recap of 2008

ok, this is like a bad broken recorder thingy that i'll do at every year-end.
recap my activities for the year. so bear with me or skip the post.
thank you very much.


jan: hubbi's bday. treated him to jacky cheung concert which i enjoyed myself more than him. bah!
feb: baby yz 1st CNY! lovely lovely! me & hb together for 6 years!
mar: went japan for the 2nd time with mummy and brother. left the little tot behind in the good(?) hands of hubbi and mil. would love to revisit japan, esp hokkaido with the husband! next year perhaps?
apr: went for interviews and gotten 3 offers!! not all are of best terms but i chose the best one! the one which offers the best work-life balance! *sweet*
may: tendered and due to leave my ex- coy after 2 yrs 3 mths there.
jun: went for a 2 weeks+ trip with the husband to east europe! totally awesome! i heart travel minus the hateful long-haul flights! i chose europe anytime over the states though i havent been to USA before. hiaks.
july: went to extract 2 teeth *ouch* and did bridging on my lower teeth! the end result: $2k poorer and straighter teeth on my lower gums. :P my 1st cosmetic surgery and more to come. (?) lol.
aug: baby yz down with cough which persisted for a good 2 1/2 mths!!! lost some weight for the 1st time and totally broke my heart. good thing is he recovered 2 weeks before his actual bday.
sept: our 2 years marriage anniversary! 2D1N @ rasa sentosa was good time out for us but the hotel could be better, seriously. started my driving lessons.
oct: baby yz 1 year old bday! thanks to all relatives and friends who turned up and made it a great occasion! my lil' pumpkin is officially a toddler liao!
nov: popped over to genting for a small recharge with hubbi! like back to the courting days totally. nice. ooh, and the gambling!
dec: went to siem reap with the husband. angkor wat was good but the life there made us unsettled and upset. obtained my driving licence!
also happen to be my bday mth! a quiet evening of movie-dinner date with hubbi @ vivo.
that kinda wrap up my 2008! :)



for the new year 2009, i just hope for good health and smooth year for myself and all my loved ones.

but still, got a wishlist, heh.
1) 1 long trip, preferably to spain+portugal or west coast. though mayb harder with yz older and stickier to me. and yup, no travelling for him till he's older.
2) 1/2 shorter trips, perhaps to macau, beijing, malacca etc?
3) permanent hair removal as inspired by ah ngau. lol. but not cheap wor.
4) good skin from healthy lifestyle and lotsa water!
5) smooth transition to childcare for yz

thats about it bah.

my best x'mas 2008 present....

has to be baby yz's photos from sean lau! finally got to see the end products on friday!
a good 8 weeks since the actual photoshoot on 05.11.08.
though hubbi is still nagging on the high costs, but i think its worth every cents!
sean is really good, he got yz smiling in almost >80% of the photos!
how to choose a mere 6 shots from the total 243?
have to get back all the soft copies right? heh.

check out baby yz's studio shots!
MY LOVELY BABY BOY! :)

im a little bear! *growl*

坚持不露点！

my little angel

no more shopping for moi.. *sob*

the husband has finally shown his displeasure at my shopping yesterday.
and he said NO MORE SHOPPING! but how to! with all the sales ongoing! :(
tried to reason with him that i didnt buy much in the last few months but to no avail. bah.
but i think i really did went a tad overboard this mth.
checked my blog and noted that the spree started on dec 5 when i got a shorts from GG<5 and a skirt from ness.
from then, i went on to to buy:
-1 dress, 1 pants, 3 tops from GG<5
-1 top from topshop
-1 pair of shoes from zara
-1 skirt from isetan

but again, i know there are alot of shopaholics out there who do this kinda shopping like every mth?!
同人不同命。

i tentatively told hubbi wont be buying anything liao for the next 2 weeks. but dont think he's buying that.
and dont think i can do it too. heh.
so can only 走一步算一步。
*blink*

my (un)eventful x'mas 2008

x'mas eve used to be my fav day of the year. but somehow, it loses its appeal this year.
or maybe its just me getting old.
no plans or whatsoever for the special day. didnt even bother asking my mum to let baby yz stay overnight at her place on that day.
heh, maybe maternal instincts taking over?

oh, and been so busy here and there (excuse?) that i didnt get the husband any card or pressie!
what is happening to me!? the lomantic me is gone! ha.
baby is not particularly very upset for he is NCL mah = mr nonchalent. hiaks.
hubbi has checked with me a few times what i want for x'mas but being totally not in the mood, i've dismissed him. saying a card will do.
so he got me a card and was really touched when i read what he wrote in it. though it was already boxing day when i got time to read his card. that's how "busy" i am.
though recalling back now. i didnt seem to do much these few days. just drifting in and out.
what is happening!!?
anyway, wat touched me in the card is just a sentence nia. coming from mr NCL, that speaks volume liao. :)

so being me, in chronological order:
24.12
short day @ work. lunch with colleagues @ canele at raffles city then to browhaus to trim my eyebrows. headed straight to mum's place to fetch yz after that. hubbi reaches ard 3+ and we went to vivo. had a simple dinner there and head home by 7pm to avoid the crowd and madness.
spent a lovely quiet eve with my 2 favorite guys. :)

25.12
yz down with fever! quickly rushed him to KK when the temp hit 38.8. waited from 3+ to nearly 6pm there!! doc diagnosed his throat as inflammed that's why leading to the fever. gosh is it from all the junk that we've been feeding him here and there? luckily the fever subsided in 2 days and baby is well on his way to recovery now.

26.12
back to work for a day. after work went to collect baby studio photos + soft copies from sean lau! will post photos later. stay tuned! then tabao prata from jalan kayu since we were near there.
supper time with hubbi has never been better! :)

27.12
there was BBQ @ SIL's hse but given that baby yz has not yet fully recovered, hubbi went alone while i went to fifi's hse for potluck gathering! :)
and guess what?! we veg out in front of the tv from 7pm -2am watching "命中注定我爱你"!
and i left "early" cos hubbi came to fetch me. they continue watching till dun know wat time! hiaks.
阮经天 is damn cute lah.
even NCL finds the plot interesting when i recapped to him.

28.12
went to pick baby up from mum's place and went orchard. spent a good hour reading a fabulous book "city of theives" at borders while baby napped. read till page 105. to remind meself to continue reading the next time im there. ha. cheepo me.
the in-laws came to look for us at 6+pm and hubbi treated us to the Shashlik russian restaurant @ far east shopping centre for his AWS.
food is nice and pricing reasonable. they are famous for their baked alaska which is some ice cream cake which they light up in flames when serving.
but the taste is alright to me nia.
then its home sweet home for the ng family.

hopefully, my new year/bday week will be much more interesting and fun!
pray that my little baby will be in the pink of health! :)

我的小宝贝14个月大了！

现阶段最喜欢北鼻在夜深人静的时候，做梦时会叫出：妈妈！
也会示意睡觉时间到了。 他会找他的"臭臭"和"嘟嘟",然后指向房间说“哦哦”。
还有，还有，超爱他用双手围绕着我的颈项，用力将他的小脸蛋紧贴着我的脸。
当音乐响起时，还会舞动双手。可爱极了。


当农历新年到临时，他就15个月大了！
好怕好怕，时间太快，长大太快。

*toot toot* i can drive!

as at 18.12.2008, i finally obtained my driving licence!
mine is just an auto licence, but im over the moon no less!
now i can (not for another few more months time, for the husband forbids me to drive without his presence for the time being) drive anywhere anytime! *yippee*

parents and hubbi had persuaded me to learn driving 2 years back. had even booked a date for the basic theory test back then.
but upon learning im preggers, quickly used it as an excuse to stop everything. didnt turn up for the test too. :P

decided to take up once again few months back due to the following:
- may need to ferry yz to his childcare come next may
- no need to persuade the husband to bring me places and bear his nagging *hiaks*
- outings with friends will be much more convenient!

so determined me chose the fast lane (but not in actual driving!) as usual.
signed up with ubi comfort driving centre at start of sept. learning in school allows me to start learning practical lessons while taking the basic and final theory tests concurrently!

so timeline as below:
start of sept: start practical lessons at frequency of 1-2 times per week
mid sept: took basic theory test and passed it
mid oct: took final theory test and passed it
end oct: booked practical test on 18.12.2008
mid nov: finished all modules by lesson 15
mid nov-mid dec: go for 5 revision lessons and ready for practical test after 20 lessons!
mid dec: went for practical test and passed it (8 demerit points...)

so now ive driving licence liao! *wow wee*
would strongly recommend going to driving school to learn driving. though rate is so much higher than private at near to $70 per 1hr 40mins lesson, but the instructors taught at a fast pace and provide all the necessary tips required for the test itself.
also, we were able to book the test date earlier too.
hence in all, it took me 3 1/2 mths and ard $1.6k to got a licence.
not exactly the cheapest but will do for me. :)

ok, now really need to brush up my driving skills so hubbi can let me take the car out by meself! :)

cambodia - siem reap

as some of you would have know, hubbi and me went for a short 4D3N trip to siem reap the last few days.
what was meant as a simple visit-THE-angkor-wat trip turns out to be more humbling than expected.
im really a mother now, for i see things with a newfound perspective which is that of a mummy.

the living conditions there made me think twice of how lucky baby yz is to be living in singapore.
the way the children are left to roam by themselves, sometimes clothless, made me feel so sad.
seeing those kids barely 1-2 years older than my baby, balancing themselves on boats and coming by to ask for some money made my heart heavy.
and the boy selling me stuff around the temples at angkor wat saying he has no money for school if i dont buy from him!
we tried to give some tips here and there or buy things without bargaining too much, but there are simply too many of them. 
and those landmine victims playing music for some donations outside some temples.
those  parents and children camping overnight outside the  hospital for free vaccines.
i mean, i can go on and on about how fortunate we are compared to the average cambodians.

around 70% of the population in siem reap depends on tourism for earnings. with the tension mounting at the borders with the thai, tourism takes a dip and i wonder how they are coping with it.
i mean, i think there are less than 30 rooms occupied in my hotel! most hotels along the street were dark with little inhabitants when we drove past them at night. 
and government is not doing much to restore angkor wat, despite it being the sole reason why visitors are even in siem reap.
more than half of the people are not educated and staying at villages with kampong style huts.
they have no public transport like bus or taxis but only tuk-tuk, similar to those found in thailand, being the main source of transport for tourists.
really, i cant imagine myself living in that kind of conditions. 

and so tourism turnout is so bad till we have our own driver and tour guide! and so for the period there, we were driven in a camry and lunch/dine at expensive restaurants (part of the package). basically, living like a king. but feeling none of one.
how could you when you are greeted with the sights every turn the car took. :(
as the husband said, he much rather squeeze in the subway in europe/states than touring luxuriously over here. 

oh, and we seldom able to know whats going on in the world. the tv is not showing much news and the newspapers focusing on local news. 
so imagine our horror when our tour guide said to us on our 2nd day there that thailand has threatened to wage war on cambodia to claim back the temple at the borders together with 3 provinces, siem reap being 1 of them!
part of us was skeptical about the dubious source, the other half was scared. 
i remember playing all the worst case scenarios in my mind and getting upset. getting stranded in cambodia and not being able to see my baby! *gasp*

was on teeters till the plane took off yesterday evening. @_@

so mixed feelings from this trip, perhaps due to the fact that siem reap is the poorest place ive been to in my life. still, visiting angkor wat is truly enjoyable and i enjoyed some really good hospitality from the locals. 

ok some photos:

a boat tour @ tonle sap river. quite a handful of people live on the lake on such houses. saw many children just hanging ard the platform without any adult supervision! 
@ their "downtown" area. yup, no shopping malls.

1 of the temples at angkor area.



@ ta prohm! where tomb raider is flimed!


@the famous angkor wat


waiting for sunset @ bahkeng hill

our hotel - city angkor hotel

a typical meal there completed with tom yam soup - yummy!

DnD & Dragonfly

had the most fun-filled friday in ages. basically a short working day for me as it was my company DnD in the night and so we were told to have an early release by 3pm. :)

reached home ard 345pm and did a little housework before leaving the house to meet the husband at raffles city for his dinner.
met up with colleagues at 7pm before walking over to our DnD venue.

DnD was held at a outdoor restaurant/cafe at waterloo street. theme was wild wild west!
and most of my colls were surprisingly sporty, really dressing up to the theme.
me? i only donned on a vest n boots to appear cowgirly. heh.
but the outdoor part was really a pain in the ass. soooo HOT. especially so for those who were decked out in long sleeve shirt, scarve, jeans + boots!! *sweat*

dinner was so-so but the mood was festive and high.
i rather enjoyed myself there. :)
some photos!


with my colls

those without hats were given hats. but ummm.. straw hats + cowboy?

i left the event early because..... im going to dragonfly for jx's belated bday celebration!!
*wowwee*
went with zm as his company having DnD at swissotel.
reached at 10pm and the gang has already downed one beer tower!
tell me, mad anot!?

see how red jx & candice faces were!

with gb & ah d.

best buds since sec 1! eeks.

the night was filled with laughter, as usual. think we finished 1 1/2 bottles of johnnie walker between us and many many glasses of beer. *burp*

and sylvester! hiaks. my fav singer in dragonfly (not that there is alot of singers to start with..:P).

at one point of time when the singer on stage sang a medley of sammi cheng songs, we actually stood in a line, arm in arm, and crooned loudly together.

*gasp* the influence of alcohol. heh.

but really, i heart my friends!

and as the night advanced, most of us were like going, going, gone. heh.

do i look sane?

a sad ah d as i finished every drop of the shot.

with grace.

still, we managed to take a group shot when we left.

went back to mum's place to a sleeping baby yz. :)

anyway, i think im gonna swear off alcohol for the time being.

tummy was feeling queasy for the whole of today. blech.

mushy mummy musing

to feel the gentle breathing of your sleeping child on your face - LOVELY.

long weekend: xmas gathering @ my hse!

long weekend is always fun!

though my weekends nowadays are very physically demanding (because of baby yz), heh.

so what did i do this weekend?

saturday was most fun! its shopping time with mummy dearest!

mum came to pick me & baby via cab at around 3+pm and we zoomed to paragon for shopping!

so for the next few hours, mummy and me shopped our hearts out and yz was very co-operative by guai-guai staying in his pram & napping a good 1 1/2hr in between. :)

i got another dress from gg<5!>

was really pooped by the time hubbi came to fetch us home by 8.30pm but i really enjoyed the quality time with my mum!

hubbi and i managed to get some time alone yesterday by dropping off the baby @ my mum's place while we made a short trip to parkway parade for dinner and some window-shopping.

i really think time-alone with the husband is important.

hence really glad that we are managing our couple time well so far.

and today!

the girls popped by my house for a wayy early x'mas and pressie exchange gathering!

i ordered sakae sushi platter and a pizza for our lunch and we had fun doing the usual rubbish.

yakking away, looking at old photos and laughing at our past fashion sense and doings, watched "closer" again (most of us watched it before but cant resist a good show again, esp with jude law in it!), exchange presents between us etc.

it was a fun-filled 5 hrs while they were at my house. :)

even baby yz enjoyed himself tremendously. he was like a celebrity, everyone wants a piece of him! heh.

some photos taken of him before the arrival of the guests:

dun know why so happy. must be the remote controls all within his reach!

little fellow still crusing around

still reaching out for the remote controls!

the girls with our respective presents!

ending the post with a frowning baby pix:

海角七号

昨天小北鼻在老妈家，所以决定跟老北鼻去看场电影。
就看了个海角七号。
是个超不赖的决定!
温馨，不做作，感人，好笑。

“思念，就像太阳下的影子，你追我逃，我追你逃，一辈子."
不是自然死的恋情，让人一辈子活在思念中。
但也不错啦，至少那记忆永远是美的。
虽然，在现实中，时间是残酷的。
总会冲淡一切。
永恒这东西，留给电影吧。

“留下来，或者我跟你走。"
一辈子只要能听上一次也就无遗憾了吧！
之后的事谁也不能保证。
但当下的真诚与坚定是多麽的感人！
好啦，是有那麽一点的超现实。
但，但，这种感动是多麽的诱人，让人沉溺。

“請原諒我的愛　訴說的太緩慢“
能不原諒吗？迟来好过没到，对吧？
那把嗓子，把深情都唱到心坎里。
怎能不说好呢？

别误会，海角七号述说的不只是感情戏。
还有许多许多。
只不过呢，我就栽在那“情”节上。 ：）

GG<5 & NESS..

are having 20% sale storewide!
老娘 bought a working skirt from ness & casual shorts from GG<5 in less than 20mins during lunch!
*toot toot*

happy lah.

isnt that what december is all about! :)

new words everyday

the little one surprises us with his verbal skills progression for the past 2 weeks.
he can utter the following words without us prompting:
- mama
- papa
- por por (婆婆）
- ball (more like bah..)
- duck
- star
- wow-wer (for flowers.. ha.)
- nana (for banana)
- doo-doo (for pacifier)

and these by repeating after us:
- mor (for el-mo)
- jiu jiu (舅舅）
- goon-goon (for gong gong 公公）
- ge ge (for 哥哥）
- jie jie (for 姐姐）
- and a lot more random stuff.

really very fun to see him staring hard at our lips to see how the sounds are made and then trying to pronounce them himself.

nowadays, yz is getting more sticky to me. he is still ok with being carried by others but he prefers me to carry him most of the time. :)

and once again, baby 's memory is shocking. sometimes i wonder if it's good to use words that i deem too complicated to them, but somehow, yz knows and remembers what im referring to.
for example, i used to bring him to playground downstairs and spread my arm around while telling him" playground" so he can associate this place with the word.
and he remembers! ha. so now whenever we come out of our lift, he can point us to the right direction when we ask him where is the playground/7-eleven/mrt/carpark etc? ha.

its really not a joke when they said babies' minds are like sponges! they absorb everything soo fast! really must be careful what we talk and how we behave around them

ok, last update on the little bub. he knows how to dig his nose liao! LOL.
it started with him always doing that to our nose when we asked him where is papa/mama's nose. then now when we asked him to point to his own nose, he'll point and then slowly try to dig his nostril with his index finger. such a funny sight!!
but hor, his finger is bigger than his nostril!! so kena stuck at the entrance, heh.
my mum is not very pleased with this new antic. she is scared that he'll scratch his little nostril. :P
but, so funny!

chicky pox jab, novena (nah!) & sean lau

it's time again for jab! brought baby yz to the PD this morning to get his chicky pox jab and brave boy didnt cry again and was duely rewarded with a biscuit. heh.
he didn't develope any fever too. so all was nice and good.

come 3pm and its time for the ng family to get out of the house to escape the afternoon heat!
hubbi suggested united square and novena so off we go!

baby and mammy!

one more with pappy?

the ng family!

and it was a mistake. novena bored the mummy to tears. but it was an alrighty place for the lil' one though with all its kiddy rides.

let yz had a go on a barney ride and he was sooo happy! he was turning the wheel like a pro and pressing the buttons on it on and off. heh.

oh, and we bought him a new sweater and socks too. FOX baby having discount now!

we settled dinner at a jap restaurant @ velocity. really so-so, what a let-down.

i think it'll be awhile before we visit this area again..

around evening time, we went to sean lau photography to select photos taken during the photoshoot early this mth! sean took ard 260+ photos of yz and he was smiley in more than 75%of them! gosh. so that means we had a tough time choosing 6 photos out of the lot!

in the end, we (more of me lah) opted to top up $350 to get all the soft copies back in high resolution and sean will develope 16 copies in 5R that we've chosen too.

cant wait to see the photos itself in 4 weeks time! :)

a really tiring day, esp for the husband who drove so much. and poor him is still cleaning up the kitchen now. apparantly some ants have moved into our kitchen and built a nest! so he is getting down to the dirty work of locating the nest, removing it and wiping clean of most cupboards to prevent such thing from happening again. @_@


ok, i should be helping him out. so here i go!

i realised having a child changes your body/face shape.
im definitely back to my pre-preggy weight.
but somehow, my face looks rounder. the apples of my cheeks not so defined. chin not so sharp (not that last time very sharp lah.).
is this just due to normal aging process, aka ur face just gets saggy?
and my bottoms are tighter now.
think the hip bones really expanded after delivery as what the old folks said.
though my feet expanded that teeny weeny bit too, im lucky to be still able to fit into my old shoes.

so to look the same as last time, i need to lose weight compared to last time?
tell me, is this ridiculous or what.
coupled with slower metabolism rate now, slimming down is easier said than done.

hmpf!

year end is a terrible period. it puts you in a joyous mood and all caution fly to the wind.
and all i can think of is buy, buy, buy.


and terrible me bought all these in a single day:
1) shu uemura night cream
2) shu uemura blusher
3) flats from topshop
4) tights from topshop
5) 2 bras from La Senza
6) dress from self-fridge
7) 2 dresses from hula & co


but before you scream, " spendthrift!" like the husband, all the above are subjected to 25-40%discounts.


so not too bad huh?


me. n hubbi.