Healthy Breakfast

This is what I call maternal instinct...kicking in even before the little boy arrives. By the way, I baked that marble cake :P

CNY 2007 Eve Dinner

It was at my China, Coventry. Hubby's friend's new restaurant.

Being far away during this festive season has always been and still is difficult. Hence it was nice to get together with several Malaysian friends to have a smallish celebration.

Snowy Day - 8th February 2007

We got ample warning from newspapers and weather forecasters. All the main roads were gritted with salt and many families even stock up on food supply. Strange enough, at the back of people's mind, there's still this doubt that it might not happen after all. Well, it's the british weather after all.

But it DID happened. I actually peeped out the window at about 5 am and saw the first fall... 30 minutes later (baby was kicking, can't sleep, the usual joy of pregnancy), the ground was starting to turn white. I was so happy!

Three hours later, there was like 6 inches of snow, pure white snow. Around 200 schools in my county shut for the day, hence you could see children building snowman and throwing snowballs. I opted not to go to work fearing for my own safety. Instead, I spent the day at the cinema. Watched 'Note on a Scandal' and 'Dreamgirls'. And hubby went to work later. We managed to slot in a snowball fight...aha, we're still very much kids at heart. I wish my baby was out to witness it.

It was truly a Thursday with a difference.

Pineapple Jam Tarts

Errr....I know it doesn't look that nice, but it tasted not bad. Oh well, hopefully next CNY I'll improve.

Link to recipe

:)

Oriental City visit... again...

We had mamak mee goreng, Vietnamese fried udon, tosai, tim-sum, teh tarik, and curry puffs....yum.

Then we sat on one of the seating places in the middle of the mall and hubby asked me to closed my eyes and imagine that I am in 1-Utama...HAHHAHA! Impossible! Had a great time talking and laughing till tears rolled down and tummy ached.

Went home feeling like new lovebirds. Let's just hope that when the baby is here, we will still get the chance to spend time together like this again...

Peanut butter & Nutella Cookies

Here's my first instalment to instill the CNY spirit in our UK household- Peanut butter & Nutella cookies. It's a mixture of 3 tbs of chuncky peanut butter, 3 tbs of nutella spread, 1 1/2 cup plain flour, 1 cup of self-raising flour,1/2 cup of melted butter, 1 egg, 3/4 cup of caster sugar, 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of Sodium Bicarbonate. Mix it all into a dough, roll it into balls, flaten a little at the top of each ball and bake on greased baking tray in pre-heated oven, at 220 celcius for 10-12 minutes. Let it cool and transfer to storage.

It tasted quite good according to hubby, like 'chipsmore' back home. Success!

Hopefully I'll be motivated enough this weekend to do the pineapple jam tart.

Various

London visit...


Comparison...

compare this to this at 22 Weeks 3 Days.

Custard puff...

Give me a break..first time baking this ok

Chocolate craze...


Also been going on baby stuff buying frenzies.

Gosh, I am tired now. Nap time!

Week 21 and counting.....

I am on week 21 of my pregnancy. Little foetus is actually not so little anymore. He is about 10 ½ inches in length. We went for our mid-pregnancy scan last week and we saw a lot! For one, he has a big head. Hopefully he’ll turn into a great thinker, or even a great philosopher like Socrates.

Little Socrates has been kicking mummy a lot lately. I got a feeling, he kicks when he is protesting against something he doesn’t like, e.g. being hungry, being out in the cold (even though he is wrapped up warmly in his amniotic sac, he still could sense the temperature change outside of mummy), or when mummy is having one of those hormonal nightmares which caused her blood pressure to soar to an uncomfortable level. Talking about dreams, I have been dreaming every single night. Dreams that were most vivid and seemed so real! The other day, I dreamt of my hubby’s ex and I could even see the colour of her eye shadow in my dream! I read that each dream actually manifest an inner fear within the pregnant woman. Got to admit, I have tonnes. The mother of all fear is of course for the health of my baby. Although the hospitals gave me and baby a clean bill of health (thank God for that) so far, I can’t help but to find something to worry about (i.e. whether I would be depriving my baby by just getting a cot which is 10 cm shorter in length and width compared to a cot bed which has no future use as a single bed for us whatsoever, as it’s more sensible to get a proper single bed, whether I am reading enough on breast feeding and all sorts). Some experienced mum said that it’s all part of my ‘nesting’ instinct. Why can’t I just resolve that by just buying and storing a tonne of disposable nappies (a close friend of mine did that) and be happy about it. No, my ‘nesting’ instincts need to come in all shapes and sizes, which caused me endless headaches.

I worry about my changing appearance a lot. Not that I am putting on a lot of weight, but I don’t feel like the most attractive woman either. It’s just a frightful feeling to know that there will be more changes to come and nothing you can do to stop it happening. It’s like God saying to me “listen lady, you want the baby, something has to give, in this case, your waistline and heels. Oh, of course, some varicose vein, stretch marks, sore boobs, cravings for food you can’t have (pineapple, sushi, banana leaf rice), ‘roller-coaster’ like emotions and sore back to complete the package”. Seriously, I have dreamt of glorious authentic Malaysian hawker fare more than once. I am now contemplating on taking my maternity leave early, and fly home to Malaysia just to eat to my heart content. This bloody country has so little to offer my pregnant taste buds. My ever-protruding baby bump is quite a load to carry around, not only I now have to stand further away from the sink whilst washing dishes, sleeping on my back (my fav position) is almost not possible, I could feel the baby moving under the constraint of space, can’t bear the guilt, hence have to sleep on my sides which is so uncomfortable. SK also made a joke that I am now walking like a penguin and that it’s a tough act to follow. Wait, wait till I assign him to empty the nappy bin daily.

Then again, I’ll have to be the responsible mummy and save the money up for little Socrates future. I can’t wait to see him. In fact, I’ll give anything to speed this pregnancy up. Even labour pain won’t stop me.

2007

Fireworks Over New York City (I)
Originally uploaded by Linus Gelber.

I've got a good feeling about this year :)

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...