Our Date to BottleTree - 22 March 12 (Thur)

Dear All

Inspite of our busy schedule, we continue to persevere in making time for each other. As we had reflected earlier and posted in this blog, we decided to try to make our date with each other on a monthly basis as far as possible :)

We had our couple time just to date each other this month at BottleTree Park @ Lentor Ave.

Signage at main entrance by car (below):

Swanboats greet you at entrance from Lentor Ave bus-stop (below):

It was supposed to be our 1st time fishing at the pond. However, after a hearty Japanese meal and the rather smelly waters putting us off (not to mention some kind of midgets/flies near the water lilies), we DIDN'T fish as planned. We had no regrets though, as we got to explore the place.

The Jap restaurant where we had our lunch. The food, especially the beef was superb!

There is REALLY a tree that looks like a bottle!! Only 1 tree though :)

The ONE and ONLY full grown BottleTree (below):

There's a self-sustaining veg/village (don't really know what they do or if they are really self-sustaining in covering their costs) growing maize and cabbages.

There's also a dirt-racing bike track and a few colourful pheasants.

There's 2 restaurants there...a Chinese seafood restaurant and a Japanese restaurant.

Old rick-shaws and tri-shaws at the Kampung (below):

Veggies such as maize grown in the "village" (below):

Over the weekend, the smaller pond and the long-kang fish pond is opened to families. The longkang fish is $10 per kid but I can't remember for how long. However there is a limit of the maximum 5 fish that can be caught in the pail to bring home. So sad :(

Nice looking long-kang fishing pond (below):

One of 4 colourful pheasants in the "village" (below):

This looks like a dirt-track for racing (below):

Who wants to go bullock-carting? (below):

One of the beautiful water-lily flowers in the pond (below):

The lily pond looks scenic, but lots of midgets and flies buzzing around us (below):

Another beautiful lotus flower (below):

Looking at the lotus pond (below):

We next walked to Lower Seletar Reservoir...no wonder BottleTree fishing has no business...fishing is FOC at the Reservoir!

Entrance to Lower Seletar Reservoir (below):

Bridge to the reservoir (below):

Some sampans were towed in the reservoir (below):

Satellites, satellites everywhere...(below):

Shelter across the otherside of reservoir (below):

View of the reservoir (below):

After the humid walk, the aircon bus which we took to Compasspoint was so shiok and cool! We searched for the McCafe and indulged in sinful iced coffee topped with whipped cream and strawberry sauce for me and chocolate syrup for Bert.

Yummy, delicious McCafe coffee :P

All in, it was a chop-chop date as we needed to be back by 3:30pm before the older kid got home, so that she won't feel so lonely all alone by herself at home.

Can't wait for our next date! Where to next? We are not sure yet, so stay tuned....akan datang!

Love Theresa

Our 1st time on the Flyer :)

Dear All

We usually avoid the crowds, so after the Flyer was opened in 2009, this was the first time Bert & I went up on it!

Boarding platform...only 3 cabins are for dinning (below):

In the Flyer up in the air. The ride was smooth and steady (below):

Singapore River, condos and highways seen from the cabin (below):

Found this cool machine that stamps on a copper coin an image of the Flyer (below):

Remember our post on the LC 10-10 question? We decided to date each other again :) It was fun to rekindle our spousal relationship without the distraction of our kids, no matter how much we love them.

Surprisingly, the ride on the Flyer was very nice. We went on a weekday early afternoon (lunch time actually) so there were not many people or tourists around and got a whole cabin to ourselves! We roamed freely from 1 corner to the other to see the various surrounding landmarks. The highest point was at 165m.

We bought a super cool magic mug that reveals the flyer when it's filled with hot beverage but is black when it's cold. Fantastic find! Don't really know what material it's made of or how it works, but we got 1 for each of us...couples cups.

This is the magic black cup where the image appears on it when it's hot (below):

We intend to create time to date each other again. We are so busy these days that we've no real time to communicate on a deeper level of the heart and soul. This special couples time is what we need right now so we'll work on this for this year.

As all of us LC lovers learnt from our ME Weekend, love is a decision. This love has to be constantly nurtured and protected with tender loving care :) That's the ME Way!!

Love Theresa

Who says Valentine Day's only for Lovers?

Dear All

Having watched the movie "Courageous", where in 1 scene, a father brings his daughter for a 1 to 1 date at an expensive restaurant, asks her her permission to allow her parents to give their blessing on the guy she will marry in future, as they care alot for her well-being. She agrees. With that, the father seals that special night with that special talk between father and daughter with a diamond heart-shaped ring and puts it on her wedding finger. She would wear the ring till the day it is replaced by the one given to her by her husband.

My Valentine gifts for the valentines in my life :

I thought it was an unique gesture and a very meaningful one.

So, I thought, why should the giving of valentines be only between lovers and spouses? I could give my girls valentines too to show them how much I love them. I believe they truly were pleasantly surprised and touched by my gesture. The pleasant was to see the delight on their faces and that on my spouse :)

Love Theresa

A Poem by Paula Fox for Valentine's Day

Dear All

I thought the below poem is so appropriate for Saint Valentine's Day. It is a day to remember those we love, be it spouses, parents, siblings or our children.

Love Theresa

An excerpt from Heart of a Mother by Paula J. Fox

A mother is born in that very moment a child becomes her own. And her heart begins to overflow with a love she has never known. Her focus changes instantly as her heart beats for another. It will never be the same again. It's the powerful heart of a mother! It's a heart of incredible courage with strength and endurance too. She fiercely protects and defends her young in ways only she can do. She sacrifices "self" to give her children what they need, developing their character to make sure that they succeed. Just like a lovely gardener she plants her seeds of love. Her heart gives lots of sunshine like blessings from above. She provides a firm foundation... a peaceful, loving home So her children's roots run deep and strong no matter where they roam. With a heart that nurtures them along to grow in the right direction She allows them freedom to blossom and thrive under her wise protection. They're prepared to face the storms of life, as they learn to stand alone. She gives them a sense of value and strength with a confidence of their own. There's a special beauty in a Mother's love She's a picture of wisdom and grace We honor her with gratitude... No one can take her place!

The Moon Represents My Heart...:)

Dear All

We just completed our 10-10 on the LC sharing question:

“With the start of a new year, what is the one thing I would like to do that will benefit our spousal relationship? HDMAMMF?”

As you all know, we mostly go everywhere with our kids. Bert and I agreed we should have quality couple time - just the 2 of us, just like the courtship days. We need to revitalise our spousal relationship instead of our time being almost exclusively for others, other activities...what about us and our activities?

There is a poem called "The Dash". It represents the hypen between the years a person has lived and written "xx year - yy year" on the tombstone. It's a very poignant wakeup call to not just exist but live your life.

Some friends come into our lives, others step out of it, but who is always there is family. If we don't make an impact on others' live, especially our love ones, we have wasted our dash.

So we intend to create memories for ourselves in little ways. And HDMAMMF? I feel excited, and Bert feels happy.

And what has it got to do with the Moon? Well, on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, the moon is at its fullest and it seems its BIGGEST, and it's the Chinese Valentine's Day :)

We were very impressed by it's size....like it was so near to the earth.

Happy Saint Valentine's Day my LC Lovers.

Love Theresa

A Moving Masterpiece

Dear All

Feli wanted to visit the exhibition from China, "A Moving Masterpiece" after her Chinese teacher in school told them how nice it was...the characters in the painting "come alive". Her school's HMT class went last Fri, so she wanted to go too. As the exhibition ended today (6 Feb), we tried to get the tix on Sat night at 8pm, but the queue was very long. So as not to disappoint her, I brought her after Sun Mass to catch the early part of the day. Fortunately we were early. The crowd came around 2 - 3pm. We got the tixs, ate lunch, and queued to enter.

The tix for adult was $21 and kids $16, but with Passion card, there was a 15% discount. So adults was $18 and kids $13.50.

When we entered the Hall, we were given audio guides in 8 languages, and we selected English.

The tix for adult (below):

Map of Exhibition (below):

There were 5 elements like Fire, Water, Earth, Gold (Metal) and Wood. This was just the intro to Chinese culture like how the dumpling festival came about, and how society evolved such that the elite were the scholars that studied very hard to pass the imperial exams.

The tools of students taking the imperial exams (below):

This is the Golden Scroll version of Qing Ming Shang He Tu (below):

A wall "mural" showing a roving hawker during Song Dynasty (below):

This section is when blocking printing was invented (below):

The almost valueless copper coin were tied in strings..worth very little then (below):

The games people played during the Song Dynasty (below):

The merchants were rich and very free, so they smoke pipes to pass time (below):

The labourers like the porters were lowly paid in copper coins. Tried being a porter (below):

The highlight : The moving painted scroll called "Qing Ming Shang He Tu" (below):

Example of the changing scene - night (below):

...and day of the same scene as above:

Feli video-taping the changing and moving scenes (below):

Notice the camels have moved (below):

...they have moved more to the right now (below):

The Song Dynasty was at the peak with 1.5million population, equivalent to densely populated cities in the world like NYC. Why this painting was famous was because it was a massive painting made on a scroll about 500cm long. There were at least 1000 characters depicted in the painting, showing what life was like then. There were fortune tellers, story tellers, porters for loading and unloading boats, porters to carry things for the rich, ladies in sedan chairs, the poorer ones in mule-drawn carriages, foreign traders bringing exotic goods on camels from the Silk Road etc.

Another reason why the painting was so famous was because each section of the scene can stand-alone, unlike the usual painting when the whole piece shows just 1 scene. Especially interesting is the Golden Bridge where both the top and underside of the bridge can be seen at the same time. It looks a bit weird but the details of the bustling activities are all captured like a photograph, in the painting. Really fantastic masterpiece.

The 2 posters we bought at $4.5 for 2 (special offer):

The children's version of the story behind this exhibition. Really worth the $8 spent on it (below):

The goodies bag with 10 items going for $20, original price $60. I counted the items were worth only $55. Mostly postcards, but the coaster made of porcelene is good (below):

These are all the souvenir items we bought (below):

All in, we found the exhibition worth going if there was a discount like what we got. Otherwise, I find it quite pricey. The souvenirs were too expensive too.

Love Theresa