First Trip to Manila

Manila is about 3 hrs flight from S'pore, and the weather there is similar to ours - warm and humid. I took a short 3-day, 2 night business trip to settle some work matters, and it was a hectic one.

My first impression of the country is that there are secruity guards everywhere. There were 2 dogs from the K-9 unit dedicated to the hotel's driveway and main lobby entrance to do checks on the cars, bags, and people. I had to go through so many 'gantries' that I wondered about the amount of radiation that I went through just to go in and out of buildings. I didn't dare take pictures of the security in case they thought that I was some kind of 'spy'. Hahah...

This is a picture of what I enjoyed the most from the trip - a lovely lunch at a French restaurant called Bizu Patisserie and Cafe located at Greenbelt 3, which is just opposite the hotel (less then 2 mins walk). Look at the dessert selection and colourful macaroons! I had the strawberry shortcake. Well, taste and quality is reasonable, but it still falls short compared to the strawberry shortcake from Baker's Inn (back home) which is absolutely heavenly!

A Big Spider

This is a pic of Zack and the spider which Soon Guan caught on Friday. We had to release it as it is quite rare to catch, and Soon Guan only remembered seeing it once in Fort Canning. At that time, the web that the spider had spun, was so hard, that if you were to tug at it, it was not easy to break.

Happy Easter!

This Easter Egg was made by Ethan in preschool. I made the hard-boiled egg as instructed several days ago, and he came back with a painted one.

Looks cute, except that it cracked when I tried to keep it in my handbag......yes, don't ask why I kept it there. I figured it would be safer....

Accidents Happen...to Mum

It happened yesterday morning at Bukit Merah. Mum & Dad went for grocery shopping at the NTUC supermarket there, and Mum was supposed to meet Dad but she did not turn up where she was supposed to meet. So, he called her, and she had already fallen down.

She tripped over a grass edge, and landed her whole body weight on her right foot. As a result, the foot is swollen but fortunately, nothing else. Just a bad swell and lots of pain. Doc says to rest well and put cold compress for 3 days and warm compress after that. Sigh.

Paint Work and TV

When you let the kids do art work, and I mean, painting, remember to turn off the TV. This is what happens when you let them have both TV and paint and the same time. They paint off the 'canvas' and well, basically, still have a good time.

These paint pots that I bought are really good - they come with a cover that has a small opening for the brush. So if you place the paint in the pot, the brush does not fall off, and if it is topples, the paint does not run out of the pot. Bought it when I was overseas last time in US. Paint is also washable, and no worries about soiled clothes!

My First Niece, Ruby

Ruby is the cutest little darling that just arrived last month, to Dot and Jay. Congratulations! She is so cute, and I look at her photos nearly everyday, as Sophie has been asking about baby photos, and she chuckles whenever she sees Ruby. I think they know that they are cousins!

She looks very much like Dot at the moment, but I can tell her hair seems brown for now. Not too sure about the colour of the eyes, but she is growing bigger and chubbier everyday! Great job, Dot!

I Cooked Today!

Yup - you can never believe it: I cooked a meal today. I cooked it for myself. It's a big achievement as I've seldom cooked since I was married.

Well, Soon Guan would be envious - I don't think I ever cooked for him. Heh heh. The opportunity came since I was cooped up at home for 4 days on 'hospitalisation leave' for taking the Amnio test on Monday. It went smoothly and I will be back to work on Friday. Loved the freedom, hated the boredom - I was working every morning, and made it a point NOT to work in the afternoon, since I was supposed to rest. Weather was fantastic since it rained everyday, and temperature at home was really really cooling! Loved it and couldn't ask for more.

Today's dish took a bit more effort, since I had to get and cut up french beans, carrots, tomatoes, season the chicken, etc etc.....more than I would do for myself usually. But for the sake of baby and in the name of nutrition, I did it.

Regret to say that I spent the rest of today's evening in a teleconference (work) and sending emails (again) as I just realised that my boss is on leave next week, and I need key decisions to be made by tomorrow....so I'd better go to sleep now.....zzzzz.....

Kevin and Linda's Wedding

Kevin and Linda just had their wedding dinner at Amara Hotel on Saturday and there were guests who came from both families, filling up 35 tables!

Food was not too sweet or too salty, so everyone enjoyed the dinner! Strange names for the dishes, because Kevin chose to rename the cold dish combination to "Pu Pu Platter" and called the Teochew Oh-Nee "Fortune Cookies" - so everyone was expecting Fortune cookies, but a hot Chinese dessert made of yam and coconut arrived instead...

Kids enjoyed themselves playing hide and seek outside the ballroom during the 2nd half of the dinner as they were getting restless and had enough of the food. Cousin Grace, and niece Jaime, kept the kids entertained during this fun and crazy time with the young ones, while I was trying my best to keep up with them.

More photos in my Flickr album...