Woman of Leisure 休闲的我

2011-06-14T10:04:00.004+08:00

Natalie had her first stage performance experience two weeks ago. She is learning basic music lesson at Christofori music school and at their graduation they had to perform in front of parents and other classmates on what they had learn.

Natalie's first plane ride

2011-04-07T18:40:00.001+08:00

Finally picked up the courage to take Natalie to an overseas trip. There were so many factors to consider, the weather condition, the food, the accessibility, the flight hours....

We went on a 5 days 4 nights free and easy Taiwan, Taipei tour. Yes just Taipei and 5 days were really too much. It wasn't the most pleasurable trip due to the wet rainy weathers and Natalie was running high fever. Nevertheless we survived.

Natalie's karate kick, super Cute!

2010-11-20T15:14:00.000+08:00

Noelle & Natalie

2010-09-15T00:30:00.000+08:00

My lovely daughter, her hair is getting longer and she looks more feminine now.

Caregivers' Outing 2010

2010-09-14T22:19:00.001+08:00

hhc activities

Bubble Time

2010-08-17T23:20:00.000+08:00

Friends Reunion

2010-08-17T22:38:00.002+08:00

After 10 years I finally meet up with my friends that we used to hang out together. Those days we were inseparable, we attend the same school, skipped class together, party in clubs every night, get drunk, fall in and out of love together, nursed each others wound.

We were the young and restless bunch, we made silly mistakes together luckily we always have each other. I missed those days, those silly moments of fun and laughter, those were the days that we worry about nothing else but relationship matters.

Tracy, Tabitha and Me, three musketeers.

When we met up with them, I am surprised that after 10 years my dear friends did not change at all. They are still the same person that I knew 10 years ago. Fun loving as ever, crazy, loud and very chatty!

We went to Hot Stones at Clark Quay for dinner, ordered a bottle of Resling and started reminiscing the past. There were many things I could not remember, but when Tracy talked about the events that happened, my 'portable' memory drive suddenly came back!

Great food and great company and my favourite Resling.

KTV at Party World at Liang Court.

It was a wonderful night, we will create more new memories the next time we meet up!

My Hubby's Birthday Celebration

2010-08-17T00:51:00.001+08:00

We met, dated, got married and became parents of one beautiful daughter. All the process took us 12 years, it has been such a long time. We spent many occasions together, birthdays, valentine's days, Christmas, New Years.

Although we have been through all those occasions many times together, we still look forward to every single one of them. August is my Leo man's birthday, I took him to Black Angus Steak House at NUSS located along Evans Road. Their lunch menu is value for money and the ambiance is discreet and peaceful.

Jeffrey is a lucky man, his birthday celebration did not stop at lunch, it went on to buffet with his sister's family at Kuishinbun Japanese Restaurant. I loved Japanese food but I didn't enjoy much that night as I had indigestion. The food can be compromised as I had great company.

Happy birthday ~! May all your wishes come through!

Family Day Outing to Singapore Zoo

2010-07-25T23:49:00.002+08:00

We signed up for Singapore Zoological Garden membership for a year. It's cheaper than I expected. S$180.00 for the family package, inclusive of 2 adults and up to 3 children. There is complimentary parking every time we visit the zoo. Isn't that a very worth while deal?

At first she was quite grumpy as she only took 15 minutes nap time. Her lifestyle is too rigid, she gets frustrated when she did not stick to her daily schedule. She needs her nap time at 1pm till 2:30pm and she needs to go to bed at 9:30pm.

Finally after a long warm up, she was ready for some fun and adventure. It was her first close up encounter with the Goats, and her first feeding the animals.

Natalie enjoyed riding the fake pony so much! It cost S$4 for 10 minutes.

As Natalie grows older, she is more inquisitive about the surroundings. Recently she is very curious on the sounds that different animals make. It's about time to re-visit the zoo and let her see the animals again. The Singapore Zoo is a great place for kids and a good way for family bonding. But it can be tiring too with all the trekking under the Sun! Nevertheless, we will be going there frequently to spend our weekends, rather than in different shopping malls. I hope I won't get tan!

Jay Chou's The ERA Singapore Concert

2010-07-25T22:06:00.002+08:00

We were the fortunate ones that managed to get tickets for Jay Chou's The Era Concert in Singapore. Last night was Mr Jay's 2nd performance at the indoor stadium, unfortunately it collided with the NDP rehearsal. Many roads leading to the indoor stadium had a temporarily road closure from 1pm onwards. Most of the car parks at the indoor stadium were closed too.

We were afraid to get caught in the jam therefore we arranged to meet at 5:30pm for dinner at Kallang Leisure Mall. Last night was my first time attending Jay Chou's live concert. I have always wanted to see him perform Live and finally this year I fulfilled my wish! Although Jeff was not really into music and pop songs, he was interested to see Jay Chou's concert.

Snap snap snap, the crowd was massive!

The word EXCITEMENT was written all over our faces!

We occupied the middle row seats and we had direct frontal view of the stage.

Stephanie Sun was there that night as an audience, the camera crew caught her and screened her on the stage! Jay Chou has many supporters from all walks of life, I spotted some 'ang mo' and other races, and people ranging age 10 to 60 too!

He is really amazing, not only he can compose, he sings, and now he is able to dance! He said he will hold concert in Singapore every year. Hope that's true! I will definitely attend!

KPO happy hour

2010-07-19T00:45:00.003+08:00

My 'F&B Director' Ms Han really knows her way around Singapore, she wanted me to promote her, so she is now the CEO. A new bubble tea house at Novena Square using chinese tea leaves to make bubble tea.

We met up for some happy hour fun time at KPO.

Though happy hour ended, our fun time just began.

Everyone was a great sport that night, it was great to unwind and indulge in wine once in awhile.

Harris Resort with SL & JL

2010-06-17T00:13:00.007+08:00

It's been awhile since I last went for a relaxing Spa retreat. Time to renew and rejuvenate my aching body and stiff mucles and reward them with a pampering full body massage. The only place I could think of that won't burn a hole in my wallet is The Harris Resort at Batam. My friends and I planned this trip for months and finally we were able to fix a date that suits the 3 of us. We were such a 'cam whore' as just a short 2 days 1 night trip we snapped away 400 over photographs. Amazing!

Sorbet Balenciaga part time

2010-06-05T15:55:00.005+08:00

My only hobby currently, my first Balenciaga bag. Fell in love with it the moment I saw it, the lovely delicious pink and the giant hardware makes the bag looks so attractive!

Beside the bag, my new bangle from Hermes. :P

Woman needs to know how to pamper ourselves, agree with me.

This is a better picture of my bag, isn't it lovely? It's mine now.

Active again

2010-06-05T14:46:00.001+08:00

Today is Natalie's 8th day of the HFMD, it means a great deal to me and my family. This means that she has fully recovered and will not spread the virus to others. I am so glad that it is now over, she must be delighted too as she is able to go out to Malls and playgrounds. Seeing her getting back to her normal energetic levels puts a big smile on my face.

We are staying in a Condominium away from the rest of the family members for the time being to minimise contacts of HFMD from spreading to them.Though there are some inconvenience caused, I cannot deny the fact that I am actually happier. The only set back is I began to see the flaws of my domestic helper. I realise she is not capable of handling the housework by herself, and is incompetent in many ways. She can't cook, she can't wash, she can't mop... what I meant here is that she does all that, but food is not cooked, her washing is still dirty after wash, floor is still sticky after she mopped... She does not put in an effort to the work and produce sub-standard results.

Just today I told her to prepare a simple lunch for us, just a pot of porridge, some frozen japanese crispy chicken, fish fillet, hot dogs and fry 2 eggs. Simple right?? In the end, the crispy chicken was crispy on the outside, cold on the inside. The hot dog was worst burnt on the outside cold on the inside, you should know what happened to the fish fillet...! The egg and porridge was edible because I cooked them. In the end, I had to make a trip to the nearby coffee shop and bough lunch back. Sigh... Instead of lighten my burden, she adds on to it. I have to bring food home every meal for them... I provide catering service to my maid.

Anyway that was a minor issue, as long as my family is healthy, I am willing to make some sacrifice. After being locked up in the hospital and house for days, Natalie was finally out. We took her for a stroll by the pool and the Community club nearby.

Introducing her to the pool of the condominium, wanted to catch a good family photo of the 3 of us can be quite a challenge at her age.

It is getting tougher to take a decent photography of her as she struggles a lot.
Standing behind Jeffrey, her height was almost at Jeff's hip, everyone said that she is tall for a 30 months old baby.

She was trying to do chin up at the monkey bar with the help of MUMMY!

Quiet time by the Koi pond at the Community Club with mummy.

I missed her mischievous look when she was sick, so glad to see it on her again!

Natalie admitted to KK Hospital due to HFMD

2010-06-02T09:26:00.004+08:00

My precious little girl was admitted to KK Hospital due to dehydration last Sunday, 30th May 2010. It was a traumatic experience that I wished I could trade places with her. Seeing her screamed and cry in pain when the houseman on duty tried to administer the plug in her little wrist made my heart stopped. When the houseman's unstable hands shivered and failed his first attempt almost made kicked him.

Fortunately I was still rationale enough and I stopped him from trying again (in a harsh tone). I demanded an experience doctor to inject the plug and he had to asked his senior MO to do it. At that moment it forced Natalie to shout out lots of words that I never thought she knew.

She screamed "Mummy I don't want!" ; "Mummy carry me!"; "Let's go home"; "Go mummy's room!"; "let's go!"; “為什麼！”；“我怕！”。Although I was devastated, I knew it was for the better so I was prepared to face it even though my heart was bleeding literately. Jeffrey was badly affected at the sight of Natalie shouting in pain, he pouched his fist at the hospital cabinet. I could understand what he was going through as we love Natalie so much and yet we were helpless and could only watched her suffer.

Finally after the 2nd attempted, the senior MO successfully inserted the plug and set the drip for Natalie. It was such a relieved for all of us, even for the nurses and MOs on duty.

She woked up few hours later, got very angry that her hand was immobilized by the drip and tried to pull it out. She kept asking me to take it off for her, I had to distract her by letting her watch her favourite DVD programs on my laptop.

I accidentally pulled out the plug on her hand when we were about to transfer her to another room. I wanted to kill myself as due to my carelessness Natalie had to go through the painful process of inserting the plug into her hand! I kept apologising to her and to Jeffrey, really felt like dying then.

Jeffrey went home to get her toys and my clothes as we had to stay with her throughout her hospitalisation period. She got angry when she could not utilise both hand to play her toys.

Daddy bought Elmo balloon for her to cheer her up. She looked so much better on Day 2 and she finally managed to drink 200ml of Apple Juice that Jeffrey bought from Mac Donalds.
That was the 1st improvement we saw.

On the 3rd day she drank her milk and accepted some porridge when I fed her. She didn't reject the meals and water and could eat regularly. The doctor gave the green light to discharge her but not clear from HFMD yet. I have to monitor her fluid intake everyday, the acceptable amount is 1 litre every 12 t0 16 hours. She will be cleared of HFMD this Sunday, really looking forward to her full recovery.

Natalie's HFMD symptoms - Day 2

2010-05-30T16:30:00.002+08:00

She is being quarantined at home currently, together with Jeff and me at our space. As there are lots of other family members staying in the same house, we have to be real careful not to infect the rest.

The spots, blisters and ulcers are starting to form on her mouth, tongue, hands and feet, spots were also noticed at the buttocks area. She gets aggitated whenever we tried to feed her. Fortunately now she is able to take in small portion of porridge that I grained finely and make sure it is cooled down before introducing it to her. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to feed her and needs lots of patience and perseverance, no joke. It is certain that she has ulcers in her throat area too as she wines when drinking her favourite milk even when the milk is chilled already. I read through the various symptoms of HFMD and I know that it will get worst within the next few days and expected recovery is usually seen at day 6 to day 7 after diagnosis.

It pains me to see her go through such torment at her age. I have decided to let her stay away from school and only resumes back to school when she turns 3 years of age. This decision might be a little harsh but since I enrolled her to school this year March, I have never had a peace of mind. At first the form teacher told me that she suspect Natalie is and Autistic kid and kept encouraging me to take her for the test. Her suspicion was purely based on Natalie's behaviour in school during her first 3 -4 weeks. I was devastated for days and it also traumatised my family, I cried almost everyday and couldn't sleep well at night. Kept thinking what have I done wrong during pregnancy that may have affected Natalie's development.

Luckily it was a FALSE ALARM, Natalie is not autistic and she is 100% normal!

Natalie has been confined at home for the pass 2 days, she looked out the window although she did not throw tantrum or say anything, I knew she must have been wondering why she could not go out and play, and why she is kept in the room all the time. She is a brave girl, although she is in pain, she did not cry unreasonably. It upsets me but at the same time relieve that she is taking it very well.

She spends most of her time watching her favourite programs like Elmo's World, Baby can read, Eric the tiger and Hi5. She told me she loves me just now when I was playing with her.

I love you too Natalie, please get well soon! Mummy will be taking leave to stay at home to look after and play with you during these few days till you get better.

Natalie is down with Hand Foot Mouth Disease

2010-05-29T11:20:00.004+08:00

Life is full of the unexplained, but I am able to see a pattern. When all is well whatever you do will have positive results or outcomes. When you are experiencing set backs or stumble blocks, it will come in a long chains and you will never know when the chain will break.

The month of April and May has been a rocky emotional rides for me and my family. Since April Natalie has been falling sick, seen a GP twice for her flu but her recovery was not progressive. So I took her to see a Ear Nose Throat Specialist and finally after a week she recovered. It took a total of 3 weeks. Then her left eye was swollen due to mosqitoe bite, it took her about 3 days to subside. Immediately after that, her right eye was bitten by mosqitoe and again it swell. It took another 3 days to recover.

I barred her from going to childcare when all these happened, needless did I know that there was a spread of Hand Foot Mouth Disease going on in her class. When she recovered from her swell on Sunday I decided that she should be fit enough to go to school. On Monday I received an sms from her Form Teacher that her classmate was down with HFMD and advise parents to keep children at home if they were unwell.

So I let Natalie stayed at home on Monday, and on Tuesday I took her to school and asked about the situation on HFMD in her class. This was the 3rd case of HFMD in her play group and I would expect that there were tougher measures to contain the disease from spreading further. The teacher told me that the little girl that got HFMD was sick for one week without symptoms of HFMD but she still carried on school and was only diagnosed much later.... She assured me that it was all taken care of and I was relieved that during that period Natalie didn't go to school and secretly thanked the mosqitoes for that. I thought that Natalie could escape being spread, I was wrong... I overlooked the fact that the girl who came down with HFMD went unnoticed for a week... within this week she could has spread it to other classmates too...

I called the school just now and informed about Natalie's condition. I told them I was disappointed about the way they handle the situation. The director told me that they do screening 3 times a day and sterilized all the toys on a daily basis. This was their normal routine even when there was not HFMD reported. I told them since these was their normal routine and yet it was not able to contain the spread of HFMD from continue spreading, then it is not good enough. They should act fast and come up with other productive measures to show that they are making an effort. You know what she said? She asked me for my advise of what other ways I can suggest... If I was speaking to her face to face she could have seen my eyeballs rolling from one end to the other! Unbelievable, they set up educational centres and yet they do not know what to do.

I suggested to her to break the class into smaller groups of 4 - 5 students to a teacher. That way they will be able to monitor the students closely and if one of the student came down with HFMD, the teacher can quickly inform the rest of the 3 students that was interacting closely with the affected kid. She said that my suggestion was a good one and she will discuss this with her management. Then she raised another question to me, she asked how to break into smaller groups as space is a constraint. Sigh... I told her that is her responsibility to find solution not mine. As I told her by doing the above, it will only benefit those kids that are still not affected by HFMD, not Natalie as she is already the victim. So its up to them to take a different approach and measures.

This is the first time Natalie looses appetite, it's very worrying. Usually when she was down with cold n flu that did not affect her appetite. There is no cure for HFMD currently, I can only monitor her closely and hopes the medicine will help relieve her symptomatically. It is going to be a long battle at least for a week.

Think out of the box (in a bigger BOX)

2010-05-28T23:13:00.015+08:00

To think out of the box means to come out with creative and innovative ideas be it for a project or a task. Due to restrictions and noises of disapproval all around, thinking out of the box comes with an invisible frame that frames up your supposedly 'frame less' space. It makes the statement:-

Think Out Of the Box
become
Think In A Bigger Box

There is no hard and fast rule to creative thinking but what usually restricts creativity is the conservative nature of human and the resistance to change. Instead of sending employees to numerous courses teaching them to think creatively, I suggest we all go empty our brains, get rid of our usual believes, practices, the can & can't, the dos and don'ts, into a big trash bin and start all over again. Learn like a baby, see everything as if we see them for the 1st time in our life. Adopt the NIKE slogan, "Just Do it" instead of "I don't think this can work" without even set out to try. This is the true first step to creative thinking.

I did something different for work recently. I adopted the NIKE slogan and put it into use. I did a presentation of my creative ideas to the company, came up with a draft skeletal write up, bought the stuff that will aid my pitching so that the visual aspects is present. As no one else done that before, it was a shock to them when I took out what I got. I lost my cool when I saw their shocked faces and got impatient when they threw me questions on why I bought them and what will I do with the stuff if my ideas were not accepted by the company. I have never expect the company to reimburse the stuff I bought for the presentation. I did consider these carefully before making the decision and also to face the fate that my ideas will not be accepted. In another words, I was ready for rejection.

My intention was being interpreted as I acted irrationally and that the company has no choice but to accept my suggestions since I already paid for the stuff. This upsets me as what I did was a genuine gesture, an effort I put in to show the company that I really want to contribute. I never once, not even for a second, thought about forcing them to accept my idea. I swear.

When Apple wanted to create a touch screen phone, their designers had to come up with many prototypes of a phone before it becomes iPhone. When an architect designs houses, they have to draw sketches and build models to show their potential customers. What I did was merely a fraction of what everyone has been doing all along. Because I wasn't expecting those responses I lost my cool. I felt that my efforts was not seen by them and instead they doubt my intentions.

Anyways my ideas were accepted by my director, I am confident to say that it was accepted because she agreed it will work for the company and not because she felt obligated to accept it. I might have indirectly caused unhappiness amongst some of us due to my behaviour that day. Hope this incident will not cause a strain in the relationship. I can only say I regretted not keeping cool but never regret my decision. Finally the take home message for myself is:

I will learn to stay cool at all times.

Universal Studio Singapore

2010-05-23T18:02:00.003+08:00

Last week was an unusual week for my colleagues & I. We went through lots of major changes, received good as well as some shocking news about the company's future plans. Best of all, to commemorate our achievements in 2009, the Company sponsored us to Universal Studio Singapore.

I have been to Disney Lands, Ocean Parks, but never to Universal Studio. Heard lots of fun and exciting rides in the theme park and I was all geared up and ready for the most exciting rides that day.... But the roller coaster ride was still under some major re-construction, therefore my most 'exciting' ride I had was the mummy return.... not at all exciting. Though I am not young anymore, I still love and enjoy taking high acceleration, fast moving roller coasters with 2 to 3 grade of G forces. Too bad the USS rides did not match up to the criteria.

Perhaps this is Singapore's first time having to build a famous franchise theme park, we should not expect too much? During my visit there, there were 3 breakdowns and technical faults that caused delay to up to 15 minutes each.... So you can imagine we wasted 30 minutes sitting in dismay and disappointment while they get to the fix. Fortunately the technical faults happened during the shows and not the rides!

Nevertheless, with great company and sporty colleagues, I did enjoyed myself very much. Photos are the best evidence of our enjoyment! I am looking forward to bring Natalie there sometime soon....

The icon of USS, The Globe!

Frankenstein had his big and rough hands on Sherli and my neck!

To Far Far Away Land , SHREK!

My favourite charactor in USS, Kong Fu Panda!

My second favourite charactor in USS, the Lion in Madagascar.

These are my wonderful colleagues.

My Donkey ears and tail, cuteee!

Breakfast with Tina at Oomphatico's

2010-05-14T17:19:00.002+08:00

Took leave yesterday and met up with Tina for breakfast at Oomphatico's at Tanglin Mall. Since Christmas last December, we could not find time to meet up with each other. Though it was a short 2 hours, I really enjoyed myself.

She just came back from Paris with her husband, it was her long awaited holiday since she had Brayden 2 years ago. Like all mothers, it was difficult to part with the little one therefore she couldn't find a chance to travel. Finally with the help and commitment from her mother and maid she manage to relive her "honeymoon" again with her husband. Actually it was her shopping trip, she planned to go to all her favourite boutiques everyday in Paris.

This year is a good year to go Europe as the currency is lower compared to last year. During breakfast she showed me the goodies she got herself in Paris. It was very tempting and how I wished I could fly over to Paris immediately. I definitely have to go there again!

My omelette breakfast set & Tina's egg benedict set.

This photo makes me hungry every time I look at it. They serve very good breakfast at a reasonable price!

Our breakfast cost about $36.00 in total, looking forward to go there again!

My Slimming transformation

2010-05-14T17:06:00.001+08:00

It was a long process, I took too long to finally decided to do something about my weight. Unless I change my diet drastically and stick to it, I will never go back to my pre-pregnancy weight. So on March 2010 I went ahead with a detox program for 6 days and later on follow a low carbohydrate diet.

I just weigh myself yesterday and my weight has finally got back to 55kg, I lost a total of 8kg in 2 months and I am very proud of myself! I am determine to maintain my current weight and carry on to my low carbohydrate diet. Some photos of my transformation:

The above photo was taken in March 2010 after I completed my 6 days detox and beside it, photo taken yesterday.

Photography Lesson

2010-01-20T22:35:00.005+08:00

New beginning along with new changes ;)

2010-01-08T23:21:00.003+08:00

I have taken out the earlier post as I felt that I can finally move on without regret. I made a closure recently and I am glad that I did it. No matter what it did not have to end that way, I will always remember that she was once a good friend of mine. But now she thinks that I am a hypocrite. Both of us did not handle the situation in a mature way and it led to the end of a friendship. It is history now, I sincerely wish her all the best.

This is a brand new year, and a brand new beginning for me. I am taking up photography courses with Canon. I want to learn more about photography and to maximise the usage of my camera's function fully. I bought a Panasonic GF1 last year, it is a DSLR and I do not know how to work the camera to its full potential. My course started yesterday and tomorrow the whole class will be going on a field trip and test out our cameras. The funny thing is everyone in my class use Canon DSLR and I am the only clown that owns a Panasonic. Nevertheless it works the same. The teacher says that cameras are just an equipment, it's the photographer that is important. Like a person with a state of the art kitchen doesn't make him a superb cook. Hopefully after tomorrow, I will see some improvement on the photographs I took before and after attending photography lessons.

Other than taking up photography lessons, I made a big commitment, I am changing my little red car. After much persuasion from Jeffrey, he convinced me to change car. I have been driving my Honda Fit for 4 years 4 months. It is still working well and I am so used to it already. Recently I just bling my car with leather seats and car accessories from Garson. Now I have to let them go as all the accessories cannot fit into my new car. Jeffrey is my biggest sponsor, he fulfilled my wish of owning an European car. I have already got the COE bid and now waiting for the shipment to arrive. The car dealer says that most probably I will be driving a new car for Chinese New Year! Yippee I am a happy girl!

I am running a small business project with a friend since last year. That is why I am very busy doing the initial set up and didn't have time to socialise as frequently as I wanted. I didn't tell anyone about this and I do not intend to reveal the nature of the business yet. Nevertheless I hope things will run smoothly.

It's midnight already, got to stop blogging for now. I have to wake up very early for the photography field trip tomorrow!

It's nobody's lost just not compatible

2010-01-04T02:58:00.005+08:00

My life will be better off without you, I don't even have to convinced myself. I just deleted a few names in my Facebook friend list. I never wanted to do that, because I feel that no matter what happens, we can still maintain as friends. Maybe not best friends but someone that you will acknowledge when we see each other in the streets.

Nothing major even happened, but when the foundation of the friendship is based on gossiping about other people's life, this will bound to happen. I couldn't sleep at all, thinking if I have done the right thing to delete them from my Facebook. By doing so, it means to say that I will not regard them as friends anymore. I didn't want that to happen because look at us, we are not young anymore. Must we behave like a child? I don't friend you anymore... sounds so ancient to me.

It all started when I began to set privacy settings to my Facebook account. I felt that since I have so many friends that I am not very close to, I should limit them to what they can see in my FB. Apparently that move pissed off an ex-friend along with some exed-friends and they started bitching about it, in FB. They said they rather I remove them from my list completely or I should deactivate my FB account if I want privacy. Don't you think this is childish? Go tell the creator of Facebook why he has privacy settings?

I have my reason why I blocked you from reading my wall, why didn't you reflex upon yourself what happened to our friendship in the first place? Instead of finding out the real reason behind my action, you turned into this scary unreasonable person that I didn't even know. I wanted to give our friendship some time to cool down. To think if we are really good friends to each other, as recently I realised that we have been having conflicts with each other very frequently. I do not want to strain our friendship even further therefore I wanted to maintain a distance with you. You get upset real easily, even when I posted random thoughts on my Facebook can trigger off your anger with me. That is the reason why I blocked you from seeing my wall. I merely wanted to leave you alone for awhile, keep a distance with each other... You took it the wrong way again. You even mentioned in one of the comments saying that (minus one doesn't make a difference to you because you have many bffs) and that (without the bad friends, how will you know you have good friends). If you sit down quietly and analysis, what have I done to make you say such things about me?

Nothing.

I don't deserve this kind of treatment. I seriously thought we were friends, maybe not BFF but real friends. I guess our so called friendship started on the day I gave you the MP3 player and ended when the MP3 player could no longer work anymore. It's fated, just like the MP3 player, it cannot work after 2 years... I can no longer take the hypocrisy from you or your group of friends.

So this is it.

Gift exchange with Tina

2010-01-01T23:18:00.003+08:00

This will be my last post about Christmas 2009. Last year was a great year for me, I thank god for blessing me and my family. Christmas is a time for giving, I sincerely believe that and practice it by buying presents for all my family. On Christmas eve I was still doing last minute shopping at Takashimaya and Ion Orchard to sniff out the best deals in town. I spent almost all my 13th month salary on buying presents alone. No regrets as it was all worth it!

I had a mini gift exchanged with Tina on Christmas night, before the gift exchange, we told each other what we wanted. Tina wanted a key pendant from Tiffany and Co., and I wanted a little pouch that can contain cards and coins. Therefore we agreed to fulfill each others wish list.

Even though we already knew what we will be getting, we were still very excited about it!

The gifts, its when Tiffany meets Prada!

Tina chose this pink Prada pouch for me, isn't this a yummy looking color? I totally love it!

This was the key pendant that Tina has been eying for. I was worried that I chose the wrong design and even checked with her over the phone while I was at the store before purchasing it.

The evidence for our love for Chanel.

Christmas Celebration

2010-01-01T22:34:00.006+08:00

I loved this time of the year, the fact that it has many holidays contributed to that. It's a season of giving, it's a time we eat without guilt, it's a time to enjoy and relax with a valid reason. I spent my Christmas with the same group of people for the 2nd year and enjoyed myself. I remembered last year's Christmas I won a Tiffany necklace from my company's Christmas draw. This year I was 2nd time lucky, in fact luckier!

This is my office and my fun loving colleagues! Sherli, me, Diana, Joanna and Grace.

Last year I chose the number 21, and that number came with a Tiffany necklace. 21 was Natalie's birth date. This year I chose number 12, it was Jeff's birth date. Guess what, this year I won the 2nd price. It was a 2 weekend nights stay at the Grand Room at Grand Hyatt Hotel! It's valid for 12 months!

Sherli won the 3rd price, it was a Gucci wallet. We were the top 3 winners. First price was a JAL ticket to Japan, single. I prefer my price! It's the best gift for me!

After that we had a Christmas buffet dinner at the Marriott hotel. We had free flow of wine and whole lot of food selection. The buffet spread was alright, still prefer the one we had last year at Ritz Carlton. Well at least we get free flow of wine that night!

Cam whoring again before dinner.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone! May we have many celebrations together!

Natalie's 2 Year's Old Birthday

2010-01-01T21:50:00.006+08:00

Wanted to upload this post in December but I have been real busy with work and work. But I really want to share this post with my fellow blog friends that have never given up on me. Though I may not be as religious as before on blogging, some of you still send me encouragement to tell me not to stop blogging. I am sincerely touched by kind words from you, really! Through blogging I even got to know a few of you and our friendship continued on Facebook!

Just few weeks ago we celebrated Natalie's 2 years old birthday at home. I invited a few close friends and colleagues to share this happy moment with me. Thank you everyone for showing up, your presence meant a lot to me and my family. It's through times like this that made me realised who is sincere and who cares for me. Actually I didn't plan to have this celebration, I wanted a simple celebration just with my family. I knew that Natalie will not be enjoying herself as she disliked crowd. I went ahead with the celebration because my friend encouraged me to, I never regretted that decision. I enjoyed myself and I am sure my guests enjoyed themselves too.

My good friend Tina and her son Brayden. We wanted a photo with our both our children together for the longest time and finally it happened! Brayden is a chubby and cute little boy, he is a few months older than Natalie.

Natalie's birthday cake has a set of train toy as decorations, apparently the boys were more attracted to the cake than Natalie. As for Natalie as usual, she still disliked crowds and didn't take the celebration too well. My friend Karen's son helped blew the candles for Natalie. :)

My lovely colleagues, I really like this photo, it has all the ladies I like in it.

This is the Best Photo of that day, Natalie was definitely the centre of attraction in this photo. Seem like she was actually posing for the camera!

My precious little girl, mummy loves you so much!

I got to know Tina shortly after I gave birth to Natalie. Glad that our friendship blossomed!

This is another of my colleague, Diana. She was the last to arrive, but it's better late than never. Thank you for making and effort to come.

So that was it, another year has passed. Natalie is 2 and each and everyday I treasure my moment with my girl. Every time she makes me laugh, she calls me mummy, mama, and each time it melts my heart. I love her so much!

Little Lizabeth's 1 Year Old birthday

2009-12-06T22:26:00.009+08:00

It is definitely a happy occasion to see little babies celebrating their birthday day. My little niece Lizabeth is turning 1 next week and we had a pre celebration today at Long Beach Seafood restaurant at East Coast Park. It is a mixture of feelings, happy and sad... sad for the obvious reason that I am getting older... cannot defy nature...

Natalie looking at the live seafood in Long Beach.

She is getting difficult to take a decent photo with her, she struggles all the time.

See, she doesn't look into the camera anymore.

My happy father with the birthday girl in his arms.

Happy young grandparents.

My cousin Nicole.

My grandmother, which means she is Natalie's Great Grandma. She has always been very proud to be a great grand mother amongst her sisters and friends.

Reese and her baby sister Lizabeth. They look very alike don't they? They are 2 years apart.

Nice birthday cake from Bengawan Solo.

Lizabeth was so delighted when everyone started singing to her, she was a real star!

In another 2 weeks time, it's little Natalie's 2 years old celebration! See I am getting older... my baby is turning 2~! Hehehe

A Tuesday night wedding banquet at Goodwood Park Hotel

2009-12-02T22:24:00.010+08:00

It was rather unusual to have a wedding on a week day as the turn out of the guests will be very unpredictable. Last night Jeffrey and I were invited to attend his friend's wedding banquet at Goodwood Park Hotel. It was my first time attending a wedding banquet on a Tuesday night and I wondered if the turn out will be affected. True enough once we reached, the Bridegroom was complaining to us that many of his guests back out at the very last minute. He had prepared about 27 tables + 1 reserved. In the end there were about 3 to 4 tables empty. It is quite risky to hold banquet on a week day for another obvious reason, the 'ang bao' money might be lesser... I am sure many of us will feel that it is definitely cheaper to hold banquets on week days therefore people will not give as much compared to weekend banquets.

I am quite a regular at Goodwood Park hotel, don't get the wrong idea, I frequent their restuarants like Min Jiang, Tatsuya and their high tea not forgetting their delicious cakes and pastries. I have to be fair and say that couples who had their wedding banquet there or are planning to will be guaranteed with good food. I love the food at Min Jiang, they are very establish and it is also value for money. What I want to say is that wedding dinner held during week days will not be any inferior than weekends. What's most important is the venue and the food.

My 1st photo with a Christmas tree for this year.

I bought this evening dress in Bangkok at Platinum, it cost me only 1000 Thai Baht. It is cheap and good!

A photo with the bridegroom, Max. He helped out in our wedding too.

Love my red Chanel! I can use it for Chinese New Year!

Happy to see couples tiying the knot! Jeff & I always reminise our own wedding when we attend friend's wedding banquet.

Cam whoring while Jeff was taking a puff outside the lobby.

A group photo with the beautiful bride and bridegroom.

Can't wait for more wedding dinner invites! Who is next?
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A Day at Jurong Bird Park

2009-11-29T22:50:00.008+08:00

One of the things I enjoy doing with Natalie is everyday after work I will take Natalie out to look at the birds flying from trees to trees, roof to roof. She gets very happy whenever we spot birds flying over our heads. So I thought maybe she likes birds and suggested to Jeff that we should bring Natalie to the bird park. The last time I was there was a few years ago with Apple and her guy friend. We were there before their renovation, so this time we took Natalie there hoping to see some new changes and to fascinate my little young girl's mind.

We picked a normal Sunday, assuming that it will not be very crowded as bird park is not as popular as the zoo or underwater world. Either I was wrong or I was unlucky, that particular Sunday bird park organized VASANTHAM FAMILY DAY CARNIVAL@ The Bird Park.... -__-'''
I thought I was in India and not bird park.... It was extremely crowded, too much for me to handle, I see human more than birds. I guess Natalie must have felt the same way too, she was looking on the ground more often than birds glaze... sigh

Natalie looking at the ground, she liked stepping on the dried leaves. She was not very happy with birds that can't fly... You know what I mean right!

My pretty little girl and me!

I like this photo. D&D = Daddy & Daughter.

We spent about 2 hours in the park and suddenly it started to pour, Natalie laughed at the pouring rain. I guess I was more fascinated by her than anything else.

I am a Shopaholic

2009-11-29T18:06:00.007+08:00

After self diagnose, I am quite confirm that I am a shopaholic. Just this year I bought 8 bags, thanks to my friend (Tina) that reminded me about it. She said that I could have bought a Birkin with the amount of money spent on all the bags I have. I overlooked the fact that I had purchase the later and got another one recently. But I have been eying on this particular one for months and after some disappointment in Paris, I found it at the Chanel boutique in Singapore. So this is the one, a red classic flap!
This was my first red bag, I bought it at Milan, the first Prada boutique with a history of more than 50 years. My love for red bags is going to cost me a lot.

These are my other pride and joy.

The strongest survive?

2009-11-25T10:48:00.002+08:00

Recently, I watched the movie 2012 with Jeffrey over the weekend. If the movie was true I reckon I will be killed just like the vast majority in the movie. I do not have 1 billion euros to get a ticket to the 'space ship'.... It was depressing after watching the movie, to get slap right there and then that I am just one of the 'masses' that the rich and famous people or politicians categorise us. How sad but true...

So I begin to wonder, if it's the strongest or the riches that will survive when it comes to disaster? Anyway I really hope that whatever was shown in the movie will not happen, I still want to live to see my baby girl grow up, graduate, get married and have children. A simple wish that seem vulnerable...

Year end post for 2009

2009-11-18T13:25:00.005+08:00

I guess by now no one ever comes in here to check for updates. Actually I wanted to close down my blog as I cannot squeeze out any time to blog. Seriously I don't even find it tempting to turn on the internet as the bed and tv is more appealing to me now. Today is an exception, I am home now as Natalie is down with fever. Natalie was sick since Sunday, today is the 4th day and hopefully the fever will be completely down by today. She has been a very strong girl, I should take credit for it as I have been taking very good care of her since she was a baby. This is the first time she actually fell ill for pass 23 months. As a mother now, it's hard to see Natalie fell ill, it's even more painful to see her cry when I had to force the medication down her throat... I had to remind myself that I am doing the correct thing, it's for the better so that she can recover as soon as possible. My friends and colleagues has been very supportive too, they will drop me sms and fb messages to give me moral support. Seeing kind words from them also gave me strength and confident.

I went Europe in October with my husband, it was our first Europe trip together. We traveled to Italy, Switzerland and France. We signed a package with SA tour and was there for 12 days. Actually we were in Italy for 4 days, Switzerland for 3 days and Paris for 2 days. It was not enough, I was just beginning to enjoy myself and then the tour ended. I can't leave Natalie back home alone with my maid and parents for too long, they were kind enough to help me take care of her while we were away. Hopefully when she grows older we can travel together as a family.

2009-08-20T15:25:00.002+08:00

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Socialising over dinner time

2009-07-29T10:02:00.003+08:00

Finally got and opportunity to meet up with some friends over dinner time. After becoming a parent, having dinner with friends has been considered a form of luxury for me. Not sure about other new parents but this is what is happening to me. Sometimes I don't even have enough quality time with myself and I really need that a lot. Just do things that I want, I need and I like.

Last night over dinner, I had 4 friends around me, Geraldine, Elaine, Lyana and Jac. The last time we met up like this was when I was about 7 months pregnant... yes that long ago. I am pretty amaze at how we can feel so comfortable with each other although I have not met some of them for more than a year! Also I realised that I couldn't remember many things I said before to them... They patiently reminded me one by one and slowly all the lost bits slowly got puzzled back together.

It is so good to have friends!

June 2009

2009-06-15T23:10:00.006+08:00

It's the mid of year 2009, and saying that also means that Natalie is 1 1/2 years old already. She is happily exploring life, slowly showing her characteristics day by day. I realised that she is a very energetic and atheletic toddler, bold but yet very shy and not sociable. She is a person that I will discribe as action speaks louder than words baby. She knows all her A to Z, 1 to 10, and loves it when I sing to her. I haven't been updating my karaoke songs, now I only sings nursery songs to Natalie everyday. I am enjoying every minute of my time spend with her as she always surprises me with her actions. Seeing her laugh while playing with me is the most satisfying and rewarding experience.

Mid year also has another meaning, it is The Great Singapore Sale period. I have committed what most women had done, shopping shopping shopping. I have to confess that it makes me feel good when I am shopping and getting to buy the things I want or desire. Kind of worried that I might be slowly turning into a shopaholic... Better control myself as I do not want to end up being in debts!

My Family photo, father mother and daughter.

I love to see her in the jacket with hood, covers her little head.

Natalie climbed onto the bed display at Tampines Ikea. She was in a jolly good mood that day.

Prada & Miu Miu Sales 2 weekends ago, there was a mark down of 40% for selected items in the store. I am glad that I went for the sale as I got myself 2 lovely bags at a very reasonable price.
Ferragamo sale up to 40% off selected items. I got my first pair of pumps from there and it is also my most expensive shoe I have so far. This pair cost me $510 after discount, but it is really comfortable so I personally feel that it is worth it. My problematic feet finally gets what it deserved.

Seeking motivation

2009-06-01T10:41:00.003+08:00

Started contributing back to the society at exactly this time last year, but after a year I am beginning to loose motivation to work. I have been thinking to myself lately that should I just be a full time mum and look after the best interest of Natalie? I am just playing with this idea for weeks now. Though I have the thought about it, I know I will not be fully satisfied if I don't work. But as Natalie gets bigger and more attached to me, I felt responsible to make sure she gets taken care of properly by me rather than a maid. I am just a person that contradicts everything... sigh.

Just last week, while Natalie was taking an afternoon nap, she was stung by an insect. That led to a very bad swell on her left palm and it almost looked disfigured.... My very intelligent maid applied MOPIKO instead of giving me a call to inform me of the sting. It dragged hours and hours and finally when I reached home that day I was informed about it. When I took a closer looked I was worried, Natalie's fingers and palm swell up to at least 3 times the size of her right palm. Without delay I rushed her to see my family doctor. Earlier on Jeff went to her room and searched for suspicious insect that might still be hiding in the room and found a Wasp. We brought the captured insect to the doctor and he confirmed that Natalie was stung by it.

This is how a wasp looked like and it stings and releases venom into the body and causes swelling. In serious cases the venom will travel to other parts of the body like face and neck and causes swelling too. If the swell is bad it might block the air passage way and causes difficulties in breathing. Luckily for Natalie the swelling was localised on her palm meaning the venom did not travel to other parts of the body. Natalie was given some oral medication and it took about 3 days later that the swell fully subsided.

Partying a year later

2009-04-09T21:12:00.008+08:00

I am surprised that no one commented on the video I posted on the child that was being abused by the maid. I was hoping to see readers showing their anger share their thoughts and disgust on that barbaric maid! Wonder what is the latest status on this, I want to know if the maid has been punished for her act. Also hope to hear that the poor little girl did not suffer much injury...

Anyway I am beginning to be a little more active on blog again, hopefully it is not temporary. I have been out of partying scene ever since I found out that I was pregnant. I stayed away for more than a year and the very last time I got back into the dark strange room with loud music that could impair hearing was when Apple invited me to her birthday celebration. So it was in October 2008. That night was so fun and both Miko and I enjoyed ourselves. After that I didn't have a chance of impairing my hearing... until my friend gave me a very good reason to.

Jasper offered Jeff and I to his bottle of Hennesy VSOP at St. James 2 weeks ago. We took this opportunity to really let our hair down, loosen our joints and soothing our throat with alcohol. This was a great opportunity to really dress up, make up, and be vain again! I spent like 1 hour doing my hair and make up and camera whore in my room before I was ready to go. Jeff commented that I was a vain pot... :P

I really have to thank Jeffrey for getting crazy with me and willing to do anything with me!

Camera whoring,

I chose to go Boiler Room, 1st time there and I loved it.

The band was very entertaining and the gay singer was super hilarious!

Thank you, Jasper for your generosity!

Guess no one can tell that we were married for years and we are parents already!

I wish we can stay this loving forever!

Waiting for Jeffrey to get me my supper.

BBQ hot dog bun, super yummy.

You should try it when u are at St. James, I love their Chicken Cheese Hotdog!

Me still going strong, though I didn't party as much as before, I do drink occasionally.

Jeffrey couldn't hold his alcohol that well anymore... hehehe

After that night I was itching to go to Boiler Room again soon. Will have to start arranging with friends this time! I had completely forgotten how much fun it could bring after missing out for so long! Even though it was only the 2 of us that night, we were drinking and dancing away like we just dated. Truly enjoyable and memorable too!

Natalie reads Alphabets

2009-04-07T18:09:00.002+08:00

This is a video I shot while Natalie was playing with her flash cards. It was a sense of achievement to see Natalie who is bearly 16 months, able to recognise a few alphabets from the flash cards. :) Hope you enjoy this video as much as I do.

Child Abuse video clip

2009-04-07T00:04:00.002+08:00

I wish to share this video to all of you, this is a very disturbing video about a maid abusing her employer's child. This child looks bearing 3 years old and she gotten this kind of treatment from her maid. I am very upset after watching it, especially when I have a daughter myself. Fortunately my maid loves and dotes on my child, if this were to happen to my family I doubt I will be rational enough....

Time to Blog

2009-03-17T22:57:00.007+08:00

Yes it's time to blog, when I was busy typing out this post, Jeff came over and asked: "Oh are you blogging? Thought your blog has rusted, you mean your blog is still around ah?" Even my husband knew that I haven't been blogging although he is not my reader.

I am down with flu, didn't know when and how I caught the bug but true enough, it's bad and I am certified unfit for duties for 2 days. Been lazing at home the whole of today, getting drowsy due to the cough mixture and trying to stay away from Natalie. I almost forgot that I do have a blog to upkeep, been playing facebook so much that it has taken up most of my online time. It's really convenient to stay in touch with friends. I shouldn't forget about blogging, I really should not, because of this blog I got to know many kind hearted bloggers and readers. Whenever I am having doubts I know that I will get some form of support and suggestions from you.

Especially during my last post on Natalie's problem about dream feeding, after reading all your suggestions I was much calmer and was able to see from a bigger picture. What most of you said was true, as long as she is drinking her milk. I was apologetic towards my maid for flaring up, after discovering her good intentions that led to her action, I kinda blamed myself for being so jumpy and suspicious of her all the time. I should count myself fortunate that I have a caring and trustworthy helper. Ever since that incident I am a better person now, in terms of dealing maid issue. ;) Guess its not a bad thing too, at least I know I changed to a better person. :P

I am using my new laptop, sponsored by my hubby. He bought me a Mac Book as I was having problems with syncing data from iphone to my Acer. I like the set up of Mac and I am not totally alien with Mac as I used to own an iMac many years ago. I do have to give it two thumbs up as the latest version is very user friendly.

Anyway I have uploaded some photos taken in the beginning of year 2009. Photos are a great way to make a post more colourful. Hope I did achieve the effect.

My colleagues and I at Raffles Hotel, Royal China restaurant. It was our Chinese New Year company dinner. Also showing off my latest Chanel collection, finally my Chanel 2.55 caviar.

My kindest Sales Manager I ever come across during my entire working career, Mr Jeffrey Chua. Same name as my hubby.

Now it's time for Osim's advertisement. Beware as you are seeing this for the first time, Osim's youngest model endorsing their product. Natalie and Osim i-gallop, and no lar, it's not an advertisement.

Natalie was really enjoying herself when Jeff put her on the galloping machine. You should take a closer look and you will find her finger on the speed button, she was adjusting the speed herself.

And when she found the trick of making it move faster, she was super delighted. Just look at her expression, she was totally relax and at ease with i-gallop. Watching her happy is my greatest achievement. Maybe Osim should really consider getting her to endorse their products. Didn't know that it's so popular among babies too!

Took Natalie to attend my friend's wedding banquet. These 2 photos was taken before she went for a home run melt down. She hates crowded confined space and she started crying when my friend marched into the restaurant with her hubby. Had to bring her back when we were only at the 6 course of the lunch banquet.

Oh I permed my hair, this is my latest look. Had asked for big locks rather than those tight small curls. Though it is not going to last very long, 2 months is a fairly reasonable duration. Anyway I predict I will get bored of curls by then.

Well I have to rest, the medicine are kicking in...

Till next time... more updates.

1st post after 2 months

2009-02-19T23:26:00.006+08:00

Goodness, I am beginning to loose myself here in blogger land. I have been so active on Facebook that I didn't feel nothing missing when I am online. Life has been great, Natalie is already walking on her own and that is quite a relieve for my arms. She is much more manageable now as she approaches into toddler stage. Though she is growing very well, I am still constantly worrying for her in many many ways. Like has she taken her nap? Has she drink her milk? Is she eating well?

Recently I found out that my maid has been giving Natalie her milk while she is sleeping. Yes, I meant Dream Feed, for mothers who knows what that mean. I have never disagree with dream feeding Natalie when she sleeps for the night and gives her last feed to last her till morning. But little did I know that my maid took this to her own convenience and does all her milk feeding while Natalie takes her naps in the day! My maid confessed that it has been like that for about 2 months since Nat turned 1 yr old.

The problem now is that Natalie is rejecting all her milk feeds when she is awake. I tried to change her habit back for the past 2 days but she screamed and pushed the milk bottle away all the time. She has not been drinking since then.... Luckily she is on regular 3 meals, porridge, noddles, mee suah etc But I cannot let her go without milk at such a tender age! Sigh... sometimes I really blamed myself for all these. I have not been a good mother as I chose work over looking after her full time. I really have myself to blame.

I should not have pinned high hopes on maid to take really good care of my baby. I shouldn't have.... I got really mad when I found out what she did, I should have been more vigilant! Everyone tells me to change maid, but I really have no confidence in looking for another one.

Hope when tomorrow comes, Natalie will be more receptive towards milk feeds, WHILE SHE IS AWAKE!

21st December, Natalie's One Year Old party

2008-12-21T23:04:00.004+08:00

Finally, after all the preparation and the leg work, it's over. The party was a success, the buffet was great. Very nice presentation, superb quality, unqiue dishes. The birthday cake was delicious and yet not very sinful. It's not Chocolate, it was Mango Cream from COVA. Most of the guests enjoyed the food and the cake. Well the kids got their fair share of fun as well, they weren't neglected as Jeff had party packs for them to get self entertained while their parents enaged in adult conversations. lol. Also kids were attracted to the cupcakes that were surrounding the birthday cake.

I am glad that I had this party, I am pleased with myself, I chose the right cake, cupcakes, decoration, buffet orders. I am glad that I have invited my colleagues, they were very enthusiastic about this party and they stayed almost till the end. Very sporting! I like! Even though I only know them for about 8 months, they showed their kindness and appreciation to me and my family members. Thank you very much, little actions like this touched me a lot.

Did not have much photos taken, not much of a regret but it was a pity that I didn't have a few photos taken with my good friend, Geraldine and her boyfriend Desmond. SIgh... I guess I was too happy chatting with her that I forgot about camera whoring her! Anyways she will understand, right? lol I will blog about Nat's birthday and then another time, I will blog about our Batam trip hor!

It's been a year!

2008-12-17T23:33:00.002+08:00

My oh my oh my... how time flies. Last year around this time I was preparing nervously and eagerly for labour and now,

My precious Natalie is turning 1 year old this Sunday. It seems like a dream, it was a difficult process, going through with the labour, the confinement period, adapting to the changes in life, coping with the additional member. Now when I looked at her, I felt that it was all worth it. But then I am still not prepared to go through it again.

I am throwing a party for her, invited friends and colleagues over this Sunday. Hopefully they will be free to attend as I treat it as a form of gathering as well. Haven't been meeting up with my friends and colleagues for a while and I would like to take this opportunity to get everyone together, networking is very important! So far the response from the invitation is not very positive, maybe it's due to the holiday season?

I have been doing all the foot work, running up and down for the preparation for this coming Sunday. Got a cake from COVA, ordered another 25 cupcakes from cupcakesmoma, ordered buffet for 50 pax. Jeffrey is going to decorate the house with balloons and also going to give out party packs to the kids that turn up that day. All these just hoping that everyone will enjoy themselves, creating a memorable day for everyone.

IT's getting crazy here, Natalie is turning 1, preparing for the celebration, Christmas is round the corner as well, the arrival of a new born baby from my sister in law... approaching new year, soon afterwards will be Chinese new year... oh my, super jam pack!

Guess the happiest person in the family now is her, carefree as ever, gets what she wants most of the time. Good life! I wanna be a baby again!

Baby still cannot sleep throughout the night!

2008-11-24T09:52:00.003+08:00

I am seeking help from all mothers through this blog. I need rescue therapy of any kind, advises from the experienced to help me get my baby to sleep throughout the night. Yes it is shocking right? Natalie is going to turn 1 year old next month and till now she still wakes up frequently to drink milk. Let me narrate Natalie's sleep pattern last night:

7:30pm Drink 180ml of milk

8:30pm Got tired and slept

11:40pm woke up and drank another 180ml of milk

3:30am woke up screaming... drank another 180ml of milk

4:00am went back to sleep

4:45am woke up cranky wants attention............. awake till 6am

6am slept

7:20am woke up again

.................................................................................. -___-'''

I almost fainted... I am beginning to worry this will carry on forever!

This happens very frequently, it has become a bad habit of Natalie. I hope she can sleep for a continuous of 6 to 7 hours in a roll and not gets up every 3 - 4 hours interval... It's draining.... it's affecting my sleep too. I pity my maid as well as she has to put up with the long sleepless nights, accompany Natalie till she gets back to sleep. How mothers? What should I do to change Natalie's time clock back to schedule?

I envy mothers when they told me that their babies are able to sleep throughout the night when they were only 3 months old... Did I start off with the wrong foot that created Natalie's bad habit?

Cultural Exchange Program

2008-11-19T10:33:00.012+08:00

Aiyoh I felt so ashamed of myself, didn't make an effort to blog. But on the other hand, thanks to iPhone, I have been very regular on Facebook. Facebook is a great way to stay connected with friends and laugh and joke at each other's photos. I love it! iPhone is a great invention, I am able to surf the net using 3G, wireless, anywhere anytime.

Actually I am a little stress at work, what's new... it's nearing month end and sales has not been really promising. I don't have high expectations on my sales achievement, will be very glad if I am able to meet the marker. Anyways will try my very best to get in the sales and not let the whole team down.

When I first joined the company I felt very lonely and missed my ex-colleagues so much. I felt that I was being left out during company gatherings and wasn't able to blend in with the rest. It was a tough period and I was still holding on to past memories of the good times I had with my ex-colleagues. But now, I am much happier here, after getting to know them, I am much receptive about the environment and the changes. Though every individuals are different, every one's motive in the company is the same, to work hard and earn $$! After work they can be as wild as an animal too! Love them so much!

Last week, we had many Japanese colleagues that was in Singapore for a Cultural Exchange Program with us. They shared their working experiences and also about their cost of living in Japan. I was shock when one of them mentioned that their nursing homes cost $4500 a month! They showed us one of the top nursing homes in Japan and it was like a palace, very grand! Their sales approach was also very different from us in Singapore, and the way they handle situations are very unique. In the beginning, their stern appearance and their strict dressing really made us weary... but when night falls... they all became ware wolves! LOL (Photos illustrations below)

Me in this sweet pink jacket I bought at a push cart stall in Vivo City. All my colleagues sang praises of the jacket, I like the design and the material... oh so comfy!

My young colleague, Joanna Leong, she is only 23 years old. She is very helpful and we cover the same area together.

Mrs Tan and me, that recently got married.

All of us, Joanna, Dianna, Me and Sherli. If I did not mention that they were my colleagues, people will think that we are very good friends.

The stern serious looking Japanese colleagues during the morning session of the cultural exchange program.

When night falls.....

Was forced to sing and luckily I had many freelance dancers to accompany me.

I was so fortunate that night, hahaha suddenly became the centre of attention of the Japanese colleagues. They were hilarious!

Group photos

Gosh I wonder why they were doing...

Dianna was caught in between to gay lovers! Neah they were very straight, perhaps was the influence of alchol that made them attracted to each other. LOL

Another group photo.

Once they took off their jacket and their tie, they changed!

They even target on my sales manager! Poor thing, he was kissed by the Nihon jin!

We enjoyed ourselves so much, drink and drink, sang and dance. I am definitely looking forward for the next cultural exchange program... if any. It will be better if we are the ones flying over to other countries!

I don't know when will be the next post... hopefully I don't drag too loooooooooong........

TX Derma Roller & Opp! Jealous Nail Polish

2008-10-23T09:55:00.009+08:00

I am very excited and would like to share what I was in my shopping basket recently. I was on a regular visit to my facial saloon (ironically, I wasn't there for facial, its for my eyelash extentions) and was introduced to the below items. First of all the DIY micro derma roller.

The Tx Roller was carefully designed in a drum shape for the highest efficiency when applying the skin rolling technique.
Equipped with over 90 stainless steel micro-points to stimulate the release of stress, tension and toxins.
Micro-points create over 900 micro-channels, which allow the nutrients in skin care products to penetrate up to 400 times more effectively than products simply applied topically.
Micro-channels in the skin close after several minutes, locking in skin-building nutrients, supporting collagen and elastin repair.

I used it last night, still waiting to try for a few more times to see the improvement of the skin. Some how I am quite confident to see the results it declares to give. Hopeful* I hope to achieve smaller pores, firmness, and glow.

Next I brought a bottle of the blingbling nail polish created by Jolin Tsai. I copied a few photos of the range of colors in her collection to show you. It's very bling, I applied my bottle last night and I love the effects it creates! The shine, the glitters, the brighteness!

Opps! J_Sweeta

The strip glitters, Opp! J_Temptation

Opps! J_Wondering with a bottle of Opp! J_Temptation

Opp! J_Future.

Opp! J_Temptation

Opp! J_Galaxy

Opp! J_Galaxy. Glittering hexagon shapes create a variety of lustrous magnificent effects, making you shine like the stars of the night.

The price ranges from $22 to $28.

2 Weddings

2008-10-19T21:00:00.007+08:00

It has been a rough week, meetings, conferences, weekend duties, dead line for sales report, and 2 wedding dinner invitations on the same week. I had to be on duty at IMH on Thursday alone. My company was one of the sponsors for their APPRC congress and therefore we had to "Jargar" the booth and introduce our company's drug to overseas doctors and nurses that came for the congress. When I stated on my facebook that I was at IMH, one of my friend was shocked and asked me why I was there. Maybe he thought that I was mentally ill, maybe he thought I suffered post natal blues... hahahaha Mervin, don't worry I am perfectly fine. Anyways, luckily Paul was on duty there too and we kept each other company that day.

That Saturday I was very excited as I was going to bring Natalie to attend my friend's wedding dinner. It was Marilyn's wedding and was held at Merchant Court Hotel. I brought Natalie along to meet up with her mummy's friends, and true enough she was very popular that night. We didn't stay till the end of the dinner and left only when they were serving the 4th course. Too bad, as Natalie needed to head back home for her sleep.

The beautiful bride, Marilyn Chan and me. Welcome to monogamy and hope to hear good news soon!

Natalie and her god mother, Geraldine. Her boyfriend kept saying that Natalie was very cute. Could tell that he loves baby a lot. Hope to attend their wedding dinner soon so that they can proceed to the next stage of life. Natalie needs a friend, so don't let her wait too long ok.

My little princess and me. I brought this bustier dress from Lavender, located at Stamford Road.

Family photo.

My good friend Geraldine.

Me, Apple and Geraldine. That was the first photograph of the 3 of us together after so long.

Natalie playing with the cutlery on her baby high chair.

Esther and me.

Immediately the next day, I had to prepare to attend another wedding dinner at Conrad Hotel. I was looking forward to this wedding dinner as Jeff and I held our wedding at Conrad. Wanted to have a feel of being a guest there and re collect memories of our wedding.

Camera whoring in the car, hoping to look my best.

Beautiful ladies of my company.

The bride, Sherli and me. She is so gorgeous! Envy that she is so slim! I wasn't that slim when I was a bride myself.

My lovely and wonderful colleagues. I am happy to be able to work with all of you.

Girls night out

2008-10-03T11:26:00.005+08:00

Met some friends from my industry for a quick drink at Balaclava on eve of Children's day, also the eve of Hari Raya. Before going over, I was already drinking at some other places with my colleagues, had a mixture of chinese wine, Red wine, White wine, Champagne and beer... I pretty much enjoyed myself, and the great company that night!

My friends, great company!

Wonderful night, we should get out more often, if time permits me to.

Brought Natalie out on her 1st Children's Day to Kallang Leisure Mall. She was a little grouchy as she didn't take her afternoon nap at first. Only managed to snap a few photos when she was in the car and her sitting on the shopping trolley. The rest of her trip, she was asleep in our arms. Jeff and I had to take turns to carry her while she sleeps. I had muscles cramp after that day...

Natalie and mummy me, with no make up. I am getting lazier these days especially when I am out with my baby girl. I try to minimise all the preparation time shorter so I can spend more time with Natalie.

Isn't she lovely on the shopping trolley? She is my best purchase! hahahaha

Bukit Timah Saddle Club

2008-10-03T10:58:00.004+08:00

Haven't been really catching up with friends ever since I entered my new phase in life. I hope I have not neglected my friends. That's why recently I have been arranging for meet ups and drinking session so that I can kill two birds with a stone!

Met up with Geraldine not long ago and we went to Bukit Timah Saddle Club for lunch. Though it was our first time there, we fell in love with the place immediately. Perhaps it was the peace and quiet the place offered us, and a different scenery all together. We were horse glazing the whole afternoon, making our pick on which one we preferred and teasing the horses at our allocated balcony seats. The view was fantastic, we get to see the horses go for their exercise at a ring, gallopping round and round in circles.

Enjoying a lazy afternoon, eating pasta, relaxing and horse gaze and day dream.

Miko enjoyed her afternoon away from all the phone calls and paper work.

The black beauty, I love black horses.

Geraldine and me.

Well we thought that our eyes played a tricked on us when we saw this. How come there was a cow in Horse Saddle?

Yes we were wrong, it was a horse with brow spots on it's white base. hehehe, I felt that it looked weird on the horse.

I stole all the photos from Geraldine's blog as I didn't bring camera that day. Thank you for contributing to the photos gal! Do catch up soon.

Updates

2008-09-28T21:53:00.009+08:00

时间过得真快，愈涵已经九个月大了.
现在她比以前更好动，非常精力冲佩。我有时候真拿她没办法。
不过,也是因为这样使我的生活过得更多只多彩.
在照顾愈涵的时候学会了很多人生的道理, 和让我培养了耐性.
现在我没那末的暴躁也不会随便发脾气. 凡是看开一点,不要太执著,快乐与否的定义是没有一个标准.
现在我非常满意我目前的生活,有个美满幸福的家庭,健康快乐的宝宝,疼我爱我的丈夫,还有几位知己在身边.

Right that took me about 30 minutes to type in chinese. I figure I should do that more often as I realised my Mandrain is getting from bad to worst... Not in terms of speaking the language but in terms of writing. I guess that is a common problem majority of the Singaporean face. Anyway I managed to find time to blog today, hurray! I will show you some photo's of my blog's star, Natalie, and also some places I been to recently.

提Natalie's current favorite pass time is riding on her tricycle.

Either Jeff or myself will take turns to push her on the tricycle everyday for at least 10 to 20 minutes. She loves the music that comes along with it and she will keep pressing the button for more music, when she hears the one she doesn't like, she will press for the next one, continuously until she hears the one she wants.

Natalie's first tricycle.

Natalie cut her upper lips when she was crawling and lost her balance. She hit her face right onto the floor and her two little teeth knocked onto her lips and she bleed. It must have been a very painful fall as she cried non stop for the next half and hour. Poor baby, I cried too when nothing seems to be able to stop her pain. It was a very emotional night, Jeff couldn't do anything to stop 2 women he loves so much from crying.

I got myself another bag 2 months ago.

The size is just what I was looking for, not too big yet big enough for my long wallet, phone and makeup, I love it!

Went to PNC to do my nails some time back... now it was already gone. Waiting for my next manicure and pedicure appointment. But I just cut my nails this morning because I realized it's dangerous to have long nails when I am with Natalie. Still I will go ahead with the appointment when it's fixed.

We found a new place to eat pasta, it's at Cineleisure 2nd floor. This place serves Japanese style pasta and it suits our taste just fine. Shokudo Japanese Pasta. I am sure many of you have been there before, me very mountain tortoise nowadays ok... hehehe

We ordered two soups, this is their version of clam chowder, in miso soup base.

This is bacon cabbage soup in pork soup base.

Jeff's choice of pasta, with stew beef.

His greedy order, garlic bread.

My choice of pasta, Aglio Olio with chilly buddy! Yummy for those who loves spicy food, this will blow your mind off! And stay clear if you are not a chilly fan.

Took Natalie to East Coast beach during the weekend to show her what is the sea.

Daddy Jeffrey trying to entice Natalie to step onto the sandy beach and get near to the water.

Natalie got frightened when the wave crushed onto the beach and touched her feet.

Daddy Jeffrey insisted that she must carry on her adventure but soon started to cry. He finally gave up when I stopped him from scaring my poor baby.

Jeff and I sneaked out after putting Natalie to bed last weekend and went to Hort Park near Alexandra road to have a drink. I ordered Cosmopolitan and Jeff's pick was Brandy on the rock. That was the first time we went to Hort Park and I was quite impressed by their neat and beautiful landscape. It was too dark to have a paranormal view then but I managed to capture some photos at it's best to show you.

We enjoyed our couple time together even though we are together for many years already.

老夫老妻。
This was one of the view from our drinking place, right in front of us was a pool of water parallel towards us and immediately after it was a piece of greenery.

This was the only restaurant there at Hort Park, serving Thai cuisine and converted into a wine bar after night falls.

It was cooling and refreshing to enjoy a couple of drinks at a serenade environment, away from the city.

Oh I just finished watching F1.... so many crashes and the results was so unpredictable. I didn't expect Alonso of Renault will be number 1 when he was so far behind in the begining. I was putting my bet on Lewis Hamilton from Mac Larens team. I follow F1 since few years ago, though not really the biggest fan of it, I know a few of the popular names in the game. Now Renault must be celebrating at one of the hottest clubs in Singapore. I wonder what will the Ferrari teams do for the night.... poor fellows. The mis interpretation from the system lights at the pit stop caused Massa to loose his number one position and then Raikkonien crushed just before ending the race...

Ok I did my best in updating can summarizing the past events and post photos of Natalie. Hope it won't take me too long to have another update. Got to sleep now, it's Monday in another half an hours time... Sigh... weekend seems so short.

Enjoying my working life

2008-09-16T09:18:00.012+08:00

I have been actively participating in events and conferences that was held over many weekends for the past few months. Though I didn't get much rest, I was actually enjoying what I was doing. It was very meaningful helping out in the company launches and doing public forum to create more awareness for Alzheimer's Disease. Ever since I joined my current company, I get to understand more in dept on the disease and the problems patients as well as their caregivers face during their daily routine. It was only then that I realised that the power of love is so great for some and vulnerable for the majority.

Many patients used to be the love of someone's life, caring husband to wife, loving parents to their children, but when this disease strike them, all these changes. Many caregivers find taking care of their AD family members very troublesome and tiring. They soon became very short tempered and impatient with them and gradually neglected them. This is a very common sight I see during outings with the caregivers.

Ms Hwee Er from ADA, myself and Jeffrey Chua. I organised our caregivers DVD launch in St Luke's hospital.

Ms HweeEr, Dr Tan, myself and Jeffrey Chua.

Got very good feedback from the food I catered for the public. It's from Food Haven.

The turn out that day was massive, about 150 people came for the talk cum launch of the caregiver's dvd.

Newater plant at Changi.

This was taken a few months ago. My company collaborates with ADA every year to have a Caregivers and their AD family members an outing to tour around Singapore's places of attraction. This year we brought them to Newater plant.

My lovely colleagues and me showing off the latest design for newater.

This adorable granny has colourful nail polish, though she is an AD patient, she is still very cheerful and curious with the surroundings. Her caregiver is a maid from Indonesia, not only does she looks after the granny, she also in charge of her grooming as she was the one that painted her nails.

Dinner symposium held in Goodwood Park Hotel on a Saturday night. We were wearing our product uniform and a doctor commented that we looked like bus conductors! Later we found out that she is a Psychiatrist, but was also disappointed that she is so shallow to make such a comment. All this while I assume that they are very caring and understanding, guess I am wrong.

Me and my lovely colleagues. I am certain we don't look like bus conductors. What do you think?

So this is a short summary of what I have been doing for the past few months. Need to carry on with my work now.
*

Many Events, Sorry for delay

2008-09-04T09:34:00.002+08:00

I wanted to post many photos taken weeks and weeks ago, about restaurants, about food, about the places I went to and most of all about Natalie. Just when I was about to do all that, my personal lap top got into a major hardware corruption and was sent to emergency ward for one whole week. Now it is resting at home and I have to restore all the programs as it's the stock version now... It is such a hassel to re load everything and definitely going to take me a few hours to get it all reinstall. My office laptop is "highly" secured so there are too many restrictions on the internet.

Last night Rita (my maid) feedback to me that the other maid was angry that she spent too much time taking care of Natalie and did not help out in the housework. She even screamed at her and commented that taking care of baby is a WASTE OF TIME and that is not work. Doing housework is work, baby should put in child care centre. She is jealous that Rita carries Natalie around doing nothing, play "baby can read" vcd and watch with Natalie, play with Natalie... That indonesian maid got really angry and jealous, now whenever she doesn't complete her job she will push all the blame to my maid. She told my mum one day that the house is too big and she has too many things to do, Rita always takes care of baby and never help her!

The problem with her is she doesn't has the right to command my maid to do her housework. I engaged my maid to look after Natalie and both maids has their fair share of housework. The indonesian maid only in charge of the ground floor and cooking. My maid on the other hand has to clean both 2nd and 3rd floor, at the same time takes care of Natalie.

I am super PISSED off when that Indonesian said that taking care of baby is a WASTE OF TIME! Luckily for me, Rita is very understanding and she has bonded well with Natalie, she on the other hand was also offended by the remarks.

I really don't know what to do with this maid, if I were to confront her, she will vent her anger at my maid when we are not around.

SUPER ANGRY FRIDAY!

Laptop under major repair

2008-09-02T23:05:00.001+08:00

Sick at the wrong time

2008-08-12T17:54:00.004+08:00

I am sick at home, it's really disgusting when I fall sick easily. I went to my family doctor and he too said that my frequency of getting flu is like every 2 months... The last time I saw him was in mid May, that time I was sick for 2 weeks!

What's more disgusting was, today is Jeffrey's birthday! I had so many plans in mind but none could be fulfill because I am sick sick sick! Sigh. Jeffrey's sister and her family came over from England and they will be going to St. James tonight to celebrate Jeff's birthday as well as Sarah's birthday. Jeff's niece happen to share same birth date and I am going to be out of the action! Tell me why must I fall sick......

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/
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Very expressive Snow White

2008-08-04T22:17:00.004+08:00

I love dressing up Natalie, I dressed her in this little white dress and a little white hat. Immediately she is converted into a very lady liked Natalie Yeo. Doesn't she look like baby Snow White? I sent 2 photos of Natalie to Miko and Jace, they kept praising that Natalie is very cute. All babies are adorable, when you have your own baby, you will know that it is very true. They look cute in everything and nothing. They look cute when they have food stains all over their mouth, they look cute when they just finish Poo Poo, they look cute when they are hungry and crying for milk, they look cute when they suck their fingers, they look cute when they are sleepy...

Time flies, Natalie is already 7 months and 2 weeks old. Here are the photos of my very expressive Natalie Yeo.

Her mischievous side, this is her real self, very active and very playful.

This is her lady liked look when she is quiet.

This is her look when she is extremely happy!

This is when she wants you to play with her.

This is her expression when she is feeling proud.

And finally this is her, innocent and pitiful look.

Hope that those mothers to be, after seeing photos of the above, you will be very positive about your pregnancy and looking forward for your own baby to arrive. Gambatte!

Pre National Day Dinner

2008-08-04T22:02:00.003+08:00

Thought my feasting will end after the Japanese buffet, not so lucky for me. There are so many excuse for me to say for be unable to keep to a diet. Hahaha... Last Friday we had a pre National day dinner celebration at Singapore Expo. Took Natalie along with us to see if she is able to get use to being out in a noisy environment.

The moment she reached there, she started to yawn and got so emotional.

Luckily she managed to sit on a baby chair for at least 20 minutes, she seemed to enjoy herself during that time, tapping the table, looking around, chatty.

Bababababy!

Nowadays she doesn't like to posh for the camera. Unlike her mother, I am always on "Shot mode".

Japanese Food Buffet

2008-07-31T10:33:00.004+08:00

Hey peps, I had trouble loading photos and due to that reason I gave up and hit the power off button immediately. (After several attempts) Now finally Internet is gaining support and I can load up photos, therefore I can show you my gluttonous side. Been naughty and didn't follow a strict diet, which I am suppose to!!!!! I know it's mind over matters but I am a FOOD person, I enjoy eating and never want to miss the opportunity of good deals. When I found out about Japanese buffet in Jurong Point how can I not get my taste bud and tummy involve right? More over Jeff is so supportive when it comes to eating. So we went....

I was there on a Saturday to enjoy their dinner buffet, and later on Monday for their lunch buffet....

Well I didn't get to enjoy myself during the Saturday dinner buffet, firstly it was a family gathering with the in laws and their teenagers. Jeff and I brought Natalie and Rita along to meet their families. It was a long table arrangement and we were sitting at the furthest end so didn't get to talk to the rest. Secondly Natalie cried non stop once we reached, she hated the place as it was dark and noisy. Her cries became worrying spells for me when it didn't end after 30mins. Thirdly, Jeff's sister asked why we brought our maid along as the buffet cost $40 per pax, she said it in a disapproving manner and was worried that we didn't pay for our own share. How to enjoy my dinner? We left the restaurant after 40 minutes.... and we paid our own share including for our maid so as to shut her mouth up.

So Jeff and I went back on Monday afternoon to enjoy the buffet, just the way the 2 of us wanted! Too bad they only serve King crab during dinner! Please see the photos and fit in your own description, too tired to do that.

Natalie

2008-07-26T23:50:00.007+08:00

I am a proud mother, I cannot stop praising her to everyone around me. Said it a few hundred times that she is so cute, how amazing that I can give birth to such a cute adorable baby! You will understand when you are a parent yourself. ;)

I tried to imitate her expression to see if we resemble each other.

I lost, she is much much cuter than me!

Isn't she adorable in this picture? I wonder why babies get so excited when they were lifted high up. This never fails to put a smile on her face whenever I lift her up.

Lovely smile!

Kimono

2008-07-26T23:42:00.002+08:00

This is the first time I see myself in a kimono, do I look alright? Had to wear this kimono due to work in Conrad Hotel over the weekend. I have been working for 3 consecutive weekends with lunch talks, Congresses and presentations in varies hospitals. Thanks for my accommodating and understanding husband, he didn't complain about my absence at all.

Good Bye Sony Erricsson W910i

2008-07-23T09:48:00.004+08:00

Many women has known to be able to multi-task and I have absolutely no doubt about my multi-tasking ability. Until yesterday, I realised some times we need to concentrate on doing one thing at a time if not you will be in for a BIG SHOCK and disgust!

My usual routine at work comprises of going to the toilet to let off my digested waste, so as per normal I was in the toilet doing my business. While doing so I was also sending out smses to my dear friend, setting up lunch appointment. Being expert at multi-tasking, I don't find anything wrong with it as I have done it many times, sometimes playing games on my mobile phone, listening to mp3, smsing or doing all the above concurrently with letting off waste every time. Not anymore after yesterday....

I DROPPED my few months old phone into the toilet bowl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was disgusting but I had to stand up and dug my right hand into the waste and scoop out my poor phone..... *Facial expression = :~S priceless....

NB &*&%^$^&&*(&$&*R(*&~!!!!!!!

Once it was out of the bowl I placed it on the floor and carry on my business. What can I do, I haven't finish shitting mah!!!!!! SO ANGRY! Angry for my carelessness, angry for leaving a hole behind my butt at the toilet seat allowing my phone to slip right in! Didn't expect my phone to be that mobile!!! I further tarnish that poor phone with soap and rinsed it under running water for the next 10 minutes....

Now it is completely dead.... I had no choice right? Don't wash meh????

Lesson learnt!

New Fave

2008-07-21T10:33:00.001+08:00

I couldn't resist it, I am so broke now!

Baby Food

2008-06-30T20:09:00.005+08:00

This post is for mothers that are interested in the baby food I prepared for Natalie.

Recipe for Baby Food

Chicken Stock - Makes about 1.5 litres

Dried Chinese Mushrooms 5
Water 2 litres
Chicken 800g (I used one whole chicken)

1. Wash the dried mushrooms and place them into a small bowl. Add some warm water and leave the mushrooms to soak for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Pour the 2 litres of water into a pot and bring it to the boil. Add the chicken and mushrooms, then cover with a lid.

3. Once the water returns to the boil, reduce heat and gently simmer for 2 hours.

4. When the stock is ready, remove the chicken and mushrooms and strain the stock through a sieve. Allow to cool before using.

Vegetable Stock - Makes about 1.5 litres

White Onions 2
Carrots 2
Sweet Corn 1
Celery 4 stalks
Long Chinese Cabbage 500g
Water 2 litres

1. Wash all the vegetables. Peel the onions and carrots. Remove the husk and silk from the sweet corn. Cut all the vegetables into medium size pieces.

2. Bring the water to the boil in a pot. Add all the chopped vegetables and cover the pot with a lid. When the water returns to boil, lower heat and gently simmer for 2 hours.

3. Strain the stock and allow it to cool before using.

More delicious recipes from the above book. I chose this book as it includes recipes with an Asian flavour. I live with some old fashion folks that will nag at me for preparing stuff too fusion or too western for Natalie. They commented that Asian babies are different from Western babies and their recipes are not always suitable for Natalie. Luckily I found this book if not I am not able to shut their unnecessary comments. They include recipes up to 2 years old so you don't have to worry that this book will be useless after your baby grow up.

Ok digress to another topic,

To rent a toy, click the link below:

Rent-A-Toy Singapore

Have fun!

Warning! Many Photos~!

2008-06-26T21:09:00.000+08:00

I am on leave tomorrow as I will be bringing Natalie for her 3rd vaccination in the hospital. I want to be able to witness this process and also making sure that she is good and well after her injection. Now that she is able to feel pain I am sure she will definitely cry out loud for tomorrow's injections. Poor thing, I worry I might be the one end up in tears when I see her delicate thighs being poke by needles.

Since I am going to be on leave, I decided to do some serious blogging. Well finally I am able to upload photos. I had so many photos taken months ago that I wanted to upload but being a procrastinator I kept delaying.

Few months ago Jeff brought my mother and I to Singapore flyer. It was my first time in such a big "ferries wheel", seeing Singapore in paranomic view is breath taking. Though I have phobic about heights I felt completely at ease in the capsule. Whats more, we had the whole capsule to ourselves that day.

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Hey look at the way Natalie sits comfortably in between my legs watching tv.

Natalie and her cousin Reese, look she is growing taller!

She wanted to break free from me.... that's how she struggles when she dislikes staying at a same spot or position for too long.

Off topic, this is my dad's watermelon plantation. Hehehehe, it's actually my first time seeing watermelon in their natural habitat.

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Took Natalie out to Terminal 3 Airport last month for dinner.

She was in a chirpy mood that night! Dressed her up in pink so that no one will mistaken her gender. My relatives always felt that Natalie looks more boyish... Hmph, I don't think so. She has a girly appearance too!

My brother, sister in law and Reese. My sister in law is pregnant, Reese is going to have a brother or sister at the end of this year!

Natalie stared curiously at Reese wondering what she was trying to do.

Natalie loves to stick out her tongue, she does that all the time. Only babies look cute with their tongue sticking out, adults look stupid.

Father Jeffrey and Natalie baby.

Mummy Me and my beautiful beautiful daughter!

I love to see you smile, you brighten up my life.

Mummy's biggest wish is to see you healthy and happy always!

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Baby Puree, came out with some baby purees after reading baby recipe books I bought from Kinokunia. These were the food I prepared last 2 months when she was just starting to wean.

On the left was Pumpkin and on the right was sweet potatoes. Natalie preferred pumpkin.

Spinach and green pea, adopted great storing tips from the books. I prepared enough for a week's supply and deep freeze them, thawing only one at a time for each feed.

Everyday after work I will rush home to prepare porridge for Natalie. This is cooked porridge before mashing them into Puree.

This is how it looks like after being mashed.

She has now proceed to eating chicken porridge, I followed the recipe and made Chicken stock and vegetable stock. Separate them into different small containers and freeze them. Only take one out each time and cook it with rice to make chicken / vegetable porridge. I tasted them myself and it taste really great! So happy to see Natalie enjoying the food I prepared for her.

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Took advise from Alice, I rented Jumperoo for Natalie instead of buying it. It not only saves money, it is also a way of recycling. Anyway I doubt Natalie will play for very long, therefore it is really a waste of money to buy it. Rental for a month is $50, and buying one cost $235.

Natalie enjoys her time at the jumeroo.

Natalie jumping and jumping in the Jumperoo.

Next time

2008-06-24T09:22:00.002+08:00

I tried to blog at home last weekend, I have many photos to upload on my blog. I ran into another uploading difficulty again. Next time...

Hopeful

Lazy to blog

2008-06-17T09:55:00.005+08:00

It's been awhile since my last entry, blame it on the weather, it's so unpredictable. This is bullshit, it's plain laziness. I have so much to blog about, so many photos to show, but too little time to blog. Nowadays my only blogging time is during the night, when Natalie is already asleep. I have certain fear of turning on the internet, I fear I will prolong my time online and delay my sleep. Therefore when rationale too over me I choose sleeping over blogging.

It's been awhile since I last went out on a girls night with my friends, received a call from Vivienne and she had arranged a gathering at Ice Cold Beer, Emerald Hill for a quick drink. I am so glad that I have an understanding husband and a great helper at home.

A short meet up and drinking session with my lady friends. Conincidentally there was a color code that night, 2 blacks and 2 blues...

Vivienne and I.

In case you miss Natalie more, I uploaded a picture taken with her last week. She is getting very active, takes more than 10 minutes to change her diaper, towel dry, change. I wonder if anyone of us is able to handle her when she starts to crawl... love her to the max!

A weekend of feasting

2008-06-01T23:32:00.009+08:00

Was shopping for a birthday present for my dearest mother at Paragon last Saturday. I was totally clueless what to get for her as she already has what she wanted. But I didn't get her any present for Mother's day in May so I reckoned I better pamper her this time round. Jeff & I went round Paragon, boutiques after boutiques and still didn't find anything that is suitable for my mother. I am on a budget constraint, over spent for May therefore my choice of present is quite restricted. Finally I got a very nice and bling key chain pouch from Prada for her. I actually fell in love with many bags and shoes there but I have to pull myself back to reality as I am not allowed to spend lavishly anymore. I do not need any new bags, I do not need shoes that will bite my feet and feed on my bank account. That's what I thought for a moment.

After finalising my mother's birthday present Jeff and I adjourned to a Thai restaurant at Takashimaya level 4 for dinner. It's our 1st time to this restaurant and definitely our 1st time eating Thai food at such a premium place/price. Guess it's our last time there too. The food is fine but there are better and cheaper Thai food at Goldenmile.

Sabai Authentic Fine Thai Cuisine - Ngee Ann City #04-23

These were the 4 dishes we ordered and 2 Thai ice lemon tea, the bill came to about $100+, told you it wasn't really worth it.

I did enjoy the ambiance and the decoration of the restaurant and posh table settings. Took a couple of photos there and it turned out quite well.

Next day we went to Fullerton Hotel The Town resturant to celebrate my mother's birthday with the whole family.

My mini family photo, Mother Father and baby. Doesn't Natalie looks like a Doll in this photo, so cuteee!
A photo with my sister in law and our babies. All girls.

At Fullerton hotel Town restaurant, photo with my 2 most important women in my life. My mummy and my daughter. Natalie got really mesmerised by the water fountain behind the glass panel.

My most imporant women, one of them prefers sucking her thumb than poshing for photo taking. I realised I don't look like my mother at all. Maybe Natalie won't look like me oo, coz many people commented that she resembles my husband more. Think people commented that I look more like my dad as well.

My brother's family, Reese is turning 2 years old this August, how time flies!

The buffet spread, Sashimi counter. Yummy, their sashimi is super fresh and lots of varieties!

The bread counter.

My mummy's first Prada. Hm I doubt she doesn't know it's branded, she only knows LV, Coach and Gucci.

This is the key pouch, it's actually very bling with gold plated edge. I personally love it, wonder if my mum likes it or not. Till now she hasn't even sorted her keys in the pouch yet.

Jeffrey and me, he complaint that he has many wrinkles on his neck. I told him go for botox. hahaha

Natalie with her grandparents. My father says babies at below the age of 1 is the cutest. I totally agree with him.

Anther family photo.

The food we ate.

Our family maids enjoying themselves too. Some deserts were added on gold flakes and they were shocked that people is eating gold! Leni said she is the first person in her kampong that has tasted gold. hehehe

Glad that the 2 of them can get along very well despite their different heritage.

That's about it. I need to slim down and no more feasting in the next few months!!!

Thank you.

2008-05-28T23:36:00.003+08:00

After clarifying myself I feel so much at ease. I am also delighted to know that some of you actually understands me. Anyways I am not very affected by those comments so don't worry about me. It feels great to know that there are still many of you that cares for me. Thank you!

I don't like my Sony Erisson phone, the photo image is not very clear. Sigh, lost my Casio X slim charger, so I cannot use my camera. Hope I can find it soon!

My super active baby loves her mashed porridge when mixed with Heinz baby food. I tried preparing steam spinach and mash it into liquid form to feed her together with porridge. Apparently she loves her greens but my parents and brother kept telling me to keep her 1st food as simple as possible. They advise me to start with plain porridge until she turns 6 months. They don't even allow me to feed her with carrot saying that it is bad for her skin. Therefore I switched to giving her plain porridge and add Heinz baby food to entice her. Lucky they didn't comment on the Heinz baby food, if not I don't know what to do next. Sometimes when everyone starts providing you with suggestions I get information overload! Of course I know they mean well and out of concern for my baby. Just have to recollect informations and be my own judge.

Once again I thank you for standing up for me when I get negativity from others. Appreciate it!

To readers

2008-05-27T00:27:00.004+08:00

At first I thought I should just leave what ever comments on me aside. But since this is my blog, I wanted to clarify on a few things. It was only recently that I feel that I got my life back ever since I started work. If I didn't take up the job offer and carry on being a stay at home mother, I think all I will blog about is how depress I am. If you said that you have been following my blog you should have recalled me ranting frequently about how I deem worthless of myself, how bored my life was and how I have changed. I am trying very hard to strike a balance life so that I can be more emotionally stable. I do not want to be a resentful mother or an angry wife and I know that I will become one if I am still a stay at home mother.

When everyone that left comments on my blog says that I am a show off, that you are sick of hearing it over and over again on how wealthy I am, I did a search back on my numerous posts. I think I got happier only recently, and before April 2008 I was full of resent. I didn't even post anything that might make anyone feel "inadequate". Back then people gave me encouragement, tell me to be happy, tell me to choose a path that will let me gain back confidence in life. Tell me to let go and trust my maid, tell me to relax and let the maid do all the changing and feeding.

When I finally learn to trust and let go (which took me months) and seeking a happier less resentful life, I got all those crude remarks about me being insensitive to others who doesn't have TWO maids and that I am a hypocrite to choose work in the end. I do not employ TWO maids to look after Natalie. Why did you have to distort my meaning? Did I ever say that I am a very good and responsible mother because I left my 5 months old daughter to TWO strangers at home with no one else to supervise them???? Do you know how each and every single day of my life when I step out of my house to leave for work not feeling worried and guilty that I can't be Natalie's caregiver? I felt lousy why I cannot be happy just being a stay at home mothers.

Doesn't mean that by providing that to a child/baby, it means that the parent is doing a good job! My life does not have any protocol or guideline, why compare yours to mine and feel unbalance about your own? Everyone should live at their own means, you kept saying that you are not jealous about me, but come on isn't that obvious you are. Though you do not want to reveal who you are even though you said you are my friend, I conclude you have not been contacting me for a very long time. If not you won't have left those comments on my blog. By the way, the initial maid that I have is engaged by my father even before I got pregnant. She is not employed under me and she has to do all the household chores including cooking for the whole family of 8 everyday. I had to get a maid myself to look after my precious Natalie because Natalie is my own responsibility. If you still are my friend, you would have know this fact and not make accusation that I am making you feel that you are not a good parent as you cannot afford 2 maids. Parents love can never be replaced by the number of maids you have to care for you baby, so keep that fact right. I only mentioned about having 2 maids twice in my blog.

I do enjoy the finest thing in life, if I can afford it I will work hard to achieve my goals. I didn't steal, I didn't beg and I didn't use my parents money to spurge on branded goods. Jeff and I spend within our means, only recently that he got me a Chanel bag, you guys have to critise me for being a show off. Which woman will not be happy to receive a Chanel and show it to the world. If you have a Chanel, I bet my last penny you will blog about it! And I will congratulate you instead of saying that you are a show off.

People are starting to get very personal whenever they read blogs, HELLOOOOO it is just someone else blog, and someone else life. Don't read in between the lines and start making assumptions and accusations. Come on, someone even said that I should be more "automatic and consider others feelings" when I blog. Should I really do that? You come in to my blog frequently to peep at my lifestyle and then blame me for being insensitive to others that might be living an inferior life compared to mine? You said I am showing off to my friends, please what kind of friends are you talking about? They aren't my friends if they think like you.

By the way there are more unfortunate people around, look at the Asia Twin Tragedy, how many people died, how many children turned into orphans, how many parents became childless and how many turned widows. We should all count ourselves lucky that we are still alive and that all our loved ones are with us.

So, with the context of the Asia Twin Tragedy, should we be sensitive of what we blog? If we should like you wanted to, we should all close down our blog as we shouldn't be showing off that we are still alive.

People shouldn't blog about their happy relationship with their boyfriends, husbands as they will be seen as being insensitive towards those that are still single or having failed relationships. Big boobs bloggers shouldn't keep wearing low cut and post their revealing photos in their blogs as that will make all the flat chested women feel "inadequate". Those with children or babies shouldn't blog about them as that will make childless marriage couples angry and deem as being show off.

TELL ME WHAT CAN ANYONE BLOG ABOUT? Talk to me about being Sensitive, it is close to mission impossible!

Natalie is 5 months old

2008-05-26T23:33:00.006+08:00

Sometimes when I see myself in the mirror I will ask :YUCKS who is this fat and ugly woman! I am still not back to my pre-pregnancy figure and many people say it is the easiest to slim down within the 4th month after child birth. Look at me, sigh it's pass 5 months already and I still cannot fit into my Levis... sad sad, just recently I went to Giordano to get a pair of size 30 Jeans so that I can wear denim once again. My tummy is still very swollen, Jeff says I need to start doing some sit ups to firm up the flabs. My mum tells me if I had gone through natural labour my tummy would have gone down by now, she said majority of the women that undergone c-section will have difficulties getting rid of the tummy. Sigh, how true.

Time flies, my Natalie is 5 months old! I have start weaning her, with soft porridge once a day when I got back home in the evening. At 1st she doesn't know what to expect and didn't take it well. After weaning her for a week plus, today she finished the whole portion of porridge I have prepared for her. She now knows when the spoon is near her mouth, she will open her mouth to allow the spoon in. I love feeding my baby, seeing her every expression is priceless.

5 months old already!
Little Natalie with cousin Reese playing on the rubber mat.

This was the 1st few encounter with food.

Who else but babies that can still look so adorable with food stains all over their mouth?

Natalie laying on my bed and trying to hold her milk bottle. That was a very good attempt but still requires more practice.

Playful little baby. :p I love to see her smile.

Now I can fully understand why parents can keep talking about their baby and not get sick of it. I can play Natalie's video over and over again and still able to laugh at her funny actions. Few days ago Jeff suddenly say that we should plan to get Natalie a playmate... he said we should have at least 2 children. Oh gosh, just 5 months ago I went through a tough labour and now we are back at this topic again. Not that soon, at least few years from now when Natalie is big enough and when I am ready again. But my clock is ticking, if I really want another child I have to plan to have it before me turning 35 years old.

My Super Cute Natalie

2008-05-13T21:51:00.007+08:00

My Natalie loves her tummy time, playing with toys that I bought for her to keep her occuppied. I even bought the whole complete set of "My Baby Can Read" vcds to let her pass time in the long boring afternoon. Tought my maid how to operate the tv and dvd player, luckily she is a fast learner and she told me she had played one of the disc for Natalie this afternoon. Good job, my maid has been doing very well so far and I appreciated her every effort in taking care of my Natalie. Just by saying I appreciate their effort is far from enough so I helped out by sending a few hundreds dollars back to her home town as her 4 kids need money for school. She said she wanted it to be pro rated from her salary, but I told her I am not going to deduct from her pay and that it's my way of showing appreciation of taking care of NAT so well.

Last Sunday Jeff and I took both maids out to Vivo City to let them have their well deserved R&R time. I handed them my camera and they went wild taking photos of themselves, I am glad that they were enjoying and having fun that day.

My Natalie's care giver during the day, Ms Rita from Philippines. She is 35 years old and a mother of 4 and her youngest child is already 8 years old. She is the only sole bread winner for her family as her husband is not very trust worthy. She told me that her husband spent away all her hard earned money that was meant for her children.

This is Suleni, from Indonesia and she is only 23 years old. Though she is very young, she is able to cook chinese food very well. Her favourite pass time is to watch Korean drama at night.

Look, they love to act cute too.

Regardless of race and religion and which country one is from, everyone knows the PEACE sigh while taking photos.

Natalie is a very fortunate baby, with 2 play mates to keep her company at home.

Mummy Noelle and Baby Natalie, she prefers sucking her hands that looking at the camera.

Oh she is hungry, fatherly Jeff feeding his precious daughter to her bottle of milk.

After we got home, Natalie was still full of energy (cos she slept many times during shopping and while in the car). She felt so relax and secure in her own bedroom and was smiling so happily. Suddenly I caught her in 'action' and immediately recorded her crime! Now I have gotten hold of this evidence and will used it against her when she grows up! hahaha

Do watch this video clip, she is very hilarious. I really have NO completely NO idea where she learnt this from. Trust me, I asked around and no one admitted to teaching her this action. The video is a short 50 seconds, hope it is able to brighten up your day after seeing this innocent clip. Enjoy!

My Push Present

2008-05-11T22:10:00.005+08:00

Thank you for your suggestions on what I should get. I only read them after I got my push present. In fact I really like the idea of craving Natalie's name and make it into a gold pendent. Went out to Takashimaya on Saturday evening and guess what, I saw a long queue outside Louis Vitton, kind of puts me off alittle. I was thinking to myself why should they make people queue when they are going to spend thousands over dollars for their merchandise? Jeff wasn't complaining and automatically join in the queue. I gave him the "look" and pulled his hands over to the other boutique opposite LV. Kekekeke, it's CHANEL!

Jeff was actually praying silently that I didn't choose the big C as it is going to cost him double the amount of what he had actually set out for my PP. Just not his lucky day, I had wanted a Big C for quite sometime and this is my best chance to get one without causing casualty to my own bank account. I must say I got really good service from Chanel, this young lady showed me many of their bags patiently and even suggested to me which one suits me better. She is witty and humorous too when Jeff cracked some jokes to make this shopping experience a better one for his pocket. Finally I made up my mind and got my Chanel, a good size and a great design that allows me to carry it from Mondays to Sundays.

A very happy wife and a proud husband with a bleeding wallet.

Not forgetting my greatest gift of all, Natalie Yeo. Thank you for coming to this world to be my daughter! I love you so much.

Push Present

2008-05-07T16:13:00.002+08:00

Being the new age sensitive man of the century, Jeffrey wants to get me a push present. And being an understanding wife (trying to be one) I am trying very hard not to get something too expensive thatwill create a major burn in his bank account. Now the tricky part is, what should I ask from him?

Any suggestions from shopping queens? What would you want for a Push Present?

Sick on a Foreign Land

2008-05-06T10:00:00.004+08:00

Being alone in a foreign land and worst of all very sick is not any laughing matter. I was like a walking zombie during the past 4 days away from home. I got very sick, anonymous to where I have gotten the flu bug, it was with me for the whole week. Even now, concurrently coughing while I typed out this post. As I have mentioned in my previous entry, I used to like traveling for overseas assignments until recently. This time it was a very unpleasant experience as I was practically enduring and pushing my physic to the max. I even had to travel alone to somewhere outside my hotel room to get my sickly body to see a doctor (for the 2nd time). Oh boy I really missed home badly. To make the whole experience even worst, the clinic staff told me to wait for 30 minutes as the doctor was busy with her studies! I was the only patient then in the clinic and still I have to wait for such a long time.

Anyway I am just glad that I am home!

Sick me but still manage to self fame for a short moment.

My room service order, chicken porridge. The verdict for it, tasteless...

My medications, those were just part of it.

Me all alone and sick in this room.

Missing my little one

2008-04-27T14:16:00.002+08:00

Can't wait for this to be over, for the first time ever I didn't enjoy going for overseas trip. Having to leave my little one for 4 full days makes my heart aches. I can't bear to leave her, maybe that's the reason for falling sick. I caught a flu last night, what a great timing, just before my trip. Now I wonder how am I going to survive for the next 3 days without my family around me.... Felt so vulnerable now.

Symptoms:

Cough

Sore throat

heachaches

body aches

fatigue

congested respirtory tract

Now this computor says I only have another 3 mintues before the system will kick me out... great!

Sigh I am a changed person, I used to love company trips. Not anymore. My little one seem unaffected by my absence, maybe she is still too young to notice. I am not worried as I know she has many great people taking care of her.

Guess I will not be joining their ECA other than those made compulsory. I am so sleepy right now.

Will be back on Wednesday night. sigh... drag.

Laughing Natalie

2008-04-26T09:39:00.004+08:00

My Natalie just had her 2nd immunization yesterday. She is now heavier than a 5kg pack of rice weighing about 6.7kg. The funny thing is, the Ped said that she is under weight and the ideal weight for babies of 4 month should be at 7.5kg. When I heard that I was kinda affected, started to blame myself for not taking good care of her. The mother's self blaming guilt started to bite on me so hard that I wasn't able to concentrate on my clinical papers.

Anyway after seeking some 2nd /3rd/4th opinions from experience mothers and doctors, they told me that my baby is not under weight. There is no major concern about her health and her weight doesn't pose any threat that she is not growing healthily. Her motor skills are well developing and she can respond spontaneously at different sights and sounds.

After hearing that, I finally let down my guard.
A video of Natalie laughing so very loudly when I was playing peek a boo with her on the floor mat.

If you have the time you may want to take a look at it, I guarantee you will laugh with her too!

Natalie at 4 months old

2008-04-24T11:11:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone, I haven't been making appearance lately due to some technical fault my mummy is facing with her lappy. Luckily her kind company provided her with a company lappy and now she uses that to make me seen in her blog again.

I have recently turned 4 months older, now I am able to do lots of things as my motor skills are slowly developing. I flipped onto my tummy without the help of anyone, yes I did it on my own and I really enjoy doing it. I can flip many times and not get tired of doing it. I laugh a lot too when they play Pee-a-boo with me, isn't it hilarious just looking at them making funny faces to me? Hahahaha

Mummy dressed me up in this beautiful white embroidery dress one day and took a photo of me. I am getting prettier heheheh!

My mummy and me.

2008-04-21T16:32:00.003+08:00

I haven't been updating my blog, for the past week I was facing some tough decision and a tight timeline. Just when I had almost relinquish to be creme de la creme of the workforce, opportunities came knocking on my long shut door again. I had to decide once again to pick up the very tempting offer and get my lazy arse out to work.

I give up becoming a carefree Tai Tai, do you think that my decision is silly? Now instead of relaxing at home, chasing episodes after episodes of Dvds, I need to wake up early in the morning and drive around Singapore. I took out my boxed up medical dictionary just the other day and arranged them nicely in my new book shelf. Finally they are out in the open again, they have been kept real long in the dark that they almost mould.

Yes I have accepted a great job offer that pays me a premium.
Yes I am officially at work now.
NO I will not disclose where....

By the way, I still cannot upload any photos and worst of all, my wireless modem couldn't establish a DSL connection...

Oh my ever so cute Natalie is 4 months old! She is getting mischievous, but I love her to the Max!

End of Tai Tai life.

2008-04-14T15:20:00.001+08:00

A very good offer is hard to come by, so I will be a stupid dumb dumb if I were to reject it.

I still cannot upload photos on my blog... dunno why

Cannot upload photos

2008-04-14T13:05:00.004+08:00

I cannot upload photos to blogspot .... been trying for days already. It kept showing this error message:

The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.

* The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments.

* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
connection.

* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

HELP HELP HELP..... anyone knows how to settle this problem?

Good life

2008-04-08T13:01:00.007+08:00

Many of you must be wondering how come I didn't come online for weeks? You must be thinking that I should be very busy taking care of Natalie and therefore no time for blogging and chat in the forum. In actual fact I am not busy at all, I was only busy trying to finish the DVDs I rented from a nearby video store and that was my itinerary for the past few afternoons. Besides doing DVDs marathon, I have been out in the afternoons and weekends too, like lunch threats, manicure and pedicure session, movies so on.

Life's been good, no, in fact it's great! I have engaged a domestic helper from the Philippines to assist me in taking care of Natalie. (If not for her help, I won't be able to do the above) Took the advise from many friends telling me that since I can afford it, why not let the maid take care of Natalie? I am now in charge of playing with Natalie only. Hahaha!

I am very fortunate and I thank god for blessing me with a good life. I do not need to do household chores nor cook as they are taken care of by my Indonesian maid. Yes, now I have 2 maids at home. I have an additional maid from the Philippines, I finally able to enjoy my life just like my pre-pregnancy days. She is a mother of 4 herself and the youngest child is already 8 years old.

A surprise visit from these 2 lovely sisters, Miko and Jace on a weekday afternoon surely brings out a joyful spirit in one person. They were so happy when they saw Natalie and kept singing praises of how adorable and cute she is. At first Natalie just stared at them blankly but she seemed to be able to recognised Miko as she greeted her with a big wide smile. Too bad for Jace, as it was Natalie's first time meeting her, she seemed to be afraid of her. Babies are afraid of strangers, or new faces, so Jace by the time Natalie sees you again she will also be smiling.

Looking forward to more gatherings with you ladies soon.

Natalie's tummy time

2008-04-03T22:32:00.002+08:00

Hi, I am 3 months old already, I am an active baby, I love to giggle, laugh, and smile. Everyone in my family says that I am a 开心果！Let me show you my adorable pictures!

My mummy helped me flipped over for my tummy time. I am still learning how to flip.

Though I cannot flip on my own, my gorgeous mummy will help me.

Pant, I am tired already. phew...

Last weekend

2008-03-20T10:47:00.007+08:00

Once in a while (hopefully every week) I should get out and have some personal time with my family and friends without worrying about baby Natalie. Mummy encouraged me to leave baby Natalie with our domestic helper Rita for a day while we go shopping.

Mummy wants to get a new wallet so Jeff and I took her to Orchard Road, as I also need to get the Secrets of Baby Whisperer at Kinokunia (that should answer the question on where to get the book). I haven't been posting my own photos for a very long time, so its time to camera whore again, even though I have yet to gone down to my pre-pregnancy figure.

Food at Hong Kong Cafe Central.

Jeff's favourite, beef brisket noodle.

Mummy and me.

My mummy pampered herself with a new Gucci wallet.

I enjoyed myself so much when I was out last Saturday, but constantly wondering if Baby Natalie has been fed, was she sleeping enough, did she has her shower so on. Therefore my short trip ended within 3-4hrs and headed home.

Baby Whisperer

2008-03-19T10:29:00.008+08:00

It's a bright and sunny Wednesday, besides my baby's crying, I can hear birds chirping and insects cracking outside my house. Well, so I thought. Just when I was saying it's a bright and sunny day, dark clouds started to form over my roof and the next moment heavy down pour! I haven't even thought of my topic for today.

Just now a blogger msn me, after reading my post she sensed my distress and wanted to share her story about parenthood. Chatting with her soon made me feel so much better and it felt like finally I have found someone that understood me and the situation I am facing. She gave me very valuable tips and shared with me how she handle her kids. She is a mother of a 2 years old and a 3 months old baby. Dealing with a toddler and a baby is definitely more stressful than me just handling with one. I felt relieved that I am actually not in isolation, many new mothers also faces the same challenges like me. Soon chatting with her seem like holding a conversation with a long lost friend. She is also from the same forum with me and later found out that I am the same person here. Small world right? Thank you Gina for your useful tips and stretching out your helping hand to someone you barely know. My spirits are uplifted now.

Been reading a self help book called Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. It's about learning the ability of understanding baby's every coo's and cries and how to set a flexible routine for baby. In her writings, she teaches using the method E.A.S.Y.–how to get baby to eat, play, and sleep on a routine that will make every member of the household’s life easier and happier. S.L.O.W.–how to interpret what your baby is trying to tell you (so you don’t try to feed him when he really wants a nap). Finished reading every single pages and now trying out her method. She believes that babies can be taught how to be independent starting from birth.

The book will only be useful if I try out myself, and true enough I have successfully learn how to identify when baby needs a nap and when she needs to feed. I am proud to say that Natalie is able to sleep on her own in her cot or playpen when she is tired. She doesn't need to be carried around all the time for her to get to sleep. Though she still needs pacifying, I now do that when she is lying on her cot. Giving her assurance that I will still be around, and letting her know that she is in a safe environment. I have also avoided all the things that will inculcate baby to bad habits. Overall this book is really worth reading and it gives a pretty good guidance to new mothers like me. I am able to respond to baby's needs correctly and also have my own personal time. It's not a miracle, but it's worth trying it out.

2 thumbs up for the book, I recommend to all new mummies to get a copy! It not only tells you ways of making your babies happy, it also tells you ways of making yourself happy!

When mother is happy, baby will be happy too!

I am an independent baby! I can play by myself and sleep in peace.

See me talk baby language! (30 seconds only)

See me laugh! (30 seconds only)

Dumex Mamex Gold Infant Formula Milk with Immunofortis

2008-03-14T11:56:00.004+08:00

Many 1st time mummies and mummies to be has often post this question for me. What formula did feed baby Natalie with besides breast milk? Well here it is, I took a photo of the can and if anyone is interested, you may let your newborn try it if you have the intention to stop BF. Click on the link above to find out more.

Photos

2008-03-12T15:26:00.006+08:00

I like to blog, its a way to channel out my feelings, and also able to get responses from readers comforts me too. There are many like me having the same frustrations and I know it is just the passing phase in life. Either I take up the challenge now or later, no escaping. I have come to terms with the situation, and finding other comfort zone for myself. I really love my baby, if anyone of you have any doubt on that. I do love her a lot, she is getting so adorable day by day and now so hug gable, so responsive. I like to dress her up, play with her, see the way she finishes her milk at every feeds. It is rewarding.

Just some photos of her taken over the weekends.

But human beings are greedy animals, the moment I agree to let maid handle Natalie, immediately I regretted my decision. I am a worrier, I worry she doesn't feed my baby on time, I worry she doesn't wash and sterilize the milk bottles properly, I worry she just leave my baby alone unattended. I worry about her hygiene conditions..... I worry Baby Natalie will miss me when I am not around. I don't trust maid to look after her, yet I am not enjoying being a SAHM. How IRONIC can I get, I am sure by now many of you that has been following my blog will want to give me a slap on my face telling me to wake up!

It's an emotional struggle, those worries just creeps in like a thief into my brain and starts creating all these doubts. I cannot stop them from invading my mind.

Monday

2008-03-10T12:40:00.007+08:00

Was feeling rather lousy last Saturday. I felt that my world has come tumbling down on me and there is nothing much to look forward to except to bring up my daughter. Wonderful, really wonderful. What I initially planned and wanted came true and now I am complaining about it. I sometimes wonder why did I take on such a big change in life? Am I really prepared for it, and if not, will I be ever ready for it? It, refers to motherhood/ parenting.

I had a talk with Jeff on Sunday and he finally admitted he is not very into parenting too. He loves to play with children/babies, but looking after them, he is a complete handicap. I asked him what makes me then? I was not inculcated for motherhood either but whenever Natalie screams and cries, he will naturally push her back to me. Sigh, I am not blaming him, I know majority of the MEN on earth do not score flying colors on babysitting. Jeff just raise up his white flag and surrender. I couldn't even leave the both of them alone for an hour together and watch TV in peace.

I was pretty upset about it, as I still have lots of plans ahead, I intend to go on a short trip to Taiwan sometime in July/August with Miko. But seeing Jeff fret and frustrated over taking care of Natalie makes me wonder if that is ever going to be possible. I refuse to submit to a NO, and I am going for sure! He knew I was depressed and came to me and said:

Don't worry, I will be around.

How not convincing that sounded. I should be the one returning the exact words back to him as I feel that I am more qualified to say that. Sigh......

WITH A BABY, IT EITHER MAKES A MARRIAGE OR BREAKS IT.

Agree?

He told me he is pining big hopes on striking lottery so he can engage a full time nanny to look after Natalie and then that will be perfect! Wahhahahaah FAT HOPE LOR! He is just trying to ridicule me, I guess.

Anyway, it's life and I cannot stuff her back to where she came from right? So we took Natalie out to Babyfair at TAKA on Sunday. Shopped for toys for her to self entertain, or for me to self entertain. Gosh there were throngs of people at Orchard road yesterday, popping out from the exit down under, left right centre... crazy! Initially I wanted to get some clothes, cosmetics for myself but when I was there I cannot shop for myself. I felt like I am a changed person, I only shop for baby items now, like her clothes, her toys, her feeding equipments etc etc. After that we had to rush back home just in case Natalie gets agitated. So there is actually no time for personal shopping. Spent close to $250 just for her toys and clothes!

Met Alice and Hilda baby at Taka Babyfair yesterday, Hilda baby really looks very cute, especially her big round eyes! Very attractive!

Young grandparents.
宝宝不要让你们看所以把两点遮起来。美女出浴,三点不漏, 很难得把!

2008-03-06T13:19:00.002+08:00

I am in Singapore Motherhood forum! I should have join in the chat earlier, it feels good to meet all the young mothers who faces similar tacky, tricky situations with our babies and give each other encouragements and advices. Now I don't feel so alone and lost.

Natalie is now wearing clothes ages for 3 to 6 months old babies. All the clothes I bought for her for 0 to 3 months has to be put aside already. Babies really grow very fast, some of the clothes only wore by her once and now she cannot fit into them anymore. I am not complaining, infact I can't wait for her to grow up! hehehe

Letting her learn some motor skills, she now working very hard to flip. Now she only manages to twist from left to right. When I let her lay on her tummy, she giggles very happily. She is able to lift up her head during tummy time but not high enough. She seems to be enjoying the little exercises I have planned for her everyday. :)

I am older, Natalie knows how to play

2008-03-03T10:28:00.004+08:00

Didn't expect me to cross over to the 3's so fast, it was just like yesterday when I was happily partying with my friends at DB or Dragonfly. Now I am already officially 30 years old, great really great, stared myself at the mirror today to see if there is additional wrinkles appearing on my face. Luckily I didn't spot any new ones.... Ever since I have given birth, my life has already changed drastically, I am no longer as confident as before, no longer the carefree person I used to be. Now I am worst off by getting older...

Actually I am really surprised by my decisions... By right, I don't believe in marriages, I agree to cohabiting if 2 person truly loves each other. Still I got married. Even after marriage many says I behave like I am still single. Then life was still great as I carried on doing my own things, spending nights out with friends, so on. Another surprised decision is, getting a child. I use to dislike children and never see myself having one at all. I find that having a baby/children is a burden. Last year, don't know what struck me.... I wanted to be a mother, and now I fulfilled my wish. :P

I tough Natalie to play with her musical toy and I am amazed at the rate of her absorption. She learns fast and very persistent too. Now she is able to grab the ring of the musical toy and pull for music.

Isn't it amazing? I am so proud of her, she is a fast learning as she is only 2 months and 2 weeks old. Now I am training her to hold her own milk bottle, see photo below!

Training in process..... (2months old)

Happy birthday to Me.

2008-03-02T12:21:00.004+08:00

Exactly 30 years ago there was lady in her early twenties gave birth to a baby girl. That baby girl now has grown up and she herself has turned into a mother of a 2 months old baby. It's only after she has given birth to a baby herself that she realised that birthdays are not just a happy occasion to celebrate the birth of oneself, but also a day that our mothers has gone through hard and pain for us. I have just turned 30.... Happy birthday to me and thank you mummy for all that you have gone through! I love you.

妈妈我爱你。你真伟大！
Romancing each other has been a form of luxury ever since we have Natalie. Not that I am grumbling or expecting any lavish gift or candle light dinner. I didn't even get a birthday greet from Jeff at all. He has totally forgotten about my birthday, to make me even more disappointed, there were so many occasions that he could have seen the date while reading the newspaper, surfing cable tv, walking pass the calender, he simply didn't notice it. I told him I am very upset and disappointed today, he even asked me why? Of course I didn't tell him, I don't see the point to enforce it anymore. It is really meaningless when I have to remind him of my birthday. I felt so NOT LOVE now...

Really tired, since the nanny left her employment at my house, Natalie has been very fretful for the pass 3 days. She doesn't want to drink her milk even when 5 hours has gone since the last feed. She screams and cries very loudly, pushing the milk bottle away. I am wondering what has gone wrong as she usually wants her milk within the 4 hours interval. Now she drinks about 4oz (120ml) each time, is it too much or too little?

Last night she had her last feed at about 10pm and lasted till 6am in the morning, is it normal? She still wakes up in the middle of the night at about 3am, 4am, 5:30am so on, and I thought she wanted milk, so I prepared her formular but in the end it all gone to waste. While the nanny was around, this didn't happen, nanny told me Natalie will wake up at about 3am for her milk. I guess she misses the nanny....

Jeff just walked passed me but didn't say a word, he could sense that I am unhappy but he just don't know why I am unhappy. Still didn't realise today is my birthday.... He must have thought that I am throwing tantrum for no reason and is ignoring me now.