Me & him against the world.

The weather has been unforgivingly hot these few days. Our world is dying.
To escape the heat, I brought Kai to IKEA Tampines to hide in the aircon while he played at the Children's section. I love going to IKEA - there are recycling bins everywhere, reminding us that there is still hope for Gaia if we ever do try to do our part.

Just me and him, enjoying eachother's company. Watching him grow up so fast.

Kai kept wanting to play with the other children. I think my son is lonely and needs a sibling.
But the question is - "When?"
I love children, don't get me wrong. And I do enjoy motherhood alot, but I just think it is too much pain going through another pregnancy, another childbirth. Everything kinda goes haywire, and then takes another year to go back to pre-pregnancy state.
I hate to admit it, but I'm terrified of being cut up all over again.

It's easy for Hubby to say. Of course, he loves kids. He even made a poor attempt to humour me, saying since I don't look like I've ever been preggy n given birth before, we can go ahead and have more children. Er, hur hur.
And my parents & aunt have not-so-subtly dropped hints that it's time for us to make more babies. As a matter of fact, my Dad told me that he wants at least FOUR grand-children! *runs away* Everytime I wanna pack Kai's outgrown clothes and toys to hand down to friends & relatives, my Mum and Aunt LY object, saying they can be used for my subsequent children.
I always have to remind them that "Look, Kai has 2 (sometimes more) of EVERYTHING. Like why does he need 2 high chairs? He's not sitting in them anymore anyway".

Honestly, I wish everyone could gimme a break. It's not easy to raise a child, especially in our saturated and competitive country. If we were in Aust where perinatal care and delivery is FOC, and if we led a self-sufficient life in a farm growing our own food, making soap and knitting clothes, YES I will consider to have more children. But right now, we have to face reality.
It's not cheap to raise a child here. Baby bonus of $4k you ask?? My delivery cum hospitalisation costs already more than that, dahhling.
I'm not even talking about the Ralph Lauren or Baby Burberry apparel. Or the two-thousand-dollars pram. Those are just one-off purchases, you pay and then you forget about it. I'm saying, to have a sustainable life here needs alot of $$.

Kai is special to us. We want him to have the best in our abilities. Call me selfish, but a large part of me is also worried that if we have another child, we will have to share that love and attention. And that, makes me reluctant. I don't want Kai to share our love. He deserves our undivided affection.
If he tells us he wants a didi (brother) or meimei (sister), yes I will have mind-blowing (unprotected) sex with Hubby in a heartbeat.

But right now, on some days - like today - it's just Kai and me against the world.

Dinner with HongKie relatives

My Dad's relatives came to visit from Hong Kong so my parents threw a treat in town.
What do you get when you put a bunch of Cantonese together?

A nice sit-down 8-course dinner.

My Husband cannot speak Cantonese to save his life :P

Kai bullies my Mum into carrying him around the restaurant. He claims the Tang dynasty horse is called "mow mow" (cat) We tried to correct him "No Baby, that's 'ma', not 'mao' ". But he insisted it's a "mow mow" :P

Me & my Baby!



Hubby & Kai

Kai ate alot of this tonight. Grandma is guilty as charged.

Kai with the ladies of my family

My Daddy is a cheena-man at heart.

Wearing the bib that Charmaine gave!

My Grandaunt is 80+ and so petite but still strong enough to carry my 12kg son. Can you see they're about the same size? Kudos to her!

It was my Dad's Aunt's first time meeting Andy & Kai, and I'm glad they hit it off fabulously!
We had a dandy time, and lucky for us, Kai behaved like a dream and sat through the entire 8 course dinner without fussing.
He even ate all his Shark's fin and Peking duck!
What a good good boy, we're all proud of him :D

1st Birthday Party: Joel Ng

Date: 09 Oct 2010 SATURDAY
Time: 6.30pm - 9.30pm. Cake cutting at 8.30pm.
Venue: Pinnacle @ Duxton


Before the Party begins and while every adult is busy with party deco, a certain young man is caught enjoying some chilling out.

Birthday boy Joel.

My son. He is not shy when it comes to play.


2 suave little men who make their Mommies & Grandmas go Oooh and Ahhh over.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY JOEL!
Hope you have an enjoyable time tearing open your presents.

Love,
Cousin Adam

The blue monster

For the first time in almost a year, my manual driving skills were put to the test because Hubby wanted to exchange cars.
It is loud, hard, and noisy with the BOV, boxer engine, and clanging of metals constantly ringing in my ears. Bucket seat offered zero comfort. Every traffic light and pedestrain crossing need to change gear. *sweat*
Driving it certainly needs some getting used to, but thankfully, to prove my Hubby wrong, I managed to get to my destination & back in one piece!
Sometimes, I think my husband just wants to tekan me leh.

This blue monster has come of age, but brings back fond memories of our "Before Baby" times :)

Fed up.

Maverick went off to grooming today... and in the evening, I am working, the groomer dropped the dog back at home..

Except of course, there was no one at home to open the door for the groomer and my Maverick.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MY MOTHER IN LAW??
The poor groomer has been waiting for an hour now. I told her specifically that the dog will come home in the evening. And I cant do anything to help because I am at work.
That's not all. I've been telling her to cook the organic oats I bought for Kai, for his breakfast. For almost 2 weeks now. And she simply refuses to cook the darn oats.

I am tempted to scream and shout in the air. Except I wont because it is beyond me.
Seriously, I only have one nerve left, and she is getting on it.

Two more months. I grit my teeth and feel/fill the void.
After which, liberation will be priceless.

Playdate @ my Mum's, Woodlands

It was totally spontaneous - I happened to get the day off for going to Mrs Lee KY's wake yesterday (I do love my job very much), and my cousin & aunts happened to be free/not working.

So..... the FANTASTIC FOURSOME. I lurve when cousins and kids group together!

Chloe (being carried), Bryan (the 3yr old in yellow), Kai (in black standing at doorway) and Emily (standing closest to my cam)

Chloe, Emily & Kai are born in the same year: 2009 (Emily is EXACTLY one day younger than Kai), and Bryan is the big brother.

Bryan, age 3, is supposed to be attending playgroup today, but he said because "it was raining in the morning", he didnt have to go school. HAHAHA what excuse is that to miss school?!?!?
Alamak. He's always full of excuses. LOL

After the playdate, Kai is "cleaning up"!

Marching around my Mum's place cleaning up.

Okays that's all for today. It has been a fun & tiring day for the kids and adults alike.
Family times are rare and absolutely cherished.

October is gonna be a busy month

Let's see, what have we got in October:
- I have to represent my ward to attend late Mrs Lee's wake at Istana
- a cousin's baby's 1st birthday party
- dinner appt with HK relatives
- Kai's appointment with Dr Simon Ng
- friends' wedding dinner at Fullerton
- Andy's friend's fiancee's birthday BBQ
- Bestie's birthday!


All these social events to fill up all our weekends.

And before we know it, we'll have to pack up and head to the land of Disney, good food and endless shopping! I heart Hong Kong :)

Theme: GREEN

Just last weekend, it was Yellow... But this Saturday, Kai had a penchant for anything green. He wore green to Gymboree, and he wanted to go on the green car ride outside Gymboree.

Another baby

I know Andy has always wanted another baby, and recently the baby-making topic came up between us again.
Me: But I'm not ready.
Andy: I give you 9 months. By then you'll be ready.

HAHAHAHAH Seriously, my husband is a funny man.

Yellow fellow

It was a lovely Sunday. The sun was out. We were invited to my colleague's home for Hari Raya and luckily she stays in 498J Tampines only so I didnt have to travel far from home.

My yellow fellow, dressed in this color because it was bright and cheerful. I love yellow!


We were near a huge field where people were kite-flying and there my boy was, playing with a rusty chain on the ground. I try not to freak out, because I dont want to be the "everything also cannot" detrimental kinda Mom. I just make sure I wash his hands after play.

Morning dew

The fresh morning dew formed a blanket on my car.
It is a beautiful morning.
I took the car for a spin along the East Coast with the wind in my face.
I am happy.
I danced on the sand, to the songs of the waves kissing my feet.
There is no where I wanna be now, other than right here.
Life is beautiful.
Life is grand.

Photos, in no coherent sense.

Just some random photos...

Narcissist me while waiting for Hubby in the car.... isnt the white very distinct after grooming?

and reintroducing my Mum's cat - Mango.
Contrary to popular belief, I am a cat person.
Cats are independent and they are secretive. They come and go as they please. They love to enjoy life and being pampered. Sounds exactly like us women, no?


Meow~

Rohin Foundation

The other night, Aunty Meena called me and told me some sad news about her friend who has just given birth to a baby Boy and her sorry plight.
She told me when she first read about it, she cried the whole night.
The full story & blog can be found HERE .

This is Rohin, the baby boy, who is diagnosed with an extremely rare condition called Amyoplasia, which happens in 1 out of 3000 babies, and is a generalised lack of muscular development & growth.

Rohin & his family face many difficulties and challenges from financial burdens right down to the simple tasks of clothing and diapering him.



I feel really SAD. As a nurse and a parent myself, I truly believe that no parent / child should be allowed to go through sorrow so deep, and pain so intense.
It is easy for us to take our day-to-day blessings for granted. The simplicity of having a healthy, normal family can easily be overlooked by Man's shallow desires.

Therefore, I strongly urge you people to chip in and donate to Rohin so that he can go for his medical treatments.
Any amount will be greatly appreciated by his parents.

Duty calls.

Nobody said it was easy, but working night duty is no joke!
I.is. e x h a u s t e d

When I hit the sack this morning, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.
2 nights down. 2 more to go.

And then, I will have a laundry list of things to do. It will be the shopping date with my sista Charm, and a birthday dinner for my heavily-preggy Chris.
I bet she'll have a swell time! in a pun-intended sense. Heh.

Me also wishes to squeeze in time for a car wash, a spin to ECP with the Border Collie, bathe the stinky dogs, fit in Brazilian wax and a facial, and to visit my would-be Aesthetist Dr Chan. Very very ambitious indeed.

Detail Lab

You know, I am not that fanatic about cars. Apart from the fact that I do love my Baby Mobile loads and he has been my trusty companion on the roads everyday for the past one year - fetching me to work, school, home, places. That said, I won't readily spend alot of $$ on him either. Splurge on bags and clothes yes, but on cars..er...not really. The most expensive things I splurged on Baby Mobile were his Work Emotion rims which costed me about $2k. Even then I was like, I can buy a Chanel wallet and still have some change for $2k !! *gasp*
When I am feeling good, I handwash him and wax him up myself (with Hubby too), but on days when I can't really be bothered, I am guilty of mistreating him to the $3 carwash at Caltex Thomson. Ssshh.

But this week, I spent $400 to do car detailing/polishing. Come again? Who spends $400 on car grooming? But then again, who spends thousands on a single bag? Exactly. Millions of women (including yours truly here who is a sybarite)!
So yeah, I don't care if you accuse me of being extravagent but Ben (the boss of Detail Lab) is arguably The connoisseur for car detailing and the end result is definitely worth every cent.
He's really good with his hands. He uses top grade wax and his work takes up the entire day!

Ben is helpful and really friendly as well, and has a Golden Retriever plus an adorable baby so we kinda have things in common to talk about.

The finished work - my Candy White GTI is lustrous and oh-so-sexy, makes me have the urge to open my sunroof, wind down my windows and go for a spin at ECP in nothing but my Bikini and sunglasses, with the music blasting. Because if cars are men's mistresses, then my Baby Mobile is my lover.
Hahahaha I'm kidding about the bikini! :P

I miss my long tresses

Compare, compare.

After almost a year long of having my V-Becks inspired concave bob, I am missing my loooong hair.
I miss the hair which I woke up to kissing, the hair that followed the contours of my body, how Princessy and Pontianak I used to be at the same time. LOL.

Though I love my short hair too and received many compliments from friends and colleagues, it's an entirely different feel.
Short hair is - chic and modern, easy to maintain.
Long hair is - well, long hair.

May I announce that I am now on my way to growing my hair long again!

my Baby Mobile is injured.

When out grocery shopping with Kai on Wednesday, I accidentally scratched my rim on a kerb while exiting the carpark. See the first pic, the entire circumference of the rim is scratched white?!

And also, the 2nd photo shows a nick on my bonnet, though it is teeny and you probably wont notice if I don't say, but still, it's an eyesore to me now that I noticed.

Hubby won't pay. He said that he has to teach me a lesson if not I always don't treat my things with care. Yeah right. As if I would deliberately ram my car just to spend $$ on repairs meh... Still need to bring car to garage and leave there whole day lor.. Hmmph.
So anyway today, since I'm not working, decided to send my Baby Mobile to Detail Lab at Defu to do a full grooming and touchups. Ben, the owner, uses Swissvax or Dupont PPS which is like the Shangri-La of car waxes I suppose.
Here's a thread over at VW forum which discusses about Detail Lab.

I'm not a car pro so maybe you can hop over to the discussion thread and take a look for yourself.