"Pretend Vacation" Lunch

It's high noon and the only time of day you're guaranteed that no one else is going to be at the pool so we packed up our lunch and decided to pretend we were on vacation somewhere.

It was blindingly bright out but it was very comfortable at the table under the giant umbrellas. Zac made pizza bread and I prepped salad and a few other accompaniments. 

Think we all liked the change of scenery and that we were doing something outside of our usual routine. I find myself getting boxed in by routine and The Schedule so making the mundane special really shakes things up and slows things down enough to appreciate where we are now.

All Dressed Up

 

Photo taken on 14 February 2020

With nowhere to go.

Covid restrictions are still on and the government is allowing for a maximum of 8 visitors per day per home. You can only dine with 8 others at a table with no inter-mingling which certainly makes reunion dinner less than a reunion. Opa had the food we booked at Crystal Jade sent to Auntie Elan's and to our place so we could have family dinner on a smaller scale. It was really good to have Debbie and Jeekoh over after more than a year of not being able to have Saturday dinner together.

Flowers from our landscaper at Nyee Phoe

The accidental suckling pig that was supposed to be a duck.

初一was spent more or less like this:

Served with a platter of this for breakfast:

Kueh lapis from Benagwan Solo and 年糕

Still, we have to admit that the break from routine was nice and we got to spend time together just hanging out.

The outtakes:

YUMS: Pura Brasa

 

I think the Christmas lunch delivery we received as a treat from his boss struck a cord or perhaps it's just that Spanish food brings back memories of our time in Barcelona. It was easily agreed that we needed to go check out Pura Brasa on one of our Friday date nights.

We may have over-ordered and underestimated the potency of the pitcher of sangria but there were no regrets. My fingers were too busy feeding my face to take photos (as evidenced by the lack there of).

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Birthday blessings abound for this man as he celebrates his birthday right after mine! The boys and I hope you feel loved and cherished all the year through and not just today. Thank you for everything you do and don't do and for the very best you put into loving our family.

We love you, papa bear!

Well Done, Eli!

 

What a lovely surprise to be given such a tangible reward for the hard work and effort! 

We marvel at how far he's come, our Eli. He's always shown himself to be a bright and enthusiastic learner but these years have also displayed how God has grown him to be a hard worker with integrity and perseverance. Though we are grateful for this award, we recognise that our son is more than just the grades and we are proud of the young man he is shaping up to be. Well done, Eli!

Since we still had to adhere to safe distancing regulation. Eli gave the honour of attending the short award ceremony to daddy (who was very pleased). They decided to make it an adventure by taking a bus back home but not without stopping at McDonald's for a celebratory sundae. I think they both liked that bit the best. 

Sunday Funday

 

Happy 17th Anniversary to Us!

After being married for 17 years, we know that it's less important to celebrate the day but every day that follows. On that note, we ended up celebrating our wedding anniversary 2 weeks after the actual day with a themed fine dining dinner at Preludio called "Chapter 2: Time".

This was definitely one of the most memorable dinners particularly because the theme was so appropriate for us that it gave me goosebumps. Having dinner at 6.30PM certainly helped since it was early enough that we were the only ones in the restaurant for the first half of our meal. The food courses were a visual feast that made you internally ooh and aah like a nerd while you try to match what the waitress explained with what your palate was sampling.

The "Time Machine" was hands-down our favourite part of the meal with all the different textures and flavours packed into such a tiny bite.

Not your ordinary bread and butter

"Time Machine"

Chestnut themed dessert box to round off the meal

Gooooo SCHOOLING! Go Singapore!!

Watching Joseph Schooling win Singapore her first Olympic gold!

Bring It On!

So proud of the Mr. for successfully completing his first ever Urbanathalon. He's been busting his butt with training amidst his extremely busy work schedule. An amazing accomplishment to celebrate turning 40!

Bravo darling!!

See Zac Run!

Zachary was selected to participate in this year's school Track and Field Championships. He was quite looking forward to being part of the 8x60m class relay though waiting his turn under the hot tentage was a bit torturous. It was really really nice that Len managed to come in time to watch his son race.

Even though there was no medal to take home, it was a fun first experience and the first (hopefully) of many. 

Happy Birthday Len!

It's Mr P's 40th birthday!

Leading up to his birthday, I was getting ridiculously stressed out trying to figure out how to throw a big ol' birthday bash to celebrate the big four-oh. I was getting a little loopy and was losing some sleep debating on the best way to make this man of mine feel the love.

Because he is my best friend and the one person who wouldn't judge me, I broke and expressed how stressed out I was feeling. I knew it was the right thing to do because he turned to me with that look of utter love and told me that he already knew how loved he was and no party would ever be able to express it any better. Besides, he didn't fancy the idea of a huge shin-dig with him at the center of it all. He would much rather spend a quiet evening with family, hanging out in our pyjamas. At that, my poor constricted heart was put at ease and I gave myself permission not to throw myself into the chaos of party-planning.

I am always grateful for the man I married because no one else would do. God knew what I needed in my life and gifted me with someone I could grow up and grow old with.

Love you babe!

Japan Day 1: The Eagle has Landed!

Ready or not Japan, here we come!

After catching the 10pm flight and flying overnight to Tokyo's Haneda International airport, we're finally on Japanese soil at 530am local time. What a shock to the system since we all barely slept last night!

Once we made it through the snaking line at Customs and got our bags, the first order of business was to figure out how to take the train to Karuizawa. We also decided to use a luggage shipping service (we went through JAL's shipping service) to send one of our bags to Tokyo so we wouldn't have to lug so many through the train stations. After getting some information from the tourism counter right after you get out from Customs, we had to figure out how to buy monorail tickets to Tokyo Station. To get to our destination, we'd need to change trains on monorail then once more to Shinkansen. Though there was an English option available to the machines buying tickets required some intuition. Once we figured out what the symbols meant, it was easy!

We'd also gotten a pocket wifi from Changi Recommends before departure and arranged for a data SIM card by b-mobile to be sent to our first hotel. We were pleasantly surprised with free wifi on the monorail so we didn't have to dig around and figure out the pocket wifi just then.

I'd read about the awesome food selection in the train stations and we needed a bit so we stopped for a bit so the daddies could figure out where needed to go. There are bento box shops, juice bars, mini restaurants and stalls selling sweets and confectionaries you can give as gifts all over. The hardest thing to figure out was what to buy!

Hello! Japan

After months of prepping, we are finally leaving for Japan tonight! The Pattiselannos are hitting Tokyo and Osaka for the next 10 days with our good friends the Ngs and the Norohnas!

The kids have been impatient to get started with our holiday and have been excited about playing in the snow, eating through Japan and going shopping!! The hallmarks of a great vacation. I've just been excited about having Lenard to ourselves for the next few days. 

It's our first time in Japan outside of Narita airport. I've always wanted to go but somehow the language barrier and the lack of travel company meant it would sit on the back burner for a long time. 

Well, now we're off and thrilled to be going with our friends.

Wandering Around

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It started off with me wanting to take a look at the path at the back of our condo but by the time we reached the end of the path, we were on a full-blown stroll to the Singapore Botanical Gardens!

It was one of those occasions where I did a mini-mama-flipout in my head since this was unplanned, hence I was unprepared! No mosquito repellant, no water bottles and snacks, no wallet, no umbrella (should it rain), no nothing. Thank God that I brought my handphone!!!!

I decided to step out anyway and believed that God would provide as we went on our extended stroll.

A huge black-and-white house on a hill.

Needless to say, the boys were excited and we really didn't need all that preparation I would have done to go on this little walk-about!

It's nice to be on a surprise adventure every once in a while.