Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Hunnie! Wishing you a very blessed year ahead. And many more years together. I love you. *muacks*

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Mooncake Festival

It's the night of a full moon, lanterns and sparklers. It's the mooncake festival or mid autumn festival. The kids get to carry lanterns and the adults get to eat mooncakes. Which are yummy and oh so fattening. Some of the older kids including Bryan get to play with sparklers, which is probably the highlight of the evening for them.

Meanwhile, the other side of the world remembers a horrific day. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the survivors and their families. No one should ever have to go though anything like that. And I hope never ever again.

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46th National Day

Happy 46th National Day Singapore! It's been a very busy day for Singapore and for us too. All of us working people have a day off which is great. So our boys spent the morning with the cousins in the club. It was looking to be a very hot day. And we spent the morning cooling off in the pool. The kids were on the slides. The younger ones on the small wide slide at the baby pool and the older ones on the bigger slide. I think they had a lot of fun. Even the babies had fun.

Later, it was really getting to be very hot. So we adjourned to the bowling alley just upstairs. We booked 2 whole lanes for ourselves. The younger kids had buffers so the bowling ball wouldn't keep falling into the gutters. The older kids tried without. The rest of us enjoyed the air-con and the snacks. It was nice to spend time together out of the house for a change.

I could tell Gabriel was very tired by lunchtime. He was a bit moody. But still wanted to walk and play with the fishes. Literally. He wanted to step into the pond. We also discovered that Seletar Club was home to a turtle! Flippers and all.

The very hot day evolved into a very warm evening. And that meant it wasn't going to rain at the Parade. This year, it's at the Floating Platform. There were the usual marches and all. And then there were the hilarious 'big pao' floats. I liked how the parade incorporated elements from the Singapore River as well.

But the whole parade also told a story. About the Singapore Spirit. About perseverance and hard work together. Which is what made Singapore an economic hub in just 46 short years. I think it's a good message to the younger generation. Sometimes, we forget how far we've come in such a short period of time. It's thanks to the older generations.

Photos

Mount Buller

Yarra Valley Wineries

Puffing Billy

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Happy Year of the Rabbit

Chinese New Year is a very traditional time for the family. It also means meeting up with family. That means the extended family, great grand parents, grand aunts, cousins. It's nice to catch up even if it's just once a year.

The kids get to meet all their relatives. I think it's great. I hope they know how important family is. And I hope they keep all the New Year traditions in the years to come.


-- Posted From My iPhone

Festive Lunch

With Grandparents

Christmas Tree

We bought new decorations for the Christmas tree this year. It now has a red/gold theme to it. We opted for big ribbons and bows instead of tinsel. And a big star right at the top. Bryan helped too. He chose the small orange ornaments and put them up himself.  

I'm rather proud of the tree this year. It's just nice. Not too overdone but not too sparse either. It looks way better in person than in photos. I cheated a bit though. While the tree looks gorgeous from the front, the side facing the wall isn't decorated at all. Ah well, we'll keep the curtains drawn so the neighbours can't see in. 

CNY D3 Malaysia

These are the kids great-grand parents and great-grand aunt. It's such a blessing that they are still around to enjoy their great-grand children.

CNY D1 Singapore

Happy Chinese New Year!

It will be the Chinese New Year this weekend. It's so festive and busy. With errands to run and stuff to get ready for the New Year. The kids need new clothes and Gabriel especially needs enough supplies for the trip back to Malaysia. I've had to make sure Kandy and Dusty have enough food too.

This year is a special New Year because we are making a road trip back to Malaysia for a few days. Just to visit my grandparents and dad who lives back there. It's been a couple of years since we've been back and everyone's looking forward to it. We've already booked an apartment with a pool to stay in so it should be fun. I hope to have lots of photos to go through after this.

Beginning of the Festive Season

Everytime during the Chinese New Year, everyone gets together for a time to catch up. It's especially important for families. We see long lost cousins, aunts and uncles. It extends to friends/colleagues too. We make it a point to catch up and enjoy the good food. So over the weekend, we had a get-together with some friends.

Merry Christmas!

Have a Merry Christmas! From everyone in the Tan family. We've already had our family Christmas dinner. The kids had so much fun. Then they got to open their presents!

Having Fun

We had lunch at Suntec City and we wanted to take some photos with the kids at the huge fountain. They were definately having lots of fun!

The Christmas Season

The decorations are up for Christmas everywhere. Christmas songs are being played in malls. It's such a festive season. And my calender is filling up for December. We have stuff almost every weekend. But it's going to be fun!

Four Birthdays!

Last night, we celebrated Chun Chong's father's 70th birthday; Gabriel, Luke and Samuel's 1st birthday. We booked a restaurant in Sentosa, 'Silkroad of the Sea'. They were quite accomodating. We wanted a separate menu for the children and they managed that, even though it was something like one and a half tables of adults, and half a table of children. And throughout the dinner, there was a hostess who made sure that everything was ok. The dinner was more seafood than a traditional meal. But it was very good. We even had chilli crab. Yum.

And the three babies sat in their chairs and ate and ate and ate. From porridge to bread to biscuits to puffs. Even while taking photos, Gabriel was munching away.

Pet Paradise

I had a great time with the pets yesterday. I bought Dusty a new hutch. The old one was literally falling apart. Then gave him a half bath. Just his paws and the dirtier parts. The parts that he can't reach to clean. He's so soft and goes all limp when you cuddle him on his back. Such a bunny.

Later, it was Kandy's turn. She was due for her annual vaccinations from the vet. So I gave her a good brush, a good cuddle and a photography session before we went.


Bryan meanwhile, wanted to be part of everything. He came along to get the new hutch, to the vet with Kandy and even when I was taking photos. He's such a great little helper.

Mid- Autumn Mooncake Festival

This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival (aka mooncake festival) came a little late. It's usually in August - September. It's when they get to carry a lantern and go out to look at the full moon. Unfortunately, this year, not only was it drizzling, there wasn't much of a moon to see. That didn't dampen the mood. The kids still enjoyed themselves. Bryan had a Barney lantern which he asked me to get just for him. He was so proud of it. And he was very careful while carrying it.

The babies meanwhile, were in the playpen. They spent family time learning to play with their cousins. And about sharing toys. And not to smack each other. It was fun to watch.

Weekend Away

We spent the weekend in a gorgeous suite in Marina Mandarin. We had a great time there. Especially with the restaurants and buffets. There was a yummy seafood buffet and the Chinese restaurant had a very good dimsum buffet.

The boys had a great time. Especially when Bryan got to go swimming in the pool. Gabriel went too. But it was a little cold in the morning and I decided he'd be better off in a warm bath.

Not only was the food good, but the shopping as well. Just next to the hotel is Marina Square which we spent some of our free time. Bryan got some new Matchbox cars, Gabriel got some new clothes and I got a new book. Being so close to the Singapore Formula 1, there were lots of Formula 1 offers and stuff. Including this exhibition. Where there was a life size Ferrari F1 car on display. We all got to take a photo with it.

Happy Birthday Hubbie

Hubbie turns 34 today. Happy Birthday Hunnie. We went out for Jap buffet at Minori in UE Square. I ate my fill of sashimi. I got him a delicious chocolate cake from Bakerzin to have for dessert. It was called 'Chocolate Affair'. It was really yummy. There was soft creamy chocolate mousse in between the layers. And it melts in the mouth. Mmmmm...

But that's not all though. I have a lovely weekend planned. With the kids too.

-- Posting From My iPhone

Photo Session

I spent sometime with the kids yesterday. Bryan wanted to play with his Thomas snake and ladders. Where you climb up ladders and slide down tunnels. It was quite funny because he wanted to play by himself. So I watched him play and snapped some rather amusing photos. He'd roll the dice, move the play piece and ask me questions about the stuff on the board. Like if he should go up the ladder here? Or if he is supposed to go down the tunnel here? It was quite a quick game though. I'm sure he skipped some squares.


Meanwhile, Gabriel in his playroom amused himself with his blocks. He is learning how to use tools. Like a hammer. And how to drum with drumsticks. He'd get it right a few times and then lose interest in the 'game'. So he'd turn to his blocks. Today, he likes the blue blocks. He'd pick the blue ones out of the container of coloured blocks and chew on them. Isn't he just so adorable? I don't get very much time to take photos of Gabriel. Because after a while, he realises what Mommy is doing and crawls over. He wants a go at the camera too.