Baby Bonds Competition

Just for fun, I signed Annabel up for 2008 Baby Bonds competition. The competition was held at Bondi Westfield mid last week, from 9am to midday. My folks heard of it and decided to tag along for support. We arrived at around 10am and found a long queue. A very looOOOoooOOoong queue, where the starting point stretches WAY OUTSIDE the mall onto the streets. Australia's first asian bonds baby Annabel was not meant to be.


So off to the beaches we headed. We ate Doyles fish and chips by the foreshore, stroll by Watson Bay and played with seagulls (by pretending to feed them.. hehe). It turned out to be a great day spent out with the parents and the Bonds wannabe baby.


For those who missed out on the event, there is an online competition where you could load your bubbie's picture onto their website. The winner would be the one with the most votes. I just couldn't be bothered. But if you can, click here.

Listerine as a repellent?

I read somewhere that listerine (mixed with some water) could be used as a mosquito repellent!? I have not tried to see if it works as yet (it's almost winter here in Australia and those little buggers have gone into hidding) but I'll be willing to give it a shot come summer.

Has anyone tried and think it works?

My first mother's day

Last Sunday, I celebrated my first mother’s day. The celebration started on Friday actually with the husband bringing me out for chili crab at our favorite local Chinese restaurant. On Saturday, mum surprised me with an extravagant home cooked lobster dinner! She even made me my favorite raw salmon sushi. Yum.

After devouring the delicious meal, the husband and I set off to watch a performance by a national well known cappella quartet “The Idea of North” at a beautiful small theater The Independent in North Sydney.

On Sunday, we attended morning service at Mum & Dad’s church and feasted on a smorgasbord of home cooked foods. Than it was off to our church in the city followed by another feast at Auntie’s. Annabel was a doll all weekend and gave mummy lots of smiles and chuckles. It was an awesome weekend.

How did you celebrate mother’s day?

In my inbox

When the sun goes down...

and night grows cold and still. And the baby tucked in warm and safe.

We play Rummikub!

Welcome to my new life.

Bubbie Update

Annabel has just turned 3 months and she is developing beautifully. She sleeps through nights and is mostly happy playing by herself when put down. Although she would much rather have long chats with her mummy and daddy.

Annabel is a jovial baby. Just shoot a smile and a laugh her way and you will most likely get one back. Put her in front of the mirror and you get several minutes of self chuckling amusement. She is so much fun and is simply adorable.

Her trade mark features are her big eyes and gravity defying hair. I love how that makes her look constantly stunned and in awe. Like she cannot believe how beautiful the world is and how amazing and interesting a fluffy bunny can be.

She is learning fast what a camera is. It is something big and black and gets pointed right at her whenever she does anything remotely cute. And like most things, she finds it fascinating. Mummy is loving it too. She is getting lots of great shots of her little baby.

*sign* If only time would just stand still for a moment...

Epitome of cuteness

I am still recovering from cuteness overdoze!

The sun is out

And I finally get to wear my new shades!

More on Perth

Our visit to Perth this time round was very much different from all other trips we did in the past. Before, our main objectives usually evolves around visiting our favorite hang out spots, short getaways to Margaret River, catch up with friends, pubbing and loads of shopping. Now, with a little baby, it was harder to just up and go. We had to plan our day around the little one and made sure she gets enough of her beauty sleep. So most days were spent around Subi where it was near home. We did however manage to catch up with heaps of friends and of course, ate ourselves silly.

Of the many places we ate out at, one particularly stood out for me. A good mate of ours took us there. To a little quiet town called Mundaring, to this little joint called Little Caesars Pizzeria. Where they are well known for, yes, the name says it all, Pizzas! We had heard about this little 4-booth (mainly take out) restaurant from Gen, who had visited the place just 2 weeks prior and had all good things to say about it. So we were really looking forward to check it out.

We ordered 4 to sample and knew after our first bite what the fuzz was all about. The crust was crisp and light. The sauce tasty yet not over powering. The toppings fresh and well proportioned. I wished they used more cheese though. However, in short, it was altogether a yummy experience. Word of warning if you are thinking of hitting this joint and decide to order the Tabasco. NEVER go for the hottest. We did and boy was it hot. Disturbingly HOT. I'm talking burning lips, scorching tongue HOT. I was literally speechless just after 2 bites. I simply could not finish the darn slice! The boys of course had to come to the rescue and devour the rest. *Sweats*. Personally, I don't think pizzas should ever be THAT hot. It's the Italians for crying out loud, not Mexicans! Anyhow, besides that, I highly recommend at least one visit. The atmosphere was very relaxing and for a small price, you do get a little taste of Italy. Though in a very obscure Aussie town. I love it.




Here's Annabel trying to get her hands on the dessert pizza. Yes. You heard right. They make dessert pizzas. The one in the photo is Eskimo Joe. And it is TO-DIE-FOR. Yum.

The trip of course is never complete without a quick pit stop over at Little Creatures in Freeyo. 4 words. Chilli Mussels with BEER!! Yum.

Rain Rain Rain

Nothing else to do but to sit home and watch the pita peta fall off my roof.

We are back!

O it's good to be home and sleeping on my pillow engulfed bed again. Perth had been absolutely awesome. The weather was great. The catch ups were endearing. A beautiful wedding. The baby was sweet as. And the husband and I have put on at least 3 kgs. Each (yup...). What more can I say.

Here are some of the holi pics.

Annabel boarding the plane for the 1st time!
With the folkies @ Mandurah Poppy & Mama's
Perth city still looking the same. Thank God.

On Holidays

All 3 of us are off to Perth today! It will be Annabel's first flight and first time away from home! The husband is MC to a wedding we are to attend (tomorrow) and we are planning on staying on till the farewells. With the baby. Should be interesting....

See ya when we get back.

Can't wait! Wweeeeee!!

*big wide smile*

Talk about mood swings....

And all in a span of 5 mins. I kid u not....

My baby daughter Annabel

An absence of nearly 7 months makes it hard to fill in the gaps of all the exciting and sometime overwhelming experiences I had the joy of living through past months. One major change in my life is obviously motherhood. A change I believe no one could ever be prepared or be ready for. It is all exhilerating, new and liberating. And also confusing, scary and oh so foreign all at the same time. Even now, I am finding it hard to pen down what I am feeling day by day. It is conflicting, yet enriching. So satisfying, yet overwhelming. All I can say for certain is that I have never felt this blessed.

Truth be told. I did not quite know what to expect. Will it be love at first sight, or will it be, (I later learnt) like so many other first time mums, be a love that grows with time. Annabel is the first person I think of when I wake. The last before I sleep. When she coos and smiles at me, I realise I often tear. I love watching her sleep. I enjoy breathing her in. I had memorized all her cute little not-so-in-sync movements. She has become my angel. My darling. My baby.

Close friends will know that motherhood somewhat terrifies me. I never thought I was maternal. Impatience is perhaps sadly one of my biggest flaw. And the thought of me having to stop or slow my life for this little person dumbfounded me. But looking at her now with her drooling smiles and brilliantly bright eye looks, I never knew why it took us this long. I am absolutely head over heels and couldn't imagine life without my dribbling little wriggling angel.

So there you have it. There really is nothing much to fill in after all. Just silly old me falling in love all over again.

Current lust

Dogstar Origami Jacket

Gimme Gimme Gimme!!

Play Dough Babies

I was doing some much needed house keeping on my laptop when I came across these. I had hosted and been to a few showers but these were the most interesting baby play dough creations I have seen thus far.






























Ok... This is just wrong.....




.









The proud offenders.

The then pregnant me

@..

18th week in

24th
28th
29th

30th

and 36th

Annabel was born on the 40th. But by the 37th week, I was in NO mood whatsoever to take any photos.

M.I.A.

So. It has been 7 months since I last blogged. So much had happened since. All good and wonderful stuff that should have flooded my electronic canvas. I suppose the main reason for the absence is because I had lost the habit. Many a times I had wanted to get back into it but time and the lack of motivation prevented me from doing so.

But, as I said, so much exciting and wonderful stuff has happened since, so today is perhaps a good time to rekindle this little hobby of mine.... simply because..

I have become a mummy!!

About 9 weeks ago we were blessed with a little girl. And we named her Annabel.

Suddenly there are so many stories to tell. So many things to say. So MANY pictures to share!

I was toying with the idea of changing this blog into a complete parental blog. But decided against it as really, besides being a mum, I'll still be me. So this space will continue to house my usual babbers. However now, seasoned with an endless doze of unbearable bubbie cutieness.

And with that, I shall end with just that. My little angel.

Just 2 days old.

.









11th day old.

I'm soooOOooOooo in love.

Live Earth

Last weekend was quite an exciting one for several countries world wide. Why? Well because it was the inaugural concert debut linking 7 – continent concert series of more than 100 artists across countries like the United States, Japan, Australia, The United Kingdom, China, Germany and many more.

Live Earth is part of a global movement in an effort to bring light and media attention to the climate crisis the world is facing (even more so this millennium). It kicked started on the 7th of July (07/07/07) and the event had been a tremendous success (read more).

Australia was the first to kick of the global party and has performances from a line up of:


John Butler Trio

Eskimo Joe

Crowded House

Missy Higgins

Sneaky Sound System

The concert, though a huge success, will be to no avail if it’s all dusted and forgotten. We all could continue to play a role in reducing the greenhouse effect simply by inculcating little habits into our lives. Examples are switching off unneeded lights, installing energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps, switching to a GreenPower electricity contract (where possible). If you don't have a dual-flush toilet, a toilet flush regulator can do the trick. Taking shorter showers. Don’t let the tap run if you are not using the water. And the list goes on (more tips here).

Every little effort helps. But despite the multitude of human achievements and what we can aim for collectively, I’m also reminded and humbled of how dependent we all are on the creator of this earth of ours. Without his intervention for rain or for dryer weather in flood stricken regions, no amount of human efforts can ever control this huge natural force we call our climate. So let’s all be reminded that despite our efforts, the real solution really comes from the one who has made our planet from the very beginning.

ps: If you haven’t watched the concert, you could watch it on line here (here) or (here).

Salem

It has been a while since I last blogged about Salem. He is still very much the same in his own nutty bubbly sort of way. Though with a few much not needed winter bounds.

I think he has gotten very used to the camera of late as it’s SO easy to get great shots of him now.


Isn’t that the cutest, most handsome face you’ve ever seen….

Ok, so I’m slightly biased, but you’ve got to admit. He is quite a looker…








*wide smile*

Updates

I've just updated a couple more postings for month of April and May 07 so if you feel like a read, just browse your way there in the Archives on the right column of the blog.

MIA

It has been a while since I've written. No dramatically earth shaking events had happened to justify for this void, neither lapse of living nor lack of exciting activities to report had given me cause to fall silent (all of a sudden). On the contrary, we have had friends visiting from our respective homes, attended concerts, birthday parties, night outs in the city, lots of dinners and family gatherings. So in a nut shell, there is no excuse whatsoever for not updating as regularly as I used to.

Admittedly, an almost 2 months of absence has made blogging all that more distant and foreign. But I have to say, ask me if I truly miss it. "Not really." Ask me if I feel like I've been lazy and have neglected my somewhat small but faithful readers. A resounding and guilty "Yes".

So for all you people out there who has in the cause of the gap months zoned in to check up on this blog. I thank you! And promise to start filling the pages again with my little stories, pictures and silly thoughts as often as I can.

Cheerio for now and see ya!

I've been tagged...

...by a fellow blogger, which gives me good cause to get off my bums and start writting in my very neglected blog again.

Getting tagged means you are suppose to reveal seven little-known facts about yourself. So here I go...

1. I'm an adaptor sleeper. I could fall sleep anyway. In trains, on buses, on planes, on the sofa, in the car... you name it. As long as there's a seat, I'm banked.

2. I luuurrrvVVvee freshly ground black peppercorn.

3. Eating carefully and tastefully prepared food makes me happy.

4. I have the ability to sob uncontrollably over a sad book.

5. I enjoy making my friends laugh.

6. Chocolates does nothing for me.

7) When I laugh hard, I tear and can’t see clearly. It’s a curse.

Hanging out

I lurve ending the week with fun relaxing activities. So last night, a group of us met in the city for a quick dinner and headed off to Hyatt on the Rocks for a night of jazz, coffee and sweets.