weekend highlights

We had fun this weekend!

On Saturday morning, we walked to Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West because I wanted Ziv to ride the swing. It was around 7:30AM, early by Singapore standards, so we had the playground to ourselves! After that, we headed to McDonald's and had a hearty breakfast.

That afternoon, we went to Nell's apartment to celebrate her birthday. The actual party wasn't going to start until 6PM but since Ziv will be asleep by then, Nell told us we can come earlier. So we went there after Ziv's afternoon nap, around 3PM.

From left: Face-to-face with Ninang Nell; posing by the Christmas tree

Ze hubby and I over-ate again! We couldn't help it, the food was delish! Nell and her housemate, Kat, prepared baked Pinoy-style spaghetti for us and served leche flan for dessert. Yum yum yum!

Ziv was thrilled to see his first Christmas tree! He kept looking at the balls and watched the lights blink. It made ze hubby want to set up our Christmas tree. Till now though we're still thinking of the best spot to set it up. We don't have much space left in our living room!

Then on Sunday, we headed downtown! It's been a while since we've been there. Sometimes we think of going but then the hassle of traveling comes to mind. It's either we take a cab, which is expensive, or take the train, which can be stressful due to the crowds, or the bus, which will take us forever! But yesterday, we decided to take the train since it was faster and cheaper.

Our main mission was to deliver Ziv's onesies to the lady who bought them. But before we met up with her at Suntec, we had lunch at Raffles City then did some shopping at Marina Square. I bought Ziv new sleeveless bodysuits because his old ones are too short for him already. I bought the very same ones though, plain white from Mothercare. Since we were going to pay with vouchers, I decided to throw in stacking cups to add to Ziv's toy collection.

I reminded ze hubby that he wanted to treat me to TWG so after meeting up with the buyer at Suntec, we took a cab to Marina Bay Sands. It's been a while since we had something so fine because having a baby in tow doesn't really go with fine things. But it was Sunday and I thought what a perfect day to have tea! Lucky for me, ze hubby agreed.

The TWG Tea Salon and Boutique at Marina Bay Sands sits beautifully on the bridge, close to the canal. It had this refined but cozy vibe, and is a perfect place to relax after you've shopped at the high-end stores there. We didn't do high-end shopping though; we just wanted to sample their teas and pastries.

I was really impressed with TWG's tea menu. It was a BOOK! There were a lot of teas listed there and it seemed impossible to pick just one! Thankfully, ze hubby pointed me to the daytime tea list, from where I chose the Smoky Russian Tea. It was described as "a gentle smoky tea inspired by the opulence of the Russian tsars, this TWG Tea blend of black teas is perfect for a relaxing afternoon." It got me at "perfect for a relaxing afternoon."

Ze hubby decided to randomize by putting his finger on an item without looking at it. Lady luck picked the Caribbean Voyage Tea for him. It's a "warm and enticing TWG blend of cocoa beans, green almonds and a full-bodied red tea from South Africa."

We also got a slice of cake (chocolate sponge with blueberry cream) and a couple of macarons, which were served on a tiered plate rack. It's wonderful how the simplest things can look posh when they're on a tiered plate rack. Haha.

We waited a few minutes before our teas and pastries were served. Unlike Starbucks or CBTL, teas at TWG aren't served in teabags. They brew them for you and serve them in nice, shiny, rounded teapots. You won't drink them in mugs either. They have proper teacups. Not the fancy English teacups though.

So I take a sip of my tea. Oh. My. Goodness. This is what quality tea tastes like! The flavors were really pronounced, not like the mass produced teas which hardly have any flavor in them. My Smoky Russian was indeed smoky and was quite bitter, but it paired perfectly with the sweet pastries. I had it straight up, no milk, no sugar.

Ze hubby's tea was really interesting. It was the first time I tried a tea that almost tasted like chocolate. It was milder than my tea but it was good too!

We had these macarons: Napoeleon Tea and Caramel, Camelot Tea and Praline, Earl Grey Fortune and Chocolate, 1837 Black Tea and Blackcurrant, Bain de Roses Tea and Lemon Bush Tea. The macarons at TWG are infused with their teas thus the names. I'm not really a fan of macarons but they were good. They were not too sweet but I had a coughing fit after I choked on the Bain de Roses Tea variant! Haha.
 

So what was Ziv doing while we were having tea? Well, first let me say that he was sleepy already and was a bit cranky so we were doing our best to distract him. I tried feeding him so he could fall asleep in my arms but that didn't work. He was too interested in the surroundings. I sat him on my chair where he played with my red bead necklace for a few minutes, until the shiny teapots grabbed his attention. I tried feeding him his peach puree, but he wasn't interested either. I passed him to his dada, who had the brilliant idea of putting Ziv on a chair of his own. That was a stroke of genius because after that, the kid happily played for a good few more minutes. Just long enough for us to wrap up our TWG afternoon.


*****

We started a tradition this weekend: Daddy Care Days! Haha.

Since ze hubby is the breadwinner, most of the baby caring duties fall on my shoulder during weekdays. So in the spirit of co-parenting, last Saturday I asked ordered ze hubby to perform all the activities that made up Ziv's bedtime routine: give him a bath, massage him, dress him, read a story to him, feed him and put him to bed. I'm lucky ze hubby obliged.

The whole routine started at 5PM last Saturday. Ze hubby undressed Ziv in the bedroom and on their way to the bathroom, Ziv peed on him--twice! Haha. We had a good laugh over that while Ziv had a puzzled look on his cute little face.

Ze hubby then gave Ziv a bath, massaged him and dressed him up. He realized how challenging it is to put on Ziv's diaper, onesie, pajama and socks. He read HUG to Ziv, fed him and put him to bed. I gave ze hubby instructions and watched but I tried not to step back. It was his moment. It was their time to bond.

I'm happy to report that ze hubby was successful. Well, he got peed on and Ziv cried before going to bed, but both are part of parenting. I was thrilled when he said he liked doing it and volunteered to do it every weekend and public holidays.
 

Seeing ze hubby be a really fantastic dada made me love him more. My son is lucky. Just like his mom.