Tris' Recital of the 12 Zodiac Animals in Teochew

Thanks to granny, the supreme coach. Tris can utter the animals in perfect order. Impressive!

To video this recital, we had to coax him out of petending to be a little piglet. Once he obliged, rather nicely at the second go, he went back to pretend-gulping from the sauce sachet & to being a piglet again.

Ah, children! The stuff that goes on in their tiny little brains is a wonder.

Post-reunion Dinner Activity: a Visit to Marina Bay/River Hong Bao

The children were excited about the rides at the carnival.

Tris was especially pleased with the Ferris Wheel which he said was
more fun than the train ride he took.

The 2 'tigers' in the family.

Our pitstop before heading home to knock out. Tris became quite hyped up at this part of the night & was laughing silly over his own pretend-play, entertaining himself & the rest of us.

The 2 'tigers' conserving their energy.

Welcoming the Tiger Year with a Reunion Dinner

This year's reunion dinner was a eat-out, fuss-free affair. Quite an interesting idea to sit down in a crowded air-con kopi tiam, with strangers in other tables. Sort of like a wedding banquet. Nonetheless, the fun factor was not reduced because of the fun peeps who were at our table.

Here's when the action began. The tossing of Yu-Sheng. Tris was extremely eager & conscientious with this ritual. I dare say he is the BEST child-Yu-Sheng Tosser you could ever find in Singapore & even Batam.

Some snapshots I managed to capture before the food was gone ...

Sharksfin, all-time fav (Sorry, sharkies... )

Steamed Garoupa

Drunken Prawns

Abalone, Mushrooms with Xiao Bai Choy

Lotus Leaf Rice

The Making of Seafood Linguine

Change of plans. Fred was coming home late from work so I decided we should eat at home instead. I whipped out my pan (made a mistake lah - should not have used this non-stick one, now it's gotten some scratches... aiyah! wat was I thinking?) & here's the making of seafood linguine, copied from one of the food channels (love it!)

Fry garlic and chilli in a good drizzle of olive oil... ohhh, extra virgin olive oil, best of the best!! Meanwhile, prepare the pasta by boiling in water, always adding salt & olive oil AGAIN to taste. Learned this from Jamie ;)

Put in peeled prawns & clams. Then add a good drizzle of white wine. Must-have!! Tip: would be better to add the prawns in only slightly later if you want them to be more tender & cooked just right.

The gravy gives the main taste to this dish. Excites me!

Wait a little for the clams to open up. Then transfer the linguine from pot to pan. Allow to soak up the gravy.

Add the greens - rocket & young spinach & flip them around just to warm. Correct the taste with coarse pepper.

Passed the test of Fred food-tasting. Yipeeeee!!! Approval is SWEET!

The linguine was extremely smooth & we liked it slightly wet with the gravy. The strands just glided down the throat & the mixture of wine, prawn and clam broth exploded inside! Finally, we've tasted justice from the last visit to Pastamania when we found that they had substituted white wine with chicken stock in their seafood pasta. Yucks!

This goes superbly well with a fruity white wine (oh, u can tell we are alcoholics ;P). I gave myself a bonus for the effort. Macademia nut ice cream to cool the excited taste buds! Eating at home is jus such a simple, rewarding, pleasurable & intimate affair.

Jus Hanging Out with the Kids 4: Tris shows his Kicks

Here's brave little Tris, coaxed by mummy, showing me his kicks. Tris is such an eager & deliberate learner. A wonderful boy. This video was taken for Uncle Fred. Tris, Uncle Fred & Chin Yi Yi are just so proud of your progress! Keep it up! You are a champion!! Always will be.

Jus Hanging Out with the Kids 3: Getting Ready & Off to the Pool We Go!

As I tried to recover from my temporary amnesia, the kids are already preparing for the next program. Awesome amount of energy they have & poor ancient-dinosaur Chin Yi Yi here trying to take a breather & keep up!



So mind over matter, I 'straightened' myself out & started snapping snapping happy again. Here's my favourite. Tris, show Chin Yi Yi your muscles! And look what I got - well-displayed biceps with an extremely gleeful expression. That's my boy!! I love him to bits. I can't express fully the pleasure I gain from talking with him & watching his every move.

My niece was all too happy to show me her aqua-gymnastic moves. She's really savvy in the waters - like a mermaid. She ducked, she surfaced. She just kept doing those moves to show me.

Here she went - flapping like a bird. Lost in her own fun. Watching her just brings loads & loads of happiness. I was so exhausted that day after reaching home but my love tank was so filled after checking in on my favourite fun peeps!

Jus Hanging Out with the Kids 2: Tris Tells the 3 Aliens' Joke

Jus Hanging Out with the Kids 1: Picking Tris Up from school

I managed to take some time off from work last week to check in on my niece & nephew. Tris was at school. So Ting suggested we pick him up & give him a pleasant surprise. After a 'jerky' ride in Ting's car (which she admitted in good houmor that her kids have gotten used to her driving... heh heh), we reached Tris' school. This video footage captures my surprise visit.

The car ride home was so fun! The kids entertained me with jokes (see part 2 of blog), posed for my iphone cam, and we just laughed ourselves silly the whole journey back! Because I wasn't sitting properly in the car & the route had simply too many stops at traffic lights, I was mildly disoriented after the journey & temporarily 'lost' my memory & couldn't be sure which unit I lived in... FUNNY! Seriously, Tris was asking me: The Metropolitan, 29-what number???