1 wedding, 2 funerals.

It was my younger cousin Vincent's birthday last Sunday...
I didn't attend as I just got back from Shanghai and was sick.
Moreover, the wedding was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Less than 24hours later, my granny passed away.
I hope she is no longer suffering where ever she is now.
She had cancer for quite a while...

Today is Sunday.
Another week gone.
I just heard from my brother that 2nd uncle passed away.
Another funeral...

That makes it the 3rd one this year.
Makes me think - life and death is just a thread away.
喜于悲，生于死 - 一限之擦。

Another baby tooth out...

Kady just dropped another of her baby tooth last week.
Only realised that her new teeth are already 1/2 grown out after the baby tooth came out... :P
Her teeth are all growing out pretty soon!

Will be going over to Shanghai to attend the China coat show and getting the meetings ready. It will be a mad rush again. :(

Vera is finally recovering now. PD suspected that she has Influenza A and her fever only broke after 6 days! You can only imagine how tired I was as I have just came back from Suzhou on Friday evening and she was sick on that day.
She still has a cough and running nose but at least no fever.
Hubby was also down. Guess he caught the virus from Vera.

Kady's Graduation

Just wanna share - Yesterday was Kady's graduation concert... they were asked what they wanted to be. Kady said - I want to be a scientist that can save the world from natural disasters. So that everyone will be safe. Am so proud of my girl!

Her class performance was cowboy dance... the costumes was great and her class performance was the one that has the most claps and wolf whistles!

I just came back from Shanghai/ Suzhou on Friday and bought 10 hairy crabs back. We had feast on Friday night....
Vera is also down with fever, cough and cold... very tiring night!

Tonight's Dinner...

Tonight's dinner was pork chops with bacon...
something really simple.
I was lazy so I bought McCormick's Teriyaki Powder Mix marinade for the pork chops.

What I did was to add olive oil, water, white vinegar, oregano, rosemary and freshly squeeze OJ to the ready mix and marinade the pork chops for about 3hours.

Then I pan fried them on both sides (lightly brown), wrap them up with back bacons and grill them. End result - absolutely yummy!!! I used the left over marinade and added chilli sauce, water, button mushroom and brown sugar.

Add in some fresh butterhead lettuce and cherry tomatoes with Chicken and Mushroom soup - Dinner is served!

Yummy... too bad I forgot to take some pics before we eat. :P

Flying off soon....

Leaving for Jinan tommorrow for work...
(Jinan is in Shandong Province)

Heard from my colleagues that it is a very boring place.
In the sense that there is nothing much around to walk or shop for.
Anyways... I'll get to see for myself when I am there soon enough!


Vera has a fever for the past few days.
Brought her to the doc and she said Vera has bacterial infection
(which in way, explains her extremely bad breathe!)
Her fever is finally gone today... hopefully it doesn't come back and she'll recover soon!

Slacking...

I've been slacked. AGAIN.

I can't believe that the last time I updated my blog was 2 month's ago. :P

Quick Updates here now:

@ work

- the company opening in Suzhou went off well in Aug. All the hard work paid off.

- got a Management Award.

@ home

- Vera is walking very well now and is running! She's so cute when she toddlers and runs along... :)

- Kady just dropped her 1st baby tooth @ 5.5yrs... cos her new tooth are already growing.

- made some flowers for her childcare teachers (see below for pics, now very well taken I am afraid as we were in a rush.

been a while....

been a while since I last updated my blog...
been busy as usual...

mom's business is getting from bad to worse.
Seems like she has almost maxed out her credit limits with the banks and they are all chasing her for payment.
Lend her almost all my savings and hopefully she'll be able to tide over this rough period.
The problem is that she still doesn't want to cut her losses and insist on carrying with the business. I really pray and hope that she will either come to her senses soon or that business will pick up SOON!

Had management meetings the past 3 days and its very tiring! While stuck in the meetings, my emails and work are all plying up!

K's CC is close today so here I am at home with the kids.
I think V's molar is coming out as she seems little under the weather with dripping nose.
My left eye is swollen... guessing infection...

Have to travel soon to Suzhou to help settle some HR issues.
haiz... my china colleagues (management level somemore!) are fighting each other.

I think thats enough on my plate for now... sigh....

turning 31...

Just turned 31 recently...
No big celebration...

had a nice breakfast at Ikea with the girls, dh, nephew and SIL.
Then went for a little shopping @ robinsons...

dinner was with my mom and bro at a Jap restaurant in Raffles Town Club.
I had a special birthday cake this... so very different from the rest!
*lol*

We went to Goodwood Park after dinner, bough 20 durian puffs & ta-da!
That's my birthday cake! :)

Its been a long while since I last had the puffs... somehow I found that the standard has dropped.
Maybe I have too high an expectation??

Little V

After I came back from my China Trip, Little Vera has started to walk.
She can walk really fast and steady now.
In fact, we think that at times she wants to run too! :P


Unfortunately, she has also been down with fever, cough, sore throat and cold for the past 1 and 1/2 weeks.
Good thing is that she is now recovering tho' it seemed that she still have a fair bit of phlegm. :S

Y'day when Vera saw me kissing dh on the cheek, she immediately followed suit and kiss me too and with the kissing sound as well! its really cute.
Still brings a smile on my lips now that I think of it. :)

Below is a pic we took y'day...
Is she cute or what? ;P

Some updates...

I've been laxed again!!!! :P

Celebrated Vera's 1st b'day at the Downtown East...
Good fun, great BBQ food (thanks to Ariel, Eva n hubby for helping with the BBQ!) and with even better company - all the makings of a great party!

hubby got me a bag tt I was eyeing the other day - said early b'day pressie...
and later bought me an iphone! *yippee dooodle* and said its my b'day pressie too!
Think No more presents aft ther iphone since it doesn't come cheap. :P

Then all too soon, I had to leave for Shanghai for work.
Now in Suzhou... the weather is great! between 15degrees to about 24 degrees.
Great cooling weather just the way I like it! :)
The flowers are all blooming in Suzhou.
Great vibrant colors all over.
Maple trees are still red... think should be turning green soon, already see some changing colors.

Meetings are packed... tired... missing my bed and most of all - my 3 babies...
Miss their presence, their smell, their voice, their company, everything!
Changed my flight to a midnight flight just so that I can get home earlier...
Can't wait to get home as usual!

V is turning 1 soon!!

How time flies! Seems like such a short time ago when I had just delivered baby V!

And now my little baby is turning 1 in less than a week...
if only she can stay on to be a baby... :P

V is getting smarter and smarter these days...
if she's touching and/ or doing things that she isn't supposed to, she would stop and take a look around her to see if mummy is around...
And if mummy isn't around to scold or smack her little hands, she will continue to do/ touch the stuff... even if there are other adults around telling her not to, she will develop "selective hearing syndrome" and apparently won't be able to hear...

BUT if she hears mummy booming loud voice, she will immediately stop for a while, then immediately crawl to mummy and pretends nothing has happened!
And she's not even 1 yet!

A conversation with K

Had the below conversation on 30 march 2009 with K.
Till now when I recall the conversation, it still brings on a smile. :)

Y'day I had the following conversation with Kady:

K: Mummy! My friend told me tt get Married means can molest each other.
M: Huh?
K: Aiyah. My friend said aft married, then can kissy and molest each other lah!
M: What do you mean by molest each other?
K: Means touch here touch there lah! You dunno ah?
M: .... lost for words....

K: Mummy! So did you and Daddy molest each other?
M: err... why don't you ask Daddy?
K: Daddy! Did you molest Mummy??

its over for more than a week...

Its been slightly over a week since Ye has passed on...
I watched Ye slowly drawing his last breathe then to totally stop breathing.

I watched him lying still in his coffin, every day till he was cremated.
I cried buckets during the 1st few nights.
When I went back to work, everyone said I looked very down and haggard. :(
I felt the same inside. I felt very down too tho' I did try to make an effort to smile more and to hide my pain. But I guessed it still shows.

I am finally getting some sleep. Not sure if its due to pure tiredness after so many consecutive nights of not much sleep. Am down with cold but so is Vera and hubby.

Finally coming to terms that Ye is not here anymore...

Ye is gone...

Ye has passed away peacefully on 12 March...

with his passing - I learnt that no matter how mentally prepared you are for the demise of a loved one, you can never be mentally prepared enough.

Grandma is taking it well. better than any1 of us thought.
That is good.

I pray that Ye is in a better place.
A place where there is no more pain, no more suffering, no more sickness, no more worries.
A place where he can be free, beautiful and happy.

I am glad that I have the chance to say I Love you, Ye.
I am glad to have the chance to ease some of your worries.
I don't hate him anymore, Ye.
I meant that when I told you y'day before you left.

Thank you for your love and care.
Thank you for being there for me.
Thank you for being a better dad than my own dads will ever be.
Thank you for loving me like your own daughter
and for standing up to him whenever he was unreasonable.
I love you, Ye.
You will always have a special place in my heart.

Wherever you are, don't worry about us.
We will take care of ourselves knowing that you'll always be with us in our hearts.

An outing - Evolution Gardens

Brought our girls out to Evolution Garden last Sat...
before you ask where the heck is that - its part of Botanical Gardens.
Our 1st time there as well.

We bought breakfast, drinks and some snacks.
Then had a mini picnic in the garden.
quite a nice feeling... :)

took some pics too!

Anytime Now???

bro sms me abt2 days ago.
said grandpa has this respiratory bug that is resistant to antibiotics.
then today, I get another sms.
grandpa's condition is critical...
we are all guessing should be soon.
The doc had initially told us within 3 months' and it seemed that it is like what he said...

I was just telling dh y'day that I felt that all these while, grandpa is hanging on cos of grandma.
He cant let go cos he's afraid no one will look after her.
His strength/ will power to struggle on came from his love for her.
(I wish and pray that my hubby will love me this much too....)
But I wont want him to suffer cos of me...

altho' we have had some time now to prepare for this...
still - it hurts... it hurts bad.

I pray hard that grandpa's departure would be a painless one.
He has suffered enough.

Argh! Engorgement

Argh!!!! Bad Engorgement and cracked nipples...
Pain! Pain! Pain!

sigh... of late I am getting very very very little ebm...
expressing is getting more and more depressing. :(
With letdown, I am only getting about 2 ounces from both sides!

V seemed to have change the way she nurse. Thus, I am often with cracked nipples now.
*sob sob*
To compound to that, I get engorgement on/off on my right boob...
*boo hoo*

My right nipple seemed to be "blocked" I cant seem to be able to get more ebm out of it.
But when Vera nurse direct, I felt that she seemed to be able to get more??

Is there something wrong with my pump or is it just me??!!

so tired!

Am almost brain-dead now...

V recovered from her fever on Sunday but started having a cold on Wednesday.
sigh.... she kept waking up every 30mins of so... crying
I guess she can't sleep well due to her block nose.
so when she can't sleep well, mummy can't sleep well too.

Am soooo very tired now!!!
I hope her flu bug go away soon.
meanwhile, it seems that I am about to fall sick too! :(

oh! did I mentioned that dh gave a lovely lovely bouquet of lilac roses on Monday?
He sent them to my office and its sitting really prettily on my desk. :)
something to make me smile... Thanks Darling!

V is having Fever

V had fever since Friday evening.
Hovering around 38.6 degrees...

Today, it dropped to 38 degrees.
Hope it will go away soon.

This is the 2nd time she's sick so far.
On the whole, V seemed to be slightly better as a baby (in terms of no. of times falling sick) compared to K.

V wanted to nurse to sleep which is fine.
BUT she wanted to keep suckling even tho' she's asleep for comfort.
Once I removed my nipple, she'll start fussing/ crying.
My poor nipples are so abused now that both sides are cracked! :_(
And she doesn't like the pacifier so that option is out.

Please let V recover fast so that I can have my happy baby back!!!

Update on V

Vera @ 9months, 3 weeks & 2 days: 1st Step!!!

Vera is able to walk 1 tiny step all on her own w/o any support just 2 days ago.
Wow! Kids do grow fast!
Her upper teeth is now at a count of 4. Same goes for the bottom.

Vera's teeth seems to sprout in groups of 2.
Usally its 2 upper and 2 lower. :)


And on Kady - we initially had some problems with getting Kady to learn her spelling.
She just started having spelling in K2.
After 2-3 weeks of trying to set in the routine... she's doing ok.
Have been getting full score for the past 3 spellings already! :)
The next time to do would be to teach her Upper and Lower case of Alphabets as she tends to mix the 2 together.

Ushering in the year of OX

We went back to BP as usual for the CNY.

Things seemed alot calmer then usual...
usually when we went back to BP to celebrate the new year, tempers are quite high cos there will be brother-in-law/ sister-in-law who laze around and doesn't help with the spring cleaning of my in laws' place.

This year, it is still the same. Brother-in-law (1 in particular) always "escape" the spring cleaning. In my memory, of the 10 years that I am with my hubby celebrating CNY at his place, this particular bro-in-law has only spring cleaned with us once. Talk about "buey zi dong" people.
Sometimes my sis-in-law will escape by going out with her friends coming back only late at night...
Maybe its age, maybe cos its already a norm, my dh's temper seemed to be in check this time round. :)
Anyways, thats over.

Today - I made a small feast for the family.
On our menu we have:
- Shark Fin Soup
- Grilled Butter Lemon Salmon
- Stir fried baby bak choy with prawns
- Omelette
- Soy Bean Paste Pork Ribs with mushrooms

Breakfast @ PS Cafe

We had breakfast @ PS Cafe, Harding Road the other day with our good friend, Sim and his wife.

I had Coconut and Caraway waffles. The rest had scones with fresh cream and jam, Pancakes with Apples and fruits, Muffin for Kady and 2 others which I can't remembered.
All in all, we spent over $100 for 5 sets of breakfasts. We didn't even ordered coffee or tea. Just plain sky juice!

Food was great but the prices are abit ex tho' the fruits were clearly very fresh (especially the figs!) and the ambiance is good.
On average, each set of breakfast costs us abt $20+, except the muffin which was abt $4+ and the scones was abt $8.

I would rate it as follows over a scale of 5:

Food: 4 stars
Value: 3 stars
Ambiance: 4.5 stars

To find out more you can visit their website: http://www.pscafe.sg/harding.html