Carnival-Themed Afternoon Tea at 1864 at Sofitel Singapore City Centre

In the mood for some fun, I popped by with the kids for the Carnival-Themed Afternoon Tea at 1864 at Sofitel Singapore City Centre. For those who are unsure, Sofitel Singapore City Centre is conveniently located beside Tanjong Pagar Mrt Station. 

An interesting highlight about this high tea was how it swapped the savory and sweets. My boy calls it a hearty joke. As we were pretty game, we didn't refer to the menu which listed the ingredients and ate our way through. Most were great surprises and my boy had a lot of fun pranking his sister and the husband. 

Priced at S$68++ per pax (minimum 2 to dine), which is quite standard for most high teas, you get to enjoy the high ceiling and posh area of the Sofitel Singapore City Centre. One thing that stood out was the impeccable service. My girl was fussing a lot and a staff quickly came over to offer them coloring tools. My girl broke into a smile again and my day was saved. 

The whole set doesn't shortchange anyone in terms of taste. Unlike the norm where it was defined strictly either sweet or savory, each item was a nice combination of the 2. Thus, it was not very surfeiting and we could finish everything in a sitting. Psss... book via Klook for best price. Only from now till 15 June from 2pm to 5pm. 

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Carnival-Themed Afternoon Tea: https://www.klook.com/en-SG/activity/54049-1864-bar-lounge-reservation-sofitel-singapore-city-centre/

** To get additional discounts, you can use the discount code "BABYNFAMKLOOK" when you book through Klook for a 5% Discount. Applicable to All Klook Activities with min. spend of SGD50. Discount capped at SGD15.

Scentopia Orchard

Not sure if any of you is aware, but Scentopia open an outlet at Scape Orchard. It is more of a pop-up style and is not as poshed as what you see at Sentosa. (Reader's Tip: For the price-conscious, it is cheaper for the experiences at Orchard Scentopia.)Many of you would have known this perfume-making place as the go-to for girls day out or Hen Party activities, but this was a surprisingly awesome family event with my kids. Don't say boys won't love it, cos even my husband/son enjoyed the experience.

Just to caveat, my children love spraying my perfume on themselves...and it ain't cheap per spray. So I thought why not let them make their own scent so that they would leave mine alone. Given that it is a very sensory experience, you really need to sniff quite a lot of different scents. Children who have an overly sensitive nose should avoid this. We split ourselves to Team Girl and Team Boy. 

You basically start off with an online questionnaire about your personality and that would let you know the type of scents you are likely to prefer. It is categorised to Citrus, Fresh, Floral, Woody and Oriental. You are allowed to pick 10 different scents. Based on your personality, you might get to choose 3 Citrus, 4 Floral, 2 Woody, 1 Oriental and 0 Fresh from each catergory.

Each category has 30 scents which is further split for the respective genders and unisex. I always thought I am easy-going when it comes to scent. Guess I was wrong? There were some that made me wanted to puke, but my son loved it. Honestly, between me and you, I didn't really like what the men made and so did my daughter. Guess there is really what we call gender difference when it came to this. Haha.

We went through within the process within 40 minutes and the kids got to experience how perfume was made. It can be faster depending on how decisive you are. If your child is more than 8 years old, they would need their own tickets. (Reader's Tip: This is a perfect 7yo birthday activity!)

For SGD80 per parent-child pair, it is still pretty worth it since you get to bring a customised bottle of 50ml perfume home. It is definitely more economical go go for the 100ml bottle. But I just didn't want so much for them since there is limited occasions they could spray on themselves. 

Splash Wonder Water Park

Part of my writing joy is finding out great gems for you readers out there and one recent March holiday find was the Splash Wonder Water Park. For the sweltering Singapore, this was an affordable respite for the little ones and the Baby-Shark Crazy toddlers. It was a great combination of everything they love - bouncing around and splashing water.

The stations all had an age recommendation. Most of the stations were incredibly toddler-friendly except for the Ocean Wave Challenge which had an incredibly fast slide. The older kids are bound to go crazy over them. There were dry and wet stations. But you can swap between both anytime :D The dry stations were mainly bouncy castles and a kiddy maze. 

Now that the kids were older, I could just hand around at the side the watch them play. I enjoyed myself too :D Pinkfong and Baby Shark made guest appearances and my little girl who was still in that phase pranced and followed them around the park quietly. It was pretty cute. There was also fringe activities such as water-resistant face/arm painting/ hair extensions and caricature painting. On 21st Mar, you will even get to see mermaids splashing around with you. 

I was particularly impressed with the water-resistant face/arm painting as it lasted nearly a week. There were food and drinks available within the park grounds. There were good variety and very reasonably priced. I was an extremely pleased captive market and was very happy to splurge within their grounds. Well-fueled by food, everyone was in great mood!

If you haven't found anything for the family this March holidays, grab your swimsuits and sunblock and head over to the Splash Wonder Water Park at the Palawan Beach. Guaranteed fun! From now till 5 April only, don't miss it! My kids want to head back again, LOL! Hope there is another rendition next year!

Food Tour 66: Bras Basah Complex - Part 2

It is not just the variety of shops that was interesting (though you probably won't walk in to all, I will probably do another post separate on why we lack courage to walk into art galleries.) the food there was really intriguing too!

1. All Things Hainanese

I am not sure about you, but I don't really know much about their culture/ food. All I know was Hainanese Chicken Rice. All Things Hainanese is really quite a must-try cos heritage food like these are quite hard to find in Singapore. When we stepped into their shop, we were hit by a strong waft of ginger which knocked the husband and my daughter out. Sure enough all their food contain a lot of ginger and coconut (except the ang ku kueh). We tried the Yi Bua, Chinese Fevervine Dessert and their Ang Ku Kueh. The former 2 is a good to try for me, but maybe cos I am not a Hainanese, my taste buds are not wired for me. Their Ang Ku Kueh is the same as what we normally get outside, but their skin is really thin and mochi-like. One of the better few. Although not every item is up my alley, I am still highly intrigued and can't wait to try more as there is quite a bit of surprise element in their cuisine.  

2. Ketojiak

We just wanted to find a place to rest and eat something cold and sweet. It was a surprisingly good find because their ice cream were very delicious. I wasn't expecting much because it was keto-diet and was suitable for diabetic. But the ice-cream turned out to be really thick and creamy. I love it and even ended up googling to check out if they have any closer outlets to home. Oops only one. Guess we need to do delivery or just pop by whenever we are nearby! The staff there were also really friendly and warm. 

3. Shifu Food Court

Usually food court doesn't excite me much, but this does because their food is so, so good. We tried the Hua Jie dumplings, which I thought was pretty pricey, but really good. I ended up taking away some because we can't eat 10 at one seating when there are other mains, the takeaways were still very yummy when cold. I am impressed. My kids ate the wanton mee at Chun Noodle Bar and I have to say it is one of the best Wanton noodles I ever had. I actually want to try more of their food. There is even air-con seating and the toilet are very clean too! I will be back!

Edge - Surf and Turf

Probably the best buffet theme we have had at Edge, I absolutely love the offerings for 'Surf and Turf', featuring delicacies both from the land and sea. Call me bias, but I adore the seafood selection more. Some of my favourites include the charcoal-barbecued giant squid and Jumbo white clam in Hakka Sweet Wine Broth. 

My usual favourites were also served i.e. Sashimi, roasted pork, snow crab etc. My only problem was that I enjoyed so much food that I couldn't find space for seconds. Also for me who was relatively familiar with Edge's usual offerings, I had quite a bit of fun exploring old spaces to find new dishes. 

Sorry for the massive amount of food photos, I just had so much fun eating and snapping. Another problem from over-stuffing was that you need to find food to break the taste. I particularly love the oriental soups and drank a few for this purpose. To be rather frank, I never remembered this to be Edge's strong suite. I was pleasantly surprised to find how good their soups are now. 

For those who love meats, don't miss the charcoal-barbecued Marinated Lamb T-Bone! It was so, so good. While we were there, the whole Edge was packed with no seats for walk-ins. So be sure to reserve early. Best of all, free flow of soft drinks for all. Only until 29 Mar (Fri to Sun) for dinner (6pm to 10pm), don't miss it! This is probably the most worth buffet to date. 

$128++ per adult | Inclusive of free flow of soft drinks

$64++ per child (6 to 12 years old) | Inclusive of free flow of soft drinks

Top up an additional $78++ for a bucket of five bottles of The Portman Lager

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** To get additional discounts, you can use the discount code "BABYNFAMKLOOK" when you book through Klook for a 5% Discount. Applicable to All Klook Activities with min. spend of SGD50. Discount capped at SGD15.

Bras Basah Complex - Part 1 (Interesting Shops)

It has been a while since I last set foot there, mainly cos I stopped printing class t-shirts. But I really loved how the place transformed and had a new vibe to it. I hung around there for a whole day. Decided that maybe I should do a series of post on it because it is really quite a bit of art materials hub. Kicking off with some really cool shops which I stepped within.

1. When I was Four

I am sure many Singaporeans heard of it. When I was Four was one of the pioneering knick-knack souvenir shops that played a lot on puns on our local heritage. Popular with both locals and tourists, it is one shop not to be missed. I was surprised to see a retail shop because I always thought they were online-based. Also, it is so hard not to walk out with something - and we do have a fair bit of their merch at home. We ended up sending letters to future selves. Generally, their stuff are quite reasonably priced with non-nostalgic stuff being cheaper :D We also had fun stamping at their booth!

2. Joival.co

If you want something more unique that the rest of the Singaporean folks still hasn't quite own, head on to Joival.co. Apart from holding their own creations, Joival.co also display crafts from other artisans. It was interesting to browse. Price-point, it is on the higher side but like many of the shops here, you can use your CDC vouchers. So I do see many people walking out with something.  I particularly love the clickers and also the window stickers.

3. Tong Tong Friendship Store

I really loved the design of this shop, though I don't think it would appeal to everyone. The clothes are more retro, 70s inspired and are very, very expensive. To be quite frank, the lady at the store was probably one of the worse shopowners I have met. She basically just ignored us from the moment we stepped in. I like their design but hated the service. A hello would have been nice. Because of how cold she was, I lost my courage to try out the clothes and decided that the money can be better spent to support other brands.