I'm trying to take the kids out independently for a change, so this time was MsC's turn. We took a Grab (taxi) to Orchard Road for Tea and a trip to the huge bookstore.

I've been admiring this Tea Room called Paul's, housed just below my favorite bookstore in Singapore, but I always take to long in the bookstore to justify sitting down for tea after. Jonathan suggested that I should be having Tea first; I don't know why I hadn't tried that before.

So we started our outing with brunch.

MsC figures it might be the fanciest place she's eaten at. She was impressed by the crystal chandeliers and the fresh squeezed orange juice. We shared the "English Eggs" plate: scrambled eggs, hashbrown pancake, chicken sausages, and turkey bacon, and toast. The food was lovely - I asked for no milk or butter on the eggs or toast for MsC and I just avoided the toast myself. There's definitely no gluten free menu here; they're famous for their pastries and breads. We ordered by scanning the QR code on the table and paid in the app at the same time to limit contact with Servers - That's pretty standard ordering procedure here in Singapore Post-Covid. We spent $30 on 1 meal and 2 drinks, but drinks were $6.50 each so I considered this a pretty reasonable meal given the area of town we were in.  

I asked MsC if she would like to try some real tea: English Breakfast - no milk. She tried it and said, "ewe." She'll be sticking to her pink fruity teas for a while longer.

MsC was awe struck by the bookstore. It's been well over a year since she's been to a bookstore that held more than a shelf or two of children's books. This bookstore is the biggest bookstore in Singapore. Despite multiple visits I still get actually lost in it. Jonathan and I consider a trip here a legitimate date and we'd never brought any of our kids here before.

After our long walk to the back of the store to where the children's section is found, MsC already had 3 books in her arms. When I showed her that the children's section was bigger than our whole neighbourhood bookstore, after picking her jaw up off the floor, she said she almost dropped her pile of books on the floor for dramatic effect. Anyhow, we had fun and she was able to limit herself to 4 books; there was a lot of picking up and putting down of options to get down to 4.

After, while I picked out 2 books for myself, MsC parked herself down and read until a store staff member spotted her and told her she wasn't allowed to sit - I imagine that's a COVID rule. It's the first time in a long time that I was able to snag a basket here, I though they took them all away post-COVID.