... so good to celebrate Sau Chee's 60th birthday

Connie's best friend for over half a century celebrated her 60th birthday! Sau Chee (Eileen) not only has been a faithful and great friend but she also gave half her life to serve God as a missionary in Indonesia. Her life is an inspiration to all around her.

She is truly a gift from God to all of us. It was a joy and privilege to share the celebration with her! God is great ... life is good!

... so good to have another break at the beginning of the year

To kick off the year - 3 couples (Gabriel & Maria, Wilson & Selina, Connie & I) decided to take a quick break to Bangkok for golf, massage, food, shopping and relaxation!

It was so good to be with friends and enjoy chit chatting over wine and snacks during happy hour. Thai food is delicious and not so expensive! 

Golf was fun though we all played less than good. Ended up how many balls were lost instead of strokes!! But it was fun walking 2 X 18 holes around some beautiful scenery. 

No sight-seeing this trip as we did all that in May last year. So we spend the rest day at Healthland Spa - loved the massage. Followed by shopping at Thaniya Plaza with 5 storeys of golf shops. Bought some cheap arm sleeves, belts, gloves, legging, etc

All in all - a great start to the year with a quick break! Life is great!

This year Christmas party was a smaller party as Dave and Wai Sin; Johnny and Oi Leng and their respective families were away on holidays.

But we kept the tradition and had a small and cozy gathering. Andrea and Jon joined us for dessert! It has been a tradition for years and we hope that we can continue to celebrate the birth of Christ and the redemptive act for many more years to come.

We also joined the Baker's traditional Christmas lunch. So good to have an extended family to celebrate the season with.

Of course, Shirley and Yew Kong (and family) joined us in spirit! Life is good!

.. so good to meet old (literal and otherwise) class mates

This was the Senior (Citizens) Prom for RI Class of 71/73.

Almost 100 of us gathered together at NUSS, Suntec to celebrate us surviving since we left school in 71 (O Levels) and 73 (A Levels). That's like 32-34 years ago that we shared classrooms. Above is the 'Arts' classes representatives and you will noticed that we had the most girls in our classes compared to the nerdy science and medicine classes. We were also known to be the most fun stream.

The night was spent recollecting our fun times - parties, pranks on teachers and fellow students, the nick names that we gave teachers and each other. Those were such care free days of pure fun mixed with some academic pursuits. Most of us turn out quite  fine despite our (non) interest in classes.

So good to catch up with 'old' school mates. Some that we still see around the golf clubs!

... so good to catch up with old friends

It was great to catch up with Laus! The Lau clan were in town for a wedding and we managed to catch them for one dinner together with Oi Lin and Fong Oi.

The food was good but the company was better as we gossiped on everyone we knew - on both sides of the pond. Folks at LSBC/Holland/Exodus and at Mascot Fellowship. Wonderful to catch on news from every front but also a timely reminder that we should be making our decade (ly) year trip down south to catch with folks there.

We are so blessed by friends that we can catch up after many moons as though it was yesterday that we met. 

(I am reminded of how blessed I was in Australia as a student to receive the many blessings from the folks at the church especially the Jees, Laus and Harts. I am eternally grateful to them for they made the whole Aussie experience such a warm and unique one. Those 3 years made a huge mark on my life!)

Life is so good when you can count on friends like them.

... so good to reach the big six-O

Reaching sixty meant several birthday cakes and celebrations. Started with celebrating with the Chan family at home with a cake baked by Michelle. Followed by dinner with the core group and then another with the ex-IFS/Infor friends.

Feeling wonderfully blessed to have great friends and family to celebrate with.

Six decades of life - half of them spent with Connie - my lovely life companion, friend, travel partner, , mother of my children, wife and confidant! Life has indeed been good to me. As I have always stated ... 死而无憾 (hee hee... not bad for a RI boy who failed his chinese at O level)

... so good to celebrate National Day together and to remember Dad

We celebrated National Day as a family (LF, LY and our spouses) at my place. But more so ...

10th August is a memorable day for us ... it is the day that Dad passed away 33 years ago... exactly one month after our wedding. It came as a shock as he was in good health. He was on his way to work as usual and (we heard) that he felt unwell, sat down to drink from his bottle of tea and then just collapsed on the road side. It was the first time in our lives that we had to deal with death in a real way ... when we went down to the police station to identify his personal belonging we were shell shocked! And when we were at the mortuary to identify his remains, we were still unsure what had happened.

We were traumatized by the suddenness of his passing away but on hindsight we are glad that he did not suffer long with sickness or be in hospital for an extended period of time. 

Dad was a good provider and worked till his last day. He cared and loved us though he never verbalized it. His way of caring was to provide for us. Thus it was a struggle to cope with the funeral arrangements. Dad had not accepted Christ and we had to have a traditional Chinese funeral but as Christians we did not want to participate in some of the rituals which involved ancestor worship yet we wanted to show him the respect due to him as our father. I had to take the lead as the Christian male in the family. It was an extremely stressful period ... glad that Connie was by my side and supported me.

Some 33 years later - I am now in his position - being a father-in-law, provided for my own sons and soon to be a grand father; I am filled with gratitude for his care, provision and love but more so I understand his feeling of pride in seeing our off spring mature and establish their own family and the loss of knowing that our son will soon have his family as priority!

But to sum it all,  it is so good that the Lord has blessed us with so much - health, our daily bread and our family and friends! 

... so good to have another golf trip (this time to Vietnam)

The magnificent seven went to Danang (Vietnam) for a golf trip. The group include Vincent Koh, Richard Chua, Richard Yeo, Wilson Hon, James, Daniel and I. We played 3 rounds there including the Montgomerie Links, Danang and Laguna golf clubs. 

The standard of the golf courses were a little disappointing and the service was nothing to shout about. Fortunately, the company made up for it. So the trip was still quite fun with lots of joking and laughter. The food was also very good especially the Pho (Vietnamese noodle) at a small shop with tables along the 5 foot way! 

Had a good bonding time with Wilson as we shared room. Found a good friend that travel together!

Lessons learnt - 

1) not where you go but who you go with
2) always look for the positive and you find things will work out somehow

Though I still feel that it is not worth the $$$ to play in Vietnam. Silkair just cost too much for the distance travelled.

... so good to resume tradition of Christmas dinner with close friends

This year, Johnny and family were in US, LA for their first long holiday in a long while. So glad for them that they are finally using Johnny's travelling privileges.

However, also had a surprised visitor - Shirley came back from Melbourne to visit and was at the dinner. Shirley, Carmen (her daughter) and Connie even went for manicure before the dinner. Lots of catching up over old photos from BHSM and Holland Chapel days!

Thank God for friends that have lasted over the decades!

...so good to attend another wedding

Alice and Caine got hitched on 23 Nov at Peony Jade, Clarke Quay. Get food, great company and the couple was just adorable.

So happy for Alice - she deserves to be happy. She is such an easy going, down to earth and caring girl. The way she accommodates Caine and his mother's needs is just amazing. She will definitely make a great daughter-in-law and wonderful wife!  

... so good to catch up with the Thompsons (Holy Land cruise friends)

It was great catching up with Larry and Holley. They came to Singapore to catch a cruise to China with Princess Cruise. It was a lovely time of catching up over local food fare at Straits Kitchen.

We caught up on each others development and talked about cruising together again - maybe South America!

Though we disappointed with the quality of the food but the company was great!

Thank God for friends that we made in the most unusual circumstances yet we are able to share so much 

... so good to continue the tradition of having dinner together during CNY

The core group continued the tradition of having teochew porridge on the first day of Chinese New Year. This year we had it at Johnny's house and we had a full attendance. With the passing years and the many travel/migration activities, it is getting harder and harder to get the whole group together!

Johnny laid out a sumptuous meal ... yummy!

... so good to catch up with an old friend in Vancouver

Vancouver was the final port of call for the cruise and we decided to stay a couple of days to explore the city but mainly to catch up with Walter Chiu. Walter is a business partner turned friend. He was IFS's distributor in Taiwan and we became good friends together with Jackson and Jeff.

It is so gratifying to know that one can do business but still make friends with the people you deal with. You don't have to be successful by making use of people and making enemies. 

... so good to play for free at Tanah Merah Golf and Country Club

Societe Generale invited me to play at the Garden Course at TMCC, one of the premier and most expensive golf club in Singapore. I invited Danny Liu and we had a great time. The weather was perfect except for a little rain delay and the course was challenging but so scenic.

Almost perfect ... if only they would move the airport away as the club is in the direct flight path!

The closest we got to the hole in one prize - Jaguar! Life is great!

... so good to meet up with Aussie friends

Bill and Heather were in town. They flew in to start their cruise back to Sydney on Celebrity. It was a good time to catch up and also show them some of Singapore's sights and cuisine ... we had meals at Straits Kitchen (local buffet), No Signboard (Chilli crab), PeraMakan (Nonya). We also visited the Singapore Flyer, Chinatown (Chinese Temple, Indian Temple) and Night Safari.

They also met Jon and Andrea when Jon bought us dinner at the Cricket Club. Brought them to Blue Horizon to have a look at our residence.

All in all a good 2.5 days together and catching up on all the news. Found out that Victor was in KL and managed to connect with him on Facebook.

... so good to boost inter racial harmony

Another tradition that we have maintained for many years - Hari Raya lunch at Zainal's house. This traditional has been going on for as long as I can remember. We would all gather at his house - Chinese, Indian, Eurasian and Malay - all part of a community bonded by love of the game and the man (Zee).

It is a great time of just chilling - catching up with each other and the latest gossip. This year there is an overwhelming discussion of squashies applying or attending US colleges including Shi Yuan (who has decided that Yale was the coolest place to be), Byran Koh (following his brother to Harvard?), James at NYU (the team is fielding a 9 men team this year). There was also lots of excitement over Jo and Zee recent trip to the World Masters in Birmingham - how squash can be so much fun! 

Also the usual lament about the state of squash in Singapore and how badly we need to improve the squash scene. Perpetual issue with no solution in sight (Sigh).

Of course, I had to sent the photo of all the delicious food to Kenneth. Still the best Malay food we have each year.

... so good to celebrate 30 years of marriage

It also happens to be Connie and Oi Lin's birthdays. So we celebrated together with the core group of Dave/Wai Sin, Johnny/Oi Leng, OiLin/Fong Oi and Jonathan/Andrea at our favorite restaurant - Spring Court. Seems we always go back there to celebrate every couple of years. 


Maybe it is because we just love the suckling pig (the skin was really crispy), the  mini Buddha jump over the wall (lots of good stuff and so tasty - though Andrea skipped the shark fin and sea cucumber) and ....


The service was very good - the waitress was very attentive (topping up our wine, changing our plates) yet not intrusive. With a private room, it was a good time of reminiscing old times (like the various holidays) and talking about growing old! Great to have friends to celebrate such occasions with.

... so good to end the year with a great Musical

The gals (Fong Oi and Oi Lin), the Lees (Yew Kong and Tiak Cher) and Chan (Connie and I) went to watch the musical 'Wicked' at Marina Bay Sands on the last night of the year. We went early to beat the count down crowd but all the eateries were still too crowded to get in. So we had to settle for dinner at ToastBox! But it was a great time to chat and the show was tremendously entertaining.

It was well worth the $120+ ticket each - this was after at 50% discount that we secured through Connie's collegaue. On the way out of the area, we saw the crowd heading into the Marina waterfront for the count down. We are just too old for the crowds!

... so good to be back in Penang after almost 20 years

It has been almost 20 years since we took a vacation in Penang. The last time was when the kids were little with Yew Kong's family. This time it was just the two of us with Dave's family. But the food is still as good ... especially the chendol along Penang Road, the Gurney Drive hawker center with all the local specialities. We even went up to Penang Hill (a day before the agung was there, there were people sprucing up the place for us!). It was a great 2 night/3 day break. Budget airline, budget hotel, budget food but all very enjoyable.

...so good to have another Christmas gathering

This will be the last Christmas at Flynn Park as we will be out of here by next Christmas. All were there except for the Lees who are still in the US. The usual traditional Christmas spread was on - ham, roast beef, potato salad (by David, Johnny's second son), mushroom soup, garlic bread, fruits, ice cream log cake, apple cake (from Fong Oi). Good time of fellowship and foodship recounting our blessings!
Wonder where we will be doing this next year!