All you need to know about cake smash ft. Skinny Tofu Tarts

Funny story - I was first exposed to cake smash when one of my BFFs had a baby. I still remember in the group chat we were all like "Huh, what?" "Why would even want to do a photoshoot on that?" I was so baffled. Now that I am a mother with my own little boy, I am like we need to give him a photoshoot on his first birthday to capture that moment. 

To be frank, I am not hard on a cake smash. I just wanted a fun concept so I explored several options:

• Smashing a watermelon - The photographers told me the photos won't come up as good
• Coloured cereals as confetti - Was too worried he would eat them all, how unhealthy
• Milk Bath - Still thinking about it (maybe I will save it for #2) hehe

In the end, we settled for cake smash cos I found a baby-safe version at Skinny Tofu Tarts (less than $30 too!). And it was really pretty too, so pretty in fact I hesitated to let my son smash it. The cake is made of tofu and fruits (actual tiny fruits pulps mashes can be found).My son loves tofu so he was more than happy to eat it, he ate a good half of it in fact. 

The photographers actually recommended a 5" cake. Ours were 4" and I think it works well. I just couldn't imagine the consequences if my son tried gobbling down a 5" instead. This cake doesn't come with cream but it still creates a decent amount of mess for the effect. Some babies hate being messed up by cream so cakes like this scare them a lot less and you can still get to take photos of them interacting with the cake. 

Some of you may be wondering so what's the whole deal with this cake smash concept? Based on my research, it supposedly commemorates their first exposure to sugars (babies don't take sugared products before 1YO). When they taste it, they might give the confused face or flash the sweetest smile. And also the mess they made is adorable.

Parents can either choose to do the photoshoot themselves or engage a photographer. We chose the later because the mess can be massive. His red panda costume is of our own (regrets) LOL cos I took a while to clean off the cake. And it does help to have an experienced photographer as they can help to encourage to take a bite and know the better angles!

We happen to take the shoot on our baby's lunar birthday so I decided to get the mini tartlet versions (8 for $16) as well for the family. After trying them for ourselves, I can understand why my baby love it. They are like egg tarts with fruit flavours. My BIL hates tofu but he took 2 LOL! Quoted from him "the smell of tofu is effectively masked!"

Overall, I would think both the custard and crust is very well done. The price for the cake is definitely a lot more affordable in comparison. Don't be too surprised if you see us ordering more for the special occasions in the family! It also does help that these sweet treats are healthier versions and can be enjoyed by both the very young and very old (which we have both in our family!) Haha. 

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Bite Size Affair is currently having a 10% discount in Oct. Quote "ba13yg" for an additional 10% off! After Oct, quote "ba13yg" and you still can get 10% off!

Baby goes staycation

I did think quite long and hard before finally deciding to risk it and bring the family for a staycation. At this point, the Covid situation was worsening and we could only dine in 2s. Back in June, we couldn't even dine outdoors and we thought it would be lame to go ahead with the staycation so we postponed it. 

Initially, we were supposed to stay in Sofitel @ City Centre. However, as they became a Stay-Home Notice Dedicated Facility, we were moved to Fairmont Singapore instead. I was quite impressed by their honesty (which gave me a bit of faith in the measures that they would put in place) so I decided to go ahead. Upon reaching, I realised Fairmont was an approved hotel for the Green Lane Passengers when I spotted people in PPE. I admitted I freaked out a bit and wanted to take a cab back but the taxi driver being highly efficient had unloaded my luggage.

To be honest, the first day at the Fairmont didn't go well. During the weekends, the restrictions changed so the operations teams probably couldn't react too. My booking was apparently not transferred properly. They got my name wrong and addressed in the wrong salutation too. The complimentary dinner was no longer part of the package (sad), but since we were in town there were quite a lot of good food around so the Hubs told me look on the bright side and not let this affect my mood for the next few days. 

Since we can't dine out as a family, we decided to have our meals in our room. They had this online ordering system. But somehow, it wasn't working very well and I had to call in to make my orders. They also got my orders wrong (I think) and we ended up with Antidote's high tea (around $90 for hotel guests). I have to say this was the best high tea I ever had. It was so good that it made my day literally (and after that, everything just got better too!)

Our plan was to use our staycation as a base to explore the other areas. The CBD area was like a ghost town and I managed to take many nice scenic shots. (Nobody in sight!) It is kinda of surreal and sad at the same time. But it was quite safe for baby because of the lack of crowd. Fairmont is at quite a nice location so we could take a nice stroll to most of the nice attractions - Gardens by the Bay (read about our experience here!), Esplanade, Chjimes.

Although it was a staycation, it did feel a bit like we went overseas haha. Nice food around their vicinity (if you are not into room service) includes - Hvala, Senor Taco, Wooloomooloo steakhouse etc. Yums. 

One of the highlight for any kid (if you don't stay in a condo) is probably the pool. Not only did I bring our own unicorn float, I also brought his shades along. The pump ($25) and float ($20) (both from Baby Spa) took a good 25% of our luggage. In fact the husband and baby's stuff took a good 60%. For the first time, I packed very very light for myself. Baby was decked cutely in the Short Sleeve Rashie Set ($51.90) from The Baby Closet. (First time and probably last time wearing cos he grows big so so fast!)

We were initially quite hesitant to bring him to the pool but according to my husband, Covid doesn't spread at the pool. Also, you had to book for a slot at Fairmont. So at any one time, there were a max. of 2 families at the different ends of the pool (non-heated by the way). You could also only swim in 2s, hence I was the official photographer. Cute towel is from Cheekaboo.

Thought we will end with some quick tips for parents who are planning to bring their kids for a staycation as well. We did prepare food for the baby - mainly fruits. He also shared our fruit platter for breakfast. For the sterilizing of bottles, we brought our own tingkat (yes, you didn't hear us wrong) and poured boiling hot water in it to do it the traditional, portable manner (haha).

By the way, room cleaning is only on request. So thank god, I brought along my zip-lock samples packets for baby's soiled diapers. Locked the stench in and kept our room fresh throughout the whole stay. My favourite collapsible snack container ($19.90) from iTOTS was also very useful for acting as a bowl for baby or a container when on the go!

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For  Baby Spa products and services, quote "Chaa10" to get 10% off. 

For Cheekaboo products, quote "CHAAYEN20" and you can get 20% off! Valid until 31 Dec 2021. 

Day Out at the Botanic Gardens

 My poor son was placed on SHN for 5 whole days and it was awful for him really. He enjoyed going out for leisure strolls and being forced to lock indoors was terrible. Worse, it was merely a viral fever but because he didn't took the ART, he was "naturally" placed on SHN. 

For us, it was just huge change of plans. But we have a really good support network, so basically it was my parents who had to take extra days off for him haha. I just took 2 days (and 1 was merely to celebrate his release). And maybe to take a breather too, cos taking care of an irate baby who wants to vent his anger by hurting himself is no easy feat. 

By now, I have pretty much realised that weekdays are the way to go when you want to avoid the crowd. There were so many animals spotted there. We were first welcomed by a hen and her brood of chicks. I saw older kids having a lot more fun chasing after the chickens and roosters. My baby could barely walk so he was happy to cling on to us as I *pants* run after them instead.

There were also the usual squirrels, fishes, swan (only 1 spotted) and tons of monitor lizards. I think covid and the lack of human presence has allowed them to breed freely and sort of be less fearful of humans. I am on the other hand petrified by the lizards especially, now they don't demarcate boundaries. 

Botanic Gardens is one of my favourite gardens in Singapore, maybe because it is free haha or perhaps because of the memories I have with it. A lot of the photos I took with my child, my mother had the exact same photos with me. We did try to recreate some old photos with little success because my boy still can't walk very well.

Now that we ain't considering going overseas, I am feeling so much for this colonial-designed garden. Some parts of the garden let me feel like I just step out off Singapore...Nice! Generally, the garden is very child-friendly. Fresh air and a long, tiring stroll does make me feel better!

Sadly, we missed lunch that day because we thought it would be great to see all the sights - band stand photos are being held hostage in the Hub's phone. Boo! You really need to decide where you wanna have a meal because the eateries are spaced quite far apart. Best tip for you, grab a nice cold coffee at every eatery to drink on the go. Super shiok in the hot weather!

My bad decision for the day was deciding to eat a late lunch at Dempsey and all the restaurants were on their afternoon break. To be fair, most of the eateries serve pretty boring western brunch food and I was in the mood for something more exquisite. Ended up going hungry, the kid though had a ball of fun as seen in the photos!

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Note: Laptop is down, so posts won't be as frequent!

We went to the Warehouse Club

The Warehouse Club is basically like the warehouse of NTUC, located at the far-flung West - Joo Koon. The only saving grace is that it is right smack outside the Joo Koon MRT station and if you spend $80, you get free parking!

The only reason why I was there was because I wanted to check out Decathlon. But I was so fascinated by the Warehouse Club, I decided to dedicate a whole post to it because some homemakers (particularly those with many family members) might actually like the savings. 

Firstly, the  Warehouse Club only allows people who are members to shop there (except when they have some campaigns going on). But nobody really can stop you from loitering around. I used to have this perception that this place sells items in bulk, but little did I know these giant sized products are so intriguing that it calls for for photos! 

As I was walking around and spamming photos to my fam and friends, other people around were also gushing about these fascinating bulk sized products. Check out the Campbell's soup, it got the most feedback. Everyone seems to love it, but can't really cook it in one sitting (for couple and small fam). But still it went home with many maybe just for a photo! 

Apart from the giant bulk items, we also noticed that Warehouse Club contained quite interesting snacks. The Purple Sweet Potato Want Want is awesome by the way. After some research, we realised that the Warehouse Club hold some brands such as Tesco, Cheesecake Factory etc. which can't be found in the usual stores.  

Generally, I would say the prices are pretty good when you are buying in bulk. For young families like us, we prefer raiding the snacks and instant food section for interesting products and of course snapping some occasional selfies here and there with interesting bulk items. Would love to bring my baby the next time round cos it is just so eye opening. Hehe. 

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Note: Laptop is down, so posts won't be as frequent!

Jemaime.co: I am now wearing skirts

I have always wondered why mothers wear sportswear when they are going out. After embracing motherhood, I finally understand why! It is because it is comfy, protects your modesty and still let you look casually chic. Apart from that, a nice fitting activewear will encourage you to get back in groove (by that I mean exercising) Hehe. 

I came across Jemaime.co, an activewear brand with more options for bigger sized women. I am definitely a lot meatier than before pregnancy. And disappointingly, I am struggling with that last 5kg (which sort of attached itself on me after I stop breastfeeding) Grrr. 

This is me in my skirt. :) It has been a good 1 year (?) since I wore a skirt outdoors with my baby in the tow. It is quite hard to wear skirts because there is bound to be a lot of squatting action when you are dealing with a baby/ kid and the seamless everyday shorts ($39.90) underneath my skirt made it possible. Additional perk: it holds up the tummy too. 

Leggings are most mothers's favourite, but I don't really like fabric sticking to my fat calves and thighs and they are a bit warm for Singapore's weather. So I prefer shorts but shorts don't really look that good on it own. The solution - throw a skirt over it :)

I really love Jemaime.co options for the top. I always admired women who has the figure/ courage to show their midriff. I never could do so and after childbirth, I think the chance of me ever doing that might dip even lower. For activewear, most of us would think that it is either baring or shirts/ singlets (not very sexy). 

Hehe, I found something in the middle - a sexy slit at the sides or at the back, or sheer material. I am wearing the everyday tank with a slit at the back and the material at the back is slightly sheer as well. I like it for walks outdoors because it looks more put together than a t-shirt which sort of make me look like a slob. 

I am now trying to get back into my old bodyshape and will be sharing a lot more on the exercises I do (really hard to squeeze time I admit) and the tools I use to make it possible. So do stay tune if you are into light exercising :D The sport series will be rebranded as Fit Me Up cos it sounds a little more groovy than its old name, haha :P

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Note: Laptop is down, so posts won't be as frequent!

Thing to do prepare for baby's Lunar Birthday

Before having a baby, I never knew all this. Just to caveat, this is not really a "tradition". Both the Hub's parents and my own never did that for us. It is probably an IG trend thing. But we did it cos I:

• Love eating Ang Ku Kueh, the one we got only cost like $13 per pair (which was quite reasonable) 
• Needed a pair of nice shoes and IMM is not that far
• Created our Zhua Zhou Kit which we will share on a separate post. 

These giant ang ku kuehs are called "脚龟". To step on it symbolises a smooth journey in life. We do come from a traditional family it was prayed first before we did the stepping. Tip: Wrap the kuehs up in food film so that it is cleaner logistically and you can eat it too after the meal. 

However, I do think most people are doing it for "trend" or "IG". We got ours from Kueh Garden at $13 a pair, it actually even tasted yummy, we finished it up after the shoot! There are even rainbow 脚龟 available in the market at an eyepopping $40 (including delivery). Note: Our baby refused to put his feet even on it (maybe cos of the texture). Just these 3 photos took a lot of coaxing and patience. 

We put a lot more thoughts into his shoes because we reckoned he is going to wear it for his first walk and that might effect his development. We decided to go for traditional shoemakers instead of some unknown brands. Heard from some Mummies that IMM has the best prices so we went there and got this Gudetama piece from Reebok at $40 (more than half price off!) There is even a button on top that will squeak when you press it. 

The only grouse would be that the design selection is quite limited. For a budget of $50, this was the only piece which caught my eye even after going to all the shoe shops. The first pair of walking shoe is usually gifted by the maternal grandmother (don't know why). My Mum was quite kind to let us choose the design because LOL I am very particular about such things. :P

Zhua Zhou (抓周) gives you a quick peek into your child's future. Usually a list of items which represent certain careers will be placed on a red mat and the first item/ 2 items that the kid pick will be his/ her future career. This set was provided by Bite Size Affair. You just have to top up an additional $10 to include it in your photoshoot ($250)

You can either buy ($20+ onwards) or rent ($8 onwards/ free) if you intend to do yourself. We did a DIY one too! But to be very honest, you will only use it for 15mins max but it can be fun for the parents and child. :P

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Bite Size Affair is currently having a 10% discount in Oct. Quote "ba13yg" for an additional 10% off! On normal times, you can quote and get 10% off. 

A fuss free 1YO birthday party

The Covid situation has made a lot of things really difficult. Given the restrictions, we couldn't invite a lot of people, so make things work, I basically IGS some highlights with my friends. We only invited our direct family members. With everything scaled down, procurement became a lot harder especially when you want to keep the $$/ pax down. 

Some of my friends were telling me to ditch party planners and just sort of buy the necessary deco ourselves. Erms...it is not as easy as it looked. For the 2nd party, I jumbled up my loot - some cheap 99 cents balloons off Shopee and came up with something so disorganised. Firstly, the balloons were much bigger than expecteed (in fact they were bigger than the birthday boy itself) and that caught me off-guard. See above!

Thankfully, I didn't adopt the same strategy for the 2 days. For the first and main party, we got the customised party box from Daisy Entertainment. Basically, they just deliver everything to your doorstep. The planners don't come along (which won't add to your pax count) but still it was fuss free to set up. You don't have to buy and blow up the assorted balloons and think about the colours combination. 

My son woke up to balloons in the living room and he was so thrilled. My family was also quite impressed with the set-up. My brother was telling me how detailed it was. They even drew wavy lines on the balloons to make it more in line with our space themed. It was a gigantic pillar of balloons which we shifter around to hide the ugly areas of the house in the photos!

Apart form the balloons, Daisy Entertainment also provided these beautiful hand-painted name-blocks, which I am absolutely in love with. Somehow, it makes the whole deco a lot more premium too. I love how it can be used as a prop for so many things. I basically moved it around because they were so pretty. You might even see them in future birthday parties and his nursery. 

I really don't want to be that comparing mother but sometimes I just can't help doing it. Unless you are really artistic and have a lot of time on your hand, most DIY projects would look like the sad state of my #2 party :'(

Food wise, we did takeaways for both. Because, we had a lot of old grannies as guests, we decided to have Chinese food instead. That ruled down quite a lot of places. There just ain't as many established Chinese Restaurants as compared to fastfood chains. Overall, the party was really fun. You can read more about our equally eye-catching cake here and some other events we did here :P

In the end, I am glad we decided to still hold a decent one instead of doing a shoddy one because of the restrictions. Many of our friends who seen our IGS also did feel like "they were kinda of there" and gave us thumbs up for the effort we put in. Sometimes, I admit I thrive on validation :P

We went to the Gardens by the Bay (Covid Edition)

 

Another post which may help parents decide whether to bring their kids to Gardens by the Bay. So we went...and it was really empty. (Check out my clean shots!) It is a bit sad but a lot of our attractions are a shadow of the past. There were so little people, I don't even have much of a choice when looking for passer-by to help take a family shot. Some tips which might help your trip there. 

1. Go on a weekday: This is my general strategy to avoid the crowds. It does burn a bit of the leaves. But it is not like we have anywhere to go anyway. 


2. Split the day and night plans: We were staying in a nearby hotel. But still we decided to split the day and night plans so that the bubs can better enjoy the day. He probably could sleep in the stroller should we drag the evening into the night. But I really wanted lighter baggage LOL.


3. Children's Festival: We went to see the inflatables in the night. And hmm...my photos didn't turn up that well. I personally don't find them impressive. But my other friends went in the day (with toddlers that can walk/ run) and they seem to enjoy themselves more. Go in the day!





4. Mid-Autumn lantern sets & displays: Totally not worth seeing in my opinion. The design of the rabbits didn't appeal to me at all. LOL!


5. Flower Dome: We decided to visit one of them because it was too hot in the day and we needed aircon. We booked on the spot ($12/ adult). Thankfully, the number of people is controlled. It is quite empty while we were there too! 


6. Bring a tripod if you have one! There is really quite little people there to even stop a passer-by to help you take photos. We did take a lot of wefies but oh wells, the feeling is kinda of different.





7. Transport: We actually walked there on Day 1 evening and took the MRT there on Day 2 (nobody on the train at all!) Guess these transports are still safe!


8. What we packed: One bottle of milk, lots of snack and 1 diaper (totally not enough) His pee leaked and I did scold myself for missing this out. (The spare diaper and clothes was from our last trip). You can read our previous post on what we packed, which is a lot more comprehensive. Read it here! The changing room is really clean though, cleaner than the zoo!


9. Duration: We stayed only about 2 hours in the dome (walked around twice). Baby actually fell asleep after the first round. He was quite excited cos one of the words he could say was flower so he was pointing and repeating flower. So cute~! 

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Note: Laptop is down, so posts won't be as frequent!