My Birthday Weekend: Paul, Waka Waka & Wooloomooloo Steakhouse

After celebrating my birthday within the confines of my home during Circuit Breaker last year, I was looking forward to dining out for my birthday this year. Being an extrovert and totally not a homebody, I really dislike being stuck at home!

My birthday started early this year, with a birthday cum anniversary present from the hubby! ❤️

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The hubby wanted to get me a Chanel but I very much preferred a Pink Prada (saved him some money 🤭). A Pink Prada is good enough for me 😊

My sister and BFFs also sent me presents, which I really appreciated as my love language is gift-giving.

Thanks for the gifts! 😁

Day 1: Paul & Waka Waka

My birthday weekend started on Friday, the day before my birthday, as I had taken birthday time-off from work (one of the benefits of my job! 😊).

It so happened the Mum and Sis could take leave as well and they treated me to lunch! Mum asked me what I wanted to eat and without hesitation I answered, 'Paul'! Mum is a fan of Paul as well, having dined with me at a Paul cafe in London in 2014 and a Paul cafe in Paris in 2017.

We decided on the Paul at Takashimaya as it was nearest to the sister's workplace. We were really lucky to be given a table with a nice view of Orchard Road!

We're all really big fans of French pastries hence ordering croissants are a must! Love the croissants here; so crispy yet soft! 😋

For mains, we ordered the Beef Stroganoff Pasta and the Eggs Benedict to share. The former was amazing whereas the latter was good but of course nothing like the Eggs Benedict that I had at Loch Ness Inn (still the best I've had to date).

Of course we had to order some desserts and drinks as well.

The Littlest Girl was actually taking her nap while we were dining and intuitively woke up when the food was served! Probably got woken up by the lovely smell of fresh food! #mygirlsarefoodies

After a very satisfying lunch, we headed to Waka Waka, an indoor playground located at Furama Riverfront Hotel.

I had booked play times for the kids with the intention that they will be fully occupied while the adults hung out at the cafe. As the older kids had school in the morning, I called a cab to pick them up from home and send them directly to Waka Waka to meet us.

While waiting for the older kids to arrive, the Littlest entertained herself at the small but very fun playground at the hotel's lobby!

If only all hotel lobbies have a playground like this! I know Legoland hotels do (I miss Legoland Malaysia Hotel and Legoland Japan Hotel so much 😭).

When the older kids finally arrived, we headed to the Annex building where the indoor playground is housed.

Prior booking must be made although you can pay for the tickets at the entrance. I purposely chose a Friday afternoon so that I would only pay the cheaper weekday rate 😊

Although the playground had a Toddlers Area and Ropes Course (additional fee required for the ropes course), the kids did not spend any time there at all.

They spent most of their time at the biggest slide in the playground!

The fearless Littlest Girl also managed to join her siblings at the top!

The kids also liked the bouncy castle and main play structures in the playground.

The adults hung out at the cafe while the kids played as planned. I'm not a helicopter parent at all, preferring to let them roam around freely and keeping my eyes on them at a distance.

Had a beautiful day with my favourite girls (and one little boy)! ❤️

Day 2: Wooloomooloo Steakhouse

On the day of my birthday, the hubby had booked a table at Wooloomooloo Steakhouse for dinner. Instead of a dinner with just the two of us, we brought along our 3 kids because the hubby wanted them to enjoy the food as well (lucky kids!).

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The restaurant scattered little Happy Birthday words all over the table! I set my Pink Prada down at a prominent spot on the table so that I could admire it 😍

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A post shared by Madeline Heng (@madpsychmum)

The hubby ordered the Wooloomooloo Set Dinner with wine pairing (food to share but alcohol just for him since I don't drink 😅), mac and cheese and a 1kg beef steak (the kids love beef like we do)! 😋

While waiting for our main courses to be served, we enjoyed the starter bread, which was crusty on the outside and soft and warm on the inside! #breadismyjam 😋

The 1st course of the set dinner was a crab and tuna dish, which was nice but more the hubby's scene than mine (not a big fan of tuna).

The 2nd course was the salt and pepper squid and the 3rd course was uni linguine, both of which were a big hit with the family! Of course the hubby very much appreciated the wine🍷pairing a lot more 😂

You have a choice of salmon or beef for the 4th course and seeing as the hubby had already ordered a 1kg steak, you'd think I would choose the salmon! Well I didn't because who can say no to prime ribeye! #didimentionwelovebeef 😋

The staff had to push a special cart in order to deliver our 1kg beef steak and mac and cheese! They also cut up the steak in our presence and presented a selection of 4 amazing sauces to go with the steak.

Incredibly, my kids, including the Littlest Girl, gobbled up all the food, every little bit of it! This is evidence of the quality of the food, especially given that my girls are big foodies and would rather starve than to eat terrible food! #truestory

We ended the night with dessert from the set dinner. A dessert we had trouble finishing as we were so full!!

It was a very memorable birthday dinner for me as usually my birthday dinners are spent without the kids. When I see them enjoying the food as much as we do, that's another kind of satisfaction! 🥰

Great way to end my birthday 😊

Day 3: At Home

On Sunday, the hubby wanted to continue the celebrations but it really was just an excuse to buy fresh crab for dinner! We went back to the Crab Lovers Farm and got two crabs and a bag of prawns, all still crawling when we got them 😁

The Masterchef Mum-in-law turned them into her famous Crab Beehoon and Chili Crab! You can taste the difference in the soup when it's cooked with fresh crab. The essence of the soup is really delicious 😋

Look at the size of the claw! 😋

Bonus Birthday Dinner with the Hengs

Just when I thought the celebrations were over, the following week the Mum treated the whole family with yet another crab dinner to celebrate my birthday!