Gone fishin'

Took the bubbas out to the 'countryside' today, first to Qian Hu Fish Farm at Old Chua Chu Kang, then to lunch at Poison Ivy/Bollywood Veggies at Lim Chu Kang.

It was Wendy's day off and going out with 2 young kids on our own can be a logistical challenge as we experienced yesterday for dinner and with today's outing.

Nat would want attention in the car while I feed Natasha etc, or sometimes both want to drink milk at the same time, not to mention juggling getting them into car seats (Natasha's is not permanently in place), folding strollers etc...takes a bit of organisation! Nick would have beads of sweat running down his face by the time we are settled in the car!

Nick also gets distracted if Natasha sits up front with him, taking one hand off the steering wheel to place on her chest so I prefer to carry her at the back to ensure he keeps both hands on the wheel and his wits about him.

At mealtimes, we can never eat at the same time as we have to take turns to feed/entertain Nat and keep an eye on Natasha. But in a way, despite the mad rush, I kind of enjoy it i.e. going out without the maid...don't want to become over-reliant.

Anyway, back to the fish farm. Swana's been egging us to visit for the longest time and we finally went today, along with Merianne, Monica, Raiden, Bernard, Rachel and the Dopes. Nat was going on all morning that she was going to a farm, singing Old MacDonald and The Farmer in the Dell in anticipation.




We looked at the rows and rows of fish tanks and saw some expensive arowanas and pretty polka-dotted stingrays, amongst lots of other fish varieties. They had longkang fishing available but we chose not to do it.

Once the kids were bored of fish, we headed down to the Poison Ivy cafe at Bollywood Veggies for lunch in a convoy of 4 cars. I've always wanted to go there but it was a tad anti-climatic. The food was so-so, portions small and there were lots of flies buzzing around.




The kids had fun though, running among the vegetation. Gigi kept running after Raiden, they look so cute together.





We'll probably go back again though, when Nat is a little bigger to appreciate the different plants and vegetables. Wonder what we should do next week...

Ladies who lunch

Met up with Tsolmon and Nitya earlier today. They are both friends of Joanne's from Vietnam but hadn't met each other before. Tsolmon is Mongolian and has been in Singapore for 2 years, I've met her a couple of times through Joanne. Her son Alistair is 11 months.

Nitya just moved here a couple of weeks ago with her husband and daughter Anaya who turned 2 this week. I had met Nitya on previous trips to HCM so both ladies were not strangers. Joanne hooked us all up since Nitya didn't know anybody here yet and we arranged to meet at Tsolmon's condo. Nitya brought her sister Anu and niece Myra so Nat had new friends to play with.

Tsolmon's home in Botannia at West Coast was nicely done and she prepared a lovely salad and chicken drumlets for us. I contributed some potato salad and we had a semi-leisurely lunch while the kids played. The original plan was to let Nat swim but it rained the whole morning.





Nat was shy initially. At home she was telling me she didn't want to say 'hi' when I told her we were meeting new people. But she was playing away with Myra and Anaya in no time, while Alistair napped.



Before we left, Tsolmon showed us around the condo and Nat played in one of the playgrounds for a bit. The pools are lovely, Tsolmon invited us back to swim next week...will see how it goes. Wish you were here Jo!





Dressed Natasha and Natalie in matching tops but my batteries died before I could take a picture of them together. Drat!

Made mee siam for dinner, no need to be impressed, I cheated with a Prima spice pack. It was pretty easy to follow and I added towgay, taupok, prawns, eggs, limes and chives. Tasted as good as homemade, though nothing beats Mummy's mee siam and my favourite Ang Mo Kio one.

KL Day 2

I must say the breakfast buffet spread at the Sheraton is extensive, I didn't know where to start!

There are about 6 counters/stations serving everything from cold cuts and cereals, to local delights like prata, porridge etc, Western savouries, a noodle bar, juice bar and pastries and pancakes etc. I had me some putumayam, prata, nasi lemak, tomato soup and mee goreng amongst others, before rounding off with a waffle. Saved the noodles and ang moh brekkie items for tomorrow.

The hotel has a shuttle to a few key locations so we took the 11 am ride to Pavilion. It's a pretty posh mall, with plenty of designer shops, wide aisles and high ceilings. I was struck by how spacious all the shops were. Tried on a few dresses at DVF for size, so I know what to order online in future. We combed through the floors and Nickypoo accompanied me into most stores, he shopped for himself too.

After a few hours I only had a pair of Mango pants, a playsuit from Forever21 and 3 pairs of shoes from Vincci. We bought some toys for Nat and Gigi and he bought 2 shirts for himself from Ralph Lauren and Cortefiel. Had a late lunch at the Zang Toi cafe within Parkson (Level 4). It's been more than 5 years since I had their decadent chocolate banana cake and it was still as good as I remember. No trip to KL is complete without me having some of this cake!



After Pavilion, we walked down Bukit Bintang to Sungei Wang where I picked up a top from FOS plus some gifts and a pair of shoes for Swana from Nose. Then it was back to the hotel to express and dump bags. He did some work and I read.






Just had dinner at the street next to the hotel, called Jalan Doraisamy which houses the Asian Heritage Row. It's a small stretch of restaurants and bars and they were screening World Cup re-runs.


Settled on a restaurant called Mojo, where he had chicken curry and I had bolognaise. We shared a jug of lychee martini (cheap at SGD$23), but I ended up having most of it. Since I was pouring all my expressed booby milk down the sink, I could indulge in a little alcohol!

We are back in the room to pack and will go down shortly to watch South Africa vs France. The French are crap this year and the team is in crisis...they are so going out!

KL Day 1

Here I am in KL and it's the end of Day 1.

Had an early start this morning to catch the Luxury coach at 8 am. It departed on time but there was a slight jam at Tuas and the Malaysian customs was a tad slow in clearance.


Ma was complaining the night before that my handbag for the bus was too heavy and to lighten the load by not bringing my make-up, saying no one was going to look at me in KL. Thank goodness I didn't listen to her and had some make up on for the bus ride plus wore my lenses because you never know who you might meet and guess who I saw at Tuas? Nick's ex-girlfriend, his first one!

Her coach was right next to ours but her back was facing us when I pointed her out to him. He got a proper look at the Malaysian customs when we were in different queues but our paths didn't cross. Then at the Yong Peng stop, we saw her again and went up to say hi. She was bringing her students for a musical competition in Malacca. We also bumped into Vig's mum at Yong Peng, she was en route to Genting. Small world!

Reached KL about 2plus and rushed through a quick lunch at the hotel before Nick had to head for his meeting. I was left to my own devices in the room at Sheraton for I am not allowed to venture out into the city without him. Read a book and snapped photos.




We are on the 27th floor and have a view of the KL Tower, plus the bathroom is huge by hotel standards!

Once Nick got back, we decided to walk to Bukit Bintang. I wanted to check out the Debenhams at Lot 10 but he was hungry along the way so we stopped by a Wendy's to chomp on some black pepper burgers and watch the first half of Portugal vs North Korea.


At Debenhams, I only saw one nice dress but decided to give it a miss first and come back only if my shopping elsewhere proved unfruitful. We walked over to Pavilion to recce a little for tomorrow, bought 2 pairs of shoes from Nose and got ripped off by the taxi on the way back. 15 ringgit to go to Sheraton, which is like my house to Chinatown.

They are not screening the World Cup matches in the room so it will be an early night because we are too lazy to go out again. Can't wait to hit the shops tomorrow!

Father's Day 2010

Today is Father's Day and Nat has been wishing Nick throughout the day.

She just presented him with the Tod's wallet...I think he thought it was a little big, but because his daughters 'gave' it to him, he has no choice but to use it. He'd better use it, cost me a pretty penny!


Natasha had a gift for Nick too, the picture of her and Nat below in a photo frame. Awww...This reminds me I haven't wished my own father, I'd better do it now!

Ladies Nite

Had a girls' night out yesterday at House. It was just a simple dinner with Swana, Premila, Vim and Judy. Tried a couple of new skinny pizza flavours, loved the chicken and coconut Vietnamese one...like eating a Thai salad with crackers.



With 4 mums and a mum-to-be, the conversations naturally centered around pregnancy, the kids and mother-in-laws. Gosh, am noticing that this is what happens when we get together with our friends now i.e. the conversation topics.

Have we become so boring? Am hard-pressed to remember what we used to talk before our lives were invaded by grubby little munchkins. They're trying to take over the world!

My favourite 4-letter word...S-A-L-E

Met Rena in town yesterday to shop till we dropped. She just ended her confinement and was itching to treat herself to something I think!

We started at Paragon and went into Gucci, Prada, Tod's and Miu Miu. Nothing much at the Gucci sale but she did buy a nylon top handle bag at Prada, which comes with a detachable sling. Cost a little bit over 1k but we both thought it was a good buy.


At Miu Miu, I was attracted to a long wallet that was going at 40% off. It was greyish blue and slim, Rena liked it too so we both bought the same one. The damage? $420. Was a tad distracted in the shop, some angmoh woman was caught shoplifting red-handed but I think the store decided not to pursue the matter.


We had a quick bite at Din Tai Fung before checking out the Mandarin Shopping Gallery (so dead on the upper levels but a few nice restaurants spotted). Another Marc by Marc Jacobs bag beckons, I need to scout eBay and see if I can get it for a better deal.

The rest of the time was spent at 313 where we both bought several tops from Forever 21. There was a promotion with UOB so we got 20% off.

When Swana heard about the Miu Miu wallet she just had to check out the sale for herself. After parting from Rena, I met Swana at ION but nothing appealed to her. We headed to Takashimaya and swung by Ferragamo and I spotted a black sling bag on sale, from $780 down to $390.

Put on my personal shopper hat and bought it on Ma's behalf, knowing that she might want it and I was right. If she didn't like it, Jane was keen on having a look but at the very most I would just keep it for myself.


I also found a cute little wallet at Tod's that will probably end up being Nick's Father's Day present...sssshhh. From $440 down to $252, another bargain!



When I got home, Nat and Gigi started playing with the paperbags and trying on my tops!




All in, it was a satisfying outing but cannot do too many of these...so broke! Whilst shopping, Nick messaged to say I could tag along to his KL trip next week. Yay, more shopping beckons!

BTW, it's been raining all day, was cats and dogs in the morning and our road downstairs was flooded. Couldn't resist snapping a pix, never seen it like this before!