Good grief, can it get any hotter?? The day would have been perfect but for nearly melting outdoors. I mean, breakfast of bak chor mee and kaya toast at 6th Ave, then a meetup with the Lohs on Sentosa followed by drinks at Wine Co on the boardwalk with Rishad and Shefali coming along too? It should have been idyllic had we not been nearly flattened by the heat.

Just as well that it was too hot, I guess, since Sentosa is completely overpriced and we dropped a bomb for the kids to try the Mega Zip and luge. Becky and I sat in the shade at Trapizza and watched with a glass of wine in hand. Ran fortuitously in Gillian Koh with her kids there so I got to say hi to an old acquaintance.

The excessive heat was matched only by the excessive drink, I think. By the end of the evening at Wine Co, only good sense and the children's horrified expressions saved us from topping it with bak kut teh at Keppel. The kids were so sticky when they went to bed but too tired to bathe that I dusted them all over with talcum powder like sugared donuts. It never got cool enough to be pleasant, really. You just wish you had a portable shower with you all the time.

Only poor Ethan had to leave for tuition at 4.10 after just one luge ride. He never dares to complain either.

I woke up early, got into my running gear and high tailed it to Clementi Ave 4, hoping to find the wonton noodle lady from Sunset Way but the stall is now occupied by some other hawker. One more link with the past gone. A moment's mourning and I returned with bak chor mee instead.

Not much on today -- washed clothes, went to Holland Village with J and Izzy to apply for Internet banking and update my phone number so I can get an OTP if I have to use my card online. Had lunch at the hawker centre where Izzy had curry rice with tofu, J had wanton noodles and I had fish soup. Bought sundries and toiletries at Guardian, where the cashier had to ask me about my pretty mixed-blood daughter. Mum and dad arrived at about 5. J and I cleaned out the TV cabinet while getting the living room ready to sleep in. The place is filthy. I don't think Lucier cleaned anything but I guess she must have been too afraid to touch anything she was not expressly permitted to. Mum is still upset about the whole period. It is too bad she cannot live with hired help because she could so do with it.

The girls ended up having la mian for dinner and mum and dad were not hungry, so after J came back from his run, we went to Forture and had scrumptious vinegar pork ribs, oyster omelet and sambal kangkong. Dom and Huichieh joined us for drinks at Bar Bar, as well as Ember. Some experiences do bear repeating, but perhaps not the pear cider I ordered.