Sydney Day 1 - University of Wollongong

Of all the cities we went in Australia, Sydney is my favourite.  :)

Compared to others, its nice and warm-ish and yet not too warm. Just nice. I love it.Its very obvious that Tomato also liked it here, she was immediately well, and her appetite suddenly increased 'x'.

We plan to take things easy at Sydney, since we are relying on public transport here.Our hotel (Central Station Hotel), and is pretty near to the Central Station. 

I believe Tomato enjoyed Sydney most too, cos her appetite suddenly grew so much here. Keep asking for mam-mam (food). And also maybe because she didn't eat much when she was sick while at Hobart.

I decided to go and visit University of Wollongong. Although I didn't physically study there, but my degree program was from there.  My college offered this twinning program with the Uni. And since we are at Sydney, I figure I should grab this opportunity to go and have a look.

But first, let us take a selfie. LOL! We took a south coast line train from Central Station to North Wollongong Station. The journey took about 2 hours 17.20 AUD  for a return ticket. From there, there's a free shuttle bus which will bring you to the campus, just look for the Uni Logo on the bus.

The bus will make a few stops once inside the campus. And in my mind, I ran through my memory to get down as close to the duck pond as possible. My friend told me its nice there. And I think it would be nice for Tomato to run around looking at ducks since she likes to see animals so much.

The Uni is smaller than I expected. And we quickly reach our destination. But the pond is really nice. And the scenery is so serene. Students lying down relaxing on the grass, reading, chatting, eating. So carefree. I envy. LOL!  

The people there doesn't seem to be surprised when they see Tomato. She is the only small kid around. I was told by my friend, there are parents who are students that sometime bring their kids here.

Tomato had a blast, she ran around like nobody's business, exploring the surroundings, while we sit down in the shade watching. Oink got panic whenever she is too near the pond.

Hello there Duckie! The ducks there is not even afraid of humans. And the grass seem clean, I wonder where they poop? 'x'

We lunched at the nearest cafe (there's a few) we can find. And one pretty student commented that Tomato has very nice hair colour. Her dad has brown hair as a kid, hers is not as light as what he had, its a darker shade of brown.

We left around 2pm but took the wrong shuttle bus, which goes to town instead of North Wollongong Station. Nvm, we treat it as 'makan-angin'. Tomato fell asleep in the bus.

And she slept through the train ride back to Central Station. :)

Hobart Tassie Day 3 - MONA

On our last day in Hobart, we went to MONA (Museum of Old And New Art).

Museum of Old and New Art

655 Main Road Berriedale
Hobart Tasmania 7011
Australia

You can either drive there, or take the ferry from the MONA Brooke St ferry terminal (Hobart), which takes about 30 mins.

Opening hours varies with season and entrance tix is priced at 20 AUD per adult.

Usually I am not a fan of museums as they bore me. But MONA is different. The exhibits are more, how should I say..hmm, provocative. Go see it for yourself. Its very interesting. I would recommend you bringing older kids though, some of the exhibits I think are not very suitable for school going kids. Ahem.

Anyway, Tomato was busy playing with our phones for most of the time while we are there. Most areas are dark which scares her, so we had to give her our phone as distraction.

I was very intrigued by this piece of art. Alot of time and patience sure was put into making this work.

Me :-p Wanted to show more photos but I think I read somewhere that  distribution of photos on the museum is prohibited.

There's a lot of eye-opening arts & exhibits in the museum, I highly recommend it to people who are open-minded enough.

The view outside the museum. It was very windy, cool and sunny.

Tomato running loose.

Tomato is 2

Weight= approx 12 kg
Height= approx 90 cm

The little monkey is 2 now.  She is VERY active, and VERY talkative, and with VERY SHORT attention span (except when playing with our phones or tablet). She can ask you to play a dvd for 5 mins, then said she want to watch another :/

We took leave to celebrate her birthday with her. I cooked longevity noodle with drumstick, eggs, date, mushroom for her and also for me and Daddy Oink.

Then after that we took her to Molly fantasy@CityOne. She had so much fun, we had a hard time getting her to leave 'x' LOL

After that we had lunch at Fork and Knife, which I think was mediocre and the service is not so good.

After that we send her to the nanny for her nap, while we adult go back to GSC@CityOne for a movie date. :D We watched X Men and it was awesome, well, at least to me 'x'

At night, we had family dinner Rock Road Seafood.

Hobart Day 2 - Richmond Village, Richmond Bridge, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary & Royal Tasmanian Botanical Garden

It just so happen that while we are there, Richmond Village is having a fair. :D

After driving for about 40 mins with the help of the GPS (its a must!), we arrived.

Already cars start to crowd. The weather could not be more perfect. Clear blue sky, sunny, and yet not hot. In fact it was very windy that Tomato demanded to wear her beanie. Anyway, Tomato was still not feeling very well, no appetite, refuse water, but still in playful food. In fact, she vomited at 5am in the morning :/

 

 Double Decker bus spotted on the way to the fair. Its actually operating. 

Our very first country fair :D Now get to see it for ourselves. Kids were running around, there's a band playing instruments, food stalls, handicraft stores, animals, animal rides.

 Looking at Cao-ni-ma ( I am not cursing here 'x'). Its Grass Mud Horse.

HEEE. What's a fair without people dress up in colonial costume? See, told you its windy.

 

We walked over to Richmond Bridge. 

There's a very scenic river under the bridge and Tomato was very excited when she saw the ducks  waddling around, she called out "dok dok" LOL. 

After that, we wanted to lunch. I really wanted to try some scallop pies, but unfortunately its finished. BOOHOOHOO. So I settled with some fried stuff. We ate alot of fried stuff while at Aus. I even bought 2AUD juice for Tomato, but she rejected it :( still no appetite.

After lunch, we headed to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. 

 

Entrance Fee :
 
Family (2 adults & 2 children) $65.00
Adult $25.00
Child (4-15 years) $11.00
Child (3 years and under) Free

It pretty near to Richmond Village. And with GPS, its no problem for us to get there in 15 mins.

With every ticket, you get a packet of feed to give to the kangaroos. Papa Kangaroo is also carrying a Joey too (Tomato). LOL!! I was very excited to feed the kangaroos, but I found their nibbles a bit painful O_O So I end up throwing the feed on the ground so that they can have it. LOL. And while they eat, I pet them, and when Tomato saw it, she also bravely pet them, but Oink is very worried the Kangaroos might scratch  or even kick Tomato, so he stopped her. We saw 2 kangaroos fight. It was funny, it was not vicious or anything, but the bigger kangaroo keep kicking to keep the other one away from the food on the ground.

We saw Tasmanian Devil too. It kept running around and around. I saw it bite into a carcass too. Its jaw is really strong cos I heard bone crunching :S

After that we drove back to Hobart Town  for Royal Tasmanian Botanical Garden. Its free but there's a money box where you can drop donations at the entrance. The Garden is hugeeeee.

 

The sunflowers is crazy big. Some of it is actually bigger than my face!

Close up shot of one of the many plants available there in the park. We didn't spend along time there as Tomato was getting really cranky and clingy.

Ending this post with a sunset view from the balcony outside our room. Its really pretty, and the sunset later there, around 7pm. Its really cold at night at Hobart.

Panchor hot spring,kuching

Panchor Hot Spring is located at 27th  mile Kuching- Serian road. I am ashamed to be a Kuching-lang and never been to any of the hot springs we  have here 'x'

So off we went.

The sign leading to the place. After this its gravel road. So drive slowly.

Gravel road ahead.  Just drive ahead and when you are near, there's a small stretch of tar road.

Pathway to the hot spring made with planks.

You will be greeted by the Welcome Signboard.

I was told it used o be RM3 to go in, now its RM4. ppfffttt.

The many people because of the long weekend. The place is not big by the way. And it can be crowded during holidays.

A part of the place which I think was the most scenic 'x'.

Important information in Bahasa Malaysia. No english ones at all. Hmmm.

Ok, I take back what I said just now, there's some english used.

Apparently, they do sell food here, but because its the Gawai Holidays, its closed.

I only dipped my feet. I had these bugging itchiness on my legs ever since I came back from Penang. And after that dip, I actually don't feel itchy much  the whole day . HMMM~~~ The water was indeed hot, but not as hot as I expected.

Asked if I would come back again? I would say no. There's nothing much there to keep me entertained, but I see that there's some simple BBQ facility that you can use.

Hobart, Tasmania - Day 1

Oink's cousin was getting married on 23 march, 2014, in Melbourne and we were thinking, why not take the opportunity to jalan-jalan at Australia? So off we book tix. At first we didn't buy any tix for Tomato, Oink was adamant that he didn't want to bring her along even I tried to coax him to bring her along. But after we watched "The Impossible", before we slept that night, he suddenly said " Lets bring Tomato with us" LOL!! What the, I can't even beat a freaking movie into making my dear husband change his mind. This is too much. LOL.

We didn't want to spend whole 2 wks only at Melbourne, so we decided to walk around a bit and picked Tasmania and Sydney.

We took a night flight from LCCT to Melb- Tullamarine airport. And then, we spend a night at an uncle's house before flying with jetstar to Hobart, Tasmania on the next day. We plan it that way so that Tomato won't feel too tired. At least she can rest a bit before flying again. So how was our 8 hours flight from KL to Melbourne? I would say I was glad? I expected worse, I thought Tomato will make alot of fuss, but she didn't. But she didn't actually sleep until AA started to stop serving meals and off the lights. :(, which is like around 1++am! So when we arrived Melbourne, we were so tired. After meal and shower, we hit the beds and zonked out. When we woke up, its already afternoon in Melbourne. 

our flight to hobart was very early, 7am in the morning, so we had to wake up early. Tomato was excited. She loves taking plane. She slept mostly throughout the flight. We landed quite early, took our rented car from redspot car rentals. Talking about car rentals, I was so stressed when researching on Australia. Aus has a strict regulation on road law involving children. If not mistaken,kids under 7 has to be in a car seat at all times while on the road. But the good news is,malaysian driving license holder can drive is aus for up to 2 mths. But still we paid rm10 to get oink's driving license translated,we are kiasi like that,*ahem*. And i got so stressed up reading up horrible stories with car rentals,but redspot was good. Their counter was with the most people when we arrived to collect our nissan almera.

ok, i think i have loso long enough,back to the topic shall we?

our first destination was to Salamanca Market. The weather was gorgeous,warm but not too warm.

We didn't get anything much from the market except lunch and a small jar of jam.lol. Everything is so $$ if i convert to RM.why oh why rm is so weak?? We bought a very nice baked potato with cheese and all sort for Tomato,but she wouldn't eat.  We were puzzled. She was so cranky and clingy and while i hope she didn't come down with fever, i took her temperature anyway and was confronted with what we fear most.37.5 degrees, she had mild fever :(

Good thing was i brought along my boba 4g. She slept while snuggling close to Oink. Did i mention their park is so nice? Pity tomato was sick and don't have the mood to run around.

After that,we moved on to Grandvewe Cheeses. Hoping to see flocks of sheep running around. Imagine when we got there, 40 mins later, we can actually count the no. of sheep  'x' . Oh well.

Notice Tomato's kool fever patch?:-s At least she was better after a nap in the car, and she loves looking at animals. Makeup-less face 'x' Still not bad right? 'x'!!!

On the way back to the town, I saw this and got curious, so I got Oink to stop the car so that I can have a photo of it. That's the beauty of driving ourselves. I hope this will scare smokers bad enough. 44 years of smoking = 100k up in smoke! Wow that's alot. If the photo didn't scare smokers out there, I hope the amount of money they are wasting will wake them up. LOL!

Stay tune for more...

Long weekend holiday

How was yours? Mine was awesome, in my own term, that is. By the way, blog, I am sorry I have forsaken you for a while..I am back now..:-* 'x'

I remember in my before-baby-life,  long weekends means sleep ins, shopping, watching movies, doing some outdoor thingies..

now that my baby has grown and is now nearing two, long weekend still has all those MINUS the sleep in..LOL!!!

On Good Friday, we had a little road trip down to Lundu with my parents and my in laws. We travelled in total of 3 cars.  We visited the fish market, the fresh produce market, bought some fruits and veges. Then had lunch at one of the kopitiams. Ordered mixed vege soup (without msg and less salt but I think they used fish sauce!grrr ) and some steamed meats for the kids (Tomato and her kor kor -my nephew)

After lunch, we proceeded to the beach for some beach fun. But it was too hot. I stayed in the shade 'x' I was not alone though, baby - little nephew and most adults hang out with me under the trees.. *GRIN*

The only ones who braved the scorching sun was Tomato and kor-kor. Of course I made sure Tomato has sun screen on. I made the dad run after her, while I protect my fair skin by staying in the shade *ahem*

The kids ran around the beach, mine went straight for the water...SIGH..and made her pants wet before her daddy can fold the hems up. :-s

We left at 3pm, knowing Tomato needs her nap, she must've been very tired. She slept in the car without her pants. 'x'! (I just realised I didn't take ANY PHOTO at all for the trip, oh my, oh me..how can it be)

The following Saturday, Tomato goes to the nanny, while we parents get to pak-thor 'x' I got to catch up with my korean series while waiting for Oink to run his errands, then we went for lunch and movies! We picked Iceman (starring Donnie Yen). It was interesting but we felt cheated, cos there's no ending, its left hanging there, so I think there's Iceman 2. :-s  Then I get to go to the book store and slowly browse books *BLISS*

On Sunday, we took it slow, we had brunch, then went to Spring for some window shopping and then home for Tomato's nap. While she is napping, Oink and I watched Hercules on DVD 'x' It was lame, but I got tired of Astro's program. When she woke up, we had some snacks, then spend time in front of the TV. Then I got the idea of attacking daddy. 'x' I lunged at him, and upon seeing me, Tomato also follow suit. We attacked Daddy Oink, tickled him, pressed him, poked him. But after I stopped, my little rough girl, carried on. She smacked her daddy, punched him..Poor OINK! I almost felt sorry, until he tried to persuade Tomato to attack me back instead..HMPH! But Tomato didn't listen to him. So I continued to attack him and so did Tomato. I told Oink not to mess with us girls, or else!!! AHAHHAHAHAHAH...#GIRLSUNITED!

Mission fail!

In the previous post, I boasted about how Tomato went to sleep without her pacifier.

After 3 days, the last night  she cried and cried for it every few hours  which makes us the parents sleep deprived. In the end, we gave in 'x'!!!!

That's also because she somehow accepted and adapted to the new set of pacifier. So its not entirely our fault also *whistles*

Anyway, lately I have potty training her. My mom has been nagging me for the longest time to let her poo & pee in a potty, but I insisted to wait since I saw online its better to wait till 2 years old.

Anyway, one day I decided to try. She was soo easy. I took of her pants and diaper, pointed to the potty and told her to go ngk ngk (poo). She dutifully walked over and sat on the potty while I went to shower. I was just starting to shower when she whined n poke at her butt. And my response was "huh?so quick??Done already?" Anyway, I let her sat longer there, and only went over to check after I have done showering (Shower finished sooner than usual just because I was too curious 'x').

And lo behold! POO IN THE POTTY! I was soooo proud 'x' and kept praising Tomato.. gee, didn't know can be so happy over some shit 'x' AHHAHA.. I was so happy I even took a photo 'x' and I will share it here! You can stop reading here if you don't want to see it. Don't say I didn't warn you. Will give some space before the photo. HAAHAHA.

Anyway, it has been hit and miss until now, some days she just refuse to sit on the potty. Some days I missed  the timing and she had already poo in her diaper. I don't think she has the patient to sit on the potty for too long. Hmmm.

ANYWAY, lemme warn you again..poo photo after this . Stop scrolling now if you don't want to see poo/ are eating 'x'

TADDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

22 feb 2014,sleep without chut chut (pacifer)

Tomato loves her chut - chut.she cant sleep without it. The thing is,her chut chut already worn out,yellow and stained. So i bought her new ones. But she hated it :/ so i decided tonight she have to start using the new one or none at all. She made a fuss. Behaved like an addict. Stubbornly refused the new pacifier. So oink said,lets wean her off pacifier then. So she cried n wailed for like half an hour. Till she tak tahan and fell asleep.lol. So that's how her first night without pacifier went. Will try again tonight. But then,i can't help to feel sad that my little girl is growing up too fast. It may sound funny,but i'll miss her sucking pacifier look. No longer a baby.

Oh...Shoot...(Oh Shit!)

lately Tomato has been saying "Oh! Shoot..." when she dropped something, or tripped.

Lucky thing she can't really pronounce well yet, cos I know she is actually saying "Oh Shit!"

That's because I say it all the time 'x' and she must have picked it up from me. OOOPPSSSSSS

Got to watch what I say nowadays 'x'

Up to no good

Tomato is very naughty nowadays.Always up to no good.

Today she got hold of a brand new piece of sanitary pad and dunked it into the toilet. -____________-

And not long after, she took out a brand new ru yi oil, unfastened the cap and pour the content on the bed and bed frame.-_______________- I came out running from the toilet when I smell ru yi oil but it was too late.

Anyway, I took out some toilet paper and showed her how to wipe the bed frame, which she do willingly and diligently. Lol. And after that she listened to me when I asked her to throw the stained paper into the bin.

You grabbed my foot

Out of the many many warm memories I have with tomato, this one never fail to put a smile on my face. :-)

Tomato has started to use her hands to grab things. She is always an early riser. On this particular morning, we were still in zzz land.I was having a dream.Should be a pleasant dream though I can't remember much, when I felt something touched my right pinky toe.I woke up in shock, to find my darling daughter, lying on her belly, hand out-stretched and she chuckled happily when she saw that I have waken.

Ahh..life's simple pleasure.my daughter is so cheeky at a very young age. *smiles*

People come, people go

This is a rather sad post.

2 of the half day kids at my Tomato's nanny is going to Primary 1 next year. And they might not be coming to the the nanny's place any more.

This morning, I had a short conversation with Big Piggy, in which she started.

Big Piggy : After xmas, I won't be coming any more. I will miss everyone :(

Big Piggy : I manage to take aunty's(me) photo (actually she curi-curi snap a photo of me with her tablet), Tomato, Little Piggy,  Baby, but didn't manage to take photos of Miss Notty and Ah Boy. I am sad.

All I could say was : You can come on Saturday then can take their photo liao..

I felt sad, all these kids grew up too fast. I feel a bit sad that I might not see this talkative Big Piggy any more.

Maybe I will develop photos taken on Tomato's birthday and give it to her as memorabilia.

The Birthday Girl

Meant to post this months ago. But heeee....I was occupied with (*insert excuses*).  Well, better late than never.Anyway.. my princess had her birthday earlier on a weekend, not on her actual birthday, when most people can make it. We surveyed a few places and settled for Yun Yan Restaurant, Stutong. The price was reasonable, its near from home and its spacious enough. They (Yun Yan) surprised me by setting up the place nicely with balloons and fake flowers(LOL). It was a private event, where most of the guests are families. We only invited our close friends.

Future SIL and my BIL helped to set up the stage. Nice? I designed the banner and Oink printed it out in his office. Selina helped to order the Teddy bear cake. It turned out better than I expected. In case you are wondering, the cake is from Bake and Chilled.  I wrapped all the kids' gifts with teddy wear plastic bags that I procured from Daiso. Enlarge the photo to look at the cute bags. KEKEKE.

Tomato, you were sick at that time, And boy, your mood was not at its best. And worse, you had runny nose. My poor baby. First photo with Nelly, but you were not in the mood to make friends. Sigh...oh well~

You looked so cute in this photo my dear Tomato. The whole night, you were clingy and not in much mood to smile. You only want to be carried or run up and down the stage        -________________-

To make the red eggs "laku" <-popular, I printed a small note. Red= Huat ah, so if you want to Huat ah, faster take one egg!!..LOL. Btw, I wrapped the egg basket myself. Nice bor? The note must have worked, cos by the end of the night, we only left a few eggs. I've been to parties where LOTS of eggs was left. What a waste. In case you haven't noticed, the birthday was teddy-bear-themed since Tomato loves bear bear :->. Selina made the mini chocolate cup cakes which was so moist and yummy despite the plain look, and also the agar-agar. THANKS SELINA!! I <3 u..LOL! 'x'

Finally a photo of you, Tomato. Happy Birthday My love! Mommy & Daddy loves you very very much. Hope next year we can take lots of photos of you smiling on your birthday :-))

P/S : all photos taken by Ah Tiong @ Barkley Lim.

It gets better..oh joy~

Remember a few months ago, I blogged about the horrible experience on flights for Tomato's first trip to Singapore. She was 11 mths old then.

We recently brought her for a family visit cum trip to Tawau. FYI, she is almost 17 months old now. We need to fly from Kch to KK, then KK to Tawau. Needless to say, I didn't get too excited about the trip. In fact I am a bit worried how shall we cope with a crying  and loud kid this time. I pray to GOD so that she will cry less.

But guess what??? GOD answered my prayers. In fact it was more than I had hoped for. Tomato was very manage-able this time around. Compared to the little Devil a few months ago, she was such an Angel for this trip. She didn't cry at all and willing to sit still longer.  When kids near her cried, she just look and pointed and goes eee-eeee-eee . LOL.

Out of the 4 flights (return trip ), she manage to sleep throughout on 2 of them, and she didn't even drink milk till sleep, I fed her milk before the flights. Even if she wakes up half way, she can still sleep back.  She enjoyed sleeping on her daddy's chest.
I found she love to feed herself from this trip. She will fight the spoon off my hands. Although she always make a big mess, but I can see that she can spoon her food better now. When its difficult to spoon up the food, she will just use her hands 'x'. AHHAAH. As long as you keep her bowl filled with food, she can sit still and eat herself, and I can eat in peace. OH BLISS! My little girl is growing up tooo too fast. T.T

Tips & Pointers from this trip:

• I don't know is it because of the age, or because she has been on a flight before. She is much more manage-able now compared to before.

• bring disposable bibs. It is very handy when you travel and if your infant love to self-feed. Once they made the mess, you don't even need to pack/ wash the messed up bib. Just throw it. Convenient, I love. I got mine from cosway. It has a pocket to catch dropped food.

• Let it go. Don't mind the mess. Practice makes perfect. As they practice to eat by themselves more, the mess will get lesser and lesser. If you only focus on the mess/ worry about how ppl look at you when your child is making such a big mess, your child may never learn to be independent.

Grow Baby Grow (7 mths - 14 mths old)

SEKALIGUS UPDATE for many months..keke..And because so many months forgot to update, some details I can't really remember already..ooops. But got update better than none.

7 month old

Weight :??
Height : ??
milk intake : 4.5 oz every 2-3 hours.

- Can sit up longer.
- Had carrot puree, pumpkin puree, Japanese sweet potato puree, potato puree and a bit yoghurt by this age. But mostly still eating rice cereals.

8 months old
Weight : ??
Height : ??
milk intake : 4.5 oz every 2-3 hours. (don't really increase :/ )

- mix purees into her porridge. I cook her different taste porridge everyday. I would make the purees from carrots, japanese sweet potatoes, potatoes,  pumpkin, sweet potatoes, purple potatoes and pour in into ice cube moulds. Then when its frozen, I will put the frozen puree cubes into a container and keep it in freezer. When I want to cook the porridge, I just mix in one cube of puree after thawing them in the fridge.

9 mths old
Weight : ??
Height : ??
Milk Intake : ??

- start to have diced vegetables in her porridge. We also cook soup with meat which will be used to cook her porridge. Also notice she is growing longer but not as chubby as before.

10 mths old
Weight : ??
Height : ??
Milk Intake : ??

- start to give her some fish. And I cook her porridge with meat (which will be taken out and given to Mango after cooked). Every night I will prepare ingredients for her porridge, put everything in slow cooker and cook it overnight.  I think I also started to use whole rice by then instead of grinded Bario Rice. I cook different porridge everyday for Tomato. I use onion, ginger, and garlic depends on what I am cooking to flavour the porridge.

- Grew 2 bottom teeth

11 mths old
Weight : about 8.3kg
Height : 73cm ( know this because her passport was done when she's 11 mths old)
Milk Intake : around 5 oz

- brought her to Singapore for her very first trip overseas. 'x'
- Start to show interest to walk. Can crawl nicely.
- Can call mama. And sometime di - i think is for daddy. 'x'

1 yr old (12 mths old)
Weight : 8.55kg
Height :74.1cm

- she got sick before her birthday. :(( And refused milk and water and food after 2 days of fever.  She only wants to be spoon fed with water, and this doesn't work with milk :(. We tried feeding her glucose water but she wailed. After whole day of no eating, she was quite lifeless. Only sleep and not moving much. Her grandma (my mom) shed tears when she came to visit her. Tomato, if you read this in the future, remember ah, your Ah Mah so siok lu, shed tears for you. When we carry her, she would lean her body on ours and her head on our shoulder.Her hands hanging loosely at her side. :(( We tried everything, I even cook some porridge. Which she refused. End up we tried offering her the organic puff she always liked. And she ate them! Was so glad, I immediately went to buy another one for her. 'x' We went dinner that night, and she liked my carbonara.

-She was still not so well on her birthday. Poor girl. But at least her appetite was back by then. I on the other hand, had severe sore throat, every time I swallow, its like I'm swallowing a knife. 'x'

- can call mama, di, baby, mam-mam , eiiiii - when want to scold you

13 mths old
Weight : 8.3kg
Height : 75cm

- has salmon porridge  at least once a week. Starting to let her taste some table food. If eat outside, I will ask them not to put MSG into my food, and also to put less salt. Willing to try anything we offer. Bread, pasta, fruits, etc. I believe this is all thanks to me for my effort to cook different porridge for her everyday. 'x' Started to introduce mushrooms, cauliflower to her. Will point to food and say "mam mam" to tell you she wants it.

- encouraged her to walk a few steps without any support by standing a few steps away from her and cheering her to come towards us. :) It was cute I tell you.

- Oh ya, when we take off her clothes to get ready for bath (we say pong pong), she will pat both hands on her chest and say pong pong too. Cute max.

14 mths old
Weight : 9kg
Height :76cm

- start to eat 3 solid meals a day instead of 2 only.

- we notice she suddenly become so clever. AHAHAHA. Easy pick up and learn new things.

- can suddenly say a lot things. can call out Ko-ko (elder brother), di-di (younger brother), ball ball

- more demanding 'x'

- keep want ppl to hold her hand while she walks around

- 2 teeth  sprouted from top gum, about time!

- love to flip books she got as present and look at the pictures. When she sees a lion, guess what she say?
 She goes " ARRRRHHHHHHH" <- don't know is growling or roaring, and I suspect she picked this up from her Isaac ko-ko or from her lion toy (that roars).


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Found out my girl LOVES TO DANCE. When she can sit up (around 7 mths old) , she will just move her head and hands whenever she hears music. When she can stand up (with support) she will move only one hand, while the other hand supports on something. And most of the times, she will also shake her booty. ROFL. But I always cannot manage to capture it in video. The booty shaking I mean.  Once she can walk, she brought in new moves, beside shaking her butt more , she also stomp her feet/ jumps to the rhythm. That day I saw her sort of "vibrating" her body  cos the song on TV was a fast rhythm-ed one. And finally I manage to capture her butt shaking move on video. It was soooooo cute, it would have made Beyonce proud 'x'

Chickens and Eagles

Just weeks ago, our company attended a seminar with a renowned speaker who came to motivate us.

I went expecting to feel sleepy, but he is an interesting man. And funny too.  I need to leave half way though, to pick up Tomato.

My colleague didn't attend. So when we met, I shared with him some of the things I find interesting and still remember. One of it is the speaker say we should be an eagle, not a chicken. Chicken always do what others do, while eagle soar successfully high in the sky, preying alone, working independently.

So after that, we keep metaphorically relate our situation to the topic.

We talked about how we are chickens, everyday do same thing, and get chicken feed as salary  'x'!! AHAHAHAHAHA

Then we talked about a project where some staff will be required to be attached to the site, far away from home and family. And I commended how pitiful it will be. He said, chickens are meant to be slaughtered when needed. AHHAHAHAAHAHAH

And then, I mentioned how guys in IT field have thinner hair 'x' He said, its ok, since chickens need to have all their feathers plucked before being slaughtered anyway. 'x'!!! AHAHAHAHHAH

Got once, he suddenly appear without me realising and I was slightly shocked. So I scolded him, don't walk so silently like a cat, he said where got? I walk like a chicken. AHHHHHHHHHHH But then chicken is not quiet ler, they keep kok kok kok  kok kok kok...AHHAHAHAHH

Some of the things Tomato use

I wanted to share some of the things that Tomato is using now.

Bath items:

- Pureen 2-in-1 baby shampoo when bath at my nanny's at mum's place. Gaia body wash and shampoo when bathing at home. I love the smell of Pureen's blackcurrant and Plum. At the same time I love Gaia just because its organic 'x'..AHAHA.. Pureen is available at all supermarket. While Gaia was brought back by MIL from her Aus trip. But I think it can be purchased online too. You just have to google.

After bath:

- will rub her chest and upper back with 21st Century's children's vapor rub to prevent cold. We sleep in an air-conditioned room on most night. Available in pharmacies, Watson, Guardian,  Mummycare, Poppies, not sure of others) . So far, I find it cheapest at Poppies.

- then rub her tummy and lower back with 如意oil. Available at most shops.

- then apply moogoo's skin udder cream  on her limbs, emphasizing on her legs as my friend told me kid's legs get drier as they grow. So I suppose prevention is better than cure? I love the idea behind this product, go read the history and I guarantee you will LOL. And the ingredients are natural and I love the fact its not greasy. LOVE IT!I sometime use it on self too. You can buy it online if you are from Malaysia here.  I got this online for RM39.90.

- As for diapers, she use PetPet during the day (cos she poo quite frequent, not LS type, but soft stools) and Mamypoko for the night. And as claimed by the advert, Mamypoko sure last for whole night. Its more expensive but definitely worth it.

For rashes, insect bites, cuts ...

-  Lucas papaw for rashes, bites and minor cuts.  Love this product.  If you apply this on the area a mozzie bit soon enough, the swelling and redness will heal after half an hour! When Tomato has a more serious rash on her bum bum, I use this too. Heal very fast! Avaialble at Poppies or you can source it online, of if you are going to Australia, grab some back!

- Drapolene cream as prevention. After Lucas pawpaw heals Tomato's nappy rash, I will use this as a protective barrier. I don't use this much though. Only when necessary.  Available at most supermarket and pharmacies. And again, cheapest I find is at Poppies.








Insect Repellants

We used a few. Patches, spray-type, balm type. And the best I think is this one : Badger's  Anti- Bug balm Twist-Up Stick. Bought it from iHerb.com. My nanny's house is infested with mosquitoes during rainy days. I think its because she has a lot of plants. :-s Spray and patches don't work as well. This balm is also not 100%, but I see its works much better than the rest. Plus the twist up design makes it easier to apply. Another plus is its organic. Safe for babies :))

Oral Care

- There's this chinese herb powder thingy where you can buy from chinese herb stores. At least this is what other mothers I know is also using. I don't know the exact names, but the chinese herb seller will know what you want when you ask for it. You are to wrap a pc of sterilised bandage ( I use snowflake brand 3x10'' if I am not mistaken as it is the perfect size and I am lazy to cut myself into pcs if I buy the rolled ones 'X') . Plan to change to use a proper toothbrush when she grows more teeth. At this point, she still only have 2.