Oops, some delay in my latest post. Unbelievably busy the past 2 weeks, after coming back from my leave. Had a nice break.
I wrote about our chalet stay in the last post, while we were still in the chalet. We had quite a lot of fun. So much, in fact, that we extended one more night of stay, making it 4 nights in all. We were at the water theme park twice, and although my kids couldn't go on all the rides, they still had fun on those they could go on. The chalet resort was also quite comfortable. And it was all for a fraction of what we paid for our last staycation at Sentosa. Of course, there weren't things like room service, swimming pools and buffet restaurants, but it's nice to just have things a bit simpler. And a lot easier on the wallet as well.
So then I had about 1 week of leave, spent time with the kids, and then came back to work, and before I could blink twice, almost 2 weeks has passed in a blur.
It's going to be a short post, but I want to keep to my promise as best I can(yeah yeah, I know I'm a few days late), but I'll try to write the next post soon. I've been wanting to write on this particular topic for some time, and it's an important one, especially for my girls, so hopefully I find time in the next couple of days to write about it properly.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Chalet stay, AKA The Mandatory School Holidays Vacation
I'm currently writing this while at a chalet in Pasir Ris. It's the school holidays after all, so we thought we would let the kids have a pseudo-vacation, or staycation, or whatever people call it. Basically, my wife and I have decided we cannot go overseas for a holiday for at least another 1-2 years or so. The logistics of it, not to mention ensuring the safety of our army of children, would be a nightmare to consider. We'll need to wait till our kids are mostly independent, with maybe only the youngest to have to take care of. We're targeting our next overseas trip for end of next year, also to celebrate(hopefully) Chloe's end of PSLE.
So anyway, instead of a staycation in Rasa Sentosa, which was what we did last time(cost a bomb), we decided on a more economical one in D'Resort, at Pasir Ris. It's a fairly new place, and with the newly opened Wild Wild Wet water theme park nearby, we thought it an interesting choice. This time, it was with my wife's sister's family, as we also wanted our children to spend time with their cousin, my sister-in-law's daughter.
It started yesterday(Friday), with a BBQ in the evening. As with most BBQs, in my opinion, the idea of it was exciting, and in the beginning it was fun, cooking over the fire, absorbing the smells and the taste. But it became tiring after awhile, and at the end, there was a bit of cleaning up to do. Still, I think the children had fun, which really was the important thing.
Chloe and Clarissa slept in the same room as their cousin, and they must have had a great time, because I could still hear them chatting and laughing late into the night(we had connecting rooms). My wife and I would have gotten up and gone over to try and get them to go to sleep, if our own bodies had not felt like lead, the moment we dropped onto our bed.
The next day(Saturday), I went off to work, because my leave actually starts next week, while the rest had breakfast and started their day in Wild Wild Wet. I only joined them around 3pm, after finishing work and rushing there. By that time, they were quite tired already, my wife in particular. Still, we spent quite a bit of time playing in the water, although we only had a proper ride late into the day, with Chloe, Gareth and Clarissa. The whole time, they were a bit nervous about taking those rides from a height, but once they tried it, they enjoyed it and wanted to go again, but unfortunately, the park was about to close. I told them we would try to go again the next day.
Had dinner at downtown east. Now the kids are sleeping soundly, and I'm here writing my blog(because I made some silly promise to write at least 2-weekly), while my wife is watching a Korean drama on her phone. We should probably sleep now, but I'll say that it's been quite fun so far(we're staying until Monday). It's certainly not as luxurious as a hotel stay would afford, but hey, it's a different experience, and I don't want my kids to think the only way a holiday can be good if it was an extravagant one.
So anyway, instead of a staycation in Rasa Sentosa, which was what we did last time(cost a bomb), we decided on a more economical one in D'Resort, at Pasir Ris. It's a fairly new place, and with the newly opened Wild Wild Wet water theme park nearby, we thought it an interesting choice. This time, it was with my wife's sister's family, as we also wanted our children to spend time with their cousin, my sister-in-law's daughter.
It started yesterday(Friday), with a BBQ in the evening. As with most BBQs, in my opinion, the idea of it was exciting, and in the beginning it was fun, cooking over the fire, absorbing the smells and the taste. But it became tiring after awhile, and at the end, there was a bit of cleaning up to do. Still, I think the children had fun, which really was the important thing.
Chloe and Clarissa slept in the same room as their cousin, and they must have had a great time, because I could still hear them chatting and laughing late into the night(we had connecting rooms). My wife and I would have gotten up and gone over to try and get them to go to sleep, if our own bodies had not felt like lead, the moment we dropped onto our bed.
The next day(Saturday), I went off to work, because my leave actually starts next week, while the rest had breakfast and started their day in Wild Wild Wet. I only joined them around 3pm, after finishing work and rushing there. By that time, they were quite tired already, my wife in particular. Still, we spent quite a bit of time playing in the water, although we only had a proper ride late into the day, with Chloe, Gareth and Clarissa. The whole time, they were a bit nervous about taking those rides from a height, but once they tried it, they enjoyed it and wanted to go again, but unfortunately, the park was about to close. I told them we would try to go again the next day.
Had dinner at downtown east. Now the kids are sleeping soundly, and I'm here writing my blog(because I made some silly promise to write at least 2-weekly), while my wife is watching a Korean drama on her phone. We should probably sleep now, but I'll say that it's been quite fun so far(we're staying until Monday). It's certainly not as luxurious as a hotel stay would afford, but hey, it's a different experience, and I don't want my kids to think the only way a holiday can be good if it was an extravagant one.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Star Wars Run 2017
I don't know how this whole thing evolved, because I was never a big fan of Star Wars(I never even watched the original 3 episodes), but I somehow made my 2 sons huge Star Wars fans. I think it's largely to do with the fact that, while not really into the shows, I do find light sabers very cool, and would often expose my sons to these toys, when we go to Toys R Us, and I would tell them the little I know about Star Wars. Gareth became very interested, and started reading all the children's books about Star Wars, and now knows way more than me. Gideon, like me, just likes light sabers very much. As a result, we now have several light sabers(the cheapo ones, of course), a Darth Vader mask, and a few other Star Wars toys. Gareth has also watched a couple of the movies(much to my wife's disapproval), and even Gideon has watched Rogue One, though I'm not sure what he understood from the movie. He did come out of it chanting, "I'monewiththeforceandtheforceiswithme...."
Anyway, because of this, my wife and I decided to sign the whole family up for the Star Wars Run that was to be organized in Singapore. It cost us a bomb, although Gideon and Charlotte were not included(too young), but we made sure that we could bring them along.
So it was on 6 May 2017. It was....quite an experience. The beginning was still alright. There was a big space in the race village, and the runners were all scattered, so it didn't feel too crowded. But when we went to queue for the run itself at the starting point, it was crazy. 50 000 people signed up for the event. The lines of people snaked up and down the huge open field at MBS. We waited in the sweaty crowd for what felt like an eternity, before it came to our turn to pass the starting point. By the time we did so, it was 40 minutes past the actual starting time.
Furthermore, because there were 2 race tracks, one for the light side, and one for the dark side, and because a disproportionately large number of people chose the dark side(yeah yeah, being bad is cool, and all that), that particular line was jammed. While edging forward in our lines, Chloe, Clarissa and I managed to force our way into the light side of the queue, which was a lot lighter(what a clever pun), but my wife and the rest of the kids could not, and were pushed into the dark side queue. As a result, we were forced to go on different routes. We tried to wait just past the starting point for them to cross over to the light side, but for some reason, one of the workers told us we could not wait there, even though we were not blocking anyone. So we had to be separated.
It was, all in all, a pretty nice walk. The night air was pretty cool, and we walked along the Singapore River, and through the various shops and restaurants lined alongside. We went up the helical bridge, and took in Singapore's cityline. I was surprised at my daughters' endurance, in particular Clarissa's. We walked for a solid hour, covering 4.5km, and she did not once stop and whine about how tired she was.
The other group had their walk cut short, probably because of the huge crowd on the dark side track. They ended up at the finishing line way ahead of us, and watched the open air screening of The Force Awakens, while waiting for us. Eventually, we all got our medals, and by the time we got home, it was way past bedtime.
Below are a few pics of our experience.
And that's that. It was quite an experience, and overall, I would say enjoyable, especially for the kids. We might sign up for more of these, and it'll probably be easier to manage as the kids get older.
Anyway, because of this, my wife and I decided to sign the whole family up for the Star Wars Run that was to be organized in Singapore. It cost us a bomb, although Gideon and Charlotte were not included(too young), but we made sure that we could bring them along.
So it was on 6 May 2017. It was....quite an experience. The beginning was still alright. There was a big space in the race village, and the runners were all scattered, so it didn't feel too crowded. But when we went to queue for the run itself at the starting point, it was crazy. 50 000 people signed up for the event. The lines of people snaked up and down the huge open field at MBS. We waited in the sweaty crowd for what felt like an eternity, before it came to our turn to pass the starting point. By the time we did so, it was 40 minutes past the actual starting time.
Furthermore, because there were 2 race tracks, one for the light side, and one for the dark side, and because a disproportionately large number of people chose the dark side(yeah yeah, being bad is cool, and all that), that particular line was jammed. While edging forward in our lines, Chloe, Clarissa and I managed to force our way into the light side of the queue, which was a lot lighter(what a clever pun), but my wife and the rest of the kids could not, and were pushed into the dark side queue. As a result, we were forced to go on different routes. We tried to wait just past the starting point for them to cross over to the light side, but for some reason, one of the workers told us we could not wait there, even though we were not blocking anyone. So we had to be separated.
It was, all in all, a pretty nice walk. The night air was pretty cool, and we walked along the Singapore River, and through the various shops and restaurants lined alongside. We went up the helical bridge, and took in Singapore's cityline. I was surprised at my daughters' endurance, in particular Clarissa's. We walked for a solid hour, covering 4.5km, and she did not once stop and whine about how tired she was.
The other group had their walk cut short, probably because of the huge crowd on the dark side track. They ended up at the finishing line way ahead of us, and watched the open air screening of The Force Awakens, while waiting for us. Eventually, we all got our medals, and by the time we got home, it was way past bedtime.
Below are a few pics of our experience.
A nice family pic to start the whole thing.
Caught this AT walker at the festival village.
We had time to get some face, well, arm, paintings.
They had cool Star Wars characters walking around happy to take photos with the runners.
Taking a quick light dinner before the run.
Must get a lovey dovey pic with the wife, of course.
Just before we got into the huge crowd to line up for the race.
Got a pic of the girls with Merlion during our walk.
The proud finisher!
Chloe got interviewed by the organizing staff as a promotional video of the event, to support bringing it back next year.
And that's that. It was quite an experience, and overall, I would say enjoyable, especially for the kids. We might sign up for more of these, and it'll probably be easier to manage as the kids get older.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
A commitment
I've been quite infrequent in writing on this blog, because once again, the busyness of life has been overwhelming at times. But I want to make a fresh commitment to write regularly, to meaningfully chronicle our family's journey, our joys and our struggles. Chloe would sometimes lament my lack of new posts on the blog, and I don't want to keep disappointing her.
So I'm going to try and write a new post every 1-2 weeks. Not sure if I can keep a weekly schedule at the moment, but at least 2-weekly should be doable.
Okay, Chloe? So don't keep telling me how your aunt has so many posts compared with mine anymore....
So I'm going to try and write a new post every 1-2 weeks. Not sure if I can keep a weekly schedule at the moment, but at least 2-weekly should be doable.
Okay, Chloe? So don't keep telling me how your aunt has so many posts compared with mine anymore....
Fifth
The long overdue post on my fifth child, Charlotte. She's 14 months old now, and getting to that age where awareness is growing, and tinges of cheekiness are creeping in. In my opinion, this is the period where kids are the cutest, because they're starting to respond to you more purposefully, and just before the terrible twos where they will defy your every command. So I'm going to enjoy her as much as I can right now.
During the first few months of her life, my wife was convinced she, being our youngest child, and a daughter, was our little demure princess, because she seemed to have a mild-mannered behaviour quite different from the rest of her siblings. Even her crying usually came in muted sobs, and my wife would declare to me on many an occasion that we finally had a gentle, lady-like daughter with beautiful polite manners. Furthermore, she is really smiley, more than her other siblings:
That really makes her very endearing.
In recent months, though, she is starting to show some of the feisty character her siblings, in particular Clarissa and Gideon, possess. She shows some signs of defiance, an example being when she does not want to eat what we feed her. She would turn her head firmly away, her mouth pursed shut. She is also turning quite rough when playing, often jumping on Gideon recklessly, not a shred of lady-likeness evident at all. My wife is currently in denial, insisting that this was all because of the bad influence of her siblings, and not through any inherent character of hers.
Whatever it is, she is still extremely adorable, and we are enjoying watching her grow everyday. Chloe particularly loves playing with her, reading to her, talking to her. Chloe has this knack of talking to Charlotte in a way that she responds positively, so that's a great help when we need someone to look after her.
As she grows, and reaches each milestone along the way(she's starting to walk independently), we want to provide an environment of love within the family, so that she does not feel like she's alone in a desert:
but will always experience the support and warmth of a loving family. I guess no matter what, she'll always be our little princess.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Happy birthday to me
Well, I turned 39 recently, just a few days ago. We went on a staycation in Sentosa, and had a great time. The kids really enjoyed themselves. I would recommend it, the Shangri-La hotel, Rasa Sentosa, especially for families. The service is great, they got little things that make it special, like free small ice-cream cones distributed throughout the resort in the afternoon, a kid's club with an awesome indoor playground, and organised activities at different times of the day, and a swimming pool with intermittent activities like water polo, and running along a rubber mat floating on the water, and doing a cannonball at the end of it. Great fun. Not cheap, though.
Anyway, that aside, I'm coming to the realisation that I'm getting to the age where I better pay more attention to my health. Doctors are not immune to diseases, after all, and I have found myself putting on quite a bit of weight recently. Took up a dieting programme about a month ago, which bases its principles on medical science, and I'm happy to report that I've lost quite a bit of kilos, and I feel healthier too.
I guess I just want to say to all my readers out there: (because you know I care about you, right)
Don't take your health for granted. Have some control when you're eating, do regular exercise. And especially if you're above 40 years of age, do regular screening for basic things like your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. Of course, please don't smoke, and don't take alcohol excessively. You'll find your sense of well-being improving.
A good staycation helps, as well.
Anyway, that aside, I'm coming to the realisation that I'm getting to the age where I better pay more attention to my health. Doctors are not immune to diseases, after all, and I have found myself putting on quite a bit of weight recently. Took up a dieting programme about a month ago, which bases its principles on medical science, and I'm happy to report that I've lost quite a bit of kilos, and I feel healthier too.
I guess I just want to say to all my readers out there: (because you know I care about you, right)
Don't take your health for granted. Have some control when you're eating, do regular exercise. And especially if you're above 40 years of age, do regular screening for basic things like your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. Of course, please don't smoke, and don't take alcohol excessively. You'll find your sense of well-being improving.
A good staycation helps, as well.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
New beginnings
It's a new year. New aspirations, new hopes, and all that. Won't be a new baby though.
I think it's a good time to look back on the past year, at what we've experienced, and think about what we want to do in the brand new year. To be honest, I had hoped to blog a bit more. The first half of the year, my exam had preoccupied me, both physically and mentally, but after my exam, I was still very busy with work and family, and spare time didn't just come like that. It does take extra effort to set aside time if I want to do something out of my routine, because I don't have much of it lying around.
My daughter, Chloe, recently told me my blog is not as interesting as her aunt's(my sister), because I don't have as many pictures. Well, excuse me for wanting to focus on substance and linguistic quality to my posts. Forgive me for sharing my philosophical and intellectual ideas......fine, I was just being lazy. It's tough going through pictures and uploading them, you know.
But in a bid to keep Chloe as part of my regular readership(which makes up a very significant percentage), here are pictures of some of the things we went through as a family.
Gareth's first day of school in Primary One
Supported by his 2 sisters
Gideon not as enthusiastic about going back to school
Attack of the Cones
The Cousins strike back
Gong Xi Gong Xi!
Time for Charlotte to come out
And she is out!
Everyone fussing over the little princess
Captain America: Civil War
Gareth's birthday
(great looking cake)
History made
Trip to Chinese Garden
(aka Hunt for Dratini)
World record set for largest number of people on a single see-saw
Trip to Kidzania
(fun for the kids, tiring for the adults)
Zhong Qiu Jie
Again with the cousins
The day the elbow broke
Post hospitalization discharge
Last but not least....
Staycation trip to Sentosa
(but we forgot to take a family pic!!)
That's it then. We thank God for 2016, and here's to a blessed and fruitful 2017!
I think it's a good time to look back on the past year, at what we've experienced, and think about what we want to do in the brand new year. To be honest, I had hoped to blog a bit more. The first half of the year, my exam had preoccupied me, both physically and mentally, but after my exam, I was still very busy with work and family, and spare time didn't just come like that. It does take extra effort to set aside time if I want to do something out of my routine, because I don't have much of it lying around.
My daughter, Chloe, recently told me my blog is not as interesting as her aunt's(my sister), because I don't have as many pictures. Well, excuse me for wanting to focus on substance and linguistic quality to my posts. Forgive me for sharing my philosophical and intellectual ideas......fine, I was just being lazy. It's tough going through pictures and uploading them, you know.
But in a bid to keep Chloe as part of my regular readership(which makes up a very significant percentage), here are pictures of some of the things we went through as a family.
The Cousins strike back
(great looking cake)
(aka Hunt for Dratini)
(fun for the kids, tiring for the adults)
Last but not least....
Staycation trip to Sentosa
(but we forgot to take a family pic!!)
That's it then. We thank God for 2016, and here's to a blessed and fruitful 2017!
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