Happy Birthday to Me! ~

ACF July babies - Susan, tracy, Mel

Cass and Michele whipped up such a spread! AMazing! ~

This is handmade by Cass - so professional right??

Oooh this is my first handmade popiah! Looks not bad right ^_^

Now the 师傅 is demo-ing the right way to make a popiah

Michele's first attempt at home made otah ... tastes great!!

Carrot tomato soup with lots of wolfberries - good for baby!

I had four servings of the glutinous rice ... burrp! ~~~

Ta-Da!! Rose from hubby! See my pimple? i'm still very 青春！

It's another year wiser for me last Saturday 12July. Celebrations began on Wednesday when ACFers did a fantastic "home-cooked-affair" in the office. Cass and Michele had so painstakingly prepared a cake, popiah, soup, glutinous rice, otah and we all just couldn't stop gorging ourselves! Thank God for such great cooks and lovely sisters in our midst!

On Friday, we have home bible study class and hubby surprised me by getting a cake and guess what? A bouquet of flowers for my bday! It's really rare for hubby to buy flowers so i'm actually pleasantly surprised by his gesture of love ^_^

We have a church gospel rally on the actual day so all of us were busy since morning in preparation for the event. Though there weren't many celebrations this year as compared to previous years, i am very thankful to God for all the brothers and sisters in sharing the joy of the Lord with me.

My birthday wish is to grow more in the Lord, to be a godly wife and mother! Cheers! ~

Little Miss Scatterbrain

I bought quite a lot of fruits from the supermarket recently because people have been telling me how important it is to eat fruits for the baby.

The next day we have to get out of the house to leave for church and after finishing breakfast downstairs, i thought "Hm maybe i should bring the kiwis with me so i can eat in the church office, just in case they go soft from being too riped."

So we went back up to the house, i took the fruits, and after taking a quick turn in the bathroom for fear of letting hubby wait, i was like "Ok let's go!". We locked the door and got out, the 2nd time.

At the lift, hubby said "Er, where is your fruit huh?"

"Opps, still at the door I think ^_^."

I have totally forgotten the thing i came back for. Went back to the house, got the fruits, and got out again, the 3rd time.

I'm not exactly sure if this is a pregnancy deficiency coz i think i might be capable of doing this before too. Anyway i couldn't stop laughing at myself all the way to the car, in the car, and through the journey. How brainless can i get? Poor baby, better not inherit this part of me ^_^

关在台湾（二）

Yummy smooooth Dou Hua in Taiwan!

We spent most time of the trip visiting and catching up with friends. Not exactly the kind of "holiday" you would imagine me to have in Taiwan (the usual thing to do is hang out at Xi Men Ding, Shih Lin or Taipei 101!!), but i enjoyed myself very much getting to know Eric's friends. One of his classmates actually have a triplet of girls! They all look alike and super cute! Gosh how blessed is that?!

We also managed to try some local food. Eric's friends are all so hospitable and we were even treated to Hyatt for a super luxurious Japanese buffet lunch!? We thank God for all these wonderful friends and the love they showered on us over the few days.

Still the same verdict: i love Taipei and would really love to go back again soon. Maybe in 3 years' time when baby is good to travel! For all the action, check out the photos!

http://picasaweb.google.com/erkuan/Taipei15July?authkey=3GrYqFJq6Qs

关在台湾 (一)

No pun intended, but yes, the Kuans were in Taiwan last week ^_^

When Eric studied in Taiwan in his younger days, he stayed with a pastor whom was also his guardian. The pastor is Rev Kuan's classmate in the seminary, and both families had very closed ties.

The pastor Rev Shen went to be with the Lord and we attended the thanksgiving memorial service last week. The experience triggered some heartfelt thoughts :

1. There were more than 300 guests at the service. i had about that no. during my wedding but i wonder how many people would attend my funeral?? Rev Shen is a godly servant whom has touched the lives of many, who all came from all over (some from Hong Kong, Philippines, Tai Chung, Kaohsiung etc) to mourn. Would i have made a difference to people's lives by the time i die?

2. Rev Shen would get up each morning and do his devotion. He would sing hymns albeit out of tune but his joy would ring through the house. His moral is "pray in the morning to be close to God; pray in the evening to give thanks to God" (早上祷告亲近神；晚上祷告感谢神) An amazing learning for me!

3. I met Rev Shen once when i visited Taiwan two years ago. Though it was a brief interaction, his positive personality and cheerful laughter left a great impression on me. His legacy is clearly seen in his family. We stayed with them on the trip and they showered much love on us. The family is full of warmth and love for God, serving fervently in the church. Surely the Lord's blessings is with the family!

Rev Shen is a great godly servant whom is a role model for all of us. His life is characterized by strong faith in God, a prayerful heart, and a burden for lost souls. He will surely be missed by all. May the Lord continue to watch over the Shen family.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's super-mystery!

The long thingy you see is the spinal cord

We're excited to go for the gynae check again. It's always such a joy to see how the baby has grown and the activity inside the womb.

Baby is growing well at 11.41cm. Mommy only gained 0.5kg in the past month. Usual weight gain should be around 1.6kg so i'm falling short. Probably compensating for the large weight gain i had in the first trimester. But i'm eating well and baby is growing fine so it's not a cause for concern.

Doctor started scanning the baby to check for the gender! Alas, baby had the back on us and all we could see was the spinal cord?! Legs were tightly "kiap" together and wasn't able to see if there was anything "in-between"! We actually waited for quite a long while, shaking the tummy a little, but baby just won't budge and showed only the bottom to us ^_^

It's kinda hilarious because we were pretty excited to find out if baby was a 娃娃 or eric junior, but baby seems to have fun staying mysterious ...woahaha ... baby already has a sense of humor NOW ^_^

So, for those of you also eager to know, sorry have to wait another month for the detailed scan in the 5th month. You can try to make a guess though and see if you get it right ... hehehe

My symptoms:
- No morning sickness
- Eat a lot
- Feels tired in the afternoon need to nap
- Some people say i don't look pregnant from behind
- i don't have a swollen nose
- i don't have breakouts
- i don't have mood swings
- i don't have cravings

Soya Bean Tart!!

Smooth filling and crunchy crust! Really tasty tart!

Egg tart? Yes you've eaten that. Pineapple tart? Ok you get that too once a year. But Soya Bean tart?? It's the first time i heard about this!!

Our dear Brother Marcus and Sister Wee Ling was so kind to get us soya bean tarts on Sunday. I'm a super tart lover and was so looking forward to have a go on this new thingy.

I had a great surprise when i had my first bite ... the filling had a faint fragrant taste of soya bean, ultra smooth, melts in your mouth. The crust was just at the right texture, and you won't find crumbs falling all over unlike the conventional tarts. It is also not too sweet so you don't feel gelat at all eating the whole thing! To add on to the testament, eric who doesn't like sweet stuff, could not resist a second bite when i offered!

To tell the truth, i had two tarts in a single evening ... woahahaha. This is sold from a bakery located along Cambridge Road. I'll try to bring some into the office someday! Stay tuned!!

Reno Progress

Woohoo! ~ The hacking is now all completed and the house looks truly empty, except for the debris waiting to be disposed. Electrical works will begin this week.

We spent any spare moment we had last week checking out toilet fixtures . Found a decent looking American Standard WC for $252 at Hoe Kee. Store assistant says the pump is very good and durable. Anyone has any tips??