Volkswagen Family Day - the Sharan

As a Rise and Shine partner, my family and I were invited to the recent Volkswagen Family Weekend. I am a little late in writing about this, as it was Bun's birthday last week! We had relatives in town for the celebration, and it was few happy, busy days for us.

In short, I have to say that Volkswagen and Rise & Shine did a fabulous job. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and Bubbles has asked to go again!

There were hot mini burgers, roast potatoes, ice-cream with various toppings, juices, coffee and tea made available for all. I thought the food and drinks were generous, and was glad we came with empty stomachs.

As it was Mother's Day weekend, there was a lovely pampering corner just for mothers, where various OTO massage machines were placed for mothers to use. I managed to get a much needed leg massage while nursing Bun in here.

There were many activities planned for the kids, and this tricycle area was Bubbles' absolute favourite. Although she rides a bigger bicycle at home, this set-up with road markings and signs was really fun to her. We were there early so she had the opportunity to ride several times.

Social enterprise Nutriville was there to organise several food art activities for children, including coffee painting, vegetable printing, and working with dough. The simple art work made nice keepsakes for children to take home.

Of course, besides participating in all the various activities, we were also there to test drive the VW Sharan! We bought a new car just last year, so Bubbles knew what it meant to go for a test drive, and was terribly excited. This is how the car looks from the front:

We had to wait a while for the VW folks to fit in two VW car seats for our girls. I thought it was visually appealing to have such matching seats (considering our own our orange and brown!). Bun was facing forward for the very first time, and she too, was thrilled to be in a different car. She kept smiling and waving to the sales rep who was seated in front! Like that:

The dashboard, and my dashing man('s knees) ;)

I am one of those people who knew close to nothing about cars before I owned one. We bought our first car in 2008, and prior to that, I wasn't even able to identify many car brand logos. Yes, I was that bad. I am proud to say that I have come a pretty long way since then, mostly due to car education from Roboman, and reading his many car magazines scattered around our home.

That said, I will focus on describing a few key features that I really like about the Sharan - the technical features can be found in the last photo of this post, and also on the VW website. If you are familiar with the VW ads where members of a family wear helmets, that is for the Touran, a popular mini-MPV model. The Sharan is a newer model, and bigger car.

As expected for a VW, the 7-seater car is well-built and sturdy. The interior is spacious, and its seats had comfortable leather. The drive was smooth, and the car was nice and quiet.

I first noticed that the windows have built-in sun-shades. I love this practical feature! It serves its purpose while looking neat and beautiful. When aesthetics are considered along with real needs, it is a big plus in my books!

The car boasts a moon-roof AND a sun-roof. For those who are unfamiliar, the former is a glass roof, and the latter a roof window that opens up. As our current car also has a moon-roof, I must say that it is an excellent kid-friendly feature - it is great for distracting crying babies and especially fun when there are pretty Christmas lights to view! The sun-roof is an added bonus, and will be great for cool evenings - to get in some fresh air. Of course, the entire thing can be closed up at the touch of a button too; for hot, sunny days where all you want is shade.

As a family with young ones, and frequent live-in guests, we were especially interested in boot space. The back seats fold completely flat, excellent for large objects like suitcases and such. Otherwise, boot space is still generous, even with the seats up. We could easily fit two our our strollers in there.

I guess the most telling was when Bubbles declared during the test-drive:  
I really like this car, Daddy! Can you buy it?

If we haven't bought a similar (albeit smaller) car so recently, I would be singing the same tune!

Kitchen Exploits: Mother's Day Red Velvet Cake

I baked something beautiful over the weekend to commemorate Mother's Day. It was not for my mother however, who does not like sweet treats, but for a group celebration among close friends.

This, is a deliciously moist red velvet cake. I used this recipe by The Pleasure Monger, and am so happy that I did. My friends said it tasted like red velvet cake from a well-known bakery in town!

I have only eaten red velvet cake (and it was a cupcake) once ever in my life, and so I don't have a taste benchmark for how a good one should be. It was thus encouraging that the friends enjoyed it and likened it to good red velvet that they have eaten. 

I followed every step in the recipe except for two:

1. I didn't have Dr Oetker food colouring, so I used a teaspoon of what I had, and additional water to make up 40ml. The shade of red of my cake can be improved!

2. I forgot to add butter to the frosting (oops), hence the ugly crack after refrigeration. I bake in such a rush these days that I make mistakes like these more often than I should.

Despite these two changes, the cake turned out beautifully. I am tempted now to make it for Bun's 1st birthday, although it does seem a rather grown-up a cake for a baby's birthday, don't you think?

Do you like the little flags I made?

The Kinfolk World

It has been a while since I have read a book from cover to cover in one sitting. It is something I miss however, and do try to get some reading done by having my half-read selection of books peppered around the house. (Okay, maybe "pepper" is a bit of an exaggeration, it is more like a sprinkling of a few.)

Recently, during one of my late nights where sleep was sacrificed to quench supper cravings, I sat down to eat, and read this entire issue of Kinfolk Volume 7.

The beauty of its words and photographs drew and kept me in its world page after page, until I regretfully reached the back cover. It helped, I am sure, that this issue featured ice-cream, had beautiful colours of spring used liberally, and showed projects that we can actually do here in Singapore's sunny and wet weathers.

At the end, it dawned on me that while Kinfolk is not quite a book, something was to be said about its hold over me to have read every page without interruption. I am always in awe of artistic talents, and this publication has, very obviously, been created by gifted team of people.

This explains what Kinfolk is all about:

And this is one reason why we like to serve ice-cream :)

So here is my public service announcement...

Kinfolk Volume 8 is now available for pre-order. I have been stalking its appearance and accidentally pre-ordered three copies!

Kinfolk Volume 7 is still available, as is Volume 6. 

Now, if only I can get my hands on Kinfolk Vol 1!

Baking failures

So it is not like I haven't been messing about in the kitchen at all, but that the little I have done hasn't resulted in much good.

I have been trying out some cake recipes, mainly in preparation for Bun's 1st birthday. The thing about cake is that I can get a whole bunch of photos without worrying about my food getting cold. However, a nice photo does not mean the cake tastes good! (or good enough for me to write about!)

At this point, I have to thank a few friends and a kind neighbour for accepting my not-so-great creations. Otherwise, my fridge would be saddled with more cake than we can consume!

Therefore, sorry, I don't have a recipe to share yet, although hopefully I will soon, given that her birthday is coming up in a couple of days! Gulp.

A lychee mixture squashed between some failed sponge cake:

Keeping it simple with sweet mango and toasted almond flakes:

Don't ask:

Do you like my new, bright pink cake stand? It comes with a transparent dome cover too. I got the stand+cover for a steal (S$10)! Mighty pleased!

Speaking of buying stuff for the kitchen, I have been told that ToTT is having a Mother's Day Sale till 12 May! There are discounts of up to 30% on a selected range of products, including special bundles.

Go check out the sale if there has been something you are eyeing. I wouldn't mind this elegant Boska Cheese Knife Set!

ToTT's opening hours:

Mon‐Fri: 11.00am‐9.00pm
Sat, Sun & PH: 10:00am‐9:00pm

Getting things done

Oh, hi!

Oh dear, it has been 2 weeks since I got my hands on a computer and written on this page. I do feel like a crap blogger these days! This year, it seems, has been a tough one as far as getting-things-done go. Especially things that require time away from my children.

In my plans were a number of projects blog-wise, that started promisingly with a mini makeover. I also wanted to experiment more in the Kitchen, and I did for quite a while until I had to consciously choose sleep to make up for an increasing sleep debt.

I have also been terrible at contributing towards the online community that used to be so much a part of my life. Jack-in-the-box behaviour - where I randomly pop in to make quick, almost desperate attempts to skim through blogs, forums, and FB groups/pages to catch up and leave a comment or two - seems to be all that is manageable these days. Most of these pop-ins are done on my smartphone while breastfeeding Bun and when Bubs is either in school or asleep.

We really hope Bun sleeps better soon (she averages 2 ultra mini naps a day, and sleeps 10.30pm-7.30am with 2-3 wakes a night) so that we have longer blocks of time to actually get things done! I have her 1st birthday celebration to plan for, a work project scheduled next month to prep, and a number of home projects to tackle. Her Paed reckons she is just one of those babies who has boundless energy and does not need as much sleep. She thinks that Bun will sleep better once she starts walking, and can be properly exhausted by bedtime!

Still, we are thankful to have experienced good portions of much-treasured family time. A recent stay-cation was a fantastic getaway, a refreshing pull out of the mundane. I hope to write more about it soon, and leave you now with a few photos:

 

Wordless Wednesday - Past their bedtime

Shhh...Going Wordless with 
Sakura Haruka
Mama to 4 Blessings 

Review: Philips Avent Steamer Blender and Travel Feeding Set

Being a mother second time around has resulted in me being familiar with products created to make life with babies and small children more convenient. There are things which I would definitely recommend, and some owned that I would not have bought with the knowledge I have today.

There are also a handful of items that I wish we got when I had Bubbles, and then wonder if we should buy them now, knowing that we are on to our second, and last baby.

One product that falls into this final category of items is the Philips AVENT Combined Steamer and Blender. Philips AVENT is a sponsor of Rise & Shine, and I was thrilled to be able to finally try out some of their products as a Rise & Shine partner.

Here is the steamer blender, next to some carrots and leeks about to be cooked:

Bun didn't start off caring much for solids, although her interest has been piqued a little since then. We give her a combination of soft, mushy food fed with a spoon, and larger pieces for her to hold and self-feed. The former is to actually get stuff into her system, and she now loves trying to feed herself this way too. We do lots of steaming and blending before mixing her food in a variety of stock.

Here's how a bowl of steamed and blended carrots look. It took only 2-3 short whizzes on the blender setting to get the carrots this smooth! You can create different textures and consistencies by adjusting steam and blend times.

After using this Philips Combined Steamer and Blender for a few weeks, I do wish we bought this earlier, especially since Bubbles had a big appetite as a baby! It is just a really nifty product to have and use. It works literally like the product information says: Steam, Flip, Blend and Serve.

Previously, we used to steam food in a pot before transferring the cooked food into a blender. This Steamer-Blender combination saves us washing time, and takes away all the fiddly transferring of hot food. 

Besides the usual vegetables, we have also been using it to cook meat, to great results. Here is an example with some pieces of chicken:

A smooth puree of chicken:

The product comes with two useful recipe booklets (especially for first-time mothers), and a guide that lists the steaming time required for different type of foods. I really appreciated how this guide allowed me to do away with guesswork:

I would definitely recommend this product, especially if you are having your first child. It does reduce quite a bit of the hassle that comes with cooking nutritious meals for babies. I can see ourselves using this beyond weaning too, to make items for adult meals like soups, sauces and dressings.

The only drawback of this product was how every part was fitted so tightly together at the start. I took quite a while (and quite some physical strength) to figure out how to take the machine apart for use when I first received it. But that said, once we got that initial part out of the way, this product has been a dream to use! Love!
------

Philips AVENT and Rise & Shine also sent over this lovely BPA-free Travel Feeding Set. Bubbles has adopted it as her own now, since she is the one who regularly needs to have food on the go. The product specification states that this is for 6m+, so I believe it was made for mothers to feed their babies with, although I do feel it makes a great gift for a toddler/preschooler.

The set comes with leak-proof lids and a spoon that has its own compartment. There are two removable dishes with lids for smaller feeding portions or snacks.

My favourite part is the optional anti-slip suction mat that you can stick onto the bottom of the box to prevent slippage. This is great for new self-feeders or if your child has to eat in a moving vehicle. We have to try this on our next drive up to KL!

One of Bubbles' favourite (and simple) meals. Check out the large garlic pieces - she loves them this way!

We have also been sent a Toddler Mealtime Set - the bowl of which you see in the photos of the purees. They are BPA-free too, and have anti-slip bottoms. A safe and practical starter feeding set.

Bun has recently bitten a huge hole in the teat of her sippy cup, so we are going to let her try this Toddler Cup soon! She is already able to drink from a standard cup, so this is a great transition cup for her to self-feed as it has a spill-proof valve. I never knew of such cups when Bubbles was younger, and am glad to be introduced to them now!

(products c/o Philips AVENT and post sponsored by Rise & Shine)

Scratching an itch

I stayed up on Saturday night to scratch an itch - a redecorating itch.

Do you love our new paper lanterns like I do? They lend a whimsical feel to our home and make me happy to see them.

Put up this pretty Home Sweet Home printable in a matching colour and rearranged stuff on our floating shelves.

(and yes, places to rest my eyes on are now mostly found in higher up places, away from the riot of kids' stuff)

Soul Food

It has been a while. Hours have been long, but days short, and weeks even shorter.

Deliberately, choices made have been made. People over things. Face-to-face interaction over virtual ones. One-on-one conversations over group hangouts.

Alone time with
me.
the husband.
each child.

Time carved out with intention. To slow things down. To focus. To be centred. To make space to listen, to converse.

Time too, for important individuals in my life. Not all photographed. Still more, I have yet to meet. Slow it will be, a lesson I am learning, too used to multi-tasking and wanting things done fast.

Food, it seems, has been poured as an additional blessing through almost all these interactions. Nourishment for bellies and souls. Lovingly homemade, wisely money-made, and always shared.

And so, I have lived the last 2 weeks.

Choosing the slow over fast. Putting the brakes on where they matter.

What else do you do, to slow things down in a sometimes spinning world?

A Round-Up

March has always been a hectic month for us. First of all, it contains both mine and the man's birthdays, and our wedding anniversary.

It is also when there is a 1 week school holiday in Singapore - and for us, a large part of this last week was about helping my kids get over their fevers/flu. This meant staying indoors - no playground (poor kiddos, and me!) and lots of enforced rest.

This year, I agreed to take on a few work projects, and one happened to fall on my birthday last week. I managed to complete it plainly through divine intervention. I slept less than 2 hours the night before, with the girls feverish, and Bun waking up every 45 minutes from her discomfort. Still, I somehow managed to be present, to listen with intent, and to facilitate to help deepen the discussions. I really do love my chosen work-work outside of home, and this experience has proven it to me yet again. It was an intense day which allowed for only one milk pump at lunch time. A horrible case of blocked ducts resulted, but it was worth it.

When the girls got better, we did random things like take them to the beach after a dinner at home. Bun slept the entire journey there and back (home-car-stroller-car-home), and Bubbles was so excited at the sight of the sea and sand despite how we could not see much as it was so dark. We do need to plan another beach holiday, as she keeps reminiscing about our Krabi trip!

I haven't had any energy to either experiment or photograph new dishes for Kitchen Exploits, although I would like to try making these delicious-looking cheesy meatballs, and have to start learning to make a new cake for Bun's first birthday in mid-May - maybe something pretty pink like this.

In other news, three people told me in the past week that Bun looks like a doll :) Well, this little doll now clearly says Mama, Papa, Merc (milk), and Meow Meow (for cat, don't ask). She has started "walking" with a push walker, and has become somewhat of an expert at crawling up stairs. She waves enthusiastically at all babies, children and animals, and often adorably rests her little head on me as a loving gesture. There are six pearly whites in her small mouth, and I think two more are showing signs of wanting to peek out. Her favourite things to chew on are footwear, cardboard and her toothbrush (in that order).

Because of Bun's activeness and need for less sleep, I find her much harder to care for than Bubbles at this age. But...and I say this with a sigh...she really gets away with her bad sleeping and eating habits because she is so darn cute.

And so, my friends, I think April is coming up. Too quickly!