Mervyn Hoe: My Daily Happenings

Hey! Today we went from our house to our in-law's place by walking and we carried the lit lanterns! So fun! Eve and Kate! They are so beautiful with the pink lantern. Family picture with Steady, our family dog. Happy Josh with this traditional lantern by the Bishan Park Couple picture with Kate. Love this with the lighting! Perfect! I'm helping Josh to blow his candle Actually we wanted to join our Bishan Community Club event for the Mooncake Festival. And we were shocked to know that the tickets were all snapped up! Then, we headed back and we walked ourselves. Find that it is also good. Yes, quite a few children were walking with the electronic sound lanterns. These traditional lanterns are good enough for us, as they are not noisy at all. We were all amazed that Josh was told to pose in some of the pictures and he did! So amazing. And love the pictures taken together. Didn't manage to see Chang-E but I can say that y...

Today, we went to SATA at Ang Mo Kio for a yearly routine check. And it's quite amazing that within this small premise, they contain alot of customers! I did urine sample, blood sample and X-ray. The results will take around 2 weeks. It was a National Day package, hence they charge $65 for each person. Eve managed to find this deal and so we just took it. We fasted from last night 12am to 10am and we headed to the Ang Mo Kio Market and they have a stall that sells great bean curd with jelly and nuts! I didn't manage to take a good picture! However, I will definitely patronize on it! It is nearing end of September and within less than 100 days, we will reach 2013! I have to make full use of October, November and December now! Spending time with my children and family is really fulfilling! And I enjoy cooking meals for them. Report Book ---------------- Eve managed to dig out her secondary school report book and it's quite nostalgic to read through the pages and to re...

Simply speaking, we are born to talk truthfully and with honesty! That's what I learnt from my children. When he smelt something smelly, Josh will ask me,"是谁大便?" I denied and he said again. Then I said it's me who farted. And he said,"是daddy大便." So funny right? And when he did something wrong, Eve will ask him and he will confess. It's really pure honesty and we will give him a hug after that. Between parents and children, we should be direct to them and honest too. They will feel it when we want to hide something from them. But of course, sometimes we have to tell a white lie, otherwise both Eve and I are unable to sneak out of the house! Kate, even though she is only 14 months old, she is able to communicate well with her actions! When walking, I will direct her and when she wants me to carry, she automatically will come close and hug my leg. And I will carry her. She will also want me to feed her water and food(if I'm eating). And if she...

Mothers, in my point of view, are amazing. They are able to sacrifice and shower their love to their loved ones eg babies and children. And I can really see a difference between those who physically take care of their children hands on, and those not. When the child is sick, it's usually the mother who will be the first person to take leave or rush down home to see the baby. I'm really amazed that they are able to have this sense of urgency. I got to learn that myself! As a Dad, I would say that I have to learn this from my wife and other mothers. What can a father do? I feel that all the more as a husband, he should shower more love to the wife. Not just to the children only. Taking care of children is BOTH parents' duty and as a guy, we have to do additional thing: take better care of your wife. Most of the time, work gets into the way. But i can tell you that work should be a secondary priority. Family should be the priority. Spend meals together, make time to go...

This afternoon, we packed our lunch and headed to Botanic Gardens, Jacob Ballas. It's a park filled with children and my children enjoyed so much at the pool area. It's Kate's first time playing at the pool and she loves water sprays! Can't wait for her to walk by herself and I can imagine her exploring water spray to water spray! Weather was great and I went to play with my children at the pool area! It's fun to be a child once again actually! I can still remember that time I brought Josh here and there were only expats, and not so crowded as it was a week day. Botanic Gardens has a wide array of plants. We managed to see ficus trees, giant water lily (which originated from Africa), banana trees and so much more! It will be great if I bring along a manual XLR camera with me next time. I'm quite amazed that there was a party area and people celebrated their one year old baby. They made it quite grand as they hired a host and there was children music and ...

Wow. Come to think of it. Josh is now 3 years 1 month. Kate is 1 year and 2 months old! I'm coming to 29 years old this December. Being a dad is certainly not easy. This month, I actually tried to spend more time with them (got go some appointments). In fact, I can see that Kate is more expressive in her actions and Josh asks more questions to me already. And when I go out to work, Josh would ask me whether can he tag along with me to Newton or Dhoby Ghaut! Its actually a sweet feeling that your child wants to follow you to work. I would say, "Next time, okay?" The best is that when I'm at the door wearing my shoes, he will say "Goodbye daddy. Daddy go work." Both of us spent more time with them going to the library and NTUC and I can feel that they are learning and they feel happier too. One can choose to spend more time in career but I realize that in career, you can start all over again. But for children, once you miss their stage, you are unable...

Wow. Sometimes, I just wonder: Will I be a Billionaire in my lifetime? After I visited Forbes Billionaires in Singapore, it just came and made me realise that the world is actually limitless. Some of us feel that we earn $5-6k a month is a big deal. Some are even proud of it. Wonder do these people know about what other businessman are earning? I have read that other people's monthly turnover is actually hundreds of thousands! It's all about relativity. A lot of them have a fair share in real estate, some are self made, some are passed down. I really want to be a role model for my children and to let them know that to be own business man is the way to go. Never mind about the taxes. To pay taxes in Singapore means that you are earning well. Millionaire is the first step and how can I achieve it? Via real estate? Via forex? Via business? One have to start somewhere. I would say that currently, I am having recurrent from my business. And I need to widen this pot of go...

Looks delicious? We have over ripen bananas and what can we do with them? Eve decided that we bake banana muffins! And we did! The best news is ALL are EATEN! So delicious and it's so easy to make! We are so amazed that ripen banana can be of good use! Good idea for picnics as well as family or friends gathering! Moreover, it actually served as our breakfast and tea break for the day. It's healthy and not so sweet. Josh ate two of them and he loves it! Below is the steps that you can follow to make easy and delicious banana muffins! How to prepare them? (preparation for 10 muffins) Banana mix --------------- 4 ripe bananas mashed 75g of cooking / olive oil 120g of sugar 1beaten egg Blend them to have an even mix. Flour mix ----------- 190g of white flour 1 tsp of baking powder Preheat oven for 10 mins at 190 Degrees. Mix both Banana Mix and Flour Mix together, till its even. Place them onto the 10 muffin cups and oven for ...

It's our second time attending this event and I can say that all of us enjoyed it and we managed to picnic there too! Thank God the weather was fine but it's not too windy. In the end, not many kites were displayed actually. It's a Kite Festival but we didn't manually fly a kite. We see how other people tried to put their kite up, and some children are very determined! You can see other parents trying to let the kite fly, and their expressions are just like the children! We find that the music is quite loud, but nevertheless, it's successful to gather so many people at the Promontory! So amazed that actually the whole area is reclaimed and we are able to 'stand' on the sea! Josh saw the MBS and he was thrilled! He also pointed the Esplanade and the bumboats that we once took. I'm so happy that he was able to roam around by holding on to my hands. It's actually quite important because a child was actually missing and the parents announced via th...

Well cooking a meal is at times challenging. However, in the midst of it all, it's quite fun to engage your kids in the preparation phase of cooking. Today, Josh helped me in the washing of the vegetables. He also asked me to chop garlic for the vegetables. Later, I told him to help me stir the eggs together with the spring onions. We also had a dish of petai and I asked him to help me see if there are worms in every petai that I have chopped. In this process, this will instill cooking interest in him. And on the other hand, he will know what I usually do in the kitchen! Here are the dinner dishes! 1. Fried Egg with Spring Onions 2. Pork Leg Soup with Peanuts and Mushroom 3. Stir fried Shanghai Green with Mushroom 4. Oven baked salmon 5. Petai with Chilli And Josh ate by himself! He straightaway took the quarter piece of egg and put on his place. And he started to munch the food with the rice. And he ate the vegetables and the soup. Kate loved the soup! Ha! Everyone enjo...

I'm so glad that these four days, we didn't use diapers on Josh, and especially at night already. This is really commendable because all along, during night time, we would use a diaper for him. Of course we tried to wean him out of diapers at night from July onwards. However, he urinated on the bed sheets quite a few times, and I had to clear the mess and change his clothes. Really want to thank God that he is able to be diaper less!! Which means effective date is 1st September 2012! Journey ---------- His journey to diaper less is not smooth but we kept pressing on. Last December, we started to let him read this book entitled: Boys' Potty Time. It's an engaging book where it teaches children to sit on potty for their small and big business- we term as 'pass urine' and 'pass motion'. Soon he started to pass motion in it! We are so amazed and since after my birthday, 22nd Dec 2011, he has began to potty train in the day. At night, he still used ...

Well, today we planned out our schedule as such. After my appointment, I returned home and I was so thankful that my wife actually prepared three dishes!! Vermicelli with gourd Oven baked salmon and toufu Pear soup Rice And we had our dinner and left home at 6pm. We took Circle Line to Harbourfront Station, and went to take the Sentosa Train. Prior to that, we applied the Sentosa membership. And they are celebrating their 40th birthday. And they have this promotion: Family membership at $30! They are giving 40% off the membership. We signed up and it entitles 5 family members. We took the two year membership at $60. Straight away, we took our face portraits and we had our membership cards. This was this second time that we went for the Buskers Festival. We watched the LOL Brothers, Bikerina and Mr Qwirk. They are really doing these out of their passion. Some of them actually country hop! You can google about them. My children love the background music and they danced and...

Castle Green has one of the best swimming pool amongst most of the condominiums I have went before. Apart of its olympic size, its water is less chlorinated. Usually I would actually smell the chlorine when I'm walking along the pool, but it's not for this. Moreover, I drank some of the water accidentally and it tasted less blend. Ha! Both Kate and Josh loved the pool so much and there is one children swimming pool. They also liked to float too! Amazing. Think we will bring them to the pool more frequently. And they can exercise too! For me, it will be building my arm muscles! Celebration of Ah-Ma's 88th birthday -------------------------------------------------- Most of Eve's relatives attended the celebration and had our buffet dinner there. Actually I find that outside caterers all have lots of MSG and I really felt my lips very dry after the meal. I drank lots of water too after that. My son also had the same feeling! For Ah ma, I am really very happy that s...

Wow. On Friday noon, I met up with my fellow colleagues and we ate at The Line, Shangri-La. It's my virgin trip there and I tell you, it's one of the best buffet I have ever tasted!! The crabs and oysters are so fresh! I ate a whole plate of crabs and for oysters, I think I gobbled six of them. Didn't dare to consume so much of oysters, because afraid I may have intoxication. Anyway, they are so lovely! The staff are not bad, they will actively replace your plates. And refill the warm water for me. I'm quite amazed that the napkins all had a birth year. I guess it's to note which are old ones and new ones. I had 2012 tag while my friend had 2010. We joked that his is a dirty napkin! There are some food which are quite salty though. The salted egg porridge, the deep fried soft shell crab and also the satay. But the remaining food like the double boil soup and the fries are a must try!!! I shall bring my wife one day down to eat! :) TIP: We booked online...