[23 Feb 2014] ECP with the cousins!

OK, this will be a short post... just some pictures. After the TD30 exhibition (refer to previous post), we had already made arrangements to go down to ECP to play with their little cousins! the kids were really excited! Tong was up early in the morning and kept whining about wanting to go to the beach haha. here are the photos!

even before we reach ECP, we already received this photo haha. JJ reached there really early and started playing already. Xun had a similar picture taken in 2013, just before Denise flew off... so cute!

kids having fun at the beach haha. there will be many similar shots in this entry haha.

For once, the grandparents are the ones busy with taking care of the kids. no shots taken, but the parents were sitting at the 2 tents having a rest. it was so relaxing, the parents (the older cousins!) agreed we should do this like once a month haha... give us a breather, let us catch up, and we can close it with dinner at marzuki and celebrate the birthdays for each month. quite a nice arrangement i think! Next up would be Mar, it's to celebrate Ah Ma's birthday!

Gail... she was at a corner, working furiously - collecting seashells! heh

another shot of the kids.

the boys loved playing with the water and sand. not sure what they were building tho haha.

Xun at play

check out this pretty babe. *whee whee*

this is my personal favourite heh. i was at the tent resting when i noticed ah gong and xun standing at the coastline. not sure what they were doing, but i thought it would make a nice shot. quickly grabbed my phone (thank goodness for camera phones! haha), ran up and snapped a shot. just beautiful.

followed up that shot with a close up on the pair. Xun and Tong are soooo loved by their grandparents and relatives (both sides!). so blessed.

Xun showing off her sand castle. she loves sticking "flags" into them haha. so cute.

ok, that's all for now. looking forward to the monthly ECP excursions! hopefully mummy can join us for the next one. this gathering happened because Zhiqiang ge ge came back, and mum was telling us all about her delicious kong ba! haha. should have taken a picture of the kong ba. oh well, like Xun likes to say... "next time"!

[23 Feb 2014] Total Defence 30 Exhibition @ National Museum

The long awaited post! so one sunday, daddy decided to bring the kids to visit the TD30 exhibition... thought it would be a nice exhibit, and definitely not too crowded. was a little worried about the weather though. mummy was going out with their God-ma, so it's again Daddy's time with the kids! we sure had lots of fun, shall let the pictures tell its own tale...

We parked at YMCA (the uncle was really nice to let us park there heh). Once we crossed the road the whole array of military equipment greeted us! it was mightily hot though, so Xun and Tong were not really in a posey mood. Our very first photo was with the SCDF motobike. pretty cool if you ask me. sometimes, i do harbour thoughts of getting a bike license, and riding in the sunset with mummy clinging tightly behind me.. hmm.. 

similarly, i do think about getting a private jet license someday in Malaysia, especially when i'm older, more established at work, maybe got the time and money to do such stuff...

the next exhibit! the red rhino (i think!) the SCDF personnel were very nice and offered to let us sit in the vehicle but the kids were not in a very sociable mood. must be the weather. oh well, at least we got a decent shot together.

was this an unmanned surface vessel? i think so la. sure din look so big when it was in the waters of Marina.

Cool Tong posing with my glasses. the kids wanted their sunnies but we didnt bring them. Xun was really whiney, but Tong made do with mine. quite cute huh?

ohh... the light strike vehicle II. again, the kids were not interested in getting into the vehicle, so we make do with a shot from outside.

here we have Tong the Army soldier trying to strike a pose. pity he was a little too shot and his face too small hahaha

oh mummy's favourite series of pics! Tong the Navy CPT! Xun refuses to wear the uniforms even though they were really pretty. she said "next time". i think her "next time" means no haha. anyway, CPT Isaac Tay poses with Xun and 2 Navy personnel...

Mummy's favourite shot, her dashing young CPT. still, i dont think joining the Navy is such a good idea, since he'll be away from home for extended periods of time. *salute* to all our seamen, for protecting our country! Maybe Tong will grow up to join the SAF too. *wonder*

CPT Isaac Tay with his sister. what a beautiful pair =P

my personal favourite pic, since i'm in it too hahahaha

Tong is pretty fascinated with the UAV. Xun... couldn't quite be bothered. so maybe, just maybe... Tong could end up as a career soldier

the kids posing in front of the RBS simulator system - which happens to be my first weapon system. Would have preferred to have a pic of them on the system, but there was a line, and we were not really in the mood to queue outdoors. well the shot is still pretty decent, i think Xun is absolutely beautiful... *drool*

hmmm... what is jie jie eating??

What? Tong has it too!?

ohhhhh... it's the SAF combat rations! really quite tasty. quite apt too, since i think there was an article the week before comparing the combat rations of the different countries. Think the SAF's combat rations didn't fare too well. However, having eaten the earlier generations of combat rations (starting from NCC days in sec sch!), i think our rations have come a long way. Even Xun said "the butter cookies are delicious!"

hmmm... finally indoors... but what are they looking at?

ohh! we are inside the National Museum! and the kids are fascinated with the beautiful dome ceiling... 

Total Defence isn't just about the military, so inside the museum we had some exhibits showcasing Singapore's past. carrom was certainly something that grew up with us. whether it was playing at home with my parents & cousins or in school...

5 stones, another part of our growing up years. more at home with my cousins than in school la haha. i remember Candice and Denise are quite good at this... its a girl thing i suppose.

chatek! definitely had a big part in my formative years in Chinese High. i remember forgoing lunch and breaks just to kick this feather object in our classroom haha.

Water Wally! the kids really loved the PUB mascot - just check out the number of Water Wally pics.

waving bye to Water Wally

then wanting to hug it!

jie jie's turn to hug Water Wally before bidding farewell

make-believe in an old coffee shop set-up. 

there was a lego set up there too. very interesting, as it was commissioned and built by a Lego Master to recreate the Nicol Highway crash site. oh my...

kids had fun playing with the lego bits. the kids are allowed to smash the whole site up and try to rebuild. poor gor gor here (volunteer) had to re-build the exhibit everyday but since today (sunday) was the last day, he gladly allowed anyone to smash it up hahaha. 

ok, that's the end of our exciting day at the TD30 exhibition. shall keep an eye out for more of such opportunities! we definitely had fun! stay tuned for the next post - our afternoon at the beach with the cousins!

[22 Feb 14] Swimming @ Sembawang Country Club

So daddy decided to make better use of the Sembawang Country Club (SCC) membership. Been a member since 2008, but i've probably been paying the fees without really using the facilities. Now that Saturdays are Daddy's day with the kids, i've been bringing them to SCC at least 1-2 times a month just to swim and chill at the club. the photos below have been taken over a few visits (hence the different outfits haha).

check out the very beautiful and peaceful SCC pool

another view of the pool. the kids just loved the little pool on the right. amazing how such a little pool can actually entertain the both of them for an hour, just thrashing around the baby pool

so starting from 2014, we noticed that Christian kor kor goes for swimming classes every sat at SCC! woot. Xun likes playing with Christian kor kor, and he likes playing with Xun too. mummy says everyone cannot resist the little beauty's charms haha.

closed up shot of Christian kor kor pretending to be a sealion!

the 2 bigger kids playing, leaving the little boy on his own haha

more evidence of the little boy being kept out of the circle

yet another shot of the 2 big kids leaving the little boy alone hahahaha

ok, a decent group shot together. the 3 look cute together.

ok, so this is the post-swimming shot. one of the rare days when they brought their sunnies along. dont they look really chummy?

not sure what they are doing, but they look really cute playing with each other

from the other side... these 2 little fashionistas

so the next part of their routine involves going to the little indoor playground. it's not much of a "playground", but the kids just enjoy climbing the single structure, and also just chilling in front of the tv

both of them climbed up and pretended to be in their castle

so SCC is really crowded with SAF personnel. met a friend there that sat, and the kids were just sitting around listening to stories haha

dashing Tong, looking good as usual

The last part of the SCC routine was to have our lunch at the golfers' terrace. the food was really quite delicious - our usual fare consists of hokkien mee, fries, eggs, iced milo.. yummy! more often than not, the little one would be so tired out from the activities that he would fall asleep at the table. sweet, aint he?

so just for this weekend (22 Feb), we decided to go for sat Melody Bear class instead of Sun. Teacher Fay was still in UK for her marriage leave, so Teacher May stood in instead. Oh well, the kids are quite happy to dance with Teacher May. 

The sat classroom is better, as there are windows for the parents to observe the kids. and the kids are more confident when they can see their parents too. no brawling kids. proud of the 2 little ones. they sure have grown!

ok, enough of our sat... it's been really amazing! to more beautiful sat daddy time!