It was the last housewarming of the year and as it drew nearer to the start of the new term, we decided to keep it simple with minimal preparation. As such, it became a steamboat, which somehow surprised quite a number of them.
It was a pity that pictures were not taken. Nonetheless, it was memorable and I hope the guests enjoyed themselves. This time, there were lesser food leftovers =)
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Christmas 2012
This year we celebrated the holiday at Frank and Jo's place, potluck style. And we decided to bring along our bee hoon which we had practised for a few times the week before. After learning the painful lesson of consuming the humongous amount of leftovers, our estimate was much better this time round, even though the unfinished bee hoon settled our meals for the next day. Nevertheless, it was a scrumptious feast with a large variety of food.
After the meal, it was a quick exchange of presents via the use of mahjong tiles for allocation and Goubin had used his present to obtain 8 toto numbers to be bought to try our luck at becoming richer. That was followed by a game of charades designed by Jo and I truly enjoyed the session of laughs and grievances at the difficulties of the question.
Soon, time flew and the party had to be dispersed. Nevertheless, it was a great Christmas gathering.
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| The Christmas feast |
After the meal, it was a quick exchange of presents via the use of mahjong tiles for allocation and Goubin had used his present to obtain 8 toto numbers to be bought to try our luck at becoming richer. That was followed by a game of charades designed by Jo and I truly enjoyed the session of laughs and grievances at the difficulties of the question.
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| Our gifts exchange |
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| The satisfied people with their presents =) |
Soon, time flew and the party had to be dispersed. Nevertheless, it was a great Christmas gathering.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Housewarming with JC friends
This was our second housewarming which we donned our aprons for a homemade feast. Earlier in the week, we had tested out the chicken curry and the fried bee hoon and we found them suitable to stay as the menu items.
However, the preparation was entirely different when the number of guests was 16 instead of 2. The skills involved were totally different as we had to cook the bee hoon in batches while adding in our mountains of carrot and cabbage slices. Luckily my dear managed to learn from my mistakes and produce an excellent batch of bee hoon. For the curry, it had to be split into two pots as the ingredients overwhelmed the maximum capacity of one. The other fried stuffs like sotong balls, fishballs and chicken nuggets were well taken care of by my dear. Fortunately, the dessert was done the day before, otherwise our five hours of cooking would be lengthened even more. I guess part of the time spent was due to my butter fingers causing spillages and messes here and there.
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| Looks delicious right? |
However, the preparation was entirely different when the number of guests was 16 instead of 2. The skills involved were totally different as we had to cook the bee hoon in batches while adding in our mountains of carrot and cabbage slices. Luckily my dear managed to learn from my mistakes and produce an excellent batch of bee hoon. For the curry, it had to be split into two pots as the ingredients overwhelmed the maximum capacity of one. The other fried stuffs like sotong balls, fishballs and chicken nuggets were well taken care of by my dear. Fortunately, the dessert was done the day before, otherwise our five hours of cooking would be lengthened even more. I guess part of the time spent was due to my butter fingers causing spillages and messes here and there.
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| Clockwise from top left: bee hoon, fishballs, otah, curry chicken, nuggets, sotong balls |
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| Jelly with fruits |
Though we overestimated the consumption of my friends (I guess age plays a part in lowering our appetite) till the point that we need to have the same meals for a few days, it was fun and great to have everyone attend the event. It had been a long long while since the last time in which all the guys turned up for an outing, well almost, and I thought that was simply amazing. Thank you all for making this happen =)
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| The wonderful JC friends of mine with their spouses |
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
妈咪感言
熬了那么久，终于让我熬到了第32周！还有最多两个月，我和小志就能见到然然了，好兴奋哦！怀孕初期真的好辛苦哦，现在我终于有苦尽甘来的感觉了。回想当初，我吐到连吃东西都没有胃口（这怎么可能啊？？？），现在实在是太舒服了吧，让人觉得很没有真实感耶。
除了宝宝偶尔很爱踢我使我睡不著，手脚很痒，还有偶尔有点儿气喘之外，我觉得自己的身体状态和怀孕之前没什么不同。 现在的我真的是好幸福哦！能吃能睡能玩，又有个这么爱我、疼我的老公，我还有什么不满足的呢？虽然有点儿担心自己不晓得会不会照顾好然然，但是有小志在我身边，我什么都不怕。希望这个小瓜能够顺利出世，不要太为难她老妈。
嗯，等然然出世后，我们的生活应该会有天翻地覆的变化吧。也许，我会很想念她在我肚子里狂踢的时候。也许，我会忍不住想要把她塞回我的肚子里。尽管如此，我还是很期待见到她！宝宝，我爱你！
除了宝宝偶尔很爱踢我使我睡不著，手脚很痒，还有偶尔有点儿气喘之外，我觉得自己的身体状态和怀孕之前没什么不同。 现在的我真的是好幸福哦！能吃能睡能玩，又有个这么爱我、疼我的老公，我还有什么不满足的呢？虽然有点儿担心自己不晓得会不会照顾好然然，但是有小志在我身边，我什么都不怕。希望这个小瓜能够顺利出世，不要太为难她老妈。
嗯，等然然出世后，我们的生活应该会有天翻地覆的变化吧。也许，我会很想念她在我肚子里狂踢的时候。也许，我会忍不住想要把她塞回我的肚子里。尽管如此，我还是很期待见到她！宝宝，我爱你！
Progress of Xiao Xiao 9
Yet another visit to Wendy and another confirmation that Ruo Ran is alright and growing well. My dear refunded the supplements which sort of contained a certain fish smell which was missing in the previous batches, though later at home, we found out that the new bottle also contained the same fish smell but at a lesser intensity and that our exchange was somewhat superfluous. My dear also got advice for her itchy hands and feets, which was a simple solution of applying moisturiser on them.
I guess recently Wendy was more concerned with estimating the weight of Ruo Ran, thus the scans were usually of the stomach's cross-sections. Perhaps we should request for Wendy to print the scan of the baby face or side profile instead for the next visit.
I guess recently Wendy was more concerned with estimating the weight of Ruo Ran, thus the scans were usually of the stomach's cross-sections. Perhaps we should request for Wendy to print the scan of the baby face or side profile instead for the next visit.
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| The stomach's cross-section with arm's cross section on the right |
The Hobbit
Looking at the list of movie titles coming out in December, this was the only deserving show to be watched, at first glance. At least that was what my dear felt. I guess from this entry onwards, I shall include the movie poster as well to make my post more colourful and less boring.
The show started off with some remnants of the starting of the Lord of the Rings, with a few seconds showing of Frodo. After all, this story was a prelude to the Lord of the Rings. From then on, it was the memory playback of Frodo's uncle, Bilbo Baggins. In a nutshell, Baggins was sort of forced into an adventure by Gandalf the Grey to accompany thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin, to reclaim their homelands, Lonely Mountains, from Smaug the dragon sixty years ago. Smaug was attracted by the massive amount of gold in the dwarves' lair, so the story said, and thus attacked them. When forced to evacuate, Thorin nursed a grudge against the elves as the latter refused to aid them at that point in time.
Thus the adventure started and the entourage encountered a group of trolls who tried to eat them, but was later turned to stone by the sunlight which shone upon them after Gandalf heroically split a big rock into two. To pour salt onto the trolls' wounds, the group plundered their hideout and thus obtaining some elven swords. The group later met up with another wizard, Radagast the Brown, who informed them of a dark force poisoning the lands. At the same time, a group of orcs were hunting the dwarves and Radagast tried to lure them away using his trusty rabbits, while the group seek refuge at the elves' hideout.
At the elves' hideout, the group found the answer to the entrance of another route into the Lonely Mountains, and they secretly set off for their journey while Gandalf was explaining the quest to the White Council. However, the group was captured by another group of orcs after they witnessed a fight between the mountains, a redundant scene in my opinion. Baggins, due to his small size and coupled with the ridiculously poor eyesight of the orcs, managed to escape by squatting and somehow found Gollum and picked up the ring which he dropped, the ring which he called the precious, the ring which was the main focus in the Lord of the Rings. After a series of riddles, Gollum realised that Baggins had gotten the ring and attacked him. By a stroke of luck, Baggins realised that the ring granted him invisibility and he used that to escape.
At the same time, by plot no jutsu, Gandalf appeared out of nowhere, by magic of course, to save the dwarves and then together they killed a path out with ridiculous and comical stunts. Maybe just like chakra, Gandalf need to recharge and could not conjure the entire group out. Anyway, after escaping the mountain orcs, they encountered the orcs who were hunting them. Thus, the group was on the run and they retreated to the trees at the edge of the cliffs. Thorin tried to attack the leader but was no match for him, and he was almost beheaded only to be stopped by Baggins' assault. Then the group was rescued by a group of eagles after Gandalf sent a distress message via a butterfly. I guess, other than being used for the butterfly effect, butterflies can travel at insane speeds too.
The eagles then dropped the group somewhere safe but in the visibility of their destination. The movie ended with the dragon rousing from his sleep.
I guess after watching Lord of the Rings, there was not much surprises in this movie. However, it was an engaging movie with moments of anxiety and anticipation peppered here and there. Enjoyable, at the very least.
The show started off with some remnants of the starting of the Lord of the Rings, with a few seconds showing of Frodo. After all, this story was a prelude to the Lord of the Rings. From then on, it was the memory playback of Frodo's uncle, Bilbo Baggins. In a nutshell, Baggins was sort of forced into an adventure by Gandalf the Grey to accompany thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin, to reclaim their homelands, Lonely Mountains, from Smaug the dragon sixty years ago. Smaug was attracted by the massive amount of gold in the dwarves' lair, so the story said, and thus attacked them. When forced to evacuate, Thorin nursed a grudge against the elves as the latter refused to aid them at that point in time.
Thus the adventure started and the entourage encountered a group of trolls who tried to eat them, but was later turned to stone by the sunlight which shone upon them after Gandalf heroically split a big rock into two. To pour salt onto the trolls' wounds, the group plundered their hideout and thus obtaining some elven swords. The group later met up with another wizard, Radagast the Brown, who informed them of a dark force poisoning the lands. At the same time, a group of orcs were hunting the dwarves and Radagast tried to lure them away using his trusty rabbits, while the group seek refuge at the elves' hideout.
At the elves' hideout, the group found the answer to the entrance of another route into the Lonely Mountains, and they secretly set off for their journey while Gandalf was explaining the quest to the White Council. However, the group was captured by another group of orcs after they witnessed a fight between the mountains, a redundant scene in my opinion. Baggins, due to his small size and coupled with the ridiculously poor eyesight of the orcs, managed to escape by squatting and somehow found Gollum and picked up the ring which he dropped, the ring which he called the precious, the ring which was the main focus in the Lord of the Rings. After a series of riddles, Gollum realised that Baggins had gotten the ring and attacked him. By a stroke of luck, Baggins realised that the ring granted him invisibility and he used that to escape.
At the same time, by plot no jutsu, Gandalf appeared out of nowhere, by magic of course, to save the dwarves and then together they killed a path out with ridiculous and comical stunts. Maybe just like chakra, Gandalf need to recharge and could not conjure the entire group out. Anyway, after escaping the mountain orcs, they encountered the orcs who were hunting them. Thus, the group was on the run and they retreated to the trees at the edge of the cliffs. Thorin tried to attack the leader but was no match for him, and he was almost beheaded only to be stopped by Baggins' assault. Then the group was rescued by a group of eagles after Gandalf sent a distress message via a butterfly. I guess, other than being used for the butterfly effect, butterflies can travel at insane speeds too.
The eagles then dropped the group somewhere safe but in the visibility of their destination. The movie ended with the dragon rousing from his sleep.
I guess after watching Lord of the Rings, there was not much surprises in this movie. However, it was an engaging movie with moments of anxiety and anticipation peppered here and there. Enjoyable, at the very least.
44 and counting...
In view of my dear's growing tummy and low energy levels, which basically eliminates most outdoor activities, we decided to keep it simple by having a good lunch at Ichiban Sushi at AMK Hub. The only grievance was the long wait of thirty minutes for the food to come, despite the restaurant not having that many customers. I would have finished the entire bottle of preserved ginger if I did not consider that the bottom-most of the ginger may possibly had been left inside for the longest of time. Nevertheless, half of a jar of preservatives was inside my stomach by the time the food came.
After that, we carried out our plan to watch The Hobbit, followed by an appointment to Wendy's. Yet another milestone in our lives =)
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| His meal |
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| Her meal |
After that, we carried out our plan to watch The Hobbit, followed by an appointment to Wendy's. Yet another milestone in our lives =)
Monday, December 10, 2012
Rurouni Kenshin
Last Saturday saw us watching this movie with me having no expectations as I did not have any background knowledge about its manga from which the movie was developed from. My dear had seen its manga / anime when she was young and she had loved the series.
The movie started off with the ending of a Japanese civil war and Kenshin, relinquishing his sword and therefore his title in the battlefield, only to have a survivor to retrieve his sword and kill in his name. Ten years later, during which he officially disappeared but still made his presence felt by helping strangers, a cruel drug lord was trying to use opium to control Japan. In order to do that, the drug lord attempted to forcefully take over several land areas, one of which was the dojo of the female lead, to whom Kenshin came to the rescue. However, through that action, Kenshin exposed his identity and the police wanted to recruit him to kill villains, to which Kenshin refused.
In the meantime, Kenshin got to acquaint himself with a street fighter, who later became his ally. With the female lead held hostage, Kenshin had no choice but to confront the drug lord and duel with the survivor who killed in his name. He almost had to break his promise of no killing to save the female lead when she was paralyzed by the survivor's eye technique and could not breathe. But all well ends well, with all the bad guys either rounded up or dead.
There was pretty much blood spilling in the show and the swift sword moves were indeed very realistic and fascinating. Despite the gore, there were elements of cuteness imbued into the main character, making him a very likable character. I quite enjoyed myself watching this movie, though I'm not sure whether I will watch the anime / manga.
Perhaps one funny incident from this was that my dear friend forgot to include himself in the total count for purchasing the tickets and thus had to sit out for this event. It was, however, made up at the dinner and desserts later at Wing Seong Fatty's (Albert) Restaurant Pte Ltd and NYDC respectively.
The movie started off with the ending of a Japanese civil war and Kenshin, relinquishing his sword and therefore his title in the battlefield, only to have a survivor to retrieve his sword and kill in his name. Ten years later, during which he officially disappeared but still made his presence felt by helping strangers, a cruel drug lord was trying to use opium to control Japan. In order to do that, the drug lord attempted to forcefully take over several land areas, one of which was the dojo of the female lead, to whom Kenshin came to the rescue. However, through that action, Kenshin exposed his identity and the police wanted to recruit him to kill villains, to which Kenshin refused.
In the meantime, Kenshin got to acquaint himself with a street fighter, who later became his ally. With the female lead held hostage, Kenshin had no choice but to confront the drug lord and duel with the survivor who killed in his name. He almost had to break his promise of no killing to save the female lead when she was paralyzed by the survivor's eye technique and could not breathe. But all well ends well, with all the bad guys either rounded up or dead.
There was pretty much blood spilling in the show and the swift sword moves were indeed very realistic and fascinating. Despite the gore, there were elements of cuteness imbued into the main character, making him a very likable character. I quite enjoyed myself watching this movie, though I'm not sure whether I will watch the anime / manga.
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| Us with the lead actor (in paper) |
Perhaps one funny incident from this was that my dear friend forgot to include himself in the total count for purchasing the tickets and thus had to sit out for this event. It was, however, made up at the dinner and desserts later at Wing Seong Fatty's (Albert) Restaurant Pte Ltd and NYDC respectively.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Progress of Xiao Xiao 8
Just came back from another visit to Wendy and I guess my dear was very happy after hearing the good news about Ruo Ran with her head downwards in the womb. She (the baby) had been working hard in turning herself around, though much to my dear's discomfort. Maybe it was meant to be, or maybe because I had been speaking to her from below almost everyday, just to claim credit =P Another good news was that she is currently at 1.7 kg, which was a marked improvement from 1 kg three weeks back, and this time, the word "smallish" was finally unused. However, there is presence of proteins in her urine which may pose problems in the future.
Till the next visit two weeks later. Her pictures below:
Till the next visit two weeks later. Her pictures below:
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| Left: side view of body (spine top) Right: side view of head with spine |
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| Two legs on the left, stomach on the right |
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Updates on Renovation 16
After a delay of a few months (due to work commitments), the installation of the blinds and the poles hanger are finally done. Yet another proud production by none other than me myself. Actually, this doesn't really qualify as a renovation item, but well, it was still an improvement to our house.
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| The blinds |
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| The poles hanger |
The blinds were bought from Ikea and the poles hanger were left behind by the previous owner. And the only thing left to install them was to drill holes into the walls and ceiling. Ever since my first drilling of a hole in the house, I realised that one can never underestimate the skill of a craftsmen. After all, how difficult can hole drilling be right? Big mistake. After many trials of ugly holes marks and long hours of noise pollution, I can only say that I had improved but not master it. Till now, I still need to take at least 40 minutes for one 1-inch deep hole. Perhaps I should be comforted by the fact that I paid good money for the good concrete walls in our house.
Anyway, I guess I can finally declare that the house will remain in the present state for many years to come. At least until the next renovation, which probably will not happen =)
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Tampines Eco-garden
We first knew of this place through one of the television programmes on Channel 8 and we were thinking that there was actually such a place and yet we knew nothing about it. As such, we sought to visit it one day during the holidays. We originally wanted to visit this place much earlier but our plans changed due to extension of cut-off time for another activity. My dear decided that today was a good day since our housework was done and we still got some time.
En route to the garden, we passed by a park and we found it quite interesting enough for us to spend some time there. There was a young couple making out at one bench (young people these days) but that was not the interesting stuff I was talking about. I was rather referring to the structures erected there but got worn out, probably to negligence and poor maintenance. Nevertheless, it was some fun for us.
The eco-garden was just across the road and we found it with ease. The place was some sort of a nature reserve but on a smaller scale. We first visited the toilet to see how eco-friendly it was since it uses bacteria to digest our excrement. I was amazed that there was no smell, typical of a toilet in shopping centres, which ought to bring them to shame. We then covered the entire circumference of the area in less than an hour, which included stopping to take photos, scratching our blood donations to the mosquitoes and admiring the greenery around us. The place was not as deserted as I thought for there were the occasional joggers and strollers walking in the opposite direction to us. I guess this place will not be that suitable for dumping a body, though the possibility still exists.
In the end, we realised that we could have walked to the park instead of taking a bus as we managed to find a short route back home. I guess we will probably be back but with our kids =)
En route to the garden, we passed by a park and we found it quite interesting enough for us to spend some time there. There was a young couple making out at one bench (young people these days) but that was not the interesting stuff I was talking about. I was rather referring to the structures erected there but got worn out, probably to negligence and poor maintenance. Nevertheless, it was some fun for us.
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| Was it connected to electricity? So that it will buzz when the ring touches the rod? |
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| My arsenal of cannons - with echos as projectiles |
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| The aging map of the park |
The eco-garden was just across the road and we found it with ease. The place was some sort of a nature reserve but on a smaller scale. We first visited the toilet to see how eco-friendly it was since it uses bacteria to digest our excrement. I was amazed that there was no smell, typical of a toilet in shopping centres, which ought to bring them to shame. We then covered the entire circumference of the area in less than an hour, which included stopping to take photos, scratching our blood donations to the mosquitoes and admiring the greenery around us. The place was not as deserted as I thought for there were the occasional joggers and strollers walking in the opposite direction to us. I guess this place will not be that suitable for dumping a body, though the possibility still exists.
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| The signage at the entrance |
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| The rules which most people probably ignored |
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| The map in case we got lost |
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| The eco-toilet with bacteria digesting your wastes |
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| The mimosa |
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| Some plant that I like |
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| Another one that was liken |
In the end, we realised that we could have walked to the park instead of taking a bus as we managed to find a short route back home. I guess we will probably be back but with our kids =)
Monday, November 26, 2012
Guobin and Angie's Wedding
We were so happy for them that we actually did not sleep very well the night before. It was to the extent that I thought I slept more during my own wedding. Anyway, the gatecrash started early in the morning, with one of the brothers picking me up to Guobin's place and soon we were in the standard formation, waiting to be teased by the sisters. It was a simple affair with some food eating (and dumping), mini-dancing, charades and poem creation, followed by the standard procedures of photo-taking and picking up of the bride. I guess we were left off quite easily by the sisters, though I must admit that tom yam jelly shall rank as the top gross food ever, together with raw bitter gourd.
The dinner banquet was held at MBS, one of the newest places around and the solemnisation ceremony prior to that was conducted smoothly as well, unaffected by the rainy weather a few hours before. I was helping with the solemnisation items and I was surprised to know that the Justice of Peace had six prior sessions and one more after, with the one before just happening in the ballroom next to theirs. I guess it was indeed a good date for marriage for later on we got to see photos of more people in our contacts tying the knot.
The service was good with much attention given to the guests, though I did find our attached server slight over-zealous in serving us. The food, however, was so-so and the high-expectant first dish was slightly disappointing as it was cold. The fish was overcooked and the dessert was too bitter. The rest did not leave much impression in my non-existent memory. Nonetheless, it was the joyous celebration of the official union of our friends which was most important and anything else did not matter.
The dinner banquet was held at MBS, one of the newest places around and the solemnisation ceremony prior to that was conducted smoothly as well, unaffected by the rainy weather a few hours before. I was helping with the solemnisation items and I was surprised to know that the Justice of Peace had six prior sessions and one more after, with the one before just happening in the ballroom next to theirs. I guess it was indeed a good date for marriage for later on we got to see photos of more people in our contacts tying the knot.
The service was good with much attention given to the guests, though I did find our attached server slight over-zealous in serving us. The food, however, was so-so and the high-expectant first dish was slightly disappointing as it was cold. The fish was overcooked and the dessert was too bitter. The rest did not leave much impression in my non-existent memory. Nonetheless, it was the joyous celebration of the official union of our friends which was most important and anything else did not matter.
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| Roasted (chilled) whole suckling pig |
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| Sauteed king prawn with asparagus |
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| Braised seafood broth with crab roe |
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| Braised sliced abalone with sea cucumber in oyster sauce |
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| Steam (hard) red garoupa with crispy garlic; crispy roasted chicken |
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| Braised e-fu noodles with (missing) exotic mushroom |
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| Chilled mango with (bitter) pomelo |
Saturday, November 17, 2012
43 and counting...
After our shopping spree, we proceeded to this dim sum place - Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant, recommended by one of our friends. It was an apt location to celebrate our union as we were in the area and especially since my dear had been yearning to eat dim sum for the longest of time.
The place was rather easily located with the help of streetdirectory.com and its prominent shop sign, thus it only required a short walk from Farrer Park MRT station. The queuing system for seats, in the form of a number display and a handsome young staff perpetually on a hands-free walkie-talkie, was rather sophisticated and efficient, and very soon, we were ushered to our places. The ordering system was simple as well and our stomachs were soon waiting patiently to satisfy their hungers.
It was indeed a good place having an old coffee shop feel and the food was excellent and non-greasy, though my dear prefer the food to have more seasonings to tickle her senses.
Don't they whet your appetite? =)
The place was rather easily located with the help of streetdirectory.com and its prominent shop sign, thus it only required a short walk from Farrer Park MRT station. The queuing system for seats, in the form of a number display and a handsome young staff perpetually on a hands-free walkie-talkie, was rather sophisticated and efficient, and very soon, we were ushered to our places. The ordering system was simple as well and our stomachs were soon waiting patiently to satisfy their hungers.
It was indeed a good place having an old coffee shop feel and the food was excellent and non-greasy, though my dear prefer the food to have more seasonings to tickle her senses.
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| My dear surveying the menu |
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| Me doing advertising for free |
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| The hot barley and the cold soya bean with grass jelly drink |
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| Fried banana and prawn |
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| Xiao long bao, chee cheong fun and lo mai kai |
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| Guo tie and fried mian xian |
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| Sha liu bao, har gow, siew mai and cong you mian |
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| Fried beancurd |
Don't they whet your appetite? =)
Popular Fair and Shopping for Baby Stuffs 3
Much earlier in the week, we went to Expo (again) to beat the crowd for the Popular Fair as my dear had its membership card. We thought that it would be less crowded since it was a weekday and we could not really reach there in the morning due to work commitments. Little did we know that almost everyone was a Popular member and it was the first time that I actually saw that there was a queue to enter the exhibition hall and the queue can only start to move after 4 pm. As such, we decided to visit the Metro fair first to see if there were any stuffs worth buying and indeed there were.
We quickly went back to check the status of the Popular queue with our bulky items and we were astonished to find ourselves queuing outside the air-conditioned walkways. We found it even more absurd that the queue was growing continuously. Luckily, the queue moved rather fast and soon we found ourselves finally in the exhibition hall, only to see a longer winding and unmarked queue for the cashier. It appeared that Popular never learnt from its previous mistakes and half of the people there were probably stuck in one of the queues. Anyway, we went one round around the stationery section before abandoning our thoughts of buying something from the fair that day.
We returned to the battleground early on Saturday and we were glad that our decision was sound as the number of people there were indeed much lesser. That made shopping a more pleasurable activity. Anyway, we more or less knew what we wanted, thus we merely took the stuffs that we eyed previously and did a casual stroll around the sale exhibits to see if there were any stuffs which we left out. The queuing process was smooth and quick and we went back home to deposit our gains.
The cashier queue was rather short but we had an experience with an inexperienced temp staff which lengthened our stay there. From the shaking of her hand when she tore the receipt (the first and the many to come) from the receipt dispensing machine, it was evident that she was new, and it got worse after she made the first mistake of keying in the wrong final amount for the credit card machine. She got my dear to sign the refund receipt before repeating the purchasing process. That would have been alright if I had not went to check the items with the new receipts, which led to a discrepancy in the final amount. Thus, we went back and this time her supervisor was like helping out with our request. The poor cashier was like standing there watching her supervisor handling the matter, probably thinking of the repercussions to come.
My dear was like saying that I was like kicking a big fuss over a few dollars, which may affect the working progression of the girl, but to me, I just thought that I should not be paying for others' mistake. However, on hindsight, something which I did not do and I felt strongly afterwards that I should do was actually to give assurance to the poor girl that things like this are part and parcel of a cashier's life and that she should not broad too long over them. Probably such an assurance could make her unlucky day better.
Later, we went out again, shopping for the toiletries needed for cleaning Ruo Ran. And where else but the usual cheap toiletries shop at People's Park in the form of Swanston. I guess I'm just used to going there, even though the same products may be sold at similarly low prices back in my area. Another draw factor was its large variety of products and huge volume of shelf space. After which, we walked around Chinatown to see if we could get more baby stuffs before proceeding down to Balestier.
We quickly went back to check the status of the Popular queue with our bulky items and we were astonished to find ourselves queuing outside the air-conditioned walkways. We found it even more absurd that the queue was growing continuously. Luckily, the queue moved rather fast and soon we found ourselves finally in the exhibition hall, only to see a longer winding and unmarked queue for the cashier. It appeared that Popular never learnt from its previous mistakes and half of the people there were probably stuck in one of the queues. Anyway, we went one round around the stationery section before abandoning our thoughts of buying something from the fair that day.
We returned to the battleground early on Saturday and we were glad that our decision was sound as the number of people there were indeed much lesser. That made shopping a more pleasurable activity. Anyway, we more or less knew what we wanted, thus we merely took the stuffs that we eyed previously and did a casual stroll around the sale exhibits to see if there were any stuffs which we left out. The queuing process was smooth and quick and we went back home to deposit our gains.
The cashier queue was rather short but we had an experience with an inexperienced temp staff which lengthened our stay there. From the shaking of her hand when she tore the receipt (the first and the many to come) from the receipt dispensing machine, it was evident that she was new, and it got worse after she made the first mistake of keying in the wrong final amount for the credit card machine. She got my dear to sign the refund receipt before repeating the purchasing process. That would have been alright if I had not went to check the items with the new receipts, which led to a discrepancy in the final amount. Thus, we went back and this time her supervisor was like helping out with our request. The poor cashier was like standing there watching her supervisor handling the matter, probably thinking of the repercussions to come.
My dear was like saying that I was like kicking a big fuss over a few dollars, which may affect the working progression of the girl, but to me, I just thought that I should not be paying for others' mistake. However, on hindsight, something which I did not do and I felt strongly afterwards that I should do was actually to give assurance to the poor girl that things like this are part and parcel of a cashier's life and that she should not broad too long over them. Probably such an assurance could make her unlucky day better.
Later, we went out again, shopping for the toiletries needed for cleaning Ruo Ran. And where else but the usual cheap toiletries shop at People's Park in the form of Swanston. I guess I'm just used to going there, even though the same products may be sold at similarly low prices back in my area. Another draw factor was its large variety of products and huge volume of shelf space. After which, we walked around Chinatown to see if we could get more baby stuffs before proceeding down to Balestier.
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| The items from Popular Fair |
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| The items from Metro Sale and Popular Fair |
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| The toiletries from Swanston |
Friday, November 16, 2012
Progress of Xiao Xiao 7
Yet another trip to Wendy's. Similar comments about Ruo Ran being smallish and my dear needing to eat more. Another not so good news was that Ruo Ran was like in a breach position, with her head on mummy's and legs on mummy's left. Wendy's advice was to wait and see if Ruo Ran will turn on her own as there is nothing that we can do. Let's hope for the best.
However, we decided on the twin room package for my dear's delivery, after mulling over the pros and cons of the single and double room for a long while, where cost became the eventual determining factor.
Another picture of Ruo Ran:
However, we decided on the twin room package for my dear's delivery, after mulling over the pros and cons of the single and double room for a long while, where cost became the eventual determining factor.
Another picture of Ruo Ran:
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| Top left: her head facing towards you Top right: cross-section of body from side Bottom: cross-section of body from bottom |
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Shopping for Baby Stuffs 2
We went to Expo on the last day of the Parenthood Fair, meeting my dear's brother as well for breakfast. Prior to that day, we had seen some of our friends posting their "plunders" on facebook, thus sparking some ideas in us. The first thing we did was to queue for Pampers, which happened to be a good move, as the diapers were running low on stock. Some sizes even ran out of stock as we progressed through the queue. Luckily for us, we managed to get what we wanted. Lesson learnt: Must go for queue for diapers on the first day of any baby fairs.
After that, the shopping was at a more leisurely pace and we bought some stuffs which we did not buy previously. It was not really a good harvest as we did not see a good deal for breast pumps and baby carriers and we hope that the baby fair next month will be more fruitful. Nonetheless, Ruo Ran has more items for her usage.
After that, the shopping was at a more leisurely pace and we bought some stuffs which we did not buy previously. It was not really a good harvest as we did not see a good deal for breast pumps and baby carriers and we hope that the baby fair next month will be more fruitful. Nonetheless, Ruo Ran has more items for her usage.
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| Clockwise from top left: newborn diapers, baby wipes, bottles, baby clothes, bed sheet, nursing top, yoga pants, nail clipper, bottle brush |
Friday, October 26, 2012
Shopping for Baby Stuffs 1
Though this wasn't the first time that we went around looking for baby stuffs, it was only on Friday that we finally bought quite a number of the big ticket items, like a baby cot, a stroller and a high chair.
Previously, we had been to Kaki Bukit (Baby's Hyperstore & Baby's Kingdom) to view their strollers and cots as a reference as we still did not know what brand or type of items that we wanted. We also went to Giant and NTUC Xtra to look at their baby products. At the same time, we surfed online for more details, mainly focusing on the strollers. Thus, prior to purchase, other than being educated on the numerous brands of baby products that we never knew existed, we sort of confirmed that we wanted a Capella stroller, though we were divided over the model.
In the morning, the baby fair at expo was disappointing as it was on a very much smaller scale than the previous baby fair two weeks ago. It was, however, quite whimsical to have us constantly looking at strollers pushed by other parents and identifying their brands, a habit that we developed since we started shopping for Xiao Xiao's stuffs. The warehouse sale at Chai Chee (Taime Pte Ltd) later on, all thanks to my dear's colleague, was where we committed to our purchases as most of the items were at 20% off. After all, we had been to enough places to know that the prices, without the discount, were more or less the same.
Though the big ticket items will only be delivered in December but at least the major items were settled. Next item on our list: baby carrier and breast pump.
Previously, we had been to Kaki Bukit (Baby's Hyperstore & Baby's Kingdom) to view their strollers and cots as a reference as we still did not know what brand or type of items that we wanted. We also went to Giant and NTUC Xtra to look at their baby products. At the same time, we surfed online for more details, mainly focusing on the strollers. Thus, prior to purchase, other than being educated on the numerous brands of baby products that we never knew existed, we sort of confirmed that we wanted a Capella stroller, though we were divided over the model.
In the morning, the baby fair at expo was disappointing as it was on a very much smaller scale than the previous baby fair two weeks ago. It was, however, quite whimsical to have us constantly looking at strollers pushed by other parents and identifying their brands, a habit that we developed since we started shopping for Xiao Xiao's stuffs. The warehouse sale at Chai Chee (Taime Pte Ltd) later on, all thanks to my dear's colleague, was where we committed to our purchases as most of the items were at 20% off. After all, we had been to enough places to know that the prices, without the discount, were more or less the same.
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| Clockwise from top left: play gym, changing mat, musical mobile, neck support, nursing pillow, teething toy |
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Progress of Xiao Xiao 6
This time, Wendy managed to estimate Ruo Ran's weight from the scan and it was the second time my dear heard her use the phrase "smallish but not to worry". Other that that, there was not much new stuffs to be added. The nurse also asked us to consider the preference of rooms at Thomson Medical Centre during my dear's delivery.
Another round of Ruo Ran's pictures:
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| Left: I have no idea Right: the cross-section showing the spine and ribcage |
Sunday, October 21, 2012
新手父母的第一堂课
在很用功的爹地的“逼迫”下，很懒惰的妈咪只好勉为其难地上来这里写写博客。嘿嘿！我真的是太懒了，最近一直都把记录我们生活的重责交给我亲爱的老公。如果不上来写点儿什么，还真的是说不过去啊！
今天，就让我来聊聊我们于10月19日上的第一堂课吧。坦白说，在上课之前，我还真的不知道导师会教些什么内容。我们的导师的名字是Lilian Pong。她是一位经验非常丰富的助产员。在等待其他孕妇到来的当儿，她先是播放了一段如何替双胞胎哺乳的短片。在这之前，我有点儿紧张。这是因为其他的参与者的“球”都比我的大。其实，我到现在还是很介意自己的肚子很小，真的好担心我的小孩发育得很慢。唉......看了短片过后，我才开始觉得放松，也没那么紧张了。
这之后，导师教我们如何从床上起身和如何以蹲着的姿势站起来。据她说，这样才不会伤到背部。回家之后，我也依样画葫芦照做。她教得真的很有用耶！照她说的方法起身真的完全不会伤到背部耶！好厉害哦！不过，站久了我的背部还是很疼。希望接下来等肚子再大一点儿时，背痛不会加剧到太厉害。
接着，我们就开始做些简单的伸展运动，主要是针对脖子、腰部、胸部和盆骨等重点部位。可爱的老公因为担心他会忘记导师所教的动作，所以就很勤快地做笔记。 这样傻傻的他真的让我觉得十分感动。这个老公真的是没白嫁！
坐了一会儿运动，导师让我们休息十五分钟。在休息的时候，老公穿上了模拟孕妇的装备。我还给他拍了一张照呢！嘿嘿！待会儿再“逼”他上载照片。独乐乐不如众乐乐嘛！
休息过后，导师就给我们讲解怀孕时在饮食上和工作时得注意些什么。原来孕妇不应该吃人参耶！吃了会导致血流不止，好恐怖哦！
最后，导师教在场的老公们如何替他们的太太做腿部按摩，以防止小腿抽筋。哈哈！这大概是我最喜欢的环节了！我要每晚缠着老公让他给我按摩腿部！要知道，怀孕真的好辛苦哦！老公不多疼疼我怎么行呢？
总结地来说，上课时挺好玩的。不过，上完课后真的好晚哦！想到要搭那么久的车回家就让人觉得很吃不消。尤其是现在我的背老是觉得疼，久坐不动真的让我觉得很辛苦。老公，今晚就看你怎么表现了哦！要懂得做人哦！
今天，就让我来聊聊我们于10月19日上的第一堂课吧。坦白说，在上课之前，我还真的不知道导师会教些什么内容。我们的导师的名字是Lilian Pong。她是一位经验非常丰富的助产员。在等待其他孕妇到来的当儿，她先是播放了一段如何替双胞胎哺乳的短片。在这之前，我有点儿紧张。这是因为其他的参与者的“球”都比我的大。其实，我到现在还是很介意自己的肚子很小，真的好担心我的小孩发育得很慢。唉......看了短片过后，我才开始觉得放松，也没那么紧张了。
这之后，导师教我们如何从床上起身和如何以蹲着的姿势站起来。据她说，这样才不会伤到背部。回家之后，我也依样画葫芦照做。她教得真的很有用耶！照她说的方法起身真的完全不会伤到背部耶！好厉害哦！不过，站久了我的背部还是很疼。希望接下来等肚子再大一点儿时，背痛不会加剧到太厉害。
接着，我们就开始做些简单的伸展运动，主要是针对脖子、腰部、胸部和盆骨等重点部位。可爱的老公因为担心他会忘记导师所教的动作，所以就很勤快地做笔记。 这样傻傻的他真的让我觉得十分感动。这个老公真的是没白嫁！
坐了一会儿运动，导师让我们休息十五分钟。在休息的时候，老公穿上了模拟孕妇的装备。我还给他拍了一张照呢！嘿嘿！待会儿再“逼”他上载照片。独乐乐不如众乐乐嘛！
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| 可爱的老公！ |
休息过后，导师就给我们讲解怀孕时在饮食上和工作时得注意些什么。原来孕妇不应该吃人参耶！吃了会导致血流不止，好恐怖哦！
最后，导师教在场的老公们如何替他们的太太做腿部按摩，以防止小腿抽筋。哈哈！这大概是我最喜欢的环节了！我要每晚缠着老公让他给我按摩腿部！要知道，怀孕真的好辛苦哦！老公不多疼疼我怎么行呢？
总结地来说，上课时挺好玩的。不过，上完课后真的好晚哦！想到要搭那么久的车回家就让人觉得很吃不消。尤其是现在我的背老是觉得疼，久坐不动真的让我觉得很辛苦。老公，今晚就看你怎么表现了哦！要懂得做人哦！
Monday, October 15, 2012
Looper
We decided to see this movie after reading the above average review on it on 8 days. Guess we had been going through this process quite frequently for our movie watching these days. The movie's theme about travel travelling also resonated well with my dear.
The story started off with time travelling invented but outlawed and technology so advanced that every living thing can be tracked, which made murder extremely difficult (don't ask me why but somehow people need to die for the story to proceed). Thus, evil organisations started to send people back into time to eliminate them via assassins in the earlier time called loopers. These assassins will eventually be sent back to be killed, sometimes by other loopers, sometimes by their younger self.
The protagonist was one such high achieving assassin but one day he did not manage to kill his target, which happened to be himself. Prior to that, his best friend went through something similar and met with a tragic end, after being sold out by the protagonist. The older him had enjoyed a great life with love towards the end but was eventually captured by the organisation. In the midst of his capture, his wife was murdered. The older him later managed to defeat his captors but decided to go back in time to kill the ultimate bad guy in the future by killing him/her when in his/her youth. However, with the limited clues, he only managed to narrow the search to three young children to which he decided to kill all.
The younger him learned of all these and decided to stop him, while evading capture from the organisation. He stayed with one of the marked children, which happened to be the right one by the law of plot no jutsu, and convinced the mum that he was there to protect the child. In the end, the younger him realised that the only way to stop the older him was to kill himself and that was how the show ended.
To me, I felt that the story did not really make sense in quite a number of places or explain clearly with regards to the development of the story. As a result, we both need to search online for the spoilers in order to fully understand the entire movie. Even so, I still felt that the movie need more refinement to the development of the plot. Guess the review was overrated? Nonetheless, we enjoyed the movie and I figured that that's the most important. =)
The story started off with time travelling invented but outlawed and technology so advanced that every living thing can be tracked, which made murder extremely difficult (don't ask me why but somehow people need to die for the story to proceed). Thus, evil organisations started to send people back into time to eliminate them via assassins in the earlier time called loopers. These assassins will eventually be sent back to be killed, sometimes by other loopers, sometimes by their younger self.
The protagonist was one such high achieving assassin but one day he did not manage to kill his target, which happened to be himself. Prior to that, his best friend went through something similar and met with a tragic end, after being sold out by the protagonist. The older him had enjoyed a great life with love towards the end but was eventually captured by the organisation. In the midst of his capture, his wife was murdered. The older him later managed to defeat his captors but decided to go back in time to kill the ultimate bad guy in the future by killing him/her when in his/her youth. However, with the limited clues, he only managed to narrow the search to three young children to which he decided to kill all.
The younger him learned of all these and decided to stop him, while evading capture from the organisation. He stayed with one of the marked children, which happened to be the right one by the law of plot no jutsu, and convinced the mum that he was there to protect the child. In the end, the younger him realised that the only way to stop the older him was to kill himself and that was how the show ended.
To me, I felt that the story did not really make sense in quite a number of places or explain clearly with regards to the development of the story. As a result, we both need to search online for the spoilers in order to fully understand the entire movie. Even so, I still felt that the movie need more refinement to the development of the plot. Guess the review was overrated? Nonetheless, we enjoyed the movie and I figured that that's the most important. =)
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Progress of Xiao Xiao 5
It was another visit to Wendy to see Ruo Ran's (aka Xiao Xiao's) progress. Though armed with more questions with regards to my dear's aching lower back, intake of calcium and changes in discharge, those were quickly dismissed as normal signs of pregnancy as a result of hormonal changes. It sure sounds easy being a obstetrician / gynaecologist.
However, she did mention that Xiao Xiao is a bit smallish based on the report from the Fetal Anomaly Scan done previously. That sure got my dear worried, but I assured her that, looking on the bright side, the birth will be lesser painful. Nevertheless, my dear will be endulging in a heavier diet to increase Xiao Xiao's growth.
Below are her photos:
However, she did mention that Xiao Xiao is a bit smallish based on the report from the Fetal Anomaly Scan done previously. That sure got my dear worried, but I assured her that, looking on the bright side, the birth will be lesser painful. Nevertheless, my dear will be endulging in a heavier diet to increase Xiao Xiao's growth.
Below are her photos:
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| Top: cross-section of Xiao Xiao Bottom: spine and ribcage of Xiao Xiao |
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