Dinner at Pu Tien Tampines Mall

It was an unexpected day for me as my company last minute announce to us that we can leave at 4pm today! It's a joy to me and we were wondering what's the occasion? So, one colleague told us that company decides to shut down early...Oh boy. Not a good sign to us during this financial turmoil and I'm working in a US based company. Anyway, HR told us that the company is giving out Family Day so that we can spend time with our loved ones today and have dinner with them.

So, it's a bonus time for me to spend "my time" :p and I decide to drop by Tampines Mall for a stroll and de-stress. Yea, work has been hectic lately and I need a little break for myself :). I bought a skirt and a blouse and hubby join me later. He, as well take family day. Yes, his company do have family day once a month which they can take on any Friday of the month. Same here, they can leave at 4pm.

We spend sometime walking around the mall and we decided to have our dinner here. We went to Basement 1 and we pick Pu Tien as our dinner place.

Pu Tien is known for it's Hing Hua fried mee hoon and I decide to have this for my dinner. The rice noodle are very fine and they are generous with their ingredients. As you can see, it was overloaded with ingredients here. There are clams, big prawns, vegetables, seaweed, peanuts, slices of pork. The rice noodle is slightly dried but overall the taste is not too bad for a plate cost $6.Hubby chose Lor Mee and we ordered a side dish which is Fried yam covered with honey or some sweet sauce which I find it very refreshing.

The Lor mee is different from the one I had in Penang which the gravy is dark in color with some hint of 5 spices and very eggy looking. However, this is light and easy to eat. The serving is quite alot and I steal some from hubby.

Next is the Fried yam. For sweet tooth person like me, I love it. It's sweet and little crispy on the outside and warm in the inside. You have to eat it fast when it's hot else the outer layer will be hard and the honey or sugar coating will stuck to your teeth. Even, when it's hot you can feel that some of the honey/sugar stuck to your teeth. Anyway, I use my tongue to wash it away :D

Overall, the bill came to about SGD30 include service charge and tax for the 2 of us include tea. Not too cheap thou but I walk away happy and satisfied with the food I had.

Confusius Time

Sometime in mid September 08, it was my first time experiencing the joy of celebrating the Conficius God Birthday. To me, it was like any God's birthday. However, it didn't occur that it was a day for parents to offer and pray to this Wisdom of God for their children future. I was told that every year it was a hit affair for parents to register their children name at the temple and a prayer will held for the children to excel and succeed in their studies and undertakings. In fact, when I was there the temple volunteers had started taking in registration for 2009! Wow...I guess I will join the crowd once Zach starts schooling =p

So, this is what I'm really amazed and something new to me. Registration will start as early as a year or a month before the God's birthday. So, what's in the goodie bag when you register. Here's what you get and this will be offered to Confusius God. Besides this, you will receive a nice little red school bag and calendar to bring home. I was so fascinated with this goodie pack that I forgot to take a photo of the bag.

You must be wondering what's the meaning behind all these items. Well, I'm too like you as curious as a cat. So, this is what I was told.

• Spring onion = Chong = Chong Ming=Smart/Clever


• Beancurd = Tau Kua = Kua = Government Official


• Longevity Bun = Have a longevity


• Layered sweet with different color = bu bu gau sen = Every step to succeed

Interesting la.... and this will be layed on a stretch of tables with the names of the children written on the styrofoam box.

Rows and rows of tea lights

Tea lights candle lighting up bearing the childname together with the registration number for prayers.

See how crowded it was. On the day itself, volunteers giving out snacks like chee cheong fun, yam cakes, ice cream, drinks and cotton candy. The foods are not too bad or rather we were hungry and thirsty.

Sand, Sun, Sea

My legs are aching.......Am I lacking of exercise these days? I guess so.

We went to East Coast Park today and the weather is good. We walk along the beach and Zach gets to play with the sand and water. It was his first time to ECP and he was pretty execited to see children roller blading, cyclist zooming past him, friendly dogs and pretty chicks roller blading. ha...He was OooHing, AHhhing and screaming away. Hands shake, legs shaking all at one time.

Here's Zach all set for a stroll.....

Zach and his elephant toy (upside down)

Zach with mummy

Zach and Dad

Leave nothing but....Zach prints :)

Been there, Done that, Seen that...

Zach loves the sand, he crawl and dig into the sands.

Was quite worrying that he will take some sands into his mouth. However, I guess he's smart to know it will create real mess in his mouth. :D

Love the breeze and the smell of the sea..hmmm :)

Can you see the ships lining up far far away?

Looks like mummy is more excited than Zach, dunno why my mouth open so big :D

Weekend campers

Was telling hubby that next year we'll join the campers a night under the star :)