Thursday, October 25, 2007

A Little Mishap

I got into an accident last night, actually someone got me into an accident. The SOMEONE banged into my rear bumper.

I end up spending my whole morning to settle my car repair in his recommended workshop at Sin Ming Road. Today is a hot day, I waited for the boss of the repair shop for half an hour, then I waited for him to confirm that the SOMEONE is going to claim his insurance for one and a half hour, and then I waited for another hour for the replacement car to arrive. It was like a nightmare right after you wake up in the morning. So to keep myself busy, I started taking these photos in the vicinity, really wander who’s the owner.



Anyway, I finally got my replacement car, a Toyota Camry. Quite high tech compared to my car, it took me quite a while to figure out how to adjust the driver seat. By the the way, that SOMEONE is one of SIngapore's national triathlete, I certainly hope that this incident will not in any way affect his training or performance for any upcoming event.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

A CHILDREN’s Garden In Botanic



I was very tired yesterday. I did not get enough sleep the night before, and what welcomes at my work site me was intense task to be rushed. I intended to write about my Sunday trip to Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden with my kids, but my memory had failed me, that was why I am only writing it today. I learn about the garden only about a week back, and since my wife have a weekend assignment (road show), the trip would keep them occupied for the weekend and also give them a break before they settle down for their preparation of year-end examination.



As I was not familiar with this area, I parked at the car park near the Singapore Botanic Garden visitor center. Following the maps and the road signs, we walk about 20 minute to the garden within the park vicinity.



The greenery is something children cannot appreciate, while I enjoy my slow walk toward the garden, my kids would hassle me about the long walk and keep asking me, “我们到了吗?” So along the way I would talk to them about the plants, and took photos for them to kill their boredom.




The place is quite well planned for the children visitors. There is a controlled entrance which is guarded, the guard is meant to ensure that children in the garden are accompanied by adult since the entry is free. There are children’s toilets and drinking points, and the canteen is right outside the garden with little chairs and tables.






The garden is separated into many stations like water-play area, cave, suspension bridge, tree house, maze, etc. With its size and the variety of play area, it could easily keep the children busy for at least half a day, especially the water-play area. As I did not prepare extra clothing for the children, plus the weather was very sunny, we left the place after only 2 hours. Now, things got tough for me and the children, they were too exhausted to take the walk back to my car but there are not alternative, so the daddy (that’s me) has to lure, encourage, push and pull them along.



This is a picture of my youngest daughter learning how to drink from the water point on her own.



On the way back, we pass by the big pond where we had an encounter with the black swan.



When we reach the visitor center at last, we took a rest before we goes off. And we manage to spot and snap a picture of a squirrel hanging around our rest area.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Crab Story

How many ways of cooking a crab do you know? For most restaurants or coffee shops I know, it is normally about three to five ways. So it is going to be impossible to find one place that can cook your crab in say 10 ways, right? WRONG!!!



When I had my dinner here on Tuesday night, it was not so crowded, and I choose a smaller table right in front of the store, it so happen to be right in front of this light box which displays all the type of crabs they are offering. I came here quite often and never really realize they actually offer 16 types of crab dishes. If you are a crab lover, it is going to be tough on your pocket.

So far, I have only tried the Chilli, Black Pepper and Tang Hoon crab since it is the most common type of crab you can order anywhere without looking into the menu. But I will come back for more, some of them(the crabs) just look irresistible.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Family Day

My wife’s company had their family day last weekend at the SAFRA Resort. So our family was there for the whole of Saturday afternoon and evening.

We started with a swim with the kids in the pool. It reminds me of the life saving trainings in my poly days, it was tough. We trained twice, a total of eight hours a week, swimming close to a hundred laps every session. But sadly, swimming one lap now feels like a marathon.



After the swim, the kids join in the tele-match, magic show followed by barbeque dinner. My elder daughter was enjoying chocolate fondue so much she didn’t feel the chocolate flowing out from her month.



Friday, October 5, 2007

Sinful Enjoyment



My wife and I went for a walk at IMM few days back. We were feeling hungry when we happen to pass by this “Tea Room” selling Hong Kong food, which have a display menu showing something interesting, the price is reasonable too. The place looks quite popular as there were only few empty seats left. We decide our pick and my wife quickly take up a seat while I went on to queue ordered a ginger steamed egg, oyster beef with egg and HK crispy chicken with mushroom.

I collected my drinks and steam egg from the counter, then make my way to my table and wait for the main dishes to arrive. The steam egg was very smooth and soft, I can smell the fragrance of ginger as I put it in my month. Interestingly, this delicious dessert does not appear in the menu.





I took the beef rice while my wife had the chicken rice. Not only the rice was done in a different way but they also use different ingredients from what we have in our local food court. For example, the chicken rice was covered with molten cheese, and my wife described the rice as sinful. I didn’t understand the description till I tried the rice, it taste good in my month but at the same time, I started feeling very sinful as the molten cheese make its way through my throat.



The dishes also come with a soup as a set, which have included tremella(白木耳), red date(红枣), and papaya(木瓜). Well, whatever, it is really an enjoyment! I’ll be back, 湾仔香港奶茶店!