二千〇一： Summer

at Kumamoto Castle on a 37 degrees celsius day

I wasn't in Japan last year for summer (as I was having the bb in SG), so this year it's really a whole new world with the bb joining us for all the summer events!

Summer in Japan = Fireworks! 

My favourite event of the year. We were able to see the Kobe fireworks from our balcony this year, & Ryo invited his friend with his family over to come have dinner and watch the fireworks. The weekend after that, we went to Yodogawa in Osaka to view the fireworks event there. BB was quite scared at first (because we were in the good seats and right in the middle of all the action and noise) and she started crying after the fireworks started. Luckily we had the tripod all set up, all I needed to do was to hold her & press the trigger while watching the fireworks. We bought earplugs for her, but it wasn't of much help. She'll probably enjoy the fireworks more next year. Pictures:
Kobe Fireworks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157635360220850/
Yodogawa Fireworks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157635343201425/

We also went to watch the high school baseball matches, on a super hot summer day. Ryo's parents took care of the baby for that day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves w/o her that day. I was slightly worried if she would be ok as that was her first time with them alone, but everything turned out fine in the end.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157635359837390/

There's a Obon event in August every year, and this is the first one we were able to attend since it was near our house. There is the Bon-odori (some sort of mass dance) but a little hard to dance with the bb on me, so we went to the pasar malam, ate alot of food, and just basically soaked up the atmosphere.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157635352473443/

Mid August, we went to Kyushu (九州) for a short family trip, partly to visit Ryo's relatives as well. Some of them haven't met me or the baby before, because they were too old to travel (most of the people I met looked wrinkly and probably almost 90 years old). We drove through Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Ureshino and ended the trip at Fukuoka. The highlight of the trip was visiting Ippudo at its HQ restaurant! It tasted great, but I must say.. it's getting harder to go out or have a meal with bb. She keeps on grabbing at stuff, not eating when we feed, so keeping her entertained just takes up the whole meal time and I barely have any appetite left. Hopefully this is only a passing phase..  Pictures are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157635366353333/

It was a very very eventful month!

二千: 1 year!

bb is one year old! 

Didn't realise it's the 2000th post *pops champagne*

Let me recall July highlights quickly -
1. SEA aquarium at resorts world
2. Tim Ho Wan char siew bao
3. Playdates at hokey pokey
4. Hotel staycation in Osaka Bay

&

5. BB's 1 year old birthday!!

Quick thoughts on the events.

1. SEA Aquarium
The big tank in the aquarium was quite impressive, but is it really the World's largest aquarium?? BB slept throughout the aquarium walk but she woke up later and quite enjoyed herself splashing a little water with Uncle J at the fountain area.

2.  Tim Ho Wan char siew bao
The charsiewbao was really good I must admit. The rest of the food was quite.. normal? Everything was freshly cooked /made which was a plus point, but that's about it I guess.

3. Playdates at Hokey Pokey
BB joined bb Geoffrey and Natanael at hokey pokey at Millenia walk for playdates. It was really more of the kids checking out all the toys themselves rather than playing with each other, but I guess it's not really all that conducive a place for kids to play with one another unless they were already friends. Quite a good place to play with toys that are too big to buy for the house, like pretend kitchens etc

4. Staycation in Osaka Bay
It was a highlight until we reached the hotel and realised that the room was quite old & small and the view was only ... meh? Never trust free hotel stays again. But anyway, we got a chance to sleep in an aircon room (the house has no aircon yet) and just relax together for the weekend on a comfortable bed, it was not a bad experience overall.

5. BB's first birthday!
Finally! it's been a year.. and i think it's just getting difficult. BB is now starting to walk & grabbing stuff off tables and everywhere she can reach. We celebrated her birthday in SG, at home and also with her Japanese grandparents after I came back. I hope bb stays healthy this year and grow up to be a good girl!

千九百九十九: The Weddings

bb was trying to flip through the hymn book. 

June was a hectic month, because of my sister's weddings. Not that we really managed to help a lot, but mainly running around with her amidst work to settle last minute stuff and also to be able to catch up since she was jetting off 2 days after the wedding.

It was the first church wedding that I'm part of as behind the scenes, with bb being the ringbearer and Julius asked to help take photos, so it was quite cool to be able to see everything from up close. The days before that was quite crazy though, we had to source for stuff to help with church decorations, my sister ordered pastries from Carpenter & Cook (the lavender madeleines were heavenly), printed out all the programs & signs for them (luckily I went to the office on a strategic day), mum sewed the hairbands and ties using all the elephant clothes for them, etc etc. I think the church wedding was too hectic to be really enjoyable, with it being in the middle of a weekday (& mum kept saying she was late for her makeup and hair when we were actually only slightly late and there was still plenty of time), and with the baby being the official wailer of the wedding (she kept doing the ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh screaming in the middle of the service which was super embarrassing and I had to try to silence her), I had to be the ring bearer instead. After that, my sister had a wardrobe mishap, I think one of her strings on her dress broke and the front of the dress kept slipping downwards after that.. well at least no one would say that it was an uneventful wedding haha! So I was too busy with the baby throughout to feel teary-eyed when my dad gave my sister away. But I did feel a bit of an emptiness when she wasn't around to squeeze on the bed with me & bb and to chat with till late night that night when she decided she could go over to her new hubby's place to sleep. sighz.

Took abit of a breather for the next few days until the Saturday traditional wedding, day after Jay Chou concert. yes i went to the Jay Chou concert! woohoo! IT WAS FANTASTIC! of course I was comparing it to the last concert I went to 10 years ago (how time flies) and back then, there was less bright computer effects and more proper performance. I was kind of hoping for more singing from him but there was more showcasing of other performers this time round. Maybe now big star le, can afford to sing less at his own concerts. Thanks to Umera, the seats were like centre front, super good! but of course, best part is because mum looked after bb and I could enjoy the concert undisturbed. Nowadays she is able to not take milk when i'm not around, and my mum just feeds her normal food and she doesn't even remember me unless it's time to sleep (so I still can't stay out too late, latest maybe 2am?) when she will whine and whine until my mum calls me to come back asap. But, all in all, it was fantastic to see Jay in concert again (think this concert can keep me happy for the next few years at least until I manage to come back to sg at the right time again hahah!) .

I digress. About the wedding - Saturday was the real wedding day. It was not as hectic, but of course, having to wake the baby up at 6am, she wasn't too happy about it, given that she slept not so early the night before. This time, her role was to open the groom's car door with Ryo. I think she did it quite well from the looks of the photos. After that, the usual haggling at the door and making Calvin dance around before coming into the room for my sister, but my tear glands finally gave up when Calvin hit on the correct song for the final obstacle. "Yum Yum.. something something the baker goes " song. You have to know my sister to know this, and I guess that just felt so correct that i was like (T.T) and a whole whoosh of emotions just overwhelmed me (感動？） and of course my sis let him in with this song. They left for his place after this, and we thought we could get a nap in, but it turns out that we have to go to the hotel at 2pm (because dad's car broke down so we had to catch a ride with Calvin's uncle) and we ended up having to leave just a short while after lunch.

Reached the hotel, we tried to nap or watch tv or something, but since Ryo was around, I wanted to actually head to town (since we were already in Newton) to just get some caffeine in my system to survive the rest of the day (only slept 3 hours after all the Jay excitement).. We ended up at Paragon after Ryo finally managed to tear himself away from the hotel TV which was showing the Day after tomorrow (>.<), and finally replaced his 8 years old sandals with a new teva pair at a world of sports sale (my mum had bought that pair for him in his first trip to sg with me in 2005 and it is disintegrating to grossness by now and can you believe it, he has no other slippers or sandals at home?!) and we finally settled down at starbucks for a 2 hour nuaing session. BB of cos was fast asleep by then. It actually felt kinda like we were back home, where all the shops, dept stores and malls were within walking / 1 train ride distance away.

Finally made it back to the hotel at around 6, took a quick shower, surveyed my face and decided I look too crappy from the lack of sleep to do anything about myself, and decided to just pay the makeup artist to help make me look good. (she did a great job!). The night went by quite smoothly, with everything ending about 11pm++ . BB had a good time meeting everyone, chance to play with her godpa too, and end of the story is - my sis is married and gone. *sobzz*

Other highlights of the month -
1. Legoland - went in spite of the haze, even though EVERYONE cancelled on me. HOW WIMPY! i was mad of course, stuck with 5 tickets (No one has paid me for them yet btw, which is really uncool of them) and I had to call pple up on friday night at 2am to ask if they were free on Saturday. Luckily my cousin agreed to go with me, and miraculously, the skies cleared up at around noon??! and the rest of the day was amazingly clear (and hot). so .. good things happen to good people after all.

2. Meeting other babies - had a baby picnic with some of my classmates from sec sch and their babies at Botanic gardens, lots of baby birthday parties and some cafe/playdates! At the picnic, bb was the oldest bb, so it was quite funny to see her trying to interact with the younger bb-ies. She seemed like such a giant among them. Brought her to playdates at bb gyms or playgrounds, but that's really too much for a bb who can't walk, so i think Hokey Pokey is probably her best option. Also met up with my pri sch fren whose bb is 3 weeks younger than bb, their development was probably most similar, and actually they got on quite well.  Maybe next time I can try to meet everyone again.

3. Old friends - hmm.. This trip, I've actually made an effort to meet up with quite a few people whom I've not seen for the past 5 years at least? We've all moved on to different stages in our lives now, and it feels "safer" to meet them now. There are some people I don't dare to meet up with, because they are always so demanding, and I'm sure they haven't changed. Some of these old friends were accidental meetings, bumped into them, and made promises to catch up. I had been quite nervous in fact, and was glad that everything turned out fine. In fact, I had quite a good time catching up with them even though I was really worried we would have nothing to talk about. But surprisingly, the vibes/(sparks?) were still there, it was easy to fall back into our previous friendliness. of course, everyone is hands off now.

anyway. July - time to go home to Japan soon..

千九百九十八: Hello Singapore!

the almost 10 months old bb thinking about her future as a breadtaster..

It's been a month plus and BB is growing well! (Or as well as I think it should be) She can crawl super fast, chasing me from the living room to the bedroom or the washroom the moment she detects that I have "escaped" from the room and she can stand up by herself. She can also cruise, and clap her hands and have 2 lower front teeth growing out. Also blabbered some sounds here and there. her facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/bbmirei

We're in Singapore right now, after settling  big hooha regarding my spouse visa expiring. At least I've learnt a lesson, next time i'll set a calendar reminder to renew the visa!

It's been quite a busy few weeks in SG, with work and settling bb in, and also meeting up with friends, helping out with my sister's wedding stuff. (maybe we have been very little of a help since now the bride seems to be in a very bad mood) The past week has been great with my sis (& future BIL) around though, being very nice in dropping us off at places and picking us up. There were the very interesting nightly chats about dumb stuff that kept us up late at night (besides bb waking up at night for her milk) that I did miss being away from my sisters. At least bb seems to be adapting to life here, and has been going to her grandparents for cuddles instead of just me. Even her aunts have been approved by her as allowed to carry her. One of the changes for this age is her shyness to strangers. She starts crying when she meets new adults (my friends) unless I'm carrying her, although she is kpo about what they are doing, she doesn't want to let them touch her, or she pretends to be just playing with her toy and takes secret glances to see if anyone is watching her. & she has the play hard to get character, such that even after she allows people to carry her, she refuses to look at them straight in the face, and just keeps turning her head to avoid eye contact. (>.<)

I managed to read quite a few books the past weeks: the Happiness Project, 1Q84, and some Stephen Clarke books. (His books on France and parisiens and their lifestyles are hilarious). 1Q84 left a very deep impression on me; it's the kind of book where you end up thinking "What??? I don't understand!" but yet the plot was simple enough to follow to the end despite the large number of characters introduced here and there. I wonder if I would be able to actually follow through it if it had been the Japanese version. But I haven't felt like that in a long time, that I needed to finish a book before I slept (not successful since the book was too long and took me a week's nights to finish)

Taking a break from all the craftwork as well, but have to finish crocheting a pouch for my cousin as already promised. Doing something new this time, added a strand of shiny yarn to the original woolly yarn to give the pouch a touch of elegance. I hope the end result is pretty!

I am very much looking forward to Jay's concert at the end of the week. It's been years since I've gone to his concert, I think it was when I was still in university. 2002??? 11 yearS!? wow.. it was alot easier to get tickets for him then, and only half the price for the cheapest tickets. I haven't even heard his latest album yet though, so I guess I've to be ready to hear some new songs in the concert. Slightly worried about how bb will cope that evening, but I think she should be ok?? since Ryo should be here by then :D

More on the wedding next! (next as in the next time i find time to post.. :P)

千九百九十七: Early morning ramblings

Feeling all unable to sleep now that bb woke me up at 4.30am for some unknown reason. Forgive me for the slightly messy post as this is from the phone, & I'm feeling a little lonely, having not really spoken to any real person lately.

Bb turns 9 months old today. Which reminds me that I need to bring her for her health check. (4th month and 9th month health checks are mandatory in Japan)

I think we've more or less settled in the new place (unpacked enough to live, the rest of the boxes are half opened and living from them in a need to basis. ) did I mention how the mil keeps insisting on coming over to "help"? She called and aid "you must be having a hard time! I'll come over now!" I was working, and i wasn't even unpacking or having any hard time so I said "huh? No, i'm perfectly fine opening like 2 boxes daily and slowly unpacking" & she paused for a while before insisting I'm having a hard time. Huh???? & said she'll come over to help me open boxes. Which sounded quite ridiculous to me, as why would I want fo open the boxes when I wasn't intending to unpack them yet?? So i told her why would i open them when I have nowhere to put them? & she seemed not to understand that I prefer to unpack on my own time, and all she does when she come over is make the bb cry. When she does that, i'm totally unable to do anything else since i have to carry the bb and soothe her. Also, her /fil being around means i can't walk around the house in my pjs sans underwear. I insisted that i'm working and am busy b4 she finally understood that she wasn't coming. As expected, she called Ryo over the weekend to try to come over again, but luckily we were out at ikea buying stuff for the house. If only Ryo just tells them directly. I'm not allowed to be rude so i try to be civil about it and give all sorts of excuses but he can say things directly to his own parents right!

I think i'm finally falling asleep so maybe i'll continue this later.

千九百九十六： Packing up

empty shelves

It's almost moving day! (7th April to be exact)

How fast time flies! I remember flying here in April 2009, and suddenly it's been 4 years and we're finally moving out into a house of our own.

Thanks to this being a rental apartment, and being a tiny tiny place, I didn't buy much stuff to decorate, which made packing quite a breeze since it's mostly large items, books, clothes and basically easy to pack stuff.  Dishes, utensils in the kitchen have special utensil boxes which means no more wrapping with newspapers. Shoes have a shoe box (like a shoe cupboard, you just stuff shoes in them directly). Anything that can't be put in the boxes will be moved by the moving company directly. Which is quite alot of stuff actually, since the boxes are not that big. I've taken the chance to do an inventory of my clothing, which has been quite surprising so far, 13 pairs of jeans can you believe it?! Some are from my uni days, which actually, for a span of 9 years, is not that many pairs. I did accumulate lots of running attire in the last few years, which means I should make full use of them this year. I've signed up for 2 runs in sg so far, which is an incentive to train, now the only bottleneck is bb. Things should slightly improve after moving day, I can go do rounds at Meriken Park near the new place.

This is a video of the moving company - 

I think they are pretty cool! if you see the video, you'll know what I'm talking about. Of course, the people in the video paid for the moving people to pack everything for them, which I think is not really necessary in our case. & of course not paying them to unpack for us as well, I think it's weird that I would know where I want to put my stuff in my new place in advance. 

My MIL keeps insisting on coming to help us pack, but I've managed to fend her off so far. Firstly, she is old and can't carry any heavy things. Also, she isn't very tall, can't reach for tall  shelves. If anything happens to her (falls, injures herself) I would have more problems on my hands - how to take care of the baby as well? She asked me to bring the bb over instead, I was thinking, how is that a help when the baby doesn't really like you, cries after you carry her for 30 min, and needs milk in 2-3 hours? And if I'm at home, I still can pack here and there slowly, with no rush, but if she comes here to help look after the baby, I would be pressured to pack as much as I can just cause she is there? when I still have 2 weeks to stay here, I don't want to put everything into the boxes yet! We've already encountered some situations when we think oh shit, damn, we packed xxx into the boxes already, when we needed some stuff. And somemore, I'm supposed to be working on weekdays, after 4 years, she still doesn't seem to understand what working means. She sometimes insist on coming over on weekdays in the daytime, of course if she comes over, she will sit and chat for 2 hours. The other day, she came over and immediately bb who was in a good mood originally, started wailing. Because she tried to carry /touch her. I want to tell her to chill, let bb get familiarised with her first, and seriously, as an adult i have my personal space radius, I think bb also has, which is why she always gets pissed off by the mil because she just invades people's personal space. I don't like people touching me eg hair, hand or what, but she is the touchy kind of person and frankly, I hate it! ok .. I'm just letting off steam here, but maybe being alone most of the time has made me an even more prickly person around others. But I think the one thing that stuck me with the foul impression is that the first time she came over, she opened my drawers w/o permission. and the closed doors to my other rooms. Have you seen anyone come into other pple's houses and just open the drawers in their cupboards w/o asking!? She is a nice person in general, but like I said, I'm prickly and fussy and I remember such things quite clearly. so.. I can only say, as hard as I try to be civil and respectful when I have to interact with her, I just try to avoid seeing her as much as I can.

Ok I guess that's enough complaining for this post. Moving on to packing t-shirts /dresses today! 

千九百九十五： Here and There

BB starts eating bread!

Feb is always such a short short month! I guess it's because of the London trip in Jan which took up half the month, and after that, my parents came over to Japan which took up the first half of Feb.

Some thoughts on London. It was a good trip, much better than the first trip, because I got to see both my sisters, Henrietta, XQ, Chris, and also Julius, which was less lonely than the trip in 2010 for sure! It feels like I've just returned from the first trip; it's still quite fresh in our minds (all of us can still remember some of the small memorable stuff from 2010 like watching the man change the paper ads in the tube station). Bad weather for week 1 unfortunately, so much snow and it was almost freezing cold. Week 2 was actually sunny, and sunny for most of the week! Yes, in gloomy London, where sunlight is so rare. This trip we were slightly richer than 3 years ago, so we ate better food, went on more side trips, visited Liverpool, Manchester United stadium, Brighton, Cadbury World, went on the Jack the Ripper tour, watched an Arsenal soccer premier league game, had a proper English Tea at Bea's, and ate at a few Jamie Olivers' restaurants. (ok, i only noticed there are his restaurants all over the place this trip) My sis also introduced the wonderful flavourtown cupcakes to me. Actually living in London might suit me better if not for the weather. and British men are very sharp, very good looking! My only regret is that I still didn't get to visit Stonehenge yet, argh.

This time there was the baby too, which made travelling alot more difficult, but I'm glad we all survived it. Everyone around sorta grew to understand how difficult baby-watching is, but without all their help, I don't think I would have been able to travel properly, kudos to especially the men for helping to carry the baby. Imagine carrying a sack of rice for >8 hours a day, for 5 days! I almost broke my back the first week, but at least my sister carried the bag and camera. The best thing about visiting my sis in London is the nua-ness of the trip. Besides the days we planned to travel out, I managed to read quite a bit (it was hard to knit with the baby around, usually I had no 2 free hands at the same time) and had finally a proper rest from work which I really really needed, thanks to colleagues who didn't assign me anything after I went to London. So I revisited some of the places I had wandered to on my own 3 years ago with my sis / Julius and the baby, and was able to take better pictures with a better camera now as well :p

After I got back to Japan, it was a few days of rest (and lots of unpacking and cleaning up) before my parents visited for the CNY holidays. Their main aim was to see the baby, since they haven't seen her for 4 months. I'm actually quite glad they came, because even though we quarrel alot, my mum is probably the only person I absolutely trust who can handle the baby even if I'm not around since she is the only person who literally watched the bb grow up when she was born. Meaning, I can take long showers, sleep in late, enjoy meals my mum cook and basically relax and rest when my mum is around since my dad & her wants to play with the baby. Took them around Osaka, Kobe, ate quite abit of nice food, since this is Dad's first proper trip to Japan. We also managed to go to Hiroshima via the shinkansen, and ate lots and lots of oysters :D I think the baby was quite sad when they left because no one was around to play with her anymore.. I think she has finally reverted back to the lonely baby mode now though.

It's back to work now, after all the trips and visitors have left. Ryo is still away for work quite often, currently, so I'm trying to survive alot by myself with the baby. I don't know if it's getting easier or harder, but the baby sleeps less nowadays, and she needs food. I am only thankful that I'm still breastfeeding her, which has saved me almost 8 months of formula $$ and all the having to bring out the milk powder etc when going out. Nowadays, just 2 pieces of diapers, wet wipes and a change of clothes for the baby, are all I need for the baby. Although I'm quite lazy to bring the baby out by myself (because the baby is quite heavy, and I prefer using carrier because the baby stroller is very very hard to carry up and down the steps of the train station), I try to bring the baby out for a walk or to run errands once a week during the weekdays. I guess it's better for her than sitting around at home all week with me. Also, the discovery of baby led weaning is wonderful for lazy parents like myself as well. Just give the baby some food from your own plate that wasn't overly spiced and watch her chomp the food up happily instead of cooking yucky porridge for her. I really dislike porridge so I can't imagine having to eat porridge everyday just because I have to cook a small bowl for my baby. YUCK!

Next up, to train up for the half marathon in May!

千九百九十四：New Year Resolutions 2013

bb says Happy New Year!

the 2012 resolutions : http://booboogal.blogspot.jp/2012/01/2012-resolutions.html
1. Read 80 books - fail / only managed 72 cos I started all the knitting.
2. Only be nice to people who deserved it - hmm I think I kinda managed this, I think I just shrugged off alot of stuff last year.
3. Detox my life - semi-successful, again this is a subjective resolution, so maybe shrugged off / ignored those toxic people in the end.
4. Appreciate my parents more - I think our relationship improved alot, mainly there is the baby, of course it was a difficult time during the end of pregnancy and the start of having a baby, but nowadays I just chat with my mum on the phone which is easier than shouting with each other face to face.
5. Be in Japan more. - I was in Sg in Jan, 1 week in Feb, June, July, August, Sep, Oct. ok.. that was half a year.. maybe fail this resolution
6. Finish French elementary - fail - I think I can forget about going to any classes with the bb from now on..

for the 2013 ones, took me quite a while to come up with stuff.
1. Read 50 books - cut down the number due to bb being around giving me less time to read, although now I feel that I might be able to read quite a bit since its harder to knit with the bb.
2. Get one of my dreams started. This is sorta just at it's beginning stage so might take quite a while still
3. Get through the year in 1 piece. Just hope to get through this year smoothly with bb in general I guess, no big dreams this year of major travel or achievements.

千九百九十三： Looking back on 2012

5 months old - figuring out her fingers

The end of 2012 is here! The end of the world came & went though, & we all survived :p  i wonder what happened to the people who believed it & ended their lives (resigned their jobs, spent all their money etc)

It's time to look back on the year; this year flew by very quickly, last year at this time I was just pregnant, now bb is 5 months old + .. so fast! & as I write this, I realised this is why I need to blog, as age comes, I can't really remember what I did in the year, so even a summary blogpost a month helps me remember what I did in the past year (looking at my own archives now haha)

My 2012 in short:
January - New Year, & CNY in SG with family and friends. First time I had such a fun New Year's day , usually I'm snoozing at home by midnight 31-Dec.

February  - Tokyo Marathon with the guys, & all the touring around Tokyo of course. My favourite part was  the meal at Bills at Kamakura (for no particular reason, the memory of it just brings warmth into my tummy)

March - Saw Mount Fuji upclose for the first time at Kawakoguchi - it was really a WOOOOOOOW moment. The day before was snowy and cloudy and cold, basically a bad day for even travelling, & we had reached the ryokan not even knowing which direction Mount Fuji was at. & the next morning, it was the sun streaming through the window that woke me, I looked out and was shocked at the sight of the majestic view of the mountain so clear against the blue sky. I'm not a mountain person (don't ask me to climb any!) but this was just magnificent! in case you want to feel the same woooooow I did, the picture here might do it for you:



if you don't feel it, go see it in spring / summer, you won't regret this!

Moving on,
April - Mum & cousin Rina visited me in Japan at the best time of the year, when the sakura was blooming.. Quarrelled alot as usual with my mum, but all in all, it was good to have people over.

May -  Solar eclipse - first ever full solar eclipse for me! It was really cool, even though my equipment isn't that great, managed to shoot through my sunglasses and got at least 1good shot. if you want to see the pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157629925829026/with/7283025400/

June - KL/ Marathon - last overseas trip for me before having a baby, went with the guys to KL on their marathon weekend. Best part of KL as usual, is the Angsana spa visit! This is probably my favourite branded spa in the whole world, nearly 4 hours of bliss at only S$100+++ thanks to the weak ringgit. My 2nd favourite would be Willow Stream at Fairmont, but they cost a bomb.

July - bb Mirei arrived! Happy that she's out of me, but confinement was the worst month of my life. Secret showers had to be taken to keep my sanity. & no cold drinks! Still don't know what the reasons for torturing new mums are, but someone should abolish them!

August - Staycation at MBS after surviving confinement - Ryo came to sg for bb's first month party & then we headed for a short vacation at MBS. It wasn't really much of a vacation with a 1 month bb around, but at least we got some time away from my parents to just spend time as a small little family.

September - The big 30. - Best part of it was that my sis was in SG for a short break since the last time I saw her was in 2011 in Italy. Had alot of work to clear the night before, so the day itself was just a quiet affair with my mum, bb, sis & Calvin spent at Tiong Bahru Bakery. Youngest sis was MIA.

October - Nike Run -  I managed to complete my first post-delivery 10km! It was not easy .. since I haven't trained for a year, and was run/walking the whole way with a 1h 15 min timing..

November - Osaka Marathon - Back in Japan, bb took some time to get used to her new home. Visitors from Singapore was probably the highlight of the month & the feeling of emptiness after they left was quite bad knowing that the next trip to sg was >6 months later and by then, bb would be almost a year old.

December - Xmas / NY holidays! - Sort of holiday.. first time visiting the Kobe luminaire, and lights in osaka, usually we are so lazy as a couple + the weather is so cold that we just hibernate on our couch. Looking forward to bringing bb for her first NY temple visit on 1-1-2013.

After listing out the above, I realised I could have just easily referred to facebook (-.-!).

other notable achievements in 2012 - grew my first ever tomato (Ryo ate it), crocheted a hat for the baby, a pouch for me, a sorta scarf, learnt how to knit and came up with 3 scarfs so far - one for my youngest sis, one as a wedding gift & one as a xmas/birthday gift. The last one being this :　

grey & beige cashmere scarf as a birthday gift

Upcoming projects - 2 more scarfs for my parents coming to Japan for CNY, learn how to make socks / gloves and a proper scarf for the bb (hopefully?) 

2 more days to 2013. Happy new year every one! 

千九百九十二： Autumn

autumn leaves

Ok this is a late post for November (I realised I hadn't posted anything after returning to Japan at all, partly cos I've been overwhelmed with the task of handling the bb alone).

What happened in November -
1. bb & mummy settled down back in Kobe
2. bb is now 4 months ++ old
3. bb is able to flip on her right side (she can't flip back, just makes alot of noise after flipping to get us to move her)

4. Highlight of the month was that Julius & Yuh Soon came over from 16th Nov to 26th Nov for the Osaka marathon and sightseeing. Stayed at my place, which was a big help to me, because the more hands to look after bb and I actually felt like I was saner despite all the sightseeing making my legs tired haha. bb loves company as well, Julius was very good with her, helping to change her diaper sometimes and keeping her quiet / playing with her when I had to attend calls, while Yuh Soon helped to carry her stuff in his bag.  Ryo was away the first week in NY also, which made it even more helpful that they were here. Just nice the autumn leaves were out as well, very beautiful scenery everywhere.

5. Quite stressed out by MIL in particular, whenever  I visit. I'm not the kind that goes around brimming with enthusiasm or how should I say this - i dunno how to handle people who tells the baby oh you are so cute 10 times in a row or continuously says to the baby "oh i wanted to see u so badly!" (erhhh?? hinting to me??) and then she sorta keeps on going on about it when we want to leave because we have errands to run and chores to do about how we seldom visit, the last time we visited was a month ago (which was totally not true! we visited her only like 2 weeks ago so I felt even more irritated at this trick to try to guilt trip us!) and her way of snatching the bb away the moment we let our guard down (yes I feel that she really is waiting for us to let our guard down so that she can carry the baby herself). I mean, why do you need to *snatch*, it's not like I don't let you carry, but the bb is mine, when she cries for me, all the more she just shakes her harder and that just makes her cry harder. same old issue, she keeps saying "is she hungry is she hungry" and I hate that, why are you implying that i don't feed bb enough. She's in the 75th percentile, don't even ask stupid questions! and then the hubby don't understand this, it's not that I want to keep bb away, but i really want time at home and not rush here and there at least 1 day. there are some things I can only do on weekends when he is around and sitting around for hours at the IL's place is not helping.

6. Knitted my first proper scarf all by myself and sent it to Frieda as her wedding gift. I hope she likes it, it was a mad rush because I had not much time and all the knitting was done on public transport when the bb was ok with me not carrying her.

the completed scarf

December - I think the year just flew by (maybe cos of bb) and I can't really think of any major events this month except I have to start making all the new year / xmas cards. Oh, & beginning my long leave, because working in the day with bb not sleeping is almost impossible now. We have to go buy a walker for her soon. Looking forward to Jan though - will see my sisters and some friends in London!

千九百九十一： Struggling Along

bb lifting her head higher & higher each time

Bb is almost 3 months old! in another 3 days to be exact. Come to think of it, it's really quite amazing how a single cell organism grew into this cute little thing!

Her growth seems to be on track - just went to a 3 month follow up at KKH & the pediatrician said she was growing well! A little on the bigger side, but that's not a bad thing since she doesn't look like the Michelin man yet. She's drooling alot these days, chewing on her fingers and fist, which is an early sign of teething. Hopefully she doesn't bite me accidentally or purposely in future. Can't imagine the pain if she chomps down while drinking milk. from her mummy. eeeeeks!

I've been bringing bb almost everywhere I go. Places that allow babies at least. She's a big hit at group dinners, wedding dinners because she is such a friendly bb who allows everyone to carry her and then she chatters on and on and smiles at people so everyone wants a hand in carrying her. My parents have been helpful in taking care of the bb when I do want to go out on my own, I guess they enjoy the time with the bb since now there is an ample supply of frozen milk in the fridge. I finally watched my first musical, Avenue Q! It was quite an impulse decision, because I had always thought it was muppets related  so why would I want to pay $100+ just to watch the muppets! In the end, it was a hilarious musical due to the adult themed songs, we just kept laughing from start to end. I wouldn't mind watching it again definitely!

In another 1.5 weeks, it's time to go back to Japan again. Time really flies (T.T) I've been here 4 months this time and it feels like i've only really enjoyed myself the first and last month (for very obvious reasons). I do feel quite excited at the thought of finally introducing bb to our home & also to do everything the way I want, hopefully it won't be too much of a struggle.

千九百九十：oh crap i'm 30

bb at 8 weeks making faces at me

Well.. the day has arrived sooner than expected. First birthday present is from a friend received last week, although I haven't known her for long, she remembered my birthday which very much surprised me (& I'm quite touched). She has been looking out for me quite often in the past year which I'm very very thankful for. 2nd present was not so great though, a bunch of bugs. As in system bugs. Signoff for a big project is due tomorrow, & here I am at 3.32am trying to regress the bugs. Why am I doing this at this hour, you might ask, well... blame the dumbo engineers who like to leave things to the last minute. Can't they patch stuff 2 days ago? grrr... Hopefully I won't have to work until the same hours tomorrow night. This year is extra special because my sister is back from London in Singapore; we haven't had a chance to all gather at home since... 2009? & that was because of my wedding. now we have one more little lady in the house, my dad must be feeling the heat / noise from all the female hormones around him. It's been fun having someone at home in the afternoon to play kinect with & also to just help with the baby or to correct my knitting (which turns out has been wrong the whole time ...) The house will be so quiet next week (T.T)

千九百八十九：Almost 30

just love this innocent look at age 6 weeks

It's nearly 2 months of looking after a baby , & less than a month to my 30th birthday.

After such a long time of being young (usually I'm always the youngest at my workplace somehow, at the age of 20++) suddenly 30 sounds very old. No wonder Rachel in Friends refused to come out of her room on her birthday. I'm trying not to be bothered about it, but it's hard. The only consolation is that I've achieved most of what I wanted to before 30.

Before 30 (in no particular order)

• Completed a marathon
• Got married / had a baby 
• Still earning my own keep
• Living overseas
• Got my degree somehow
• Maintained zero debts 
• Managed to build up & hold on to some sort of investment portfolio which cannot feed me as passive income but can sell if in a pinch.
• Travelled to most of the cities I've always wanted to go (eg New York, Paris, London, Rome etc) 
• Saw Kimura Takuya in real life no less than 2m away at a SMAP concert when his crane like apparatus stopped right in front of me

Unfilfilled aspirations 

• I still can't speak French fluently
• I haven't properly travelled to other parts of France
• I want to watch a baseball match with Ichiro playing!
• Complete a marathon within 5 hours. 
• Start my own business somehow. still thinking of how to do it & what kind of business it should be. 
• Own my own home - this should be fulfilled next year! 
• Be able to bake all sorts of goodies and make all sorts of desserts
• Able to sew/knit make stuff really well

hmm.. I guess in the nearest sense, what I want to be able to do in the coming year is just be able to cope with working and looking after the baby at the same time (& I do have that competitive streak that I want my bb to be able to start walking etc really fast!) It's been a very challenging time the past 1.5 months, especially when I lack sleep and also learning to not let the baby restrict my social life and how to cope with work/baby at the same time. Even when I feel very very tired, it's just not possible to be angry with the bb (because i choose to have the bb; the bb didn't choose me) and when she gives the wide-eye pouty look, your heart just melts and smiles with her. I'm pretty thankful she only cries when she is hungry or wants to be carried (so far) but hopefully our communication will only improve with time :) 

千九百八十八：3 Weeks Young

thinking what to have for lunch today - wait it's milk!

 My bb is 3 weeks old (young?) today!

Confinement still sucks, but at least there's only 1 week more to go. Caterers confirmed for the 1st month party, staycation planned, made plans to see the Harry Potter/Andy Warhol exhibitions, go to Gardens by the bay with my family, am just looking forward to be able to drink coke & shower 10 times a day again!!

A little late to do this, but guess I should write about how the delivery went. I can't believe it was only 3 weeks ago; the past weeks feel like months have passed. Maybe because I slept so little every day and the monotony of being at home.

I had tummy cramps & felt very grouchy on the day before the delivery, which I had attributed to work and also the sitting on my bed the whole day to do work. I had no appetite, (very irritated that dinner was none of my favourite foods) and gave Ryo a call before bed to tell him to please please please get his bags packed. Slept like a pig after that, which luckily I did, because I woke up at around 4am with a sharp pain in my tummy which only lasted less than a minute. Thought it was nothing, tried to go back to sleep, but felt the pain again 10 minutes later? I tried to go to the loo, nothing came out, & I thought, crap could this be it.... & decided to try to take a shower. I didn't expect the pain to worsen, sharp pains in the lower back came on like every 3 minutes which felt like someone had stabbed a knife through my spine & then twisting it around for a full minute. All I could do was double over & try to not die with the pain. Tried to get changed as fast as I could before the next wave of pain (basically contractions went from every 10minutes to every minute within an hour) and tried to pack some toiletries and necessary documents. My parents woke up, I tried to eat some bread (again trying to gobble everything within the no-pain minute) and gave up when I couldn't chew fast enough (-.-!).

Excruciating pain in my back was the worst part of the contractions; no one had prepared me for that. Water didn't break, and I tried using the laughing gas in the hospital (which was useless and made me slightly woozy after the pain had passed instead). I had thought I wouldn't want to use any epidural but after the doctor declared I was 3cm dilated & could have the epidural if I wanted, I was half woozy from the gas and the pain was really killing me (it was exhausting to cope with the pain to say the least; I wanted to just drift off with the gas from the last wave of pain) so of course I said yes please. The epidural was a tube stuck in into my lower back (which actually didn't hurt at all given that the back pains from the contractions were 10 times more painful) and since i had had a taste of what contractions felt like, it was enough for me. When the epidural took effect it was such a relief to be able to not spasm with pain every alternate minute. I would say the epidural actually made the birth process quite uneventful, because after that, I was just relaxing in the bed with my phone and updating facebook & chatting with my mum. I think i dilated 2 cm every hour, so after around 4 more hours, the doctor said I was ready to start pushing and the midwife kept asking me to push if I felt like I had a stomachache. I couldn't feel anything, and I was lying on the bed so it felt very weird to push like I was going to the loo (who lies down for a poop anyway!?). In the end it was just a 5 minutes of the nurses, doctor & midwife chanting *1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 Push!* and the baby was out. I didn't even realise it was over until I heard the baby cry and I was waiting for those overwhelming emotions to overcome me but nothing happened; I felt no different from myself before having the baby and my first thought was "oh so that's what you look like" before trying to look at what everyone was doing. (maybe the epidural was too strong and numbed even my emotions?? haha)

& then the epidural started wearing off, the nurse brought me some food for lunch but I basically just ate a few bites and puked everything out, which was a side effect of the epidural wearing off. Suddenly felt exhausted and had a headache, and after the baby was taken to be cleaned up, I was wheeled to my room and the hell of no sleep began...

I think most of my wound has healed; not much pain below anymore (i almost died of pain after I ran to answer the phone from the bedroom to the living room during the first week) & weight is back to normal, just that I'm still slightly flabby  & all the stretchmarks are still there. Hopefully I can get rid of those & start running in a few weeks!

千九百八十七：booboobaby

the new baby

Finally, I got to meet the little one who was in me for the past 9 months. Say hi to bb Mirei :)

& goodbye to my social life.

i want to kill the person who invented this confinement shit. with this kind of weather, all that rubbish about no bathing allowed etc is really rubbish. & even with the herbal bathing thing, my very paranoid mum thinks that bathing should only be done every 2-3 days with the herbs. Which is crazy because I was perspiring alot every night with all those heaty confinement food everyday (& 2 fans in my face) & I was itching like crazy at the neck and back area (I have a history of heat rash at the neck area) & was really going to scratch my skin out already even though I bathed yesterday with the herbal water when my mum finally relented and I got to bathe with the herbal thing again. & I thought I could enjoy a leisurely shower when the bb had to wake up in the middle of it & I had to rush through it, & came out of the shower all sweaty again (with all the stupid no wind rule or you will get wind in the head blah blah) seriously, I don't believe in this crap! else all the people who don't do confinement will have all those diseases & that's alot of women in the world!! no wonder so many pple suffer from postnatal depression..

i hope the dark knight is still showing when Ryo comes back.. although I dunno how I will watch a movie with the baby.. this  must be one of those things you have to sacrifice when having a baby. (T.T)

千九百八十六：TGIF

finally completed my little crochet pouch!

It's been a long week. I guess it started badly which made it feel alot longer.

I'm feeling a little better, basically went to raid my sister's cupboard for stuff to wear (cos she has alot more dresses/skirt type clothing) and although I didn't manage to find alot, at least found some clothes that made me look less fat (i think). Of course anyone can say that I actually don't look that fat compared to other pregnant ladies, but firstly - their husbands are around to make them feel loved, mine isn't. When I feel ugly, no one really is around to give me a hug and say don't be stupid (and maybe just give me an ice cream at the same time to make me feel better) although I really did appreciate all the fb comments from friends who tried to encourage me. But still.. it is super tough to look in the mirror and see this monster of a tummy looking at me (T.T). The only comfortable place is when I lie down to sleep because when I lie flat, my tummy looks smaller haha.

I tried to put all my energy into other stuff instead - like crocheting & diablo-ing. Hopefully these will tide me through until the bb comes. I'm scared, even though I think the husband being there was not a must, but now all these insecurities are coming over me & I really do wish Ryo can be here in time, because they don't allow other family members in the delivery suite. & this other guy was saying his wife's heart stopped during labour & had to be revived ... what if I die and I never see Ryo ever again!? sighz..

I went for the detailed scan on Wednesday, and everything seems ok. Took the day off, & went around with mum to get the basic necessities for the bb. After that we just relaxed at Starbucks, which made it quite a good day of no work and just taking my mind off things.

千九百八十五： Back in Singapore

I love the dome roof of the National Museum

Maybe it's the hormones. But I'm just kinda wishing that I'm back in Japan already.

I dunno how come things can just change from quite ok to such awkwardness.  Maybe friendship is really only skin-deep? Now that I have a pregnant tummy, I'm repulsive and any show of concern towards a pregnant friend might be inappropriate? It's a depressing thought, and all the more so because I am feeling really ugly and any kind words or concern or some true friendship is actually very welcome and much appreciated. Some insensitive pig actually asked why I looked like a clown in my baggy bottoms. I just replied that cos I can't fit into my normal shorts anymore?? (T.T)

千九百八十四： The Sun and the Moon

Annular solar eclipse on 21/5/2012 - when the moon has almost covered the sun

It was great that the past 2 weeks had both a super moon & the solar eclipse. The solar eclipse was a very rare occasion; the previous one that was visible in Japan happened 932 years ago, and I'm really happy that I had the chance to witness it (even better it was with Ryo beside me since it was early morning before he had to go to work). It was spectacular to say the least, and although it isn't a total eclipse (when the whole world turns dark for that few seconds), it was still kinda breathtaking when the moon went straight into the center of the sun. Of course, my camera isn't powerful enough to take an amazing shot, so this is the best I can get. There is a shot of the moon in the center, but I think I like this one better, in terms of sharpness. Also, I think the media did really well, cos they actually did a full broadcast of the eclipse, counting down etc, so that people who can't get out of the house like old people were also able to experience and see the eclipse. I don't know why, but this felt like a very motivational moment for the Japanese people ever since the earthquake & tsunami last year, a sort of bright spot to get everyone happy and excited again, even if it was only for a day. Seeing everyone getting so excited on the streets on TV, strangers sharing their eclipse sunglasses, even dogs getting into the fun, it felt like the country was on the way to getting back on their feet. I don't know when I can see an eclipse again, but hopefully within this lifetime there will be a few more. :D

One more weekend to going back to SG, am having abit of mixed feelings to be separated from Ryo for such a long time this round. 5 months maybe? He's been great the past few months, although of cos not great at helping out at housework, but great in the sense that he tries to come home earlier, have more meals with me, accompanies me to all the doctors' visits and just basically accomodates me whenever i suddenly want to go some place or act a little crazy. This is probably the first time I actually feel like I will miss him alot when I go to sg, because he won't be around for me to hold his hand when I go out and watch out for me in crowded places. (T.T) and also I'm not sure if I can actually survive all the nagging/quarrelling that is inevitable to happen after staying at home for a while. sighzz.. I guess I should just think about all the positive parts, like friends & food for the time being.

I'm feeling super lethargic lately, and it's hard to climb out of bed in the mornings, and I actually almost slept until noon or later somedays by accident. I don't take naps after I get up, although I don't wake up at night after falling asleep at all, I'm wondering how I am able to go to work after getting to SG if this continues to happen. Suddenly am feeling full of admiration for preggy people who commute to work daily especially during peak hours, because I really don't think I can do that with all the waking up early and squeezing with the crowds. Especially hate guys who smell weird, some smell of smoke, some just smell funny (not BO, and not sweat, just a weird sour smell that they emit & I think they dunno it), and also coffee smells. & onion smells. Everything I don't like is just magnifiedx10 basically. hmm.. although the thought of what is going to happen in 2 months is even more scary.

千九百八十三： Late Nights

Mosaic, Habourland in Kobe (HDR)

Been swamped with work & late night calls. Golden week was really the last chance to relax although I didn't know it then. Manage to proceed along with my crocheting (but still... the pouch isn't completed yet), read a little, ate (quite alot?) and watched alot of TV.

This week has been midnight calls the whole week, all 5 days, & I don't understand why these people can't just think through things even before discussing them. We waste most of the hours discussing / reading the stuff on screen & then the last part saying let's consider this now, but there's no more time in the meeting and we have to have another meeting the next day. Anyway, I'm just glad I'm not speaking at these calls, just listening in is really enough to make me want to puke blood. I really need some sleep after a whole week of late nights, but when I wake up in the morning (when Ryo leaves for work at 7), it's so hard to fall asleep again that I'm just zombified the whole day after that. & that can't be good for my health...

I'm kind of dozing off in front of the laptop now in fact, maybe I should go take a quick nap. (>.<) good night!

千九百八十二： Spring!

Grom in Firenze, Italy

The weather has finally turned warmer! But I blame myself for being lazy, even though it's almost bright & sunny everyday, I'm just filled with too much inertia to go out for even a walk. Ryo has been working late the whole of this week, which makes it even harder to go out by myself (just because I'm feeling too lazy to) and eating all meals alone is not fun. If there is only me in the house, I'm very lazy to cook something proper, and alot of meals seem to be leftovers from Ryo's breakfast (miso soup & rice) or instant noodles, or canned food. or sandwiches meaning bread with peanut butter or kaya. I lost 1kg easily this week, due to the lack of meat or the smaller than usual meals I guess (>.<)

It's Friday, which means it's almost the holidays :D Next week is Golden Week, with Public holidays on Monday, Thursday & Friday. There's a holiday in Singapore on Tuesday which means I also get to relax (& wake up at my own time) so effectively only Wednesday is a work day. Even though I have no plans for going anywhere, I'm just happy to have time to myself and not be stuck at home to the PC (again, it's just laziness, I can bring the laptop out to work but zzz, it's so hard to find seats at starbucks that have a power point). Ryo has to work most of the days though, which means I have to have my meals myself again bleahz ...  but maybe I'll think of something soon.

I feel like having an ice cream everyday, or should I say I've been eating an ice cream almost everyday, which explains the Grom picture. I feel like having Grom! Maybe I'll go have some Grom this weekend as well. I need to check if the chicken rice set at tea time at the Singapore food restaurant is really available. They should offer for lunch instead of teatime! What an irritating timeslot - 3-5pm, too late for lunch & too early for dinner.

Starting on a new project this week, which is really a headache with the piles of documentation to wade through. But at least I can't say I have no work to do. Although I'm just trying to finish up the crochet pouch in the meantime. It's taken me 6 months + (including the winter months where I just gave up on it because it was too cold to hold the crochet needle); maybe I can finally complete it in the coming month.

Will be going back to Singapore in June - looking very much forward to all the food & also the Jason Mraz concert!