10th Anniversary Lunch (Without the kids, of course!) :)

We gave ourselves a treat at Shinji by Kanesaka, a Japanese restaurant at Raffles Hotel by 2-star Michelin chef Shinji Kanesaka. We had the omakase menu, which essentially means that the menu selection is left entirely to the chef. I also interpret it as ingredients that the chef needs to get rid of before they turn bad. :P

For the omakase menu, we had an appetizer, a selection of cooked dishes, sashimi, nigiri and maki sushi, a soup and finally, desert. 

Raw scallop with mustard and tonburi. Tonburi is made from seeds of a shrub called Bassia Scoparia and looks like caviar.

Very lightly grilled barramundi (the flesh is still raw) with deep fried baby crab. These must be the smallest crabs I've ever eaten. See how small the pincers are in comparison to the chopsticks at the side.

Red snapper sashimi

Sea urchin, Japanese yam, ladies finger and seaweed. All raw I think. The different colors made the dish look interesting. We were supposed to mix everything up before eating, and eating this dish was a very unusual experience for the senses because of the differences in texture of the items. The sea urchin was soft and mushy, the minced yam was crunchy and juicy (much like fresh water chestnut), the seaweed was like jelly and the grated ladies finger was, well, like grated ladies finger!

Deep fried Spanish mackerel and minced tuna balls. With grated/minced radish on the side. I think this is the dish that we least liked. The sauce was too salty for our liking, and I don't fancy deep fried meat (or in this case, fish) balls in the first place.

Another really interesting dish. Tuna sashimi, in onion sauce, ginger flower and dried fish flakes.

Flathead fish nigiri sushi

Squid nigiri sushi, with some sea salt and lime. This tasted exquisite! The tinge of salty and sour really enhanced the taste of the otherwise plain tasting squid.

Medium fat tuna nigiri sushi. If you look carefully, you can see the graduation in color of the piece of tuna from darker at the left side to a lighter color at the right side. Fatty tuna is more pink, while the leaner tuna is darker in color.

Fatty tuna nigiri sushi. You can see that this piece of tuna is more pink and lighter in color compared to the previous piece of medium fat tuna. Because this piece of tuna is fatty, you can also see that it is marbled, much like the marbling on a piece of fatty Wagyu beef. According to the chef, there is less fatty parts in a tuna fish, so the fatty parts of the fish is more expensive than the lean parts.

Mackerel nigiri sushi with ground spring onion and ginger. I  know that mackerel fish is known to be "fishy" (although I do like the "fishy" smell and taste of mackerel) but this fish doesn't taste or smell "fishy" at all! According to the chef, for the "fishy" fish, he would soak the fish in a vinegar solution for a short while before it is served. This kills away any "fishy" smells.

Marinated lean tuna nigiri sushi

Shrimp nigiri sushi. I found this very delicious. The shrimps were super fresh and were still slightly firm in texture.

Salmon roe nigiri sushi. We were given a small spoon to eat this. A caucasian lady nearby did not notice the spoon provided for this dish and proceeded to finish it up using her chopsticks. Hehe. We didn't realise what she did until she mentioned it aloud after finishing the dish. At least her chopstick-wielding skills would have improved tremendously after that.

Sea urchin maki sushi

Eel, done in 2 different ways. With sea salt, and with a sweet sauce.

Delicious clear soup. With clams inside. According to the chef, this soup is very good for the liver. After drinking that, the Japanese men can go for their alcohol-binging sessions! Yep, the chef said that. Well, sort of. Haha.

A piece of tamago (egg). According to the chef, this is cooked over charcoal fire and can take up to 2 hours to cook. Must be difficult to cook such a thick layer of egg evenly and without burning the bottom!

Desert! 2 slices of Japanese pear, which was very sweet and juicy, and a scoop of homemade Japanese lime ice cream. This must be the most refreshing ice cream I've eaten in a long time. The lime was not too sour and the ice cream was not too sweet. The ice cream was really refreshing and really finished off the many dishes well.

10 Years and Counting...

DH and I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this month! Would you believe we have been married 10 years?!? Well, neither can we! It is difficult to comprehend how we've spent 10 long years together, and it feels like only a couple of years back that we got married. The truth is, DS is already 7 years old this year! How time flies!

Well, DH, who is becoming pretty good at making video slideshows lately, did one for our 10th wedding anniversary. Here it is. :)

(P.S. In case anyone was wondering, I am nicknamed "A" and DH is "One". Just ask me if you want to know how we ended up with these nicknames for each other!)

Happy Grandparents' Day!

(This post was written on 6 Sep 2012)

It's Grandparents' Day this Sunday, and DD's preschool celebrated it with a mini song-and-dance performance by the kids and breakfast for the grandparents.

While waiting for all the grandparents to arrive, Dr Khoo, the founder of DD's preschool and a grandparent herself, held a sharing session for the grandparents. I joked that it looked like a self-help group for grandparents. "I really don't like the way I feel when I allow the kids to walk all over me...". "How do I tell my son that I really don't want to look after the grandchildren this weekend?". LOL!

Grandparents waiting patiently for the concert to start.

Dr Khoo giving a speech before the concert, to thank all the grandparents for their continued support and all the things they do for their grandchildren.

The K1 and K2 kids performing. Later, all the kids (including the nursery and toddler classes) sang the Barney song "I Love You".

DD with her granddad! All grandparents received a  "garland". :)

Breakfast with the grandparents!

DD enjoying the food too. :)

The kids whose grandparents were not present helped to clear away the plates and cups after breakfast. DS, being ever so helpful, enthusiastically lent a hand too.

And finally, a lovely picture taken by one of the student teachers on attachment with the school.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my parents, who have always been ever obliging and ready to help out with DS and DD whenever I need them to. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa! We love both of you very much! :)

My Brave Little Girl!

Well, we really had lots of things happening in August! A day after DD celebrated her birthday in school, she was scheduled to have grommets inserted in both ears. Grommets are tiny tubes inserted into the eardrums to help drain fluids out of the middle ear. She has been having fluids in her middle ear since the start of this year due to recurrent middle ear infections, also known as recurrent otitis media. Due to the fluid in the middle ear, DD has been having a mild to moderate hearing loss in first one ear, then both ears by the time she was last seen by the ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor. This resulted in the need for grommets. No wonder she was talking so loudly the past few months! Haha.

I was taught in university that by the age of 3, 80% of children in Australia would have had at least one episode of a middle ear infection. In the US, otitis media is the second most common childhood disease after upper respiratory tract infection (ie cough, cold). So I knew that middle ear infections were very common in children in western countries, but not as common in Asian countries. However, the ENT doctor told me that it is still fairly common in Singapore, affecting children in the age group of 3-5. And never did I expect one of the children to have recurrent middle ear infections! Thankfully, it is something that is easily manageable, except that the grommet insertion would require the child to undergo general anaesthesia. :(

Topical anaesthetic cream applied to the back of both hands to numb the area. This is to allow the anaesthetic doctor to set a plug on one hand later on without inflicting any pain. (But both hands have to be numbed just in case the doctor finds it difficult to find a vein in one of the hands)  

In the waiting area just before the surgery. I love the mini armchairs! Lots of toys to keep the children entertained.

DD's favorite corner in the waiting area because of the pink furniture! She loves the play kitchen too.

And finally, the surgery is over. DD recovering from her general anaesthesia.  She had to be monitored for 2 hours after waking before being allowed to go home.

A reward from the nurses for being such a brave girl! :)

DD wanting a final picture of her plug before the nurse removed it. She said she was close to tears when the nurse removed the plug because it was so painful. I think the topical anaesthetic cream was already wearing off by then.

DD's hearing is back to normal now, after the fluids were drained from her ears. We hope that that's the end of her middle ear infections!

Piano Recital 2012

A day after DD's birthday, DS and DD had their piano recital, jointly organised by their piano teacher and two other teachers.. This was DS's second piano recital and DD's first. DD was very excited to be able to go on stage like her brother, whom she admires dearly.

Pic of the piano and trophies in the background before the concert started.

Shiny trophies and medals waiting to be won

DS and DD both got a trophy for participation and DS also won a medal for  performance excellence.

The Little One's 5th Birthday - Pt 3

And finally, DD had a cake brought to her school for her to celebrate with her kindergarten friends. :) This is the first time we've ever done this.

DD was overjoyed and distributed Brave-themed stickers to her friends. Yep, we got a different Brave-themed cake for her for school.

The Little One's 5th Birthday - Pt 2

The night of DD's birthday, we had dinner at Summer Pavilion, the Chinese restaurant at Ritz Carlton, where my granddad and 2 aunts were staying. They were on holiday here from Australia, en-route to Hainan Island. My mum and her other 2 sisters in Singapore will be joining them to Hainan Island.

My granddad with 6 of his daughters, 4 sons-in-law, 2 grand-daughters and their respective husbands, and 2 great-grandchildren. 

DD had her 2nd birthday cake here, courtesy of Ritz Carlton.

On a side note, this is the view from Granddad's room in Ritz Carlton, looking straight onto the platform where Singapore's National Day Parade was held 2 days back. I'm planning to book a room there next year so that we can watch the National Day Parade "live"! :)