Hong Kong, Zhuhai & Macau Trip 2010

Finally my long awaited holiday by flight is here.
We went Hong Kong, Zhuhai & Macau. Though is just a short 6 days trip, but it's a great getaway.
Nice weather, great food, fantastic shopping and wonderful fun!!
My biggest worry was how to handle Lucas on the flight, but he was at his best behaviour.. Thank God!
Now I can plan more holidays.. wahahaha

Walking with Dinosaur

Brought Lucas & Ryan to this world acclaimed show, Walking with Dinosaurs.

This was initially a six-part documentary television mini-series that was produced by BBC. The live adaptation of the series was originated in Australia in Jan 2007 which later toured North America, Europe and now Asia starting off with Singapore.

Some pictures of the Dinosaurs to share. You may click here for more information of the show.

I am bad at remembering the names of the Dinosaurs, so some of them I really don't know their names :)

Stegosaurus

Brachiosaurus

Orinthocheirus

Torosaurus

Ankylosaurus

Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex)

Outing to Singapore Flyer

We won the one for one flight to Singapore Flyer from McDonald's Monopoly Game, so we brought Lucas for a ride.

A Bomb

Is with heavy heart that I am writing this entry.

My dad’s heart condition has taken for a worse. The valves around his heart are not functioning well which explains the series of chest pain he had been experiencing so frequently for the past 1 yr or so.

The only solution is to go for an operation. As Dad has kidney failure, operation would carry a higher risk than any other normal patient.
Without the operation, he would have to suffer frequent heart attack or stroke.
He has been in and out of NUH due to chest pain, stayed in Coronary Care Unit for so many times, so why wasn't there any sign to show the malfunction valve?
Why we know of this only when it reached the SEVERE stage (they comes in mild, moderate & server)? UNBELIEVABLE!!
But what's the point of asking why when it has already happened, they can't do anything to reverse the situation, can they?

This piece of news is a bomb for me. A 'un-timed' bomb. We don't know when will it explode and what will happen if it really does.

Dad met his first crisis when he was told that his kidney had totally failed and he needs to go on dialysis. He was devastated , I was with him. He was crying so helplessly.

His 2nd crisis was his heart bypass. Everyone in the family especially my mum was very worried, we prayed hard he could survive the ordeal. We stayed in the hospital all the while when the operation was going on. When out of the theater, my dad looked as if he just finished a war. Totally exhausted and tired!

Now we have the 3rd crisis, will we survive this again? I wonder...
Dad morale is low and he looked down, aged & in despair.


Daddy, be strong, we will be with you to overcome this just like the way we did previously. I prayed for your health and may you live as long as you can, Lucas would want to show you his 1st report card with flying colours.
As Jenson said, you as a Liverpool fan is a fighter! One who never give up easily!!

Love you Daddy!!!

Lego

I discovered Lucas's interest in Lego way back during CNY......... (sorry... just don't have time to update the blog... )

First he started with constructing a tall tower

Then he made this...

And this.. a building??

And then he made this.... he said this is Robot.. :)

Some Updates

Oops..It's been 2 months of missing in action.

Sorry guys, I was seriously busy with my new job. Though busy but happy as I had a bunch of helpful & friendly new colleagues. Most importantly, I am fully occupied and won't be spending that much time on FB games.. wahahahaha, which also means I have lesser time to update this blog.

Anyway, nothing much happen during the last 2 months, except that I sent Little Lucas for phonic enrichment classes now. Didn't continue with BJG, they are simply too expensive.

Will be posting updates on the artwork Little Lucas did in the class and also my long out-dated posting on how Little Lucas loves to play Lego

Malacca Getaway

This is the 2nd Getaway for this year.
We went to Malacca with another family and we had great fun
Yummy Food, beautiful hotel rooms, jammed roads all the way in Malacca and great fun travelling with the 3 little boys.
Little Lucas had lots of fun especially in the pool :)

Pacifier Free

It's official, Little Lucas is finally free from Pacifier. He kicked the habit without too much fuss.

It all happened during the so-not-common Little Lucas & Daddy time. (I was away for an interview). And somehow the pacifier got lost along the way and we didn't know where it was.

As we have the bad habit of giving Little Lucas his pacifier and Bao Bao (nickname for his little pillow) while in the car, he keeps asking for it when we were on our way to Marina Barrage for Kite Flying. I just kept repeating myself to him, 'it's gone remember, you misplace it just now and we could not find it.'

Initially I wanted to give him the extra pacifier that I kept at home, but I thought why not use this opportunity to help him kick the habit.
So that night I didn't offer him the pacifier and I told him it's gone for good and he is not going to have it back. He managed to get to sleep after a while .. though a little longer than usual.

It's almost close to a month and he did not get to see his dearest pacifier again.
Though at times he still ask for it, but when we told him it's gone, he will be settled.

In case you are wondering if Little Lucas sleeps in a cradle and yes he does. He sleeps in that when he is at my mum's place. We don't have one at home and so he sleeps on the bed with us.
So Little Lucas was brought up as a 'versatile' boy who can sleep both on bed & in the cradle.
I have to thank hubby for this as he was the one who didn't want to buy a cradle for our home.

Finally the Long Search has come to an end

After 3 months of searching, with over 100 applications sent, attended 10 interviews, I finally landed on a job of my choice.
At long last, I can stop browsing through the openings on JobsDB & Jobstreet. Tell you, it's not easy to search through jobs listing when there's almost about 100 openings advertise (both old and new) everyday.

With the job searching or even from my prior searching when I just got married, I learnt alot about how the potential employers thinks about us, the working mummies.

Interviewer: So when did you get married, any plans for kids (tell me will you get pregnant within 1 yr after we employ you)
Me: No, not so soon, no concrete plans yet.
Interviewer: I see.. but you never know. (hey.. accidents do happen!! Be careful!)

Interviewer: So how many kids do you have?
Me: 1
Interviewer: Who is taking care? (Better be your parents or in laws.. childcare means you cannot work OT)
Me: My mum.
Interviewer: That's good. (Can do lots of OT)

Interviewer: So are you prepare to work late or long hours given that you have a kid?
Me: Yes, mentally I am prepare. I feel that I was there for him for the past 2 years so now it's time for me to be more focus on my job and develop my career.
Interviewer: So you mean now you don't see the need to spend more time with your kid?
Me: Erh.. of course not, but I think it's time for him to get independent (is this what you like to hear???)

Interviewer: Any plans for the 2nd one? (tell me will you get pregnant within 1 yr after we employ you) (See it happens again even after you had 1 kid)
Me: No. (Very firm no)
Interviewer: Sure? Why not? (good, means no maternity leave in near future)

I find that potential employer out there are only looking for people with no family commitments. They simply need someone who can devote 100% of their energy to work (in lay man's term.. slog for the company).
Working mummies seems to be at a very disadvantage when it comes to this area.
So much for the government campaign of getting mummies to be back into the workforce..BOO!!!
Of course, mummies can always apply to work in statutory boards and government bodies which typically have small job scope and slower pace. Their working style and culture are a lot more different from the MNC which I used to work with.

But of course, down the road you will definitely meet someone who can form a good rapport with you and come in terms of your mindset & mentality and offer you a job.
Yes, that happens to me and I hope it's for real!!

Cook & Bake

Ever since after CNY, my oven seem to have gone cranky. My bakes all FAILED. They turn out either too hard or too soft.
My brain also turn cranky, some of the new receipes that I tried have the weirdest taste I ever come across

But of course, it can still give me my decent baked rice (AGAIN??)



and my Puff Pastry Soup. Yes.. Puff pastry soup done in cheater's way.. ready made puff pastry... wahaha...




And I did manage to churn out Roti Boy... taste quite close to the real ones




And I finally manage to bake a decent sponge cake.. this is a testing product to get ready for my mum's birthday cake next week. Of course, this time I did it with a pre-mix flour. So maybe that is why I got a almost perfect cake




I did a no bake Oreo cheesecake.. Luvs it.. I replace the Oreo base with Digestive biscuit base.. I luv the smell & taste of Digestive.. heaven!!

2 Years Old Birthday Celebration

He is 2

I discovered you in August 2008. I was filled with happiness & anxiety. Happy as I have a new life growing in my womb. Anxiety because it was barely a month that I started on a new job.

I shared the good news with your daddy and he appeared as nonchalantly as he ever could. Heartbreak was the only word I could use as that was the least expected response from him.
As usual, I just turn into a blacked face mute. :)
Shortly he asked me to get it confirm at a clinic, not even want to volunteer to accompany me.

I showed the doctor the test kit and he said the 2 lines are very clear & precise. :D
Gave me some advice and vitamins and off I go in search of my gynae.

But daddy did changed, helped me with housework as I am always so tired for no reason. Sleeping become my hobby. Lazing around and eating non-stop is my daily activity.

First few months were not easy as I am spotting and the fear of losing you was so great that I didn't know what to do (other than taking the painful hormones jabs) but to talk to you and touching my big round tummy. Hoping you will be a safe & sound in there.

5th month of pregnancy was when we discovered that you can't wear pink!! From then on, I am constantly hopping that the gynae did not made any mistake on this as I am shouldering big pressure from family members in regards of your gender.

9th month of pregnancy gone and out you come! That was the most wonderful & touching moment in my last 29 years on earth. I was very relieve to see you arrived sound & kicking. The pain and wait you given me was a great lesson learnt as now I had learnt to treasure your grandma alot alot more.

This also marked the start of me turning into a milking cow and my sleep-deprived days.

With you around, time is always so little. Mummy is forever tired (again) and there's no 'me' time. All I am faced with was Baby Lucas, feeding, diaper changing, milk pumping, Baby Lucas, feeding, diaper changing, milk pumping and it went on for the next 3-4 months. I turned into a witch and your Daddy saw the great change in me as he was always being picked on. But that did not prompt him to pick up the skills of helping me to change your diaper or feed you.

From the day you are born till now, he changed & feed you for not more than 10 times :)

Taking pictures of you become my hobby and there are endless photos of you in the memory card. But very sadly, the soft copy photos of your 1st year are all gone due to external hard disk crashed. Blame it on me and the corrupted card.

You learnt to roll over by your 5th month. That's when we were all so thrilled & excited. Soon you even learnt to rock your little bum and amused your Daddy greatly.

9th month was when you learnt to crawl and by 10th month you were able to sit up on your own.
Before you learnt to walk, you actually started you baby language with makes everyone laughed & teared.

1 year old birthday bash was the biggest celebration that I had ever done. From planning, deciding the theme, getting the decoration and food, I put into 101% effort. It went on great but sadly not much photos taken with friends & relatives!

15th month came and you learnt to walk. At that point in time, we were so glad because that would meant no need to carry you on our hands. But we are greatly wrong.
You turn into a very active boy who wants to run non stop and with no sense of direction & without any boundaries
Chasing become our activity as you are always running away from us.

18th month you learnt to hum & sing with your highest pitch and the softest tone. You dance to music whenever you hear them and clap your hands excitedly. You also learnt to pick up our mobile phone & pretend to be talking to someone over the other end.

22nd month was when I discovered that you love to play Lego. You know how to stack them high up into a tower. Though they don't represent any buildings or animals, but to me they are the most beautiful creation that I ever seen.

Today is the day you turn 2.

You had learnt many things and there are alot more for you to discover down the road.

With you in my life, I have lesser energy, freedom, money & time to do things that I use to indulge (like KTV, movies & shopping with girlfriends/sisters).
However, in exchange I have a wonderful, fun-loving boy wanting to be hug and kiss everyday and can't go to bed without me by your side (*grin*). What more can I ask for.

"Daddy & Mummy would like to wish you good health and stay happy & cheerful forever. May you be blessed & loved by everyone.
Happy Birthday Sweetheart"

At some point.....

You just think life SUCKS!! Sucks a big time...

There are problems waiting to be resolve and yet actions are not taken despite giving all suggestions & support.

Old problems still hanging around and new problems arises.. finance, living habits, childcare..career...and the list goes on.

At some point, it just makes one feeling so demoralised and feel like leaving everything behind..

At some point, it makes one wonder if you are a life partner or just a co-tenant.

At some point, it makes one wonder if the decision previously made was correct.

At some point, it makes one think if we should make a BIG decision to correct the wrong one previously made!!

Updates on Lucas Growth

As mentioned in my previous post, we were pretty concerned if Lucas is growing fast enough.

So we brought him to the Pediatrician for a check up and also to get some advice on his feeding.

The doctor did some plotthing on the growth chart found on the health booklet. The conclusion is, Lucas is indeed one small baby.

First of all, his birth weight is already below average. Next, both me & hubby are not of avergae height either. So more or less, Lucas height & weight will be much affect.

However, the doctor did mentioned that though small, Lucas is actually growing consistently, which is a good sign. She also recommend us to slowly increase his food & milk intake to compensate for the energy loss given that he is an active kid at this stage.

I am trying my best to make him grow bigger. If he's active & happy.. well I guess we should be fine :)

Here are some dishes that I made for Lucas.. you know how boring it can get with all the porridge & rice with steam fish everyday... So during weekends I make it a point to make something nice for him...

2010 Chinese New Year

Daddy's 33rd Birthday

Is Hubby's 33rd Birthday.. as it was just too close to CNY, I got absolutely no time to bake him a cake. So instead I bought him a small little



CARE BEAR Cake!! Wahahahaha

Why Care Bear??

Cos whenever he sees care bear.. he will says "Care Bear Shines!!!" I was so amused when he first said that.. he actually remembered the cartoon.. :)



So from there I reckon he loves Care Bear...



Other than the cake, I also bought him a wallet.. His first authentic branded one I guess :)

Initially I thought of buying him a Dupont lighter as a replacement for the one he lost (it was a gift from his 3 good poly buddies & he almost go bonkers when he lost it), but that would cost me a bomb!! So I settle for a wallet instead and it's on sale.. What a good deal! :)