Bus Alone

What have I done today?

I'm starting to get busier lately.
Being sold to a new company, and starting to embark on a project.
The whole thing disrupted my original schedule to transit Zyan to start taking transport home from school next year.

I've been on arrangement for past 1 year plus to do work on 'half-day' basis, allowing flexibility on my part to handle personal stuff.
In particular, more with Zyan due to some exciting adventures from him within school last year.

Anyway, things have been a lot more smoother on that aspect.
During the start of the year, we also stopped the school bus transport for him, as the bus operator said the pick-up time for him would be about 6am, if we use their service.
Crazy right? School is 1.X km away, and he has to be picked up at 6am to go to school.
Instead of making this senseless arrangement, we decided to do the transport ourselves with my 'half-day' arrangement. :P
Going to school is not a problem. Coming back from school is, as it is still within normal working hours.
The flexibility helps, for the past 1 year plus.

With this new company, although still flexible in some sense, I don't think I can exericse it with the same flexibility as I had previously.
Thus, have to hasten the process for him to take bus.

Today, left working place to go to Zyan's school and waited for him.
When he came out, I gave him a task.

I told him, he has to take bus home himself.
Gave him his student pass for transport, and passed him my other mobile phone.
Took his bag, and told him I would wait for him at the bus stop near our house.
Bade him farewell, and drove off without him.

In between traffic lights, when reaching home, and walking to the busstop, I have to message him to make sure he is ok.
Whatsapp messaging with him:

Simon: Make sure call me if got problem
Zyan: Orr
Simon: Good luck
Zyan: Just missed bus
Simon: So sad
Simon: Message me when u are on bus 13
Zyan: Orr
Simon: Is it exciting?
Zyan: I'm on the bus
Simon: Great. I will be at the bus stop
Simon: To welcome you
Simon: 欢迎欢迎 热烈欢迎！
Zyan: ?
Zyan: Still rd
Simon: cool

There I was, waiting at the busstop.
Bus 13 finally came, and off came the little hero that took bus himself for the first time without his parents.

Had wanted to take a picture of him stepping down from the bus, guess I was too slow. :P
Well done my son!

I told him, will have to do a few more times, and thereafter, he should be good to do it himself without me around.
That would be the final desired outcome! :P

Went back to work after that. LOL

Happy Penny-versary

Happy Penny-versary!

It’s been one year! Yes!

Last year this day, a new family member joined us.

I remember I got bitten by her right on first day of her arrival at our home. LOL

Over the past 1 year, I had been bitten a few times. Likewise, Karinna and Zyan were not spared as well.

Come to think of it, the last anyone of us was bitten was around September last year? I think so.

More than half year of non-biting case.

In between, she had scratched Zyan perhaps once or twice, act of biting, but at the end was just scratches. Lucky him.

So would this be considered good?

In certain sense, I do think so.

Her biting cases has reduced. Good!

Her barking cases at dogs passing by our home front, still happening. This would take a long time I guess. Need to keep spraying vinegar at her to help her distract. :P

She is still a fierce dog.

So much so that when there’s visitors to our home, we have to keep her in the playpen. I think that is like a safe haven for her. She doesn’t bark when she’s in there. Amazing!

Also, we have to keep reminding visitors DO NOT touch her AT ALL!

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

We do not know when she will snap like Thanos. :P

Other than these few things, she is actually quite obedient. Just hard to show affection or play with her, even when she wants to. LOL

At least, the lump on her cheek had been removed, and she had been sterilised as well.

She seems much more relax now. Very good.

Still a long way to make her more docile. Would that be possible? J

Pokemon Go Safari Event Sentosa

Ever since Pokemon Go announced a Safari Zone even in Sentosa about 1.5 months ago, Zyan had been waiting for the day to come.

That time, he kept pestering me to register for the event. The mosquito was working around my ears again.

Then I checked and saw that it was during the Good Friday holiday period. I deliberate chose Good Friday itself, since it is public holiday. So clever right? :P

And when the even was drawing nearer and nearer, the mosquito kept asking me if I received the confirmation for the event.

Ahhhh! 吵死人！

As they say, time flies.

19 April 2019 has arrived.

This morning, we left home in the morning.

After a lift from Karinna, who went on some things of her own, Zyan and I headed towards Vivo City. Well, it was quite crowded in the morning. Not sure if this is a normal scene on public holiday morning. I would attribute a big factor with the Safari Zone event though.

We had some simple breakfast at BK before walking to Sentosa. I thought it should be good to have some food before walking around in Sentosa. Maybe can have a slightly later lunch at 2pm or so after walking around the island.

Anyway, we went into Sentosa via the Sentosa Boardwalk. I have not walked on path into Sentosa for a very long time already. Quite interesting to see the travellator along the way into Sentosa. Times have changed.

First stop into Sentosa, had to look for the Check-in area.

I very suaku, was thinking Niantic setup a booth to do check-in for players?? Hmmm.

It turned out that just spin some specific Pokestop, and the game will ask for the QR code to be scanned to enter into the Safari Zone.

My son knew. Ohh! Why? Coz' he watched youtube where people showing their games.

Without the approved confirmation code, normal play will only experience normal gameplay.

With approved code, players will have the chance to get Tropius, which is usually only found in Africa region.

Also, Unown will also appear, but not sure if it is for all users.

LOL. Not that keen to find out anyway.

After checking-in (feels like going into a hotel….:P), we walked again. Walked across towards the Merlion Statue, and headed down towards the other side of Sentosa.

Zyan’s objective is to increase his Pokedex with Tropius.

Of course, his excitement can be felt when he sees an Unown around too!

There are soooooo many Pokestops. Sooooo many Lures. Soooooo many people.

The 3 Team Lounges at Tanjong Beach

We actually walked all the way towards Tanjong Beach area. And ohh!!! The scorching sun!

It can actually be a non-stop catching of pokemons.

Battery life of phones have limits. Extra battery charger required. LOL

Some random pictures Zyan took during the walk:

It’s good when time passes fast under the hot sun. By the time we walked to Tanjong Beach, and back to the Beach Station, it was already close to 2pm.

In between cannot do without rest periods.

And when we wanted to look for lunch place, oh my goodness! Everywhere is crowded.

Good that we had some breakfast before starting the whole thing.

So we decided to each have an ice-cream and sit around shady area to rest.

Kids usually hard to resist ice-cream right? LOL.

Due to his cousin wanted to bring him out for cycling in the late afternoon, I told Zyan we had to leave Sentosa early to reach by by 4.30pm.

Since he had achieved most of what he wanted to achieve for the Safari event, it was not an issue to go home.

Anyway, cycling should be more fun for him lah.

So we made our way back to Sentosa Boardwalk, and towards the MRT station.

Made it home before 4.30pm.

Zyan went to wash up a bit, and at around 5pm, his cousin came to pick him, and off he went.

Ohhh! What a tiring day for me.

As for him, he is not tired. :D

Platinum Suites

Yesterday, we went to watch Shazam!

Well, partly because we were given some tickets from our financial advisor few months back, and the ticket vouchers would be expiring on 31 Mar 2019, thus, made some arrangement to make use of the ticket vouchers.

It’s actually for the Platinum Movie Suites. Being a ‘suaku’ for the movies, didn’t know what it actually is. We had one pair of the tickets.

Had actually went to try to make use of the tickets last Tuesday, and then I was told it cannot be used for the ‘normal’ cinema suite. And the shows available that day for the Platinum Suite are only Captain Marvel and Us.

We had watched ‘Captain Marvel’ in JB during the school holiday. ‘Us’ is not suitable for him.

At the end of it, spend some money to watch ‘The Kid who would be King’ on that day.

Well, it was pretty much entertaining for Zyan.

Yes. It was a father and son date. :P

And yesterday, I just happened to check the Platinum Movie Suite for shows. Then I saw Shazam!

Saw the trailers that day when we watched ‘The Kid who would be King’, and it seemed pretty interesting.

I told Karinna the plan while she went to attend some class.

After Zyan finished his swimming class yesterday morning, drove down to The Cathay to get the tickets. Check online it said 4 tickets left. So go early to get the ticket should be a wise choice.

Well, managed to book the tickets. Using the one pair that we had, plus bought one more ticket.

That’s family movie outing. Not much of a choice with the seats. We were left with the first row tickets. :P

That one more ticket cost $38 for weekend show. But it comes with some snacks and finger food during the show. Weekday I think it’s $28.

Show is at 8.15pm.

On the way home, I teased Zyan that he had watch quite a few movies during March.

Yeah. He said 3.

Then I said: OK, so next 2 years no more movies!

He laughed and said: Dream on …

D’uh!

Forward to evening 7pm, we left home to head towards The Cathay.

Of course we reached there early.

Then I remember read somewhere there’s a waiting lounge area in there.

Went in, seated at the waiting area.

Pretty nice place, rather than standing outside and just waiting for the door to open.

We were told to choose one set from their menu. 3 sets to choose from.

Zyan had some Chicken Bites. I chose Teriyaki Chicken. It would come with cold drinks. Karinna had an ‘upgrade’ to another set of menu of meals to choose from, and with beer.

Needed to top-up $4 for that.

Well, OK, just for the experience of it.

Then a couple of other movie-goers came in as well. Seated within their own choice of area and waited.

At 8.15pm, an announcement was made for us to go into the movie suite.

Well, with the online review etc, I knew roughly what to expect.

Little Zyan is thrilled with the seat. Leather sofa seat, adjustable.

And there’s blanket provided in case you feel cold. Blanket was of no use to me.

I am too hot. LOL

As we were seated, the staff would slowly bring the drinks in, the nachos or popcorn as well.

Then the chosen meal to all the people watching the show. Simple food.

Munching away while watching the trailers and then the actual show.

Not here to comment for the show, but pretty interesting.

On the whole, the experience was pretty awesome.

Emphasis to Zyan for the night was, an experience.

Ex Raid

Well, Pokemon Go started somewhere in mid 2016.

I wasn’t really a fan of the game. 

But at that time, I did created some accounts to play.

Namely, for the family of 3. :P

We didn’t play like crazy as in we did not chase after the pokemons like what was reported in the newspaper at that time.

We only went around our estate, catching the miserably unpopular and lousy ones. Occasionally the better ones appeared, and Zyan would go gaga over them.

Then the hype went down. Still, on and off would let Zyan play a bit. Not much.

The game had evolved much. Didn’t know about it as well.

Recently, let Zyan play the game a little more again.

Then now there’s adding friend, trading etc. Oh well, a little more than catching the monsters around the estate.

There’s also raiding, to get pokemon that are a little more special.

And that include some legendary pokemon.

Lucky and shiny pokemons too. 

And that got Zyan a lot more excited also.

Thus, for last 2-3 months, let him play a lot more often than it was previously.

When he got a new powerful pokemon, he would be happy and excited over it.

Then talk non-stop about it. Cannot take it some times. :P

Then there is this special gym, which is the Ex Raid Gym, that allows the players to catch even pokemon that are much more rare.

Understood it was previously Mewtwo, the giant cat.

When Niantic updated recently, Mewtwo became available in normal gym for a period of time. Taking over the Ex Raid position is this pokemon called Deoxys.

In order to join the Ex Raid, you need to have raided at that particular gym before, or be invited by a friend that has a higher status ‘friendship’, which is Ultra Friend.

Recently, we had done a normal legendary raid at one of the Ex Raid Gyms.

Miraculously, we were luckily drawn to get an Ex Raid Pass for that Gym for that particular day and particular time slot.

2 of our 3 accounts got the Ex Raid Pass, 1 of them did not get.

Being already Ultra Friend status, the other account was invited to get the Ex Raid Pass.

On the day itself, which was 2 days ago, Zyan kept reminding me.

“Papa, did you forget something?”

“You know, the Ex Raid?”

“Can we go?”

Like a mosquito keep flying around my ears …

Anyway, I brought him there.

Loitered around a bit before the raiding starts at 5pm.

And the time finally came. 5pm. You see Deoxys appearing at the Gym.

Got into the raid within first few seconds.

Wow. You don’t see many people there, but already 60 or more people are already joining the raid.

Why more than 60?

Because each of the 3 accounts were thrown into different groups in a matter of second, and each of our group already has 20 persons in the group ready to take on Deoxys.

Crazy yeah?

With the number of people, the legendary pokemon cannot do much wonder and the its legend will expire.

Each of the group won the raid, and then it was time to be rewarded with the chance of catching Deoxys.

Hahaha! Each of us were given only 7 balls to catch that sneaky looking pokemon.

Well, still tried to catch.

Well, the ones I was holding on to, managed to catch on both accounts. Cool.

Zyan on the other hand, was lamenting that the Deoxys kept escaping from him.

Even on his last ball, although managed to catch, he felt it would likely escape from the ball.

And then it happened.

The ball locked down Deoxys.

At that point, this little boy jumped out from the bench we were sitting on, run a good 20-30 metres along the broadwalk, jumping and hopping in joy.

Yeah yeah yeah!

He was utterly elated!

The one on the left was what he caught.

Kept telling me what a close shave for him. His first Deoxys.

Said want to tell mommy etc etc.

Well, you can imagine an excited child talking … …

And there we were, the first participation of an Ex Raid Gym for the rare Deoxys.

And success for all.

Batam Barelang

It’s been a long time since we step back into Batam.

The last we went was in 2011, when Zyan was just a year old. Obviously he cannot remember anything of that trip at all.

This time, we booked Harris Barelang, a new resort opened early this year I think.

It’s a little further away from the usual city area. Well, no harm trying …

We reached Harbour Front at around 9am, even though our ferry service was at 1020hours.

Boarded quite promptly, and ferry left the quay quite on the dot as well.

It brought us to Batam Center Ferry Terminal, and I touched base with the Harris personnel onsite to make sure the shuttle is available for us.

Yeah. 12pm.

Due to time difference of 1 hour, we had more than enough time to take our early lunch there.

Problem is, not much food choices. In the end, chose a kopitiam-like place. Oh boy, we think it is expensive, and not great. LOL

Anyway, the journey from the ferry terminal to the resort takes about 30-40 minutes.

Considering it’s on a Monday, the number of people going to the resort is quite ok. About 16 people in 2 small vans.

Checked in. We booked a sea view. Took the buggy to bring us to the room.

Not too bad, but I think booking a garden view would be good enough. Can save up that few bucks for other usage.

Brought Zyan around to explore a bit.

The Dino Kids Club is pretty small, just a place for kids to play. Only mothers are allowed into the room. Fathers are not. :P

Anyway, it’s Monday afternoon, not many kids there too.

And I think this room play is probably past Zyan’s age.

The outdoor water play would be his playground. Still, alone?? :P

We’re just exploring the place.

Went to the beach area. Hmmmm. Interesting swing.

It was somewhat high-tide ...

Guess my name ...

Went back to the room, took a nap. Then after that, it was time for dinner. LOL.

Went to the Seafood place just outside the resort. Took the buggy to bring us there.

Ha! We’re quite greedy.

Karinna and myself each had one lobster.

Ordered a fish, some chicken and vegetables. It was very full meal.

Took a slow walk back to the resort, even though we could get the buggy to bring us.

They had a movie screening near the pool. We made ourselves comfortable at the beanbags and watched the show. They were showing Guardians of the Galaxy.

After the show, called it the night.

On the second day, after having breakfast, went to check out the sea sports.

Zyan wanted to play the Jet Ski.

Went back to change to swimming gear, and then the weather turned a little aggressive.

The guy mending the sea sports said the heavy rain was coming, so better not to do the Jet Ski at that time.

Then we loitered at the sheltered area for a bit, before going back to the room.

Come lunch time, the sun starts to shine again. However, we wanted to go Nagoya Hill, so the Jet Ski has to wait.

Took the cab to and fro from the resort. Cost about S$15 per trip.

Well, it’s just shopping and eating, eating and shopping.

Plus, Zyan and I were doing a bit of Pokemon capturing.

Totally no pokemon or Pokestop or Gym at the resort place for him to do his pokemon training. LOL

Went back to resort only after dinner.

Relax at the room. Sat at the balcony, eating my peanuts, and watching the darkened sea …

What is there to see? :P

Morning came. Went breakfast, then shift over to the sea sports area again.

别偷看我脱裤。。。

They opened about 0930. Had wanted to let Zyan try the Jet Ski.

However, they were checking the machines, and it took quite a while.

As we have arranged to check out at 11am (due to shuttle schedule and ferry timing), Zyan did not get the change to do it.

Well, there will be other opportunities …

Overall, to just relax and enjoy the quietness of the place, it is a good place to chill.

Can come again.

Everything's Coming Up Roses

Wife’s birthday.

One of the most headache days of the year.

What you want for your birthday? Nothing.

Really? Maybe flowers.

Flowers? Wither and waste money? Hmmm. Maybe no need.

Really? Flowers lah. Find some cheap ones.

And the day has come.

Yesterday, after picking Zyan from his violin class, I said let’s go see if there’s any gift to buy for mommy.

See left see right. She doesn’t need anything leh.

This Zyan said wanted to buy platinum jewellery. Wah, I didn’t know I was money printer.

Haha.

Walked around Parkway Parade for half an hour. Decided nothing to buy. Went home.

Came home, search net for some flowers.

Actually, wife gave me some website few months ago.

So Zyan decided and said give rose.

OK.

Didn’t want to buy online right away. Thought of doing it in the morning before 11am. Still ok for delivery same day. :P

At night, coughing symphony was happening in the room.

Wife and son all coughing. I think I coughed more.

Actually, coughed until cannot take it, left the room and tried to sleep in sitting position in study room.

While there, decided to buy the flowers.

While searching, had a change of mind regarding the selection.

Was thinking about it. Has been some time since I last gave flowers to Karinna.

So I saw one that looks interesting, and went ahead to order it.

Delivery is between 2 to 5.30pm.

Morning, Karinna said she may not be going office.

Uh’oh! Flowers how? Anyway, didn’t let out to say she must go office. In the end, she did go office.

Heng ah!

Next is to delay her from going home early, before the delivery.

Was supposed to pick her, and do some errand (getting cake she gotten free from somewhere …)

Had to go back home to get the redemption card. Forgot to bring with me. By the time ding-dong ding-dong, ohhh hooo! A message from her said “Ohh! The flowers came!”

Sigh of relief.

Next moment, she said she busy taking pictures, after saying ‘so big’. LOL

Karinna and her little lover

Glad she loves it.

Went to take the cake, and then picked her home from her office.

Had birthday song sang, cake cut and eaten.

Rested a while, then it was time to bring Zyan for his gym and trampoline class.

Throughout the class' time, she's busy texting with her friends with regards to the flowers.

After the class, just went for a simple dinner, and that’s the end of the day for my wife’s birthday.

I can only say, the bouquet of flowers is a good buy.

Happy Fantastic Birthday! My one and only … J