Food Tour 41: Date night with Hubby

I know people don't think much of date nights after the kids arrive. But we do try to keep the spark in the marriage. Ideally, you should arrange a date night once a week. Given our busy work schedules, every time we have a slight break from work, we will throw the kids with my parents and arrange a date out. It doesn't have to be very special. We either go shopping, catch a movie or grab a meal...and there is where I get my food photos HAHAHA.

1. BBQ Box

To some extent, I feel this is a secret hideout for me and my husband. I am not sure if you share the same thoughts but our parents gen doesn't share the same love as us for Authentic Chinese food. So every time, we have together time, we will opt for Chinese food. And I loveeeee the skewers here. They do have sides too and it is really yummy. It is not my first time there so I do have tons of photos and have generally tried the more exotic items on the menu. 

My advice is to order the mains first and add on the skewers. If you are only taking skewers only, it will add up to be quite an expensive meal. If you are hesistant to try the more exotic flavors, these few should go down well with our Singaporean's tastebuds:

• Sichuan Spicy Noodles ($7.80)
• Orginal Cumin Lamb Skewers ($1.80)
• Tinfoil Clam ($12.80)
• Vinegar Jellyfish Head ($9.80)

2. Dochi Dochi

I was curious about Dochi Dochi because I saw it at a pop-up near my workplace. That time, I had bought too much food to bring back so I didn't get them. I remember being pretty quite won over by their cute aesthetics and interesting flavours. Tried it at their shop and it was rather disappointing. The mochis were pretty small, though flavourful. It is quite expensive. Overall, I wouldn't think it is value for money. The drinks were quite average. MEH for me. 

3. Jakata Ropang Project

This might be my proudest food gem found to date because it was an "anyhow walk, anyhow find" kinda thing. Similarly, I have been there so many times with different groups of friends that I can already tell you what you need to try:

• Pempek Palembang - must try but always out of stock
• Nasi Bali - the squids are my favourite
• Sop Bakso - if you can only choose one, pick the nasi
• Tahu Gejrot - if you space for more
• Es Teler 77 - none of their desserts beat this

Don't give this place a miss cos I think it is worth dropping by. Plus, I love how relaxing the ambience is and you can take nice IG photos!

Flavours of Tomorrow Festival

Possibly the best festival ever, we went to the first alternative festival - Flavours of Tomorrow. Located at Teletech Park within Science Centre 2, it was a slight walk from the nearest MRT station - Haw Paw Villa. We braved the rain and finally reached our destination. And boy, no regrets at all. 

It was super family friendly. The kids were first welcomed by 2 bouncy castles on the top level. Kids being kids were undeterred by the wet bouncy castles and he ran off to slide and bounce as we explored the place. Innate Montessori coincidentally had their open house that day so children could opt to do some craft activities indoors. My kid was in the mood to expend his energy so we allowed him to play in the slight drizzle as we had some spare clothes. 

The food was definitely the highlight because we got to try alternative form of proteins and food that are produced more sustainably. Most of us probably have the opinion that such food would taste awful or odd. But that's not true. In fact, we enjoyed the food so much we will be adding some into our diet. The food variety was extremely wide and we could find more than enough options for the children. 

The ambience was also delightful with busking and there was even free balloon sculpturing for the children. There were also artisan booths set indoors which I didn't have enough time to explore (and spend money). So much things going on, there is just something for everyone!

Quick shoutout to some of the food that blew our minds away:

• Wow Noodles: This is a starchless protein noodles made from spent barley grain suitable for diabetics. I wished I had known about this when I had GD when I was expecting. This would have been life-changing and satisfied any noodle cravings I had. Texture-wise it was similar to Soba. 


• Prataboy: A F&B start up from Ngee Ann Poly, their praffles blew me away. It was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I am not exaggerating, but this is really the best prata I ever had. 


• Kobashi: This bakery had the highest takeaway rate and I am not surprised. Beacuse their sourdough was so on point even when cold. I think I single-handledly wipe out a good 70% of what we bought. No shame in being selfish here. Haha. \

Oatside, which I presume many of you should be aware was fantastic as usual. They even had ice cream served that day. As you can tell, I am probably so bought over I can't wait for the next rendition <3

Madagascar: The Musical

 

Madagascar The Musical is our 3rd productions with ABA Productions and I have to say each production outdo the last. I am not sure how they keep impressing. For Madagascar, the visuals were stunning with the amount of details they put on the costumes and backdrop. The dedication put in by the actors and puppeteers were also pretty commendable. King Julien literally kneeled throughout the show so as to depict the height difference. And the actor even managed to capture the voice and accent. Wow!

For the tinier animals i.e. the penguins, Mort and Maurice, they were all controlled by puppeteers. The puppeteers were equally expressive and communicated through their facials. I think there were a few new numbers but my kid was thrilled and was grooving throughout. We danced so hard to "Move it Move it" my limbs were sore by the end of it. 

Although Madagascar The Musical was marketed for the children, it was of "adult-standards". The children sure was very lucky to able to experience such a quality production. For those who are wondering, yes we brought out #2 along this round. But no, we were not the lucky few which the younger sibling is emboldened by the presence of the older sibling. We went though the whole process again (you can read more about it here!)

For parents who are keen to introduce theatre to your children, you need to choose children-friendly productions as the attending audience will be more understanding to the fussing needs of the children. You will feel less "paiseh". I just want to share that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, Our #1 enjoyed his 2nd production and he was not even 3 years old then. The youngest age you can start them on this journey is probably 1.5 years old onwards. To follow our theatre journey and learn more tips, do follow the "ABA Productions" tag. In case you don't know, they have the best children's productions. 

My Dyson Holder

As mentioned in my previous post, one of my biggest grouse was the bulk box. The husband found a solution and got me this Dyson accessory holder. Before discount, it is about $29.90. I strongly recommend this because it makes the organisation neater. And maybe because the accessories are in sight, I switch them around more often. 

The attachment points are magnetic so it holds the accessories quite well in place. Most importantly, it looks really nice! You are welcome!

My First Music Concert

Maybe it was because I am brought up in a rather thrifty family, I always wondered why would people spend so much on a concert. Couldn't you just blast youtube via a speaker? It is free. LOL! After my first concert, I have to say I am a convert. 

Special thanks to my husband who did the research to ensure that I will be a "convert". No camping tips here because it was the husband that got the great seats. "Go big or go home" that's what I told him so he went big. We got CAT 3 tickets to Mayday and apparently the seats you got within the category was all luck-based. 

As an excited first-timer, the first thing I did was to snap photos of myself at the stadium. Although I have been there for runs etc., I am always struck by awe somehow when I arrive at the National Stadium. Maybe it is how ginormous the scale of the place is. It must be awesome performing there especially with the coordinated light sticks. I am posting some photos up (not because I am a spoiler) but because this is the last leg of their concert. 

One of the concern I had about choosing the concert to attend was that I am not a "Superfan" of any particular artiste and don't really know all their songs. I am just a "bathroom singer" that belts out popular k-box songs. *inserts embarrassed gaffaws* Ends up, I know a good 70% of the songs even though I kept emphasizing to my husband I only know 4. So, you don't really need to know every song to attend cos you can read the lyrics off the screen. And it doesn't really matter if A-Shin was off key most of the time, it was the ambience.

I have to admit that the awesome lighting effects can't really be fully captured from my phone. Also, the stereo effect is different. I am also very entertained by a Mayday fan who was sitting in front of us and trying to make the whole row gyrate along with her. LOL! And like I say the seats were good...I even managed to see Mayday upclose on the roving boat. I waved to them like they could see me. And I also somewhat caught my idol on screen. *faints*

Any tips? I brought along a neck fan which came in useful when it was stuffy. If you want to go on the express queue, go without a bag. Bottles of water/ food/ drinks can be bought after you cross the gantry. I xiao panicked and got locked out of the pantry. Thank god, the security managed to clear me. I also kept thinking that there is surprise guests - which now I know only Taiwan leg will have. To be honest, I am still clueless about concert etiquettes. When do you stand and when do you sit? Send help please. 

2023 Shopee Top Affiliates

I guess we are starting the new year on a pretty sweet note because we have been told that we are one of Shopee's top affiliate. We only joined them in the last quarter, so it was quite a surprising news. It is always great to infer from our accolades that our readers trust our recommendations (I like to think we have decent standards) and we just want to say we hope those products (which we also use ourselves by the way) bring convenience or joy to your life. I know I like sharing my novelty buys as well. :)

In the new year, I will be a lot more time-strapped. I need to focus on the children's development and I also want to work on the maintenance of the house. The number of posts will reduce to once a week but I don't intend to cut edges in terms of quality. 

I will still be conducting sound research on the reviews which I choose to undertake and the reviews may tend to gear to my family's interest...because my bandwidth is shorter now :'( Nonetheless, I still want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for reading through the milestones and growing together with me. <3

**If you want to join as an affiliate, you can click on this link (or use the referral code - 8PZ5CJH) and you can get $5.