有趣的对话

以旋：我可以把你的鞋子放回去橱柜吗？
奶奶：为什么？
以旋：因为我的花在长叶子，如果闻到鞋子的味道会死掉的。
我：暗笑。。

公公：很少见到华人在 customs 作工。
以旋：我的奶奶的 family，四姨婆，六姨婆，大姨婆，他们都是华人 leh。
我：暗笑。。

Me: I really hope to go for a Thai massage.
Kless: I can give you a thigh massage.
Me: LOL!

佩婷：为什么你不睬我？为什么你不睬我？
我：为什么要我踩你？（一头雾水）

Kless: Lie down and sleep, then I’ll bring you to the playground later.
Me: Orh..
Jayne: *still sitting on her bed*

trying to get Jayne to bed
佩婷：Baby，我们进去房间聊天好吗？
以心：Ok，可是我们开灯聊天。
我：暗笑。。

我：问奶奶家里有搅果汁的吗？
以心：奶奶，你有没有“小狗吃”的东西？爸爸说要买小狗回来。
我：ROFL!!!

KSL Pasar Malam (revisited)

If you are wondering what else to do in JB besides the M&M (makan & massage) sessions, let me introduce to you another M - Malam (malay word which means night).

This is a night market that only opens on Monday nights. The stalls are set up in front of the terrace houses around 4pm and will close around 9pm or so. Best time to be there will be around 6pm when all the stalls are already opened and ready for business.

If you are thinking of having dinner first before you popped over, I would recommend not, cos you will regret as there are too many good food to be missed here. I’m telling you based on first hand experience, we were there after a sumptuous dinner and were just too full for anymore. We only managed some mua chi.

But look at the food we missed.. sayang ah..

Pancake

Otah

Corn

Chicken Satay

Potato Wedges with mayo and BBQ sauces

There is even Dim Sum. OMG!

If you are still not convinced to make a trip there, here are more reasons. This pasar malam is not like the usual ones we see in Singapore, it’s more like a night market for everything.

If you want, you can even buy some fresh Yong Tau Foo for next day’s dinner. And most importantly, it looks clean too.

Fruits and vegetables are readily found.

Dry items like onions or ikan bilis.

Wait, there is more! CDs of old chinese songs.

Handy items like torchlight, scissors, recorders, and if you look carefully, he even sells PSP.

Every pasar malam has to sell clothing, so nothing new. But I was a bit surprise that the design for guy’s berms looked not too shabby.

Have you seen a night market that sells joss sticks? You just seen one.

This is one of our favourite snack, hakka rice biscuit.

With the current S$1 to M$2.50 exchange rate, what are you waiting for? We are already planning our next Monday trip to try out the food and to check out more stalls.

And Thereto I Give You My Love

I, ISAIAH KUAN, take you, KLESSIS LEE to be my wedded wife - to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish and to obey, as long as we both live, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I give you my love.

This is one of the most beautiful vows I have given to my wife. Nearly every time I attend a friend’s wedding, when the groom or the bride is reciting the wedding vow, I would recite together and remind myself the responsibilities I have as a husband to the woman I most love and whom I have married.

Not getting too much in biblical reasoning here, but marriage is a decision for 2 individuals to become 1. So theoretically a couple should become better after marriage. Make senses?

Here are some points personally I feel as a husband, I have the responsibilities to help my wife and myself to be better:

1. In terms of spiritual, I feel as the head of the household, I have to lead by example. I need to be more committed in my walk with God, so that I can help my wife to have a better relationship with God too. Our belief is – God is the foundation of our love and relationship. And it’s not just talking about it, we have to have actions to show that our relationship is build on the Rock that will never waiver. Which is why I constantly remind myself and Kless to never take our personal walk with God lightly. If the foundation is strong, that is when our vows to one another can stay strong.

2. In terms of health, I have to take up the responsibility of not only ensuring my wife is well and healthy, I have to constantly remind myself to stay fit and healthy. Kless occasionally will joke that she would prefer to die first so that she will not have to endure the pain of losing me. I agree, because I do not want her to be alone without me to take care of her when we are old.

3. In terms of finance, I will change my spending habits to ensure that Kless is comfortable with the current living standards. Nothing too extravagant or too shabby. This is something very important and very practical, we cannot be naive and think that we only need love but not bread. That is being irresponsible. I will always remember that my in-laws entrusted their precious daughter to a man they hardly know and hoping that he will take good care of her. I can understand how they feel especially now I have 2 daughters myself.

4. In terms of fun, I strive to be as fun-loving and humorous as possible most of the time. Cos I want my wife to remain married to a man she knew 10 years ago and not a man who has totally changed after marriage. I love to tease her, then and also now. Reminding myself to be that 19 years old guy whom she fall head over heels in love with.

5. In terms of love, I told myself to increase and never decrease in affection for Kless. Learn about her ‘love languages’. Especially now with 2 kids, I have to make sure that the kids are not pulling us away from one another, but rather the kids act as a bridge for us to be more in love with one another.

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Till death do us apart. Death is not just physical/body death. Sometimes if we are not careful, we can still be living and kicking on the outside but on the inside we are already dead to the marriage.

I’m not a marriage expert, but after bring married for 10 years and seeing so many couples taking marriage so lightly, I feel it’s a good reminder to myself what marriage really means to me. And also as a Christian, I need to remember what was marriage suppose to be like, in the beginning.

Udders Ice Cream

I do not understand why so many people are addicted to ice-creams. Personally I am not a fan of anything icy. I prefer hot desserts (cheng teng, mo mo cha cha). I prefer hot drinks (kopi o, soya bean milk).

However, with 3 ladies in the family, one of the favourite places we go to is ice cream shops. If I can choose, I would definitely recommend Udders, the ice cream here has to be the best I have tasted so far.

A good ice cream shop does not need to offer a lot of different ice cream flavours. What is more important is the quality of the flavours and probably the ambience to enjoy it.

Since it a rare treat for the girls (wife included), I have decided to allow every one to order one flavour each.

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Jayne’s choice was Strawberry Fields (with real fresh strawberries). Surprisingly, it is not too sweet.

Joey chose her usual favourite – Chocolaty Kit Kat. Filled with chucks of kit kat, this is one of the best chocolate ice cream I have tried. Again, it’s not too sweet.

My choice (since I hardly eat ice cream), was the most expensive scoop in the shop – Mao Shan Wang Durian. What else do I need to say about this ice cream? A combination of bitter, sweet, fragrant, all of those flavours expected of a durian. Power!

To compliment my durian choice, Kless decided on the refreshing Lychee Martini. A dash of lychee with vodka, this little cup of ice cream is the perfect combination to go along with the stronger flavour durian ice cream.

Our recommendations.

Proof of how good the ice creams are. Not one bit was wasted.

Happy customers, happy family.

Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh

Have you tried the BKT in JB? Ever since a friend introduced me to this amazingly nice BKT opposite KSL City Mall, I have been their unofficial ambassador. We should share good things with family and friends right?

So this is the shop – Restoran Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh.

I brought my father-in-law there 3 times, first time it was close, second time it was sold out, finally on the third time, we got to taste the great food. So my advice, be there as early as possible.

Side dish is Kless’ favourite – salted vegetable.

Jayne enjoying a crispy you tiao.

Good food is always worth the wait. So be prepared to wait a while as the soup and dishes are prepared only when you order.

We ordered for 4 adults and 2 kids, the bill was M$103, that is just about S$41. Check out what did we ordered.

Bak Kut Teh for four. We added “tau kee” and “mushroom” twice.

For me personally, the chilli has to be good too, cos I’m not a huge lover of pork, but with the right chilli, I can eat as much BKT as anyone. Must be spicy enough and also chewable for me to add onto the meat.

Adding on to the soup, you have to order these next 2 claypot. Pig trotters and sesame oil chicken with ginger. Eat it while its sizzling hot, yummy!

After the meal, don’t be a hurry to go. You still have one more thing to order. Cold and refreshing, this is the best way to clear the oil in your mouth.
Iced lemon honey grass jelly or simply 爱玉冰.

Verdict:

       

Joey, I Am Learning More About Her Everyday

Since when I do not know, Joey just loves the beach. Even alone without any friends, she is able to spend hours playing on the beach, digging holes, filling it with seawater, etc.

Joey is a child who is very active, she can hardly sits still for more than 5mins, unless she is playing the iPad or watching her favourite TV programs. But one thing for sure, she is a leader. Regardless of age, race or gender, when it comes to playing with other kids, she will naturally wants to lead and gives instructions.

From the recent trip to the beach, I realised another trademark of this amazing child. She is a very determined and focused child.

She was digging a hole in the sand and doing well, when suddenly the waves came and “destroyed” her plan. I was wondering what will Joey do. Will she just give up and stop playing? Or will she continue to just dig another hole?
Just put your foot down and do it again.

Joey did feel a bit discouraged that her little project was destroyed. But very quickly, she took up her digging equipment and started to dig a another hole further away from the waves. But this time she became cleverer, instead of just throwing aside the sand she dug out, she used the sand to build a wall of protection round the hole.

Well done girl! Daddy is proud of you!

Joey’s Talk

Oh ya! I can see my shadow. My shoes are pretty. My hat is a little big. I feel very cold.

P1 Registration

This is more nerve-wreaking than taking O Levels. Way before the registration date, we are already taking steps to ensure a smooth passage for Joey’s entry into Primary 1. And we are talking about a neighbourhood school, not one of those “famous” school where the parents have do PV (parent volunteer) work for at least 40 hours. To be frank, it’s a way the school gets free labour for nothing. Cos at the end of the day, PV doesn’t guarantee a slot in that school for your child.

What have we done?
Joined the school’s alumni group. This would ensure that we are eligible for the Phase 2A (1) registration. But ended up it was useless, cos the rule states that the parent needs to be part of the alumni association not later than 30 June 2011. The irony was, Woodlands Primary School Alumni Association was only formally formed in Aug 2011. Durh!

Setting off early for registration. I told Joey that when she is older, she will have to learn how to go to school on her own by bus. I think she was quite excited by that prospect.

Looks like the primary school systems have not upgrade to check our results as old boys via computers. Kless flipped when I told her I do not have PCs in my primary school days. And I thought we were only 4 years apart in age. Looks like 4 is a big gap.

A glimpse of my P1 results.

Thankfully there weren’t a lot of people registering under Phase 2A (2), just took us less than 30 mins and we were out of the school, all done and just got to wait for the result of the registration.
Joey was checking that all our details are right. Maybe she can be a prefect like her Daddy too.

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Check out the details of the different phases if you are already planning for your child’s registration. Just take note the dates are not fixed and just for reference.

PRIMARY ONE REGISTRATION PHASE	REGISTRATION DATES
Phase 1 For a child who has a sibling studying in the primary school of choice	3 July 2012 4 July 2012
Phase 2A (1) (a) For a child whose parent is a former student of the primary school and who has joined the alumni association as a member not later than 30 June 2011 (b) For a child whose parent is a member of the School Advisory / Management Committee	6 July 2012
Phase 2A (2) (a) For a child whose parent or sibling has studied in the primary school of choice (b) For a child whose parent is a staff member of the primary school of choice	12 July 2012 13 July 2012
Phase 2B (a) For a child whose parent has joined the primary school as a parent volunteer not later than 1 July 2011 and has given at least 40 hours of voluntary service to the school by 30 June 2012 (b) For a child whose parent is a member endorsed by the church / clan directly connected with the primary school (c) For a child whose parent is endorsed as an active community leader	19 July 2012 20 July 2012
Phase 2C For all children who are eligible for Primary One in the following year and are not yet registered in a primary school	30 July 2012 31 July 2012 1 August 2012
Phase 2C Supplementary For a child who is not yet registered in a school after Phase 2C	14 August 2012 15 August 2012
Phase 3 For a child who is neither a Singapore Citizen nor a Singapore Permanent Resident	30 August 2012

Documents required for registration:

CITIZENSHIP	DOCUMENTS REQUIRED
Singapore Citizens	1. The child’s Singapore Birth Certificate 2. The child’s Singapore Citizenship Certificate for those who are not Singapore Citizens at the time of birth 3. Singapore NRIC of both parents or Entry / Re-entry Permits of parents if they do not possess Singapore NRIC 4. The child’s Immunisation Certificates
Singapore Permanent Residents	1. The child’s Birth Certificate 2. The child’s Entry / Re-entry Permit 3. Singapore NRIC of both parents or Entry / Re-entry Permits of parents if they do not possess Singapore NRIC 4. The child’s Immunisation Certificates
Non-Singapore Citizens / Non-Singapore Permanent Residents	1. The child’s Birth Certificate 2. The child’s Passport 3. The child’s Immigrant Exemption Order / Dependent’s Pass (if any) 4. The child’s Qualifying Test / Admissions Exercise for International Students letter stating that they are eligible for school admission (if any) 5. Parents’ travel document / Singapore NRIC / Entry or Re-entry Permit / Employment Pass / Work Permit 6. The child’s Immunisation Certificates

Are you ready for P1 registration? Can we ever be ready for such an important day? Why does Singapore Education System has to impose on us such troublesome and stressful procedures for P1 registration?

I guess we can do nothing about this system, unless one day my child or yours is able to be elected as Cabinet Ministers and maybe, just maybe, change the education system in Singapore. In the meantime, just live with it lor…