Phuket - August 2019

Over the long National Day weekend, we went to Phuket, our favourite island.

We stayed at Diamond Resort, near Bang Tao Beach. It was in a quiet area, but central enough for us to get to many places like Patong, Phuket town and the upmarket Boat Avenue where lots of nice restaurants are. We enjoyed our stay at Diamond. Service and food at the restaurant were excellent.

The pool, not very big, but was nice and enjoyable. They had plenty of floats for us to lie on.

Despite having been to Phuket so many times, we've never gone island-hopping, as the kids were too young previously. We were actually planning to do it this time, but it rained during all the days we were there!

We did get to do something else we'd never done in Phuket before, and which Aaron absolutely loved - go-karting!

 

   

Nadine was quite scared when we started driving, but after a while, got used to the speed and wind blowing in her face, and started to enjoy it. Aaron loved it so much that he asked to go another time!

As usual, we went to Patong for our massage at our favourite Let's Relax Spa, food and shopping at Jungceylon Shopping Mall.

Another first - Phuket Weekend Market. It's supposed to be like Chatuchak. Maybe we didn't walk through the entire market, but it's far from Chatuchak. Way smaller, and also did not have the variety that Chatuchak. The food stalls looked very exciting, but quality was not there.

More firsts - lunch at Boat Avenue

We went to Little Paris, a French-Thai restaurant where food was really good. 

After that, we went to Central Phuket, a new mega mall in Phuket Town. It's huge! 1 wing has luxury brands such as Hermes, Gucci, Ferragamo and YSL and high-street brands such as Zara, Mango, Top Shop. Then there's another wing with Uniqlo, H&M, Levis, etc. Lots of restaurants too.

And there's even an indoor theme park, Tribhum that centers around 2 Thai mythical races. Nadine was not interested, because she wanted to go shopping. So Daddy went to the park with Aaron, while I went shopping with Nadine. The 2 guys had a lot of fun!

Overall, we enjoyed ourselves very much this trip, even though it was a bit too short, and rained a lot. We'll be back, Phuket, and hopefully, the next time, it'll be bright and sunny, and we can go island-hopping!

Church camp 2019

Throwback to this year's church camp in KL.

We went up a couple of days earlier to shop, eat and play, before the camp started. And we sure ate a lot! The kids tried Chili's for the first time, and loved it; we had Korean friend chicken with cheese for the first time, and we also had our favourite Madam Kwan's. Sure fattened ourselves before the camp!

Now that the kids are older, Kidzania no longer attracts them. That's great! Aaron tried something else that was more thrilling - indoor skydiving!

He loved it!

I was worried that he'd freak out if the instructor brought him to the top of the tunnel, but he braved through it! Told us he was quite scared, but enjoyed it nonetheless. He's really a thrill-seeker!

The best thing that happened this camp - both kids received the gift of tongues! They were so excited about it, but wouldn't let us hear it.

Very grateful to Treasure Box SG for conducting the children's program, and taking photos of videos of the kids too, so that we get a glimpse of our kids worshipping! Never seen them do that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt0F-x8LC6k&feature=youtu.be

(No photos of Nadine though)

We pray that Nadine and Aaron will continue to grow in the Lord, fall in love with Him more and more each day, follow Him faithfully all the days of their lives, and look forward to more encounters with Him every day, and in every church camp!

Aaron turns 8

Aaron's 8-year-old milestone - finishing a whole full-size burger himself at Fat Boys Burger!

He's 8 turning 18. Can be such a baby, yet when he analyses situations or argues his case, he can sound so logical, and like such a big boy.

At the moment, he still wants to be an engineer, and is constantly designing and building stuff, including this butterfly.

He has a curious mind, and is constantly observing and analysing things around him.

While we have no worries about his IQ, we do pray that his EQ will improve. Where social skills are concerned, must say he's become better. In fact, the other day when I brought him and Nadine to the playground down the road, he made a friend quite quickly, and started to play with the new friend. In the past, he would be totally shy and will hide behind either his sister or me, or would play by himself. Perhaps it's being in primary school that has taught him to be bolder!

Can't wait to see how this boy will turn out as he grows, and the plans that God has for him!

Love you so much, my baby!

Dolphin

Nadine challenged her brother to do the dolphin pose, which she learnt in ballet class.

Challenge accepted...

Random sketch by Nadine

Nadine's "random sketch" of a corner of our living room

Our Sunday breakfast chef

Nadine has started making breakfast for the family on Sunday mornings. Very nice :)

Mother's Day 2019

I received triple surprises this Mother's Day ...

Aaron made me these earrings in school, in a workshop that father volunteers organised for the boys to make Mother's Day pressies for their mums.

Nadine wrote me this lovely card, with a prayer.

And then Aaron made this card in church.

Was a great Mother's Day!

Aaron's Sports Day

Aaron's school had their Sports Day towards the end of the 1st semester. They staged it like a mini Olympics, and included a message about sportsmanship. Very nice.

Aaron's class won one of their items. They were so excited.

Lego transformer

Aaron built his own lego transformer

Carrom

Since stepping down from Youth Church, I've been able to bring the kids out on Saturday afternoons. More Nadine than Aaron or both. It has been really fun.

1st outing, I brought Nadine to Little India. We went pass the Indian Heritage Centre and Nadine said she wanted to visit the Centre with the whole family. So we did, a few weeks after, and discovered carrom!

There were some traditional games displayed at the reception area. And we had fun playing carrom, so much so that I subsequently bought a board for the family! Good family game!