Kids Day Out

Mark took this day off so that we can spend some time to join Jem in his holiday. Initially planned to have Mac's breakfast, but we miss the timing as Mark had to go back to office to run some important errands.

So we ended up having KFC at kallang instead... anywhere with an indoor playground for the kids.
Then we went off to Bedok Jetty to let Jem play with his new reel. Yes! His 2nd reel... a blue baby that caught his eyes while we top up on our fishing gears. Somehow he managed to get the line all tangled up. This time round, jay had some fun too... it somehow tickled him to see the fishes kept jumping when we hooked it up. So he busied himself laughing over the fishes with the brother.

Evening time, we went on to Changi T3. Took a nice coffee break at Secret Recipe while Jay's napping. Simply gotta show this pic of Choc Banana Cake.. yummilicious with chunks of banana in the midst of choc cream.
They had a good time running around before having dinner at the food court.
I love this pic.
More photos at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157607242621199/

A Tai-tai Day - Part 3

We went off to Clarke Quay to wind down... and to utilise some vouchers we had gotten.

Sad to say that most of the restaurants here are not family friendly though we did come across some babies in their prams at some outdoor drinking joints. Finally we found one alongside the canal and who could resist a restaurant that had an award for Best Chilli Crab in Year 2007? So here we were, enjoying the night canal view.. tucking into a plate of 1.5kg Sri Lanka Crab. And of yah, the free 'airshow' that a few hobbyists put up as they practice their remote controlled kites.

Verdict : Lifestyle of a tai-tai is very damaging to the pocket of an average stay-at-home mum.

A Tai-tai Day - Part 2

After the strenous exercise at Fidgets, we went to search for the nice waffles at Turf City. Well, we didn't find it so we settled at SOL.

Jay was knocked out from all the running and Jem happily proceeded to the play area which I had to mention it was pretty poorly maintained. Still he enjoyed himself especially some girls came by to play with him.


Just nice for Mark and I to have some couple time...

Jem did get a waffle though

A Tai-tai Day - Part 1

It's the shool hols again... to skip the crowd, I'd brought the kids out on Friday before the week of holidays really started. Mark went on half day leave..

I'm not that keen on indoor playgrounds especially paid ones but what could be a better choice to let the kids enjoy while i'm on my own during the rainy season? So we took a cab and headed out to Fidget @ Turf City.

It was a good choice. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, climbing and running crazily. Jay rewarded me with some near heart attacks being his usual reckless self. And I think I made some maids felt they are blessed... as they watched this mummy climbing up the obstacles trying to get her little one slow down while balancing to get some sturdy photo shots with a DSLR. One sweet Australian mummy even took the effort to come to me and said that she's there almost every week and never once managed to get a good shot cos the kids will never slow down.

Finally, when they were exhausted with the 'big stuff', they willingly followed me to the cafe where the toddlers' corners are. It's good to be there on a weekday... especially when you get to have the sofa seats. Got them some cakes to fill their little tummies and off they went again, this time to the toddlers' side. Heavenly!! That's when my 'tai-tai' moments started. With little watching required... I got to curl up on the armchair and read a traveling mag. Soon, another mum from new zealand joined me for a chat.

Mark came along and brought the kids to the big playground for 2nd round.

Total damage to the wallet :

2 Entrance Fee - $30

3 pair of socks - $9

1 peppermint tea - $4.60

1 Chocolate Cake - $6.90

1 Cupcake - $3.50

1 Apricot Roast Chicken Sandwich - $7.40

1 Mango smoothie - $6.30

Total : $67.70 (Not to forget the $12 cab fare...)

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157607238951476/

Details on Fidget : http://www.fidgets.com.sg/

Recipe : Steam Chicken

Been a while that I blog on cooking, so decide to share this dish that we had while the family was down with flu and cough recently.

Steam Chicken is a common dish that most prepare at home I guess. On lazy days, or like recently, sick days, I'll just put it to steam together with the rice in the cooker. Save time, effort and electricity.

But when the family is down w cough or getting heaty, I'll prep this with dried lily bulb instead of ginger.

Lily bulb is a good general herb to tonify the body, especially beneficial to the lung and heart. It helps to reduce cough but not suitable for those with cold base cough.

Ingredients :

Chicken pieces, marinated with soy sauce and pepper.

Dried mushroom, soak

Water from soaking the mushroom

Dried lily bulb, soak for 2hrs

Put the ingredients together, partially covered with water from soaking the mushrooms. Put to steam till chicken cook through.

No additional seasoning is added for my family consumption as we minimise our salt intake. But the taste is sufficient if the chicken has been marinated well in advance and the water from mushroom is already fragrant. Normally sesame oil is skipped too to reduce heatiness. Wolfberries can be added at the last 5mins of steaming.