My only Little Black Dress

Peter & I attended the Public Mutual Branch Annual Awards Nite 2009 @ EQ yesterday night. I managed to find a Little Black Dress (courtesy of my beloved mum!) for the occasion!

It is difficult to attend such functions these days with my growing belly. It seems like every other part of me if not growing yet except for my belly and this ain't easy to fit into clothes.

Anyway, for future such functions, may it be annual dinner, weddings or parties....this is the dress I am going to wear.....because this is the only Little Black Dress I have!

Nuffnang

I always look at Shu-Min with envy whenever she received cheques of rm100 from Nuffnang. It seems like easy money to me.

Advertise those ads in your blog. Wait for people to click them. Ahem..actually BEG for people to click them and then wait for a few months (or maybe years?) and then hopefully a big fat cheque arrive at your postbox!

How easy can that be, right?
And furthermore, I am pretty broke nowadays. I haven't bought anytime nice for myself for a long, long time. Every single cent spent now goes to Little Angel.

I am really in need of some money $$$!

So I'm going to have to try it out. So please people, whenever you visit this blog of mine with an update, kindly click on the ads available. It won't take you more than 3 secs.

Arigato!

Pancake - with fruits and ice-cream

As planned, I woke up early today to make breakfast for darlin' & I. So what's on the menu today? PANCAKES...with fruits and ice-cream.

The ingredients needed are pretty simple. Flour, milk, sugar, baking powder, egg, butter and salt are needed to make the batter.

However, I think my batter ended up too watery, thus while frying, batter kept on spreading and making my pancakes wider. Hmm....too much egg & milk? or not enough flour I suppose. (I did not follow the recipe exactly as I didn't want such a big portion).




Anyway, I think they still look presentable and the taste is superb!

I served it with cut mangoes, peaches and grapes to make a healthy meal. Also drizzled some honey on top of the pancakes and put 2 scoops of Wall's Raspberry & Vanilla ice-cream with it. Yummy....

Wish List - Ang Pows

Friends and relatives have been asking me what I would like as a gift to my little angel. Well, it is a little intimidating and scary to put up my wish list for all to see because everything I want is so expensive!

From infant car seat to stroller to electric breast pump....everything is in terms of hundreds ringgit each.

So actually, I don't expect any of you to buy me any of the expensive items. So I am actually asking for Ang Pows aka MONEY! I will then just pool in all the money and then buy them myself.

So people out there, please start saving now. I still have ~100 days to go until my EDD!
Arigato :D

Ham & Egg Puff

I baked the Ham & Egg Puff for breakfast this morning. Saw something similar to this in the Joy Of Baking website. I modified the recipe (due to lack of ingredients) and this is what came out.


Before putting my puff into the oven


Ooops....the sides all oozed out from the pastry because I don't have a pie pan. I just used the normal round plate.


The puff crust


Oohh...delicious!

I want to buy a pie plate or a squarish baking plate soon....anyone want to donate me their Pyrex? :P

What Have I Achieved Thus Far?

Someone asked me this question before "You are now 26 years old. What have you achieved thus far?"

I know most people will answer all those great things they have done, such as having a Masters degree, adopted a child, did some medical research to save the world, and the list goes on.

I am here to make a statement. I have done nothing spectacular in my life.

I don't have a Masters degree. I have not adopted a child (though I hope to one of these days through the 'save a child' programme). I have not done anything that can help save the world (does recycling count?).

I have read somewhere that there are a few things we have to do in life to make life meaningful. I can still remember some of the things listed there. It says plant a tree, write a book, have a son, invent something, etc.

I hate gardening. I do not have a green thumb. Even the cactus plant will die in my hands. So I doubt I am going to plant a tree.

I have no desire to write a book as of now. I enjoy reading books and I plan to continue being a reader and not a writer.

I am going to have a son soon. But I see nothing wrong with having daughters. Daughters are as much wonderful as sons.

Invent something? Erm...I am no scientist and I do not have a creative mind.

Actually, I feel very contented with my life right now. I feel that I do not have to do anything great to make my life meaningful. Some people say we humans are just passersby. We are supposedly here to bring good things into this world.

I feel my life is meaningful enough with me living happily with my husband and my little angel. I feel lucky that I have my family so close to me. I also feel that I'm bringing enough good into this world if I live happily and do not harm others and bring up my kids to be good citizens.

Guess I am just a selfish pig.

Chocolate Muffins

I felt like baking muffins when I woke up this morning. Decided on chocolate flavoured muffins as my whole family love chocolates!

Actually, my cousin Chun Huey inspired me to bake muffins. She gave me this website Joy Of Baking and now I'm hooked to their recipes!

Got all the ingredients in Cold Storage and Shu-Min came over to help me out. This is actually the 2nd time I'm making muffins. 1st time was not too successful as the muffins I made was not 'kembang' enough (muffins did not rise sufficiently).

This time I'm determined to make it right!


Ingredients I bought from Cold Storage - cost me around RM35. But I can make a few rounds of it.


Whisking together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract


Melting the unsalted butter.


Measuring the all-purpose flour in the weighing machine.


In another large bowl, whisking together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.


Stirred in the Vochelle chocolate chips.


Combining the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to make the batter.


Baking in the oven.


Look at my super kembang chocolate muffins!



Wah...isn't it delicious?

This recipe is not too sweet and has a little bitter taste to it which I like. (maybe because I'm using Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder?)

Well, 6 of these delicious muffins had been given to my parent's place and now only left 6 muffins for me and Peter to enjoy.

We are definitely eating chocolate muffins for breakfast tomorrow! :D

21 weeks & 23 weeks pregnant lady

Here are some pictures of the sexy and beautiful me at pregnancy week 21 & 23. :P

21 weeks pregnant - a dress bought from Nichii


21 weeks pregnant - pants and a maternity top bought on sale from ModernMum


23 weeks pregnant - someone (whom I cant recall) gave me this dress.

My belly is definitely bigger now right? I'm happy to announce that I now weigh 49.7kg...almost 50kg now...wow!!!

My V-Day

I know Valentine's Day is now too commercialize and all...but I still can't help but to go out to join the crowd. However, I also don't believe in paying more just because it is Valentine's Day. So every year, darlin' & I will just go to somewhere where the prices are not being hiked up.

We ended up in Crepes at Gurney Drive this V-Day. I like the place there. It is quiet and they have nice desserts. We were not too hungry so we just shared everything we ordered. We had Spinach Soup and Mini Tuna Crepes as appetizers, Seafood Pasta as the main meal, and Mango Cup as desert. Best of all, total bill was only RM39. Good deal for a delicious meal on a special day, don't you think so?

Appetizer - erm...we almost drank the whole soup before I remembered we haven't taken a photo of this spinach soup yet! :P

Appetizer - Mini tuna crepes

Main meal - Seafood Pasta

Dessert - Mango Cup

The handsome couple! ;D


We then walked hand-in-hand all the way to Gurney Plaza....and stopped to have some gelato at Gelatissimo. Expensive but nice!

Peter standing in front of the Gelatissimo shop @ Gurney Plaza

Our Gelato - chocolate liquor, coffee and pistachio flavour

Valentine's Love Coupons

I know it is cheesy to give Love Coupons to your husband....but well, he loves it...so what? :D

I made it only yesterday, hours before Valentine's Day. Wanted to bake him a cake with Ben10 cartoon deco on the cake but was lazy. I assured myself that butter cake is too fattening for him anyway!

So I ended up making a booklet of 8 Love Coupons for him - with juicy contents inside :)







And what did I get from him in return? Nothing....blueks

Hand Made Baby Comforter

Look what my little angel got for as her Valentine gift from Aunty June.....a hand-made Baby Comforter...filled with hand sewn cartoon dinasour, giraffe, teddy bear, froggy, etc.

I am so touched to see the effort she put into it. "...It's for your baby..." she said the moment she showed it to me. I was so surprised.

Aunty June is actually my collegemate Sue Mei's mum. We've been to her place from time to time to visit her just to keep in touch and not to mention that Peter is also their financial consultant ;)

Look at her delicate work...amazing!

Thank you very much Aunty June!

School Bus C21

I've been on the same school bus from Kindergarten 1 to Form 5. That is since I was age 5 to age 17. And the reason is because the school bus uncle which we call him 'Ah Hoe Cek' aka Uncle Ah Hoe is the best one I've ever seen.

Since Kindergarten, Ah Hoe Cek tried his very best to make it a pleasant school trip for me. I used to cry for my mummy in the bus on the way to school. Ah Hoe Cek will took the trouble to stop at a public phone booth and pretended to call my mummy so that I will stop crying! (of coz I didn't know he was pretending at that time!)

And C21 is one of the few busses whom we are given treats (eg: lollipops, pacifier-type sweets). And he is never late to fetch us to school.

He even plays 'water' with us on the last day of school every year. Shu-Min looked forward to that day every year and refuses to let daddy fetch her back on the last day of school because she wants to have fun in Ah Hoe Cek's bus! Ah Hoe Cek never minded to have to clean his bus after the mess we always make in his bus on the last day of school.

My grandma likes Ah Hoe Cek too because she said he is gentle and careful. She likes seeing him holds the children's hands to cross the street. He never allows the children to cross the street themselves...even though it is just a mini-street.

On the 4th day of CNY, Shu-Min and her friend and I went to Ah Hoe Cek & Ah Ee's house for CNY house visiting. He is so much older now but you can still see the twinkles in his eyes. He still teases us and jokes around. Ah Ee looks the same...almost as young as 10+ yrs ago.

me with Ah Hoe Cek

Shu-Min, Ah Hoe Cek, Ah Ee, me & Yoon

22 weeks old

My little angel is developing his senses - touch, sight, hearing and taste. He may now even grab onto the umbilical cord (there is nothing else for him to grab in there, right?) and practise the strong grip that will soon be clutching my fingers!

Do you know that our little angel can perceive light and dark? Even with fused eyelids and even though it is dark in the uterine cocoon. My pregnancy bible tells me that if I shine a flashlight over my belly, I may be able to feel little angel squirrming away from the 'bright' light!
I haven't tried it yet though....

Little angel can also now hear his daddy and mummy's voice, my regular heartbeat, the whoosh-whoosh of my blood circulating my body, those gastric gurgles, and even the dog barking, loud TV (Peter's Iron Man and Ben10 cartoon noises), etc. He can now basically hear what I am hearing.
So now is time to play the Mozart!

What's In A Baby's Name?

Many people have many reasons and preferences when it comes to naming their babies. Some followed the family generation name. Some named their babies after someone they admire. Etc.

For us, we don't have any family generation name to follow (phew!), which means I can name my little angel anything we like....let me rephrase....'anything I like' (Peter leaves this all to me!).

I haven't decided on a name yet (I change my mind every month) but one thing for sure is that little angel will not be having a christian name. I know! I know! Everyone has a christian name, right? It makes it easier to remember, right?

Well, I have nothing against christian names. I have even thought of a few names I like too. But then I feel that once a person has a christian name, his or her chinese name are often being neglected. No one seems to call you by your chinese name anymore.

I am someone very traditional. I like being a chinese and having a chinese name. So maybe I will just choose a 'modern' chinese name for my little angel! :D

Living just on one person's income

One of the most difficult decision we made is to decide to live just on one person's income. With me not working (working as his clerk is not counted), we just need to do budgeting and sometimes have to look the other way when I see a gorgeous and expensive handbag!

But it is not that we don't have any luxuries in life. We still go to Sushi King and Dragon-i (2 places which I feel is expensive). We still go for holidays. We still treat our friends to meals occasionally.

We just need to think more before a purchase. I think being frugal is the keyword.

However, I think the timing is just right with me being pregnant now. I would like it very much if I can be a stay-home mum. I want my kids to spend more time with me than their baby-sitter. I want to see every little accomplishment of my kids. (their first word, their first step, etc). All in all, I want to be there for them.

I want a career change. I want to do something with more soul. I want to be a mum. Is this normal?

The consequences is missing out all the opportunities in the corporate world. I feel so left-out sometimes. All my friends out there are earning big bucks, gaining experiences and their resumes are getting thicker. Do I want all these in my life?

However, I have not ruled out the possibility of me joining the workforce full-time. When? I don't know. Maybe when the time is right.

Vaginal Candidiasis

I was experiencing vaginal itch for a few days last week and was feeling very bothered by it. It is annoying to always need to 'scratch' below and thus makes the area kind of sore.

In the end, I emailed Dr. Eric and he replied saying that I may be having a recurrence of Vaginal Candidiasis. I went to see him on 29th Jan and he gave me some medication and I am feeling itch-free again now!

Isn't it cool to have a gynae who replies your emails? Do all gynaes in Penang reply emails?

*Candidiasis, also known as a "yeast infection" or VVC, is a common fungal infection that occurs when there is overgrowth of the fungus called Candida. Candida is always present in the body in small amounts. However, when an imbalance occurs, such as when the normal acidity of the vagina changes or when hormonal balance changes, Candida can multiply. When that happens, symptoms of candidiasis appear. (Source: excerpt from Genital Candidiasis: DBMD)*

Jamie & Dylan in Penang for CNY 2009

I can't help posting their pics here....they are too cute to be left unknown *grin*

Jamie is now 6+ and Dylan is 2+ yrs old. Jamie is as 'ai sui' as ever and forever posing in front of the camera. Dylan is as cute as ever and he loves to give people sloppy kisses!

Jamie & Dylan resting on the car boot

1st day of CNY before house visiting session starts

Aren't they cute in their sunglasses?

Look-alike? Doesn't Dylan looks like his 'Ah Ku'?

Reunion Dinner @ Mama's Hse

This is the 2nd time I am having my reunion dinner at mama aka mother-in-law's house. I always look forward to satisfy my stomach there because mama is one of the greatest cook I've known.

So please let me dedicate one entry on her deliciously home cooked dishes:

Sweet & Sour Fish

Steamed 'Kampung' Chicken

Lor Bak

Kiam Chai Boey

Curry Prawns

Jiu Hu Char - my favourite dish


All the food on the table


Lim Family Reunion Dinner CNY 2009

6 adults and 2 hungry children couldn't wait to stuff all the food into their stomachs!

Thanks mama for such nice food. You certainly lift the bar so much higher now for food quality!

**Did you notice that the clock shows 6pm sharp?