Baby Check Up

Just went for check up this morning.

Dr Kee scanned my tummy and said that little princess has a very nice strong heartbeat! Good! It's quite cool, I can see clearly the 4 chambers inside the heart, pumping away...

Again, he added that her leg bones are longer than average and calculated that she's about 800g to 1kg. So, overall, she's growing very well indeed! I was a little concern earlier as my tummy looked smaller than most Mummmys. So hearing that Princess is fine and healthy really makes me more relived.

Yeah!!!

Bedsheet Crisis

I've been suffering from a bedsheet crisis since we found out that the baby cot we bought from Mothercare had a mattress that was 8cm longer than the usual baby cot! Our cot mattress was 70cm X 140cm while the typical cots out there and their bed sheets are 70cm X 132cm. -_-

We visited several children stores and all the bedsheets were 132cm! I was distressed for so long as I thought that we were resigned to buying bedsheet ONLY from Mothercare! Their sheet designs were SO limited, and worst, SUPER EXPENSIVE!

WWWWHHHHYYYY.......

Gillin suggested that I go check out Kiddy Palace as they have a wide selection of cot sheets in different sizes. After talking to her, I decided to just buy one bed set from Kiddy Palace. If the sheets don't fit, FINE, I'll just buy the sheets from Mothercare.

So the other day we went shopping with mother in law and we bought a nice pink baby cot set from Kiddy Palace.
For $142.00 (after 10% member discount - $127.80):
2 X bed bumper
1 X pillow
1 X bolster
1 X bedsheet
1 X quilt blanket

Then we went to Mothercare at Harbourfront and I picked up a pack baby cot sheets. $58.00 for 2 cot sheets. SO expensive...

Their bed set costs about $162.00, and it consist of:
1 X bed bumper (so only cover half the bed - don't ask me why)
1 X bedsheet
1 X coversheet (dunno why need to put 2 bedsheets onto 1 bed)
1 X quilt blanket

I only bought the plain sheets only, besides, I didn't find any cute designs that I like.

The next day, I just thought I try out the bed sheets from Kiddy Palace to see how the design looks like. Imagine my surprise when the 132CM BEDSHEET FITS PERFECTLY ONTO THE MATTRESS!!!




That means I can buy from anywhere! SO HAPPY LOH~! Stupid Mothercare make me so depressed for so long. After putting on the whole set of bedding, the sight of the made baby cot really tugged my heart strings...



Suddenly I was reminded that in a few months, our baby would be lying there on this cot. I was so nervous, excited and super happy all at the same time! I'm already so in love with my baby, so I really hope that I can be a good Mummy to her!

Baby Stuff Shopping With Mother-in-law

I took the opportunity of the Deepavali Holiday and suggested asking his mom out for dinner. She didn't expect it, so instead of the usual home cooked meal, we decided to go out for dinner.

I also wanted to give her the chance to be more involved in the pregnancy, so I suggested we go shopping for baby stuff. Naturally, she was excited. Since there's a giant Kiddy Palace newly opened in Toa Payoh - Best! Can drop by before dinner...

I have never seen my Mother in law SO EXCITED.

At Kiddy Palace, she immediately zoomed to the baby clothes section and started picking out sets after sets of baby clothes! The funny thing was, there were SO MANY shelves of clothes but she was SO EXCITED that she just stood in front of the 1st shelf she see and wouldn't move away! I kept telling her that there were more variety (much cuter and nicer ones) on the other shelves but she just wouldn't budge. In the end I had to "QC" her choices as some of the prints looked so boyish or ugly... -_-

We ended up with alot of clothes, 2 sets of mittens and booties,


a huge yet very cute bathtub


and a nice set of baby cot sheets.


Spent about $200 plus - with compliments from my mother-in-law. 謝謝 Mother!!!

Frankly I had to hold her back from buying more, because I know the clothes would be out-grown within weeks. But she kept saying, "Never mind! If she out grows them we buy some more!" Then she moved on to asking us if we want baby toys, baby chairs, etc.

On one hand, I felt so touched that my little princess is so blessed to have someone love her SO MUCH even before she's born. On the other hand, I felt like shaking my mother-in-law by the shoulders and slapping her to her senses, "CONTROL YOURSELF WOMAN!" Haha... just kidding lah...

We went to Vivo City for dinner, where I told her our plans for a build-in wardrobe in the baby room. Like sis, she wasn't too happy as she thought we shouldn't do renovation works in my condition. She even suggested that I do it when the kid is a TEENAGER so that she can do it according to her own liking. O_O siao... Anyway, I just told her that I'll get out of the house when they do the installation and I ended the conversation at that. Enough of silly theories...

After dinner we went to Mothercare at Harbourfront and I picked up a pack of 2 cot sheets. ($58.00 - SO EXP RIGHT) Mother found a set of tops on sale and bought it for princess too.



By then I was so tired that I suggested that we call it a day. What a fruitful shopping trip! Very thankful for mother for all the purchases! When we got home we dumped our bags into the baby room, together with the rest of the stuff we bought.

I told Cobby that we're like squirrels... we go out into the forest, looking for acorns (baby stuff), bring them back to our nest and store them in our nest for future baby squirrel!



If only our baby squirrel knew the amount of labour of love we put in for her! :)

My First Antenatal Class

Well, it's actually 2nd Lesson... I signed up for classes starting on 30 November, but last week the instructor called and ask me why I didn't go for the first class on the 19 Oct!

Apparently the stupid people signed me up for the wrong date! I wanted to join the Nov class, but the instructor said that due to the holiday seasons, the delay may push the last few classes to dates that are uncomfortably close to my due date, so she recommends that I start with lessons 2 onwards, and attend lesson 1 on 30 Nov.

-_- OK loh~

So on 26 Oct 2008, we went for our very first Antenatal class! The class is located at a childcare centre at the new Ang Mo Kio Hub. There were about 15-20 couples there, all sitting on mats and pillows provided. We arrived just in time before the class started, so we had to sit right under the nose of the instructor.

At first I sat upright and didn't want to lie down on the pillow (dunno got alot of germs or not). But after awhile of sitting on the floor with no back rest, I gave up and lay down as I listen to the instructor. So weird, 1st time attending a class lying on the floor! Haha.. quite shiok lah...

The instructor is a retired nurse, very auntie but motherly type. Her presentation slides showing the different anatomy of the body were quite boring really, but her verbal advices on real life experiences were great.

Lesson 2 - Pain Relief

• Video on different pain relief methods
1. Breathing and Relaxation techniques
2. Entonox (oxygen and nitrous oxide(laughing gas))
3. Pethidine (anaesthetic via injection)
4. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS)machine (like a U-zap placed on your lower back to block out the pain)
5. Water bath
6. Epidural

• Physiological Approach to Breathing Relaxation
Learnt breathing techniques to curb initial stages of labour pain.
"Breath in.. 2..3..4.. Breath out..2..3..4"

• Changes in Pregnancy Leading to Signs & Symptoms of Labour
1. "Show" - spotting or bleeding: wear a sanitary pad
2. Water bag leak / burst
3. Contractions: Period between contractions would shorten. When reach around 7 mins, time to check into hospital. If opting for Epidural, can check in earlier and get yourself comfortable - no need to wait.

If 2 or 3 happen, can proceed to hospital liao...

• Antenatal Exercise
Erm... actually I find this part quite silly.
The exercise was:
1. turning your head (left, right, up, down)
2. twirling your feet
3. twisting your upper body left and right
4. stretching my triceps
5. lifting your legs up while seated on the floor

Lame loh... I can get a better work out doing chores at home! Ok lah, maybe it's more appropriate for those mummies with giant tummies. I find it a waste of time really.

Overall it was quite an educational class. Many facts were uncovered as the instructor went side-tracked on her lessons. It was also a great 2 hours for Cobby to really get involved in this pregnancy and we had a good bonding time.

Next week, we have to come up with a list of things we were planning to bring in our hospital bag! Looking forward to it!

Dinner with Girlfriends

Met up with two old friends for dinner on Saturday, minus the husbands! Haha, it was great, catching up with Gillin and Chew Bee. The last time I saw them was during Gil's daughter's 1 year old birthday party. And now the baby girl is almost 2 years old! Time flies huh...

Chew Bee is still the same, single and available... Honestly, she's quite pretty and very nice and sweet, it's just that she's not the super outgoing type and it doesn't help that her job is a little demanding. In other words, she doesn't have a life after work - anybody got nice guys to recommend? Hehe... hope she doesn't read this.

Anyway like I said, it was a really nice evening. We ate dinner at Plaza Singapura's Thai Express, and then we just sat there and chatted for hours. No husbands, no children, no distractions. Shiok!

So many things have happened over the past few months! People were engaged, married, pregnant and some just gave birth. Some family members had passed away; one had heart attack and even a case of cancer. An ex-colleague even had a motorbike accident which crashed and burned, leaving her with burns on her body that needed skin grafting and I heard that she's still walking with a limp. Like I said, so much has happened!

Hearing stories like these really shock you and reminds you to count your blessings...

Being a mother of two, Gillin also gave me alot of good advice on the road to motherhood. I had so much to ask, so much frustrations and concerns to vent, but there seemed to be nobody around with experience to listen to and understand. So I felt so much better after that night out with the ladies. Well I had to be sensitive to Chew Bee too, so I try to divert the conversations every now and then to topics that don't involve husbands and children.

After sitting in the restaurant for so long, we walked around Plaza Sing before finally saying our goodbyes. It was a real tiring day for me, but I felt great. I guess that, as much as I love Cobby, spending every waking hour with him would eventually drive me crazy. So I should remember to set aside some time for my girlfriends once in a while if I want to keep my sanity.

3 Cheers to girlfriends~!

Hong Kong Trip - Day 3 & 4

Day 3! Last night Sis told us about this fabulous Esprit Factory Outlet store in tsim sha tsui. (Kai Seng Commercial Centre 4-6 Hankow Rd, Hong Kong) It’s a fabulous store! Even with my bulging tummy I manage to find many super cheap & great Esprit tops!!! Great place if you want to get some beautiful jeans at MORE THAN 50% off! Happy~




View Larger Map

After a fantastic buy we walked across the street to Cobby’s favourite brand – Adidas! There we got Cobby a beautiful backpack – he loved it SO much he kept showing off the everybody that night.



We strolled along aimlessly and found ourselves at the harbor!



It was a little wet and cloudy as they were expecting a typhoon soon, but it still seems fine to us, so we leisurely strolled along the harbour. Sis wanted to meet us for dinner, so we hung around at a nearby Starbucks to wait for her to knock off.



At around 4.30pm, we were in the middle of our tea and chocolate molten cake when suddenly Sis called us. “The radio has announced that they were going to declare a category 8 typhoon at 6pm! Ok I want you two to get into a taxi immediately and go home NOW!” So we quickly finished up our tea, hopped onto a taxi and went straight back to sis’s apartment.

You see, in Hong Kong, if they declare a category 8 typhoon, everybody gets to go home. So when EVERYBODY gets off from work at the same time, it would be impossible to get into a bus or train. So thanks to our early warning, we got home nice and easy. Sis wasn’t so lucky, she had to fight the other commuters, buy dinner and brave the wind and rain before getting back.

We were worried how our parents were supposed to travel back from their China trip that night, but after much difficulty, they managed to get home, safe but wet. So after dinner we all hung around the living room watching TV, chatting and viewing the crazy wind and rain from the windows. Even though we didn’t get to visit much places today, it was eventful enough.




The next day, the typhoon has stopped, but the skies were still quite cloudy, so we opted for an indoor outing today. Mom accompanied us to this new shopping centre at the Tung Chung (東涌) MTR Station where there were several factory outlet stores!



There’s even a Food Republic Food Court there. So we shopped around and had our lunch there. Half way through eating, the rain came pouring down like mad again, but it’s quite cool because we can see people running frantically outside from the dry comfort behind the glass windows of the food court. Haha… So evil…

On the way back mom asked us if we wanted to check out this new Olympic station (just one stop away). Actually with the rain and everything, I really wasn’t interested. But since it’s along the way, we just stopped by and take a look. When we were there we found hundreds of people of all ages queuing outside some local bank. We thought it was some freebies giveaway or something, but we found out later that night that apparently some idiot was spreading rumours via sms, saying that the bank was in trouble and closing down and you won’t be able to get back your savings.

Naturally, it caused a nationwide panic where people rushed to withdraw ALL the money from their accounts. So when so many people withdraw money at the same time, of course the cash in the banks would run out right? When that happened it caused even MORE panic – You can almost hear the panic. “THE BANK HAS NO MORE MONEY!!! DIE!!!” Yah, you can imagine.

Anyway, other than the chaos and not so interesting shopping center, there’s nothing there. So we decided to head home instead. On the way home mom brought us to the neighborhood wet market. It was quite an eye-opener really! The market is like our typical wet market, but, interestingly, it’s air-conditioned, and it doesn’t smell so bad!

The produce there is amazing! I’ve never seen a wet market with such variety, freshness and huge vegetables! (are they on steroids or something) And the seafood section is not for the faint hearted. Almost all the fishes are alive and kicking and swimming. They also have those huge deep sea fishes, where they would chop it up and display for sale. Confirm fresh. How do I know? Well, you can SEE it’s HEART still beating among it bloody insides!!! Gross…

So mom bought some fish and we ate a wonderful home cooked meal that night. Sigh… It has been SO LONG since I ate mommy’s cooking that I ate 2 servings of rice! What a wonderful way to end the day.

Read previous posts:
Hong Kong - Day 1 & 2

Max Payne

When I heard that Mark Wahlberg was starring in a new movie, Max Payne, I was quite excited to catch it. I'm a big fan of Wahlberg and the trailer seems to look like some supernatural, demonic kind of story line, which looks quite promising!



Unfortunately, what started out as a show with a promising story line and super cool special effects turned out to be a total disappointment! Thank goodness I stil have Mark Wahlberg to drool for, if not the show would have been a total waste of time.

So if you're not that into Mark Wahlberg, I would suggest that you don't waste your money on this show. Sorry Mark!

Baby Cot!

At around 5pm, I was lying on the living room sofa when my super senses heard the slamming of a truck door and the rattling of a push cart downstairs. I leaned over the blacony and just as I've suspected...

A Mothercare Truck! The cot is here!

Moments later the friendly delivery guy was helping us put the cot together...

Princess's brand new bed!

Well the bed turned out to take up more room then I expected, but it was perfect. I love the smell of the pine wood and the natural knots or "wood prints" on the bed. It's gorgeous... :) A bed fit for the princess!

On a side note, Sis has been nagging me to show her the baby ultrasound scans and Zinc has been asking me to put up pictures of my tummy. Actually, I have been taking some pictures of my growing tummy, but frankly speaking, I'm not exactly looking like a supermodel, which explains why I have yet to put up the photos.

As for the baby's ultrasound, I felt that those are very precious, but very private photos, so I was a little uncomfortable posting it on my blog for the public to see.

So I've decided to post the ultrasounds in my Facebook, but limit it for the eyes of selected friends & family only. For my tummy pics, only friends can view it hor~! Haha... So if you want to see pictures of big fat CoCo with horrible skin, go check out my Facebook Photo Album. If you realise that you can't see my baby's pictures, let me know and I'll consider letting you view it. Haha...

Paranoia...

Not feeling 100% lately...for the past few days, I've got this uncomfortable swelling at the side of my face. I don't want to go see a doctor and take medicine unnecessarily, so I had to live with the swelling for a few days. When the stupid thing didn't go away, I started to worry and panic.

What is it?
Why isn't it going away?
Should I wait longer?
But if I wait, what if it's bad for the baby?
OH NO! HOW! DIE!!!

So finally, with sis's advice, I called my gynea and asked if I should go to a GP or drop by to see him instead. Thankfully he said that it's probably just a swollen lymph node and I can just go see a GP. Apparently my body has been battling my recent gum infection, thus resulting in the swollen lymph nodes.

So now, I have to take a very mild form of antibiotics. Quite reluctant to take really, but since it's only 5 days worth of medication - take lor~

Another thing that keeps me on my toes lately - the little princess's movements. The way my gynea warn me so scary...

"You have to be aware of your baby's movements... If you notice a drastic reduction of movement within half a day... I want you to walk into a 24 hours emergency immediately..."

So scary... It sounded like this "your baby could die any moment in your tummy, so if you suspect anything, go to the A&E immediately" STRESS...

Don't worry, so far baby is very active! In fact, she gets more active by the week! Kicking and moving around in my belly... I usually encourage that and sing praises to her whenever she gives me a giant flying kick. Haha..

But sometimes when she becomes quiet for a period of time, I'll get super paranoid and would move around or pat my tummy abit until I feel some movements. Poor baby is probably taking a nap! Sorry lah baby, but Mummy very scared, so humour me lah hor! Heehee..

Anyway, we've already decided on a cot and the final decision was actually one from Mothercare instead of the hyperstore at Kaki Bukit. It would be delivered today and I can't wait to see it!

Hong Kong Trip - Day 1 & 2

Sep 21 Day 1

Yawn… its at earthly 3.30am in the morning when we had to crawl out of bed. After a very uncomfortable 4 hours plus flight, we finally made it to Hong Kong! Mom and Dad picked us up and I was so happy to see their smiling faces again after so long! We were so hungry by then we decided to eat 大家乐, a popular cafeteria style restaurant chain in Hong Kong.

Sis place is located at a Whampoa Gardens in Hung Hum, which is a nice up-market residential area located very near to all the central areas. But we were so tired that we had to take a little nap before going out to explore the area. There’s a bus interchange just below the block, so we took a 小巴 (public light bus) to the nearby Temple Market 庙街 for dinner.

Me & Mummy dearest

I like this shot - very Hong Kong

I super love this - fried pig's big intestine

Well the shops weren’t fabulous, but we just strolled around, find a nice food stall for dinner and continued to browse leisurely.

Outside a mahjong game place - those are the house rules!

女人街 was actually at the opposite street, but by then I was quite tired, so we decided to go back home. On the way home, we passed by a famous dessert shop, 芝麻綠豆甜品屋.

They are famous for their 楊枝甘露, which is like some mango dessert, but I fell in love with their green bean dessert!! It’s basically green bean (like those in dao suan), in coconut milk and ice shavings. So simple yet so YUM!!!!!! A life saver on a hot and humid night!

Cobby's 楊枝甘露

My favourite new dessert~

After that we got home and played with my sis’s new baby – KK! Isn’t he super cute!!!




Sep 22 Day 2

The next day we got up early and took a train to Sunny Bay station and switch to Disneyland Resort station.

The Disney Train

Welcome to Disneyland!

The Disney train is adorable! We didn’t buy ANYTHING from Disneyland except for a pair of gorgeous cap, which I forced Cobby to buy, but he loved it and thanked me for making him buy it later, because IT WAS BLOODY, FREAKING, UNBEARINGLY HOT! 救命啊!



How hot? Imagine being a chicken, being thrown into a preheated oven. Yah, that would be the best description. So we spent most of the day going on rides and shows that is indoors and air-conditioned. Ahhhh~ heaven!

The Princess carousel - sheltered

The Hunny Pot ride - indoors

The Lion King Show - indoors

The Golden Mickey Show - indoors

Unfortunately EVERYBODY had the same idea, so before we can enjoy our little slice of heaven, we had to queue together with hundreds of China tourists. Faint~! Haha…

I only managed to find 2 princesses, but you have to queue under the hot sun to take a picture with them. I looked so fat and sweaty in the photos already, so I'm not interested in standing next to the perfect little princesses and make me look worse! So I just took some shots of them with other families. (Sorry for the crappy editing)



But I can't leave without taking a picture of Donald! So we queue up and got our pic. Cute!



OK lah, overall, it was a very fun day. It was Cobby’s first Disneyland experience and my second one since Tokyo Disneyland, and we really did enjoyed ourselves. The only disappointment was how SMALL the Cinderalla castle was!!!



It’s so ridiculus, that’s like the most significant building and yet it’s so small… Hiaz… Anyway, to end the day we met up with sis for dinner and went back to芝麻綠豆甜品屋 for desserts again! Haha addicted… Tired but fun day!

A visit to the dentist

We went for our Dentist appointment on Sunday, not expecting anything out of the ordinary really. So I went in first, and the nurses and Dentist were SUPER nice to me loh! I guess that's the privilege of being pregnant I guess. Hahaha...

They keep fussing over me, making sure that I'm comfortable...
"Are you OK? Comfortable? Maybe we'll bring the seat up more so that you'll feel more comfortable!"

Then they keep talking to me like I'm a four year old, going to the Dentist for the first time in my life...
"OK now, what I'm going to do now is called scaling, there would be some noises, but it is normal OK?"

right...

Anyway it feels great to be pampered like a princess (even though it's more like a 4 year-old princess), so, no complains!

So I've got this little hole on the side of my molar for months, but I never got to fix it. See, the stupid filling dropped out, and I think I must have swallowed it. Haha... So that's fixed in 5 minutes.

Then I've got some gum inflammation, making some parts of my gums red and swollen and bleed easily. So they cleaned my mouth up and gave me a fluoride treatment. It's quite interesting; I've never done it before.

They fill up 2 mouth piece with this sour green jelly, and then I have to bite into them like braces for one minute. Then after one minute, I have to make chewing motion to get the green jelly in between my teeth for another minute. Then I have to spit out as much of the jelly as I can and that's it! But I can't eat or drink for 45 minutes, so it's like brushing your teeth but not rinsing your mouth after that. Refreshing but strange...

Funny thing was, while I was having my teeth cleaned in one room, I can hear the Dentist and Cobby chatting away in the other room. I can't hear what they were saying, but its kindda strange isn't it? You seldom hear people chatting on the Dentist chair...

So when I'm done I was excited to tell Cobby about my fluoride treatment, wondering if he had one too. So imagine my surprise when he walked out of the room, pale in the face and with a little lump on his left cheek.

What happened?? "Wisdom." That's all he said. Wisdom? What wisdom? Apparently the Dentist saw that his upper left wisdom tooth was crooked and was starting to rot. So he had no choice but to remove his tooth right there and then. O_O

We definitely did not expect anything other than the usual dental cleaning that morning, so it took me quite awhile before the news sunk into me.

"They took out your tooth!? Oh my gosh they took out your tooth!"

I wasn't mentally prepared for that...

On top of the scary fact that the Dentist pulled out my baby's tooth in the other room while I was getting my teeth cleaned, there's another bad news. Apparently Cobby had such a bad case of tooth grinding that his incisors (the pair of sharp teeth)was being grinded till it's almost flat! So the Dentist recommend that he wear a teeth guard when he sleeps to prevent further grinding...

I know that he grinds his teeth sometimes when he sleeps, but I didn't know that it was so bad! Guess I must be sleeping better to have missed it. The dentist also said that it's most likely stress induced, which makes sense because he's so stressed out about his school work recently...

So poor Cobby had his tooth pulled out that day, and had to fork out an additional $500 for a teeth guard they custom-made for him! And now he has a hole in his mouth...

Well, he's feeling much better now, gonna pick up his teeth guard this coming Sunday. So curious to see what's it like!

Shopping Saturday

Cobby had classes on Saturday morning, so instead of hanging around at home, I left the house together with him that morning and headed to Vivo City while he goes to classes.

I walked passed one of my favourite store, Mother Garden, and they were having a closing down sale! Gasp! So sad! But they were very smart! They returned all the expensive and popular items like the soft toys, cushions, rugs and tables. So the 50% storewide sale items were mostly those without the cute rabbit or seal. But most of the stuff are still quite cute, so I bought some stuff:

2 X Rabbit pens: Original price $6.50 each (for me & sis)
2 X Strawberry pencils: Original price $4.50 each (for me & sis)
1 X Frog stained glass keychain: Original price $6.50 each (for bro)
5 X Small printed face towels: Original price $4.50 each (for princess)
Total costs = $51.00
After 50% discount = $25.50!!! Happy...



After a happy buy I settled down at the outdoor lounge of the Gloria Jean's Cafe. It is super nice there loh! The seats are very comfy and I spent the next few hours there, drinking tea, nibbling on a buttery croissant, reading papers and enjoying the view of Sentosa as the sea breeze was softly blowing. SHIOK~

I was well rested as I headed off towards the Mothercare store nearby. I nearly went crazy resisting the urge to buy all the little pink baby clothes! Oh gosh they were so adorable!!! But it's still a little early for clothes, so MUST RESIST!

I also checked out the baby bottle prices. Many magazines recommend this brand, Tommee Tippee, so naturally I would think that it would be more expensive. But surprisingly, the price is about the same as the more commonly known brands! So I've decided to use Tommee Tippee bottles.



But since I'm planning to breast feed my princess as long as possible, bottles are not urgently needed. Perhaps a baby shower gift from friends? Haha... I think I should start a baby wish list!

Hopped over to Harbourfront cause Mothercare recently opened a flagship store there, and it was big! I loved the cots there, but the ones at Kaki Bukit was cheaper. They've also got a wide variety of baby supplies there! Even maternity clothings! After shopping around Cobby met me there and I wanted to buy a baby bathtub there but I wasn't too satisfied with the designs we see, so we've decided to think about it first. So after a very long while we left the store with just a pack of maternity bras. Haha... tough customers huh.

There's a storage store just next door and we ended up buying a drawer organiser and a paper towel holder! This is our very 1st paper towel holder since we moved in 2005! Haha...



After lunch we went back to the Mothercare store at Vivo and bought a packet of baby wipes. (The one at Harbourfront doesn't come in 80 sheets mah... Besides, after being nagged to death by sis in HK, I've promised to buy something for the baby every weekend)

We left for Thomson Medical Centre to pick up my calcium pills. But oops! I think the clinics only operate half days on Saturdays as I walked through the ghost town-like hospitals. All the clinics are closed! Sigh~ We'll just have to come back on Monday...

After thinking about it for MONTHS, Cobby finally decided to buy a new handphone. So we drove to the M1 shop at Bugis Junction and got him a brand new shiny Nokia E71.



He was super happy as he fiddled with his new toy for the next few days. Even more so when he got to show it off to his admiring friends in class. Haha... he's so cute...

We ate dinner at the Ministry of Food and then went to the car show at Suntec. We go every year, so this year shouldn't be an exception! Unfortunately... THIS YEAR'S CAR SHOW SUCKS BIG TIME!!!

There's the Nissan GTR, which is deliciously gorgeous, and there was the... the... THAT'S IT! NO MORE! It's so pathetic I didn't even take a single picture of me. Sigh... Total waste of our $8.00!!!

So ends another very full and exhausting day. We didn't plan to go to so many places and buy so many things, but I guess sometimes things just happens! Haha..

MIL's Reaction to Baby's sex!

A quick update; remember that we went to my mother-in-law's place for dinner last Thursday and we had to tell her the good news that we were expecting a baby girl? Yah.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(In mandarin)

CoCo: So we went for our check up this morning and...

MIL: What?

CoCo: IT'S A GIRL!!!

MIL: Haha..! (All smiles) That's good... that's good...

CoCo: The Doctor also said that she's got very long bones, which means that she'll be quite tall!

MIL: Haha... Then she can be a supermodel someday!

Cobby: So now we have to go tease "ah-bu" (aunt) because she predicted wrongly!

MIL: Aiyah as long as the baby is healthy; it doesn't matter whether it's a girl or boy!

SIL: We're going to have a little princess! Anyway it seems to follow the family trait of having girls as the first born!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


So overall she doesn't seem disappointed and looked genuinely happy about the news, so I took the opportunity and told her the second news:


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CoCo: By the way, my parents would be back for Chinese New Year. And I've asked my mom to be my confinement lady. Are you OK with that?

MIL: Ok, sure!

Cobby: Are you OK with that? Or would you like to be the confinement lady?

MIL: Oh no, no... I wouldn't know what to cook. Besides, your mom has more experience in this. I'll just come over every other day to look at the baby.

CoCo: Sure, sure! You are always welcome!

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Yeah~! Actually I've already decided for my Mummy to be my confinement lady, but she said that I should seek consent from my mother-in-law first, so, OK loh, done!

Yummy New Dish!

I was inspired to make Tempura Vegetables today. I've never made them before, so I was surprised how simple to make they were!

Gorgeous looking tempura...

But Cobby and I were even MORE surprised at how delicious they were! I think it's the onion and the sweet potatoes that made it nice and sweet. Definitely recommend that everybody try them!

My Birthday Saturday (13 Sept 2008)

Zinc reminded me to blog about how I celebrated my birthday weekend, which I said I would but totally forgot! (Thanks Zinc) So I tried to recall how that day went, but... the memories sort of floated by in a mist... I think the pregnancy is making me even more forgetful than I already am! Oops~ Haha..

I tried to ask Cobby, but we couldn't agree on some parts of the day's events. So since it's MY blog, I shall enter according to whatever I can remember. Hahaha...

13 September 2008:

Breakfast - Can't remember where or what, but I'm sure we went out to eat, cause I would have wanted that.

Went to Takashimaya to buy mooncake but all the type we liked was sold out! Ended up buying the fried yam type with the flaky pastry skin - Just as yummy!

Part of going to Orchard was to look at baby cots too. After looking at the pathetic range at Taka, gave up and messaged several girlfriends who had babies or at least bought baby stuff before. Within minutes, received loads of fantastic advise and calls on where to go and what to look out for. Thank you all! *Touched*

Walked over to Robinsons and found a whole floor of baby, mommy and children products! Fantastic! Good place to look at what's available, but it's a little expensive.

Next location was even better! Marl and some other friends recommended this Baby's Hyperstore. When we got there, there was not one but two outlets there! It's at Shun Li Industrial Park at Kaki Bukit Avenue 1, and they sell all sorts of baby cots, prams and car seats from many different brands! And they sell them cheap too! So exciting... We havn't done any homework on what we wanted yet, so we'll probably come back again when we're ready!

By the time we left it was almost dark, so we decided to drive to Geylang and have dinner at the Geylang Serai. We've always watched recommendations of the yummy nasi padang stalls at the food centre there, but we've never been there before! So we thought we'll just go there and find the stall ourselves. How difficult can that be?

Unfortunately, we TOTALLY forgot that Hari Raya was approaching, so we were greeted by the dazzling street lights, police directing traffic of all sorts and jam packed carparks. Luckily we managed to find a great parking lot within minutes! Lucky!

Soon we were walking inside the endless Pasar Malams. It was so wonderful! Our senses were going crazy! Every stall was filled beautiful garments, yummy looking cookies and pastries, house decorations. Stall owners were shouting out bargains, friends and family were laughing and saying hellos, music was blasting everywhere, there was even a procession of drums! A total explosion of the senses!!!

By 8.30pm, we were totally lost and couldn't find the food centre! Haha... Give up! Super hungry! So we got into the nearest restaurant and quickly ordered our dinner. Oh my gosh the beef rendang was so sedap! The restaurant was quite popular too and we were lucky to get the last few portions of the beef. Heehee...

By the time we finished dinner I was utterly exhausted! I wanna go home! But on the way back to the car we just couldn't resist buying some yummy looking, home-made pineapple tarts! They were a little expensive, ($16.00!) but when we took a bite, it was definitely worth it! The buttery crust and the pineapple filling was delicious!

So ends our day...
Running around Orchard Road and tasting all sorts of yummy mooncakes...
Looking at baby cots and prams reminded us that we were getting closer to welcoming our baby girl...
Visiting Geylang and soaking up the Raya festivities for the very first time!

Exciting News~!

Just came back from my Hong Kong trip last week. It was fun definitely, but a little exhausting too! I'll update on that soon...

Guess what??? Just came back from the doctor's check up this morning and this time we had to go for a high resolution scan again. Although we know that the primary objective was to check the physical growth of the baby, we were a little excited too because today is the day we find out if the baby was a little prince or princess!!! Yeeeaaahhh...!

So we waited patiently as the radiographer scanned and checked the length and width of the baby's bones, body, etc. I love to see baby at each check up, baby grows bigger each time! After a very long while, the radiographer suddenly announce, "It's a girl!"

*jaws drop*

IT'S A GIRL!

I KNEW IT! I had an intuition that it's a girl even when my mom and Cobby's mom was predicting that it was a boy. AND I WAS RIGHT! We're gonna have a little girl!

So now we can all address my little princess as "she".... and buy pink stuff... and (groans) think of girl names! I don't know why, but we keep coming up with boy names, so now, it's back to the drawing board!

After the scan we went back to see Dr Kee. He read the scan reports and said that our baby is going to be very tall! Her lengthy bones suggest that she's gonna be a tall girl like her parents... :)

It was a pretty productive day. We also signed up:
The antenatal classes,
The delivery package,
The First Born Incentive card (and got a whole lot of freebies for that)



and even made an appointment with the dentist for checkups.

Later in the day sis called and I told her the news. She was excited naturally and said that according to the Chinese astronomy, having a girl during that time would be like, THE BEST. Think extraordinary, big fortune, great life! Haha.. then dad called shortly after that and he was just as excited too! Saying the girl would have "50 years good luck" and a fantastic life while having a boy would be, ordinary.

What, my girl's gonna be the first female president of Singapore or something? Hahaha...

Anyway, it's always nice to hear people being excited. Cobby's got no class tonight, so I suggested going to his mom's place for dinner and telling her the news. She was kindda expecting a boy, so I hope that she won't be too disappointed about having a granddaughter instead.