Euro Cup: Spain vs Germany

I made a bet with hubby and I lost. I took hot favourites Germany and hubby was left with Spain, the underdog. I thought I had the upper hand but like all of them will say, the ball is round and anything can happen.

Ryan and his burger

This is how Ryan eats his burger. Seeing him eating like that really makes my day.
Shall introduce him different types of food and hopefully, he will eat more and not be so skinny.

Eat Out: Bubba Gump

Me and a bunch of colleague went to Bubba Gump restaurant for lunch on Friday. The theme for the restaurant is based on Forrest Gump’s life, philosophy and love of shrimp. And every corner of the restaurant, its deco and everything reminds you of Forrest.

We really enjoyed ourselves, the food is great with superb service. And the portion is huge, six of us cannot even finish the dessert.

I need to bring hubby here one of these days.

Cloths for baby

One of my colleagues who just joined the department is a proud mother of a 6-month old baby boy and a 4-year old girl. When she got to know that I need to replace all the mittens and booties as the ones from Ryan (6 years ago) cannot be used anymore, she gave me all her baby's cloths, mittens, booties and caps. They are all in very good condition and I'm so grateful. Thanks Fid.

2 semesters have come and gone

I only completed 1 semester of my MBA programme. Thereafter, I discovered that I was pregnant and nausea and fatigue took over. Had to defer then and have to defer now as baby is coming this August. I am only allowed 2 deferments and I guess this is my last. Will decide, when the time comes, whether to continue or drop the whole MBA thingy.

For now, I will concentrate on delivering my baby!!!

Ryan's Progress Report for Semester 1

Mummy went for a teacher-parents meeting last Friday to collect Ryan's progress report and to listen to the teacher's feedback on Ryan. Overall, it was okay.

His class teacher, Teacher Nicole is very happy with Ryan's progress. Even though he's new, he is able to cope and catch up with the rest, most of them with 2-3 years in kindi. The only negative comment is that he's dreaming some of the time. However, we think this is a great improvement as previously, he's dreaming MOST of the time.

We are happy and will not pressure him unnecessary as we want his to enjoy his childhood a.k.a kindi years. It will be a different story when he's in Primary 1 and that would be next year.

Starting Them Young

Last weekend, we went shopping at TESCO and Ryan was so taken by their mini shopping cart that he decided that he too must have one. He will ask me whether can he buy this and that and if the answer is a no, he will put the items back to the shelves but if it's a yes, he will literally throw it in his cart. You guess right. By the time we reached the payment counter, his cart is FULL of goodies.

Book: State of Fear

This is not my first Michael Crichton book and will not be my last. I've always enjoyed reading his book although at times (especially this book) I feel like I'm reading a journal. His books are full of facts and quotes/references that at times can be overkilling.

This book is about a philanthropist by the name of George Morton who is concerned about the environment and pledges millions of dollars to a fund (NERF) in its fight against global warming. Morton doesn't realize, however, that Nicholas Drake, the head of NERF, is secretly working with an ecoterrorist group, to trigger a series of climatic disasters that will call attention to the dangers of global warming and fatten NERF's coffers.

Morton becomes suspicious of NERF when some of its funds are diverted, and he demands an audit and threatens to withdraw his pledge. But Morton mysteriously disappears after a car crash, leaving his young attorney, Peter Evans and beautiful assistant, Sarah Jones into a perilous race to save the world from the activities of the ecoterrorists. At the end of hte day, the plot is very predictable but I enjoyed it!!

I would rate is a 7/10.

Announcing the Arrival of My Nephew, Joseph

Sister went into labour this morning and about 3.00 pm, baby Joseph, weighing 4.3 kg “checked-in”. Both baby and mummy are well. Heartiest congratulations to the proud parents.
Rest well and Auntie Shirley + family will be visiting you soon.

32+ Weeks: ...and 8 more to go

Went to the doctor last Saturday. I have gained weight since my last visit. Everything is ok and baby is still "shy" and always facing downwards. I guess that's her favourite position.
When I enquired, doctor mentioned that it's too early to talk about delivery and we just have to wait and see how baby is growing and to decide nearer to the date.

You see, I have a phobia and it has everything to do with Ryan. Ryan was overdue baby, way, way overdue and he had to be induced. I guess he was a very laid back, contended baby and when he was in the womb, he hardly moved or kicked.

So I had to be induced and it was a long and slow delivery. I was in labour for almost 17 hours. Thank God I had epidural and did not suffer much but I guess at one point, that was a disadvantage as being numb, I did not know how and when to push. I ended up exhausted and eventually, Ryan had to be vacuumed out. Poor boy and for months, his head was a bit odd shaped. That's the story with Ryan and I wonder how would it like with this baby. Guess I will know, in 8 weeks time.

Happy Father's Day

These are handicrafts from Ryan to his papa for Father's day.
Sweet isn't? But do you know how he gave them to his papa?
This is how.......

Ryan was watching TV and when he saw his papa he said....
"Papa, I got something for you. It's in my bag. Just unzipped my bag, the front part and you can see it. Just take it out because it's for you and Happy Father's Day".
.....and with that, he continued watching his TV. That's before mummy gave him a piece of her mind plus a lecture on the right way to give people gifts.

8th Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 8th Wedding Anniversary !!! We did not planned anything special although hubby did surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

My gift for him? Well, being a very practical person, I managed to persuade him to choose a watch for himself since the one I bought him 8 years ago cannot be used as the strap was broken and they no longer "manufacture" that particular spare part. Which means, his old watch is still working fine, it just that you cannot wear it. Sigh....Anyway, hubby choose a nice watch for himself and we got Ryan one as well.

Anyway, what was special was that 2-3 weeks before our anniversary, hubby lost his wedding band while I had misplaced mine sometime back and have been trying to look for it without much luck. You see, I have not been wearing my wedding band since I put on so much weight but still carry it with me (in my handbag) for years. So, we thought of buying ourselves a new pair of wedding band. But, just a few days before our anniversary, hubby managed to find his (it was in his car). Feeling inspired, I began searching high and low; ransacking the cupboards, shelves, drawers and viola, I managed to find mine as well. Yipee ...

And the best part is that though I'm now 31+ weeks pregnant, I can slip the ring in. Have been wearing my wedding band for the last few days and will have to take it off once I start to bloat. However, I'll make sure that I can wear my wedding band right after my confinement!!! It's part of my hot mama plan.

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Although Melinda admits that she would prefer to stay out of public view forever, her older daughter got her thinking. "I really want her to have a voice, whatever she chooses to do. I need a role model for her". "As I thought about strong women of history, I realised that they stepped out in some way," she said.
Melinda Gates Goes Public (excerpt from Fortune, January 21, 2008)

Reading this article makes me realised that in order for me to make an impact and to move forward to greater things, I cannot shy away from doing things which I don't like. There are prices to pay and sacrifices to be made. You just have to decide what you want.

Recently, I have been asked whether would I consider moving to another area/department. After all, I have been doing the same job (plus minus) for the last 10 years and here is an opportunity for me to learn new things. But I have been rather comfortable (actually very comfortable) in my current job as everything here is very structured.

The new job is rather challenging and fluid as it's a new department and well, new department means that you have to start everything from scratch. Then, there's timing; I will be giving birth to my second child soon and there will be adjustment to our family life once baby arrives. Would I be able to handle all all these changes?.

Although I have wanted to move on but not at this point of my life. But like what my friends said, " There's never a right time and opportunity does not come every day".
I am going to think real hard on this and hopefully, it would be something I won't regret.

Feeling blue? Life still goes on ....

I have not be blogging for the past few days. Why?I have been feeling "blue" and the worst thing is that I don't know why (I think I have blogged about feeling something more-or-less-like-this-before. So maybe it's a cycle).

As usual, whatever state you are in there are lessons to be learnt and here's what I have learned for the past few days:

• Even when you are down, you still have to do whatever that needs to be done (e.g. cleaning the house, watering the plants, entertaining Ryan etc) eventhough you don't really feel like doing it and ended up doing it half heartedly. Routine helps. Otherwise, you will feel worst especially when you reliase that there so much work not done yet. It can be a vicious cycle.


• There will always be ups and downs in our lives and hopefully, the downs are shorter than the ups and we will learn to manage in each and every situation.


• Understand that we are not robots and that we need time to chill and rejuvenate/recharge.


• Find inspiration in your surrounding.


• Stay close to friends and loved ones.

And hopefully just as how it suddenly appear, it will suddenly disappear and you are back to your old silly self once again.

Movie: Kungfu Panda

Watched this movie with Ryan while papa was at home dealing with the termite problem. Yes, the termites are back (with a vengeance) and mummy is stressed so papa is taking over.

Overall, it was fun but being a Dreamwork production, I expected more. But Ryan is happy and that's what matters.

Book: Not Without My Daughter

This is a true story about an American housewife who goes to Iran with her husband and daughter, Mahtob for a 2-week holiday holiday but ended up as a hostage when her husband decided to keep them in his homeland against their will.

As I read the book, I cannot help but to question the author's ignorance of her husband's culture and also not relying on her gut feelings in the first place. But all these are on hindsight. She had to pay the price but thankfully, in her case, all ended well as she managed to escape with her daughter but not everyone trapped in such situation are as lucky as her. It's her story and experience and I guess I have to respect what she had to go through. It reminds me that a woman's determination has no boundary.

It would rate is a 6/10.

Nickname for Baby Girl

Ryan decided that his baby sister shall be called Torchic (see picture) because Torchic is a girl and a powerful Pokemon. I don't know why on earth Torchic but we have been referring baby girl to this nickname in our conversation.

He's very at ease and quite adamant to call his sister that nickname even though we told him (many times) that there's a high possibility that she will hate that name. And this is his reply, "You and papa can call her another name if you like but I'm calling her Torchic; Kho Torchic".

Yeap, his sister will hate him for this and we are very sure of that.

Ryan, the Pikachu

This is Pikachu, Ryan's favourite pokemon. And as with all pokemon, Pikachu cannot talk and will only utter its name. Pikachu is among the most recognisable Pokemon as it's the central character in the cartoon. As an Electric-type Pokemon, Pikachu store electricity in its cheeks and release it in lightning-like attacks.

Ryan is currently in his pikachu- the-only-love-of-my-life mood so much so that he's acting like one. Tired of hearing the word "pika-pika" all day long, we made a deal. Ryan will only turned into a Pikachu during his bedtime (or one hour before bedtime with mummy's permission of course) while for the rest of the day, Ryan will be Ryan, a healthy 6 yo boy.

When Ryan "turns" into a Pikachu (with mummy's permission), mummy will treat him like one and will call him Pikachu. That's the deal and we will see who get tired of this game.

Trees

I love trees, especially big giant ones. But sad to say that there aren't many nice big trees around the city.

This is one of my favourite. It's near Gleaneagles Hospital and I will have a good look at it whenever I go for my checkups. There are a few bird nest plants on its branches and the tree is simply magnificent.