Ice Cream Making

I like chocolate. And I like ice cream. And I have always wanted to help Daddy make ice cream. So we got our chance today and Daddy agreed to teach me how to make it. The different steps included cutting the chocolate bars into small pieces to be melted, beating the eggs and sugar, tempering the milk and heavy cream with the egg mixture and finally to "airing" the ice cream in the ice cream maker. Daddy showed me how to do it and I did most of the work and I am proud to say I have graduated from making ice cream. Daddy looked like he had a lot of fun teaching me and I sure had fun learning to make one of my favourite dessert. 

Happy 8th Birthday

My 8th birthday celebration started at Nai Nai and Ye Ye's house on the 01st Sept. Daddy was away with his friends in HCMC that weekend so when he got back in the evening, we had our usual Sunday dinner and then they celebrated my birthday with a delicious chocolate cake from Pines. 

On the actual day, Daddy and gor gor picked me up from school and we went to The Wild at KAP for lunch. We like the cheese stick there and so Daddy ordered 2 sets of it together with some nuggets and we were stuffing ourselves silly with them. We rested a while there while playing with our phones before heading to Liho to grab ourselves a cup of bubble tea. 

We wanted to continue chilling at the Liho shop but it was filled with students studying there so we decided to start our Cow Play Cow Moo session early. The outlet there at KAP is much smaller than the one at Suntec City but it was empty and we had the whole place to ourselves so we were fine. Gor Gor and I were playing with this particular machine and we were getting quite good at it and the tickets were just flowing out. At the end of about 1.5 hours and $56 later, we amassed a total of almost 20,000 points! This is a record for one seating and Daddy was impressed with us as he was trying very hard to tidy up the tickets so it was easier to put them through the counting machine. 

After KAP, we headed to Marina Square where I had my fencing class. For dinner, we headed to Holland Village where we settled for some pasta at Da Paolo. The Bolognese was not too bad and the lasagna was tasty too. The evening was capped with ice cream from Sunday Folks. Mummy got me a "8"  candle and we stuck it into the ice cream cone while they sang me a birthday song... 

2.7 Class Photo

ARPC Church Camp 2019

We attending ARPC Church Camp for the first time and it was held at KL Sunway Resort. And since it was during the June school holidays, Mummy and Daddy decided we will stay with Aunty Mei Mei and Uncle Vincent for a couple of days before the church camp. They have been asking us to visit them so this seems to be a good time to do so.

We booked our coach with AeroLine and boarded the coach at Harborfront on Monday. They have comfortable reclining seats and even a personalised screen with many movies and games to keep us occupied during the 6 hour journey. We arrived at Sunway Resort without even noticing that 6 hours have passed. Aunty Mei Mei and Uncle Vincent with their 2 sons, Brandon and Jasper, were there to receive us.

For the next three days, we spent much time checking out interesting restaurants with good local dishes. We even went to a famous local wet market call Chow Kit Market for breakfast. In fact, Aunty Mei Mei has not been there herself as she finds it quite dangerous and never visited it before. Daddy found out about this market from a food channel on Netflix and it was really a great experience. And with the exchange rate around 1SGD to 3MYR, the food was not only cheaper than in Singapore, it was also more delicious! We must have put on 2 to 3 kg in that 3 days we spent with them. 

On the second day, Uncle Vincent drove us to a very special place called Sekinchan which was about an hour drive from KL. There are rice padi fields and also a factory which showcases the rice harvesting process. It was very interesting to see how we get the rice from start to finish. Nearby from the rice factory is a seaside area where many people were flying their kites. We bought a few and all the kids were flying the kites. Unfortunately there was a very sandy slope where i slipped and fell and had a very bad scratch on my right leg. I cried buckets cos it was so painful. Before we headed for dinner, we were treated to a eagle feeding show. We took a small motor boat and headed out to sea where the boatman will drop chicken on the water and the many eagles will just swoop in for the food. It was an interesting experience. After the eagle feeding show, we headed to a kelong for our seafood dinner. Again the food didn't fail us and the price was very reasonable. 

We were very sad to part with Aunty Mei Mei, Uncle Vincent, Brandon and Jasper. We had a great time with them and before they dropped us off at Sunway for our church camp, we had one last meal and needless to say, it was very good. On the way to Sunway, Jasper was especially quiet and we were told that he is not very good with parting and thus can become a bit emo. We wish Aunty Mei Mei well as she will delivering little Daniel very soon. 

For the next 4 days we were based at Sunway Resort for the church camp. While Mummy and Daddy attended the talks, we were at the children's classes and we will get together during meal times. There was free time when the kids were able to go out to play. We spent an afternoon on laser tag and the next day on archery. We even managed to spend an afternoon ice skating. It was my first time and Daddy and Mummy said I did pretty well for a first timer. 

Cycling @ East Coast

It was another Friday. I had my lunch in school and aunty Jessica came to get me after lunch. Mummy said she was going to bring me to Bishan but aunty Jessica said Daddy has something else planned for me. When we got home, Daddy was there and he said we are going cycling at East Coast if I am game for it. Of course I am!

Daddy had gone to work in the morning but his training ended early today so he decided to go home early and spent the afternoon with me. What a pleasant surprise! We packed our bag and headed to the East Coast beach. Daddy picked the car park next to the hawker centre where there is also a bicycle vendor there. We rented the bikes for 2 hours and started cycling towards the airport direction. 

We decided to turn into the Bedok jetty area to check out if there were any fisherman with a big catch. Unfortunately there weren't any so we ended up taking pictures at the end of the jetty. 

We then headed towards the camping and BBQ area where we had our glamping back in Dec 2017. Wow, has it been that long since we were there! Time really flies. We made a U turn at that end and headed back to the car park. On the way back, we stopped at this particular area that Daddy said Gor Gor took some nice pictures when he was quite young then, and I was only a 9 month old baby in a pram.

Feeling exhausted, hungry and thirsty, we decided to take a break at the famous East Coast Hawker Centre since we still had some time anyway. Daddy ordered some chicken satay as it is supposed to be famous there. I am not really a big fan of meat but I must say the chicken satays were pretty good. Daddy had his fresh coconut drink while I had a packet of Ribena.

After we were done eating, we still had some more time so we decided to cycle some more. We were just going up and down the path in front of the bicycle shop while trying to run down the clock and not waste any minute of what we paid for. I even raced with Daddy and won him a couple of times. And by the time we returned the bikes, our bums were numbed and our thighs were sore too. I guess we need more exercise!

Playdate with Alyssa

It is a Friday and since I didn't have GB meeting today, I asked Mummy if I could go to Alyssa's house after school. She agreed and said I have to behave myself when I am there and Daddy will go get me when I am done. I was thrilled and asked Aunty Jessica to help bring my bag home while I went off with Alyssa and her mom. This is gonna be a fun Friday afternoon.

So first we went to NTUC at Coronation to get some goodies. Then we headed back to Alyssa's place and we had sushi for lunch. We played in her room and also at the pool where we threw water babies into the pool and tried to look for them. It was really fun!

When Daddy came to get me at 6.30pm as agreed, we very sad that the playdate had to end. Alyssa was very funny as she went into Daddy's car with me just so to stall him for a while. We said our goodbyes and headed to Bishan for dinner. I must have had a fun day as I fell asleep 5 mins into the car ride. Looking forward to another playdate!

Modern Fencing Minime Competition

This is the first time I am taking part in a fencing competition. It is the annual Modern Fencing Minime Competition organised by Modern Fencing and held at Temasek Club. At first I wasn't keen to participate but Mummy and Daddy convinced me to just go have fun. It is not about winning but more to experience being in a competition. 

We woke up early this Sunday morning and unfortunately we had to skip church today. We got to Temasek Club early and while I thought it is just a minime competition so it won't be that crowded but boy was I wrong. We noticed there were participants from other neighbouring countries too and some Malaysians have driven in to participate. There were also some from Hong Kong and the Philippines. 

As it was our first time, we all didn't know what to do or what to expect and thankfully some mothers were kind enough to tell us what to do and where to go. I started the competition in a group with 5 other boys. I had to play all 5 of them so that they could place us in the next group. I came very close to winning 2 of the boys but unfortunately I lost all 5 matches. And for the second round, I will play and the moment i lose any game I am out. I tried my best and didn't make it past the first opponent. It was a good experience and I am sure I will do better the next time I compete.

 

Girls' Brigade 1st Coy

Mummy has encouraged me to take up a uniform group and since she was previously in the Girls Brigade, she thought it will be nice for me to join too. 

Formed in 1893 in Dublin, Ireland, the Girls' Brigade aims to help and encourage girls to become responsible, self-reliant and useful Christian women. In Singapore, the 1st Singapore Company of the Girls' Life Brigade was started by Mrs Elsie Lyne at the Methodist Girls' School.

Today, MGS celebrates the 92nd Enrollment Service and the recruits like myself will be sworn in. The event started at 6pm with a parade and then a dinner reception followed by the service. The recruits even prepared a few song presentations and everyone had fun singing along with us. The service ended around 9pm and we hung around the office area as mummy and her friends caught up a little and we took some group photos. 

I am looking forward to earning all those GB badges!

March Holiday to Brisbane

We have been going to Japan to ski in the last 2 years during our March school holiday as it was cheaper and less crowded compared to December. However, Daddy decided it was time to check out Brisbane and the Gold Coast this time instead. It was also partly because Daddy had to go settle his HSBC bank account and also to take a look at our Brisbane property. 

On the first day after we arrived in Brisbane, we headed straight to the HSBC branch in Sunnybank. It was amazing how many chinese live around there and we didn't feel like we were in Australia. Daddy quickly settled the bank stuff and we headed to Logan Street where our condo is located. We looked up Allie who has been assisting Daddy with managing the property and she was very happy to show us around. We had fun running around the rooftop where there is a nice pool and also good views of the city. 

We spent the next few days checking out Brisbane city and went to places like South Bank Parkland where we spent some time at the man made Streets Beach in the city. It feels exactly like a beach with sand and all but the water is not salty so that was kinda strange. We also had lunch at The Charming Squire which served pretty good food and Daddy had his much awaited craft beer. We then walked around the river sidewalk and took many pictures. We also checked out Kangaroo Cliff which overlooks the Brisbane City Center from the other side. In the evening, we headed to Eat Street Northshore Market where there is a large variety of delicious food and desserts and the shops are actual shipping containers. Atmosphere there was electrifying as there were bands playing and families having a good time.  

 

After Brisbane, Daddy drove us to Gold Coast where the real action begins! Daddy was pretty disappointed that the drive from Brisbane to Gold Coast took only an hour as he was looking forward to a long drive. We checked into QT Gold Coast which is only about 300m from the beach. We wasted no time after checking in and headed straight for the beach for our maiden surf lesson. I must say it was tiring fighting the waves and keeping balance on the board but we sure had lots of fun. As Golf Coast is famous for it's theme parks, we also checked out Wet n Wild and I must say it was more fun then the one in Phu Quoc because we got to try out all the different rides there. 

Daddy felt it won't be complete if we didn't see any animals while in Australia so we checked out Sea World and also Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Sea World was a real disappointment but we tried to make the best of our visit there and tried out all the rides and fed the manta rays. Currumbin was ok but not as good compared to Caversham Wildlife in Perth. The one thing that stood out though was the Tree Top Challenge which we totally enjoyed. 

Although we had a lot of fun in Queensland, Daddy feels we won't be back anytime soon as there isn't much for us to do here. We need to look for greener pastures!