Patrick Pang | www.patrickpang.com

Spending time with Ezanne on her birthday

Patrick — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:46:41 +0000

As a parent, we will want to spend as much time we our children, especially on their special day. I remembered that I did not take any leave to accompany Ezanne last year, can’t remember if I did the year before but this year, I made it a point that I have to do it.

It was the first time she celebrated her birthday in school with her friends. Unfortunately, Ethan was feeling unwell that day and was unable to celebrate with her. Nevertheless, she had a good time in school and she like it very much because all the attention was on her.

After school, we brought Evan and her to Explorer Kids for an afternoon of workout. It was a weekday and there was just us when we arrived. Ezanne was not quite confident initially with the obstacles, but slowly and gradually, she built up her confidence and after 2 hours, she decided that she wants to continue playing and refuses to return home.

Ezanne is growing up and I’m glad to see her building her confidence. She is still as cool as ever and now I’ve got a new name for her, Ice Princess.

Evan’s first steps

Patrick — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:31:43 +0000

Evan has started to learn walking and we are at this paranoid stage. We are happy that he is learning how to walk but we are also unhappy that he is learning how to walk at such a young age, I mean at about 14 months. It is a Chinese belief that the later you walk, the easier life you will experience when you grows up in the future and this is why we are hoping that he will only start walking on his own probably a few months later.

Recently, he is not only learning how to walk but climbing up the sofa too. The more new things he learn, the happier we are but it also means that it will come with a new set of problems, but definitely, happy problems.

Another kite flying experience

Patrick — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:12:10 +0000

It was a bright and sunny day and it was another great day for outdoor activity. I brought Ethan and Ezanne to Punggol for a Kite Day event and it was an opportunity for them to fly kites again. After the first kite flying outing, both of them were actually looking forward to the next one.

This time, Ezanne brought along a frisbee which was really enthusiastic to play with. It was probably playing the wrong thing at the wrong time, but since the field was big enough, we thought we will just play it.

It was not a windy day. The wind come and go and it was really hot, probably not the best day to fly kites. Yet the children enjoyed themselves so much that they did not complain they were tired at all and wanted to stay on. It was definitely another good chance for us to bond with the children and I hope to have more outings with the children.

Applause for 鳳飛飛… 掌聲響起

Patrick — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:10:15 +0000

Over the past 2 days, we see the passing of 2 of the greatest singers, Whitney Houston and Feng Fei Fei. Its not a norm for me to dedicate a blog post to anyone but I thought, I will want to mention 鳳飛飛 since she gave us a number of classic tunes. One of my favourite is Applause (掌聲響起). The lyrics are meaningful and reflects our thoughts when we all go on stage to perform or do our first presentation. The applause or the encouragement that we got were memorable and how many of us work hard to become a good performer or good presenter. I quote one of my favourite part of the song, 孤獨站在這舞台.聽到掌聲響起來.我的心中有無限感慨

The E’s Weight

Patrick — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:07:45 +0000

Its easier to get Ethan and Ezanne on the weighing machine because they are older and will get quite excited standing on it. As for Evan, its usually quite challenging. This morning, I decided to give it a try and ask Ethan, Ezanne and Evan to stand on the weighing machine, one by one, to take their weight. We took and the result is out. As of 12 February 2012, Ethan is 19kg, Ezanne is 11kg and Evan is 9kg.

Ezanne eat alot, but she seldom puts on weight. In fact, she eats more than Ethan but somehow, probably she’s got mummy’s gene, she is also petite. Technically, Evan is 22 months younger than Ezanne but he is just 2kg lighter than her. Anyway, weight isn’t really that important. What is most important is they will grow up healthy and happy.

A visit back to Istana

Patrick — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:48:37 +0000

In 2011, I attended the Istana Chinese New Year Garden Party. That was actually my first visit to the Istana and an opportunity to get close to the Ministers and Member of Parliament and have a word or even take pictures with them. Then, that was a day event and I was already impressed with the architecture and surroundings of Istana.

This year, I got the opportunity to attend the Chinese New Year event again but its special because the event was at night. When night falls, the Istana was a completely different place. The lightings were beautiful and the surrounding was as peaceful as it is in the day.

Ray of Light

Patrick — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:08:11 +0000

In the urban jungle that we live in, its difficult to travel around, find a spot and start taking pictures of the natural surrounding. In most cases, we will only see buildings which we will appreciate its architecture in the day and be impressed by its lightings at night. But sometimes, these structures can also create certain effects when its blended well with the surroundings. Its just like the photo below which had the sunlight penetrating through the void area of the flyover. Its a simple photo and personally, I love the effect. Do you?

The day I’ve been waiting for

Patrick — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:42:19 +0000

I entered the workforce at a relatively young age and all these while, I’ve been wanting to upgrade myself and get a degree. Probably, its peer pressure since most of my friends around me had at least a degree and there is a need to upgrade ourselves constantly as well. However, I’ve been quite hesitant to do so because of my busy work schedules and my family.

More than 3 years ago, after some persuasion and serious considerations, I decided to head back to school and I took up part time studies. It was a challenge to myself, leaving school after a considerable number of years and having to juggle between work and family.

Well, the time has come and I’ve finally graduated. Looking back, I’ve no idea how did I ever manage everything. But I attribute it to my strong family support and friends who had helped me along the way. It would not be possible without them. I know my parents are proud of my achievement and I’m glad that I’ve did not disappoint them. Thank you for the journey and for the many more good years ahead.

A day at Pulau Ubin

Patrick — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:29:54 +0000

In preparation for my departmental field trip to Chek Jawa, I made a trip first to Pulau Ubin to make the necessary arrangements for the event itself. I’ve been to Pulau Ubin a few times but each time I did not have the opportunity to explore Pulau Ubin. I’m usually there for leadership camp so its pretty rush each time trying to complete certain activity.

As I set foot at Pulau Ubin, I engaged the service of this uncle called Ah Tek, who drove us to Chek Jawa. There is not better person that hearing from the people of Ubin the happenings in Pulau Ubin. He showed us the last Malay village, tell us which resident whom we met along the way stayed where and the location where a local DJ Dennis Chew met with an accident.

He brought us to Chek Jawa and explained to us how to get a guide and where are the places to visit. As we were walking in, we saw 3 wild boars and he even told us the name of one of them, Meh Meh. In urban Singapore, you will hardly see these animals these days so we were alittle excited when we saw it.

It was past 5pm and he brought us to a jetty like area which were were able to see part of Chek Jawa. The weather and the surroundings was just pefect, it was beautiful.

As we were exiting Chek Jawa back to the Jetty, he stopped and showed us a quarry. It was like a heavenly place. The water was clear, the reflections of the water and everything we see were simply too beautiful to be true. I’m looking forward to my Chek Jawa trip in mid-February.

Watertown engages Punggol residents on the go

Patrick — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:56:09 +0000

Since Watertown is one of the major development in Punggol, it will have to go online and mobile to engage the net savvy Punggol people.

Tapping on the popular social media network, Watertown is on Facebook. At the Facebook page itself, you will be able to find out the latest updates on Watertown, the tenancy mix at the shopping mall amongst others. At this current moment, its focusing more on its residential project and they are providing constant updates on their sales figures, which is pretty impressive. Progressively, as construction begins, I’m sure they will be providing more details of its shopping mall, Waterway Point. So if you have not LIKE the page, you might want to consider doing that now. They are currently running a competition on why you love Watertown (“I love Watertown because… ”. The entry with the most LIKE will win an iPad 2 (contest ends 29 February 2012).

Other than Facebook, Watertown has a mobile website. At the mobile site, you may find out more about the facilities in Punggol. It provides the description of the location as well as a map of where the facility is located. You will also be able to participate in Contests organized by the developer and even make an appointment with the sales team to find out more on the residential project. If you have an Android phone, you can also down the application from the MarketPlace. So remember to check them out.