Half day at the beach

I made a suggestion to Hubby some time back and asked him to take half day off today to spend time together.

He agreed.

Hence, we took half day off and after having lunch in Cafe Cartel in PS, where we had LOUSY service, we made our way to East Coast Park.

Thank God it was not very hot, there was a gentle breeze blowing and the park can be considered as crowded on a Monday afternoon. But we still manage to find a shady seat and just enjoy each other's company.

I thought I will feel sad today... after all, we were supposed to be expecting our bundle of joy today. 30 June.... but surprisingly, I was not as badly affected as I thought I will be. I wanted Hubby's company so that I won't feel too bad and keep dwelling on it. But, thank God, I think I'm coping well.

We merely just sat there, looking at the sky, the water, enjoying the breeze and each other. Simple, yes. But it was a good time away and time off from the hustle and bustle of town, to keep my mind off Lima Bean and all. We sat there for hours. Occasionally chatting, otherwise, sitting down and just staring and daydreaming with our fingers entwined or leaning against each other.

I like it when we do that. We do not have to say something to each other all the time, yet, I feel so contended and peaceful and walk away as though, we've said lots to each other.

We took a long bus ride back to J8 after that and had dinner at the Hong Kong Cafe theme eatery.

Reached home at about 8pm and got a call from family in laws. First Uncle's wife had pass away, hence, tml, we'll have to go for the wake.

It's been many months since I went thru the D&C. At times, I still think of it. Not that I particularly go on thinking about it, it just comes up once a while. I guess, it's something that I will never be able to forget fully but just learn to live with it and move on.

God bless your soul, Lima Bean.

I can say I'm all right. Just being a woman, sometimes my emotions gets the better of me and makes me think of it all over again. I will only get better and stronger with the healing touches of God and with the love and support from Hubby and family members. =)

Thoughts

Was having dinner at my parents' place earlier and was just chatting with my mom over nothing of significant importance.

Was sharing with her that I have a lousy manager and that he hates me. Though my chicky pox was so long ago, now, he'll still bring it up to remind me whenever I'm on MC...

I was also then telling my mom, if he mentions about my long hospitalization leave last year, I'll bring it up to the big boss and complain about him.

And at this point in time, my mom became very excited. She began to tell me that I should being to take more nutritious food to build up my body so that we can be prepared for a BB. =/ And that her friends are telling her what I should be eating and all etc etc. My mom said she's afraid to cook / prepare all these tonics for me since we're still studying and if I really get pregnant then there's lots more other issues to think and to solve. The conclusion? Wait till we finished our course next year then she'll do all these.

I know the parents (seems to be mine, especially) are very excited for us to get pregnant and to produce them some little ones... But, we are the ones who have to pay and educate and go thru the whole process, are we ready?

I also know that one can never be too ready or too prepared... I mean, no matter how prepared one is, there can always be other things that are unexpected and not turn out the way we want or wished it to be.

I'm really in 2 minds. One on hand, I simply am very comfortable with our current lifestyle and have no wish for it to change. On the other hand, Hubby and the rest of the world wants to have children.

I know that it is the responsibility of married couples to reproduce... Just as God has also said, to multiply. But, can I be a good parent?

Isn't it worse if we bring our children to the world and then simply have no time, no energy, no attention on them? Leave them to the care of others? I know for certain this is not what I want for my children. I grew up with my grandmother as both my parents are working day and night to make ends meet. I hardly see my parents when I was young. Needless to say, I'm not close to them at all. It's only till recently that my mom and I gets along better. I still have not manage to bring myself to speak to my dad. He's a stranger to me. I don't know him and I doubt he knows me. Many can say, then it's up to me to make the first move to get back to him and to mend our relationship bah bah bah.... Honestly, I know I should. But I don't.

It's hard to grow up in a family where your father don't care 2 hoots about you and then to grow up and say... oh ya.... let begones be begones, we start anew and fresh. I wish I can. But I can't. I don't have the courage nor the 'want' to do it.

So many can say, I should make the first move and all. I have. I have over the years, made tiny little moves and all I can say is that it's not getting me anywhere.

I have tried to seek his approval when I first started dating hubby... I have tried to get him involved in my studies in the Poly... I have tried to get him involved in my 21st Birthday celebration... My wedding, the biggest moment of my life.... and all these lead to nothing. The guy, I call father has not made any changes to show me that he welcomes the change, that he wants to be a part of my life.

Hence, I have also shut him out of my life.

So, don't tell me to make the first move. I have and I had. If I were to stand before God now, I do think I can tell God honestly, yes Lord. I feel nothing for him, but I have tried. Maybe it's not enough I don't know. But I've tried my best.

I know very well this is not the kind of family that I want my children to have. But though I have the ideal family in my mind, I'm not so sure if I can make it happen. I've seen lots of my cousins & friends having children and it's tough. It's VERY tough. And having come from such a family, I honestly and seriously doubt if I will not follow their footsteps. I know that I can place my trust in God and that He can guide me along. It's not that I don't trust him neither do I doubt that he can guide me. My fear is also that I'm too stubborn for my own good.... that I refuse Him entry.

Am I able to make sacrifices like these for my children? I don't know. I really don't know. Godma and a close friend both said they think I am not ready to be a parent. And I totally agree with them.

I would rather not have any. But this is impossible in a marriage. Unless we've tried and we can't then that's a different situation. But knowing Hubby and the rest of the parents, if we, or rather I were to say we'll start trying now, all of them would only be too happy!

A close friend has been sharing that she wished to have children asap. I can feel her yearnings to be a mother. Yet, I'm feeling just a little comprehensive apprehensive on this issue. How does one know that they are ready to take on this huge responsibility of being totally responsible for a totally defenseless and hundred percent dependent little human being?

How does one know that the moral, ethics, education, teachings and all the rest is enough for the child? That the child will turn out well?

There's no answer to this and yet, these are the assurances that I deeply seek before I'm ready to move to the parenthood stage.

Changes

With mutual agreement, 3rd person has come to share our house earlier this month.

Now, before you get all excited and start thinking of other things, it's definitely not what you think. Nope. We are not pregnant, though I can say our parents are dying for us to be.

We have decided to rent out a room to earn some extra moolah, for someone to occupy the spare room or what Alex coins it, the "Echo Room".

Our tenant is a lady from Korea and my goodness, she's so young! Only 25 this year and she has already been working here for the last coming to 2 years, in a hotel as a service staff. No idea what is her exact job scope but we have a copy of her details and all it says is "service staff".

She does seems rather nice and we get along rather well.

She got us a cake the other time and it tasted great! It not only tasted great, it looks pretty too! My guess is that it's some fruit cake.... but you know, hotels will have all sorts of fanciful names for their products, I have no idea what it's called but it sure looked pretty! Hubby and I finished the whole thing within 2 days, which is just as well since it cannot be kept for too long.

I'm not sure, but I think it could also be because, we heated up a dumpling (hand made by MIL) for her one day and the next day, she came back with the cake. Either way, I just hope and pray that we will get along and that she is the decent sort, not that kind to steal or create trouble for us kind. That is of course the risk we got to take since we can never be too sure. =/

And on the first night she came in, she got hubby and I a bookmark each too. Quite pretty.It has Mother of Pearl on the top of the bookmark. It sure looks and feel expensive too!

But of course there are some things that we have to put up with as well, having additional stuff in the kitchen and having the room door closed at all times, was something that we sort of not used to when it first started. But oh well, just make do with the changes since the extra cash that's coming in does helps to pay off the PUB bills and household maintenance and best of all, with her coming in, we can even engage a part time helper to come in fortnightly to clean up the mess at home.

The PT helper is at it now, as I type. She came in at about 5.30pm earlier and she has not stopped since. Ironing, Vacuuming, wiping all the surface area that's available, washing of both toilets and of course mopping. I can hear her as she gets busy in the kitchen now, wiping all the surface area, washing the toilets etc etc.

It sure feels good to be able to not do any housework at all. Or rather, just the simple vacuuming, mopping and laundry weekly is all right with me. But with the PT helper now, means, I can even be lazier and only do it fortnightly! And when she comes, she'll handle all the rest of the work, I can deal with the light cleaning weekly and leave the heavier ones to her. =)

Worth every single cent of our moolah. Especially when the weekend is so short and we still have to do all these... Bleh! It's even worse when we are having exams, study also no time still got to worry about housework.... Now, we can leave it all in peace. =)

Relaxing Day

After so long, Hubby and I finally decided to utlise the free Shaw Theater Tickets that I have. We decided to go to Bugis for "Narnia".

But before that, he had to go to Plaza Sing to get his hp serviced, something's wrong with his hp. Either he can't hear or the other party can't hear, but most times it's he can't hear others.

Anyway, we got his hp done and then went off in search of food and then took the train down to Bugis for the show. I got the tickets the day before when I made plans with my girlies for dinner, so on that count, we don't have to go to queue for the tickets way in advance.

Our plan was to go for mass after the movie ends. Gosh... who knows the movie was so long and by the time, we were done, it was 5 mins to 6.30pm! Too late to go for mass anywhere. Hence, we changed our minds and just loitered in Bugis and walked around.

Honestly, I did not do any shopping at all, shopping in the sense of clothes, shoes, bags and cosmetics. I do think that I have no lack of it, though of course, I will never say "No" to more. But anyway, nothing caught my eyes. Hence nothing.

However, knowing me, I did come home with somethings. =) A box of Chewy Junior's Cream Puff, flyer has many many different flavors.

With FULL instructions on how to best enjoy the puffs. Needless to say, I got ALL the chocolates that was available, a coffee and peanut butter.... the later 2 are Hubby's personal all time favorite favors of anything, just as Chocolate is to me.

They are having some kind of promotion, buy 6 and get 1 original favor free. Hence, I walked away with 7 puffs.... which before we even left Bugis, the 7th was in our tummies!

I do like the texture of the puffs.... not really chewy but it definitely requires more bite before swallowing it. I love the light chocolate creams inside the puff and the toppings... well, for the toppings, it's not that special. Just more things to get my mouth dirty with and more fats ending up in the stomach.

If you were to get it, I personally prefer the Almond Chocolate and Blueberry. Get it at Chewy Junior. They have a few branches and more seems to be springing up over sunny Singapore too.

Also, I cannot resist buying the entire collection of "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C S Lewis for myself. There's 2 different designs on the cover of the box set. But I prefer this... the other is a picture of the current movie, "Prince Caspian". This is not the first time I'm buying this collection, I've bought another of this series for my sis's birthday a few years back... but I'd still love to have the entire collection for myself... Pity, this is the soft cover, would love to have the hardcover!!I know. I basically can spend on anything and everything. =P

But books to me are worth it. I'm a book lover! I've already finished almost the first 5 books. Going to start on book 6 in a while. And I'm also going to take time to plastic each one. But the only thing is, once I've plastic it, then it probably cannot fit into the box anymore as the books would have gained thickness....

How ar? Any suggestions? I cannot let my books not be plastic coz the edges will spoil very easily and I feel so sad when my books are like that but once I've plastic them, it cannot fit into the box. =(

I just noticed... I seem to be buying books after every semester of my studies!

I have the Harry Potter complete series and now Narnia complete series too. I love these 2 series and I think I've read Harry Potter so many times, I can almost know the next sentence I'm going to read. Strange is, these 2 books are all of magic... think I'm a child at heart, love fairy tales, Good VS evil kind and also... the presence of God in it....

Maybe not so much in Harry but definitely a resounding YES in Narnia. The first page of the first book already seems to be oozing of God's presence!

Smile! You're on Camera. =D

Here, we are, doing our best to practise our smiles in and before we hit the land of smiles.Happy and excited to be there, though it's not the first time we're there. In the airport, in the van on the way to Centara, in Centara, waiting to be shown to our room...

And even in the room, where we have our private jacuzzi, we also have to practise!

Food

I must say, we've been eating pretty well for the last few nights that we're in Phuket. Every night, we're bound to have some kind of seafood.

On our first day there, we took some time exploring the surrounding area and shops. We must have walked a few streets, saw tonnes of restaurants and shops, all very empty! Must be because of the off peak season now. Whatever it was, we were spoilt for choices! There were just TOO many restaurants to choose from and we were clueless which to go for since, we've no idea which is good and we also did not want to spend a bomb even though the Thai Baht is low.

Finally, after covering the nearby streets, we settled on 1 restuarant, One Man or something like that. And the only reason, we went for that was because, there were 2 other patrons in it. We din want to go to a totally empty restaurant ma. And the other reason was because, they have local thai food. I din want to eat the "Ang Mo" food ma. Go another country, of course must eat their local food ma, what for eat western right? But apparaently, Hubby disagree with me lor... Look at what he ordered?!Yups. Chicken Chop. =/ Anyway, the food was not bad. I like the Prawns with cashew nuts. Prawns was very fresh and tasty! My Pad Thai also not bad, but I find the noddles a little too hard. But, all in all, the food was cheap and relatively good. Hubby's chicken chop was served with tartar sauce. Weird hor? First time I see chicken chop served with that. But even though it was a novetly, there's nothing special about the chop nor the sauce. Very normal, which we can get locally anywhere. And by the way, I really did not write wrongly, it's chicken "CHOP" even though it looks more like cutlet. Maybe, different ways of naming items in different countries. I don't know.

Edited: The hubby saw the post and he corrected me with "I also want to eat local food. The menu put Fried Chicken ma, that's why I ordered ma"

So the only conclusion I have is, my mistake for remembering it as Chicken Chop and that er... it still looks rather cutlet to me than anything.

Our 2nd night proves to be much easier! Since, we've already covered the streets, we more or less already shortlisted the rest of the restaurants to try. Karon Beach is a small area with not much happening as compared to Patong Beach. But they do have clothings, eatery and pubs aplenty! Since, the fashio don't appeal much to me and we don't go clubbing at all, we mostly spend our moo lah on food.

This time, we chose a more high class looking restaurant, "Da Mario" (which reminds me of my favourite game!). This restaurant is located almost just next door to our hotel. And I think we eat very early coz when we were done, only then the crowd started to come in.

Just look at the spread for 2 of us!We had Pineapple Fried rice, Some mixed veggies, chicken in don't know what veggies again and this time, we had mussles in garlic too! The plate is so full of them lor! My camera almost can't capture all of it into 1 shot! Which, I have to say, really, my camera can't capture the young coconut and Fanta drink that we had along with the meal. This dinner was slightly pricier, it costs us $560 Baht, which approximately is about $24 SGD. But the food was quite good. I enjoyed every single mouthful of it!

And on our last night in Phuket, we went for the dinner that was provided for in our tour package. We were told that we can only go to the "Lotus restaurant" in Centara, but however, the whole restaurant was booked for a private function hence, we were able to go to "Terrace Grill" which in my opinion is even better since there's seafood and steak for us to choose! =PThe photos are dark as it was al fresco dinning and I did not want to turn on the flash as my hands can never hold the camera steady that is necessary for flash shots and the shots will turn out all blury... so I rather it's dark than anything la.

We did not even have to choose from the menu as the lady suggested serving the seafood platter for 2. So we, just went "ok ok" lor. For the platter, there's Crabs, Prawns, Crayfish and Squids. There's 2 of everything, so depending on how you look at it, it's either "JUST 2 of everything" or "2 of everything". At first, I was... chey... "JUST" 2 of everything. Then when we almost complete our meal, we were served with a whole fish. I was... woah. So big and so much food. Can finish ar? Just 2 of us lei! But a bite into the fish and I felt the fish was too small lor! The meat was so fresh and coupled with the sauce provided, it tasted so very good! Hubby and I ate every single morsel of meat available!

Throughout the meal, we were entertained by the live singing on stage. The guy's voice is better as compared to the lady's but it was a good experience and nice ambience. Food wise, we were quite disappointed with the seafood platter. Everything was supposed to be grilled but it seems like the fire was too strong, everything was so dried up. We can hardly taste the natural flavours of the seafood, except for the fish! All the food was complimentary except for our drinks.

After dinner, we sat around for a while longer before going back to our room to enjoy the jacuzzi and to prepare for the return trip home the next day.

We're Back!

And I'm already missing our huge room of the last 4 days. =(

The room was really huge! Can fit in 2 queen size beds. Which hubby and I took one each for our sleep at night.

A picture montash of our room.I think my camera does not do it justice much. But in general that's the whole room. 2 Queen beds, single seater complete with a private jucuzzi pool just outside our room. There's another wooden door that uses old school wooden lock that can lock up the whole compound so none others can get it.

There's a day bed in the toilet area with an outdoor showering attached.

I love the room! It's so huge and spacious and private! We practically just locked ourselves in it and laze around most times. Else it's to the pool or jacuzzi to rest and relax some more!

Only sad things are.... 1) I think I've caught a chill... must be the in and out of air con and sun and waters for the last few days. Hence, my nose is stuffy and can't breadth very well. 2) I was badly attacked by mosquitoes! My face, hands, legs and body are filled with angry red swollen spots. Funny thing is. Only I have. Hubby din get any. They are damn itchy ok! I've already scratched till it bled for some! Wose, I have 3 on the side of my face and 1 more on my lips! =( I can feel my face begining to itch too. I'm trying real hard to not scratch them in case it gives me scars.... Just hope that it will all heal soon. =(

I'm feeling rather tired now... will go take a rest, more pictures and updates about our Phuket Holiday in the next couple of days when I've recovered. And no, I'm at work, not home... But just swallowed a pill for the nose. Till I feel up and well enough for more updates another time.

Tml is the day!

I've been waiting for this day for some time now... and finally it's here or rather approaching!

Tomorrow, hubby and I will be flying off for a short holiday to Phuket!

This time, at the recommendation of Cindy, we'll be going to Karon Beach and staying in The Centera, Cabanas! Just looking at the photo online is enough to make me wish that I'm there N-O-W!I wish it will be a good and relax holiday for us. We've been working far too hard at our studies recently, really in need of a good break! =P Not really sure if what I see online is what I will get but from Cindy's photos, it looks quite close and I'm getting more and more excited as the minute passes!

In fact, I've already more or less done my packing for this short getaway last night! Yar.... That's how excited I am!!!

Can't wait!

Hubby said...

"... you are obsessed with your eyelashes!" to me this morning.

He saw the little bottle of glue that I have for the falsies and a pair of falsies lying in my cupboard and that's what came out of his mouth after that.

Of course, I said I'm not to his "accusations".

To which he promptly replied. "You are. Eye lashes already so long and has been growing longer by the day and you are still putting mascara to make it longer. Now falsies to make it extra long too?"

"Of course want longer lashes ma. Nicer and prettier! Like a doll's eyes. So pretty!"

Hubby immediately said, "so pretty for what? Later other men fall for you how?"

whahahahahahaha..........

This hubby of mine is just so cute (silly?) la. Do I detect a tinge of jealousy there?

I'm pretty happy that he noticed my lashes grew longer lei... the bonus is Hubby noticed it means he got pay attention to me!

I think sometime last week, one of my precious clean lash, meaning mascara has been totally removed and it's my lash without any additional make up...(at least to my naked eyes, it looked clean enough) dropped out and I took the chance to measure it.

Guess what?!

It measured at 1cm and maybe a teeny tiny bit over, tip to tip!!!!

Whoo hooo... Means all those things I've been using works!!! Of course, I don't know what I started the length with, but it looks and feels longer now.. so that's all that matters.

And now with hubby's comments.... I'm happy lor! =D

Birthday Present Revealed.

Between the Bronze and Rose Gold, which was your guess? Was your guess right? =)

Well, I choose the Rose Gold version. Pretty? Quite "antique" looking? I like the floral engravings on it. The face looks huge and big but it fits nicely on my wrist.

Even the clasp has the word "Titus" on it. Despite looking so chunky and big, it's actually very light! I could hardly feel the weight. I was impressed. And City Chain gave me warranty for 2 years for the watch and 5 years for battery. Wow... 5 years for battery is very long!

I think I won't even remember when the battery runs out to go back to City Chain. Think I most likely will just go to any of the shops that sells batteries and then just get it replaced!How the whole watch actually looks like, I snapped this from the brochure and the write up of this watch from the same brochure... "The oval watch is decorated with etched pattern on the case, which shape is echoed by the links of the bracelet. Available in rose gold-coloured, black, gold-coloured brown and stainless steel."

So, it's time to say "Bye Bye" to my current and old Swatch...Evening Only.I quite like this watch actually, the designs are quite outstanding and it's different from the mill of the watches that I've come across. Comparing mine to the online pic, my watch is short of the 2 metal bits on each side between the black and clasps, that's because my wrist is so small!

Come to think of it, when Hubby said this was nicer than the Guess watch that I've eyed, I was rather disappointed! But over the last 3 years, I've sort of grown to love this watch too...

Bye Evening...You have served me well for the last 3 years. I still do like you and definitely will put you to use... Just, not that often anymore.

Early Birthday Present

As the Mr's entry earlier, Hubby decided to bring me to town to walk walk see see look look after work last night.

I heard from Godma that Taka has CNY fair, so we went to take a look after walking past Hereen. The Mr gave me the green light to choose something, anything I like for my Birthday and actually, I have no idea what I would like. I have almost everything! But I was still thrilled with the green light given!

But the Mr seemed keen to get me a watch. And I've been toying with the idea of a new watch for sometime too. But, I still like my current watch, which was also a Birthday present, just 3 years ago. Hence, after dinner, we made our rounds to the malls and shops. Walked into Hereen, nothing catches my eyes.

There's a particular pair of Swatch that I saw a couple of days ago and I was really keen to have a second look and if possible, to try it on. =)

Went into the branch in Hereen to take a look, but it's not there, I saw other similiar designs but nought can match it, I thought. Went to the small counter in Taka too, not there either. Just too bad then. The Mr will have to try to find something for me. =P

Anyway, we went to the basement to take a look at the CNY fair. Finally, I bought Taiwan muah chi! I've been craving them for so long. I'm a very picky muah chi eater. I only eat muah chi that has fillings of fruits. Any others, no thanks.

Besides the muah chi, we did not buy anything, there's only 2 of us in the house and no one is coming (I hope) so not necessary to buy so much. Anway, the shops now are open throughout the 2 days of CNY, not even necessary to stock up food at all! Anytime, want to eat, just go. So convenient these days!

However, the Mr seemed really quite desparate that I pick out something... so we walk around some more and it was really in City Chain that I found another watch that I quite like.

Of course, the price was also quite nice. I can't make up my mind then and there as I really wanted to compare the Swatch to this. Watches got to be tried on before I know if it fits (just like clothes and shoes! All the more since I've got tiny wrists) and moreover the price is about a $100 difference lei! Yet, I cannot find that Swatch in Town! It was at this point in time that Hubby suggested we go back to J8.

First thing, both City Chain and Swatch are neighbours in J8. Second thing, we have to go back to J8 to head for home. Just that we can take bus from town. But since, we've found somthing that I really die die must make a comparision, we can take MRT back too. But I was quite surprised that the Mr seemed so kan cheong to get it. My Birthday is not till another 3 weeks or thereabouts! Maybe he thought, since we are already out, might as well ba. But, he told me later, buy now, then I can wear it for CNY too. hahaha... so sweet of him to even think of it!

Finally, we managed to reach both shops in J8 and yes, I can make my comparisions. I had my eyes on this since a couple of weeks ago!

"Gleam of the Light"

I really like the chain. It seems so unique and I love the way the rose gold and silver is being combined together to give off this classy and fashionable timepiece. Best of all, I thought, it matches our wedding band perfectly!

But the Mr had made a very good observation. He told me, this watch will be very tough and difficult to wear. As it's closed by (I've no idea what is the name of this kind of hook!!) the necklace / bracelect kind of closure, not the usual watch clasp.

Wow! Very good point that he has made but it did not occur to me then. And his point became even more apparent when I tried it on! Yar! Very difficult to handle. I'm sure I will not be able to wear this watch on my own, especially if I'm pressed for time!

And somehow, when the watch is on my wrist, the circular things get 'crushed' together and it loses it's shape. =/

Worse is, when the chain is so glam looking, the face of the watch is very very plain. It shows up even more when it's being worn!

We tropped back to City Chain and got the other watch I've tried earlier and yes. Still like it and it fits better too. Decided to get it but the headache came soon as well. What colour to choose?!

I love the Bronze and Rose Gold. Both looks good on my hand and I like both. Rose Gold makes my skin looks lighter and brighter and both the face and chain of the watch has a very nice matching edge to it.

The bronze on the other hand, has a very glam feel towards it, perfect for those night occassions that we sometimes go. It's an outstanding piece even by itself! And I can see that as it sits on my hands, eyes are being drawn to it. Yes! It's THAT outstanding! And I really do quite like it too!

Very headache over which to choose and we decided to get it right away as there was a 20% discount. If we missed the promotion, the watch will costs more than $300!

Want to help hubby save the $$, so I made up my mind after much deliberation and also some advise from the SA.

Make a guess as to which color I choose and I shall reveal it to you in my next post... because, I cannot find a pic of the watch online, hence I have to go home to take pics, upload then can share. =P

But meanwhile, I'm very happy and excited over my new watch but Hubby says, the earliest I can wear is CNY wor.... =(

Birthday Present

Since we are not going back to my parents' home for dinner and I dont know what to eat for dinner. So I suggested to go town. First is to eat, second is to see if there is anything to buy for new year, third to see if can find any thing my darling like for her birthday and lastly to find PJ for her. She has been asking me to buy her PJ for quite a while. Well, we did manage to buy her Taiwan mochi, other then that we have been looking at almost all the watch shops that we come across, finally manage to find 1 that she like. The funny thing is that we did not buy at the shop in town. We travel back to J8 to buy from the shop here. Haha, after searching high and low, the present is still bought in J8. As long as my darling like it I am happy too. :)

Sick

The better half is sick again. Which I want to add on, has never fully recovered from the virus which he was attacked since boxing day last year.

=(

3 doctors, 4 days of MC and counting... the conclusion?

"It's a new virus and you have senstitive nose."

Better half says "like that means cannot do spring cleaning, else I'll get infected again"

=(

Good for him and bad for me... I want a part time maid in this case =/

In celebration of The Holy Family

For a change, we went to CTK for evening mass. CTK was having a special mass for family and married couples.

I like Fr Yim's homily today. He based his homily on the documentary, "March of the Penguins." I've watched that before so I know what he was talking about.

In a nutshell, the male and female penguins will waddle their way to this secluded area in the Arctic and after the female lays a single egg, she will pass the egg to the male. She will then waddle her way some 100 km away to find food after having gone without food for about 2 months. The males will then huddle together to protect the egg on their feet.

Ideally, the female will return to the male and her chick. But in reality, she may not make it as she can be preyed on or die from the exhaustion. Once, the female dies, it's an additional 2 lives that will be lost as the male will not have enough food store for himself and the chick.

Relating this back to our own families and marriage. When one spouse fails, the whole family unit is affected. But of course, we are humans, with much more intelligence and integrity than a bunch of penguins but the basic is almost the same isn't it?

Both parties need to work very hard to bring the young to the world, nourish, nurtured and guide the young. That's the basic even among animals. Needless to say, us, Humans.

That left a strong impact on me.

The Holy Family consists of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Even the earthly parents of Jesus has their fair share of worries, difficulties and trials. But they have faith in God and all worked out well. I think it's very clear as to the answers as to our own set of issues, marital, parental or otherwise.

There was a couple who shared on their special child. The path was not easy. But they did it with the grace of God. And all I found myself thinking was, "This couple went thru lots for their child, they really have lots of faith in God but please God, please do not give us a special child, I don't want and neither do I think I can handle, but please bless this couple abundantly, bless them with the strength and grace to move forwards."

I was touched and overwhelmed by their sharing. But yet, I still do not believe that I will do the same if I am in their shoes. Such is the wonder of God. He really makes all things possible and even though it's not easy, He is there to guide, to hold, to comfort, to heal, to console, to be everything! As I think back of our recent loss, I can't help but also to thank Him. To thank him for being the almighty and to take care of everything. All I have to do, is really to let go, let Him take over, obey His commands and watch how perfect everything is.

The Family Group in CTK was very sweet, they made arrangements to incorporate a segment where the married couples to take their marriage vows again during the mass.

I was a little embrassed to do it in front of the congregation. But I'm glad we did. It felt really good to have our wedding vows repeated and to be reminded of it. The Family Group really put in a lot of effort, each and every pair of couple was given a tea light in a candle holder, beautifully tied with red organza ribbon and complete with 2 red roses! I believe this really took lots of time. That's not all, after the vows, the whole congregation recited the Family Prayer together as one. The prayer is very meaningful and really all I can say is...

"Thanks be to God most high for all his blessings on me and my family."

Happy Little Boy during Post Christmas Shopping

Hubby was lucky enough to have won for himself a $100 Isetan Voucher from his company dinner last week. The Isetan Private Sale was yesterday.

Put the 2 together and it's a no wonder that we would have gone to Isetan to make use of his vouchers, on no other day than yesterday.

And so we did. Only thing is, I don't have the Isetan Card, so before that I have to go and beg, steal, borrow a card first. Thank God, Jeannie loan me her card since she's only coming down after work and we are there in the day. No clash of conflicts. =)

1 of the presents that Hubby received this year was a tie and tie pin set that Jeff, Emma and myself chip in to get for him.The first thing that came to his mind was, "WAH! The tie so colorful" and the next was "I don't have any shirt to match the tie!" -_-"

Hence, while at Isetan, the most heard phrase from Hubby to me was, "Do you think this shirt can match that tie?"

I though the tie was a very simple blue and white, granted the motifs can be slightly louder than what he normally wears, but I thought Pure Whites, Blues, Blacks can match the tie easily! Maybe even some stripes can do it too.

Well, being the highly excitable boy he is, he bought 3 shirts and the moment he came home, he did this. See! I knew Whites and Blues will work well. The black is multi colored strip so won't go too well but from far and for the fun of it, he matched it too.

Looks very normal to me, I thought. Mens' clothings are so standard. Shirt, Tie and pants lor. What else to expect rather than stripes, checks and or various ties? Anyway, in addition to the shirts, he gotten himself a pair of pants too.

This is one of those rare times where Hubby bought so much in one sitting. But this is also to be expected since he has $100 voucher to spend plus there were further discounts for some of the pieces! I thought it was a very good deal. Especially, in total, for the 3 shirts and a pair of pants, he only topped up like $40 or less lor.

So, the happy boy has got 4 new shirts (we got one a few days earlier while we were in Robinsons) and a pair of pants. He has also happily cut away all the tags and labels, folded everything neatly into a bag too.

I guess the only thing left is now for me to rinse everything for the boy so that he can wear it after ironing.

Took a coffee break at Paragon when we met up with Cindy and Dennis. She's looking a bit pale but other than that, she's quite well. Jia You Cindy!

Had dinner at Pepper's Lunch in Taka after another final round of shopping in Isetan Wisma and on a separate note hor, I bought absolutely NOTHING for myself despite the whole day of shopping lei. All I got was just a tunic / dress (tunic if on me, dress on Godma) for her as her Christmas Present.

Managed to persuade Hubby to get a bar of Royce Chocolates... need to persuade cause, he's not well and not supposed to eat. But if I buy the temptation is there. But, he gave in too after I said I'll save half bar for him.... but I think I shall be a cheat and eat more than half! hahahahahahahaha....

Just Clara

Our hearts are currently soo totally taken with this little darling... I can't seem to not not look at her face over and over and over!!! Aiyoh!!!

SO cute! Which is your favorite?

Cute Little Human Beings!

Had early Christmas lunch with Clement, Vic and their family.

I think we discovered a rather good place in future to hold our SW gatherings; since that place has a rather good ambiance, centralized and best of all, not crowded!

That place is non other than TCC in Millenia Walk!

Today is the last weekend before Christmas and from the time we were there till the time we left, the place was never full! There was a good crowd but NEVER full! So, it's good for us the next time we have a gathering.

Anyway, the main focus was of course on the 2 little Babies that came with the parents. While the adults eat and talk, the Babies also have their way of making their presence felt and NOTICED!

Wei Lun got his attention by eating what the parents eat! He's at that age already where he wants Adult Food! So fast lei! And he sure loves it lor. Kept coming back for more and his cries were what we heard whenever the mommy got a little slow in bringing that spoon full of goodies to his mouth!

After he woke up from his afternoon nap, the little thing just wanted to get down on the floor and want mommy to carry. See! Struggling so hard! Even daddy seems to be having trouble holding him still lor!

But of course, I'm most enamored over my little darling. Ok, I'm not really ready for photos (looking sleepy, but I think that's also because, the photographer is sitting down, shooting up while I'm standing up looking down hence the downcast eyes) but the thing is, this is the FIRST photo that Clara and I are both looking at the camera! Cute, little thing!

She's really a very responsive child. As she grows older, she has more expressions and her little pair of lungs are getting stronger and stronger by the day! The moment we talk to her, she will smile at us too!! Oh my gosh.. I'm sooo enchanted with her!!!

Today is the first time that Godpa carried her and I think she loves it. Clara "talking" to Godpa. She smiles and also coo back at him. Some more so matching lei! Both also in PINK! I jealous lor!!!!

After both babies woke up, they spent some time getting to know each other.Can I safely assume that both Babies like each other enough? They seem to be happy playing with each other. Though Wei Lun Gor Gor seemed abit shy and Clara just seems to be enjoying herself very much!

Of course, the daddy took lots of photos, but Godpa took this of her just before we went on our way while I was carrying her. Just look at the little darling. She's sooooooo cute!!!!
She kept her neck down and then her "bao bao" just seem to swell up and she looked so grumpy! But I can assure you, she is very smiley and playful throughout! Then the more Jer tired to take her photos, the more grumpy she became.

SOOOOOOOOO cute!!!!

Jer said she looks like a little hamster, one that stores up all the food in the cheeks... hahahahah... To me, she's just soo adorable and cute!

How not to fall in love and go gaga over her, you tell me!

A pic

Of our darling God daughter and me!

Taken at TCC in Millenia Walk last Friday.

My little darling is so cute and chubby now! And when I talk to her, she will coo, make noises back and smile at me!

SOO Clever! =)

I'm a proud Godma! =D

I don't know why I'm posting this...

Honestly, it never cross my mind to post this on multiply though I already have a few entries of it on my Blogs.

I want to forget about this whole incident and move on and if you can see this post, it means I trust you enough to not broadcast this further as I've set this post to only be restricted to individuals.

After reading the recent post(s) from Haze mostly on the strings of unfortunate events, I thought I just want to share my own experience with her especially and also some of you who we have mutual friends.

For most of you who are not aware, I was on MC for the last 3 weeks and another 2 weeks before that... and the reason why I was on MC for so long and given so much MC was because I was pregnant.

Now, before you get all excited and start to congrulate me / us, I want to highlight the word "was". Ya. I'm no longer pregnant.

I had a missed abortion in the medical terms and in layman's means miscarriage. I was told to rest and not overwork myself because the moment I knew I was pregnant, I was spotting. The frantic calls to various gynaes, to book appts and all the mixed feelings we had with the Baby. Especially when hubby and I are studying, our time, our finances, our energy is zapped by studies, how to manage a newborn, I seriously don't know. I took jabs, pills and rested as much as I can. After spending more than $1K on these visits and pills and medications, still it did not help. Towards the end, I bled even more.

At week 7, my Gynae could not detect any fetal heartbeat of the baby and my blood tests reveal that my HCG level is dropping.

We were told that my baby will not survive and we have to go thru an operation, D&C, similiar to that of the abortion process to remove the tissues and everything in my womb.

Though we were not fully prepared to be parents, on hearing this piece of news, my world came crashing down. I found it hard to accept that I was pregnant, when we finally got round to accepting that we're going to be parents, we were told the Baby is not developing.

It's hard hearing the news. It's even harder preparing for the operation. Preparing to go thru the operation to remove our Baby that we had come to love in a matter of few weeks was about the worse thing that can ever happen to us in our marriage life thus far.

It feels horrible, even though I know that the little one could not have survive, it did not make the operation any easier.

Anyway, to cut the whole thing short, we went thru the operation. Physically, there's not much pain. Emotionally, it hurt. The knowledge that we had removed our Baby (even though there's no chance of surviving) still pains me sometimes. And of course, a big medical bill la. Hence the $1900 credit bill to be settled. =/

But yet, we believe that there is at least a good thing that comes out from this whole episode. At least we know that we are fertile, at least, we know we can have children. At least, I know now what to expect and what to do the next time I'm pregnant. At least, we did not wait till the miscarriage happened on it's own when I'm alone at home, At least, we did not wait till the baby developed more and then it's adnormal. Or wait till the pregnancy went further along and the attachement is stronger...The list is simply endles...

So Haze, what I want to tell you is, despite all the things that's happening to you right now, know that God is always there, always watching, always keeping you safe in the palm of his hands. He will not leave you hanging and alone.

Hubby says, focus on the good things and things will just fall naturally into place with His grace.

I dare not say that I've gotten over the whole episode. But at least, I can talk about it now, when previously, just a mention of it brings me back to a sobbing child. With the grace of God, I'm slowly but surely recovering.

The baby will live in our hearts always and we know that he/she is with God now. So that's the end of it.

Cindy: Thanks for your concerns when you knew I was on MC for a pretty long time. I was not ready to talk about it then much less on a "public platform" where anyone and everyone can see / read it.

Bye Bye Lama Bean

We lost Lama Bean today.

Doc Lee called it missed abortion. I called it miscarriage.

Whatever the term, the fact is Lama won't be with us. I can only pray that he/she is now in heavens with God and his angels.

Goodbye Lama. We loved you despite your short stay with us.