12 Jul
So I have been thinking…since some of my posts now are much linked to baby, I would usually publish them in the baby blog. But perhaps I should put everything into one place? Should I just reorganize and concentrate every post there now? In that case I have to rename it then huh?
Hmm…
10 Jul
I haven’t driven a car for more than two months! Until today, that is…I decided that it is okay to leave Maddy at home with Daddy, while Mommy runs out for some need-to-do stuff..like cut my frikkin overgrown hair!
So after her morning feed, I said bye bye to baby and left her in Daddy’s loving arms. I was actually a little wee bit jittery backing the car out from the garage (hey it’s been a while since U got behind the wheel ok!!) but was on my way to the salon in no time! 45 minutes and a nice trim later, I was back home and everything was fine!
Ah! More trips out perhaps? A facial maybe???? Hmmmm….
8 Jul
Of my uncle Dr Mak Kock Keng, who passed away peacefully on 21st May 2010.
In the midst of managing a new baby less than a month old then, I had not updated this news. Uncle lost his battle with a very rare cancer. Papa and my brother attended the funeral service in Sydney. I wished I could have been there to provide the much needed emotional support to Aunty and my cousins but that was not possible then.
Uncle had been an obgyn and what a great one he was; doing pro-bono work for those who needed it. He was the kindest and most generous person and loved by all family and friends. He managed to catch a glimpse of baby Madelyn via pictures. I only wished Maddy could have grown up to know him 
11 Apr
I kid you not when I wrote some time ago that I am crazy over all food fresh throughout this pregnancy. Today again, I decided to make nasi ulam for dinner and this time did a variation of it with some added extra condiments – fried tau kwa (hard tofu) and a special sauce to go with the rice. Nasi ulam from Southern Thailand that my late grandma used to buy from the Siamese temples during festivities always came with this sauce, but we never really knew what went into it. Although, this much we do know – it is a mixture of fermented fish sauce, palm sugar and spices. So for tonight I added fish sauce, palm sugar, kaffir lime leaves, garlic and some shallots and boiled it for a few minutes. Tasted good to us !
I made an effort with the rice: steamed with 'blue bunga telang water' and pandan for that extra fragrance
Little treasures around the plate: cucumber, fried taukwa, salted fish, bunga kantan and finely sliced fresh herbs
Fish sauce palm sugar mix
3 Apr
I do not have a suitable title for this post, but the closest that I can think of is perhaps HOPE.
Hope for my dearest uncle, battling cancer. It breaks my heart to see aunty and cousins praying for time. It breaks my heart that something like this should happen to someone like him. And most of all it breaks my heart that we might lose him.
Hope for my dearest friend SH. I wish I could have offered you a comforting hug and a shoulder to lean on during your difficult days at the hospital with little JJ. And I am so so so happy for your tears of joy yesterday when his final test results came out ok and I hope this is the start to better days ahead. HUGS!
Hope for my dearest friend AF, mummy to adorable baby A – Happy One Month old! I wish you all the good things in the world and all the hope that we can give you for baby A. Perhaps the doctors may be wrong to assume baby A’s days are limited…but she is one month old! And we are all praying that she will have another month and many more months and hopefully years to come. We pray that you have the strength (on top of what amazing strength you already have now) to go through this and be rewarded with a miracle.
And not forgetting hope for J, and all women out there yearning to have that bundle of joy of their own. It may take some time (or in a lot of cases A LOT of it and some tears and pain and heartache) but there is always hope that you will hear that tiny heartbeat that you WILL see on the ultrasound screen eventually.
29 Mar
Incredibly simple and snappy on a lazy Sunday lunch when I just wanted to whip up something to fill my belly – and not wanting to go out get more ingredients! Just use ingredients that are in my pantry/fridge/storage. Took me about 15minutes from start to my first mouthful.
Ingredients:
A piece of chinese dried meat (bak kua) – finely chopped. Original recipe calls for fried minced meat
Carrot and cucumber – finely sliced
A handful of mint leaves and coriander - coarsely chopped
Toasted peanuts – coarsely pounded
Half a pack glass noodles – soaked in boiling water till soft and drained
Chilli flakes, brown sugar, lime juice and fish sauce – to taste
Method:
Toss all ingredients together to mix and serve!
How simple is that! I have seen variations of this with cooked seafood or more herbs. Just experiment with it! It’s a light and healthy salad, just filling enough till the next snack time 
27 Mar
I cannot remember the last time that I shopped for something solely for myself.
It was bonus time recently but all I could think about was saving up the extra cash for our future needs (a.k.a baby baby baby). I did think about getting something nice for myself but being in a small town doesn’t present me with a lot of retail therapy to spoil myself. Perhaps I could for a facial…or a hair treatment? But pregnancy hormones give me great skin that require little to no maintenance and I’ve had my short crop for months that barely requires anything more than a wash and running a brush through it.
My credit card bills for the last 10 months or so are also less than ‘interesting’ – Astro autodebit, monthly insurance payments, airline tickets for my parents and the occasional swipe for groceries. Of course hubby is well pleased and proud of me for this – but even HE is shopping for himself.
To be honest, apart from the many many things we have to get to prepare for the new arrival, I cannot for the life of me think of anything I would like for ME right now. A new bag? Naaah….I hate accumulating things. A new dress? Can’t fit. New shoes? Whatever for. New skincare? Sticking to my current regime. New knick knacks? Can’t find any here.
Perhaps a few months from now, I might be dying for some retail therapy. But for now, I am contented.
24 Mar
It probably has yet to sink in that in about one month, our lives are going to change…like FOREVER! It also probably has yet to sink in that I have to actually give birth … like soon. I have become quite used to carrying baby around in my belly, feeling her jabs and kicks and wriggles. They feel almost like part of a normal day by now….sitting at the office and I suddenly go “Eeek!” when she jabs me in the side.
Come end April, there is actually going to be somebody new in the household! Oh my! Probably after that my priorities will change. I am a little worried how my fellow team members at work will react. I mean, the company is generally supportive of work-life balance. But somehow I ended up in a team that are mostly workaholics. It makes me feel a little intimidated that perhaps I might want to slow down after this. How will they react? How will that affect my appraisals? I know, I should slap myself for even thinking about this. OF COURSE my child does come first….but what changes am I going to expect when I get back to work? Marriage did not really change our lives much…this probably will and I am wondering and waiting in both anticipation and a little bit of nervousness.
15 Feb
Here we are again spending CNY in Miri. Well, we so proudly bought tickets about 10mths ago to be home this year for CNY but then Fate decided to intervene and gave me a big belly instead. Hmm…
It has been a rather quiet long weekend for us. I have been working for a few hours at home each day trying to clear off work before I go off for my long leave (I cannot wait!! I cannot wait!! I cannot wait!!!!) and Hubby been catching up on his baby reading (I made him at least read my book on breastfeeding just so he will know what to expect and how to support me 
).
Anywaaaaay….here’s wishing everyone Gong Xi Fa Cai for the year of the Tiger. May you be blessed with a prosperous new beginning! Roar!
