Sitting Pretty

The munchkin is such a poser, she knows when the camera is focused on her. (Gee, I wonder who she gets that from!)

Check out her latest shots today as she demonstrated to Swana how she sits. After a couple days of trial and error, Nuttypoo has figured out how to sit from a crawling position all by herself. And she can sit with her back straight!

When she smiles for the camera, her eyes disappear!

Swana is in her 36th week and can't wait for Beanie to come out, the good doctor predicts the week of 15 Sep but I'm hoping for the week before. I am so looking forward to meeting Gigi or rather, Giselle! I miss that newborn state when they were quiet and just laid there...

My dear sister seems to be having a bad case of water retention in her feet though. I only had swollen feet a couple of times but it was never as bad as this. You can poke her feet and the imprint stays a while!

Almost Paradise

Nickypoo finally took me out for my birthday dinner last Friday but it’s not like he put in much effort. I decided on the restaurant and made the reservations, all he had to do was foot the bill.

We landed up at Taste Paradise in Mosque Street, somewhere I had been meaning to try but it was actually 4th choice on my list. Couldn’t get reservations at Valentino’s, Restaurant Ember or Flutes at the Fort…that’s what we get for being last minute.

But it was a pleasant dinner nonetheless, there were so many dishes I wanted to try and we ended up over-ordering thinking that the portions would be small which resulted in the cancellation of a stewed mee poh dish towards the end, and ‘tapau-ing’ the sweet and sour pork Nick ordered.

I took pictures of the dishes as they arrived but the lighting was insufficient. Now I can’t remember what exactly we ordered but there was the XO carrot cake, scallop and mango roll, deep fried eggplant with pork floss, prawns with curry sauce, baked cod with honey, sweet and sour pork and lobster ramen. I also had a crab duo appetizer that I absolutely loved and dessert was mango cream with pomelo and coconut ice cream. Mmmmm, coconut.

The carrot cake tasted like those you get at dim sum restaurants, just stir fried with eggs and bean sprouts. It was soft and chewy and not too oily. At $7 for a small plate, it was the most expensive carrot cake I’ve had but well worth it I suppose!


The scallop and mango rolls were crumbed and deep fried, there were 5 pieces and they were quite filling. I ended up just scooping out the mango and scallop bits from the rolls, because eating the skins would have been too filling. Nick isn’t a scallop fan but he enjoyed this dish surprisingly.


The deep fried eggplant was a disappointment compared with a similar dish I just had at Kam Boat the previous week. The version here was thinly sliced so at each bite, one tasted more batter than eggplant. Will pass on this next time.

The cod was forgettable, it was too sweet and overcooked for my liking although the portion was generous for $8. However, the prawns were a hit. Similar in crunchy texture to the prawns with wasabi mayonnaise that is popular in Chinese restaurants here, this version was laced with a hint of curry paste. The flavour was very subtle yet familiar…tasted like Ma’s fish curry!

The lobster ramen was so-so, the noodles looked more like ee-fu noodles instead of ramen. At first bite the noodles tasted rather plain, just spicy, but after biting into the half-lobster and then back into the noodles, somehow it tasted better.

My absolute favourite dish of the night though was my crab appetizer duo. There was a chilled swimmer crab leg salad with bamboo shoots and some kind of crunchy black fungus, dressed with a creamy sauce that I detected some wasabi in. This was accompanied by chopped up bits of a crab claw and diced vegetables coated in salted egg yolk. Loved the powdery texture of the salted egg yolk on the crab and even though this dish came early, I saved a portion till the end so I could finish off my meal with it.


The dessert presentation was a little drama, my mango puree with pomelo and coconut ice cream arrived in a conical glass resting inside another glass filled with dried ice. Stupid waiter faced the smoke right in my face when he placed the dish down but he was forgiven when I took a bite of the coconut ice cream, which was rich, creamy and tasted home made. I luuuuurve coconut ice cream!


The bill came out to about $150, which was reasonable considering the number of dishes we had. There are other things on the menu I want to try, will definitely go back before the year is out!

Another Olympic medal for Singapore...finally!

Today is historic for Singapore finally won another Olympic medal after a 48-year wait. The Women's Table Tennis team settled for silver after losing to hosts China, but the colour of the medal was expected.

On Friday as I left work, there was a crowd of office workers glued around the TV sets at the Aviva reception keenly watching the semi-final clash between us and Korea. As I walked past them, I caught a glimpse of the scoreline that was in Singapore's favour, smiled to myself and kept fingers crossed. By the time I reached home 20 mins later, the match was over and we were guaranteed silver.

There was not much hope of beating China on their home ground, qualifying for the final was already a major achievement and I think most Singaporeans had accepted we would be second. But still I think many tuned in to their TV sets anyway, especially to watch the victory ceremony. Nevermind that our players were formerly Chinese citizens, they still did us proud.

I got all excited when I spotted my former SSC bosses on TV, recognised Marilyn my director and Jin Teik the CEO cheering Team Singapore on. Having worked at the Sports Council, albeit briefly, I have a greater appreciation for Singapore athletes. There's still a week left in the Olympics, maybe we stand a chance for medals in the table tennis singles...time will tell.

Oh, and there was a follow up report today in the Straits Times about the NETS surcharge. NETS came out to say they had different agreements with different merchants therefore Singapore Pools and Comfort are allowed to impose a surcharge. For Singapore Pools, it's so it can remind the public to 'bet within their means' and for Comfort the fee is to defray its operating costs after investing in technology.

Pish tosh I say! There shouldn't be such double standards. Of all the merchants using NETS, these two are the ones who can well afford to absorb the operating costs! The transport company invested in technology to bring greater convenience to passengers, but chose to pass on their expenses to customers...despite being worth $3 billion!

And another thing, the government today defended the increase in ERP rates saying that it keeps traffic flowing. In the first place, there are more cars on the road because the government made owning a car more affordable by reducing the cost of ownership and increasing the COE quotas. The ERP rates, hours and locations are only going to keep going up since there isn't likely to be a reduction in car ownership.

And, whenever people source alternative routes to avoid paying ERP, traffic builds up on those roads, prompting the LTA to build a gantry to ease traffic. It's a no-win situation for drivers and the usual Singaporean reaction is to grumble for bit and then move on because we know whatever we say won't reverse the decisions.

The other day Nick and I got caught in a jam at Eu Tong Sen Street despite passing through a $2 gantry. Pay money, still get stuck in traffic! Let's face it, ERP is just another money-making venture, the congestion is just an excuse!

Double standards by NETS

Hmm, wonder if I should start boycotting using NETS and buying Singapore Pools...but then again, one is so convenient and the other is so tempting.

NETS recently hiked its fees to merchants wishing to use their system and rent their equipment, but some merchants have tried to pass on the extra costs to consumers by imposing a surcharge. Shops in the heartlands were hardest hit by the hikes and a recent Straits Times article highlighted their plight and also the fact that it was wrong to charge consumers for the transaction fees, as their agreement with NETS bars them from doing so.

Someone then wrote in to the Forum to question how come Singapore Pools were allowed to charge $0.20 per NETS transaction at their outlets and the reply from Singapore Pools this week bordered on stupid.

I quote their reply to the Forum page, "Singapore Pools introduced Nets in 2004 to give customers an alternative payment mode. As betting is not an essential activity, we have decided in the spirit of our responsible gaming policy, to pass on the Nets service charge to our customers in order to remind them that betting is an expense and they should bet within their means."

Not only does it not address how come SP are allowed to charge for using NETS, the sentence about charging customers to remind them to spend within their means is laughable! Whether one pays cash or NETS, what's a 20 cent reminder to a gambling addict? People use NETS for the sake of convenience!

Can't wait for what NETS and Singapore Pools will say next to defend their double standards.

Nat at 6 months

Natalie can hardly keep still nowadays, everytime you put her down, she rolls over like she's got ants in her pants. She tries to crawl, and she has sort of figured out how to move into an upright position from all fours. Except she's not very upright, more like she's lounging, like a reclining Buddha.

She had the second dose of her rotavirus vaccine last Sunday, and she couldn't sit still at the doctor's either, slipping and sliding all over his examining bed.

Nat has also been on semi-solids for a couple of weeks and I think she's enjoying it...well, she seems to like the cereal but screws up her face whenever something new is introduced.

The other day I tried carrots but she wasn't a fan. These last couple of days it has been pureed pumpkin. I must say the pumpkin tastes yummy and I stole a couple of bites. Will introduce mashed potato this weekend followed by sweet potato, and then it's on to the green veggies.

She's been able to hold her own bottles off and on but I bought some handles to attach to them...even though I have 3 other training cups at home!

Yesterday I assembled her new high chair instead of waiting for Nick to get round to it, thank goodness it was mostly idiot-proof! Nick thought I spent too much on a high chair, but I couldn't resist the print, so much more fun than the insipid chairs I've seen. It's pretty cushy and plush, I told him I bought her a 'first-class' seat instead of economy. Love the recline function and adjustable height!

Yes I'm talking to you

For some time now, I have noticed hostile behaviour from a fellow colleague. It's not in my nature to be bitchy and I try to avoid office politics and conflict but I just had to vent today.

Let's call this person who gives me attitude "Two-Face". On one hand she's smiley and friendly to everyone else, but to me and another PA, she's just curt, territorial, defensive and downright rude. When she needs to find out something from me, she's slightly polite but whenever I need to ask something, I always hesitate and think it over twice knowing that I will get major attitude.

Her hostility towards me stems from my first few weeks at work when I allegedly took a plastic folder (worth like 30 cents maybe!) from her stash without asking. I vaguely remember helping myself to a folder when I used to sit next to her, I probably thought it wouldn't be missed since there were so many, plus isn't it all office stationery? There's no yours or mine, they don't belong to us in the first place.

If she was present at the time of the incident, I'm quite sure I would have asked first before taking, but I can't remember if she was there at the time or not. But if she was, and if she had minded then, she could have said something instead of bearing a grudge all this while. But if she wasn't present, then she has no life, it would mean she did a stock-take of her stationery! I have no time for petty people!

Anyway, ever since then, everytime I asked her for something, the reply was always in a 'holier than thou' tone. Today when I went over to ask if a particular colleague was in town, this was the exchange:

Me (standing right in front of her cubicle partition): Is X in town?

Two-Face (typing frantically away without pausing or looking up): Are you talking to me?

Me (thinking to self, "No! I'm talking to myself! Duh!"): Yeeeaaa...
Two-Face (still typing frantically away and avoiding eye contact): He's in KL.
Me: When will he be back?

Two-Face (to the computer screen): Next week.

I just walked away but not before I made eye contact with her poor neighbour, who has been subjected to her anal behaviour of late. Two-Face is very territorial though she's sharing a cubicle. If anything crosses her invisible boundaries on the desk, it's pushed back onto what she deems is your space.

Some people ah....

Robinsons! Still sayang you...

Ok, I think apologies are in order. I might have jumped the gun when I ranted about Robinsons, they called me back after receiving my email and said that it's possible the crib bedding set I saw at Kiddy Palace contains one less piece i.e. the comforter.

I admit I did not scrutinize the label to confirm the contents but assumed it was the exact same thing since it looked very similar in terms of size to the package I bought. Instead of going back to Marina to check again, I gave them a call to enquire. The lady couldn't speak English much but said that the bedding sets they had retailed around $80 plus for non-comforter, and under $140 for those with comforter, which sounds about right.

Robinsons! I'm sorry...still sayang you. To prove it, I purchased Nutty a Chicco high chair from them yesterday...they had one last piece in the 'Seventy' print I like. At first I thought Babytown.com.sg sold it for cheaper, then I realised they were different models, the one online more basic. Apparently the one I got is award winning, it has 7 seat heights, 3 seat reclines, 2 seat pads and an adjustable footrest. I only hope Nat behaves in it.

Was close to buying a Graco Contempo high chair, but all they had in Singapore was an ugly frog print and the one I like online is out of stock. When comparing the two side by side, the Chicco won hands down, not just because of the print but some of its functions too...I can see why it's a favourite!