SHAPE Run

I woke up at 530am last Sunday to go for my 5km SHAPE run with some of my colleagues.  And being the ever sweet hubby that he is, K woke up together with me and drove me there.

4 years ago, my timing for 10km at the Standard Chartered run was 1hour 10mins.  Last Sunday, i took 43 minutes just to run 5km.. Boy am i out of SHAPE!! = P

At first, i thought i could do it, but after running for the first 4km, i had to walk.  My shins are still hurting me now.  And you know what's the worse part?  I actually had a white out plus a mini puking session after the run.  The ironic thing was, it was AFTER the run and not DURING.  And it happened because of the stupid queue to collect the goodie bag.  The whole thing was so badly managed that I don't think i will go to a SHAPE run again.  Firstly, there were no ushers there to guide people to the proper queues.  The queue for the goodie bag was snaking like nobody's business. So much so that i literally couldn't find the end of the queue.  Worse part was, part of the queue got mixed up with the queues for the other stalls that were giving free Bioterm samples and Marigold yogurts.  So one could be queuing up for half an hour thinking she's collecting her goodie bag, only to realize after that she's queuing for some stupid yogurt samples.  

Secondly, the sun was burning hot.  Plus the fact that it was super packed at the queues.  There wasn't another way out after you collected the goodie bag, so people had to u-turn and squeeze their way out through the queues again after they got the bags.  With everybody squeezing and perspiring like mad, there wasn't not much ventilation at all.   After queuing for 45 minutes under the hot sun, i finally saw the bags with 4 people in front of me.  It was then that i i felt nauseous and then everything went white and i felt vomit coming out.  I couldn't see anything, and kept bumping into people as i pushed my way out of the queue again after collecting my bag.  I felt like a bird freed from its cage when i finally pushed through the sea of sweaty women and found a shady spot under a tree where i just sat and buried my face in my hands...

It took me a full 5 minutes before i felt okay again to walk to the MRT station an take the train home.

When i reached home, i took a quick shower before heading off with K for our Sunday movie date.  With the M1 1-for-1 movie ticket at Cathay, K and I have made it a point to watch a movie every Sunday if we can.  Last Sunday was "Despicable Me". This time round, it was "Sorcerer's Apprentice".  It was an okay show with more romancing than magic.  The show even had a lame attempt at re-enacting the trademark  "broom and mops come alive" scene..  I think "Harry Potter" has more magic than this show.  Sigh.. Lucky i only paid half price for it! = )



Posted in ,

Lonely Bria and Mummy

Bria and Mummy are missing Daddy already.  Daddy just left for a one week business trip to KL and Bangkok.  Then next week, Daddy will fly off again to Jakarta for 3 days.  And late next month, Daddy will be going for 3 weeks of reservice.  Sigh... = (

I haven't been able to stop thinking about how i am leaving baby alone with C at home.  Work has been really busy so far, but it's still not able to occupy my mind entirely. This thought is always lingering in my mind.  As much as I want to trust C cause she is a good helper, there is this part of me that feel bad and uneasy about leaving my baby at home alone with her for so many hours over so many days.  I did speak to my boss about it and she said I could work from home if i wanted.  Problem was, we had 2 new interns coming to join us this week, so i had to do some presentations to them today and tomorrow.  Plus, i have some meetings lined up tomorrow and Friday, which leaves me only Wed and Thursday to work from home.  I am supposed to be one of the intern's buddy, so part of me also feel bad that i just leave her alone after 2 days if i work from home.  Then again, my baby is more important!

Dad and Mom came over today and we had dinner together.  My stroke-stricken Dad offered to come over every day to spot check on C and play with Bria, but i told him not to.  C asked my Dad why I didn't inform her about his visit.  I hope she don't feel that I don't trust her.! Actually, I do trust her.  It's just that i feel bad leaving Bria alone without her mummy and daddy for so many days.  It's like I am not a good mummy. Usually, Bria sees K in the daytime when he works from home, and then she sees both of us in the evening when i come back from work.

But now, Bria won't be seeing either of us in the daytime for one whole week... Poor baby.  Hopefully I can schedule all my meetings so i can work from home on Wed and Thur.

Over dinner, Mom commented on how I can be so assured about leaving Bria at home alone with C.  Having heard too many horror "maid stories", i can't blame her for being so paranoia.  Yet at the same time, I felt so irritated.  I asked her what other suggestions she had and she kept quiet.  Sometimes, I feel so bitter about why my parents and in-laws are not willing to help take care of their grandchild.  They only know how to nag at us and ask for grandchildren.  But they are not willing to retire and take care of the baby when she's born.  I won't be surprised if they start asking for another one soon.  Then the big question is: Who is going to take care?  Are they expecting me to quit my job?  Or get another helper?  And if i get another helper, will everybody feel comfortable leaving the baby alone with the helper?

I am not sure if I should be thankful that I don't have relatives taking care of my baby.  At least with C, I can have my own way of raising and educating Bria.  None of all those nonsense where I get unhappy with the way the old folks bring up my daughter etc. etc.  Plus, I get to make sure she is only exposed to proper English.  Well, i guess there's always two sides to a coin eh?

Posted in ,

Garden Festival weekend

12:07 AM by Adeline Woo 0 comments
I brought Bria to the Singapore Garden Festival 2 weekends ago.  Brought my grandma along too.  My uncle and cousins came along as well.  I try to bring Grandma out more often these days, cause she likes to be outdoors.  Poor old lady is stuck at home every day, don't even get to go downstairs now because of some silly excuses that my uncle gave.  Her helper, being the "not so nice" kind, also keep complaining that her back hurts every time she needs to hurl my grandma in and out of her wheel chair.  Which is supposed to make me feel bad and bring my grandma out less, but I'm not going to let this affect spending some quality time with my grandma.

Anyway, I could see that Grandma enjoyed herself at the garden festival.  She loves flowers, so that must have been a feast to her eyes.  Plus, she talked quite a lot during the trip - another rarity.  She even pluck off some flowers from the exhibits despite my warnings not to!  Naughty grandma. = )

Last weekend, when i brought Bria to my grandma's house, she actually called Bria by her name!  And she smiled when she called Bria.  I was so happy.  Even my sister was surprised.  I think the trip to the garden festival really cheered her up.  I should bring her out more often together with my sister and uncle.  The more the merrier.  With me bringing Bria along for all these outings, I would definitely need all the help I can get to take care of my grandma!

Posted in

Fantastic Friday

I had a fantastic Friday last week.  After 2 weeks of slogging for the P&B, my team and I got our well deserved break.  Actually, my team slogged much more than me, having stayed up till 2 to 3am every day for the last 2 weeks.  Poor things! I am very lucky though, only need to handle the planning for headcount.  I am blessed that my boss is understanding, so she did not involve me fully in the P&B cycle.  Otherwise I will die!

Back to my fantastic Friday.  My team and I had half the day off to go for our team building event.  We had a mini birthday celebration for one of my colleagues.  The cake was from my boss's sister's shop - green tea with crunchy chocolate bits inside.  It was sooo delicious!  Thinking of getting it for K's birthday next month.. = )

After the mini birthday celebration, we headed to the Japanese Club for some supposedly good quality Jap food. One of my colleagues is a member so he brought us all in.  The special of the month was unagi, so everyone ordered the unagi set lunch.  Not such a big fan of eel, i decided to order ala carte.  So i got myself a teriyaki cod fish, edamame and chawamushi.  When my cod fish arrived, everyone (including myself) was surprised.  The $28 cod fish that i saw on the menu was only 2 miserable pieces of cod.  I thought it was a main dish size, but turns out it's more like an appetizer.  My colleagues thought I was on a diet or something.  I came up with some excuse that i don't want to eat too much before our massage, which was the next thing on our itinerary.  The most embarrassing part was, after eating everything i ordered, i was still feeling hungry.  So i ordered one more California roll.  Haha.. Don't think the food there is super good leh, but it sure is expensive!

The highlight came after lunch.  We headed to Spa Botanica at Sentosa - voted the Best Spa experience in 2009.  And they truly deserve it! I'm not really a spa-goer, but this one is really tops!  Our massage was supposed to start at 430pm, but we arrived more than an hour early to use their complementary facilities.  They have common areas, as well as men and women only facilities.  Me, my boss and another female colleague went to this waterfall pool, where we stand beneath the waterfall and just let the strong pressure of the water massage our backs.  They even have these floating mattresses for you to lie on and just float around on the water.  
                                                                        Waterfall pool
                                                                       
                                     Mud Pool - The mud is inside the huge beige vase in the middle

We also went for the mud pool, where we spread layers of mud (specially imported from New Zealand) all over our body and then sat there waiting for it to dry.  After that, we went into the locker rooms, and spent about 15 minutes in the warm jaccuzi.  We then went our separate ways for our massage.  Mine was a 1.5 hours tibetian clay and oil massage.  I knew it was gonna be an outdoor massage, but I was pleasantly surprised when my masseur led me to my own private villa for the massage!  Each villa was surrounded by trees, plants and a small water feature that provided the continuous soothing sound of falling water.  The villa also came with 2 beds and it's own shower facilities.  After the massage, we were treated to a cup of nice Hawaiian tea in a peaceful pavilion beside a koi fish pond. It was such a pampering experience that I don't feel like I was in Singapore at all!

And because I didn't have my handphone with me, I kinda lost track of time.  By the time we were done showering, it was already 630pm.  I had a wedding dinner to go to at 730pm.  My initial plan was to go home and change before heading to the wedding with K, but there was no time to do that.  So i ended up having K bring my clothes, shoes and cosmetics to the hotel so i can change there.  The wedding was at Grand Park City Hall.  Food was not bad, but i didn't like the service.  The banquet started pretty late, so the staff was like rushing through the dishes and clearing them even before we could finish the food! 

That night, K and I reached home around 11pm.. By then, Bria was already asleep.  I didn't see her for the entire day.. felt so sad...

Posted in ,

121st Month..

10:38 PM by Adeline Woo 0 comments
K and I celebrated our 121st month the simple way last Thursday.  

 He picked me up from my office at 530pm, and we bought dinner back home and watched my favorite Taiwanese show "Love".   I seem to be hooked on the show now.  The fact that the show recently switched from "weekends-only" screening to "daily" screening makes it worse for me.   Now I got 2 good reasons to knock off on time and rush home - Bria and the show. = )

Seems like our monthly celebrations are getting more and more simple... I guess having a baby DOES change things!  I find it quite hard these days to just go out  and socialize after work without bringing Bria along.  So much so that i try not to make any appointments with colleagues or friends after work.  Sometimes I am even unwilling to go on a date with Keson! Just like what happened with our 12st month.  I just want to go home after work, play with my baby and watch my show.  I am becoming more and more domestic!

Posted in

Dead cat

I run over a cat during my driving lesson today. LUCKILY (for me, not the cat) , it was already dead when I run over it. My instructor freaked out a bit. He's Malay, and you know how much the Malays like cats. Heng it's just a lesson. Otherwise sure fail one! I can imagine how horrified my test instructor will be if I really run over one of their beloved cats!

Posted in

My little cow is 7 months now!

Little Bria turns 7 months today!  My little cow is growing up so fast!

When I woke up this morning and walked into Bria's room, I saw her right hand hanging out from her cot and moving up and down.  She was quietly playing on her own.  SOOOO CUTE!!  And as usual, when i crept up to her and said "Good Morning Bria!", she gave me her heart-melting smile and started kicking excitedly..  I think Bria will be a very good swimmer.  Cause she can REALLY kick!  I am actually planning to buy a swimming float for her.  But all the ones suitable for babies are quite expensive.  Will be going to Desaru end of this month with my in laws.. hopefully I can find one by then.

I take photos of Bria on every 12th of the month, cause I have this photo frame where I can put photos of my baby month by month.  So here are the shots I took of her this morning after she had her breakfast.  My baby is SOOOO pretty!  *heart melt..  But still cannot really see who she looks like...






To celebrate Bria's 7 months, K and I brought C and Bria to the airport - our favorite hangout.   Good food, cheap prices and air con. Triple combo leh!  We had dinner at the food court and hung around for the next hour or so before heading home.  Now Bria is fast asleep on my bed, and K doesn't have space on the bed to sleep.. haha..  I think Bria likes to sleep on our bed cause she can smell Daddy and Mummy.  She hasn't really been sleeping well in her own cot and sarong these days.  Problem is, K doesn't approve of her sleeping on our bed because he is worried we might squash her while we sleep.. For me, I just want to do everything for her to sleep through the night... Sigh.. don't know how to reach a compromise on this one!

A lot has happened over the past month since i last blogged.  K and I celebrated our 10th year anniversary in Phuket, staying in a nice 2 bedroom villa at Marriott.  For Free.  In exchange for a 2 hour sales talk persuading us to sign up for their Marriott Vacation club.  Of course we said no, and went on to enjoy our holiday...  We went shopping, ate plenty of phad thai and pineapple fried rice, watched a movie, do massage and went for some activity classes organized by the club like towel folding and aqua fit class.  It was nice.  Like a second honeymoon... = )  Going for our third honeymoon in September.. this time to Shanghai and Tokyo!! Can't wait!

We also had a few more exciting weekends as a family over the past month.  Last weekend, Bria went for 2 parties.  One was Hikaru's 2 year birthday party, and the other was baby Khloe's full month party.  Supposed to go for another 1 year old party, but birthday girl fell sick and mommy had to cancel..  Otherwise I would have to rush to 3 different parties on the same day!  

And being the ever shopaholic me, I used these parties as an excuse to buy more clothes for my baby.. Bought two Pumpkin Patch dresses - one pink and one yellow. Wore the pink one to the parties and my dad's place in the evening...  It's a bit too long for her, but she looks sooo pretty in it! = )



And wore the yellow one on Sunday when we brought her to the Red Dot museum and dinner with my in laws..





Last weekend, K and I brought Bria to Marina Barrage for some kite flying with my sis and my uncle's family.  It was an impromptu thing, but I totally enjoyed myself.  The weather was good, we had good food, and great company.  And I think the kids had fun too.  There were even clowns there to entertain us.  And I had my fair share of kite flying.  Bria had so much fun running around with me, and looking at all the beautiful kites that she fell asleep of exhaustion! haha..

All the kites flying against the backdrop of Marina Bay Sands..



The girls posing for a photo with Mr Clown...




My favorite photo with Bria so far..



Next weekend's gonna be another exciting one.. Bria and I are bringing my grandma to the annual Singapore Garden Festival at Suntec!  Can't wait!  For now, another 4 more days of work... Jia you!

Posted in

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)