It is indeed a month of visits and gathering with friends and we are so happy!
First, Godma Evon and Gandie Kev visits.. then Wes visits with his family...
And then,
Leiko from Dubai told me she will be visiting with her kids:)
And so we happily made a date to meet up for a SINGAPOREAN MEAL:)
Because Leiko has previously stayed in Singapore for a number of years (her eldest boy was born in Singapore), she really missed our local food like Laksa, Chicken Rice, Bak Kut Teh, etc... so I suggested visiting the Ng Ah SIo Pork RIs Soup Eating House (as I eat there whenever I attend POV workshops) and find their food rather decent. Most importantly, it has aircon! hahahaha..
First we arranged to meet up at the hotel they are staying at.. and because Mayumi has also relocated to SIngapore, we arranged to meet up together. I was so pleasantly surprised to see the kids.. oh how they have grown and matured!
That is her excited face when she saw her laksa!:)
The kids had chicken rice and nasi lemak:)
Even Tiger is all grown up! Gosh... I asked if he remembered me and he said NO.. but he was still chatty and chatted with me a whole lot:)
Seemed like yesterday where Anju brought me to her room and showed off her One Direction posters to me.... :)
Many thanks to Mayumi for paying giving us a great treat!
After our meal, we walked out to get a cab so that Leiko could visit the Soka Centers in Singapore. We walked past this church with some interesting banners;) I think it applies to our practice too... LIke Upload Your Worries, Download Your Buddhahood:) hahaha
Free connection with Gohonzon anytime anywhere...
So because there were too many of us, I took a cab with Leiko's eldest and youngest sons while the rest took another cab.
I remembered that when I was in Dubai, Ryoma, her eldest son, was often very quiet and kept to himself. I was pleasantly surprised when he started chatting with me and telling me about the games he plays, about how he and his sisters play rugby, about the youtube videos he loves watching... It was like he has grown and matured overnight into this fine young man! And I wish Ace will get out of this TWEEN stage quickly and become like tat:) hahahaha...
I told Leiko later that Ryoma chatted with me all the way from Newton to Tampines and she said it must be because I was a good listener as he rarely talks alot to others:) hahahaha.. I guess that too:) I am known as a good listener:) hahaha..
Anyway, we arrived at Kaikan (HQ) but it was undergoing reno... so Leiko went in to visit some parts of it and then we decided to walk over to the centre at St 92 which is just a 15 min walk away...
We chatted and talked on the way there and the kids were just trudging along and asking why we didnt take a cab... And their mum told me that was why she brought them along.. for they were actually visiting enroute to Vietnam and Cambodia :)... She wanted them to walk more... hahahaha...
Anyway, we did some chanting, took a brief look at soka kindergarten and then now that Ace has finished school, Max picked him up and came and pick us up...
Considering all the kids still have lots of energy, we decided that we will go to the new East Coast Mac!:)
The kids went to the playground while us mums chatted in Coffee Bean... and then we all went to Mac Donalds for dinner...
Leiko says she wanted to try a burger (It was something special available only in this branch in singapore) but was too full, so she shared with Mayumi.. and this resourceful mother of four showed me how to cut a burger with a card!
She just wrapped the burger and took out a card and cut through the burger! :)
The
kids were all so happy to sit together in another table where they
could charge their phones and then after they finish eating, they all
ran to the playground to play again and we continued chatting till it
was time to go....
The playground was so big.. it took us such a
long time to find all of them.. and even more time to gather them to
take some pictures together:)
Tiger did not want to join them so I took a seperate picture:) hahaha
All in all a pleasant gathering.. i wish it did not end... I really miss my Dubai sisters in faith.. Would be much sweeter if Momo and Kyung Ah could join us. Just sitting and chatting with them reminded me of our many gatherings over coffee at Momo's house where they got me to start trying to drink coffee and at Leiko's house where she will sometimes surprise use and make us a meal..:) hahahaa
But all good things must come to an end and so we sent them back to their hotel...
Before we parted, she gave us some gifts...
Some nice perfume made in UAE!
And Dubai chocolates!:)
Ace also got a camel soft toy:)
WHat made it really sweet was that before we said goodbye, Ace took out some gifts he had prepared for the kids...
When I told him that they were coming over to Singapore, Ace saved up his pocket money and bought a small toy for each one of the kids:)
It is those type of sticky hands toy..
I hope the kids enjoy it and I hope they visit again!:)
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