Mochi Mochi Love

I just loveeeeee Mochi!!

Early March Splurge

It's March the first!! I actually felt uneasy the whole day yesterday for fear that my bun in the oven decides to come any second any minute on a leap year date! Phewww...haha!

I am also getting slower through the days and could hardly cook for Hobbit. So we decided to dine at Fumi Japanese Restaurant at Emporium right after he came home from work. We got too comfortable and hungry that we forgot to take pictures of food. But oh...The cha keaw pan (ice blended green tea) was really umph!!

Before we headed home, I decided to do a little shopping...:)

 A cream colored classic alarm clock

 dry marker pens for Bible study

 March dated RD to take away boredom once labor waiting kicks in

Packing Hospital Labor Bag

I am bad at doing my packing on time but for the sake of grab-and-go advice I get from other mommies, I have no choice but to make early preparations. So, how many bags should I bring again? I have chosen to only take one for convenient sake! Some say I should pack my bag, hubby's bag (goodness!!) and baby's bag. Hello?? You think I will be lying in the hospital bed for a month? Two or three days to the max lah babe! So, the minimalist in me spoke and viola, my one big shoulder bag should be sufficient for me, Hobbit and baby. I believe I don't need my wardrobe and vanity table when pain and exhaustion take over...Yet, I do need a hair brush!! Yes, I can't go without hair brush!! Even now I keep telling Hobbit that I look like a broom ready to sweep on any top shelves...*sigh* What ever happens during that time, be it my disposable breast pad is left behind or that toothbrush to freshen my breath...I cannot, cannot go without my canon cameras! I'll make sure to strap my S95 while I am furiously pushing...That if I don't crush it!! ^_^

Pregnancy Pros and Cons

Wait a minute, I think I seldom discuss about my current pregnancy in this blog. Since it's almost over, I better get my fingers jotting down what I like and dislike about this one because probably it won't happen again in a long, long time! Or would it?? That would depend on my next dreaded step, which will also be the climax of my roller coaster nine months wait. Oh dear...

I am so glad that my pregnancy has been mostly uneventful. Okay, so lets get down to the point...

Pros (What I like about being pregnant): 

1. No unreasonable cravings
2. No morning sickness
3. No emotional outbursts
4. No mestrual cramps and no period...Yippeee 9 months~~
5. No unexplainable pain
6. More attention from my roommate
7. License to eat like there's no tomorrow
8. Smooth skin, beautiful hair texture (gotta luv my preggo hormones!!)
9. No darkening of the skin despite of what others predicted
10. Steady weight gain
11. Surprisingly no stretch marks (yet)!
12. ...And the many good tides ever since!

Cons (What I dislike of it): 

1. Horrible horrible backache
2. Breathless especially towards the last tri.
3. Cramps every now and then (thank goodness for calcium soda!)
4. Severe dyspepsia (do not wish for this ladies!)
5. Sleep deprivation (this will not end here...)
6. Nose bleeds. Good it stopped at 2nd tri.
7. Sweet, sweet tooth! My asam tooth left me..Boo!
8. Getting the right sleep position
9. Premature contractions
10. No looking at prom dress sale...bleh..
10. The wait

Let me reiterate ~~ Gotta love my pregnancy hormones! <3

With all the potpourris I've shoveled into my life jar, this will be one of the biggest highlights of all the colorful petals so far...God is good!

Resigning from Adulthood

 

Got these beautiful words from The Asian Parent. 

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old. I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them. I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day. I want to return to a time when life was simple; When all you knew were colours, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset. I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again. I want to live simple again. I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones. I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow. So here’s my cheque book and my car-keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.

Summer Wear

Can't wait till I can fit into these glams again! :)

Dreams for kawai Digital Pianos

Moons ago I remembered my good friend Kartini and I begged for our moms to get us Kawai digital pianos so we would be extra diligent in  practicing our lesson pieces. That time, our moms happened to be good friends (that explains why we go to the same piano school) and always wanted us to do things together while they spent their time chit-chatting and shop away while we got busy on tuition and music classes.

After several years begging (and forgetting what Kartini and I asked for), Kartini finally got what she asked for during her 20th birthday -- a spanking Kawai digital piano while I got a simple (well playable) three octave Yamaha keyboard for my 16th birthday! When she told of what seemed to me a distant wish, I visited her home one day and laid my fingers on her own first Kawai. Believe it or not, although the digital piano was a hundred times better compared to my three octave Yamaha, and everything seemed to be almost perfect, I didn't have the slightest envy for her having what we both had wanted so badly before! I was actually thankful that my mom only bought a simple keyboard, in which I practiced most of my exam pieces on and still managed  to pass (Kartini passed all her piano exams too). 

After a two years of abusing my keyboard to the max, I left for college and my sister didn't picked up piano until she was a teenager. So long story short, the keyboard was left unattended, unless my mom dust it and play hymnals once in a while and the last time I went home to check on it, several keys aren't working anymore. As for Kartini, she left for college several months after she got her Kawai digital piano. No one besides her in her family plays the piano, so the piano was left sitting in their living room unattended unless Kartini spent her holidays at home. Latest I heard, her mom decided to sell it to one of her cousins due to space. So much for wanting something but can't really use it to the fullest. One big lesson I learned and has helped me a lot with my shopping these days! :)

Homemade Ang Ku Kueh

I have been craving for something made of glutinous rice flour and I suddenly thought of my all time favorite kuih at the tamu (market) back home...ang ku kueh! So I dragged my lazy bum-bum and heavy penguin feet to knead the a pink dough and stuff in some red bean paste in it until everything is ready for steaming.

A bit of a background for those of you who aren't familiar with ang ku kueh, we Chinese and even half of my other blood, the Kadazan-dusun, love to devour this type of kueh (cake). Derived from a Hokkien dialect, Ang means red, Ku means tortoise and kueh simply means cake. So basically ang ku kueh represent a long living life to the Chinese since tortoise is considered a long living animal to them. This cake is served in many special occasions such as birthdays, New Year, etc. For me, I simply buy and eat them whenever I want since I love the taste. The fillings come in different varieties. Sometimes you find them with crushed peanuts and sugar, sometimes red mueng beans paste and sometimes coconut with caramelized sugar. 

Since this is my first attempt in making them here in Bangkok, I replace the supposed-to-be banana leaf base to simply using a kitchen foil. So here is my simple ang ku kueh! Made about 20 pieces in 30 mins. while listening to someone on his online floral arrangements! It's that simple! :) 

  

  There!!

To Grief for One or the Millions?

"So what if she died?" I know many will hate me if I orally say that or who knows many would even agree to "hey, people die of hunger and diseases so what's the big deal?" Maybe the question to ask in respond to the above image is "What is wrong with this world?"

I was on my yoga apparel, busy with school work last Sunday when Hobbit all of a sudden shocked me with his loud "huhhhhhh????" I was worried and thought he read of something from home on FB but apparently he was on the news. "Whitney Houston died!!" Phew... Yet to know that Whitney had passed on did make me sad. I grew up with her music and had very much admired her phenomenal voice! To quote our friend Reynold, he said "Good music died in the 90s..." Hell yes! Of course we still have Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Adele to name a few...But their concepts are no longer the same. Everyone wants to catch up to the latest kaboom because only by doing so, their banks and popularity would remain. 

So back to my main point, I do grieve for Houston but I dislike the kind of life she led herself into that partially contributed to her short life. Well, we never know why a person choose to live the way he/she live until we are in his/her shoes.  Therefore, RIP Whitney Houston. Hope we don't just sing to your song The Greatest Love of All but to live it like how you have sung the message across to many!

Basket Weave Baby Blankie

the edge is still crooked a bit but doesn't matter! :)

The blankie has 28 single crochet to start with and 26 rows vertical/horizontal

Hiatus in between the two weeks I brood on purple and cream colored yarns, I finally managed complete a basket weave baby blankie! Crocheting seems easy -- you move both arms in a sitting position and play on those cute fingers, comes a finish product. Yet, for a petite person with a big belly like me, it did post some challenges when I was on it. Difficulty breathing while actively swinging my arms and raising my feet up on a stool was one. Adjusting to get a good butt rest and a spine rest was also a challenge. Basically, I was having quite a hard time doing my 'relaxing' hobby but still, better than doing nothing! So this blankie would probably be my last one until the special someone comes along and to mention a next blankie, who knows when I will start one again...Yet I'm praying to have time for all my 'messy hobbies' as Hobbit puts it. Now where should I place the bead bracelet??