31 May 2019 - A Short Break to Busan/Seoul (8 Days Itinerary included)

Our Silkair flight to Busan is scheduled to depart at 11:40pm.  We checked in one hour before flight departure and still had some time to have cakes and coffee at Starbucks.

There was no direct flight from Singapore to Busan all these years until Silkair launches this particular flight on 1 May 2019.  I believe with this flight, there will be more and more people starting to plan their holiday to Busan.

Before boarding, Jerlene and Javier had claimed that they will not be sleeping on this flight but not long after take-off, below was what happened.....haha....

Breakfast was served about 2 hours before landing.  We had Bibimbap, a Korean rice dish, which was quite nice.

We were able to catch the sun rise above the cloud too.

Soon after, we had some superb views of Busan from 10,000 feet.

We landed at Busan airport around 6:45am.  As there was no aerobridge that connects directly to the airport passenger terminal, we had to take a shuttle bus.

After a short bus ride, we finally arrived at the Busan airport terminal.  Though there were not many flights flying into Busan airport, the queue at the immigration counters was extremely long as there were only 2 counters opened at that time.  It was made worse when a group of tourists refused to queue up.....sigh.......

All of us, especially Jerlene and Javier who did not have their breakfast on the flight as they were sleeping, were a bit hungry after queuing for about an hour at the custom.  As such, we went to an airport cafe to have some Udon.

There are several ways to get to Busan from the airport.  We decided to take the Airport Limousine Bus to Busan Station, where our hotel is located.

From this point onwards, our 8 days adventure began...........

Below is our itinerary for this trip.
Day 1:  Check into Le IDE:A Hotel, China Town and Texas Street, Taejongdae Park
Day 2:  Beomeosa Temple, Pusan National University Shopping Street, Centum City
Day 3:  Busan Station, Gamcheon Culture Village, Jagalchi Fish Market, BIFF Square, Yongdusan Park, Busan Tower
Day 4:  Haeundae Beach (Sand Festival), Busan SeaLife Aquarium, Haedong Yonggung Temple
Day 5:  KTX Train to Seoul, Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Namdaemun, Namsangol Hanok Village, Myeongdong and Ginseng Chicken Dinner
Day 6:  Everland Theme Park
Day 7:  Namdaemun Underground Shopping Street and Market, Jongmyo Shrine, Changdeokgung Palace, Back to Myeongdong
Day 8:  Sungnyemun Gate, Last minute shopping, Taking AREX train to airport, Flying home on the new A350

31 May 2019 - Rosyth Speech and Prize Giving Ceremony 2019

We were invited to attend the Speech and Prize Giving Ceremony at Rosyth School this morning.  Both Jerlene and Javier were prize recipients for their outstanding performance last year.

In addition, Jerlene also participated in one of the performances as a member of the school's Chinese Orchestra.

Nice smiles from them after receiving their trophy and medal.  Proud of both of you.  Keep up the good work!

This marks the last school day of semester 1 and it's time to prepare for our upcoming short trip.  :-)

30 May 2019 - Semester 1 academic results

Jerlene and Javier got their report books back today.  Their SA1 results are generally ok but can be better, especially both the languages subjects.

Other than academic results, I am glad that both their Conducts are rated as Excellent.  The teacher's comments are pretty encouraging.

Now it's time to take a short break before preparing the coming semester 2.  Jerlene especially needs to stay focus as she'll be preparing for her PSLE.

29 May 2019 - Certificates based on last year's performance and results

Jerlene and Javier received their certificates from the school's principal today.  Jerlene was awarded as an I-CARE champion for demonstrating all the school core values namely Integrity, Care, grAtitude, Respect and Resilience, Entrepreneurial Spirit.

Javier was awarded for having Outstanding Academic Performance last year.  This is the third consecutive years that he had received this award.

Well done, kids!  Looking forward to see you two on stage two days later during the school's prize giving ceremony.

25 May 2019 - Jerlene sprained her ankle

Jerlene fell while walking down the stairs and sprained her ankle in school yesterday.  It was swollen and she had pain whenever she moved her leg.  We tried applying ice pack on her ankle to lessen the swelling.  We also help her put on a compression wrap for her sprained ankle.  Before she went to bed, we stacked up some pillows to elevate her legs so that the gravitational force will drain away excess fluid to reduce the swelling.

To play safe, we brought her to SATA Commhealth in Ang Mo Kio to let the doctor assessed.  An X-Ray on her ankle was taken and glad to know that there is no visible injury or fracture to the bones. This is the first time Jerlene has an X-Ray taken and she was pretty nervous at first.  The doctor's advice is exactly what we had done the night before.

Following are extracted from Mayo Clinic website.

"For self-care of an ankle sprain, use the R.I.C.E. approach for the first two or three days:
Rest. Avoid activities that cause pain, swelling or discomfort.
Ice. Use an ice pack or ice slush bath immediately for 15 to 20 minutes and repeat every two to three hours while you're awake. If you have vascular disease, diabetes or decreased sensation, talk with your doctor before applying ice.
Compression. To help stop swelling, compress the ankle with an elastic bandage until the swelling stops. Don't hinder circulation by wrapping too tightly. Begin wrapping at the end farthest from your heart.
Elevation. To reduce swelling, elevate your ankle above the level of your heart, especially at night. Gravity helps reduce swelling by draining excess fluid."

19 May 2019 - Watching Pokemon Detective Pikachu

Mid year examination is finally over and it's time to take a break.  Both Jerlene and Javier had been looking forward to watching the movie "Pokemon Detective Pikachu" since they saw the trailers about a month ago.  And so here we were.....  :-)

It's a nice movie for the family, especially those who enjoy playing Pokemon games.  By the way, before watching this movie, we did not know that Psyduck's head will explode when it's under stress or extreme headache. 

10 May 2019 - What a mess after a night of Thunderstorm!

There was a thunderstorm during the night and what a mess it had caused to our roof garden.  Several pots had toppled and a few smaller ones had fallen off the table.

We had to spend some times to clean up the mess.  Sigh......

5 May 2019 - Portulaca and Purslane

We have two pots of plants blooming with colourful flowers this morning. 

Below is Portulaca with bright purple/pink flowers.

 And following is Purslane with bright orange/red flowers.

It always feels great to be greeted with such beauty early in the morning.  :-)

4 May 2019 - Butterflies and Bees

Remember the caterpillar that visited our mini garden recently?  It has transformed into a beautiful butterfly today.

It's ready to take off on its first flight.

We have honey bees visiting our plants daily as well.  The amazing thing is that they will come at a specific time of the day.  I wonder what "clock" and "GPS" do they use such that they know the direction to our garden and at a specific time.  They especially love a plant with small purple flowers which has a common name called Monkey's Potato.  In Singapore, this species is not cultivated and generally considered a weed.