Lunch at the Toa Payoh Hawker Centre

It was a very hot afternoon. The guys were perspiring like mad. But for the sake of healthier food, we still went ahead to Toa Payoh Hawker Centre (the one near Phillips) for lunch. Bumped into Ah Leng Jie Jie who was also there for lunch with her colleagues. She worked at Phillips. 

It's probably a bad choice to have hot soup in this kind of weather but it was good. While the rest had sliced fish mee sua and Irene had the porridge, I had sliced fish Ee Mian. With a glass of glass jelly drink... ... perfect. The noodle soup mixed with the runny egg tasted good. I like the milky and thick texture the egg yolk gave to the soup. And the noodles was of the right "crunch", not too soggy for a soup noodles.

Something healthier than yesterday's Ribeye Steak at Breeks. Hehehe! Oh, almost forgot, we also ordered the very famous carrot cake for sharing. Good to share the calories and food tastes much nicer when you share! :)

The carrot cake was only $3 and the serving was just nice for 5 of us. The top layer was crispy because of the good spread of egg which was burnt but not too much, while the bottom carrot cake was soft and starchy. A combination of a good white carrot cake. No wonder we had to wait for about 30 min for it.

Oh and also, we can't wait for tonight's Star Awards Dinner!!!!!!!!! YAY!

Value Creation Day 2013 - Time to Start Work

Last I know is that my director has spoken to CA to clear things up and I need to get started on putting things together for VCD. Feeling the stress coming but I think I just have to do one thing at a time.

I understand CA was given one week to consider her posting options.

Anyway, I have sort of drawn up the activities which I needed to do but yet to put in the timeline because I have no expectations of what comes first or how long each activity will need. But to get started I think I need to just put a tentative one. Just to get a clearer mind on what I should do coming up in the coming week... ...

- Settle on the timeline for all the sub-activities
- Draft the specs for the exhibition and event management
- Email to the relevant directors to nominate 2 reps for the exhibition (on service related innovations)
- Decide on the awardees to be recognised on stage
- Email to relevant officers for their photos (to show them recognition by photos on screen)

I think this should be what I need to accomplish at least in the coming week. 

2nd Lesson at Heguru

Today was Evans' 2nd lesson at Heguru. This time, hubby brought him in while I waited outside. I observed snippets of the class, of course was very careful so that Evans would not catch a glimpse of me. He was attentive. I think papa did a good job to keep him interested in the class. If it was for me, I guess I would have given in to him and let him snack in class!

On the other hand, his classmate, Nic did not take the class that well. Just at the start, he already started wailing very loudly. That happened the last time too but his mama managed to calm him down then. Today was his papa's turn and his papa was not able to console him. He brought Nic up the play room in the end where he finally stopped crying.

Proud of our little boy for being able to stay in class. We hope he will be able to do so all the way!

WAY TO GO, BOY BOY!

Proud of hubby and Evans, well-behaved in the class

Gathering at Ah Keong's New Place

We all have been waiting for soooooo long for Ah Keong's invitation to his new house since new year. We have heard about the hardship he has gone through in getting the renovation done. Anyway, last night the gang (Giin Bo, Yvonne, Seek Ann, Mel & BL, KS & family and us) went to his place at far far Bt Panjang for dinner and gathering.

It was about 30 mins' drive to his place. When we finally reached his place, the rest of the gang was already there but they were merely earlier but about 10 mins. Keong and LJ's house was big (it was considered an EA). The renovation was nicely done. I particularly like the kitchen which was square and rather spacious.

It was a good gathering for the kids. We have Ah Keong's super active KH, Mel and BL's adventurous Josh and quiet Joel, KS's gals (YQ and EQ) and our little Evans. Though frankly there wasn't much interaction between the kids, it was still a good chance for them to see one another. Evans was in fact a little scared of KH because he was way "rougher' than the other kids.

Evans really liked to enter their kitchen to see the washing machine, even though it wasn't moving. He was just very curious about the stuff in there. And he kept walking in and out.

YQ was surprisingly participative in the grown-ups' chat. I wasn't sure what they were talking about because I was busy attending to Evans and also chatting with LJ and Zen. But I caught the moment where Ah Bo tried to share about an old, lame but funny story with YQ and the rest of the gang. That was the 5th time I was hearing the story. LOL! But I think YQ did not catch the joke, so.. not impressed.

Thanks to Ah Keong and LJ for the hospitality and of course to KH for sharing his toys!

Cinta Manis at Novena Square

Tell me, how to be healthy like this. Ok, I only have myself to blame.

Once again lunch with my kakis was not quite a healthy choice, at Cinta Manis (Novena Square). The former Ah Mei Cafe has closed down and now, it is Cinta Manis which sells nasi lemak, mee siam, kuehs, etc. Pretty much the sinful food. One of their signature items was this Nasi Lemak Chicken Rendang. Big portion which costs $7.80 nett. You can choose the set meal too (at $11.80) which comes with a drink and a kueh as dessert.

Today I just ordered the normal nasi lemak, which was good enough for me. Yummy but sinful. Really got to work it all out this week.

Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Singapura

Passed by the newly opened Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Singapura. Wow, loooooooong queue!

It was almost as popular as the one in HK. No reservations, no take-aways. Not sure how the standard was though... ... Maybe we can give it a try some day... if we do not mind the wait.

Buffet, Shopping & Movie with Hubby

Took leave yesterday. Have wanted to go for a long lunch and then movie with hubby.

Since the last visit to Kiseki with BL and Irene, I have been raving about the food and I think that tempted hubby a little. So yesterday, we went there for lunch. 

The restaurant was not very packed when we were there but the crowd built up in no time! And for the first stop, I "introduced" my hubby to my favourite segment of the buffet..... SASHIMI! Hubby and I enjoyed the lunch. He also found the sashimi fresh but thought the salmon was sliced too thick. Kind of got sick after a while.  We agreed that the food here was so much better than the 1st visit we had years back, at Heeren.

Too busy eating... did not really take a lot of photos this time round. But I must say besides the sashimi, I liked its Yakitori sticks. Very tender chicken skewer! Another surprise was the waffle which I did not get to try the last time. It was thick yet springy. Tasted perfect on its own. But I had it with a scoop of ... ... CHOCOLATE ice cream! YAY! There was chocolate ice cream this time round. And there was another new flavour, BLACK SESAME. I did not try that but hubby did and he said it was nice. I did not really expect the waffle to be yummy, especially in buffet like this. But it was!

Not sure if it was because we ate too much or we did not have any coffees, we felt tired in the afternoon.

Just felt lazy while shopping around for my wallet. I have been trying to find the perfect wallet for myself since the last one was spoilt. And this one I am using is an old Adidas wallet which is slowly "disintegrating" as well. It sheds "dandruffs" into my bag so I think it's better to buy a new one soon.

But all the walk went futile. Did not really find anything I like very much. So gotta keep looking!

Had Ya Kun's Kopi O before heading to PS for Iron Man 3. We did not have dinner, just light snacks for the movie, i.e. Meatballs combo (with COKE). First time trying that, it was ok but as usual $7.50 for that, we rather sneaked in MacDonalds. :P

We watched Iron Man 3. I enjoyed the movie despite bearing with the urge to pee towards half of the show. I very much wanted to run to the toilet but I did not want to miss the excitement, plus I was seated almost in the middle of the row which made it very challenging for me to run out. So I held on and tried to distract myself but focusing on the movie. And when the time came with the credits up, I dashed out and thankfully the exit was just next to the toilet with many cubicles!!! I spared no time and.. ... WHAT A RELIEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But sigh, I MISSED THE LAST SCENE! Yes there was a last scene after the credits, which nowadays movies like to do that! It's like keeping the audience in suspense and having something unexpected coming up at the last scene so that audience will stay through till the end. But this tactics was getting kind of common. Sometimes, we waited till the end for nothing. LOL. Anyway hubby tried to share with me the last scene.

What do I think about this movie? It's of the Iron Man's standard. The effects were good and the story line was ok. I enjoyed the action but it is not a movie which I will think about in time to come. Just like any other super heroes movies, I guess, they do not leave much of an impression in me. But Robert Downey Jr was charming and Gwyneth Paltrow was gorgeous, that was for sure.

A bit of digression. Before I met hubby for lunch, I went to Mt Elizabeth to visit Tracy and her baby! She gave birth on 23 Apr evening. Little fellow weighs 2.7KG and 50cm long. Cutie! No name yet because he was out 2 weeks early. It was nice talking to Tracy and EK and also seeing little Ah Boy sleeping so nicely was a bliss.

CONGRATS TO TRACY AND EK!

Traumatizing Haircut

As Evans grows up, he is more aware of the happenings around him. And giving a haircut is not as easy as before.

I still remember I gave him the 1st haircut, which was the "anyhow" cut. He was only 5 months old then so I thought it didn't really matter if the haircut was ugly. HEHE!

Evans's first haircut by Me!

It has been 3 months since he last had his haircut and he really needs one now because it has been so hot lately.

His usual "hairdresser" is my mom's hairdresser, who lives in the neighbouring block. Once we stepped into her house, Evans seemed to be more wary. He kept calling me, then held my hands tightly. He knew that IT WAS COMING when the aunty was sort of preparing the chair and shaver, etc. He started with a whimper which very soon magnified into loud cries, even before the haircut!!!

Oh my goodness, looking at the way he cried, it was as if someone wanted to kill him or give him great pain. I felt sorry that he has to go through this but he really needs to get used to this. Part of growing up???

Poor bb boy... I kept holding him while he struggled and tugged his way. My mom had to hold his head firm so that the aunty could get the more difficult part and trim his hair. It was a relief for us, a huge one for Evans when the haircut finally stopped (less than 15 min).

A very relieved boy, eagerly going back home

 

He looked so innocent and relieved

It must have been very traumatixing for Evans. :( Hope that he will not have nightmare tonight.

Barbacoa Restaurant @ City Square Mall

Sometimes we really don't know what to eat for lunch. Today's kakis were Miss Ang, Irene and Kok.

We threw out ideas on where to go, but subjected to Mr Kok's ok because usually he would have some comments. But good thing was he was willing to drive the ladies out for lunch because I did not feel like lunching at Far East or anywhere nearby.  It's more refreshing to get out.

Still not sure of what to eat, we made our way to City Square Mall where there were many choices. Pizza Hut? Aston's? EAT? Saizeriya? NO! Mr Kok suggested we try out this "new" restaurant Barbacoa, upon receiving its pamphlet from the staff. "Set Meal starting from $5.50"

The place served spaghetti, western food, appetisers, salads and desserts. And everyone decided to give their spaghetti a try. How it worked was:

Starting at $5.50 for the pasta in either white creamy, base pesto olio or tomato sauce (Olio for me)
Add $1 for the vegetables item (I chose shitake mushrooms)
Add $2 for poultry
Add $3 for fish (I chose pan fried salmon)
Free soup (cream of mushroom) and dessert (one scoop of ice cream)

So in a way you could customise what you want in your pasta. Total my order costed $9.50 (without service and GST charges).

The soup was nothing impressive. It did look a little pale and diluted but there was at least some taste to it. Just that really nothing to wow about.

Here comes our pastas... ...

The portions were not big but good enough but were pretty oily. We could see the layer of oil shining on top of our pastas.

Mr Kok's order was the meatiest with both fish and chicken but it was $9.50 so sounds quite calue for money. But I would still prefer some vege to go with the pasta.

Then I saw Miss Ang's order. It was..... a little pathetic with just one small little piece of pan fried dory. :S Maybe usually people ordered 2 items to go with the noodles but Miss Ang had only 1 piece of fishy. Haha!

My salmon and mushrooms combination was not bad. Savoury enough and I could still enjoy it despite the oil and blandness. The mushrooms complemented the bland salmon so balancing the taste out.

Dessert was just 1 scoop of very icy cold ice cream. Though only one tiny scoop, I could tell it was not bad with bits of chocolate in it. But "not shiok"! So, actually the free soup and ice cream... really nothing fantastic. Don't let it be the reason to enter the restaurant. But can definitely try the pasta and probably the western food which looked enticing. Next time... ...

The Coming Themed Dinner

Remember the last time I mentioned that the funny colleagues suggested to have a sports-themed dinner. THAT did not materialise due to "poor response". For some reason, we decided to push the dinner back.

Now, the dinner is supposedly to be happening next Tues, Labour Day's eve. And the theme is gonna be....

STAR AWARDS!!!

Hahahaha! The theme is simple, just dress up as though you are attending a wedding function. Easy... but we are requesting a little bit more from the guys.. to at least wear a tie or a suit or a bow-tie! Very simple request because I know most of them would "complain" about this theme. As for the ladies, I think it's simpler... We can even work the look by wearing shorts but must pair it with heels to look the part. Have yet to decide what to wear but we shall see... ...

Hope this will happen. :S

Prawn Fried Rice with Egg

Prawn Fried Rice with Egg
(2 servings)

300g of prawn (diced)
10 small dried scallops (soaked and sliced)
1 carrot (diced)
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
2 eggs, mixed with pepper
1 cup of rice (cooked and stored in fridge overnight)

Marination:
Soya Sauce (2 teaspoon)
Salt (1 teaspoon)
Huadiao Wine (2 dashes)
Sesame Oil (2 teaspoons)
Pepper (2 dashes)

1. Marinate the prawns and let it set for 10 min
2. Heat up the wok and put a tablespoon of oil
3. Stir fry the garlic until it lets off the aroma
4. Put in the prawn and stir fry until they are 80% done
5. Pour in the carrots and fry together for 3 min
6. Pour in the cold rice and fry all ingredients together over large fire for a few min
7. Make a well and pour in the egg mix, then slowly mix in the rice and other ingredients (to make sure the ingredients are covered evenly with the egg mix)
8. Put in the scallops and fry for a few more min
9. Serve (Optional: with Bonito Flakes)

First Lesson at Heguru

21 Apr 10AM --> Evans' 1st class ever

We brought Evans for his 1st class this morning, at Heguru. The class was filled with about 8 kids with their mommies. All of them were lively. There were 2 teachers, one main and one assistant.

For me, as an adult, the class started as a shock to me. Shocked because the teacher started to talk really loudly and really fast!!! Yes this is part of the right brain training, where right brain processes info in very fast speed. The teacher really went all out LOUD AND QUICK through the entire 1 hour class!!!!!!! I must say it wasn't easy!

Evans was still considered quite well-behaved by not making any big fuss during the class (except kept asking for "mum mum" halfway through the class) while another boy was crying, even before halfway through. I think the sheer volume and speed overwhelmed that boy. Evans was in a blur when the class went on but I certainly hope he enjoyed himself and would get warmed up when it's his 2nd class. Maybe will let papa bring him in then.

As for whether the class is really effective, I don't think if there is a way to measure that. Now he is still unaware and has very limited vocab so I think most times he may not even understand what the teacher is saying. That's ok for me. Just want him to experience a class setting and get some sort of learning. By right the right - brain training is to aid them develop their creative side and help them in their future learning.

the name card on the floor

 

Towards the end, the mommies led our babies out the classroom to do some simple physical exercise. But mommies did most of the work like skipping and jumping because our babies couldn't do it themselves so we had to carry them and simulate skipping and all.... phew! TIRING!

Could tell Evans was a little warmed up towards the end of the class. He was waving BYE very happily to his classmates and to the teacher. Very good boy!

There was another floor above and there was a play room. Evans was more interested in playing the toys in there than he was in the class... hahah!

"Good Job My Darling Boy.... Jia You for the 2nd lesson!"

Saturday Evening at Marina Square

Promised Evans that we would bring on to the train train if he was a good boy.

He really loved to take train rides so mama and papa brought him. Initially wanted to go to NEX because we have yet to go there before but Galant told me that NEX was very crowded. So we headed to City Hall instead.

As for dinner we went to Bao Today. I love the food there and I always ordere the Beef Brisket noodles. Tasty sauce and springy noodles! Hubby ordered the same thing. 

And usual, we would order something for sharing and this is how we grow fat. :S But they really serve nice dimsum, and I ordered the prawn mango roll while hubby ordered the black sesame bao, just to try.

The noodles and the prawn mango roll were delectable. But I was really full after my mee. I think I wasn't that hungry to begin with because I had a late lunch (which hubby bought me chicken drumstick rice! YUM! With Kopi-O! Perfect!). Hubby commented that the baos were not fantastic. Tasted weird and he preferred their "Liu Sha Bao", which I have eaten before and they are good, the custard filling would just explode once you sink your teeth into the bun.... hmmmmmmm...

Papa and mama played this little game that we held our hands when Evans was walking ahead of us. Then when we called out to him to lure him into seeing us holding hands, he quickly ran to us and tried his best to separate our interlocking hands. HAHAH!!! After he succeeded, he would hold my hand and walk with me. It was a funny sight! We enjoyed it so much that we kept doing it, and this little boy smiled cheekily and continued to separate us. :P He was jealous of papa... so adorable.

Think Evans had a good time shopping around Marina Square. He fell asleep pretty soon that night. :)

Extra Note: I am catching up on my blog on Sunday late night because Evans is at my parents'... I am blogging while THE HOLIDAY is playing on my DVD player. And I just have a cuppa green tea and snacking on the pork floss egg rolls which my bro bought me from his recent BKK trip. This is nice, if only I do not have to work tomorrow ... :(