30 Days of Thanksgiving - 28/30

Hehehe this series of thanksgiving posts has taken me more than a year, and I'm not even done! Ah well, slow and steady. 

Today, I am thankful for my wedding. +3 and I got married a year ago, and I'm thankful for everything about it. From friends who helped me with my wedding dress and cheongsum (fashionjeannie), to the wedding bouquet (metamorphoenix), the traditional tea ceremony (chingaling and shiny) and registration (mummychen and shiny). 

Family flew down from all over the world (Indonesia, Australia, USA etc) to celebrate with us and we were really blessed to have them with us. 

Even the planning of the wedding was so smooth, we managed to pull everything off in 3 months! Booking the venue (Halia @ The Raffles Hotel - gorgeous space, awesome food), finding a solemniser, preparing the guest favours (awesome mini calendars), and finalising the guest list. 

Of course, the highlight of getting married shouldn't be the wedding ceremony. We've had an amazing journey the past year and grow from strength to strength as a couple. Now that we're expecting a baby, the journey is going to get more exciting! 

Happy Anniversary, dear. I love you so much. 

How Things Are Like So Far

In the last 10 over hours or so that I've been at KKH, I think I've taken at least 5-6 BP readings. Most of the readings were in the normal range (110ish - 120ish) and only one at 830pm which was 160ish.

No idea why the fluctuation. 

Managed to snooze for abit from 12ish to 1ish, but was woken up for a reading at 1.15am. Stayed up till 2ish thinking they'd take a reading again an hour again but they didn't and I managed to sleep and got woken up at about 5.15am for another reading. The latest one was 113/-.

Also gave 3 pee samples in the time I was here, thankfully I drink a lot of water so am able to perform. Hehe. And everything seems normal. I'm hoping to be discharged before 11.30am later today. 

One thing I've noticed is that it isn't that easy to rest well in the hospital. For one, the beds aren't all that comfy (no fluffy pillows) and that waterproof plastic layer just makes your butt sweat. Lol.

The constant people walking in and out is also distracting. I'm in the C-class ward which is the 6-bedder, but it's really very open so I can hear people snoring, chatting, and babies crying. 

Newborns crying sound like cats meowing. 

Anyway I'm glad that my blood pressure seems to be ok. Hope the doctor does his/her rounds early so I can know what's going on. Meanwhile, I'm going to try to snooze a little bit more. 

Admitted

So I'm writing this from my hospital bed in KKH. I went for my routine check up and apparently my blood pressure was really high so the gynae wrote a note and asked me to go to KKH A&E immediately. 

I should have taken yumtum's advise and packed some stuff (toiletries) but I only took my phone charger (and not even the long cable pfft) and headed to the hospital. Optimistic me. 

Anyway after observation at the hospital, the doctor said they couldn't let me go home so I had to be admitted for at least 24 hours. +3 bought me some food (2 sandwiches which I wolfed down cos I only got to eat at 9pm) and 2 more cheeseburgers (in case I get hungry in the middle of the night). 

Not the best midnight snack cos you know, salt and high blood pressure don't go well together, but I'm just keeping it here in case I get hungry. And in case anyone jumps to any conclusions, mac isn't something I eat regularly. 

Now I'm decked out in the fancy hospital gown, which incidentally is nursing friendly (KKH mah) and now I see why nursing tops can be so useful. You've got holes everywhere for your boobs to pop out! 

I've also got to have my BP checked every hour (nurse said, no need to sleep lor) so if there is a sudden spammage of posts, you know why. 

Anyway, all is well and I'm trying to stay chill and relexed. Have my phone charger so yay for juiced up phones. Hehee. 

Quote of the Day

Me: What are you doing?

+3: I'm touching my bum hair. Want to touch? 

Me: Eee 

+3: It's clean! 

Me: Lol 

+3: Don't laugh! It's a silencer for my farts.

Coney Island

After a successful morning gallivanting around town yesterday, +3 and I thought it would be a good idea to head out in the morning like we did and be back after lunch in time for an afternoon nap.

The destination? Coney Island. 

We woke up a little later than we did yesterday, and left at about 9am. Took the bus to Punggol Promenade and walked towards Coney Island. We got to the West entrance, and followed the main path in. 

It was a simple walk, but not much shade and it got hotter as the day wore on. We walked in Coney Island for 1.5 to 2hours from one end to the other, exiting at the East entrance at Lorong Halus. 

We really should have packed some food or had a more substantial breakfast because we were getting hungry, and the heat wasn't helping. Thankfully it was an easy walk so we just trudged along. 

Finally got to this rest point at Lorong Halus and took a little break. Played some Ingress and took down a couple of portals, and headed towards the park connector and to the area where all the eating places were. 

Rewarded ourselves with Popeye's chicken, had a cup of coffee after lunch, and walked towards our soon-to-be-home. Yay it's great to be within walking distance from the park connector! 

Got back home, showered and napped. What a brilliant day. :) 

Ingress

So CH has introduced the evil game, Ingress, to +3 and I. It's a game app that you install on your phone, where landmarks around you are "portals". You choose a side (green or blue) and try to hack or capture as many portals as you can. 

It's bloody addictive and CH is an evil woman.

Anyway apparently the blue folk are leading worldwide, and CH got us to team green. We have a few portals in our 'hood that were green (yay) but then today found out that they were taken over by some blue folks (boo!). 

Long story short, +3 decided to go around this evening and take them back. Woohoo! It was fun skulking around the neighbourhood, and I think we actually saw the person who was defending his portals while we were attacking them. Hehehe.

Productive Saturday Morning

Left at 7.45am and took the train to Outram Park MRT. Walked to Tiong Bahru to eat Yong Tau Fu. Walked to Zion Road to go to church and prayed. Went to Great World City but most of the shops were closed. Walked to Robertson Quay abd had coffee at Toby's Estate. Walked to Liang Court and browsed books at Kinokuniya and went to basketball ramen for lunch. Bought some chocolate buns from Duke Bakery and went home to shower and nap. 

Nostalgia

So what happens when you nap from 5pm to 6.30pm and can't sleep even though it's 2am? Listen to 90s songs on youtube with the Husband, of course! 

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 27/30

Wow I can't believe I haven't written about this yet. Today, I'm thankful for our first home together.

Since +3 isn't from SG, he's been renting a place since moving here. His first was a bedroom in Bishan, and eventually moved to a one bedroom + one living room + one kitchen + one bathroom place in Chinatown (fondly referred to as 201). He's been staying there for years, and I moved in with him gradually (a weekend here and there, which became more frequent till it made more sense for me to stay with him since my gu ma was staying with my parents). 

Soon we were living together and while we naturally had our teething problems, they got sorted out pretty quickly and we fell into a nice and comfortable routine. 

It was in this home that we became friends and subsequently fell in love. Where we had our first kiss, had fights and made up. Where we danced and made up silly songs and lay on the sofa watching movies. Where we invented meals and shared cups of coffee and tea, looking out the window at the trees outside. Where we grew plants and made aquariums and flushed countless of (dead) fish down the loo (with accompanying funeral trumpet song as well). This is the first place we stayed in together as a married couple. Where we found out we were expecting a baby. :) 

However, the management of the property didn't manage to win the tender from the government and soon everyone in the block got letters indicating that our lease would be expiring. We had about a month and a half's notice and everyone had to be out by mid-September.

By the time we got the letter, I was already pregnant. Our new home in Punggol wouldn't be ready till the end of the year or early next year, and it didn't make sense for us to look for a new place to rent for half a year. My dad suggested we move to Sengkang for the time being, and we gladly accepted.

Spent the whole month of July slowly packing up and making arrangments to have our stuff put into storage. We decided to move out by end July so that we wouldn't have to pay rent unnecessarily for September. 

We got boxes and organised our stuff (we being mainly +3 since I wasn't allowed to do heavy lifting and was exhausted all the time anyway from being pregnant in my first trimester). 

It's amazing how much stuff one accumulates. We donated our furniture to +3's eldest sis, who had a flat in Lavender that was still pretty unfurnished. In return, she loaned us one of the rooms in her flat to use for storing our stuff. We also gave away most of our books (there is a book exchange corner at the National Library where you could leave/take books) and old clothes (to nanny). 

We finally got the movers to move the stuff out, cleaned up the place and returned the keys. Such a bittersweet moment knowing that you are leaving your first home, but excited that a new chapter of our lives was about to begin. 

So, thank you 201, for all the memories we built in the past couple of years. 

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's my birthday today! And I realise that I have come to the point where I'm just outright lying about how old I am (18, 21 and 24 are my go-to ages, depending on who I am talking to). Lol.

Had a simple dinner with +3 last night after he got off work, and had a nice slab of cake from Awfully Chocolate after. Came back and was told to stay up till midnight by my sister, who was sweet enough to walk away from a work discussion in the office, and call me to sing Happy Birthday.

Of course, +3 was the first to wish me Happy Birthday, and sang me a birthday song (right before my sis called lol). Then my parents who said "haven't sleep yet ah" cos I had told them goodnight at about 10pm. Hehe.

A simple day lazing about at home today. Baby Chung is happily dancing in my belly, so I'm taking that he is doing a birthday dance for me. And dinner will be a simple meal with the family, followed by a carrot cake that I'm baking for myself. Hehehe.

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 26/30

There are lots of restrictions on what you can eat when one is pregnant. No alcohol, raw meats or fish, soft boiled eggs or high mecury fish. One should also limit the amount of caffeine intake up to 200mg of caffeine a day, which is about a cup or two of coffee a day, depending on how strong the brew is.

I do try to cut down on sugary stuff and have obviously avoided alcohol, and only indulged in some sashimi in Japan (it's Japan!) because the restaurant we went to had good reviews on quality. 

The one thing I miss though, is coffee and tea. I did try to have some chai tea latte from Starbucks earlier on in ny pregnancy but I think the size I usually get (the grande) was too much and left me with a little bit of heart palpitations. 

Of course, it never occured to get smaller sizes until I saw that there were short sizes inthe Starbucks shops in Japan. Something smaller than the small (tall)? 

So the couple of matcha lattes I had in Tokyo were short, and when we came back we asked the Singapore Starbucks outlet if they had short sizes. They do! They just never advertised it, the sneaky buggers. So now I'm thankful for my little indulgence whenever I go to Starbucks. Hehehe.

Our Last Day In Japan

One of my ex colleagues sent a post about some straw that Japan Macdonald's use for their milkshake that supposedly mimic the speed of breastfeeding (or something random like that), which inspired us to have breakfast at Macdonald's on our last day in Japan. Alas, we were too early and their milkshakes were not ready, but we went ahead and had breakfast there anyway. 

Something about Japan that I like is how they make you sort your trash into glass, plastic, paper and trash. The food packaging is also all paper (unlike Singapore's styrofoam packaging pfft). 

Walked about after breakfast trying to do some last minute shopping for +3's sister, and then went back to the hotel to check out. 

It was a rainy day, and the plan was to take the subway to Shibuya station where we would check our luggage in one of the lockers and buy train tickets to Narita International Airport. We found a large sized locker that fit both our cabin luggage, for only 600yen. Two tickets on the Narita Express to NIA cost a little over 6000yen (I forget exactly). 

We had till 4pm to kill, so decided to go to the Tokyu Hands shop and look for wallets and a bag that we wanted to buy. Bought a foldable umbrella (1300yen and the umbrella opened to 65cm!) and made our way. Stopped at a Pronto cafe to try their kit kat croissant (another recommendation from my ex-colleague. It was ok, not something one MUST try). 

Also checked out the 7 storey Muji store. Saw some wooden toys that we were keen to buy but decided that keeping them in humid Singapore for a couple of years before they can be used wasn't such a good idea. 

I really liked Tokyu Hands. This one that we went to was way better and bigger than the one we went to earlier at Takashimaya. +3 managed to buy some dried moss that he was looking for, and we also bought the wallets and bag we originally planned to get. 

Managed to get a tax refund for our purchases (yay more spending money!) and by the time we were done, we had to head back to the train station. 

Fast forward and after a quick nap on the train, we were at the airport. Checked in, had dinner, bought Tokyo Banana (wait till you are past immigration to buy, don't be dumbasses like us and buy outside immigration cos you end paying taxes), boarded the plane. It was a smooth flight back and instead of sleeping, I watched Back to the Future 1, 2 and 3! SQ in flight entertainment rocks. 

So we are back in SG and missing Japan. Now I know why so many people love the country and I can't wait to go back. Interestingly, I thought people would offer me seats on the subway trains, but 1. the trains weren't that full and we managed to get seats most of the time anyway, 2. when we had to stand it wasn't for long, 3. mebbe my belly isn't so obvious yet and they think I'm just fat. 

Ah well. 

Japan Day 5 (or 6?) - St Mark's Cathedral

We had breakfast at the basement of the Square Enix building (a mecca for Final Fantasy fans, according to +3)- a simple and not too tasty breakfast at Tully's Coffee. I think the public holiday was already over as we saw lots of office people heading to work. 

Didn't really have any where that we wanted to go, having covered most of the "popular" areas in the past few days. +3 mentioned a church that wasn't really a tourist attraction, but had nice architecture and since we like visiting churches, became our agenda for the day.

Did a bit of research on how to get there and found that we had to go to the Edogawabashi station, and walk through the Edogawa Park and through the gardens of Hotel Chizanso Tokyo to reach the St Mark's Cathedral.

I was getting rather adept at navigating the Tokyo subway, and soon we were on our way. The Edogawa Park was more of a little local park along the river, and wasn't as well manicured as some of the other parks we had been to. However, it had a nice character to it and we saw abandoned playgrounds, homeless people lying about and grandparents taking their grandchildren for a walk. One of the things I really liked about parks in Japan was how gorgeous they smelled, with lots of osmanthus trees planted around which let off a sweet floral scent.

The entrance to the Hotel Chizanso wasn't immediately apparent, and we had to backtrack when we realised that we were probably walking too far off. There was a small entrance with a guy standing there, and a tiny signboard which said Hotel Chizanso. 

We walked in and was greeted by the most lush garden grounds ever. Apparently the hotel lies on 17 acres of land and is a 5 star hotel managed by the Four Seasons. I'm glad that we had the chance to explore the garden grounds and we spent a long time enjoying the garden and taking pictures. Made our way to the front of the hotel lobby and across the street was the St Mark's Cathedral. 

The Cathedral was beautiful in the way modern buildings are beautiful with very clean, sleek lines. We took a moment to step inside and pray (something we try to do when we encounter a new church) and walked around. 

Explored the neighbourhood afterward. Not sure what the area was called but it had a nice quiet atmosphere which reminded us of a Bukit Timah vibe. There weren't any eating places (only a Pizza Hut delivery and a Domino's.. do they like pizza in that 'hood?) so we went to a supermarket and bought some snacks- buns, mochi, crackers and some drinks. Sat on a bench and ate before making our way back.

I think all the walking we had done over the past few days was starting to take its toll on me and I was feeling rather pooped. Headed back to the hotelfor a nap and slept the afternoon away. Woke up and went to the steak place near our hotel (same chain as the steak place we saw in Ueno but the service and food quality wasn't as good) and shopped at Don Quijote. It had started raining as well. 

Passed by a curry house on our way backand popped in for round two of dinner (pork katsu curry for him, a salad for me) which made up for our ok steak dinner experience. Then it was back to the hotel to pack and settle down for the night. 

Japan Day 4 (or 5?) - Shibuya, Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown

Headed straight to Shibuya in the morning to queue up at the restaurant that was recommended by Ching. Located on the 4th floor of the Mark City mall's East Wing, Midori sushi restaurant already had a queue forming even before the restaurant opened.

We arrived at about 10.45am (restaurant opened at 11am) and our queue number was 30. Joined the end of the line and waited as more people streamed in to get a ticket. As we were chatting, a guy suddenly comes up to us to ask if we were 2 pax, and gave us his ticket number 19! What a stroke of luck. Turns out his friend had already come earlier and gotten ticket number 3.

With our smaller queue number, we were able to be seated soon after the restaurant opened, and even managed to get a counter seat where we could see all the sushi being prepared. We ordered one ultimate sushi set and one tuna sushi set which cost 2000yen and 2800 yen respectively.

The sushi was super fresh and so good, and we ordered extra pieces of sea urchin, salmon roe and also inari sushi. Sosososo good.

Stomachs filled, we made our way to Roppongi Hills. From what I gather, Roppongi Hills was in a more atas part of Tokyo. There was a Belgium beer fest happening at one of the atriums, and there was a good crowd attending the event. I was surprised to see that each attendee was only issued with one plastic beer glass and some tokens, and that participants would have to wash their beer glasses at various rinsing points scattered around. What a brilliant way to minimise litter!

Lazed in one of the parks / open spaces and then made our way to Tokyo Midtown. There was a park next to Tokyo Midtown that had a chill vibe to it. Lots of people were sprawled across the grass, lying on picnic mats and reading books or chatting with friends. We bought our drinks from Starbucks and spent some time lazing around on the grass too.

It was such a beautiful day and we took a much slower pace compared to the few days before.

Ended the day by checking out the Tokyo Tower and heading back to the hotel area where we discovered a branch of that outlet that sold tempura and soba. Yay! Dinner was settled.

Wasn't as exhausted as previous days but was tired from all the walking nonetheless, so fell asleep pretty quickly after my shower. Time in Tokyo is passing so quickly!

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 25/30

I'm thankful for holidays with the husband. I think we make a good team traveling together and we always have such a good time exploring places together. What I like is how we don't have have a fixed plan, and we're flexible in where to go and what to do and always manage to have a great time.

Japan - Day 3 (or 4?) - Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku

Saw a sign that said "Shibuya - 3km, Harajuku - 5km" so we decided to walk instead of taking the subway.

Had breakfast at one of the few joints in the area that was open in the morning, Freshness Burger. I had a chicken teriyaki burger and +3 had a hotdog and spme croissant-puff with cream. A yummy breakfast to start the day.

Walked to what we thought was Shibuya, but turns out we were still in the Shinjuku area. Japan is big! Lol. Popped into Takashimaya Times Square cos they had a sign advertising Tokyu Hands and +3 wanted to see what it was. Turns out Tokyu Hands is just a brand of a department store that sells all kinds of stuff like stationery, toys, household stuff etc.

Bought some toys there (Star Wars for him, Pose Skeleton for me) and walked around the various levels. Bought some food from the basement food market (tuna sushi, chicken yakitori, plum rice balls and sweet potato - which were all ok only) and ate at the rooftop garden, a nice space we discovered that gave a gorgeous view of the city.

Took the subway to the Harajuku station (it's got another name) and walked along the Otomesando Avenue. From Harajuku we walked to Shibuya, stopping at Tower Records and a couple of other shops. I took a break while +3 explored the area and took some pictures of the public spaces.

If you're in the Otomesando Avenue area, take a walk along the back alleys. It has a lot of interesting shops and lots more character.

Saw the famous Shibuya Crossing (crazy So. Many. People.). Originally thought of looking for this sushi joint that was highly recommended but we were too tired and decided to head back to the hotel instead.

Took the wrong train to the outskirts, but discovered it soon enough and managed to find the right one after. Dinner was at the same Tamoya-like place. Heh.

Japan Day 2 (or 3?) - Ueno & Asakusa

On Monday, we went to Ueno and Asakusa. We headed to the Ueno Park which was crazy crowded (the Imperial Palace Park was waaaay nicer and less people). Also visited the National Museum of Western Art (admissions at 430yen each - according to +3, I didn't want to go in but he decided I needed some culture lol). This museum was designed by Le Corbusier, apparently the grand master of modern architecture.

Hilariously, +3 thought another building (the Symphony Orchestra building) was the one by designed Le Corbusier. (I guessed correctly hahahaha).

The collection used to be owned by a rich guy called Matsukata, who lost his paintings during the war, and then the Japanese governmnetasked the French government to give them back after the war as part of the peace treaty. Or something like that.

Bought some ice cream from an ice cream truck after, then walked around the area before heading to Asakusa.

Asakusa is like Old Tokyo, and we originally had plans to see the Senso-Ji temple but OMG there were So. Many. People. Decided to just have lunch at a nearby steakhouse (The Very Steak!) which was delicious, despite being a  standing only place. We had 300gm of ribeye steak each. Yum. Popped over to Starbucks where I discovered that they had a short size drink (smaller than the small size, tall). Matcha tea latte = love.

Walked past a building designed by Philip Starck (not sure how to spell), which looked like a black square building with a golden turd (or carrot if you're polite) on the top. Lol. This guy also designed +3's lemon juicer. Hehehe. Sat by the river for a bit then headed back to the hotel.

Explored the area around our hotel in the evening. Booked the wrong Hotel Sunroute - instead of the Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku that everyone was recommending, I booked the Hotel Sunroute Higashi Shinjuku instead. Thankfully it was also near a sunway station.

The hotel is located near Korea Town and also near the Square Enix building (some office building of some game company- +3 says he feels like he is having an umrah by visiting that building. Lololol). We were also within walking distance (about 8 min walk?) to the Don Quijote shop- the Japanese version of Mustafa. Dinner was at a local Tamoya-like joint opposite the hotel which is open 24 hours. We picked items off the shelf and paid for it before sitting down to eat.

It was a tiring day but fun exploring the city. Passed out when I got back to the hotel. Lol.

Japan - Day 1 (Or Is It 2?)

We got in to Tokyo yesterday, after a pleasantly comfortable 7 hour flight on SQ. Knowing that Baby Chung is now using my bladdar as a kicking bag, +3 let me have the aisle seat so I could make my frequent trips to the toilet.

An uneventful flight, thankfully, the highlights being my multiple toilet runs and watching Unlucky Plaza on the in-flight entertainment system. Thumbs up for Unlucky Plaza.

There was some initial confusion upon arriving at Narita Airport on which train to take to get to our hotel, but I'm blessed with an amazing husband who managed to figure it out. We bought tickets for the Narita Express (about 3020 yen each) and waited for the train. We also bought Pasmo cards to use on the subway.

Got to Tokyo station, got out and explored a little while looking for the stations where we couldchange to another line. Again, I have to say how amazing +3 is. I don't know how I would have navigated this alone.

By the time we checked in to our hotel (Hotel Villa Fountaine Kudanshita), we were starving. Put our bags in our room and explored the neighbourhood. Found a little joint that said "Tendon Soba Udon" and went inside. I was wondering what "Vegetable Tendon" was, and turns out a tendon is a tempura rice bowl. Ahsohneh!

Ate first meal in Tokyo, then walked around for about an hour or so. The weather at night is nice and cool, and there were lots of small restaurants and minimarts (7-11, Lawson's etc) around. Not a bad place to be for our first two nights in Japan!

Today, we woke up and skipped the hotel breakfast (looked like toast and scrambled eggs) and decided to have breakfast at a cafe we spotted the night before that had charcoal roasted coffee. +3 had pancakes with azuki and a scoop of ice cream, and I had a sandwich (roasted chicken and egg mayo).

Walked down to the Nippon Budokan and then down the Imperial Palace Park and explored the Imperial Palace. The park had gorgeous open spaces and we spent some time lying on the grass, in the shade of the trees.

Had curry for lunch at some place called Hot Spoon near the subway station, and then took the train to Akihabara aka the place with all the electronics.

Went inside a book store that had 9 stories, 3 of which were dedicated to all things comic-related. Beware if the sign on the 9th floor says it is for "portfolio" cos what it really is are the pornos. Lol. Imagine being the only female on that floor.

Walked to another building and explored Muji and wow, the selection of stuff is so much larger than what we have in Singapore!

Was feeling tired so we stopped at a cafe, and I ended up dozing off for about 10-15 minutes. Finally woke up and headed to some mall (can't remember what it was called) where we spent the rest of the afternoon. 7 floors of stationery (we bought some pens) and electronics and household appliances and toys (bought some bandai too, +3 was a happy camper).

Made our way back and ate at the same place we had dinner last night. Tomorrow, we check out and head to our hotel in Shunjuku.

Land of the Rising Sun

We're in Japan! Too tired to write much but this babymoon looks promising.

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 24/30

I know I'm taking a really long time to finish these series of posts, but what can I say? It's my blog and I'll post when I want to. Lol.

Simple thing to be thankful for today - my Shu Uemera Tsuya Skin Youthful Crystal-Transparency Lotion.

When I was preparing for my weddinv last year, shiny recommended a make up artist. I went for a trial make up session and really liked her, and she shared that I had really dry skin. I confessed that I didn't really have any facial routine other than to wash with a generic facial wash and the occasional slap of moisturiser (every other month).

Instead of nagging me about the importance of a proper skin care routine, she actually said that she was very lazy herself and just used this Shu Uemera lotion at night after she washed her face.
I decided to get a bottle for myself and tried to use it every night. It was really easy cos after I'd wash my face, I just needed to shake a couple of drops onto my palm and clap them together and then pat onto my face. And that's it!

A super simple skincare routine.

I saw her a couple of months after my trial make up session, and while I did pamper myself with a few facial sessions, I know my skin was definitely not as dry as when she first met me.

Even today, more than half a year after my wedding, I'm still using that same bottle I bought and my skin thanks me for it. Heheh.

The Library

One of the places I enjoy hanging out at since I've stopped working is the main branch of the National Library. It's convenient to get to, and the airconditioning is comfortable and not too cold like in the malls.

The wide selection of (free) books keep me entertained as well and the space is generally comfortable and pleasant to spend a few hours in.

Today, I've found myself a nosy nook to settle into, and I've picked up a Piers Anthony book which will transport me to the wonderful land of Xanth. What a wonderful way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Skype!

One of the things I really enjoy these days is skyping with my sis. I don't know why we never used to do it last time, after all, she's been in the US for more than 2 years now. But it's better late than never.

Being able to skype each other means that not only do we get to jibber jabber on for long periods of time (an average call is about an hour?), I also get to see baby-I in action. Bless!

She really is the sweetest child, and I love being able to see my sis and her interacting. Yay technology!

Luckiest Girl In The World

I've been feeling a little under the weather these past couple of days and +3 has really stepped up to take care of me. Despite a busy day at work, he comes back home to cook dinner when I'm too tired to, and also does all the chores around the house.

The exzema on my fingers have been flaring up too and guess who has been blessed to have in-house shampoo sessions? *love*

I'm the luckiest girl in the world. I'm the luckiest girl in the universe!

We Have Limited Time In The Sun

+3 and I bought some gundam toys (is that what they are called?) over the weekend. We got the limited edition SG50 one cos we are so Singaporean, and another green one called Hi-Mock.

The result of this gundam filled weekend was a couple of gundam related dreams. I can't remember the details of my dream but it has to do with me giving +3 a white one.

+3's dream was less complicated but much sweeter.

He dreamt that he was looking at a movie poster which had a huge gundam and at the bottom, some small pictures, one of which was a couple hugging (which turned out to be us). The movie tagline was "We have limited time in the sun" which was a reminder that we only had a limited time on earth.

Awww.

I'm so thankful to be blessed to be married to such a wonderful man who is compatible with me in so many ways. Gotta really remember not to take our time together for granted.

The Beginning of a New Chapter

So I quit my job and served my last day of notice last Friday. The plan is to take a break, be less stressed out, and hopefully make a baby.

And what have I discovered in the last couple of days?

Not being in the office is HOT. The temperature has been in the low to mid 30s, and have I mentioned that it's hot?

Ah well. Thankfully there are a tonne of malls, libraries and cafes to hang out at.

Happy Moments of 02062015:

- Enjoyed my first official work-free day (weekends don't count) by napping a couple of times in the day. So blissful to doze off at 1pm for a siesta.

- Was introduced to the Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry shop by CH. Had delicious kuehs like kueh dadar, ondeh ondeh and many more.

- Finally found one of the kittens that I spotted a couple of weeks back. Saw these 2 kittens playing near the drain, and I've been buying cat food and trying to look for them for quite some time. The neighbourhood cats have gotten lucky, since I end up feeding them anyway, but spotted the little one hiding behind a shrub. Yay!

Time to take a shower and head out to find someplace cool to chill. Happy days!

Happy Moments of the Day

I was reading random old posts from 2009 and saw that I used to do these "Happy Moments of the Day" posts. I know I've not completed my 30 Days of Thanksgiving series, but that's the beauty of writing in your own space, isn't it?

So here are my Happy Moments of today (26052015):

- Spent half the day clearing out my desk and chucking out stuff. Nothing like counting down to your last day at work to give you motivation to get organised.
- Met Rab at AMK Hub to have a shoulder massage at Wanyang, followed by a yummy lunch at Ichiban Sushi. One of the people I will miss is definitely Rab, especially since we've gotten closer in the past year.
- Managed to successfully replicate +3's mie bakso recipe and whip up a delicious dinner. It's a simple and tasty recipe that looks like it will make repeat appearances at our dining table.

Hello Weekend

Had a pretty awesome day yesterday. Got up and had breakfast, and pottered around the house while +3 had to head to the office for a bit to get some work done.

Finally got round to making my embroidered card, even though I stabbed myself once with a needle and sliced a bit of my finger. It was fun, but I need to find a better (safer) way to poke holes. Lol.

A couple of days ago, my dad called. This was our conversation-

Me: Hello?
Dad: Hello. (small pleasantries) I have a tip for you.
Me: Huh? What tip?
Dad: I'm free on Saturday.
Me: Ohhhh ok. What do you wanna do? Wanna go out?
Dad: I have another tip for you.
Me: Yeh?
Dad: Helios.
Me: Erm, what?

Turns out Helios was a movie with quite a lot of big name actors, and they had been advertising quite heavily and now my dad wanted to watch it.

So we met up for lunch at Dian Xiao Er where we had duck and this yummy vegetable dish (think they used lime in it) and proceeded to watch the movie.

Helios was pretty entertaining, even though there were bits that got confusing for me here and there. It waa a 2 hour long movie about stolen weapons of mass destruction, and different parties trying to get their hands on it. Lots of fighting and explosions and a mix of actors from Hong Kong, China and South Korea.

Grabbed a coffee after, discussed the movie, walked by the waterfront and headed home. It was a relaxing and enjoyable day with the two important men in my life.

Was hungry on the way home (almost dinner time) so we went to Sheng Siong and bought ingredients to make mie bakso. We didn't follow a recipe and +3 estimated based on his recollections, and our meal turned out to be such a success! Slurp. Now we just need to be able to replicate this dish hehehe.

Lazed around at home after dinner (+3 still had to finish some work) and decided to go out for a night time walk at about 9.30pm.

We didn't have an agenda, and ended up feeding the cats, walking by the park behind our block, heading to One Fullerton and back. Passed lots of smaller streets during our walk and saw lots of stuff (temples, restaurants, pubs) that we normally don't walk by.

Got home past midnight, exhausted and dripping with perspiration. It was a good walk and an excellent way to end an awesome day.

And this is just the start of the weekend! Today, to celebrate Mother's Day, we are going to cook dinner for the parents. How exciting! 

May The Fourth Be With You

Wow it's already May! Been rather slack with my updates and thanksgiving posts on this page. Don't really have any excuse except that life just happens.

April was a quiet month. +3 started a job at a new company, which so far seems like a much better place than where he was previously.

We travelled to Bandung to attend the funeral of his uncle, who passed away quite suddenly. While it was a sad occasion, being there made me feel like a closer part of the family.

I also submitted my resignation at work, but there have been discussions on the work load and asking me to stay on on a part time scheme. Pros and cons to that, and it's hard to make a decision without speaking with my boss (who has been on a long mc).

Plans for this year is to really try to get pregnant, and we've started taking things a bit more seriously (seeing a gynae and all) so hopefully there will be good news to share soon.

With all these job changes, we've not gone on our honeymoon! But that's ok, I guess. I'm sure we will find time when we need to.

That's pretty much it. Family and friends have been well, and life is good. :)

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 23/30

Last week was a sad week in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, passed away on Monday (23 March), and the nation is in mourning. +3 and I queued up to pay our respects at the Parliament House on Thursday, after 5 hours of queueing from 10pm to 3am. The state funeral yesterday was a solemn affair. What needed to be said about the man was said.

Today, I am thankful for a man who contributed much to Singapore's success. I've had a good education both in the classroom and while traveling the world. I live in a clean and safe environment and have many opportunities to succeed and thrive. 

My life is good, and I am thankful.

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 22/30

Home made poo spray. Pooping will never be the same again!

Yummy was the one who told me about it and it seeemed relatively easy to make so I got the stuff needed and got round to making my own poo spray.

Take a spray bottle, add rubbing alcohol, essential oils and water, shake it up and ta da! Poo spray.

So how you use it is to just spray into the toilet bowl before pooping. Few sprays is enough to coat the surface of the water in the bowl with essential oils. Poop, wipe/wash, flush. And instead of smelling your poop, it'll smell so much nicer cos of the poo spray!

I like to use peppermint and rosemary, and I've combinations which include citrus scents like lemon and orange. Such a brilliant idea. Hehee.

30 Days Of Thanksgiving - 21/30

Eeks I'm lagging behind on these posts and so much has happened since my last entry.

Am thankful that I have loving in-laws and that trips back to +3's hometown are actually quite enjoyable.

We went back for 4 days during CNY, and apart from the journey which was quite tiring, spending the holiday in Tasikmelaya was really quite nice.

Spent a lot of time just hanging around at home and chatting with family, or going to eat mee at various noodle shops. Laid back and relaxed.

Took a walk on one of the days to +3's high school and ate at a small noodle shack that had yummy yummy noodles - mee bakso ayu - which was beehoon with soup and meatballs and you add ketchup and vinegar and some crackers. Slurp.

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 20/30

Had dinner at a teochew restaurant a couple of days ago as a pre-CNY celebration. Metamorphoenix suggested the restaurant, and it was an interesting experience having teowchew dishes instead of the usual cantonese or hokkien fare that we typically get.

Started the dinner with yusheng, it's not CNY if you don't lo hei! This was definitely a different style from what we usually have. There was tang-oh in it and instead of salmon, they used some other white fish. Was tasty!

Had cold crabs, deep fried prawn balls, pigs intestine (for chingaling), white bait soup, bamboo shoot, and kway teow fried with cai po. That was probably my favourite dish as you drench it with chinese vinegar. So yum. Ended the meal with orh-nee. Slurp.

So I'm thankful that I have friends who are foodies and that there are always new and interesting food places to discover and enjoy.

5 Things I Noticed About Being Stuck At Home With Shingles

Having been stuck at home for more than a week (thanks, Shingles!), I've discovered a quite a few things that I never really noticed before.

Laundry

When you don't have to go to the office every day, you don't have as much laundry to wash! I've actually managed to clear our laundry bin and for the first time since I moved in, there was actually an empty bin. I even managed to wash an old bag that was had been lying at the bottom of the laundry bin for ages!

Toilet Paper
Woah, I did not realise that I use that much toilet paper. Being sick means I have to drink more water. Drinking more water means more toilet breaks. More toilet breaks means more wiping up. More wiping up means using more toilet paper. I used SO much. It's scary!

Cooking For One

Cooking for one occasionally is fun. You get to prepare whatever you crave without having to worry. If it turns out badly, no one will know! In fact, there were a couple of times I lost my cooking mojo and the meal didn't turn out very well. I was glad that I was the only witness. But it does get boring, especially when there is a long list of things that I cannot eat.

Shedding

I know I'm home all the time now, but why in the world am I shedding SO MUCH hair?! It's a wonder I have any hair left on my head (ok on closer inspection, my hairline is thinning. Eeks.)

Neediness

Man, being stuck at home all day without going out for more than a week gets boring. And apparently I turn into a needy, whiny wife. Lol. +3 has been great though, this morning after having breakfast, I turned to him and said "I'm feeling needy" and he said "Let's hug for 5 minutes". And we did. *love*

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 19/30

Today I am thankfu for painkillers. Panadol, ibuprofen, lyrica  - you rock. Shingles - you suck.

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 18/30

In my last post, I wrote about how I've got shingles. +3 isn't faring too well, and he's been down with a bad bout of cough.

What this means is that both of us wake up in the middle of the night (him coughing, me with my nerve pain) and aren't getting as much rest as we really should. Being sick is really quite tiring.

However, +3 mentioned this the other day and I must say it's true. This has probably been one of the worst weeks we've had as a married couple (actually, probably as a couple) and yet we've been taking care of each other and we've not had a fight. Yay!

30 Days of Thanksgiving - 17/30

Hehe it's been a while since I penned one of these, and now that I'm stuck at home with a case of shingles, I thought I'd write about being thankful for my health and for the many people around me who are healthcare professionals.

Maybe it takes being unwell to make you truly appreciate how wonderful it is to be healthy. I'm able-bodied, and generally have good health. Even when I had high blood pressure readings, I was able to keep that under control thanks to my TCM doctor.

I found out I had shingles a few days ago, and along with the rash that seems to be getting worse (I think that it's the natural progression of things), the accompanying nerve pain is really quite hard to bear. My doctor gave me panadol, but that didn't seem to keep the pain away for too long.

Knowing that I shouldn't be taking too many panadols, I opted to take ibuprofen (a much stronger painkiller) to help manage the pain. I reckoned that taking less of a stronger pill would be better than taking too much of a not so strong one.

It was the weekend and the clinic was closed, but while I was pretty sure my reasoning on managing my pain was sound, I still had some doubts. Self medicating when you have a virus attacking your nerves seemed a little risky.

Thankfully I had a couple of friends in the medical profession whom I could ask about dosage and thankfully, I was on the right track. Knowing the parameters on how much medication I should be taking made me feel safer about my decisions and less worried that I was turning into a pill popping painkiller addict.

So while I still need to see the doctor tomorrow (Monday), I'm glad I made it through the weekend with relatively few tears (I think only 2 episodes where I broke down and cried because the pain was too much to bear).

Now let's hope I get better and that the rashes won't scar too badly (or at all)!

Hello 2015 (and then some)

Wow it's almost mid January! Quick summary of what's been going on since my last post:

- Wedding was amazing. Full of love and laughter. We had a small intimate dinner with family and close friends, and had a tea ceremony before that. Apparently the bride gets a lot of jewelry. My sister and brother surprised me by singing the march in song (A Thousand Years), mom sang the song for our first dance (The Look of Love), brother's kids sang and danced to I'm Yours.

- Spent time with family who came over and it was such a blessing. Hung out with Darwin and Michelle, had lunch and a couple of pints while catching up. Very nice.

- Celebrated our first Christmas and New Year as The Chungs. Dinner at home with lots of good food.

- Didn't get much of a break cos I had a work event which just ended last Sat. Busy busy busy. Event was a success but age is really catching up with me. It's been a couple of days and I'm still tired!

Things I hope to achieve for 2015. Hmm. Better health. Continue to be happy and bring happiness to others. Be a good wife, daughter, sister, aunty, cousin, niece and friend. Save more money. Make a baby? ;)