23rd Week

with so many activities during the whole 15 days of CNY, i am exhuasted! this week after school i have been feeling drained. Monday 9th feb, was the 15th day fo cny. sadly, gx had co. dinner at boqt quay. i had dinner with my in-laws and sil. these days i feel fulll easily and of cos hungry easily. eating smaller meals thus more snacking and meals! gx bot me dessert. he got soya bean with youtiao and we ate before 12mn, thus making this meal the tuan yuan fan!

tuesday 10th - sadly my brain didn't register the date and missed wishing my 2 good frens, the twins on their bdae! Here's HAPPY BELATED BDAE TO ET AND SER! and then i oso totally spaced out it was my cousin T's bdae on monday! so there CHEERS to you T! with the 15th days of cny over, i went to novena after school despite me being very tired. i was there to do shoe hunting! bought my 1st 2 pairs of Papilion sandals and shopping didn't end there. i went into a shop and spotted a very nice dress. i got it to wear on vd. think gx will scream! but it was very pretty!

bot a black pepper chicken but regretted cos its tasteless but lucky i cooked my favourite tomato soup with crispy bacon and coutons! got some lovely super soft mochi from tung lok, the big round peanut and sesame filling mochi was nice, full of sesame taste and very soft. custard roll was ok but wot buy it again, loved the red bean paste mochi best. slept early!

wednesday 11th - after school, head to mums. she asked us to go back to have steamboat together. slept on the sofa and didnt even know people started coming home! ate our dinner and i head home. when we got home, baby kicked. i always tell gx the intensity of the kick, small impact, medium and STRONG. she was moving with medium imoact and i got gx to put his hand on the baby belly. then suddenly, baby gave an STRONG impact! gx was shock! he didnt expect to be able to feel it cos the last few times he couldn't. gx's first kick from baby. after the strong impact, baby prob went to rest and i was ready for more sleep too!

thursday 12th - after easa called gx and told him about my XLB craving. so he was so sweet to bring me out to BJ8 to eat at DTF. also i completed one thing on my list of things to do. finally i did up my survey form. survery to find out more about baby products and advices on baby! sent it out to mummy frens i know. hope i get the replies soon and i gog to study the list before shopping for baby!

friday 13th -in school the kidos celebrate vd day while i felt like i dread the friday 13th! as usual i took pics of kidos with hearts that i cut from different colourful construstion paper and got them to pose and them merge all pics and print it out, rolled it up with bound with a heart for each student as a momento. one of the kido's mum baked cookies for the vd treat. the best vd gift i got was a towel with my name on it from a chinese teacher who was leaving school. i didnt know she was leaving! i had to go for my tuition and didnt get to say goodbye to her. i hope everyting will work out for her! i was glad school when school was over!

was painful to carry on after school to ps but i had to prep for Sat, so no choice i drag myself there but the 1st shop i went into was no regrets! i got 4 tops... but for $90+ less than $100, i was thrilled! they were not maternity wear, just got really huge sizes and i can't wait to wear them! got exactly 10 items from daiso and didnt go crazy in there as i had limitation to how heavy i can carry. but i got really cute stuff! head to carrefour to buy the ingredients for my cooking on sat. head home and was glad a nice young office gal gave up her seat to me and in turn when i got off, i gave my seat to a mother with a very active little boy. after eating prawn mee with gx, i nap on the sofa from 9-11pm! woke up showered and in 15mins i slept till this morning!

GX's D&D 2009

On friday 6th February, at 11+am gx mgs me but didnt get to check hp till lunch time and the 1st thing i did after i saw the msg was to scream! yes my reaction was terrible that my collegue j popped her head in to check on me! i was invited to gx's d&d the very last minute! i was to attend the function in a few hours time and why did i scream? cos i got nothing to wear to the party! i would have loved to dress up for the party cos i have not attend d&d for the longest time and a proper d&d to speak of! i do have my sis' wedding blue dress and batik dress to wear but i didnt want to cos i am vain! the theme is dynasty! so many types of costumes to wear as long as its related to the chinese! after school, tried my luck at my fren a's house but i can not fit into any of her gowns and most of all not chinese enough!

so i went back to woodlands and head to the maternity wear shop where i got my dry set of clothings on wednesday... they do have cheongsam tops but not grand enough... vain! but i didnt give up! i popped into metro and was so glad to see lots of CS on the rack! and there was a 20%sale! i went thru each rack pulling the biggest size i chanced upon! was so glad i managed to fit into a tube dress and very cheena material, floral print on a reflective material and i loved it! bot it rushed home, showered, dressed up within an hour and head down to sheraton! my cousins Lu and Le looked so cute in their costumes! then when i saw my hubby and bro... WOW! my hubby looked so cutez! bro looked more like getting married!

my mother shorten her CS from sis' wedding and wore to the event. the event hall was pretty nicely decorated to the flowery chinese and cny themed! the Vvip table was nicely decorated with little lions and yes there were 8 lions on and off stage to start the event! all the waitresses wore headgear prepared by the d&d team.

the team even arranged nice flower tea for all the guest. then we had louhei and it was my first time using huge, long chopsticks to do the louhei! well i was sitting also at a vip table... vip table as we are uncle's relatives... it was my 1st time attend my uncle's co. d&d.

the event was very successful as many of the staff dressed up in costumes of different era. some dressed as warriors, some dressed in angmo costumes like 13th aunt from huang feihong, most guys are like shanghai dingli's costumes, most people wore cs or cs tops, some wore differnet dynasty robes and best dressed went to the huangjin jia couple! they walked in to Jay's juhua ta and the emperor and empress looked so good in their gold robes! esp the empress, she was very spontanous during the performance! me and my lord! haha. gx was in the d&d team which they are were qualified to participate in the best dressed competition.

there was a fierce competitor... that would be my uncle k! but bcos he's in the top mgt so he oso cannot participate in the competition but he truly stole the limelight when he escorted the 2 princesses into the ballroom onto the stage as participants! he didnt tell any of us family members and gave us a huge surprise! before he quietly disappeared, he wore a white CS top and a scarf. i didnt recognised him till my uncle m revealed its uncle k!

his department formed the entourage to escort the 2 princesses onto the stage to join the best dressed compeition! the 2 lantern gals walked in 1st, followed by my uncle who is the general and with the 2 prinesses behind him followed by 2 ladies holding the red feathery fans! its was a grand entrance with special music played for them!

the d&d team! they did a great job and the party was very successful! very colourful! after the party and group phototaking session, gx and bro went on to drink with their collegues, trying to make each other drink up! having too many drinks, we had to rest at the hotel rooms, chatted with his collegues and stayed till 3am+,after having supper, we finally went home! by the time i got onto my bed it was 4am! dun know how i did it but yes its the longest time record ever set that in a day i didnt get proper rest for so many hours!!!

i was so glad i could find myself a dress in time for the party and i quite like the dress! the bigger dowager hat was a prop from gx's collegue's costume and i had to take a pic in it! dun think i would have other chance to play with it! then his collegue b was so nice that he gave me one of the little dowager headband as souvenier!

the party didnt end at 3am! i woke up at 8+am with 5hrs of sleep, i pulled gx up and we went to ntuc to get the ingredients for my potluck dish! instead of mango pannacotta, which i was supposed to do while gx was at d&d so it had time to set, i had to change it to the philippine fruit salad as it was easier to make and set! went to his mgr's house in marine parade in the afternoon and had a feast! then played cards and won $! had louhei and then time passed so quickly and we left to fetch my in-laws, got home i collasped into lala land!

February Gynae checkup and Leap Chun 2009

Wednesday 4th feb - after school head straight down to novena sq to meet gx. but i got drenched wet when i was walking to the bus stop! the rain suddenly just pour and it was heavy! so wheni got to woodlands interchange, i went to the maternity shop to had a change of clothes! got my 1st maternity jeans! it was on 50% off! then i got a nice maroon top with little flowers print. he was ira for work stuff and we met to have a quick bite before gog to gynae. the clinic is filled with people and i was advised to go later... so i brought gx to my new favourite haunt in novena. garden cafe at novena medical centre. i like that this place is small, cosy and quiet.

i had steamed hazelnut flavoured milk and gx had some flavoured coffee. we each had a kaya toast which is currently my favourite bun. after eating, we head to the clinic and it was still filled with people! we started challenging each other in my word puzzle game book. got to see the gynae but he didnt take a pic of our baby during the scan. baby is well and growing nicely! she is now 22weeks old! doctor say everything looks good and i wasn't overweight thou i gain quite abit! we had to pay deposit for our delivery during this visit. i will be delivering my first child at TMC. then we head to whampoa market to meet his collegue to get a work document before heading to my uncle m's place to celebrate Leap Chun.

Leap Chun apparently is the actual cny 1st day... thats all i know... so dun ask me what or how it it determined and why is it the 1st day! gx and i gave my uncle and aunt this box of apples to send them our well-wishes! yes i know it is a wedding xi but it also means double happiness! aunt o did the dishes and it was very nice. esp the facai and xiao bao. the abalone was so tender and it taste so good! i began to be able to take fish since cny started. but i still dun take too much! but i am glad i am able to take some for my little baby!

for dessert, aunt o arranged a steamed fish niangao and served with a cold mochi ice-cream! the japanese mochi she got was very nice! the green tea flavoured was the nicest followed by the red bean flavoured! nice combination! the little niu i spotted on her kumkit plant is so far the cutest little i have seen so far during this new year! aunt o arranged a bdae cake for uncle k. celebrating his bdae early so the cake was the 2nd dessert of the day. then of cos we end the celebration with louhei!

in return, my uncle m and aunt o gave us a nice packaging of 18 mandrin oranges to bring home for my mil and fil. in it is a very cute God of Wealth figurine. we left early to fetch m pils and when i got home, i showered and fell deep asleep! after the whole day in school on thursday, i was exhausted and didnt go for my expecting mothers beauty talk at clarins. i head home and vent out my unhappiness and fell asleep till gx got home in the nite!

help?

With the busy cny, my little one had a very eventful 21st week. many happy events but i have been very emotional and got frustrated easily. i tried to look at the bright side of things but i am still very bothered. i am lucky to have gx around to remind and calm me down. somehow i have very insenstive people around me through my 1st pregnancy. taking it out on me for whatever reasons. i just want to declare, you haven been through the process, till you do, good luck. the pressure i have been feeling, i need to unload it somewhere. i need to hibernate, for my baby's good. then what will happen if i do hide to protect myself. selfish? i think people have to reflect on themselves before lashing this word at me. i dun need the appreciation, just leave me alone and dun bother me. no ones bothers what happens to me, should i learn to be like them? i dun want an unhappy baby, but did anyone bother to help ease my worries. NO. they just add on or simply ignore the problem cos it doesnt bother them or their close love ones. should i be the evil one. maybe i should. if others can be selfish, should i be? i dun think i can be like that. but dun push me, cos i will fight back. enough is enough. i am glad people who suffered is strong, but how long can they last? i want to help but am helpless. ergh. i know life is never fair but karma will come. i am glad and i appreciate that i have a very supportive husband. he tried to cheer me up but till the root of all my problems is solved, i dun think i can truely be happy. i dun want to have any regrets cos if ever i am being failed, i dun think it will ever be the same ever.

peranakan feast

Sunday 1st feb - after the liondance in the early afternoon, rested, played boggle with gx and when the clock past 5pm, everyone in the family started preparing for the nite's dinner! Aunt O organise cny 7th day RenRi dinner. last year was our 1st time celebrating with special eat out dinner. this year's dinner would be peranakan feast. so to match the feast, think most of us went searching for the costumes. sis managed to borrow from aunt o the dress and the blue blouse from d's aunt. lucky her! i went with ann to novena to search for the kebaya and the salesgal told me nothing in the shop fits me! being very vain, i wanted to wear something batik too and didnt want to wear my same floral blue top that i wore to wall's bdae.

when gx went for spa, i went to browse thru the clothes in robinson, never thought i would find my dress! when i tried it on, it fitted and of cos i grabbed it! then they had promotion and i managed to buy a second pc, which is the brown little chiffon coat, and enjoyed 30% for my outfit! so my modern nonya outfit cost me about $105! bro and c borrowed their outfit from c's sis and bil. gx got his coat from GZ and he said that the older peranakan gen wore something like that for big occasion. i was fine as he looks not too bad in the outfit!

once we reached the restaurant at Pan Pacific Orchard Hotel, while waiting for the rest to arrive, we started taking photos! everyone armed with cameras, all started to look for corners to take pics! the place is not huge but cosy and i like the little decors they have. looking forward to eat in a shophouse thou! during my art school days, i picked peranakan culture as my art studies for a project. there is so much colours in perankan culture.

many important ministers and even 2 of our presidents ate in this restaurant before. before the dinner, alot of us were alittle worried about wearing the kebayas, the last perankan party we had only aunt a and aunt o wore the real outfit, but this time many more ladies wore the costumes and everyone looks stunning. the kebaya has this very soft and gentle look! too bad i can't join them!

we started dinner with peranakan louhai dish. it tasted more like pickles in a red slightly spicy sauce. on top of the sliced cucumbers are thinly sliced raw fish. the salted veg, duck soup was very nice! reminded me of my grandma's soup. love this soup! then the platter was nice. consist of the ngoh hiong, this minced meat with a bit of taro, water chestnut wrapped with a bean curd skin was really yummy! different from the ones my mum makes. this has got very nice 5spice taste.the otak otak had a lemongrass flavour and it was really fragrant and i like it. the middle dish is pcked cucumber which is very crunchy and appetising. didnt get to see the menu, so dun know the name of dish that has little fatty meat pieces. this goes very well with rice! the little squids were good! Condiments of belachan chilli and chinchalok enhanced the dishes further and with this platter i ate almost half plate of rice!

the fluffy steaming rice is replenished by the waitress who served it straight from the red basket. Ayam buah keluah is a Peranakan speciality nuts with a deep black sludgy interior, this dish my mum has cooked before and i know the nuts, buah keluah, are difficult to prepare and expensive. the dish is very aromatic!

i found the ladies fingers too "hard" for my liking cos i like my ladies fingers really mushy and soft! i dun eat the beef rendang so no comment. the grilled tiger prawns cooked with a sweet sauce was ok, the claypot pork is the famous dish mentioned in the little nonya series. this i can't remember the name. its not awful when i dun say anything nice about a dish, i was too full appreciate the flavour! didnt eat the pomfret fish and clayfish, i was too full!

while everyone gets to sip red wine, i drank the inhouse lime drink with green jelly strips. thats my uncle m and i am very grateful to him for all the wonderful things that happens in the family. for dessert, we have tapioca kueh and all i can swallow was one, just to try. then it was more phototaking session!

thou small, the place has a few pieces of antiques for phototaking. love the shot ben took for us. with so many cameras, i think easily everyone went home with lots of beautiful shots. i love the pictures i have taken! towards the end of the celebration, i was feeling exhausted and my feet esp the right leg was feeling very sore!

hope that this tradition will carry on so that my little one would get to enjoy these festive outings and warm family gathering! i feel so excited oredi, thinking that i can dress my own little girl very soon during the mid-year!