E V E R Y D A Y . B E A U T I F U L . P U R P O S E F U L
April 10, 2012 2 Comments
(Photo Taken: Kinect Dance Central Challenge, Plaza Singapura, Singapore – So cool! My boy Elkan was dancing on the big stage with 4 cute girls! The kids were the crowd magnet at Kinect Try-Out Event at Plaza Singapura. Elkan danced 4 rounds on the big stage and won himself a Kinect Dance Cap.)
February 12, 2012 Leave a comment
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Felicia organized a lovely “Valentine Breakfast” activity for the family. Over Facetime, we spent an hour creating our own “Love Sandwiches”. We were comparing and sharing our “heart-shaped” breads and eggs online. It was really fun and a great way to bond with my boy. Kudos to my wife for the sweet and yummy session! Now, I know how to make heart-shaped hard-boiled egg. (Visit: http://www.kuchkhaashai.com/2011/02/how-to-make-heart-shaped-eggs.html)
January 29, 2012 Leave a comment
My last spring cleaning blog was written 6 years ago on 19 March 2006 (See 2006 Blog: Nostalgia). I love spring cleaning. It is like opening a time-capsule. There are so many things to rediscover – my life, my tokens and my past.
Since the day I left Singapore for Shanghai, we have vacated our apartment and moved our stuffs to my in-law’s place. My mother-in-law has been very kind to allow me to store 40 boxes of my belongings/junks in her living room. (Honestly, it was unsightly and Felicia did a great job to conceal the boxes.) Last week, I was back in Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family. Felicia and I decided to clear those boxes. It is time to unpack, thrash or sell those old junks. Well, I am accumulating another 40 boxes of stuffs from my stay in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
It is rather strange to do “spring-cleaning” on the 1st day of spring. And to most Chinese, it is inauspicious (a common taboo) to clean the house on the first day as it will drive the Fortune God away. Well, that was what I did this Chinese New Year – breaking the taboo. We spent the first 3 days of the Chinese New Year clearing out all the junks. My in-laws weren’t around and this was the only free time I have to spare. (We didn’t let her know till today.)
Instead of the planned 1-day cleanup, we took more than 3 days going through all those mementos. Those boxes were precious time capsules. They were priceless recollection of my most beautiful memories. Box after box, I “rediscovered” so many long-forgotten tokens of my life. My student works, my wedding photos, my toys and those old newspaper clippings.
Elkan was as excited as me. He was only 2 when we sealed the boxes back in 2006. He has never seen these things that his dad and mummy owned. Lucky for him, I was a avid toy collector. I have a big collection of his favourite Marvel (X-men, Spider-man) and Toy Story figurines. Those toys were at least 15-year old. Nope, there wasn’t any priceless heirlooms (gems and watches) for my boy. I passed him all my toys and a complete hard-cover 1995 edition of Tintin comics.
I found many hand-written letters and gifts which I have sent to Felicia during our courtship days (1992) and her university days (1997-1999) in Australia. Back then, there is no Facebook, FaceTime or even Whatsapp. I used to send her letters and my cartoons weekly. It took 1 week to reach her. It was slow but precious. Reading the letters and seeing those cartoon cards again made me realized how much our lives have changed over the years. My gosh, we have been couple for almost 20 years! Those were bitter-sweet memories.
While our loved ones were busily visiting friends and relatives during the first 3 days of Chinese New Year, three of us were at home revisiting our own pasts. It was an unique reunion and bonding time for 3 of us. Especially for Elkan. For the first time, he got to know so much more about his dad and mum (and the drawings his dad drew for his mum). In the end, there wasn’t much junks to throw. Just lots of stories and memories to share with my little boy.
January 29, 2012 Leave a comment
On the eve of the Chinese Dragon New Year, we went “dragon-watching” at the Singapore Science Center. With over 50 live-size animatronic exhibits, the “Dinosaurs Live Exhibition” is the largest robotic Dinosaurs show in the world.
Despite our jumping shots at the entrance, I rated this show 3.5-star. It wasn’t as “live” as what the poster promised. The only impressive part was the massive size of these prehistoric creatures. The 3,500 sqm jungle was small – we covered the entire show in less than 30 minutes. Within a glance, you can almost see 50% of the exhibition. It left us little to explore and discover. The canvas backdrops were badly installed and looked cheap and untidy. The dinosaurs weren’t as “animatic and lively” as I expected. Some movements were rather static and slow. The sound effects helped a lot to compensate the “cartoonish” expressions but the “rainbow lightings” were too overwhelming. Other than the typical information boards (and rubber stamps) that were placed beside the exhibits, there was little interactive engagement about these creatures. I was expecting more 3D and digital content – so the children can interact and navigate to know more about these magnificent prehistoric creatures.
To improve the show experience, Science Center should consider changing this to a guided tour. Amplifying the “adventure experience” with experienced guide leading the audience into the jungle with stories. The space should be darkened and be lighted up at every new visit. There should be more partitions (and vegetations, volcanoes etc) to isolate the exhibits so it allows more immersion and exploration within each space. Replace the wooden platform walkway with pebbles and dirt-roads. Remove the railing and let the vegetations/rocks be the natural barriers. The dinosaurs should be motion-activated and be more involved with its human visitors.
This shows size doesn’t matter when it comes to a good experience. Let’s hope the organizers can put in more thoughts and efforts to bring back the magic of a good show. Or at least, leave a lasting impression for the visitors.
November 19, 2011 Leave a comment
School holidays started with a blooming of orchids from all over the world! It was the 20th World Orchid Conference, held at the new “Gardens by the Bay” – Singapore’s premier urban iconic indoor attraction!
The Flower Dome is a huge indoor, air-conditioned park (spanning a total of 101 hectares)! Quite a pity it doesn’t have a big field for us to have a picnic. The Orchid Exhibition showcases many rare orchids from all over the world. There are black orchids that look like pitcher plants, orchids that smell like chocolate in the morning and orchids as big as my palms! My 2 mummies and aunt were shopping and bargaining for their favorite orchids. The kids were chatting with one of the stall owners and got themselves some free gifts! It was a tiring day for all of us. Especially the long queues for the shutter-bus transport. At least the mummies and aunt went home happy. They each bought a pot of orchids!
October 25, 2011 4 Comments
(Photo Taken: Felicia’s Halloween Costume “Where’s Wenda”!! WTH = Wenda-Hell!!! I choked when I saw this photo on my WhatsApp! Didn’t know my wife has such a wicked sense of humor! Now, she is going to regret sending me this photo! Haaa… she is going to be the poster-girl for the week!)
ABOUT WENDA – Wenda is Waldo’s current girlfriend. The character is the “one who takes the pictures” according to the intro of The Wonder Book, but she always loses her camera. Wenda was featured in the Where’s Waldo? television series, in the episode The Living Exhibits. She first appeared in 1991 in Where’s Waldo: The Magnificent Poster Book along with her twin sister, Wilma. Wilma, however, has not been seen since. Wenda’s wardrobes include a red and white striped shirt, blue skirt, red and white striped stockings, glasses, and red and white bobbled hat.
October 17, 2011 Leave a comment
This is a very special birthday for Elkan. This is his first birthday celebration in Singapore since 2006. My boy was only 3 when he traveled with me from 2007-2010. It is good to have his grandparents, cousins and friends at home celebrating his Lucky 7. Bet it was the first time Qiqi celebrated Elkan’s birthday too. And many thanks to all my Singapore buddies and families (Lionnel, Joey, Kalinda, Karen, Duuk, Juliana, Jovel, James, Auntie Amy, Hong Fei and Sherry) who took time off (and many sacrifices) to attend his party. From his tone that night, he had a great birthday! Wish I was there too.
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2 weeks ago, I asked Elkan what he would like to do on his birthday. He said he wanted a karaoke singing session like he had last year. But without his Hong Kong Buddies (Uncle Harshad and Auntie Bay Bay), there’s less crazy fun. Considering the number of kids who came, as young as 4 1/2 months to 7 years old, it should be a more “child-friendly event”. So we had BBQ at Costa Sands Chalet instead!
It was another steaming hot party after our last Eunos gathering. The aircon wasn’t cool enough and there were more than 6-7 BBQ pits near us. That’s quite a lot of heat all burning at the same time! Thanks to my family-in-law, they helped me to cook all the food. We were very well-fed! Burrp….. Cake cutting was quite a challenge! Fortunately, we have strong uncles to help cut up the frozen ice cream cake. Uncle Lionnel tried to saw the cake with a small knife while Uncle Duuk chop chop with a chopper!!
With kids running, screaming and crying, it kept the parents really busy. We’ll need extra help in the future gatherings. Parents were quite exhausted chasing kids around. Uncle Gareth, must bring your rotan lah. Thank you all our guests who came to join us on Sunday evening despite their tight study and work schedules. And thank you for all the nice presents too! Elkan’s wish list fulfilled! What a lucky-seven year old boy!
September 14, 2011 1 Comment
This visit, Elkan surprised me with his level of maturity and sensibility. There are 2 sides of Elkan – He always got himself in some stupid mischief (like pouring sand on my face when I am suntanning or damaging things around him). On the other hand, Elkan displayed an amazing level of sensibility and love for his loved ones. Acting like our little protector, he is always looking out for his mum and dad. If I walked a little too fast in front of Felicia, Elkan will pull me back and ask me to wait for her. And whenever he can’t find me, he will be worried if I have left him (for Hong Kong) without saying farewell. Elkan keeps an “internal timer” in his mind – always reminding himself of my remaining hours or days in Singapore before I fly off again. When I was in his age (7-year-old), I have never cherish family ties to such depth. From Elkan, I have learn to spend more time with my own dad and mum too.
Last night, Elkan accompanied me till 1am. And he woke up “fresh and ready” at 5am this morning to see me off. His usual sleeping hours are from 10pm to 8am. I told him it will be too tiring for him to wake up so early as he has a long day ahead (at school). He said “it is okay lah, I am not tired. You are my dad. I must send you off to the airport. Also later, mummy will be alone after you left. I can accompany her back mah”.
After the happy send-off at the gate, Felicia wept briefly at the train station. Elkan saw her sadness and comforted her in his comical tone “Ai yah, why sad sad? Okay lah, I sayang you okay. Tonight, I will tuck you to bed and give you a hug. Okay?” Aww… he is like a mini Joe …. He is, undoubtedly, our emotional support pillar, our little sunshine. A purity that comes from within. Elkan is always there for both of us at the right time, at the right place. And I thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful child.
September 13, 2011 Leave a comment
Last night, we had our mini ‘Moonbread Reunion Dinner” with our Hong Kong Clan (Hongfei, Sherry, Ethan, Danielle) at Clark Quay, Singapore. Unknown to all, yesterday was also our 11th Wedding Anniversary. Felicia and I registered our wedding on 12th Sept 2000 (In 2000, 12th Sept also coincide with the 15th of the Eight Lunar Month – Mid Autumn Festival).
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