family day at POLW

in case you are wondering what is POLW, it stands for port of lost wonder... ha.

my company was holding a family day event at POLW and staff is invited to bring family members along to join in the fun - kids to play at POLW, telematches and carnival games for the adults/kids alike.

 

I was actually feeling a little tired and reluctant to go yesterday since we only touched down on Friday afternoon. I woke up yesterday feeling shitty and in need of rest still.

but im glad we made the trip. the boys had tremendous fun at the POLW.

 

even though there was a short burst of heavy downpour in the middle of it, we managed to let the boys have fun in the water playground for almost an hour before having yummy dinner catered there.

 

at POLW : there were candy floss, popcorn stalls for free and balloon man available - the boys were so thrilled!

 

 

having a blast in the water

 

and today I headed to my ex-VP house for a gathering with my ex-team. again, family members are invited and I brought YR along while hubbi and YZ went on a mini outing on their own.

it was all fun and nice to see some of my colls and the kids had fun playing at the huge-ass playroom at the basement of the house.

 

but, I was feeling a bit tired and restless the whole time to be honest. I don't think im properly rested from the trip yet.

just seems like mad rush of activities for the weekend: sat is enrichment class for YZ followed by sentosa. today is enrichment class for YR followed by in-laws house followed by this gathering.

I seriously need to chill and just stare into space and do nothing for an hour later.

I have a bad feeling that I can only get my proper rest NEXT WEEKEND. :(

im going to decline ALL dates next weekend and just chill at home!

Day 1: Gimpo

and so on Monday 2 weeks back, the ng family woke up early in the morning excited for we were heading to korea for our year-end family trip for the next 11 days! *wee*

our flight to Incheon airport is at 8am so we reached airport at 6.30am for checking in and breakfast. :) 

 

Christmas décor is up at T3 after checking in. Disney themed!

 

the flight to Incheon was very smooth and lasted slightly under 6 hours. I watched 2 movies in flight - lucy & fault in our stars.

lucy - a little let-down and less thought-provoking than i expected. perhaps the hype from all the reviews is over-rated. putting aside the central topic, the action of the show is not as thrilling as what you would expect from a luc besson show too.

fault in our stars - i should stop watching such sob story in flight. the show had me sobbing - yes sobbing not tearing - halfway into the show.

 

in any case, the landing was very good and we arrived @ Incheon airport at 3+pm Korean time. we made our way to gimpo airport via AREX and checked into our hotel for the night - gimpo lotte city hotel.

 

1st day itinerary is pretty simple - just spending time @ gimpo lotte mall. so after lazing abit after check-in, we moved out for early dinner and exploring the mall which is connected to our hotel. :) 

 

dinner was settled at their local food court - I had yummeh bibimbap!

and YR feeling tired after the flight despite catching some winks on the plane.

the mall is pretty big and we spent our time strolling in it. I love the space it has to offer, not unlike vivo but without the crowd!



 

we headed back to our hotel room to wind down and rest for the night ard 9-ish. we were to fly out to jeju the next day!

 

our family hotel room is comfy and spacious!

we are back from kimchi land!

we are back finally! it has been a wonderful albeit tiring 11D11N at korea!
we were back in sg since late afternoon and it has been a flurry of unpacking activities for the husband and me once we reached home.
now the 3rd batch of clothings is spinning in the washing machine while we unpack the last bit of stuff from the 2 luggagges - yes, im amazed at how light we can travel for a family of 4 with coldwear somemore!

my head is feeling light from waking up at 5am SGT this morning to catch our morning flight back. and not to mention that the flight back has been pretty crappy - choppy take off plus turbulences x 3-4 times during the short 6 hours flight back. @_@
but I think I have improved with my flying anxiety - while I still cant manage to find the mood to eat, I actually caught a couple of good shows for both flights to and back!

anyway, back to reality for us. im so glad that we have the weekend before plunging back to the routine of work again.. :P
I am trying my best to clear my work emails now....
and there are 2 mountains of clothings to fold from the washing this evening...

but there is one good news awaiting us in the mail when we were away! received a certification that yz is in the top25% for his school year's academic performance.
good job, my boy!

this weekend is going to be packed too - enrichment classes as usual for the boys, family event by my company at sentosa tomorrow and early xmas gathering with ex-team on sunday.
I hope I can find time to wind down and rest abit before starting the new working week.

will start to blog about the trip soon while the memories are still fresh in the mind!

ending the post with my fav. K idols of all times. while I didn't get to see them in person this trip, I derived cheap thrills sporting their ads! hahaha.

friday - quiet the way i like it.

 

last day of the working week before our family trip next week! :D

though i needed to start the day with an 8AM conference call, I still started the day with zest.

for the working day will end sweet with YR popping by my office for awhile before I ended work early at 4pm. :)

 

YR had a performance this morning which I have to miss it regrettably due to work. but the husband did a great job updating me with photos and videos real-time!

while I think the costumes was abit obiang and not worth the monies collected for it, YR actually looks v cute and good in it! don't you think so?

 

his N2 class was performing oppa gangnum style dance and from the video, Im so proud and glad to see my boy dancing with abundance and really enjoying himself! thumbs up! 

 

dancer YR! LOL

 

 

we received YZ's report card for his first year in primary school and are real pleased to see that his results are pretty decent. he has band 1 for the 3 subjects and his scores are higher than the class & level average.

but I see a slight declining trend for all 3 subjects through the terms.... oops.

 

I have to admit we don't really pay him a lot of attention when it comes to his schoolwork. im guilty of just sending him to enrichment classes (berries for mandarin, kumon for English) and the most i'll do daily is just to check in on him if he has completed his homework, if any, for the day.

so for that, I very proud of my son to achieve all that mostly based on his own efforts. LOL.

 

I guess I have to start learning to step up being more involved as he progresses into the upper primary levels..

 

the husband went for SGX bull run in the late afternoon so he dropped YR at my office. the younger boy was really happy to help himself to all the "treats" he got from my colls and drinking all the milk/juices that he wanted in my office. tsk tsk.

 

I left with him at 4pm and we went to pick up the elder son from my mum's place before heading home for dinner. hubbi was away for his coy DnD now so trio is spending quiet time together. :)

 

some outfits for the week:



 

left: top from gg5, skirt from zara

middle: top from gg5, denim tights from topshop

right: dress from zara

farewells at work - never stop expecting that

 

dear kohchai is moving on to another firm in a week's time. how time flies!

has it already been 3 years!?

as ping, Brandon, kohchai and I joined the ex-team within 6 months of one another, we formed the relationship fast and strong and was really a close-knitted team with suz back then.

even though in the last 2 years, all of us rotated internally to different roles but the chats and lunch sessions never ceased and we always make time for one another to catch-up, complain or just to have a good laugh.

 

will definitely miss her lots.

she has provided lots of invaluable words of wisdom not only on work but on how to manage my marriage and family life too.

it is not easy for one to stumble upon someone who share so willingly and honestly about everything so Im thankful for that.

 

we had our farewell dinner for her at Culina @ Dempsey tonight.

good food + good company = fantabulous evening!

we must make efforts to meet for lunch still at Chinatown point which is the mid-point for our companies. heh.



 

top: dinner at culina tonight

bottom: dinner earlier this year before suz popped!

me-time & costal settlement

decided to give myself a mini-break again. :P

hubbi brought the boys to in-laws place for lunch himself and dropped me off town before that so I can do what I like best - spending time doing window/actual shopping!

I wanted to check out alexander wang x H&M but of cos by today, its wishful thinking that anything is left form Thursday's launch. @_@

 

oh well, I still managed to get myself a zara dress & superga sneakers. :P

 

the husband came to pick me up at tangs heeren in the late afternoon and we decided to head to change for a short stint of boardwalking before early dinner @ costal settlement.

 

they have the old school swing outside the restaurant. the boys enjoyed it but yz was bitten by mozzies while at it. :(

 

the food at costal settlement is actually not bad but I find them a bit too oily.. the truffle fries while yummy were glistening with oil!

and considering the standard, it's pretty pricey too.

I don't think I will revisit since there is nothing much to do around here and the food is not wow enough for me to lure me back for it alone.

dont worry, your body will remind you how old you really are.

since the my jog last Thursday at garden by the bay, I had been feeling an ache akin to bruising feeling at the back of my left knee.

when the pain subsided a bit last sunday, I thought nothing of it and went for a run at the gym and the pain came back with a vengeance!!

so I have been hobbling a bit at work for the past week. doesn't really affect when I walk but I cant stretch my left leg straight without feeling the pain.

and the pain worsened this morning so I decided to take sick leave to see the doctor..

 

so it's a pulled muscle and i need to give it another week rest before running again. :(

so it really matters to do good proper warm up before exercising which I seldom pay attention to.

argh! is this old age?!

I feel like a slug for not running for almost a week! argh!

 

and talking about getting old.. went for jas farewell dinner with the rest of the colls yesterday.

soju makes my stomach queasy the whole day today!!

at one point, I was quite certain im down with alcohol poisoning!

the body just doesn't take alcohol like how it could in the past. SAD.

 

another week before our family trip!

shall start packing the luggage this weekend then.. the thing about travelling at year-end to cold countries is the bulky coldwear that I somehow need to stuff into the luggage. the boys' clothings is no joke. need to keep them warm and ensuring ample space for my shopping back too!

packing is indeed an art!



 

some outfits for the week:

left: midi dress from gg5

middle: top from axara, cropped pants from zara

right: top from zara, jeans from 7forallmankind