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Review of Club Med Phuket Part I

2012-05-29T18:29:00.001+08:00

Before I start, I would like to apologize for the very long delay in posting on the blog. Wanted to blog about our holiday to Club Med earlier but Julien fell sick right after the trip. Will blog about what happened post-Club Med later.

We had planned for this holiday months before. The hubby chanced upon a 1 for 1 promotion on the Club Med website. And so we invited some of our friends along.

Club Med is the lazy man’s holiday because you need not really plan for your holiday. You pay a price and it includes a buffet of activities and food you can choose for all in one place.

The best part was that kids below the age of 2 goes for free so we and our friends Ed & Minghui could happily bring Julien and Ansel along for this trip as well!

We wanted to go for Club Med Bali but later realized that Club Med Phuket is the only Club Med in Asia with a Baby Club (for toddlers below 2 years old). It costs about S$80 a day for the Baby Club.

We were really excited to bring Julien for this trip!

(Here’s Julien on the plane, sticking his head in between the seats)

We did not book the transport from the Phuket airport to Club Med as the latter wanted to charge us S$30 per person per trip! We went online to book an 8-seater van for about only S$50 per trip. So much cheaper!

We finally reached Club Med after a 45 minute journey from the airport.

My boy must be really excited because he did a little dance upon his arrival. He is just so amusing!

In Club Med, the visitors are called ‘GMs’ or ‘Gentle Members’. The organizers i.e. all the receptionists, personal trainers, station masters, etc are called ‘GOs’ or ‘Gentle Organizers’. And the other employees such as the cleaners are called ‘GEs’ or ‘Gentle Employees’.

We checked in at the reception counter and was given a rather warm welcome by the GOs.

We were given a fragrant garland to put on around our necks…

welcome drinks and warm towels were provided…

And briefing by a Thai GO.

There were 2 daily orientation tours by the GOs each day. 1 in the morning, and another in the evening. We were too tired to go and figured that we could figure things out ourselves.

After the short briefing by the GO, we proceeded to our rooms. The walk to our rooms made us realize just how big the Club Med compound was! Keith commented that even after a buffet meal, the walk back to our rooms would have burned off all the food we ate. HAHA!

Our room was on the 2nd floor and it was a connecting room with Keith and Shermin’s. Please DO NOT expect a luxurious room with fantastic facilities.

Think pleasant and clean chalet room.

Here is our bed which is actually made up of 2 joined single beds.

And there was a small guest bed at the corner of the room too.

Expect:

☺Free wifi (1 password per device. You can ask for multiple passwords if you have multiple devices) .

☺Free shampoo, bath gel, and other small toiletries which I did not use as I brought my own.

☺Change of towels everyday if needed.

☺Baby bathtub / Baby potty / stroller & bottle warmer available on request

☺2 bottles of drinking water every day.

☺Safebox.

☺Mini fridge.

☺Hairdryer.

☺Cabinets with hangers.

☺Hot/cold water tap and showers.

☺Cable TV via a small flat screen TV (as seen in the picture above).

Hmm… Actually the room is not too bad after all!

After dilly dallying in our rooms for awhile, our stomachs reminded us that we have not taken our lunch and tea. So we proceeded to the snack room which is available from about 230 - 530pm (can’t really remember as we only took snacks on the 1st day).

I was rather disappointed with the snack room experience… The offerings were limited, quality was bad (the phad thai didn’t taste like phad thai and the ingredients were not fresh), waitresses looked unwilling to serve (probably too tiring to keep on bringing the food up and down the stairs) and the snack room was alfresco dining. Alfresco is nice when the weather is cooling. But not so wonderful in oh-so-super-hot Phuket!

Went to get drinks from the bar instead. And as you know ordering from the bar here is … liberating. Liberating because almost everything you do and eat here is ALL INCLUSIVE. Champagne however is chargeable!

The Vapango drink.

The Fresh Phuket drink.

I tried their smoothies and they were a tad too diluted.

Guess what? Shortly after snack time, dinner time starts! Knowing that a buffet awaits us, we could not help but went for it.

We heard from one of the GOs that there are about 50 chefs and cooking assistants in the kitchen to cook up a storm everyday 3 times a day! EXCESSIVE!!!

(Get ready to drool at the pictures below…)

There are about 4-5 rooms available for dining. The rooms inside the food area seems cooler but some of the rooms may be closed at different times.

This was one of the rooms with a lovely blue theme.

This is another room which is located just outside the food area and it was not so cooling because it was not air-conditioned.

Breakfast

Every breakfast, there would be the standard omelette counter where you could choose the ingredients for your omelette and get the chef to cook on the spot for you. You got to try this as it is cooked very well.

There were different types of breads available including the not so usual ones like the white chocolate bread, tomato and cheese bread…

They also served little jars of jams of various flavours, some of which were specially made for Club Med Phuket!

You also get Japanese foods (like miso soup), Western food (like heinz beans, hashbrowns, toasted sandwiches), Chinese/Thai (like porridge) fruits, salads, desserts available.

There was a low fat counter available every breakfast which served bagels, low fat milk, healthy cereals including my favourite muesli!

LUNCH & DINNER

International buffet. E V E R Y D A Y and featuring food from different cuisines. We had Spanish, Indian and Chinese during our stay. You can also expect a Japanese, Thai, Western and pasta corner for every meal.

Wine lovers note: You can order free flow of red and white wine during meal times!

This is one of the rounds that Keith took during one of the lunches. He took TWO grilled fishes, beancurd, tempura veges, spinach and cheese and braised meat. He is really a food connoisseur!

They also offer a few specialty dishes each day, that the chefs prepared on demand at the various counters.

Grilled fish and asparagus in wasabi cream sauce.

We had steak in black pepper sauce one day, lamb roasted with mixed spices another day and many more!

They also have specialty desserts! Club Med is not just a foodie’s paradise but also heaven for people like me who has a sweet tooth!

Can you imagine desserts galore 3 times a day, everyday??

And did I mention that the adults and kids alike absolutely love the ice-cream counter that’s available during the buffets? EIGHT flavours always. Jared loves the coffee flavour while I liked the blueberry and vanilla flavours.

And so, we spent the 1st day upon arrival in the late afternoon just gluttoning away. Will blog more about the other non-fattening activities we did and Baby Club.

Stay tuned!

Bishan Park

2012-05-14T23:39:00.001+08:00

It had been a year or two since we’ve been to Bishan Park. It had underwent a facelift recently and we decided to bring Julien and his cousin Raeanne there.

The first thing that caught our eye was the big red balloon with the yellow ‘M’ sign… MacDonalds’! In the park!

Bought some snacks from Mac for a last minute picnic.

Bishan Park was no longer the large piece of fields. It’s now been transformed into a place with bridges across waters and sloping greens. Yes, all man-made.

A really nice place for the kids to run around…

Here’s Julien running after the birds and yours truly running after him…

You can actually bring your kids to the water area to look at fishes. We even spotted a terrapin!

And if your kids get bored, there is a play area for them to expend their energy.

Overall, Bishan Park is a great place to unwind during the weekends. You feel you are in the ‘country side’ getting in touch with nature – the greenery and waters and your kids can run along or cycle.

We all felt recharged and our moods uplifted after our time here.

We will be back!

Story-telling

2012-04-30T00:39:00.001+08:00

Do you have a kid who ~~does not~~ has not learnt to enjoy your story-telling, no matter how interesting ~~you think~~ you are?

I am one such worried parent.

Julien is becoming more restless…

And prefers to play catching with mommy instead of listening to her read. Anytime.

And so, desperate mommy is turning to other ways to tell him stories.

I tried the youtube.

It worked!

He was… captivated!

Not that I think I am less entertaining than her, but Julien really enjoys watching the tv and the computer….

Any better ideas?

Online purchases for toddler

2012-04-23T17:27:00.001+08:00

The hubby recently stumbled upon an interesting website selling cool stuffs for toddlers. Prices are very affordable and the stuffs are I believe mostly unavailable in SG. Here are some of our purchases.

Organic toothpaste

Safe if swallowed. Very important since Julien still doesn’t know how to spit. In fact, it’s strawberry and banana flavored and contains vitamins!

And it came with a gum brush even.

Slot your finger in and brush your toddler’s gums.

Organic snacks

Delicious banana flavored snack that comes organic and full of goodness PLUS, it’s with my favorite Sesame Street!

Bowls

Julien has this bad habit of emptying the contents out of his bowl and throwing his bowl all over the place. So here’s our solution:

Colourful bowls of different sizes that comes with a suction base!

Just press the bowl hard onto the table and…

…it’s stuck!

We bought a whole box of snacks, vitamins and other interesting stuffs. Will blog about them soon.

Happy Monday and have a great week ahead!

Bye Bye Blackberry, Hello iPhone

2012-04-18T12:54:00.000+08:00

Yes! I have finally made the decision to let go of the Blackberry and switch to the iPhone.

I got so excited I went online to shop for a new iPhone case even before I bought the iPhone.

Finally the box reached my home but what was inside was this instead.

Hmm… doesn’t look like my iPhone cover at all.

I was rather disappointed and dropped the shop an email. The customer service personnel was very apologetic and after 2 email exchanges assured me that she had arranged the delivery of the right item. The best thing was she told me the cost of returning the red pouch was not worth the time, cost and trouble so I could keep it. Double yeah!! And I was a very impressed customer.

So here’s my python patterned cover!

Inside the cover…

In the meantime, life is so much more entertaining or rather ‘busier’ with an iPhone.

I am currently in love with Instagram. Just so amazed to see the beautiful pictures that people take and edit with just the iPhone. Kinda inspired for now… So do follow me on Instagram if you are an iPhone/Android phone user.

By the way, as this post is being published, I am on the way to Bandung, Indonesia for Amber’s wedding. Will be back with photos of the trip and wedding!

Thanks for reading and have a great week ahead!

Kid’s haircut at Tampines One

2012-04-17T00:57:00.000+08:00

Julien’s hair has grown into quite a round ‘bush’ and my mum-in-law had been complaining that he is looking like a girl already.

So we searched around for a kid’s hair salon near our place. We finally found one at Tampines One.

One last look at his cute round-shaped crop of hair… I honestly quite like it!

Off we went to the hair salon – The D’s Kiddy Salon.

It looked clean and bright. There were DVD players in front of each chair as well as a corner stocked with books and toys. To distract the kids I guess!

Doesn’t it look warm and cosy?

So, here we have Julien settling in…

That was the last non-unpleasant look of Julien’s that we saw then.

Once the scissors started snipping, even Thomas the train could not stop Julien from crying.

Mummy had to ‘comfort’ Julien… And it didn’t work.

We took toys and books from the corner to pacify and distract him. Julien just hurled those things away!

Next weapon… FOOD!

It worked for just awhile…

Thank God by then, the poor hairdresser had already accomplished quite a bit.

But as our little boy had LOTS of hair, the hairdresser still had a fair bit of trimming to do.

Eventually, we ended up in this sorry state….

Daddy and Mummy had to take turns to carry Julien and all three of us had lots of hair all over.

This whole wailing episode made me wonder if Julien could FEEL his hair being cut. SIGH…

Well, even though it turned out to be a difficult haircut for us and the hairdresser, I must say that this is in our opinion the best kid’s hairdresser (in terms of place and skill) that we had been to so far.

Here are the rates and special promotion if you are interested!

Fearless Julien except…

2012-04-15T20:42:00.001+08:00

Julien is our little unwitting fearless chap.

He struts into any lifts before any of us, he chases cats, dogs, birds, he smiles and waves to strangers of all races and ages (except when he is in a bad mood).

And so I thought of my little brave boy that nothing in this world could scare him. Until this….

One of the weekdays, the good papa and mama decided to bring Julien to the outdoor water playground at Tampines One.

We started him off by helping him play on the slide.

Then we proceeded to the water area!

Look at what this place had to offer… for FREE!

Daddy first placed Julien with the hippos….

But Julien stood there and looked quite lost.

Probably due to a lack of exposure? Oops, it’s time for us to start bringing him out to the play more often!

Julien then started to put his one hand out finally…

Nice.

Except that he stayed there for the next 5 minutes!

Daddy decided to help him alittle by carrying him to another area. But the water splashed into Julien’s eyes and he started wailing and running towards….

The same original spot… With the hippos.

So for the rest of our time there, little Julien stood at his safe spot… playing with that single sprout of water.

Not so fearless after all!

Happy Birthday!

2012-03-28T01:42:00.001+08:00

Would like to use this space to say a huge

“THANK YOU!”

for all your lovely and wonderful birthday wishes, prayers & presents!

It is amazing that most of the gifts I received this year were what I really liked! Some of them are…

♥ H&M top and skinny jeans

♥ Zara skinny jeans

♥ Desigual flowy top

♥ Nail voucher

♥ Kate Spade bag :) (BIG thanks to my beloved E99)!

Pretty inside…

♥ (Finally) Marc Jacobs laptop bag (BIG thanks to my beloved siblings)!

From my wonderful hubby…

♥ Jwest shoes

♥ Swarovski necklace &…

♥ Clutch from Aldo

I feel mighty blessed. :) Thank u once again!

Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant

2012-03-25T02:05:00.001+08:00

It was Jap food for my birthday dinner with my family!

We decided on Kiseki buffet @ the now very quiet Heeren. Heard they are moving out too… to Orchard Central.

Brought the 2 boys out with us! And I think here’s our first family photo of 4 together!

I ♥ my boysss!

My oh-so-fashionable brother. Look at his granduncle specs!

They have a small kids’ play area here for young tods… Honestly nothing very much.

There is a wide variety of food available. You will be spoilt for choice BUT do not expect such a high quality of food here. We sat down and ate for 2+ hours!

Look at the dessert display here!

Love to bring the boys out!

Julien loves to play and run all about… as usual. And today, he was in love with the mini slide…

Jensen’s turn to eat…

Seldom wear flats but really this is the best type of footwear to be in when out with the boys…

The aunties lurve their nephew…

Happy Sunday everyone!

Dressing up Julien

2012-03-21T01:43:00.000+08:00

And Jensen too actually.

I enjoy shopping for my boys. But the shopping experience is very limited in Singapore… Sadly…

If I had a daughter instead, I would have definitely spent much more money (the only comforting thought) as there are so many uber adorable and pretty girls clothes and accessories around!

The boys’ clothings are either limited in range, ugly or expensive.

I could not find any nice, affordable shoes after Julien outgrew the black crocs that my Aunt bought for him.

I had to go online to shop for the boys’ clothes from overseas and incur shipping charges. I also have to wait alittle longer for the clothes to reach my hands. But no choice…

Here’s Ju dressed in Dark blue tee (Camouflage), skinny blue jeans (Gap), colorful checkered shoes (Gap).

I like my sons cool. :)

With this, I have a teeny-weeny dream…

A dream of designing and producing boys’ clothings at affordable prices. Thinking about it makes me excited even though I have zero idea how to really start and possibly zero time to work on this.

Any mums with sons experiencing the same frustration as me? Any of you come across online or physical shops selling nice and affordable clothes for boys? Please share!

Feeding baby medicine

2012-03-19T01:07:00.001+08:00

Jensen had been taking his medication for his phlegm for 6 days already. And we’ve noticed, he’s definitely fussier than Julien.

While Julien happily takes all kinds of medication that we give him, Jensen actually shows us his preference.

Here are the 2 different reactions….

Medication #1

Medication #2

Now I know which medicine taste worse…!!!

Here’re a couple of useful tips for you parents regarding medication.

1.Remember to ask the nurse the following:

a. When to eat the medicine - before or after feed

b. The expiry date of the medicine after it’s opened

c. How to store the medicine – refrigeration needed or room temperature

2. The next time your baby visits the doctor for the same ailment, you may choose not to get the same medicine if you already have it and it can still be consumed. Save some $$ here!

The Frown

2012-03-13T02:31:00.000+08:00

As Julien is growing up, he is getting a little more mischievous than before.
Sometimes, he does things that I am not pleased with… Like hitting his little brother!
In order to get him to know my displeasure (since he does not understand words yet), I would use my body language to communicate to him.
I would frown at him and say ‘NO!’ in the sternest voice possible.
And recently, I realized Julien has a new expression for me whenever I rebuke him.
He would furrow his eyebrows, pout his lips and try to look as miserable as he can. And then he starts whining.

Where on earth did he learn this from??!! Hmm….

Phlegm in newborn

2012-03-13T00:02:00.001+08:00

I had chose to ignore the noisy breathing sounds I've heard from my little Jensen since 2-3 weeks ago. Afterall, there was no output such as mucus. I told myself baby should be fine.

And then the speed of his drinking decreased... and the last few days had seen him struggling to start on his feed.

Last night was the final straw... Jensen was crying at 3am for his feed. When we gave him the bottle, he seemed to have great difficulty drinking and started coughing and wailing even louder. It was extremely heartbreaking!

We had better bring little Jen to the doctor the next morning to find out if he was all right.

And the doctor's diagnosis was...

MILD BRONCHITIS!

The reason why we didn't see any mucus or phelgm being expelled out was because Jen had most probably swallowed the phlegm.

I felt so bad and guilty! Why did I ignore the symptoms in the first place?? Had I brought him to the doctor's 2-3 weeks ago, his condition would not have worsen.

I had been complacent...

My baby had to undergo the neubilizer.

And look at the amount of medication he has to take!

Praying that little Jen recovers soon!

My Gym @ Marine Parade

2012-03-10T18:12:00.001+08:00

Hubby decided to take leave last Thursday and bring Julien out for some good fun before I return to work after 2 months of maternity leave.

We looked around and decided to go for a trial class at My Gym @ Marine Parade, with the hope that we can help Julien expend some of his seemingly limitless energy and sleep early in the night.

There was a discount on the trial class fees for Toys ‘R’ Us Star card holders and we need only pay $5 instead of $35 for the one hour class. We thought it was a good chance for us to try to get Julien exposed a little and perhaps sign him up for something that he enjoys.

We attended the class for the 18mo-3year old kids. It was a small class of about 8 kids and 2 teachers. Probably due to the weekday timing, most of the kids there were from expatriates’ families.

The kids have to be accompanied by one adult. In this class, they were either the mummies or domestic helpers.

We started with some ‘warm up’ exercises cum sing-along session in a circle.

Maybe it was Julien’s first time in a classroom setting. He hated to be seated and poor me had to restrain him and ‘force’ him to do the actions of the songs. I was feeling a little embarrassed as most of the other kids were well-behaved and singing along happily!

The teacher assured me after the class that it is normal for kids who are there for the 1st few times to be restless since they are not used to a structured classroom setting. Phew!

There were a few things that we did. (Pardon me for the flurry images… Hard for us to capture Julien in action!)

First up, the kids took turns to do an assisted headstand!

Julien looked quite shocked initially when he was turned upside. But when he started to focus and saw mummy waving at him, he started giggling. Must be funny to see an upside down mummy!

Next up, kids did a “walk on the plank”. I guessed it was to practise their sense of balance.

Julien then tried a backward flip on the parallel bars… He came up with his hair all messy.

Of course, thanks to his greatest supporter cheering him on at the side, he did TWO successful flips!

But as you can see…. he couldn’t wait to leave this station.

Soon after, the teachers took out the swings… Wheeee!

Shared swing…

There was another kid who was getting uncomfortable and the teacher started blowing bubbles to soothe him…

Instead of trying to catch and burst the bubbles, my little boy was totally… mesmerized by them it seems!

During this 1 hour, my boy’s favourite activity was … free play!

And of course during the ‘Separation Time’ when the teachers turned on soothing music, poured out the toys and got the parents to move away from the kids, Julien was totally preoccupied with his toys and oblivious to me moving away! No problem for little Julien!

The class ended with a short story-telling using a bee puppet. The teacher was very animated and I was pleasantly surprised that Julien was captivated and managed to sit still for the couple of minutes. He was very amused by the ‘buzzing’ sound that the teacher made.

Overall, I was satisfied with the class as there were varied activities for the kids in that short 1 hour. The teachers were also very helpful and enthusiastic.

If you asked me if Julien enjoyed the class, I can only say he seemed to only enjoy running around and exploring on his own rather than doing the structured activities. However, I guess it is good to get him to start attending classes and getting used to discipline, structure and socializing.

We are thinking of trying out a music and movement class next before deciding on a class that Julien can attend on a weekly basis. Any suggestions?

Storing necklaces

2012-03-10T02:03:00.001+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I bought myself a necklace from online.

And guess what? I saw it was on 30% sale today. Argh!!!

Today, I had in mind a necklace to wear with my outfit. But because it was SOOOO entangled with the other necklaces on my one and only necklace hanger (see the ballerina body hanger in the picture below), I had to settle for another not-so-fitting necklace that I managed to disentangle.

And I felt so frustrated trying to disentangle the mess and having to rush out of the house.

So when I reached home tonight, I brought my hanger out and tried to sort out my necklaces AGAIN…. I managed to disentangle 4 and gave up.

I think I have about 20-30 necklaces here?

I searched online for storage solutions and came across these lovely ideas from Little Lovables.

And a pretty awesome idea… using it as deco for your bedroom wall!

Don’t they look so pretty being displayed this way?

Ok. Time to buy some hooks and ask my helper for help with disentangling and hanging up my baubles!

Julien’s turning 18 months!

2012-02-28T01:44:00.001+08:00

My little boy is growing up sooo fast! Too fast! In 1 more week’s time, he will be 18 months’ old!

He used to be docile, very mild, accommodating, easy-going…

Look at his big round innocent eyes… But don’t be deceived!

I mean he’s generally still a good boy but…

He does have an attitude!

He wants to have his choices (hmm… blackberry or iphone??) and once he’s made up his mind, he only wants it HIS way!

No questions about it.

And we as parents are happy about it. It’s a sign of growing up.

Julien is much more active, aware and engaging now. It’s so much more fun for us to interact with him now! Though he has not really learnt how to speak at all (rather, he does not want to try to speak), he understands words like ‘catch’, ‘let’s go’, ‘blanket’, ‘bathe’, ‘carry’ etc.

A friend of ours recommended sending kids to childcare at the age of 2-3 years only. The rationale was that kids younger than that would not be able to engage and learn anything much. Sending the kid to pre-school early just means spending alot of $$ to entertain him.

But we are just so tempted to send our active and bored Julien sooon. I am thinking if he goes to class now, he not only learn to socialize with other kids, he would pick up soft skills and might start to learn to speak faster too.

Well, we shall wait a little longer and assess the situation. Parents, what is your take on this? Should we send our kids to school early?

Pine Garden 1st month cakes

2012-02-25T01:11:00.001+08:00

For Julien’s 1st month, we bought our 1st month cakes from Gobi (read more here). For Jensen, we wanted something different and decided on the famous Pine Garden cakes.

If you visit their only outlet at Ang Mo Kio, you may mistaken it for just another ordinary small neighbourhood bakery… except that it’s very crowded especially during peak hours.

One glance and you may think that they sell the normal traditional sponge cakes. But look carefully at the flavours available… Pulut Hitam, Apple Vera Martini and many more!

We decided to go for the half kg cakes for relatives and the package with 9 mini cakes for friends. We asked the shop assistants if cake tasting was available since we were going to buy alot of cakes… But sadly, no… We had to buy the cakes in order to try.

So, we chose their signature flavour – Lychee Martini and got the Chocolate Bailey’s and the traditional favourite Black Forest!

We wolfed down the cakes in a few minutes… They were yummy! I personally preferred the light Lychee Martini cake with the subtle hint of alcohol in it, best. The Black Forest was a close runner-up.

Well, since we were not planning to throw a party to celebrate Jen’s 1 month, we decided to give away more cakes. We spent almost a thousand dollars here!

No discount given…. Just free delivery….

Honestly, don’t expect great customer service here. Just very yummy cakes.

The packaging is quite nice too.

Note: The cute card with Jensen’s photos on it is NOT from Pine Garden. As usual, Jen’s very creative, very arty designer aunty – Aunty Val designed the card… all in just 20 minutes. She’s so good at it!

And for Jensen’s 1 month old celebration, we did a small family lunch at Man Zhu restaurant at the Chinese Swimming Club (@ Amber Road) where my bro-in-law was a member at.

The Sunday hi-tea was less than $30 per pax and the buffet offerings were not bad at all.

One side of the restaurant faced the swimming pool…

And the other sides faced greenery and another part of the pool…

(Gong Gong looked so happy with his grandchildren!)

And while we adults were happily munching our food, our little Jensen was….

Peacefully Zzzzzzzzing away……..

(Thanks Aunties and Uncle for the cool and colorful Old Navy tights… and look at the 3d baseball socks that Mummy bought me!)

Happy Belated 1 month old Jensen!

(We love our sweet Baby!)

Feeding a 6 week old baby

2012-02-20T23:17:00.001+08:00

An active toddler who is constantly demanding his parents’ attention and discovering new things everyday, cable TV (I subscribed to the very addictive HK and Korean drama channel), a new hobby of expressing milk, a newborn (need I explain?) … I guess you can forgive me for my long absence from this space!

A month and a half just whizzed by like that.

At 6 weeks old, my little Jensen has grown to be chubby tubby.

As you can see from the picture, Jensen has been feeding very well. At 2-3 weeks, we were already giving him 120ml every 3-4 hours. Now at 6 weeks, he is taking 140-150 ml every 3-4 hours.

During the 1st few days he was back from the hospital, he was drinking so much, more than I could express out, so we bought formula to supplement. At first, I felt discouraged about it… But I just kept on expressing the best that I could.

A note to all to-be-mums and mums of newborns:

DON’T GIVE UP ON FEEDING BREASTMILK! YOU CAN DO IT!

And yes, I kept on going and produced more and more and now Jensen is fully on breastmilk again. In fact, Jensen only drinks half of what I produce each day. I also give a little of my BM to Julien. (I replace a quarter of his formula milk with my BM and mix it with his formula milk as he no longer can take the strong taste of the BM). Still, I am facing a good problem - the lack of storage space to keep my frozen breastmilk.

I am also very thankful that Jensen wakes up only once a night now to drink his milk. We used to try to give him formula just before midnight, hoping that it will fill his stomach better and last longer through the night. But, we discovered it was not so. Maybe just for Jensen?

So, how did we train Jensen and Julien to sleep through the night? I am not sure! Maybe because we had prayed specifically for it!

I feel blessed with my 2 boys and am enjoying the time I spend with the 2 of them. Indeed, children are a blessing from the Lord.

My Stay at Mount Alvernia Hospital

2012-01-16T16:23:00.002+08:00

Due to our good delivery experience (with Julien) at Mount Alvernia Hospital, we decided without a doubt to go back.

And how was our 2nd delivery experience and stay there?

SUPERB!

For the following reasons:

1. Awesome customer service

Every single nurse that attended to me were friendly, motherly (for the older nurses), very patient, caring, knowledgeable, personal EVEN THOUGH they were running short of manpower that weekend. More than half of them would ask about my family, my delivery.

In one instance, while I was being wheeled into a 2-bedder maternity ward (as all the 1-bedders were unavailable that busy weekend), the hubby stopped the nurse in her tracks and requested for a change to a 1-bedder room in the medical ward instead. (The 2-bedder was too cramped for our liking!)

The nurse immediately pushed me out of the room and made arrangements with a great can-do and will-do attitude… no signs of displeasure or complaints! She even apologized to us for what seemed like a hundred times, for the inconvenience caused due to the lack of rooms! And not forgetting it was a very busy day and we had seen her running in and out of the delivery wards.

The hubby also went back to the hospital after we were discharged to settle Jensen’s birth certificate. He took the shuttle bus provided by the hospital and was very impressed with the bus driver – he was smiling and saying his ‘Thank you and Goodbye’ to the alighting passengers!

AWESOME!

2. Affordable rates

Our hospital bill came up to be $5k+ for a natural, unassisted delivery with epidural, a comfortable stay at a Single Deluxe Room, companion charge, doctors' fees and baby's stay...… Very affordable as compared to the other private hospitals.

3. Comfortable room

Here are some pictures!

My warm and cosy room

Flat screen TV with HBO movies to entertain me

Nice and spacious bathroom

Sofa cum hubby’s bed

There was a mini fridge and lots of cabinets and drawers to accommodate our stuffs as well!

We definitely enjoyed our short stay there!

Do share with me your hospital stay experiences if you can, enjoyable or not so enjoyable.

Now signing off with a picture of Jensen at Day 7!

Jensen’s Birth Story

2012-01-10T19:57:00.001+08:00

Ok, I hope you are not expecting any water bag breaking, sudden contractions type of birth story from me because you are not going to get one.

In fact, as mentioned in my previous post, pregnant me was fast approaching my EDD and NOTHING was happening. We fixed a date for me to be induced and everyday before THAT Saturday, I would be doing something to desperately try to get Jensen out.

Walking an hour+ everyday, drinking pineapple juice, eating spicy foods… and ZILCH. Nothing exciting happened.

So on Saturday morning 7 Jan 2012, the hubby and I headed down to our doc’s clinic at Thomson Medical to be induced. And here goes the timeline…..

(Me trying to look excited as I leave the house… I was really quite nervous actually!)

9.40am – Had a prostaglandin pill inserted. Nurse did a VE and commented that she could feel the baby’s head but cervix was still far behind. 0 cm dilated. Then I was monitored on the CTG machine for half an hour.

10.20am – Already feeling contractions. It was quite painful or was my threshold of pain low?

Nurse asked me to walk around for about half an hour then come back to see Doc at 11 a.m. If I cannot wait, I can go straight to Mount Alvernia… the birth hospital of our choice.

10.30am – Walked only downstairs and I told my husband that my contractions are really painful and getting stronger and closer together. About 5 mins interval..

Mount A, here we come!

11 am – Checked into the Delivery Suite. Nice room…

Spacious toilet!

Jacuzzi (Don’t think any patient has the mood for this!)? Or is it the bathtub used for water birth?

The nurses put me on the CTG machine

As you can see, the contractions are coming really strong and close together. But when the nurse did the VE, I was only 1cm dilated!

I requested for the epidural early this time. Dr Tan agreed as from my last delivery, it seemed that the epidural sped up my dilation… Perhaps without the epidural, I was feeling too tensed.

The wait seemed so long… Tried to watch TV… Not too interested really…

12.30pm - The anaesthetist arrived with the huge syringe. Yes! My ‘salvation’ is here!

Honestly, even after my epidural, I could feel the contractions. The nurses told me that the prostaglandin probably worked so well for me that it’s hard for the effects of the epidural to catch up with the very strong contractions.

My contractions persisted intensely and thank God baby’s heartbeat all these while were strong and stable. And finally before the clock struck 3, I was 10cm dilated!

(I could still manage a smile before labour, thanks to the epidural)

(Nurses preparing me for the delivery)

And after about 15 mins and under 20 pushes, Jensen weighing 3.53kg arrived into this world!

Tears came into my eyes as I carried my precious! I thank God for a safe and smooth delivery!

(Fluids being extracted from baby’s nose and mouth)

And after baby made his 1st cry, the nurses wrapped him up. Look at his 1st funny little expression…!

And here’s a happy family photo!

The labour process took about 4hours this time as compared to Julien’s 19hours. Thank God this round is a more pleasant, smooth, quicker process! You can read about Julien’s birth story here.

My last gynae visit…

2012-01-04T09:31:00.001+08:00

Went for my last gynae visit this afternoon.

Before the scan, Dr Tan was just telling us if baby does not come out, we could choose to wait until 1-2 days after the expected due date before we decide to induce.

However, during the scan, we were all surprised to see baby had grown to 3.3 kg already! (Julien was 3.27 kg when he arrived at 39 weeks)

After the scan, doc advised us that baby could grow up to 3.5 kg if we waited till next week.

And so, we all decided…

IT SHALL BE THIS WEEK.

We eventually chose Sat 7 Jan for THE date of Jensen’s arrival if he doesn’t come out these few days.

Finally! A date to look forward to!

Now, here’s the last we see of Jensen in a scan! (A nice view of his facial features) The next time we see him, it will be 4D, real life!

And here’s Julien zooming around while waiting for his younger brother to come out and play with him!

39 weeks!

2012-01-01T19:11:00.001+08:00

Congratulate us! I, or rather Jensen made it through past the new year, almost past 1 January! (Yes, this is a live post)

The hubby is most happy. And now, we are going to try to coax baby out soon! Mummy is growing really tired…. My tummy feels like… (sorry for the lack of vocab here) BURSTING!

I shall be running on the threadmill, doing some squats, carrying weights or Julien, eating some raw pineapple maybe, at 11 p.m. later. Baby, come out soon!

The emails I had been receiving from What To Expect.com are titled “How to Induce Labor'”, “Squat Exercises”, “Planning for a Caesarean” (What?!)… Sounds exciting right?

Well, even though this is my 2nd pregnancy, but I am still feeling a little nervous. It SHOULD happen this week. Let it be a much shortER, less painful, safe delivery!

And before I go, just to let you know, we’ve decided to spell #2’s name as ‘JensEn’, with an ‘E’ instead of an ‘O’!

See u soon Jensen! :)

Nakhon Kitchen (Bedok)

2012-01-01T18:57:00.001+08:00

Did I read somewhere that spicy foods can induce labor? Well, it definitely did not work for me!

Last weekend, my family decided to try a highly-rated place by Hungry Go Where at Bedok North – Nakhon Kitchen.

As you can see, it serves authentic Thai cuisine, right at the heart of the HDB flats. And yes, it’s open air - NO AIRCONDITIONING.

But boy was it popular!

When we reached the place less than an hour after it opened for business in the evening, we were #4 in the queue. Even after we left the place, the queue was still long! The food must be good…

Here’s our appetizer – Thai Mango Salad.

I love this dish with it’s fresh mango, onions and cashew nuts!

We’ve read good reviews for it’s Green Curry.

I would say pretty good indeed. It’s tasty fare and I like it for not having a strong taste of it’s spices.

Next up, Phad Thai (Tang Hoon).

Very ordinary… almost bland. Maybe we should have ordered the kway teow version instead…

Kang Kong cooked Thai style…

We chose this instead of the sambal version. But now I know veges cooked in Thai style = veges fried with sliced red chilli and garlic. Simple but honestly tasty enough.

We ordered sweet and sour pork. Very chinese right?

I think the regular zi char stall’s version beat this.

Another food that had good reviews here was the Tom Yum Soup.

Don’t be deceived by it’s clear soup… This bowl is spicy! In my opinion, one of the best Tom Yum soup I’ve ever eaten!

Fried Spring Rolls..

Crispy enough… regular fare.

Pineapple Fried Rice…

It’s definitely not the best offerings around. Presentation was definitely lacking…

We also ordered beef kway teow soup. Broth was good and the beef slices was soft and succulent. Comfort food!

We ended off our meal with some Thai dessert. Red Ruby…

Where’s the chestnut?

Another recommended dish was the Mango Glutinous Rice.

Average honestly… The mango was not sweet enough? Glutinous rice was not tasty enough?

Anyway, all in all, it was good Thai food. We should be back for it’s mains and skip the desserts.

Notes:

1. There are no baby chairs available here!

2. No reservations allowed so be there early!

Nakhon Kitchen

Blk 136,

Bedok North Ave 3,

#01-166

Tel: +65 6245 5548

Pre-delivery thoughts

2011-12-27T00:57:00.001+08:00

I’ve made it through Christmas!

Through days of feasting, LOTS of shopping (aka walking) and gift-exchanging.

(Me and my beautiful colleagues celebrating Christmas! Luv our dresscode! :))

I am quite amazed that I am still around at week 38+… after so much walking, carrying and chasing after Julien… Furthermore, many had ‘warned’ me that no. 2 is normally delivered earlier than no. 1 and Julien arrived at his 39th week.

So here I am, still around, penning my pre-delivery thoughts down. Pardon me for the randomness of these thoughts… Many different thoughts going through my mind!

#1 – Dec ‘11 or Jan ‘12 baby?

For the hubby, he believes babies born earlier in the calendar has a good headstart and advantage and so he is making sure that I get lots of rest and not moving TOO much.

For me, it’s ‘unto the Lord’. I am feeling so ‘heavy’ these days that I really don’t mind popping NOW. Sleeping has become so… tiring. I seem to be able to feel Jenson no matter which position I choose. The pace of my walking has slowed down tremendously. Walking normally gives me stitches.

#2 – Argh, my work!

While people are slowing down at work during the end of the year, I am busy rushing to finish my work before I pop anytime. (It partly explains why I have not blogged for soooo long!) I am hoping I can pop and be confined in peace…

For new mums, confinement period is NO holiday. That was my revelation when I just delivered Julien. The transition somehow caused some depression for me – New things to learn and do such as breastfeeding, caring for a newborn, and trying to work from home… all proved too much for me to handle! History must not repeat itself especially since I now also have a hyper 16 month old son. Trying my best!

#3 – Jenson or Jensen??

The hubby and I still deciding on how to spell J Junior’s name…. Hmmm…..

#4 – Leading a more normal life!

Of course, with the addition of another kid, life will NEVER be the same for me and the hubby again. And of course, we are very happy to welcome this new addition. But what I meant is that… I am really looking forward to being able to see my toes again!

And being able to carry Julien more often. And being able to wash my toes in comfort. And being able to sleep better without obstruction. And being able to wear the clothes in my wardrobe again. And of course, being able to shop for MORE clothes again! Whoohoo! This is a happy thought!

#5 – Learning to love 2… or 3 equally

I am really praying that like Julien, Jenson will be easy, smiley, good-tempered and happy. But if he turns out to have a different personality, I have to learn to be a fair and very loving mum to both.

So with 3 males in my life, I must learn to love all 3 as equally as I can. The 3 most important men in my life!

#6 – So when???!

I wish I knew… But I don’t. For Julien’s case, my water bag broke and so I knew the time had come. I hope for Jenson, it would be as obvious. I kinda forgot how contractions really felt like…

Anyway, I feel like a walking timebomb. Tick tick tick tick….

And I and the hubby are praying that Jenson’s delivery will be a smooth, safe and SWIFT one (very important)!

So, these are some of the thoughts that I am thinking about almost everyday for now. So please say a little prayer for me when you read this. My hubby will update this space with my birth story!

All I want for Christmas is…..

2011-12-10T11:18:00.001+08:00

That’s right. A helmet.

It has been 1 week since Julien has started to walk long distances independently. And oh, how my sonny LURVES to walk now.

As much as us parents and grandparents’ hearts were filled with joy and pride, our hearts had also stopped many a times when he became wobbly in his steps.

This past week had recorded the most number of falls, bruises and bumps for Julien. So his daddy commented that we would need a safety helmet for our son to protect his head…. But I guess this is part and parcel of our little one learning to walk! We should… relax….!(?)

Isn’t it the same for all of us in life? If we want to go up the next level in life, we’ve got to try new things and know that falling down and failures are part and parcel of our walk. But if we persist on and never give up, we will see our dreams come to past.

Well, after a week of practice, Julien is getting much better in his stride… definitely bolder.

And we are really glad that by the time Jenson is out, Julien would be walking and running by himself.

So, here’s a picture of Jenson’s home at 36 weeks….

Just FOUR (or less) more weeks to go!!! We can’t wait to see you Baby Jenson!