G is for...

...Golden Peony and Gap.


Today was the boy's 38th birthday and since he prefers Asian over Western food, I decided to take him out for lunch at Golden Peony at Conrad. In the end, he paid the bill though, haha.

We ordered a few dim sum dishes, the har kow was nice, so was the Teochew vegetarian dumplings. The century egg porridge was watery and didn't have any pork in it or come with any crispy you tiao.



They had a few dishes that they charged by the piece, I tried the chicken and eggplant wrapped in filo pastry and a scallop and prawn stuffed beancurd...both were nice but I think there is better dim sum elsewhere.



After lunch, I made him buy jeans at Gap using the voucher I gave him on our anniversary. Then we walked around Marina Square where he was looking for a navy jacket but nothing in his size.



Bought cake from Great World, forgetting that I had asked Swana to get cake too, so we had two for dinner, though we cut the one I bought. His mom came over and we tapau-ed fried rice and hor fun. Very simple celebration...

Easter Sunday

Today was Easter and we were really late for mass! Had to stand at the back of St Josephs...

Lunch was a family affair with the Gomezs at Melting Pot Cafe, Holiday Inn. The spread was decent and there was no crowd...lovely. Unfortunately couldn't whack the buffet as much as I would have liked because Sasha had ants in her pants and was being difficult to feed.





It was quite worth it with a HSBC promo for 1-for-1, so for 10 adults, the bill was only 200+. There was even an egg-painting corner where Nat and Gigi attempted to decorate some eggs and rabbit balloons were given out the kids, along with chocolate-coated marshmallows and candy.



In the evening we headed to AMK where Mildred had bought an advance birthday cake for Nick. And of course the girls couldn't wait to blow the candles!


Ooh, by the way, the boy appeared in today's Sunday Times in the Foodie Confidential column, not that he's much of a foodie if you ask me! I don't quite trust his tastebuds...years of chili have killed them!

Camie is One!

Adri's daughter Camellia turned 1 today and we were invited to her birthday party. Susan and Joanne couldn't make it so us Lims didn't know anyone at the party aside from Adri!

It was supposed to have been outdoors by the pool at her parents' condo with a bouncy castle and all but Mother Nature didn't cooperate and chose to rain down heavily just when we were reaching. Huddled under our umbrellas, we found Adri's brother and hubby moving the catered food up to her parents' house and so we made our way up. Poor wet bouncy castle!

We had only brought Sasha, Nat wanted to hang out at Membina with Gigi after Chinese class. I think it's only the first or second time we've gone out with Sasha alone which reminds me we need to do it more regularly so she gets our undivided attention.



We hung out in Adri's old room, that had been converted to a playroom. Sasha was initially shy and clingy but warmed up in no time, attacking the massive amount of toys!

There was a slight emergency with the cake when Ben went to collect it, apparently the bakery didn't make their order. Adri was quite upset but kept her cool. She had ordered a No.1 cake but they claimed they didn't have the order, even though Ben produced a receipt.

They had to make do with another cake, but I can just imagine how Adri would have felt Camie's first birthday ruined somewhat...first with the washed out bouncy castle, then the missing cake. But she didn't let it affect her and carried on with the party. In any case Camie is still young and wouldn't have known any better and I'm sure she had fun at her party!

Good Friday

Today was Good Friday and we had a quiet day in. Nick went for mass on his own and while the kids napped in the afternoon, we got quite a lot of household chores done. Wendy left on Tuesday night for a month's home leave after we renewed her contract. We were supposed to get a new helper but it fell through (long story!) and in the end we came to an agreement with Wendy to stay on.

Anyway, the month ahead is going to be a challenge because we'll have to fend for ourselves. No uninterrupted sleep for a month! I am using my childcare leave to take 3 mornings a week off work, the other 2 days WFH in the mornings till Wendy returns.

But the good thing is that at least I get to spend more time with the girls, preparing their meals and being really hands on. I like the fact that I get to see Nat up her schoolbus and I think the girls enjoy having their mother around more. At least I hope so!



We've had some nice sunsets of late, I love our view!




A bunch of us headed to Kaelash's house in the evening, quite impromptuly. The kids had a blast re-enacting the 3 Little Pigs again and the adults managed to get some chit-chat in. Love long weekends!

Sasha is 2!

Sasha is 2 today, although she behaves 6 months older than she really is. She talks in full sentences though she has trouble differentiating between ‘you’ and ‘me’ and when to use them but she knows when to use ‘my’! Her sentences are 8-10 words long.




She’s really a tomboy and fearless. The latest thing she does for fun is to throw all my pillows into her playpen and then jump in, sometimes swinging in even though there may be a gap of about a foot between the playpen and the bed. Still no sense of danger this one!


She’s been teething of late, drooling so much that she has to change her t-shirts often, because she refuses to wear a bib when biting on a rubber toothbrush. The terrible two tantrums are starting, she can cry over nothing or when she doesn’t get her way or when someone takes a toy away from her. And she is LOUD!



She picks up songs very fast. Now she can sing the whole of Twinkle Twinkle in Mandarin and sing-a-long to new songs after hearing them 2-3 times. She brushes her own teeth but eats the toothpaste. She’s so cheeky, deliberately changing the words of songs to push my buttons. For example, I would sing:

“Mummy loves you so, so much,
Yes she does, yes she does
Mummy loves you so, so much
Please hug Mummy!”

But Sasha will sing the song, and change it to ‘Please hug Daddy’ at the end on purpose!

She loves to eat corn and French beans, most crunchy vegetables in fact. Hardly ever says no to food, though the other day, Ma tried to feed her some hard-boiled egg yolk and she spat it out…just like Nick, he only eats the whites!

When she wakes in the mornings, Wendy will get her to transfer pek kuehs or gingko nuts from one bowl to another using a spoon…practice her psycho-motor skills. And she is good at it, doesn’t spill anything.



She’s a carefree dancer, she and Nat love watching a Hindi music video called Senorita from a movie called Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and the two of them will dance away. Nat will imitate the flamenco moves and hand movements, and carry her skirt like the actresses.

This morning she opened all the presents she received yesterday and we went out for mass at St Joseph, followed by lunch at the Noodle Place in Centrepoint.


Held a celebratory dinner at Parco Caffe with immediate family, cake was from Flor Patisserie again. Next year will do a bigger party for her…

Recipe: Strawberry Tart

1 box of strawberries, hulled and cut into 4 slices (I used Korean ones)
A tablespoon of jam or marmalade, mixed with a teaspoon of water (for glazing)
1 sweet short crust tart shell
1 cup of pastry cream

Sweet short crust pastry

• 250gm plain flour, sifted
• 125gm salted or unsalted butter, chilled, finely chopped
• 80gm icing sugar, sifted
• 2 egg yolks

1. Mix flour, sugar and butter in a large bowl until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Whisk egg yolks then add to flour mixture. Mix with hands until it begins to form large clumps.
3. Knead gently to bring together. Form into a flat disc for a round tart. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours. (Can keep in fridge up to 3 days)
4. When ready to use, remove from fridge let thaw for about 10 mins. As the dough can be crumbly, place the disc in a 8 to 9 inch tart pan directly and press down into the edges and sides to form the crust.
5. Place the pan in the freezer for 20 minutes or longer, then prick the bottom all over with a fork to allow steam to escape. Bake in a 205°C oven for 5 mins, before reducing to 180°C for 15 mins or till golden brown.
6. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before adding the filling.

Pastry Cream recipe

• 300ml milk
• ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 3 egg yolks
• 50gm white sugar
• 20gm all purpose flour
• 20gm corn flour

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan and scrape the vanilla seeds in, throw in the pod. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.
2. Concurrently, beat the sugar and eggs till pale, thick ribbons in a large bowl. Add the flour and corn flour and gently stir in.
3. Slowly pour the hot milk into the mixture, whisking as you go along until it is all combined.
4. Return the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring consistently until it thickens. Remove from heat and cover with a layer of cling wrap to prevent a skin from forming till ready to use. Makes enough for 1 tart.

When everything has cooled, fill the tart shell with the pastry cream and arrange the strawberry slices in a circle starting from the outside and build your way in. Place 1 full strawberry in the middle and glaze with a pastry brush. Voila!

Sasha’s Berry Special 2nd Birthday

The pumpkin is officially 2 tomorrow and to usher it in, we held a small party at home today with a Strawberry Shortcake (SS) theme. Decided to keep things small with mainly the cousin gang and a few good friends but still the house felt crowded with all the little kids.


I made this invite and Ma, Lita and Wendy helped to decorate the house, mummy even bought SS files to paste on the walls.




Cake was from Prima, I went with a vanilla sponge and added the fresh strawberry filling. We’ve been wanting to cater from Sakunthala’s for a while now and since the majority of guests were ‘mama’, it was the perfect time to do so. For the kids, we prepared hot dogs, vegetarian pasta and fish fingers with fries.



In honour of the theme, I attempted to make a strawberry tart to add to dessert and it turned out pretty but I’m not sure about the taste though! I was told it was nice but I think I need to make it again so I can judge for myself. I used fresh vanilla beans for the pastry cream and made the crust from scratch, recipe to follow.


Call me a slack parent but this time round, I didn’t really plan any games, counting on the kids to entertain themselves. Blame it on birthday fatigue after Nat’s birthday! I only prepared some colouring sheets for a contest and bought some tattoos and sparklers and that was about it!




Got Rena and Adrian to judge and Sarah and Nat were the shortlisted winners. I had Strawberry Shortcake compact mirrors as a prize but it caused some whining among the little girlies who didn’t get one!


I got to meet Khayshaa again, she’s grown and she looks so much like her big brother. She’s so light and was drooling all over!


The birthday girl herself was a little overwhelmed when it came to the cake-cutting, she was most shy! But she managed to blow out her own candles, she’s been practicing!





Next up, Nick’s birthday!