Singapore Presidential Election 2011

Amazing, we have 2 elections within a year! The last one was the General Election, which was very exciting. This time round was the Presidential Election, which, honestly, wasn't as exciting for me. Personally, I could not make up my mind on who to elect, even when I was standing in the voting booth, staring at the ballot paper. Because I thought that all four candidates were qualified to be the next President of Singapore.

It's such a coincidence that all four candidates have the surname Tan.

Dr. Tony Tan
Dr. Tan Cheng Bock
Tan Jee Say
Tan Kin Lian

So on 27 August 2011, we headed to the same school behind our block to cast our vote. Like they say, voting is secret! But I will give you a clue on who did I vote for.

1. It's definitely a "TAN" 
2. There's a 50% chance that he's a Dr.

Sorry, lame joke... Cobby taught me that. Haha...

That afternoon, while we were out, I want to commemorate this special day by enjoying a TAN-tart (egg tart) for tea time.

Hohoho.... another lame joke... Sorry, inspired by Bread Talk.

So anyway, for details on the Election, click here

Cobby and I hung out at Vivo City that afternoon, and saw that they were having the mooncake festival there.

We usually buy our mooncakes at the annual fair at Takashimaya, but since we were there, we might as well get it here this year.

We also bought these adorable plates from Daiso, aren't they cute!!??

For dinner we headed to one of favourite place, Peramakan, which was at Keppel Club. Ended up a little late to pick up Jolie that evening, but it was really enjoyable. :)

Jurong Bird Park August 2011

Decided to go to the Jurong Bird Park! Once again, Jolie decided to choose her own outfit and went with this new sun dress I bought for her from Taiwan. Turns out to be the perfect outfit for a hot and sunny day!

Love the whole row of orchids and flowers overhanging the entrance. So matching with her dress!

We expected the weather to be really hot and sunny, so we planned to reach there early, but as usual, when you have a child, it's very difficult to stick to the timetable, so we ended up reaching there close to 10am. So disappointed, I was expecting a Mcdonalds breakfast, but there wasn't any outlets there! Boo! Only some crappy restaurant...

After breakfast, we started out with some adorable penguins. They were just about to feed them breakfast too! Adorable!

We went indoors to see the penguins, but the place was so packed with people. I always felt bad for the poor penguins, the enclosure was SO small, I wonder if they missed Antarctic, or where ever they were from, where they were free to swim in the open sea. Instead of standing around in a small room day after day, like a prison with no windows!


One of my FAVOURITE birds, owls! I always have a thing for owls, I wished that I could grab them and rub my face on their fluffy bodies! Of course, I could imagine that would be quite traumatic for the birds. :) But don't they look so beautiful? The room was so dark, my crappy camera could not take any proper photos! This was the best shot... I think I need to buy a better camera. -_-

We found a seat near the stage so that Jolie could see the birds in action

Giant pelicans

Vultures

Adorable macaws!!! They were very noisy though...

I think the highlight of the show must be this parrot named "Amigo" (friend). Coincidentally, we had the exact same parrot, with the same name when we were kids! How strange is that!?

After the show, we began our tour around the park!

At the show Jolie saw everybody drinking this mango drink, and naturally, she wants one too! Oh well, it's such a hot day. Besides, it turned out to be delicious! We had to fight with Jolie for a sip. :P

I think this canopy thingy is a new attraction at the park. It's like a giant bird cage where all the small birds fly around freely, and there are bridges all around for visitors to feed the colourful birds. On theory, it seemed like a good idea, but in reality, there were just too many people and the draw bridges were just too narrow. Visitors would like to stand on the bridge to feed the birds, but that would mean blocking up the way and others would not be able to pass. duh...

One of the bird was so funny, Cobby was trying to coax it down from the branch, but it was insistent in staying on the branch. So both of them kept reaching for each other, nearer and nearer, until the bird was drinking upside down!

It got so hot and sunny later when we got to the birds of prey section, that we saw one of the eagles taking a bath! It was so adorable seeing this huge bird of prey, fluffing it's feathers in the cool water like a giant chicken. Kind of envious too, as it so hot, I wished that I could take a bath too!

It's kind of sad seeing these magnificent birds of prey, kings of the skies, couped up in cages. I know their cages are very big, but compared to the infinite skies, this was just sad. Maybe the Jurong bird park could invest in a giant aviary for them, I think they need it more than the little birds. :(

It was almost lunchtime, so we skipped most of the other attractions and had lunch before heading home. As Jolie grows bigger, she is more capable of enjoying the attractions that we bring her to. Family outings are getting more fun, I just wonder how much of all these memories would she remember?

Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary

It's our 4th wedding anniversary! 4 years ago we had our customary wedding, how time flies! This year, it was on a Thursday, a little odd, so we decided to put Jolie at my Mom's place and go for a fancy lunch instead of the usual dinner.

We decided on db Bistro Moderne, which is a celebrity restaurant at Marina Bay Sands.



For all the glory details of our delightful meal, click here!

Like I said, it was absolutely delightful and we left the restaurant very happy. But after that we didn't really plan on what to do next, so we just decided to go to takashimaya shopping centre so that I could get Cobby his present.

Oh, by the way, this is MY present. :))



9 diamonds to signify 长长久久. Haha, I just like the bling... Thank you to the most wonderful husband in the world! MUACK!

I know it's hard to match up to his awesome gift, but I'm a very poor woman you know! Besides, it's SO hard to find a gift for him as he's such a practical man with not much wants! The 'wants' that he have I couldn't afford leh, like a Bugatti Veyron,


Or perhaps, something that can fit in a box, like a really nice watch,



Sorry, I would need to buy more TOTO first. :P But what I can afford is a nice wallet to replace the one that he's using, which is all torn and tattered. (He requested it btw)



Sorry that I can't get him an equally awesome present, but I'm glad that he liked his new wallet.

After that we really have no idea what to do, so we drove to the Singapore Expo as we remembered that there was some sale there. But when we got there, we realised that they have all ended and the place was like a ghost town. duh...

So we decided to head back to my mom's place for dinner. It wasn't an exciting day, but I enjoyed it as I was spending it with my hubby and we get to celebrate our anniversary together, happily.

Happy National Day Singapore 2011

Happy National Day Singapore!

A few weekends ago, we just happened to be around Marina Square in the evening when we realized that they were having a full dress rehearsal (or preview? not sure), so Cobby, Jolie and I walked over to the ArtScience Museum and had a SPECTACULAR view of this year's fireworks. It was splendid, even Jolie enjoyed it! She said that it was very "loud", but when I asked her if she liked it, she exclaimed that it was "beautiful". So I suggested that we come back again on the actual day and view it again.

But on the actual day, we chickened out as we feared that it would be too crowded and parking would be a problem. So after breakfast we decided to invite my parents to join us to go to IKEA. I was planning to dress Jolie in all red, like us, but she insisted on choosing her own outfit, which was a white frilly skirt and a lacy pink top. I don't know why I didn't take a picture, but she looked like she was going to a ball! Haha!

So we bought some stuff from IKEA and headed back to Mom's place. While Jolie was taking her afternoon nap, Cobby and I went to Yishun Golden Village cinema and watched the movie, Cowboys and Aliens. Well, the cast was good, you got Daniel Craig, who looked so rugged and cool as a cowboy, you got Harrison Ford and you got the beautiful Olivia Wilde. But somehow, the story line was just too weak, so it was like being given one bite of a cookie when you are starving, not enough.

But it was the first time we went back to Yishun Golden Village for a movie since we were teenagers, so it was really nostalgic. They recently revamped it, so the seats were super comfy and everything was very clean.

After the movie, we went back to my Mom's place to have dinner and watch the National Day Parade. I looooove national day parades, but I must be honest, the show was a super nooze! The camera kept shooting the main actors, so nobody watching at home could see the rest of the poor students dancing on the stage. I know they were trying to focus on the storyline, but I can't help but feel bad for the poor kids who spend so many weekends practicing.

But all was forgotten when the parade ended with the spectacular fireworks and everybody was singing the classic national day song, "We are Singapore, we are Singapore, we're a nation strong and free forever more..." Never fails to get me all choked up with emotions. :)

After that we (yah even us at home) stood up and joined the nation as we recited our pledge and sang our national day anthem. It's a great way to remind us how much our country meant to us and how blessed we are.

With that we ended another National Day. Happy Birthday 46th Singapore!

National Day 2011 @ Jolie's Playgroup

Jolie's playgroup was celebrating National Day on the 8th, so over the weekend I made a National Day cake to bring to the party. It's not perfect, but I felt pretty proud of it.



Normally I would have informed the teacher 1st, but somehow, I lost the teacher's contact number when I upgraded my phone's software over the weekend. -_-

On Monday morning, the teacher called and asked us to come to class early as the chairman of the RC (sort of like the landlord of the play house) would be bringing a big cake to the celebration party. The teacher wanted to combine both class so that there would be enough mouths to finish the big cake.

When I heard the news my heart sank like a stone. Someone else would be bringing a big fancy store-bought cake?! I totally lost the confidence to bring my own little crappy looking cake, and I felt so depressed and disappointed. So I mob around the house, tweet about it, and felt more encouraged when I read my friends and family's advise.



I should be proud of my home made, over-flowing with love and pride for my country cake! Besides, what on earth am I suppose to do with it if I don't bring it to the party?

So Cobby, who was on leave today, headed out to Jolie's playgroup with us. When we got there, it was already crowded with parents, grandparents, children and even some siblings. Same thing, the crowd made Jolie a little anxious, but this time I was able to be with her, so she settled in soon enough. We bought this top just yesterday.



Jolie feeling very festive.



Soon the "other" cake was revealed. Damn, it's impressive...



The parents surrounded the cake, fighting to take a photo of it. It was quite scary when so many toddlers surrounded the cake, I was worried that someone would accidentally shove the whole cake onto the floor. But... that would have been advantageous for me! Then everybody would have to eat my cake! Muahahaha..! Ahem, sorry.



So we sang the birthday song and all the kids blew out the candles. I think the cake must have been coated with everybody's saliva. :P



Somehow, I was appointed as one of the cake cutters, so with so many mouths in the room, the giant cake was soon no more. When everyone had at least one slice of the big cake, suddenly someone noticed my little cake at the side. When I told them that I made the cake, they were so astonished. They thought that it was a STORE BOUGHT CAKE and was discussing where was it bought as it looked so nice.

**BEAMS WITH PRIDE**

One of the parents then asked if we can slice it up to try it. I was more than happy to do so!! So I happily served my cake and some even claimed that it tasted better than the big cake! Hohoho!! *floating a few inches off the floor* SO glad that I brought the cake!



So with the cake done, we all gathered in front of the flag and recited our pledge and sang the national anthem. After that, the kids started dancing to national day songs.



Cobby suddenly had some emergency at work, so he had to leave halfway through the party.



Kids dancing with little flags. There was so many children, that I helped out as much as I can, distributing the flags, dancing and singing with the kids, etc. Somehow other parents weren't so "Onz". Besides, I LOVE national day songs.



Later they distributed party poppers. I wasn't sure if the kids can handle the loud popping sound, or if it's safe for them to play with these little explosives. But with proper supervision, we managed to keep it safe and the kids loved it!



Jolie was so funny, she's tried to stuff confetti back into barrel.



Here's the teacher singing "Count on me SINGAPORE! Count on me SINGAPORE..." The kids only know how to shout "...PORE!!!"





Lesson learnt from previous attempt in taking group photo for toddlers. This time round I suggested that they sit down on chairs. Better, but still not perfect. This is pretty good for a bunch of 2-3 year old who had too much sugar.



Not bad leh, the chairman even bought gifts for the kids, which was a metal piggy-bank.



The parents got a Fila bag, which was pretty good, and a torch light with a burglar alarm. As expected, the kids got hold of the stupid burglar alarm and kept switching it on inside the room. Oh my gosh it was SO loud! Why can't people use their brain when they buy gifts? Give a kid a torch light with alarm? They would annoy you non stop! (fyi I have disabled the stupid alarm)



The flag was Jolie's art project for this year's National Day. I must say, after helping out in this party, my throat was all dry as I had to raise my voice over all the kids so that they can hear me. I asked the teacher how does she do it everyday? She replied, "with many many years of practice!" Hats off to you!

Anyway it was a great party, very fun and festive. I love National Days and I love that with each passing year, Jolie learns more on how to join in the fun with us.