Getting to know me...(at work)

I must confess - I have not gotten down to sorting out my Japan pix (erm..excuse is cos my colleagues have not uploaded theirs and I wanted a FULL slate of pix before I upload them - so there!), and obviously not started on my entry yet...so to whet your appetite, here's a group pic of us wearing our Japanese "bathrobes" for dinner one night (about 40 of us from the Beijing office, including family members) -- try to spot fat me...:

To make up for my lack of Japanese posting (for now), I wanted to share with you something on the work front. My company has an internal, quarterly e-newsletter that reaches out to all folks in the Asia-Pacific region. I had my cheap shot at "fame" in the latest edition that announced my promotion (back in April)...(names/faces of other colleagues have been mosaic-ed out for privacy purposes -- majiam criminals eh...).

Prior to this, I had also taken on "cameo" roles in providing my (erhem!) "expert" opinion about the Games...

And, I was featured as a "Face of Weber Shandwick" on our global Intranet, that had me providing some candid responses to a standard slate of questions (I received emails from colleagues around the world who bothered to let me know they enjoyed reading the responses, and even asking for job opps in the Beijing office as a result of this!).

(You can click on the respective images to read the contents more easily.)

Yesterday, our China MD also sent out a mid-year update on the Group's stellar performance in China thus far, and ended his note with a sweet "I am sure all of you would like to join me in congratulating four of our colleagues, Wendy, Mummy A, Mummy B and Mummy C, who will soon become Weber Shandwick moms!" (Obviously names of Mummies A, B, C have been altered for privacy reasons lah!). Sweet, love my job and looking forward to coming back in April 09 (workholic me...)

Please remain seated for the entire performance

OHAIYO!

I got back into Beijing last night and reached home at around 12 am after the four-day company trip to Japan! So many photos/anecdotes/stories to share, but just back at work for half a day today, so excuse me whilst I go sort out my photos/thoughts/shopping...

Rosabelle was a dear in keeping me company, and many colleagues admired my guts for trudging through the trip with a big tummy, and told me baby's so brave as well - so proud of her, teehee (there were times when I knew I was tired, and there were slight pangs of pain, so I had to rest, but all is well and Rosabelle and I are back in one safe piece!)

In the words of an actual toilet sign in a restaurant we went to for lunch, do stay tuned for the "entire performance" of my complete blog posting coming up...(hoot!)

Wendi Ro (ヱンヂ ロ), or Uende rofu

According to this website and this website that translate your name into Japanese, the above is what "Wendy Loh" sounds like in Jap, or in Katakana (to me, it sounds like some food dish like unagi/tofu roll...)

Anyway, leading into the contents of this post --

Clues: Eating Sushi. Watching Geishas. Viewing Mt. Fuji.

Answer: "Things to do in Japan"

I used to watch, as a kid, this gameshow called "Pyramid Game". Basically English word game where the winning team goes on to compete for the final, top cash prize in the bonus round, and contestants had to complete a pyramid of boxes, where each box, of increasing difficulty, had to be described to you as clues by your game partner (with care taken to not mention any key words in the answer), and you had to guess what were the wordings in the box.

For a better idea of how this game is played, check out this classic YouTube video of one of the episodes in the U.S. (OBVIOUSLY from a looong time ago from the size of the woman's specs and rugby shoulder pads...)

So, excuse me while our blog takes a hiatus of 4 days as I embark on my company Tokyo trip from 26 to 29 July (will be back with pix and things interesting!). (I've been to various countries, but Japan is not one of them, so this all-expenses paid for trip, though short, and though taken in my 24th week of pregnancy and will be tiring, and though I am unable to enjoy the Disneyland rides, will still be a nice treat for Rosabelle and I...heh!)

Clues: Picking your nose and sticking the boogey on the wall. Digging your crack butt to get that sweat-stained underwear out. Scraping a whitehead/picking a zit from your face. Taking a drink out of your 7-Eleven Big Gulp and refilling them to make your money worth its while. Stealing office supplies.

Answer: "Things you do when nobody's watching." *grin*

(My lips are sealed as to whether, and how many, of these misdeeds I am guilty of.)

I've been cleared!

• Starving myself (i.e. fasting) for more than 12 hours (it's nothing if you are hale and hearty, but for a 24-week pregnant me who gets hungry very easily, it was a torture).


• Waking up at 7 am this morning (when I normally get up at 9 am...haha).


• Extracting 4 vials of blood over a 3-hour period.


• Reading countless baby/travel/shopping catalogue magazines over 3 hours of waiting in the clinic.

But all the above have paid off! I was eagerly awaiting the results of my repeat GTT, and even called AmCare twice this afternoon to find out if they were going to call me before my Japan trip tomorrow. When I saw the familiar number on my mobile phone awhile ago, I was pretty nervous - I did not want to have to find out I have gestational diabetes leh...

Basically...I am cleared! But I still need to watch my diet - they did 4 blood tests, one on my empty stomach; one an hour after I downed 2 cups of glucose (VERY SWEET) drinks; one two hours after; and the last one three hours after. The test results came out normal for all, except the two-hour one, where I fall between the "normal to mildly gestational diabetic" range with my 7.4 reading (normal is a 6.7).

So the only advice the doctor had for me is to watch what I eat - more meals, but in less quantity (i.e. no buffets/gorging!); less carbohydrates that can be replaced by vegetables and eggs; exercise (I actually go down walk-walk with Wayne for at least 30 mins every day - maybe I crawl along too slowly for that to count as exercise??); not too much sweet fruits (e.g. watermelon too sweet..and I just drank pure watermelon juice for lunch today!)...and needless to say, my favourite ice-cream, cakes, sweets etc need to be taken in moderation...

"Adios. Sayonara. 再见!"

Well, I'm relieved more because it means baby's safe and healthy, heh!

During my 28w check-up, I need to do yet another blood glucose test (this time not so cruel, I just need to fast 2 hrs prior). I want doctor to give me a clean slate of health, so I will be careful about the foods I eat! (Which reminds me, I should down the remaining 63 kiwi fruits in my fridge before they become ripe... and too sweet. GULP!)

Invasion of the furry kiwis...

Nope, not that the flightless birds from New Zealand invaded our homes, but more of the fruit variety...

Every year, around this time, we will be sent an email in the office asking if we want to order Zespri kiwi fruits (as our sister agency is representing Zespri). The price would be cheaper than usual market prices and this year, I bought two boxes of gold kiwis (as I find them sweeter than the usual gold ones). Kiwis are also the best sources of Vitamin C and I recently read that a survey shows that insomniacs can shorten the time they fall asleep by 39% if they persist in eating two kiwi fruits one hour before they go to bed for one month. Just nice for me as I need loads of Vitamin C, and hopefully can keep me tossing and turning at night from the increasing weight on my tummy...

As Wayne and I wanted to ensure that the two boxes of 66 kiwis don't go bad in the summer heat, we emptied our fridge of alcohol and mixers, and the kiwis basically took up our small fridge. The poor fridge that does not normally see much foodstuff inside (other than canned drinks, alcohol, fruits, biscuits...junk basically) started "sweating" on the insides from going into sudden overdrive, haha...

(Digressing, I actually had the chance to get up close with the global Chairman for Zespri, Craig Greenlees, as part of my job of doing PR work for New Zealand companies when NZ and China signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in April this year. He was a kiwi fruit grower himself before taking on the position at Zespri, and certainly made for an engaging media interview candidate...)

Birth order of children

I wanted to share the below just for laughs - I can so identify with some of these as we prepare for our girl's birth. We have not yet decided if we want more than one, but hopefully our second or third-born won't be seemingly "marginalized", because I know I was showered much love from my family as a third-born (and youngest) in a row of 3 kids, where very importantly, I also enjoyed the company and affection of my best playmates - my brother and sister.

Clothing:

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth:

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.

2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette:

1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries:

1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.

3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier:

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering:

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.

2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities:

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out:

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home:

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.

2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing Coins:

1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.

2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.

3rd child: When third child swallows a coin, you deduct it from his allowance!

'Chee Ko Pek' Toh kiddos

Was trawling through my photos of this set of classic pix showing how much Simon and Marianne love (and harrass) Uncle Wayne...

Rosabelle Shi Yi Yue (or Shi Yue)

As you can see from the title of this post, we've more or less decided on the name of our girl. There weren't too many votes cast (heh!), but unless something else much, much nicer comes up, that's our girl's name. (At this point, we've given her a nickname - DD - nope, not my cup size, but the initials stand for "darling daughter" - haha!).

So I went for my 23.5 week check-up yesterday at Amcare Women's and Children's Hospital - slight digression: their tagline on the landing page of their English site reads "the spirit to care, the skill to hill" (sic) - quite hilarious (they actually mean "heal", well...so long as it's not "kill"!!!). But Vanessa and I can vouch for their professionalism and overall cleanliness/facilities of this mostly-expats hospital (so that's why the exhorbitant rates lah), and she has already signed up a package to deliver there - nice!

I had to fast for 6 hours prior to my check-up yesterday, and was subject to a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) where I basically had to down a super-sweet drink and test my blood for glucose level to see if I have gestational diabetes. All my other check-ups (urine test, weight - I am now 58.5 kg!!, baby's heart beat etc were all normal), except that doctor indicated my previous readings of blood pressure indicated a gradually increasing level, and told me to monitor and make sure I rest well. (But in this particular case, after I took another reading after 1 hour in the hospital, it was fine, so the wrong elevated reading could be from the early morning rush to the hospital lah!)

We also did an ultrasound yesterday, and we managed to get a few shots of our girl as below - so exciting! Doctor said from the scan, she's actually 23w 2d old, but I'm still tracking her based on my previous calculations from LMP lah (if you dunno what this means, you don't need to know!).

She was crouched down most of the time, and was later facing the screen, and even crossed her legs at the ankles (how dainty!). We also tried to get a 4D scan but doctor advised the pictures will turn out nicer when baby's more developed - can't wait! We saw parts of her face (at times blocked because of the way she was resting), and could see her moving (where I could also feel simultaneous kicks to my tummy), and Wayne remarked later that our girl looks like me (note: chubby face with nose/lips looking like mine)... But I think her nose bridge is high like Daddy's, and her limbs look quite lanky, so hope she inherits Wayne's height, and not mine!

Doctor also gave me a certification letter for notification to the airlines so I can get on-board the plane, as well as some tablets to consume before take-off -- to prepare me for my upcoming company incentive trip to Japan (26 to 29 July). Rule of thumb is I should not over-exert myself on the trip, so I will just go and have a leisurely Tokyo sojourn and take good care of my girl and I!

In the afternoon, after my GTT results came out, Amcare called me to say I had a high sugar level, and suggested I go down again in 5 days for a re-test. Aiyo! I really hope nothing is wrong, but could it be due to the fact that I at times take more than two servings of fruit a day, or the fruits I eat are at times really sweet (e.g. honeydew, longans, peaches), or that I chew on sugar-coated Sugus sweets at times, or I drink half a teaspoonful of Manuka honey mixed in water a day, or I have taken to eating sugar-laden cereals like Coco Crunch with cold milk, or that my appetite has been very good lately, or... sigh! I am hoping nothing's wrong, or I'll have to start watching my diet more (though doctor told me that baby's 575g yesterday, and she's not considered too big... heh). Anyway, let's see how it goes at the re-test this Friday, fingers crossed!

Signing off this post with something I'd caption as "Ah Pui? Who you calling Ah Pui?!!"...

Oops...I did it again!

Miss USA at the Miss Universe pageant last year (2007)

Miss USA (a different Miss USA, of course) at the Miss Universe pageant this year (2008)

On-lookers will be forgiven for thinking their choreographers made the "slip and land on bum" catwalk step mandatory as part of their routine to "wow" the audiences...poor girls...

P/S: In case you think this blog is now focusing on the mundane, it's all in line with my "take it easy and be happy" approach to my pregnancy (hahaha!), and I'm due for baby's 24-week check-up this Sunday - shall keep all posted with baby tales thereafter...TGIF!

Putting out the Bush fire

Being in the PR line, I cringe whenever I read or hear about company spokespersons saying something that makes you go "Now, what the F$%# was he thinking?", and woe be to me if that person happens to be my Client. But this is not a post about my job, but about the spokesperson of the largest corporation in the world - America Inc.: Mr. George Bush.

I read that as Bushman left the recent G8 Summit, he bade farewell with yet another Bush classic. He did not stick to his 'sayonaras' (this year's G8 took place in Japan), nor did he adhere to some sombre or safe speeches as I'm sure was given by his ghost writers. Instead, in typical Bush-style, he said bye bye with the line "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." and punched the air while grinning widely, much to the shock of other politicans and heads of state present.

(Cue Homer Simpson's D'OH!!! exclamation whilst slapping forehead.)

I'm not into politics, nor America Inc., nor the G8, nor Bush and his antics, but I am at times amused and think to myself how this guy gets away (or not) with his wisecracks, and really, what on earth was he thinking when he said that????

This will go down in Webster Dictionary (or Wikipedia) history as a very apt definition of what it means to "put one's foot in one's mouth"...

Some other "to be filed for eternity and read when you are feeling stupid and need a morale booster" Bushisms (there is actually a whole site dedicated to it):


"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."

"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."

"The future will be better tomorrow."

"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."

"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe."

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."

"For NASA, space is still a high priority."

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. "

"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."

You look like your Fudder or your Mudder?

Chanced upon this website with a Look-alike Meter some time back and spent some time amusing myself (don't think dirty thoughts, this is a wholesome blog!)...

You basically upload photos of a kid and his/her parents, and based on some facial recognition technology, they give a guage of who the kid resembles more.

Just for laughs, I decided to try out on the folks at home - the Tohs:

And also the Lohs (looks like my Mum's the dominant gene in the family!):

Engrish as it is these days

Pop Quiz Time!

Very quickly - what name comes to mind when you look at the below picture (this applies only to those of us non-pathetic people who had a childhood watching cartoons, no matter how mindless)...

The correct answer...

Sylvester, or more accurately Sylvester the Cat (or for us who have no childhoods and did not watch the cartoon series, this can be a cat, or pussy cat).

In comes the innocent-enough answer from my 4 years & 4 months old nephew, Simon, when he recently saw a photograph of Sylvester:

"This is POO-DEE CAT. Tweety bird always says, 'I saw POO-DEE CAT'." (all grammatical/syntax errors courtesy of the quoted boy in question)

It's hilarious, but as I am embarking on my road to motherhood, I really don't know whether to laugh, or faint, at the thought of how the goggle box is becoming such a bad language nanny...

Though I must say that Simon's child-like innocence and his ability to remember such things (no matter how grammatically wrong) are quite charming, really. In his eyes, a "poo-dee cat" is the correct way to name Sylvester, as the cat isn't really addressed by any other name in the series, so by a strange reasoning of things, Simon is actually right, haha!

Check out those eyes!

Speechless when I saw those big, big, big eyes...

Name: Tate Field
Popped out on: May 13, 2008
Mom & Pop: Eva and Casper

Eva was my ex-colleague in Weber Shandwick Beijing and has since moved back home to the UK to enjoy parental bliss - I miss her bright smiles and infectious laughter, and doing business development with her was always a joy...

You are 1... you are 2... you are 3!

"Happy birthday, my dearest niece Marianne Toh! You are exactly three years old today! You have really brought much joy to the Loh, Toh, and Shi families, and though your Kor Kor Simon makes it seem as if he wants to literally tear your hair out at times, he has also gained much and grown from having a lovely Mei Mei like you as his best playmate."

I first saw my niece less than a week after she was born as I had a Client meeting back in Singapore then, and she was just a reddish-looking, wrinkled puppy-like helpless baby.

Fast forward to 7 months later on my next trip home, and my oh my, has she grown...into a sweet, doe-eyed lovely girl. She loved to frown, to the extent that she has a full-wrinkled forehead, but when she smiled, boy, could she melt hearts with her toothy grins...

As time went by and as I caught up with her growth on the trips home (or over family holidays like the ones where they came to Beijing to visit us, or in Malaysia, Australia, or Indonesia), I witnessed the maturing of the little baby girl. Anybody who saw a photo of her would clamour about how cute she is, and how beautiful her eyes are...

...or how much she looks like the Japanese cartoon character Chibi Maruko Chan/Xiaowanzi!

Mummy and my sis always call her a very "matured" child, and perhaps even fierce at times, fiercely defending herself/her property from her Kor Kor; fiercely sticking closely to her Mummy at all times; fiercely adamant/stubborn (a trait of her Mummy, I find, hehe)... I still remember a hilarious incident where I mentioned to my Mummy that I noticed streaks in Marianne as an infant that reminded me of my Grandma (who passed away before Marianne was born) - she liked to stare at/observe people, make her mouth into an "O" shape, and at that time, had my Mummy at her beck and call (haha!). So I asked my Mummy to address Marianne as "Mah!" (meaning: mother), and Marianne actually looked around - we had (and still have) a good laugh about this - "Imagine me having to call my granddaughter my mother!"

Anecdotes about the kids, as shared by my Mummy and Sis, always lighten me up, and Wayne especially thinks that Marianne (his "Anne Anne") is such an obedient and cute girl. Marianne has also returned the affection by being really sweet and close to Wayne (our guess is that after Wayne whisked her off into the sunlight after she almost broke out in tears in a pitch-dark limestone cave in Perth, she has viewed him as her knight in shining armour... henceforth it has always been "Uncle Wayne" this, and "Uncle Wayne" that...haha!).

When she was scolded at home recently for not eating her food, my Mum threatened that Uncle Wayne (that of Wayne in our wedding pic on the TV set) was angry, and Marianne immediately slipped out a big smile at "Uncle Wayne" in the photo to appease his anger - hilarious!

At times, when I am on the phone with Mum, Marianne does not really want to come to talk to me on the phone, but upon finding out Wayne's on the line as well, she will scoot over and sing songs for him (and I thought blood is thicker than water!).

And when my Sis was going through the alphabet with Simon and Marianne recently, Simon said "W for Yiyi Wendy", no prizes for guessing what (or who) the "W" in Marianne's heart stands for! Well, I can take heart at her having the same, good taste I have in men - wahaha!

But Marianne, like Simon, have been great joys in my life, and also the reasons why I enjoy my trips back to Singapore. When my family recently went on a trip to Switzerland to visit my Brother, Marianne asked my brother on the first night they were there, "Is Yiyi coming?" - she has always associated family reunions with my presence as well, and it's such a sweet thought/association.

Such (to borrow from my Client, MasterCard), "priceless" moments are what I hold close to my heart, and I am looking forward to reuniting with my family in Sep when I am home.

"Happy Birthday Marianne - wish you a happy, healthy, and bountiful life! I hope our darling daughter will grow up to be as sweet as obedient as you, Marianne dear, and that you will impart good values on to your cousin Mei Mei."

With love from Yiyi Wendy (and your favourite Uncle Wayne) in Beijing!

So many XX, XX, XX...

Aiyo, no lah, I am not cursing some unprintable expletives, neither am I referring to the size of the clothes I will be wearing at the rate I am expanding...heh!

I am instead using my "expert" (erhem) biology class experience to tell you that I'm looking at an avalanche of XX chromosomes these days - yes, yet another sweetie pie baby girl is on its way into this world. This time round, the good news is from my friend of 18 years, Meibao (and hubby, Roy), who is expecting a sexy Scorpio girl as well (her EDD's a week earlier than mine). She warned I would go crazy buying cute baby girl stuff in Tokyo, just like she did awhile back in Bangkok... I...must...con...trol.

Talking about Meibao, it wasn't too long ago when I made my annual CNY pilgrimage back to Singapore, and met up with the few Nanyang Girls' ladies. In fact, after dinner, Meibao, Jinxin and I even continued our gossips over coffee at Coffee Club Siglap, and how timely that Meibao and I even brought up the topic of having children!

(Clockwise from bottom left): NYGals Meibao, Sharon, Jinxin, Shumin, & Yours Truly in early-Feb this year during my CNY homecoming

It's uncanny that I've known this group of friends for 18 years, and friendships fostered over our National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) and Dragon & Lion Dance Troupe (DALT) days. Though away from them, this is a group of friends I always want to catch up with when back (where schedules permit lah), and I always hold their warm wishes and greetings so close to my heart (thanks Sharon, for your email!). How we've grown from our teenage days...

So yes, back to the XX, XX, XX topic - ex-Mileage colleague Pauline (and hubby Aik Cher) had baby RaeAnne, I have a Client who's expecting a girl in end-July, of course Van+Tim who are expecting Rachel in end-Oct... well, strictly speaking, it's not like alot, alot of girls, but at the moment it does seem like girly galore to me. Of course, this is for the safe exception of yet another good friend, ex-Publicis Eureka colleague and loyal member of the BBC - Blare Bitch Club - Angeline (and hubby, George), who are the proud parents of Belden Koh - very cute with his botak haircut, and looks soooo much like his Mummy, doesn't he?

Belden Koh -- product of Mummy Angeline (the lady on left of pic lah, obviously not me lah!), and Daddy George

On a related note, this brings to mind an Australian blogger whose site I visit religiously - I like reading Karen Cheng's blog (not that I know her) as it's always well laid-out, has nice anecdotes of life, and of course also includes pictures of her gorgeous sons. I thought about her blog when writing this post as she is currently trying for Baby No. 3 and desperately wants a girl... I hope she has as much luck as the rest of almost everybody else I know! In fact, I pulled this chart and extract off one of her entries, and it's accurate leh (at least for me)...

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During my research on how to increase chances of selecting gender using natural techniques, I came across the Ancient Chinese Gender Chart. The legend states that the Chinese Gender Chart is over 700 years old. It was discovered in a royal tomb in Beijing and now resides in the Beijing Institute of Science. Apparently it is 90 – 99% accurate, but it is only for entertainment purposes. There isn't much scientific evidence, but some say it has something to do with the phase of the moon and the acidity in the woman's uterus.

How To Use It :
You can predict your child's gender by using your LUNAR AGE at the time of conception. (To work out your lunar age, just add 2 years.) Then find which month you conceived, then you can work out the gender of your baby.

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The Circle of Life

Disclaimer: This post is not a plug for Lion King 1, or Lion King 2, or any Disney/Dreamworks/Pixar films (c.f. Elton John's song).

This is a post of reminiscence...of my birthplace, not Singapore, but in particular, Kandang Kerbau Hospital (or KKH, as it is now known by its new name upon shifting to its current location). It's a full circle of life, as my mum gave birth to the most adorable and lovely princess (me lah!!) in the same hospital almost 31 years ago, and I will be booking my first appointment for check-ups, and to deliver our daughter at KKH. The obstetrician of choice, Dr. Tan Kim Teng, also delivered Simon, Marianne, and their three other cousins, so I know I'm in safe and good hands.

Back to tracking down memory lane, I always knew that KKH used to hold the world record for delivering the most number of babies, but I found even more details online:

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The record number of births or ‘birthquakes' earned KK Hospital consecutive entries in the Guinness Book of Records from the 1950s to the 1970s as the world's largest maternity hospital in the era where home deliveries were still common in many parts of the world...

Known fondly as KK or Tekka, it was also a national focal point known to countless Singaporeans and their families as it was the humble birthplace of over a million Singaporeans.

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This rings true - I inhaled my first breath, wailed my first cry, shed my first tear, took my first piss (and dump even?) at KKH. My parents probably shed their first tear of joy (or despair??) for me on 18 Sep 1977. And it's just so uncanny this helpless "baby" from 31 years back is going to experience the miracle of life for herself soon. The staff at KKH might see so many babies/families come and go, but for me and Wayne, and our families and loved ones, it's just such an...utterly...unique...experience.

I'm in anticipation (check out the delivery suite and room...if the pictures are a reflection of reality, it's good enough for me!).

Of macho flicks and girly stuff

Wayne and I caught two movies over this weekend - Kungfu Panda (together with Tim+Van) and Hancock.

Both are the ha-ha-ha kinds of movies, and spoke of (super)heroes on a mission to save the societies they are living in from the baddies. I thought the shots for Hancock was hilarious, but it turned out to be less funny than Kungfu Panda. I enjoyed Kungfu Panda, but at last count, Jackie Chan spouted 8 sentences of "English" (Engrish). I can't stand Mr. Chan as I think he is so trying to act cute, and speaks bad English, so when I found out when dubbing for the Monkey character, he only has 2 sentences of "Engrish", I was quite happy...but apparently he has more dialogue than that (or at least I heard mumblings akin to dialogue)...anyway, luckily my enjoyment wasn't marred, heh!

Hancock fell below my expectations with its seemingly weak/thin plot, but there are still funny moments, so still worth a watch anyway (how wrong can you get with a Will Smith movie, and with Charlize Theron forever "lao buah liap"-ing in the scenes...?). (And I confess, I did not hear of this movie before deciding to watch it, so when I first heard of the title, it brought to mind some soft-porn movie flick title...hyuk hyuk...)

From the topic of testosterone-driven funny movies, and on to the topic of girls and ladies - my dear baby girl does get jolted by loud sounds during the movies, but after the first few minutes or so, she was fine and got used to it and stopped kicking so much, hehe.

Another girly thing (apart from baby) I wanted to bring up in this posting is that of Tim+Van's....baby girl! Yes, they found out over the weekend that they are also expecting a darling girl, and when I heard it, I was like "Oh, we are oh so going to have fun dolling them up!"....It'd be such great fun and experience with the girls, I just can't wait!

Vanessa and I go way back to WS Singapore days, and I later became colleagues with her sis-in-law (Tim's sister) at StarHub, then became colleagues with Tim in Beijing (whilst she was ex-colleagues with Wayne in WS Beijing), and later I ended up being her colleague here in WS Beijing too...makes your mind swirl, doesn't it? Hehehe...can't imagine how "embroiled" our missies (daughters) are going to get!

(L-R): In Singapore (kitschy) before coming to Beijing; in Beijing during Van's farewell early this year (pre-pregnancy); at Huairou in recent months (expecting Mums-to-be!)

Well, here is hoping Vanessa and her darling Rachel (yes, other people already have a nice name in place for their kid, but we need to ponder awhile longer for our baby lah...) can fatten up nice and well! Though I'm not sure if I can speak for myself and whether I'm fattening up "well" - colleagues have told me I'm noticeably "fleshier" - haha! I get hungry really easily - within a space of 5 hours at home yesterday, I downed one banana, two slices of honeydew, a full bowl of milk with Coco Crunch, two slices of Anchor cheese, about 2 handfuls of roasted peas, a square of chocolate, one peanut butter biscuit.... I really must be making up for the lack of appetitive I had in the first few months!

Mummy also called me yesterday and said with my flight confirmed, she can help book my first appointment with the doctor in Singapore - likely to be at KKH (where I was born!), and hopefully the doctor who was attending to my sister is still around...I'll just need to make sure I keep proper records of all my check-ups here, and am able to translate the Chinese diagnoses correctly!