We were in Singapore for our annual visit for about 4 weeks plus, during the summer holidays; it’s the longest we have been there at a stretch since Tobias was a newborn.
It was hot and humid, as always. But it was absolutely fab to see family and friends and, of course, to eat all the yummy foods we missed.
We went a little earlier this year; a dear friend was getting married. So happy for her! It was a lovely wedding ceremony and dinner, with cute, heartwarming little touches throughout. Well done, you two!! The attention to detail was impressive! Because this friend also knew my family, she invited them too and that gave us a rare opportunity to take a very nice family portrait.
Then we settled into the routine of rushing with the crowds of people on public transport on our way to meet various family and friends for laughter and food. We also got in our exercise in the forms of leisure swimming and some squash games.
i am so proud that my brother did Hair for Hope, to raise funds for Children’s Cancer Foundation. He shaved his head, together with members of the 501st Legion (made up of people who enjoy dressing up as Star Wars characters and doing volunteer/charity events).
There was a sad side to our visit this year. Just before we arrived, we heard that a friend had passed away from a second stroke. Our thoughts are with his dear wife and children and family. We also visited another friend in the hospital, whom we had lost contact with for a long time; she was in the final stages of cancer. We were able to say our goodbyes before she passed away, a few days before we flew out of Singapore. Rest In Peace.
Last but not least, my boy talked his grandparents into keeping hamsters for him again. This time we got 2… Meet Finn and Poe! Can you guess who they are named after?
Oh, my boy also bought his very own gaming laptop, which he saved for 2 years for! He was a very happy boy that day we bought it.
We have been back from our annual visit to Singapore for almost 2 weeks now. i was going to post this earlier but we had computer issues. So finally, here is a picture summary of our trip this year:
People often ask what we miss about Singapore. And number one for me would be our family and friends.
Just as Meredith Grey is Cristian Yang’s person, these are our people!
i don’t often post pictures of people outside my immediate family but these 2 pictures show some special people.
30 years ago, we were 12 and leaving primary school. 30 years later, we find each other and have tons of fun catching up, such friendships are hard to come by.
Now the next thing we miss about Singapore is the food! We ate ourselves silly, as usual.
Top: Kuay Chap, one of my favourite dishes, Middle: Best Japanese food we had this trip, Bottom: Crabs and Suckling Pig!And this stand out dish deserves to stand by itself… half steamed, half fried fish… yummy!Various Hotpots! Left: Hai Di Lao Hotpot with 4 different soup bases, Middle: Traditional Steamboat, Right: Chili Oli Hot Soup.Of course, we had to have desserts!! Clockwise: Tobias with his Holy Smokes ice cream, dessert buffet at a Japanese restaurant, Bingsu (Korean Shaved Ice), Lava Cake and ice cream.But my absolute favourite is this lovely piece of beauty from Kki! Yummy, light and tasty!
What we did most of this year besides eating was spending time with family and visiting elderly relatives. It has certainly hit home for me that my parents and their siblings are not young anymore. We visited Walter’s elderly aunt, my elderly aunties and uncles; most of them have health issues and a few have mobility problems too.
Left to Right: At the Future World Exhibition at the Art Science Museum, Checking out Walter’s Alma Mater, Learning more about Singlish.
Of course, we also did some more action-packed activities such as canoeing on the Singapore River (no photo cos i have not transferred it from my WhatsApp yet). We played squash and went swimming as well.
And we did some catching too… Tobias caught a catfish (catch and release pond at Orto where we also enjoyed jumping at the Katapult Trampoline Park ), and of course, a Pikachu!We made a couple of cat-friends too 😉
Last year, my dad bought Tobias a couple of terrapins. They were tiny and cute, fitting onto my palm. 12 months later, they are huge and outgrowing their tank fast! So we gave them back to the shop we bought them from.
Tobias then talked my parents into helping him look after a hamster which he bought with his own money.
Bye Bye Biscuit and Brownie. Hello Sparky!
And finally, i leave you with a lovely night view of the Singapore skyline from the top of the Esplanade.
… No, not St Gallen, Switzerland, which is shorten to SG in Switzerland.
SG = Singapore, for me.
Yep, it is time once again for a pictorial summary of our annual trip back to SG. We left exactly one week ago (myself and Tobias that is, Walter came home 10 days before us). This time we spent 4 weeks there – 28 days to be exact.
This year we flew Lufthansa again. They are not a bad airline to fly with and this time i felt that the service was a little better than last year. Maybe because this year we flew in their new A380, non-stop from Frankfurt to Singapore.
Remember my Gush! post? Well, the penguins went on their very first outing 😉 Aren’t they just adorable?!
On the way to SG…
We landed in the afternoon, unpacked, got a bit of rest and then the next day, we hit to the town! 😀
We did some touristy stuff, such as visit the new Gardens By the Bay. It was nice – the outside was not quite finished and the flowers/plants didn’t seem to be in full bloom yet. But we really liked the 2 indoor conservatories – the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. The plants/flowers were really quite interesting in these cooled areas but my little guy got bored after one conservatory. His interest perked up again at the indoor waterfall and when we were at the video presentation near the end of the visit. The whole place is built to conserve power, it even produces its own solar power which is enough to power the whole attraction. The solar panels are actually mounted on top of these huge “metal trees” – i call them the “Avatar Trees”. There is a skywalk which links a few of these trees – it has quite a nice view. We were told the whole gardens look prettier at night but we chose not to stay into the evening as we already had a whole day out.
The “Avatar Trees” – the small group with the cooled conservatories in the background, the large group of “metal trees”, the skywalk…The “furry” flower, the 1000 year-old olive tree, the purple “trumpets”…The king of the forest asking when are we finished 😉The indoor waterfall at the Cloud Forest…
Of course, we also did the usual things – mainly eat all the foods we miss ;p And the one thing we always do is our morning walk by the beach, followed by breakfast at MacDonald’s 🙂
Father and Son watching the waves wash the sand away from their feet…
Spending time with family and friends is the other main reason we go back each year.
L to R: Tobias spending time with Godbrother and Godsister, Showing little Godbrother electronic games, Us with our beloved Godson 😉
This year we were also faced with a rather unexpected sad event – the passing of a friend from church, Ronald. Our thoughts are with his family.
Tobias had his first taste of seawater – his reaction? “Pah, Ptooie” and a sour expression on his face. Ok i stand corrected, this is not his very first taste of seawater but the first one which he reacted to. His very first exposure to seawater was when he was quite small so he doesn’t remember it. He got over it pretty quickly and was soon having a ball of a time.
Throwing the water-rugby ball to Cookie and riding on Cookie’s shoulders…
We also went to the Jurong Bird Park. Again it was one of the places we had brought him to before but he was too small to remember. He really quite enjoyed this trip.
The feathered friends we met…
Universal Studios Singapore was another stop we made. After this second time there (now it has more attractions than our first time there), my advice is to go early and plan to stay till closing to get on as many rides as possible, make it a 2-day event if you can afford it. There are a couple of kiddy rides but most would be entertaining for both adults and children. Do note: the Battlestar ride has size restrictions. Oh, another thing – bring a fan and an umbrella. It was very hot the day we went but towards the early evening it rained for a short while.
Top Left: View of the Battlestar ride from below, Bottom Left: At the start of the day, with friends we met in CH, Right: Expressions before the start of the Accelerator ride…Tobias and i with his great-grandmother at her birthday party…
Last year we went to a restaurant to celebrate my grandmother’s (Tobias’ great-grandmother) birthday. This year it was a quiet affair at home with just immediate family. i love that i can still celebrate my grandmother’s 98th birthday!
We went, we laughed together with, ate with and spent time with family and friends, we enjoyed. 😉
Then we settled into the routine of rushing with the crowds of people on public transport on our way to meet various family and friends for laughter and food. We also got in our exercise in the forms of leisure swimming and some squash games.
i am so proud that my brother did Hair for Hope, to raise funds for Children’s Cancer Foundation. He shaved his head, together with members of the 501st Legion (made up of people who enjoy dressing up as Star Wars characters and doing volunteer/charity events).
Last but not least, my boy talked his grandparents into keeping hamsters for him again. This time we got 2… Meet Finn and Poe! Can you guess who they are named after?
syc
trippingdifferently 