Mervyn Hoe: My Daily Happenings

Going back to Jacob Ballas at Botanic Gardens is honestly a valuable experience. Passing by the lush greeneries and different types of trees (monkey apple, rubber tree, dragonfruit plant etc) is a great learning experience for everyone! It's been a few months since we revisited this place because it was undergoing some minor repairs. And we are so glad that they reopened! In fact, my last post on Jacob Ballas was in 2012 ! Look at the happy faces of the children! And some random mug shots of happy Gwen.       For Josh and Kate, we should bring their swimming costumes. This is much more desirable so as to prevent them from feeling slightly chilly. You can see there are other older children sitting on the green water feature. Later both Josh and Kate also wanted to try too!       I find that after the renovation of this water play area, the strength of the water sprays are much weaker and not so random. In the past, t...

This year, on the second day of Chinese New Year, Eve and I have decided that we go to Botanic Gardens to have a visit back to the pond to see the swans and the ducks! And we are so glad that the weather's fine and we enjoyed ourselves on the picnic mat with Eve's relatives!   We also get my father-in-law to come to help us take some snippets of the event! Really so thankful to have him to come and help us take these photographs! Picture of Josh, Gwen and I on the picnic mat. The large leaf was picked up at the entrance of the Botanic Gardens and it's amazingly big, just like an umbrella! Nature's wonderful!   Ain't this look like a Kate Middleton wave? What a classy Kate! Yes! And we managed to get another family picture for ourselves!     This leaf really makes the whole picture look so wonderful! My two princesses!     Meal time for the children It's certainly important to bring some of their comfort food out,...

We really love visits to Botanic Gardens as they make us feel really calm and relaxed. And the best of all, there aren't much people there. And sad to say that Singaporeans seem to be the minority present at Botanic Gardens. We have passed by lots of tourists, Caucasians residing here and domestic helpers strolling the dogs. Simply don't feel like we are In Singapore at all. We went there during Gwen's third month birthday and we saw people planting this plant. These bird of paradise are really beautiful and the earthworms in Botanic Gardens are HUGE. Can't believe it. Think the birds should just come here to eat them, rather than to live near the coffeeshops and eat left overs (so unhealthy). These greeneries really make us feel very happy. We passed by a Heritage tree and I tell you, it's such a huge and special tree, and it even has a camera! How cool is that! Tembusu tree has such strong branches! Really sturdy. Ha. It's actually ...

Last Saturday, my Parenting with Confidence group mates organized a Botanic Gardens Picnic and really thankful that the weather was very fine. And we managed to find a great picnic spot, near to the nest of the Swans! And it's a pot luck session and it's really very nice feeling to see them once again! It's the time of nesting season for the swans. Just remember that two years ago, they too had laid eggs, which gave birth to close to 14 new baby swans! I wonder this season, how many did they lay? The food present were fruits, crackers, self-made strawberry yogurt with blueberries, sandwiches and we brought our own popcorns! It's really very happy to enjoy a wide range of food, and both Josh and Kate love the company too. It's actually their first time engaging so many different adults and young friends too! Our friend, Gerry saying 'Hi' to Kate. We are the youngest couple there and it's really very fun to see that these parents really ma...

This morning, I did pancakes with my two children and suppose it was a 10-minute preparation, it turned out to be 30 minutes. What happened? - Kate wanted to pass motion. - Josh spilled the flour and I have to clean up. - Josh wanted to pass motion. - Kate wanted to pass urine. And luckily everything was fine! We had a good batch of pancakes for breakfast. We used organic soy milk instead of milk! We ate with an avocado. So healthy. Botanic Gardens Last morning, we went to Botanic Gardens despite the weather being hazy. The weather was very hot and thanks to my wife, she brought a picnic mat and a fan! These two things are worth $100 if I'm selling these stuff there! We ate our breakfast and had a good view of the black swan at Botanic Gardens. My wife and children. Ain't Eve look like Audrey Hepburn? Playground Yes, recently we found out a playground with swings! And I am so happy about it! Did I mention 'I'? I love swings! I let them sit on the swing...

It's been awhile since I have managed to blog. Today we planned to make effort to go to Botanic Gardens because it's been awhile also since we have stepped into this place. I think it's our first time this year! Weather was initially not at our side, drizzling and stop and the cycle kept going on. We prepared our meals and we just decided to continue our trip to Botanic Gardens even though the sky was grey. At 5.30pm, we reached there and we are so happy because the weather turned out to be cooling and no rain at all! We set up our picnic mat, with the IKEA table. And we ate beside the scenic Swan lake! Really very enjoyable sitting there and view the birds, terrapins and the clouds. Josh and Kate loved it so much and after eating, all of us walked on the grass and played there too! Felt so carefree and the air is super fresh! Probably it's a good idea to stay near Botanic Gardens. It's like an escape from the urban landscape!

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...