CNY 2013 - River Hongbao

Backdated post.


We had a long weekend this previous Chinese New Year Holiday, four days!
Oh my...how did we spend the time?


Well...it rained almost non-stop on those days so outdoor activities were out of our itinerary.

We did go to River Hongbao though, despite the drizzle :) thank God nobody fell ill afterthat.

What is River Hongbao?
Well it is somekind of carnaval or somesort, with stalls selling various things from foods and drinks to emulets from China and many more.


There are also various rides and games for kids and adults.

So as you have predicted, we concentrated our visit to Uncle Ringo's carnaval (aka circus), because of you Aqila :-P

You tried several games. You got lucky in sharp-shooting one and received a rudal balloon gift as a reward :-P eeeuw...it is kinda lame ya? Hehehe
Does not matter, you were already exhilirated anyways









Taking a ride on super mini ferris-wheel :) double happiness from the look of you :)

Activities that are not in the pictures were the Boom-boom car race with ayah, also the electric-cars race as well as the boat ride.

Oh well...everyone went home happy :)

- Posted from my iPhone

I'm a big boy now!

From My Blog Photos

Aqila is learning to go home from school by himself using public bus. I do not know where he gets this urge, but he has been begging us to give him permission to do it.

Aqila, 

I feel very uneasy about the whole idea but my logic tells me that you are absolutely capable of doing it. On the other side, my heart just can't seem to let you go home alone. Should we just wait till you are bigger, older? After all, you just turned 8 last month!

However, seeing how proud you were coming out of the bus just now... i think we have made a good decision, ya Aqila?

You are a big boy now! Mom is sooo proud of you :-)

Oops...i forgot to 'tap out'! hahaha....

From My Blog Photos

The proud boy :)

From My Blog Photos

It is quite a short distance to go from our home to his school and vice versa, just around 7 bus stops away. However...it is still such a big achievement by my Aqila! 

Iklan tapi lucu

From My Blog Photos

Dari jaman dulu hingga sekarang, dari jaman bunda masih di sekolah seperti kamu hingga sekarang kamu yang di sekolah, acara-acara seperti ini selalu ada di sekolah. 

Skit...bermisi iklan. Untungnya Skit hari ini bagus dan lucu hehehe.

Tentang apa ya Aqila? Aaah....rahasia seorang anak menjadi cerdas, kuat dan sehat! hehehe

From My Blog Photos

From My Blog Photos

Para penonton cilik terpikat melihat "Growy"

From My Blog Photos

Siapa bisa jawab pertanyaan kami? Ada hadiahnya lho!

From My Blog Photos

Bisa tebak Skit ini iklan produk apa? :-)

Clue: minuman sehat berwarna putih yang berkhaziat memperkuat tulang dengan tambahan vitamin lainnya :-)

Happy 8th Birthday!

Image by tante Marriana.

Image by tante Marriana

Thank you so much tante Mar, for these gorgeous photos!

You are eight! How time flies! 

I still remember going to the hospital to give birth to you one Saturday morning, after a very late night chat with eyang Toeti who had just arrived from the US. Actually, my water broke the night before, but I did not realised it, thinking that it was just the normal activity of you inside my tummy! Silly me! Oh..btw, Eyang Toeti came to Spore to personally welcome you, who were scheduled to arrive in a week's time.

Well...but you decided to say hello to the world a week earlier than what the doctor and we had planned. As the result, your doctor was still on holiday that Saturday morning! Hurrah! And another doctor had to take care of me ...and you! Oh la la! Great!

Anyways, having you is the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me. I may be strict I may be firm, but I do all those out of love. I am also warm and I am loving...of course it is because I adore you :-)

Happy 8th Birthday my dear. 

I pray that you will grow up to become a fine young man who is honest, independent, able to defend yourself and be a man of honour. A young man who is full of love, caring and protect those who are weak and less fortunate. 

May Allah SWT always guide you in his path. Amen.

Here are some highlights of the party! 

Games! Nothing else is better than games for them!  hehe

Simon says....till Simon doesnt have anything to say! hahaha

One of the game involved drawing / planning our town.

The ABG girls were busy with their own drawing hehehe....

Just prepare crayons and papers, and kids will start doodling in no time :-)

 Mas Harsha pointing to his art.

The complete TOWN PLAN. 

The adults were having a feast :-)

Some of the adults helped themselves with boardgame :-)

Otak-otak, siomay and pempek and homemade serabi were a hit

Bulik Mita memang TOP! You managed to get these super shy kids to draw! Woooow! Salute!

Tumpeng nasi kuning lengkap, ayam goreng, rendang.

Tante Dina brought fruits, and tante Deasy brought delicious fruit salad! Tante Eja brought mini pizzas and Bulik Mita brought lemper and bunda made Serabi! All Yum yum

Some of mom and dad's good friends  who came on that day :-)

Click this link if you want to see all pictures ya! 

To the Gardens...again

Pergi tamasya ke Gardens by the Bay lagi :-) Kali ini bersama anggota Parent Support Group dari sekolah Aqila dan tentu saja beserta para anaknya. 

Ada sekitar 35 orangtua dan anak yang pergi pada hari itu. Semua senang...semua ceria. Di sana panitia penyelenggara menyediakan tour guide dan juga kompetisi menarik buat peserta outing. 

Tiap grup (terdiri dari 5 orang, kombinasi orangtua dan anaknya) diberi sejumlah tanaman yang harus dicari, ditemukan, difoto dan dicatat informasi ttg tanaman itu. Sesudah tugas selesai, hasil harus dilaporkan ke ketua panitia, berikut bukti peserta yg berfoto bersama di dekat tanaman itu hehehe. Jadilah foto2 ini: (photos are not edited, uploaded straight from cameraphone to flickr)

Ayo naik bis...satu per satu...antri yaaa!

Yeah...we are ready to explore the Garden!

Hari itu Aqila sohib dengan Prisha hehehe. Ke manakah Harsha? 

Mejeng dulu yaaa :-)

Gak penting sih...menang atau tidaknya dalam kompetisi ini, yang penting senang. 

Menjadi Parent Volunteer di sekolah Aqila merupakan pengalaman yang berharga buat saya. Di sini saya belajar bagaimana menjaga bukan hanya anak sendiri saja, tapi juga anak orang lain. Membantu membangun karakter dan sikap generasi muda negara ini. Tidak mudah lho, ada anak yang manis, ada juga yang errr....kurang manis hehe. Biar tidak mudah, tapi tugas ini sangat memuaskan batin :-) Dan tentu saja mendapat teman baru (sesama Parent Volunteer) di sini sangat menyenangkan. Saya bisa bertukar pikiran dan pengalaman dalam membesarkan anak, juga dalam menyikapi masalah yang dihadapi si anak. Terutama dalam urusan pelajaran hehehe

Foto dan cerita lebih detil tentang Gardens by the Bay bisa dilihat di sini ya. 

bunda, aqila bulik Mita, Prisha dan paklik Maman.

Formasi masih lengkap dan segar...sebelum hunting tanaman :-)

Go see Tintin at the Museum

This is a later post Aqila...which means the story that I wrote for you here happened some time back. Well actually about a year back hehe. Sorry ...better late than never.

During the previous long school holiday you and your cousins together went to the Philatelic Museum in ... to see The Adventure of Tintin Exhibition. You guys were great fans of Tintin and Snowy so we were so happy when we heard the news that there was a special exhibition about your hero at this Museum :-)

Picture from Wikipedia.

The exhibits showed Georges Remi aka Herge's early work, his sketches and his storyboards. We now knew that he took really care of his storyline...doing his thorough research on the facts that he used as the base of his stories. A wonderful n genius man!

Tintin was a very famous reporter in Europe. Belgium, France and the Netherlands issued stamps series about Tintin. We saw pretty and interesting stamps featuring Tintin from these countries!

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photographs, so no photos of the exhibits here. Sorry.

Checking another temporary exhibit anout Elephant.

This is from the permanent exhibit depicting life in Singapore in the olden days.

Eyang's Birthday!

Eyang turned 76 lastweek!

We celebrated her big day over a Nasi Kuning Tumpeng and homemade Orange-choco chips cupcakes with buttercream and strawberry toppings.

Aqila, you are so blessed to have a very smart and beautiful Eyang and an ever so resourceful handy-woman! She can fix almost anything!!! And i am not kidding :-)

We wish Eyang good health and abundant happiness. May Allah SWT always takes care of you, protect you from  and guide you in his path, Eyang. Amin.

(Photo was taken by Bulik Mita)

Blowing candles with grandchildren! More wishes to come true :-) 

There was a live performances as well! Welldone kids for putting up a great entertainment for us!

The video is uploaded with the permission from bulik Mita :-) Thank you so much :-)

This card is from Eyang Tuti. We totally agree with the message :-)

Oh, we had a face-time session with Eyang Tuti as well. So hopefully she could feel the celebration we were having for her sister :-)

- Posted from my iPhone