This Blessed Life

A new space

2008-06-12T17:22:00.001+08:00

I've shifted to

www.yveon.com/lilsnooze

Hop on over.

And update your links! :)

Old and now

2008-06-10T16:09:00.005+08:00

When I read news of Mr YSL's passing, I knew this would happen.

In the depths of my memorybank, I somehow recalled my mum having a YSL bag.

When I asked her about it, she said she threw or gave it away cos according to her, I said it was old-fashioned.

Nooooooooooooo! I'm sure I was 14 years old and didn't know any better then!

Vintage. The word is "vintage"!!

Ouch.

So I sought distraction with the more-current offering ::

See only. No action.

And its seven

2008-06-09T10:26:00.003+08:00

While daddytehpeng remembers affectionate moments, I choose to highlight BBnat's first experience at the hawker centre.

He's 7 months old and he went to the hawker centre for the first time over the weekend.

I have to admit when it comes to outside dining, we will opt for restaurants or take-away to eat at home. Not that we are atas but they are more baby-friendly. Hello, need room to manoeuvre stroller and a place where nursing in public is not frowned-upon or worse, treated as meal-time entertainment.

And to add to the excitement of his first-time, he had to do a poopy.
Which resulted in a frenzied mummy trying to change his diaper there and then with tehgrandma trying to keep him still. Thankfully, we were sitting at the corner so no one else was treated to the full attack of visual and smell of his poo.

And while we were at it, we might as well change him out of his stained lfc romper (explosive poopy business!).
That was when his tolerance for being "detained" lying down has reached its capacity and he had to sit up for a breather, resulting in a little naked baby sitting on mummy's lap before I pulled on a new set of bodysuit for him.

Remind me to tell this story at his wedding. :)

B.A.G.

2008-06-08T15:26:00.009+08:00

As the (bag) saying goes...
When in Rome, ~~do as the Romans do~~ buy Miu Miu.
When in Paris, buy Louis Vuitton.

Which is what splatpotato did.

These 2 LoVelies (from THE Paris mothership, no less) came home with my bag and they are looking for good ~~homes~~ bag-closets.
And definitely at a better-than-SG-boutique price.

Epi Jasmin (Ivorie) ::

Mini Lin Speedy ::If you are interested, or know someone who is interested, send all enquiries to potatoplot@gmail.com (He's away from SG 9-11 Jun).

*sigh*
These are the 2 LoVelies I don't mind dangling on my arm but, I need to ~~stop~~ give due attention to my baby.

Lest I entertain thoughts of acquiring them as well so soon after, I should start B.A.G - Bag Anonymous Group.

A last

2008-06-05T21:50:00.003+08:00

It was an early start to the day for my swan song event at the new swanky hotel, no less.

Service was impressive. Importantly, the event went smoothly, that's all that I care.

I had a short "this is our last event together" kinda chat with the colleague from another department who usually works on the hospitality aspects of high-level events.

On hindsight, her attention to details which might seem unimportant to us goes towards making the event a greater experience for our clients.
And for that, I understand she's worth her salt (unlike some hot potato huffing and puffing hot air).

And I really like what she said to me :: Whatever you do, just pray and obey. Whatever we do, is not for men, but for His glory.

Amen.

salah.com

2008-06-04T08:56:00.003+08:00

Part of the fun of online shopping is waiting for the parcel to arrive, tearing the box open and happily digging through the stuff you've ordered.

Almost like opening up a present. Technically speaking, though you know what you've ordered (or if your memory fails you, like mine, you can't exactly remember what's in the package), you've not seen the items before.

Quite a different experience from shopping in the malls.
Because of the element of surprise.

And surprised I was, as I took out the bag from the box last night.

IT was a DIFFERENT GREEN from the picture.
Instead of the dull dark green (olive green?), it was a much brighter shade of green.

Tehpeng somehow managed to convince me to carry it to work today (although he did laugh upon seeing it last night too!).

tehpeng :: Give it a chance. Maybe, just maybe, you'll like the bag cos of the erm...space.

Ok, the bag is quite roomy.

Why.did.I.not.click.on.the.black.one?

The good news is 1) the other stuff are ok (*phew*) and 2) tehpeng now sees the difference/quality (finally) of the Bottega woven leather. Hee. :P

Resistance is not that futile

2008-06-01T21:02:00.006+08:00

Is it another weekend already?

Well, it's the 2nd weekend of GSS and I've yet to hit it.

Yes, I've been good and resisted ALOT of temptations, according to the Singaporean list of pastimes.

For shopping::

Instead of Taka, I opted to head to Tanglin Mall after my osteo visit for necessities. We bought what we really needed (and nothing more!) from Motherworks. We walked into Chateau de Sable and resisted buying more clothes for BBnat. Which is quite a feat cos the clothes are really just oh-so-gorgeous, especially the girls section which made me want to have a baby girl almost immediately.

I'm loving Tanglin Mall. It's a good size crowd for a Sat late morning and the foodcourt is not crowded (possibly cos the expat crowd tend to go for the cafes for their brekkie instead). I found Paddy's The Australian Concept and like that it's good-food-at-good-value-with-no-fuss. Will definitely be back for more.

Plus, there is Jasons Market Place where it's groceries haven. I like that they stock much more variety than good-ole NTUC which adds to the experience of going down each aisle. And I finally found organic butternut squash (which I've honestly not heard of till I saw it in Annabel Karmel's book) for BBnat to enjoy this week.

For food ::

As we are kinda feeling like we are still susceptible to falling ill again, I had to say "No" to bw's offer of durian supper on Friday night (sobs) and "No" (again) to shutterbug's invite to chilli crabs on Sat evening.

We even made chrysanthemum tea at home, for the first time.

We ended up at Tampopo with bw on Sat night (since the rain washed away our initial plans of exploring the Southern Ridges). The blackpig ramen is still as yummy though I felt thoroughly disappointed with the normal grade blackpig katsu we ordered. It wasn't as tender as the last time I had it. :/

And tonight, since I'm still into the whole steaming-style-food, I googled around and found this Steamed pork ribs recipe.

Again, my chef-helper prepared the dish (and tehpeng's special order of fried egg with prawn&onions)We love it, it's so sweet and delish.

Having written it all done, I reckon I didn't have that bad a weekend, despite resisting all the temptations.

So anyone resisted (buying/eating) anything this weekend? :)

六月天

2008-06-01T14:34:00.002+08:00

It's June (already!!) and it sure is an exciting month.

I start my new job mid-month.

And tehfamily welcomes another addition.

No no. I'm not pregger again.

It's tehsis' princess, our niece.

I hope BBnat makes a good elder brother to her.

making sounds

2008-05-31T14:02:00.006+08:00

Much as I don't want to check against the list of milestone developments for a 6 mth old, I can't help it (especially since it's emailed to me weekly!).

I think we are more than happy and thrilled that he's able to hoist himself up, stand very steadily and walk around the playpen a few rounds (with support from hands on the railing).

He's my little muscle-man!

In the other area of speech development...well, there's definitely much room for exploration. He is rather "talkative" with his babbling. Even if everyone says boys tend to talk much later than girls. My concern is that his babbling consists of non-word-sounding stuff, such as "eh eh eh" or "uh uh uh" (Hmmm...quite phonics actually).

Not exactly "mama" or "dada" sounding. :P

But of course, everything that he babbles amuses us much.

And just now, his random babbling had "OLE" in it!!!!

We were all tickled.
Espeically daddytehpeng, as you can all imagine.

Now, we wait for a repeat performance but he is back to his usual dolphin-like babbling.

web3.0

2008-05-30T21:18:00.004+08:00

Immerse tehpeng's IT & a dash of my ~~babbling~~ writing to the smorgasbord of Ron's photography, you get an enhanced viewer experience over at eye-deas.com
As with all websites, user comments are welcome to improve on the interface and web-experience, so send your comments to shutterbug

ps :: Keke, this 2005 alumni actually still made it to the site.
And no, it was not a pre-requisite to our assistance. :P

A blog-worthy moment

2008-05-30T10:35:00.002+08:00

If you can relate to this, like I did, you are a true-blue blogger! :)

For mum

2008-05-29T21:37:00.003+08:00

Babysis presented mum with a scrapbook-like-poster of family photos.

Birthday present.

Which surprised (and touched) mum very much.

It was really a nice and sweet gesture, seeing that she's been busy going to school every.single.day for classes even though it's already the school holidays.

This totally beats my lunch-treats. :)

Taste better than it looks

2008-05-28T21:37:00.005+08:00

For sometime now, I've been wanting to try making the steamed herbal chicken dish.

I looked at those readymix herbal packets and saw MSG listed as one of the ingredients. Which sort of defeats the purpose of making the dish for the nutritional value. Well, one can't expect much herbal goodness coming from a $2.50 packet.

So I googled and this recipe seems easy enough. Plus, it's tried and tested.

When I look through the list of herbs, they all sound like what my mum use for the soups/herbal stuff she makes.

I showed her the list and true enough, she has almost all the herbal ingredients and packed them for me.
At that moment, the fridge really became my 药材店.

Much as I wanted to experiment the recipe, dinner tonight was prepared by my helper. She was so enthusiastic and efficient, the dish was fully prepared when I reached home.
But I ain't complaining.
Though the dish doesn't look salivating, it's simple tasty goodness.

Golden words of advice

2008-05-27T15:04:00.003+08:00

When my mum's friends presented me with a tupperware hamper as birthing present, consisting of tupperwares of all sizes and colours, she told me :: You'll find them useful.

At that point in time, being a new mum to a baby who doesn't seem to need anything (not even milk bottles cos I was nursing him direct), I can only think :: Where to find space in my kitchen cabinet to put all these?

Fast forward 6 months later. The tupperwares are really useful!

Mum is (almost) always right! Huh huh huh.

After freezing the pureed food in these ice cube trays (which we ordered online), I pop the iced foodcubes into tupperwares for storage in the freezer (enough for the week's supply). Each day I will just take out the required food cubes into smaller tupperwares for thawing.

In time to come when BBnat can have little 旺旺 biscuits, the small tupperwares will definitely come in handy for outings!

In true blue good-daughter mode, I should really take heed of my mum's advice.

In particular, last night's golden advice :: This GSS, don't buy rubbish. Just get the branded stuff. More worth.

What to do? Mum is always right.

Heehee. =P

Just the beginning

2008-05-26T15:46:00.003+08:00

It's another of those nights where BBnat wake up crying a few times through the night.

Never mind the disrupted sleep, it's very heartpain to hear his crying and seeing him in discomfort.
The emerging tooth on the upper gum must be causing him discomfort.

As we continue to pray that he gets some comfort from this growing pain and we do what we can to soothe it, this devotion in my mailbox served to remind me that...this is just the beginning of things in his life that we are going to pray for.

===
A Mom's Conversation with God
by Lysa TerKeurst

"The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him." ~ Nahum 1:7 (NIV)

A few weeks ago, my daughter Ashley injured her shoulder while gearing up for her largest gymnastics meet of the season. She's had an amazing time with gymnastics over the past 10 years, winning several state titles and progressing to each next level with great excitement.

But this year has been an uphill battle.

Finally, at the end of the season things seemed to be clicking along like she'd planned. But with one slip off the bar and a pretty bad landing, her shoulder was injured. We soon realized that no amount of rehab could get her ready in time. So, with tears and great disappointment, she had to scratch from the meet.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, that I know in the great scheme of life, this is such a small thing. But in Ashley's world, this was big. Therefore, it led me to have one of those conversations with the Lord that I'm sure many moms have had at one time or another. If your child has ever had to walk through the yuck of disappointment, maybe you can relate.

The Mom: Lord, I have to tell you it is a hard thing for a mother to watch her child work so hard for something only to have her dreams dashed by an injury.

The Lord: Do the words of Job 17:11 express the way you are feeling? "My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart."

The Mom: Lord, You could make her better. You could strengthen her shoulder and make her well enough to compete. Lord, don't You see her tears? If seeing her sadness breaks my heart, I know it must break Your heart, too. It is hard for me to understand when I know that You could fix this in an instant.

The Lord: Recall the beauty of trusting the only One who can see what is and what is to come. Remember my words in Nahum 1:7: "The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him."

The Mom: I do trust you Lord. But for all that work to end like this is so hard. It just seems so pointless.

The Lord: Oh, nothing I do is pointless. Nothing you go through is pointless. This lesson will work good for her now and it will work good for her in the future. You only think you know what is best for her. But I have such a grand plan and purpose in all this. Proverbs 19:20-21: "Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."

The Mom: I just need to know why she has to go through this.

The Lord: You don't have to have answers, Lysa. You just need to trust. Isaiah 55:8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The Mom: But what about the desires of her heart Lord?

The Lord: I am the only One who even knows the full scope of those desires, Lysa. Your job isn't to figure out how to make her desires come to pass. Your job is to simply teach her to trust Me and make wise choices. Psalm 37: 3-4: "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Dear Lord, once again as a mom I lift my child up to You. For You are the only One who can ultimately lift her up. I trust You and I pray that through all the ups and downs in life, she comes to trust You in a very personal way as well. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

The door bell is a happy sound to hear

2008-05-25T22:07:00.004+08:00

It's official. Borderlinx is much more efficient than vpost.

The Old Navy package arrived today. On a Sunday!
My Target.com parcel, ordered around the same time, is still in the States loh!

This adds to the highlights of this weekend, seeing that Nat has yet another jab AND showed us his ability to pull himself to a standing position many times (which is the milestone of a 9-month old!).

Honestly, this parcel was all clicked by Daddy tehpeng last weekend.
After the last batch included a colourful candy coloured stripey PJs with words "Sweet Dreams Cafe" looking quite ~~gay-ish~~ metrosexualish on BBnat, tehpeng started to doubt my ~~taste~~ shopping selections.

tehpeng :: Are you sure that's not under the baby girls' section??

I wasn't able to clear my name as the said PJs is no longer available online. Hmmmmph.
And so he ~~took away that bit of online-fun from me~~ started clicking on his own.
And had alot of fun tracking the status of the parcel.

We seriously need to stop. There's GSS now! =P

A pounding issue

2008-05-25T16:19:00.005+08:00

I needed the conversion of 6,000 British pounds.
Nooo, not for my online shopping. Mad ah!
For work. Some budget I'm trying to work out.

I keyed in "6000 pounds" in google.

And the top result?

I burst out laughing.

Orrrh, I have to key in "6000 GBP or British Pounds"!

Who did it!?

2008-05-24T14:03:00.004+08:00

I feel very updated, cos we caught a movie last night!
A day AFTER the premiere! Considering the last time we were at the cinema, Nat was still inside me!

Movie verdict :: It's Indiana Jones, what's not to like about it?
Forget about the plot/story line (nothing's believable anyway!). Just love the whole adventure and humour of it all.

At the end of the movie, tehpeng and I would like to really know...WHO FARTED AT THE MOVIES!

Twice, somemore!!

And one to do it all

2008-05-21T11:51:00.005+08:00

Introducing solids to BBnat has been fun so far.
Planning the menu, with the help of this site and Annabel Karmel's book.
Then steaming and pureeing the flavour of the week. :)

Sometimes I even take a sneak bite.
I'vegot to know what I'm feeding my baby right?

So far so good. So much so I even fell in love with eating sweet potato.
I like purple as a colour, but purple food has never really settled well with me - brinjal, sweet potato, yam etc.

tehpeng :: Congrats darling, you can now surive a war.
lilsnooze :: But I only eat Japanese organic sweet potatoes!

Oops. :P

Anyway, we bought a steamer and blender for this sole purpose.

Only to realise, a few weeks later, that we actually had a Braun blender somewhere in our kitchen cabinet (I think my mum gave that to us.)
Both tehpeng and I burst out laughing when we saw it. Fail.

Recently, (yes, AFTER we bought the items!\) I did some surfing around (The world wide web is my best friend!) and came across this.
Aiyah, this would make my life so much easier!
One gadget to steam AND blend!

As parents

2008-05-20T21:16:00.003+08:00

Sometimes tehpeng and I will tell each other about our growing years and the funny, sometimes naughty, antics.

It's a cliche but it is really true that you truly only understand the other side of the story when you become a parent.

Suddenly you understand why your mum said "No" when you ask for whatever that your friends have and is deem cool at that point in time.
Suddenly you realise, with much horror, how much you must have hurt your mum during your rebellious years.

Parenting is tough.

This devotion is just so timely.

If it means helping our kids emerge from the teen years holy and healthy, I am willing to be weird.

I know we might come across as parents who just might spoil BBnat silly(Aiyah, we already do!), but we are very steadfast in wanting to bring him up to fear the Lord and to know Him personally.

===
To text or not to text

"Young people are prone to foolishness and fads; the cure comes through tough-minded discipline." Proverbs 22:15

To text or not to text...that is the question. My husband and I struggled with this question when our two daughters entered middle school. Some how they convinced us that we would be better parents, and they would be safer children, if they were given cell phones. We fell for it.

Since then, they have come to believe that texting is one of the four primary food groups which sustains life as we know it.

I am a strong believer in random text checks. On occasion, I will pick up my daughters' phones, without warning, and skim through their messages. Something in my spirit told me it was time for a random check. I immediatately glanced at the conversations taking place in her private world of texting. As I read through the messages, my heart sank. I was devastated at the conversations she had been engaging in. Although her responses were not entirely inappropriate, the things that were being said to her were. I was disappointed that she would allow boys in her school to say such offensive things, and crushed that she had not stood up for her faith and distanced herself from people who obviously did not respect her.

As I sat there, feeling like a complete failure as a parent, I received an email. My friend Mary Beth had posted an entry on her blog regarding texting problems among teenagers, and thought I might be interested. I immediately linked over to read it, and praised God as I wiped away the tears from my eyes. Through a simple blog entry, God communicated to me that I was not alone. He used Mary Beth's words to reassure me I was not a failure as a parent. We live in a corrupt world, and the enemy will use whatever means he can to pierce the hearts of our children and gain control of their thoughts and actions.

Although I trust my children, I had to recognize that even good kids make mistakes. Even good kids, from good families, raised in Christian homes, can get caught up in the trappings of this world, and pulled into ungodly actions. It is our job as parents to help our kids set themselves apart from the fads of today's society that are not healthy for them. If we allow our kids the privilege of their privacy so much that they are living a life that parents are not a part of, then we, as parents, have gotten pulled into the trappings of this world as well. As my mom used to say, just because everybody else is doing it, doesn't mean that you have to do it. This also applies to us parents! Just because other parents allow their kids to have cell phones, unlimited texting, and completely private lives doesn't mean I have to! Mary Beth said it perfectly when she wrote, "Today, I realized that our position on cell phones is "weird" by our kids and the rest of the world's standard, but that is okay. If it means helping our kids emerge from the teen years holy and healthy, I am willing to be weird."

My husband and I made the difficult decision that we would not only block texting from cell phones but the phones would be temporarily, if not permanently, taken away. Did that win us the parent popularity award? Absolutely not. Did our daughters expend all of their energies trying to convince us they would be social outcasts in society? Yes. Did they use scare tactics, like something might happen and they won't be able to call us? Yes they did.

But do we believe we are doing what God would have us do to protect our children and teach them what is holy and just? Absolutely.

If need be, are you willing to be "weird"?

Dear Lord, parenting is hard. Please guide me in making difficult decisions that are in the best interest of my child, even if they don't agree. Please wrap your arms around them and keep them safe from the evils of this world. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Rub-a-dub-duck

2008-05-19T20:42:00.003+08:00

You know it is very common to go into a store to grab a few necessary items and emerging with a couple more items you didn't think you need till you saw them on the shelf?

Especially so if you are a parent.
It happened to us ever so often, at any store selling babystuff. They really know how to earn our $$!

During the "heatwave" period a few weeks back, we saw this and thought it will be a nice treat for BBnat for an extra afternoon dip.
Not that he doesn't have a bathtub. He has. The one given free at Mt Alvernia.
But the rubber duckie looks so cool and cute, WE HAD TO GET IT.

And it really looks like a splashpool more than a bathtub.
And since we stay in an apartment, we can't have splashpools like this (unless we put it out at the....void deck!?Hah!), I thought this will do just fine.

So, my boy gets a little splashing fun on weekend afternoons.
(And daddy gets more picture op moments!)Indeed a good buy! :)

The dream buy

2008-05-19T09:42:00.004+08:00

I woke this morning feeling great (I mean, it's a public holiday) and with a question :: "Did I just buy a bag last night?"

I checked my phone and saw the audit trail of smses. Yeap, I very much did.

You see, I was roused from my sleep past midnight with a phonecall starting with "Hey, I'm now at Miu Miu...."

One's got to love IDD calls and time difference.
Splatpotato is doing the Rome-Paris-Amsterdam trip and he very kindly IM-ed me to ask if I have any shopping list before he left. Duh!

But I did tell him to not go out of his way to get the stuff, only if it's on the way.
He's just done Trevi fountain and had a gelato and now that the important stuff has been cleared, he's onto erh...my shopping. ;)

Splatpotato :: Only black or light blue. But the new season colour is red. Not fire engine red but a shade darker, like cherry red. If you ask me, I'll go for red....

Woh, I'm so proud of him. A guy who can describe the different shades of red!
I would like to think my crashcourse of "It bags" before he left for the trip helped. :)

Now I wonder what tidings his Paris leg will bring....Hee.

A climber!

2008-05-18T11:21:00.002+08:00

It's like he was conserving energy during the 1-week he was down with viral rash.

Cos there's this sudden burst of energy in him now.
Which cannot be stopped.

Where he used to just move front-back-front-back on all fours without really moving a slight inch, he can now CRAWL at a very fast speed and even over our bodies (his terrain!).

Where he used to just flip back-forth-left-right-center on the cot, he can now hoist himself up.

I kid you not.
All at the age of month 6.

Looks like I don't need to sign him up for Gymboree!

Offer taken

2008-05-14T21:26:00.004+08:00

It might be time to re-examine why your best galpal's reaction is as such...

lilsnooze :: Hey, XYZ offer!

Dada :: Huh? Where's the sale!
lilsnooze :: Erh...I meant job offer?

Yes, the pull factors were strong on the other side and I was "sold"(rather quickly, if I may say so myself).

And I have to admit throwing the letter wasn't as easy as I thought or remembered it to be.

I had butterflies in my stomach. I was trying to catch my boss at the right moment to drop the bomb.

Didn't help I was on 2 days mc prior. Hiyah.

It turned out harder than I thought.

Like an end to a relationship, how do you soften the cruel truth that you "fell for another person"?

I find myself trying to explain (and I thought I had it all figured out!).

She was trying to make me change my mind (I think?).

I feel guilty. (But I had to remind myself that I'm moving onto a great career opportunity)

At the end of it all, she wished me "the best".

*phew*

An amicable parting.

How else to commemorate this somewhat bold move of mine (moving from a comfort zone to unknown territory) but with a pair of shoes, right? ;)

And with a pair that is colourfully patterned, not like the usual solid-coloured ones I tend to go for.

Make me young again!

2008-05-13T21:35:00.003+08:00

I wanna be five years old again.

No, wait.
Make that three.

I'm sure I will look cuter at three than at five years of age wearing this.

Aiyoh, they call this range "retro graphics with a vintage feel".
All bearing cartoons from our era (read :: The 80's only what!).

Tsk!

Being a mum

2008-05-11T19:48:00.004+08:00

The thing is, you never really stop being a mum.

Not even when your daughter has a family of her own and is a mother herself.
When she appears at your doorstep not feeling the best of health, you "mother" her as with the old times - making her liang teh and baby porridge to whet her bland appetite.
You even add on the hat of being a grandmother to a fussy grandson, making sure he is entertained, has his feeds and sleep.

The weekend has been challenging with each of us falling prey to the viralthingy but the support and help from our mothers have been truly Godsend.

It is true that you only truly appreciate and understand your mum when you are a mum yourself.

Today's ST article quoted that a mum should be earning $23k a month, doing their job. Well, I'm sure not every mother receive that amount but it doesn't mean they give anything less of value to the family.

Juggling work and family is tough but SAHM is not easy either. And I am not brave enough to take that step.

I know, I might miss out witnessing his first words, or him taking his first steps but what matters is I am with him every step of the way and I will always listen to whatever he has to say.

Because, you never stop being a mummy.
Even when he turns 21, gets a job and has his own family and tehpeng and I have our 二人世界 back.

Here's to our mothers & to us mothers!

And also to my son, without whom I wouldn't have experienced mummyhood.

It kinda works...

2008-05-10T13:16:00.005+08:00

Not exactly what the doctor prescribed, but seeing Mr vpost with these sure helped to perk up the viral-attacked ~~yveon household~~ lilsnooze ::
Who says retail therapy is hogwash?!?

Even clicking and seeing the shopping cart gives you a high!
Or was that the meds?

And how glad am I that the most expensive item is this Gryson for Target bag? The rest are all bargain items on sale!

You would all agree that I've been really good in terms of bag-purchases this year and it's already May! :)

And I'm sure the anticipated arrival of (more) Old Navy stuff will make BBnat happy and recover completely!!

I'm getting delirious (too many !!!!) and I should retreat into that cocoon of my bed before I do any more damage to my credit card.

And a half

2008-05-08T22:01:00.004+08:00

And today, BBnat turns 6 months old (or young, as daddy likes to put it).

Wow! And that means 6 months outside of me!
Imagine that.

I know, there's still a looong way to go, but for now, I think we've come quite a distance, havn't we?

Yes, our lives have somewhat changed, and it's changed for the better.

Never mind the interrupted sleep.
Never mind we can't just take off (even stepping out of the house) just like that.
If I can make the little one feel better by taking on whatever that makes him wake at night crying, I would.

Just to have him look at you, break into his smile with recognition and joy knowing that we are his daddy/mummy, makes it all worth the while.

Ok, I just heard him. Off I go! Night duty!

Poplets

2008-05-05T21:49:00.003+08:00

The hot & humid weather is causing things to pop out of me - a stye (right eyelid!) and a pimple (under my nose!).

But I still give thanks that its these and not my body temp that's popping up. And that the pimple didn't pop out when I took pm-leave 2 weeks back (or was it 3 weeks back?) for my long overdue facial.

I've not been for the longest time, eversince I got too heavy during pregger-stage to be lying flat on my back for long.
As a result, the facial took about 45 min more than the usual 1 hour session.
Yeah, major damage control/salvage.

So, prevention is always the better option.

Cheers everyone!
*guzzle chrysanthemum tea*

Learning everyday

2008-05-04T11:18:00.004+08:00

The good news is :: we had a longer weekend (we took leave on Friday!).

The not-so-good news is :: Nat is kinda down with viral rash.

I know, I've not heard of this one before!And we thought it was heat rash.

Which actually doesn't really seem to bother him much (as in it doesn't itch), but bothers us more.

At the paed when she said she needed to take his urine sample for testing, I was curious as to how it would be done.

Can't really expect him to pee into a cup,right?

I thought maybe they just need his wet diaper and erm...wring some pee out?
Heh heh.

Well, what they did was to attach this onto him, bundle him with a clean dry diaper and we wait.

As parents, you really learn something new everyday.

4 is a good number

2008-05-02T21:48:00.005+08:00

As I caught up with the latest epi of Gossip Girl (Yes, I'm still at it. And tehpeng is still sniggering about me watching teenage drama), I thought "why not upgrade?" and started on Cashmere Mafia.

Again, the friendship of four successful women and their gripes/muses/bitching/lives.
And I've concluded that nothing can beat SATC.

Off I go for another epi of *meow!Power women!Roar!* before Nat wakes again.
He's been waking up much through the night of late. My poor boy, the growing teeth are really bothering him.

I hope he gets out of this phase soon (but not that soon, cos he's soon hitting 6 mths old and that's like half-a-year old and I'm like...HOW FAST is he growing!).

Ok, watching Gossip Girl is like totally affecting my blogging style. Over and out!

A voice

2008-04-30T08:54:00.004+08:00

When I agreed to help my friend for her campaign, with testimony and perhaps media interviews (I stop at being photographed!), I didn't think it would be a radio interview, and a Chinese radio station at that!

So, in my splattering of Chinese (mixed with certain English phrases), I had a short chat with the journo - sharing that I see day-off for my helper as family time for us and as with every employee (me included!), no one wants to see the boss 7 days a week! So a day-off is definitely beneficial and appreciated.

Erm, I think it wasn't as bad as I thought but it was definitely not easy conversing in proper Mandarin!
Definitely kudos to JiejieZhang and Dee who are both in the land of Chinese speakers!

And tehdad just texted me that the interview was broadcast at 8.37am. (while on the way to work!)
Yeah, quite precise hoh?
He's like the family Factiva or Mediabanc, always sending relevant interesting news clips to us.

I really hope my little voice helps towards the campaign!

Seen & Heard

2008-04-28T09:33:00.002+08:00

Mr Osteopath :: So what’s your plan for the weekend?
Lilsnooze :: Oh, what every other Singaporean woman does.
Mr osteopath :: Family time?
Lilsnooze :: Erh…shopping.

(Disclaimer:: He just came to Singapore for about 2 months, from London)

So, I managed a quick zip to the On Pedder sale, after bringing BBnat to the paed and my osteopath visit, on Saturday.

Seen :: Whatever scraps leftover from the morning crowd (disappointing selection!), women hanging onto boxes and boxes of shoes for their dear lives, younger-than-me gals grabbing designer shoes exclaiming “it’s nice! You should get it!” (Wow, I don’t recall shopping Pedder-anything at that age), a very pregnant lady trying on heels (!?!), a mother piling more boxes onto her daughter’s stroller (hmmm!That’s a thought!).

Heard :: Mother telling daughter (who obviously wasn’t too glad about the use of her stroller in that way) – “Why? Mummy cannot use your stroller, is it? Who bought you the stroller?”

I walked out with nothing.
I’m glad I didn’t succumb to the “it’s-a-sale-so-I-must-at-least-get-SOMETHING” mentality, thanks to Dada.

After a quick tea-time with Dada at Canele, I MRT-ed back for family time for the rest of the weekend.

Long distance support

2008-04-24T22:15:00.004+08:00

I bid larling with "Shop!Eat!Chill!for me" before she left for HK for the weekend.

How was I to know she would call me at the DFS and asked for my opinion on a certain bag.

Of course I said :: Buy it!!
Cos that's what galfriends are for, right?
Support and reinforce decision-making.

Then began a slew of smses back and forth as she embarked on more bag-shopping upon setting foot in HKland.

She resorted to stating the bag name (she even gave me the serial number!lol) while I googled for it, before replying.

Ah, how I miss having mms on my (i)phone.

And no, I didn't say "Buy!" for every bag she asked.
Instead, I told her to "go slow, lots of chances to buy the bags in future."

Hah.

His love

2008-04-24T08:50:00.003+08:00

This morning I managed a quick brekkie opposite the office and read 1 chapter of "3:16 - The numbers of hope" while at it.

I had to share.

Cos it's good to be reminded again of His love.

===
Agape Love :: Less an affection, more a decision; Less a feeling, more an action.

This is the type of love described in John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life".

(He loves. He gave. We believe. We live.)

The love that explains why He came.
The love that explains how He endured.

inside and outside

2008-04-22T21:17:00.004+08:00

Admittedly and guiltily, I think I may have clicked abit too much, in terms of browsing the online tempting sites, in an over-enthusiastic attempt to revamp my wardrobe somewhat.

So, I think it's quite timely of this devotion which came to my inbox.

Proverbs 31:30 is the perfect reminder of this fact, "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting: but the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Ok, this shall be my last.
===

A Beautiful Balance

"I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" Galatians 2:20a (NIV)

Devotion:

One morning I was looking in the mirror in order to "put on my face" before leaving for work and I heard the Lord whisper to my heart, "Baby girl, why do you spend more time 'putting on your face' than you spend on your face before me each morning?" Oh my goodness; what a powerful question! My heart sank as I put the cosmetics away. The Lord was right; I was spending more time gazing in the mirror instead of gazing into His word and at His face. Once again I was living like the old person I was before receiving Christ and not the new person I had been transformed into. Once again, I had allowed myself to consider outer beauty more important that inner beauty.

Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not suggesting that it become necessary to put away my cosmetics forever and go through life looking less than presentable. Honey, that is not going to happen! I haven't left the house without a little lip gloss and mascara since I was fourteen. What I am suggesting is returning to the delicate balance of spending time "on my face" before the Lord each morning before spending time "putting on my face." It's remembering that as a believer, Christ has moved in and taken up residence within my heart and within my life.

As I allow this relationship to grow, my life will demonstrate His presence and others will see past my carefully applied make-up to the make up of my heart. Proverbs 31:30 is the perfect reminder of this fact, "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting: but the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." (NIV)

I want to encourage you who share my struggle with balancing inner and outer beauty. While the temptation to consider outer beauty more important than inner beauty is present; that temptation has no more power over those who believe in Christ. Because Christ lives in every believer there is hope and power available to live life in proper balance. When our desire for outer beauty is balanced with our desire for inner beauty, our lives demonstrate Paul's words in Galatians 2:20a, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (NIV)

If we will spend more time "on our face" instead of "putting on our face," God will change us from the inside out and we will experience beautiful balance!

Dear Lord, forgive me for putting more importance on my outer beauty. Thank you for calling me into your presence and reminding me that while outer beauty fades, Your presence never fades. Empower my life to demonstrate Galatians 2:20. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Short cut

2008-04-20T21:32:00.004+08:00

When BBnat was once again mistaken as a babygirl, we thought it is time to take action.

Short of wearing "I am a boy" jumper, we brought him to our trusty hairstylist.
To trim his long sideburns (boohoo) and whatever she can do (haha)to his shedding hair.

We were afraid he would wriggle too much, but guess what?

He fell asleep.

Show mummy your teeth,baby!!

2008-04-17T09:01:00.005+08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I AM VERY EXCITED AND PROUD TO SHARE THAT...

NATHANIEL HAS GOT TEETH!!!!!

2 of them at the lower gum.

When just a few days back we could only feel them when you put your finger in.

*ouch* Do not underestimate a baby's ability to bite down hard.

Now we can see them, just abit.

This also explains his more-than-usual fussiness and his night-time whimpering when he jostles awake from sleep (which happens quite often through the night lately).

Last night, I let him sleep with us after my 3rd try at nursing him back to sleep. (He tends to wake and cry when we put him down to his cot.)

I can't say I don't enjoy it, but I didn't really had a good night's rest.

Am afraid of rolling over and he moves quite abit as well so he keeps kicking me (and daddy, I think?).

Dear God, thank you for blessing us with such an adorably boy who has since brought so much joy to our family. Please watch over him as he grows and give him comfort during his growing pangs. Continue to bless the family with good health and wisdom so that we can take good care of Baby Nat. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

They always get me...

2008-04-16T11:26:00.003+08:00

You have to give it them.

Their CRM is very good.

I am always receiving such emails to tempt me!

The nest

2008-04-14T22:02:00.002+08:00

Feeling abit under the weather (the nose is now blocked and runny intermittently), I asked mum for special order - porridge for my dinner today.

I never expected her to make pork porridge with bird's nest!

*slurp*

There was still alot more left.

I would have packed for lunch tomorrow, if not for the fact that my office has no microwave we can use to heat food.

Back up plan

2008-04-14T15:34:00.002+08:00

Diagnosed with scoliosis since young (during the days of school medical checks), backaches have been a part of my life.

So, massages are a necessity, not so much a luxury.
Hee. :P

Post-delivery, I realised the aches are more persistent, possibly also cos of carrying bbnat in whatever position that makes him comfortable and non-fussy.

So I decided to take action and not rely on massages for temporary relief.

I went to both the chiropractor and osteopath, just for alternative consultations and recommendations.

I guess everyone has their own view on each practice (judging by the hits when we do a google).
At the end of the day, it’s whichever treatment I’m most comfortable with.

So, I chose the doctor with the British accent.
Erh….I mean, I chose the gentler approach – the osteopath.

It's been 2 sessions since and much as I would like them to do miraculous banishing of the aches (very much like massages), it's not the way it is.
They are trying to adjust my spine/bones so that the aches can be managed in the long-term.

And I know I should start working these lazy rackety bones of mine.
Like...start slow by jogging and starting on those yoga stretching.

Cos you know, traipsing shopping malls can hardly be considered as exercise right?
Neither can getting from my seat to the pantry (which is at the other end of the office) be acknowledged as such.

The fruit of...

2008-04-11T11:25:00.004+08:00

Bw came a-knocking last night with durian (the fruit/seed all nicely pried from the prickly husks).

I feel so blessed!

We both ate and ate.
With tehpeng sitting a distance away from us.
And kaizer "begging" at the table.
Even bbnat woke up from his slumber. Maybe the smell was too enticing and he remembered mummy eating it! :)

It was good.
There were some duds, which we fed to Kaizer who happily chomped.
I mean, he won't know the difference,right?

Like what bw said :: the fruit is too sinful to waste on eating not-so-good ones.

I nursed a rather sore throat the whole night.
A case of too much and too heaty for me.
No grouses from me, cos I happily ate, right?

And if you must know...No, the milk today didn't have a durian smell.
Not a hint. :)

The day I wore yellow

2008-04-09T22:14:00.005+08:00

Bright colours are in, this season.

The day started with tehpeng jokingly telling me that my yellow and black ensemble resembles the yellow-top taxi.

Right.

I went in to office and a colleague pointed out that my IKEA cushion is in the SAME SHADE of yellow.

Then at lunch with shutterbug, silver_crv and ej at Lei Garden Orchard, the wait staff were wearing mustard yellow mandarin collar top. A tad too similar to mine!

tehpeng :: You didn't get discount? You look like the waitress, no?

Returned back to office and another colleague jokingly stuffed Big Bird, in the same shade of yellow, into my pocket. :)

Despite all these, I love the top. There are of course, compliments about the top too.

And I need to thank shutterbug for making me look very good with his great photography skills.

Me and my yellow top and sunflower, taken off shutterbug's post

Soup for the phone

2008-04-09T16:45:00.003+08:00

Look what appeared in my mailbox last night!

Picture taken from lovelyteaspoon site

Campbell iphone cozy, purchased from lovelyteaspoon.

So retro hoh?

I love their corn soup.
Or, rather, it's the only Campbell flavour I take.

What's yours?

Saying No

2008-04-07T11:09:00.003+08:00

Now that BBnat is 5mths of age, I thought it might be time to erh...let him know we can't always say 'Yes' to him.

When we were getting ready for church and he was all dressed up, lying down in cot, he started screaming "Carry me! Play with me! Entertain me!".

I gave him a somewhat stern "No" and wagged my index finger at him (almost like how I would say "No" to kaizer!).

It being the first time he sees an un-smiling mummy, he stopped screaming and gave me a stunned look. For about 5 seconds.
Then he gave a gurgly squeal.

Aiyah, like that how to resist?

And I picked him up.

Fail.
Haha.

Post it!

2008-04-06T22:15:00.003+08:00

My eyes will automatically drop to the floor when we open the door nowadays...

The delivery notice finally came on Friday.

I have 2 (usual) choices :: Reroute to Singpost near my house and pick up the following Saturday OR reroute to Singpost near my office and pick up on Monday and lug parcel back home.

But tehpeng gave me the 3rd choice - drive to Singapore Post HQ the next day.

Of course, I gladly took the offer. :)

So, off we went on a little detour after our foray into town on Saturday (my osteopath is located in town, so we conveniently had lunch nearby too...and some shopping).

Wow, I was quite surprised that the Singpost HQ has a mini-mall hiding underneath its massive building!

It was a pleasant experience picking up my parcel (no Q and the collection centre was very nicely decorated. All post centres should be like this!) and we even managed to grab some groceries at the NTUC.

tehpeng :: What are the chances of us coming here again?
lilsnooze :: Erh...a few more times?

:P

After the rain

2008-04-04T11:02:00.003+08:00

The heavy downpour last evening resulted in traffic jams everywhere.

Which means we took much longer than usual to reach my mum's place.

And I was hungry.

All these made me one el-groucho in the car, all the way.
I hope BBnat takes after tehpeng in this aspect, not me.

But seeing BBnat at the end of it all, really changed my mood 360 degree.

Everything else was forgotten.

He really is my sunshine!

3 in a row

2008-04-02T21:14:00.002+08:00

You know you've been playing too much izoo when you see the number plate "9399" and you mentally want to tap the 9 to the right to make it 3 in a row.

A.N.D.Y.

2008-04-02T09:43:00.002+08:00

Mum bought me a DVD of Andy Lau music videos.

I was delighted.
I gleefully requested for tehpeng to play the disc last night, after the news (at least I got my priorities right.).

Oh man, what a classic.
Songs from the 90's to the early 2000's. I like! :P

The music videos I can skip, but I really enjoyed the concert clips and the movie music videos.
Half the time I was laughing away, so was tehpeng.

Andy movies are so classic lor!
(He always "die" with blood streaming down his face)

I had to stop the disc after 10 songs.
There is only so much I can handle.

I want to buy his 2007 concert dvd!

Exp!

2008-04-01T14:02:00.003+08:00

You would have thought "once bitten,twice shy".

But no! This mummy forgot to pack her pumps (not talking about shoes here!) today.

The cost of her forgetfulness :: almost $20 cabfare to-and-fro office and yveonloft, during lunchtime.

Very expensive expresso-milk today.

But seeing BBnat at home :: priceless.

If only I didn't have to get back to work.

Random but on track

2008-03-30T22:09:00.004+08:00

It was a quick dinner out, just the 2 of us, at our favourite fried "lice" paradise - Dino Cake House.

Nestled along the busy street lined with eateries, this really is a gem - we love the fried rice. It taste home-made, not the tze-char kind. The homemade chilli is very lemak. And I'm not even a chilli person!

The last time we were there, I was still heavily pregger.

Have you ever encountered situations where your partner randomly start a topic which is exactly what was in your mind at that moment in time?

Well, tonight it happened again.

The topic?

NY.

Growing up, then and now

2008-03-30T12:05:00.007+08:00

Because every kid who grew up in the heartlands should have a picture taken in the common corridor...

The (very early)2000's::

The (late)1970's::
That's me and my mum.
We were at the 3-room unit (the window on the left belongs to us) and shifted next door to the 4-room flat about 10 years later.
Yes, shifting was a "let's move a few things after dinner" kinda affair for us then.

I have very fond memories of those days where I cycled along the corridor and void-deck(I yearned to cycle around the carpark which was banned territory for me!), badminton at the staircase landing, "play-group" with neighbourly kids and the "open-door" policy along the corridor. What made it more fun was that my auntie (and my 2 elder cousins) stayed at the same level, just a few units away.

All these are not a common sight nowadays...

What is your fond memory of childhood, especially where you grew up?

B for Beckham, Ball and Birkin!

2008-03-29T21:12:00.002+08:00

lilsnooze :: Did you know Beckham played his 100th match for England??
tehpeng :: Of course, I know.
lilsnooze :: Hah, then did you know Beckham brought Posh to a celebratory dinner AND she was spotted carrying a new puple Birkin?
tehpeng :: Ah...that I didn't know.

Do you not just love how an event can have a few news angles? :)

He watch

2008-03-25T18:06:00.003+08:00

If there is a movie that tehpeng can watch again and again, it has to be...

Black Hawk Down

We have the dvd which is at times used to testdrive the sound system when friends visit and he will still sit through another viewing if the movie is shown on FTA tv!

So, what is the movie your man can watch again & again?

Yes, I know. In time to come, we will be watching some kiddyshow many times over (Nat's choice). But not Barney please.

A long weekend

2008-03-23T22:14:00.005+08:00

Hands up those of you who need another day to recover from the long weekend.

I know I do.

Why did we pack it so?

The weekend started with...
:: Good Friday service - home to nap (bliss!) - tea @ BuddyV's - lilsnooze cooking soya sauce chicken for dinner (It's been a while since I touched the hob!)

:: Nat's jab (again, he was a brave boy and didn't cry!) - my chiropractic visit (more on this on another post, when the report is out) - afternoon nap - dinner at my mum's - movie night "I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry" (HILARIOUS!!)

:: Easter service - lunch at Jai Thai (scrumptious and very good value!) - afternoon nap - dinner at Kim Gary with tehfamily

and ended with some shopping at Tangs for me :P

BBnat :: Where's mummy??

I know, I count my blessings of being able to steal some afternoon naps and despite feeling tired from it all, I really love spending these 3 days 24/7 with BBnat (and tehpeng of course). And that we managed to spend time with our families as well (who loves to see BBnat).

Now now, when is the next long weekend?

To God be the Glory

2008-03-21T21:24:00.002+08:00

Image taken from World Vision e-mail

He died for us, not because of us.

Thank you Jesus, for your love, sacrifice and forgiveness.

On target

2008-03-20T09:19:00.004+08:00

"lilsnooze, we thought you'd like to know that we shipped your items today and that your order is now complete."
When my media friend want to do a feature on online shopping, she thought of me.

A friend facebooked me and asked where I usually shop online.

Eh people, I am not the queen of online shopping ok!
I only click a few here and there.

I mean, not being able to shop "bricks-wise", I ~~compensate~~ make do by shopping "click-wise".

This, was cos...I was just randomly window-shopping at night and testing out Target's erh...e-shopping service.
And making good use of the good exchange rate.

:P

This mummy forgets...

2008-03-18T14:40:00.001+08:00

Of all things I had to forget, I forgot to bring milk storage bottles today!

Usually, my helper packs the mummybag for me but this morning, I woke earlier than usual and had some time so I decided to do it while she was bathing BBnat.

I was still telling myself - must remember to pack everything, such as the pump valves and diaphragms (which I had previous records of leaving behind).

And to add to the situation, my emergency stash of milk storage bags was cleared out over the weekend when the mummy bag was sent for a wash and I FORGOT to put them back.

Hiyaaaaah.

I had to (boldly) ask my next-door mummy at the nursing room if she had any spare milk storage bags that I can use.

She replied very disbelievingly:: You mean you forgot to pack the bottles?

Yessssssssss.

I was embarrassed and felt inadequate, for a moment. :P

Off I went to buy a box of them during lunch (meanwhile, I used the pumping bottle as temporary storage).

And this box will stay in the office.

Just in case it happens again. :P

First impressions

2008-03-17T16:11:00.001+08:00

What did BBnat do when this mummy tried to let him make friends with 7 month old BBGrace on Sunday?

First he puked a bit of milk.
Almost onto her, if not for Gracemummy ~~recoiling~~ taking a step back.

Then he let out a loud fart.

What a way (not) to impress girls!?

This mummy was suitably embarrassed, of course.

Lust read

2008-03-17T12:16:00.003+08:00

Since I can't possibly own one, reading about the pursuit of them might just be as close as I can get. :)

In addition to looking at what my boss has, of course.

Location location location

2008-03-14T15:21:00.002+08:00

It’s time for the annual event and nothing like venue sourcing to kickstart the planning.

In the name of work, the working comm proceeded to Prive for lunch and site recce.

With the downpour weather and casual chats with the not-in-business-mode partners, the lunch was a pleasant affair.

No pictures of food though I was tempted to whip out my cam.

The starter mushroom soup (I know, sounds boring right) was light and didn’t make me feel too sick by the time I was slurping the last of it.

I would not normally have chicken breast but infused with foie gras? I just had to order it. The meat was surprisingly tender and juicy.

Dessert was a disappointment but then again, that’s cos the white choc and raspberry tart was too sweet for me, and I am not a white choc person.

The venue looks good and everything though we are slightly nervy about the outdoor element of gastrobar but the new and chic factor ranks high.

Apparently, there’s a Chloe event tonight and we were told we can swing by to take a look-see how an event can be done outdoors.

Huh huh huh. Frankly. I’m just interested in the S/S collection!

A B C

2008-03-12T13:41:00.002+08:00

In the yveon home, the alphabets are taught this way...

tehpeng :: A for Anfield, B for Benitez, C for Carragher, G is for Gerard, T is for Torres, L for Liverpool!!!

Ok that's all you need to know.

Of nursing

2008-03-09T21:22:00.007+08:00

With Nat hitting 4months, I can't help but look back at my nursing journey.

From being bashful at nursing in public...Taken by shutterbug at Nat's first-month party

to "anywhere-also-can-as-long-as-I-can-sit-down". Taken at Taka Coffe Club
Of course there were trying times - dealing with engorgement as well as every other issue related to breastfeeding (Oh, they are very real and they do happen) and worry over the supply.

But God has been good.
And I continue to trust that the nursing journey will continue (as will the issues. Hah!) till a suitable time to wean off.

BBnat and me....a good team :)

In support

2008-03-08T16:51:00.004+08:00

Guess who is playing tonight?

ps :: Yes, we "cheong-ed" the Taka Babyfair!

Say what?

2008-03-07T16:02:00.002+08:00

I seriously wanted to say "chunk of jargon".

But what came out was "junk" instead!

Hah. What a tongue of a slip!

A case of my mouth trying to catch up with my thoughts.

Iloveit!

2008-03-05T22:54:00.004+08:00

I didn't think I would, but idid!

And from THE APPLE STORE, no less!

I am so keeping the plastic bag. ;P

A new read

2008-03-04T22:50:00.003+08:00

"Middle age? You are only 30!!"

"Have you any idea how old that is in gay years?! Practically dead!
Gay men age faster than dogs!"
~ Air Babylon

I am so liking my current ~~frivolous~~ read!

It was between this and Sophie's new book, but I'll wait for smaller paperback version.
Fashion Babylon, my first choice, thanks to Dee's recommendation, wasn't available for rental.

Yes, I rent as I don't like to keep books. No space!

I'm also eyeing Picoult's new novel.

Off I go to read, before my eyes shutdown on me!

Nano load

2008-03-03T13:41:00.004+08:00

Embarrassingly, I never knew how to load songs onto the nano.
Tehpeng has always taken care of that.

But since I'm taking ownership of it, I figured I should "learn".

To my horror, it's not a simple "click and drag" thingy.
I have to sync it with my itunes (tehpeng and I have different log-ins on the PC) then create a playlist before that.
*confused*

All that was sorted out last night by tehpeng.
So now, I can really just click and load.

I got the nano ready with my list of songs to get me going through the work-day.

But I forgot to bring the nano to work today!

Huuuuuuuuuuuh.

Sling & shop

2008-03-01T22:28:00.005+08:00

It was gown-shopping with larling today.

Made me all nostalgic over wedding preparation but glad at the same time that it's all over and done with. I'm sure we all know what I'm talking about. Still, it is fun to be part of the planning proccess again. :)

And since I was near town already, I thought, why not continue the shopping?

For BBnat's stuff, that is. ;P
It is time (I think we are kind late! Haha) to introduce toys that can further stimulate his senses and development.

To Marina Square we went. And I finally mastered the art of slinging BBnat!

29th day

2008-02-29T22:06:00.003+08:00

Just cause it's Feb 29.

Just cause it's Friday.

Just cause it's a day worth remembering.

And just cause it's also the day work starts heating up.

How was your once-in-four-years day?

dreamy Andy

2008-02-27T22:51:00.004+08:00

With a "anytime-can-wake-up" baby in the house, one would think that I would not be wasting precious minutes of sleep by "dreamimg".

Well, last night, I dreamt that tehpeng and I met Andy Lau. I was speechless (at least, not giggly!) while tehpeng kept pushing me towards Andy saying "我老婆要跟你拍照”.

Hahaha.

I must have been floating in and out of consciousness cos I wanted to nudge tehpeng (in real life )to tell him about my silly dream (and have a good laugh over it) BUT I didn't want to wake and break away from the dream. :P

I totally blame this website.

No more bunnies

2008-02-26T21:54:00.004+08:00

We came home to find cocoa gone to bunnyheaven to join Jane, his mum, and Cashew, his companion (who went in Nov2007, just days before I birthed).

Maybe it's loneliness that took him.

Our first ~~pet~~ baby. Six years of memories :: binkies, picnic in the park, pooplets, bitten wires, many spoilt appliances, hoppity hop, bathtimes, fur...my handsome bunny.

Give your pet a hug today.

Byebye Cocoa Potato.

A lighter weekend

2008-02-24T23:06:00.006+08:00

The weekend started with Nat getting his jab and ended with dinner at Peach Garden with my family, where I satisfied my lobster-crave.Yes, I chopped off my hair.

Cos I have been dropping hair.

I've not had my hair this short since JC. It feels strange and my neck feels naked, but am loving the lighter bob of hair.

Come to think of it, I now look like the photo on my IC (*eeeeps*!).
And I'm due to change IC photo this year?!

Feed me!

2008-02-23T12:54:00.009+08:00

It will be an understatement to say that the CNY festive = feasting, for most of us.

Especially so for me this year, it seems. :)

You know how they say "Chinese eat anything and everything"? I think I have my fair share this festive season.

Spotted at our annual lo hei at djseb's ::djSeb giving me some lovin' by digging out the buah keluak for methe guys having vodka pear from cool ice shotglasses

Spotted at the 元宵 dinner ::
A flying saucer! Frog legs in a pot

I have to say -
:: buah keluak is not my cuppa but it's a hot fav among the gang. I'll go for the rest of the dishes, thank you.

:: the "melt in your hands" shotglass up the cool factor AND also the "ta"-it-quick factor

:: abalone steak, what's not to love about it? ;)

:: my dad always whip up one exotic dish when he's home. I lurrrrve froglegs. *yums*

I hope the end of the festivity does not mean the end of feasting, cos I am always hungry now.

If I didn't subscribe to "eat for 2" during pregnancy, I am now. It seems as if whatever I eat is very quickly turned to milk for BBnat!

It's a toss

2008-02-21T14:32:00.003+08:00

A toss between lo-hei (for good luck. Tonight's the Ang Pao Draw!) and Tangs Sale.

Which did you think this mummy chose?

=)

Spending money over a possibility of "winning money".

Dang.

Shows where my ~~money is~~ priorities are.

But I am 3 tops "richer"! :)
I could have been 4 pairs of shoes "richer"too, if not for them being sold out in my size.

Mission S

2008-02-21T10:10:00.004+08:00

This holds true only in certain malls and Singapore.

But not when it's at Funan or Sim Lim.

Or outlet malls.

Right?

I'm so itching for shopping, and New York. Can you tell? Can you tell?

A small thing

2008-02-20T21:22:00.002+08:00

It's really the little things that brings a smile and add to the marriage, isn't it?

Just like tehpeng coming into the room to switch on the tv for me while I'm nursing BBnat, cos the 9pm show just started.

:)

lunchtime

2008-02-20T14:55:00.002+08:00

Lunch time is my me-time, I've come to realise.

More so than ever.

Time to meet friends working nearby (or otherwise) for lunch.
Time to run errands.
Time to do me-things.

Like a 20minute back/shoulder massage at Kenko today.

*bliss*

And a quick stop at GG5, to add some colours (blue and pelican pink, no less!) to my wardrobe.

Too bad shoeloft sale was too crowded.

Paying for it

2008-02-19T21:53:00.003+08:00

The cost of convenience :: $19.35

$11.00 meter fare + $3.85 35% peak hour surcharge + $1.50 ERP (2 gantries along CTE!!) + $3 CBD

Yes, it is point-to-point (office to yveonloft).

Yes, I don't have to squeeze with the peak evening crowd on the train, with my mummybag.

But, *ouch*.

I wish I can teleport like Hiro.

A gem delivery

2008-02-18T17:40:00.004+08:00

On CNY eve, we noticed a Singpost delivery note attentioned to tehpeng.

lilsnooze :: What did you order? My miumiu bag?
Tehpeng :: Let me burst your bubble. No.

:P

We really had no idea what the delivery was till tehpeng picked up the package recently – it was marketing collaterals from a bank. Chey.

Anyway, I need to share about my very pleasant surprise on CNY day 1 evening.

A deliveryman appeared at the loft with my bag. He wasn’t in Singpost uniform so I thought Singpost delivery is now outsourced to local courier firms.

Then it struck me – it is a public holiday! No one is working!

The deliveryman told me he is the postman for my area and decided to try his luck at sending the parcel as he did not want the recipient (aka me) to wait for the parcel.

Talk about commitment and pride in delivering beyond the customer’s expectations!

So delighted, I gave him a red-packet.
It is, afterall, a festive season. And he really surprised me.

And so thanks to him, I had a new bag to use on CNY day 2.

And I sent a complimentary feedback to Singpost.

A pity I didn’t get his name. He truly deserve the G.E.M.S award.

Edit @ 19Feb, 1422hrs ::
And someone from Singpost just called me to thank me for the compliment I submitted via the website! Wow.

A(u) salut lunch

2008-02-16T13:14:00.002+08:00

We finally got a table for lunch. Even if only al-fresco dining was available.

Not before having to fill in a booking form and faxing it over, complete with my credit card details. The disclaimer is that a certain percentage of the confirmed pax lunch costs will be deducted if there is cancellation 24 hours before. And 100% if there is no show.

Alright.
So I made sure the fax went through, cos we are serious about the lunch set.

Then I received a call that they have yet to receive the form. The call ended with a subtle warning that if the form is not received the next morning, they are not able to confirm my booking.

What!?!

So I faxed through again and got my intern to ensure they received it. Which they did.

Then they called me again in the afternoon to confirm the booking. And ended with a "we will only keep the table for 15 minutes".

Wow, I have never felt this much stress over a lunch-booking for 9 pax!

Despite all these, the lunch was not-too-bad.But i think I ordered the wrong main course (yet again) - the duck confit was a tad-dry. I should have gone for the ~~butt~~ beef cheeks.

Al fresco dining under the fans turned out better than we expected.

If only we didn't have to head back to work.

Love the day

2008-02-14T12:02:00.007+08:00

Last year this time, we were preparing for Spain.

It's yet another day for ~~consumerism dictating love at its heights~~ love.

This year, my lilheartbreaker adds to the love in the air. :)

Hope everyone has a special day with their loved one(s).

Valencia City of Arts and Science , Spain, 2006

XOXO...

2008-02-12T22:58:00.000+08:00

tehpeng :: Why are you watching a show where the people still get grounded?

Erh....yes.
I just finished Gossip Girl.
=P

The "90210-meet-OC-meet-SATC-meet-Bergdorf Blondes in motion" teenage drama.
It's frivolous. It's juvenile. But, it's superbly fashiontv - the gals carry Gucci hobos to school, the mums tote birkins.

It's pure entertainment, not as intense as Heroes or Prison Break.

I have to admit I can't take more than 2 episodes in a row. It gets too much for me - there's only so much highschool angst and poor-little-rich-spoilt-kids I can handle.

And through the whole 12 episodes, I've not seen the highschool students wear the school uniform (in above pic) as it is. They are always decked out in elaborate jackets and accessories, over the uniform.

They are in highschool, but they are always partying every single episode.

Of course, the cast is made up of (young) goodlookers.

Especially second guy from right who is called Nathaniel Archibald.

And no, I am not bias. :)

Lo Hei talk

2008-02-10T10:24:00.000+08:00

What do you say when you Lo Hei?

Heard at our Chung-Wong-Hong CNY day2 reunion lunch at Mitzi where the cousins had our own table and the parents had their own ::

"Work less, get more pay ah!More bonus ah!

Don't study get "A" ah!

Liverpool win Champions League ah!"

:P

A night away from home

2008-02-09T22:53:00.000+08:00

Seeing that it's Nat's 3rd month, Nat's first CNY, our early Vday celebration and Yveon2.3, we checked ourselves into Fullerton for a night.

Oh yeah, there were fireworks too, which were forgetable. Cos our view was mostly blocked and they were the small-scale ones we set off in NZ.

Packing for Nat's stay was serious matter - half a bag of diapers, 6 sets of clothes (yes! in case he drool too much, or puke milk or pooped out), his bolster/pillow/beanbag pillow/blankie and soft toy, etc.

Looking at what we packed, we wondered if it was really worth the effort to bring him away from home for a night.

And it was.

We totally enjoyed quality time with him (no internet or games to distract us!). He apparently has inherited from us, his parents, to be all-terrain sleeper. Sleep anywhere also can.

Am so glad we didn't have to abort plan and drive back home in the middle of the night. This was my back-up plan if Nat fuss too much.

In fact, he slept 7 hours straight, only slightly wake at 4am. Which I apparently kicked daddy into action - he sprang up and pat BBnat right back to lala-land. :)

Of course there are photos! Lots!

Here's a selection for a peek into Nat's first stay (and ours) at Fullerton. Remember to click on "Captions" - they do tell a story!

Festive tools

2008-02-08T10:24:00.001+08:00

How did you prepare for CNY?

Going by what's festive in the house...

Yveon's CNY stuff :: Chinois clutch for angpows (yes, I knew there will be a use for it when I bought it in BKK in '05!), LV-epi-lookalike mandarin oranges holder (thanks to Marina Square, but of course had to meet the minimum spend to get it), basket of mandarin oranges (which I "koped" from my parents!) and CNY goodies which our parents gifted us.

I didn't even buy new clothes. By which I mean, I didn't get anything chinois especially for CNY. :)

I guess we didn't really erh....prepare much, if any at all.

Unlike my mum...where CNY decorations go 3-D!

Home for the holidays

2008-02-07T22:38:00.000+08:00

It's been a while (since 2004) that we are actually in Singapore during CNY.

Not cos we 避年 but just making good use of the good stretch of holidays without taking that many days of leave. And I do leave behind the red packets for cousins.

So this makes it our first CNY in Singapore as a married couple. And we totally skipped the dreaded relatives' queries on "When are you having a baby?", by appearing with a baby. Hah!

And I realised I do miss this festivity, especially the relatives-visiting thingy, mostly cos we are always in contact with our relatives and CNY to me is just another excuse for feast gatherings. As well as "Donate to my Prada-fund" friendly games of cards. :)

Now that I've my own family, the visiting-itinerary has to be planned to cover 2 sides of family CNY traditions as well as relatives. And to take into consideration Nat's mood and naptimes.

I guess we survived day 1 bringing Nat around, though traffic was horrid with almost everyone out on the roads - we saw 3 (!!!) accidents, each involving 4-5 cars, while on 2 expressways.

Of course, the traffic was crawling.

We had to entertain Nat with Newsweek (cos this mummy forgot to pack his giraffe soft toy!). He gets impatient when the car is not moving (just like me!!haha).
He was still in a good mood at dinner (at Wah!NooGee), albeit ready to doze off if you carry him in his favourite position.

I guess me is the tired one and I am glad day2 is only a family lunch. And our Fullerton 1-night stay. :)

春节来临

2008-02-06T21:08:00.000+08:00

The after-effects of watching "Warlords"...I just have to use this to wish everyone

新年快乐万事如意

The sound of milk

2008-02-05T12:20:00.000+08:00

I am indeed blessed that my company has nursing room facilities. It really makes a difference. In fact, a new room just ‘opened’ today, situated a level above me!

God is indeed good cos I was just thinking last week how “inconvenient” it is for me to “walk down a level to change lift and get to the nursing room located at level 7”. I know I should count my blessing that there is such a facility in the first place and not even complain at all. Forgive me, I am human after all.

The nursing room is equipped with 2 cubicles for mothers, a small fridge and a washing area. Simple but everything necessary is provided. Each cubicle even has a photo frame if you want to insert your baby’s photo!

With 2 cubicles, it is inevitable that you have “company” when you are on mummy duty.

Before I returned to work, I only knew the sound of my pump. Since I returned to work, I’ve heard the sounds of manual pump and the gentle whirrings of other electric pumps.

This morning, the whir of the pump next to me sounded like an electric shaver. The continuous and very industrious sounding whirring makes me think it can efficiently pump out gallons of milk! =P

5W1H of 3-pigs-meet

2008-02-03T14:43:00.000+08:00

What :: A lunch-meet for the mummies and supposed play-date for the lil ones

Who :: Nathaniel s/o lilsnooze , Jayden s/o Sparklethots & Sniffles d/o domesticrat

Where :: yveonloft

When :: 25 Jan 2008

Why :: Cos domesticrat was back in town! And we wanted to "matchmake" our children

How (did it go?) :: With much difficulty, as you can imagine with 3 little tots of varying ages (tho only born Feb, Aug and Nov in the same year). This means varying attention span, attitude, aptitude and sleep/feed patterns.

My boy wasn't that all interested. While Jayden was trying to get Sniffles interested.

The 3 mummies had our hands-full most times and DR's MM was right, it was an afternoon of feeding and diapers-changing.

But we still managed to have our chats amidst all these mummy-duties.

Now, if only we can add in some chi-chi fashionista stuff going on at the same time.

Tea, tots, tittle-tattle and therapeutic fashion/accessories oogling.

Definitely food for thought. Hmmm...

Hungry ears

2008-02-03T13:34:00.000+08:00

I didn't realise hunger makes you (mis)hear things.

PastaMania :: Your order is blahblahblahblah...and a Spanish Hawaiian
lilsnooze :: No no,I ordered Hawaiian pizza, not Spanish Hawaiian.
PastaMania :: Mam, I meant ten-inch Hawaiian.

=P

And to think I thought what a weird pizza - Spanish Hawaiian!

Home with the Lord

2008-01-30T22:59:00.001+08:00

Goodbye tehgrandma.

12/12

2008-01-28T22:46:00.000+08:00

And so it was the first day back at work after 12 weeks of maternity leave (so quick it seems!), of which 10 was spent 24/7 with Nathaniel.

How is it possible to tear myself away from my baby?

I set to task, by getting all the logistics ready the night before - packing my full pack (aka mummy bag), packing Nat's stuff and choosing my attire.

And a run-through of the morning schedule with tehpeng and helper. Just so everyone is on the right page. ;)

Morning came and everything went like clockwork. We packed everyone (Kaizer included) out of the house 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. *yay* But this mummy has to forget to pack something for Nat and has to run back to the loft.

Nevermind, I'm sure we'll get everything right as the days go by. :P

Saying goodbye wasn't as bad as I thought it will be when I reached my office, possibly cos BBnat was asleep.

Again, as I know BBnat is in good hands, work-mode took over and I spent the morning clearing emails and the afternoon trying to read and take in the important emails and getting started on assignments. And of course, mummy-duty.

I did call my mum to check in on Nat twice. Haha, role reversal now!

And before I know it, it's the end of day 1.

Not too bad, I thought to myself. I didn't experience separation anxiety, or feel too emotional.

It was only when I reached my mum's place, I rushed in to carry BBNat and he started to fuss in a very manja manner, as if to ask "Mummy, where have you been?", that I felt tears stinging my eyes. :P

But I must say, seeing him at the end of the day is really sweet. :)

Mummy bag

2008-01-28T17:38:00.000+08:00

Before I start on my thoughts at being back at work and the update of my status as a working-mummy, let me pen down what’s been on my mind prior.

I’m blessed that childcare arrangement has all been sorted out so I can fret about frivolous things, such as a bag to hold all my mummy-duty accessories – the pump and fridge-to-go and whatnots.

Which means it’s bulky and heavy! How do other mummies do it!?

Best advice from Mummybean :: Just chest up and carry like it’s the coolest thing you are carrying.

So there begins the hunt for a mummy bag - big enough and chic-looking, cos I don’t want to look like a frumpy child-woman lugging milk all over town.

I can’t seem to find a suitable one. The Harrods bag come close.

In the end, I decided the “I’m not a plastic bag” bag will do just fine.

So now, I kinda look like those women with a handbag and a gym-bag.

Which isn’t that bad an image, I must say!

tehpeng :: People pump iron, you pump calcium

Once our pastor, forever our friend

2008-01-27T21:24:00.000+08:00

Today we bid farewell to Senior Pastor Chang and family, as he starts a new chapter of his shepherding life at our sister church.It's 7 years since I joined the church and Pastor has been with us through it all - our paktor days, our marriage preparation counselling, he married us, he blessed our loft, he baptised me and even baptised BBNat.

He will be dearly missed. I will especially miss his one-of-a-kind humour and his steadfast teaching of the Word (which always made sense to me and tehpeng).

It is always difficult to say goodbye, so instead, we say "See you in Cambodia!".

Yes, our sister church is as fervent as us in Cambodia mission and I wonder when yveon can make time out for Cambodia mission trips.

Of course, I know we will still update him on our lives.
So, it is not really goodby, cos he is more than a pastor to us, he is a family friend.

And friends are friends forever.
(A very appropriate song which a songleader dedicated to Pastor during service today, which brought tears to my eyes)

Father, thank you that you have blessed us through Pastor Chang and we pray You will continue to give him wisdom and the vision to lead our sister church and that Pastor Chang will continue to bless others. In Jesus' most precious name, Amen.

Adding to his closet

2008-01-24T15:06:00.000+08:00

Guess who is at the receiving end of mummy's online clicks? These arrived last evening. Didn't know Vpost/Singpost delivers after 6pm!?

Soon we need to upgrade him to the 3-6 mths stash. So fast!

I can't wait cos lotsa nice "wear-go-out" stuff, all lovely gifts from friends and of course, from my shopping.

lilsnooze :: We need to bring him out more often!!

Gdbye Heath

2008-01-23T23:04:00.000+08:00

Who can forget this scene from 10 things I hate about you?

One of those teenflicks I loved then (though I was way past teenhood. *oops*).
And definitely a classic scene I remembered till date.

Since after, Heath became an actor I notice and will most definitely try to catch his movies - most notably, A knight's tale and Cassanova.

I didn't catch Brokeback Mountain though.

Methinks I should go get the "10 things I hate about you" dvd.

Fresh daily

2008-01-23T17:00:00.000+08:00

I have to admit I was attracted to the morning-cereal cover of the book.

How apt, as it is often a quick and easy brekkie to fuel you for the day ahead.

And this is God's recipe for living each day ::

Saturate your day in His grace
"I tell you in solemn truth," replied Jesus,"that this very day you shall be with me in Paradise." ~ Luke 23:43

Entrust your day to His oversight
"Give us day by day our daily bread." ~ Luke 11:3

Accept His direction
"If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me." ~ Luke 9:23

Grace :: His grace erases guilt.
Oversight :: His oversight removes fear.
Direction :: His direction removes confusion.

"The Lord's love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning" ~ Lamentations 3:22-23

Thank you Lord for the gift of every day!

More than just selling things

2008-01-21T12:40:00.000+08:00

I've kinda came to a conclusion that nursing rooms are possibly interior-designed by non-nursing mothers and non-daddies.

From my very few encounters (which means I've not been out at shopping centres much with Nat). That says a lot.

:: Raffles City - There is only 1 nursing room at level 3 next to Robinsons. Inside, there are 5 changing stations in a row (almost like toilet cubicles!) but only 1 corner cordoned (with a door) for nursing.
Of course it is NOT enough, given the increased no. of breastfeeding mothers/babies.

:: Forum - There are 2 nursing areas cordoned off with a curtain. Not so bad actually, but the nursing area facing the entrance (which many people walk past to get to the toilet) has a curtain that is rather see-through. I can see what is going on outside all the time. I had to use my nursing cloth.
Even if the curtain is stylish with vibrant stripes (and not childish prints), it is NOT appropriate.

:: T3 - The family room near the departure gate is clean and comfortable, possibly cos it is new. However, the aircon vent is directly above the changing station.
Hmmm....NOT good for babies who often have to go half-naked for diaper change yah?

:: Isetan Shaw - By far the best experience. Nursing area is like a changing room - private and comfortable. There are seats provided for accompanying daddies to wait it out and hot water for formula milk. There is even a Yakult vending machine!

I guess I am appreciative and should be thankful there are nursing rooms provided by shopping centres.

But you know, nursing rooms not equipped properly will mean it will not be mothers' shopping destination of choice which means "goodbye mummies-who-buy-and-buy".

age is only a number

2008-01-20T17:15:00.000+08:00

The other day when tehpeng was buying Kaizer's food at a petshop (of course, Kaizer would wish it was at a prata stall), the sales asst commented that the usual kibbles we buy may not be appropriate for an ageing dog like ours.

Ageing!?!?

That's the last thing we associate with Kaizer, who is still a bundle of energy (well, at least when we are playing with him) and forever a silly lil one in our eyes.

He's coming to age7 this July.

Well, according to this site, this means the equivalent of 41 human-years old.

Not that ageing what. Still cannot retire. :P