[Malacca June 2011]

The girls were thrilled that right after coming back from a week-long holiday in Tumpat, Kelantan with my parents, we were going away AGAIN! haha.... this time for a last minute 3-day short trip up north to Malacca.
I didn't bring the DSLR with us this time, so there pics are c/o V's iphone (the 4G quality of pix are WAY better than mine!)
Posing along the Old Town.
We had some really good food there:
Bei Zhan - good quality chinese food - it is also relatively easy to park as it has it's own standalone building.
Ole Sayang - Comfort food!!! Very yummy peranakan dishes - the girls LOVED the babi hitam and of course the chendol. :) A definite Must-Eat in Malacca.
Jonker 88 - We had to make many pitstops for drinks and snacks (it is no wonder I gained so much weight!) and of course we had to try the famous Durian Chendol here.... Yup, it is good.
Makhota Parade - We stayed right next to Makhota Parade, where there was lots of shopping (however, don't go to the Brands Outlets - it wasn't that great) - Daiso, Reject Shop... We managed to pick up some nice dresses for the girls and G spent all her pocket money at Daiso.

All in all, a good 3 days - 2 nights short trip up! Now back in Singapore, I'm determined to lose all that extra weight after the full week of feasting!! hah!
Playdate at S's place with her 2 girls. The girls had a lot of fun and we would have cancelled on G's chinese class if it wasn't so expensive! lol.... def will try to arrange for a whole afternoon playdate the next time....

[Mommy's Day out - Part 1]

The girls were gone for a whole week, so when there was a chance for me to do a 'mummy's day out' in exchange for a review, I jumped on the chance! First off, I have to qualify that I'm definitely no expert in skincare, spa or such 'hi-maintenance' up-dos. It's not even one of those -"it's because i have 2 kids and do not have the time for it" situation, as even before the girls, i hardly ever did the monthly facials and bi-weekly manis and pedis that most working women practice. Much to the chagrin of my very much more well-maintained mum (who has nagged me time and again to go for a facial!) To me, i hardly see the point of spending hundreds of dollars at each session, and avoid the recent beauty parlor chains like the plague as i've had many occassions of being hounded to sign up for thousand dollar packages. However, this time round, i agreed cos i've known Dot for a few years now, introduced by my Sil, who goes there regularly for her bi-weekly manis and pedis. She has now moved from just walking distance from new house into town (just next to lasalle).
As my session was on a weekday, we started with a half hour detox soak in a bubbly jacuzzi, a much needed transition from a whole morning of intensive meetings.
After that, Dot took some time to explain my skin type (oily and prone to breakouts- yay >.<) and we selected the best treatments from the range of 5 star treatments from the French beauty label - Guinot. It's a series of treatments that will bring back much needed moisture into my seriously dry skin, and hopefully will also help to slow down the onset of wrinkles (something that has also been alarming me lately) The "hydrodermie lift" treatment will also visibly lift your skin almost 1 cm! It's like a botox treatment without all the needles :)
This is part of the whole wall of Guinot products that was used throughout the session, so you definitely get your money's worth in facial products!

After a full hour of treatment, my skin definitely felt less dry, and I left with the renewed hope of a much better looking skin (of course I had to buy a whole series of products.... But as I hardly spend any money on skincare, I thought it was pretty justified- "shh... Just don't tell V how much I actually spent!") Felt so adult with my full skincare regime every morning & night... I remember looking at my mum while she religiously did her daily morning and night routine. In 2 weeks time, I'll be going back for part 2 of my mommy's day out, will report on how my skin is doing!
This is the range of products which I've bought, so far, I've been using them religiously day and night, haven't really had much compliments on my complexion since, but then again, I've been on holiday! The 1 product which I've really enjoyed using has to be the exfoliating cream - this amazing chemical basically transforms from a gooey gel to a liquid cream as it breaks down the dead skin cells, there's something magical about the chemical reaction which gets me really excited everytime I use it (yes i'm nerdy like that)

So, to my readers out there, what's your skincare regime like? Do you believe in the monthly facials? All comments (and advice) welcome!

Details of my spa experience below:
Little Dot Haven
80 Bencoolen Street, #02-03 The Bencoolen, S189646
T: 6275 5886
W: www.littledotshaven.com.sg

[while the girls are away......]

The girls are away with my parents on a week long holiday in Tumpat.... as the kids-free days and nights are drawing to an end, here's some recap of what we did while the kids were away... :) *featuring lots of eating!!!* hah!

Finally tried out the much-reviewed Tanjong Beach Club at Sentosa. I will fully recommend going there, especially for a weekday lunch. :) The food is really good, and not sure if it was due to it being a weekday, but the service was immaculate. Plus the chef through in some tasting complimentary dishes - and who's to say no to freebies!!!
Starters compliments of the chef- sundried tomatoes with crisps toast. Walnut and honey bean salad.
The interiors were lightfilled and very pleasant.
It was a setmeal of 1 starter + 1 mains for $28.80, so I chose the corn chowder soup as my starter. The fresh scallop and avocado puree elevated it from common to sublime.

The rest of the dishes were so-so, although the dessert was pretty good too - we had the sorbet platter.

On the night the girls left on the night train (incidentally the same one that everybody has been taking cos it's going to stop leaving from Tanjong pagar) we flew up to KL to have a belated weekend celebration for V's bday.
A not often visited part of KL, we dropped by KLPAC, a performance / arts venue recommended by our malaysian intern.
The architecture was interesting - it used to be the KTM (malaysian railway company) main headquarters, and the main performance hall was a converted building.
It even had a japanese style restaurant in it's premises, although it was rather old and looked disused when we walked there.
Unfortunately, there weren't much performances up that day, so we caught a cab back to town after walking in the sweltering heat.
Outdoor spaces with interesting (but not very practical) public furniture.

We spent most of our time around our hotel where there was lots of good food and shopping.
For V's bday dinner, we booked a table at Alexis, which looked like it had pretty interesting food and ambience.


The pictures don't really do the food justice, but we ordered some mains and starters to share - Duck confit with pear, Miso Cod with beans, Turkish bread with hummus. The quality of the food was so-so, nothing to shout about, but the desserts and apparently the Laksa is supposed to be good! Next time we'll definitely have to try them!

After that, we caught a movie at the inhouse cinemas.... really nice! Premier seats for the same price (ie. in RM, so it's a 60% disc!) as the ones in the Gold Class singapore. :) Next time we have to bring the girls here.... there's lots for them to do as well. And they can share the desserts with me!

Next up - a "mummy's day out" review....

[Art Friday's... continued]

We continue our June hols Art Friday's with a visit to the Art Museum.
There was a Children's Season section, where various artists from all over the world created art pieces with an interactive (workshop) session for kids to engage with the works. This particular exhibit were paper crafted fruits. Unfortunately, the pieces for the children to piece together were much too fiddly, we mummies had to do all the work instead!
K glueing up the pieces that have been pre-folded by moi.
G showing off her completed fruitThe next exhibit was more fun, it's called Paramodelling. It's a site specific art installation, using toy train tracks and styrofoam and green felt. It forms a surreal landscape within closed spaces that has to be experienced to fully appreciate it's intricacies. The tie-up workshop was with the artist, where the children were given the train tracks and had a go at para-modelling. The completed train tracks were all combined and they had toy trains to set loose on the tracks and to watch them go in loops. Super engaging and the girls had so much fun there!
Paramodelling workshops with parents (and helpers) enthusiastically helping with the train track building!
Our 4 girls really working together making the tracks. Love how it became a combined effort!G posing with the elephants outside. Taking a little break from all the activities.
In the popsicle room - I love the vibrant colours! And the girls were playing catch in that room.... it was a great outlet in an otherwise "hush hush" museum.



Another room was for dressing up. They didn't quite like that, rather surprising given that it was 4 girls! I suppose the dolls weren't appealing enough?
Saw this sign and thought i should have one in my room :)
All in all, it was a really fun day out!! The girls actually went back again after G's class with my SIL and MIL.... :)

[June birthdays]

June is a busy birthday month, with Grandma's birthday, followed closely by my dearest Papa, and 1 day after, V's.... As you grow older, birthdays do not have the same 'special-ness' of my childhood yearly occasions. They lose the enchantment of waking up with that precious anticipation, that perfectly delicious 'top of the world' excitement to see what goodies are in store. At least that was what made birthdays super special to me while growing up. Now, birthdays are just another workday.... where only FB wall posts and early morning phonecalls / sms remind us that it is a little bit more special than other days.
We can however, now count on the girls for making every birthday all that more special by the things they say and do:
K to V today - Daddy, happy birthday.... can you come inside my heart?
G to kongki (her nick for papa) - Happy birthday to Kongki, i need to go shopping with Popi for yr present!
G made 2 sets of personalised notebooks for V (for his bday) and me (in case I was jealous), K wrapped a little angpow with some stickers for her daddy.
It is afterall the little thoughts that count :)

So, to my 2 June babies, Happy happy birthday...... may the coming year treat you well, may the girls continue to be as affectionate and loving, may you grow stronger and wiser... may only good things happen to you..... as you both mean so much to me and always will.

love J

Totally unrelated pictures.... here are the girls at the Philatelic museum and the Singapore Flyer last weekend:
K after lunch at the Singapore flyer - can't believe they spent 2mil to replicate the 1920s feel of streetside hawker space!!! Totally uninspired.... and the food was exhorbitant and so-so.
G and K holding hands (or trying to!)
G with her friend M whom we bumped into at the museum.
K after her nap.
K and V


Some of G's latest drawings... I am absolutely in love with the way they are drawn! The symmetry, the composition, the colour choices, the expressions.... kicking myself for not giving her proper paper, now i have to think of a way to make this "frame-able". Will have to see if she can oblige by drawing more of them!

[Girlfriend playdates Art Village]

We - as in good friend S and I - have decided to designate every Friday morning as "arts day out" with the girls. But this week, she'll be at church camp, so we brought forward our art morning to Monday instead.
The first day of the June school hols is usually filled with lots of anticipation. For us, it was a welcome break from the routine of school dropoff and site meetings.
We visited the Festival Arts Village - it's done by our friends at Esplanade Park. Unfortunately, due to some of the venues not being ready, the activity venues were not open in the morning. The girls however had no problems entertaining themselves - with picking flowers from the ground, watering the plants, walking around reading the little notes put up by the other visitors.
We are coming back again on Sunday, where hopefully there'll be more activities, and I've booked the girls in for a crafting session in the afternoon.
Esplanade Park is accessed via the Esplanade underpass (below the highway). The lovely structures make for a nice photospot.
We were early, so there was hardly anybody around!
After meeting up with S and her troupe, we headed towards the nearby Asian Civilisation Museum, where the flower / seed picking continues....The 4 girls after a really HOT and SWEATY morning!
It was rather nice to be in the civic district, on a Monday morning, watching all the office workers rushing about their day, knowing that we are not 1 of them!! Heh. The joys of a flexi-workday!
K walking back to the Esplanade. We're looking forward to our next Arts Day Out!!! :)