Blessings from Above

we usually have our reunion dinner with our respective families earlier and take off for a short getaway during CNY as dh hardly has any opportunity to take leave during the year (he goes to work even when he is unwell and on mc). after much deliberation, we decided to travel to hong kong/macau to see how other 'chinese' cities celebrate CNY, which on the hindsight was a great decision (we booked our holiday in sept) since i'm still in the 1st trimester and really shouldn't be doing long distance/3rd world country travellling. we really packed light this trip as compared to previous ones - one luggage for ALL our barangs (it was less than 23kg) and we didn't even bring along the stroller which is a mighty amazing accomplishment considering that we had to bring along li'l one's cooker, food, diapers and multiple change of clothes + winter wear for everyone! i believe it was the cold weather that 'helped' increase li'l one's appetite as she...

GONG XI FA CAI everyone! hope that CNY has been great for everyone so far! we are still in stanley ho's land and i'm overloaded with 'wanton mien' - probably something i'm not going to touch/order for the next one month! the weather is fantastic (i *love* cold!) and its great to be enjoying quality time with dh and li'l one - this will probably be our last vacation in a long while unless we can squeeze in one more trip in my 2nd trimester (and i'm thinking 'taipei'! right now) we'll be on our flight back tonight and photos will be coming up soon!

some time last week, this article came out in the local papers - the queensland tourism board is looking for someone to be a care-taker for one of the islands on the great barrier reef ! within hours of news break, the site crashed due to overwhelming response! if this position came about a couple of years back, i would jump at the opportunity! afterall, who in the right mind will reject a pay packet of A$150,000 for 6 months, with paid accommodation, transport and return airfare - mainly to blog about the fantastic island living?!?! i love the gorgeous beaches, relaxing lifestyle and mind-boggling number of activities available down under... go apply for the job, if you don't have a care in the world and dun mind being paid that obscene amount of money to enjoy yourself for 6 months!

we were unable to see baby #2 during the 1st visit scans as there were 'interference' with the signals - even the heartbeat was inaudible - and as a result, i was worried for 2 weeks! fortunately, we had clear scans today - Dr Tan even did the 4D scans and gave us a copy of our li'l caterpillar. he claims that he will be able to tell us the gender at our next appt in 4 weeks' time! :) here's what baby #2 looks like at 9w3d... heartbeat : 167bpm size : 4.09cm

the original intention was to have li'l one go for playgroup twice a week when i need to go office so we enrolled her in the school, got the new uniforms and even paid the fees. this was her on the 1st day of (play) school - so happy and at ease - i felt very relieved that she took to 'school' so well! she actually woke up on time and the 1st thing she said was - 'go school, go school!'... but i believe that having a familiar face around definitely helps! UNFORTUNATELY, the weekend after the 1st 2 days of 'school', her grandma (婆婆〕was shoved at a crowded place, fell and broke her thigh bone as a result. after several days of consideration, i decided to delay school by another term or two so that i can go over to take care of mom until she gets better.

we have 3 months more to our zoo membership so we will have to fully utilize it - since the weather was wonderful, i managed to convince daddy tan to bring us to the zoo today. my intention was to check out the newly opened 'kidzworld'. i like it - the facilities look really fun and i definitely will bring li'l one to come back and play on a weekday (so that its not crowded). we also took the newly opened boat ride - surprisingly, we had the whole boat to ourselves despite being a crowded sunday at the zoo!

since we stay in such close proximity to the airport, it is one of our fav. haunts - there's aircon (for hot days), good selection of food choices and plenty of space for li'l one to run around - what's not to like? we decided to have our breakfast there and also take the opportunity to bring li'l one to check out the mickey mouse display that so many of her friends have already gone to visit. see how happy she was to take photo with the mickey mouse!

can't believe how time just flies by - seems like y'day that the world 'reportedly' was going to end because of some Y2K bug - its been almost a decade since! anyway, i never bother with new year resolutions because i forget them faster than u can say 'what was that you said?'... but I do wish that everyone will have a better 2009 - even with the economical crisis looming! i do not think that recessions are big deals really because 'what goes up must come down' and vice-versa. have a swell time!

and more presents! is it any wonder that children enjoy festive seasons? while they may not understand the true meaning of x'mas yet, who can resist ripping off wrappers to reveal the surprises within? dd loves chanting 'new toys, new toys' non-stop nowadays... the 1st two presents that dd received this year... see how happy li'l one is with her presents! more presents = more smiles... photo with x'mas tree at grandma's house

wishing everyone a great time filled with love, laughter, good food & lots of gifts!

its our 'usual' playdate day but unfortunately, the group size is shrinking by the weeks as more and more toddlers get packed off and sent to 'sch'! we have also decided that li'l one will go to 'school' starting from Jan - however, she will only go on two days - tue & wed *which are days that i will most probably have to go to office and there will be no one who can care for her while i'm away* so we can still continue our playdates! anyway, we wanted to go cycling today with our tods but the weather was not exactly agreeable so we ended up in an indoor playground - not that i have any problems with that - afterall, we did buy a package for use there! the indoor playground has a scheduled activity every hour so while we were there, we made a x'mas card for the gramps, listened to a x'mas story & li'l one 'colored' the snowman picture that was provided. :) i shall just leave you to enjoy the photos...

once more!! the regular meetup kah-kis were just talking about this last week... about how as we move further away from the newborn stage, the less inclined we would be to have another one! one of us even set the dateline for june 09 to hit the jackpot (its not me! i'm terrible with datelines!)! so now i have an explanation for the weight gain, the sore nipples when li'l one nurses and my craving for meat! bring me the churrascaria anytime! i now have a legitimate reason to pig out! :P on a more serious note, will i have enough love to go around? will i have the time and energy to chase after a active toddler and at the same time, change nappies & nurse every hour? how will li'l one take to her new sibling? and most importantly - will the new sibling be a 'meimei' or 'didi' for li'l one? i suppose - only time will tell!

no, we didn't put our names on a new property and no, we did not strike lottery! all we did was to spend the weekend away, in batam, to enjoy quality time together as a family. the exchange rate is approximately S$1 to 7,500 indonesian rupiah... so that explains how much we spent eh? we had a complimentary night stay, thanks to mil's hotel card again, paid for an extra night and upgraded to a king sized bed since l'il one still sleeps with us. we had no plans at all, except to relax at the hotel. this is the breakdown of how much we spent: 2 nights accommodation : 569,500 indonesian rupiah return ferry tickets for 2 adults + 1 child : S$138 (1,035,000 indonesian rupiah) including departing terminal fees of S$7 per pax BBQ buffet dinner w/drinks for 2 adults : 323,351 indonesian rupiah lunch @ Jap restaurant : about S$30 (225,000 indonesian rupiah) buffet breakfast for 2 adults : 157,300 indonesian rupiah spa for 2 adults : 375,000 indonesian rupiah Ayam Pen...

y'day was one of those days when i lost count of the no. of times i had to say NO to li'l one and (almost) everything i said went in one ear and out the other! thankfully, these days don't come around very often (and hopefully, stays that way!) but the end of the afternoon, i was exhausted and completely drained both physically & mentally and was so glad that she drifted off to lah-lah land on schedule (i.e. before 8pm!) on such days, i keep HIM constantly in my prayers... Dear Lord, pls give me the strength and patience to carry out your work, in moulding C's life and teaching her the values that you would want to see in her. Amen! notes: her bottom cuspid erupted on the 24 Nov and the top followed quickly on 28 Nov! could her behavior be due to more teeth erupting? she now has 14! 6 more to go!

our precious li'l baby turned 19 months old today and i invited all four gramps along with us to the Singapore Flyer. while we didn't get the cabin to ourselves, i'm glad that it was not packed to the brim so l'il one still had the space to roam around. after the 'top of the world' experience, we stopped to have lunch @ seafood paradise within the flyer bldg - the exquisite six course lunch costed S$88++ per pax (with the hsbc 1-for-1 promotion) & my fav. dish was the yummy lobster! as usual, i gobbled up the food and forgot to take photos! :P enjoy our photos...  

i invited cindy & caitlyn to join us in our visit to the Singapore Biennale as we rarely get to see them even though they are back in SG coz they prefer to stay in the west for convenience. prior to this, i have never been to any biennale (even though i was offered tickets) or many art events largely (other than concerts & musicals) because i am just not an arty-farty kinda person. but after having C, for whatever reason, i just feel the need to expose her to different kinda experiences to enrich her life and thus actively search/look out for such events to bring her to. C was very co-operative and walked the whole time we were in the premises (except coming to me for hugs now and then) and i think that its great that there's a kids zone segregated especially for l'il ones (kindly sponsored Jet Airways)... In the 2 hours or so we were there, we only managed to explore one of the venues - City Hall. Hopefull we can find time to check out the other venues before the ...

despite living in the cosmopolitan country of SG, i do not have many friends outside my race - largely because of the schools that i went to. chinese was learnt as a 1st language, together with english (the main subject in our local schools) and china had yet become the powerhouse that it is today so few (outside my race) would choose to enrol in schools like mine. anyhow, its great to be invite to attend a wedding of a different sort to experience and learn more about other cultures/race - the pretty bride, izah is a great help to me in my work ; she is the diligent secretary who always does what i request for her to do and in good time! it must have been a good day in the islamic calendar as we noticed (many) other weddings along the way and even one, just a block away! C was taking her morning nap when we reach the venue and only woke up when i 'transferred' her over to be carried by dh (so that i can enjoy the yummy rendang! kekeke....). she laid against dh's comf...

thanks to Aunty J & Aunty G, we had a fun-filled halloween (bbq) night with lots of yummy food & chit-chatting while the toddlers had their 1st experience of 'trick or treating'! each of us invited were supposed to bring/prepare some food/drink item, dress up our kid in a costume as well as bring a toy to entertain them & a healthy snack for the 'treats'. i spent a couple of hours scouring the malls for suitable snacks and finally selected these 3. Organix - Organic Noughts & Crosses, Laughing Cow - Cheese Snack & Marks & Spencer - Organic Milk Chocolate for the adults... i prepared chicken curry & fried beehoon (which was unfortunately too wet coz my helper didn't discard the water after soaking the beehoon) - no photos though, as we rushed out almost immediately after i finished cooking... coz i thought we *were* late! photos next... the toddlers warming up to each other & playing with the toys we prepared all th...

first up, i don't think any of us really enjoyed this trip - dh was totally exhausted from all that driving, li'l one was feverish the whole weekend, i didn't enjoy the journey coz of the space constraint (times like this i always wish that we had a MPV!) and my parents had to endure li'l one's incessant whining/crying in the car. saturday, 25/10/08 we left my parents' place around 11am and was caught in a (bearable) jam at the tuas checkpoint (as expected) - made a quick lunch stop just after we crossed over to malaysia. along the way, li'l one was grumbling/whining/crying/fussing as she was running a temperature. she didn't really want to be in the car-seat and i had to carry her most of the way, nursing her so that she could go to sleep. she had no appetite for any food at all and only want (breast)milk the whole weekend. i feared greatly for her safety since the north-south highway is infamous for traffic accidents even though dh is one of th...