Happy Halloween 2009

As I was writing this post, baby was sleeping in my arms, DC was sleeping in the room and it was pouring outside. Lightning flashing and thunders roaring, the whole house was dark, quiet and eerie with dim lights from outside and there were shadows on the windows... just imagine walking into the study room and seeing a pale face me sitting in front of my mac in white shouting hallow(een)... spooky is the word! :P

Happy Halloween 2009!


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Everything I do I do it for you...

Our lifestyle now is so different compared to the past... of course, I understand that things can never be the same when there's a baby in the house. Adjustments have to be done to make room for the baby but I'm not complaining (more than willing!) because these are all for the good of the baby. :D

Here's a list of changes that we've made for the sake of our baby. :)

1. Cleanliness of Baby's room.
Now: This room is probably the cleanest now. Special effort is made to keep the room spick and span.
What it used to be: The baby room was vacant all the while and both DC and I used it as a utility room (also a guest room but we have never kept any guest back before). None of us paid any attention in keeping this room clean.

2. Personal Hygiene.
Now: Keeping ourselves clean all the time (or so we try), we sanitized ourselves before and after we touched the baby to keep baby free from germs.
What it used to be: Who would have thought of buying a sanitizer and washing our hands so often if not for the baby and recent spread of the H1N1 virus? :P

3. Dining
Now: Baby is still small and difficult to bring out. I eat in most of the time. My mum claimed that outside food is not nutritious and now that I'm breastfeeding, there are a lot of food I can't eat outside. So, I got her to cater food for me! :P
What it used to be: Eating out all the time - fast and convenient!

4. Going Out
Now: This is kept at minimal. Even if I were to shop, it's all about the baby! :)
What it used to be: Out all the time until past 9pm.

5. Movies
Now: No more movies. Now, we rent DVDs home to watch. Delayed excitement but still enjoyable.
What it used to be: One movie every weekend, sometimes two!

6. Pills
Now: Taking pills during every meal (to boost BM supply), I'm immune to pills now!
What it used to be: I never know how to swallow a pill proper and resisted it until I'm pregnant!

7. Sleep
Now: Limited sleep and lots of naps!
What it used to be: I could go on sleeping for hours/days.

8. TV
Now: I have forgo a lot of my TV time. I have actually imagined myself watching TV all day while taking care of the baby (when I was pregnant) but this proves to be difficult.
What it used to be: I'm a couch potato! Like sleeping, I could watch TV all day.

9. Spousal Communication
Now: Most of the time, we talked about topics related to the baby, the baby became our top priority!
What it used to be: Anything but the baby! :P

10. ME time
Now: Practically no ME time for me (though DC still get to enjoy his ME time). If I have the time, I'll use it on my baby or to nap.
What it used to be: Not that I have a lot of ME time in the past, at least I can enjoy my one hour bath. Now? I shower real quickly when my baby is napping and I have to be done before he wakes up.

Next in line is Work: I have not gone back to work but I could foresee changes already, e.g. taking time off work to visit the nursing room. I wish to say I have forsake my work to stay at home and look after the baby but too bad for me, it's really not time yet! :P


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Dinner at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant

Shingo is in Singapore for work. Had a nice dinner with him and Melandro at Jumbo Seafood.

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When Skinny meets Fatty

We went for Baby's pneumococcal jab and his 2nd assessment yesterday and in the clinic, we met little Jayden.


Jayden was born on 3 Jul 2009, same month as Aaron but he now weighs 7kg, takes 150ml of milk (Similac) and has already started on solids! Our little Aaron is only 4.5kg and can't even finish 120ml of milk sometimes... What a contrast! Makes me wanna pump our baby up with meat fast!

Anyway, other than his size (in fact, his wt and ht now fall within the curves *happy*), Baby's development assessment had been good (that is most important to me) and I had a good chat with little Jayden's mummy and grandma! I've collected more counts for comments nos. 1-4 and 9! :)


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Comments about Baby A

Comments About Baby A...

Hehe, I've collected a list of the top 10 most commonly heard comments about our baby from family, friends and even strangers (lots of them):

1. Baby has lots of hair or Baby's hair is very long!
2. Baby is a girl?!! (must be because of his hair, he was mistaken for a girl many many times!)
3. Baby is small (most thought he is only one month old! Many also asked if he was a preemie)
4. Baby has sharp nose
5. Baby has sharp features
6. Baby has strong legs (by nurses, docs, nanny and whoever tries to carry him)
7. Baby has long eyelashes
8. Why did Baby keep sticking out his tongue - Is he hungry?
9. Baby is handsome :)
10. Baby looks more like his mummy

Some other comments include: "he has big eyes", "he has wide smile and dimples", "he has long tongue", "he has long legs", "he has loud voice (esp when he cries for his milk, its non-stop loh!)", "why was he always sleeping when I visited him?", ...

Recently, we heard a couple of people saying that Baby is fair... we find it interesting because we didn't realise it! Maybe he has turned fairer but I think I'm fairer than him! :P


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Speed, Give me what I need!!!

My Intel system has been chugging along fine until came Adobe Lightroom 2.5. Photoshop CS 4 is still bearable but Lightroom is so slow.

As the new Intel i7 processors are out now, it seems that prices of the Core2 Duo have dropped drastically. I got the Core2 Duo 2.93 Ghz at a low price of $175. The upgrade process is simple and easy enough. Within half an hour, my PC is running Lightroom 2 smoothly. Nice ...




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25 Oct 2009, DC: An easy upgrade from 2.13 Ghz to 2.93 Ghz. Lightroom is more responsive now.


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排排队，查查看: 强记海南鸡饭

I had quite a bit of craving for this popular chicken rice at the Bishan KPT when I was pregnant. The craving stays - now, I will have the chicken rice almost weekend and sometimes the weekdays... The stall is owned by a young couple, their chicken is tender and rice tasty. I often cannot make up my mind and ended up having both roasted and white! :P The problem is that I may not get to eat it even if my craving calls. It is not always open during weekdays (even though Mon is their rest day), the queue is very long on weekends (as pictured above) and they don't work at night! Maybe that explains the queue...


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Are you sure these are suitable for children?

I searched for the lyrics of the song "Rock-a-bye" to sing to Baby (I only knew the first 2 lines) but OMG, the next 2 lines surprised me! It pains my heart just to imagine the cradle and baby fall! Though I am not a fan of the lyrics, I love the melody.. it was one of my favorites!

Rock-a-bye
Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all





Here's another nursery rhyme that shouts "OUCH!":

Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got and home he ran,
As fast as he could caper.
There his mother bound his head,
With vinegar and brown paper.

Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses,
And all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again

Below is the ultimate one, DC taught me this:

Fatty and Skinny
Fatty and skinny went to bed
Fatty rolled over and skinny was dead!


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3 months old

Baby is 3 months old today! :)


Last month was a bliss. We have finally resolved Baby's reflux problem by changing the orientation of the bottle teat and giving a thicker milk mixture. As a result, Baby is sleeping more soundly through the night - full 10 hours now! :)

He had his first vaccination but developed fever. Despite that he was still very happy and active... Thank God, the fever subsided on the second day.

His 1st month pictures were sent to us last week, we were quite disappointed that there were not many nice photos but at least there were still 5 worthy ones that we could pick. When we look at the baby in the picture and him in our arms, we could see a huge difference! He has really grown, no longer small and skinny like in the photos!

Just a few days ago, we tried putting Baby on his tummy again. This time, to our surprise, he didn't cry and he held his head up for quite a while! Next month (according to our GP), the head needs no more support from us! :)

We have just set up a musical mobile over his cot and he loves it, we could tell by his excited body movements! Baby is now full of chuckles, making all kinds of noises to show his pleasure - squeals, gurgles, shouts and cooing sounds! He is just so lovable! We definitely enjoy the time spent playing with him! ... and oh, thanks to DC, his cradle cap was gone! I would have taken months to clear it but DC only did it in only one weekend!


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Baked Chicken, anyone?

Stumbled upon this stall after our recent family photo shoot. Dad and Mum was the ones who discovered it. There are 2 sizes - small is selling for $15.50 and the big one for $16+. We each bought one small back to try and all of us love it. It was well-marinated and not too salty. Yummy!

Today mum went there specially and she bought me a baked chicken for dinner! Yippee, Mum's the best! :)

Chakey's Salted Baked Chicken



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你OK,我OK

I saw baby's hand sign and I quickly stretched out my hand, did the same and got DC to snap a pic of it... Doesn't it look like an OK sign? :)

Have to borrow Kodomo's line (love it) for this: 宝宝开心，妈妈安心！So, as long as he is OK, I'm OK! :D


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Meet the cousins

We were invited to a Dim Sum lunch at a Boon Lay Raja, a Cantonese restaurant at Jurong East. First time there but the dim sum left a very good impression - worth a second visit! Too bad for me, I've to abstain myself from prawns and yam but i definitely want to go there again and that had to be after the seafood ban is lifted!

Kiefer and Christian were there too. In the pictures above, they were having fun playing with little Aaron. :)



A was very well-behaved in the restaurant until after we are done and he couldn't take it and cried for his milk. We went to the cousin's place after that.


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Deepavali, the festival of lights

Today's Deepavali. It was initally on DC's birthday but because of the uncommon appearance of 2 "no moon" days (amavasai) between mid-Oct and mid-Nov 2009, the day was later re-established and confirmed to be on 17 Oct 09 which is today.

I like Deepavali and always thought it resembles our Mooncake/Lantern festival. I often wonder why wasn't the Lantern festival made a public holiday in Singapore? However, I rather it falls on DC's birthday this year because I get to claim the public holiday! Now I can't cos I'm still on maternity leave. :P

We have never experienced the celebration (cos we're not Hindus and never have the chance to do so) but I do hope that we could soak in the atmosphere one day... i'm thinking of doing the following:
1) Painting our hands with Henna at the Deepavali Bazaar,
2) Visiting a temple on Serangoon Road,
3) Be a spectator of the Deepavali Street Parade,
4) Immersing ourselves in the Street light up and
5) Dining at Little India's veg restaurant or maybe finding an Indian friend to visit?

However, all are not possible this year, next year perhaps.

Happy Deepavali 2009!

Here's a short description of the festival for those who don't know what Deepavali is about:

Deepavali is a colorful lights festival celebrated by the Hindus residing in all parts of the world. The festival usually takes place in October or November. It marks the death of the cruel King Narakasura by Lord Krishna.

In South India, Deepavali is celebrated to commemorate the killing of demon Narakasura by Lord Krishna. In North India, Deepavali commemorates the return of Lord Ram along with Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman to Ayodhya after his 14 years of exile.

The most happening part of this Deepavali festival is that children and adult members in the family join hands to decorate their house with oil lamps during the evening time. By lighting these lamps, the Hindus thank the Gods for the peace, happiness, prosperity, wealth and knowledge that they have been bestowed with.


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What the ... Christmas decor is up already ...

Yep, the cash cow milking season has started in Suntec.






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Baby Photo Shoot

We signed up for 2 photo packages at the Motherhood fair in June. The first one was scheduled on the 26-Aug, when Aaron was just slightly 1 month old. I really like those 5 to 6 weeks old photos of babies. However, baby Aaron was uncooperative. He just would sleep, even after feed. We had such a hard time getting him to "pose" for the camera. He would cry and fidget around.

The photographer was kind enough to allow us to go back another evening to try some more shots. Again we went on 1-Sep. It was the same thing. No luck.

Well, that's our boy. There really wasn't many photos that came out well. We actually had a hard time trying to choose even 6 for the prints! However, we managed this (my favourite):



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I feel very much like the mother in the picture now... esp when I'm alone at home. There's so much work to do at home and they have to be completed during baby's nap times at fast speeds. Rest is one of them because you won't be able to take rest even if you want to when the baby is awake!

I'm inspired to create my very own version of the photo! Let's see when DC is free to help me snap the pics! :P


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In Bad Shape

My weight now is 10kg heavier my pre-pregnancy weight. Fats are deposited everywhere, from arms to thighs to the most obvious - tummy. Can't seem to shake off these excess fats, still looking like i'm 4 months pregnant, I'm in a very bad shape now!

I've a nurse at the gynae's who thought i've come for consultation because i've yet to deliver, family members who kept asking why was my tummy still so big (even though i'm breastfeeding), friend who commented that i've put on weight, massage lady who commented that most other mommies out there have already regained their figure by the first month, chicken rice stall owner who asked when i'm due for delivery, relative who ask if i'm carrying my next child now and restaurant waitress who thought i'm pregnant and offered me water instead of tea!!!

I'm not very desperate yet - my options are not exhausted. In fact, I have not started on exercises (advised by gynae to start it after 3 months) and because of my wound infection, i delayed the massage which is said to be effective for losing weight and recovering back lost figure.

12 weeks have passed (i considered it 3 months) and it's time to do something about the pouch! Just started on my Jamu massage (first session yesterday). Hope it helps to relieve the stress, remove the water retention, eliminate the wind and fats in the body. But after one session, I felt aching all over. It's really painful, i'm going to get the massage lady to use only 1% of her strength on me on the next session (which is today). 9 more sessions to go, i hope today's session will be better...



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LV for the camera and laptop?

Question is, do my Macbook and Nikon dSLR deserve these fine "clothes"?

Damier Graphite Laptop Sleeve


At US$700, seems like a good deal. However, I am gradually using less and less of my current laptop sleeve, so it doesn't seem like a good idea to get another potential white elephant.

Damier Graphite Camera Bag


Finally, LV came out with a camera bag! Looks great but still slightly bulky, like the LV Carryall. However, at US$2250, I doubt I'll ever part with my money for it. Heck, it cost even more than my camera!

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No more blues

Wanted to wait for baby's studio pictures to be out (1.5 mths already!) before changing a new blog header... but can't wait any further, we have gotten sick and wanted to get rid of the blues!

How do you like this? I love it! :)




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Family Photo Shoot

Sis arranged a family photo shoot at the studio for today and only told us on Fri. We had a frantic time getting ourselves ready for the session this morning but definitely enjoyed the session!

Here are some snapshots:


Ahhh, it's been a long time since I donned an academic gown! :) Guess what? The color of the hood for my faculty has changed and the hood I wore for the photo shoot is now for the Masters of Applied Science! Hehe... and I became a master for a day for no reason!


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A good 11 years together with a baby to add this year! As with any other year, it's a good reason to celebrate and to splurge on food!

We didn't manage to get a booking for dinner so we settled for lunch instead. I am not complaining, fine dining restaurants are too dimly lit at night which makes photo taking difficult.

Jaan is a nice restaurant. I mean, who can complain about the view on the 70th floor of Swissotel Stamford! There's very limited seating, similar to Gunthers. Jaan has also made it to No. 4 on the Miele's Guide this year! I like that they provided each table with a small stool for the bags, a nice touch.

BREADSTICKS - Parmesan cheese and squid ink with eggplant dip. Very addictive!



TOMATES AIGRE - DOUCE
Shitsuoka tomato “sweet & sour”, Madagascar vanilla

Sweet sweet tomato accompanied with sorbet is quite out of this world. A good start to the meal. I had to stop myself from gobbling them up.

VENTRECHE DE THON, BASILIC FUME ET POUDRE DE CHARBON AROMATHIQUE
Grilled tuna belly “Otoro”, smoked basil oil and aromatic charcoal powder

Oh la la, I just love fatty tuna belly!

TRUFFE OU FOIE GRAS SELON ARRIVAGE
Truffle with foie gras sandwich

The disappointment of the day. It's foie gras paste that was served. The truffle is very fragrant though, probably the saving grace of the dish.

POULET DE BRESSE CUIT LONGEMENT AU FOUR, FOIE GRAS ET CAUQUILLE SAINT JAQUES;
COMPOTE D'ORGE AUX AMANDE ET L'EMULSION D'MORILLE
Slow roasted Bresse chicken, foie gras and live sea scallop
Barley and almond compote, fresh morel emulsion

Barley, instead of rice, is used here. Tasted just as good as any rice grain.

SNICKERS
Snickers version 2009

Very nice chocolate with sour cream and sorbet. Not overly sweet, I love this choc, it leaves me wanting for more at the end of it.

Fascinated with the teapot:


Reflections:




Finally, how can we resist another photo shoot?


So onwards to the 12th year and may Abba, Father bless us bountifully and strengthen our love for each other!


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Sis's Convocation

I took half day off from taking care of my baby to attend my younger sis's convocation today. Had a fun time there (Congrats Sis!) and took lots of photos...


After that was dinner celebration at the nearby park. Long time never go there already, the restaurant name changed again! This time it's called Farrer Park! Maybe the new owner fired the china waitresses, the service improved compared to last time but the dishes portion shrank by quite a lot too! Hearing that I had not enough to eat, my dad went to order satays... so sweet! We bought baby there too... he was quite well behaved this time.

A photo of us with the baby sleeping:


At home, while I was going through the convo photos taken today, I took out photos of DC and me on our convo days to reminisce... :P

It seems like yesterday that I had my convocation but it was actually 8 years ago! Time flies!

CP's Convocation: 6 Sep 2001, NTU at the then new auditorium



CP's Convocation: 22 Sep 2001, NUS Cultural Hall



Studio Picture: I think we have this framed up - hmm, where's the frame now?



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I'm thinking of a gift for CP, a little treat for her labour. It must start with A, just like our baby Aaron. Aren't we crazy? :)

It could be the LV's Alma, which is a nice bag, but CP has more than enough to go around. Knowing her, she'll just keep it on the shelf till it disintegrates.

Well, who knows, along came the Aigner and off it went on CP's wrist. Quite a nice watch it seems.




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人生有几个十年...

人生有几个十年，要活得痛快！ I quote this from the HK drama Rosy Business that I watched recently...

Both DC and I have been together since 1998 and in 2 days' time, it will be our 11th year together! The past 11 years together (十一年了！) was good (非常痛快！), the next 10 years and years ahead will definitely be better! :)

I did a search on the photos of us celebrating this day for the past 10 years and thought I could share them in this blog. This year we have a baby, it's a little tricky, I'm waiting for DC to plan... :P

2008: Tree Top walk, Flyer and Dinner at Gunther's




2007: Trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia


2006: Spa, Dinner at Pierside Kitchen, Photo taking at 1 Fullerton




2005: Karaoke, Wedding gown trying, Suntec Sky Garden and Dinner at Labordor Park



2004: Dinner at Swensen's, J8


2003: Dinner at Cafe Cartel and Present opening n coffee at Starbucks, Marina Square



2002: Lunch at Ghim Moh and Dinner at Breeks!, Marina Square


1999-2001: Hmmm...can't seem to find them on my Mac...They must be still in print format! Must dig them up from my stack of old photo albums and digitize them before I forget!


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