Baby Gears

hoi ching passed me a baby cot and stroller. he he. thank you dear, truly appreciate it! we could use the baby cot while waiting for ours to arrive and to be fixed. nonetheless, i think i might still need to get a stroller for chloe on our own, so that we can use it even when we r back to hubby's place. am undecisive, dont know which type and which brand to buy. following are the few recommended models by other mommies:

Combi Urban

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Combi Cosmo ST

Maclaren Quest Mod

Maclaren Techno XT

Maclaren Volo

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Anyone can tell me which one is better? headache ...

Hubby's Gone Again

hubby's gone again. this means we would be separated for at least another month, again. it is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so the saying goes. however, i sincerely dont think any woman would want to end up in long distance marriage. but sometimes ... it is unavoidable.

i really hate being parted from hubby. one of the pitfalls for not having him with me is that i have to face the humdrum of daily life and the loneliness of having to get on with it on my own. at times, the lonesomeness i feel could eat away at me deep inside ... hai ... how i wish i could be like little chloe. am sure she still doesnt know how to miss daddy.

here are some pics taken before hubby flew off.

hubby, i miss you leh.

Baby Chloe's First Fruit Drink & Semi-Solid Food

started baby chloe on heinz baby's apple fruit drink and first rice cereal this afternoon. at first, i put roughly 30ml of apple fruit drink in milk bottle for her to try try, before i could figure out if she likes it, she had already finished the whole 1 oz, and eargerly kicking her leg, requested for more (she usually only do this continuous kick kick when she sees milk milk). i happily gave her another 30ml, 'cos there are 125ml in a bottol, and needs to be refrigerated and consumed within 48 hours once opened.

ok, after she finished the fruit drink, i mixed 1 teaspoon of cereal with formula milk (FM) to make a smooth, runny and much thinner consistency, spooned into her little mouth.

she had this funny expression, but yet still managed to swallow it, so i gave her another spoonful again.

after fed her about 3-4 spoonfuls, i continued to feed her 5 oz of FM as usual.

My Birthday Celebration

spent my whole birthday with dear hubby. hubby purposely flied in to see me & chloe and of cos to celebrate my BIG DAY with me.

part 1
we started our day by taking lunch at mandarin hotel's chatterbox. yummy of cos! that's my favourite chicken rice. after lunch, i couldnt help but did some shopping at taka. hubby claimed that i am a shopping queen, haha!

part 2
went to sentosa for luge rides. havent been doing this ever since i got pregnant. after that spent some time at sentosa cove, looking at those new projects & developments. oceanfront's construction is halfway done.

part 3
hubby secretly arranged cable car sky dining for our dinner! *surprise*

we arrived at Jewel Box around 7pm, the waiter invited us to sit down and offered us refreshment.

we began our round 1 with cream of tomato soup served with garlic crostini & smoked salmon salad with mascarpone cheese. the salad was very fresh tasting, sort of a spring mix with a light oil and vinegar dressing, but the mascarpone cheese was a bit too sour for me. the soup was light and less creamy then most, but considered a very nice, light start for the meal.


during the 2nd round, hubby ordered grilled beef tenderloin with rosemary jus and I ordered pan-fried fillet of salmon with honey miso as our main courses. both main courses were each preceded with sautéed garden vegetables and caramelized potatoes. when we started to eat, the food was already cold. both the beef terderloin and fillet of salmon were slightly tough.

3rd round, the dessert was a piece of chocolate brownie that served with chocolate sauce and strawberry coulis. i would say the taste was below average.

we departed from mt. faber's jewel box, went round and round, altogether 3 rounds of cable car ride, travelling in between mt. faber, harbour front and sentosa. we spent nearly 1 1/2 hours for whole dinner, and at the end chose to dropped off at harbour front.

overall, the foods were rated average only. however, it was an incredible dining experience on board a cable car. we get to enjoy the panaromic view and the scenic landscape of harbour & city while eating. it had a feel of privacy 'cos only two of us in the cable car, and the candle set just the right mood.

thank you hubby for the arrangement! i appreciate your efforts for trying to make my birthday dinner a unique one ... and thanks too for the birthday present. this phone model certainly looks cool to me, i like it very much! love you muaks =* !

p/s: received lots of warm birthday greetings through phone calls, smses, offline msn msgs, cbox msgs, blog postings, friendster msgs and comments ... thank you guys for all your birthday greetings, birthday song and birthday presents ... heart felt touched.

Happy Birthday, Grace!

many many years ago, while watching Ally McBeal, there was an episode where Ally was freaking out 'cos she was turning 30!! she was truly upset 'cos she felt like she hasn't achieve most of the goals that she had set for herself at earlier age ... and YES, the aforementioned episode is happening to me NOW! i m THIRTY! And to me, YUP, IT IS A BIG DEAL!! i checked my birth cert twice plus ic thrice, and it still appears to be true. to be honest, I am feeling a bit traumatized.

i used to tell myself that, by the age of thirty ... forty ... fifty ... or whatever arbitrary number i am approaching, that I am finally going to be successful, well-to-do, slim & fit, balanced, own a property, debt-free and etc. but as of this morning, few if any signs of that ... sigh ... every time when birthday candles approached, when we assess our achievements, we usually discovered that we haven't accomplish any of the what so called goals and in reverse we have actually missed out lots and lots of time in life. time becomes so so so precious as we aged. gosh ...

well, of cos i am married (is this a kind of achievement?), with a loving hubby and given birth to a lovely daughter ... i had an amazing year 'cos of the arrival of little chloe. i enjoyed every moment being together with dear hubby, little chloe, papa mommy and my 2 dearest sisters ... all these are invaluable and am absolutely contented about The FAMILY part, but the rest are just ... CHAOTIC ...

last year birthday, i was pregnant, i told myself ... "i am going to breastfeed my little one till 1 yr old (failed, only breastfed for 3 months)" ... "i am going to take up prenatal yoga lessons for consistently half a year (failed, due to laziness, only went for few sessions)" ... "i am going to be less spendthrift, hope to achieve at least SGDXXk of savings on my own (failed, still spent a lot and the figure keeps dropping)" ... "finally own a property (failed, still sourcing)" ... "want to bring papa mommy and sisters to go for short vacation on exotic island or australia or korea or wherever it is that suitable for family trip (failed, 'cos I found myself pregnant)" ... hiaks ... i wouldn't want to simply reiterate the same old one I made during last birthday, however, perhaps i shd make my goals a little bit more achievable and accommodating ... otherwise I will be left with devastated dreams at the end of the day, when i reached 50, 60, 70 ... I would still be dreaming about being rich, slim, stress-free, balanced ... so on and so on ...

so ... what're my goals for this coming whole year? ... hehe ... I would want to keep it a secret ... ya ya ... u r right ... 不能说的秘密 ... Let's make a deal here, one year from now, we r going to discuss how different our lives have become ... bet you things will look quite differ ...

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, GRACE!

I Am Still In 20s Category!

enjoying my last minute of being in 20s category!! i am turning 30 in just one min from now!! i really want to stay in 20s category for a bit longer, but since I lost to Lord of Aging, I will have to keep on moving ... continue to age ... get older and older ...

Mooncake Festival

this is baby chloe's 1st mooncake festival. daddy specifically bought a very small lantern for her. little chloe was amazed by this little mickey mouse lantern that blasts the "unknown" chinese song ...

as usual, we celebrated this traditional chinese festival by playing with laterns, eating mooncake and drinking chinese tea. the feeling of whole family sitting down together was simply fantastic. but ... the saddest thing is that, dearest mei mei couldnt join in the fun. shin jie ah, lets do it together next year k?

不老神话

那天在网上浏览时，无意中看到一些昔日红极一时的星星们，过去与现在的外型对比。而以下数位，可说是不老神话俱乐部中的佼佼者喔！

Shin Way's Birthday Celebration

celebrated shin way's birthday with family on sun evening. the idea of buying bday cake actually came from mic, so it was absolutely a surprise for her! just wanna say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY my dear sis!

给大妹的一封信

九月二十三日，大妹的二十七岁生日！姐姐希望你有个很愉快的生日喔！

你呀，从小就是“哭包”一个。遇到什么不顺心的事，第一个反应一定是扁嘴就哭。现在的你再也不是当年的那包“威威洗衣粉”了！已经蜕变成了一个办事能力强而却又善解人意的小女人。姐姐希望你对自己能有多些自信心，不要太吝啬，偶尔也该适当的宠一宠自己。那辆“老英雄”是时候功成身退了。都说了嘛，节俭与吝啬只是一线之差，所以千万千万要提醒自己绝对绝对不能成为“阿红第二”！

在这里，姐姐祝愿你事事顺利，生活开开心心，和你的钦哥哥永浴爱河，早日共结连理。因为有你和欣洁，姐姐很很很希望聿恩宝宝也有姊妹在身边，陪伴她一起渡过每一段开心与不开心的日子。姐姐受人欺负时能向你们倾诉，生气时能向你们发牢骚，所以你们在我的心目中是很很很重要的！要告诉你们，我真的很爱你们喔！

Separation Anxiety

think chloe has shown certain degree of separation anxiety. she gets very upset when she does not see me at night, symptoms are: increasing unease, whining, non-stop weeping. there were a few times when i was out for dinner with friends, sister/mommy/papa called me to inform me that little chloe kept on crying and was unable to be pacified. me and maid are the the main caregivers most of the time, so when they passed chloe to maid, she appeared to have calmed down a little bit, but still displayed signs of anxiety and nervousness. My heart was so broken when i heard little chloe was looking for mama and at the same time it was so sweet to know this little baby actually remembers mama. hope this little one may outgrow this stage very soon. i just hope she doesnt give mom and maid too difficult time when i m away in hong kong.

快乐歌喉战

伟联在“快乐歌喉战”中的表现实在太棒了！这可是他在台湾所上的第一个综艺节目喔！他在节目上看起来不但一点儿也不紧张，还和主持人蔡康永谈笑风生呢！很厉害哟！

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try this out at MyHeritage, interesting!!

Chloe's New Gross Motor Skill

little chloe has been getting close to rolling over. she did her first roll over from tummy to back when she was 2 months old (on 4/7/07)... and FINALLY ... last night, she did her complete “roll over from back to the tummy” for the very first time!

this is what she did ... she swings one leg over the other to turn around her trunk and swings her arm over until she is sort of on her side, then she turns her face down towards the bed ... at first, whenever she rolled over, her left arm would always end up smooched under her until i adjusted her arm, but after a few times, she's so strong and she can pull it out and prop herself up all on her own! bravo my little chloe!!

now that she has acquired this new roll over skill, me and maid would have troubles changing diapers for her, 'cos she keeps on practicing her new gross motor skill whenever she is placed on her back!! she obviously likes to spend time on her tummy rather then her back. she's able to hold her head steady when she's on her tummy, therefore she also loves being held in a sitting position so that she can look around at everything. our hands are breaking 'cos need to hold her walking around when she is bored.

all of the parenting books i have read have a standard order for physical milestones ... lifts up head (yes), rolls over tummy to back (yes), giggles (yes), rolls over back to tummy (yes), sits up (not yet) ... hah ... guess chloe will soon be able to sit on her own ... hehe, my little gal is growing up ...

聿恩宝宝四个月大了喔！

聿恩宝宝从今天起就四个月大了！这个小宝贝呀，小脸蛋是越来越可爱，常常忍不住的想狂吻她！小宝贝呀，麻弥拔拔很爱很爱你哟！麻烦你夜晚都乖乖地睡觉，让麻弥能一觉到天明！

不能说的秘密

Secret
Follow the notes upon a journey
At first sight marks one's destiny
Once the voyage comes to an end
Return lies within hasty key

终于赶在电影下画前看了“不能说的秘密”。

这不只是一部简单的穿越时空的爱情片。整部片子的剧情从一开始就小心奕奕的铺陈，为了小雨那不能说的秘密，埋下了很多伏笔，必需看到最后才能明白最初的对白背后所隐藏的意义。

“能遇见你，对我来说已经很不可思议了！”小雨对叶湘伦说。

天台上,小雨看着叶湘伦， “你知道吗? 我 ...”叶湘伦的目光是期待的, 但是小雨随即笑说，“我算过了, 从琴房到教室,一共一百零八步!”“切... 无聊...”叶湘伦失望的回过头去。

叶湘伦问小雨，“我比赛的时候,你怎么没来?”“我不想让你分心啊!”小雨甜密的回答。

“这个人是谁啊?”母亲在已经休学的小雨身后轻声的问。“就是我和你说的那个男孩啊!”小雨头也不抬专注的画着叶湘伦的画像。

旧琴房挂着肖邦和他一生最爱的女人的肖像。小雨说，“他们最终还是分开了。”叶湘伦说，“但是 ... 十年的爱,已经很长了。”

这几幕剧情深深地烙印在我的脑海中...

原来以为小雨是因为害羞而无法将“喜欢你”三个字说出口，看到最后才恍然大悟，每一回当小雨闭着眼睛，仔细的用脚步测量那一百零八步时，踩下去的一步一脚印，都深深地表达着对叶湘伦的爱恋。

至于最后到底小雨死了没有？又或者叶湘伦因为琴弹得比小雨快而回到了未认识小雨的时候，最后还双双出现在毕业照里头？这就不得而知了!

看完了这部片子，一直回想起小雨在琴谱上写给叶湘伦的话 ...

叶湘伦：

不管我们能不能再见 不管你会不会忘了我

我只想告诉你一个秘密 我爱你

路小雨

what have i been up to?

gee, i havent been blogging much for the month of sept. well, the reasons behind this lagging blog is that i had been unwell for few days and thereafter everyday feeling sleepy, tired and groggy ...

nonetheless, managed to pull myself out of home last friday evening ... met up with michelle, marlina, ling, hong for dinner and followed by a clubbing session at MOS.

clubbing is fun once in a while especially when you need a break from day-to-day routine work. even though MOS is not my favourite, but i still managed to relax a bit by sipping the drinks, watching the crowd and of cos dancing! After clubbing, we were sitting down at east coast park. (it was a place where me and my mates often hang out and chit chat until daybreak before going home.) all ladies could not even pull themselves through the 15 mins wait, simply fell 'concussed' while waiting for the mc donald breakfast to be served ... haha ... so end up we drove home straight! ... hai ... think somehow clubbing life is no longer suitable for aunties like us!! can u imagine, after each clubbing session, i would need at least 2 days of rest to restore my stamina!!

ok ok, what have i been up to lately??

met up with yvonne last wed. well, she was trying to convince me to resume my work. hmm ... sincerely speaking, been thinking about it too ... but taking up the assignments meaning me and baby chloe would need to be separated from hubby for at least 4-5 months till CNY. m i being too selfish for making decision as such? however, even if i reject the assignments, i still dont want to go back. 'cos i will never want to live under one roof with that empress dowager again.

decided on my hk trip ... yup ... going to hk again ... simply 'cos 1) would like to attend gcma; 2) been thinking for a short get away since my shanghai trip is cancelled. mommy has agreed to help taking care of baby chloe. yeah ... a get away that i have been long wanting ...

took a trip to our old place to get some of the stuffs. lots of sweet and vivid memories flashed across my mind as i stepped into the house. this house contains too much of my childhood reminiscence together with papa, mommy, my two beloved sisters and VV our dog. way and i kept on talking about those early days' stories. hai ... those good old days ... time really flies ...

think i really need to re-organise my life. my life has been a mess ever since chloe arrived. not working, lack of proper nutrition and exercise, forever sleep-starved, have been looking sloppy ... gosh ... was talking to mommy the other day ... and conclusions are, i should 1) sign up for yoga sessions; 2) go jogging for at least 2-3 times a week; 3) take some nutrition supplements regularly (i think i need imedeen!!); last but not least, i think i should 4)open a beauty and spa salon so that i can give myself lots and lots of facial & slimming treatments. hahaha!