Last night, we went to Sokudo, the new-ish Japanese eatery at the basement of Raffles City. It was like a Japanese haven of sorts as there must have been about 10 stalls or more. All sorts of foods cooked in a varity of ways..raw, grilled, fried, soupy ones. Some dishes were nicer than the others. I liked the omelette, the sashimi and the mochi dessert. I think the green tea ice-cream was yummy, it was not too sweet and did taste a lot like green tea powder. Wasn’t too milky, just the way I like it. The red beans that came with it were a tad too sweet though.

Some things that I want to try on my next visit, the grilled squid and the pizza. Others at the table ordered them and they looked quite nice. The place is rather kids-friendly too and has a little playground inside. Not big but when we were there, there was only 1 other kid and the little fella. He sure did enjoy himself there and it kept him entertained for a good while. 

Well..all in all..an all right place though the whole place smelled of food and got quite crowded in the later part of the evening. 

Posted: May 23rd, 2008 under Family, Observations.
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I bumped into a friend yesterday at the mall and he did not notice me till I stood right in front of him. He said he did not recognise me as I look very different now. Said I have aged. Well..it has been a good 15/16years since we were in the same class. Not that it is any excuse but i do hope that even if I have aged, I am aging gracefully.Nothing scares me more than being aunty-fied. Maybe  I just haven’t tried hard enough.

Or mebbe being married, being in very fast-paced job, being a mummy has aged me. But then again, if I were asked to choose again, I would still make the same choices. Of being married..of changing jobs and getting out of a really cushy one and of being a mummy. Think the joys ( and pains) of each of them add to the whole story of life. So…never mind a few wrinkles or aging as long as I am aging gracefully. I can be old but elegant..Hahaha.

Posted: May 7th, 2008 under Observations.
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This is something that I have have observed about the little fella and find quite interesting. His concept of a family. His concept of a family is modelled after ours and it always has a Daddy, a Mummy, a boy and a dog. Recently,we have spent quite a bit of time drawing and no matter what I draw, he will always ask to draw a Daddy one, a Mummy one, a boy one and a a dog one. It could be anything, stars, flowers, cars, snakes etc etc. His concept of a Daddy/Mummy/boy/dog is differentiated by size,

What is interesting is that he seems to think that all things must exist as a family and as a family, there has always got to be Daddy/Mummy/Boy and Dog. Presumably this is because he learns by association and he associates ‘family’ with our family. 

We were passing by a house that day and he asked whose house it was. So I just said..Uncle’s and Aunty’s house. And he asked..where is the boy and where is the dog? That caught me for a little while and finally I said..maybe they are in the house too.

Posted: April 29th, 2008 under Family, Observations, Pets.
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Call me a sucker for looks but somehow I always find it hard to believe that someone who look is so good looking is capable of doing anything bad.Whether it is reel or real-life, I always find myself finding it hard to believe that all the good/decent looking guys would be capable of doing anything vicious.Call me naive or silly but somehow that is just how my wee little brain functions. I find it so odd sometimes but sometimes, towards certain people, I find it really hard to think badly of them..no matter what they might do.

I have been rather hooked on a Chinese drama serial and even though one of the male leads is so wicked, so vicious and so scheming..I find it hard to not sympathise with him and think that he would do something evil. All because he is so decent/good looking.Though I know this is just make-believe, I believe that I tend to think like that too in real life.I always want to believe in the good side of people and that there is a reason for the way they behave.But perhaps I am being overly-simplistic here.

Posted: March 26th, 2008 under Observations.
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Over the weekend, we brought the little fella shopping and as usual, he would want to sit on his kiddy rides. Though only 2, he has a mind of his own and certainly knows his preferences. So..there we were queueing for the ride he wanted. He was really good, just stood there waiting for his turn. When he turn came, he very happily climbed up the ride. He was probably in there for less than 10 secs and had not even inserted the coin. Then came along with 2 boys with their parents..The boys were quite big..probably about 5 and  3 or 4 years old…neither did they wait for their turn nor did they bother asking if they could share the ride, they simply clamoured onto it and badgered their parents for a ride. They acted like no one else was in the ride and just toyed around with the buttons, steering wheel etc. And all these while, the little fella just sat there and looked on. I did not want to say anything initially cos I wanted to see if the parents had the decency to get their kids out or something. But no…they did not do anything except to urge the kids out. Eventually, I asked if the kids were going to get out cos the little fella had not had his turn yet. And he was already looking like he was on the verge of tears.

 So, when i asked the mum of the kids, she just took her kids out and said “let’s go”. No apologies nothing…I was a bit annoyed but I was thinking more of how uncivilised she was and what sort of an example she was setting for the kids. I am certainly no supermum but at least I know how to teach my son basic manners like waiting for his turning and not clamouring up a kiddy ride when someone else is on it. The little fella is rather good, whenever the ride finishes, he will not fuss and will just say “Kor Kor/ Che Che/ Mei Mei’s turn…” Whoever he sees in the vicinity waiting. He is quite funny, the minute the ride stops, he will just spring up. :) 

Of course, after I was grouching to Iz after it all and he commented that Singaporeans were all like that. Wonder though if it is a Singaporean thing or human nature. We are Singaporeans too but I/we are certainly not like that and we are certainly not holier than thou. So perhaps it is human nature, tampered by societal values….And like I always say, it is the extent of things make the difference. Mebbe then those people were more affected by the negativities of society.

Posted: October 22nd, 2007 under Observations, Parenting.
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It was a long weekend for us as both Iz and me were off/on leave on Friday. We like to do that as often as we can as it gives us couple time…time to enjoy each other’s company without having to fuss over the little one. I reckon that date days are not a luxury but a necessity. I think that the time spent together ‘renews’ us and allows us to put things back in focus again. Sometimes, we can get so caught up in the daily grind that we forget the little things and take things for granted.

This date day, after dropping the little fella off at school, we went for a nice leisurely walk in AMK hub and then at Raffles City. Raffles City because we were going to Inagiku for teppanyaki lunch.Inagiku is definitely one of our favourite Jap places and we try to go as often as we can without hurting our pockets. As usual, it was a nice relaxing lunch, both eating and watching the teppan chef at work. The chef, whom we got to ‘know’ cos we are so regular there is a great guy with superb PR skills. Though busy, he takes the time to socialise and all too. I love the food there and my all time favourite would be the yummy teppan prawns and its cream sauce. Yumms…

After that heavy lunch, we just had to walk it off..So off we went to Hann & Thann at Millenia Walk to restock on my lemongrass body wash. My all time favourite..think been using it for years already. Iz asked after my shopping if I was planning on buying the whole shop But oh well….must stock up enough so that I dun find myself suddenly running out of something. Oh..as a treat for my feet, I also bought a ginseng/herbal foot soak. Haven’t tried it yet though..first must go get basin to put my feet in

We also went to the Heritage fair at Suntec…got all nostalgic seeing the things on display. Also a reminder of how old we are. Saw things like ‘Happy Family’. ‘Snap’ , ‘Old Maid’ and the pencil boxes that we(I) used to use. Remember those box-like things with the many secret comparments?With one press of a button, some compartment would slide out. I remember being really amused by those and would be so pleased whenever I had another one of these nifty devices.

The exhibition wasn’t a huge one but it was nice to see it all the same. Lots of exclamations of “i remember this..” when we were walking around the various panels. Well…if you are around the area, it is worth taking a look at the exhibition. After all the walking around and a quick trip to the supermarket, it was time to pick the little fella up.

In the evening, during our after dinner stroll with the little fella and ‘Mana’ ,we had the most unpleasant experience of all. It was the first time I ever lost my cool in a void deck and started talking in a louder than usual voice to this horrible lady. Think in the 3 years at our place, this is the nastiest neighbour I have met. This is what happened…I was sitting on the chair with M and playing with his bubble gun. And Iz was standing there,reading a pamphlet whilst holding on to J. Then this couple who were walking towards the lift suddenly started walking really closely to Iz and J. N0t sure if she stepped on J or not but one thing for sure, she was walking really close to J. And as a reflex action, he stood up and nipped her legs. Then she made this really exaggerated action of rubbing her legs and pulling up her pants to see if J had bitten her. So we just stood there watching what will happen next cos he certainly would not have reacted if he was not threatened. Then as she walked away, she said ( in Mandarin)…” Your dog bit me and you can just stand there and not do anything.” That really infuriated me cos I do reckon it was her fault and yet she had the cheek to tell us off. So from where I was I said that J would definitely not bite if he was not stepped on/or if she had not gotten so close to both Iz and J. And she retorted by saying that J is our dog, so definitely we will say he won’t bite. So I asked if she would like to go see the doctor, if she did, we could goafter making a police report. With that she just grumbled more and walked into the lift. I was really mad and was asking Iz if there was anything we could do. If only I could complain to someone about her….some higher up authorities. That really spoilt our Friday evening stroll!! If I ever see her again, I am definitely going to give her the evil stare! Bad neighbours….be gone!!!

Posted: July 24th, 2007 under Family, Observations, Shopping.
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Walk to the bus stop…wait for the bus…board the bus..get down from the bus…walk to the MRT station…wait for the train…board the train…get off the train…walk to the office building…wait for the lift…get into the lift…step out of lift..get through 2 or 3 doors (depending on what time I come)…and finally arrive in the spot I will be for the next 8 hours or so.

 Hmm..all the waiting and getting off and on…zaps you sometimes. At the risk of sounding spoilt, I miss the days where I would get driven/cab to work. Now being in the heart of the CBD, trains/buses are the most economical way to go. Its a discipline in itself I reckon, to take the bus/train daily.

Posted: June 28th, 2007 under Observations.
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Maybe it is because I don’t take the train often enough or maybe it’s just me. I just find the some train commuters really weird. Like yesterday evening,whilst waiting for a train at Raffles Place, I overheard this group of 3 ladies, strategising on how to position themselves so that they would have a headstart when the train arrives. Then one said that even taking the train is a stressful thing as one needs to strategise, postition and then do the countdown to when the train door opens. And then..it is rush rush rush to the seat regardless of anyone around. I mean, how weird is that? Getting a seat is defintely good but then even if one dosen’t how long is the train ride anyway? The clamour for seats is definitely what is on people’s minds when they wait for the train. And yet another 2 ladies who were discussing whether to go left or right when the doors open. A seat is always nice and I like being able to find one to. But I certainly dun strategise on how to find a seat. That is so weird, I reckon.

Anyway…I did get a seat yesterday but had to give it up to and old aunty somewhere along the way. It felt good being nice and appreciated

Posted: June 14th, 2007 under Observations.
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It feels sort of like an oven out there today.Though lunch and company was nice, it felt good that I was back in my nice cool office. U know, I think I am going to miss this office when I leave. The cosy-ness of it and all…wonder what it will be like in the new place. But guess, if I dun get out of my comfort zone now, I probably never well. I like trying new things but it worries me too.Oh..I digress..I was going to write about lunch. It was a nice lunch and the good thing with meeting up with good frens is that though u dun meet for a while, when u do, it is like you never left off.

Oh…whilst walking back from Bugis, I saw this lady…wearing denims, carrying an LV bag and a pink Hello Kitty umbrella. Individually, they look all right but when put together, they look so wrong. I mean…an LV bag and a Hello Kitty  umbrella?!?! Not that I have a great fashion sense but there are just some things I won’t put together.

Posted: May 7th, 2007 under Fashion, Observations, Weather.
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