Milkmaid

"Enjoying motherhood so far?", people would ask. "Yes", I would reply, "But I feel like a cow".

I blame all the media for making breastfeeding look so easy. It's almost as if all babies already go through breastfeeding school in the womb and know exactly what to do. Two weeks after birth, my little Izzy still cannot and mostly refuse to latch. Trust me, when you have to force a wailing hungry baby to your breast everyday and to hear her cry because she cannot get to milk, you'd want to burst into tears yourself. Yesterday after a particularly upsetting episode of feed-her-not, I tearfully announced to B, "No more, I am exclusively pumping from now on". He just nodded, knowing full well I would likely still keep trying. (I am. Stay tuned for more updates.)

I also had trouble with milk production. I've read the reason is because of all the drugs used during the labour induction process. Together with the traumatic loss of blood and emergency uterine flush they had to perform on me (I thought I was gonna die), my milk glands went on strike. My colostrum only came in on day 4 or 5 after birth! In the end we had to feed Izzy formula first. Even after the colostrum, my milk supply was really pathetic.

Thankfully, I had advice from my sis in law and we got the lactation consultant to make a house visit. Since then, my supply has increased significantly, though I'm still working to stabilize it. They say the average baby consumes approximately 750ml of milk a day. So far I am up to about 600ml and increasing daily. Thank God.

I thought it might be useful to share some of the tips that really helped me.

1. Doppler tablets. These were prescribed by the paediatrician when I brought Izzy to see her on Day 5. The tablets are meant to kick start the milk production but not meant to be taken long term.

2. Pump frequently. My sis in law strongly advised me that since baby was not latching, I needed to follow the baby's feeding pattern and pump every 2-3 hours to stimulate more supply. Her target for me was 8 times a day but unfortunately I need at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep so 7 times is the most I've been able to do. 730am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 9pm and 11.30pm are the rough timings I try to pump everyday. Somedays it feels like I'm permanently attached to my medela freestyle! 

3. Fenugreek. I just started taking this yesterday (Day 14 after birth) and today I noticed a significant increase in milk production. Good stuff.

4. Drink more water. The confinement lady feeds me soup at lunch, before dinner, at dinner and before bed, as well as plenty of red date tea throughout the day. It makes sense, I feel thirsty all the time - all the water from milk lost.

I guess the message I wanted to share with new mothers who encounter problems breastfeeding is : don't give up, all it takes is time and you have to invest effort. It's still a learning process for me, hopefully it gets easier!

Her Birth Story

1am - We check into the hospital and the nurse inserts the first pessary to help the cervix dilate. I have to lie there for 2 hours before I can get up to go pee and sleep.

6am - I am woken up again for electronic fetal monitoring. I can feel some mild contractions on the right side.

8.30am - Dr Loi arrives and checks that I am 2cm dilated. She stretches a bit more and bursts my water bag with a long stick-like apparatus. Eeiks I think, expecting pain but nah, it is just a warm gush when the water bag breaks.

10am - Since I am Strep-B positive they start me on the antibiotic drip. From here on I am confined to bed. Some lower back pain can be felt at this point.

11am - In comes the anaesthetist Dr Foo who starts me on the oxytocin hormone drip to kick start contractions. She also put in the epidural catheter. Now this is scary for me, as I've heard scary stories on how the injection to the back can go wrong. I am super tense but luckily local anaesthesia is first given to numb the area.  

2pm - Dr Loi returns to check on me. "3 - 4cm dilated", she announces. What?! After so long I've only dilated that little? "How much longer, do you think?" I ask. "Another 6 - 7 hours" she replied. FAINT.

4pm - I feel restless from lying in bed and also slightly unwell. "Hungry.." I moan to the husband. And then, I vomited. Apparently some people get nausea from epidural; and I am one of them.

4.15pm - I say a little prayer to ask to speed things up.

6pm - Nurse examines me. He heard my prayer! I am almost fully dilated.

7.30pm - Dr Loi arrives and we start pushing. OMG. I have seen women giving birth on TV but I never expected pushing to be so difficult! Three counts of ten to push before I can rest during contractions, I can imagine it is almost like running a marathon. 

8.30pm - A full hour of pushing and they can see a ten cent coin area of her head. "She has a lot of hair", Dr Loi says. "Push hard, let's get her out".

8.45pm - I am exhausted and Dr Loi decides to assist the delivery using a vacuum. She also explains that she will need to cut me. ARGH, just what I was worried about. But no matter, I agree - just get the baby out fast.

9.13pm - Isabelle arrives! They plonk her on my chest, all warm, slimy and squirming 3kg of her. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  

Letter to Izzy

Dear Isabelle,

Words cannot describe how excited I am to finally meet you, and how much I, along with everyone else in the family, love you already. Tomorrow night we go into the hospital and hopefully, it won't be too long before you are in my arms.

Will you look like me, or will you resemble daddy more? They say the first born tends to take after the father, so I hope you will be smart (just kidding). On a slightly more serious note, it both scares and thrills me (and daddy) that you will likely have both our stubbornness combined. Good luck to us when feeding you greens, and our sympathy to the men who will need to win you over when you are 35 and start dating.

Ouch, you just kicked me really hard in the ribs again. I was kidding! You can date when you turn 25.

Anyway, the truth is that along with my excitement, I am also a bit worried about the whole motherhood business. You know, I've always known I wanted you in my life. But now that you are almost here, it just seems more real than before, and I would lying if I said I was confident I will be a good mother. In many ways, I still feel very much like a (albeit very old) child myself. To have a tiny being totally reliant on me - wow that's a big step. Every parent tells me that nothing will prepare us for being a parent, I am reminding myself of that.

Please trust I will try my best. Learn the diapering ropes and build up my biceps rocking you to sleep.  And even if I am never going to be supermum, I will be the best I can be - your protector, your biggest fan, and your bff (until you turn 7 years old, and decide you need cooler friends).

So looking forward to meeting you so we can start being a family and find our way.

Kiss you soon darling.

Love,
Mommy

 

The Game Plan

I had my 37w+5 appointment today and the baby measured 3.3kg. That sounded mighty big to me, considering that I've only put on about 8kg so far. Given my petite frame, I got a bit worried and couldn't help asking the doc if I could induce labour at 39 weeks.

Now I have done enough internet research to know that induction, unless for medical reasons such as gestational diabetes or reduced movement, is not encouraged. The ultimate concern is that if induction fails, an emergency C-section might be necessary.

But I had to explore my options.

The doctor started her assessment by checking my cervix and pronounced me 1 cm dilated and cervix "soft". What this meant is that induction would likely work, since my body was already gearing up for delivery.

Second, given that the baby would likely hit 3.5kg by 39 weeks, the doc felt comfortable that inducing a week before her EDD would not compromise her development.

Finally, since B was going to need to travel for work the first and third weeks of November, inducing her a week early would mean he will be around during the first few weeks of Izzy's birth - an important consideration as I will need all the support I can get.

So there and then, we decided to go into the hospital next Friday October 10th midnight to get induced. They will put in the first pessary to kick start the labour process.

It's funny how real this is becoming after we set a date to it - yes we are finally meeting her! More updates to come :)

Full Term 37 Weeks

Yesterday was my last day (until next Feb anyway) as a corporate hamster and words cannot describe how relieved I am that I am officially on leave/ annual leave! What a luxury not having to log into my work laptop this morning. 

On my to-do list this weekend:

1. Pack my hospital bag -  37 weeks today so Izzy can arrive anytime and we'll need to grab and run. In addition to my kindle, camera, maternity essentials (nursing bras, maternity pads, nipple cream, breast pads etc), toiletries, PJs, bedroom slippers etc, I also packed Bunny - he's kinda a family pet and needs to be there with us, heh.

2. Wash Izzy's clothes - there's A LOT of laundry to be done since we received tons of hand me down clothing. Look at how pretty the "little me" clothes look hanging on the balcony!

3. Plan how to maximise the time I have before she arrives. Lucky for me I have about ten days of leave to clear before taking maternity leave. A lot of my mummy friends have advised that I spend this time wisely. So yes, plenty of "catching up on sleep", "getting me-time" and "body maintenance" - getting the pedicures and facials before life as I know gets chaotic. 

Exciting times ahead!  

35.5 Weeks and Work-Life Balance

I really need to be more dilligent about maintaining this blog, hopefully I'll have more time when I start clearing my annual leave at Week 37.

1.5 more weeks to go! Work has been seriously, ridiculously bad. I am still clearing the backlog of work from the 4 months I was away (so much for having a person to cover me), and on top of that there's still new stuff pouring in. My heart sank when the boss handed me a new model to build last Friday. I seriously need to consider my priorities after the baby is here. It's not healthy how I've been staying late in the office and/or logging in after dinner EVERY NIGHT to work. And let's just say the boss isn't the most appreciative person around. It might just be the hormones, but I was so stressed and exhausted last night I almost broke down when chatting to B about my day. At the rate I am going, Izzy is going to be born one high-strung, anxious kid! Cry.

Dear Lord, please give me the strength to finish up the current work to the best I can, and importantly, give me the courage to say no to new tasks. Give me clarity in my priorities as a wife and soon-to-be-mother, and help me weigh life's challenges in a manner that brings glory to you. Thank you for all that I am blessed with, and remind me each day to show the people I love and who love me just how much I appreciate them. Amen. 


   

Week 20 - Team Pink!

We had our 20 week anomaly scan today. Don't want to bore you with details, but it's a thorough (took almost an hour) scan that looks at the baby to check that it's developing properly (major organs, fingers, toes, spine, facial features etc) and also at where the placenta is lying in the uterus. Baby looks fine (yay!), but I have marginal placenta previa. This is when the placenta attaches too close to the cervix which might cause bleeding. But doc reassures me it's quite common at 20 weeks, and there is a high chance the placenta moves up later. Just in case, I'm told not to carry heavy things (yes mdm) or walk too much (hmm a bit hard for me). Doc also gave me some progesterone pills to standby when I travel next week. 

Thank God for watching over my little one and keeping her safe and healthy. Yes, it's a little girl, the scan confirmed it! I am so happy, it's like the cosmic pieces of the universe have come together in my belly and I feel "completed" in His blessing. 

I also weighed myself at the clinic. 47.8kg, which means I've put on slightly more than 4kg of pregnancy weight. A quick check here shows that at 20 weeks, my minimum weight should be 48kg, maximum should be 50kg, and average weight should be 49kg. Although I'm on the lower end, it's still healthy whew. 

B and I had a very quiet Friday night, just the two of us and simple dinner at Great World City foodcourt. We made our first two big ticket purchases for baby - the Stokke Mini and Sleeper cot, as well as the matching changing table. 

They weren't cheap but we loved the cot from day one, so it was definitely a carefully considered indulgence. The expense can also be looked at as a long term investment because both the cot and changing table are designed to adapt and transform as the baby grows. 

The Stokke Mini (#1) sleeps an infant up to 6 moths, then it can convert to the Sleepi Bed (#2, 3) for up to 3 years old. The base can be lowered, so it is ideal when the baby is standing or sitting on its own. Then for toddlers and up to 7 years old, you can further convert to the Sleepi Junior (#4,5). Finally, you can just convert to a chair. 

The Stokke changing table too, can be converted into a study table for junior and later a bookshelf or rack. 

Can't wait to make more purchases for baby!

Apple and Poppy Seed Coleslaw

I've been cooking a lot this sabbatical but not posting the food here. But this simple gem of a recipe I found on this website is too good not to share. So easy but so delicious and refreshing. There are a lot of commercial coleslaws out there but nothing beats home-made goodness. I tweaked the recipe by adding an additional splash of apple cider vinger because I like my coleslaw tangy. Perfect! I feel happy just looking at the pretty bowl of coleslaw. 

Yield 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

2 cups shredded green cabbage

1 1/2 cups shredded red cabbage

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1 Granny Smith apple, julienned

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, combine the green cabbage, red cabbage, carrot and apple.In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, poppy seeds, salt and pepper, to taste.Pour mixture over cabbage mixture and stir using a rubber spatula until well combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.Serve cold. 

Kin Kin Chilli Ban Mee

I'm a couple of months late but I finally made it to Kin Kin! The popular stall from KL opened its first outlet in Singapore, and from what I've seen on social media, the queues were just crazy long the first few weeks. The good news is that while the restaurant was quite busy last Saturday afternoon, we easily got a table, placed our orders and got our food in less than 20 minutes. 

The bad news is that I felt a bit cheated by the price. I can accept paying $5 for a basic bowl of noodles but $3 more for 4 miserable clams leaves a bad taste. Notwithstanding the poor value, the food itself was pretty tasty. The noodles were fresh with a good texture. The chilli was the star and packed enough omph. Together with the oozy egg yolk and minced pork, it made for a fairly satisfying meal. 

We ordered pork and fish balls to share. The pork balls were ok but the fish balls stood out. Softer than the usual fish balls I am used to, a bit like tofu. Interesting in a good way.

Would I go back? To be honest, I don't think so - Macpherson is a bit out of the way for me and I've had better ban mee elsewhere. I suppose the fact that I had the runs that night also make me hesitant to return, haha.   

Marimekko for Banana Republic

Happy day - I am on a shopping high!

Banana Republic's hot collaboration with Finnish fashion house Marimekko has been on my radar since it was announced. Think bold prints and over-sized polka dots in bright cheery colours! It launched TODAY in the U.S. and will be in Singapore shops later, but guess what I did?

I logged onto the Banana Republic website and bought my pieces online. No need to jostle with the crowd for my size 0 petite (yes for short people like me!). But wait, that's not all. The best part was that I got 25% off my purchase - woohoo! 

Here's a hot tip. The BR website is giving a discount for "first timers" and once you register, they email the discount code to your email address. Here are the pieces I bought, the Siirtolapuurtarha dress, and the peplum top with shorts. Love the print! 

Inspiration to lose my baby weight to fit into these. Going for a run now, before dinner, haha.
    

New Lor Mee Find at Eunos

I've been taking driving lessons at Ubi driving centre and since I'm on sabbatical (i.e. have no income), I've sensibly been taking public transport. Which means a home-Somerset MRT-Eunos MRT-home route. And luckily for me, I was particularly famished after my lesson today and so I headed directly for the hawker centre at Eunos MRT for lunch. 

It was a no brainer picking this stall. "Fu Chun Laksa Lor Mee" it was called. The queue moved quickly, which I was grateful for. Not making excuses for my gluttony but these days when I am hungry, I need food asap!

It was only 12 noon but the laksa was sold out. No matter, I love lor mee. 

This bowl of lor mee was $3.50, very decently priced for what it was. Lots of noodles and ingredients - 1.5 stewed egg (I asked for an extra), 2 good sized battered fish pieces (very tasty and crispy!), 2 ngoh hiang balls and some pork slices. What I also liked was the flavorful sauce and the consistency was just right, not too thick and not too watery. I was very satisfied!    

Audi Fashion Festival

First of all, a minor victory that this pregnant lady yours truly managed to fit her 18 week bump into her Ong Shunmugam dress. Second, she is so wowed by the new collection showcased at this year's Audi Fashion Festival that she now has new motivation to lose her impending baby weight in order to do the pieces she will/ must acquire justice. 

Ong Shunmugam has made a name for herself with the brand's interpretations of the traditional Asian dress. This season, she takes it further again matching with some traditional batik prints with bold modern geometric prints -  lovely! See an example of what I mean - batik top with geometric skirt.

(I wished I had more and better pics to show for tonight but I only had my handphone camera and it's not very good). 

The show started with some cropped top and culotte outfits which were nice but I dare not be ambitious enough to think I can carry off. Next, she also had some nice traditionally cut cheongsam dresses in muted yellows and blues, dang, can my wardrobe accept more cheongsams? Maybe I should get this flirty flare cut cheongsam piece (argh super blurry shot) - that lovely muted green!

There were some funkier front drapey (think hanging cloth in between legs) which looked interesting. Will need to try these to decide they are feasible for me. Also keeping fingers crossed I can fit the slightly pointed shoulders of some of the dresses. Can't wait for the new collection pics to be uploaded on her website in their full glory. Here are some from Instagram. 

Thanks A for asking me along.

Prima Tasting

Prima ready-to-cook pastes and sauces used to be a staple in my back-to-Shanghai "comfort" food pack. I used to bulk purchase so that I could satisfy my laksa, curry and mee rebus cravings away from home. Fresh is best I know, but these Prima products are just so convenient and tasty. 

It was by chance that I received a last minute invite to go for a consumer tasting at the "R&D" department of Prima foods. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity - free food!

The food item for the day was sandwiches. Specifically, the Prima folks were exploring selling gourmet sandwiches at their outlet, iBake, located at the Star Vista. The objective of the survey was to collect feedback on the taste and pricing of their offerings. 

We were allocated individual cubicles and a set of questionnaires. Each of the 3 types of sandwiches were then put into the cubby hole at the cubicle for us to taste.

A shot of the 3 sandwiches I tasted : Roast beef, Roast chicken with Japanese curry and La ratatouille with salami. My fave was the chicken sandwich followed by the beef. I liked the taste of the curry sauce and they were generous with the meat. I'm not a fan of cold sandwiches, so although the ratatouille sauce was refreshing, I just didn't enjoy the sandwich. The baguette for all 3 sandwiches was excellent though - fresh, crunchy and complements the fillings perfectly.  

It's interesting how Prima is trying to penetrate the market of the likes of Subway and O'Briens. Hmm, their sandwiches are pretty competent tastewise so I'd be interested to see how they fare. And if I am ever in the area I wouldn't mind popping by iBake for a Prima sandwich. (Note: this was not a paid tasting, just my personal opinion).
    

Week 17 - Mommy-To-Be Rant

As a mom-to-be, I'm riddled with questions and worries. But beyond the "will I be a good mother" and "am I eating well for the baby" concerns, I find myself trying desperately to hold onto my pre-pregnancy self. I am a fun and wine-loving foodie, traveler and runner. Statement. And I would like to stay that way during pregnancy and after I become a mother. Statement. 

I suppose a part of me is afraid I will lose the essence of myself and become "all about the kid". You see, while I know my life will drastically change in a few months -- which I completely welcome and I'm excited for -- I (very idealistically) also want to keep some semblance of my former life. During pregnancy, that includes still getting my regular sashimi fix, sipping the occasional glass of wine, keeping my fitness level and strutting in my high heels. 

I can already see all the flank I am going to get for writing this. But I am frustrated and need to vent. Here are some of the riveting topics I'm grappling with. 

1. Don't judge me for ordering chiraishi 

One of things that annoy me about pregnancy is the amount of conflicting advice and judgement about the behavior of mothers and mothers-to-be. When I posted a "satisfied my sashimi craving" post on facebook, I was slagged. The comments I received ranged from horrified concern - "do you know that you aren't supposed to eat that?!", to plain noneofyourbusiness "xxx disease in babies is linked to eating raw fish". What I don't get is why people feel entitled to judge, and some even insinuate I am irresponsible towards the baby because of what I eat. They make me feel like washing down the sashimi with a chilled glass of wine in their faces. If they'd only do their homework, they'd see that in moderation and carefully prepared (hence only once a month from reputable restaurants), raw fish is an excellent source of protein and fish nutrients for the baby. Even the occasional (half) glass of wine has never been proven to harm the baby.  Don't even get me started on the comments to my photographs taken in Margaret River holding glasses of wine (most of which I spit after tasting!). 

2. Don't put me on bed rest 

Pregnant women are not made of glass. I love my unborn child, and I will never do anything to harm it. Before I continued with running and other exercises, I did my due diligence. I know that as long as I listen carefully to my body and do not over-exert myself, I am fine to carry on a lighter version of my pre-pregnancy fitness routine. So stop giving me dirty looks when I put on my running shoes. Keeping up my fitness both keeps me sane and will, closer to my due date, help with my delivery. When I get too big I will naturally change to a lower impact form of exercise.  For goodness' sake, stop nagging at me.

3. Yes, I still wear high heels (sometimes).

I cannot believe I was shoe-shamed the other day! Do people honestly think that pregnant women can only wear plain ugly flat shoes, or will we topple over or suffer from the thin atmosphere up there? I honestly don't wear heels everyday -- I am usually in my reliable birkies. But when the mood hits, I like to sweep the dust off my pretty shoeboxes and throw on a pair of stilettos. That doesn't mean I am vain and endangering my child.  

People need to see that pregnancy is a very personal matter and choices we make are our own. I don't judge you for still not kicking your nicotine habit when your wife is pregnant, and one can also argue that all the ultrasounds you go for may harm your baby. End of the day, I believe we are all educated enough to know what the myths are, and to discern our individual types and levels of risk tolerance. One lesson I've learnt is to really keep my "mouth shut" on social media i.e. to keep my chiraishi pics to myself.

*********************************

On a brighter note, I am getting bigger! Check out my bump below. It was taken last week when I realized I "popped". I still look a bit pudgy but one can almost guess I am pregnant. 

B was away this weekend so I took the time to pack my skinny clothes away and make space for my maternity wardrobe. Fully intend to still wear my non-maternity clothes where possible but I did make some basic maternity purchases to see me through the next 5 months plus. Yes, I don't intend to look frumpy just because I'm preggers!

It's certainly safe to say, I'm in love with a child, a tiny piece of Heaven, that I have yet to meet.

Dibs Restaurant and Bar

I love it when we have a precious restaurant find, especially when we least expect it. It was the eve of Labour Day and we were looking for dinner options at the Duxton area. B had suggested another new restaurant, Life is Beautiful, but it was fully booked. Serves us right for not making early reservations on the eve of a public holiday. I suppose it was a blessing in disguise because then we wouldn't have gone to Dibs and discovered just how good and good value the food was. 

The restaurant itself wasn't much to shout about. Grey walls and sparsely decorated, the semi-open kitchen was partitioned from the seating area and you can't see the chef cooking, unlike other tapas places. Note, I use the word "tapas" loosely, you can look at the menu and decide for yourself. 

The food is definitely fusion, and 29 year old Singapore born chef has done well incorporating asian ingredients and flavours into western dishes. 

We started off with 2 appetizers to share. Now, escargots and bone marrow are very standard western (even french) dishes you say? Check out the clever twists! For the escargots, the chef used wheat beer and salsify (a type of root vegetable), which I thought made the escargots taste meatier and gave it a bit of an oyster taste. On the bone marrow (they called it "meat butter" on the menu, what a delicious name), the chef added Japanese touches of teriyaki and bonito flakes which I thought was ingenious as it helped cut through the richness of the bone marrow. B and I polished off the meat butter on warm slices of bread within minutes.  

For mains, I ordered the crab cakes in bisque which wowed me with the innovative use of fried red threads of togarashi (japanese capsicum) to give the rich crab dish an additional dimension. I'd recommend ordering this main to share though, as it can get quite jelat.
  

I thought B's order of the steak and radish made for a more well balanced main. Oh dear, the daikon fries were so addictive (happy problem)! The steak was perfectly done and my oh my the bovril sauce was delish. I would order this again. 

For a young chef coming out on his own, I must say I was impressed with the quality of the food at Dibs. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our bill for 2 appetizers and 2 mains only came up to $106 - by today's standards (look to all the many "tapas" places out there) that is really cheap! I liked that the service staff there were attentive and friendly, keeping B's ice water and my hot water glasses filled up without us asking. 

I will return with friends to try more dishes and I think you ought to go check it out too.

Dibs 

51 Duxton Road  

Char

Funny how things have changed in just one short year. Last year, I celebrated my 35th with a big bang at Mad Men with a huge crowd of friends, to the tunes of my favorite band and flowing champagne. This year, my early birthday celebration was a much muted and intimate affair, and I was dead sober hah!

Hanging up our party shoes, the dinner party trooped east in our flip flops to Char, this new casual restaurant along Guillemard road. The main appeal for me were the meats - I had read how the chef at Char combines western sous vide methods with Chinese char siew making. I was curious how it would compare to our favorite authority on meats, Kay Lee.

Besides their meats offerings, the restaurant also serves a selection of vegetables and egg dishes. Since there were 13 of us, we just whacked and ordered a whole lot. The highlight was of course the char siew. See below.

Ain't it a beautiful sight, the intensely smoked, darkly caramelised, shiny and succulent thick slices of porky heaven? All senses ignited and I loved it! Unfortunately, we had to ration servings because our group had ordered the last of the char siew for the day. Note to self - preorder next time! Even my meat connoisseur husband said it was good, though I know nothing can replace Kay Lee in his heart haha.

The roast duck was excellent too, not to be overshadowed by the sexier looking char siew. Very flavorful, moist and juicy.

I'm not a sio bak person. But my friends really liked this. Cute touch with the mustard.

The other dishes, like the prawns, eggplant clay pot and sambal kang kong were quite competent and well priced. I had the sweet and sour soup - super comforting (but spicy, I like though). Also try the salted fish fried rice, it had nice wok hei.

The bill came up to around $30 per pax. Pretty good, considering more than half of the group ordered from the artisan beer menu (corkage of $25 per bottle of wine was a tad intimidating). All in all, a not particularly exciting but reliable neighbourhood joint for excellent meats in air conditioned comfort.

Happy early birthday to me! 

Every year I feel very blessed for my beloved family and friends who are always there for me. This year, I have even more to give thanks for - my lovely husband of 8 months and our darling baby who will be here in 6 months! Life is good and I thank God every day for all that he has given me. 

Char
393 Guillemard Road

Public Izakaya by Hachi

Let me just start off by saying that I have been back here for lunch three times in the past two weeks. Not just because it's good, but more because I've gobbled my food before taking a photograph the first two times, and I really wanted to blog about this!

I also want to disclaim that I've been so happy with the grilled chicken with minced pork and onsen egg rice bowl that I've ordered it three times in a row, so I cannot comment first hand whether the rest of the lunch offerings are as good.

Here's the menu, L (whom I was with the 2nd visit) has had the pork ribs version of my rice bowl and said it was awesome too. My colleagues (this visit) had the negitoro minced tuna set and they liked it. As you can see, prices are reasonable. Each lunch set is from $16 - 18++ and comes with pickles, miso soup and a salad. You get a one-time go at the salad buffet to fill up your bowl.

This was what I got: Caesar salad, potato salad, braised lotus root and radish and carrot. Oh, do go early! I was there by 12.15pm so the early bird also got an extra mini bowl of cold soba. Cheap (in this case, free) thrills are the best thrills, don't you agree? Haha.

And here's my beautiful rice bowl. I had asked for less rice and minced pork because I had a huge breakfast but the portions were still pretty hefty. Imagine more minced pork. How I like to eat this is to mix everything up nice and even - I took a pic but it looks gross so not posting here. Really delish though! Really hit the spot. Needless to say, I inhaled the bowl within minutes.

Nope, I am not sick of it yet. I bumped into another colleague at 100AM (the amara shopping centre) and we are arranging lunch, so who knows, I may go back again next week for my fix! Yes, same dish. I'm boring this way, burp.

#01-09, 100AM, 100 Tras Street

Week 14 - Wannabe Fit Mama

Officially in the second trimester and the baby is now the size of a lemon (~9cm)! 

The bump isn't out yet but unfortunately the bloat continues. I don't feel pregnant, just fat! My clothes feel increasingly tight, which is annoying. Sigh, why can't I be one of those skinny-everywhere-but-cute-little-bump pregnant ladies. Haha, it doesn't help that my appetite has been voracious from day one. 

But just because I’m knocked up it doesn't mean I’m letting myself go. I want to be FIT - exercising during pregnancy is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your growing baby during these crazy 9 months. Other than benefits in achieving a speedy delivery and recovery afterwards, I find the time spent exercising highly therapeutic. 

Running
I used to run pretty often B.P., and I hope to continue running until the 3rd Trimester, or until the stomach gets too big, whichever comes earlier. I've had to change some of my usual regime, of course. These days I go slower and don't impose distance targets on myself. Most weeks I try for two 30 minute runs and try to hit 5-6km each time. If I'm tired, it's not the end of the way, I just walk the rest of the way home. After the run, I always feel incredible and I'm just waiting for the day when the baby tells me with a kick to the rib that he/ she likes it too! My energy level during the 2nd Trimester is supposed to increase so I might try to run for a longer period if I feel up to it. 

Pilates
I’ve always wanted to start doing some pilates to correct my terrible posture, so I figured why not start now, before I get too heavy. 4 lessons in, I am proud to report that even though not more toned, I am a lot more self aware about how I stand, walk and move. The instructor tells me I tend to over work my right side especially the shoulder, so my objective is to start waking up the left side muscles to that I can handle the baby weight more evenly in the future.  

Ballet Barre 
I also decided to mix up my workouts. So I read somewhere about this new Ballet moves inspired workout, googled for classes in Singapore and 3 classes in, I am hooked! Besides how effective the workout is to tone, lift and burn my thighs, booty and arms, I like that it's all done to chirpy music and I feel like a (albeit clumsy) ballerina. This is not a prenatal class per se, so I had to inform the instructors for them to modify some of the exercises such as skipping the abdominal twisting. My arms and thighs were killing me for days after the first class, but I'm glad to report I feel much stronger now. 

Yoga
I really miss Bikram Yoga - the sweat, the hard work and the euphoria after. Now that I'm pregnant the heat is out of the question, but I would really like to try out a prenatal yoga class soon. If nothing else, it would be good to properly stretch out those aching muscles.   

Aqua-Aerobics
They say swimming is the best form of exercise for pregnancy but unfortunately I can't swim. Since it's probably not a good idea for me to start swimming now, I might just go to try out a water-based exercise class soon. Let me know if you know where runs good classes!

JB Ah Meng

Weekend nights B.P. (before pregnancy) used to be programmed-packed, occasionally double-booked, starting with early cocktails at new hip bars, followed by wine-filled dinners at up and coming restaurants, and more often than not, we'd end up till the early hours of the next day at our favorite clubs. These days, I'd very much like an early dinner please and be home by 10+pm in order to wind down for bed by midnight. Funny how life has changed. I still do the occasional late night, but whilst my energy level remains comparable (I'm extremely lucky to be the 10-20% of women to not have pregnancy sickness), I'm much happier conserving it for that "rise and shine" early morning high the next day.

JB Ah Meng would NOT have been a choice for Saturday night dinner B.P. The most obvious reason is that we would all be smelling from the recycled tze-char hot air blowing at us throughout dinner, and no way I'd want to mess up my outfit/make-up for the party after-dinner. But A.P, we had quite an enjoyable dinner in unadulterated Geylang alley (some say "lianpang") style. Dresscode: Street casual, and I do mean slippers and shorts.

There were 6 of us so we had a field day ordering.

Fried fish skin

Stir-fried snake beans and celery with deep-fried lotus root slices

Tomato with egg and black fungus

Sweet and sour pork ribs

White pepper crab

 San Lou bee hoon

All the dishes were very competently done. The dish I liked best was the vegetable dish. Loved the wok hei of the fry and how sweet and crunchy the peas were. Would go back just for that. The egg and tomato dish was very different from what we expected (more tomato and black fungus than egg) but very tasty nevertheless. As described by the auntie who took our orders, the sweet and sour pork was "very sweet" and "very sour". I couldn't resist seconds though I had a sore throat - very yummy and sinful. 

The white pepper crabs were smaller than we expected, but the meat was fresh and sweet so no complaints. I still prefer the version from No Signboard though. The San Lou bee hoon resembled a pancake and I liked how it was slightly crispy on top. Not sure if I'd order it again I'm very particular with my carbs, the boss bee hoon from New Ubin Seafood is better wok hei wise, and if I wanted texture, the Putien Heng Hwa beehoon rocks my boat. We also ordered chilli kangkong and fried fermented pork slices but I forgot to take pics. The kangkong was not bad, but the pork slices were reviewed as "excellent beer food" by A and B, who could not resist giving the sexy beer lady their business.  

Still, overall an excellent meal at less than $25 a pax. Good suggestion J! They do take reservations so if you have a big group you might want to call ahead. There's Rochor Beancurd a few streets up if you can still stomach dessert after dinner. We did that, then hurried on home to shower and prepare for bedtime. 

JB Ah Meng
2 Lorong 23, Geylang

Tai Hwa Bak Chor Mee

I'm not a big BCM fan. When I used to live in Shanghai, BCM almost never featured on my must-go-makan list when I'm back. It's nice yes, but there are just too many other distractions. So it was funny how (go figure, hormones) when not one, not two but three friends separately posted their Tai Hwa Bak Chor mee food pics on Facebook, a monster BCM craving overtook me and I just had to have it.

B wasn't working that day so we got to the stall on a weekday at 10.30am. We beat the lunch crowd and there was only four persons ahead of us in the queue. Yippee! Unfortunately, service was really slow so it still took 25 min before we got our food. I shudder to think how long people normally waited during peak hours. Against this psyche of being lucky/timely enough to only face a short queue, we couldn't resist each ordering the biggest bowl at $10!

It was a beauty alright. A huge bowl of vinegary mee pok heaped with nuggets of minced pork, sliced pork, pork dumplings, pig liver and pork balls. We polished the bowl off in no time.

Would I go back again for this? Probably. But no way I'm going to queue during peak hours.

#01-12, Tai Hwa Eating House, 466 Crawford Lane