Sawadee-kap! To The Land Of Shopping & Massages

I decided it was now or never, I had to go on a short break to indulge in good food, relaxing massages, and non-rushed shopping.

Though at 25 weeks pregnant, there isn't a lot of clothes I can fit in, especially in Bangkok where you find the tiniest free size apparel, having all the time to myself (too little time in fact) and browsing leisurely is pure joy. I contemplated buying a few pieces which I can't fit now, to motivate myself to get back in shape, but I guess I better slim down and make a trip back!

We stayed at Glow Pratunam and its location is great if you are planning to visit the wholesale market at Pratunam (opens from 6am) and the wholesale centre, Platinum Mall. Rooms are spacious especially their bathrooms, but doesn't come with a bathtub for the room we booked. Beds are very comfy, or we were too tired after an entire day of walking - you literally sink right into the sheets. Will recommend this to serious shoppers.

Glow, a relatively new hotel opposite Platinum Mall

Our spacious room for the next 2 nights

View from the room

All I could think of in the weeks leading to the trip, were all the food we can stomach! With the slightly rainy season, some of our plans were shelved as it would be tough eating at the roadside seafood stalls in the rain. We ate most of our meals at our favourite Platinum Mall food court. Breakfast, lunch, tea breaks - I had to have my mango sticky rice every day.

Looking at this pic makes me crave for the sweet yummy mango.

This was tea break - 5 course including mango sticky rice!

What a spread for three.

Massages are absolutely necessary after walking from 7am. It was pure bliss for me, having water retention and sore feet at the end of each day.

Foot massage at Blue Spa

Sneaked in some comfort food in between shopping

Kids apparel in Bangkok is limited and I got this for Aiden.

With the arrival of number 2, I wonder when I can go away like this again. Besides missing the family, I feel very bad to have to leave 2 young kids with my parents. See you soon Bangkok, I will have to shape up before I return. Let this be a motivation.

PriviKids @ City Square Mall (28 - 29 September)

We are heading back to City Square Mall for another flea market this weekend!  This time, it is with the organisers Flea For Good.

Look out for special discounts on our current range of designs and refresh your children's wardrobe over the weekend with plenty of money to spare, all in time for Children's Day!

See you at the Fountain Square at Basement 1 from 12pm to 9pm!  We were overwhelmed the last time with customers, so hopefully, the extended hours this time round would allow us to serve our customers better.

Lastly, did you know that we will be launching new designs every month, starting from October? Visit our website at www.privi-kids.com regularly and discover our unique, quality and stylish kidswear!

It's the Dinner & Dance season again!

As the end of the year approaches (already?!), most companies are again holding their annual Dinner & Dance event across the island.  It's funny why the event is called Dinner & Dance - most of the time there is too little dinner (or the ladies don't want to eat too much), and the dance floor doesn't call out to you anymore.  Not when your age and waistline are well in the 30s.  Besides, you don't really want to scare the interns away with your dance moves.  You still want them to respect you when Monday comes.

And then there's the dressing up part.  Dull & Demotivated would summarise my outfits for most years, but a couple of years ago, I had the bad fortune privilege of being arrowed selected to organise the company D&D.  I had no choice but to put in some effort on my outfits then, and I must say that I'm looking forward to dressing up ever since.  Afterall it's one day that we can get away with almost anything (unless you are ex-SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa, see picture below) and it's really a lot of fun!

The theme for the 2011 D&D was Unsung Heroes.  I did my due diligence at the costume shops and realised most people are going for the obvious super heroes look.  I thought every other person would end up wearing red underwear that night, so to stand out, I had to wear the red on my head.

Meet the best dressed unsung hero that night, the Samsui woman - building Singapore since way before independence.

The theme for the 2012 D&D was Once Upon a Time/Fairy Tales.  And this time, I managed to scam convince my friends into dressing up as a group!  To make sure our outfits were unique that night, we had to go for a Chinese fairytale.  Can you tell what we were up to?

Here's where I got my costumes from, and I highly recommend them for the wide range available.  Truly amazing selection.  There are child size costumes available as well!  If you can't find your costume here, you probably can't find it anywhere else!

http://number1costumecostume.com.sg/

http://www.masquerade.com.sg/index.html
http://www.globalmascot.com/

Hoping that Aiden would get invited to a costume party soon!

Life is a game... of choice

“Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and spirit. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls...are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.”

We've all heard about the story/quote about juggling the five balls of life. Balls that represent Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit.  The way it is told and re-told may differ slightly but the message remains clear - work is something that you can drop, but the rest are so important that you really should focus on juggling them.  There is no alternative way to live your life.  Just drop the damn ball and not cause the rest to shatter!  That sounds very logical to most people, but I think we can take a fresh new look at these five balls of life from another perspective - the modern Singapore perspective.

A*Star researchers have found a negative correlation between COE prices and happiness of Singaporeans.

I suspect that for most Singaporeans, there is no rubber ball among the five.  In fact, we are really juggling five balls that are all made of glass.  Drop the work?  Unemployment/retrenchment is staring at your face and financial ruin awaits.  Drop your family?  Divorce and estranged relationships will eat you alive.  Drop your health?  The hospital bill could be scarier that the disease itself.  Drop your friends?  You lose an important source of support and companionship.  Drop your spirit?  Life becomes a suffering every waking moment.

The sad thing about our society today is that most of us would not be able to juggle all five glass balls.  There is at least one glass ball that would inevitably slip our hands and come crashing onto the floor.

Before you stop reading and start surfing for cheap houses in JB to retire in, there actually is a silver lining in all this.  That's because, if you can accept that it not possible to keep all five balls in the air, you will then learn to allow one or two balls to crack and shatter.  Most importantly, you will start to think about what is worth your while to protect, be it a great career, a good parent/spouse/sibling/son/daughter, a best friend, health or your high spirits.   It makes life a game of choice, and if you have chosen with your heart, there will not be a day that you live in regret.  The balls that you drop would be the ones that you don't mind dropping.  You will be happier, and people who matter to you will be too.

You can't please everyone, so why not just please yourself?  Keep juggling! 

Looking forward to the 3rd

At 26 weeks and 4 days today, I am moving on to the 3rd trimester in about a week's time and am really looking forward! Another 11 weeks plus before we see her, and hold her in our arms. I am ticking off my list of 'to buy' for her arrival (and also for Aiden to prepare him for her arrival) and we are in the midst of a makeover for both Aiden's and her room which is exciting to do.

I had a scare earlier this week. Waking up in the middle of the night with severe pain in my upper tummy area and nauseousness. The pain woke me up every hour and the nauseousness eventually caused me to vomit 4 times before I screamed in pain and woke Daddy Darren up. Called my gynae and he advised to go to the hospital immediately to get medication and monitor baby's well being. When we arrived at KK hospital, I was sent to the delivery suite as I was more than 22 weeks pregnant and hooked to a baby monitor to check on baby's heartbeat. I was in pain and threw up again, yet no sign of doctor. The doctor came after 30 minutes of monitoring, scanned baby and to my relief, all is well and baby is doing ok. She is about 700g now and heartbeat is all normal. I was so afraid that the tummy pain and vomiting would affect her. Doctor said it is likely food poisoning and I will need to rest and allow the symptoms to go away after 3-5 days. I was monitored for dehydration & contractions and when the test result was negative and the pain was not due to contractions, I was allowed to go home to rest. I am glad the medication all caused drowsiness and it forces me to get some shut eye and much needed rest. I would otherwise be trying to clear my emails and work.

For the upcoming weeks, I will need to prepare for handover of work, sort & prepare baby's needs for the first four to six months, and spend more quality time with Aiden & Daddy Darren before the baby arrives. I will need to relax more and focus on priorities - the balancing act of a FTWM.

Some pictures of my 2nd trimester:

A short getaway to Bangkok with friends. Will share more in a separate blog post.

Couldn't resist getting these for the baby girl

A rare relaxed morning to myself

At 25 weeks

At 26 weeks - shopping with Aiden

Our family of 3+1 :)

Aiden's first gym experience

Thank you Motherkao for the lovely giveaway of a complimentary trial pass to Gymnademics. We brought Aiden to his first class and he thoroughly enjoyed himself after taking some time to warm up and open up to the teachers.

What we really liked about the Fellow class (for 2 - 3 year olds) is how it is packed with a variety of activities including physical activities (circuit training, fruit relays, trapeze time), musical sessions (song and dance, stories & role playing) and creative time (mystery box segment where the kids learn about dressing for different weather). Both parents can accompany the kid so it is perfect for bonding for both mum and dad. We were slightly late for the class as registration took some time so we missed out on the 'warm up' session 15 minutes before class begins. This was probably why Aiden wasn't warmed up to participate at the beginning but he opened up soon enough and enjoyed himself especially during the physical activities. With so many different activities within an hour, the class is definitely not boring but really enjoyable (and a workout) for both parents and kids.

Stepping into his class

Circuit time - balancing act

Consecutive jumps

I like the flash card materials used to teach the kids about time and weather. They have different themes different weeks so your kid will be exposed to new words and learn something new at every class. Aiden enjoyed the song and dance sessions and I 'revise' what he learnt during the week and find that he recalls most of them.

Paying attention

He did very well during the fruit relay where the kids run in a straight line to transfer fruits & vegetables from one basket to another at the other end. He managed to transfer all 22 pieces! (the most in his class). And I was surprised he was sporting enough to try the trapeze and had fun at it.

Look mum! First attempt at the trapeze!

I highly recommend parents to bring their kids to Gymnademics as it is truly an enjoyable and learning experience for both parent and kid.

Parachute time...

Dressing for the different weather - mystery box segment

Here's Aiden's first attempt at the trapeze:

Mummy Be Cool

I have lost my patience a few times this week. All triggered by Aiden. And almost immediately, I felt so bad, I cried. I don't mean to scare or hurt him each time but I lose my cool and scream loudly at him, or make a loud sound to vent my frustration. I thought the best solution now, is for me to walk away and have someone else deal with Aiden but this also mean avoiding the issue and not teaching Aiden well. I will have to try speaking calmly to get my point across and be firmer. Daddy Darren has reminded me to keep my cool so baby will be cool too. This reminded me that I need to be positive and happier in the remaining weeks as I am expecting so baby will be positively influenced too.

When I was expecting Aiden, I remind myself to stay happy and positive despite work stress and anxiety about being new parents. With just Darren and myself staying in our own place, it was quite a breeze taking it easy and taking care of myself. Work stress does get to me, but with Darren's support and soothing, encouraging words, it helped me get over it and move ahead. Colleagues also commented on how happy and positive I was as I laughed a lot. A happy mummy = a happy baby and I definitely prefer that over a sulky baby. Aiden turned out to be a really happy boy and I am glad for that.

A giant popsicle for him, made of ribena goodness.

This time round, with a mischievous toddler who's testing his limits with us, it is way more challenging for me to remember to be cool and positive all the time. Spending the last few days with him, I really cherish the moments we shared - the smile on his face when I presented him with a toy he wanted, the chuckles when we played in the pool and him sharing snippets of his day with me as we lay on bed before turning in.  These little things helped us connect better after spending many weekends apart and a few days while I went on a getaway trip. I will miss this when I get back to busy days at work this month.

Aiden at 30.5 month old

He's still the one I love so dearly, and I want to give him my best and be a cool mum to him. Even with the arrival of his baby sister, I need to remember to assure him of this.