Prawning and fishing at Big splash

I bought groupons so we went prawning and fishing with the gals on Wed morning. Decided to let the gals 'ponten' school since we were going for cruise at night. The prawn catching was really slow but I finally got the hook of it. Caught only 2 prawns though.

We caught a lot of longkang fish but we returned to a very smelly tank with dead fish when we came home after the cruise. This is despite us putting them into a tank with an air pump, and aquatic plants for food/oxygen. Morale of the story, next time, don't bring back the fish cos they are not hardy... :P

Kiddies on cruise

It all began when RA learnt about modes of transportation in school in the beginning of the year. She said Teacher Samantha told her there are hotel rooms in the big ship and asked me if it's true. Told her that it's true and that's called a cruise ship and there are many rooms inside a cruise ship. She was awed. And I promised her that when Mummy has saved enough $, I will bring her on a cruise ship.

December was a good time to fulfil that promise. Since we had already gone to Taiwan with the extended family in June, I didn't want to go anywhere far. So decided to bring them on a 3d2n cruise to Malaysia on 19-21 Dec. Especially booked the theme cruise with Nickledeon on board so that they can get up close and personal with Dora, Spongebob square pants and gang. ;)

Day 1

Although we were staying in balcony class, our balcony class privileges ended once we checked in and collected the room key cards at 830pm. After that, everyone (whether balcony class or the other world cruisers) joined the super duper long queue to clear customs then get on board Super Star Virgo. Thought it wasn't fair since their marketing material said balcony class will have boarding privileges. The kids didn't mind the long queue, they were busy running about and playing with the queue posts. But hb and me were getting frazzled pulling them back in line, there were lots of people esp indians and people try to cut queue if you are not alert. :P

Anyway, once we got on board at 9+pm, we were given welcome drinks and that helped to cool down the hot tempers. We went to our room after 1-2 cursory photos at the lobby. After studying the programme, decided to go to Activity Centre, Deck 12 to sign the gals up for Nickledeon Tea party with Dora and gang tomorrow morning. It is not free though, each kid is $12. But I reckon since it's a Nickledeon cruise, I should just let them try it out. Charlie child care centre was having an open house from 10-1030pm but I only realised at 10.15pm so the gals had fun for 15 mins at the ball pit, drawing and colouring.

Then, we went for supper at the Pavilion (the chinese restaurant). Food was good, 5 dishes including 1 whole fried fish, gnor hiang, fried egg, steamed minced meat patty, stir fried vegetables. I had my favourite teochew 'muay' with side dishes too. We were persuaded by the waiter to order a warm soy milk for the gals and that cost $7.50. Omg!

There was a magic show at 11.15pm and we weren't sure if the gals will be able to stay awake or understand. But once we told RA about it, she said she wanted to go. Thought since I let them nap at home till 6pm today, they should not be that tired. So off we went to Lido at Deck 8. We were a bit late so we had to sit at the back, the figures on stage were a bit small and there were no kiddy booster seats so RL sat on my lap but RA managed to sit on her own. RA enjoyed the magic, RL didn't really understand the whole show but with the laser lights and music, she had fun too cos she didn't fidget nor ask to go back. :)

We went back at 12.15pm and after the daily bedtime routine, the gals finally ko at 1.30am.

Day 2
For some reason, I woke up early at 5am, so went for breakfast at Mediterranian buffet restaurant at 630am. After that, popped by the casino since there is no entrance fee unlike RWS. Went back at 8am but everyone was still sleeping soundly so I went back to the casino again. Left again at 840am and they were still sleeping but just as I got comfortable to take a short nap, RL woke up. So, we freshened them up and after some milk, we went straight for the Dora tea party. Food was provided for the kids eg. mini burgers, nuggets, mini cup cakes, fruits etc.

The tea party was a bit chaotic because the organisers did not restrict the number of pre registered participants. They had 70 over kids who pre registered and there was not enough seats for every family. Luckily, we reached 5 mins ahead of time so we got a table but even then, it was only a partially sheltered table. With the bright sunlight, RA and RL had difficulties keeping their eyes open for photos at the table. Dora, spongebob and company finally arrived at 1030am, and everyone was allowed just 2 photos each due to the crowd and lack of time.

We went to the kiddy pool after that. I deliberately chose our room at Deck 10 cos it's at the same level as the pool and very near to walk. RA enjoyed the warm water at the jaccuzi and both gals enjoyed the slides. The end of slide was deep water of about 1.2m so Daddy had to stand by to catch them as they come down though.

After showering, we had lunch at the Japanese restaurant since we still have dining credit. The gals liked the miso ramen. After lunch, we went back to the room to rest but only RA and me napped. RL couldn't sleep so hb brought her to walk around the ship. He didn't manage to knock her out though. We had afternoon tea then went to the Nickledeon Arts and craft session which was free and the gals got tattoos too.

It was makan time again, so this time, we went to Bella Vista for western set dinner. We ordered 4 mains cos the kiddy meal was just nuggets with mashed potatoes and the gals didn't like mashed potatoes.

Food was good but it took a long time to come and RL threw tantrums and had crying fits there cos she had no nap and was cranky. Hb had to carry her away for a walk. But luckily after some soup and bread, her mood brightened.

There was a musical show called 'Somewhere in Time' at 9.15-10.15pm at the Lido. As usual, the gals wanted to go for it. Besides the usual song and dance, there were also quite a few acrobatic and gymnastic performances. RL likes it so much that she danced and clapped and even shouted 'Yeah Yeah, 你真棒!' Daddy was slightly embarrassed but I love musicals and glad that at least one of them likes it as much as me. I am also secretly pleased the shows are inclusive cos on my own, I wouldn't have bought exp tickets for them to watch such shows esp if I dun know if they are still too young to understand.

We strolled around the ship after that, and we went back to the room to rest earlier since RL is tired. They fell asleep at 11+pm that night. :P

Day 3

The gals woke up late at 930am so we went straight for BF at Mediterranian Buffet which ends at 1030am. After BF, let the gals decide what to do with Daddy cos I wanted to go back to the casino to play a bit more plus get back my ecash. Didn't realise that they close early at 11.10am so I only played 10 mins and the ecash machine was spoilt so I can't even get back my $ unless I go and queue at the super duper queue at the main reception counter.

Came back to tidy up our belongings and prepare to check out by 12noon. The gals and daddy were at the video arcade. After showering both of them, we took our luggage and went for lunch at Blue Lagoon, we still had some dining credits left so it was time to use it up. After lunch, it was a long queue again to queue and pay, so we finally left the ship close to 2pm.

2D1N Legoland/Hello Kitty Town

Brought the gals to 2D1N trip to Legoland and Hello Kitty town from 9-10 Dec. We joined the tour which was organised by Tamp Central cc which was just 5 mins walk from our home and assembled at 7am outsde the CC. MIL also joined us cos she heard from her friends that it was fun.

The coach went by tuas second link, customs was fast and we changed to a Msia coach, and a malaysian tour guide joined us.The tour guide also told us a piece of good news. He changed the itinerary, instead of going to Legoland first, we will be going to Hello Kitty Town first. He said that since it's sunday, it's better to go Hello Kitty town first and only go Legoland on Monday cos Legoland will be very crowded on Sunday and there are a lot of long queues. Since it was still early (before 9am), they brought us to BF first.

We reached Hello Kitty Town 10 mins before opening hr so we waited around until the tour guide managed to get our tickets. There is a nice gift shop just before the entrance and there is a cute HK table with a few chairs and HK toys there so the gals were happy to wait there. Once we entered, we queued for a ride at the Hello Kitty tea cup ride.

There are 5 different stations at HK town and our ticket entitles us to have 1 turn at each station and the staff will stamp on the ticket. We went straight to the nail station cos RA and RL love to have their manicure. The queue was not long so we wre given a piece of nail stickers and got in less than 10 mins. I expected to see at least 1 staff to help the gals to do manicure, but there was no one. Just bottles of nail polish on the table and we have to paint the nails ourselves. It was totally DIY so I was disappointed. What is the difference from me painting the gals' nails myself at home? There was two nail polish drying stations at the corner. It was difficult to paint the nails for the gals cos the nail polish was a bit dry and v sticky. Also, there were only a few bottles of pink colour which the gals wanted. The rest were red and purple. But there was a 15 mins limit at that station so the guard asked us to hurry up even though I came into the room late after bringing RL to the toilet.

11-1130am was time for photo taking with Hello kitty and Daniel. The queue was one of the longest but more people joined in behind us. Then we went to Cookie Making station, the queue was longer by then. When we went in, we were given a piece of Hello kitty shaped cookie each and 1 paint brush. There were 3 bottles with strawberry jam, chocolate syrup, lemon jam. The 'cookie making' was just decorating the Hello Kitty's eyes, nose and whiskers with the jam/syrup. What seemed so easy for adults, was not as easy for young children. RA had no problems dotting the eyes and nose and whiskers. But RL dripped the jam all over cos she didn't have good fingers control and partly because the paint brushes given were as thick as 1 cm and the brush was already bushy.

We went for lunch at Red bow cafe. We ordered fried bee hoon with fried chicken wing set, fried rice set and sandwiches. The fried bee hoon was good but spicy so the gals refused to touch it after 1 bite. The fried rice was not v nice cos a bit bland so the gals ate mainly the chicken wings and sandwiches.

We went back around 1+pm and the queues were quite bad by then, but we still had 4 stations left - Jewellery making, Hello Kitty House, Hello kitty Costume dress up, Magic black. Jewellery making station to me was a waste of time, they gave us a shiny chain each and a pendant so all we had to do was hook the pendant onto the necklace. Don't even need to loop through the necklace. Why go through all the trouble to queue for something so easy? Might as well just include the pendant and necklace as a free gift when we buy the tickets. Duh.

Anyway, Hello kitty costume dress's queue was the longest. Maybe because it involved putting on the HK costumes and posing for photos. We had time to go for another round at the Hello Kitty tea cup ride and visit HK house while MIl helped us to queue at the costume dress up station.

The last station was Magic Black. Frankly, I didn't really understand the game concept except that we need to wave the 'magic' lamp at different stations to get different alphabets to guess a code. The castle was quite nicely decorated though. the code was 'black' and we were given a certificate for guessing the code correctly.

We left the HK town at 4pm, and went to Amansari Hotel JB City Centre for check in. Check in took quite long cos our rooms were not ready despite the tour guide calling the hotel ahead of time to get the rooms ready. We had requested for connecting rooms, and were lucky to get two rooms with a small connecting corridor that we could lock from inside. There was no bathtub but that is expected of a 3 star hotel. But the hotel was very adamant and refused to give in when we requested for 1 more bath towel for RL.

After shower and buffet dinner (included) at the hotel at 7pm, the tour guide brought us shopping at KSL. We went to Jusco and bought some cheap tights and PJs for the gals. The gals were tired after we came back cos they didn't have any naps, so they ko quickly.

The next day, after BF, we checked out of the hotel at 9am, went to a local produce shop to buy some biscuits and local snacks. Then, we proceeded to Legoland. But we were still 5 mins early, could see the long queues waiting to buy tickets, and waiting enter Legoland.

It was bright and sunny, we were prepared for sun so we brought sun block, hats, stroller with attached umbrella, etc. Went straight for Lego city, since I heard that boating rides, car rides and train rides were v popular. Good choice cos the boat ride queue was still short. About 15 mins, we got on the battery operated boats. We had
to split into two boats cos each boat had max. 2 adults and 1 child. RL made noise and complained when she was given the blue boat instead of red boat like RA.

After the boat ride, we went to Legoexpress for the train ride. Made a stop at the game booth just opp the train station cos saw that it was basketball tossing and thought hubby might like it. He did and was lucky to win two gigantic angry bird soft toys with just RM40 (RM20 for 3 balls). He might have won more toys but after he got the second angry bird with the first ball of the second set, the staff told him no more. He felt quite cheated then cos he wanted to win another 2 birds with the remaining two balls. haha. But I was relieved, two gigantic angry birds is already a logistic issue and I wondered how we are going to bring the two birds back in a coach.

Many people stared and pointed at the two angry birds when we were queuing for the train ride. One woman even asked hubby if he can help her to play and win an angry bird for her son. The two birds got a free train ride cos we didn't dare to leave them behind in the unmanned stroller.

Wanted to go for the car ride, but the queue was long and RL was not able to ride cos of the height limit. Plus RA was feeling hot, so, we decided to go for lunch first, cos RL fell asleep on MIL's shoulder.

I was forewarned by mummy friends that the food at legoland was expensive. RM25 for a chicken rice set. But Universal studio charges similar prices so it will not be different for legoland. Which merchant will give up the chance to profit from a captive audience right? At least they serve mushroom soup, which are the gals' favourite. RL only slept for 5-10 mins so she was in time for lunch. So they had chicken rice mixed with mushroom soup.

After lunch, we walked towards Lego Imagination, and spent time at the indoor playground, and went for a ride at the mini train. By then, the sky was darkening though it was only 2+pm. Walked to Build city with RA while hubby brought RL to go to the toilet. They took a long time and by the time, they were back, it was already 2.45pm and the sky was really dark by then. Since we were in the middle of Legoland and we are supposed to meet the tour guide at 330pm, we decided to walk back towards the entrance.

Bad move! Cos before we get very far, it started to drizzle then it soon became a downpour. Though we had a stroller, umbrella and stroller cover, we also had 2 gigantic angry birds. So, in the end, we had to pause and let the gals put on their rain coats so that we can put the two angry birds into the stroller instead. By the time, we reached the main gift shop near the entrance, we were cold and wet esp the gals despite their raincoats and our umbrellas sheltering because the rainwater managed to seep in and wet their collars and sleeves.

We did not bring extra set of clothes with us cos we thought we were already equipped with rain gear. But luckily, MIL (being the wiser and more kiasu one), brought 1 set of dry clothes so RA changed into a dry tee shirt while RL got a pair of dry pants. But they were still uncomfortable cos they were still half wet. So, I went into legoland to buy a set of clothes. The shop was super wet and crowded with people hiding from the rain. I only managed to get 3 t shirts for the gals and hubby and big bath towel. Couldn't get a pair of pants for RL cos they don't sell bottoms. Only dresses and a kiddy dress costs RM179.90. Really too exp in my eyes. Total bill was RM199+ but the sale staff refused to give me two big plastic bags (for the angry birds), even when I told her I will pay for them. After much persuasion, she finally gave me 1 plastic bag. Don't understand why they had to be so inflexible about this. :/

Went to get the photos and asked RA to pick a bag of lego bricks while I waited for the photos to be printed. Had a shock when I had to pay the lego bricks. RM90+ for a tiny bag (those usually used for gummy sweets). But I had no time to quibble cos we were already late and need to rush to the meeting point. Finally, we were one of the last few to board and the coach left at 4+pm.

They brought us to a nearby shopping mall and we had a hakka chinese dinner. No time to shop this time but I grabbed a few t shirts oustide the restaurant before the coach came at 5.45pm.

JB customs was quiet when we reached at 6+pm, no queue at all. Then, we crossed over and reached SG customs. It was a longer ride from SG customs back to Tampines, so we reached home sweet home at 8+pm.

I asked RA which place she enjoyed more. Hello Kitty Town or Legoland. I was expecting her to say Legoland cos of the variety of rides etc. But she said HK town. She said it's because she can make jewellery, cookies, do manicure etc. The same activities which hubby and I thought were really too easy and frivolous. Really shows that children thinking can be different from adults so we should not impose our thinking upon them. ;P

Happy anniversary!

Happy ROM wedding anniversary! It's our 8th year together. Thanks for being such a wonderful hubby . ;)

Ballet trial for Raelynn

After their childcare year end concert, we are convinced that Raelynn loves to dance, she danced well for the concert, and can tell that she enjoys practising the dance too. So, hubby finally told me to let her try out ballet cos he thinks she cannot sit still and may not be able to focus long enough to learn piano.

We have come a long way cos he was not keen for the gals to learn ballet cos he thinks they will walk funny (like a duck) if they learn ballet. No offence to all the ballet dancers ya. :P

RL just turned 3 yrs old last Sunday so she just made it for Bebe ballet which is for those 3 - 3 yrs 11 mths. So, tonight, after dinner at Century Sq, we went to Crestar Dance school for trial at Abacus plaza. I brought along a ballerina looking pink dress for her and especially let her change into it before her trial.

When we reached the centre, it was dejavu cos I brought RA for the same trial twice in end 2011 and early this year. First time, RA cried cos she didn't want me to leave the room. Second time, I bought her a ballerina tutu dress, and deliberately went for trial in the same class as her best friend and CC classmate, Valerie. So, she didn't cry but after the trial, when I asked her if she wants to learn ballet, she still said no, she doesn't like to dance. So, I gave up on ballet for RA after that.

After filling up the registration form and paying $32.10, the class started at 730pm. After I helped her to take out her shoes, Raelynn just walked into the room, plonked herself down on the floor with the other gals whom she has never seen before. Looked at the teacher, without even a backward glance at me. I shouldn't have worried that she will cry like RA at all. In the end, I was the one who 不放心 and went into the room to straighten her hairband and told her that I will be waiting outside. She can't even be bothered to answer me. kaka.

It was a 45 mins trial, I popped by the small window in the door now and then to peek at her. She was jumping, dancing and following the teacher. Not shy at all though her movements are a bit off compared to the other gals. After the trial, I asked her teacher, Ms Li Tong, if RL did ok. And she said RL can follow instructions, not familiar with the movements yet but it will get better with practice. I asked RL if she wants to learn ballet and she didn't hesitate at all, and gave me a resounding yes though I asked her a few times.

Since there is no new classes scheduled in 2013 for Bebe ballet, we decided to enrol her immediately since hb and I are more free during the school hols. School fees per term is $203.30. School fees will increase to $256.80 for new classes so we are exempted from that increase for now. We paid $341.19 cos there are 2 remaining lessons in Dec and for Jan-Mar 2013. RL couldn't wait to wear her ballet shoes but too bad her size is oos. So, we only bought her attendance book and socks today. Didn't buy leotard and skirt cos it was a bit exp, $47.10, secondly, I was worried she will outgrow it before her assessment (next yr), and finally, it's not easy to bring her to toilet if she is wearing a leotard.

Her yamaha Music Wonderland lessons will start next Jan, almost same timing as RA (Sats 12.15-1pm). So, we'll monitor and see which one she likes better. ;)

Cream of mushroom soup

The gals love mushroom soup so we always order it when we go to western restaurants. Was browsing MIL's i weekly and I saw a step by step recipe for mushroom soup. It looks good so decided to buy some mushrooms when it was on offer at NTUC recently. Was also motivated to put the new NTUC bowls I bought to good use. kaka.

To be honest, I never knew cooking mushroom soup is so much work cos I grew up with campbell soup. My mum can't cook western soups so for any western soup, my dad who was a canned food hawker, will take a can of campbell soup from his inventory, open it, add a can of water, stir until it boil. Voila! Soup is done. My FIL does this too when the gals have dinner at their place and they didn't cook soup. hee.

Preparing the soup took almost 1 hr. It will take up to 2 hrs if I included the time I took to boil vegetable stock. (how I wish NTUC sells packet veg stock like those swanson chicken broth) No wonder restaurant mushroom soup tastes so good.

I modified the recipe a little cos I only had 1 onion in the house (defnitely not 200g) just couldn't find thyme (fresh nor bottled). It was oos even at NTUC Tampines Mall. Cold storage probably has it but I am too lazy to walk to Tampines One. :P The recipe asked for bay leaves too so I had to buy a bottle, hubby being the 'chin chai' chef, kept telling me to omit all these 'exp and seldom used' herbs. But I was worried it will affect the taste.

But luckily, the gals loved it. RaeAnne said it was better than pastamania soup and Raelynn said 'Yummy Gumbo' - that's her highest level of praise for food after watching The Princess and the frog. ;) So at least it was worth the effort. With soup, we still need a carbo so I just fried a easy tomato macaroni since we haven't had that for a long long time. ;)

P.S. Recipe for veg stock
1) 3 stalks of celery
2) 1 onion
3) 2 medium carrots
4) 5-7 cloves of garlic (washed but unpeeled)
5) Some mushroom stalks
Just put everything into a pot of cold water until it boils then let it simmer until stock is sweet.

Raelynn is 3 years old!

Time flies! My little bundle of joy is already 3 years old. She is 92cm tall and 13.6 kg. Although she is not as chubby like a baby, she is still as cute. She is the happy go lucky type and never asked for any birthday presents. But I bought a helium balloon for her and a few small stuff.

We are not doing any big celebrations since already had a celebration in school. But will be bringing the gals for a staycation at Festive Hotel, Resorts World Sentosa and bring them to Universal Studios today. :)

We reached USS around 11am, could have been earlier but we forgot something so had to loop back to retrieve it while I was with the 2 gals queuing for our turn to change the RWS invites vouchers into USS tickets. Luckily, the USS guest services allowed us to leave our luggage at their lost and found counter temporarily. If not, we will waste even more time going to Festive Hotel just to deposit our luggage there. We also got a birthday badge for Mei Mei since it was her birthday. So, she got free popcorn, photo album and discount coupons compliments of USS.

USS was surprisingly not crowded and the weather was good though it was a sunday, cloudy so it was not warm. Hubby wanted to see Sci Fi city cos we never saw this adventure zone though we already been to USS twice. Too bad for hubby, we have no boys and the gals are not interested in transformers. Mei Mei even cried when we tried to pose with Bumble Bee. haha.

After our lunch at KT grill (I had one for one deal using RWS invites card), we went to Jurassic Park cos I wanted to try the Canopy flyer. It was drizzling slightly by then. So, decided to go for the open air dinosaur rides first since RL wanted to sit in it. It was 30 mins wait for the canopy flyer. From the ground, the ride looks quite slow but I didn't realise it was so fast. The ride is for kids that are 92cm and taller so RL just made the height limit. But she was so scared, took a lot of convincing before she was willing to go on the ride. And the ride is really quite fast esp around the bend. I closed my eyes for some parts too. ;P

After going for the dinosaur ride again, cos RA wanted to sit on the pink dinosaur this time, we used our express pass and went for the usual stuff, ie. Shrek 4d show and Madagascar crate adventure. We also went 3 rounds at the Madagascar carousel. Mei Mei's favourite.

When we left USS, it was already 430pm, walked to festive hotel to check in. Couldn't get a free room upgrade nor the Deluxe King room that I reserved. Only got a Deluxe twin room, if not, it will be Deluxe King but on a smoking floor but I didn't want to take the risk of a stinky room. Luckily, the room had a sofa bed so it was enough for 4 of us. It was a good thing we didn't ask MIL along this time if not one of us may have to sleep on the floor. I didn't realise that Deluxe rooms have no bathtubs tnough so the gals esp RA was disappointed.

But the hotel staff did remember about our birthday celebration so they sent up a cake for us. A deliciously rich chocolate cake. Since the gals loves their hotel room, hubby tapow food from Ruyi and we tucked into our favourite 'Ru Ruo Fan'. Their chicken wings and guo tie were very good too.

The gals didn't nap at all. RL knocked out at 920pm but RA only slept at 11pm. Even hubby slept earlier than her.

The next morning, after BF, we brought them to Hard Rock Hotel Pool which was highly recommended by my forum mummy friends. It was indeed a nice pool with a man made beach. Too bad we didn't bring beach toys so we only had the bucket which was the free toy we got from KT grill for the kids meal. Still it was clean fun, no need to worry about broken glass in the sand etc so we could leave the gals to play.

There was shower cubicles (with hot water and toiletries) at the toilets near the towel counters. Too bad, we didn't know earlier so we could only shower the gals but both hubby and I did not bring along our clothes, just our robes. So, we still had to go back and shower before we can go for lunch.

Went to Coca restaurant since I got 1 for 1 promotion. $24++ for adult and $17++ for kids above 5 yrs old so the gals dine free. ;)

Prawn Aglio Olio

Did an ultimate aunty thing and collected NTUC bonus points diligently over 1 month. I had a grand total of 53 bonus points. All for the sake of getting pasta plates cos the gals love to eat pasta. 16 points to get 1 set of 2 plates at $5.95. Pastamania is their favourite haunt and their favourite home cooked dish is also spagetti bolognaise. Actually, I only need 4 plates. But I could get 6 plates cheaply. In the end, I decided to get 8 plates cos 6 plates are really not enough to entertain guests. And we are having a pot luck gathering at my brother's new place during Xmas.

Was cracking my head over what to bring or cook. But decided to make use of the new pasta plates and cook pasta. But my mum doesn't like any buttery, creamy or tomato base pasta so aglio olio pasta is the best choice, since it's garlic and oil base.

But first, I got to learn how to cook it cos I have never cooked it before. haha.

Googled online for recipes and found one that did not look too difficult. Recipe I only have frozen deshelled prawns at home so couldn't make the prawn stock from the shells. So, I made stock with boiling dried sakura shrimps which I bought from Taiwan previously. Also, I didn't use fresh cut chilli cos was afraid it will be too spicy for hubby. Only used dried chilli flakes from spice bottles. I did a non spicy version for the kids with only garlic and pasley.

Verdict: The pasta was not salty enough but the spicy version was still too spicy for hubby. The gals didn't like the garlic bits. And I think the stock will be sweeter and richer with real prawn shells so must make sure I buy fresh prawns when I want to cook this next time. Never mind, still got lots of time to practise. haha.

School holiday and RaeAnne's first professional hair cut

Friday, there's no school cos it's rest day after concert. I was keen to bring them to the zoo to see the pandas before Raelynn turns 3 years old so that we can save on her admission ticket. But the girls preferred going to indoor playground instead of the zoo so we went to Kidsplay at Tampines One, the nearest indoor playground.

It was their last day of $12 for 1 hr promotion so it was good cos we did't have much time for them to play before having lunch. After lunch at Dian Xiao Er, we passed by the kiddy salon. And a little girl with very long hair was getting her haircut while watching tinkerbell dvd. The salon was having a $10 promotion (instead of $20) so on a whim, I ask RA if she wants to have her hair cut.

Before

I was surprised when she said yes cos she has been keeping her hair long for more than 6 months in ancipation of the concert. 杨老师 asked to keep her hair long so that she can tie up her hair during the concert.

She said she wanted to have her hair like mine. So, I asked the hairstylist to cut and leave about 2 inches of hair below her ears. 奶奶 has been RaeAnne's personal hairstylist since she was born. So it was the first time she is getting a professional hair cut. She enjoyed watching the Ratatouille DVD that she chose while Mei Mei was kept entertained playing with the toys in the little play area. The hairstylist commented that RA has a lot of hair and true enough, there was a heap of hair on the floor by the time she was done.

After

Although she enjoyed the salon experience, she didn't like her new hairdo. She said she had this short hairstyle when she was very young. So, she was quite upset. On hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have taken her seriously. Should have asked the hair stylist to cut it a bit longer so that the change is less drastic. haha.

Elfa concert 2012

29 Nov 12 - the day we have been waiting for eagerly cos it's the day of Elfa concert. The gals have been practicising their dances for a long time but we only get to see snippets of it at home. Not the whole dance and definitely curious about their costumes which we paid on top of the concert tickets.

Raelynn's dance is the Mexican hat dance and RaeAnne's the popular Gee by Girls Generation. They looked so different with their full make up and their hair tied up that I couldn't recognise them even though I went close to stage to take photos. haha.

Both of them danced well, RL was quite natural and responds well to the beat. RA is flawless cos she is older and remember the complicated dance steps well though it was a pity she hardly smiled.