Looking back 2012.

It's time for to review the year that has passed and make new resolutions again!

Honestly, many things has happened this year, including the most testing period in my marriage, getting the keys to our new place, Ethan's 1st, etc... and I'm glad I survived.

So looking at the list I made for year 2012, there we did,
keys and reno for new place - checked.
celebrate Ethan's big 1 - checked.
mini honeymoon - the Phuket trip had it checked.
PMP certification - checked.

In addition, we also had another "new" car.

Pretty much achieved the objectives set last year.

Actually for the coming year, I would like to focus more on the well-being of myself and more honeymoon trips! :) But we have got other plans in mind, which might not be able to have the frequent trips overseas. Shall save this as the resolution for the year after next.

So in the next year, as a couple-wise, I hope to get our wedding bands.
As for Ethan, I hope to nurture him into a caring young boy. :)

So near yet so far...

It seems just yesterday things happened and I have actually been there done that, but why does it seem all so foreign and unfamiliar to me...

I'm starting to learn all over again...
exposing the news a bit here and there, though I shouldn't be... :x

Joyful weekend. Merry Christmas! :)

The weekend started on Friday evening with us bringing Ethan to the Airport to fetch my MIL. Initially, we planned to bring Ethan to T3's Angry Bird playzone while waiting for the flight to land. However, hubby deem that the playzone is more for bigger kids so we left. Then we chance upon the Singkids playpad. Paid for entry since Ethan loves ball ball/ balloon alot...

On Saturday, brought him for his jab, a booster jab and hep A jab. After prepping him a lot on the jabs, he's doing a lot better than the previous 2-3 times when he visits the doctor. I would say he's really a well-behaved boy.

After the jabs, met up with my mom and sisters and Summer at TPY hub to get his & Summer's christmas pressie. To reward him, I got him a helium balloon but he doesn't really appreciate the balloon as much as normal balloons...

Caught a movie "CZ12" with hubby, his sister and sister's bf in the same evening.

Christmas Eve was spent with Ethan, bringing him to the Lot 1 mall. Another well-behaved day. :)

Merry Christmas~

most likely.

Things are most likely not going to happen as we like to, though it's within the plan.

The man expresses change in attitude. Totally different from the first time we talked about it, making me more confused. I don't know what's really going on his mind...? Doesn't seem too real...

Anyway, we'll let nature take its course and see how it goes...

complicated.

心情是复杂的。
there are so many "wants" we want in this, and last minute changes makes me confused.

Hubby Lubby, happy 2 years Wedding Anniversary! :)

Hubby Lubby, happy 2 years Wedding Anniversary! :D

Thank you for the flowers, dinner, shopping and movie date!

Loves. :)

Ethan turns 18months old! :)

Knowing how old Ethan is, spells how fast time has fly.
He's already 18months old and that means, 18months has passed since his birth.

He's a grown up big boy now.
Going to attend full day child care next year. Can't imagine how things are going to be...

Brought him to West Coast Plaza on Saturday, to the play pad "Little Playful Elves". Saw this place from a post a forummer posted on FB, and because I saw the cars, I decided, Ethan would like the place.

True enough, he enjoys playing there.
We paid $20 for an hour during the peak period (weekends). Honestly I think it's not worth the money for the facilities available, but I think it's still okie if parents bring their kids during weekdays which cost $20 for 2hours.

In the playpad, there is a small little corner for table set up for toy trains and masak-masak (aka kitchen play). Once he got inside, he got stuck at the masak-masak area, which I find it's a waste of money and time since we also got similar toys at home.

Led him to the toy cars section. Realised the cars are manually operated by the kids themselves. At first, Ethan doesn't know how to go about doing it, so I told him to move his legs while I pushed him around. When he got familiarised, he raised his legs when we pushed him around. Clever, isn't it?

The toy cars come in different makes, some with doors, some with roof. First, he went for the one without roof and door, he was able to get into it with little help. Then he went on to a car with roof and door. At first, we held the door open for him so he had some difficulty with the roof. Then as he got familiarised, he was able to open and close the car doors, get in and out with ease.

There are also slides in the play house but he wasn't too attracted to it because I didn't allow him to slide down on his own.
Took him to the bouncy house. Initially it was empty, just the two of us. Suddenly a group of kids came and started bouncing within the house, making both of us giddy... probably also because of that, the little man doesn't want to play with the bouncy house slides, though I allowed him to go on his own.

Left the place after an hour, for dinner then home sweet home.

At 18months, though he hasn't spoken yet, he is able to listen and understand instructions. When he feels like it, he will follow as instructed. :x

That's about it.
Ethan, happy 18months. Mommy loves you! :)

new additions to the kitchen.

I think I mentioned this earlier, on my buys from the the PlusBigDeal.

The 100-piece Betty Crocker cake decorating kit is finally here! Actually it was here some time ago but I only managed to update on this space now...
I haven't got the chance to use the kit but it seems easy to clean... so I'm looking forward to using it.

Other additions that I think I have forgotten to mention, are:
1. Oven Mittens. I have gotten one from Giant Vivocity previously and another one from the supermarket in Phuket; I'm seriously loving the one I got from Phuket; it has got cotton + silicon handles, I am even using it when I do simple microwaving.

2. Round baking tray. I think I have gotten one from NTUC. Not the most ideal size but good enough to have. Am going to buy one more, a size bigger... hopefully I can get the right size.

3. Cake baking pan. Got a round one from Phoon Huat AMK.

4. Egg york/white separator. I bought one at $0.80 from Qoo10.sg. Again, not the most ideal but good enough to have.

5. Measuring spoons from Daiso *again*. Yup, this is my THIRD set of measuring spoons, got this because it has got measurements in 'tsp' instead of just 'ml', making conversions easier.

With this list, I'm more or less complete with my baking tools! :)

Oh, maybe not, need to buy the bigger measuring cup from Phoon Huat. From experience in the last baking session for the cupcakes, the small measuring cup from Daiso is just a little too small. :)

I am hoping to get more vanilla extract and sugar from Phoon Huat, then I'm ready to start baking anytime! :)

bad day.

had a really bad day at work. I swear I almost cried and stormed out of the lab. I knew I just had to force it down my throat and get going with things.
我不知道我的执著是否是对的，oh well... since things has happened, so be it. I am thankful for my team's support and hubby's support.

Back at home, I really don't know how many times must I repeat myself. It's not the first time. No wrong in doing so and I am not a least bit annoyed, like in the past (perhaps I have gotten used to it) but it's just a waste of water and electricity. I just did the laundry yesterday and it's more economical to do laundry with a bigger load.

I explicit made known the fact and gave clear instructions. But it was ignored or I thought so.

First time, I take that I wasn't clear enough, so I explained myself after the laundry was done.
Second time, I take that you have forgotten, so again I gently reminded after laundry was done.
Third time, I didn't say anything and expect you should by now, know it's more economical to wash the clothes with a bigger load. No, you went ahead again.
The next time, I clearly made known to you but again...

When hubby came in to tell me he heard the washing machine sound, I told him it might be that you are spin-drying the socks.. but apparently I was so wrong.

I appreciate your willingness to help and all that you have done. Seriously it won't hurt anything to have laundry done, just that I prefer the economical way. :)

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. :)

PMP-certified.

After all the on and off revision and 2.5days of intensive revision, I have finally took the PMP exam and got myself PMP-certified. :)

Honestly, I thought I am quite well-prepared until my colleague Kevin scared me off, as he sees that I'm in my relaxed state in office...

Thank the hubby for encouraging me to study and supporting me by the little little acts.
Also to baby E for his encourage yesterday evening when we Face-Time-d.

Getting PMP-certified would also mean that my new iNO One non-camera smart phone comes free, as a reward for myself.

Honestly, I have been contemplating on the decision of getting this phone because my Nokia phone is still working perfectly fine and I have just bought a new battery. But I guess the added functionality of having watsapp to this non-camera phone is really a huge drawing factor. But seriously, I'm still not used to the idea of new phone.. cos I am not the least bit excited... haven't even on-ed the new phone... :p

Also, I thought, if I were to pass this exam, I would be able to pay for the phone using the incentive from my company, so there I made the decision. :)

I'm terribly sorry for making the hubby lubby wait for me this evening after the exams...

Actually I sensed the quietness and moodiness in the car just now... just trying to 找话题but... I guess I was too noisy and talkative... :(

姑娘结婚了。我的心情写照。

就这样，在这一年之内，我的两位好姐妹结婚了。
不知道为什么，对于我好姐妹们的婚礼筹备，我总觉得自己做得不够多、不够好，有点愧疚。
就拿我的婚礼筹备来说吧。姑娘总是能抽出时间来陪我做DIY而Joy在gatecrashing ceremony时，也意想不到地帮我准备了可爱的道具。而我呢，什么也没做。
庆幸的是，我当了Joy的姐妹团，也在她的婚礼当天出了一点小小的力。但是姑娘的婚礼，却是让我意想不到的。
原先以为我能为她的wedding prep帮上什么忙，但一方面有family commitment，一方面也在姐妹团出了一点小状况，所以到最后什么都没帮到。反而还另她有稍许的失望。别说她，连我自己都觉得失望。我竟然把wedding date搞错了。 :x

But what matters most is, 我心中对她是有满满的祝福,而她也幸福的嫁给Adrian.

老公也很给力，放心的让我一个人开车去。你知道的，他平时还蛮担心我开他的车，but who knows, 他竟然主动把钥匙交给我。 Thanks Hubby Lubby, for the trust in me. *muacks*

昨晚在姑娘的宣誓仪式前看到她身边没人帮她打点，有一股冲动想告诉她，不如让我来帮你吧。但是我始终没有说出口，because I thought I didn't know what's her plan for the night and perhaps she might already have someone waiting on her. But in the end, what I think only her sisters and Adrian is helping her with her gown. None of her bridesmaids are tending to her. Well, perhaps, she didn't want to trouble them either.

There's so much I wanted to tell her, so in the end, I texted her, though knowing she will probably see it only after the wedding banquet. Her gowns are really pretty and nice. Their story too... :)

After attending so many weddings this year, particularly the 4th quarter, I sort of developed some phobia towards it. I have no idea why. I am probably going to 'filter' the weddings when invited to attend.

Looking forward, I am really hoping to catch up with this lady soon. :)

great world city and amazonia.

I love weekends because we will always wake up to Ethan.
Since there's nothing planned for the day as yet, I decided to sleep in a little longer and let him be the one waking us up at 9plus.

Ordered McBreakie and as usual, Ethan has his share of hotcakes.
Then an impromptu plan by hubby to go for lunch at the famous 99弯 duck rice/porridge.

He brought MIL along with us, so after lunch, we went to Great World City. It's my first time to the shopping mall. I guess, the reason why it's situated in the 'out-skirt' of Orchard Road is because it's too atas for us.

So we decided to bring Ethan to the play pad Amazonia. Being the first time, the staff's reply wasn't really helpful in my query on how's the play pad like. She only replied that there's a corner for kids under 3 years but she didn't elaborate further. I wanted to judge if it's really worth the money for the facilities, crowd and hygiene because we couldn't see a thing from the counters.

In the end, we still paid for the entry.
The first time that bothers me are the charges for the socks since everyone must have socks on. It's freaking SGD3-4plus per pair. We bought 2 for myself and hubby as MIL wanted to go shopping.
SGD22 for 2 hours entry. Of course we didn't stay that long.

Another disappointment. The play pad was playing host to a birthday party and you can imagine kids running around everywhere. Not only that, the area for kids below 3 is really a little section with about 6 playing corners. But what makes up for the playtime is that we could see Ethan enjoying himself, especially at the slides. It delights me to see that he climbs to get up to the slides himself and wants to slide down on his own. Due to safety reasons, I insist he must slide down with an adult carrying him.

Then I brought him to the section for kids above 3 years old for the long slide. I got Ethan to climb up on his own and slide down with him. Because hubby told me the staff is watching us, so I only did it once, otherwise I would have brought him up another time.

We left after an hour plus and home sweet home. :)

my big plus deals.

Was checking through my credit card bills and I cannot believe it. I spent on average, about SGD200 on online purchases, mainly from qoo10.sg.

Just a day back from Phuket, I already got something for the kitchen!

As titled, I bought a full set of 100-piece Betty Crocker cake decorating kit from Plus!BigDeal at SGD9.90 (excluding compulsory postage charges).

I am thrilled by this buy and hoping to receive it soon.

I keep wanting to do some simple cake baking... but I guess I have to put off till after my exams 2 weeks later!

Oh, earlier I also bought a 2-in-1 multifunctional jewellery + cosmetics pouch from the some site. Now pending the delivery via normal sing-post.

Centre tour.

Finally arranged for the centre tour and registered Ethan for a place in the child care next year. :)

Can't believe it, Ethan is going to school next year! Oh my, he's a big boy now. :)

gone and back! :)

Yes, we are back from Phuket! :)

It was a nice, fun and refreshing 4D3N stay at The Shore.

I think I mentioned before, it was a decision between Phuket and Bali.
In the end, a friend told me Phuket is less 'tourist-y' than Bali so we chose the former.

Then went online to ask around for Pool villa recommendations. Got this one and went to google for reviews. Not much reviews online except at the Tripadvisor site. I pretty much trust this site's reviews and boy, all except a handful of average to dissatisfied reviews...

So we pretty much decided on this cool private pool villa despite the daily room charges.

When we touched down Phuket Airport, we spent some time finding the airport transfer representative and after locating them, we were all impressed with the vehicles they used to transport us. It's a mini bus for two with cold towels and drinks.

Then at the hotel. Because much was read online with regards to the check-in service, I wasn't too surprise. But when we stepped into our room, we were "wow-ed" by it!

No doubts on the reviews. I was sold.

Spent some time in the room, checking things around, a swim then to Jungceylon, upon the hotel recep's recommendation.

At Jungceylon, we did a little shopping and had 2 games of bowling. We had fun much.

Back at the hotel, it's massage and swimming and room service. The food's nice too~! :)

Second day, we had arranged for a trip to the Big Buddha, Chalong Temple and Pier 42 (if I'm not wrong) for cheap sumptuous seafood lunch! (Only SGD62 for 2pax, with mussels, crabmeat tofu, grilled pork, 2 tomyum gong and tiger/kind prawns.) After lunch, we treated ourselves to foot massage.

Then back to hotel to relax. Our plan for the evening is to visit the weekend night market. God knows, 30mins into our arrival at the market, it rained cats and dogs. :(
Being a poorly-sheltered place, we had no choice but to leave the market. When we reached the entrance, the taxi driver actually said he couldn't drive in and left us there. To walk in the hotel under the drizzling rain. :(

Drenched but sweet.

Back for dinner again. Thought of having it some where but due to the rain. :(


The next morning was to Robinsons and Expo for some shopping. Nothing much but all expensive stuff. Then we had foot scrub and massage. Ate KFC. (first time in Thailand eating KFC).

After that was to Central Festival Phuket. Nothing much apart from the big names like Zara, etc... not interested. Went to the supermart to get some drinks and chips. Back to hotel for a swim!

Then nua-ed all the way till dinner and we packed our stuff.

Didn't managed to get a late check-out because of the full occupancy they had.

So in the morning we went to the beach, surf the waves and had fun soaking in the water. Back to the room, cleaned after ourselves. Had breakie and slacked around.

Time to check-out.

Arranged to go to Jungceylon and get the hotel airport transfer guy to pick us up from there. Wanted to catch a movie during our 4hours leisure time but too bad, the timing wasn't right. So again, we had arcade games, a game of snooker and bowling.
Lunch at McD (first time too), and then shopping before we left for airport.

Spent some time at the airport and since everyone was early and boarding was smooth, we landed earlier than expected too!

Yup, so home sweet home.

missed the enrolment again.

We have to reschedule the registration for Ethan's childcare again. This time, he came down with high fever, for no reasons though we all suspect it's due to him teething.

Almost scared the hell outta me when he regurgitated some milk after his feed. I almost teared but when I know he started crying when he could sense my fear, I immediately stopped and comfort him. It was then he got calmer.

How intelligent this boy is, to be so sensitive.

Due to the lack of sleep and running fever, he got really cranky. He was crying throughout when we brought him to the doctor. Cried even more when he had to be pricked by needle by blood test. Only managed to quieten down after 5-7mins into our taxi ride. Even the taxi uncle needs to help to calm him.

Poor boy.

So in the evening, I got his dad to come over to visit him. My MIL and SIL came too. Ethan was happy to see them, especially his dad.

The doctor called about 2-3 hours, informing that it might be a viral infection causing the fever. As for the viral infection cause, it could be any one he came in touch with. Hard to prevent and it probably would take about 3-4days before the fever fully subside.

Sigh. I hope he gets well soon. :)

the weekend in summary.

we started off the weekend pretty well.
Brought Ethan to the Rider's Cafe with my sister. Together, the 2 of us brought him there to see the horses and ponies. It was both Ethan's and my first visit; I think he had a good time there as well.

I would definitely bring him back again, when he's older, for the pony rides.

Had a gathering at Changi celebrating hubby lubby's 二舅's engagement + 60th birthday.

Then on Sunday, we woke up pretty early to assemble Ethan's table and chairs. It was all hard work for the husband. I really appreciate the help (minus all the 坏脾气) from the hubby.
Initially we were all seated around hubby, with him telling him about the assembly, then Ethan was making this noise "er, er". When I turned to look at him, his index finger got stuck in the wooden assemblies. Just can't forget how cute Ethan's expression was when he signaled/called for help.

Managed to go through a little bit of the class with him. Sent him home earlier cos we needed to do our weekly restock before me heading to my colleague's wedding dinner.

coordinating the time.

I finally received the email from Ethan's prospective childcare this morning and later a call from the principal of the centre we are enrolling into. She called to informed that she will be on leave tomorrow and will need to reschedule the meetup.

From her voice, I can sense she's quite a friendly lady.

At work, my project is having some schedule changes, which makes my Monday and Tuesday unpredictable. :(
Trying to settle the schedule so I can arrange for a better timing with the principal. I guess I will be calling her again on Mon to reschedule the meetup.

sidetrack.
Ethan ran out of his diapers and the stores nearby were out of stock. So I got hubby to buy and deliver to my mom's after I knocked off yesterday. Ethan was very happy to receive us at the void deck. But the moment we said we are leaving (cos hubby needs to rush home to go settle his iphone5 thingy), he pouted and teardrops starting forming.

Oh my.. melts my heart. Gave him a hug and hubby decided to carry him out of his pram for a while. This little man... he's sucha sweet little man.

Ethan's going to school!

Received a call earlier, slightly after lunch.

As usual I thought it's some banks trying to promote their credit cards, little did I thought was the child care centre (which I have pre-registered Ethan months before) calling to inform they have a vacancy for me Ethan!

Thrilled and delighted.

We quickly arranged for a meet-up session for enrolling Ethan and she also shared some information and the fees required for enrolment.
They lady took my email as well, saying she will email me some forms, but yet, til now, I haven't receive anything.

I am contemplating if I should call her back or not... hm...I shall wait for another day, if I still don't hear from her tomorrow afternoon, I shall call her..

Still very excited but now I start to think about the extra expenses, like the school fees... sigh~ raising a kid really isn't cheap. No wonder most will stop at 1. Imagine whatever you are paying now, must multiply by 2 or 3, depending on how many kids you have, just to be fair... :x

Anyway, our plan is we may move him to a centre nearer to my mom's or our own place when he turns older. :)

my day.

Today's an eventful day.
I woke up feeling lazy, contemplating to go to work or not.
In the end, the hardworking me won. I went to work, with my book in tow.

I went to hub for lunch, got the baking tray I wanted, along with some containers for Ethan's use.

Then got back to office, chatted with colleagues & called a friend while doing some work in between. Point here is, I didn't manage to read much, probably 5 pages or less. :(

I have a decision to make quick. I need to decide if I can still participate in my friend's wedding. A bestie's wedding. Yes, in between things came up. No, we have not quarreled. I have been putting off writing thoughts on this because I know she's reading and I truly want her to be a happy bride.

Then hubby lubby made an impromptu suggestion for a movie date. There we went, for Taichi Hero. After the movie, we ran some errands at Bangkit, bought durians, refueled the car, then drop by MIL's place to get my stuff as well as passing them the durians we bought.

Ended our day with some TV variety shows. :)
Nice.

Ethan's last class of the year with Teacher Agnes.

Today is Ethan's last class of the year with Teacher Agnes.

I am pulling him out of the class for the time being, in view of our hectic schedule coming up in November and December.

Honestly, I think Ethan responses quite well to the class and I hate to pull him out. But I realised that he's kind of distracted by his classmate. It's really a dilemma, while I want Ethan to have the chance to mingle around with other kids, I find that he performs better when he's alone in class and that he's not benefiting much from with all these distraction.

Oh well, with the new plans coming up, I hope to find time to do the materials after my PMP exam. *fingers-crossed*

Another family day!

I still remember when we (my siblings and I) were younger, my dad would bring the whole family out for family day on weekends.

To the nature reserves i.e. Sungei Buloh, to parks and to Sentosa for picnics by the beach! Usually mom would prepare our own food, the sandwiches, which consists of luncheon meat, lettuce with bread (or maybe there's more ingredients than these that I can remember...).

I really look forward to going Sentosa. In those days, to go to Sentosa was only by ferry or cable car, so we would usually go by ferry. I still remember daddy building me a bath-tub with the beach sand, and I can lie in it without destroying it with my weight.

After donkey years, we finally had our first family gathering at Sentosa, now with all our extended families. Not the most perfect day I would have pictured. Hiccups here and there. Would be the best if brother & SIL had come along too.

We had lunch at Vivo first, then the rest went for Cable car while hubby and I shopped around and meet them back at Sentosa. This is Ethan's first cable car ride.
Went for some rides and games, before heading over to the beach. This is also Ethan's first sand play at the beach, however, we left shortly as the sun is setting.

Perhaps we should minus away all the activities, just enjoy the breeze by the beach and sand play with the kids.

What surprises me is, Ethan enjoys the sand play a lot and Hubby Lubby also agrees that we will come back to the beach more often.

I always look forward to family outings and I want to bring Ethan out just like how my dad brings the family out and doing activities together. Hopefully, hubby lubby would bring us out as a family more often!

Loves. :)

开张了!

My microwave-oven has officially 开张了!
Though I have used it to microwave food once, this is the first time I have used it to bake!

My first production was Red Velvet Cupcakes! No pictures because the first batch turns out to be really horrendous. Just the looks only, because I filled the batter to the brim of the cupcakes liner and it overflew in the oven while baking. So I had to adjust the amount of batter in the liners and finally got it right in the 3rd/last batch.

Since this is the first time I am baking after stopping for sooooooo long, naturally there are some things that I've overlooked, like not having enough ingredients. However it turns out to be a blessing in disguise. I didn't really take note of the quantity/amount of sugar, vanilla extract, and food coloring.. so in the end, I didn't have enough of it, especially sugar, so I cut back on the quantity. Turns out, Hubby Lubby says it's too sweet for him. I find it okay though. But I can't imagine if I were to add in the full amount as stated in the recipe. It will be uber sweet.

Anyway, I was searching high and low for one of the ingredients, Buttermilk. Wanted to give up and self-make the substitute for it, but god bless, I found it at BPP's NTUC. You know, I have been to the Cold Storage and NTUC in Yishun, the NTUC near my place.. but to no avail... I was delighted when I saw it on the shelves in BPP's NTUC!
However, it's really a waste because the packaging comes in 600ml and I am using like only 250ml. So I have decided to self-make the butter milk if I need it in future.

I really love baking but the cleaning is just too much for the cupcakes making, especially the butter frosting and when food coloring is involved here.

Next up, I would like to try chiffon pandan cake. But I need to get the centre-hollow mould first. :)

Ethan's Tooth

Actually I lost count.
You see, Ethan's tooth are not growing out as per the toothchart (in my post here:http://interchanginglives.blogspot.sg/2012/05/ethans-tooth-chart.html).

His molars are out before his canine... so I lost track.
But I can be sure that at 15.5months, his molars are out. :)

i love family days like this! :)

So many things happened in one week.
Honestly I don't want to pen down those unhappy thoughts here.
I am not sure if I have gotten out of it but I thank hubby lubby for coming by on Thursday and making the effort to make it up.

The short 'honeymoon' trip over the Deevapali weekend almost got cancelled but I'm thankful we finally booked the tickets and confirmed the resort. It's kinda expensive for a 4D3N trip, considering it's to Phuket, Thailand. But I think it will be really worth it if the accommodation lives up to what the pictures say.

Yup, I said 'short honeymoon trip' cos we haven't been to honeymoon yet! But this is not the destination and duration we are looking at, so I termed it as that. :)

Actually there's another trip to Korea at the end of the year, with MIL and relatives but hubby lubby can't go.. so I forgone it too. :)

Saturday was a bliss too. Managed to 'psycho' hubby to the Singapore Flyers. Honestly, I got the tickets from my sis because hubby lubby did once mention he wanna bring me to the flyers (that was only so in recent months he said that). I thought he was interested, also given that he missed one chance during our company's family day years back. Who knows, he wasn't really interested (for some reasons I won't mention here).

So yesterday, I got up earlier to prepare myself before hubby heads to work cos he can help me look after the little one. While we are alone, I managed to bath Ethan and made him some cereal. Met up with hubby at his workplace before him driving us to the Flyers. Had Popeye's for lunch. Ethan had his fair share of fries too. Then up to the Flyers. It's hubby's and Ethan's 1st time to the Flyers, and second for me.

In the cabin, I think we are the only Singaporeans, then we had a Thai group, a German couple, and probably an English couple.

Ethan was there enjoying himself, going around the cabin and with hubby's phone which he puts at his ear, mimicking making a phone call. While being playful, he was also wary of the stranger tourists... Cute. :)

Then we met up with MIL, hubby's auntie and cousin at Chinatown, waited for them to settle their Korea trip at the travel agency before doing a little shopping at OG Chinatown.

Thereafter we headed to Prima Revolving Tower for dinner before sending hubby's auntie back home. Drove home to shower before heading to MIL's place to have supper & bird's nest and picking up Ethan. :)

Since we all slept late, naturally we woke up late this morning too! :)
Ethan only woke at 7 plus for milk before going back to sleep again. He probably didn't want to but no choice cos everyone was sleeping. He was the first to wake too..

So we had our usual routine. Bathed and headed over to MIL's for lunch, then to Ethan's class. :)

That's about it for our Sunday.

lost.

The weekend flies pass so fast.
I remember having a good weekend last Saturday where we enjoyed the family time together with little Ethan.
We bathed him, brought him for brunch at Macs, then to Kaki Bukit to buy him his car seat. Since we were around the area, we went to Ikea to buy him table and chairs and some other toys&accessories. Back to BPP to eat late lunch and do some grocery shopping. We had fun. I love times like this.

Back at home, we took a late afternoon nap, before Ethan waking up to milk and shower.
Then it was play time and bedtime.

Came Sunday, I woke earlier to do some chores. When I returned, I found our dear boy sitting quietly beside his daddy. He's such a dear. Usual routine, it was milk, lazing around, I cook lunch while hubby looked after him, then lunch, shower, daddy takes him to nap while I do the chores.

Blissful simple life.

I don't know why, I think I am losing myself.
I get easily affected by every word you say.

Maybe it's just part of my PMS, mood swings. I don't know why it turned out to be like this.

Emo Monday. :(

I had a great weekend but the emo Monday took everything away.

So emo that I'm tearing in office.

I realised I haven't walked out of the shadow in a bit. I lost all the confidence in myself. I'm caught in between. If you're nice to me, I think you're pity-ing me. Yet, if you're not treating me right, I feel you're not here anymore.
Yes, hard to please, as you put it.

Maybe it's best to stay away. I hate to be hurt.

wall of decals.

Actually bought 2 sets of wall decals from Qoo10.sg for Ethan quite some time ago. One set is the ABCs and the other is the height chart but I kept procrastinating at putting it up. Yesterday, I finally put them up with the help of hubby.

Hubby said we spent about an hour putting it up but I didn't realised we took so long. We put up the height chart first and it looks abit slanted. Oh-well, I wanted to redo it but the 'slantedness' is not really significant so hubby talked me out of the idea. Then we went on with the Alphabets and Word, I guess I need to send him to classes with Ethan. His ABCs really cannot make it. hehe.

I'm thinking of getting one more set of glow in the dark ones but my concern is, will is be a form of distraction to him when it comes to bedtime? Anyway, since the decal is not on sale (price) at the moment, I will just wait for while for Qoo10 to lower its base price then decide to buy or not.

Since I am on the topic of decorating his room, I might as well talk about my plans for him.

I intend to take him off the Sunday classes once he finishes his October lessons.
However, things are not going to stop here.

I've decided that we will still dedicate one hour of his Sunday time to class. Meaning, we will setup the 'class' in his room and I will go through the lesson contents with him. Once he's older, we probably can bring him to farms or parks,etc to outings and gain more out-of-the-class knowledge. That being said, I need my hubby's support. Hubby Lubby, you will support me, right? :)

So to set up the class environment, I will need charts and stuff but Ethan will peel those charts off and play with the blue-tags. :( So I need to find new ways now.
Then I gotta borrow the cards home from my sis and at the same time source for new cards.

Since we have a free day this coming Saturday, we are bringing Ethan to Ikea to buy his table and chairs for the class. And probably a child-car-seat. :)

I guess I need to find some time to plan his lesson contents and materials for the lessons, while studying for my exams. :x

movie date with hubby lubby.

A date with Hubby.
Hubby initiated a date. *hyper-ventilates*
He brought me to a movie last evening.

Before the movie, we had dinner and did a little shopping.

Home sweet home after the movie. Love simple dates like this. :)

Reminiscing.

Looking through the visual tags, where in the past one year, I have uploaded the pictures of baby Ethan. I am starting to miss the baby him. Not that I don't like the "now" him (which I actually eagerly looked forward to him walking and bringing him to everywhere), I just cannot help but believe it has been a good 15+ months already!

I mean, just look at his baby pics, all so cute and imagine those days when he was still not so "zai" and he will just 'ding-dong' in your hands when you carry him or in his walker. Now, he can't even sit still in his walker. :x

Whatever it is, I really love him alot and enjoy every moment with him.

Looking at how he can walk independently and totally ignore me to do his stuff when I FaceTime-d him, I really feel he's a grown-up already.

Now, I just hope he's not so terrible when he nears the so-called "terrible-two" phase.

:)

the mysterious death of the Karcher Bee vac.

The dear husband was doing his due diligence, vacuuming the house as he always did, on Thursday evening. He was preparing for baby E's return yesterday. However this time round, the Karcher Bee vacuum cleaner which my in-laws bought for us went buzzing with flumes & burnt smell.

Honestly we had no idea why it became like that. I quickly asked the husband to off&unplug the switch before we all get burnt all together. So I pronounced it dead, 3 months after using it. We didn't even get the chance to change the filter bags. :(

I don't think we have the receipt or had the warranty registered, so we are going to buy a new one!

Was supposed to bring Ethan to this farm tour organised by my company but he suddenly had low-grade fever on Friday night, so plans changed. I brought him to his PD instead. After his PD visit, we sent him to my in-law's. The initial plan was to bring him along for shopping but since now he's not feeling well, we have to abort the plan too.

Headed to IMM's Best Denki and bought the vacuum cleaner. Along with the vacuum cleaner buying, we also bought a hair dryer for my dad. I thank my hubby for putting my dad's need on his mind. :)

After the home electrical appliances, we bought a kitchen cooking set for baby Ethan, under the recommendation of my colleague. However, there were some hiccups in the purchase. Thankfully hubby lubby is willing to drive me back to have it changed.

We also did some shopping of clothes, hubby bought Ethan a Arsenal jersey set and each of us a Arsenal Tee.

Got his slippers for car-washing and home we went.

Nice Saturday except for Ethan's fever.

Fallen.

I get emotionally affected real easy but I always stand strong for my boy.
This time round I really had enough but what happens to my boy if I am not there for him. I don't dare to think.

anticipation.

I should have done this earlier but I kept procrastinating; sometimes with legitimate reasons like house-renovation/moving, most of the time, I am just plain lazy.

As time goes by, you just lose the momentum. It's been 6 months since I took the course. :(
And I know I have to pick it up again... slowly bit by bit.
However now, with the exam date fixed, (Yes, you read it right, I am going for exams!) about 8 weeks and 14 chapters to go, I know I have to do some revision every day.

I am starting to get anxious with how little time and how large chunk the information I need to remember, not forgetting all the few hundreds of practice questions I need to do. Best part is, I need to do those few hundreds of practice questions, not once but twice. Would be better if I do it the third time. :(

Hope to complete at least 2 chapters by end of next week. *keeping my fingers crossed*

People, wish me luck!

new look.

Have been toying with the idea of cutting my hair short, back to the Primary,Secondary&JC schooldays, where my hair is above shoulder length. Just nice, saw that Kimage@MS is having this promotion - haircut + rebond + treatment at $198.

Coincidentally I have this medical appointment today so I made arrangement to have my hair done right after the medical appointment.

Hair done and just before I made my way to the counter to make payment, I didn't realised there was a step right in front of me. In the end, I slipped and sprained my ankle. :(

At the counter, the stylist charged me an extra $35 for treatment. Being in pain, I just asked why is there an extra charge. He told me the treatment was done before the haircut/rebonding *can't rem what he said*. I was like.. "huh..? I thought that was a hair wash before the cut/rebonding, the only time I know a treatment was done, was the stabiliser treatment and the stylist didn't even asked me if I wanted one. He did mentioned briefly if I wanted one, I said no, I am too tired. That was it." But too painful to argue, I paid and left. Called hubby to picked me up and drive me to the sinseh.

Typing it out now, I feel really shortchanged of that 35bucks. Maybe I should write to the Kimage Management tommorrow. Shall see how.

Really, the most painful haircut ever. :(

Wedding Marathon.

22nd September. I guess it's really a good date for marriage or holding wedding banquets. I attended 2 of such events. Both my uni-mates. Other than the 2, I know of quite of few people holding theirs too, on the same day.

Attending 2 wedding banquets consecutively can be quite tiring. Most of us ended up with headaches towards the end of the 2nd banquet. But it was fun and I'm sure all of us are glad to be there!

First banquet was at Peach Garden. I think while the food are not those rare delicacies, they made it so nice. Had a little episode of soiling Merina's and SF's clothes with red wine which made me feel bad about it. Other than that, we are all overwhelmed by the aunties serving us at our table. They are constantly trying to clear our plates and topping up our drinks. At one moment, we were thinking if speed was one of their KPIs.

Then was the second at Grand Park City Hall. Touching ROM. And a funny one too. Not the bride and groom but Christina. She was epic funny. The couple really wow-ed us with their photos. Really, I'm full of envy! :x Weilin's was good too (I think Weilin's poses, the background and the gowns are all nice, just that the photographer lack something). For Sally's, it's like Weilin's, the gown, clothes, background and poses are all nice, but the photographer excelled better in bringing out the x-factor.
Anw, I am just full of envy! How I wished my wedding pictures are as nice. :( It will always be a 遗憾 for me. 0.0

To my surprise, I even saw someone from the 1st attending the 2nd too. Actually why I noticed this guy is because I think I saw him at my work place and earlier this year, him attending a wake of my hubby's relative.

To end this post, my best wishes to this 2 pairs of newly-weds. Have a blissful marriage and 早生贵子, so that in our future gatherings, we can all bring the kids along, then Ethan will be 老大。

Addicted to online shopping :x

I am seriously addicted to online shopping.
I think I can buy almost anything from washing machine cleaner to clothes to drinks.

I just spent 80over bucks at Qoo10.sg for 5pcs of apparels. 3 of which are the same basic fitted tees in different colors, which forms the staples in the wardrobe.

I hope they will fit me well.
Need to cut down on my expenditure. I think I will faint when I see my credit card bills. :x

just not my day!~

Today's an eventful day for me. Too eventful for me, I guess. :(

The day started out quite okay for me, with me submitting my PMP credentials. Then meeting Ethan for lunch. Though they were a tad late, still not so bad. The day just flashed passed.

Things started happening when I was on my way back. Intended to get dinner at Plaza so I took 960 which stops right outside the mall. Was on the bus playing my games when the bus suddenly jammed brake. I was sitting in front, those two-facing-two seats. I was just thrown off the seat by this sudden jerk. I can hear sounds of things dropping violently. When I recomposed myself and sat back at my seat, I could see bags lying around on the floor board. The driver didn't even apologise, he just looked back to steal a glance.

Got a little bruised and wrist hurts a little, so the little girl in me decided to msg hubby to tell him, hoping to get some consolation from him. However, his response is definitely not within my expectation. I almost teared on the bus. The moment I saw&heard his response, I was fighting back my tears. This is what you think of me. I was genuinely feeling lonely last week and coincidentally, I really got hurt this time. Typing this now makes me wanna tear again. Yeah, I'm a crybaby.

Came back home, realised that my water supply valve seems to have been meddled with, the volume of the water supply was unusually huge. I had to try&error a few times before I got it right. Still not the most right like before but I got tired. Even the neighbour realised I was coming in and out to adjust the tap and she came out to check if my water supplies are okay (it was at this time then we realised we both have had the water supplies stopped by those on the upper floors experience).
Maybe I will save the supplies check til another time when there's someone at home with me.

Oh, did I mentioned that I spoiled the bidet spray tap too? in both my common and master bed room toilets. Spoiled while checking on the water supplies. Damn. :(

Totally not a good day. :(

Naming the car.

The weekend just zoomed past like that. First we had a gathering over at my place with my lovelies and their other halves. Then Sunday was spent with Ethan.

I had a good time gathering with the girls, and I thought it would have been better with Ethan around (but hubby thinks otherwise). Anyway, I enjoyed shopping for the steamboat stuff, chit-chatting and playing ban-luck the most. It's really happy to see everyone enjoying themselves during the ban-luck game.

Then came Sunday. We spent the morning cleaning up and finishing the leftovers from the night before. Then off we went to pick up Ethan to school where he enjoyed his class and of course, threw tantrum. I realised most of the time he is observing the other kid in class and imitating his actions... like patting the cards and banging the tables. Smiling to the other kid when the latter weren't even looking at him.

Went to Bishan after class because it's the nearest Best Denki store in the Semb area. Hubby wanted to get a GPS and I wanted to utilise my voucher. We had KFC snacker's meal before heading over cos I was a little hungry. Fed Ethan with some fries and he's enjoying it. He even knows how to drink from his bottle when asked to. But he would prefer to drink from the same cup as I did.

Disappointment sets in. Best Denki Bishan doesn't sell GPS... So the anxious Hubby set off for Sun Plaza, cos there's a Gain City store there; I didn't even have time to shop. :( To compensate, he say he will bring me to Plaza. I thought, okay, better than nothing.

Maybe it's too early to be happy, because the man kept asking, "why you wanna go Plaza?" after we dropped Ethan off at my parents'. I just knew it. We still went to Plaza for dinner but no Daiso, cos the man is anxious to go home and wash his car. So dinner, homefix and NTUC to buy his car washing stuff and home to wash car.

Honestly, a little disappointed that I wasn't given time to shop but I was happy with the time spent with Hubby. We did the car wash together and had stupid jokes. I thought I was clever but in the end, I was not.

Together we also gave our car a name, we named him 小白兔，简称小白。

Baby E's 15months old.

Baby E is 15months old. Time flies. 15months already.
Now, he can support himself and walk. Still not very steady but hey, he's making improvements everyday.

At 15months, he has got his own temperament. Hot-headed like his dad and insists on his ways, otherwise he will scream and cry. Still, I am not going to let him get his way with all the tears and tantrum. Sometimes I just let him scream and cry until his attention gets diverted elsewhere.. where he would usually stop then...

He's still a lovely, sweet boy. He laughs to you to make you laugh. He will sayang and kiss out of the blue.

We got a new car! [Updated]

Okay, not exactly a new one. It's still a pre-loved car but this time round, it's better than our previous Subaru. It's a white 2litre Honda Civic, coming to 3 years old.

I haven't seen it yet but hubby is getting the car on Friday. Yeah to more trips to visit Ethan during weekdays, yeah to hubby fetching me after work and yeah to more shopping trips during the weekends...right, hubby lubby?

But we'll need to be more prudent on our expenses since buying a car now isn't that cheap either.

Just hope that hubby lubby will drive safely with care, don't speed okie. :)

Update at 9pm.
I just picked up the car! The seller sent the car over but hubby is not around to receive, so I'm receiving on his behalf. Nice. :)

who died?

My Canon camera of 5years is not working anymore. Though it's already 5 years old, it's still kept in tip-top condition.

I realised it wasn't working in April this year, however, being bogged down by all the matters that came up at that time, I just left it as it is.

Just last week, when I was MC at home for almost the whole week, I took out the camera and investigated. The charger's light just went off from red in 5seconds upon charging. And I am not sure if the batteries are empty (I have 2 batteries). So I'm not really sure if it's the camera (less likely), the charger or battery problem. :(

I am not sure if it's more cost&time effective to buy a new camera or get the peripherals repaired. (I'm not even sure what is spoiled in the first place.) Oh well, shall see how...

~~~
Happy Birthday to my sweetie Joy. May you be happy always! :)

Restocked. disappointment.

After we discovered the convenience of ordering drinks online and have it delivered (the total price paid is almost the same or sometimes cheaper than those sold at the supermarkets) at the time of our convenience, we are addicted!

So once again, I ordered the drinks for our upcoming gathering with my lovelies!
This time round we ordered a lot more than before. Left a note to the seller requesting for delivery this evening. Thought it will be like the previous order, delivery as requested. God knows, the guy didn't turn up and I foolishly waited till 9pm before I called up the seller to enquire. So they won't be sending in today. :(

dinner with colleagues.

The man always say I don't have friends... and today I proved him wrong.
Went out with colleagues for dinner and movie.

Got some Waraku vouchers from my dear sis weeks ago, and since those vouchers are limited to use on Mon to Thurs & expires this week, I decided to bring a friend along for FREE food but no one was available. Upon learning the average expenditure of one person from my colleague who has just been there recently, I calculated and realised that I can bring along another 2-3pax instead of the previous 1 so I shared it with my colleagues and asked if they wanted to come along. So there we have, an impromptu dinner date, with movie plans thrown in. :)

We watched Bourne Legacy. At first I couldn't figure out what the movie was talking about (I think it's a sequel movie) but slowly towards the middle part where the action commenced, I started to get a grip of it. Overall not bad movie. The ending is a bit old-fashioned/expected where the male&female lead fell in love. :)

our newest gadget.

I bet I forgot to mention that we bought a new gadget for the home.
It's the Canon printer! The model I have been eyeing on for the longest time. It can do duplex prints automatically and Airprint. What's more, it is connected via wifi and has only 2 ink cartridges (black and color - I personally prefer 2 ink cartridges over 4-5 ink cartridges, for the sake of simplicity & cost effectiveness).

Initially I wanted to buy it with the Best Denki voucher but we chanced upon it at Challenger and since we had the transport, why not? So now, I'll probably use the voucher to buy photo paper or some other gadgets from Best Denki.

lucky weekend.

This is a lucky weekend for us, but more for MrGoh I would say.

While waiting for MIL and hubby's cousin to finish their massage session last evening, I went to Daiso@East Point to browse around. I don't intend to buy anything but look what I found, some fridge compartment baskets and cute cookies cutter! :)

So after the buys for the whole of Saturday, I am left with
1. Round baking tray
2. Cake baking pan
3. Oven Mittens
4. Baking paper?
to complete my baking tools! :)

Lastly, I had a happy weekend. Loves hubby. :)

a trip to phoon huat.

Because I am still feeling sick, so I decided to let Ethan stay with my mom for this weekend; for the fear of passing my viruses to him. And since he wasn't around and I don't really want to waste the time, I decided to take a bus to Marsiling and make a trip to Phoon Huat.

Since they moved from Sembawang to Marsiling, they have downgraded their store size and the variety of stuff they carry there is not as wide as before. I got the basics stuff though I am still lacking the cake baking pan and a slightly bigger baking tray for cookies and muffins/cupcakes. Well, I also bought the cooling rack which I previously didn't want to buy (just cannot resist buying...hehe).

I will definitely make another trip to Phoon Huat, maybe another branch to get the rest of the stuff I didn't manage to buy this time round. :)

By the way, I am ready for baking! Just lack the recipes, pending from a net friend. :)

Of blessings, in disguise.

I might be sick but it might be a blessing, in disguise.

I have a caring mom, MIL and husband.

During this period while I'm sick, my mom will call to check on me since she knows I'm home alone in the day time, while my MIL offers to get her helper to come over to help me with the household chores and cook for me.

As for my Hubby Lubby, he has to endure all the noises I make at night (which sometimes I don't even realise) and sleep in non-air-conditioned room while I was sick. He even checks on me when he finds that I'm not in the room.

All the little little gestures, I'll put them in my heart. :)

Also, while I was sick at home, I managed to received 3 registered packages delivered by Singpost. 2 of which was delivered yesterday and one today. :)

Am more concerned about the item I received today because it's a digital scale I bought off Qoo10.sg. Though I can get similar scales for cheaper price... but oh well.. this one seems to have good reviews and I can do calibration to minus away the weight of the container. E'nuff said for the SGD7 scale, hope to put it into use soon. :)

With everything said, I'm left with a trip to Phoon Huat to get the rest of my baking tools and ingredients.

Let's review the list I made earlier... I have got the Stand Mixer with mixing bowl and the Measuring spoons. As for the Measuring cup, I bought a cheap one from Daiso, I guess, with the Weighing Scale I bought off Qoo10.sg, maybe it should suffice?!?! Shall see how, if it doesn't, then I will buy another one.
Got one Rubber/Silicon Spatula from NTUC and Silicon Brush from Daiso.
The Cupcake corer set I bought from Deal.com.sg also comes with a metal spatula and 2 tips for making decorative patterns.
As for the Cooling racks, I am guessing those normal metal steaming racks should be able to substitute for it so like the measuring cup, this item I'm putting on hold first.

Now, I'm left with:
1. *Baking pan sets (round & rectangular & for cupcakes?)
2. Oven Mittens
3. Sifter or strainer
4. Cookie cutters

I aimed to bake cupcakes for my first baking session.. hopefully I can get the recipe (from an online friend) and time to bake soon. :)

sick cat again...

well.. I fell sick again. This time round it's quite serious combo of cough, blocked&runny nose with sore throat.

Went to the regular doctor on Monday but she won't be taking walk-ins so I was assigned to another doctor. Well, this doctor is just like the one at Sembawang, chop chop curry pork, in less than 5mins, I'm done with the consultation. :(

Worst, this time round, the cough medication is only for 2 days. Still not getting any better, I went to see a non-company doctor. A whopping total of $61.80. Hopefully his medication works. Actually I see that it's almost the same of the 1st clinic's prescription, just that it's over more days... not just 2 days worth. Well, let's see how the medications works out on me. :x

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is Dad's birthday but sadly, I can't attend the dinner and cake-cutting celebration with them since I got some other commitments and would like to wait for dear hubby to come home.

Aside that, I finally got my stand mixer today! It's nethier Kenwood nor Philips. It's Bosch MUM4600 series. Less heard of... but heck.
Supposed to buy from Best Denki yesterday (since I got their voucher, nvm, shall save the voucher for buying printer-fax machine) but too bad the sales person is not able to provide me with more info. And today, I got it at Harvey Norman, since they were able to demo and explain a little bit more and also able to price-match to Courts/Best Denki prices since they are selling SGD50 higher.

Yup! I can stand baking now! But first, I need to get the baking trays from Phoon Huat soon. Maybe next next weekend to Marsiling's Phoon Huat. :)

无奈。

为什么。。。你面对我时，总是那么急性/没有耐性呢？
为什么。。。不论我怎么做总是惹毛你呢？

为什么。。。我总觉得不论我怎么做你都不会开心/高兴/满意呢？

其实我很在意你对我的态度、言行和举止。

三菜一汤 :)

Got to knock off from work a little earlier than usual yesterday and hubby lubby suggested to cook dinner at home.

Initially I planned for 1 soup and 1 dish plus omelette-style egg for us but hubby told me his friends are coming over for dinner also. So I decided to cook something I am more confident at and add in another luncheon meat.

With the help of one of hubby's friend, I managed to churn out the dinner in an hours' time and what pleases me is, the dinner turns out to be good, though the quantity is too little for 3 guys and 1 girl. Should have gotten more meat while I shopped for the Sichuan Veg and Spare Ribs at the supermarket prior to cooking yesterday.

Also thanks to mommy dearest to advising me on cooking the easiest and quickest soup - Sichuan Veg Soup. :)

Feeling bad.

I feel bad when I have to turn down hubby's request. His request is very simple and in fact, reasonable. However, I have to turn it down for the smoke and fur around. You know how you just can't control what other people does.

I don't mean to be over-protective but you know how it scares me when I heard Ethan breathing so hard the other day. I was like telling him, "than-than, don't play till so vigorous or get so excited." In fact, he was just crawling from his play area to us. I would like to dismiss it as the excitement causing it but I know it's far from that and I don't wish to think any further.

For people who love him, and think for him, then you should know what to do. :)

Bad day with Singpost.

I remember last Wednesday hubby passed me a notifcation slip from Singpost, informing me that I have a registered article with them. Thinking I can drop by AMK during lunch, I promptly called in the next day after 12pm to request for transfer. To make sure I didn't get the dates wrongly, I even confirmed with the officer who took my call that I can go and collect my article today after 12pm. He said yes.

So happily I went to the postal office during lunch and boy, was I informed that the parcel is still sitting in BP post office! To make sure I heard it correct, the staff even showed me the computer screen with the status.

How Great! Dear Singpost, this is not the first time you made such blunders.

Then I got a missed call from Singpost after lunch. Thinking the item might be already at the postal office, I went over to enquire again. Nothing.

So I called Singpost and demanded for a reason. Guess what? They put me on hold for a good 3-5mins before giving the same reason as the one they used on me in April this year. System error, my request was dropped. I was like WTF! If it's a genuine mistake, then fine, acknowledge it. Don't push it to system faults.

Next, I demanded for the manager to call me and give me a satisfactory explanation. Read: to call me. Meaning I don't want to be put on hold. Guess what, the lady put me on hold *slaps forehead* to check if she can get the manager, then she put me on hold to connect to the manager! The manager didn't even pick up the call for a good 2-3mins. So now, tell me, is it a case of system fault or your call centre staff cannot understand instructions to help me with my transfer request?

I hung up and was about to enter the lift when my phone rang. The lift door was already closing when I picked up the call. I promptly told whoever was on the other line, after acknowledging she was calling from Singpost, to call me in a minute as I was in the lift. I couldn't even finish my sentence, cos the lady kept yakking away, as if she is finishing her last words. :x

Then the next moment, all could I hear is, "hello, hello, hello, can you hear me"... Lucky she has the brains to call back again.. and offered the same reason. I find it pointless to talk to her, and she ended the call with "hope you have a great day" and I promptly replied you "You just spolit my day".

Dear Singpost, I cannot understand why my requests always fail. Can you tell me why?

Ethan's 1st visit to the Bird Park

Since Monday was holiday and Ethan is home with us, I asked if hubby could bring us out for an outing (usually we will be over at my in-laws' place on Saturdays and Ethan will go to school and be back to my parents' place on Sundays). And Hubby suggested the Bird Park since Ethan likes to see birds.

My sister joined us to the Bird Park too. It started out as a hot day but the day started to cool around 3.30pm. We has a great time there despite being a short visit and that we didn't manage to visit all the attractions.

Our first stop before entrance was the duck & swan pond. When Ethan saw the ducks, he almost wanted to go into the water (because he likes to play with water).

Then upon our entry, we caught one of the shows and penguin feedings. We also fed the Lory birds. After the first tram stop (there were 3 stops including the main station) to feed the Lory birds, we went home since Hubby was busy with work and Ethan is tired and we were all getting hungry. :x

Still, it's an enjoyable day for me cos Ethan managed to see some birds and we went out in family tshirts that I bought in Vietnam. hehe.

mah-mah-mah...

Baby E is transiting into another phase.
Nowadays he shouts "mah~" or "eh~" to call out to anyone. My mom, my sis, hubby lubby, my MIL, and me. Or when he wants something.
He would still say "mum-mum" when he wants biscuits or food.
But over the weekends, he actually repeated "ma-ma" (after me) as he look out to me. It's really heartwarming. I know for sure, he's calling out for me because usually he says the correct thing once or twice.

Til date, he has said (and I heard them), "one", "two", "well done" and "bus". And perhaps much more that I can't remember. He has definitely said much more under the guidance of my sister. :)

Anyway, he also repeated "milk milk" after me when I asked if he wants milk on Sunday.

Though it's not very clearly and it's only once or twice, I am happy he did it! :)

I'm so proud of him.

At 14 months, he definitely have his own temperament. He gets angry and throws tantrum when he wants something he couldn't reach. He cries when he doesn't get it. But his cries are a little fake or short-lived, so usually I will forbid him and let him cry. He recovers from it very soon and starts to play with me/other things again.

He still yearns for attention and when he gets the attention, he does all sorts of things to make people laugh or get angry. E.g. he plays with the drawers when he knows you are watching him or forbids him to play.

He also knows how to take a small container/cup and spoon to role play 'stir-stir-stir-and-feed'. Yes, he stirs the spoon in the cup/container and send the spoon to your mouth, mimicking feeding you. But he's not so generous with his biscuits. When he's in good mood, he will feed you the biscuits as requested, otherwise he will eat it up. :)

Now he's more stable with standing alone as compared to before. He can walk a few steps when you hold his hands though he still cannot walk on his own. I believe this day will come very soon! :)

Share about his bedtime habits. When I need to tend to the household chores, hubby would be the one to tend to Ethan. He would offer to put Ethan to bed during bedtimes. However, it would usually be a failed attempt; then when we 'change shift', and baby E would fall asleep in 5-10mins. :p

But hubby has more luck during afternoon nap times because hubby would stay in the room with him. I am always preoccupied and impatient to get him to quickly nap so I could carry on with my chores. Whereas for hubby, he would sometimes fall asleep before baby E does. In any case, I really appreciate hubby's help in tending to the little one as I get busy with the chores. I also like the father&son to nap in the late morning so I can whip up a simple lunch for them both. :)

Love & Bliss. :)

too long & thick for my comfort. :(

I really can't stand my hair liao. It's getting too long and thick for my comfort. :(
So I went to the nearby neighbourhood hair salon and got it cut! Hm, actually I am quite nervous, afterall this is the first time I met the stylist and am not sure if he's up to the job.

So he snipped off the ends and some how maintained the length. But the hair is still thick and he refused to thin it. So while I have a little lighter hair (due to reduction in length), I still find it too thick. Shall go for a hair cut soon. :)

Btw, baby E is officially 14months old. And my boss's wife just gave birth today. Congrats to him & his wife. :)

Thank you ALL.

My housewarming parties finally ended and I thank all of you who have taken the time to travel from various parts of Singapore (though SG isn't that big but still, my new place isn't that accessible to all) to attend my housewarming. Really appreciate that.

I have gotten a lot of blessings, be it monetary, vouchers or gifts. I really appreciate them also, no matter how big or small the amount is. I would say all of the gifts I have received are really thoughtful gifts and useful!

Just to name a few that I can think of for now.
I have gotten a waffle maker from my varsity girl friends. I almost wanted to use that this morning, to make breakie for hubby and son. But I didn't have baking flour. :( Need to buy it soon.

I have also gotten a very useful gift from my dearest cousin. It's a portable dry/wet vacuum cleaner. Hubby said he wanted to buy that too, and now we can put that into good use.

My colleague, knowing I wanted to bake, bought me useable silicon muffins/cupcake moulds though she couldn't come for my housewarming party. Isn't that thoughtful too! :)

My uncle who couldn't make it bought me a big soup pot. Though I have a few pots already, those are small ones (just enough for a small family of 3). And this one is just nice for bigger number of people. I already have an occasion in mind that I can make use of this pot. That's for steamboat-ing purpose. I can cook the stock using this pot! :)

Speaking of which, one of my hubby's cousin also bought a food steamer. Though I haven't thought of any occasion, I would think it would come handy during those gatherings. :) I can't wait to hold more gatherings once Ethan is older. I mean when he's older, he will be more independent and I can off some load in needing to accompany him all day long.

Also, with all of those monetary blessings, I was thinking we can now buy a printer and stand mixer (for my baking). Will need to discuss with hubby. The rest, will be contributed as part of our "home-building" funds. :)

Lastly, I'm not sure if I had been a good host for both my housewarming parties, but I do apologise if I have not been a good one. :x Still, thanks for coming! :)

the internet.

Finally an end to the Internet episode.
They should have just changed a new modem (as requested) during the first visit.

Anyway, the technician guy came and saw for himself the fluctuating signals. He did a change in the modem (a different brand - back to the 2Wire model from the AzTech one) and boy, the signal & net surfing experience was good even though I had 2 bars of connection showing up at the PC's connection status.

I think the prior experiences of calling the Technical helpline and pain-in-the-ass net surfing experience are totally uncalled for, should they heed my advise to change the modem on the first visit last Saturday.

Anyway, I'm totally happy with my Internet and wifi connection now. :)

Housewarming party to be commence in a while.

Okay, my first guest is here at the door already! :)

pampered.

On Wednesday night, Hubby Lubby and I were talking, (one of our bedtime activities if he hasn't gone out to drink) and we came to the topic about me not owing any branded bags except for the Miu Miu he bought me on my birthday earlier this year.

Honestly, I am not really a branded person; I feel that as long as the bag serves the purpose well and it's presentable enough for me to bring out for the occassion, it's good enough.

MrGoh thinks otherwise. So he generously said that I can go pick my bag at the stores on Thursday (since it's a public holiday). A Prada bag caught my eye but for the price tag, I, hmm.... especially so when MrGoh said, I must use the bag as a "daily-bring-for-work-bag".
So we ended up at LV. Nothing really caught my eye. The ones that did is too big for me to bring to work, so I bought an older model (launched 2-3 years back).

To make it up, since MrGoh has got a generous budget for me, he said I could pick another wallet so I can ditch the Coach wristlet that I'm using right now. We return to Prada. Picked the wallet and color. As we are about to pay, the new piece has got some defect which I am not ready to accept (for the price tag), so I requested another new piece. But all the available stocks are on display. :(

So I choose to forgo and perhaps the next time.

Still, I'm really happy with my buy though I feel heartpain for your wallet. Thank you MrGoh.

You really made me feel pampered. Loves.

mixture of feelings.

Today No I don't even know the exact date, one of my best girl friend got married.

I am really happy for her when I heard the news.
But soon, disappointment sets in, for a lot of reasons. Only insiders would know.

While I am still feeling disappointed, I am all excited over the news.
I won't say anything to her now because I just want to give her a hug and shout "Congrats" to her in person when I see her on Saturday.

Girl, you know I almost teared when I spoke of you but I still can control since I am still in office now.

I just want you to know, we are always there for you!

Hugs. :)

You were, and still are, one of my besties. :)

mental note to self.

I need to stop him from cold F&B stuff...
I need to stop him from getting near pets.
I need to stop him from nearing smokers.

All to prevent his sensitive airways problems to occur and develop asthma. :x

Please bear with me. I'm not over-protective. It's just ALL for Baby Ethan's well-being.

Dear Singtel.

I am seriously writing this post with a little frustration.

1st, it is the mobile network problems.
2nd, it is the home internet wifi connection problem.

Let me address the issue.
Since April or May this year, I have been experiencing "No Service" or "Searching" on my mobile phone. You could say that this is a phone problem. But hey, I am using multi-sim, and after switching over to the other phone, it's still the same problem. Sometimes I even have trouble switching over because I don't get network on both phones (though one is master, both can call out and surf net).

Now with this issue, it's no longer about me. People who tried to reach me at my mobile cannot get me. And if I don't actively monitor the connection bar on my phone, I won't know I am out of touch with the rest of the world!

Then you have the greatest customer service officer(CSO) that asked me if I am the only one experiencing it. Because if it's your network issue, then it should be affecting a whole lot of people within my area. I didn't know since I don't go around asking. Later on, did I find out that hubby lubby and a few colleagues of mine are experiencing this problem as well. So now, tell me, is this your issue?

Another great CSO told me it might be a SIM card issue. After spending a one-off $10 for a change and a whole lot of emails exchanged to waive the extra monthly $5 incurred, the problem is still NOT solved.

How great! Then the mobile internet network. I constantly get GSM network (referring to the "O" sign on iPhone) when I am near or at train stations, bus interchanges, shopping malls, etc, where the crowd is. And surfing net is almost impossible. It's always loading. Is it supposed to be like that? I seriously don't remember this being the case before April.

I guess I just have to put up with it until my contract is up. Seriously, I haven't heard any problems from the yellow-camp or green-camp users.

The other thing I regretted, is taking up your internet service. I should have seriously considered becoming a Hubber. Oh well, I just have to bear with it for now.
When we happily signed up for the home internet services, what we didn't expect was the poor wifi connection. After speaking to your over-the-phone technician, I am truly convinced they cannot help with this problem and it only shortens my lifespan talking to them. Then came the technician-in-person. Yes, his visit did help to improve the connection BUT (yes, with BUTS), now the wifi connection becomes unstable. Meaning sometimes I get good connection and then fluctuates to fair then poor and good again. This happens throughout the entire surfing process and it's getting on my nerves. Imagine sometimes you can the normal speed that is expected of, and most of the time, slow like snail. Even opening up a browser takes donkey years. I get really happy when opening up the browser is almost instant but most of the time my happiness is short-lived.
Then I have your technicians telling me, maybe it's the wall structure of my HDB flat which the wifi signals cannot penetrate over, and then another telling me, it will be blocked by my air-con. Did I even mention that my desktop is in the direct line of sight with the modem/router though one is in the living and the other is in the bedroom. I mean how big can a new HDB flat be? And Hello, when I signed up with your services, the CSO over the counters didn't tellwarn me of the potential issues like these and that I might need to pay a little more to get what they call the wifi booster or something.

I hate to ask, what happened to you, my dear Singtel?

new gadget.

I bought a new gadget from Challenger today but before I write more on this, I need to thank this special someone.

My hubby lubby, that is.
He saw the earlier blog entry and was jealous.
Yes, I need to special mention that he was the one who had been caring for me when I was sick. He took over the task of babysitting accompanying the baby to sleep when I slept in the MBR. (Erm... the three of us sleep together in baby E's room and at least one of us has to been around so that when baby E wakes up, he wouldn't get terrified that no one is around. Besides, weI need to constantly check on him to ensure he has his blankie on and doesn't flip out of the mattress... Yes, he flips 180degrees around.) Okie I digress again. Hubby Lubby was the one who had the brilliant idea and helped me to apply ruyi oil. It really helped in relieving the stomach-ache caused by the bloated-ness.

I must add that he's really sweet when he wants to.

Back to my new gadget. It's the label printer machine. Okie, I cannot bear to part with the money to buy a really expensive one. So I bought the cheaper version. Not the cheapest though. I still prefer the one my sister T-loaned from her office but she says the tape has run out and they don't know where to buy the tape replacements. Left with no choice, I got a simple one from Challenger.

Yes, I desperately need one to label the salt, sugar, flour and milk powder in the kitchen. Hubby Lubby, who doesn't bother to remember which is which gets confused over the salt & sugar. I have 2-3 different typesbrand of flour which I also need to label. Slowly, I think I can find other things to label.

Anyway, the label printer is a cheap buy, zero dollars I would say. I got the label machine at $46.90 with 1+2 free tapes. But I paid using the Stanchart credit card which has given me $80 free credits (new sign-up promotion). So I am still left with $33.10 to spend.

Another interesting thing that I've observed. I never fail to walk out of Daiso with at least one purchase. Went to Daiso today to get 2 items exchanged. And I got out with another 4 items (excluding the exchanged items). But out of this 4, 3 needs to be exchanged again because I bought 2 sink traps and they cannot fit my sink trap. :(
Another one is the pair of suction cups which also cannot fit the size of my bucket. Hence, I am going back again. Hopefully, this time round I will not buy anything. I mean every visit to Daiso, there are certainly new products that you haven't seen on the last visit; just like the suction cups. I remember looking for it last week but I cannot find. Even the store assistant say they don't sell but this week, tadah~ there they have it! :)

I am happy that more and more things are being strike off the list of "to-buy" for the household. :)

wonderful mom.

I cannot help but I need to dedicate a post to my mom. :)

My mom may not have the best culinary skills, or be the perfect home-maker but I think she's the greatest mom to me!

I think every time I tell her about something, she would take the effort to help me prepare it.

Just like how I called her on Saturday to tell her I had a bad case of bloated stomach and muscle-ache. She quickly passed me a box of Po Chai Pills and Panadols on the following day when she saw me even though I told her I was feeling better when she called earlier.

Honestly, I am really touched by this act even though she treats all her children equally. I mean, I see her caring for all my other siblings as well.

Together with the medications, she also passed me some 猪笼饼. Mooncake/Lantern festival is around the corner and she knows I like the baked skin of the mooncakes, typically sold in a small colorful basket. And she'd never fail to buy a few for me. :)

The other day, when I told her I have no equipment to do steaming, she promptly brought me the metal racks for steaming. Though it's too tall for my pots & pans (so I had to return to her), I like the thought and gesture.

It's really such simple acts which makes me feel that I have the greatest mom!

when you have a blocked stomach...

...everything goes hay-wire...

I am not sure if this is a case of mild food poisoning or stomach flu...
but I had this bloated stomach all of the sudden on Friday night.
So I puked twice and had runs once. All the body's effort in attempt to clear the blockage. Finally had some charcoal pills and MIL's powder water.
Clear the wind in the stomach but still have lingering muscle ache. Finally all cleared after a good night sleep. :)

Anyway, the first round of housewarming was all good. :)
All thanks to the friends and relatives who came. And not forgetting, my mother-in-law for cooking extra food.:)

As for baby Ethan, he's still having a lot of phlegm since he doesn't know how to spit them out. In his enrichment class, I observed that he yearns a lot of attention from his teacher. If the teacher doesn't response to him or give him 90% attention, he gets moody. Then he will seek comfort in his smelly and pacifier. While this is the case, I actually also observed that he will be more attentive during his flashcards session with the smelly and pacifier. :) Pros and cons I supposed.

hoping to bake. [Updated]

It's August already! I still have a lot of To-Dos on my list and one of them is to get started on baking!

I hope to get the tools required for baking by the month of August so I can start baking.

[Updated on 06-Sep-12]
Taking the list from previous post, I would need the following (with me striking off those I got):
1. Stand Mixer with mixing bowl
2. Measuring spoons
3. Measuring cup
4. *Baking pan sets (round & rectangular)
5. Rubber Spatulas
6. Cooling racks
7. Oven Mittens
8. Weighing scale
9. Sifter or strainer
10. Cookie cutters
11. Cupcake corer set. (http://www.deal.com.sg/deals/singapore/Cuisipro-Cupcake-Corer-Set-with-Delivery-via-Local-Postage)
12. Brush

*Note: need to measure the size of my microwave oven to make sure the baking pans fit.

Except for item 1 & 2, which I still have no idea which to get, I'm not overly concern with rest because I can get the rest at the nearby Daiso outlets.

I just spoke to one of my colleagues who is a semi-pro in baking. She told me the best is to get the KitchenAid's or Kenwood's stand mixer. And that's the highest end ones. She say it does make a difference between the cheap and the high-end ones. She would recommend Mayer's kitchenaid series though it's a tad heavy in weight.

Well, I am tempted, yet at the same time, put off by the hefty price tag which can cost easily 800-1000+ dollars. Perhaps I shall get a cheapo one and wait for the Mayer sale, if it even happens... :x

the Kitchen.

I always believe Kitchen is a place where the female owner / the Lady (女主人) dominates so I respect the Lady in regards to how she want things to be done in the kitchen.

This is the reason why I never meddle around with the stuff in others kitchen. Also by basic courtesy, I return the kitchen tools to the original location where I got it from and I never attempt to re-organise the place.

So now, with my own kitchen, I put in a lot of effort in getting the kitchen organised.

Probably OCD at work, I get upset when/if my kitchen gets messed up -- Not that anyone has messed up my new kitchen for now. By messing around, I mean re-placing the tools at other locations instead of the initial location where they took it from.
And, if you are placing it somewhere for some other reasons, I would also think it's a basic courtesy to discuss with the Lady, instead of letting the Lady search high and low for it. Remember, if you are an invited guest, you probably think that's to your convenience, but it's the Lady who is using it every other day,可不要喧宾夺主了哦.

With all these said, I hope I haven't offended anyone *disclaimer: I am not citing anyone in particular*.:) In fact, I would love to have my family and friends coming over, to cook&bake in my kitchen, to share the joy of 'working' in my kitchen. It's an achievement & self-satisfaction to me, to be able to have my loved ones enjoying in my own place! :)

Okie, I digressed. I meant to start the post sharing how important I deem, the kitchen is, to the Lady of the house.

Anyway, I am supposed to think of a tag name for the kitchen stuff/related entries and I haven't really put in much effort to think of it.

So I shall tag it as "The Kitchen Story".

This tag shall record all the whimsical happenings in the kitchen, including but not limited to the cooking, baking, kitchen organisation, tools etc...

coughing Ethan.

Remember I blogged about looking for a daycare centre for Ethan.

For a start, I am thinking of putting him at the daycare centre for half a day so that he can make some friends and grow up to learn to share. I don't mean he is self-centred, but afterall, he's the only child for now and is in the age of seeking attention. After attending his enrichment classes, I realised he does throw tantrum whenever the teacher is attending to other kids in the classes.

And why half a day? Simply because I feel he's too young for a full day class.

Yeah, so we did a site visit on one centre last Thursday, with baby E, my sister and mom. It's located somewhere behind Sembawang Shopping Centre, in the private estates.

I like that it has its own play yard/area for the kids, webcam services for the parents to log into internet to monitor what their own child (and perhaps other people's children) have been doing and the fact that the centre has zero (or perhaps almost nil) records for HFMD so far (according to the principal).

However, it has some shortcomings as well.
First, the location. Well, it has got school bus service but I don't quite like the idea of a 18month old taking the school bus.
Secondly, I realised the toys in the assembly hall are quite dusty. It must mean something; either they have not been doing regular cleaning or the kids have not played with those for a long time.
Thirdly and the most important factor. Language used. I saw about 3 teachers and one auntie helper and another doing the bathing (I supposed she is a teacher as well so probably a total of 4 teachers). And it so happens that 2 of the teachers I saw are native Chinese and they speak to children in mandarin as well. I voiced my concern to the principal and I could sensed that there was some awkwardness/uneasiness in her. She regained her composure and replied that if the children are led by the EL teachers, they will have to speak English in the class and likewise for the CL teachers. I didn't bring it a little further because I don't want to sound like I'm discriminating; yet I'm not convinced by the answers. It seems that the Chinese teachers are leading the toddlers class most of the time.

Anyway, my concern is, most of the time, Ethan will be exposed to more mandarin (my parents and in-laws) most of the time since only my siblings, myself and perhaps hubby will probably speak English to him. I need a place for him to speak/pick up more English than Mandarin.

Conclusion, still not my best choice.

After the visit, we had lunch at the nearby mall. In the restaurant where we dine, there is free flow of drinks and ice-cream, so I let baby E tried some ice-cream. I think I over-did it. End result, phlegm and cough. I guess he is as weak as his mommy.

Brought him to the PD yesterday and he frowned the moment he saw doctor Tan.
Doctor Tan commented he's a big boy now. I could not help but echo the same sentiments. Yes he is indeed a big boy now. When told that Baby E is already 13month old, Doctor Tan further commented that it's already a year and time flies. Yes, we have been seeing him for a year plus already! I cannot believe it. :x

Apart from the coughing, he's still as active. Occasional high body temperature which I attribute to the teething process he's going through again. Yes, he's teething again. This time is the either the upper canine or first molar (oops, I lost count). He is so uneasy with the teething that he will grind his teeth or chew on whatever he has, when he's feeling the itch.

Oh, I bet I haven't updated on his panda eyes. While I was preparing to bring him home last Friday, he caught me off guard, slipped and fell. The stool hit his eye bag area and got swollen. Now it has become blue-black bruise. But he is a big brave boy. He only cried for less than a minute. He's truly a brave one! My big boy. :)

Some updates on his progress at 13months.
He understands our instructions but to follow or not, it's really entirely up to his mood.
He has been on fours for quite some time, no longer leopard-crawling around.
He is able to stand without support for a short while, still no confidence or strength to hold on a little longer. And he doesn't do it all the time.

He's able to clap, roll and rub his hands... following me when I sing the finger-play song. Able to sit on his own on the little chair in his enrichment class, provided he's attentive.
He likes to move around with his walker-pusher.
As usual, he likes to move his body (as if he's dancing) when you play songs and sing along with him.
If he knows where he wants to go, he will point to that direction and lean his body towards that direction, signalling you to move.
He knows how to pull open the drawer and close it with care, without catching his fingers. Still, I think it's dangerous for him cos of the movable drawers.
He's weighing at ~9.7kg at 13months+, as of 30-Jul-12.

heart problems or maybe not...

Invited the good pals over for a game of MJ on Wednesday evening. Towards the end of the game, I felt some stinging pain around my heart area but I dismissed it. Maybe it will go away after a while. Or I thought so.

I was wrong. I woke up on Thursday morning, still feeling a little painful. I went ahead to work with the pain, still thinking it will get better soon. But the pain intensified. Couldn't take it anymore, called it a day at work.

Visited the doctor after baby E's potential childcare centre visit (that's another story for the day).

It's not heart problems, it's just some infection. Too painful to remember what he was saying. Took the medication and went home to rest.

Too busy over the weekend, forgotten to take the medicine and now, the pain is back. :(

Bad internet connection at home too. Sorts of explains why the lack in blog entries.

getting on track...

I'm happy with how things are progressing at the moment.

Last Saturday, I managed to bring baby E for his morning walk. (Actually, it's more for him to practise walking and hopefully garner enough confidence to let go of the walker to walk on his own.) On good days, he's able to stand on his own. Other times, I'm not sure if he's too excited or lazy or simply don't wish to do so...

Then on Sunday, despite sleeping at 5am in the morning, due to the overnight MJ marathon, I woke around 8plus to tent to our little prince. Managed to bath him and get him to nap.

Sometimes I am amazed at myself. Despite Hubby saying he's not hungry and he went back to bed with Ethan, I went ahead to prepare a simple lunch. Okay, it's mostly canned food or dishes that does not require much preparation, in view of the fact, I didn't have much time in between before accompanying baby E to his classes.

Then in the Evening, dad&mom came over to fetch us. Stayed around Bukit Batok Central for a while before them sending me home. The evening ended with hubby and me stocking up at the nearby NTUC again.

Then I cooked a simple dinner with the help of my MIL's helper. :)

What I'm lacking is the baking tools. I need to buy a mixer, . Am aiming at KitchenAid but it cost more than half a thousand. I don't foresee myself baking everyday so no point getting such a good one. Would probably scout for another model.

Making a mental list of the baking tools I need:
1. Mixer
2. Measuring cup
3. Mixing bowls
4. *Baking pan sets (round & rectangular)
5. Rubber Spatulas
6. Cooling racks
7. Oven Mittens
8. Weighing scale
9. Sifter or strainer
10. Cookie cutters
11. Cupcake corer set. (http://www.deal.com.sg/deals/singapore/Cuisipro-Cupcake-Corer-Set-with-Delivery-via-Local-Postage) Bought! :)

*Note: need to measure the size of my microwave oven to make sure the baking pans fit.

Another note, I shall start a new tag for my kitchen adventures. Hmm... how shall I name it... Let me think about it. Let me know if you have any suggestions. :p

past 2 weeks.

In the past 2 weeks from moving in leading up till 16th July, I was practically

- unpacking and sorting out my stuff
- from time to time organizing the place
- getting things fixed (i.e. internet, fixed line, etc)
- buying stuff to get make sure I have the necessities/tools to make my life easier

With that said, I am done with the above tasks except for getting my baking tools. :p

Life practically becomes 洗衣、晒衣、烫衣. Now with everything getting on track, I'm easing myself a little. Will be doing the laundries every alternate days (I'm thankful for the sun into our service yard every evening except on rainy days) and ironing at most twice a week. :)

Looking at both our work schedules, I aim to cook on Sundays and/or off days evenings if we are at home. Reason being, I get home really late during weekdays and it's not really practical to cook on those days and with all the 'functions' coming up on Saturdays, I think it's kinda hard to get the opportunity to cook.

As for baking, as soon as I requisite the necessary tools, I will start. :)

So other than the 零零碎碎 stuff that needs me to tidy up in my free time, everything pretty much sums up for us now. :) And with that, I shall concentrate on getting my PMP certification (work-wise) and more shopping, be it online or 'offline'!!! (now that I got my own place to store my stuff) :) and you shall see me updating this space more often. :)

Oops, and my house-warming. Coming up in August before the Lunar 7th month. So guys (and girls), stay tuned. :)

backdated to 23-29th June.

June is basically a very busy month for me.

Starting from where I left off...

Brought Baby E for his jabs on the 23rd June. He's really a brave boy cos he didn't cry for long. Though he did experience mild fever after the jabs, he generally as lively as before.

One thing I didn't quite understand even up till now, (need to ask the PD on our next visit in September) is that baby E should be given his MMRV at 12months (which is also my intended visit). However, he was given his final dose of Prevenar and 1st of Hepatitis and his MMRV is scheduled in Sept.

And over that weekend, we went to Ikea and IMM to get the rest of our stuff...

Then I went on leave in preparation for moving in. Basically went back home to pack my stuff to be moved over by the movers.

On the 27th, it's the furniture deliveries.
Most of the furniture came in on that day itself. Some minor touch-ups by the contractor's guys.

We had arranged for the movers to come in on the 29th. Because we only arranged for the movers one or two weeks before, the only slot for 29th is in the afternoon and we took it. Coincidentally, the movers' company is opened by a relative of Hubby's cousin-in-law's, so we got some discount. Not significant but better than nothing.

On the movers, they were generally okay people. Just a bit 不小心 cos the bed frame caught the main door and scratched some paint off.

After we were done with the movers, my in-laws and her helper came over to help while we unpacked out stuff. Eventually decided to stay over at our new place though we haven't officially move in.

Saturday was spent unpacking and Sunday is MOVING IN DAY! *hurray, skips around*

Further updates in my next post. :)

back.

It's been a long time since my last entry here.

Will do some backdated updates on my current life. Soon, I promise.

More or less settled into my current place. Will share & pick up my new lifestyle soon. :)

Moving In.

We have moved in on 1st July 2012 (Sunday) officially, together with baby E.

:)

the sweet little boy.

Yesterday mom called and we decided to facetime.
Guess what the little one did?

He did some thing he hasn't done to me before.
He sayang me, yes, "over" the phone. He was touching the screen where he sees me. Then he moved his face towards the screen and kissed me. SWEET to the MAX!

He did to his dad too. Not sure if he got the wrong person, as in, he probably just wanted to sayang and kiss his dad. BUT no, he continued doing that to me.

He's a sweet little boy. And I'm starting to believe in The Secret.

Carpentry up!

Our carpentry-s are finally up. And that means we are a step closer to moving in.
Met the contractor briefly last evening and was told that the targeted handover date is next Monday.

Oh well, so I told him maybe we can target by Sunday so we can go and wash up, and make ready for the furniture to come in on Wednesday.

Have some minor errors that my contractor missed out. Luckily some can be corrected, but one cannot be. that's the number of shelvings in my masterbedroom wardrobe. :(

Wasn't too pleased about the wood quality, the quality of the locksets in the wardrobes and the wheels used in my movable console seats. Well, I will wait for the touch up to be done before I comment further.

Probably need to change the locksets and console wheels. Shall see how.

And so yesterday MrGoh and I were making the list of to-buys from Ikea. We are so gonna buy alot from Ikea. :x

Statue & Altar

Another thing off the to-buy list.

Went to Bugis to search for a statue & the altar table that MrGoh likes.
Finally found one and the total set caught us by another thousand odd dollars.
So with that, we are left with the sofa and the study table in the MBR.

PIL just bought us a vacuum cleaner, and a rice cooker. MIL say she will also buy us the crockeries.

This weekend we are off to Ikea & IMM & the toiletware shops for the rest of the stuff.

In the meantime, we also rented a car for running those errands. :)

Ethan's 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday Baby Ethan!
This little cheeky boy, mommy loves you!


How time flies, it's already one year since your birth.
It's really great to have you around. No matter how you have been, you will always be a dear to me. :)