The 3rd year

Everytime of this year, I would be like a frantic mother going through my mental list to ensure that the son has the most enjoyable time on his birthday.

After holding mega celebrations for 2 consecutive years, I told Dylan that we should keep things simple for fear that I cannot live up to Jayden's expectations of a smashing celebration as he grows older. Well, to use the word simple, is always an understatement.

10-10-2010: Celebrating with his friends

16-10-2010: Celebration with Godma @ T3

11am: Met up with Liv for furniture selection. After much contemplation, we decided to get the Fire Truck bed for Jayden, courtesy from his godma. We had a hard time trying to reason with him that green color just don't suit his room style.

1230pm: Lunch @ Sakae Pasta. I made a horrible choice of braised meat sandwich. Imagine they used normal sunshine bread! Thereafter, we proceeded for ice-cream. Jayden picked his own mini volcano and happily gobbled down 3 scoops!

17-10-2010: Dim Sum Lunch @ Ritz Carlton

Met up with my maternal family for lunch. My dad initially wanted to order an ice-cream cake but I flatly rejected as we had to head out later. And so, my mom picked a cake from The Patissier. Chocolate cake with marshmellows - what a great choice!

19-10-2010: Actual day celebration @ School

I am only thankful we had a car to load all the stuff and drive straight to school. One big bag of goody bags, the cake, his clothes for outing after school. I cannot imagine lugging it around and hailing a taxi underneath the scorching heat.

The celebration was pretty simple. The teachers gathered the kids to the table, made them sing a song for the birthday boy and viola, all done.

Jayden was exceptionally a good host that day, cutting cake and ensuring everyone had a piece of it.

** TIME TO OPEN PRESENTS **

Jayden couldn't wait till the actual day and requested to open all his presents. I am impressed that my friends took notice of the things Jayden likes and got him things he had mentioned to them before.

It certainly beats being a kid these days. J's roomful of toys has proliferated at such an alarming rate that has gone beyond storage control.

Well, what can I say. As long the son is happy, I am happy.

Happy 3rd Birthday son! We're glad you've enjoyed your birthday. Please continue to stay healthy and happy. Mummy and Daddy love you always.

Labour Day Fiesta Part 2

Any later, this would be a Vesak Day post. After countless attempts to arrange for a meet-up with the group, Bon and I decided to meet up on our own instead.

Ahhh... ... hot hot shabu shabu on a wet and cold day. (Or at least I thought it was raining that day)

Thanks for the treat! We should do more of these next time!

Labour Day Fiesta 1

Well, the name says it all. Labour Day is meant to be a day when everyone should not be working. However, this year, Labour Day falls unconventionally on a Saturday, which doesn't really benefit the office hours people aka us.

With the recommendation from Rach, we wanted to check out the Riders Cafe. But to our dismay, the place is fully booked until Sunday 3pm (still have specific time wor!) Everyone is hungry on a Labour's Day.

Unwavered, I went online and check out the possible places for brunch. I will not succumb to Mac-boring-Donalds!

And so, we decided to go to Singapore Polo Club - a substitute from Riders Cafe and Jayden could still get to see the horses. To our delight, the place was practically empty and thus no reservations were required. Well, how can breakfast food go so wrong right?

Jayden was pretty apprehensive when he was told that we were going to see horses. We have no idea how the boy related them to dinosaurs and thought horses will eat him up. We were even more perplexed at how he related himself to a squirrel. (Note to self: No more Ice Age cartoons for the son. Barney is safer)

As expected, the boy enjoyed the horse watching. The food, on the contrary, was a total let-down. I ordered banana pancakes with berries and fruit compote. The name sounded so tantalizing but when served, it was only ONE pancake to share with the son, with no berries and dried compote that looked expired. Food bad, service horrible. It is little wonder why the place is empty.

We were later informed that the restaurant will be closed to the public from July onwards. With that kind of unappetizing food and service, we were more than happy to scratch the place from our brunch list.

We MUST check out Riders Cafe soon.

Ristorante Bologna

It could have been the misleading words - first, renowned, amazing spread, that tricked me into booking a slot with them.

Was really looking forward to authentic Italian food - pasta, vongole, ravioli truffle, aglio olio, pizzas & more. I even excused my already expanding waist for that day. Booked for the lunch buffet 2 weeks in advance and even excitedly reminded Dylan to block his calendar.

But the dining experience was such a let-down.

We arrived at the hotel lobby, hopeful and very hungry. It was a pleasant sight to see that the restaurant was almost packed at lunch hour. It was certainly delightful to see a wide range of food platter to choose from. It was not good news at all when we were told that our restaurant was actually oppsite across the isle.

It was then that we realized that our intended restaurant was empty.

The buffet spread was meagre - Baked vegetarian pasta, garden vegetables, fried garoupa (is it even Italian?), grilled chicken. The pasta of the day was overcooked. The penne was HARD.

The chef came out of the kitchen and greeted us. We could bearly raise our lips to smile. Dylan and I had to convince ourselves that perhaps it was cooked for Italians taste. Because the food didn't come close to any of the local Italian restaurants we've been before.

We munched on the butter bread bitterly - that was the only thing that could fill our stomach for a while.

We have tried all sorts of cuisines - Chinese, Malay, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indian fushion, Meditarrenean, Italian, American, what not. But seriously, nothing comes as close as bad as this.

We left the restaurant with a very unsatisfied stomach and wondered where did the dining award came from?