- Rockstar in food court having breakfast before Kings starts his work day
“Is he mixed?” the auntie making noodles in the food court at Arcade, Raffles Place, asks Kings. “He looks Ang Moh (i.e. white)…” I ask Rockstar if that was because he was speaking in un-Singlish, but he shrugs and says he wasn’t saying anything at the time…
Funny thing, in Hk when Rockstar was with me (and I used to shave his head) I would get “Is the father Chinese?” from Mainland shopkeepers… “Because the baby looks very Chinese..”
- Buatan Malaysia In Da Local Food Court
I don’t even know what it is about Rockstar that “looks Ang Moh,” he is 100% buatan Malaysia (though born in HK)… But my mum has once remarked the same and been unable to explain it too… Hmm…
- Running Fix
Rockstar running in this grassy clearing between Caltex House (now Chevron – when did that happen? But Kings says everyone still calls it Caltex House anyways… Poor Chevron, they bot the place and new signs for nuthin’… :D) and OUB Plaza…
OUB (now UOB – I was working there during the merge and I still display the crystal paperweight of the OUB building they gave all of us during the merge… also the OUB pewter coin bank I got from don’t-know-where) was my first bank employer, I’m still in touch with some of my ex colleagues from there…
I used to have a gym membership at the California Fitness nearby too – yes, I did gym a bit, but mostly I uh, liked to use their shower facilities before returning to work late in the night. I used to “sneak” back into the dealing room several nights a week to read research papers or go through what I’d done in the day, til it was time to go home and sleep. Absolutely loved it. It’s why I still have a soft spot for Raffles Place et al til today.
- Impulse purchase at Caltex/ Chevron House
Rockstar has never asked me to buy clothes before – but this was a McQueen tee and sweatshirt he spied while we were going up the escalator – came back down to get them… SGD 10 and SGD 17 from this stall, respectively… And of course Rockstar chooses the ones in black and navy… We also came away with a Lightning McQueen bus pass holder for SGD 1.50 that Rockstar is wearing… We used it for our MRT tickets… I also took some time explaining how to read the different train lines and listen to the announcements…
- Rockstar In Da Empty MRT
And then, after a morning of riding the MRT at non-peak (I took the opportunity to take him on an MRT excursion because the trains were empty… I’m not sure they’re ever very empty in HK…) we go mall crawling…
- Rockstar At Millennia Walk
- Rockstar refusing to walk along Orchard Road because he is surprised at the sudden heat (but that didn’t stop him from smiling at the camera when I took his pic, go figure!)
- When it pours, we discover a whole bunch of rides like this one in the basement of Vivocity! Seriously, like, 10 of em! Back in HK I only know the 3 at Westwood…
And then back to the Four Seasons for a siesta… We pass this beautiful arrangement in the lobby…
(Ok, honestly I don’t even display cut flowers at home because I feel it’s a waste, they’re already dead… I only get potted plants/ flowers usually… But that doesn’t stop me admiring someone else’s extravagance or appreciating when Kings gets me some <sheepish>)
(This more like it… 50 million year old palm frond fossil… and the Rockstar hanging over the side of the table is a “renewable” decor too…)
And then it’s night. My favorite part of the day, when I have dinner with beloved old friends. How I wish we weren’t separated by the geography. Also paisay that I did not pay for a single thing. Really have to pull all the stops out when they come here! (That’s you, guys. You have to come here so I can treat you real good!!)
- 18 years ago, we stayed in CJ Hostel together
These are Min and Mala, who’ve been room-mates/ travel-mates for like, forever. They picked me up and brought me to Antoinette in Mandarin Galleria. None of it existed 7 years ago. And now I can spy Hussein Chalayan casually hanging on a rack in some nondescript branded goods (I guess) store… (Honestly as a very general statement I find the branded stuff much more expensive in Singapore… Maybe because I’m so familiar with the branded goods warehouses and some of my SAHM girlfriends have been to rattle off the exact dates Lane Crawford, Harvey Nichols and Joyce go on sale…)
And we had…
- Mushroom risotto (with scrumptious garnish of bacon), all-day breakfast, and pumpkin (I think) gnocchi
- If you saw nothing else, this should still tell you it’s a pretty girly place – carefully divided out deserts, three-way!
(But my friends tell me now it’s pretty standard for places to expertly divvy-up the deserts because girls usually want to sample more things rather than eat the whole of one thing…)
And then the next day after sending Kings off to work it’s more rides for the Rockstar, this time at Paragon in Orchard… My unc has a clinic nearby so he was the one who first showed me the little playground at the top floor… (Another one we occasionally frequent is at Marina Bay Sands on the side near Mother’s Work, but we didn’t make it this trip)
Paragon playground…
- I especially liked the “balloon pop” with tiny balloons on this computer game, you get a long turn for just SGD 1, and Rockstar doesn’t get much practice with a mouse at home… His school computers are all using the mouse, so…
And then another girly dinner! Yay!
This time it’s Osteria Mozza at Marina Bay Sands…
Amazing, when we left at almost 10.30pm this place was still completely packed, there are always people to fill the vacated tables…
They cooked the ricotta/ mozzarella samplers (otherwise the waitress didn’t recommend mozarellas for preggers – they are a mozzie restaurant)… And the fish ball-looking thing is my SGD 62 ricotta and mushroom gnocchi… Very un-fishball price, very un-fishball taste. (Honestly, I did love it, though I don’t know why a basic stuffed pasta cost more than the meated and seafooded ones)
- Olive oil gelato/ice cream? Must try!
- Dis is superb.
It really is olive oil cakes and ice cream (and I thought North Indian spiced Kulfi ice cream was the most interesting ice cream I’d ever had!), though the Rosemary candy is well, simply candy with Rosemary in it (but still quite nice la)…
- And then I have to say good bye to Mimi because we’re leaving tomorrow! Sobs!
Goodbye, Singapore…
- Waiting for the plane to take off… Rockstar showing off he and Kings finally beat the computer at chess!
PS: The greatest thing is, because my girlfriends are now either also pregnant or have a baby already, we can swap clothes or keep giving baby things to each other! (The pants on the right below are Rockstar’s summer pants though, as are the stripy baby PJs below my purchases from Mother’s Work… They’re those special very light clothes made from bamboo…)
In case you’re wondering why I don’t just put Rockstar in shorts, it’s because when we’re out with JD there are often lotsa bugs – and they leave angry red welts, not say, the kind of mosquito bites that usually just go away after a few hours… I don’t like applying sunscreen or bug repellant directly onto skin and will avoid where possible – hence the light bamboo clothing which I spray with baby-safe bug repellant, then leave to dry about 20 minutes before dressing Rockstar to go out…
Summer, meet winter… Another consideration when buying baby clothes and living in a country that isn’t warm all year round… Whether your baby will outgrow the summer (or v versa winter) clothes by the time the temperature rolls around to obliging your purchase choices… I thought to recycle some of Rockstar’s old jammies/ home-wear – except he was born in low single-digit weather, some of the coldest HK had had. Girl Rockstar in contrast, will be born in time for the most uncomfy time in HK – summer. Super hot and humid, lotsa bugs…
Does Rockstar have a fairer complexion than the local children? If yes, perhaps that’s why they thought he is “mixed”.
It’s always nice to be changing up with “old” girlfriends! 18 years ago? All of you look like you are in your twenties.
He used to be fairer, but not after all the Sentosa beach days haha
We definitely don’t look that young lah… The pics are blur maybe 🙂