travel 2015

in the good spirit of adhering to my new year resolutions, I shall start with the planning of this year's travel for the ng's family. :P

in another 6 weeks, we are heading to HK (yes, like again!! I've been heading there every year for the past 4 years!) with my in-laws and mum. I guess it will be a (super) slow and relaxing trip with the old folks and kiddos.
but I choose to focus on the positive - the parents will enjoy time with the kids (I hope!), hubbi and I will have our own us-time at night after the kids go to sleep - yeah, we can head down to the streets for supper for my mum can look after them!, lego-hunting now that I have a reliable source, staying at the Langham place (I hope its every bit as comfy as friends claim) etc..

for the jun holidays, hubbi can only afford a grand total of 3D leave.. @_@
so for a short trip of 5D4N, I have been wreaking my brains to think of an ideal place for family holiday - bali, bkk, perth, phuket and even lijiang!
in the end, I settled for bkk since it has been 2 years since we last went there and its an easy choice. AND so, I made all the bookings today. wahahaha.
taking advantage of SQ promo and early bird reservations, I confirmed the air tickets and hotel room at good prices. :)

and I guess the long family holiday has to happen at the end of nov like how it was for the last 2 years.
for 2015, I think we are ready to head out to my fav. place - Europe! :D
so if everything goes well, London calling and how can we miss the city of lights.... *fingers crossed*
my only wish is a quiet afternoon at the museums while the boys nap at the hotel - ahh, bliss.

and when free, its always fun to start planning for 2016 travel, no? :)

goodbyes never cease

and... another one threw the letter. though no stranger to the notion of relationships at work can be and will be more fragile than any other relationships.... still a bit saddened by one of my closest peeps at work tendering..

still the same old same old - we should really treasure and enjoy the time while we can for we never know when the goodbyes will come and in what format.

a lot of stuff going at the work front. i just hope for things to come to a closure soon so i can resume my peace of mind.

sometimes, overthinking will only leads to more junk food... LOL.
im gaining back the pounds! damn!

celebrating YR's 5YO bday!

 

YR's actual birthday was yesterday but we spent it rather quietly. the husband and YR fetched me from Tanah merah when I came back from batam and we went to pick up the elder son before proceeding home.
dinner was just a simple one at our fav. mixed vegetable stall at bedok area. :P

but today, hubbi and I both took leave to do the "tours" with YR... tsk tsk.

in the morning, we popped over to his church kindy to cut the cake and distributed party packs.

YR selected the olaf cake for his kindy mates.

 

after that, we spent quality time with him alone since gor gor was at School anyway. we had lunch around SAM area and we spent time around there before ended up at bras brasah. it was fun checking out the shops there.. i wonder if bras brasah will still be around when the boys grow up..

 

after that, we went to fetch YZ and we made our way to YR's childcare to do the whole routine - cake-cutting and distribution of party packs - all over again...@_@

 

its batman for his childcare's friends... LOL

 

i guess this is the best birthday pressie for the younger boy - he does enjoy the limelight just like me! hehe.

and we still have to bring him out next weekend to "celebrate" with him properly.. jeez.. he is still undecided between science centre and night safari.. let's see where he wants to go..

 

im secretly glad that there is no such celebrations for primary school :P. now the birthday affair for the elder son is just quiet and intimate, the way i like it!

virgin trip to batam!

 

and so yesterday I was off to batam montigo resorts for an extremely short trip with the colls! we met at Tanah merah for our noon ferry, and we came back today in the early afternoon. LOL.
it's really a whirlwind trip! reminds me of the same short 2D1N bintan trip that I did with my ex-dow colls when I was still in audit. :)

so what did we do? we went for massage, we took dips in our own pool, we drank, we talked, we ate, we played cards, we ate somemore and then it's time for home.
oh, and really taking turns to use the toilets for big business... LOL

@montigo resorts

 

I think my quota for travelling with friends is once again utilized for the year... or will the husband be so good to let me go on another trip with peeps before end of the year?? hehe.

 

some outfits for the week:

left: shirt dress from seoul

right: knit top from gg5, cropped pants from zara

eating greens and party packs

met the gang for pff & zm's bday dinner yesterday and guess which atas sinful restaurant we went this time round?

we settled for jap vegetarian restaurant at sunshine plaza. gosh, is this change in taste a sign of old age?

but the food is really good! I highly recommend teng at sunshine plaza for all those who wanted to eat healthier but has a misconception like me thinking all green stuff must be zzzz...

 

after dinner, we just had to hunt down some sweets to end the night right.. in the end, we walked to dome at SAM area. not exactly the most creative but the desserts will do.

 

wefie!

 

today, the ng family went out with a mission. with YR's bday round the corner, we need to do the usual - party packing!

this year, with him attending both church kindy & childcare, we need to prepare around 35+ party packs in all!! headed to parkway parade giant and let the birthday boy chose his choice of snacks to include in the packs. and the late afternoon was really just spent packing away. @_@

 

another week and i'll be going on a short trip with the colls next weekend! like really short - think 24hours... lol.

belated bday lunch @ etna

both the husband and I took the afternoon off for his belated bday lunch today!

hubbi fetched me from work at 12+pm and we set off for duxton hill!

his belated bday lunch was at etna - an Italian restaurant.

personally, I found the food good but nothing fantastic so no, there will be no revisiting not like latteria. :P I think pasta brava maybe a better choice for the same price range.

 

@ etna - they have another branch at siglap area

 

it was lovely catching up with the husband without any distractions (ie the boys ha) and we had a long good lunch till almost 3pm.

we left for raffles city for one of our fav. activity - window shopping leisurely!

this time round, we window-shopped for our next watches! hehe. i wonder when will that purchase ever materialize for me. for someone who doesn't wear a timepiece everyday, my current omega & rolex is more than sufficient to take me through most days/occasion. but I have been lusting after cartier & chanel timepieces for the longest time. hmmm....for that kind of money, I rather buy bags. :P

 

and I found some feel in shopping again! I basically sleep-walked my way through the recent sale season in dec - finding NOTHING in zara, topshop, gg5 etc sales! so not me!

but today, I bought a lovely top and midi-skirt from gg5 new collection. yeah, back in the game for me!

 

we fetched the boys earlier in the evening at 5+pm and we headed home for a swim. they had a lovely time and with the early waking up timing, they were snoozing by 9pm just now.

wont be long before I start tearing and in need of my own beauty sleep, it has been a week of waking up at 6.30am for me!

but im starting to like the new lifestyle of ending the night at 1130pm and waking up at 6.30am. the body and mind seem to be in a fresher state for most of the days as compared to last time. have I find the right sleeping cycle!? we shall see.

belated birthday dinner at latteria

hubbi brought us out yesterday for my belated birthday dinner - or rather i brought them out hehe.

as usual, I came out with the venue since the husband know that bit about the dining scene in SG anyway. :P

 

before that, we brought the boys to watch.... penguins of Madagascar.... but it was actually not as bad as i thought. with benedict cumberbatch's voice, the show is definitely much bearable. :D

dinner was at latteria mozzarella bar at duxton hill. of cos it has to be hubbi's first time there and he was suitably impressed with the ambience and all. so much so that he requested that his bday meal to be in the same area too. ha.

 

lovely lovely mac n cheese!

 

 

anyway there is this quote from the recent re-watch of LOTR series:

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.For even the very wise cannot see all ends" by Gandalf.

somehow, this stuck in my mind and I find myself thinking about it often.

in life, we really cant conclude and judge too early. every mistake or failure in life can be reframed into an opportunity or lesson learnt. cliché as it sounds, we decide what to take away from each situation. do we walk away defeated or stronger? do we make the same mistake or turn things around the next time? sometimes, we have the choice more so than we thought.

it has started!

yes! the new school year has officially started! YZ is starting his P2 year and YR is officially attending his K1 church kindy today!

both boys need to be in school respectively by early 7-ish and 8-ish. @_@

so the husband and i started early today at 6am to prepare the elder boy for his school. once he has set off for school, it's time to prepare YR for his school.

 

happy with going to kindy for the first time. he is definitely a more confident boy than gor gor but we shall see how well he adapts after that.

we were with YR for his orientation day this morning and I was glad to see he seems eager and happy in the new environment. let's hope it continues.
YZ typically is nervous and reserved in new environment but he adapts very well as time passes. YR, on the contrary, is normally more outgoing and at ease in new settings but sometimes with time, he may regress to being hesitant and upset when things don't turn out well in his opinion.
in short, YZ starts out with low expectations and when things progress normally, he starts to build the confidence and takes everything in his stride. YZ on the other hand always started out confident and optimistic but when things take a turn not aligned to his high expectations, he turns confused and starts running back to us to complain and turning wary of the new place.
LOL. they are so different and managing their expectations and guiding them needs to be different too.

after settling all the admin stuff - logistics with school bus drivers and buying the last bit of textbooks, uniforms etc - I headed back to work.
by the time we fetched the boys back from my mum's place/childcare, I was so drained.
I need to sleep before 11pm today! need to use this weekend to start planning for the real school week next week!
jia you!

new year! new start!

happy 2015!
 
after having no new year resolutions for so many years, maybe it's time to set some for this new year.
maybe not so much as resolutions but more of reminders.
 
ok, here goes:
1. take ownership of my health 

• drink more water, cut down on sugared water except for milo kosong :P
• try to exercise at least twice a week - brisk walking counts
• cut down on chips to maximum twice a month
• continue with salad lunches for 2-3x/week
• cut down on carbs, sugar, acidic food

it will be nightmarish to keep track of the calories and everything the way I did when I tried to lose some kgs back in sept. just have to try incorporating the few important guidelines of above as much as I can into my mindset so it's natural for me to do so. more sustainable too.

2. learning to be kind

• starting with those people closes to me, try to be kinder. we tend to treat those closest to the heart harshly thinking they should understand us and able to tolerate such behavior from us better. what a wrong way to think. they deserve our kindness all the more simply because they are worth it. I need to start recognizing this fact.
• read somewhere that being kind is like a muscle. the more you exercise it, the stronger it will become. while im sure most of us are kind by nature but there are always room to improve. small acts like treating people in service with a smile and kind words are good ways for a start.

3. im at a age where routine may start to be good for me

with the boys growing up, attending schools and needing more time and attention from me, I need to structure my time in a way that is productive and fair to most including myself. having said so, im not saying farewell to being spontaneous but you can plan to be spontaneous too! LOL. planning ahead can give you  pockets of time to be spontaneous too.

I need to start thinking of feasible routine for the usual day-to-day so I can take care of myself and my loved ones well.

4. taking time-out to reflect

I started to realize how important it is have some time alone or with others to reflect on what has passed. only upon reflection do you reconcile within yourself on the lessons learnt or next course of actions. what you have internalize is something strong and no one can influence it so it's important to do so. reflection is an important step if you wish to grow wiser instead of just older. :P

5. you plan, you commit, you achieve

this shall be my advice to myself for 2015. be it at work or in personal life. for a start, work is going to be challenging for the new year not because of anything but because I want it to be. I want to stretch myself and achieve what I think im capable of at work. it will be a good year to grow myself professionally. :)
outside of work, it is definitely going to be challenging us having to wake up at 6am daily to ensure the boys get to their schools on time and dealing with the additional school work with them after our work. evenings are going to be as short as they can be so I need to have a think on how time can be maximized since i need to turn in by 11pm! I will commit to that timing as it only makes sense to do so if I want to stay healthy with enough sleep and ensuring that the next day is going to be an equally productive day and not one where I have to turn to caffeine to stay functional.
travel plans wise - it should continue. and more planning taking into account the kids' school holidays, hubbi and my peak periods at work, budget, leave balance etc. is necessary.

for a start, my Q1 travel plans are more or less firmed up! a super short weekend getaway with the colls nearby in mid jan followed by a short trip in the region with the in-laws and my mum in mar!
I need to start thinking of places to go and planning ahead for the Jun and Nov school holidays! :)

the above sounds good for a start! along the way, im sure I will slip back into old ways of being lazy and going with the flow but so long from time to time im reminded of the points above and work on them, im sure im not so far off from what I set out to do/be.

lastly, I hope health and happiness for my loved ones and myself. and believe me, we can do our part in ensuring health and happiness so stop only leaving them to hope but work on them too!