Lirong | A singapore food and lifestyle blog

Kaylene's Full Month Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 15:04:00 +0000

My favourites in this world. <3

Happy Full Month to my little baobei! Before you start scrolling, If you need help or ideas on planning a full month / 100 days celebration, read my post here. :)

Tutti Frutti

The theme for meimei's party!

We actually engaged Neo Garden Catering for both the dessert table and buffet line this time round.

Yes, you hear me right. Neo Garden Catering offers dessert table packages now as well! 10 different designs to choose from and we decided to go ahead with this super colourful and cheery theme!

Love the bright and vibrant design!

You can find out more about Neo Garden Catering's dessert table packages here.

I had a hard time deciding on which theme to go for actually. So many pretty themes to choose from! In the end we chose "Tutti Frutti". Other than loving the vibrant colour, it is also because Jaylene decided to recognise a lot of the fruits. So she really loves this design too!

Meimei kinda sleep throughout the entire celebration.

So Jaylene jiejie enjoyed the party on her behalf! Haha!

Who's party is it now? :P

Food wise, Neo Garden Catering has always been our #1 choice. For the buffet line, we can choose a thematic decoration too! We chose "Tutti Frutti" of course.

Click here for other decorations that Neo Garden Catering offers.

Neo Garden Catering's food never disappoints! Though I didn't have much time to enjoy the food, but I do noticed my guests going back to the buffet line for more food! A well fed guest is a happy guest!

No doubt, Neo Garden Catering's curry chicken is a must have for us every single time!

My babies. <3

We engaged Bespoke Photography once again to capture our precious memories! They were the one who took photos of Jaylene's cake smash photoshoot and Jaylene's 1 year old celebration too!

Aww!

Jaylene loves to carry Kaylene!

My big baby and her obsession with balloons!

Sharing more photos that Bespoke Photography captured for us.

Super cute together!

Yup, Jaylene not letting go of her balloons. Haha!

Oh yes, we got a bouncy castle to engaged the kids too!

Look who gets to enjoy all the yummy desserts from the dessert table? :P

Bespoke Photography does family, birthday and more shoots! Do check here for their rates!

With love from the Tans. :)

PEM Confinement Nanny Agency Review

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 13:15:00 +0000

It's always a mixed feeling for me to end confinement. While I'm happy to gain back my freedom, I do miss aunty a lot!

Before I start, I know a lot of you will wonder why I didn't engage the same confinement nanny recommendation as my first pregnancy.

Well, I love to! However, my previous nanny has been booked during my EDD period hence I have to go for another nanny. Though upset that I couldn't have the same nanny, I trust PEM with their pool of well trained confinement nanny. PEM is afterall the biggest nanny agency in Singapore. It is safe to say that they have Singapore best confinement nanny! You can read about my previous PEM confinement review here.

Aunty Wong Li Ping (#362) was being assigned to me this time round and I have a great 28 days of confinement thanks to her.

Now, some of you may feel that as a second time mum, I would have more experience now. Hence, I can do away with confinement nanny.

I beg to differ.

I think no matter each pregnancy it is, it is still important to engage a confinement nanny. Here are my reasons.

1. Rest and recuperate

This is obvious. After delivery, new mummy's body is still very weak and may even be in pain. You will need all the help that you can get as well as all the nutrients for your body to heal. You will be thankful to have your nanny to take care of the newborn and cook you nutritional food while you focus on healing your body. For me, it took about a week before I recovered from my stitches. So that one week, I was so thankful to have aunty Li Ping around the house!

2. Caring for firstborn

With a new member in the family, it is important not to neglect your elder kid(s) too. Be sensitive to their feeling for sure. So during my confinement, I can always trust aunty to take care of Kaylene while hubby and I focus on Jaylene to make sure that she doesn't feel left out. It was a great arrangement for us. We didn't get any jealousy from Jaylene and she adores meimei very much.

Speaking of cooking nutritional meals. Do forget to take up the herbal package by PEM. You just need one package like this to last you the entire confinement period. I really like that they make it so fuss free!

This package consists of the ingredients for aunty to make red dates longan tea, daily herbal soup and herbal bath.

Chinese confinement food focuses a lot on herbal soup to help postpartum woman to recuperate.

You can see that throughout the 28 days, I had different types of soups to help me to heal and strengthen my body. I love the third and fourth week's soups especially!

I cannot stress on how on how important to maintain personal hygiene during the confinement period. Especially when you're breastfeeding! It's fine to bathe. In fact I shower everyday during my confinement using this herbal bath that aunty boils for me daily. One of the function is to expel wind in your body!

Now let's talk about my favourite part of confinement, Chinese confinement food! To be honest, being able to eat all the yummy food makes confinement much more enjoyable for me! Haha! My previous nanny set the bar really high (read my PEM confinement review), luckily aunty Li Ping is a very experienced nanny, cooking Chinese confinement food is her forte.

Let me show you some of my favourite meals! It's going to be make you hungry!

Breakfast:

I usually have my breakfast around 8am and aunty would cook noodles soup or porridge for me. Because I love "hong zao" very much, aunty always make "hong zao ji mee sua" for me! Love it!

Lunch:

My lunch is usually a noodles dish with a herbal soup.

I love aunty's creativity! Like confinement friendly ee-fu noodles is my favourite! Even simple macaroni soup tasted supreme!

Dinner:

Usually aunty cooks 3 dishes + 1 soup.

I love aunty's vinegar pig trotters! A must have on Chinese confinement food!

My elder girl have her dinner with us too and she enjoyed the meals cooked by aunty too!

Because I'm over supply for my breastmilk production, hence I didn't request aunty to make any breastmilk boosting food for me. But if you need, you can always request aunty to make for you.

Last but not least and the most important part of nanny's job is to care for my baby. From the way aunty speaks and the way she looks at Kaylene, I can tell that aunty has a fondness for babies. So I guess that's why she enjoys being a confinement nanny even though it is not easy being one.

I always like to watch aunty and Kaylene's interaction. I'm guessing that Kaylene likes aunty too! She always give aunty a smile whenever she hears aunty's voice! Aunty doesn't just care for Kaylene only. She helps with my elder girl, Jaylene too. Aunty loves to play with her and when I'm caught up with things, she will take the initiative to entertain and care for Jaylene even though it is not part of her job scope.

Speaking about taking initiative, aunty Li Ping is really nice! When she has spare time, she will offer to help us to clean and tidy up our house. Like wiping the cabinets and tidying up my shelves. From her gesture, you can tell that she is a very friendly and easy going nanny, I enjoy chatting with her very much! You know it is important to feel comfortable with the person whom you will be living with for the next 28 days! Otherwise, confinement is going to be miserable! :P

All in all, we are very thankful to have aunty Li Ping being assigned to us. If you're looking for confinement lady to recommend Singapore, I will recommend her. :)

In fact, having been with PEM for both of my confinement, I would recommend them to potential mummies! You can learn more about PEM confinement review here or enquire now.

Love,

Lirong

Prenatal & Postnatal Massage Singapore Review

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:52:00 +0000

Photo taken with Aunty Emily after my 7th and last post natal massage session.

From my first pregnancy, I've experienced how effective post natal massage is. Especially in flattening the tummy, so going back to Post Natal Massage Singapore is a must!

If you haven't read about my previous post on Post Natal Massage Singapore Review, you can click here.

The good thing about this post natal massage is they come right to your doorstep, at the comfort of your home! You will just have to prepare 2 big towels and 2 small towels only.

The entire session lasted about 1 hour 15 mins. An hour for the massage and 15 mins for the corset binding.

During that hour of full body massage, the aim is of course to help recovery mummies to relax and reduce stress. It also improves blood circulations for better sleep. You know how every bit of rest is so important for sleep deprived mummies who are breastfeeding or pumping through the day and night! The massage will also help to reduce water retention and speeds up womb recovery!

I remember that during my 1st session with Post Natal Massage Singapore I was having very bad lower backache and engorged breasts. After just one session, my back was much much better from the massage and my engorgement was cleared. My breastmilk yield was much more after clearing the blocked ducts. In fact, every session before the massage, Aunty Emily will always help to check for blocked ducts and clear them if any.

After the massage is to wear this customised binder using the complimentary Tapel Oil from Post Natal Massage Singapore. This binding helps mummies in straightening their body postures and helps to slim down their postpartum body as well.

Oh yes, other than postnatal care, Post Natal Massage Singapore also does Prenatal Massage Singapore I was having very bad lower back ache when I was carrying meimei. Mainly because I'm still the primary caregiver for Jaylene, my elder girl. She loves to ask me to carry her! So I'm so glad I did this pregnancy massage. Just one session, my lower back ache was relieved and I was pain free for almost a week before I needed another round of massage. So highly recommended for pregnant mummies who have aching problems or any discomfort. I didn't have any water retention, but if you do, Prenatal Massage Singapore can help to alleviate too. Hopefully this prenatal massage recommedation would help fellow pregnant mummies! :)

Anyway, this is how it is like to have the binder on. Best to wear it for at least 6 hours. Not to worry, the binder is designed such that it doesn't interfere with breastfeeding.

This was taken before I started my post natal massage.

After just 2 sessions.

After 7 sessions of massage and binding!:)

I'm still very satisfied with the result I get from the massage. Hopefully this Post Natal Massage Singapore review would be helpful to recovery mummies too. If you are looking for Pregnancy Massage Singapore, either prenatal massage recommendation or postnatal masssage in Singapore. Do check out Post Natal Massage Singapore. You can also call 64179690 to book now or learn more about their services! :)

Love,

Lirong

Baby K's birth story

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 12:57:00 +0000

02 December 2019

My dearest Kaylene baobei is born.

I always doubt my ability to love another baby after having Jaylene. How wrong was I?

My eyes welled when I heard your cries the first time.

It wasn't as easy to carry meimei as compared to jiejie. Obviously because while being pregnant with my second baby, I still have my clingy firstborn to care for. Thankfully meimei blessed mummy with an easy delivery. All the timing was right and I couldn't be more grateful for.

By 36weeks of my pregnancy, Kaylene's head was already rather low into the birth canel. I was rather sick then, sorethroat, flu and cough for almost a month as I didn't want to take any medication. So every cough sent Kaylene deeper into the birth canal.

Come 37 weeks, I was already 2cm dilated. It was almost weekend and the last thing I want is to deliver on a weekend because who is going to take care of Jaylene while I'm in the delivery room with my husband? It was a gamble and thankfully meimei was very cooperative, she waited.

Come Monday, we sent Jaylene off to childcare and went right away to see my gynae. We were shocked that I was 5cm dilated and having no regular contractions at all. My gynae broke my water bag at around 10am.

The contraction slowly came in and soon I was in pain and had this strong urge to push! It was very different from Jaylene because I was on epidural then and I couldn't feel anything. Alerted the nurses and they came in to check. I was told that I was fully dilated. My husband could even see Kaylene's full head of hair! It was kinda hilarious, but I was in too much pain to laugh.

They have to quickly inform my gynae to come over. That was not even an hour after my waterbag broke! It was an easily delivery, after a few pushes, Kaylene was out. She is certainly not a small baby for my tiny bump. Kaylene was 3.12kg and 50cm at birth, bigger than her jiejie. All in all, it took an hour for my delivery. It was so fast that I didn't feel any tiredness unlike when I delivered Jaylene, I almost passed out! Was still able to chit chat with my gynae while she cleaned and stitched me. My gynae was saying luckily we came in earlier, otherwise my husband would have to deliver me. Haha!

My big baobei came to visit mummy and meimei in the evening!

Such a heartwarming sight. :')

I'm certain with each other's company, they would have the best childhood together.

Love,

Lirong

Review: Steigen Automatic Laundry System

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 03:06:00 +0000

Earlier on this year, our HDB manual pulley laundry system give way. Hence, we took this opportunity to upgrade it for an Automated one with Steigen!

I know many of you would be curious why we decided to change our entire HDB manual laundry system for Steigen automatic laundry system.

I'm not sure about you, but I always find it very troublesome to operate the manual laundry system. More so when I have to hang a full load of clothings, it does take a lot of effort to pull up the laundry racks.

So when we found out that I'm expecting again, one of the main concern would be the laundry that I have to do. It certainly hurts my back to have to deal with the manual pulley system. My husband went on to research on Automatic Laundry System and that is how we discovered Steigen!

We then went on to arrange an appointment with Steigen for the installation.

It involved the removal of our existing manual laundry rack first before they could install the automated one. I was expecting the whole process to take an hour at least. But I was pretty amazed by how quick they were! We have everything done up in about 45 minutes! Nope, my place wasn't dusty after that as well.

There are a few models of automatic laundry system on Steigen's website. Ours is the gorgeous Solar Ultra!

What Jaylene is holding on is the remote that I use to control the automated system. All I have to do is press a button to control the system! Super convenient and almost effortless for me to do our laundry now! Much needed for the pregnant me, especially now that I'm in my third trimester!

The system also has Wi-Fi pairing! It allows me to manage my laundry anywhere using Steigen Connect app.

If you think the automatic laundry system looks small, you're wrong.

The poles are actually retractable. Hence, I can lengthen or shorten the poles according to my needs. In fact, when lengthened, the laundry system can take 3 full loads for drying and is capable of withstanding 45kg of load! That is because it is made of strong aluminium to within heavy weight. All in all, I love this space saving function!

One really good thing about our Solar Ultra is that it has a solar drying function!

I don't have to worry about rainy days anymore! The combination of powerful air circulators and heat is well distributed around the clothes.

Also, the system comes with a built-in powerful LED light. It is all that we need when we require the extra light at night for vision. No extra lighting point needed as it is bright enough.

Worry about high electric bill? Not to worry, all Steigen models can save up to 9x energy consumption than a dryer. That works up to about $0.16 per hour of usage! Hence, it is more cost effective.

With a young toddler and a newborn coming, I love that the system has a built-in ionic cleanse and dust mite repeller too!

The ioniser helps to neutralise surrounding air particles to prevent musty odours and airborne allergens like pollen, bacteria, dust mites as well as other invisible odour causing particles. With the clothings being so close to my children's skin, it does makes me feel better to know that their delicate skin would be well protected!

For more benefits and functions of Steigen automatic laundry system, click here!

Good to know that Steigen is offering an attractive trade in programme!

If you have a HDB manual pulley system like we used to, you can opt for a normal trade in of $20 off. For existing automated system, it's $50 off! There is a x2 bonus till 26 Jan 2020!

Additionally, do remember to opt for SteigenCare+ after purchasing your system! A normal warranty covers 5 years for motor and 2 years for all other parts. With SteigenCare+, you can extend your warranty up to 10 years and up to $300 service credit will be granted for repairs beyond 10 years period.

I cannot be more pleased with our Steigen! Can't imagine myself battling with a manual laundry system while carrying a huge belly!

If you like to find out more about Steigen, go to their website or contact them at 8877 0005.

Steigen Showroom

140 Paya Lebar Road

#08-26 AZ@Paya Lebar

Singapore 409015

Mon - Fri: 10:00am - 6:00pm

Sat & Sun: 12.00pm - 6:00pm

Closed on public holidays

Love,

Lirong

Tian Wei Seafood Food Review - Seafood Restaurant in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 05:05:00 +0000

Bought the family to Tagore Lane to give Tian Wei Seafood a try. It's one of the newest seafood restaurant in Singapore! They might be one of the best mala crab restaurant in Singapore too! Read on to find out!

Now, just take a moment to eye feast on what we had! Yum yum!

I must say that location wise, it is not the most accessible. But it is indeed a hidden gem in this area!

With the name Tian Wei Seafood, of course I will have high expectations for their seafood and I wasn't disappointed. Unlike many seafood restaurants in Singapore, Tian Wei Seafood has a lot of live tanks, making sure that you get the freshest catch!

The tanks are great to keep the little ones entertained too! Jaylene had a good mini "aquarium' visit at Tian Wei Seafood before the food was served.

Mala Crab.

Move aside, chilli crab, this tongue-numbing dish is probably the must order at Tian Wei Seafood! Comes in 3 levels of spiciness for you to choose from.

Look at the huge claws of this Sri Lanka crab! Mala crab is best cooked using Sri Lanka crabs for that fat and juicy meat. Probably the best mala crab restaurant in Singapore!

Aside from this mala crab, another of the signature is white pepper shark fish soup which is packed with nutritional values! Unfortunately shark fish is not suitable for pregnant woman to consume, otherwise I love to load myself with some good collagen!

A quick look at the menu. Certainly, the speciality here is seafood!

Other than seafood, Tian Wei Seafood also offers over 100 odd tze char dishes for you to choose from!

The staples.

Being a big fan of hor fun and white bee hoon, I love to come back for them! No stomach space for more that day.

Crab with prawns and scallop congee.

I'll highly recommend this dish! It totally spells comfort for me to have a bowl of this pipping hot congee. To me, the magic here is the soup broth which contains the sweetness of the seafood!

Steamed bamboo clams with vermicelli & garlic.

Was delighted to find bamboo clams on the menu because it is really rare to find it on tze char stall menu! I really love how plump and juicy the clams were! Though garlic was added, the dish is not spicy at all. Jaylene enjoyed it too!

Passionfruit fish fillet.

This dish resembles sweet & sour fish fillet, except it is less sweet. I was digging the sauce to go with my rice! So appetising!

Yangzhou fried rice.

A commonly found item on tze char menu. What I like about their version is that it is not overly greasy. You like what I mean when you have a plate of fried rice but you feel like you consumed more oil than anything?

Eat your greens!

I was pleasantly surprised when Jaylene had about 4 pieces of lady's fingers. This is usually not her choice of vegetables. Say a lot about the dish from her liking!

Wanted to take some photos with Jaylene but she only has her eyes on the food.

Can't wait to eat! Haha!

Seeing my baby enjoying her meal is one of the happiest moment for me a mother. <3

Thank you Tian Wei Seafood for the wonderful meal! This is certainly one of the best places to eat in Singapore! Seafood lovers especially!

Tian Wei Seafood

81 Tagore Lane, TAG A,

#01-10, Singapore 787502

Stall Opening Hours

Mon – Thu : 11AM – 10PM

Fri – Sun : 11AM – 11PM

Order Hotline Hours

Daily : 10AM – 8PM

+65 6727 5596

Love,

Lirong

Jaylene is 1!

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Wed, 13 Mar 2019 15:25:00 +0000

My baobei turned 1!

Wow. It's hard to believe how my tiny baby went from 2.7kg to 10kg now. :')

We hosted a party to celebrate our milestone together with our family and friends. For guide on how to plan a baby's full month / birthday celebration, click here!

Thanks to PartyEverAfter, our dessert table was beautifully set up! It's the perfect spot for photo taking!

Jaylene's 100th day celebration setup was from PartyEverAfter too! They are the greatest helpers for events!

I love the dessert table that PartyEverAfter put up for us!

How much my baby has grown. T.T

We were all saying that Jaylene is the roundest at 8 months old!

This little girl is always clapping at the wrong timing. :D

Our desserts were from River Ash Bakery.

I adore this cake so much!

The sweet treats weren't just pretty, they tasted yummy too!

It's the first time when most of my desserts were wipe out! I didn't get to try most of the desserts in fact, only the birthday cake! Shows how much my guests love the desserts from River Ash Bakery!

I didn't intend to let Jaylene taste the cake. But cheeky girl grabbed the cake when I wasn't looking and licked right over from her fingers!

Our lunch was settled by Neo Garden Catering. Look at the gorgeous setup! My guests were really impressed by the beautiful thematic decoration!

Always our trusted caterer from special occasions! For Jaylene's full month and 100th day celebration, we had our food catered by Neo Garden too!

Be a Neo Bao Bao like Jaylene, you can quote “NBB15” to enjoy 15% off buffet catering for baby full month / 100 days celebration!

Additionally, after joining the Neo Bao Bao club, you get to enjoy 20% off subsequent buffets for your child’s birthday until your child turns 6! Quote “NGCBABY” for it!

Also, dont miss Neo Garden Catering's “March 1 for 1 Special”! Order a regular buffet and add-on side order of $50 (additional dish/items) and receive a FREE mini buffet (worth $200)!

This is one attractive deal!

If you ask me what's good on the menu, it is definitely the curry chicken! It's one dish that we'll always have whenever we are having buffet catering from Neo Garden!

To keep energetic kids well occupied, we rented a bouncy castle from Jumppy.

Wow. The kids went crazy in there! I have a few who didn't want to go home because they wanted to play in the bouncy castle!

Jaylene had a good time crawling in the bouncy castle too!

Including trying to eat some of the colourful balls too. >.<

Last by not least, thank you Bespoke Photography for capturing all the precious memories for us from the party! :')

They are the who who took Jaylene's cake smash photoshoot too! I really like their professionalism so I engaged them again for the party! ^^

Dear Jaylene,

this will be 2nd and last birthday party (first was full month party) that daddy and mummy will throw for you. You got to plan your 21st by yourself! :P

Love,

Lirong

Jaylene's cake smash photoshoot

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 13:25:00 +0000

Jaylene is turning 1 soon! I cannot speak enough of how time passes just so quickly! It felt like yesterday when I first held her in my arms. :')

To celebrate this occasion we decided to do a cake smash + family photoshoot with Bespoke Photography.

We had it in a studio and I'm really happy that the place is really clean! Haha! You know as a mother, cleanliness is one thing you'll be very particular with since the baby is always on the floor.

Hey, baby. Where is the neck?

I love how unflattering this photo is! Jaylene looks like a little furball!

Like what I've expected, Jaylene didn't like the new environment. She starting crying the moment I put her down or left her alone. So we had warm her up a little.

Some tips for mummies, bring her favourite toys, sing her favourite song, play peekaboo, do anything to make her smile!

We started the shoot by taking photos with Jaylene. As you can see, it wasn't easy to make this ice princess smile! Haha!

Thank goodness our photographer was very nice and patience! He tried really hard to play peekaboo with Jaylene to make her smile too! Haha! Such a boss baby, Jaylene!

Hello, baobei. What are you thinking about?

I like the ones that were shoot with my husband! I take credit for being a clown behind the camera to make Jaylene smile!

Aww~

Don't they look so alike here?

Love love this family shoot of us!

Before Jaylene got distracted, again! Haha!

This naughty girl started to play with her birthday hat!

Love this too!

Finally she is ready for the finale! Cake smash!

I didn't have to worry about her not wanting to touch the cake, the moment she sees it, she crawls right for it!

Having fun there~

Made a strawberry shortcake for her.

RUDE!

Haha!

The cue that she had enough.

Our photographer prompted us to get into the frame to play with her! Hahaha!

Like it a not, daddy and mummy are going to plant you with many many kisses!

Very thankful to have this photoshoot with Bespoke Photography. It was a really relax and causal session. Highly recommended if you're looking for family photoshoot!

Bespoke Photography does newborn, maternity, birthday and more shoots! Do check here for their rates!

Love,

Lirong

Towards better complexion with La Clinic

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 15:21:00 +0000

Jaylene and mummy woke up like this in the morning. ^^

I'm not a makeup junkie, but I'm definitely take my skincare regimen seriously.

BUT.

Ever since I take up the role of a mother, I have been slacking in my skincare routine. No time, no time! I'm sure SAHM can relate to this? Even going to the toilet, I have to sneak away from Jaylene, you tell me, where I find the time to slowly apply my toner, essence, moisturiser or even a mask? I'm so tired at the end of the day. >.<

Also, now as a nursing mother, I'm also more concern and careful with the beauty procedures that I do. The last thing I want is to bring harm to my baby.

To be honest, while we are still nourishing our baby with nature's gift, there are a lot of aesthetic treatments that are unsafe and not suitable for us.

However, at La Clinic, they do offer a few treatments that are suitable for nursing mothers and pregnant women! Yay! You know how those hormones ruin our skin.

A little background on La Clinic. Located in Paragon Medical Center, Singapore. It is an aesthetic clinic that offers medical treatments for the face, skin and body.

I've been seeing Dr Rachel Ho from La Clinic. She's an aesthetic doctor as well as a mother! The latter is really the reason why I trust her to take care of my skin while I'm breastfeeding.

This is my bare skin before I started seeing Dr Rachel Ho monthly at La Clinic.

Dark under eye circles aside (Thank you Jaylene for blessing mama with them.😪 ) , you can tell that my skin is really dull and dry. Notice uneven pigmentation too? Which is why I always appear to look very weak and even sick-looking if I were to head out without makeup. Haha!

So after seeing Dr Ho, she recommended that we start with chemical peel and Qswitch laser treatments which are safe for nursing mothers and pregnant women. I'll love to fix my dark circles, but unfortunately the treatment isn't safe for nursing mother. So I'll just have to pray that Jaylene STTN soon. Haha!

Another bare face look just two sessions with Dr Rachel!

A side to side comparison.

Do you see that my skin is brighter? Definitely less dull and my skin tone is more even too!

After my third session with Dr Ho.

Look at my skin! It is glowing! Zero makeup, no edit or filter too.

As the primary caregiver to my clingy Jaylene, I really don't have the luxury of time to sneak out for pampering sessions like this. So I love that the consultations with Dr Ho at La Clinic is very low maintenance and quick! It is also great for working ladies to pop by during lunch break to give your skin a good treat! ^^

I usually pop by once a month on a Saturday morning while Jaylene is still sleeping with her daddy. Just half an hour and I'll be on my way home to my baby again! No sweat at all.

Despite having less than ideal sleep, thanks to Dr Ho, I still look like a human. Haha! In fact, one with good complexion! I'm not greedy, I just aim for a good complexion that doesn't require much makeup to conceal the flaws because mama here have no time to do makeup too. :P

Ok, enough of my raving on the chemical peels and Qswitch laser treatments that I've done.

More information on the two treatments that I've done over the four months below:

1. Chemical Peel

What is a chemical peel?

It is a medical treatment performed by the doctor to exfoliate skin, lighten pigmentation, control acne and achieve a more even skin tone and softer texture.

How does a chemical peel work?

Quite simply by peeling away dead skin and grime and blackheads and whiteheads! This lets the newer skin underneath to resurface and complements the use of Qswitch laser for even better results.

It took less than a minute for this treatment to be done!

2. Qswitch Laser

What is Qswitch laser?

It is a type of laser used to treat skin conditions such as pigmentation, dull skin, acne, oily skin and pores.

What are the benefits of Qswitch laser?

- Lightening of pigmentation (e.g. sunspots, age spots, melasma, hori’s nevus…etc)

- Lightening of dark acne marks (actually considered a type of pigmentation)

- Skin rejuvenation (brighter, glowy skin with more even skin tone and texture)

- Control and reduction of pimples and acne

- Smaller pores

- Less oily skin

Who is suitable for Qswitch laser?

1) patients with pigmentation. More mature patients with age spots to younger patients with dark acne scars

2) acne- teenagers and adults with adult onset acne can benefit

3) pregnant women- pregnancy can cause pigmentation problems like melasma or acne will find

this especially helpful because they are not suitable for most medications for acne and pigmentation due to the risk of fetal abnormalities

4) patients looking for rejuvenation of their skin or to age-proof their skin. Patients in their 20’s can get this done without incurring any downtime.

For more information on laser treatment, you can refer to this post by Dr Rachel Ho.

Do refer to La Clinic's website for the full range of treatments that they offer too! :)

Oh yes, with better skin, it makes application of makeup so much easier too! ^^

Good deals for my readers!

There is a one time trial for first timers at $250 for both treatments combined. Thereafter, prices for Qswitch laser begin at $280 (and $360 if combined with chemical peel) for a treatment plan with more sessions. Simply quote my name, "Lirong", for 10% discount and waive off the $100 consult if you were to proceed with any treatment plan.

Ps: I've been following Dr Rachel Ho's blog for her beauty sharing and tips. Do hop over for for more insights!

Love,

Lirong.

Jaylene's first food (weaning)

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 14:56:00 +0000

Jaylene started on solids 5 days before turning 6 months old!

I shared her weaning journey on my Instagram and I promised I'll answer some of the commonly asked questions. So here you go! ^^

Oh ya, bare in mind that I'm no professional. Whatever I'm sharing is based on the information I've gathered from online reading and as shared by mummy friends. So take my words with a pinch of salt. Correct me if I'm wrong too! After all, I'm still learning as a first time mom. :)

1. How do I determine that Jaylene is ready for solid?

Usually weaning for baby is at 6 months old. There are quite a number of checklist you can find online. So these are what you can look out for!

Can sit up with support, and also holds head up well.
Can keep food in the mouth rather than let it dribble out.
Birth weight has doubled.
Shows plenty of interest in what you’re eating.

The last point is especially true for Jaylene. She is putting everything into her mouth and when we are eating, she will open her mouth to want to taste our food too! Haha!

2. What have I fed her so first? What is suitable as baby's first food?

I started Jaylene with carrot for 3 days. Always feed baby a new food for 3 days to observe for any allergy or reaction to the food. For the same reason, feed baby early in the day as well so that if there's any adverse effect, you'll be able to observe it through the day.

Be prepared that baby wouldn't be able to appreciate the food at the start. So don't need to prepare a lot of puree. Our aim at the start is to expose baby to new flavour, not really to replace her meal with the puree. Breastmilk or formula milk is still the primary food source!

So anyway, Jaylene wasn't able to swallow well initially. Solid is still very foreign to her. So she kept pushing the food out instead. Do note that it is common for baby to gag too as she doesn't know how to swallow the food. As long as she doesn't choke on the food, it is fine. But the good thing is Jaylene doesn't reject the food at all. She will open her mouth whenever the spoon comes! In fact a little impatient if I'm slow at sending food into her mouth. Haha!

So we had carrot, red apple, sweet potato and now she is currently on avocado!

By the 5th day she was eating like a pro! The guide says first two weeks, just feed baby 2-3 teaspoons is fine. But Jaylene is ready finishing a whole avocado. Haha!

Just do a Google, you'll be able to find a lot of suitable first food for baby and even recipe to find it! Actually, just steaming and blending now.

Besides what I've shared, I plan to feed her pumpkin, banana, pear, spinach, peas and broccoli in time to come!

If you're a busy working mom, you can always get off the shelf! HiPP Organic is the world's #1 organic baby food brand! Everything is made with only the very best organic ingredients to create wholesome & nourishing food for our little one! Easily bought from major supermarkets! ^^

For me I'll be making most of Jaylene's meal by myself, but on days like weekends when we plan to bring her out, then I'll be feeding her HiPP organic food.

3. How do I make Jaylene's food at home. How to store them?

Highly recommend Tommee Tippee Steamer Blender!

Meal preparation is so much easier with it because it can steam and blend everything using just this machine alone! Less washing and more time saving! ^^

If you're worried that it might be difficult to use, it's actually very simple with easy to follow guide! Best of all, it comes with a weaning guide and recipes that I've been following!

An example is the sweet potato puree that I've made with it! Dice sweet potato into smaller pieces then set the machine to steam for 15 mins and blend for 2 mins! I do this when Jaylene is taking her first nap so that when she is up, I'll be ready to feed her. :)

We actually bought a Braun MultiQuick 5 last Christmas (because got sale! :P)

It is more pocket friendly to use a handblender to puree the food. Just steam the food over the stove then blend using the handblender. I used this for Jaylene's carrot puree. :)

It is recommended to add some breastmilk / formula milk to the puree to give baby a familiar taste. I did that for carrot puree (Jaylene's very first food), after which I didn't add anymore breastmilk.

Because it is recommended to feed baby the same food over 3 days. Usually I'll made the food the split into 3 portions to be fed over the next 3 days. I don't store in freezer, just keep in air tight container then put in the refrigerator. It can last for 48 hours! Alternatively, you can store in freezer which can last longer. I don't really recommend storing baby food for long though. Nutritional values do diminish over time!

4. What is Jaylene's feeding schedule like?

For the first two weeks, Jaylene is having 1 solid per day. As I mentioned it is best to feed baby early in the day, but Jaylene is a late riser. She wakes up at 10am. So by the time we have our playtime and bath time, it is time for her first nap, usually 12pm. So she will take her solid after her first nap.

3th week onwards, I'll be increasing to giving her 2 feed per day. One after her first nap, another after her second nap.

5. Review on Love Oribel's Cocoon High Chair

How pretty is the high chair right? Haha! Aesthetic is a bonus, Love Oribel's high chair is very functional too! It has a padded seat liner which makes it extra comfy for Jaylene to sit on.

Made of waterproof material, so cleaning is very easy! Comes with 3 recline positions and 6 height adjustments! It has wheels for easy manoeuvring and can be easily folded up when not in use.

You can either use their detachable food and cup holder or large tray for feeding.

This is daddy feeding Jaylene for the first time! Even without the seat liner, Jaylene is comfortable in it as well! ^^ She usually doesn't like to be bucketed up, but so far, no complains from her! ^^

6. Why did I start with traditional spoon feeding instead of baby led weaning (BLW)

Yes, I do plan to let Jaylene do BLW ultimately. But not now.

I read that BLW is best recommended for baby starting from 8 months old onwards. Because baby got to master pincer grip first. Of course you can choose to jump start with BLW. But I think you can expect most of the food to be on the floor than inside baby's mouth. Haha!

Alright, I hope I didn't miss out any question! Do follow me on my Instagram as I'll share Jaylene's weaning progress there. :)

Love,

Lirong

Jaylene is sick for the first time

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 15:08:00 +0000

My little girl fell sick for the first time at 4.5 months. All thanks to mama for spreading the virus to her. T.T

So she started having blocked nose, then runny nose and was coughing with phlegm.

You probably have heard this before, that a sick baby is a parent's worse nightmare. Her sleep was totally disrupted. I mean, even us as an adult would have problem falling asleep when having a blocked nose. So imagine a poor baby. :'(

She had to be carried most of the time in order to sleep, finally I decided to give her a soft pillow to elevate her a little. That helps a lot! But she still gets awaken easily because of her constant cough. :/

We brought her to the pd the next day when we find that her cough is persistent and had phlegm.

Good to know that when a baby coughs, it can be rather serious as the lungs may be infected if not treated probably. So if your baby is coughing, do seek professional help! You won't want baby to end up having pneumonia when the phlegm enters the lungs.

Our pd put Jaylene on nebulizer to help her to clear the phlegms. As Jaylene was about 4 months old, hence she couldn't take any medicine. After talking to some mummies, I realised that nebulizer is in fact the commonly used method to cure persistent coughs in young babies.

Tips shared by the nurse is that, after using the nebulizer, it is more effective if you could cup your hand, pat your child's back (at the left lung's position) and then give a shake. Repeat on right lung. This helps to loosen the phlegm!

How phlegm would be expelled from baby's body?

Two ways. Either they vomit out or they poop out. Too bad that baby doesn't know how to spit out the phlegm like we do. :/ Jaylene didn't vomit at all. All her phlegm was cleared through her poop. You'll notice slimy, sticky substances in the poop! That was like better than strike lottery when I see them in her poop! Haha! So get your baby to poop more by feeding more frequently! Breastmilk is a good source of antibodies by the way. ^^

Also, don't be surprised that it takes about a month or so for a baby to fully recover from cough and phlegm. Yes, that long. T.T

Rule of thumb shared by pd is that as long as baby's sleep is not affected, is feeding well and does not develop fever, it is fine. Just continue life as per normal. Thank god that Jaylene recovered in two weeks time! I think because she really poops a lot. My baby can poop like 3 times a day. Haha!

So remember, if baby is coughing. Don't take any risk, bring to the pd!

What if baby is not coughing? What to do if baby is having blocked nose or runny nose only?

As shared by my pd, you can try using sterimar spray, wait for 5 minutes then apply iliadin. It really helps to unblock the nose! Both can be bought from Guardian.

On the other hand, if baby is having a lot of mucus in the nose, lollababy nasal aspirator is a must have!

But don't say I never warn you, be prepared for a screaming baby with any of the above methods. Baby will definitely not enjoy having any foreign object in their nose. But what to do?

Finally, wear mask if you're not well! ^^

Love,

Lirong

Review: LG TWINWash

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 16:20:00 +0000

New washing machine in the house!

This is the LG TWINWash that is able to wash two loads at the same time! Saving mama, me, a lot of time and energy when comes to doing laundry now. ^^

Honestly, when LG TWINWash first came into the market, I bought into the idea of its dual front load washer function. Especially when we were expecting baby Jaylene then. The two loads washing would be handy! However, when LG TWINWash was first launched, the size of it was humongous for a HDB, so we gave it a miss. Hence, I am so happy now that LG has come up with more versions of TWINWash for different home sizes!

Mine is a 8/5kg Washer Dryer TWINWash and it fits perfectly in our service yard! ^^

You can refer to LG Singapore's website here for more models of the TWINWash.

Before we have LG TWINWash, Jaylene's clothing were all hand-washed because we don't want to mix her delicate clothes with ours and it doesn't make sense to wash her tiny and few clothing in a big washer either. Definitely not energy, water or cost saving at all!

Now with our LG TWINWash , we can wash both the adults' and baby's laundry at the same time!

The "main washer" washes our big load laundry that requires faster and deeper cleaning. It is very user friendly, just turn the knob to your desired washing function!

Some of the key features of the main washer include:

TurboWash™ which can finish the big load laundry in under 1 hour.

- TrueSteam™ technology which activates Allergy Care and Steam Refresh, reducing 99.9% allergens. Getting rid of house dust and mites for your family's hygiene care.

- 6 Motion Direct Drive technology which mimics hand washing action, giving fabrics the proper care while getting clothes ultra clean.

- SmartThinQ™ technology which allows you to operate or monitor your laundry from anywhere, anytime.

Now the exciting Mini Washer! It is a separate washer to takes care of small loads that require special care. Such as our sport wear, underwear, and baby clothing!

It is really straight forward to use to mini washer. We have been using it to take care of Jaylene's daily laundry! The size is just right her for small load. Definitely much more energy saving and cost effective!

Notice the blue rubbery thing? Unlike the main washer, the mini washer doesn't come with a detergent dispenser. Hence this smart introduction of the washable detergent holder!

In case you're worried about safety with children at home, especially curious toddlers. LG TWINWash comes with safety "child lock" function! But for now, I'm going to employ my little girl to do her own laundry under my supervision. :P

Overall, LG TWINWash has saved us so much laundry time! Trust me, being a first time mum and the primary caregiver to a clingy baby, the last thing you want to worry about is laundry! Now, I get all my laundry washed and clean using the dual washer. I have more time to entertain Jaylene and can even steal some pockets of "me time" in between! Besides being cost effective and time saving, it is an added bonus when LG TWINWash is so quiet in it's performance! Cheers to less vibration and noise to wake a napping baby up! ^^

Love,

Lirong

***This post is brought to you together with LG Singapore

Baby J's 100th Day Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Fri, 25 May 2018 06:16:00 +0000

Happy 100th Day my sweet little pie!

It feels like yesterday when I've just given birth to this little one? Look how big she has grown! :O

As much as I love her small she was at her infancy stage, baby Jaylene is so interactive now! The way she communicates with us, in her baby language, is like she also really trying to respond to us! Haha! She is also very smiley and her smiles never fail to brighten up my day. :')

Anyway, back to the 100th day celebration, initially we didn't plan to have one since we've done a full month party for her. (You can read on it here with some tips to planning one!) So anyway, while thinking on how to celebrate Mother's Day, we realised that her 100th Day is nearby too! So we decided to do a double celebration. Just with both sides of the family. ^^

Look at this gorgeous setup! Baby J was so attracted to it that we have left it on the wall since then!

We didn't hire any vendor for the decoration setup this time round as it was a very last minute decision and we wanted to keep it simple too. Thankfully at the same time, the good people from PartyEverAfter asked if we were keen to receive a themed party box from them! Yay!

Basically they carry quite a number of party essentials like themed party boxes and party props for you. Great for DIY party or have a tight budget in hand! :)

We had the "Oh My Pink!" party box and look how Instagram-worthy our bare wall became! Would have looked better if not for the air con.

My sweet little girl.

She looked so tiny on her daddy's shoulder!

No dessert table this time round, obviously we can't finish all the desserts.

So I put together an appetiser cum desserts table!

We had a sushi platter from Sakae Sushi, cake from Prima Deli, egg tarts from Fancy Delight and soy ice cream from Mr Bean.

Looks presentable still, right? Haha!

Anyway, if you have not tried Fancy Delight's assorted egg tarts, I recommend you to! I love them! Wish they have an outlet nearer to me.

For the main menu, it's none other than our trusted caterer, Neo Garden!

Baby J was very sweet, so fell asleep during lunch time and woke up only after our lunch! We got to enjoy the yummy food in peace! Haha! Not trying to say she's naughty. :P

Because there's only 10 of us, so it doesn't make sense for us to order a buffet spread that requires min 30 pax usually. So we are glad that Neo Garden's mini buffet allows for smaller group catering! It's great for family styled parties or cozy gatherings like ours. ^^

Food is packed in microwavable containers and comes with disposable cutleries and napkins! Super fuss free! All you need to do is sit back and enjoy the food! ^^

You can visit Neo Garden's website to find out more about their mini buffet menu. :)

Happy 100th day, my bao bei.

She legit looks like she is ready to cut the cake! Haha!

Looking for gold on the floor.

Thank you everyone for reading! Baby Jaylene is still busy looking for gold on the floor. Haha!

Love,

Lirong

Tian Wei Signature : Confinement Food Catering in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Wed, 23 May 2018 02:32:00 +0000

While I had a confinement nanny from PEM Confinement Nanny Agency (you can read my review here), hubby and I were worried about the transition period when my confinement nanny leaves us after the 28 days of confinement and I would have to take care of baby J all by myself. Hence, after thinking through, we decided to take up Tian Wei Signature's confinement food package such that while I focus on caring for my baby, I don't have to worry about my meals too. I can have delicious and nutritional meals delivered to my doorstep! :)

I believe Confinement Food Catering in Singapore is not uncommon and Tian Wei Signature has been rather popular among the mummies!

While I was still pregnant, I took up the trial meal for a taste of Tian Wei Signature's confinement food.

I think this trial meal idea is awesome! At least mummies will get a chance to taste the food first before committing to any of the packages. Imagine if I don't get to try the food first and I actually don't like it? I'll be stuck with 28 days of meals that I dislike! Not just a waste of money and resources, it also spoilt the mood as well!

Because good food = good mood. ^^

This is what I received for my trial meal. A bit of everything was being presented so you get to have a taste of the wide spread of food at Tian Wei Signature.

I like the fact that Tian Wei Signature doesn't offer traditional confinement food only, they do fusion confinement food as well! I believe this is something new for confinement food catering in Singapore?

Honestly I've heard a lot of good reviews on Tian Wei Signature's confinement food and indeed after trying, I'm a convert! The food was indeed yummy! I was worried at first that the food would be too oily (because of the heavy use of sesame oil in confinement food), but to my surprise, it was not! In fact, food was not heavily seasoned too! The food tasted very homely and I was already looking forward to the start of my confinement food delivery!

This is how a typical meal looks like.

1 box meat (fish, pork, chicken)

1 box vegetable

1 box rice/noodles

1 soup/dessert

2 red date herbal teas

Portion is so generous right?

Food is delivered between 10am-1pm for lunch and 4pm-7pm for dinner in a thermal bag. The bag keeps my food warm very well! Most of the time, I don't have the luxury of having my meals immediately because baby comes first. So I might be having my meals 1 or 2 hours later, but the food is still kept warm. ^^ It's a good thing that the food is packed microwave friendly, so if you prefer food to be warmer, you can always warm up using the microwave. :)

Another good thing about Tian Wei Signature is that they are very flexible with meal cancellation! Just give them a call in advance to rearrange.

Now, let me share with you some of my favourite meals from Tian Wei!

The braised pork trotter in black vinegar is definitely my top pick!

Food is never too repetitive at Tian Wei Signature. Do you know that on their menu, they offer 45 different nourishing soups, 44 unique meat dishes and 42 unique vegetable dishes? This to ensure that new mummies have good nutritional diet during the confinement period with special dishes, tonics and soups formulated to improve well being and keep energy levels high!

A good thing that Tian Wei Signature is pro breastfeeding. Hence, the food prepared aims to help mummies to increase their breastmilk! Such as the well known green papaya fish soup as pictured. Other milk boosting ingredients that are used include salmon, spinach, cumin, fenugreek, quinoa, okra and tomato! You can read more about Tian Wei Signature's devotion to breastfeeding over here.

Sesame Oil Chicken is like a must have confinement dish!

Red fermented wine chicken. Another confinement dish that is not commonly seen nowadays.

I only had it once through out my entire package! Miss it so much!

I'm not kidding when I say the portion is very generous! That's half a chicken there! Love this braised chicken with angelica & herbs too! Best of all, it helps postpartum mummies to recover better with the use of carefully selected herbs.

This braised pork belly!! My confinement nanny show me that confinement food can be done in a yummy way and I'm glad that Tian Wei Signature impressed me as well with their confinement food!

More of the different meals that I had. Besides different dishes and soup every day, Tian Wei Signature also strives to serve different types of rice other than plain white rice! Like mixed grains rice, brown rice, barley rice, oat rice, pumpkin seeds rice and so on! Every meal is certainly a hearty and enjoyable one! ^^

Some days, they serve non rice alternatives like this braised sesame chicken in sweet potato vermicelli. I love the sweet potato vermicelli!

This stir fried pork liver with white bee hoon and kailan is the type that I can eat everyday without getting sick. So simple yet comforting!

Now moving on to their fusion meals which are generally Mediterranean and Japanese inspired.

This is the Tian Wei Signature Coq Au Vin. The gravy is so good! Definitely a good change from the traditional ones. :)

This is my favourite among the fusion meals. Seared salmon with cauliflower cream and tri colour grains! I love the cauliflower cream especially! It's like mashed potato, except healthier!

Red snapper with lemon beurre blanc baked pumpkin and buttered corn cob served with fruits and wild grains pilaf. I love this combination too! My eyes lit up whenever I see pumpkin! Haha! The fruits and wild grains pilaf was flavourful!

Yes, you get spaghetti too! How awesome is that? ^^

Overall, I'm really glad that I had Tian Wei Signature to deliver my meals to me even after my confinement. Good to know that confinement meals can be taken up to 4 months postpartum! It helps mummies to recuperate better with the balanced and wholesome meals prepared. :)

So if you're looking for confinement food catering in Singapore, Tian Wei Signature is a good choice! If I have a second baby, I won't hesitate to sign up for their confinement package again, even after my confinement! They are quite flexible with their packages. You can find out more from their website here. :)

Love,

Lirong

Review: Baby Slings & Carriers

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sat, 19 May 2018 15:40:00 +0000

Hi everyone! First time that I'm so efficient in my posting. Haha! Because I'm really excited to share with everyone on my experience at Baby Slings & Carriers! Hopefully this post will help more mummies out there who are in search of the right carrier for you and your baby! Daddies included too. ^^

Baby Slings & Carriers was in fact introduced to me by a few mummy followers on Instagram when I shared that I was having problem with baby wearing. Anyway, that is Pearline, the super friendly lady boss at Baby Slings & Carriers!

A bit of background about Baby Slings & Carriers first.

Baby Slings & Carriers was born because they saw the need for a comprehensive website that helps a new parent to select the right baby wearing tool while caring for a new baby! If you were to hop over to their website, you can see for yourself that their website is indeed comprehensive. Just look at the extensive types of carriers that they carry alone!

To be honest, while scrolling through the website, I already feel lost! There are just too many brands of carriers out there (don't even talk about slings and etc) and all of them sounds like a great carrier! So which to choose?

If you can relate to me, then you'll be glad that Baby Slings & Carriers actually offers personalised carrier fitting service at the a low of $20 only! I went for the session and personally find that what you'll gain is definitely more than the $20 spent!

At Baby Slings & Carriers, you can find yourself a wide range of carriers in store and you get to try on them to have a first hand feel. Moreover, it's under the supervision of professionals like Pearline and her team! They will be able to guide you in your baby wearing, especially if you're a FTM like myself and they give you an unbiased view of how each carrier feels like on you!

For me, Pearline introduced 3 carriers that could be suitable for me.

First was Emeibaby Carrier. I love the feeling immediately when I wear baby J in it! My back was very well supported and the weight was well distributed around my hips. It simply feels so easy to be carrying my not so light, baby, in this carrier. More importantly, baby J sits so comfortably in the carrier as it takes the shape of the baby very well!

So I got to know that Emeibaby Carrier combines the versatility of woven baby wraps and ring slings with the ease of use and support of ergonomic backpack carriers. The result is a baby carrier that offers the baby wearer the advantages of all three!

Also, if you're petite in frame like me, Emeibaby is a great choice!

This is hubby wearing the same carrier and he was extremely awkward in it. Haha! Pearline explained that it was because Emeibaby is designed to fit a woman's waist more than a man. Hence, he wouldn't feel as comfortable in it.

The second one that I tried was Manduca Baby Carrier.

This is also a great choice for both petite and bigger size mummies! In fact, I actually love the support of Manduca carrier more than Emeibaby. Manduca is also good to accommodate bigger babies and takes the shape of baby very well! However, aesthetically wise, Manduca can't compare at all. Haha!

Hubby tried on it too. Again, he doesn't feel the same level of comfort as I do.

So this was when Pearline educated us on the reason why there are so many brands of carriers out in the market. Each brand has their targeted audience.

Hence, Pearline introduced hubby Boba 4G Baby Carrier!

Looking at the outlook of the carrier, it does fit the tall and lean body structure of my hubby very well! In fact, it is a very popular brand among the "angmohs".

Hubby was finally happy with a carrier! He was like finally one that he felt comfortable in! Haha!

So this was the Boba Carrier that he settled for.

So daddies, if you are keen of baby wearing but aren't confident in wearing baby by yourself, Pearline and her team is here to help!

For myself, I decided to try on Tula as well. Since I've heard so many good reviews of it!

Verdict? While the support on my back was fantastic. It didn't feel as great around my hips and baby J certainly didn't sit as comfortably as compared to Emeibaby and Manduca.

So in the end, I settled for an Emeibaby Carrier! Yes, baby J approved too! ^^

We had our first shopping trip in it shortly after! ^^

Overall, I'm really glad that I went down for the personalised baby carrier fitting session with Baby Slings & Carriers. I've learnt so much for the session! Getting a baby carrier is easy, getting the right one that suits you and baby may not be that simple. Especially if you have a rather tiny or huge frame. Like it's almost impossible for hubby and I to share a carrier because I'm a mouse and he's a lion. Hahaha! Just saying about our difference in size. :P

I'll say that a fitting will definitely make baby wearing much more comfortable and pleasant for you and baby! :)

Also, the $20 fitting is redeemable on the purchase of any slings, wraps and carrier at the end of the session! With every purchase with Baby Slings & Carriers, you'll get a Babywearer's Privilege Card that entitles you to 2 years of babywearing help & fitting for the carrier purchased from them! So any problem, just come back with the carrier and the privilege card! :)

ps: If you can, try not to arrange for fitting session on Saturday. Unless you have all the time in hand. Because at Baby Slings & Carriers they really take the time to walk you through the different brands until you find one that is satisfactory. Hence, Saturday is usually quite busy. We waited a bit too. So weekdays are highly recommended if you can! :)

Location: #06-01, 39 Jalan Pemimpin, Tai Lee Building, Singapore 577182

Business hours:10 am to 6pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday. Closed on Wednesday, Sunday & Public Holidays.

Contact: 6397 6691 (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri & Sat) 10am – 6pm

Love,

Lirong

Baby J's nursery tour

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 09:04:00 +0000

Hi guys!

A much delayed post, but I'm finally giving everyone a room tour of baby J's nursery room! Better late than never ya? :P

I spent most of the time during my 3rd trimester thinking and decorating baby J's room. I'm really excited and enthusiastic about it! I think it's like doing something I longed for and never get to have? So I wanted my baby to have a beautiful (in my opinion) nursery room that she can happily play and grow up in.

Ok, before you get too high of an expectation for baby J's room. It's actually quite simple, nothing too fanciful or pinterest worthy ok! Haha! Must set your expectation first. :P

When we did our home renovation, we left a room empty because we have already planned for it to be a nursery room.

This is the look when you enter from the door.

The theme of our home is white and grey, hence the furnitures that I got for baby J's room didn't go far from the theme. No bright and attention seeking colours please. I cannot.

However, I didn't want baby J's room to be too dull as well. A bit sad for a young baby right? So I did add in some colours here and there. Like the armchair that we got from Ikea.

I breastfeed most of the time on the armchair or just carry baby J when she doesn't want me to put her down.

Miffy mat from Taobao! Don't ask me what for, I bought it because.. CUTE! Haha!

The cupboard and trolley tray are from Ikea too.

Between the tray and cupboard is a diaper changing board. Now placed on the cot. :)

It helps to save space for sure!

What is inside?

Obviously baby's stuff. Which is like a lot! Unknowingly, I bought way too much stuff for baby J! Hahaha! Can't blame me right? Baby girl's clothings are just way too cuteeeee to resist! #takemymoney

We choose a relatively tall cupboard as we foresee that we'll need a lot of storage. True enough, it's overflowing. Haha!

I keep her clothes mainly on the first 3 drawers, the rest are stuff like her towels, swaddles, wet wipes and cotton wools.

This tray is to keep things that are needed on a daily basis. Like her diapers, diaper cream, lotions, nail clippers, wet wipes and etc.

Some of baby J's first few stuffed toys, now accompanying her by her bed.

Her cot is from Palette Box.

All along I wanted a white baby cot, so our choices were narrowed down. I like that this cot is very functional and inexpensive! Honestly, some cots are just too expensive! It's a 6-in-1 cot by the way.

I remembered when we were visiting all the different baby fairs, one auntie told us this. Don't waste your money on the cot, spend it on the mattress instead. How true! Ultimately, baby is sleeping on the mattress. The cot most importantly, must be stable and safe!

Yes, added an extra touch to the cot by decorating it with baby J's ultrasound photos. In case you are planning to, please do not laminate ultrasound photos! The heat will damage the photos! I bought transparent pockets to slot the photos in instead. :) If you're hardworking, you can scan the photos then print out! That way, you can laminate. :)

Bought a mosquito net because... pretty. Haha! And to prevent mosquitoes too. :P

My mattresses are from Jarrons & Co. Our removable diaper changing board is from them too. :)

Mosquito net from Taobao by the way. I shopped way too much on it.

The mobile which kept baby J very entertained is from Palette Box too! Agapababies is selling as well. :)

The mobile is rather expensive, almost the same price as the cot! Haha! But we like that it has night light, plays music, rotatable and is white and grey in colour. LOL!

Another thing that I've thought through a lot was wallpaper. I did consider doing up the room with cute wallpapers and I did research on it as well. However, I didn't find a design that I particularly like. Then my husband brought up the possibility of using wall stickers instead. He found this website, Bright Star Kids, which offers a lot of cute room decorations for baby nursery room! Yup, so that's how I ended up selecting some wall stickers from them and DIY it by myself! ^^

Good thing about their wall stickers is that it's customisable, easily pasted and removed too!

I did all the pasting by myself when I was heavily pregnant!

Another reason why we hesitated on wallpaper was that we took into account that we might have a second child and what if its a boy and we might have to revamp the whole room? It would be quite troublesome with wallpaper I feel.

So here's my baby in her sweet dream. ^^

I ordered 2 shades of clouds stickers so that her room wouldn't be too picky. Haha! Turquoise to match the armchair and trolley tray colour! ^^

Hubby was amazed by how I managed to stick the stickers so neatly and straight? Haha! Easy, just stick a string on the wall to guide you! ^^

Besides the cloud stickers, I also got some cute animal wall stickers to make the room more child friendly! Haha! Prior to getting these stickers from Bright Star Kids, I actually bought some from Taobao which obviously didn't work out because of poor quality.

These stickers don't tear easily and are easy to stick and remove!

Reserving this corner as her play area. ^^

Meanwhile, sleep tight and grow well, my baobei. <3

ps: her super cute head band from @bowlettesg and her customised beansprout pillow from @quirkibabies :)

Love,

Lirong

Baby J's Full Month Celebration + Guide to planning a full month celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 05:03:00 +0000

Happy full month to my baby! ^^

I actually contemplated between having a full month or a 100 days celebration. Of course the latter would be more ideal since I've more time on hand to plan, baby would be more interactive and mummy would have more time to slim down. Haha!

But our parents prefer the traditional full month celebration, so let's respect them for that. ^^

So this post, besides sharing on baby J's full month celebration, I'll be sharing some tips on how to plan one too! ^^

Alright, let's get started!

So what's the first thing that we have to do when planning a full month / 100 days party?

1. Pick a date and time

Common sense isn't it? But of course you can't decide on the date until the baby is born. So I remembered after I delivered baby J, the next day I told our parents that her full month celebration will be on xx day. Get their consent first! :)

We chose weekend of course. Next would be the timing. Timing could be quite tricky. It depends on majority of your guests' schedule as well as the venue itself, as some places do have fixed timing to host the event. Hubby and I were certain that we wanted it to be earlier in the day, like a lunch celebration. So that baby J is still rather awake and won't disrupt her bedtime too.

2. Guest list

It's true that as you're planning the celebration, it's going to feel like you are planning for another wedding banquet! Haha!

So the guest list will depend on how big do you want the celebration to be? We thought that managing the baby would already be a challenge, so we decided to just keep to a small scale one. Mainly our family members and relatives were invited.

I think it is a good idea to keep full month celebration small, since you don't have the luxury of time to plan a large scale one. Bear in mind, the larger the event, the more logistics and planning is involved! You definitely won't want to have unhappy guests on that day. So save the large scale event for 100 days celebration! ^^

3. Venue

Now that we have a rough estimate of the number of guests, we started looking for suitable venues. Of course it would be ideal if we can host it at our own place. So much more convenient as well when comes to diaper changing, napping and feeding! Yes, everything planned to meet baby's needs! But our nest is not going to be able to accommodate our ~70 guests!

If you plan to save venue budget, Condominium function room is a good idea! We do have relatives that could help us with that, however it isn't near our place and we are not keen to travel far.

So I simply Googled "venues for baby full month celebration", you can do that too! Quite a number of options came up and in the end I chose a function room at Safra. From experience, before you confirm on the venue, do consider your nursing options! Are there nursing rooms available? Where will your baby be napping at? Check out this website, it gives you a detailed guide to the nursing rooms around Singapore! Definitely a great help when you bring baby out. :)

4. Decide on a theme

Well, this is completely optional. If you have the budget, why not? With a theme, it definitely beautifies the venue and makes great photos for memory sake! :)

For me, I knew all along that I wanted a customized dessert table for baby J. So even before I delivered my baby, I was already looking around for potential vendors and also gathering ideas for the theme as well! Do note that if you were to choose your venue to be at a cafe or restaurant, they might be able to do the dessert table for you, otherwise you would have to source for yourself. :)

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Yes, the theme to baby J's full month celebration! We engaged @oneandonlygallery to help us with the dessert table and certainly we were more than happy with the result! I simply told the team the theme that I've in mind, the colour combination that I'm looking for (pink & gold) and ta dah~ They did the magic for me! <3

It makes a great backdrop for photo taking as well!

A closer look at the dessert table!

How gorgeous! <3

I love how everything is being customized for baby J!

Look at her name on the pastries!

We also had a customized 2-tier cake from White Spatula.

The cake fits the theme so well!

Therefore, if you have the budget, dessert table is definitely a good idea! My guests were so impressed! The little ones of course couldn't take their eyes off the sweets too! Haha!

5. Food

Yes, I take pride in my food! Because a well fed guest is a happy guest. ^^

Again, if you were to host your event at a cafe / restaurant, most likely the food would be settled by them. But mine is at a function room, so we got to settle the catering by ourselves. It's not hard to decide on one actually. We chose Neo Garden Catering! ^^

We had catered with Neo Garden on numerous occasions, so we are confident with the taste of the food. The curry chicken is like a must order!

Anyway, we also got to know that Neo Garden now has 3 awesome deals for you to celebrate your baby's special day with them!

1. Neo Bao Bao

Simply code <NBB15> to get 15% off buffet catering for your baby’s full month or 100 days celebrations!

2. Baby Celebration Package

- $88 Combo: 30 x Blissful Red Eggs, 30 x Ang Ku Kueh, 50 x Assorted Mini Cakes

- $200 Combo: 30 x Blissful Red Eggs, 30 x Ang Ku Kueh, 50 x Assorted Mini Cakes, Baby Boy/Girl Themed Buffet Setup

- $150 per Baby Boy/Girl Themed Buffet Setup

3. Neo Garden Baby

If you celebrate baby full month / 100 days with Neo Garden, you get to enjoy 20% for baby’s birthday celebrations from 1 to 6 years old!

For terms and conditions of these 3 deals, check back to Neo Garden's website. :)

We had the $200 celebration combo package!

There are 12 themes to choose from for the decoration!

Also, it comes with 30 x Blissful Red Eggs and 30 x Ang Ku Kueh.

As well as 50 x Assorted Mini Cakes!

Hence, we decided to do away with the traditional red eggs and ang ku kueh as door gifts. Since they are already in the buffet spread right? ^^

Ps: The ang ku kuehs were so well received!

A closer look at the spread that we had.

Yes, the curry chicken was being missed out by my camera but my stomach definitely didn't! :D

6. Photographer

Again, this is entirely optional and depending on your budget.

I wanted baby J to be able to look back at all the photos when she is older, so we decided to engage a photographer, Little Love Tree, to help us capture all the beautiful moments. :')

My curious baby couldn't stop looking around after she woke up from her nap! Haha!

Aiyo! I miss her being this smaaaaaaaallllll!

Be healthy always, my little angel. <3

Jennifer from Little Love Tree went round to capture our guests and also our little family. :')

We are very thankful for all the precious photos that were taken for us to keepsake and for baby J to look back when she is older. :')

All in all, we had a cozy celebration with our loved ones and we were so touched by the love that were showered on our baby. <3

Yup! So hopefully these simple guide would be able to help you in your planning!

One last thing before I sign off, don't forget to bring your diaper bag along! ^^

Love,

Lirong.

PEM Confinement Nanny Agency Review

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sat, 07 Apr 2018 15:42:00 +0000

Hi everyone!

I was so happy that my confinement is finally over~ But at the same time, I do feel a bit sad to end it as well. Mainly because we had a really great relationship with our confinement nanny, Auntie Jing Jie.

Before I go on with my PEM Confinement Nanny review, let me just share why I choose to engage a confinement nanny and why I chose PEM in the end.

Why I choose to engage a confinement nanny

Well, there is really no right or wrong to engage a confinement nanny (CN). In fact, hubby and I were both quite apprehensive of it as we are both not too keen about having to live with a stranger at home. We enjoy having our little nest to ourselves and being in our own world! Haha! Perhaps in some ways, "obey" her because she's here to help me to "recover" from my labour.

On the other hand, as first time parents, we definitely feel lost with a newborn. Especially so when we don't live with our parents. Hence, all alone. That's why CN would be a great help as you'll be able to learn tips on caring for baby from her. Also, she'll be able to cook nutritional meals for me and do some basic cleaning at home for us while I take all the rest that I can. For mummies who have just delivered, rest is certainly very important. So that extra pair of hands come in handy!

Hmm.. my mother did volunteer to want to help me with my confinement. But I rejected her. I know for myself that I'll go crazy with her strict rules! Hahaha!

Yup. So after weighing the pros and cons, we deciding to go ahead with engaging a CN and that brings us to the next point.

Why I choose PEM Confinement Nanny Agency?

To be frank, I never know that there is such thing as a nanny agency! Well, you can think of it like a maid agency? Just that they provide confinement nanny services. In fact, PEM is rather popular among the mummies! So once I found out that PEM existed, I never look back at engaging private CN again. ^^

So I basically summarized into 2 main reasons why I chose PEM Confinement Nanny Agency.

1. One-stop centre & fuss free

After you have read and found out more about PEM through their website, you can express your interest to engage a nanny from them via their online form or phone call! They are quite prompt in their reply and shortly, a day will be scheduled for their agent to visit you at your place.

They will explain to you clearly on the responsibilities and duties of their nannies. It is also a good time to raise any concern if you have! Like for me, I expressed my concern over following traditional confinement rules. Hahaha! Sorry, I cannot not bathe. Basically communicate and address as much of your concerns and requirements for the nanny as possible, but please by reasonable too! They will try to match the most desirable one as possible. ^^

Once, you have delivered, give them a call and they will schedule their CN to be with you when you're home! I love how fuss-free they have made it!

2. Well-trained nanny and flexibility to change

At PEM, every nanny has to undergo an exclusive and stringent training to ensure that they are qualified to take care of not just the newborn baby, but the mother and the family members as well. Head over to PEM's website to find out more about their training areas. On the other hand, I really can't say the same for all private nannies? :/

Yes, if for some reason you're just unable to get along with your CN, you can request for a change! This is like the main reason why I had to go with PEM! The sense of security I would say.

Oh yes, it is an added bonus that PEM is the largest Confinement Nanny Agency in Singapore! This added more assurance for hubby and I. ^^

Now, we move on to the review of the CN that was assigned to me by PEM.

After seeing how my CN works day in day out, I have greater respect for all CN. It's no easy job at all!

My CN, Auntie Jing Jie (PEM #519), I'm really thankful to have her with us! When I was still in hospital, I was so worried that I might not be able to have a CN assigned to me on time because baby came earlier than expected and it was during CNY peak period. But I guess God has it planned out for us. We were blessed that Auntie Jing Jie was able to take up our assignment and we had a great 28 days together.

Summary of what my CN does in a day

Morning:
1. Brew red date tea
2. Prepare and cook breakfast for mumy
3. Prepare confinement herbal bath for mummy
4. Bathe baby
5. Washing and cleaning of dishes
6. Prepare and cook lunch for mummy

Afternoon:
7. Washing and cleaning of dishes
8. Prepare tea for mummy
9. Do laundry
10. Wipe baby
11. Prepare and cook dinner

Evening:
12. Washing and cleaning of dishes
13. Cleaning of kitchen
14. Vacuuming of house (mopping on alternative days)
15. Hand wash baby's clothes, bathe

On top of all these, she has to take care of baby's needs whenever she cries. Even if it's in the middle of the night. Furthermore, my CN doesn't take naps at all! I really don't know where she gets her energy from, she always looks so alert and refresh!

Caring for baby

For me, nothing is more important than how my baby is being taken care of.

Auntie Jing Jie may appear to be stern but she is actually very friendly and funny! I love to watch the way she plays and "baby-talk" with my baby. ^^ She loves and sayang baby J a lot too, seeing some of their interactions really warm my heart. :') It's a pity that baby J is too young to be able to remember her nanny who have taken such good care of her.

There was one particular incident that I remembered deeply. It was just the 2nd day that Auntie Jing Jie was with us and we had to bring baby J back to check her jaundice level. I couldn't bear seeing the process of my baby being pricked for the blood test. T.T
On the other hand, Auntie Jing Jie swiftly held onto baby J when she was being prickled. She kept talking and sayang-ing her. It was like magic! Baby J only cried when the needle was being poked in, after which she didn't cry at all with Auntie Jing Jie being there with her!

It touched my heart to see Auntie Jing Jie showing so much love to my baby. :') I'm so glad to have her there with us, otherwise baby J would be screaming her lungs out like the other babies who were there to do the test. :'(

I've certainly learnt a lot from observing how Auntie Jing Jie handles baby J. She is also very helpful to share with us tips on how to take care of our baby. Most importantly, she is patient to guide us. Oh yes, Auntie Jing Jie is pro-breastfeeding as well! First few days I was so lost at breastfeeding, but with Auntie Jing Jie's guidance, I got better. She also made me soups that help to boost my breastmilk during the first week. Thereafter, she stopped because I was over supplying. Also, my letdown is very "fast n furious", so Auntie Jing Jie gave me suggestions on how to prevent baby J from choking over my breast milk. These are some of the things that I wouldn't be able to handle if not for Auntie Jing Jie's help.

Tidiness and cleanliness

Auntie Jing Jie is so neat and organised!

She spent a great amount of time during the first few days to get familiarized with the orientation in the house. Especially the kitchen and baby's room. Also, she seek our permission to reorganize some of stuff in our house, like the refrigerator, cooking condiments, pots and pans and etc. To which we were really glad that she did it that way because the house certainly looks more organised and neater! Haha!

Baby's room as well. Auntie helped me to fold and reorganise Baby J's clothes, which were overflowing! Haha!

Even though Auntie has left, we are still keeping to the way she has helped us to arrange and tidy up.

Cooking

Another thing to be thankful about is Auntie Jing Jie's culinary skill! The food that she cooked was AMAZING~

If you are following me on my Instagram, you would have an eye feast of my daily meals prepare by Auntie Jing Jie! Throughout my 28 days of confinement, I never had a single meal which is repeated! I really don't how Auntie Jing Jie does it!

I would wish to post every single food that she has cooked, but I think my page will die from the loading. Haha! So I'm just going to share a few of my favourites of the favouritesss. Haha!

Impressive Taiwanese style mee sua.

My favourite red glutinous rice wine (红糟鸡)!

Stir fried mee sua (which even my mum asked her for recipe!) and stir fried udon.

Stir fried mee tai bak and char kway teow.

Even simple looking soup noodles like these also tasted extraordinary because auntie took the pain to boil her own soup broth!

Tomato chicken, sesame oil chicken. The latter is a confinement must have food!

The bak ku teh that she cooks!!

Another confinement must have is vinegar pork trotter! I drank up the vinegar gravy too.

Auntie's lor bak is so good too! On her last day she made another pot for me to freeze up so that I can enjoy another time too. :')

Pork ribs in different style! Is she not creative or what?

I'm not a big fan of fish, but I love every fish dishes that auntie has made!

Never know there are so many ways to cook fish too!

I miss Auntie Jing Jie's food. :(

Really, I didn't know confinement food can be so tasty too! Because the ginger and sesame oil has been well incorporated into the dishes such that I don't get sick of tasting them every single meal.

How is Auntie Jing Jie not a super nanny?
In fact, I have greater respect for all confinement nannies after this. It is really not easy job at all!

All in all, hubby and I are glad that we engaged PEM for a confinement nanny in the end. We would be so lost if we did not! I've been caring for baby J for a month by myself now. It really wasn't that difficult with Auntie Jing Jie setting the right foundation for us and the tips that she has shared with us.

We'll not hesitate to engage Auntie Jing Jie again if we have a second child. We may have more experience now with the first one, but I believe that to rest and recuperate is very important!

Now, let me share on the confinement herbal package that I had from PEM. :)

Yes, you're right. You saw HockHua Tonic's logo over there. PEM has recently collaborated with HockHua for their confinement herbal package.

The entire complete herbal package was delivered to my doorstep when my confinement nanny arrived. Making it very convenient for me as I don't have to go out and buy it on my own or pull my hair over what herbs to get for my confinement!

This is how the week 3 herbal package is like. :)

Chinese confinement is 28 days, so naturally there are 28 boxes of unique packed herbs for your tonic soup.

Week 1's tonic soups focus on clearing blood clot of uterine and helps the mother to replenish energy.

Week 2 focuses on increasing blood circulation and replenish energy.

Week 3 helps to nourish the blood and improve blood circulation.

Week 4 helps to boost recovery, calm the mind and improve vision.

I really love the taste of every single soup that my confinement nanny made using the herbal package, because I love herbal soup in general. ^^

Well. Except that confinement must have, Sheng Hua Soup, 生化汤, which aids in the expulsion of toxins, discharge of lochia and the revitalization of Qi and blood. The taste is rather weird, but please be good and drink it because it's good for the body!

My confinement nanny usually make the herbal soup for me during lunch. So that hubby can drink another soup with me during dinner time.

Yes, this is a typical lunch for me. xD

Always a huge bowl of herbal soup and I have no problem finishing them because they are so nice to drink! Haha!

I like that each of the herbal soup pack comes with specific cooking instruction and additional ingredients that are suitable to be added into the soup for cooking. Like chicken, pork or fish. In case you are wondering, the instruction comes in both English and Chinese! ^^

Besides the confinement tonic soups, another must have during confinement is red dates tea.

I didn't drink a single sip of plain water during my confinement other than soups and this red dates tea that my confinement nanny boiled every morning using Hockhu Codonopsis Astragalus Red Date Tea.

Well, it is a belief that drinking plain water will cause abdominal swelling! While on the other hand, red dates are known to be rich in iron and vitamins. Hence, when mixed with the other herbs, it can strengthen the spleen and stomach, to nourish and produce blood and tranquilize the mind. ^^

How a typical breakfast is like. ^^

Initially the thought of drinking red dates tea only for 28 days killed me a little bit. But after taking the tea, I was surprised that it wasn't as bad as I thought? I had the notion that the tea would be super super sweet! But no, the sweetness was very subtle and well balanced with a bit of herbal taste in it. In fact, my confinement nanny has to cook extra portion of the tea every day because I drink too much! Haha!

Now, the next question that you might have is, "did I bathe over the 28 days?"

Yes, I did. Every single day I washed my hair and showered my body too.

How is it possible to not bathe in Singapore's hot and humid weather?

I cannot. :O

Thanks to Ban Kah Chai Confinement herbal bath (mom series), I can bathe every single day! ^^

This is another tie up that PEM has with their partners.

Basically the herbal bath consists of natural herbs that are traditionally used in helping mothers to expel wind, improve blood circulation and reduce after birth pain.

My confinement nanny will boil the herbal bath herbs first then pour into a tub and mixed with boiled water for me to bathe with.

No, I don't feel like I smelled like herbs after bathing. Can't complain too much as long as I can bathe right? ^^

Overall, PEM Confinement Herbal Package has helped to ease me through my 28 days of confinement. I think since my confinement nanny is from PEM, it's logical that I get the complete herbal package from PEM as well. So that she will be familiar with it and if she has any doubt, she can always check back with her company. :)

Love,
Lirong

PEM Confinement Herbal Package

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 05:40:00 +0000

A month flew past like this, it felt like yesterday when I brought my baby girl home. :')

Baby J arrived way too early, it was rather unexpected. Haha! So when I was in the hospital I was also very worried that PEM Confinement Nanny Agency wouldn't be able to assign a nanny for me. Furthermore, CNY was nearing!

Luckily, they were able to find a nanny at the last minute for me. I'm very thankful for that! Will share a review of my confinement nanny soon, but first, let me share on the confinement herbal package that I had from PEM. :)

Yes, you're right. You saw HockHua Tonic's logo over there. PEM has recently collaborated with HockHua for their confinement herbal package.

This is how the week 3 herbal package is like. :)

Chinese confinement is 28 days, so naturally there are 28 boxes of unique packed herbs for your tonic soup.

Week 1's tonic soups focus on clearing blood clot of uterine and helps the mother to replenish energy.

Week 2 focuses on increasing blood circulation and replenish energy.

Week 3 helps to nourish the blood and improve blood circulation.

Week 4 helps to boost recovery, calm the mind and improve vision.

I really love the taste of every single soup that my confinement nanny made using the herbal package, because I love herbal soup in general. ^^

My confinement nanny usually make the herbal soup for me during lunch. So that hubby can drink another soup with me during dinner time.

Yes, this is a typical lunch for me. xD

Always a huge bowl of herbal soup and I have no problem finishing them because they are so nice to drink! Haha!

Besides the confinement tonic soups, another must have during confinement is red dates tea.

How a typical breakfast is like. ^^

Now, the next question that you might have is, "did I bathe over the 28 days?"

Yes, I did. Every single day I washed my hair and showered my body too.

How is it possible to not bathe in Singapore's hot and humid weather?

I cannot. :O

Thanks to Ban Kah Chai Confinement herbal bath (mom series), I can bathe every single day! ^^

This is another tie up that PEM has with their partners.

Basically the herbal bath consists of natural herbs that are traditionally used in helping mothers to expel wind, improve blood circulation and reduce after birth pain.

My confinement nanny will boil the herbal bath herbs first then pour into a tub and mixed with boiled water for me to bathe with.

No, I don't feel like I smelled like herbs after bathing. Can't complain too much as long as I can bathe right? ^^

Love,

Lirong

PEM Post Natal Massage Review

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 05:00:00 +0000

Taken at postpartum day 14 with my masseuse from Post Natal Massage Singapore. ^^

A short introduction on post natal massage. It has proven benefits of helping mothers to regain posture and at the same time, achieve a toned body. Very importantly, it helps to relieve breast engorgement! Much needed during the first few days of breastfeeding!

. Overall postnatal can help to boost slimming with these methods: binding with tapel and massage with jamu oil aka ginger oil. For more information you can refer to their website here.

The massage can begin 5 days after a natural birth delivery or 3 weeks after a C-section delivery (How mummies can know if they are ready of the post-natal massage is when they are able to lay flat on their tummy without any discomfort).

The good thing is they come right to your doorstep! You just have to prepare 2 big towels, and 1 small towel, the rest will be provided by the masseuse. E.g.: massage oil, binder, telon oil and the herbs (pilis and tapel). They also do provide an option to change up the jamu oil to grape seed oil just in case you might have sensitive skin. :)

The entire session lasted about 1 hour 15 mins. An hour for the massage and 15 mins for the corset binding.

During that 1 hour duration you get to enjoy a full body massage! Starting from the legs all the way to your head. Definitely the tummy area is the main focus, as well as the massage of the breasts! Even if you don't have any breast engorgement, it is always good to massage the breasts to prevent or remove any blocked milk ducts. Yup! So the massage helps me to relax, which is much need for recovering mummies. In fact, I always fall asleep during the massage! Haha!

Some benefits of the post natal massage include:

1. Tightening abdominal area. This is also self explanatory. During pregnancy our tummy area has been stretched and expanded to accommodate our little one. So it is normal that after delivery the tummy area is EXTREMELY flabby. All postpartum mummies want to get back in shape quick! So the massage actually helps to increase fat burning and allows muscles to tighten too!

2. Remove engorgement. I thought this was very apparent for me! During the first few days after discharged from hospital, my milk ducts were so blocked! My breasts were basically hard and very painful when touched. T.T

Frankly, I enjoyed every bits of the massage, except the part when Auntie Rusi was massaging my breasts to help unblock the ducts. It was so painful that I could cry. T.T

She also taught me how to do some simple massage by myself to ease the pain and encourage better milk flow before pumping and breastfeeding. It helps a lot! By the 3rd session, my breasts felt so much better and I never had any blocked ducts since then! *touch wood*

3. Expelling of wind from the body. I don't know why there's wind in the body after delivery? Apparently that's a traditional confinement practice. The jamu oil that's being applied on the body helps to achieve this. In fact I farted after that. Haha! :P

4. Pushing womb back to original place and size. Pushing the womb back to its original place and size is essential for post-natal mothers as it will improve the fertility of the mother!

After the session, you'll be wrapped in a binder that is provided complimentary.

I was told to wear this for at least 8 hours. Wearing the binder up to 8 hours has its benefits of giving the herbs (Tapel) to work it’s magic on the abdominal area, to allow the tapel to warm your tummy up and promote the process of tummy deflation!

Best to wear to the next morning if you can! Which I did. ^^

So see where is your comfort level. :)

After my 7th session!

I can have my waist back! ^^

Taken at postpartum day 14.

I'm a satisfied customer. ^^

Love,

Lirong

Maternity Shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 04:56:00 +0000

Took my maternity shoot when I was 37 weeks pregnant. Just 6 days before I delivered. Considered myself lucky that baby J managed to hold till after my maternity shoot! Haha!

I remembered after the shoot, I was telling hubby that now I'm ready to deliver anytime. :P

Thankful that my hubby agreed to take the shoot with me, even though he's really not into all this. :P

We woke up at like 4 am? For makeup and to catch the morning light at 7 am. It does feel like another wedding day all over again! Haha!

Most of the shoots were done at Seletar North Link, where we did our pre-wedding shoot. Definitely brought back fond memories when we went back once again. :')

We also did some shooting at Yishun Dam, which was really beautiful as well!

Ok, I'll let the photos do the talking. Will share the vendors that I've worked with at the end of the post. :)

Can you tell that hubby was totally enjoying himself over here? Haha!

The bubble gun too!

This is one of our favourite shots. :')

Photographer: Leo from Journey Record (Find them on IG as @journey.record)

Quote my name, “Lirong” for an exclusive 20% discount for their Pre-Wedding/Couple Package

(UP $799)

- Valid till 31 Dec 2018- Cannot be used in conjunction with other promotion

Makeup Artist: Sarah from Autelier Makeup (Find her on IG as @sarahlee_auteliermakeup)

I appreciate Sarah's professionalism very much! She was at my doorstep before 5am and she transformed me totally! Thank you, Sarah! <3

Flower crown and bouquet: Floral Garage

My hubby has been a paying customer with them! I always love their reasonable pricing and of course, beautiful bouquets!

Maternity Dress: I'm letting go on this lacy dress that I've only wore once. Drop me an email (lir0ngs90@gmail.com) if you're keen to buy over. :)

Love,

Lirong

Baby J's birth story

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 16:00:00 +0000

10 Feb 2018, finally we got to carry our baby girl after 37 weeks and 6 days of anticipation. <3

Totally did not expect myself to go into labour this early. I had thought that baby J will be able to hold till after Chinese New Year! I've been wishing for after 20 Feb so that she can be a Pisces like mummy. :P

Nonetheless, I'm very thankful for my healthy girl.

So here's the story! ^^

Home

That night, my hubby was snoring EXTREMELY loudly beside me! My goodness. He snores, but never to that extreme. /facepalm

So I couldn't sleep, was tossing and turning in bed. Then suddenly, I felt something leaking out of my vagina.

I WAS AWAKEN IMMEDIATELY.

My gut feeling tells me that it's "show", one of the signs of labour.

Went to the toilet, checked.

Yes, I was right.

I had bloody discharge.

From my readings, "show" is a sign that I'm likely to go into labour in the next 1-2 days!

OH MY GOD.

I woke the snoring hubby up. His expression was so funny when I told him that I was having "show". The pregnant and almost going to give birth me had to calm him down instead. Haha!

It was 3am when we checked the time.

I told him to go back to sleep because I'm not going to deliver yet.

I tried to sleep. But I realised my bloody discharge is getting more and more and even with water!
So I suspected that my water bag was leaking. :O

Then came the contraction.

It started out like every half an hour or so, lasting maybe less than 10 seconds. But enough to keep me up all night. >.<

Slowly, the frequency got closer and closer and lasted longer and longer.

So I started using the contraction counter to track the intervals.

I was having contraction at 5 mins interval, each lasting more than 20 secs!

I knew I've to wake the husband up again.

So, it's true that when the lady is going to deliver, the man is the more panicky one. Haha!

It was 6am when we decided that it was time to head to the hospital.
I managed to shower, take a last photo of my bump, take a wefie with hubby and more importantly, think of what to eat before heading to the hospital. Haha!

No, I didn't ask for McDonald breakfast. In fact I wasn't in the mood for any food. It was too early as well. Haha!

In the end, I told hubby to drive us to my favourite Sin Heng Kee for a comforting bowl of congee. ^^

Hospital

We checked in to Mount Alvernia at 9am. The nurse tracked my contraction and I was only 1.5 cm dilated!

My heart sank. That means I probably have another 9 hours to wait?! Since they say it takes about an hour for a cm dilation. T.T

When they checked me at 11am, I was still 1.5cm dilated. No improvement at all. But the contraction was killing me. T.T

I was afraid they will send me home? Since I'm dilation so slowly. Haha!

But I think my waterbag broke shortly after I reached the delivery ward, so no matter what I have to deliver.

Guess what's more painful that the contraction itself? The drip that was injected on me. I don't dare to move my left hand at all! Haha!

Anyway, by 1230pm (Yes, I kept looking at the time), was about 2cm dilated and I couldn't take it anymore. I requested for epidural. Doctor came about half an hour later.

Epidural

I'm honestly scare about this epidural thing. I tried to avoid it but seriously cannot. The contraction was getting so frequent and intense.

So like what I've read (I read up a lot. Haha!), I've to curl up while having intense contraction! Not cool at all! They gave me laughing gas while the doctor administered the injection. I don't think I got high from the laughing gas? Haha! I don't even know if I was breathing in correctly! Hahaha!

Anyway, the laughing gas made me so drowsy! I was struggling to keep awake! But of course, I couldn't. I even had a dream while I passed out. Can't remember what I dreamt of though. Haha!

It felt like a long sleep before I was awaken by the doctor and nurse. My spinal was numbed and my head felt heavy too.

**To note that it takes about half an hour for the epidural effect to kick in!

Ok, to all mummies-to-be, taking epidural is a very WISE choice.

You don't feel the pain from the contraction anymore. So it helps you to relax and dilate smoother!

At about 2pm, I was 6cm dilated! So fast right? The last check at 12pm I was only 2cm dilated. Haha!

But! It comes with side effects. You can go Google on them. Not everyone will experience the side effects though.

So I felt nauseous shortly after the injection, but only lasted for awhile. The serious one for me was drowsiness and low blood pressure. Also, I was dilating too fast that baby J's heart rate was dropping! Apparently dilating too fast can cause a shock to the baby as well.

Ended up, the nurse put me on oxygen mask and kept prompting me to just concentrate on breathing in more air for my baby. T.T

My hubby was beside me all along and I told him to keep talking to me otherwise I'm going to pass out again. >.<

It was really scary when they told me that baby's heart rate was dropping and no matter how hard I tired to breathe in, it doesn't help! T.T

Push

By 3pm I was ready for the final lap, the pushing! The midwife came in to prepare me and taught me how to push. I was quite fatigue by then, BUT SO EXCITED TO HUG MY BABY! Haha!

So I was told to take a DEEEEPPPPPPP breath, then pusssssssssssshhh hard for 10 secs!

I think by 3 pushes, my baby J was out! :')

Everything happened really quickly from there and soon, my baby girl was placed on my chest for skin to skin contact. :')

That was a beautiful moment that I will never forget. :') :') :')

I was energy-less then, ready to pass out again. Haha!

But when my baby was placed on my chest. It felt like she instantly energized me!

My sweetheart.

Mummy will not forget the moment when you were placed on me. Your eyes were wide open and you were looking straight at me. Yes, I'm your mother, the one whom you have been kicking and punching for the last 37 weeks and 6 days. The one whom have been talking and singing silly songs to you. The one who will fight in all ways to protect you.

You melt my heart, darling.

More than 9 months are carrying you in me, I can finally carry and cuddle you in my arms.

We are now complete.

Very thankful for this uneventful pregnancy, baby J has been a sweetheart in mummy's womb. :')

To be honest, I miss that giving birth feeling, excluding the pain. Haha! I miss how chubby she was when she was fresh out of my uterus! So swollen and puffy from being in the water for months!

I'm thankful for my hubby. Ever supportive and encouraging throughout the pregnancy. :')

The sweet little notes he'll leave me every morning before heading out for work. The encouragement board that he made for baby and mummy. The food that he bought for me when I'm hungry or craving. All the baby clothes and items that he had washed. The number of hairs he dropped while sorting out our finances with the new addition into our family. For taking care of everything and anytime so that I can focus on carrying our baby. Of course, for pushing along with me when I was in labour. <3

I'm thankful for my family as well. Especially my mother who have been cooking all my favourite dishes whenever I'm home for dinner. When I was delivering, she kept texting and calling me to support and encourage me. Now that I'm a mum, I truly appreciate my own mother even more. Thank you, mummy. <3 <3

15 days into motherhood and I'm truly enjoying it every single day. The first thing I wake up is to see my baby. Actually throughout the day, I've been popping by her room just to stare at her sleeping face. :') I snap photos of her non stop and I love to cuddle her tiny and soft body so much! So strange that before I have a baby, the thought of clearing up her poops and urine disgusts me. But now that baby is here, I'm so willing to clear up after her! So what if her urine and poop stained on me. It's MY baby's poop and urine! Haha!

Motherhood is amazing I'll say. :')

Yes, motherhood is not all sweet. It's tiring with all the breastfeeding and pumping. But looking at her little face, I can say, all is worth it.

Right now, I just want to enjoy her infancy stage before she grows up too quickly. :')

Love,
Lirong

Recipe: Pumpkin & Mushroom Oat Porridge

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 14:14:00 +0000

Porridge is my type of comfort food always. :')

Whenever I post pictures of my pumpkin porridge on my Instagram (@lirongs), I'll always get a lot of enquiry on how to make it. Pardon me that my speed at showing recipes nowadays is really slow.

Anyway, since I received a few Sanitarium's EZY Oat Porridge to try. I thought it would be perfect to finally share the pumpkin porridge with everyone! ^^

Except, it's definitely much simpler and easier to use EZY Oat Porridge to cook instead. :D

EZY Oat Porridge is made from oats harvested in Australia.

It is filled with whole-grain goodness with no MSG added!

Now available in selected NTUC Fairprice outlets, with an ongoing $1 promotion!

It comes in 3 flavours - original, seaweed, mushroom! Each containing the nutrients that you need on the go, anytime, anywhere! Just need hot water~

Of course, if you like, you can be like me. Add more nutritional food in to enhance the taste and flavours! ^^

Pumpkin & Mushroom Oat Porridge

Ingredients:

1 Mushroom flavoured EZY Oat Congee

1 wedge of pumpkin, cut into cubes

3 baby corns, sliced

4 shiitake mushroom, sliced

2 stalks of spinach

Method:

1. Bring a pot of 500ml of water to boil.

2. When the water boils, add in the pumpkin, baby corn and mushroom. Let the soup simmer on low fire for about 10mins.

3. Pour in the seasoning from the EZY Oat Congee.

4. Add the spinach and EZY Oat into the soup. Stir well. Let it boil for 3mins.

5. Serve immediately.

Super simple right? :D

Usually for porridge using grains, I need an hour at least to get it. But with oat porridge, less than half an hour! Super quick and easy! Most importantly, tasted just as good! :D

This recipe is very versatile, you can mix and match with whatever ingredients that you like. ^^

If you really, really dont have the time and you needed something quick and healthy to fill your stomach. Simply pour in hot water to the cup, in 3 minutes, a flavourful oat porridge awaits. ^^

Till next time~

Love,

Lirong

Hello, everyone! Life updates

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sun, 05 Nov 2017 15:17:00 +0000

Hi, everybody!

It has been a while. It is always a long while from my previous post to be next. :P

Really appreciate if you're still checking out on me. :')

Anyway.. Yes! I'm happily married and we made ourselves a honeymoon baby too~ <3

Life has been good and kind to us. :')

I'm currently 24 weeks pregnant, that translates into 6 months!

How time flies. :')

Yes, I know I don't look anything like a 6 month pregnant woman. :P

Wondering if we are having a girl or boy? ^^

A baby girl!

Mummy can't wait to hug and kiss you, baby J! <3

Pregnancy life is so much better when you're in your 2nd trimester.

Thank you Floral Garage for sending me this gorgeous bouquet of flowers!

Floral Garage has been Singapore's trustworthy online florist offering flower delivery services for 2 years and counting.

They aim to encourage others to show love, care, appreciation and gratitude by the sincere gesture of gifting flowers. While ensuring affordability for the customers, they maintain good product and service quality. ^^

They have a broad range of products that includes flower bouquets, hampers, congratulatory stands and more; bouquets primarily being the most popular products!

The signature bouquets are the Freestyle bouquet, Premium Freestyle bouquet as well as the Vegetable bouquet. So unique right?!

You could get your hands on a beautifully crafted Freestyle bouquet for only $34.90. Their hampers comes in a huge variety of choices to choose from as well; from chocolate hampers, fruit hampers to CNY hampers, get well soon hampers and etc. :) Each including bright fresh flowers! The prices go as low as an affordable $55!

Same-day delivery service is available for a standard charge of only $9.70, so you don't have to worry about your last-minute gifts! Self collection is possible as well~

The flowers came fresh and I love the way they were presented! It gave the bouquet a rustic look. I like! ^^

One of my recent bake for my mother's birthday.

Orh nee tiramisu! ^^

Till next time, everyone~

Follow me on my Instagram (@lirongs) or Dayre (@lirongs) for more recent updates! ^^

Love,

Lirong

Recipe: Curry Chicken no coconut milk // Beef & Vegetable Stew using NEW Tefal ClipsoMinut' Duo 2-in-1 Pressure Cooker

noreply@blogger.com (Lirong) — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 04:59:00 +0000

Hello everybody~

Recently, I was gifted Tefal's new Tefal ClipsoMinut' Duo 2-in-1 Pressure Cooker. Hence, I'll be doing a review and sharing 2 simple recipes using it!

Of course, one of them is the curry chicken featured above and like what my title says, no coconut milk added! Healthier choice curry chicken you may call it. ^^

A short introduction about Tefal’s new ClipsoMinut’ Duo. It is the first 2-in-1 pressure cooker

and stew pot. I love how it is so space-saving with the 2 pots into 1 concept.

The pot also cooks up to 2 times faster compared to a regular stew pot! Extra love for this feature! I no longer feel so stress to cook up a dinner after a long day at work! ^^ I'll share with everyone how long I took to cook these dishes compared to the time taken using my usual pots too. :)

Curry chicken is something I grew up eating. I used to observed how my mother made it. She wouldn't use any pre-packed packet for the curry paste, she went all out to make her own curry paste! Kudos to my mother for the effort. :')

Of course, I don't have that luxury of time and patient to do that. I'm good with my curry paste. I don't have any particular favourite brand though. I go with what catches my eyes first. :P

Oh yes, I believe that we can cook yummy curry chicken without the use of coconut milk too! So here's my modification to share with everyone. :)

Ingredients:1 whole chicken, cut into chunks1 bag of russet potatoes, cut into chunks

2 carrots, cut into pieces

1 onion, chop into pieces
500ml water
1 pack of curry paste
10 pieces of curry leaves
2 tbsp coconut oil

Method:

1. Using the stewpot function, add 2 tbsp coconut oil, fry onion curry leaves and curry paste till fragrant.

2. Add in chicken, sear the chicken pieces till golden brown. Add in potatoes and carrots. Mix well.

3. Add in water, bring to boil. Once boiled, let it simmer for about 30 mins under low heat.

4. Dish and serve with baguette or rice~

So what's the trick to make the curry thick without coconut milk?

1. Don't add too much water

2. Lot of potatoes! Especially russet potatoes. Potato is rich in starch, so when you let it simmer under low heat, the starch breaks down into the curry stew.

Definitely, you can't expect the thickness to be as rich as coconut milk, but this is good enough for us! Noticed that I use coconut oil too? It adds that coconut fragrance to the dish too! :)

How long was the cooking time using Tefal’s new ClipsoMinut’ Duo?

I use the stewpot function for this and it took less 45 mins! I think if you use the pressure cooker, it might even be faster! :)

Next recipe that I'm sharing is a beef and vegetable stew using Tefal’s new ClipsoMinut’ Duo pressure cooker function. :)

Notice the knob there? That's how you change between the functions!

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp black pepper

500g beef stewing meat, cut into cubes

1 onion, cut into pieces

2 carrots, cut into pieces

1 eggplant, cut into pieces

2 tomatoes, cut into pieces

1 zucchini, sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

250g beef broth + 250g water

2 bay leaves

Method

1. combine the flour and pepper in a bowl, add the beef cubes, toss to coat well.

2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in the pot. Add the beef cubes into the pot. Pan sear the beef cubes till they are browned on all sides.

3. Add all the vegetables. All the beef broth + water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer.

4. Cover and cook under the "pressure cooking" function. Cook until the beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours, under the pressure cooker method.

PS: You can use any vegetable that you like, potato and celery are good too! Generally I like my vegetables soft, so I'll throw them all in. You can always add you vegetable at a later timing. :)

If you use the normal cooking method, it probably takes at least 3 hours for the beef cubes to be tender, so using the pressure cooking method, time was shortened by half!

Oh yes, Tefal ClipsoMinut’ Duo comes with a steam basket too! I steamed my pau using it as well! ^^

So it's more than just 2 functions, there are 3 ways you can utilise this single pot! *thumbs up*

Besides the ClipsoMinut’ Duo, Tefal’s also has a new Dark Ruby cookware range!

The Dark Ruby range boasts of a High Density technology - an extra dense, non-porous

ceramic coating surface ideal for producing crisp cooking results with just the use of

a little oil.

I tried the cooking pan by making a fried rice with minimal oil and the result was amazing! Best of all, cleaning is so much easier with this new coating! Super love! <3

The Tefal Dark Ruby cookware range retails between $69.90 and $119 and is available at OG, Takashimaya, TANGS, Metro, Isetan and Lazada.

The Tefal ClipsoMinut’ Duo ($309) is available at Best Denki, Courts, Gain City, Harvey Norman, OG, Takashimaya and TANGS outlets, and Lazada.

Till next time~

Cheers,

Lirong

Lirong | A singapore food and lifestyle blog

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Review: LG TWINWash

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Review: Baby Slings & Carriers

Baby J's nursery tour

Baby J's Full Month Celebration + Guide to planning a full month celebration

PEM Confinement Nanny Agency Review

PEM Confinement Herbal Package

PEM Post Natal Massage Review

Maternity Shoot

Baby J's birth story

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Recipe: Pumpkin & Mushroom Oat Porridge

Hello, everyone! *Life updates*

Recipe: Curry Chicken *no coconut milk* // Beef & Vegetable Stew using *NEW* Tefal ClipsoMinut' Duo 2-in-1 Pressure Cooker

Hello, everyone! Life updates

Recipe: Curry Chicken no coconut milk // Beef & Vegetable Stew using NEW Tefal ClipsoMinut' Duo 2-in-1 Pressure Cooker