Last coffee morning for Nicola

We still cannot believe the Williams' (who live right above us) are moving from Singapore. But day by day it is getting very real. Today we had the last coffee morning at Nicola's place with these lovely ladies (we all have a husband who loves working in the sky).

I am not crying yet. But feeling emotional each time I visit her :(

Fun breakfast

Madoka, Keiko and I have something in common. The three of us are all married to non Japanese. So we have this little group "Japanese wives get together" every now and then.

This time we went to have some nice breakfast without any children! What a treat!!

The meals and coffee were excellent as usual. I tried this french toast for the first time - it was delicious. I am already thinking about going back there when Matthew gets back from his trip. 

We talked about husbands, kids, schooling, Japanese news and more. It is really good fun. I am super lucky to have so many wonderful friends. 

Champagne breakfast

I had Oliver's classmates mummies over for champagne breakfast. No special occasion but we wanted to get together and chat about kids and life in Singapore etc.
I biked to my favourite bakery in the area and got all sorts of bread and pastries - nice and easy and delicious!

Ayako on the right in this picture gave birth to a baby girl, Sawa, in December last year. Both Naoko and I had so many cuddles with her. She is so super cute!

Once our champagne went we opened some red wine for lunch (!?) Kei came and joined us. 

It was only 3 1/2 years ago - my Ashley was this small. It is so strange I hardly remember how I spent each day with her. I must have been struggling... Sawa was very good, had lots of milk and had a couple of naps while the mummies had a great time together. 

Once more Christmas coffee morning

It was nice to have lovely Bayshore ladies at my place for coffee.
Ana, Naz, Meisha, Rowena and Nicola - Merry Christmas ladies!!

Christmas coffee morning with Japanese friends

The very last coffee morning with my lovely Japanese friends for the year 2016. I was very happy to be able to use all my Christmas coffee and latte cups :)

My wonderful Colombian friend baked a beautiful chocolate cake for this occasion. It was amazing!

Also Junko's husband once again made some special sweets for us. This time creamy custard pudding. It was so delicious. You can only taste them at RISE Lounge or Waku Ghin restaurant at Marina Bay Sands. 

Thanks ladies for joining us for a fun morning. Merry Christmas to you all and have a Happy Holiday!

Coffee morning with baby Noah

Our friends Shem & Naz had a baby boy Noah in late October and finally he came out of his house and joined us for a coffee morning.

It is so amazing how small a newborn baby is. I cannot believe our ones used to be this small! Noah came into the world with lots of hair like our kids :) He is just so cute!

We had turns holding/cuddling Noah. Here is Rowena and Noah:

Meisha and Rowena with Noah:

As we live in the same condo, we will get to see him grow. Out of our three Luca is the most excited one. He loves babies but as you know he is very intense so I need to watch him closely around tiny baby Noah from now on - he might squeeze him a little too much!

Naz's baby shower

Our lovely friends Shem and Naz are expecting a baby boy. I enjoyed and felt so special when my friends put on a baby shower for all of my kids. So I really wanted to put one on for Naz.

It was such a relaxing afternoon with all these lovely ladies.

Beautiful mummy Naz:

We didn't have any games or anything - just enjoyed talking about babies, birth, health and the family  :) I hope Naz enjoyed it as much as we did. We are so looking forward to meeting her baby boy! 

Japanese coffee morning

We were spoiled at the Japanese coffee morning the other day. One of our friends' Junko's husband is a well know patissier at MBS. She told him about our coffee morning and guess what!? He made these beautiful chocolate mousse cakes just for us!

My lovely friends - Kei, Junko, Nao and Noriko

Here is Junko proudly serving her husbands' cakes. 

They were so delicate and divine. Thank you very much such a special treat! 

Dawn's goodbye coffee morning

Some of our great friends Dawn and Geoff are leaving Singapore and moving back to the UK. They have a daughter Harper who is only a few months younger than Ashley. We had lots of playdates, coffee mornings and great parties together.

We are so sad to see them go but Geoff is starting with a new company, their new baby is on its way and having the opportunity to live back in your own country - this has to happen!

Nicola organised a coffee morning for Dawn the other day. It was combined with a baby shower for her. We all had lovely time.

Luckily we will be visiting UK/Europe next year (we hope!) so we get to see them and meet their new baby. Good luck with the move and the last phase of the pregnancy Dawn. 

I will miss you so much xxx

Coffee morning

Finally my days of putting things away and organising each room in the apartment has came to an end. I still have more tidying up and reorganising to do but for now I am happy with our house and we are very comfortable living in this new place.

We finally have a dining table too (took 5 weeks to arrive!) and we can accommodate more people.
Until now we only had 4 bar chairs and the kiddy table...

Yesterday the lovely Japanese ladies came around for some coffee and catch up. Chieri one of the super mummies baked this absolutely divine lemon cake. I have booked myself to have a private baking session with her. She is just amazing! Maybe this Christmas I can bake something special... or I order a cake from her maybe the better option?

It was so nice to catch up with them all. We talked about kids, school, cosmetics, cleaning materials, food, drinking - pretty much everything. 

Spot the difference in the photo! 

Yes, Ashley and I are in the second picture. 

Later, Naz my Singaporean friend in the same condo came around to introduce her products to us. We had some product testing and tasting. It was fun! 

Everyone suggested we should do this more often. I have more time available next year once Ashley starts kindy in January so definitely yes! Thanks ladies for coming over :)

Champagne breakfast and Oscars

On Monday morning we got together at Nicola's place for a Champagne breakfast. The idea was us ladies watch the Oscars award giving live on TV while enjoying the lovely food and chit chat.

There were 7 of us and we had a wonderful time. I was busy chatting and eating and forgot to take a group photo :( but it was just lovely. I am not an expert on the actors and actresses so having very knowledgeable friends with us made it even more interesting to watch!

Coffee morning

Since lots of our friends have been away on holiday and having visitors etc we hadn't had coffee morning for a loooong time. This morning Orianne organised one at her new place (they used to live in the same condo). It was a great morning. Gabi offered Ashley and I a ride - someone was very happy to be in a car seat :)

Orianne's new place is only 5 min drive away. It is a much newer condo and they live on the ground floor. Nice outdoor area and the best part is they have access to the swimming pool from their balcony - very nice!

Ashley and her little baby boyfriends Alex and Victor. I cannot believe she is not the littlest anymore!

Coffee morning

I managed to host a coffee morning before everyone went away for the Christmas holiday. Some of the mummies couldn't make it but I certainly had enough to fill our lounge and the play room.

I missed a couple of coffee mornings being away in Germany and Japan so it was very nice to catch up with them. The kids played nicely which is lovely to see :) 

Luca and Aisla:

Ashley with Annabel:

Alice and Harper:

Naz & Naima with Orianne & Victor:

Have a safe trip back home ladies, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Orianne's Baby Shower

On Tuesday morning I had some girls around for a little surprise coffee morning. Our friend Orianne is expecting a baby boy at the end of this month. Everyone was away in May/June so it was kind of a last minute decision to have it but I am very glad we managed to have a special morning for her and her baby.

I put some blue decorations up in the lounge. I was very pleased with the little centerpiece I put together. Her husband is also a pilot for Jetstar - you cannot say "no" to an airplane when you are expecting a baby boy right?

The food table:

Naz baked a yummy chocolate cake:

Girls in blue:

I couldn't invite lots of people as our apartment is not big but I think it was the perfect number of people. 4 little girls and 7 adults. It was nice and cosy. 

I don't know how but I forgot to take a photo with everyone together but I managed to get some group shots.

Orianne and Alice got to open some presents for the baby boy:

Lots of Oliver and Luca's friends here are girls. So it will be nice to have more boys! These three ladies are expecting to have babies in the next three months. Two boys and a girl - very exciting!