Hong Kong - Day 1

our hong kong trip was from 7 dec to 12 dec. my parents joined us for the trip as well, but they flew back to singapore on 10 dec. 

the initial plan was that all of us fly back on 10 dec, because my parents have used up most of their leave. so based on that plan, we decided to book a disneyland hotel on 7 dec, and then bring yuanze to disneyland on 8 dec and spend almost half a day there, while my parents go to somewhere else. and unfortunately i went to the disneyland website to book a hotel, and to my dismay, there were no bookings available. i did the booking very early, which was in late march. and so i went to book a hotel that is quite near disneyland, that is Auberge Discovery Bay, and the hotel itself provides shuttle service to disneyland. 

and then when i chatted with a colleague, he told me he will be going to disneyland in june. then i told him i was unable to make any booking for a hotel room in dec. and he told me that i was too early. disneyland only open the rooms for booking 6 months in advance. HAHAHAHAHA. 

for Auberge Discovery Bay, i booked it at a very good price. i booked 2 rooms, facing the ocean, with breakfast included, at 259 dollars per room. and because it was at such a good price, there was no free cancellation. 

then i started to think, i finally get to travel overseas with my parents. the last time i went overseas with them was in 2009, to turkey. i have not travelled overseas with them for 9 years. and of course i want to spend as much time together with them as possible. and yuanze is going too, of course they will want to bond with their grandson. after discussing with darling, we decided to extend our trip by 2 more nights. so that we can spend one full day in disneyland. 

for this trip, we stayed at 4 different hotels. LOL. 

7 dec - auberge discovery bay

8 dec and 9 dec - courtyard marriott sha tin

10 dec - holiday inn golden mile

11 dec - disney hollywood hotel

let me first talk about the check-in procedure at changi airport. if you are taking SQ, everything is automated. no need to queue like for the longest time ever just to get your boarding passes and check in your luggage. once you arrive at the airport, you go to this automated machine, you scan your own passports, collect your own boarding passes, and also collect your own baggage tags. the baggage tag itself has instructions to teach you how to put it on your luggage. if you have difficulty, the airport staff will go to you and help you. so once you have collected your boarding passes, and you have put the luggage tags on your check-in luggage, then you go to the automated luggage counter. same thing, you do it all by yourself, and if you got any difficulty, the airport staff will go to you and help you. the whole process took me 10 minutes. so fast, so efficent, i am impressed. 

and so coincidental that at our boarding gate, there was like a damn stringent security process. after our hand carry bags got scanned by the detector, we still have to bring the hand carry bags to a security officer to let him personally check again. and he also wants to see our the home screen of our handphones. we thought that there was some big shot taking the same flight as us, probably a Minister or what. then when i asked one of the airport staff, she told me this was a security exercise. 

and yessss we are on board the plane! 

bought an air hammock for yuanze, also known as Fly Legs Up. with the air hammock, yuanze can sleep comfortably on the plane. and thankfully, he did sleep on the plane, for about an hour. it is a good investment! please buy it if you are bringing toddlers or young kids onboard flights. especially if it is a long distance flight. 

i really enjoyed the service from our cabin crew. once on the plane, the air stewardess gave yuanze a specialised headphone (for kids). and i love the inflight entertainment system. the screen is quite big, and it is touch screen. no need for remote control. very easy to use, very easy to navigate, even yuanze knows how to use it. he enjoyed the inflight entertainment as well, and watched cartoons such as disney cartoons and super wings. i watched antman and the wasp. 

and then as we were about to reach hong kong, the captain of the plane told us that we need to stay up in the sky for about 25 minutes more, because the air traffic at hong kong international airport was slightly congested. zzzzz... 

ok so fast forward to we touched down, cleared immigration, collected our luggage, and took a cab to Auberge Discovery Bay. the staff offered to upgrade us to a 2 bedroom suite, that is facing the ocean. OMG how lucky we are. later on i went to check the price of the 2 bedroom suite. it cost 955 dollars per night!!! wah we really 赚到. 2 bedroom suite was really good, because we can all stay together in a room, and yuanze really had lots of fun running around the suite. and the scenery from our room was really breathtaking. 

there is a shopping plaza just outside the hotel, called DB North Plaza. there's a few restaurants, a wellcome supermarket, a kids' indoor theme park, and a starbucks cafe to get your coffee fix. 

we had dinner at Gilmore's, that serves western cuisine. the service by the staff was very good. he gave yuanze colour pencils to colour on a drawing while we were waiting for the food to arrive. and here's my dad showing yuanze how to hold a pencil correctly. :)

after dinner we went to wellcome to buy some groceries. they have this car + trolley thingy. yuanze really loves it! we bought cup noodles, bubble bath lotion for yuanze to play in the hotel room bath tub, as well as some fruits (so that all of us can shit well the next day hahahahaha). 

yuanze totally loves the hotel suite. 

and that's it for day 1! 

11.11.18

during this few years, 11.11 is more associated with the crazy sales, be it online shopping or shopping at physical stores. even retailers like singtel, m1, starhub, or travel insurance companies, or airline carriers, have their own 11.11 sale. 

but anyway, i am still honoured to be born on this special day, and must really thank my parents for it. hahahahahaha. 

i celebrated my birthday one week earlier with my family, because they will be in japan on 11.11. my younger sister ask me what kind of cake i want, so i told her i want matcha, and she bought a whole matcha crepe cake from lady M. thank you huanyang!!! the matcha crepe cake was really very nice! 

and then on friday 9 nov, we did a staycation at village hotel katong. it was a promotion offer for teachers. 195 nett for one night, inclusive of breakfast, complimentary wifi and a late checkout on the next day at 4 pm. 

 yuanze loves staycation too! :)

i always love the katong area because it is the place where i spent at during the 4 years of my sec sch education. of course it has changed alot since then, and one of the new changes is this Birds of Paradise gelato shop, opened by a local, with very interesting flavours. i only first heard of it this year when my youngest sis brought me and yuanze there. she was so shocked when i told her i never heard of this place. and so this time i brought darling here, she bought 2 scoops, one is white chrysanthemum and the other one is hojicha, and she love it so much, and we bought a pint of white chrysanthemum to bring back home. hahahahaha. 

on 11 nov we went to fukusen restaurant. it was a birthday lunch treat from darling. we chose the 7-course omakase at $150++. 

we were very impressed by the quality of the food, and the sincerity of the service. 

allow me to introduce the dishes. 

1st course - appetiser. comes in 3 small servings. the 1st serving is codfish sperm!! omg!! i actually get to try it!! doesnt taste weird. taste very smooth. like egg white. darling said she will appreciate it even more if the staff did not tell her it is codfish sperm. hahahaha. 2nd serving is a tomato that is harvested in japan, together with honey truffle sauce. the tomato is so fresh and the sauce is so good, that i licked every single drop of the sauce. and the 3rd serving is fatty tuna, that also taste very fresh. 

2nd course - home made miso soup with scallop. the home made miso really taste different from all the typica miso soups that i had tried in other japanese restaurants. 

3rd course - sashimi platter. so fresh. so good. 

4th course - tofu with century egg, fried flying fish, grilled octopus leg. tofu with century egg was very good. fried flying fish was mehhh. grilled octopus leg was normal. 

5th course - grilled boston lobster with mentai and cheese. this was the WOW dish. we were so amazed when the staff brought out the two plates of lobster. i was like omg is this part of the omakase?

6th course - assorted sushi. sushi was also really very good. on top of the sushi there were different toppings. for example scallop with truffle (this was the best), salmon with uni, negi toro with foie gras, and the last one i cant remember. 

7th course - dessert. the staff found out that it was my birthday so they did a special presentation of the dessert into a nice birthday platter. dessert was green tea ice cream, yuzu sherbet, water melon mochi, honey dew from japan that was really very juicy and sweet, probably it is those kind that you see in supermarket that cost 60 or 70 bucks for one small honeydew. 

and when we finished the meal, it was raining heavily outside, and the staff escorted us to our car with an umbrella. so touched. so impressed. 

thank you darling for the birthday treat!! love you!

Deepavali post

on this deepavali public holiday, we went to gardens by the bay to check out the tsum tsum themed flower exhibition at flower dome. yuanze is a big fan of mickey mouse and so we decided to bring him there. 

gardens by the bay open at 9 am and when we reach the carpark, there were already many cars. omg. luckily when we reach the flower dome, there were not too many visitors and we could walk around freely and take photos happily without feeling the stress that others behind were waiting. 

yuanze really enjoyed himself alot. and here are the pics!

 yuanze also likes lion alot. he knows how to imitate the sound of animals. for example when we tell him pig, he will say oink oink. tell him duck, he will say quack quack. tell him gong ji, he will say cu cu cooooo. tell him lion, he will say roarrrrrrrrr. tell him dinosaur, he will say roarrrrrrr. tell him papa, he will also say roarrrrr. because when i bathe together with him, when i apply my face with facial foam, i will leave the facial foam on my face and roarrrrr to him, and he will laugh very happily. 

 the 3 of us specially wore black and white theme. the mickey mouse tees that darling and yuanze are wearing are bought by me when i went to JB. i also bought one for myself, and i did not try it at the store, thinking that it could fit me. but when i got home and put it on, it was a bit too tight for me. -.-'''

 brought along my captain america and ironman tsum tsum as well. :)

machiam influence sia. :D

SO COOL AND SO HANDSOME OMG. 

after gardens by the bay, we went to Clinton Street Cafe at purvis street for lunch. it was also to celebrate darling's bff bday. luckily i made reservation. there were already people waiting outside the cafe when we reach. i like the food and the coffee here. especially the pancakes. very big serving, very soft and fluffy and tasty, and the caramel syrup and blueberries that go with it were so good. best pancakes i tasted in singapore. 

if you ask me what is the best pancakes i tasted in my life, it is still the one at washington DC, a very small restaurant inside a hotel. tabard's inn, if i remember correctly. pancakes were much smaller than the one at clinton street, but the texture and the taste was really the top. 

feel so happy to be able to go out and spend time with loved ones. 

Happy Birthday Xiaoyu

xiaoyu's birthday and yuanze's birthday is 5 days apart. 

today we went down to tampines to celebrate her birthday, and we had a zi char feast. 

the tau kuah fries was meh. i didnt eat the chilli crab because i have a sore throat. the crab beehoon and the 奶黄蟹 was very good. especially when you dip the 馒头 in the 奶黄 gravy, omg so shiok. 

after eating we went downstairs to 提灯笼. 

very rare that yuanze will smile in front of the camera. xiaoyu is at the back with chenxi. yuanze and chenxi holding on to battery operated lantern, whereas me and xiaoyu are holding the old school use candle vintage lantern. 

hojicha cake from edith patissere. the cake is really very good! 

happy birthday xiaoyu!!! 

Yuan Ze is 2

this year, we celebrate yuanze's birthday at seaview bungalow at aloha loyang. 

i have always like the seaview bungalow at aloha loyang. it has a kitchen (where all utensils and appliances are provided), living room, dining room, 4 bedrooms, and each bedroom has a toilet. 

so i proposed the idea to darling. can celebrate yuanze's birthday. can have a staycation. can have a bbq session. can have family bonding (my family and darling's family). so many plus points. and darling agreed. :)

aloha loyang is now known as civil service club @ loyang. i was pleasantly surprised when i stepped into the bungalow. they have renovated it. the last time i went was 3 years ago. they changed the flooring of the living room and dining room. they put an air con at the living room. last time there were only fans. they also changed the location of the bbq pit, which i think is better. and they inserted sliding doors at the dining room, so once we bbq the food, we can just open the sliding door and pass the food to the people at the dining table. i really like the changes! the management really pay attention to te fine details. 

our seaview bungalow for the 2D1N, unit 15. it has its own porch to park one car. let me lead a #crazyrichasian life for one day. hahahaha. 

yuanze very happy with his new superwings scooter. his 小姨 bought it for him as a birthday present.  

yuanze love bubbles! i also like this front courtyard area for the kids to play and jump around. yuanze, enxuan and chenxi (huanyang's son) had so much fun there.  

yuanze's birthday cake! very innovative cake. in the middle is rainbow chiffon cake from polar. yuanze loves eating it. on top of the cake are tsum tsum disney figurines bought from qoo10. surrounding the rainbow chiffon cake are mini tarts from elijah. they taste really good. huanyang ordered them from elijah. the flavours that we ordered are matcha, earl grey, blueberry and lemon. 

he looks a bit stunned, probably because this is the first time he is standing all by himself in front of the cake, and all by himself on the receiving end of the birthday wishes. for the past few birthday celebrations there will always be someone carrying him. 

dunno why his face like that. hahahahahahaha.  

and of course must take photo with his favourite enxuan 姐姐. they do quarrel with each other over toys or over the most random of things, but they still love each other alot. as what my sister in-law said, 他们俩比亲姐弟还要亲. 

that night was also yuanze's breakthrough in bedtime. we always tuck him into bed at about 9 pm. but on that night, we only cut the cake at 9 pm. and then clear up, say goodbye to my parents and sisters, 930 pm. bathe him, let him drink medicine (because he is still teething), 10 pm. he only fell asleep at about 11 pm. my god sia... 

i slept very well. yuanze slept well too. he only cried a bit at about 3 am plus for milk, fed him and he continued sleeping. i woke up at 6 am, and drove out to pasir ris to buy breakfast. drove to this kopitiam that is 5 min drive away, and da bao-ed coffee and tea, chwee kueh and buy bread and kaya from this old sch chinese provision shop. so blessed to be able to experience all this morning vibes in the eastern part of singapore. 

we made sandwiches for breakfast using the sandwich maker that my sister in-law bought. we used the remaining butter from yesterday's bbq, as well as the remaining meats, remaining kimchi and remaining veggies to make taiwan-style breakfast sandwiches. taste really good! :)

happy birthday yuanze! hope you enjoy your birthday celebration this year. we all love you! 

Teacher's Day 2018

this is the best surprise for all the teachers for this year's teacher's day. the students from art & environment club drew personalised cartoons of all the teachers. yes ALL the teachers. really super impressed with the effort. 

the pe dept with our personalised pictures! 

teacher's day is also in conjunction with aces day. this year the song that nuriah chose is Azukita by steve aoki. always an awesome sight to see 1000 plus students and staff dance together in the parade square!

the dance leaders who danced on the same platform as me. 

trademark pose! thank you to my angel, miss atiqah for taking this photo!

another aces day accomplishment! good job pe dept! do you like our new FAT (FIT ATHLETIC TEACHER) tees?  

instagrammable backdrop done at the back of the hall, by the parents from the Parent Support Group. the parent support group of this school is really very strong. they also perform for teachers' day concert this year, and were dressed in WOW costumes. A+ for effort. 

and for the first time ever, the teachers put up a kpop item. this is also my first time dancing a kpop item. really enjoyed myself. thank you to ms hazel peh for putting everything together. ms hazel peh was also the dance president of nus dance blast, and her husband, idil, is also my pe classmate in NIE. amazed at how sg is so small, and amazed at how fate brings everyone together. 

happy teacher's day to all my teacher friends!!

Teacher's Day Dinner 2018

this year's Teacher's Day Dinner is at tiffany cafe at furama city centre. 

went there together with my last year's FT partner, mr ray chua. when we reach there, we realise the teachers from punggol pri sch are also having their teacher's day dinner over there, but it is inside a ballroom. 

and the moment we step into the lobby, i find this place familiar. then i realise i came here before for prom nite when i was still teaching at the previous workplace. 

for the past 2 years, our teacher's day dinner have a theme, and we must dress up according to the theme, and our colleagues will double up as emcees, entertain us, and there will also be a lucky draw, and the lucky draw prizes are very good. last year's top lucky draw prize was a staycation at MBS. 

this year, the staff welfare committee let all staff do a survey, and majority of the staff prefered the themed dinners to be on alternate years. so this year is just a buffet dinner at tiffany cafe. 

if you ask me, honestly, i still prefer the previous workplace's arrangement. on the day of teacher's day celebration, have a good lunch in the school, and you are free to do your own stuff after that. last time, after the lunch, we will go sing ktv. now, i will rather go home sleep or play with yuanze. 

ok, here are the pics of the teacher's day dinner!

it was free seating. here are my table mates. from left to right: mr poon, teach maths, previously the hod mathematics at damai sec; mr ray chua, teach physics, my partner FT last year (we became Talk Cock Buddies because of our partnership last year hahahahaha); mr nigel chong, teach DnT, also the discipline master; mr steven neo, my fellow pe colleague; mr ang shi da, teach physics, the subject head for partnership. the colleagues label us as the kopitiam uncles' table, because we were very noisy and rowdy. that day was also the day for all of us to reveal our angels' identity to the mortals. so everytime when someone comes to our table, we will all just cheer very loudly (me being the loudest of course). hahahahahaha. 

introducing my angel, miss atiqah! she is the ICT associate in the workplace. although she is not a teacher, she is a great colleague and great friend to all of us. she bakes very well, always take good photos of us during events, and of course settle all the ICT stuff in the school. and she is also my neighbour (who sits next to me) miss ong huiping's angel. what are the odds? there was one time when she delivered presents to both of us, and at that time we of course do not know that she is our angel. it was really quite funny now that we come to think of it. and for this angel mortal game, our school principal's angel is none other than... ... ME!!! everybody was cheering when i went up to the P and told him that i am his angel. hahahahaha.  

last but not least, of course must take pic with the pe dept! thankful to be in this dept. best dept ever! 

Taiwan Trip 2018 - Accommodation

my first trip to taiwan was with my family. i was very young. sec 1 or sec 2, if i remember correctly. i remembered going to shilin night market. and i am also very sure that we did not go to ximending. 

second trip was with the army. i was a trainee at school of armour, and we went to taiwan to train for 3 weeks. that was really a highlight of my military life. the bunks were dirty and dusty. toilets were smelly. the toilet bowls have very small holes, so we cannot throw toilet paper into the toilet bowl. after wiping our asses we need to throw the soiled toilet paper into a small waste paper basket that is beside the toilet bowl. and god knows how often they empty that waste paper basket. damn disgusting. there were no showers. there is a big barrel of water, and we have to bathe using small pails to scoop the water out. there were good times also. we are very happy when we have nights off. there were quite a few old school eateries and convenience stores outside our camp. and of course the best part of this trip is the R&R, the final part of the trip, and we stayed at rainbow hotel for 2 nights. 
that was when i knew the existence of ximending. and SHE also held a 签唱会 at the open area just outside the hotel. 

in terms of location, rainbow hotel is really the best. it is very near to the mtr station. it is right in the middle of ximending. however there is only one lift. and the rooms are a bit old. 

third time to taiwan was with my jc friends. we also stayed at rainbow hotel. 

fourth time to taiwan was with darling in 2008. we tried this cheapo hostel for 2 nights, and stayed at rainbow hotel for the 3rd night. the hostel was quite an experience. the room was very cold, and the beds were very small. and their common toilet is at the roof top. and we were there during the winter season. so you can imagine after bathing, with the cold wind blowing at us, we have to quickly walk back indoor from the toilet. we were so glad to stay at rainbow for the 3rd night. hahahahahaha.

fifth time to taiwan was with my pe buddies, KC and zhenhong. we stayed at east dragon hotel. 

east dragon hotel was ok. further away from the mrt station. rooms were also a bit old. and the breakfast was mediocre. after trying the breakfast on the first morning, we decided to skip it. hahahahahaha. we had our breakfast at the dou jiang shop that was just opposite the hotel. 

sixth time to taiwan was with brotherhood, minus laval. we also stayed at east dragon. 

seventh time was in 2016, with darling, after we just became parents. really thankful to my family for taking care of yuanze while both of us go for this well needed holiday. we stayed at roader's hotel. i really like roader's hotel. the rooms are nice, and very new. it has a very big lobby, with many big sofas for you to sit there and eat breakfast or eat supper. you can also watch tv and play darts. they even have a photograph machine. the lobby also have coffee, tea, cup noodles, man tou, all for the guests to consume. the only downside is that it is a bit further away from ximending. 

and the eighth time, which is this time, with darling, yuanze and darling's family. we stayed at amba taipei ximending. 

location wise, amba is also very good. the building itself is also very happening. 诚品 is in the same building as the hotel, and so you can shop there, just that the prices are on the high end. there is also a starbucks on the first floor of the building. there is an arcade at the basement. xuanxuan and yuanze were very happy there. the rooms are very new. and their beds are big! they have a super king size bed, big enough for 3 persons to sleep on it. amazing place. if next time stay at ximending, i will definitely come here to stay.