every CNY, we have our SCGS gathering. It was held at Steph's place this year, from 12.30pm till 5pm. Unfortunately my friends didn't receive my email that my family and I would be late, arriving around 1.30pm. Hmm, wondering if it could be a problem with my iPad as I sent out the email from it. The email is shown as sent but none of my friends received it. Really strange.
At 1pm, my friend, Karen called up to check where I was because being late is really out of character for me. I am usually early, if not, on time haha. However, we were actually much later, arriving only close to 2.30pm even though we set off for Steph's place at 1.10pm. The girls' father had lost his way and he only admitted he was lost at 2pm and called for help. SIGH.
Thank goodness, my friends waited for us for the Loi He. :) Despite being really late, we had a good time chatting away and eating, of course lol. Karen's mee siam, chicken wings and kuah pie ti!! Never tired of them even though we have them every year! :) We also had foie gras and tau kua pau. :)
Unfortunately this year we didn't manage to take a group photo as Steph's kids had to leave for an art competition. Next CNY then.

Heathy Teeth

The girls went for their regular dental check up. I went along with them, just to say Hi to my uni friend, Hoon who is our dentist lol. I am glad that the girls don't really have an adverse fear of dentist like I do. :P Yes, Hoon, I know I am long overdue for my dental check up. Will fix up appointment soon, I think. Haha. :P

Lucky Break

I received more good news. My amended dissertation has been accepted for my PhD Oral Examination! There won't be any change to the date of my oral examination which was confirmed earlier. :) Have to start reading my dissertation again to refresh my memory because I can't remember all 300 pages of it. :P
I knew it! Seeing the double rainbows really brought me luck! :)

Double Rainbows

There was a huge downpour on Saturday, 21 January, the Eve of the Chinese New Year's Eve. Not long after the heavy downpour stopped, a pair of rainbows appeared in the sky. It was a really beautiful sight. The first rainbow was a lot more prominent than the second rainbow which was quite faint.


Call me superstitious or what, but I always feel really lucky and a sense of hope whenever I see the rainbow. And there is TWO of them this time! Something good must be coming my way lol. :)

CNY 2012 III

Juliane and Marieann has an extra day of Chinese New Year holiday!
Their school has given staff and students an extra day off on this 3rd day of CNY because of the good O Level results for 2011.
The girls spent the day with their grandmother catching up on watching "Lee San" lol.

Happy Chinese New Year 2012 II

The second day of CNY is always the busiest for my parents in any CNY because family and friends would come to our place for the Hockchew Red Wine Chicken Soup mee sua. Not that my parents mind, they love cooking and they love the company. :)

The girls were happy collecting their Ang Pows (red packets or also known as Ya Sui Qian). Ya Sui Qian means money that can suppress devils and keep kids in peace and safe for a whole year. It is a tradition in my family. Every time, they received ya sui qian, they would place it into their pillow case so that they could sleep on them. I still do the same with mine lol. We would be sleeping on our Ang Pows until the end of the Chinese New Year period (15 days). :)

Happy Chinese New Year 2012

Happy Chinese New Year 2012
May the Year of the Dragon brings
good health and good fortune to all.

We woke up early and left the apartment by 8+am.
First stop of the day, before the visiting of family, was at the temple to pray for a year of good health and good fortune. :)
For the rest of the morning, we went to three households - my grand aunt's, an elderly close family friend's and my primary school teacher's.
By 12.30pm, we went back home resting lol. :P
In the afternoon, family friends came to visit my parents.
In the evening, we went to visit another close (elderly) family friend and her extended family. :)

Us in our Chinese New Year clothes :)

PS In the night, my mother and Juliane continued watching "Lee San" haha.

Chinese New Year's Eve 2012

It is the eve of Chinese New Year. Every year, my parents would follow the same routine. In the morning, it is praying to the ancestors and asking them to protect us, their descendants. In the evening, it is reunion dinner. Every year, it is steamboat lol. Being older, the girls are now enjoying steamboat more, especially cooking their own food.

Our reunion dinner with the ingredients for the steamboat and the Yu Sheng with abalone lol

Addicts

There are two addicts of Korean drama in my family. Juliane and my mother.
Juliane recently asked her father to rent the Korean period drama, Lee San, Wind of the Palace despite having watched it before. There are a total of 118 episodes. Julian would watch it after school. Despite having watched it before too, my mother would watch together with Juliane. Now, they hogged the living room tv to watch their "Lee San" everyday for several hours a day! Sigh.

Final Hurdle

I received news of the final hurdle I have to cross in order to obtain my PhD. The date for my oral defense has been confirmed. I have two months to prepare for it. Wish me luck. :)

CNY Round the Corner

Goodness, I just realised that CNY is round the corner! Need to buy CNY goodies for the guests when they come visiting. Need to prepare the Ang Pows (red packets). Thank goodness, the spring cleaning for my room has been done lol.

Jam

It has been ages since I was caught in a jam going for my counselling. Usually it takes no longer than 20 minutes to get from my place to my counselling school. But today, it took me 45 minutes! I was stuck in the jam as soon as I hit Bukit Timah Road from Coronation Plaza all the way to King Albert Park McDonald's. :( Thank goodness, my father gave me a lift. I hate to think how much it would have cost me if I took a cab! :S

Somebody That I Used to Know

Heard this song and found the music rather quirky and catchy in a way.
The original song is by Gotye featuring Kimbra. Their voices complimented each other well.

(uploaded by gotyemusic)


Here is Walk Off the Earth's cover of the same song. The group is amazing, great voices and five of them playing on ONE guitar! :)

(uploaded by walkofftheearth)

Horrific Accidents

Yesterday, my mother, the girls' father and I witnessed a horrific accident. A white poodle was hit by a black car (Lexus maybe) at Holland Road going towards town. :( The cars over three lanes slowed down when we saw the dog running across the road. However, the car in the right most lane continued speeding and hit the dog and the car didn't stop! The dog was flung across three lanes and landed in the left most lane. It landed in a most awkward position. The other cars behind all slowed down. I only hope that the dog died instantly so that there was no pain. I only hope that the black car that hit the dog (and didn't even slowed and stopped) will have a huge dent!!
Today, on my way to work, near King Albert Park Mckkies, I saw the remains of a kitten on the road. It must have wandered onto the road and was hit by a vehicle. :( It happened in the morning because the body was still intact but not its head... Sigh.

Pet Owners, please make sure you keep your pets at home or on a leash if you bring them out for a walk. Car drivers, please slow down if you see an animal crossing the road.

Prep for CNY II

My mother and I went to Ikea to get new cushions for the living room. The current cushions have served us for a number of years and they kinda look sad lol.
Not sure it is the usual crowd or everyone has the same idea as us, going to Ikea to get new furnishings for the home in preparation for Chinese New Year. There was such a long queue just getting into the car park, just as well we were not parking. The girls' father dropped us off at the entrance. It was really crowded in the store! The queues were long at the check-out cashiers as well as the queues for cabs.
I think the crowd would be much worse next weekend, the Chinese New Year Eve weekend. Not fancy going to Ikea then.

Prep for CNY

Chinese New Year is coming. We all need to look presentable. Time for our haircut lol.
As there are 3 of us and we use the same hair stylist, we had to take turns. We were at the hair salon close to 3 hours, from 11.15am to 2.15pm.
I layered my hair to make it look less heavy but it also brought out my curls more prominently. Both Marieann and Juliane were spotting a shorter fringe and Marieann had a bit of layering too. Apparently Marieann takes after me and she has some natural curls too. Juliane was most envious of us because she wanted curly hair but has only straight hair lol.

Friday the 13th

It is Friday the 13th today. I don't see it as an unlucky day. However I wasn't about to test my luck when I saw a ladder blocking my way today in the office. The maintenance staff were in our office today to check the wiring in the ceiling. The staff indicated that I could pass through but it was very close to the ladder. For practical reason, I wasn't going to try my luck. I would rather take a detour (longer way) to get to my colleagues' work stations lol. I will treat it as exercise haha. :P

Farewell and Take Care

Min, Ben and Uncle have left for home today. Although it is a major drawback that my best friend is so far away, I am really glad that we have remained best of friends even though she migrated to Australia 20 years ago. Thank goodness for emails and cheap IDD calls lol. Maybe next time we should Skype haha. :) The kids could say Hi to each other. Oh yes, the kids have already made arrangements with each other that they will visit Ben and stay at their place this December! Min and Graham, you better get ready lol.
Till we meet again, farewell and take care, Min and send our warmest regards to all at home (in Australia).

BFF II

My best friend and I managed to meet again! :) As her trip here is really short, it has been packed to the brim with meetings and meals with her relatives. I am really lucky to meet her twice. :) I think it is welcoming for her and her son that they could just relax at my place, other than at their hotel room lol. :P
We met again at Food For Thought (new eatery), Botanic Gardens for lunch before going back to my place. My girls were really happy to see Ben again. Thank goodness, they didn't have much homework so they could play Skylanders with Ben again lol. As for the adults, we chit-chatted while drinking my mother's Chinese tea.


Just after 4pm, we - Min, Ben, Marieann, Juliane and I - left for Ion for a little bit of shopping. We took the bus which was a thrill for the kids lol. Too many of us to squeeze into a cab. :P For this trip, Min has been busy buying things for others, back home in Australia. Today, she finally managed to get some things for herself! :)
After 6pm, we went back to their hotel so that we could say "Hi" to her father. I haven't seen Uncle for over 10 years! We chatted for a little while before leaving as Min and her family has a dinner appointment at 7.30pm.
It was a bonus to meet up with Min again and really nice to catch up with Uncle again. :) I hope it won't be too long before we see each other again.

iPad 2 or iPad 3?

My brother and I would like to get an iPad for our mother so that it would be easier for her to skype on her own with her grandsons in UK. Currently she has to rely on me and my notebook. However, I am not sure if we should get iPad 2 just yet... Maybe we should just wait a while more since iPad 3 is rumoured to be out in spring of 2012 and we could then compare the two.

Settling

The girls are settling down to their new standard respectively. They are also establishing their own work routine after school. It is a good start for the new year. :)

Food For Thought

There is a new eatery at Botanic Gardens, near the Tanglin Gate. The former eatery vacated the premise for more than a year. Food For Thought is certainly a welcome sight and a great convenience to the residents around Botanic Gardens.
Food For Thought (FFT) is primarily a western restaurant but it does have a few local dishes such as egg and toast, mee rebus, rendang, laksa under local breakfast/ lunch items. I love its breakfast: Greek Yoghurt with choice of two toppings ($5) which I have had for a couple of mornings now. :) My colleagues at work would be delighted that I am at last eating healthy rather than having Mckkies lol. :P
We tried a few lunch dishes at FFT: Pulled Pork Burger ($8) which was fantastic (no pic); Bacon Potato Onion Salad ($10) which was light and filling at the same time; Laksa ($5) which was spicy with a kick (no pic); and Grilled Barramundi Fillet ($20) which was fresh and the mashed potato really creamy.



For dessert, the Red Velvet cake ($5) is a hands-down winner. :) The cranberry scone ($3) is good too, especially with the cream and FFT's unique dragon fruit jam. The spiced carrot cake ($5) is delicious as well, not too sweet.

Red Velvet cake, scone and carrot cake as take-away (will get better pics next time)

With FFT so close by, we would be visiting it frequently. It would weekly for me lol. Click here for the Food For Thought website if you would like to take a look at its Botanic Gardens menu. If you are in the vicinity of Botanic Gardens or at the Botanic Gardens itself, try Food For Thought. It would give you lots of thought for food. :P

BFF :)

My best friend, Min is in Singapore finally. We have been friends since primary school and best friend since secondary school. :) We can talk about everything and anything. :) It has been so long since Min was last in Singapore. I do visit her in Australia but it is different when she is on my home turf lol. :)
My girls and I met her and her son at Botanic Gardens at 9.30am. We went back to my place, a stone's throw from Botanic Gardens and spent the morning chit-chatting (with my parents too) while the kids played Skylanders. We were all having a really enjoyable time. :)
Close to 1pm, we went over to Botanic Garden's newly opened eatery, Food For Thought for lunch. (I will write a separate post about the food at Food For Thought) There was more chit-chat during lunch and some time for the kids to run around in the garden before we sent Min and her son back to the hotel at 3pm.


The kids making funny faces

My best friend, Min and I :)

We made arrangement to meet up one more time before they return to Australia next Thursday. :)

Succumbed

After a week of sleeping in separate room from Juliane, Marieann still succumbed to the cold virus that got her sister last Thursday. Sigh.
At least one is on the mend. Now I just have to make sure Marieann stays away from Juliane. I have to make sure I don't succumb too. :S

Excitement

My best friend and her family are in Singapore! I am really excited and so are my girls. Ok it is not like I haven't seen her for ages, only just 7 months ago haha. :P We can't wait to see them on Saturday. :)

New Year's Resolution(s)/ Wish(es)

Have you made any new year's resolution(s) for yourself?If yes, good for you. Do you always achieve your new year's resolution(s)? If yes, great for you.
Since years ago, I have ceased to make new year's resolution(s) because I seldom achieve any of them! :P Why set yourself up for failure for the whole year?! Haha. :P
Now, instead of new year's resolutions, I have new year wishes. All I ask for is that my parents are healthy for the new year, my girls are healthy and do well in school in the new year, and I am able to do my work well in the new year. :)

Back to School, Back to Singapore

Today is the first day of school for the girls. They were pretty excited to be back to school as they could see their friends and classmates again. :)
Today is the first day my parents are back in Singapore. We are pretty excited as it means having delicious food on the dining table again. :)

Happy 10th Birthday, Marieann

Happy 10th Birthday, Marieann
May all your dreams come true!

lots of love,
Mama, Papa, Juliane and Grandparents

Today is Marieann's 10th birthday. We celebrated her birthday at lunch at Aerin's Cafe & Expresso Bar, Raffles City. (Yes, we are back at Raffles City again lol) Marieann had her favourite dish, Seafood spaghetti in tomato sauce. I tried the Duck a La Orange and Juliane and her father shared a Hickery BBQ Pork Ribs. I totally enjoyed my duck leg with its crispy skin and duck fat lol. :P The sauce which was sweet and citrusy went well with the duck leg, making it less cloying. The pork ribs were yummy, tender and juicy. :) Marieann's spaghetti was good too as the sauce was freshly made.




I shared my dessert, Profiteroles with Marieann and Juliane. The choux pastry balls were filled with ice-cold Hokey Pokey ice cream, decorated with chocolate sauce and icing sugar and placed on grilled orange. It was heavenly! :) We wolfed down each of our profiteroles in no time lol. The girls' father had the Baked Apple and Rhubard Pie. The vanilla bean ice cream went well with the crispy oven-baked pastry and the sweet-sour mix of apples and rhubard. :)



As we had to attend a wedding dinner, the girls had dinner by themselves at home. However, before we left, Marieann made a birthday wish before blowing out the candle on her birthday cake. :)

First Brunch of 2012

Well, technically it was lunch since it was close to 12pm. But it was the brunch menu that we ordered from at DB Bistro Moderne at Marina Bay Sands. It is the first time the girls are at Marina Bay Sands and they are in awe of the huge space lol.

Marieann had the French Toast A L'Alsacienne with caramelised apples and fromage blanc ($15) while Juliane ordered the Poached Eggs Benedict ($24). I had the Coq Au Vin with wild mushrooms, bacon and späetzle ($34) and the girls' father tried Fried Eggs Lyonnaises with duck confit, potatoes, mushrooms and salad ($21). Both the savoury and sweet dishes were absolutely delicious. Lots of flavour. :)





After lunch/brunch, we walked around the area, taking in the sights lol.

The girls looking at the replica of Titanic. Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is currently on.

Happy New Year 2012!

Here's wishing Everyone
a Happy New Year!
May all your wishes,
dreams and
new year resolutions
Come true in 2012. :)