Reindeer Mugshots

These reindeer ears were uncovered over the weekend, and the little one goofed around the house with it. He even instigated his stuffed reindeer to be his partner-in-crime, in this Christmas hangover activity.

I joined in the fun too.

Broken Again

Today, Chubbs broke Fuzzy's glasses for the XXXth time. Honestly, I cannot remember how many times we have visited IEC in VivoCity to get them repaired. Chubbs even told our resident specs guy, "Uncle Danny, I broke Daddy's glasses again."

Since we were there, we thought we'd let Chubbs indulge in his favourite sweet treat, one that he hasn't had in a long time. It was actually also an excuse for us to snag a couple of Swensen's sundaes for ourselves :/ Our dear mini ice-cream fiend picked out his dessert, demolished three decent sized scoops of ice-cream, and even wanted more from Fuzzy and I!

He also loves wafer biscuits.

Mopping up the last bit of his treat. I had to pry the plate away from him.

Fresh from a Haircut

Chubbs gets waaay too hot and sweaty in school everyday, so this haircut was really necessary; even though I think he looks cuter with longer, shaggier hair.

L'Entrecote

Fuzzy sent his younger brother off to medicine school today. And since he had to be at the airport very early, Fuzzy took the day off to run some car errands too. But there's still always time for good eats! After dropping Chubbs off at school, we snuck out for an impromptu Valentine's Day lunch at L'Entrecote, at Duxton Hill.

This is a Parisian steak frites bistro, and they only serve one main course. Steak and fries. The nice thing is that, they serve it to you in two portions, so that your meat arrives hot and fresh, and you don't get soggy fries. I also love the decor because it exudes an old world European charm that almost makes you feel like your not in Singapore.

There are two wonderful things about this restaurant. One, is that they import bread from Poilane, one the oldest, and touted to be the best boulangerie in Paris. The bread was so so good, with a crispy crust and tender fragrant interior, that I ate more than half a baguette worth of it, smeared with rich French butter. I would come back just for the bread alone.

The other, is that they serve a complimentary Kir (white wine and black current liqueur) to each guest once they are seated, which I think it a lovely welcoming gesture.

I usually prefer not to over-indulge at lunch, but I could not pass up on the appetiser of beef marrow, served with crunchy bread and sea salt. Basically, it was a plateful of unctuous fat, sprinkled with sea salt, that although we loved, we will not be re-ordering it, because we are certain the whopping calories take away at least 5 years of our lives each.

I think the steak was done very well, and the quality of the meat was decent for the price. Extremely value for money, considering the main course comes with a lovely green salad with walnuts and a light vinaigrette dressing. I loved the tangy sauce that they served with the steak, cutting some of the richness of the meat. The frites are perfectly crisp and just lightly salted. But I was commenting to Fuzzy that the kinda remind me of Mac's fries :/

The first installment of the steak frites.

We were already too full to even think about dessert by the time we finished our steaks. But the maitre d convinced us to glance at the sweet choices for just a bit. Fuzzy was sold the second he laid eyes on the words, "salted butter caramel". So we ordered the freshly baked waffles, with vanilla ice-cream with a small jug of salty caramel to pour over. It was heavenly, as anything with caramel or toffee naturally is. But I especially liked that the waffles were very light, crisp and almost slightly savoury.

There's just one down-side to this place. That is, they do not take reservations. However, if you find yourself having to wait a while for your seat, you can sit back and sip your Kir amidst the beautiful architecture, on the quaint street of Duxton Hill. Fuzzy and I will definitely be back the next time we crave some red meat, done just right. And to be honest, when I close my eyes, I can still taste the butter-smeared baguette in my mouth. That, to me, is true bliss in a bite.

"Huat Ah!"

Fuzzy and I often shout, "Huat ah!" at the most inappropriate times, just to crack each other up. For the uninitiated, "Huat ah" means, to prosper. And CNY is definitely the perfect time to be punctuating sentences with the Hokkien phrase.

My little one in his CNY outfit and ang-pow bag.

This year's festivities are extra special because our Aunt and Uncle are back from Vancouver for their first visit in three years. So Chubbs spent a good part of his time, following his new friend, Yee Sook Gong (GrandUncle) around the house and playing.

With Yee Sook Gong and Grandpa.

Our big family dinner was held at Tung Lok Classics at Orchard Parade Hotel, and Chubbs surprisingly enjoyed his meal as much as we did ours. He had some double-boiled white lotus soup with rice, some snow peas, and deep-fried whitebait. He even liked the juice shot provided at the end, which supposedly aids digestion after a heavy meal.

Using the sofas as part of an obstacle course.

Sitting with Mommy, waiting for food.

Chubbs was the only one who appreciated the beetroot and green apple concoction.

At Two Years and Five Months...

When I picked Chubbs up from school yesterday afternoon, I was greeted with quite a sight. My 29-month old boy was so drenched that his hair clung to his forehead, he had perspiration dripping down his face and into his eyes, his face was bright red, and he was dancing around the classroom, singing. The most amusing part was, the rest of his classmates looked pristine. The girls had not one hair out of place, and the other boys didn't look any different from when they first started the day. I looked at the teacher, bewildered, and she simply said, "He was very happy in the playground." I burst out laughing and hugged my darling tight.

In his P.E. kit, after having cooled down in the car-ride home.

And today, his arms were streaked with multi-coloured paint, his tie and shirt were stained with paint, and he had paint stuck under his fingernails. I shook my head, and dragged my son home for a good scrubbing. When I took his shirt off in the bath, I realised that there was even paint on his chest and shoulders, under his shirt. Don't ask me how they got there.

A Cherry Blossom-y CNY!

Happy CNY dear readers! This is the first piece of artwork Chubbs brought home from school. The teachers drew the black branches of the cherry blossoms, and the kids got to dip their fingers in red paint to dot the flowers on. His teacher said that he liked this activity so much, that he did numerous paintings for her, even after his classmates got bored and started playing with other toys.

"Mei-hua". Chinese for cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, I can't read any of the Chinese words that flank the flowers.

The other comment from the teachers is that Chubbs loves to sing. He belts out tunes when washing hands, playing with toys, doing crafts, reading books, at the playground, etc. Which is exactly what he does at home! He's constantly singing/ humming to himself, almost every waking moment (this is actually a problem when I'm trying to get him to fall asleep, and he's still singing at the top of his voice). He takes tunes that he's familiar with, and swaps the words with lyrics inspired by what he's playing with at the moment. E.g., cars, trucks, Lego, food, animals... It's a really endearing trait in him, and I hope he never stops singing.

Singing about the "ice-cream" that he made with Lego, to the tune of "Finley the Fire Engine".