Drunken Prawns served with Herbal Soup, from Tung Lok Seafood.

The prawns are springy, fresh and succulent. The herbal soup is nice and tasty. This dish is always my favourite!

Project 365: My Daily Photo Journal. Shot using my iPhone Instagram Apps.

Now that Little Edison attends his Phonics class on Saturday morning, I have a lot of time to do my “marketing” while I wait for his lesson to end.

I have a delectable selection of fresh fruits at Cold Storage every Saturday. I’m loving it! Today, I bought blueberries, apples, oranges and bananas. Now, our family will have more fresh fruits to eat every day.

Project 365: My Daily Photo Journal. Shot using my iPhone Instagram Apps.

Jack’s Place has been my favourite restaurant for many years, since I came to Singapore 12 years ago. The ambiance is nice, the service is excellent and the food is great. I can always remember their signature white and green checkered table cloth and good food that have never changed over the years.

Jack’s Place Steak House started in 1966 and since then, it has gradually evolved to include several concept restaurants such as Seafood Harvest, Eatzi Gourmet, Brewbaker’s, Restaurant Hoshigaoka and Jack’s Place under the JP Pepperdine Group.

History aside now and I shall bring you over to their food. We were so thrilled to be invited by JP Pepperdine to try out their sumptuous New Zealand feast. It was such a treat for us to enjoy a fabulous dinner in a nice family restaurant like Jack’s.

I’m a big fan of salmon, so I ordered a Grilled Salmon Fillet topped with Kiwi crumb and served with salad and fries ($19.80). Salmon is a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids that are important for our brain and heart health. The sweet and tangy Kiwi crump proves to be a refreshing accompaniment to the grilled salmon.

Grilled Salmon Fillet for me

V ordered a Kiwi Feast Combo – a combination of prawns, pacific dory fillet, breaded oyster, N.Z. lamb chop and N.Z. striploin steak, that is served with mashed potato and fruit salad ($45.00). This combo meal is huge and perfect for twin sharing. We highly recommend it because it is delicious and satisfying.

Kiwi Feast Combo for V

As for Little Edison, I ordered a Fish & Chip Kid’s Meal for him. His meal comes with a cup of orange juice and a scoop of ice-cream. He ate every morsels of it, until he was completely satisfied.

Soup of the Day & Garlic Bread

We also topped-up $4.80 for the Set Meal that includes Soup of the Day, Day’s Dessert and Coffee/ Tea. The cake is deliciously moist and sweet. We wrapped up our meal with a glass of refreshing fruit juice. Gulp!

Coffee & Dessert

With our bellies full and cravings satisfied, we left Jack’s Place with all smiles on our faces. We like to thank Evelyn (JP Pepperdine) and Jan (Restaurant Manager of Compass Point) for such a wonderful dinner, which not only pleases our bellies but our hearts as well.

If you’re going to Jack’s Place to try out their wide varieties of delectable N.Z. combos, please let me know what you think of it. Now, you can participate in the New Zealand Grand Lucky Draw with any purchase of the New Zealand promotional main courses. Prizes include a Complimentary Roasted Beef on Wagon (worth $480) or Tickets to Universal Studios Singapore!

Photo Credit: Jack’s Place

Often sandwiched between an active 3-year old who cannot sit still at the dining table and a food lover husband who can spend two hours eating just one meal, steamboat is always the last thing on my mind.

V loves steamboat, especially if it is buffet-style. He likes hot soup and he enjoys cooking his food slowly in the pot or grill pan, enjoying its aroma and eating them hot. He can spend a good two hours on it.

On the other hand, Little Edison is impatient with food. We can’t possibly confine him at the dining table for more than twenty minutes. He will make a lot of noise, threaten to climb down from the high chair and roam around the restaurant – which is very dangerous with hot pots everywhere.

Thus, every time when V suggest for steamboat buffet, my answer is a big NO unless we do it ourselves at home.

Recently, we stumbled upon this little eatery by chance. It’s located at a neighborhood mall named Hougang Green, just five minutes drive from my place. This Taiwanese restaurant is called Mun Ting Xiang Cha Xuan. They serve Taiwanese food, snacks and steamboat too (not buffet-style though).

It’s a good place for dining because it’s quiet, air-conditioned and not crowded. The steamboat is definitely good. It comes with two choices of soup, two servings of meat, vegetables and seafood, a plate of fried dumping, two bowl of rice and two drinks for just $29.90. Good for family of 2 or 3.

The lady boss is very friendly and nice. Every time we patronize her restaurant, she will warmly welcome us. She makes an effort to arrange an extra table with toys for Little Edison. As the restaurant is not crowded in the afternoon, it’s also safe for him to roam around.

While we enjoy our steamboat, our boy also eats his meal and play with the toys. It’s not easy to find such a quiet and nice eatery in Singapore, that’s why it’s worth blogging about today. It feels good to enjoy steamboat again…

If you’re staying around this area, you can check out this little eatery at Hougang Green. It’s definitely a nice place to sit down and have a relax meal with your family.

Restaurant Info:

Mun Ting Xiang Cha Xuan

• Hougang Green Shopping Mall, Hougang Green ST 51, #01-02 to #01-03

The thought of cavities really sent a shiver down my spine. I need to get Little Edison treated by the dentist as soon as possible. I thought that a pediatric dentist would be a good choice for young children, thus I did a search on the internet. And I found Dr. Ong Yean Sze, a pediatric specialist from SmileFocus.

I rang the clinic to make an appointment. Unfortunately, Dr. Ong’s Saturday schedule has been fully booked till August. I’ve no choice but to make an appointment on a weekday two weeks later. On the day itself, The Hubby and I took childcare leave to bring Little Edison to see Dr. Ong.

Our appointment was 10am, so we trundled down to the clinic at Camden Medical Centre immediately after breakfast. The clinic is new, modern and elegant too. There is a play area equipped with electronic games, a TV, books, toys and coloring materials for the children and a waiting room with refreshments, newspapers and magazines for the parents.

“Be prepared to pay a hefty bill today, dear”, I whispered to The Hubby. He looked around the first-class clinic, smiled and he said “Yes!”

We waited for less than five minutes before we get to see Dr. Ong. She is very pleasant and professional. Firstly, she wanted to know Little Edison’s diet, eating and tooth brushing habits. By the time we finished explaining, she already had an idea what is wrong with Little Edison’s teeth.

Basically, she is concerned that we’re feeding Little Edison with too many milk feeds and sweet drinks. Simply put, sugar equals cavities. At this age, he should be getting most of his nutrients through solid food. Sweet drinks, including formula milk, Yakult and fruit juices, should be restricted to only one feeding per day.

Well, this is tough for us. Little Edison is notorious for being picky with food, therefore we’re supplementing with formula milk. He needs Yakult and fruit juices to prevent constipation too.

These are some important advice from Dr. Ong to prevent dental cavities in our children. I really want to share with all of you:

1. Reduce frequency of sweetened or acid food.

2. Reduce the frequency of sweet drinks (including formula milk) to once a day.

3. Reduce snacks like sweets, ice-cream and chocolate and strictly limit them to certain “treat days” only, i.e. during parties or events when other children are also eating them.

4. Use normal adult toothpaste. Yes, you heard it right. Normal children’s toothpaste is not strong enough to prevent tooth decay due to low fluoride concentration.

5. Lastly, brushing before bedtime is important. Brush at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, floss at least once a day and visit the dentist regularly.

…

Dr. Ong did a thorough examination and she confirmed that further treatment is necessary to fix the cavities. I was a little puzzled to hear that the treatment may progress under general anaesthetic. Concerned over the need for GA, coupled with high cost, we’ve decided not to pursue further treatment at Smilefocus.

To cut the story short, we went back to my dentist, Dr. Kevin Ong. I’m so glad to hear that he does fillings for young children too. Last weekend, we brought Little Edison to Dr. Kevin Ong’s clinic for his first filling. The decay is removed with an instrument, water and debris are then sucked way. The cavity is then filled with composite (tooth-colored filling). The whole process is completed within five minutes, without the use of a local anaesthetic.

Amazing, isn’t it? We’ll see Dr. Kevin Ong again next month for another filling. This should solve his dental problem for the time-being. Hopefully.

Dr. Kevin Ong’s clinic is located at:

The Dentist@Orchard Pte Ltd

51 Cuppage Road

#01-08 Starhub Centre

Singapore 229469

Tel: 65 6738-5833

http://www.smiledesignstudio.info/

Useful Notes:

• This is a very useful article from The Asian Parent about keeping our children’s teeth healthy.
• And this one from the SmileFocus website on the Do’s and Don’ts of Your Child’s First Visit with the Dentist – for your reading pleasure.

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