My Prince brought me out!

My hubby and I went for a date night yesterday. It was so special, I wish I could have saved the whole experience in a virtual reality DVD and re-play it all day, everyday!

Why was it so good???

Because I had absolutely nothing to do with the planning of it! Hub actually planned the entire thing!

He arranged the babysitter. He decided on the day and time. He researched on venues of where to bring me annnd he kept me in surprise until the day itself!

I had NO idea where we were going! It felt like we were singletons exploring a brand-new city!

We went to a German restaurant that we've never been to. He researched on TripAdvisor and brought me to the #1 restaurant in Stuttgart!

I really enjoyed being the one who could sit back and not do anything and just be treated like a princess for an evening!

I have a confession. Since we got married 11.5 years ago, and more so since we started having kids 6 years ago, I'm the organiser. I decide when, where and what to do. As much as I like surprises, I'm too impatient not knowing what's going on. I like knowing what to expect and as a Mom, I don't like last-minute changes.

Yes, changes are to be expected - especially with kids. But that's also why I hate being unplanned. I know how unpredictable kids can be so as far as possible, I try to minimise last-min changes in my regular schedule.

That said, I also complain that the hub doesn't court me anymore. You know what I mean. Or that Stuttgart is BORING. (Sorry to you Germans reading my blog).

Coming from a city with 5 million people, I do like the hustle and bustle of a big city. I like exploring new eateries, going for new experiences and doing new stuff.

Our usual Sunday hangouts alternate between hmmm.... 5 restaurants? Many Germans that we know don't even eat out. We eat out on weekends and that's considered extravagant for many already. Call me spoilt, but I can't wrap my head around the idea of cooking every.single.freaking.day! Mummies need a break too, yo!

Plus, I don't like what the Germans call "Abendbrot" - evening bread, which means bread with cold cuts. Gosh. I can maybe have that once a week but don't expect me to eat it every dinner! Even my kids don't like Abendbrot all the time. If we've had Abendbrot one evening, they will be like "not again" if we have the next evening. That simply means that I have to cook for lunch and dinner.

Right, so let's go back to our Date Night! It was sooo lovely! We first went for dinner and thereafter went for a Skybar! Like wow!!!

Ok, let me put a disclaimer. Our sky bar is on the 10th floor in an old town. My camera battery died, if not I would have taken a photo of the skybar.

To be far, we don't have skyscrapers here. So the 10th floor here while every other building is a maximum of 3 floors means that we are still on the highest point in town. I had to poke fun that in Singapore, a skybar means 55 floors and in Schorndorf, a skybar is on the 10th floor.
(Mental reminder: Stop comparing Pris!)

Right, it was really lovely being right up there though. Neither of us had our phones working more. I ordered an Aperol Spritz while Stephan got himself a glass of white wine.

We sat next to each other and I enjoyed the feel of the hub's arms around my shoulders. That's really what I miss a lot! With 3 kids, we rarely have time to hold each other hands, let alone him putting his arm around my shoulder. You do need 2 hands to push a stroller and the 2 older monkeys still need some supervision.

It was such a wonderful evening. I think I told the hub a million times "I'm so happy you organised this."

I really truly appreciated that the hub took the initiative to organise something! I really loved the element of surprise he brought in with it. To be fair, he refused to tell me the agenda for the day because he was half scared that I would shoot down his idea.

It's such a learning experience for me though. I realised that I need to step back so the hub can take the lead in this relationship. At the risk of sounding corny, I do really miss being the Princess and being brought on a nice journey by my Prince.

I feel that one of the main dangers of being married for a while is that we go on autopilot. We each assume our roles and just sorta keep doing what we're doing. But I've missed the spark you know. Just the feeling / memory of our lives before we had kids. Us just enjoying our lives together. I don't want a marriage that is just an empty shell after the kids move out. We're far from where we want to be, but this date night was definitely a huge step in the right direction!

That's why I kept nagging telling the hub that I wanted him to organise ONE date night. Like just one. So that I feel like he's taking me out on a date and not that we're going out a date that I organised.

And I need to say this once.

YOU did GREAT darling!!! I'm so proud of you!

For you wives  - Let your husbands take over some of the roles that you've assumed for a while. You never know! They might just surprise you with what they can do!

For you husbands - Bring your wives out! Surprise them! Pursue them even when you're married! Do something new with her! You know what they say, Happy Wife = Happy Life!

I went for a haircut and root colouring for my date night!

He dressed up for me too! With a suit!

I had a house cocktail speciality! It totally hit the right spot!

Spätzle (Swäbish egg noodles) with Beef Gulash (14€)

This was THE BOMB! Beef fillet with truffle noodles and sugar peas. Gosh, the smell!! (25€)

Chocolate soufflé with caramel vanilla ice-cream (7€)

Hub's cheese platter with the spiciest ginger sauce! (7€)

#1 Restaurant in Stuttgart!

http://www.derrotehirsch.de/

Der Rote Hirsch Marktstraße 46, Eingang Marktplatz

D-70372 Stuttgart

eMail: info@derrotehirsch.de

Tel: 0711 84969373

Turning 34 - my epic children-free day off!

The older you get, the simpler and smaller your birthday celebrations become.

I'm a December baby and every year, December is always a stressful month. There's Christmas presents to be bought, photo calendars to be done, Christmas cards to be written and last year one top of everything else, I had to make 3 photobooks by the end of November.

Needless to say, by the time December came around, I was so uninspired to sort out photos that I was toying around with the idea of not doing a photo calendar for 2017.

However, with the encouragement of my in-laws, I decided to persevere with my photo calendar tradition because its such a great way to remember the best moments of 2016.

Bottom line was, I knew that I didn't want to throw a fancy schmancy birthday party for myself because it will be more work and stress than anything else.

I decided to go for something more fun and simpler - A day out to Strasbourg with my hubby and 2 of my closest couple friends!

It was the BEST.THING.EVER!

We had such a perfect day! One full day without children. No stroller. No diaper bag. No looking out for children who disappear among the masses. No feeding someone else before myself. No additional job other than to take care of my own needs.

Heaven!

The only thing was that we had to plan our outing way in advance. We informed our friends and locked in the date a month in advance.

Having 3 kids make the logistics of having a babysitter way harder than with 2 kids. We knew we didn't want to trouble my in-laws for the entire day and evening. So we decided that my in-laws would take care of the kids during the day while my neighbour D. would take over in the evening.

Closer to the date, we hoped and pray none of the children or babysitter would fall sick. Our friend, D. broke her finger one day before my Strasbourg day! She actually had to babysit with her finger in a cast!

Sushi! (What else?)

I was the birthday girl so I decided on the dining venue! We went straight for my favourite sushi restaurant where I could satisfy my grilled yakitori and sushi craving! YUM!

See all our happy faces! No kids = Freedom!

Sushi boat!

Christmas market

After lunch, we headed straight for the Christmas market. Strasbourg has such a gorgeous Christmas market and oh boy! Was it jam-packed! I was so thankful that we didn't have our children with us! The terror alert in France is still on high, so there was armed police all around and they cordoned off the Christmas market. We could could enter and exit by going through police check-points.

I think this is actually a very good precautionary measure seeing what happened in the Christmas market in Berlin. We really do live in precarious times these days!

Absolutely love this shot!

Drinking mulled wine (Glühwine) in the cold

Finally a couple shot again!

After about 2 hours of walking around in sub-zero temperatures, we headed straight for the mall to thaw ourselves. I didn't dress myself warmly enough, so my toes felt they were going to fall off!

There's this superbly yummilicious chocolate waffles in the main shopping mall in Strasbourg, Riverie. This is INCREDIBLE! My friends were getting so hungry that they wanted to go for crepes at the Christmas market but I told them to wait for the chocolate waffles.

And it was SO. worth the wait! I dream about this waffle until today! They really should open an outlet in Stuttgart!

I didn't share my waffle with my hub!

We shopped for about an hour, during which of course we bought a winter jacket for Samuel. What else right? Well, to be fair, that boy needs a warmer winter jacket. His previous one didn't make the cut and I always felt so sorry for that boy.

We didn't have any dinner reservations. Somehow we thought that it would be no problem to find somewhere to dine since we don't have kids right? - Wrong!

All the restaurants were packed to the brim! The French are world-renowed for their culinary skills so you can imagine that the last weekend before Christmas was filled with people wanting to eat out!

Thank God really that after about 30 minutes of looking for a parking space and restaurant, we did find somewhere that had space for all 6 of us.

We ordered sparkling wine and everybody just had a jolly good time! I can't remember the last time I had hours of undisturbed conversation with adults! No, "Mummy, xx did this. XX did that". I could actually talk in peace!

That was epic! From the time we got into the car, to the time we got home, we were all just talking and enjoying each others' company.

I'm so so so grateful for this group of friends that we have. These people are also our childrens' Godparents and they would go out of their way to help us. We can really count on them to go above and beyond the call of duty to be there for us. We're so grateful! They are actually friends we got to know from our cell group! Thank God for kingdom friendships!

My dessert on the left: Chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice-cream (seriously the best!)
Hubby had the good old favourite, Creme Brulee

Men's cooking course

My sister-in-law, Sabrina gifted us with a 125€ voucher to attend a Men's cooking course. I found the idea very ingenious because who doesn't like a guy who cooks? The only drawback was that the voucher was valid on the Saturday after which the whole T. family was sick for the entire week.

It was seriously my worst case of stomach flu (ever) and one of hubby's worst as well. I hardly ate anything and could barely keep anything in. Hence, the last thing we wanted was to indulge in "classy" food.

We decided to go nevertheless because it was impossible to change the date at such short notice and we didn't want to incur the 50% cancellation fee.

Were we glad we did! The food was yummilcious and it was really cool to enjoy some "us-time" while Sammy was babysat by my in-laws at home. It also almost coincided with Valentime's Day, so for the fact that we were both totally out of it on V-day, we still did something special as a couple. :)

Hubby had to turn up at 6.30pm while I only had to arrive 2 hours later. The men were coached under the experienced care of a qualified chef who explained the finer tips for cooking salmon and duck. I found the dishes very appetizing but they are wayy too tedious for a family with kids.

We were emailed the recipes so technically I could try out the salmon recipe and let you know how it turns out. The main course of duck with gnocchi is something that should only be attempted when the kid(s) are out of the house or on a special occasion with some other couples available to babysit / help in the kitchen.

Hubby enjoyed himself too. He said it was a very nice experience cooking in a kitchen with only state-of-the-art appliances and stoves. I can only imagine! Having a dream kitchen for someone who cooks is like having a dream car for someone who loves to drive! Ohh and I have to add. He mentioned that it was also less stressful cooking with a bunch of other guys with an instructor than to cook with his wife in the kitchen! LOL. I got nothing to say in my defence though!

We had some starters to fill our empty stomachs

  A very puzzled-looking hubby and a contented me munching on my garlic tomato bruschetta

Welcome to great food!

Starter: Grilled salmon on top of a couscous salad with tomatoes, cucumber and mint.

I absolutely adored the starter. If it were for me, I could just eat that as my main course. The salmon was grilled perfectly, skin slightly crisp on top and flesh was succulent and juicy. Couscous complemented the salmon well, giving it a mediterrean touch.

Looking suave in his apron

That was the fun part of the evening! Whenever the men brought our plates to the kitchen and prepared the next course, the ladies would have a nice girly chat. I met some very interesting women who gave me a couple of recommendations of things to do in Germany / musicals to see in Hamburg. Hmmm.... now if only I get a portable babysitting service!

Course 2: Soup with apple, ginger and curry spices

I'm not a big fan of ginger in soup, but this soup totally made the cut. The ginger gave the soup a tangy spicyness but it was not overwhelming because of the sweetness of the apple.

Main course of grilled duck, grilled vegetables with almonds and home-made gnocchi with a reduced red wine sauce

Doesn't this look like what one would order at a restaurant? The only drawback was that the duck fillet was a bit too pink for my liking so I ended up asking the chef to grill it a little more. The gnocchis were ooh-la-la. I don't like the ready-packaged gnocchis but home-made gnocchis are in a class of their own.

Last but not least, the dessert of chocolate cake with vanilla pudding

This was SOOOOO good, I could have seconds or thirds. The chocolate was sooo moist and rich on the inside and warm on the outside. But atlast, this was not a restaurant where I could order more. Absolutely delicious! I got to try out the recipe and let you know how it turned out! As the Germans would say, "That was the hammer".

Our only couple shot for the night

A random shot of our table. Everybody came in pairs because this was obviously a group couple thing

Would we go for something like this again? Most definitely. But to be honest, I felt that the 125€ price tag was a bit hefty. To make a comparison, a one-star Michelin restaurant at the Porsche museum would cost about 100€ and one would be served without having to cook.

So yeah, it was a great experience but if the price was a bit more affordable, I could picture ourselves going for these types of date nights more often. Still, it was an amazing Christmas present. Great food, great company and free! - We couldn't ask for more.

Cooking class in Stuttgart
Kochschule in Stuttgart
Rosenstrasse 42
70182 Stuttgart

Me time part 1 - Primark!

Now that Sammy is older and I'm no longer breastfeeding, I've got a bit of newfound freedom back!

After his first half-day being with his Godparents, I've become more adventurous and decided to leave him with my hubby for another 2 occasions.

My friend, Tina asked if I wanted to come along with her friend for a day trip to Primark in Frankfurt on a Saturday.  I was happy enough to spend some me-time and finally have both hands free to shop, so I agreed in an instant.

It was such a wise decision to go to Primark without a stroller cos it was massively-packed that day! I sorta knew what to expect since I visited Primark before during our trip to London. However, that day's experience was a shock even for me.

People were literally going crazy. Clothes were sprawled on the floor. The queue to the fitting room took at least 30 mins. Service staff were so stressed. One is not allowed to try clothes without going to the fitting room. Popular garments were sold out such that the only sizes left were either super small or super huge.

We wanted to shop together but decided to split up because it was easier to look for what we wanted on our own.

One tip though: Bring your own waterbottle. I was so thirsty but didn't want to leave Primark cos I couldn't decide what I wanted to buy and didn't want to leave my wares unattended. I ended up "suffering in silence" for the full 5 hours that I was in Primark! Selberschuld - "served me right" in German.

It was worth it in the end though. I got so many amazing buys for both myself and the little one. Thanks Tina for inviting me! :) It felt sooo good to indulge in some retail therapy and actually have some time for myself. Thank God for girly pals who ask me out! What a blessing. :)

Ok, I didn't get these shoes from Primark but from Humanic - the store just next to Primark. 30€ and totally gorgeous. But I hardly wear them cos of obvious reasons. It's still nice to have dressy shoes to admire and for the occasional parties of course! 

 After a tiring day snagging our bargains we rewarded ourselves with some takeaway sushi which was surprisingly good! My portion was only 5€, very worth it!

 

 Couldn't wipe off that grin of "victory" from my face 

 Sammy's Team Germany jersey that I got for the European Cup! - 6€

Basic top - 3€, white slacks with belt - 11€, leopard-print flats - 8€, baby - priceless

 Pink tube top ~ 6€, blue shorts with belt ~ 13€

This came as a set (T-shirt, jeans and long-sleeve top) - for around 17€.

BBQ time!

 Pink ladies by pure chance

One thing I absolutely love when the weather gets warmer is BBQ time! Or "grillen" as they call it in Germany.

Germans are meat-lovers so the meat here is awesome! It helps too that we have a trained butcher in our circle of friends so we're usually treated to an amazing selection of meats grilled to perfection. Absolutely finger-licking good!

I met an American living in Zurich by chance during our recent trip to Strasbourg. He claimed that meat is extremely expensive in Switzerland cos the Swiss are not very into meat. I had to heave a sigh of relief that meat / groceries are really affordable in Germany. :)

Sammy is usually the only baby in our group so everybody dotes on him. Being the relatively contented baby he is, we were able to leave him in his stroller while he entertained himself and listened in on our conversation.

Ok, we had to "rescue" him from his stroller after a while cos it became a mini-sauna since it's black. Hot temperatures also mean that I've had to slatter on loads of sunblock cream on baby boy cos of his delicate skin.

I'm happy to note though that Sammy does get a pretty golden tan in the sun. When we were on our 3-week honeymoon in Thailand, I got roasted like crazy (ie. my skin became dark brown) while hubby turned red like a lobster. Hence its nice that our son is able to tan like his Mummy! :) 

 Pork skewers, cevapcici, self-marinated chicken wings, grilled vegetables and German sausages

The chef hard at work

 with his trusty helper

 Beautiful day in a lovely garden for BBQ

 Like I said. Grilled to perfection.

Sammy with his new hat! He's started this habit of patting me on the shoulder whenever he gets excited (middle picture).

With Ari. Love his expression on the right

Surprise!

I love surprises!

A couple of years ago, when hubby surprised me with a spontaneous trip to Europa Park - the biggest amusement park in Germany, I was in 7th heaven! :) And yup! I'm a roller-coaster kinna gal. I could keep goinging for the rides when the others are complaining of headaches, heehee.

Hubby, on the other hand, is more of a "we-don't-need-to-celebrate-let's-hang-out-as-a-family-of-3" kinna guy.

However, like all married couples know, one can get into the rut of doing the same things over and over again such that one craves for some change after a while.

We went to Italy for a road trip with D and her hubby 2 years back, so we decided to reminisce our lovely trip over an Italian meal. When I mentioned hubby's recent job promotion, D. suggested toasting to it over dinner and the idea of a surprise celebration dinner was conceived! I wanted to keep it small so I simply made a reservation at a popular Italian restaurant and contacted a couple of close friends to pop by.

Hubby knows that I'm not one who can keep secrets discreetly so he has boldly claimed that I wouldn't be able to organise any surprise parties cos he can see right through me. Hence, can you imagine my sheer pleasure when I saw the look on his face when he walked through the restaurant?

Priceless.

I think it helped too that he didn't expect any celebration for his job, since we would be having his birthday party one week later. Hubby has also retracted his claim of my ability to organise surprise parties. :)

It was really nice to do something out of the blue and surprise my hubby. I think that's what keep marriages alive - the element of excitement and spontaneity.

 The yummilicious starter of tuna and mushroom salad, with grilled scallops and salad at the side (10€)

Hubby's best friend, M (in the middle) whom he has known since forever

 That's D and her hubby, with whom we went to Italy

 A happy and contented Sammy in his stroller who was entertained by his pretty blond friend

Sammy's godparents

 Superb salmon, spinach and volka cream pasta. Absolutely delectable! (9€)

With his Mummy. You can tell the similarities huh.

Thanks you all for making this celebration so special!

Where you can go for superb Italian food:

Punto Fisso

Christophstr. 14  70178 Stuttgart

0711 605126