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#397
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In his lunchbox, he has :-
Fried mee hoon with cabbage, carrot and fishcake
Pan-fried gyoza (homemade)
Boiled broccoli
A happy belly, a happy boy!
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Peacock
In his lunchbox, he has :-
Fried mee hoon with cabbage, carrot and fishcake
Pan-fried gyoza (homemade)
Boiled broccoli
A happy belly, a happy boy!
Sunday, April 23, 2017
A Bayleef Pokemon Birthday Party
The boy turned 9 years two weeks ago. He is taller and bigger each year. And heavier too! (on the chubby side). As a Primary 3 student, he has lots more homework to cope with. Initially, he was stressed over Chinese spelling in Term 1 but has since overcome it. Now, he is working hard to hone his composition writing skills, both in English and Chinese. His effort did pay off and I have seen improvement in his composition writing. He hardly have time to play on weekdays due to the fact that he can take up hours to complete his daily homework (a slow writer, his grandma can attest to it) and additional badminton training. As the saying goes, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I decided to declare one Friday 'free of homework' to celebrate his birthday with his schoolmates after school.
Pokemon is his favourite cartoon character since the hype over Pokemon Go game which has taken the world by storm last year. His interest remains strong till now. And he has also been drawing the pokemon characters during his free time and sharing his masterpieces with his classmates. Needless to say, his mini birthday party, is all about Pokemon. And he chose Bayleef - a grass pokemon species, for his special day.
I found a great site where I printed the Pokeball birthday banner and also the bayleef pokemon iwhich I made for the caketopper as well as for the decorations. Also, I splurged a bit more than last year on a few helium balloons. Since last year, I have delegated the tasks of the planning of goodie bags and party games to the boy. And it would continue as long as he liked it. He used his savings and bought a capsule balls that contained a pokemon from a provision shop. Packed in a brown bag together with some biscuits. Wrote a thank you note and drew some of his favourite pokemons on colourful post-it paper which he pasted on the goodie bag. Papa bought him a large Tri-strike nerf gun for his birthday present at his request. Naturally, the party game, of course, none other than nerf gun shooting game. The boys has a blast with Papa who made it in time home to celebrate their birthdays together. (Father's birthday was one day later).
We had an eggless mango cake which I purchased from Emicakes shop. Why eggless? He was told that one of his classmate, Mun Xun's little brother is allegic to eggs and walnuts. Hence, he decided to forgo his standard chocolate cake and opt for an eggless one. I was heartened that he has such a big heart at this tender age.
I was also grateful to his best friend, Shawn's mummy, who baked these lovely chocolate cupcake for his birthday. He was truly blessed!
Pokemon is his favourite cartoon character since the hype over Pokemon Go game which has taken the world by storm last year. His interest remains strong till now. And he has also been drawing the pokemon characters during his free time and sharing his masterpieces with his classmates. Needless to say, his mini birthday party, is all about Pokemon. And he chose Bayleef - a grass pokemon species, for his special day.
I found a great site where I printed the Pokeball birthday banner and also the bayleef pokemon iwhich I made for the caketopper as well as for the decorations. Also, I splurged a bit more than last year on a few helium balloons. Since last year, I have delegated the tasks of the planning of goodie bags and party games to the boy. And it would continue as long as he liked it. He used his savings and bought a capsule balls that contained a pokemon from a provision shop. Packed in a brown bag together with some biscuits. Wrote a thank you note and drew some of his favourite pokemons on colourful post-it paper which he pasted on the goodie bag. Papa bought him a large Tri-strike nerf gun for his birthday present at his request. Naturally, the party game, of course, none other than nerf gun shooting game. The boys has a blast with Papa who made it in time home to celebrate their birthdays together. (Father's birthday was one day later).
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| Pokeball birthday banner |
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Bayleef pokemon
cake topper
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Some plastic cups to shoot!
Goodie bags on each side
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We had an eggless mango cake which I purchased from Emicakes shop. Why eggless? He was told that one of his classmate, Mun Xun's little brother is allegic to eggs and walnuts. Hence, he decided to forgo his standard chocolate cake and opt for an eggless one. I was heartened that he has such a big heart at this tender age.
I was also grateful to his best friend, Shawn's mummy, who baked these lovely chocolate cupcake for his birthday. He was truly blessed!
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| A family photo |
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Camping in New South Wales Australia, December 2016 (Part 1)
Australia has been destined as our camping trip for our family holiday for many years. This time, we travelled to New South Wales, Australia during the year end school holidays 2016. To accommodate our family of three comfortably, we upgraded to a bigger tent.
The route covered Blue Mountain, Hunter Valley, Port Stephens and Sydney. We did not pitch a tent on the last leg of the itinerary which was in Sydney city. Instead, we put up at the Market Street Hotel which was near to the train station for the convenience and ease of travelling downtown.
It was summer during December. We planned our 14 days itinerary from 27 Nov 2016 to 10 December 2016 so that it would not coincide with Australian kids school holidays which commenced from mid December 2016 onwards. We spent 4 nights in Katoomba, 2 nights in Hunter Valley, 3 nights Port Stephens 4 nights in Sydney. This trip was supposed to cover some nature trails and at the same time, satisfy Papa's desire to catch 'Kangaskhan' (Pokémon) there.
Katoomba (Blue Mountain) - Scenic World - Wentworth Falls
It was around 4.10pm when we touched down at Sydney International airport after a frustrating delays of our flight with Scoot, not once but twice! It was our maiden flight with Scoot Dreamliner and the last flight probably:(( Although Papa got the business class seats for us which was super spacious, lots of leg room and able to recline comfortably, I have difficulty in getting a good sleep onboard. Because of the delay, we were caught in a traffice jam on the highway heading to Katoomba. There was a light drizzle and mist as we approached Katoomba. Katoomba is a town close to the stunning attractions of Blue Mountains and many more. Our tent site was located at Katoomba Falls Tourist Park which was walking distance to the famous Three Sisters, Scenic World Skyway and Katoomba town. It was cold, wet and misty as we pitched our tent at night. Temper flared as our clumsy son attempted to help Papa. I was irritated by Papa's body language and harch words used towards a child. My son was being elbowed, pushed away and demanded to get out of the way! "Why did Papa push me?" he whispered softly. Feeling hurt, my boy stepped aside and watched quietly till the father finished. Stomach rumbled and the kid was famished. We were lucky that Woolsworth supermarket opened till 10.00pm. I was too tired to cook at the camp kitchen. So, we ate instant noodles we bought from the supermarket. For the first time, I fed my kid with instant noodle. "So yummy!" he commented as he wolfed down the cup noodles. We quickly changed into clean clothes after a nice warm shower and snuggled into our tent, wrapped ourselves with down feathers sleeping bag. Temperature fell to 14 degree celsius outside the tent. The cold crisp air sent us to dreamland almost immediately.
Scenic World
We were grateful for Papa to have the tent pitched despite his obnoxious mannerism. We woke up fresh and energetic after a restful night. And we ventured out to the famous Scenic World Skyway after a simple breakfast; bread spread with peanut butter and chia seeds. Originally, it was a coal mine railway that carried tourists on weekends and holidays. Till the Hammon family bought over and developed into the Scenic Skyway. Getting around was easy. First, we took the the famous giant skyway with a see through glass floor panel. It was a breathtaking sight in the blue mountains surrounded by lush greenery. The stunning Three Sisters was just magnificent where we could see it closer from the giant skyway. Next, we rode the cableway as well as the steepest railway; a remnant of the the area's coal mining days. The young boy loved the 'cliffhanger' thrill of the railway ride so much that we went back a few times. Then, we did the Giant Stairway trail from the Echo point. Lots of steep stairs to climb but we were rewarded with fantastic view. It was absolutely worth it! We made it to the honeymoon bridge leading to the first Sister and did not go beyond because our legs began to wobble.
The route covered Blue Mountain, Hunter Valley, Port Stephens and Sydney. We did not pitch a tent on the last leg of the itinerary which was in Sydney city. Instead, we put up at the Market Street Hotel which was near to the train station for the convenience and ease of travelling downtown.
It was summer during December. We planned our 14 days itinerary from 27 Nov 2016 to 10 December 2016 so that it would not coincide with Australian kids school holidays which commenced from mid December 2016 onwards. We spent 4 nights in Katoomba, 2 nights in Hunter Valley, 3 nights Port Stephens 4 nights in Sydney. This trip was supposed to cover some nature trails and at the same time, satisfy Papa's desire to catch 'Kangaskhan' (Pokémon) there.
Katoomba (Blue Mountain) - Scenic World - Wentworth Falls
It was around 4.10pm when we touched down at Sydney International airport after a frustrating delays of our flight with Scoot, not once but twice! It was our maiden flight with Scoot Dreamliner and the last flight probably:(( Although Papa got the business class seats for us which was super spacious, lots of leg room and able to recline comfortably, I have difficulty in getting a good sleep onboard. Because of the delay, we were caught in a traffice jam on the highway heading to Katoomba. There was a light drizzle and mist as we approached Katoomba. Katoomba is a town close to the stunning attractions of Blue Mountains and many more. Our tent site was located at Katoomba Falls Tourist Park which was walking distance to the famous Three Sisters, Scenic World Skyway and Katoomba town. It was cold, wet and misty as we pitched our tent at night. Temper flared as our clumsy son attempted to help Papa. I was irritated by Papa's body language and harch words used towards a child. My son was being elbowed, pushed away and demanded to get out of the way! "Why did Papa push me?" he whispered softly. Feeling hurt, my boy stepped aside and watched quietly till the father finished. Stomach rumbled and the kid was famished. We were lucky that Woolsworth supermarket opened till 10.00pm. I was too tired to cook at the camp kitchen. So, we ate instant noodles we bought from the supermarket. For the first time, I fed my kid with instant noodle. "So yummy!" he commented as he wolfed down the cup noodles. We quickly changed into clean clothes after a nice warm shower and snuggled into our tent, wrapped ourselves with down feathers sleeping bag. Temperature fell to 14 degree celsius outside the tent. The cold crisp air sent us to dreamland almost immediately.
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| Reading corner at the Camp kitchen |
Scenic World
We were grateful for Papa to have the tent pitched despite his obnoxious mannerism. We woke up fresh and energetic after a restful night. And we ventured out to the famous Scenic World Skyway after a simple breakfast; bread spread with peanut butter and chia seeds. Originally, it was a coal mine railway that carried tourists on weekends and holidays. Till the Hammon family bought over and developed into the Scenic Skyway. Getting around was easy. First, we took the the famous giant skyway with a see through glass floor panel. It was a breathtaking sight in the blue mountains surrounded by lush greenery. The stunning Three Sisters was just magnificent where we could see it closer from the giant skyway. Next, we rode the cableway as well as the steepest railway; a remnant of the the area's coal mining days. The young boy loved the 'cliffhanger' thrill of the railway ride so much that we went back a few times. Then, we did the Giant Stairway trail from the Echo point. Lots of steep stairs to climb but we were rewarded with fantastic view. It was absolutely worth it! We made it to the honeymoon bridge leading to the first Sister and did not go beyond because our legs began to wobble.
*********** Honeymoon Bridge ****************
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| Descending |
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| Cross over |
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| On the bridge |
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| First Sister |
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