Small gathering

Today, I invited over a couple of my colleagues for dinner. The main reason was because one of my colleagues planned to go Korea for holiday and wanted to borrow some winter clothings from me and CT. So instead of just coming over my place to collect the clothes, I thought,"why not just stay for dinner?"

So anyway, all of us felt, 3 couples would be nice to just gather round the table for dinner. Caleb immediately got comfortable with our guests and started playing with them.

Here's what Vicky prepared for dinner. A very simple meal. Not too fanciful.

Pan fried garlic chicken thighs,


steamed sea bass

as well as chinese chye sim.


Also prepared papaya chicken soup with peanuts.


It was actually quite nice to have a small gathering and company for the night. Hoped the men enjoyed themselves too. Hehe..Guess they did since Caleb preferred the men's company as he amused them.

Piano lessons?

I know how most parents would enrol their children for piano lessons every Saturday so as to get their basics in music. Right at this moment, I have no idea whether I should or not.

I would like to...BUT the thought of what I went through when I was in primary one to five, going through those examinations in a cold room alone with a very strict examiner with butterflies in my stomach as I play those memorised pieces, really sap out any joy I have about music at that time....I really do not want my children to go through all that.



Any advise for me? Should I or should I not?

Japanese mood

Recently my friend gave me a packet of Japanese curry rice and toppings to add to your Jap rice. So I decided that one of the days during this week, I would prepare a Japanese meal.

So here's what I used to prepare for my meal.


Prepared a salmon fish miso soup with silken beancurd- spring onions & seaweed as garnish.


Then there's the Jap curry which my friend gave me. Added diced chicken meat and potato cubes into it.


Also got unagi (Jap eel) as it was on offer in Giant hypermart.


And then the rice, which definitely looked so much more tasty with the toppings and looked nice aesthetically as well which seems to psycho part of your brain that it tastes good already even before you try it.


Also had the Jap sweet beancurd skin to stuff with rice and top with some sweet brown pickles and unagi


And like every meal, we must have veggies as I love them as well as Caleb. So I was thinking quite hard what kind of veggies is considered Japanese..In the end, I gave up and decided that I shall just make do with a non-Chinese dish. Everything doesnt need to be perfect. :)


Here's Caleb trying to steal some food as we were laying out the dishes.


By the way, he loves picking on rice or veggies before meals.

Had a satisfying dinner!

Tatoo Artist

I know that most children enjoy drawing all over the place, including the body and since I became a mum, I dread this day would happen as its a big headache.

At about a year back, Caleb has already started drawing on our walls, it has also drawn on our sofa with crayons (hope this serves as a warning to parents with young children who are deciding to get expensive furniture).

Today, he started drawing on himself with the marker. He drew his shirt, his legs and even his stomach. Sigh..



Danielle was intrigued by it, including his belly button. I have no idea why both my children loves to touch belly buttons



Now I am dreading the day Danielle does the same too by drawing everywhere...I am mentally prepared.

Party @ Newton Suites

Today, I attended a first month baby party at Newton Suites Condominium, along Newton Road, near United Square. It is 36-storey, modern and exclusive Condo.

When we first arrived, Caleb looked really tired and moody as you can see from this picture.



The party area was at the 6th floor, where the swimming pool was. A very nice place for party but kind of dangerous for young kids if left unattended as the kid can easily jump into the water without realising the depth and danger of it.



We had a tough time feeding him. So Vicky did try to put him to sleep but eventually, he didnt sleep and instead, he became so happy and active as he was playing with the water.


Danielle, too, couldnt resist it when she saw Caleb playing in the water. So we sat her down on the wading pool and she was having so much fun.


Glad I have two kids who enjoy playing with water. I hope they will grow up loving the waters and feeling comfortable and confident in it.

Who's copying who?

I feel at times that I have twins at home. Not only they look quite alike (proven by the fact when I show Caleb his baby photos and ask him who is this? He would reply, "Meimei") but they also imitate each other.


Many people mentioned that the second child would develop faster because he/she would follow the elder one to do whatever they do. I feel its quite true to a certain extent because Danielle really copies what Caleb does and so far, she has developed much faster. She has been eating rice and skipping the porridge stage.


And now at 10 months, she has already learnt to walk by herself. Check it out!

I do not expect much from my 2 kids, but each time, they never fail to amaze me with a new word or a new skill learnt. I am thankful to the one who created Caleb and Danielle and given me and CT the responsibility to look after them.

Graduation 'Nite'

Today, my school had their annual graduation ceremony as it marks the end of school for the Sec 4 and 5 as they go on a study break, in preparation for their O levels.

It is quite enjoyable to be taking a back seat as I am only a subject teacher of the graduating classes and not the form teacher as the form teacher had to go up on stage to announce the names of each student in the class for them to go up on stage to collect their certificate.

So, I went to the hall just when it was about to start and I plopped myself right at the back of the hall together with other subject teachers. Just as the Sec 4E1 class was about to go collect their certificates on stage, my vice principal made an announcement for all subject teachers teaching the class, to go up on stage to shake hands with the students as well...I thought, "shucks, I cant slack now.."

While on stage as I was shaking hand with each and every student, I told the rest of the teachers on stage that it feels just like the end of a wedding dinner. So I actually joked to one student whom I was shaking hands with and said," Thanks for coming to my wedding."

Here are some shots taken with my students from 4E1




From 5N1, who happens to be in the same church as me.


and my ex-students whom I taught before when they were in Sec 1!



I do wish them all the best for the O Levels and that they have learnt something positive from me during my time with them and also values from sharing with them personal life experiences, motivational/inspirational stories, videos, quotes etc. They can forget me but hopefully, not the life lessons.

All the best!!!

2 kids and still not used to it...

Who says having more kids means we are used to changing their smelly diapers?

At times, don't like means don't like. It doesnt matter how many kids we have or how many million times we change their diapers...the smell still remains unbearable for CT.

Even Caleb 'fainted' at the smell of Danielle's poo!



On the other hand, the one thing I can get used to is probably when the kids get presents! I feel like a kid once again, though its not for me!

Recently, my church celebrated children's day for the kids above 2 years old and they had a party for the kids. This was what Caleb received- a heart-shaped balloon, 2 playdoughs, 1 box of koko krunch and a story book.




I was probably more excited than Caleb when we saw the presents. Oh well...

Unique food

I feel so blessed to be living in Singapore because we have access to all sorts of food. In the supermarket, I managed to buy a box of kiwi berries. Its quite sweet and Danielle, especially, loves to eat it! However, its best to remove the skin as it might sting your tongue (the same kind of sting you get from eating pineapple).



Another unique food I recently ate was duck's tongue. It isnt my first time eating the tongue of a bird-be it duck or goose, but it was definitely my first time eating from a packet!

One of my colleagues actually went China and brought it to school to give away. Since I am rather adventurous with food, I didnt mind trying even though my other colleagues shun away.

In the end, I ate all up though I didnt really like the taste. It tasted like salty glue. I treated it as a challenge and wanted to train my mind to eat it even though my brain tells me that it doesnt taste like food.



My colleague even wanted to puke after watching me eat as I spit out the bones bit by bit into the dustbin! Ha! I had fun grossing them out.

They handed me theirs and I brought home to test CT out and I was amazed at how CT actually liked it.

Maybe because I prepared him for the worse that eventually, when he ate it, it didnt taste so bad.



The next day, I went back and told my colleague, who gave me the duck tongue, that my hubby actually liked it and in the end, he passed me the whole big packet, but it was duck gizzard instead. I preferred the gizzard instead as its chewy and the texture is nicer, though the same 'salty glue' taste was still there.


Eventually, I gave the rest to my mum who absolutely loves it! Hmm..all I can say is, one man's meat is really another man's poison or rather, "it's all in the mind.."

Couple time

This afternoon, we went to my mum-in-law's place for lunch. Caleb left the place with Keelia's sunglasses on. He refused to take it off.

Its strange how he liked wearing it that no matter how the sunglasses keep falling off, he still insists on wearing it.



Even Danielle noticed something strange on Caleb that she kept staring at him.



That's my boy at this stage in his life.


At night, CT and I left the kids at home with Vicky and went on a date to Orchard. We took the train there. Purpose of this date was to eat wagyu beef.

We first went to Orchard Central- a newly opened mall in Orchard. Quite a number of stalls still empty.


They had interesting narrow path ways in the shopping mall.


And took a picture of this gothic looking pot hanging beside the escalator.


We heard that there's a restaurant in Orchard Central that serves Wagyu beef, called "Grill out" restaurant. We went there and I felt the restaurant looked empty and still new. So, I went with my gut feeling and decided I shall stick to the original plan which was to go Angus Steak House for the beef since they had good ratings after doing some research over the internet.


So after a tour of Orchard Central, we went to Takashimaya for our wagyu beef at Angus Steak House.

What prompted us to eat Wagyu Beef is because CT had $250 to spend. His company gave him that amount to spend for a meal with the family to celebrate the opening of their new plant. All along I wanted to eat Wagyu Beef since its the holy grail of beef. So, I had to eat it since after hearing about the money we had given by the company!



We ordered 200g of Wagyu Sirloin and 200g of Wagyu Rib Eye. We chose these because Sirloin and Rib Eye is the fattest part. I love beef that has lots of fats!

It was a 5 course dinner. The first dish was a nicely pan fried cuttlefish ball with horseradish mayo sauce and salmon roe on top of french beans. Pardon me for such a description of the dish as they do not have a writeup of what we are eating and I didnt ask. So I am just describing as how I eat and taste of it! A very light, tasty and delicate dish. Loved it!



2nd course was a cream of mushroom soup. It was rich and tasty, but yet , it feels light as after slurping up the soup, you still want more! Went well with the complimentary bread roll.


3rd course was a fresh and light salad with soya sauce and balsamic vinegar taste to it.


Both CT and I seemed to chow down every dish almost immediately. Our behaviour probably didnt fit in at the nice and classy restaurant as we ate so fast but couldnt help it as the food was just so nice.

And finally, our main dish arrived!



Biting into the wagyu beef was practically effortless! It seems like I finally understood what "melts in your mouth" meant.

This was Wagyu Sirloin


And Wagyu Ribeye


Eating such steak, doesnt require any knives because of how tender it is.


Every bite that I took off the steak, I kept commenting to CT how happy I was to indulge in this and that I could just die now.

As for dessert, we had a cake with fruits and chocolate and butter sauce which once again tasted rich but light! Its quite an oxymoron because most rich dishes end up making you very full. But the texture was so light and fluffy that it didnt make me feel stuffed.


Oh, forgot to mention that I actually met one of my ex-students during our dinner. Guess I should get used to it since Singapore is so small and I will probably stay in teaching for some time.

After a satifying meal, we walked to another new mall-Ion Orchard to take a look. Initally, I felt unworthy to enter since it was all branded shops, but considering how often we come to Orchard, I felt, I might as well drop by inside to see.



The shops in Ion Orchard were very interesting. They even had a Christmas shop. When I saw it, I felt like I was in the streets of London during a cold winter night, glancing at the windows of this shop that sells Christmas ornaments, trains etc.

We spent time at the art gallery as well as the supermarket. I usually make it a point to explore new supermarkets because I always feel it would be an eye opening experience to see what interesting things they sell and yes, I was right! I managed to see not only the usual green, red and yellow bell peppers but black, purple, white and orange ones! Also saw them selling Japanese grapes which was royal black and I understand from the sales woman that the taste is just like red wine! If I was shopping alone, I would definitely buy some of it to try!

Went home straight after our tour of Ion Orchard. Really enjoyed my date with CT! Wonder when will be the next time...