Mustafa Remodel

ATTENTION MUSTAFA SHOPPERS!!!

They have been doing a lot of remodeling. The aisles are bigger. It’s more organized.

And there is now a PDA Department.

I wonder how many Americans have taken this same photo.

Not sure if it’s only an American thing but PDA to us stands for Public Display of Affection. I have no idea what it means in India or in Mustafa. We took the picture and left. Guess we’ll just have to go back to that department again.

Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck Singapore

We had our first Peking Duck in Beijing, China last July. It was delicious! Tommy and I had Peking Duck a few weeks ago in Hong Kong. It was also delicious!

Our daughter, Tori is here from the US and my husband’s brother was here this past week from the US so we thought it would be a great idea to have Peking Duck in Singapore while they were here. Turns out that it was a super great idea!

I dug around online and Imperial Treasure came up the most. It got alot of great reviews for the duck and a few not so great reviews for service but I figure the duck is more important so I reserved a table for six and pre-ordered 2 ducks (@ $65++ each). They said that one duck would have been enough for six but I didn’t believe her so I ordered two anyway. That was also a good call.

It’s quite a formality for them to cut the duck up at your table. They also bring you pieces of the skin, which might sound strange but it’s what you end up wanting more of. You dip the skin in the sugar they provide and eat. They sort of wait for your approval to continue. We never really told them that we approved but I’m sure by us licking our lips and the smiles and head nods, they gathered we were satisfied.

Then the duck was served. Bon Apetite!

We ordered some additional items, a veggie and some fried rice, but we enjoyed the duck so much that we had very little room left for the additional food. So, that was not such a good call. The items we ordered, though, were delicious! Definitely spend your money on the duck.

Despite the reviews I had read, the service was impeccable. Anna would take a sip of her Coke Light and they were right there to fill it back up. They brought us fresh moist finger towels and traded out our dirty plates for clean plates and were just on the ready for anything and everything we needed. I have zero complaints about the service.

We spent a few hundred SGD for a meal for 6 people and drinks including a bottle of wine. We could have spent much less by not getting the wine and the extra sides and still been just fine. They also brought us the “afters”. We had no idea what this was because we couldn’t really understand so we just said “yes”. It cost us some extra money also but it was worth the experience. They brought us the rest of the duck, the “afters”, chopped up into pieces, bones and all. One plate was just the cut up roasted duck leftovers with hunks of meat and the other one was fried with “sauce and pepper” which when translated from a Chinese accent to English, I think was supposed to be salt and pepper. Not much meat but for any good South Texan girl, the bones were fun to suck on and the flavor was outstanding. We all enjoyed sitting in a fine dining establishment licking our fingers like we were in KFC. The “afters” cost about $25/plate.

I recommend making reservations although I’m not sure they are required. You will need to pre-order the Peking Duck. Everything else you can order on the spot. They only have Dim Sum for lunch. Dress is casual but not too casual. I recommend wearing pants – as opposed to shorts. Toby, my brother in law, zipped his on before and zipped then off after. So funny!

I highly recommend Imperial Treasure for their Peking Duck and probably whatever else you order. It was easy to get to in Paragon, 5th level, on Orchard Road. Anna even said it rivals for her very favorite, Din Tai Fung. If you know us and Anna, you know how amazing that is. Those two li’l duckies didn’t stand a chance. They waddled in and we waddled out.

To Graduation and Beyond…

Last Saturday, our son, Jakeb, graduated from International School Singapore. The ceremony was really enjoyable. It was different than what we’ve always known in our Texan hometown. Tommy and Tori and myself all graduated from the same high school. Jakeb would have been graduating from the same high school, today actually, if we hadn’t have moved to Singapore two years ago. Still, it was a good ceremony and an honor to attend.

The differences…

In a hotel rather than a stadium. Which means air conditioned (I’ll take it!).

Small – class of about 60 graduating seniors rather than the 300ish from our hometown school. And since it’s overseas, the people in attendance are mostly only immediate family members. We were SO happy that Tori was able to be here.

Food – reception afterwards with egg rolls and hot tea.

Different shade of blue - Instead of our Buccanneer blue, Jakeb wore a navy blue cap and gown, but at least it was blue.

I only teared up twice and no tears actually fell. Not bad, eh? Instead of calling in a special speaker for their ceremony, a few students were asked to give speeches. They did a great job and we were so impressed that so many of them referred to Jakeb in their speech in one form or another. The teachers and school staff all had amazing things to say about our son. Mr. Jungo, the TOK coordinator (IB terminology that would take too long to explain), told me after the ceremony that Jakeb was the glue of his class. His positive attitude, sense of humor and overall motivational personality kept everyone going. We’re not surprised and we are so proud. Jakeb has definitely left his big Texan footprint at ISS in Singapore and on the hearts of many close friends who will take a piece of him with them all over the world.

He got several awards.

One we knew about, the Headmaster’s CAS Award.  CAS stands for Community, Action, Service and plays an integral part in getting the IB Diploma. “This award is given for engaging in CAS activities during 2010-2011 school year that addressed global issues which affected members of the international community and other parts of the world.” 

And one was a surprise to us all. The ISS Service to the School and Community Award. “This award is given to the student who has most actively participated in the school and community.”

Jakeb also received two sports awards later in the week at the Sports Awards Ceremony. For Basketball, the Most Improved Player (which honestly, we thought was kind of weird because he really has always been one of the best players on team and I’m not just saying that cause I’m his Mom) and for Track/Cross Country, the Most Inspirational Player.

Ok, so then Saturday night, after graduation that morning, was Prom. It was quite a day!! Jakeb went with a friend, Faith. Faith was beautiful and Jakeb was so very handsome. I must admit that prom with a son is MUCH easier than prom with a daughter. But not any less special.

So Jakeb’s high school career is officially over. He actually had to go back to school on Monday, AFTER graduation, for one last exam. Weird. But now he’s done. This is where he landed on his last day of school. After his last IB exam. Last time to wear the ISS uniform. Done!

Now on to the next phase of his education.  Here is Jakeb’s recent post on his blog if you want to get his take on things. Turning Tides

Texas Tech University, Jakeb is headed your way to leave his global footprint. You’ve been warned.

HATCHED in Singapore

It’s been a long time since Jessie, another friend from blog world who is from the US and lives in Singapore, and I have been able to get together. She and her husband have two young boys and they live on the East side. Our kids are older and we live more Central/West. Even though Singapore is a small country, being in different areas and different phases of life make it challenging to get together.

Today, everything lined up so that we could get together.  Jessie chose the place. The restaurant, Hatched, was new to me which, if you have spent any time following our adventures, you know I’m always up for something new.

Hatched is a small place in Evans Lodge on Evans Road just off of Bukit Timah and down from the Botanic Gardens (go down Cluny from Holland Road and it turns into Evans). They serve breakfast all day and offer a variety of other dishes as well. Cupcakes only on the weekends though. Their menu is super cute and prices fairly reasonable. The portions are good and the atmosphere is comfortable which makes for a good place to be able to visit. It seemed like a great place for a fun date, girls brunch or to take a family with kids of all ages. Who doesn’t like breakfast food??? I didn’t take any photos inside because we were too busy yacking and eating.

Tori, Anna and I really enjoyed our meal and getting to catch up with Jessie. We’ll defnitely be going back to this one. And I’ll take photos of my food this time.

Thanks, Jessie! This was a good find!!

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Update: After “liking” them on facebook, it looks like reservations might be necessary for peak hours. We went at 10am on a Tuesday morning and had no problem getting a seat.

My Happy Feet

The last few weeks have been insanely busy. Emotionally busy. Physically busy. Mentally busy. But a good busy!

 In the middle of it all the girls and I took a little break after a shopping day and went to my “happy place” aka My Happy Feet. It’s a small spa in Holland Village near where we currently live (and won’t be far from our next place either) that offers foot reflexology, fish spa, and a wide range of accu pressure massage services. It is clean, wholesome, relaxing and the staff there are very friendly. I say wholesome because there are some shady places around town so it’s advisable to not just step in anywhere. You can trust this place, though. I’ve been many times. In fact, when I called to make our appointment last week, I told the receptionist my first name and she automatically knew my last name. Seriously, though, I don’t go all the time. It’s been a while since I’ve gone. If I had my way and an unending supply of cash, I’d go every day!

This past week, Tori and Anna and I went for the head and face massage. 30 minutes of sheer relaxation.

If you schedule the head and face, don’t plan on going anywhere but home after. Your make up will be all over the place. Your brain is turned to mush. And your hair will look like like this! (I did brush it and put it in a pony tail before we left.) Pretty cool do, though, huh. And no fans were involved.

My Happy Feet

Address: 29c Lorong Liput, Holland Village, Singapore 277740
Telephone: 6462 0525
Opening Hours:
Mon to Fri : 11am to 9pm
Sat & Eve of PH : 10am to 10pm
Sun & PH: 10am to 9pm

My Happy Feet offers Full Body Massage with either pressure point or strong massage techniques to stimulate your body’s energy channels for a combination of deep relaxation and physical wellness.

My Happy Feet also offers Foot Reflexology using pressure point techniques focusing on reflex points on your feet to restore the natural flow of energy to your entire body. You can also choose to have Shoulder & Back Massage, Hand & Arm Massage or Head & Face Massage to ease these tensed muscles in a no frills fashion!

 

One Word

This morning, our son will graduate from International School Singapore. We could not be more proud of his accomplishments, his character, his personal faith and convictions and just plain ol’ him. He is an awesome human being. He is an awesome son. The kind of son that all parents hope and pray to get. We are so blessed!

It is a family tradition, thanks to my oldest sister who started it with her oldest daughter at her graduation, to put together a photo video of our children’s life when they graduate. It is more a family and close friend thing to share (you can thank me later, Jakeb) so that one will be debuted at his small celebration party in Texas in August. If you want to see it and I know you, let me know and I’ll decide if I know you “that” well or not. Then maybe I’ll send you the link.

For now, though, I asked a host of friends and family to send in one word that describes Jakeb or a word that they think of when they think of Jakeb. The first word that pops in their head. I was so impressed with the words that came in and out of about 60 or so, only 3 or 4 were duplicated. Just goes to prove his uniqueness.

Even his friends in Singapore got in on it thanks to his friend Maire spreading the word for me. They sent in a few “one words” but I took one word from what they wrote and then put their full write-up at the end of the video. I’m so happy that he made such great friends while we’ve been here. A few of the frames go by fast so you’ll probably have to pause it at times to read. Hey, I had to make it fit witht the song, right???

I’ll post more later with photos of today’s graduation ceremony which is in a few hours. Then he has prom tonight so that will come too. Today, although someone has predicted will be the last day of ever, is all about Jakeb. I suppose if it’s true, then we’ll definitely be going out on a good one!!

I had alot of fun putting this video together. I’m honored to know that so many people love my kid. That just does a Mom’s heart good. Thanks to everyone who sent in words. They were all so great! And so Jakeb!!

Enjoy!

Four Four

Four is the number in golf that you yell when your ball is about to plunk someone in the head.

Four is the number of prongs on most forks.

Four is the number of wheels on a car.

Four is always a card you need to have in your hand at the end of a marbles game.

There are four seasons. Or at least there are four in most parts of the world.

And today, Tommy is four four, as they say in Asia. Some would say forty four but usually when we hear numbers, they just say each number.

Four is not a great number in Chinese culture.

Number 4 (四; accounting 肆; pinyin sì) is considered an unlucky number in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultures because it is nearly homophonous to the word “death” (死 pinyin sǐ). Due to that, many numbered product lines skip the “4″: e.g. Nokia cell phones (there is no series beginning with a 4),^[6] Palm^{[citation needed]} PDAs, Canon PowerShot G’s series (after G3 goes G5), etc. In East Asia, some buildings do not have a 4th floor. (Compare with the Western practice of some buildings not having a 13th floor because 13 is considered unlucky.) In Hong Kong, some high-rise residential buildings literally miss all floor numbers with “4″, e.g. 4, 14, 24, 34 and all 40–49 floors, in addition to not having a 13th floor. As a result, a building whose highest floor is number 50 may actually have only 35 physical floors.

Wikipedia and friends tell us that the Chinese word for four in Chinese dialects sounds like the word ‘death”. Our current house number is 01-04 which we’re told is even worse. The Chinese word for one sounds like “sure”. So putting the one and the four together you get “certain death”.  Friends of ours live in a condo unit number 04-14. EVEN worse! “Death Certain Death”. He says that you will only find Westerners or Asian Christians living on level 4 of a condo. Traditional Chinese will just consider it an option to live there. It’s just a really good thing that we have freedom from all of the superstitions.

Number 14 is considered to be one of the unluckiest numbers. Although 14 is usually said in Mandarin as 十四 “shí sì,” which sounds like 十死 “ten die”, it can also be said as 一四 “yī sì” or 么四 “yāo sì”, literally “one four”. Thus, 14 can also be said as “yāo sì,” literally “one four,” but it also sounds like “want to die” (要死 pinyin yào sǐ). In Cantonese, 14 sounds like “sap⁶ sei³“, which sounds like “sat6 sei2″ meaning “certainly die” (實死). Not all Chinese people consider it to be an unlucky number as the pronunciation differs among the various dialects. In Chiu Chow, 4 is pronounced as “see” or “yes”. It is seen to be a lucky number because Chinese people like things in pairs (four would equal two pairs).

BUT… what I also hear is that pairs are very lucky. So maybe 44 is not so bad afterall. And since I will be 44 in just a few months, we’ll be a pair of four four’s. It’s going to be a GREAT year!

And now for the embarassing birthday part… When Tommy was a kid he occasionally wore a bucket on his head and told everyone to call him “lucky”. I’m sure I’ll get in trouble for this. Oh well…

Happy Birthday, Tommy!! You are lucky (aka blessed). You have a family who loves you so much, good friends, a great job and just an overall blessed life. You being alive for 44 years makes us very “lucky” too. I love growing old(er) with you and I hope we have 44 more “lucky” years together!!

Cheap Family Fun

Aren’t they perdy??? I am such a proud momma. Especially proud of them for finding something fun to do in Singapore that didn’t cost a penny. Thanks iStudio. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.

Our Hong Kong Date

Tommy’s birthday is coming up soon. He’s gonna be so old… haha. I’m right behind him in a few months so I have no room to talk. When we started thinking about what to do for his birthday I mentioned a trip somewhere and the plans for Hong Kong began.

Tommy had been to Hong Kong in 1994 on his way to Ningbo, China for work and has always wanted to go back. It was his first ever view of Asia. His employer didn’t prepare them well so they mostly ate Italian and McDonalds but this trip was very different.  We know what most of the foods are and those that we don’t, we aren’t afraid to try them. The kids didn’t care too much about Hong Kong so it seemed like the right trip at the right time. Just for the two of us. When I mentioned to my friend Jenny that we were going  for a long weekend, she joked about us going on a date to Hong Kong. When you think about it, it really is insane that we would be able to go to another country for a birthday and long weekend date. We are so incredibly blessed. Not only did we get to go on a date to Hong Kong, we got Mimi to come “babysit”. Although our kids are able to be very independent and self sufficient here in Singapore, it’s just nice knowing there’s an adult in charge. Sort of… I’m not real sure who’s in charge when it comes to grandparents and grandkids.

We flew Jetstar for the first time. The flight was about 3.5 hours and the airline was ok. Much preferred over Tiger for sure. For now anyway. I think all of the budget airlines are hit and miss. Seats were small for our giant Western sized bodies but the petite Asian sized bodies had plenty of room.

My leg in the brown and her leg in the blue. Both adults.

The HK airport was really nice. New since 1994. It’s built on reclaimed land or at least the runways are so when we landed, all you could see out of the window was water. I was sure hoping there was some asphalt under us somewhere. We didn’t have to get a tourist visa which was super nice!!

Tommy made all the arrangements for the flights and hotel. I know it’s awful that he planned his own birthday but he didn’t seem to mind. He got a great hotel, Harbor Grand on Oil Street, and splurged for an Executive Club level room. This comes with all sorts of perks and is just so worth it if you have the money. We got a shuttle from the airport to the hotel. From then on, we were either on foot or MTR (subway). We took a taxi twice I think, and later discovered that the MTR or ferry would have actually been easier had we taken the time to look into where we were actually going.

One of the perks of an Executive Club Level room is a great view. And you can see even more if you stand on the window ledge.

We loved the weather. On the first day, anyway. It was so cool and breezy.  But we should have crammed more into that day because the next two days were H.O.T. And since it was a date, all I took was cute type clothes and you really don’t want to be in cute clothes when it’s 200 degrees and your walking around. I really wished I would have had a tshirt. We also didn’t take checked bags so we packed efficiently with no spares and we really couldn’t buy anything. Nothing was rewearable after all the sweating we did.

We didn’t shop much although I did get my Hong Kong Starbucks mug to add to my global collection. We really weren’t interested in shopping. We didn’t have room to take anything back and it was all stuff that we could buy in Singapore. We didn’t do alot of looking but the prices we saw were comparable to Singapore as well. So, what did we do??? We wandered. We did a few touristy things. We ate. We ate such delicious food. It’s a good thing they don’t weigh us at the airport when we check in.

Our first meal was Pho at a place just around the corner from the hotel. It was so yummy. I usually have at least one casualty when eating Asian food and it’s usually a soy sauce splatter on my blouse but this time I bit into my spring roll and squirted juice on the man sitting at the table next to us. I was SO embarassed. He was pretty gracious but annoyed for sure. Well, they shouldn’t put the tables so close together! Luckily I had a moist antibacterial hand wipe to offer him. He’s smiling in this picture but this was before he got juiced.

I think Tommy and I would both agree that our favorite meal was Peking Duck at Peking Garden. Oh my!! We ordered the whole duck and we ate the whole duck. Actually they don’t bring you the whole thing. They cut off the best pieces of meat in a very particular way and bring you those pieces. It was so good I wished we could have taken the rest home and gnawed the meat off the bones. Yes, that’s a very Texan thing to do… Thanks to our friend, Fiona for the restaurant recommendation. She is from Singapore but lived in Hong Kong for a while and is now in Beijing. We first met her in Beijing on our trip in 2010 and enjoyed our first Peking Duck experience with her and her husband there. We were proud of ourselves this time for knowing how it’s done. It definitely ranked in the “nice” restaurant category but people were dressed in shorts and some in dresses. The price was a bit high but about half of what we would pay for that type of meal in Singapore and it was a date afterall.

The highlights of our trip were the food and spending time together somewhere other than where we normally are. Our overall perception of Hong Kong was that it was alot like Singapore with more soul. You can definitely see how Hong Kong and Singapore have similar British backgrounds. But the new was right next door to the old and we really liked that part unlike Singapore’s very segregated cultural areas. It was very Westernized but with a good dose of the old Chinese culture and often right next door to each other or stacked on top of one another. We had fun trying to take pictures of each other together. We’re so not pro’s at the long arm shot. We’ll have to practice some more.

This is what you get when the sun is too bright. It’s just awful but it makes me laugh every time I see it so I’m posting it.

And this is well, it’s just bad but you can kind of see the beautiful Hong Kong harbor and city lights behind us. Oh, and a bathroom on the right. We definitely need practice or a personal photographer to travel with us.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I took a lot of funky shoe pictures that I like too but I always choose my husband over shoes.

Happy Birthday, Tommy. I enjoyed our Hong Kong date. Where to next year??

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Interesting tidbits…

You don’t need a visa to get into Hong Kong. I guess some do but not American citizens and many others.

Hong Kong is a part of China again (since 1997) but they operate using their own system that is more British than Chinese. Smart move on China’s part to keep it separate. Hong Kong has to be making China a ton of moolah.

They have their own currency. Hong Kong Dollar. And you can’t get it in Singapore, btw.

And if you go, it’s probably smart not to eat salads or fruits without thick skins or drink anything but bottled water. Tommy ate some lettuce and got a little sick after that. When we travel abroad, we always drink bottled water and even brush our teeth with bottled water and watch what we eat even if they say it’s safe or filtered or whatever. It’s just not worth it to be sick on vacation.

Mimi’s Visit To Singapore

My mother in law, Anita, aka Mimi, came to visit us this month. It was her second trip to visit us in Singapore. She wasn’t planning to come again but when we twisted her arm and said we “needed” her to be here with the kids while Tommy and I went to Hong Kong, she couldn’t resist.  She’s such a pushover when it comes to her grandkids. She stayed for a little less than two weeks. She was able to make it to one of Anna’s basketball games. We got our “hairs did” with a good Asian style washing and head massage, scalp treatment and trim. She got to go house hunting with us for our upcoming move in July. And we ate a lot of good food but mostly we hung out and were together. Simply sharing space with loved ones is such a treat.

While we were in Hong Kong, Anna took her to Jurong Bird Park, Din Tai Fung and Marche’. They also ordered Pasta Mania and McDonalds for home delivery. Anna orchestrated it all. She booked taxi’s and told the driver’s where to go, gave them money and everything and she ordered the food online. She also walked up to the store a few times for things they needed, or rather, wanted. I love how independent she can be here. Jakeb was in and out since he has his major exams going on. His days are mostly spent studying or taking an exam.

Anita was much more adventurous this trip. Last time she just didn’t feel that well and it was her first time to Asia so most everything made her stomach a little queezy. She was so great about trying new foods and she actually like almost all of it. She didn’t like the dark soya tofu from Thai Express. She didn’t like Chawanmushi but we’ll try that one again next time. She tried Palak Paneer at Amber and was not overjoyed but was not revolted either, she loved Chicken Rice and Beef Hor Fun, the bean sprouts and beef at the Teppanyaki restaurant and everything at Marche’ and Din Tai Fung, even the mango dessert with the “fish eyeballs” as the kids call it. I think Din Tai Fung was her favorite and she went there twice while she was here.

I didn’t take too many pictures because, for one, she doesn’t like her picture taken much and all we did that was picture worthy was eat out. I’ll include a few photos from her and Anna’s trip to Jurong Bird Park, though.

Anita, thank you so much for coming. The flight here is so long and we are honored that you made it for us. We miss you already. The Singapore Flyer will be waiting for you next time.