Day 244: Personal Grooming Day 2 — National Gallery with The Tan Family — Dinner with Wolfy, Wei Hwa and Phil Swisher
Margaret left for a haircut appointment around 8:30am.
I took the kids to the (unfortunately meager) breakfast buffet here at the Treetops.
We then we caught a Grab car to meet my b-school friend and Singaporean, Jeremy Tan, his wife Gail and their two kids, Aria (7) and Asher (4) at the Children’s Biennale in the National Gallery.
The Biennale is a series of interactive exhibits spread across various rooms in the basement and ground floor of the beautifully renovated former Parliament building turned National Gallery.
Margaret met us towards the end. She had less-than-enthusiastic reviews of her highlights but I thought she looked great.
We all walked to a nearby mall for dumplings and noodles (and multiple Tiger beers!) at a Din Tai Fung competitor called Paradise.
After lunch Margaret continued her personal grooming marathon with a leg and bikini wax.
I took the kids to JT and Gail’s to play for a couple hours. Our Grab car beat them there so we hung with Gail’s dad who was carving up a pomelo he had brought back from his country home in Malaysia. We dipped it in rock salt — so damn good.
We were back at Treetops by around 5pm. Margaret showered the kids and cooked them pasta. I chilled out for a bit — needing some rest before our night out with friends.
We had plans to meet Phil Swisher, Andrew Wolf and his wife Wei Hwa for drinks and dinner.
A babysitter named Kelly arrived at 6:45. Margaret had found her on Nannies On Wheels. She was the first sitter we’ve had since Amsterdam in June.
We let the kids watch one iPad show to ensure a smooth departure — and they barely said goodbye.
We took a Grab to meet Phil at his hotel nearby. Phil is another b-school friend and our family financial advisor / CFO / Yoda. He committed to meeting us on this adventure and he delivered — flying from Boston to Singapore for the weekend!
We then took a Grab to meet Andrew and Wei Hwa at Old Man Singapore, a loungy spot with an impressive cocktail list of Ernest Hemingway’s favorites.
Dinner was next door at Olivia, a new Spanish hotspot that lived up to the reviews. It is Wolfy and Wei Hwa’s favorite spot and they are wine nerds so we let them order food and wine for everyone. So, so good.
It felt strange — and liberating! — being out at a restaurant without the kids.
We got home around midnight and the kids were sound asleep. But we learned the next morning that there was a little sitter drama: James got sad when the sitter only read one page of a book — English is her second language and apparently she isn’t comfortable reading aloud. But Willa came to rescue, reading two chapters of his book to him before they both zonked. Love that girl!
