Mum's birthday treat

My mum had been craving for suckling pig and so way before hand, my dad got the menu from the Chinese Restaurant to see if the dishes are ok.

We went to Dragon Phoenix Restaurant at Novotel Clarke Quay. Its our second time there. The last time we were there was 2 years back when Caleb was very young and inactive. Remembered the last time when Janine was pushing Caleb around in the pram, but now, they walked into the restaurant holding hands.


And 2 years later, there are 2 more additions to the family- birth of Danielle and Joyanne! So its quite interesting to see how much changes have taken place just within 2 years.



The chef from Dragon Phoenix Restaurant was actually the guy who served Singapore's first Chilli Crab. He is also popular for dishes like Kyoto Pork Ribs, Yam Basket and Phoenix Spring Chicken.

The food was not too bad. I liked the spring chicken because it was very juicy and tasty.


The yam basket was also probably one of the crispiest I have ever tasted.


The suckling pig was slightly disappointing because we felt there was a very strong pig smell when we ate. The pig was probably a bit too old for us to eat. Ha.




Then the chef took the remainder pig to fry with ginger and onions, which I felt still had that distinct pig smell. Sigh. What a waste.


Ended our dinner with a small birthday cake bought by my aunt! Very nice and light!


We had an enjoyable time..


And my mum did her birthday speech before we cut the cake. Her message was telling us to appreciate and cherish one another as a couple. (By the way, its Chung and Chloe's wedding anniversary today and they still came to celebrate my mum's birthday!)



Happy Birthday Mum! May you remain healthy and joyful!

Naturally funky

Danielle woke up one day with a shocking hairdo! I have never seen anything like that before, since birth!

At this stage, she usually cries when she first wakes up. So here's her funky hairdo with a sad face...



Natural mohawk look! I am amazed at how straight the hair can stand up for, considering the length of her hair. (Note that I didnt even touch or style any part of her hair. You are looking at THE real thang!)



From one wild looking gal to a demure and sweet one after she was dressed as we were preparing to go out to celebrate my mum's birthday! I am now convinced at the importance of hair as it really brings out the person in a different light.

The transformation...

Today, my colleague brought me to Monsoon-The Hair Phenomenon at Novena for a makeover of my hairstyle! Monsoon is run by Addy Lee, the guy who does hair for celebrities like Quan Yifeng, Mark Lee, Michelle Chia and hubby etc.. When I first entered, I was taken aback at the simplicity of the whole place. They just had chairs in front of full length mirrors. No tables in front at all!

I was pretty excited to change my look as frankly speaking, I was very sick of it and I knew all along that a change was needed..QUICK and BAD, especially since after given birth to 2 kids..

Another colleague also tagged along as she was very interested to see my makeover.

So here's before my haircut!




The process was quite enjoyable as my hairstylist, Wang was so professional. He cut at an amazing speed and it was rather immediate as to what kind of hairstyle would suit me. He was very decisive and quick.

Here's Wang's sidekick, nicknamed Little Mousie (because of her buckteeth) colouring my hair. She did the shampooing and blowing as well. I like her as we talked and talked throughout and it was fun to have her company as well!


After a while, my colleague who came to tag along, saw how professional Wang was that she decided to do up her hair as well! So funny as she didnt intend to do her hair here, since the place is not cheap!


As for Sarah, my colleague who brought us here...she sat on the chair and talked the whole time with us and the people there...until as the time passed by, she was talking less and less (a clear indication of how bored and tired she was getting). So she kept herself awake and busy by taking photos of herself!



After about 2 plus hours, here's my final look!



And here's Wang, my hairstylist, who is now my game buddy in facebook!


During my time here in Monsoon, I managed to catch 2 local celebrities in the shop. One was Michelle Chia's husband, Shuen Chen. (photo taken from Wanbao)



as well as Zhen Xiao Yin


Xiao Yin was sitting near me and happened to mention to me about my hair as she was also talking to Wang.

My total hair makeover cost me $230 (plus colouring of 2 colours, treatment and cut). Most people would be shocked to find me spending such money but if you ask me whether I would still go back, I would because it was worth every cent. I enjoyed the whole experience, the bond I have with my hairstylist and shampoo gal, the joy of seeing something different in me and having a new hairlook..I would definitely be back again but only for a next change in hairstyle.

The children had fun

This afternoon, went to my colleague's house warming party. Caleb was warmed up straight away when we arrived at the house, though it was his first time there. We entered and Caleb started climbing up the stairs to the second floor, entered the kids' room and started playing with korkor and his trains!





Danielle was also interacting with the other kids and 'walking' around to strangers so much so that there was this guy who eventually carried Danielle for quite a while.



In the evening, we went to Jumbo Seafood Restaurant for dinner. Went to the Kallang Branch which I suggested as the ambience is nice and there is a huge space for the kids to run around.





We ordered quite a number of dishes for just the 3 of us! Caleb didnt eat much as he was probably more attracted to the surroundings that he'd rather play than to eat.



Danielle sat down quite obediently and ate some food as well. But eventually, she also couldnt sit still and needed to get out to walk about.


We ordered fried rice with salted fish, crispy chicken skin with seafood paste..


Spinach beancurd dish with mushrooms...


and Spiced salt crab


We also had a complimentary dish from Jumbo since I am a member, which was scallops topped with pear with some mayo tasting sauce on it. Quite yummy.


Danielle and Caleb made some friends during dinner as Caleb was running around with the older girls and boys.

Children can really be a bridge for the parents to start interacting and talking despite not knowing each other beforehand. How interesting!

What has both of my children been up to?

Though one year apart, there is still a gap between Caleb and Danielle as Danielle still doesnt know how to play the toys Caleb plays. But I appreciate the moments when they actually spend time together doing other things.

This is where music unites the hearts.



They like to dance together to the music on TV as well. This happened on one of the evenings after dinner as they danced to the music of "Dont Forget the Lyrics" shown on Channel 8.


They also hop on the trolley together and go for a spin.


Usually they sleep separate rooms but sometimes Vicky seemed to have the ability to put both to sleep in the same room, which I am quite amazed as it is not easy putting Danielle to sleep as she cries alot, let alone both kids!


These are some of the things, that though seem so trivial, but I do appreciate it and am thankful that they have these moments together. I do not want to take this for granted.

What has Caleb been up to?

My students are already having their school holidays. As for me, I had been busy with 'O' Levels Invigilation. It was quite enjoyable to be down for invigilation as I could stay at home on days I was not on duty. So I could sleep in and spend more time with the children.

When CT goes to work early in the morning, I would transfer Caleb from his bed to my bed to sleep together with me as we can then share one fan and its easier to tend to his needs if he wakes up and cries.

He usually wakes up at about 730 or 8am. And the next naptime would be at 2pm. Its rather easy to put him to sleep now that he is older. I would read a story book to him before he sleeps and when I tell him to sleep, he would lie down and soon after, he would doze off. But of course, at times when I tell him to sleep, he would start monkeying around, doing his somersaults on my bed (Yes, he has learnt how to do that already!) but when he sees that I am stern in wanting him to sleep, he would obey.


The times when he is not sleeping and when Danielle is sleeping, I would quickly do some handicraft work with him. Reason is because of we do it with Danielle around, she would start messing up or eating up the play dough or crayons.



Here's Caleb doing his first masterpiece paint work!




Whenever you do such art work with a 2 year old, be prepared for mess! It is troublesome to clean up after that but I have to keep telling myself that it is worth it. (By the way, Caleb ended up spilling the dirty water while stirring too hard. Sigh. So the water was all over his painting that I had to throw it away. So I couldnt take the end product of his masterpiece)

Anyway, if you are interesting to do some activities with your child as well, go search in the internet. There are a lot of ideas and resources available!

Many faces of Danielle

Danielle has really been growing and developing fast-physically and cognitively. She is quite aware of the surroundings and at times, she seemed to know what I mean as she would do exactly what I say.



She is as curious as Caleb...She would touch and play with anything she sees interesting and put almost anything in her mouth to explore..


For example, if I ask her to give something to korkor, she would do that. If I ask her to kiss me, she would pout her lips a little and lean towards me. When I ask her to stick out her tongue as I stick out mine to show her, she would do the same etc etc.


For now, I am very thankful that she is healthy and happy.

Exploring with food

A while back, my sister-in-law, Ally gave me a packet of frog from Indonesia and the interesting thing to me was how the feet were still attached. So I put one on a plate and let him explore by his own.



Usually the frogs that I buy from markets, have their feet already chopped off. But not this one. So I thought this was a good time for Caleb to see how frog looks like.



I love it when I can teach my kids through all these everyday life examples, nature, food etc as kids at this age are just so curious about anything and everything!



A willing learner = a willing and happy teacher!

Love company

Both Caleb and Danielle loves company. As long as they see other kids, they are happy as they have playmates.



They would also enjoy going to the gate and look out for passer-bys to smile at. There was once when the family was taking the lift down as we were going out. Once the lift door opened and when Caleb walked out, he greeted "Hello" and waved at every stranger that was walking past him. I told CT that he seemed like some MP doing his rounds in the neighbourhood.



Thankfully, Caleb has been a good brother and has not really fought with Danielle yet. *crossing my fingers* They do enjoy each other's company and play together.
But at their age, its quite difficult to find something similar which both will enjoy playing. So most of the times, they still play on their own.


Here's at the recent 2-year old birthday party of my god son, Asher! Their house is like a mini toy shop! You can practically find anything and everything!





Too bad I didnt take a picture of the playroom as its really full of toys! Whole shelves of toys! Makes me feel how much I have been depriving my children! :)

So you can imagine what a blast of time the kids have at god ma's place until they refused to leave the place.