a spot of singapore

Breakfast with horses

March 11, 2011

Breakfast in our house usually means a quick cereal or a cheese sandwich but when the weekend comes along, we like to sit back and do a nice leisurely brunch. And one of our favouritest places to do that is Riders Cafe at Bukit Timah Saddle Club.

There are several reasons for this: they have good bacon (and eggs), they have Mr Fluffles and they have horses.

You can watch the horses walk by right outside the window as you eat, which is both a good and bad thing. The clippety-clop sounds awfully therapeutic but the smell of horse takes a bit of getting used to. The kids love it though.

PS. This is an unsolicited review, not that it really matters.

PPS. Ok, technically not even a review, just a couple of pictures.

PPPS. The bacon is really good though.

PPPPS. Also, Mr Fluffles is not his real name. I just named him that because he looks so fluffly. He almost never responds when I call him that.

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review

The Lion King comes to Marina Bay Sands Singapore

March 10, 2011

I was at Disney’s office last week to sort out the logistics for the upcoming Disney Social Media Moms Celebration (OMG it’s in 5 days time!) and the whole experience was like being on The Price Is Right.

*cue jingle*

“Daphne Ling, COME ON DOWN!!”

*screammmmmmmmmm*

“You’ve won a toaster over, a brand new set of luggage and a trip to the Bahamas!” *ding, ding, din

*And then more screaming*

Ok, it wasn’t quite the same, but it felt like that to me. Mai was so sweet, and on top of making all the arrangements for Florida, she passed 2 giant goodie bags to the kids and gave us 2 tickets to the media premiere of The Lion King Musical at Marina Bay Sands Theatre. There was considerably less actual screaming because I had to look proper and dignified in the office but I’ll just say that it was the loudest silent scream in all of history.

So last night, we got all dressed up and had a date with The Lion King. Which was truly spectacular, by the way. Oh, and the seats were unbelievable, like 8th row from the stage, dead centre kind of awesome.

Now you probably know I have a thing with tribal performances. I don’t know what to make of them because they’re just so…tribal. Every time I hear enthusiastic tribal singing, I have to resist the urge to break out in giggles. Yes, I’m that childish. Stop judging me.

But I really liked the movie version, I watched it so many times as a kid that my VHS cassette tape decided enough was enough and wouldn’t play anymore.

And about that, the musical is almost nothing like the movie. The plot and some of the songs are the same, so you can belt out Can You Feel The Love Tonight (in your quiet voice please) at the appropriate parts, but other than that, it was like watching an entirely different performance.

Right from the opening scene, it was visual spectacle at its best. For one, the set of the Serengeti Plains looked phenomenal and I was very impressed by how the animals really looked like animals. At some points, I had a hard time figuring out if I should be looking at the animal masks on the forehead or the human faces because the masks were so realistic but then the human faces had the expressions. So I did a little bit of both.

The script was also surprisingly good – witty, peppered with the occasional Singlish reference and not at all cheesy. And the thing that stole the show for me was Warren Saga’s spirited performance as Young Simba. I was actually quite sad to see him grow up, although Jonathan Andrew Hume’s chiseled chest made up for it quite adequately.

Maybe the only thing I felt was lacking was that Scar was nowhere near as villainous as his movie alter ego. As a child, I was really terrified by Scar, the archetype of all things evil. Here, he was more of the comical, almost likable villain with excellent pitch. I like me a good villain so it’s much more satisfying when they eventually get mauled by hyenas and served up with a side of fries.

In all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable night. I think if you liked the movie version or like musicals or like tribal performances or just like a valid reason for a night out without the kids, you should totally go watch it. Hakuna Matata, y’all!

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homeschooling

Lesson 3: Baby iron chef

March 8, 2011

I’ve never been particularly gifted in the cooking/baking department and it was not for a lack of trying. My dad was an excellent cook and my mom bakes some really delish cakes but I’ve come to consider myself to be more of the food taster sort. Although that’s mostly due to my discerning palate and not my lack of ability in the kitchen.

That’s not stopping me from introducing my kids to the fine art of culinary magic though. I hear skills like these can skip a generation so there’s a pretty good chance one of my kids will grow up to be the next Gordon Ramsey, minus the bad temper. Ok, I may have been watching too much Junior Masterchef but I can’t help it, kids that cook are SO CUTE.

So yesterday, I aproned them, cleared out my kitchen, dragged out my pots and basically gave them permission to make as big a mess as they could. Seriously, that’s what I said, “go ahead kids, make a mess” and they were all like ” YAYY MAKE A MESS!!”

They started  out stirring plastic fruits with a ladle, but then got bored very quickly and started bugging me for “real rice” to cook. The real rice was in fact a bag of barley grains (expired? does uncooked barley even expire?) I’ve kept in my fridge for the last 3 years but they obviously couldn’t tell the difference. Well, baby girl tried to eat a handful but made a face and spat it out.

They’ve probably still got a long way to go before knowing how to whip up a Boeuf Bourguignon, but they did learn several lessons from this little experience which I consider to be extremely valuable.

1. Real chefs wear aprons. Extra points for cute, bright yellow ones.

2. Raw barley tastes disgusting. Cooked barley is just a little less so.

3. It’s ok if you eventually can’t cook, you can always pay someone to do it.

4. Things usually get messy when you cook, that’s ok.

5. As with everything else, the important thing is to have fun.

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