31 Oct 2015 - Terrible sand flies bites

If you have read my earlier posting on Coney Island, I've mentioned about "Beware of sand flies"!  See what happened to Tracy's leg?  These are the sand flies bites!  It'a really itchy and the bumps may last as long as 1-2 years.  So do be extra careful if you intend to go Coney Island or any other remote beaches.

24 Oct 2015 - Rosyth School Orientation for Javier

Javier will be entering his primary school life in 2 months time.  He attended his orientation at Rosyth School today.  After a briefing session followed by a mini concert held at the multi purpose hall, all the P1 recruits were led to their respective classroom while parents proceeded to do their registration,

We completed the registration within half an hour and went to his classroom to pick him up.

Jerlene then brought him around the school to familiarise with the surrounding.

After the orientation session, we drove to Ci Yuan for our lunch.  We had pancakes, waffles, fish & chips and ice-cream at the SOD cafe.

18 Oct 2015 - Taekwando Grading at Toa Payoh Sports Hall

There was a country-wide Taekwando grading today at Toa Payoh Sports Hall.  Though Javier was not involved in today's grading, he was asked to attend to experience the atmosphere.  He was again very excited about it.

Before leaving for the venue, Javier made sure his belt was tied properly.

Before entering the Sports Hall, the entire Taekwando class did their warm up outside the hall.

Below was how the grading exam was conducted.  Great atmosphere!  :-)

17 Oct 2015 - Taekwando kid in action!

Javier is really enjoying his Taekwando class.  After attending 3 lessons, he started showing me some of the moves that he learnt from the class.

Javier, keep up the good work!  Most importantly, you must enjoy the class.  :-)

14 Oct 2015 - Singapore Botanic Garden / Shashlik

Today is Tracy's birthday.  The first program was to have a good breakfast.  We went to a cafe called "Food for Thought" in Singapore Botanic Garden.  I ordered a Basic Works which includes scrambled eggs, bacon and butter brioche while Tracy ordered a Banana & Walnut Pancakes.  As for drinks, I had a Affogato espresso shot with vanilla ice-cream and Tracy had cup of Cappucinno.  The breakfast was "superlicious"!

After breakfast, we walked around Botanic Garden.  It has been many years since we last stepped into this newly crowned UNESCO World Heritage.

Love the following photo of our National flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim.

At one point, we heard sound coming from the grass and as we looked closer, it was a monitor lizard.  It was hunting for prey by digging into the soil and sniffing under those dried leaves.

In one of the following short video clip, you can actually see the monitor lizard gobbling up its prey.  The last clip shows a cricket on a tree trunk and it sounded louder and louder as I approached it.

We spent about 2-3 hours strolling around one part of the Botanic Garden.

Our next program was to play the Escape game, Jack the Ripper.  We were getting better and better each time we played such escape the room game.  Not matter how many times we played, it's still full of fun!

In the evening, we went to a Russion restaurant, Shashlik, for dinner.  This will probably be the last time we will be eating at this restaurant because it had recently announced that it will close down by end November this year.  We will definitely miss this place, especially the popular dessert, Baked Alaska, aka Alaska Bomb (below).

Before going home, we bought a small cake so that Jerlene and Javier can celebrate this special day with their mommy.

11 Oct 2015 - Coney Island Trip

Coney Island has re-opened to the general public yesterday.  As we had nothing plan for the afternoon, we decided to pay this newest nature park in Singapore a visit.  We brought along Jerlene and Javier's bicycles after sending them to the bicycle shop to replace the tyres.

Coney Island is located off the north-eastern coast of Singapore near Pulau Ubin.  One can enter the park either from Punggol Promenade or Pasir Ris Coast Industrial Park 6.

Initially we drove to Punggol Promenade but could not find the entrance.  So we decided to try the Pasir Ris Coast Industrial Park 6 entrance.  When we arrived, the whole stretch of road was full of cars.  We have to wait for a parking space or else we will have park our car pretty far from the entrance.  Once we managed to get a parking lot, we started walking towards the entrance which is across the dam.  Jerlene and Javier had an easier time by cycling towards it.

In this park, we were able to encounter with a wide variety of biodiversity.  We heard that we may be able to spot a Brahman Bull if we were lucky.

Below is a pavilion in Coney Island Park featuring eco-friendly designs such as recycled Casuarina log benches.  It is also where the toilets are located.

As we walked towards the beach, we saw a few bird nests hanging down on the tree branches.  Too bad, the birds were "not at home",

There are 5 beaches on this island which have been intentionally left uncleared, and greenery are allowed to grow in its natural environment.

Whenever we come to beaches, Jerlene and Javier will be extremely excited.  However, beware of the sand flies.  So do remember to put on insect repellent before stepping onto the beaches.

We spent around 3 hours, covering half of the island as one-third of the time we were at the beach.  Overall, it was a great family outing.

10 Oct 2015 - Taekwando Uniform

Javier got his Taekwando uniform today.  It's slightly big but kid will grow very fast, so not a problem.  As the haze is "gone", the class was shifted to an outdoor open space in Ci Yuan CC.

While waiting for Javier's class to end in an hour's time, we went to a cafe called SOD at the CC and had some dessert.  We ordered a nice Charcoal Waffle with Ice Cream.

10 Oct 2015 - Classical Dance Studio (Ballet) Parent's Day

It's Classical Dance Studio Parent's Day today and we were invited to watch how our young Ballerina are performing.

Below is a compilation of the various ballet sequences for primary syllabus.  Well done, Jerlene!

3 Oct 2015 - First Taekwando Class

We have signed Javier up for Taekwando class since few weeks back but due to the hazy weather, the class was cancelled in the past 2 weeks.  The class started today but it was held in an indoor classroom.  Initially Javier kept saying he didn't want to learn but since morning today, he had been asking me whether there will be class tonight.  I can actually sense that he was pretty excited.

As this was the first lesson, we spent quite a while taking measurement for his Taekwando attire, belt and shoes.  Then the instructor started by explaining some histories and differences between International Taekwando Federation and World Taekwando Federation.  Of course at his age, Javier will not be able to appreciate the history.  Next the instructor taught them some basic commands and how to hold their fist correctly.  Finally they got to learn some basic slow punches.

Javier and his classmates kept getting distracted by their seniors and the instructor had to keep reminding them to stay focus.  By the time the class ended, it was about 9:30pm.  We went home immediately as Javier needed to take another shower (yes, he had already taken one shower after his swimming class in the afternoon) before going to bed.