I have not updated this blog for so long, and so many changes have happened since.

I married my beautiful wife more than 10 years ago and we now have 3 beautiful daughters. 

The journey I’ve had with my wife is nothing short of amazing. From newly-weds, we ended up finding out we were expecting our first daughter. My wish of being a stay-at-home father was coming true. I could now work and take care of my first girl at the same time.

Somewhere along the line, we also birthed another brainchild of mine – my Math coaching center called Learning Out Of The Box where my team and I now coach primary school students in preparation for their Math exams as well as PSLE Math.

Part of the reason why I opened this center was to fulfill a need that I saw many Singaporean parents faced. We struggle with keeping up with Math syllabus changes and teaching our children at home. I wanted to help parents like these – parents who didn’t like Math and primary school children who didn’t like Math. I wanted to turn the Math haters into Math lovers! Just like how I made my own first child love Math.

Since then, my wife and I have welcomed two more additions to our family. Our family is now a happy five-member team and I’m a proud father of all my daughters’ achievements.

One thing I have learned as a parent is that, no matter what result our children bring home from their exams, we have to recognise the effort that they put in. Many factors cause our children’s grades to drop or fluctuate. At the end of the day, it’s not so much about being top in the class, but being proud of them for putting in the effort and trying their best. We want our children to be good citizens with good values, not just children with good grades.

And this is what my coaches and I teach at Learning Out Of The Box too. There is so much pressure in achieving good grades that we forget to ask our children important questions like their likes and dislikes. 

Once, I was approached by a mother who was so upset with her child’s bad grades in Math. She wanted her child to score better marks in his Math exams. But I noticed her son was very hesitant to enter the classroom.

After getting to know him better and giving him time to adjust to the lessons, I finally sat down and asked him what he liked to do. He said he liked to play football. I paid attention to this and would use football as an example to teach him key Math concepts. He started enjoying the class. Eventually, he opened up to say that he was scared of Math because his previous tutor would scold him for the slightest mistake.

As the weather turns warmer, some couples do not want a traditional chapel wedding with all the formal decorations and traditions. This desire is especially popular with older couples or those planning a second marriage. The setting for these weddings can be a park, beach, hot air balloon or even a deck in a backyard garden.

One simple solution that maintains the beauty and splendor of traditional ceremonies is an outdoor wedding in your own backyard. While the setting might be casual, decorations will still be a primary concern of the couple.

Before you do anything, pick your theme and color scheme and work from there. Coordinated weddings and receptions, even those in backyard gardens, need to look not only festive, but organized around a theme or color scheme. Your theme doesn’t have to be fancy or formal, like Victorian, but can easily be a simple and beautiful free-flowing ceremony.

Check out the backyard and notice the major colors there. Do you see lots of flowers or mainly green bushes, trees and grass? Are there patches that need a little sprucing up? With a little creativity, you can transform a normal backyard into a magical wedding site.

Prior to the wedding, visit florists and choose your flowers and order any arrangements you might need. You will want an abundance of flowers to maintain the festive atmosphere.

The day before the wedding have the yard professionally mowed and raked by a trusted garden service so it will look fresh the next day. A day or two ahead of time, cover those bad patches with shredded cedar or some other colorful mulch and put a pretty pot of flowers on top of each one or plant a blooming bush as early as you can. If your backyard is contained inside a fence, decorate it with ribbons and bows that match your colors. Hide anything you don’t want to be part of your celebration behind screens, rented bushes or trees. Wrap the pots they come in with pretty foil or wrapping paper.

Wedding rental companies will deliver and pick up arbors and even gazebos for the actual ceremony. Have the gazebo delivered a few days before the wedding and decorate it with flowers and ribbons. Make sure your florist delivers your floral choices when you need them for your pre-wedding rush of decorating.

You can also rent chairs for the guest’s comfort during your ceremony and the carpet to walk down on your way to your groom waiting at the gazebo with the minister. If it is particularly hot in your part of the world, add a canopy to shield your guests from the sun to your list of rentals.

You reception can be held in an open-sided white tent decorated with tables draped in white tablecloths and holding baskets of flowers and candles. If your reception is at night, hurricane lamps might be a better choice than candles because the nightly breeze won’t blow them out. Outside lighting in the yard will be necessary for safety. Use netting if mosquitoes are a problem.

Many outdoor weddings have an outhouse delivered for guests to use. Don’t forget to decorate it. Rent another arbor, decorate it and place it in front of the outhouse. Place a large, colorful ribbon bow on the door. Inside, add a few sprigs of flowers in the corners or some silver wedding bells.

Finally, make sure whatever music you have chosen for your reception and your wedding, can be heard by your guests. If you hire a DJ or band, discuss volume with them. You need it to be pleasing in the background during the reception and just loud enough to be heard by your guests and at the gazebo, but not so loud your neighbors call the cops. That problem could be avoided by inviting them to your backyard wedding.

These decorating suggestions should give you a starting place. Use your own creativity and make your backyard wedding be something you will remember everytime you look out your kitchen window or sit on your deck.

from carpeicthus

Traditionally, wedding showers can be hosted by the bridesmaids, Maid of Honor, mother of the bride, sisters or a close friend. The traditional purpose is to shower the bride-to-be with useful gifts that will give her a start with her new life. A secondary purpose is to have fun and celebrate the pending wedding with the bride during her last days as a single woman.

Games at wedding showers are standard methods of getting the guests to relax, laugh and get to know each other. The games do not have to be elaborate but some consideration has to be given to the size of the room for the shower.
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lazing around in a park reading on where to go next

It was a wonderful 2 weeks’ break that my wife and I had. It was a trip to Japan and our itinerary covered popular tourist hotspots like Tokyo, Nagano (Matsumoto), Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hakone and back to Tokyo again.

It was an amazing 2 weeks’ long break and it was in fact the longest vacation we had ever since we got married exactly 2 years ago.

Now, I am totally recharged!!!

I have been asking around from my close group of female friends and most are too busy with their work to commit themselves to take such a long break. Perhaps a 3 to 5 days’ holiday to a nearby country such as Taiwan or Malaysia is more realistic and practical.

The “what if my company needs me” mentality plagued their lives.
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photo from aknacer

Wedding invitations are now available in an array of colors and designs.

It is as if they are customised for your preference, style and liking.

While looking for a sutiable wedding invitations, do allow yourself sufficient time to choose.

Make sure they suit your personal style and your wedding theme. Spend time looking through bridal magazines and wedding invitation websites. Yes, it may be time-consuming but it will allow you to choose the best wedding invitations.

Also check for misspellings and get a third party to proof-read for you. They amy be able to tell you how they find the writings. Allow time for reprinting just in case there is any error.

Wedding invitations set the tone of your wedding. It is the first thing that your guests see and feel prior to attending your wedding.

So make sure you do your research right!

If you have a tight buget, you can check out on these money-saving tips.

Here are 5 samples I personally like. (If these are not enough, visit websites which sell wedding invitations.)

Number 1: