Easter break

It's been a busy busy 2 weeks!

I had a fantastic Easter break just over the last weekend. The extended family were ALL away in Melbourne so we had the whole place to ourselves!

My second uncle( Dad's side ) was visiting from Sydney so we spent Thursday night with him and 6th Uncle. We had dinner at a Penang restaurant near us. It was great spending time catching up on the family in Australia.

Friday was BUSY! We were crazy enough to agree to go with our friends to the zoo ... on Good Friday ( public holiday! ), in the afternoon and in the BLAZING hot sun. It was so crowded and HOT. I didn't want to take Annika along initially but then the guilt was overwhelming and she refused to nap so she came along. BAD IDEA. Of course she didn't sleep EVEN in the car ride there, refused to sleep in the stroller ( too hot ) and was grouchy the entire trip. THEN it started to POUR. OMG. We had barely made it halfway. The other 2 families on the trip had gone ahead so we were split up during the downpour. Thank goodness we were stuck at the main F&B area. It was still crowded and there weren't any seats,so we waited by the strollers but at least we had access to drinks and shelter. And airconditioning from the main cafeteria. Of course after waiting 45 minutes I caved in and spent $20 on rain coats, and just as we put them on the rain STOPPED. Of course.

By that time it was 5 in the evening so I was ready to call it quits and go home but Madison had been patiently waiting to see her animals. She still wanted to see leopards, tigers and cheetahs.(She specified this!) So Chris and I made a rapid tour de zoo checking out the various animals. We were lucky cat country was a stone's throw away from where we were!

It was EXHAUSTING! Finally we managed to drop the kids off at Novena for their dinner while we went home to shower and recharge. Because we had dinner plans and we needed to be upright!

We had dinner with 2 couples at DB bistro moderne at the Marina Bay Sands. It is Daniel Boulud's first restaurant here and it was supposed to do great burgers. The food was great but better still was the company. We shared a nice bottle of burgundy and the conversation flowed the entire evening! It was a 3 course meal and by the time dessert was done it was past 11pm. The guys all ended up with the signature burger ( it came with foie gras), I had the coq au vin ( which was so tender! ) and the other 2 ladies had the fish and steak. Service was quick and attentive so no complaints there. The only trouble we had was PARKING! That was a nightmare on the Friday night! We ended up at the Ritz Carlton across the river.

Saturday morning we attended Joshua's ( Caroline's eldest son ) pool party at the Pine tree club. Again ANOTHER HOT day. It was fun! The kids loved the pool, I got in a short swim and then we had so much food at the restaurant by the pool. This time I didn't bring Annika so we had a much more relaxed morning. Caroline made an indestructible pinata that the adults had to break so the kids could get the goodies. Met some an old friend at the party so that was nice. Madison was bushed by the time the party ended. In the afternoon I went shopping! We had to buy a few birthday gifts for MORE birthday parties, and I got to get some new shoes! 3 pairs to be accurate. In my defence, they are good shoes and they were on a bit of a sale. Orchard Road was of course, by default, CROWDED. But we were sans kids so it was bearable.

Dinner was a simple affair. We bought food back from our Whampoa market, which seems to have more than it's fair share of famous hawker stalls. Nasi Lemak, Wanton noodles and Mee goreng. All from newsworthy stores. It was good though.

Sunday came around WAYYY too quickly.. It felt like the Sunday blues to me already. The family was due back in the evening. We didn't do much on Sunday... it was chill out time. We did go down to the pool in the morning, then DROVE over to the neighbourhood shopping mall( how lazy was that? IT WAS TOO HOT TO WALK!) to drop off a sofa cover ( that Madison peed on), buy lunch and wrapping paper ( for the presents bought the day before). Skyped the grandma in the afternoon then over to Novena house to await their return.

Much too soon, Monday came around and BACK TO THE GRIND... except that Geok is STILL on leave and Ma had the extra day off. I find it amazing that she is able to take so much time off work and still make so much $$!She has been on more holidays than I have and then usually AFTER the holiday is on medical leave or personal leave! Not forgetting her FULL maternity leave with more annual leave on top of that! Incredible. I must have made a career choice boo-boo... sigh.