Christmas Adventure

While everyone is painting the town red and partying away, the auntie is bored at home in confinement. Decided to make good use of my time while baby is snoozing away, and here comes my own version of the christmas cake!

Okok, it's just a simple butter cake with some Christmas decoration, i confess ^_^ Looks great on the outside? Well actually it didn't come out too well on the inside. Somehow the bottom layer seems "uncooked" while the top golden brown layer is crispy and tasty. Not sure what went wrong, but i'll find out soon from my guru the domestic goddess.

Anyway i'm happy the cake looks GREAT on the photo! Woahaha ... how shallow ^_^

A Good Laugh

Laughing gleefully ... makes me laugh too! ~

Nose Block

Ever since baby Charis came home, she seems to make this "weird" sound when she breathes. At first we did not think much about it but by her second week, the sound got louder and it looks like her nose was blocked and it created some difficulty in breathing. We suspect this causes her to be fussy at night when she sleeps.

Finally we brought her to the PD for a check. PD says her nasal passage is quite narrow, and also there might be mucus stucked up in the nose. Recommended us to use the nasal saline spray to dissolve the mucus and to clear the passage. She demostrated the spray and when she cleaned Charis' nose afterwards, she digged out big pieces of grime!! Now baby sleeps better in the night.

Baby Photos

I'm excited when i'm awake!

Can i have something to play with?

Blah! ~

Yoohoo! Finally managed to upload some photos of Charis taken in the past week. Babies are amazing creatures ... they display all kinds of faces at a young tender age! Enjoy! ~

Arrival of Charis Kuan

Smiley princess Charis arrives on 25Nov2008!

She sleeps a lot in the day ... look at the double eyelids ... hehe

Part (A) The Labor

Went to the gynae on 24Nov and baby is exactly 38 weeks. Found that the umbilical cord was around her neck from the scan so doctor advise to induce birth immediately since baby is already full term. Contractions began around 9pm at night and baby came the following day at 3pm after 18 hours!!

Song Song Herbal Bath!! Funny name ...woahaha ~~

Part (B) The Confinement

I didn't bathe for one week! Amazing that i could actually "ta-han" that long. After a week we need to bring baby back to the pediatrician so that was the best reason i gave me mom for letting me bathe (mom, i can't go out in this smelly messy state, can i?!) .. hehe ... but i was made to bathe in water brewed from Song Song Herbal ... the name itself is hilarious ... suppose to get rid of "wind" in your body. Ok, i'm a good girl so i listen to my mom ^_^

Part (C) The Recovery
I gained a total of 20 kg for the pregnancy, lost 10kg after the labor, so i have 10kg of excess baggage compared to my pre-pregnancy days!! 10kg should be ok la, hope i get to lose them soon with much exercise!!

Tracy @ 37

My new short crop ^_^

Tummy bigger than Eric now

YAY! Baby is coming soon!

Okok, just in case you thought i was referring to my age ^_^ i'm into the end of my 37 weeks now. According to the baby book, baby is well matured by now and can pop anytime!

Was at the gynae last monday and baby was 2.5kg, so i think she should be close to 3kg by next week. Her weight presses on to my ribs so it's getting tougher to sleep at night.

Had a slight disagreement (again!!) with mom yesterday on the topic of "can i wash my hair during confinement". She is adamant about not touching water through the month as there would be "wind" entering the body and is detrimental in the later years, while i am more for the doctor's advice about keeping oneself clean and even more so for breastfeeding the baby.

But anyway, I cropped my hair in preparation for the confinement. If i can bear with it, i might just go with my mom's advice ~~~

Big Foot Part 2

My foot started to swell some time ago and then it subsided just after 2 days. I was pretty thrilled and thought that was the end of the episode.

Little did i realize i was attacked by the big foot monster again last weekend, and this time was worse than the last - you would have mistaken me for a baby elephant without looking at my face. It lasted 5 days, and today the swell had gone down again without any reasonable explanation.

My mom said, if the swell comes and goes for three times, , the baby will pop. WOW she's better than the doctor. The gynae can't even tell when my labor will be but my mom can ... hehe.

Tai Tai Baking @ SengKang

The tai-tais begin their task!

Michele is our official mixer ^_^


Ta-Da! ~ Our shifu shows the final product!

Jap curry rice for lunch - super YUMMY!

Wonderful tai-tai gathering - we want more!

It's been some time since we gathered for baking. Cass gladly taught us chocolate cookies this time round and VOILA the final products tasted great!

Brought the cookies to church and they were devoured in a short time. Good indication of support and encouragement that i should bake more next time!

And i've also learnt to prepare japanese curry rice. Super easy and super tasty. Now i do see my domestic index really going up! Woahaha ~~

For more photos, visit Michele's blog http://micheletee.multiply.com/photos/album/52/52

Beautiful Princess

How can anyone resist all the sweet little dresses out there in the malls? :)

Was shopping the other day and came across this sale for baby stuff. Caught this sweet skirt set and immediately fell in love with it! Already starting to imagine how the princess would look in this! Haha ~~~

Even though baby is not even out yet, i'm already secretly hoping she'll grow up soon so she'll fit into all the beautiful dresses! hahaha crazy momma ^_^

Big Foot

I answered my gynae with a smug smile, "Oh i'm feeling great. No swelling of hands and feet and no varicose veins."

Guess i spoke too quickly last week.

I woke up these days to find myself in the big foot family. The top side of my foot seemed to have swelled quite a bit and i would even feel a bump when i walk! Definitely feeling more clumsy now as i start to wobble ~~

Argh, think my feet look really terrible now. Good thing i got a pedicure last week to "beautify" them a bit hehe ~~

Bird Nest

Step 1: Soak the bird nest for an hour

Step 2: Dump it into the slow cooker and add slightly more than one bowl of water

Step 3: Add rock sugar as desired (i usually put about 8 small cubes)


Step 4: Leave it alone on high heat for 2 hours (note this cute smallie cooker given by mom ^_^)

Step 5: TA-DA! There you have it! Home made bird nest!

Ok now, who can truly attest to the widely acclaimed benefit of consuming bird nest??

Now my mom is certainly an advocate, while my hubby is doubtful how a bird's saliva can aid in improving beauty, pregnancy etc ... Personally i just go with the flow and eat whatever comes but to be honest the taste is not appealing and i won't crave to have it.

Anyhow, my mom got me bird nest throughout my pregnancy and just when i thought it would end when i moved to our new home, she actually ta-bao more bird nest and say "pls bring these with you and remember to eat!!"

My greatest excuse was "i have nothing to double-boil them in" and before i know it, mom got me the cutest smallie slow cooker ever to complete the package! Amazing mom isn't it?!

The plus point is it is extremely easy and fuss free to prepare bird's nest. And i just hope there is some truth about it making the baby's skin soft and smooth!

Let me know how bird nest worked for ya! ^_^

Chicken Essence

Step 1: Put herbs like Pao Sheng and red dates into the bowl

Step 2: Place a small bowl over the herbs, and spread the chicken on the bowl

Step 3: Send everything to the steamer for 4 hours

Step 4: Great smelling chicken essence oozes out to the bottom of the bowl

Step 5: Enjoy the great tonic soup! The chicken is tender and yummy too!

When i was back in Penang last month, my sister-in-law brewed this great tasting chicken essence tonic soup for me. A super lover of chicken and soups, i can drink this perfect combination everyday! What's more, it's so easy to make and perfect for the dummy housewife like me!

Buy a kampong chicken from the wet market and ask the uncle to remove the skin (so that the soup will be less oily). If the chicken is very big, you may cut it into half, otherwise use the whole chix.

Wash the chicken thoroughly and spread it over a small bowl of herbs, then steam it for about 4 hours. Watch the fire and ensure you have enough water in the steamer to last you through!!

What you get is REAL chicken essence!! Moms-to-be and everyone out there who needs a tonic boost, try it! :)

Glory Fellowship Gathering

Truly enjoyable gathering of Glory friends!

30 weeks' tummy!!

We had an amazing gathering an our place last evening. Many lovely friends from my mother church Glory came from all over to this Seng Kang wilderness .. woahaha ...

It was really great catching up with all of them and all the more lovely with the little children in our midst. Very soon i know we'll have more additions! hehe

Thanks to all who chipped into the wonderful potluck, and the definitely useful house warming gifts! Looking forward to more gatherings soon!

For drools, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/erkuan/Gathering?authkey=9MIcLyf9hPo

What's in a Name?

People have been asking us if we already have a name for our baby girl. My dear niece even took the trouble to get me a baby names book! Oki, the quest for the perfect name is finally over :)

Chinese Name: 关怀歆
English Name: Charis Kuan

The word “歆” has the meaning of admire, or offering sacrifices to God. My father-in-law chose this beautiful name and we love this character because it has “music” in it too!
◎ 喜爱，羡慕：～羡。～慕。
◎ 飨，祭祀时神灵享受祭品、香火：～享。

Charis is the Greek form of grace, and has multi-fold definitions (reference http://www.bible-researcher.com/grace.html):
1. a pleasant external appearance, lovely, agreeable and acceptable
2. favor and goodwill (of God)
3. response of gratitude and thankfulness

Indeed, we are so thankful to God for His good favor to us by giving us this wonderful baby. And our prayer is that we can bring her up in the fear and instruction of the Lord, and the offering of her life and skills as a pleasing sacrifice for the glory of His kingdom! AMEN!

Cute Baby Suit

Today we received a love gift from one of our good friends in Penang! She specially chose two suits and mailed them all the way to Singapore! Thanks Yvonne!!

I've always dreamed of dressing my baby in cute suits as such. Isn't it simply adorable to see little ones flapping cute animal ears? Woahaha ~~

Now my wish is granted, but i just wonder if baby feels as elated being dressed up like this. Hehehe ~~~

3/4 of a Milestone

Heaviest stage of my life hehe ^_^
Bottom up angle makes tummy looks bigger than actual

Just not too long ago it was 1/4, then 1/2, and we never quite realize it is now 3/4?!?

I am not doing justice to my baby as i missed out blogging about our precious angel for the past months. First of all, we're expecting a princess ^_^ She is so shy even in the womb as her legs were just so tightly shut together, and only after several attempts over 3 visits to the gynae we finally spotted the gender. Hehe ok she's a demure princess :)

This has been an extremely good pregnancy and we give all thanks and praise to our gracious Lord! I continue to eat anything and at anytime like a p*g, no cravings, no sickness, just much bigger now and moving slower. I start to feel the weight of the tummy and sometimes it can get difficult to sleep at night. But overall, i feel good :) Sisters out there, c'mon and have babies! It's quite easy! (i mean so far :P)

I'm getting real excited just thinking about how to doll up my kid! woahaha ...

Raising the Domestic Index

This black looking dish is actually sambal brinjal (blame it on the phone camera)

Stir fried honey pea with carrots and capsicum

Chicken wing stew - my all time favourite!

Sweet & sour prawn with dried chilli

Having been buried in my work for the past weeks, i finally found a weekend to catch my breath. Invited my sisters - WL & friends - over for a home-cooked dinner.

Apart from my 招牌菜 the chicken stew, i have nothing much else to offer in my pockets. Pored through the recipe books at home and finally decided on the above ensemble.

I have always loved brinjals and people say it is very nutritious because it's purple?! Took a stab at making the sambal dish and HEY it did turn out quite tasty ... haha. Even Peg and WL who don't usually fancy eggplants took a few servings! So, PASS!

All in all, the simple fare did bring forth satisfactory smiles from my guests, which totally thrilled me. I am just so thankful that we all had a great evening catching up with one another :)

Chef of the House

Everyone knows who's the 一家之煮 of our house without having to ask .. woahaha ... Well in defense i would say i'm on the way of improving my domestic index. Some people are just later bloomers in certain things, of which i'm one of this kind ^_^

I can't be more thankful to have a hubby who cooks, and most importanly who wakes up at early wee hours. By the time my eyes open and am ready to feed, i can always receive a breakfast of different variety.

This day, it is fried noodles with cabbage and egg; another day it is club sandwich with roast chicken and cheese. I admire his never lacking of creativity and i secretly wished i would one day wake up earlier and do what he does (which had never quite happened) ... woahaha

I thank the Lord for hubby's labor of love :)

First Attempt in Baking

Cupcakes without the icing ... an innovation ^_^

It was hubby's birthday (i'm catching up on my posts so his birthday was long time past in Aug) and i wanted to give him a memorable gift. What can be more unforgettable than torturing him with my self-baked cupcakes? woahaha ~~

I seeked tips from the domestic goddess Cass and asked for a fool proof recipe, and here it is - cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing. I woke up early and sneaked to the supermart to get all the ingredients. I even bought the mixer on the same day! But alas, there was no icing sugar (and i bet you didn't know there are 100 kinds of sugar out there for different kind of baking needs!). Checked with Cass if i can make do with something else and the answer is NO :( Icing MUST use icing sugar woh ...

Ok, no icing. But still the cupcakes go on. Just to make it look a little better, i sprinkled some chocolate chip, but still the flat top looks weird, like "something's missing somewhere" woahaha.

Indeed hubby was pleasantly surprised when i presented him the cakes after our bible study session. We had a good time nibbling at the cakes with our church youths and HEY someone did say it's nice and wants a second helping!

Oki, first attempt didn't turn out too badly. I'm motivated to try more fool proof recipes!

Super Big Steamer

I can open dim sum stall with this super BIG steamer

YAY! Fits all the dishes in comfortably

Lunch ready in a jiffy!

That day hubby came home with a special gift for me - a super BIG steamer. I gawked when i saw it and laughingly teased him "are you asking me to open a dim sum stall??" It really does look like the kind you see in Chinese restaurants. And over here in the picture you don't see it but it actually comes in two steaming tiers (i had kept the upper layer)!!

Well i truly appreciated hubby's effort as he knew i liked my food steamed and healthy, but i seriously doubted how i could manage such a big gadget?! Anyway, the next day i can't wait to lay my hands on the new toy and TADA!! It did work out REAL WELL ^_^

The super steamer was able to fit in all the dishes for a lunch and all i needed was 15 mins and i was ready to devour! So, apart from my wedding ring, this must be the best gift ever from my hubby ... woahaha ~~

Dim sum anyone?

A Place Call Home

YAY! I'm back!! Have been overwhelmed at work for the past weeks and thank God i'm alive and kicking! :)

We finally settled nicely into our new home, though there are still many unpacked boxes lying in the store ... hehe ... maybe i can junk those things if i can live without them for the next three months woahaha ~~~

Seng Kang is a wonderful town. Quiet, serene surrounding without the hustle bustle of the CBD. Thought the city girl in me would find this place boring but i was all wrong. I have grown to like this place very much and am so thankful we finally have a place call HOME! ^_^

We are also very near to Ikea Tampines so it's a breeze to eat meatballs (and there's free parking too!) Quick drive to workplace, direct MRT from church and mom's home. All too convenient that works perfect for our lifestyle!

Haven't been taking many photos but here's a glimpse of our home http://picasaweb.google.com/erkuan/SKHome?authkey=PJ_lGGCB5Ks Enjoy! ~

I'm Alive

Just a quick post to say "I'm Alive" ^_^

It's been a long time since i last blogged because:

a. We just moved to our new home on Monday 4Aug - Thank God!! Busy cleaning up the place and unpacking the hundreds of boxes, thousand pieces of clothes and million pairs of shoes;

b. Assigned to a new project at work with an extremely tight timeline. Been having night meetings nearly every evening and working through the day to catch up on the tasks;

c. Starting up the toddler's ministry in church and preparing materials for the 17Aug kickoff

Many things going on right now; forgive me for not being in touch!
i'll update details soon!

Cause for Celebration

The experts did these!! (i made THREE ^_^)

Can't wait to eat ... YUMMY!! ~~

Last Sunday, we had a warm gathering at Stephen & Hwee Hsia's place. Thanks to their hospitality, we had a great evening catching up (and making fun as usual) of one another.

There were many causes for celebration - both em and us got a new flat; em and stephen got a new job; sean and my bday; karen's speedy recovery; ronald & janice's coming wedding, and lastly my little baby!! We don't really need reasons to party but indeed we have quite a lot to give thanks for!

Needless to say, we gorched ourselves with so much food ^_^ And we were happy to have some sisters from ShanDong to help us make dumplings!! If you look carefully, you might find the THREE dumpling i made (hint: the ugly looking ones ... haha)

Thank God for the warm fellowship in His love :)

Liquid Cafe

Hearty portion of seafood marinara

Cheezy baked rice ... very tasty!! Definitely will order this the next time round ^_^

Linguine Carbonara ... slightly bland for my taste

The desserts saved the day!! New Yoke Cheese cake! Not too sweet and not gelat!

Tiramisu is soft and creamy .. melts in the mouth ... mmmm

Of course, my queen of cakes ... chocolate fudge served warm!! i ate 60% i think ... hehe

We have lots of July babies in our workplace. Our manager Mok is so nice to give us a treat at Liquid Cafe along Sembawang Road. I've never been there before so i'm looking forward to treat my taste buds! Be warned though this place is so far away, near to the Mandai Zoo, and beside the Thai Shark's Fin restaurant.

Mok highly recommends the baked rice, which really tasted great with lots of cheeeeze (my fav)!! i had the carbonara which i think is so so. The rest of the team also commented that the food is "ok la". The upside is we had the whole restaurant to ourselves (we thought Mok booked the entire place in our honor ^_^). The downside is it's got an open kitchen so i smelt like bad fish at the end of the 2 hour lunch :(

Gladly, the desserts were good. We ordered three cakes to share and all were so yummy. Texture was good and not too sweet. i would recommend coming to this place for desserts but bring your own bathing cap to protect your lovely locks!!

Thank you Mok and friends for the wonderful company!