OUR 30th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Winnie and I tied our knots according to the Chinese customary marriage on the 30th September 1979

We celebrated our 30th Anniversary on the 30th September 2009 .

The family went to Vienna International Seafood Restaurant for a sumptuous buffet dinner.

Celebrating Winnie's Birthday On 09 August 2009

Winnie's birthday cannot be forgotten as she was born on 09 AUG: Our Nation's Birthday, a public holiday in Singapore celebrated with big parades and fire-works.

The big family celebrated her birthday TWICE: the 1st by having a dinner on the 6th Aug 09 at a German restaurant (Warner ??) in Upper East Coast Road eating German beef and sausages - delicious,

and another on the actual day at Brazil Steak at Tanjong Katong Village with delicious servings of BBQ meat, pineapples, chicken heart served on on skews.

Please click onto the below link to view some pictures of the celebration:

http://www.zorpia.com/thongcheokwah/album/1298052/Winnie

BERNARD's SIA PILOT GRADUATION

Bernard - the SIA pilot.

After some two years of training (ground schools and simulators) both locally in Seletar Airport and overseas in Jandacot - Perth; Maroochydore - Brisbane in Austrlia, Bernard has finally obtained his wings for: single propeller, dual engine propeller and Learjet aircrafts.

SIA invited all anxious and eager friends / parents to attend the graduation ceremony held on the 19th June 2009 at Temasek Polytechnic .

He now continues onto the conversion course, observation flights and simulator flights for the Boeing triple 7 (777).

GOOD WORK, BERNARD. KEEP IT UP !!!
Aim for the Best Trainee Award for your 777 conversion

Click the link below to view some of the pictures taken during the graduation:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ThongCheokWah/BernardSSIAGraduation?feat=directlink

REMKO's VISIT TO SINGAPORE

Remko, grandson of my "ShiFu" Benny Scherphof, was in Singapore from 19 Jun 09 till 29 Jun 09
His trip was an award for being "The Best Employee Of The Year 2008" in Radisson SAS Hotel - Amsterdam, Holland.

WELL DONE, REMKO. KEEP IT UP !!!

His grandpa, having stayed here for quite a number of years in the 70s, must have influnced his choice for Singapore as his 1st country of visit in S.E. Asia.

Having a love for nostalgia and nature, I have planned for him to visit places like the Botanic Gardens, Southern Ridge, Bukit Timah Reserves, Raffles Hotel and even a trip up to Malacca for a comparison of the imported taste of the Portugese / Dutch cultures.

Click on the following link to access to some of the pictures taken of the trip:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=ThongCheokWah&target=PHOTO&id=5350411670344688178&aid=5350409198031567457&authkey=Gv1sRgCIuChpicqtTj7wE&invite=CMLDk_UB&feat=email

TIFFANY's 1 YEAR OLD CELEBRATION

Tiffany Is One Year Old 20-May-2009

Tiffany's one year old was celebrated at Cjien Ying's apartment - Paradise Palm at Dunman Road.

Lots of gifts from all the "uncles & aunties".

Besides the toys, food and young friends, Tiffany enjoyed herself most swimming (floating) in the pool.

Please click on to this link to view more pictures of Tiffany's birthday celebration:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=ThongCheokWah&target=ALBUM&id=5348942055934889905&authkey=Gv1sRgCLPc3u3GyNHRigE&invite=CImIz_IC&feat=email

Celebrating Bernard's Birthday.

Upper photo:

Daughter-In-Law : Su Hua; Younger Son - Benjamin; Winnie my wife; Grand daughter:- Tiffany; Cjian Ying- Bernard's fiance'; Elder Son- Bernard
Middle photo: Winnie; Cjien Ying; Bernard
Right Photo: Winnie ; Cjien Ying ; Bernard & yours truly

Celebrating Bernard's Birthday On 18 June

We were at Irodori Japanese Restaurant in River View Hotel to celebrate Bernard's birthday.

Younger brother - Benjamin, gave Bernard an Ang Pow which caught Bernard by a bit of a surprise.

I difused the situation by remarking to Bernard: "OK what, so long as you give him a bigger one in a month's time !!!"

However, as Benjamin will be summitting LOW's PEAK in Mt. Kinabalu with us (Bernard not coming along) on his birthday (20 July), we will be having an early celebration for Benjamin on the 15 July.

Benjamin will only be having packet lunch up there on his birthday, hopefully in return for his effort, an achievement certificate for having summitted LOW's PEAK on that day.

How about the food in Irodori?

It is served in buffet style with limitless re-orders. As usual, over-eaten in such a situation, only thing here is less carbohydrate, more seafood, the usual Japanese sweetness and colours in all its food preparation.

MT. Kinabalu Climb

Our long standing friend and regular travel companion - Steven Pang OT and his wife, Diana Sim; my wife Winnie and I, attempted to scale Mt Kinabalu last year on 9 August 2008. Why this day? Because my wife's birthday falls on S'pore's National Day !!!

However, except for Steven (our only marathonist in the group), the rest of us didn't summit LOW's PEAK (4,095.2 meters) but stopped at Laban Rata resting hut (3,600+ meter high) as some of us were down with flu.

We are going for a second attempt this year and we hope to be summiting on the 20 July 2009. This time, we will have an additional adventurer in his youthful days - my 2nd son Benjamin Thong to boost our morale. Why 20th July ? It is his birthday!

UPDATE ON THE SECOND ATTEMPT - on 20th JULY 2009

The first part of the climb from the Basecamp to Laban Rata was done clipping off some 1 hour from our previous record, just in time before a heavy rainstorm that battered the compound till midnight. However, Benjamin, the youngest of us all, did it in less than 5 hours.

The final ascent to Low's Peak started early next morning at about 0245hr, after a light breakfast at 0200hr. Winnie & myself could only make it to the 2nd portion of the ropes on the cliff side around 0530hr when the mountain guide advised us to return to our WARAS Hut as that part of the climb would be too "challanging" for us at such a late hour (cloud formations) on our return trip.

Steven & Benjamin floated way ahead of us, reaching Low's Peak and returning to the WARAS Hut around 0945hr for their full breakfast and and a short rest before starting our descent at 1045hr - all the way down to the Basecamp.

We reached the Basecamp at approx. 1700hr., again being battered by a downpour halfway down.

Overall, we had improved on our timing compared to the last climb and felt less fatique dispite of climbing the additional 2km up and down the cliff in the wee hours of the morning.

It was another experience of a lifetime for us and especially so for Benjamin, who was On-Top-Of-The-World at 4,095.2 meters (at least on top of SE Asia) on his BIRTHDAY.

We also enjoyed the other attractions planned for the rest of the trip viz.:

1) white water rafting at Kiulu River

2) Mari-Mari Cultural Village

3) Snorkeling & other water sports at Sapi Island

4) hot spring at Poring Spring and last but not least

5) all the delicious seafood in KK.

A special mentioned for a most comfortable stay of a lifetime in Le Meridian Hotel in KK.

Share our fatigue and achievement by clicking on the link below to view some pictures of the former and recent attempts. Hope that it will interest you to take up this adventure:-

http://picasaweb.google.com/ThongCheokWah/IShareYouLearnYouShareILearn?authkey=Gv1sRgCOLmy9-Y9oKnkQE&feat=directlink

THE NETHERLANDS 18 Apr09 ~ 2May09

Winnie and I visited Holland this Spring 2009.
Our timing couldn't have been better as our main objective was to explore the tulips in KEUKENHOF (literally translated, kitchen garden) in Holland.

We also visited Neeltij Jans (like our Marina Barrage, but much bigger) in Middelburg - Zealand, in the Southern extreme of Holland to see how the Dutch controls the weather, in this case the storm water from the Nord Zea (North Sea).

Last but not least, we visited Benny Scherphof in Hengelo (a small town in the eastern part of Holland). Benny was my Teacher in my days working with defence systems. He brought us to various towns near Hengelo:

- a village accessible only by canals in Giethoorn and

- a nearby Deutsch (German) town over the border - Bad Bentheim to visit a castle.

A visit to a working Wind Mollen (wind mill), use for grinding wheat / corn flour for making pancakes, was very educational.

Hope you enjoy the sample pictures attached to the link below:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/ThongCheokWah/Netherlands?feat=email#

Flight 447 disappeared and likely broke up in midair in turbulent weather May 31 during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 onboard presumed dead:

Some four hours into the flight, I presume the aircraft was already at cruising altitude of 10,000 meters. Could inclement weather be happening at that height??? Share your ideas please

Now, they said could be the pitot tube speed measurement. Is there not a speed threshold for the top and lower speed limit to prevent it from dropping out of the sky or disintegrating ???

Investigations conducted thus far seems to point towards the plane disintegrating in mid air. 19Jun09.

-- Air France 447 did not break up in flight, but "went straight down, almost vertically," investigators say. CNN Thu, 2 July 09

London 18thApril2009 ~ 2May2009
Winnie and I visited London - Westminster.
My last visit to London was some 35 years ago.
What are the changes since then???

Do access the link below for sample pictures taken during the visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=ThongCheokWah&target=ALBUM&id=5345949240738770865&authkey=Gv1sRgCNPk4PGd-eKu0gE&invite=CNe2pKYB&feat=email