Ion - the new Icon for all things Fashionable

Ion is a beautiful mall that housed many fashionable labels and refreshingly new food joints (most from Japan).

With my sis and 2 kid in tow, we hit the mall on Saturday morning to avoid the crowd. The kids went "WOW" to the ceiling where silhouette of sea creatures swam past. It was a visual treat.

We had brekkie at Food Opera, another classy brainchild of the Breadtalk chain (in fact I met the owner on Friday, he seems very down to earth). We were pleasantly surprised to see the National Geographic wooden horse installed infront of Fatty Weng's stall. There are many art pieces in the foodcourt to feast one's eyes.

Other food joint operators on Basement 4 are interesting too... especially those hailed from The Rising Sun. While I had tried the tako balls with macha on Friday, we bought some fish pancakes with witty fillings; the kids like chocolate with banana and bacon with egg.

Ion is already my fav haunt, next to Vivocity.

New book release

My fav author of the Shopaholic series, Sophie Kinsella has just launched her new book - Twenties Girl.

Storyline:

Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?

When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie–a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance–mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man.

Sadie, however, could care less.

Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.

There's even an iTune playlist for the book (crikey!) and a videoclip of the same.

Gotta get the book!

A cozy dinner

As part of farewell to Connie & Jamus before they return to Perth, we went to tcc at Marina @ Keppel Bay on Friday evening. We were glad that May & Megan could also join us as we have not been seeing them for quite some time.

The evening was warm with little wind. It was a nice drive along Keppel Bay Drive and we were greeted with calm waters and nice yachts at the marina. tcc is located on the second floor. Dinner was as usual great with unusual coffee concoctions. The company was even better.

After dinner, we walked along the marina and chit-chatted. The place was serene with carpet grass on a small greenfield where the kids roamed and played together.

Another celebration with the family

Celebrated at my mom's place the next evening, as we visit my mom every Saturday. Everyone enjoyed the cakes very much and the food was compliments from my brother, Joo who had so generously footed the bill.

In the afternoon that day, Kieran had his usual swimming lesson with Rachel. I took the opportunity to take some shots of Raeyen's many faces.

Raeyen turned 4 today!

As usual, Raeyen celebrated his birthday at school in the morning.

Hubby and I towed along 20 goodie bags, cakes, plates and forks. However, due to H1N1flu, we were not allowed into the school compound. Thank God his teacher took the photos for us.

We picked him up after school and I took him to Vivocity to spend quality alone time with him (hubby couldn't be excused from work). Boy, we had a blast!

First stop, we dropped by National Geographic store and bought a shark soft toy (which I previously promised to get him one). He was elated and named it "Dibo"... yeah same name as Dibo the Gift Dragon.

A movie out of Jodi Picoult’s book

I have always like books by Jodi Picoult.

One of her books, My Sister’s Keeper has been made into a movie starring Cameron Diaz (frankly, there are better actresses). It was screened in the US and UK on 26 June, wonder when it will hit our box office.

Check out the move trailer here:


I wish they will produce a movie out of another of my favourite titles “Plain Truth”.

Yummy cakes at yummier prices

Bakerzin does it again for its monthly promotion.

For the month of July, it has a slew of promotions on 3 cakes and the yummilicious macarons, all at 50 + 10% discount!!!

This is really value for money amidst the economic downturn! I just ordered it's Cookies & Cream Cheesecake for Raeyen's 4th birthday celebration in school. Go get it!

Last day of School Hols

Can't believe one month past so fast!

To let the kids relish this precious day, we took them to Suntec for yummy lunch at Skinny Pizza (I regretted for not bringing my digi cam). We ordered the set for 2, which consists of any skinny pizza (had squid ink with loads of rocket leaves), 2 soups (slurped sweet corn and portobello mushroom), 2 non-alcoholic drink and a bowl of truffle-infused fries.

Highlight of the day was a movie treat at Marina Square of Transformers Return of The Fallen, which tickets were bought days ago. It was full of mean 'bots and action-packed. Despite the noise in the cinema, Raeyen fell asleep but woke up in full steam after an hour. Meanwhile, Kieran could recognise almost all the 'bots before their names were mentioned. He really likes Transformers.

On our way home and along the KPE tunnel, Kieran said his top favourites are Transformers, followed by Star Wars The Clone Wars then Ben 10 Alien Force. Raeyen's favs are Thomas the Tank Engine and Lightning McQueen of Cars. Hence, Raeyen's coming birthday theme is none other than his favourite blue steam engine. I must say I had been so busy that I didn't have time scouring stuff for his goodie bags and wonder if his Kindy allows for celebration amidst this yet another dreadful disease of H1N1 flu.

Summer fun in Bali

At last, our long-awaited holiday to Bali was materialised from 12-16 June onboard SQ morning flight. After more than 2 weeks without a helper, this break came in timely for the drained-out parents and the ever-energetic kids.

After immigration, we were whisked promptly to The Westin Resort Nusa Dua in a MPV (part of the Family Package which comes with 2-way transfers, breakfast for all, kids' amenities and a splendid room, of course). The check-in at the hotel was superb and we were upgraded to Club Room on ground floor with easy access to the POOL!

Wasting no time, we splashed into the pool after unpacking the bags. The kids got own tumblers (compliments from The Westin) which allow them for free drinks at the hotel (it's a brilliant idea).


In the evening, we left them at The Westin Kids' Club at 7pm so that we could have a quiet dinner at the hotel's Italian restaurant. Mama mia!


The next day, the kids went to the Kids' Club while we had a 3-hour fabulous and relaxing spa, which includes the heavenly Balinese massage, Lulur, flower bath and facial/hair treatment. It only cost us USD60nett per person with 2-way transfers!

On the 14th, we had a full-day private tour with a driver-cum-guide in his Toyota MPV. It was a great tour as we visited:

Monkey Forest

Paddyfield Rice Terrace

Ulun Danu (floating) Temple

Tanah Lot Temple

Uluwatu Temple

Seafood dinner at Jimbaran beach

We spent the next day basking under the nice, warm sun by the pool and the amazingly clear-water beach for more than half a day. We could see fishermen standing in the waters, about 300m away from shore! In the evening, we took a taxi to Kuta beach, the sunset view was very romantic and dreamy.


This was my second trip to Bali, the first was purely for meetings and I didn't get to see much. This trip, I was totally awed and immensed into how beautiful and culturally rich Bali is! We like it so much that we don't mind returning for a longer vacation (though I am still lusting for the Maldives).

Myopic Kieran

Kieran first had an eye check in school and did not score a 6/6. He was then referred to Health Promotion Board for a refraction test to confirm his short-sightedness.

Due to my travelling schedule, we managed to get an appointment for today at 3.45pm. It is now confirmed that our little boy is myopic, 1.25 right and 1.00 left with slight astigmatism. This also means he needs glasses. The optometrist said his astig might be in-born.

Hubby was disappointed and he feels wearing glasses would impede Kieran's active lifestyle in playing sports.

Curried away in Mumbai

Had a 3-day working trip in Mumbai from 25-27 May and it was the best so far. I've visited this dynamic city twice before but there weren't time at all to look around. Not only had I eaten the best Indian food every day but I also managed to see main attractions in 4 hours!

On Wednesdy, after 2 back-to-back meetings, together with my HK colleague, we did some sight-seeing before going to the airport for our midnight flights. The places we went in chronological order, thanks to the organization from our Indian colleagues:

1. Dhobi Ghat laundry place
This is a huge laundry bay where men wash linens by slapping them on slates repeatedly. Many lines of laundry can be seen hanging. It was an amazing sight and I couldn't resist capturing a short video of it.


2. Crawford Market
Next stop, we went to Crawford Markt to buy a dozen of mango as this is the season. The market was bustling (in fact, as with everywhere in Mumbai) with many sellers touting their best Alphonso mango. It has a nice architecture, which was completed in 1869.

3. Victoria Terminus
Now known as "Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus", it was opened in 1887 and a grand sight with beautifully crafted architecture. It was one of the places attacked by the terrorists in 2008 and a shot from it was taken for the Oscar winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire.

4. Gateway of India and Taj Mahal Hotel
The Gateway of India is like Champs Elysees in Paris. It nicely sits by the river amidst a spacious square. The magnificient Taj Mahal Hotel is located across it. As it was hard to find a nice toilet, we decided to find one in the hotel, at the same time we want to see how it looks like. The hotel was attacked by terrorists in 2008 where one Singaporean lawyer perished. There are barricades outside the main entrance of the hotel where rows of luxury boutiques locate. Security is very strict where visitors are screened twice. On our way to the airport (about 1.5 hour drive), we dropped by a shop and I bought a pashmina muffler while my friend got a shawl. It has this ultra soft lux feel on the skin, at the same time, keep one warm.

5. Kebab Dinner at Peshawri
We were so hungry that we gobbled down a garlic naan and a kulcha with yummy boneless chicken kebab, paired with mango lassi.

The airport is now less chaotic after the renovation. However, the immigration officer that I encountered got into my goat. He asked me which hotel I stayed, if I was sure my hotel was in Thane and questioned what sort of meetings did I have in Mumbai, etc. He seemed interrogative and when I told my friend in Cantonese that I couldn't believe he asked me those questions, he rebutted if I had a problem. #%$!%^$#&*!*#$

The flight home was pleasant. Due to my sinus problem, I can never get a good sleep on night flights. Now I can't wait for my Bali holiday!

MIL to the rescue

Phew, one week of being a half-day homemaker was T.O.U.G.H!!!!!

There was never-ending chores, laundry, cooking, washing and cleaning! Kudos to all homemakers, especially to Connie, Lisa and Kei (for those that I missed out, it was not intentionally coz after being a half-baked one for a week, I have gone bonkers). Just yesterday, I washed 3 loads of laundry and ironing amidst this fiery furnace-like weather! Plus, Raeyen wet my bed as he crawled in early morning and he leaked. He woke me and said, "Mommy, it's an accident." Arrghhhh... I had to bring my quilt to the dry-cleaners that cost me $40!

The good news is, MIL has finally returned from her holiday and will help us mind the kids, especially Raeyen (not housechores) while we are at work. In fact, her return came in timely as I will be going to Incredible !ndia this evening till Thursday and both boys have parent-teacher meeting while I am away :(

I'm on print!

I'm featured on a 3-page "Blog & Bond" spread in Parents World magazine (14 May-Jun 09 issue).

I will try to post a soft copy of that article when I manage to scan those pages. Basically, there is an excerpt of my blog entry and an interview by its editor Daniel Goh. The header on the spread epitomises everything.

"Priscilla Tan did not trade
her family for her career as she tells DANIEL GOH how she still manages to measure success in terms of moments she enjoys with her children and husband that are priceless and irreplaceable."

Maid woes

This is it. We have bought a one-way ticket for Yani to return to Indonesia.

We are still looking for a replacement. Meanwhile, hubby and I will take turns to apply leave to stay at home for the kids. Such is a life of a dual-income family with kid(s). No wonder couples here are not keen to have children.

Trust gone

Hubby delivered an earth-shattering news to me this morning. He called me at my office that he got a shock of his life after he read some SMSes from our helper's mobile phone. Messages from different men with lines such as "I love you", "I sayang you" and I f**k you". I nearly fainted.