Last LaLaLa Lesson

I just had my last vocal lesson before I go pop my junior.  Why call it LaLaLa?  At least that is what I saved as my weekly appointment in my hand phone's calendar.  

It all happened one fine day early this year when The Man came home with a piece of paper and shoved it into my face.

"Look! I have signed you up for vocal lessons :)"

"You what?  Hey, doesn't mean that you are having your mid-life crisis and start learning piano, I also need to go learn something mah..."

"Trust me, you will like it"

And he was right.   

Although it is only an hour weekly, it falls on a weekday and back then, I was worried that I may end up skipping more lessons than attend them due to the hectic and unexpected work schedule. However, the thing is I found out I was pregnant just before the lessons commenced... all the better... since I started my LOA by then and had all the time in the world.

Then came another worry... can pregnant women do vocal trainings?

Innocently, I posted the question to my Gynae.

For a moment, he looked stunned and then chuckled.

"You know what... in all my years of being a gynae, this is the first time I am asked this question!  I get lots of questions like can I do yoga... can I travel etc but not this!"

He paused for another moment in deep thoughts.

"Well, it is mostly about breathing techniques right?"

I nodded.

"And you do enjoy it right?"

I nodded again.

"Well... guess there shouldn't be any problem then!  Maybe you can be my first patient who sings during delivery :)"

I took that as a joke of course.

That was moons ago... and thinking back, I enjoyed the lessons and did it make me a better singer?  Well... perhaps not but it did expose me to different ways to treating a song, sight reading and also understand my own range and tone better.

To sum it up, I will do this over karaoke anytime :)

"Lelong Lelong"

The past weeks saw my first attempt at selling on ebay.  I have always wanted to try doing so just for the fun of it but never felt so compelled to do so until now due to the move.

There are just items around the house which somehow fall into the category of "To Be Sold":

• Items which we adore but are too huge and irrelevant for the next 3 years (hope the new owners will treat them with TLC like we did)
• Items which are just not suitable or have no value-add for the Salvation Army
• Items which are in perfect working condition but we have duplicates or newer versions (I still can't believe we found 3 extra keyboards in the house other than those already connected to the 2 machines we have)

Turned out that it can be a lot of work putting up these items for sale and to follow through (unless you do a really sloppy job) but it was pretty fun and it sure opened my eyes to some ebay buying behaviours:

• Some interested buyers love engaging in lengthy and detailed Q&A (i.e. very kiasi mentality)
• Some interested buyers are really shrewd at bargaining (must learn from them)
• Some interested buyers really don't mind going through a lot of trouble just to get what they want (eg travelling cross country just to view or buy a small item)
• In general, most people are just nice folks...

So far, I have my fair share of successes and failures in this little venture and I was casually updating The Man about it:

Me: So far, we have gotten $XXX for the items but we still have a lot of items to get rid of leh.  Shall I collect all the earnings first and then deposit them back in the joint account?

(Ehem... I approached this venture in a very democratic manner)

The Man: AIya, no need lah... just keep all the $$ from whatever you manage to sell.

Me: Really uh? You mean like doing this for my own pocket money since I am income-less for the moment?

The Man: Ya ya ya... 

Suddenly, it seemed like a lot more items around the house should make their appearances on ebay... hahaha... so much for democracy!

15-course Dinner... Anyone?

After a previously failed attempt to try out 7atenine, we finally made it last night and the famous "Dinner Unlimited"  not only satisfied our curiosity but was also a gastronomically gratifying experience.  In essence, you pay a fixed price in return for a 15-course dinner prepared by the chef on the spot and without any menu, the diners just have to sit back, relax and wait for the show to begin.

There was an interesting combination of tapas, main course and desserts.  Enjoy the visual treats below ;-)

Tuna sashimi with whipped cream

A jar of salad vegetables

Beef rolls on hot stones (I watched them literally cook on the stones)

pan seared scallops (tasted a bit raw though)

Ravioli (we agreed there was a familiar 水饺 taste about this)

Crispy chicken wings (and yes those are wooden clothes pegs... so you can enjoy the wings without dirtying your hands)

Cod fish with white truffle foam (the truffle smell and taste was a tad overpowering)

Risotto with cheese and special sauce (real comfort food)

Crispy pork belly (consisted of 3/4 fats, 1/4 meat)

Mini foie gras burger (we wished the whole piece of patty was made of foie gras though)

Some chilli minced beef with edamame beans (we were told this was braised for 36 hours)

Seared wagyu beef rump with shitake mushrooms & ponzu dressing

Lemon tarts with lime sorbet

Pineapple curry creme brulee (it did confuse the taste buds a bit) 

Vanilla ice-cream with strawberry sorbet and meringue

And guess what... after the last dessert was served, the waitress asked if we would like to repeat ANY of the dishes we had!  You mean we could? Ok... here we go again... (well one of us surrendered though :P)

While photos were the best way to keep count of the 15 dishes but after so many shots of what went into our stomach, we figured that we deserved some shots of ourselves too!

Drinking alone could be lonely... or maybe not if you were with great company 

The two preggy women sipping apple breeze and ray of sunshine

The place was having this special "White Party" inside the dance floor and everyone dressed in all white were entitled to free cocktail... coincidentally, I WAS in ALL WHITE last night (together with a bunch of many other patrons as well as their staff) but with the two huge bumps among the three of us... we just have to give it a miss... for now :)

Pole Dancing Redefined

I came across this little scene over the weekend and can't help but find it amusing and cute :)

Great Service

While I have my fair share of disappointments with the kind of service level received in Singapore, I must say my little experience today got me to think that there IS great service around us.

I was shopping around in Uniqlo (for those who still have no idea what this is... you need serious help) and within seconds after I picked out the third piece off the rack, an enthusiastic staff appeared from nowhere with a basket and helped me unload everything from the hangers.

As the fitting rooms were full, I had to stand in the queue for my turn.  Again, within seconds, another staff came over with a stool and kindly offered me a seat while waiting.

In another shop - Outfitter, a very patient staff helped me pick out the same sizes for all the different designs I wanted to try on (maybe being preggy makes me a bit more fickle-minded).  Even after asking for the sixth or seventh design to be tried on, she still assisted with the warmest smile.  

Lastly in a maternity shop - New Maternity, the staff not only took the initiative to pick out something that suited me when I looked 100% lost (as usual in a maternity shop) but also went on to suggest what could be worn with it to look good.

These may all sound like very simple gestures or standard behaviours that we expect service staff to possess. However, I am really appreciative because don't you find that more often than not, service staff tend to give you that "black long face" when you so much as to ask for another size or colour... or give you the infamous "It is all there on display" and expect us to plough through the entire stack or rack ourselves?

In the end, I did walk away with something from each of these shops.  I must say the great service helped in making those purchase decisions.

So I say, keep it up!

Satisfying Makan

Just want to share two makan places I patronised recently where great food and great atmosphere co-exist.

My friend found this authentic Jap dining place with a romantic setting in Gallery Hotel. 

What I liked best about this place is the servings of their fresh cabbage, carrots and cucumber sticks with a tasty miso-like paste for dipping.  In fact it was so addictive and finger-licking good that we asked for a second helping.

Then there was the succulent grilled beef steak...

And also the intensely flavoured fried udon with kim chee and pork...

We had about nine dishes altogether that night (whose photos I shall not flood this page with) and after that we could hardly get out of our seats :)

Then there is Blooie's, a pub that is tucked away in an obscure corner of Jalan Tua Kong. As a sausage lover, I ordered for myself the Jumbo Sausages and when it was served, I really think Jumbo was an understatement!  Too bad beer is off my list, otherwise, this would have been the perfect meal :)

Time For A Dip

I am so glad I finally made it to the pool this afternoon for the very first time since I was preggy.

I have been putting off this whole idea of swimming because my whale-like body could no longer fit into any of my teeny weeny bikinis... not even close :(

And all those maternity swim wear I came across so far looked just too hideous and ridiculous that I would never be caught dead in them.

So finally last weekend... I found the PERFECT matching set that caught my eye the moment I set foot in the store (from this Australian brand - Sun Seeker).  Most importantly, it fits! (but the size of the bottom piece is really embarrassing to reveal... the sales girl even asked me twice if I was sure the size is right). 

Anyway, I had a really great time at the pool... I haven't felt so light for months!  Especially when I feel really breathless these days just after a 10 min walk, this swim felt like heaven.

I wasn't ambitious at all thinking that if I couldn't manage to swim, I would just walk in the pool. To my delight, I did ten laps slowly without the slightest difficulty! 

Think I am going to hit the pool everyday from now on... or at least every other day :)