Handwriting

Mummy and Daddy are rather concerned about my handwriting. Although they feel my handwriting is nice for my age, but the way I hold the pen looks awkward and it might be ok for now as there are not that much writing, however, it might not be ok when I start having to write more.

Mummy has asked around the chat group as well as some other parents and there were various mixed remarks. Some feel it is ok as long as my writing is legible and shouldn't change it in case I don't like to write or my writing looks bad. Others feel I should go get it changed and hold properly to write comfortably in case it becomes too late and really cannot change anymore and have long term bad effects.

I think I will be going to see a handwriting expert really soon.

Khao Lak

Mummy and Daddy wanted to bring us to a new place with the beach and a nice swimming pool so we could have fun for a couple of days. Godma agreed to join us and brought her family along too for the holiday. Daddy's friends Aunty Sharon and Aunty Alice were also part of the holiday.

Khao Lak is about a couple of hours bus ride from Phuket. Initially we almost couldn't make it for this holiday as there was a military coup in Thailand. However we were told that tourist are not really affected, moreover Khao Lak is away from the capital so should be fine. The first day we arrived at Khao Lak, heavy rain descended on us after we checked in. So we just rested in the room and waited for dinner. Just after dinner, we prepared the lanterns which Aunty Sharon and Aunty Alice bought from the shops when we were resting. It was really fun as we lighted many lanterns and allow the hot air to fill the lantern before letting them go and seeing them float over the ocean until it was out of sight. Beautiful!


The next morning, after we had a heavy buffet breakfast, we were surprised to find a baby elephant at the children's playground. We fed the elephant with bananas from breakfast and took pictures with it, while some of the other kids played at the swings. We then headed to the swimming pool and had a ball of a time swimming and playing on the slides. I had a lot of fun coming down the slides but Mei Mei Andrea was too small to go alone so Daddy went with her. It was awesome! After spending a couple of hours at the pool, we decided to check out the beach. The waves were quite strong so we could only play along the edge of the water and build sand castles. We had lunch by the beach and the kids were playing until dark clouds moved in and started raining.

Time to head to the children's playroom and do some kids' activities. Eva and Andrea decided to do some batik painting with the help of our mummies. It was quite fun and we had to wait till the next morning before we could see the finished product. After the painting, we headed back to the room to get some rest before dinner.

We went to pool again on the second morning after breakfast but we spent more time at the beach that day. Thank goodness the weather was perfect and we could do what we planned for. We even signed up for an elephant ride and Khao Lak local market tour in the afternoon. I was very excited as this was my first time riding on an elephant after having rode on camels and horses before. I had a lot of fun at the waterfall too, jumping from stone to stone. I fell into the water a couple of times but that was fun too. We all had fun with the Burmese tending to the elephants as they took many pictures of us with our phones as the elephants walked on their own.

On the last day at breakfast, we celebrated a simple birthday for Eva and Mummy made a simple cake out of the cup cakes available at breakfast. We were given back the batik painting the girls did and it was beautiful. Unfortunately in our excitement over the birthday celebration, we left it behind at the restaurant. Mummy was very upset when she found out we didn't take it with us.

We had a good trip with everyone and looking forward to our next trip!

Pulau Ubin

Godpa had been planning this trip to Pulau Ubin for some time now and finally we are here in Pulau Ubin. Mummy and Daddy took leave today to spend the day with Godpa and Uncle Justin and their family. There were a total of 5 adults and 5 children so it was quite manageable.

Started the day with a heavy breakfast at Changi Village hawker centre but Mummy wasn't quite satisfied with the nasi lemak, probably cos it was not the world famous stall. We then took the ferry across to Pulau Ubin and because there were so many of us, we decided to charter the whole bumboat for $30 one way. We headed straight to the bicycle shop upon arriving at the island cos we realized we didn't have much time as the last ferry out was at 5pm.

Our intention was to visit the Chek Jawa Wetlands and were told it will take only about 45 mins to get there. That sounded easy except that first we had some trouble with the kid's bike and had to change it halfway into the journey, then it started to rain and we had to take shelter in someone's house which reminded Daddy of the house Great Grandma and Grandpa stayed in in Hougang long time ago. Our journey was interrupted a couple of times because of the rain and when we were almost there, we realized that there were a bunch of wild boars at the entrance to Chek Jawa and they looked kinda fierce, so we decided not to proceed and to turn back.

We ended up in a coffee shop selling food and were delighted that they serve crabs too. The meal was simple yet very delicious and everyone looked contented after the meal. As we still had some time before the last ferry, we decided to check out the beach near the jetty and found small fish and lots of hermit crabs there. The kids were thrilled to see so many hermit crabs as this is probably the first time we were introduced to this strange creature.

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What is the name of that song?

Reuben: Mummy, can you download the song I sang in class today?
Mummy: What song Reuben?
Reuben: What's the name of that song?
Mummy: Reuben, I wouldn't know what song you sang in class today. You have to tell me the title of the song to download.
Reuben: What's the name of that song? *exasperated*
Mummy: Reuben, if you don't know the name then I wouldn't know! *also exasperated*
Mummy: Can you remember how to sing the song? Or at least some parts of the lyrics? *still exasperated, getting annoyed*
Reuben: something something bird....
Daddy: Wow, that is helpful... so many songs with the word bird, Reuben!
Reuben: *crying hysterically & helplessly* WHAT IS THE NAME OF THAT SONG!
Daddy: Calm down Reuben... Crying is not going to help.

After 5 mins of partly trying to convince Reuben we really need the title of the song to download it and partly trying not to throw him out of the house for being so unreasonable, Mummy had a divine intervention....

Mummy: Wait a minute... Maybe there is really a song called "What is the name of that song?"
Mummy: Wahahahahahahahahaha... You have got to be kidding me!
Reuben: *totally relieved and smiling again*

Did you catch that part that went "something something bird"? wahahahahahhahahah.....

MBS 2014

Satay by the Bay

Mummy and Godma decided to meet up at the Children's Playground next to Satay by the Bay today. We were suppose to go there and check out the water playground. We were not very hopeful when we had to wait for 10 mins before getting into the car park. The path to the water playground was also very crowded with pedestrians, cyclist and quite a few joggers.

When we got to the water playground, our greatest fear was realized. It was like Chinatown on CNY eve. It was so crowded Mummy and Godma decided we should come back another day instead. We then walked to Satay by the Bay and sat down for some drinks and snacks. There weren't many options so we decided to have their most popular dish, Satay! As expected, it was bad but we finished all 15 sticks anyway. And while the adults chatted, we kids watched Tom and Jerry on the iPad and didn't give the adults any trouble.

It was threatening to rain so we decided to start walking back to the car. On the way, I managed to scoot around for a bit. It was fun as it was a big place and I could go really fast and show off my scootering skills. We also took some nice pictures with the Singapore Flyer as the backdrop. Mummy promised to bring me back here tomorrow as she will leave office early. I cannot wait to play at the water playground tomorrow. 

Chinese New Year 2014

Reunion dinner this year was different. Nai Nai decided we should eat out instead. So we reserved a table at Golden Sand Restaurant at Changi Beach Club, as recommended by one of Nai Nai's friend. 

Yee Sok Steve got back from Dubai in time for dinner and also to spend the next 9 days with us. Food was not too bad. Mei Mei Andrea was so tired she slept through the first half of dinner. When she woke up, dinner was almost over but she still got to eat some of her favourite food. 

After dinner, we decided to check out the beach area outside the restaurant. Unfortunately the boardwalk was closed to the public so we just hung around the pool area. We took some nice family pictures and had lots of fun with the monster face shots. 

The next day, we woke up and Daddy and Mummy showered us with nice wishes and also an ang pow each.

We then had steamboat breakfast and changed up for our visitation. We went to Bishan for some more breakfast with Ma Ma and Gong Gong, then headed to AMK to a grand aunty's house for more food. I guess it is all about eating during Chinese New Year. At about 5.30pm, we headed to 3rd grand aunty's house to meet up with more aunties, uncles and cousins.