Any Brides whose HTB is 'Ang Mo'?

[de_luxe]

maple how many hours a day do u work? Do take care… enjoy ur break, really well deserved… hb saw a job opening in HK city uni.. I told him please don’t apply… lol..

I love pineapple tarts too! But my taste buds have been spoilt rotten by my aunt… she’s makes the most delicious ones n it’s real hard for me to find something comparable… unfortunately she only makes them for sale during CNY n only during the years when she’s not too busy with looking after kids…

We got our car on tues… so good to have it… can go places in much shorter time…

Also bought a new sofa today.. got a real good deal at a warehouse sale, 50% off for a full leather L-shaped sofa, it’s a display set but still ok, who cares when it’s such a great deal?? =) looking forward to having it delivered!

Yes… the lizards are still pooing in the kitchen… also spotted some poo on the walls… sigh, wat to do lah, gotta just keep cleaning up after them lor… i hope lizards never have diarrhea!!

Met my parents several times while bertil was away… n they were calling almost all the time!! I appreciate the concern lah.. but at times really felt suffocated by it!

MCD chilli is not as sweet as KFC… dunno how to describe lah… anyway I dun like it…

 

[margiel]

Hihi all, been MIA for so long, a tad busy at work with sch concert and parties, Xmas shopping (checking out those i like whether on special LOL), sending xmas cards, housework (since hb was away for biz trip, i had been slacking and tucking myself in the mess) blah blah blah..... Just never make an effort to read all the threads and reply ;p Hope everyone is doing well and soaking into festive moods till next year

Hey Maplehue, where are u now? Viet or Syd? Did u say 2 weeks holiday for CNY in HK???? Wowwww!! Sounds like in China, I heard the locals will have 2 weeks break for CNY last time, not sure about now since economy is not doing well and markets are rather competitive. Hey read abt your student's Prada hp! Gosh, how rich these kids are esp in HK, they are much into fame and pretigious products.. macham like some 'Meng Seng' (Cantonese for superstar). Oh as for Pandan leave, i cant recall if there's any other name for it in HK, dun think ppl know what 'Pandan Leave' is when u mention this name probably, but pretty sure they use them for their hot dessert like the 'Tung Yun' (Rice balls with peanuts or other fillings), that soup base has to cook with pandan leaves, ginger and sugar and is must in Cantonese big festival like CNY, wedding, birthdays, happy occasions. Hope u find them soon

Hi Deluxe, how have u been? Good to hear your car is here finally

Have u been driving it? How's work? Contract ended oredi? Ya me oso want to see a pic of recent you

I find women looks beautiful when they are pregnant Heard from my sis that ppl are selling CNY stuffs now, so fast, but come to think of it, it's only like 5 weeks away. I think the crowd (buyers) will come prob when the dates get nearer. Oh ya oso read abt ur new sofa, yes a good buy with 50% for a leather L shape. Enjoy yur comfy sofa when it's arrived

Hello Chris, I like your Xmas Santa Cake that u baked for the kids. Look so pretty and attractive, if im there i'll take lots of picture of it b4 the cake knife sits in hehee..

Hi Liz, how's your craft work getting on? Busy with Xmas preparation and coming feast?

Enjoy and have lotsa fun!

Cluccaine? How's xmas like at your side with 2 princesses? The festive shopping is always great for you and the kids hehee shopping therapy for mum and unwrapping xmas presents activities for kids LOL Prob eye therapy for your hubby if he's not into shopping (keeping an eye on the kids while mum is out) Well, pretty much that's wats happening in most families, me busy looking at things even tho i dun really need them. Will aim a few items and wait for Boxing Day post xmas sales, have oredi asked hb to drop me at the mall in the morning LOL

Also big hellos and waves to other girls here, wishing all a Happy festive season

 

[georginat]

HI ladies !!

been MIA for quite a while, quite a few newcomers here

we are moving back to sg next march or so, so now busy sightseeing around Canberra and buying kids stuff for Luke..i really love the kids stuff here, so beautiful..i will miss shopping online here when back to sg...hee hee..

de_luxe, due date next month !!! excited?;-) Have you bought a nappy bag or not intend to get one? Oz has nappy bags brands like OiOi, babymel, Storksak all so much cheaper than in singapore, i can help you to get one if you like..P.S i now go gaga over nappy bag and bibs!! hee hee..

Just to wish all ladies here a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!

 

[de_luxe]

Oooh.... sofa arrived yesterday... love it! N the smell! It's longer than the previous one so dun have to fight with HB for space anymore

margie! nice to see u here!

HB's the one driving most of the time, i prefer not to unless i really have to.. nicer to be driven than to drive

Yap contract ended yesterday... today indulged in massage, scrub n mani/pedi for xmas

shiok!

gina why moving back? julio got a job in sg? Yah the kids stuff in Oz seem to be cuter than in sg..

I'm more curious than excited actually... i've got an old about-to-spoil-any-minute nappy bag from sis' fren, wasn't sure whether it'll be useful or not so i haven't gotten one yet. I figured i could have it on my wishlist in case anyone asks what gift i want for the baby... Honestly, i dunno any of the brands u mentioned

do u think a nappy bag is really useful or will a normal bag w lots of compartments be fine?

Alrighty gals... going to open my pressies now...

Wish all of you a Merry Christmas wherever you may be! If you're lucky to have a white Christmas, do enjoy it - throw lots of snow balls n build a snowman!

 

[christie79]

<font color="ff0000">Hey hi hi everyone!

Dropping by to wish everyone here a HAPPY BLESSED CHRISTMAS and a year 2009 filled with love, joy, hope and health!!

*will write soon again later..got to go over to In law's place now

</font>

 

[georginat]

de_luxe, we are moving back to sg coz Julio's company is closing part of the office here so he was made redundent..my gfs are all so happy we are moving back !! haha!! coz they cant wait to kiss and hug baby Luke !!

frankly speaking, you dont really need a nappy bag, just a bag with compartments will do..just that nowadays, nappy bags dont really look like those traditional, bulky bags, they are so much fashionable now, can use it as a everyday bag when bb grows up...

 

[maplehue]

Merry Chrissy everyone! Greetings from Vietnam!
Hope everyone is well and enjoying the festive season.

Deluxe...my working hours is long, Sometimes up to 15 hours a day. It is horrible man. Jeff and I are talking seriously about things.
Glad you've got your leather sofa. Must be comfy eh?

Hope the lizards at nanyang are on holiday too!

Marge, happy to hear from you! We are now still in Vietnam, will fly to Sydney on Jan 1st for 5 days or so. Its been windy here and Jeff is kitesurfing non stop. He has sore muscles everywhere, but happy.

Yes, we have 2 weeks break on cny and the hubby asked where i want to go, I thought maybe melbourne, but i also miss my mum la(and sg food)..so dont know whether to go back to sg or melbourne..or ??!

Take care everyone, time to open pressies soon. i am waiting for jeff who is in the shower. The pressies are all wrapped up and placed under a big plant in our hotel room(no.no christmas tree), but he said i cannot touch yet!! Hehee. i lovee pressies

hugs.

 

[de_luxe]

gina ic... hope he's not taking it too hard... redunduncy can be a big blow to one's self confidence..

maplehue hope u n jeff work out work stuff soon!

yah, we're enjoying the sofa.. just took a nap on it

i'm not sure if the lizards are on hols.. seems like they had a big x'mas party at the staircase landing 1 level down, it's covered in lizard poo n the cleaner's obviously on PH today!

have the best of both worlds over CNY... spend 1 wk in each place

sounds like u n jeff r having a great time! have fun!

looking forward to our x'mas party tmrw! lizards, ants and roaches not invited!!

 

[eminozy]

hello girls.. hope ur xmas have been great. Boxing day here is a killa to our pockets. went shopping from 7am-1pm!!! Can die one.

Gina, so what are you guys gna do back in SG? You gna miss Oz? hehehe

Corrine. wah you hot mama.. with pedi and stuffs!

Hernie. We will be in Sydney for a night on the 8th Jan. Lepas dahhh... aiyah/// Leaving next day towards Coffs Harbour and then Brisbane- 24hrs drive by the coast from Melbourne.

Ciao ciao...

Have a great New Years, ladies.

Any resolution?
mine is like 90% of all woman.
Loose weight and get a good new job!

 

[yukagirl]

hello all i disappeared for quite awhile from here!!
btw im still trying to get used to life here in australia.. damn hot right now =.=

hehe..

 

[cuclainne]

wow, so many posts, hoped everyone had a good christmas .. new year is just a few days' away now ..

de_luxe, nope i didn't leave the band-aids for her .. she was away at my mother's when we got the package and it's been safely kept away for her next party .. heheheh ..

so how are you and the baby? did you have a good x'mas party?

glympse, happy holidays in sweden!

must make full use of the time you have there yah .. did you manage to stick to the budget for the pressie?

maplehue, emi, hope you ladies had good birthdays!

maplehue, yes i had been busy shopping and yes, elin did explore the tree .. we had to put the decorations slightly higher up than usual but the balls were big enough for her to be mesmerised .. can see her reflection on the surface so she'll just sit in front of the tree and stare .. hahahahah .. i left candies in some of the christmas gloves on the tree .. my nephew found it but he only had the lollipop, left everything else behind when he went home for the night .. of course sofi found the stash on christmas morning, and ate everything that belonged to my nephew and then some (she found more on the tree) .. elias said it was ok cos it's christmas, but really spoilt ah .. before eat breakfast, already chomping on candies.

oh yes, i'm really like my new camera .. was thinking of getting an external flash for it cos the in-built one is slightly crappy plus i tend to take photos of my dolls at night (when the kids are asleep) and a flash is really needed then. oh btw if you want to see the pictures you can go to www.flickr.com/photos/cuclainne don't have much on there yet though ..

wow, your students must be rich .. i don't think i'll ever be able to afford a prada phone .. nokia works fine for me, thanks .. heheheh ..

yes i did .. i took about 3 shots and also a short video .. i couldn't zoom for a closer shot but i really liked the video .. heheheh ..

emi, sounds like you've got a lot on your plate at the moment with the move and all .. hope you've managed to take it easy over your birthday and x'mas ..

margiel, hey .. how are you? had to send my kids to my mother's when we wanted to get our shopping done or over lunch time .. orchard road is not the place to go during christmas/new year - so crowded! we went out for dinner on the weekend before christmas and elias didn't want to drive, and we had to wait ages for a cab .. even when we tried to call for one. so did you get good pressies?

gina, long time no see you here .. how's things coming along? i can't wait to see you again .. oh OiOi has some really nice diaper bags but i agree with you la, it's not really necessary .. but it's still pretty!

clara, how was the move .. managed to settle in alright?

 

[liz4jeroen]

Hi Gals, just to come by to wish all of you a merry belated xmas n happy blessed new year. I've been busy making new designs n just put up some items at etsy to sell. Also did a new blogger. Here is super cold. Take care!

 

[mrs_n]

<blink><font color="ff0000"><font size="+2">HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. Hope 2009 will be a good one for all of you.</font></font></blink>

 

[georginat]

Happy new year to everyone here and their family too !!!

EJ!!! i will MISS oz..but its shopping for bb stuff online..hee hee..i really love some oz brands like oobi baby, eternal creation, moppit, ouch , penny scallan and of course pumpkinpatch...so i have stock up for the next 2 years ..wahhhhaaahhaa!! can't find them in sg and if so, have to pay at least double the prices..the designs are soooo nice! hip, retro, unique and very good quality...

nisa, would love to meet you and your family too! so before going back to sg for good, we are now busy travelling around canberra, just went to kangaroo valley, next going to snowy mountain..

chrisl, u be back to sg for CNY?

de_luxe, julio takes the news quite easily coz somehow expected as this is the 2nd round of retrenchment in 6 mths time, the company has to retrench 6,000 of its 31,000 staff worldwide to stay afloat, all thanks to the financial meltdown..he has been actively looking for jobs in sg and spain, hope can find one really soon..

once again, Happy new year to you ladies here !!

 

[christie79]

Hi Everyone! HAPPY 2009!

Finally got the chance to sit down and read all online .. after days of makan and watching fireworks / TV / DVD ..feels like CNY in a way.

Deluxe, yeah too much salads, cauliflower and broccoli also makes me feel 'sian'..yes fortunately can get xiao ba cai, cai sin, kangkong, raddish and such if order in advance

hahah your dog was so funny! I love dogs too! In fact i love animals but i opt for a cat here cos my MIL afraid of dogs (cos she's living next to hb and me) and also after how i watched my 1st dog died..im kinda phobia to have a dog again. But in anyway, i hope next time when hb and me are old hehe we could get one..here it's better to own a dog than in SG HDB..cos there's always space and lots of space to run around

My kity has short fur, just like the normal short haired ones in SG, but whenever she goes outside in the cold, her fur puffs up! haha she really looks like a furball then!

Regarding MCD, the last time i went home in Feb, they have already changed the chilli. I was so disappointed too! But they still gave me some packets of the old chilli sauces when i 'take away' instead of eating in..but dunno what they do now..any idea ladies?

Hey Glympse! thanks for the offer

Sure we can plan something then!

How was your trip btw? Saw your photos on FB, hehe nice experience to be able to chop your own tree right? This year hb and i spend long time looking for the tree! Cos BIL is allergic to the other type and we have to look for the 2nd type of pine tree. At lasgt, we didn't find any nice ones so we settled for the one he's allergic to..no choice

Hey hey Maple! How did your trip go? Did you try the tradional authentic vietnamise Pho? Nice not?

As for baking, i've only managed to help my MIL make 3 types of Norwegian xmas cookies and one of my coffee choco ones. And then about my pineapple tarts, i've only managed to cook the jam. Will do the tart one of these days before CNY

BTW, try not to stress..working 15hrs a day! Gosh! that's long..

Thanks Margiel!! haha No lah..my hands are so occuppied with the cutting of the cake so no pics

No chance yet Gina I've not 'strike' 4D yet lei hahaha

.. no lah..seriously..not going back cos i don't want to be alone to go home as hb can't take leave cos he just had his long medical leave in oct/nov so have to wait till about think june or july..

And hope Julio can find a job soon! Don't worry cos in IT if he's specialized in a particular area eg. Java etc he'll be well sought after.

And how have you been Mrs N? Hope you had a great christmas celebration!

 

[maplehue]

Hi gals,

Just a short one, but will write again later. We are now in Sydney. Been eating Oz pies non stop. Hehehe. And Jalna strawberry yogurt! Miss them so much la!! We are staying at Star City hotel in darling harbour. Nice place and we had fish and chips last night by the water. I thought it was going to be hot, but I was wrong. It is a little chilly and we had to sit indoors.

Deluxe, hope the party was fun and you had help to get things organized. Your sofa sounds so comfy la until you fell asleep on it. Long sofa is also good for foot massage.

emi, too bad la we will miss each other. Where are you now? Must be in brix already right? Enjoy your new apartment!Excited or not? Why do you want to lose weight? You are not fat!

Marge..hope youve been resting and not too busy. School holidays is such a blessing isn't it?

nisa...thanks. birthday was great and i realy had fun.

hey maybe this year you can hang edible chrissy decorations? so dont have to worry about the girls. you can put gingerbread man, candy canes, chocolates, etc. hee.

the downside is..the girls will end up eating too much junk food!and eh.. i tried clicking on the link, but the page is blank!

liz and mrs.n..happy new year to you both!!

chrisl..yesss. had pho a few times. so scrummy

i wish i know how to make the broth. do you have the recipe?

Hows kitkat? my mother in law told us that Taz(the family dog) is limping a lot these days since the weather got colder. Hows is yours?

Okay gals. have to go now. Take care and talk soon!!

 

[cuclainne]

hallooooooooo ladies!!!! this thread has been so quiet lately ... where did everyone go?

me doing ok .. the family also doing well .. elin is learning to stand so it won't be too long before she starts walking. sofi is doing well in school - we have enrolled her in an extra programme in school (music for intelligent mind) cos she loves music but we're just going to give it a try for a month to see if she likes the lesson. we don't want to be forcing her to take it if it's something she doesn't enjoy. she made a snow globe and some art pieces in school this week - so precious! and speaking more every day .. very kaypoh, like her mommy and daddy.

yesterday we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary at saint pierre .. quite nice - food was great and service was excellent but i supposed it's because we're one of only two couples for the evening. met the chef for a bit - emmanuel stroobant (so dreamy .. hahahhaha) .. he hosts the chef in black tv show on asian food channel. and elias even surprised me with a pressie (so nice!) ..

hope everyone is doing well ...

 

[christie79]

yeah it has been rather quiet lately in this playground cuclainne. Was busy working and studying as classes started and also been sick on and off since christmas eve! Gosh caught quite a bad strain of bug..had a cold, dizziness, fever and lastly come down with stomach flu! Even now i've to watch what i eat..cos not completely well yet

Im home today to rest

hey elin is learning how to stand already! gosh how time flies! haha and sofi is getting bigger too ;P in time she'll be talking about how's her day in school

Where's st pierre? what food does it serve? Wah so sweet ah elias *wink*

and also im busy with the new kitchen, the ikea ppl will be coming later with our pre ordered tabletop and hopefully kitchen will be ready before CNY. We'll be going to look and buy a dishwasher machine this sat too. MIL is always asking me to 'GET ONE SOON' haha cos she doesn't like to do the dishes herself too

im contemplating a silver coloured one..but im afaid that there would be lots of finger prints on it as time goes by..

i think i have it somewhere buried in the midst of the books

might get some time to dig it out for you maple will let you know again

aiyoh kitkat is fond of going out at least once a day for a few hours..but she comes running in when there's rain

oh! there was rain instead of snow these days and weather is exceptionally warm for winter +8 or 9 deg ..so it is so slippery as there are ice on the ground and everywhere..then kitkat goes ice skating on her claws hahha such a funny sight!

 

[cuclainne]

chrisl: i hope you'll get better soon. i had a persistent cough which started with a sore throat, and it lasted for an entire month .. really awful. i couldn't stay in an airconditioned room without breaking into a coughing fit - i had to leave several times while watching a movie .. thankfully my dept was quite free during december (almost everyone on leave) so i was able to take off a day or two just to rest at home.

elin is quite interested in walking now, if someone assists her. she still can't walk on her own just yet but who knows, she might just well surprise us. sofi started her first steps about two weeks before her first birthday and started walking on the actual day so that was a good milestone .. hahaha .. oh yes, sofi is actually quite the talkative kid now .. and she's getting quite good at her potty training (we still haven't taken her off the pull-ups though) especially since the toilet in school is at her level (for kids her height).

saint pierre is at the central mall, near MOM. here's the site (http://www.saintpierre.com.sg). the belgian-born chef is a local tv celebrity - he hosts the show, chef in black, on the asian food channel on cable. it's french food and apparently it's one of the very few restaurants that actually have an aunthentic French sommelier, though on the night we were there, since we opted not to drink anything alcoholic, he became our waiter instead. hahahaha ... nice friendly guy just like the owner. elias enquired about the goat's cheese we had and he talked at length about it and also gave us the address to the fromagerie where we can buy it from.

yes, i finally wore his pressie to work today but i'm going to have to spend the rest of the day touching my ears to see whether it's still there or not .. hahaha .. so worried the earrings will fall off .. i'm not the gentlest of creatures, you see .. hahahah ..

yay - how's the home decoration coming along? i've also been looking at some interior decoration magazines - who knows, we might own our own home this year so that's been kind of nice to fill up my time with ..

elias wants a dishwasher too but i find that it takes way too long to clean the dishes - rather do it by hand but it seems that almost all scandinavian homes have this. oh, a silver coloured one sounds nice ..

 

[cuclainne]

Gaza Children's Appeal

Life for children in the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate. Shortages of electricity, fuel, safe water and sanitation are having a serious impact on the lives of women and children and the recent conflict is adding to their suffering.

The population of Gaza has now become totally dependent on humanitarian aid for its survival. There are shortages of foodstuffs including flour, rice, sugar, dairy products, milk, canned foods and fresh meats. Last year, 1.4 million Palestinians were estimated to be food insecure.

The health system is overwhelmed, having already been weakened by the 18 month blockade.

Utilities are barely functioning: the only electric power plant has shut down. At the moment, hospitals are relying on back-up generators. The breakdown of these generators would pose a serious risk to public health.

The water system provides running water just once every five to seven days. The sanitation system cannot treat sewage and is dumping 40 million litres of raw sewage into the sea daily.

UNICEF's response

UNICEF UK has responded quickly to the immediate needs of women and children in the West Bank and Gaza by sending £50,000 from our Children's Emergency Fund.

UNICEF has a permanent presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) with one office in Gaza and three in the West Bank in Jenin, Nablus and Hebron.

In response to the current crisis in Gaza, UNICEF has so far delivered 355 first aid kits and 20 resuscitation kits to hospitals. We have also pre-positioned USD 50,000 worth of emergency supplies at United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warehouses. The UNRWA is the largest agency which is still operating its health clinics and schools.

Other supplies including first aid kits, family water kits, collapsible water tanks, educational supplies, three generators and six mobile fuel tanks are also pre-positioned in Gaza for distribution once conditions permit.

In the West Bank, UNICEF continues to work to improve the quality of education as well as water and sanitation systems, especially in schools and health centres, and provide psychosocial assistance to children and young people.

==============================================

For the last few weeks i have been inundated with news about the escalating turmoil in Gaza either through the BBC on the radio, through the newspapers, online reports, etc. At the most, the husband and I would have a discussion about the current state of affairs and that would be it. Like the majority, i was unaffected by the situation in Gaza simply because it's happening elsewhere and it wasn't happening to me. That changed today ..

I won't go into much details about what happened to make me change my mindset .. maybe being a mother has turned me into a soppy old cow after all ..

A few hundred children have already lost their lives in this senseless military offensive .. the rest are facing psychological trauma, lack of food and are at risk of diseases.. that is, if they live to see another day.

My youngest daughter will be turning 1 in a week's time. We had planned a birthday celebration for her, as we had done the same for my eldest when she turned 1. It's such a milestone for us. How many Palestinian parent can say the same for their children?

I know it is not much but the husband and i have decided that it would be more meaningful to donate the birthday funds towards the UNICEF efforts to bring food aid and medicine to the Gaza children.

So please donate if you can .. please help the children ..

http://www.unicef.org

 

[christie79]

thanks for the links cuclainne..

haha talking about being careful im not too good at things too! esp electrical products..i have in fact spoilt 2 washing machines, 2 thumbdrives, 1 mp3 and my hb's baby..his harman kardon sound system since i moved here 1.5 years ago! haha i think i have so much static in my body that's why..i dun like the feeling of that..makes it worse when i have to wear fleece or wool in winter.

we finally bought the dishwashing machine on sat after driven to 4 different towns! took one whole day to find that. We settled on a white one lah..cos of the fingerprints stuffs..MIL told that it's so difficult to get rid of them..

was talked into buying cos it apparently can save water and electricity plus it's hygenic. dunoo how it'll work out..was telling hb tat i can't imagine that i bought dishwasher! i feel im getting more lazy haha

oh we're almost ready with the kitchen, just need to get some small things when we make a trip to oslo ikea next monday, else after we've moved the fridge and also the oven we're done..

 

[glympse]

Hello everyone!

So sorry for the MIA - been so busy since the trip to Sweden with wedding prep and lots of things gg on at work (and while I was in Sweden, so busy enjoying that didn't spend too much time online ).

HAPPY BELATED 2009! Believing this year to be a GOOD year for us all, no matter what the news says. After all, GOOD means more than just economic prosperity, right?

Trip to Sweden was fantastic lah. Really had a good time with Emil and his family and friends. On hindsight, I should have taken 3 instead of 2 weeks' leave haha. But yea, soon I won't have to count the days anymore

Now been quite gainfully employed with my time. When I'm not at work, I'm spending my time with wedding preparation, church matters, family matters, and of course trying to get as much physical rest as possible. Wedding planning can be so hectic! Really thankful for very supportive church friends la, who are helping me a lot with the planning. Just had a 3 hr planning meeting on Sunday, very fruitful

Hope everyone is good and well!

cuclainne - haha yea, i think i did manage to keep to my budget... i gave him 3 tshirts, all in different sizes (S, M, L), so that no matter if he loses or gains weight, he'll be able to fit into at least one Emil gave me 2nd hand books (cos i love reading, and makes no sense to spend on brand new ones), and candles (to create the cosy atmosphere for reading ). The St Pierre celebration sounds really nice! And yea, the situation in Gaza is horrible .... the biggest victims of war are always the innocents, esp children

read recently tho that there's a ceasefire. Let's hope it will last and bring it to an end.

Chrisl - yea, my first time cutting down a real tree for Christmas! it looked a bit sparse in the living room, but it was still really cool

Ur poor BIL tho ... hope he didn't react too badly to the pine tree! Emil booked the honeymoon cabin in Norway already btw ... think it's 10m away from the fjord or sth, with the master bedroom facing an awesome view

we're really looking fwd to it glad to read ur kitchen seems to be coming along well!

maplehue - so happy to read that u and hubby are having a nice break in Sydney

well deserved!

deluxe - baby is arriving anytime soon right??? so exciting!!!

OK gotta get back to work, lots to do! But big HELLO to everyone else!

 

[cuclainne]

chrisl, you are well on your way to getting a refurbished home .. you must share pictures ..

glympse, glad to hear that you've enjoyed your christmas celebrations in sweden. oh, you love books too? i seriously need a room just for my books .. elias reckons that i should just give them away but i cannot bear to part with them .. not just yet.

how was your interview at the swedish embassy?

yes, the situation there is just so devastating .. we have contributed some to the children's fund because i think it's imperative that help reaches the children quickly .. it was just heartbreaking to see innocent young lives snuffed out just like that.

 

[glympse]

cuclainne - yeah I love reading, seems that we're alike that way, i'm also hoarding a lot of books in my room, but think i have to bite the bullet and just give them away or something once i move. a bit hard to ship books cos they are so expensive!

the interview at the swedish embassy actually went pretty well, tho it was quite intense (1.5 hrs). was asked a lot of details about our lives, but yea at the end of it, the officer said that there shld be no problem getting a permit, since we seem to hv a rather established relationship

apparently she mentioned there were some cases where there'll be women applying for a residence permit, but the guy involved either is married already, or doesn't even know he's being 'used' for the application! scary..

But yea, u and Elias shld hv no problem la. think the key thing they wanna know is that there are real concrete plans to move to sweden as well.

Now just praying that they will expedite the application in time for my departure to Sweden in April

 

[cuclainne]

glympse, i know .. i think i packed 4 boxes worth of books when we moved last and since then my collection has grown .. hahahah .. i really don't know how we'll sort it all if and when we finally decide to move back .. hahaha ..

that's great - did they ask you to bring any documentary proof ie pictures, etc? yah, elias and i were talking about it this morning. should be no problem for us since we have an established relationship ie married, living under same roof and kids. yah, i think they will require the successful applicant to live there for some time otherwise they will revoke the application *yikes* which is why i haven't applied yet .. hahah ..

keep my fingers crossed for you ..

 

[glympse]

cuclainne - yeap, brought emails, photos, and also a copy of my wedding banquet contract with the hotel, as proof that emil and my plans to get married are concrete. she said that in Sweden, ppl can be engaged for 10 yrs so it's good to give an indication that firm plans hv been made to be married. for u and Elias, yea def no problem la. but yea, cannot be away from sweden for more than 12 months at a time, or else e permit will be revoked

will post when i hv good news from e embassy!

 

[mrs_n]

Hi girls long time no 'see'!

Happy belated 3rd anniversary cuclainne. And happy 1st birthday to elin. Her birthday is on the first day of cny isn't it?

glympse glad to know that you had a successful expedition to sweden. So can count down now to the wedding yah?

Chrisl I'm fine. I've started going back to work for a few hours a day. Dominic comes along as well. So far he's been very good. Sits in his rocker and plays with his rattles. Only need to talk to him every now and them and he's happy. He's having a bad case of eczema at the moment though it doesn't seem to be bothering him.

Maple are you still on holiday?

Hee! Hee! My multiply is finally working again!

Btw deluxe has already given birth! I think around 9/10th Jan. Found out on the motherhood forum.

 

[christie79]

sure do Cuclainne

Good to see you back from your hoildays Glympse! wah booked the cabin liao!? When are you coming? hey it'll be good if the cabin has electric..cos there was once i went to a ulu ulu cabin! no electricity and toliet was outdoors!! It was cold and I almost flipped when i saw the 'deposits' under the tree! haha..'toilet' was just a small wooden shed under a tree..with a seating 'hole' but to make up for it, one can see stars really well there in general without light pollution

Good to 'see' you too mrs N

oh not too good to hear..might be the woolen clothes? yup saw the news about Deluxe on FB too

 

[maplehue]

Hello gals,
Once again Happy new year!

Hope 2009 will be a greater, lovelier, healthier and everything positive for all of us yeah.

Cuclainne, Happy 3rd anniversary! The dinner sounds romantic and it was so sweet of Elias to buy you the earrings.

Dont you just love pressies? I lovee pressies...from Jeff in particular. Men can be full of surprises.

Hope the little princesses enjoyed the birthday party. ..I just read your e-mail.

Yeah la..sometimes we take things for granted and don't realise how sad the lives of people from the third world countries can be. My heart always feel heavy when I think of this. Even when I was in Jakarta and looking at the young children begging on the streets till so late, I felt so sad and couldnt eat when i got back to my hotel.

Are you and elias going somewhere again?

chrisl..woah you got a new dishwasher??! So best! I miss having a dishwasher. My life was so much easier when we had a dishwasher back in Korea. Everytime after meal, just rinsed the plates and chucked them in the dishwasher. Lucky you

There is no way we can get one here. First, the small space and second, it is not even popular here. You must be lovin' your new kitchen eh? Have you baked or cooked something special? What a great timing for chinese new year celebration.

What are your plans? Do you get hong bao from the hubby? hee.

glympse..welcome back girlie. im happy to know that you had a great time with emil.

so cute lah both of you! already booked the honeymoon cabin! heee.

and 3 different sizes t-shirt? that's original!

im also relieved to know that things went well for you at the embassy. thank goodness. im sure many officers dealing with such cases would know who is genuine and who is not. so hows wedding prep? almost done or still lots to do? Dont overwork yourself k?!

jeff and i had a great holiday in both vietnam and sydney.

thanks. i ate a lot of ozzie pies in sydney. so scrummy.

hello mrs.n..good to hear from you again.

i thought you must be busy with the little prince and all. i'm back in hong kong now, but we will have another 2 weeks of holiday next week. SO jeff and i decided to go to vietnam again. I told him if he could get the same room at the same hotel for me, i'll go and he did! So a promise is a promise. ..

..and chrisl, i can eat pho again!!

hee

Most prolly, will visit Sg this summer then followed by Canada cos summer is a longer holiday. We were actually planning to go to Italy this june, but i think some things are coming up and we might have to change plans. We'll see how. Nothing is confirm yet.

eli..read your blog..Once again, you write beautifully.

Thank you for sharing.

deluxe dear, Congrats to you, Bertil and darling Johann! Wishing you well and strength.

Hope you are sleeping enough too.

Okay ladies, it is good to get back into the swing again. Talk again soon.

..and <font color="ff0000">Happy Lunar New Year</font>!!!in advance to everyone. Eat pineapple tarts for me pleaseee. i LOVE PINEAPPLE TARTS. I am so deprived! Scrum. xo

 

[liz4jeroen]

Hi Ladies, been MIA. Been busy with making hearts for valentine day n put up to sell.

Juz to drop by to say hello, take care n keep well. : )

 

[mrs_n]

Chrisl I don't think it's to do with wool as Dominic doesn't have any woolly clothing. Was speaking to a friend of mine who is a midwife and she thinks he could have a food allergy to something. As Dominic's mainly on breastmilk it could be something I had that is causing it. Now scratching my head thinking what I had last week that could possibly set it off. As far as I can remember I didn't have any 'new' food!!! Anyway will be taking him to see the doctor on thursday. Apart from the rashes he's still the happy chappy that he's usually is.

cuclainne/Gina did you drop a lot of hair in the months after birth? My hair drop so much. If it keeps dropping any more I'll be botak ... like Dominic!

maple so nice to go on holiday again. You can try making your own pineapple tarts.

I've made some for christmas but there are still leftover pastry and pineapple jam stuck in my fridge. They've been there almost a month! I just haven't had time to make them. Hey did you ever get your steamer? Cuddlefish managed to find one that was similiar to mine in Taka when she was home last summer.

Liz hope you get good responses to your hearts.

 

[georginat]

hi ladies !!!

chrisl..take good care of hubby and youself...we
have a dishwasher here too but i never used coz i dont have so many plates and bowls to combine washing so i prefer to wash dishes by hand after every meal..

nisa..happy 3rd anniversary !! so fast Elin is going to be 1 yo soon..Luke is 8 mth old now..

Mrs.N, oh yes! i dropped alot of hair, still dropping hair actually..hope will stop soon if not will become botak as well !

maplehue, enjoy your holiday in Sydney..its super hot here now !!

de-luxe..hows the feeling of being a mommy now?;-)

 

[cuclainne]

hi hi everyone ..

seems like elin will be spending her 1st birthday at home since she's down with chicken pox. yes, the doctor just confirmed it yesterday so she's over at my mom's place right now while sofi is home with us. but we'll be bringing her back tomorrow so we'll just have to see if sofi will come down with it over the long weekend .. i would prefer for them to come down with it at the same time so that we just deal with it once.

glympse: your honeymoon sounds romantic .. looking forward to it huh?

mrs n: how's motherhood treating you?

oh yes, i'm still dropping hair now but it's not as bad as before - i think it's nature's way of getting back at us for having nice, lustrous hair during pregnancy. it'll get better ..

chrisl: never been to an ulu cabin before though i think it might be nice .. one of elias' friends own such a cabin and he's been to it several times before .. he wanted me to come along but i don't think i can give up certain creature comforts .. hahahaha ..

maplehue: yes it's not very often that i get a surprise pressie so it was enough to make me grin .. though elias had timed it wrong and when he said he had something to give to me, the server thought he was talking to her and kept standing there cracking jokes about what could it be that he wanted to give HER .. hahahaha ..

elias was planning on us taking another break soon .. but i really don't want to leave the kids behind. we'll see how .. he wants to go somewhere where it's a private beach and he can be super lazy ie wake up late, swim, eat, sleep.. hahaha ..

gina, when will you be back? we need to meet yah ..

 

[glympse]

Hey ladies!

Yesterday had my first gown fitting ... the evening gown turned out gorgeous! The wedding gown has some tweaks to be made ... but lots of potential hehe.

Mrs N - haha yeah, less than 3 months! Tho there are lots of things to occupy Emil and I till he comes to Singapore in end March for the wedding, which is good - time flies when u're having fun or super busy

Good to read that Dominic doesn't seem to be bothered by the eczema. He's not scratching himself a lot, is he? My family has a history of eczema (I have a mild version, my elder bro has it worse), so i know how irritating it can get on the skin.

Chrisl - hehe yea, will be heading up to the cabin on Sun 26 Apr, prob reaching there on Mon 27 Apr (Emil tells me it's like a 16 hr drive, so we'll stop half way and stay at a motel or something for the night). Yea it doesn't look that ulu thankfully (toilets are indoors! haha), and it's heated by electricity, tho we'll hv to foot the electricity bill separately, hopefully it won't be too crazy

maplehue - glad to read that u got a good break! Nice breather from the hustle and bustle of HK

So, how are the plans (to move) coming along? Does it look possible? Yeah, lots of things to do re wedding and work, but am very thankful for my parents, who have been a great support lah.

Liz - hello! I saw the new pics on ur FB ... u make really nice stuff

Gina - heyhey! how are things with ya?

Deluxe - congrats on being Mommy! Have a good rest, and soon we wanna see photos! haha

cuclainne - poor Elin, but i guess it's good that she gets the pox earlier than later, since kids seem to get over it quite well. Agreed that would be best for Sofi to catch it now too. I remember that when I was young, parents would organise 'chicken pox parties' to intentionally have their kids catch chicken pox from one of the kids infected, so that they get over it early in their childhood. Only tricky thing is how to stop the kids from scratching :S

Yea, sometimes when work gets tough, i daydream of the honeymoon trip ... hahaha

 

[christie79]

Im at class here..lazing a bit before starting again after break

)

maple~yup i made pineapple tarts..but it didnt turn out as good as i want it to be ..

mrs N~ yeah it's good to check it out

Dominic seems like a contented happy bb! Think must be all that tender loving care!

did you do any confiement (spelling?) are your parents back home? im sure you're missing them! For me now im missing as it's CNY soon and it's my 1st CNY 'alone'

cuclainne~ maybe try once and see for yourself..i mean try those with elecrticity

hehe

Glympse~ Not to scare you but to let you be prepared..I think you might have to pay much for electricity in cabins..the other time hb company paid almost a few thousand SgD for a week's stay..just on electricity..but then it was a different place. But all in all im sure you'll enjoy it!

i bet you're counting down now! hehe hey chosen your gown or not yet? care to share pictures so i can 'wow' at? hehehe

Liz~ how's your kitchen coming along? Had you 'open ceremony' yet?

Gina~ yup i have lots of bowls and such to wah..if wash by hand i can stand there washing for an hour! hehe hey when are you going back Sg? i might be for a visit (maybe july) and can swing by to look at your cutie bb luke!

 

[cuclainne]

glympse, yah i got it when i was 16!!! itches like hell but had loads of company because my brother infected all the kids at the house .. we were staying at my aunt's place while ours was being renovated and he spread it to two cousins, followed by me and my sister .. hahahah ..

i would love for Sofi to get it so we can deal with it once and for all but i pity her too because she won't be feeling good and with the long weekend coming, won't be able to go out.

chrisl, you made pineapple tarts? wow .. i still have the pineapple filling in the fridge. don't know when i'll have my go at it ..

been stocking up the fridge since most places will be closed cny .. a few nights ago, i was watching a new tv show called Chef For Hire .. this guy shared some recipes that looked oh-so-yummy and i was thinking of trying out his recipes during the hols.

 

[mrs_n]

Cuclainne I'm fine. Life is now a fine balance between looking after Dominic, pumping, working and trying to keep up with the housework!

Quite tiring but still surviving.

Poor Elin! Yah better to get chicken pox early. I came down with chicken pox just after after my A level exams. Was a close shave.

Chrisl Dr said that Dominic has an allergic reaction to something but doesn't think it's to do with the BM. Phew! He thinks could be washing detergent.

Wish I had a dishwasher sometimes especially after cooking when there's lots of pots and pans to wash up.

Hugs hugs! Can understand. You're probably missing CNY more as there is no CNY atmosphere over here unlike in Sg. You &amp; Gaute will have to start your own tradition. Maybe it's a good thing it's over the weekend. I used to find it so weird to go into work during CNY when I was at sheffield. It didn't seem right!

Glympse april will be here in the wink of an eye. Gosh it's almost end of January! You'll be counting weeks and days soon rather than months.

Dom was scratching a lot last week especially his head. His skin was so dry that it started bleeding a little. It's not so bad this week since we started putting an embollient cream on him. Also had to cut his fingernails.

Gina when are you going to Sg? Luke is a very well travelled baby for his age.

Don't know when we'll be able to go to Sg.

 

[glympse]

Chrisl - eeks few thousand dollars for one week's worth of electricity sounds crazy! guess Emil and I just gotta make sure we use heating only for specific rooms and not the entire house ... would be such a waste to waste so much money on electricity :S Yea, my wedding gown and evening gown are actually custom-made

Didn't take photos during my 1st fitting tho, but yea, if I remember to capture photos during the 2nd fitting, I'll let u know hehe. Anyway, how will u be celebrating CNY? Do u hv Singaporean/Chinese friends there? Perhaps can do an European version of Yu Sheng or sth?

cuclainne -yea i know what u mean. guess gotta let the chips fall where they may and see if Sofi gets infected or not.. hope Elin handles it well. So anyway, what recipies are u going to be trying out this CNY?

Meanwhile, Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
Absolutely no mood to work now hahaha....

 

[christie79]

Cuculainne~ yeah i made the jam a month or so back and placed in the fridge. As it can be very very tedious to make it

if im in sg now i would buy to save the trouble of lazy me making them heheh i know of an auntie who sells very very yummy ones

but costs about 60Cents for one tart! but given the time and effort to make it, ok lah..once in a year thingy..

I had chicken pox in my primary school days and there's not too many 'pox' on my body..can count the number less than 5 of them! some ppl said that it might come again as shingles

Glympse~ i see hehe thanks in advance

Glympse/Mrs N~ Not much plans yet as hb and i have to take a drive to olso hospital to have bloodtest

so dunno yet

but next weekend we might invite PIL over and have dinner together

friends here are far away lah..no choice

got to run!

 

[de_luxe]

Hey peeps! Juz popping by while Johann’s still sound asleep. Thanks for your well wishes here and on FB… Yeap, Johann Tsai Wei Schmidt was born early in the morning of 10 Jan, 10 days ahead of his EDD. Guess he didn’t want to share the attention with Obama. Labour went exactly the way I wanted and things in general have been smooth.

Mom’s staying with us for the confinement period. She’s been great – cooking, washing, cleaning, u name it… Johann started sleeping through the nite b4 he’s a week old, so that’s good news for us… no nite feeds! Yay! At least I get a decent 5 – 6 hrs of sleep every nite. Things weren’t so good earlier this wk when both of us got a viral infection. He started being real cranky on Sun morning, crying and refusing to feed all day while I started feeling really ill on Monday. We’re both much better now – almost recovered I think – and he’s feeding properly again.

Time passes really quick – just realized I’ve got to figure out arrangements for his 1st month celebration asap cuz it’s only 2 wks away!!

Will come back with pics when I’ve got time…

cuclainne st pierre’s always good… sweet of elias to give you the surprise

hope elin is better now… has sofi gotten chicken pox already? It would be tiring to care for 2 sick kids at the same time – I’m already exhausted with 1!

Btw, did u follow the typical vaccination schedule for ur girls? BCG and Hep B at birth? We didn’t, wanted to wait a bit for his immune system to strengthen. Hope we did the right thing. Any idea when is the latest he shld get his 1st jab? Before he gets exposed to pple?? Not sure if we shld get it done before pple come over for the 1st month celebration. I’m told some parents wait till baby is 4 – 6 wks old?

glympse glad ur hols was gd n wedding preps going well...

wouldn’t be long now!

georgina well, I’m surprised at myself actually… was more confident than expected when handling and caring for him – after all I’ve never cared for a newborn before! Somehow, the irritation switch in my brain when babies / kids cry/scream seem to have switched off. I used to get irritated when babies / kids fuss too much in public. Slowly getting used to my new identity… the words “my baby”, “my son” sound / feel so foreign, even worse than adjusting from boyfriend to husband when first married! The paediatrician always addresses me as “Johann’s mom” on the phone, never by my name which I found a little strange at first. I didn’t feel that glow of maternal love etc in the delivery suite when I first saw him – it was more like “hello stranger.. so u’re the guy I’ve been talking to for the past few months” – I find the bond grows slowly over time… it’s touching when he holds my finger when feeding n was so heartbreaking and distressing when we had to witness him screaming and crying when the paediatrician had to draw blood from his hand for a blood test – I couldn’t stop my tears and was gripping my hb’s hand throughout the whole ordeal.

chrisl enjoy the dishwasher! We had one in Melbourne, tho only used it when there are tons of dishes or when we were entertaining. Otherwise used it as additional dish drying space

Maybe try to rustle up some CNY spirit by decorating? Can also do a reunion dinner with ur hb and ILs, maybe even a steamboat? Hope u aren’t too homesick… I know the feeling of homesickness can be ultra bad during such festive seasons…

maplehue I’m waiting for my aunt’s pineapple tarts and kueh lapis to arrive tmrw… but mom says I can only eat them after confinement!!!!!!!!!! What torture!!!!! I'll prob have to sneak in a few when she's not looking else there might not be any left by the time confinement's over!

Sounds like u and Jeff have something up ur sleeve… shan’t probe too much… all the best, hope it works out well for u…

 

[mrs_n]

Hey Chrisl I'm the same too. I made the pineapple jam about a month ago on Christmas Eve! And the pastry too. It's still sitting in my fridge. Haven't found the time to make it yet. Hopefully they are still ok and not gone mouldy.

deluxe I knew you could do it!

So pleased for you. Pumpkin and Diana has been updating us on the other side. I was the same too! Hard to feel an overwhelming sense of love after an exhausting delivery. I think I was more relief that I didn't have too push anymore! Hee! Hee! But love grows day by day indeed. When they're in pain you feel their pain too. Being a mum makes me appreciate my mum even more!

Nice name by the way. Are you both fans of Bach or Strauss? Wow so fast he'll be a month old! Dominic will be 6 mths in 2 weeks time. Anyway enjoy him at this age as much as possible. They grow so quickly.

 

[eminozy]

hello ladies...

haapy chinese new year!

its a rollercoaster on this website again. Took me quite some time to catch up.

Glympse.... wow... soon u will be married too. So fast. yeah.. take some fotos of your bajus.

Nissa- anniversary again...? so fast.... we girls have been talking in here for so long.... heheheh

Hernie, All the best for your next step. Wahh you all crazy about pineapple tart and kueh lapis? heheheh i am weird.. not so big fan. But my mums obsessed with making them . Am sure she is busy now baking for the CNY for sale.... hehehahah. i think i grew up with it that I dont really become a fan?

hey corrinne!

so happy to her from you. I find all these experience with babies so eye opening. Like yours, nissa and Mrs N's... I wonder if i will become a good mum some day. I always thought am good with kids, but then i realised coz i am a kid myself, hence.. So now .. I have to think again.

LOL

Chrisl, I LOVE DISHWASHERS!!!! i use them once a week when i lazy to do dishes... normally i rinse them and put a side and then end of teh week when its enough to fill the thing. thats when i turn it on.. like now! hehehehe

oklah... talk to u all later.. have to get ready for a CNY lunch. A few of them happening this week and next before I cabut to Queensland *sigh* Missing Melbourne already.

take care!

 

[maplehue]

<font color="ff0000">Happy Chinese New Year ladies</font>!!!

We are in Vietnam now.

This will be short cos the internet connection is a little 'unstable' from the hotel room. The hotel said its because of busy time!
will try log in again to respond to some of your posts yeah. hugss and enjoy the festive season.
xoxo

 

[margiel]

Hello everyone
Just a quick drop by to say GONG XI FA CAI,
SHENG TI JIAN KANG (Wishing all good health),
WAN SHI RU YI (May success be with you always),
okie me got to go and prepare for steamboat stuffs for this evening, as well as MORE CLEANING, not so much of the CNY day but bcos we are having guests over for bbq and Yu Sheng (Toss dish) 2moro. Ya lor we only do cleaning up when we have guests ehhehehe.....
Have Fun and Enjoy Your Holidays!

 

[mrs_n]

<font color="ff0000"><font size="+2">Happy Chinese New Year Everybody!</font></font>

Enjoy the holidays and makan sessions.

 

[christie79]

hey dropping by to say

<font color="ff0000">HAPPY 'NIU' OX YEAR! GONG XI GONG XI!</font>too all!!

thanks to all friends here for CNY wishes!

wah margiel so good! so happening in Melborne! No wonder Emilia didn want to go! hey EJ hope you'll get settle in fast

heard lots of nice stuffs about Brisbane too!

me festive mood and still have to sit in class now

yes mrs N! I agree!!! I feel so weird now hehehe

hey deluxe happy confinment! And enjoy that small bites lah..hehe Johann is a traditonal german name, nice!!

i was so busy cleaning the hse, last minute painting one of the kitchen window, put silicon gel along the gaps in the kitchen counter, clear catsand and lots more..wah..so didn't get enough time to fix a good dinner in fact..so poor thingy ..i just cooked a simple dinner of 2 kinds of noodles with pre packed sauces 1 with sezchuan hot tomato sauce and the other with terikaki wok sauce

and ended with a toast of cocktail

that's about it..i cried when my folk back home were so engaged in Mahjong to skype with me

( but they promised today they'll for a short while before i go off to oslo

but will definately try to make up for a good dinner this weekend!

k have to go now again

 

[liz4jeroen]

Wishing everyone

Gong Xi Fa chai! : )

 

[cuclainne]

Mrs N, great to hear that motherhood is treating you just fine

hope that dominic will get better soon ..

glympse, well on the show he did truffled caprese as appetiser, beef burgers with blue cheese as mains and 4-cheese quiche as dessert (served with poached pear and fresh figs). since i don't have the kind of money to buy fresh truffle, i'm omitting that when i try out the recipe tomorrow. i didn't have time to do the beef burgers today (managed to assemble them without the blue cheese since i'm only having them tomorrow) but i did make the 4-piece quiche and it was quite good.

i tried to make a swedish strawberry cake for elin's birthday today - first sponge cake didn't rise, the second one collapsed and we finally struck gold on the third try. but i did make elias buy the instant cake mix, just in case .. hahahah ..

chrisl, i bought the ready-made one from the store. i got highly ambitious during hari raya but after making so many cookies, i couldn't find the motivation to do the pineapple tarts .. hahahah .. maybe this weekend might be a good time to start

de_luxe, congratulations on your bundle of joy - johann is such a beautiful name .. i was considering it for when i have a boy (one must be prepared .. hahahah!).. elias said it's spelt johan in swedish but i've always liked it with two 'n'

sofi has not had chicken pox yet. we were over at my mom's place today cos we didn't want to miss elin's first birthday .. plus my mom and sister were telling me that elin can stand up all on her own now which means that it won't be too long till she starts walking .. i don't want to miss that! sofi was all hugging and kissing her little sister, it was kind of hard to keep them apart even though she could tell that her sister was not well from the scabs on her face. so if she gets it, then she'll get it i suppose .. we'll just have to deal with it.

yup - we followed the standard immunisation schedule for both girls. i think first jab (not counting the BCG and Hep B at birth) is done when the baby is between 4-6 weeks and the frequency of the immunisation depends on whether you decide to go for 5-in-1 or 6-in-1 vaccinations and any of the other supplementary vaccinations like for rotavirus, chickenpox, etc. i opted not to give the girls chickenpox vaccine because i heard that it supresses the chicken pox - you will still get it just not as severe but since it's supressed, the possibility of getting it again is there.

emi, hey girl - how are you? yah, so fast arh .. yah we are like old-time veterans here already .. hahahah ..

i don't know leh but i find it somewhat relaxing, almost therapeutic to do dishes by hand .. hahaha .. elias has no complaints on that ..

maplehue, enjoy vietnam ..

and remember to write when you can

margiel, wah steamboat - yum yum, haven't had that in years .. hope you had a good 'reunion' dinner yesterday

elizabeth, happy CNY!!!

 

[cuclainne]

Here's the recipes from the show, if you ladies are interested in trying something new ..

Chef For Hire - click on episode 1.

It was really interesting to see and learn how to plate the dishes well .. i'm looking forward to trying out the caprese, particularly since i have an aged balsamic to use .. yummy!

 

[maplehue]

Hello ladies!

Chuc Mong Nam Moi!! Don't know whether I've spelled it right, but it is supposed to say Happy New Year in Vietnamese.

Now waiting for Jeff to come back. Hungry la. The hubby has been kiting non-stop. Not only he has turned brown(which he absolutely loves it), he is also aching like crazy. We've been to massages 4 times and just before he left this morning to kite, he asked me to rub some tiger balm on his back.

SO! Hope everyone had a great Chinese New Year break/feast/hongbao, etc yeah!

mrs.n...i would if i could to make pineapple tarts, but we dont have an oven. The sickening kitchen is tiny and there is no way we could fit a real oven. We have a counter top oven, but it is no way the same. The kitchen didnt have a dryer either and luckily we managed to find a small one. Jeff put it up on the wall above the washing machine. Can't live without a dryer.. As for the steamer, no didnt find it at Takashimaya last summer.

georgina..it was very sunny in sydney when we were there, but only during the day. Night time was quite chilly. It is a beautiful place

I hope you wont miss it much when you return to Sg.

cuclainne, how are the girls? and how is elin? i hope she is not aching too much. i think it is better to get chicken pox when you are young. I got mine when I was about 16!! Horrible! I had many scars and it was so visible on my face, my Mom had to send me to do minor plastic surgery to cover the holes and bad scars on my face cos I refused to go to school. My self esteem was so low after my chicken pox incident. Anyway...how did the party go?

Your recipe makes me drool la! Scrummy.

AND about that server thinking that Elias was talking to her. Yeee... so funny and malu!

glypmse dear, how are you? I wonder whether you are the youngest here. Only cos you are the only one who is still prepping for your wedding....and talking about your honeymoon

Jeff and I are winding down now and we are certainly making more solid decisions about leaving HK. He's also been offered several job offers outside HK. We are still working things out and I will definitely keep you gals posted!

Im actually feeling better now knowing that we are doing something and taking action.

Do you have anymore interviews to attend to at the embassy? and hows the wedding prep goes so far?

What chrislsaid about the electricity bill is quite scary for sure, but it is definitely a good heads up yeah!

hi chrisl...woahh.. you made pineapple tarts? scrum.

How come you and hubby have to take blood test? Are you alright? Please take care yeah. Your szechuan dish sounds so yummy too. So did you manage to skype with your Mom? Sometimes my Mom is also busy. She even told me a few times to make appointment with her before skyping her! Quite funny.

Hi deluxe...How is the new Mummy doing? AND when is confinement period over? How come cannot eat pineapPle tarts during confinement. Ive never heard of that before. Anyway...better follow la cos Mom is "always" right.

I hope you are sleeping a bit more these days. Go away Panda eyes!
Yes, Johann is a beautiful name

and who came up with the name Tsai Wei? It is also a unique chinese name! nisa..I'm sure you can still name your baby boy Johann la.. but maybe with one 'n'? just to be make it slightly different

emi You don't like kuih tart?..i loveee kuih tart.I cannot wait for my mom to come and visit me so she could bring some tarts for me. Scrum. I'm booking her a ticket for Feb 14 and I told her i dont care whether she is busy or not. Heee

I miss her la and I'm going to ask her to bring me some nasi lemak too!

How are you? Hope you are not too sad to leave Melbourne. You have friends in Brisbane too right?

margewoah.. so long havent heard from you. Hope you are well, but i guess if you were busy preparing for steamboat..that means you are well la.

liz take care and dont overwork yourself

talk soon ladies and cuclainne...ha.. you were so determined about the cake yeah. if it was me.. i just buy one from the shop especially after trying a couple of times. Maybe that's why Jeff is the baker in the household

Ok..hope i didnt miss anyone!