He blogs!

Nickypoo was persuaded by his PR company to start a travel blog, ha ha. I think his site needs some work, don't expect frequent updates. Hmm, I can predict being asked to help format and upload in future...

Anyway, check it out at:

nickstriptips.blogspot.com.

Went to the Robinsons Cardmembers Preview Sale last night with Ma, it was nice to shop around sipping on wine and nibbling on canapes and macaroons, they should do this all the time!

Bought the munchkin's Xmas pressie, a PlaySkool Step Start Walk 'N Ride. Hope she has fun barging into all our furniture!

Did another EDM for work today, we are having a last minute drinks session next Monday at Red Dot Building. Looking forward to it!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

So Madagascar 2 was a little boring, I couldn't really appreciate it having not watched the first movie.

Saturday was a packed day, had breakfast with the in-laws at Ang Mo Kio, and I knew Mildred would buy my favourite mee siam from the Blk 409 market. Should have made a bet with Nick!

I couldn't resist buying some deep fried prawn fritters. The one at the hawker centre at Blk 453A, near Mildred's house is pretty damn good and there was no queue when I went! 80 cents each and they come with 2 prawns which are so crunchy you can eat the whole thing.

After breakfast, we went on a wild goose chase for durians, Nick just didn't want to listen to my suggestions of Balestier or AMK Hub, and instead we wandered around Bishan for some fruit shops but didn't see any. In the end, we gave up and headed for Membina, where Ma had cooked up a storm.

Cousin Mitra and his wife Sabrina were in town and my gorgeous nieces Priya and Anjali tagged along with their parents. Mitra had requested for buah keluak and Mummy of course obliged.

Hung out at Membina long after they left. Swana, Nick and me, along with the 2 babies had a seafood dinner date at Long Beach in East Coast. It was Rachel and Bernard's turn to organise this month's gathering and about 9 of us showed. Had a set menu, and I had so much crab because some of them were lazy to peel!

On Sunday morning we went to Christ the King for mass, it was their Feast Day. The munchkin was restless throughout the service and kept squirming in our arms. Every 3 mins she would switch parents!

Saw a trail of monkeys while we pumped petrol at Thomson, there were at least 5 walking along the railings.

Landed up at Great World City's Bangkok Jam for lunch, the set lunch was pretty reasonable. For $12.90 ++ I got a generous portion of pomelo salad, crispy noodles and an iced tea.

Managed to nap in the afternoon and Mildred popped by for dinner since she was in the area. Nick got down to fixing the Christmas tree and we decorated it together. I know it's a bit early, but he thought Nat would be impressed. But I don't think she was!

I've got to move it, move it!

Am off slightly earlier today, the office is having a private screening of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa at Great World City. Have to check on the set-up with HR etc, don't know how come they didn't rope in the rest of the social and recreation committee.

I always 'kena' these kinds of events! They claim I'm creative and got me to do the EDM teaser, invite and reminder...check out my designs...

"Ambush" marketing

Was ambushed in the bus on the way to Membina. I was standing near the exits minding my own business when a Punjabi lady came up to me and said, "Excuse me, I'm a beautician". In my head I was like, "And your point being...??" but instead I went, "Huh?"

She repeated herself and then held out a namecard which I hesitantly took and put into my wristlet. I thanked her and continued staring out the window, somewhat amused.

I wonder if it's an Indian national thing to do, approach other Indians on the bus and distribute namecards, because this is the second time it's happened to me and both times the people involved didn't appear to be Singaporean. A few months ago, two Indian nationals tried to strike up a conversation on a bus to promote their newly opened vegetarian restaurant and gave me their namecards too.

They didn't approach other people so I assume I fit their target profile...Indian!

On a seperate note, we had a strange encounter upon our return from Membina last night - of the shoe kind! As we emerged from the lift and approached our gate, we noticed a pair of gold open-toed slingbacks at our doorway. They were facing our gate and really looked as if we had a visitor.

They definitely didn't belong to me and we were puzzled as to who they belonged to. All sorts of eerie thoughts ran through my head but I tried to come up with other excuses instead. Maybe a kind neighbour was clearing her wardrobe and thought they might fit me, or some neighbour was having an affair and was trying to avoid detection by placing his mistress' shoes elsewhere!

Anyway, Arlyn helped to put them on the staircase but later on, Nick asked her to move them one floor down. We were all kind of spooked but I'm sure there's a perfectly valid explanation for their appearance...at least I hope so. But I don't think we'll ever find out.

My little Giraffe

Ma found this hairband at Daiso...so cute! Nat keeps taking it off but loves it when someone else puts it on to entertain her.

Guess who has put on a giraffe hairband to amuse one's daughter?

And, I can't get over how long Gigi's lashes are, they are lush and long, no mascara necessary when she's older! She's quite smiley these days, doesn't whine as much...such a pie!

What is Design?

Kavi was willing to pay me $50 to answer this question on camera for an event opening video, but I was too self-conscious to do it, even though it was easy money. I made Nickypoo do it though and so yesterday we found ourselves filming on the quaint stretch of Haji Lane, home to hip vintage boutiques and edgy indie labels.

There were quite a few shops with interesting displays, not many were open, but I think I want to explore further, perhaps on a Saturday afternoon. Saw some cool homewares and funky printed dresses through the shutters.

The shoot itself was pretty straightforward, Desmond and his hot wife Chen Tze had agreed to help Kavi out too, she had requested for a yuppie and a fashionista and they were perfect! Jeanette and Kaelash also came to help her out.

When Nick was done, I convinced him to have tea at the Marina @ Keppel Bay which is on Keppel Island. Had been meaning to go there for months since I found out about its existence and I thought he might enjoy some waterfront dining and I was right, he loved the place!

We sat outdoors at the Prive Bakery & Café, and since their breakfast was all day, he had scrambled eggs and bacon at 3pm while I opted for a crab and prawn wrap – there goes the $50 he earned! We shared a fresh fruit cake and then walked around Keppel Island for a bit.

Took like 5 mins to walk around the tiny island, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. There’s actually plenty of open space facing the sea that would be nice for an evening stroll, saw some people jogging but other than that, there was no one around, which was nice. So ssshhhh, keep this place quiet ok?

Where did the weekend go?

Before you know it, another week has gone by and there are just 8 or less weeks left till 2009.

Had a laid-back weekend, Saturday was supposed to be a busy day with a baby 1 month celebration and tea with Nick's friends, but plans got shelved after both hosts had sick family members.

Instead I spent some time tidying my purple room, it's still in a right mess...I have a lot of junk! I also spent the afternoon napping, trying to get over a headache that started on Friday night. It's a tad unusual because I never had a proper headache before and this was persistent and lasted over 36 hours till this morning.

In the evening I was bored from being cooped up all day so jumped at Nickypoo's suggestion to have dinner out. Swana was alone with Gigi so we picked her up. But before we could set off, Ma returned from Tiong Bahru Plaza and decided to tag along.

We ended up at Anchorpoint for dinner but there was some drama shortly after we completed our meal and walked around a bit. Arlyn who had yong tau fu, started feeling unwell, complaining of a sharp pain in her abdomen. She tried to tahan as long she could but once we were in the car, she said the pain was getting worse and she would need to go to the loo.

So we hurried to Membina, she was carrying Gigi in the car but as soon as we stopped and she alighted, she pleaded for Mummy to take the baby from her because she was giddy and blacking out. She fell to her knees next to the car but managed to pick herself up and make it to the lift where she almost passed out again. Swana helped her up and we took a different lift but when got up, Arlyn was super-pale and unconscious, lying on Swana's neighbour's bench.

Out came the Vicks etc, and she dragged herself to the sofa. After lying down for a few minutes, she went to the loo and only after that, started to feel slightly better. We didn't want to take any chances so brought her to a nearby clinic that was open till midnight. She was prescribed the usual food poisoning medication and I managed to ask the doctor about my headache.

He advised me to go to the hospital if it didn't go away after 48 hours. I still have an occasional twinge but not as painful as yesterday so will play it by ear. Methinks it has something to do the recent cold, maybe inflammed sinuses. I sure hope it's nothing more serious.

Lazy Sunday

Stayed home most of yesterday, the throat was really bad. The in-laws came over for dinner, I made curry again...Nickypoo got to try it this time. I passed his standards even though I couldn't taste anything during preparation because of the stupid flu!

Aunty Susie came with Mummy and they brought a surprise guest...Gigi! Swana and Kevin took advantage of their babysitting services and went to Vivo so the house had a fair bit of visitors last night because Papa also came to eat, and then later Aunty Malar popped in, followed by Swana and Kevin.

There was some drama after dinner. We all heard the loud sound of a car speeding, screeching brakes and then a sickening bang and ran to the window. Another accident on the AYE/ECP, looked pretty serious. One car had smashed head onto the wall and another taxi was smushed against the opposite wall. I was glued to the window watching 3 recovery trucks remove the vehicles.

Nickypoo is off to Shanghai in a couple of hours, the munchkin kept interrupting his packing last night, I think she wanted to go along!

I hope this flu goes away fast. Swana's been coughing and blowing her nose for over 3 weeks now...I hope we don't have the same virus!

Saturday Night Fever

On Saturday I found myself feeling much better from my cold but I didn't do myself any favours by over-exerting myself. I spent yesterday paying for it as the sorethroat returned and a cough developed.

After the Botanical Gardens outing, Nick and I drove out for lunch while Nutty napped. Because I was sick, I knew I could bat my eyelids at him and he would give in to any reasonable request I made, hence we found ourselves eating duck porridge at South Buona Vista Road.

I had been wanting to go to Lim Seng Lee for the longest time, I think the last meal there was probably 2-3 years ago when I was at SingTel and I've been thinking about it since! Nick and I are not duck fans but this one I don't mind because the gamey taste of duck is masked by the sauce, plus it's boneless. He still found the taste a little strong though, but I was loving it.

We each had porridge and shared a plate of kangkung. After that he went for the 3pm Novena while I picked up some groceries at Novena Square. Once back home, we fed Nutty and prepared to go out again, this time to Marina where Nick had reserved a watch. Had dinner at Spageddies and Nick didn't buy the watch in the end.

Then it was off to Membina to drop the munchkin off, and pick up the Dopes. A bunch of us were watching the lastest Bond movie 'Quantum of Solace' at Plaza Singapura. There was 11 of us in all - me, Nick, Swana, Kevin, Kavi, Siva, Vim, Ajen, Jay, Bruce and Kumar.

When you get a bunch of mamas together on a Saturday night, how not to adjourn somewhere for drinks? At first we went to Timbre 3 on Mount Sophia, where SHATEC used to be...this brought back memories. But their bar had already closed so we went to the Substation instead.

Lingered till closing time, and when I got home I still washed my hair at 2plus in the morning and watched Liverpool's game till 3.30 am. How to recover like that?

Crocodile Nuttee (Part 2)

Finally a tooth has erupted on her lower left gum! Yay, she has a tooth...it's a little crooked though and she refuses to let me hold her mouth open to snap a picture but I can definitely feel it.

Here's Crocodile Nuttee again with Charlotte the Crocodile. The croc has made a reappearance after months in storage, it was first given to her in March by Nick's relatives in Darwin and last month when she displayed a liking for stuffed animals in the supermarket, we took it out.

Look at her tackle that croc!

Oh what a beautiful morning...

Felt sufficiently better this morning to bring Nat for an excursion to the Botanical Gardens.

Nick and her were so sweet last night, Nickypoo went all the way to Suntec to buy me Perrier (ok, he had to collect his glasses too...which I broke by stepping on!) but they presented me with some roses when they got home. She was clutching the bouquet as they walked in the door.

So anyway, this morning we had breakfast at the Botanical Gardens foodcourt before walking around the park. Nat was naturally fascinated by the fish, birds and dogs we saw, and I managed to snap a dragonfly and even a blue kingfisher.

I think our Saturday mornings will now feature an outdoor excursion for Nat. Next week East Coast maybe?