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Nothing much going on today.
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We went to lunch at Minori Dining and Sake Bar, the girls' choice. Received a complimentary Seafood Paper Steamboat. We ordered over 20 dishes to share and of course, not to be missed the Sorbet Yuzu. I only took two or three teaspoons of it while Juliane had the bulk of it. After lunch, I browsed for a while at books.
We had wanted to go to Plaza Singapura: Best Denki because one of the fans went on strike (permanent) and Carrefour because I needed to get envelopes. But the car park was full. The rest of the family waited in the car by the roadside while I went to Carrefour quickly to get my envelopes. I was in and out under 15 minutes, lol.***
We went out for a late dinner around 8pm at Great World City. We went to Jack's Place. We ordered a Lobster, Chicken & Mushroom Pizza, a Pan-fried Chicken & Fruit Salad, a Codfish Fillet & Chicken Combo set meal to share. The highlight of the meal as usual was the dessert. The set meal came with a Mango Custard Pie. It was rather tasty.
We went to SayCheeseCake to get more cakes: Green Tea cheesecake and Veri Citrus cheesecake. Have yet to try them but they look good! :) Juliane had her Lemon cupcake from da paolo gastronomia. The lemon icing was fantastic. :)
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In between going out, I was reading Cell by Stephen King. Really interesting. Oh yes, the fan that went on strike was really just on strike. It is working again, lol. Hmm, actually it was hubby who said the fan was a gone-case. I didn't check it myself. Shouldn't have trusted him as I am usually the one who is making repairs around the home, lol. That is the training I received from my father - to be a handywoman so not to be bullied, lol.
We are fast running out of places to bring the girls, lol. We went to Suntec City for lunch at Tony Roma's. We had wanted to try it the other day but it was packed so we ended up at Orchard Cafe. Finally, we got to try Tony Roma's.
we shared a Starter: Onion Loaf (half) ($8.50) - onions were hand-cut, breaded, deep fried and served with BBQ Mayo dipping sauce. The onions were really sweet and crunchy. But the onion loaf should be eaten while it was hot, otherwise, it would be a little too oily.
The girls shared a Mushroom Soup ($6.50) which was creamy, full of mushroom bits and yummy as well as a Kid's Tenders ($8.50) which was slices of chicken breast fried in batter and served with french fries and a glass of ice lemon tea.
Hubby ordered a half slab of St Louis-Style Ribs ($18.90) done in Carolina Honey which was a blend of honey and molasses. It also came with his choice of two side dishes: coleslaw and french fries. I thought the ribs were a little too sweet but it was really tender and soft. 
I ordered a Southwestern Chicken ($21.50). The chicken breast were marinated, covered with BBQ sauce, Monterey Jack cheese and cheddar cheese, and then charbroiled. The chicken was then topped with a generous sprinkling of freshly diced tomatoes and green onions before being served. The chicken was full of flavour and juicy. It also came with two side dishes: coleslaw and rice. The rice was flavoured and fragrant and it went really well with the chicken. It was really tasty.
We walked around Suntec City for a while. The girls started saying they were thirsty and we saw Gelare. We decided to have dessert, lol. The girls had their Wild Strawberry ice cream, hubby had a small waffle with a scoop of Cappuccino ice cream and I had my scone and Earl Grey tea. The scone was really huge and ended up passing half to hubby, lol.
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We got home and the girls rested for about 1.5 hours before we set out for Chinese Garden at 5pm for the girls' pre-school's Mid-Autumn Festival school-cum-family outing. The girls were really thrilled to be at the Chinese Garden. We had a simple buffet dinner (which was included) before walking round the Chinese Garden and snapping pictures. The girls also had their caricatures done. We managed to walk one round to see the various giant lantern displays before going back to the central stage at 7:45pm to watch the performances from Si Chuan: Chinese opera, acrobat, and the famous "Change Face". The girls were really amazed by how fast the performer could change each mask within 1/2 seconds. We didn't stay for the 10pm fireworks finale because it would be too late for the girls. We left after the Si Chuan performance. The girls couldn't stop talking about the Chinese Garden in the car and asked their father to take them there every day. Hahaha.
***
On a side note, who said all men can read maps?! Hubby couldn't. He got lost despite reading the map. The silly man got angry and wanted to just go home. He never cared that the girls would be devastated if he did that, especially if they have been looking forward to this school-cum-family outing for 2 weeks. In the end, me (a non-driver!) had to direct him. He went the wrong way again trying to get home and no prize for guessing who told him the correct way home. Lol.
In my work, I have to conduct school visits. It is the part of my work that I enjoy the most - the interaction with teachers, students and school personnels. I guess once having been a teacher, I can't get the system (school) out of me. Looking at my various work experiences, it has always centred around school and the education system. My first job after my 'A' Levels, while waiting for the results, was relief teaching at a primary school. That experience must have set me up on my current career path without me realising, lol. After I received my Psychology degree, I returned to my ala mater, SCGS to help out - again relief teaching. That was the point of no return for me. Got into NIE to do my PGDE and went back to serve at SCGS. After teaching for a couple of years (and doing my MA in Educational Psychology at the same time), MOE HQ invited me to join them as an educational psychologist (EP) which I did. Conducting school visits was a big part of my EP work. I love working with Principals, HODs, teachers, students and parents. I love the interaction. It was fun. I guess I am very much a people-oriented person, lol. I worked as an EP for almost 3 years and made many friends among the Principals and teachers in the 14 primary schools that I was then in charge of. Unfortunately, due to a difficult 2nd pregnancy, I resigned from HQ. But I couldn't stay away from the system for long. Soon after, I started my part-time counselling at one of my schools that I was in charge of as well as part-time psychological assessments. Needed to surround myself with people, lol. Not long after, I was also recruited by the then dean of my current workplace. The rest is history. Now, I continue to work with schools and teachers. I guess it is a case of "you can take me out of the school but you can't take the school out of me". Hahaha.
That is what today is - a really WET day. The rain started last night, i.e. for my area here. It was such a nice weather to sleep in but no such luxury! I had to wake up to go for counselling. Early in the morning, I had to brave the rain to go out to get a taxi. No use calling for one, the lines were all engaged. But I managed to get a taxi fairly quickly, thank goodness. :)
After counselling, it was still raining. Had to call for a taxi. When I got home, it started to let up. The weather just didn't allow one to do much except laze around or sleep. But I was trying hard not to nap or I would up late in the night again, lol. Surfed the net, checked emails and checked out blogs, and I also started playing this online game, Bejeweled. Very fun to play! Then I went for a Teh-C at the foodcourt near my place to help myself keep awake.
Came home and started playing Bejeweled again and this time was timed games. Wah, darn addictive, played for an hour!! Better stop, lol. Started raining again. Went to read a book and guess what, I fell asleep! Hahaha.
In the evening, it was still raining. We went to Isetan Private Sale because my mother called from China that she wanted a certain Kipling bag. No choice, had to go take a look if Isetan Kipling has it. Nope, they didn't have it. Wasted my time. Since we didn't have dinner yet, we went to have dinner at Orchard Cafe, Orchard Hotel. No choice, very hungry and the other places were all crowded. I ordered the Signature Orchard Cafe Pork Chop ($22.50): pan-roasted pork chop with black pepper sauce, served with crispy soft-shell crab and sauteed vegetables. I thought it was just average. Hubby ordered Num (Nasi Udang Mangga) ($18.50): fried garlic rice with mango, king prawns and asparagus. I had a spoon or two and it was not bad. The girls ordered french fries to share. I don't think I would come back for its ala carte because it is quite expensive for pretty average food. :P
The rain finally stopped when we reached home. It has been such a WET day.
I was using my laptop in the living room when I heard a noise. Juliane has been asleep since 9:45pm. I got up and saw Juliane walking unsteadily out of my room and mumbling away. She was saying, "Mama, round chair. Mama, round chair". She was mumbling that over and over again. I thought she was awake which she sometimes did and would accompany me while I do work. (But of course, I had to pack up and go to sleep so that she would sleep too) But when she bumped into me, she turned around and walked back to my room without any acknowledgement of me. Huh, that's strange. I followed her. She went back into the room, climbed into bed and went back to sleep. Lol. Oh dear, I hope I didn't just witness Juliane's first sleep-walking episode. Hahaha. And what was that about "Mama, round chair"? Perhaps, she was dreaming too, lol.
After listening to good friends' advice and sleeping on it, I made an important decision. Sorry, I can't reveal what it is now. But I will at a later date, I promise. After I have decided, I feel as if a huge rock has lifted from my heart. I feel really happy, light and relieved. This has been on my mind for the longest time since 2005. Now I know the time has come. Finally, it has come. =)Maybe you will see a more cheerful and light-hearted me around the place, lol.
Today is the 15th day of the Eighth Lunar Month of the Chinese calendar. It is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Some calls it Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. But I prefer calling it Mid-Autumn Festival because it is the proper term. Yes, I am a sticker for correct usage of names and terms. :P
I waited until dark before I showed the girls their little lanterns. I got them the battery operated ones. I refused to get those candle-lit lanterns because I DON'T want to be a firewoman. Well, one of their paper lanterns caught fire last year. Major panic for me, scared that they would be burnt and so on. NO more, this year. Battery operated ones, much safer, lol. Oh and their battery operated lanterns are the kinds that DON'T play horrible, loud music when switched on. I can't stand those! The girls' lanterns, when switched on, only change colour: from pink to purple to green to red... Very pretty, lol.
Hubby was too lazy so I brought them downstairs myself to walk round the estate. The girls were really excited. We were the only family walking round the estate with these two small lanterns flashing multiple colours. Thanks goodness, after 15 minutes, another family came down with their children and they had the candle-lit paper lanterns. The girls were running round the playground with their lanterns but the other two kids couldn't because they had to be careful of the candles, lol. After playing with the other kids for a while, I had to force the girls to go home to prepare for bed.
The running did them good, they are sleeping like logs now, lol. Now I can enjoy my mooncake (with 4 yolks) and my pomelo in peace, hahaha.
PS. To read more about the stories of Mid-Autumn Festival, click here.
Today I went in for counselling to make up for the session I missed last week due to my flu. It will be PSLE next week. I thought the least I could do is to be there so the P6 girls could talk to me to calm their pre-PSLE nerves. :)
I also gave them their Children's Day presents. They had not expected it although I have been giving out Children's Day pressies for 4 years now. They all left my room smiling. :) Seeing their smiles made my day.
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After counselling at 12:30pm, I rushed down to my girls' kindergarten to meet their teachers for Parent-Teacher Meeting. Yes, even at Nursery 1 and Kindergarten 1, they have PTM already, lol. Talk about stress for the parents, lol.
I just made it for the 1 pm meeting with Juliane's teacher. Her teacher showed me her works and her progress book. Her teacher praised her for being one of the fastest learners and one of the best behaved in class. That's my girl, hahaha.
Next, I saw Marieann's teacher at 1:20pm. Her teacher too showed me her works and I was really surprised at some of the things she could do such as writing guided stories, doing multiplication up to thousands! Her teacher praised her for being more vocal. That’s my girl too, hahaha.
Hearing the teachers praised my girls really made my day.
***
Decided to go to Isetan Scotts to get something for the girls. The Isetan supermarket is having a Kyushu Fair now. I bought the girls Dango or sticky rice balls (mochi) on sticks. Actually, I bought 5 sticks, some with fillings such as red bean and purple sweet potato (for hubby), and the colourful ones (plain) for the girls. I also bought the Seasoned Rice Balls with Chicken which were really delicious. The rice balls had chicken and burdock pieces in them and the seasoning was just right.
Got quite a few items, lol. I paid with my Isetan card and the bill goes to hubby, hahaha.
That made my day too.
at Corduroy Cafe, Vivocity. And we did, we were back today at the cafe for lunch, lol. We had intended to go earlier for breakfast but didn't quite make it there so early, lol. But it didn't matter as it serves breakfast all day which was what hubby wanted to have, hahaha.
Both Marieann, Juliane and their father ordered Pancake, Egg 'n' Hash ($15) while I ordered a Quiche (Lorraine) with Side Salad ($9) and an Onion Soup Au Gratin with Gruyere Cheese ($9). The other dishes were pretty standard but I thought the Onion soup was the winner. It was really delicious and full of flavour. The onion pieces were caramelised nicely and weren't too mushy. This is the first time I have tasted Onion soup. I think it is going to be one of my favourite soups, besides Pumpkin soup, Mushroom soup and Clam Chowder.
We later ordered desserts to share: Apple Pie, Chocolate Chip Scone along with coffee for hubby and Earl Grey tea for myself. Again, they were really generous with the amount of tea leaves used (not tea bags). The girls also had their cupcakes.
The cafe offers free seating both indoors and outdoors. We chose to sit indoors at the sofa seats (near the deck) looking out to Sentosa. The cafe wasn't crowded so it was quiet and relaxing. It was a nice leisurely lunch.***
I had a gathering in the late afternoon with some neighbours. It was nice to meet up with them and to talk about things.
In the late morning, I took Juliane to Popular Bookshop@Orchard MRT as I had to get my counselling girls Children's Day gifts. Besides buying for the counselling girls, I ended up buying for my own girls too, lol. It was close to 12pm when I finished my purchases. We went to Sakae for lunch. No choice, Juliane wanted to have her chawanmushi and tamago. (Yes, I am getting sick of Sakae too, lol). After lunch, we browsed around at Isetan Scotts and I had a surprise meeting with a professor from my workplace. We chatted for a while on..., no, not about work but about enbloc, lol. We are both anti-enbloc so you guess which direction the chat went. ***
"We are going to Nemocity. No, Nebocity. No, Vi-vo-ci-ty". That was Juliane in the car trying to pronounce Vivocity but kept getting it wrong until she said it really slowly, lol. After dinner, we decided to try to get the sugarless mooncake from Habour City Restaurant which has a sales booth at Vivocity. Alas, they have ran out of them. Too bad, next year then.
While hubby went to his Samsung shop, I browsed around and saw this lovely cafe which reminded me of those in UK (Bath, York), Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence), Switzerland (Lucerne), Belgium (Brussels), Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam), France (Paris). I was also attracted by the display of pastries and desserts along its entrance corridor. Definitely a European style cafe, lol. When hubby returned, we went into Corduroy Cafe.
Although we had dinner, the food looked really yummy so we ordered Trzesniewski typical european bite size sandwiches ($10 for 6 pcs) and a Kortofel Salat ($4.50): potato, bacon bits, cider dressing and diced apple to share. They were really as good as they looked. The girls ordered their colourful donuts. I ordered a Rose bud Tea. They were really generous with the rose buds. Definitely going back to this cafe again. =)
I have a little masseur. She does wonderful hand massages, well she tries her best, lol. She is Juliane. Since she could move freely on her own, she has this little quirk - she would always grab my hands and start "massaging" anytime, anywhere. I could be reading a story to her and she would take my hand in hers and start massaging. We could be watching tv programmes and she does the same. Sometimes when we are out, she does it too. In the photo below, see how her little fingers work on my hand? Lol. She is quite good, you know. Lol.
At times, she does massage for her grandmother and her father but mostly, it is me. I guess it is because she is more attached to me and it is her way of showing affection and love. But sometimes it hurts cos she dug her nails into my hand while "massaging", hahaha. Guess it is as they say, "Love hurts". :) Trying to train her to give me neck massage, especially when I am working on my laptop. She does it occasionally but not very well, lol. Why not since she has got nimble fingers and strong hands for a little one? Hahaha. Yar, free child labour and I can save money, no need to go to spa/ massage. Lol.
