life bites

seems like many users are still active on dayre, despite no news on its ultimate fate (or maybe i’m just not updated enough)..

anyway, i’ve yet to backup my posts, backing them up mainly due to the posts i’ve written to track andrea’s progress.

this will probably be my last one or two post?

just want to shoutout to some dayreans that i’ve infrequently interacted with:

@ufuix i’ve enjoyed reading ur posts as a SAHM, especially when are girls are of similar age range. keep up the good work that you’re doing!

@ivyyt see u around TBH! i’ve followed you cos of dayrehomes, and it was interesting to see your progress! (we’ve yet to finalize our ID/contractor till now…)

@mrsjchua found you through dayrehomes, despite our hubbs being colleagues! small world indeed! jia you mama chua!

@yuenmay good luck on baby 2! sending u some love from singapore to london.

@timelyrain MY PERSONAL STALKER. hahahaha 😘

probably my last post on an overseas trip before dayre shuts? which i hope not…

anyway, last min. trip to SYD for some ops related work. again, big team of 6! flew on a saturday night on qantas, and we had a sunday free in SYD before meeting client on monday.

it’s my 5th trip to SYD, cos AL used to study there. and this trip is the most boring!

my sad sad breakfast. managed to sleep once i boarded, so didn’t have their refreshment and weis ice cream.

for breakfast, a bigger than normal main course. but no tray, no bread n butter.. feels so budget.

and we arrived! no aerobridge too 😂

after checking in, off we go to the Fish Market for our late lunch at 2pm.

compared to tokyo, the transport system here seems grossly inefficient. long waits, small trams, slow speed.

my 2nd time here! food is quite expensive though.. novelty i guess.

fresh seafood. while i see food.

fresh oysters n sashimi. at AUD$26 each. not cheap right.. oysters fresh n sweet. sashimi, nothing to shout about.

so we sat on some seats that belonged to a stall, and lan lan have to go buy from that stall. lobster morney with chips and salad. also about AUD$26.

looks sooo good. but turned out that the lobster meat is soooo small. just drenched in sauce and cheese. not worth it man.

after that we ubered to birkenhead outlet malls. my first time there.

didn’t buy clothes, didn’t buy shoes.. but bought..

baby food! like snacks and yoghurts packs for andrea cos it’s like half price!!

we ended about 6, and decided to head back since shops closes early..

so i went back to hotel to work. sian right?

day 2 today. 1st of client meet up.

cloudy skies, but it turned out to be a pretty hot day!

we managed to end work around 4pm, so off to town we went!

3 colleagues had never been to SYD before, so we did some touristy stuff.. popped by circular quay to see the bridge and the opera house.

many many tourists! even at 6pm!

and from there we walked to darling harbour.. quite a distance..

walked through The Rocks..

@ darling harbour.

i would have preferred Hurricanes for lunch, but we have 2 Muslim colleagues, so compromised and had arabic food instead.

so far, haven’t had any good steak! it’s like not having good sashimi in japan! 😭

in other news, i had gel nails done prior to flying off! my first time doing gel nails, and i’ve also not had nail polish on for the past 2 years.

when Fiona (IG nailhaven) announced on her dayre that she’ll be opening slots for dayreans, aunty here damn gan chiong can. heng i managed to get a slot.

in total, $125 for the set below, inclusive of $20 CNY surcharge. apparently my colleague who does gel mani regularly thinks it’s ex? but CNY la, and 久久一次 so nvm lor.

i’ve requested for 招财猫, and pastel pink nails, something more subtle and suitable for work.

a little bling here and there..

bring me luck, bring me huat!

actually, good health for me and all my loved ones will suffice la.

my sis sent me this a couple of days back.. 笑死我。

my cheeky child. recently she understands the concept of hair tying. she will take my hair tie and put in on her head! she also sits still for me to tie the little bunch of 三毛 on her head. so cute la this girl.

my cheeky baby. she also understands the concept of selfie, and will laugh cheekily in our wefies.

just before i left for SYD, andrea fell sick again. same as Dec’17, fever and diarrhea. fever persisted for about a day, and refuses to subside even with paracetamol AND ibuprofen! so took her to the PD again, and was given some diarrhea meds n probiotics, and soy milk samples.

luckily this round she didn’t have broken skin from the diarrhea cos i bua super a lot of desitin for all diaper change

when i left for SYD, andrea’s fever had broke, but her diarrhea was still there.. all seems to be well now, and her appetite is back!!

so the other day i strongly hinted to my MIL not to feed andrea any new year goodies without my permission, hope she gets it man.

sometimes she has the penchant of telling andrea that she’ll bring her for mac donald’s, or let her drink coke.. which really pisses me off..

like what do you benefit from feeding your grandchild rubbish? or you say it just to go against me? like you had your day in feeding your own children while they were growing up, so please hands off from mine ok?

really i have no offense with my MIL la, but
sometimes hor.. she also frequently asks me to leave baby at her place. but end of the day, she just plays with andrea a while, maybe bring her down to the playground, and then declares that she has done her part in babysitting..

and then runs off out, leaving aunty to take care of andrea??

wa lao then i might as well bring andrea with me right?? 还不如我自己看。

when andrea was sick, i called my MIL if she can send us to the PD at night, cos AL’s car was at the workshop.

and MIL was like.. 我不可以因为我今晚已经有 dinner 了。

ok..fair enough, my child so my responsibility, but you could at least not use the car, and ask FIL to send us right.. and her rejection to me was instantaneous leh. so in the end my mom went with me via cab.

and when at the PD, MIL called to offer to send us back home. guilty ah??

thanks but no thanks. we can cab there, we can cab back, 不需要你帮忙，谢谢。

😡😡😡

also, i bought another bunch of baby stuff from the recent mothercare sale.

ezpz mat, stokke chair n a kids scooter.

ezpz may allows her to self feed, something we didn’t trained her in. she couldn’t throw the mat on the floor, but that doesn’t stop her from throwing food on the floor… 😒😒😒

#dayremoms
#peanutadventures

back home this morning! on the way back, not so lucky, so cattle class it is. 🙁

work trip, but i spend so much money man. new winter coat and boots suitable for work, all that junk food from japan..

back track a bit to yesterday, my last day in tokyo. had lunch with client at a chic restaurant around shinagawa.

lunch location @ T Y Harbour. brewery + western casual food.

(we have yet to have good sashimi and sashimi then..)

view while walking there. this somehow reminds me on london.

photo, just to remember where we are. not bad la the food, but couldn’t get a beer cos working lunch. 😐

my lunch! 200g beef patty plus additional avocado & side caesar salad.

my colleagues were throwing me dirty looks, as they had chose to have fish instead.

didn’t touch the fries though. so full.

shinagawa train station.

only on the last day did i realize the dyson tap in the hotel lobby toilet!

center – for washing hands
side – blower!!!

changed to more casual wear, then off for dinner with another client. which was the yummiest meal of the entire trip!

and dinner!

appetizer: some fish (dunno what fish) roe. initially i thought was some fish sperm la. very mild tasting, creamy.

plus yebisu beer. fun fact from client, yebisu beer was founded in tokyo!

some prawn salad. and deep fried prawn with mayo. so so la.

wooohoooo. what we all have been waiting for. 1 plate for 4 of us to share. client actually asked if it’s enough for us, which of cos not, but we also paiseh to say la. 😂

scallop, tuna, sardine, sweet prawn and yellow tail.

my first time having sardine not from
a can. eaten with ginger iso wasabi n soy sauce. apparently sardine degrades quite fast, so it’s not commonly eaten raw outside japan.

fried tofu in broth.

this was ordered cos obviously the singaporeans were not full.

and lastly, some sushi to share.

managed to eat the uni. 😬 fresh and sweet!

off for our flight at haneda airport. pretty lights, not sure if it’s from xmas deco though..

japanese breakfast on flight, served prior to reaching singapore.

surprisingly i was quite tired, so managed to sleep on the flight back.

so now back to my japan buys! almost all food. 😂

electric tooth brush! 2 sets, 3 heads, about 5000 yen (SGD$60). buy and try and see how.

compared to a $150 oral-B electric toothbrush…

baby toothbrush, with a 360 deg brush head. about 300 yen (SGD$4).

toothbrushes all from drug store. also bought some cough meds for children, recommended by my colleague. and some salonpas. 老人。

saw these at isetan food market. about SGD$36. tempted to buy home to try, but not sure if the broken cold chain would spoil the perfect berries.

half of my loots. i bought almost double of everything in the pic 💸💸💸

2 bags of calibee cereal – 1.5kg

the usual flavored kit kats n tokyo bananas.

this, also recommended by my colleague. brand i’m not sure. not ex, about sgd$0.60 each?

i had one today, not too bad.

tokyo banana flavored kit kat. 😂

assorted kit kats.

pork instant ramen. colleague raves about this. so buy and try.

the thing i look most forward to when flying is…

food.

regardless business or economy class.. plus also taking photos and analyzing if the items are to spec.. 😂

off to tokyo for a work trip, first for the year. on the B787 dreamliner aircraft.

hee hee.
#gotlucky

getting ready for take off. ✈️

shochu on the rocks. first time trying this, similar to whisky, but not that smoky.

and rice crackers.

i chose the western set, from the Regent hotel ANA collaboration menu.

first course, appetizer. parma ham with cheese, toast.

nothing to shout about, and the yuzu bread was the best out of everything in the pic. parma ham 太多, cheese 太少。

beef with truffle chickpea mash and red wine sauce. asked for a glass of red wine but got a white instead.

cheese plate and chocolate hazelnut cake.

with coffee and kaya nama choco.

cheese had melted, cake was dry and slightly gelat after a few bites. kaya choco was good though!

almost reaching. managed to catch a movie, and then it was work work work on the flight.

i’ve never tried business class on SQ before, so i have no basis of comparison of the service levels.

the stewardess are nice and polite, only downside is that they don’t speak english well.

we checked in a Shinagawa Prince hotel. dropped off our bags and off to find dinner.

wore my superdry jacket for dinner. bought this in sydney during our baby moon trip 2 years back, and have not worn it since.

i keep thinking superdry is from japan, cos got jap words ma.. only for my boss to tell me it’s from the UK.

a UK brand, featuring ‘japanese inspired prints’

😒😒😒

dinner for first night!

very very thick pork broth. thin noodles. overall quite yums for a cold night.

and then back to hotel to work.

day 2. lunch with client at HND domestic airport.

mixed set of salmon ikura don, tempura don and soba noodles. decent food, salmon a little too thin 😒 but ikura was really fresh!

then off for our afternoon meeting.. and then we headed to harajuku. my first time there!

harajuku train station.

exited the train station and turned left.. on our way to Takeshita street. which turned out to be too ‘young’ for me, it’s like the japanese version of bugis street. 😂

dirty snow from the snow storm last week.

and 我们到了. xmas deco still around??!

my boss recommended this sweet crepe shop. according to him, this is the most popular crepe store on the street, with the longest queues during the weekend.

normal tasting only la. nice presentation though. and to eat it at harajuku, so another tick off the tourist checklist.

calibee shop.

and i had separately bought from
the supermarket 2 huge bags of calibee breakfast cereals.. 😂

apparently another popular shop. eclair?? choux puff? similar texture to beard papa back home.

i guess what draws the crowd is the nice nice shop front, and the amazing smell of baked goods.

another tick off my checklist then!

so after harajuku we went hunting for dinner, and boss had a off the beaten path restaurant to recommend. it was between harajuku and shibuya..

and this ☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼 is the entrance to the restaurant!! at the back of some building, back alley just in front of the train tracks..

but unfortunately it was full house, and the could only accept the 6 of us at 9pm. so off we go.

this is the shop name. another time another chance i guess

some mini 签名会 at tower records.

and then we reached shibuya! 4 degree walk, 7pm at night.

at the famous shibuya crossing, before the madness ensues.

and madness ensues.

quite fun actually. we even managed a selfie in the middle of the cross junction.

dinner. japanese pancake.

beef. mentaiko cheese. seafood.

my mentaiko seafood on the left, which looks like baby vomit. 😂

and a nicer version from the next table, cooked by the in house staff.

the famous Hachiko dog outside shibuya train station.

after dinner, we did a few rounds of SUPERMARKET SWEEP at random marts.. my luggage is already full with all the ‘groceries’ purchased!

end off the night with work and..

choya beer!

i like it!

one more night in tokyo, and back to singapore tomorrow.

#dayretravels

andrea finally finally finally can drink water from a straw bottle!!!

a few weeks back, i bought her a straw bottle as i had some mothercare vouchers to spend. plus i think she’s already lagging behind in development, as she should have learnt this before the age of one?

so for the past 2 weeks or so, we gave the straw bottle, but she has no concept of sucking from the straw. she would only chew on the straw and get frustrated??!

it’s also our fault la. as working parents, we could only try the straw bottle on weekends..

so i bo bian, had to google how to teach a toddler to drink from a straw. 😂

and the method from goggle works! we also cheated by using sweetened soya milk. basically, take a clean straw, put in a cup with water. then use your finger to ‘seal up’ the drinking end. the pressure will cause the water to remain in the straw when you remove it from the cup.

place the straw in your child’s mouth. after a few tries, she’ll get the idea that water comes from the straw, and you have to suck to get the water into your mouth! took andrea 2 days to get the hang of it, so now she’s finally drinking from a straw bottle!

we shall move on to cups soon! then i can discard those bottles liao..

this girl still haven’t got the hang of walking though.. and CNY is coming! so she cannot walk and 讨红包!

other (developmental) updates, at almost 14 months:

– drink from straw bottle
– brush teeth! like she understands that toothbrush goes into her mouth for her teeth, and she also lets me brush her 8x tooth.
– molars seems to be coming out soon..
– have started eating chunkier foods, and rice
– we have relented and fed her adult food. she already had hot pot buffet with us.
– tasted ice cream.
– seems to be able to say star, car, ball, book

– say star and it comes with a hand sign
– say ball she points to something round
– say book she points to her books on the shelf
– knows that it’s time to switch off the lights after night milk feed
– went for her 2nd hair cut
– roughly knows how to use a fork and spoon.. of cos i have to scoop the food for her and pass her the fork/spoon.. i also bought a toddler fork spoon set so that it’s easier to use, as it’s a bit curved.

morning bed head..

this was prior her hair cut, when her fringe was longer. it was getting into her eyes, so my mom tied it up for her! so little hair though… 😂

the other day, AL and i went for Lobster Roll at clifford pier! not cheap, but damn shiok.

gave andrea a little lobster meat, and pleased to know she’s not allergic (i hope) to crustaceans!

somebody loves jap food too??!

#peanutadventures
#dayremoms

on the 2nd day of the new year…

WE GOT OUR HOME KEYS!!!

like finally!! after 4 years. we applied for it before i had a baby, before my wedding, before my engagement, before our proposal…

anyway, our appointment was at 8.15am, super early. we brought andrea and my mom along, so we had a cranky n sleepy child. right after we got our keys, we popped by our new place. bought a pineapple, a pail and some markers and tape, and up we go.

HUAT AH!

actually, all i wish for is good health for everyone. 😊

view from our place.

i really felt joy when i stepped into our place. like finally our own place!

so now we have to start the tedious process of defects check, finalizing our id/contractor, and sourcing of items for the house. not really eager to move in, so i guess renovations can wait after CNY.

finally #dayrehomes!

after carrying my mom pouch with me for a year plus (after baby is born mind u!), i finally decided to get rid of it (until i get knocked up again hahahahaha), by signing up for gym!!

i used to go Amore, it’s an all women gym, plus they provide classes. but it’s a tad far at JP, means must take bus, and it’s opened during normal shopping hours.

a few weeks back i then realized that Anytime Fitness has an outlet near my place! like 5 mins walk. so TADAH!!!

MOM POUCH, BE GONE!!!!!!

the first day was supposed to be 28 dec. so i was very excited and woke up at 4.50am. reached the gym at 5am, to realize that i couldn’t tap in??!

went back again in the evening, then the gym guy told me only can tap in from 6am onwards.

TMD that’s not what you said the day before when i signed up lor, u told me 12 midnight leh..

so anyways, went for a quick run, since i’m already up.

the next day, friday, again reached at 5am, and could go in successfully to go my thanng.

rest/cheat day for me today, hope i can sustain for at least a month (i signed up for a year’s contract! 😂)

Merry Christmas all!!

🎄🎄🎄

a box of godiva chocs from client. start of a sweet xmas!

xmas lunch with my family today. shun bian celebrate my dad’s birthday.

last time, we would actually go out for lunch/dinner.. but the older we are, the more homely we become.

so now it’s home cooked chinese style lunch by my sisters and i.. plus it’s so much cheaper!

番茄蛋
蒜蓉菜心
咸蛋虾
ee fu 寿面
and honey baked ham 😂😂😂

lychee martini cake from pine garden!

i bought the same cake for my FIL’s 60th birthday this year.. at that time andrea was still young, so we couldn’t stay too late for the dinner, so i couldn’t eat too much cake, so i bought this again for my dad’s birthday!!!

alcoholic cake for an alcoholic family!

thin slice for my mom, thick slice for me..

hence thin waist for my mom, thick waist for me!

😂😂😂

at my MIL’s for 2nd round of cooking and eating.

this girl, so many xmas presents!

roast chicken for xmas dinner at my in law’s. first time roasting a chicken, and i’m quite pleased at how it turned out! moist meat, crispy skin!

roasted cajun chicken with root vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes, oven roasted cherry tomatoes, asparagus, buttered broccoli, portobello with cheese.

we bought sausages too, but forgot to cook them. 🙄

also bought mao shan wang udders ice-cream, but was way too full to eat them. 😐

all knocked out after a long long day!

star wars tomorrow!

our first staycation! after a long time!

we have 2 weddings to attend this weekend, so AL booked us a room at Fullerton hotel. not the best time to go for a staycation, after some sad family matters this week, but this was booked weeks in advance…

anyway, life goes on right?

sometime back AL bought her a silkair romper, and i kept it as it was too big. now.. it’s a little… tight.. 😂

#assholedad

phone screen far far away, totally out of reach!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!

but we haven’t selected an ID!! 🙊