Health Is Wealth!!!

03.07.2014 is a day to be remembered for it is a day that I decided to offer my dad the best gift I could ever give to him in my entire life ~ HEALTH. The way I trained myself for my successful Mount Kinabalu hike last year, I am going to set the same approach but a much lesser intensive workout ofcourse. We had a good sweaty and chatty 45minutes walk in the jungle this afternoon and this will be our routine for the next 7 months or so. Our optimistic target is to lose 10kg and I told him I am gonna walk with him throughout this period no matter what it takes. Together, we can!

What A Wonderful Journey It Has Been....

Had our first ever company outing today at Muara beach thanks to the person who organized it (you know who you are). These are the people behind my very humble bookkeeping firm which I set up 5 years ago. It was called Eric Pui & Co then until recently I changed the name to Double Entry Bookkeeping Services.

The weather this morning was perfect for an outdoor barbeque. The BBQ food was well marinated and the fried mee hoon cooked by Mey was delicious as usual. My boys truly enjoyed the beach (and the waves ofcourse) despite being under the hot sun for almost an hour.

  

Feel Like A Celebrity

Woke up in the morning to an avalanche of birthday greetings posted on my facebook wall and whatsapp messages. I even got a surprise birthday greeting broadcasted live on radio "Happy birthday Eric, the famous baker in town" thanks to the celebrity DJ Frankie. When I stepped into the shop, everyone greeted me happy birthday and some asked "boss belanja" LOL . My office secretary cooked my favourite laksa Sarawak for breakfast and staffs at Cafeteria prepared me lunch. My jolly teachers prepared the sumptuous beef rendang but I wasn't able to take a quick bite as I was rushing for an appointment. So sorry for that Teacher Aida. I sincerely thank everyone for the thoughtfulness and greetings.

Every year on my birthday, I'd ask myself "What have I achieved this year?" To recall, I have done quite a lot this year. First is the opening of Muffins&Co in April follow by Jolly Language School's expansion in May by taking up another unit next door and the revamped of The Piano Room. Last week, I received an honorary invitation by the Young Entrepreneurs Association Brunei as one of the delegates to attend the upcoming CAAYE Young Entrepreneur Summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka next month. The following month in December, I will be attempting my first ever Mount Kinabalu climb with Jan, Cyril, Thanis, Wendy and two others. Last but not least, I am excited and looking forward to the business collaboration with an international franchise that is coming to Brunei early next year. 

Oh, did I mention that I recently have a new found hobby? Hiking that is. Thanks to the constant nagging by Jan Shim, the amount of work out I did the past 2 months were more than what I did the past 10 years collectively. I foresee myself continuing with my weekly hiking (at least) even after the Mt KK climb.

Painted by my baker, Jonathan, as a birthday gift. Love it and I am gonna hang it on the Cafeteria wall.

My secretary, Cathy, called it Laksa Sarawak. It was yummy.

The staffs collected money among themselves to buy ingredients for these dishes.

Thank you guys and gals.

Managed to hike 4 hills at Bukit Shahbandar before the long 3 hours meeting at Brunei Hotel.

Isaac baked me his specialty Apple Sauce cake.

A traditional chicken whole leg and two eggs prepared by wifey.

This lovely message by Ryan melts my heart.

 

Isaac's First School Excursion To Tutong Town

Isaac had a school excursion to Tutong district yesterday for the first time without us accompanying him. He was so excited about it that he woke up as early as 4am to check the alarm clock just to make sure he doesn't miss the bus. Mommy dropped him off at school before 7am as the two buses were set to depart around that time. 

The excursion was organised by Stella School with the mission of distributing some food and daily necessities to two needy families in Tutong Town. I thought this is a good initiative by the school hence I offered my Canon Ixus compact camera for Isaac to capture this memorable experience. The pictures below were all taken by Isaac himself. 

Welcoming refreshment at Tutong District Office building upon arrival.

With one of Isaac's best friends. Photo taken by her mommy.

One of the two houses visited.

When I picked Isaac up from school after the excursion, I asked "So, what have you learned from the excursion?". He replied "Nothing" LOL. I am pretty sure he did.

The Piano Room

I set up YV's Conservatoire of Music in 2005 as my first solo business. Over the years, most of our students achieved good results in both their practical and theory examinations under ABRSM or Trinity Guildhall. As far as teaching quality is concerned, I never have doubt on the capability of our teachers and their commitment level in helping the students achieving good grades. The school is literally run by itself now which requires little involvement from neither myself or my wife. However, there are so much sentimental values attached to this establishment that I feel like it is time to have a make over. Apart from guitar and violin lessons available, our main focus is on piano teaching and for this reason, I decided to rebrand the school and name it The Piano Room.  

I am so looking forward to the upcoming Jolly Music class which is expected to commence in January next year. We are currently working on the timetable and class program and we hope, by end of this month, we are able to announce the available time slots. 

    

Stella School Charity Carnival 2013

The boys were so excited going to the Carnival today that they woke up as early as 05:30AM although the alarm was set at 07:00AM. Sunday is the only day I could sleep in a little but reluctantly, I had to wake up at 6ish hehe. We left home way ahead of schedule but knowing that the Carnival only started at 08:00AM, I decided to detour for a quick breakfast at Seria fried kuey tiaw next to Gadong river.

The river was very calm today. It would have been a perfect day out for fishing.  

Early bird catches more worm and I got this beautiful reflection of not so blue skies on Gadong river.

Having their usual orders. Their facial expressions suggested that their minds are already at the Carnival.

We were one of the early arrivals. The perks of arriving early were being able to play most of the games without the need to queue.

No luck on the first game. The teacher said "smile and try again"

This game is called "SpongeBob - hit me if you can" and is my favorite game of all. Two thumbs up to the volunteers. Unfortunately, only children are allowed otherwise I am definitely ON. 

Whoever shoots the duck to the black line will be the winner.

Horse riding at $5.00 per ride. 

My favorite shot. 

The ride was less than 10mins. Good thing that we arrived early otherwise we would have to beat the long queue under the hot sun.

Yummy hotdog for only B$1.00

It's Ryan's turn to "hit" the teacher. LOL

First time seeing Ideal's mascot.

It was a huge turnout overall. Kudos to the Principal, teachers and organising team for a successful charity carnival and fun family outing.  

I Have A Big Fan Lately!!

My son has been reading my blog lately. Every time he is on my laptop, he would check out my blog to see whether there are any updates. I believe he has read through almost all the archive posts way back to last year's. Here you go son....

Recently, I find myself doing things which I don't normally do such as being "bitchy" on my Facebook posts, calling myself a photographer or even having the urge of taking a 3-month culinary course in France. Why? Probably because I feel more lighter on my shoulder after calling a quit on my "day job" or mid life crisis arrives much sooner than expected LOL. Whatever it is, I am enjoying every single bit of my day everyday now and doing things which I like rather than I have to. For this reason, I think I am making more enemies now than before but those people who are close to me would say I am back to the same old me. 

“I do not believe in taking the right decision, I take a decision and make it right.” ― Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Rays of Light

Took this shot when I was walking from Plaza Singapura towards Somerset during late afternoon.

Truly Blessed!!

When I decided to run a learning centre focusing on jolly phonics last year, I didn't have much expectation really. Started off with 13 to more than 100 students now is definitely something to be proud of. We couldn't have done it without the great leadership of the Principal and ofcourse the entire Jolly Team. During the 1st anniversary celebration of Jolly Language School last month, many parents came to me personally showing their appreciation of me bringing back jolly phonics as they can see huge improvement in their children in terms of reading and understanding after few months of lesson.

I constantly asked myself what I have done for the School. Not much really. I am just a facilitator, the teachers are the ones who should take the credit. Thank you, thank you and thank you.

The Jolly Team. So glad to have you guys onboard. You have made me proud.

More Photos of Our Recent Singapore Trip

One of my favorite photos taken during the 20mins walk to Sentosa Island.

Largest Candylicious store in Singapore located at Sentosa Island.  

Another favorite shot of mine :)

The iconic Merlion