Counting my blessings for today

1. A nice gentleman gave up his seat for me on the bus when I was going home. 

2. Had a relatively productive workday today compared to the rest of the week. 

3. Managed to "play" with Little Baby this afternoon. She'd kick, I'd tap my tummy at the same spot and she'd kick again. Went on for a good 10mins or so. :)

4. Will be going for ramen with K for dinner! 

Errrr?

A guy just greeted me at the pantry by saying: "Hi, 大肚婆!"

Given that we hardly speak to each other in office, and usually just give each other a nod as a greeting, it came as a surprise and honestly, I thought it was a little brusque.

Om Nom Nom - Part 2

Constantly hungry these 2 days.
Munching on something every 2 hours or so.
Feeling like a rabbit or hamster now.
Nibble nibble nibble.

Oh dear, Oh dear.
Started on chocolate Pocky.
Not so healthy a snack.
Nibble nibble nibble.

830am, 930am, 1045am.
1245pm, 230pm, 445pm.
More than a newborn's frequency of feedings?
Nibble nibble nibble.

Om Nom Nom

I'm stuffing myself with food already and my dear colleague KH just got me more food lol... My fav chicken feuillete from Delifrance. How ah? I keep eating!

Describing Singapore's political system

A friend from Hong Kong and I were discussing about different countries within Asia and eventually came to a conclusion that Singapore was a good place to reside and work in. He also recently applied for a job opening in Singapore and is awaiting news on the success of his application.

He added “Singapore is probably a good place to be in compared to the other countries. It’s got a good mix of conservatism and openness. The only thing is that your totalitarianism sucks big time.

I can’t say I am well-versed and knowledgeable in political regimes and ideologies. But I think using “Totalitarianism” to describe Singapore is an exaggeration. That seems kind of like communism already. (Or is it actually one and the same thing?) Maybe something like “Authoritarianism with a mix of Democracy” or “Guided Democracy” would describe Singapore better haha.

If he really ends up living and working here, I’d ask him again after he has been here for a year or so how he would describe Singapore’s political system.

Counting Down

2.5 months more only.

Getting jittery already. There are still things to be bought and done and packed and moved.

Enjoying this last stretch of mobility, freedom, flexibility and our "just-the-two-of-us" time.

Because pretty soon I think I'll only be traversing within the house with bedraggled hair and smelling of milk and baby poo lol...

Cheers to Us

Oh it's been exactly a year since our traditional Chinese wedding and almost 2 years since our ROM.

Happy Anniversary Baby! :))

Oh Basil!

Recently discovered to my dismay that all the basil plants I had in the garden had already perished. The helper didn't even inform me of it. :(

I'm glad though that I propagated a pot for Ally sometime last year. Now her pot has grown so beautifully and she's got a healthy, robust plant.

Haha, we've come full circle now and now I'm going to get a cutting from her to start up a new pot again.

So if this new cutting takes root, then it's considered the descendent "grandchild" of the plant I originally had! Lol...

Tired all week

Not been sleeping well, especially over this past week. Feeling tired and stoned.

Either the neighbours' dogs go mad in the middle of the night and start barking their heads off, or I just wake up for no apparent reason at all, or I wake to pee, or I wake up because K stirred in his sleep, or I simply wake because Little Baby is having fun stretching/kicking/boxing/punching in me.

Pale and blotchy skin, very dark eye circles, bouts of zits and bumps here and there. I have been uglified!

Really yearning for a full 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Doesn't seem possible though...:(

Feeling loved

Feeling blessed as well. So many people are taking extra care of me. :)

K has been an angel.

Even the cleaner auntie on my office floor holds the door open for me these days lol.

Friends have been giving me stuff here and there.

And I just received a Delifrance Chicken Feuillete Pie (my recent fav!) as an afternoon snack from my colleague from another division. Thank you Kah Hui!

Thank you everybody! Really appeciate it!

Afternoon Epiphany

I’m listening to JJ Lin and Sun Yan Zi at work today. It’s been awhile since I last listened to them

One particular sentence in Yan Zi’s song "當冬夜漸暖" stood out.

“多少次失望表示著多少次期盼”

How true.

The number of times you get disappointed is related to the number of the times you look forward to (or expect or hope) for something.

The more you expect, whether from yourself or from others, and the more you hope for something, the more disappointed you feel if things don’t go your way.

As Shakespeare once said: “Expectation is the root of all heartache”.

So well...let's all....   Live Simply. Give More. Expect Less. :)    

Breathe in Breathe out

一大清早来惹我， 真是的。*深呼吸*

我忍忍忍，不会为了这件事而让今天的心情被破坏！

美金，加油哦！！ :)

Lots of Good News!

Over the weekend, I suddenly received happy news that 3 friends are expecting. :)

Within this year alone, I know at least 11 friends who have given birth or who will be delivering by year end.

From Jan till now, I've attended 5 weddings and will be attending another one in August.

May there be more good news to come!

Bitchy Resting Face

There’s recently been a phrase coined by a filmmaker in the States: “Bitchy Resting Face”. It refers to an incurable syndrome, mainly affecting women but some men as well, where a person’s face seems sad or angry for no reason, even when the person is actually completely relaxed and not feeling foul at all.

In local lingo, people would call it the “chau bin” or the “black face”.

I think I’ve had enough people tell me over the years that I’ve got a “chau bin” face to conclude that I am a sufferer of the “Bitchy Resting Face”. Even when I am just “stoning”, some people who don’t know me well enough think I have an angry face.

It’s true what they say, that people immediately form an impression of you, within the first few seconds of having seen you. If people think I’m bitchy, then so be it. They don’t know me till they take the effort to actually know me. I’m not going to plaster a fake smile on my face just to please everyone.

Oh well. :)

Funky tastebuds

The foodie in me has become increasingly schizophrenic.

I'd be craving for a salty biscuit in this hour and by the time the next hour swings by, I'd be hoping for a sugar-laced drink.

I want a hot drink now because it keeps my insides warm and fuzzy. (Two hours later) I feel like having Milo Peng.

And so it pendulates.

Back and forth.

I want something simple, light and easy to digest, like tofu or macaroni or fish soup. (Next meal) Damn I really miss my mum's spicy sayur lodeh.

(In the day) I should be having healthy meals now. (Nearing supper) I want a cheeseburger.
(Then again, a cheeseburger has carbo, vegetables and protein. That makes a well-balanced meal, no? ;p)

Wonder if my tastes will change in the next few months....

敲锣打鼓

Little Baby is in an extremely active and feisty mood. I've been kicked, punched and boxed all day and night for the last few days.

Looking more and more like a panda now that I am having interrupted sleep.

0_0''

Realization

A big belly is a conversation opener. More people in office are talking to me these days  haha.

In love with...

The minions! So unbearably cute lah! If I feel down, watching them on YouTube never fails to make me grin again. :)  *bapoi*

Wonderful!

Woke up at 530am this morning to extremely crisp and fresh air. The feeling was awesome.
I checked the PSI and it was below 30 with the PM2.5 reading hovering in the 20s range.

The "un-wonderful" thing though was that I couldn't get back to sleep after that lol....

Semi Staycation

I feel like I am on a semi-staycation this week.

Why? Because I am bunking over at my parents' place while the kitchen at my in-laws' place is undergoing renovation. Apaprently, expectant ladies are "not supposed" to be exposed to the renovation knocking and banging and clanging noises because it is "not good" for the baby within.

And so I was whisked off to my parents' place last night.

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I feel like a princess again. Mum is fussing over me. And of course, I'm not complaining. :)
   In preparation for my royal arrival, she stocked up on my favourite HL milk, Gardenia raisin bread loaf, Chips Ahoy cookies, fruits, green vegetables, fish, etc. She changed the sheets, stuffed one of my old pillows with new cotton, gave me a new fluffy peach-coloured towel and re-washed the clothes I was going to wear at home.

I'm going to have slow-stewed chicken soup with bird's nest at least twice this week too.

Feeling awesomely pampered now.

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Nw that this is the first time I am back home and staying in my own bedroom ever since I shifted out almost a year ago, I realised several things:

• I miss K!!! And having someone by my side when I am asleep.
• I miss my old bed. The springs are just much firmer than my matrimonial bed.
• I miss the coolness of my home. Although the sun is shining brightly outside, I don't feel like I am in an oven.
• Without a TV in the bedroom, I tend to surf the Net more.
• And yes, I do miss the nightly documentary sessions with K...food network, discovery, national geographic, asian food channel, etc....
• I miss having a radio in the room! I used to listen to the radio everyday but stopped when I shifted over because we didn't have a radio in our room.

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Speaking of radio, I was listening to Class 95FM last night before sleeping.

It was a night of hits from the 80s. Quite retro. I was doing a little dance and then I realised Little Baby was kicking haha.

We should start exposing her to more music. :)