Pressies and pressing times

My rare update for the week, now that I am officially on leave (i.e. off work) for the coming 7 months (woohoo! thrills me whenever I think of it, to have zero mails in the Inbox, to "gently" remind people to remove me from their mailing lists)...

In any case, it's not a few days of 'horreeday' (holiday) for me at home before I head off for Singapore ok - I've been:

• catching up on farewell meals

My team was really sweet and even got me an early birthday cake on my last day (don't mind the writing on the cake that was decorated by two of my colleagues themselves at the cake shop - that's a heart, with some flowers, on top of the 'See U Soon' wordings, if you can't figure it out - haha) --

In addition to the really sweet jumper suit and oh-so-cute pink rabbit-eared shoes for Rosabelle, they also bought a Pigeon bedding set that is ideal for the cold March winter weather when we get back - we can even strap her in so she does not wriggle into the covers, and it can be unzipped to serve as a blanket when she outgrows it --

We had a good team farewell dinner that night, where some of the ex-team members also nicely turned up - they will be toiling hard even in my leave of absence, and I look forward to seeing them when back!

• buying stuff that are needed in China

Even though I'll be getting/using loads of things from my Sis/Simon/Marianne when in Singapore, we figured things like a bath tub can/should be bought in China, instead of being lugged all the way back from Singapore in March. My mum's advice for a bath tub was that we "no need to buy such a fancy one lah!", and she thought the SGD12 we spent was slightly too expensive at that! We got an 82cm one (should last Rosabelle till she's taller/older/bigger), and chose one with rubber grips by the side. Wayne purposely wanted a brightly-coloured one, and there was nothing we could do about the disturbing wrong English printed on the base of the tub (what on earth does 'Wi Mr. Bcan Clob' mean???)...

• eating with friends

We brought some local colleagues, along with a colleague from our Singapore office, Adeline, for Singapore food at Lau Pa Sat restaurant on Saturday night, and thereafter headed for ice-cream at Cold Stone Creamery.

On Sunday, we headed to Tim and Van's house for a good round of home-cooked food that included heavenly chicken curry with toasted french toast (yummy!!!).

Last night, Tim and Van joined us as we brought Adeline to another nice Chinese restaurant (那家小馆) for dinner. Van got me an early birthday gift, to no doubt spur me back into sexiness (wahahaha! I... must... perservere... and shake off my fats accumulated during pregnancy!) --

They also wrapped an early angpow for Rosabelle (to be opened when she is born) - thank you to Uncle Tim and Aunty Van!

We then adjourned for desserts and wine at W Dine and Wine (standard of desserts have dropped...so sad...).

Enjoyed the company and look forward to seeing Tim and Van when they head back to Singapore over CNY next year so our daughters can meet for the first time! (Though Van still strongly feels she is expecting a boy..heh...we'll see, we'll see, so exciting!).

On my last two nights, there will still be more serious chomping as today, we'll go Outback Steakhouse together (just us both, as we enjoy some together time and my early 'birthday cake' from Awfully Chocolate - courtesy of my company that has gotten cakes instead of mooncakes for staff for the mid-Autumn Festival). Tomorrow, we'll be meeting an ex-colleague couple for yet another dinner... BURP.

• cleaning up/packing stuff in the house

In case you think it's all fun, food, and drinks, I've been working hard at home too, going through all the rooms and cupboards to (i) throw away anything that is useless/expired (e.g. cooking oil we bought from two years ago and have used less than 5 tablespoons!) (ii) rearrange things so that we can make full use of the space for Wayne's Mum and Rosabelle's things when we are all back next year (iii) clean/wash anything that are mites/dust hoarders (e.g. sending mats for cleaning, washing plush toys lying around (iv) do up a list for Wayne to continue the housework action when I'm away (haha... he still needs stuff around the house and will need to send them for cleaning when he heads back to his hometown, Zhengzhou, in end-September so they can be ready for collection when he comes back to Beijing before heading to join me in Singapore in early-October)...

I'm done with most of the housework already, and have more or less already packed my bag for Singapore - just fingers crossed that Wayne's work visa stuff gets sorted sooner rather than later!

Of course, I've been rewarding myself with facial, manicure/pedicure sessions, and it helps that with quite alot of rains these days (was raining whole day yesterday), the weather is nice and cool for us. And Rosabelle has been so active these days it's quite hilarious to see my tummy heave from side to side at times - there was once I even felt her head bulge out, and patted her on her head, so cute... But it's not so cute when I at times stay awake for up to two hours in the middle of the night from being "kicked around" (it's also me being worried that her kicking means she is being uncomfortable...so I have to shift positions like every other 5 minutes...)

Well, it's likely the next update is after I am safely in Singapore (my flight's this PM on Friday, and Wayne's sending me off, where we can enjoy a Burger King lunch at Beijing's ONLY BK outlet...haha!). Looking forward to homecoming!