A car finally

The wait is almost over ... in 4 days I will own my first car, a VW MPV. The COE was secured at $56,112 but I didn't need to top up the difference of about $6k.

Always used to taking taxis, I have come to enjoy the convenience of a car, be it driving to work or Aaron to his playgroups. Well, time to enjoy the new ride :)


Related Tweet:
29 Feb 2012, 9:52PM, DC: The wait is almost over ... 4 days to my own VW


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Small Winnings

My pick 7,9,17,33,40,42.

The winning numbers 9, 14, 17, 32, 33, 45 and 7.

Stake $10, winnings $20.

Oscar 2012

I had a soft spot for Oscar. It happens on or right after our Anniversary (easy to remember) and the winners list is a good indication for us movie lovers to decide on which movie to watch. And, of course, I get to watch the stars on the red carpet! :)

Winners
Best Picture: The Artist
Actor In a Leading Role: Jean Dujardin/The Artist
Actress In a Leading Role: Meryl Streep/The Iron Lady
Actor In a Supporting Role: Christopher Plumber/Beginners
Actress In a Supporting Role:Octavia Spencer/The Help

My to-watch would be: The Artist and Hugo :)

Gown
Love the gowns they wore this year! Here goes the list...

Black:
Angelina Jolie in Atelier Versace

Jessica Chastain in Alexander McQueen

Red:
Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton

Emma Stone in Giambatista Valli

White/Neutrals:
Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford

Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad

Cameron Diaz in Gucci Premiere

Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji

Milla Jovivich in Elie Saab

Penelopee Ann Miller

Kristen Wiig in J. Mendel

Metal:
George Clooney in Armani and Stacy Kiebler in Marchesa

Lea Thompson

Lara Spencer

Blue/Purple:
Tina Fey in Carolina Hererra

Sarah Hyland

Yellow:
Nancy O'Dell

These are the ones that I thought looks nice but something is just not right on them...
Sandra Bullock in Marchesa

Shailene Woodley in Valentino couture

Rooney Mara in Givenchy

Penelope Cruz in Giorgio Armani

Natalie Portman n Dior

Meryl Streep in Lanvin

Giuliana Rancic - Tom Ward

Rose Byrne in Viviene Westwood

Viola Davis in Vera Wang


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A happening weekend

This year's anniversary was the most overlooked one! We forgot about it and when we realized, we couldn't arrange for anything special... A has lessons on weekends and B is still very young to go for a staycation! And, DC's uncle just passed away and he had to attend the funeral procession on Sat. After that, he had to rush to his office to do work. His parents had to take turns to look after their twin grandsons during that weekend, so they can't help me take care of mine. I went to my parents'. Why must things just had to happen in that weekend?

Even so, it was a weekend to be remembered as it was very different from the rest, making it special. I enjoyed the time spent with A that weekend and I missed it now! Things we do, in pictures:-)







And we went back to grandparent's place for dinner and then, home sweet home! :)

On the next day, DC had to go back to check his installation and it's me taking A to his music class! Again, after class, we went to find Papa... :)

B stayed at home with her paternal grandparents...



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Fry is not equal to Deep Fry!

DC instructed maid to fry the chicken wings for dinner. He meant to pan fry them. And, she went to deep fry them!

By the time I found out, it was too late! LOL, dinner took longer than usual because she had to do it twice as our wok is not big enough. And, dinner is oiler than usual, many of the wings were burnt!


This would, again, serve as a lesson and teach us to be more specific in giving instructions! :(


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B is 2 months old

B is even more alert this month, always looking towards light sources, sounds or moving objects with her curious eyes. :) We've put up musical mobiles for relaxation and more hand/eye coordination and visual stimulation.



She can move her head easily from left to right and I'm amazed that she could kick herself off the pillow but often ended up in an angled position (not straight) from the pillow. I put her on a bouncer sometimes but she doesn't seems to like being on one very much.

At month 1, she celebrated her first chinese new year right after our confinement and we dressed her up in pretty new dresses brought by daddy.

We brought her for her vaccination (originally scheduled for her brother) and she had fever up to 38ºC for two days.

She had some rashes on her cheeks which cleared up towards the end of month 1. She always feels hot and sweats quite a lot, I thought that was quite normal for newborns. Her brother was the same. Daddy cleared her cradle cap at her eye brows. None on her head! :)

She had lots of wind in her and always struggles while feeding and pooped in between feeds. We thought she was having a diarrhea but the PD assured us that it was normal. We decided to change the milk powder from Similac to NAN to reduce the wind and poop frequency. Hope she'll take the change well.

She's now drinking 100-110ml breast milk in the day and 120ml powder at night. I'm glad there weren't much wastage of milk. In between, she'll have suckles of breast milk. However, there is nipple confusion now. :( Can only manage 5 mins and she'll fall asleep unlike the 30-45mins when she was just born!

She's beginning vocal sounds and that's the most amazing and intriguing sounds I've ever heard even though they are only ohh, err, umm! Oh yes, she has just begun sleeping through the night for at least 5 hours. :)

She's been sleeping in the living room since birth. We've just started to move her to A's room during te weekends so that she can have some good sleep.


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A is 31 months old

More and more words are coming out of A's mouth that I lost count! Some of them are: eat, come (with action), rice, 鱼, 抱抱 (with action), bye (with action), no no... Realised he's speaking out the words he used to show in gestures? :) He could response well to my questions by nodding or shaking his head and he could answer some of the questions I asked by using single words. We are currently working on him to form more sentences on top of what he's already using.

He identifies or marks his processions by saying his name e.g. "A" or "A 的". He also identifies objects belonging to us which, he'll says "Papa" or "爸爸的" or others in similar fashion.

He seems to be quite well adapted to the new sister. In fact, he'll mention her a couple of times a day e.g. calling her "妹妹" when he sees her or her photos, asking me to feed her or to put her down on her cot. He can be quite playful (sometimes rather mean) to her too e.g. he takes off her mittens or booties, he pulls her hair, hits her head, beat her stomach and gives us that cheeky smile despite knowing that was wrong! However, at times, he pats her head and asks to have milk with her! :)

What I cannot manage was the moments (although rare) when B was crying on her cot, A forbids me to carry her. He, instead, will raise his hands and ask me to 抱抱 him! I ended up giving in to both, i.e. carry A, put him down, then carry B, put her down and this goes on until Daddy comes to the rescue! :P DC has been playing a bigger role in taking care of him while I look after the smaller one. This definitely improved the bonding between father and son tremendously and A is quite clingy to his dad now, much to my jealousy! Besides bonding, A also gets spanked more often by DC, who is naturally impatient with noise, cries and disobedience. :(

We discovered in the past month that he associates shit to being smelly. He can't stand the smell of it and would puke at the smell of it during diaper change!

This month, A celebrated the chinese new year and he enjoyed tossing the 鱼生, tasted mandarin oranges and collected red packets. He went for his first outing with his school and handpicked some gifts back! That night he was very happy!

He still insists on not wearing his school uniform and prefers his Polo Tee instead! At home, he's always driving happily in his two cars (the one daddy rented for him and the one his grandpa gave him) and playing with the smaller toy cars (as picture)...

We also began to re-introduce him to breast milk and he seems to enjoy it with no issue! :)


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B looks like me!

Who does B look like?

My family say B looks like DC. DC's side said she looks like me. The confinement lady said at first she thought B looks like me, as the days passed, she finds her look like DC more and more... I never thought she looks like me until today!

I was sitting at my table, expressing milk when I turned and caught a glimpse of her on the rocker. I had the strangest feeling of deja vu then! That moment, I thought she reminded me of myself when I was young! So, I went to search for my baby photo to compare...

True enough, she looks like me! Even the standing hair too! 0_0




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Nanny for B?

DC read the ST yesterday (link) and immediately texted me to call up for more details.

Nanny? I raised this to him when my sister and mummy suggested but he didn't sound very keen. I thought infant care was his chosen option.

Anyways, I called up the agent who arranged for us to meet a prospective nanny in our neighborhood this morning. She sounded very experienced and her home was very spacious and clean. The impression she gave us was rather positive. After this visit, I think we are likely to engage her to look after B for us.


[Edited on 28 Feb 2012: We've confirmed on the nanny and made payment for the first month plus commission for agent. :) One thing off our minds!]


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A Call from the Gynae

Early in the morning, I received a call from my gynae. He informed me that the pap smear result was ok but he saw some inflammation at the wall of the cervix. He'll prescribe something to fix it or else it might cause me irritation. DC will go down tomorrow to collect whatever is prescribed and I'll have to follow up with him in 3 month's time..., and I thought I need not see him again until one year later! :P


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Dad's birthday celebration never goes without a suckling pig

The place was super crowded today! We later learned that there is another birthday celebration in progress, no wonder!

We brought along A (who just came back from his class) and B (who is still having slight fever from her vaccination). A seems to be enjoying himself, eating and seeing two buses contending to move off in a narrow two-sided one-lane road. B was drowsy and she slept through the whole dinner after her milk feed.

I carried A to hand Dad a red packet.


Dad's must-have dish for his birthday.


And what's birthday dinner without the longevity buns and noodles?


Happy 64th Birthday, dear Dad! :)


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B's 1st month vaccination

We postponed A's MMR vaccination today at 11am and B took A's place for her 1st month rotavirus and 6-in-1 vaccination.

She did cry a little but stopped very shortly when she heard the rattle. :) Both DC and I had to go for A's meet-the-parent session and hence, my in-laws came over to help take care of Baby B.

At 6pm, when we were back with A, we found out that B had developed a slight fever of 37.5ºC. At night, the fever escalated to 38.3ºC despite the sponging and patching. We decided to give her the Panadol. Hopefully it'll subside soon.


[Edited on 19 Feb 2012 3am:At 3am, her fever returned to normal! Thank God. :) ]

[Edited on 19 Feb 2012, 10pm: Oh no, at 8am, the fever came back and forth. Still slightly hot now... :( ]


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Wonderful Suit

B slept in this suit on 13 Feb and guess what happened? She slept through the night in it for 5 hours straight!



This is indeed a wondersuit! It was given to A by DC's cousin who bought it from Australia. (That explains the color...) Too bad A outgrown it and wore it only once (i think). Good that we still keep this and could hand it down to B. :)


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An incident that made A cry out loud

It's not A's night today and his nemesis for the night is ... DC, ha!

First, DC played with him after shower and pulled him on the bed. This action caused some discomfort (fortunately no dislocation) to his arms and he cried out loud. My son is a brave boy and will not cry easily unless it's really hurtful. Took him a while to calm down.

After he calmed down, he took hold of the Ruyi oil and accidentally poured some of it (actually quite a bit of it) on his back. DC saw it and rubbed it all over his back, including his shoulder and neck. This was a disaster! As you know, the oil is skin-piercingly hot! He cried for a long moment!

I hope both Daddy and Son learnt their lessons today!


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Where is the love?

No gifts of love this year, we are both sooo busy! DC busy with work and me busy with taking care of our daughter. Never mind, I believe every day is special when there's love...

However, we did receive a surprise... DC was tagged by his cousin on fb with a V day card and our family photo was in it! Thanks Cousin! :)




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Fallen Eggs

My maid informed me that there were two fallen lizard eggs and whether she could sweep them away.



This was the first time I saw lizard eggs! I never know they existed! If not for my maid (who has seen many in her hometown), I would not know what they were! Hmm, why and from where did they fall?


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I ♥ TVB Dramas

Love the police, lawyer and period dramas by TVB! :) These are the ones I've watched recently:

1. 法证先锋III/ Forensic Heroes III (HK)

Episodes: 30
Genre: Police, Forensic
Casts: Wayne Lai, Maggie Cheung Ho-yee, Kate Tsui, Ron Ng, Aimee Chan, Edwin Siu, Nancy Wu, Ruco Chan
Synopsis: Senior Forensic Chemist Jack "Pro Sir" Po (Wayne Lai) is the head of the Forensic Department and is skilled at analysing criminal psychology. He has a unique view on human nature and is familiar with the structure of various firearms. Pro Sir works closely with Senior Pathologist Mandy Chung (Maggie Cheung Ho-yee) in a wide range of fields including psychology, anthropology, criminology and forensic science.
CID Senior Inspector Ada Ling (Kate Tsui) and Sergeant "Wind" Lee Chin-fung (Ron Ng) work together cracking many murder cases. Their relationship goes from good friends 'brothers' to a pair of lovers.
With a backbone of 12 cases, the forensic scientists, forensic doctors and the police all work together to accommodate each other to solve these cases. The perspective in this third installment is much wider than the previous two seasons with a legal standpoint in addition to the forensics.
Review: Excellent show! I've been following the whole series faithfully, it never disappoints although the casts this season has changed! ♥ Love!


2. 真相/ The Other Truth (HK)

Episodes: 25
Genre: Lawyer
Casts: Tavia Yeung, Raymond Wong, Ruco Chan, Louis Yuen, Natalie Tong, Lai Lok-yi
Synopsis: Does every verdict reveal the truth? Watch the court room drama unfold as a group of very individual attorneys are brought together in complex legal proceedings and each lawyer reveals their own story.
Barrister Keith Lau's (Ruco Chan) ambition knows no limits. He will do everything he can in order to win a case, even if it means putting himself at risk.
His good friend Wallace Cheuk (Raymond Wong) runs a law firm. Although Wallace is a qualified barrister, he has no court experience, until Mavis Hong (Tavia Yeung) joins his firm. Thereafter, Wallace's debut meets with loud acclaim.
Their good friend James Wai (Louis Yuen) is a down-on-his-luck lawyer who is financially dependent on his mother: but when a thorny case comes his way, it looks as if his luck has finally changed.
Review: A slightly different lawyer show, with many cases (some really exciting) and dedicated lawyers who went all their way to find the truth. Worth the watch. It's speculated that there will be a second season released in 2012, I'm waiting for it!


3. 紫禁驚雷/ The Life and Times of a Sentinel (HK)

Episodes: 25
Genre: Historical Drama
Casts: Steven Ma, Kenneth Ma, Sunny Chan, Power Chan, Selena Li, Natalie Tong, Elaine Yiu, Evergreen Mak, Ching Hor-wai
Synopsis: The sudden death of the young Shun-chi Emperor (Shunzhi) shocked the whole empire. The second prince Fuk-tsuen, was originally the successor for the throne, but Empress Dowager Hao-chong (Xiaozhuang) changed the successor to the third prince Yuen-yip, who subsequently becomes the Hong-hei Emperor (Kangxi). Angry with this, Fuk-tsuen dispatchs a spy, Nip Dor-po, and instructs him to gain Hong-hei's trust.
Review: Now watching. This seems like a man's show cos it features two men friendship and fuel...


4. 天與地/ When Heaven Burns (HK)

Episodes: 30
Genre: Modern Drama
Casts: Bowie Lam, Moses Chan, Kenny Wong, Charmaine Sheh, Maggie Shiu, Elaine Jin
Synopsis: In their youth Joe (Bowie Lam), Angus (Moses Chan), Ronnie (Kenny Wong) and Ka Ming are good friends and band mates. During a mountaineering trip, the four are stranded on a snow bound mountain and out of desperation Ka Ming is killed and eaten by the other three. This event has a traumatic effect on them, their friendship, and their friendship with Yan (Charmaine Sheh), Ka Ming's girl friend, leading the previously close group to go their separate ways. And the story continues from there...
Review: Now watching Episode 3. Not as exciting as I thought it will be. Maybe 好戏在后头?


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Red Carpet Watch

Gowns that I adore from the Grammy Awards, SAG Awards and Diane von Furstenberg (DvF) Runway for Fall 2012.

Grammy Awards:
Paris Hilton in Basil Soda.

Kelly Osbourne in Tony Ward.

Taylor Swift in Zuhair Murad

SAG Awards:
Diane Lane in David Meister.

Kristen Wiig in Balenciaga.

Viola Davis in Marchesa


DvF Runway (Fall 2012):
Liu Wen


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