Staycation at Fairmont

The much anticipated staycation turned out to be quite a damper when A developed high fever just days before the stay!

The last time we went (last year) he had fever too! However, it did not stop him from eating the chips with gusto later on ...

The Fairmont Premier room. Newly renovated. However, this was much smaller than the Premier room we stayed in last year. Room rate is $248++, includes breakfast. I had a room upgrade using a Feed at Raffles voucher.

I really liked this soap! Le Labo Rose 31. Can't seem to find it anywhere in Singapore.

Our signature photo. This was a rather impromptu pose by the kids but it turned out to be the best.

In-room dining. I had bourbon coke, CP had Singapore Sling and we all had chips.




Dinner was at Prego's. I found out that OCBC had a better offer than Feed at Raffles' discount. 30% off compared to FAR's 25%. Good. My parents joined us too and they were pretty ok with the food.

A had seabass and a bit of spaghetti from B's plate. Rather expensive for the little portion of fish though.

Delicious bread.

I found we kept ordering back the same appetizers. Maybe because they were good ... here was poached octopus - Insalata di Polpo.

Pan-seared scallops - Capesante.

Seared foie-gras. Good, cripsy on the outside, soft on the inside - Fegato Grasso.

Linguine Vongole e Bottarga - Too salty. Now I faintly remembered we did say it was salty before ... oops ... hopefully not for the next time. It did go well with the bread.

Hawaii pizza. I liked thin-crust pizzas!

Roasted pork belly - Pancetta de Maiale. Very good. Crispy skin with juicy fats and succulent meat.

Desserts, pana cotta. Nice, milky and creamy.

Of course, we all liked the tiramisu!

Nothing much had changed at Prego's after all these years.

The bar Anti:dote seemed interesting. So after a short rest, we headed down for drinks. The kids were wild over the chips again. B even took the empty bowl to ask for seconds.

CP had the Corpse Reviver ... It's sour ...  No wonder it could bring the dead back to life!

I had the Marina Julep ... It tasted like medicine :(

The kids munching on the chips like there was no tomorrow.

Breakfast was good. Good selection of food.

Staycations at Fairmont:
A's first Fireworks
Another Staycation
Our second wedding anniversary

Ubin Now and Then

As far as I remembered, I've only been to Ubin for 3 times.
I remembered dreading going to the rural each time,
I remembered always ended up enjoying the charming, rich simplicity that island has to offer!

14 Jun 2003 - Went With Family
On the boat ride with my family! The boat then had open windows! We went cycling round the island and Ah Boy was there too! Chek Jawa and the House there was not even for visiting yet!

16 Oct 2007 - Went With DC
At the Chek Jawa House. We cycled there and I remembered DC taking pictures of the crawlies on the ground! His aim then was to practise taking macro pictures! :)

25 Mar 2016 - Went With Kids and Relatives
At the Chek Jawa House. This time, we went to our kids after almost 9 years. Didn't cycle but the 24-man (including the driver) van ride was unforgettable!

Related Posts:
Kids First Trip to Pulau Ubin
Pulau Ubin

Kids First Trip to Pulau Ubin

We hesitated to take the kids there initially but glad that we made it there!

It was the kids' first outing with their cousins, ours too! In fact, we didn't expect such a big group (24 of us including 8 kids)! We gathered at Changi for breakfast at the hawker centre before heading there in batches by boat...

 A & B enjoyed the trip very much! No mosquito bites at all, probably because it was a public holiday, there were a lot of people there.

 

A liked the van ride (A sat in front with DC) while B liked the boat ride. I couldn't imagine how we could squeeze ourselves in a van to and fro Chek Jawa, all 24 of us, ha! the boat ride was much more comfortable with 12 in a boat.

A wild boar greeted us the moment we got down from the van!

At Chek Jawa, A walked on his own and B mostly carried by me on the boardwalk and we took lots of pictures... of the swamp, mangroves, boardwalk and us together! :)

Memories flowed back when we were at the House at Chek Jawa! DC and I visited the place in 2007 and hadn't returned since! How wonderful to return with the kids now. :)
 

After that, we went back to Changi and settled our hungry stomachs at the Ubin First Stop Restaurant. The food there was surprisingly good!

Related Posts:
Pulau Ubin
A Trip to Changi

Plain yoghurt meals

Following trainer's recommendation, I started on plain yoghurt with oatmeal for lunch. The oatmeal had been grinded to powder and tasted gd. But the yoghurt 
sucked big time. The yoghurt tasted sour and I hated sour stuff ...

Let's see how long I will last ...

Unappetizing ...

Changes to diet

Breakfast for today. Energy for the workout later on. 

Sweet potatoes, steamed. Swee ...

CNY Ang Pows 2016

There were 2 versions this year, the rectangular ones were for the adults, the monkey ones were for the kids!



Extending last year's idea, I wanted the kids to do some artwork on this year's ang pows to make them more personalized and original. There were some hiccups along the way e.g. yellow printer ink was running out causing the colour of the ang pow to be off, the flower plum cutter that I bought could not cut through felt cloth (wanted the kids to stick different shades of pink flowers on the ang pows) and the idea had to be abandoned, the gold paint did not settle well on the red packets, etc. Due to time constraints, this was what we came up or rather, made do with for this year, the year of the Monkey.

As for the monkey-faced red packets, I stumbled upon a YouTube videos on origami monkey and thought it would be fun to have origami monkey as ang pows. I took me a while to search for a folding method that could allow me to encase and slot money in. I then did a template with folding and cutting lines and filled in the colors I wanted. I created 2 versions of it - girl monkey with ribbon and boy without. I gave A the boy monkey ang pow and B the girl monkey ang pow as 压岁钱 on the eve of CNY! They both love it and the ang pows are still under their pillows! :)

The process was fun and B had been a great help this time round! :)


Related Posts:
CNY Any Pows 2015
CNY Ang Pows 2014
Ang Pows 2013