Blangah Rise Primary School Bicentennial Coffee Table Book

Blangah Rise Primary School and MOE Kindergarten @ Blangah Rise have produced a coffee table book entitled “Singapore Through Children’s Eyes”.

The book is an effort to engage our children in the commemoration of the Singapore Bicentennial. As the school is located in Telok Blangah, a large part of the book is devoted to the history of Telok Blangah. The book chapters include children's responses to old images and historical facts of Telok Blangah, interviews of long-time residents of Telok Blangah, children's photographs and reflections on iconic places in Singapore, and their hopes and aspirations for the future of Singapore. The book ends with an extension of “Telok Blangah”, a song written by Singapore singer-songwriter and film music composer, Kevin Mathews, using content from the earlier chapters.

President Halimah Yacob has written a foreword for the book. The book is also supported by the Singapore Bicentennial Office. Each book costs $40 and all proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards President’s Challenge.

You may view excerpts from the book at https://blangahrisepri.moe.edu.sg/bicentennial-coffee-table-book/. To purchase the book, please contact the school at 6271 7387 or email brps@moe.edu.sg.

Super Funny Questions

20 Habits Of Eventual Millionaires

I hope to be a millionaire soon.

Manchester United In Singapore

So glad I was there.

Manchester United beat Inter Milan 1-0.

Can you spot my friends in this picture?

Marvel Phase 4

For some reason, I am not super excited.

I feel like Avengers Endgame was the best movie ever already!

A Better Than Expected 40th Birthday Celebration

For my own 40th birthday celebration, I booked out two nights at the W Hotel on Sentosa Island for the family.

So on Friday after picking the kids from school, we drove to the hotel to check in. The wifey joined us after work just as we got our room. It is always nice at the W Hotel, which we’ve stayed annually for six consecutive years now. A nice room upgrade and pretty balloons welcoming me in the room, it was a good start to kick the birthday weekend off.

Then we headed to the pool. The kids have always loved the W pool and this year was made even more fun by the inclusion of a water slide near the pool bar. We swam, sunbathed and played there for a good three hours.

In the evening, the wifey brought us to for my birthday dinner treat at Skirt, a very good and famous steakhouse in the W Hotel. We had a very nice dinner with a live band and lovely wine. We also had a nice intimate chat over dinner which we haven’t had for a long time.

After dinner, the kids were really tired and slept really quickly, and we even found the time to wait for the kids to fall asleep before sneaking out again for an intimate chat over drinks by the poolside. I think it has been very long since we talked heart-to-heart like this. The conversations we had didn’t have my desired outcomes unfortunately, but I still felt there were a lot of positives to draw from it as I think about how to live my post-40 life. Sometimes life is like that - you cannot get what you want but there are silver linings that when we make a few tweaks, can be more positive than your initially desired outcomes.

The next day was a very hectic one for us.

We started the morning with the famous W Hotel power buffet breakfast and made sure we ate a really heavy meal.

Then it was off to Universal Studios Singapore (USS) for our annual local themepark escapade!

Going to USS on a Saturday was really crowded and even arriving early slightly before the 10am opening time did not help much. The wifey also nicely sponsored the USS tickets which she’d bought online, so at least we didn’t have to fight and queue for them like in previous years.

Upon entering, we were very structured with what we wanted to ride considering how little time we had (only 6 hours). So the first ride was the Battlestar Galactica Human ride. It took some convincing just to get Xin on board to ride together, but she did it, even if she was a crying mess throughout the ride. Queues were relatively short too while in the morning.

After that we hopped on to the Mummy ride which was also scary for my little girl but she again made it through with the promise of not riding any of these rides anymore this year. The next ride was the Battlestar Galactica Cylon ride. This ride had three or four corkscrews and the little girl was adamant not to torment herself any further. So it was left to just me and Wei to ride it while the wifey with Xin to get something to eat. After that we wanted to try and queue for the Transformers ride but the queue was two hours long! So we ended up catching the street hip-hop show instead. Then it was the Elmo theatre show which both wifey and I fell asleep due to tiredness. Then the Puss-in-boots ride that we queued another 45mins for. Finally back to try Transformers again but the ride had stopped due to a technical error!

And that was our USS 2019 escapade. Haha.

The day was just half way through as we rushed back to our room at the W, changed into red T-shirts (only I had a jersey), and we were off to watch the ICC 2019 Manchester United vs Inter Milan game at the National Stadium.

I’ve watched Manchester United once before in 2001 when they thrashed our Singapore team 8-1. This time it was really special because I got to bring my kids there, especially the boy. So it was a proud moment for me too.

And my what a match it was, to see all the familiar players up close and to be able to capture the feel of an actual match, which probably felt like a Manchester United home game because the whole stadium was red! And we won 1-0 thanks to a Mason Greenwood goal which I managed to capture on video! Was so proud to have my kids witness such a spectacle.

At the end of the match we were all streaming out of the National Stadium when my girl missed her step and fell down the stairs. Poor girl, bruises all over her shins and thighs! Luckily she wasn't seriously injured. The rest of the car journey back to the W was a very tiring one.

On Day Three, we decided to chill out. It was the day of my actual birthday.

Breakfast was at Cedele at Quayside Isle. We figured that having the breakfast in the hotel was more worthwhile though.

Then it was a good 4 hours at the pool again.

Shiokness.

We checked out at 4pm and that was ONE VERY GOOD STAYCATION.

Check out my pix!

An Odd Futsal Injury II

This is so odd.

Play football also can get such a bruise on the finger.

An Odd Futsal Injury

A rare futsal game yesterday at the same location in Kovan with my football kakis.

Boy we've come such a long way since playing together while still in our early twenties. Almost 20 years of playing together.

Anyway yesterday for some reason while playing I was twisting and turning near the side nets and my fingers got caught in them and cut them rather deep.

What an odd injury to have while playing football.

National Day Petrol Cover Pride

National Day is coming.

Singapore is celebrating her 54th birthday this year.

Decided to buy a petrol cover with the Singapore flag to display.

Looks so cute!

Sentosa Golf Club

This is only the second time I was invited to play at the Sentosa Golf Club.

This time round I got to try the New Tanjong Course which was very nice and new, even if a seaview was somewhat lacking for a golf course by the sea. Nonetheless Sentosa Golf Club is one of the most prestigious golf clubs in Singapore right now and currently plays host to the SMBC Singapore Open.

I managed to hit a respectable 105 and had 1 par.

Hope to come back again.

Youth Day 2019

So to celebrate this year’s Youth Day, which happened to fall on a Monday, I took leave from work to bring the kids out while the school was closed for the day.

Boy did we have an eventful day.

I had earlier heard of how good the Bicentennial Experience was (Singapore is celebrating 200 years of history) and I wanted to bring the kids.

In order to get tickets I did a bit of an awful thing by emailing the organizers that’s I booked but didn’t receive the confirmation haha. Anyway long story short, we were put on the waitlist for Monday morning and I was told to come by anyways. Yay.

So bright and early in the morning, the two kiddos and I drove all the way to Fort Canning and queued up for the 8.50am show. Boy was it worth it.

The Bicentennial Experience was made up of two parts, the Time Traveller Journey and the Pathfinder Journey. It was the Time Traveller one that required tickets even if it was a free program.

We went through five different acts about the history of Singapore. From the time of the Majapahit Empire, founding by Sang Nila Utama, founding by Sir Stamford Raffles to the Second World War, then culminating in the final act called Destiny. Destiny was the highlight for us all because we were asked to take umbrellas and walk into a dark room which was ‘raining’. We went through the 1968 NDP where it rained and then through tough times when SARS hit us bad, followed by the years of glory since with the ‘skies’ clearing up and we see hope ahead for our tiny nation. Ending with the phrase ‘From Singapore to Singaporean’. Beautiful. Director of this whole Experience, Beatrice Chia-Richmond really did a fantastic job.

After that, we moved on to the Pathfinder Journey. This was simply an outdoor display section with various displays. Nothing super special, although setup was nice. The Reflection display was the only nice one of note, IMHO.

We were on our way to leave when I chanced upon the Fort Canning walking tour starting. This nice lady who was from the National Parks Board who was on rotation to bring guests for free tours had just begun. So we joined them. She was really nice and separated us from the other tour group so that she could cater her tour for the kids. And just like that we score ourselves a free tour of Fort Canning Hill, even if it was slightly watered down because of the kids.

And to continue our touring buzz, I decided that we should visit the National Museum of Singapore, which was connected to the Fort Canning Hill. We drove down to park and then went into the NMS building for lunch. Then it was the History of Singapore exhibits. Singaporeans enter for free to all these things anyway, so it was very educational and interesting. The kids also asked much more interesting questions about the history of Singapore which I really enjoyed answering and educating them about.

By the time this was done, it was only 1pm in the afternoon.

We decided to drive home to rest.

Bumped into my beautiful mummy in the house helping with our housework. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without my mother as my eternal pillar of strength and support.

We had a short rest and by 3.30pm we headed out for Jewel!

We wanted to try the Canopy Park which had just opened.

So after parking at Jewel, we headed into the shopping area from the carpark and lo and behold, A&W Restaurant had a short queue! We took the chance to queue and try it. 20mins later, I realized that after trying A&W for the first time in 20 years, I really hadn't missed much. The kids also didn't like the beef chilli on their signature Coney Dog. Weird.

So off to the Canopy Park we went.

Tickets were expensive. About $50/adult and $37/kid for the bundled package which let us try everything.

The main park itself was already quite nice, and entry into the park was cheap like $3/pax. There you could play with the slides, foggy cloud rolling hills, and basically chill amongst lots of flora.

The first paid activity we tried was the Canopy Bridge. Firstly, I have no idea why people need to pay so much to walk this bridge. You could limit visitors without making them pay. Secondly, there was a 1/2 hour restriction to be on the bridge. After 1/2 hour they chase you out. And one ticket allows one timed entry. Lastly and most importantly, there wasn't that much to see that you couldn't see from all the other free viewing areas of the famous indoor waterfall. We left the bridge after just 10mins as the kids got bored.

Then we did the Hedge Maze. This was interesting with hedges acting as maze walls. It was a very small maze but still enough to get a little lost. Interesting but still not worth the price of entry.

The third activity was the Mirror Maze. Things got a little more interesting here. I think the size of this maze was similar or smaller than the Hedge Maze, but it was more fun, and more difficult, because of how well the mirrors were positioned. This is how a real Mirror Maze ought to be. I mean, a couple month's ago someone actually got hurt walking into one of the mirrors in this maze! Because of that they now give everyone noodles to 'feel' their way through the maze. The kids and I had so much fun in here.

The fourth activity was the Sky Nets (Walking). This was a stretched that hovered over the air and at certain areas, you felt like you were walking on air and any fall would take you down 5 floors to the basement! It was scary but still very interesting.

The final activity was the Sky Nets (Bouncing). This was the most strenuous activity for me. It was 8pm, and we had one full hour to bounce to our hearts content. The kids absolutely loved this and I never knew bouncing could be so exhausting. At one point I was seriously struggling to catch my breath. After on hour, I felt really dizzy. The kids had a blast in this activity. Definitely the highlight of the Canopy Park for me and the kids.

When that was finally done, we wearily got down to the basement NTUC to get ourselves a large bottle of water which we guzzled down super fast.

By the time we got home, it was almost 10pm. and there was school the next day!

What an enjoyable and fun-filled day.

A #cluturns40 Trip To Remember, Bali 2019

So after more than 10 years of talking about organizing a party trip with colleagues, we’ve finally done it, executed to perfection thanks to a great participation rate and the perfect excuse of celebrating the year I turn 40!

Participants were Jiamin, Mya, Josh, Edward, Toby, Victor, Isaac, Andre, William, Elvin, Weiying, Ash, Maribel, Mark, Shermin, Maple and Marcus.

Day One

We started out with the bulk of us flying by Jetstar on the unearthly 5.30am flight arriving in Denpasar at around 8am. From there, I was with the golf peeps, heading to New Kuta Golf Bali to play a round of 18 holes with Marcus, Mark and Victor. Ended up playing Wolf format and winning $50 while hitting an ok 107. What a beautiful and scenic course.

Then it was off to join the rest of the gang to check in at the villa. We booked out an 11pax villa plus a nearby 6pax one in order to accommodate 18pax in total. Arrangement was pretty straightforward - all married couples in the small villa (Mark/Shermin, Elvin/Weiying and Ash/Maribel), while all singletons (meaning those who did not bring partners) were housed in the larger villa. What a beautiful villa it was with a large pool and ample living room, right in the heart of Seminyak. As with most party trips, we had a standard requirement of each person bringing one bottle of alcohol from DFS at Changi, while we stocked up the fridge with Bintang beers.

That night we all had dinner together at the famous Wahaha pork rib BBQ restaurant in Seminyak. Delicious ribs, lamb chop, corn cobs and pork rice. Thereafter, we started off heading to Motel Mexicana, a pretty hip and happening club to get the party started. Following that we headed to Legian with the intention of partying in the famous Skygarden, but it was so expensive to gain entry that we move further down to the also famous LXXY. There we partied till late, around 3am.

We proceeded on for supper at the famous 老大porridge restaurant. Why a lovely supper for those of us still sober enough to eat. I admit I was struggling at the earlier stages of Legian from drinking during golf and at the villa but I managed a pretty memorable resurrection to end the night strong. We had a lot of people sleeping or drunk at this stage.

After this it was back to the villa where the drunken boys still hadn’t had enough and decided that they should drag me into the pool. Note that this was after I had showered and tucked myself nicely into bed already. The boys came into my room took off my singlet and other things and carried me one floor down and threw me into the pool. In 20deg weather, the pool water cold, the night cold and everyone was shivering terribly. This was the start of the pool phase where we began to terrorize all guys living in the villa and forcing them into the pool. Girls were exempted, as Isaac hurt Jiamin when he carried her and slipped, ending with her slapping her cheek on the floor.

At this stage it was 5.30am and we decided to call it a night.

Day Two

As anyone could imagine, waking up to all this was really a struggle and the better lot of us who stayed up that late woke only around 10 or 11 with little sleep.

We headed off to have fried duck (Bebek) for a very long and chill lunch. This was followed by a comfortable but uneventful two hour massage, that left us primed to begin another night of havoc.

Dinner was supposed to be in Jimbaran for seafood but changed at the last minute to Brazilian Australian BBQ. It was too meaty for my liking but still good to have the whole group eating together and beginning the night with a strong turnout.

After that we headed back to the villa to begin slowly-paced drinks, and it was off to La Favela, another very hip club but because our group was in flip flops, we weren’t allowed in. So we skipped across the road to party at Los Gringos.

After a bottle, we decided we should go back to the villa to get some shoes on and walk to Mirror. This was when the party really started. We walked to Mirror and got ourselves in without a table at first and working our way to the center VIP seating area by the end. We ended up drinking vodka and a massive six bottle of champagne. Everyone was going crazy.

When we finished it all, we decided to leave. Bill was about $1.6K haha. We walked back, bought some instant noodles along the way, and headed back to the villa. This time around we had more people jumping into the pool without any asking and we were partying and drinking all in the pool. We even had a swimming competition just for the sake of it, in the short 10m pool. Finally we ordered 老大 porridge delivery to our villa. After supper we slept soundly and it was again already 5.30am.

Day Three

Nothing much happened as we all headed to the airport in our own time and got back to Singapore safe and sound.

WHAT A PARTY. MAYBE THE BEST PARTY EVER.

#oatcaatc

Here're some random, harmless pictures of the trip.

Another MIL Master Chef Meal

My MIL is amazing.

Gotta enjoy her cooking as much as I can.

She is a true masterchef.