In transit

We moved out of our home for the last almost 6 years on 13 Aug.

It was the first house that Little N remembers moving out from because although she was born in another house, we moved before she turned two and she only has vague memories of that place.

She was very reluctant to move.

“When I grow up, I will move back into this house.”

This move was Step 1 of a 2-step move.

We had sold our place even before we bought our new house. Our original thought process was, it’d take a long time for us to sell, and maybe even longer to look. So we put our house up for sale and planned to move to an interim place for maybe about a year whilst we hunt for a new house. But as it turns out, our house was sold pretty quickly. And then we started our house hunt and found a new place pretty quickly too.

So that meant our interim stay would be just a 3 month transit... and we’d move house twice in 2019.

After we moved, Little N missed the old house and asked to visit the place. So we decided to visit during her September school holidays.

Until we reached the place, she did not understand that she would not get to go into the house anymore. But she was contented to visit and play at the nearby park - a place she played at often.

The movers came when she went to school. 

After school, I brought her back to the empty home to say her goodbye.

It’s been a while

I have not been posting for a long time.

Looking back at my posts in the blog, there were so many things I am reminded about and I really wanted to restart blogging as a way to document my memories.

But each time I thought about doing it, I thought of the effort I need to put in to “catch up” and blog about the “missing years” and it just seems to much for me.

Then the solution came to me recently.

Just don’t bother to catch up.

Well, I should have thought about that earlier.

Haha.

So here I am, many years later, with my girl in primary school, ready to start blogging again.

About school, our impending renovation and move, family projects and travel. Basically about my life, but as it is now..

I’m back.. 5 years and probably 1,000 coffees later

Summary of 2013

It's that time of the year again!

The year has just flown by and I can't quite believe I've left it to the very last day to be writing my last post of the year.

Little N and I spent a couple of weeks almost alone together in January after the Mother-in-law went back to Hong Kong. After that, I started transitioning her to my mum's place during the day so that she could get used to the arrangement when I went back to work. 

I still can't quite believe how blessed I am that my mum and dad would offer to take care of Little N during the day. It certainly isn't easy for both of them. Baby caring is hard work... and an active baby (who is a toddler now) is even harder. But I can see them bonding really well and I'm just so grateful to my parents, especially mum!

It took me quite a while this year before I got confident going out with Nicole. I was just at home a lot during my maternity leave. In the beginning, it seemed like every trip meant her daily routine got thrown off balance and resulted in a nervous mum and a cranky baby. It took a lot of pushing (Em.. I should say encouragement) from The Husband before I became more confident with bringing her out. I still prefer to ensure she gets at least 1 good nap at home in the day though.. And I still prefer going home earlier at night so that she can be in bed before 9pm.. because I think a well rested baby is a happy one.

I started work just before Chinese New Year and it isn't long before I settled into a rather fixed routine of work, breastfeeding and baby caring. My days are fully packed and it sometimes feel like I am running a race with no pit stops. Thanks to good suggestions from friends and colleagues who have young children, I started making sure I leave work by around 630pm everyday and then restart only at 9-930pm. This helps me get some time in the evenings with Little N.. I get to play a little with her and put her to bed. Driving to work helps me get a little bit more time and I used that time for some precious me-time in the morning during breakfast.

Things are a lot better now that I am quite used to the routine and night wakings, but I still really wish for the day that Little N would start sleeping through the night.

In April, I went for a business trip and training session in the UK for about a week. It was the first time I was away for Little N for so long! The main purpose of the trip was to attend this training session at the UK's Royal Marine's headquarters in Exeter. It was an extremely interesting training on leadership and team work.. but I missed my girl a lot. I insisted on freezing and transporting back most of my breastmilk for Little N so it was also a logistically challenging trip - with 3 hotel moves and lugging bags of frozen breastmilk all between London and Exeter. I was quite pleased with myself for doing it though.. because in a way the complexity and challenge of this trip kept me going and I managed to breastfeed Little N exclusively for the first 13 months of her life.

A meal at my favourite restaurant near the London office

In the middle of the year, I had some bad news at work (some of my key staff members resigned) and some really awful news at home (my dear grandmother was diagnosed with last stage liver cancer). These 2 events really make me look at my work quite differently. I realise that I need to live out the fact that health and family is priority and not work. It's really not easy. Especially the health part.

It was also around this time that Singapore got hit with one of the worst smog in recent history, with pollution levels hitting record high. There was a mad scramble amongst Singaporeans to buy air purifiers and I was no exception. I got my sister and my sister-in-law to lug air purifiers from Indonesia and Hong Kong because they were all sold out in Singapore. Again, it was another reminder that we cannot take things for granted.

The usual view out of the window from my office

 The view when the pollution index hit record levels

I managed to squeeze in a weekend trip to Beijing on my own. 2013 is the year that one of my main projects whilst I was working in Beijing ended. It was a 6 years project that started in 2008. The team organised a couple of special dinners - one with the client and one with all previous members of the project. I got the opportunity to meet old friends and dine at some of my favourite restaurants in Beijing. I also had a couple of hours by myself to visit some of the places The Husband and I used to visit in Beijing. I enjoyed myself a lot and it was a good break from my daily routine.

2 of my favourite restaurants - Dadong and Hai di lao. 

I didn't have enough time to visit the others.

 

This was a market that The Husband and I frequented. 

We visited it almost every weekend whilst we were in Beijing. 

I went there to buy some peaches home this trip.

In September, Little N celebrated her first birthday. The Husband and I had a big row that day. I cannot for the life of me remember what the row was about. But I still have evidence of his unhappy face in the photos. Being tired most of the time makes me more irritable and makes rows with The Husband a lot more frequent than they used to be. We probably had more rows in 2013 than our previous years combined. I do feel strongly the need to do something about this perpetual tiredness.. but I don't have a good solution yet. I'm still amazed at how some other mothers seem to have so much energy.. and why they seem to have so little need for me-time.

Little N seemed to be blissfully unaware of our big row on her birthday. We went to the river safari that day and she saw pandas for the first time. Around her first birthday, she also started speaking quite a bit.. which is good, especially since it helps us understand her at times.

Little N feeling happy after seeing the pandas at River Safari

In October, we went for a trip to Taiwan. This was our first family trip overseas with Little N. Travelling with Little N meant we weren't able to travel light! There were just so many things we had to lug along! But Little N was fairly co-operative and though it was tiring, I did enjoy all the food and sights we got to see.

Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan

Highlight of the trip - Taiwanese food and drinks!

Another highlight this trip - onsen!

We also got our keys to the new home in the west in October. We have been looking around for an interior designer and going furniture shopping quite a bit since then. We've just recently confirmed our interior designer so things will be getting really busy and exciting soon. To be very honest, I am very worried about moving to the west, so far away from my parents, our main support system at the moment. I am also worried about how I'd cope with a house that's more than twice the size of our current place. The thought of all the endless housework kind of freaks me out. Though I do look forward to the space we'd have as I do feel with Little N, our current apartment is spilling over with her books and toys.

We'd be doing some renovations and then this place should be ready by April! 

Too fast.. I don't feel prepared to move!

New view in 2014..

So there you have it. 2013 seemed rather uneventful... but it did seem to have just flown by.

I am excited, yet fearful of what 2014 will bring. To be honest, I am not approaching the new year with confidence that I'd do well in all my roles - as a mother, a wife, an employee and a boss. I somehow feel I'm just barely juggling everything at the moment and everything will fall apart with the renovations, move (gosh!), new home, new childcare arrangements and possibly new office next year.

May God carry me through the new year as He always have and grant me strength and wisdom. And may he do the same for you as well.

Have a happy new year and a good year ahead.

Photos of Little N through 2013

Bird Park and New Words

We brought Little N to the Bird Park last weekend.

We headed over pretty late.. reached the bird park around 3pm.. with just enough time to watch a penguin feeding session, take a tram ride and catch parts of 2 shows they had...

It was pretty enjoyable though.

I've not been to the bird park for at least 10 years.. The last time I was there was for a team dinner so it wasn't like I saw any birds apart from the flamingoes. My real last trip was probably more like 20 years ago!

Little N seemed to enjoy the Bird Park a lot though. She stared at the penguins.. pointed to the hawks flying above during a show and flapped her hands with the pelicans.

Over the last few weeks, the things she understands seemed to have grown exponentially. From the basic few key words she seemed to understand only a month back, her vocabulary seemed to have grown.

Currently, here are some of the words I observed that she knows:

• She can point at pictures of the following - penguin, apple, orange, leaf, butterfly, zebra, elephant, ice-cream, duck, cow, key, sun, star, clock, watch, smiley face, milk bottle, heart
• She can point at the following objects -  clock (probably her favourite word), alarm clock, watch, fan, air-con, stairs, chair, table, television, balloon, ball, dental floss, hand soap, hand towel, mirror, Elmo, teddy bear, phone, Eeyore, moon
• She can signal the following - bye bye, hallo, wheels on the bus, bell on the bus, honk on the bus (all from the same song), star, shake, brush hair
• She can also point to her own ear, hair, pat her stomach, point to my toes and my bellybutton

It's so fun to see her pick up new things! Penguin is the word she learnt from the Bird Park trip. We showed her the brochure when we got home and asked "Where are the penguins?" When she pointed to it, I almost fell off my chair. She consistently pointed to the penguins each time I asked.. so I guess.. she really does know it after all!

At almost 10.5 months old

Review of 2012 Resolutions

A review of 2012 Resolutions:

1. Eat healthily
Check - thanks to poor appetite from January to April, I ate quite a bit of salad and light food.. except after that, I kept drinking lots of bubble tea and Taiwanese-style fried chicken.. But I made sure I ate lots of fruits every day when I was pregnant.. But bubble tea and fried chicken.. Hm.. okay, so maybe, partial check.

2. Change my lifestyle
Partial check again. My lifestyle has certainly changed since I started my maternity leave.. but before that, my hours were not so good and weekends mostly boring.

Still, I did manage to spend quite a bit more time with my parents this year, having dinners and during weekends.. so okay, partial check is fine.

3. Enjoy life a little more heartily
I can't claim even partial check to this. I still worry too much. Oh my, I'm turning out to be one of those women who worry about everything! Not good...

But 2 partial checks out of 3... isn't all that bad.

*Gives myself a pat on my back*

Now, I need to think carefully about 2013 Resolutions..

Homemade Mee Hoon Kuey with lots of vegetables. 

I ate lots of this dish when during the 9 months..

My mum made sure I ate very well and very healthily 

during my one month confinement

Summary of 2012

It's that time of the year for a summary of my year again.

I can't help thinking how quickly time seems to fly by.

I've blogged much less this year than I ever did over the last few years so I'm starting to write this post really early (It's 3 Dec now) so I have enough time to recall what happened over the year.

Chinese New Year 2012 was in January and hence, considered early. I caught a flu bug and didn't have much appetite over the CNY period which was a shame because of all the good food around. Then I went on a business trip to London right after the CNY holidays and didn't enjoy myself at all because of the cold (English weather!) and poor appetite.

We visited Ubud in Bali over my birthday in February and whilst I really enjoyed the place and the resort we stayed in, I can't say the same of Balinese food. The problem is not so much the food but my appetite, I think.

Villa Sarna, Ubud

I enjoyed the breakfast at the resort though, especially the little donuts

Well you see, I was expecting and hence the poor appetite. For the next four months, I hated almost all food and smells of food, which was a real experience for me since I always love eating. I ate mainly salads and fruits and avoided all strong smelling and oily food. And so I finally managed to lose the weight I couldn't lose even with a low carb diet in the last couple of months of 2011.

 Mainly salads and tasteless food for me from January to April..

In May, I got to go to Zurich for a week's training. The Husband joined me after that and we went travelling around Switzerland for 10 days. I really enjoyed this trip. Switzerland is a very stress free place to travel in - it's very safe, things run on time and English is widely spoken. By then my appetite also came back and I could enjoy food once again.

I also thought that it'd be a while again before The Husband and I would be able to travel on our own, so I really treasured the time together. The sights in Switzerland were every bit as beautiful as the postcards and pictures I've seen, and I was really glad to have done the trip. I'm looking forward to another trip to the Italian part of Switzerland in the future.. and hopefully, it's in the near future.

One thing about travelling this year - I didn't go Hong Kong at all! I think it's been a long time since I didn't go Hong Kong for an entire year!

After my trip in May, things started getting more hectic at work. I was also trying to finish off and handover some of my work before my maternity leave in September, so I was under quite a bit of pressure. Of course, I didn't manage to finish off any of the key issues at work, but I did hand over my work properly (I hope!) and then, suddenly, I was off work! I had almost 2 quiet weeks all to myself, during which I swam, read, ate things I liked and met up with some friends. All in all, the 9 months of being pregnant is a rather special time for me. Apart from the poor appetite initially, I was fortunate to be really healthy and well throughout and I don't believe I've got as much compliments in my life on how I looked thanks to the weight loss over the first four months.

 I drank lots of bubble tea over those 2 weeks..

And lots of coconut water, which supposedly gives your baby good skin..

Then 20 September came and Little N joined our family.

The first few days at home were very difficult. Then things started getting better.. But just as she turned full month, she started crying a lot. All in all, the first 7 weeks after she joined us was an emotional and somewhat scary time for me. Looking back, I don't think I've ever felt so inadequate and lost. There are times when I simply don't know what to do.

Taken in the delivery suite whilst waiting for Little N to join us.. 

I had a long labour and got very bored, so I started taking pictures..

Little N on the second day of her life

At about 8 weeks, Little N started to smile and coo and suddenly, things got a bit better. There are still times when I don't know what she wants and all that crying (more like screaming) still unsettles me, but things really are better, just like everyone around said they would be. There are still bad days of course but generally, she is getting to be lots of fun and things are settling down.

Little N is able to flip herself on her tummy now

My resolutions for 2012 were to eat healthily, change my lifestyle and enjoy life a little more heartily. I definitely ate more healthily and had a big lifestyle change this year because of Little N... so I should at least give myself a little pat on the back for that. *pat pat*

I have another month of maternity leave before I go back to work in the beginning of February. The 5 months of maternity leave seems to have really just flown by.

To be honest, I don't really know what 2013 will be like for me. Little N will be looked after by a nanny during the day and I hope that works out. With my long hours at work, I still don't know how we can bring her home in time for her last feed and for bed since she sleeps before 830pm.

Hence, I really need more wisdom and better time management skills in 2013! 2013 will definitely be a year of many "firsts" for me.

Have a happy holiday season and a great year ahead.

Christmas Surprise

It's Christmas again.

Christmas is my favourite time of the year because it usually means public holidays and lots of leave. Everything around seems more cheery with all the decorations and jingles and people seem to be in a more jolly mood as well.

Christmas also has a special meaning to me because it's the day to remember that God came amongst us and lived and died to save us.

This year though, since I'm at home most of the time, I don't feel the festive mood.

But 2 dear friends sent through a big basket of red roses with poinsettia and pines as a surprise gift for me. This makes my house look "Christmasy" and really made my day. Aren't the flowers beautiful?

Merry Christmas to all and have a good holiday season with your loved ones.

Multi-tasking

Mothers seem to multi-task well and do things fast.

I never realised that I actually do things quite slowly until recently. (Apart from typing - I can type fast.. too fast sometimes and I click "Send" on the email and then regret..)

I suppose some things come with experience. For example, I can change diapers pretty fast now compared to 2 months ago.

TV is a bit of a luxury these days but here is an interesting article of what one can do whilst watching TV and during commercials. I like this website (www.dumblittleman.com) for the useful tips they hand out on almost everything!

Have a fruitful week ahead.

A pretty flower to brighten up Monday!

Hundred and Fifty Thousand

The counter on my blog says that this blog has received more than 150,000 clicks.

When the counter hit 100,000 some time back, I gushed about it to The Husband. He laughed and suggested that about half of those probably came from me.

Well, even then, 150,000 is a small milestone worthy of celebration.

I started blogging in Dec 2008, when I was working on a contract job from home in Singapore for my ex-company in Beijing. I had lots of time back then and could blog as often as I liked... until I started full time work again in April 2010.

Since I started blogging, I've met many new friends - some solely on cyberspace and some I've actually met up with physically. Ting, Petunia, Wen-ai, Fry, Leah (not a blogger but a reader) are some of those I've met. Sinfonia, of course I knew before blogging but I feel I know more of now because of her blog. Others, like Malar, Lrong, Stephanie, Vivian, Celine, Rene, I've never really met.. but I feel I know them (or at least their gardens) because of their blogs and their comments on mine.

My posts have changed from short ones without any photos, to really long posts without any photos.. to what they are now - usually with a photo whether long or short. I think having a photo just makes me feel a little happier about the post.

I used to take all my pictures with a simple camera. Now, most of my pictures are taken with The Husband's DSLR, most often using the macro lens I gave him for his birthday (Hmph, it seems the lens is more for me than him right...? Hmph). And when I forget the DSLR, of course there's always the trusty iPhone.

I started this blog to write about mainly cooking and gardening. My garden is now in a pretty sad state and I no longer cook or bake that often. But I've come to use this blog to note down stuff I do, food I eat, places I go to and my experiences in general. And at the end of the year, when I don't remember what I've done along the way, I read this blog to remind myself about the year.

This year, I didn't blog much. But reading others' blog has become very much a part of my day.. it's like reading the newspaper in the morning. Somehow, my day won't feel right or complete if I don't catch up on the blogs I follow.

I will definitely continue to blog.. even with Little N and after going back to work. Blogging has given me new experiences and time to reflect on my life.. and I'm not quite prepared to give that up!

P/S: Suddenly, I remember this old post of mine on why I blog.. the reasons I've written last time still hold true!

This blog is a lot about good food. 

This is my favourite fried tang hoon by my mum

Off work

I've been off work for more than a week now.

I was very busy at work up to the very last day in the office and left at about 10pm that day..

Since then, I've tried to put work behind me and doing things I enjoy - such as going for a swim in the morning, cooking a light lunch for myself at home and going around the island, eating things I like.

Next week is The Big Week though, so this time of relaxation would be ending soon.

Looking back at my post on "Things to do before September", I definitely have not done all the things I wanted to.. but I've played enough, especially over the last one week.

Carrot Cake from Cedele

I have been feeling tired easily of late.

And as such, I can't bring myself to power up my laptop and write about all the posts I've been thinking about... of our Swiss trip (eons ago now) and of food I've eaten recently.

Work has been busy.. and stress has been creeping up to me in a very silent but real kind of way.

The stress comes from having to make sure I do a good job closing out issues or planning ahead for the next half a year by the end of August. My usually full to-do list at work just got fuller because planning for the next half a year isn't an easy thing to do.. not when there are so many other things to be done in the meantime.

I don't get stressed out easily so this isn't good. 

So anyway, I do feel very sorry for being such a lousy blogger of late.

I will try my best to post more frequently.

In the meantime, let me share that I think I've found my favourite carrot cake in Singapore.

I used to think that the ones at Coffee Bean are great, but now I think Cedele sells the best baked carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and walnuts. The cake is moist and not too sweet, with bits of carrots, pecans and spices.. and the cream cheese frosting is sweet, yet not over powering. They are really generous with the walnuts.. and I must admit I'm not a big fan of walnuts. But these are crunchy walnuts that The Husband seemed happy to eat.

So a nice slice of carrot cake shared between the 2 of us makes for a really nice supper. I would think that it would go beautifully with a cup of strong coffee. But it went really well with a glass of cold low fat milk as well.

Spring blooms

It was spring when we were in Switzerland and the flowers were really blooming everywhere.

Here are some pictures to brighten up your day. Have a happy Wednesday!

Cheery tulips

Love the deep yellow..

More exquisite than any dress

A very nice purple

I thought these are bluebells but the colour is dark purple, almost black

Similar colour, but a tulip instead..

Pretty flowers by the road

These look like butterflies to me

View of Lake Geneva on a cloudy day

View of Lake Lucerne and the Swiss Alps from Weggis

I love tulips - these red ones are lovely!

Don't know what these are but these are beautiful flowers along a random road!

More beautiful flowers by the road..

These were growing indoors at Hotel Hermitage