woooo… it had been 4 to 5 yrs since I last went to the URA bungalow @ Pasir Ris. For me, it was like a walk down memory lane when I passed by the stretch of chalets/bungalows along Pasir Ris Road. Haha… during my pri and sec sch days, going to chalets/bungalows is like a MUST-DO activity during every sch hols. & we can encounter all kinds of exciting and weird happenings during every chalet gathering. Haha… apart from the hassle in getting ready the food items and other necessities before the chalet, chalet gathering is actually enjoyable at most of the time. :D
for me, it was like donkey yrs since I last went for a family chalet. As for almost everyone else in the family & maybe little Lynnette who was still in her mummy’s stomach a yr ago, such family chalet is not too unfamiliar for them. it was only a yr away when they had a mega family gathering @ this same chalet. My aunties organized a mega family chalet gathering for the Chok’s family (my paternal grandma’s family). It was a family gathering across 4 generations and relatives from both Spore and Malaysia attended the gathering. other than weddings, I guess tat particular mega chalet gathering was the only family gathering attended by most of the family members. However, sad to say, I was among one of those who were missing in action as at tat point in time, I was still in Australia for my studies. Nevertheless, I was still “part” of last yr’s gathering as my lovely Aunt Cindy actually emailed me the chalet rundown and food menu for the chalet when she was doing the planning. How nice of her, rite? Haha… make me envious only… as for tis yr, I am back in Spore so I will not miss out on any of the family gathering. tis yr’s chalet gathering was not organized on a large scale basis as there was not enough time for us to gather so many pple from all families. In the end, we settled on a family gathering for the Lim’s family (my family)!
Day One - 5/12/2008: Check in to the bungalow
In the evening, we checked in to the chalet and by the time we cleared up and cleaned up everything, it was almost passed dinner time. So after Seow Wei Jie Jie & her family went to the chalet after work, we decided to drive the car out to purchase the items and food needed for the chalet and dinner for myself, my grandma and aunts. While Lynn was looked after by my aunts, Seow Wei Jie Jie, Wee Kwong and myself went to Giant for our groceries shopping! woooo… it was a LONG list of things to get for the chalet & there were so many pple shopping @ Giant then. Juz as our trolley were abt 1/3 full, Seow Wei Jie Jie asked me “so we shld be abt half way thru the list of items, rite?” so I laughed and answered “no ah. All those items in the trolley were not on the list. i juz rem those items by heart. the actual shopping will only start NOW! Haha..” & all 3 of us juz laughed. True enough, at the end of the shopping, our BIG trolley was completely FULL! The total bill came up to be abt $220 which I tink it was still okay for a 4D3Ns chalet with so many pple. When we went back to the chalet with the groceries and food, my dinner turned out to be supper! Hahaa… while we were away @ the supermarket, Uncle Eric and his family arrived @ the chalet. So with Machi (Uncle Eric’s maid)’s help, we started to prepare the items needed for next day’s BBQ. We decided to marinate the chicken wings and keep it overnight so tat it will taste better. All preparation ended pretty early so we were able to turn in early for the nite and be able to wake up for morning exercise the next day.
the living room, games section and the dining area..
the spacious karaoke room...
view of the bungalow from along the road...
the garden...
the BBQ area...Day TWO - 06/12/2008: Playground, Beach & BBQ
Early in the morning @ abt 7am, Aunt Cindy and Seow Wei Jie Jie went for jogging in the park while I rode the bicycle along with them. The cool sea breeze and fresh air in the morning were rejuvenating. It certainly started off my day in a refreshing way. After the sumptuous American-style breaky, we made our way to the BIG playground with the kids. The whole playground compound was fully-equipped with all kinds of facilities such as different type of slides, swings, merry-go-rounds and a spiderweb climb (under construction). My little niece, Lynnette got so excited when she saw the playground and wanna try on each and every one of the facilities. As for my cousins, they were attracted to the various types of facilities @ the playground too. While the kids were busy enjoying themselves @ the playground, the adults were busy making sure tat they were safe and okay. As for me, it was a busy moment for me as I was trying to capture all the precious moments with my camera. Heehee…
lovely moments @ the playground...
Aunt Cindy, little Lynn & Seow Wei Jie Jie playing the see-saw...
Lynn & her cheery smile...
Lynn & her ugly face expression...
"choo-choo..." Captain Lynn & her Mummy on the way!
spin and spin until Lynn was a bit giddy after a few rounds... whahaha...
Wei Hui & Brian in action!
~wheeee~ Wei Hui having fun @ the children's flying fox..
Brian's turn to go for the flying fox...
Wei Zhi on the slide..
Lynn's new found fren.. a Jie Jie who was very frenly and nice in offering Lynn a hand in climbing up and down the playground...
Lynn trying to attempt to slide down from the tallest slide...
woohoo~ mission accomplished! arrived safe and sound @ the bottom of the slide... & she went for a 2nd and 3rd round...
merry-go-round and round... it was fun for the kids sitting on it and it was a tough time for the adults who tried to put it...
@ the Beach...
before the sun gets hotter, we decided to proceed on to the beach. I tink beach and seaside will always b one of the fav spots for kids. Among all of us, I guessed Lynn was the one who enjoyed the most. She was running up and the down the beach and splashing water at almost everybody. Even when I was holding onto a camera, she did not spare me. haha… with her cute and funny actions, my camera juz went on clicking so as to capture the most beautiful side of tis little niece of mine. as Wei Hui needed to go for afternoon classes @ MindsChamp, so my cousins and their maid had to go back to the chalet earlier to prepare to go out. Aunt Cindy, Seow Wei Jie Jie and I carried on playing with Lynn @ the beach until it was almost lunch time. I tink Lynn still wanna carry on playing but she was very obedient when we told her it was time to go back.
Wei Zhi's berms was a bit too long so he had to roll up while he went into the water.. looks kinda funny though...
Lynn was busy walking up and down the beach to fetch water in cutie pinky flowering pot
Lynn contributing her fair share in digging a deep hole...
hahaha... guess who's buttock is tis? she purposely tried to block my view so i decided to snap a shot!
as Seow Wei Jie Jie was digging a hole, Lynn was trying to cover the hole by putting the sand back into the hole! hahaha... wat a help she was!
FINALLY~!!! yeah! the hole was deep enough to bury Seow Wei Jie Jie's leg.
Lynn running along the beach...
Lynn & Aunt Cindy splashing water at each other...
Lynn trying to get ready to continue her splashing of water... her next target was actually me when i was holding onto the camera ah!!! 
Lynn trying to chase after Aunt Cindy. at times when the wave came in, little Lynn almost lost her balance and nearly sat onto the sand. whenever tat happened, she would blurt out "oh dear~!" hahaha...
kicking the water along the way... Lynn running along the beach...
BBQ in the evening
In the afternoon, it was relaxing time. While Lynn was having her afternoon nap, the adults had our long awaiting mahjong session. As Grandma was not familiar with the usual mahjong rules of having “tai” to win, our stake for tat session was quite small. At the end of 2 rounds (dong & nan), I only lost $1.50. haha… then follow on, we had a short KTV session @ the karaoke room before we started to prepare for the evening BBQ session. Juz as we wanna start the fire, the rain came by. Although it stopped after a short while, the pit was wet! So we had to do some cleaning up before Wee Kwong could start the fire. Finally @ abt 630pm, the fire was started and at tat time, my grandaunt came by with her eldest daughter & her family. As everyone was hungry by then, the BBQ session went on @ a swift and smooth speed. However @ times, due to overwhelming orders, the chef made some mistakes in producing uncooked food and required a second time of cooking. Haha… we took turns to BBQ so tat it was not too tiring for juz one person to do all the cooking. When it was time for me to take over, I put my plate of food which consists of a piece of chicken wing, hotdog and chicken patty on the bench behind me. after a while, I turned around and saw tat ONLY the chicken patty was left on the plate! So I shouted “who took my chicken wing?” straightaway Seow Wei Jie Jie spotted the culprit! It was a black cat! It was enjoying my chicken wing and hot dog @ a corner. When I walked up to it, I only saw the bones of the chicken wing. !@#$%^... There goes my food! I specially BBQ those food for myself and put them aside to enjoy. In the end, it was enjoyed by the cat who stole my food!
BBQ pit... chicken wings and many sticks of mashmallows..
as the chef (ME) were busy preparing food, the kids were more keen on bbq-ing their mashmallows...
fire sparklers for the kids...
enjoying the food @ the dining area...
chit chatting after dinner...
as there were a short drizzle, snails came out of the bushes and sat nicely along the pavement in the chalet. my boy-cousins tried to use the sparklers to scare them.. very mean of them but tat is quite a typical action of guys who always like to try to be cheeky and funny...BBQ session ended at abt 10plus to 11pm after my Brother & his friends who came by late to finish up all the food. After cleaning and clearing up, the REAL mahjong session was all set to get started! Whahaha… Uncle Eric, Aunt Pat, Seow Wei Jie Jie & I started on the mahjong session at abt 12am and decided to finish at least 3 rounds (dong, nan & xi) before we sleep. it was not really a good start for me. for the 1st 2 rounds, I managed to accumulate almost the maximum number of “tai” and yet I din win any of the 2 rounds. Haiz… although along the way I did win some, I am still one of the loser at the end of the session. The big winner was Aunt Pat ($15) and the one who lost the most was Seow Wei Jie Jie ($10). Hahaha… I lost abt $6 & Uncle Eric won only abt $1 as Grandma took over his share halfway thru & Grandma was not very sure on how to win with more “tai”. Can see tat Grandma really enjoyed the mahjong session very much. On normal days, she can get lethargic and tired easily, yet on tat particular nite, she managed to stay up with us till abt 3am to get thru the whole mahjong session.
Day THREE - 07/12/2008: last nite @ the chalet..
On the 3rd day of chalet, I had to make a trip out to Sentosa to attend my friend’s wedding @ Rasa Sentosa. It was quite a hassle as it was quite a long distance of travel. As Lynn need to attend some enrichment class in the afternoon so Seow Wei Jie Jie decided to go home in the morning to prepare Lynn for the afternoon class. I followed their car to Toa Payoh & made my way to Sentosa from TPY. It was so much easier for me in tis way. it was a wedding lunch @ Rasa Sentosa. The ambience was nice and the ballroom was nicely decorated. The food for the lunch for still okay and the most commendable part of the lunch was tat the portion of each dish was quite BIG. It was certainly more than enough for a table of 10. at the end of the lunch, while waiting for the couple, I saw a familiar face. Hahaha… to my greatest surprise, I saw Wen Hui! I din expect to see anyone familiar as it was actually my brother’s fren’s wedding. Since my brother can’t attend the wedding (due to clash of wedding in the same yr), so I became a his representative and moreover I knew the groom since my pri sch days. So most of the pple around me at the wedding shld be my brother’s sec sch frens and I seriously did not expect to see anyone familiar. Hahaha… Wen Hui was the groom’s distant relative. Wat a coincidence ah!
After the wedding lunch, I made my way to my brother’s house so as to catch a ride back to the chalet. As Uncle Eric and his family left the chalet & there were more space to accommodate more pple so my brother decided to have a steamboat session with his frens @ the chalet. While my brother and his frens were having steamboat downstairs, my aunts, Seow Wei Jie Jie and I were playing around with Lynn in the karaoke room. On and off, my brother would come up the room with Lynn’s favourite food – FISHBALLS! Hahaha… & at times, Lynn would go downstairs with a plate and fork and asked “舅舅, I wan fishballs.” Hahaha… so舅舅 (my brother) would quickly cook one or two fishballs for her. After watching Super Mummy on channel 8, Aunt Yee Yong started on another round of KTV. And Lynn was so keen to dance with her mummy as Aunt Yee Yong sang. At times, Lynn would oso hold on to the mike to sing her fav children songs. As there were a few mattresses in the room, so Aunt Yee Yong built an igloo for Lynn. Both Aunt Cindy and I were chasing Lynn in and out of the igloo making her screamed and ran around. Hahaha… I tink she had great fun on the last nite of the chalet cos I seriously had great fun running after her and trying to scare her. Whahaha...
Mother & Daughter lying comfortably & acting cute in the igloo...
the headache pose...
trying to do a back flip??? hahaha... failed attempt though~On the last day, the check out time was at abt 9am. The cleaners came by quite early to start the cleaning. So Aunt Yee Yong asked them to clean up the 2nd floor while we quickly packed up the items in the kitchen at the 1st floor. Then as the cleaners were doing their cleaning and we were doing our packing, little Lynn was still soundly asleep. She was so deeply in her sleep tat no one was able to wake her up. Juz as we finished clearing up and almost ready to go, one of the cleaners said “dun forget to bring the soundly asleep baby home ah.” Hahaha… of cos we won’t forget. Is juz tat we did not wan to wake up her so early. I guess Lynn really enjoyed herself very much @ the chalet as I was told tat while she went home after her enrichment class, she asked to go to the playground. & when her request was not approved, she actually sulked and cried. Upon returning to the chalet, Aunt Cindy brought her to the playground after dinner and Aunt Cindy said tat she almost did not wan to go back to the chalet. Whahaha…
For me personally, I always enjoyed myself very much after every family gathering. I simply love the feeling of having so many people gathered together to chit chat and have fun. All the kids will be running around, adults will be chatting away and parents will b running after the kids to make sure tat they r okay. Although I dun have a very big family, the atmosphere at every of our family gathering is always so enjoyable and lively. Everyone in the family will try to attend the family gatherings and during every gathering, the feeling is always so heart warming with my loved ones r around me. I really missed this heart warming feeling during my days spent in Australia and I am extremely glad tat after I came back, there were various occasions such as Grandma’s 60th birthday celebration, my brother’s wedding and tis family chalet gathering to allow me to have a taste of this wonderful heart warming feeling once again. Heehee…
For me personally, I always enjoyed myself very much after every family gathering. I simply love the feeling of having so many people gathered together to chit chat and have fun. All the kids will be running around, adults will be chatting away and parents will b running after the kids to make sure tat they r okay. Although I dun have a very big family, the atmosphere at every of our family gathering is always so enjoyable and lively. Everyone in the family will try to attend the family gatherings and during every gathering, the feeling is always so heart warming with my loved ones r around me. I really missed this heart warming feeling during my days spent in Australia and I am extremely glad tat after I came back, there were various occasions such as Grandma’s 60th birthday celebration, my brother’s wedding and tis family chalet gathering to allow me to have a taste of this wonderful heart warming feeling once again. Heehee…
No comments:
Post a Comment