A rose by any other name...

will smell as sweet; or so they say. Nevertheless, Ming and I still heartache over what name to call our baby. It will afterall, stay with her for the rest of her life, for better or for worse. But if my temperament these days is anything to go by, I should be naming her Oscar the grouch. I'm really not sure where I heard that pregnant women were supposed to be always happy and thats why we get post-natal blues, when the endorphins dip after the baby's birth. I however have been suffering PMS-like storminess since the start of my pregnancy. Sometimes I can even feel myself being sullen and unreasonable, but am just unable to really do much about it. I do hope this does not influence the temperament of our child! Perhaps that explains why my baby expense budget broke the $1.5k mark today thanks to antenatal + BF classes. Maybe there is some credit to retail therapy afterall.

100 days

Today, my ticker marks the countdown that 100 days are left before my EDD. I also realise that I'm amidst a heatwave; not the one that has struck Singapore as the last few days, since the sultry, clinging heat had given way to some rain. This heat comes from inside me I realised, as everywhere I went, it seems that the airconditioning doesn't work anymore. I used to cuddle up in blankets in our aircon room at night, now I'm all warm and kicking them off. I used to swaddle myself in layers of jackets in the office, now I can do quite well without them. So needless to say, when I'm outside, I'm boiling inside and out. So I really appreciate the reprieve of rain from the relentless heat.

I also finally completed my spreadsheet of expenses. So far, we exceeded $1.3k on baby's expenses, leaving a miserly $200 on my estimated expenses. Considering the number of things we had yet to buy, I decided to expand my budget by another $500. Do hope can keep within budget.

To Spree or not to Spree

Just some days after I bought those books and promised myself to stop spending, I find myself buying once again from the motherhood forums. So I paid for more bibs and rompers last night and am now waiting their delivery. hahaa... think my baby gonna wear nothing but rompers and bibs til she turns 1! Fortunately, my hubby was quite supportive and didn't blow up a storm. For although each time we try to keep our expenditure for small items (clothes, books etc) about $50 each time, aside from the times I spreed from US, Softplay and Old Navy (aiyah must buy more to save on shipping right), the many times I buy wipes and books and clothes and bibs certainly seem to be adding up.

Today I continued my purchasing frenzy by placing orders for more neurogain (DHA pills) and desitin (supposedly a miracle diaper rash cream). but but these are different right? they are necessities! haha, not that rompers and bibs are not lah. just that do i really need so many of them?? and i really shouldn't buy all pretty bibs. That day saw a pack of plain bibs selling at ikea for a fraction of the price I'm paying - yet I didn't buy those! but but... coz non-pretty bibs are just so boring!! ;P ok ok, still i don't need that MANY. ok so cut down it is...

I decided to follow my friend's advice and keep track of just how much I'm spending by tracking my expenses in an Excel. I'm terrble at this, I know from the first time I tried it with my wedding expenses. Nonetheless, I'm gonna give it another shot. Hopefully, the amount I'm spending will scare me into spending less haha. So now i must wreck my brains to think of what I have already bought so far... hmm...

Baby books and stuff

Baby is 25 weeks old today. I'm almost into my 3rd trimester. Boy time really flies. I'm getting more tired and testy lately. The hot and humid weather isn't much help really. Neither is the stress at work. As my deadline for the surveys approach, and the MST week draws nearer, all my procrastinated tasks are coming back to haunt me multifold. Well nonetheless, some updates:

On Sunday I fly my friends' aeroplane to attend my family's dim sum father's day celebration. Food was a tad salty but we had great fun nonetheless in the gathering. Finally got to catch my sis free from work (she had been OTing and working many of the past weekdays and ends). So grilled her many questions I had about baby stuff etc. heehee...

After dim sum, Ming went to PC show to get some stuff for his brother while I went Marina Square to once again buy baby stuff. Fortunately, went home with a little less than $50 burnt. Would have been more, had we driven there haha. JL had a fantastic sale on car seat and I wanted to get a new baby mattress. But since we hd to lug all the stuff home, I made do with what Ming could carry. haha

It was a crazy hot day as we (or he) struggled with our buys while waiting for the buses. More than half hour and 3 very packed buses had passed, and we were still there steaming away. Temperatures rose, as did my temper as we gave up on the buses and decided to change a bus home.

Monday and Tuesday, I was on course and had the luxury of leaving office about an hour before my usual 6pm. Had a great time shopping for books at the PS Atrium sale. So far, I've got 2 boardbooks (Eeyore and Minnie Mouse), 1 lift the flap book (Arthur), 1 50 bedtime stories to tell the baby, 2 Winnie the Pooh audio books that time bought from Hong Kong, and 2 paperbacks (english-chinese Minnie Mouse book and one Tigger's Tales book). I had also bought a 10 strategies of parenting book that day. This was on top of the 3 SoftPlay Soundbooks ordered from US. haha... i think i better stop with buying books! But I had always loved books when I was younger, and hoped my baby would love them too. I know my nephews don't and I find it such a pity :(

The Southern Ridges

Inspired by some of my friends doing the Anlene Orchard Mile, I finally got off my lazy ass and convinced my hubby to bring me to the Henderson Waves. We started off with an unhealthy breakfast of my favourite prata to give us the extra umph, then a brief MRT ride to VivoCity and that marked the start of our trek. See the cable cars in the background? We started off there with a rough trail and many many steps uphill until we finally reached the Jewel Box. Then the trek became much easier as we descended until we reached the beautiful Henderson Waves.

After that, we assessed that we could still go on, so we continued on to try reach the Alexandra Arch, which ended near my previous JC. On the way, we passed a lovely garden and couldn't resist a brief detour to catch some Kodak moments before heading on the long windy Forest Walk trail. Eventually we made it to the Alexandra Arch, before grabbing a cab to Ikea for lunch and some shopping =) We headed home tired, but happy and full of memories. Hope next time when Baby is born, we can continue such treks with her along!

Some info from NParks website about Southern Ridges:

The Southern Ridges comprise a 9-kilometre chain of green, open spaces spanning the rolling hills of Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park before ending at West Coast Park.

It is an area steeped in history and is home to some of nature's greatest gifts of flora and fauna. It is also one of the best spots in Singapore to catch panoramic views of the city, harbour and the Southern Islands.

Convenient connections

Two prominent connections stand proudly along the Ridges today.

Henderson Waves - Singapore's highest pedestrian bridge - spans Henderson Road to connect Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park.

The other link, Alexandra Arch, looks like an opened leaf across Alexandra Road. It continues to Forest Walk, which is made up of an elevated walkway for pedestrians and earth trail for cyclists through the secondary forest of Telok Blangah Hill Park.

Together with a series of other interesting trails, they provide a seamless link through a soothing sanctuary of greenery that was previously not accessible.

430am

and i have been awake almost 2 hours liao. after 2 hours tossing and turning in bed, checking the clock every half hour or so, i finally decide to give up and wake up. but now dunno what to do. too early to prepare breakfast and for work, so come online idle a while. how to tahan like this for the next half of the pregnancy?? later go work sure zombie-fied again 8|

Bach and Beethoven Lullabye

Yesterday night, I put on some Bach, mainly for the baby, before I went to bed. I really don't know if its true, that we should play music for the unborn child, and I'm not sure if its meant for me to hear (and the child will also hear?) or am I supposed to place the player near my belly? Anyway, even I was soothed into slumber by the gentle piping music =) Tonight, I'll try the Beethoven for babies ;)

Today when I got to work, I walked into the pantry and caught a whiff of the lingering aroma of coffee someone had mixed before me. I realise how much I miss a good cup of coffee, even though surviving 5 months without coffee shows I'm really not an addict. I just enjoy it =)

The Big 3

Over the weekend, we finally managed time to celebrate my birthday proper. Unfortunately, that meant giving up the chance to pop by the Motherhood fair again. So we missed out on all the buys that I wanted to get!!! :( But but but!! Heard from Shan that there'll be another fair at Marina Square on 27th-29th June, this time round by Young Parents! Doesn't seem like much from the web page but hope it has as many deals too! Janice Tang, my JC tutor is the editor for some Young Parents magazine. Maybe she'll be there? ;P Anyway looking forward to that then.

We had a lazy Saturday breakfast at Borders Cafe. It was really nice lazing around in the cafe, Ming sipping his tea, flipping the papers, while I had to make do with OJ, as the rain pattered away outside. Borders serves a decent range of breakfast but only 2 types of sets. Food was overall pretty good. Somehow the ambiance was perfect, and I couldn't help but wonder how many more times we can enjoy such peace before the baby comes along, although I'm sure we'll be too busy to miss it ;P.

After that, we went shopping for my birthday present. Ming had wanted to buy it first but when I heard how much he wanted to spend, I certainly thought I should be there to choose the present lest I didn't like it! We browsed several designer boutiques like LV, TODs, Dior, Gucci, Ferragamo, Burberry etc but I really couldn't find a bag I liked. I guess I'm not really into the branded look. What irks me is the long queues people had to tolerate in order to enter the boutiques! Gucci and TODs fair enough, I guess since they were having like some mega-sale or something, looking at the crowd. But LV? No sale, still got to queue wor... Singaporeans must be getting richer. And many weren't just window shopping I gathered, from the number of paper bags floating around the stores. Given up on bags, we scoured stores for Tag Heuers, Omegas, Longines and Rolexes. While i do feel a pretty penny is better spent on watches, and many did catch our eyes, but I guess I really didn't want to fork out a couple of thousand bucks for a watch either. Hee, penny-pincher me, guess I would rather spend the money on a nice piece of jewelry, although honestly, there isn't much chance to wear them. I'm seldom required to go for formal functions afterall. I mean this was unlike the lasik or the braces I did; which although those cost much more, but they are always with me. A bag or a watch, and I feel obligated to carry it, restricted from changing around as and when I like. Well, I guess its just me ;)

Later, we had dinner, after a brief rest stop at home, at a very nice little joint called Absolute Haven. I didn't know of this restaurant before but apparently, it had good reviews online. We placed our orders based on online reviews and weren't dissappointed. I ordered the Chicken Roulade: Bacon-spinach rolled in slice of chicken thigh, served with champagne cream sauce and avocado salad, while Ming had the Ribeye Steak with Port Wine Sauce: Ribeye steak grilled to your liking with port wine sauce, served with potato gratin and sugar peas.

Overall, a pretty enjoyable day; a good way to celebrate what's probably our last chance to enjoy a guilt-free romantic night out just the two of us. Once the baby is here, surely it would be much harder for us to slip out and enjoy private time alone, without cares or worries about the child right?

June Visit and the Motherhood exhibition

Its 4+am Saturday morning, and as you can guess at this unearthly time that I'm suffering from one of those cursed pregnancy sleepless nights again. What else can I do at this time but blog ya?

Yesterday, I turn 30, I guess some consider this a milestone in life ba? Spent my 30th birthday visiting Dolly so I get a free day from work =) after being assured all was fine with my little princess-to-be, I headed down to the motherhood fair at expo, just for a look, I thought. I really hadn't intend to get anything much because I would need to lug stuff home myself, and also, we already had most stuff we needed I'd thought. Btw, food at expo sucks big time! I should have stuck with fast food! So i consoled my miserable lunch with some strawberry drink from Orange Julius... yumz.

I ended up carrying 3 bags of stuff from the exhibition home; my huge VS pink tote (yes i thought my buys could actually fit in there), a really cute bag from Huggies filled with diapers and a paper bag of freebies. Loot included Huggies and SoftLove diapers (wah din know diapers so heavy and sure is bulky), Palmers Organic Stretchmark Cream, Frisomum milk powder, baby milk powder dispenser, a set of pink baby mittens, coloured pencil set, multi-coloured pen, notebook, a ton of brochures... and i guess that's about it. Doesn't seem like a lot, does it? Thats what I thought to, but lugging them home sure seemed heavy. Think was mainly from the diapers and milk but the Motherhood magazine seemed kinda heavy too. I would have bought more too, if I felt I could have carried more, but the paper bag was digging into my poor arm so I decided to leave other buys for the weekend when CM might accompany me.

Personally, I felt the 5th had better special buys including digital thermometer that had a mute option (very tempting even at non-promo exhibition prices) and a very funky looking pram ($100 bucks off + free diaper changing kit!) by bon bebe. Other things to check out from the fair over the weekend I listed (in my freebie notebook, with my freebie pen), aside from the 5th buys included the Pupsik Changing Mat (wow you really should feel the soft padded cushion! Changing mat deluxe style!), Pampers Active Baby diapers (but the very attractive promo price only starts at 7pm and unfortunately :( they were quite strict on that otherwise I would have lugged the packs home too, heck care achy arms), Sealer diapers (good reviews and comes with cutie hat hahaha but deal not good enough for me to load another set of diapers), Palmers Nursing Cream and Bottom Butter, more NeuroGain pills (although I already have 2 bottles), a cute flower baby monitor ($199), maternity pads, a baby photography package, baby toothbrushes, baby tableware set, some baby wash, detergent and wipes. Strangely, there were no car seats for sale at the exhibition, or maybe I missed it? Oh yes, did I mention I got a set of adorable bibs from Carters? =D waiting for them to be delivered as we "speak".

After the fruitful visit at the fair, I headed to my mum's place via mrt. Fortunately, a very kid soul gave up her seat for me, else I cannot imagine the long ride with all those bags. Entertained by the NDS, the trip was a jiffy and I rested at my mum's place before feasting on shepherd's pie and curry delights for dinner, and not to mention yummy chocolate cake Ming lugged from office. I especially recommend the shepherd's pie coz that's the first time we tried it. I LOVED it, but family felt it was more suited for bigger crowd to share. We had no choice but to cab back with my many shopping bags, leftovers and might as well lug home the playpen from my sis too. Come to think of it, was a really tiring day. How come I still cannot sleep leh?