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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!

IWannaGetStuffed & Blic Cafe

2011-11-27T01:27:00.001+08:00

Me: “Hi, is this IWannaGetStuffed? I would like to make a reservation for 5 persons tomorrow at 1p.m.”

Person on the line: “Err, what kind of food are you looking for?”

Me: *Stunned for a moment* “This is IWannaGetStuffed at Tampines right?”

POTL: “Ya.”

Me: “This is the right place then.”

POTL: “Ok, you are looking for the RIGHT food.”

Don’t blame the waiter for asking you if you had got the right restaurant because apparently, there is another restaurant with the exact same name that serves vegetarian food!

Anyway, it was that time of the year again – Val’s and Jared’s birthday! Val’s on the 28th of Nov and Jared’s on the 2nd of Dec.

Every time we celebrate our family’s birthday, we would always search out for a good hotel buffet meal. Boring really! So I thought of going somewhere unconventional… Somewhere close to home literally.

Lunch @ IWannaGetStuffed at Tampines Ave 4 and then desserts @ Blic Ice-cream cafe which is situated 1 block away!

Iwannagetstuffed

This cafe is tucked away in a corner, along the rows of shop under the HDB flats. But don’t expect an enclosed space! Let me warn you that this place has no air-con. Throw in a couple of busy flies…

We were the only customers there at 1 p.m. on a Saturday. But a few families joined in after awhile.

When we received the menus and realized how affordable the food were, we went on an ordering frenzy!

Appetizers….

Cheesy potato skins

Served hot. Cheese and beef toppings were generous. V good indeed!

Mid-joint wings

Crispy skin on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. A must-have for the chicken skin lover! Strangely, it comes with a thousand island-like sauce…

Caesar Salad

Average. They used the paler Chinese lettuce instead of the usual greener ones.

12” Hawaiian and Pineapple Pizza

Deliciously thin-crusted with generous toppings…. In our opinion, the best food among our offerings!

Mains…

My Prime Baby Back Ribs (chef’s recommendation)

Not the most tender and tasty ribs I’ve tasted… but it’s not too bad. According to Val, it tasted like bak kwa. Fries were crispy but you’ve got to eat it while it’s hot.

Grilled Dory Fish

According to Dan, it tasted good especially with the sauce.

Fish & Chips

Quite plain fare… But what do you expect for $10?

All in all, our meal for 5 cost us $90. Not bad considering the amount of food we ordered.

We felt it was an overall good experience. If the cafe is air-conditioned, it would have been almost perfect! We also felt the appetizers were the highlight… Do try it especially if you are living nearby!

iWannaGetStuffed
Blk 801, Tampines Ave 4
#01-257
Singapore 520801
+65 6785 4690

Read more about this cafe at http://www.citynews.sg/2011/10/food-for-the-greater-good/

Blic Cafe

Just across the road at Blk 802, you will find this clean, bright, spacious air-conditioned (thank God) cafe.

Yes, this is the place we were looking for and they sell ice-creams, waffles, milk shakes and coffees.

They remind me of a smaller version of Udders’ with the classic and premium flavours.

After trying our ice-creams, we concluded that Udders’ is still better though this is not too bad.

My lychee mint and Ferraro (chocolate ice-cream with hazelnut bits) were really average. I kinda liked the Seasalt Malt flavour (tasted like horlicks with salt) and Blackie (the top-selling blacker version of cookies and cream). I didn’t try the Mao Shan Wang (Durian King) flavour here. I heard that the alcohol flavours here are also not as strong as those served at Udders’.

Blic Cafe

Block 802 Tampines Avenue 4 #01-23
Singapore 520802 Singapore

+65 67860860

We should be back to these 2 places for more especially since we live nearby!

Till the next time!

The Home Playground

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000+08:00

We had just set up a new play corner for Julien.

The hubby and I are very happy with it as Julien can be kept entertained for hours here.

But these days, I am beginning to discover that Julien is becoming more active. He just can’t sit or stand still for too long.

As he has not really learnt how to walk, we’ve kept him mostly at home. And he is learning to overcome new boundaries and umm… new heights. Climbing up the sofa and the backrest of the sofa is his new thing.

He takes a short break sometimes.

Then continues… Up and down the sofa….

… Sometimes along the sofa, admiring the ‘flowers’ on the wall.

The state I am in now, I am definitely no match compared to my energetic son. After a whole day of looking after him, busy carrying him away from dangerous positions, catching up with his speedy crawling, being forced to walk with him his hand in mine (he still feels insecure about walking on his own)…. he would leave me breathless, almost wasted.

Lastly, leaving you with a new position he has learnt recently that left me shocked.

*Hi Mummy! You are up-side down!*

Kungfu Fighter

2011-11-23T09:00:00.000+08:00

I am not referring to #1, but #2 in my tummy.

He has always been such a little ‘fighter’… but these days his punches and kicks are becoming too frequent and hard for mummy’s comfort.

Hello sleepless nights.

I mean I am very thankful that I had 2 easy and smooth pregnancies thus far but I’ve passed the stage of comfortable in this pregnancy.

As much as I and the hubby want Jenson to stay inside all the way to full-term… I REALLY CAN’T WAIT FOR MY BABY TO COME OUT SOOOOOON!!!

I need my sleep.

I need to see my toes again.

I wanna start exercising again.

I wanna revamp my wardrobe.

I wanna wear my killer heels again.

I wanna do my hair.

I wanna do my gel nails.

*Ok, thanks for allowing me to belt out here in my personal space.*

Wants aside, all I really want seriously, is for Jenson to come out healthy and strong. With my countdown timer ticking away (Less than 7 weeks to go!), I am constantly praying for a smooth delivery and reading up or rather re-capping from my previous pregnancy, about labour.

Here’re some of the stuffs I had been reading… about breathing techniques and brief write-ups on labor.

Now, counting down… 47 days to seeing you baby!

Drinking from a straw

2011-11-21T19:21:00.001+08:00

Your kid might have already accomplished this ‘feat’ at a younger age. Blame it on me. I tried giving Julien the straw but gave up after one miserable try, when he chewed on it.

I had read from my fellow mummy friend’s facebook that there is no special technique to teach your kid to drink from the straw. You got to just keep trying.

But I thought perhaps because the little one is currently teething and would always be chewing on the straw so I decided to discontinue practice till perhaps much later when most of his teeth have grown out.

A few days ago, I decided to give the cup another try.

His grandma and I showed him the sucking action. Should be quite hilarious a sight to any bystander. Julien fiddled with it. Chewed at the bottle parts. Chewed on the straw.

But just FIVE minutes, I see water going up… and up the straw into his mouth!

Even little Julien was excited about drinking water this way! He used to be VERY uninterested about drinking plain water and would drink only 1-2 small sips at a time. But with this new method of drinking, he would finish half a cup of water at one go!

Hurray! Yet another small milestone for little Julien.

Food for my toddler

2011-11-17T18:50:00.000+08:00

Not too long ago, I’ve heard of a friend of mine whose daughter turned one year old and she started feeding her hawker food.

Maybe not the char kway teow or minced meat noodles but porridge, rice and side dishes.

My stand is to not expose Julien (and Jenson) to oily, sweet and salty foods as long as I can.

Until this day at 14 months + of age, his grandma and I are still religiously cooking his porridge (without any seasoning) everyday. We will definitely put him on rice when more of his teeth sprout out. He also takes his milk with cereals for some of his meals and he occasionally snacks on bread, toddler biscuits, fruits.

Of course, on festive occasions and birthdays, we will give him some cake which he absolutely LOVES!

I guess we will continue to put him on such a strict diet till he turns two.

Fellow parents, what’s your take on this? Is there a ‘right’ age to start feeding flavourful foods?

It’s decided! #2 shall be called….

2011-11-15T10:42:00.000+08:00

JENSON

Definition: God is gracious

I had so wanted Jonas. We were calling #2 Jonas for months. And then the hubby managed to convince me to change my mind.

Think Jenson Button. Famous F1 driver.

Think Jensen Ackles. Actor.

And not forgetting this brilliant, top-earning CEO who is one of the top 20 youthful movers and shakers of the year– Greg Jensen.

Let’s not put up his photo here…

Ok, I am not THAT superficial. Of course I hope my son will grow up handsome, charming and successful but what REALLY changed my mind was the meaning of the name Jonas.

The hub found out that Jonas not only meant ‘Peace’, it also meant ‘Oppressor’! (according to Wikipedia). What conflicting and totally opposite meanings!

Well, of course in most of the places, ‘Jonas’ meant ‘Peace’… but coupled with the fact that there are alot of good-looking and successful Jensons around….

#2 shall be called Jenson Lim! May he be blessed and be a person, like his name, abounding in the grace of God.

Julien walks

2011-11-13T22:15:00.001+08:00

It began 4 Saturdays ago.

I was getting Julien to stand steadily on his feet. And then IT happened. He started to literally take baby steps forward all by himself! They were the 1st 4-5 steps of my not-so-baby-anymore Julien’s life!

The dad and I were so proud of him, and I cried tears of joy that moment. We were also mighty glad that we witnessed this milestone for ourselves!

4 weeks later now, Julien is still trying to learn to stand up without the help of taller objects around him and to sit down gently from standing up. When my funny little boy wants to sit down, he would allow his leg to give way and lands real hard on his butt! I’d not be surprised if there were bruises on his butt… He is also trying to walk longer distances as he is still walking unsteadily.

Well, we are of course looking forward to Julien being able to walk all by himself all the time now BUT we are not in a rush… Not in a rush to have a toddler walking around, pulling wires, taking stuffs and putting them into his mouth, going to places we don’t want him to wander to!

We’ll let nature take it’s course for now… Go Julien go!

Preparations

2011-10-30T18:06:00.001+08:00

Not preparations for my #2, but rather preparations for the arrival of another addition to our family – our domestic helper, Yvonne.

When the housework has become a rare chore and you are always late for appointments as you have to prepare for yourself and baby, leaving the entire house in a whirlwind mess when you leave, and now there will be another baby on the way soon, YOU KNOW YOU GOTTA GET A HELPER.

These days, you won’t be spotting me at shopping centres. Instead you would be able to spot me at supermarkets and warehouse sales i.e. if you can recognize me with my unkempt hair and without makeup!

Well, we had been stocking up on foodstuffs and daily necessities for our new member. And we have been coming up with manuals and cleaning schedules. It’s really hard work and quite a bit of $ spent there…

We hope she turns out well – diligent, pleasant, obedient, treats us like her family. I hope she likes my sons.

I mean #1 has been very good so far. Give him a balloon and he’s happy.

And he’s uber adorable now… I can’t imagine anyone hating him….!

Well, please pray together with us and for us that our domestic helper will turn out to be an angel sent from Heaven and that our lives WILL become better!

Last of all, to end of with a picture of my humongous tummy at 30 weeks…

10 more or less weeks to go!

Dinner with the Buddies

2011-10-17T23:54:00.001+08:00

Had dinner with our Buddies a few weeks ago at Big Fish at Upper East Coast Road.

Quiet place on a Tuesday night… Our group generated the most noise and no, we were not very noisy!

Here’s the appetizers.

I liked the gravy that came with the soft shell crab!

Main courses…

The fish in our dishes were fresh. But pardon me…. Perhaps I am not a fish connoisseur? I think I prefer Manhattan Fish Market! The bill didn’t come cheap too and the worse thing was WE WERE STILL HUNGRY!

So off we went, next door….

*SCREAMS!!!*

Yes, 2 flavours caught my eye! Snickers Mars & Mao Shan Wang Durian! SINFUL!

Look at all that we ordered….

We ordered the Rum and Raisin flavour. Interestingly, you need to be above 18 years old to be able to order the flavours made with wine. True enough, when the rest ate the flavour, it was the strongest rum-tasting Rum and Raisin ice-cream they had ever eaten.

What can we say about the ice-cream here?

Deliciously rich, but not too much!

U.d.d.e.r.s @ Siglap

87 Upper East Coast Road, Singapore 455223

An update at Week 27

2011-10-11T23:53:00.001+08:00

I can’t believe I just typed ‘27’. I mean… if you’ve seen my stomach now, you would have thought I am due anytime soon!

And as you can tell from my lack of updates to my blog, I have been extremely busy at work.

Julien has also become very sticky to me these days. When I am alone with him especially, he wants to be carried almost all the time. Otherwise, he would throw terrible tantrums. And then, I will have a kicking baby or rather 2 kicking babies - 1 outside and 1 inside of me (#2 is very reactive and active… much more so than when I was carrying Julien. I can’t imagine when #1 meets #2!). Anyway, carrying a 22-pounder at this time of my pregnancy is certainly no joke!

Someone told me that the little kiddos know when their mums are pregnant and become more attention-seeking. Is that true??

As a result of the mental and physical stress and tiredness, I think my stomach has been feeling really taut? Or is it #2 who has been practicing too much karate inside that’s been causing the tightness? Any suggestions on relaxing a pregnant belly? Besides the option of quitting my job and/or hiring a full-time nanny..

Traveling with baby tips

2011-09-29T00:38:00.001+08:00

If you had been reading my previous posts, you would have known I brought my 12 month old for his first overseas trip to Penang!

We were really excited to bring him along but were a little apprehensive about having to care for him away from the comfort of home for days!

We were mainly concerned about his comfort during the plane trip as well as his meals while overseas. Thank God we thought through everything and our preparations paid off handsomely - the trip was a really enjoyable one for us and Julien.

So here are some tips I thought I can share with you parents who are bringing your little ones overseas for the first time as well.

On the plane…

Though it was a short 1h+ plane trip, we were wondering how Julien would react to the plane setting off and landing. We heard the changes in pressure could be very disturbing for a child and one solution would be to get the child to swallow his saliva.

We prepared quite alot of ‘ammunition’ for the plane trip.

First, we brought 2 milk bottles filled with 100 ml of hot water each (the amount of 100ml per bottle is due to the restriction the airlines have for the amount of liquids allowed on board the plane). I kept the water warm in a baby bottle carrier. I also brought along 2 portions of milk powder.

I intended to feed him 1 bottle of milk when the plane sets off and then with the other bottle of milk when the plane lands.

Note: Don’t worry if the water turns cold because you could request for warm water from the stewardess.

But if your child is as hungry as mine, you would know he can polish off 100 ml of milk in no time. So, I brought along snacks like…

These should be able to last throughout the period that the plane is setting off and landing.

After the first plane trip, I concluded that the Apple & Mango Rice Pudding worked the best. It was smooth, tasty and lasted the longest! These are available in packs of 4 at Cold Storage.

Julien was indeed very well-behaved and happy throughout the journey to and fro… We were so proud and happy for him!

Meals during the holiday…

Julien usually takes 4-5 meals a day. 2 servings of milk mixed with brown rice cereal, 2 servings of porridge and 1 additional serving of milk or cereal if necessary.

For this trip, we brought packets of rice cereal (I got them free from my gynae clinic), a tin of milk powder, lots of Heinz canned baby food and some packets of organic food.

These were what we brought over to Penang for his meals…

1. Portable Pigeon Sterilizer which we borrowed from our friend.

The other alternative we had was to sterilize his bottles with sterilizing tablets from Pigeon.

2. Avent Food Warmer and Avent Cups

Very useful to warm up the various bottles of Heinz canned food. We poured the canned food into the Avent cups, placed it inside the warmer before feeding Julien. Trust me, if cold food tastes yucky to you, I can bet it taste likewise for the kiddos too!

Note: We fed him the canned food in the morning while we were still at the hotel since they require more preparation. On some of the days that we were rushing to get out of the hotel, we will keep the heated food in the Avent cups and keep them in the baby bottle carrier to keep warm. We will feed him as soon as we can since the carrier can’t keep the warmth in for too long.

3. Bowl/plate for the organic foods

We found a few packets of organic foods that were really easy to prepare even while on the go. Found them at Cold Storage as well.

Just soak the entire packet into hot water for a few minutes (I brought a bowl for this and covered it with the feeding plate to keep it warm)…. And wella! It’s ready for eating.

Easy to prepare, easy to feed.

4. Hot water flask and milk powder container

Remember to bring this with you! Useful to bring hot water around for heating the food, preparing the milk etc.

I guess no need to explain for the milk powder container.

5. Feeding spoons, wet tissues, plastic bags

For each day that I went out, I brought 2 feeding spoons. 1 for preparing the milk, another for feeding baby foods. You could of course bring 1 spoon and wash it after each feed. But for me, I thought it’s more convenient to bring more than 1 spoon out just in case.

I also brought a pack of plastic bags to keep the dirty cutlery in my bag or for easy disposal of rubbish like dirty tissues.

And do bring lots of wet tissues for cleaning up after meals. It can be a messy affair to feed the baby as you know!

The list above should not be exhaustive… And it’s a list that we thought of and had worked wonderfully for us. No guarantee for your child though we hope it can help in your planning of a wonderful holiday with your family! Enjoy!

Food of Penang (Part 2) and Fruit Farm

2011-09-27T00:25:00.001+08:00

Here’s part 2 of the food of Penang. There’s just too much to eat within the limited number of days we had there!

Our driver shared with us of a well-known local place selling dim sum. And so we skipped our Hard Rock brekkie on one of the days to try the dim sum.

This place is as big as a typical hawker centre except that most of the stalls sold dim sum. The concept here is such that you order your food at the stalls, bring the food to your table and pay only at the end of your meal.

Ingenious! People just take and take and take the food without knowing how much they are spending…. At least this applied to us!

Just look at some of the food we’ve got after 10 minutes!

There were food other than dim sum as well…

We still had quite a number of plates untouched when we were finished and all stuffed. And when the bill came, we were SHOCKED! At how cheap it was. It worked out to be about $5+ per pax!!! Amazing…..

Honestly as a whole, the dim sum is not fantastic but it’s very decent fare for the kind of price you pay. Some of the food that I really liked there: Wanton dumplings (see the picture above), egg tarts, mango & honeydew sago.

Address: Jalan Anson, Georgetown, 10400 George Town, Penang, Malaysia

Note: It opens in the mornings

FRUIT FARM

Another one of the places of interest we visited in Penang was the Tropical Fruit Farm. It is situated on a hilly terrain and the journey there was a pleasant one. We even passed by a small waterfall area.

You need to pay RM28.00 per entry to the fruit farm. You get a tour around the farm as well as a fruits buffet at the end of the tour.

Sounds good!

Cashew nut.

Some kind of cherry.

Guess what plant is this?

When it’s fully grown, it looks like this.

There were rows of such plants!

Here’s the unripe fruit.

You would probably know by now… Dragon fruit!

Many other tropical fruits…

I must say that our tour guide speaks really good English, is pretty entertaining and shared alot of interesting facts and stories about the fruits.

The scenery here is actually quite beautiful…

The ‘fruits’ in our midst!

Note: Models’ hats were NOT from the farm. They belong to the models. Hee!

Now, the best part….

Fruits and fruit juice buffet after all the walking!

(I was eyeing only the mangoes!)

The visit coupled with the cool weather made it an overall good experience! Check out their website for more information.

Food of Penang (Part 1)

2011-09-22T08:02:00.001+08:00

When you think of Penang, you think of famous, cheap, unhealthy, delicious hawker food. We were trying to diet before our trip to save up space for the calories, fats and cholesterol we knew we were about to gain.

Now here are some of the hawker food we tasted during our trip. Drool on!

Enca Cafe @ Batu Ferringhi

This cafe which I heard was opened by a Bangladeshi, is situated diagonally across the road from Hard Rock Hotel, Penang. We just landed and were eager to find something to eat nearby.

This cafe even had a photo album of their food.

They had chinese and western food on their menu but I thought it’s safer to order their specialty!

Garlic and onion naan! We ordered delicious spicy chicken potato curry and healthy dhal (a bean paste) to go with it. Simple but absolutely yummy!

Hubby who is not a fan of North Indian cuisine, ordered pizza. I must say, pizzas are not their forte…

The cafe was not crowded, quite clean, service was good though we had to wait for our food quite abit. North Indian food especially the curries are very good. However, I guess the location of the cafe (opposite many hotels) is one good reason for not selling their food cheap. We visited this cafe twice.

Gerai Makanan & Minuman Long Beach @ 98A, Batu Feringgi, 11100 Penang

This small hawker centre is near Golden Sands Resort Hotel, down the road from our hotel.

As this was our first hawker eat-out at Penang, we ordered with a vengeance…

Or-luak or oyster omelette.

I think SG’s is so much better. We tried this dish at a couple of places in Penang and concluded that we will never order it in Penang again.

Char Kway Teow. Average…

Black Hokkien Mee… You can’t find the same in SG. Nice!

BBQ chicken. Average.

Satay, also average.

The wanton mee in Malaysia is just different from SG’s. The noodles are more ‘Q’ and the sauce is nice in it’s own way.

Delicious pancake from the stall Pancake King.

We were told the food here is definitely not one of the best!

Well, the saving grace is that there’s a long pasar malam outside this hawker centre and we could walk our calories away here!

Ah Leng Char Koay Teow, Khoon Hiang Cafe @ Jalan Dato Keramat, 10150 Penang

It is supposed to be the 2nd best Char Kway Teow in this land according to our driver.

The uncle was cooking up a storm.

And when you come here for the Char Kway Teow, please remember to order it with chilli. It’s not very spicy and definitely more tasty than the non-chilli version.

The dish was tasty and good alright but somehow we prefer the SG version. This is because the SG version is sweeter than the saltish one available here.

And Jas was so happy to be able to get such a huge packet of ice milo for only SGD0.80!

But, Char Kway Teow + Milo = Perfect diet disaster.

Note: Do visit the stall before 2.30pm. It closes by then.

Famous Chendul – Chinatown

We passed by a road side stall at Chinatown with a long snaky queue. We were too full to stomach anything else but managed to snap some photos of this famous chendol stall.

Cheap and looks really good! Must try next time…

A food street @ Magazine Road (near Trader’s Hotel)

Our driver told us this place’s food is better than Gurney Drive’s. Serious?!

We can’t tell for sure cos we skipped Gurney Drive.

It was a really hustling and bustling street with lotsa food stalls.

The shrimp paste tasted like there’s marmite?…

I love the beef noodles. Not too heavy..

Loh bak…Very similar to SG’s version of wuxiang.

Char Kway Teow that turned out to be carrot cake??

Penang Laksa.. Not my kind of food so I didn’t try this.

My hubby loves loves loves their prawn noodles.

Don’t think you can go wrong with wanton mee here in Penang.

My SIL thinks this BBQ stingray is way too fishy… Well, no more space in my stomach for this by then!

All in all, the food here came very shortly after we ordered them and it was indeed our best hawker experience in Penang!

Note: We heard that the tangyuan here is famous. Do try it!

Will share more goodie foodie in Part 2!

E&O Hotel, Penang

2011-09-18T02:10:00.001+08:00

Have you ever seen the ‘twin’ of Singapore’s Raffles Hotel? Yes, it’s situated in George Town, Penang and it’s called Eastern & Oriental Hotel.

And the reason why we are here, was to enjoy the high tea at 1885… Yes after the hotel buffet breakfast and after a Char Kway Teow lunch!!! ABSOLUTELY SINFUL!

They have a pianist… and of course you can’t help but notice the food nearby….

The tea offerings look so colourful and appetizing that we forgot we were full!

The high tea set costs S$22+ and here’s our set…

We each had a teapot of aromatic tea of our choice and a tiered plate full of scones and sandwiches as well as chocolates, fruit tarts, fruit cakes and super delicious creamy cheese cakes! The serving you see above was shared by 3-4 pax.

How do we stomach so much food at tea??!

Gal power!

The clan.

And after food, some of us went outside the hotel to take pictures…

This is really one hotel with a colonial feel!

Pinang Peranakan Museum

2011-09-15T01:27:00.001+08:00

On the 2nd day of our trip, we hired a bus driver to drive our ‘tour group’ around. His rate was RM$40 per hour. Not bad considering there were so many of us.

The seating capacity on the bus was just nice for us! And besides the great convenience, it was fun traveling with loved ones!

Our first destination for the day was the Pinang Peranakan Museum in Georgetown.

This was where numerous shows were being filmed.

Including Singapore’s very famous production – Little Nonya!

The interior of the museum is very beautiful and the design of the furniture and fittings were really intricate and fine.

Just look at their door panels…

There were many beautiful rooms around like the one for wedding functions…

Bride’s room before she gets married…

The dowry at a corner of the room…

The gals loved her dressing table….

Newly wed’s room…

(In the 2 above pictures, the basket is supposed to contain a male and female chicken. In the past, they would place this basket under the bed of the newly weds on their wedding night. The gender of the 1st chicken that comes out of the basket would represent the gender of the couple’s 1stborn. My MIL said it did not hold true for her!)

Games room?

Toilet.

And we saw many interesting, historic ornaments such as…

My favourite – make up!

Wash basins… the built in and the portable ones!

Mirror…

Bed for taking afternoon naps? Looks hard…

Piano..

Baby stuffs!

100% vintage pram…

Baby chair…

Little shoes for the women with bound feet!

Proofs of Western influence here – Spectacles!

Sewing machines… meet the pretty, young seamstress…

And her fine tailor brother…

Our fav – TV!

And after the sightseeing, we proceeded to the…

Dessert time! We ordered chendol and ice kacang for RM$6 each. Rather pricey but very refreshing after the touring.

Ending off this post with a really nice family picture @ one of the rooms!

Hard Rock Hotel, Penang

2011-09-13T00:43:00.001+08:00

We were really looking forward to our first ever extended family trip overseas, which coincidentally was Julien’s 1st trip overseas as well.

13 of us from 3 different generations traveling together in Penang… We could jolly well form a tour group!

We were really glad that Julien did not cry or fuss during the entire 1+ hour plane trip. In fact, he was really cheerful! We suspect he knows he’s going for a holiday.

We stayed at Hard Rock Hotel, Penang. Not exactly near downtown Penang but we’ve heard it’s quite a happening place to stay plus we’ve got a great package deal together with the air tickets!

The huge pool here looks quite exciting too! 1.4 metres deep in some areas which makes for some good serious swimming for some of us to exercise………

Half of the pool’s perimeter was surrounded by sand… to simulate the beach feeling. Not too difficult to achieve that effect actually since the real thing is just yonder the pool! Can you see the sea from the above picture?

And most importantly 3 big slides to entertain our 7 yr old nephew and 3 yr old niece! Complete with a mini water play park too!

For parents bringing their kids, you may be interested to know there is a small play room for kids just opposite the pool area called Little Rock.

There’s also a live band playing every night at the hotel lobby. Huge rattan beds are placed in front of the stage so that couples can lounge there and enjoy the live music.

We also had a choice of breakfast venue… indoor or outdoor.

Here’s the one outdoors.

Now here is our room. Pretty spacious and comfy.

The toilet has an interesting concept of having a sliding mirror. You can slide it such that you get a picture of Elvis and even align the side panels so that you can oversee the room outside. Some inspiration there for the design of our next master bedroom…

And by the way, Julien’s favourite part of the room is – the BED. Have I mentioned to you the new skill that he has acquired over the last 1-2 weeks? Sitting up by himself from a lying down position. This skill was very well practiced during the time we were there at the hotel!

We reached the hotel in the late afternoon and after a tunch, we decided to bring Julien for his first swim at a REAL swimming pool! (You can read about the other time he went swimming indoors here.)

Does he look excited or apprehensive??

I think the cold water caused some enthusiasm (that is if it were there in the 1st place!) to leak…

Father and son bonding…

Julien’s tolerance in the pool was maxed out at 0.5 hours. And the sun set just in time for kodak moments!

Lastly, leaving you with a picture of innocent-looking (& shivering) Julien wrapped in Hard Rock purple!

Will be sharing with you more about our Penang trip in the next few posts!

Balloons, Food and Cakes!

2011-09-09T03:29:00.001+08:00

These were the three most important elements for our small but colorful celebration for little Julien. Some people had asked where we’ve gotten these items from and so I’ll be sharing here.

BALLOOOONS!

We’ve got the animal themed wordings HAPPY BIRTHDAY - $1.50 and Sesame Street bouquet of 5 balloons - $36.90 here.

I’m a fan of Sesame Street (I’d definitely love to catch a Sesame Street movie!) and I love this giant Elmo in the bouquet!

We also got this Big baby balloon - $12.90.

To add more color to the place, we bought Sesame Street colored helium balloons in blue, red, yellow at $1.20 each.

These reasonably-priced balloons were bought from Yeo GM Trading.

FOOOOOD!

We got our food from this not so well known caterer – J & J Catering. No, it’s NOT a caterer that’s linked to me (Jerb) & Jared! One of Jared’s colleagues highly recommended this caterer as she has been their customer for the past 5 years and it turned out to be a spot-on choice especially so for their wide variety!

We’ve got sotong youtiao, mee siam with gravy, thai chilli fish fillet, pineapple fried rice…

…mixed vege with scallop cake, curry chicken, paper wrapped chicken (WOW!), coffee pork ribs…

And we also ordered black pepper steak (don’t expect slabs of juicy steaks!), honey dew sago dessert and fruit punch.

A good and delicious deal indeed!

CAKES!

Here’s cake #1 for presentation purpose.

Based on what I’ve sampled thus far, most of the good-lookers are not the most delicious cakes around. So as I’ve said, this is mainly for presentation purposes... the contents are essentially the all-familiar choco chip sponge cake. We’ve gotten this from our good ‘ol friend’s sister’s – Pat’s Pastry. Check them out for other beautiful designs and delicious pastries like brownies and apple strudel!

Cake #2 and #3 are for the indulging of our taste-buds. :)

A strawberry cheesecake from Bakerzin and

Delicious Chocolate Deluxe cake from Royals. It’s almost like eating a giant Ferrero Rocher!

Hope the above info helps!

Julien’s 1st Birthday!

2011-09-05T21:37:00.001+08:00

12 months just zooooomed past like that! Our dearest Julien is finally ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!

We organized a small and humble celebration at our house last Saturday. Here are the pics!

Julien entertaining the friends…

And entertaining himself with the huge balloons! We tied a baby balloon to his walker…. his ‘bodyguard’ for that day!

Julien’s friend Ansel also came…

Edmund Tan blessing the 2 potential dads-to-be…

Great grandmom who LOVES her great grandSON.

Proud grandparents!

Us parents and his wacky aunties and uncle!

All of us had so much good food that day… all except for … the birthday boy. Oops!

Now here’s the cake-cutting sessionS. Our dear boy has got THREE cakes that day!

For round 1, we were not too sure how Julien would react to so many people staring and mass singing Happy Birthday to him… We had been training him by singing the song loudly to him for the few days leading up to this celebration.

When the loud singing happened, we were so glad to see Julien beaming with joy!

Us proud parents decided to reward Julien (and of course because it’s his birthday) with a little bit of chocolate cake.

And of course, he received the cake with great eagerness!

He absolutely LOVED it!

Cake #2

Again, Julien seemed to like the attention when the family sang their Happy Birthday to him.

And finally, cake #3

So, that ended a nice, long day of celebration for our dear son. We want to wish Julien a

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!

We all love you soooo much and thank God for you!