High Tea at Ritz Carlton

The wait for the bus was unusually long this Saturday morning. We made our way to the bus stop and reached at about 0715am. We thought that if we did indeed miss the 0714 bus, it would be about 0736 when the next one is scheduled to reach. But to our dismay, the damned bus came only at 0750, a full 35 minute wait... and to think that express bus sets off from the interchange, which is like 4 stops before mine... sheesh...

Anyway, due to the bus wait, we reached the tow yung clinic at 0855, and already, the clinic was swarming with people... Young excited couples chatting amongst themselves, nurses and clinic assistants walking about, preparing the next couple for their attendance with Dr Lim. Before long, it was our turn and Dr Lim greeted us with his usual megawatt smile and like the previous few visits, did a quite scan and says that everything looks alright and measured Renzo's head (8.5cm !). He also mentioned that by now, it being the 32nd week, Feli should be feeling Renzo's kicking/punching about 10 times a day, which Renzo does... =P

After our visit, we decided to head on down to Takashimaya to get Renzo's milk bottle sterilizer pack (which came with a free thermal bag) that Feli's sis recommended (and in fact that's Renzo's gift from Kelly, haha..) and then to Marina Square to use our free movie tix at GV cinema there because Feli wanted to have high tea at Ritz.. more on the high tea later..=P

Looking through the list of available shows, the only title that attracted me was "The Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past", the other being "Transformers 2" but the show was such a sell-out that by the time we wanted to get the tix, the earliest available show was at 1700pm and no way am I going to hang around for 6 hours just for a movie. "The Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past" turned out better than I had expected. The classic romance comedy genre that never fails to kick Feli's mood up a notch.

Our perfect timing meant that we could take a leisurely stroll down to Ritz Carlton to the main event of our day, Ritz Carlton's High Tea Buffet at the Chihuly Lounge.

Ritz Carlton always bring sweet memories back to us, we loved them ever since we had our perfect wedding hosted there 2 years back. And this time, they didn't disappoint. For S$40 per pax (UOB card holders have an additional 10% off), we were treated to a wonder spread, though the variety of food serve might not be impressive, but everything that were served was of superb quality.

The high ceiling and natural sunlight made the whole dining area a marvel and there were these live music performances that just made the ambiance a 'wow'. Each guest could get a free flow drink of their choice. I order hot chocolate while Feli went for Lemongrass tea (made more sense considering it WAS a high tea buffet..heh). Anyway, we chatted and soaked up the atmosphere and when we were about to leave for home with another wonderful Ritz experience, a funny little incident caught our attention... A group of teenage girls (BIG GROUP) waving a little yellow flag with red Korean characters came running through the lobby screaming from the main doors all the way to the lifts. Curiosity got the better of me and I had to ask the door attendant who just arrived... Turns out that some Korean boy band (T-Max i think) just flew in and will be residing at Ritz.

*note: The staffs at Ritz Carlton have my sincerest sympathies should these idol fans come tearing down the lobby during this duration...=P

Wonderful decor

Happy Daddy Chan

Happy Mummy Chan

Round 1

Asparagus wrapped in Beef (all-time favourite... woot !)

Live Performance

Yummy ~!

Feli's Pot of freeflow Lemongrass Tea

A heartful sugar...=P

Chocolate Soup anyone? (in a pot not in the pic)

Desert Delight !

Okay okay.. i'm getting to carried away with my pic posting... shall stop here..=P

Renzo is growing fast...

Renzo has been growing really fast during the past 1 month. Do not believe it? Let me show you this..

It is my 32nd week and I have already filled up and posted back the pre-admission form for a single-bedded room at Thomson Medical Center. We will be meeting Dr Lim for my routine checkup on this coming Saturday. From 36 weeks onwards, I will see him every week for about 4 times (hopefully no more than that..), then we will meet our little Renzo!!! Sounds so exciting and I just can't wait for the big day to come.. Now first thing first, I should go back and get my jumper bag packed, so I am ready to rush down to the hospital at anytime.. haha..

Daddy Chan and the Great Ikea Workout

During my army days, I was physically at my peak... 50 sit-ups in 60 seconds, effortless 12 chinups, shuttle run in less than 9 seconds, 2.4K in under 9 minutes (at one point), and though my standing board jump sucked, it was good enough for me to get a Gold and a healthy injection of funds from the incentives..=P

But since ORD, my usual daily fitness routine includes frantic clicking the mouse and lightning accuracy with my keyboard strokes, and a WHOLE FULL CRUNCH (½ when I get out of bed in the morning, ½ when I get in bed at night). But today... Just for Renzo... I did more physical activities in a day than I did in ages. All in the form of fitting together the famous DIY furniture from IKEA.

As you readers would have known by now, we have gotten quite a bit of clothes and baby items for Renzo already, and it was time we got a proper storage area for him. And me being the Ikea loyal customer, unhesitantly agreed to Feli's idea of getting it from them. This simple shopping trip down to Ikea Tampines burnt a whopping $593 damage to our stash (inclusive of delivery), but at least they promised to get it delivered to us on Monday...

So came Monday, another usual day at work for me, but the day after work... mehhh... was nothing short of usual. I was greeted by the 2 flat packs in Renzo's room upon my return around 6:30PM, and almost immediately I got to work (hardworking eh? =P)

1 of the pack was for a chest of 3 drawers and the other was for a wardrobe... Seemingly the simpler task of the 2, I started off with the drawers. After opening the package, I began to realise that it was not as simple as I thought it would be. But nothing that Daddy Chan can't handle...=P


The fun thing about putting together a piece of Ikea furniture is that it kinda brings back my childhood memories, those good old days when I looked at a blueprint of a LEGO castle
and then following the colourful pictorial instructions step by step until the architecture is materialised before me. yeahh... Ikea furniture ain't too different, only the manual is printed on dull recycled paper with greyscale ink and the resultant masterpiece serves a much different purpose (surprisingly not much difference in price....=P ).


Completion of the drawers just brought the handyman blood in me running and I was ready to start on the second project... the nonsensically heavy wardrobe. Either I was too drained or flat pack furniture seemed to weigh
more, but either way, it took a great deal of effort to open this pack and lay the items across the room.. and man.. when laid out, the pieces covered more than 50% of my floor area... Haha.. and Feli was impressed how I laid out the little screws and wooden pieces before I began my work... It was my way of making sure that I do have the required number of each piece for the joints and also, for my convenience when I need to look for a particular piece later during my construction. As I explained it to her... in the back of my head, I imagined my cluttered table at my office, and I can't help but break into a silent laugh... =P

(Winson at work at HOME vs. Winson at work at OFFICE)

So after hours of screwing around... literally... I finally got it standing and moved it into position along with the drawers... Whee~... finally Renzo has his own furniture~! Feli wasted no time in packing all Renzo's babyware into the little blue furniture that has so many rounded edges that I seriously do think it'll be bringing smiles to Feli and me for a long time to come... ^_^

Having a peaceful mind..

The recent visit to Dr Lim on June 13th really set my mind at ease, because he said that there will be no more tests to do besides a pelvic/cervical check on week 37 (I suppose he needs to check for dilation?)
During the past few months, I read through a lot of articles and posts online about pregnancy and I was puzzled by quite a few things:

Gestational diabetes
2 of my colleagues got this symptom during pregnancy, and since all along I am on the more plump side, I was quite worried about this. I asked Dr Lim when is he going to test my glucose level? "We've done that test, let me show you.." He brought up the blood test result which I did during week 16 from that whole stack of my records. And there I saw the "blood sugar level" indicated as 81, and he said, "see, your test result is very normal, and we did not find any sugar in your urine so far, so not a problem!!". And based on my research, normal blood sugar level during pregnancy should be around 60-130 so I am definitely safe. Win is not surprised to hear that because he always thinks that I am having a very healthy diet, I've never been seduced by a slice of swiss roll or a spoonful of Haagen-Dazs ice cream so far.. Anyway, I am extremely happy, because some studies showed that women eating more chocolates during pregnancy have happier baby who shows less fear of new situations. Now I can enjoy 1 piece of my Ferrero Roche Chocolate every two days without feeling guilty (I bought a box of 30 pieces and finished 12 of them in 1.5 month)..

Water Retention
I started to have water retention around 4-5th month, but it was not really that serious. At least I am still able to wear my wedding ring and squeeze into my same pair of size 37 shoes so far. But for sure, I noticed that the mark left on my body (from my clothes after sleep) won't disappear in hours. I am already drinking about 2 litres of plain water at work everyday, and trying to have fish soup or Yong Tau Foo for lunch and dinner (since Dr Lim suggested me to eat less salty stuff, you know in Singapore that is almost impossible..), but it still doesn't help much especially after I sit or stand for too long. Good thing is Dr Lim commented that my situation is not too bad, if I want to see improvement, I can try to sleep on my left side with my legs lifted up.. Wow I tell you it worked like miracle!! I slept for about 6 hours and my water retention around my feet and ankle just disappeared completely!! But it doesn't sustain for long of course, so the conclusion is, the permanent cure for it is.. STAY IN BED.. Oh, come on, I am not Isabella Leong.. Oops..

Excessive weight gain
Needless to say, I was slightly overweight even before pregnancy, and having heard so much stories from friends and colleagues who gained almost 20kg during pregnancy, I am quite immune to it when Dr Lim said "I wish our economy also goes up like your weight.." =P.. Normal weight gain for women with BMI 20-26 should be around 11.5-16kg. At my 30th week, I've already gained 9.3kg despite that I only eat 3 normal meals without any snacks. So the best way for me to maintain a healthy weight gain is through exercising. This "Leisa Hart's FitMama" DVD set I bought from Amazon.com really works great. The prenatal workout includes a 20 minutes salsa dance, 25 minutes yoga fat burn, and 15 minutes body stretching. So I try to follow it at least 3-4 times a week (this is not easy man, and it is the only exercise that the more I do, the tougher it gets because my tummy is growing bigger and bigger everyday). But I think it really helps to build strength on my thigh muscles, and some tips on strengthening pelvic floor muscles and proper breathing during contractions must be really beneficial during labour.

Now the only thing left which still worries me a bit, is my relatively high blood pressure. It used to be around 120/80 during the first 2 trimesters but shoots up to 130+/80+ now at my last trimester. Should I eat more celery?

Relac no more~

Heading towards City Hall after our Gynae visit was just the beginning of our check-out-all-the-items-on-Renzo's-shopping-list day. But of course, how can we start the day without a proper breakfast (or brunch, judging from the time...=P)? So we derailed and took a left turn from Marina Square into Suntec, only to realise that a good % of singaporeans are in the damn building just for the PC show. I can never understand why people come to such shows to squeeze with another thousand others just to buy a thumbdrive or a rim of DVD-R (yes.. i know and heard of people who do just that). Anyway, pass the crowd and to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao we went~

Brunch was good and perked us up for the shopping journey ahead. Though we did stop by Domanchi and bought 3 shirts and a pair of pants for your's truly, but we eventually did stop at Kiddy Palace where all the shopping spree started.

Thankfully, through a potent combination of GSS (that's Great Singapore Sale for you non-singaporeans) and Kiddy Palace Membership, the shopping did not burn too big a hole in the wallet. Let me just briefly go through the shopping done on this day...

- A set inclusive of an Electronic Breast Pump, Breast pads, pacifiers (which we didn't intend to get actually) and a baby carrier... for $279.

- Ear & Forehead Thermometer cum room temperature device... $96

- Various pieces of towel, nappies, mittens, bootees, fasteners, grooming items... $157.90

Quite a pleasurable shopping experience if you asked me. The Kiddy Palace staffs were friendly and helpful and really know their baby stuff. Ask them a question and you'll get a notebook full of answers..=P

Because one can only have so much carrying power, we decided to get these things first and continue our purchasing at Kiddy Palace Century Square the following day. Again, they had friendly staff and useful tips which is enough to make me trust them enough to come to them again if there's more baby items i need to grab.

Had to take a taxi back cos the tub and mattress were just too bulky for comfort. And immediately Feli did the calculations.. and looks like we managed to hit an all time low..=P... looks like we are still quite the relac parents afterall...haha

Lecture by Dr Lim Teck Chye ~

Following our previous post self-proclaiming to be relac parents, Feli and I decided that it was time to be less relax and time to kick start our shopping for Renzo. And when better to start the day then to do it that after a Gynae visit...=P

So 13th June it was, and if you have been following our posts religiously, you would have known that the last few visits weren't as interesting as the first few... and yes, this one was no different. Wake up, bus ride, long stroll, wait in queue and finally the consultation.

Though Dr Lim seems to always be in a good mode, the louder and sharper whistling seems to signal that he was more cheerful than usual. After his simple ultrasound scanning, he proceeded to give us a lesson on the symptons of labour, stating that there are 3 kinds.

(Again I must emphasize, this is from our experiences, please consult your doctor for clarifications and details)

- Bleeding: if bleeding occurs (he refered to as 'Bloody Mucus' -__-' ) ... it is a sign, but we were to wait and not to immediately rush to the hospital... We were suppose to wait until... the next sympton shows... which is:

- Pain: the pain he was refering to was regular (every 15-20 min) of pain, inclusive of cramps, backaches and the urge to pass motion (eh?... why is that classified as pain? heh..)... in any case... GO~!

- Water leaks: well... if you watch drama and shows enough, you'll know what this is... it means the waterbag burst! the liquid may be clear like tap water, or slight greenish (from the baby's excretory waste)... this too, is a "GO~!" signal.

So after his short 5 minute lecture, we made our next appointment (next 3 actually... haha...kiasu singaporean..=P ) and was on our way to City Hall to do some baby shopping.

Renzo Renzo my lucky star~

On that very day when I realized I was pregnant(2008/12/17), a new network engineer joined my company. After working here for 3 years, finally IT team has someone who is driving.. What a good news!! He drives me out nearly everyday to different places for lunch, and that's how I get to know this super savoury "XO fish head bee hoon" near teban garden, it becomes Renzo's top favorite even though I never have craves or preference for any kind of food.. After work, he sends me to nearest mrt, or even all the way to my home once in a while.. I think Renzo is just lucky, or he is bringing me luck, haha.. He has the honor to enjoy quite a relaxed life when I am at work..

Then on March 31, my boss talked to me about the company's plan of downsizing Singapore office and moving IT function to the Philippines. That means, I will be out of job soon! Well not too soon actually because there's still about one year to go, and i have to say that's all because of Renzo!!! If I was not pregnant, I should have left this company by now. But my boss(a great Dutch guy) is humane enough to let me stay, and I only need to leave this place with full compensation after I return from my 4 months maternity leave. Again, what luck!!

But don't come to me for 4D numbers okie?! Err alright, maybe 2 months later you can try your luck with Renzo's birth date or measurement? .^_^.

Just Simming Around~

Since the launch of Sims 3 on 2nd June 2009... My virtual life have been as wonderful as my real life... the better difference being that I get better pay than in real life (I'm a Prolific Writer earning over $20,000 in royalties in my Sims 3, and Feli is a World Renowned Surgeon)

The best part is... we get to fast forward time in the Sims.... So without further ado~ Let me show you the life of Renzo Chan's growing up phrase~

Excited Win talking to Feli's tummy

Win listening to Feli's tummy (my favourite pic... looks exactly like me listen to feli in real life)

Win pacifying infant Renzo while Feli has her well deserved rest (check out the time... -__-' )

Baby Renzo's first music lesson

Feli teaching baby Renzo to talk

Kiddo Renzo's Birthday Party

Teen Renzo after school (young punk looks like his dad eh?)

You know you're gonna be a Daddy when...

It has been quite an adventure for me till date... and many things have changed... Listed below are some of the things that became quite different thus far...

You know you're gonna be a Daddy when...

1) You looks at your wife's belly and ask, "What do you feel like having for dinner dear?"

2) You slice a pie into three portions instead of the usual two

3) You start doing more household chores than you thought you ever would

4) You go to the supermarket and suddenly don't feel out of place when looking at diaper brands and prices

5) You chat with your friend's parents and instead of asking how's school/work life, they tell you about how they brought up their kids

6) (con't from above) Then you look at your friend, shakes your head with his parents and make mental notes of a negative example

7) You walk into Ikea and for the first time in your 5278991720 visits, you actually spend the most time in the children's section instead of the living room/kitchen/bedroom/bathroom sections.

8) You watch Hong Kong drama series on TV and when you see the lead actress supposedly preggie for 4 months, you immediately chorous with your wife, "Not realistic, her tummy is too big."

9) Your currency is in baby items...

e.g. When a friend sees a $2000 price tag on an LV bag,

she thinks . o O (That is half my salary... wtf...)...

You think . o O (That is x months of diapers.. nono.. x months of milk powder... FTW?)

10) You start writing blog posts on 'You know you're gonna be a daddy when..." -__-'