Play

T, meet your potential new friends! I see these children n their mummies every evening, but i never dared to approach them. I know some are singaporeans, heck i actually do know one of them through work. But i'm shy like that. Afraid of rejection from the group cos i don't have a tot in hand yet. I hope i dont jeopardise T's social future just cos i cant pluck up the courage to make friends.

Don't cane Kartika!

32 yr old model Kartika Sari was found "guilty" of drinking and sentenced to caning. News here.

Kartika challenged the authorities to cane her in public, and now they are reviewing the sentence, reconsidering if it's too severe for the "crime" she had "committed". Partly in fear of bringing shame to the state.

I don't think i'll ever understand why a religion can be so strict. Should it not be between you and God? Why are men empowered to judge and implement the so called "punishments" on behalf of the Almighty?

I hope Kartika will stay strong throughout this ordeal.

---

New Email names for you!
Get the Email name you've always wanted on the new @ymail and @rocketmail.
Hurry before someone else does!

Discovering Maternal Love

I was about to take a shower n i caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My body has changed, not in a good way i think. The angry red stretch marks are eating up my lower belly, i wondered if i can ever wear these scars proudly. I hopped into the shower quickly, looking away from the reflection cos these days theres even less to 'admire'.
As i was soaping myself, i looked down n i spoke to T. I told him to be healthy n it'll all be worth it.

Suddenly, i felt a new feeling, something quite unlike anything i've experience. Its powerful and amazing. 37 weeks into my pregnancy, I think i've just stumbled upon maternal love.

Swollen

My feet is like Shrek's, only not green. Crocs may no longer be big enough. N I'm totally freaking out right now. Baby can come anytime. Argh!!!

My baby literature

Maternity leave begins next week. I need to begin my crash course on bb readings. I even prepared post it notes to mark the important pages.

Love & Honesty

Love

 

Me: I'm so faaaattt...... i got stretch marks. I'm so ugly...

 

Mountain man: U're not fat. U're pregnant! N everyone says u're beautiful.

 

Me: WEALLY?? *grin*

 

Honesty

 

Me: I read an interview with Angelina Jolie tht day, she said tht she is lucky to have Brad cos he is "evolved" enough to love her body for the journey that it has been through. So sweet hor....

 

Mountain Man: Uhm *deep in thought*

 

Me: but how bad can Angie's body be now. she's still so slim.

 

Mountain Man: Wht if ur journey doesn't end? No destination?

 

Me: *waaa........*

---

New Email addresses available on Yahoo!
Get the Email name you've always wanted on the new @ymail and @rocketmail.
Hurry before someone else does!

Delivery room tour

This is where T will be delivered. Surprisingly, the room looks nothing like an operating theatre. It's pretty n cosy, i suppose it's designed to make the mother relaxed.
It's time to pack my bags! I'm officially full term tomorrow.

The battle of the universe

I haven't been following the Miss Universe Pageant for eons. Upon logging on to MSN Today, the indonesian contestant caught my eye.

Miss Zivanna Letisha Siregar (what a mouthful). Weee wiiit... One thing i must say about my hometown is that it is filled with beautiful women. I think maybe it's the ex-dutch colony + plastic surgery + lotsa sitting on old money combination. I always feel like a sam-seng-kia at home. Very underdressed and under made-up, and that's even after trying. I'm so not gonna step foot in jakarta until i lose my baby weight.

Miss Jingyao Wang- out of 1.3billion people THIS IS WHAT YOU COME UP WITH? San-pee-pah ...

Ok maybe the picture above didn't do her justice. Here's another. She's not THAT bad, very typical chinese beauty. Fair, long limbs (chinese are generally taller than singaporeans, especially the sichuanese), long hair, kinda sweet looking.

Miss Rachel Kum- uh...Sorry Singapore. Try again next year.

wook mommy, wobots...

A while ago, i bought these cute robot wall decals from Amazon. It was part of my grand plan to put the nursery together. These stickers can be easily removed and repositioned, sticks on wallpapers as well. Mountain man and I had fun "decorating" the room last night. It took us less than half an hour to complete the job.

It's just amazing how the little bit of effort made such a huge difference to the room. Suddenly it felt like a baby was meant to sleep here.

Can't wait for u to come out T, ur robot friends are waiting!!

The Suze Ormon Show

Mountain man will KILL me for blogging about this, but it's really funny and "purposeful" so i have to share.

I don't know if u've ever caught the Suze Ormon show. If u're not acquainted with her, she's this loud mouthed opinionated all american financial advisor who hosts a financial talk show on CNBC (NBC). Basically she answers queries from any members of the public who are faced with any financial dilemmas. She's totally fun to watch, and her financial advice is pretty good.

There's also a special segment in her show called "can i afford it?". People will write in to tell Suze what they wanna buy, show their financial profile and Suze will either DENY or APPROVE.

For example, some people may wanna buy a new car or a new guitar, and based on their monthly income, savings, insurance and credit record, Suze will determine if the purchase is sensible.

So over the weekend, there's this lawyer who wanted to buy a 3 carat engagement ring for his girlfriend. Here's the brief TV-conversation...

Lawyer: Hi Suze, i would like to upgrade my gf's engagement ring to 3 carats, priced at at XYZ amount.

Suze: Are u freaking crazy to spend THAT amount of money on an engagment ring when u already bought her one!??? U're abit nuts in the head (and she continues insulting him abit more). But anyway, SHOW ME THE MONEY.

Lawyer: well i earn X amount, i have Y amount of loan at Z percent interest, i have A amount in savings and i am XX years old.

Mountain man: Hey, tht sounds like me...

Suze: you know what, i'm gonna tell you that it's the dumbest purchase u'll ever buy. U're obviously a little whoopy in the head...

Mountain man: yah lor this guy is crazy...

Suze: but u know what, u can afford it, APPROVED.

me: Hahahahahhahahahahahhaha....(this goes on for the next few minutes)

Mountain man: woah lau... this guy obviously doesn't have a baby on the way ok.

me: YOU CAN AFFORD IT YOU CAN AFFORD IT YOU CAN AFFORD IT.

I felt triumphant even though i'm not gonna guilt him into buying me an upgrade (yet), despite having gone through SUCH a difficult 9 months.

Sleep tight my baby..

Some months ago, i started a project... I've been planning, thinking, wondering, anticipating.... I am happy to reveal that the project has now been completed. And i am SOOO happy i went through all the trouble (or rather, i made people go through the trouble for me).

It all started when i wasn't quite happy with the plain white cot we got from ikea. And because we're renting a place, there's not much "nesting" to do. So the only way to do something really special for T was to create mini-projects like the beansprout pillow, and this cot over here!

So i hereby present T's very own customised cot, hand-painted by aunt Gingerblossom.

Isn't it lovely!? Now i can say that T's cot is one of kind! The clouds and the moon and the stars are just perfect for a peaceful night of sleep. I also like it cos it's simple and elegant and cute at the same time. My bumper and sheets are plain so this will add a nice splash of creativity. Best part is it's also unisex so number 2 can still use it. Art direction completely left up to Gingerblossom.

This cheerie moon brings a smile to my face. Call me crazy but I feel like running home to stare at my cot now.

Can u see the cute yellow stars on the poles?


Mountain man bought the paint from Singapore's SPOTLIGHT. It's non-toxic so it's baby safe.

Thank you so much Gingerblossom (plus hubby) and Mountain man who went through so much to put this together!

Marketing

新元里 (not sure if i got the right characters) is a wet market we go to over the weekends. Fruits, seafood and vegetables at a fraction of supermarket prices but double the freshness! Its also the place to go if we wanna get singaporean ingredients like belachan, curry powder etc etc. Sometimes we also find kway teow, tao pok n bak chang.

NOKIA RANT

I've decided to buy a Nokia phone for the first time in 10 years. It was fun at first, but i gotta say that i'm slightly disappointed. NO i'm VERY disappointed.

My phone for some weird reason CANNOT input chinese characters. I've spent almost 2 days trying to figure out what was wrong. I jumped through various hoops and still NOTHING.

The nokia website is totally buggy and slow. And the nokia care centre customer service is not only unhelpful, she made things worse! She basically made me RESTORE my factory settings for no rhyme or reason- ie i have to freaking reinstall my personal emails (this is not a big deal) but also my office mail which is so arduous cos company IT has to get permission etc etc etc...Now i have to redownload all my applications- which is still faster than using PC suite to back up the infomation.

Tht still leaves me the problem- how do i input chinese characters? it doesn't make sense that a 100dollar phone can do it and a phone 10 times the price can't!!!!!!!

---

Search. browse and book your hotels and flights through Yahoo! Travel

Left out

As i was doing more packing n unpacking of the bb room, i found this! Its a gift from eujin n yen a while back. The cushy car rattle is so cute! Can't wait for T to start enjoyin these things.

One more month...

...to my expected due date.
I can't wait to:
Wear high heels.
Go out to clubs n not worry about the smoke.
Head to the salon n do something drastic.
Eat peanut butter.
Fit into clothes i bought but never wore.
Get a manicure n pedicure wo worrying bout the smell.
Get eyelash extensions.
Go on a diet.
Fit into my engagement ring.
Run. I never thot i'd miss running.

Send instant messages to your online friends http://asia.messenger.yahoo.com

Feeling Maternal?

Picture Source: AFP

aiyooo.... so cute. Thailand's 8 yrs old panda Lin Hui gave birth to her cub Lin Ping in June 2009.

My maternal instincts are definitely kicking in. Even THIS makes me wanna cry...

Hari Singapura

I'm may not be singaporean, but i love singaporean food. Esp if its free! Haha. Tonight we're celebrating singapore's 44th bday at the singapore embassy.

Dentist chair

One of the happiest moments in life, apart from giving birth, getting married, n being given a huge diamond ring, has to be the moment right after completing a routine dental check-up. When the dentist declares my pearly whites fit to chomp on for another six months. Haaalleeeeluuujaaah...

I am dentaphobic, have been since i was 7. I blame it on my pr school dental nurse. She fixed so many of my cavities at one go without anaesthesia, n she told me tht i had to attend a boot camp to brush my teeth 247 if i wasn't diligent in keeping my teeth clean. Tht left such a huge psychological scar tht i hardly went to the dentist since graduation. The longer the length between each visit, the longer (n more painful) each visit is.
Mountain man on the other hand loves going to the dentist for some psychotic reason. But its One more reason to love him cos ever since i met him, he's forced me to keep my half yearly appts diligently. And true enough, each visit is becoming more n more pleasant! Hee hee. *flashes her healthy pearlies*

Before and After

I've successfully morphed into an asoh. Maybe it's the make up, or the hair, or the lighting... but nothing will console me. The AFTER picture i took today is by far THE WORST passport photo i've ever taken in my entire life. Pregnant glow is a lie.

---

Importing contacts has never been easier.
Bring your friends over to Yahoo! Mail today!

We're so thankful!

Mountain man came back to Beijing bearing gifts from friends and family. We are extremely touched by the thoughtfulness of our loved ones, can't believe we're so blessed!

Here's tonnes of clothes from Auntie Huang; a family friend who makes the MOST delicious pineapple tarts on earth. Now i don't need to worry about T's first month wardrobe cos these are just perfect!

A funky Baby Bjorn carrier!! Just what we need on days we don't want to lug the pram. Perfect for Spring/Summer. Courtesy of Pat(Mountain Man's best man) and Ferne (his wife who did our wedding invites/Mass booklet).

Heather and I are ex-colleagues/roomates-on-company-trips/friends and we were commonly known as the "playful ones" who joked around and laughed alot. How apt of her to give me the gift tht most reminds me of her. An educational PLAY mat for T! I've always wanted one of these for my babies.

This is a portable diaper changing mat from Fiona. Although she's a new mom herself, she's been giving me very good shopping tips. I saw her using one of these and saw the need for it, especially in China where bathroom are so dirty and ill-equipped.

Folded view:

Opened- up view:

Tada... The little pockets on the side can contain diapers, wet tissue, diaper cream etc etc... (Monkey not included)

Last but not least- a diaper bag from V! Light and has many compartments to put all the barang-barang. It matches the diaper changing mat!!!

Aren't we lucky??!! Mountain Man and i say MOOCHAS GRACIAS to the uncles and aunties. T says "thank you!" from the bottom of his tiny growing heart.

---

Try cool new skins, plus more space for friends. Check it out on Singapore Yahoo! Messenger now.

T@34 weeks

2.45kg, umbilical cord still round the neck loosely like a scarf. We saw T stick out his tongue at us, so cute!

Guilty pleasure

Now that i've figured out how to blog with my mobile, i can pretty much blog n blabber non stop, right up to the delivery room!

From N97

Ground control to major Tom. Do you copy?

Crafty Sunday

On any given Sunday, i'd be really busy laying around the couch and watching DVDs with Mountain Man. But since he's back in Singapore for the weekend, i decided to put my "free" time to good use.

I made T something! It's been a while since i did any kind of sewing, but i think i pulled off quite a good job. As long as he doesn't chew or cowboy swing it.

If u're wondering what this is, it's one of those pillows you put over the baby so he'll feel safe while sleeping.

I finally developed photos and put them into photo frames! i've been procrastinating on this task for over a year. It was a nice mental journey putting these together. The wedding, the perfect honeymoon, our holidays.... I miss all of that.

---

New Email names for you!
Get the Email name you've always wanted on the new @ymail and @rocketmail.
Hurry before someone else does!