30 Jan 2017 - Our new Vacuum Robot we called "CleanBot"

We are now without a helper so we started investing in technologies to help out with our housework.  This robot vacuum cleaner is one of them.  After reviewing quite a number of robot cleaners, we decided to buy this which only costs us $200 after all the online discounts.

In this video, you can see it vacuuming by the side of the objects without knocking into them, going under chairs and finding its way home to recharge.  It can also vacuum and mop at the same time.  With one charge, it can vacuum for more than 2 hours.  I would say it's a good investment so far.

28 Jan 2017 - CNY visiting (初一拜年)

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!  The first place we visited this morning was none other than the place where I grew up.  Here's a photo of all the grand children with Ye Ye (爷爷) and Nai Nai (奶奶).

Now with everyone in......

In the evening, we all gathered at Aloha Bungalow together with our relatives.  As devices were not permitted at the bungalow, Javier brought a Chess Set over and started teaching his cousin how to play.  He learnt it all by himself by playing on his tablet.  :-)

27 Jan 2017 - Reunion Dinner

Today is Chinese New Year Eve and reunion dinner is a must.  We had prepared two kind of soup, one spicy (Laksa) and one non-spicy.

Great to have Ye Ye (爷爷) and Nai Nai (奶奶) join us for the dinner this year.  :-)

27 Jan 2017 - CNY decoration at the classroom

It was a half day morning school day today and we went to pick up Jerlene and Javier at about 1pm.  Before leaving the school, Javier brought us to his classroom to see all the decorations that they have made for Chinese New Year.

27 Jan 2017 - Er Hu (二胡) Performance at School CNY Concert

After 2-3 months of Er Hu lessons, Jerlene can now play quite a number of songs.  In fact, today she had the chance to perform in the school's concert as part of Chinese New Year Celebration.  When I see her play, it seems easy but when I tried it myself, it's actually very difficult.  I wonder how she picks up the skill so fast.  Well done, Jerlene!

25 Jan 2017 - My darling girl has turned 10!

It's Jerlene's 10th birthday today.  We went to Compass One Swenson for dinner and after meal, we ordered an "Earthquake" with eight scoops of ice cream.

Before leaving the mall, we bought a cake home to have a mini birthday celebration.

We invited our neighbours over to sing birthday song as well as enjoy the cake.

They were all satisfied!

Happy Birthday Day, Jerlene!  You are a big girl now!

24 Jan 2017 - Our plants are blooming

Our plant collection.

22 Jan 2017 - Life Cycle of a Mealworm

As part of Jerlene's science assignment, she brought back a box of mealworms recently.  Her assignment was to feed bread to the mealworms and watch them slowly grow from one stage to another through their lifecycle.

Below shows one of the mealworms had become a pupa.

The pupa started changing color after a day.

Few days later, the pupa had transformed into a young beetle.

After which it transformed to the final stage of the lifecycle, a beetle.

15 Jan 2017 - Taekwando Grading (Green Belt)

It's Taekwando grading examination again.  This time round, Javier will be going for the Green Belt exam.  As usual, before entering the examination hall, the class did some warm up outside the hall.

Once again, the exam was conducted at Toa Payoh Sports Hall.

This was the first time Javier did sparring for an exam.  However it did not go through smoothly because his sparring partner did not know what to do.  Fortunately, the examiner allowed Javier to change a sparring partner in the end.  Below is the video showing how the exam went.

After the grading exam, we went to Toa Payoh Central for some dessert.  :-)

8 Jan 2017 - Fell in love with Soya Beancurd

As Jerlene is getting taller now, her pinafold seems a bit short.  As such I decided to bring her to the school uniform shop in Serangoon Central to buy a new one.  However, the shop was closed.  As we walked back to our car, we saw a shop selling beancurd and Javier suggested to have it for dessert.  The beancurd in this shop is very smooth and silky.  We all fell in love with it.  :-)

7 Jan 2017 - New Year Celebration @ Regentville

There was a New Year celebration at our estate today.  Stalls were setup all around the poolside and there was a stage with some performances such as magic show.

Jerlene and Javier queued up for their favourite cotton candy.  It's FREE!

Look how satisfied they were......  :-)

3 Jan 2017 - First day of school in 2017

It's the first day of school in the new year.  Initially I thought the kids would be very tired from a full day at school, especially after more than a month of school holiday.  To my surprise, when I picked them up from school in the evening, they were still very energetic and cheerful.  I guessed the kids nowadays prefer to be at school with all their friends.  :-)

1 Jan 2017 - HAPPY 2017!

At the very last minute of year 2016, we gathered at our roof terrace ready to welcome the new year.  After the countdown to 12 midnight, fireworks started all around us.

We could fireworks at the CBD area, in the north, in the northeast, east as well as southwest direction.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Later in the day, we had a little New Year gathering at our cousin's place.