The Unbalanced Libra..

While packing for K's trip last week, I came across 3 packs of unbranded condoms.  When questioned, K told me it was standard issue by the SAF to all the men.  Now why the hell would they need condoms if they are supposed to be on re-service and doing training in the jungle etc?

K said it's mainly for the 1 day R&R that they will have.  And that it was the SAF's way to "protect" their men cause it's like their responsibility.

I have absolutely NO doubt that K will not use the condoms, but I am just uncomfortable that there is this practice going on with the SAF.  To me, these are all grown up men.  If they really want to have sex with strangers in a foreign land, can't they buy their own bloody condoms?  Still must babysit them and issue condoms to them? Won't that be a form of "encouragement" instead? Plus, they issue the condoms to ALL men.  Why can't they issue only to single men and not to the married men?  I am sure they have the full bio data of each and every Singaporean man in the army to categorize them as married or single.  Anyway, i just don't think the SAF is sending the right messages by issuing condoms to married men as well.  

I hate the SAF.  First they issue condoms to my husband.  Then they take him away from me and my baby for 2 weeks.  Arggghhh..

K left for his 2 week re-service last night.  His first call up and he's being sent to Thailand.  For 2 freakin weeks!  I miss him already..  Can't believe he's not going to be with me and Bria for  2 weekends, including the Hari Raya public holiday long weekend.  I hate SAF.

I took leave yesterday to spend time with K, but we both ended up busying ourselves with our work.  And booking our flight tickets to Osaka for my birthday.  We went to the NATAS fair last weekend, but couldn't find any decent deals.  Wanted to book a trip to Europe, but either the dates were not suitable, or the itinerary always seem to include Rome and Paris, both of which I've been to so didn't want to go again.  So in the end, we left empty handed and decided to book ourselves instead of going through the travel agencies.  So it's gonna be Japan for my birthday, and either USA or Europe for our year end trip.  I am doing research on Osaka now, can't seem to find much exciting things to do there leh.. compared to Tokyo.  Probably should have chosen Tokyo.. sigh..

Bria slept with me last night after K flew off.. She slept much sounder than in her own cot.  Slept at 9pm and woke up only at 6am. Will try again tonight to see if it's the same.  Hopefully, after 2 weeks of sleeping with me, she will be well trained to sleep through the night!

Poor baby and mummy, won't see daddy for 15 days.. sob sob... = (

A big carton box addressed to K arrived today.  At first, I thought it was some of K's Moleskine notebooks coming from his office in Hong Kong.  On closer inspection, i noticed that the box wasn't from FEDEX, but from vpost.   I knew K bought a bag for me from vpost USA, so i opened the box.  I was expecting one bag, but I got 3!!  One work bag, one casual bag and one baby bag... I was so happy I woke C up to share my joy with her. = )

I think K must have felt guilty so he bought me 3 bags.  Few weeks ago, we had a tiff that had me in tears.  On hindsight, it was kind of stupid.  Anyway, to summarize, I was upset that he was spending so much money on his other wife i.e. the MX5.  Whilst I had to wait so long for him to buy me a bag.  

You see, I had been asking for a bag for the longest time, as my "reward" for going through labor and boring him a baby.  One of my friends' husband bought her a really expensive watch when she gave birth to their son.  Her husband said it was a gift to her for giving him a baby.  I know I shouldn't compare with other people so much, but I can't help it.  Plus it's so sweet I want my own husband to do it!  But K didn't buy me any big gift despite the many hints i dropped about wanting a new bag / watch.  He did ask me to go to vpost and choose the bag I wanted.  Which i did.  But he never followed up after that, so I was quite pissed that he wasn't sincere about it at all.  I might as well just use my own credit card and pay for the damn bag.  

I can't remember what triggered the quarreling, but I just broke down halfway cause I felt so hurt that he never bother to make the effort to go and find / buy me something for the past 8 months since Bria was born.  But when it comes to spending money on his car, he is so enthusiastic about it.  K kept apologizing and went online immediately to shop for my bag, but I kept telling him it's too late already, that there is no meaning even if he get me a gift now.  The present was supposed to be given when Bria was born, not 8 months after!  To me, if i have to go through all this trouble just for him to buy me a gift, then it's kinda pointless already right?!

Anyway, about a week after that, we went shopping at Orchard, and i bought 2 cheap (about $30) but nice handbags.  And now i have 3 more new bags.  I think i got too many bags now.. haha..  = )

Last Tuesday was K's 29th birthday.  For some reason, K didn't really want to celebrate this year.  He seemed quite depressed that he's getting older but haven't really achieved much in life.  Sigh..

So this year, we kept it simple.  On sunday night, the usual gang gathered for dinner at Tian Tian chicken rice in Joo Chiat.  Everone was quite surprised at this arrangement cause we usually would go to a nice restaurant or buffet place to celebrate, and there will usually be a cake.

I took 2 days leave on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, I took Bria and C shopping for K's present.  My plan was to buy K a watch, an ipad and a crumpler bag to put the ipad in.  K has been targeting all 3items for some time already, but refused to buy them.  The plan was to go to Funan and get the ipad cause there were quite a number of retailers carrying it.  But alas, i spent nearly 2 hours in Funan looking for the ipad, cause all the stores were sold out!  Eventually, i resorted to sitting at Macdonald's for half an hour and calling all the retailers in the north, central and east of Singapore.  But all were sold out.  Except for one reseller in Lucky Plaza. But that stupid reseller is selling at $250 more.  The problem was, I was running out of time.  So the next thing i knew, i was on a cab to Lucky Plaza.  It was raining heavily at that time, and C and I had to wrap Bria with her spare clothes to avoid the rain cause there was no shelter between Funan and the taxi stand.  Plus, there were no cabs cause it was like 5 minutes to the peak surcharge timing. 

When we finally alighted at the Lucky Plaza taxi stand, it was almost 530pm.  I went to the reseller shop, paid for the ipad in cash, and headed to wheelock place next to buy the crumpler bag.  The people at the crumpler shop were all so friendly and played with Bria while I settled the payment.

We took the train home after that, me all exhausted from the day's work.  I hid all the presents underneath C's bed.  At midnight, I played hide and seek with K and asked him to go and find his present, which i had hidden in his wardrobe. I think this year's birthday present is one of the best I have given to him.. haha.. he was so happy.. = )

The next day, which was K's birthday, we spent the whole day in town shopping, and also for K to replenish his Moleskine notebooks at his customers' shops. We had Japanese buffet for lunch at Heeren, shopped around a bit, before heading off to Bukit Timah to collect his birthday cake.  This year, I bought a customized birthday cake for K from my boss's sister, who is into baking.  It was a one of a kind Almond Earl Grey tea cake.  Basically, i told the lady that K likes almonds and nuts.  She suggested almond green tea and almond cheesecake.  But K didn't really like cheesecake, and he preferred earl grey to any other tea.  So viola, we had a winner - earl grey almond cake.  So special right??  And he loved it!

We had dinner at home while watching "Love", and then had our cosy little birthday celebration as a family with the cake and candles.  I think Bria enjoyed her first birthday celebration with Daddy too!

I took my first final theory test on Monday night.  And I passed!  Was so worried the whole weekend because of this.  Firstly, K told me that the final theory wasn't as easy as the basic theory, and quoted a few friends who took the test several times before passing.  Secondly, I had absolutely no time to study for it at all. I took 3 separate days to flip through the final theory book part by part over the weekend. In fact, i was still reading through the last few pages in the car when K drove me to the center!

I was so sure I wouldn't pass the test, that I told K and C that if i passed, I am very smart.  Haha!  Who knows, the test was so easy leh!  I had 50 minutes to complete the test, but I finished it within 10 minutes.  I AM smart!! hee hee..  Now i only have the stupid practical test to pass and I will officially be a licensed driver! 

Bria turned 8 months yesterday. = )

In the morning, C and I brought her to the wet market to buy some vegetables and carrots for her meals.   She was so well behaved yesterday, not like the screaming and crying baby for the past few days.  It's like she knows she's a big girl now!

During lunch, I met my uncle at Katong shopping center for some maid shopping.  My grandma's current Indonesian maid is asking to go home earlier than her October contract date, so that she can celebrate hari raya with her family.  Problem is there are no new Indonesian maids available cause all want to come to Singapore after their fasting.  Anyway, we saw a transfer Indo maid that we liked at Jack Focus agency.  But the people there are so rude.  It's as if they don't care if they get our business or not.  Cause they got so many celebrity customers already.  I was quite pissed off at their attitude.  Anyway, by the time we shopped around and went back to Jack Focus, the maid was already taken by someone else.

Went back home to pack lunch and continued working.  Knocked off at 530 exactly, and took C and Bria downstairs to do my pedicure.  The last pedicure i had in Phuket was already 90% peeled off.  Plus, i recently found this newly opened pedicure place inside a hair salon that's super cheap.  Express pedi only $10.  And nail art $2 each.  I got so friendly with the girl she even added in a small crystal in my nail art, and painted all  my other toenails with sprinkles.  The best thing is, it's just below my house!  Bria was such a good girl.  She just sat there quietly throughout the whole session, watching the girl do my nails, looking around her surroundings, and playing by herself. 

At night, I watched my favourite Taiwanese drama, had dinner, put Bria to sleep, before heading for my driving lesson. It's been one month since my last lesson, so i forgot a lot of things already.. Think i stalled at least 5 times yesterday.  And most of it was at the traffic lights when the light turned green.  I must have gotten cursed by a lot of drivers yesterday for holding them up!

K is coming back this evening.. Will be bringing Bria and C to the airport to pick him up.  Poor boy, still haven't fully recovered.  Work so hard until fall sick also must go for business trip.   Sigh..

Last weekend, I invited some friends over to our place for a National Day party.   Before K and I went to New Zealand, we actually had one similar party where everyone came dressed in white or red, and we even had a cake in the shape of the flag, and we would sing Happy Birthday too!  But ever since we went to New Zealand, and I had Bria, we didn't celebrate for the past 2 years.

This year, we did not have any cake, but we ordered KFC and Pizza, and played Wii until 2am in the morning.

While chit chatting, one of my friends asked me how is life different as a mom.  That question left me thinking for the past few days.  My reply to my friend was that it's very different, cause as a mom, i have to think for my baby in everything that I do.  No more thinking of myself and being selfish.  Well, it's selfish in a different way.  Selfish not for myself, but for my baby.  Which is true. In fact, sometimes, i think i am so selfish for Bria that I become a bit scary.

Like recently, when K fell sick, the first thing that came to my mind was that he will spread his germs to Bria.  When i think about it, it's quite sad.  It's like baby first, then hubby.  But i can't help it.  I hope K doesn't feel neglected!  I know he loves Bria, but it's very very different, a mother's love and the love of  a father.

I'm also being all paranoid over the whole 7th month thingie, so this whole month, i won't bring Bria outdoors after dusk.  Plus, I'm not going for any after-office events and business dinners now.  Not sure if i will miss out on any opportunities from all the informal networking, but i couldn't care less.  K's birthday is coming in 2 weeks, and I am actually thinking of just celebrating at home, cause i don't want both him and Bria to go out at night.  In case he falls sick again. Good thing is, K also don't want to celebrate this year. He's going for 3 weeks re-service a day after his birthday.  What a bummer!  If I were him, I won't have the mood to celebrate either!

Bria and I are Daddy-less again.. K flew to Jakarta this morning, despite my advice not to.  Firstly, K fell sick 2 days ago.. Really sick, throat infection, flu and cough all come together.  Secondly, it's the 7th month.  Yesterday, we went to see the doctor, and K was already prepared to NOT fly and claim from his travel insurance based on MC.  Then the stupid doctor told us it was okay to fly in his condition.  Sigh...

I will be working from home this entire week.  I actually gave up a business trip to Phuket this week to stay at home.  Didn't really want to leave Bria at home with C without both mummy and daddy!  But I am not sure if it was the right decision to work from home.  It's only Wednesday, and I think I am starting to go crazy.  Bria hasn't been a good girl these 2 days.   She keeps screaming and crying throughout the day.  Always want attention and someone to carry her!  So hard for me to concentrate on my work.   The ridiculously hot weather these days didn't help much either.

I still can't figure out why she is like that.  But I came up with a few possible reasons.  One, she is teething.  Possible cause she is drooling a lot more these days.  Two, she is going through a developmental milestone.  She turns 8 months tomorrow!  Three, she is over excited to see me at home these few days.  And lastly, ridiculous as it might sound, she is being disturbed by the 7th month visitors.  This afternoon, I saw her screaming and then suddenly, she would go quiet and start staring into space for quite a while.

Maybe I am thinking too much.  Oh well, another 2 more days to the weekend! I actually can't wait to go back to the office...

Bria celebrated her first National Day on Monday.  This year, celebrations were held and telecast live in 5 districts in Singapore, and Eunos happened to be one of those districts.  In fact, the celebrations at Eunos was just below my block at the big open field in front of Eunos MRT.  Not wanting to miss out on all the fun, I brought C and Bria to the celebrations.

Both Bria and I wore matching red tops and white bottoms, colors of our flag.  I even pinned a white ribbon on her hair!

There were a lot of people, and a lot of noise, but other than that, it was nothing much of a celebration.  Firstly, I couldn't get a flag for Bria cause i didn't have the coupon for the goodie bag which contained the flag.  So i tried to ask for one from the cheerleaders who seemed to be stationed everywhere.  Nobody could help me, until a kind auntie who sat beside us, and seeing how cute Bria was, gave Bria her flag.  

Secondly, i didn't appear on TV.  The stupid camera men kept focusing on the few MPs who were there whenever the live telecast focused on Eunos.  For the other districts, everytime they were focused, we can see the entire crowd cheering and waving their flags.  But the minute the camera turned to Eunos, it was always the 5 stupid MPs.  Even though we were all cheering and waving like mad in the background.

Thirdly, I did not get to see the fireworks.  In the first place, I didn't even know there was going to be fireworks!  I only heard the fireworks 2 hours after i left the celebrations around 8plus.  At that time, I was waiting below my block for the mobile column to drive past.  Instead of seeing the big battle trucks and canons, I heard fireworks.  Argghhh.. i could have punched myself.  I SOOOO wanted to let Bria see the fireworks.  And, if i had known there was going to be fireworks, i would have brought my grandmother to my place!  I was actually thinking where the hell I can bring my grandma to see fireworks without squeezing with too many people.  And the perfect place was just below my house.  So Stupid!!

And lastly, because of all the loud noise from the celebrations, Bria had nightmares and didn't sleep well that night.  She was totally okay DURING the celebrations, but the fussing kicked in at night.

Oh well, i guess the only good thing that happened was that we got to see the bug tank trucks, and got some free popcorn and tidbits... = )

K and I brought Bria and C to Desaru for the weekend.  Along with my in laws, K's uncle, aunties and grandma, the 10+1 of us drove up in 2 cars.

We set off from K's grandma's house at 8am on Saturday, and headed for breakfast at Woodlands.  Breakfast was Bah Kut Teh and Roti Prata.  The Bah Kut Teh was the herbal type, but i still preferred the one in JB cause it has more ingredients other than just the pork ribs and liver.  The Roti Prata was good though!

After breakfast, we headed into JB.  At the customs, the officer actually asked for C's work permit.  I nearly did not bring the permit, thinking that her passport should be sufficient.  Luckily K asked me to just bring it!  The officer told us that without her work permit, C will not be able to leave the country.  Fortunately for us, there wasn't much of a jam into JB (about half an hour or so), and we managed to drive up to Kota Tinggi for lunch at this Chinese restaurant.

Just when we were about to park in front of the chinese restaurant, our car indicator light came on and hinted us to check our gear box.  Then K said there was something wrong with the gear box, that the gear is not responding.  Our nightmare began.

Actually, K and I were so half hearted to drive our Renault to Desaru, cause water had seeped into our car during the flooding season.  So we were thinking whether to drive my in-laws' car instead.  But based on the fact that our car had a bigger boot space and more space at the back seats, we decided to drive our car instead. 

So... we had lunch at the restaurant, and one of the employees at the restaurant helped us to call in a car technician who brought K to his workshop to assess and repair our car.  My father in law and K's cousin went with him while the rest of us continued to eat and drink at the restaurant.  And as if this wasn't bad enough, Bria pooed and her poo stained the white skirt she was wearing.  There was no facilities in the toilet to change her diapers, so C and I ended up changing Bria on the restaurant stage platform instead.

After lunch, we all squeezed into the other car, drove to meet K at the workshop and load all of Bria's stuff in the other car, before we continued with a 45-min drive to our resort in Desaru.  And because there was literally no more space in the other car for C, and my car was at the workshop, we had to leave C at the restaurant.  K and I were totally not comfortable with the idea of leaving C alone, but my mom in law kept insisting that it was okay cause she already told the restaurant people, and that C could rest there comfortably since the restaurant was air conditioned.  I was so worried that C will be scared, and kept reassuring her that we will come back for her.

My heart wasn't at ease for the entire journey, but I was pretty helpless.  My hp was flat on battery (another boo boo), so i couldn't send K text messages, and with everyone cramped in the car, it was also not convenient for me to borrow another phone and talk to K.  Plus, the car was at the workshop so there were not much options for us.

We ended up spending the rest of the day at the resort, some playing mahjong, some playing with Bria.  I bathed Bria and got myself all wet.  But couldn't change myself cause all my luggage was in our car, which was at the workshop.

In the evening, the ladies brought Bria to the baby pool to try out her new float.  At first, I was so worried that she might be scared of the cold water and tried gradually to ease her into the water.  To my surprise, the minute i put her into the float, not only did she not cry, she started kicking her legs so happily.  My baby is so brave!

We watched and laughed at Bria as she kicked her way from one end of the baby pool to the other end.  So cute!  Words cannot express the joy i felt when i look at her.

The family finally got together for dinner at 8pm at some ulu restaurant 30 mins drive away from our resort. It was over dinner that we realized K actually drove back to Singapore and switch to my in laws' car before heading back to Desaru. Our car couldn't be fixed. It took 15 seconds for the car to accelerate to 40km/h so you can imagine how slowly he drove back to Singapore. No wonder it took half a day for them to meet us! Poor K! He was totally bummed out that night.

Dinner was seafood.. Really cheap and delicious seafood.  We had cray fish, chilli crab, steamed fish, mussels, vegetables and fried noodles.  And each person only paid SG$10.  So cheap right?!

After dinner, we drove another 30 minutes back to the hotel, unloaded the rest of the stuff from my in laws' car and parted for the night.  At night, Bria did not cooperate again, and refused to sleep with me and K on our bed.  She kept crying, and stopped only when i carried her.  I tried this for an hour, before i gave up and let her sleep downstairs on her cot mattress with C.  I was exhausted, and so was K.  Luckily we brought along her cot mattress!  Otherwise, i don't know how to make her sleep!  While K was away last week, I actually trained Bria to sleep with me in my room for 4 nights, partly because i want to train her for this trip.  But it didn't work.  I think Bria likes my bed at home. Other beds won't do.  = )

The second day was more relaxed.  We ha buffet breakfast at the resort.  Totally horrible food.  After that, the family went to the beach for a stroll together.. I brought Bria to the beach and let her "walk" on the sand, and immerse her little feet in the sea water.  She loves it so much!  This girl seems to want to try everything!

After that was mahjong again, and Bria went to the pool again, this time with her daddy, who missed out on her first swim the day before.  K didn't seem as amused at her as I was though, which made me quite disappointed.  We checked out around 2pm, and drove for another 1.5 hours back to JB where we had lunch at Mahanttan Fish Market.  Another lousy meal. Then we went grocery shopping at Jusco, where it was packed with people, long queues and super slow working cashiers.  I nearly went mad looking at the way the cashier worked.  It was as if she was stifling a yawn while processing our purchases, and that huge yawn would come out anytime.  So irritating... 

We left Jusco at 5pm, and headed back home.  Bria slept most of the trip back, but started to get cranky when we got stuck at the traffic jam for nearly 2 hours.  Nonetheless, given the grand scheme of things,Bria is considered a good girl, staying quiet and sleeping for most of the road trip. So proud of her!

By the time we reached home, it was 9pm.  What a exhausting and dramatic trip. The last time i went to Desaru, i was totally turned off by the green color swimming pool at our resort.  This trip wasn't too exciting for me either, with all the drama.  This is definitely the last time I am going to Desaru.