30 March 2014

Stressful Week

It has been a stressful week but I'm just glad that it's getting better. Poor little Sabina was getting feverish last Wednesday and started coughing a little too. She didn't look very well yesterday morning and was very unsettled. Even though we had already seen our GP on Wednesday and Friday, you can't help feeling worried and stressful. I had to take her to the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children just to get her checked out.

I must have seem really worried or even shaking a little because when the Triage Nurse was taking down our details, she kept telling, "slow down and clam down, you're little girl is okay". We didn't really have to wait that long to be seen by a Doctor but we did spent a long and exhausting 6 hours at the hospital because we needed to get a pee sample from the little one, and somehow, on that particular day, she decided that she didn't want to pee nor drink much fluids!! In the end, we had no choice but to use a catheter instead. Poor little bubba, I felt so bad putting her through that but at least we know, she didn't get any UTI. Therefore, the conclusion was she must have caught a viral infection. There isn't really much I can do and the Doctor said she will not need any medication. Only thing I can give her are just Panadol or Nurofen. I seriously feel very helpless at times.


I was a little relieved when she did gave me a smile and drank more water last night just before her bedtime.


She was a lot better today too although she wasn't that keen on breakfast. Towards the afternoon, she was happy to snack on some rice crackers and even played with some toys. Hopefully, she's on the mend to a speedy recovery.



Lots of hugs, cuddles and kisses to my baby!! Get well soon little girl!!! Mummy loves you a lot!!!


27 March 2014

Ballet Flats Shopping Haul

Those of you who know me well, are aware that I have a weakness for shoes. I used to love heels a lot!!! But of course, lifestyle do change when you have a kid. I haven't wore my heels much since Sabina was born. They are all sitting prettily in a cupboard, waiting to be worn. I tried wearing them again to work but somehow, I don't find them as comfortable as they used to be!!! :(

I only have a few pairs of flats and I literally wore them to death as they are my go-to-shoes every single day when I'm out an about now. Therefore, you can imagine why I went just a little bit crazy today. They were on sale and I got them at a really good price. Can't resist!!



Here are some close-up photos of them. They're so pretty and comfortable!!! I do wish they have the kids design in adults sizes!!!





However, do note that only two pairs are for myself. The other two pairs are for my little girl when she's a little bit more grown up :)


26 March 2014

Having Fun at the Playground

There is one thing that I do love about the summer and it's the long days. Long days for me means I get to do more things in the evening before it gets dark, for example. taking my little girl to the playground!! I am still currently enjoying our new home (well, technically we've moved in for about 15 months now) and one thing that I look forward to in the evenings are taking Sabina out for a walk around our neighbourhood.

I took her to the playground for the very first time back in January and it was a good 30 minutes walk (Good exercise for Mummy since I hardly do any)!! Initially I was a little apprehensive as I don't know what to expect and whether she will like it or not. I decided to put her on the swing and she absolutely loved it!!! She really enjoyed swinging backwards and forwards while I was making silly sounds to her like "wheeeeeeee" every time she swings forwards.




After awhile, I put her down on the sand and brought out her beach toys. I even took off her shoes so that she can feel the sand in between the toes. I showed her how to use the little spade to scoop up the sand and pour it into the bucket. She tried to scoop up some sand but with not much success. In the end, she sort of gave up because she was more interested and fascinated in playing with the sand using her bare hands. I think she loves the way the sand trickles through her fingers.






All in all, both of us had such a lovely evening. I just love seeing her happy smile while exploring new things. By the way, it wasn't just her who was playing in the playground!! I myself was playing with my new toy the whole time!!


Yeap, I got myself a DSLR during the Boxing Day sales last year. I'm still learning how to use it and the photos above are taken using my new camera. They were the first photos too!! I reckon they're not too bad!!!


21 March 2014

Food Friday: Home Cooked Char Kuey Teow

If you ever speak to any Malaysian/Singaporean, one of our favourite street hawker food is Char Kuey Teow. After years of ordering this particular dish from restaurants, I've finally decided to try and give it a go at cooking this dish at home.


I've followed the recipe from Rasa Malaysia but I must admit that I did not make the chilli paste myself. I just used store bought sambal belacan (and I forgot to include it in the picture below) which is good enough in my opinion. Another ingredient that I've omitted is the bloody cockles as I'm not a fan of them at all!!! My Mum and Dad loves it with their Char Kuey Teow but I'll always ordered mine without.


So what's my verdict of this recipe? Taste wise, I actually think it's pretty authentic!!! Only mistake I made was I poured hot boiling water to the fresh flat rice noodles I bought and soaked it for 20-30 seconds, even though I was following the packet instructions!! The noodles ended up soggy. If I were to cook this dish again, I'll definitely not pour hot water over the noodles but will just separate the noodles using my hands instead.

Have you ever tried any recipes that didn't quite turn out ok the very first time? Or are you just a brilliant cook where every single dish you cook turn out perfect? :)


20 March 2014

Throwback Thursday: Sabina - 1 Month Old

I still remember the first few weeks very clearly when Sabina was born. It seems like as if it was just yesterday but let me remind you, Sabina is now 16 months old already. Yes, time flies, too quickly I feel. There are times I just wish time would slow down just a little bit so that I can savour every single moment.

My memory aren't that great and there are times, I'm super duper forgetful. I guess that's one of the reason why I take lots and lots of photos of Sabina, since she was born. I love looking through all her photos and I'll probably share some of my favourite ones along the way.

For today, here's a photo of my little princess when she was just one month old. I had to put that cute little flower headband on her for this special occasion.


Don't you think she's adorable? Ah...I miss the newborn baby smell!!!


15 March 2014

A Bold Move and a Milestone

Those of you who have known me for the last 10 years or so, you would probably noticed that I've only ever have to hairstyles. You will only see me with long hair or a bob cut. Since pixie cut got popular a few years back, I've been wanting to get it done but always chicken out at the very last minute. Also, it doesn't really help when my DH always discourage me from doing it (he likes long hair). He even joked that I will probably end up looking like an onion if I ever get a pixie cut as he reckons that hairstyle does not suit my face at all.


I've been growing my hair for the last 2.5 years and it's almost waist length as you can tell. I finally bite the bullet and made an appointment with a Daniel from Tao of Hair, recommended to me by my dearest sister. When I got there, I showed the hairdresser the pixie cut hairstyles that I like and asked for advice. I told him to do whatever he likes with my hair and that he's given free reign, a blank canvas to work on.


As I sat there nervously, waiting, not knowing how it will turn out, I just prayed that I will look ok. After he has finished cutting my hair, I was ecstatic!!! I absolutely love my new hairdo!!!!!!!!!!! I'm actually so glad that I made this bold move and just get it done!!!


Next thing I was worried about was will Sabina recognise me? When my DH came to pick me up, Sabina just stared at me but after a few seconds, she couldn't stop smiling at me :)


My little princess just turned 16 months old a few days ago. Don't you think that we looked more alike now after my new haircut?


09 March 2014

Labour Day Long Weekend - Part II

Before the start of the long weekend, my friend and I decided to plan an outing for our little ones. So we took them to the Cuddly Animal Farm in Swan Valley and the kids had a blast!!! I love the opportunity of being able to introduce Sabina to the little furry animals like guinea pigs, rabbits, etc.



Since Sabina grew up with two doggies from Day 1, I assumed that she will be excited to see these cute little animals.So first thing we did was bring her to the guinea pigs and rabbits area where we can actually feed them with carrots and cabbages, touch, pat and play with them. Erm...I was wrong. She was actually a little bit scared and wouldn't want to be near them at all. We tried to stay there for awhile and maybe let her warm up to the animals. It didn't work. Oh well.



After that, we let the little ones walk around and they absolutely love it. There's goats, pigs, emus, cows, and many other animals but they seem to be interested in the gravel road? Haha.




As the morning was getting warmer, we found a perfect spot under a shady tree and had a lovely picnic. The little ones had so much fun running around, chasing one another. It was an absolute joy seeing them having such a great time.



I highly recommend this place if you have little ones. I would definitely bring Sabina back one day and hopefully by then, she will not be afraid of the guinea pigs and rabbits any more :)


Lastly, I find it so hard to take a decent photo with Sabina lately!! She's so active and cheeky!!!


05 March 2014

Labour Day Long Weekend - Part I

We just had a long weekend just past and since DH is home at the moment, I decided to plan some activities to do as a family and hope we will have a fun filled weekend!! There are so many things to see and do in Perth at the moment which is just fantastic.


We took Sabina to Sacrilege - which is an inflatable replica Stonehenge bouncy castle in the Supreme Court Garden. I myself was actually pretty excited as I've never ever been on a bouncy castle before. So you can imagined I was like a little kid, bursting with excitement!!

It was a hot day so we decided to go there early in the morning, right after breakfast. Sabina was quite happy running around and exploring the park while we wait for our turns as they only allowed 75 people to be on the bouncy castle at the same time. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long as each group are only given 8 minutes to be on the bouncy castle.


By the way, luckily my friend told us to bring socks!!! As it was quite a hot day, they were hosing water on the bouncy castle before every session because it can get quite hot and I've heard of people getting blisters from bouncy castle!! Therefore, if you ever go on a bouncy castle, remember to bring a pair of socks!!




When it was finally our turn (Yay!!), Sabina was a little bit afraid in the beginning but she eventually did warm up to it and had a great time bouncing around. It looked easy to be bouncing around but I tell you, I was puffed and tired after a few minutes!!! I am seriously unfit and need to do a bit of exercising soon!! Eeekks!!





As it was such a lovely day, we laze a round in the park afterwards while Sabina continued to explore her surroundings while drinking from her water bottle. She was really fascinated with the leaves and twigs that she found. She was constantly running around with either leaves or twigs in her hands and it was so funny to watch. She was having a blast!!




It made me realised that you don't need big expensive toys to make our kids happy. You might be surprised that sometimes it's the simple things that will bring us the most joy!! Just spending quality family time together is more than enough. When we got home that day, both DH and I were filled with so much happiness and joy. We had such an amazing and wonderful day that we decided we will try to go out for family day and do something together at least once a week or once a fortnight. I am definitely looking forward to our many family days now!!