He's a foodie

Terence called yesterday afternoon: "Kai's teacher told mom that we should pack some snacks for him to eat. He gets very upset that other kids have their snacks, and he doesn't."

Snacks? What snacks? I perused the school's to-do list like a hawk before I packed him off to school the first day, and there was no mention of snacks of any kind.

"We're horrible parents!" I said

"No, you're a horrible mum," quipped Terence.

*grumble*

I called the school. What happened was that some kids are dropped off later at about 10am. This means that they would miss the breakfast, and so parents would pack a snack for them in case they are hungry. Since "Kai loves food", he wants to be part of the action.

They try to share, but when there's not enough... Kai gets very upset.

And Kai's teacher refused to call him "greedy".

"No, no, he just loves food."

*applause* I love his school.

Nightmares

Working late. Kai woke up twice, presumably from nightmares. Second time it happened, he drunk some water and I placed him on my lap to get him back to sleep.

Placed him back down in his room after five minutes. He cried for a while (unhappy that I left him), but everything's quiet now except for the sound of the AC.

Whew...

On the swing with papa

He's always very happy to see us after work. Suffice to say he's the highlight of our day.

Origami bugs kit

Here's the Origami bugs kit that I bought using Jorina's The Life Shop voucher last year. It includes two books with "easy-to-follow instructions for 20 fun projects" and 96 sheets of coloured paper.

He might like it when he's older. Now it's just fun for me!

Cards for our mothers

Dinner plans for tonight is to celebrate belated-mother's day and father's day with Terence's family. So using the Origami bugs kit I 'received' from Jorina last year for my birthday, I sat down with Kai to make a mother's day card for my MIL and my mum.

For the butterfly: I folded the paper, and helped him press the crease down.

For the card: I drew the flower and holding his hand, 'filled' in the colours. Then i gave him the pen to draw freely on the card to give it that 'abstract' look. He got a little upset with me when I stuck the butterfly on the cover. Heh!

For the inside: I held his hand, and helped him 'write' the greetings. Then I gave him another coloured pen to complete the abstract look.

Voila! Two personalised cards for our mums made by Kai on our behalf.

Note: Notice the smudge on the "grand-popo" card? He personalised it further with his saliva. I'll definitely let me mum know.

Of things forgotten

It might have been a short trip to Haikou, but it was a great time for me to reconnect with myself, and for us to reconnect as a couple.

And during just three days and two nights of having NO mummy duties to do, with minutes just filled with wondering what kind of brainless activities you can do, I started to remember small things that figure big in my overall sanity. Here they are:

Count thy blessings (^ Haikou citizens remembering China's earthquake victims)

The goofy things he do^ to make me laugh.

Finding simple pleasures in life (i.e. Sprite + beer = Jolly Shandy! ^)

How great it feels after a run^, and how tough it is to sustain an exercise regime.

Budget terminal

Probably the last post in Singapore before flying off to Haikou.

Silly me, forgot all about the liquids rule for hand carry luggage. Or at least, only remembered to pack the comfort items (i.e. hand moisturiser, lip balm, lip stick) in the plastic bag. But forgot that my beauty items (i.e. toner, cleanser, face moisturiser), which I usually check in have to fit into the plastic bag too.

So the customs guy threw away some stuff, then somebody say: "Would you like to check it in instead?" Then it was a flurry of activities, staff were helping to pick up the stuff that got thrown away, wipe the items dry (yes, they were dripping with some sort of a liquid), apologised for getting them wet, checked their watches to see if I could still check the bag in, apologised again, etc.

No one scolded me. No one rolled their eyes (I would have). Everyone was so nice. I feel so guilty!

I give the customs staff at the Budget Terminal a thumbs up for customer service.

Restaurant update: Bungalows has closed

Yes, Bungalows has suffered a demise. I'm not surprised.

Bye bye cheap wagyu steak!

The otoro that changed the man

Terence hated (note the past tense) Sushi Tei, so I thought I was walking next to a man who's not my husband when he said ok to eating there after Saara's birthday party.

The latest outlet is at Playground@BigSplash and... they've got cheap (SHH!!!) otoro sushi. Now, otoro is the choicest, most oily and therefore best part of the tuna belly. So Terence fell off his chair when he saw it was priced at S$(call me to find out). The picture I have above definitely does not do justice to the grade of otoro they serve at this Sushi Tei outlet.

Another of our favourite is the beef kaminabe ^ with the spicy soup. It's hot, it's tasty and they serve it with very well-marbled beef. (We took out the beef from the pot, so it won't cook till it's too well done silly.)

And the wine, it's S$7 a glass for their house pour. Don't turn up your nose at the word "house pour". They have been serving us French wine the last two occasions we were there. I'm not saying they serve French=expensive wine at cheap prices. There are very affordable French wines, which are very easy on the palate and the restaurant seemed to have picked really good ones as house pours.

I know there are some bloggers who've been complaining about the food at this particular outlet. Perhaps because Terence and I are not the conveyor belt sushi pickers, we've managed to shortlist quite a few items that we like. C'mon, even Terence is a convert so what does it say about the place. Try it; let us know!

Where:
902 East Coast Parkway
#01-06 Big Splash Blk B

For days you crave hearty food: Pondok Jawa Timur

I have such a backlog of food blogs that I decided tonight is the night that I'd get them out of the way.

Pondok Jawa Timur was a surprise find in a shopping centre I haven't visited for yonks--Far East Shopping centre. It's a wonderful place to shop if you have the time and patience, and if you have a good girl friend who can give you a low down of how you look in a top meant for someone half your age (if you are my age, that is).

It is hearty, Indonesian cuisine its best. It's a small place, which means it can get pretty crowded during peak hours. But they have pretty good dishes, which are better at the nonsense you get at more well known places like Sanur Indonesian Restaurant.

We love the Pecel Kediri ^, which is basically vegetables topped with some peanut sauce and killer peanut/herb crackers.

We mopped up the sauce of the Ayam Bumbu Rujak ^ (chicken curry?) with our rice. And because I was a sucker for ginger drinks, I ordered some fancy-named warm ginger drink that came with peanuts and some funky looking herbs/ingredients. It was nice!

They have another outlet at The Atrium @ Orchard. From the picture, however, I'd prefer the outlet at Far East Plaza; the cosy setting gives it a more authentic feel to your meal.

Where:

Far East Plaza

14 Scotts Road

#02-66/67

Relish

We finally made it to Relish with the Chows.

Trying to coordinate the meeting based on the feeding and sleeping patterns of Baby Kate and Terror Kai was harrowing, but both sets of parents pulled through.

It is set up by the folks at Wild Rocket at Mount Emily, and is situated in the chic, nicely renovated Cluny Court. Love the setting; ambivalent about the food. I suppose you would tuck in the burgers with relish if you're really hungry or if you're game to try their creative burger-concoctions. But other than that, there's very little reason for a return visit.

And finally, je te presente Baby Kate et mama Sharon!

Where:

#02-01 Cluny Court (next to Serene Centre)

501 Bukit Timah Road

Tel: 67631547

I can almost smell it: The sun, the sand, the sea...

Yes, I'm following Terence on a business trip this long weekend to Haikou (Hainan province, China).

It's the Hawaii of the East, and we're staying at the Sheraton Haikou Resort. I'm going to just veg, and only worry about the rising cost of sunscreen (check out Joy's blog on rising prices). Plan is to go running in the morning, eat breakfast, kiss husband goodbye before he attends his conference, chill at the pool or private beach, go get a massage.

Update on Kai

Upon mounting concern on MIL's part regarding Kai's fever, Terence finally brought Kai to the PD this evening.

Basically, PD's diagnosis was similar to Terence's earlier conclusion: Viral fever. But somehow, hearing from the 'real' expert AND with medicine in hand makes our parents feel better. And finally, Kai's torso broke out in rash--in line with symptoms of a viral fever.

I'm just exhausted from the whole episode. (So single, female journalist who writes about how nice it feels to be a mother only after spending a few days with her niece and nephews don't know s#$% about what real parenthood involves.)

Mother's day weekend

Mother's day came and went like a blur.

Saturday: Alone with Kai. He has a fever, again. Temperature varies anywhere from 38-39+ degree celcius the whole day. All I can remember is taking temperature, stuffing Voltaren, pondering if Dharmol could be administered rather than Voltaren, how Dharmol could be administered without causing distress to both mother and child, and if he'd hate me next time because we sometimes spiked his milk with Dharmol...

Afternoon: Mini outing to Borders at Parkway Parade before we both went mad with boredom.

Night: Had to deal with feverish, shivering toddler. Nothing pleases him. Unlike Terence who can get right back to sleep the minute his head touches the pillow, sleep eludes me everytime I wake up.

Fed up at 4am; wanted to blog. Ended up chatting with Martin, ex-classmate via Facebook on how one deals with sick kids! Alas. Kai started crying again. Refused to sleep, so entertained him with his own video.

# # #

Sunday: Plans to bring Kai to the zoo--scrapped. Had dimsum at Crystal Jade Kitchen at Parkway Parade. Stayed home the rest of the day. Debated about going to the PD, Terence got annoyed with the whole immediate Tan clan who brings their kids/grandsons to Kinderclinic at Siglap Centre but never took a card with clinic opening hours on it.

Hunted for stethescope. Lost. I got annoyed with "in-house doctor". Isn't a stethescope to a doctor like a pen is to a journalist?

Then fever, Voltaren, fever, sleep, Voltaren... wine (for us)... put him to sleep, sigh of relief, dinner (pizza) arrived, Kai woke up screaming, sigh, carried Kai while eating dinner, lost appetite, Kai ate orange, sleep...

# # #

OK, there were two happy moments:

1. I left him in his room while I escaped to the living room for a second to scan through the Saturday headlines. Was absorbed by a report when I realised he hasn't come out from his room, demanding for attention.

Took a peek: My little boy has been pulling up books from his growing collection, and was reading to himself! He flipped the pages, babbling along the way, closed the book, then took another book, flipped and babbled.

Amidst the babble, I'd hear words from the book: trouble truck, push!, star, giant, etc.

So proud of him...

2. After babbling and shoving a book in the face of his mummy for the past five minutes, as she struggles to get him into his pyjamies, he surprised his mummy by finally bursting these three words: Read this book!

I was stunned. It's the first time I've heard him put three words together to form a sentence, and say it with clarity.

So, so proud of him...

Grampians part 1: How did I get here?

I pestered Terence to buy our own Macpac Possum (which came with its own 'sad' adventure) because if not, I argued, we would be wasting the wonderful outdoors of the Grampians.

So during our first night at the Grampians, he said: "Can I leave the walk tomorrow up to you? If you don't want to do anything strenuous, that's fine too." Happily, after many back breaking hours of being squashed between the door and the car seat, taking turns to carrying Kai (with the Macpac of course) at Otway Fly, I picked a few easy walking trails to check out some scenic spots in the Grampians National Park.

Next morning, after consulting the AU$3.30 map that he bought, he said: "Let's do the "Wonderland Carpark to the Pinnacle" walk.

OK, whatever, I'm fine.

In the car, I picked up the map and read:

Wonderland Carpark to the Pinnacle

... a strenuous walk to a famous peak

A STRENUOUS WALK TO A FAMOUS PEAK

A STRENUOUS WALK TO A FAMOUS PEAK?

And next to this, it read:

The walking tracks to reach this famous peak involve rock steps, slippery track surfaces, several water crossings and some rock hopping.

Our second cottage

After the Great Ocean Road, we took almost a day (with breaks in between) to drive up towards the Grampians. Terence took the recommendation of the Lonely Planet guide and booked us into our second cottage--D'Altons Resort. It is the rustic version of the luxurious cottage at Apollo Bay, and it's great in a outdoorsy, rough-it-out kinda way.

You are suppose to be able to see wild Kangaroos around your cottage, but all we saw were Roo droppings.

Despite the cold, Terence insisted on firing up the Barbie which he enjoyed immensely. We had wonderful steaks and wine for two nights in a row.

A day out with Thomas

Kai loves Thomas the Tank Engine, so on the third day in Melbourne we made a day trip to the Dandenong ranges to ride on the Puffing Billy--a working steam engine.

It was an extra surprise that it coincided with the annual "A Day Out With Thomas" show, where kids and adults alike will get to ride *gasp* on Thomas. AND *gasp* take pictures with the Fat Controller, and see how a turntable works.

I didn't think we could still get tickets, but we were really lucky. It was the second last show for the season, and it will only return in Summer (i.e. end of the year). I think he would enjoy it a lot more if he is older, but it was still a nice day out for us. Plus the event ground had its own fair ground, which included a free petting zoo.

He had a blast there, and probably enjoyed chasing the geese and ducks more than the ride on Thomas. It was quite hilarious as he kept wanting to sit down in the midst of the ducks so he could touch them, but they kept running away.

It was a huge strain on my back as he was so anxious to pet the rabbits too, and he wasn't tall enough to reach them. So acrobatics on mummy's part was required.

But... he ended up with a high fever (39+ degree celsius) on the ride home in the late afternoon. Happily enough, our little monkey bounced back to life after a dose Voltaren and a good night sleep. No fever thereafter on the trip.

Gasp! DIAPERS!