eat & shop again

Saturday, we went to Daddy Elvis' office in the morning coz he had to see some stuffs. We had to rush a little coz it was pretty early...so we just grabbed Joel's milk. Sorry, no porridge today...back to milk-milk. ;p

You can see in the picture too that Daddy's office has a table-tennis table. (Is this the correct term?) Anyway, this office interior is not as cool as his previous company which is a converted warehouse by the Suzhou river.

Next, we went to take a look at the H&M Commes des Garcons range. Was told that ALL the Mens stuffs were SOLD OUT (within hours from the launch on 13th)...and the Ladies range still have a bit left. Quite disappointed... ;(

Then, we went to another of our favourite shop Y by Codes Combine. Haha! Shopping again! (We're there quite often so some of the staff can even recognize us). This brand is from Korea and they have quite a wide range (of sub-lines) for both men & ladies. Pretty cool things! Daddy very terrible leh...so many jackets still keep buying every week! He has more than 1.5m of ONLY JACKETS!!! I'm not complaining lah coz i also keep telling him to "Buy! Buy!". On the other hand, i have decided to stop buying since i hardly go out now. Also, i dont have to work, so i dont need really need to wear nice nice also lah.


Actually, i feel it's very troublesome to bring Joel out now with his increased weight and more fussing. Somehow, it's also quite inconvenient in winter - wearing and removing the jackets etc... Even change diaper also very troublesome. Maybe it could also be becoz i'm sick lah. So tiring!

We came home early coz Daddy has to go to his office again in the evening. So Joel and i can rest a bit at home. Here's us goofing at home after his poo-ed and before his bath. :)

I also felt very sick (aches, flu, headache etc) so at 8pm, i tricked Joel into thinking that that was his bedtime and both of us went to bed! Haha! Surprisingly, he also didnt even wake up for his last milk feed for the day. ;p

Sunday, we went to Afternoon Tea for lunch (again!!), then to the 7th Shanghai Biennale exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum. You'll probably know by now, i'm a huge fan of AT. I tried a new pasta (they change their menu every now & then) but still prefer my usual Flying Roe Carbonara. I also think that this pear/chocolate cake is the best! Yummy!

A real (old) train, giant psychedelic ants, skinny horses, red tshirts that link to individuals on a map (on the wall), an aeroplane-car-..., lots of bags including an LV (imitation of course)...


It was the LAST DAY of the exhibition but there was still quite a lot of people. We had gone there when it first opened in Sept but the queue was soooooo long we changed our minds. Somehow, it seems that Chinese everywhere just like to queue & are kiasu. Joel fell asleep shortly after we got in, so we could walk around quite peacefully! ;)
(You can also see that we've brought along the cheap & compact stroller coz Joel hardly ever wants to sit inside the stroller. It practically is used for our bags & shopping!)

I think the best part of the exhibition was the 'Colourful Running Dinosaurs' 《五彩龙腾》by Yue Minjun. It was a display of 41 pieces of steel/copper dinosaurs with human heads - displayed in a dark and narrow space of about 5-meters long.


The smallest was only about the size of my feet.



I also liked these paintings (below) which the artist tries to tell his grandparent's love story. His grandmother was a modern lady who dressed very well and she had to travel back & forth between Shanghai & Beijing to meet his grandfather.


The museum closes at 5pm, so everyone was "chased out". The staff was actually busy keeping some of the exhibits (already!). We walked to the park/Starbucks next door to feed Joel his porridge and walked to Rafffles City. Also went to NIKEiD (along the way at XiZhang/Tibet Road) to take a look.

It's so sinful! We shopped again! Izzue (from Hong Kong) at Novo was having SALE, so Daddy bought a pants and sweatshirt. I also bought a nice sweatshirt (coz with 3 pcs, there's an additional 15% off). Haha! I think it's still quite expensive after all the discount (it's U.P.¥859 for a sweatshirt!!!). But usually, i seldom get anything from Izzue coz their prices have increased quite a bit in the past years...so i dont think it's worth the price now. Anyway, glad we got quite a good discount. And i said i didnt wanna shop!!!??!!! Haha! ;)

And back home, this is Joel's fat butt which i think is so cute! Haha! ;p

O ya, we had Ajisen for dinner again and i cant resist dabao-ing some yummy dessert - mochis and a tub of Anderson's Ice Cream...and Breadtalk for breakfast/supper! I still wasnt feeling too well (no appetite), so snacks & tidbits work very well for me now! Keke... ;p

stella & stew

I checked my email this morning and found out that my friend Stella's bunny just passed away. I have never seen her rabbit, but when i read her blog and when we MSNed afterwards, i just kept crying and crying. It was as if my own rabbit had died! That's weird, coz i dont have a thing for rabbits. ;p

Maybe coz i'm more "motherly" now coz of Joel and also i can imagine what i'll feel if my dog Terry is gone. When Terry was lost (and found) last year, i also cried my heart out. :_(

In memory of Stew
July 2002 - 15 November 2008

for kids only

Last week, i also went to NiHong 霓虹 - the place with "everything for kids" near HuaiHai Road (at PuAn/JingLing Road). Didnt really get a lot of stuffs for Joel coz i think he doesnt really need anything for now. Instead, i saw this fake fur vest in one of the shops and bought it for myself! Haha! It's from Okaidi and tagged for kids 14yrs. That's only ¥80 (about S$16). Dont know if i'll get the chance to wear it now. ;)

The last time we were back in Spore, realized that Okaidi is now in Singapore too! Their clothes are very nice - esp the girls. Not sure about their Singapore's prices but over here in department stores, it's quite expensive.

At NiHong, i only bought Joel some thick socks and one of those "vest" which the China kids here always wear. I chose a cute bird print, and intend to let him wear at home when it gets colder. Surprisingly, it's only ¥15 (S$3) Will post pictures soon! Very cute print (although the design is yucky)!

post-weekend

Xan, Xavier & everyone at home, hope you can catch these before your Tokyo holiday! Glad you liked the video! Keke... ;p
Here's our updates of last weekend...
(a little behind time coz Aunty Jo sick lah...)
We went to Ikea then to meet our friends at GangHui 港汇广场. See, Joel is so happy coz he's surrounded by girls! O, and this cute & very soft Ikea panda. Joel seems to like it a lot! He was laughing VERY LOUDLY! This is inside Chamate 一茶一坐 (from Taiwan) which you can also find in Tokyo. It's a food, flower teas and dessert place. A lot of people like their iced red bean (红豆冰 "hong dou bing") but i like their pudding with caramel.

After shopping around in XuJiaHui 徐家汇, we went shopping at our favourite ChangLe Road 长乐路, and had dinner at a nearby authentic Japanese restaurant (near HuaiHai Road 淮海路). Everyone agrees that the mackerel/saba fish tastes like crab!!! How amazing! There's lots of cute Japanese kids - much much cuter than Joel. (I dont know the name of the restaurant coz our friends brought us there but i will definitely go back again. Very yummy!)

This is funny Ann from Xiamen and pretty FeiFei from Taipei, Taiwan.

O ya, it was also the FIRST TIME we brought Joel's porridge out! 2 meals! The lunch bag we bought was not bad! He had carrot, brocolli and pork porridge.

Sunday, we had Singapore food at Nanyang Cuisine at Infiniti Plaza. Ordered dry curry (rendang) with chicken rice, black carrot cake, roti prata and kangkong sambal. It was too yummy...so i had forgotten to take a picture of it first. ;p

Joel on a highchair now...but still cannot eat our food. He's just pretending to eat here. But the nice aunty steamed a "man tou" for him. It's FREE!

Elvis act cute, act cool and disgusting...

P.S. This must be like a Chinese lesson with so many Chinese words! Haha!

more of joel

Look, Joel can stand quite steadily now! He likes to look at this frame with LOTS OF JOEL...then he walks to the bookshelf...and back again to admire himself!


Note that the whole time, he makes this face with his tongue curled up outside his upper lip! He's been doing this A LOT lately. I also think he looks like a fat aunty wearing sweatshirt & leggings...HAHA...the kind you see at the market! ;p

potty training

Joel tried this potty today...but nothing came out...so we gave up. This is NOT the colour i wanted. Actually, i wanted Blue/White ...but Lijia-Baby delivered a wrong Pink/Yellow yesterday morning...so I got them to change it...but this Green/Blue came today...so i accepted it nonetheless. I think it's quite ugly...but it's just for shitting lah, so nevermind lah.

There is a "drawer" at the back to remove the shit! Haha! So i guess it's not so disgusting having to wash the entire potty. It also has a button on the bear's head...there's random kiddy music and the bear's eyes glow like the Merlion at Sentosa! So scary! ;p

It's only ¥53 (about S$10).

sensory

New fragrances from Gap. It's 100ml and inexpensive too! I like the Ladies packaging (bottle & pack)...so minimalist.
The Mens range: Mixed, Spiked
The Ladies range: Lavender Tea, White Amber, Washed Cotton, Velvet Bloom, Coconut Tuberose, Mandarin Jasmine
Express yourself with our fresh and exciting new eau de toilettes.
Emotion-evoking scents in 6 different combinations burst with refreshing and sophisticated medleys of fruits, teas, woods, florals, spice and everything nice.

cough and cold

I think this picture of the guy in skin-coloured long-johns is sooo funny!
Many people are having flu now coz of the sudden weather change from 20+ to about 15˚C. It can get quite cold at night at 8˚C. Next Thursday, it's been forcasted that it would even go down to 2˚C ...and "real feel" is usually 1-2˚C lower than what's shown. Our apartment also feels colder than the actual coz it's on the 28th floor. We've started to turn on the heater day & night (although it might be sunny in the day). Grrrrr.....

Along with the cold weather, we've all gotten sick...
Elvis has been having (quite serious) flu for a few weeks...he has been working late...so no rest...and it didnt get any better. On self-medication - Panadol Cold & Decolgen.

I also have a bit of flu this week...which got a bit more serious now...plus a bit of cough. Some headache, body aches too. On self-medication - Decolgen - at night only coz i need to remain sober in the day.
* Need to stock-up on medicines next time we're back in Spore.

Joel has a bit of cough this Monday...and we were so "gan jiong" we rushed him to the PD on Monday morning. On a cough strawberry-flavored-powder-mixed-with-water & antibiotics which Joel loves to drink.

Here's the 15-day forecast.

so many hairstyles

Found this cool website that allows you to see yourself in different hairstyles before you go for the big change. The catch, must pay US$14.95.
www.thehairstyler.com
If you're cheapo like me, can also look at the Hairstyle Categories to "read" (not see) if it suits your face shape, hair type lah... ;p

hit the button

My friend just showed me this Coolhunter website (cool things in the US)... Viola! hmm...you see the toilet???!!!



Pictures from www.Coolhunter.com

antique cafe

One of the weekdays, we had lunch at a nice little cafe near Elvis' office - La Aroma de Vida.

Elvis said that everything in this cafe is for sale including its ornaments & furnishings. The lady owner is an interior designer and i think her mom probably whipped up the home-cooked menu. Nothing very fancy...just tiny dishes of everything your mom can probably cook (but your mom's will taste nicer).

It's quite a nice place though to sit and have coffee/tea...and collect your thoughts! Haha! Here's where Elvis and his team like to come to brainstorm!

I didnt bring my camera...so here's a photo and review from CityWeekend:
This cafe soothes the soul with celery-mint-green walls, jazz on the stereo and vintage furniture from the owner’s personal collection placed casually about. The menu includes Shanghai homestyle dishes and a smattering of Western choices. The true delights are inexpensive drinks like fresh-squeezed lemonade and an addictive iced mint latte.

we did

...and still best friends.

And a few 'I do's coming up in 2009 (Agatha's & Celine's) ...and also Jessica & Ryan's which we will miss this 3rd December (which is also my 35th birthday!!!). And a Thai friend's too in Bangkok this November. ;p

free wedding announcer

I'm kinda helping a friend look for some wedding info (for her beach-themed wedding) ...and i chanced upon a wedding announcer website of a couple whose wedding will fall on Jan 2009...and held at The Marriot, Singapore.

Actually, they're a super fat couple. (Just imagine Joel's proportions x 10 or maybe more. Sorry huh, so crude.) Nothing in common with the beach theme i was googling for, but what made me read about them/their wedding is coz they also "pak-tor" for 9 years before they finally wanna get married...and also at Marriot! That's quite similar to us! I also saw from her website that Marriot's wedding themes are different now. No more garden greens which i chose for our wedding.

They really look sooo happy and cute together...their happiness is contagious! Even the music on their website sounds romantic! Haha! O my...it reminds me of the happy wedding we had! Keke... ;p

Anyway, check out the FREE wedding announcer website here! Can recommend it to any of your friends who are getting married soon. So cool! ;)

Here's a nice picture from 30-06-2006


These huge lollipops are 喜糖 "xi tang" (happiness candy) which we gave away to Elvis' Bates colleagues in Shanghai. It's their tradition to give candies after a wedding.

...matches our colourful and happy invite card! ;)

Illustration by Drewscape

hats

I dont know why...but Joel looks instantly fatter in these beanies...

happy family

Last week, it was more fun interacting with Baby Joel. You've probably saw him do his peek-a-boo (in the video below). He really seems to like it...coz he did it whenever he gets his hands on a blanket. He also surprised us by clapping his hands (when i asked him to)...and also trying to wave goodbye - though not always successful.

Still, it makes us really happy to see a happy Joel. ;)

P.S. Our friends saw him on Sat and he also responded to them...laughing so loudly it kinda became a scream...so everyone had so much fun! Sooo cute!

hugz hugz

A friend just told about this thing called the Hug Mug from Max Brenner. What an interesting concept huh. ;)

Hug Mug is a cacao bean shaped mug designed to keep your hands warm while drinking. It creates the ultimate experience of warmth and coziness and the openess of the mug allows the aroma of the chocolate to be thoroughly enjoyed.

So...do you drink from the "fat" side or the "skinny" side??? Haha...

great stuffs

If you're located in Singapore, you should rush there this Saturday morning! Petit Bateau has the best (tshirt) materials ever...and can last for years! Chiong ahh...
P.S. If buying for babies, cutting runs small...or maybe Asian babies are generally chubbier... French babies are born to look like super models!

smart people

The cable TV people came to install some cable TV of sorts on Monday...and i had problems trying to play Joel's DVD yesterday (felt so stupid that i had to use the old TV remote to fix that). Anyway, after playing Joel his DVD again today, i cant seem to get any of the TV channels to work...so NO TV for me tonight - and that meant no Channel Young at 9pm!!! (I was really quite mad!) These are the times i really hate the CHINESE remote control, the CHINESE selections and the CHINESE manual...(let me also add) the chinese menu, the chinese washing labels, the chinese signages... Arrghhh...

So i decided to watch Smart People...and i really liked it! It stars Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page (of Juno which i also wrote about below) and SARAH JESSICA PARKER!

It's light-hearted and sets a pleasant mood even though i'm watching it alone. I like its ending too - coz i love happy endings. I dont like those that keeps me wondering and totally hate those that makes me sob. The music is also very good - kinda like Juno's.

peek-a-boo

I was really very very surprised! ;)

i'm seeing dots

Polka dots, squiggles and twisted tailoring... That's what you'll see come 13 November in major cities in the world! It's the Comme des Garcons and H&M collaboration - most exciting to date - after Kylie Minogue (Mar 2007, Beachwear), Madonna (Mar 2007), Marimekko (Apr 2007), Viktor & Rolf (A/W 2006), Stella McCartney (A/W 2005)...

View the H&M X CGD collection here.

hopeless

I just came back from the supermarket...and i'm really clueless what are the types of vegetables - its name and how it looks like! I was trying very hard to figure out if this......ehh......or this looks more like broccoli.

I also bought a pack of muddy purplish longish stuff which i thought was red potatoes...and i came home and realized it's yam!

I know my sis Sandra - who loves food & the supermarket - is going to strangle me!!! ;p

eat n shop

Just 2 weeks of enjoying the cool autumn breeze, i cant believe we're dressing for winter already!!! This weekend, we went out only in the late afternoon. Both days, lunch was home-delivery coz the cold weather makes us feel sooo lazy. Kinda like animals hibernating in winter! That includes Joel coz shortly after he woke up and bathed (at about 10am), he went back to sleep again (at 11am)!!! Or maybe he knows it's the weekends! ;p

We finally went to the Grandma's Kitchen at GangHui (港汇广场 Grand Gateway) for some nice soup...and realized a revamped level 5 & 6 with a whole lot of restaurants!
Picture: Mommy dressed Joel at home in silly hat! And we went out in matching blue furry boots! HAHA!

We also found a new shop from Hong Kong - Bauhaus - in GangHui and Elvis bought this simple but nice jacket and a pair of jeans (both so expensive!!!)...but he received a VIP card for 10% discount on future shopping lah! ;p (The VIP card can also be used in HK Bauhaus which carries about 20+ labels, but here in Shanghai, there's only about 10 labels)

P.S. Sorry, i cannot find a related link for 'Bauhaus', but you'll probably have seen their shops in almost every HK street! Haha! ;)

Sunday afternoon, we went to Shanghai Outlets which is like a really HUGE factory outlet place. (You can view more detailed pictures here from another blog) There's more brands now compared to the last time we went more than a year ago. It's in the outskirts of Shanghai, so getting there by cab takes more than 30mins (1 hour if there's a jam). It was raining and we only shopped for 2 hours coz we had dinner plans with Elvis' boss & friends at HAIKU! Yum yum! That's the perfect ending for my weekend! ;)


The Shanghai Outlets link (www.outlets.sh.cn) doesnt seem to work...their address is at 2888 HuQingPing Road/JiaSong Road, open daily from 10am to 9pm.

If you wanna scour at least 50% of the shops at Shanghai Outlets, be prepared to come early and give yourself at least half a day here. It'll also be more "worthwhile" coz your cab fares already cost quite a bit lah (approx ¥70-100 one-way from town, and might need to get past 1-2 toll highway depending on the route you take).
Adidas, Armani, Burberry, CK, Colour 18, Diesel, Esprit, Fila, Guess, I.T., Lacoste, Le Coq Sportif, Levi's, Liu Jo, Miss Sixty, New Balance, Nike, Nike Golf, Nine West, Puma, Quiksilver, Sisley, Tommy Hilfiger, United Colors of Benetton, Zegna...and much more...most shops offer discounts of approx 30% up to 70%!!! (I even saw 1 shop at 90% discount!)
Also there's a HUGE everything-for-kids section which we didnt get to see...but i saw almost everyone carrying their carrier bags.

women's history month

Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of shag carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?' and get their answer when a little voice says, 'Because I love you best.'
Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade... It is marked by the progression of Mama to Mum to Mother...

4 years of age - My Mummy can do anything!
8 years of age - My Mum knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 years of age - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 years of age - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
16 years of age - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 years of age - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 years of age - Well, she might know a little bit about it.
35 years of age - Before we decide, let's get Mum's opinion.
45 years of age - Wonder what Mum would have thought about it?
65 years of age - Wish I could talk it over with Mum.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

sleepy sat

It's Saturday 1pm...and the 2 Mr Chaus are still sleeping soundly!!! We're supposed to go to Haiku to eat...and now, i'm starving!!! :/

Big head #1 just came back from Muse at 4am... (one of the clubs opened by Carina Lau) &
Big head #2 has the separation anxieties and has been grouchy since he woke up at 9am...and is now asleep again. (It's now his nap time until his lunch...)

The aircon man (probably also a big head) is supposed to come in at 10am...but didnt show up...

So i decided to wash Joel's clothes since they take forever to dry now...it's washed & hung...and i even put the-day-before-yesterday's-clothes in the dryer...and kept them too... What else can i do besides blog?! I'm really really hungry! It's sooo cold today...so of course very shiok to sleep lah! I also hope i can sleep like you leh...

Please wake up soon... Haiku Haiku...or else have to call Xing Wang delivery liao lah!

crab season

S/S is "xiao long xia" season & A/W is crab season - and we're not talking about clothes here. Yes, it's the hairy crab season!!! And we just had a 大闸蟹 Hairy Crabs session with Elvis' team. They had gone to buy it (from a famous place) after work and went to one of his colleague's house to steam it... and also made the "special dip" of vinegar, chinese wine & loads of chopped garlic. Other than hairy crabs, they also ordered Singaporean food - chicken rice, hokkien mee, black carrot cake, sambal kangkong, curry chicken, bakuteh, kulou pork, caixin... from Orchard Restaurant. (You're also supposed to drink "huang jiu" /yellow wine with the hairy crabs coz they can "get rid of the cold")

I remembered the first & last time i tried 大闸蟹 at Fomo, i really didnt like it...and i wonder why some people say 大闸蟹 is the best thing/food on earth!!?? I think normal Spore crabs is much better. When i go to Fomo for 小龙虾 "xiong long xia" (literally translated to 'mini lobster' but it actually looks/tastes more like crayfish), i dont even want to try the gross-looking crabs again! BUT this time, it's really very yummy and very very fresh!

This is "good quality stuff" and we each paid for 2 crabs - ¥70/set (1 male & 1 female). If you eat at Crystal Jade, it's ¥200 for the female, ¥98 for the male (!!!).

I also think that maybe Fomo wasnt as good for their hairy crabs compared to their "xiong long xia". The thought "xiong long xia" always makes me drool... Keke... ;p

blame it on the weather

Winter's almost here...and i'm starting to feel hungry the whole day. That's bad!!! Almost every 30 mins, i will look for something to munch - chips, chocolate, biscuits, Milo...

During my last winter here, i ate more & more...until when we went back to Singapore for CNY...and everyone says we've become fair & fat (coz there's hardly any sunny days here).

So i think it'll be the same again... ;p

P.S. But really lah, almost everyone here is like that...they put on the pounds during winter, cover with thick jackets (anyway)...and lose the extras during summer. Keke... It's a cycle.