28 Sep 2019 - The Eye of Ra!

Most people have watched sunrise from the sea horizon or from the back of mountain ranges.  Have you ever watched a sunrise in the middle of a hazy sky?  Below series of photos show what it looks like in such condition.

The fourth photo above looks like the "Eye of Ra", the preeminent sun god in ancient Egyptian religion.

27 Sep 2019 - A break from PSLE

The written papers for Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) has started yesterday for Jerlene.  After today's paper, I decided to bring her out for a good lunch and have a break from all the mental stress.  Javier was having his E-learning at home today so he also came along.  We had our lunch at Chef's Hats retaurant @ Hougang Green.

24 Sep 2019 - Unexpected Artist Award

Javier is good with his programming skill but when it comes to Art, it's the CMI ("Cannot Make It") kind.  As such, I was very surprised when he showed me the award below.  How can it be possible?  Very eager to see what exactly did he draw.  :-P

22 Sep 2019 - Latest and last video before end year exam from JJJwong

Javier has been posting his youtube videos on a weekly basis.  Today he posted his latest video.  I find this particular video very interesting.  Click on it and enjoy!
At the end of this video, he informed his subscribers that he will take a break from creating more videos till his year end examination is over.  Very sensible kid for knowing his priorities.

21 Sep 2019 - Taekwondo Blackbelt Card

After the Taekwondo training session, Javier was excited to show me his Taekwondo Blackbelt Card.

Quite a number of his peers had stopped training after achieving Junior Blackbelt.  However, Javier decided to persist and continue to move up the grades.  Glad that he had such determination!  :-)

15 Sep 2019 - Random plants and weeds

About a month ago, we planted some seeds (can't remember whether it was Rock Melon or Honeydew) in a pot and it started flowering these few days.  I did some research on the internet and the flowers of Rock Melon and Honeydew look very similar.  Guess we'll have to wait till we see the fruits to determine what it is.

Weeds have been growing in most of our pots and I guess it's time to do some weeding.  Some weeds do look interesting though.

14 Sep 2019 - The HAZE is back!

The haze has recently returned to this part of the world.  Today, the air quality has reached "unhealthy" band according to NEA's indicator.  While buying dinner, I was able to stare directly at the sun, which looked like a salted egg yolk.

8 Sep 2019 - First visit to Paya Lebar Quarter Mall

We started off this coming one week September school holiday by going for a movie, "The Angry Birds Movie 2".  Before that, we paid a visit to Paya Lebar Quarter Mall (PLQ), a new shopping complex which officially opens about a week ago.  As it was lunch time, we walked round the mall and decided on Paradise Dynasty (乐天皇朝) to have our lunch.

The food here is quite similar to that of 鼎泰丰.  Below were what we ordered.

Half way through our lunch, we saw a huge crowd gathered outside the restaurant.  Then we saw a number of colourful "dumpling" mascots advertising for the restaurant.

Connected to Paya Lebar MRT station, this new mall has added so many more shopping and dining options.  With a cinema, family-friendly stores and countless food places, this might just be the latest shopping haven in the east.

6 Sep 2019 - Lunch on Teacher's Day

There is no class in school today as it's Teacher's Day.  I brought Jerlene and Javier to Rocky Master restaurant at Hougang One for our lunch.

Javier ordered Teriyaki Chicken Spaghetti, Jerlene had French Toast set while I ordered Dried Mee Siam.  It all taste good!

1 Sep 2019 - Fort Canning Park and The Bicentennial Experience

From National Museum of Singapore, we walked back to Fort Canning Park,  an iconic hilltop landmark has witnessed many of Singapore’s historical milestones.

We walked across a field towards our destination, Fort Canning Centre,

Fort Canning Hill once sited the palaces of 14th century Kings and served as the Headquarters of the Far East Command Centre and British Army Barracks.

The decision to surrender Singapore to the Japanese on 15 February 1942 was also made on the hill, in the Underground Far East Command Centre, commonly known as Battle Box.

We were able to climb up to the top of a gate via a very narrow staircase.

At about 5pm, we proceeded to the Singapore Bicentennial Experience, which is a multimedia sensory experience that brings us back in time to witness key moments in Singapore’s transformation from as far back as 1299.

The Bicentennial Experience has two main sections.  The Time Traveller will take place indoors, bringing visitors on an epic experiential journey through Singapore's key historical moments.  It has a total of 5 Acts.

For Act 1, visitor will see how Singapore was already at the forefront of regional and global events as early as the 13th century.  Live performers and a moving travelator add drama and dynamism to some of the most colourful exploits that unfolded in early Singapura.

Act 2 shows how Raffles came to Singapore in 1819 as well as the arrival of industrious pioneers who were instrumental in shaping the fate of early Singapore.

Act 3 amazes visitor at how colourful early 20th-century Singapore looked as she blossomed into a dynamic port city.

In Act 4, we were in a dark room listening to the bombing of Singapore by the Japanese imperial force.  The difficult days of Singapore's Japanese Occupation are conveyed compellingly through dim spaces and cracked tunnels.  Before leaving Act 4, each of us picked up an umbrella which we needed for Act 5 in order not to get wet.

In Act 5, we witnessed how Singapore comes into its own after World War Two in a special "rain enclosure" where shimmery water projections highlight the nation's remarkable achievements.

The next section of Bicentennial Experience is the Pathfinder, which is an outdoor experience with a series of pavilions designed for visitors to explore a diverse range of ideas and themes that show how Singapore's connections with the rest of the world have spanned 700 years.

As we walked past the field towards the car park, Jerlene and Javier suddenly decided to execute their gymnastic skills in front of Fort Canning Centre building.  Cool!

Other than Cartwheel, they also did a coordinated bridge!  Haha.......

We then drove to Great World City and had our dinner at Ho Fook Hei (好福气) restaurant, which is famous for their Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鸡).

What a great day out today for our family!

1 Sep 2019 - National Museum of Singapore

From Clarke Quay, we drove to Fort Canning Park for the Singapore Bicentennial Experience.  We were really fortunate to get the one and only empty lot in the car park at that moment.  Since our allocated show time was several hours away, we decided to first visit National Museum of Singapore which is just across the road.

You will be surprised that after so many years. this is my first time visiting National Museum of Singapore.  It is also Jerlene's and Javier's first visit to the museum.

The National Museum of Singapore is the nation's oldest museum that seeks to inspire with stories of Singapore and the world. Its history dates back to 1849, when it opened on Stamford Road.

Other than the usual exhibits about histories, there is an area talking about environmental sustainability with information on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reycle and Reuse).  Jerlene and Javier had learnt about it in school and were interested to find out more.

During this period, there is a promotion whereby if you bring your bottle, you can fill it up with Gong Cha milk tea for FREE!  We had three bottles and filled them all up with the milk tea.

All the exhibitions are free admission for Singaporean and Permanent Residents.  Once we registered ourselves at the reception, we received a sticker which allows us to visit all the exhibitions in the museum.  One of the exhibition is Singapore History Gallery which charts the development of the island as it was known through the years as Singapura, a Crown Colony, Syonan-To, and finally, Singapore.

We then went to the exhibition galleries at the basement to experience the Force of Nature with Light, Sound and Wind effects.

There are 3 floors of exhibitions in the museum.

At Level 2, we visited the Modern Colony.  Set in a 1920s black-and-white bungalow, this gallery showcases the cosmopolitan nature of Singapore as a British Crown colony in the 1920s and 1930s.

At one corner of the museum, we came upon a spiral staircase.  Though this was my first visit to the museum, I have heard many haunted stories about it since young.  As beautiful as it looks, the notorious spiral staircase seemingly holds many dark secrets. It is said to be built during the pre-war days and houses many horrific war stories of our past. Before the museum was built, the area was apparently occupied by a monastery known for dealing with exorcisms.

Next we went to the Growing Up Gallery which brought back a lot of my childhood memory.  Following are toys which I played as a kids, namely Kuti-Kuti, five stones and spinning tops.

Other than toys, do you remember these soda water, especially for those about my age?

Below are more things that Jerlene and Javier have not seen in their life.

Before leaving the museum, we visited Story of the Forest, an immersive installation that transforms 69 drawings from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings into three-dimensional animations.  Have compiled a video of our visit to the museum below.