Home cooked meals - 家常便饭

A friend of mine saw my supper posting on my Facebook yesterday and invited me to join in for a home cooked lunch earlier today. Her younger brother, who was the top chef at his restaurant in Malaysia is here in Singapore to visit her and he will be the chef in charge.

I was slightly late due to the rain and road conditions, but I was just in time for lunch when I arrived at their home. First dish up, long beans with spicy chili..crunchy, spicy, cooked to the right degree and I enjoyed it!

Next up, sweet & sour meat cubes (咕噜肉), usually pork, but in this instance, it was substituted with chicken. I have always enjoyed eating sweet & sour dishes since I was a kid..this gives me a homely touch, although this was whipped up by a professional chef.. 

The soup of the day: Fish head soup made with fresh fish just purchased from this morning's market trip, the flavours were reinforced by sour plums and one sip of it immediately woke my taste buds up!

When I arrived, the host's chef was burning the claypot on the stove for this dish, some kind of braised pork ribs that melts in your mouth..awesome!

This photo below shows the fish head soup in my bowl..

To me, the star of any home cooked meals would require the staple food of Asians..Rice!

Rice is best when served piping hot, fluffy with sufficient moisture and soft..I had 2-3 bowls of rice and the food was for like for 4-5 pax..I almost finished everything and my friend was commenting that I was a big eater..My friend, if you are reading this, I don't usually eat this much for lunch! Thank you for hosting this awesome home-cooked meal!

My graduation day - 30 Nov 2015

When I was younger, I did not manage to complete my tertiary education due to poor grades and lack of funds to study abroad. It was only after I have to nurture my own kids that I thought of attempting to further my education. Well, I failed in a couple of modules and retook my exams and passed. After a seemingly long journey, my graduation day, 30th November 2015 finally arrived.

I have my mother to thank for these shots of me on stage. It was just a simple ceremony..

I was very glad to have so many Guests-of-honour attending this ceremony with me. They are none other than my family members! :)

My sister & brother-in-law..

My parents, my wife and my three kids..

It was a very hot day and we were wise to stay indoors to do our photo-taking.

Of course, there was also some professional photographers to help us capture these special memories on this very special day.

I had to take the opportunity to show off my very special, limited edition SG50 Commando Logo watch as a lot of friends posted their watches on Facebook that day..

Photo Credit: My wife.

Other Guest-of-honour include an old friend of mine Dr Poh Lee Guan, who happened to be a guest of the school. I haven't seen him for quite a while and it was a great opportunity to catch up.

Photo with my daughter while my niece & mum photo-bombed us!

I had wanted to go to the UK for my graduation in June this year, but was not able to due to the arrival of my son. In a blink of an eye, he is already almost six months old. In the preparation for this day, I recalled something very important while having lunch with my family on this day..

30th November is the birthday of our eldest daughter..which occurs exactly one year from the date me & my wife got married!

30th November is also our wedding anniversary date!!

I would like to take this opportunity to specially thank my wife for taking care of the kids and home all these years. Of course, I would also like to thank the many important people around me; My parents, my siblings, the rest of my extended family and friends for being with me along this journey! Thank you!

30th November is a very special day(I signed up to become a member of the university's alumni on this day too)!..I better save it in my calendar. :p