So here is the long overdue pic of ‘The Bump’… or maybe I should say ‘The Carrier of The Bump’. I was in two minds of posting this up, because the first thought that came to my mind was “ haiyooo… how fat am I??? ” But then the other voice in my head remarked how fatness was such a silly cliché thing for a pregnant woman to think/say... furthermore hubby has been unfailing in his counter-fat assurances that I feel safe enough to reveal myself in all my bumpy (and slightly dumpy) glory.

So after going public, I’ve been receiving a few more congratulatory messages, both online and offline. As usual there’s the gush of congratulations/hugs/pats/smiles… a quick admiring glance at my belly, followed by the usual mini Q&A session… which I really don’t mind, it’s all part of the whole sharing and caring. So since this is a space to journal and communicate, I present to you my pregnancy FAQs: How far along are you? As of today, I am 17 weeks and 4 days along. When are you due? December 26 th (yes I know, I know… it will be my big Christmas present this year) Any morning sickness? Yes sort of, mainly in the first 3 months, but it was more like evening sickness and sometimes all-day-long sickness. But I’m feeling better now. Any food cravings? Not really. I pretty much eat anything. I do miss my variety of soft cheeses and cold cuts, though. Any food/smell aversions? I did feel a bit queasy in the early stages, but not specifically related to a particular fo...

So the verdict is out… here is the little culprit that has been behind my inconsistent blog posts for the past can’t remember how long. (ultrasound at 13 weeks) We’ve told quite a few people verbally already, so no harm throwing it out open here as well I guess. I started out with trying to journal my thoughts on what’s been happening, but then everything sort of faded away when I started to have to deal with real issues like morning sickness (in my case it was evening sickness and sometimes all-day-long sickness), tiredness and juggling with an enormous workload at the office during that time. So until I gather my thoughts on what is happening now, here is the backlog from my journal to fill in the gap for now. 18th April : Feeling a discomfort in my breasts which has been persisting for a few days. I have been having suspicions and flickers of hope but held off as long as possible in case I am disappointed yet again. But I can’t help complaining of the discomfort. Hubby ...

I haven’t posted anything on my cooking escapades lately. So here’s another one of those yummy and supposedly difficult to prepare traditional Malaysian/Singaporean delicacies, using the idiot-proof method to make. Presenting….home made tau foo fah (the cheat version) Start with a carton of plain soy milk. You can also use the sweet soy milk from the Asian groceries if you like the added sweetness, but authentic tau foo fah is supposed to be plain with the sweetness coming from the syrup. Pour your desired amount into a saucepan and heat it up gently. Now for the secret ingredient… agar-agar powder! I added about a teaspoon to about 500ml of soy milk. I’m not sure if it is the same for all types of agar-agar powder. But the idea is to make the soy milk set to a slightly wobbly consistency… not too firm and jelly-like. Ensure the agar-agar powder is completely dissolved then turn off the heat and set aside to let it set. When serving it, just scoop off thin layers, just like t...

Our garden is making very slow progress. But just to earn some brownie points, let me show you how well our chilli plant is thriving... For such a small bush, it certainly yielded quite a crop! I think I need to learn how to prune the bush, because it seems to be growing more outwards and upwards... which makes the plant rather short and 'fat', and a lot of chillies are fruiting on the underside of the plant. Will throw in some of the chillies in our lunch and let you know how it tastes.

I haven’t updated you guys about Mishu in a while. So I think that dusty corner of my Mishu posts needs a little visit. Mishu is doing fairly okay, but he’s acting up a bit in his behaviour. It started when the vet put him on a follow up round of antibiotic treatments just to make sure the infection he had is fully cleared. We usually put the tablet with a little bit food in his bowl, then hubby coaxes him to swallow it to make sure he eats it, then rewards him by topping up his bowl with the rest of his food. However all of a sudden one day, Mishu decided to go on strike and refused to eat any food at all, as if in protest against eating any more of the antibiotics. We tried different ways of coaxing and ‘tricking’ him to eat it, and it got so bad that he refused to eat any food at all even when we stopped putting tablets in it. He went almost three days without food, except for a small bite here and there when we tried to coax him to eat a small teaspoonful here and there. ...

It was Fathers’ Day in Malaysia/Singapore yesterday. I only realised on Saturday night after I hung up the phone, and my hubs was pondering what the occasion for my parents call was. Then it dawned on him, and then me. Fathers’ Day in Australia is not celebrated until September. Usually this means I send my dad two Fathers’ Day greetings a year. But unfortunately this year, I was a little distracted. Anyway, better late than never. Here is a special blog post dedicated to a special man… something I’ve been already thinking about and saving up to blog about anyway, and not something I’ve scrambled together at the last minute. So lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Elvis Presley. …Jailhouse Rock …Hound Dog …Heartbreak Hotel A great way to chirk me up at work if the task is pretty dull. Listening to Elvis brings up childhood memories of my brothers and I dancing madly around the house to Elvis Presley’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’ or ‘Hound Dog’ blaring loudly on the stereo, clutching badminton r...

Dear everyone, I apologise for the 'deadness' of my blog. So much has happened lately, that it has just been to overwhelming to sit down and pen or type down my thoughts. When something new happens, I immediately think " I must share this ", but then I get caught up in the wave of everything that keeps happening and happening, that I never do. Anyway, this morning we did something unusual. We took public transport. On a Sunday. To go to church! (well not all the way, we caught the train up to Bullcreek and a friend picked us up from there). We banged up our little white 'bun' car a couple of weeks ago. A young driver swerved across from the left most lane to the right most lane (it was a three-lane road), cutting one of the cars travelling in front of us who jammed the brakes suddenly and caused a mini pile up. The culprit then did a U-turn and drove off without stopping. It was quite a dramatic day. The had to bring a tow truck in, the police and ambulance we...

Today’s church service was all about Mothers' Day. There were special presentations and personal testimonies, all centred around the superwoman in our lives. Here is a video presentation written and acted out by our church’s youth group especially for the occasion… So first off, a big thumbs up to all these brilliant actors and creative story writers!!! Well done guys!!! I’m aware that nowadays most of us already know how to give credit to the ‘background people’. But nevertheless, somehow it is still always the actual people you see in front of you who you are conscious of bringing you the enjoyment you experience. So I just want to use up a few lines just to give special credit to my dear hubby who made this video possible… …for being the video man, including crouching around the ground and balancing and manoeuvring the camera to get those ‘creative’ angles in the scenes …for spending a whole afternoon, sitting next to some of the youths to guide them through...

I am thinking of my mother tonight. Not just because it is Mother’s Day tomorrow, but just because it’s one of those moments when images from my childhood come to mind. So what comes to my mind… One of the earliest scenes from my childhood I can remember…. I was probably around 3 years old I think, and I remember wearing favourite ‘home’ dress (a sort of comfy ‘T’ shirt material, dual colour – light yellow top and light green bottom), peering into the kitchen and my mum looking back and smiling at me. Another early memory I have is one time when I was sitting on the steps, drinking from a porcelain mug. I dropped the mug and broke it, my mum happened to walk on the scene just then, and I broke into tears thinking I would be scolded. But instead she just leaned over and said “ it’s okay, it was an accident ”. Somehow this memory always touches me. Then there are short scenes… mum gently patting us awake early in the morning to get ready for school… mum taking us out for afterno...