First Day of 2014

In Western Australia, on the Boranup Forest Drive through tall stands of 100 year old, second growth karri. Pictured, are two locals with a view of the Indian Ocean in the background.

Lunch on Christmas Eve

Relaxing at lunch time on the deck of Castaways Resort, Koh Lipe, Thailand.

Happy 3rd Advent!

We had fun decorating a gingerbread house and munching it while taking breaks to pack. We are leaving for Langkawi tonight and will stop at Auntie Anitha's for a lovely Indian dinner before the airport. Got some great news that Sapphire and Ryan had their baby boy, Simon! What a beautiful start to our trip!

Our 4th Advent will be in Koh Lipe! Hope to be able to send you all happy wishes from the beach! We are at Cocos Bungalows beside Castaways. We are saying good bye now to our HDB and our life in Singapore. Luckily we made the most of our Asian sejour! Happy 3rd Advent everyone!

Our favourite twins, Abi and Jessi, turn 13!

 Two very special girls became teenagers today. Jessica and Abigail Shepherd, our Kiwi friends, turned 13! Church friends, Nola and Tanya, co-hosted a beautiful party for the girls full of speeches, toasts and lovely cakes and tea. We all contributed to a scrapbook for each of the girls that they can leaf through as they go through their teen years. It was a very beautiful party. Congratulations!

We made two pages per twin for their souvenir scrapbook. All the best for some fun teen years, Abi and Jessi! You never know where the road will take you but one thing is for sure, so many caring people will be there along the way to support you! Happy Birthday!

Christmas Lights and Cheer!

 We took our little elves to Gardens by the Bay to see the Christmas decorations and to have satays by the bay one more time. The pointsettas were out of this world! The domes were a refreshing place to cool off during our hot and bothered moments in Singapore!

 Pit and the Mommy rest and look at the beautiful foliage. "Touch neck"! Pit still loves to touch our necks.

 Gardens by the Bay has two lovely light and sound shows per night. We were lucky to enjoy one with a lovely breeze. These are the moments I will miss in Singapore...the balmy nights and the beauty of the lights.

 Afterwards we took our little elves to Somerset and Orchard areas for the over-the-top Christmas lights and crowds.

Merry Christmas, our little elves! Ho ho ho! So nice to spend some time in Singapore during the holiday season 2013. It was a very lucky Friday, December 13th by the way!

Year End and Good bye Party Combos!

We had a good bye party at Amped Trampoline park this past week on Tanjong Katong. The children took breaks from jumping to sign and draw some designs on two, plain white shirts for Frunty and Pit. The shirts are a nice souvenir. The moms got into the spirit of things too!

 After Amped, we all went to a year end party at Auntie Shirin's home. Many of these friends we met at Singapore Scouts. Even though Frunty and Pit did not return to Scouts after we returned from Canada, we kept in touch with some of our good friends.

 I presented a bottle of white wine from Malborough, New Zealand to Shirin and Vijay from Andrew Mackay. He gave me all his booze...very generous. But I promised to spread around his good cheer! Thanks, Andrew. Looking forward to trying some wines together in February.

 Thanks to Dennis for leading all of us during the carol singing. That was a lot of fun!

 The children enjoyed playing pool and singing karaoke together...and wrestling with pillows!

 Papa's colleague, Veronica, had a lovely little year end party at her home near Bugis Junction. Auntie Cassandra was very kind to babysit the boys so we could go to this adult evening with colleagues from Verizon.

Veronica's dog, Kimmee, stole the show! Papa's colleague, Dan, is moving to Sydney and we will try to catch up there in January! Xander, from Amsterdam, plans to go back to the Netherlands in a few years to put his daughter, Yuna, in school. It is exciting to hear about everyone's plans and the new chapters they will lead, just like us, after Singapore. Merry Christmas and bon voyage!

The Philatelic and Peranakan Museum Day Trip!

The boys have finished their school books and are now officially on holiday! We celebrated by purchasing the traditional Lego mini-figures they get when they finish each workbook. After visiting ToyHunt at Century Square mall, we took the MRT to the Philatelic Museum near Fort Canning. It is a really lovely museum!

The boys posted a very special post card to someone who inspires them to collect stamps too! We wish you could have joined us at the Philatelic Museum but maybe there is one in Toronto too!

 As PRs, we get free entry to museums in Singapore. With the savings, we treat ourselves to little gifts in the souvenir shop...like adding to our stamp collections! What fun choosing stamps!

 Nearby the Philatelic Museum is the equally lovely Peranakan Museum. We had a fun visit there as well and enjoyed a freshly squeezed lemonade in jars!

 On the way to the MRT, the boys were intrigued by a drop of water on a lily pad that eventually rolled off! Singapore has many delightful buildings left over from days gone by...luckily. I hope they preserve the shophouses. I love the ones covered in green foliage with hanging lanterns. These are the scenes of Singapore that I love so much.

To end a perfect day, we met Papa in Chinatown for a Vietnamese dinner! Our adventure in Singapore is coming to a close as we try to balance packing and celebrating with friends and saying good bye to some of our favourite haunts. On that note, it's time to stop typing and enjoy the beautiful day outside!