pauline_pang

Baby Celebrations Week

2012-01-14T18:30:00.008+08:00

Last week I attended 2 baby full month celebrations and one birthday celebration (one yr old).
Unfortunately my tonsilitis got in the way of being enjoying the food. It got worse and by the last celebration, I was just eating 2 out of 8? dishes..

First celebration:
Baby Elliot (Hubby's nephew)
Dr Tan Cheng Bock and wife came

All the pinks

Minmin had fun at the playground

Second celebration:
Baby Eliza(Siew's 3rd child and first baby girl)
After 2 princes, Siew had a little princess

Third celebration:
Baby Keira(my gf, Chernice's daughter)
Also born in the year of the rabbit , coincidentally, Keira was born on 19 Jan 2011 while Eliza was born on 19 Dec 2011. What a big difference.

The Precious Thots themed birthday cake from Pine Garden was nice.. i think the top layer was chocolate cake with liquor. I took the bottom layer which was lychee cream. Very good

The playroom was filled. Can u see minmin among them?

Bought new shoes for minmin. While they fit, they were abit difficult to wear. She's also not allowed to wear shoes (some supersitition) until...??

Early Reunion Dinner

2012-01-08T17:45:00.006+08:00

Had an early reunion dinner with my family this year as my bro and his brood were going back to Germany before CNY.

Mum made steamboat. Little minmin had fun with her cousins. And best of all, I managed to get a good pic of the 3 kiddos.

An early birthday cake for the 3 birthday children

Online Buys

2012-01-06T13:51:00.003+08:00

Been buying stuff online in the month of Dec 2011.

Clockwise From top left:
Customised keychains fm vistaprint
Mini opi nail polishes (really tiny bottles compared to the full size one). I got Tickle my Francey and You dunno Jacques from the France collection
Long top and dress from ASOS.com (free international delivery, but have to wait 2 weeks for the standard delivery to reach)

Blue Potato at Merchant Court Hotel

2012-01-05T08:54:00.004+08:00

Dinner with Jess (dressed in all blue to match the restaurant name) to utilise her FeedatRaffles card that gives us 50% discount. Was disappointed that the actual menu differed from what we downloaded from the website, cos we were eyeing the pasta items on the online menu. In the end we ordered the slow roasted kurabota pork belly (Jess's choice), US ribeye steak (my choice), mango passionfruit parfait (for jess) and mudpie (for me).

The food was good. I loved the steak, good on its own with just the black pepper, the pork belly was tender and flavourful, and i resisted gobbling down the fatty parts. Our desserts were nice too. No complaints. Good service. Bill came up to $30 per pax after the discount. Definitely worth it with the card.

Picture collage by Jess . The background is the poolside view from the restaurant

New Year 2012

2012-01-03T10:31:00.009+08:00

I had a shitty new year.. literally full of shit... little min min shitted 5-8 times on 1 Jan and 2 Jan. MIL had a shittier time.. cos we were mostly at her place, and she was the one washing shit for little min min.. and sometimes for baby ET . Forgot to introduce my new nephew - baby Elliot. First nephew from hubby's side of the family. He is tall (long limbs) and has big eyes, a prominent nose and a mop of long black hair.

My orders from Vistaprint arrived in time for the new year. Bought a Groupon voucher for photobook, and added on customised calendars, mousepad and keychains. Strangely, the keychains were in a separate shipment, which would be arriving in a few more days.

Din do much for the NY long weekend. Brought minmin to Novena church, then shopped at Novena Square, and mostly hang out at MIL's place (where she kept shitting).

Extended Xmas Celebrations 2011

2011-12-25T23:08:00.015+08:00

Christmas started early this year. On Fri, FIL last minute booked a room at Hotel Michael (RWS). I got us upgraded to a suite (becos I had previously lodged a complain to RWS about my bed bug bites at our last stay in Festive Hotel, Sep 2011).

The suite was big.... there were 2 toilets (one at the entrance, one in the bedroom). Within the bedroom, there was plenty of walking space after fitting in a wide King size bed, table and chairs . The bathroom was also spacious; with a toilet, a shower cubicle, a bathtub, 2 wash basins, a dressing table,a cupboard and a bench. I din like the old fashion leather couches, but they are easy to maintain. The glass coffee table was dangerous (sharp edges) and we took it out and place the glass piece against the wall in the corner instead. Despite our measures, little minmin managed to knock onto stuff a few times and cry.. careless baby.

And for the first time, we checked out early (10am).

This Christmas was also a gathering of relatives. My 4th uncle and his family came from Malaysia and stayed at Festive Hotel. Met up with them. Have not seen my cousins for easily 5 yrs. They have grown from babies and kids to prim and proper children/adolescents. I admire my uncle and auntie for being able to bring up 5 children with all the right values inculcated. My uncle himself, is running full marathons at his age (50+). Forgot to take pics. What a waste, my cousins all look good!

Christmas Eve

Ordered a Christmas Log cake from Four Leaves. I din like that the sponge cake inside was dry (cos they had baked the cake one day before our collection date). What a disappointment.

At night, we went to vivo to walk around, and caught the USS fireworks from the Sentosa Boardwalk. After the fireworks display, Little Minmin voluntarily gave hubby (who was carrying her)a kiss! Wow, she must be really happy to see fireworks. First time I see her do such a thing.

Oh, now she can climb down the bed fast and smooth. She's also learning to climb up furniture (the beginning of more dangers).

Christmas Day

Decorated my place haphazardly, as I was planning a Christmas party with my family. This got extended to my aunties and cousins, who were happy to join in and graciously chip in food. The party (or rather, the gathering), turn out to be a potluck of DIY popiah, zi char items (fried rice, cereal prawns) , braised meat and vinegar trotters. The Prima Deli logcake I ordered fare better as well.

A party for family is way easier to manage. Despite the lack of entertainment at my place (din even switch on the tv), people just find ways to entertain themselves. My aunties and mum chatted in the kitchen, my father glued himself to the PC, my cousins play with my nephews and bb, my bro talked to hubby, while me and SIL busied ourselves with the bbs. Little minmin was sticky to me and was unhappy when others approach her. hmmm

Earlier on, I had resolved to take a good pic of the 3 kids (one almost 4-year old and 2 almost one-year old). It was mission impossible. None of them would stay still / look at the camera at the same time or even gather at the same spot. I did manage a group pic for all, but Nicholas was sleeping in the pic.

Boxing Day

This was a public holiday,and I brought my bro and nephews to the Bird Park. This marks my 3rd visit in 2 months!Still fascinated with the big birds and found that there were still some exhibits I have not covered previously.

2011 Xmas at Conrad Oscars Cafe

2011-12-22T09:46:00.006+08:00

Compared to Ritz Carlton Greenhouse, Oscars had greater variety of seafood. They had my favourite swordfish and Hokkaigai (clam) in the sashimi selection, and a kobia fish that turned out to be very nice. I like it the most among the sashimi. For chilled seafood, their oysters rock! Fantastically fresh. The crayfish was also very good. I ate a few pieces, and all had firm flesh. The crabs were pathetic though, not many pieces left, and all I see are thin small legs (these are the normal size crabs). Also saw some flower crabs pieces.

The cooked food items were so-so. I noticed there was no fried item, and it made me crave for fried stuff.

The desserts were good. I love the chestnut cake, and they gave movenpick ice-cream, which is a refreshing change. Quite sian of Häagen-Dazs .

Brought minmin to Vivo on my own last Saturday. We took MRT. So convenient.

4th wedding anniversary

2011-12-17T23:51:00.007+08:00

Our wedding anniversary is also hubby's birthday. This year, he turns 35. Its also his first bd with minmin. Went to Greenhouse at Ritz Carlton. Food quality was good , though not all the dishes were that exciting. Was also disappointed that they did not have Swordfish at the sashimi counter, and the chilled seafood selection was dismal - prawns, green mussels, lala. For the $56 per pax price tag (after taxes its $65), I guess its not that worthwhile. No wonder there was no crowd, and we were able to dine without advance reservation. Still, the great service and nice atmosphere made up for it. Even minmin enjoyed herself and ate lots of bread (for free).

Happy Birthday Hubby and dun forget my 1ct diamond ring next anniversary !

Staycation and Bird Park 2

2011-12-15T10:14:00.006+08:00

Went to Siloso Beach Resort for a 2D1N stay. Compared to my stay in 2009, this was pretty lousy. Back then, I booked the Rooftop Garden suite with jaccuzi, while this time, I booked the standard room. The place had aged considerably. The room and the cafe seemed dingy. The pool was good though. Little minmin had fun.

Was so impressed with birdpark that I brought my nephews there soon after my recent trip. We din have much time, and rushed for the key exhibits - the eagles and vultures, and owls are must see. Skipped the discovery centre and parrot paradise. Greg like the penguins and waterfall.

Even Nic is also happy

Shake-a-baby

2011-12-13T09:25:00.001+08:00

Babies are born with a natural instinct to shake their booty...

Food and 2011 Christmas Wish list

2011-12-05T13:53:00.018+08:00

Xmas lights at Orchard Road

Year end = reasons for year end feasts.. for birthdays, celebrations, festive moods, gatherings..

Prive restaurant
Nice ambience, great desserts

Orchard Grand Court Crystal Cafe
Porridge Buffet $11.90
Value for money
The bittergourd in black bean sauce is fantastic

Orchard Hotel, Orchard Cafe
Buffet dinner $55 (before discount)
They have 30% discount for UOB card holders.
I enjoyed the snow crab and oysters. Pretty fresh. Some of the dessert items were not bad. Only tried limited food items due to limited stomach space.

Bread for minmin.. but the bread were too dry.

Last but not least, my christmas wish list..
marc jacobs tote
kate spade handbag
Dior wallet
Dior ring
Rosso Regale cup and tea package

Makeover pics

2011-12-03T17:31:00.011+08:00

Finally got the pics for bb's makeover. All outfits and hair accessories are ours. Props from makeover studio. Too bad she din smile. Couldnt get a happy pic..

Birdpark 26 Nov 2011

2011-11-30T19:09:00.010+08:00

I suspect this is my first time to the birdpark. It's pretty interesting. I was in awe of the big birds I saw.. the vultures, eagles, hornbills and the owls... awesome. These are pretty unusual, considering we only see mynahs, sparrows everyday, and the biggest bird we see is crow.

Cousins get together

2011-11-28T09:55:00.004+08:00

Not me and my cousins, but my baby and her 表哥.
Messy and chaotic.. one cries, the other cry too.. (referring to the babies).
Greg was super noisy. But the babies were fascinated? entertained? as they look at this hyper kid making lots of noises.

Greg and Iris. She seems to be fascinated with him.

Nicholas and Iris. She crawled over his hand at one point. Oops

Behind the Scenes

2011-11-20T12:50:00.004+08:00

Just some normal stuff when we never bring her out to special places

Received a voucher (still have to pay $28) for baby photography at Kidscoverlooks. Brought minmin there on Saturday. I think she was tired, so she din smile, much less laugh. At least she din cry. They were strict to enforce the no photography rule at their premise. I took these secretly of cos. Anyway, ended up paying $216 to buy more pics. $188 for the 10 photos package, and $28 for the cover charge.

Little Miss Dancing Queen

2011-11-09T12:29:00.006+08:00

First Precious Pearls

2011-11-08T08:53:00.004+08:00

Finally she sprouted teeth.. not fully grown out yet, slightly visible.
Tried to get her to show her teeth, but din succeed.

The 'cruel' way is easier, let her wail abit longer..

Min min's mini concerto

2011-11-03T12:18:00.004+08:00

She surprised hubby one day when he asked her to play.

Growth n Development Towards 9th Month

2011-11-01T15:25:00.005+08:00

I finally brought her to the library and borrowed books. She wasnt keen on the textured kind , but was drawn to the pop up ones.

Hubby's SIL uploaded these pics on the facebook. Was surprised to know she can hold onto the bar. Guess it din occur to us to let her try that. They were installing new cupboards at home.

Ah, she knows abt the telephone. When we tell her "Ring Ring, Hello", she will put her hand to her ear. I even heard her say "ullo' once..

Eighth Month Bliss

2011-10-21T10:52:00.016+08:00

Finally she is back to sleeping through the night.. almost. Not a very long stretch, but at least she doesnt wake between 1-5am. These days she drinks alot of milk, eats alot of cereal and sort of indicates to us that she is hungry / want to sleep. Her night-time routine is something like this: play on our bed, stand in her cot until ready to sleep. Then drink milk, stop, roll to another place on the bed, and lie down, feed, then she drinks to sleep. Yesterday she rolled over to lie near me and let me feed her the milk me.. aww.. (except after a while i feel that its too hot)..

In the morning she gets up before we know it, suddenly we hear some loud breathing, and she is standing in the cot looking at us. Amusing.. like the animal in the cage is looking at its owners. I feed her water / milk, and then she goes back to play on her own and fall asleep on her own. (Only during the wee hours).

I bought a training toothbrush to brush her toothless gums, she seems to like it.

She is fascinated with a butterfly ornament hanging at my inlaws place. As a result, she keeps trying to say 'butterfly'.. but never got beyond the 'but'.

FIl has been teaching her the act of 'gong xi gong xi' and now she responds to it (when she is in good mood).

Hosted on the Patio

2011-10-21T10:26:00.003+08:00

Hosted on the Patio is located within my office compounds. As such, I never thought much of it, until I read reviews.. and realised that its considered a 'happening' place. It is supposely 'difficult to reach' (hey within walking distance of my house) and hence its location adds to its desirability.

Was there on a weekday night with gf Jess. This is not the first time I have been here. The food is slightly pricey (ard $24 for pasta), though quite good quality. Have tried the pasta, burger and for my colleagues, the lunch sets. The ala-carte items are good, the lunch set though value for money, portions were small and my colleagues din feel full after the meal.

This time, we shared an appetizer (fried mushroom $10) and dessert (Green tea Creme brulee). For mains, I had lamb shank ($24) and Jess ordered smoked duck linguine ($24).

The fried mushroom was good, but slightly oily, and the accompanying sauce was just thousand island, not the 'asian spicy cocktail sauce' listed in the menu. Jess rated the green tea creme brulee higher than me, as i felt the green tea taste not strong enough. Her pasta was great, my lamb shank was good - very big portion and tender meat.

The complaint came at billing time. The poster at the door stated 15% discount off ala-carte items for UOB cardholders. While i paid with UOB card, the discount was only valid for the mains. The waitress's explanation when i asked her, was 'the discount is only for main course'. Then if so, the poster should have just indicated it as for 'main course' rather than ala-carte items. Our appetizer and dessert were usual items in the menu that did not come in a set. Shouldnt they qualify as 'ala-carte?'

Toys for my Baby and the 2 Botaks

2011-10-17T09:02:00.005+08:00

I started taking out the toys we received previously (both new and pre-loved ones) for my baby to play with. She seemed more interested in the little things (twiddling the car parts) than to play with the toy the correct way.

Recently FIL bought her an expensive toy. A toy piano that costs about $100 (despite me trying to dissuade him). Well, I think she doesnt like sounds (especially toys that make loud sounds).. she uses the piano more as a standing support than to really tinkle with it.

My nephews, after being shaved by my bro... The younger one seems to like playing with his bro.

My Nephews!

2011-10-10T08:55:00.004+08:00

Update of Nic's pics.

Min min with a look of disbelief on her face when I took the box off the shelf and gave it to her.. oops, i shouldnt spoil her !

A Four Year Wait

2011-10-04T08:37:00.005+08:00

When we first bought our current place, the circle line station here was under construction. The 2011 completion date seemed so far away. Finally it is completed.. for those of you who envy me for having the MRT right at my doorstep, you need not. Becos u probably have a bigger place / nicer house / own a car.

We took the opportunity to make full use of the Circle Line Open house on 2 Oct. In the morning we went to Harbourfront for breakfast, then to Holland V, then back to Harbourfront then back home.. heh heh.. wasnt really keen on the Open House activities.. more on the free rides to Harbourfront.

The Circle Line is longer than I expected. The disappointing thing is that it is not a circle (loop) and Harbourfront is the end station. Since my place is near the Harbourfront end, we cant take shortcuts to reach stations at the other end of Circle Line.

Wasnt that crowded in the morning at our Telok Blangah Station. We were among the first group to enter and there was a photographer snapping pics. Wonder if our faces will appear in the newspaper.

This was bb's first ride on MRT. She wasnt that excited. Think she was tired, and so she was quiet.

Her first time on the supermarket trolley. We keep forgetting that she can sit now.. and took a while to catch on that she can use the baby chairs when we are out for meals.
And her favourite activity is to stand in her cot.

Poor bb fell sick, coughing with phlegm and runny / blocked nose. The PD gave quite a number of medications. (Nose drop medicine not in pic). On top of that, she fell while standing (cos she let go of her hands) and ended up scraping her face against the chair. See if u can spot the line on her cheek in the above pics.

Mid Autumn, Hair cut and Walker

2011-09-19T20:45:00.007+08:00

Hubby's bro bought tics for the mid autumn celebration at their neighbourhood. So we were there for a short while to collect the goodies.

BB was scratching her right ear alot. We think it must be bcos her hair is touching the ear (the hair is longer on the right side). So we put her in the high chair and hubby did a few quick snips. It was her first time on the high chair, so she was easily engrossed with a simple toy .

FIL wanted to buy bb a walker, seeing that she's trying to stand all the time. We went to Kiddy Palace, and the first walker we put her in, she was very happy playing and moving around. So we bought that..
But when we bought it back and put her in it, she was not interested in the walker's panel of interactive buttons and stuff. Instead, she used to walker to get to the coffee table so that she could reach for the things on the table...
After a short while, her face was flushed, and she din want to be in it anymore. Nowadays, she would only stay inside for a short while and then start clamouring to get out..

6D5N Star Cruise to Ho Chi Minh & Redang (11-16Sep 2011)

2011-09-19T20:15:00.009+08:00

This turned out to be a long cruise trip. We were at sea most of the time. We only landed at HCM on Day 3, and Redang on Day 5. That amounts to at least 2 full days of cruising (Days 2 and 4)..

HCM was a rude shock. When we landed at the Ban Thanh market.. it was HOT.. Humid and Stuffy! I felt faint. I wanted to turn back and return to the aircon comforts of the cruise ship. BB's cheeks were flushed and she also 'complained'. I couldnt think properly, much less try to bargain and shop.. Viet Dong had too many zeroes... how much is 120000VND in SGD? Brain cant process. In the end I just bought the bare essentials and couldnt wait to leave. Unfortunately we got lost in the maze of shops and exits. We walked round and round before getting to the right exit. Torturous.

Redang was also hot.. but I had expected the hot and sunny weather at Redang. The clear blue waters was lovely.. and we can never get tired of swimming and feeding the fish.

Some random pics

Staycation at Festive Hotel

2011-09-07T15:23:00.008+08:00

This was an eventful stay.

First we saw Oh Ji Ho having a photoshoot at the Festive Hotel pool. He was walking around topless showing off his perfectly sculpted bod. Too bad I din bring my hp.
Anyway, he's not my favourite actor though I recognise him. In real life, he's very tall and very dark. He smoked also.

Then at night, I kenna some bug bite. I complained, and RWS was defensive about it. They offered me to see doctor out of goodwill (again, to emphasize that there was no bed bug... ). The doctor was also quick to dismiss that the bites were from a bed bug. He also repeatedly emphasized that. His attitude seemed suspicious. Just my luck to be bitten by that lone bug. Felt rather traumatised, was worrying that the bug might reside in me, or in my clothes and that I might have brought it home.

Stupid doc and RWS. No matter what you say, the bites are real,even if you did not find any bug in the room.

We brought BB to swim. She had a good workout and slept soundly for 2 hours after that. Thankfully she din get bitten by the bug though we both slept on the sofa bed.

Ms Sweaty

2011-09-07T15:16:00.002+08:00

BB has sweaty palms and sweaty feet. It's so bad that she can crawl in a ski-like manner, by sliding with her palms...

Afternoon Treats at Coffeeclub

2011-09-01T09:14:00.004+08:00

Took leave on 31 Aug to enjoy extended holiday (after Hari Raya PH). It's better to take leave after a PH then on the eve of PH. Alot of promotions are not valid on the eve of PH.

Since it was a weekday, we got to enjoy the tea time promotion at Coffeeclub. I was apprehensive at first. Previously I tried some chestnut cake from there, and I was very disappointed. The cake was bland and slightly dry. Nonetheless, The tempting display of cakes succeeded in luring me in.

Ordered 2 sets - for the cakes, we chose macadamia moments and hazelnut caramel craving. For the drinks, we had normal coffee and I ordered a special melon flavoured green tea (top up $1.60). The drinks were good. The tea was strong enough for 2 pots and the honeydew flavour added sweetness to the green tea.

As for the cakes, the slices were quite big, and 2 cakes turned out to be too much, esp because MIL din eat much. We love macadamia moments. It had some nutty crunch, and coffee taste. Hazelnut caramel craving was ok, but we were abit full and hence din appreciate it as much. Too much of the chocolate mousse.

The sidedish was refreshing. Something like raspberry sorbet, mango, biscuit crumbs, cream?

Pete's Place at Grand Hyatt

2011-08-27T18:49:00.004+08:00

It's been a while since I blog about food. Somehow, I cant be bothered to take food pics anymore plus usually its meals with my hubby's family, I was abit paiseh to take photos.

Also been a long while since I have a nice dinner with Jess.
Thanks to her Hyatt card, we get to dine at Pete's Place at 50% discount. Had been talking about it for a long time (years) and finally I get to try it. Unfortunately it wasnt up to my expectations. Not that the food is not nice, but I think homemade pasta is only good for ravioli kind of pasta (dumpling with filling). The linguine I had tasted like our ban mian (thinner). Not al dente at all.

Jess ordered the set meal that comes with salad (one serving from the salad bar) and tiramisu. The bread with herb butter was great.. so was the salad (yummy sundried tomatoes). Tiramisu was competently done.

After dinner, we went to the mother-of-all mooncake roadshows? (what is the word for it?) The one at Taka basement. I tried TWG's snowskin mooncakes. Thought they were nice. $15 each, no discount.. Din buy. I need to save on my calories.

Collages

2011-08-25T16:42:00.003+08:00

Found a Pic Collage app for iphone use. Now I dun need to download my photos onto the computer to use Picasa software to turn the photos into collage. I can do it directly from my iphone. This makes it easier and faster for me to upload pics onto the blog. The only drawback is that the app does not have collage template like Picasa, so its more 'manual', I have to shift and adjust the pics individually within the collage.

Fancy Toy

2011-08-23T11:18:00.005+08:00

My colleague showed me a link to the exersaucer. What was that? I have not heard of this before. I was sold when I saw the pic. Wow, this is like a mini self-contained playground.. or should I say, a fancy cage that can keep the baby entertained. Unfortunately the price is quite steep, and it isnt worth the buy since it can be used from about 4 months to walking age (1 year).. Still, for a suaku mum like me, this is like the 'Rolls Royce' of toys..while I imagine MinMin will be very happy to play in the toy, the truth could be she rather be carried around then stuck inside. There is a high chance she will still be wailing away for us to carry her.

Half a year old, Half time

2011-08-15T11:52:00.007+08:00

In the blink of an eye, my baby is 6 months old.. it is a milestone for me considering I never really had a pet before. A few times I kept fish, but they never last long. During my pregnancy, I had my fair share of anxiety, wondering if my baby can survive after birth (choy, touch wood!)...

Reflecting on the journey so far...

The first trimster of my pregnancy was lousy. All that nausea and fatigue. Now I shudder whenever I come into contact with things that reminded me of my nausea in the first 3 months of pregnancy.. food / smells / sounds / environment..

Second trimster was smooth sailing, and my appetite picked up. I binged and ate too much junk food. Now I am still paying for it - with my post-pregnancy weight.

Last trimster was HEAVY. Every night when I lay down to sleep I would groan and heave, and have trouble breathing and finding a comfortable position to sleep. The baby bulge also caused pain in my ribs, while I worry about inheriting my mum's varicose veins.

Finally I gave birth. On hindsight, knowing of a few cases of emergency caesarean births around me, I am thankful to my gynae for her decisive action to induce labour, otherwise I would also be tired out from the long birth process and become possibly, another emergency C-section case.

After the honeymoon in hospital, we brought the baby home and that is the start of a new chapter..

The first month was really bad. She cried and screamed at every small thing - hungry / pee / pass motion / change diaper/ change clothes / cold / hot. It was an ordeal to change diaper / change clothes because these procedures cant be rushed but the baby is wailing and sometimes 'choking' loud and hard. Finally we passed the first month. In celebration of this major milestone, I organised a baby first month celebration (internally) at home and (externally) at Mt Faber Safra Potters Cafe. Being a newborn, baby slept through it all, so she din get to enjoy much of it.

Then soon after the first month, she caught a virus and had fever. Her lethargy scared us (for once, having peace is not a good thing)... what if the fever burn her brain 烧到脑? The pediatrician said we can only monitor , she was too young to be given fever medicine. If her temperature exceeds 38 deg cel, then we need to bring her to the hospital. I wondered what can the hospital do if in the first place there is no medicine for her fever? But I never asked. And thankfully I did not need to know.

With the difficult start in the first month, everything onwards seemed less of an issue compared to the beginning. The second month onwards sailed pass in a blur... She became less 'blur' and more 'knowing'.. each week we marvelled at her new progress and think that she is a smart / clever baby (all parents/ grandparents think that of their babies).

Now at sixth month, we think she is so cute whatever she does (again, all parents/ grandparents think that of their babies). When she throws tantrums, we let her have her way. At the back of my mind, I worry she would be spoilt, but I reasoned that she's too young to be manipulative / pampered / spoilt. The disciplining part can wait..

Every so often, I keep wishing she will stay a baby for as long as possible, always so cute and manageable. But I also cant wait for her to grow up, so that we can bring her to experience things that she will enjoy..

Last but not least, here's a list of nicks we have for her:
Min min
Dao sa (豆沙)gal (becos MIL always say she is "smart like dao sa" : sek ka dao sa)
包 gal (cos she's so round)
(oops, I am a hungry mum)
Ah-min
臭min min (cos she's getting naughty / fussy)

Pre National Day Staycations

2011-08-09T14:05:00.009+08:00

Went to stay at MBS and at RWS over 2 consecutive weekends. For MBS, we got a club room that allow access to the lounge at Skypark.. where we can hv free afternoon tea, evening cocktail and breakfast. The food was alright.. quite atas..
Got to watch the NDP rehearsal and fireworks. BB was mesmerized by the fireworks and gave her full attention for the 5 mins of fireworks. She even uttered a protest when the fireworks ended.. haha

In contrast to MBS's luxurious club room (with nespresso coffee machine), we only had a basic room at HardRock Hotel for the RWS stay. Still, we did nothing much but chill in the room the whole time. Couldnt even be bothered to use the pool or swim.

Cousin came over on National Day to bake cupcakes. We baked cupcakes with more ingredients than flour - choc chips, walnuts, raisins, black sesame and flaxseed.

Fairytale Wedding

2011-07-25T09:12:00.008+08:00

Was inspired after reading some book to bb..

Princess Min Min attending the wedding of Lady Shermine and Duke Melvin..

Going to the wedding in her chariot

The Royal Banquet

Expanding ..

2011-07-20T22:36:00.007+08:00

Saw tang wei at Vivo as the ambassador for SKII. She was in heavy makeup and she looked totally different from the SKII bare-face ad..

As BB starts teething, she gets slightly cranky at times. Still, overall, its a good month. Somehow, I never get tired of seeing / taking pic of her sleeping..
and I realised she has grown again.. face bigger, nose bigger, mouth wider (except eyes din grow), hands and legs also grew.. she's prob going to wear size 7 shoes like me..

Silly or Smart?

2011-07-11T09:10:00.008+08:00

Hubby said "See she do magic show"

My first reaction was , that is so silly! Why din she use her hands... Then my second thought was, she is so smart to be able to think of the hands-free way ... Followed by my third thought.. or is she just plain lazy?

Terracotta Warriors at ACM

2011-06-25T18:59:00.007+08:00

Thanks to ZP and ZZ, hubby and I got to see the special Terracotta Warriors exhibition at ACM. ACM was pretty crowded with long Qs for the special exhibition. Only took pics of the key pieces .. its amazing that some of them are very lifelike.

Month 04- My favourite pics

2011-06-25T17:37:00.009+08:00

Dedicated to my hubby,
Happy Father's Day!

The beginning of accidents

2011-06-23T08:42:00.011+08:00

BB has learned to roll over onto her tummy without any assistance from her. She can do that in split second.. the first day she succeeded, hubby left her on the mattress that is 15cm from the floor, and went to wash his hands after he had changed her diaper. As he was in the kitchen, he shouted out to me to look out for her as she had rolled to the edge of the mattress. My split second reaction was still too slow, and she rolled off the mattress onto the floor and her head landed on the soft padding of her used diaper! That was quite a miracle.. normally we would immediately disposed the diaper, but dunno why hubby had left it there, and the diaper was used, but dry on the surface. So bb din know her near-accident and she got away still clean.. We have since removed the extra padding on the mattress so that it is nearer to the ground.

The second and third time wasnt so lucky. I sat on the edge of the bed and fed her, she din want to drink, and arch her head, hitting the cot. It wasnt very hard, but she wailed,and made some fierce protests. She sure can throw tantrums these days. Another night, when again, I was at the edge of the bed, and was lifting her up to transfer her to the cot, I banged her head (ouch...! heartpain) on the cot.. surprisingly she cried for a short while only. Guess she must be too sleepy. Sigh, I am a lousy mum. Feel so bad abt that accident...

These days I have a little squealor at home. No longer does she coo and ah.. she squeals in very high pitch. Hmm.. not sure how to discourage that.. think she is too young to understand about discipline..

The other day at Giant, she managed to sit straight on her own for quite a while.

Reading

2011-06-14T08:28:00.003+08:00

Reading, flipping the pages and drooling over the milk ad...

Enjoying the baby

2011-06-10T08:24:00.006+08:00

Mani and Pedi Service

Tummy Time

Mummy's doll

Daddy's girl

Similar shoes

Expensive zi char at Tung Lok

2011-06-01T22:33:00.005+08:00

Armed with 2 $50 vouchers redeemed from our UOB reward points, the three of us went to dine at Tung Lok Signatures, Vivocity. Initially we thought $100 might be too much for 3 pax, how wrong we were. It was just nice. The prices were quite scary.. $18 / $20 for veg! That can get me a whole box of veg..

We ordered:
Soup of the day - $14 . Some green apple soup. Not bad.
Braised beancurd - $20. Up to my expectations
Braised Garoupa in hot pot - $38. The fish had a fishy taste despite being fried then braised.
Garlic Pork Ribs - $20. The only dish that made me felt abit of 'wow'..

They also charged 30cts per glass of plain water...

Baby also got hungry and I had to feed her while I eat

Good buy from GSS

2011-06-01T13:58:00.006+08:00

Was considering buying a playmat as recommended by my gf. But when we happened to browse at mothercare, they had 50% discount off their travel playpen. So we bought that instead. After the additional 5% discount for members, we paid about $80.
As usual, we pad it up with our own mattress.

Last Stretch of Sanity

2011-05-31T18:37:00.005+08:00

One week more to go. Went for a spa session 2 weeks ago, facial yesterday, and haircut today. All in all, I have had a lot of massage - body massage, face massage and hair massage.

Back to kimage and a different hairstylist. Again I only gave parameters - neaten the hair, nothing too havoc, easy maintenance, and does not require once a month trimming. This is the result (cut by Benson at Tiong Bahru Kimage):

Uneven bob - slope on one side, over the ear on the other, and a brownish hair colour . Hubby laughed at my 'helmet' hairdo.. and thought I was a little boy who pressed the wrong door bell when he opened the door.

Threw out most of my old clothes because I doubt I will ever fit into them again. Also they were outdated / worn. Bought a few pieces of new stuff here and there. Decided to keep my wardrobe minimal. Sick of the days when I had a bursting wardrobe and having to stuff clothes in. I like my neat and tidy cupboard. Unfortunately, shopping (or just browsing) is something so ingrained in us women. And for me, the word "sale" is something I always jump at. My motto is "No sale, dun bother". Hence with GSS now, and lots of discounts everywhere, my heart really itch to shop, even though I can physically stop myself from walking into the shop, I couldnt stop that mental thought - 50%! 70%! discount... and it continues to haunt me. I am addicted ... getting cold turkey

Going back to work

2011-05-31T10:42:00.005+08:00

So soon I have to be back at work... just depressing to think about it. That my baby will be cranky, grumpy and upset at home, wailing for me. Babies grow really fast. Seems like yesterday when she was still a wailing tiny being. I miss sleeping with her as a newborn, when she would be so peaceful. Now she toss and turn alot. Everyone should try sleeping with a newborn once in their lifetime. It's a great experience.

I also miss her hair everytime I looked at previous photos. She was so much prettier then. But she was also more 'chow sng' because of perspiration. I think its just not feasible to leave the hair in our hot weather.

Then

Now

And speaking of hair, it leads to grandparents. My father says we should cut her hair shorter, to prevent cradle cap cos of hot weather. My MIL is protective about bb's hair, and is unhappy everytime we cut. My father thinks bb is too fat, and calls her 'bom bom' (short for Fatty Bom Bom), while MIL laments bb has lost weight, her face and double chin has slimmed down, and she thinks bb doesnt look as prosperous as before. Argh!

The boyish girl

2011-05-27T00:57:00.003+08:00

After we cut her hair.. strangers have problems identifying her gender.

Overheard :

Grandma pointing to her and telling her grandchild "Look at that mei mei.. err di di.. err .. (give up deciphering)"

Reading the papers with papa

Thankfully she is not a fussy baby. We used the baby sling, the baby carrier and now the stroller, she could adapt without a hitch. The stroller made going out a breeze. She would fall asleep on her own in the stroller. She seemed so comfy in it, I wished I was a baby and could be in the stroller too. We finally got the car seat, and she also din make too much fuss about being strapped inside (keeping my fingers crossed)...

No longer a newbie

2011-05-23T01:17:00.013+08:00

I read that at 3 months, BB has 'graduated' from newborn and progressed to infant status.. Ha.. She does have more tricks now.. She sneezes loudly like hubby, with a loud 'AH!' in front of the 'choo', she can laugh 'Ha!' She's learning to roll over and she managed to hold her bottle for quite a while.

So far, she has been relatively 乖. We were at hubby sis's family day - movie screening at Marina Barrage. BB fell asleep at the start of the movie and only woke up towards the end. Then when we were in the crowded lift with everyone noticing and staring at her, she stared back and suddenly burped loudly in the quiet lift, making everyone laugh. That was a classic.

Went shopping over the weekend and bought some clothes for her. Hmm .. It sure is easy to get carried away and end up buying too much. Gotta watch it. So far we haven bought expensive stuff for her to use, relying mostly on pre-loved items. The most expensive item we bought was the ikea cot -$69. But recently at Mothercare, we wanted to buy a $100+ baby car seat and ended up getting a $300+ one instead . It's also the most branded of the stuff for her - combi.

Her controversial haircut grew unevenly and resulted in alot of grouses from my inlaws. My father lend us his Phillips hair shaver that he used for Greg , and hubby managed to neaten her hair. She looks abit like monk/ nun now...

blowing bubbles with her saliva

Trying to roll over

Holding the milk bottle with just one finger

Blowing kisses? Not really, I rearranged the photo sequence. Actually she was trying to eat her hand

Marina Barrage

Clothes with cute prints

Trimming the hair after shaving

Before haircut

After haircut

Month 02 to 03

2011-05-12T15:28:00.009+08:00

Did alot of things in the second month, but stupid blogspot is making it difficult for me to align the pics, and hence its taking me a while to upload and blog. Shall not bother to align the pics then.

Every other day bb has new developments that is a nice surprise. Some of the new stuff that I can recall:
- raising her legs very high
- talking more, and even saying Maaahhhh , Ned (milk?) , biyao (dun want?)
- recognising us, knowing its time to go out and gai gai
- smiling really widely
- stronger arms, legs and neck

We recently brought her to get her 3rd month vaccine, she cried less than the previous time and weigh 6.5kg, pretty heavy bundle.

Also tried using the carrier again, with her facing forward, she was quite happy this time. Problem is, it doesnt lull her to sleep, and we still have to hold her in our arms when she's sleeping. Must start using the stroller soon.

Description of pics below:
-Got myself a new haircut. Gave the hairstylist free rein, and she gave me such a fancy haircut. Never knew a short hairdo can have so much 'bells and whistles'. Other than one side longer than the other, I had a slope on the longer side, and a small tail at the back. I highly recommend Ann at Kimage Tiong Bahru Plaza. She is good indeed, giving me a cut that suits me and meets my requirements.

-BB raising her legs, look of recognition, eating her hands and in her M&M romper. The M&M rompers are on sale at Candylicious RWS. Usual price $19, now $13

- Stayed one night at HardRock Hotel to escape the heat. Again bathe her in the toilet sink, but it was too small, and we ended up having to shower her instead. Oops, deleted the pics of the hotel. Anyway, the room wasnt that great, they hanged pictures of some afro-hair guy whom I did not recognise. Like the lounge chair in the corner though.

- Had a gathering with my gfs at Huijun's place - Pinnacle@Duxton. Nice view.

- Another hotel stay at MBS. This was nice.. we had a big room on a high floor. Skypark view was impressive, and cakes at Sweet Spot (MBS Hotel lobby) was yummy.

-Went to Nex Shopping Mall. Ate at Seng Kee(生记). They had a great deal - $9 for a side dish + noodle + dessert. Their desserts are great. I rate it second to the one at Temple Street, and way better than 满记. Bought cheap clothes (2 for $16) for her.

-Pizza and set lunch at Palio (RWS), the 3 course set lunch for $18 was very worth it, considering that their ala carte menu items are easily above $20. The penne carbonara was good. Pizzas are ok, very thin crust. The mains - chicken and fish are average.

Hard Rock Hotel

Pinnacle@Duxton

MBS Hotel

Nex

Palio

No big deal Nandos

2011-05-03T22:59:00.004+08:00

Was given two $10 credit voucher to dine at Nandos. The vouchers were very restricted in use. We had to order a chicken meal and an espetada (flame grilled skewered chicken) for each voucher. Essentially its a $10 discount for ordering these two items. Our order of 1/4 chicken was mainly breast meat, and the side dishes were very blah.. Coleslaw was normal, fries were limp, din like the taste of the potato salad or grilled veg. As I was recovering from sorethroat and cough, we went easy on the spicy level. We chose Mild and lemon and herb. I think Kenny Roger's chicken had more flavour. The garlic peri peri sauce was very interesting though, slightly spicy, with garlic and lemon tangy taste. Oh, not to forget, one piece of my flame grilled skewered chicken was not fully cooked! Why do I always kenna uncooked food.

Chilling Out

2011-04-18T18:27:00.008+08:00

Went to see my nephew, Nicholas. He is so cute. He talked alot to us and smiled happily.. Such a handsome baby.

The many sleeping poses of BB

At RWS with ZZ and ZP

Going Places

2011-04-13T13:59:00.009+08:00

I know I wrote before that I dun want my girl to be too girlish. While I din go out and buy pink clothes for her, I ended up preferring to dress her in pink from among all the clothes she has. Also she just happens to have alot of pink dresses and socks (courtesy of hubby's sis n others)..

My first time and her first time at MBS

Also brought her to Novena to receive blessing

BB camwhoring for hubby to take pics

Sweet Moments

2011-04-08T11:05:00.007+08:00

Getting bored at home, so we try to have an outing every day, usually for dinner at (where else) vivo. BB seems to know that we will be going out, and she gets all happy and excited, and doesnt want to drink her milk. But when we reach the destination, she gets lulled to sleep in the baby sling throughout the whole outing. ha..

Happy and alert at Anchorpoint. This was also one of the first time she pooed outside. Thankfully they have nursing rooms

Asleep during our outing to RWS. Candylicious was having 1for1 on their gelato after 8pm. Got a scoop of Dolce Latte while hubby had hazelnut. Not bad, quite flavourful. Expensive though. $6 for a small cup. After 1for1, the price ($3 for a small cup) seems about the same as vivo's gelato.

DIY bubble tea

2011-04-05T01:42:00.002+08:00

I love milky drinks. I like my coffee and tea to be extra milky. When I drink bubble tea, I always choose the milk based teas. My recent obsession is honey milk tea. But I dislike the idea of paying $2.90 for a 360ml cup of bubble tea (if u count the ice, there's less tea actually). Solution: make my own.

Some tips:
1) use English breakfast tea as the base. One tea bag to abt 3/4 cup of water so that it's not too diluted
2) add honey / sugar . Make sure it's sweet enough . Owise won't taste that good when cold
3) chill the sweetened tea in the fridge
4) add milk to the chilled tea just before drinking. As I like my tea milky, I use evaporated milk.

This doesn't sound v healthy, since it's also high sugar content, and evaporated milk is full-cream type. Still, it's better than bubble tea which uses creamer - full of chemicals and transfat. My homemade version also means I control the quality of tea leaves I use. I used TWG English breakfast tea and it's pretty good.

Still Sick

2011-04-02T18:19:00.006+08:00

This flu bug has proved to be super tenacious. The flu symptoms seem to improve, then come back again. Has been a week... sigh.. all 3 of us are still slightly sick. BB still has some phelgm. Hubby and I still have abit of cough and stuffy nose.

We brought bb to see PD again. He helped to suction out some of the mucus and phelgm

Managed to bake some choc chip and blackcurrant cupcakes when baby was taking her afternoon nap

Visited my nephew

Baby 'torturing' me. Wide awake at 330am.. another 1am-5am shift for me

Eventful Week and 33rd Birthday

2011-03-28T13:26:00.014+08:00

The week started off with hep B 2nd dosage vaccination for bb at Bukit Merah Polyclinic.

BB is still calm at first

Getting upset because the nurse was longwinded, and she is hungry and has shitted.

Finally nurse gets ready to administer the injection.

Warning: The following pics may be traumatising (It was for me)

Disinfecting the injection area Done

Had an uneventful birthday at RWS. Went to stay at Hotel Michael (hubby won a free stay there). We basically stayed in the room and watched mio Tv old chinese movies. BB was also very cooperative, slept most of the time. Must have been a comfy bed.

We bathe her in the hotel bathroom sink.. just the right size

BB developed a fever at the end of the week. Thanks to the flu virus from hubby. I also had a bad sorethroat. As she was too young to take medicine, a visit to the PD din really help, except to give us advice to monitor etc.. Thankfully she recovered. It was very worrying to see her lethargic self, though she was easier to take care of cos she din cry much. Now i appreciate that healthy loud wail...

Back to normal

Full Month Celebrations

2011-03-21T19:01:00.013+08:00

Finally she is one month old! We had a mini celebration in the family, but she slept thru it. Tried very hard to wake her, but she simply dozed off just as quickly as she opened her eyes. Totally concussed.. Different conk out poses

Celebration at Potter's Cafe (Mt Faber Safra) Was too busy to take much pics

When two newborns get together, we have two sleepyheads... Iris and Nicholas Finally got them both awake PP, ZZ and MM !

Week 04 - Making Progress

2011-03-12T15:16:00.009+08:00

We recently measured her length. She has grown 3cm! And I can tell she's heavier now when I carry her. She is also stronger - can kick away her blanket, and can use her legs to push herself.

She has discovered her hair. When she runs her hand through her head, she unknowingly grasp and pull her hair tightly, then she will wail in pain, not knowing how to release the cause of her pain. Aiyo.. how silly. Then I contemplated getting a knitted cap for her or cutting her hair so this wont happen again, only to remember, I should just let her wear mittens! aiyo, silly me too.

Week 03 - a shitty business

2011-03-09T15:14:00.006+08:00

We started her on S26 formula milk. After a while, her 'big business' frequency reduced drastically. By the time the small tin of milk powder was finishing, she only pm (pass motion) once a day. We waited for her to pm n worried that she wld get constipated as S26 is known to be rich/heaty. Then we switched to similac. Again, we waited anxiously for her to pm. Lots of gas but no shit. Finally at 8pm she did a big one. We were glad... Then another one at 11pm, then 1am, 3am.. That continued for the next few days. Now it's both day n night we can expect her to pm.. Not sure if this is a gd thing.. Cos she wails badly before pm and it's tedious to clean her as she will also be screaming in protest.. Not to mention the shit stinks... Maybe S26 isn't that bad after all.

Hubby complained that I posted too many pics of bb on the blog. So I shall cut down to just my fav ones.

Since she liked to be carried when sleeping, we tried putting her on hubby to see if she can sleep thru. It worked. But seemed abit risky

Dun understand what's with this expression. But it makes us 'hoohoo' back at her too

MIL wrapped her up like an egyptian mummy

Feels like I have a tiger cub in a cage

Designer Toy

2011-03-06T12:19:00.002+08:00

Fil won this Alessi miniature kettle (only abt 8cm) by Michael Graves at RWS. He brought it over to my place to give BB as a toy for her. Faintz.. This is designer collector item! It costs 45USD...

Week 02 - The little bunny

2011-03-02T17:18:00.008+08:00

30 days of confinement = nothing to do but look at baby. So just lots of baby pics...

This is her, sitting there and shitting. Heh.. looks like some lotus position for meditation

First trip out of the house (to MIL place). All bundled up like little red riding hood

Sleepyhead. This pic makes her look like a boy

Week 01

2011-02-25T18:51:00.005+08:00

After the honeymoon in hospital, we brought her home and diligently got down to parenting duties of feeding and diaper changing round the clock.

Still a round face chubby baby

Unfortunately it became one stressful event after another.
Stress no 1 - Paed reviewed that her jaundice level was rather high. Need to feed more often (I had been feeding on demand, and she was sleeping alot), and need to suntan her. So then I got stressed trying to wake her up for feeds every 2-3 hours, and dunno why when we want to suntan her, it was mostly cloudy / rainy.

Suntan + Massage by grandma

Then from a sleepy baby, she became a night owl. Sleeping long stretches in the day, and crying alot at night (she sleeps only if we carry her while walking around).

Sleeping angel in the day, monster awake at night

Then we went back to Paed again, and the jaundice is at manageable level. Phew. BUT, she has not gained weight, we are not feeding her enough. My bm is too low

Face has slimmed down

Finally I am getting too tired. Time for daddy to step up his role

Daddy's new toy

A Special V day for 2011

2011-02-17T22:46:00.014+08:00

As most of my frens would know (hope i have not left out anyone), I gave birth to my baby gal Iris on V day.

Final pregnant pic at Doc's office on Fri 11 Feb 2011. Was still ok then, though doc said I was having some contractions. Over the weekend, the contractions became stronger as I could feel them. Ranging from mild menses cramp to more intense ones. But judging from their frequency (5-10mins interval) and duration of each contraction (30s), I was supposed to be in Stage 1 and need not go hospital yet.

Finally dong until Monday wee hours. The contractions were getting quite uncomfortable and I couldnt sleep. They were also longer this time, averaging about 40s. Theoretically I can be counted as Stage 2. So we went to hospital at 6am, and I was put in the observatory ward to monitor. The nurse concluded that my dilation is about 2cm (after 2 days of contractions, I barely dilated.. wah piang), but she said I can be admitted as I would give birth that day.

Soon after, they transferred me to the labour ward. And my gynae came. She decisively prescribed oxytocin for me to induce labour. And I asked for epidural, which kicked in slightly after the labour contractions became bad. Truly a lifesaver.

Playing my iphone game while waiting for dilation to reach maximum. With the epidural, I really felt nothing despite the strong readings on the monitor.

Hubby accompanying me

The monitor that would come in very handy later on

Finally got some rest before action starts

After 2 hours of pushing, I was feeling more pain (I had asked to reduce the dosage of epidural to be able to feel the contractions). Close to giving up, I asked for Doc's assistance (just in time). She came, used the vaccum cup, with about 3 more pushes, the baby was out. Phewwwwwww...... tough, stressful, traumatic (feeling the baby being pulled out from your body)

Hubby's reward for his hardwork accompanying me to push in the labour ward. A fish&chip dinner

Going home.. end of honeymoon

My New Nephew

2011-02-12T11:45:00.004+08:00

We welcome the arrival of my second nephew on 8 Feb. Unfortunately he was warded due to jaundice. We went to see him at SGH, could only view him through the nursery glas window.

He looks different from Greg. He has his mum's sharp nose, while Greg has my bro's flat nose.. heh..

Getting Ready

2011-02-11T11:02:00.004+08:00

Two weeks ago, my gynae doctor gave me a list of things to pack for my hospital bag.
So we also finally started to get ready.

Lots of bb clothes to wash. And these are just for 0-3 months! Thanks to everyone who bought / donated.

Cot assembled

No rinse shampoo and wipe off cleanser

Hospital bag. Turned out to be a big bag as we included hubby's stuff since he should be staying in. The rack is meant for changing diaper, and feeding chair is placed below. All donated items (Ikea stuff).

My new supplements (just the sweets I got fm candylicious)

Meanwhile, I cant wait to see my new nephew born on 8 Feb!

Pu Tien Kitchen at Vivocity Food Republic

2011-02-10T08:34:00.002+08:00

Thanks to Zhen's recommendation, we had a good dinner at Pu Tien kitchen within Vivo's Food Republic. Though I wasnt hungry, I still enjoyed my fair share of the food. Just that I had a bit of sorethroat after that (must be the fried stuff). The meal cost about $74 for 3 pax. Slightly pricey. Loved their chilli. Goes well with the food.

These were what we ordered:

special pan fried pau (very interesting)

Spinach in superior stock with 3-egg

Prawn roll

Fried yam duck and heng hwa bee hoon

CNY 2011

2011-02-06T23:43:00.021+08:00

This is a good CNY cos Greg is ard to entertain us and we got to celebrate his 3rd birthday. Last year he wasnt around during CNY, so no angpow and no bd celebration.

Reunion dinner at mum's place - Dawson

The only time of the year the house is neat.

CNY Day 1

The seven pax will become nine pax in another 2 weeks

Greg posing with my cousin's younger son. Both same age, but Greg is born a few months earlier

Sat

Went to my bro's place for Greg's birthday celebration. Wow, his house is nicely done up

Greg was on his best behaviour, like a gracious host. Thanked us when we gave him present, and blew out the candles automatically. Guess my father must hv rehearsed him many times..

Greg with a big slice of his birthday cake (Choc ice-cream cake fm Angie)

Cant wait to open his present from my bro's fren, Marcus. Turned out to be a remote control donald duck car. Cool

Trying to piece out the puzzle we gave him. But he soon lost interst. Pieces were too small and too many.

Sunday

Had a good lunch at Chillis (RWS). First time I tried their food. Pretty good! They managed to make the chicken breast taste so tender and juicy. Too bad we din have space for dessert. Their fries were cold and not crisp, oh well, good then, since I would eat less of the empty calories.

Posing for the camera, and a candid shot of us checking out hubby's tummy...

Sweets and choc bar (latest obsession is peanut + chocolate) from Candylicious. Interesting stuff. OOpss.. not eating healthily. I remembered my fren Siew , abstained from such stuff with artificial flavours and colouring

Another pair of new shoes fm Bata ($29). I have about 4 pairs of new shoes yet to be worn. Must control...

Miracles do happen

2011-01-28T19:43:00.005+08:00

At my last checkup on 7 Jan 2011, doc had more or less prep me that I would probably be a caesarean case due to my low placenta. "Not likely that it would move 5cm when in the last 5 mths, it only shifted 1 cm" , she concluded.

Aside from the higher costs and longer recovery, I actually preferred C-section to natural birth. Can unload faster (getting heavy , bulky and tired in my last trimester), can go on maternity leave earlier.

Three weeks later, 28 Jan, back for another checkup and to confirm if the opn will be needed. Lo behold, the placenta had shifted up to the desired distance! Before that hubby had joked that the bb would kick the placenta to the right place since i experienced strong movements in the last 3 weeks. Ok, back to natural birth option.. sianz..

Hubby updated his family. Turned out that they had all been (quietly) praying for me! ah.. the power of prayers.. funny that me and hubby din pray at all. Frankly, we had rationalised that C-section is a better option. Some women went through natural birth and couldnt give birth, end up having opn, and paying double.. sure dun want that to happen in my case. I am seriously not that confident of my fitness.. Whether I will be able to withstand the tiring 10 hours and more of labour.

Awaiting verdict outside the doc's office

Countdown to Confinement

2011-01-28T19:36:00.007+08:00

In anticipation of the month long confinement period, reunion dinner with hubby's family was extra early this year. Meanwhile, I tried to satisfy as many cravings as possible..

Reunion dinner at Sin Hoi Sai Restaurant(Tiong Bahru)

We opted for ala-carte dishes rather than their CNY Set dinner. There were seven of us and we ordered quite a number of dishes - (2 veg dish, fried rice, hor fun, yu sheng, steam fish, roast chicken, yam paste with pumpkin, coffee ribs, superior pot). Total cost ~ $287. Most of the dishes were pretty ok. The exception was hor fun (bland). The Yu sheng and roast chicken (special items not on their menu) were not value for money. Yu Sheng (small) with salmon (fishy) was $38. Similarly, we ordered one whole roast chicken (crisp and good, but small chicken) and that was also $38. We had ordered these at their 'recommendation' (more like hardsell) and no one bothered to ask the price..

Hosted on the Patio
This newly opened restaurant is within my office compounds. Pretty ex - $20 for the seafood pasta. For lunch, we can add $5 to the main course and get soup/salad, soft drink and dessert of the day. The quality of the food was quite good.

Another value for money lunch with hubby at RWS Hard Rock Cafe. For $15nett, we get soup/salad, main, 1 scoop of HD ice-cream and coffee/tea. We had hainanese pork chop rice and fish & chips for mains. The portions were generous. We should have just shared one set lunch. I like the pork chop better.

One for One Gourmet Pizza at Palio RWS

2011-01-25T10:36:00.004+08:00

Got a haircut last weekend. Requested the hairdresser to make it as short as possible. Thankfully she was able to advise me on a good style that is short, yet doesnt make me look bad.

Was craving for pasta. Went to Palio at RWS (Hotel Michael). We reached at close to 3pm, and they were serving only pizzas from 3pm-5pm. The good thing was, the pizzas were going at 1 for 1.

left: pizza with parma ham and arugula
right: pizza with squid ink, scallop and prawn

We ordered the regular size pizza ($18 each). The pizza crust was extremely thin. We both like the parma ham pizza better (for me, it was the combi of ham and arugula). Was a cheap and good meal!

Good stuff at Marina Link

2011-01-11T08:54:00.005+08:00

Was at Marina Sq and came upon the Marina Link stretch of shops. Couldnt resist the $9.90 set meal at Rock n Ash.

Honey Beetroot drink - ok, now I know what Beetroot tastes like: very strong "vegetable/grass" smell
Mushroom soup - not bad. Can taste real mushroom, and not starch or artificial flavours
Chicken cutlet - satisfied my cutlet-with-sauce craving. Fries were the kind I like, too bad they give such small portions for the fries and coleslaw.

A slightly different express cut outlet - they offer hair wash as well. Hubby got a quick $10 cut, service was good. And there was no Q even though it was Saturday. Looks like Marina Link doesnt enjoy the traffic volume of citylink.

After that, we finally took our first ride of the circle line from esplanade station to dhoby ghaut station. So suaku...

Online Pampering

2011-01-11T08:28:00.005+08:00

Stumbled upon Sasa's website. Saw that they offer free shipping with minimum USD75 purchase, and couldnt resist.. ordered some items last Monday and on Saturday they were delivered to my place, nicely packed in a box, securely wrapped in bubble wrap. Felt like I have given myself a nice present. Hope the prices are comparable to Singapore's... it was an impulse buy and I did not have the chance to check out Singapore's price.

From left (all prices are in USD):

SKIN79 HOTPINK COLLECTION Super+ Beblesh Balm Triple Functions SPF25 PA++ (40 g)
$33.60 - despite the rave reviews, I have yet to find anything special abt this BB cream. I was disappointed that it did not make my face look brighter. Previously I was using Skinfood's mushroom BB cream, which was ok only.

SK-II BASIC CARE Facial Treatment Cleanser (20 g)
$4.30 each - I bought 3 of these. Surprisingly, all 3 came in different packaging.

Innisfree LAVENDER Moisture Sleeping Mask Pack (120 ml)
$12.60 - Loved the lavendar smell (quite similar to the lavendar scent of Loccitane). The mask turned into a watery texture upon application, and feels tight on the face after absorption.

BioBeauty SKINCOLOGY 4 in 1 Daily Purifying No-Rinse Cleanser
$16.70

Freebie: Eyebrow Scissors with Mini-comb , Suisse Programme HYDRA-SOLUTION Free gift: Hydrating Fluid SPF15 (2 ml)

Payback time

2011-01-07T19:16:00.004+08:00

Tried to eat less.. but maybe becos of the NY feasts, I still gained close to 2kg in one month. Doc estimates the baby's current weight to be 2.5kg, and estimated birth weight to be 3.5kg. Wow, I will hv a large bb! No wonder a colleague who came back from 3?weeks leave remarked that my stomach is damn big, as though i will pop anytime.. hmm..I always wanted a small kid, and find big chubby babies scary. Cos they seem too heavy to carry.

Isit really that big?

Unfortunately, since my OSCAR checkup during the 5th month, my placenta is still low, and has shifted up only 1 cm. Doc says I'm highly likely to be a C-section case because of this issue. If so, we also need to op before we go into labour to reduce the risk of placenta bleeding. To play safe, the op should be performed when the bb is fully developed and yet before the due date in case of early labour. Recommended date: 7 Feb 2011. This will be confirmed at the next checkup in end Jan. Alamak! Only 1 month away, and I have no name for the bb...

Last chance to pig out...

NYDC Extravaganza mudpie and elephanccino

New Year - 2011

2011-01-06T08:49:00.008+08:00

Was glad that I did not feast over the festive season. I rejoiced too early. My festive feasting started over the New Year.

First day of the year I baked cupcakes with walnuts and black and white toblerone chocs. They turned out pretty good - crisp layer on top.

Coffee cupcakes with white tolerone choc baked on second day. I call them the 'wake me up' cupcakes cos I added alot of coffee in the cupcake.

NYE's lunch with my parents at Fook Weng Restaurant(Seng Poh Road). It was the last day of their 50% discount dim sum promotion. Food was pretty good.

Fresh seafood steamboat set ($8.80)

Some of the dim sum items we had

Met with CJ and Co, 2 Jan 2011. Tried this at Teochew Traditional Seafood Steamboat Restaurant (176 Joo Chiat Road). Soup was brewed from shark bones until milky. Food was fresh and good. Pricey though.

Another good meal in the first week of the new year - Tampopo! Katsu spicy ramen in pork bone soup with added egg at the side

Followed by desserts at Laurent - strawberry cheesecake and choc tart. Forgot to include that scoop of caramel ice-cream we ordered. Very interesting taste. Oops, see my 'beach ball' in the pic?

Xmas 2010

2010-12-29T08:57:00.003+08:00

Had a good lunch with my colleagues at TCC Keppel Bay on Xmas Eve. Their 2-course set lunch ($19.80++) was yummy.

In the evening, hubby and I shared a steak at Queen & Mangosteen as an indulgence for Xmas. It was early dinner for me and late lunch for him. We were home by abt 8pm and watching DVD... that's married life. Nothing happening for festive season. (Though every year I long to organise a Xmas party, but never got round to it). Oh I did cook a super duper instant noodle meal for us later on - Korean instant mee with spicy kimchi soup flavouring, bak kwa, boiled egg and veg. These days I have beehoon and noodle obsession.

Spent Xmas Day hanging ard Vivo / RWS with family. Then on boxing day, i was at OG Chinatown, finally I came across 20% storewide for Pigeon items. But by then I had already bought all the stuff I need. ArgH! Managed to get Mustela Diaper cream at 20%discount and other miscellaneous small stuff. Also got my maternity denim skirt. They carry Uber-mum maternity wear at OG. Very reasonably price and with 20% discount. Was happy to get my soft and lightweight denim skirt at $32 after discount. Sure beats the thick and hot jeans ($69) I got from Spring maternity.

All things Christmassy

2010-12-24T11:19:00.002+08:00

Merry Xmas to all!

Pigment Woes

2010-12-23T08:39:00.005+08:00

At the start of my pregnancy, a small pigment mark appeared near my left eye. Thereafter, nothing more appeared. Suddenly last night, I noticed a new tiny mark near to the one beside the eye... the size of Singapore (new mark) vs Malaysia (previous mark) in terms of scale of the mark.. That was not the end. My left thumb and index finger also sprouted pigment marks that looked like a cluster of islands... gosh, is a treasure map of pigments appearing on me?!

Star Cruise Libra - 15 Dec to 18 Dec 2010

2010-12-19T15:26:00.012+08:00

For his birthday, hubby was given a choice of free cruise on Virgo or Libra. We chose to go Libra as it stops at Port Klang and Langkawi, instead of Virgo (which will stop only at Port Klang). Wednesday This is my first time onboard Star Libra. I knew Libra is a smaller ship. But it was disappointing to see the low ceilings and yellow lightings (looks old). What a far cry from the grand spacious lobby of Star Virgo. Pics of Virgo and Libra side by side at Port Klang. The ship was filled with malaysian families bringing lots of children. I definitely like the crowd better than those onboard virgo (kiasu singaporeans and india tour groups). Chirpy pics My inlaws joined us for the cruise. Food was ok. Though the cooking standards were much simpler. Virgo has tastier food. Went to play bingo on first night, and they entertained us with "Ms Universe" parade of ah guas. Ordered Mocktails (hubby's free cruise comes with $100 F&B voucher). Thursday At Port Klang, we took taxi (100ringgit for return trip) to Aeon Shopping Mall at Bukit Tinggi. It was big, spacious, new, clean and not crowded (weekday). Lunch was hotpot, we shared 2 sets and ordered some dishes. The tom yum soup and the dips were nice. Followed by cheap hair cut for me and MIL, and then drinks at OldTown Coffee. Not much time for shopping though there was a huge Jusco mart. Friday Hubby's birthday and our 4th wedding anniversary. We slept late and skipped breakfast. Went to one of the cafes to redeem the free cake and use up the remaining $ in the F&B voucher Stopover at Langkawi Awana resort near the port, nice building with mediterranean feel. Was hoping to take a boat to cruise to the islands for swimming / snorkeling. We ended up taking a taxi (van) ride at RM3 per pax to the Duty Free mall. Next to it was the Underwater World. And I fell down again! Its becoming a once a year thing...! Sheesh... all thanks to hubby who was walking abit too fast and as I was catching up, my ankle gave way and he was out of my reach for me to grab him as support. And he wasnt paying attention to me. Landed on road pavement this time..Ouch! This pic was when the injury was still 'fresh'. Now its swollen and bruised as well. Minor scratches on the other knee, elbow and palms too. !@#$% Must be because hubby have been commenting I looked like Humpty Dumpty with that big round tummy... He had the cheek to laugh after I fell. Cos he was totally clueless as to what was happening behind him, felt that someone was reaching for him, then next thing i was on the ground. Yea, funny, but totally annoying! That fall spoilt my Langkawi outing and pretty much the rest of my trip and now back home as well. As if I haven been inconvenienced enough, balancing a heavy tummy when sleeping, now I have to watch my knee injury. A sweet surprise awaited us as we checked our email upon reaching home. Bro had recorded a birthday song sung by Greg for hubby and emailed to us. Cute! Goes to show Greg likes his 姑丈.

Last Lap

2010-12-13T13:47:00.007+08:00

29 weeks and in my 3rd trimester. Countdown begins? Immediately I feel the difference. More frequent visits to toilet, more intense kicks and movements from the baby, less energy, slight discomforts after meal, backpain, difficulty of finding a comfortable sitting position.. oops, the complain list can go on...

Manage to keep my weight gain to within 3kg (actually its 2.9kg) for my most recent checkup. But I got my numbers wrong. I should keep my weight gain to within 2 kg! Since I have excess 1 kg gain over the past 2 months, from now to Jan 2011, I must not have any weight gain. Stressed.... Must watch my diet, snack less. Exercising is a problem since I'm getting heavy and tire easily. Swimming is ideal, except that it rains often.

Recent checkup pic. My stomach shape looks weird...

Courtesy of Hubby's sis and my parents, my bb will have lots of cute pinkish girly clothes to wear. I hope she looks cute. Otherwise she wont look nice in those lovely clothes.. hahah

My cousins came over to bake cupcakes. These were easy to make. They decorated it nicely with chocolate chips, walnuts, cheese, berry jam. The sourish berries went well with the cupcakes. Shall make another batch when I have time. Jam and cheese this time.

Year End Feasts

2010-12-03T08:30:00.007+08:00

Pic of Star Cruise Virgo - looks nice and romantic. But its boring onboard.

Kichi Kichi Express Rotary Hotpot at City Square -
Good: Their signature chicken mushroom soup is good. Ingredients are fresh (like the prawns).

Not so good: Somehow the same old stuff kept circulating the conveyor belt. After a while the fish and prawns disappeared. The meat came only a few times.

Overall : We had the POSB/DBS 1-for-1 promo. Cost only $13 per pax. Still worth it. We must have cleared at least 5 stacks of the plates. For once, there was no wastage in the hotpot at the end of the meal.

Birthday meal for Jess turned out to be her treat for dinner at Carls Jr and my treat at Max Brenner. We tried the cocoa drink (pretty good) and banana waffle with ice-cream (sinful).

Cleaning up

2010-11-29T09:14:00.009+08:00

Had a busy weekend. Attended a free seminar at Mt E. Received useful tips from doctor and nurses, plus more free goodie samples that will come in useful - eg. baby wash and shampoo.

On Sunday, we took the whole afternoon to clean up and compact our stuff, thereby freeing up more space in the spare bedroom. Now it looks neat. Previously it was getting cluttered and looking like a storeroom as we added more and more baby stuff.

To reward ourselves for the hardwork, hubby suggested going to the Nonya and Baba Peranakan restaurant at Vivocity. We were there last week? and tried their assam curry fish head. He must have liked it alot to remember and suggest it. The big pot of steaming fish head with a rich sour spicy addictive gravy that goes well with rice. The first time we tried, we still had lots of sauce leftover, so we tapau and had it next day with roti prata. It tasted even better the next day. Though its quite pricey - $29, we could easily have ordered one curry fish head and have rice for 4 pax. That works out to abt $10 per pax.

We ordered other dishes as well. But din get round to taking the pics. The Nonya Chap Chye and Babi Pongteh were tasty, but the curry fish head outshines all the rest. Previously we ordered crabmeatball soup and ngoh hiong. The soup was ok, but the meatball was too soft. Similarly, the ngoh hiong did not have much texture. Beng Hiang has the best ngoh hiong (other than my mum's).

Cute baby pics at my cubicle

Red Star Restaurant - Dimsum in push carts

2010-11-26T09:30:00.003+08:00

Suaku me have never been to this 老字号. A group of us were there for dim sum lunch on a weekday. It was not crowded. Service was slow (sometimes no push cart came), and food sometimes did not look appealing (not piping hot). The waitresses seemed pushy (insisting you try certain dishes) and even 'attitude' at times (dumping the ordered items on the table). Also the billing system was vague and subject to overcharging (no menu, no price, waitress stamped on your table card to indicate which category of item ordered, overall bill does not have breakdown of individual dim sum items). The overall bill $150 for abt 7 pax seemed pricey, apparently we had ordered 22 dim sum items... well who can verify? Nvm, I will still be back though. Thought the food is quite nice. And turned out we din order many of the 'star dishes'.

Successful Baking

2010-11-15T08:49:00.002+08:00

This was a good weekend of baking. Cookies turned out nicely browned, butter cake moist and yummy (mum's recipe). The cake was alot of work.

Almond chocolate chip cookies

Butter cake with walnuts

De-stressed / Distressed

2010-11-10T21:20:00.002+08:00

Destressed because after meeting Siew, I felt more assured. She shared her experiences in a positive light, making it all seem nothing much. Her newborn baby boy is so cute! And best of all, she solved my worries by lending me most of the big items I need. The pump, nursing pillow, infant wear n swaddle. Ah, now I can relax in peace (I hope). Think I shld hv most of the things I need.

On the other hand, I feel distressed. My recent checkup indicated a 3+ kg weight gain, which was more than desirable. Have to watch my diet closely. No more junk food (chips), ice-cream (still craving for HD's caramel biscuit) and no deep fried food. Gosh, that bingeing in the last 2 weeks went straight to my thighs and also to the BB, also making her weight gain above average. Must stay disciplined. I dun want to give birth to a mini sumo wrestler.

Deepavali in Jakarta

2010-11-09T21:12:00.008+08:00

Ate lots of stuff.. Pizza pasta, Korean BBQ, Indian Curries, Indonesian, Dutch and Japanese cuisine.

My favourite meal has to be the Indonesian food at Tesate restaurant. Love the tahu telor which was different from what I have tasted.

Greg was impressed with the special sushi roll at Kiyadon

Bought a Coach Tote at 50% discount during the airport sale before flying off. Got a cheap ($7) haircut and cheap ($7) pedicure. Chose the wrong nail polish colour though. Was trying to be adventurous.

Greg was ecstatic to see us and he did a rousing dance jumping in joy and excitement. Unfortunately, after 5 days together, he also cried when we left. oops... it was a guilty departure for us.

My initial flight back was on Saturday night, but it was cancelled due to the volcanic activity. Thankfully Jetstar put me on the Sunday evening flight (better timing). Grateful to be back.

Not counting my blessings

2010-11-09T15:52:00.006+08:00

Oh the stress of being a first-time mum, esp one who is quite lazy and has a correspondingly bochup spouse. Everyone I know (who are also going to be first-time mums) are attending / have signed up for prenatal classes. Everyone has at least one English/Chinese name determined for their bb. I am still nowhere near finding a name becos nothing sounds right. Everyone has decided on where they will give birth, while I am still deciding between Mt A or TMC.

Colleagues repeatedly comment that colleague X (whose EDD is very near to mine) has a way bigger stomach than me (both of us are expecting gals)... mum tells me SIL is eating very healthily (makes me feel v kiasu in the nutrition race... but my junk food intake continues). Fren Y tells me abt baby fairs, expo sales, metro sale etc that she has gone for, which is a stark reminder of all these sales that I have missed, and all the bb stuff that I have yet to stock up.. and also a constant reminder of my cluelessness over what do i need to buy?! Its a chicken and egg thing. If I dunno what to buy, i wont purposely go to such bb fairs and sales just to look see. But I shld go and look see, so that I know what to get.. Other than that, I feel overwhelmed. Avent or Medela breast pump? Which brand / which model? Which type of milk bottle to get?Hearing all the stuff that my fren has bought, i feel stressed too. Hey I live in a tiny 3-room HDB flat. My spare bedroom is already filling up. Buying more bb stuff means cluttering up the house...

While I appreciate being 'prompted' so I know what to look out for, what to prepare. The lazy side of me prefers to live in blissful ignorance.

As I near the end of 2nd trimester, I am also not looking forward to that heavy and bulky weight in me... what a chore. I read abt how some mummies (think its karen cheng) glow and love being pregnant, I am quietly feeling 'ouch' and uncomfortable with the baby's kicks..

Disclaimer - I am not complaining abt being a mum-to-be. (Or maybe not yet). I am complaining abt the condition of being pregnant and the preparation

Resolutions for My Girl

2010-11-03T13:53:00.004+08:00

I have decided. My yet to be born baby girl will not be overly pampered. She will
1) use hand-me-downs as much as possible (if they are still clean and in good condition)
2) not have too many toys (unless it's 1)
3) use non branded stuff as much as possible , where there is no risk to her health (no need for Carter clothes and pigeon brand all the time). Exceptions apply if there's a sale at it's a good bargain
4) not have the most expensive / branded preschool education. I went to PAP kindergarten. That is good enough for a kid.

Undecided: the speech & drama class, the acting lessons, the phonetics, the piano and ballet, the drawing lessons.. I think it depends on whether we can afford it (maybe just those offered at CCs) and whether I can be bothered to bring my kid to the venue.

On my part, I must try to resist the temptation to buy all sorts of girly clothes in pink for her. Think it's good to raise a girl like a boy. So that she has the guts and confidence that boys usu hv.

Hungry

2010-11-02T08:54:00.006+08:00

Went to try 西門町 at Vivo. Pricey...

Sweet Potato Porridge $1.50
This was not filling for me, and we ordered a bowl of rice to share. They use good short grain rice.

Tofu squares with black bean sauce $11. Tasty and salty. Goes well with lots of rice / porridge

Chye Poh omelette $10. Ok

三杯鸡 $17.90. Super salty and oily. Mum thought it was good. I would say its up to expectations.

Was still feeling hungry despite 1 bowl of porridge and half bowl of rice. Their carbo portions are so small. The bowl was barely a teacup size.

Went to try Fruit Paradise. $9.80++ for a tea and tart set.

Peach nectar rooibos tea and montblanc strawberry tart. Loved the tea, and the chestnut cream in the tart. Tart was abit small and not enough chestnut cream.

(On a different day)
Tom n Tom at Vivo closed down so fast. In place was a similar coffee place, Romulus. They had 50% discount on all cakes after 9pm. Tried this choc fudge cake $5.60 before discount. Normal.

Post dinner

Looks like the size of a watermelon

Counting Blessings 2

2010-11-02T08:47:00.005+08:00

Was too lazy to go for the Philips Carnival the past weekend. Hubby's bro and his wife went and bought us some stuff. Very grateful for it.

Philips Avent sterilizer with free bottles and cup, baby monitor, and insulated baby cup

Needed a strapless bra that would be comfortable and not pricey. Got this at River Island on sale for $25. Its actually a bikini. Desperate times call for creative methods.

Early Festive Mood

2010-10-29T13:15:00.003+08:00

Starbucks' new coffee cups have such a nice Xmas theme that it puts me in a Xmas mood. Makes me long for a white snowy holiday. Alas, that is not possible. I do want to get their Xmas mugs and Xmas packaging coffee beans though. Basically everything they sell that comes in that lovely Xmas print. But right now, I'll just content myself with my favourite Dark Cherry Mocha drink (only available for this season) while I convince myself that the Starbucks Xmas mug is what I need.

Cooking and baking weekend

2010-10-25T09:03:00.004+08:00

Suddenly I have lots of food in the fridge + inspiration to cook + craving for specific food.

To satisfy my chocolate obsession, I baked chocolate chip cookie (with walnut, oatmeal and honey so that it will be healthier). Think my oven was too hot, the cookies turned out pretty dark.

A small batch that I baked using the small toaster oven was burnt because I set the timer for too long.

Cooked kimchi fried rice on Sat. And ham pasta with sea urchin cream sauce (below) for lunch on Sunday. Abit salty, but still tasty and cheaper than eating out.

Weekend with Greg

2010-10-20T09:07:00.003+08:00

Greg's stay in Singapore was extended, and we got to see him for another weekend..

Brought him to East Coast Park to play sand, but he was more a 'destroyer' than builder

Counting Blessings

2010-10-20T08:30:00.007+08:00

Mums-to-be like to count their blessing... here's mine.

Got a free trip to National Museum. The special exhibit there was Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town 79CE, revealing the city after centuries of being buried in volcanic ash. Nothing much to see I felt.

Right: Body casts of victims who were ‘immortalised’ during their last moments when Mount Vesuvius erupted. How morbid is that

Finally got to try Everything with Fries! Shared a sour cream and onion flavoured fries and nutella tart. hmm... was alright. But I was longing for crinkle cut fries, and they only serve straight ones. I thought the nutella tart would be cold dessert, but it turned out warm. Tasted alright, though slightly like the dough in some half baked cake that I once unsuccessfully baked. (Oops, suppose to be counting my blessing and not complaining)

Found more normal wear that doubled up as maternity tops.

Left: From Cotton On (2 for $30), these are big, size S was good enough for me
Right: From South Haven sale ($20 each)

Finally found the baby posters thanks to Kim. Picky me couldnt find the ones I wanted, and only chose these 2 posters. Turned out to be the same baby modelling...

Settled the stroller! Woo hoo.. free from Lindy. Kum Sia!

Got to K at K-box on a weekday night. These days it is freaking expensive (easily $25)and I refuse to pay that exorbitant amount to croak. The newly opened K-box at safra had nice cosy rooms and featured touch screens which took me a while to figure out and get used to. For $8nett inclu of one drink and snacks, definitely no complaints!

101010

2010-10-11T21:30:00.004+08:00

10 Oct 2010 is a special day to many. Perfect day to get married and just nice it was weekend.

It was a hot hot weekend. And my appetite has increased with the temperature.

Top left and right: newly open eatery at Vivo. We ordered the grilled pork with rice noodles, sour plum and lime soda, and blackforest cake. The cashier charged me the set meal rate of $7.30, quite cheap. Food was Ok only. I wished the rice noodle dish could be piping hot. The blackforest cake was dry, though it used quality ingredients. The drink was very refreshing.

Bottom left and right: Ate at Shokudo Raffles City. Ordered 3 mains but forgot to take a pic of the Rosti with Hamburg steak. The Omu rice with pork cutlet was ok, while the sakura ebi spaghetti was too spicy (they should hv indicated it was spicy). The portions seem quite small, and I still felt hungry after eating, hence I ordered the rosti.

Bottom Centre: Honey-oatmeal-almond cookies. Added too much honey, turn out chewy. Not bad.

Greg is so active that its hard to get pics of him. He doesnt care to pose for pics either. Rare pics...

Just my thoughts

2010-10-07T22:28:00.008+08:00

It's interesting to note that people automatically assumed pregnant women to be of weaker health. When my colleague missed a divn meeting because she was on MC, the new divn Head (first time meeting us) assumed the one on MC is the pregnant staff. (I din look pregnant then). This morning when my support staff fainted at her bus stop, a colleague from another divn heard about it and assumed that she was the pregnant one (he knew someone fm my dept was pregnant but he din know our names). Well, I'm just glad I dun live up to the stereotype . That I survived the months of nausea without taking MC. Hope that it will continue to be smooth sailing throughout.
==========

Sometimes i am quite fearful of what my kid will turn out to be like. I noticed that children are the mirrors of their parents, picking out and magnifying the subtlest quirks and flaws in their parents. Wonder what weird or negative aspect of me will be projected. Meanwhile I must try to be a better person.
===========

I remembered my gynae appt date wrongly. Imagine my dismay when i receive a call from the clinic telling me I had missed my appt. My heart sank and i felt like i had forgotten to go for an exam. This is the first time i had missed an appointment. To make it worse, i also hv a detailed scan on this appt and the scan centre was unable to give me another slot. So i hv to go and q until they can slot me in. I hope this will be the epitome of my pregnancy induced blur-ness. Dun wish to have more trouble or inconveniences.
===========

The detailed scan confirmed I'm expecting a girl and so far everything is normal. Ok, that's all I can hope and ask for. Normality can be so difficult to achieve after seeing one too many fundraising shows on tv.

============

My weight at the doc's clinic was 53kg. I have passed my Pre-pregnancy's heaviest weight (52kg). Oh dear, the journey of ballooning starts now...

Carousel Buffet Lunch and a Housewarming

2010-10-06T08:40:00.005+08:00

Finally got to try the buffet at Carousel (Royal Plaza on Scotts Hotel). Seems like most people liked the buffet. Was there for lunch, and the sashimi items were limited. The chilled seafood was not that great (crayfish not fresh), only the lobster pincer was good. The hot food section had too much middle eastern, malay dishes which were so-so. The chicken rice was the outstanding hot food item for me. And finally, this place really has good desserts. The hazelnut cake, the lychee ivory chocolate cake, the chocolate cake and creme brulee were all outstanding.

After many delays , CJ and Mich finally shifted into their new home and invited us over. Very nicely done up. Love the furniture pieces and fantastic bose home surround theatre system.

Little Greg engrossed in watching tv

He can ride the bicycle on his own now. Pretty good. And his language skills has up another notch. He tells us to bring him to hotel room (and not hotel) , and he can pronounce 'Excuse Me' correctly thanks to my father's patience. My father taught him to say it as 'X-Qs Me' so that the 's' will be pronounced. So now when Greg says Excuse me, he says it real slow 'X---Qs---Me'. Cute

F1 Weekend 2010

2010-09-27T08:24:00.006+08:00

Brought home some bananas and was inspired to bake a chocolate banana walnut cake. It turned out to be quite abit of work. The final product was a fudgy cake (probably too much bananas).

Little Greg is still ard, he'll be staying til somewhere in Oct. Great! I totally missed watching the F1 race on TV on Sunday (were they even showing it on TV?) cos I was at my parents' place. No regrets, little Greg was a great entertainer. He sang his muddled lyrics version of "A Brave New World" complete with actions abt 10x? And his warped prononuciation was very entertaining. He would sing the Happy Birthday song (as it was my parents' birthday in Sep), except he pronounced it as "Happy Daydek to You" . I have a feeling "daydek" means something in Malay... Then my father tried to teach him to say "Excuse Me". It turned out like "Act-Kew-Me", kinda telling people to "Kill me"

Now he remembers we were the ones who got the RWS hotel stays, he often asked hubby to bring him to hotel...he is becoming pampered!

Update: Went to ask my Malay colleague if this pronounciation 'Daydek/dedek' meant anything, he said 'Breasts'. OOPS!

Quest for Cheap Maternity Wear - 2nd trimester

2010-09-26T15:54:00.016+08:00

Now that I am outgrowing my normal clothes, I have to shop for maternity wear. However the cheapskate values ingrained in me, just couldnt bear to spend over $60 for a simple maternity dress or $40 for some maternity / nursing top. My other pregnant gf wears long tops with tights and leggings to work. But I feel that this combination is abit too casual for my office environment. So now I'm desperate to look for cheap maternity wear that can pass off as reasonably formal. Went shopping for L size clothes instead. I think they should be able to last me for 2nd term. But I'll have a new headache in the last trimester. Here are my finds so far:

Loose top ($9)and dress ($12) at 50% discount from This Fashion

Blue studded tee, size XL from Gmarket ($11.50). This top is long and wide. Definitely roomy enough for the whole pregnancy

Also from Gmarket ($20). Very big china made dress.

Got these from another seller in Gmarket ($18 - $24). Clothes delivered direct from Korea. The pink and purple dress materials were rather thick. Seems abit too warm for our weather..

A cheap roomy casual dress from Gmarket ($9.30).

From Ms Queenie blogshop. Cheap - $16 each, including postage. But seems more like long tops than dresses.

Work Pants from The Maternity House ($101.50 for 2 pieces, after 15% discount). Unfortunately, cant escape fm the basics - pants and jeans. Two pieces should be sufficient. Elastic band can stretch to accomodate for later expansion.

White cardigan, size M ($33, regular price) and printed tube top, size L ($20 after discount) from Forever21. I used to wear size S at F21, now I fit comfortably into L... oops

The Buffet at M Hotel

2010-09-24T09:18:00.004+08:00

Last gathering with CJ n Co was exactly 6 mths ago on my birthday. For the past 6 mths, we hv been busy with our respective trips, my pregnancy and Cj's new house. Finally we found time to gather for HY's bd. The steamboat buffet at M hotel was recommended by Cj. At $40++ per pax, it was definitely quite high end. They included good stuff like live cooking station with drunken herbal prawns using live prawns, fresh scallops and some nice desserts. The steamboat pot had 3 partitions so we had Tom yum, laksa and chicken mushroom soup. My fav was chicken mushroom. The variety of steamboat items was huge. But I was afraid to eat much, for fear of getting that uncomfortable bloat, so I skipped the various balls (meat ball, prawn ball etc) and the pomfret. Overall it was a nice dining experience, but I dun think I ate enough to justify the price.

Lazy and Cheapskate

2010-09-19T23:36:00.007+08:00

Oops, I'm a lazy and cheapskate mum to be. I'm too lazy to :
- shop for baby stuff (or maybe too cheapskate to spend, hoping to get hand-me-downs)
- read up on pregnancy and baby stuff (still have another 2 thick books to try and flip through)
- look for pre-natal classes to sign up
- doll myself and try to look good

- think too hard abt what else I should be doing

I'm too cheapskate to spend on maternity wear (so expensive! $60++ per dress). Tried shopping at This Fashion, they were having storewide sale, but most of the clothes were size S or the fit was not loose enough. Wonder what I can wear in the third trimster. I'm glad I settled the bra part. Managed to find really cheap no brand bras (below $10) at Carrefour. The exact same design cost $22.90 if its Triumph. Crap! Even maternity wear has a premium price at Carrefour. A maternity top cost $23 (just a simple tee). Instead, I bought a normal tee at size XL for $9.90.