Dear's Birthday ~ Ritz Carlton Millenia (23-24 May)

It was Dear's 30th birthday....i wanted to give him a surprise and also let him experience The Ritz Carlton. So i booked a room there and only told him about it 2 days before. Haha.....wanted to pack for him and just drive him there that day.....but it was so difficult to keep a secret from the husband!

On arrival, we upgraded to the Premier Suite :)

Us appreciating the room with the awesome views :)

The living room had a view of Esplanade, the Singapore skyline which constitutes buildings at Raffles Place area....this view was really breathtaking by night...but it was tough capturing a nice picture so here's the day view...still couldn't do justice to the actual....

The bedroom had a view of the Integrated Resort - in making.....

The bathtub had an awesome view of the Singapore Flyer!


We bought lunch in after check in. Basically just resting and chatting in the room....amazing...we were sitting there and watching the awesome views and time just flies.....unfortunately i had a headache....i took panadol and rested for a while and it was evening time!

Dear wanted to go have a walk and get dinner but i had another surprise for him! So i had to keep him in the room until 7pm!

Surprise came! I got Dear's family to come! Got his mum to cook and bring some dishes.....i really cracked my head what food to get and decided that since Dear loved home cooked food, just got to get his mum to help.



Around 815pm.....the next surprise came! I got the hotel to bring in Dear's cake! There was complimentary cheesecake from the hotel and the Durian cake i bought for Dear :) It was birthday song time!

And cake cutting time!

The family had a nice time relaxing in the room, chatting, watching TV, and sipping wine admist the awesome view of the night scene of the city.


Time just flies and it was the next morning! The bed was so comfortable, we almost overslept and missed the breakfast at the Greenhouse. We rushed down and had 1 hr left to eat the buffet!


The only unpleasant part of the stay was when our allocated table for breakfast was accidentally given to another caucasian trio when we went to get our food....it was a nice cushion high back seat...and we had to give up the seat! I was a little upset that after splurging there, this was the kind of service we got. I wrote it in the comment card and almost within 15 mins, we got a huge surprise!

The staff there brought a birthday cake for dear and came to our table to sing a birthday song for him! Even the guy on the table beside us sang along. It was nice cos that was the actual day of Dear's birthday and he got another birthday cake! This time a chocolate one!


After the heavy brunch, we went to rest in the room, watch tv and then by afternoon, we went for a swim...the pool was simple and nice....the sun was also strong that day so we both had a good tan....also had a great time relaxing at the jacuzzi pool with warm water.


It was great that we got a late check out till 6pm so we could fully enjoy the Premier suite room. It felt like we were away for a short break for a whole 2 days. It was great to spend quality time together like that, forgetting all the stress and worries of life. Indeed The Ritz Carlton lived up to its name....we had an awesome time and an unforgettable stay. Dear said it was his best birthday ever! I'm glad the expenses paid was well worth it :)

Time to check out and we wanted to leave "footprints in our memories" of the Ritz....



Couldn't bear to check out and leave.....however all good things do unfortunately come to an end....at least we have the pictures which will remind us of the wonderful times and memories collected :)

1st Wedding Anniversary - Bintan Trip (16-18 May)

How time flies! We have been married for a year! Indeed, being married is not necessarily a bed of roses. Happily ever after doesn't come easily..we have learnt that it takes effort to build a marriage and i'm glad that Dear and I have both "grown" over the past year and we are now better able to understand each other's needs, mindset and not to take each other for granted.

To celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary, we went on a short weekend trip to Bintan!

About to board the ferry:

Us on the ferry:

Arriving in Bintan:

It was a very relaxing 3 days.......we stayed at Bintan Lagoon Resort:

Went swimming....this pool is actually quite nice :)


Went cycling......around the resort....to the beautiful golf course...

And also sun-tanning by the beach....



And the highlights was trying out the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV). It was a bit hard to control for me at the beginning but Dear was so excited about it so i just tried....haha! I was going so slowly that the instructor and Dear had to wait for me along the way.....then i got confident and started to go quite fast....quite thrilling going up and down slopes, uneven grounds, dusty/muddy ground....grass patches etc....and the engine went dead on me once....i bumped into tree logs, huge rocks etc like 3 times .... once i went over a huge rock, lost my balance and almost had the entire veheicle overturned on me....Dear was so worried wittnessing the scene from behind yet helpless! But Thank God! i emerged safe with a mere blue-black!

It was a great, relaxing and fun trip.....where we had time away from the hustle and bustle of the city, the routine of housework and work.....Thank God for blessing our marriage :)

Mother's Day Celebrations (9-10 May)

My family had a simple celebration at my parents' place for lunch on saturday. It was supposed to be us all buying food there but mum ended up cooking and buying most of the food herself. We did buy some but still, mum made the most effort. We felt really bad.

Gavin had fever that day so he had to stay home while Gareth and Claire came. So we didn't take any pictures as it wouldn't be complete without Gavin.

On Sunday, it was mother's day service at church. There was also a Mother's day drama put up by the drama team. It was a memorable service for me becos my mother-in-law and Kai Shian actually agreed to attend service together.

My parents also brought my grandparents to church. So we took quite a few pictures together.

Thereafter, we went to Roland Seafood Restaurant at Marine Parade for DimSum together. Again, what a pity that we didn't take pictures together.

Later, Shian and I went shopping with his mum and by late afternoon, we were at Melben at AMK to buy the famous crabs! Quite an interesting coffeeshop but well decorated and it is just at the void deck of a block of old flats....the Q was so so long....amazing!

We brought the food to Shian's mum's place for another round of Mother's day celebrations with his family.

The chilli crab....

That comes with the mini man-tou:

The playboy chicken (very unqiue sauce):

And the famous crab bee hoon.....

Verdict: The food is reasonably priced and very tasty! Worth trying again!

The family picture at the end of the dinner:

Gathering with Mummies & Babies (1 May 09)

It has been some time since the few of us met up....so i organised this gathering with Tabitha, Andrea, Karen as well as their babies and our hubbies. It was a hot day as we gathered for lunch at Marche over at Vivocity.

The place was rather cramp but the decor was very nice.....country style. We were allocated seats at this section where there were other families with their babies and toddlers. How funny it was that at one point, they were all competing with one another in the screams, shouts and cries.

It was really a good opportunity for me to see Karen's and Andrea's babies since i haven't had a chance to see them. Pity that Karen and family had to leave first and therefore did not take any picture with us as her boy Jonah was not feeling well.

Picture of Andrea, Tabi, me, Baby Natalie and Kendrick:

Haha! First time i met Baby Natalie....think she is so cute and chubby!

Hopefully we can organise another outing sometime soon so we can take a picture with Karen and Baby Jonah as well!

DimSum @ Peach Gardens - 19 Apr 09

A colleague sent me an e-mailer on the Hi-Tea Dim Sum @ Peach Gardens, over at Thomson Plaza. That weekend, my parents decided to bring my grandparents to try it....so off we went! Thomson Plaza has been newly renovated, it's so different now....still remember we used to go there so frequently when we were kids....our parents often brought us to the Yaohan there and i remember having my first soft twist ice-cream cone there!

The Hi-Tea Dim sum lasts from 3-5pm and it is by reservation only. As it is an a la carte buffet, everyone was fiercely ordering....haha so Singaprean! The 4 of us were bored when waiting for our parents to bring our grandparents.....so we took this picture....Shian took it with his hands, superb aiming skills!

It was a mere 2 hours of gorging......but we were so full and bloated thereafter. The selection was pretty good and the food was not too bad. Service was prompt too. Haha....simply worth skipping lunch and dinner for it! A group picture after the hearty meal :)

Celebrating Mum's Birthday (5 April 09)

Mum had to work on her birthday weekend, so we celebrated it the weekend before - way in advance. Actually we wanted to make use of the Shangri-La 'Flash your age' promo where you can dine in any restaurant at Shang and get the discount off your age on your actual date of birth. Too bad we couldn't make use of that promotion. However, we still decided to try out a new place for everyone. We had Sunday brunch at House@Dempsey over at Dempsey Hill.

Thank God for the timing of the rain that day. It was raining before our journey and during the time we were dining. We did not have to be caught in the rain when walking to and from the carpark to the restaurant. There was also free parking there. The cafe was cosy, the staff were very attentive towards us and there was room for the kids to roam around. We also had a nice view of the lush greenery.....very relaxing and serene to simply chill out there. The food though was a tad overpriced, wished there was a greater variety and not every dish was worth the $.

After all of us had our main courses and were chatting away....i signalled for the staff to bring the cake over to mum and it was pretty much a surprise :) We all sang the birthday song for mum and she was really happy!

The grandparents and their 3 cute grandchildren:

The Must-Have Family Photo (gal couldn't take her eyes off the cake!):

Mum cutting the cake...and the 2 greedy lil' ones glaring at the cake from beside :)

A recommendation at House@Dempsey, the award-winning Strawberry Shortcake...pretty unqiue.....eaten with vanilla sauce poured over.....very different from what other cake shops sell....its a rare non-chocolate cake that we all enjoyed!

P/s: And you can probably guess who smudged off the "Happy" (made of chocolate sauce) on the plate....

BBQ with ACJC Pals - 3 April 09

After the last mini gathering at my place, we talked about going to Jeslyn's place for a BBQ! Everyone had been so busy, it was really tough finding a day that everyone could make it and we actually had to postpone this several times......finally the day came!

5 members of 2SA4 alumni :)

Though the group was small, it was cozy. We had a great time catching up with each other and also allowing our partners to join in the chat. We had good food, great wine, and awesome desserts! Thanks everyone for the wonderful company that night! Hopefully we can do this more often!

Celebrating Nixon's Birthday - 22 Feb 09

Time flies! Nixon is 3 year old already! This boy really impresses on me bcos his vocab in mandarin is really quite good...possibly beating some adults even!

Shian and I taking a shot with Nixon and Jaycee:

Me and the birthday boy...he is wearing the set of clothes from Fox Kids which Shian and I bought for his birthday present! Hmm.....good choice there isn't it? The boy does look smart and bright :)

Crown Plaza Hotel Changi Airport & T3 - 8 Feb 09

Mum & Dad went on a weekend staycation at the new Crown Plaza Hotel Changi Airport. As it was nearby for us after church service that day, we headed down to check out the room. The room had a clear view of the planes landing and taking off, as well as a see through bathroom glass panel that can be covered by rolling down the blinds. Very modern and contemporary design.

We also we to check out the pool deck - this was the 'eye' view which we can see from the outside of the building. It gives a clear background view of the air control tower of Changi Airport.

After Dad and Mum checked out of the hotel, we headed to T3 for lunch at Dian Xiao Er. We had a good feast and also 'lao' Yu Sheng once again becos it was the 14th day of the Lunar New Year, which is the eve of Yuan Xiao - the day of reunion.

Thereafter, we also went to take a walk around T3 and saw this huge mandarin orange plant - signifying wealth and prosperity. The mandarin oranges looked really huge!

2 Gatherings in a Day - 7 Feb 09

It was still CNY period and becos some had not visited our new place, so we invited the Narbayzz gang to our place for lunch that day. We had a great time catching up with one another and playing games.

Another group picture :)

After all the packing up, we headed over to Ben's place for BBQ. It was supposed to be a gathering for Dear's sec sch friends......but cos it was planned quite impromptu, we decided to call the jiemeis of our wedding along, so that we have a bigger group! We had fun eating, drinking and playing games as well!

It was the weekend before Valentine's Day, so the guys got roses for all the gals!

The first V-Day that Dear and I are celebrating as a married couple :)