Gu Ma Jia, Mothers' Day Dinner

Last night, I brought my family to Gu Ma House (45 Tai Thong Crescent) for a belated Mothers' Day dinner. This was their first time so I thought to recommend some of the dishes which I tried the last time... I think generally they like the food; at least another option for dinners, instead of sticking to the same old places.

They had different preferences. Papa, hubby and bro liked the oyster omelette; mama liked the beancurd soup and ubin lala bee hoon; bro liked the yam ring ribs; Evans liked..... everything. But I think most were not a fan of the fried bean-jal (long beans with fried brinjal). The lady boss, Gu Ma was there too and she thanked us for dining at her restaurant. Evans seemed very pleased with the food. 

Should have taken this at the start of the dinner, but too hungry

After dinner, we went to the D'zerts Cafe near our place. Had the waffle with (cookies and cream) ice cream, topped with salted caramel sauce. What a nice way to end the evening outing with the yummy dessert. The waffle was crispy and the ice cream was creamy too! 

Can't wait for the waffle to fall into his mouth

Dinner at The Palete, UE Square

Another random outing to somewhere we seldom venture on weekends. Lately I have been feeling lazy as well so many weekends, we merely went somewhere nearby. But this evening was a nice one, hubby brought us to UE Square for dinner and light tea.

Needless to say, Evans was the most excited one to seeing new places and going to new restaurant and cafe.

The Palette is a small little restaurant in the UE Square. Its concept is similar to The Lighthouse but I think the variety there was a little limited and the price was a bit steeper too. The manager and the waitress liked to talk to Evans and teased him by calling him "Boss" and "Young Sir". It was funny but we felt a wee bit uncomfortable because they came to our table pretty often. And Evans was a little shy. The manager gave him a wine cork as a token and then he also served him a complimentary scoop of vanilla ice cream!!! I was still joking to hubby that hopefully no free ice cream. Luckily Evans was the kiddo who would not dig into the ice cream without our approval. We just gave him a few spoons of it; then hubby and I just discreetly tried to finish the rest of it. Not that we are strict parents but Evans really has the tendency to cough after cold stuff at night. So I did not want to take the risk. I must say the ice cream was delicious as its vanilla flavour was really rich and with the chocolate fudge, it was really refreshing and cooling. Great stuff for the hot weather!!!

At the Palete

After dinner, it was time to take a walk around our old "playground" at Robertson Walk with the familiar surroundings but no longer the familiar clubs like Newsroom, Dbl O, Mdm Wong... Most has turned into eateries and pubs. We used to club here really often, especially Newsroom and Mdm Wong. Felt really nice to revisit the place. There were many people dining around. Happening still.

We ended up at Pies and Coffee for some drinks and apple tart, bringing back some nice memories as I have been there with the gang after our Korean BBQ dinner for Ah Bo's farewell. The cafe was nice and quiet, very suitable for small group gathering and families like ours; unlike the pubs and diners outside which were a little rowdy. 

And before we called it a night...

At the UE Square with Do-Re-Mi

Dialogue with Director

The dialogue with DCD was a little unusual from the usual one. He asked me to book a different room which should not be a meeting room but more like a interactive space. He wanted to conduct an exercise with us, the group above 35 years old.

As an OD practitioner, he facilitated this session for the 6 of us. We were supposed to be paired up first. Then the question came

"What was the one notable moment from the past which made you feel extremely proud about yourself?"

I found the question familiar, probably I had that during my LSC. Anyway, I paired up with Paul, someone whom I seldom really chatted with. But I must say after the session, I got to know him a little better and actually he is quite nice to chat with. So the exercise went 1 party had to tell their story to the other. The other could only listen and not interrupt or ask any questions. After the story was shared, the listener would repeat the story back to the teller; and then we swopped. He wanted us to practice active listening.

As a listener, I found it challenging to hold back my questions to clarify what Paul wanted to tell me. I thought it was be more spontaneous if I could just ask. My mind was clouded by many questions, so I kept bringing myself back to focus on what Paul was sharing. It came across to me I was not at peace in my mind. Though I could tell back what he shared, I felt the things I could tell was limited. It could be because this was exactly what he shared or I was really muffled by my own noise. As a storyteller, it was much easier for me as I love to share my personal experience.

At the end of the session, we were supposed to share how did we feel about listening intently to the other person; and how did we feel when the other person repeat my story back. Most of us sort of re-lived that moment when we told the story and have the other party repeated it. It felt good that the other party showed interest in our proud moments. So Director led us to think about our traits of that notable moment.

Knowing what my strengths are; what gives me energy when I am doing certain things and how is it benefitting the world, and by this; it means what will people pay me for doing this (so that I can sustain myself). He drew his favourite 3 circles:

You will be extremely happy with you life and feeling blissful if what you are doing now is the pink shaded portion where all the 3 traits come together. That's why some people love their job and can do it forever. I think that works for my Director. He always said people at our age should know what we want to do with our lives and that always makes me concerned because I am really not clear and probably have no guts to pursue what I really think I like and can do it.

Having said that, the key thing is not for us to keep dwelling what I like, etc but more of keeping ourselves quiet and reflect more. Reflection, is probably one thing which I seldom practise; with the distractions around me like deadlines, kiddo, work, wants and needs. Maybe that's why I do not have that level of clarity to understand myself deeper. Director said if we want to know our strengths, ask our parents. Hmmm, I wonder if that would work for me because it would sound really awkward to my parents and brother. Haha! But seriously I doubt myself at times, about my strengths when there is no confirmation/affirmation. Confidence is on the fence. I am not sure. Like what Giin Bo mentioned, if a kid is very confident of himself and is very clear of his own identity, bullies will not be able to hurt his esteem. True but it really takes a lot for a kid to know that, isn't it. So it suddenly reminded me to be sensitive on the words used on Evans. Discipline yet not let him lose his confidence; Educate yet not let him feel incompetent.

Taking it a bit at a time... r e f l e c t i o n

Steamboat at Bo's

Just a random suggestion during one lunch. When we were talking about the army stew served in the korean restaurant, Giin Bo mentioned it would be easy to prepare by just dumping the ingredients in. So we set a date to have this dinner at his place.

Was looking forward to this though it was just a simple affair. Still it felt cosy to have this dinner with the gang.... KS, Irene, Bo and Sio. Was glad Irene could join us at the last minute. I am sure Dana (Bo's dog) felt the same as could tell she liked Irene. Dana kept tailing and smelling Irene. Good gal she was.... she didn't bark a bit at us.

Oh in the end we did not have the army stew but steamboat instead. Healthier choice and I prefer that actually. Thanks to Bo for preparing the stuff and thanks to Sio for bringing the induction cooker and steamboat pot. Irene also brought the ladles and satay sauce!!! We were spoilt for choices on the sauces. Lol.

Ah Bo still prepared soft drinks, ice cream and chips for us but we were really too full after the steamboat. At least the rest of the gang still got to enjoy the Haagan Daas but I already surrendered with a big and satisfied tummy. It was a pity we did not take a group photo.

We should do this once a while!!!

DOTS

It has been a while since I last updated the blog. I was kind of busy with catching up with the Korean drama which almost everyone was so hyped up about, Yes it was Descendants of the Sun (DOTS). I saw many posts on Facebook and many were talking about it. I started off to want to see what the big deal was. And I am a convert too. :)

The 16-episode Korean drama caught my heart with its plot, its very charming actors, its songs and its pace. It was not a typical korean drama that usually portrayed some traditional family or office setting, about in-laws or families, This drama is nothing quite "korean" about it, except for the language, The Song-Song couple was the key attraction. They make really attractive on-screen couple and many netizens hope they are real-life couple! Song Joong-Ki and Song Hye-Kyo made really good chemistry and they easily convinced us about the love they have for each other in the drama.

And unlike the other kind of dramas, the pace was fast and spontaneous. How the plot developed and escalated with no "dull" moments. But of course, not all might feel that way. Like a colleague of mine, who did not feel moved at all about the scenes. It almost sounds like she is a heartless person, LOL!

The songs in the show were great and I had them on loop when I needed some "peace" and waking up in the office. Great soundtrack for me to keep my focus, :)

So yah, the past weeks, I was busy with this drama... rewatching the episodes which I have fast-forwarded and watched its epilogues too.

Great show, great cast, great songs. :)

Evans and Stomach Flu

Evans had not fully recovered from the "flu" from the staycation. Though he was not feeling nasty, he did sound like he has got some phlegm and is coughing on and off.

Last Sunday morning was quite an episode. I thought he was sleeping quite ok until at 5 to 6am, he started to cough and it led to him puking. Oh the mess on the mattress and on him. Woke me and my hubby up and we frantically tried to clean up the mess. Evans felt bad and he puked a few times in the toilet too. I was hoping that this was a good sign that he could throw up the phlegm, which it looked like it. And I tried to pat him to sleep after tidying up his mess but he just wouldn't go back to sleep. When asked him if he wanted to eat any breakfast, he said he wanted milk. I was happy that he asked for food but then turned out, after 1 sip of milk, 1 bite of the bread, he appeared uncomfortable and said he was full. It was wasteful but no choice. And we thought the oatmeal might perk his appetite but he ended up puking a little bit more. Poor boy boy.

So got to miss his Heguru class, as I thought better bring him to see Dr Tan. My preference would be to go to his PD but her clinic is not open on Sundays. Nonetheless, Dr Tan showered him with care and talked to him very nicely so that Evans was not afraid of him. Dr Tan explained that similar to the last case, it was flu virus entering the stomach. The flu might have lingered for too long and it now became stomach flu, that triggered his vomiting. This was slightly different from the last experience when he has bad diarrhea. Evans was having a slight fever too.

One thing I am also afraid of is feeding him Dr Tan's medicines, I think some of them tasted bitter and very "medicinal", Evans did not like it. The older he is, he is more fussy over the tastes of the medicines and he would gag if he did not like it. I was able to feed him for the 1st time but who knows at night, when I fed him with the "Wind" medicine again, he couldn't contain his dislike and he just gagged and threw up again. Hmm, another mess in the kitchen. Not just the medicine but the porridge as well. Mama helped a lot to clean Evans and to clean up the kitchen. Really thankful for her help. Evans also spent the night with her and was glad to know that his sleep was ok. But he got to miss school the next few days because he was tired. But when he finally got to go school on Weds, he was very excited. According to my bro, he was "yay yay yay-ing". Such a cutie. :)

Character or Just Plain Rebellion

Today a few conversations which I had with my colleagues made me reflect about my blunt expressions especially to the people or colleagues whom I dislike.

Put it nicely, I am being real and authentic. But is it healthy? I am not trying to find excuses but usually if I appear cold to you, it must have been a cumulative effect of the things you have done that irk me to the max.    Or it could plainly be a clash in personality or values. After understanding myself on what really irks me, I think I need to justify the value behind being this real to the people I dislike. It is not as if they really care and I am not changing anything for the better. Hmmm... it will be difficult because I have tried to be non-chalant to their presence but I felt irritated by the things they said or the way they said certain things. I know I would not be the one asking them to join in lunch. Talking about this, I really should learn from the older folks for being so approachable to everyone and lunch with anyone is easy.

I am now more aware of my behaviour and certainly hope I can pull my brake on my instant reflexes when I am face to face with those I don't like. I shall see.