le pasta

Just got to know last Friday that my sister's boyfriend's brother has opened a pasta stall at Bukit Timah Food Centre. I've always heard from them that he's a really good cook (graduated from Shatec with many years of experience at restaurants) who whips up really yummy dishes and pastries too!

I downloaded these pictures from Tricia's Mommy's blog who went there to check it out already! (She has more photos of pasta on her blog) I think this Mushroom Soup looks really good...and even comes with croutons!!!

Do head there and try out the pasta if you're in the area - or even if you're not. Prices are really cheap too! Thanks!

It's located at Bukit Timah Food Centre #02-158.

this week

Yday, we went shopping in the afternoon for some items for my swap packages (to America & Indonesia). Then we went to Ken/Diana's house for BBQ. It rains EVERY TIME we have a BBQ at Ken's...and this is no exception! Haha! It started to rain in the late afternoon...and got heavier by the time we got started. So we had to move the BBQ indoors. This is their cute daughter Kaitlyn who has a room full of toys!

This is my nice nice metallic jacket bought last week. ;)


Today, we went to Crystal Jade for dimsum...then to Gymboree for the trial PLAY class (in the same building). These pictures were taken before the session. (When actual lesson start, cannot take photos) Joel seems to like the session although he cant really catch up (maybe coz it's his 1st time and the other babies were older). We decided to sign up the package for 36 classes first. I feel it's quite expensive but maybe it's good for Joel to interact with the other babies. ;)

After this, we went to stock up on our skincare stuffs coz we can finish a bottle of moisturiser in 1 month in winter. As usual, always get "conned" by the sales to buy more, more, more... Keke... Women! ;p

temptation

New in Shanghai! We saw this on Sunday...


And these from Mochi Sweets (which we bought to Ken's BBQ as dessert).

tricks

Lick, lick...

WAH! Trying to hold bottle with ONE hand! (Joel was actually 98% asleep)

baby toilet

Did you know that yesterday (19 Nov) was WTO? World Toilet Day! I only knew when i saw it on my fav Channel Young program. They showed some of the public toilets around Shanghai...and also some of the more modern toilets...

Finally! There's some toilets equipped with the baby diapering flip-out table (inside the ladies toilet)...and there's a baby "highchair" in the handicap toilet too! The handicap toilet is also very rare here in Shanghai. It's in a new shopping mall called 535. (We dont know the exact location of 535...but it's along Nanjing Xi/Dong Roads. Wanted to check it out last week...so maybe will do so this week if we have the time).

When we first came and i asked the janitors if they have any special room to change the baby's diapers, they will give me "a look"...and point me to the regular toilet which doesnt have anywhere that you can even place a baby! Not to mention the wet and/or dirty sinks...or the tiny cubicles. Haha! That's why...if you're in a nicer mall, you should always use the toilet even if you're not urgent (at that time)...coz you never know what to expect in the next.

So, you cannot imagine how we have been changing Joel's diapers when we're out (!!!). If it's his "big business", even more headache! Arrghh...

spoiling your baby

Should I worry about spoiling my baby?
If I lavish love and attention on my baby, will I spoil him?
No. Young babies are completely spoil-proof. Your baby needs all the care and attention you can give. Ignore the advice of well-meaning relatives who think babies need to learn independence. Instead, listen to your parental instinct — that inner voice that tells you to comfort your baby when he cries.

"Spoiled children" have learned to use negative behavior to get what they want. But your baby is too young to purposefully manipulate or annoy you. He cries to communicate his needs, whether they're for a snack, a dry diaper, or a little cuddling with Mom or Dad. When you respond quickly to your baby, you're building his sense of self-worth. You're also establishing a foundation of trust that can last for years to come.

If you give your baby prompt attention, he'll feel more secure and less anxious, giving him the courage to explore the world on his own. And once he understands that you take his cries seriously, he'll be less likely to cry for no reason. In the long run, responding quickly to your baby's needs will make him less clingy and demanding, not more.

By the time your baby is 6 to 8 months old, he'll be paying close attention to cause and effect — noticing, for instance, that his bowl falls when he drops it from the highchair. He'll also start to see a direct link between his actions and your responses. At this point it's okay to set some limits. If your baby starts crying to get something he doesn't need, hold your ground and give him a hug when he calms down. Similarly, give hugs and praise for good behavior and gently redirect him when he's doing something hazardous.

The right blend of love and guidance will eventually help your child understand his place in the world. But for now, your focus should be on giving him as much attention and comfort as you can. No matter how much you give, it's not more than he needs.
Article taken from BabyCenter

birdy

Joel's warm ¥15/S$3 vest! Reversible fleece & "furry-furry wool". Now, he's dressed like a china baby! ;p

I wanted to get 1 more piece...but there isnt any nicer print! I actually like this birdy print quite a lot...but Elvis thinks it's ugly! Haha! ;p

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