Meet Baby No. 2, the new addition to my life.

Baby No. 2... lives in me, taking my nutrients and oxygen (my colleague, YZ, refers to it as a parasite).

This 3rd pregnancy has been so different from the 2nd (for those who didn't know, my 1st pregnancy was an ectopic case). I have a stronger nauseating feel, more vomiting scenes, more tiredness, a bigger bump, more bloatedness, more breathlessness, but less appetite. I'm so sensitive to smells now. Any kind of smell. Like the smell of perspiration, the smell from the toilet, the smell of food on my clothes. All these make me wanna puke. I felt so terrible and so weak last weekend that I ended breaking down and I cried. Ch was very nice, and she kept asking me "Mommy, why are you crying? Are you feeling better?" And she kept wanting to sing to Baby. Oh, it was so comforting to hear that from my girl. 

Something to confess (in case any of my students are reading this right now), I've not been marking much. In fact, I think I've only managed to mark one set of worksheets so far this year! I've been so tired after school ends, so all I can manage is to drive myself home without puking along the way, then plop my heavy body on the sofa or bed and snooze until ZY comes back. After having dinner and picking Ch up from my MIL's place, I'll engage in my usual activity- lying down and resting... until Ch sleeps. That's when I sleep too. Looking at the piles and piles of worksheets on my table in the staffroom, I think if this goes on, I'll probably be able to stack enough paper to hide myself from the rest!

So now, all I want for Chinese New Year is to be able to finish marking 50% of my stuff, and not to puke on the way when we go for New Year visitations.

To celebrate the close of year 2007 and to welcome 2008, our enthusiastic youth organised a bbq for our congregation. There was a lot of good food and barbequed stuff. I loved the bbq chicken and so did Ch! When I set her down on a chair to feed her porridge, she asked "Mommy, where's the barbeque chicken wing?" 


Other food I enjoyed were the kim-chi rice cooked by Jessica, the delicious porridge by Sharon, and of course, the unforgettable "dao-pok" prepared by Lawrence.

Because I took a long time to feed Ch, I was also lavished with lots of bbq food from various people. This must be the advantage of a mom with a young kid! 

After the sumptuous dinner, it was treasure-hunting time. Ch, behaving like one of the youth, wanted to participate too. So, I had to carry her while hunting for clues! We had to climb up and down the stairs, run around etc. I got so tired that it felt like I had burnt off all the calories taken during the dinner! But it was great fun, and I must admit that if Ch had not said that she wants to join in, I would have probably just sat around. Come to think of it, it has been a long time since I joined in such games too.

Ch used ZY's handphone to take some pictures. Don't you agree with me that they look well taken? At least, all the subjects are in the photos.


It is really nice to see everyone so at ease with one another, and to be able to chat together. We even tried to connect to our dear friends, SJ and Anna who are in Utah, through Skype! Though not very successful in video conferencing, we enjoyed ourselves singing with SJ. He even showed us snow! 

See the video here Singspiration_1_Jan_08

Today's the first time we allow Ch to sleep so late. She played so much, that in the end around 1+ am, she decided that it was enough. Came to me and told me that she wanted to go home and read her storybook. True enough, she knocked out in the car on the way home.

Thinking back, 2007 has been a blessed year for me. I hope that with God's blessings, 2008 will be as good, if not, better. I'll probably not set resolutions for myself, as I usually forget about them after a while. Maybe I'll just remind myself to do the best I can for each task or challenge that comes my way. And to be a better example to people around me.

Also, special thanks to the following people (not in order of importance hor...)
Timothy and Lawrence: for playing and entertaining Ch during her dinner so that she can finish most of the porridge

Lai Mui: for loading my plate with food

Sharon: for helping me to find a suitable container to put the dessert my mom prepared

Shan Shan: for entertaining Ch

Eunice: for feeding (and sacrificing her chicken wing to Ch) and entertaining Ch. And for helping to buy Coke for me!

Dorcas: for helping to take care of Ch and for washing her milk bottle!

Peter: for getting the dao-pok and fork for Ch.

And to everyone who played a part in entertaining Ch throughout the night! Without you, I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself too!

This video was taken shortly after our countdown. We had so much problem trying to connect to my dear friends, SJ and Anna who are currently in Utah, through Skype. Perhaps the connection at our church building is not too good, thus either we couldn't see them, or they only saw a still image of us.

Fortunately, we could hear each other quite well, so ended up singing instead. What a magical moment... to be able to sing together despite being apart in two different continents and across different time zones!!! The power of technology indeed!

4:11 am, Dec 18 2007. This marks a great moment- the completion of the game "The Sims 2: Castaway" on my Nintendo DS!!!! After 49 hours 13 mins of play...Yes!!!  I finally conquered this game!!!

My eyes are now bleary, and I think I'm seeing double images... but all these in exchange for this moment... IT'S WORTH IT!! haha!

ZY says I've gone crazy over my DS.. perhaps I do.. coz I'll bother to read through guides just to complete the games... hee hee, and this is the 2nd game I've completed (actually). The 1st was "The New Super Mario Bros"!

Here's a video clip of the Castaway game itself- for those of you who have no idea what The Sims is... and perhaps to entice you to play this game??

DS Producer Walkthrough - Sims 2: Castaway - Electronic Arts

Posted Oct 16, 2007
Survive in style with this overview of the new Sims DS title.

Just came back from our Malacca trip. Our initial holiday plan was to visit to Hong Kong with Ch, then it was changed to Perth (coz ZY was concerned of the air and water pollutions at HK), then to Bangkok (coz it's not worth paying so much tax to go Perth for just 1 week), then to Bintan (coz Thailand will be having their elections, so may not be very safe), then to just having 2 nights stay at Rasa Sentosa (coz the food's expensive at Bintan, and we're not sure if Ch will be used to the food), then finally to Malacca (coz it's crazy to pay $500 for 2 nights stay just in Singapore).

SInce we drove up to Malacca for our church camp in June, we decided to try the 4-hour coach ride instead. It was pretty fun coz it was Charlene's 1st experience too! Our objectives for this trip were simple:

1. To just get out of Singapore for a few days (my version: to get my passport "chopped")
2. To go back to Malacca, my hometown where I was born
3. To walk around this historic place since ZY and Ch have not been there. We planned to cover Jonker Street and the Stadthuys (where I used to go for church service with my grandmother at the Christ Church when I was young)
4. To eat Cendol and the famous chicken rice balls

Our trip started on Tue 3/12 around 8am. The journey was not as long as expected coz teh driver drove so fast. So fast that I was worried for Ch's safety...and I forced myself not to doze off (which is a personal achievement coz I usually sleep on long journeys). Both ZY and Ch had a long sleep though.



Hotel Equatorial is nice and cozy. And with its strategic location, we were able to get around by foot easily.



We went for Japanese food after we left our luggage in the room. During lunch, ZY helped Ch call my MIL. This girl ah! she can really talk! She talked on the phone for so long that the waitresses nearby were amused too. 



The next day, after a heavy buffet breakfast, we were out walking around (and eating) for 6 hours. My calves were so tired that when I climb down stairs now, they still hurt!

First, we visited the replica of the Istana of the Melaka Sultan.



We told Ch that this was the palace of the king and queen long time ago... boy! it led to so many questions from her after that!!

Ch: Where's the king and queen?
Us: They're not here anymore. They passed away long long time ago.
Ch: Why they passed away?
Us: B'cos they grew older and older, then they passed away.
Ch: Why did they grow older?
Us: B'cos everyday, we are growing older. The king and queen also grew older everyday.
Ch: Why they pass away?
Us: (speechless!)

Nearby was A'Farmosa. There, I tried explaining to Ch about the cannons and what they were used for. After about 1 min of explanation, she looked at me and asked "Mommy, what are you talking about ah?" LOL


On the way up the fortress, Ch sang the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill"... then came the questions.

Ch: Why did Jack and Jill fall down?
Me: B'cos they lost their balance.
Ch: Why they lose their balance?
Me: B'cos they did not stand properly, so they lost their balance and fell down the hill.
Ch: Why Jack broke his crown?
Me: B'cos he fell down, so he hurt his head.
Ch: Why he fell down?
Me: Arrgghhhh!!


I could tell that ZY appreciated all the historical architecture and things. He would admire the buildings and read the historical facts on the boards while I looked at them superfically.




But when I got to the Stadthuys, it was my turn to be excited and I started telling my own history of how my father would drive us down to the Christ Church for Sunday worship and that I would always eat the famous cendol dessert that came along in a pushcart outside the church.

Below show the famous red buildings- the Christ Church, and the Clock Tower.






Not sure if this was the same cendol stall that I ate from years ago, but I heard from one of the church workers that it has very delicious cendol. Of course I had to order a bowl to try! It was pretty good, but not the same as what I had in my memory. The coconut milk taste wasn't very strong, though the characteristic taste of the famous gula melaka is present. Ch also tasted it, and she liked it too!


Further down is Jonker Street, aka Jalan Hang Jebat, where it is famous for the antique shops and old shophouses. 



 

We hunted for the chicken rice balls and found many shops selling this. Finally we decided on the Farmosa Chicken Rice Ball.

Personally, I prefer our local chicken rice coz it's more fragrant and soft and the meat's more tender. We were recommended the kampung chicken so, maybe that explains the "tough" meat. As usual, Ch "attacked" her favourite cucumber slices that came along with the chicken.





After the chicken rice lunch, we carried on our walk down the street. It started to drizzle so we hid in a nearby cafe that were frequented by many Caucasians.

We took the chance to snap the photo below while Ch was exploring the cafe herself. It is very seldom that we get to take our own photos ever since Ch was born. Haha... very funny coz we noticed that when the camera clicked, Ch was actually smiling and posing beside ZY!! She must have felt neglected coz shortly after, she asked ZY to take her photos.







 

In the evening, we went for our free Peranakan dinner provided by our hotel. The experience was truly pleasant as none of us have tried this cuisine before. We went in with anticipation and we were not disappointed at all! Each dish was so delicious! And the sambal belachan was heavenly! I even took a second helping of the rice just to eat more sambal belachan and the food! They even had cendol as our dessert... Nyonya style. Mmm... it tasted much nicer than the one I had in the afternoon. The amount of coconut milk was just right, and with the shaved ice and gula melaka, it was a great way to end the dinner.



 
Our last day in Malacca was spent having a long breakfast and taking some photos in the hotel as it rained very heavily outside. During breakfast, Ch noticed a waiter wearing spectacles.

Ch: Why the uncle wear spectacles?
Me: Bcos he's short-sighted. He can't see things that are far clearly. Just like Mommy.
Ch: Daddy, next time I buy spectacles for you.
ZY: Oh... no need... maybe next time when I'm older.

Immediately after what ZY said, Ch turned to me, touched my hand and said: "Oh Mommy, you're old!"

LOL!!!




*Above 2 photos show Ch imitating the dwarfs.

On the whole, though it was a short vacation, we achieved all our objectives . Perhaps the next time we visit Malacca again, we'll stay at one of the cheaper boutique hotels and try out more types of food!