Day 2 Part 2 - Takayama Old town

From the bus station, it's only a 10-15 mins walk to Takayama old town. in fact, the whole of Takayama town is accessible by foot. :P
this area is absolutely stunning in architecture and some houses dated back to the edo era!

eating snacks non-stop along the way! ice cream, beef bun etc!

like thrown back in time!

we were only halfway done through the old town area when we stumbled upon takayama jinya which was a former government office. it is really huge inside which you cant really tell from its façade. we were turning here and there in it's many many rooms until we were almost lost if not for the "to route" signboards all over the place.

takayama jinya!

it's dinner time for us before calling a day! it has been a long day for the boys and we were glad that for the last day in takayama the next day, we can explore the rest of takayama in leisure and at a slower pace after a fully packed day 2!

Day 2 Part 1 - Shirakawa-go

Takayama is a common gateway to shirakawa-go, a famous UNESCO site. I've been there once 7 years ago and I've always wanted to bring the husband to visit it one day. it's too picturesque to be missed. everyone should really go visit it once in their lifetime.

from Takayama, it's ~ 50mins bus ride to shirakawa-go village. with our JR pass, we were able to use it to board the Nohi buses which will bring us there. 

waiting for our bus to come around 9AM. the boys chose their breakfast for the day - tuna mayo onigiri

we reached at ~ 10AM and had the most enjoyable day there before we took a bus back to takayama at ~ 3PM. LOVELY place!

top left: crossing deai-bashi bridge to the village!

bottom left: behind us is the drop-off point for tour buses

bottom right: we are in the village!

the boys easily entertained themselves with whatever we came across on. :P

we visited some of the gassho houses there which were converted to museums to have a look at the structure/layout inside and some of the stuff used by the older days folks

top left: yummy hida beef croquette!

top right: huge fishes are swimming in the water which is really clear!

bottom centre: YZ helped to take this photo for us. not too bad huh?

such a lovely day trip for us. by the time we were back at takayama, we still have the late afternoon +evening to explore the equally lovely old town. :)

Day 1 - Takayama

Finally, the ng family embarked on our annual nov family trip! after a hectic change in travel plans, we were ready to head out to central japan for a well deserved holidays for 1.5 weeks!

on Tuesday night, we fetched the boys from my mum's place, headed home, did some last minute packing, bathed and we were ready to head out to T3 for our 1AM flight!! not the most ideal timing as I rarely can sleep a wink on board but the thankfully the boys were asleep for almost all of the 6.5hrs flight.

the husband was pleased to see the star wars display and thanks to mummy who stocked up abit on skincare, we were able to get the boys a stormtrooper soft toy (boba fett was actually the elder boy and my first choice - we gave in to the whines of YR as usual...)

a rather smooth flight and we landed safely at Osaka KIX airport at around 8.30AM Osaka time. first hiccup: I didn't expect the custom clearing will be so SLOW at Osaka airport. I was imagining the same efficiency as SG airport. thought wrong. @_@ I'm really convinced now that we have one of the best world class airport back at home. imagine my horror when we only exited the arrival gate close to an hour later! the reason for my horror was stemming from the planned plan that I had to change 3 trains to reach our destination for the first day - Takayama.

and if we were late for the 1st train, it will have flow on downstream impact on the timing of connecting trains. which meant we ran a really high risk to reach takayama at like 7PM or so in the evening! what a waste of time. and my mind was churning trying to decipher the next step which was actually trying to exchange for our JR rail pass at the ticket station located at I-don't-know-where in the airport. it was an OMG moment.

first things first, always. so I took a deep breath, located the ticket station, asked the boys to stay put while I went to exchange the rail pass. with the kind help of the lady who exchanged our rail passes, we sort of work out a sequence which seems to work and will bring us to takayama by 2+PM. the only risk were the connecting time between the 3 trains were 13 and 5 mins each. I think I asked her like thrice "is this doable?". and she was convincing enough for me to buy the train tickets through her on the spot cos there's simply no time to purchase the tickets at the destination stations given the limited connecting time.

all I can say now is thanks to sheer luck, timely help from friendly locals and a lot (really a lot) of running with our luggages, we made all the connecting trains and rolled into Takayama in style. ok maybe not so stylish, it was drizzling when we reached and we braved the cold and wetness to check into our accom. :P

top left: hubbi took this pic when I was madly planning with the JTB staff

centre: excited at taking trains! I wonder if they still feel this way by the time we were on board the 3rd train (and somewhere into our 3rd hour on a moving train.. ha)

For those interested, this was our route:
1) we took airport express train to bring us from Osaka KIX airport to SHIN Osaka station where all the shinkansens (bullet trains) are - ~50mins
2) From Shin-Osaka, we took shinkansen (weeeee.....!) to Nagoya - ~ slightly below an hour despite the distance!
3) From Nagoya, we took Hida train to Takayama - a really scenic train journey given the wide windows set up for this train and the route leading to the hida areas is really gorgeous. this took us another 2 hours+.

So at 2+PM, we finally alighted at Takayama! our hangout for the next 3 days! our last min. accom booked here is K's house takayama. it's alike to hostel/dormitory where there's common area for guests to interact, common kitchen etc. we booked a room with private bathroom to ourselves. the best thing about this place is it's location - barely 5mins walk from the train station. and the staff were really helpful the whole time we were there, helping us to plan logistics, itinerary and recommendations for eating places. remember, the itinerary for this trip was very roughly sketched out by me. :P

our tiny room, literally no space to walk around much when both luggages were opened..

but it's cosy and functional enough for us given we were normally out the whole day and we were really good in the sense that we were all fast asleep by 9+PM like that. :P

\

the only thing that I really had a hard time getting used to for this trip was setting up our own beds! I know I sounded really spoilt but spreading out bedsheets and putting pillows in pillow cases are such a dread! as you can see in the photo above, the beds were obviously not made yet. I obviously think it's more important to hit the streets soon after check-in rather than making the beds. HA!

for the rest of the day, we explored parts of takayama (other than the old streets) and stumbled upon a quaint town with really minimal human traffic. lots of nice cafes and restaurants scattered around the main streets. :D it was a relaxing way to spend the rest of our first day given the hectic transit in the first half of the day!

top 2 photos, we had tea break at this café called soeur. the food was really good and the boys ordered 2nd helpings of their sandwiches on top of the desserts that we already had.

bottom left: pretty bakery shop called blue penguin bakers

bottom right: 1/3 of our hearty dinner? I think both the husband and myself gained weight this trip. is anyone surprised? I don't think so.

ending the post for the first day of our trip with a shot of a typical takayama street.

it rained in the afternoon, so the night was damn cold. the boys were equipped (albeit too adequately perhaps) for that so it's all good.

change of travel plans - hassle or exciting depending on your persepective

so for those who know, the ng family has been planning for a france+london trip for the last 2 weeks of this month for the longest time. so when we woke up last Saturday morning to the dreadful events in Paris, the husband and I were stunned beyond words. so much emotions and thoughts surging through our minds. we felt deep sadness for paris. we felt unsure if we should continue with our trip just 5 days from the attacks while state of emergency was declared for paris. we felt relief and gratitude that this could have happened 1 week later when we are there but didn't. we were thinking of all the sunken costs like air tickets, hotel accomodations, rail tixs etc and totally at a loss on what will happen to these if we decided to cancel the trip.

but being the ever pragmatic + optimist me, I know the best way to alleviate anxiety and worries is through action itself! so we sprang into action!
long story short, we called up SQ and in light of what happened, they were able to grant full refund on a case by case basis (we got it given our planned departure date is so close). so with that, we decided to cancel our Europe trip! and while there were more work to be done to follow up on all the other expenses paid upfront, we didn't want to waste our leave and deny ourselves of a year-end family holiday. it's a good thing that I'm always planning travel trips now and then even when there's nothing concrete. :P so I said to hubbi, given the timeline, Australia or japan will make the most sense. he decided japan and we were set!

both of us stayed up late on sat night to do the admin work while the boys slept blissfully unaware of all the changes. between us, we called up the various hotels, railway agencies etc to enquire on refunds/potential cancellation. we managed to cancel 1 hotel out of the 3 hotels booked for the trip. we were unable to cancel paris + London ones given those are non-cancellable reservations.... last time I always wonder why would anyone pay extra to book those cancellable accommodations. now I know... LOL well, I may start doing the same going forward given this experience. :P
able to get refunds back for TGV trains but the process is a bit of a hassle but not impossible. Eurostar is a gone case though. the good thing is we bought travel insurance and the insurance asked us to submit the supporting documents for their review. at least it's not a dead end yet for the 2 accoms + Eurostar! :P
in any case, we are fully prepared to forfeit all these when we decided to cancel the trip. weighing the pros and cons (safety!), hubbi and I are absolutely on the same side that we can always earn back the monies but putting our lives at risk unnecessarily should be avoided.

the review for travel insurance will have to wait after our trip though as yes! we are heading to central japan after all!
I was staying up late on sat night and using the full sunday to plan for a trip which we are departing tomorrow night! how exciting! LOL. this is really testing my adaptability skills to the max. and I think I pass with flying colors.
and it's really an experience trying to book accommodations this last minute. it was so stressful till at the end, I found everything funny and interesting. it's really surreal seeing message popped up at booking.com saying no rooms available for your travel dates. and no matter how you permutated the different cities, the same message appears. well done!

everything happens for a reason, I believe. and due to the last minute bookings, the kids (+us) will get to try new accommodations type for the first time!
we will be staying at a guesthouse (similar to a hostel - not new for the adults but 1st time with the kids), a jap style hotel (the kids can try sleeping on the futons for the first time) and airbnb (1st time for everyone!). I used to have reservations for airbnb hearing horror stories now and then but where else to try it than japan! our host seems like a very pleasant lady with good reviews on the website for her. so hopefully, it will be a good experience for us!

we got the air tickets + accoms booked on sat, rail pass bought yesterday and 3/4 of the itinerary (roughly) sketched out by me. we will be flying off tomorrow night and I think it will be interesting to see how this last min trip pan out! :D

lovely sunday

today was equally great for us! we had a hearty breakfast before checking out and we headed to tanglin mall which is a great place if you visit it like once a year! :P

no kidding, we enjoyed the shops here given the last time we were here were few years back. i really like the toy shops here - good quality and different from what is offered in the mass market out there.

bought a bag for YR and a puzzle set for the boys which hopefully can be put up on their bedroom wall once done!

 

some shots taken @ the lobby by the husband

 

we headed to ubi to fetch the elder boy who was so glad to see us. yes, we missed you too YZ! :D

then, it's off to bugis plus to have tea break (?) - @ ramen champion before watching maze runner 2.

the husband was adamant against watching hotel Transylvania 2 so we settled for maze runner 2 and I was feeling so apologetic *spoilers ahead* that there's zombies in the show!!

which was absolutely YR's nightmare. in fact too scary for YZ too since both of them had their eyes closed during all the "actions" scenes...

 

the show aint too bad but I thought the 1st installment was much better but oh well, just have to finish the series I guess...

ramen + photo-taking @ iluma filmgarde

 

oh, and I finished building detective's office from the expert set! it looks good in-between emporium and pet shop sets! can you see it!

now what's left in my storeroom will be haunted house, vampyre castle and ghost train from the monsters fighters series! oh, and not forgetting fairground mixer and santa workshop from expert series! oops, did I really buy so much over the past year....? ok, one step at a time..

 

looking good! but the display shelf running out of space! *help*

9 years anniversary - staycation @ St Regis

25.09 marks the 9 years anniversary for the mr ng and me as husband and wife!

given its peak period for him at work, we didn't take leave on fri to celebrate. instead, we had a staycation planned some time back for yesterday - at St Regis!

as the elder son was not feeling too well still, we checked him into #hotelgrandma while the younger boy was more than happy to join us for the celebration.

tsk tsk. talking about a life-size lightbulb. but both the husband and I agreed that it has been great spending quality time with him yesterday. we have been doing lots of that with YZ when YR was younger..so perhaps it's fair to do so with him now.

 

after dropping YZ @ my mum's place, we headed out to tanglin shopping centre for our late lunch. lunch was at steeple's deli which is this kinda old school and retro looking deli place that serves the usual stuff - burgers, milkshakes, all-day brekkie etc.

the food aint half bad but hubbi was really pleased with the nostalgic décor of the place. oh, their milkshakes were pretty good!

 

after lunch, time to check-in! the hotel room is very generous with space and I was especially pleased with the couch for us to laze on when watching (cartoon network....) with the boy!

 

clockwise from top left: outside St Regis, @ steeple's deli, lovely bathroom, lazing on couch, @ tanglin shopping centre

 

lovely room!

 

photo-taking time! the husband is .... *meh*

wefie time with mini-me!

 

we lazed for an hour or so before heading out. saw a new museum cum eatery - M.A.D has set up shop where da vinci furniture shop used to be so we headed there.
M.A.D stands for museum of art and design and they have some lovely contemporary art pieces there for sale!

we spent some good time there and YR was curious and interested in some of the art work! after that, we took a slow stroll to heart of town and I was pleasantly surprised to see Dali works on display along the stretch outside wheelock place! what a great afternoon getting close to art. :D

clockwise from top left:

"space venus" by dali, displays outside MAD, "who did it" by Johnson Tsang, @ MAD, "beautiful parabola" by Song Wei

 

we headed to forum in early evening as I've made reservations for our dinner @ Jamie's Italian. our virgin experience @ vivo's branch aint too bad so I wanted to give it another try. but sadly, this time round, all the food was mediocre at best! even the husband who loves steak so much didn't want to finish the steak!

I think this will be my last time eating @ Jamie's Italian. seriously not impressed by the experience and hubbi was very zzz at wasting his calories here...

oops, maybe we should have tried hana restaurant @ forum instead?

 

fancy décor but food was disappointing sadly

the younger boy was very good at self-entertaining, oblivious to all my cuddling, heh.

looks good but rather blah...

 

we headed back to hotel after dinner for the boy wanted to have his "playtime" in the bathtub! gosh, I wonder this staycation is for him or us!

the rest of night was spent watching tv together as a family sans the elder boy. and we like it this way - how boring can we be huh?

 

and I bought myself a wristcandy too! a leather cuff from this multi-label store @ wheelock- threadbare & squirrel. it's from a HK designer - nobeing and I've been eyeing it for 1-2 months? since this is bonus month, I should be treating myself, no? accessories are so hard to resist nowadays!

 

see, how lovely!

hari raya holiday!

happy hari raya to all my malay friends out there! hope they have a great day despite the tiring haze.
it hasn't been a great week for the ng family. haze is taking its toll on us. hubbi is down with sore throat, the younger boy and myself with slight flu and YZ took the greatest hit - his asthma was triggered. :(

he was wheezing pretty badly on sunday and Monday so was granted 2 days MC for last 2 days. however, as he had oral assessments yesterday, he attended school after 1 day rest at home. :( now he's (only) slightly better but we appreciate the 1 day holiday rest for him at home today. so yes, no going out for the ng family today.

this weekend we have a staycation (yes, again!) for hubbi and my 9 years wedding anniversary! I guess most probably, YZ will be staying over at my mum's place and the younger boy will come along with us. sorry yz, you need to rest as much as u can!

it's a good thing things are less hectic at the work front, I left work earlier on Tuesday and took PM leave yesterday just to ensure that YZ has access to his inhaler in time. and it's bonus payout this week! *wee*, the monies are now safely in my bank account! and yes, bulk of it is going into my savings! if only the stock market can show more resilience towards the china and us markets, then everything will be better! :P

busy week at work!

it has been a busy week at home for me!
full day workshop on Monday, back-to-back meetings on wed & thurs, 7AM meeting on Friday... @_@
but on hindsight, I can safely conclude that it has been an extremely productive week! a full day workshop on how to lead change better, 2 sessions to engage with the wider function team on their feedback pertaining to employee pulse survey results, 1-1 development catch-ups with a few individuals, knowledge sharing session and finalizing current FY KPIs with the team and kick-starting important initiatives - a project + a review on current function structure. sounds like a great achievement, no? are you wondering what about BAU stuff?
that's the advantage of having a team who is engaged, know exactly what they are doing thus ensuring no balls are dropped even when im tied up with other stuff. it's awesome to work with self-motivated, independent, capable and bright individuals. :D

next week's agenda is slightly more manageable with a public holiday smacked on Thursday - looking good already.
ending Q3 of the year soon, really hope I can sustained a reasonable level of energy and positive outlook for the rest of the year!

#feelingpositive

GE2015

http://junlong-wenhui.blogspot.sg/2011/05/my-5-cents-worth-on-ge-2011.html
http://junlong-wenhui.blogspot.sg/2006/05/my-2-cents-worth-on-ge-2006.html

it is rather interesting and amusing to read what a 29YO and 24YO me wrote about past elections. GE2015 is over and it seems like nothing much change and it feels like something changed too. in the past 1.5 weeks, I was caught up like many Singaporeans during rally week. I pored over reports, I watched live rallies streamed on youtube, I (forced)get others - mostly poor mr ng- to discuss "politics" with me, I tried to rationalize my (ir)rational choice, I tried to influence and convince others to see my point, I got worked up with all the nonsensical comments on social media etc. it was exciting and emotionally draining at the same time and of cos I chose it upon myself. no one forces that on me, right?
and that's the beauty of it all- we make our choices. and we live with it.

vs 2011, I'm in a much more zen state though some things still get to me. it's age, I tell you.
still, want to pen down my thoughts to capture how i perceive this GE through my 33YO lens.

1. near to 70% victory for PAP
like many, i foresee the incumbent party winning the majority seats but didn't expect the margin to be this good. pleasant surprise for me as i was also victim of the negative sentiments online (#silent majority vs #vocalminority - more on this in my next point), I thought it's not impossible for PAP to lose up to 3 SMCs AND 2 GRCs to opposition this time round. so what's the reasons for the swing in votes? im sure analysts for next few days to weeks will do their job well but there will never be a confirmed version of truth. for me, 2 probable logical reasons - majority witnessed and gave credit to the hard work and improvements by PAP for the last 4+ years and they believe that PAP is still the capable and credible party to progress with Singapore. i know there may be all kind of reasons out there for people to cast their sacred vote but i sincerely hope it's driven by these rather than the reasons put out there by oppo fans - that scare tactics work, that we are cowards, that we are stupid people who cant see beyond the mainstream media manipulation etc. it's saddening and sweeping to think this way of the majority of those who cast their votes in favor of PAP.

2. silentmajority vs vocalminority
For those who even bothered to just discuss a little politics with people around you in an open-minded way, you will realize most people do it nicely and wouldn't mind a healthy debate on topics that are close to their heart. these are the silentmajority if you ask me, who don't go online and make a lot of noise on their opinions and shoved them down anyone's throats whether they ask for it or not. the vocalminority online (be it PAP or oppo) are so aggressive that most people i know including myself think twice of airing any opinion online. and that is exactly what's happening on social media platforms, the negative voices are louder and they reinforce one another's voices so much so that some of them felt blindsided when actual results are announced.

it's the same to MPs, they should reach out to silent majority for the vocal minority will always shout and let you know their opinions BUT their opinions may not be always right or representative of what Singapore really want or need.

3. WP + other opposition parties
i think WP has been commendable in continuing bringing in credible capable new additions to the party. Daniel goh and leon perera are strong candidates and i appreciate them being a pair of rational voices during the rally campaign. however, as compared to last GE, my opinion of WP as a party fell a notch or 2 though i still believe strongly in certain candidates. for me, a good MP needs to be capable, have the passion to serve and possess integrity. i know the AHPETC saga was discussed to death but unfortunately i belonged the camp which thinks there is no proper closure. i know PAP TCs have own troubles of their own and they are not doing the best jobs either but i just don't like it when a question is being deflated by another question. it took WP/Sylvia Lim until the last rally to admit that they could have done better. i wasn't expecting an admission that they did wrong but just that it could have been handled properly. and the way as i saw her responding all the while to queries by PAP/reporters, it reeks of the exact arrogance and defiance that WP has claimed PAP to be guilty of for the longest time. so WP doesn't really pass my integrity test for this GE. of cos, that's my basis and that's just 1 vote right - doesn't count?

that's exactly what i hope the opposition parties can realize from this GE - every vote counts.
much as the results may be counterintuitive to your expectations, don't sweep it away like how some of your supporters think and credit it to PAP sabotaging or voters being cowards etc. seek to understand like how you want to represent our voices. understand the reasons why we didn't cast the votes in your favor and change things to win back that vote of confidence. do something within your control rather than attributing it to forces outside your sphere of influence.

SDP and CSJ are synonymous, no? maybe yes, maybe no. after this GE, i continue to think CSJ will have a tough political career ahead. why, because fundamentally and at the end of the day, he is just not convincing enough. i was impressed with his first rally speech and as he himself mentioned, it was swinging for him probably due to most having low expectations of him after a decade absence from GE. but somehow, call it gut feelings or what, i just cant seem to trust him 100%. oh well, just my personal view.

and there were many other stuff that i have an opinion on:

• not convinced by minimum wage policy put out by WP, SDP etc
• Tharman was good with explaining the tax system in layman terms. he is living proof that PAP is definitely not that bad afterall
• if WP is at the one end of the spectrum, then RP is at the other end
• we share the same responsibility in making Singapore a better place - we really need to stop blaming the government for everything
• reflecting on this whole GE, i have a clearer idea what kind of voter i want my boys to be - whatever you believe in, no personal attacking on anyone! respect others' choices!
• Opposition needs to make their proposed policies more solid, stop over-claiming the credit that PAP has done
• PAP needs to communicate their policies better, let us know where they are coming from so we can let them know if we endorse these policies

at the end of the day, we stand as one united Singapore.
but i know haters will be haters and will continue to divide Singapore in little ways that they themselves may not even be aware of.
we just have to do our best, i guess. have faith!

Staycation - Llyod's Inn

yeah, hubbi and i took leave yesterday to do a mini staycation in city with the boys since it's the school holidays this week.

 

we moved out of the house for lunch @ 313 marche. its been ages since we visited a marche as a family. i really like their rosti and find the kids' meals a steal - super value for money. filling and a cup of apply juice for each of them. *thumbs up*

 

lunch @ marche

 

after lunch, we explored gateway and central before heading to our hotel - Llyod's inn to check in!

the boutique hotel is situated at a quiet corner on llyod road. we booked a garden room and added an extra bed to cater for the 4 of us. the room is pretty small which is expected but i like the minimalist décor. :D

 

we lazed for awhile and slowly made our way to national museum of Singapore which took us around 25mins on foot? 

along the way

bottom right: the boys seeing mimosa for the first time....

 sadly, NSM permanent collections section is under renovation. we did explore a temporary exhibition - 50 products of SG - while we were there. it was pretty interesting to note the products that come from SG!

@NSM

 

on level 3, there's PLAY which has an explore section for kids which is pretty interesting for the boys.

we had our early dinner @ food for thought and i can only sadly conclude their standards have dropped... :(

 

evening plan lined up was watching "inside out" at plaza sing! *wee*

it was a brilliant show as what most reviews said. what if emotions have emotions indeed.

Pixar once again combined wonderful storytelling that illustrates the simplest human lessons with gorgeous graphics. lethal combi that never fail to enthrall and entertain.

i still don't like sadness at the end of the show, unlike most people. but we are all reminded that we can find strength in the most dire situations. it's really a matter how we see things in perspective.

and bing bong. :'(

 

great show for the whole family! we ended up taking a cab back to hotel after the show for the haze was atrocious. PSI >200!

spent the rest of night lazing in hotel before calling it a night. i was actually having the jitters on GE today. LOL.

 

breakfast was at killiney at killiney road (no kidding, that's the breakfast coupons given by the hotel). of cos, it was great. im for traditional brekkie anytime!

 

had a lazy afternoon at home after checking out and we went bedok town centre for leisure walk and groceries shopping. oh, and of cos voting in between for our GRC! :D

a national duty im proud of. an entitlement and not obligation from how im seeing it. :)

 

ok, back to TV to wait for results with bated breath!

i was on leave yesterday since both boys have no school due to teacher's day holiday. brought them out to town for lunch and spend some time there. it's really not easy bringing 2 active boys out and trying not to yell at them like some crazy woman. @_@
in the end, whisked them home where they can play (rowdily) in peace while i caught up a bit with my dramas. hehe.
then it's to hubbi's workplace for an early dinner with him! nice way to end a Friday by starting the weekend early. :D

today, the highlight was (supposedly) to be my birthday treat to my mum for her birthday. her being her with predisposition to throw things out of proportion, managed to turn it into a dinner treat to include some of my uncles and aunties so altogether there were 13 of us!
OMG, im all for treating my uncles and aunties dinner given how they doted on me so much in the past but i really don't appreciate my mum throwing me the bomb like on thurs leaving me only 1 day to figure out where to eat (for oh, she has her "standards" on where to dine too..). gosh.

luckily, ended up well. we had dinner at tunglok xihe peking duck at orchard central and everyone finds the food good. *phwee*
luckily it's bonus month so my wallet can weep more gracefully. :P
at the end of the day, i just want everyone to have a great time!

bonus!

finally, month of bonus is here and i received my "letter" today. *wee*
a year of hard work, efforts and performance translated to figures on a letter. what sets things apart are the words of encouragement and appreciation that accompanied the letter. in life, sometimes we forget the most tangible stuff usually come from the most intangible stuff.

i myself need a constant reminder from time to time too to let my appreciation and thanks be shown to others where they fully deserve it.
i hope my team appreciates and feels proud of their achievements and contributions for the past year like i do. and we continue to learn from one another and add value in this coming new year!

#feelingpositive

and no, im not spending on any big-ticket item this year. my paper loss in the stock market is as sobering as it can get. in times like this, i guess we can all agree cash is king, no? :(

a short work week - who's complaining?!

it has a been short and productive working week - excellent!

i was on PM leave this tuesday as YZ had after-school activities in school so someone had to fetch him at 4PM. so after a quick lunch with coll, I headed out to first fetch the younger boy from my mum's place then home to laze before making our way to fetch YZ from his school.

just a simple afternoon, rolling on sofa alternating between dozing off and reading off a book while the boys played by themselves. :)

 

on Thursday, finance team went for a friendly/competitive(?) 2.4km relay run at marina bay with other functional teams ~ around 20 of us.

it was all good fun but it's been awhile I need to sprint even it's just 300m. 300m sounds short but when you are sprinting away, the heart can burst one ok!

ping came to look for us and suz, CP and I had dinner with her after the run. so good to catch up with her after so long!

 

and yesterday, dinner with the peeps! 6/9 attendance is not too bad. we had yummy fried chicken at over and fried chicken @ telok ayer! after dinner, it's more chatting and desserts at dean & DeLuca @ far east sq. a great way to end Friday!

 

missing gb, ser + grace but still happy company

SG50#3 - date with #mylove

 

last day of the long weekend today! i decided i need some me-time though not entirely 100% for the younger boy joined me in my short escapade to town! :P

so the husband dropped me + YR at somerset before meeting the in-laws for lunch with elder boy. :D

1st stop, we had yummy lunch at 313 marche - rosti and ended the meal with 1 scoop of ice cream each. YR must be berry happy that he made the choice of following me.. hiaks.

 

then the shopping starts! he was a little angel accompanying me to the stores and patiently reading the story book he brought along when i was busy trying out clothes. :P

 

we checked out the new library at orchard gateway - i found it lovely and repertoire of books good though there is nothing much for children there. we spent sometime there where I rummaged through the shelves looking for books to borrow while he self-entertained himself with his Geronimo stilton. LOL.

 

it was a good few hours spent in town with the younger boy before hubbi and YZ fetched us in the late afternoon.

 

and I got myself a lovely denim dress from zara + melissaxjasonwu flats from Robinsons heeren.

it's a good day. :D

 

photo-taking @ orchard gateway

SG50 #2 - Shangri-la staycation, to the fore & NDP

the ng family went for a mini staycation yesterday! as part of SG50 promo at Shangri-La, we managed to get a pretty decent deal for a room at tower wing, breakfast inclusive + a SG50 cake to take home after checking-out. :)

 

after the elder boy's enrichment class in the late morning, we had lunch and reached the hotel to check in at 2pm! the whole place was swarmed with locals mostly. :P

but check in was smooth and we were in our room in a jiffy. due to full occupancy rate, we were upgraded to a higher floor room which supposedly gave us better view of the city?



 

the décor at lobby was berry nice - locals & tourists alike were taking photos :)

 

for a 5 star hotel, the room was surprisingly a tad old-looking. but it was rather spacious even after the extra bed was added in. we lazed around for a while before taking a quick tour round the hotel.

the waterfall & pool area next to the line restaurant is nice. we saw squirrels in action!

 

 

we missed the shuttle bus to town so decided to have a mini tea break at the hotel lobby before walking out (rather short walk to orchard delfi area ~ 5-10mins?).

the tea was good but the desserts were so-so...

 

we spent a lazy afternoon in town. i was really happy to chance upon a pop up gallery featuring andy Warhol's originals @ scotts square!

was trying to discuss his works with the husband without much success as usual....

then it's time at taka before our dinner @ wild honey at mandarin gallery.

clockwise from top left:

display at scotts sq

@ mandarin gallery

@wild honey

@ kino

 

the food at wild honey was good but too filling.

we headed back to hotel after dinner just to laze the evening away. the boys apparently had a long day for they were fast asleep before 930pm! LOL

 

the next day, breakfast at the line was fantastic. despite the crazy crowd, we were all spoilt for choices when it comes to what to eat.

more lazing back at the hotel room before we checked out by noon.

 

we headed back to deposit the luggage at our house before zooming off to katong 112! for the mummy has bought tickets for the movie - to the fore!

the show was surprisingly decent and definitely beaten my expectations. :) and it really helps to have the ever cute eddie peng in it. :P

though the same cant be said for the boys.... the husband found it watchable but the boys seemed to like the action bit and were pretty distracted for other scenes.. oh well.

 

then its back home to catch SG50 NDP on tv - wouldn't miss it for anything.

the tribute to LKY was especially moving and i found myself tearing abit as it brought back memories of the period when he just passed away.

asked the boys to recite the pledge and glad to see them doing so - all of us should be thankful for what we have and never take that for granted. hope we will continue to be united by our differences should unite us and never let it divide us.

 

and with the fireworks, it's over. GE 2015 is round the corner but I hope most of us Singaporeans will not forget what SG50 NDP signifies. that we will continue in this journey of building a nation - strong and free.

SG50#1 - out and about!

the long weekend officially started! actually since yesterday when i fetched the boys earlier to hubbi's workplace for dinner at mac! simple pleasure like curly fries and mcflurry! yum!

today, we decided to ditch the car and take public transport and explore places with the boys.

 

1st stop was to chinatown point for lunch. we wanted to explore the heritage place abit but the ongoing rain kind of disrupted that plan. :(

no fret, we took the NEL->circle line to dhoby ghaut where we spent some time at plaza sing before venturing out to hit the streets!

super early dinner at concetto at the cathay before we walked all the way to SAM.

free to public as part of #SG50 and we had fun exploring the small museum. there was 1 point where i was actually having conversations with the boys what was displayed! so touched i almost teared! will i find an art friend in them when that has totally been missing most of the time with the husband!?

ok, it's more like them asking questions and me giving my own interpretations on what's being displayed...

still, im glad with the interest! i should keep it going so they can be my best friends when we hit the museums overseas next time! :D

 

ice cream time (like again..my well nourished muffin...) @ Chinatown point

aimlessly walking here and there! 

 

@ SAM

and from SAM, we made our way slowly to bugis bypassing waterloo street to show the boys the 2 temples next to each other. and from bugis, we took bus home! need to change bus but it was pretty fast~ around 40mins to reach our door step. the boys had fun sitting on top of double decker buses!

long tiring day but we had fun here and there. and tomorrow, we are heading out for our mini staycation in town! *wee* cant wait.

the blips along the way..

i was just mentioning earlier last week on how people should either act on things that are within their control or accept/walk away if there is nothing they can do. there is really no point in harping on the same thing like n times! and it is such an irony that i witnessed this exact scenario unfolding at work.
gosh, maybe its my pet peeve or im just impatient. just don't get it when one goes on in circles on how things shouldn't be like this or like that. yes i got you but what i don't understand was there was no offer of a constructive next step, neither do you want to act upon a proposed next step.
and case in point is its so much harder getting a "messenger" to help you convince another when he/she may not be in the best position to do so given their convictions aint as strong as yours. wouldn't it be easier to take the matters in own hands and resolve it yourself when you have no reason in the world to stop you from doing so. maybe im just action oriented but sitting in a room and throwing all these feedback/comments around NOT at the right audience wont move things!

ok enough of ranting.

so what did i do? i tried to act within my control by volunteering to pass the message back to the intended audience and ended up not doing a fantastic job either.
well, we all have to learn somewhere somehow i guess. this is my learning opportunity though im not exactly 100% excited the situation it arose from. :P

seeing the stars!

I heart this weekend! :D

doing fav. activities with my fav. people. After yz's enrichment class in the morning yesterday, we made our way to bedok town centre for lunch, visit to our fav. library and groceries shopping at bedok mall. simple activities but it was enjoyable especially the library bit! ok, not for everyone... I know a particular mr ng who always doze off while the rest of us excitedly comb the shelves for the next read to borrow back. :P

before long, mummy needed to get ready for sammi cheng's concert at indoor stadium with the peeps! :DDD *woohoo*
with the boys heading to in-laws place for dinner, I made my way for my dinner with the peeps at brewerks. :)
concert started pretty on time at around 8.20pm and sammi was a blast! high energy and high standard of singing all the way for the next 2+ hours!
at 42, she is looking so good (the extra pounds on her definitely make her look much healthier now!) and im amazed at her stamina and strong vocals!
it seems like only yesterday that dd and I caught her last performance in SG 5 years back!

super good performance and outfits!

seated amidst the fan club zone, near the stage and very high the whole night! :D

 

i wonder which will be my next concert..

 

today, we brought the boys to suntec to ..yes.. catch yet another show and ended the evening with dinner at my current fav. roast pork place - kay lee!

we watched MI5 and all i can say is tom cruise still got it! at his age, im very impressed with all the stunts done by him. as the husband said, we should hit the big screen and watch it just to support mr cruise's efforts! LOL.

 

and the ng family (well, 3/4) ended the evening & night quietly reading our new borrows from the library. :D

lovely sunday!