Short Getaway - Malacca trip

Last week, grandparents were in town for iik intan's graduation and they spent a week accompanying us while papa was away for business trip.
After papa came back to Singapore on Friday,  we had a short getaway to Malacca the next day. Papa drove there and it took around 3.5 hours including the immigration clearance.

We arrived there around 2 pm and had late lunch at Mega Mall Malacca.

Then we explored the Malacca heritage centre which including their famous landmarks, St Paul's ruins, Christ church and red bricks buildings.

St paul ruins

Christ Church Area

tricycle to explore the city centre

St Francis Xavier Church

It was hot sunny day so the kids were a bit cranky and tired so we didn't explore much and went back to hotel for rest and shower.

In the evening we had dinner at Cottage Spices Nyonya restaurant which  6 minutes walk from our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Equatorial. Eventhough it's quite old, the location was good. It's 10 minutes walk to city center.

We ordered few peranakan dishes and they were so good. Our tummy was fully satisfied.
When we were on the way back to hotel, we passed by fruits stall and decided to have durian feast.
It was so cheap and the owner was very kind, he kept giving us free durian as their stall was closing soon.

We're heading back to hotel with bloated tummy full of durian hahaha....
In the end, we had good night sleep at the hotel.

The next day was a rainy and cloudy day, it's quite opposite from the day before.
After breakfast and checking out, we went to Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum and passed by Jonker Street. We visited the museum and it reminded me to my grandaunt's house in Semarang.

Then we stopped by to Baba Charlie Cake to buy some peranakan delicacy. It's freshly made and the queue was long.
We took away the kueh for our food stock during our journey back to Singapore.

We left Malacca around 1pm and it took around 3.5 hours and reached Singapore around 4pm.

It was a short, sweet and nice escape to neighbouring country.

Something we learnt from this trip, Malacca was a peranakan county. The livehood there was pretty relax. Most of food stalls only open half day either morning until afternoon or evening until late.
The people were nice and friendly.

Racial Harmony Day in school

 

Speech Academy

As Richie's talent is public speaking, mama and papa thought that it may be a good idea to refine his public speaking skills so that it could be one of his talents that can be useful in near future therefore mama and papa enrol him to Speech Academy Asia.

We enrolled him both English and Chinese. For english, he will learn about different method and skills of public speaking and every end of the month, the parents will be invited to see how the kids will speak in front of the audiences.

As for chinese, he will learn more in oral and some reading and writing in fun way. There's a group of 3 boys including him, hopefully this will motivate him to learn and speak chinese more.

This is the his first presentation as salesman roles in speech academy

Qifa Shine 2018

This was his first public performance which I saluted him. Because it's all his initiative and he's very confident in doing it.
He gave me an invitation letter to watch his performance in his school during the recess time last week. I thought there will be a lot of parents watching them too so I set my schedule to watch him but alas it's only mama the only adult audience, even there's no teachers sit there except one teacher who's the organizer.
Anyway, mama arrived on time just before he and his friend performed.
Then after their name was called, they went into the stage and perform sing and dance.

Here's his video

Mama and papa are very proud of him and he told me that he will join again Qifa Shine 2019.

Good luck son !

Happy 10th Anniversary Papa Mama !

On 5th July 2018 is special day for papa and mama because it's their 10th Wedding Anniversary and we celebrated it with family dinner at our favourite restaurant Brio - Jurong Point.

Papa ordered Duck Confit burger
Mama ordered Squid Ink pasta
Richie ordered Carbonara pasta
Trom and Ted shared pizza

We were very full but satisfied, it's very enjoyable evening.

On Saturday, papa and mama celebrated their anniversary with Family Builders Community. They ordered yellow rice. We loved it and it's very delicious.

Happy Anniversary Papa Mama, may both of you always stay in love forever !

God is A Genius Artist - Reflection Story

I’ve never been interested in Art Gallery before until an encounter that happened yesterday at National Gallery 3rd level. I was intrigued by one of the posters placed in front of art gallery, I was curious what was inside and decided to give it a go.
There were many artworks and most of them were paintings and each painting was with the description about what the artist’s tools, the description and feeling. Until I saw this painting.

When I went to come closer to see the details, I was so amazed that with only strokes of different colors that sometimes the mixture was not making sense but when I walked further from the painting I saw the whole
Picture and it’s so beautiful. Then suddenly I imagined myself if I sit beside the artist during the process from the beginning until the end and thus the conversation comes like this

👩🏻 what are you making?
👩‍🎨 something beautiful in the end
👩🏻 but these strokes don’t make sense, the composition between colors are so wrong, I don’t think it will result in good picture
👩‍🎨 I haven’t done yet, it’s still a small part, be patient
👩🏻 with my impatient human’s character that everything needs to finish instantly and arrogance that I know better than the artist, I start criticising that it won’t make good painting because it’s so wrong with the colors, composition.
👩‍🎨 with smiley face, be patient and have faith in me
👩🏻 ok, I decide to wait and challenge him to make sure that I’m right

Until the end

👩‍🎨 ok, now it’s finished. You come with me looking at few meters from this artwork
👩🏻 then in awe, I’m speechless beyond comprehension. The result is beyond my expectations, it’s so so beautiful 

Then I relate it with life, Our God is like this genius artist and our lifes are like this art gallery with the same artist. Every piece is different, some may look similar but if we see closer, actually there are some different strokes that create uniqueness.
When our life seems messy, doesn’t make sense, it’s so wrong that we want to give up, God is in the process of making a beautiful piece. He knows what he’s doing much more better than we are.
Until in the end, when he finished, we could only amazed with what He has done in life. Some may have only black colors, some may have different colorful strokes but in the end of the process, every art piece is very beautiful 

One affirmation is HAVING FAITH IN GOD and BE PATIENT 

By the way, this artpiece that intrigues me was self portrait of Affandi, one of international acclaimed painter from Indonesia
He only used hands to create this beautiful canvas

Paul The Apostle of Christ - movie

Last Saturday we watch this new movie, Paul the Apostle of Christ from itunes.
It's a good movie.

The synopsis
Paul, Apostle of Christ is the story of two men. Luke, as a friend and physician, risks his life every time he ventures into the city of Rome to visit Paul, who is held captive in Nero's darkest, bleakest prison cell. Before Paul's death sentence can be enacted, Luke resolves to write another book, one that details the beginnings of "The Way" and the birth of what will come to be known as the church. But Nero is determined to rid Rome of Christians, and does not flinch from executing them in the grisliest ways possible. Bound in chains, Paul's struggle is internal. He has survived so much--floggings, shipwreck, starvation, stoning, hunger and thirst, cold and exposure--yet as he waits for his appointment with death, he is haunted by the shadows of his past misdeeds. Alone in the dark, he wonders if he has been forgotten... and if he has the strength to finish well. Two men struggle against a determined emperor and the frailties of the human spirit in order to bequeath the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

What we could take back from this movie 
1. Love is the only Way
2. God's way is not our way
3. There's nothing impossible for God, He can change the heart's of man
4. God can make use of any situation to save one man's soul