It's the second day of Chinese New Year and things are pretty quiet in Singapore considering it is the largest holiday of the year.

Singapore has restricted visiting a bit - only 8 people are permitted to visit a household per day for the new year period. There are no parties and lion dances are banned. I'm really missing coming across unexpected the Lion Dances like we did last year. I remember running through the mall with MsC last year following the sound coming around the corner to the end of a Lion Dance.

Our Helper has 3 days off for the holidays, so we took the kids out with us for our usual Saturday lunch date. We all went to Black Tap and were able to sneak in without a reservation just before 12 pm. Typically, today is when wives take their families to the parent's houses for a visit, so we figured it would be a good day to be out and about.

While we waited for our table to be called, we watched dumplings being made at another restaurant near by through their front windows. There were four stations and a lot of dumplings.

Station 1 dough cutting. Station 2 rolling, filling, pinching closed. 
Station 3 bamboo trays awaiting cooking.
Station 4 the steaming station. 

We were really at Black Tap for the Milkshakes. The girls were thrilled. MsC, MsI and Jonathan had Vegan Vanilla Milkshakes with Coconut Whip cream, and MsE and I shared a Black Cherry Milkshake. MsE ate the cherry, and more than 3/4 of the milkshake.

The meals are so huge here, that the 3 girls shared one order of a Classic Hamburger and fries. They were out of gluten free buns again but I got my usual Mexican Burger on lettuce. Jonathan tried the New Year special, the Xiao Long Bao Burger. Xiao Long Bao are Soup Dumplings. They're cooked so that there's a broth made inside of each dumpling that explodes when you bit into it, so this pork burger had broth inside when you bit into it. Jonathan was in love with it.

MsI liked the black vinegar dip that came with it, but MsC hated that part. MsC liked the burger though. She is a traditional Xiao Long Bao fan.

Trying the Xiao Long Bao Burger

We needed a walk to work off all that food, so we decided to explore Marina Bay. We let the girls spot the Merlion across the bay, but decided it was too far to walk to for them. We did try out the lawn chairs, sat by the waters edge for a bit, and then found the playground in front of the Red Dot Design Museum.

As you would expect from the location the playground was very interesting. I was amazed to find that this playground was truly challenging for me, but also engaging enough for MsI at 3 yrs old to play too. I was able to make it from one end of the playground to the other without touching the ground. It was harder than it looked. I got stuck in one spot and had to get tips from a kid near me.

After this we headed to the MRT to get a ride home. MsC had a lesson in reading the MRT map. It had been a while since she tried to. We had to change trains at the Chinatown Station, so we decided to go up to Chinatown to let the girls pick out something with their hóngbāo money. There were not many people in the typically busy alleys there. Many of the shops were closed for the holiday, but there was enough open for them find their perfect little red Ox to celebrate the Year of the Ox. Last year the little ones picked out yellow and red Rats for year of the Rat. The restaurants all looked pretty full, but we only bought bubble tea and bottled waters.