My Weekend: Tjin Lee

Tjin Lee, 40, is the founder and managing director of Mercury Marketing & Communications. She is married to John Lim, 33, an operations manager at a commodities firm, and they have a one-year-old son Tyler.

"I try not to let work spill over to the weekend because that is the only time I can spend quality time with my friends and family, especially my son.

My weekend usually begins with dinner in the company of friends on Fridays. I don't take Tyler out, my mother helps to take care of him. Sometimes, my mother-in-law pops by too.

My friends and I have been wanting to check out a new restaurant called Lucha Loco at Duxton Hill. After that, we will probably go for drinks at 1-Altitude on top of One Raffles Place, the highest building in Singapore.

I'm also thinking of taking my friends over to another bar, Antidote, at Fairmont Hotel. It's my new favourite place to hang out because it serves really good tapas. I go to sleep at about 2 or 3am. I don't need a lot of sleep.

Saturday is Tyler's day. I take him to Gardens by the Bay almost every weekend because there is an excellent children's playground that is free. It has separate play areas for children below and above five years old.

I really like that they have something catered for toddlers because the older kids and younger ones don't get along sometimes - they might manhandle one another. The best time to go there is early in the morning, when it's not too hot and crowded. Then, we'll have brunch at Cafe Crema, which serves artisanal coffee.

Sometimes, we visit other tourist attractions such as the zoo and Universal Studios. Now that my son is one, he's old enough to take rides such as Dino-Soarin at Universal Studios. He also enjoys performances by the Madagascar penguins and the Donkey Live show from Shrek.

We take our time and spend a couple of hours at each attraction because we signed up for an annual membership. It allows us to go back whenever we want and we don't have to see and do everything in a day.

There is at least one kids' party happening every Saturday. We attended four on one weekend. They are usually at baby gyms transformed into playrooms filled with balls and balloons. I love such parties because they are good entertainment for the kids and you get to hang out with your friends.

For dinner, we go to our friends' places. I have a group of five friends who take turns to host and cook. One friend, who's Sri Lankan, will whip up delicacies such as devilled pork. Another would prepare rice with Indonesian curry. It's embarrassing, but John and I are the only ones who don't cook. We make up for it by inviting them to the events and parties I organise.

On Sundays, we try to catch up with our families. We usually have lunch with his family and dinner with mine. We sit down for steamboat together or my mum will cook popiah or Hokkien mee.

If we have time, we squeeze in brunch at Quayside Isle in Sentosa. It has a great view, isn't too crowded and even has an outdoor play area with toys for toddlers to play with. At night, we might take a stroll along the Marina Bay waterfront and watch the free light show.

I'm managing eight companies and it is hard to avoid work on the weekends. My phone is always buzzing but I try not to let it dominate."

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