Our New Car

Soon Guan gave up his Mazda RX8 for a new Mazda 5 car, as it was getting too cramped for 3 kids plus one coming.

The kids simply love the sun-roof and it is more spacious than the old one.

How I Spent my Birthday

I had my birthday recently. I spent the morning eating my favourite Soyabean curd for breakfast, roamed around the library, went to Vivocity, and ate at Thai Express for lunch with Soon Guan. It was good that the kids were at the school so we had a more relaxing time.

Had a good afternoon nap, and took the family and parents out for dinner at NTU Alumni Clubhouse's Chinese restaurant there. Kids were surprisingly well-behaved and that made things a bit more manageable. It helped that there was a small arcade room to keep them busy after they had their fill.

How to find a Domestic Helper

Recently, I had the ardous task of looking for a domestic helper. It seemed simple at first - find an agency, get hold of a few resumes, ask about the candidate, etc. The only catch is, you can't see the candidate in real life, and you can't talk to them (well, it's not easy to reach them on the phone since they live in villages and most have no home telephones).

So, last Saturday, I found an agency, and went to pick a helper from a bunch of about 8 resumes. The good thing is, the owner of the agency actually interviewed them herself, and if you trust her interviewing skills, you would ask the right questions, and get the answers you want to hear. The helper I chose is from Iloilo in Philippines, which is 1 hour's flight from Manila. I hope she can cope with my 3 kids, my place, and baby no. 4 coming. It's a good thing her name is not difficult to pronouce (will tell later when confirmed).

Also, to qualify to get in a foregin domestic helper, you need to do an online test ("Foreign Domestic Worker's Orientation Programme", required by the government) and with the certificate of completion, you are eligible to apply for the foreign worker's work permit. Wow - I have to take a test!

Rotterdam Trip

While I was on my business trip, the most eventful was a trip to the Keukenhof Gardens on Tuesday, 1 Apr 2008. I took 88 photos while I was there, and this, was with much effort not to 'overdo' the photo-taking. The last time I was there in 1994, we did not have digital cameras, and I dunno how many pictures I took then.

I had interesting food at the Bazar restaurant, where I ordered "El Couscous". It comprises grilled kebab of chicken, lamb, merguez and turkey, couscous with tutti frutti, roasted vegetables, grilled tomatoes and saffron sauce. The plate was bigger than my face! Naturally, I could not finish the food, as I already had starters before this main dish!

Another place I ate at was the Fugu resturant where the Japanese food is simply delicious!

So much for a business trip in Rotterdam!

Zack's Birthday

Zack celebrated his birthday at school recently, and he is now officially a 4-year old!