This blog address has moved! Thanks to Ed who has been helping to give a facelift to this blog:)
You may now find my blog at http://www.parentimes.com. We are still making improvements to the new blog address.
For a long while, I have not enjoyed a weekend off-day from kids. Finally, decided to declare a Saturday night's off for myself.
The boys protested :"Huh.... why you don't want to eat with me?" and "Unfair! Where are you going without us?" Usually I will soften my heart and feel guilty but this time we have decided to take a short break to celebrate this special day of our lives -- Our Wedding Anniversary.
The first place that struck my mind, to have a private and peaceful moment for this special day is of course my favourite sea spot in Singapore - The East Coast! This vicinity has always been my favourite hangout..be it my ex-school, shopping mall, eating outlets, chalets, cycling, kite flying or simply just strolling along the beach. This was the area that I started my commitment to my Special One and so the memories went back a long way.......
There are a few seafood restaurants by the seaside and we picked our usual Long Beach Seafood Restaurant.
I could not resist sinking my teeth into the Chilli Crabs, the irresistable clams and prawns, our favourite hor fun, coconut juice and to complete our stomachs with black glutinous rice and ice-cream.
Seafood hor fun
Yummy prawns
Tasty clams
Coconut juice
Our all-time favourite - chilli crab
The food is good, the view is scenic and the whole atmosphere peaceful and relaxing. To help with digestion, it is healthy to take a stroll along the beach amidst the beautiful sunset and cooling breeze.
Sunset view at the East Coast Beach
I feel satisfied dining at the seafood restaurants here and is definitely recharged just smelling the fresh air surrounding the sea especially after the rain. Of course, I have not forgotten to capture some pictures to share with the boys:)
My family loves close encounter with the sea. One favourite activity we share is to enjoy the scenery and sea breeze while we laze and relax ourselves in water tour - be it in the boats, ferries or ships.
Besides the ferry or boat rides that we always keep a look out whenever we are travelling, we have explored different water trips in Singapore. These are some water tours that are absolutely safe for kids:
1) Star Cruises, 2) Royal Carribean Asia Cruises, 3) Duck Tour, 4) Singapore River Cruise and 5) Singapore Zoo Boat Ride. Our latest try out was on board the Imperial Cheng Ho Cruise. We experienced both the Morning Glory (morning tour) and Imperial Dinner (night tour) by Water Tours Pte Ltd. Each trip is unique on its own.
The morning tour brought us to Kusu Island, an eye opener for my kids, where they learn a little more about Singapore's history and had a good time roaming and running around the sacred Island.
The Imperial Cheng Ho Vessel. Doesn't it look oriental?
Kusu Island, Singapore
View of Sentosa, SingaporeThe evening cruise offers a spectacular view of the firework display at Sentosa (Songs of the Sea) and yum yum...buffet dinner.
The boys at the dining area of the vessel. They definitely have a good time.
There is transportation pick-up from Hotels to Marina Pier. More information can be obtained at http://www.watertours.com.sg.
Darren's childcare centre has reported 5 cases of hand foot mouth disease. Unfortunately, 2 of the kids are my friend's children.
It concerns me as occurence of these cases become more regular in the Centre. I remember the last case was reported just before Chinese New Year. This time no letter was issued to parents except for a notice at the main gate. This raises my concern because the notice gets easily unnoticed and grannies/grandads and maids might not be able to comprehend the notice which was worded in English.
I have given my feeback to the Centre and expect the Centre to keep all parents informed and updated through letters as it has later promised. I strongly think this is a case that definitely cannot allow saving in effort to print letters.
CA 1 commences next week. Like before, I started to prepare Brendan, with a series of assessment books and personal tuition and more. Found an useful site which contains free test papers http://www.oldschool.com.sg/.
I have established a schedule for Brendan to complete the assessment papers for the different subjects besides his school homework and prepare for his music theory exam which is round the corner. Of course, I have not forgotten the short afternoon nap that he needs to recharge himself.
Unlike myself in the my younger days, I find that the children are somehow lost on what to do before exam. Since P1, I have been identifying what, when and how to prepare for Brendan's exams......as though I am sitting for exams myself:) I guess Brendan must be feeling that mummy is hardly giving him room to breathe with endless papers and and tight schedule each day. However, as a working mother, I feel that this is the best solution to ensure that he is making the best use of his time. Luckily, Brendan has been very cooperative in this aspect so far.
Not only Brendan gets busy catching up with revisions and exam after exam, mummy is feeling the stress too. While tending to Brendan's preparation and homework, I have to ensure that Darren is not being neglected. Sigh....Darren gets regular comments from teachers on his slowness in picking up recognition of words. I am struggling between teaching both boys each day after work, considering that I only spend at most 3 hours per day with my kids.
I wish I could reduce the stress level felt by the kids. However, if I stop and leave them alone to fend for themselves, I feel that I am not doing enough...
"Beauty Sleep" seems like a luxury activity for me at least for this period. There are just endless tasks besides tending to kids and work each day. The lack of sleep must have taken a toil on my body as I fall sick again today. It is time I learn how not to load my plate with excessive things, at least not more than I can manage.