Terrorism at Home

With the latest escape of the JI Leader, I heard that the police came by Emma's school to give them a picture of him or something. The teachers must have explained the news to the kids at school.


The whole evening after coming back from school, she looked perplexed, listening to the news, asking us questions about "the fierce man". When it was time for bed, she again was asking us what if "the fierce man" came to look for her. I assured her that she would be fine and sent her along to bed.

Later that night when I went to do my usual checks on the girls, I found Emma had crept into Cate's bed and was fast asleep.

I guess she got comfort being close to her 妹妹. How exactly she thought Cate was going to protect her from "the fierce man", I have no idea....

Young Parent

Check out March 2008 issue of Young Parents. I was featured in the Family Wellness Special.

I would say that the article was not quite what I expected. I was told it would be simply on young parents keeping fit. However during the interview, it sounded more and more like a weightloss success story which I was a little uncomfortable with cos I would HARDLY consider myself a showcase for a weightloss success story!!!!

I was featured with two other parents and I am definitely the "loser" of the lot! The other two parents did great, each of them lost something like 15kg! DING DING!!!! Then my article was like "Lost 5kg" :( Ok, facts are facts,.... I did only lose 5kg BUT it was in 1 month!!! Subsequently, no matter how hard I tried to exercise, my weight just stagnated. Call it middle aged weight that is to stay.

Anyway the article is below. I was 3 months pregnant when they took the picture, so cut me some slack ok! :P (I think you might need to click on it to read the actual text.)

Old School

Nanny, Mummy and I outside Olson Building

(Next year Emma would be the 4th generation MGS girl)

Last weekend, we went for our Sunday brunch at Old School with my family. Below is my old Primary school building!!! Mum and Nanny were with me and we were just walking around reminiscing. Mummy was like, “Meet me at the science lab!” and I was in a completely different block cos the lab in my time was not the same place as the labs in her time!!! Haha….

It was also funny cos my Nan couldn’t remember any of it and I thought it was cos it was such a long time ago and she is almost 85yrs old. But the fact is,… what most of us know as the MGS compound was NOT the MGS building when my Nan was in school! As it turned out, during her time, the MGS building was this quaint little building next to MGS (see left). I think it is a pre-school now. It is actually a really pretty building but not sure why they painted it that colour! During my Nan’s time, the entire school only had 30+ students!!!

Here is the last classroom I was at while in MGS - Sec 1A (next to the …..DENTIST! I used to LOVE going to the dentist and couldn’t wait to be called for check ups.) You know what,.... come to think of it, that classroom at the corner is VERY meaningful. It was also my very FIRST classroom in MGS (Pri 1A1). I never realised it before! After Primary 1, the entire primary school was moved to the new block which is the block above with "Old School" on it.

I have to say that I was a little disappointed with how they refurbished the school. It was still pretty much rundown and old (unlike CHIJmes and the old SJI building). They could have probably fixed up the place a little more and at the same time maintain the character of the old building. For example, the toilet doors were dirty looking and falling apart! Well hopefully this is still a work in progress and they will do us proud by fixing up our old school compound. It was really great going back there.

Oh, we went to a restaurant in Old School called Bistro Gaga. It was pretty good. The menu is a little bit like Marmalade Pantry.

Below are memories I love – Emma and Cate having fun with their Nana and Gong Gong.

What a lovely Sunday brunch.....

I think this might work...

Yesterday after work, I went for a run with my neighbour who also happens to be one of my best buds. We weren't really sure what we were going to do.... slow run or brisk walk. I wasn't sure mainly cos I wasn't sure what my heart rate was going to be at.... of course ideally a slow run would be nice.

We went really slow, chit-chatted the whole way and I think this might work!!...

Distance - Really not sure, but guessing about 7km
Time - 1h 5min
Ave HR 135bpm
Calories 515

At the end of our so called run, I felt refreshed and good. Best of all, i wasn't the least bit worried that I might have hurt Paul Jr in any way cos we were really taking it easy. I am thinking I could even do this often!

Next time, I will do similar, but perhaps bring my average hr closer to 140 - 145.

Satisfied.... :)

Sunday Run @ ECP

While Paul was getting ready for his usual Sunday morning run at east coast, I was tossing about in bed wondering if I should join him. Last weekend Paul was talking to my brother about some girl running in a thong and pink tights at ECP. Perhaps I should go along to keep me close to his thoughts! Grrr..... just kiddin'. :P

In the end, I pulled myself out of bed at 7am and ran to the kitchen to ask him if he would wait for me while I got washed up.


I brought my HRM with me this time. My OBGYN told me 120bpm. I am doubtful seeing as the day before when Paul checked my pulse while I was lying down and dozing off (cos I felt like I was pulpitating), my heart rate was 140bpm!!!

As soon as I got my HRM on, I was monitoring..... putting on shoes - 90bpm (what!?)..... when we got to ECP, stretching 100bpm. Man there doesn't look like much headroom before I hit 120bpm!

As soon as I started to "move" as in run a little, it was about 135bpm! Ok, this is just not realistic. So I thought I would just try to jog real slow and monitor and see how it goes. Anyway Paul obviously went ahead of me. I agreed that I would not do 10km. I would just jog till he loops back from his 10km route and I would turn around with him. The run was ok, still not my favourite to run on a straight route. At some points, I was jogging slow in order to keep my heart rate down that I felt it was hurting my lower calves towards my ankles. It is not easy jogging in slow motion!


Ave HR = 151bpm
Distance ~ 8.5km
Time = 1hr 6min
Max HR = 179bpm (I think this only happened when I ran a little faster just at the last 200m cos I was just fed up)
Calories burnt = 736 cal


After all that, I craved McD's transfat hashbrowns, so we ended up having a Big Breakfast. :(

Soft Lens effect here indicates that it was all "just a dreeeeeam".......

I am in 2 minds about running if I am going to struggle so hard to keep my heart rate down. I definitely don't want to do anything harmful to Paul jr. At the same time, my heart rate now is just so high even at rest! I also checked the internet and there is quite a lot of controversy about what your heart rate should be at when you are exercising during pregnancy. There was a guideline from something like 1994 published by some American Gynaecology body of something that your max heart rate should be 140bpm. But later there were lots of disputes and there was no correct answer published later.

I have been troubled... This morning I woke up somewhat worried about Paul Jr. cos I was obviously sapped off all my energy from the 2km swim on Sat and 8.5 km run on Sun. By 10:30pm, I was dead to the world. I am normally a night owl seldom sleeping before midnight. I lay on my back in the morning tapping my tummy waiting for baby to kick. Ahh.... at last, a little flutter. Paul Jr is ok.

I need to have a good think about my strategy moving forward..... Anyone has any ideas???

Objective: Stay active, do some basic exercise, and of course #1 priority - keep Paul Jr. safe and healthy.

1st Swim of 2008

After Paul pumped his bike tires last night in preparation for his usual Sat morning ride,..... we lay in bed talking - pillow talk.

Peng: "Shall I ride with you tomorrow?" (eyes fluttering, sweet smile)
Paul: "You want to? .... Ok. You know to do the right thing."
:(

I guess that just made me feel too guilty. Besides, I was getting way too attached to the little seahorse growing in my tum tum to risk the slightest bit of harm on the little tyke.

SOOOOOoooooo..... I decided on a swim. Everyone says swimming is good for pregnant ladies. There is no dispute there. I hadn't swum since November last year and that was in the OSIM Corporate tri! No excuses except for the fact that I find swimming painfully boring!

At around 8am, I decided on a 1hr window to swim and that would bring me be back home before the household got hectic and mummy duties began proper. Searched around for my swim cap and goggles and off I was to the condo pool downstairs! I soon found the 1 hr window was LONG! I was swimming and I was swimming,.... and I was swimming and my watch was like showing less than 30 min had gone by! What was I thinking.... It was a pretty leisurely swim but there were struggles simply based on the fact that I just hadn't swum in a while. But as usual, by about the 10th lap the tiredness wore off and it just became a mental game of how long I could just keep going for. Stupid dumb dumb for setting myself a 1hr window. At around the 25th lap, I could feel the sensations of Braxton Hicks*, but I was familiar with it and pretty much just continued on slowly.

* Braxton Hicks are harmless mild contractions that happen earlier in pregnancies apparently to allow the body to practice having contractions. I used to have them randomly and sometimes if I did some exercise, or when I was feeling stressed out. (e.g. when I was in the tsunami while pregnant with Cate! But that is a separate story altogether)

Anyway, by the end of the hour, I did about 50 laps in our pool. Our pool is about 40m in length so all in all I swam about 2km! Slow, but not bad for being 4 months pregnant and completely out of shape.

Have to say that for the rest of the day I was somewhat tired. Not really a "I've-been-doing-so-much-physical-exercise" tired, but rather "I-need-to-sleep" tired. I best catch some kip now! Not sure if I am up to doing anything else tomorrow.....

Valentine's Day - 10 yrs ago...

10 yrs ago on Valentine's Day - That was when Paul proposed to me proper with a ring and all. Sounds romantic right?... but it wasn't really. ：P

I just had a shower and was in my bedroom when Paul popped by to get me to go for dinner with some friends. While I was blow drying my hair, Paul was on one knee. He looked like he was getting something off the floor and I continued to dry my hair. He was talking,... I couldn't hear him. Then he got something out of his pocket.... MY RING!

We had been dating about 4 months (yes, whirlwind it was), and we were still in the honeymoon phase and hardly spent any time apart. Amazing that he managed to sneak away to get a ring! I am sure it was impulsive. We never looked at rings or anything. He had no idea what design I wanted (nor did I actually). He just picked it out all on his own!!!

Admittedly, at age 22, I didn't think about what it really meant to get married. All I knew was that I REALLY LIKED this guy! More than any guy I had ever met (I should hope so, seeing as I really married him in the end). He had such a nice happy face. I could wake up to that face forever.

We were married just over 6 months later. I did discover that the happy face wasn't quite enough to keep us married, but luckily there was more to Paul Chew than his happy beaming face. ;)

Happy Valentine's Day baby! I know it doesn't seem like it sometimes especially in my moody pregnancy glory but I love you!!!

xoxoxo

My Baby Seahorse

Here is an ultrasound of my little baby! This was actually about a month ago at around 3 months so baby should be about an inch longer by now.

I will call baby a "he" for now cos I think the ultrasound looks like a boy.

Don't you think he looks like a little seahorse! MY baby seahorse. :)

My 1st run of 2008

The doc had actually given me the go-ahead to run ages ago. About a month ago to be specific. But I just hadn't felt up to it. In fact, I still feel really tired and nauseas all the time.

Anyway, I had cycled on the trainer on Sat, so I decided to go for a short run the next day. I charged my iPod and dreamt about a suitable running route the night before...

Sunday morning - I did a slow paced 5km round the estate.... It was about 8am and I had to get a short run in before Paul got back from his long run in east coast and before the kids woke. I knew they would sleep in today cos they went to bed late last night.

It was no walk in the park that's for sure. I kept it a slow pace all the way. (Took about 30 min) Apparently I am not to go beyond 150bpm anyway. Not that I was wearing a HRM. I could barely remember how to work the timer on my watch. Forget the HRM for now! I was tired but not crazy panting like my usual.

I had all the familiar feelings that I had when I first started any form of running about a year ago. My thighs started to itch! Put it down to poor circulation. I actually ached the next day from this slow 5km run! How pathetic am I...

Well, it is a start...

Back on Bike!

Saturday morning (3rd day of CNY).... after helping Ems out with her homework, I rolled back into bed at about 10am only to be disturbed by the phone ringing. It was Paul... He had gone out cycling with @@@ earlier that morning.

Paul: "I will be back a bit later cos we are going to do 90km instead of the usual."
Peng: "Ok." (:O !@#$%^&*()@#$">!@#$%^&*()@#$!)

Talk about rubbing it in my face! That's it! I am going to get off my fat @$$ and do something! I hadn't done ANY exercise since last year when I first found out I was pregnant.

I jumped out of bed and decided that the trainer was the only viable option with the scorching heat outside. No cycling video for me. I didn't really want to kill myself with intervals especially having not cycled for MONTHS! I decided on an episode of Greys Anatomy instead (or "Grace and Natalie" as Emma calls it).

Power Meter wasn't working. Just as well, I don't think I could have cycled very hard anyway. I had even forgot how to change gears!!!

Boy was it hard!!! For the first time while watching my DVD serials, I kept watching the timer on the DVD player thinking, "Meredith, stop obsessing and let the bloody episode end!!!!" It finally did after 47min. Phew!


Above you can see little Cate standing on my bed cheering me on. She was stomping her little feet to my cycling. I ended up with a little creek in my neck from watching the tele which was on my left.

I'm back!!!

Like Father Like Daughter

Paul on his beautifully black PSP, and Emma on my beautifully pink PSP i got for Christmas.

Since Paul got his PSP end of last year, he has been totally hooked. Soccer EPL - boring! When I first got my PSP, I got really into playing SIMS2. In the pic, Emma is playing that. Anyway Emma doesn't actually play the game,... I just let her walk around Simsville visting the neighbours and using their toilets. (Those who have played SIMS will know what I am talking about)

She loves it!

Everybody Loves My ASUS!

Check this out. I was showing off my ASUS to the kids and it was an absolute hit! They were all crowded around it and playing games. In the end I had to confiscate it cos the party was getting too rowdy! (btw for those who are not familiar with the kids in my life, the boys in the pic are my lovely nephews!!! Ems is the rose among thorns ;) )

This would actually be a great first laptop for a kid... not sure what age would be a reasonable age for a first laptop for a kid...