Seoul of Asia

Seoul is hands down the best trip of the year. And i can say that cos i'm not making anymore trips this year. =P

I've come to realise that Asia has alot more to offer than European countries (sorry no offence to european readers if any). Asia is so non-homogenous, one culture is so unique and definitive that it never gets boring.

I was expecting a Japan when i stepped into Seoul, but i was wrong. It doesn't have Japan's perfectionist (anal) culture which makes it more palatable and familiar, but also not as conservative as China. Food is very interesting - the stone pots, the pickles with every meal, the lettuce wrapped barbeques ... People are generally slim and beautiful cos plastic surgery clinics are practically found every 100meters. And the shopping, ohmygawd i wish i had discovered Seoul earlier. It's cheap and good and plentiful! I have to go back to Seoul again once i regain my pre-baby body.

And of course the joy of the trip was hugely attributed to perfect travelling companions who were so much fun. We walked, laughed and ate so so much.

It's quite late to be blogging now so i'll leave more photos till tomorrow. Night!!

notice

Mountain man and beach girl (aka lovexiaolongbao) will be away for a quick weekend getaway to Seoul.

Wohoo!!

The healthy snacking

24weeks +5 days into the pregnancy, i've gained 9kgs.

(Pictures were taken 1 week ago)

To put that into perspective, based on my height and pre-baby svelteness, i'm only supposed to gain 15kgs in total. For a normal pregnancy, the weight gain is usually backloaded- ie one should expect to gain 60-70% of the weight in the last trimester.

To put even more bluntly, I'VE GAINED TOO MUCH WEIGHT!!!! I still look okay from the pictures but i tell you, these hips don't lie.

Earlier today i went for my prenatal check up. The nurse gasped when she saw that i put on 6kgs in 8 weeks. That's almost unheard of amongst chinese women. Chinese women are very very health conscious during their pregnancy.


case in point:
I was sitting in the waiting lounge about to devour my all-in-one chocolate/custard/almond croissant after a whole night of starvation. This woman next to me then whipped out (or should i say brandished) her bag of "snacks". It consisted of a tomato, a cucumber and a kiwi fruit. Mind you it's not chopped up nicely in a lunchbox drizzled with fattening creamy dressing. It's really just a tomato, a cucumber and a kiwi fruit, like she plucked them straight from the garden.

I felt so guilty about my croissant (damn her!) that i actually left 1/4 of it unfinished. I looked down at my belly and apologised to T for not giving him a healthier breakfast. boohoohoo...

Well at least T is growing just fine, he is 733g today.

Taobao Fashion Spree

I literally went berserk when V asked me if i wanted to tag on her shopping. I'm 90% happy with the stuff that arrived. Being a first time mom, i wasn't quite versed in baby sizes so some of the stuff i bought won't fit T till he turns 2! ack!

So anyway, without further ado I present my first round of shopping spree from Taobao (the ebay of China).

Stripped Convertible Romper - for a sleepy Tamagotchi.
(Sorry if u've to tilt ur head, blogger screws up the picture orientation sometimes)
The romper can converted to a skirt (see yellow sample) so its more comfortable to wiggle around at night.

Frat boy jumper- for Tamagotchi when he attends one of the Ivy Leagues.
Quality is soso, but it looks completely studious and adorable! Thick material, perfect for T when it turns winter/spring.


Panda Kimono - for Tamagotchi Kimura.
This is made of very good muslin material that gets softer with washing. Material is cooling, very good for short walks in the park. Perfect for Spring/Summer.

Upper East Side Romper- for Tamagotchi Bass. (as in Chuck Bass)

This is a gift from V. Isn't it CUTE!! the tie is detachable, so he can "relax" after a hard day at school. haha.

Chill-out Romper- for a laid back Tamagotchi

This happens to be Mountain Man's favourite. Harhar, for men it's the simpler the better.

Some other cute stuff:

Funky bibs. Sorry if u've to tilt ur head again. I love the superman bib!

Winter tights- i know it's a bit girly to wear tights in Singapore, but Beijing is very very cold. It's not uncommon for boys to wear tights.

T part 2...

Daddy's not satisfied with the first outcome so he did his own. He chose a spastic picture of me but somehow the baby turned out better than the first try. Looks a teeny bit like an asian Shiloh...

Is that you T?

This was fun harhar. But T did not turn out the way i imagined.

Totally adorable!!

Look at Levi's tum tum. beeg and round, prevents him from toppling over.

Delayed gratification

Esther shared a really interesting experiment yesterday. It's called the Marshmallow Test. It's a test that u conduct on kids between the ages of 2 to 5 to see if they understand the concept of delayed gratification. Now, if he passes the test BEFORE the age of 2, he'd be a genius. Meaning that i shd spend my life savings to groom him to become the future PM, or the richest man in Singapore and China, some say Batam.

So after the conversation i started craving for marshmallows. I headed straight to the supermarket, got myself a packet and ripped it open to devour those tiny fluffy things before i even reached my desk.

Upon realising how pathetic i was, i started questioning myself, do i even understand the concept of delayed gratification. It bothered me.

And then i had an AHA! moment. I DO! I love online shopping! how is that not delayed gratification. The best part about online shopping is the waiting. I like wondering (or fantasizing) about the items- will it look like what i saw online? Is the colour displayed in the picture accurate? Will i fit into it? The anticipation releases endorphins over a longer period than traditional shopping, making the pleasure last longer. I even replay the ripping open of the packaging to the tune of "haaallelujaah...."

Best part about online shopping is, it's often cheaper and u're not geographically limited!!

So Mountain Man, i have a confession. I just bought about 10 outfits (not including bibs, mittons, hankies and tights)for T over the last 1 week. In my defence, i bought sizes from newborn to 1 year old, and for all occasions, day and night, in and out. Our son's gonna be born in A/W09 so he needs to layer! And do u know how often a child needs to change? Most of the colours are unisex so Number 2 and 3 can wear. Can you imagine the joy we gonna get from oohing and aaahing at how cute T is? *sheepish grin*

BEFORE u say anything, I've only just begun. Don't stop me! I'll post the stuff i bought once i receive them. Teehee!!

To Bottle Lightning

If u're looking for wedding photography services, do drop by http://www.theorangestudio.sg/

He has the enthusiasm and personality to tease u and make u laugh, an important quality to unnerve the tension and stress on your actual day. The rest speaks for itself. =)

PS: I'm not getting paid for this, i've not gone commercial.

To stop the man from playing game

7 something pm (we just got home)

Mountain Man: Hey, why don't u shower first?
Me: You want to play xbox issit?
Mountain Man: a while lah...
Me: I can't shower right after dinner. U play lah.... (he didn't even wait for me to finish my sentence, he turns on the xbox, fine i surf the internet)

8:20pm (i finished showering)

Me: I'm done...
Mountain man: I haven't finished my mission.
Me: can u just "die"? (i continue surfing)

8:50pm (He died a few times over)

Me: hey what if u suck, am i gonna sit here forever? (surf more internet)
Mountain Man: okay okay after i die. We can watch tv together...


9pm (he died a few more times)

Me: If u don't stop, i'm going to do more damage with online shopping.

AND HE STOPPED!

Me: Hey tht's the only thing tht made u stop!

Totsnob

Born with a silver spoon in mouth? How about a diamond encrusted pacifier instead? Total 3 carats. Sorry T, mom can't afford this. But if i can, i'd buy myself a huge rock first. Or perhaps pay for ur education.

I just found a solid baby website called www.totsnob.com (spinoff from bagsnob.com). It shows mommies the "bad" things money can buy.

Get well soon Dave!

My all time favourite frontman (i mean it, i love him more than Thom Yorke) David Gahan has fallen ill! He's been rushed to a greek hospital and being treated at the moment. *cross fingers* I hope he is fine!! Never Let Me Down Dave, it's not just a Question of Lust, I have a Strange Love for you. I hope i'm not just a Fly on the Windscreen to you.. Be Dreaming of Me if you're ever in a coma.

Note to Mountain Man: PLEASE PLEASE let me name the 2nd boy David. Please please please.....

Note to all: Dave named his daughter Stella. He actually likes my name. We have a connection!!! I thought it'd be a sweet gesture to reciprocate.

T's new car...

One of the things on our list when we got back to SG was to get T a stroller. I thought man, i'm gonna be the only one fussing about the model- right colour, right height, right style, right weight, right price, will T look royal in it, will mommy look cool pushing it around?

Turns out i was wrong about Daddy's supposed minimal involvement. I reckon that buying a stroller is like buying a new mode of transportation... Mountain man and his male friends even discussed (over beer) on the types and models and price and functionalities. Wheel suspension? Frame material? Handling? Recline?

So believe it or not, Mountain Man vetoed ALL my shortlisted options (which were cheaper) and decided (all by himself) that he wanted this. The Inglesina Zippy Stroller in Safari colour, comes with an extra bassinet for infants up to 3 months, and all sorts of accessories for all kinds of weather. I just stood there and let him figure out the installation, puzzled and amazed by his level of enthusiasm.

The deal maker? It's one-hand folding mechanism. It folds like a transformer robot and stands on it's own. Nevermind tht it's 9kg cos in macho terms, heavy is sturdy like a continental car.

For more reviews on Inglesina Zippy Stroller, click here.

Another type of face changing...

I feel extremely unreciprocated with Meranda, i try to carry her, calm her down, play with her... but i swear she cries the moment she sees me.

Mountain man on the other hand has this magic power over her. She shuts up the moment he carries her, she looks longingly into his eyes, she even gives him tht flirtatious smile when she observes him across the room. Maybe she sees me as competition so she's always hostile. I say "Keep your tiny paws off my husband!"

This is pretty much how she looks when she sees me, it's no fake cry okay, its a really loud waaa... with tears and all.

Uh-oh... i've completely riled her up. She cries "Give me mountain man or else..."

ZZzzZzzzz....

heehee.

Monkeying around....

What issit with boys and climbing trees... Lele struggles to overcome a tall obstacle until his underpants are showing! But he loves to show off his underpants anyway, climbing or not climbing tree.

Finally Mountain man to the rescue... Kids who don't grow up in kampung dunno how to climb trees.

"Let me show you how it's done young padawan"...

Bump update (week 22)

Maybe it's the DHA i'm taking, or it could be that 1 prata too many, my bump just went from S to L in 2 weeks. I literally kapow-ed.

Being visibly pregnant has it's perks. I no longer get the STARE.

I'd bump into friends i haven't seen in a long time and i can literally feel their eyes going from my face, at which point they'll think "She looks different in a bad way" and then to my stomach "oh, she could be knocked up, or did she not exercise the last 1 year" and back to my face "Pregnancy could explain it, either that or age has finally caught up with her, Muahahahaha.... Mmmmuahahahaha..."

The awakening...

I'm so glad it's friday. I know i've just been back from a long holiday, but there's nothing like waking up late on your very own bed.

It just hit me that i don't have many weekends of sleeping in left... When T pops, he'll be waking me up every 2-3 hrs for the first year at least. And following that he'll be wetting his bed at night and i'll have to wake up and clean up. And after that his inbuilt alarm will start ringing at 6am every morning, pestering us for an early breakfast so he can go out to play. And after that he'll start school and you know tht goes on for a long time.

Suddenly i'm so afraid. So much so that i wish i can sleep right now to store up the Zs so i can ration it slowly over the next 10 years. But it doesn't work that way does it?

T at 20-21 weeks

We went for a detailed scan when we were back in singapore. I strongly recommend Dr Gordon Lim at Gleneagles if u're looking for a gynae, he was extremely attentive, gentle, and he answers questions via the phone even before i became his client.

Anyway, so everything with T is going great, praise god. The vital organs, the limbs, the external organs... I've also put T on very expensive DHA so his brain will develop and he'll grow up to be clever like his parents.

A note to mothers with allergies- it's possible tht u may pass on ur allergies to ur child, sometimes the allergies may manifest differently as yours and it could be much worse. The doctor's advice is to take a certain kind of probiotic called Lacto GG towards the end of the pregnancy and during breastfeeding. It'll introduce good bacteria into the child's system that can fight against allergies. it's pricey but considering how i had the whole shebang of allergy ailments as a child and an adult, it's worth it. Of course if u don't have allergies, good for u!

Anyway here's our latest scan. Dr Gordon Lim warned us before showing the 4D scan tht the baby looks more like an alien then a baby. I tend to agree. haha.

Look like who look like who??

I hope T doesn't hate me for showing off his privates.

Thirdmay celebrates 1 year!

Been back in Singapore for over a week, we're slowly getting used to the humid weather tho my hair is gone case, it's been behaving badly, like frizzy badly. It's been great catching up with friends/family, too bad i can't meet everyone cos time is just so tight. Also the supreme authority (my mother) is in town so i've to accompany her as well.

Anyway, we jetted off to Phuket earlier this week to celebrate our first year wedding anniversary. Also partly to party for ONE last time before T arrives. Phuket was beautiful... God gave us 4 sunny days to enjoy, he must know tht i've been desperate for the beach for the longest time.

There's a lot to update but before that i wanna say a big thank you to Serline and fam for giving us GREAT GREAT references on where to eat and shop. And for making that long trip down to meet and greet us. So paiseh! But if it wasn't for your recommendations we wouldn't have enjoyed Phuket as much.

To those who will be visiting Phuket, i strongly recommend Kan Eang Restaurant at Chalong Bay. It serves very reasonably priced and deliciously prepared fresh seafood.

And also for nice simple everyday thai food, go to Yum Saap (we went to the one at Central Festival Phuket).

Here are some other fun in the sun pictures...

Mountain man is sporting the latest fashion trend in Phuket. His funny tanline is the result of uneven application of sunblock. Got 2 handprints on the side!

This is pretty much my view when i'm lying down. Can't see those toes anymore!