The Unbalanced Libra..

My in laws came over for dinner yesterday.  K and C prepared baked pasta with minced pork, mushrooms, tomato sauce and lotsa cheese.. We also had grilled salmon and mushroom soup.. Yummy..

                                                  Baked pasta and grilled salmon

We had a long discussion on finances, talking about what stocks to buy, and also went through the whole list of houses we have viewed so far.. The pressure is on for us to get a house quickly cause property prices are going north and doesn't show any signs of stopping!  Can't wait to move into a nice new house with Bria! = )

1. Both K and I were so tired and didn't really have enough rest.  Had a late night on Friday after the 14 hour drive.  Saturday was the only day we had to do stuff.  Wanted to do massage and go shopping, but ended up buying lots of food back to the hotel to eat, then sleep. Left Penang on Sunday morning for a 12 hour drive back to Singapore.
2. Weather wasn't too kind.  It rained on both Saturday and Sunday when we were there.
3. I missed Bria terribly for the whole weekend.  By the time i reached Singapore on Sunday at 830pm, she was already asleep so I was SUPER disappointed that i didn't get to play with her or hold her...    What made it worse was that I would be returning to work the next day so Sunday night was kinda like the "last chance" to really play with her before i go back to work for good..   = ( 

I don't think i will want to do such a long drive anymore.  At least not without Bria..


One of the many shots taken during our 14 hour drive to Penang


















Purple color chilli padies!















 Lunch break




Penang fried hokkien prawn mee


One of the MANY plates of Penang Char Kueh Teow we had

K's Penang Asam Laksa















My absolute favorite, only-found-in-Penang Banana Apom!!




 Birthday celebration for our president!












Huge ass turtle float selling for RM90 at the night market.  I wanted it so badly!!

C and I have been experimenting with dishes recently. 2 days ago, we made laksa for lunch, and i brought some over for Dad.  He loved it. = )

K and I met up with Kel and Carol last Sunday for lunch at Cafe Hacienda in Dempsey Road.  I had the most delicious Miso Cod Fish burger ever.. Even the fries which they served as a side was super nice..

I would highly recommend the burger.. it's heavenly.

Kel and Carol brought their son Travis along.. He is so cute!  And super active.  Keep wanting to walk around.  I told Carol Bria keeps wanting people to carry her so it's really tiring.. She told me to enjoy the moments now cause she won't want to be carried once she learns how to walk.  then i will miss carrying her. Hmmm.. so true hoh.. = )

I had another interesting weekend.

On Saturday, i went to Sentosa with K and my father in law for his company's family day.

Last year, we also went to Sentosa, and got free admission to the underwater world.  But this year, there was no free admission to anything.  Guess everyone's cutting costs these days!

It was quite boring cause everybody just basically hang around the tentage area waiting for the free lunch and the lucky draw.  There was tug of war, and this item on the agenda called "Dunk the bosses" which i had fun watching.  They basically set up this inflatable tub and fill it up with water, then have the boss sit above the tub with a lever attached to his seat.  This lever has a round red metal plate at the end, and for $10, you get 3 balls to throw and try and hit the red plate so the boss falls into the water.  All proceeds go to charity. I had a good laugh watching this guy fall into the tub several times in a row. Most of the time, kids get to throw, and if they miss the first 2 times, the MC will move them so close to the red plate that it was a 100% hit.  But if they still miss the third time, somebody will still push the plate manually and dunk the boss. haha.. =)  It's kinda good to know there are so many sporting bosses around (think they had 5 or 6 to take turns) who are willing to do this for charity.. = )


After a while, K and I got bored, so we left and drove around the island while my father in law chatted with his colleagues and waited for the lucky draw.  We went to the Merlion, took some pictures, drove past the upcoming Resorts World and Universal Studio sites, and back.  We waited nearly 2 hours for the whole thing to be over.. K and I won't usually stick around for lucky draws, but my in laws have a reputation of always winning something at lucky draws so we stuck around.  And sure enough, my father in law got the 6th prize - $150 Tangs voucher. = )  It's really freaky how they ALWAYS win something at lucky draws!

After the carnival, we headed to the new Mazda showroom at Alexandra to check out the new MX-5 NC model.  I still prefer our current model = )

By the time we got back home at 2pm, i was hungry and exhausted (as usual).  K brought me out for dinner at "Out of the Pan" at Raffles City in the evening.  We ordered the Xmas set, which included 2 ham and cheese and mushroom crepes, 2 fruity drinks, and dessert - some creme brulee with ice cream and crepe.  Nothing fantastic for the price we paid!



On Sunday, we met up with some folks from the MX-5 club for Kueh Chup lunch at Ang Moh Kio.. There's a coffee shop there that sells one of the best Kueh Chup i've tasted.. = ) 

There were 6 couples there, and we waited for nearly an hour for everyone to arrive before we could order.  By then i was starving.. There was plenty of the usual chit chatting about cars and my pending delivery, and the upcoming Christmas party on the 20th Dec.  They said if i go into labor during the party, the whole convoy of more than 20 MX-5s will drive me to Thomson!  haha, now THAT would be cool ! = )

K and I stayed home for the rest of the day.  My helper made dinner, we watched 2 shows on www.pipi.cn, and turned in for the night.  What a weekend!

B and  J came over to my place for dinner and Mahjong yesterday.  Seemed liked ages since i had a "party" and some noise over at my house, so it was really nice.  I (or rather my helper) made dinner and i think B enjoyed his dinner a lot.. = )  First time i've prepared home cooked Chinese dinner for 2 good friends.

We had fresh pears over Mahjong, chatted and laughed..  Although i lost again in Mahjong (think my preggers luck is running out), i'm still pretty happy for the company.. Will try and arrange another session this weekend.

My helper is getting rather good at cooking these days. She even made Sushi for lunch 2 days ago!  Didn't know i am such a good cooking teacher.. haha !  I guess supervising someone and cooking the dishes myself makes a whole lot of difference!  = )

I had another exciting weekend.  On Saturday, K and I went car testing and shopping again.. I saw this interesting car at one of the dealer showrooms and thought i should put it on my blog cause it's just so cool.. Even the insides of the car are decked out in leather design that's so "LV" inspired.. I can't help but wonder what kind of person the owner is.. = )


On Sunday morning, the 4 of us (K, B, J and me) left for JB around 730am for my favourite bak kut teh.. This time round, i had my fill cause there were less people, and i could order what i wanted.. We even bought our own you tiao cause the one that they served isn't as fresh. = )  After breakfast, the 4 of us went shopping at GIANT.  K and I bought plenty of fruits: Watermelon, coconut, jackfruits and grapes!  We wanted to buy some Vitagen too, cause it's much cheaper there, but to my surprise, Vitagen was completely out of stock.  On the shelves instead were all the Yakults, and a little booth with a sales promoter promoting Yakult.. Hmmm.. stupid Yakult must have bribed GIANT to carry only their drinks and force my Vitagen out of shelf space!

2 days ago, K and I moved into one of the studio apartments at The Sail.  K suggested this, cause the apartment was supposed to be vacant all the way until 14 Oct.  That got me really excited, cause it means i can go to the aqua gym everyday!  I even asked some friends and my sister to come over to swim.

Then yesterday morning, K got a call from a customer who had arranged for someone to move into the apartment the next morning.  So we had to pack up the 2 week's supply we had just unpacked the day before, and move out.. So stupid right!  And i haven't even started to use the pool yet. There goes my plans!

Anyway, I met up with a Japanese customer yesterday for lunch.. finally after trying to "date" him out for the past 2 weeks!  He had suggested a quaint Japanese restaurant in Tanjong Pagar area, and we ordered so much food for the 2 of us.  I did the ordering at first, but somehow, when the dishes came, i saw some items that i did not order, cause my customer had spoken to the waiter in Japanese and ordered these additional items.  One of which was grilled puffer fish.. When i saw the dish, i was thinking: "Wah lau, he very smart hoh, go and order this dish super expensive one leh!"  I was a bit reluctant to try it at first, cause i heard that puffer fish is poisonous if not prepared properly, but for some reason, i tried one, and liked it so much i had more. It actually tasted like bah kwa!

In the end, my customer paid for the meal.  haha.. i had no choice, cause he was sitting just beside the door and he went out to get the bill quite quickly.  We were in this private room where we had to sit on the floor (Japanese style), so clumsy pregnant me could not stand up fast enough to fight for the bill with him.. So i just  let him pay loh.. haha..  The meal must have been really expensive!

In the evening, i met up with Corey for dinner at Tampines Mall.  We had a 2 hour dinner at Din Tai Feng, chatting over mainly pregnancy and motherhood.  It was the first time we met up since i left for New Zealand, and she got a shock when she first saw my bulging tummy.. = ) Being a mother herself, we had plenty to catch up on.. = )

When i got home, i told K about the puffer fish, and he got quite upset.. until now i still feel guilty and i have been apologizing to baby since.  Really hope she's okay and not affected by my selfishness and recklessness.. 

I had a sales meeting with Knight Frank on Monday morning to see if we could provide our creative design and advertising services to them.  Nowadays, i have been making cold calls to companies for this advertising and design company that C started, and  which K and I have a vested interest in.. In return, if a sale comes out from the company that i called, i get a commission.  It's actually quite fun, talking to strangers everyday, plus i also see it as letting Bria listen to my voice everyday so she can recognize my voice more easily when she is born.

C and I were thrilled when the lady we met at Knight Frank asked us to pitch for the design of their internal magazine.  Hopefully we will get the deal. = )

After the meeting, I basically spent the rest of the day in Novena.  K and I went to Thomson to see Dr Lim.  During my last check up, Dr. Lim had taken some samples from down under for a GBS test.  I called back on Friday to check the test results and found that i had bacteria / yeast infection.  So had to go down to collect medication and get the test report.  As usual, even though i called, and was told i don't need to take queue number, i still had to wait for almost 45 minutes before i got to see Dr. Lim.  He told me that i should avoid sugary foods (for the 3rd time! haha), and that it is quite common so not to worry..  Sigh.. looks like i REALLY must avoid all the sweet stuff that i have been craving for.. I just bought a whole tub of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream! = (

By the time we left the clinic, it was already  4plus.  K dropped me off at Novena Square after Thomson, cause i had a focus group discussion in Novena at 630pm.  So i ended up shopping there, and bought more clothes and a pair of new shoes from Charles & Keith. = )

The focus group discussion was conducted by AC Nielson, and i actually met my NUS friend from Marketing there.  What a coincidence.  There was free Nasi Lemak provided, and it actually tasted quite good! The focus group discussion took about 2 hours, and it topic was about e-government services and government websites.  I think among the group of 7 people, i spoke the most during the discussion.  After the whole thing, 2 mothers who were in the group actually commented that i seem to enjoy my pregnancy very much... = )

K came to fetch me after my focus group, and we headed home for more episodes of "24" at night.. = )

I've been craving for my JB Bak Kut Teh since i came back from New Zealand about a month ago.. There is this particular shop that sells really delicious bak kut teh, and K and I used to go there a lot when we were doing our wedding photos..  The Singapore version of bak kut teh is usually where the soup is clear-based and really peppery.  but the ones in Malaysia (which i prefer) are usually brown based soup with herbs.. Until now i still can't find a place in Singapore that sells really nice herbal bak kut teh.

So on Sunday, K and I went into JB and had bak kut teh for breakfast.  The initial plan was to go with my in laws only.  But in the end, K's sister, grandmother and auntie came along too..haha.. I felt like a big shot, because of my craving so many people go JB so early in the morning.. = )  The downside was, i didn't have my fill of the food.. cause too many people sharing, and we didn't order a lot, plus we wanted to go for an early lunch before heading back to Singapore.  So i told K my craving still not 100% satisfied.. =P

After breakfast, we headed to Giant for some grocery shopping, then had lunch at this Korean restaurant before driving back to Singapore.  K and I spent the rest of the day in Singapore viewing properties with my in laws..

For dinner, we had the balance preserved vegetables and beancurd soup that K cooked the day before, grilled teriyaki salmon, and otah otah with  brown rice.. And we watched "24" while eating.. in fact, we've been addicted to the show since K finished downloading the latest season!

I met up with J today in the late afternoon at Clarke Quay.  We went to Central Mall and caught up with each other over some Japanese desserts. J had a soft sundae with banana slices, while I had a parfait with fresh fruits and 3 scoops of ice cream. We chatted for nearly an hour and told each other so many stories it was as if we haven't met each other in years.. = )



This morning, the Singtel technican came and install our MIO Home for us.  So now we have videos on demand on our TV!  K and I watched "Confessions of A Shoppaholic" at night.  We still have a few more movies to clear before the end of this month when Singtel refreshes the movies..  Then again, most of the movies are really old ones, like "Jumanji" and "Edward's Scissorhands"... super super ancient loh!  Sigh, that's what you get for free, if we want the latest blockbusters, there is a monthly fee to pay. Oh well!

What better way to celebrate Hari Raya than in Malaysia right? K and I spent the long weekend in Melaka with my in-laws eating, playing mahjong, sleeping and shopping.  These were literally the only 4 things we did during our 3 day 2 night stay there.  In fact, baby and I were spoilt rotten during the trip, with my mom in law (MIL) constantly asking me what i want to eat, and ordering all kinds of nice and nutritious dishes for me.  Of course, there was the occasional unhealthy yet delicious meal, usually during supper time..

I found a delicious wan tan noodle stall, had the best fried you tiao, and also ate the well known nonya dishes and chendol that Melaka is famous for.  My MIL had rented a 2 bedroom serviced apartment near the city.  It was a decent apartment, albeit very old and run down. More like a really old HDB flat.  Everyday, we passed our time by eating out, playing mahjong in the apartment, taking naps and then a little bit of shopping.  I didn't really buy much though, cause the things there are either really ugly, or expensive.  In the end, i just bought some pineapple tarts and tau sar peah for my family.


I knew Hari Raya was gonna be a big thing in Malaysia, but i had no idea HOW big it was gonna be.  There was fireworks almost every night.  Not the big scale spectacular ones, but just the normal types.  In fact, it was quite dis-tastely done with no choreography at all.. During the first night, while playing mahjong, we actually saw fireworks display in 3 different locations all at the same time, all viewable from our apartment balcony.  Incidentally, there was lightning during the fireworks display, and i managed to catch a glimpse of several flashes of lightning lighting up the night sky with the fireworks in the background.  The image is just too magnificent for words.. = )

Then there were the prayer sessions at the mosques.. From our apartment, we could hear the praying being broadcast over the microphone / PA system from the mosque from as early as 6am in the morning.  For 3 days without fail..  That kind of became my alarm clock, although i still manage to fall back to sleep every time after that..

On the last day, we checked out and actually drove towards JB for about 45 mins before we realized all our passports were still in the apartment. My MIL had hidden the passports on top of the cupboard, thinking that was a good place to hide them since there was no safe box. She even instructed us to remind her to take them before we check out.  But no surprise, nobody remembered.. SO.. we had to drive all the way back again. haha..

And on our way back, we had one last bowl of chendol, and even aligned the car wheels.   The whole wheel alignment set us back by nearly hours. The stupid man told us it will only take 20 mins.. The first thing he did was take out all 4 of our wheels, so we had no choice but to wait.  The whole thing ended up taking 1.5 hours.  By the time we reached JB, it was already 830pm.  We had planned to have my favourite Bak Kut Teh in JB for tea.  But we didn't even managed to have it for dinner  cause by the time we arrived, the restaurant was closed already.  Sigh.. so sad.. I have been craving for this Bak Kut Teh since i came back from New Zealand.. = (

Tuesday was my shopping and eating day..

I went mystery shopping for Nokia in the morning.  A friend from the MX5 club who works part time for market research companies gave me this lobang.  So I spent 3 hours walking around 2 Nokia shops in Suntec and Parkway Parade with a hidden camera inside my hand bag.  I felt like a spy.. haha.. = )  But it was quite fun.  After the whole mystery shopping, i had to go back to the market research company office to view the video i had recorded, and discuss the "findings"..  It was only after that that i could walk away with my $200..

In the evening, K and I met up with F and B to celebrate F's birthday.. We had buffet dinner at Pan Pacific.  Food was very well presented and everything looked really really good.. but it's all surface.  Taste-wise.. average only..  We were all quite disappointed cause the food had really looked promising.  B arranged for a slice of birthday cake for F, and when the staff came in singing, they thought i was the birthday girl.. haha.. Dessert was the best i felt.. with lotsa nice cakes and sweets.  B brought the chocolate ice cream with fudge for me, but accidentally dropped the spoon on the table, so the whole spoon, which had fudge on it, went spinning, and a few drops flew onto my top and both me and F's bags.. haha.. = )

The 4 of us chatted and ate until we were the last customers in the restaurant and about 3-4 wait staff were standing directly beside our table and staring at our empty plates, like they will attack it and ready to clear them all once we stand up.. Even after we had no choice but to leave, the 4 of us still hung around at the hotel, sitting at one of their sofas and chatting until nearly 11pm before we left.

What a night!

I was woken up at 7am on Saturday by my calender alarm, which read "Batam trip with MX5 club"... By then, i was feeling much better, so i woke K up and told him i wanted to go to Batam if it was still possible.  K jumped up and (almost) immediately called up the tour agency to make arrangements. Within the next 30 mins, we packed our stuff, had some bread, and was off to the train station heading toward HarbourFront ferry terminal.. = )

Poor Gary had to run around like a headless chicken to settle all the ticketing and admin stuff due to our last minute decision.  I felt so bad (yet happy at the same time) when we finally met up with the group at HarbourFront center.  But everything was not smooth sailing though..  We run into some problems at the check in area, cause our passport numbers on the ferry ticket and passport did not tally.  This whole different passport numbers for new passports thingie is really pissing me off.  I had the same problem when we arrived in New Zealand!  After all the hassle, the 11 of us finally reached Batam island at 920am.  We actually did not lose any time at all, cause Batam is one hour behind Singapore, so we left Singapore at 920am, and reached Batam at 920am. = )

We had signed up for a tour package, which included a city tour, so for the first day, we went on the city tour.  Our tour guide was an Indonesian Chinese guy who can really talk cok.  We spent the entire day shopping, going for massages and pedicures, and eating seafood.  I bought myself a loose blouse and stretch jeans pants, did my first pedicure with nail art, and had curly fries at A&W, which is totally extinct now in Singapore!  I was SOO craving for their coney dog and waffles, but the cashier told us they were both out of stock.  What bad luck!

The tour guide also brought us to some touristy places, like this shop that supposedly sells genuine Polo Ralph Lauren clothes at much cheaper prices compared to Singapore, their local Chinatown, two dry local products shop, the biggest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia (which was pretty crappy), and the home of this lady who bakes kueh lapis (we bought one from her).  We also had seafood lunch at this "933 Golden Prawn Batam" restaurant.  Food was average, nothing fantastic.  I couldn't really eat much seafood so i ended up eating mostly fish and vegetables with plain rice. Our tour ended in the early evening, so we had dinner by ourselves.  One of the guys had a colleague to drive us around, so we went for dinner at this seafood hawker center, where they had this Chinese lady in skimpy clothes performing live songs on stage.  We only got to check in and "enjoy" our bedrooms at 11pm that day.