Sandy Moments.....

Last Saturday evening, we decided to bring the kids to East Coast Park as we've just bought a new set of sand toys, thus the kids are very eager to try their hands on it.
However, as dear returned from work late, by the time we reached there, it was almost 6.30p.m. However, weather was good and we managed to get a good lot. The kids were enthusiastic about the sand, digging here and there, playing with the waters, exploring with their new sand toys etc.

We led the kids to the nearby beach and they were so amused by their own little footprints in the sand. Jovin even wrote her own name with a stick in the sand. We kicked the waters, enjoyed building sand castle with the kids. However, we had to leave after about an hour as the sky was turning dark. We had a great dinner at the nearby Hongkong cafe and the kids had endless fun at the Macdonalds playground.

It was a simple and fun weekend spent. We would definitely bring the kids on more outdoor activities since it is really enjoyable and fun :)

感触良深.........

上星期五，是我在胜宝旺中学的最后一天。不知不觉，执教已有九个月的时间了。如今，很快就得重拾心情，回返校园，当起学生。九个月犹如怀胎的感觉，与学生们的感情也在这段期间里培养了起来。大约临走前的两周，已预先通知学生将要离开他们的事。当时，给我的感觉是孩子们并不以为然，甚至是理所当然的呢！但是，随着离开他们的日子一天天逼近，许多学生私底下都来找我拍照，送礼等等，一直问我为什么要离开，会不会再回来胜宝旺。

当时，我的心情还算一般，并未受到任何影响。但到了最后一天，我真的受宠若惊。孩子们所为我做的一切，出乎我意料之外。各个年级，各个学生都有他们可爱的一面。当天，除了大大小小的礼物，最令我感动的是，他们为我制造一辑录影，还有歌曲，超大海报`卡片等。看着画面与卡片里的字字句句，我真的，真的被感动了。那天，我犹如大明星，与学生们拍了很多照片留影。我竟然忍不住在课堂上留下眼泪......

我的级任班更花尽了心思，做了一张特大海报卡片给我，里面画上了他们四十张卡通脸孔，有苦的，哭的，嘻皮笑脸的，眯眯眼.....图文并茂，他们每个人还写上了对我最真挚的祝福。一些常被我点秋香罚站处罚的学生竟也写下不舍我的字句.......

“林老师，谢谢你常让我在你的课上厕所，我真的很感激你。其他老师都不肯，我真的希望你会再回来教我们。”
“林老师，我最喜欢听你与我们分享你自己的故事，希望你会在12月N 水准成绩公布时，回来支持我们〉”

'Ms Lim, I love your smiles which never fail to brighten our days. Very sad we would not be able to see you from Mon onwards, Ms Lim, I really miss you!'

'Ms Lim, I will never forget how you have encouraged me. I will do my best and get into Express Stream for your sake!'

夜深人静，看着这些字句，我内心澎湃万千。学生们特地留在学校，做了蛋糕饼干给我。和学生们在BATAM度过了三天两夜，帮学生补课等等。这些情景历历在目。为了他们，我决定另外设置FB（脸书）给我曾教过的每个学生。因为我始终想保有自己的隐私。哈哈，在两天内，我竟然有将近100 FRIEND REQUESTS！

此时此刻，我深知自己转行的选择是对的。学生孩子们无论有多么叛逆，调皮，但我知道他们总有可爱的一面。

Link Up With Our Best Friends!

We had a wonderful and long-awaited link-up session with our best friends tonite at J8. Since we last met at Kaden's 1 year old birthday party, we had tried to arrange several meet-ups but were all cancelled due to unforseen circumstances. This drag became a very long separation, especially for our 2 hubbies. 2 months is really a long and torturous time for them. Last week, we finally thought we could meet them during our CLDDS picnic gathering, but Kaden fell sick unfortunately, so we missed the link-up opportunity once again.

Finally, today the link up was smooth and we had lots to catch up with. Kaden has grown much bigger since we last seen him. He's grown to be more chatty, haha though we couldn't decipher what he was talking about. He was happy and played with both Jovin and Jovan. We had dinner at Cafe Cartel. Jovan was moody intially and insisted to sit on my lap intially. Jovin, on the other hand, sat beside Kaden and played with him as she yearned to see Kaden too.





Jovan soon settled down as out main course came. Well. food is stillable to pacify our little prince.



We ordered dessert for our kids and that really enticed them. Our little 'J's really whipped up the ice cream real fast that dear and I had to eat quickly to avoid them eating too much. In the end, I kept feeding dear with the ice-cream haha!



We did some window shopping at the shops and stayed longer at BHG where Kaden and Jovan were engrossed playing with Mickey Mouse tumblers! We were really amused by the 2 whereas Jovin jiejie was busy entertaining herself with all the pinky things like trolley bag, melamine set etc.



Dear and I were also so happy that we got to carry Kaden for quite a no. of times tonite. As Kaden was rather shy when he was younger, we didn't get much opportunities to carry him. We 'tricked' him into our arms with toys like Barney, Mickey mouse etc and finally got great pictures with him!

We went on to Mac for some snacks and drinks. Once again, the kids enjoyed their corn cup and our little 'J's had their apple juice. Kaden was busy eating his fair share of corns too. It was a wonderful get-together with our pals as it's been so long since we last met up with them. The hubbies were most thrilled, needless to say. Guess their next private link-up will be the F1 race in Sep. The 2 wives are always so kind to create opportunities for them. But we are really happy to have such great pals and we hope our little ones can prolong our everlasting friendship :)

A really happy and wonderful National Day!

After past 2 days of packed schedule, today we still chose not to stay indoors. Haha, outdoor by nature. I proposed to go Mini Princess as they held a storewide 45% discount for all for 45mins from 2.45-3.30p.m today. Among Mini Bits, Mini Toons and Princess, I opted for the latter as I always love to patronize them to check out for new arrivals like accessories. All of us were dressed in red and white to commemorate our nation's birthday and our little 'J's were happy as we walked to the station.



Instead of driving, we decided to take MRT to J8 so that we did not have to bother about finding a car park space. We had an enjoyable ride and the kids were thrilled since we seldom had the opportunity to travel by public transport as a whole family. Both entertained themselves with our phones.

When we reached there, it was still early at 2.15p.m. Crowd had not formed yet. I took time with Jovin, choosing the items we wanted and tried on the dresses. Queus started to form as early as 2.45p.m and we too joined in the queue shortly after. The queue got horrendously long and the whole shop was almost flooded. Dear was at the top level where Mini Toons is and he told me the whole shop was flooded with people! So he decided to stay at other shops instead. Jovin chose the accessory items she wanted. Bought the hair accessories, a doll, a butterfly wing set, etc and the items were really worthwhile cos it was almost half price!





After settling all our buys, we headed for MOS for a quick snack and the kids had the liberty to eat fries and cold drinks which we usually didn't allow. Jovin happily fed Jovan her burger and it was really heart-warming to see both of them sharing the food. How nice if this could happen all the time......
Feeling tired, we soon headed for home.



But that was not all. After getting some rest, we went out around 7.30p.m and went to Woodlands and we wanted to catch the fireworks display. Again we took MRT which was definitely a wise choice as the whole Causeway Point was almost jammed! The stage was packed with so many people but we still managed to catch the performance as we stood by the side. We saw the army tanks and the various displays as they passed by the roads. Both dear and I held our little 'J's high up. Thye were happy but poor daddy and mummy whose backs are aching like hell now!

However, the climax was nonetheless the fireworks which lasted full 4 minutes! Jovin was bedazzled by the fireworks colours and patterns. Jovan, on the other hand, seemed very cool about it. He merely stared at the fireworks blankly. Jovin was so much more expressive. Hmmm, perhaps that's the difference how different gender react?
I filmed the entire fireworks performance and the kids enjoyed it repeatedly at home.

It was a wonderful National Day spent. So happy I got the good bargains from Mini Princess and got to catch the fireworks!

Happy National Day Everyone!

A Date With the Birds!

We have been really busy this long weekend and have arranged lots of programmes. Yesterday, we went to the Jurong Bird Park. Although we are Singaporeans, sadly to say, it's been almost 20+ years since we last really visited the Bird Park. I vaguely remembered our last visit was during our primary school days!

I really had no impression of the environment. Both dear and I felt it was really boring to see all the birds. However, as we wanted to bring the kids on an excursion, we had to plan somewhere. We decied to settle for the Bird Park as we had been to the zoo several times.

Weather was good and we reached there around 12.30p.m. We were greeted by a friendly staff who kindly explained to us the different ticketing packages. Well, we tok the one with monorail ride as well as lory bird feeding which cost $70 and that excludes Jovan cos he's still under 3. My goodness! We settled for lunch first before we entered. Just a simple bowl of laksa and wanton noodles cost us another 20 bucks. $100 before we even entered!

Our little 'J's were very excited. Jovin was dressed to the nines. Wanted her to wear casual with sandals instead but she insisted on dress and boots. We relented cos we thought it was harmless anyway rather than having her throw tantrums. So why not let her choose the dressing style she prefers and let her enjoy her trip.
Jovan put on his shades intially but he soon took both the cap and shades off.



We ventured into the penguin cave and Jovin intially thought the penguins were fake, haha! Both of them stood excitedly along the panes and stared at the penguins. It was so cooling that we wished all were air-conditioned hehe.





As we walked, we saw the flamingos, pelicans, some real gigantic birds which I've really forgotten the names.



We managed to catch many bird shows which included the parrots, eagles etc. and all of us truly enjoyed and were especially impressed when the parrots sang songs in various languages! Jovin was appalled and asked me if they were playing radio!





We also chanced upon some parrot mascots. Wanted to let Jovin to take alone but she was a bit fearful so she pulled me along. We managed to have our only family photo shot taken with the parrots too cos it was really tough to get Jovan to focus.

It was a humid afternoon and after the last show at 4.30p.m. We were exhausted so we brought the kids to the playground where we could take a breather.



Soon after, we took the monorail ride and proceeded to our last stop o.e lory loft so that the kids could get to feed the birds. Didn't expect the queue was so long and by the time we reached the loft, it was nearing closing time but we still managed to let the kids lay their hands in feeding the lory birds.



Both little 'J's truly enjoyed the experience but Jovan was too short so dear had to carry him. One of the birds actually poked at Jovin and she was taken aback for that instant.



After feeding, we proceeded to the swinging bridge where the kids jumped and hopped. We walked all the way back to the main entrance as the last train has already departed. That was the time when I managed to take few proper shots of Jovan as he walked and Jovin sat in the pram.



We left the park at around 6.30p.m and took some nice shots for the kids as they sat on the Ben and Jerry's cows.

It was a wonderful experience spent. However, it was a long and tiring day indeed as we reached home around 10p.m after having dinner at Jurong Point. The kids were dead tired and slept soon after. However, compared to the zoo, dear and I still prefered the zoo. Looks like won't be returning to bird park in the near future but we are glad the kids had a great time.

Picnic @ Marina Barrage!

Although we have been friends with our JC CLDDS pals for 16 years, we realised we've never ever gone on a picnic together! We have gone KTV, movies, travelling, chalet, BBQ etc but never did we once gone on a picnic. All thanks to our organiser, Ah Bao who volunteered to arrange a picnic for us on Saturday at Marina Barrage.

House of 'J's has been here a couple of times but we usually came during night time to play with the waters and took leisurely walks. This time round, we had a pot-lick picnic gathering. We brought fruit salad specially prepared by my mother-in-law and all others brought pizzas, sushi, curry puffs, etc.



Our dear Auntie Bao is always so thoughtful. She brought along a beach ball but too bad it was so difficult to pump the ball. In the end, the ball game didn't last long but still managed to entertain the kids. Our little 'J's and Chloe got along very well that day as Jimmy was the great entertainer and Lijuan even brought along Chloe's Doreamon bubble gun which really thrilled the kids! Streams of bubbles flowed out and the kids ran after the bubbles!




Yuling's younger boy looked moody that day and kept clung onto Bihua, whereas the elder boy Justin started to throw some tantrums towards later part, so they left earlier. All of us enjoyed the food. The kids had yoghurt drink and it was os thoughtful of Lijuan and Jimmy to bring along ice box. Jinny brought along pizzas which were delicious too. I loved Guowei's roasted chicken cos it's healthy yet tasty. Suitable for me haha! Guowei whipped up all the salad we brought along, Haha, he really supported my mother-in-law, but it was really nice. Dear and I often get to eat her salad, that's why we thought of engaging her help this round and it indeed received great compliments from all.





There were 2 couples who came to have their wedding shots taken and it indeed relived some memories of us these old couples when we used to take wedding shoots too. There was a shot whereby the groom was asked to carry the bride high up and Jimmy commented they start to have some pattern. Guess what? Jovin immediately put his words to use when Jovin told dear and I to have some pattern too when I told her to take shots for us and all of us burst into laughter. Kids really learn fast!



We stayed till much later till 9p.m when all others have left as we promised the kids to play with the waters. We had one extra hour of fun splashing and kicking the waters. Our little 'J's chased each other. Just so difficult to get Jovan to pose so I gave up and focused on Jovin haha!





The extra hour of stay was worth it as we saw some fireworks display! Though short, but we were so close to it and the kids were amazed by the colourful lightings and patterns. Jovin took some cheeky photos before we left and we settled for some food at Xinwang Cafe opposite our place.

It was a truly enjoyable day spent with our JC pals and we look forward to more of such gatherings. We have already started discussing what to plan for this year's X'mas! I really cherish this group of friends cos they are dear and mine closest and most reliable pals which we can always count on. Of course, we will never forget without our JC pals, there will not be this wonderful marriage and of course our loveable little 'J's today. Thks pals for everything!