Ending The Year With A Splash

2020 has finally come to an end and we hope that 2021 will be a better year for everyone. It was a great sunny morning and we set off to Maggie’s place for a dip. The kids are so excited to meet their cousins and ready for a swim.

 

When we arrived at their condo, Maggie and the girls were waiting for us at the poolside. She prepared some finger food and snacks for the kids while we chipped in homemade egg mayo sandwiches and some fruits too. The girls did not waste any time, they changed and quickly took a splash into the pool.

 

While the girls are having fun in the pool, I was given the luxury to laze around at the sheltered poolside and chat the morning away with Maggie. It was really a great feeling of just having to sit around, sip on a cup of hot coffee, having some snacks and watching the kids from afar. 😊 I realized that I have not done that for a long time! It has always been busy at home with kiddos’ schoolwork, household chores without realizing that I have not had such peaceful time for a while.

 

The girls spent about 2 hours in the pool and as the weather started to take a turn, we packed up hurriedly and dashed up to Maggie’s apartment. 😊 We ordered luncheon while the girls took their shower and dined together thereafter. I am really happy to see the kids having so much fun at the pool as well as playing with the cousins at their cozy home.

 

Thank you, Maggie & Amos, for having us today and it was indeed a great bonding session for all of us. 😊

 

Tiramisu Cupcakes

I am happy to receive orders from my cousin once again and this time, she is ordering Tiramisu cupcakes for her colleague who will be retiring this month. I am very sure that this is one of the best desserts to celebrate a retirement for a co-worker after a hearty meal. 😊

 Thank you BG for ordering and I hope you guys will enjoy this yummy Tiramisu Cupcakes. 😊

Baker And Cook Cafe

This year’s Christmas is really quiet as no big parties or large gatherings are allowed due to the Covid-19, but we managed to meet up with close friends, extended families’ members and our family members too. Though the celebrations were cut short due to restrictions, it is good enough to be able to meet during this trying times. 😊

 

After the gathering with my buddies earlier this month, I brought my family back to this cool café; Baker and Cook located at Upper Serangoon area. It is their first time, and I had the honor to suggest some dishes. 😊 The girls wanted pasta and pizza so, we decided to have the Prawn Aglio which was so yummy, and the Truffle mushrooms Sourdough Pizza was a bomb!

 

In addition, we ordered the Smoked Salmon Egg Benedict and the Smoked BBQ Pork Ribs, they were super YUMS. Hubby was impressed by the food and so are the rest of my family. 😊 I really thank Vivian (my buddy) for bringing us to this café that whipped up such delicious food and what is best – it is a kid’s friendly environment. 😊

We gave this café a thump up for their service, food and oh yes… their Coffee is GREAT! I am sure we will be back again soon for another feast. 😊

Blessed Christmas!

 

Extended Family Christmas Gathering

It has become a yearly affair that we will meet up for Christmas though we are already meeting as often as we can. However, this year, Covid-19 took charge, and we are unable to meet as much as we wanted. In our land, we are lucky that we do not have many cases in the recent months and our government is allowing certain numbers of visitors or diners at the restaurants during this festive season.

To avoid crowds, I decided to invite them over to our place for a small celebration. It was a simple, but we had a blast. Prepared simple homecooked dishes for them and desserts of course. The kids had fun playing with in their room while the adults sit around the dinning table and catch up with each other.

The exchanging of Christmas gifts is a tradition, and the kids were happy to have their gifts placed under the tree. 😊 They too enjoyed finding the gifts for their God-mas and God-grandma under the Christmas tree. Seeing them getting themselves busy looking for the names on the gifts under the Christmas tree is funny yet priceless. 😊

 

Let us hope that this Covid situation will better soonest so that we can meet up as often as we want again. 😊 Meanwhile, stay safe and have a blessed Christmas!

Shevaun Turns ELEVEN

During this covid times, it has really upset many celebrations and parties but given the easing of the restrictions, we are able to meet up to 8 people at a time. With these lightened restrictions, we are happy to be invited to join the birthday celebration for Shevaun who will be turns eleven today.

Maggie arranged a small birthday party for her sweetie pie Shevaun at Tott located at Suntec City. This is a cool baking class just for the family members and the kids are so excited to get on with the baking. We were the only guest for the party and the kids did not waste any time and started to get ready to bake. They put on their aprons and stood by at their workstations waiting for the instructor to start.

They followed step by step instructions given by the instructor and was really having a great time baking the red velvet cupcakes. Lady Faith partnered little Emma and did well. They took turns to put the ingredients into the mixing bowl and at times, Emma was seen passing ingredients to her big sister and reminding her to mix it with care…. Hahahaahahaha

After the baking the cupcakes, they gathered at the instructor’s station to watch how the shepherd’s pie to be made. I was happy that they were paying 100% attention while the instructor was talking and explaining the steps. After the base was done by the instructor, the kiddos were asked to assemble the shepherd’s pie. It was fun, and we adults to get to help. 😊

While waiting for the pie to be ready, we had a small cake cutting ceremony for Shevaun and it was very simple yet sweet. The birthday cake was yummy, but the kids are excited to taste their own Red Velvet Cake. 😊 When the cupcakes are cooled, the kids got on to icing their cupcakes. They were given pre-prepared icing and the kiddos dived in to ice their pretty cupcakes. 😊

I am really happy that we are still able to attend small parties during this covid period and the kids really had so much fun after they were kept at home for a long time… hahahahaahah…

Happy Blessed Birthday sweetie Shevaun! May the good Lord protect and watch over you always. May happiness and joy always be around you. Love you dearie!

Christmas Meet Up

It has been a tradition that we will meet up before Christmas over lunch or dinner. In recent years, it has become a norm that only 4 of us will meet up instead and due to the covid restrictions.

We decided to dine somewhere away from town and a central venue which is near our place; Serangoon Gardens is one of the perfect venues I would say. Thanks to Vivian’s recommendation, we decided to dine at Baker and Cook located at Serangoon Gardens. I have been to this café for take-away pastries and coffee, but this is the first time for dining in. 😊 

We browsed through the menu and with Vivian’s recommendation, we ordered some of the popular dishes like the prawn aglio, truffle fries and truffle mushrooms pizza, chia seed bowl and the salmon quiche. I am surprised by how tasty the food was and simply fell in love with their chia seed bowl. It is so yummy!!!

 

Apart from meeting up for a meal, we also had the gift exchange that is a major part of our meet. Haahaahahah… we are always looking like Santa Claus whenever we meet up during Christmas seasons. 😊

Banana Cake

I am so happy that my friend Vivian ordered the banana cakes from me to gift to her friends. It is always happy to bake for friends and their friends. 😊 

Thank you for your orders Vian. 😊

Missing Travelling

It is the fact that we cannot travel this year or perhaps next year. We are missing being able to pack the luggage, hailing a taxi to the airport, checking in at the immigration and boarding the flight to somewhere else. If not for this Covid-19, we would have flown to Australia for our holiday, and I am fantasizing having that delicious seafood near the beach and getting a beautiful tan while the kids build their sandcastles.

To satisfy the cravings of travelling, we brought the kids out to a Japanese luncheon. We booked ourselves a table at Tsuruhashi Fugetsu located at Suntec City where they served Okonomiyaki; something we are missing from Osaka. The kids were excited when we showed them the menu and we ordered their popular seafood okonomiyaki, yakisoba, and Pork Squid Tama Modanyaki which was quite a hit. We simply enjoyed the food served by this restaurant and brought us back to Osaka. 

This is a small-scale cozy restaurant where you can choose to have a normal table or the table with teppan. With the teppan on the table, they will place all the food onto the it where your food is consistently served hot. On the hind side, you will probably smell like a chef or kitchen when you are done eating. 😊

 Overall, the food was food, but price is a little high as the portion is quite small. Well, if you are missing Japan like us, you might want to go check it out too. 😊

Universal Studio Singapore

School holidays used to be so exciting when travelling is involved but during this Covid time, we are unable to travel so, we had to find other ways to entertain the kids. We planned an outing with their cousins and Godma to the USS. Tickets booked in advance as the park has a daily restriction on visitors.

When we arrived early after luncheon, we were surprised that the park is crowded though less crowds compared to pre-covid. We did not waste any time and headed to queue for the rides. Well, queuing up for the rides is such a pain… especially when you queued up an hour for a certain ride that only thrills you for less than 10 mins! ☹ We tried to ride as many rides as we can but unfortunately, the scorching heat and the queuing time did not add to the fun… 

Most of the popular rides waiting time is about 2 hours and it is impossible to wait under such hot weather. I guess I will not mind queuing for 2 hours in cooler weather. I remembered queuing up an hour for the Haunted House at Disneyland Tokyo during winter and it does not seem long. Weather makes a difference REALLY! 😊 

After taking a couple of rides and watching some of the performance, we decided to call it a day and head for dinner. We are glad that we brought the kids out for some bonding sessions with their cousins and God-ma. 😊 Let’s do it again after this Covid yea… 😊

Luncheon With The Kiddos

School holidays is one of the best holidays for both kids and parents to bond! This year, we are saddened by the Covid-19 situation, and it is very unfortunate that we are unable to travel. This totally ruined the school holidays that we are looking forward to.

Though we are currently under the Phrase 3 where we can dine out, but it became a nightmare when you are restricted to many other activities. No big parties, closure of some indoor playgrounds, limitation of entries to places etc. makes school holidays so hard to pass…. 

In order not to keep the kids at home too often, we brought them out for lunch as much as we can. Went to one of kiddo’s favourite restaurant – Da Paolo Pizza Bar at Jalan Merah Saga for our luncheon. Noticed the lesser crowd than usual but happy that we were able to get a seat without reservations.

We always enjoyed the food at Da Paolo Pizza Bar and the kids simply love their Truffle Mac & Cheese while my favourite will be their Tagliatelle al Grandchio… mmmmh…. So yummy!!! If you are around that area, you can give it a try. I recommend their set lunch which is a steal. 😊

Special Delivery

Christmas is just around the corner, and it is time to spread some love and joy to people whom I called my buddies. I used to work with these wonderful people but now, we only meet when I am available to do lunch with them at their office area.

Baked some banana cake and chocolate muffins for these beautiful people. Though I may not be seeing them every day, but our friendship will not end but will last till the end of time. 😊

Little Pumpkin Turns SIX

My oh my!!! My super funny and always smiley little pumpkin is SIX today! Time is brutal… they are just zooming so fast that I wish I have the magic to keep it still or slow it down. ☹

Well, I am still unable to accept that my baby girl will be heading for Primary 1 next month and she is BABY NO MORE! Aaarrrrgggghhhhhhh….. I am going to miss those baby powder smell and those little feet so bad! On the bright side, I am happy that I can spend quality time with her after I left my job and watching her grow is totally priceless.

She woke up super happy this morning and smiling from cheek to cheek when we greeted her with kisses. She requested to take shower earlier and get ready to head out for brunch – her wish is our command today and we set off early. Headed down to Toy R Us to allow her to check out what she can buy while waiting for the restaurant to be ready for dining. She did not waste time and started to look around and checking out the prices as a budget was given to her. 😊

After a short sweep at Toy R Us, we went to Jamie’s for her birthday luncheon. We ordered kids’ meal for the special one while we ordered some favourite dishes like lasagne, prawn risotto and the burrata. 😊 it was really yummy and the birthday girls is grateful and happy.

We returned to Toy R Us after our yummy lunch and the girls started their shopping spree. Lady Faith bought a little gift for her beloved sister and little pumpkin chose a rather reasonably cheap gift as her present. We talked her out to get something that cost slightly more but she insisted on the toy that she chose – a toy microwave oven with some food. 😊 she said that she does not need anything that is expensive, just something she really like and will play with it a long time. 😊 Upon hearing that, I am really thankful for a thoughtful daughter that God had blessed us with.

We did a small celebration for her after dinner at home too and she is happy just to have her family around to celebrate with her. 😊

Baby girl, wishing you a blessed Sixth birthday and may the good Lord always watch over you and protect you at all times from the evil one. May you always be blessed with all the joy and happiness with people around you. We love you to the moon and back!

My Little Pumpkin Graduated!

This is one super emotional day as we celebrate little pumpkin’s graduation. Back in 2016, we did not attend Lady Faith’s graduation as we were in Australia on a family vacation, and it was quite a bad arrangement by the school. They informed the parents on the date of their graduation ceremony but changed it about 3 months before the actual date.

Today, we are watching or gracing the ceremony for our little pumpkin at home via Zoom. I kind of felt a little off as the kids were not given a proper graduation due to Covid and it was such a shame really!!! The school did what they can to make the ceremony a little more fun by decorating the classrooms beautifully and allowed the parents to watch LIVE via zoom platform.

Though I was watching it via Zoom, but I was super emotional when I saw my little pumpkin speaking and performing a dance with her classmates. It was fantastic how well the kids danced and able to remember all the dance steps for 3 songs. It was amazing and I gave thumps up for that.

Honestly, I am totally not waiting for this day to come as I cannot bear to see my younger child growing up so soon and she will be moving on to her next chapter of life in a month’s time – Primary school. I am still missing those days that I can cuddle her in my arms, changing her diapers, feeding her milk every other hour and of course the HOMEWORK free days.

I know I must get to used it and accept that they are growing up well though I am still in denial that my elder will be turning ELEVEN next year! I wished it will stop at the age of 3! Arrrraaaggghhhhh…… I just hope that time will be more merciful and slow down a little. At the same time, I am also thankful that I can witness their growth and am able to spend more time with them by quitting my job. Watching them grow is priceless and it is worth quitting. 😊

It has been an entertaining graduation and I really thank the teachers for putting in so many efforts to put up this show and recording the show for us. Thank you so much! Baby girl, we would like to congratulate you for completing your pre-school and now you will move on to junior school. We are very sure you will enjoy your primary school life as you will be meeting or making loads of friends. We wish you all the very best and always remember that we love you so much!