Obligado Sergio for a lovely evening

Me and Nickypoo went on a date last night, attending the Sergio Mendes concert at the Esplanade Concert Hall, which was part of the Sun Festival. We actually took over Germaine's tickets, the woman had to go to New Zealand for work.

This nice colourful art display greeted us in the foyer, loved the colours.

Had dinner at Glutton's Bay, it was all quite romantic when you think about it. A light shower during sunset, Nickypoo 'braving' the rain to order our food, and then us huddling under a large umbrella to feast on chicken wings, kangkung and sambal stingray, while a cool breeze from Singapore River gently blew in our direction.

I had no expectations of the concert, only going on the basis that Sergio Mendes was legendary and Grammy-award winning, and I liked the song 'Magalenha' from the 'Dance With Me' soundtrack (which he didn't perform yesterday!).

I guess he's best known for his cover of Mas Que Nada and the remixed version with Black Eyed Peas, and aside from this I only knew 6-7 other songs performed, most of them bossa nova classics like The Girl from Ipanema but jazzed and funked up.

The whole performance was quite short, about 90 mins and he actually didn't perform Mas Que Nada till the first encore. That got most people clapping and dancing along and just when they were getting into the swing of things, he left the stage and said goodnight again. But the audience called out for more and back he came for another song.

Overall we enjoyed ourselves, am glad Nickypoo had fun, we don't get out on our own very often these days and it's nice to have some time alone. He mentioned he has to go Shanghai for a day next month and I am trying my darndest to convince him to extend his stay and take me along. Doesn't look like it's going to happen though. Phoooey.

So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, goodbye

The munchkin can sort of wave goodbye now, though it's not quite a fluid movement or gentle wave - more like she's flagging a taxi very frantically! Still, it's progress. She only does it when prompted so she's starting to understand our language!

Swana has been trying to teach her how to kiss cheeks as well but all we get is drool on our faces!

Had dinner at the MIL's on Sunday and imagine my surprise when she whipped out a potty for Nat! Nat is less than 9 months and doesn't know the difference between pee and poop and the MIL wants to train her to sit on a potty already?

And it wasn't even a proper sitting potty, looked like a small flowerpot! I think she felt Nat was ready after she saw Arlyn holding her over the toilet floor last week and the munchkin peed successfully. But that was only a temporary measure.

Nat's nappy rash of the previous week had developed into a fungal infection. Saw another doctor, at KK this time, and she was prescribed a steroid cream. To let her skin breathe, we resorted to cloth napkins for a few days and to avoid pee all over Swana's furniture, Arlyn brought Nat to the loo every 30 mins to empty her bladder.

Anyway, I don't intend to start potty training till Nat is around 18 months.

I do want to bring her swimming though, but haven't gotten round to buying a proper float. We went to Nya-nya's on Saturday and she got her first taste of the playground and pool. Held her as she went down the slides a couple of times, and dipped her feet into the baby pool. She was so excited and kicked her feet, I think she would enjoy being in the water.

Tapau-ed dinner from Old Airport Road that evening, had the Whitley Road Prawn Noodles. It had been a while so the noodles tasted extremely good, the soup stock was sweet and flavourful. Power!

Lady in Red

Jane and Albert's wedding festivities continued last night with the hosting of the dinner banquet. Me and Rena got to Sheraton before 5 pm and went up to suite 1807 where some of their relatives were already assembled and in various stages of getting dressed.

Jane looked pretty calm as we went through some of the music I shortlisted for their walk-ins, first course presentation etc. In the end we went with "From This Moment" for the first walk-in, "A Little Less Conversation" for the first course, "I Wanna Grow Old With You" for 2nd walk-in and "I'm Yours" for champagne pouring.

Between 5 -6.45 pm, we shuttled between the suite and ballroom, checking on the set-up and testing the music. The theme colours for the night were red and black, and the table settings and floral arrangements all reflected this. Coincidentally, Rena, Germaine and I also wore complementary outfits in black & white.

We hung out in the suite taking pictures until it was time for Jane to make her way down. There was the usual montage of photos shown just before the couple stepped in and our table was the noisiest as they walked the red carpet.

We were seated with some of our other SHATEC classmates namely Sophia, Josephine, Rebecca and Calisa, it was good seeing them again and reminiscing about school. During dinner we decided it was time for a class reunion and Josephine has been tasked with organising this.

After the 1st course, me, Rena and Jane's colleague Marilyn followed Jane up to the suite to help her change for the second walk-in. Her dress was a wine-coloured silk and it did cross our minds to play "Lady in Red" when she re-entered the ballroom but the song was a little slow and it would have been so cliched.

We made it back to our seats in time to see the highlights of the tea-ceremony played on the big screen. It was pretty funny even though I hated how I looked!

The rest of the dinner was pretty uneventful, we went on stage during the yum seng bit and gave the 'brothers' a run for their money in terms of loudness. Albert made a very short thank you speech and after that, they made their rounds for photo-taking.

Our table made them a special concoction which they only got to drink after everyone had vacated the ballroom. It was quite gross, a combination of red wine, beer, tea and a raw egg. Bleeuggh! We also made them kiss as long as we yum-senged and then after that, we all called it a night.

Silly Nick forgot to take out his cashcard when exiting the carpark...I had 2 complimentary coupons on me!

I can't believe it's all over already, am still recovering from Monday's tea ceremony! Don't know when the next wedding will be...but I love weddings!

Jane, I know you're reading so big hug and congratulations! Thanks for including me in your bridal party and hurry up and make some companions for Nat and Gabriel soon ok? Heh heh.

Reunited and it feels so good...

Nickypoo came back early Sunday morning and walked in the front door just as I was feeding Nat in the room. I told him not to come in because I knew once she was distracted by him, she wouldn't finish the milk, but having been away from his munchkin for over 10 days, he couldn't help himself.

And her reaction was priceless! She stopped drinking as expected, and at first she didn't recognise him and stared for a while, all confused. Then he started talking to her and her eyes lit up and she got all excited, giving him a big grin before holding her hands up to be carried. When he scooped her in his arms, she couldn't stop smiling and looked blissfully content.

I could just picture them running in slow motion to each other! Like some star-crossed lovers who beat the odds...

Me and Arlyn became chopped liver after that, for she wouldn't come to us when we held out our hands...all she wanted was Daddy - typical Daddy's little girl!

Presenting the new Mrs Neo

I never thought this day would come but it did and I am glad. Jane finally became Mrs Albert Neo proper today with the customary tea ceremony, though the banquet dinner is still a couple of days away.

We had to report to her house in Potong Pasir by 2 am so Nick sent me and Rena to Mustafa where we met Germaine to shop for sweet, sour, spicy and bitter ingredients. We chose gulab jamuns, lemons, chili padi and small bittergourds. Had supper of prata after that, and then went in search of mutton soup and tulang, "favourites" of Albert's.

We were thwarted at a couple of stalls in Serangoon and Kampong Glam which were either sold out or closed, and just when we were about to head to Newton, we stumbled upon a stall in Jalan Sultan proclaiming to be the King of Tulang! How convenient!

When we got to Jane's place, we noticed 4 wakes under the surrounding blocks. That made it 4 funerals and a wedding! But we didn't let it mar the occasion.

While Jane got her hair and make-up done, we prepared the stuff for the 'gatecrashing'. But before that, we got a sneak peek at her studio and outdoor photos which made us double up with laughter...there were some cheesy poses and we couldn't get over the fact that this was the same Jane we knew 13 years ago in SHATEC. Gone are her tomboy days and the Jane of today is a total 'gu-niang'!

Jane at my wedding in 2003 (2nd from right)

When Albert and his 'brothers' arrived at 3.30 am, we were somewhat disappointed. Aside from Albert, the rest weren't very game for our games! We asked Albert questions about Jane and surprise, surprise, his answers were all wrong and so he had to do some forfeits.

The first question was what her favourite song was - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! As his punishment, he had to sing it out loud for her, followed by downing the sweet/sour/bitter/spicy stuff. No one really put up any fuss so that was a bit anti-climatic.

The next answer on how old her oldest undies were was also wrong and his forfeit this time was for him and his buddies to don some disposable undies bearing alphabets and form a 6-letter word from the letters AENTML. Actually, the letters can form 3 different words but we gave chance and he only had to form the word MENTAL.

Finally when asked what Jane's favourite local dish was, he answered carrot cake. Though it was correct, the answer supplied by Jane for the games was prawn noodles so his next forfeit was to slurp up the mutton soup and tulang...which is not such a bad thing to most people!

When it came down to the negotiations on angpow, we didn't haggle so much. I may like to bargain when it comes to shopping but Jane's relatives were getting anxious about the time so he was let off easily.

Once he got to Jane's room, he gifted her with an Omega watch. It was a day for watches as later on, her parents also presented them with his and her Rolex during the tea ceremony.

Some traditions were observed before we departed for Albert's parents' place in Bukit Panjang, such as offerings of joss sticks and cutting up this poor suckling pig!

Over at Albert's, more respect was paid to ancestors and we were fed some mee sua which I wasn't particularly fond of. I like mee sua, but not with liver and kidney!

At around 5.15 am, we left Bukit Panjang for Woodlands, to Jane and Albert's new crib at La Casa Executive Condominium. Their house was done up nicely, lots of white furniture and down lighting. Us 5 'sisters' managed to power nap in the guest room, 3 on the bed and 2 on the window seats. The room was pitch dark and the aircon was on, it was like heaven!

Once it got bright enough, we proceeded downstairs for some group and couple shots before heading back to the house where Jane changed into her 'kua'. She even had a red flower stuck in her hair, so 'ang'!

On the way back to Bukit Panjang, we got caught up in a bad jam. A ten-minute journey turned into an hour's. But eventually we reached, and made a small detour to a Chinese temple for Jane and Albert to pray and get blessed before returning to his parents' place for the tea ceremony.

Albert's grandmother made a naughty comment in Hokkien when it was her turn, which gave everyone the giggles but the rest of it was uneventful. There was some food catered and we nibbled a little before going back to Potong Pasir, where more food awaited us.

There was an emotional moment when Jane served tea to her parents, not sure what her mum said to her but it got Jane all choked up, which made the rest of us teary as well.

This was my first time being involved in the traditional Chinese customs, it was great fun, despite the timing! I didn't really feel sleepy till we got to Woodlands and the quick snooze helped to re-energize us tired Dim Sum Dolly bunnies.

Ha ha, yes, we called ourselves Dim Sum Dollies, though perhaps Dim Sum Divas would have been more apt since our matching cheongsams were ordered from Delirious Divas. Can't wait till the dinner on Wednesday, some of our ex-classmates will be there and they are going to be stunned at Jane's metamorphosis.

All that's left is to figure out how to squeeze into my dinner dress!

Mani/pedi with the girls

OMG, Jane's customary wedding ceremony is on Monday morning from 3.30 am (yes, 'AM'!) and here I am before midnight yawning away. How to last till the wee hours of the morning? Will have to have some Coffee Bean before getting to her house.

Jane, Rena, Germaine, me and Jane's cousin Audrey all met earlier today to get our nails done at Fingerwork, a cosy nail and massage place at Circular Road. Service was pretty personalised though perhaps not so great...I think my nails were smoother after the manicure I had in Vietnam.

Good thing was that we were allowed to bring our own snacks and drinks and the owner Melissa even served fresh cut fruits.

Everyone was late so I started first. Couldn't decide what colour to pick, they were all so lovely. Am going to order OPI nail polish from a trolley cart at Raffles Place soon, anybody interested let me know, there are bulk discounts.

We chatted the afternoon away and made some headway in plotting Albert's 'downfall'...he is in for a rough time before he can collect his bride tomorrow!

Nappy rash, happy dash

My poor munchkin woke up with a high fever yesterday and had diarrhea throughout yesterday and today. At first we thought it was teething-related but it happened too many times for teething to be a factor.

The diarrhea also coincided with her starting on a new tin of hypo-allergenic formula which the MIL bought by mistake, but the doctor ruled that out too. Apparently she has a mild virus so we have switched to a lactose-free formula for the time being, till she recovers.

She could have caught it from anywhere since she puts EVERYTHING into her mouth but methinks the high chair she sat in at a Thai restaurant on Thursday night might have been the culprit. Though I had wiped it before she sat down, she kept licking the backrest whenever we took our eyes off her.

The poor dear has a bad case of nappy rash caused by her poop and sobs like the end of the world is coming whenever her bottom is wiped. Sigh.

The other day, she got her feet stuck in between the cot railings while sleeping, couldn't resist snapping a picture.

Speaking of feet, I love this pair of Old Navy espadrilles that Nat has outgrown.

Still on feet, I caved in and bought her a pair of 'high heels'. Created by a shoe lover in the States, they are called Heelarious - an apt name since I had a good laugh once she put her tiny feet in. There was a hot pink pair and of course I had to get that one!

These heels are not meant for walking...