SHATEC Spark

It’s that time of the year for dumplings and I placed an order for nonya chang as per last year with Aunty Irene. She is still estranged from Ma, so had to go via Baba, But it’s worth it…I haven’t really tried outside ones but who needs to when hers is pretty high standard?

And the bonus is the blue bits of bunga telan-dyed glutinous rice. Ah, I recall a time when she would make me full blue chang…

This evening, I met some of my SHATEC classmates after a very long time, probably not seen some of them for over 10 years. It was quite an impromptu gathering. After meeting Calisa with JGR a few weeks back, we set up a Watsapp chat group and invited some of the people we used to hang with or were closer to.

Met Jane after work first, we shopped a bit at H&M then had dinner at Everything with Fries before heading to Tanuki at Orchard Central.

There we about 10 of us in total. Aside from JGR, there was Rebecca who runs operations at Haato the gelato store; Sophia who does payroll for MNCs, Calisa who works at Agoda, Brandon who does something comic book or AV-related, Josephine who lives in Everton and does audio and Douglas who does corporate sales at OCBC.

Everyone more or less looks the same and they are still as zany and full of nonsense as ever! We exchanged stories on kids, I think all the ladies who were present were mothers except for Germaine, we reminisced and joked and some of them were so surprised to even find out Jane was a mother of 2!

It was a good catch-up, I think another gathering is on the cards for 28 June but I doubt I will make it. There is a SHATEC 30th anniversary dinner coming up on 2 July as well which some of them are considering attending. Nick is supposed to attend as a committee member and he bought a table for his office too but it all depends on Koko Krunch!

Prego prego

Met Jane for lunch today, to catch up after her Japan trip and we wound up at Prego, utilizing my FAR card. We shared calamari, eggplant parmagiana and a spinach ricotta ravioli but we struggled to finish.

 

Prego’s calamari portion has got to be one of the most generous out there! And when it’s half price at $13 after the discount, it’s soooo worth it.

 

The funny thing about lunch is that a group of people of walked in shortly after we ordered and sat next to us, separated by the glass partition. I could have sworn Aunty Yvonne from London was in the group but I wasn’t so sure so I showed Jane a picture since she was facing her.

Jane confirmed it looked like the person in my picture and when our calamari arrived, I managed to catch her attention when she turned, and it was Aunty Yvonne with her kids Jessica and Joseph! Small world!

She usually only comes in August for her birthday so I wasn’t expecting to see her and what are the odds of us ending up in the same restaurant? She had come to holiday in Lombok with her siblings and was heading back in a few days. Showed her the bump and told her Swana was also preggers.

I bought a new toy last night at the PC Show….a Canon EOS 650D DLSR camera. I figured with No.3 on the way, it was time to invest in one, never mind that I am not trained in using a DSLR, I just want mainly portraits of the kids and the photo studios are getting really expensive…one shoot with photos returned is the equivalent cost of 1 camera, so I might as well start learning to take my own!

Oh, by the way, Nat’s fever came back and the latest update is that she has HFMD…but I think hers is mainly herpangina because she’s got not visible sores, only on her throat.

Germ's flea market

Germaine and Joanne had plans to sell stuff as part of a flea market at Germaine’s office today but plans went awry due to miscommunication and the two fell out before the event started! Nonetheless, Germaine proceeded with her event and I went to kaypoh since it was just in the neighbourhood at Kampong Bahru.

I brought some stuff to display including a Prada bag and her friend bought $20 worth of tops from me, which I channelled back into buying some stuff from Germs, lol. Nat was with me and she was soooooo clingy.

She was so emo last weekend when Nick accidentally threw away Gigi’s science experiment…they had been growing towgay in school in Yakult bottles. Gigi’s one had turned mouldy and Nick threw it in the bin.

When Nat found out, she was worried Gigi would get in trouble and cried before sleeping. So me and Nick made a new one for Gigi, borrowing some sprouts from Nat’s bottle and tried to make it look as close to the original but we only had a Vitagen bottle and I had to find a sticker label. But all’s well that ends well and since then, we grew some of our own sprouts at home to show her the cycle since hers didn’t thrive either.

In the evening we went to Membina for dinner, to meet Judy and Jayna one more time before they headed back to Sydney. Left the bubs with the grandmas and maids and the cousins had a tzechar dinner at the coffeeshop downstairs. The food was surprisingly decent and the girls had a ball blowing bubbles when we got back. 

Happy belated birthday Germs!

Splurged on lunch today in honour of Germaine’s belated birthday. Met JGR at Mikuni to capitalize on their 50% discount for up to 5 pax for FAR cardmembers, only on Sundays and Mondays.

We ordered different sets each, mine was a teppanyaki beef and ebi ougon sauce set.

Loved the creamy, cheesy sauce the prawns came covered in but I asked for my beef to be well done but it was still served pink and bloody in the middle and I had to send back a few pieces to be cooked further, but it was still a bit pink upon return.

Ordered additional tempura prawns, at half price or $17ish for 5, it was worth it. Was so stuffed after lunch!

Nickypoo scared the girls this evening with an outburst that involved shouting at Sasha and kicking down a fan. All because the little one refused to drink the milk he proffered, claiming it was too hot (and it was a whole hour earlier than her usual milk time!).

Daddy was in kancheong mode because he thought Sasha was sleep-deprived and he was determined to make her sleep early even though it wouldn’t have killed anybody to just wait 15 mins. Temper, temper…he’s just very irrational when it comes to their health!

Rena's birthday lunch

Met JGR for lunch today as a belated birthday celebration for Rena. The birthday girl decided on Level 33 and we had a nice table by the window. The restaurant is starting to show signs of wear and tear but their lunch set is still decently-priced and portions generous.

We helped ourselves to the Ploughman’s table for the appetizers and each ordered a different main. 

Rena had fish and chips, Jane the fisherman’s pie, Germs a burger and me a meatball pasta. I hardly touched my meatballs though, the lamb in them was overpowering and gamey so I just ate the pasta only.

Dessert was back to the buffet, they had an assortment of fruits and pastries. It was a nice catch up session, I brought them some leftover Easter cookies and Germaine was also chatty, good to have her back to her normal temperament…she was quiet for a period of time. 

Italian craving

One of my colleagues who is leaving treated some of the ladies to lunch yesterday. Tim is quitting his job to travel around the world for a year with his girlfriend…ain’t that grand? He’s not doing much of Europe since he hails from France, but he is planning to go Iran and Antartica!

We ended up at Spizza at Club Street, sharing some calamari, gnocchi, caprese salad and pizzas. I had my own panna cotta dessert but the chocolate mousse another colleague ordered looked and tasted really good!

They have kids meals available so since the girls love carbonara, will bring them one day.

The office is undergoing renovation and today was the last day to pack up everything. We took some shots at the reception before it undergoes a makeover.

 

 

This evening, or rather yesterday, I met Joanne, Adri and Susan for dinner….more Italian, this time at Peperoni Pizzeria at Frankel. Adri picked me up from home and we had to park quite far at Siglap Centre.

Joanne has been on crutches since before CNY after removing a benign tumour on her foot and I was finally just seeing her in her paralysed state.

Dinner was good, we shared risotto, pasta, meatballs and Ray was on hand to entertain, though he was mainly entertaining himself by colouring.

It was good to catch up with them, we keep saying we’ll do it more often but somehow with kids and work, the best laid plans always fall through.

We did end up adjourning to Joanne’s house for drinks and dessert, Adri and I tapaued some McDonalds and we chatted past midnight. Simple pleasures. I was glad for a girls’ night out, don’t think I’ve been out for a social dinner all of this year!

Happy belated birthday Jane!

Met JGR for Jane’s birthday lunch today at Prego and it was a good catch up session. We used my FAR card so there was a saving of 25% off the menu, including their sets.

Shared a calamari, 2 soups, pizza, pasta and fish main and even then we struggled to finish. The calamari was a generous portion, at $26 it better be!

 

 

 

The pizza, pasta and fish were on the average side, nothing to rave about but nothing to complain either.

Dessert was a fruity mousse with chocolate sponge but we were all too full to appreciate it!

Last night we held a small farewell party and lo hei at Membina for Wendy. She departs on Thursday after working for us for 3 years. She initially had an offer from Canada but it seems to have fallen through so in the meantime she’s heading back since we’ve already found a replacement but I daresay she’ll be back within a couple of months.

Bought food from Tiong Bahru market including tom yam soup which she said she would miss.

This evening I gave her a small angpow and parting gift of SK Jewellery gold chain and pendant. Nat was super clingy as she knows about the impending departure but Sasha doesn’t seem too bothered.

I hope the kids don’t have withdrawal symptoms for long and adjust to Geraldine soon. She’s been here almost two weeks, during the handover I noticed the senior one bossing her around and deliberately try to make her look incompetent but I’m not stupid!

I’m glad to start fresh, while Wendy was a big help, she did get complacent, bossy and defiant. I wish her luck in whatever comes her way, I don’t think she appreciated how well she was treated.

She made some recent comments on FB in Tagalog which were not complimentary to us, something along the lines of us not showing any gratitude after 3 years and being made to do extra work despite the fact that she was leaving but the first part was premature because it was before her farewell and the second part is just not true because we didn’t assign anything extra and in any case she had Geraldine on board to share the load. Harumpff!

Annual exchange

And we’ve come to the end of the first trimester, fast eh? Visited Dr Siow this morning and the kids got to see their little baby bro/sis on the ultrasound. Baby Lim #3 seems to be growing well, right on track and measures about 6cm. I predict a girl!

After the visit, we headed to town. I had a lunch appointment with JGR and Nick brought the kids to Tangs to eat. Met the ladies at Antoinette at Mandarin Gallery for our annual Christmas gift exchange, but before that I managed to sneak to Dorothy Perkins and buy a top!

They all ordered a chicken and mushroom crepe while I was the odd one out with a crab pasta. I think I would have been better off with the crepe! We shared 2 cakes, a gula melaka coconut tart and a strawberry shortcake for dessert.

As Rena and I were both not working, we jalan-ed for a little while after lunch, popping in to Mulberry and H&M, resulting in me incurring Nick’s wrath because I opted to stay on in town to window shop. Whatever!

I only got home about an hour after him, and then disaster struck! Wendy had been trying to wipe a leak on our common toilet false wall and in a moment of folly, stepped onto the suspended cabinet below our sink.

It broke from the wall and crashed with a thud…luckily she wasn’t hurt but I was a little displeased because for one, my nice blue tile was ruined and really, she ought to have known better that the cabinet can’t take her weight! It’s currently being supported by a stool until we can get a new sink in. 

Ooh, there was a nice big full moon tonight and I got another moon shot in!