Bintan Nirwana 27-29 Dec 2010

Bintan is our regular handout island outside Singapore. We frequent this island before we had Rachel and even so after she arrived. We love the fact that its only 45mins ferry ride away, has spas, pools and away from familiar faces! As for the food, its not worth mentioning.

This is our family's 2nd trip to Bintan and we wanted a place other than Angsana (which we stayed during our 1st trip). A suite or villa was our preferred choice as we wanted kitchen facility to cook porridge for our princess (though we have travel cooker). Due to Christmas season, the rate for Bintan lagoon villa was high but surprisingly, there was no price increase for Nirwana Banyu Biru, so Banyu Biru we stayed.

The surrounding of our villa was great except that it doesn't come with a buggy (unlike Bintan lagoon). It was too far to walk to the main resort building so either we had to rent a buggy ($100 a day so we didn't!) or buzz for complimentary buggy service. Villa was spacious but not those dark toilets. Still prefer Bintan lagoon villa on a whole.

As our villa was not ready when we arrived, we decided to go for massage. It was hmmm.. so-so. Nothing can beat Angsana hot stone massage.

Dinner was at the Kelong despite having experienced disappointment during our last trip. We were hoping for an improvement but that night's dinner was no exception. It was then that we decided to boot Kelong out from our dinner choices. Dinner for our 2nd night was at a newly opened food court and their dinner set was surprisingly tasty and economical. Lucky us.

Our well behaved girl during our dinner time, all thanks to iPad! :P

It was raining the next morning and we stayed indoor till almost 10plus am. As soon as the rain stopped, we headed to the pool, followed by sandcastle building! Actually, Shawn was the one building the castle and Rachel demolishing it.

Gigantic chess set outside our breakfast place. Spotted the King and the Queen?

Daddy Shawn built a castle with fortress

Baby boat ride/ buggy ride/ pink giraffe ride

Rachel loves dancing and she can even do there in high chair. Looked like she was demonstrating kungfu in these pics though.

Our 3D2N ended with a ride home in 'Business' class. They call it Emerald class and there were crew to serve drinks. We wanted to travel by our usual economy class but the only seats left for our departure date were those in Emerald class. However, the experience was worth the extra dollars. With a kid in tow and motion sickness, Emerald class is the new way to go! :)

Its Christmas

The title should in fact be 'It was Christmas'! :P

2010 Christmas was Rachel's 2nd but this time round, she (at 14 mths) was more appreciative of the festive mood & goodies, especially the Christmas Tibits Tree that her grandma created. Rachel had a great time tearing all the snacks down from the wall. Poor helper has to stick back all the packets that she took down.

The oranges are her fruits of the day. She was not preparing for Lunar New Year, if you thought so.

(Below) I dressed her in her Christmas PJ (that I got from US) for the house party on 26 Dec. It was so pretty that I thought it would be a waste just to wear it to bed. So why not for a party first? :)

Guess she just anxious with why the guests have not arrived so she was just calling to check...

She enjoyed herself very much that day as her little cousins were there as well. A pity I was not there due to work commitments. :( But daddy had great bonding time with the little one. Grandma too! I especially love the shot below. Precious granddaughter cosying up to Grandma.

We had 2 other Christmas parties which I made it.
Christmas party on 19 Dec was at Ben & Lena's lovely new place. Food was great, annual gift snatching game was fun and the usual teasing (of some) was inevitable. And the party was merrier with addition of many kids! Rachel really enjoyed the company of the little ones. Hope this will be the same when she goes toddler class.

Party on 25 Dec was at my mum's place. Didn't take any pictures. Hmmm... guess I was too busy taking care of Rachel. Anyway, her dear uncle Aloy got her a rocking moose, which was her fave gift! Video below captured her rocking the wooden moose (taken some time after Christmas).

My Birthday 2010!

Yes, age is a secret... I like to think that Im still young but come to think about it, Im really still young! And some even say Im a trendy young mum! Ha. Thanks to those with sweet words. :)

Birthday to me now = a simple relax day with my hubby and little princess. And thats how we spent my birthday this year.

3rd Oct 2010

Church in the morning (happened to be St. Francis Feast Day)
Lunch at Pierside @ One Fullerton
Surprise cake & dinner treat at my place

Hokkaido & Tokyo 15-23 Sep 2010

After 1 month back from our family trip to Japan, I finally found time to blog about it!

So how was my first long trip with a baby in tow? Hmmm... the answer I would give when I just got back and now is different.

It was not easy to manage Rachel, especially when she was cranky and appetite-less due to cough & sore throat developed 2nd day of the trip. Luckily, we opt for free and easy self-drive tour that makes it more manageable but I was still pretty drained after the trip. I didn't feel that I enjoyed myself in Japan. However, back home, after days of resting and looking at the trip pics, I recollected the nice cool weather, the excellent food, the breathtaking sights and best of all... bonding with my wonderful companions (my parents, shawn & rachel!!).

And our darling Rachel experience her first flight after her first ferry to Bintan and first coach ride to KL. She also experienced her first train ride in Tokyo. :) And if she is thinking of rocket already, she just got to wait... (long long)

To cut the story short... here are some pictures (out of 2700++ pics) to highlight our 8D7N trip. :)

p/s: I did a 17min video montage on the trip as well but its a little big to be uploaded. If you are interested to watch, let me know. *wink*

Singapore to Noboribetsu (Hot Spring/ Onsen), Hokkaido

Noboribetsu > Onuma Quasi National Park (cruise) > Hakodate (crab)

Hakodate > Lake Toya > Sobetsu Fruit Farm > Rusutsu Resort (horse riding)

Rusutsu Resort to Otaru: Farm > Otaru Music Box Museum and workshop > Mt Tengu

Otaru to Sapporo

Sapporo to Tokyo: Tokyo Tower @ Night

Meiji Jingu Shrine > Imperial Palace Park > Shopping @ Ginza > Shinjuku

Rachel turns 1

The last 12 months were probably the best months I ever had to have Rachel in my life and witnessing her being swaddled, sitting up, doing push ups, crawling, standing and making 2 steps independently. In the midst of such joys, there were of course pain, hair loss, tears, frustration, bordem, sleepless nights and countless other discomforts.

Despite slow in weight gain, she is a healthy and chatty toddler. With unfamiliar people or environment, she tend to be quieter though, which is what she portrayed as in her 1st birthday party on 10-10-10.

So excited with all the balloons high in the ceiling and doting grandma carrying her, no crowd yet.

Rachel's birthday cupcakes from The Patissier!


The cheering team making Rachel smile for the photos

With Daddy & Mummy

With Godpa Sebastian and Godma Shan Shan

With Godmi Pingnee

Family shot on Rachel's actual Birthday 20 Oct 10

Mummy posing with birthday girl while she tries to scrub her back with a toothbrush (she learnt it from video 'Baby Signing Time')

Can't wait to open the presents

(Toy) Car from Daddy & Mummy

Private birthday lunch with Godmi on 23 Oct 10 - Hot Tomato @ 313

Drooling & biting & more teeth coming...

Yes, 7th and 8th tooth are found forcing their way out of Rachel's gum today, which explains the constant drooling and biting (us) recently *ouch*. They are tooth N and Q respectively.

Summarizing her tooth development so far:

Based on her progress, she should be having her next tooth, which is the first molar, in another 2 months +. Think it will hurt big time. Oh no. Is she in trouble or us? *roll eyes*

Rachel 11 Months Old

We were in Hokkaido, Sapporo when our little baby turned 11 months old. And it was then when we discovered her 5th & 6th tooth (teeth G & D aka the dracula teeth), which were already halfway out. It must have sliced out on the first day of our Japan trip on 15 Sep.

It seems like I have just gone through delivery not long ago and now she is already 11 months old with 6 healthy teeth to flash in every smile. It's amazing how babies learn so fast and do so much. Rachel now understands simple words and reacts to them. When we say Bye, she waves and give flying kisses. When there's music, she dances and claps. When there's food, she just lean over to try to have her share. And sometimes before she goes to sleep, she will initiate small talk with me. The little things that she had amazed us are countless...

These 11 months have been sweet and it just get sweeter with every step she takes, every smile she makes and every hug we get.

Life has never been the same ever since we have her and I love this way of life and our Baby Rachel. MUACK!

Video taken on 2 Oct. She gladly showed me her 6 teeth when I asked her to.

Sesame Street Live 2010

We brought Rachel to watch Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up at the Indoor Stadium on 11 Sep 2010. The tickets came free when I signed-up for Motherhood magazine. I won't pay knowing that Rachel most likely won't remember anything from the musical.

We got tickets for the balcony seats but we could take any seatings that day because the turnout was pathetic and an asher suggested us to go to the front. We took the 2nd best seats because the best seats are not elevated and will be a bit challenging for our necks.

The experience were good though our little darling fell asleep in the first half of the show. The whole place was dark and the air-con were just nice and cool. Moreover, with the soothing lullabies that the Sesame Street characters were singing, its no wonder she slept. I, too felt like sleeping. She woke up during interval when the lights were on and she stayed awake to enjoy the 2nd half. She even clapped to the songs that she was familiar with, including Itsy Bitsy Spider. :)

On our way to Indoor Stadium...

Feeling excited!

Fell asleep in the first half.

Woke up during interval and we managed a family shot! She was still sleepy in this shot.

The famous Sesame Street characters. The story is about what Elmo wants to be when he grows up.

Engrossed in the show.

End of Sesame Street Live. See you again!

*Rachel knows how to wave and blow flying kisses when we say Bye Bye* Sweet.

F1 Driver!

Baby Rachel would love to be a F1 Driver, judging from her passion in driving. She loves kiddie rides and she got very excited when Daddy let her have a taste of the real steering wheel recently. She was dancing while holding to the wheel.

Pictures taken on 12 Sep 2010 through the car window screen (obvious) hence they are kinda blur.

Checking driver's mirror...

Checking side mirror...

Checking fuel gauge...

"Mummy, I'm ready to go"

Turning right... "belt up everyone!"

Rachel is sick!

It has been exactly one month since I last blogged and accumulated on my white board (at home, of course) is a list of backlog stories that I wanted to share but alas, Rachel is sick, and I'm really not in the mood to write long happy stories.

I'm just totally drained of energy. Since last month, we were busy preparing for our Japan trip and you won't believe the amount of nonsense we got from our tour agency (elaborate more the next time). Then, we were in Japan and Rachel got sick. Fortunately, she was still active and happy but her appetite dropped tremendously. SOB. Heart pain. Previously, Rachel had got fever due to vaccination but this is her first so-called real virus attack. Guess the weather is too dry for her. Sigh. Now that we are back, she got worse. And medicine in milk don't work, medicine using syringe don't work and now we are simply shoving the medicine using spoon straight into her mouth and then quickly pop in her water bottle to make her swallow. Sounds horrible huh? You won't feel so once you see her with thick mucus bubbling at her nostrils. :( Can't they invent cough and running nose jabs? Maybe they have? I better call my PD tomorrow to check!

Hope my darling Rachel and myself get better soon. Yes, I'm sick too. :( Her virus too strong for my army to defend.

It's Monday tomorrow! Arggh... I better hit the bed now!

Rachel Call Papa

Yes, she uttered 'papa' before 'mama'! *stare at shawn* Ha. But I'm not a vinegar pot. She will call me 'mama' in due time. :P

Turn up your volume!

Filmed on 26 August, evening

Darling Bessie

I had many pets (mostly inherited) since young and the list included birds, fishes, tortoise, rabbit and a black stray puppy that my dad brought home. Bessie is my first owned pet.

Bessie @ est 3 month old. She was so tiny!

I found her in a pet shop in Sims Ave on 19 Nov 2002. She was the only female schnauzer in the shop and she was in a corner all by herself, watching her brothers fighting over a dish of biscuits. When the shop owner passed her to me, she looked weak and hungry, and was trembling but her eyes were bright. I got her that very day! She was exactly 2 month old.

In a blink of eye, she is going to be 8 years old this Sep. We have gone through real thick and thin from the 2nd day I got her. She vomited yellowish gastric juice and had to be admitted to the pet clinic for observation after diagnosing that it was due to starvation. So horrible! The pet shop owner didn't feed her well. I should have realized that when I saw Bessie in a corner that day. Anyway, I reprimanded the shop owner on his slack care for the pets and demanded he pay for the medical bill but instead of being apologetic, he simply offered to change another dog. I declined his 'heartless' offer as I was already attached to Bessie. I decided to nurse her back to health.

Despite TLC and proper care for Bessie, she has many health problems. She had operations ranging from removing tumors, infectious womb to eye cataract. Though the bills were considerably high, I had never once thought of abandoning her. I believe God has a reason for me to have her. I can't imagine if she had belonged to some heartless guy.

Bessie will always be my dearest pet, though she may not feel so because I have been neglecting her after baby Rachel's arrival. No wonder after so many months, Bessie is still jealous of Rachel. I shall make a consicous effort to give her fair share of my attention and I hope Bessie will accept Rachel very soon! And yes, Rachel loves Bessie already!

Bessie @ est 2 year old

Rachel 10 Months Old

Rachel @ 10 months old

Gosh, I looked so 'big' beside my slim baby

2 more months to Rachel's first birthday! Oh, I haven't thought of what to do for her birthday. Too preoccupied recently with work and yes, shattered iPhone.

She is becoming very naughty these days and I mean really really naughty. She wants to sleep with us. She wants us to entertain her. She wants us to carry her. And if she don't get what she wants, she will cry. And these days, she will cry in the middle of the night but with her eyes closed. Having nightmares? We really don't know. We will pat her a while and she will go back to zzzZZZ. But the problem with me is that once I wake up (regardless of time), it's very hard for me to get back to sleep. :(

Despite her increased volume of cries, she is generally still a very smiley baby. She loves smiling and showing off her 4 front teeth. Recently, I also noticed that she likes
- playing peekaboo again (this time she pull the blanket up/down herself)
- curling her tongue back and make sounds like Rrrrrr and even Tsskk Tsskk
- chatting with me using ooOs, aahHHs and Huhhhs
- raising her eyebrows when eavesdropping adults' conversation (especially ours)
- open and close her hands
- climbing (on pillows, sofa, everywhere)
- pinching us (ouch)
- biting us (ouch ouch)
- looking into the mirror. Guess most babies love mirrors. For Rachel, she will be very thrilled just to be in front of the dressing table mirror and she loved it since 4-5 month old.
- hi-five whenever we show her our palms

And she knows how to
- put her arms up
- blow flying kisses
- offer me her toy to suckle after she did the same (it's so cute when she does that but seriously, I have to decline her offer each time after seeing how wet with saliva her toy is)
- walk with support. She would walk on the sofa (from one end to the other) by holding the back rest

Hope she continues to be as smiley, active and healthy as always! :)

My last iPhone sync?

Yes, thats my iPhone! Sigh. I wasn't really that upset yesterday after the accident. But the more I look at it, the more shattered my heart gets. I should have bubble wrapped my phone.

Finally, weekend is coming! I thought of going to M1 shop, give them the most pathetic face (hopefully my acting skill can pass it) and ask for a free replacement. Me having 'fat hope' huh? Sigh... but rather than no hope, right?

What will you do if this happened to you? *touch wood*

1) Buy the DIY iPhone glass kit (Amazon sells for abt US$12) and try to repair the glass yourself by leaning the steps shared in YouTube

2) Pay someone $100 (an estimate got from googling) to fix the glass but risk voiding the warranty

3) Pay $350 and get a brand new set from M1 (think they do that for defective set)

4) Continue to use the phone but risk cutting your face (ok, Im putting this option for fun. No way am I risking my face!)

5) Pray for miracle that the glass heal by itself.? Perhaps my stretch mark cream can fix it? Hmm... it cant even help my stretch mark so I doubt...

I need option 6 so that I can toss a dice to decide. Any suggestion? *Hee* I just did my final iPhone sync (hope it's not) and will head to M1 paragon tomorrow to get advise on my scarred phone. The 1627 M1 hotline wasn't useful at all.

So wish me luck... I need plenty of it!

Hello iPhone 4?

My beloved white iPhone jumped off my bag today while I was entering my office's cafe for lunch.

The fall was accompanied with a loud scream from my colleague. Rolling my eyes, I picked up my white apple and calmly said: "Aiyah, why you scream so loud? I dropped before. Won't spoil one." But this time round, my guess was wrong. The screen was shattered!

Surprisely, I wasn't really upset. I was shocked initially but that was all. I could still joke with my colleagues about my special wallpaper... Perhaps because the phone was working and my data still intact *fingers crossed", which was the most important thing. Still, it was really careless of me to drop it.

Anyway, doubt there is repair centre here. Maybe I have to get a new one or leave with the scarred phone. But the shattered screen may cut me anytime so I better go for the former. I definitely won't dare to ask my darling hubby to buy me another one since this phone was a gift from him. :P

So good bye $$, hello iPhone 4? Sigh...

Lelong Lelong

Lelong Lelong means 'Auction' in malay as only found out today. Opps. Since young, I have known it as 'For Sale'.

But anyway, neither are we auctioning or selling things. We are exhibiting Rachel's studio pics from SHAPES photography! Interested in studio photo taking? Check out http://www.shapes.sg/ today!! *Hmmm... thats a form of selling too?* Ha.

Rachel and her doggy 'Creamy'


Our best gift from Heaven

Baby Shrek? Nay

"I love you, Mummy"

(p/s: she was looking at me in this shot!!! *grin*)