Wishing all you Brunch With My Baby readers a wonderful Chinese New Year!
To many, many days of eating ahead 😉
Wishing all you Brunch With My Baby readers a wonderful Chinese New Year!
To many, many days of eating ahead 😉
There’s something really ridiculously cute about a little boy all spiffied up. I feel like I just gotta go nibble on their ears and pinch their cheeks until someone pulls me aside and tells me I’m being weird!
A, Apple Pie (a brand created by Pupsik Studio) have just launched their pearlised polka dot fabrics for Chinese New Year, which feature girls cheongsams as well as boys shirts.
But if you think it’s a bit full-on, you can tone it down with just a smart little Bow Tie or Tie. Psssstttt…… they’re on SALE right now at those links! (Was: S$14.90. Now: S$12.90)
They come attached to an elastic band that you simply pull over your kid’s head, and tuck into their collar. Simple concept, and fuss free.
A, Apple Pie are giving away three sets of bowtie + tie!
a Brunch With My Baby giveaway
You can submit some of the entries more than once a day, so come back tomorrow to get more entries in the draw.
Giveaway will run from 17 Jan – 23 Jan 2014 inclusive.
Winner’s entry(s) will be verified according to the entry criteria(s).
Three winners will be sent a set of bowtie and tie, colours chosen based on availability.
And, here’s an extra goodie from A, Apple Pie:
Get 15% off anything from A, Apple Pie’s 2014 collection, using code: BWMB
Valid until 28 Feb 2014.
Nothing to spur a parent into action like the words (especially when blurted urgently)Â Chinese New Year is coming! Specifically, from grandparents that want to be super sure you and the kids have a brand new set of clothes for the occasion.
Fortunately for us, our (extended) family don’t celebrate CNY with a vengeance, so the kids aren’t subject to being dragged around from home-to-home for hours on end (this is what my local friends complain about the most).
Unfortunately for us, it means we don’t have an excuse to get decked out in outfit after outfit of CNY themed stuff!
So we haven’t really gone crazy snapping up CNY outfits, but the range from Elly got me really excited because their CNY “The Horse Parade” range is just so wearable through the year! Check out that link and you’ll know what I mean.
Anyway, both boys ended up with their Red Horses and White Horses bermuda shorts (click that link for more details and photos of the shorts). I personally like these BEST out their whole boys range because:
Here’s your chance to score a pair of Elly’s new CNYÂ Red Horses and White Horses bermuda shorts!Â
Elly are giving away one pair of ‘The Horse Parade’ bermuda shorts
(Red Horses or White Horses!)
a Brunch With My Baby giveaway
These unisex shorts are available at $39 for sizes 9M to 3Y and $42 for sizes 4Y to 7Y.
Oh, and Elly have a special promotion going on – they are offering free local shipping this month (Jan 214) – just use the code “FREESHIPPING” when you checkout!
Got a little girl and you’re all “Well this boys stuff is boring. BRING ON THE GIRLY CUTENESS!”?Â
Life Is In The Small Things is holding a sister giveaway for Elly’s CNY girls range 🙂 Hop on over!
Thanks Elly!
Located among a small row of shophouses along the Bukit Timah highway, Choupinette is always surprisingly busy with diners despite the non-central location. Owned by a French lady, it offers a limited but well executed menu that is pretty reasonably priced.
On top of that, they have a wall dedicated to showcasing their daily freshly-baked breads and pastries – it’s pretty hard to stop at one!
Our kids tore apart their Brioche and were very pleased with it.
Their best value are their Brunch sets. I opted for the Eggs Royale with fruit juice and hot drink ($23). It’s decently priced considering it comes with two full-sized drinks.
The eggs are poached to perfection – with the yolk creamy and goey inside. Only problem? We suspected they poach their eggs in water laced with (a lot of) vinegar, then don’t do a good job of draining the water off. The result: the bread soaked the water and gave an extremely sharp vinegar taste and smell. It dissipates quickly once you start chewing, but just something to note if you can’t stand the smell of vinegar.
My coffee was rich and smooth, and I really enjoyed it. So I was really dismayed when my hand hit the saucer accidentally and sent half my coffee spilling into my main meal!!
The orange juice was pulpy and not too sweet, and Carter enjoyed it (he drank the whole thing).
I adored their Beignet on a stick. Fluffy donut balls dusted in fine sugar, they were simple but very well done. I’d get this one again anytime!
Last Bite: Choupinette offers a well-priced brunch menu, and their wall of freshly-baked breads and pastries are a hit.
Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: No (a few stairs up to the restaurant)
Change tables: No
Kids’ menu: No
Choupinette
607 Bukit Timah Rd #01-01
Singapore 269708
Phone: 6466 0613
Prices: $$
Hours:
Tue – Thu: 09:00 – 20:00
Fri: 09:00 – 22:00
Sat: 08:00 – 22:00
Sun: 08:00 – 18:00
Closed: Mon
Make-your-own-pancakes, you say?
Why can’t I just mix the batter by myself and make it in my own kitchen?
Good point. You absolutely can. But what’s the fun in that?!Â
So that’s what you’re paying for at Slappy Cakes – a whole lotta fun. The large tables have flat grills that work impressively well. They require no oil, and are totally flat, so any lousy cook can make a yummy pancake with little chance of creating a disaster. And this is what makes it extremely kid-friendly – our 2 year old and 4 year old could easily squeeze the batter out and even flip the pancakes by themselves! And boy, what fun they had 🙂
Brought to Singapore by the Tung Lok Group, the premise is simple:
Step 1: Pick your batter – Buttermilk/Whole Grain/Chocolate/Zucchini/Peanut Butter ($8 per bottle)
Step 2: Pick your fixings- they start from $1.50
Step 3: Pick your toppings – ranging from $1.50-$3.00.
One bottle of pancake batter will actually fill the average person right up. Some reviews online say each bottle will feed “2-3 people”. I have no idea who they’re referring to, but probably half-starving, super skinny people. One bottle is NOT enough for 2-3 people, it’s enough for 1 person with a normal appetite.
The fixings and toppings are a range of sweet and savory. It’s hard to narrow down! You’ll feel compelled to order everything 😉 Fair warning though – the portion sizes are phenomenally tiny. I’d expected double the portion. It’s enough for one person but nowhere near enough to share with more – so that was disappointing.
So off we went!
We did mostly round pancakes because when you have kids jumping around, and everyone is hungry, it was kind of the easiest to whack out. Not the most exciting, but it worked 😉
The Buttermilk pancake batter is superb, by the way. It had a beautiful buttery flavour and was a delight to eat.
This was my favourite ‘creation’ – Buttermilk pancakes, with grilled ham and Brie cheese (baked into the pancake)!
We did make a couple of cute shapes, and it’s easy to because the bottles come with a small nozzle. The kids were highly excited by the shapes, and made all their requests 😉
Oh! They also have other brunch-type items on the menu. Here, we have Roasted mushrooms caramelized red onions, spnach and crispy bacon scrambled with eggs and topped with cheddar cheese. Served with breakfast potatoes and toast ($15). It was served with sour dough and breakfast potatoes. It was good, and helped fill the kids up a little (I didn’t want them to eat just pancakes for a meal).
This is the Peanut butter batter, with homemade chocolate-hazelnut and bananas. It was kickass.
And this is the Chocolate batter with bananas. The chocolate flavour was dense and really came through, but is a bit much if you’re having the whole bottle to yourself!
Last Bite: Have a blast making cute (and delicious) pancake designs at Slappy Cakes. The kids will love joining in on the fun!
Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: Yes (in the mall)
Kids’ menu: No
Slappy Cakes
The Grandstand, #01-20/21
200 Turf Club Road
Singapore 287994
Phone: 6465 1814
Prices: $$
Hours: Mon – Fri: 10:00 am – 9:30 pm, Sat – Sun: 8:00 am – 9:30 pm
I was pretty amazed with the SodaStream when I first saw it selling in department stores in Singapore – “such a simple idea”, I thought, “why would anyone bother buying fizzy drinks from the grocery store after this?”
Turns out the whole make-your-own-sparkling-drinks concept is new to Singapore, but has been around for decades in Europe and Australia. I never knew! Guess I never noticed, because all through years living in Australia, I don’t think I’ve noticed this before.
The SodaStream Source creates sparkling water and sodas in the comfort of your own home.
Designed by renowned designer Yves Behar, the Source is considered an ‘active green’ product (which means that it reduces the impact on the environment).
Personally? What I like most is that it contains only 1/3 of the sugar and calories compared to regular soft drinks.
This is my Starter Kid, that comes in a neat cardboard box:
The metal CO2 canister plugs straight into the back, and you’re ready to rumble! Each canister carbonates up to 60L of water (which is 60 bottles).
I fill my SodaStream bottle with (chilled) tap water, then simply push it up into the SodaStream machine.
To fizz up your water, just press the block (where the kids are pressing in the photo below), and hold it down until the LED indicators light up. The longer you hold it down, the more fizz you get.
It takes about 2-5 seconds to complete, depending on how much fizz you want. And VOILA!!! Fizzy water 🙂
There are a TON of syrups to choose from, but I got Orange Mango and Apple. I fill the lid up with 2/3 syrup (I don’t like my drinks too ‘thick’), pour it in, and slowly swirl the bottle.
DONE 🙂
Very, very easy, right?
The SodaStream is a HIT at parties, because it makes carbonated drinks in a matter of seconds, and is a sure-fire WOW attraction for the kids. I think they get pretty amazed with the whole gadget and being able to see the fizz and make their own drinks 😉
SodaStream Source PROS:
SodaStream Source CONS:
I can’t think of any more cons because, quite simply, this is a winner if you’re a soda drinker and/or have kids. You don’t even need to put the syrups in, you can drink it as-is as soda water!
We’ve used it at a couple of home gatherings and play dates, and it’s been treated with great interest every time. And, admittedly, I love being able to delight my guests and serve fun drinks…. instead of my standard – plain water 😉
SodaStream Source retails at SGD$298 for the metal version, and $208 for the plastic version. It is available at all major participating department stores including Tangs, Robinsons, Takashimaya, OG, Cold Storage and Best Denki.
I’ve been a fan of OXO products for about two years now, and actually own… errrrr… pretty much the entire product line. I’ve accumulated them over the months and one day I realised I own the range! I know, I’m such a sucker for cool kid products.
The quality of the materials used in OXO products are excellent, and the colours are vibrant, which appeal to kids.
This, below, is my existing OXO product lineup *ahem*. I did tell you I really like their stuff!
Rockabyelane are giving away one of three $35 vouchers to spend on OXO products!
a Brunch with my Baby giveaway
You can submit some of the entries more than once a day, so come back tomorrow to get more entries in the draw.
Giveaway will run from 3 Jan – 9 Jan 2014 inclusive.
Winner’s entry(s) will be verified according to the entry criteria(s).
Voucher may be used to purchase OXO products at Rockabyelane.com
And, here’s an extra goodie from Rockabyelane:
Get a 10% off STOREWIDE DISCOUNT at Rockabyelane with code: brunchwithmybaby
Valid until 17 Jan 2014.
Discount is valid on all merchandise storewide, but excludes shipping cost.
OXO is stocked at Rockabye Lane, a local online boutique that ships out speedily and packages arrive with a pretty little sticker:
You’ll see in the photos of the water bottles that there is a little hole thingy (I’m sure there is a lovely name the OXO product folks have come up with, but I’m sorry I don’t know it!) where your thumb can go through, or little fingers can grab onto. It’s a simple idea, but works really well – it’s easy and fuss-free to grab my kids’ bottles and go!
And, is it just me, or do you guys have SUPER ANNOYING PROBLEMS with twist-up-straw bottles? You know, the type where you twist  the top and the straw emerges? By problems, I mean when I twist the top to get the straw out, the whole top unscrews off the bottom. Hello water spillage. Not happy. A lot of brands have done this to me, but this new OXO water bottle does not. When I (or my kids) twist the top, the straw comes out easily. I think it’s party due to that thumb-hole thingy, which helps you hold the lid in place.
The water bottles are sturdy, completely leak-proof when closed, and my kids happily use them with no issues (ie. they don’t choke). All good in my book. My kids actually have around…. errrr.. more than ten (or maybe twenty) water bottles. It’s a creepy lil obsession of mine. I’m really satisfied with these OXO ones though, so all the others have been chucked into the cupboard and my kids just use these now.
The OXO snack box is my most-used vessel for the kids’ snacks. I pop in little biscuits, raisins, and puffs. I LOVE the design because I don’t like the silicon reach-in lids (the flaps always bend and don’t work properly after awhile) and the curved-in container keeps snacks INSIDE when kids tip the box. The opening is wide enough for little hands to reach into, and the box is shallow enough for little fingers to reach the bottom.
So.. what of all the other OXO products?
Here’s a quick run down from my personal experience:
Thanks Rockabyelane!
Hot on the heels on her first guest review on The Marshmallow Tree, Delphine Tan of the popular blog Life In The Wee Hours has hit us with a super-fun restaurant that I’m pretty excited about. A bouncy castle for the kids is always good in my book!
The following review is by guest reviewer Delphine Tan:
District 10 Bar & Restaurant in UE Square is a not a place I’d automatically associate with children’s birthday parties. But we attended one there last Sunday and it was a lot of fun for the kids. Every Sunday, a bouncy castle is set up at the al fresco area of District 10 from 11.30am to 4.00pm. I love that the castle is outdoors but still under shelter so the noise from screaming children doesn’t build up that much but the weather is not an issue either. I’ve seen some restaurants with bouncy castles that heat up like crazy under the sun and the children are practically roasting inside!
The bouncy castle alone makes District 10 a fab place to have family lunch on Sundays. But there are also colour pencils for the kids to colour with and a spacious walkway just beside the al fresco area for the kids to hang out at when they need a break from all the bouncing around. Our kids used that space to blow some bubbles and we could keep them within view the entire time.
No matter how kid-friendly a place may be, I think it still needs to serve up some decent food to keep the grown-ups happy and to get people to make a return trip. With the kids happily playing in the bouncy castle, the adults could sit back and relax with a beer (or two) and the ones who couldn’t have alcohol could choose from an extensive range of mocktails, juices and soft drinks. The food was pretty good too!
The Gunner ($12) was a favourite with the children and pregnant ladies (there were two of us there).
The classic French onion soup ($13) wasn’t the best. It was too thick and too strongly-flavoured and came across more like a stew than a soup.
The Caesar salad ($14) could be a bigger portion for the price but is otherwise very decent.
I enjoyed the fried Buffalo wings with blue cheese dip ($12) which were spicy enough to give a kick. The blue cheese dip was not overly pungent and went very well with the wings. I would have liked more veggie sticks.
The kids were somewhat suspicious of the rocket leaves on the Pizza Jamon Iberico de Bellota ($32) but it was well-received by the grown-ups. District 10 offer interesting combinations of pizza toppings to choose from.
The Black Angus beef burger ($22)Â was cooked well done, yet was still moist and juicy when other places would have made it really dry.
The Hoegaarden battered fish and chips ($22) was a hit with both young and old. There are two substantial pieces of fish very nicely fried with mint mushy peas, some greens and fries on the side. The husband considers himself a fish & chips connoisseur of sorts (he orders it whenever he sees it on the menu) and he was very satisfied with the one at District 10.
Since we had the birthday cake, we didn’t order any desserts but there’s a pretty good range including warm lava chocolate cake, New York cheese cake and Italian tiramisu.
I really enjoyed our lunch at District 10 and would definitely like to go back again. It’s great for a small gathering like the one we had, especially if most of your friends have kids above 2 who can bounce around in the castle without needing too much parental supervision.
Last Bite: District 10 is perfect on Sundays. The kids get to go mad in the bouncy castle; the adults get to eat good food and enjoy a beer.
Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: Yes (but you need to get the key from the security guard at the counter)
Kids’ menu: No
District 10 Bar & Restaurant
81 Clemenceau Ave
#01-15/16/17
UE Square Shopping Mall
Singapore 239917
Phone: 67384788
Prices: $$$
Hours: Mon – Thu: 11:30 am – 11:00 pm, Fri – Sat: 11:30 am – 1:00 am, Sun: 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
2013 will always be a special year for Brunch With My Baby Singapore, because… we launched! We’ve been live since 1 October 2013, though it feels like a lot longer than that.
We’ve written 85 (!!!!) posts since we started in October – a mere 3 months.
We’ve hosted 15 fun weekly giveaways for you.
We’ve had the privilege of having 2 guest writers (Debra and Delphine), with many more to come in the year ahead.
We’ve also had to battle weight gain, thanks to the daily brunching-out. But hey, it’s all part of the job right?!
So what’s in store for 2014?Â
Expect lots more food reviews on fun and kid-friendly places to dine. Many more guest reviewers (if you fancy yourself quite the writer, please contact us to be a guest reviewer!). And, of course, our weekly giveaways for fabulous stuff.
As always, thank you for dropping by. To way waaay waaaaaay more eating in 2014!!
(pssssst! Stay tuned to our updates on our Facebook page.)
My Mum was a serious career high-flyer at a French bank, before she quit her job to….. look after me. For most of my life, I’d always thought it was such a silly decision, and that when I grew up, *I’d* never sacrifice all that money/career-glory just for my kid.
Now, being a SAHM and having made the same decision Mum made all those years ago, I truly understand and appreciate the sacrifice she made. This article I wrote for Material World is dedicated to her.
It is also dedicated to my mummy girl friends, and to anyone who is a mum and reading this. Because we’ve all made our own choices. We’ll never be sure if we made the right one, but we sure as hell hope it is!
The Plight of the SAHM vs FTWM, written for Material World.
Hope you enjoy the read 🙂