Speechless

Just the other day we attended a friend's son full month celebration. And many of our friends also knew a while back we were expecting baby no.2. It was a lunch gathering and our friend's mum have very kindly prepared a sumptuous lunch for all the guests. After settling JD with his lunch, I finally had a chance to sit down and enjoyed the lunch like everyone else.

Now, what is it with some people that everytime they see you tucking into something, they need to always remind you that you are growing in size? Or maybe you are big enough to go on the World's Biggest Loser? Ok, so I am 6+ months preggy and my belly has popped out. Yes, I am not a size 8 at the moment, but how could I possibly be? And I am not a tall person, so any big round belly on a small person is sure going to look big.

And in front of everyone, and just as I was about to have a first bite of my lunch, this person blurted out..

"My god P, I can't believe you are only 6 mths preggy, you look so HUGE! Are you sure your baby is due in July? Because I think you look like you are 9 or more mths already!" "Maybe you should confirm with your doc again" bla bla bla bla bla bla

Oh nice, thanks for being so "encouraging"!

Now listen woman, personally, I think I am doing just fine. I do not think I am big, but I think I am normal and glowing like any expecting mothers 2 be. And if you have a problem, go take it out on something else, like maybe considering getting your lips sewn!!!???

Honestly at that moment, I had a thought in my head...I just wanna to punch her up. As one of my Science teachers used to say when I was in sec school "One punch and you are out of here."

But I just ignored her and moved to another area to have my lunch.

Living a gypsy life

Our Melbourne trip continues...

On the 4th day in Melbourne, we began our jourhey as gypsies. I am proud to say my hubby can be quite an outdoor person at times, especially when it comes to camping. He likes the 5* treatments, but also love the great outdoor! So, on this trip, we decided to hire a campervan and drove around regional Victoria. I have been looking forward to living in a campervan, which really is a van but one that comes equip with kitchen, fridge, microwave, sink, dining table and beds. It is really neat, and you either love it or hate it. For me, I love it and so did the rest of the crew.

My greatest dream is to travel around Australia in a campervan or something similar one day.

So, here's a shot of the campervan!

The first leg of our journey was Melbourne to Port Campbell. Before heading off, we stocked up our food supplies with milk, bread, eggs, bacon, fruits, vegies, meat, pasta, and etc. Port Campbell is along the Great Ocean Road but we weren't chasing the 12 Apostles this time as we had done that previously. Instead we took the inland route which cut down the travelling time by 2 hours. Besides, the Great Ocean Road is really windy and not the best if you are travelling around in a campervan. We spent out first night at Port Campbell Caravan Park and JD was so excited when he saw daddy neatly folded the passenger seat into a dining table. He was really EXCITED and HAPPY!

That night I made Spaghetti Bolognaise for dinner. But uh oh, we had a problem. I realized we have forgotten to buy salt, but hub came up with the idea of adding some butter into the pasta sauce to make it a bit more flavoursome. I wasn't quite convinced by him, but was rather impressed with it when I gave it a try.

It was a simple meal, but so nice and so much fun. Maybe because we were on a holiday, but I think it was just so cool to be living in a campervan.

So, here's a shot of me cooking in the campervan!

Eating machine

I always thought JD is an eating machine. When he was an infant, he was always looking for a feed...like every 3-4 hours, he would want a feed. So much so that one of my friend's mum called him a King Kong!

Today, I am an eating machine myself. I have this sudden urge to EAT! Eat allright, I don't think I have stopped stuffing myself since my breakfast.

This is what I have had so far...
- 2 slices of raisin toast
- 1 cup of flat white
- 2 mini danishes which I polished off in a meeting this morning
- 3 vegetarian Vietnamese rice paper roll
- Half a chocolate muffin
- Bowl of wonton soup for dinner (10 wontons)
- A little packet of chips
- Fruit salad
- 1 cup of tea
- 1 Lindt chocolate

And before hub came home, I asked him to swing by Hungry Jacks to get me some onion rings.

Now I am stuffed!

I gotta stop eating now. I have been very well behaved for the last 6 months, always choosing the right food and snack. But today, it was all out the window. Nevermind, there's still tomorrow, start all over again, haha!

Then I feel horrible, because I also need to do a diabetics test as part of the the regular pregnancy test these days...oh shit, what if my blood sugar suddenly shot up today due to all my consumption. My ob is going to give me an earful :)

Cakes galore

On the third day in Melbourne, I discovered a row of cake shops in St.Kilda. The cakes were all displayed at the window and JD and I almost had our jaws dropped to the ground, dribble, dribble enough to fill a bucket! JD and I both have a sweet tooth, we both love cakes n cookies! I wish I could buy every piece of them and eat them all. But knowing that I have limited capacity, we settled for a Strawberry Roulade and a Mocha Roll! It was all so yummy! The cakes were baked by Italians, so it has to be good, afterall they love their food! There were at least 4-5 cake shops next to one another and one of them was Polish owned. I am still thinking about the cakes now, yum!

Lions, giraffe, monkeys n trams

Day 3: Melbourne Zoo

Day 3 was a day for JD. We decided to catch Tram 15 to Melbourne Zoo after a nice yummy breakie in St.Kilda. While waiting for our breakie, we managed to take a few happy shots of us.

The zoo was lots of fun. JD had a few favourites including the lions, giraffe and most of all the monkeys. Surprise, surprise, maybe he could relate most to them, ha ha! My legs were getting tired after walking around for couple hours and had to park myself in a cafe while hub took JD around the zoo for the next couple hours. There was a nice playground with a merry go around at the zoo and we spent another hour there letting JD run free.

On the way back to our apartment, hub encouraged me to try a Thai foot massage near St.Kilda coz my feet were hurting out loud from all the walking. That was a bliss!

Apart from the zoo, JD's highlight of the day were the trams! He was constantly spotting trams and kept shouting "There's another one" "Oh, another tram!"

Day 2 - The City, The Excitement n Paos

Day 2: Melbourne City

Today is officially our first day in Melbourne. We caught Tram 96 from St.Kilda into Melbourne city and spent our day walking the streets, remembering all the shops we saw a few years ago. Melbourne is a happening city, there's such a nice feel to it, something is always happening on the streets, buskers, magicians, and a coffee shop in every corner. It was a cold day in Melbourne and there was a Thai Cultural Festival happening in Federation Square. We went to check it out and there were lots of people there despite the cold weather and light drizzle.

Half way through the day JD got hungry and guess what he asked for of all things? PAO! Yes, he wanted Char Siu Pao! Ah, my boy, so Cina afterall. But being in Melbourne, that shouldn't be a problem. We walked up to Little Bourke St and bought him 4 paos of which he finished 2. On the way, I also spotted a Bread Talk lookalike shop called Bread Top and it sells pork floss bun too, strange. JD got sleepy after the paos and fell asleep in his pram while hubby and I continued to walk the streets. By chance we stumbled upon a street specialised in all outdoor gears and hub managed to pick up a backpack he has been interested in for $80 cheaper that that RRP, bargain.

I must say that my hubby has an eye for good bargain, he tends to pick up a lot of good bargains all the time.

Day 2 in Melbourne was great, minus my constant need to go toilet - cold weather, small bladder : )

JD happily ate and fell asleep after a yummy tummy.

Back from holiday

We had been away the last 2 weeks, flying to Melbourne for a holiday. It was an impromptu decision made back in March when Qantas put up a cheap fare. Before flying off to Mel, I had a great fear. My fear factor was replaying the image of JD tearing down the plane, crying, being difficult, just like the previous time when we flew back to Singapore. That time, it was hell - nothing I did could calm him down, he cried and carried on for almost the entire trip. That was one year ago.

This time round, I prepared him for the trip once I knew we were going to Melbourne. I started talking to him about holiday, about aeroplane, seizing every opportunity to spot a plane on the sky and telling him all about aeroplane. In the beginning, all the responses I got was "No, I don't want aeroplane". I thought "Oh Shit" to myself that the flight will be a nightmare again.

Days after days, weeks after weeks, finally the few days before departure, he started getting excited seeing me packing the bags and etc. But what got him excited was seeing all the little treasures I have packed in my backpack. There were fruit salads, jelly, Playdoh, fruits bar, biscuits, little toy cars, new crayons, new colouring book, new story book, Wiggles activity book and etc etc. Mind you though, that backpack alone consisted of all his treasures. At this age (2.5 yo), he loves to ask questions and kept asking me "Mommy, what you doing?" "What's the bag for?" etc etc and that gave me a great opportunity to explain all the goodies were for the aeroplane. Then ta da, it clicked! He started jumping up and down "Yay, I am going on aeroplane".

So, how did we go on this trip?

Day 1 - Perth to Melbourne

All packed, and excited, my BIL dropped us off at the airport. All self checked in, which was all cool. But wait, here's a twist. 5 minutes before boarding, my BIL rang my mobile to say he couldn't start our car which he had borrowed and was stuck somewhere in North Perth. So I thought maybe it was the battery or something else. Then after a few confusing conversations, we realised that he hasn't got the key to disalarm the car. Shit shit shit was all hubby could say, and was swearing at himself that he may have given his bro the wrong key. What to do, time is running out, my BIL was stuck somewhere in North Perth and we had to board the plane. In this sort of situation, one had to remain calm. So I traced back the steps, and figured out maybe my BIL has taken the other set of key without the car alarm. So rang his wife, asked her to check the keys and realised my BIL has left it at home. Phew, if not we would need to get DHL Express to courier over a spare set the next day.

The flight to Mel was EXCELLENT! JD was all I was hoping him to be. Happy, contended, no drama. He loved his airline food, got a little gift from the hostess, pretend listening to the inflight music, did some colourings with his new crayon, make friends with the little girl sitting in front of us and before we knew, we have arrived in Melbourne!

The best bit for JD on the flight was the big Cornetto ice cream for dessert! It might be too much for him, but heck, whatever to keep him happy :) And I even managed to watch a movie, wow!

Hub and I finally breathed a big sigh of relief!

It was cold in Melbourne that night and we checked into an Easystay self-serviced apartment in St.Kilda. I was hungry but it was 9.30pm when we got there. So hubby walked up the street to get some kebabs for us which I wiped out in a few seconds.

That night 3 of us slept together like a log in a king size bed, bliss!

More updates of the trip still to come...

Love affair with food

JD is a funny kid. He loves his food and he has the tendency to overeat. Sometimes he eats too much that he gets sick. His carers at daycare always talk to me about what he eats and how much he eats. He hasn't quite work out when to stop eating and when he realises he is full, it's also the same time when his belly is going to burst.

After having another night of him overstuffing himself this week, I decided to introduce the concept of portion control to this kid. I am teaching him to eat little bit at a time, and when he asks for more, I will try to let him have a rest before giving him more.

But, could my new experience have backfired when I heard him talking in his sleep the other night...

JD: "Mommy, dinner"
JD: "I want more dinner"
JD: "Yummmm, dinner!"

Scratching my head now, hee hee!