Just how expensive is it to shop at Ion Orchard?

Expensive, if the parking charge is anything to go by. Terence was there for about an hour and when he looked at the display screen, it says: $26.77.

He took up the issue with the management immediately, who admitted it was a mistake. BUT as he was waiting, he noticed the system deducting $26.77 from some cars passing through.

Ouch. Those who were looking for a upmarket, chi-chi shopping experience that day (at least during that point in time) certainly got more than what they bargained for.

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On the other hand, the Wagyu steak^ at Singapore's first upmarket gourmet supermarket in Ion, ThreeSixty Marketplace, was selling at S$10.20 per 100 gram. Now that is a very good deal considering Wagyu steaks can go for anything from S$12-$25 per 100 gram at other major supermarkets. You can argue that the marbling determines the price. Yes, definitely. But check out the marbling on these two steaks. It's fantastic!

Let's hope it's not due to a glitch in the pricing system.

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There is plenty of eye candy to delight the senses in Ion Orchard and that is free. :-) Terence snapped a picture of a basket of jalapeno peppers with his mobile phone. The photo quality isn't great, but the different coloured peppers look very pretty nonetheless.

Dawn

I like being able to see the blue sky from my bedroom windows again. In the previous rental apartment, our bedroom curtains are always drawn as neighbours from the opposite block are so close that they can look in.

Carbonara that's just right

The simplest and best Carbonara is one that is not drowning in cream sauce, but one with noodles that are lighted coated with a egg yolk/cheese/cream mixture. Terence whipped up what could be one of the healthiest Carbonaras on Sunday based on Jamie Oliver's recipe.

We thought we'd add a touch of decadence to the dish by slicing some truffles over it. We were too cheap to buy the high-quality truffles and bought summer truffles instead from Raffles City's Market Place. The result: A bunch of sliced, tasteless fungus. We had a good laugh, although it'd cost us S$25 for that small bottle.

Our first 'party' at our new home

Cake cutting out in the balconey with the Singapore nightscape as our backdrop

We moved the weekend just before Terence's birthday, which left me very little time to plan for his special day. But it got all organised within a day(!), including calling the Chows over for his birthday surprise, buying ballons while managing Kai's mini-meltdown in the mall (he wanted orange juice NOW), picking up sandwiches and cake...

U-Jin looked almost horrified when I didn't take out the camera to commemorate the moment. But I was really way too exhausted. He offered to be the camera man. Don't blame him for the picture quality; he was limited by the equipment!

He ain't George Clooney. Terence making his first cuppa with his birthday present--the Nespresso machine!

Breakfast at our new home

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities--packing, changing addresses, buying furniture, throwing out junk we don't need, liaising with movers etc. We have finally settled in at the new place though certain things are still disorganised.

I wish certain shelves can be neater. I wish certain items can be packed in boxes rather than placed out on the shelf. But I guess I just have to close one eye; they'd get done eventually. My lower back has been giving me lots of problems lately, which makes me hard for me to get things done/move things around.

All these aside, it is very nice to be in bigger house with more than enough storage space to go around. It's our second weekend here and I love our new weekend breakfast routine. The boys will make breakfast, while I stare out of the window with a hot cup of macchiato.

Only a parent's heart would know...

Kai with his bedtime 'friends' (anti-clockwise from bottom left): (partial of) Eeyore, Platypus, and Care Bear. Rabbit apologises for not being present; he was flung out of frame.

...how I feel when I look at Kai while he sleeps. Terence called me a "smittened kitten" as I stared at my three-year old tonight.

I told myself that one day, I will take a photo of him while he sleeps so that I'll always remember the picture of innocence and his cherubic features for a long time to come. So here I was, in our hotel room in Sentosa, trying to find a comfortable position to hold the camera still long enough (for the shutter to stay open in the dark) to snap a picture of Kai.

This is it. Done with a swollen belly. Without a tripod. With abated breath.

On the way back to our room, we walked under the canopy of a row of lovely fragipani trees. Light pink flowers covered our path, and Kai was thrilled. He picked them up and I told him what a good boy was he to make a lovely bouquet of flowers for us.

He was so excited when I said we'll try to find a vase for them. So here it is, Kai's creation in our room. It was Terence's idea to use the cup. The look in Kai's eyes was precious when he placed the flowers in the cup.

How lovely. Flowers to herald a new day in our new rental apartment tomorrow.