Sweet Sixteen !!!

Yeap !!! Clarissa-Anne is finally 16. She has been counting the days leading to this BBQ for family and friends. Together with some friends from school and church + family members, it was an evening of food and fun. Satay, otak, crackers, hokkien mee and chicken rice, all were geared up for the big makan session for the evening.
What was suppose to be an easy task of starting the fire, turned out to be quite a challenge for some. The poor charcoal was blamed to be of low quality and was deemed to be wet. Dad had to come to the rescue to start the fire with whatever that was left behind in smoke !!!. Within 30 min, the pit was ready for the first stick of satay to be burnt !!!. Along with otak for re-heating and chicken wings .... the food was well "attacked". As in most BBQ, there will only be a person or two doing the heating up/ cooking. The rest would stay clear of the heated pit ... to enjoy the cooked food from a distance.

Guess no birthday is complete without the birthday cake but wait .... there were more than 16 candles on that cake !!!. It was suppose to cater for Poh-Poh, Janet, Ashley & Zachary as well. Had to have a fire extinguisher nearby (just in case !!!) The neighbours would have thought that we were very poor. One cake for 5 persons ... singing the birthday song 5 times.

The sweet 16 birthday girl was however not spared the "messing" up. Some cream from the ice-cream cake found its way to her face. She of course, couldn't take it standing up and had to spread the joy of messing others up. Well ... its on record and its her 16th birthday !!! HAPPY SWEET 16 !!!
Friends from the school (SJC) ... and friends from the Church (SFX) to celebrate HER DAY !!!

Clarissa-Anne's Defining Moment

The place : Lamp Post #3207, along Lorong Ah Soo.
The Date/Time : 10 August 2010, 1215 hrs.
The Event : Youth Olympics Games (YOG) 2010.
The Supporters : Grandparents, Parents, GG Irene & QQ Albert + Cousins, Zachery & Timothy.

The part-time photographers were pre-positioned to capture the moment. When the outriders came, followed by the mobile escorts and the Rah-Rah buses .... the stage was set. There weren't much time in-between for any last minute instructions. The "Runners Bus" came and she was all ready to receive the torch for her part in the inaugural YOG Torch relay.

Clarissa-Anne ran the fastest 200m ever, escorted by 3 flame guards/escorts, each encouraging her to run faster. The photographers had little time to re-shoot. One shot and join the run !!!
Her last 20m was captured on video before she pass the torch to runner #3209 from Methodist Girls School.

Almost immediately, she boarded the bus where the rest of the runners were already inside for their next destination @ Serangoon Junior College where they will disperse. The hungry supporters headed to the Heartland Mall for lunch at a HongKong restaurant.

After the dust had settled, the happy runner received her certificate and returned to her lamp post (#3207) for a "must have" shot, before peeling off the sticker as her personal souvenir from the YOG 2010. If she could bring home the lamp post, she probably would. A defining moment before she turn 16 !!!

Singapore turns 45

Having once organised a National Day Dinner (NDD), one can appreciates the planning and organisation that had gone into making the evening's event happens. Unlike being in military service before where logistics support and manpower were readily available, organising one and managing it based on volunteers can be rather stressful. I guess thats the challenge of being in the Grassroots. Working with whatever we have, to do whatever we can. In the course of it, we make many new friends and of course get to know the likes/dislikes of individuals.


I guess to embrace "Community Bonding", it has to start with GRL Bonding which can be an uphill climb for some. Whilst it may comes most naturally for many, others require some additional effort.

In NDD 2010, members of the CCC were also given their letter of appointment during the dinner. Dressed in LIME GREEN and BLACK PANTS, one-by-one received their appointment letter from the Advisor followed by the traditional cake cutting to celebrate the nation's 45th birthday. With the birthday song and the 3 "Yum-Seng" toast to the Nation, balloons dropped and poppers were released to add to the SERANGOON celebration for the National Day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE !!!