The Original Juice

Miscommunication.

I thought the nurse said my scan would be within this week but she meant she will call me by this week to let me know when's the appointment.

She fixed me up for 18th Nov 08 when i would be at Week 22 all the way in National University Hospital (NUH). Now i hafta wait another 3 weeks to know the baby's gender... *pouts* Which brings me to the title of this entry. Is it gonna be a Boy or a girl? have you heard of any Old wives' tales. Please share just for the fun of it. BUt these are what i've heard so far.


1. Eat Sweet = BOY

It's actually a medical report i read from Yahoo News to say that a research was conducted and concluded that when you eat a lot of sweet stuffs when you're pregnant, you are more likely to get a BOY. The reasoning being BOYS need lots more energy that a girl would. Though there's no guarantee, it is reported that u have a 50-50 chance of getting a boy anyways.

Hmmm im not sure if i eat more sweet than usual. But that's normally the kinda snack u can find in my house. Not many savoury ones .... that last.. (normally i would be wiped out in 1 day!) IN any case, i am sooo OCD that after a sweet snack, i would need a savoury one to balance it up! hahaha I know Nisa you're laughing at me.

2. Eat Meat = GIRL

My pedicurist was making small talk when she saw i was only eating Old Chang Kee or some sandwich, "Looks like u gonna get a boy since u dont feel like eating meat." Thing is i've always been a great Beef-eater. But when i got pregnant... i eat much less beef than i would usually demand for.

3. No Make up = GIRL

This is what Ash relayed to me, "OMG, i think you're carrying a girl bcos normally a pregger who suddenly don the make up everyday will get a boy and a pregger who doesnt wear an inch of powder gets a girl."


Hmmmmmmmmmm

And of course if ur tummy is round like a ball its usually a boy but still too early to tell. My bump still doesnt show much at all!

Tell me what u've heard!

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Now i just remembered that the staff nurse at poly asked me if i felt any kickings yet. I was shocked! I said no... i was only 4.5 months. It was her turn to get shocked, "Not yet? ARe you sure? Maybe u feel like cramps or just...awkward...?" I remembered my friends asking me when i was only 3 months! And they said that it can happen very early in the stage. And here i tot i wont feel till like 6 months!


That set me awondering... Yah i sometimes felt like my abdomen suddenly become heavy pressing downwards.... oh just crampy crampy but i dismissed it as the cervic expanding or something... I still dont know...

After she mentioned that, i kept a lookout for that sensation.... Sometimes i felt like a pulsating something on my tummy for a few secs... but i dismissed that as hmmmm blood rushing thru my veins or just nerves? or maybe just imagination?

Then two nights ago... i think i might have felt something... but i was in the middle of sleep and now im not certain whether it was a dream or otherwise... ok i think im just excited lah.

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I am at odds. I want my bump to show so that i could get a seat in public transport. but that would mean that i can't fit into my blouse/shirt/top! And im totally sick of that feeling ok!!

Now i can't fit into 50% of my work pants. Shalwar kameez are totally out of the range bcos the lastik / elastic band is tooooooo tight. Quite a number of my work shirts are quite slender with no slits at the sides and wearing it is just TORTURING to the eyes with the bump and butt bursting out! EYE SORE!!!

Im only left with dresses / jubah... BUT im very tired of them already ok. I've had them for like almost 10 yrs already i can't stand the sight of them in my wardrobe even.

Pls God I wanna buy some more clothes, pleaseeeeeeeeeee....

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Is it me or is it the 2nd trimester doing it for me but now i just can't handle HOT&Spicy food.

That day we ordered TOm Yam Soup at Al-Ameen as we usually do. But 3 sips were all i had. it was burning my tongue!!! I tried to ask Zubair whether it is unnaturally hotter today or is it normal? I cldnt quite get a straight answer outta him but he cldnt finish it either. *shrugs*

Then u know the KFC's HOt devil drumlets. They come in 2 flavours? I bought the SPicy Thai one and i only ate 1 piece and gave the rest to the man. he gobbled them up alright.

Funny when in 1st trimester, i cldnt eat anything bland. ALL FOOD MUST BE SPICY. but now i cant handle it anymore? What's wrong with me?

During lunch at Marina Sq yesterday, my sandals decided to pop yet again.


This $40+ Bata sandals can only sustain 6 months of daily wear. I might as well just buy a $10 shoe that last just as long right?


Anyway i had 2 sandals with similar design as the above and both only lasted 6 months with the rip at the same place on my right foot! (Refer to Arrow above)



In any case, i used to wear this kinda ballerina shoes to work daily and the edges came off where the arrow starts anyways. My ELLE slip ons with short rubber heels were not spared. Within 6 months the hollow rubber cracked and water could seep thru in the rain. Ergh!


Peculiarly or not so peculiarly it only happened on my right pair! I think i use and stress more of my right leg when i walk and when i stand?


So Anyways, i decided to survey for a new shoes since we were having lunch at Marina Sq. You know... a chance to shop and like that... But there's no Bata nor Metro to be found there. Only Charles & Keith and they are sooooooo not my kinda footwear. So i had to settle for just Crocs. I was telling myself, "Just look if they have new designs. Don't buy if they're not comfortable."


You see... some 2 years ago i bought 1 just prior to my Bangkok trip, Thinking it must be comfy to travel and go for whole day shopping in. I WAS DEAD WRONG! Bcos i bought a size smaller and my toes were squashed in so much so i could barely walk! (I made the mistake of thinking RUBBER could expand when they soooo can not!) I ended up giving it away to Ashley (not her real name of course), my first sis.


When i got there, I went crummy seeing all the new designs. But all not practical for me except for this one. Another ballet inspired shoes. Looks something like prima but with wider mid section and an elastic band. This time i bought a brown one at close to $60.


This time i bought size 7. When i tried it on my right it was a perfect fit. So i went to make payment and said i'd wear it straight away. But my face fell when i slipped on the left pair. Its slightly tight! I straight away asked them if i could return it if i decided the size doesnt fit later on. The manager said, "Cannot bcos u put it on already" Ergh!!


So my colleague and i rushed to try Size 8 before we walked out of the store! But with a size bigger my feet came off lah, Unless i wanna stick tissue at the front, which is ridiculous. So i settled for size 7 since the right one feels alright.


Now im anticipating that i cant wear it for long before my feet hurt. So i told Ash, she could buy it off me at discounted price but that i will try to continue wearing it till my feet get swollen first. Otherwise, i will just slap myself for buying it!

9 out 10 points to Zubair who initiated to go to ICA on Mon ie yesterday to get his Long Term Visit Pass renewed.

Why i didnt suggest this earlier is because on the cover letter when received his green card, it stated as non-renewable but it didnt show anyway on the card. So we tot, we'd take our chances.

He arrived there bright and early at 9:30am. I told him that if there is any problem, just try to get it extended on the basis that the work permit application for him is in the process.

I was anxious to get news. at 11:47am he called me and said, "They say i hafta exit."

I wailed, "Whatttttttttt??? But howwwwwwwww?" In my mind i was thinking, no way m i gonna cough up SGD 1k just for his plane ticket home.

Then he lightened up and said, "I was just kidding lah. They extended my visa for another 2 months while the LTVP is being processed. Paid $30 for it. Shall i come to ur office now?"

I was jumping for joy!!! Alhamdulillah.... That means now his social visit pass is valid till 28th Dec 08. Now we just hafta pray that the work permit application will be processed smoothly.

I felt sheer delight at the prospect of having lunch with Z in town! Although i was dreaming of having INdian Rojak for lunch since morning, i was thinking of having a celebratory lunch with him at Fig & Olive or something. Luckily, he stopped me saying we shldnt spend unnecessarily and stayed firmly at that even when i tried the its-only-once-in-awhile excuse. But in the end, i got my Rojak and he Nasi Briyani.

I tricked him into coming with me to International Plaza (where the train is) to collect my maternity pants and then to the other corner of my office to the convenience store. He grunted when he found out that it meant he had to walk back to my office to collect his file and back again to take the train, "I'm sure you wouldn't do this if you were alone."

To which i replied, "Well... walking alone is no fun... This way we get to spend a bit more time together." At least... i bought for him chocolates. Hee =D

Yesterday was a Public Holiday for Deepavali aka Diwali.

It's been a longggggg time since we've been here. Well i have just 2 weeks ago but that was lunch time. Anyways, even the brother who always served us said, "Long time no see... After Eid that u come n visit eh." hahaha I'm amused at how he recognises us!

Zubair insisted on taking a photo with this icky yellow ferrari-looking car. I said, "What if the owner is somewhere nearby?" He said, "It's ok. He should feel proud that pple are taking photos with his car." Hmmmmmmm

We walked to Chinatown, took the night bus and reached home at 2am.

Sun, 26th Oct

Woke up at 2pm today. Zubair was already getting ready for his Diwali appearance. LOL. Funnily enough, for Deepavali, he only got 1 gig as opposed to his numerous performances for Hari Raya.

I spent the day alternating between lazily watching ANTM online... snoozing... reading book... eating... till Z came home at 10+pm. I realised that i hadnt eaten since lunch time with Z before he left and i was ravenous. Although Z was tired, he gave in to my request to walk that 10min to have dinner at Al-Ameen because i just cldn't stomach fast food at that time.

It felt very nice when Z told me about his day at work. So much so that suddenly Z wondered aloud, "How did we come to this topic?" The conversation just flowed... very rare to get a chat like that outta him =D

Mon 27th Oct

By now, i realised that this might just be our last relaxed weekend together before he started working 12hr day x 6days, insya'Allah. i wanted to make the best out of it so We stayed in bed till 3pm.

Although we had drained our brains thinking of where to go, we just got ready. We MUST go out before we couldn't. Then i got it. Let's go BOWLING!

We wanted to have dinner at Cavana since we were at Marina Sq anyway but found out they've closed! seems like a lot of their outlets have shut down! So we had to settle for the food court, where i got my Qi Ji Popiah x 2. Yayyyy-ness

The scores!

Round 1.

All these while i had been using 7 - 8lbs ball. But when i tried the 10lbs pound, suddenly i got 3 strikes in a row. But no, it wasn't considered a turkey cos the first strike was in effect a Spare.

Even Z did very well! I asked jokingly, "Have u been practising or something?"

I was actually late for friday's 3pm appointment by 20min.



Grace period was 15min and because of that 5 min, i had to re-register myself and had to wait about 15min longer than if i hadnt been late.



I was from a 2-day training that morning at City Hall. Lunch was announced at 12nn. It was catered so i stayed for the food. Journey would take about 1hr so i had about another hour to myself... So i went to the library, picked 4 books and snoozed for 30min till 10min to 2pm.



Just nice supposedly. But i didnt take into account time spent in toilet and walking leisurely to the mrt that by the time i reached the train station it was already 2:30! YIkes. Too late to come up and take the cab as i was already at the platform.



First up is the consultation with the nurse.



Urine test was normal. Blood pressure normal. Now weight. I was rather apprehensive to know my weight. bcos the last time i lost 1.5kg but i think i might have gained double what i lost in just 1 month. I was afraid of getting scolded.



I weighed in 61.6kg. Oh not so bad. i had been relying on the machine at home that kept saying 60kg which normally you hafta add 3kg to that so i tot i might be 63. The nurse didnt bat an eyelash either. So i suppose that's a good sign. Besides, pre-pregnancy, the heaviest i've been was 63kg so i'm still cool aye. Note to self: cannot keep up the rate of this monthly weight gain!!!



COnversation with the Doctor



Luckily i've got that nice doctor today. Not the Skype chatting one.



Firstly she showed me the results of the previous Stage 2 Thalaessemia blood test. She flipped when this time my haemoglobin index dipped and went out of range. it was borderline the last time. i think it was 11.6 about 0.1 out or scale.



She asked if i had been taking the iron tablets. I told her honestly that i havent but that i planned to start taking them right after Fasting month but havent actually got around to it yet cos im scared of constipation. I did clarify though that the reading was BEFORE i was prescribed the iron tablets.



Further along the results, she said that the iron content in my blood is super duper low at 6 units when it should be between 10 - 120! When i complained about lethargy, she said its because of low iron! I was like.... "Ohhhhhhhh no wonder!!! all this time i was always sooo sleepy..."



However, the good news is: i DONT have thalassaemia. Thank the lord. And that the doctor has seen pregnant women with just 6 or 7 points in the haemoglobin index but i DO need to take those iron tablets for my baby. Yes, Ma'am.



Today, we could easily listen to baby's heartbeat. it went like... tuh tuh tuh... hahahah No.. i can't WRITe how 160bpm sound like.



Another exciting part is that we're getting to do the scan next week!! at NUH. But i dont think i can make it, Paris Bosses coming and everything. Maybe i'll do it first thing the following week after. To prepare for our finances, i asked about how much would it cost. $70 for scan and $20+ for dcotor's consultation amounting close to $100. And so i prayed, "Please got dont let me hafta go thru these scans a lot...."



Next appointment: 21st Nov 08 @ 10:40am



The doctor ordered a blood test to be done BEFORE seeing her to see if my iron level has gone up. Also, i asked if she'd need me to do glucose test bcos i remember that the first doctor told me she would likely order one for me at week 20. She asked my family history and she agreed that i should go for it. Though i would despise the test, i think im paranoid enough to know if my kidney could handle those sweet stuffs.



So there.

Some time ago i advertised on my blog about selling my Nintendo DS lite away.

That was like 3 months ago.

I was ready to sell it at $300 with all the accessories included. I've had two offers. One was asking for $200 and i tot it was too low, so i passed. AFter a long time, another interested party contacted me but she didnt follow up.

Then earlier this week, another person offered at $220. And i tot, "Hey i should better sell it before the price gets any lower or a new model comes up and DS lite will take a back seat." I told her that i need somebody to fix the er... software first and would update her by friday.

But seems like she cldnt wait to get her hands on that unit. So she said, "How about you just sell it to me before the setting up at $180. Bcos this is another brand, it might not work. And if it doesnt, then i hafta get the other one." Well... at that point in time, i really couldn't be bothered anymore. I just wanted to wash my hands off this thing.

I did tell her i'd need $190 if she's asking me to come down to her place. She agreed. But at the last minute, she said that she could only meet me halfway at Bukit Gombak. AND THEN... to add a lil more drama... I couldn't find the most important accessory. The Charger! Sheesh. My room is a mess, i really dont wanna make it messier in trying to find it. Or perhaps, it might be in the office, God KNows.

So i told her that either i give her a further $10 off or she can wait till i check in the office or something, or i can go to Causeway point and get a new one before i go meet her. At first she said she'll wait and i will just post it to her.

Met her at the train. She was outside of the ticket gate and we are on the paying side of the gate. and we did our business transaction. LOL. She gave me $180. I tot meeting her up halfway would get that extra $10 but ok whatever.

Then she texted me later than night to say that she can't wait till i mail her the charger, so told me to transfer $10 back to her so she could buy a new one. WHich now i found out cost $28.

I recouped the amount i paid to get the actual unit. But i didnt get anything back for the accessories i bought that costed close to $200. But still... better than nothing right? Rather than the DS gathering dust in my closet?

All in all i'm satisfied i've sold it away.

Zubair wanted a picture of him with the oncoming train. I snapped a few milisecond too early.

I insisted on taking a picture with the lovely background advertisement altho of not so lovely product. But the theme was Medieval times and we felt like we were in a castle with the walls papered with red/yellow bricks. Nice!

I saw Kak M who did my wedding hennah at the train ticket gate and because i was feeling ultra confident that day i actually approached her and said hi! Of course she didnt remember me, she must have a lot of customers but salute her for striking a good conversation anyways.

Not really knowing which direction to take, we just took the nearest and simplest way that brought us to Terminal 3 without having to walk too far and we found this interesting hmmmm desk.

Oh im just colouring from this piece of woodblock.

For once, things actually come for free!

The end product doesnt look so great bcos I did it hurriedly bcos i tot that Z might get bored waiting.

Unbeknownst to me........

He wanted a hand at it himself!

I was quite surprised he was interested.

Being in the arts, He is sooo meticulous about his work.

WOW!!! Is all i can say.

The best thing about this date is that, we BOTH thought of going to the airport. Only i dismissed the idea bcos I dont know what to eat there. I didnt feel like eating Popeye's again. But as we just walked along where our feet brought us... we reached the food court of Terminal 3.

As it turned out, we found Maxwell Masala serving both South and North Indian cuisines!

Some Pakoras, Chana masala (i think) and others

Zubair is soooo happy he got his chappati and mutton masala

My dinner was Plain Thosai

So funny, when i asked for Paper Thosai he said not available. But when i asked for Plain Thosai, yes have. Paper Thosai is just a longer version of the latter. Ok granted prolly their pan is not wide enough to make Paper but still... it tickled me.

While the Onion chilli was nice, i was disappointed by the texture of the Thosai itself. TOO THICK. Komala's is TOO THIN but Ananda something in town has good texture but no good onion chilli. I'm still on the quest to find the PERFECT Paper Thosai.

I couldn't help but ease my curiosity by buying $2 worth of Pakora.

Always wanted to know what it tastes like. Hmmm too crispy and onion-y for my taste. I thought it was supposed to have some dough in there? While Z ate the bulk of it, he did agree with me that its not the best tasting one. He's like that, always thinking of his "original" Paki home made foods. Kesiannn... poor him.

Now this picture is to give you a full length view of that maternity top!

Its actually sleeveless so i wear another shirt inside. Very comfortable with adjustable gathers behind... u know in case i got tooo big later on. Wa nauzubillah. God Forbids!

Zubair always like to snap a pic at the exact same position that i just did. And he totally insists that he's the better photographer and i dont take good ones. HUMPH!

Side profile. Do i look pregnant to you?
Ok maybe i arched my back a lil too much there.

Zubair lugging his keyboard all the way.

Now we're at the viewing Mall. Ergh. Rather than getting to look at the planes, we actually could see more of the goings-on in the transit area WHICH MAKES US SOOOO JEALOUS OK!!!

Anyway we were trying to find somebody to take our pictures together properly... but cldn't find a single trustworthy person who look like he wouldn't mind. There was a couple just a few metres away with their own tripod stand!! Fuyohhh

In the end, we put our trust on an extinguisher and put the timer on:

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Ghostly Us. I'm so amused by this picture!!

Quite an old pose but with a hi-tech public telephone.

PS: The internet didnt work. With an error that said "Cannot display site"

So funny.. much later when we were in Terminal 1, we saw some Indians in this pose also but with the much older design of a public telephone.

We went to Terminal 2 first in search of more food... My tummy was full but my throat said i was missing something. I wanted some CHICKEN snacks!!! Bcos my meal was vegetarian and quite small.

Ok u tell me who's the better photographer?

I took this.

And he snapped this pic of mine.

I had this imagination that Terminal 2 has a lot of places to eat. Where did they all go? So we took the skytrain to Terminal 1 one... in search of something to eat still...

We had to resort to a reflective glass wall to take our couple picture.

Oh yah after sometime, Z succumbed to using the trolley.

We went to the Staff Canteen at Terminal 1. But bcos it was almost 10pm, all shops save for the drinks stall were closed! We had been walking for 1 hour already and my feet were getting sore. And i still cldnt find the right food to eat. All the things i was thinking of (popcorn chicken or some snacks from Old Chang Kee) were not available at the airport.

Z said, "That's why i dont like to walk walk with you. After awhile you will complain penat (tired)." In my defense i said the already familiar phrase, "But im pregnant what" He said even before pregnancy i was like that. Hmmm ok he does have a point. But really my heels were almost breaking lah last night!

Then i remembered seeing two boys holding a nice crispy waffle cone with smooth soft plain vanilla. Oh me lord! That would soothe my tummy alright. But where the hell did they get it?!?!?! There's no ice cream parlour around here. Not that i know of. Swensen's is at Terminal 2, even then the dont serve such nice tempting ice cream. But i remember that McDonalds do have them.

On the way back to Terminal 2 thinking, Will i get to eat what im craving for?

So yes. I had my first full-on craving after 4 months of being pregnant. It IS true that cravings usually mean that you're lacking in some nutrition. I was pining for protein or whatever it is that you find in wonderful glorious MEAT.

I nearly cried at the thought of having to walk to the other end of Terminal 2 to reach to McDonald's. And then worried some more as i doubt this outlet serves the waffle cone ones. We rested for awhile in front of Swensen's with me contemplating whether i should just cave in to Swensen's despite it not being the actual ice cream that i wanted and the price is 10 times more exp than McD's or just brave the walk.

That point my thought was: Why is the airport so god damn big? Its so tiring to walk one end to another, what more from one terminal to another. They should allow pple to ride on the luggage trolleys. (there is actually a sign do not stand on trolley). Or at least provide travellator or wheel chairs??? Better yet. Buggy RIDES!!!!!!! that u can just hope on and off as u like. the buggy will run from one end to the other. Yup the airports wide enough to offer this free buggy services :D

After 6min or so massaging my OWN feet, i felt much better to face the walk ahead.

So indeed there were no waffle cones, but i settled for that standard vanilla cone which is now 70 cents instead of 50 cents like a year ago - At the least the texture of the ice cream is still as i wanted - while Z had a strawberry milkshake.

It was 10:30pm. Our initial idea was to end at Terminal 1 so that the chances of getting a seat is higher. but bcos i insisted on my ice cream at Terminal 2, we were already late and I was afraid we wldnt be able to catch the last bus home. and of course i was soooooooooooooooo tired already. So much so we had to forgo visiting the viewing hall of Terminal 1 (which should have a much better view). Thank you for your understanding my dear.


I tried to remain positively hopeful that there WOULD be seats available as it was rather late already. But No. As luck would have it, the last guy standing got the last available seat way at the backmost row.


I had two choices: boldly ask for a seat or cry and whine the entire 1hr journey back home.


After having walked for 2 hours at the airport, i was certainly not prepared to stand for even another minute. I scanned around for potential victims. By potential victims i mean able bodied men who are awake and sitting on the aisle seats. There were 2. A Chinese and Indian guy in front of me. The rest were either ladies, asleep or a couple.


Since the Chinese guy looked somewhat fierce, i decided to prey on the Indian guy. So i nudged Z to get him to ask this Indian guy to give up his seat for this lovely pregnant lady. But he shook his head!


I psyched myself up saying, "You dont wanna stand for the next hour Julissa, so you gotta do it before the moment passes!"


So i said to him, "Excuse me, can i have this seat, please. I'm pregnant actually." A bit confused he asked me to repeat. I sucked in my breath and repeated the request, and he stood up. I mean like, what choice does he have right? HAHHAA I'm so mean!


No really. i AM pregnant, what! :P

My Goodness! 11months ago she looked soooo diff! with only a handful of teeth. Now... She's very talkativeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

She turned 2yo last sat.

Let's take a long deep breath and prepare for the Terrible Two period.

I made a mini research about thalassaemia.



God my next appointment wont be till end of next week! A longggggggg way to go.



I'm thinking that i probably have Thalassaemia Minor / Trait just because i had anaemia before and my readings are still off from the blood test results. However, since Zubair is totally clean, the chances of our children having thalassaemia MINOR is 50% as shown in this diagram.









This is considered good news even if im found to have this trait because Pple with a MINOR one usually live life as per normal and i can still have absolutely healthy children without a tainted gene.







But it makes me wonder, does that mean one of my parents have a Thalassaemia Minor too?? How about my grandparents?







But the issue remains, what exactly is Thalassaemia? Answer taken from KKHospital website

What Is Thalassaemia?

Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder which is caused by an abnormal gene. A person with thalassaemia is unable to produce normal, functioning haemoglobin in the blood.

Haemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. When the body is not able to produce normal, functioning haemoglobin, the affected person suffers from anaemia.

Thalassaemia is passed on from parent to child and can affect both males and females. In Singapore, about 3% of the population are carriers of the
thalassaemia gene.

Another from Geocities explains in more lament term:

To understand more about Thalassaemia you need to know a little about blood and
about anaemia.

Blood is made up of a lot of red cells in a clear, slightly
yellow liquid called plasma. Red blood cell are produced constantly. Blood cells
are replaced very quickly. That's why people can often give blood frequently.

The red in a persons blood contains a substance called Haemoglobin. Haemoglobin
is very important because it carries oxygen from the lungs to where ever it is
needed in the body. It also contains a lot of iron, and when red blood cells are
broken down, most of the iron from the Haemoglobin is used again to make new
Haemoglobin. People lose some iron from their bodes when urine is passed, this
is compensated for when eating food which contains iron. The main reason why
people need iron in their food is to make Haemoglobin.

In the meantime, I shall wait patiently or impatiently for my next antenatal appointment.

From Nisa:

Calling somebody in advance that you would come later in the evening or the next day might cause problem to the host.


In my younger days, I used to get flustered during Hari Raya if we dont plan whose house we're visiting next or for the whole day. To me, i thought one would lack organisational skill when we call the house owner for the next house or 2 only to find out that they're not in or whatever. I mean it's such a waste right like we are already there but bcos they're not in we have to come by on another day or whatever.


However, i just realised that we're locking and blocking the host from any other appointment in anticipation of our arrival. Maybe we might even cause them trouble as they sure would think, "What should i serve them? But our money is tight..." etc etc...


Worse is when, you ran out of time, or you had to rush to another house and couldn't make it to that person's house after all as what happened to Nisa. Not only have you wasted the host's otherwise free evening, also you might have caused her to waste time, money preparing food you're not gonna eat!


So this is a social skill one should also have.

Question is: How to strike a balance of being organisational as well as socially responsible?

Maybe a tentative question of host's availability is kinda moderate. Eg: Will you be at home this Fri evening? It's ok if you're not free. See? Not really committing that you'd come... But would the host go all the way to assume you're coming and cook whatever? *shrug*


I've never been a host before so i wldn't know what a host would think or do. But if it were up to me, i bet you im gonna be selfish and leave it up to me.


Most of the time the infrequent guests call, you would find me holed up in my room! Mostly they are my parents' friends or a very distant relative that i dont even remember their name. Esp if they come weekend morning, too bad, im still sleeping :P

But is it my imagination or is it for real that this is the trend going nowadays? That the young would just stay in the room? It sure is how it feels like from what i see.



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From Sue:

A child's education starts as early as a few weeks old.


What a coincidence that just the night before i was trying to convince Z that it's ok if someone undesirable takes care of our baby for the 1st year (like how can it possibly affect the baby's characteristics, right?) when Sue told me otherwise.


She said something to the effect that after being hospitalised quite a no of days, her then 1mth old baby is now very pampered. Will only sleep after being rocked etc.


Sleeping pattern IS definitely IMPORTANT in defining a child's trait, i feel. If there's no routine, the baby will take its time sleeping and the desperate parents (read: me & Z) would be obliged to carry and rock him to sleep which would translate to a pampered baby?


I sooo dont want my baby to be as pampered as me. hehehe ... They must be Independent. Sleep on its own, study on its own, work on its own.

Perhaps its easy for me to just say it now... God knows how it will turn out when i finally deliver this baby and smell it, kiss it, carry it. Awwwwwww *GERAM already!!*

You know what? Zubair escaped Sun too!!! tak fair! tak fair! boohoohoo....


Today, we entertained 2 guests before going out at 4:30pm again.

This is what i wore for Sunday.

Not very festive looking by Malay standard but the long scarf added a glamorous twist. (hahaha perasannye aku)

This is actually a sleeveless Punjabi suit but i just wore the top and the scarf. The pants has no band yet so lazy me wore my own.

To be honest, i felt a bit suffocated that day bcos my black pants is suddenly VERY TIGHT!!! and the "normal" scarf i wore and hid underneath the shirt is making me look... HEAVY!

Nonetheless i felt elated when at the first house we visited, the host suddenly asked me, "are you pregnant?" I said yes how do you know?. She said she can tell from your "unusual" weight gain. She has 3 children herself.

2nd house is Nek Ngah in Bukit Merah. She served us Mee Rebus Special! Her Mee Rebus is not very thick but extra spicy with prawns inside!!! Yumminess!! I helped myself to 2nd serving despite my mum's reminder that the next house is also serving us food. I didnt care cos this Mee Rebus is SUPER special.

3rd house is Cik Zaini, my mum's bro from the same father, in Yishun. Ohhh again my favourite SAMBAL GORENG PARU (beef lung). if Z was there, he'd probably say, "Dont give my baby nonsense food to eat, ok." He'd say that even if i eat normal beef. Apa jer.

4th : Nek Busu's house also in Yishun. She served us instant Popiah sayur / Vege rolls. Also my favourite!! But i limit myself to just... 3 pieces? Heeee

5th and final house is Cik Adi's house also my students' place lah. They've just moved so i was sooo excited to see their house. It's a condo in Yew Tee. NICE!!! Me and sis wanna buy a unit there too! LOL. She served us Lontong Goreng! Fried Rice cake. She also had Nutella horseshoe cake that is quite a rare find nowadays that the craze is over. there were over 10 of us and she had to serve plate after plate after plate of this cake. OMG we were so crazy! Thank God its just our uncle's house so no need to feel too shy. Can even make yourself at home.

So this Sunday is very much in contrast to Saturday's no proper meal visiting! Sunday is a good day to visit people, i guess. haha

It is an unsaid rule that the first weekend of Hari Raya / Eid is dedicated to visiting the elders with your family.


This year is no different. Except that Zubair managed to escape again as he had The Highlight, The Concert of concerts. He was performing for his beloved Singapore Pakistan Association.


We have been going out later and later. Last Sat, we went out after Asr ie 4:30pm. I was actually ready at 3:30pm but was waiting for the rest!! Imagine, when we were in pri sch ie 6 - 12yrs, we used to go out like 10 in the morning and covered like 10 - 12 houses?!?! Those were the days.

Syifaa' striking a pose

She was actually twirling in her new Baju Kurung, that's why a bit blurry.

That's me in Baju Kurung with a long rectangle scarf sometimes aka Pashmina.

This Sari material was a wedding gift from my Nenek.

First Stop: Simei!!

Our visitation hour coincided with my cousins from mum's dad's side so a bit chaotic with all the children around. Plus they've just found out i was pregnant and the girls, 2 of whom i tutor were so excited. Nice to get some attention. hahaha

To give u feel of what a typical Eid visit looks like

Altho we went out late, we managed to cover 5 houses. No make that 6.

After Simei, we went to a relative house in Tampines, Cik Esah. She lives on 3rd floor of the same block where i used to live for 18yrs of my life! So its like going back to the old playground. It never fails to give me a nightmare still.

3rd was a certain Nek Milah's house.

4th was somebody's fiance to be's place!!! His house is VERY SUPER DUPER NICe! But they were all saying that its very easy to maintain the house because the bachelor lives alone, while his family all reside in M'sia.

A view of typical cake containers that decorate the coffee table and fill guests' tummies

I must say that he's a very good host and a very nice guy. She is very lucky and hmm... best wishes, babe!

By then it was close to 10pm. All of our tummies are grumbling noisily! Last proper meal was at 2pm!!!! All the 4 houses that we went didnt serve any heavy meals...

So it was with relief, that when we reached the 5th house, albeit at 11pm, the host served us with RICE! Holy Glorious Rice! with the normal Hari Raya dishes.

But we were still not full ... so we decided to go to this 6th house to eat PROPERLY.

At 12:15am we reached their house but the hosts were only too eager to serve us. McDonalds crews are just so charming!

Yeah we went to a fast food outlet all the way at west coast with a very nice ambience for our "proper" dinner. Surprisingly or not so surprisingly, there were quite a handful of other baju kurung clad families having their dinners or suppers there too! Some with very young children as well.

I suppose Saturday is not a Cooking Day.

Work is getting busier by the minute, i cant finished writing!

I have 2 drafts to be completed and another 2 topics to address.

But busy = good.

Since a colleague left us last month, I am now covering some of her tasks ie recording new business and other reports! Weeeee I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE to do reports and analysing data.

The only thing is, i need to do a MAJOR Reconstruction of the BASIC database. The spreadsheet is soooo unintelligent that we cant take full advantage of Excel's POWER to analyse data. Instead, hafta do it MANUALLY. Like, what the!

Besides that, I'm so new at this that I'm really slow in doing my work i feel overwhelmed. Now that the crucial Eid period is over... i hafta stay back late some time lah to finish whatever.

Coming soon is the special report for when the Big Bosses come from Paris. I can't wait! No really.

But of course i'd like a recognition for my work lah. Maybe make me AT LEAST an Exec Asst? Pleaseeeeeee...

Ok i dont have much pictures on my hp, as most of them were being snapped from other pple's digital cameras. I shld have known they'd take a while to upload! :P


Firstly, Z has been telling me since beginning of fasting month that he only wants to go to 2 houses MAX. As it turned out, he couldn't make it after all bcos he has a concert at Temple of Fine Arts from 9am and finished like 8pm by which time he was too tired to join us for the last, most special house! I felt that TFA was quite inconsiderate in that sense lah. But then again most of them are not muslims save for two or three of them, so they would take the PH opportunity to org a concert. Sighhh


Anyways, first stop is Nenek Jah's House, Syifaa's paternal grandmother.

Banging the keyboard while singing A B C

Syifaa's cousin. So now Syifaa' is KAKAK (older sis).

Soon she's gonna be kakak on her maternal side also. =)

2nd house was my father's oldest brother (aka Pak Long). Traditionally, the bros and sisters would gather at his house as their parents, my paternal grandparents have passed on about 10 yrs ago.

We are normally not vocal with this side of the family. But with the help of facebook, and blog we became loud VIRTUALLY. hehe Kak Lynna, a regular commenter here, is one of my cousins lah. The strange thing is that, when we meet outside out of family gathering context, we could talk like friends... Ok maybe its just me ... it doesnt help that a bunch of them dont speak malay but mandarin. I dont know why but i always have difficulty making chinese friends. Too comfortable in my own "world".

3rd house is my mother's father's (aka Tok Husaini) house. This is where we usually join forces with the Simei Gang.

I get to be one of the Tiga Dara Pingitan (3 single ladies) for a day.... haha

If you can see, i was wearing a pashmina (long rectangle scarf type). ERK i think the way i was wearing it made me look BIG lah. So much so that Ayid, who didnt know i was pregnant thought i gained weight. But Nur (the rightmost one in the pic) tot i DID looke like i lost weight.

While almost everybody at Pak Long's house knew i was pregnant, nobody else noticed my discreetly bulging tummy. Maybe they did but was too shy to ask for fear of being wrong and got me offended! hahah

Next was some Tok Long's house. I THINK its my mother's mother's oldest brother or something. It was around 5pm and i actually got too tired, i napped awhile. (takleh salahkan, org mengandung - can't be faulted, a pregger.) My cuz even snapped a picture of me dozing but i dont know there seems to be a technical error saving the picture so can't upload. haha just as well.

the 5th and 6th houses were mundane at best. No picture, we just entertained ourselves with each other's company. Of Course Syifaa' made it more livelier for us.

The last and most important one is visiting my mother's mother who lives with my paki uncle. Here, we are all a boisterous bunch as the youngest aunty is just 5 yrs older than my 1st sis, 10 yrs older than me. So she's very one of us lah..

Can u spot my nenek?

The turqoise pple are the Simei Gang

The girl in pink and small boy is another set of cousin.

The other one is Tiah, with whom i went to Geylang with two nights previously.

The 10yr old Paki + Malay breed boy was fast asleep by the time we got there.

I saved my tummy, purposely skipping main meals for the last 4 houses, and eating just 1 pc of ketupat at first 2 other houses, to have a big dinner at my grandma's place. And to my great pleasure, one of the dishes is Sambal Goreng Pengantin which consists of only Beef and Beef Lungssssss.... Fuyohhhh yumminess!!! I dont like other variation of Sambal Goreng that might include Tempe (fermented soya bean) and tahu (beancurd) and even long beans!

All in all, we covered 7 houses this yr after leaving the house earlier than usual ie @ 12pm hahaha. and i seem to be eating less this yr as compared to pre pregnancy! Ironic! Even then, i managed to gain 1kg in just one day! So i'm back on track!

Next yr, there's no escape for Z. He HAS to follow all the way to help with baby, insya'Allah.

Eyewwww my desk is such a clutter of mess! GRRRRRRRR *glare at somebody*


One day before Eid itself, i was on leave the whole day to spring clean. heheh but bcos i didnt sleep the whole night, i woke up late. And then discovered that the hub had to go out for practice AGAIN!!!! What the! This time, i really raised a storm. At that, The darling Zubair finally and hurriedly agreed to be home early and really help out with cleaning of the room.

And i'm so glad he did. He is sooo meticulous at cleaning... that is WHEN he gets around to do it! But really... he even makes the bed nicer and straighter than me *swoon*. I'm more of your average yet consistent cleaner. So in a way we complement each other lah. When we have our own house.... I'd have someone to do the annual Eid spring cleaning... Right now my first sis is the designated person.

And because the darling is tall, he could hang these flowers easily. I bought 3 strands at $2 each at Geylang the day before much at Kak Long disagreement. She said it would look ORBIT (ugly). She told me to get a $40 Long Tassels kinda curtain instead... But i wasnt really willing to part with so much money as i had other things to buy as well.

I assured her it wont look tacky. It looked so at the shop cos there were soooo much green everywhere... and PLASTICKY. Compromise was i'd just buy 3, if it is deemed unsuitable, i will just go with a bare wall.

So thank you Ayah, Thank you Z for your help.

Next is my Hennaed Hand pictures with stains on and then off:

Me, first sis and a cousin went to Geylang on Mon night, 2nd last day of Raya for all the last minute shopping. Bcos of my delicate state, i was pampered in that, they helped me to carry most of my shopping and believe i had quite a number of bags! 1 bagged like 5 items from Fara's shop.... then a small carpet for my room, and the flowers and foodstuffs...

At first we planned to do my henna the FIRST thing when we reached there, so that it would have dried up by the end of our outing. But i went home to fetch the car first, and reached there later, and the girls were at the other end of the bazaar. I wanted to do my shopping first. That wld mean its impossible to be hennaed THEN shop. Like how do i get my money out and stuffs right?

So after rounding almost the whole stretch of geylang... (i had to beg Kak Long not to do one part of the bazaar cos i was dead beat after walking for like.... 3 hours + and it was already past midnight!!!!!!!!) We finally found a nice henna shop, Saheli BRidal. Looks professional with a few artists on hand, with lotsa sample albums.

But they charge a damn lot! Depending on the design it could be $5 - $20 per hand per side! I didnt find any designs that i like ie MOROCCAN designs. So i asked for a free hand moroccan instead and a $10 per hand on both hands. Now look what the artist did to me!

Stains on

Sheeshness!!!

I told the artist that i want MOROCCAN design. When she looked unsure, i said, you know... all straight, geometrical lines...? She asked me, "So u dont want flowers nor leaves?" TWICE. NO I HATE them on my hands! Those will make my hands look SWOLLEN lahhh!! I didnt say it out loud tho.

How skewed can your perception of STRAIGHT lines be?!?!? Its all curves and arches and dots and round clouds to me. I even had to INSTRUCT her i want TRIANGLES or zig zags on the rest of the fingers but she managed to add ROUND THINGS to it. YUCKINESS!!!

Stains off

At least it still looked ok with the stains on. But when its off. I feel soooooooooooooooooo snakeyyyy!!! I hate it i hate it!!!

The only thing that's keeping me from washing it off with chlorine is that, an ugly henna is better than no henna, and that some pple actually said its nice. Let's just bear with this for a week.