Christmas holiday so far...

9 days of hols!

Day 1 & 2: We visited friends in London and had a great time visiting around the Docklands area, Canary Whaft and also went to Greenwich. It's amazing how enjoyable London can be when most of it's residents went away for Christmas. Oh, I tried the Tai Woon Mein restaurant for the first time. Quite big servings indeed.

Day 3: Chilled and watch TV in the day time and Christmas dinner at friend's in the evening.

Day 4: Cleared out the study to make way for the nursery and went to Ikea to get some furnishing. Dinner at Ikea.

Day 5: SALES starts today! Spent most of the day shopping objectively (a.k.a getting only things that we need). Mainly to get hubby's work clothes and baby stuff. Essential baby/nursery items weren't on sale (which annoyed me quite a bit). Mostly, only baby clothes was on sale. Of course my hands were itching to buy them, but not knowing the gender of the baby makes it almost impossible. I want to be able to indulge in pinks and purples or blues and combat green confidently and not just going neutral. So, I shall wait. Just one more week and I shall hit the shops again.

Day 6: Which is tomorrow. We plan to paint the nursery. Of course, have to decide the colour first. I hate pink or blue or purple walls anyways, so it won't be a problem. Hmm...maybe peach? we'll see...

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

First kick!!!!! (16 weeks 6 days)

For the past week, I have been wondering and worrying on why I haven't felt the baby kick yet. I was looking for a significant one, not those 'fluttering' and 'gold-fish moving in tummy' sensations (even that did not happen for the last week).

Last night, I have been having 'rumbles' after dinner for quite some time, I put it to air. Then it happened. I felt it as I was lying down with the classical music on. It was on the left side. It felt strong, until I could feel my skin bulged out. I kept playing that track, hoping to get another kick, but it was just replaced by gentle rumbles as I dozed off. I guess baby went to sleep. Track 7 should be 'our song'.

It's Amazing! My worries immediately evaporated and I felt a new form of happiness - of a proud parent :)

15 Weeks 3 Days

HAH! This is me and baby in my new maternity dress. As you can see, I am carrying quite low...and round. Maternity clothes are my best friends nowadays, as they allow my baby bump to grow into it freely, hence making me feel VERY comfortable.

I am enjoying my second trimester more than the first. Most of my morning sickness has gone away (hopefully for good), my appetite is back with a vengeance, I find myself regaining back my energy and best of all, there's an obvious preggy tummy to show the world the reason why I have been so smug and happy all these while.

Now, all I ask for Christmas is for baby to kick for mummy! 

Power Cut

What do you do when there's a power cut in the middle of winter and you are all alone?

Light candles!

Precious Baby at 12 Weeks 2 Days

First picture.

We love you more each day.

Rome, Italy

Went to Rome for a long weekend away. Visited the Collesseum, Vatican City, Piazza Navona, and various other tourist spots. We also did ALOT of walking (and queeing). No regrets as that's the best way to take in the city. The Vatican City impressed us the most. It's amazing how 'intact' the city still is and after all this years still manages to manifest the sovereignty of Catholic Christianity throughout time.

Other than the major historical sites, I found the city really loud. There's Gaudi to refine the building architecture of Barcelona, hence the fluidity of that city, which is absent in Rome. To make up for it , the people are really friendly and kind. Many times, we almost missed getting off the metro as the doors were closing, but there's always a fellow Roman that put his hand out to stop the doors from closing! One would think that after having to accomodate so many tourists in their hometown, they would have found it easier to ignore them. In my books, this kindness superceeds ten Gaudis.

I am officially done with Europe, until I have to do it all over again... with my child in the future.

The Unknown

It must be the hormones. Nowadays, I find myself in so much fear of the future. Whether I will be a good mum for 18 years to come? And at the same time be a good wife to my husband? Can I cope with the delivery? Am I as strong as I think I am? I found myself many times pondering for ages on the 'what if's and how my life would change when baby is here.

I have never been so afraid in my life.

I just pray that God will provide me enough strength to go through this. I strongly believe that everything happens in His time.

Eating Out

That's what we've been doing alot lately...I just couldn't stand cooking anymore, the thought of handling raw meat and veg makes me feel like vomitting....urgh...feeling soooo guilty...

Bought the above from Amazon recently, really good book.

Going to Rome in 2 weeks time with friends. Hopefully, I won't slow everyone down!

Nasi Lemak

I just love the shape of the coconut rice in the picture!!! Sk did it for me on request, so that it looks neater. My 'sambal prawn' paste is made of 15 shallots, 10 dried chilies, 1cm(2) of belachan and 2 lemon grass ends. Blend into paste and fry till paste emits oil. Then add prawns, lemon juice, sugar and salt to taste.

Today was a nice day, I had this sudden craving for roasted duck and pork. So we had brunch in Taipan which consisted of a big plate of roasted duck and pork rice and several tim sums. Spot on the cravings again!

7 Weeks 1 day

Nowadays, 9 pm feels like 3 am. I am usually shattered after dinner and some TV. In the beginning, I refused to go to bed earlier, as it would have meant a shorter day and not spending enough time catching up with SK. As I struggled to only hit the sack at 11pm, I found myself grumpier and irritated as hell, both at work and at home. So, I just GAVE IN!..grrrrrrrr....suprisingly, it worked! That extra hour or two of sleep really made the difference...felt much more 'normal' and energetic.

The 'morning (afternoon, evening and night) sickness' can hit me anytime...some days, I hardly feel it, other days, I felt like ripping a student's head off. Food cravings has been an adventure. I never could tell what tomorrow 'food of the day' would be. For example, last week's main cravings were mainly mature cheddar cheese slices and Quaker salt & vinegar rice cakes, but if you serve any one of those two to me today, I would run a mile! Yesterday, I only wanted fruit juice, any fruit juice BUT apple juice...yukks! but today, it is satsumas...I ate 9 satsumas!!! and also McCoy salted potato crisp. That's why weekly shopping no longer work. But everyday, one thing I can't lay eyes on is chicken on bone...I haven't been eating chicken thigh or drumstick or any chicken for a couple of weeks. The only chicken I can bare to hold down are deep fried chicken breast coated in flavourful batter.

I have been watching many documentaries about giving birth and pregnancy, hoping to learn something I don't already know and kind of to prepare myself for the delivery. Currently, my chosen type of birth for my baby would be normal delivery and hopefully a water birth. I believe that it relieves pressure on the baby and also on the muscles of the uterus during contractions. SK wouldn't hear of it. Actually, I forced down a lesson of what would happen to my body when I go into labour. I KNOW he understood everything (although he pretended not to), which meant alot to me. But he also knows that his single most important job is to get me into the hospital in time!

Honestly, reality has finally truly sunk in, and I am finally ready to experience everything pregnancy and to embrace every changes. Be it the construction happening in my breasts or the added pounds on my hip..(hopefully not too much ;)

The baby is now the size of a raspberry. If I had a window into my womb, I'd notice the baby's eyelids forming, the tip of the baby's nose developing, and his/her distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes.

Mango Rojak

This is what I craved for this afternoon....I would have paid any money for some. But Thank God for 'Globe'- The Malaysian-run-chinese grocery store-just down the road from home! I bought 'Har Kau' , bird's eye chilies and 'belacan bakar' to make my rojak paste ( also added dark soya sauce and sugar) and the best part is that we bought 2 raw mangoes!!! Never thought I could ever find it in this country. Those sour ones to go with my rojak sauce...spot on!

Gestational age - 6 Weeks

I called in sick today. Was running a fever. It's been a while since I got this sick. I think my body is still trying to get use to the fact that it's housing a baby now.After lots of sleep and 1 litre of orange juice later, I am feeling much better now. The problem with me recovering fairly quickly is that people at work often not convinced that I have actually been sick since my sick period is often just 1 day! Oh what the hell, if they care to look at my sicky leave history, it has always been only a day each time.

My baby is the size of a walnut and with a heart the size of a poppy seed at 6 weeks (no wonder my belly is not showing yet!)It has got buds on it which will grow into arms and legs. Can't wait for it to grow bigger. I have been eating my Sanotagen multivitamin diligenty and have been eating full nutritiuos meals everyday. I have also ensured that I get enough rest and exercise everyday.

SK has been really sweet, he thinks that all I should do around the house is to fold clothes...hmmm...I don't think so!

Will update when my baby is the size of an apple inside me...

5 Weeks 3 days

I am going to be a MUM!

Harpole Village Scarecrow Festival

We just visited this yearly event in a village within Northamptonshire call Harpole. They were having a Scarecrow festival where almost every front garden will present a scarecrow that potrays a character. Admission fee was £2 per adult and all money collected will go to fix the village church roof.

The first thing that hit us once we drove into the village is the community feel in the air. People look out for each other here. If anyone were to move into this village, it's not as simple as just buying a place and move in, I got a feeling that they will need to get 'acceptance' from the other villagers. Me and SK still very Malaysian in this respect, it's too 'close' for comfort to stay in such a village. Gosh...got sidetracked again...anyway, here are some pics of some scarecrows....some are pretty good I have to say.










But my favourite has to be this little fella in the last pic...nope, not a scarecrow fan

Homemade Kaya

This is a recipe handed down to me by my mum-in-law more than a year ago and it's SK favourite spread. It takes alot of efford and therefore, we got to get it right. So after several sessions of major brainstorming...."do we beat the egg and sugar first, before adding the coconut milk?"..."Do you remember how your mum tied the pandan leaves into a knot?"...and so on...you get the gist...

Anyway, basically it's simple, we combined these into a bowl,



The eggs and pandan leaves . Nice looking right....until...



...Whoops! I see only sugar now :o



then in went the coconut milk...not a pretty sight...



Then I stirred for an hour until all sugar particle disolved



Transferred to the double boiler and stirred for another hour on high temperature



Finally, just simmered on low heat and stirred 5 mins every hour for the next 2-3 hours.

The final result ...




Tada!

Since all pics are posted in 'LARGE', you can imagine how proud we were with ourselves.

Sausage Casserole - my way

OK...this method is NOT english at all...

1) Brown 1 big onion in pot - diced

2) Add a pack of sausage ( you can use any type, I used butcher's pork sausages) into pot and stir-fry till sausages are brown as well.



3) Add diced carrot and mushroom into mix (if you like peas, you can add some in ..umm..those tomatoes weren't added in, they were there just to add a splash of red into the picture, grown by my workmate and tasted fabulously sweet!)



4) Add chicken stock (2 teaspoon) and half cup of hot water,1 tablespoon of flour, stir well, shut lid and let simmer for 10 minutes.

5) Add salt and pepper to taste, a dash of balsamic vinegar, stir well and cover the top with sliced potatoes.

6) Continue cooking in oven 220 c (middle tray) for another 20 minutes.



As you can see, it's not the greatest looking dish, but it was really comforting as the Autumn slowly creeps in...

Sushi cravings

Several days back, I had this craving for sushi. In Malaysia, I would have rushed to Sagano at Renaissance or Gen Japanese at Legend hotel to have my dosage of Japanese buffet, no problem! For about RM 60++, I would have the whole spread of Japanese food for my picking...including fresly made sushi and sashimi. (oooo...how I miss all that...on top of domestic help of course)

But here...errr..things are a little different...I live in the sticks, unlike in the big cities like London or Birmingham, there's only ONE Japanese restaurant around town called something corny like SAKURA or whatever. It will cause an arm and and a leg to pay a visit. So we did we go? TESCO lar!



Can always depend on our good ol' local Tesco.

Disaster and Delight

The other evening, I felt like cooking up a storm for dinner. Well, not exactly a feast, especially after a ..umm..'hard day's work'. Anyway, it was suppose to be spring onion and ginger lamb and mushroom prawn.

So I chopped and sliced......




Then, I painstakingly sliced the meat off half a lamb shoulder. The almighty light bulb came on.. 'Hmmm...maybe I can TENDErise this....' I read in a food blog that sodium bicarbonate (the one use for baking) would do the trick! Using my usual sledgehammer style (according to SK), I just add in the amount I felt was right. It was about 5 teaspoons...I figured it should be the same amount, as if adding flour...so I marinated it for 15 mins, then it started to smell funny...something was wrong, so I rinsed the meat under running water again and again...

I started cooking...stir-fried the ginger, garlic and the white- of the spring onion, then added the lamb pieces...it started to FOAM!!!! I can't believe my eyes, it was foaming off the wok!...when it's ready...I tasted it ,and it tasted nothing like lamb, but like some jelly!...yukk!!!!! anyway, it was to the bin....$%^&**...an hour lost just because of my stupidity. I went online and found out that I am suppose to add something like HALF a teaspoon of that potent stuff into the meat.....well, lesson learnt the hard way...

But thank God for prawns...it didn't need any sort of tenderising...



Sigh...

A year older...

.....ummm...hopefully wiser?!

Ikea and Asda

SK went for his weekly badminton session with my bro-in-law last night. me? I went to my earthly heaven...Ikea. Best of all, I can shop for 2 hours all by myself and without some impatient male presence waiting to get out of his version of hell. Thank God for their 10pm weekday closing time. Once inside, I felt like a kid in toys 'R us.

I went straight to the Market Hall to browse throught every section. Then I made a second round to grab what I wanted from the 1st round of browsing. I tried very very hard to only buy what I needed . So I needed a poster for the blank wall in the lounge, got that, a bathroom mat, got that *goody-goody me for being practical* , a spray can, needed for my indoor plants' foliage, and a bamboo plant...shhhhhh. You see, SO in-control right?

Well, let you in on a secret, there was actually another poster 70cm x 100cm frame, matching picture, a bonsai plant and a set of curtains in my shopping bag before heading for the check-out, but I gave up half-way, stupid me for not getting a shopping cart, as the big yellow Ikea bag strap was eating into my shoulder. It was a painful way for my sensible side to kick-in, but it did nevertheless...I off-loaded what I don't need, or could live without and escaped with only a slight dent. It felt victorious!

By the end of that 2 hours, I had another hour to kill before I get picked up, so I visited Ikea's neighbour, the huge Asda/Wal-Mart. It was a 24 hours superstore and oh boy! they even have a section selling wholesale sized packs of lentils for curry and dhal making...first for me, as these stuff are usually found in Asian shops in your local 'little India' dotted throughout the UK. They also stock roti canai!!! (Roti Pratha). Again, this is news!

Anyway, by the end of the evening, I was extremely tired but satisfied.

Curry Laksa

We made Curry Laksa for dinner last night.

Boiled a pack of 'Thean Gourmet Curry Laksa Paste' in 1.5L of water. Seasoned and pan-fried chicken pieces were thrown into the mix. 10 minutes later, 150mil of coconut milk, fresh prawns and 'tou foo poks' were added to the pot. 5 minutes later, Voila! Curry Laksa served with rice noodle and hard boiled egg. Yummmmmmmm..........

Talking about blending into the wall.......

This moth/butterfly ( I can never tell) is the same colour as my wall!

I can't get enough of these...

Sunday at Wing Yip Birmingham

This place is like a small Chinese town. It has 2 Chinese restaurants, a huge Oriental Supermarket (which sells groceries, frozen seafood and fresh produce at wholesale prices), a video rental store and several other tiny establishments. Definitely would return to this place again. 

Summer Fruit Meringue

Whipped double-cream on meringue nest topped with favourite summer fruits....yummy!!!!!!

Malaysia May 2006

This was a short and meaningful trip back home to attend my cousin's wedding. She's as close to me as a sister, so wherever I am in the world, I made it a point to attend her wedding. She was gorgeous as usual and am really happy for her.

Besides that, the real bonus is that I got to spend quality time with my parents and brothers. I realised that it's essential to spend some alone time with them every year. I got to catch up on them and knowing them more as they grow older and wiser. So I am making it a point to go back at least once a year to spend several weeks in my family home with them. I also managed to meet up with many other relatives.

It was tremendously quiet to be back here. Everthing was so fast - paced for the week I was home.Oh well, soon enough we would be back for good.

The dread of Long-haul flights and Jet lags...

It's almost 5am Malaysian time and I just had at best 5 hours sleep in the last 35 hours. Some on the plane and some back home. It was dinner time for me 2 hours ago in UK time, so my internal clock woke me up telling me that it's time for some food. My brother was actually kind enough to bring me to the famous nasi lemak stall near my house for some nasi lemak with samble sotong and fried chicken.

It was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong flight. And to top it off, it was a full flight with tonnes of babies and kids, just like a nursery. Just imagine trying to sleep when there's a least one child screaming on top of his/her lungs. Also, flying economy means trying very hard to get comfortable enough to sleep in that bloody bucket small seat. How I wish they let me stretch out and sleep on the wider area near the emergency exit door. I might just get in a blow-up bed ,some ear plugs, pop a Nytol and Bob's your uncle.

I actually saw a couple that I knew, actually they are more friends of SK. I was in no mood to go over and acknowledge them. Then I thought to myself, there's 2 of them and there's just one of me, if they decide to ignore me, why should I approach them first? So bugger them, I just decided to go along with my mood swing. The problem is, I actually feel bad about it now. Sigh, it's hard being me.

And the worst part is that have to be back on that plane to get back to the UK in 5 days time...boohooo...I am trying very hard not to think about it and enjoy this SHORT trip as best as I can.

I miss SK :(

Formula to Happiness

Nothing to do with the pic above, just like to decorate this space.

BBC is running this investigative series on the 'The Happiness Formula'. From the 15 mins watched, I gathered that they were trying to tell me that the key to UNhappiness is simply by wanting more all the time, by constantly keeping up with the Joneses and by setting an unachievable goals for ourselves...blah di blah da...all should just chill on the beach ...you know the drill...

Funny enough, I stumbled upon an article in the Daily Mail last Sunday that claimed that having poorer friends around is the key to happiness. It went along the line of something like if you own a new BMW doesn't mean a lot if your neighbours all have the same car, or even less if they have a Ferari or a Rolls.

Very Human. Although I know of many that could swear that they don't do or feel any of the above at all, I don't believe them. I think that wanting more is in our DNA. It's an inbuilt self-motivation mechanism. But knowing when you have ENOUGH is the key. When one doesn't recognise, let alone count them, the blessings he or she has and start enjoying them, then that person will be on a quest for the unachievable happiness.

This is what I love about this place. ABSOLUTELY every issue is up for discussion on a national level. Every debate is like a passing flash. For a moment in media history, both the television and newspaper would cover it extensively, then it's gone and onto the next issue...I suspect the next would be about who is who's love interest in the upcoming Big Brother .....haha...just when you thought we are deep...

Blossoms...

 

Spring around the house.

 

Musings...

It's amazing how much one can enjoy reading blogs. I did that for 2 hours to start the day off. My eyes hurt, so I switched to reading books instead. Started off with a book by Tony Parsons, 'One For My baby'. It's light reading and very touching at times. This is the 2nd time I am reading this. This time around I could identify more with his description on the Brits and their surrounding, after living here for much longer. After an hour, I switched to 'The DK Pregnancy Question & Answer Book', as my close ones already know, we will be trying for a baby later this year or early next year (pray pray pray), hence the prep. The real life pics showing a woman in labour was enough to put me in shock for the next half hour. It was then broken by a call from a friend. So we yak for a while and it's time for lunch! CHIPS!

And now it's after lunch and I am back on the web, trying to scout out some bargain holiday package to Italy. We hope to visit this country before the baby comes along. The other day on Eurostar, the couple next to us was travelling with their baby boy. We were fortunate to witness for 2 1/2 hours their struggle to keep the 'bundle of joy' settled and happy. There was puking, crying, pooing, rocking, feeding, drooling, change of clothes and the ocassional giggles that made all the earlier effort worth while.Awww...

While blogging this, I am subconciously thinking of what to cook for dinner. Plus, I am going to mow the back lawn this evening if the weather permits. Hubby has got his badminton session tonight, so he can't separate me from my mean machine of a lawn mower.

By the way, I am not at home, I am at my WORK PLACE!!! Yup, it's frustrating to be so unproductive...at moments like this, I wish to just pack my bags and leave this whole godforsaken place and get back into the ratrace in m'sia, complete with huge car and housing loan, traffic jams and after work activities (other than moving the flipping lawn!).

I shall stop complaining now...

Brussels

It's been a short and sweet trip. We visited all the major attractions such as the Grand Place, several Churches, parks and historical buildings. Some said that it is impossible to eat badly in Brussels, they are right. We visited several recomended restaurants and came out satisfied each time. Plenty of mussels and fries plus even more Belgian chocolates. If it's in the guide book, we did it. Yeah, we are getting better at this being a tourist thingy.

The hotel was Marriot. After an initial change of room (the first room was unsatisfactory, air-con wasn't working), we landed ourselves with an upgrade to an executive room on the highest floor (air-con still didn't work well, we decided that it's the hotel not the room, so just accepted it). Of course as usual, their bed was heavenly, the level of cleanliness exceeded expectation and the breakfast was superb but the best feature of the room was these 2 round windows (like submarine windows) in our room. We spent late nights sitting by these windows and watched the city's night life. There was this drunken man who harrased clubbers, the traffic jam after midnight and the woman in the building opposite who loves to undress without closing the curtains. She is OBSESSED about her boobs. Then there's the common orchestra of car honks...yes Belgian drivers love their honks. We laughed our socks off. Oh, how we miss those windows....

It has truly been a pleasant break...