Airmocks: Collapsible Hammocks for small homes

Basically, I had this spare room and for the longest time it was acting like my store room. Yes, there were carton boxes, excess diapers etc. In fact, everyone told me how neat my storeroom was because basically all the crap was stored there. Too embarrassed to show the cluttered photo, but this is pretty much how it looks like when it is empty (exactly like the playroom). 

We, okay maybe more accurately my husband, decided to get this act together and cleared up the mess. (Obviously, I am not very capable of de-cluttering.) Basically, everything was stored into the storeroom still very neatly and we had this wonderful new utility space. 

Finally, we set up our airmocks (a movable hammock) into the space. This was a gift (the monochrome set cost a whooping S$278) and I would say for a new BTO house, this took up quite a bit of space. Technically, you can collapse it anytime and it is pretty light but given my nature, I am just too lazy to do so, so we just left it open and gave the room a more leisure vibe. Otherwise, it would look so boring as a typical laundry room.  

I have to say it is pretty enjoyable to rock yourself in it and our little one uses it as his yao lan sometimes. Most of the time he enjoys playing "Mummy" and rocking me to sleep, hehe. My only grouse is should I have upgraded it to a chair too cos it seems to fit the house theme better. Maybe I will get one when I am feeling rich or if Airmocks see my review and send me one LOL!

Cleaning the stand isn't too tough but the fabric is a little challenging. Apart from the threads, there was also a wooden part and coin-like design which cannot be removed. I can't throw it into the washing machine and would have to handwash it. I use my kiddo's wide bath tub, which makes things easier. But if you only have pails at home, I presume it will be a lot harder. 

Apart from us, our guests really love it. It is pretty much a statement piece which most people wants to try. My father himself is a frequent swinger and is contemplating getting one for the family home. If you are into lifestyle, then this is a piece you should get. Now that we can't really travel as frequently, you gotcha bring the resort into your house hehe. 

Food Tour 22: Meals with the Family

 Since the food tour's revival is rather well received, I thought I will do more of it. LOL! Here's some of the food I had with my family. 

1. Kai Duck

This one is truly long overdue. In fact, I even forgot about it. The hubs asked me recently about it, saying the food there was pretty good and I was like "never been there". So my father actually brought the family there straight out of my confinement. It was to nourish me (I guess) and let me enjoy some different flavoured food. I remember this being a set meal and the food being extremely delicious. We picked this place because I really wanted to eat duck skin (lol, my taste was just ridiculously expensive then.) Maybe I should go there again because now that I look at the photos, I kinda miss the food served.

2. Sun with Moon

I have heard a lot of raving reviews about this place and erms, this is the first time I am here. The queue was frigging long and maybe that's why it made me spend more than expected. We ended up spending $120+ (I think) or more. Missed out the Desserts photo >-< The food is so good, I think I will come back again (to spend more). Something is seriously wrong with me. Haha. What we ordered:

1. Kamameshi with salmon avocado salad side ($34.80): I love it. Never see this much at other Jap restaurants so I guess it is a must to order here. The rice was so flavourful, no surprise with the amount of seafood dumped into it. (I drink the soup separate by the way) and my kid tried to steal some of it. 
2. US Wagyu Sirloin Beef Set ($52.80): In retrospect, this was probably the dish that jacked up the bill. Had this because I wanted to eat beef. It is good and it came with interesting dressings too that I haven't quite seen outside. But I hated the veg, it tasted really odd. 
3. Kid's Meal ($12): I ordered it cos it was really cute. The portion is seriously too much for a kid that is barely 2. We ate most of the food. He was more entertained by the fact he had an airplane filled of food for himself. He had an absolute blast! (Note: He vomited at home later because he is still isn't quite used to the food outside, nothing wrong with their food by the way! Think he had too much fried chicken)
4. Desserts Trio ($9.80): Everything tasted yummy. Would really recommend this for sharing. Really too much if you are having one by yourself. 
5. Violet Latte ($7): There is quite a wide variety of drinks available. Settled for this because it is IG-worthy but there are lots of other drinks that I really wanted to try in their menu!

3. Swensens

I basically grew up with and loving Swensens, but I noticed it isn't the choiced place for families now. Maybe we are all becoming more affluent. But I used to look forward to special occasions so that I can enjoy their Banana Split or Earthquake. The only reason why we even stepped in was because my friend (also our insurance agent) gave us some free meal vouchers to dine there. 

I tried the baked rice which was truly meh. But the husband had a go at their impossible burger and it was mind-blowing. By right, there wasn't any meat in the patty but it tasted as though there was meat and it was yummy. I would totally go there for it. My kid love the baked rice and fries though LOL!

Tiger Year: CNY at a glance

 

I had a lot big dreams for this CNY for this was the first year I am celebrating in my own house and I LOVE decorating it to fill it up with festivities. For our entrance way, I used our tingkats from TiffinsByCandy to hold the mandarin oranges from our guest. There were bits and pieces of CNY vibes around the house. But I was the most proud of this.  

I think I am an anomaly amongst the millennials. Most of them love X'mas but I think CNY is like the best time of the year. I love squeezing to 办年货, gyrating to the beats of the lion dance (sadly we didn't see any this year), snacking on all the CNY goodies. It was also my son's first year being more participating in the festive and boy did he take after his ole Mama. 

In an attempt to bring traditions back, we even got ourselves a baking kit to try making some pineapples tart. Despite its ugly exterior (no fault of my son by the way, it was me, I just can't squeeze nice round shapes), it tasted really yummy! And we all had fun making it with the extended family. 

For those who are not locals, CNY was really muted in Singapore because of the rising Covid cases and the restrictions on the number of visitors. Initially, it wasn't that bad until my MIL tested positive on the first day of CNY. Oh golly. Fortunately, our contact with her was limited so we stayed negative throughout but CNY kinda got delayed. 

As a family, I like to think that we sort of came roaring back. So with 7 less days, we went on a mission to complete our visitations. And I am glad we did because our little one brought so much joy to the older folks. We also took this opportunity to reconnect with our old friends and relatives. Call me sentimental, but Covid has made me value my kinship and friendship a lot more. I know a lot of people used this opportunity to tighten their purse strings and gave less ang paos. But for me, some money has to be spent and this is one of them. 

Like his mother, my son also enjoyed his visitations. He explored and had cheat-days moments where he nibbled on some CNY goodies/ snacks. He also participated in the rowdy loh-hei. And best of all he got to dress in fancy clothes. (Most of them are from The Elly Store by the way!)

Speaking about clothes, I wore a nice Batik piece from Blu for most of my visits. It is a piece from an local designer across our shores and I love it for its details. In fact, I liked it so much, I wore it at an X'mas gathering session LOL (it got me a nice tongue-lashing from my mother because you should always save the new clothes for CNY!) But not me la, I wear them immediately. This versatile piece looks so fine and suiting for a ballroom, and also causal enough for the streets of Orchard. 

They have a lot of lovely pieces and mine had quite a bit details - ruffles, asymmetrical lengths. It is sort of an A-line cut so for ladies like me with broad shoulders, we might look a little bigger. The ruffles at waist was much appreciated because it hides my Mum-Tum. The asymmetrical lengths does make me look a little taller. For our sunny island, batik is god-sent because the fabric is so airy.

Pardon my very long post, but I am rather excited/ occupied this period. So ending the post with more CNY photos (My bro and I twinned) and more photos of nice xmas trees in Orchard (remind me to use cuter bags in future). Last but not least, a super auspicious and delicious cake from Rive Gauche. I have never see 3d jelly cakes as cute, so I thought it deserved a square as well. =)

Yu Dian: Effortless Drip Chicken Essence

I don't usually take supplements, but chicken essence is one exception. I usually take one before an exam as a student. During my pregnancy, I actually had traditional dripped chicken essence, made by my father-in-law twice/ trice every week. (Maybe this explains why my LO is so robust.)

As a parent, I take one whenever I feel drained. My husband is not into chicken essence, but maybe he is exhausted now, we would sometimes clink our bowl of chicken essence haha and down them like alcohol. Maybe because I am a believer of chicken essence, it is also my ideal gift for the elders. 

I came across Yu Dian, which prided itself for Drip Chicken Essence and was really curious about its taste. Most of my friends don't like chicken essence because of the Brand's taste, which sort of defines our idea of chicken essence because we basically grew up with it. ERS also have their variations which mix in a lot of herbs that mask the taste which "we knew".

Because of my father-in-law's handmade drip chicken essence, I actually know how it is supposed to look/ taste like. It is oily, fragrant and light brown in colour. Yu Dian's version tasted exactly the same so I am convinced they are what they preached. 

The packaging also look very put together. Am pretty sure the old folks would be happy to receive. For me, I can take chicken essence both cold and warm. But my preference is still to warm it up and pour it out it in a bowl to slurp. My husband on the other hand, pours it down his throat from the packaging like a babarian. Cooking tips for the noob: If my food is not flavorful enough, I would sometimes pour chicken essence in it. Don't pour while cooking because this would spoil the nutrients within. 

For gifting, the box of 8 ($70) looks the most presentable and won't make you appear too stingy. For own consumption, I would suggest getting the box of 30 ($211.50) to enjoy the economies of scale. It works out to $7 a pack before discount which still isn't too bad because drip chicken essence is quite a bit of work should you want to make your own at home. 

Tips to save money on Stage 3 Formula Milk

You know when your kid passes one, they will go into Stage 3. As it is now "legal" for formula milk brands to advertise, you would see a lot of brands offering free Stage 3 samples. If you collect a sample from each brand (assuming each can is full-tin and there are 10 brands priced around S$~40 each), you can save up to ~S$400. Having said that, most brands give a smaller sample can. 

The dilemma most parents would face is whether to really rock the boat for such small gains. Your baby is probably used to whatever he/she has been drinking for the past year. So why change things if everything is going well? Push came to a shove for me because the original milk brand we were taking (established one, not some cheapo brand) pissed me off a bit. 

The original brand from their official retailer too delivered milk cans which were all bloated/ dented. For the bloated cans, they told me it was actually ok to consume after their investigation. I refused to take any of the bullshit obviously and till now I am pretty certain they were trying to dump defective goods on me. They only agreed to a refund after I requested for an official email in writing stating that the bloated tins were fit for consumption. (All those legal training didn't go to waste.)

 The hassle of the returns etc. annoyed me greatly but I decided not to flash all the photos and correspondence here because the customer service lady was overall very nice, helpful and an innocent party to their management's baloney. Obviously, this wasn't the first time I came to blows with them questioning their marketing materials etc. (Guess I am one hell of a difficult customer).

So, I decided to take the plunge and start the swap of milk. Basically, you just have to do a ratio mix of the milks and slowly reduce the ratio of the milk you want to swap out. There is a lot of trial and error and my own mother told me "hey, it's even better to mix milk cos they are all fortified with different additional nutrients" (which I have to agree is very true). Also, because of the free tins here and there and the freedom to tap on the best milk promotions, I had a bit of savings (HAHAHA!) The only troublesome part is the mixing at every feed (since the ratio to water differs, needa do a bit of math)

Here's some of my findings from the trying of the different brands we have tried thus far:

MIXER CANDIDATES

1. Dumex Mamil Gold Stage 3 ($40.80): Has a bit of a vanilla taste which I thought smells super fragrant but my kid rejected it. Had lots of tins of it because I bought under a promotion so it is now quite a constant mixer.


2. Similac Total Comfort Stage 3 ($53.90 for 820g): This one had a bit of a oaty smell. Rule of thumb, I reject swapping to a milk which has too distinct a taste/smell. It was also chalkier and harder to dissolve in room temperature water in comparison. 

BASE CANDIDATES

1. Similac Organic Stage 3 ($57 for 900g): This is a super strong contender as a replacement. Just that there are barely any attractive promos and it is a lot pricier.


2. UHT Full Cream Milk ($3.80 for 6*200g): This was a recommendation by a fellow Mummy. I use this when we go out because it is so convenient. For home use, not as much because I would have to cut and pour into a milk bottle which can be a bit messy. 


3. Nature One Organic Stage 3 ($37.50 for 900g): This was actually the first sample we tried. At the point, I didn't mix and my kid slurped it all up. It is cheaper too! Some of our other friends are taking this brand too, so we might end up swapping to this for good :)

Note: Will still be trying and updating on the go!

New Foldable Bike: Hito x6

 

To start the new year healthy, we have invested in a foldable bike. Decided to do this post up because well, there is quite a bit to think about when deciding on one. Initially, we wanted to get one from Decathlon. We saw so many of them in the parks and on the streets, we felt we probably couldn't differentiate our own. 

One thing I did before committing was to try it out at the stores. Given that these bikes were at the lower price range, I was sort of worried "they won't be as good", but trust me - they are fine. In the end, we got the Hito x6 which was slightly more expensive but looked a lot sleeker. 

Maybe because I am a lady, one of my concerns was its foldability and its weight. When doing the comparisons, I made such a big fuss about 0.1kg difference etc. which feels silly now cos the bike is really light. I have no problems even lifting it. With regards to its foldability, I only fold when necessary and it is quite easy to do so!

This was the video which we inspected before purchasing. I thought it was pretty informative so I am going to share it here. I am probably going to share more nice bike routes and DIY projects to ~zheng it up in future posts. But so far the bike connectors are awesome and trips to the nearest mall are a lot more convenient. Psss...no bikes were destroyed or stolen when it was parked in public!