2016 coming to an end...

We are approaching a new year 2017 very soon... in another 2 days time!!! Very fast 2016 is coming to an end... really fast... and have I accomplished what I had in mind for 2016? Hahaha... I seem to be passing each day as it comes daily... with no objective or goals to achieve!! Sad life huh?? Well... kind of in a way... but I am always busy!!!  As I gets older, my wish for the year is simply everyone to stay healthy and hope for no major happenings in the place I stay in and kids are able to finish and catch up with their school work... and also hope that I can pass each day happily... no stress, no fights or quarrelling... simple plain boring lifestyle... well, that is just me... as I had always been telling my colleague, we will need to pass each day be it happy or sad... so why not spend it happily?? Right?? Life is too short to be bothered with all the minor things just spend each day happily as it comes...

Any wishes for the new year? Yes!!! It's finally my eldest baby PSLE year!!! Gosh... where did my past 12 years gone??? My first baby is 12 years old!!! Definitely be feeling old seeing her grow as tall as me SOON!! And it can be really frustrating having her argue on every instructions given to her from me... but seeing her makes me proud that I have raise a such a big lady, struggling with work while looking after her from a tiny baby till now and seeing her playing 'big sister' to all the younger siblings and cousins around her... I do worry about her growing up too fast... worry about potential teenager problems, worry about her future, worry about many unforeseen things as she grows up... well, thats what a parent is busy with... worries and worries of own kids... or is it just me?!?!...

And to think that I had been maintaining my blog page for coming 12 years!!! Woah!! How did I do that?? No idea... but I do know, am getting really lazy updating it nowadays... guess my yearly goal of having more than 100 posts a year could not be reached this year....

Till then, I shall try and update as much as the clock hits 12:00am on 31 Dec 2016!!!

My Boys are poster boys!

Freeing SG

We happened to be at The Cathay for MilkCow ice cream and while walking around, WL spotted this Freeing SG on the 3rd floor and thought to give it a try... I had kind of heard of this enclosed room for solving puzzles but does not really know how it works!

So, at the last minute to went into the room theme of Russia... start of was pretty bad as all my children are timid mouse..  they got pretty loud music and the lights were dimmed so my kids were unaware of such games so they kept sticking to me without much help... After some explanation and asking them to help find keys to open the many small padlocks then they start to join in the fun...

Sorry, we took more time than what was allowed and needed clue to solve all puzzles and didn't managed to break free! Hahahaha... but good try and kids enjoyed!!

Subsequent, we decided to book a slot for Ninja room for another try in September... hahaha... this time the same.. no break free and exceeded time limit with clues needed!!

And in October, we went back again trying out a new room, Alice in wonderland!  This time was much better, we managed to open the door but exceeded the time by a little!! Hahaha... no photos taken as they have an event and this side of the wall was packed. Oh yes, we left my baby out this time as he's not able to join in the game...

Overall experience was good... some clues were easy some were not but guess its a good brain exercise for a family!!!

Woodlands waterfront poke hunting

We first went to the Woodlands Waterfront for poke hunting when we first heard that this place has lots of rare pokemons! That was about 2 months back already... and I was really surprised to see so many people there poke hunting!

My kids were busy playing at the big playground... Initially my baby was playing on the smaller one for toddlers... but later on, he requested to climb onto this super high structure ( sorry, I really do not know what to call this thing here! Hahaha... ) especially when he sees his korkor climbing up there! I was really worried as it was really high!! I kept asking him to hold on tightly to the ropes and didn't manage to take any shots only after he got up to the hanging bridge!

His korkor is really sweet to be always following him and taking care of him giving him instructions along the way... all the way down, asking him to follow his foot steps!

The first round of climb was successfully therefore, the 2 boys went on the second round!  But the second round was not so smooth because korkor went up and down faster then him, in the end, papa need to rescue him!!! What a scare!!!

My Ashley has recently took a liking to swings, therefore, its easy to spot her at the swing area whenever we go to playgrounds.

WL birthday celebration

This year, I decided to try my hands on a ' exploding box ' pressie to WL. And I had planned this for at least 3 months but always no time to put my hands on it till WL went to Vietnam for a business trip!  Excuse?? Hahaha... maybe? So I do not feel so bad?

Anyways, my hand made pressie took sooo much time that I had not anticipated... I had spent lots of time finding photos for the past 12 mths and then finding time to go develop them! And arranging them nicely was another chore!  And I must admit am really not good in designing!! Bad Bad Bad.... but still glad it turn out nice and beautiful in the end (according to my kids!)... Hahahaa...

Another pressie also took me some time to decide, LG 360 camera!!  But really glad I got it in in time!!!

Here's a sample shot of photo using the 360 cam!

This is the photo if we are viewing it as a photo not having the 360 view...

Here's a close up if we view using the app!!! Its really fun to see a 360 view taken by the cam!

The day was packed with kids activity as WL birthday falls on a Saturday!  My baby was having his last lesson at the chinese enrichment class, thus he needs to perform!  Very happy to see him enjoying his chinese lessons and having fun!  See my baby kangaroo!

After the classes, we decided to dine out at the Belly View restaurant at Changi!  After which, my kids asked for pokemon hunting again!!! This time decided to go to ECP to try our luck and along the way, spotted a new big playground at car park C!  And the kids had an awesome time climbing, sliding and swinging!!

Initial climbing up for the 2 boys, somehow, almost reaching the top, Adwin came down! 

And my baby got up realising his brother went down without him, he got scared and started crying... so Adwin gotta climb up again to pacify him and bring him down thru the slide!

After a few more climbing, baby got more confidence to get up and walk thru the bridge and down the enclosed curvy slide with his korkor.

Yes, this is our Birthday boy!!! Hahaha...

After the play, the kids realised they did not get to catch much pokemons and birthday boy wanted to explore other areas for pokemon hunting thus another hour was spend at another car park!!!

By the time we were home, the 2 kids had fallen asleep thus WL birthday song was sang by my baby! Hahaha...

My girl decided to join in the fun when daddy wanna cut the cake for his supper! 

His birthday treat will be the next day as I found a new cafe serving some fusion food with his new found quinoa as part of the main! Why next day? As the cafe closes at 6pm on weekend, thus we will not be able to be there in time to enjoy before they close due to the kids enrichment classes timing! 

Nevertheless, hope my hubby had a fun day celebrating his birthday and likes the pressies I had given much tthought and efforts with this time!! Cheers!!!

Changi airport Pokemom murals and Post WL birthday treat

This sunday, we started off going to Changi T3 just to find the Pokemon mural wall! WL dropped us in front of the departure hall, as he took the wrong turn but he did not tell me where the display were! He only asked me to bring the 2 kids to ' find ' the wall! So, I brought the kids to B2, thinking that was were most shoppers would head to! While we were still hunting for it, he sent me my baby taking shot in front of the Marina Barrage big poster!

Followed by these few photos to tell me he and my baby found the wall mural! But did not tell us the exact location! So, I brought the 2 kids to L2 departure hall and look for them! However, we found the Marina Barrage poster but not the Pokemon one!  So, once again we went to B2, me thinking if we missed out the other side of the level! But wrong again, my Adwin, not able to tolerate my search, called his dad to ask him for exact location!

Seems like my girl just started her selfie stick craze! She managed to bring along this stick whenever she's out this weekend!

The airport will be joining in the Pokemon craze, having Pokemon Xmas theme! As I saw a Xmas tree inside this 4 walls full of poke balls!!!! Ah ha!!! Shall wait for it to start and believe we will be back very soon!!!!

While along the way to our dinner place, WL decided to give ECP zone H another try as we were not able to spot this zone H last night, as mentioned by some Poke Fanatics, this zone H car park is the Omanyte nest! And true enough, this pokemon was in sighting the moment we turned in the service road! So after satisfying everyone in the car, we are finally able to set off to out dinner place!!!

Here we are... Ninja Bowl! A not very obvious place for a cafe... as the door was fixed with a black screen or cover due to the hot sun shining into the cafe.... and it's at the end or beginning of the row of shophouses of Duxton Road and there was no obvious big signage... but lucky I did enough of my research thus able to spot it the moment WL turned into the lane!

US after filling our stomach!! Oh, forgot to mention that we had an early dinner as this cafe closes pretty early on  weekend... 6pm!!! Thus our reservation was made for 5pm!

Ok, back to food!!! I must say, their food were really pretty when they were being served!!!  Sorry, am not able to remember that name of this main, as all were having Japanese names! But this comes with beef flank and lots of veg... while we ordered another main with beef cheeks and ehm, it was not as yummy as there were lots of sauce from the beef soaking the Ninja rice  ( we were required to add rice or green salad or quinoa, to all the mains, else you only be eating what you see here... )

This was what WL ordered and this is the yummiest of all!!! As my 3 kids kept asking for the garlic toast that is dipped with the cheesy cream saucr here!  And lucky for WL to have request for an addition of udon inside... and it was really yummy with all the seafood inside!

We ordered their Fancy French on the left here and a fries with cheese and beek cheeks! Everyone enjoyed the pretty french toast with with a hint of sweet and sour honey while we can't comment much on the fries... too soggy at the bottom due to the beef cheek sauce!!!

Another thing I like here was the Ume Ginger Mint drink I ordered!!! It was huge and really refreshing!!! Good choice!!! ;)

My 3 enjoyed their ice chocolate!!! 

As usual now, its always poke hunting when we are done with our meals!  And this time we decided to go to MBS to see if we have the luck for Lapras or any rare catch!

After parking our car at the public car park, we found a new playground in front of the pizza cafe... kids really enjoyed themselves here as its different from all other playgrounds they been to!!  Its just strings and black rubber belts for them to climb and move around!

See my super naughty baby at play here!!!

Another fun packed day with good food and poke hunting that left everyone super tired when we reached home at 930pm!

Adwin's 2nd baby pet

One aafternon during the Sept short school break, hb send me this photo!!! I was really shock to see 2 hamsters!!!  Well, reason for buying is because he had promised Adwin that he will be able to buy them as pet if he can score all subjects under Band 1 grading for his SA2! Therefore, here they are... rewards for working hard!!!

These 2 hamsters are nicked name, Pikachu and Polliwag, being the current hot game in our family!  And ironically, the fatter one is not Polliwag but Pikachu!!!  Hahahaa... these 2 hamsters are in this round white ball container as my Adwin is having the cleaning routine once a week to their cage and thus needs to put them somewhere safe!

Am impressed that he is able to handle the full cleaning process alone with a little help from the brother!! Sorry son, mummy is not able to render any help here as I can't handle any pets, not even fishes!! :p 

Him catching and transferring the hamters into the ball container!  Despite him got bitten a few times by the hamsters, he is able to overcome the fear and proceed with his required tasks!!! Good job!!!

Our first kukup trip

I had been wanting to go Kukup for a long time after seeing some of my FB friends photos... many were photos of fun with family members especially with extended family or with a few close family friends! Mainly, photos of food prepared by the host and time for mahjong and karaoke sessions and foot massage at night followed by fire works on roof tops!!!

And this year, we finally had the chance to make the trip happened!!!  Taking the chance to celebrate my mum's 60th birthday with a short 2D/1N trip!!!

Our transport was here to pick us up at about 630am... driving us into JB thru Woodlands causeway... lucky no jam and we were able to reached JB for breakfast at own expense at a local coffee shop!  And along the way thought we can buy some durians to feast in kukup... but the so-called durian plantation was not impressive and the price quoted was not much cheaper... thus we decided to head straight to kukup!

Upon arrival, it was about 11am and we were brought into our ' resort ' by the host!  I must say, the resort was not fantastic, just the basic necessity and tidy.. not something very nice as I had seen on some online photos... thus we took some rest before heading out for our seafood lunch at 12+.

The restaurant we went was the only air con big restaurant in the small kukup village.  Food was more than enough for all of us...

After our lunch, we walked around the village doing some mini shopping at the row of non air con shop houses!  And my dad managed to buy some local durians here.  We managed to laze around the resort eating durians and some mahjong sessions... At about 3+, the host informed us that the tea break is ready! And we were so surprised to see a table of fried bee hoon, chicken curry, fried prawn crackers and green bean soup with sweet potato and tapioca! All were soo yummy!!!

At about 5pm, we proceed with a short boat ride at the fish village going onto a kelong....

We were able to see some nice houses along the coasts and many kelongs too!

View was simple and nice... especially when we are seeing this in Malaysia...

Shot of my baby having superb fun on the double decker bunk bed with his cousins!

We were served BBQ dinner at abt 7pm by the host... sorry forgot to take some shots here... but it was really lotsa food!!!  And had our cake cutting done but no more stomach to down the cake! Hahaa... But we were so busy after dinner as we need to go to the rooftop for fireworks and 天灯! After which, foot massages had been arranged in the house!!! And at about 10pm, supper was served!! We asked for simple barley with beancurd dessert! But was not able to finish all too!! Hahaha...

The next morning, breakfast was ready by 730am or 8am, but we were to tired thus did not wake up even when the host came in and wake us up!  But we were told that we need to leave by 10am to go to Pontian town for our arranged lunch!!

After lunch , we headed back to Singapore!!! So see, our trip was mainly eat and eat for a full day!!! Hahahaa...