cafe kith

Last saturday was quiet for us and to be honest, i was not really in the mood for more.

brought the boy to tanjong pagar CC to pay their respects to LKY in the morning since i've already headed to the parliament with colleagues during the week. we decided to skip the usual accompany-mum-to-town-to-shop routine and headed to sentosa cove area for tea break.

we settled at café kith which serves breakfast all day round - awesome!

spent time walking around W hotel area and it was nice and relaxing.

 

after that we went to resort world area to visit the new lego shop - which is really nothing spectacular. :(

dinner was at the Malaysian food street at RWS which the husband wanted to revisit for the longest time. i really don't see why. @_@

 



 

happy boys with the food

passing of a titan

the past week has been a somber and saddening one for most singaporeans. at least it was for me. as like many others, it came as a surprise why I would be so affected by the passing on of LKY. I cant answer for others but for me, the sadness is fueled mainly by regret. as more stories of his flooded the main/non-mainstream media, I started to grasp the extent of his contributions and sacrifice for this nation, the people, my loved ones and myself. he existed more like a concept to me in the past - I had a sketchy idea of how important he was in shaping modern Singapore, how he had done many significant important things for Singapore, how effective was his transformational leadership etc. but now, now then the concept materialized into practice. reading all the personal stories online/in print, hearing all the personal stories from people I know, listening to all the perspectives of many who were eager to pass their judgements on him (good or bad), I think most of us, including myself, finally managed to get a peek at what's beneath the tip of an iceberg. so the regret breeds - that the hard work and diligence of his and the old guards were lost on the new generation with the passage of time, that I didn't bother to understand more of the man in the past, that Singapore may never see a great man like him in the future. it's hard to separate the politics from him, but if you manage to see through that, he was indeed a great man.

but there is always the silver lining, no? unity by grief may not be the most ideal but united we did. most nights of this week, I teared when I saw/read those stories on how we care for one another and supporting each other during this week of mourning. I've never been prouder to be a Singaporean.

he believed in the people in the past and I think that's the right thing too. people are the core of every nation. to have the ideal Singapore that we want, we need to start with ourselves. By embracing the core values that LKY has believed and actively promoted in the past - continuous improvement, grit, graciousness, fairness etc, we can't go very wrong. and while I understand complaining and whining is part of our national identity, there is a limit to it. bring to a personal human level, we can only complain so much but change is in our hand and if we are not doing anything ourselves, don't expect others to wipe your ass for you. in love, in life and everything, we can only try our best and if things are still not ideal - it is what it is. some don't even try, some tried and thought their efforts equate to entitlement. at the end of the day. they are the one who will be the one walking in the same spot unhappy. so I guess, so be it.

there are some personal changes I need to start embracing - it will take time. it will be a journey. but at least I know what I don't know and I'm trying to get to I know them.

cousin wedding!

it was a super duper busy day for the ng family yesterday. my cousin from my maternal side got married yesterday and we were kept busy almost the whole day. ha.

 

early in the morning, we went to the bride's house so that the younger boy can perform his role of opening the door for the groom! YR was pretty chilled and even posed for the photographer to take photos of him. :D

 

then it was time to send the elder boy to his enrichment class after which we rushed back to cousin's place to attend the tea ceremony.. by the time we reached home it was after 1pm....

 

all 4 of us napped since we were up since 6+ in the morning!

and when we woke up at 4+pm, it was time to prepare to head out for the wedding dinner! gosh, where has the time go??

 

photos taken yesterday

 

wedding dinner was at the restaurant at harbourfront and the food was pretty decent. by the time we reached home, it was 11+pm and all of us were bushed so we slept pretty soon after that.

 

and its no surprise that I lazed at home today except to head out in the late afternoon for a haircut. yeah, short tresses = lesser time to get ready in the mornings!

lovely dinner with friends from work (at latteria like AGAIN!)

always good to have dinners materializing as planned given how busy everyone is with their own commitments and stuff.

so it was lovely to have berry nice food at latteria with some of my fav. people from work yesteday! :D

 

same old same old gang who sees each other through the last 3 years plus!

 

still hasn't really sink in the fact that ping is leaving us in 1-2 weeks time. :(

it will be much harder to meet up given she will be based in Europe going forward. so sad. she will be badly missed by everyone!

 

been awhile but some outfits for the week(sss):

left: shirt from zara, jeans from guess by Marciano

right: dress from A/X

and the rest are the extra pounds on me that i haven't shed/lose since CNY!

HK - Part 2

day 3 was spent at TST area where the husband wanted to window-shop for his watch and the whole group followed him here and there only to realize the pricing doesn't make sense given the bad exchange (it was S$1 to HKD5.4 when we were there!).

 

the redemption for the day was the time spent at in's point when the 2 kids and 2 adults went crazy with all the lego sets available at cheaper prices!

the old folks' turn to wait around for us. :P 

the younger boy is very proud of his new tin tin tee which we got from the tin tin shop at Chinatown just before this trip.

 

fooling around @ lei's garden

 

we had brunch at lei's garden on day 3 and I was sad to say the standard seems to drop unless its just a case of better food @ the IFC branch compared to this time round at Mongkok branch?

 

tea break at lan fong yuen for the in-laws and my mum

it's the first time i headed out to 1881 heritage and i really love the architect here. really has the "heritage" feel and looking all regal and dignified.

photo taking at 1881 heritage (just opposite harbour city)

on the last morning before we flew back, i decided to bring YR for a quick breakfast alone to spend time with him.
i actually love mac breakfast there and always try to have it whenever im in HK - macaroni with egg & sausage. yum!

 

with my love

 

and before long, time to check out and transport to airport was arranged as well - so much comfy than taking cab i feel.

 

smooth flight back again and we unpacked and started the washing in no time! getting efficient with each trip - LOL!

 

and so what did i buy..? really pathetic if u ask me.

just a pair of Melissa for myself. a le sport sac bag for my mum and a Seiko watch for my dad. that's it really.

 

oh and legos!

tumbler for the husband, monster fighters - vampire castle and ghost train (OOS in SG!), ningjago for the boys.

but my sets are going to the store room as usual with the other sets (i think i have altogether 6 sets unopened sitting there!). no choice, we need to get the display shelf ordered soon! then we can start building. if not, they will just end up on table collecting dust!

 

HK - part 1

yeah, we are back from HK! it was a rather short trip of 3D3N - we took the afternoon return flight today at 1+PM.

I was rather apprehensive of the trip given the mix of 3 old folks + 2 kids + 2 adults. I can imagine how slow and tiring the trip with be. I can imagine how everyone will be bored as we all have different agendas.

im half right half wrong. :P

 

all I can say is, im rather glad the trip is over.

im getting bored of HK to be honest. the exchange is ridiculous. stuff is cheaper here in SG or the savings is really nothing to shout about. and for travel, you really need like-minded people to travel with you. if not, its just bleh.

 

so last Saturday, we took the earliest flight to HK and reached in a jiffy - smooth flight! - around noon time.



@ HK airport, on board MPV to hotel

 

given our size, I booked a MPV to bring us to our hotel @ mongkok. its a good thing we are staying at kowloon area this time round so the trip from airport is pretty short ~ 30mins.

 

we booked 2 rooms. a family room which has 2 rooms and a connecting door - a king bed for hubbi, myself & YR, 2 singles in the other room for my mum and YZ.

and another deluxe room for the in-laws.

Langham is really a great hotel! good location, spacious and very clean new-looking rooms etc. :)

 

we were able to check in once we reached and before long, we hit the streets for lunch- tsui wah! yum!

 

top left: getting comfy watching CN as usual

bottom left: lunch at tsui wah

rest of day 1 was really just spent walking around mongkok area which is really boring for me but I guess the old folks enjoyed it.
the kids slept by 930PM and with my mum to look after them, hubbi and I hit the streets for our own supper time! the only lovely thing about HK is most shops closed really really late!
we did that for all 3 nights - been some time since we can have supper and chit chat at leisure without the kids!

day 2 -
we took a cab to hong kong island for brunch at this fav. restaurant at wanchai - fu xing jiu lou!
their dim sum is really good and personally I think their char siew is better than yong kee! and this time round, we tried their shark fin crab meat soup which is really good too! for that kind of food, its really not ex - around $300 for all of us?

and rest of day was spent around causeway bay area where we shopped at the usual suspects - hysan, sogo, times square etc.

there was some sort of ultra heroes exhibition at hysan and the younger son demanded to take photo with the displays. such a vainpot.

 

right: this ultraman looks rather impressive

 

and of cos in causeway bay, we cant miss yee shun for the steamed mik. *slurp*

and by early evening, the husband and I took the kids back to hotel to wind down while the 3 old folks went jalan-jalan themselves. by 9+pm, my mum will be back and we were good to head out by ourselves again! yeah. it was a sweet arrangement for the 3 nights!

a blue beauty!

and so I met up with stella for lunch at MBS last week and we stumbled upon this lovely wallet on chain in fendi shop. it's called the tube and there are a variety of colors to choose from. I fell in love with the blue one on the spot and was thinking when can I own one.

upcoming HK trip or best to get it from Europe (but when am I heading there??)?

 

and luck has it that stella saw this very design going on sale at reebonz over the weekend and she helped me to purchase online at a very decent price - 32.5% off!

 

today, the beauty was delivered to my office. :P

yeah, what a lovely treat to myself. been sometimes since I last bought a wallet/bag!

 

chio??

first month-end

yesterday was the first month-end closing with my new team and I'm glad to say that it went pretty smoothly! we actually ended the day/night pretty decently at 7+PM! I really hope such timing continues for every closing. :P

slowly feeling the heat of things. emails coming in faster, more people reaching out for a piece of me and people, people, people issues. hmm.
am I as prepared as I think?

I think the answer is yes. It has to be a yes. and I will make it a yes.

at the end of the day, things will pan out themselves and we just have to learn from each experience.

the last stretch of CNY 2015!

met up with the girls @ 1KM mall on Saturday. it has been awhile since i last saw them! brought along YR this time round and HW brought alexa!

she is such a sweetie pie with the longest and curliest eyelashes I ever seen! :D and Shirley will be welcoming a new member to her family very soon! how time flies.

and now that stella is working nearer to my workplace, we can arrange for lunch dates on a more regular basis. awesome!

 

alexa!!

 

and yesterday was the usual gathering at grace's house. this time round, much milder with the gambling given that today is a normal working day. we only did MJ and no blackjack!!? are we getting too old for even that! gosh.

 

it was good fun and we had full attendance just that some of them got to leave earlier for other commitments.  

missing ser ser..who left earlier