Moose

Bento No. 204

His lunch today has a Moose which I cut out from yellow cheese. There are some brown rice, teriyaki chicken, fried egg with long beans, dragonfruits and kiwi as well.

This is inspired from a story book which we borrowed from the National Library titled 'Larry Gets Lost in Alaska' (Illustrated by John Skewes, Written by Michael Mullin and John Skewes).  I loved the beautiful illustration and the rhyming words in the book.   Alaska reminds me of the wilderness camping trip during its spring time back in my younger days!  Sightings of brown bears, moose, caribou, whales, puffins, sled dogs..etc   So much more to tell my son about our experience! Okay, I am thinking of holidays again...... Unfortunately, Papa will be away in Peru during the June holidays.  Luckily, I have signed up Chinese program for a week with his school.  At least, my boy can still have some fun time with other kids of his age group instead of just with Mommy alone would be so boring.

Wanton somen and konnyaku

Bento No. 203

Papa is away in Bangkok for business trip today and another next week, he will be flying to Peru.  And Papa plans to extend his stay just to hike in Machu Picchu! Jealousy and envy, this is how I feel now.  I wish I can go!!  <sign> Uno, dos, tres, cuatro....Daddy begins to learn Spanish and so is my son who has also been influenced into it that he can recite 1 to 10 in Spanish now. 

Today's bento consists of wanton, cold somen, blanched cauliflower/carrots/peas, oranges, a cheery and red dragonfruit/rambutan konnyaku. It is a new flavour which I enjoyed experimenting it.  I prefer the chewy texture of konnyaku over agar-agar. A nice cool treat for my little prince during the hot hot hot weather ;)

Choo Choo Train

Bento No. 202

Lately, I am wondering what is the difference between Western ham  and Chinese luncheon meat or spam.   And hotdogs!   I noted that all of these processed meat contains "sodium nitrates" which is used as a colour fixation and preservative in cured meat.  And yet, we favour ham over luncheon meat assuming the former is a healthy choice.  Perhaps, the only reasons that deter myself from buying Chinese luncheon meat is the saltiness and the country of origin.  Or rather, I am biased??  But I grew up eating luncheon meat for breakfast and lunch and I still love it! However, I did not introduce luncheon meat to my son for very obvious reason ;)

No luncheon meat but honey baked ham and emmental cheese sandwich today.  I picked a panda foodpick as the driver and the rest of the passengers are specially chosen by my boy for the ride on the choo choo train shape sandwich.  Along with iceberg lettues, tomatoes, red dragonfruit and rambutan - a new fruit in his bento.  Last week, the teachers conducted a lesson on fruits and each child has a taste of different kind of fruit. And he came back asking me to buy rambutans and durian.  Honestly, I have not eaten rambutan for ages. I just could not resist when I saw it selling in NTUC one fine day.  It is sweet and juicy.  I am glad I have bought it for my son. 

Quiet time on Saturday afternoon.  Tracing the words on his Disney Junior Magazine.  This is a good activity magazine to bring with us next time if we are driving to Malaysia for holiday. 

Beach, Meatballs, Ice Cream

Yesterday, we were at the Punggol Beach as part of the school outing.  The objective was to clean up the beach as the latter was quite dirty with junk that the tides brought in.   Since I am staying in the East, I decided to drive to the destination myself instead of joining the school buses.  (That was after I have googled the maps the night before thinking, it should be an easy drive with fewer cars on weekdays ;) 

We set off in the morning after the rain has stopped.  But my son was not euthusiastic about this trip and kept mentioning "It is so boring!".  I guess the teachers had informed them what they were supposed to do at the beach and what they would expect.  Might sound uninteresting just to clean up the beach though.   To motivate him, I told my boy that there was a beautiful lily pad at the Punggol Point Park as well as a sand playground!  After we passed the HDB estate and the Punggol waterway park, we were flanked by line of tree through the short winding stretch of road leading to Punggol Point.  And finally at the last leg of the straight road, my son was literally thrilled by our car went uphill and downhill!  I joined in the fun pretending we were on a roller-coaster ride.

We were early and the school buses have not reached yet.  We snapped a few pictures around the lily pad and promenade.  Thereafter, we headed towards the jetty.  My son spotted boxes of fresh fruits at the end of the jetty.  Shortly after, a motorboat gradually docked beside ready to embark.  The sight of a few men made me feel nervous and immediately, I signalled my son to go.  Upon reaching the Police Post at the Jetty entrance, an officer asked "Did you get out from the boat?"  I was annoyed at the remark.  What makes him think that a mother and a child could be "one of them". 

Finally at 9.40am, the first school buses arrived and by 10.00 am, all the school children were at the beach.  Each and everyone was given a pair of plastic gloves and teachers have tongs with them.  All geared up and ready to clean up the beach. There were a lot of litters in particular little pieces of styrofoam and plastics.  The children even found man's bermuda, clothes, a sneaker shoe, a tire (shown in the picture above), part of deadfish (I think).  Apart from the litters, they also discovered seaweeds, tiny crabs and shells!  The weather began to turn quite humid and hot close to noon.  But the chidren did not care.  Sweaty little heads ate their snacks, drank water and those who finished first made their way to the sand playground.  It was the highlight of the outing for the kids and also, the end of the school excusion.  But not us yet!

We went to Ikea Tampines for lunch. My son has his favourite swiss meatballs and I ordered a baked chicken leg that come with a fruit juice and a chocolate cake totalling $15.30.  He also has an hour of funtime at Småland for the first time!  We ended the day with a soft ice cream which is only $0.50 each!  I was puzzled why the cashier gave me two tokens and two cones without ice cream on it after I have paid.  The staff did not bother to explain and I, too, did not care to ask.  Then, I noticed people queuing at these ice cream machines.  Cool!  And I only discovered it yesterday..haha...

It was a fun and enjoyable outing despite the hot hot weather.  We love it and will be back again!!

 

Panda and sushi

Bento No. 201

Another sushi day!  My son's favourite!  Ingredients are crabstick, tamagoyaki, cucumber, edamame, dragonfruits and oranges.  Put two pandas and leaf foodpicks to complete the bento.

I just read a post by one of the fellow mom's blogger about playful parents and I admire her creativity and courage to host a 'colour fight party' i.e throw paints and edible colours at each other.  Papa comes from a very strict traditional chinese background and he would certainly oppose to this sort of fun at his own backyard  Why?  Messy and geting dirty is not acceptable to him.  There are, however,  still many methods to have fun and PLay with our kids, isn't it?  We have lots of fun in rough and tumble play after my son is borned. And he still loves it now.  For instances, throw the kids up in the air and catch it (cannot anymore due to his weight gain), swimg them around like monkey, wrestling, horseplay, chasing, tickling, pillow fight..etc.  Some experts claimed that roughhousing makes kids:

smart

emotionally intelligent

lovable and likable

ethical

physically fit

joyful

What is your favourite rough and tumble play?

Smiley Reindeer or Giraffe?

Bento No. 200

Does it look like a reindeer (caribou) or giraffe?  My son thinks it is a giraffe.  But I personally felt that it looks more like a reindeer.  Haha! Anyway, it is made of  'Super wholegrain toast' which I bought it from Crystal Jade Bakery at Changi Airport last Saturday. Nori, cheese and carrots for the face.  Cucumber for its ears and a bone foodpick for its horn-like ossicones if it is giraffe or antlers if it is a reindeer. ;)  The fillings is a combination of tuna and green apple mayonnaise. For the greens, I threw in some iceberg lettues, purple cabbage and carrots. For fruits, my boy has oranges and dragonfruits.  Lastly, an apple flavour vitagen to go with his sandwich.

Relationship with hubby has been a roller coaster ride lately.  We have lots of fights over nitty-gritty things. Even, labelling like  'stupid bento blog' makes me jump. :o  The little one at home somewhat bears the brunt of our anger. The atmosphere often become serious that sometimes we were not in a mood to play with him.  (The saddest thing is that he is the only son and his play buddies are his parents. ) And if the little rascal does not heed our advice, we would raise our voice demanding him to listen.  I feel guilty afterwards.  I definitely desperately need a holiday break to release the tension!  Luckily, that heated moment is shortlived and my son's cheerful nature instantly lightened up the ambience.  As a parent, I know I should have handled the situation better for the sake of our child. <sign> Hope that we have less conflicts for the rest of the days and peace too.

Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Bento No. 199

This is my first attempt making a person's face for his bento.  It is his favourite Disney TV series - Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  To whom has followed my blog, you will notice that his lunchbox are mainly animal theme because that is his first love!  Jake is one of the character in the show and my boy likes to pretend he is "Jake".  Recently, it kept advertising for a 'Dress Up' contest and they even has a website http://www.disneyjunior-asia.com/grown-ups/char_jake.html providing ideas for hosting a Jake and Neverland Pirates Birthday Party.   My son requested two things from me.  First, he wanted to participate in the 'Dress up' contest and second, is Jake bento.   I did the latter.  We have some leftover braised pork belly with egg and brown rice from yesterday dinner. It is just nice to pack it into his lunchbox so that I can focus on this "Jake" which is made of emmental cheese, nori and carrot.  It took me more than half an hour to get the image done!  Are you able to spot the sword?  The rest of the stuff are blanched cauliflowers, carrots, green peas, strawberry and kiwi.  Comments from litte one: "So much, can't finish!" and "I want to show off to my friends".

But for the 'Dress Up' contest, I got him a red scarf from Daiso and I am cracking my head how to make the costume for him.   Sewing is not my forte and I learned it only in secondary school during my home economics lesson.  I still have a sewing machine in the storeroom.  It was one of the household items my husband considered useful when we just got married.  It has been an white elephant since.  Perhaps, I should use cardboards and papers instead haha!

Chicken patties with mix vegetables

Bento No. 198

Wordless Wednesday for bloggers?  I just learned from SMB group that it is posting a photograph with no words because the picture itself tells all and it does not need any description.  Needless to say, my bento say it all!! :)

But there is something I need to get off my chest.  It is about the freaky car accident involved with a ferrari and a taxi at Bugis.  I watched the video footage yesterday night.  And I could not believe my eyes that the ferrari beat the red light and smashed on the side of the taxi in split seconds.  Naturally, most driver would not expect it to happen when the traffic light ahead turned green in our favour.  Felt terribly sorry for the victims.  Bearing in mind, I too drive to/from school to drop off/pick up my boy from his preschool,  I have to remind myself not to take things for granted and always keep a look out at the surrounding cars even if it is in green signal.  It is not only for our own safety but for the passengers in our car as well.  We do encounter some unpleasant experience on the roads as well.  Drivers who do not signal, drivers day-dreaming so much so that the cars veered too close, cars sway left and right, tailgating, ..etc  Even my mom complained to me drivers do not give way to zebra crossing :O  This urban jungle appears to be deteriorated at a scary speed and civi-minded society has seemingly forgotten the very basics of living harmoniously altogther.

Tuna Mayo sushi

Bento No. 197

Yesterday, my son told me he just need a plain lunch with no decoratives.  I was wondering what makes him said that.....and replied "Ok, I shall make sushi for you?".  Hence today, I prepare his usual tuna mayo sushi with cucumber, tamagoyaki, edamame, kiwi and strawberry.  Nothing fancy but I added a leaf foodpick..hehe.  I can't help it!

We have been shaving my boy's hair since he was born and even bought a hair clipper to do it ourselves.  He is used to being "榴莲头" boy and honestly, he looks good because of his round shape tiny head.  And all the aunties loves to touch "榴莲头"!  We are not professional hairdresser and sometimes, it gets a little painful when the hair got stuck in the clipper.  Oh, he absolutely dislikes it! Besides, we cut it in the bathroom and the temperature can get really hot when my boy does not cooperate with us.  In conclusion, hair cutting is something not enjoyable for my son.  Whenever we mentioned, it is time to cut your hair.  He will said "No, I want to grow my hair.".  One point to note is he is not suitable for long hair because firstly, he perspire a lot and secondly, he has rather thick and stiff hair texture.  After much negotiation, he agreed to trim but cannot shave.   The result is not satisfying and we still prefer his "榴莲头".  

Twinkle twinkle little stars

Bento No. 196

I have been invited to a FB closed group - Singapore Mum Bloggers. I was totally overwhelmed by the warm welcome from so many mommies in the group when I first introduced myself in fb.  In fact, I was hesitated at first worrying how should I put in words.  It is like getting to know new friends and learning to socialise again (after being SAHM for 3.5 years not meeting anyone new!)  And suddenly, I got a trigger in fb from a blogger who accidentally, tagged me in error.  So I made a short and sweet introduction of myself, my blog and wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day.  **Phew**  I am officially part of the community and feel great to be "connected". :) 

Today's lunch is orangic somen and pork dumplings with Japanese soup base.   Vegetables include star shape carrots and iceberg lettue. On the top tier of the bento box, I packed some strawberries and kiwi. I like it because firstly, it is quick and easy way to make stock and secondly, this dashi is made with healthy and natural ingredients (stated in the packet).  Taste good too!

Sushi and animal farm

Bento No. 195

My legs are aching after the dance yesterday at Jitterbug.  This is the result of not exercising regularly.  Rather, I did not make time for exercise other than doing housework, walking my dog, fetching/picking up my son to/from school and cooking.  May be I should start thinking about it - to be fit and healthy as age catches up.

Today's lunch is his usual baked salmon sushi with cucumber, edamame, oranges and strawberries. And I decorated it with a couple of farm animals foodpicks; pig, chicken, dog and mouse.   Talking about 'mouse', my son recently has been hooked with the 'Geronimo Stilton story books.  The title character is a talking mouse who lives in New Mouse City on Mouse Island. Geronimo Stilton works as a journalist and editor for the newspaper The Rodent's Gazette.   Papa recommended and bought a series of it that we almost can open a bookshop.  My son likes it so much due to its adventurous content and I personally, felt, the wordings are eye-catching and the stories are realistic.  He even pretends himself as  the "Benjamin", I am the "Thea" and Papa is the "Uncle Geronimo" - which are some of the mouse characters in the book.  And my boy is always looking forward to watch it on TV every Sunday morning, 12 noon at Okto. Thinking of which, I shall try making a mouse bento next week!

caterpillar

Bento No. 194

I have some frozen chicken balls which I made previously.  So I packed it in my boy's lunchbox with elbow pasta and mixed vegetables.  Two bone foodpicks as its tentacles and a leaf foodpick just for fun. The rest are made of cheese and nori.  On top of which, he has some butter-fried brown mushroom in tomato sauce.  My son just could not keep his little hands away from my camera.

We have wonderful time dancing at Jitterbug yesterday morning to celebrate Mother's day.  It is a yearly school event where all mommies has come together to bond with their children.  We did the hip hop dance with a K-Pop look alike instructor.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and so was my son!  Even the dance instructor asked whether my son has ever learned dancing? ;) At the end of the session, each mothers received a flower from the little ones.  And I got an orange rose!  My son's favourite colours and my favourite flower.  I also took the opportunity to meet up with my Mom for lunch and at the same time, I brought her some gifts too; a stainless steel bottle, heat rub and two bottles of glucosamine.   We had swiss cheese hotdogs for lunch at Plaza Singapura. We could not find a cozy area to sit down quietly and comfortably for a chat.  Hence, we went to Somerset 313 Food Republic where there was an outdoor playground  for my son to burn his energy and we could relax ourselves at the food court.

Happy Mother's day to all Mommies!

Car

Bento No. 193

This car sandwich was made with German museli bread from Barcode bakery and I filled it with teriyaki chicken, cucumbers and tomatoes. And he has some strawberries and emmi blueberry yogurt. The first time I saw it was at Hong Lim Complex.  The bakery was so crowded with people!  I found this new bakery at Tampines One and without second thought, I bought a mexico cheese bun and half loaf of German museli.  It is good but not really fantastic.

After school, we drove to Changi Airport Terminal 2 because Papa is going to India to work for a couple days.  My boy was so excited because Papa said he is going to give an ice cream treat.  And he repeatedly reminded us that he has "recovered many many times..." i.e. from cough and fever and he can eat a lots of ice cream.  This is the reason my son favours Papa more than Mommy.  Thereafter, we went to the viewing deck since we have plenty of time before departure.  He had fun running around the area.  However, my son got slapped on his head by another child for accidentally bumped head to head whilst playing.  This child obviously does not know what has happened thinking it was my son who hit him.  My son did not retaliate.  (The child is shorter and smaller in built).  Yet the child turned around and told me "I will tell my daddy!".  I was stunned.  I remained silent and did not confront the child. The issue of being able to stand up and fight back or ignore the bullies and go away have been bothering me for quite some times.  

My boy refused to send Papa off at the departure gate.  This is how he waved good-bye...

Baked salmon and colours

Bento No. 192

It is a cold and wet day this morning.  It would be nice if I could snuggle under the covers for a little longer.  My little man woke me up a few times during dawn just to tell me he felt 'itchy' on his hands, legs..etc.  This is the problem when we did not switch on the air-condition.  Instead we chose to open the windows for some fresh air.  Most probably it was mosqito bites and the little ones always the first victim to be attacked.

I like today's bento because it is so colourful; green, red, orange and yellow.  His lunch consists of a two tone corn cob, baked salmon, blanched green peas and strawberries.  Even though, my son eats most of the vegetables but he did not fancy celery.  We had it over our dinner last night and he kept telling us that when he is 10 years old, he will cook lots of lots of meatballs and NO celery!  The good thing about my boy is that he does not spit out the celery althought he dislikes it.  He will oblige by finishing what is on his plate.  At the same time, we also tried to educate him that he needs to eat a variety vegetables to be healthy and strong.  Some brainwashing though....;)

Honey mustard chicken sandwich roll

Bento No. 191

Yesterday, I managed to find a parking lot at the school's driveway.  Usually, it will be full but I was lucky!  I have been parking at the underground carpark at Tanglin PO Office for the last two years because the tenant of the building has generously set the grace period for a 20 minutes which gave me ample time to walk my son right to the school's door step.  With the new tenant came on board, the grace period was changed to 10 minutes in line with any other carparks.  Such a shame!  At the driveway, it can get really congested during a class dismissal.  However, it is fine in the mid-morning because I can drop off my son with the teachers at the driveway who are on standby to pick up the kids.

My son helped to make egg tarts during their Life skills lessons yesterday afternoon.  Egg tart is his favourite!  One parent offered her child's share because her son cannot take wheat flour - gluten! What is gluten?  Below is an extract I found in internet.

Gluten is a composite formed from several different proteins. It is found most commonly in wheat and other related grains, such as barley and rye. Adding texture and a characteristic chewiness to baked goods, gluten is used in a wide variety of other foods as a thickener and binder, flavor enhancer, and protein supplement. Some people can develop an intolerance to these proteins, however; a gluten-free diet often helps to alleviate symptoms caused by this intolerance and prevents further damage to the body.

I am blessed that my boy does not have any allergic or intolerance to any kinds of food. 

Today, I made honey mustart chicken sandwich roll with corn bread, cucumber, tomatoes and roast chicken as the fillings.  And I packed some apples, strawberry and a small packet of milo for his lunch.  My boy is a soup person.  And he asked me "Today, don't have soup?".  I smiled :)

Elephant

Bento No. 190

My son has fully recovered from his cough and running nose!  The first thing he told me is about food!  He gave me a long list of food he wanted to eat like ice-cream, chocolate, french fries, sweets, orange juice.....etc  I have kept all the chocolates and sweets away from him in the refrigerator ;)  And I told him that he can have it once he is well again.  Bet he would ask for it after school. 

Yesterday was labour day, we decided to go out for breakfast at Burger King, Changi Airport Terminal 2 as promised the night before.  He ate the whole of ham and egg crossiant all by himself!  Good appetite!  He even ordered hot chocolate which was a surprise to us because we have never bought it for him.  We were scatching our heads where on earth he learnt about hot chocolate. Obviously, he could not finish it.  The weather, although cloudy, has been quite hot.  After discussion what to do for the day, we concluded to watch the show 'Journey into the amazing caves' at the Omni Theatre, Science Center to avoid the heat outside.  My son has great fun exploring the Science center and he too enjoyed watching the short movie although he felt sleepy and tired towards the end of the show.  A typical family outing is a great opportunity for bonding but can be very tiring too.  Luckily, I was not the driver and could snooze, perhaps, half an hour before we reached home ;)

Above is an elephant onigiri which I actually mixed it with a little bit of teriyaki sauce (my own concoction).  But it appeared too pale in the picture.  I used cucumber to make its ear and nori for the eye.  Besides the teriyaki chicken (which is hidden under the onigiri), my boy also has blanched brocolli/green soya bean and strawberries for his lunch today.