Mervyn Hoe: My Daily Happenings

Wall Painting

2021-10-21T17:42:00.010+08:00

A girl painting a picture of a girl 👧

The 3 girls and their own version of wall mural

Look! The children had their own chance to flaunt their creativity skills with the free samples of paint from GUSH. And it’s amazing that there is no apparent odour or smell. Easy to wipe off on surfaces too. They love the fun and we just let them paint the available walls in the house!

Kate and her garden plants 🪴

Sara kept saying that she is following her grandfather, who is an artist

Yes! We are getting a fresh coat of paint for the whole apartment! Quite excited and this time we gotten the children to decide the colours for their own room. Hope that the whole entire process will be a smooth one!

MacRitchie Reservoir

2021-10-19T23:20:00.003+08:00

It’s truly blessed to be able to head down to a Reservoir with a wide selection of jogging trails! I am very thankful that I have the time to put on my jogging gear and head down to the MacRitchie Reservoir after sending Sara to school!

The jogging was initially tough, with all the undulating and uneven paths. However the more runs I did, the easier the jogging. The amazing thing is that my running timing improved everytime and now it’s 10km within an hour.

I really feel good and refreshed after jogging and I hope it can inspire you to do too!

Today I even asked my eldest son to come along with me. Since it was still within 14 days from his first vaccine jab, he was unable to do strenuous activity. Hence it became a walk for both of us! Had great chat with him and also visited our war hero Lim Bo Seng tomb. He is a man who sticked to his morals, and had 7 children! He fought till the very end, endured so much tortures and very amazed how God protected his wife and children when they were escaping from Singapore to St John’s.

I have even borrowed a book about Singapore Trees and there are so many types of trees in Singapore! I told him some of the common ones like the Lipstick tree, Raintree, Flame of the Forest, Frangipani Tree, Indian Rubber Tree, Pong pong tree, Fish tail tree, Trumpet tree and Saga Seed tree. I need to read up and spot more common types of trees so I can get them to be interested too!

Nature has so much to provide for us - tranquility, fresh air, natural resources and wildlife! We need to protect them and bring the new generation to appreciate our nature. Yes, the weather may be warm, the journey may make you sweaty. It’s just the way it is!

13 years in the Insurance Industry

2020-02-28T00:55:00.001+08:00

27 FEB 2007

This is the date I will always remember.
The date that I joined Insurance as a career.

I knew nothing about the industry and this was how I grew and learnt! Thinking back, the journey was not smooth but enjoyable. It was the rejections, countless prospecting and showing of plans that made me realise that financial planning takes more than just signing on the dotted line.

Throughout these 13 years of experience, it made me realise that something didn’t change at all. People are still under insured and not knowing which are the suitable vehicles to grow their income. I am very pleased to know that the platform that I am at, gives me the flexibility to plan for my clients. In terms of fair scope of plans from various companies, my clients can choose and be well-informed on the changes of their coverage and what I can offer for them!

Manulife Financial Advisers has given me a greater opportunity to manage my client’s well-diversified portfolios and it made me closer to them. It is not only just plans, but I can help them in terms of fast claims, transactions and smooth queries from me.

I am very thankful that God has led me to this company and honestly I am still growing and learning.

2020

2020-02-26T17:54:00.002+08:00

Yes! 2020 is the new decade! It is the year of refresh and new beginnings.
Honestly, I will pray that I will continue to strive for God and for my family.

I am very thankful that I am blessed with a wonderful wife, Eve. She is ever supporting and forgiving towards me. Things have happened for the past 2 years. And I will feel that the only thing to do is to look forward! She is definitely my pillar of support in my life.

I chanced upon a phrase that TIME is the only thing that keeps going forward! It is so true. Every morning when I wake up, I will tell myself to be thankful for what I have. My house, my children, have food to eat and to breathe!

It is a year of change for me.
Last year I stepped up as Assistant Vice President in my organisation and I ended the year with 4 agents! I am certainly very thankful for that because this is something not to take granted of. The agents were god-sent and they just messaged me, agreed to come and join me! I am really very very thankful. All the more, I will work hard to value add and to teach them my skills!

2020 is also the year that I will achieve my Lifetime member as a Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). It is certainly amazing and looking back, the first year when I achieved it, I was elated! I can’t believe that I can do it! It was the year that Josh was born too. And guys, to achieve MDRT, you have to have a child!!! (Just joking)

I am also very thankful that I am in this insurance financial advisory platform. It certainly gives me the flexibility and the ability to provide a well balanced coverage planning for my clients. Most importantly, I have also honed my skills in investment, providing positive gains for my clients through dividend paying plans! They are really very pleased with my service!

I will continue to embrace the changes and rebuild my life once again!

Escape Room

2018-12-31T22:49:00.001+08:00

Today, I managed to form another set of Escape Room game for my children and their friends.

When they entered the room, they saw this. This is actually a code for the grid that I have placed on the table. How to decode? The yellow biscuits, green biscuits and red biscuits match the color of the Lego blocks. Hence the code is 534.

Using the grid, they'll form a word BED.

Hence, they headed towards the bed to find another clue. At one of the bed legs, I hid this message.

They have to unlock another code using another grid. The pictures are all pasted around the room. And they managed to find them! These pictures form SEOSS. It makes no sense. However, when they managed to get it right, the word LIGHT is shown in front of their very eyes!

They have to go to a light bulb in the room. And they found a key!

Messy room huh! But that didn't dampen their findings. They only have fifteen minutes to solve! The key was found and they unlocked the luggage.

In the luggage, they found this..

BABY DASH. I have hidden a message in a baby Dash toy in the room.

So they have to find this image in the room to get the next clue!

It turns out to be Sara's dress. Hence I told them to find what is hiding in her dress. It's the final key!

Hence they unlocked another bag with the key and they managed to retrieve the lost secret ball!

Hurray!

As always, everytime after the children solved the case, they would want to have another set! How I wish I can just create another game with a click of my fingertips!

Cycling across Park Connector

2018-12-28T15:02:00.001+08:00

Cycling has never been so exciting, and to see the children enjoying and exploring the new places, it's truly rewarding.

On Wednesday morning, our family with Josh's friend met to venture the Kallang Park Connector!

All geared up with scooters and bicycles!

We were thankful that the weather was fine and windy too!

Personally speaking, I really love this bridge! The children were exhilarated when they reached it! Unblocked view 360 degrees!

Thanks to Kelly for the family photo.

Initially, I intended to jog throughout the Park Connector. Instead, I rented the Ofo bike. I'm really thankful to find one at a nearby block.

We reached Potong Pasir, and it was well built with new bridges and greens. The Kallang River was clean, rubbish free!

We spotted many patches of plants mixed with lalang, cow grass, creeper plants and morning glory. We tried to find grasshoppers. Instead, we spotted butterflies, carpenter bees, Sting bug, water hens and their chicks, herons and egrets!

Sara's enjoying herself in the morning walk with her chocolate bread!

Kate was trying to catch the sting bug! She was so determined to catch it and her hard work paid off! She caught two of them!

They found a small centipede! Kate was swift to use the plastic container to catch it on the floor. The children were so fascinated by it. However, sadly the centipede escaped and it crawled towards Sara's shoe. Sara didn't know and stepped on it. And it died. Oops.

We continued our cycling journey to a nearby beef shop along MacPherson road.

After the simple lunch, we cycled back and reached back to Bishan within 15 minutes! It's certainly a great way of gathering and exercise, not forgetting appreciating the nature, tunnels (CTE), river and animals!

I feel that our next ride, we will venture towards Whampoa and National Stadium!

We should also need to bring the bicycle helmets too!

Two Rounds of DIY Escape Room in the house!

2018-12-21T23:43:00.001+08:00

Today, initially I wanted to hold one Escape Room for my children, because Gwen kept asking for it. So I planned it and invited our neighbors to join in. After playing, they enjoyed it so much that they requested me to form another game! Hence making it 2 sets today! It's challenging to me, and I'm glad because it tested my creativity.

I'm just sharing some ideas here (not all)...

I hid the Uno cards in the blinds and they managed to find eight of them. The clue was to make the room dimmer! And they used the numbers to call someone to unlock another clue!

Josh told them to wind down the blinds fully! That's tactical of him!

Kate went to another side of the living room to find more cards!

The children solved a puzzle together and found out the missing alphabets!

I made my very own decoder kit. It's very simple and I'm amazed by myself to engineer this at the very last minute!

And after they turned the dial to the coded text, they had to look around the kit, decode and find the proper word. This case, it's RADIO. They then proceeded to the next stage.

Josh was trying to get the cards out from the air-con! It was too high, so he threw a cloth up, hoping to make the cards fall. Children are getting smarter and smarter, each time they play this game.

They are unlocking the luggage, once again!

The children, including Sara, trying their best to find the key hidden at the small chairs!

I'm really glad that the children had so much fun playing these games. And how excited and accomplished to go from next clue to another.

I'll continue to think of ideas around the house, so they can see spaces as a different perspective. And how we can make use of our every day things to make it exciting!

Tree Top Walk

2018-12-04T17:09:00.001+08:00

It's really thank god that we managed to complete the MacRitchie TreeTop Walk this morning with four children, Eve and I!

We just wanted a nearby trekking experience and it's very near our place. Hence we started from Venus Drive and started on our trekking trail from 9.30am and ended at around 12.30pm!

The trek towards the TreeTop Walk was one that was motivating because the sign boards just kept showing shorter and shorter distance. From 2.5km to 500m, we were thrilled! Initially Gwen didn't enjoy the trekking, when she reached the suspension bridge, she was so excited and wanted to come again! The view was spectacular and we spotted monkeys on the supporting beams of the bridge!

Eve and I took turns to sling Sara. She slept midway and she woke up when we reached the TreeTop Walk! I felt a sense of achievement once we reached there as a family!

The journey back to the starting point was a challenge. It's around 3km of trekking but we just motivated the children that we were inching nearer and nearer!

Fact: All of us were famished by the time we reached the end point. We called for a taxi to bring us to the nearby Midview for lunch.

A Fall

2018-01-12T00:04:00.001+08:00

This morning, as I was cycling back home from market, I skidded and fell on my back! One of the bicycle's pedal pressed onto my left ankle. I felt the entire weight of the bicycle on it and it's very painful. I couldn't move. I used my arms to push up the bicycle, but it's too heavy.

Everything happened so fast. A moment, I was cycling and I'm just a few steps away from the house lift. The next moment, I was on the floor, stuck under the bicycle. I used all my might to lift the bicycle up slightly. And I managed to get my ankle away from the pedal. I came out of it eventually.

A passerby came and asked if I'm ok. I was fine, sort of. I didn't feel any pain yet.

When I reached home, Gwen saw me and told me I was bleeding. I said no because I didn't feel any pain. She pointed at my left knee. Indeed, she was right! I was bleeding. And suddenly, the extent of the pain slowly intensified. I felt it in my left ankle, my left shoulder and my left bleeding knee.

I'm thankful that this accident didn't injure my face and I didn't have any broken bones. That made me realise that God assisted me in the fall. The impact on my back could have been worse if not for the marketing bag, cushioning my back!

I prepared lunch for everyone, and went to two appointments. After that headed to the neighborhood GP to clean my wound. Thank God I'm covered by insurance and I didn't have any infection.

So many things to manage...

2017-08-29T00:06:00.001+08:00

Recently, we have dismissed our helper (21 Aug 2017) due to theft and things are back to normal. Now, we prepare meals for everyone, and do the marketing, household chores etc. Yes, we had much more things to do. However, we were pleased. We have gotten back our control of the house!

The cooking
In fact, I have missed cooking and preparing of the food for lunch and dinner. Most of the time, the helper had been preparing and I would do some of the cooking. For the past week, I managed to whip up 4-5 dishes within 30 minutes! It's amazing! I enjoy cooking so much!

We grew our own mushrooms too!! It's really amazing!

They took about 1 week to grow to this size

Look at the amazing mushrooms!

Breaded Almond Chicken Fillet

Boiled Organic Asparagus, Potato Salad and the Breaded Almond Chicken Fillet

A meal served with brown rice

The dining table
Josh and Kate will assist in the laying of plates, utensils and making sure that the dining table is neat. Both Eve and I were so thankful that we can get them to have this responsibility! Previously, the helper had been doing it and it was something taken for granted.

The washing
Yes. It tests on how fast I can clear the dishes and wash them. Thank God there is the dishwasher to assist me on it! Now, the children will practice putting their finished bowls and utensils into the sink.

The clothes
YES! It's back. Eve and I will take turns to put the laundry into the washing machine and we have so many clothes to wash daily! We will make sure that the clothes are completely dry before we collect them. I am also so proud of Eve that she can bring out the bamboo stick to sun the clothes! Awesome! And the children enjoyed collecting the clothes back again into the bedroom. It's certainly a sense of joy to see everyone helping out in this small little chores!

The sweeping
I love sweeping! Everytime I have the broom and the dust pan, I have this relaxation feeling! Sweeping enables me to calm myself down and wind down after a day's work! And to make it cleaner, the iRobot will vacuum too. At times, Gwen will assist me with her small little broom!

The marketing at NTUC
For the past few months when the helper was around, we seldom head to the NTUC to get our groceries. Now, every two days, I will go to the store after the children were asleep. Eve will send me links on what to cook for the next day! It's really amazing that she can find such great food recipes for us to try and the children love it!

The packing of toys
Yes. The children are much involved in the cleaning of the toys now. Previously, not all of the time the toys are kept by them. They have greater responsibility and team work to do the task together! Isn't it awesome?

It seems tough to manage 4 children and housework. However, we are all growing and glad that we can incorporate the chores with the children! It makes the things easier and they have a sense of responsibility too!

The children will also step up to sing to Sara! I'm so thankful.

Day by day... We are taking small steps at a time!

We can do it!

Baby Number 4

2017-05-25T23:26:00.000+08:00

Wow!
On 24th May 2017, our 4th baby was born! It's a new milestone in our family! The day when we have a new family member in our family!!

We were so excited and amazed that we witnessed the whole birth process! The Estimated Due Date (EDD) was supposed to be 22nd May 2017. We waited and waited and was so blessed to have God to choose such a wonderful date for the birth of the baby.

Wonder Woman: Eve's pregnant at 40 weeks!

Happy picture of us! However, immediately after this picture, she had contractions!

Schedules of the Contractions
Early morning, Eve woke up with contractions and they were not the Braxton Hicks contractions. They were regular and quite immense. I noted down the first timing, which was around 8am. Here is the list of timings that I noted till birth! It was very owl of me. However, it's important!

827am: Left home and took cab.
833am Contraction
837am Contraction
839am Contraction) We went to the delivery ward.
842am Contraction
846am Contraction
850am Contraction)
854am Contraction) During these regular contractions, I would hug her and massage her back at the
858am Contraction) same time. These contractions lasted for about 45sec to 1 minute.
902am Contraction) We were just so amazed that the uterus would be contracting at such regular
905am Contraction) intervals!
908am Contraction
911am Contraction
915am Contraction
919am Contraction) We listened to classical music on our portable radio to keep us company.
922am Contraction) It was raining, and apparently all our 4 children's birth day was raining!
929am Contraction
932am Contraction
935am Contraction
940am: Went to toilet to pass motion. It's the body's natural response to clear the bowel system.
943am Contraction
945am Contraction
949am Contraction) These series of contractions kept on going, and we were thinking how long will
953am Contraction) they actually last us?
955am Contraction
959am Contraction
1004am Contraction
1008am Contraction

Picture of us when contraction was occurring.

1011am Vomit. It's also the body's natural response to clear the digestive system.
1012am Contraction) These series of contractions were getting much intense. And I had to rub her
1014am Contraction) lower back even harder. I would tell Eve to breathe, keep breathing. Most
1017am Contraction) importantly, to keep reminding her to imagine her cervix is opening.
1020am Contraction
1023am Contraction
1027am Contraction
1031am Contraction
1036am Contraction
1041am Contraction
1045am Contraction
1047am Vomit. Second round and there was more gastric juices. She didn't eat breakfast at all.
1050am Contraction
1055am Contraction
1100am Contraction
1103am Contraction
1107am Contraction
1110am Contraction
1113am Passed Urine.
1116am Contraction) These series of contraction were even more intense. She kept calling my name.
1119am Contraction) I told her to keep breathing while I rubbed her back. And reminding her to
1121am Contraction) stamp her feet.
1124am Contraction
1127am Contraction
1130am Contraction) We were feeling quite tired. Wondering would this take more hours and Eve
1133am Contraction) was only 6cm dilated!
1136am Contraction
1139am Contraction
1142am Contraction
1144am From here onwards, every contraction, she naturally did cat pose. And she felt comfortable.
1146am Contraction) I placed a pillow for her to kneel down and do the cat pose. This was a great
1149am Contraction) position for the cervix to widen. And after 6 of these cat poses, the water bag
1152am Contraction) burst! I was dumbfounded! I quickly pressed the NURSE button.They came in.
1157am Contraction) I brought Eve straight back onto the bed. And I didn't note down the timings
1200pm Contraction) thereafter because she started to push already! Within that short 16 minutes,
1204pm Contraction) I held her hands, massaged her head. Support from husband was so crucial!!
1210pm Water bag burst.
1226pm Baby was born!!

Baby Number 4!

Yes, the total birth took us 4 hours! These birth techniques were taken from Juju Sundin's Birth Skills book! We were so thankful of this book and their techniques were practical and we followed and succeeded! And I'm so proud that Eve did all these without any epidural, laughing gas etc. It's purely natural, just like the birth of other three children. God gave her so much strength to endure this! And knowledge is power too.

She grabbed the cable while the nurse measured her oxygen level.

I cut the umbilical cord and immediately after that, our baby's breastfed! Our baby looks so lovely and when the nurse told us that her weight was 3.67kg. We could not believe it because it was the heaviest weight recorded for all of our births (2.9 - 3.18kg)! There was vernix on her body and hence we didn't want to immediately bathe the baby as vernix is a natural body cream for the baby!

Eve with the 4 children!

Wow, we are now parents to four babies! We are still so amazed that we can do it, all by God's grace.

Big Brother Josh with Baby

It's been awhile since I held onto a new born baby!

Love this picture so much!

The excited children slowly pushing the trolley to the nursery!

Day 2 at the hospital! Eve is looking great!
So excited!! And thanks everyone for the well wishes :)

Thankful

2017-05-02T00:11:00.001+08:00

I am thankful that everyday, I am able to spend time with my children. Teaching them mathematics, writing, reading, cycling, swimming, cooking, God's words etc and playing with them! And it's these day-to-day events that made me realize that I am a father of three! I'm amazed how both Eve and I are able to do it.

Yes, I am very thankful and my children are God's gift. Recently I went to my nanny's funeral and caught up with many of my god siblings and god children. And many of the children have grown up to be early teenagers! This is very different compared in 2006, whereby they were just young children, running around and in Primary Schools! Linking to my children, now Josh is 8, Kate is 6 and Gwen is 4. In 10 years' time, they are 18, 16 and 14 respectively! I'll be 44! It's just a matter of a blink of our eyes, they too will be early teens!

Wow isn't it? I'm just thankful once again that I am able to have both flexibility in my career and family. Thinking back, when I first joined Insurance as a career, I didn't think much about it. Now, I feel that it's really god's arrangement for me to join this career. Early years was tough, requiring long hours and hard work. Thereafter, servicing of clients, referrals and claims are the bulk of my working hours. I am able to mix and schedule appointments and fit both work and family. It's really amazing, otherwise I won't think that I can assist much with the children at home time.

Nurturing children isn't always an easy task. We are all learning everyday! Reading parenting books, bible, and also self improvement books. Not forgetting cook books! It's really important to also document down what had happened, so when we are old, we can recall the history, sweet and bitter memories.

Every child is different and so are our teaching techniques. And now we are using different ways to teach our children academically. Daily fine tuning helps as it will make us much more efficient as parents. Eve is now 38 weeks pregnant and I'll be required to be helping out even more in the household! I'm fine to help and so are the children. It's challenging but I'm very sure we can adjust and we are very excited!

My Beloved Godmother, mama

2017-04-28T01:16:00.002+08:00

On 24th April 2017, 145pm, my Godmother breathed her last...She left a great legacy. She is a great woman.

The most recent visit was during this year's Chinese New Year. We were so delighted to visit her and to inform her about the good news on our fourth child. My three children were there too and I explained to them who she was. My godmother took great care of me as a nanny eversince I was one month old. I'm indeed thankful that her whole family took good care of me, especially my god sisters and brothers. The unconditional love that showered me all these years. When we departed that visit, I sensed something was not right, but I didn't ask. My mama was not moving much, different from the usual years whereby she would walk to and fro in the house. And my god sister told me to come by often with a little teary eyes. I thought I was thinking too much. I didn't ask anything because it was Chinese New Year, a festive period, and I kept it to myself, not even telling Eve about it. I was shocked when I knew the news just last week...

My mama took care of me full time till I was about 5 years old. All of them calls me "Ah Boy" and during that years, I stayed over at their house. They brought me out to shopping centres, bus rides, Sentosa and even overseas like Genting. Even though I was young, I could vividly remember some double decker rides with my Er Jie, and the memorable Sentosa visits! During my Primary school days, my sister and I would visit her house and play with other children. I was so thankful that we stayed just opposite each other. Occasionally, at the kitchen window, we would just shout for her to see us from her kitchen window.

As years passed, gradually, we visited her less often. It's even lesser when we shifted to Sengkang, and my university years, Army and after I wedded. I would still send Chinese New Year cards and Christmas cards to them, and they would reply back to us. So sweet right?

There were a few times we bumped to her at the Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 market where she did her marketing. I was so glad to meet her as it was such a coincidence! The frequent visits became merely a once a year event during Chinese New Year...

It was last week that I received a phone call from my God children that she was ill, and I rushed down to see her. Apparently she was suffering from cancer in the liver for three months, but they didn't want to share with anyone. (During Chinese New Year, she already knew she had the illness, but she didn't want to tell) She was hospitalized three weeks before, and her appetite worsened so much. I immediately prayed for her and asked for healing that day. She was quite conscious and I chatted with her about 20 minutes, telling her how grateful I am and that she will be able to see my fourth child due in May 2017. I asked if she wanted to accept Jesus, but she didn't answer. I hope that you are in our Father's hands and taking good care of you, mama.

Mama, I want to tell you this again. Thank you for looking after me all the early years of my life. I'm so grateful that God has arranged someone to inform my parents that you babysit children at my opposite block. Your 78 years of legacy is an awesome one - 5 closely knitted children with 11 grandchildren, and babysit about 5 other children (including me). Something that I would like to mirror. You are my inspiration and we will never forget you. I will remember that you smiled when I told you that you are the winner of 5 children, whereby I have 4! Your tears of joy were seen from your face...

God bless, my beloved mama.

From Ah Boy

Gardens by the Bay Visit

2017-04-11T21:45:00.000+08:00

Yes! The long awaited post! Recently, we went to the Children's Garden at Gardens by the Bay. It's been about 3 years since we came here! And it was fun!

Family picture of us at the dry playground. They have so many obstacles for the children to try out!

I want to thank my father-in-law who took his precious time to accompany us and took great photographs. We are in the midst of forming our photobook for remembrance.

This is really a rare picture because to get 3 children to look at the camera is tough. Thankful that we can capture it!

My baby Josh

My baby Gwen

My baby Kate

Eve came at a later time to join us in the family picture. This is also part of our pre natal shoot!

We want to thank God for the great and fine weather!

This is amazing! My father in law managed to dig out our 2014 picture with Kate, versus 2017 picture! Look at how much she has grown! I could still remember both Josh and Kate were quite afraid of the water feature. Now, they enjoyed and played to their hearts content!

Star jump!

We will definitely come back again and honestly, this place is well maintained and clean. I'm so glad that we have this water play area for children to enjoy and have a great adventure!

You may like
Children's Garden Visit 2014

8 points for 2016

2016-12-30T00:29:00.000+08:00

This year has certainly zoomed past so fast and there are so many milestones in my family that I want to acknowledge.

1. Josh has entered his first year in Primary School and I'm really glad that he is coping well. His piano skills has improved tremendously and he is able to grasp and experiment to play the song he had heard on the piano! This is something that I am unable to do. He is able to swim well in free style and is confident in swimming. He enjoys gym session too! Thank God. He is interested in flipping the bible and noting down the verses in church. Anyway, he is growing well and now he has reached my Primary 4 height. Can you imagine!

2. Kate has improved in her writing skills and counting! She is able to ride a bicycle successfully! I'm really proud of her! And she is definitely a safe driver in the future. She also learns piano and with her hard work and consistent practising, with the guidance of Eve, she is able to perform well in her classes too! She enjoys gym sessions, ballet and swimming lessons too! She is very teachable. She loves her two siblings very much!

3. Gwen is able to colour very well and trying her best not to colour over the line. She loves swimming and sports! Even though she is unable to join the gym class, yet her enthusiasm never fails her! She practises on her own in another room, with the floor mats, while her two siblings are having the lessons. She loves reading and has her own favourite books! I am just so amazed that she is great with her balance bike and scooter, with great control down the slopes and to stop and wait when needed. She loves lollipops and ice cream. Thank God that we have chanced by a website to teach her alphabet recognition and reading.

4. I have changed to a new company, a huge milestone in my life after joining Prudential, coming to 10 years. I have strengthened my outlook in financial planning, and glad that this challenge is good because it brings me out of my comfort zone and to offer even much comprehensive planning for my clients. The mixing and matching of products from different insurers will be able to give much value in terms and coverage.

5. To be a father for 3 children is certainly not an easy feat and I am glad that God has his ways to assist and guide me. I am able to assist Eve in the family in terms of bringing them to playgrounds, library, NTUC, appointments, parks, meals, marketing etc. Everyday is a different day for us, however, we will try our best to accomplish what we have on the children's daily schedule. Time management is very crucial and I have to also cater for personal time with Eve, and also my exercise too! Now, it is so comfortable for me to bring 3 children out and enjoy the time with them as a family! It really takes so many hands to clap to bring up a family. And I am thankful to have my mother, MIL, FIL and occasionally their Aunties and cousins to assist us for some time-outs!

6. We went to Phuket in December and this trip made me realise that nature is all so beautiful. We went to stay at a tree house resort at Khao Sok National Park. It's a memorable experience as we encountered so many animals such as rooster cockle-doodle-do in the morning, a 5 metre mangrove snake slithering outside our balcony, slugs, spiders and ants in our room. Cool experience. And their food was delicious! And organic, that's the most important part. We would want to plan much more outdoor and nature trips for our children!

7. We have engaged in a helper this year. It has been a long thought (7 years) and we just want to try it out. The main reason is because now that our children are much older, more time is required to spend coaching and guiding them in knowledge and skills, such as reading, writing, counting, colouring etc. The cleanliness of the house as well as the daily washing of clothes and utensils are passed to the helper. Initially we are not used to having her at our house. However, everything needs adjusting and we are able to cope with it. We are giving ourselves just 2 years and that's it! We are back to our own again!

8. Lastly and the most importantly is to Eve. I am truly blessed to have her in my life because she is encouraging and she knows best for each and every member in the house. She is certainly a messenger from God, and giving me stories and verses just to remind me that God is with me. And that gives me strength daily to be motivated and happy! I am very glad that now, we are having our 4th child, and due in MAY!!! Woohoo! It's BOY GIRL GIRL GIRL for us!! Ha.

Embracing and looking forward to a greater and exciting 2017!

Felt Touched

2016-11-28T06:29:00.000+08:00

TOUCHED BY GOD
I felt touched by God yesterday at Sunday service. My Pastor prayed for me for the first time and I fell! Wow. I honestly felt different. The same feeling when I first received Christ nine years ago back at EXPO. It was surreal and I realized that even though things have changed, God didn't change. He made me realise that he has blessed me spiritually, financially and also for my family.

I have been praying and he gave me the chapter in Ecclesiastes 11:2. I really hope that He will give us wisdom in it!

TOUCHED BY HISTORY
Yesterday, I went back to my house in Sengkang, and I discovered one of my old diaries that I have written when I was at Secondary Four. I was amazed that I managed to write a post every two days and I managed to document my feelings very well! I read about my graduation day account, whereby I wore my school uniform while others wore their casual or formal clothes for the event! I was feeling out of place literally because all of us then supposed to dress up. However, for my class boys, they had decided to come to a consensus to all wear school uniform. That was such a memorable day!

Thinking back, I had fun writing diaries back then, and I felt relaxed after penning down my thoughts. Awesome! And yes, I should do it more often!

I went down to the old fitness corner with Josh. And I had recollections of Mickey and I. Both of us enjoyed so much of the morning and evening walks! We had the common chemistry of where to go next. He had been a great childhood companion with me since I was Primary 3. History brings back memories and I felt thankful for them!

Jude 2

2016-11-15T15:19:00.001+08:00

Write down what I see.

I'm just so amazed that today, God showed me Jude 1. I continued to read the next chapter, and read about writing down what I see.

I feel that everyday, there's so many personal and worldly encounters and experience. It's important to document down so that one day, we can read, think it through and reminisce the past experience.

Exercise
Today I jogged six rounds at the stadium and the feeling was terrific. These days, I didn't carry my handphone with me when jogging. I felt that it made me not focused in my exercise and I used to pause at intervals to catch pokemon. That's wasting of my time and compromising on my stamina! I have to break free from it. I just wanted the precious thirty minutes of exercise time must be optimised. Hence, no more hand phone when jogging.

I have been jogging these days consistently and it gives me energy to run my schedules. Excellent!

Rubbish
Yes. Rubbish. I have picked up close to twenty objects on the ground at my nearby car park today. I can't believe that people are fine with littering after drinking their packet drinks, mineral water and even food packets! I even have to remove a dangling plastic bag from the shrub branch.

Josh assisted me with the picking up of rubbish. I really hope that we can do our part in making our environment clean. Whenever I see passersby walking past trash on the ground, they seem apathetic about it. Probably they feel picking up rubbish seems to be an unglamorous act or they feel it's just not their business. The world is our home, and each of us have to play our part to make our environment clean.

Once, my children and I picked up two huge plastic bags of trash using tongs within 50m of walking path along Punggol Road. Many of the rubbish are plastic bags, used cigarettes, Styrofoam bits and plastic bottles. I really wonder why are they present when there are dust bins nearby the vicinity!

This holiday period, whenever we go, we'll arm ourselves with pairs of tongs so that we can readily pick up trash and put them into dustbins. Actually, I feel a sense of accomplishment when the place is back to its clean state!

Yesterday, we went to Bishan Park and I picked up so much trash on the stepping stones along the plains. There's literally a plastic bag filled with trash stuck on the stone (waiting for me to collect it), tin cans, sweet wrappers and large mineral bottles. I hope that I can spread this awareness of 'Clean and green' back to our society.

Last minute air ticket
This is the first time that I have ever bought air ticket on the actual day of flight! I helped my father in law purchase a flight to Guangzhou via Skyscanner. The website is user friendly and amazing thing is that there are different prices to choose from. I chose the cheapest one. And the last minute flight to Guangzhou costs merely $350 one way. Reasonable right?

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

2016-11-09T09:29:00.000+08:00

On 5th November 2016, we went to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. It was drizzling, but it didn't dampen our moods. Josh was so positive, saying that raining would be great as we could get to see more creatures! We took train to Kranji MRT and hopped onto bus 925.

Map for Sungei Buloh. We only managed to walk the red path!

We went to the Visitor Centre to have a break. Then there were quite a few things to do.

There's this Survivor Challenge vehicle whereby you need to use the rope to pull yourself forward! The three children loved it so much. They kept trying and I have to help them to move from one end to another.

Ain't this obstacle cool?

Kate trying out on the vehicle.

Three of them having fun! Then they tried to pull. It's quite strenuous, as you only rely on your arm power. Be careful of the metal rings at the rope area. Your hands may be stuck there. Do take note to release your hands at the right time when pulling the rope.

Picture of Josh trying out on his own! He managed to do a lap!

The other is the stilts of balancing. It's a test of stepping the stilts and I enjoyed this very much. I feel we should have more of these machines in National Parks and playgrounds.

Kate at the balancing stilts station!

And I love these huge mudskipper models! They are so lovely. Throughout this journey, we managed to catch real huge mudskippers and the way they swam in the waters were similar to people swimming in pools! Very loud and swift! They seemed to be flying when they were swimming in the shallow waters.

Ain't they lovely? I mean the mudskippers!

Adventurous Gwen loves these huge mudskippers!

This trip was a fruitful one! We managed to spot these animals. Monitor lizards, mud crabs, grasshoppers, fat mudskippers, barnacles and Estuarine pipefish) We met some westerners and they managed to catch crocodiles! In fact, they spotted three of them! We were all amazed because they spotted them just before they met us! So those crocodile signboard are for real!

Real mudskipper caught on camera! Beautiful isn't?

Another mudskipper

Juicy?

A cute image of mudskipper

Mud crabs. Initially, the children thought they were spiders! I used the maximum optical zoom to capture this!

More mudcrabs!

Estuarine pipefish

Rubbish
Sadly, there are many rubbish present in the Sungei Buloh shores. We should have brought tongs to pick them up. Our next trip, we will remember to add that in our To-bring list. I wonder if there are people who come and clear the plastic trash.

Thank god we brought insect repellents! They were so useful and I managed to kill about four mosquitoes. They are on my children's hands and face!

We took the coastal trail, around 1300m. And we were thankful that the children enjoyed it so much! There are many other different paths to take and we will definitely be back to explore another part of Sungei Buloh.

Children and camera
It's amazing to see the pictures that the children took using our camera!

Gwen with the mosquito patch

Beautiful leaf litter

My bag and I

Infested leaf

Our next visit, we will want to spot them!

Kate with the umbrella

Things we brought/ wore

Insect repellent

Shoes, long pants, socks

Extra clothes

Umbrella

Lunch

Tissue papers

Water bottles

Family picture :)

After that, we went to Bollywood Veggies to have a meal, and headed to Hay Dairies. They loved to feed the goats! This morning, the first thing Gwen told me was whether can she feed the goat now? She loves to feed animals! I'm thankful that they love goats. Kate even wanted to bring one back and rear it! They didn't mind the goat smell, probably because we have been drinking it everyday.

We love this Kranji Countryside places and we spent about 6 hours plus in total! It's an enjoyable trip!

National Gallery Visit 31 October 2016

2016-11-04T12:03:00.001+08:00

We went to National Gallery on 31 Oct 2016. It's an amazing place to explore as there are children friendly events for the kids and us!

Josh, Kate and Gwen at the entrance of the National Gallery

Guess what's this? This is Rangoon design and we did sand art at National Gallery that day!

We were very thankful as there is a station for sand art! And it's doing the Rangoon design! It's the first time the children are doing this! And the amazing thing is that it is free, sponsored by National Gallery! Thank you so much once again.

Step 1: Peel of the part which you want to place the sand.

Step 2: Take a spoonful of desired sand colour and spread gently on the paper

Step 3: Continue to pour the sand on the desired places of the paper.

Step 4: Pour back the unused sand back to the tray. And repeat step 1 again.

Josh's first completed sand art! It's that simple!

Kate's thinking of what colours to use. I'm just so amazed that they can creatively use and mix the colours for their own design of Rangoon. Awesome!

We chanced upon a jail cell inside the National Gallery Level 1. They preserved it very well and it was apparently the holding area for the accused before they go to court. There was toilet facility in this little room! The children were so excited to be inside this small room and they pretended to sleep inside! They used to have over 10 of these cells. Now, they preserved only two of these rooms.

A Jail cell at National Gallery

There is a clay art workshop whereby parents and children are able to do their own art pieces. It's not easy to mould a figure to what your mind wants! Took some snippets of other people's design! They are good! They managed to do Snorlax! Lol.

Clay Art by other participants

Hmm, we tried to do a Dragonite. Lol! Looks like a lizard-dragon!

We had a fun time over at National Gallery. Of course, we brought some snacks with us! The children gets hungry easily!

Since it was Deepavali, there was an Indian dance performance! It's terrific and the fusion of music and dance make us feel that we are fortunate to be in a multi racial society! Gwen's amazing! She followed the dancer's thumbs up!

Power of three

We did a survey back at the Sand art station and they offered a complimentary juice at their own café! I'm really thankful to enjoy these treats and events by them! We will definitely come by this place again!

There are guided tours in National Gallery. Initially I wanted the children to follow, however, they prefer to have hands on activities. Hence, Eve and her mother went for the tour instead. One day, I would really want to go for the guided tour, to learn more about this huge place called National Gallery.

November 2016

2016-11-04T10:23:00.000+08:00

November! It is so exciting because it's November and school holidays are coming.

We have included some planning in our November programmes and we just want to include nature and library in the itinerary.

We are very thankful that National Library Board has a series of programmes to choose for different age range children. And also, the regular English and Chinese Story Telling help the children to be exposed to different books too.

Food
We have some changes in our food meal planning, especially the ingredients.

Chicken
We used to patronise the wet market's kampong chicken. However, whenever I eat them, I will have uncomfortable stomach bloatiness and passing off lots of gas. We also switched to Sakura Chicken. However, apparently I also have the same issue. Hence, for the past few months, I have reduced my chicken intake because I feel it's the food that the chickens are eating that are not suitable for me. And I have also read up on the injections that the farmed chickens have, to make it juicier and larger. That's not what I want to have and to let my children eat.

We have turned to ZenXin Chicken. I tell you. One chicken cost around $16 to $18. And they are free range chicken and I'm thankful that one stall in my nearby wet market sells it! Thanks to my resourceful wife! After we have changed to this chicken, I am amazed! No more past issues! Awesome!

We managed to do minced chicken dumplings, chicken soup etc and they tasted very good! The children love it too! Yes, we may be paying around 40% more, however, the source of farming is right and I really question how to buy a whole chicken for mere $5-$8?

Vegetables
Yes, now we eat vegetables with holes! Those that are too beautiful to be eaten, please think twice! The amount of pesticides used in vegetable farming has increased tremendously. I chatted with my grandmother and she said that nowadays, vegetables look nicer and last longer. This is different from the past. Now, we have started to order from QuanFa Organic Vegetables.

There is difference in the vegetables! They are easier to cook, crunchier, and tastier! An example is organic corn. The corn kernels are juicy and the natural taste is delicious! The children love it and I'm just so thankful that Singapore has this farm for us to patronise and they can deliver to our place.

Blessed to give

2016-10-06T14:30:00.001+08:00

I'm thankful that I have learnt this verse "it's blessed to give than to receive."

I have left Prudential and there'll be new agents taking the whole pie of my client base. That's good news. However, to the human flesh, I feel that my hard work and money is given to them. Is it fair? There's this imbalance feel of this money pot distributed to them.

However, God gave me this verse that strengthened me. It's blessed to give than to receive! I'm honestly empowered by it and I don't need to be concerned any more about this. I treat as in I'm giving them bonus freely. How cool is that!

I just have this request for them. That is I hope they can carry out same or even service quality that I have done in Prudential. This is very important.

My nine years stint in Prudential can't be forgotten just overnight. It took be about two months to adjust and I'm glad this verse is there to support me mentally too!

Whenever I hear my clients change their jobs, I congratulate them. I didn't think that they'll need time to adjust whatsoever. Now I know for the first time that they are indeed courageous to change job! Some even changed so many times!!

This new place that I'm in is called Manulife Financial Advisers. I'm truly blessed to be in this new firm, providing even better financial solutions for my clients. I'll do my best to excel and give better service for them!

First post in October

2016-10-01T23:23:00.001+08:00

These few months have been a transition mode for me and my family.

I have changed my work company for the first time after nine years.
I have gotten a new helper after seven years.

I just want to blog, however I feel that the environment around me doesn't seem ideal for me to type so much about my life stories.

I have been thinking. Should I journal down somewhere? Should I tell someone? I'm not sure where to document them down. I thought of some diary apps on the phone. However, I didn't have much time to jot down as my traveling time is either to generate quotations for my clients or to read god's word.

God has led me to my new work place. Initially I was apprehensive for the move because of stability as well as my pool of clients that I have acquired over the nine years. I chose not to follow the herd because God didn't show me verses for it.

The three verses that God had showed me were very timely, giving me necessary peace for me such that I won't be anxious for nothing, and be able to cater my energy in my family and work. Some how, my client brought me to this new company, and God affirmed through his verses and the timely tie ups. I'm just so glad that this transition makes me feel that I can do so much more for my clients. I even get to bump into my colleague then and gotten another verse to cement my decision. It's really amazing.

To think that managing three children and household is tough, we have decided to get a helper in July because we feel we are in a new phase of our lives. That is to spend more time teaching and reading to our children. The helper is there to assist us in cleanliness, cooking as well as laundry. She has been a great help so far. Also God helped us in our decision. We have been praying about it and somehow God let us meet someone we knew, who had four children. She had a helper and God affirms us on the decision that these two years shall be the years with a helper. We were apprehensive initially because we are afraid the children will not do housework etc. However every morning, we would still pack the bed, and get the children to tidy up their toys after playing etc.

I'm really excited about my life right now. And able to work as well as allocating fixed timing, such as 6pm daily to be back home for dinner with the children, and go for appointments after that. As well as fixed timing to read books for children in two weekday nights. I feel that allocating time for children is very important and I want to be important in their lives.

Many people have asked me why I left my previous company. I realized that I don't need the prestige and honor which I have received. Recognition seems important. However deep down, I just want to humbly walk and do my job as an insurance adviser. There is no end in chasing. Knowledge and product competitiveness as well as service to clients are deemed the best I can try to provide to them. I am truly humbled by my friends and clients who trust me, for who I am and follow me through as their life agent. I am very blessed to be in this career and thank God for it.

15th Anniversary

2016-07-17T23:36:00.002+08:00

Couple picture

I'm really blessed and touched to have just celebrated 15th year anniversary with Eve!

Early morning, I woke up at 445am to jog and I came back, thinking to make a butter cake for her. (Actually the main reason was that I had a craving for it!)

I went to the website to search for the ingredients. And I went to the nearby supermarket to shop for the necessary ingredients. And I did the butter cake from scratch! I spent around thirty minutes in total, from weighing of the ingredients to mixing to placing the batter onto the baking tray. I prayed for a successful butter cake before placing it into the oven.

The mixed batter before placing into the oven

Fresh from the oven

After 25 minutes, it was done! And the whole kitchen was filled with the butter cake fragrance! The time check was 7am! I'm so proud to say that all of them love it!! WOOHOO! All of us ate it for breakfast! Yum!

Finished product

Really thank god that the whole butter cake was fluffy and had the sweet aroma of vanilla! Love it.

At 3pm, my wife received a bouquet of flowers, specially arranged by me. I'm really glad that she was touched and surprised!! :) More wonderful years to come!

A close up of the bouquet

Bishan Park - An Escapade

2016-02-17T23:51:00.000+08:00

Recently, I have incorporated jogging in my morning routine. And it's good feeling to even just jog for 15 minutes. And bringing my family to Bishan Park adds up the morning fun.

Around 8 am, Bishan Park has cool and refreshing air. Eve and Gwen will usually cycle to Bishan Park. Kate and I will take public transport and we will stroll and admire the greens while we walk to another bus stop to hop onto another bus service. The playground has no one and Kate will be so enthusiastic to comment that she is the first one to arrive!

4 of us. Kinda tough to get a wefie pic

Sand playing is one of the relaxing activities that my children can play, apart from the usual swings, slides and climbing of obstacles. The best part is they can actually create their own imaginative world of sandcastles, without even me directing them. Eve will be near them drawing simple landscapes of the park. For me, I will be doing my jogging and some statics at Bishan Park. It's really enjoyable. I really hope we can do this frequently and it's certainly a great escapade from the view of cars, human traffic, buses, trains and even electronic gadgets.

Kate and the sand

We will usually pack some small snacks. Like today, we packed pieces of jambu (wax apple) and hard boiled eggs to the park.

At about 9am, the sun will be up and sunny. That's the time when we will head back home. Kate and I will walk to the nearest bus stop. Along the way, we manage to spot 5 saga seed trees! We are thrilled and we even pick up 6 saga branches. Kate is a natural forager. She immediately put the branch into her small little container, and make sure she removes the seed from the pod. I'm really amazed and she loves the seed collection. It's therapeutic and I feel it's a good chance for us to blend with the nature. It will definitely be more of these activities this year.

Kate foraging the seeds from the saga pod

Saga seed pod

Chinese New Year's Reunion Dinner

2016-02-10T23:57:00.001+08:00

Celebrating Reunion Dinner at our very own place is good news because we get to prepare our own food and also, do a massive clean up for our home too! This is what our place looked like after we have cleaned them up!

Picture of our living room. Neat?

Our new enlarged living room and the door way.

In fact, this was the first time that we bought Yu Sheng! I asked my colleagues about their usual Yu Sheng orders and we chose the one from Sushi Tei! It was so delicious. My sister, Eileen, was able to guide the excited children in the pouring of the condiments into the Yu Sheng. We didn't add the raw food into the vegetables because it would not be suitable for the young ones. We ate the sashimi separately.

Aunt Eileen with Josh and Kate. They were amazed by the number of ingredients to be added inside.

Group picture with our special guest dog, Steady!

Huat ah!

The sauce wasn't too sweet and the vegetables were fresh too!

Josh spotted a long strand of radish and we shared!

Ain't it funny?

Uncle Roy was so good with children and thought of using the playmat as their magic carpet! They love it!

Gwen enjoyed Uncle Roy and Auntie Eileen's company.

Random group picture. Taken by Josh.

Mushrooms and mushrooms! They love it!

My mum playing 'Snake and Ladder' with Josh. Josh kept winning!

Grandfather with Gwen

We find that Reunion Dinner is indeed a good time to gather and have fun! The annual steamboat makes us feel cosy and warm, together with the Lao Yu Sheng. I hope we can do this yearly!