Mummy's Birthday

Lalala today's my mummy birthday and dear dear and me will be celebrating for her over a dinner. As Wa Ma just passed away recently so we decided to keep the celebration simple and low profile abit. Meet up with mummy at Bugis after our work to have our dinner at Astons today. 

Lalala loving my Double Up Chicken because there is black pepper chicken and the crispy fried chicken. Mummy ordered the Crispy Fried Fish and dear ordered the nice nice Pork Chops today. It's been more than 6 months since we last ate at Astons and it still taste so good. And so after our dinner, mummy was tired so we headed back home.

Hope mummy will like the dinner tonight.

外婆的离去

Today is the first day of the 3 days wake for my Wa Ma (Tan Ah Eng) who left us on 18 July 2015 at the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch, Western Australia. Wa Ma is just 74 years old this year. Really don't understand how Wa Ma would suddenly suffer a Hypoxic brain injury and Cardiac arrest. Everything is just too sudden for everyone.

Felt really sad when we got to the house and everyone was packing Wa Ma clothes to be placed inside the coffin with her for the cremation. Sometimes the hardest things to do is letting go of the things you held so tight to your heart. Really couldn't take it when we finally saw her when the undertaker arrived. She is really gone. It's really sad that we tend to treasure the people around us only when they are no longer around.

There are so many things to be done during the past 3 days from attending to the guests by providing them with packet drinks, plate of peanuts, melon seeds, sweets and red strings, and making sure the 路灯 does not get extinguished.

Got to see so many of my relatives and cousins after so many years. All my cousins have grown so much since we last saw them when they were still kids. Time really passes by so fast that everything have changed. The place, the people, the relationship, and the atmosphere. 

I wish that somehow in the near future we would be able to gather together like how it was like in the past as a family and that there will be lots of laughter and photos for us to show our kids from generations to generations. I believe Wa Ma would have wanted that too. A complete happy family. 

I'm a walking zombie

I feel like a walking zombie

I'm really getting old and couldn't take night shift anymore. The long hours spent doing literally nothing is as torturous too. Nobody likes reservist, even myself especially when it's one that was not properly planned and executed by the right people. There are just way too many PO that are not properly guided by their TLs and I blame no one but their TLs and the way the management is brain washing their mind on this whole operations. 

Felt really tired even after for a few hours after the shift. I just stared at myself in the mirror and my mind is blank. It's as though the brain is not functioning at all. Damn, I need a good sleep. 

Left the house to meet up with the girlfriend as we had our Ma La Xiang Guo dinner at Plaza Singapura today. Lalala always feel so happy to meet up with her and walking around ^_^ hehe I really like to walk walk :p

Enjoying a nice cup of Gong Cha can be very happy too.

Tomorrow will be Wa Ma funeral le... :(

The last night shift

Finally my reservist is coming to an end with the last night shift today. Can't wait to get it over and done with after so many days of morning and night shift. I really doubt the efficient level of some of the regulars after multiple shifts with them, though there are some that are really good and deserve a better rank that they are currently getting.

So happy that dear is able to meet me for dinner at Paya Lebar+ before my night shift starts. Lalala dear dear also pass her General Insurance papers le. So Yi Kai for dear dear de ^_^ McDonald's twister fries is finally back and we're having our sinfully fat die meal for dinner today.

Dear Dear so cute de after sending me off to Macpherson MRT and keep turning her head to look at me when I walk away de. How I wish I can don't go tonight and just be with her.

Being Happy is by Being Simple

Feeling so blissful to have dear by my side all these while. Today is my last morning shift for the reservist and it's really torturing to be walking around Geylang on such a hot weather, and worse was when it is a quiet day. Where did all the people go? I figure out the best way for time to pass-by faster is simply to instagram away :p

Lalala I can't wait for time to passby faster because dear went to Paya Lebar for her revision and wait for me to off work ^_^ So happy to see dear again de lalala lalala. Went to Serangoon Nex Mall for our dinner at Chicken Hot Pot before we took the bus home. Feeling so happy lalala lalala.

奇味雞煲 Qi Wei Chicken

Today is the day we tasted the worse Chicken Hot Pot of our life.

We took a leap of faith and try out the 奇味雞煲 located at No.973 Upper Serangoon Road after seeing the number of crowd every single time when we drove past the area. But, god we were wrong to even try it out. Ordered the Half Chicken Signature Qi Wei Chicken Claypot for 2 (S$24.90), and with spiciness level of 大辣 and took 2 colored plates of vegetable and mushroom, each is S$3.30 per plate if I didn't remember wrongly. 

When the Signature Qi Wei Chicken Claypot came to our table, it blew me away. First thing I did of course was to try out the gravy to see what caused the craze; which kinda left me in a blank... it was tasteless, other than the gravy being spicy. The gravy was way too watery and unlike the Chicken Hotpot at Serangoon Nex Mall where the gravy was thick and there was a fragrance to it. The Signature Qi Wei Chicken Claypot was really up to it's name "奇味". Worse still, I counted the number of meat in it and seriously, I do not understand why it was indicated in the menu as half a chicken. That alone left me in yet another daze... where exactly did half of the chicken went to???

Once is enough.

It was so tasteless but super duper spicy to the extend that we need something to cool our throat.

外婆走了

My heart sank when I saw the message from 小姨 Angie:

外婆已经走了.

When 小姨 told me yesterday that they had since took off the life support system from Wa Ma and she is able to breathe on her own but it's with great pain. I knew everyone of us are just waiting for the time to come as much as we don't wish for it. Life is so fragile don't you think. One minute you're all smiling and talking to each other, and the next minute it may all be over.

Made a call to 小姨 who is in Perth, Australia to say my last words to Wa Ma... Sometimes when things happened too fast, you really do not know what to say or think logically because the sadness is just too much to bear.

Grandma get well soon

Feeling very emotional today after hearing what happened to my grandma (Wa Ma) who is still in Perth Australia. Wa Ma got sick all of a sudden on Saturday when she was having lunch to the extent that she vomited and collapsed. Really sad when my 小姨 Angie told me that after Wa Ma was hospitalized, she soon fell into a coma and was eventually pronounced brain dead and is on life support...

Feeling very sad looking at my mum face when she spoke to my 小姨 over the phone. Why must such things happen at all? Especially when my mum and Wa Ma relationship just got better after so many years of them ignoring each other. Even though I know that old people are bound to be sick and things like that can't be prevented but I really hope for a miracle. At least, let Wa Ma be back to Singapore. At least, let all of us get together one more time, as a family... a complete family.

A sleepless night,

one that tears flow as every bit of memories crossed my mind.

2 Days 1 Night Melaka Trip [Part Two]

Lalala it's the second day of our Melaka trip today. Woke up for our hotel breakfast before heading to the swimming pool for a swim ^_^ So Yi Kai to be able to swim swim with dear dear again. Yu Er Yu Er Sui Zong You, You Lai You Qu Duo Kai Xin ^_^

Check out of the hotel at 12.30pm and thereafter head over to Jonker Street for our lunch. Yummy Yummy Chicken Rice Ball at 古城鸡饭粒 ^_^ Ordered so many Chicken Rice Balls, Roasted Chicken, Steam Chicken, Salted Chicken, Vegetables and Tofu Soup.

我登机坐皇上了

我的龙床 hehe

我的皇后

Panda Dear Dear

After our lunch we make our way to the Nyonya Museum but while on our way, we found this little cozy cafe hidden away from the main street. The Calanthe Art Cafe is a cozy little place where coffee meets art. ^_^

After our short coffee break, we set off to the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum which is just around the corner of Jonker Street. Do you know that the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum was once the home of a Peranakan gentleman and planter named Baba Chan Cheng Siew (1865 - 1919). These three terrace houses show the eclectic tastes of a Straits-Born Chinese family at the turn of the 19th Century. Four generations of the same family have lived in this home, before it was turned into a museum in 1985 by Cheng Siew's eldest grandson Chan Kim Lay. 

Entrance Fee to the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum for Adults is RM16.00 and RM11.00 for Children aged 5 to 12 years old. Photography is only allowed at the main hall before the tour of the Museum thus explain why there are only photos of us below. Though no photography is allowed, but I think it's still worth visiting because some memories can be captured not just with the camera but with our hearts ^_^

After the visit to the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, we make our way back to Hatten Hotel to have dessert at the Caffe Bene cafe which is located at our hotel itself. Yummy Yummy single Coffee Bingsu topped with delicious coffee gelato, coco crunch & nuts at the top, red bean in the middle of it and shaven ice at the bottom of it. Simply delicious ^_^

Single Coffee Bingsu - RM12.80

And so our long journey from Melaka to Singapore begins... The entire journey took us about 5 hours plus due to a slight traffic congestion over at the immigration checkpoint. Home Sweet Home Singapore ^_^

2 Days 1 Night Melaka Trip [Part One]

Ring, ring, ring [6.30am]

Finally our 2 days 1 night short getaway trip to Melaka, Malaysia is finally here. Although I am down with cough, flu and body ache but I'm so happy because me and dear is going on a trip again and this time round we have Valerie and her boyfriend "Ah Chao" joining us too.

Took a cab over to our coach pickup point at Concorde Hotel where we will be taking the Luxury Coach Exclusive bus from Singapore (8.30am) to Melaka. If you ask me, I think our bus tickets are relatively cheap at S$36 per person per 1 way trip. So all in all, we spent a total of S$72 per person for the bus journey to and forth from Singapore.

- Our wefie before everyone doze off from the long journey -

zzZZZ... what a traffic jam [3 hours later]

And so, after 3 hours into the journey, we arrived at the first rest stop for everyone to have our toilet break or stock up on some snacks before we continue on our journey. Everytime we are here, I tend to get myself a Magnum ice-cream and Otah Otah to feast on before we set off.

zzZZZ... [2 hours later] - 2pm

Finally we arrived at our drop-off point at 2.00pm, the Equatorial Hotel. Lucky the Hatten Hotel that we're staying at is just a 5 minutes walk. And so we set off for our lunch first since the check-in time is at 3.00pm. Lalala time for some Nyonya food ^_^

Yummy yummy Nyonya food from Restoran Nyonya Suan which is by far the best restaurant that serve up to standard Nyonya food here ^_^

And so we head out for some photography around Jonker Street area after we check in to our hotel rooms. Took so many photos today despite the hot scorching sun right above our heads ^_^ Lalala we're taking the trishaw again this time round but I think it's really expensive for them to charge us at RM15 for a short journey that last less than 5 minutes but I'm really happy ^_^

Went over to Restoran Tong Sheng over at Jalan Melaka Raya 6 which is just 2 streets away from our hotel. The queue was so long that the waiting time is about 1 hour and 45 mins. I guess everyone is flocking here to try their Cheese Prawn Beehoon and crabs. Seeing how long the queue was, we asked whether is it possible to take-away and we actually have to wait in line too. How inflexible can they be, isn't it better if people are willing to take-away and you have one less group of people occupying the seats?

And so we decided to have our Satay Lok Lok earlier instead as our dinner. Lalala time for Satay Lok Lok at Restoran Ban Lee Siang which is at 45-E Jalan Ong Kim Wee. Take note the standard rate that all the taxi drivers here seems to be asking for is a minimum flat rate of RM15 which reminds me of the news lately voting taxi drivers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia being the worst drivers. Hmm...

We decided to walk back to Jonker Street which is 2 streets away since there are no cabs in sight and we don't want to be chopped a flat rate of RM15 again by the taxi drivers. Lalala walk around Jonker Street with dear dear so Yi Kai. 

Took a cab back to Jalan Melaka Raya 6 again (RM15 gone) to order the cheese prawn beehoon for take-away. Can you believe we waited for just 15mins and we got our orders out to us rather than in the evening when everyone is having their dinner here. So happy that we can finally try out the yummy yummy cheese prawn beehoon, and best of all its in the comfort of our hotel rooms too ^_^

End of a wonderful 1st day here at Melaka ^_^