To Taiwan with the Babies!

We may be adventurous, we may be fearless.  Dear1 and Dear2 brought our 2 little babies to Taiwan over the Vesak Day long weekend.

We brought Baby1 to Korea when she was 18 months old.  Fussy, being at the terrible-twos age, fell sick there, and mummy had a super tiring time Beco-ing her as she was so heavy at that time.

Baby1 is now 3y4mo and Baby2 is 8mo, and we went traveling again, this time to Taichung/Cing Jing. Being cautious, we brought the Parents-in-Laws and Sister-in-Law along too, so that there’s more hands to help.

More hands to help

6 more hands to help, yes, but 3 more headaches and irritation too.  Conclusion: I think we can manage our next trip without them, thank you.

Flight on Singapore Airlines

Departed Singapore at 12 noon, returned to Singapore at 7pm.  Chose SQ as the timing is good so that we don’t have to wake up super early, or reach home super late.  An important factor when you have young kids.  Remembering the Korea trip, Baby1 was way too excited to sleep during the midnight flight, gosh….

Baby2 had the bassinet seat, which she had a nap during both the flights and mummy and daddy can have a breather while 3yo Baby1 entertained herself climbing on the seats and snacking on cuttlefish stripes.  Both kids finished all the milk feeds way before we finish the ascend/descend, so not sure if that helped in their ear blocks at all.

No kids meal cos’ Papa forgot to order, no infant meals cos’ they did not offer.  And when we asked for toys to entertain the kids, they gave us pouches and card holders.  Ermm, not toys?

Taiwan Weather

Papa says the mountains will be 15degC, and Taichung is Singapore weather, so mummy packed both cold and normal wear.  As expected, the 3 luggage is full of clothes of which 30% was un-utilised.  Better to bring more than less, right.

Hiring a Driver

We hired a local driver for the whole trip.  Comfortable 8-seater Volkswagon T9 with plenty space for all including 2 baby car seats.  Driver helped to carry the kids when we were busy too.  A huge disappointment was that driver was dominated by FIL with his political talks throughout the entire journey, and hardly have the chance to introduce the place to us.

Flying Cow Ranch and Cing Jing

We spent the first 4D3N in the mountains.  Refreshing and cooling.  Fed the cows, sheep and duck. Baked cookies.  Farm tour.  Park stroll.  Cartoon King paper-themed restaurant.  Mountain top view.  Hot spring (aka hot hot swimming pool in Baby1’s terms).  Just the right kind of holiday for families with toddlers.  As for the Baby2, she probably didn’t appreciate much at her age.

Taichung City

Traffic jams.  Night markets which was completely swarmed with people when the roads closed at 7pm.  Sun Moon Lake which was a super touristy spot that was too loud and full with PRCs and cigarette smoke.  The Ah-po’s tea eggs are still a must-have though, Baby1 had 2 full eggs!

Minsu/Hotel

Spacious, clean, simple breakfast that was just so yummy.  Minsu had bed warmer which warmed us all on the chilly mountain.  We borrowed baby bath tub on all the accommodation, to think that Papa wanted to spend $30 on an inflatable travel bath tub, heng…

Baby Carrier

Highly recommended for travel use.  Not only does the baby fall asleep immediately in it (as evidenced for both Baby1 during her time, and now Baby2), we are more mobile too.  No need to check in the stroller during flight, and no fear of steps or hills.  Of course baby mustn’t be too heavy, and mummy don’t mind the muscle ache at the end of the day.

Overall the trip was vey fun, and I think Baby1 enjoyed herself too.  Thank you Dear1 for planning this trip.

– Dear2

Don’t Waste!

Urgh, I need to finish all the food in the house again!

Prune juice bought when I was expecting Baby2 – throw!

Packet milk bought for Baby1 to try, expiring next month – discard!

Vitamin C pills bought when we were TTCing Baby2, not expired yet – keep in the fridge first.

Pork floss that FIL bought during CNY – cook porridge for tomorrow’s breakfast!

I’m not sure if it’s because our house is small, or maybe I really do have a fetish against keeping too many things in our house, or maybe our consumption is low, or maybe we (I) really bought too many things (hmm… why is buying so un-resistible?)  Every now and then, I’ll ‘clean out’ the house by throwing all the expired food, or strive to eat up all those expiring ones.  Today happens to be THE day, moody-post-holiday day.

Apart from food, I really need to consume all the other stuff too.

Do a pedicure for BFF’s wedding next week – let’s DIY, there’s still 2 bottles of nail polish at home

Rejuvenating foot massage at the parlour – just do it at home on our massage chair!

Exercise – just do your hula hoop, it’s free.

Lunch today – comprises of 1 太阳饼, 1 pineapple tart, 1 packet 铁蛋 and 1 bottled milk tea, all courtesy from Taiwan!

Now that our Taiwan holiday is over, the next ‘event’ will be to source for our second home.  This second home is gonna cost a bomb, maybe wiping out all our savings plus deficit, so we really need to be as thrifty as we can.  Save more, consume less, and finish up all those that is already in the house.

– Dear2

On Losing Weight

I did it!  I’ve gone from a bigger than XL to a M/L now, keke…  I lost 6 kg in 6 months, now 55kg.  Here’s how.

1)      Eat less.  I try to cut out on rice and have soups-only during lunch.  On days when I don’t feel hungry, I skip breakfast.  I eat only when I feel hungry, and I eat the foods that I like during this time.  For dinner, my plate is only ¼ rice, and a lot of dishes.  I try to avoid bread and biscuits and rice and flour, unless I am hungry.

2)      Eat my favourites. Nope, not raw yucky salads or fibre-ry wholemeals.  I still eat chips and chocolates and fried chicken and milk tea and hot milo, but only when I am hungry (becos I’d skipped breakfast).  So I still can have my favourites but these replace the main meal, as compared to becoming an ADDITIONAL in the stomach.

3)      Have half a cup of coffee.  Or maybe 1/3 cup only.  For many people including myself, coffee is a comfort food, but instead of having the daily full cup, I make 1/3 cup only for myself, which is about enough for me to satisfy the taste buds; any extras will only give nominal satisfaction, so not worth it lah.

4)      Exercise.  Yeah, you still need to exercise to target the right curves.  So I wake up at 6am to do half an hour of hula hoop every weekday morning, or replace with 10 min weights lifting or 5 min sit up if I’m too sleep-deprived to get up on time.  And more recently, I try to jog a few km during Sundays for a thorough work out.

5)      Stay stress free. It’s hard sometimes, but the human willpower collapse easily when you are stressed.  I’ve packed back many many grams because of this, when the will is not strong enough and gives in to more snacks and food and sugar drinks and everything food.

6)      Have a competition with like-minded friends. Yeah, the 6 kg lose in 6 months was documented because we had a competition among a few colleagues. Maybe I’m competitive, or maybe I’m stingy, but I’d really ‘step up’ on my dieting efforts towards the end of the challenge, because I want to look better than them, and because I don’t want to pay the forfeit.

7)      Use a tummy slimming cream.  I bought the Bio essence tummy cream, but I really don’t see/feel any effects of it.  The waist is slimmer now, but I’ll attribute it to the hula hoops. But since money already spent, I’ll definitely finish the (2) tubes.

8)      Don’t finish your food.  It’s wasteful, I know, but for this period of time, losing weight is more important than being environmentally friendly.  So since Mixed Vege Rice, Fish Soup and Soups do not come in ‘pay less for less rice’, I’d stop buying the rice entirely.  For snacks, I’ll keep the rest when satisfaction has been met or hunger satisfied.

55kg was the target that I set for myself earlier this year, so now the next target is 52kg, after which we’ll just have to maintain.  Don’t be complacent yet, I have to tell myself, we still want to look our best, so that we can feel the best constantly.

Gambatte!!

– Dear2

Cold Storage Kids Run 2013 Race Pack Collection

We are going to Cold Storage Kids Run 2013!

Cold Storage Kids Run was the only kids only run event in the past, so when Dear1 got to know about this last year, registration was already closed and 2 yo Baby1 did not get to go :(  Mummy made sure to calender down the event earlier this year – liked Cold Storage Kids Run on her Facebook page beginning of the year, and periodically went online to see if the 2013 web page is up.  The event is normally held in May, and it is THE running event for kids, so we definitely have to go this year!

End March, the website is finally updated with the 2013’s details, so we quickly registered Baby1 for it.  Being one of the few running events solely for kids, parents all over Singapore are all too kiasu to want to expose their kids to running, so places are reaaaaaally limited and snapped fast.

The pace pack collection was held over last weekend at F1 Pit.  We reached the collection place at 11.20am (collection starts from 11am) and there was a already long queue bustling with activity. Having not been to the F1 Pit area before, Dear1 searched for the route online before we left the house.

The route brought us to the Singapore Flyer dropoff point instead of the F1 Pit carpark (more on this later). Luckily, the entrance to the race pack collection area was just about 10 meters from the Singapore Flyer dropoff point. Dear2 and Baby1 alighted and made their way in while Dear1 waited in the car because the dropoff point had no parking lots. Shortly after, a security came and so Dear1 had to drive off.

Dear1 drove round to the other end of the F1 Pit building and had to enter through some deserted looking gravel path to reach the main building. Then, there were no parking lots. Dear1 drove the the point nearest to the entrance where Dear2 and Baby1 got off and waited there. Shortly after, another security came along and told Dear1 that we could not park there. She stated that there was a large signage (which we missed) at the entrance of the Singapore Flyer dropoff point that people going to the F1 Pit building for race pack collection will have to park in the Singapore Flyer underground carpark instead. Because the run organizers did not “book/rent” the open space outside the F1 Pit building.

O..k.. Ramble ramble, spent some time arguing with the security to buy time and true enough, Dear2 and Baby1 appeared just as the security walked away and off we went too. The security went on directing traffic and basically asked all cars to move away from the F1 Pit building. All I can say is that this is poor planning on the part of the run organizers.

Luckily, inside the collection venue, the queue moved pretty fast though we actually have to queue twice, once for the bibs and once for the goodie bag.  As per any running events, there’ll be sponsors and we quickly snaked through the many sponsors’ booths before exiting the packed room which, by the time we left, was almost near the point of deafening.

The event is next week, and Baby1 is really looking forward to it.

Constantly hmming ‘Kids Run’ – Checked

Running shoes – Checked

Small hand towel – Checked

Training – Did 400m jog once, so considered checked

Let’s hope this Sunday will be fun, and maybe we can cultivate her interest in exercise (where exercise do not equals to playground, Baby1!).  After this, there’ll be the Jurong Lake Kids Run on 7 July too.  There’s a kids race for the upcoming Pioneer Run, and some Kids Sprint which we saw the ad in Safra, but we think that it’s probably too much to expect of a 3yo at this stage.

Gambatte, Baby1!

– Dear1 and Dear2

Thank You, Mums and Dads

It’s the time of the year again for eating expensive.

There’s Mother’s Day (this Sunday), Father’s Day (next month), Mother’s Birthday (in June) and Father-in-Law’s Birthday (end of May).  2 parents each for Dear1 and Dear2, plus Dear1’s grandmother, so we have many many festivals to celebrate every year just for the elders (groan….…).

Every year during this season, we will take the respective family out for a restaurant meal, or in recent years, been ‘coerced’ into the meal by our younger but more generous siblings.  After years and years of dining, it has become a dread, cos:

1)      The restaurants are super crowded during the Father’s Day and Mother’s Day peak.  Why can’t everyone just have a sumptuous home cooked meal at home!?

2)      We’re paying expensive amounts for just a meal!?  (I’ll never forget that $400 bill for 6 pax on a Mother’s Birthday celebration.  I don’t even earn that much in a day!!!)

3)      The dining experience is really just pure eating for us.  Occasionally we’ll  chat with the siblings (ermm sorry, the parents just can’t fit into the conversation)

4)      Times 4 meals within a short span of 2 months.  Omg, the BIG hole in the pocket $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

It was with much much reluctance in recent years that Dear1 and I participate in the yearly rituals.

This year however, suddenly my perception changed.  I actually dun mind bringing the Mum out for her yearly reward, and I even proposed to organize the Mother-in-law’s Mother’s Day meal.  Hmm, what got into me….?

It has been a hectic year this past year.  Mum has been taking care of our little newborn Baby2 daily since birth, now already 7 months old, and before that Baby1 until Baby2 came along.  And Mother-in-law is helping to bath and feed Baby1 after childcare every day too, freeing up precious energy for Dear1 and I.

Somehow, the new parents of this generation expect our parents to help out with the kids, perhaps because we ourselves were raised single-handedly by our grannies.  Granny probably cooked and bathed and took care of a few cousins at the same time back then.  But apparently our parents don’t feel the same now.  Childcare centre, nannies, maid, SAHM, relax and enjoy own retirement years – I think our parents really do prefer these than having to stay home all day and babysit.

So, looking at how our own parents sacrificed their ‘happiness’ and be occupied and tired every day from looking after our 2 girls, I think they do deserve a nice treat.  It’s just a meal in that 365 days, but that’s a little way of expressing our thanks to them.

We brought Mum out for dim sum last Sunday already, and are planning for a dinner for Mother-in-law next Sunday (read, avoid the actual DAY!).

Have your made your reservations?

– Dear2