Losing Weight!

This daddy got to lose weight. My weight has been steadily increasing recently, especially after marriage. I guess what they say about men after marriage is true afterall. You gain weight and have a big belly. And yes, I have these symptoms! Other than the fact that Hazel has a bigger tummy now due to pregnancy, I am normally the one pregnant....with fats! Ok, that sounded disgusting.

I want to get back in shape! And I am not a stranger to my current weight problem. Back during my childhood days, I am a skinny boy. I still can vividly recall my grandmother and mother feeding me every other time with lots of food. The most common of which is Quaker Oats + egg. Soon, I grew. I grew vertically and horizontally. At 1.77m tall, I was more than 90kg during my JC days. That was the peak and my breaking point.

National service came. And my weight crashed down to 65kg with my waist line from 38" to 30". Friends who saw me during JC days and after I lost weight were shocked at the changes. I felt good. I felt healthy. I could wear nice fitting clothes that did not look weird. That reduction in weight didn't come easy. After my daily training sessions in camp, I went for extra night runs and night swims. I ran and ran and ran and swim and swim and ran and ran. I clocked at least 50 laps each time I swam and more than 5km for each run.

After graduating from the academy, I was fortunate to meet Adrian Lee, my then colleague in the Headquarters. And we ran. We cycled. We swim. We ran up and down Mount Faber, cycled from my place to east coast and back and swam weekly in Toa Payoh Swimming Complex.

During the days where none of my running buddies are around, Truffle is around. Don't judge him by his cute face and small size. He outruns me everytime. We used to run late at night where there is hardly anyone around and I will check the surroundings before releasing his leash. And we ran. As he is trained, he will typically "heel" to my speed and a little behind my steps. I am the alpha dog to him so he has to be behind. However, when I release my command to him. He will jerk forward and outrun me. At times, he will run ahead, stop, grin at me to make me run faster and wait for me to catch up.

Now, I am back to 85kg. Not a very good sign and I started running again.



Eight runs in August, all 3km to start off. My aim is not the timing but the calories that I am burning. Hope I will be able to keep it up as it is now a solo affair to keep running. Running buddies will really make it easier and keep you motivated.

Cheers to losing weight!

PS: I NEED TO STOP EATING DELICIOUS SINFUL FOOD!!!~

PS2: If I can continue minimum of 2 runs in a week till next year, I should start thinking of buying an exercise bike. Running is pretty high impact....hmmmmm....not so young anymore.

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7 Days more to go!! (And maybe more)

Technically, the predicted EDD for Hazel is 6th Sept 2010. But actually, based on current circumstances, Jayden might only be able to see the world a little later than that. On our visit to Dr Adelina Wong today at Thomson Medical Center (TMC), her check shows normal conditions except that perhaps Jayden is maybe a little small. I remember hearing cousins and friends exclaiming that their babies were 3+kg at birth! Well, lets hope the machine is not that zun. I guess it will also be easier for Hazel if Jayden do not grow into a big baby inside Hazel's womb.

Oh, if possible, we were thinking if Jayden could be born on 9th Sept 2010. Obviously, this date is not any fengshui or religious inclined selection. We just think it is nice. ^_^



A snapshot of today's Cardiotocography (CTG). Well, I tried to read up about interpretation of this scan results but I think it is too chim for me and better to leave it with professional judgments.

We also finally managed to do a hospital tour of Thomson Medical Center.

In summary,

• TMC has 10 delivery suites. Only room 6 has a bath for pain relief method using water. Extra $200 for that "bucket" of water. Other than this, room 6,7,8 all has attached bathrooms. No extra charge! (Why didnt they just build attached baths to all suites?!)
• All delivery suites has CD player, Retro TV (Really retro le), Aroma oil burner (this is new to me. Does it help?), a brown sofa for daddy (YEAH! SLEEP SLEEP).
• Outside of the delivery suite there is a beverage machine for coffee etc. Only spouse or ONE companion is allowed in the delivery suites area.
• Family members will need to wait at the family waiting lounge
• After baby is born, he will be brought to the measurement area to be measured and then tagged. (I suddenly thought of this. All baby look the same. Will I not recognize my Jayden?!?!)
• We were then shown quite a number of rooms. Basically, ALL SUITES were shown to us. Of course it is nice la. SWEET SUITE! From this point onwards, it seem more like a sales pitch tour for getting you to book a suite. The rooms for commoners were not shown, i.e. the two bedders and four bedders.
  
• Daddies will not be able to stay with mummy unless you get the one bedder room and above. (We booked the two bedder room. Now considering again........price list given by TMC and Dr Adelina Wong does not really match up)
• The whole tour lasted for about 50 minutes.
  
  

I am quite impressed by the overall feel of the hospital. We were not brought to the place where all the two bedders and four bedders stay but the atmosphere is nice and quiet.

And oh, I told the valet to park my car in the URA place since we came at 1100hrs for the tour and our appointment with Dr Wong is at 1400hrs. In the end, when I collected my car, the car is actually still in TMC but they charge us based on the URA rates. Not bad. ^_^

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Asian Confinement Practices - Bathing

Naturally, as Hazel eases into the 39th week, topics of confinement and dos/don'ts come into my conversations.

Recently, I was talking to my mother about confinement and that we have FINALLY decided to engage the confinement nanny from Malaysia (rather than trying to cope by ourselves). The confinement nanny then told us to get ready some herbs for confinement. It should be available in any Chinese Medical Shops. Since both of us are rather busy and are clueless as to where we could find such a shop in my neighbourhood, we told my mother to help to get the necessary items.

Surprise surprise, she have not got it but instead she got Hazel this.



That's is some kind of herbal bath for mothers doing their confinement period. Here's the description: (Word for word, mind you)

DAIFONAI HERBAL BATH
Daifonai herbal bath is a traditional handed down formula that been processed under hygenic condition with all its original qualities and benefit maintained. Easy to use, save time and non toxic. Custer and past-natal mother who has used it can vouch of its effectiveness.

INDICATION:
Traditionally used for mothers during post-natal period to expel wind and improving blood circulation, relieving muscular ache and joints and reducing mild itch.

And so begins my conversation with my mother:

Mother: You know, last time when I was doing my confinement period, I only bathed three times during that whole month!

Me: *Still looking somewhere. Puzzled as to why she sounded quite proud of that*

Hazel: *Looks at me*

Mother: Kelvin, you must take care of Hazel. Do you have something to contain a bath at home?

Me: Yups. Got la.

*pause*

The pail that I use to mop floor lor. *laughs*

Mother: Aiyo. That one how to use for bathing. Cannot la. Must get a plastic basin, boil water and then mix these packets (above) and let her bathe.

Me: Har.....

Mother: The medical shop that sold me these said that it is very good for confinement mothers one. Helps to get rid of wind and prevent rheumatism.

Me: Of course they will say it is good. No one will sell their products and tell you that it is not good.

*pause*

Anyway, I don't believe in all this. If that were the case, all the ang mos have rheumatism already and die liaos. They don't practice confinement at all! It is only an Asian practice.

Mother: Ok ok ok. Lucky I never take the medical shop advice and buy 30 packets of this. I kind of know that you will not believe in all this.

Me: *thinking...haha that's my mother alright. She knows me well.*

That is the truth. There is no scientific basis for this. Besides creating more trouble for the ones taking care of the mother and the mother herself, bathing in herbs, not bathing or not washing the hair can make the mother dirty and unhygenic. The herbs might even create a smell that prevents the baby from breastfeeding. I certainly do not like herbal milk. Hahaha.

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Jayden's Bed and Pillowsssss

I guess this will be the temporary placement of his bed until such a time when we think it is better to shift it. We also recently bought these el cheapo drawers (which I think is colorful and suits a baby room) for storing diapers, lotions, etc. Cost only less than $30 at NTUC FP! I am glad we stick by Hazel's idea to go for a white cot. It certainly looks very nice in the room.

But the most interesting part of this post got to be Jayden's Pillowsssssss.



Let me do the honors of counting them. FIVE pillows. SEVEN Bolsters (I count the two beanie as a bolster).

And I only have one pillow and one bolster every night!

So how did this happen????

Well, the first babysafe flat pillow and bolster was given to us by my mother whilst shopping with her in the baby expo months ago. Then the second pillow came about after Hazel did some reading about getting those pillows with empy centers. The third pillow and No 2, 3 bolster come as a package for the bedding set we bought in Baby Kingdom. And then the Pillow No 4 and Bolster 4, 5 came from the Beanie products we got. Finally, the Pillow No 5 and Bolster 6, 7 came as another bedding set so that we can interchange the bedsheet, pillow cases and bumpers.

I am still shocked at the number of pillows and bolsters.

By the way, a FULL SET of Bedding set with Winne the Pooh Prints (1 Pillow, 2 Bolsters, 1 Comforter, 1 Fitted Sheet, 1 Bumper) cost $85 at Baby Kingdom. Kiddy Palace sells the same set at $109, if I do remember it correctly.

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Week 38+!!

I am back!! Apologies to those that keep visiting my blog but did not find any updates for about two weeks. I was busy with lots of things! Anyway, I will be continuing my updates again!



That's her at week 38+! And nope, she has not given birth yet. I am pleasantly surprised by many friends and readers coming up telling me what is wrong. Is Jayden already born and thus I was busy? But it will be soon in another two weeks time!

The most headache thing that I am facing now is......How will I know that I need to send her to the hospital??? Yes, I know. Water bag burst - MUST SEND!! And the most commonly said, regular contractions.

So I asked Hazel, "Do you know what is contractions?"

"Nope." She answered.

"So is the pain and pulling that you are feeling contractions??"

*Looks at me blankly*

"OK, lets wait till our next appointment on the coming Monday."

By the way, our previous CTG results show almost no contractions!



Well, we want Jayden to be out at the predicted EDD date, ie 6th Sept 2010. That will mean three months of celebration of birthdays consecutively! Yeah!

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Takashimaya Baby Fair August 2010

On the recent Sunday, as we were going to ION for our dinner, we headed to Takashimaya for their baby fair. The baby fair is located at the standard fair area in the basement and will end at 22nd August 2010.

There isn't much to look at though. One thing for sure, the prices here are not very cheap too. They stated that they offered discount but they have probaby marked up the price and then gave discount which = nothing.

Take for example, the 24 pack of huggies newborn diapers. It is retailing at $7 per pack but we just went to NTUC on that morning and NTUC was selling at $6.95 per pack. Cheaper at the fair? No. Then we saw the Medela outlet. Medela Pump in Style selling at $729 in Taka Baby fair. Online selling $678, TMC also selling $678 with FBI 10% discount. Cheaper? Definitely not. Combi as usual was in this baby fair too. Their price is also fixed and standard. Exactly the same price as we bought our combi stuff.

So what is this baby fair? I think I get it. It is a fair for a gathering of baby products and retailers but still selling at their normal price or even trying to rip the customers off.

One great product that we did get out from the fair.



Baby Beanie Pillow products. Their website here. The salesperson is very very very patient and caring. (Somehow, I think she is the one in the website after looking at it again) She will introduce her product again and again to each customer and before we took away her product, she ENSURES that we know how to use them. We stood there for almost 40 mins listening to her!!

Why did we buy it? Well, it is a traditional type of product meant to "ya jin", to reduce anxiety. The package we bought cost us $75 + $12 for 2 extra pillow cases. There are three products in total.

• Head support pillow. Essentially, it is one long pillow but with the center empty. Designed to prevent baby from tilting his head and preventing flat head.
• Comforter pillow. Used only from newborn to about 3 months. Designed to be placed on top of the baby to prevent him from moving too much and startling himself in the process. It is like a reassuring palm put on his body.
• Body pillow. A larger version of the comforter pillow to be used after 4 months as the baby gets stronger.

At least our trip down is not wasted! We did not see this product anywhere esle!

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Taste Paradise @ ION Orchard

This is the place that I suggested for our wedding anniversary celebration cum bday celebration. I think the restaurant is decorated very tastefully with lots of details everywhere and you feel that it is classy. We arrived and were led to a row of seats near to the back of the restaurant.


The bday girl waiting for her food and posing for me. ^^

We chose the Executive Dinner Set E and the first dish was served quite quickly.


The first dish, an appetizer - Combination of Pan-seared Foie Gras, Wasabi Mayonnaise Prawn and a slice of Peking Duck with Condiments. It must have been quite long since I eaten Foie Gras. Strangely, I don't take any other liver related food except goose liver. This time round, the foie gras was good! Melts instantly in your mouth. I was hoping for a bigger portion though.


Double-boiled Superior Shark's Fin Soup with Sea Whelk and Black Truffles. Honestly, we didnt know what is a sea whelk and I was guessing that it is a kind of shellfish. I just did a wiki search. We were wrong. It is a snail! Nonetheless, we finished both our bowls of soup completely.


Braised 5 Headed Abalone with Hokkaido Sea Cucumber in Superior Sauce. The abalone here was a little sweet but I kinda like the taste of it after eating the rather green asparagus. Hazel didnt really quite fancy the abalone though. The sea cucumber was not braised long enough to my satisfaction. Not the soft type but it is still cruncy to bite.


Sauteed Fresh Crab Pincer with Black Olive and Garden Green. The crab pincer is really really fresh. It left me wanting to have more crabs! Black pepper crabs!


Steam Lobster Slices in Silken Egg White accompanied with Vermicilli. I personally think that this dish could be better. Perhaps I do not quite like the mee sua. It looks expensive but taste cheap.


Sweet Temptations: Assorted Fresh Fruits, Chilled Hashima, Chilled Jelly with Aloe Vera and Chilled Avocado Cream. We both loved the avocado cream! A good finish to our delicious meal!

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Happy Birthday & 2nd Wedding Anniversary!

It's 8th August!!!

Today marks both Hazel's bday and our 2nd wedding anniversary and also less than a month to Jayden's arrival! I did not plan any big things for today as I do not want her to walk around too much at this time. She also has a serious case of water retention. Quite serious to me but apparently, it is normal to our gynea, Dr Adelina Wong.

Just hope she will like the dinner that I chose later. ^^

Well, I will have to make up for this year's not so good plans for a better one next year!!!

I was also surprised that she bought me a nice surprise soft cookie in one of my favorite favors.





Looks yummy, no?

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Swensen's Mooncakes 2010

Today, we took half day leave as Hazel was tired and not really feeling welI. I was also tired and can't wait to start the long weekend, so we brought forward the looooong weekend. We went over to Jurong Point for our lunch and she suggested that we go take a look at the ice cream mooncakes offered by Swensens. The usual price is $26+ for a box of four.



Quite a nice box to hold the mooncakes. We choose four favours: Durian, Jackfruit, Yam and Sticky Chewy Chocolate!



Oh, they are have this early bird discount of 20% too. So, it works out to be rather reasonably priced for a Swensen's Mooncake.

Just as we were about to pay for the mooncakes, she spotted this.



Of course we got it. The carrier is nice! Quite cute. Minnie mouse is shown on the other side of the carrier.



Not very fancy intricate design....but still, it is a Mickey Mouse la. ^_^

It's time to start to shop for our mooncakes stuff soon to give our parents. Maybe this will do for a change. Hmmm.

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NDP Preview 2010 (Picture intensive!)

It was a fine weather for the NDP Preview 2010 yesterday. Thank goodness for the whole day of rain on Friday, there isn't any rain on sight for the NDP preview.

For lucky guys going to the actual day NDP 2010 on the coming 9th August 2010, you can actually park at Raffles Place. We were there early though, parked there since 1230pm and then took MRT to various place around Orchard. We were back at approximately 1600hrs and started to go through "gates". Parking there was reasonable since I only paid for about $12 for half a day of parking.


This is the Stamford road, which two lanes are closed for the NDP, NDP Preview and rehersals.


Security was up to standard with metal detectors and x ray scanning machines. It took us about 10 mins to go there this part though. After which, we were ushered to the front seats of the yellow sector. A privilege because of Jayden inside Hazel!


I love NDP! Seeing crowds all wearing red makes me feel very proud to be a Singaporean. Notice the number of inconsiderate people still holding on to the umbrellas and blocking others of the view?


Of course, I am decked out in red too! But Hazel asked me, "Why didn't you tell me that I need to wear red?!". *scratches head*


The four MCs, each for a sector. The most interesting of all, Gurmit Singh reserved for the red sector, the VIPS. They were out to teach us something call the Padang Clap. Actually, I think I didnt actually get it. I just clapped all the way.


I don't know about your opinion, but these Youth Olympics Games mascots got the be the second ugly design after the durian mascot design.


The parade started very soon and this really never gets old.


How time flies... More than a decade ago, I was amongst this police parade contingent for the NDP in National Stadium. Weeks of rehearsal just for minutes of marching in and then marching out.


Unfortunately, this will always happen in all NDP parades. That's why we have reserves. Each marching contingent will probably have up to 7 reserves in case of something like this happen on the way to the parade ground. For the NDP Preview 2010, I think I saw the stretcher for about 4 times, normally coming from the civilian contingents and the school uniform groups contingent.


Year after year, this also never gets old. Previously at my parents place, the helicopters will even fly extremely near to my flat!


End of their torture in the parade ground. Time to march out and back to their holding place for rest!


Here comes the Mobile Column. And all I see is their backsides! Apart from the VIP red sector being the best seat, I think the sector opposite us, green sector has a much better view because the parade will march towards their direction when exiting and the mobile column goes towards their direction too!


Corrinne May with her song, Song for Singapore. I think it is a beautiful song, a very heart warming song. See the MTV for it below.




Beautiful dance moves. We did not get to see the bird's eye view which will show the formation in a much clearer picture but it was great to busk in the atmosphere that is SINGAPORE!


I can't help but think there is a lot of similarity in this segment and in the opening of Beijing Olympics recently. Hmmmm.


Gracefully hanging onto one of our five stars. This year's theme is about the cresent and the stars.


Kit Chan with her song, Home. It is nice to see her performing again on stage after a number of years. You have to be there to hear her sing!


And finally, the NDP Goodie bag for this year. It has the usual goodies sponsored by various companies, the most important of which, the bag itself could be the best that I have ever seen.

That's it. Till the next time we attend NDP, Happy 45th Birthday Singapore!!!

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