Monday, September 23, 2013

Khye's SUNSHINE 1st Birthday Cake

Yiu-Khye turned 1 last weekend.
For Khye's 1st birhday cake, I did what I usually do. Buy a cake and deco it myself, just like what I always do for all of Shern's birthday cakes so far (clik to view Shern's 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th birthday cakes).

This way, I hit a few birds with one stone:
  • It is sure to taste good because I usually order cake I've tasted.
  • With my own deco, I get to keep to the theme, and also save money on those "designer cakes" which usually cost a few hundred ringgit.
  • Most importantly, it is less stress-free than me having to bake and design it, and to make sure I won't mess it all up.
  • It is also a one-of-a-kind cake, which is more meaningful.

In keeping with the Sunshine theme for Khye's birthday party, I'd ordered one of our family's favourite New York Cheesecake from Secret Recipe.
It is a baked soft creamy cheese with chocolate cookie base, and is golden yellow in colour, perfect for our Sunshine theme.

I don't like fondants so I usually deco my cakes without the use of fondant. I actually was cracking my head on how to deco a sun with edibles.

And in the end, I chose to use orange slices with overlapping effect for the sun, and Pretzel sticks for the rays.
And the word K H Y E was decorated using orange M&Ms.
And topped with a single candle.

I think the overall effect was quite pretty, especially when presented on a beautiful cake stand (thanks Josie!)


An awesome one-of-a-kind 1st SUNSHINE Birthday Cake for Yiu-Khye!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Singapore: Day 4 (Jamie's Italian & S.E.A. Aquarium)

Ok, so now time to continue with the updates on our recent Singapore trip.

It was on a Monday, and hubby had some errands to run to some banks in Toa Payoh (which is just an MRT station away). But the problem was, he needed me to go with him because I was needed to sign some documents as well.
So since I was needed, no choice but to lug both kiddos there as well.

So early in the morning, all 4 of us took the MRT to Toa Payoh and hubby did his stuff at the bank, while I entertained both Shern and Khye. The DBS bank area was quite small and we were occupying half of the seating area.
It took ages for him to finish and after 2 hours or so, Shern was fidgeting and Khye was fussing. There was only so much Shern could play with the iPad. (that was the first time I whipped the iPad out on our whole Singapore trip!) 
I managed to put Khye to sleep and then focuses my attention to Shern. By the time hubby finished, it was nearly 2pm.

Our plan was to visit the S.E.A Aquarium after the bank errands. So we continued with our plans. But first, we needed to grab some lunch as we were all famished by then.
We decided to take the MRT to Vivo City and find lunch there, as we needed to get into Sentosa to the aquarium.

On our last visit here in Vivo City @ Day 2, I wanted to try Jamie's Italian for dinner, but the queue was 1 1/2 hour long, there was no way we would have queued that long with 2 hungry kids in tow. So as today was a weekday (Mon), we only had a minimal waiting time of 5 minutes before we were ushered to our table! Yay!
12 September 2013

We were given a nice and spacious side table with a rounded sofa on one side and it was a very comfortable seating place indeed.


And Shern is most happy because he was given a child's set of fun to keep him occupied.

He had a piece of colouring paper, some crayons, stickets and even a badge which says "I Eat My Green's at Jamie's!"

The menu selection was not very wide, but enough for us first-timer to choose from.
I was searching for the kids menu but couldn't find any. Can you find the kid's menu?


No you can't because this telescope-magnifying glass-thingy that Shern is holding IS THE KID'S MENU!!!!

Yes, this thingy is the kid's menu. You need to peer inside and read/see the kid's menu.

Let me show you.
Yes, these are an example of 2 choices of either the Happy Fish Fingers on the left or the Mini Slides on the right, and there are others.
They appear bigger when you see it with your own eyes with the magnifying effect, of course.

Shern of course had fun choosing his own food.

Shern doing his cheeky-thingy in front of the camera. And Khye was too fast for my camera!
Failed attempts of photographing my kids. Sigh.

Not too long later, Shern's Happy Fish Fingers set comes with a small glass of salad/greens. He was supposed to shake it up (the sticker of the glass read "Shake Me") to toss the dressing inside and then eat it. And if he does, he could wear the 'I Eat My Greens at Jamie's' badge.
Guess what? Shern took a teeny weeny bite (as big as an ant's bite!) and he declared that he ate his greens! LOL!

So these are our food we had there.
Top left is Shern's Fish Fingers. Very tasty. Shern asked for ketchup and I was pleased to see that the ketchup was not store bought Heinz or Kimball.
It was homemade ketchup!!!

The top left Black Angel Spaghetti was totally awesome. Regret we ordered the small portion because the portion came out really small!
The other main meal we ordered was the Fish Baked In The Bag which were not to our palate. The fish and seafood were alright but there were some kinda beans inside which substitute rice and we didn't like that at all.
The Tiramisu however was gorgeous. Big and generous portion with just enough liquor and coffee.

Bill came to about SGD$80, one of the most expensive meal we had in Singapore. But it was worth it for the experience.

After that we took Shern to sit the Mini Train Ride again (because Shern so loved the train I hadn't the heart to say No to him!).
But this time, Khye & I sat along with Shern too.

It was a friendly uncle driver this time.
We all sat in the Coal Car this time.

Shern sitting happily.

Khye was curious too and was looking out curiously.

As the train rode by the promenade, the view was pretty. And Shern waved to the passers-by.

Photos of Shern with his favourite train!

The driver saw how fascinated Shern was with the train, he even carried him up to ring the bell. Shern was ecstatic! Thank you Uncle Driver!


After that we were contemplating whether to return back to hotel or not as the kids were tired. It was 4pm by then and it had been a long day with the bank errands and all.
But Shern was disappointed as he wanted to go to S.E.A Aquarium. As the aquarium only closing at 7pm I thought we still had time and I asked Shern to sleep in the stroller while we go there.

And sure enough, in less than 5 minutes, both kids were asleep, one in the stroller and the other on the Ergo.
So it was just hubby & me when we reached the aquarium.

After purchasing the tickets outside, you need to walk through the Maritime Museum to get to the entrance of the S.E.A Aquarium.


And once inside, hubby & me had a quick stroll around watching the sea life while the kids continued to nap in the air conditioned place.



There, one in the stroller, and the other on my tummy. ;)


After a quick walk through and 1 hour later, we woke Shern up.
He was happy to see that he was now at the aquarium.

Shern was amazed to see this shipwrecked.



And then Shern had fun watching the sea creatures beneath his feet!


And the most exciting thing was that both Shern and I got to touch some sea creatures.
Yes, there was a small touch tank.
This is Shern queuing up just before his turn soon.

He touched some shells.

Then some star fish of different colours.

And this is an empty egg of some sea creatures.

And lastly, this was the sea cucumber.

Khye meanwhile touched some tanks while he was being taken care by hubby while Shern and I queued for our turn at the Touch Tank!

The whole place was stroller/wheelchair friendly, with ramps just next to the walking area. So it was no problem strolling them while they slept just now, and even when they were awake and lazy to walk. Singapore is really very stroller friendly.

Shern got fascinated by this little stingray fella and followed him as he swam.

Shern at the big round tank.



I liked these mangroves, very scenic indeed.


And these colourful corals and fishes.

We saw really huge Alaska crabs.

And some shellfish.

Khye was fascinated too and kept on taking out his hands to reach for the lighted aquariums.



And this one was a huge octopus hanging upside down. Reminded me of Ursula, it looked rather evil.

And we stared in awe of these translucent jelly fishes changing colours as the colour lights change from blue to red to green, etc.

This one is the Upside Down Jelly Fishes.

And these jellyfishes species were really pretty with such fine tentacles.

Hubby & I stood staring at them for quite some time, both wondering whether would they get tangled up. It looked as if it could, but nope it didn't in the end. "_"


And then this is the highlight of the place. The largest ever aquarium I've ever seen!
It was even bigger than the biggest cinema screen I've been. My camera lens couldn't fit the whole aquarium's width!

It was quite mesmerizing to just stand and watch the sea creatures swim.
There were a few levels to watch, from the top to see the whole view, or to go up close as you walk down the steps.

We spotted these rays (they said is Manta Rays though I'm not sure as I'm no expert!) and little fishes riding on it as he swam through the waters.
Now I know that in Finding Nemo cartoon, it is true when the stingray brings those little fishes and Nemo to school and they ride on the stingray, well totally true and happening in real life! :D

Sorry about all these blurred and dark photos. No flashlight photography allowed!


The magnificent sting ray.

We just sat down and spent some time watching the sea creatures go by their daily lives. :P

Photos of my kids with the stingray bringing those little fishes to school! ;)
Yeaps, Shern was fascinated by it too.


And then there were many other smaller aquariums with colourful fishes and corals.
Underwater world is really so pretty. 


Look at the colours.

And these translucent angry-looking fishes looked cute too.

Spot a grumpy fish amongst them!

And lastly, a compulsory photo of the shark! :)


And then we walked out to watch the last showing of the show at the Typhoon Theatre. Hubby brought Shern and I waited with Khye outside because it would be too loud for a baby. Shern thoroughly enjoyed the "typhoon" with 4D effects!

While waiting for them, I took a photo of Khye with the baby sharkies outside. Cute.

Bought Shern a mini colourful, spiral lollipop as I saw him gazing longingly at others'. After all, we were on hols. But Shern didn't even finish half of it. I guess it looked nicer than its taste. lol.

Took some photos at Sentosa while walking back to queue for the Sentosa Express.

Took a photo of the USS globe. We decided not to visit USS this round because I think Shern's too small for most of the rides, and he wouldn't enjoy it so much. Maybe the next round.


The queue to Sentosa Express at 7pm was crazy. I guess it was the time where most of the attraction closed, particularly the Universal Studio. There were at least a thousand people in front of us.
But I must really commend the queue management which was excellent. I guess they were used to these queues every single day, but they really did a great job. We got back to Vivo City in about half an hour even with a thousand people queuing in front of us. Talk about efficiency!!!

Once again we had dinner at Vivo City, this time trying The Connoisseur Concerto (TCC). We liked to go for places which are not found in Penang if possible.


The pumpkin soup was delicious. Creamy and smooth.

The Wagyu Beef Pasta was delicious too. Beef was tender and very aromatic.

Ordered an ice-blended chocolate drink and it was just average. But to Shern, it was fabulous. lol.

We ended up fighting for the drink.

It was such a long day and by the time we reached back to our hotel, it was 10pm.
Another 12 hours out (and babywearing on my Ergo!) and we were beat! Showered and slept straightaway.
Goodnight for Day 4 @ Singapore!

To read more about our Singapore Trip, read click here.

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