Tokyo or Nanny State?

This is absolutely hilarious!

Can you imagine a beer that has a alcohol content of 18.2%? Wonder how that taste like. I really suppose you can't binge drink on that, and you make probably just at just one or two. And who the hell drinks a beer with 1.1% alcohol? What is the point????????

2 More Months

We have 2 more months to go before the baby pops. Very fast hor?

I wonder how much our daily lives will change. Do parents stop having a life after the baby comes along? Will everything revolves around the baby? Will we still be able to sneak away for a few hours for a movie? Would baby affect our holiday destinations? Are we not allowed to swear anymore after baby comes along? Is it possible to still have dinners with friends?

We certainly will have to make some changes to our current lifestyle and give up late nights almost altogether. Sacrifices, I think is what we call those inconveniences. I am happy and very much willing to give up some stuff. I call them happy sacrifices. I can't wait for her to come to this world and as the day draws nearer, the wait seems longer.

Actually I was really optimistic when we sat down at a cafe not too long ago and I said "We can always bring her along when we have coffee, she will just sleep in her stroller what." I really wish it will be that easy and I will be one hell of a gung ho mother who brings her baby everywhere. The Husband is more garang, thinking of bringing her to Hokkaido in February! I gave him the youreallythinkitisthateasyhuh look. I told him, Penang in January first for a buddy's wedding then we will even think about attempting any flight longer than 2 hours. Besides, Hokkaido is freaking below zero in February!

I once said to The Husband, "Eh, don't be offended or hurt, but it is hard for me to think about travelling with just you. Every time I think about doing things or travelling, it always seem to have the baby in the picture now." He smiled and was glad to hear that. Now, everywhere we go, we would be like. "Next time can bring her along" or "Next time we can do this with her too" Of course we will drop The Little One with my mum or his mum on some nights so we can have a quiet dinner together and then a movie. As for now, anything longer than a movie and a dinner and drinks, seems to long to be away from her. My mum did mention a few times, that she will take care of The Little One for us if we want to go on a holiday. It isn't that I do not trust her (more like my siblings) it is just separation anxiety that I am already feeling. As exaggerating as it sounds, it is exactly what I think I will feel. She is not here yet and I already know I will suffer from it. I suppose I have not come face to face with her incessant crying and tantrums. Maybe then will I be glad to leave her behind.

Jealous

My brother bought a Holga and now I want a Lomo again. Yah, the Lomo itch is back again.

I was really close to getting one myself some time ago but I resisted. Now that I saw what fun he has with his new camera, I want to get myself a Diana F+

Then we can always share the cameras and double the fun! Right right right? I know you are reading this...

The Diana F+ Deluxe kit is beckoning...

Diapers

Talking about diapers can be really boring.

One of the things that we have been discussing about for the past months is whether or not to use disposable diapers or the washables ones.

Plently of pros and cons. One of the main draws for me to use the washable ones is that they are more gentle on the baby's bottoms. No nasty nappy rashes. Or at least, less of those nasties. A study has also shown that babies who wore washable diapers toilet train faster than those on disposables. Washables are more cost effective but disposables are hassle free.

Some say washables are more green since they disposables do not biodegrade and thus take up precious space in landfills. To me, washables aren't exactly all that green since you got to use quite a bit of water to wash those soiled ones. In the case of Singapore, we don't really have that many landfills, we incinerate most of our waste and from incinerating, we get heat that is used to generate steam in boilers. The steam then drives steam turbines coupled to generators to produce electricity. The non-incinerable stuff and the ashes from the incinerated waste are then tipped into a landfill somewhere in Tuas. See, there is waste to fill up landfills lah!

So the greenest choice? G diapers. I found it online while surfing one day, you use these like you would a disposable diaper, but the fabulous thing about it is that you can toss it in the toilet bowl and flush it away! It is totally biodegradable! If you do not want to flush it down, you are use it as compost! COMPOST! Can you beat that? I can't find anywhere in Singapore selling it sadly. Plus it is pretty expensive. Going green will not harm the earth, but the damage on your wallet is another thing.

So have we decided? Sort of. We have decided to give both disposable and washable a go. In the day and during short outings, baby will be in washables, at night when she is sleeping, on longer outings she will be in disposables. We are going to get the trail pack from bum wear and see how we like it.

Chivalry is Dead

The only people who give up their seats in trains or buses for me are ladies and the ladies who gave up their seats are never the ones in the priority seats. Don't get me wrong, even now that I am seven months pregnant, I do not demand that people give up their seats for me. It is interesting to watch people's reactions whenever I get on the train or bus. Some people suddenly seemed really busy with their hand phones or just looked away and pretended not to see me at all.

I do feel that when you are sitting in a priority seat, you should be the first to give up your seats for someone who needs it more than you, thus, people in those seats should not be busy reading the papers, nor should they be sleeping - pretending or otherwise. There is a reason why these seats are priority seats! Even I feel paiseh seating in one of those seats.

As much as I do not demand a seat, it is always so nice and I am very grateful when someone offers. I do wish the men would be more chivalrous.

Dairy Farm

It has been a while since we went for a Sunday walk. It has been a while too since the last time I took out my canon350d. The walk was great, if not a little humid. It was a little breezy if not a little grey.

Carrying my camera now is not the same as before. With a protruding tummy, hanging the camera around my neck is rather uncomfortable, with the edge of the camera constantly pressing into my flesh. It used to hang nice and flat. So instead, I got to sling it on my arm. Now, that isn't the best way to carry it especially when there are some gentle undulating gravel covered slopes and I being unable to see my feet now and being so clumsy, I might just fall and HORROR! break my camera.

Whatever photo-taking skills I have, have been non-existent since I stop taking photos on a regular basis. I didn't take too much photos either since I was too hot and bothered. Took like maybe 20 odd shots.

We will be back to walk the other path of this nature walk. We got there at about 3pm, just before it got more crowded. I will hope that the skies will be a glorious blue the next time we visit.

Fall is Here!

This road reminds me of fall. I love it when we take this road every time. It makes me smile and I start to think about the colours of autumn which then makes me feel all warm and toasty inside. Then I will want to have some good quality hot cocoa!

The Call of the Weird

I promise I will not start to read this book, however tempting it is, until I start gettting contractions and into labour.

We attended a antenatal class and it is said that it is good to have something to distract you from the pain, and this book is hilarious! 2 more months more, I hope I can keep it unread. I just hope I remember to bring it along with me to the hospital!

Hari Raya

We had been visiting him every year during Hari Raya since 1995?

Every time before we get there, I will start thinking about the food. The food is glorious! Most times it will be the ayam masak merah that I will think about.

It is nice to see some old classmates, but most the classmates who are still going there, like the ones in the photo, are people whom I still hang out with regularly. It has been 14 years and I am very happy that we still hanging out quite regularly now. There are some times when one of us may not be in town or somewhere else studying, and there are times when we are too caught up at work, but somehow, those times never really last too long. Even with a longish period of not meeting up at all, when we get together, it would be just like the good old times.

Rose and Pineapple

My brother bought me a tin of these cookies. I had just a few and there are a lot more to go. It is rose flavoured with just a teeny weeny of pineapple taste in it. Nice and not too sweet. A tin of cookies from this place always remind me of my wedding.

Bird's Nest

Gift from friends. Knowing that I was pregnant, they decided to get me a box of bird's nest. Very sweet isn't it? These are the only ones (other than the occasional bowl that is choked full of this stuff from my mother in law) that I am having, not buying any for myself because personally I really have no clue if they are that nourishing or not. Maybe I will continue taking it after I finish this box.

A Splash and a Dash

I will miss seeing your bowties and glasses of wine that are forever in your hands. I will always feel a tinge of sadness whenever I see you on TV now.

Goodbye Keith Floyd, the first celebrity TV chef.

Bangkok Day 3

I think 3 hearty dinners in a row is just about the most that I can stomach. I can't do heavy meals too much these days, there just isn't enough space for The Little One and all that food. I will feel so stretched and uncomfortable that walking about can be quite a pain. Smaller and more frequent meals are the way to go now. Funny thing is, I didn't feel too bad with all the eating in Bangkok. Perhaps I wasn't eating as much as I think I was. I will miss in BKK definately, and it will be the main reason I will go back. Next time we may wanna consider Chiang Mai! I am keen on a makan trip to Taipei too..

I was telling The Husband that we didn't sightsee much this time too. All the time spent just eating and taking it slow. Sometimes, we had to do just that - eat and relax and enjoy each other's company.

Going loco in Jim Thompson. I always had fun shopping here.

Ala Project Runway...

Bangkok Day 2

Shopping is not something that I do really well. Unless I have tonnes to spend, it will be a totally different story. I didn't know going into Naraya can be so much fun. HAHAHAHA!

I almost died in Platinum Mall. If it wasn't for my sister, I wouldn't even be in that place. I am surprised my dad was actually pretty patient throughout the whole Platinum Mall episode and so was The Husband! It wasn't all the bad, we were pretty early and the crowd wasn't in til much later. When it got crowded it was almost as unbearable as Chatuchak market. That said, even I bought some stuff. Not really for myself, more for The Little One. The clothes are so cheap. Less than 3 bucks for a set of clothes! Less than 10 bucks for a dress! How not to stock up you tell me?

I am still smiling in this picture because we just started with the shopping in Platinum Mall. I wasn't looking half as enthusiatic when we were leaving.

Bangkok Day 1

An impromptu trip to Bangkok with the family. My mum was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up, The Husband was worried that when I get too tired with all the shopping and walking, nobody will be there to take care of me, so he went along too. But guess what? I kept up! It wasn't too tough, and the pace isn't too hectic. I was able to squeeze in time for swims in the morning and evenings as well!

He is looking so happy because he can finally have a cup of coffee. Also because the shopping is finally over for the day. He totally hates shopping in crowded warm places. The iced coffee is pretty good, and so is the iced milk tea.