+Nicole turns 8 years old +

So it seemed that my god daughter is no longer a baby..How can she be when she turned 8 years old about 3 weeks ago. i guess she is slowly creeping into the Tween phase..


I met Maria, Christine and the kids to celebrate this happy occasion for dinner and ice cream at Holland Village


We had ice cream at D'Good Cafe. There are two swings over looking the road on the 2nd storey. It's nice to have our photos taken on the swing but it's not really comfy to sit and eat..

Yup, Me and the birthday girl..

no longer a baby..

Present and card I got for her :)

*big big hugs*

Nicole and her Maria Jie jie

I guess one is never too young to 

start learning how to use a phone...

Ooh look.Christine looking all smiles in pink! 

Cutesy Ian who's all amused with the surroundings..

He loves exploring..

Cute isn't it~?

Yummy ice cream with waffles :D

273 Holland Avenue #02-01/02
Singapore 278992
Tel: 6219 9807

Sunday to Thursday: 10am to 10pm
Friday & Saturday: 10am to 11pm

Another celebration :) lunch at Liang court

Birthdays are always a good excuse for a get together ...

to enjoy food and catch up on what's going on with one another

We celebrated Wei ting's birthday ( erm.. all the way back in October )

at Liang Court. 

We had lunch at Tampopo before 

moving on the a new cafe 

for cakes and tea 

Japanese food puts a smile to our faces!

perfect combo..

salmon sashimi and veg!

girls can't get enough of cakes and 

great conversation 

Dulcet & Studio at Liang Court 

Pre birthday meal at Cornerstone

Venue - Cornerstone ( Bishan Park)
Date- 21 July.
We chose this place for lunch as it was a nice idea having a meal in a park.. It was actually an early celebration of my birthday :)  Ah yes, I am now a year older and wiser ( i think )

Had a good chat over food with the ladies. Time always fly by when you are having a good time with friends :) Here's our shared food...

This is their spicy wings..

there are a several levels of spiciness..

ours is level 2 :P 

Not really spicy .. I guess level 3 and above would be good

 

Half slab of ribs..

Fish and chips

\

Thanks ladies for the great company and bday treat! 

The one who went on the HSBC Tree Top Trail

I have been saying for years that I wanna go up the 

HSBC Tree top walk and yes, finally after all these years I did!

5 of us went on a morning trail a month ago :)

We managed to reach the designated starting place at 9am! 

It was quite a feat coz it meant that we have to wake up at 7am on a Saturday  :P 

This trail is quite popular amongst locals and tourists . We had many people for company that morning.
Do note that there is no kiosk or cafe or vending machine what so ever along the way. There is however a ranger station where there is toilet and water cooler where you can drink and refill of water bottle.

There are two places you can start walking towards the bridge. One is to walk thru the MacRitchie Reservoir Park which is approximately 4.5 km (1.5 - 2 hour walk) and the other place is from the carpark at Venus Drive, which will set you off by  2.5 km (45 mins - 1 hr walk) towards the bridge.

Therefore, a round trip including the TreeTop Walk is about 7 to 10 km (3-5 hours depending on your walking pace). We took approx. 3.5 hrs as we chatted and stopped for photo shoots as usual :P 

Do note that once you stepped onto the bridge there is no turning back. It is a one way route. And each time only 30 persons are allowed on the bridge. Yes, there is a guard on duty at the entrance.

Ok..enough of rambling... 

Here are the photos from the walk :)

at the beginning of the walk

Spotted this during the early part of our walk..

Can you spot the butterfly?

Very well camouflaged don't you think so ?

It can't get anymore rustic..

There are fishes in the stream!

We don't get to see streams much 

Fungus anyone?

Lots of varieties to choose from 

how tiny they are compared to their gigantic tree friends

no.. pls don't eat them ;p

My awesome companions..

We are almost there~

Here we are~

Blue skies white clouds

oh look who do we have here!

Be careful of them coz 

they can get aggressive

Do not aggravate them !

The view from above

 It was really hot up there..

we only spent about 5 mins there up there

We enroute to the Jelutung Tower

just few minutes away before we head back

to the car park

 Come on now!

Let's climb up the spiral staircase

 up in the tower 

taking a break..

We had to cross a wooden plank bridge and there was a stream flowing under it.. Melvin promptly went down and started fooling around pretending to drink the water

hehe..looks like he puked out that puddle of muddy stuff ;p

I wanna have some fun too :P 

We didn't drink that of coz!

but the water was very cooling ! 

We joked about how we could set up a rustic outdoor cafe here

and have a corner for some rural spa experience ;p

 

Melvin took this for us..  

now that's me having a uncontrollable 

laughing fit..and trying to climb back 

on to the bridge...

this is the route we took...
you can click for a bigger image

That's it folks!

I hope you found this entry on the trail useful :)

Ps: as ridicously as it may be, we saw a Caucasian couple going for the trail with their approx 6 months old baby ( strapped to the mum ) ! They even brought the pram along and had it chained to a lamp post half way before heading on. Seriously I don't think the baby is gonna enjoy it much since she is prob.not gonna remember any of it! It's hot and tiring for normal person and not to say the mum who is carrying the baby. Of coz we understand their position if they brought the baby coz no one can help take care of her. 


It is okay to bring children on such walks but only if they are able to walk on their own already ! Do note that it would only mean it may take a longer time to complete.

------------------

Things to bring 

- insect repellent (there will be mosquitoes and other bugs )

- water ( very important!)

- small towel (optional)

- sun screen (optional)

- hat (optional)      

- wet wipes

- snacks (may get hungry along the way)
-

Opening Hours

Tue to Fri: 9am-5pm, Sat, Sun and Public Holidays: 8.30am-5pm.
The HSBC TreeTop Walk gate will be closed at 5pm. Visitors are advised to start hiking towards the bridge by 4.45pm from Ranger Station to avoid disappointment.
Closed on Mondays except public holidays for maintenance and research.


More info here


Nparks
HSBC Tree Top Walk

Lunar New Year Part II

I am getting really lazy.. :P Even though the Lunar New Year isn't quite over, the mood just isn't there anymore.. In fact, there wasn't much of a festive mood this year :( So here I am , being lazy..not having much mood to blog about my new year either..  One thing for sure.. it's different coz I got quite a lot of red packets this year! Oh and of coz, I went visiting with Alex :P 

Here are some photos from first, sec and fourth day of the Lunar New Year .

Spent first day at home entertaining relatives

and cousins . Later in the afternoon, Alex and I 

went to MBS for the Titanic exhibition

( will write another post about the exhibition)

2nd day was slightly busier,  having to pop by Alex's place ( Bedok )  in the morning followed by visiting his maternal relatives at his uncle's place( Pasir Ris). That's where Ah Gong (grandpa is about 85? )lives . After late lunch and lou hei at his uncle's, we went to Pounggol for another round of visitation. What is new year if I didn't meet up with my gals! 

Took pics with Jeslyn and see that's her

seated on the table for the lou hei!

 

Stayed at Lynn's place for quite awhile..

We ate, we played some cards :P
we were entertained by the kids!

---------------------

Visited Christine and her parents on the fourth day 

and here are my cutest god daughter and god son..

They are growing up so fast!

In case you have not notice..all my clothing have so far

been rather bright and festive! 

I am trying to do the bright colored clothes for 15

days of the new year! I did it last yr :P

So far I have not worn any black top! hehe..

Will try to keep it going..