I move yet again

Sorry folks! I have to change my blog address. Haiz.

Here it is: http://keisbay.blogspot.com/

The Hengs

We have a big family at the maternal side. My mum has 4 brothers and 5 sisters. Every lunar new year, most of the uncles/aunties will take turns to host gatherings at their places.

We don't attend all the gatherings, especially now that we have kids. The simple reason being that our bodies cannot take it! Haha. And we have no means of private transport. Waiting for a cab during this period can be quite frustrating.

After the waterfront outing, the whole family had a good rest, except me of course. I find it hard to nap long in the day. I'll think of all the stuff I have to do and jump out of bed, no matter how tired. :p

At least, the adults got to gamble a bit (and won) that night, and the kids had a blast playing with Felicia and Ivan who made them makeshift 'houses' out of mattresses. :)

 My nephews and nieces are all quite camera shy. Hehe.

And we won our taxi fare home.

While the kids cooked and ate in their new found home.

Once, Barry ran out, holding a plate of poker cards and told me that was his dinner. Haha. 

The next day, we went to Mrs Lee's place, which will be in another post. Sunday was my mum's turn to host lunch. By then, we were all half dead. Haha. Bo stamina.

We left the kids to my cousins while we ate and gambled. They had their naps 2hours late!

That's Barry's signature scowl this new year. Like his sister, he isn't the sociable type and will freeze up and frown whenever someone other than The Closest 5 (I'm going to use this term for the people my kids are comfortable with, ie jiejie/didi, papa, mama and the 2 grandmas. ha) comes near.

Warmed up after my mum played with them. After that, they were ok without any of The Closest 5 around.

They even had a makeover by Ivan. Pirates!

The kids had so much fun they looked a bit sad when my cousins had to leave. Now, they're saying they want to go my xiao gu's house to build houses again. And they finally know Felicia's and Ivan's names! :)

大年初二 at the waterfront

First day of the CNY, my mum was grumbling about not having any activities the next day. Since we were also free, I suggested we go out for some fun, away from crowds and noise, to breathe some fresh air!

Ever since we've brought my mum to the Woodlands waterfront, she's been exploring the place. She's very excited about finding a route from her place (at Marsiling) to the waterfront. It would take an adult 30 minutes of walking, one way. She was also very excited about crabs! She said she always see people having good crab catches there and suggested we buy nets and go try catch ourselves some crabs one day. Love the idea!

Hubby and I love a scenic walk! And we really needed to burn off some fats from all the binging. So we were very enthusiastic about walking there, each pushing a stroller with one kid. Of course we weren't going to make the kids walk! Will never reach there!

True enough, the walk was fabulous! Maybe it's because it's CNY, it's so quiet. Being very close to our neighboring country (right next to the causeway) also gave the whole place a rustic 'backyard' feel. We walked past the old deserted checkpoint. Gosh, it looked like the perfect setting for a horror flick. Think 28 Days Later or the latest drama series The Walking Dead. By the way, I love such horror flicks. Ha.

I kept imagining zombies coming out from the empty and eerily quiet corners of the building, with that signature stagger. Should have taken a picture.

We reached the place at 10am. And woah, we saw a lot of crabs!

This is just part of their catch. Further down, one family was having a mini bbq (just a wire rack over some fire) with sausages, balls and the big bucket of crabs they caught. *salivates*

It was super windy. Good for us but the wind made the already sneezy Mandy start to have a runny nose. Uh oh.

The kids complained of hunger they sat on a bench and ate their favorite inari sushi that I made the morning. You know, I'm very proud of this although it didn't take that much effort. Inari is one of their favorite food. And I know going out as a family and eating their favorite food out of their very own lunchboxes, is something like a dream come true for Mandy. She often talked about this 'dream' of hers. I'm glad it's finally being fulfilled.

Yes, kids have simple dreams. It just take a little effort and time for us to make them happy. They actually don't need big and expensive presents. At least that's how I feel. :)

Would you look at Barry's greedy face?

The boy gulped down 4 inari sushis in record timing. Hah.

We continued our walk along this part of the waterfront which we've never been. It's right next to the causeway. Previously, we've only been to where the Skywald is.

Eventually, we settled in a pavilion. Grandma and the kids played a game of football.

 

Then it's lunchtime! My mum prepared kong bak bao (our de rigueur picnic dish) and fried rice! Yummy! The seabreeze and fresh forest air made our lunch all the more enjoyable!

We would have stayed longer if not for the phone call from xiao gu. They're hosting that night! Whoopee. Time to go home, recharge and cheong arrrrrrrrr!

Till the next post!

And we welcome the rabbit

As with previous years, we ate a light breakfast before heading to my mum in law's place. For she always prepare yummy fried nian gao with sweet potato and yam and 糖水 for breakfast. But unlike previous years, she didn't make the pancake that hubby and I so love. Still, she made up for it by preparing EXTRA nian gao! So we could bring home a whole big box of nian gao for breakfast the next day. Shiok!

We reached her place at 10am. After enjoying the yummy food, the kids did their favorite activity. CLIMBING! They love to take the cushions off the sofa and turn it into a climbing frame. Ha.

Lunch was delicious as usual. I ate so much that I joked that I should take off my belt and change my dress to a maternity one. :p

Then, we went to my mum's, mainly to let the kids nap. After that, it was off to my 2nd uncle's place, just a 10 minutes walk away. 

We didn't stay for very long before adjourning back to my mum's for dinner. On the way, the kids had some fun!

They love their rabbit milk candy.

My mum and hubby piggy-backed the kids back. Boy, I was glad to be the bag lady, although unglam.

Since the camera was out, we took the opportunity to click click click away.

 My mum made some wonderful accessories and I want to show you all!

 A rose bracelet. Meant for adults but Mandy likes it.

 Rose brooches.

 And here is a sucky model with a really nice flower necklace.

We were supposed to iron it first. Oops.

It comes in blue too. Will try to model it in a white dress. But minus the face lah. I can't smile into the camera.

My mum has already sold 2 of the flower necklaces! Yay!