Since Becoming a Mummy...

Since becoming a mummy...

• I sleep exactly the same time as my baby which is 9pm. Pre mummy status - My earliest sleep schedule is 12 midnight!


• I watch Hi-5 and Thomas the Tank Engine until I can memorize its songs by heart and know when they are showing the same episode on the TV. Pre mummy status - Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewife, Friends, One Tree Hill


• Wear less or zero makeup when going out because scared that the chemicals on my skin will rub on to Elijah when I kiss him or rub my face against his. Pre mummy status - "We are going out kah?...wait, let me put on my concealer, mascara and lipstick...maybe a little bit of blusher"


• Wear less complicated clothes (no beads, sequins, strings) which is zero hazardous when Elijah suddenly have the urge to play with it or accidently rub his skin against my clothes and of course anything that is dark and comfortable (just in case he drool or vomit some milk on me) Pre mummy status - hmmm....anything comfortable but still make me look stylish and don't make me look fat..ooo...those strings looks interesting


• Wear flats or low heels shoes because constant carrying of Elijah . Pre mummy status - high heels to work coz look at least tall and stylish and wear wedges to shopping...i still need the extra height


• Check out the eateries whether they have good baby high chair and that it is fully aircond just in case Elijah gets hot with the weather. Pre mummy status - Lets go eat mamak food! or eat steam boat at the side of the road

Thats to name the few major changes in my routine. However, just to make my baby comfortable and smiling happily is worth it and anyway the early sleep routine and near to zero makeup has made my skin smoother and less zits....hehehe

Ok ...me back to 1, 2, 3, 4...Hi-5! Cannot wait to make my baby smiling happily :D

Elijah

Elijah playing with his new toys!

Elijah is now 7 months plus and can crawl, sit and stand (of course with something to hold on). So we bought him a colourful toy that can distract him for awhile...oh well maybe for 10 minutes the most.

High School Musical 3 Review

I went to watch HSM3 with my niece (8 yours old), cousin (14 yrs old) and hubby 2 weeks ago and I honestly enjoyed it. Well, I have watched HSM1 and HSM2 as well...hehe. This time there are more dancing (great choreographs) and singing. The storyline is a bit predictable but a feel good story and of course sweet romance (sigh....zac and vanessa). It started off with Troy Bolton playing basketball (Go Wildcats!) and of course they started singing....it was a bit weird when Gabriella started to sing out to him from the audience stand. My husband gave me the look when i laughed out seeing that scene. Yes...of course the Wildcats win the game and then there are more romance scene of Troy and Gabriella on top of his treehouse and singing of course.

Then the whole cast has accidently planted themselve to do a final muscial show to the dismay of Sharpay (which wanted to do a show of herself). Honestly Sharpay has suddenly become quite a stunner and Gabriella of course (no wonder Troy/Zac has eyes for her only). But then since it is the final year, they decided to do it .

"Oh Zac!, you can sing to me everyday!"

Since it was the final year at High School, Troy was divided in either choosing basketball or theater while Gabriella (the whiz kid) was choosen to attend an early orientation program at Stanford College which means she has to ditch the muscial show and the prom night. So...yadda yadda yadda...comes to the ending part, Troy drove all the way to Gabriella college (which I think takes a whole day drive) and convince her to come back for the musical show (of course with more dancing and singing). After the show all the cast decided what they wanted to do (which I find it funny that they need to annouce it out loud on the stage after a musical show). Ryan and Kelsi won the scholarship award to the prestigious Julliard school, Sharpay will continue another year at the high school to assist the Drama class and will go to UA to take drama, Chad will take basketball at UA, Gabriella is takeing pre-law (I thought she was a whiz at maths and science?) and Troy decided to go University of California where they offer him both basketball and theatre and also that he can be near to Gabriella (oh...isn't that sweet)

Of course the finale, lots of dancing and singing on the Graduation Day and the curtain close for High School Musical. It was a bit sad for me coz they will be no more HSM....how about College Musical or Post HSM???....lol. Well I enjoyed the show and I bet all those who are around my age or older are secretly enjoying it too but of course we give excuse that we were just companying our niece or daughters to the show.

Tagged - Breast Cancer Awareness Month!!

Wah...I finally been tagged from Noi. Thanks Noi!...lol but okaylah this is for a good cause. My maternal grandmother passed away because of breast cancer and it was detected too late. So, my mum and all my sisters are trying to do regular check up every year. So please go get yourself check! I agree with Noi....Prevention is better than cure!

RULES

1.Put the logo on your blog (done it!)

2.Add a link to the person who shared it with you - yup already added in!

3. I would like to tag Linda, ,Sharon , Simple Life and whoever wants to spread this awareness. Spread it around!!

Interesting new korean drama for 2008!!

Two korean drama which are on my ' wanted to watch' list. Korean hotties like song seung hoon (autumn in my heart), Hye Bin(snow queen), Song Hye Kyo (All in) are back!!

1. EAST OF EDEN

East of Eden’ is an epic 50-part drama series that begins in a mining village in the 1960s. The drama revolves around family love, life-long friendships and bitter revenge. The drama features some of Korea’s most celebrated younger and older generation actors including Lee Mi-suk, Yoo Dong-geun, Jo Min-ki, Lee Jong-won, Song Seung-heon (Autumn in my heart), Yeon Jung-hoon, Jung Hye-young, Han Ji-hye (Bride 16l) and Lee Da-hae (My GirL).

I think this drama will be lots of revenge and love conflicts...a very serious drama type. I want to watch due to Song Sueng Heon and Han Ji Hye.

2. WORLDS WITHIN

The cast is Hye Bin (Snow Queen, My Name Is Kim Sam-soon) and Song Hye-kyo 송혜교 (Full House, Hotelier, Autumn's Tale; Hwang Jin-yi, My Girl & I). This drama will depict the process of television drama production. An interesting pairing and both are cute!.... a good reason to watch. I notice that Song Hye Kyo has cut her hair short!! but still looks pretty.

Elijah's Baptism

Elijah was baptized on 27 September 2008 at St. Francis of Asissi church in Cheras. The priest is Fr. Valentine Gompok (orang sabah juga) who was kind enough to slot us in on short notice. Alex family and my parents came all the the way from Johor and Sabah to attend this special ceremony. My sister Grace and her husband Tony are the godparents for Elijah (Thanks heaps who came back from perth to KK and back to KL just for this ooccasion).

The proud grandparents from both side of the family

Elijah blessed with the holy oil, on his chest and blessing of the ear and mouth

Baptized with holy water.

Blessing on his forehead

Lighting of the candle.

Fr. Valentine lighting the candle and passed it on to the godparents

Changing into new clothes to signify that you are baptized into the church.

Elijah was not so happy to be change and due to the hot weather

Elijah in his new baptism clothes. Here he is after his crying incidence and a bit more calm.

Thanks Noi for the baptism suit!

The proud parents and godparents


Lunch at a chinese restaurant in Puchong with both side of the family after the baptism mass

Happy Belated Birthday to Valerie

A big happy birthday to my husband's niece Valerie. She just celebrated her 8th birthday on 22 September 2008

Elijah's First Introduction to Solid Food

Introduced nestle brown rice cereal to my baby boy last weekend. He is now 5 1/2 months old. Surprisingly, he took it very well and even wanted to feed himself by trying to grab the spoon and cup from us. I guess he was excited about it as much as us...haha.

First taste on cereal...yum! yum!

Elijah wanting more of the yummy brown rice cereal!

Trip to Phuket, Thailand

Last weekend, we went to Phuket for 3 days and 2 nights. It was not as great as Bali (well..nothing can beat Bali ) but it does has its beaches, islands and sunshines. Our Thai tour guide keep telling us that Thailand is the "Land of Smiles", however, I notice we did not get much smiles from the locals and even when they do smile..it lacks warmth and sincerity. The noticeable thing in Thailand is where ever you go, you are always greeted with "Swatika" with their hands clasp together which generally means welcome. The first thing you notice about Phuket is the tourists....they were foreigners everywhere especially in the Patong area.

A view from the top of Phuket Islands. This pic was taken from the plane.

Ibis Hotel

We stayed at the newly built Patong Ibis Hotel in the Patong area which I heard was hit hard by the Tsunami in year 2004. The hotel we stayed at was new and located a few meters away from the Patong beach. The rooms has basic facilities which I thought was enough for me. The important thing is that they have good strong powered showers in the bathroom and an LCD television which broadcast 50 channels.

One night stay is about RM200 per room.

Warning: Do not break any of the hotel's decorations. A guest broke one of the hotel's vase and it cost more than the room....around RM470. Please make sure you are covered with traveling insurance.

Islands

Phuket is famous for its islands such as Phi Phi Island and James Island (One of the James Bond movie was filmed there). However, our group decided to go to an island that is only 15 mins away from Patong town which is Coral Island.

Coral Island

You can do snorkeling, diving, parasailing and banana boat activity at the island. Our tour covered the cost for snorkeling. However, all of the corals are dead maybe due to the tsunami and not much coral fishes to see compare in Pulau Redang, Malaysia.

Having a rest after snorkeling and lunch.

Warning: Lunch at Coral Island is not worth it. It is buffet style but the food is of low standard. One of our group member even found a dead fly in his food.


Bangla Road, Patong

This road is notorious for its night entertainment....Go-Go Girls Bar, Cabaret Bar, Beer Alley Bar, Thai Girl Show and the infamous Lady Boys (Pondan). You will hear a lot of callings and persuasion to visit their entertainment bars and shows from the pimps. One of the famous calling is "Look See! Look See!". Not recommended to bring children which surprisingly I notice a lot of tourist pushing their baby stroller in the area vicinity.

Tip: In order to repell the pimps, go-go girls and lady boys harassing your husband, hold tight to him and gurantee you would not be harassed.

A mini live cabaret show performed by the lady boys. Tourists flooding the notorious area.

Me and the lady boys!

Warning: Only take photos with them if you are willing to folk out 100 Baht (Rm10). As for me, I did not know about this so I was force to pay that fee. Another tip, a chinese / japanese lady will be standing there taking photos acting as a tourist which I found out was also part of the ploy. Furthemore, the lady boys will grab your hand to hold their...breasts. A very weird experience. Take photo from a distance if you do not want to dig in your wallet.

Tuk-Tuk a typical public transportation in Thailand similar to a Taxi.

Jungceylon shopping mall. Located beside the Bangla Road.

Patong Beach
Long stretch of aquamarine water beside soft white sands. It is about 15 mins walk from the Ibis Hotel.

Alex at Patong Beach

Tip: Beach chairs are charge 1oo Baht (RM10) per day.

Young Malaysian lads having fun at Patong Beach

Tsunami evacaution route signage were placed around the Patong Beach. A grim reminder of what happen 4 years ago where 800 tourists perished in Thailand due to the tsunami.

Temples
Majority of Thais are buddhist.

Chalong Temple.

One of the richest temple in Phuket.

Please go to me and my good friend Noi's Food Blog to check out on the food in Phuket.

Baby Room at The Curve, Damansara

We went to the curve shopping mall last weekend and to my pleasant surprise I saw a baby room right in front of me. Thus, decided to change Elijah's diaper since the last change was in the early morning. Lo and behold my little boy has done his poo poo business without telling mummy. So after cleaning and changing him...I looked around and notice that the baby room is fully equipped and beautifully designed.Just wanted to show an example of what a good baby room should be. Hopefully this kind of baby room is incorporated in every shopping mall throughout Malaysia.

The baby room has colourful designs and soothing to the eye. It looks just like another sweet boutique shop from the outside.

It has two changing diaper table with foot pedal dust bins for the used diapers. Above the changing table, it has mobile toys to distract the babies.

A separate cubicles for mummies who want to breast feed or bottle feed their babies in private. The cubicles are big enough to fit a pram.

Shopping mall with baby rooms are a dream for every parents with young infants. Developers for shopping mall please put this as one of your main priorites.

Baby Laugh

Elijah smiling and laughing after watching and hearing his daddy singing for him. He is always entertained when we sing for him. Its either that his mummy and daddy has good vocals or are lousy singers...haha

Kwon Sang Woo Getting Married

At first I cannot believe it when my sister called me up to inform me about the rumours of his upcoming marriage. So I went to search through the internet and yes it is confirm that this korean actor age 32 is getting married to an actress who is also a former Miss Korea, Son Tae Young age 28.

For those who do not know who is Kwon Sang Woo...well he became famous after appearing in several tearjearking romantic korean dramas such as Stairway to Heaven with the famous Choi Ji Woo (our famous heroine in Winter Sonata), Sad Sonata and Cruel Love. He also became famous from the romantic comedy movie " My Tutor Friend".

Kwon Sang Woo and Son Tae Young.

Kwon Sang Woo is announcing to the press conference that he is getting married on September 28, 2008. He propose to her on a hot air balloon in Australia few years ago.

Of course, with his marriage announcement, a lot of his fans were not happy about it. Some fans even gave insulting remarks to the future Mrs. Kwon Sang Woo. We as a fan including me, should be happy for the couple and wish them well. They are humans too.

Confinement after Baby Delivery: Wive Tales - Myth or Fact?

After delivery, chinese believe that the mother should under go a month of confinement which means confine at home. So I went through confinement for a month...some say it can last for 40 days but I did mine only for 30 days which I think is long enough for me.

Here are some of the wive tales belief and what is my verdict of it:

Do not allow any part of your body to be touched by cold tap water

• TRUE: I could not believe it but it was true. Me (konon) a modern mum did not really believe in this myth so I washed my hand with cold tap water during my confinement. A month after confinement, I had painful joint pains in my fingers. My in laws told me that I did not follow the rule of not touching cold water. It was so painful...so whether I believe it or not, I will obediently abide by this rule in my future pregnancy. Better to prevent than exprience it. By the way, after rubbing some chinese oil on my fingers and taking glucosamine supplements, the pain has subsided. However, I still experience joint pains during raining season.

Do not wash your hair for a month

• NOT SURE: I of course could not stand not washing my oily hair for a week. So my confinement lady told me i could wash it once a week with condition that it must be dried straight away with a hair dryer and my scalp must be massaged with whisky (yes..whisky). I think this rule is to prevent any wind to enter your scalp which is to prevent any headaches or migraines.

Eat hot food (i.e. sesame oil, ingredient, rice wine, ginger) to heat up the body

• TRUE: Well partly true for me. Of course for the first 2 weeks after delivery, the body will feel cold because we lost a lot of blood during delivery. So these foods are to heat up our body. The first 2 weeks was okay for me but the weeks later...it was bit too heaty for my body. I was sweating profusely and later on I was having sore throat due to the food. I even told my confinement lady to cook less of these type of food. I think my body is heated up too much.

No fan or aircond

• SEMI TRUE: Well I insist that the aircond must be switched on during my confinement. I can live without the fan. Can you imagine confined in a room with the hot humid Malaysian weather without aircond or fan and all covered up. I believe that rule is to prevent any cold wind to enter the weak mother's body after delivery.

Bath only in cooked water

• NOT SURE: I don't know why we need to bath in cooled cooked water. The shower is find with me. However, no harm of bathing in cooked water. There are some strict belief that do not allow the confined mothers to bath for 40 days!

Cover yourself when out of the house such as a hat and a cardigan

• TRUE: This is to prevent the mothers from catching a cold or getting wind entering their body. However, I had to admit I did forget to wear my hat a few times when I went to visit my baby boy in the hospital. Of course, during those first few weeks...your body will feel a bit cold. So better to bundle up before stepping out of the house.

Of course, there are more rules to abide to . For me, anything is okay with me as long as me and the baby are in good health.

Home Made Steam Boat

Two weeks ago, we decided to do a self made steam boat at home. How did we do that?...well of course with our trusted rice cooker. So, off we went to TESCO supermarket to get all our ingredients. Of course, when hunger strikes... our shopping went a bit out of hand.

My last steam boat at home was on the of day of Lady Diana's funeral which was 11 years ago. Ironically, during our steam boat stint, the cable tv was showing a movie on "The murder story of Princess Diana". Somehow now I wills always relate steam boat with the death of Lady Diana.

So steam boat was a success but we kind of overdid it a bit. After that, my tummy was so bloated coz I think I ate too much. Thank goodness, for ENO which helps to settle my tummy down a bit.

The steamboat ingredient cost us around RM60 which was quite ok because it was quite a lot of food.

Fish balls (several types), chicken balls, mushrooms sausages, fish noodles... i really forgot what was the whitish stuff.

Fish cakes, tau fu pok, enoki and baby squids

Our lovely steam boat set up

Elijah First Roll

During the weekend, baby Elijah did his first roll. As usual, when he realize he can turn, he keep doing it nonstop...haha

Floral Display at Sunway Pyramid

Today went to the Sunway Pyramid shopping mall with hubby and Elijah. The mall had a beautiful display of flowers in the shopping mall old wing.

South Beach Diet

I am now following the south beach diet to lose my extra weight from pregnancy. Currently, I have put on a lot especially on my hips and legs. Wish I was like the celebrities where they just announce"oh...I got back to my pre pregnancy body just like well "few weeks" after giving bitrth". Well, unfortunately I am not one of the lucky ones to easily shrink back to their pre pregnancy body shape.


I would like to make a testimony, I actually lost 10 kg in a year by follwing the South Beach Diet plus of course with daily exercises like line dancing, belly dancing and aerobic exercise. However, that was 3 years ago where my only my aim was just to fit into that wedding dress. Now is a different story, my only aim is just to fit back into my jeans ( which i think is a more realistic goal) and furthermore since I am a mum, I do not have the leisure to do daily exercises except during the weekends.


So what is South Beach Diet?
Well, it acutally has 3 phasese: Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3


Phase 1:

Phase 1 is only for 2 weeks which now I am doing. Previously, I did this phase for a year...I know it was a bit extreme but I was getting married that year. So Phase 1 means no carbo (bread, rice, noodle, flour...) and no fruits. However, you are allowed to take any type of vegetables except carrots, beets and green peas, and chicken (except chicken wings and drumstick), lean meat and any type of seafood. The best part is you can take as much eggs and lowfat cheese which is my favourite . Remember to do this phase for only 2 weeks. This phase is designed to eliminate your sugar and starch cravings and to jump start your metabolism. However, of course when you just started this phase, you will be having all types of cravings in the first 2-3 days but believe me after that you will get used to it. Remember to always eat when you are hungry, this diet is not a starving diet. Phase 1 will certainly help to lose all those belly fat.


Phase 2:

Now you can reintroduce back carbo and fruits into your diet. However, the carbo must be those good carbo like brown rice, whole meal bread, and whole wheat pasta. Of course you can have some desert like those dark chocolate. Follow this phase until you reach your ideal weight.


Phase 3:

They call it the maintenance phase where after practising phase 1 and phase 2, you should know by now how to eat sensibly and once in a while can have those guilty indulgences. If you put back on weight, just go back to do phase 1.



I thought this was a easy diet to follow and which I would recommend to everyone who is dying to lose those belly fat. You could find more information about south beach diet on their website. Good luck!

After south Beach diet (wedding day) / After 2 months of delivery

Baby Talk!

Now my baby boy loves to talk. Here is a clip of how he sounds.

Back to Work!

I am now back to work after a long 16 weeks of maternity leave. My baby boy Elijah is now at a Day Care Centre and I miss him terribly. So I am back to blogging....I will update a lot of stuff like :

• Daily happenings in my life (nothing great but I will try to make it sound great...hehe)



• Since I am a new mum, a lot of parenting and on my baby development



• Politics??..nah...boring. Maybe important events in Malaysia and other part of the world



• Korean drama ( I notice my reviews is a popular hit...so stay tune!)



• Entertainment (celebrities, movies, sitcom, music...). Well since now in Malaysia, you can get it from ASTRO 712 Entertainment Channel, maybe just add in what I think about it.

Interested on interetsing places to eat well go to genzie. Currently my good friend Noi in the states has been actively updating it since I was away on Maternity Leave. Thanks Noi!!!

Me and Elijah (2 months old)

Elijah (3 months old)

Officially a Mum!

I am now officially a mummy!!...i gave birth on 29 March to a beautiful baby boy name Elijah Roman Chew. My water broke when I was in church while I was lining up for communion..haha. We rushed to Sunway Medical Center and was informed I had to do emergency C-section because the baby head is still high up. So, operation started at 10:30pm and the baby came out at 10:50pm...Throughout the operation, all I felt was someone pushing and pulling my lower body (i was on epidural) and suddenly 4 people went on top of my upper body to push the baby out (haha...felt like in a rugby game). What an experience...and just looking at Elijah...everything was worth it.

Elijah 1 day old

Elijah 3 weeks old

Elijah 1 month old