Give peas a chance!

Nutty gave peas a chance last Sunday. Geddit? Give Peace a Chance? Corny, I know.

The peas tasted kind of yummy to me, and she screwed up her face when she first tried them but after a couple of spoons, she seemed to be enjoying them. So much so that she insisted on feeding herself.

We played tug-of-war with the spoon throughout the entire feed, everytime I wrestled the spoon from her, she would scream blue murder! And everytime she waved it around, I was worried that she would splatter my white walls! (Yes, I was more concerned about the addition of green abstract art to the walls than encouraging her independence!)

She is growing more independent by the day and displaying a lot of determination in getting what she wants, wonder if it has anything to do with being Aquarian?

Channeling my inner Sus-ilo

Played badminton on Saturday morning after a very long time...can't even remember how many years it has been, but Nick thinks it's at least 4! We have 4 indoor courts at the top of our multistorey carpark and we finally got round to booking them after Kevin and Kavi decided they wanted to play.

Last Thursday, I met with some of the SES alumni for dinner at Olive Tree but before that I was busy buying rackets at Bugis Junction. The World of Sports outlet only had HEAD rackets, I would have preferred Yonex but was desperate so spent $122 on 2 rackets.

I had booked 2 courts from 10am-12pm and was half expecting everyone to be late but they were all there before me. In fact Kavi called at 9.40am to say she had arrived and I was still in bed! Scrambled to get ready and met them at the carpark. Playing on Saturday was me, Nick, Kavi, Siva, Ajen and Kevin, while Swana hung out with Nat at home.

Having not played in a while, I did not want to overdo it so I didn't run around so much. But I channeled my inner Ronald Susilo and won both my singles and mixed doubles 'matches'! Ok, so it was only one set each, but still I won!

We are playing again this Saturday and I am hoping to make it a weekly affair. If any of you want to play, call me!

Future Supermodel?

Natalie had her first photoshoot today, the first of many I'm sure! It's probably going to be an annual affair till she's like 21 or something! I brought so many outfits to the studio, and of course there was not enough time for all of them. Actually I think Maryann the photographer would have obliged, just that Nick accidentally took some of the outfits with him when he left midway!

Nutty was most co-operative, it wasn't too difficult to make her smile but she did get tired towards the end. The shoot ended when she tried to crawl and fell forward on her face...poor baby bawled her eyes out but got over it in no time. Don't think she's ever felt pain like that to date, we've been so kiasu about her safety thus far. Oh well, she's a tough cookie.

After the shoot, me, Ma and Arlyn headed to Mustafa, where I bought a printed silk material that the rest absolutely hated and a chiffon sari with metallic butterflies which everyone absolutely loved.

Anyways, here are some pictures from today's shoot by The Studio Loft. Am so pleased!

Miss Independent

Having only just figured out how to sit properly, the munchkin can now stand in the cot. She can pull herself upright by holding on to the bars, scary and dangerous because her cot bars are not very high and any minute now she's gonna attempt to crawl out!

Sssssurprise!

Yesterday was Swana's birthday and the poor lamb had no clue what's been going on behind her back for the last couple of weeks as me, Monica and Rachel planned her a surprise baby shower cum birthday party.

It's been really difficult keeping a straight face whenever I talked to her about her birthday and yesterday our efforts paid off because she was genuinely surprised when she walked through her own home door.

Initially the party was supposed to have been held at my house and we would get her to come over on the pretext of a family tea. But a few days before the party, Kevin suggested to do it at Cafe Gomez instead where we could set up while he took her out for Champagne Brunch.

So, I spent Saturday running errands like getting partyware from Spotlight, grocery shopping and collecting her cake. Yesterday morning when I called to wish her, she mentioned she and Kevin were attending mass at St Teresa's and she asked us to join them.

So we met there and during mass, I kept receiving smses from various people regarding the party. I had to type replies inside my handbag and face my phone away from her because she was sitting right next to me. She thought I was just trying to be discreet because the homily was going on!

She then invited us to join them for brunch but we gave all sorts of excuses. In the end she decided that she and Kevin would come over to my place for tea and bring snacks from Great World City. But she didn't know Kevin's mission was to bring her back to their own home, his excuse being that he needed to use the loo urgently to make a 'deposit'!

So while Nick dropped them off at Grand Copthorne where they were dining, I bought some last minute stuff from Tanjong Pagar and then it was a mad scramble to Jalan Membina to decorate and prepare the food, plus tidy up a little.

Rachel and Monica, my co-conspirators were already waiting under the block and soon enough, other guests started arriving. Everyone was so excited and we were on edge because there was so many latecomers and we kept opening and locking the door and hiding shoes.

Kavi cut it very fine, arriving barely two minutes before Kevin and Swana! We were so noisy inside the house, but shushed as soon as we saw them coming out of the lift from the peephole. As she unlocked the door we yelled "Surprise" and she was stunned! Some of us thought her waterbag might burst from all that excitement, but thankfully it stayed intact.

The look of disbelief on her face was priceless, she went, "What the...?" and then proceeded to turn around and smack Kevin before she started tearing and hugging everyone. Ha ha!

It was a few minutes before everyone settled down and she was filled in on how we'd been scheming behind her back. Kevin's been known to make a pitstop at home to use the facilities so she didn't think anything of it when he said he needed to 'go' really badly. She said he even did the toilet shuffle dance!

Anyways, tea was served soon enough and people helped themselves to the fried beehoon, mee goreng and chicken curry that Mummy had prepared along with the snacks ordered from Delifrance and Sakae Sushi.

Then it was time for the first baby shower game called "Guess the Belly". Slips of paper were handed out and guests had to guess what Swana's waist circumference was. Some people even tried to approximate by holding balloons in front of them and using the tape measure! The answer was 116cm and Sham won with a guess of 120cm.

The next game was "Pass the Dirty Diaper". I had melted some chocolate into a clean diaper and the game was like passing the parcel, whoever was holding on to the diaper when the music stopped was eliminated until we had 2 contestants standing...they each won prizes!

Lastly was "Guess the Celebrity Baby", I had prepared some quiz sheets featuring pictures of 8 celebrity babies and people had to guess who they were. Anjali and Swana scored full marks...the former is American and is in tune with the latest gossip, while the latter watches E! all the time!

After she opened her pressies, we cut the cake. Kevin said to make it a big cake, so I ordered a 2.5kg one from Centre Ps, same place I ordered my birthday cake. They are known for their Grand Cru Royale, a rich chocolate mousse with hazelnut crunch and boy was it worth every cent. The cake was simply divine!

More people came later in the evening and we hung around till the end to help her clean up. This is the first surprise party I have ever been a part of and it was so much fun planning. I think if it were me, I would have smelled a rat but my darling sister can be so obtuse sometimes and oblivious to what's going on in the world.

Anyway, happy birthday Ziggy! Love ya!

There she goes

Vig finally left on Saturday evening, the whole farewell was a blur... everything happened so fast!

Her flight was scheduled to leave at 7.45 pm and I only got to the airport at close to 6.30 pm, but yet she hadn't checked in! Apparently the system could not find any records of her visa application therefore she had to apply on the spot and wait till it was processed.

While waiting for this, she was busy checking her things, talking to other friends and family but we (i.e. the Witches) didn't have any alone time with her and just chatted among ourselves. There was a huge turnout, a testament to how well-loved she is.


Before we knew it, she was checked in and already walking towards the immigration section. I think it was really hard for her to leave hence she didn't really go round to hug and say goodbye to all present, just some family members and close friends.


And then she was off, past the security guards and past the biometric passport scans. The girls were quite wistful as Vig made her way, but we are all also happy for her and the new adventures that await.


Here's an sms she sent the next day:

"I thank u from da bottom of my heart 4 being there 4 me yest. Walkin away from those I care much abt was prob one of da hardest thing I have done...painful...i have landed safely. Am starting my new journey...u will always be in my heart. Take care...love u very much..."

Aww shucks, love u too Vig.

Here's to a new life, Vig

Vig is off to a new life tomorrow, having gotten Australian PR. How exciting! On one hand I am pleased for her and the adventures that await (not to mention the prospect of free accommodation in Sydney!), but on the other, it just won't be the same without her around.

Last night we had dinner with the other two Witches - Puni and Chris - in some really ulu place! Have you heard of Buckaroo, near Sembawang Park? Well, it's really far in the middle of some terrace houses in a northern part of the island. It's similar in concept to Jerry's I suppose, large servings of American food although prices were a little steep considering its coffeeshop ambience.

We shared the clam chowder, calamari, half chicken & ribs, and grilled dory, plus a side of mashed potato, which I must say was pretty damn good! The clam chowder wasn't too bad either, it was served in a bread bowl. The mains came in huge portions, wasn't too impressed with the ribs. They weren't the 'fall apart at the bones' kind and the sauce was ordinary.

After dinner we adjourned to Puni's house at Admiralty...haven't been there in a while and she had made some changes. Nikesh's room had a large wall mural of safari animals, it was actually printed strips of adhesive vinyl. Shall have to get Nat one of those if and when I redo her room, apparently the site they ordered from has lots of princessy prints!

There was also a decorative motif painted onto her master bedroom wall, and I recognised the print from the WinkPlay website. To customise the print on vinyl would have cost over $500 but Siva the artist copied the design and painted it on their wall instead. Nice!

We made Puni show us all her Delirious Divas purchases to date and after much persuasion Chris tried on a couple of tops. These were snug for all of us, but fit her just nicely....dammit! Reminds me I have to lose weight still!

Cinderella a.k.a me, had to return home at midnight but the rest of the girls stayed on. Geez, at 11.45 pm Mummy was already calling to check on me...that's what I get for being under the same roof!

Anyway, I had a really lovely time, it's always great to catch up with old friends and I'm gonna miss Vig a lot. Sigh.