One of those days...

Another weekend gone in a flash...

Nick was out at NATAS and since I was car-less, the cousins volunteered to come over for Saturday's play date instead. When they say 9.30 am, it really means 10.30 am and I was right! Provided prata for breakfast and while the kids played, we plotted our next holiday...though am not sure whether it will materialise or not.





Swana and Kevin had an appointment with a contractor at 1pm, but instead of calling it a day, all of us adjourned to their place instead, tapauing lunch from the coffeeshop downstairs. The little cousins continued playing, Ananya is starting to walk already. Spent the rest of the day at Membina till Kevin sent us home at night.

Went for mass this morning, and Nick dropped us off at Membina. Not sure if it was my lack of sleep from the night before or raging hormones but it turned out to be one of those days where Nat's schedule goes askew, causing me to be highly irritable but I don't apologize for it, because I was only looking out for her...plus I like predictability sometimes!

It all started when we arrived at Membina at 11plus am. The plan today was to have lunch at Baba's and we were supposed to leave by 12-ish, however when Nat and I got there (Arlyn's day off hence me alone), Mummy was still cooking and the Dopes hadn't showered. By the time babies were fed, Dopes were dressed and Ma was done, it was already 1pm-ish.

Not only was I hungry, by this time Gigi had sneezed her food on me (thankfully dress was not stained) but I was more concerned about Nat's afternoon nap being delayed, she usually dozes off at around 1.30 pm and if she doesn't nap by latest 3pm, there is a ripple effect i.e. wakes up later from nap, sleeps later at bedtime, has to drink extra milk when she's trying to fall asleep thus exceeding her daily quota, gets cranky, gets eye-bags and is lethargic the next day.

Any hopes I harboured about napping while Nat napped to catch up on lost sleep was also thrown out the window. I started getting edgy by the time we left, chasing Ma to hurry up, while Ma thought I was being a pain and felt one day of a missed routine wouldn't hurt. Yes true, but I was the one having to deal with the consequences...on a day where I was alone at home in my 9th month of pregnancy with a daughter who is starting to get clingy.

Anyway, en route to Tampines, Nat fell asleep for about 10 mins in the car and thereafter was reluctant to go back to sleep. Swana tried for 20 mins to no avail, her mid-day milk feed didn't help either so after rushing through my lunch, I decided I would just take a cab back on my own and try to get home by 3plus so that Nat would still have a shot at a proper nap. Swana and Kevin were ready to leave too, but Mummy was giving me the evil eye, she had wanted to stay on and watch Fann Wong's wedding on DVD so we left first.

Nat didn't fall asleep in the car, having gotten her second wind. By the time we got home, it was 3.30 pm and I persisted for 30 mins to put her to sleep. Just when her eyes were starting to close, the doorbell rang! I couldn't ignore it, suspecting it was an Old Navy delivery and when I went to open the door, Nat got out of bed! I put her right back on it and patted her to sleep for another 15 mins before she finally, finally crashed at 4.15 pm.

I allowed her an hour before rousing her from her sleep and managed to get 20 mins myself but she refused to wake up when I tried...she was sooooo tired. It took almost 30 mins of cajoling, tickling and talking to wake her up by which time, the in-laws had arrived for dinner.

Having been rudely awakened from her nap by her cruel mummy, she burst into tears when I left her to open the door and it took a good 10 mins for her to warm up to Ben, Wendy and Mildred, during which time, she was clinging on to me like a koala. Even when she accidentally squirted a tetrapak Milo on her arms and on me, she refused to let me go change.

BTW, I had better get Nat potty-trained asap...Mildred questioned on it 3 times during the course of the evening! I am waiting till I am home during maternity leave so I can oversee the 'project' for a consecutive period but that's too late for her! Sigh...

The Chingay floats just went by on Keppel Road. When Arlyn asked me what they were, I at first thought it was a very grand funeral procession!

Shanghai Dollies

Went to Nya-Nya's house this evening for dinner and the bubbas were dressed in matching cheongsams I had bought in Guilin. Gigi was like a little 'pai-kia', refusing to button her collar and walking around most unladylike in hers.


It was so hard to get them to sit nicely and smile for the paparazzi, had to resort to 'Simon Says' and managed to get these few shots.




Some of the food Nya-Nya tapaued was interesting - Marmite pork ribs, crispy tofu topped by 'chai poh' - apparently from some 'tze char' place near Old Airport Road. Had only our second 'yu sheng' toss for CNY, Aunty Lee Eng provided lots of extra crackers.

Where did the weekend go?

Joanne, Tarek and Rayhan popped in for lunch on Friday, I made a simple pasta dish and Arlyn helped fry some chicken wings. It was the second time Nat was seeing them in a week but she was so super shy around the adults, seeming to have lost her voice.




It wasn't until she was alone with the baby and Arlyn that she started being more herself. Joanne had some new bling, a belated push present in the form of a 1.5ct trilogy ring...nice ice!


Nick was away in Manila, it was a good opportunity for me to bond with Nat the last few days. She was pretty well-behaved, no tantrums etc and co-operative during naps and bedtime. In fact, she slept by 9.15pm on the 2 nights I had her but once Nick was home, she was back to being 'manja'.

Yesterday morning, Ben picked us up to go swimming at Wendy's brother's place. The weather was cool and so was the pool, thus the munchkin was reluctant to get wet. It took ages for her to even stand on a step, in the end I had to change and get in the water with her because she refused to go to anyone else. She resisted the float and ended up just splashing water at everyone else from the edge of the pool.




Lunch was at Thomson Plaza, had my special fried bee hoon and bought 4-D. Damn, the number Nat picked on her birthday has come out as starter or consolation prize 3 times in the past week, in different permutations but I didn't roll or buy i-Bet!

When I got home, I discovered the doorknob to my purple room was jammed. Had to call and wait for a locksmith, thus missing Melissa's McDonald's party that evening as I couldn't access my clothes and make-up! By the time the door was fixed, it was too late to attend the party so me and Nat, plus Ma and Arlyn went to Marina Square for dinner then to the River Hongbao at The Float.


Nat was curious about all the lights and sounds, must have been pretty overwhelming from her perspective. We didn't stay too long, Nick came to pick us up en route from the airport after he managed to get an earlier flight.

After putting Nat to bed, the Dopes came to pick us up in their new wheels. Yes, the C4 has finally arrived after an almost 5 month wait, love the moon roof! Went to meet some of the cousins at Pasir Ris Park, at a restaurant/bar called Mid-Summer Breeze. Felt like we were in Bali for a moment, sitting by the beach and just chillin'.



Had my first yu sheng toss of this CNY at Ben's place earlier, even Nat joined in with a spoon...she must have been wondering what we were doing!

Dining table and chairs for sale

Nick has deemed our glass dining table not baby-friendly (after 2 years!) and wants to sell it off, along with 6 black replica Panton chairs.

The table is in very good condition, some of the chairs have small scratches but everything still looks pretty new.

Selling at $800 for the set (we spent about $1.3K), or we can sell them separately too but the priority is to replace the dining table before No.2 starts comes along.

The table is from Om and measures 6ft x 3 ft, the chairs were bought from a shop in Beach Road. If you know of anyone moving house or setting up a home, do let them know about the table...am sure we can work something out! - they are welcome to come over and view! Self-arranged delivery would be appreciated...

Tiger Time!

It's the Year of the Tiger, but instead of a roaring CNY, ours has been more like a kitten's mew. Very very low key and laid back so far, only had to visit his grandma yesterday. His aunts and uncles came over and we don't really need to visit their houses.

Nick made Nat offer him oranges in the morning, before he gave her a token angpow. She wore a pink cheongsam I bought in Guilin last Dec, only cost me $5! Colour suited her and size was just nice too.



I had a red and white striped maternity halter dress that was new too, never got to wear it the year Nat was born when she arrived before CNY!


We got to Amah's at 9.15 am to catch Ben & Wendy before they left, and thereafter went to Christ the King for mass before returning to Amah's house. Had lunch there, Mildred had ordered some Eurasian dishes from a friend, food was not too bad and there was plenty left for us to bring home. Swana, Kevin, Ma and Gigi came over for dinner, along with Pops, Aunty Sarda, Baba and Aunty Irene.

Today we swung by Amah's in the morning to collect some bak kwa before bringing Nat to St Anne's to visit Isaac. He would have turned 6 yesterday. Sigh...

Thereafter Nat wanted to see aeroplanes so off we went to Changi Beach but there were hardly any planes taking off or landing so we left after 2 or 3 flights.


Tapau-ed food and headed to Kavi's place where the Dopes joined us. Spent the afternoon there before we left in the evening to pick up Nat's dinner and we reconvened at Labrador Park. There was a pretty sunset and we even saw a man catch a fish, before proceeding to Anchorpoint for dinner. And that about sums up of CNY this year!

CNY Eve 2010

Joanne, Tarek and Rayhan are in town and we caught up for breakfast yesterday at Casa Verde at Botanical Gardens. Susan and Adri joined in too, and Nat met Ray for the first time.




Nat was shy as usual, taking a while to warm up but she stroked Ray's head when prompted. Couldn't really indulge in much conversation when one has to keep an eye on a restless toddler, but Nick was on hand to distract her with the waterfalls and dogs.

After breakfast, we took a stroll around one of the ponds, Joanne had never been to Botanics. It was a hot morning but not too crowded, Nat also showed off her old lady walk.



Jane, Albert and Ethan swung by to meet Joanne and Rayhan too...Ethan and Ray are only about 5 weeks apart. Ethan was very bald the last time I saw him in Dec, but his hair has grown back remarkably fast!


Nat received lots of pressies from Aunty Susan, Aunty Joanne and Aunty Jane...more clothes, woo hoo! Thanks ladies!

In the evening we went to AMK for the reunion dinner, the usual steamboat where there was a tonne of leftovers. Ben made 'sio bak', it was tasty but had lost some of its crispiness en route to AMK. Played some cards after, lost $2...who said pregnant women were lucky?



Had a slight tug of war with Mildred who wanted to let Nat have a Mentos just after dinner. I kept insisting 'no' and she kept insisting 'yes', even Ben, Wendy and Nick reiterated 'no' and finally she gave up, sighing loudly. Already closed one eye when Mildred was plying Nat with fish crackers and belinjau crackers, plus Nat had tried some almond jelly.

We had a movie to catch and I hope I didn't upset her, but I just didn't want Nat to have a sweet before bedtime which might give her a sugar rush, or any sweets for that matter for as long as I can help it!

As it were, Nat only fell asleep at 10.15pm and thereafter we rushed to Vivo to meet 6 other couples for 'Valentine's Day' the movie. My shoe broke as I alighted the car, walked around barefoot for a bit but then we tried asking the Coffee Bean for some tape and Nick managed to secure my broken strap temporarily...my hero!




The 14 of us watching the movie were - Bernard/Rachel; Swana/Kevin; Nick/Me; Kenny/Felina; Jeanette/Kaelash; Kavitah/Siva and Pinky/Kumar. Movie was alright, 'Love Actually' was better though.

Dinner with Jane

Today is Jane's birthday and Rena and I met her for dinner yesterday at Double Bay, City Hall.

Been meaning to try that place, food was alright but I wouldn't say fantastic. We shared a Chilean sea bass fish & chips, crabmeat linguine and mushroom pie, I didn't have my camera with me, hence no piccies...sorry Germs!

Me and Rena's stomachs look about the same size, Jane actually mentioned missing being pregnant. Conversations now centre around our kids, gosh we've aged!

I bought a $118 dress from Blum on impulse while waiting for them to arrive...didn't even try it because it's meant for post-delivery. It's something I had seen on Nordstroms before and even had the picture saved on my laptop. Couldn't resist when I saw the orange version on the mannequin, and went in search of the blue. Salesgirl said it had just arrived yesterday, must be fate! Was fairly confident I could fit into a US size 6...tried it on when I got home, fits the shoulders and bust, phew.

Ananya's 1st birthday bash

Ananya turned 1 earlier in the week and Kavi and Siva threw a big birthday bash today to celebrate.

They booked Changi Cottage, part of Aloha Changi and the funny thing is me and Swana had been there before in our childhood when the place was used as a presidential retreat of sorts. It seemed so much bigger then but as adults, the cottage seems tiny!



Still it was a nice place, great view of the beach and Nat was thrilled by the aeroplanes taking off. Even did a spot of celebrity-watching as Gurmit Singh was there with his family...his son looks just like him.


Kavi went all out to make it a kid-friendly party. There was a bouncy castle, face painters and well as a magician cum entertainer. However, Mr Popcorn as he is known looked bored to death and super 'sian', if I were Kavi I would have withheld his payment!



Food was good, it was a BBQ buffet catered from Breeks so there were people to help grill. Jeanette made all the desserts, an assortment of cupcakes, cheesecake as well as the birthday cake.




When it came to the cake cutting, Ananya was actually asleep at the planned time, poor bubba was nursing a fever. But they managed to wake her up and complete the ritual.



Before we left, we saw Sarah and Riley polishing off all the leftover desserts... wonder what kind of sugar rush Riley experienced after that!