{Media Invite} Fun Shooting with My Adventure Buddy

One fine Saturday, we stepped foot on South Beach Avenue.  Our first time there, we wondered what's in store for us.

It is always good fun attending events by Canon Singapore.  And this time, together with our new Adventure Buddy, Charmander (whom we affectionately call Cha), we ventured on what we initially thought was uncharted waters but were proved otherwise in that 1.5 hours.

Hello, Cha!

All photos watermarked "ilovedefamily" were taken using the Canon EOS M10.  Before we look at the photos taken, well, this is a camera that even my littlest can handle.  Compact and light at only approximately 300g, no doubt it fits little hands.

Come on, let's go on adventure with Cha!

A picture paints a thousand words.  Let's sit back, relax and let Cha brings us his story of how he became part of the B.C.D.E family.

Are we gathering here?  Or am I lost?

Who is that?  Alone?

Using the creative filters on EOS M10, we used the fish-net and miniature effects on the above first and second photos respectively.  #NoEdit except probably for some cropping, I really like how the photos turn out with the effects - totally on point on what we wanted to portray.

Let's continue on the story of the lost Charmander...

Maybe, we should go this way...

You asking me to go that way, little guy?

And we found our family.

Welcome Cha!

South Beach Avenue is a place for OOTD shots - beautiful backgrounds, abundant sunlight (when there's no rain of course).  Armed with just the correct compact camera, one can achieve much.  Do you know that our family photo taken above is done so using the remote function of the EOS M10?

Thank you Canon for inviting us to this event.  If not for this, I am unsure if we will take such memorable photos.  

Pretty impressed by this little imp who sits right there, among a crowd.

User-friendly, this camera has great potential of more beautiful photos and this photo of us simply shows how much we enjoyed the photo-taking, and the camera.

Disclosure: We were invited to the event by Canon Singapore.  No monetary compensation was received.  All photos and opinions are true to my own unless otherwise stated.

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Cold Storage Kids Run 2017

The family loves going for family runs.  Since a baby in the stroller, B and I brought them out for family runs often.  Then, the number of family runs were not as many as what we have today.

One of the runs that have been around since we started our family runs is the Cold Storage Kids Run. At it's 10th edition this year, the crowd was massive!  It is heartening to see both the young and the old coming together for a great morning workout.  Be it a walk or a run, it is definitely both a healthy lifestyle and a great bonding time together.  What can be better than this?!

Who doesn't like rewards?  A medal to encourage the next run, to prove an achievement and a reminder that we reap what we sow.

The Kids Run is a very family oriented run.  With children in mind, there are lots of activities for the children.  Even milk is free for the keen little ones.

The run was carried out in different waves - one for each age group.  The good of it being that similar ages, similar capability and thus, probably easier to run.  The bad?  B had to run with E and D with me as we fall under 2 different categories.  So it was not exactly a family run.  

This run, D was tripped over by another kid and fell.  Instead of whining, he picked himself up and ran again.  Sometimes, kids show us the resilience we thought they do not have.  And I am guilty of that.

End of the day, though we were all sweaty and smelly, we thought we had much fun.  A good workout too.  We definitely welcome more family runs.  Of course, I am sure if the runs are priced reasonably, many will be interested too.

Disclosure: We were invited to the event.  No monetary compensation was received.  All photos and opinions are true to my own unless otherwise stated.

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{Media Invite} Singapore's First Ski and Snow Open @ Snow City

Looking for some place to "hide" from the sunny Singapore this weekend?  Why not head to Singapore's First Ski and Snow Open at Snow City?!

Just for 5 and 6 August 2017, Singapore's first ski and snow open and Singapore's first snow travel expo will be at Snow City.  For registered visitors, there will be ample activities for both children and adults.  If you did not register and just thought of giving it a visit, there are talks every other hour too, such as "Injury Prevention for Skiing", not forgetting the available deals for the next ski holidays.

But, I would strongly advise registration because of the free skiing and snowboarding try outs.

Throughout the event, at certain timings on a first come first serve basis for registered visitors, the G.Os from Club Med will conduct their own Snowsports Try Outs to give parents a chance to preview the lessons the children can experience while at Club Med's all-inclusive ski holidays.

Ski equipment is provided and these G.Os are really lovely and good with children.

I believe many have not heard about Follow Me Japan.  But looking at the packages they have, it looks like they have tours to places that aren't that common.  The good of it?  Plenty of new places to explore.  Plus, they specialise in customised Japan holiday tours!  This Expo, be sure to check them out if you are planning for your next winter holiday.

We never know if we can be skiing like Coach David Murrie (photo below) until we try.  And SportQuest Snowsports Academy is here to help.  

A market leader in the local snowsports and snow travel industry, SportQuest's focus is to provide an effect, safe and fun snowsports learning curriculum for people like us in a country where it is always summer.  So if you are interested in taking skiing and snowboarding lessons, you can now do so.  Available for kids too, yea.  :)

Last but not least, if you ask E if skiing is fun?  You bet!

Disclosure: We were invited to the event by SportsQuest Pte Ltd.  No monetary compensation was received.  All photos and opinions are true to my own unless otherwise stated.

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Simple Meals - We Can All Do It!

A homecooked meal is a labour of love.  Who agrees with me?

No matter how simple a meal is, I believe that if it is cooked with love, it is just as good, if not better than "outside" food.  And I believe too that if a meal is cooked when angry and frustrated, the food will just not be nice.  So, I rather not cook when I'm feeling angry.  Because being able to cook for the family should be a happy thing!  :)

I get angry only after the meal, when washing the dishes.  Haha!

Cooking simply on weekdays is what I have been trying to perfect.  Within 45 minutes.  It is not impossible with proper planning.  I realise that when I have a meal plan set up before the start of each week, it is achievable.  I use lots of kitchen "gadgets" too - rice cooker, thermal pot, pressure cooker, oven.  Truth be told, I love steaming most because that means lesser washing and mopping.

While trying to retrieve my photos from my hard disk drive that died, I did not blog much.  I was mostly on Instagram and Facebook.  Interestingly, a lot of recipes I added in there are so easy that it needs no blog posts.

So, here's the link for those very simple recipes, or find the Simple Meals at the sidebar to find those others that I do blog about.  Like my Facebook page to get up to date or access to those simple recipes that I do not blog about.

With the aim of cooking for our loved ones, regardless how simple a meal is, I am sure it is a delightful one.

Let's all work towards that!  :)

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Influenza - An Adult's Version

Influenza is not unknown to most of us.  We know them by H1N1, H5N1 etc.  Lately, there seems to be new mutations going around.

Influenza is not the common cold or runny nose.  Also known as the flu, which many often mix it with common cold, it is a illness definitely more severe.  Why I say so?  Because I have been through it.

It all happened when E was down with fever.  Initially diagnosed as the start of a common cold by the GP, it got worse and he was hospitalised.  I remembered when we were at the hospital, the paediatrician commented that I sounded bad too and might have caught the same bacteria / virus as E.    But, the mummy in me had to set right my priorities which was caring for the little boy.  What I did was simply buying off the shelf Danzen from the pharmacy to help with the anti-inflammation and anti-swelling of the painful-but-still-bearable throat.  

Of course, I have to thank Serene for bringing some of the Young Living essential oils as I used quite a bit of Copaiba for my throat.  I think that helped me with keeping whatever I caught at bay temporarily.

E had blood tests and an x-ray done and the diagnosis was influenza and mycoplasma which caused the roller-coaster fever and croup.  Double whammy.  He managed to ride out the influenza without antiviral medication but had antibiotics for the mycoplasma.

When he was discharged after 4 days, we were all so happy.  Little do we know that it was the start of me falling sick.

I was so tired the next day, we thought it could be just fatigue.  But we knew it was not when a high fever was spotted.  For one week, I was literally "floating", drifting in and out of sleep.  The medicine made me even sicker as in I felt a weird film of stuff covering my mouth and lost all appetite.  The amount of medicine to take for easing the symptoms made me nauseous.  Can you imagine I actually bought gummy bears and ate them after each medicine?!

In any case, I declared contracting influenza worse than natural child birth.  I was down and out for almost a week.

Antiviral medicine would help in easing the symptoms and promoting recovery if they are taken within the first two days.  I did not take any as I was pass that crucial two days and had to ride it out. 

Well, I survived.  But not without lots of sleep, warm water, medicine.  The boys were out and about doing their own things and the hubs did almost everything he could without bothering me.

Influenza is on the rise according to the news lately and is characterised by the sudden onset of the following symptoms:

- Fever
- Headache
- Chills
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Muscle aches
- General fatigue

More details can be found at the Ministry of Health website.

For people who are at a higher risk of developing complications of influenza, please consult your doctor if you suspect if you are having influenza.  There are tests that can be done quite quickly, such as the nose swab test, for diagnosis.

All in all, it takes definitely more than 2 days for recovery.  So, work is out and so is looking after the children.  Have standby help is what I will advise.

Though we all wish we will never fall ill, we really never know.  I guess, just be prepared to deal with it, come what may.

Oh, the good and the bad of it is that I took a pretty long time to regain my appetite.  Mentally yearning for a lot of food but when those were placed in front of me, I could only stomach a few mouths.


Disclosure: I am not a doctor or a medical professional.  What is stated is my personal experiences.

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