Love's Chronicle

The Seventh Day

2012-01-29T20:03:00.003+08:00

This day of CNY is considered the universal birthday of all people. Bernice's mum and elder brother's family are coming over to our home for lunch, so after church service we went straight home to get ready the dishes.

Of course, most of the ingredients were already prepared a day or two before. Bernice cooked her mum's favourite - asparagus stir fried with enoki mushrooms, red capsicum and black fungus.

Considering that Bernice's nieces Athena and Meagan are avid meat eaters, we've also prepared some yummy finger food such as this bacon wrapped mini tomatoes grilled to perfection with nanami togarashi (Japanese pepper).

After lunch, Bernice made some french fries using our newly bought Philips Air Fryer - best tasting fries without the oil. The kids simply love 'em!

I had a game of carrom with Meagan and later her two elder sisters. And they enjoyed playing hide-and-seek in our small little four-room HDB too!

My mum came over to join us for lunch too. And here's a group photo. See how happy little Meagan is?

We look forward to more of such family gatherings in the days to come...

The Sixth Day

2012-01-28T12:43:00.003+08:00

If you're wondering, it has nothing to do with Arnie's movie of the same title. Today's the sixth day of CNY and we decided to take 175 from the new bus interchange in Clementi Mall to West Coast Plaza to do a little shopping. As the bus stopped at the traffic junction outside NTUC, we spotted a little caucasian boy perched on top the shoulders of his dad.

There's quite a few things to buy at WCP's Cold Storage in anticipation of Bernice's mum's visit this weekend. For this afternoon, however, we're expecting our neighbours to come over so Bernice had beforehand prepared fruit punch and poured the mixture into this elegant acrylic serving bowl with cups hanging on both sides.

Of course, CNY can't do without some snacks, but this year we tried to focus on the quality and reduce the quantity.

All's set and ready to go! We hope to build a closer rapport with our neighbours of about three years so that in time to come, we'll be able to extend God's blessings to them as well...

On a CNY Morning...

2012-01-23T21:49:00.002+08:00

Couldn't believe we actually woke up early on the first day of CNY, when our first visitation (which was to my mum's place) was scheduled in the afternoon. I had asked Bernice what she felt like having for breakfast; she looked at me with glistering eyes and replied, "Star...bucks!"

So off we trod in our Tee's and Slip's to the nearest outlet, along the quiet stretch of the usually noisy main road, towards Clementi Mall. As we crossed the traffic junction, I waved a CNY greeting to a startled bus captain of a double-deck 78, who gestured back to me with a composed wrist wave on the steering wheel. Feels really good...

The Mall was quite vacant and dimly lit as we made our way up the escalator. Fortunately, Starbucks was opened for business (with only one customer at that time, reading his newspapers). I liked the uncrowded and unhurried feeling. Bernice had wanted a Bagel but changed her mind after browsing through the pastries.

In the end we settled for two chicken puffs (peppered and potatoed) AND a cup of Latte grande - Wow! that really kick-started our CNY!

Red Packets

2012-01-22T13:35:00.003+08:00

A red packet (aka hongbao in Mandarin) is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions. So it is during the Chinese New Year, that married couples are expected to dispense them to children of their own, relatives', friends' and neighbours'. Depending on the quantity given out, the total can amount from a few hundreds to over a thousand dollars. (Being married does have its consequences, albeit a delightful one when you see the smiles on the children's faces when they receive their hongbaos!)

As Christians, we still practice this favourite Chinese tradition, but in a more meaningful way. We choose to use red packets with words and Bible verses, to remind our recipients that money is not the only thing they'll receive, but a special blessing that comes from God through our hands.

In fact, this year we're doing something more; we're writing short letters (in A5 size papers) and inserting them together with the money into the red packets. The contents of the letters are our heart-felt affections and advices to our nephews and nieces, some in their teens and some still in their pre-teen years.

Each year as we celebrate CNY, busying ourselves with all the activities and visitations, we forget that the children are growing up as well with each passing year. It is important that we not only impart our prosperity to them, but also our principles and values. These are the true treasures that will last them a lifetime, long after they spent the money that's inside the red packets.

The Footsteps of Spring

2012-01-19T11:30:00.001+08:00

In an equatorial island like Singapore, where there's only summer and seasonal monsoons, how do you know when spring has arrived? Well, for one thing - when the onions in your kitchen start to bring forth young shoots, you can be sure spring is near...

This year, the Chinese Lunar New Year (CNY) is early. Just after celebrating Christmas, many households are again busy doing their annual spring cleaning, clearing old furnitures, decorating and furnishing their homes with new ones.

For us, we've decided to buy less CNY goodies since most visitors only eat a little and we'll end up consuming them ourselves. However, making our home clean and welcoming is still top priority, and for this we again enlisted the help of these gorgeously sweet Gladiolus, just like last year.

See how beautiful the pinkish flowers array themselves? In a few days' time, the rest of the buds will blossom, turning our humble living room into a bright and happy place where friends and neighbours meet in delightful conversations.

Peekaboo of Roses

2012-01-13T19:14:00.004+08:00

On my way home from work, I stopped by the florist and bought a bouquet nicely arranged in a little square porcelain holder. Bernice had been cooking nice dishes for the past weeks, and I thot I'd give her a small pleasant surprise by putting it on her dressing table while she was busy in the kitchen.

I was in for a surprise when she went into the bedroom after dinner and there was no cry of delight coming out from her. Curiously I glanced from a hidden corner at her doing her usual evening rituals at the dressing table, perturbed at her nonchalant expression.

I pretended to walk over and took a glanced. The flowers were nowhere to be seen. Hmm... something's fishy here, I thot. Then I saw it - perched at the top shelf of the Stolmen storage system I DIY from Ikea. "I'm going to bathe," I remarked to Bernice and went into the bathroom.

When I came out from my bath, I noticed that the flowers were no longer where it was. Bernice was busying herself in the kitchen when I entered the living room, and I spotted it at the shoe cabinet near the front door. Quickly, I tiptoed over, removed it and placed it back on the Stolmen top shelf, lied on the bed and pretended to sleep.

Moments later, I heard Bernice came into the bedroom and asked in an interrogative tone, "Where is it?" The fun begun. "Where's what?" I opened my eyes and replied her with a puzzled look. "You know what I'm referring to! Dun pretend, pretend hor..." "Pretend what?" I acted innocently.

Bernice couldn't stand it any longer, came over and started poking me with her finger. "Where have you hidden the flowers?" I relented, looked up and pointed at the top shelf with a mischevious look. She turned around, saw the flowers where she had originally hid it, and burst into a tirade of chiding, "You...!!!"

"Well, you put up a good act yourself, isn't it? I was just playing along with you mah..." I laughed. "Can't you just let me have the fun for once? It's not easy to suppress my feelings over flowers, you know?" Bernice protested.

Well, I guess the men just don't get it when it comes to the kind of games women play. Sigh...

49th Birthday!

2012-01-02T16:50:00.004+08:00

Today's my birthday! This year I decided to have it differently by inviting our marriage mentors, Royston and Sin Yow, to join us in the morning for a time of fellowship and prayer. It was refreshing and encouraging to seek God together, to start the new year with God as the center of our focus, and to reaffirm our direction in the Alongsider ministry. Thereafter, we were treated to lunch at Pastamania @ West Coast Plaza.

Back home, Bernice asked if I'd like to have desserts. Of course! And to my surprise she produced a mixed-fruit jelly platter (she woke up around 5.30am this morning to make it! I was touched...)

Further surprise awaited me when I finished the dessert - a hidden message below which reads: Dear My Sweet. Noooo... Bernice protested. "Notice the shape of the platter? It should read: Dear My Sweet-Heart!"

Haha... No wonder the men don't get it! I have yet one more special treat from Bernice, but it'll have to wait till evening. And I think I'll just stop here and let our readers guess what she has in store for me. (grin!)

Nanyang Old Coffee

2011-12-24T14:38:00.003+08:00

Having breakfast at Chinatown has become part of our weekend routine, well maybe once every 2-3 weeks. Today we decided on a small outlet of the well-known Nanyang Old Coffee franchise at 268 South Bridge Road (end of Smith Street).

KT ordered the traditional toast set. The coffee seemed to taste better when served in porcelain cup saucer.

There's a mini museum exhibiting items from the 60's and 70's, including a roller drum which they used to roast coffee beans behind the coffee shops of yester years. Ahhh... we could almost smell the aroma of freshly roasted coffee...!

Well, some of these gadgets can still be found in today's coffee stalls...

Wait... KT noticed one of those old record albums in the display featuring a singer having a name that's similar to his sister's (see yellow circle, a bit dim though because the flash was disabled to prevent reflection).

In the 21st century we have our iPod and iPhone with Angry Birds. But do you know back in the 70's there's Happy Birds?

It was a short walk in memories lane, and a different Saturday breakfast from the usual...

With IJK @ Changi Airport

2011-12-17T17:25:00.001+08:00

Today we had a date with IJK at the Changi Airport @ T3 at 11am. We were surprised to meet Dena who was there to sent off her cousin.

Finally IJK arrived and met up with us at the Departure Hall (pun intended). They really looked forward to a fun-filled day with us...

Incidentally, there is currently a promotion till end January 2012 which allows you to redeem an Angry Birds collectable if you charge $50 or more per receipt to your Visa card. There's even a huge Angry Birds display setup featuring the Pigs in different famous landmarks of the world.

Beside the display is a 10m plant sculpture of the Merlion (there are others in different terminals of Changi Airport).

As it was near noon, we decided to go over to T2 for lunch. Taking the skytrain, we caught a glimpse of the iconic ATC tower...

Over at T2, we found another plant sculpture, this time it's the Heaven's Altar of Beijing, China.

What is Christmas without the trees, snow sledge and reindeers? This is expected from a commercial standpoint to create festive moods and spendings, though. The true meaning of Christmas, however, is more significant but sadly ignored in the midst of all the merry-making.

As promised, we took IJK for lunch at Swensen's as the kids were craving for ice-creams after the main course. Bernice opted for the NZ Ribeye topped with brown gravy. Yum...

After lunch and desserts, we adjourned to the public viewing gallery where the Changi Aviation Gallery was hosted. We learned about the history of aviation in Singapore and gotten some insights into Changi Airport's operations. Did you know a plane takes off every two minutes? (Betcha you didn't know that; in fact, the latest I know it's every 100 seconds now. Wow... being an ATC officer can be quite stressful indeed!)

Here's a light moment where the camera-shy Isabel covered her face like a middle-east lady, with Joshua oblivious to the happenings...

Once again we're back at T3 and that's when we noticed the Christmas trees with the plant sculpture of the ATC tower in the background.

By this time, there's an inflated playground setup with kids and their parents enjoying the climbs and slides.

Having charged the lunch bill to my Visa card, I proceeded to redeem tickets for The Slide @ T3 at $10 per slide. IJK and myself had a go at the 12m high, world's tallest slide in the airport. Joshua loved it so much he went for a second time.

Joshua may be a teenage standing at 1.75m tall, but he's still quite a kid in heart like the little boy standing beside him with his kick scooter.

Before the day ends, we went over to basement 2's Candy Empire to buy some candies for IJK. (They were elated to be given free reins on the choices of candies to select from the pay-by-weight section.) After that, we had a little WoodBlock rubbing fun at the Interactive Art corner so IJK could bring some sourvenirs back home.

It was quite tiring for us but the time spent was well worth in the growing years of IJK. Hopefully, it will become an unforgettable part of their memories that will accompany them for years to come...

Joo Chiat! Joo Chiat!

2011-12-03T14:02:00.004+08:00

It's been quite a long while since I chauffer Bernice out for a ride, considering that COE and car price are at an all time high, it's not practical to own a car. Fortunately we found out that there's this Car Club membership that offers car rental at a reasonable price, without having to worry about road tax, insurance and all the issues that comes with car ownership.

Bernice had wanted to go Joo Chiat for breakfast so I booked a 8am-12pm slot for a Toyota Vios which is nicely located in the multi-storey carpark behind our block. So off we went to our first destination...the colonial-style shop houses of Joo Chiat Road!

Bernice was looking forward to the famous Kway Guan Huat's hand-made popiah shop but she was in for a disappointment as we're too early and the owner had just opened for business. Oh well...

After exploring the shop houses for a while, we decided to cross over to the Geylang Serai market and food centre where there's a greater selection of malay food. Bernice settled for longtong while I opted for the traditional toast and eggs set.

With our tummy satisfied, we window-shopped for a while, bought some dried grocery stuff, and were on our way again, this time to Bras Basah Complex, as Bernice wanted to order her contact lenses at Kwong Shin Optical while I browse the books at Tecman's. We head for home at about 11.25pm, glad to spend a little adventure exploring the roads on our own.

Ps: We did have a little scare earlier on the PIE when KT realized he forgot to put the cash card into the IU, and we fumbled to take it out of his wallet and inserted wrongly on the first try. Thankfully we prayed for KT to have steady hands before we set out! God is gracious.

Dragonfly

2011-11-14T09:11:00.002+08:00

Last Friday was my company's LSG Nite (11.11.11). This year it was hosted at the Dragonfly @ St James Power Station, HarbourFront.

I'm not a fan of clubbing or nite club activities actually, and while it's an experience to attend a company event in one of such hip and happening venue, it only further confirmed that such places, with all the loud music, drinking and dancing, are not for me.

Call me old-fashion if you will, but I'll stick to a more quiet and composed ambience where there's less intrusive noises and more emotional restraints.

Kenneth and Abigail

2011-11-12T14:51:00.003+08:00

This morning we attended yet another church wedding, but it's somewhat different because it's the wedding of a daughter of the elder who officiated our church wedding!

As usual with any church wedding, there's the bridal procession, worship singspiration, exhortation, solemnization, signing of marriage registrar and recessional, before the buffet lunch.

While browsing through the wedding photo album, there were a few that caught my eyes and I decided to take snapshots. Ah... what wedding bliss!

and familial blessings too!

We wish the newly wed a beautiful life together, one of growing into God and each other as they begin their journey as husband and wife. May it be a lifetime of discovery of what it means to be one, and in the process appreciate the beauty and mystery of Christ and His Bride - the Church.

Scrabble

2011-10-29T21:55:00.001+08:00

Score: KT - 308, Bernice - 211, Total - 519

Dewali Delights

2011-10-26T21:08:00.002+08:00

Today is Dewali (Deepavali), the 'Festival of Lights' for the indian communities, and a public holiday as well. My Sunday School class organised a get together lunch at one of the student's home in West Coast. Bernice and I were invited. (In the photo, counting from the left are the 7 flowers who stick closer than blood-related sisters.)

We noticed that the student, whose name means 'beautiful flower', keeps many plants at the balcony area, one of which captured our attention was this bird plant. It's not the artificial birds that perch on the stems...

... but the flowers of the plant itself - they certainly have the appearance of birds! Interesting indeed.

There were the bonsai plants, one of which is flowering as well. Pretty isn't it?
And at another corner are the cactus varieties...

Hmm... didn't know that this student of mine has such green fingers! And we had a wonderful time fellowshipping, singing praise songs (Bernice played the keyboard, of course), and sharing some light moments and cooking tips as well.

Though all of them are well into their 60s and 70s, Bernice and I thoroughly enjoyed their company and conversations. They are indeed a lively lot for their age.

Nite Kite with I-J-K

2011-10-22T21:41:00.002+08:00

Finally... Bernice's nieces and nephew came over to our home at our invitation to nite kite flying (where else but West Coast Park?)

After dinner at the nearby coffee shop (Joshua, as usual, had to have egg in his diet, and he certainly finished his meal faster now), we took a short walk across the West Coast highway to the park. We fixed up the kite and laid the ground sheet for some picnic refreshment (gala apples, dried mango slices, and caramel popcorns).

Tonite was kinda quiet as not too many kite enthusiasts turned up. Probably the wind was not good as we had two failed attempts, but we finally managed to get the kite up on the third try. Here's Joshua managing the reel as the kite (top red dot) and the thread light (lower blue dot) steadied at a 15-storey height.
See how engrossed the threesome were? Soon, Isabel and Keziah took turn to control the kite as they had their first lesson in nite kite flying.

The night was still young when we finally reeled in the kite as the wind subsided. So they adjourned to the nearby playground to expend whatever leftover energy they had from the dinner meal...

It was an enjoyable time relating to Bernice's nieces and nephew as they grow into teenagers, and it is our hope that such special moments with their aunt (and me) will add a wholesome dimension in their formative years.

"I wanna come back again!" exclaimed Keziah as we bade farewell to the park. Bernice and I simply looked at each other with a knowing grin...

Nite Kite Flying

2011-10-15T21:35:00.004+08:00

Bernice came back from her Sydney business trip today. She was eagerly looking forward to this evening as prior to her trip, we had bought a 2.7m LED kite for night flying.

As evening came, we brought along the folded kite and accessories to West Coast, first to settle our dinner, and then adjorned across the highway to the West Coast Park. There were still quite a lot of day kites flying in the sunset sky.

After we found a comfortable spot, KT proceeded to unload the barang-barang...

...and assemble the kite.

Here's KT with the disc-brake reel system that allows better control of the kite...

...of course, being a first-timer was not without it's problem. Somehow the kevlar thread got entangled in the disc-brake and KT had to figure out how to undo the mess. Fortunately, help was available nearby when a kite vendor by the name of Ricky (from Typhoon Kites) who sets up his make shift stall every weekend, came to the rescue after a boy Bernice approached for assistance with his head light alert him of our predicament.

Within minutes the pair managed to resolve the problem - a wrong thread run on the reel system by the vendor (Passion Kites) we bought our kite from resulted in much unnecessary frustration. Ricky graciously rectified the problem.

Ricky and the boy (Andi) then proceeded to show us how to fly the 2.7m kite, and how to control the reel system so the thread do not get entangled again. Before long, we were enjoying ourselves sitting on the yoga mat and taking turns controlling the kite...

As night grew, we reeled back the kite and packed up for home.

It was quite a humbling experience, but we certainly learned a great deal about this night version of the favourite past-time of the kampong era. You can be sure we will be back, and perhaps bringing along our nephews and nieces (and even our neighbours along) to share the joy of flying nite kites.

Circle Line Carnival

2011-10-08T21:28:00.002+08:00

In view of the opening of the 12 new stations of the Circle Line (CC), SMRT has organised a carnival today at the Holland Village station. We took the EW train to Buona Vista station at about 5.30pm and then transit one stop to Holland V via the CC line.

The crowd was fantastic as the people thronged the Xchange passage way leading up to the carnival ground. As it was still early, we went to the nearby Lor Liput to have Katong laksa for dinner, followed by tea and cappucino (with a toasted bagel) at Starbucks.

As the evening drew deeper, the programmes and activities on the stage stepped up, drawing large crowd of people of different nationalities to it.

It was a relaxed Saturday for us, considering we've been quite busy for the past couple of weekends. This was a good marriage time too, which we could just have some time together to enjoy each other's company over life's simple pleasures.

TPCC & TPTC

2011-10-01T18:09:00.003+08:00

Today we attended the Pilot run of The Parenting Children Course (TPCC) and The Parenting Teenagers Course (TPTC) at The Bible Church, hosted by Alpha Singapore.

We had lunch at West Co'z Cafe, which serves their popular and well-loved asam fish curry dish at very affordable price. Best of all, it's at West Coast Plaza which is just a stone's throw away from our church premise.

Here are the snapshots of the contents for both courses, which are helpful and interesting to parents looking for resources that'll enable them to understand the needs of their children or teenagers, and the dynamics of interacting with them in a wholesome and rewarding way.

Session 1 - Building Strong Foundations

The Role of the Family

Patterns for a Healthy Family Life

Session 2 - Meeting Our Children's Needs

The Five Love Languages for Children

Session 3 - Setting Boundaries

Combining Love and Limits

Helping Our Children Make Good Choices

Session 4 - Teaching Healthy Relationships

Modelling and Practising Relationships

Handling Anger

Session 5 - Our Long-Term Aim

Encouraging Responsibilities

Passing On Beliefs and Values

Session 1 - Keeping the End in Mind

Understanding the Transition

Building Strong Relationships

Session 2 - Meeting Our Teenagers' Needs

The Five Love Languages for Teenagers

Effective Communication

Session 3 - Setting Boundaries

Letting Go Gradually

Encouraging Responsibilities

Session 4 - Developing Emotional Health

Handling Anger

Resolving Conflict and Handling Stress

Session 5 - Helping Them Make Good Choices

Giving a Longer Perspective

Equipping Our Teenagers

Happy Birthday

2011-09-25T20:50:00.002+08:00

Today is my nephew, Kah Wee's birthday. So after church and Sunday school we accompanied my mum to my brother's home in Taman Jurong just to have a simple meal and celebration with his family. It was also a time to catch up on the happenings in their lives.

How time flies! This year Kah Wee is doing his GCE 'O' level. We wished him academic success and good health in his formative years, and that the family will stay strong and closely knitted in these uncertain times that we live in.

CM Camp 2011

2011-09-24T20:26:00.005+08:00

This year, our Chinese Ministry (CM) had its church camp at the Le Grandeur Palm Resort in Johor, Malaysia, from September 6-9 (this post was kinda dated as we needed the photos from the camp committee to be released).

It was quite a nice place, considering it took only about an hour's journey and surprisingly was not as crowded when we were there, except for the last day when we checked out.

The food was standard buffet style for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A sumptuous spread that really spoilt us!

Of course, there's the usual activities that's the norm for any church camp: worship singing in the morning, camp theme messages by the guest speaker (pastor Lim Kok Heng), group discussions...

...some exercises and games, morning and afternoon tea breaks, movie on the last evening, and free time in betweens.

It's also a time of bonding too as we interact with one another...

As for the kids, they had their fun too with handicrafts, games, etc.

Some light moments during meals did make the food even more appetizing, don't you agree?

And what is a church camp without a group photo to leave us with some good memories?

Here's a special shot for Bernice and Queenie in the Dance of the Butterflies (no guessing who's the butterfly and who's the moth in this picture, haha...)

We really look forward to going to the church camp next year...!

IDMC 2011

2011-09-04T20:37:00.003+08:00

The IDMC Conference 2011 (Sept 1-3) was a much anticipated event in the Christian communities in Singapore. It was a yearly event which saw even delegates of churches from different parts of the world converging. This year's theme: Cultivating Your Inner Life had almost 2,500 participants from churches from 17 countries, to full seating capacity in the Covenant Evangelical Free Church (CEFC) venue.

Though the logistics to host such a mega-event is a big undertaking, CEFC had drawn on years of organising it to ensure that every detail is taken care of, from seating arrangements to ferrying the masses, traffic controls (even the Cisco police are enlisted!), ushers, lift attendances, conference materials, meals (tea breaks and lunch), tentage, mobile toilets, audio-visuals, worship musicians and leaders, etc. In total, 613 volunteers from CEFC were mobilized!

From what I've heard, the tickets were sold out last year even before the conference ended! Thankfully our marriage mentors were able to secure 10 tickets at the last moment, and we were offered the opportunity to attend for the first time. Seating in the main sanctuary (levels 2 and 3) is $160.

We opted for the video seating ($90) which was hosted in the two chapels on level 4, with a seating capacity of 400 each.

Besides the 7 plenaries, there were also 2 workshops (day 2 and 3) which you could choose on a first come first serve basis!

CEFC was so well organised they even had different color wrist bands for different workshops to facilitate easy identification!

The main speakers this year were CEFC senior pastor, Edmund Chan (EC), and guest speaker Randy Pope (RP) of Perimeter Church in North Atlanta, USA. Conference schedule:

Day 1

Plenary Session 1: Cultivating Intimacy with God (EC)

Day 2

Plenary Session 2: Inner Peace by Experiencing Glory added to Glory (RP)

Plenary Session 3: The Crisis of Spirituality (EC)

Workshop 1: Cultivating the Spiritual Disciplines (KT attended)

Workshop 2: Preventing Burn-out

Workshop 3: The Art of Spiritual Direction (Bernice)

Plenary Session 4: Eight Obstacles to Cultivating Spirituality (EC)

Day 3

Plenary Session 5: Inner Peace by Understanding Grace and Truth (RP)

Plenary Session 6: Five Key Processes in Spiritual Formation (EC)

Workshop 4: The Practice of Spiritual Friendship (KT and Bernice)

Workshop 5: Transformational Strategy in a Disciple-making Church

Workshop 6: The Pastor as a Disciple Trainer

Plenary Session 7: A Theology of Restedness (EC)

In between tea breaks and lunch, the participants were given the opportunity to buy audio, video CDs/DVDs and books which contain helpful resources on various aspects of the Christian life.

The tentage where lunch meals and breaks were taken was adjacent to the CEFC compound, and was certainly large enough to handle the large crowds.

Here's our marriage mentors, Royston and his wife Sin Yow, sharing a short break moment with us.

So what's our take on this IDMC Conference. One phrase sums it all: Life-Changing! We went away revitalised and challenged to commit ourselves to building a close relationship with Jesus Christ on this redemptive journey which God has called us to travel in and with Him. We're glad we came!

Bintan Lagoon Resort

2011-08-26T18:24:00.006+08:00

Just came back from our short getaway in Bintan Lagoon Resort from Aug 24-26. It was something we looked forward and planned for second half of this year. We're up early, taking the MRT to Tanah Merah followed by bus service 35 to the ferry terminal (TMFT), where we checked in and had our breakfast before boarding the 11am ferry.

There's a wealth of informtion about Bintan and its tourist attraction spots while in the waiting area, including these cute souvenirs:

Bernice wanted a beach hat to wear at the beach resort so I bought her one. Looks good on her, isn't it?

The ferry took about 45 minutes to reach the Bintan jetty. Though we opted for the weekdays non-peak period, there were still quite a lot of tourists, which shows just how popular Bintan is!

Upon arrival (15 min coach journey), we were greeted by dancers performing their cultural welcome dance. Here's one beautifully adorned dancer (they have different outfits for different days) posing with Bernice:

We've heard that the meals in Bintan resorts are quite expensive (they charge everything in SGD!), so we decided to stock up a fair supply for our dinner meals and in-betweens (compare that with the standard snacks above which is minimum S$5 a piece):

Bintan Lagoon Resort is the largest among the many resorts in the island, boasting an 18-hole golf course, a beautiful beach in the Lagoi Bay, dining and shopping facilities, gym and leisure centre, and two large swimming pools...

Here's Bernice at the other pool with dual slides (left and right) in the background:
There are two wings (east and west) with different types of suites and deluxe rooms, as well as villas for large families. We opted for a high floor sea-facing room (5054) which was at the West Wing.

Our first activity on the first day was archery. It was a short drive to the shooting range which is just beside the golf driving range. At S$9.90 a pax, we're each given a bow and 20 arrows to practice on our own time. I may be bilingual, but Bernice is definitely ambidexterity (see how she uses both left and right hand shooting style?):

The next morning, we took a bus ride to Pasar Oleh Oleh, where you can shop for local handicrafts and souvenirs at a slightly cheaper price, and enjoy Indonesian massage at much lower prices than in the resorts.

Bernice saw this wishing well and decided to make a wish, but I doubt it'll come true since she forgot to throw in a coin. Hmm...

Of course, not forgetting one of my favourite animals, which Bernice would be more than happy to pull off the whiskers - if they grow on my cheeks!

And what is a beach resort holiday without beach photos? Here's four:

and another four:

Bernice made a wish at the well to have a car, but with COE costing $50k... she'll have to be content to settle for a buggy (at least it doesn't pollute as much!)

How about a game of snooker for a relax afternoon? You can be sure Bernice used her ambidexterity ability to her advantage again...

Feeding the koi's can be an enjoyable thing to do too, with added therapeutic benefits for stressed up city dwellers like us...

Breakfast at the resort's Kopi-O restaurant can be fun if you know how to put in a bit of creativity and imagination. It's an international thing - I mean the breakfast spread...

On the last day, we made some friends from Hong Kong too! From left to right: Calvin and his wife Vanessa, Anson their son and his girlfriend Gian.

It was a short but wonderful trip that will become part of our memories for years to come...

Angry Birds

2011-08-20T22:05:00.004+08:00

Today is SIM Member's Day 2011 and as usual, we've registered for three of the talks in advanced. What's unusal though, was after the first talk, while we were walking over to the open podium where the make-shift stalls were, we saw some kids throwing what looked like flurry balls of bird heads into the air. KT's immediate reaction was one of excitement as he exclaimed, "Angry birds...!" and hastened his footsteps to search for the stall that offered these stuff toys.

When he finally located it, he picked up the remaining three types (the white and blue colored ones were all sold out, unfortunately for him) and bought four (two red, one yellow, one black).

"I'm sure your nieces* would love 'em," KT remarked gleefully. "Why did you buy four?" I protested, to which he replied without skipping a beat, "One is for me mah!" At this, the sales girl serving us laughed knowingly. Sigh! that's my big kid hubby...

* Our readers who've read our earlier posts would've know my three nieces Vera, Athena and Meagan.

Tandoori Chicken and Pappadam

2011-08-07T21:12:00.002+08:00

Can't believe my eyes what's laid out on the dining table tonight... Northern Indian cuisine with a touch of Western sides (broccoli soup, not shown in the photos)!

Bernice was quite secretive when I asked her earlier what's for dinner. "Something different lah! But hor, must get all the ingredients first..." she said with glee. Right after our afternoon fellowship meeting in church, she began busying herself in the kitchen.

An hour or so later, I heard the usual "Dinner's ready!" and what greeted my eyes made me salivate with joy and appetite. On one serving plate were 15 pieces of pappadam (indian crackers), one bowl of tandoori chicken, one glass bowl with a mix salad of japanese cucumbers, mango cubes, onion strips and coriander bits, and a small bowl of yoghurt with mint leaf bits.

See how colorful and tantalizing these ingredients all adds up?

Verdict: Nalle Ruchi Undu (delicious!)

From Hole to Hokkien

2011-08-06T17:46:00.007+08:00

This morning we went to the Maxwell Road food market for our breakfast. After our meal, we decided to take a walk to Raffles Place MRT. While walking along the shop houses in South Bridge Road, I accidentally hit my right shoulder against one of the old mailbox which left a hole on my T-shirt. Well, guess it is now downgraded to home-wear status...

Somewhere along the Nankin Row of shop houses, we saw this rather narrow walkway which in our estimate, only permits slim people to go through.

Immediately after that, right across Fook Hai Building, we noticed a street named Upper Hokkien Street. "Wonder if the people who stay there are all hokkiens," Bernice asked. "Maybe in the past, but now with so many foreigners, who knows?" I casually remarked.

No matter. It was a good morning out for a change from the usual Saturday norm.

V-A-M

2011-08-01T21:21:00.004+08:00

Recently we bought some Thai coconut jelly from the West Coast market as dessert treat for one of our home meetings. After consuming, we thoroughly cleaned and dried the coconut shells and kept it on one of the bookshelves.

Yesterday after church, KT bought another eight of these, intending to bring it over to my mum's place for a dessert treat after dinner. While looking at the empty shells, suddenly his creative juice started to flow and he took out his white board markers and painted these cute faces on one side:

and wrote the names of my nieces on the back:

It's kinda hard to show the names in full because of the contour surfaces, so I'll fill our readers in: (from right to left) Vera, Athena* and Meagan. Now you know what V-A-M stands for, don't you?

Well, the girls were really delighted with the surprise as well as the dessert treat, and they finished quite a few of them, not just because it was yummy, but I suspected that they too have similar ideas in their little brains, which we'll probably find out on our next visit.

Seems like KT's artistic flair had the girls going COLD-COLD-NUT... pronounce with a HK accent and it would be simply perfect!

* KT gave me the honour to write one of my nieces name, knowing that I'm not as good in arts, and I really appreciated to be able to contribute my small part in this project.

Tom Kha Gai

2011-07-30T20:54:00.002+08:00

Quite some time back, Bernice enrolled for a session on Thai cooking. Finally, she decided to put what she'd learnt to good use tonight for our dinner meal:

This dish, called Tom Kha Gai (Kai), is literally chicken galangal soup, a spicy hot soup in both Thai and Laos cuisine. It is made with coconut milk (Bernice squeezed it herself), galangal (a kind of blue ginger from Laos), lemon grass, mushrooms, kaffir (I called it garfield) lime leaf and chicken. Bernice decided not to add green chilli as the galangal should give the soup it's level of spicyness that we could take.

Verdict? Envy me... slurp! slurp! (grin!)

Life Croissant, and On, and On...

2011-07-30T17:46:00.003+08:00

Since embarking on the Love Singapore's 40-day devotion cum prayer in my morning regime, we hardly had breakfast at home before setting off to work like we used to. This Saturday morning, however, Bernice was busy in the kitchen while I was praying in the guest room, and when I finally opened the door, what greeted me on the dining table was this:

It is true as what Jesus said, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). The croissant is certainly no average bread to me, and the butterheads, tom-mush-on omelette and avocado paste, topped with a glass of fresh orange juice more than made up for a hearty breakfast meal.

And that is definitely something to give thanks about!

Vinnie Vidi Vici

2011-07-26T15:45:00.004+08:00

Just having some fun with a play of words from Julius Caesar's famous latin quote: "Veni (I came), vidi (I saw), vici (I conquered)." How so? Why's that? (a strange Singaporean rendition that even had me baffled but read on and it'll make sense.)

Last night, we were invited together with the rest of the advisors* by Vinnie (director of Alpha Singapore) to her home for a thanksgiving dinner on the recent success of the pastors TMC conference, advisors' dinner cum training with Nicky and Sila, and also the Relationship Central Conference.

Besides the wonderful dinner and dessert, Vinnie also briefed us on the feedbacks from the various events that transpired. Each couple was then given an opportunity to recount their journey of love and marriage, which was really nice and heart-warming. We closed with a time of worship, praise and prayer.

So in our case, it would have been: "Vinnie (we came - to Vinnie's), vidi (we saw - the sumptuous spread), vici (we conquered - the food, that is)."

* In the picture: Fred (Flintstone) and Vinnie, Barry and Mei Wai, Philip and Choo Hong, Gareth and Theresa, Andrew, Derick, and us. Unfortunately, George and Pam were not around when the photo was taken.

Judith's Wedding

2011-07-23T18:12:00.003+08:00

Today, Bernice and I attended her long-time ex-ZGM friend, Judith's wedding, which was held in the Covenant Evangelical Free Church at Woodlands.

Here's the newly wed exchanging marriage vows. It's a reminder to us married couples of the vows we've made to our spouses too.

The tea reception was the same caterer as the one we engaged for our church wedding too - Smiling Orchid. I loved the dried laksa noodles and the dessert spread, especially the tiramisu pudding...!

It was also a good time to catch up with some good friends for Bernice on such a memorable occasion.

Coffee Club @ Taka

2011-07-21T20:49:00.003+08:00

This evening, Bernice and I met up at Taka after work for an evening out. We decided on Coffee Club at level 3 just beside Kinokuniya. It so happened that they're offering a 1-for-1 on Pastas & Rice or Sandwiches. We found a window seat and without realizing it, ordered what was featured on the promotional poster after looking at the menu: House Luscious Club sandwiches and Skipper's Delight Penne.

After dinner, we did a little shopping at the departmental store before breaking for the night.

Rooster Tells Time

2011-07-19T20:59:00.000+08:00

Stopped by Thomson Plaza on the way home and went to the Astoria shop to look for something to surprise Bernice. Saw this particular clock with a rooster and country home setting, with wooden frames that kinda match our living room feature wall:

Bernice was kinda curious when she saw me carrying the wrapped parcel but I simply kept mum. While she was in the bathroom, I quickly took the clock out and hung it in place of the plain old clock, and went about doing my things.

It wasn't long before Bernice noticed the change and let out her usual laughter of joy. She remarked that flowers design would be nice but the rooster will do just fine, coz it's the thought that counts. I told her there isn't any design with flowers of that sort, anyway.

How much did it cost me? $38 nett.

Quotable Quotes

2011-07-16T18:24:00.002+08:00

On marriage:
A good marriage requires the determination to be married for good.

On sensibility:
Our five senses are incomplete without the sixth - a sense of humor.

On parenthood:
You can get children off your lap, but you can never get them out of your heart.

Relationship Central Conference

2011-07-09T19:57:00.002+08:00

This Saturday morning we were up early as we needed to help out in the Relationship Central Conference (RCC) organised by Alpha Singapore at the Bethesda Bedok-Tampines Church (BBTC). The Bible Church turned out in strong support with 10 couples to volunteer as ushers and carpark marshals. The attendance was quite good with about 200 participants from various churches.

The speakers, Nicky and Sila Lee, are from Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) in UK. They were here to introduce the four courses they've put together to address the different stages of family life: The Marriage Preparation Course (TMPC), The Marriage Course (TMC), The Parenting for Children Course (TPCC) and The Parenting for Teenages Course (TPTC).

Here are part of the A-team ("A" as in Ask anything - though we may not have all the Answers, but hey, we'd try our best...)

and of course, not forgetting a group photo with the guest speakers.

It was a good conference. In fact, Bernice and I had the opportunity to go up stage to be interviewed by Nicky, just like what we saw in the TMC videos which we've attended more than a year ago (you can read it here), and had helped as one of the support couples in two runs of the program thereafter.

We're sure that many more couples like us will be inspired to start running these courses in their own churches, and that many marriages and families will thus benefit and be enriched as a result.

New Kitchen Door

2011-07-08T16:49:00.003+08:00

The previous owner of our home had installed a wooden bi-fold door that was rather worn down and unsightly, so we told our then contractor to remove it altogether. We've lived with a kitchen without door for more than two years, and whenever Bernice cooks a meal, we'll need to move the clothes that are washed and lined up in the living room somewhere else.

After a while this routine gets into us and that's when we began to think of installing a kitchen door. We've looked at a number of options on the market but none seems to fit well in our home setting. That's when we saw an advertisement on TV about this locally designed and made Pd Doors, a slide and open concept that readily appealed to us.

And so I booked a day for the sales person to come down and take measurements to decide how much it would cost to install one at our kitchen. We've also decided on the color and design to match our kitchen cabinet. That was two weeks ago.

Today, I took leave to supervise the installation, which took less than an hour (the fabrication took about 10 days though because of the tempered glass windows). And we're proud to show it to our readers now, in stages.

Fully closed:

then Slide opened half-way:

and finally Swing opened to the right:

Neat huh? How much did it cost us, you may be asking. S$549 including installation and silicon sealing works along the edges for a nice and flushed finish.

Ps: For those who might be interested, the pricing is based on the width of the doorway. The standard 800mm toilet door costs about $350-$450 depending on the materials selected. If the doorway is 1000-1200mm, it'll be about the price we paid. Anything beyond 1200mm will be of a different price range.

Sand Sculpting

2011-07-04T21:26:00.003+08:00

The West Coast Plaza is a new revamp from the old Ginza Plaza since it was bought over by the Far East Organization. Under the new management, there's been quite a few fanfares to attract shoppers and diners to this relatively new mall, one of which was this Sand Sculpting exhibition last month:

You've got to hand it to the pros to come up with such life-like and interesting ideas and designs.

Through such creativity and diversity, it's not hard to imagine what you can do with an otherwise ordinary pile of sand indeed!

Back to building sand-castle in the air...

Danish Grandeur

2011-07-03T13:23:00.002+08:00

Sunday early afternoon, Bernice and I were on our way to a nearby market when we spotted this great dane wearing a pair of sun-shade and sitting beside a tree, looking at its owner who's having his coffee at the hawker centre.

A dog's perception of color and vision acuity is about six times poorer than that of human. Talk about looking at the world through colored glasses!

My Tooth Fairy

2011-06-21T17:04:00.004+08:00

A real-life fairy tale that requires patient reading...

Three weeks ago, I had the unfortunate experience of biting into a guava seed, causing my top left second last molar to crack. It was a terrible feeling when the pain shot up the nerve upon impact, causing me to break into a cold sweat. Thinking that the guava seed might have lodged in the broken almagam fillings (and the only tooth with fillings), I frantically tried to dig it out using toothpicks and an opened up metal paper clip but to no avail.

The next day I went to the nearby Q & M Dental Clinic to have the molar examined. The dentist told me there's a substantial crack across one side, but she could not find any guava seed. I asked what's the options available. She listed out a few and suggested that I go for root canal treatment follow by crowning. The cost: $1400. I said I needed to think about it and went home.

The next two weeks I did not experience any major discomfort or pain, except for occasional nerve sensation along the left jaw and gum, taking care to eat only soft food (thankfully Bernice altered her menu to cater to my needs) and to chew slowly on the right side of the mouth.

I soon realized that this cannot go on indefinitely and decided to seek a second option. Bernice booked her dentist, Dr Leonard, last Wednesday and I took half day leave for the appointment. After a more thorough examination, he remarked that the outlook wasn't optimistic. As the crack was pretty deep, doing a root canal may cause the molar to give way. Crowning alone is possible but the tooth may not last more than three years. The option would be to extract the molar and make a denture or do an implant. He advised me to take an X-ray a week later to assess the extent of the crack before deciding on the course of action.

Meantime, the dentist applied some desensitizing agent around the molar and recommended me Elgydium, a toothpaste gel with fluorinol. However, the intense fluoride formula did the opposite and caused extreme nerve pain that left me awake for more than three hours that night, so much so that I had to sleep in a separate bed to avoid disturbing Bernice.

The next few nights I struggled with throbing sensation on the left side of my head whenever I laid down to sleep, and nerve pain when the office aircon is cold. That's it! It'll have to go - I finally decided. So the next appointment (which is today) with Dr Leonard was arranged, and Bernice took leave to accompany me.

Seeing my determination, Dr Leonard asked no further question and proceeded to apply some anesthetic cream around the gum of the molar, waited for a while and then applied a series of injections around it. "You'll feel some pressure," he said in a calm tone as the anesthesia begun to take effect. Well, I'll spare you the description and just simply tell you that after 20 minutes the molar was finally out - in four parts:

Was it painful? Nope. But there's certainly a lot of anxiety because this was the second time I went for tooth extraction; the first was during my primary school days, but it was so long ago the distant memory is just a blur...

So where's the tooth fairy, you ask? All this time she's beside me - encouraging, sympathizing, praying, preparing baby (soft) meals and cuddling me. And you know what? I don't have to put my broken molar under my pillow in exchange for gift or money; the tooth fairy is already married to me, and like all fairy tales ending, we live happily ever after (through life's thick and thin, of course!).

The end.

Candle Lamp

2011-06-13T20:59:00.003+08:00

A few weeks ago, I stopped by Thomson Plaza after work to buy a candle lamp to surprise Bernice for being such a nice wife. She really likes the design that I chose and decided to place it at the sofa table beside the roses. Here's a photo without flash under dim lighting:

And here's one with the flash on for a clearer but not that romantic effect:

Bernice loves the special ambience created by this new addition in the living room, and I'm sure she'll put the lamp to good use (in a romantic way, that is...grin!)

Scrabble Reloaded

2011-06-11T20:48:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since we had Scrabble and so Bernice asked if I'd like to play a game. As usual, I took on the challenge, knowing that the outcome's to my favour.

No surprises: KT - 304, Bernice - 217. All letters used up! Still, I really appreciate Bernice for being so sporting though she knew the chances of winning was probably less than one in ten. After all, love is about companionship and not competition, don't you agree?

Mexicana Extravaganza!

2011-06-03T20:56:00.002+08:00

For this evening, Bernice decided to go Mexican with this dish which she came up with: lightly blanched iceberg lettuce and red capsicum with mango slices, decorated with Kettle brand potatoe chips and topped with a rich paste of Guacamole (an avocado-based dip for the chips):

The verdict: Simply-deliciously nuitritious!

My Pastor

2011-06-03T20:55:00.002+08:00

As you might have already known, my chinese Pastor Timothy Huang is a tenor and a member of the Charis Singers Society. But what you may not know is that he's also an avid reader of a wide range of literature. So it's no surprise that Jin Yong, the master of chinese martial arts novel is one of his favourite authors.

It so happened that I received an sms from him this afternoon, reminding me of the equipping class he's conducting tomorrow morning. What follows was an amusing exchange (in chinese, of course):

TH: 莫忘明早之约，九时半见。

KT: 好的，不过因为上个礼拜六改期，与我的预约有冲突，必须提早离开，希望见谅。

TH: 不好意思，是我的错。

KT: 非也、非也！（包不同的口头阐）乐龄布道会，势在必行；我们等得了，年长者不一定等得啊！情有可原...

TH: 哈哈哈，那我要当段誉还是箫峰？

KT: 那就得看阁下的神通是什么了。依我看，若加了个黄腾卫，天龙八部可要改为九部了，那可是大大的不妙、不妙啊！在下还是先行告辞，明日再到教会与你华山论神学吧！

TH: 哈哈哈，笑死我了。

KT: 那就来个笑傲（ouch）江湖吧！拜拜了...

Well, you can't deny that he's one pastor whom you can just be yourself and share a little light moments with.

Kungfu Panda 2

2011-06-02T13:05:00.002+08:00

With all the rave reviews on this sequel to the famous Kungfu Panda, we decided that it's a good time to go catch the action at Golden Village in Tampines Mall, before paying Bernice's sister and her kids a visit on our day off.And you know what? Bernice actually enjoyed the hilarious animation movie as much as I did, even tearing a little during some of the touching moments. I'm sure she's looking forward to the trilogy. It's not a matter of if but when...

Carlton Revisited

2011-05-28T21:35:00.003+08:00

Today I accompanied Bernice to Bras Basah Complex to collect her new pair of glasses and to visit the Popular Bookstore and Tecman.

Along the way, we passed by the renovated Carlton Hotel with a new wing extension. It's been more than two years since we held our wedding dinner there while the construction work was still on-going. Now that it's completed, we decided to drop in for a look.

Much to our delight, the lobby has become bigger and there's this Lotus pond near the reception entrance.

On the walls are giant dragonflies perching. Bernice doesn't like insects but she's OK with the inanimate type though...

Outside the new wing, I chanced upon a peculiar bronze sculpture aptly named Birds on a Tree, and posed for a photo. Careful now, don't poo on me, birdies...

It was quite a relaxing Saturday outing, and we managed to find some books and music/audio CDs.

I is for...

2011-05-27T21:16:00.004+08:00

This evening, Bernice's eldest niece Isabel dropped by for dinner and to pick up a blazer. She's first year in Polytechnic.

Being the doting, caring aunt that she is, Bernice asked Isabel about her preferences a few days earlier and then decided on cajun fish with tomato salsa, lettuce and baked potatoes with herbs:

There's also dessert later on: sliced peach in fruit yougart, with additional blueberries and grapes to go with. It was a good time for Bernice to catch up with her niece's happenings, who has now entered into her teenage phase in life.

PIY - Completed!

2011-05-22T16:17:00.002+08:00

After almost three months of patience and hardwork, we are pleased to announce that the PIY project is completed:

Well, there's still one last step before it can be hung up for display, and that is the application of the gloss layer for protection. We're sure it'll look nice and homely in our master bedroom. Hooray!!!

SMSes Ident and Codec

2011-05-20T22:28:00.002+08:00

Youngsters these days seem to be hooked on short form when it comes to emailing, social networking and smsing. Take Bernice's niece Keziah, for example. Recently she wrote a short story entitled The Private Sister's Club and was excited to let her aunt read it, so she emailed Bernice the script. Guess what? Her emails are full of short form words, such as: sry (sorry), lyk (like), gtg (got to go), etc.

And before you know it, Bernice caught the bug. This evening on my way home, she smsed me: "Darling, can you buy some popiah on your way home, K?" I thot why not go along, and replied: "K. NP. WD." knowing that she'll be having a hard time figuring what these were. True enough, a while later, she reverted: "What? Me cooking."

That's what I was waiting for, and gleefully fired my volley: "You cooking, me kooning. WHAT (Wife Home Aung Travelling). NP (No Problem). WD (Will Do).

I'm sure Bernice will learn fast from such a gr8 tutor - her hubby (yours truly!).

A Special Guest

2011-05-15T21:55:00.004+08:00

Last evening, Bernice received a call from a brother to give a piano accompaniment to a special guest for today's worship service. At first, Bernice declined as she's not rostered to play this Sunday and thought it would not be nice to interject halfway. However, the brother handed over the phone to the guest who happened to be having dinner with him and his wife. This put Bernice on the spot and she finally agreed.

By now, our readers may be wondering who this special guest was. Well, if you remember the Taiwanese singer who sung The Past Can Only Be Recollected (Wang Shi Chi Neng Hui Wei) in the 70's, you'll know who she is - You Ya.

Anyway, she shared quite freely about her life's journey and search for true meaning and lasting satisfaction, and finally found it in Jesus Christ, and presented the song What a Friend We Have in Jesus to the delight of the congregation and quite a number of new comers who are long time fans of her.

Too bad I didn't manage to take a picture of Bernice with her as she had to hurry to another destination right after the worship service. But it was a different experience, I guess, that Bernice got a chance to play for a well-known and well-loved singer of yester-year.

Lunch Treat

2011-05-08T20:15:00.005+08:00

Today after church service, we met up with Dena and Mary at the newly opened Clementi Mall for lunch. Dena is a close acquaintance in our Chinese Ministry (CM) who serves in various capacity since the CM's humble beginnings. She's the one who initiated this lunch fellowship, partly to show appreciation for Bernice's contribution as pianist for worship, as well as to thank her for helping to record some singspiration piano pieces on request.

We decided on Ichiban Sushi and had a wonderful time relating and updating on each other's happenings. From left: Dena, Mary and Bernice (no guessing who was the photographer here).

Thank God for the bond of love in Jesus Christ!

(For the record, Dena together with another sister, presented a song item during our church wedding more than two years ago. We're glad to have her in our life journeys.)

Sweetheart and Mozzie

2011-05-06T21:02:00.003+08:00

Just last night, Bernice was visited by a house mozzie (mosquito) and made a blood donation without her consent. Still feeling upset at bedtime, she asked me, "Why is it that the rascal chose to bite me over you?"

I thought for a moment and replied with a mischievious look, "Maybe your blood is sweeter* than mine?" "Huh! Really?" she half protested. Suddenly a light bulb turned on in my head and I exclaimed, "I know the answer!" "Oh? What..." Bernice looked at me suspiciously, knowing that I have the habit of cracking a joke or two (at her expense) before sleeping.

"It must be because they heard me called you sweetheart," I said, trying to put up a convincing act while controlling myself from laughing. "What is there in the word sweetheart to attract the mozzie?" Bernice asked, more puzzled than ever.

So I delivered the punchline, "You know mosquitoes have different hearing frequency range than us humans, so when I call you sweetheart, they'll hear it as 'sweet-blood' that's why!" With this, I couldn't hold it any longer and burst into uncontrollable laughters.

"KT...!!!" Bernice realized she fell for the trick and started beating me albeit in a 'loving' way. "Alright, alright, peace now..." I feigned surrender. But as soon as she stopped, I added, "From now on I'll just stick with 'dearie' and forget about 'sweetheart' just to be safe!"

"KT...!!!" This time Bernice** couldn't help laughing her head off over my remarks.

* Some people said if your blood is too acidic, you may be more likely to be bitten by mozzie. I'm not sure how true this is, but I'm open to more opinions that can add to our bedtime fun, though.

** Poor Bernice. She'd probably resigned to the fact that she married a hubby who's half the time a grown up kid at heart, but hey, that's where the fun of being married is, don't you know? Hahaha...

PIY - Almost

2011-05-02T22:13:00.002+08:00

Well, the paint-it-yourself project that we've embarked on our 2nd wedding anniversary is coming to fruition. All 24 colors are in, with only black color to go...

Please cheer us on by leaving a comment or two. Thanks!

GE 2011

2011-04-28T20:32:00.002+08:00

The past weeks leading to May 7 is an exciting time for Singaporeans, because it is General Election time. The parliament has been dissolved and both ruling party and opposition parties had been busy preparing for the election contest and fielding in their candidates to vie for the 87 seats.

This time round, the oppositions are contesting in all the GRCs and SMCs (except Tangjong Pagar). And for the first time after more than ten years with two walkovers, the residents are given an opportunity to vote. Below is the poll card which every Singaporean eligible to vote has received by now.

To preserve our confidentiality, we've masked out our home address on the card. Some remarked that though voting is secret, the serial number on the voting slip makes it easy for the government to trace and know who we vote for. But whatever the rational or fear, we're still convinced that ultimately it's the people's choice that'll count.

Come May 7, hopefully a better government will be elected and formed, which takes the welfare and voices of the people to heart instead of just focusing on the nation's economic achievements at any cost, morally, ethically or politically.

Let Singapore become a place where true-blooded Singaporeans can identify, endear and call HOME again!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T18:10:00.005+08:00

Today is Good Friday. Our Chinese Ministry (CM) had a morning gathering to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ. The difference though, was the way the gathering was conducted. This time, we had six groups of brethren taking turn to go up and present a portion of the account of Luke 22:39-23:56. Each section contained a hymn, scripture reading, short sharing, and prayer.

I was tasked to lead the fourth theme - "Voices Prevailed". Below is the transcript of my sharing on Luke 23:13-25

(click on image for a better view)

For the benefit of our english speaking reader, here is the translation:

And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. (Luke 23:23)

The world generally thinks that if you have power, money, and position - your words will be heard and given heed to. Looking at the current world politics, the strength and unity of the masses can often affect or change the political direction of a nation. After all, the people's voice is not something any politician can ignore or suppress, just like the crowd which the religious Pharisees stirred up, even though they might not realize what they were doing is wrong or against the Law; they were adamant to win by the majority's insistence, regardless of Jesus' ability to perform miracles, or Pilate's unwillingness to condemn him, they believed that their voices would ultimately prevail.

Truth is, they didn't realize that Jesus, by not defending himself, was actually fulfilling God's will and all that the prophets had said about Messiah. Just as Isaiah 53:7 stated

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

In fact, who can understand the ways of God? And just as the Apostle Paul revealed:

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

No doubt, their voices had prevailed - for now; but one day, the Jesus who was crucified on the cross, but rose again from the dead on the third day, shall come again. On that day, his voice, which is as the sound of many waters (Revelation 1:15), shall have the final say - and victory!

Charis Singers

2011-04-18T22:04:00.003+08:00

This week in the Christian calender is known as the Holy Week. In anticipation of Good Friday, the Society of Charis Singers (of which our Chinese Pastor Timothy Huang is a member), together with three guest performers (Maestro Alvaro Sanchez - Harp, Andayoma - gospel/jazz singer and Lim Choo Li - Guzheng), put up a musical performance entitled The Beginning and The End at the Queenstown Methodist Church auditorium.

Two weeks before I bought tickets for Bernice and myself, as well as for our neighbours and a colleague to attend this special event..

It was quite a wonderful performance, as can be seen from the list of 16 items on the programme sheet. We were treated to a chorus of instrumentals and combinations of duet, trio and quartet renditions from various classical masterpieces by renowns such as Mozat, Haydn, Vivaldi, etc.

An evening well spent in contemplation of the Messiah in His first advent and suffering.

Birthday Surprises 2

2011-04-16T17:34:00.007+08:00

This year, Bernice had to spend her birthday at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because her company's MD meeting happened to fall on the same week. In her absence, I decided to do some plumbing work on the common toilet's faucet which had been leaking recently*. There you go, a brand new tap with three ticks for better water saving:

On Thursday, I didn't sms Bernice to wish her happy birthday, but chose to wait till almost time for her to sleep, and then smsed her a lullaby birthday song (Later she recounted to me how she had wondered during the day whether I've forgotten her birthday, and prayed to God to remind me. Hahaha... I told her sending a birthday sms on time is too common, but sending one at the right time can be special, and makes it more memorable too.)

After work on Friday, I stopped by the florist shop to buy a bouquet of roses and put it inside the fridge. That's surprise number 1 in my plan which was hatched during the past three days while Bernice was away...

This morning, after replacing the leaking faucet in the common toilet, I went about to wash the master bedroom toilet and swept the the house so that Bernice could come back to a home that's spit and span (well almost).

With an hour to go before going to the airport to meet Bernice, I took a bus to the nearby West Coast Plaza to look for the ingredients for my other surprises. At Japan House, I saw this rather interesting sunburst windmill and thought it would be nice if Bernice could be greeted thus (the stuff doggy in the picture is Max, Bernice's house pet). This is surprise number 2:

There was a bazaar at the adjacent ground level so I went over to take a look. I came across this stall that sells plants inside glass jars (it's known as Terrarium) and the fittonia** piece captured my imagination. So I forked out $25, bought one home and placed it at Bernice's dresser table's mirror where she's sure to see it. And that's surprise number 3:

To top it off, I made a welcome placard and pasted it on the master bedroom door, before setting off to the airport.

Imagined Bernice's reactions when she come home! "Why you close the bedroom door?" Bernice protested as she was feeling tired and wanted to take a rest. But her tiredness gave way to delight when she saw the spinning windmill (yup, I left the fan on to create the effect. grin!).

Before she could catch her breathe, the Terrarium stirred her emotions further. "So nice!" Well, just as I planned but not quite. Bernice went to the kitchen to have a drink but she didn't open the fridge (arrrgh!...)

"Any more surprises for me?" Bernice eagerly asked and searched my face for clues. "You asked that same question last year, remember?" I replied nonchalantly, pretending not to know. As she was quite tired out, I told her to take a short nap. After Bernice woke up from her nap, she wanted to eat some fruits but there's none as far as she could remember. "We may still have some fruits, I think. Time seemed to have frozen when you're not around, you know." I dropped her a hint to encourage her to check out the fridge but she still didn't get it.

I was about to give up and return to painting the PIY canvas when Bernice let out a cry. I went over to the kitchen and there she was, standing with the fridge door opened. When I got near her, she slapped my left arm in delightful annoyance that I could keep up the act for so long (hey, patience is a virtue that carries a lot of wait, you know...)

. See how the roses brought out the smile on Bernice's face? That certainly made all the troubles I'd gone through worth the while...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEARIE SWEETHEART!

* In fact, for the past two months, I fixed a leaking kitchen faucet as well as the leaking toilet pipe, which was the most troublesome of the three. I've tried sealing the leak with leftover plaster paste and waterproof silicon compound but that didn't work until I used epoxy at the suggestion of a plumber who came to take a look at the pipe.

** I told Bernice the red fittonia represents her and the green (taller one) represents me. Neat, isn't it?

P-I-Y

2011-04-03T15:20:00.002+08:00

Remember the paint-it-yourself project I mentioned in my Feb 28 post? Here the's progress:

After 5 colors:

After 10 colors:

After 15 colors:

After 20 colors:

Progress has been slow as we could only work a bit at a time after work in the evening, and some time during the weekends. It takes a lot of patience but I'm sure once the artwork is completed the end product will be worth the effort. Ganbatte ne! .

Chengdu Trip (7-11 Mar 2011)

2011-03-14T20:19:00.005+08:00

Just last week, I went on a mission survey trip to Chengdu with my church's pastoral team. Due to the confidential nature, I cannot post too much information online. Suffice it to say, we had a fruitful trip.

Chengdu is part of Sichuan province, so naturally the food there is spicy (and numbing, that's where the term 'ma-la' comes from). Just take a look at this dish and you'll see why...

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Of course, it's not just meetings and discussions. We had the opportunity to visit some scenic tourist spots. Here's where LiuBei, GuanYu and ZhangFei (the dark complexion guy in the middle) visited the humble abode of the renown war strategist ZhuGeLiang three times before he agreed to render his service.
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Here's a toddler taking her walk in the part with her grandfather.
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The people in Chengdu are generally relax as the pace of life here is much slower than that in Beijing and Shanghai.
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A visit to the Panda Research Centre...
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... and some light moments with my pastor, a fun-guy to be with ...
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... and of course, not forgetting the pandas (nope, they don't practice kungfu like what you saw in the Disney animation, Kungfu Panda).
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I'm sure there will be opportunity to re-visit Chengdu in the future, when there is more focused and concrete plans on how my church can play a part in reaching the locals as well as the south-west region where more than 400 groups of unreached people live.

2nd Wedding Anniversary (Continue)

2011-02-28T21:45:00.003+08:00

Bernice suggested we go to Dempsey Road where there's many different restaurants serving a variety of cuisines. I thought it was a good idea, since I've not been there for quite a while. As we made our way along the stretch of eateries, we heard some noisy clutterings coming from the nearby Lotto Garden. There were many colorful parrots clamouring for attention from passers-by.

We passed by a butcher's shop with this perculiar signage advertising the various parts of a cow that can be found inside. Talk about educating your customers...

. We finally chose Villa Entrique, a Spanish Restaurant, for our anniversary meal. The ambience was kinda warm and relaxing, with Spanish background music, of course!
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Bernice opted for the Entrecote (Sirloin steak, well-done) and Carmomile tea...
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while I ordered the Ciervo en Cazuela (venison) with Mocha.
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It was a simple anniversary dinner and we both enjoyed the meal as well as each other's company.

2nd Wedding Anniversary

2011-02-28T17:56:00.004+08:00

This year, our wedding anniversary falls on a Monday, so we took leave to spend time with each other. We decided to do something different this time - paint an art piece. This idea came about some time last Christmas, when I met up with Bernice after work at Bishan's Junction 8 for dinner. We saw a cart stall that sells P-I-Y (Paint-It-Yourself) kit. There were some completed works on display and Bernice really liked one of them. Since the display sets are not for sale, I suggested buying a kit to paint for our anniversary. Bernice was elated!

As you can see, the canvas, brushes and acryllic paints are all included in the kit.

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If you take a closer look, the canvas has all the outlines of the unpainted artwork, with numbers matching each paint color. Our kit has 24 colors, not counting black.
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Here's us painting the canvas together. It really helps build patience and teamwork, not to mention the fun and bonding we had.
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After spending almost five hours, we managed to complete only six of the colors. It's certainly a time-consuming task but seeing the artwork taking form makes the effort worthwhile indeed.
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The second part of our celebration will be an evening meal at somewhere posh. Will update our readers once we have the photos, so stay tune...
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Oomphatico

2011-02-20T22:03:00.005+08:00

This evening Bernice and I met up with two support couples for a fellowship dinner meal at the Oomphatico restaurant in Tanglin Mall. Here's Bernice with Royston and Jade, who are also our marriage mentors. They recommended this place, a first time for us.

There were these over-sized cups on displayed at the bar counter, which according to the proprietor, were bought from Dubai. Bernice thought the designs were quite nice.

Surprise, surprise! They serve plates with my favourite animal - CATS! Well, for once Bernice didn't protest about it...

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I ordered a tendeloin burger while Bernice opted for the Oomphatico's Club sandwich - a house classic with light rye bread, sakura chicken, crispy bacon, cheddar, avocado, tomato and egg. Certainly looked more tantalizing than mine...
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The ambience was relaxing, especially the floral sofa and ceiling lightings.
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We thoroughly enjoyed the food and company, and look forward to more of such opportunities with the rest of the support couples.

A Psalm of Life

2011-02-19T16:04:00.002+08:00

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers...
And things are not what they seem.
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Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
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Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
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Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
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In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
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Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
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Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
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Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
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Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
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by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1807–1882
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Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T20:40:00.003+08:00

This year, we decided to spend Valentine's Day at home with each other over a simple dinner meal after work. Bernice prepared vegetable curry and lightly toasted some roti prata (Indian bread) to go with it instead of rice. She run out of carnation milk so called my mobile to place order.

On my way home, I stopped by NTUC to fulfil her order, and then, unknown to Bernice, hurried over to the only flower shop, hoping to get a stalk of rose to surprise her. Imagine my surprise to see a long queue forming outside the shop. "That's going to take too long, and Bernice's curry can't wait..." I mused, "Think, think. Where else got flowers? Ah, the wet market!"

I hurried over and was relieved that the solitary stall was still opened. Unfortunately, there's just a few unsightly stalks of roses left. A quick glance and I decided on the white lily...

See how happy it looks? Bernice said so herself, and she was pleased to receive this for a change. Shakespeare said that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; but I think the lily smells nicer in this instance...
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Steamboat

2011-02-11T22:29:00.003+08:00

It's a cold, rainy Friday evening. Very suitable for a steamboat dinner. That's what Bernice thought, since she had contemplated getting an induction cooker for next Wednesday's lady fellowship dinner in our home.

So immediately after work, she hurried over to Plaza Singapura's Carrefour to look for one, and at the same time buy the necessary ingredients for tonight's menu - lean sliced pork meat, crab meat sticks, shitake and enoki mushrooms, toufu, lettuce and udon.

All set and ready to go, except for the soup stock. Quickly she boiled a pot of water, added sliced carrots and corn chunks, and threw in a Knorr chicken cube. With the table set, what's left was for yours truly to come home and start the foodfare. I was delighted...

And so I fired up the induction cooker, adjusted the power to bring the broth to boiling point, cracked in an egg, dump in the ingredients in generous proportion, and tada...

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Verdict: A very satisfying, delicious and nuitritious meal. Burp! Yum...
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Salmon Says...

2011-02-09T21:57:00.003+08:00

Nope, it's not a typo in case you're wondering if I meant, "Simon says..."

Been clearing some old smses from my mobile and came across this little exchange some time in November last year:

"Tonite's menu is baked Salmon."

"Alright! Another 10-15 min and I should be home. Salmon, salmon, wait for me..."

"Okie, Salmon says can. :)"

It's fun to read such dated smses and be reminded of the warmth that it once brought to the heart, because it's not the big things we do that make a relationship works, but the simple, everyday interactions that's motivated by love and conveys the message, "You're important to me!"

And that's what really matters!

Ps: I'll see if there's more of such smses that can bring a smile to our readers, subject of course to the approval of you-know-who... (Heh-heh-heh...)

Food Diary

2011-02-08T21:33:00.003+08:00

The CNY holiday is over and certainly it's been a time of feasting prior and during this Chinese festive season. Days before the CNY, Bernice prepared kimchi with instant noodles to help me burn up some fats and calories...

Just yesterday, she cooked this vegetarian dish (sea cucumber, asparagus, red pepper and black fungus) to ease us off the sumptuous feasting we had for the past five days...

This evening as I came back home from work, our neighbour came over to give us this home-baked jian-bing (Chinese pancake) which her mother-in-law made. How nice! In fact, the third day of CNY we invited them over for pizza and she prepared a big tub of sushi too...

We're happy to have such hospitable new neighbours and look forward to knowing them better. Well, seems like our breakfast tomorrow is settled! Yum...
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CNY 2011

2011-02-03T11:54:00.004+08:00

Today is the first day of Lunar Chinese New Year (CNY) 2011. Two evenings ago we went to the nearby pasar malam to buy a pot of CNY plant to deco the area outside our home. The seller said it's mini chilli tomato (Bernice wondered if the colorful fruits can be eaten).

We also bought some Gladiolus to brighten up the living room, as we're expecting some friends on the third and fourth day. The flowers are starting to blossom already, and should be in full bloom just in time for our guests to admire.
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Of course, CNY tidbits is a must so we also prepared some traditional cookies and crackers.
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Here's wishing all our Chinese readers a very happy and family-oriented CNY. May you and your loved ones have a wonderful reunion on this joyous occasion. .

Then and Now

2011-01-25T21:12:00.002+08:00

This wedding studio photo was featured in our Chinese Ministry (CM) 10th Anniversary Memoir along with our testimony on how God has brought us together and led us to the present church where we're worshipping and serving.

Just last Saturday morning, while Bernice was busy with the laundry, readying the clothes to be put out for drying, I was looking at this photo in the memoir and glancing up at her at the same time. Before long, Bernice noticed it and remarked, half annoyingly, "What's the matter? Your sweetheart not as beautiful as before is it?"

I did not reply her immediately but simply return a big, bright smile (hey, I just had my teeth cleaned last December end by her dentist, you know). "You certainly look more aunty now with those short curly hairs," I finally replied with a chuckle. "Huh!" Bernice mildly protested and continued with her chores, while I reflected...

Yup, we're married almost two years, and much has changed. Bernice no longer spot the shoulder length hair she had before we marry. And she's not as careful in maintaining her lady image when she's alone with me like she used to when we were dating. But that did not bother me at all. In fact, I've learnt to appreciate her for who she IS in real, everyday life, now that we live together as husband and wife.

It never ceases to amaze me how she so meticulously plan the home menu for each week, and go to great length to get the right ingredients, and hurries back from work each day to prepare the dinner, just so that we could enjoy a healthy home-cooked meal (of course, I help to wash-up after the meal). On top of that, she does the laundry (hand-wash as well as machine-wash), irons my clothes, wakes up early every morning (weekends and holidays without exceptions) to prepare breakfast (we eat out or buy back sometimes) and fill my mug with warm water, ready my shoes with the door light turned on, and doubles up as my alarm clock (with sweet, warm, musical voice) should I oversleep, recite verses she read from the Bible on some mornings, gives me massage on days when work takes a toll on me, etc.
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As I looked at this wonderful woman that God brought into my life, I felt overwhelmly blessed... House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD. (Proverbs 19:14) An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. (Proverbs 31:10) Well, I found mine... in Bernice!

So while I did not answer her at that point as I looked at our wedding photo, I was almost short of saying, "Then, you were the most beautiful bride to me; but NOW, you're the most loving wife I have or could ever ask for!"

eBay

2011-01-11T21:52:00.006+08:00

Tonite I just sold my Juwell fish tank with cabinet for $219 to an eBay buyer who've bidded successfully. Of course to make it attractive, I threw in my Nisso Room-Mate 903 nano tank and some accessories. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the transaction. Now we've got more space in the living room as well as the store room.

Actually, Bernice was the one who put up the item for me in her eBay account. In fact, we've put up quite a fair bit of things for auction online, one of which is the 3-door shoe cabinet below:

It's pretty slick in design and color, and measures L48xW15xH42 inches. We bought it for $499 at Brighton (Queenstown) and are letting go at $250. Still in pretty good condition.

Any of our Singapore-based readers interested? Please visit our auction here (we've moved the ad to pHing).
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48

2011-01-02T16:53:00.002+08:00

Today's my birthday. Bernice was up early to get ready the ingredients for my lunch treat, as she'd only be back from choir practice around 1pm after church. Unknown to me, she had also slipped in a birthday card into my drawer to surprise me. And it was addressed "To the man I love..." - how sweet!

See the bowl of mee sua below. Ya, I know. There's so much ingredients inside one could hardly see the mee sua; but I'm not complaining, and I won't blame you for envying me either.

And oh, by the way, she used chicken soup stock which she prepared last evening, which really made it so tasty I finished the whole bowl bottoms up... Delicious, slurp! slurp!
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Joyous New Year 2011

2011-01-01T11:02:00.002+08:00

Last evening we had a thanksgiving worship in church for our Chinese Ministry (CM) 10th year together with the English Ministry (JSS, Youth and Adult). Our hearts were filled with gladness as we immersed in worship praises, testimonies, exhortation and photo slides, reminding us how God faithfully nurtured and guided CM to what it is today.

After supper, we, together with a few other sisters, proceeded to Tze Tong and Poh Leng's home at Ghim Moh for a time of fellowship as we count down to 2011. Elders Chin Tiong and Kok Wah and their spouses came over a while later, and we got to know them better from the EM. Before that, Poh Leng gave Bernice a perculiar looking dice with the following words on it:

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I guess we're going to have some fun deciding who's gonna do what the next time we do our household chores.
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Here's wishing all our readers a very blessed New Year 2011!
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Ps: This morning Bernice and I played the dice and guess what? We ended up with the same tasks that we're doing all this while! (Bernice - laundry and cooking; KT - dish washing and mopping) Haha, seems like we'll have to stick to our areas of specialty after all...
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The Manhattan Fish Market

2010-12-30T21:55:00.004+08:00

This morning after our annual dental appointment at the Pacific Medical and Dental Clinic in Yishun, we decided to lunch at the Manhattan Fish Market outlet in North Point Mall. There were some rather interesting placards on the wall:

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Even the serviettes come with a touch of humor:

What's Baking, Dearie?

2010-12-29T22:11:00.003+08:00

Today Bernice went for her hands-on New Year Cake baking lessons at the Creative Culinaire School at 17 Eng Hoon Street, which she had signed up earlier. The instructor is the founder of the school, Chef Judy Koh, and for the 5-hour session (1-6pm), she taught a class of 20 over students how to make Kueh Lapis, Egg White Marble Cake, and New Year Prosperity Cake.

During Bernice's absence, I busied myself with a couple of household chores as well as catching up with some reading. However, about 5.30pm I received an sms from Bernice that the class was going to overtime and she'd be late for home and dinner. That's when I decided to drop by and accompany her home after washing up. Bernice was delighted, of course.

The place wasn't difficult to find, considering I'd done a Google map and street view of the location earlier to help Bernice locate it. Within 30 minutes I was making my way from the bus stop to the school. On the way back to the bus stop, I showed Bernice the life Alaska giant crabs I saw outside the Sin Hoi Sai Seafood Restaurant.

We had Teochew porridge dinner at the coffee shop beside it. While waiting for our bus, I noticed a perculiarly decorated scooter parked nearby and asked Bernice to take a photo with her Pixon12:

Gerbera Christmas

2010-12-23T22:23:00.004+08:00

Christmas is just two days away, and already I'm busy wrapping gifts for some of my closer colleagues, and helping Bernice with hers for her colleagues as well.

Earlier, Bernice asked what I'd like for Christmas; I told her that she's the best Christmas gift I could ask for. On my way home, I stopped by the florist shop to buy some Gerberas and baby breath. Since Bernice's in church to play the piano for the Christmas worship rehearsal, I put the bouquet on her dressing table.

When she came back home, I pretended to do my things as usual while she went into the master bedroom. Moments later I heard her laughters and knew she must've been delighted with the early Christmas surprise. Eagerly she placed the flowers in the vase as the centrepiece for the dining table. Well, it's been quite a while since we last had flowers at home...

Here's wishing all our readers a very blessed Christmas for the year 2010! May we stop for at least a brief moment to reflect on the reason for this special season...
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Man pauses but a moment to honor a birth.

Yet, were he to stay longer, were he to look deeper,

He could see Creation.

The birth would still be there,

An archetypal pattern

for the millions who are always moving forward

On a transcendental journey of themselves.

A Fruitcake Christmas

2010-12-18T17:49:00.004+08:00

This year, The Bible Church (TBC) emarked on a different kind of community outreach program to reach out to the West Coast neighbourhood - a children's musical entitled: A Fruitcake Christmas (see brochure below).

Bernice was in church earlier at 10am for the Christmas worship rehearsal, while I went over at 11am. The sanctuary was packed with parents and their children who signed up for this program, and I could sense the excitment and enthusiasm among them as the children immersed themselves in the musical that's being played out by the TBC's young teens. It was very well choreographed as actors and backstaged personnels blend in their efforts to bring out the true message of Christmas to everyone present there...

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After the show, the people made their way out of the sanctuary down to the fellowship hall where more fun activities awaited the children (and adults alike, no doubt).
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In trying to reach out to the neighbourhood, TBC has often portray itself as a Christian community that emphasizes healthy, creative and caring group of people whose members are willing to put in the time and effort to share their gifts and talents with every person that steps into the church vicinity, even if it's for the first time!
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You could tell how delighted both parents and children were as they interact with the Christians through wholesome and fun games that were thoughtfully designed to remove the barriers, and allowed TBC to establish good faith with the people to invite them to church in a non-threatening way to learn more about Christianity.
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Of course, everyone is eager to have their photos taken with the fantastic cast of characters who put up a fantastic show that's not only entertaining but also meaningful in the Christian sense, which to some extent allowed the participants to see Christmas in a different light than the usual commercialism and self-gratifying context which they're so used to.
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My favourite character happened to be the cockcroaches (which Bernice irks), so I jumped on the opportunity to take a photo with the bigger of the two rascals (as Bernice used to call those bugs).
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Bernice on the other hand, is more attracted to the butterflies so I made doubly sure she had hers taken with these two pretty winged bugs who also sung beautifully during the musical presentation.
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Soon it was lunch time and we adjorned to the West Coast Plaza (WCP) next door. As with any shopping mall, WCP was bustling with Christmas activities. There's even a snowman-making contest that allowed family members to participate as a team, which certainly helped to bond the parents and children together.
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West Coast may be a little out of the way compared to the likes of Orchard Road or Marina Bay, but I like the more demure yet family-oriented form of community spirit that's alive here than the high and dry form of consumerism and hedonism (pleasure-seeking as an end in itself philosophy) that's synonymous with these commercial districts.

Dory Dearie

2010-12-17T10:20:00.000+08:00

It's not often that Bernice prepares deep fried meals at home, but last evening she decided to try out the dory fish recipe with a little touch of her own improvision - mashed blanched cauliflower with sliced carrot and parsley shaped into an inverted bowl (looked like fried rice at first glance) and some pasta with microwave-heated roasted garlic and herbs finishing sauce.

Topped it with a glass of home-made fruit punch (non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice, ice-freeze lime and promogranade juice, bubbly Sprite, slices of lemon and sprinkles of mint leaves), and what you ended up with is a delicious dinner complimented with a refreshing cocktail drink.

Verdict: Simply heavenly (burp! excuse me...)

Weekend Outings

2010-12-12T20:21:00.005+08:00

This weekend was quite an evenful one. Saturday morning, we took Bernice's nieces and nephew to Vivocity to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. After the movie we had lunch at Food Republic before bringing them to our home for some fun activities for the afternoon. It's school holiday, after all. Bernice made some banana muffins for the kids while I occupied them with games (iPod, Wii, dart board, boggle, etc).

Sunday after worship, Bernice stayed back for the choir practice while I went home to put out the clothes for drying and to settle some business matter. In the late afternoon, we took a bus to Thomson Plaza as Bernice booked a complimentary training session with Yamaha for the PSR-S710 keyboard she bought sometimes back.

It's early December and already the Christmas decorations were up to attract the crowd.

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The training class was conducted on Level 3 in the Concert Salon room. There were only a handful of people so the training was quite personal.
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After the class, we adjorned to the food court (Kopitiam) at Level 1 for our dinner. I thought the dry curry chicken noodle was quite value for money ($4.50) compared to the Unagi set meal ($6.80).
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As we're having our dessert (popiah) and guava juice drink, I noticed a 10-year old boy carrying his younger brother on his back while ordering his meal. In an increasingly affluent society where children are overly pampered and spoilt, it's nice to see an older child caring for his younger sibling instead of rivalry and strife. I'm sure this boy will turn out to be a fine young man in time to come.
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KKMC

2010-12-04T16:00:00.003+08:00

Just barely one week has passed and we're invited to another church wedding, this time by Bernice's former cell group friends, Vincent and Shirley's son, Andrew and his fiancee Evon. The place was at the Kampong Kapor Methodist Church (KKMC), somewhere near Little India. We were late by 30 minutes due to slow traffic on a rainy day and mis-judgment of the bus route. Fortunately, we got to see the bride making ready her entrance to the aisle.

Both Andrew and Evon are involved in Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) outreach full-time, and it was not surprising that their CCC teammates and church friends turned up in force to support them. I thought the exhortation given by their pastor on 1 John about love was quite good and filled with practical advices for the newly wed.

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The highlight of any church wedding, as always, is the solemnization of marriage...
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...which included the giving away of the bride, the wedding vows, the exchanging of rings, and the unveiling and kissing of the bride, of course.
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Besides the lighting of the unity candle, the pronouncement of blessings upon the couple, there's also a special dance and song item presented before the benediction.
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The bride and groom then gave a thanksgiving speech to acknowledge their gratitude to their parents, and appreciation to all the helpers and the brothers and sisters who in one way or another brought the two of them together in their life journeys.
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Thereafter, we're treated to a lunch reception at the function hall where sumptuous buffet dishes awaited the guests, and provided opportunities for old friends to catch up and renew ties.
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After the meal, we spent some time to explore the church compound and took some photos before making our way back home.
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Now that we're married, attending weddings take on a special meaning and added another dimension to such joyous occasions that perhaps only married couples can appreciate...

ONE degree 15

2010-11-27T23:25:00.006+08:00

Today's a rather happy and eventful day out for us, because we're invited to Bernice's cousin, Theresa's church wedding lunch and dinner. The holy matrimony was conducted at the Bethesda Chapel in Lorong Melayu, near Kembangan MRT.

As with most church wedding, you'd expect the usual order of events, one of which is the bridal procession with the page boy bearing the wedding rings and the flower girls, followed by the bride and her parent (in Theresa's case, her dad had passed away so it's left to her mum to give her away).

Then there's the solemnization, the unveiling and kissing of the bride, the signing of the marriage certificate, the lighting of the unity candle (an option), and the couple's fellowship community giving their blessings to the newly wed.
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Next come the moment everyone's looking forward to - the wedding lunch reception.
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Getting to have a photo with the newly wed wasn't easy, as the bridegroom seemed preoccupied with entertaining so many of his friends and relatives. Well, we'll just have to make do here and be content to have a shot with the bride then...
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On our way home, we stopped by Tiong Bahru Plaza for Bernice to have her red high heel shoes fixed. While waiting, I loitered around the complex and saw that the festive atmosphere has already arrived with all the decos and busy shoppers.
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The wedding dinner was at ONE degree 15 at Sentosa Cove. It was kinda out of the way but fortunately Bernice's brother-in-law offered us a lift since they're also invited. It was a prestigious place to hold a wedding dinner since the Marina Club is residential for the rich and affluence.
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Finally, before the dinner started, we managed to have a photo taken with the bride and groom.
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You could tell by their expression how happy the couple were. We certainly prayed that their marriage and life together will be a blissful one in the years to come...
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Of course, in such a setting every guest would rejoice with the couple and their families. Many happy returns to you both... Cheers (or bottoms up, yam-seng)!
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Bernice's nieces were present, adding to the fun and cheer as they pestered me for attention to play with them. From right: Vera, Athena, and mischievious Meagan.
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Finally dinner's over at slightly past 10.45pm as we made our way to the car park. It's a night to be remembered for the couple, no doubt, and for many who turned up to celebrate their union as husband and wife.
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I doubt we'd set foot again at this prestigious yacht club, so we decided to take a few photos just for memory's sake.

China Trip 2010 - Shanghai (Part 6)

2010-11-17T12:00:00.007+08:00

The final highlight of our China trip was the Shanghai World Expo 2010. You simply can't imagine the scale of this event unless you've been there. As the tour guide remarked, "If you don't go to the Expo, you'll regret for the rest of your life; after you've been to the Expo, however, you'll live the rest of your life in regret..." Kinda hard to grasp what he actually meant by that statement, isn't it?

.The whole exhibition was so huge, depending on which parking area your coach actually pulls up in (one parking area could easily contain up to 500 buses!), you'd need to enter in by the nearest gantry gateway; ours happened to be number 7.

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The Expo directory showing that there were two exhibition areas, one for international podiums on one side of the Huang Pu river, and another smaller one for the Shanghai city municipal on the opposite side of the river.
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Inside the Expo, you could choose different ways of travelling: by foot, by bus (free of charge but crowded), or by electric MPVs (RMB10 per trip in comfort). You'd never get lost because there's plenty of road signs to give directions.
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Better yet, there's student volunteers in special green and white xteps (they're given the nickname 'white cabbage' i.e. xiao bai cai) with ID tags whom you could approach should you need a more personal service. There's an estimated 170,000 such volunteers enlisted, of which 70,000 were stationed in the Expo, and another 100,000 at service stations throughout Shanghai city.
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To facilitate ease of navigation and exploration, the pavilions were grouped according to regions of the world. Over here at the South Asia region were Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia and Australia.
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Bernice was attracted to a floral setup along the side walls of the Theme Pavilion with alternate pink and violet morning glory, and so... snap!
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Of course, you couldn't possibly miss Haibao, the Expo mascot, and his family.
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It seemed that the Theme Pavilion was the one place you don't have to queue long to get into...
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It's kinda dark once you get inside, but the static displays and multimedia broadcasts were quite impressive.
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The Theme Pavilion was all about creating awareness on the rampant abuses our earth was being subjected to and centered around the five elements which are basic to the survival of all living species on this fragile blue globe. It also encouraged it's audience to go green and save the environment while there is still time.
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At the Western Europe region were pavilions belonging to Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, etc. You could tell by the number of people queueing up outside the pavilions how popular the european countries were. In fact, there's regular announcements over the air on the queue time for each podium, some of which could be as long as 3-4 hours!
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The Eastern Europe region comprised Serbia, Iceland, Czech Republic, Poland, etc.
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Not surprising, the China Pavilion is the biggest and occupied a plot of land all by itself. The architectural design alone is a marvel to behold, and getting inside was near impossible with the large number of Chinese nationals flocking incessantly to it.
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It's interesting to see that there were so many mainland Chinese coming from all over China to this Expo, many with their whole families just for a day out and picnicking. It was estimated that the 184-day long Expo attracted 73 million visitors and generated 12 billion direct tourism income alone!
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Soon the sky darkened and the pavilions come alive with their individual lighting displays. And it was also time to say goodbye as we made our way to the parking area to take the coach to Pudong airport for our midnight return flight back to Singapore...

The 10-day China trip was our first to this land of our ancestors, a very memorable and enriching experience. We hope our readers had enjoyed the fascinating journeys with us. Certainly we hope to come back and tour other parts of this land of 5,000 year-old history with its rich cultures and amazing landscapes. Until then...

China Trip 2010 - Shanghai (Part 5)

2010-11-15T21:21:00.010+08:00

The last destination before dinner was the famous old Cheng Huang Miao Street. As it was near mid-autumn festival, the place was jam-packed with people, both locals and tourists.

Once inside, there are all kinds of shops set in a mix of old-modern architectural facade. There's even a Starbucks Coffee outlet here!

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Everywhere you go, it's people mountain people sea (to put in English the Chinese expression of multitude of people). As the tour guide told us, in Shanghai you get to see lots and lots of heads as people squeeze people (whatever that means).
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While wandering along the shop alleys, we spotted this cute little blue creature that was featured in many places. Later we learnt that it was Haibao, the mascot for the Shanghai World Expo 2010.
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As the sky darkened, street and shop lights began to lit up, giving the atmosphere a different kind of effect...
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One of the alley shops selling painted hand-held fans...
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Another alley shops selling chopsticks (yup, chopsticks!). The words on the shop front was kinda interesting so I took a photo to show my readers (our apologies for non-chinese readers here...)
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Getting back out of the alley to the central square, a different, colorful world awaited us...
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and inside the foodcourt, diners and servers were alike busy with one thing in mind, getting the hungry stomachs filled. The sight of it made our tummy growl... where's dinner?
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Well, we didn't have to wait too long before we were whisked to this Daizhu Village Restaurant, where food (glorious food) and variety shows gratified our appetite.
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On our way out to the coach, we saw a familiar friend in the midst of this roadside fruit stall - durians! Upon closer examination, we realised that the durians were opened and days old! Too bad...

It was an unbearable 2 hours ride to the hotel for our first night in Shanghai - at the very outskirt of the city! Many of us were upset with this arrangement, considering that we're nearing the end of our tour and tired out. The tour guide explained that finding a hotel in the city during this period of the world expo was quite hard and expensive. That figures!
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The next morning after breakfast, we're on our way to another place to taste a different kind of tea - Pu'er.
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The promoter this time come from Daizhu of ShuangXiPanNa (Yunnan). She has a very peculiar name - Dao (Knife) Xiao Qiao, and she entertained us with her humorous wits and native accents as she explained the benefits and right way of tasting tea.
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On our way to Nanking Road for lunch, we passed by this road section with various Haibao in different outfits, and a giant ball of flowers (quite similar to the one in Singapore, though I can't recall where...)
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Soon we're at one of the world's busiest shopping streets - Nanjing Road, where we're given an hour and a half to shop and lunch on our own.
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After loitering for a while. we decided to dine at this Japanese restaurant for a change from the usual Chinese meals.
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Here's Bernice sitting at a cozy wine display section. We ordered Unagi bento set each and a tempura side dish. "Mmm... where should I begin?" Bernice mused.
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The green tea cup was kinda unique, so a close-up shot for the benefit of our readers to behold.
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After lunch we still had time so decided to enjoy the street scene a little. This is the well-known Peace Hotel that was featured in Chow Yuan Fatt's movie of the same title.
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At this end of Nanjing Road is the spectacular view of the Oriental Peral TV Tower (highest in Asia) and other famous landmarks facing the bund (wai tan) across the Huang Pu river.
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One more installment to go...

China Trip 2010 - Shanghai (Part 4)

2010-11-10T09:07:00.011+08:00

Where do you go to if you wanna taste the best Long Jing Chinese tea? The Village of Mei (Mei Jia Wu) of course! And this is where we're going today...

Mei Jia Wu has a history of about 600 years, and is situated west of the West Lake. "There's mountains and scenery, there's villages and water, there's tea and culture." fitly describes this old protected settlement of 500 odd households, with the dorminant Mei surname among the 2000-strong population.

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Each of us is given a visitor's pass when we entered the reserved area. Here's Little Missy again posing with her pass (Oh girl! She's a natural born model, don't you think?)
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A quiet and leisure place to explore, right in the middle of the front court yard is a statue of Lu Yi (Louis in english?) the Tea Sage.
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With such a big tea pot, there's no worry about not having enough tea to serve the tour group...
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An even bigger tea pot at the carp pond (the emerald-color water looks like green tea, and the carps looks like the lightly fried brown twigs of the Long Jing).

Inside the tea room, a promotor (also surnamed Mei), described and demonstrated the benefits of drinking Long Jing tea. Little Missy seemed uninterested in the talk, probably because she's not comfortable with the Chinese language.
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Different grades of tea leaves, the best being those pluck before Qing Ming (early March), called Ming Qian Cha and is the acclaimed Cha Wang (king of tea, wrapped in red packaging). One jin (about 500 grams) of this 1st grade tea leaves sells for 1200 RMB, but it contains three times as much tea Polyphenol as the next lower grade!
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There's still time before lunch, so we went to our next destination: The Academy of 10000 Pine Trees (aka Wansong Shu Yuan). It was believed that the butterfly lovers (Liang ShanBo and Zhu YingTai) studied here.
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How about acting out Liang-Zhu at the grand entrance of the academy? Bernice seemed keen at the idea, though she'd run away at the sight of moths (or butterfly, for that matter). Maybe our version should be the butterhead lovers, since both of us like our salad with this veggie.
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Puff... puff... After climbing the long flight of steps (Bernice decided to stay put where she was), what greeted the eyes was this quiet scenic garden at the entrance to the Clear Path Hall (Ming Dao Tang).
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On display in the hall are small figurines and scaled down models of houses, city squares and the imperial examination hall, depicting the scenes of how ancient scholars vie for the coveted top three positions of Zhuang Yuan, Bang Yan and Tan Hua.
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After the hall, there is another short flight of steps that leads to the Confucius Shrine (Da Cheng Dian), where students go to pay respect to the statue of Confucius.
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Outside the shrine are four bamboo sheds (two on each side, left and right) which are decorated with many name tags hung on red threads. These are names of students hoping that their names will make it to the notice boards of those who passed the exams.
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Soon after, we adjorned for lunch at another outlet of the Hong Ni restaurant...
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Wow, this one has a huge elegant chandelier in the main dining hall. Nice to look at but painful to maintain, though.
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Here's young Larry, again playing his favourite ipod games while waiting for lunch to be served.
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After a sumptuous lunch, we're on our way back to Shanghai city. Along the way, we stopped at Jia Xing, which is situated north-east of Zhejiang Province. The weather was rather hot here, so while freshening up at the washroom, we bought some cone ice-cream to relief ourselves of the swelting heat outside.
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Some shop houses along the way. Noticed the sign boards? They're detachable and easy to change; quite a nice way of design, if I may say so.
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Road signage, informing us we are approaching the Huang Pu river, and depending on which direction we're headed, we'll cross one of the three bridges I mentioned in my earlier posts.
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Just before leaving Jia Xing, we stopped at this factory shop which displays all forms of the Tian Lu (translated heavenly prosperity) charms, which according to the proprietor, is an animal that takes in but does not give out. "Buying one home will bring prosperity to the family," he said. The father of the other Singaporean family whispered to me, "I already got one at home." and pointed subtly at his son, Larry.
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Soon, we're on our way again. Thankfully, the bus driver took route that led to the famous Nan Pu bridge.
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This is the night scene of the same bridge. Now you can see why it's one of the most spectacular bridge to have been built.
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More to follow...

China Trip 2010 - Shanghai (Part 3)

2010-11-08T21:35:00.007+08:00

From Suzhou, it's another 2 hours bus ride to Hangzhou. It was about 3pm when we reached the final destination of the day - the Su Causeway (Sudi).

We took the dragon boat (again! No wonder China is known as the land of the dragon) for a short cruise on the famous West Lake (Xihu). While Suzhou is basically flat waterland, Hangzhou is surrounded by mountains on three sides.

Here's Bernice standing at the side deck of the boat, enjoying her purple corn cob. She was curious when she saw it and decided to try it. Turned out it's not as nice as the golden yellow ones.
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Taking a photo with Little Missy (Sharon). On the walls of the boat are photos of well-known politicians who took the boat ride, such as former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, China's late PM Teng Xiao Ping, the late US President Richard Nixon, and of course our MM Lee Kuan Yew.
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One famous landmarks of West Lake is this three (two in the photo) stone lanterns that's also featured in the one dollar renmingbi (rmb). It is said that when the lanterns are lit within during the night, 33 moons will appear. How's that? Well, each stone lantern has five holes and five reflections on the lake, so three stone lanterns make 30 moons. Then there's the moon in the night sky and its reflection too, so that makes 32. So where's the remaining moon? Can any reader guess it?
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This is the Leifeng Pagoda (Ta). Ever heard of the legend of the white snake? Then this ancient building should be no stranger to you.

Along the way to the Flower Harbour Park, we noticed this stretch of bamboo made fence patchwork that seemed to blend quite well with the surroundings.
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As the park name implied, there should be quite a lot of flowers to view. Unfortunately the summer is past and there's little floral to see. Thankfully the place is still serene and scenic...
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and good for taking a memorable photo or two...
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Of course, the carps were still there to behold and feed, and their vibrant red presented a rather spectacular sight like a painting coming alive amidst the frenzy feeding.
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Here's something similar to what we saw at Beijing, but put in a different poetic prose. Chinese are such eloquent people when it comes to words, but unfortunately the general social behaviour still leaves much room for improvement.
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We were kinda surprised to spot a peacock resting atop a tree (pointed out by a fellow tourist), and later realised there's actually a Peacock Garden nearby with green and white peacocks! Just look at the beautiful feathers and the crown that adorns its head; it's no wonder the proverb "as proud as a peacock" so aptly fit the prideful.
.Here's a sculpture of the renown Song poet Su Dong Po (Sushi, anyone?) standing outside the museum that's named after him.
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Another familiar sight of house above the waters. No wonder the ancients described, "Up above there is heaven, here below there is Su(zhou) Hang(zhou)."
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A chance encounter on our way out of the park... two bridal couples having their wedding photo outdoor shoots. Even their poses got style (our guess is they must be pretty good friends to have a group wedding together).
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On our way to dinner, I noticed this particularly unique parking lot with rows of similar made bicycles. Upon inquiry, the tour guide said it's the Chinese government's way of encouraging people to ride the bike instead of cars to reduce pollution and traffic congestion. Back in the 70s and 80s, that was the primary mode of transportation. As Chinese people become more affluent, many take to driving cars, and now this bicycle policy. Talk about coming full circle!
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A famous restaurant where we have our evening meal. And they used Bai Juyi's poem as an invitation for their slogan...
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This restaurant is really classy, even the centerpiece at the rotary glass table is elaborate. But what come next is the true highlight of the dinner we've been waiting for...
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Make no mistake about it... this is the famous Dong Po Rou you're seeing. Now start drooling... Hahaha! Too bad they only served a small bowl per person. The Indonesian table actually offered to give me theirs (they don't seem to fancy pork meat for whatever reasons), but Bernice sternly reminded me not to touch another piece. Too sinful, she said. Sigh...
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More to follow...

China Trip 2010 - Shanghai (Part 2)

2010-11-07T14:17:00.007+08:00

Next morning after breakfast, we proceeded to the Couple's Garden Retreat (Ou Yuan), a mansion built right in the middle of Suzhou city by a retired Qing official Shen BingCheng to spend the rest of his life with his beloved wife.

Bernice couldn't help getting romantic in such a setting and decided to take a photo beside the still waters...

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Even the stone carvings at the entrance are so elaborate, you'd imagine that no expenses were spared to make this place a true retreat for lovers.
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This must be where the visitors were entertained with food and wine.
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Every placement of furniture and paintings are thoughtfully planned to ensure maximum leisure and pleasure to behold and use.
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Even the tiles outside too...
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Not to mention the windows along the corridors and walkways...
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Wonder if Mrs Shen also did this pose when she was the mistress of this mansion? Well, Mrs Ng here thought it'll be a nightmare to maintain the cleanliness of such a big place without the help of domestic servants...
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There's a couplet at the door of this building that says, "Lying down while listening to the storm outside in pine-color garment, opening the door to behold the rain amidst the noise of palm leaves." I guess he must be referring to this particular palm tree.
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This is the artifical yellow granite moutain area. Children just love climbing and playing without realising how worried their mums might be about their safety.
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It's time to move on to another destination after a romantic morning walk. The streets of Suzhou can be quite interesting to explore if you have the time...
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Ah, here it is... the Silk Legend factory outlet. On display here are four kinds of silk cocoons: the yellow single cocoon (top left), the douppioni cocoon (top right), the white single cocoon (bottom left), and the spun cocoon (bottom right).
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The local tour guide at Suzhou describing the process of spinning the silk from the cocoons. Behind are the machines that separate the silk from its mothball to threaded form.
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Breaking up the cocoons will expose the silkworms within. I guess Bernice isn't interested in this line (or thread) since she has an irking dislike for creepy crawlies.

The hands of the workers are soft and smooth from handling these natural emollients, but I suspected that Bernice would prefer SK2...

In the end, we purchased a bedsheet set (comprising pillows, quilt and bedsheet) and a nice set of silk coverings for them.
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Next stop, lunch of course!
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Just look at the fatty meat on the bottom left. For a moment I thought it was the famous dong po rou, but it was so full of fats nobody wanted to eat it except me. Well, only a little after some protests from Bernice. Haha...
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After lunch, it was another 2 hours bus ride to the next destination in Hangzhou - Wuzhen, the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River (Jiangnan Shuixiang). This is one of the landmarks telling us we've reached.
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Bernice saw a fruit stall near the entrance and picked up a rather large mandarin orange to show me.
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Inside the thousand-year-old town of Wuzhen, you get to see houses built above the river waters, and interconnected with bridges of varied designs. Just like an old saying, "Small bridges, flowing waters, inhabited houses." (Xiao-qiao, liu-shui, ren-jia)
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One of the old alleys that still retains its original appearances.
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And there are actually people staying in such ancient places!
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This is the wine cellar where wines are stored in clay jars. Not surprisingly, Wuzhen is also famous for many things, one of which is three white wine (san bai jiu). The three whites are: white rice, white flour, and white water (literally).
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Another specialty, though slowly fading away, is this blue dye cloth. The dye technique is said to have existed for 1,300 years and the production method preserve till this day.
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On our way our, we saw visitors opting to take a boat ride tour around the vicinity, which is another form of appreciating this ancient town and its legacies. Bernice would love to have the ride, but too bad we're short of time. Maybe next time...
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More to follow...

China Trip 2010 - Shanghai (Part 1)

2010-11-06T10:54:00.005+08:00

The domestic flight from Xi'an to Shanghai was delayed for two hours. We learnt that it's not uncommon for flight delays to happen; this is due in part to the huge increase of China's own tourism as mainland Chinese become more affluent and travelling becomes a norm. Shortage of pilots to handle the increased passenger demand is another reason. We arrived at Pudong around 2.30pm and by the time we checked out and boarded the coach, it was almost 4pm.

From Shanghai, it's another 2 hours ride to Suzhou for our first itinerary. Since we've wasted almost half a day, we needed to shorten the time of visit to some attraction spots yet prolong the tour hours to late at night to cover enough places. Along the way, I noticed that there are many such high tension cables running across the land. Seems that as the city prospers, the demand for electricity also goes up.

This is the XuPu bridge, one of the three main bridges that is built across the HuangPu river. The other two bridges are the more well-known NanPu (which you'll get to see in the later posts) and YangPu bridges.

By the time we reached Suzhou, it was about 7pm, so we stopped at this seafood restaurant for our dinner.

After dinner, we went to the famous GuanQian Jie to do some shopping. Here's Bernice standing in front of the hundred-year-old shop (Cai Zhi Zai) selling wide selections of local produces.

The inside of Cai Zhi Zai. So much to see and buy, it's almost tempting to grab all the goodies, if not for lack of space in our lugguages, and considering there might be other souvenirs to buy...

While walking along the street, we happened to see a familiar shop face. Yup, this Singapore brand name has several outlets in China too. Surprised?

An old fashion telephone booth, not unlike the type that Superman used to change into his costume. Of course, Bernice's not about to do that, not without the door. After all, China's adopting an open-door economic policy...

After our night shopping, we stopped by the scenic Seven Mile ShanTang, a thousand-year-old street that's purportedly built by the Tang poet Bai JuYi while he was holding an official post in Suzhou. Notice that even the street lamps are artistic in design?

Wondered how this place looks like in the day... Night seems more beautiful with all the colorful lights from the lanterns and decos, though.

By the time we checked into our hotel, it was almost 11pm. The shower room was fantastic in the Lion Villa Hotel, and the bed with the window view to the shower area was just as inviting. Lights off, please. zzzz....

More to follow...

China Trip 2010 - Xi An (Part 3)

2010-10-29T16:52:00.008+08:00

On the third day morning, we arrived at the foot of HuaShan, which is in the province of ShanXi. Xi'an (Chang'an is the ancient name) is the capital. There are altogether five famous or sacred mountains (WuYue) in this region: TaiShan (DongYue) to the east in Shandong province, SongShan (ZhongYue) in the middle in Henan province, HuaShan (XiYue) in the west and HengShan (BeiYue) in the north, both also in Shanxi province, and HengShan (NanYue) in Hunan province. Confused already?

After the entrance at the ticket checkpoint, there's mini-buses to bring us to the foot of HuaShan, which is about 10 minutes' ride.

This is the ticket pass for the cable car ride up to the first summit of HuaShan.

Of course, you can climb your way up HuaShan, which will take 2-3 hours if you have the stamina, or just take the cable car (part of Singapore joint-venture with China) which is a 10 minute comfortable ride.

Here we are at the first summit that leads to the north peak (BeiFeng) and the central peak (ZhongFeng), the doorway to the other peaks.

This is the stairway to the north peak, which was where I decided to go take a look while Bernice rested here after a short climb from the first summit. There's a Taoist up there who tells your fortune, but I'm going there for something else, which you'll know shortly...

Overlooking the central peak from the north peak, you can see tourists making their way up the knife ridge trail - certainly not for the faint-hearted.

Here it is: This is where the famous novelist JinYong mentioned in his swordsman novels of five top pugilists sparring their skills. On the right are 16 characters, each being the first word of his collection of novels. Can anyone name them all?

Down here, Bernice had some snacks we bought at the gift shop below. She showed me Jay Chow featuring in the cover of a potato chips can. I'm not a fan of his, but was surprised he's also well-received by mainland Chinese.

The inscriptions say, "Of the five peaks HuaShan tops the list as the most spectacular and precarious."

The eight valiant soldiers who scaled HuaShan single-handedly in 1949 to secure a strategic location which led to the crushing of remnant insurgence by the Red Army.

On our way to the tour bus down the other return path, we passed by shops and stalls selling soverneirs and local delicacies.

Our last dinner at Xi'an was at this famous restaurant. What do they serve here?

Xi'an's dumpling feast (jiao zi yan)! They have 16 different flavours but we managed to taste only 8 of them...

There's also a bronze pot soup dish. The colors of the flames were quite intriguing to look at, and the soup tasted much better than the other restaurants so far...

The next morning, we're ferried to the airport for our domestic flight to the last destination - Shanghai (which included Suzhou and Hangzhou).

Stay tune for more...