Saturday, June 07, 2014

Punggol Jetty updates :)

It's been quite some time since I last cycled to Punggol Jetty area. The last time I went there, the road for cycling was closed as they were going to build it on asphalt. Now it's all done.

Smooth cycling road to Punggol Jetty

See the photo above? The road is smooth now from Sunrise Bridge all the way to Punggol Jetty there.

The Punggol Settlement

Not only that. There is a place called Punggol Settlement that houses Punggol Seafood, House of Seafood, 24hr-store 7eleven, and bicycle rental kiosk called Jomando.

Jomando bike rental at Punggol Jetty

It rents not only bicycle but also scooter pedal that comes in various sizes. Before renting it, you are allowed to try it first.


There are more and more people visiting the Jetty area. Families, couple, friends or even single visitor go there for cycling, for a walk, for dating, or even just for sitting down and enjoying sunset.

Fishing at Punggol Jetty

Here is also the best place for fishing. There are more people spending their time fishing over here. It is one way of releasing stress :) Other than getting enjoyment from fishing, they are also getting a great sunset view from there!!!

Sunset of the day :)

The above was taken just this evening. I love the reddish color of the cloud. Hopefully the weather is good every weekend so that I can enjoy it again and again! So, hope your weekend is as fabulous as mine or maybe even much better ;) Enjoy!

Friday, June 06, 2014

Aussie trip day 5 – 14th May 2014 – Bridestowe Lavender Estate, Vineyards , and Launceston

View of Lake St Clair from our balcony :)

My friends and I woke up early in the morning and got ourselves ready. We could feel the crisp and chilly morning air permeated through our bare face and skin as we opened our balcony door. Our cabin was located among the trees inside the forest. The lake’s morning view was exquisite, tranquil and serene. I wished we could all stay there longer and enjoyed that splendor moment.

We prepared and had a quick breakfast. There were Indomie mee goreng (Indonesia instant fried noodle), fried rice (from last night leftover rice) plus leftover soup with a sprig of chopped parsley and spring onion. Not forgetting tea and coffee as a morning boost to start our beautiful day! :)

Love the scenery so much! :)

We left the place at 9.30am. SJ had to drive back all the way and headed to the north part of the island, to the second largest city in Tasmania, Launceston. And at the western part of it there were many places that we could visit.

In a park with cute animal-cut plants :)

It was such quite a long journey. We stopped few times to fill the petrol up, buy some snacks, and take a short break near a small park. We passed by the same petrol kiosk as the day before, and this time, we bought more variety of snacks. I was curious with the taste of the deep-fried dim sum that they served. It turned out to be so oily and tasted far much worse than what we usually had in Asia. Well, what could you expect? At least I tried :D


We drove passing by a small town that looked more like a fairy tale kind of place people always drew on the book. We also enjoyed the view of the beautiful blue and white sky above us. I’d never get bored with the view at all!


We passed by the same few animals range again and again, but they were still looked so lovely for me. They were busy eating grasses all the time and never ever felt bothered by us.


After 4-hour journey, we finally reached our first destination, which was Bridestowe Lavender Estate, at Nabowla. Yes, it was lavender gardens. However, it wasn’t the right time if you expected to see the purple color field. It was brown and greenish when we visited it. (The flowering time would fall in December and January).

Bridestowe Lavender Estate, Tasmania

We knew about this before arriving there. However, we still visited the place as they also had a gift shop and Woodcroft CafΓ©, where we could enjoy and try the unique taste of lavender inspired food and beverages. Although the flowers weren’t there, the garden had already looked so beautiful!

We visited the gift shop, buying their famous pure 100% lavender oil, which had many functions such as: to heal mild acne, dermatitis, eczema and some minor burn; to sooth discomfort of bites, stings, and minor burns; to function as a fragrance by applying few drop to pulse points or mix with fabric; to relax and relieve symptoms of headache, stress, sleeplessness or tension; and even to be part of the flavoring ingredients on your plate.

The pure lavender was quite expensive though. The medium bottle of 15 ml cost A$23.95. I bought only one bottle for my own use as my hubby loved the lavender smell. My friends bought many to be given as gifts, also for their own use. The shop sold many other things as well.

Bridestowe Lavender Estate, Tasmania

Once done with our shopping we sat down relaxingly facing the lavender garden from inside the CafΓ© and tasted two kinds of Lavender tea plus a slice of delicious chocolate cake. Hmmm… nyummy… Not used to with the taste of the tea though. It’s a little bit like drinking the lavender oil hehehe… We tried their purple color lavender ice cream too! That was delectable! I liked it so much! Once we were done, we continued our journey.

Next, we visited the vineyards. There were lots of vineyards in that area. We chose few nearest ones as our time was limited, only an hour to go. Many vineyards closed at 5pm. However, the distance from one place to another was quite far. We even lost our ways due to the limited direction from the GPS and we ended up visiting the vineyard that wasn’t in our list. It was called Delamere Vineyard. We tasted few types of wines there and my friend bought one bottle back. We just stayed a while because SJ said that we could try to visit another vineyard nearby and we had been left with just few minutes before closing.

Pipers Brook Vineyard, Tasmania

We managed to visit the Piper Brook Vineyard. It was big! Their wines were quite famous and had many varieties. We tasted some but I didn’t buy any as I didn’t find what I liked. We had to leave in just few minutes as they're going to close soon.

Beautiful sunset in Tasmania, Australia

Our missions were finally accomplished. We could enjoy the rest of our time slowly and peacefully. We saw the sunset from the vineyard and enjoyed their picturesque view. Not long after the sun set, the bright moon was coming up in front of us. Oh my…. We stopped for a while and tried to capture its beautiful image but too bad our cameras were unable to capture it as beautiful as it was in real. We ended up sticking our eyes to the moon all the way from inside the car.

Moonlight in Tasmania

By the time we reached Launceston city, the sky had already turned into dark. SJ recommended us to have dinner at Jailhouse Grill Steak House. Here, the restaurant was decorated like a jail. They sold the souvenir like handcuff, keychain, etc. We ordered beef steaks or rib as main course, while the salad and hot side dishes were free, all you can eat buffet! Yayyy!!!

Jailhouse Grill Steak House, Launceston

That would be our last night being together in Tasmania. All of us were hungry and tired. We took the salad for few rounds before consumed our main dish. We ate quietly and didn’t chit chat loudly like usual. Once dinner had over, we went straightly to our next accommodation, Fiona Bed and Breakfast :)

We were given two separate places. One with one queen size bedroom in it, and another one was an apartment like with two bedrooms at the second floor and a single bed on the first floor amongst the kitchen and living room. At first I thought I could sleep alone in the other bedroom. But, I couldn’t find the portable heater there. Therefore, I slept with Aileen in one room while SJ sacrificed herself to sleep in a single bedroom at first floor, where there was a heater that could warm up the whole area.

Fiona Bed and Breakfast - Launceston

After refreshing ourselves up, we met again in the living room finishing up our last bottle of wine and cheese. We drank, nibble, and chit chatted. Celipu told us, “It’s my first time staying at the Bed and Breakfast. Is that meant that tomorrow morning I will have my breakfast served on my bed?” We were all looking at each other and laughed, “No la… It means, they provide breakfast and bedroom. Not that they will serve you breakfast on your bed. Where did you hear it from?” She said, her aunt once told her about it. That’s why she was very exciting when knowing that SJ would book the Bed and Breakfast. Kekeke….

Our last night wine and cheese session in Tasmania

So, there would be our last night being together. Next morning, we would go in separate ways. I would fly to Melbourne, while four of them would fly back to Sydney.

Thank you everyone for the wonderful journey that we all had together. I enjoyed it very very much and let’s see if we can have another trip like this in near future. Thank you, thank you, and thank you! :)

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Happy 12th Wedding Anniversary! :)

I still remember twelve years ago, we were holding our wedding banquet dinner at the local Chinese restaurant serving Cantonese food, called Fatty Weng, which was located nearby Singapore Badminton Hall. It was a very decent and modest place. Even the location brought many question marks on why we held it there.

We were both very young in early twenties, didn’t earn much and had low expectation on how to celebrate the grandest day of our life. My hubby followed much on his cousin’s advice who got married earlier than him by a year. He respected him very much and found his opinions and suggestions practical and so much realistic.

Our wedding photo wearing Chinese wedding attire :)

His cousin, AK, said, “How often you open your wedding photo album and have a look? Therefore, you don’t have to spend so much on it. Better use the money for other necessity required after getting married.”

We really didn’t spend much luxury on both compared with what other couple spent on their weddings.

Nowadays, people took their wedding photo overseas, not Johor Bahru in Malaysia, but anywhere around the globe such as: Europe, USA, Taiwan, Australia, etc. They held their wedding dinner at the five-star hotel ballroom, in which one table for 10 on average could cost S$1288++ during weekend.

Fyi, there was a case where a Singaporean couple spent S$110,000 on their wedding and they ended up having a very heavy debt to settle. It’s said that their bridal cost S$12,000 consisting 999 fresh tulips from Holland and a wedding banquet of 45 tables at the Marina Bay area (six-star hotel), which cost S$1,688++ per table.

We rented our wedding clothes and took our wedding photo at the same bridal shop that his cousin took, and we also hired the same restaurant as him, inviting our families, relatives, dear friends and colleagues, sharing and witnessing our happiness for being together by serving them a humble dinner. The food was very nice though, only that the place itself was a very typical Chinese restaurant, decorated in red and white with stage in front, and not so fancy for a young couple like us, much more traditional way though he-he...

My family members from both parents’ side were there. Most of them flew purposely from overseas to attend my wedding, including my late grandmother. My hubby’s families and relatives, buddies and their families, also attended it. Not forgetting some of my college’s mates who were in Singapore, my then Bosses and colleagues, and especially my dear buddies (including Celipu and her hubby plus Aileen), they were all there sharing my happiness together. Thank you everyone for coming and giving your support! Especially to my parents who had been supporting me with every single thing! I appreciated it very much! Since, you know, I was a foreigner living in a foreign land. So, your presence meant a lot for me. Thank you, thank you, and thank you everyone!!!

This restaurant had been there for many years since 1967. I didn’t know much about it as I didn’t grow up in Singapore. However, it seemed that many couple had celebrated their wedding dinner there. It’s just so sad that we couldn’t find it anymore. It’s been closed down. Saw it online that they have moved to Smith Street in Chinatown.

Therefore, tonight, instead of having our ritual Anniversary celebration at Jack’s Place Restaurant, I requested my hubby to have dinner at the shifted Fatty Weng Restaurant in Chinatown. We couldn’t feel nostalgic though since the place was completely different. But no matter what, I still could recall what happened that night. That was the happiest and the prettiest day of my life :)

Anniversary dinner at Fatty Weng Restaurant :)

Happy Anniversary dear! Thank you for your endless love that you gave to me. Hope to celebrate many more years together and grow old with you. You are and always be my true love!!! ^^

Monday, June 02, 2014

Skantei's Sunday week 1: Taco and Burrito

School holiday had just started. My son had to attend few days of remedial classes after receiving his exam results. There was no arrangement for him on where to spend his one month holiday. So, home, would be his nest.

Delicious Malay food :)

We had an enjoyable brunch on Saturday. Nasi Ambeng Set (rice, serunding, achar, tempeh, ikan bilis, sambal goreng,  perkedel, and rendang) for me; Nasi Sambal Goreng (everything was same except the rendang Beef was replaced with fried chicken wing and the sambal Chili was different) for him plus a plate of Gado gado to share. Since the portion was big, three of us shared the dishes.

Nyum nyum... Malay food, which was similar with Indonesian food, was my favorite! There was a slight different in taste but it's pretty hard to find the original taste down here, unless you were prepared to pay more. So the Malay store in Kovan was good enough to satisfy my taste bud :)

I asked Baobei to choose two books from the bookstore. Instead of common children story or comic kind of book, he started choosing self-help book kind of thing. And that afternoon, we spent our time reading together in my room.

Suddenly, he said, "I want to eat Taco and Burrito leh." I was like, what? Out of sudden, he thought of eating Mexican food. He asked me if there was any Mexican eating place offered good food with reasonable prices. I recalled back any Mexican restaurant near my working place. There were few, but I never visited once as it was quite expensive. The one with food court standard, like the one we had before in Bras Basah Kopitiam, had long gone. I searched Google and found mostly all restaurant type.

He then suggested to make on our own. I told him, "Can. But you make ya, 'cos I have to work tomorrow."

"Why? Tomorrow is Sunday mah?" he asked.

"It's month end dear. I had to do closing," replied me. "If you want, you can follow me to my office. You can bring your book and do your revision there. Lunch time we can go and eat at one of the Mexican restaurant there." I gave him an alternative.

"No. I prefer stay at home and cook it myself," he said it firmly.

"That's great! You learn how to cook lor. My duty is just to eat. So make sure the food is ready when I reach home, Ok?"

"What time will you be coming back home?"

"Like usual lor, around 7."

"Ok lor."

So, I allowed him to find out how to make those two food from the Internet. And btw, when I asked why he had a sudden crave of those food, he simply said that he watched from YouTube that people ate it in California. Ah, no wonder he was asking me if there was a lot of Mexican food in US.

I made Nachos and Wraps before at home, but not Taco and Burrito. I knew roughly how it tasted but wouldn't purposely cook it as to eat. But since he wanted it, let him be then. Anyway, I was only the eater in this case hohoho....

Seriously jotted down the ingredients from YouTube

So he browsed around and watched the YouTube videos on how to cook it, then wrote down the ingredients required. I told him to buy the ingredients tomorrow with his dad. He was very exciting with the whole plan. Never once I saw him so serious about it to realize his dream.

I worked the whole Sunday. I reached home early as I tried to finish my work faster to see how the progress would be. No phone call was made so I also didn't know if the plan was still be executed or not.

Ingredients' list :)

When I reached home, hubby was there in the kitchen 'assisting' him. Salsa was ready inside the refrigerator. There were plates of garlic, onion, and tomatoes readied to be cooked. I was hungry and wondered why they hadn't started cooking yet. They said they were waiting for 'Master Chef' to cook. Lolx!

My hubby had no idea how my son wanted the tomatoes and chicken to be cooked. My son had the idea but didn't dare to cook it himself. I could wait no more. I told him that I would take charge from here. Hahaha.... And they were relieved 'cos someone who they assumed 'know' to cook and know the taste would start cooking. Lolx!

With guidance from my son, I cooked the tomatoes and chicken. I had to make sure that this was according to his wish. To be honest, I wasn't that sure about the taste. I just followed whatever ingredients available. In order to cut cost, hubby had cut some ingredients too. Like cumin, he excused that because after today, the spice would just stay there in the kitchen and waiting to expire. And we had to use chicken instead of beef since my mother-in-law didn't eat Beef.

Hunger made my move fast. In a short while the ingredients were whipped. We wrapped our own Burrito since everyone had their own liking on how it wanted to be done. We also filled our own ingredients inside the Taco. Some put it inside the oven and some not.

Home made Burrito and Taco :)

Hmmm.... The taste was not bad at all. The chicken ended up tasting quite delicious. The rice inside the Burritos was absorbing the sauce from the chicken. And it was made out of healthy ingredients. The wrap size was perfect. Not too big and not too small. The cheese was melting perfectly added the taste and texture from inside. Hohoooo..... However, although the color was pale and not that interesting, the taste, however, was superb! :)

I ate one Burrito and 4 Taco. We opened the Napa Valley red wine made in 1990. The taste was rich as it's been there for 14 years. Later on we enjoyed it with Double Cream Tasmanian Brie Cheese that I bought from Australia. After a long day and hard work, the food and wine had made all my weary gone. What left was satisfaction.

The wine had taken its effect on me too. At 9.30pm I had already lied down on my bed ready for a good sleep. Suddenly my son came into my room with his backpack. He wanted to show me his new backpack bought by his aunt in Hong Kong, that he would bring tomorrow for school. And he started to talk about many things and insisted to sleep with us in my room as he found it too lonely to sleep alone.

When I responded little, he tried to explain that he loved talking to himself, especially when he was alone. Yalama! Hope he was alright! And he started talking about the cooking process that evening.

He regarded himself as the 'Chef' while my hubby was his 'Assistant' because he just told him what and how to do but most job was done by my hubby, such as cutting and washing ingredients. My son collected it and mixed it around, added some salt and lemon into the Salsa, to find the right taste. My hubby was complaining while eating that his son was bossing him around. Hahaha... So funny! And Baobei said, "Luckily there is Master Chef who came and cooked. But the Chef and his assistant had to withstand with the nagging and ordering around." I was laughing out loud while listening to his mumble. Hahahaha.... at the end, they still regarded me as their 'Western food Master Chef' who was able to bring the delicious taste into their plates :)

Great weekend together! ^^

I love you Baobei! And since that weekend, he planned to have Skantei's Sunday every week during holiday ('Skantei' was his nickname in the game, which he used widely). Let's see how long his spirit's up! ;)

Thursday, May 29, 2014

People will never forget how you made them feel - Maya Angelou


I learned about her departure this morning when my bestie posted her quote in Instagram and wrote RIP next to her name.

At age 86, Maya Angelou published seven autobiographies, three books of essays and several poetry books. But I know her mainly because of her beautiful quotes.

The above quote stays deeply in my mind and I relate it to my hubby's recent experience with Rafa, my sisters' son, during his visit to Melbourne.

"Stand still and look forward. We never know what will happen tomorrow. But for now, we know we are together" - Rafa and Monster Chair

In such short period, he had become a favorite Uncle for Rafa, who just turned 5 yesterday. They had spent quality time by playing, reading book, flying kite, drinking hot chocolate, etc. and had a really great time together.

My hubby was called 'Monster Chair' by Rafa since last year when he came to Singapore. It was because when Rafa sat on my hubby's lap, my hubby would play with him as if he was a monster. And Rafa still remembered it clearly until now.

Hubby told me when he was in Melbourne, he showed Rafa a magic by making the rubber Dinosaur disappear from his hand and made it appeared again from his ear. Rafa was very happy and kept asking him to show it to him again and again. Since Rafa was asking him for many many times, he tried to minimize the frequency by telling him that he could only perform the magic to him three times a day.

Therefore, every morning when hubby woke up, Rafa would come to him excitingly and shouted, "Uncle Lemon, show me magic, magic, magic! It's magic time!" Hahaha... He had no choice but to perform magic everyday, three times a day ^^

So when my hubby had to come back to Singapore, Rafa was really sad. My sister said, once we left to airport, Rafa had his breakfast with tears on his eyes. He didn't even cry when his Godmother left. But he did when his Uncle Lemon went back.

Now after coming back to Singapore, my sister often sent Rafa's voice message to hubby through what's app. In one voice message, he said this: "Halo Uncle Lemon this is Rafa... Yes... Oh ya.. I know ya... I know you... Uncle Lemon... Magic time... Magic time... Magic! Magic! Magic!" And other time he said, "Halo Uncle Lemon, this is Rafa. Thank you for the banana (his mom said, 'the t-shirt'), thank you for the banana, for the t-shirt, the yellow one, yes, no, yes,  no (his mom said 'now we look like the banana in pyjama') yes nanana". Ha-ha... Rafa was referring to the yellow t-shirts that my hubby bought for him and his brother.

The day we said Goodbye. Both were wearing the banana, I mean yellow t-shirt bought by hubby :)

He was sending a voice message too inviting my hubby to his Birthday party and to bring present for him. But too bad they were just too far away from each other. When hubby replied that he could not attend, Rafa asked his mom "Why Uncle Lemon cannot come to my Birthday party?" with a sad tone.

This evening my sister sent hubby the following message:


My hubby felt so touched reading it. He told me that he misses Rafa very much too. He wished that he would stay another week there so that he could celebrate his Birthday....

Find Rafa (hint: blue color jacket) ^^

The above were our pictures taken while traveling together and he always sticked by hubby's side in our photos.

When Rafa can read one day, hope he is able to read this blog and hopefully still remember his dearest Monster Chair that ever made his life full of fun, laughter, joy and happiness. We miss you very much too Rafa... Yes? No? Yes? I know you Rafa. You know me?
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...