My Perfect Weekend with General Assembly’s Sima Saadat

Who: Ms Sima Saadat is director of international marketing for education technology company General Assembly. The 33-year-old American and her husband, an engineer in his 30s, moved to Singapore from California in 2019. The couple, who have a two-year-old daughter, live in Bugis.

“Friday nights are an important start to our weekends, as they are date nights for my husband and me. We are foodies and Singapore offers a variety of great food. This is our time to try new restaurants or visit old favourites.

I am a vegetarian and my husband eats meat, so it can be an adventure finding a place that suits us both. One place we love going to is Flying Monkey in Kampong Glam. It is an Indian tapas restaurant, so we get to taste a bit of everything from its menu. Another great find is Canchita in Dempsey, which serves Peruvian food and offers a full vegetarian menu.

On Saturday mornings, we typically start the day with calls to our families back in California. It is tough raising my daughter away from them, so we make it a point for her to interact with them as much as possible, even virtually.

My husband often has work-related calls to make on Saturday mornings, so on those occasions, my daughter and I head to So France bistro in Fraser Street for coffee and croissants. The staff there are welcoming and always give my daughter a free doughnut or babyccino.

When my husband is done with his calls, we drop by at one of our favourite coffee shops, Pinhole Coffee Bar in Purvis Street. It is where I enjoy my second caffeine hit of the day, usually in the form of its Hello, Good Morning drink flight, which consists of a tea, an espresso and a piccolo latte.

After coffee, we often do our weekly grocery shopping at Tekka Market in Little India, which has a few produce stalls that we have frequented since relocating here.

Saturday afternoons and evenings are relaxed affairs where we run errands and visit with friends.

Our daughter’s bedtime is around 7pm, after which my husband and I order take-out, open a bottle of wine and settle down for a television series or film to watch on one of the streaming services. We love the Marvel television shows on Disney+, but other favourites include Schitt’s Creek (2015 to 2020) on Netflix.

On Sunday mornings, we often make breakfast burritos, which is a Californian staple that we miss having here. I add egg, hash browns, peppers, cheese, cilantro, salsa and hot sauce to my burrito. I think one of the key ingredients for making a good burrito is a high-quality tortilla – La Mexicana grocery store at Chjimes is one of my go-to local sources for tortillas.

Alternatively, we meet friends at a cafe near a playground or park that our daughter can frolic in. Tiong Bahru Bakery at Fort Canning Park and Jimmy Monkey Cafe in Paya Lebar Road are great for this.

I like to use the rest of my Sunday for mindfulness activities. I use my planner to visualise my top three priorities for the coming week and reflect on the previous week. It also has gratitude journalling and habit tracking features – all of which energise and organise me for the new week ahead.

Some things I have been grateful for lately are my flexible working arrangement and the supportive team environment at work.

I am also grateful to my husband for being a great partner. We have found a balance that helps us grow in our careers and our family life.”