非常感动我的一首歌

其实我是先在“终极一家”里面听到大东的Rock版本之后才在Youtube上寻找邓丽君的版本。

天啊！好感人！听着听着，还会落泪。。。那么美好的歌声，已离我们而去。。。

我几乎天天都会唱这首歌。 连我三岁的儿子也会唱了！（因为我常唱这首歌哄他入睡）

希望你们也会爱上这首歌。

No Knead Bread Recipe

Especially for Barbs d:)

Ingredients:
3 cups bread / plain flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cup water
wheat bran for dusting teatowel

Method:
Combine 1st 3 ingredients in medium mixing bowl and mix well.
Add water and stir (abt 10 secs). Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temp for 18 hours.
Heavily dust a work surface with flour and scrape dough (will be watery but bubbly) onto it. Sprinkle more flour (just so it won't stick to your hands) onto it and fold like popiah couple of times. Helps to use a scraper.
Generously flour or sprinkle wheat bran on a cotton teatowel (no Terry cloth) and working quickly, shape dough into a round ball with your hands. Place dough seam side down on teatowel.
Sprinkle more wheat bran on top and cover with another teatowel (if you have a long enough one you can just fold the other half over on top). Let rest 2 hours.
About 1.5hr into rising time, preheat oven to 230 degC and put in your cast iron, Pyrex or ceramic dutch oven (any pot with lid that can tahan this heat will do actually) to heat together WITH THE LID OFF BUT ALSO IN THE OVEN.
After 2 hrs of rising, take the pot out carefully and throw the dough in with seam side up, put the lid on and bake 30 min in hot hot oven. Then remove lid and bake another 15 min for a beautiful crust. Cool on rack unless you cannot tahan and want to burn your tongue and hands d:)
TA-DAH!!!

UPDATE: I've tried using a normal loaf pan (no lid) for this as well, works! Just make sure you have a pan of water in the oven and/or spritz water every 10 min.

To be a better Steward of the Earth that God has given me

If you still haven't done so, go watch Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff, an awesome video on consumer goods.

I told HL just now, the key words are "Sustainability" and "Buy Less". As mentioned in the video, recycling is great, but not enough. Consumers may recycle as much as they can, but organisations and factories in the production step and retail step are not or may not be doing enough in recycling, reducing and reusing. So BUY LESS, and they'll make less, hopefully.

Further reading on how to do your part for our Earth.

More to integrate into my family's lifestyle:
1. Less expenditure on toys, especially cheap plastic ones.
Plastic is generally toxic to us and the environment, and a lot of plastic cannot be recycled properly.

2. Do not be a slave to fashion.
Thankfully Singapore's climate is not seasonal, we don't have to get new clothes unless old ones wear out. I'm actually fine with wearing old clothes for CNY.

3. When we get our new home, keep as much of our current furniture as possible. Functionality is more important than look and style.

4. Avoid bottled drinks- soft drinks, fruit juices, teas, mineral water. Does Bunderberg count? Those are glass bottles. We love our Root Beer (and I my Ginger Beer).

5. Avoid drinks and foods sold in Tetra-Paks and similar packaging - packet drinks eg. fruit juices, UHT milk, Vitasoy, teas.
Tetra-Paks are made of plastic (not again!) and Al-coated (there's Al in my green tea?!) paperboard and according to the video, are virtually impossible to separate (I've read about this someplace else a long time ago too). However, I just found this, but we don't know how much exactly comes out recycled or reused at the end (and how much gets trashed after all), AND I don't know whether our recycling companies here in Sg are able to do that yet.

6. Less TV!!!
And less brain-washing to go out and buy that new toy, that new snack, that cool new gadget.

7. Drive less, walk more.
Fossil fuel depletion, fuel emissions, more road and carparks, less green spaces. 'Nuff said.

8. Less shopping!!!

Cute diaper clip

This was posted on the big EC list.

A couple of years back there was also a clip like this and it went
"I have a poopy
Inside my diaper
Mommy come wipe me
It's so uncomfortable
It is not fun to sit
In your own pile of sh*t
It's so disgusting
Self-defecating
I have a poopy
Mommy come wipe me
Mommy come wiiiiipe me
Wipe my a$$"

I'm glad we EC!!

麻油鸭 "Ma You Ya" aka Sesame Oil Duck

This warms us up during cold and rainy weather (end of the year), and we've had it twice in as many weeks. Kids love it too, and leftovers can be eaten with noodles the next day or bread. But man! Duck is costly. This dish is very 补, good for confinement as well (if you're sick of 麻油鸡). I threw in some duck gizzards, courtesy of the auntie at the market.

Ingredients:
1 duck, chopped into bite size pieces
1/4 cup roasted sesame oil aka 麻油
1/3 cup old ginger, peeled and finely minced
1 cup wolfberries aka 枸杞子
1 bottle (ca. 350ml) chinese rice wine, about 20% alc content
Half a head of cabbage or napa cabbage aka Chinese wong bok, with biggest leaves cut in half
Salt to taste

Method:
In a large wok, heat sesame oil over medium heat for a few seconds before adding ginger. Stir fry ginger till fragrant, add wolfberries, fry for about 1 min.
Add duck pieces, turning till evenly browned. Add rice wine, cover and bring to boil for about 5 min. Add a little water so duck pieces are almost completely submerged, bring to boil then lower heat to low-medium and simmer for about 1 hour.
Add cabbage and salt, cover for about 5 min (for crunchier cabbage, just bring to boil).
Serve hot with rice.

Plain white loaves with a little wheat bran

This was made using dough hooks and given a longer rising time than usual. The first rise was about an hour but the second was done in the fridge, about 5 hours or more. This bread turned out much better than any loaves I ever got from the bread machine, which were only nice and soft within the first 4-5 hrs. These stayed soft till day 3 (after day 2 leftovers went into the fridge). I'm never going back to the bread machine.

My No Knead Bread

HUGE holes, wonderful! I never could achieve this in the past, whether on my own or with a bread machine. Thick crust, chewy inside. Ok the super large hole at the side is due to my bread knife coming in to dig it out of my mom's pot, which has a wider base than top and couldn't come out on its own. I have since bought a better pot to make this in.

To Ruvie when you've grown up and become a father yourself

Firstly,
Thank your wife and love her ever so much more for choosing to breastfeed your baby. You will never have to go through, nor understand how it feels to have your nipples cracked, bleeding, and sore from the early days of nursing. Support your wife and give her all the help she needs in baby care, because she will be worn out from just nursing alone. And let her eat whatever she wants. And for goodness' sake, don't ever suggest giving a bottle of formula.

Secondly,
Thank your wife again and love her with all your heart for choosing to continue to breastfeed your toddler. You will never have to go through, nor understand how it feels to have your nipples CHOMPED on by a 3 year old with an almost full set of baby teeth as he is falling asleep and (probably) dreaming of eating his favourite salmon or beef or chicken or pork. It is so much more painful than being gummed by a 5-6 mo baby who is only teething, and it WILL bring tears to your wife's eyes. If she cries out, go immediately to her and hug her and rub her back and tell her you really appreciate what she does. And NEVER suggest that she stops.

And for your information, your Dad has done all these, and I know you will too.

Love you lots,
Mom

Food safety

I've recently been bombarded with a lot of info on keeping toxins out of the food and drinks that we consume. Among the great and easy-to-read articles are:

Plastics
More on Plastics
Aluminium

Avoid:
Using plastics labelled with recycling code #3, #6, #7 (unless labelled as bio-based plastic), ESPECIALLY if it's polycarbonate, which is under #7
Using plastic containers to contain hot food or to heat food
Plastic bottled water except in areas where other water sources are questionable (eg. in BKK)
PVC-based cling wrap (mine is LDPE)
Aluminium cookware unless they are made from anodised aluminium
Aluminium can drinks (gosh, this is sooo hard!)
Canned foods

Cut down on:
Table salt, use a natural salt instead
Baking powder unless it's labelled as aluminium-free
Aluminium foil for food
Anti-dandruff stuff if it contains Al
Disposable containers in general

I am glad that both the kids' sports bottles turned out to be #4, since they both love their bottles so much - Ray's is Disney Princesses and Ruvie's is Dora, yep, DORA. Tomorrow I shall go and check the plastic feeding bowls and cutlery they're using.

I am VERY sad to discover that Avent milk bottles, the only ones I feel have suitable teats for breastfed babies, are made of polycarbonate. I hope they upgrade soon to a safer type of plastic, more customer feedback would help. It is interesting though, that Avent's Magic Cup is made from PE or PP, safer...

Many thanks to Lynnette for your posts on Asiaparents. I've been procrastinating about doing the right thing, but you've woken me up.

Cute potty picture

Somebody on the big EC list posted this link to a kawaii photo. Hontouni kawaii nee!!!

http://www.lolhome.com/funny-picture-9120539090.html

No Knead Bread

I've made this 2 times (just plain flour) and I must say the results are great! This does not produce the sandwich-type bread that Singaporeans are so used to, but is the crusty, chewy insides loaf that Westerners are more used to. Like HL said, texture is like French loaf!

I will be trying out variations soon, whole wheat flour and perhaps some parmesan cheese somewhere. More variations at www.breadtopia.com.

Asthma

It is just too bad that Ruvie, who has received loads more breastmilk than his sister ever did, is so much more susceptible to asthma. He has probably been to KKH more times in his three years than Ray ever did in her six. And in the KKH records, his diagnoses have been classified as Asthma, whereas Ray's are shortness of breath, bronchitis, and never Asthma so far.

I always hoped that they could both escape the fate I have, the horrid feeling of not being able to get enough oxygen, and when I was older, the fear that I could die. Asthma is not something that you can "leave for a while, see if it gets better". But it looks very much like Ruvie is definitely going to follow in my footsteps. And I had hoped that breastfeeding him a lot could have helped him escape it.

It is interesting though, that Ray is more like my sister, who has slight asthma and bad eczema. I on the other hand, have bad asthma and slight eczema (Ruvie's like me). Thankfully, I don't have to take regular medications to control my asthma, well, my asthma specialist is unhappy about it, but I have found that my current regime works well. I am also very glad that from my own medical history and experience, I am able to deal better with my children's illness.

We've finally sold our HDB flat!

Yay! Took quite some time from the date we put it on the market, but it's finally over. Even when we were about to apply for the HDB appointment, our buyer had some problems with selling her condo, so we thought we'd have to look for another buyer. But it all turned out well, and we're pretty well-acquainted with our buyer. Nice lady.

And now... to wait for the market to drop so we can go scout for flats. I NEED to get outta here.

Chicken cheese bread

Ingredients:
3 cups plain flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup water
2 tbsp oilve oil
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp mixed Italian herbs (basil, oregano, thyme)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
In large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, and yeast. Create a well in the centre and add water. With a pair of chopsticks, stir and pull the mixture into a dough. Knead a few times and add olive oil. Knead for 5-8 min, till dough is smooth, elastic and pliable. Cover and let rise for about 40 min.
Meanwhile, heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and fry onion till almost translucent. Set aside. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Fry, skin side down, till cooked through and juices run clear. Remove from heat and let cool till you are able to shred with your hands. Mix shredded chicken back with its cooked juices, onion, and 1/2 tbsp of the herbs.
On a lightly floured surface, punch down dough to remove the stale air from the first rise. Divide dough evenly into 5 pieces. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Lightly grease a large baking tray or cookie sheet with olive oil.
For each piece, roll out into an oval shape about 10 inches by 5-6 inches wide, 0.5cm thick. Sprinkle with cheese, leaving edges clear. Top with 1/5 of chicken mix, then fold in the long ends and roll up to tuck, somewhat like a spring roll. Pinch to seal. You should have a log about 8-10 inches long. Lay on cookie sheet.
After all logs have been made, brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle the rest of the herbs evenly over all logs. Bake for about 15-20 min, till golden brown on top. Slice and serve.

Dough, yeast, etc

I always used to prefer using the breadmaker on the Dough cycle to get whatever dough I needed for making rolls and pizza. This is because kneading by hand was always such a chore and mess, PLUS I felt the end result wasn't as good as using the breadmaker.

But thanks to a cookery show I've been watching a lot of recently, I've learnt to hand knead again, with great results. I now do my kneading in a big glass Luminarc bowl, and I've learnt how to add ingredients and handle the dough so that it really is smooth, elastic and springy after kneading for only about 5 min. From there I can make whatever rolls I want to make, with very little fuss. And along with the finished product comes a wonderful sense of satisfaction. No wonder Angela said kneading is therapeutic for her!

This increased frequency of making bread also means my package of yeast gets used up more quickly and is less in danger of expiring first. I've wasted quite a few packages of yeast in the past. Great stuff!

Howl's Moving Castle

The cover of the book, not the movie.

I watched the Japanese animated film by Miyazaki Hayao some years back. Honestly, because it was in Japanese and the subs were rather too fast for me, I didn't get much of the plot. Till now, I can only remember scattered images.

A few months back I found out that the film was actually based on the book of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones (whose book Archer's Goon I read some years ago), and set out to get my hands on it from the local library. Muahaha! Just started reading a couple of days ago.

It's quite annoying really, because my mind keeps conjuring up images from the film, so much that I cannot enjoy the book from a fresh new perspective. Thankfully, the movie missed out quite a lot of details (or maybe it's just that I didn't catch them in the film since most of it went past in a blur), so I am able to reimagine the scene. A lot more things make sense now, but I am only about halfway through.

I have devoured Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series, Dalemark quartet and am now setting out to read her individual novels. I love that every story has some element of the supernatural in it. Don't understand why they're mostly classified under the Young Readers' (10-12 yrs) section though. I doubt I would have understood most of it if I were that age.

Anything Goes Muffins

Before I lose this recipe again. Makes 12-18 muffins.

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
2/3 cup white sugar
3 tsps baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup oil
Filling - as much as you want of choc chips, chopped walnut, shaved carrot, oatmeal/rolled oats

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degC. Line muffin pans with baking cups.
Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl (sift for lighter muffins) and mix thoroughly. In another, large bowl, combine all wet ingredients and add dry ingredients, stirring till all dry ingredients are just moistened. Remember that undermixed batter makes the yummiest muffins.
Fill baking cups with batter till 1/3 or 1/2 full and bake for 15-20 min.

Pinky and The Brain

People in my age group will remember this short cartoon. Unfortunately Kids Central doesn't show this anymore, so my kids don't get to, ahem, enjoy it. Somebody once sent me the lyrics and the .wav to the theme song, and I have never gotten it out of my system. I hope it will bring you some laughs (and don't ask me why I can remember all the words by heart!).

Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain
One is a genius
The other's insane
They're laboratory mice
Their genes have been spliced
They're Pinky, they're Pinky and the
Brain Brain Brain Brain
Brain Brain Brain Brain BRAIN

Before each night is done
Their plan will be unfurled
By the dawning of the sun
They'll take over the world
They're Pinky and the Brain
Yes Pinky and the Brain
Their twilight campaign
Is easy to explain
To prove their mousey worth
They'll overthrow the earth
They're Pinky, they're Pinky and the
Brain Brain Brain Brain
Brain Brain Brain Brain
NARF!

Steamed Milk Custard

Ingredients:
1 egg white
3/4 cup fresh milk
1 tsp ginger juice (optional)
sugar to taste (about 1-2 tsps)

Method:
Heat milk in a small saucepan just till it starts to bubble, do not let milk boil over.
Beat eggwhite well in a small heatproof bowl (eg. rice bowl, chawanmushi bowl, dessert bowl) and pour in milk, whisking continuously. Add sugar and ginger juice.
Immediately steam over high heat for 2 min and then low heat for 1 min. Serve hot or chilled.

Tip:
I usually do this with leftover eggwhites when I use yolks in other recipes, so I get 3-5 bowls of custard to eat over a few days. Yum! If you are going to chill your custard, remember to cover each bowl with cling wrap before putting it in the fridge, to protect the custard from absorbing smells in the fridge.

Chocolate Pound Cake

Makes 2 8X4 loaves or 24-30 cupcakes.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups butter, softened
1 (8oz.) block cream cheese, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tsps baking powder (optional)
5 eggs
2 tsps vanilla flavour

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degC, grease and flour loaf pans or line muffin pan with baking cups.
In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar at medium speed till light and fluffy, about 5 min. In a separate bowl, sift together plain flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Beat in flour mixture and eggs alternately, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Pour into pans or muffin cups and bake for 1hr, till toothpick inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

Food science:
The authentic pound cake has no leavening agent, eg. baking soda or baking powder in it. Natural leavening comes from whipping of the fats in the recipe, hence the creaming part must go on for some time, at least till the colour of the butter lightens quite a bit. This is why the baking powder is optional, as sometimes I find adding it doesn't help at all, at other times it does make the cake a little lighter. Nothing is expired so I haven't figured it out. There are recipes using milk and whipping cream instead of the cream cheese, but I haven't had such good results with milk, and I haven't tried whipping cream yet (all my whipping cream goes on New England Clam Chowder, yummy! but oh so fattening).

It is worth mentioning that HL who doesn't eat desserts and cakes in general said this was GOOD. Essentially because it's not too sweet and yet very rich and chocolatey. Also received rave reviews at a kids' party I went to today. But I've done this a couple of times in succession so the next cake will probably be something else eg. carrot cupcakes?

Not AGAIN!!

Last night.10.45pm.

We were all in our room with the door closed, Ray was already asleep. Suddenly we heard the house alarm go off, but thinking that my Mom was downstairs, she should be able to fix it. However, the alarm persisted and I began to realise that this sounded different from the usual "forced entry" alarm.

So I opened my bedroom door and was hit straight in the face with a cloud of smoke and a terrible charred smell. Previous experiences (yep, this wasn't the first and it probably wouldn't be the last) told me immediately what had happened. Mom must have left something cooking on the stove, gone into her room and totally forgotten about it.

So we rushed downstairs, I to my Mom's room to knock, only to find that SHE WAS OUT. I could feel the lava boiling up inside me. HL had turned off the fire by this time, so we went to open all the doors and windows. It was rice porridge, and only a little in the big pot, so what did she have to go and heat it up for? And even left the house without turning it off!

Thankfully, the house is equipped with a smoke alarm, as we cannot smell or hear anything once we are in our room.

Good Old-Fashioned Pancakes Recipe

Taken from Allrecipes.com, with some minor adjustments. I make these in the form of mini-pancakes because Ray likes them that way. Also great for bringing to school potlucks with some knobs of butter on top.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tbsp butter melted
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method
Sift flour, baking powder and salt and sugar into a large bowl. For fluffier pancakes, sift twice.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the rest of the ingredients. Mix till smooth.
Heat a nonstick frying pan ovver medium high heat. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan per pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Memories of my Mama

I can hear her calling my name in her own special way...
I remember the way she doted on my kids (just as she used to dote on me when I was a kid) and was always asking after them...
How she asked me everytime she saw me whether I had enough money to spend...
Her expression as she sat on her chair, blankly staring into space...
The lighting up of her face when she turned to look at the kids playing around her...
The way she grinned at my jokes or when I teased her...

The grief still remains, if I allow myself to sink into it. Perhaps in time, it will fade away into a more bearable sadness, and then perhaps a tender memory. But the memory will always be with me.

Missing Someone

I wake up in the middle of the night and as the mists of sleep begin to clear, I begin to think of my Mama. My brain registers that she's not there anymore, sitting in her chair in the little flat at Bedok, and my eyes start to flood.

I did not cry when they brought her body back to the void deck, not when I gazed upon her face, nor when I helped put on a shoe for her (according to the rites). When I speak with my relatives, I am usually smiling and eager to do whatever I can to help.

But in the middle of the night, when nobody is around to watch, I miss my Mama. I miss her SOOO much! And when I am in her flat, sitting in a chair or using the loo, everything seems just so normal, and it's so easy to imagine that she's still there, sitting in her usual chair, or walking slowly around leaning on her walking aid.

I love looking at the photos taken in her youth. She looks so lovely, posing at the tender age of 20 or thereabouts for the camera, and we have a few really pretty ones taken in the studio. My grandma always liked to look pretty (which girl doesn't?), and would always insist on dyeing her hair whenever we brought her to the hairdresser's. Everybody else would try, in vain, to dissuade her, because we all feel that she looks really good with silver hair. Our hairdresser will be asking us, the next time we visit her salon, when Mama will be coming to use her services again. It will be tough.

I never knew it would be this tough.

Too soon to say Goodbye

I woke up this morning to the news that my Grandma (who cared for me from babyhood till I was in P1), died in her sleep last night. She was 89 years old according to the Lunar Calendar.

My Uncle who lives with her in a rented studio apartment in Bedok, told us that she didn't wake at her usual time this morning, didn't respond to his calling, and when he touched her, she was cold all over. He'd tried to rub oil on her temples etc, but to no avail. So he called my Dad to go over and ascertain.

So we are now in the middle of making preparations for the wake/funeral.

It was totally unexpected, because she was in relatively good health, after a serious ear infection more than a year ago which caused her to lose consciousness and finally required her to undergo an operation. But she had been well since her recovery.

I am only thankful that she left peacefully - according to my Uncle she had not been eating much the last couple of days but had gotten up and moved around as per normal. I wonder whether she had known that she was leaving us soon. She woke up in the middle of the night to relieve herself and after returning to bed, did not wake again.

Mama, wherever you are, I will be praying for your soul. I will miss you much, and wish that I had brought your lunch yesterday and seen your face, heard your voice, one last time.

I know we don't say this in our Cantonese culture, but I love you.

More babies in Singapore!

My heartiest congratulations to Rita and Serene's families on their newest arrivals.

It still tickles me to remember that Rita's husband, on his way to the labour ward to meet Rita, bumped into Serene who didn't reach the delivery suites in time and was birthing at the lobby of Mount Alvernia! Drama-mama, man...

Wishing you both a blessed 5th and 6th babymoon respectively.

Review of the BKK trip

What I remember most - the heat. Traffic. Food. The heat. Shopping. People. Did I mention the heat? Oh I did. And Tuk-tuks.

Ray and I enjoyed our rides on the Tuk-tuks very much, and it's my regret that I didn't manage to get a good shot of one or other of us in one.

Unfortunately, because Ruvie was just not well enough, we spent a lot of time in our hotel room, either trying to get him to sleep or waiting for him to wake up from his nap. He wouldn't eat at all, not even his favourite sausages and bacon, and nursed occasionally, so I got pretty worried. In fact, he's noticeably lighter and thinner now. But his appetite seems better.

We did consider taking turns to go shopping, and I did manage to cover quite a bit on our 3rd day, with Ray in tow. We went all over Baiyoke Sky (to find they had nothing we wanted), then we headed over to Indra Square, and got a headstart on real shopping, all within 2 hrs.

I need to go look for this OTHER wholesale centre Lynn was talking about, seems they have lots of hair accessories, real cheap. Wonder when I'll get a chance to go again? Especially since I'd much rather get to Taiwan.

Our son almost lost his leg in BKK

It was time to head for the airport for our return flight home. We found a taxi and HL got the luggage into the boot while I got the kids into the back seat. I was guiding Ruvie on how to climb up into the taxi and he had one foot in, when suddenly the taxi took off.

Horrors! I shouted "Hey stop!" and the cabbie braked about half a metre's displacement away. Ruvie had fallen onto his back and his foot just avoided being crushed by the cab's rear wheel. The cabbie then had the nerve to REVERSE. Gosh! What if he had really gone over him this time??

All this happened within a few seconds and I only managed to grab Ruvie up after that. We moved well away from the taxi, he was crying and I was just holding him close. Everyone rushed over and the cabbie apologised and insisted he thought all was clear because HL, who was sitting in the front seat, had shut his door. WTF?? You should check that EVERYONE is in and ALL doors are closed before you hit the gas!

We know that Bangkok drivers are very good at manoeuvreing through the traffic, but now I've come to add another word - CARELESS. I dread to think what would've happened if I hadn't shouted for him to step on the brake. Even now my mind keeps going over the whole scenario like a nightmare that keeps replaying.

I'm only thankful that Ruvie's ok, other than the shock.

Walking in a circle

I spent the last night (or what was left of it after the kids went to bed at 12mn) setting up my Flickr account and synchronising everything, just so I can upload photos to my blog (again). Why? Because the "Done" button is missing on my Add Image popup window, so although I can select photos for uploading, I can't get them onto the blog itself! And I've just reinstalled the latest version of Firefox!!! Someone PLEASE tell me why, when I never had this problem before I reinstalled Firefox.

It's so troublesome to have to go a whole circle just to get this done.
1. Upload photo to blog via email through Flickr.
2. Edit post, with image in it, via Blogger.

And to make things worse, my Blogger Compose page has gone wacko with the Enter key. I keep finding return carriages in places where they don't belong, making words and sentences attentuated in weird places.

Blogger Help is no use and I couldn't get beyond the first few pages of Google's Blogger Help Group.

New wheels

Our Honda Fit 1.3, arrived 2 weeks ago. Love the pickup! The Chevrolet Aveo couldn't hit 60km/hr without going past the 3000rev mark. But I feel rather short in it though. And the reception for the radio is not as good as the Aveo's.

My Mini-Travel Guide to Bangkok

Places to visit/shop:

1. Centralworld - the newest mall in Bangkok. Large, spacious, clean, it reminds us of the best malls along Orchard Rd, except it's not as crowded. Food in poshy restaurant costing only as much as that from food courts in Sg, quality excellent! We had dinner at a restaurant called Kobune. There are lots of Jap restaurants here, and Kinokuniya, probably because as we say in Mandarin, "the Japanese wind is blowing at the moment". But everything in ToysRus is more ex than in Sg. We know, we checked it out.

2. MBK - probably the most famous mall in BKK? I got a few bags from a shop here - Udom Age.

2. Indra Square - an older, more neighbourhood mall in the Pratunam area where our hotel was. Kind of like Peninsular Plaza, and Pearl Centre. Practically everything you can find at MBK, you can get almost at half price here, plus it's nearer to our hotel.

We stayed at the Eastin Bangkok Hotel, booked online via Agoda. Thanks to Lynn for the recommendation! There's a roadside stall just across the road (outside 7-11) selling the best chicken/pork satay we've ever tasted, and for only 5 baht per stick. Good business round the clock. We wanted to get more on our last day but it wasn't open.

23 April 2007 - MN or thereabouts

Bangkok.

A city that never sleeps. There seem as many cars whizzing by on the highway below our window now as in the day when we first arrived.

It is our first night in BKK. The 2 hour plane ride was gruelling as Ruvie hadn't had enough sleep the night before and isn't fully recovered from his flu. He really made life miserable for many of the passengers around us. As it is, we are dreading the return flight.

Despite my fatigue, I can't sleep. Overtired, unfamiliar surroundings, I am so envious of those 3 who can enter Dreamland within 1 min from closing their eyes. Two shots of prolactin don't work either. I think I need to pray.

Finally, a vacation!

The last time we went for a break was when I was 5 mths pg with Ruvie. I loved the food in Penang, the famous char kway teow, cendul, Penang laksa... eh, what else ah? But I'll never buy a Slurpee from their Seven Eleven stores again, tasted really weird, like chemicals.

We're heading to Bangkok for 4D3N, our first time there as a family. I've been there when I was very young, maybe 10? Don't remember much of it, except that I had gastric pains the last few days of the trip, and food poisoning immediately when we got home. HL was there during his NS days, but never got around. So this will be our "virgin" trip I guess. Just some light sightseeing, eating, and heavy shopping, haha. I'm looking for a bag and HL's got his mind set on boots. Disney Princesses bag and other stuff for Ray (to prepare for her P1 next year), and Ruvie... well, whatever catches my fancy. Ah yes! If I can find it, Wacoal bras d:)

It's the now

I was watching my son tonight. He was flipping through an IKEA catalogue by himself, pointing at things and talking...

"This Mommy this Ah Zai (himself)... where's Daddy and JieJie... There he is!... And that one and that one... Yoohoo!... This one!... Round and round and round and... Wheeeee!... That one!..." Went on for quite some time.

He does this pretty often, while playing with toys or flipping through some book or magazine. I guess it's got a lot to do with Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues. Funny how when he mutters it's in English and not Cantonese. And he does seem more rough than Ray was at this age. Ray was very sweet and gentle-voiced when playing with her toys (still is). Time to go get a copy of Raising Boys.

I gotta remind myself to take more time watching and playing with the kids, especially Rayzel, before they grow too old to want my attention anymore. Business can wait (for a little while), entertainment can wait as well (I altogether spend too much time at the computer).

Just watching them can be such a joy, well maybe till the point when they start to fight over something.

Rain No Game

We were waiting for the membership to a certain club to arrive so we could go swimming. In the meantime we got Ray a new suit (her hand-me-down was just a little too thin, besides I prefer her to have one that covers her shoulders and thighs).

Now everything's ready, but the rains are back! What terrible timing. Ray's so disappointed.

Japanese Ala Carte Buffet Restaurant!

Since we "lost" Igen at East Coast Road (next to the Thai Express at Siglap), we've been looking out for another. Last week HL went to Elias Mall for lunch with his colleagues and discovered a JACBR at the Pasir Ris Elias Community Club, so we went to try it out yesterday.

Decor was so-so, definitely not as posh as Igen, but at least it's more spacious, and I prefer the service here. We loved the food. Softshell crab was crisp but not oily (good fire control, as the Chinese put it), sashimi was fresh, plentiful and attractive (we ordered 4 plates of Moriwase in total, sampled Kajiki Toro, Sake, Maguro, fresh sweet Scallop, Tai, Ika which I dislike, whatever the chef gives but you can specify your preference so we told them no more Ika please), and they had Ikura (flying fish roe) sushi too! As much as you like! But this being the first time we're trying this, we discovered we cannot eat too much, maybe max 2 pieces each, as the taste is a little too strong for us. Loved their Temaki too. Chawanmushi was fresh, soft and yummy, it took some time coming so we knew it was made to order. I guess it helped that we were the first customers of the evening. Nobody else came in the whole hour we were there.

Name: Hi Sshou Japanese Restaurant
Address: Pasir Ris Elias Community Club, Pasir Ris Dr 3, next to Elias mall
Cost: Adults $29.90++, Children (5-11) $14.90++, kids below 5 dine free
Dinner hours: 6pm to... er... not sure
They open for lunch too but I didn't pay attention to the time.

People in the East must try!! I'm not too keen on visiting Sakura frequently. Next time I think I shall gather up some courage to try the Nattou. Heard it stinks, but taste?

Discovering I actually have a cleavage

... has made me realise the importance of having a fitting and supportive bra.

Six years of wearing nursing bras, and I seem to have totally forgotten how to wear a "normal" bra, much less choose one. Oh, I know there are underwired and really well-designed nursing bras out there, but, I dunno... I've always been afraid of getting plugs so I never dared to even try a wired one, and I haven't found a non-wired one with padding which I looked good in (IMO). Besides, and most importantly, my priority was always comfort and ease of undoing.

But I've had enough! I am sick of wearing bra cups which keep sliding around (and how do you adjust a wayward bra cup in public??). And heck, Ruvie's already 2.5yo, I can stop wearing nursing bras!

So I got myself to Plaza Sing today and tried out the Triumph bras at John Little's (15% storewide discount except for Triumph products, can ya believe it???). Maximiser, Sloggi, Tshirt Bra, all felt rather weird, or rather, I felt rather weird in them. I guess I've been too used to the unsupported look I usually sport. I went off to get a snack and mull over it.

Hey-hey! Guess what I passed on my way down to the basement - a Wacoal boutique! If there is one brand I remember my mom ever saying, it's Wacoal, although from young I'd always thought it sounded so... unposh. Recently though, I was asking a well-endowed cousin for recommendations, and she too, touted this brand to make the most natural-looking, supportive and comfortable bras she ever had. She would know, she's got a model's figure.

After my fishcake, I went straight to Wacoal and asked the very motherly looking assistant to find something to fit my requirements (preferably no lace, half-cup, simple). All I can say is, she knew what she was doing, unlike the assistant at John Little's. Their fitting rooms are rigged so that you can press a button for help with fitting and, er, arranging your bosom. I must have learnt more about bras from that half hour I spent in there than all the 17 years post-puberty. I left Plaza Sing without going back to JL or putting my foot into the ERO downstairs (which I saw too but forgot about after hitting Wacoal), a hundred dollars poorer but everlastingly happier (hey they didn't cost as much as I'd expected either).

Thank you Ms Lim! And you are so nice and patient. I will learn from you (and I will remember to care for my bras with love and tenderness).

Looking back on myself

So I've been a mother for six years already? The one thing I can remember most about parenting Ray is that from the start, I wished she'd grow up faster, whereas for Ruvie, I wish he'd stay a baby forever (although I doubt we'd be able to carry him for long if he were always THAT heavy). It might have something to do with the timing of the arrival of the babies... IYKWIM.

Most days I feel I'm a terrible mother; there are hardly days when I can honestly say I've been good. Recently a close cousin commented that even she could see that I treat the boy better than the girl *gulp* And then I had to admit it to myself. Sometimes I am so strict with her that I wonder if she begins to feel that I don't love her. I have to keep reminding myself - don't micromanage, allow for creativity and expression of personality, as long as it's not too messy and not wrong just let her do it. Treat her with more respect.

Oh dear, it's getting hard to blog with the kids climbing all over me.

Happy 6th birthday to Rayzel

9 March. She had her party in school in the morning, and after that we brought her to the library (she'd been asking for some time) and then to Sakura for her fav foods.

So how has she changed over the last year? For one thing, she's more responsible towards her brother. She has a better idea of how to look after him, and I suspect she learnt more from her best friend than she knows. She can get rather forgetful sometimes, and also very careless, and often teaches Ruvie dangerous things (like standing and leaning over the back of the sofa) (and gets shouted at for that), but she is more considerate towards others, and of course more self-dependent.

Academically, she seriously needs to brush up on her Chinese and Mandarin. She speaks Mandarin like a foreigner, eew. I'm supposed to converse with her in Mandarin, but I keep forgetting. However, she's managed to memorise a Chinese nursery rhyme about a crab crossing the river. 床前明月光 is still way beyond her though, mainly because she doesn't understand what it means.

Announcing the arrival of...

... my little niece, Guo Yue Ling 郭悦翎, on the 11 February 2007, born to her very very brave, strong and amazing mother after 6 days of labour.

I am so proud of you both!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for allowing me to share this groundshaking and lifechanging experience with your family, I will never be the same again, and my respect for you has gone up a few more notches.

Photos later, when I can get my digicam to work. Meantime I am still trying to catch up on my beauty sleep after spending so much time at the hospital, and also I have gone, very much under the weather, so to speak. Looks like there's to be no singing for the next few days again, and so soon after the last bout too! I was going to start bellowing all the parenting pop songs. Aiyah!

Labour for 28 hours

And still going strong! Not me lah.

I was pretty excited at first that we were finally entering labourland, but after more than 12 hours of stop-start-stop-start, I think everyone's just trying to get some rest now and waiting for things to progress to a point where we can move into action.

Baby YL, when are you going to come out? Your 二姨 is getting quite impatient leh! But your mommy is amazing... the way she copes with her contractions and getting rest inbetween. This is an eye-opener I'll never forget.

And now 二姨 is going to bed in case your mommy calls me at 3am to go to the hospital.

Math lesson

Ray said to me the other day, "Mom, I can count now!"

"Oh yeah? Great!" said I.

"So 2 + 2 is... 5!" went she.

I fainted.