Monday, December 13, 2010

2 weeks till Christmas

Only today, I've realised that I haven't blogged in a very long time. Sorry I've been so lazy!!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

A horoscope reading for Oscar

I was recommended by a friend who does Tarot Reading to do a reading for Oscar on this website. When she studied Tarot, she was given this site to use as an indication to ensure her readings were correct so she believes this is a very accurate site.

The report was generated with the following birth data: Male, born on 24th August 2010 at xxx pm in Sydney, Australia.

Your sun sign is Virgo. This is the sign in which the Sun is in your birth chart. Your Ascendant, the rising sign, is in Capricorn, and your Moon is in Aquarius.

Capricorn Rising

A practical person, you are reserved but also ambitious. You want to achieve something of significance in this world, and you are willing to work to achieve it.

It isn't easy for you to just relax and play, and as you get older, this will be even more of a problem.

Your parents are very important to you, especially your father, and a good relationship with them will bring out the best in you. Oddly enough, people with Capricorn rising have a very good sense of humor, in fact they are able to make fun of themselves.

Sun in Virgo

You are very careful in everything you do, and you put a high value on neatness. You expect others to live up to those same high standards, and you are easily disappointed if they do not. When you see something wrong in someone or something, you don't hesitate to point it out. But you will have to learn to be considerate when you do this, because criticizing others creates bad feelings.

You are very interested in learning as much as possible about the world. In whatever you make or do, you apply the same standards of perfection that you want other people to live up to.

You like to help others because being useful makes you feel good. You are able to put off what you want for yourself in order to help someone you love do what he or she wants. Others will respect you for this.

Sun in the Eighth House

A serious person, you know that you will have to go through many important changes as you grow. You are attracted to mysteries and to finding out about the deepest aspects of life.

While you are young you may not be able to distinguish between what is yours and what belongs to others. As an adult, however, you will probably make a career of handling other people's property or money; if you learned the lessons of your youth, you will be unusually responsible about handling possessions - yours as well as others'.

Moon in Aquarius

You value your freedom very highly and demand the right to do whatever you want at all times.

You like to be with a group of people, especially your friends, because your own ways and desires have more meaning if you can share them with others.

Once you get to the point of feeling at ease with your emotions, you will reveal them quite spontaneously to others, and you may even get impatient with those who try to hide their feelings. You must learn to be tolerant of these and other emotional differences between yourself and other people.

Moon in the Second House

You have a strong need for emotional security, which is reflected by the desire to own things. But you should be careful not to attach too much importance to what you own, because you may become selfish and possessive, especially if you feel insecure and afraid.

If you feel very positive and secure, you may be generous and giving, but when you feel rash and impulsive, you tend to waste money or whatever else you have.

In relationships you form strong attachments to other people, which may make you feel possessive of them. If you are willing to run the risk of losing your friends, you will actually find it easier to keep them.

Venus in Libra

You are a friendly, outgoing person who likes to have fun with others. You don't like to be alone, because you feel lonely very easily. Fortunately, people usually like you, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding company. In your efforts to get someone to like you, you should be yourself, not what you think the other person is looking for.

You like beautiful, graceful objects and fine clothing.

You may not enjoy doing hard work. But you will have to overcome this as you grow older, because everyone has to meet life's demands. You may try to get others to do your dirty work for you, but this would be a poor use of this energy. Instead, use your talent to make life beautiful for yourself and the people around you.

Venus in the Tenth House

This usually means that you have a warm relationship with your father, or with your mother if she has taken a fatherly role in your life. In either case, that parent teaches you about the world in such a warm and loving manner that you learn to think of the world as beautiful and friendly.

When you are older, the career you choose is likely to reflect your lighthearted feeling about the world. If you are a more serious person, your career may involve working with people in some way. You should be good at that, for you have the makings of a natural diplomat.

Venus Conjunct Midheaven

At its best, this placement means that you are full of love and affection for others, but at the same time you can follow your own path and attract only those who are able to go along with you.

Certainly you enjoy and appreciate beauty, and you are able to bring beauty into your everyday life.

You enjoy peace and harmony, and you get along very well with others. The key element in your ability to get along is that you are true to yourself as well as fair to others.

In any career, your ability to get along easily with people will be an important part of your success.

Mars in Libra

This placement of Mars can have two quite different effects. Probably you prefer to work with another person, for you have a strong sense of cooperation. Your desire to have your own way is modified by your need to get along with others.

But on the other hand, some persons with this placement are very competitive. In that case, you think of every meeting with someone else as a chance to compete, either in a friendly or an unfriendly spirit.

You have a strong sense of fairness and hate to see anyone treated unjustly.

Mars in the Tenth House

You want to get ahead in life, and you will work very hard to get there.

However, while you are still in the learning stage, you should be careful how you treat authority figures. You don't automatically respect all adults, because you have very high standards for others as well as for yourself.

You should probably look for a career in which you can be self-employed or else have a great deal of independent authority. This position of Mars suggests several kinds of jobs, especially those that require a lot of physical energy or hard work.

Mars Conjunct Midheaven

Very early in life, you will develop a firm determination to do everything your own way. You decide upon a course of action quite quickly, and you usually know just what you want to accomplish.

If someone questions your moves, you take it very personally. You must realize that you are more than the sum of your actions and that when someone challenges your decisions, it does not mean they are challenging you personally.

This aspect indicates that when you are older you should choose a career in which you can have a great deal of independence and expend a lot of physical energy.

If you would like to try for your kids, here is the link: Astro

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

My new life

My new life started after giving birth to my baby boy. It's amazing watching him grow. Feeling his weight increase when I breastfeed him gives me the best satisfaction ever!! Realising that he's outgrowing his clothes makes me wonder how quick it is before he becomes a toddler, start to talk, give me hugs to giving me attitude, learning to talk back, and being naughty. Time is going to go by so quickly so i'm trying to capture every moment with my precious prince!


Sometimes I say that I would prefer to go back to work, only so that I can get a full nights sleep. But then I realised that even if I do go back to work, it doesn't mean I don't have to get up when Oscar calls for me.

I was asked yesterday whether I have ever thrown a tantrum at Oscar. I never have. I never would. The only thing i've done is ask him why he is crying when he has been crying non - stop for the last 2 hours!! Of course, I get no response but more crying. I guess since it's his only way of communicating to me, he's forgiven :P

Oscar is 6 weeks old and is onto his 7th week this week. This week, he's been more interactive than the past few weeks. He can see alot further, so he likes to stare at the mobile that is hung on his cot. He uses his hands to play with the toys hanging from his bouncer and he would make some cooing noises. I often talk to him and think he is responding because for some reason, when I talk to him and ask him questions, he somehow manages to make sounds to respond to me.

I can't wait to see his progression for the next few weeks!! .... and hopefully, i'll soon be able to fit back into my pre-preggy clothes !!!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Milo

I never knew drinking milk tea would have such an affect on Oscar.

There was 3 days in a row that I drank milk tea with my breakfast. Those few days was the worst days and nights because Oscar refused to sleep. He would be really tired & sleep in my arms but when I put him down, he would be really unsettled. I got cranky and upset with myself because at first I didn't know why he was behaving the way he did.

Yesterday the same thing happened. All day he refuse to sleep. His eyes were rolling and wide awake. Everytime I put him in his cot with his music, he would cry and cry... he was that that all last night as well.

As I held him tight in my arms last night trying to settle him, I thought, why is he behaving this way? Is it his stomach, did he do a poo? Wind? I thought of everything but I couldn't work it out. Then I realised, I had a big glass of Milo for breakfast. For those that know me, I don't put in teaspoons of Milo, I put in 5-6 tablespoons. I think this is what gave Oscar his energy boost, which caused me to have a sleepless night. I am so tired today. I only had 3 hrs of broken sleep last night.

Lesson learnt : No milo or caffinated drinks for the rest of my breastfeeding period.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Fear

Last night my wound started to bleed abit after having a shower. I rang up RPA and they asked me to go to emergency to have it checked out.

It's been a while since i've been to Emergency. Counting back, it's now 7 years.

The fears all came back and it felt like it only happened yesterday. I thought that I am alot stronger now but I still have that weak spot in my heart. As I walked into the emergency reception, my heart was beating.. I was staring at the ambulances, remembering that one night, 7 years ago when I was driving behind the ambulance. I felt like crying. I felt really sad. I felt so fragile and so weak, I just needed a great big hug to tell me everything is ok.

The hospital beds and seeing people with drips scare me. I don't dare to look at others. My eyes focused on myself, and the ground. I avoided eye contact with the other people.

I hope one day I can overcome this barrier.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Friday, September 03, 2010

My birthing experience

I gave birth to my precious baby boy on 24.8.10. The birth of my boy was not as I expected.

I had to say, for the duration of my pregnancy, I had it quite easy. I had no morning sickness, mushrooms was the only food I was put off by but after 1 month, I was happily eating it again. My belly was not huge so I was able to run around. I wasn't very tired, I had a great appetite, I worked as normal. The last month was abit tiring as my tummy got heavy, sleeping was abit more difficult and uncomfortable. My lower back started to ache, but that was about it.

At week 35, was when things started to get abit tough. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, meaning I had to make weekly visits to the hospital and get my fingers pricked (for the first time!! ).
At week 36, I was told I had a breech baby. My baby was heads up, bums down.
I was offered an ECV - this is where they put me on a Ventolin drip, monitor my blood pressure, have a heart machine and monitor on the baby and in case of fetal distress, an emergency cesearean would be needed. This is where the doctor manually tries to turn the baby by using his hands and forcing the baby to move. The success rate of this is 40% only. The Ventolin is used to relax my uterus so they put a cactus (a 1mm thick needle) into my arm. This needle is very very very painful and left a big bruise on my arm. Having a breech baby meant I cannot have a normal labour, I would have to have a cesearean.

I was devastated. Having a cesearean had never crossed my mind. I was always planning to have a natural birth. I never liked the after pain of the wound. I was really upset and depressed for a few days. I eventually, after many discussions with my husband, mum and BFF booked to do the ECV, where the doctor would manually turn the baby. I was super scared that it would hurt too much, but then I didn't want to have a cesearean. However, it was unsuccessful. Baby refused to turn, meaning that I had to book in for a cesearean.

At this time, when I had my blood pressure tested, it was very elevated. I was around 160/100. I've never had high blood pressure before either, which made everything more depressing.

All of a sudden, I had gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, plus a breech baby and will be having a cesearean.

I did a lot of research on all of the above and the more I read about it the more upset I got but after 2 weeks, at week 38, I accepted the fact I had to have a cesearean. I booked in to do the cesearean at the beginning of week 40, 30th August.

I had a blood pressure monitoring appointment on the 23rd. This is where I get admitted into day surgery and sit there for 4 hours and they monitor my blood pressure over 4 hours. My appointment was at 8am. That morning, I got into the shower & saw some bleeding. I was home alone. I rang the hospital immediately and because I wasn't having contractions, they just told me to go into the hospital. I asked the midwives if I can drive and they said I can.. so I finished my shower, grabbed my hospital bag (just in case) and drove to RPAH.

I got to the hospital and I was put onto a monitor to have my contractions monitored. I was 1cm dialated. I was told that I had to stay overnight to be monitored.

On the 24th, around 12noon, my water broke while the doctor came in to do their routine checkup. I was told I had to do an emergency cesearean straight away, so I was booked in for 1.30pm. I had to call Ray and my mum and they both rushed to the hospital. My baby was brought to this world at 2.35pm.

Following the birth, I had to stay in hospital for 5 days. Every morning I had to have blood tests, every 4 hours my blood pressure was to be checked. I was taking 20 - 25 tablets per day including painkillers for the pain from the wound. Not to mention, each morning my fingers were getting pricked. I had the dietician come in to talk about the diet for having diabetes, a special doctor (I can't remember the name now) for my high blood pressure and the midwives. It was very exhausting and very depressing. At the same time, the painkillers was making me very drowsy, so when I was feeding, I was seeing multiple babies. After a while, they reduced my dosage, making me feel the pain more.

During the 5 days I was in the hospital, I had 2 good midwives and 2 very bad ones. Ones that are rude and rough with my baby. Others were really helpful and offered assistance to more than they should have. One offered to look after my baby for 3 hours while I take a nap. Others just pick up my baby like it was a doll, and dropped him back into the basket without holding his head, and some just simply had really bad attitude. I was dying to go home!!

Anyways, before this birth experience, I wanted to have 2 children. Now after this, I don't want another child. It's staring at my baby's peaceful look when he is sleeping that has kept me going. Holding, hugging and kissing him. I hope one day soon I will change my mind because I really want to have 2.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Creation of Love

Since being pregnant, I haven't been able to express how I felt having a baby inside me. I know it is a baby created by Ray and myself.

It's a pity that only us females get to experience this feeling and not the males. I think their feeling of the creation is very different to what we feel.

I was watching a TVB drama and a lady that was quite maturely aged fell pregnant. She described her falling pregnant as the creation of their love for one another. When I heard that, I realised it very well sums up how I have been feeling and how I feel with the new addition to our lives.

Not long to go, 3 weeks left and and our creation will see this beautiful world :)

Monday, July 26, 2010

1 week of work left

This is my final week of work before I start my maternity leave. It still hasn't quite hit me that I will be taking 12 months off. 12 months off work seems so long, I wonder if I will get bored.

I feel very tired and exhausted from work. I really want to have a break but then is this really a break? I have a feeling that i'll be more tired looking after a baby than being at work!!

Ray and I have finished our antenatal classes. The classes were very good. It's given me reassurance and a better understanding of everything. The good thing is, it's also prepared Ray for the birth of our child too and how he can help me :P

This week at work, i'll be doing nothing but sitting around, emailing and surfing the internet. Pretty boring :(

Friday, July 23, 2010

Steak Pie

I get abit lost sometimes when I need to think of what to cook for dinner. Thank you Alice for giving me these lovely ideas :)

Steak pie with carrots & mushrooms with mash :)




Friday, July 16, 2010

Dinner for one

Ray's last day at work today so he's gone out to have dinner & drinks with his collegues.

I decided to have a light and healthy meal tonight so I made a salad :)

Mixed leaves with avocado, tomato, beetroot, parmesan & balsamic vinegar.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Penelope & Madeline Wong

Latest update of Penny & Maddy :D

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Ray's Birthday

It's hubby's birthday today and originally I suggested to take him out to a nice dinner, but being the family man that he is, he preferred to have a quiet dinner at home with me so we decided to buy some high quality grade Wagyu to have at home :)

We figured that the best way to have a Wagyu was not in steak form, but to cut them into little bite sized pieces, fry them quickly in the pan on both sides and dipped in soy sauce so is tender and juicy. It's soooo yummm :)

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Ring

A recent conversation I had with a male friend was quite interesting. Well, I thought it was quite interesting.

He is currently living with his girlfriend of 4 years. They bought a house together and have been living there for about 1 year now. Since they bought the house, they have joint accounts. Both their income goes into the offset account and they just use money from the one account. It seems like these days that's the best way to save money and reduce the amount of interest you pay on your home loan. They both don't have any "secret" money of their own.

He is planning to propose to her in December this year. He is saving money to buy her ring. Now, here's the key part, he plans to use "their" savings from "their" offset account to buy the ring. Does that sound unfair or is that the norm nowadays? When he mentioned he was saving up for the ring, and a bell started ringing in my head.. huh? that sounds weird. I don't think I would like my boyfriend to propose to me with a ring bought with "our" money. Call me old fashion, but it just doesn't sound right.

So if that's the case, here's the next question, is it really simply better get engaged before you commit to buying a house with your partner? Obviously all the savings would go towards the deposit of the home. Would you point out to him to leave some savings for the ring?? But what if that 20% deposit you needed was everything you had? What would you do? What do people do? Or by that time, the ring doesn't matter that much anymore?

I'm truely old fashion. My boyfriend needs to buy me to ring, needs a romantic/sweet or at least "a thought put into" the proposal process and of course, last but not least, a bunch of roses. I think that is the way it should be. :)

Friday, June 25, 2010

Noodles with a smile

Tonight I made instant noodles with a smile for my hubby.

He's been working very hard lately and has been quite stressed, so I thought i'd make him smile by putting something different in his instant noodles hehehe :)

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Failed attempt 1: Earl grey tea chiffon cake

I've finally gotten back into baking. I made a little change to Poh's Recipe for her Orange Chiffon Cake and used Earl Grey tea as substitute. I LOVE Pandan Chiffon cakes that you can get at Asian grocery stores so after seeing a friend make it with Earl Grey tea and saying it's very yummy, I decided to try making it myself. It gives a very nice tea aroma, but I think I could of made the tea abit more condensed. Will try that next time.

Unfortunately, my cake deflated :( - BUT even though it deflated, it's still very tasty and very yummy. I made my cake around 4pm and its 11.30pm now and there's only a 1/4 left!




Friday, June 18, 2010

Masterchef Dinner

Mike had a day off yesterday so he decided to cook up a 3 course meal - of course, being influenced my Masterchef Australia. After knowing his menu for the night, Ray and I volunteered ourselves to join the dinner :P
Since, I had already planned to make a risotto for dinner, I brought the ingredients along to my mums place and made it over there. It was a really really nice dinner :)

Entree: Avocado, Cherry Tomato and Red Onion with parsley and spinach puree bruschetta.



Main 1: My own mushroom and spinach risotto




Main 2: Roast lamb with Mint Pea Puree, Mash and Salad




Dessert: Peaches and Vanilla Icecream Mille Feuille


Friday, June 11, 2010

Malaysian Bee Hive Cake

I tried this cake when I was in Taiwan and I LOVED it!! It's a brown sugar version of our chinese "bart tong go". I found this recipe and it's a "must try"!!
The cake turned out very nice. I thought it would be abit thicker, but it's quite thin.
I think next time I make this cake, i'll try using honey and rock sugar. The flavour would be stronger than using brown sugar. mmh... I'm back into my baking mood.. la la laaala...




Thursday, June 10, 2010

Siw bak at his 2nd home for the first time!!

On the weekend, we brought Siw bak over to Rays place for the first time. We want to try to bring him over on Friday afternoon so that he can stay with us for Saturday and Sunday and we'll bring him back to my mum's place on Sunday afternoon. That way, we can take him easily for a walk at the Olympic Park and I can spend more time with him.

Unfortunately, we haven't had very good weather on the weekends and sometimes we have plans for both Sat and Sun, so we don't want to bring him over and leave him at home alone because I don't know if he'll bark, wee and poo and I don't want to put him just outside on the balcony.

So this is the first time we brought him over. He was such a good boy and I was so happy. He stood and stared at the front door when he needed to go to the toilet (and he did it a few times!!) so we just put his leash back on and take him outside. That was one thing I was very worried about, that he wouldn't know where the front door is in the new environment. It's very different having a dog in a unit compared to a house.

I've never had a dog in a unit before because i've always felt it was slack to have a dog in such a small space (as well as i've never lived in a unit here in Sydney) - hence, we're only bringing him over during the weekends when we know we will be at home.

We took him for a tour around the house and upstairs into our bedroom. We brought his mat over so he was quite comfortable, however, he found Rays carpet more comfy so he marked his spot on Rays green carpet. He was so cute!! We spent the day watching DVDs and hugging Siw bak. It was soooo nice.

The bad thing is that when people walk down the hallway outside, Siw bak will start to bark. I'm abit worried because i'm not sure this is a pet friendly block of units, even though i've seen people bring dogs in and out of the building. I'll have to slowly train Siw bak to not bark.

I can't wait till I start my maternity leave! I can bring Siw bak over & we can go for walks together :)



Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Counting down

Less than 3 months to go now till i'm due, till there's a new addition in our family. It's a very exciting time for us, yet, last night I got scared.

Scared because I am not sure how I'm going to be as a mother.
Scared because I don't know if i can cope.
Scared because I want to give my child the best and teach it the best.
Scared because I can feel my patience level deteriorating.
Scared just because i'm scared.

Deep inside, I know that I'll be ok. I'll have the help of my hubby and my mum but it's the next stage of our lives we are about to step into.

I hope things will be ok.