Larissa's Birthday Chalet Day 2

D went home as he had to work in the morning so there were only Larissa and myself in the chalet room through the night. I woke up before Larissa did and managed to get myself showered before Larissa woke up. She woke up at 8-ish, I bathed, changed her and we are out of the room for me to grab a bite and to take a walk around before my sister in laws wake up.

I grabbed some take away toast and we wandered around Costa Sands. Luckily I brought my MIM sling and I could sling her and bring her around the premise. There is a small fish pond in front of the stage at the entrance of Costa Sands and I tell you, it has got HUGE fishes! Really huge! I do have to admit that I am a bit afraid that they might just jump up and bite. Well, that what the fishes in the pond my primary school used to do. They'd jump up for food and the water in the pond is murky so we can't see the fishes.

hmm...fishes?

hey fishy fishy fishy!

ignoring me?

The pictures really don't do the fishes any justice. They are really BIG! Do pop by and take a look for yourself the next time you are there. After just 10 mins of looking at the fishes, Larissa got cranky already. Time for us to head back to the chalet to let her get her nap.

Back at the chalet, my sister and mother in laws are still asleep and so I put Larissa down to sleep and I took a short nap. The plan was to bring Larissa for a swim or to Wild Wild Wet to have some fun in the afternoon. My inlaws got up late, probably 1pm and Larissa was up soon after.

As we got ready to go to the swimming pool, it started raining. Damnit, what rotten luck we have. I have already changed Larissa and myself into our swimming suits and yet we're stuck in the rain till it stops. So, while waiting, I decided to unwrap Larissa's birthday presents and let her take pictures with them all.

After a few photos, it became evident that the rain is not gonna stop anytime soon so my mother in law suggested that we change her into her birthday dress and take photos of her, which I did.

The rain came to a drizzle at about 4 pm and I had enough of waiting. Since we have free tickets, I decided to bring her to Kids Explorer instead. So, I told my sister and mother in law to bring Larissa to Kids Explorer first and I will join them after I showered and changed. When I got there, they have not entered the place as my mother in law refuses to go in if we need to buy the socks and pay for entry. In the end, only myself and Larissa went in there.

As Larissa still cannot walk, there is not much that she can do. I brought her into the ball pit and put her in. Its the first time that she is in there and she was overwhelmed. She cried when I put her in and held onto me tightly. However, after about 15 mins of warming up, she got used to the balls and the sinking into the balls. LOL. She soon started picking up the balls and throwing and even tried to chew on the balls. She still held onto me for fear of losing me though. So cute. heehee...

We got back at about 6.30pm and they started barbequeing again. My husband's side of relatives came for a second round of barbeque. I had to settle Larissa down for her dinner and to shower her later on. She started fussing at about 8.30pm and I put her down to bed. After she fell asleep, I stayed outside for a while longer and at about 9.30pm, I heard her wailing. When I got into the room, it was too late and she cried so hard she vomited all over the beds. Sighs...My poor darling. I had to wipe her again and play with her awhile before she could go back to sleep. This time, I decided to stay in the room with her and thats how my night ended. 

It was a pity that it kept raining throughout the 2 days we were there and Larissa is too young to play at Wild Wild Wet or to enjoy herself at Kids Explorer. Maybe I will book again next year when Larissa is older to bring her there to play. 

Larissa's Birthday Chalet Day 1

This is a long post so its gonna be a 2 or 3 part post. Do me a favor and click on the ads above and on the right okays? Thanks!

Wow, its finally over! We had a three day two night chalet over the weekend at Costa Sands Downtown East to celebrate Larissa's very first birthday.

The day started early, I was woken up by Larissa at about 8am. From the moment we woke up, it was a  crazy frenzy to get things ready. My mother-in-law had to get preparation ready. They prepared fried bee hoon, fried rice, fishballs, nuggets, chicken curry and some cooked vegetables to bring over to the chalet for the guests later. Everyone had to help out as there was so much to do.

At about 12 noon, I went to the shop at Sembawang MRT to have Larissa's photos developed to fit them in the 12 month picture book. I only got back at about 1pm and I had to start packing. I hate packing coz its so stressful! I remembered going on a trip to Malacca when I was in Primary 5 and guess what? I forgot to pack all my pants and had to spend the entire trip in my school dress. Luckily it was only a three day 2 night trip or I would probably start stinking. You know whats worse? I brought 2 school skirts to Malacca and only came back with one. Can you imagine how a person like me is going to pack for 2, myself and Larissa? LOL. I had to go over the items in the luggage like, 200 times to make sure that I did not miss out anything and I am glad to say that I did not miss out anything this time! Boy, am I proud of myself!

We initially wanted to check in the chalet at 2.30pm but due to delays here and there, we only checked in the chalet at about 3.30pm. So little time and yet so much to do! My guests will start streaming in at 5pm and I had to do up the decorations and blow up the balloons. This I was damn angry I tell you. I think Downtown East uses bloody non-stick wall paint or what, I tried like 200 times with so much tape and yet the decorations I hung up would drop whenever I walked away. Seriously, FML. In the end, I decided to not give the decorations a damn.

Larissa fell asleep on the way to the chalet and woke up soon after we arrived so she was super cranky throughout her birthday celebration. She only managed to "hang on" till about 9pm and I had to put her down to sleep almost right after the cake cutting.

Did I ever mention that my husband has got A LOT of relatives? There were so many of them swarming the area that night that I think my relatives and friends got overwhelmed. Even I myself was overwhelmed by them though I had met them before.

Later the night, my side of the relatives came, only my uncle's family, paternal grandma, my dad and my mom came. So freaking little when compared to my husband's side. Anyway, that night, I came to realize that an online friend's husband's mom's sister is my dad's brother's wife. Very long winded but somehow connected. LOL. Small world isn't it? heehee...

At about 12am, my friends were still hanging around and I decided to take a shower before joining them for a chat. Guess what? They were all gone after I came out from the shower! That cut my night short and I went to join Larissa in lala-land soon after.

Here's some photos from the first day of the chalet.

This is the cake I baked that turned out to be like a brownie as it was only 2 inch high.

Larissa in the princessy dress that Mich bought for her.

I actually prepared a pretty hairclip for Larissa but like mommy, she hates to have accessories of any kind and proceeded to tug it out even if it means tugging her hair out as well.

My mom, myself and Larissa. Do we resemble each other?

Finally a photo of me and Hazel. Shane is sooo cute! Can we exchange babies for a day?

All the babies! The biggest baby is the youngest, guess which baby is that!

Larissa's Worst Fears?

Only yesterday, while I was at my sister's girlfriend's place, I found a little soft toy that is in the shape of a frog. I got a bit of a shock when I saw it as it looked pretty real and is tiny, like the size of a real frog. Guess what? Larissa is afraid of it too!

I finally found something that scares Larissa! I was very very mean, I actually threw the frog at Larissa and she almost jumped outta her skin before she started wailing! heehee...

Here's a picture of the little frog.

ribbit, ribbit

No Alcohol Please

Its only a couple of days to Larissa's first birthday celebration. Due to her having a stupid mummy who only started searching for a chalet 3 months before the event, we could only get a room at Downtown East. Damn it...I really dislike the place. Rooms are small, the whole place is crowded, service there sucks and so much to complain about but well...we haven't got a choice.

So, I decided that for Larissa's birthday, we are not going to supply any alcohol at all as we are on a tight budget. D (The husband) initially insisted that we provide alcohol for his friends who are coming but I rebuked him and said that my friends drink too so are we gonna hide the alcohol until his friends come only then we bring out the alcohol or am I supposed to go tell my friends not to touch the alcohol coz it is meant for his friends? Looks damn stupid on our part right?

I mentioned this in front of my in-laws and told them that there will be no alcohol served.

Me: "Ma, D says he wants to serve alcohol on that day but I told him not to."
Father-in-Law: "How can you invite people and not serve them any alcohol?"
Me: "We invite them to eat, not to drink."
Father-in-law: Silence.....

I don't see why we have to serve them alcohol. Can't they bring their own beers if they wanted alcohol? We are working on a budget here. If you want your face, then you can jolly well volunteer to pay for the alcohol.

Larissa's 1st Lunar Birthday!

Time really flies. It feels like it was only yesterday that I had Larissa and she is already turning one year old. Saturday was her first lunar birthday and I think she somehow knew coz she woke up for 5 night feeds in the night and was up by 6.50am. I was so tired that day!


In Chinese traditions, on baby's first lunar birthday, we are supposed to make a meal of mee sua*, chicken drumstick and egg for the baby (Actually not only on the first birthday but on every birthday). So, on this very day, I made mee sua for her lunch. Do note that mee sua is salty on its own so to feed a baby, you have to first boil it, rinse it in cold water then boil it again to remove the salt.

*Misua (also spelled mee sua or miswa) is a very thin variety of salted Chinese noodles made from wheat flour. It is originated from Fujian, China. They differ from mifen (rice vermicelli) and cellophane noodles in that the latter two are made from rice and mung beans, respectively, and typically a lot thinner than those two varieties.


There is also a tradition of letting babies pick the items. It is believed that the item baby picks will signify what baby's future career/life will be like. I was told by my mom to place 4 items for baby to pick. The four items are calculator, money, chicken drumstick and pen.


Guess what did Larissa pick? Watch the video to know. 

This is also the day that Larissa has the outdoor photo shoot taken by Amanda at the Esplanade. Shooting babies is not an easy task and I am thankful that Amanda actually volunteered to shoot Larissa. I would love to bring Larissa to have a studio shoot but due to budget constrains, I decided that an outdoor shoot would be good enough. More ever, this is a shoot that is full of love and definitely better than a shoot in the studio. 


Please pardon the fat me in the photos. Sighs, I really should start my diet soon. Anyway, Larissa kept sticking her tongue out during the shoot coz she was teething and it was uncomfortable. She was also cranky throughout the shoot so she didn't really smile.


Now, I am itching to get a DSLR so that I can do my own shoots for Larissa. Grrr.....

After the shoot, I had dinner with Amanda and a very cranky baby. My sister in law was holding her 21st birthday at Goodwood Park Hotel and I cabbed over there. They all love Larissa so I guess the best present that I can give her is to bring Larissa over. And yes, she was elated that Larissa was there but I had to leave early as Larissa was really too cranky and I can't let her sleep there as they will be playing throughout the night and probably wake Larissa. I have not gotten the photos from the birthday party. I will update once I get them. 

Time is never enough...

Do you feel the same?

My typical day start at 6.45am. I sleep feed (feed her while she is sleeping) Larissa, bathe, sterilise her stuff and I am out of the door by 8.15am. She is usually still asleep when I go to work. My work ends at 6.30pm and I get home only at about 6.50pm. After I get home, I need to take dinner and settle down and its only at about 7.45pm that I have time for Larissa. She usually goes to bed at 9pm so I get to spend a total of 1 hour and 15 mins with my precious.

It feels so little isn't it?

Now, I am trying to cramp in a little time to go jog in the evenings after work but that will mean I have less time with Larissa. I really am unwilling to sacrifice the little bit of time I spend with her but I do think that I really need the exercise.

I have considered going for morning jogs but Larissa wakes up in the morning to feed and there is no fixed time so I can't leave her in the mornings. Another thing is, Larissa still wakes up for night feeds as many as 3 times a night and I wake up in the mornings really exhausted.

I know it sounds like I am making up excuses not to go for my jogs but I really wanna go...I just don't know where to find the time to...

Me in A Wig!

I think I must be crazy to have worn a wig to work yesterday. It is totally not recommended at all. I bought my wig at a here. Its a synthetic wig and cost me about SGD50.

It was a crazy idea to wear a wig for so many hours (my office hours is about 10 hours). It was tight around my head, restricting the blood flow and causing me to have a massive headache. I had to take off the wig at about 3pm, let my head "breathe" for about 2 hours before I put the wig back on.

If you don't know, I shaved my head for a charity event back in July. 4 months down the road, my hair length is neither here nor there and I don't bother to style it. I usually will wear a cap in the morning after I shampooed my hair to "flatten" it. I have had remarks from my friends that my hair look like a cap on its own coz its thick and black.

This is what I look like with my normal, cap like hair. Pardon my tired look. This is what happens when you wake up to feed your baby 3 times a night.

This is what I look like with the wig. Pardon my fat and round face.

This is what I look like with my wig

Acting cute. lolxx

.Which look do you think suits me more? I'm thinking if I should grow my hair out or get a trim and start styling my hair. heehee...

Video Updates - 01.11.2010

Here's a video of Larissa with Puppy, our family beagle. 

And here is a video of Larissa watching Wheel of Fortune on television. She seem to understand that the lady in the show has won and started clapping at the end of the video. 

I always find my stuff all over the place. Here's why. 

At 11 months, she has finally learnt how to shake her head.