A walk in the park

Took the kids out for some fresh air at the Botanics, they have been so sick with Nat just recovering from a chest infection which needed a course of anti-biotics. Poor bubba, she had x-rays and blood tests done, Sasha had the same bug before her but Nat fared worse. Gigi too kena-ed so they have missed quite a bit of school.




We spent some time by the pond, feeding the fish and spotting dragonflies. At one point Wendy even caught a dragonfly so we could inspect it up close.

Headed to Great World for lunch and ended up at Jack's Place. For some reason, Nat loved her meal there and I think Jack's Place is her new favourite restaurant!

H&M is finally here!

Now I don't have to seek out H&Ms when overseas, we have our own store finally! It opened on 3rd September and I wanted to wait till the crowds died down before checking it out for myself.

Made an attempt yesterday, Sham had rented a car for the weekend and she, me and Swana went to town for tea, parking ourselves at Oriole Cafe nearby (the chocolate cake was to die for!) but there was a queue to enter the store and we had limited time so I gave up.



Couldn't stand the suspense for long though and ventured during lunch time today. No queue to enter but the fitting rooms and cashiers had long queues. I 'die die' had to buy something and ended up with some undies for Nat and a silver tee for me.

Prices for some items appear to be cheaper than even Europe, there was a maxi dress I remember seeing in Italy for 59 euros at least, and around $120 in Tokyo but here it was 79 SGD. Can't wait to go back and browse properly!

Flea fie fo fum

The resident's committee organised a neighbourhood flea market this weekend and I managed to secure myself a stall.



At $5 I didn't have much to lose but I didn't sort my stuff out till the last minute and I have to say I could have done a lot better if my display had been more inviting. I had low expectations, anything above $5o bucks would be a bonus and I was counting on the Filipino residents to appreciate my clothes, bags and shoes, and they did to a certain extent.

Things started really slow, I was resigned to not selling anything at all in the beginning but it picked up from lunchtime. Some fellow stallholders commented I had nice things but I think my prices were considered high. But a lot of my stuff were either brand new or hardly used so I think my prices were justified.

Some bargain hunters recognised quality when they saw it, snatching up a Coach small hobo for $30 and then asking me whether I had more of the same. I offered to bring another Coach bag from home for an interested party and sold it to her for $90 later in the day. Swana came to visit and brought a couple of bags of her own, and found a buyer for a large Coach tote, it was a steal for him at just $1o0, considering she paid over 400 USD for the bag and only carried it a couple of times.

I also sold a small Christian Dior bag for a ridiculous $20, something I bought on eBay and never used because it was a little worn out. In the end I made over $250, not bad for 5 hours work! Got to meet and interact with some of the neighbours too so overall it was a good event, and I hope they do it again because I have more stuff to get rid!

Mickey and friends

It was mother-daughter bonding time today as we brought the girls to see Mickey and Friends at Marina Bay Sands.

Swana helped to bring Nat from Membina and I met them after work. Gigi and Nat hammed it up for the camera at MBS, they loved the place.


We met with Felina and Sarah, and Riley and Kaelash and all of them were excited to see the show. However when the lights dimmed and there was an announcement about darkness and smoke effects, Nat got scared and started covering her eyes and pinching her nose. Gigi also hates dark spaces and she wanted to leave the room.


Thank goodness they got over their anxiety during the first song and settled down to watch the show properly. It was energetic and upbeat, but I must say there was more of the 'friends' than Mickey himself with appearances by Genie, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, the Toy Story gang and Princess Ariel and Prince Eric.



We walked around the bay for a bit after the show, the girls chasing each other and just having a jolly good time.

During the show I thought Nat felt a bit warm, and as it turns out she was starting a fever. Looks like its Mummy Nightingale nights ahead...

Gigi is 3!

Precocious Gigi is 3 today and there were 2 celebrations over the weekend.

Yesterday was the kiddy party at Amazonia, another indoor playground at Great World City. Nice and new and clean, a bit pricey on their playtime rates though. But the staff are friendly and attentive and the food provided was pretty decent, better than some other indoor playgrounds I've tried and I had lots of helpings!




The main highlight of the space is a giant slide, it was pretty steep and looked intimidating from the top but the kids loved it. Nat however was too chicken to try, Sasha went once with Wendy and I went a few times just for kicks.




Gigi wanted a yellow birthday cake, it's still her favourite colour and since she loves mice for some reason, Swana went with an Angelina Ballerina cake. Too cute!



Unfortunately Ananya, Riley and Reagan could not make it because they were sick, but Gigi still had some pals at the party, with BFF Nat ever ready to help blow out the candles.



Today was the family celebration at Membina where Ma made roti jala and curry, yum! It was a small intimate gathering with just immediate family along with Aunty Diana's sister from Kerala, Baby Aunty.




Gigi and Nat donned white floral dresses and blowed out the candles several times. Sasha wanted in on the action too...just 5 months till Nat is 4, gotta start planning soon!

O is for...

...Orchard Cafe.

The boy won a dinner buffet for 2 at Orchard Hotel a few months ago at a travel industry event so we saved it for O.


As he was having gastric pains, I ate for the 2 of us! Had chilled crab legs, scallops, prawns, chilli crab, durian pengat, drunken prawns etc. My favourite dish though was their fried beehoon with cabbage and pig trotters. The bee hoon bore the ‘wok hei’ fragrance which made it especially tasty.





I had booked us tickets to 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' at Lido after dinner. We both enjoyed the show, there was a twist towards the end that we both didn’t see coming. The new renovated Lido is looking good, wouldn’t mind watching shows there again.

Sassy Sasha

Sometimes I feel Sasha is older than 17 months because I find her quite smart and advanced for her age but that’s probably the result of having Nat and Gigi around to play with.



She’s taken to saying ‘mabuk’ whenever she falls down plus beating the floor, when she pirouettes she says ‘nina’ – short for ballerina, she can articulate when she wants something i.e. ‘I want’, ‘No want’, ‘Mine’. She also says ‘No more’, pulls my blouse and looks in and says ‘boobies’.

She can say ‘sticker’, ‘ohpopus’ (octopus), ‘diamond’, ‘square’ and a few other 3 syllable words like ‘triangle’, ‘rectangle’. Sometimes she babbles ‘Abi-amu’, and for a while I couldn’t figure what she meant, until someone pointed out it was for ‘Abby’ and ‘Elmo’, she says it so fast.


Ask her what colour something is and her answer is ‘pink’. Everything is pink!

She’s getting better at her shape sorter, finding the correct slots on her own. She’s been trying to dress herself, pulling down her shorts and trying to put it back on again.



When she wants to complain about Nat bullying her, her tone changes to a whine and she pouts and calls out Nat-nat in a distressed tone and looks to an adult for help.


She’s pleased with herself that she can jump, she drools incessantly. She can recognise Mummy’s block, she calls Kevin ‘gappa’ for Godpa, she’s quite attached to Wendy, she’s been coughing a lot the past few days, non-stop falling sick these bubbas!

Nat is 3yrs 7months, and has a tiny tiny mole growing above her lip, like mother like daughter! She’s sleeping more in her own bed, especially while Nick was away...am easing off the diapers during naptime and when we go out to places with decent bathrooms and the plan is to go diaperless to school when term starts.