51st Merdeka Celebration

Lovely colonial mansion at Tun Razak Research Centre, Brickendonbury, 30 August 2008

Found a lovely shady spot for a picnic by a little river on a very warm sunny summer day

The myraid of stalls nicely lined up selling what else if not malaysian grub!

'Semut' balloons

Silly Cow

It was weird waking up and not have anything to do after breakfast yesterday. OK OK admittedly I do have the laundry, the ironing, the unpacking still to be done, but hey give me a break. Surely I am entitled to chill on my first day of freedom.

I really did not achieve much. I fell asleep at 10, woke up at noon, had a shower, popped by the shops for lunch and ended up spending money I don't have on make up because that lady at Benefit was so good at telling me how I needed all those products to feel good when preggers and how all pregnant women should be pampered, while she plastered a tonne of make up over my face.

I was looking all glowy with long enhanced lashes and nicely caked-up face while frying ayam goreng chilli and sayur campur for dinner that night. What a waste of my mini make-over huh.

But but but back to the point I was trying to make before I rambled on, that is - marketing ploys preying on fat vulnerable pregnant women are appalling and shocking. But hey I did fall for it. Sigh.

My Two Little Gurls

A holiday shot - Winnie bonding with bump at 31 weeks.

New Chapter

At 1700 today, I started my long awaited maternity leave.

It felt a little sad to think that I no longer will be in the work force for the next 12 months and that I will not wake up to a routine.

It is strange but this was what I have been waiting for and yet I kind of don't want it. Funny how the human memory is so selective and can choose to forget all the distressing moments but only retain the good ones when circumstances change.

I will surely miss my morning healthy snack of melons, oranges, grapes, pineapple fruit salad from the resto and traipsing down the mall to get me some pastry from Paul's mid-morning when hungry. Oh and free international calls from my fixed landline (I have to admit I abused it by calling mumsy every other day FOC).

I know I will definitely not miss the slave-drivers and the limited access to certain internet sites at work. We were not permitted access to my lifelines - facebook, gmail, blogs - it was a pain!

Anyways, I have been wondering what I will be getting up to these next few days before I fly home and briefly this is the list (I so love list-making, it helps de-clutter my knotted thoughts) I have come out with:

• Some shopping for bubs, mum and my sister
• Becoming a domestic slave (am no goddess unfortunately), with Ramadhan approaching
• Be on top of my ironing and laundry
• Packing and organising bubba's stuff
• Lots of blogging and net-surfing

There we are, lots to keep me occupied after all huh.

Time's Up

It has been 9 days already, time to head back to the wharf.

Checked the weather in London - on average it will be 22 degrees, cloudy. Not too grim.

I still have some last minute shopping for bubba that I need to do back in London. Initially I thought I could get some stuff in KL but after seeing what they have to offer, I had second thoughts. I am not a snob, but some baby shops in KL sell some really cringe-worthy stuff.

Anyways, I will be back in about three/four weeks to deliver bubba. So this is really a temporary goodbye.

Laundry List

I am glad I made this trip home, albeit a slightly short one. I managed to get quite a few things sorted out:

• Sorted maid issues at agency for when I am back, need mumsy to train her on household chores etc
• Had a pleasant and thorough check up with Dr. G; all questions/worries put to rest plus he is such a lovely gentle man
• Renewed my driver's licence
• Got my maxis line sorted for when I am back for ML
• Mani/pedi, hair cut, eyebrows + leg wax. Such bliss being well-groomed (at a cheaper price too)

Other items to cross out before the 25th:

• Find out what baby stuff I can get in KL without having to lug everything back from London
• Some banking transactions
• Dinner with old buddies

After watching The Secret enroute flight home, I am now visualising hard:

• Quick and easy labour (can't help being repetitive, my pain threshold is unbelievably low)
• Healthy happy bubba
• Good efficient problem-free maid
• A new *ahem* watch for myself

Hope I am persistent and strong enough to make all the above happen.

Yummsteroo

Had some ubi kayu + kelapa + gula, a very un-posh traditional dessert, but o so delish.

Yes I am home sweet home.

Quickie

Simply not enough time in a day.

By day:

Snowed down in work - rcsa, closing caps, handover, month-end reports. Glad I managed to finish up at least 75%. As for rcsa, it is temporarily over, until I return to tie up loose ends.

By night:

• Packed on Tuesday (What did I do Monday night?)


• Birthday dinner on Wednesday (can't believe I did not have time to blog about my 34th)


• Dark Knight and abit more packing tonight-Thursday

150808:

• Mumsy's birthday
• 30 weeks into my pregnancy
• MH003 12:00 Farewell London

Countdown

The excitement has set in.

Tomorrow I will go in to work with an extra bounce in my step. Don't anybody dare rain on my parade.

I will be at work for the next four days. A birthday some time in between. Friday morning we set off to LHR and will be home-bound on the noon flight.

I will be at home for approximately 9 days; savouring mumsy's cooking and playing with Ninie + Cleo.

We will head back to the wharf and arrive LHR on bank holiday.

(Try to) work work work for another three days. By 5pm 28th August I am a free woman. Huzzah. Huzzah. Huzzah for maternity leave.

Reflections

Approaching the big three-0 was a little daunting if I remember correctly but IK was thoughtful + enterprising. He threw me a surprise birthday dinner with some close friends in Dome BSC.

Unfortunately his fail-proof plan was exposed during our lunch together earlier that same fateful day; he left his mobile on the table and was away when he received a text (which I automatically checked on his behalf, no I'm not nosy) from one of my girlfriends inquiring about the time of dinner that night. For a moment there I thought, ‘Eh is he having an affair with my buddy?’ Haha.

That was my 30th.

On hindsight, I embraced turning 31, 32 and 33 pretty well and was nonchalant about the whole age thing. I think I was more in control and felt good about myself, no more hung ups on the body/looks issues that I had when I was in my early/mid-twenties (yes I was quite the bimbo). Perhaps it was the also the year when we moved to London. I was 31 then. Being away, lots of travelling, adjusting to a new life, in a new environment, starting a new job, I was too occupied with sweating the big stuff, rather than the small stuff (re aging). Perhaps. Perhaps. Who knows?

That was then.

Now, with my 34th drawing closer, I am somewhat affected by this age-thing. It just feels so damn O.L.D.

I am closer to being forty and even closer to being mid-thirties. The mind is a powerful tool and I really should wipe out unpleasant thoughts as I have much to be thankful for – I have been blessed in many facets of my life thusfar. I need to focus on the bigger picture.

The one big enormous change this year for me is having a bubba. It certainly marks 2008 as a special year for me like no other.

I will soon learn (instinctively I have been told) a host of new skills that never existed in me pre-bubs. I imagine a great learning curve, especially in the character-building department. All for the better. Everything good good good I truly believe, see list below:

• Stop being selfish + self-absorbed
  
• The world does not revolve around ME
  
• Bubs is 1000 times more important
  
• Being very protective over bubs (that special mum-baby bond)
  
• Start being responsible for another being
• Be sleep-deprived; two hour cycle for nursing/feeds/diaper-change 24/7 (but all worth it when bubba smiles)
  
• Control my temper + be more patient + the need to behave appropriately as bubba is impressionable + easily influenced at early age
  
• My priorities should soon be in this order: Bubs, Winnie, FB + Blogging. Not FB + Blogging, Bubs, Winnie

Turning 34 and expecting a bubba simultaneously can’t be all that bad can it, age notwithstanding?

Five years down the road (when I am going through chronic depression on approaching 40), I am almost certain I will look back and think how wonderful it was turning 34. That it was beyond doubt the highest point in my life as I embrace mummyhood for the very first time.

34. Bring it on.

Flowers Off Tooley Street

Emotion-High

What a week! Not sure if it is purely due to pregnancy or the extra activities that happened throughout.

I think it all began last Sunday; entertaining during one part of the day and sorting cat matters in the second half of the day. That was physically and mentally exhausting. Mentally, because some people are plain toxic toxic toxic.

Wednesday was dinner, prior to AA's departure, at this lovely place in central London. The food was exceptional, company was tres fun, service excellent. Abit on the pricey side but they threw in a free dessert on top of each of our own yummy desserts and even served up some vanilla ice cream for me when I casually mentioned that none of their dessert had that in it. Now you know what I mean by excellent service. Also, one of the many the perks of having a bump, how I love the attentiveness of the waiter(s) waiting on me (us).

The other nice resto was at J's birthday a week ago, food was sublime and service was great too. Anyone planning a special meal should try these restos - Asia De Cub@ (Covent Gdn) and Sk3tch Gallery (Conduit St off Regent St), if you haven't already that is.

Alright. Back to my hectic week.

Work was awful, being tired meant I had so much difficulty concentrating on the tasks at hand. Having only a few weeks left before I leave for maternity and loads to do made it 1000 times worse.

Oh but I do have a confession, I was distracted with this new online group that I recently joined. It's a mother's group with lovely mommies from around the world sharing their experiences and so I have been catching up on threads, forums and messages on the board. It is very informative and certainly makes up for dullness I face at work. How naughty am I, if only I did my work as diligently as I read the forums.

With new online group, blogging and FB have taken a back spot. I actually had some problems with sites on blogspot, could not access it at all, not even my own blog, up until tonight. Wonder if I was the only one experiencing this. It didn't help that the office restricts access to these sites too so I was blog-less for a couple of days.

Another issue that truly got me upset was about our trip home. IK has work in KL and I am merely tagging along. We had my tix sorted, upgraded and booked, my holidays approved, when suddenly his office decided to switch meeting dates just a week before the flight. Bah. Oh how that threw us off-course. I had to adjust so many appointments which were not easy to change - one being my appointment with Dr G in KL, my next appointment with the midwife here, find another date with upgradeable options, my holidays had to be re-approved, my birthday (it shall now be celebrated here boo hoo). Thankfully it has all been sorted after much tears (on my part) and anxiety + hardwork (on IK's). Mental torture I tell you.

A whole mixed bag of emotions I was going through - happy, sad, angry, excited, upset, but mostly T.I.R.E.D.

I am 28 weeks today, that is 7 months along into my journey. It has been so far so good, alhamdullilah, last week's roller coaster ride notwithstanding.

Can you believe we have gone through > 1H 08, and it is already August 2008?

TGIF, happy sunshiny weekend peeps.