The boys are Singaporean just like Daddy

As the boys grew, its time to prepare them to move to Singapore and begin their education there. CJ is 3+ and the twins 2+. I have submitted applications to the Singapore Consulate General Office in Hong Kong for Singapore citizenship for the boys some 10 months ago and was finally asked to bring the boys to the office to collect their passports. It would be a long term plan for the boys to study in Singapore in order that they can be better prepared to take on challenges later on in life and I am adamant that they be brought to Singapore for their education believing that this is the best thing we can do for our boys.

To bring the 3 boys, Chu and her mom together would have cost me a bomb and so I waited eagerly for Cebu Pacific to offer discounted fares for May and eventually got to book 5 tickets for them to come to Hong Kong on the 14th ~ 20th May.

So on the 15th May 2009, CJ, Johannes and Justin became Singapore citizens.

The plan was to let them continue their childhood in Cebu until they are at least 5 and 4 years old while I continue working in Hong Kong. Chu would register early childhood playgroup classes and kindergarten for them so that they can attend classes in English and learn to play and work with other kids. Then we would all move back to Singapore and continue kindergarten there and eventually to register for primary classes for the children. I would then move back to work in Singapore and to settle down to take care of our children as a family unit united together at last.

Meanwhile another issue is pending. I have submitted application to the Consulate General Office to get Chu's ban from landing in Singapore waived and I hope to get this done before the big move.

The Twins are Two Together

As they said, "Twins always comes in two", and this year on the 27th December 2008, Johannes and Justin celebrated their 2nd birthday.

Even though I do not have the privilege of seeing the boys grow up, I can see that they have become big, strong and healthy boys and when I visited them in December, they have really grown. They have also grew up together with CJ and though Chu do complain there are times when the boys are really naughty and fought each other, the twins would never be intimidated by big brother as they ganged up to fight against him. They knew that they should take care of each other, share toys, food, clothes as they are meant to be one. Chu make sure that this message is also told to them.

I am even happier to learn that the twins are beginning to talk early, even earlier than CJ and as of now are even more chattier and eager to mimic words they hear from the adults or from TV. Justin been the brighter kid can even mimic 'Ni hao ma' when we tease him with Chinese language. Johannes would stay at the side and follow what his brother said with a subdue tone.

CJ celebrated his 3rd birthday with a clowning party for the children

The big boy is 3 years old on the 10th September 2008 and Chu suggested we added a touch of fun to the children's party by having a clown emcee the party.

It was a hilarious evening as the children take part in games, dances to the tune of the karaoke machine, hunt for treasures and winning prizes in the process. All the children near and far came to participate and the adults were also present to listen to the story telling and the funny show the clown put on to make everyone laugh.

The party ended with a big party and the guests enjoy the food and drinks and karaoke session until late into the night.

The big boy was having a great time himself. Happy 3rd Birthday CJ, From Daddy & Mummy.

My First Birthday - The TIA Twins - Dec 2007

Johannes and Justin is now one year old - how time flies. On the 27th Dec 2007, daddy and mummy threw a big birthday party for the twins and invited the village children to join in the celebrations. As this is the first time we have twins in the family, this call for a big feast.

The day started with a visit to SM Mall to buy new clothes, shoes and hat. The cakes and ballons were ordered at Gordilocks for delivery at 4 pm. The food were prepared at home and consists of lechon, fried chicken, .....etc. When the shopping was done, we headed back home for a rest and the twins were tired and immediately took a nap.

CJ and Mummy visited Daddy in Hong Kong - Oct 2007

After living in Hong Kong for close to 2 years, Chu brought CJ to visit me in the cold season of October 2007. They stayed for a month and I enjoyed valuable time with them during off work and the week ends. I brought them to the shopping centres, the eateries, the parks, the beaches and travel by MTR, taxi and buses to let them experience the busy city lifestyles of Hong Kong. At the end of October we were joined by Mushi Mushi from Singapore who was here for the Canton Fair in Guangzhou. Mushi mushi was very interested to eat 'siew ngo' or roast goose and I brought him and the family to Sham Tseng, a collection of restaurants near Tsuen Wan, specialising in roast goose for a big feast.

CJ at 16 months old

Young CY is now able to walk confidently and is seen here at the airport sending Daddy to Hong Kong. He's favourite toy is the NBA junior basketball set which I bought for him as Christmas present. When he grows up he wants to be like Yao Ming.

New Additions to the TIA family

On the 27th Dec 2006 at 3:24 am, Johannes Joachim Malazarte Tia came into this world. Weighing in at 2.2 kg, he is the second child of the DENMAR family. Thirty-three minutes later at 3:57 am, his twin brother, the third child of the family, Justin Gualbert Malazarte Tia was born. Though he is the younger twin, he weighs in at a heavier 2.55 kg. The location is at the Perpertual Succour Hospital in Cebu City.
The younger twin was in perfect health. The older brother has made some sacrify and was born with a slight heart valve fillibration (heart murmur). Dr Fatima Pogoy, the pediatrician said that the heart murmur is not to be worried as the child will outgrow the problem. On the other hand there is a minor defect to rectify as the swollen scrotum is diagnoised as hernia. An hour operation by Dr Rafael the following morning fixed the problem. The two babies were then discharged from the hospital on the 30th Dec 2006.
It was a big day at the home when the babies were brought back. They immediately occupy the full attention of grandma as they started wailing at the top of their babies voices even before they arrived home. Baby bottles of milk were prepared and soon the babies were happily sucking away at them. Having finished their milk, they quietly slipped into a peaceful sleep, so relaxed and carefree looking, ocassionally flashing a smile or two as if joyful of their victory and finally securing their existence on earth.
For me and Chu it was the happiest day in our lives. Finally I have my dream comes true and this twin will bear the TIA surname.

Twin Boys this time round

It was a busy year starting up the Regin office in Hong Kong that I lacked time to put up something on my blog. Starting up the new office is like bringing up a child, procedures has to be established, policies written and desseminated and customers informed of new changes. Soon it was past the 4-month period to schedule another visit home in Cebu.



CJ has grown and is now 8 months old. This trip I spend lots of quality time with him by carrying him around the neighbourhood and showing him new things. Whenever he is awake I would play toys with him or sit with him on the floor watching him learning to crawl around. He is also slowly changing his taste and enjoy eating Gerber baby food on top of his favorite S-GOLD milk formula.

Whenever I call Chu she would pass the phone to him and remind him that daddy is on the line so much so that when you call daddy to him he would glance at the phone. The phone is called daddy or the daddy is at the end of the line. Whatever! He would never recognise his daddy this way. What to do? I can sympathise with the many Filipinos working overseas. How their children grew up without their daddy besides them.

In July 2006 while I was in Hong Kong, Chu told me one night that she has missed her period again for the second month and is certain that she is pregnant. I was overjoyed to hear that. I can remember that I was on HRT, Hormone Replacement Therapy, for some time as recommended by the doctor for boosting sperm count and almost forgotten about it. I thought the therapy was not working and has almost given it up when suddenly the surprise came. Chu was also happy but commented that the pregnancy caught her by surprise and also too sudden as or first child, CJ is still young. She worries about taking care of two young babies. I told her not to worry too much as we can always get another nanny to help out. I also told her to take care of her health, give up smoking and remind her that this is the first child of our own.

In the beginning of September, when I visited, the baby was already big in her belly. It was only 5 months and the belly is so big like it was going to due. Soon we found out in the pre-natal scanning that there are actually two babies growing in her belly - twin and both are boys. Good Gracious...and now we will have three boys in the family. I was so proud when I broke the news to my friends and siblings. The HRT program really works, isn't it?

So I marked the Jan 2007 calendar with plans to visit Cebu when she is due to delivery. Not forgetting that by now CJ is walking with confidence and is growing to look like me.

My Son Clark James Tia

The first thing I did when I arrived in the airport was to hug my little boy CJ to see how heavy he has grown. Since the 9th of September 2005, the day he was born, I was fed news about how fast he has grown, how chubby he was and how intelligently he was for his age of coming to 4 months. And been so far away from him and also with the regular flow of emails of his photos, it has increased my desire to meet him. How I longed to touch and kiss him, my first TIA child. After 45 years longing for a child I finally have my dream come true.




We named him Clark James, after Superman and Double O Seven. One is named Clark Kent and the other James Bond. We wished him to grow up strong like Superman and also smart like 007. CJ is indeed growing very fast. Already he is strong enough to stand on his feet. He is adorable and very chubby and who wouldn't fell under his charms. He has a very wiry smile and would make google sound as if he is dropping a hint or two about the IT company.

This trip we were planning to have him and Chu moving to Hong Kong to stay with me. However due to some hiccups to his travelling papers, he is unable to come along. So Chu stayed behind to look after him and the trip was re-scheduled to Mar 2006.

We have so much fun together the ten days I was there to the point that Chu hinted not getting any attention. I bought him a new pram and new toys to add to his already growing collection. He was the centre of attention and all the visitors have something nice to say of him. How proud Chu and I were of CJ!

The night I left to return to Hong Kong, CJ came down with a fever. We were all so worried and as it was at night we could not bring him to see the doctor until the following morning. He was diagnosed with urinary track infection or UTI and the poor boy was crying with discomfort. The doctor issued anti-biotics to last 10 days and carried out regular urine testing to confirm his response to treatment. We were relieved as after a couple of days he responded well to treatment and all was well again. I was sleepless in Hong Kong for a few nights worrying about his condition and making calls daily to check on his progress.

Two weeks later he was coughing again as he went about the chores of growing up..

See you again in March 2006, my son...

Relocating to Work in Hong Kong.

The year comes to a close much faster than anticipated and it is time to make the trip again to my home in Cebu. This time I will be leaving from Hong Kong airport instead of Singapore airport and flying Cathay Pacific airlines instead of Qatar airlines. You see I finally got my overseas posting to work in Hong Kong. YES!!!
For the whole of 2005 there was talk in the air that Regin has finally decided to start a new company in Hong Kong, what they called, an International Procurement Office. As part of the plan for this office, the Technical Department for Asia Pacific will be relocated there. That's me and as there is only one technical person in Asia Pacific, I will be the one shifting there. I got the envies of everyone in the office. And there were the looks of gloom among the other colleagues as they read the move to Hong Kong as a sign of no confidence. They sense that sooner or later the Singapore office will be closed.
On the first week of Oct 2005, my three bosses Leif, Peter and Johan and I met up in Hong Kong to view the office. Peter has already found the premises and signed the tenancy agreement. We discuseed on the fitting out and Peter awarded the contract. Leaving the works to be carried out I returned again three weeks later to review and accept the fitting out works. In addition I also started looking for a flat to stay.
When everything is arranged, I finally moved into Jade Plaza on the 8th Nov 2005. For the rest of the year till end Dec 2005, I take the time to put up the office furniture systems, the telephone and broadband internet systems and also the IT systems. Unfortunately the head office announced a delay and the company will only take in the rest of the staff on the 15th Feb 2006. During this time I would make a trip to Bangkok and then for my Christmas holidays in Cebu.

It was quite amusing to stay and work in Hong Kong. What I find the main difference with Singapore is that the people are all rushing about, appears very busy and moving too quickly along the tight and narrow streets. They talked aloud and hinted impatience and cut you out too soon. But what I cannot forget is on the 17th Nov 2005, just barely 9 days after landing on this island, my flat at Jade Plaza was burglered costing me my valuable notebook computer and some jewellery. Till today I still cannot learn to trust the people here. Generally my feeling towards Hong Kong people is that they are quick witted, very competitive and very tricky. But I do not deny the fact that they are extremely hard working, most people taking up two jobs and they will come at 5.00 pm to rush up any last minute jobs before they call it a day.

Heart Break to give FreeFree and Rover Away for Rehoming

Free free is on the right of my two Australian Silky Terriers dogs that I have ever owned. Rover is on the left.

Adopting a boy boy Sept 2005

Chu and I have discussed adopting a baby boy for ourselves for quite a while. She told me that Marty's wife Diane is pregnant again and she will adopt the child if it turns out to be a boy.
One of the reason was to help Marty relieved his burden as he is already supporting two young children and this pregnancy was unplanned for. The couple agreed that they will not want to have another boy and would let us adopt him.
On the 9th of September 2005, the baby was delivered and yes, it's a boy. A strong healthy chubby little boy. Suddenly I am a Daddy'O!!!. The boy was brought home that night and started his first scream for milk. Then he slumber into a peaceful sleep.
The house was busting with activity with the arrival of the new addition, most curious of all being Meiden as now she will have a competition for attention.
We ponder over what name to give the boy: DenMar, Clark James (CY), Martin, Alan, Rodrigues and we decided CJ is a nice nick. So Tina got her suggetion accepted and the boy will bear this name for life.
That Sunday Chu went shopping and bought a new cot, new baby stuff and populated her room with gifts. She was happy and delighted that her maternity instincts were at work again.