Red House

 

There was some confusion about when S left and it turned out we had another night to go out for dinner, so on Friday night, Simian and I went to Red House with T,S and Imp. We figured having another person who ate seafood was a good idea. T and S did a good job with the crabs and Red House had a surprisingly good vegetarian selection. Watching the fish and lobsters swimming around in the tanks was sad though.

Zoo

 

Poor S got bad food poisoning, but she was a trooper and we went to the zoo anyway on Thursday. I loved the mother proboscis monkey who was keeping an eye on her baby. When he ran too far, she gently scooped him up and tenderly nursed him. The chimps were so clever with their use of sticks to pull out food. You can clearly see how closely related we are to the apes.

Shopping

 

S and I went shopping yesterday. We saw these handbags at the window Anteprima and we stood there stunned for a few minutes. Imp - I think D needs one!

We had tea at Wild Honey at the new Scotts Square which was nice! It was quiet and the prices were pretty reasonable!

Five and Dime

 

Simian and I had dinner at Five and Dime with Imp and ST. ST's friend is the mixologist there (and my cocktail, the Gin and Jade was quite nice - and I don't even like pandan all that much!). The food was pretty decent. We finished two bowls of the fries with curry sauce. Conversation however was hilarious - somehow it took on a rather bizarre turn towards the end of the evening that included discussions on mules, and scatalogical matters (complete with sound effects).

Food

 

Simian, T, S and I went to Gluttons Bay for dinner on Friday night. We saw Imp and PlanetofSound. Imp even went to collect food for us! We went to get T and S Singapore Slings at the Raffles afterwards. They now come in different flavours!

URA

 

It was my first time to the URA Planning Gallery with Simian, T and S. S works in City Planning at home and so this was an interesting experience for her. It was an eye opener for me as well!

Bird Park

 

M and I took Baby E to the Bird Park. We didn't stay very long but she seemed to have fun while we were there!

70th Anniversary of the Fall of Singapore

 

Imp and I wanted to do something on the 70th Anniversary of the Fall of Singapore. We contemplated heading to one of the cemetaries but it was too hot, so instead we went for lunch at the Coffee Daily. Unfortunately, while their website promised food, we found out they have an extremely limited selection with no vegetarian food.

We ended up at Relish at Serangoon Gardens instead and then went to the National Library to see exhibitions on Singapore Street names, and two fascinating exhibitions - Four Days in Singapore and the war drawings of William Haxsworth. Both exhibits were pretty quiet - the paint still smelt very fresh too.

Food

 

Simian and I took T out for fish head curry last week, a trip to Lau Pat Sat, and when S arrived to join T, we also went for chicken rice and dim sum at Crystal Jade. T is doing well on his quest to try 101 Singaporean dishes.

I also met E for lunch at Vegan Burg last week. My Tom Yum burger was good.

Thaipusam

 

Simian dropped T and I in Little India and we went to watch the Kavadi carriers on Thaipusam. This is the first time I've ever seen it and T was shell shocked!

More Haw Par Villa

 

Haw Par Villa is full of weird figures (and we only did a quick walk around the Ten Chambers of Hell before calling it quits). Here are a few other figurines that we saw on the way out. We all stopped dead looking at the diorama of the young woman letting an older woman suckle at her breast while her children look on. I told Simian that I guessed it was a story of fillial piety. I guessed it would be a story about how someone's mother was starving to death and the only thing that she could feed her mother was breast milk. Close but no cigar. It's apparently about a young mother allowing her toothless mother-in-law to suckle on her. Simian very logically asked why the young lady couldn't have just expressed the milk first.

Haw Par Villa

 

It's been years since I've come back here but almost everyone I know who grew up in Singapore has vivid memories of this place. The Ten Courts of Hell has scared many a child and the tradition carries on. Yesterday, a mother (who wasn't Chinese, incidentally) pointed out to her child what happens when you don't listen to your parents.

This place was possibly even more gruesome than I remember. It's actually kind of funny how kids are not allowed to watch certain movies but this is considered a family friendly park.

Also - the punishments don't seem to have any correlations to the crime. Rape? Cheating on Exams? Exact same punishment.

Singapore Adventure

 

We had a busy day yesterday. After playing Band Hero at St Games with D,T and Simian on Thursday (followed by Indian food), we inducted T into the joys of laksa and Ah Boling on Friday. He is now well into eating his way through There is No Carrot in Carrot Cake.

We further his culinary education yesterday with a stop at Golden Mile Food Centre (by way of Victoria Street Wholesale Market and Golden Mile Complex). Then we went to lunch at Maimunah. We stopped for the two guys to get a quick cup of Joe at Papa Palheta's (the place has become Hipster Central - someone in front of me discussed Taiwanese Interpretive Dance). Interestingly, you cannot get a double expresso there to go.

Next on the list, a stop to pick up something from Simian's workplace, and then we drove by Haw Par Villa so we had to go in (next post on Haw Par Villa). Finally, we ended up in Reflections at Bukit Chandu. We went down the canopy walk but decided to turn back before we hit the section towards the mangrove swamps as we had gone in the wrong direction.

Non-lumpy Creme Anglais

 

I've been unhappy with the lumps in my creme anglais. I decided to do some reading up and then tried the experiment and it worked! The secret, boys and girls (and you read it here!), is to pull your pot off the heat and immediately strain it into a bowl set in an ice bath. Worked like a charm.

I made two batches of Bread and Butter Pudding for two sets of neighbours. One was made entirely from the challah I made on Monday - the other was a mix. I'll make more tomorrow for us to eat!

Baking and Bubble wrap

 

I made challah and white loaf on Monday to go with our cheese dinner. I also roasted some vegetables and made ricotta.

Here's a photo of Baby E popping bubbles on bubble wrap!