Saying her goodbye

Ann spent her last day in her pre-school distributing these cupcakes. I couldn't bake them this time but I helped her to make them look beautiful.


Butterfiles and stars for all her teachers and friends and aunties


All packed into lovely red and blue boxes

Making preparations to uproot...again

The hardest part about relocation is when I am making all the necessary preparations to leave. It is so draining to hang tough for the kids and the family...I guess the stress took a toil on me and I fell sick. But I tell you God has His amazing ways of picking me up. While packing, I found a card from my US church pastor and family...



All of a sudden, my spirit was lifted up.

These couple of years, I have learned that God doesn't just answer prayers when we close our eyes, kneel down and pray in church. Because of that, I have learned to talk to Him practically everywhere and anywhere. I sometimes find myself talking to Him as if He is right in front of me or venting my frustrations to Him as if He is like a long-time friend. God being God, of course I believe He can present Himself physically to me and answer me but that isn't the whole idea of the cross. He has chosen instead to respond in very perculiar way like in this instance...through a card. That brings me to my next line of thought...being a pastor. In my many years of being a Christian, I have found that the most successful pastors are not those who preach the best message with the most thought-provoking theologies...but those who have a passion for people, those who have the time for people...for to me, that exemplify Christ. Isn't the whole ministry of Christ, the whole purpose of Christ, the work at the cross...all point to God's love for people.

Little Miss Independent


Little Ann was awarded the Miss Independent award in her preschool. Any award is a form of encouragement to the child and an assurance for them.

Yes, Ann has displayed her spirit of independence at a very young age. As a baby, she always felt secured and often has no problem sleeping. I have heard of mothers sharing with me that they have to pat their babies to sleep every night. No, not for Ann and not for Kai too. They are very independent 'sleepers'.

When Ann started playschool, she was left very much on her own. I never have to watch over her and stay with her, she was comfortable being with her teachers and friends. Even the one year that we were in the US, Ann was left alone in the classroom with her friends. The teacher told me to stay around the school in case I was needed but...I never was. From day one, Ann was able to socialise and make friends easily in all her schools. Perhaps, that was also the very reason why it was always sad for her teachers and classmates to see her leave.

It is not unusual to find Ann picking up a book and flipping through them all by herself. When comes to meal time, she will often bring out the chairs on her own, set the table and wait for me to bring out the food. Many things, she can do independently without being asked.

Yes, I am so blessed!

Thought this is cute

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

Da Vinci has arrived

Da Vinci - The Genius exhibition came to Singapore. It was an eye-opener exhibition not just for the kids but also for us adults. I never knew that he was such a genius. In my mind, I also thought that Da Vinci was just an inventor and painter. If you have not see it, don't miss it at the Singapore Science Center. Last day 16 August.


Sorry, no photography allowed in the exhibition hall. That's all I could take. Go and see it and be enlightened!

Mummy and son time...

Well, not exactly a day out for me without the kids but it was a day out where there were no need to care about unfinished household chores, checking on the kids' work, rushing to fetch Ann and doing the sprint to get home before Kai. The church family club organized a treasure hunt for mum. Mothers were only allowed to bring one child and the child's age must be between 7 to 12 years old. It was a great trip as the purpose was to allow mother and child the time to bond with each other. I could only bring Kai cos' only he qualified. Ann spent the whole day bondng with dh.Being a stay-at-home-mum, I have all the time in the world to be with my children but to really spend time with them and just relax and have fun, the opportunities are rare because we are often busy with getting all the various tasks done. Preparing meals, making sure they have finished their school work, clearing up the daily chores...the list goes on. So when the church organized this event, I grabbed the chance so that Kai and I can have some mother-son fun. It was a good chance for Kai to experience and see what village life is all about. Kai was looking forward to it although he had to wake up early on a Saturday morning, his precious morning where he can sleep in.


Treasure Hunt with my Mum at Pulau Ubin


Pulau Ubin is an island south of Singapore, therefore, to get there, we had to take a 10 mins boat ride. It was a beautiful cool sunny morning


Nice to get away from all the urban developments, back to the embrace of mother nature. It was really a good experience for Kai. Yes, they are still using water from the well...not for drinking though. We even spotted a rubber tree


Our first 'treasure' found. The Elephant's Foot, a kind of plant


The king of all fruits in Southeast Asia durian.
This wasn't one of the items which we were supposed to find but one the teams found it!


Then, we made our way to Chekjawa. A beautiful place...


Mangrove trees and we found this rather unusual fruit. I have no idea what it was. I thought it was palm but later was told that it wasn't. Perhaps, one of you could make it out and let me know


These looked like Periwinkles but I am not too sure and of course, this one, we all must know


This is the 21 meter high Jejawi Tower located at Chekjawa. Yes, I did climb up and reach the top, the view is always nicer higher up, I cannot miss the chance!


We made it! View from the top, beautiful, isn't it?

In the afternoon, we had some programmes and one of it was a mother and son heart-to-heart sharing. One of the questions which the mother was supposed to the child was "what is the one time which you would like to tell your friends about your mother?"Kai's answer was "my mum doesn't work." I know being a stay-at-home-mum means alot to the kids. They love having me around the house and always looking forward to seeing me waiting for them after school.

In the evening, we had the good old bar-b-q. It was a great time reminding me of my younger days where a group of us close friends often headed to the east coast beach to have bar-b-q. Being students, we didn't have much money. Our funds were spent on renting the bar-b-q pit and buying food, we would then spent the whole night chatting away under the starry night and with the cold sea breeze blowing at us. Can I still do that now...the bar-b-q, yes. Staying awake the whole night, NO. I have to be honest, time and tide wait for no man (woman). I no longer have that kind of stamina.


The all time favourites - satay, chicken wings and prawns


Sunset at Ubin.

It was really a very enjoyable time. Not only having a fun-filled day with Kai but there were alot of catching up with some old friends too. Events like this remind me that, really, at the end of the day, what matters most, what brings the greatest joy to my life are the friendships and relationships which I have. I hope to bring Ann for the next such event.

Ride with the waves...

Before we leave this home country again, we wanted to find out what have happened while we were gone. We found out that there was this new bridge that has been built. We decided to check it out. It was quite an interesting place. If you haven't been there, do check it out. It is call the Henderson Waves.


Notice the wave-like structure on the bridge. It was really fun walking on it


Breath-taking views from the bridge

Well, we just can't cross the bridge and end our 'exploration', we need to look around and see what we can discover...


We saw this strange looking fruit (Have you seen it before?) That's its name - quite a mouthful to pronounce it

More snap-shots of the place...

Pray, pray, pray

I couldn't believe that it has been 13 days ago since I last blogged. Time just rocketed by without me realising it.

So much to do yet so little time. No, it has nothing to do with time management. (I think I pride myself as one efficient homemaker ;)) In a couple of weeks the movers will come in and we will embark on our next journey and you know what, nothing much has been done. The 24 hours I have are filled with the daily chores...of course if I give up on my sleep, perhaps, more can be accomplished. Pray, oh God, give me wisdom...

The past previous weeks, we had really hot weather. Scorching heat could be felt everywhere even in the comfort of my high-rise, unblocked flat. Temperature was hovering around 34 deg C to 36 deg C. The weather man reported that this hot spell may last for many more weeks.

Oh God, spare us. I prayed. "God, you are the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end and You said You reign over all, please send the rain!"

Guess what, it has been raining and we have been having nice cool weather since Sunday...what a relief!

So, I say, pray, pray, pray...nothing is too small or too big for Him to answer!