Tired, tired and sore...

I feel like hell today...

Yesterday was like on fire, alert and full of energy...

It was silly actually, why I felt full of energy. It was the Clarinase doing it. Like being on amphetamines, I guess. I don't know why on earth I chose to take the tablet just before bed, and then top it off with Actifed. Of course I was up at 4 am and completely alert and awake. That continued throughout the day, and I didn't even feel tired in the evening.

So today must be like a pay back day. Double lethargy.

Yesterday was my first boxing lesson with a PT. $85 a pop. I had been REALLY hesitant on taking it up but I give it to the guy, so persistent with his bugging me and that worked. Anyway, wow. I was pooped after 30 minutes but had another half an hour to go. He let me stretch and do some ab work then I struggled through another 10-15minutes of half baked punching and that was it. I think the hardest part was my arms! My wrists, hands and forearms were shaking like from alcohol withdrawal. And my right wrist and hand was actually hurting. Today the shakes are better. But my back is aching like never before. Argh. Tempted to give up already. This is after popping 2 Voltaren and 1 Vioxx over the past few hours!

So, I told him maybe to start with only 30 minutes of boxing then 30 minutes of resistance work or something else. And see from there. I don't really want to break any metacarpals or get some repetitive stress injuries to my wrist either. It's not as if I'm going to became a competitive boxer. It's really something new to learn and so it'd better be fun.

On another note, I have been trying to bring Madison to the playground more regularly now because there is another girl who goes there around the same time. Only that she leaves before 9 so if we're late we miss them. The other girl is the youngest of 3 kids, with 2 older brothers, so she's understandably more boisterous and daring. Madison is quite a careful person, and generally seems not terribly adventurous. I think this girl is good exposure in limited quantities. So far, not bad, after a few playdates. Initially the other girl tended to ignore Madison, but yesterday was like a turning point when we showed up with Madison's Little Mermaid balloon in tow. The power of commercialism. Yesterday she gave Madison a chocolate wafer so today I brought Kit Kats along.

Argh... Chris is on call again this weekend. And I have appointments on Saturday, so Warni is going to end up accompanying Madison for chinese class. That's another issue I haven't really resolved yet. Whether to keep Madison in her current school, or change her to another one that seems more popular in the forums. There is this forum that I stumbled on while googling Mandarin classes, called kiasuparents.com, where they discuss in great and fine detail about the schooling and enrichment curriculum. It's really terrifying. But also intriguing. Anyway, Madison's school isn't even mentioned in the forum!

I think maybe when she's a little older I might try the one that's nearer us at United Square. Hua Language school. I used to see the teachers there as patients too previously. The other one is Tsien Hsia Chinese school. The only thing is that Madison is getting used to the current one already and the teachers are pretty nice.

And October is gone, just like that ...

Having more children

That is something that's recently been on my mind.

Chris already said, that 1.5 to 2 years was the most common age gap between kids in general. I guess he's right.

Quite a few of our friends have or are having their second child. And if I may say, this time they all seem to be boys! The quintessential 1 boy and 1 girl family.

I think I am starting to feel the pressure of having a second, just because everyone else seems to be. Another one of our Melbourne uni friends( also doctor ) just invited us to their ONE MONTH celebration( already! ) I didn't even know his wife was pregnant! Of course it's a boy. What else?

I have other friends who are still stuck in their 1 child situation( like me). And who don't really seem to be in a hurry for number 2. I guess we feel the same.

1. Can you love another child as much as the first?
2. How on earth would there be time for 2?
3. OMG. Pregnancy again
4. OMG. Going through the first year AGAIN. Mainly the sleep thing. And crying. And diapering.
5. Where is the next child going to sleep? ( at least for us!) Can't afford a bigger place with the clinic slowly chugging along.

Parenthood does bring about a big change in us selfish DINKS. Suddenly I want another kid to keep Madison company. How about that? I see her in the playground or on holiday, and think " she should be playing with another kid, not me". And if Chris and I want to go away alone at least she'd have a sibling to keep her company. The rest of the details, I guess we have to figure out as we get there, somehow it works out( it has to!) . And I tend to worry too much beforehand, so that's something I'm trying not to do too much anymore.

And if we are not blessed with another child, it's ok too, because we are grateful to be lucky enough to have Madison already. (as cliched as it may sound, but it's true!) It must be horrible to want kids and not be able to even have one....

So... let's wait and see and let nature decide, I guess...

Holiday weekend!

I really cannot believe how quickly time passes.. I always want to update the blog but somehow time simply slips away and another week has passed..

Anyway... this weekend just passed was a mini-holiday for Chris and I. After Tokyo we decided that we should try and see if Madison could be looked after for a longer period of time by people other than us. So that MAYBE we could take a short break somewhere and do "adult" things --like eat out calmly, stay out really late, have alcohol etc...

Not too bad, actually.... we dropped Madison off after Chinese class on Saturday morning at about 1130, and didn't really leave any instructions. I mean, if you want other people to care for her then I figured they should enjoy it their way rather than have me dictate the weekend for them. After all, a weekend of no rules wouldn't hurt her.

It was, in summary, a weekend without schedule. Let's see... after Chinese class, instead of lunch she ended up going for a walk to Novena Medical Suites to check out the new medical suites, then promptly falling asleep while there.. Meaning no proper afternoon nap. Then the grandparents took her out after dinner to Mount Faber for a walk and to see the night lights, but after which she fell asleep! At 8 pm ! When they got back she woke and of course refused to sleep till 10!

Madison slept in the grandparents' room, in the little cove that used to be my bedroom ( now converted into a wardrobe/study). Apparently she woke every 3 hours calling out for them, so I imagine the poor grandparents got very little sleep! ( kinda like in Tokyo, I guess!) The next morning she was up at 5am!

But thanks to my parents for taking on this duty, Chris and I had a great weekend, so much so that I was sad it was coming to an end. We had lunch out, dinner out and then breakfast out! We finally caught our first movie ( after 19 months!!), never mind that it was at 4Pm and we were left with only the front 2 rows, and the movie was Julie & Julia. It was great to be able to do that, then continue out shopping and Chris got his new mobile phone, the Garmin Asus. Then when we got home we watched another movie, this time the Transformers on DVD.

Of course we did miss our little girl and we did try hard not to spend our time talking about her or buying stuff for her ( kind of a habit now ). And I think it's good for Madison to have her break once in awhile, do stuff that Chris and I wouldn't do ( not interested or too much effort ), and not have to follow her routine. She was really grouchy and grumpy though, when we finally went to the Novena house to see her. Probably because she hadn't slept well and was tired. But the two of us, having had our break were in better spirits to deal with it.

But I think there will probably not be any long holidays away from her for the time being...

Deepavali break

I think I like having a 5 day work week!

This Saturday was the Deepavali holiday so there was
1. No work!
2. No Chinese class
3. Chris wasn't on call or due at work

Was nice, being able to lie around in bed till 7 am (Wow..). Then no rushing around to get anything done quickly because someone was due somewhere.

We made it to the zoo (finally) but the weather suddenly got hot so that sucked. Then for some strange reason Madison fell asleep in the stroller from the car to the entrance of the zoo!! Ridiculous! What was the point of coming to the zoo if she was going to be sleeping!! Sweating buckets and enduring the heat when I could be shopping or relaxing with a book!

So, too bad. Woke her up. Of course she complained but an ant scared the wits out of her and she was awake after that ( that was pretty amusing)

We made it past the Siberian white tiger, the Australian enclosure( wallabies, kangaroo and emu), baboons (red backsides!) and pymy hippos. Then it was already 12noon. So I thought 'oh, better have an early lunch and not get caught in the crowd' ..well.. I guess that's what most people thought too. Or maybe most families eat early! I guess it was the Deepavali break. It was madness at the eating area. The queues were to die for.

Somehow we managed to get
1. Child seat ( thank goodness, but after Japan we'd have been able to make do without )
2. decent food
3. everyone fed.

Of course Madison was complaining and whining by the end of the meal and so the trip kind of became " lunch at the zoo". It was getting too hot anyway.

Today was more a typical Sunday. Morning at the club (default place because they are really child friendly), then down to town to cool off ( free airconditioning !) --today we checked Ion orchard out. Dinner at the parents' ( grandparents) place then off to bed for her. I miss Tokyo weather. And the stuff that you can do outdoors in Tokyo. Sigh.

All in, I had a really good weekend. Wish all weekends were like that.

Serious withdrawals!!

Argh.... am so sick of the weather in Singapore.... always so hot and humid. Can't do anything outside without feeling hot and sticky in a matter of minutes. Miss the Tokyo weather really badly.

Also feeling quite "sian" of the whole being back in reality... having to stress about the clinics, sort out staff issues, not having quite enough time with M, not having enough time for myself... well.. that's not quite true...I have more time here to myself than being on holiday...

Feel like travelling again.. the issue is whether to bring Madison along? Or try and do it by ourselves again? Or bring Warni? Bringing help along to the holiday seems a little like a cop out. But I don't really relish the flight and it would be really nice to have someone able to babysit some evenings while Chris and I go out for dinner. Of course there are logistical issues.. we'd have to choose a closer destination, we'd have to either stay at a larger apartment or book 2 rooms?

The other option is to leave Madison with her grandparents. It's tempting, and it means Chris and I would be free to go anywhere we wanted. Do stuff like go skiing, shopping and eating out. But then it would mean Madison would miss out on seeing snow? Miss the travel experience?

I am really torn. Can't stop thinking about it for now... seems like such an escape from the daily grind. Sigh...

Withdrawal symptoms..

Argh.. it feels like a post holiday blues.

Miss the cool dry weather of Tokyo already. Being able to walk around all day and NOT SWEAT buckets.

Having interesting things to do everyday.

Trying out new food/drinks/restaurants.

Not having to worry about the clinic. Not having to dress for work. Being able to play all day with Madison.

Ok... so it would have been perfect if I could have that plus domestic help so that someone else can do the laborious stuff. Like tidy up and laundry. It's great also having other people entertain Madison some of the time during the day so that I can eat/read/drink.

So now I am busy thinking of our next time off and holiday. With or without kid? Regional or a wee-bit further? Like 1 hour flight ( Malaysia ), 4 hours ( Bali ) or 6 hours ( skiing Nagano or Melbourne) ? On one hand I would really like a trip with the hubby to somewhere nice (read Bali for golf(him) spa (me)), but I don't want Madison to miss out on experiences too. Kinda means beach resort for her or Melbourne then. Just that Melbourne is a 6 hour flight away.

I think I am quite bored being back, but it's good that Madison is back in her bed too. We all sleep better and feel better.

Just that the weather in Singapore really SUCKS. Sigh.

Tokyo trip

Like a durian.. in essence... prickly on the outside, but a great experience overall....

We left on the 4th Oct via Singapore Airlines, and thank goodness we took the day flight. Although that really wastes a day in travelling... but with a kid...


First thing? I lost my BRAND NEW IPHONE. Could just kill myself already. The flight was eternally long, sucked out my energy trying to entertain an 18 month old toddler, then had to spend another hour and half trying to get to the accomodation in Azabu East. Left it probably in the taxi just when I was trying to pack everything else up to get out of the cab. Realised it minutes later but it was too late. And all we could remember of the taxi was that it was BLACK! Black!!! At bloody 8 pm. No dinner yet. Hungry child. Cold dark evening. No phone. Thank goodness the serviced apartment ( Ascott ) was right next to a heaven sent supermarket, where we bought take out to microwave in the room.

So.... after phone calls to 10 taxi companies later, I was resigned to the loss. Had to move on. No cot organised for the first night so we improvised and Madison slept on a combination of cot mattress/duvet and pillows on the floor. She lasted till 5Am. not bad.

First official day we went to DisneySea. Took us almost an hour to get there by train. Then it started drizzling just as we got to the front gates! But we stayed on and it was otherwise pretty great. M simply loves The Little Mermaid and Aladdin so those were the first 2 stops. Tried the mildest of the rides, the teacups but after 10 seconds she started shrieking and wanted out. Thank goodness the ride lasted an entire ??30s to few minutes?? Not sure. So no more rides. There were shows too, but they were all in Japanese apart from the songs. M didn't mind though. We were just thankful for the seats and shelter from the rain!! ( kidding )

You would think that in DisneySea they would have had proper child seats that could safely seat a toddler, but their idea of child seats were more like elevated smaller adult seats! As in, no safety harnesses or front bars that would hold a kid down! Not much toddler friendly food but she had some of ours and stuff that I prepared earlier to bring along.

At DisneySea they had cool popcorn buckets that you buy for Y1400 and get top ups at Y500. Everyone had them and I think they brought them back for refills at subsequent trips. There were popcorn carts throughout the park and each one had a different flavour. The park itself was huge, and amazingly clean. There were several sections with different themes that centred around water. At midday there was an amazing watershow that had jetskis, large water float with Mickey mouse and Minnie mouse, kites and even fireworks.


Day 2 and 3 were rainy rainy and cold.... failed trips to Ueno Park /zoo, Akihabara to look for replacement Iphone.. but we had fun back at the apartment pool and then Shiba Park, which was 5 minutes walk from the apartment. Dinner we bought back from the department stores to reheat. Restaurants in Tokyo didn't seem to have take out. We asked and it was "no...only eat in".


Tokyo Tower, right next to our apartment...



Half the time Chris was attending the conference in Shinjuku, so that meant I was by myself with Madison. OMG. The stuff I had to lug around plus her. Wouldn't be quite that bad if she didn't have to constantly squirm and take her shoes and socks off! But in all fairness, it was pretty fun to hang out with her SOME of the time. Best part was probably just lounging around the apartment, splashing in the pool ( which she fell ASLEEP in ! That was how tired she was !) having picnic breakfast/lunch/snacks on the carpet floor. ( no child seat either in the apartment!) We also went to the nearby park so she could run around, go down the slides.


We did have a great dinner out at Roppongi Hills one of the nights. It was a grill/ bar type of place that seemed pretty chic, but were surprisingly accomodating of M. Despite dropping the small jar of soy sauce on the table and couch within seconds of being seated!!! Thank goodness we eat early. They had some amazing grilled chicken, bacon wrapped asparagus, noodles and a veg dish that had the thinnest sliced cuts of various root vegetables that were fried. We also had a piece of codfish that was grilled to perfection.



Had to lug her cutlery around Tokyo too, most places didn't have child friendly cutlery either. Japanese kids must be able to use chopsticks really early!


The best shopping mall in town in my opinion ( with a kid) was Takashimaya at Shinjuku. They have a pretty decent child section, with a gorgeous GAP store. Great diaper changing facilities too. I burnt some cash at the Gap store. There were the cutest kids gloves, scarves and beanies too, but a pity we live in a tropical climate.

I did muster the courage to go to the Ueno Zoo again. It was that or the Tokyo Sea life park at Kansai Rinkai. ( which was another wasted trip on typhoon day--wednesday, when the train to the park was stopped due to the weather. That was after we'd spent over half an hour getting to that stop!! And the taxi queue stretched like a snake. No buses. Sigh)


Ueno park is a gorgeous park. I didn't have time or energy to wander through the park, but I did go to the zoo. The animals were all behind bars, but the enclosures seemed pretty decent. Some pretty interesting animals there, like a wolf, poisonous snakes and orange pink flamingoes. Again, no child seats at lunch. Plenty of park benches to have your meal, but if you are like Madison and simply cannot sit still then most likely you would end up falling OFF the bench like she did. I think the tears were probably more of embarrassment???!!



There was a section where kids could touch the animals, like lamb, sheep and whatever sane birds would allow the kids to touch them. If you asked me they looked a little sedated but that's my opinion! They're probably just really used to the kids??!!


The grand finale was the 7 hour flight back. OMG. First there was a delay in taking off. NO problem for adults. Just go to sleep. Try keeping a toddler fastened down safely while waiting for the plane to take off! The rest of the flight was a tag between Chris and me to keep her from wailing too MUCH. I was really exhausted and at one point just simply fell asleep. I don't know how people can travel alone with a toddler!

Narita Airport, Tokyo


The best part was at the luggage carousel. When M saw her grandfather at the arrival hall she just TOOK OFF and headed straight out the glass doors without even turning back! Guess she was sick and tired of her parents too! When we got back last night we had the LUXURY of depositing her at my parents' place while we went home, had a great shower and DINNER out. And replaced my Iphone. At M's expense( ie her college fund!!)!