- - n i l e e y ' s - S p h e r e - -

Cheburashka

2012-02-08T15:59:00.003+08:00

My parents' Russian friends gave DC a soft toy when they came visiting Malaysia recently. It is called Cheburashka and is apparently a popular toy figure in Russia.

Here's the origin of Cheburashka as described in Wikipedia :

According to the story, Cheburashka is a funny little creature, unknown to science, who lives in the tropical forest. He accidentally gets into a crate of oranges, eats his fill, and falls asleep. The crate is eventually delivered to a grocery store in an unnamed Russian city (by some facts it may be Moscow) where the rest of the main story unfolds. Cheburashka is a name given to the character by the puzzled store manager who finds the creature in the crate when he opens it. The salesman takes the animal out and sits him on the table, but his paws are numb after the long time spent in the crate, and he tumbles down ("cheburakhnulsya" (чебурахнулся), a Russian colloquialism, "tumbled" in English) from the table onto the chair and then from the chair, where he could not sit, for the same reason, onto the floor. The store manager, who witnesses the scene, called him Cheburashka. Words with this root were archaic in Russian; Uspensky gave them a new lease on life.

The Cheburashka given by my parents' Russian friends is a talking toy. Press on its belly and it will speak some random phrases in Russian.

Based on their translation, here's what Cheburashka can say :

Come play with me
You are my real friend
I love you
Hi to all. My name is Cheburashka
Let's sing a song together
(Singing) Once I was a strange toy without a name and nobody came to me in a toy shop. Now I am Cheburashka and every dog gives me a "Pow"when meeting
Take me with you
Oh, oranges! (laughing)
Will you not play with you if you don't know who I am?
It would be great to be taken to the children to be a toy
I was unlucky first and it could happen nobody came to my birthday party. But now I'm with my friend, he/she is the best in the world!

I think it's a very cute toy though I won't let DC play with it first as now she is in the "Everything also put into the mouth" stage. Maybe she can learn Russian too, LOL!

DC's First Swim

2012-01-27T16:13:00.000+08:00

Both hubby and I want to introduce DC to swim and play water at a young age, don't be like her parents who cannot swim! To ensure she doesn't catch a cold when in the water, I bought her Konfidence BabyWarma and swim nappy, both from Mothercare.

Konfidence BabyWarma

The BabyWarma is a substitute to a swimming suite. It is basically a wetsuit made of stretchy and comfortable soft neoprene. As it opens flat and secured by Velcro, it is very easy to put on and remove from baby. You can also adjust how snug the fit you want baby to be in the wetsuit. Not only it keeps baby warm, the neoprene material makes holding on to them much easier too, knowing how slippery a water baby can be.

Konfidence One Size Swim Nappy

Although there are disposable swim diapers in the market, they are expensive and not eco-friendly. The Konfidence One Size Swim Nappy has adjustable velcro strips and buttons which can fit baby as they grow. The nappy is meant to be worn as it is, and is able to contain most poo. I wanted to get an aqua nappy to put over for more protection but seems it is not available here.

We took DC out for her first swim while at Port Dickson. Here's what we did before she went down the pool :

1) Ensure she already done her poo-poo business

2) Wear the swim nappy, followed by the BabyWarma

3) Keep talking to her and letting her know she is going to the pool

4) Soak her feet in water to give her a feel before putting her entire body into the pool

Splash!

She enjoyed playing in the water a lot, and was busy splashing away like a pro! If propped correctly, she can actually float on her own. This is because baby contains lots of fat, thus easier for them to float.

I'm floating! Well, kinda...

Back home, husband tried to bring her to our condominum pool one day after we came back. I was very sick so I didn't follow along. Apparently she refused to go down the water and was making a lot of noise! Not sure if the water was too cold in the morning, or she was already sleepy. Looks like we will have to try again one of this coming weekends (we were too busy preparing for CNY before that) and cross our fingers she will go down the pool this time around.

Spring Cleaning 2012

2012-01-20T15:51:00.000+08:00

After delaying for the longest time, I finally had time to spring clean my cupboard and drawers! I can't recall if I ever did a thorough spring clean since I got married so one can imagine how much junk I have collected for the past 3 years!
Here are some 'interesting' stuff I found during my spring clean :

Lenovo "THINK" stickers, when they just entered the PC market in 2006

I love the subtle message on this Miss Piggy Post-It Note :)

Beautiful Japanese stationery by my ex-boss who is a Japanese.

This Post-It Note is designed by Nina Jobs.

Stila Postcard when they first entered the Malaysian market.

The cosmetic brand was pulled out from Malaysia in 2009.

I kept these Elle Sports notebooks since I was in secondary school!

Till now still not willing to use it. Looks like it will belong to DC in future...

Failed Christmas tree ornament project. I suck big time with felt craft :(

I did this back in Dec 2010 while pregnant with DC but didn't know I was pregnant then.

Left handed calligraphy set.
Oto-san is very good at calligraphy but unfortunately I did not inherit his talent.

Looks like I still will keep most of my stuff, just a matter of re-organising them only. Wish I have a craft room all to myself...

1 Utama CNY 2012 Decoration - Deja Vu?

2012-01-15T11:12:00.000+08:00

If you've been to 1 Utama during Christmas and lately, you may notice some similarities in their festive decorations. Do you know what it is?


Christmas 2011. Photo credit : 1 Utama Facebook page

CNY 2012 decoration at Oval, 1 Utama. Notice the shells?

That's right, they recycled the giant clam shells for both festive occasions! In a recent press release, the 1 Utama team explained that the CNY theme is a continuation of last year's Christmas under the sea theme, and coincidentally it is the year of water dragon hence they could do so as well. They also mentioned with the short turnaround time between Christmas and CNY, they do not have enough time to bring down all the Christmas decoration and change to CNY decoration within a short time.

Center Court @ Old Wing, 1 Utama

It is the first time I see a shopping mall recycle their decorations. I thought it was a brilliant idea and perhaps Eco-friendly to a certain extend as less waste is used to create new decorations. From the management point of view, I'm sure it also represents some form of cost savings too :)

Kudos for 1 Utama for being "brave" and thinking out of the box!

The Dash

2012-01-12T05:42:00.000+08:00

I read this poem from The Star recently and decided to share this, and also a reminder to myself on how I should define my 'dash' and what legacy do I want to leave behind for my family.

The Dash
By Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

Bathing Baby Without Bath Tub

2012-01-06T15:50:00.001+08:00

I always bathe DC using the baby tub. That was how I learned from the confinement lady. Till now I still stick back to the same routine until recently as she was getting bigger and more fidgety. Now I try to put her on sitting position and supporting her instead of lying down.

During my last two trips to Penang, I was able to bathe her at the hotel bathtub and my aunt's huge plastic basin. However, during our recent trip to Avillion Admiral Cove, I called the resort to find out if they have any bath tub or not. They neither have a bath tub nor provide any baby bath tub as well. So how?

I recalled one mother sharing a picture of an inflatable pool on the Mummies Connect group. So I got one from Jusco at RM19.90 (Diameter 100cm x Height 22cm). I bought a small pump as well, else hubby will go out of breath if expect him to blow the rubber pool by himself!

DC checking out the inflatable pool

When inflated, the pool fits DC's size about right, and can be used till she is much older. Thankfully the resort bathroom shower area is also spacious enough to fit the entire inflatable pool, else we have to bathe her outside the bathroom.

DC : Is it bath time or swimming time?

DC enjoyed her bath very much. In fact she kicked water many times thinking it is very fun! I have yet to master bathing her in sitting position, have to practice more often. The base is a little slippery, need to hold her tight to prevent her from slipping. The alternative is to put the non-slip mat at the base of the pool.

I think this is a very good idea, and best of all it is very compact and can be brought along anywhere together with the pump. Husband was thinking of letting her play water on the balcony, but I think I rather bring her to the swimming pool instead, less one thing to clean up!

New Year Celebration @ Port Dickson

2012-01-03T16:16:00.000+08:00

Instead of the same old routine of hanging around our house for the fireworks celebration, this year the six of us plus baby DC headed down to Port Dickson to usher the new year. We stayed at Avillion Admiral Cove Port Dickson for 2 nights.

View from our room

It was my first time staying at this resort. Link kept comparing to the Avillion water chalets, saying it is nowhere as nice, but I supposed for the price we paid for this place (RM225 for 3D2N), I'd say it is a pretty decent resort, as compared to the 'memorable' stay at Hotel Anika in Kluang back in 2007 (for the wrong reasons). Moldy toilets anyone?

Beautiful sunset

We departed on Friday evening, and checked in around 9pm. Hubby and I were given a room with king size bed. We also requested for a baby cot which they provided as well. I'm glad they have this facility else we have to bring the playpen along as well. the room is spacious, and I like the fact that they have a sink area which I can wash and sterilise my bottles and pump parts. Too bad I didn't manage to take a photo of the room as we were rushing to get DC to sleep. I did take a photo of the baby cot though.

Baby cot provided by the resort.
Note : blanket, sarung and kain lampin not provided :)

After baby slept, we celebrated both Link and my birthday by feasting on the Baskin Robbins ice cream cake that Tham bought all the way from PJ. What's left of the dry ice became something for the guys to experiment and play with. First it was dry ice + water in a mug, which looks like some creepy potion or witch brew. They then proceeded to put dry ice + water in the sink, which then emitted so much 'smoke' it got a bit ridiculous, like our room is a science lab. Luckily the effect didn't last too long, else we wondered if it would trigger the fire alarm...

Tham is brewing Love Potion No. 9 but tak jadi...

We then played a few rounds UNO till 2am before everyone proceeded to sleep. No UNO Stacko this time around because it is noisy and will wake baby up once the tower collapses.

The weather on New Year's Eve was fantastic - hot and sunny. Perfect for any outdoor activity. Yet we all took naps after breakfast (using the excuse baby needs to nap la!) and only had lunch at 3pm at a nearby restaurant.

Yachts parked around the marina in front of the resort

During the evening, we brought DC to the pool, while the rest went along to play archery. Too bad I could not play archery with them but seeing DC playing water in the pool is really memorable, I would not want to miss it!

Our highlight of this trip is the dinner at Gin Men Teppanyaki Restaurant 金门铁板烧鱼. Eric made reservation much earlier as seating capacity is limited. This is a family-run restaurant, and their home is just located behind the said restaurant! As we reached there a little late, we have to wait for our food because there's only two chefs handling all the orders. We ordered their signature Fish with 3 flavours (Sambal,Ginger and Oyster sauce), dong gwai la-la, mayo prawns, grilled squid, stuffed crab and vegetables.

3-Flavoured Fish

I love the fish dish, it was grilled perfectly and the accompanying sauces just tastes heavenly with the fish. I also like the accompying lady fingers and stuffed fish balls.

Another favourite was the la-la. I have never tasted this style before. It is cooked with an egg sauce (like those in cantonese fry) infused with dong kwai. The aromatic dong kwai smell and taste made the difference in this dish. We loved it so much so we ordered a 2nd serving of it!

Link highly recommended the stuffed crabs which is also one of their signature dish. Served in the crab shells, it is a mixture of crab meat, mayonaise and another sauce. It's a unique taste but very nice, although I like the fish and la-la more.

Stuffed crab. Below it is the la-la dish

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel, since there was nothing much to do in Port Dickson at night anyway. Here's the funny part : we were sipping dessert wine and waiting for the countdown at our room. DC did not want to sleep, I'm assuming she wanted to countdown with us as well :) When the clock strikes midnight, we shouted Happy New Year in our room. It was quiet outside apart from the sounding of the horn from a nearby ship. No fireworks, nothing. Around 30 minutes after midnight, the rest headed back to their rooms to sleep. We slept as well but baby was still awake! Signs that we are clearly aging, haha...

After we checkout from the resort on New Year's Day, we headed to nearby town Lukut for lunch. Tham found this restaurant called Lucky Seafood restaurant via his iPhone and we decided to try it out. Boy, the place was very packed! It is famous for its Lucky King Bun which is basically a curry chicken bun. We ordered one to be shared among the 6 of us. We also ordered some seafood, tofu and veggie too.

Busy cutting up the curry chicken bun to be served.
Photo credit to Tham's iPhone

As we wait for our food to be served, we can see the buns literally flying off the stall. It was so popular that the shopowners have to replenish them quickly! The curry in the bun is nice, and the bun was not too soft nor oily too. I personally prefer this to the Kampar curry chicken bun. Our lunch was very good as well, not to mentioned reasonable priced too. Eric asked if we wanted to head over to Seremban for dinner, but I was already not feeling well, we will give this a pass. Perhaps next time then...

Baby and I fell sick right when we got home, must be too tired from all the travelling. What a new year celebration!

First Christmas with DC

2011-12-26T08:12:00.000+08:00

This Christmas marks a very special moment for us - it is our first Christmas with baby DC :)

First thing we did was to get a Christmas tree! Could you imagine we celebrated Christmas without a Christmas tree for the past two years since we got married! Spent a few hundred Ringgit on the tree and decorations as I simply don't have the time to handmade anything!

This year it was held at our home yet again, pot luck style. Luckily we learnt from last year's mistake and made/brought less food this time around. There's turkey, grilled eggplant, fried noodle, salad, konyakku jelly and cake. The portions are just nice for everyone, not much leftovers for the night.

All ready to serve!

My peach and rose-flavoured jelly :)

While we and our siblings are busy setting the table, the grandparents had a good time playing with DC and watch her entertain them :)

Look, it's Ah Gong and Yeh Yeh!

Unfortunately for DC, her sleepy mode took over and she was off to bed by 8pm! She did not have the chance to open up all her presents so the two grandmothers had the honour of doing so on her behalf. I think half the presents around the tree are hers, she had gifts from husband's colleagues, the babysitter, and not forgetting from all of us. In fact, the grandmothers were more excited than the baby when it comes to opening her gifts.

Showing off one of DC's Christmas gifts. This one is from the babysitter.

We got her Sophie the Giraffe, a new toy I found after joining the Mummies Connect forum on Facebook. I hoped she will like it and will be her new best friend, apart from the yellow dog which she plays with every other day.

I think next year's Christmas will be very different, as DC would probably be able to run around and tearing open her gifts, not to mention pulling down the ornaments off the tree! Let's pray that will not happen, else we will only have lights on the Christmas tree...

Tri-colour Pita Bread Pizza

2011-12-10T23:26:00.000+08:00

My MIL recently taught me very simple dish I could make, in case I am not able to cook a proper full meal when DC is around and requires mummy's full attention :p

It's a pita bread pizza a.k.a mini pizza :)

By using pita bread as a base, the topping options can be just about anything you want!

Here, I created a tri-colour pizza using red, green and yellow peppers.

Ingredients

1 pita bread

1 yellow pepper, finely chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped

1 red pepper, finely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped
4 pieces of brown mushroom, finely chopped

1 sausage, diced

2 tbsp of tomato based pasta sauce

Shredded mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven at 200C. Total cooking time for pizza will be around 30 minutes.

2. Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce on the pita bread.

3. Sprinkle with a light layer of mozzarella cheese. The cheese will hold the ingredients on the pizza when melted.

4. Start to layer the pizza with sausage, onion and mushroom.

5. Follow on with the red, yellow and green pepper. Here I try to make it look like a Christmas ornament ball hence why it is 3 rows of different coloured peppers.

6. Top with another light layer of cheese. For this pizza I use very little cheese on top as I wanted the colours of the peppers to show.

7. Drizzle the pizza with a little olive oil.

8. Pop the pizza into the oven for 30 minutes. The time may range from 20 - 30 minutes depending on your oven.

9. Serve while hot.

I made a few of this for lunch - one for myself, one for hubby. I need to prep the ingredients ahead of time when baby is sleeping, so when she is awake I can quickly prepare and pop it into the oven, then spend time with her while waiting for my meal to be ready :)

I'm also planning to try a mini Hawaiian and tuna pizza next time too! Maybe I should do a few varieties for our upcoming Christmas party...

I am submitting this to the Christmas Giveaway in The Sweet Spot

Pureen Warehouse Sale - Round 2 (Dec 2011)

2011-12-04T13:36:00.001+08:00

It was only back in April'11 when we first went for Pureen's Warehouse sale and came back with loads of stuff. We went again for the second time yesterday and got even loads more stuff - mainly baby wipes and tonnes of clothes for DC.

Being more prepared this time around, we brought along two shopping trolleys and a huge shopping bag to carry our loot home. We also quickly surveyed around and grabbed what is needed as the layout of the warehouse sale is the same as last time.

Probably the biggest difference then and now is that back in April I only bought few clothing as we do not know the gender of the baby. Now that we know it's a girl, we bought DC lots and lots of clothes! Not to mention socks as well! No way she's going to complain she has nothing to wear, hehe :)

How I wish there's Mothercare warehouse sale in Malaysia, will surely go broke buying clothes for my little girl!

Happy Birthday to Me

2011-11-30T23:50:00.000+08:00

Wow, it feels like a birthday gift that I am able to post something today!

Ever since baby DC came to this world, blogging is seriously the last thing I can do, although my mind is always wanting to blog about my life as a mummy. By the end of each day I'm just so tired!

Celebrated my birthday with my husband and in-laws at Concorde (Actually it was a free dinner because there was an unused table during A&M's wedding dinner in Sept 2011). They even got me a huge chocolate mint cake! Yummy...

On the other hand, Oka-san forgotten about my birthday...Sob Sob. I supposed she's too engrossed with her granddaughter she had totally ignored me. But in the end, she realized and gave me a birthday hug before she left for the day :)

We'll be sending DC to the babysitter in December so that mummy can take a break. However, need to do massive spring cleaning first! That would be my task next month. Hopefully I will have some time to blog (fingers crossed) else this blog is going to be abandoned soon!

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio FAIL

2011-10-31T23:29:00.000+08:00

Sometimes the easiest looking dish may turn out to be the most difficult to cook Take for example during the Masterchef Australia Season 2 Finale whereby both Adam and Callum are required to cook a perfect omelette. Easy stuff? I don't think so. In fact, the only perfect omelette that I have tasted probably came from Pangkor Laut Resort egg station during breakfast.

So one fine weekend, we are both too lazy to go out and tapau lunch. I did not want to cook chinese-style fried spaghetti, and hubby is sick of sauce-based pasta. So I thought, why not cook Aglio e Olio, which in my mind a very simple oil based pasta dish. I had olive oil, garlic, chili flakes, spaghetti - all that is needed to cook this dish.

After checking the internet for recipes and coming up with my own estimation, here's the outcome:

It looked a bit plain because I did not have any garnish, except for bits of fried garlic and chili flakes. Taste-wise, I don't think I did a very good job :

1) The pasta was tasteless even though I added salt, perhaps not enough. The saving grace was perhaps the chili flakes-infused olive oil which gave it a little spicy kick.

2) Not enough olive oil was used, so was a little dry. My fault for not following to measurements.

3) Timing of cooking the pasta and oil is crucial. I cooked the oil too early, hence by the time the spaghetti was ready, the garlic became fried garlic.

Looks like I have to try to improvise on this dish next time, and make sure i buy some prawns as well to make it more yummy :)

French Beans with Mushroom and Pork

2011-10-07T23:03:00.000+08:00

Usually before I cook a meal, I would spend a lot of time trying to think of what to cook, looking up recipes online, and purchasing the ingredients on the day itself. This can be kind of stressful especially when I want to try something different yet want it to be at least edible.

Hence why this dish is so special to me is because

1) it is my first ever dish that I don’t need to refer to any recipe
2) It is just based on what I have in the fridge, just use it and cook!

Unfortunately I don’t have the exact measurements as it was so ad-hoc. I just list down the main ingredients for reference.

Ingredients

French beans

Lean pork meat

8 dried chinese mushrooms, pre-soaked

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon cornstarch

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1) Clean and dice french beans.

2) Cut pork into thin slices.

3) Cut pre-soaked mushrooms into thin slices. Keep the water which will be used later.

4) Heat up wok, add 1 tablespoon cooking oil.

5) Put in minced garlic and fry till fragrant.

6) Add sliced pork, fry for around 1 minute.

7) Add diced french beans and some water that was used to soak the dried mushrooms. Fry for 1 minute.This will help to soften the beans.

8) Add in mushrooms and continue frying.

9) Add oyster sauce and cornstarch to the remaining bowl of water, add to wok and cook till the sauce thickens.

10) Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

I'm extremely proud of this dish, I even asked Oka-san to try it, which she said it's nice and worth cooking next time. Due to lack of time to prepare and cook because of my baby, I think this dish is close enough to be a one-pot dish - it has vegetables and meat, just need to eat with rice!

Webify Me!

2011-09-25T17:58:00.000+08:00

Since baby DC was born, I basically do not have time to blog! Guess my confinement and motherhood postings will come later once I get back into schedule.

Meanwhile, I found this interesting quiz called Webify Me. It's a 20 question quiz about your online habits & once answered, it will create a custom mosaic of your web life. Each items in the mosaic will reveal something regarding your web habits.

Here's the mosaic of my webified life. Some are pretty accurate, but I certainly disagree on the Noisemaker part!

Do try out and share what is your montage!

Parenting - Mum vs Dad

2011-09-08T18:30:00.000+08:00

Yes, I had just became a parent, but I can't help feeling how relevant this comic is :)

Washi Tape Fun with Containers

2011-09-01T20:59:00.007+08:00

I had some washi tape fun with containers during my confinement period.

The first was an old pewter pencil holder which was given to Oto-san by his staff as a farewell/retirement gift many many years ago. Oto-san did not fancy such gifts, so I took it from him and made it my pencil holder in office. In the past I usually cover it with wrapping paper, but decided it needed a makeover using washi tape instead :)

I just took out my entire stash and start cutting them into strips, and applied them vertically all around the pencil holder. I finished it off with two strips of thick "MT masking tape" labelled washi tape so that the vertical strips will not peel off over time.

The second was an empty glass container, previously used as a body lotion bottle. I cleaned the container thoroughly and let it dry before working on it.

Initially I wanted to apply horizontal strips of washi tape across the bottle surface, but found it quite hard to do due to the shape of the container itself. I then decided to apply on the cover instead.

I used mostly black, white, grey and silver, with a hint of gold for contrast. Once that is done, I sealed it off with a thin strip of dark grey washi tape on the side.

I now use this container to store my colourful buttons :)

Two very simple projects, but equally satisfying!

Love Affair with Sereni & Shentel

2011-08-27T13:24:00.000+08:00

My love for hairbands came from the fact that I had been wearing them since I was a kid. During my secondary school days, I usually wore either a simple black or white plastic hairband, not the Evita Peroni ones which were expensive and usually confiscated due to exceeding the maximum width of a hairband. (I wonder if this school rule still exists...)

When I entered college and subsequently university, I expanded my hairband collection quite extensively. I had faux tortoiseshell, frosted pastels, gingham and checked patterns, sparkly pencil thin ones and my perennial favourite - an ivory coloured hairband which could be stretched and bended but not be broken. That hairband lasted me a good 12 years before it finally broke in 2008.

Just because I was working doesn't mean I have to stop wearing hairbands. In fact I still wore most of my plain coloured ribbon hairbands, just that it looked a bit 'blah' with my working clothes.

That is, until I discovered Sereni & Shentel.

What started as an accidental discovery online last year turned out to be a page which I follow closely on both my Google Reader and Facebook. While I drool over their Mandys, Bow Downs and Blairs, one part of me kept holding back from making a purchase, perhaps for a fact it is a tad pricey for a hairband (the same reason why I never got myself an Evita Peroni hairband all these while).

Then, somehow, S&S came up with a Buy 1 Free 1 promotion for their Blair hairbands early this year. That was my cue to buy! I ended up with Blairs in Charcoal and Olive Grey. I chose those colours because they are quite neutral and easy to mix and match with most of my clothes. Even if I wore a red shirt with black pants, I can easily match it with my Charcoal Blair.

As if admiring their Blairs was not enough. When their Blairspiration range was released, I nearly flipped. All those possibilities! All those pretty colours and combinations! It was a matter of time I need to save some $$$ to get at least something from the custom range.

When S&S announced a Polyvore contest, I was ecstatic! They will choose 5 winners with the best set.

The prize?

1 Kuching Cat
1 Ice Ice Baby Mini
1 Blair
1 Custom Blair

Wow!

I used to be very obsessed with Polyvore when it was first launched, and made it my de-stress tool. I believe I have an advantage as compared to other users :) We were allowed 5 submissions, and although I came up with 4 fashion-based sets and 1 art-related set, it was the art-related set that was the winning piece!

Hard Candy by nileey

So I got myself a red Kuching Cat, a Navy Blair, a Pink Ice Ice Baby and my very own custom Blair.

The process of choosing the colours for my custom Blair was kind of interesting. At first I tried to rely on the colours provided online, but each time the pictures of the actual samples was sent to me, I didn't like it. In the end, the kind designer offered to design one for me based on a picture, or a Blairspiration which I like. I gave them two pictures below :

So she ended up designing something neutral but with shiny gold stones and matt pearl stones on a baby pink ribbon. I would have gone for a bold and colourful hairband, but I'm happy with this one as it can be matched with various outfits, which is what I wanted in the first place.

So in summary, I have a total of 6 Sereni & Shentel hairbands - 4 Blairs, 1 Ice Ice Baby Mini and 1 Kuching Cat :)

From left - Custom Blair, Blair (Charcoal), Ice Ice Baby Mini (Pink), Blair (Navy), Blair (Olive Grey)

Another view of my hairbands :)

I'm saving this Kuching Cat for my daughter, hope she will like it!

I'm still keeping my eyes open for at least a Bow Down and one from the Blockspiration range. Maybe not immediately but sometime in the near future. There's never enough of a lovely hairband :)

Sereni & Shentel, keep those lovely hairbands coming!

She's Popped!

2011-08-21T16:04:00.006+08:00

Our sweet baby DC was born on 16th August 2011.

She's a voracious feeder, a shrill screamer, a night owl, and above all, the apple of our eye :)

Life will be so different from now onwards.

A Trip to Farmer's Market @ Central Park

2011-08-08T17:33:00.011+08:00

Last week, I found out that 1 Utama will be organising their first Farmer's Market @ Central Park via a brochure placed on one of their counters. Looks interesting, I thought. So we headed over there yesterday after our morning walk at the park.

The Farmer's Market comprises around 10 - 12 stalls occupying a small section of Central Park. There were stalls selling mushrooms, organic vegetables, local and imported fruits, potted plants, bread and home-made jam.

I was quite excited to find these carrot complete with their roots and tops at this organic vegetable stall. Super cute!

Gourmet homemade jam in unique flavours such as Apple & Kiwi, Pineapple & Papaya and Butterscotch Pumpkin. The same stall sells organic yoghurt as well.

We got two bottles of jam, a pack of sweet seedless grapes and a pack of baby sweet potatoes from the market, in addition to the free cherry tomatoes through the redemption. I love the pumpkin jam!

As it is the first time 1 Utama organized this event, I supposed there is room for improvement in getting more awareness on this event as the crowd was relatively small. The publicity in 1 Utama was quite minimal and it was by chance I got the brochure I decided to drop by the market. The next market will be held on the 1st Sunday of September.

I will most likely miss the next Farmer's Market in September due to my confinement, so hopefully I could drop by again in October, this time with hubby and baby!

All Prepared!

2011-08-06T20:42:00.000+08:00

So now I hit Week 39 this week, here's just an update of what's going on so far.

Firstly, I'm proud to announced I have finally packed my hospital bag two weeks ago!

Not too sure if it is 100% complete, but based on the several checklist I have on hand, it should be more than enough. I omit to bring any nightgowns or button-front tops though, simply because I don't have any! Anyway, based on my friends' and colleagues' experience, it is not necessary as they just wore the hospital gown during their stay.

We also attended the antenatal class two weeks back in the hospital. For RM150 per couple, we received a cute goodie bag, lots of pamphlets, plus breakfast and lunch too.

The course focuses on the labour process, why breast milk is best, role of the father, as well as a baby bath and massage demonstration. I though the breastfeeding video is very interesting, though the timing of the video was kind of questionable (We were having lunch in the conference room when that video was played). Imagine what goes through the men's mind watching the baby sucking on the mother's breast while they were eating their ayam rendang and rice :) It was also an eye opener for me to see pictures of the actual delivery of the baby. That is probably what spooked me the most of the when I think about how the entire labour process would be. After the course I felt I was slightly better prepared in terms of the expectation and options available during delivery.

Last week, we also completed our shopping for baby stuff. Firstly, we visited the 7th Parenthood Expo 2011 which was held in Midvalley Convention Hall. I was hoping they will have as many stuff as the Mom & Baby Expo that we went in May'11, but was a little disappointed that the choices of the items we were looking for (car seat and bed linen) was so much more limited. I saw lots of companies promoting cord blood and stem cell banking, post natal packages and slimming! Even Ghee Hiang had a booth there selling sesame oil for only RM30 for two bottles, a great bargain as we bought ours from Giant at RM20 per bottle!

We managed to buy one fitted sheet for the baby playpen, as well as the Simple Dimple Papa Shield diaper bag, which we have now nicknamed it the "Turtle Bag" because of the hard shell :) Later during the evening, we got our Halford Zeus baby car seat from My BB Store at Kota Damansara. That pretty much completes our shopping list - Finally!

I've also settled my work tasks in office already. Cleared my desk, transferred my files to my back ups, done the necessary transition etc etc. I'll be working from home the next week till I deliver. Quite relieved now that I won't have to think about work for the next 5 months :)

With everything in place now, all is left is to wait for our dear baby girl to decide what day she wants to see the world. Everyone is already getting anxious, including myself and hubby. I wonder when it will be?

No Break for Pregnant Mama!

2011-07-29T07:38:00.006+08:00

People thought I could relax now that I am nearing my delivery period.

How I wish.

I am still so busy as ever, one of the reason being there will be major re-organisation within my function in August, but has yet to be finalised. So I'm left with lots of bits and pieces which I can't even hand over to my successors. Today I woke up 5am just to review reconciliations, like how I always do it before I was pregnant :(

I am also expected to support July closing (so long I don't go for early delivery), but mind you the pregnant mama is already so tired every day! I also do not want to induce early just to avoid the closing because I don't want to miss our daughter's birthday just because it is the first week of the new month for at least the next few years! (Am anticipating I won't change company for now)

Just one more week of closing, and really look forward to be able to support from home till baby pops!

Washi Tape Thank You Card

2011-07-19T09:56:00.000+08:00

I got myself this really cool roll of MT washi tape from Kinokuniya a couple of months ago. It had "Thank You" in 18 different languages all around it. I call it the Thank You washi tape :)

I decided to make a simple Thank You card as part of my thank you gift to a staff of mine. I took some scrapbook paper as the card base, put the strip of washi tape on the right side of the card, and finish it off with scalloped trimmings on the top and bottom of the card.

I forgot to take a picture of the card before I wrote on it, so here's the final version :

I thought the card may go well with a matching paper, so I did the same to the paper bag by sticking a strip of washi tape on both sides of the paper bag.

Simple yet satisfying. It also gives me ideas how to decorate paper bags using washi tape, perhaps my next project in future :)

Into the Final Stretch

2011-07-16T10:20:00.014+08:00

When I first got pregnant, I thought 40 weeks is a long way to go.

Guess what? I'm now at week 36, four more weeks to full term!

My baby bump is now very, very obvious, though still not too big as compared to some of my colleagues. My doctor advised I should keep baby's weight around 3KG for an easier birth. My weight now hovers between 71 - 72KG, depending on how bad is my water retention.

In addition to water retention, leg cramps, heartburn and constipation, I now have another "friend" who may be late to the party, but caused enough misery - itchy fingers and toes! Apparently this is normal during 3rd trimester and is caused by a combination of both water retention stretching out the skin as well as increase in estrogen. So during the night I had to apply lotion or some oil on my palms and feet to control the itch.

Little one had been happily kicking mummy on a daily basis, not that I mind. But she has been more receptive to my husband too as compared to last time. Although she keeps still when he puts his hand on my belly seconds I said I felt movement, after coaxing for another minute she'll be moving around again. Sometimes I have to silently beckon hubby to feel my tummy, in case she stops moving for fear it's daddy :) I supposed the best experience for us was when hubby was knocking on my belly, and the little one actually responded with the same number of kicks!

We've gotten around 90% of the baby stuff. The baby cot will be delivered next Monday. We'll be getting the rest of the baby and nursing stuff, as well as confinement essentials this weekend. Probably the last item to get is the car seat, in which we shall wait for the upcoming Parenthood Fair at Midvalley end of this month.

Speaking about baby stuff, I think my nesting mood will hit very soon. I am already thinking of washing all the baby clothes, bedsheet, and preparing other baby stuff, but have not done yet because I'm waiting for the cot and baby detergent to be delivered to us next week. I also need to start packing my hospital bag, especially since I had a dream whereby I already went into labour but nothing was ready!

It had been quite a journey so far, I wonder what will happen when this journey ends, and the beginning of another journey, hopefully I am able to enjoy and cherish motherhood, even with its ups and downs :)

Lessons Learnt from Buying Baby Stuff

2011-06-25T09:12:00.022+08:00

Ever since we know that there will be an addition to the family, I've spent A LOT OF TIME (no kidding) doing research on what is out there in the market and best price as well. It's quite an eye opener as I never knew there were so many baby products and brands available. Here's what I learned to date :

1) List down what do you really need at this point in time

I had the privilege of knowing many friends and colleagues who are already mothers. Some of them will tell you all the things you need to buy, but are they really necessary? A lot of products may come about due to convenience, or it is because everyone else is getting it. It also doesn't help if one is overwhelmed by the products being marketed which was obviously not used by our parents.

My initial list was extremely long, partly due to the fact I downloaded the shopping list from some American or European website. Later when we looked through the list and strike off those not relevant to our climate, or we deemed not necessary for now.

A friend of ours was annoyed why we are not planning to get a bottle steriliser, bottle warmer and a baby monitor. I'm holding off the bottle steriliser and bottle warmer for now as I will be taking a short break from work, so most of the time I will be home. I can use the traditional way of using boiling water to sterilise the bottles. As for the baby monitor, it is not necessary as baby will be with us in the same room. In the event if I step out to the kitchen, I can push the cot out to the living room. Again, I'm not saying we will definitely not buy, but will have to monitor the actual situation first before committing to the purchase.

2) Find out best practice or best recommendation from friends/relatives

Again, too many opinions may come about, but no harm to listen to them all and pick and choose what you think is best. I have decided to go to a few selected colleagues and friends for their advice as I think theirs is the most practical. One of them actually had the 'opportunity' to give his feedback on various brands as his wife kept trying new things, so he was able to give me his feedback on more than one brand, for example bottles and breast pump. They went through Avent, MAM and Dr Brown before deciding to go back to Avent.

One classic case was when our well-meaning friend mentioned we need to buy an ear thermometer which costs a couple hundred of Ringgit. My husband immediately shot down the idea by saying "Why do we need an ear thermometer when the normal digital one is sufficient". Our friend scoffed at my husband, "Do you think the baby will lie down nicely for you to take the temperature for even 10 seconds?" I thought about it, and her logic made sense. I went around asking my other colleagues about it, and all of them actually said they use an ear thermometer, but it need not have to be specifically for babies. I relayed my findings to my hubby and asked him to ask his colleagues too. In the end, we concluded that we still need to get an ear thermometer after all, but instead of purchasing, we redeemed it from our credit card points :)

3) Branding - Does it matter?

So many brands to choose from, so much headache!

When we started out with the stroller list, I was so particular about the brands it annoyed my husband to bits. ("Why do we need a stroller that is fully imported from Italy?" He said to my MIL who recommended us to take Peg Perego).

It was good he went out with me to test the strollers as well to see if it is practical or the price was right. It was only after we made our purchase he found out about other local brands such as Sweet Cherry and My Dear, which is far cheaper. My point to him was that even though it is cheaper because it is local product, I still have some doubts on the safety features. Whatever it is I am not going to complain so much when he decides on the car seat, so long it is not too cheap, which defeats the purpose of safety right?

Strollers aside, even buying a breast pump can be a headache. I had sort of made up my mind to buy Philips Avent based on my colleagues' experience and recommendation. Then my MIL - who listens to one shop owner's recommendation - asked me why don't I take Medela? Well, I supposed I can, but I am more comfortable with Avent for now because the recommendation came from people I know, not the shop owner. Even when it comes to bottles, Avent is a more trusted brand as compared to Pureen.

Apart from equipment such as stroller, car seat, breastpump and bottles, I'm not too particular about the brand of other products, especially clothing. Let me share with you my experience at Mothercare. Oh, I love their KLCC shop so much I feel like buying all the baby clothes from there. Again, it will be at a premium. Plus, would baby even care? There are a couple of people I know who only buys from Mothercare or Baby Gap, but I think they are more brand conscious rather than anything else, unless it is from those factory outlets, when I don't mind :)

4) Price, Price, Price

Once we've decided on which product to purchase, the 'fun' part begins - comparing prices!

There are so many places to begin with - departmental stores, specialty shops, online shops, even warehouse sales! I find most specialty shops prices are the most expensive and does not come with special price or packages (except for baby cots). Online stores usually have discounts or special packages to appeal to customers, depending on their needs. Surprisingly, departmental stores are the ones which has the best offers, so do make sure you check their pamphlets or promotions online!

Another place to get great bargains are during warehouse sales or baby fairs. So far we gotten some great deals from the recent Pureen warehouse sale, as well as the Mom & Baby Expo in Midvalley. However, not all warehouse sales equal cheap products. I heard from one friend that the Avent bottles were really cheap during Philips warehouse sale. That was about 2 years ago. I went for the most recent Philips warehouse clearance yesterday and was so disappointed! The Avent products were only at 20% discount, with a few selected products on offer. I bluntly told the sales promoter "You prices are no different than that in a departmental store!" which he sheepishly admitted so.

Case in point relating to above scenario - I was looking for the best price for Philips Avent ISIS On-the-go Breast Pump Set. The retail price is RM429, RM343 with 20% discount in departmental stores or online shops. So far the best option was from MyBBStore, an online shop which provides the set + two 260ml PES bottles + one teether + one diary for RM437.50. It was not my favourite choice yet as I do not need the teether and diary at the moment, and feedback from my friends that Avent PES bottles have the tendency to leak. But it was the best bargain so far.

After the disappointing trip to the Philips warehouse clearance, I surfed the internet for more deals. Turns out Parkson was having their member's day sale, and coincidentally they are having a baby fair too! Guess what, they have a bundled package of the set + four 125ml PP storage/feeding bottles for only RM399. It is even cheaper than buying individually @ 20% discount. Immediately I drove out to 1 Utama Parkson. Luckily there was only one set left, so without a thought I grabbed it, made my purchase and came back a much happier pregnant lady because I got a good deal :)

These are my key learning experience so far. No wonder it is said that being a mother means you will have a steep learning curve, even before baby is born!

Back-Scratching

2011-06-15T00:43:00.000+08:00

Sometimes my dear husband can be annoying like this. LOL :)