CPF Life

A new retirement scheme provided by the government as an alternative, and improvement, to the Minimum Sum Scheme (MSS) which only lasts for around 20 years.

Kelvin in P2 (2008)

Class P2H

Form Teacher: Mrs Shobhana Vijayakumar

For P2, exam schedules and percentage weight as follows:

1st Term: Formal Assessment (5%)

2nd Term: Semestral Assessment1/ SA1 (25%)

3rd Term: Continual Assessment 2 / CA2 (20%)

4th Term: Semestral Assessment 2 / SA2 (50%)

1st Semester Results

English - Band 1

Math - Band 2

Chinese - Band 2

List of subjects and final marks for P2 below:

He improved his marks in Chinese and Math towards the 3rd and 4th Terms.

Overall results for P2 was excellent. He was 3rd in class during the first semester and finished at the top of his class at the end of the school year. 

Way to go, Kelvin. Keep up the good work.

Kelvin in P1 (2007)

Being in Primary 1 was a big leap for Kelvin. It was the start for him to be more independent in school. He was in a new environment - both socially and academically. And it was quite a big challenge. Good thing the school has a buddy system wherein every P1 student is paired with an Upper Primary student to guide them for a week or so.

Everyday he would ride the school bus to school and back home. The bus would pick up him up around 620am and he should be in school before 730am. Montfort Junior is a single session school so Kelvin spends half of his day there until 130pm.


He had 10 subjects in all including Math, English, Mother Tongue (Chinese),. The first 3 subjects were marked numerically (50-100) and classified into bands (highest being 1, lowest being 4). The other subjects were marked alphabetically.


At the end of the year, Kelvin got satisfactory marks:
English - 91 - Band 1
Math - 83 - Band 2
Chinese - 92 - Band 1


He even got a higher mark in Chinese than in English and Math! We're really proud of him.


He was ranked 8th among 30 students.

Ira's 5th Birthday

Ira celebrated his 5th birthday (November 2009) by giving some goodie bags to his classmates. 

His original request was to bring Transformer-designed cupcakes to school. On his 4th birthday he shared Thomas- and alphabet-designed cupcakes to his friends. Then he changed his mind. He wanted to just give goodie bags and then the cupcake celebration will just be at home.

I ordered the cupcakes again from my cousin Rhea. Check out her "creations"

getting ready to blow the candles

practicing to blow the candles

ready... set... go!

chocolate cupcakes with alphabets

Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee... Ira's special request

just finished packing his goodie bags

peace

goodie bag contents

An afternoon at Palawan Beach, Sentosa

Still celebrating the school holidays, this time at Palawan Beach, Sentosa. We wanted to see the Sand Sculptures at the same time for the kids to enjoy the sun, sea and sand.

It was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision to go there yesterday (March 17). We planned to go today (March 18) but realized that it was the soft opening of Universal Studios - more people, more crowded Sentosa Express. We didn't want to be a part of all the fuzz on the opening day so we decided to go a day earlier - at the last minute (like 3pm!). The weather was good (no drizzles, no rain).

By 4pm we were on our way to Sentosa. The boys were pretty excited to play with sand and ride on the luge. We planned to go on the night luge ride.

We took the Sentosa Express at Vivocity and paid for the admission and transpo via our EZlink card (yes, that is possible now). We stopped at Beach Station (the last station) where we walked towards Palawan Beach. We passed through the Sand Sculptures. We thought there were a lot of them but we only saw around 5-6 exhibits.

After taking some pictures with the sculptures, the kids were on a hurry to get to beach area where they could play with the sand.

gateway to Palawan Beach

few more steps to the beach

enjoying the sun, sea and sand

making "chocolate milk drink" made up of sand and saltwater

coke model?

it's almost sundown

on our way up to Imbiah Lookout

at the Images of Singapore

Here are other pictures and stories on our latest visit to Sentosa.

A trip to Marina Barrage

It's a short, one-week school holiday and we are off to a good start.

We visited Marina Barrage this Saturday. The boys were quite excited. They were looking forward to the water play area.

preparing to go to Marina Barrage

We took the MRT to Marina Bay Station and then the shuttle bus to Marina Barrage.

at the entrance...

Upon arriving at Marina Barrage we headed to the Green Roof hoping that the kids could go and play on the grass. Unfortunately, it was quite muddy. And few minutes after we got there, they warned of a lighting storm so we had to go down.

the Green Roof

still at the Green Roof, with the Marina Bay Sands construction in the backdrop

the kids were watching a centipede crawling on the floor

It was fortunate for the boys since they were able to play right away. They were already wearing their swimming trunks on the way there.

After around an hour or so, we showered the kids, dressed them up and we headed to the second floor gallery.

It was the Sustainable Singapore Gallery with exhibits of the Marina Barrage (miniature) and also sustainable projects in Singapore.

There were interactive showcases of park developments wherein the kids could choose (using touch screens) the activities, habitat, animals, etc to put in the parks. These were projected on a wall.

There were also reading materials in touch-screen media as if you were really flipping the pages of the books.

this exhibit can create e-postcards with photos of visitors taken via webcam

It was a fun learning journey for all of us. We are planning to go back soon. Next time we hope to stay until night time when we can see all the building lights across the river.

Before sundown, we were on our way to Lau Pasat for dinner. We wanted to see Wendy's and Tapa King but ended up having grilled stingray, vegies with oyster sauce, and fried seafood rice for dinner :)

More pictures of our visit to Marina Barrage.

Opening a Peso Account in Singapore

*** please take note of the revisions done to my bold (in block letters). I have also added some info based on my personal visit to the bank (in italics).


I have been researching on banks wherein we can open the account in Singapore, deposit money here, as well as deposit and withdraw money (peso) in the Philippines. Philippine National Bank (PNB) is offering this service. 

Biking brothers

The boys got their new bikes in February. Kelvin needed an upgrade since his bike was a bit smaller for him already. Ira wanted a bike so he could play with his brother and our neighnor (who also happens to have a bike).

Ira was pretty excited to get his bike. When we were at Carrefour Suntec (we went there quite early to avoid the weekend crowd)  he tried riding a small bike, just right for his size. He drove around the bike section. He didn't want to leave the place without his bike. But we still had to take our lunch and we couldn't bring the bikes along (such a hassle that would be). We explained to him that we will come back for the bikes and then pay for them and bring them home after we had lunch. But he was so worried someone else might buy the bike. So we asked if we could pay for the bike first, and then come back for it. Good thing it can be done.

After paying for the bikes, we were off to lunch. It was a short one as the boys were eager to get home and try their new bikes. We dropped by Carrefour to get the bikes, took a cab and off we go.

Upon arriving at home, the boys hurriedly removed all the cardboard and plastic covers, and drove their bikes along the corridor. Ira was speeding most of the times. This is the first time that he was playing with his brother and our neighbor on a bike. Usually he just runs or walks while Kelvin and their playmate are riding their bikes.

Over the weekend, we headed to Punggol Park for the boys to practice. It was the closest place we could go that Ira can pedal his bike without getting too tired. I asked him to wear his helmet for safety reasons. At first he was quite hesitant. But after explaining what the main purpose of the helmet was, he obliged.

positioning his bike

getting started

Kelvin and Ira went one around on the walking/biking track around the pond. Then Ira did 7 laps (small track) saying he was training. . They didn't even play for a long time in the slides! That was surprising cause we usually go there and the kids would spend the whole time in the playground.

and off he goes...

going up the slope

just finished a few rounds

trying to be adventurous

discussing where to bike next

trying out Ira's smaller bike. It works!