Say what, mister?

I added an old classmate of mine on fb today. The last time we seen each other was almost 16 years ago. So happened both of us were online and so we chatted. I am amazed how a person whom you thought you know from young could turned out to be a psychopath.

Besides pestering me for 'supposingly' an honest answer on how happy I am in my marriage and the reason I got married so early in life (age 28 is way too early according to him), he freaks me out when he asked whether I was trying to avoid his questions when I gave him a 2 minutes late reply because I was chatting with Dear Hubby on the other window. You know how the background music of a movie plays when a psycho killer is about to appear? It has been playing in my head continuously ever since we chatted.

Well, Mr. Psycho, if you are reading this, let me reiterate my answers to your questions.

1) I am happy in my marriage. Like I said, I wouldn't do something that makes me unhappy.

2) 28 is not too early for marriage. When do you supposed is a suitable age for marriage? 82?

3) We were 12 years old when we last saw each other so don't act like you know me my whole life.

Hired help nightmare

She has her eyes shut while feeding the baby and opens her eyes only when the baby chokes on milk, dozed off when she's supposed to keep an eye on the lil' one, talks non-stop even in the middle of the night while baby's just sleeping next to us, keeps insisting to bottle feed the baby because she believes breastfeeding is too troublesome for the mother, suggests buying another dozen of nappies because she's too lazy to wash them every day, cleanse the baby's bottom the wrong way which could cause urinary track infection and lastly, she burps and farts out loud.

There's only a single good about her service: The yummy confinement dishes that she cooks and her special longan red dates with ginger drink. 

That's our confinement lady who's supposed to be so good that we have to book her service 5 months ahead before baby's born with a pay that's two times higher than a bachelor degree graduate's in Malaysia.

The fats issue

I lost 10kgs during the first postpartum week and I'm determined to lose another 20kgs, hopefully.
10kgs + 20kgs = 30kgs (yes, that's the amount of weight I put on during pregnancy!).

Being a skinny bitch since 13, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to put on much weight during pregnancy. But damn, I was so wrong! My gynae said whether one will put on much weight depends largely on two things; food and genetics. In other words, just look at your mom. If she puts on a lot of weight during pregnancy, then you will too. If she has stretch marks, then you'll have it too. In addition, I was binge eating the whole time. No doubt I put on even more weight compared to my mom when she was pregnant with me.

For now, my diet is purely on vermicelli, lots of vegetables, fruits and milk. After this, no more vermicelli for me in a decade or so.

Things I learnt since the birth of Meagan

What are the 5 most dead giveaways that you're a mother?

• Flabby tummy
• Gigantic thighs
• Saggy breasts
• Plump-looking arms
• Oversized buttocks

How do you know you're latched onto motherhood?

• You begin to like the smell of soiled diapers.
• You handle a newborn like some mamak making roti canai, shifting the baby from one arm to another like a pro.
• You miss your baby when you don't see them for hours.
• You're more tempted to shop at Baby Land than Marc Jacobs.
• You don't mind having another baby despite all the unpleasant pain and discomfort during pregnancy and labour.
• You feel 10 times stronger by just looking at the little angel.
• You've uncontrollable tears flowing down your cheeks when baby's unwell.

List of not-to-buy baby things:

• Too many baby clothes, especially in newborn size. They grow up so fast.
• Baby body suit / jumper - if you intend to use nappies instead of diapers.
• Automatic breast pump - it's expensive and slow.
• Baby cot, unless you have a room for the baby. Although it comes with wheels for you to move it around with ease, it doesn't fit through the standard sized door. Playpen with a 3 inches mattress should work just fine.
• Pillows - You'll find that baby sleeps better on the mattress without a pillow. Moreover you'll be paranoid that baby will suffocate himself / herself on the pillow once the head is turned to either side while sleeping.
• Soft toys - they'll be sitting at the side of the cot, collecting unwanted dusts day after day.

List of things to stock up:

• Diapers / nappies and nappy liners
• Milk bottles / milk storage containers
• Bottle warmer
• Baby oil / lotion - baby tends to have very dry skin
• Water-proof changing mat - sometimes baby does pee and poo during change of diaper or nappy.
• Lots of absorbent hankies for feeding time
• Breast pads - and I mean LOTS of them. Get the disposable ones with adhesive strips. - you'll be leaking like a faulty tap.

I've been busy

2.15am.

At long last, a clear mind and some time to blog about things before the baby wakes up for the next feeding. It has been a week postpartum and Dear Hubby has gone back to Jakarta on Sunday night.

Ever since the birth of baby Meagan (yes, that's what we decided to name her finally!), I've been busy coping up with motherhood, something that's not taught in life until along comes a baby. She has kept me busy with her frequent need for milk every 2 to 3 hours, to be accompanied by screaming and crying that's loud enough to wake up the whole neighbourhood if she doesn't get one on time. A small body with a strong lung for sure.

After nights of being deprived of my beauty sleep and sometimes having to hold the baby in one arm while playing Cafe World on FB, it finally dawned on me that having a baby is a life changing experience, something which I can never turn back and say, "Hey, I'll have a baby today and maybe not tomorrow."

But do I regret it? Well, the answer is no.

Granny's 70 years of beauty ritual

 

My granny (or Ah Mah as I call her) is one extremely simple lady. Her attire is simple one-design blouse and pants, only in different floral patterns and colours. Her hair is always in a small bun. She uses one piece of soap for her entire body and face. Her beauty ritual? Almost non-existence. BUT... she has one simple beauty ritual that she practices each day without fail. She applies homemade bedak sejuk on her face, décolleté, hands and legs after each shower.

Bedak sejuk is fermented rice powder, made from fragrant white rice soaked in water for 6 months or more until all the rice is dissolved into powder. The fermented rice powder is then dried out in the sun for a day and kept in an air-tight container.

She often takes a small piece of the bedak sejuk on her palm and dilute it with few drops of water before applying it all over her body. At 79 years old and for a person who doesn't use any kind of lotion, she definitely has GREAT skin (think Carmen Dell'Orefice)!

Carmen Dell'Orefice. 78 years old.
Photo taken from Huffington Post.

Read more on how to make your own bedak sejuk.

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Sinfully Yours

Def. sinful (taken from Cambridge Dictionary Online)
Informal ~ describes something which is pleasant, but very bad for you.

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Jakarta is a sinful city.

Sin-full of cheap Bintang beers; cigarrettes that cost a tiny fraction of what smokers are paying in Malaysia and other countries; clubs full of slutty looking bartop dancers that close only at dawn and hostesses who lap dance for you at a minimal price or sometimes free of charge; cheap labour which causes a pandemic of everyone owning drivers, maids, nannies, and cooks; round-the-clock in-home beauty services; the Blackberry craze - every 8 out of 10 people are carrying BB (total defeat for iPhone); a paradise for shopaholics and a city full of ladies lugging around either a Louise Vuitton Neverfull or Hermes Birkin.

In Jakarta, money is everything. Money buys you convenience, luxuries and most of the time, it gets you out of trouble with the authorities.

Tai-tai-dom

A BB chat with Dear Hubby just now.....

Me: What u doing?

Him: TV

Me: Hmmm... boriiinngg!

Him: So what's happening in your 'interesting' life then?

Me: I run a restaurant, a cafe, a hotel and a mall. Also, a mafia triad. And I own a farm too.

Him: SoOOoo 'suck-sas-full' huh!

x

Such is life when you join the world of tai-tai-dom. There's really nothing much to do except 'running businesses' in FB world.

^_^

38 weeks - That's 266 days or 6,384 hours!

I have 5 more days to go. Unlike normal delivery, I must say it's a good thing I don't have to wait till baby decides to make her grand debut. She's getting heavier by the day and I can feel myself tilting forward due to the shift in gravity point. And not to mention those sleepless nights due to difficulty in finding a comfortable sleep position, coupled with killer backaches and severe water retention in both legs, making 5 days seem like 5 months to me.

Lately, there were too many advice regarding baby's birth and postnatal care a.k.a confinement period, particularly from the elders.

"No cold water and drinks after delivery." (I can live with that - I guess beer kept at room temperature taste just as nice after 9 months of abstinence)

"Preferably, don't wet your hair for a few days." (What? I can deep fry some fries with that amount of oil on my hair!)

"Take more ginger and sesame oil. It helps with the wind in your stomach." (Ginger? Yuks.)

"No chicken, eggs, shellfish and sambal. Only certain fish is allowed due to your surgery." (Kiss buh-bye to my favourite honey barbecued chicken wings, grilled sambal fish, butter crabs with fried man tao, kam heong lala.... *gulp*)

"Don't step out of the house until you're done with the confinement period." - which btw is 1 whole freaking month! (Fortunately, I'm a self-proclaimed online game whore. All I need is a laptop and an internet connection.)

"Read these Bible verses during delivery. It helps." (I don't think I'll remember anything when comes spinal anaesthesia injection. FYI, I'm a trypanophobic.)

"Listen to worship songs. Let the baby listens too." (Sadly, I don't own one. And I'm hooked on the compilation of Madonna's greatest hits in club remix version - bought by Dear Hubby.)

.....and the list continues.

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I know they're concern. I feel their love and care. But that won't change the fact - I'm dying for a can of icy cold beer (ok, maybe not just one). In fact, I've bought a pack of Budweiser for after-delivery 'celebration' with Dear Hubby.

My 14-inch new toy.....

..... and I meant a 14-inch new laptop by Dell, that is! *wink*

Yes, everyone... behold my soon to be new toy.... the Dell Vostro 3400.

With the new Intel Core i5 Dual Core Processor, 3GB memory, 320GB of hard drive that spins at 7200 RPM, an integrated 8-in-1 card reader, 9-cell battery and sleek aluminium casing in my favourite red, what more can a girl ask for?

Let the counting begins

22 days ..... the number of days that I'm back in KL.

6 days ..... to go before Dear Hubby is back from Jakarta.

7 days ..... to go before I'm admitted for the scheduled cesarean.

8 days ..... more to go before baby's born.

14 days ..... to Father's Day.

17 days ..... from today is baby's actual due date.

38 days ..... to baby's full moon. So happen it's also a friend's birthday.

54 days ..... to go before Dear Hubby celebrates his big 'FOUR zero' birthday!

56 days ..... before we're back in Jakarta. Here I come, my 46" HDTV with sixty-one channels!

x

End of count. Time for bed.

A Bitter Core

Taken from Digital Art by M.R.M

I am a bitter person.

If you could peep through the small window to see the world as how I see it, you'll know that my world is in black and white. There's a small, tiny patch of greens right at the corner but it's slowly fading. Twenty seven years of life has taught me great deal of things. Some good, some are bad.

Some say, "Life is short. Live it to the fullest." or "Learn to let go. It makes you a happier person."

Another individual might say, "The world has no place for losers." or "There's no second chance in life."

Unfortunately, I'm 30% former and 70% of the latter. I've learnt that the world's not a kind place to live in.

It's June already

The weather in KL is crazy. Hot and sunny in the morning, thunderstorm in the evening. But I love it! I love waking up to the sound of chirping birds and beautiful sunny morning. When the weather is getting warmer towards the afternoon, dark clouds would appear followed by heavy rain to bring down the temperature. If I'm working, I'll be cursing such weather like mad for sure but I'm not, and therefore any horrible after-work traffic doesn't affect me.

It's the month of June - an expensive month for us. Besides an estimated amount of $7,000 for hospital bill, we have to pay $3,500 for the confinement lady, $5,000 for the daughter's school fee and miscellaneous exam fees and couple of hundreds every month for her ballet lesson, piano lesson and contemporary dance class. In addition, there're monthly loans, credit cards bills and insurance premiums to be paid. The truth is, I am overwhelmed by pities every time I look at Dear Hubby when he's home from work. I can't help feeling sorry for him, having to work so hard year after year just to support soaring bills for a daughter who doesn't realise she's being given the best compared to many kids out there and an ignorant ex-wife who agrees to everything as long as daddy's paying the bill.

Private school since the tender age of 7 and all those extra classes which don't come cheap? There's only one thing for sure - I do not want Dear Hubby to go through the same for my own daughter in future if I think it's going to be a struggle.