Sunday, December 21, 2008 by Daisy in Baby, Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts

Since we have come back - our time has been completely utilised in preparing the room that we are staying in, unpacking and organising baby stuff…. Can’t believe there’s so much to do!!! But things are all going quite smoothly now and most things are done! Just gotta see my GP and midwife and pack my over-night bag!!!

Jet-lag: we did have that on the first day and slept at 7pm, waking up at 4am feeling hungry… I suppose now, it’s much better… still hungry at the wrong times though - but our body clocks are adjusting slowly but surely!

For the past day, we have been preparing for something known as the “Red egg and ginger party”… We’ve only started preparing the ginger early because, supposidly, the earlier you do it - the less “hot” the ginger will be!!!???

Waking up early, DnA and mum went to the market to buy 3 boxes of ginger… And the fun begins!!! I’m telling you - what a mission peeling all those gingers, roasting the skins and soaking the ginger etc…

So how did it all start? Let me explain:
In the Chinese culture, they usually celebrate the baby’s first month birthday. Proud parents would introduce the baby to friends and relatives by having something called a red egg and ginger party! Why not, any excuse for a party eh!!!??? Actually, real reason was, in ancient times, China experienced high infant mortality rates, and babies who reached the one month mark were likely to survive… so that’s where the celebrations started from!

The colour red represents happiness and good luck (which can also be seen in chinese weddings). The red-dyed eggs are meant to symbolise fertility and the renewal of life, and their shape is traditionally associated with harmony and unity. Think of ginger in the context of yin (cold) and yang (warm) – ginger adds a touch of “warmth” to a new mother’s diet, which is necessary given she’s typically weak and tired (yin) after giving birth….

These red egg and ginger parties can be held at home or now, in most cases in chinese restaurants…
Depending on whether you want to make a big party out of it! For us? Umm… It probably wont be a big affair here because we’re in UK and most of my frens are western and I so doubt they’ll want to eat this pig-trotter/vinegar/ginger concoction!! hehe… They’ll probably pop over to the house and we’ll jsut chit chat etc… Maybe when we return to Singa - we’ll hold a small party for close frens and family? We’ll see….

Traditionally, the one month celebration is also the time to reintroduce the new mother to the world. Becos, according to Chinese beliefs, women are in a weakened state in the weeks following birth and are expected to rest indoors for a month after delivery… known as confinement!!! (Luckily it’s cold and rainy this time of the year, or i’d go crazy being in-doors for that long!!!) Staying inside ensured that new mothers wouldn’t over-exert themselves, get sick or pass germs on to their newborns. In addition to resting, new Chinese mothers also drink a soup made with pig’s feet, eggs, vinegar and ginger.

So what kind of gifts do you bring to a Red Egg and Ginger party? Luckily money! Neatly folded into red “lai see” or “hong bao” packets!! But ofcos, you can give anything!! Note, guests don’t leave empty handed! If they want, they can take home some red eggs and ginger/vinegar concoction.

Friday, December 19, 2008 by Daisy in Baby, Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts

We have landed safely…

The journey home itself was a very tiring one… Due to the amount of babies and mothers - the airline couldn’t offer me a front seat with more leg room… Because the babies needed the bassinets and they would only fit in the front row seats…. When one started crying, they all seemed to cry in syncronisation!!! Oh my - ummm… I hope my journey back with Chloe will go smooth!!! The seat I had reserved is fine, to be honest, It’s just that it would have been nicer to sit in the front so that no-one could sit in front of you!!

Throughout the journey, I was very fidgetty and hot… Poor Hupps had to deal with me moving in my seat and walking around! We both got very little sleep… The air-stewardess was really lovely to me and even gave our unborn Chloe some bibs as gifts!!!
Arrival in Amsterdam - we had to wait about 4 hours for our connecting flight… Luckily, we managed to sleep a little….

Arrival to Wales - Yay!!! Home at last!! The weather, although cold, was fresh - so missed the air!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 by Daisy in Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts

Went to see the premiere of Ip Man at the cinema today… Thought it was fab!!!

Especially liked the suave character of the “Master Ip” (Donnie Yen)!!!! I must say he’s not one of my favourite actors in general but he played the role very well!!!

Ip Man is a Hong Kong martial arts, semi-biographical account of Yip Man’s life. He is the martial arts master of Bruce Lee, and the first to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun openly. The film focuses on events surrounding Yip that took place in Foshan between the 1930s to 1940s during the Japanese occupation of China.

If you like this type of film - it’s a thumbs up!!!

Sunday, December 14, 2008 by Daisy in Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts, Really Nice Food

Today, the “cousins” met up for Christmas Italian Brunch Buffet at Prego Restaurant at Raffles The Plaza.

I must say it’s the best Italian I’ve tried so far in Singapore!! Totally authentic and lots of variety!! The high ceilings and warm maple wood panels with open kitchens on site made the vibe and ambience so warmly and welcoming… The service was also very good - I don’t think I have any complaints about this place!!!

Although it was a tad expensive for brunch buffet - but it’s def. worth a try…. $51 per person - the menu consists of a cold antipasti section, a variety of hot dishes, live cooking, a carving station, pizza counter, dessert counter, free flow of soft drinks and smoothies….

After enjoying the food - it was time for the traditional lucky dip exchange of pressies!!!

We then spent the rest of the afternoon playing Dividends board game in Pacific Coffee at the Red Dot Design Museum… Had fun and am totally full today!

Saturday, December 13, 2008 by Daisy in Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts, Really Nice Food

A friend recently recommended Dallas Chicken & Ribs cos he thought it was really delicious and cheap. It’s a UK based halal fast food chain and it’s opened its first outlet in Singapore! To be honest, I haven’t really heard of it in UK cos I’m not a fan of fried chicken, but then again, most of the outlets are based in the London area - which is hardly close by!

Anyways, my Huppy’s boys and some of their girlies decided to give it a try! The outlet is located at 12 Upper Cross Street (near Chinatown MRT station). It’s a small location but I suppose it’s sufficient…

The menu wasn’t vast and there were many items unavailable… Maybe because it’s still new? Who knows!? Someone asked me a qn - if they are halal - then why do they call themselves Dallas Chicken & Ribs? My first instinct was to think pork ribs (I assume, so did the person who asked me!!??) - but then, I checked and in UK it would have been halal lamb or beef ribs!!! However, there were no ribs on the menu here!

According to Hupps, the chicken drumsticks were succulent and juicy - however, the chicken breast was a tad dry…. I had a fillet fish burger and it was OK… nothing to rave on about… But I must say - I lurrrrved the onion rings though!!! I’m not a fan of very potato-ey chips, cos I lurve the air-filled McD french sort of fries… but these chips were pleasantly nice… I suppose, what was good was that no salt was added to the chips - so you could add your own salt and make it as salty or less salty as you want! My overall summary: so-so….

After our meal - it was home-time for our regular board game sessions… This time, it was a new game called Dividends. Summary of the game is to make your fortune on the volatile stock market through buying stocks, to earning dividend payouts or selling it for profits (capital gains). The aim is to make the most money from each stock purchase (maximizing return on investment) while taking into consideration the effects of supply and demand on stock prices (market economics)….. Guess who won?!?!? Me ofcos!!! hehe… If only in real life I was that good eh! Oh well!

Monday, December 8, 2008 by Daisy in Baby, Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts

Before and Nows…

Monday, December 8, 2008 by Daisy in Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts

It poured down last night… the wind blew crazily…. and this morning when I woke up - there was this refreshingly cool breeze/wind… Sure, it’s still raining and the sky is dull…. but at least it’s not humidly hot (if there’s such a word!)

I’m sitting at my laptop, with Huppy next to me on his laptop… The windows are closed (with one partially open - If I had my way, they would ALL be open!) I must admit even with the partially open window - which provides about a 5cm gap of air to flow into the room - the wind is surprisingly quite strong and cooling…. It’s absolutely lush!!!

I’m wearing a vest top and shorts, and for the very first time - I can say that the weather is fab and I am not hot, bothered and sweating (even though it’s raining - I don’t mind!)… On the contrary, my Huppy was feeling a bit cold.

Me, my body feels just right… Feeling at my best without being in an air-conned environment!!! Today, if the weather continues to be what it is, is gonna be a good day for me.. Gonna be enjoying it as much as I can - cos this one’s a proper rarity!!

FYI, the weather forecast for now and tonight:

Light rain with chance of thunderstorms
Windy at times
Temperature: 24°C
Dew Point: 23°C
Barometer: 101.3 kPa
Wind: WNW 15 km/h
Humidity: 94.1%
Visibility: n/a

Sunday, December 7, 2008 by Daisy in Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts, Really Nice Food

Today is the day where we show off our culinary skills… Yeah whatever!!! Our house is the venue, main dish being the turkey… Looks fab - right?!?!?

However, due to non-popular demand by the elder relatives and a different palate - we had to improvise and incorporate the chinese palate into the western theme… Hence, the westo-chino christmas turkey lunch!!!

On our list of foods included the chino section: fish balls (the hot favourites!!! Everyone seemed to be stuffing their faces with these things - c’mon, you have them on a normal day!!!), fried chicken wings, mee siam, curry puffs and misc snacks from Old Chang Kee, chilli sauce, agar agar, durian cmas log. The westo section: turkey, pork knuckle, ham roll, gravy, roast potatoes, salad, assorted sarnies, cup cakes, choco cmas log, ice-cream, crisps, apple pie.

Had a fab time preparing the turkey here though!! *On a side note: I’m not a great fan of turkey in general cos it’s too dry (at home in the UK, our main Cmas meat is leg of lamb, with maybe a small roll of turkey for tradition’s sake!)…* Going back to the preparation of turkey in singa - the turkey here is bought already cooked and then all you have to do is pick it up and reheat it!! Similarly, same with the pork knuckle and ham roll…. However, we were supplied with the stuffing - which came in a sausage shape… so we thought why not stuff the turkey whilst it was getting reheated!! It was like - how much stuffing could you squeeze into the poor turkey’s insides and on top of that, it was how many people could take part!!! Fun though!!!

Entertainment included mah jong, film watching and wii. At the end of the evening, we had a lot of food remaining but the DnA household managed to pack goodie bags for relatives.. so most of it was “gone”!!!!

Friday, December 5, 2008 by Daisy in Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts

My two frens from my homeland of UK have been travelling the globe for the past 3 months or so… And recently they stopped over to Singapore before heading off to Malaysia and Borneo - before returning to Singa….

They look so fab!! Spent time with them and heard their crazy stories about their adventures - oh my, some were so scary like falling off a dingy in a fast current river thing!!!

Did some sight-seeing and chilling out… Bin and I even managed to have a debate with a GP/receptionist at the local doctor’s clinic… Little did they know they were speaking to 2 pharmacists!! There was no way we’re getting conned!!!

Showed our guests the famous durian only for us to pass the store and both nearly wanting to puke!!! Ummm…. They’re obviously not gonna be trying it then!!!

And for those who have said I looked abit granny cos of the blue shawl…. Well, I had to borrow it cos they wouldnt let me into the tourist attraction temple!! So there!!! ;p