The First Kick

Last night I had the most exciting experience of my (close to) 28 years! I was lying in bed and I felt a movement in my stomach, like a bubble rising up. The second time, the "bubble" was much stronger - it was a kick. My baby was kicking me! I screamed for Hubby and he put his ear on my tummy, only to be given a strong kick right on his ear!! We both scream in unison, surprised.... After that, Baby gave a few more softer kicks all the way till I fall asleep. But that's not before, sentimental me cried and cried, from joy, of course.

I can't wait for my next scan on the 30th, so I'll know what Baby's gender is...

I Dreamt... of a Baby Boy

Last night or rather this morning (we slept late as we had Lenny's friends, Ian, Su, Nisa, Hafiz and Mr J, over for a game of Bingo!) I had a dream. In the dream I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! One part of the dream, I was trying to breastfeed him for the first time and it was really a poignant moment as both baby and I did something so personal, together, for the first time. I woke up feeling so jovial and the happiness stuck with me throughout the day. :)

In case any of you are wondering, I do not know the gender of my baby yet. Hopefully, I'll know at my next scan on 30 Jan. But whatever the gender is, I am thankful for this wonderful chance to be a mother.

Satay Not Power

Earlier tonight, Mr J drove Hubby and I to Lau Pa Sat for satay. It was upon my suggestion as I saw a food review on TV about the duck satay that one of the stalls there sells. When we reached there, we discovered that the reviewed stall was closed.

There were many touters around trying to convince us to patronise their stalls. In the end we settled for "Power Satay" as the stall also served duck satay (our main reason for going there in the first place).

Mr J took charge of the ordering - 10 sticks each of duck, beef, tripe and 15 sticks of mutton. When the satays came, we were excited. They look quite presentable, delicious even, but there's where the good points end.

Firstly, the sauce lacked spices and peanuts. It also seemed that it wasnt freshly made. Secondly, the duck tasted bland. Thirdly, the beef was over marinated and didnt have any "beef" taste. Fourthly, the tripe was too dry and tasted like plastic.

The consolations were that the mutton was quite delicious and the hawker actually gave us some rice cakes (lontong), free of charge.

Needless to say we were very disappointed with the food and I for one was in quite a foul mood as I didn’t get the delicious satay that I craved for. My anger was further fuelled by Mr J’s ongoing complaining about a certain female travel companion who went with him on his recent trip. I get it, and I don’t know why he doesn’t get it – that woman is a bitch. So, enuf said.

The Wicker Man? More Like The Weaker Man!

I am a sucker for horror movies and the trailer for The Wicker Man said that it was the first horror movie of 2007. And I thought to myself, hey, I have to catch this especially since Nicholas Cage is starring in it and I so love that man. Boy, did I make a terrible mistake!

Nick's character, Edward Malus (he's Male, geddit?)'s ex-fiancée, Willow wrote to tell him that her little daughter Rowan has gone missing. Gung-ho Edward goes to SummersIsle to search for the missing girl. The movie starts going downhill after Edward reaches the mysterious island, for the following characters:

a) Willow (Kate Beahan) with her grotesquely collagen-pumped and bee-stung lips -- gross!

© 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

b) Sister Rose (Molly Parker in a full-on annoying mode) who teaches all the little girls on the island.

© 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

c) The many scary twins on this island - both young and old. The worst of the lot is a pair of elderly twins who speak in unison.

d) Nick in a bear costume -- eeeeeewwww!

In my book, The Wicker Man would have crashed and burned if not for Edward physically abusing Sister Honey (Leelee Sobieski) and another character whose name now eludes me. That scene at least gave me some comfort as I did feel like physically abusing someone after watching the show!

© 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

So please take my advice and give this Wicker show a miss....

Hari Raya Haji 2006

Hari Raya Haji for the year 2006 fell on the last day of 2006 - 31 Dec. First stop for us that day was to Hubby's grandma's place in Pasir Ris. We met up with my father in law and bro in law there. After that we went to my parents'. As my Aunt is staying with my parents, Hari Raya Haji was quite a big affair with lots of delicious food! We had two types of laksa, rojak bandung, fried satay, lontong and nasi padang!

Foodie Delights

And as usual, as at all festivities, all my cousins were there. So, I got to see my nieces and nephews! Here's a photo of me (centre); Anis (left) and Danish (right). Just look at how chubby Danish is (drools).... Those cheeks.... Arghhhh..... By the way, I cant carry him for long cos' he's 20kgs!!! Sleepy-eyed Hubby also wanted a photo with the cutie pies so there's one of him with them, too.

Italia Regalo Per Mia Bambino

Mr J is finally back from his 2-week trip to Italy with a bad sinus and minus 250 euros and S$1k+ camera (which were stolen on his first day in Italy!). Anyway I am glad he's back cos' I do miss having him around.

Hubby and I met up with him on the same day he came back (last Fri) and we went to Carnivore at Vivo City to watch The GoodFellas performed. After that, we went to supper with the gang to Simpang Bedok. Mr J was so delighted cos' he missed local fare.

Although, Mr J didnt get me anything from Italy, he got the cutest prezzie for mia bambino!

Farewell 2006, Hello 2007!

2006 has been an OK year for me. I said OK cos' it was a mixture of great and not-so-great happenings. Some of the highlights of 2006 that had been great for me included being pregnant, getting the $600 Progress Package, my KL trips (in Jul with Mr J for work and in Dec), my sis being back in the Lion City, getting to know and spending time with new friends and starting my Tanty's Kitchen blog.

The not-so-great happenings were Hubby getting the slip disc, Mr J getting knocked down by a car, Mr J getting mugged on the first day of his Italy trip and others that I don't wish to recall. Let those stay in the past where they can't hurt me....

At the start of the new year, it's usual to make new resolutions. And I for one am a sucker for being usual; common; ordinary (you get the pcture), so here are my resolutions in no particular order:

1. Lose weight after birth (as soon as possible) and stay trim
2. Spend as much time with Baby and Hubby
3. Get a good job which pays well after confinement
4. Spend more time my bro. He's growing up so fast and yet I barely know what's happening in his life.
5. Save enough money to go for a holiday - maybe visit my sis in Brisbane
6. Get Hubby to quit smoking cos' second hand smoke is BAD for Baby
7. Be more patient with Hubby even when he's nonsensical
8. Keep in touch with both old and new friends - I have been neglecting some of my old friends, like Su and Zu and I am terribly ashamed of that.
9. Spend only on neccessities and indulge only once in a blue moon - I need to save up for Baby's future (and that's never too early!)
10. Just be contented with what I have and be happy with what life has to offer

Ok, I'll let you know next year (2008) how many of the above resolutions I kept (haha).... To all of you, have a great healthy, happy, successful 2007!

A Perfect Xmas Murder

Date of murder: 23 Dec 06 (Sat)
Time of murder: Between 6pm – 10pm
Venue: Residential flat in Chai Chee Road

The Victim

Before















After















The Suspects


























































































The Murderer(s)

A Different Xmas and New Year

This year's Xmas will be different. Come to think of it, the coming new year will also be different - for two reasons.

Reason #1: I am pregnant so I cant be partying and celebrating during Xmas and New Year's eve. But of course, sometime in June 2007, I'll be a proud mother of a baby!

Reason #2: For the first time, in a long time, my best buddy, J will not be around to celebrate Xmas and New Year with me! He's away in Italy, having the best time in his life and I am stuck here.... And I miss him. However, Hubby is on MC for the next few weeks so I wont miss J so much.

Well, to everyone who is reading this, Happy Holidays and best wishes for 2007! :)

Conwoman Alert!

I just got back from my KL trip this morning, when Hubby told me that he was visited by a Filipino family on Sun evening (Hubby didnt go on the KL trip cos he was still suffering from his slip disc and couldnt walk properly, plus he's on MC so cant leave the house!).

Although the Filipinos are our neighbours from the 14th floor (we stay on the 15th), we do not really know them (although Hubby claimed that he had seen them in the lifts previously). Anyway, they asked Hubby whether his wife (me) is pregnant. To which, Hubby said, "Yes". The Filipino lady then said that a pregnant woman, claiming to be staying at our unit went to their house on Sat night and wanted to borrow money to see the doctor. The pregnant woman also said that her "hubby" was working in the afternoon shift and hence she couldnt get the money from "him". The pregnant conwoman took $40 not only from the Filipino family but also from an Indian family on the same floor!

My surprised Hubby told the Filipinos that I was away in KL and will only be back today and showed our wedding photo. After looking at the photo, the Filipinos realised that they had been duped cos' the conwoman looked more Malay-ish and didnt look like me at all. The family said that they were going to make a police report.

I am so angry that someone would use my identity and address to con my neighbours! How dare that woman!! I hope she didnt dupe anyone else and I certainly hope no one else comes forward to try to claim money from us!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh..................

Moral of the story: Get to know thy neighours so thy wont be conned!

One Nite@ ChinaOne

Last Thursday (7 Dec), we went to China One at Clarke Quay to watch The GoodFellas. We were joined by Mr J, my sis, Lenny (who's back for the hols from QUT), her bf, Bil, Nana (also on hols) and Farid, who made their virgin visits there. As usual The GoodFellas rocked! Here's some pics taken that night, courtesy of Mr J and his brand new, expensive camera!

The GoodFellas Rocking the Crowd

Group Shots

Hari Raya Aildilfitri 2006 Open House

Finally, Mr J passed me his camera which contained all my Hari Raya pics.... If you must know, I dont have a digital camera cos' I left mine in a cab on the way to the zoo, last year!! It was really a sad episode and I cried buckets over that beloved camera. I reported my loss to the cab company but till this day, there wasnt any response. I had so much faith in people... I thought they will be honest and return me my camera, but alas not everyone's like me - if you must know, I returned a brand new O2 phone, a Motorola phone, a wallet (full of cash) and many other expensive items that I found in the taxis (always bearing in mind that one good deed begets another. But this never seemed to happen!)

Anyway, I am digressing again.... Here's my Hari Raya Open House pics.

Of Family & Friends





Celebrating Papa Taha (my father in law)'s 60th Birthday

Of Cute, Yummylicious Kids

Of Delicious Food

Baby Scans at 12 weeks!

I went for another scan yesterday at KKH. My baby has grown double its size since the last scan, 2 weeks ago! And what was even more exciting is that I got to see my baby move his/her hands and legs during the scan! That was one of the most exhilarating time of my life! To put it aptly, like in MasterCard's ads, "Priceless". :)

Anyway, here's the scan pics..........

My Seduction Style

Shenn sent me a link to this quiz... Apparently, I have the MIDAS TOUCH!! Anyway, the quiz is pretty fun. Go ahead and try it if you have the time.

A Strange Dream

I was having one of my afternoon naps earlier and had a strange dream. Thought I will share it here in my blog.

There was a princess in a faraway land. She had many suitors but amongst all of them, she had three favourites.

Boy A – was the oldest and the most shy of the lot. Although he did not say much or show it, he loved the princess a lot.

Boy B – was the most handsome of the three, very outspoken, popular with others, was fun to be with and always showered the princess with attention.

Boy C – was the youngest of the three and lived very near to the princess’s castle so he was always around whenever the princess needed him.

Needless to say, the princess was very smitten by Boy B. She felt very happy to be with him cos’ he was very handsome and popular. Everywhere they go, people seemed to like Boy B. As time goes by, she spent most of her time with Boy B and although she kept in touch on and off with Boy A and Boy C, her heart was only for Boy B. She would do anything for Boy B. After a while, the princess stopped corresponding with Boy A and Boy C.

Days turned into months, and months turned into years, still no sign of Boy B asking the princess to marry him. The princess was heartbroken – she had wasted her youth going around the world with Boy B. Yes, they had fun and she knew Boy B loved her, but he wasn’t ready to be tied down. Boy B still wanted to see more of the world, make more friends and the princess felt betrayed.

Broken hearted and betrayed, she sailed home. When she was reaching her castle, she ran into Boy C. He was carrying a baby! He was happily married to the princess’ younger sister. The princess couldn’t believe it! Boy C was always there for her…. How could he do this to her….

She went searching for Boy A. She remembered the shy, quiet boy who loved her and regretted that she didn’t take time to know him more. Alas, Boy A was happily married, too. It seemed that he just got married a week before the princess got back! Boy A had actually been waiting for the princess, for 12 years but the princess didn’t return.

The princess was speechless and full of regret. She pinned so much hope on one boy, and was blind to see the love of the other two boys for her. In the end, the princess died an old, lonely spinster.

New Blog for My Recipes

I have been getting requests from friends and relatives for some of my recipes so I decided to start a new blog where I'll post my recipes. Also it helps me remember cos' many a time I just "invent" new recipes and it'll be a "one-hit wonder" as I can't seem to remember the ingredients!

So, if you are stuck and need some ideas to cook, go to http://tanty-kitchen.blogspot.com/ Happy trying..........

Ooh, Baby....

I went to KKH for my first gynae appointment yesterday. Here's the ultrasound scan.... Presenting........... MY BABY at 10 weeks old!!! :)