The friends asked me to fathom a guess.
“It had to be double-bagged!”
As I opened the present, I had to laugh. At 5kg, I understood why.
I didn’t even know they sold this over here.
I’ve placed my 500ml bottle besides it for reference sake.
The friends said in jest that perhaps after this, I might swear off Nutella forever.
You know what. I just might.
We were early for our dinner date at Victoria Hotel’s Steakhouse (formerly known as Republic of Steak) so we decided to take a self-guided tour of the hotel which lasted all of 30 seconds.
Just as we were preparing to make our exit, the husband spotted this.
It brought back so much memories. Of riding these lifts to my dad’s office and the smell of ink that accompanies it.
I never thought we’ll find one here ever.
Of course we had to take a ride in it.
Even if it’s only 5 stories up and down.
It was a trip up and down memory lane.
Just the other day, I was really overwhelmed.
It had been a difficult night and a lack of sleep plus a gazillion things on the mind makes me think strange thoughts.
The grandparents had taken the daughter for their mutual entertainment and I decided to plonk myself in front of the piano.
The son then came along and wanted to tinkle away too.
I told him to wait a while. He asked why. I hemmed and hewed before answering that I needed to play to destress.
I never thought THAT would ever come out from my mouth.
We finally scheduled a meeting with the husband’s good doctor after we bumped into him at the supermarket.
And yes, we were faced with pretty poor readings from the blood tests and all. It’s definitely easier to run away from the reality of the issue but I’m so glad that we met him.
Thus, the husband decides to embark (or rather, re-embark) on his exercise regime and since one of his pet peeves was the closing hour of the gyms, he decided to head to Aibi to equip himself with some decent set of weights.
We almost left the place a few thousand dollars poorer.
It started with an innocent question about their Goldfish Shaker which led to a conversation about massage and vibration technology which in turn led to him introducing the ZenPro to us.
Then it was ALMOST the point of no-return. You know, the usual touting of its benefits. Weight-loss, blood circulation, exercising the core muscles etc.
Thankfully, our restrain held up. That and the image of my mum’s face when she sees this in the living room.
Heidi and Paul Jackson’s twin girls, Brielle and Kyrie, were born October 17, 1995, 12 weeks ahead of their due date. Standard hospital practice is to place preemie twins in separate incubators to reduce the risk of infection. that was done for the Jackson girls in the neonatal intensive care unit at The Medical Center of Central Massachusetts in Worcester.
Kyrie, the larger sister at two pounds, three ounces, quickly began gaining weight and calmly sleeping her newborn days away. But Brielle, who weighed only two pounds at birth, couldn’t keep up with her. She had breathing and heart-rate problems. The oxygen level in her blood was low, and her weight gain was slow.
Suddenly, on November 12, Brielle went into critical condition. She began gasping for breath, and her face and stick-thin arms and legs turned bluish-gray. Her heart rate was way up, and she got hiccups, a dangerous sign that her body was under stress. Her parents watched, terrified that she might die.
Nurse Gayle Kasparian tried everything she could think of to stabilize Brielle. She suctioned her breathing passages and turned up the oxygen flow to the incubator. Still Brielle squirmed and fussed as her oxygen intake plummeted and her heart rate soared.
Then Kasparian remembered something she had heard from a colleague. It was a procedure, common in parts of Europe but almost unheard of in this country, that called for double-bedding multiple-birth babies, especially preemies.
Kasparian’s nurse manager, Susan Fitzback, was away at a conference, and the arrangement was unorthodox. But Kasparian decided to take the risk.
“Let me just try putting Brielle in with her sister to see if that helps,” she said to the alarmed parents. “I don’t know what else to do.”
The Jacksons quickly gave the go-ahead, and Kasparian slipped the squirming baby into the incubator holding the sister she hadn’t seen since birth. Then Kasparian and the Jacksons watched.
No sooner had the door of the incubator closed then Brielle snuggled up to Kyrie – and calmed right down. Within minutes Brielle’s blood-oxygen readings were the best they had been since she was born. As she dozed, Kyrie wrapped her tiny arm around her smaller sibling.
(Source: Growing Your Baby)
The invite said Balloons & Bubbles and it certainly lived up to it.
We had a fantastic time at the party and I’m truly amazed at how it went (in fact, I think we stayed a tad too long.) I’ve never entertained the idea of having a party at home not simply because our place was small cosy, but also the energy and brain-cells to conceptualise and pull it off? Not easy.
The son had a blast painting with the balloons (in keeping with the theme). 
Me think he could also be a little deprived since he painted almost everyday when we had our own place, as compared to now.
And I just have to add this photo because it’s adorable how she just stood there.
Blessed birthday Bubbles!
One fine afternoon, we decided to grab tea at Chin Mee Chin after reading all the glorious reviews on HungryGoWhere.
I’m not sure if it was because we popped by late but it certainly didn’t live up to all its hype.
The iced Milo was diluted. Or rather, I felt I was drinking iced water with a tinge of Milo. Granted, that’s not one of its famous items but how hard is it to make a decent cup?
I wasn’t impressed with the teeny cupcake too. Yes, I the-not-a-food-connoisseur-and-everything-taste-ok-consumer actually feels it’s over-rated.
At least the kaya bread was decent. But I so miss the good old Hainanese kaya from Ipoh.
We didn’t get our hands on the famed cream horns or custard puffs but I really doubt we’ll be making a special trip for them.
I’ve never been a huge fan of grass jelly. To me, it had always been this rather chewy block of black agar-agar and something to mix with my soya bean drink.
Of course, this was until I met Ding Tea.
We were just walking around Far East Plaza (I know, we’re practically old fogies there) when we spotted it and decided to give it a go. I being the good wife, decided to order the grass jelly drink for the husband and man, my eyes lit up when I tried it. It’s soft and smooth, like beancurd! I then promptly traded my rather lackluster ice-cream milk tea for his. I have even contemplated asking them to just skip the milk tea and just give me the grass jelly.
And I’m starting to behave like a crazed deprived grass jelly addict. Whenever I spot a bubble tea shop, I need to grab one cup to suss out their quality. I’ve also informed the husband that I’ve made it my personal mission to find the best grass jelly in town. I think he’s not terribly impressed though because he asked if I could use the effort to do some research for the business.
So yes. I’m officially on a search for grass jelly (and steamed salted egg yolk buns!). Give me a shout if you know any.
It seems that when we take regular carriers, we often end up with journeying with the Singapore Girl. I knew there were some hoo-ha over the new website but I only realised why when I wanted to choose my seats online.
I couldn’t.
I tried my computer, iPhone. My friend tried on his. Nothing worked.
Frustrated, I decided to call their customer service.
This was the gist of the conversation that ensued after I explained to him my situation.
Customer service (CS): Mdm, you’ll have to choose your seats online.
Me: I know. I can’t get in.
CS: You’ll have to click on the “Mange booking” button.
Me: I know. I can’t get in.
CS: *puzzled* But I can get in on my side.
Me: I tried different devices but I just cannot get in!
CS: You’ll have to click the “Manage booking” button to choose seats.
Me: I KNOW! I’ve been there before but now I just cannot get in. I’ve been trying for days and my friend tried on his computer but we both can’t get in.
CS: But I can see it on my side.
Me: *Bangs head on the wall* Can you do anything on your side? Does this mean that on my returning flight, if I can’t check in online, I’ll need to go to the airport earlier?
CS: Yes. On my side, I’ll make a note to the seating department.
Me: *Sigh* Is there nothing you can help me with? Perhaps some technical assistance or explanation? Or any alternative way that I can choose my seats?
CS: No. You’ll have to do it online.
Me: Ok. And if I can’t check in online for my returning flight, I’ll have to go to the airport earlier?
CS: Yes.
I gave up.
I decided to try my hand at checking in online today and guess what, I managed to get in! I happily ticked our names and when I click the “Check In” button, I got an error message.
ARRGHHH!
I finally stepped into Marina Bay Sands, thanks to my sis-in-law who had booked a room to celebrate my brother’s birthday.
(See Corsage, you’re not the last one.)
I was greeted by this when I stepped into the lobby of the hotel.
I pretty sure it’s expensive or made by some famous or up-and-coming artist but all that were going through my head was “That’s a really HUGE hairball! Wait. There’s more than one. Hmm. Maybe it’s more like fa-cai.” Yup, I’m SO cultured.
I did manage to take some pictures of the skyline before the evening set.
We then went up to the Sands Sky Park. All I can say is that I’m glad I didn’t actually have to fork out moolah to go up because if I did, I’ll be hitting myself blue black over it. The sheer amount of people is overwhelming! And that’s not just the people on the walkway. Even in the pool. Speaking of which, am I the only one to think the placement of the pool and jacuzzis are plain weird, especially the latter? How can anyone relax in the jacuzzi with swarms of people standing right behind you, chatting and taking pictures of the skyline?
And so I shall abruptly end this post with the pictures of the skyline, taken with my trusty iPhone.
pink cloth microphone 