Five things you (probably) didn't know about me

Thanks to Adam for tagging me in this blog memes (like 3 months back, just a day after my delivery :P)

1. I've never seen nor experience falling snow before.
Reasons being that I grew up in tropical country and I visited those countries with 4 seasons in the summer. So I never knew how it felt like in freezing cold weather, but I don't think I'll enjoy that anyway. Was shivering when it's 12 degree celcius in Aberdeen (Scotland) during summertime. To my surprise, those locals were running about in singlets & shorts. Whoa!
Someday, I'll plan a holiday in the winter.

2. I played the piano.
Haven't been touching it for years though, my fingers are not as nimble anymore. And I bet I've forgotten most of the music theories. Well, my dad advised (actually as a complain :P) me not to give your children piano lessons since it's such a waste of money. BUt I think it's not a waste as I know how to appreciate music (eventhough now I enjoy jazz more than classical music)

3. I'm supposed to be a boy, my mom wanted one. But... ta dah! :D

4. My nickname during primary school was xiao(3) ma(2) yi(3) (i.e. lil ant)
I've almost always the shortest & smallest in class for the 6 years. And when I was with my little sister, I hated it when people asked "Who's the elder one?" because she's taller than me... :P

5. I have a driver's license but I haven't driven a car for at least 14 years.
Please remind me to renew my car license in 2009. Thank you.

Okay, now I too have to tag 5 others, they are:
Ajantis
Spam
FrimFramSauce
MappaeMundi
Charles

Being A Mom

What is it like being a mother now? That’s the question I get nowadays since my baby arrived last Dec 15th.

Hmm… it’s really indescribable. I know my priorities in life changed, my baby & family comes first… work, hobby etc is taking the backseat. These sacrifices are worth it. And I appreciate my parents more as I know what it’s like being one.

All in all, I feel complete, joy and for the very first time I learn about unconditional love. There’s really nothing that’ll stop me in providing for him, love, care, anything & everything. Even to the length of sacrificing my life.

Goodbye Bloglines, Hello Google Reader

I've changed to use Google Reader to read blog feeds since yesterday. Well, I can say I like the features and it's user friendly.

Some features I like where Bloglines is lacking:
1. It'll mark items as "Read" when you scroll the page down (using the Expanded View). So if you have 10 unread items, and you've scrolled and read through 6, the 4 will remain as unread. Whereas bloglines will mark all as read once you click on the particular feed.

2. I like the labels & stars to organize my reading list.

3. You can also share items with friends. (I still need to check this one out though :)

There are lots of other nice functions, and I'm sure I'll discover more later. People, start exporting your subscriptions and import into Google Reader. It's as easy as 1,2,3! ;)

p/s: If you've done so, you can also click on the "Add to Google" button on my blog to subscribe to my feed. :D

My take on Men in Singapore…

For the last 5.5 months since I have a visible pregnant stomach, I can count the number of times men offering their seat in 1 hand. Most of the time, it’s the women who are more considerate.

1st time – An Indian man (I bet from India, not local).
2nd time – Another Indian man (but he’s being kicked by his girlfriend to get up… but at least he did :)
3rd time – Chinese man, offered me upon waking up from his sleep. The rest (including the women in the proximity) just ignored me.
4th time – Malay teenage boy, he sweetly smiled at me and stood up (ah… I was thinking to myself that there’s still some hope for the future…)

Worst experience – This guy & I were boarding the train at the same time, he simply ignored me and take the only empty seat. Then went on to take out his documents and studied it. It’s the girl beside him who let me have her seat. Argh…I’m sorry to say I just couldn’t stand this guy, he was studying his engineering notes printed with lots of complex stuff…who cares if you’re highly educated but have little or no moral etiquette at all!!

So I’m wondering, is it because of ignorance? Or simply being self-centered? For those married men, don’t they have pregnant wife? I know we did have moral classes at school, so do we just study it without practicing it?

Sigh…I can say I’m disappointed in men in this issue. I’m sure I’ll be educating my boy to be considerate and courteous in the future.

Things to do before baby’s arrival

1. Lindy as much before I’m too heavy. But that’s good for having a solid centre eh? ;-) [I think the days are limited now]
2. Prepare baby stuff
3. Spend as much time with hubby as a couple (err... well, most of the time we're discussing and preparing baby stuff :P Actually it's kinda fun!)
4. Meet friends up.
5. Doing Prenatal yoga is kinda cool.
6. Read a little, blog a little.
7. Prepare baby stuff.
8. Celebrating my birthday with friends & hubby
9. Have a weekend holiday.
10. Attend Antenatal Classes.
11. Relax & sleep while I can...
12. Erm, have I mentioned preparing baby stuff?!? :P

Random Thoughts

(Written this a couple of weeks ago... just posting it up now... hmm... speaking of procrastinating :P)

1. I think it’s really such a waste of money and energy to build a nice pedestrian walkway over a construction area and just to have the walkway demolished after the IMF.

2. Do not park your car at the parking lot in front of Somerset MRT station in the evenings, you’ll find it beautifully decorated with tons of bird shit after.

3. After that shitty event, I had my first drive-through car wash (hand wash) session at the petrol station in Singapore. I pity those workers though, they’re all pretty soaked and skinny. I bet the work burns lots of energy.

4. Feeling your baby’s motions in the womb is really amazing and awesome. I say the little rascal is having kickboxing classes in there everyday. It’s really not too early to learn self-defense. ;-)

5. Would you watch a movie alone once in a while? I found the experiences to be refreshing and you get to have some me-time. (as long as the movie is not dull as hell)

Financial Woes

Been wanting to write but I was kinda lost in space. Guess I wanna look good on my blog too… But what the heck?! So here goes :P

Have you ever worry about money? I bet everybody does at some points in life… I am a bit concerned about my financial status now. Not that I’m in deep financial shit, but now that I’m expecting, my priorities in life have changed. Been doing some calculating and financial planning (not all done yet tho) and realized it can really take a heavy toll in the pocket to safeguard baby’s future, providing the best for baby and at the same time still have a comfortable life.

Sometimes I really do envy those who are well-off and wonder if I’ll ever make that 5 figures every month end. But really I think one can make the best of what one’s has and be contend and happy. I also believe money can’t buy happiness, not in my world at least.

I’ll leave you with a “Rothism” from Van Halen (which my friend E quoted to me the other day :)
"Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it."

What do you think?

Bee is counting and preserving her honey…

Missing...

Sigh... another cat I love is missing...

She's the stray cat that always linger at the next block's coffee shop
Well taken care of by the coffee shop people
But was left alone after the shop closed down last month...

Heard she hasn't been eating for 2 weeks before she went missing
If she's in kitty heaven, I hope she's happy.

Will miss her much.