Eva loves her duckie pacifier! How did we know?
She grasps it’s leg even when she is sound asleep.
Lao Beijing 老北京
Had an early celebration of my dad’s birthday as we will be away for the weekend before his actual birthday. The chosen place – 老北京 @ Novena Square.
Dear said that they serve nice 八宝茶. Took a sip from his cup.
寿桃 for my dad, on the house by the restaurant. Cute little ones! And it taste good! Dawn love it too!
Side dish – peanuts, can’t eat because I am still breastfeeding 🙁
Cold Dish – Pork. I can’t remember what this is though, but it’s so sinful yet super yummy!
Also cannot remember what’s this vegetable :p
Steamed Juicy Meat Buns 小笼汤包 :
Traditional Roast Peking Duck 媲美全聚德的烤鸭 :
Mian Xian as it’s my dad’s birthday meal…
Egg Tofu…ordered mainly for Dawn.
Yummy fatty meat!
Very full-filling lunch 😀
I am Strawberry Shortcake
My First Skool!
Dawn in her My First Skool uniform. Pretty!
Hong Kong, here we come soon!
Some borrowed from my sis and lots of information from the internet. Ready to revisit this place after a good 10 over years!
Mad for Garlic
Friends met up for Dear’s birthday and the chosen place was Mad for Garlic @ Suntec. I came to know about this place via those coupons websites but had never try it before.
The cover page of their menu…not sure about you, but the 1st impression that jump upon me was DRACULA-S!
The menu items were also on the paper place-mat.
We ordered the Garlic Bread Tower. They brought the bread in the form of a “Tower” shape and mixed the garlic spread & cut it in-front of us.
A-little messy due to the crust and also we requested them to cut it to 8 pieces instead of 4. Dawn love this, probably because of the crust.
A free pizza exchanged by Bernard, Garlic Snowing Pizza. I think it’s the best food out of all those we had ordered. It tasted sweet and there are small little whole garlic on the pizza. The sweetness is just right and it’s yummy!
The Gorgonzola Pizza with honey dip…I am not a fan of fermented cheese so didn’t quite like the taste.
Lobster Pasta, So-so only, maybe because it was cold when I finally manage to eat it (was feeding Eva).
Garlic Sizzling Rice…Bernard gave me a spoonful to try, and it tasted great even when cold. The fried garlic is fragrant!
Fresh Shrimp & Garlic Sprout pasta ordered by Jimmy…
Garlic Butter Shrimp ordered by Shun…
As Dawn didn’t like must of the Lobster Pasta & the Pizza, Dear had to order another Chicken & Pasta combo for her. The BBQ sauce chicken was quite good but the pasta is not to my liking.
It was an ordinary dinner and probably we will not visit again because the kid didn’t like the food (except for the garlic bread!).
Harris Resort @ Batam on 10-11 June 2011
Still remember my trip last year when I was pregnant? Yes, we went back to the same place again for a short getaway to celebrate our anniversary.
We stayed in Harris Resort this time, booked their SPA package that cost about $300. It comes with a 1 night stay, 3 hours SPA that comes with body scrub, body massage and a milk bath, breakfast and set lunch or pizza. We booked our own ferry to Batam Centre as we wanted to do some shopping first before checking in to the resort. The taxi fare had increased their price within 8 months! It was 90,000 rupiah from Batam centre to Holiday Inn in Oct last year and now it’s 100,000 rupiah from Batam Centre to Harris. (Harris and Holiday Inn are next to each other)
Harris welcomed us with drinks and cookies, and a map of Batam & Harris Resort. With the Batam map, I have a better picture of the shopping centres now!
The very big Harris signboard:
We actually wanted to try their Japanese suite but they were all taken up. Had booked the room in their trendy wing but we were given the Carbana room instead. Personally didn’t quite like the idea of the Carbana room because it’s a house by itself and it seems to be quite ulu when we walked there. And having bad experience with the mosquitoes in Nongsa before, such houses are no-no to me. Luckily, Harris provided the insecticide and the electric mosquito repellent in the room and thus we were not bitten (but we killed quite a few big mosquitoes in the room!).
The room has a very high ceiling and it was quite cosy…
The little pantry…
The shower and toilet area..
Harris has a funky theme and thus the colours they use are bright and sunny. Love the orange because it gives a cheerful tone for the holiday.
And the slippers are so cute! And quite comfortable too!
The balcony that faces the sea….it will be nice if you are an outdoor person. For me, I will yike at every crawling and flying insects and thus it wasn’t for me. Plus this sea front isn’t that great to be at :-0
We went for our spa @ H spa…had to climb flight of stairs first before relaxing in the SPA 🙁
Just what we need!
We were given the couple room, which came with a private shower and a bath tub. They have outdoor area too which are covered with blinds. But we preferred the aircon room instead of spa-ing under the hot sun.
This is our milk bath. Yes, it was taken after we had our bath and hence there were 2 holes in the water 😀
We decided to stay in for dinner instead of our initial plan to travel out to Nagoya Hill. To spend another 200,000 rupiah on the taxi fares will not be worth for all the cheap shopping there.
We redeemed our free pan pizza in their H Cafe and also order their Nasi Goreng. Verdict : the Nasi Goreng in Holiday Inn was much better than Harris :-p
The pizza was quite nice, thin crust and 8 pieces!
Regretted for not bringing my HD that was stored with dramas. Didn’t know Harris provide a DVD player that comes with a USB input. Haiz!
I didn’t quite like my stay in Harris because it was too noisy! There were a few church groups having their retreat there and it had turned the resort to a market place! The youngsters were running around the hotel like their own playground, the morning breakfast were full with people snatching for food, their noise level were like they had not met each other for years.
But I do like their powerful mini fridge because the milk which I expressed and stored were all freezed when we checked-out the next day.
We departed early from the resort to Batam centre to finish our shopping.
Batam is a good place to shop for children stuff, especially clothes! They are cheap as compared to Singapore! Look at these clothes, they are less than $10 each. Some were as cheap as $2.30! For your information, the disney ones are really from Baby Disney and they were on 50-70% discount.
Our luggage with the loots! Toothbrushes were cheap, the 2-in-a-bundle Pigeon wet tissues were cheaper by $2, the Energizer batteries were the best buy, cheaper by about $4 compared to Singapore. My Sunsilk shampoo is only about S$6, Maybelline foundation is S$9.50 (it is selling at $17.90 here), and a kiddo hula hoop for $2. And how can you forget the Mandi Lulur (body scrub) and their instant Mee Goreng?!
And how much do you think this slipper cost? The material is quite soft and it fits Dawn’s small feet.
It’s only $5!
Our time were planned well and we had time to look through the things and prices in the Hypermart. We had 30 minutes to repack our luggage and had donuts with coffee @ JCO. Trust me, you must try their donuts there because it is definitely different from Singapore. And cheaper of course!
We saw a new Harris hotel building just opposite Mega Mall @ Batam Centre. I think it will be worth a visit since it’s so near to the mall and thus save on cab fares. We will be back again!
Our Anniversary Night Out –
We have great parents and in-laws who took care of our 2 girls and thus we had a peaceful anniversary dinner. Seriously, these help from parents really did wonder to us. I know we are fortunate. 🙂
And the place for the dinner? The place which both of us enjoy…alot. This time we went to the one @ Holland Village.
Dear chose the Sakura Set…it’s going to hurt the pocket, but I know he wants the best for me. That’s how sweet he is. 🙂
The Kim-Chee. Quite nice even though I am not a Kim Chee person.
Our salad that comes with mushroom and fried garlic. Yummy!
The Aburi Bacon before they were cooked:
The meat : (from top left to the right) Wagyu Karubi, Pork Belly (changed from Duck Breast), Wagyu Fillet Steak, Wagyu Rump Cap & Pork Collar.
The Ishiyaki Mentaiko :
Cooking the meat…
And I am a fortunate woman because he always cook for me. :-p
My plate of yummy meat with the sauces. We both like the sweet sauce than the spicy one.
And the very sinful bacon…
Assorted Mushroom…should have changed to fresh Shitake mushroom though. The ones grilled by hubby are the best!
The Gindara Miso Grill…very fresh fish but the miso is too salty.
The Dessert menu..we usually do not look through it as there’s only one item we both like….
The Milk Pudding!
A very peaceful dinner, accompany by good service from the restaurant. Had been to the branches in Chimjes and United Square, I kind of love the setting in Holland Village more than other branches.
With no agenda in mind, we took a walk around Holland Village and decided to go to MBS since both of us had not been to the bridge before.
The night scene is nice indeed. I wonder how many Singaporeans appreciate this? When we went overseas, we will exclaim at the sight of those places, but some places have the same kind of night scene as what we have here in Singapore.
The Helix Bridge at night..
Quite a few of tourists were taking photos and we thought it be nice to have some photos too!
Dear is an expert in this after his training in Japan 😀
And of ‘cos he also thinks that he’s the King and hence there’s a crown on his head…
We also managed to catch the Light & Water show (Wonder Full). As this was the first time both of us came into the MBS shopping area, we didn’t know where is the Event Plaza…we just walked towards to where the music came from.
Very amazing event, given that it’s free.
I was very amazed by the “Towers” at the 2 sides of the gallery. It can emit different kinds & colour of lights, dry ice effect and even bubbles! All these from each tower! Amazing!
Will probably bring Dawn to view this next time!
School Holiday Fun!
It’s the June School Holidays and there are alot of happenings around the town. Although school holidays do not apply to Dawn yet as she’s in a childcare, it still bring alot of joy to her because of the many fun (and free) activities!
We met Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover at City Square Mall. It was a “happen-to-be” in the mall kind of thing and thus mummy wasn’t prepared with a camera 🙁
Very cute stage scene :
Seated and waiting for the show :
An opening dance :
But the organizer should do better in terms of being more transparent with their photo taking session. Can’t help but compare it with the experienced organizer such as Barney shows. There were no clear guidelines on how to get a pass for the photo taking session, the pass was given only at the end of the show and hence it’s not fair to those who were there early but stood too far away from the queue lines. The characters only came out for awhile and most of the time it was the MC talking and playing games. Dawn was bored and hence we did not stay till the end.
Dawn was a little disappointed for not able to take photo with the characters but mummy insisted to have her photo taken with the characters, so this is the best that we can do :
On our Wedding Anniversary, we decided to spend the day with Dawn and we brought her to the Barney show @ Marina Square. This time, mummy is equipped with her camera and also determined to get a pass for Dawn to take photo with Barney. We made sure that we were early to have our lunch and in time to be the first 50 in the queue, and that means we had to queue for 1.5 hours. Poor Daddy, used to do silly things with mummy during Pah-toh days (now he still does!), and he has to do silly things for the children too..Daddy you are super! 🙂
A very pretty stage; Dawn & I had a good time playing “Can you spot?” game when queuing.
This is how “near” we were from the start of the queue. Very confident to get hold of the pass this time! There were parents who wanted to cut into queues too and we were angry because what are these parents teaching their kids with?? Instead of explaining to their children on the right thing to do, they were accommodating to their children whines by cutting into the queues of those who had queued for more than an hour!
Tada! Meet & Greet pass in my procession!
See how excited Dawn is?!
Poor Daddy had to stand outside because only one parent can accompany the child inside to the stage area. Still remember the pregnant me standing outside during the Christmas Show last year?
This shot is priceless to me, just look at Dawn’s eyes you will know what I mean :
Children’s eyes are the most non-pretentious. They show you their moods, whether tired, disappointed, sad, happy or excited. The sparkle in those eyes are the most rewarding presents for the parents!
And here comes Barney and friends! Enough to make the children go crazy…
The show was short as compared to the Christmas show. It was less than 15 minutes with about 4-5 songs.
And here’s our photo with Barney & Friends. Little Dawn, remember this, daddy & mummy queued 1.5 hours for you!
Dawn saw the huge “Bouncing Castle” news on TV and wanted us to bring her there. So off we went on a Sunday afternoon.
In order to get on to this, we need to produce a receipt of any amount to enjoy one free play. Each play is 8 mins.
The Kor-Kor will give a short briefing on the safety precautions with the children first before each play. Love the sunflowers and the very cute control tower!
And Dawn chose to bounce beside the cactus most of the time until I shoo her to play with the slide. She might have thought that she can be on this forever instead of just 8 mins…
Weeeeee…nice slide!
Look Mummy! I am riding a plane!
If you are interested with this, the Changi Airport’s giant inflatable playground will be there till 26th June 2011. It’s at Changi Airport Terminal 3, Level 2, Check-in Row 11 (In front of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf). For more details, check it out here.
It’s time again!
It’s that season again and time to practice my skill. Having to do it only once a year is really testing my memory on the steps. I wonder how my mother-in-law does it?!
Getting ready the leaves….
The rice…
And the very nice fillings…
This is my branch of victory…succeed only after a few refreshers from my MIL.. :p
And this time round, we tied a red string over my work…so that I can see what to improve on after they are cooked.
Absolutely wrapped by me…
Dear commented that the rice are too thick at the corners, so I got to position them better next time.
I haven’t quite learn the roles of preparing the leaves, rice and fillings, but had made more notes this year than previous. Soon I will combine all the notes and make the Bazhang myself one day!
P/S : Pardon me for the photos as they were taken using my phone..hands were too oily to take out the camera 😀