Intervention

It was week 39. 

I was already on leave for a 4 days before the bloody show on Friday. I was still reluctant to go to the hospital because it's just like pink spots. However I did call my mum to confirm if pink spotting indicates a bloody show. She confirms yes. So, I grabbed my clothes bag, and called my hubby at work. He drove me straight PCMC and at the labour room, the nurse cilok in (gosh, terribly uncomfortable!) and confirmed I was 3-4 cm opened. I was at first stage labour. 

But the opening of 3-4 cm remained stagnant for probably 12 hours. I've got mild contractions going on in the night but at that time I chose to go on without medical intervention. The contractions were far apart and still bearable. The nurses came in to ask if I wanted epidural as I must decide soon because if contractions comes in closer and closer, the anesthetician will have a hard time injecting the epidural to my back (because I need to be very, very still). I got confused. I looked at my husband, and he didn't say a thing, because it's really up to me. It's entirely my decision. I am the one who understand myself and how much pain I could endure. The pain is manageable for now, but I knew it will get worse. I finally said yes to the nurse for epidural. 

Got jabbed in the back. After that the pain seems to have gone away, and I got to rest for 4-5 hours at night. On Saturday early morning, the nurses cilok again, and still 4-5 cm?!?!?!?! Little progress. Then out of no where, I felt stronger contractions. PAIN became real. But I asked the nurses "Why is there still so much pain?!?!? I cringed, held on hard to the bedding's rail and breath in-out deeply every single time a contraction sets in. Wow, that was painful. Wait, even with epidural?!?!?! I was so in pain that I scolded the nurses "Are you sure you injected the correct dose of epidural? If yes, why still sooooo painful?" The nurses explained that (slight?!?) pain is required for pushing out the baby. I screamed "Whatever la, just top up the dose, ok?!! NOW!!!". As if I were a medical doctor.

It was a cold, hazy, long day at Labour room

Not a single tear from my eyes. I made sure every contraction (5 minutes apart!) I tahan and tahan (I don't want to be that sissy girl, crying, screaming, as I knew pain endurance was my forte from my burst appendix, and marathons. LOL). Cringing and almost tearing down the bed's railing was all I did. Was making conversations with my hubby whenever I could catch a breath. I was particularly glad that my hubby was supportive beside me all this while and not like those panicky/worried ones. It was around 10 am where they cilok me again: Oh, 8 cm dilated. Yippee. They broke my water, and bb should come out soon. Kan? Kan? But nope, baby's heart beat still sooo strong and blood pressure still cantik, and refused to leave my tummy. I was now angry. With everyone and everything.

At 2.45 pm, the bidan cilok me and said: you still at 8 cm despite so many intervention - water broke, bloody flow like a murder scene, they felt the baby's head stuck for 5 hours at my pelvic bone and my pelvic wouldn't open to 10 cm. The bidan trying to calm me by saying: it's nobody's fault. And I could murder that somebody who once mentioned that I have a huge pelvic and that childbirth was easy-peasy for big as* people like me, haa? At that time, the contractions were soooo close and pain was very intense. My hubby checked the machine measuring my contractions and let me know that the highest intensity I endured was 70++ (whatever unit that is) and that number was already off the charts for me in terms of pain. Tell you, even that intensity hasn't made me cry. YET. (Later my hubby told me that without epidural, the pain intensity could have doubled - 150 whatever unit, so thank God I had epidural).

I only cried when my doctor came in and told me I needed an Emergency c-sec. I suddenly cried out loud because:

 1. "Wah lau, 27-28 hours of labour pain, now u said it's ALL going to be over in 45 minutes?!?!?!"

 2. "This 27-28 hours of waiting finally end up bearing no 'fruits'. Nothing is coming out after all this suffering? Not fair to me lah".


An emergency c-sec was not what I expected. My baby was measuring small leading to the weeks of my full-term pregnancy, therefore I thought I could give birth naturally w/o medical intervention. I thought all the exercises during pregnancy - swimming and walking in Holland and my big as* would have made delivery easy, but nope.

In 45 minutes, it was over. My O&G doctor in the OT said: "Your baby is really, really cute" as he was pulled out from my broken body. I was like "I know, right?" :-P First thing I noticed while still in OT was that my baby was white like albino, and had chinky eyes. Oh well, all babies looked the same when they first come into this world - water-bloated and chinky eyes and loud mouths crying. The paed doctor held him close to me, I got to kiss him, and then I cried again: The whole childbirth process, is finally OVER (though the shivering didn't).

Just pushed bb into my ward

I said a little prayer when baby was first pushed into my ward. Hubby said looks like mummy; I say look like papa. Whatever it is, I felt so blessed and glad that baby Daniel has finally arrived in style, gobbling/chewing up my entire nipple ever since until both nipples cracked and super painful. But no pain could beat the pain of childbirth, so what the heck, bring the nipple sore!!


Ivy-out

Week-3 Log

This is Daniel.

You can call me Yang Yang.

Baby Daniel at 2.5 weeks

He is going to be 3 weeks old on Saturday.

He has both mummy and daddy features:

1. Born botak like mummy

2. Curly hair like daddy

3. Eyes like daddy

4. Obvious double eye lid and lashes - unlike mummy or daddy

5.  Nose like daddy

6. Sexy lips like mummy

7. Sweet smiles and cute like mummy 

8. Very boyish, cho-lou (rough!) and playful like daddy

9. Blood type A+ like daddy

10. Screamer and bad temperament like mummy

11. Ears like mummy

12. Fingers and feet - long and huge like mummy

His mummy is in confinement and haggard-looking at home - with broken sutures and blood clot on C-sect wound a week before. Mummy tries to limit movement and not carry Daniel too much (how sad!), but still can blog :-P

Daniel's growth milestone has been tremendous eventhough less than 3 weeks old:

1. Each feeding is 3++ ounces already

2. Suckling on mummy's breast until sore. Latches like a velociraptor.

3. Play with himself after feeding i.e. talking! "Ang-gu-gu"

4. Super screamer when hungry

5. Does not get annoyed by loud noises (sleeps thru' loud TV, radio, crowds, people talking, etc.)

6. Developed double chin

7. Kicker and boxer without mittens. Daniel hates mittens

8. Loves bathing and swimming in bathtub (which baby doesn't?)

9. Has strong and long neck, unlike mummy and papa.

He makes mummy and papa smile everyday. And because Baby Daniel loves to smile too.

Daniel makes me wake up at least twice at night time to pump and latch, but all the lost sleep are worth it. Mummy lost 13 kg in 2 weeks. Left 5 kg to pre-pregnancy weight.

Mummy feels kinda sad because not much BM produced but tries her best to eat supplement for increased in BM - dishes such as Ikan Yu (=shark meat), hot Holicks, papaya soup, etc.  

Mummy feels the pain when admitted to hospital for C-sect bleeding at sutures. Mummy cries so much more than during contraction/labour pain - cause can't get to see baby to BF him. 

Daniel is very kind to mummy and papa - gives shit and pee to us to process everyday. But somehow seeing his yellow poo2 and pee2 makes mummy and papa very happy because this means Daniel is growing well.

Papa will come see baby Daniel every weekend. We both miss papa very much!

2.5 weeks

At 37th Week

My baby is kam bing soon. (pun intended). He will be born in the Year of the Goat.

What did I learnt so far of being pregnant (FTM)? :-

- I learnt that you can eat anything you want (just like before you were pregnant) but in moderation e.g. cold drinks i.e. teh ais, pineapple, seafood, sushi, sashimi, coffee, tea and even half-boiled eggs.

- I learnt that everybody is happy for you when you announce it for the first time to the world, but when the and old-wives tales / advises begin to come in, you wished you told no one about it.

- I learnt that you don't put on that much weight and don't show until your 7th month. Mine only showed at 32nd week (8 month). My Head of Department did not notice my pregnancy just until she asked me if I did gained some weight from Holland biz trip due to the cheeses.

- I learnt that some people do treat you like OKU, and you must be grateful because no other time in the world you get such amazing treatment. It made you believe in people once again:

• You will start seeing crowds of people opening up a lane just for you to pass, like the opening of the Red Sea and Moses seems to be on the other end;

• Copyright: http://aquarianradio.com/

  The waiter will give you the best table and view in the restaurant you patronize; You don't have to wait long in queues because people let you cut queue;
• Taxi driver open the door for you to enter and alight from the car;
• The air-hostess kept asking me if I need more snacks;
• My boss frequently asked me if I need to go home for being so pale-looking every day (I don't have the pregnancy glow); 
• I get to walk around the office with my Havaiana slippers and allowed to do so by the HSE even inside the laboratory!! How about that for getting to break rules!

- This thing called 'Baby-Luck' is real: I get parkings all the time in peak periods at shopping malls and banks; I get documents approved by big bosses, and project endorsed by people I do not know; I get to close more gaps in the recent technical assessment tests, unlike previous years; I get food orders at the hawker stalls faster than everyone else. 

-  I learnt to ask more (stupid) questions to my doctor. Because I start wondering why some many people can be with their O&G for consultation >20 minutes, while I went in and came out in only 5 minutes. 

- You can still swim and jog, but when comes to the 35th week, your feet look like a those of a hobbit (minus the hairyness) that waddle like a duck on land. What's worse: you feel like you will never get to run a marathon again.

- Just realised I don't have to wear a seat belt while driving if preggers. Good one there, as the seat belt has recently has a life of its own and starts to strangle my tummy.

- People starts giving you suggestions on baby's names. And you then you end up with your baby's name nothing like any of those people have suggested. Reverse psychology.

- People asked you if you had a boy or girl. And if you say you are having a boy, they will be like: "Good for you!!" "Boy will make you parents happy". Thus I did wonder if I told them I had girl, what would these say or will they still be happy for me? I think in the lines of: "Oh, for your second baby, no worries, you will get a boy" or "Nevermind, girls are easier to take care and smarter", etc. WTF!

- I learnt that my mental state does not sync with my physical state. Rest/sleep = back/pelvic pain. Now I am in a zombie / insomnia state despite wanting to sleep so badly.

- I learnt that it is not entirely a joy to be pregnant. Tell you, I don't have the pregnancy glow at all. If glow means fatness, then yes, I have that.

- My fear is not on the pain of giving birth. My greatest fear is giving birth to a baby sooo adorable, I will have to quit my job (I hope not as I really love being in the corporate world). 

It's 37th week yo! Excited that little notti baby could pop out anytime soon. Til then, Ivy-out.

Moist Butter Cake

I know myself that I can't bake as well as I cook. Even so, my cooking is average. This I rate myself, as hubby has always given me "okay lah" comment  every time I ask him how my dishes are. Occasionally I get a "WOW, very good" - for most of my Italian and European cuisine (i.e. my secret recipe salmon steak). I only cook; and why I don't bake is because I hate recipes like they are company's SOPs which have little room for 'playing' around and innovate. To bake something out successfully, many would agree one should not stray far from the ingredients, amount stated and ratios.

I have not baked for a long time. As far as I can remember, the last butter cake (that is not from a 3-in-1 cake mixture) was 8-9 years back. My guinea pig (i.e. my mum) frankly told me that my butter 'stone' cake could have killed anyone instantly if I threw it out from the balcony. Tasted good but hard like diamond. I was demotivated and that was the last cake I remember baking.

I am grateful to have worked with a colleague who is caring and soft spoken as a person. She's leaving after a decade in the company and I thought of baking a cake for her farewell. I daringly volunteer to bake something (as everyone else is cooking). As being the only Chinese in a Malay-dominated department, I usually refrain myself from sharing my home-cooked food nor even letting anyone know I brought any foods from home. Now you know potlucks are easy-peasy for me as I come empty-handed, and but you felt rather left-out after "aunty" colleagues talked about how they prepared their gulai and assam pedas. I dare not cook for potluck, but I believe baking should work as baking ingredients are usually halal.

Best butter cake in town? After a homemaker friend's facebook review of having the best full-proof (warning: only if you follow the recipe accurately) buttercake she's ever made, I got hold of the recipe. This buttercake recipe has been highly recommended because it doesn't crack on the top upon baking, and it's like so moist. I believe the secret is separating the egg yolks from the whites and only fold-in the well-beaten whites at the end. Go to: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2012/05/mrs-ngsks-butter-cake-butter-cake-3.html

and,

I definitely need a refresher course and demo online, and YouTube of the same recipe should work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxJZ3rouKpA

For a start, I need to buy a whole set of baking instruments as I misplaced my previous baking barang at my previous apartment. I don't want to be overly enthusiastic about baking (yet!) hence I bought inexpensive instruments and baking stuff for my first try-out in almost a decade.

I was thinking Kitchen Aid for my cake mixer, but let's not be too enthusiastic yet!

Wish me luck! And if the cake does go wrong, blame it on the oven!! LOL!

Or just bring a bunch of Buntong's kacang putih to the potluck if all else fails.

UNIV360

I bought a service condo unit at Serdang 3-4 years back for stay/investment. At that time, I knew I wanted to have a place of my own and not to rely on my parents' family apartment in Puchong. I was 30 years old that time, ok, so no good to always rely on parents. Nevertheless, I got married and then my amazing hubby got ourselves a landed house for our new chapter in life. So all thoughts of the solo me living in a condo has dissipated, and I now hope to rent or to sell my unit at UNIV360.

When my parents first saw this condo (that time it was just an empty secondary bush land), they weren't too impressed. The condo is located next to some old, rundown, low-cost flats, Block B was facing the noisy KL-Seremban highway, whilst Block A was facing Serdang industrial area. The land adjacent to it was a sewage pond (but has since been redeveloped to be another condo and commercial area). On second thought, the location is very strategic - ample access roads in and out of KL, near Seri Kembangan food areas, Putrajaya, SKVE, LEKAS, and easy to access to IOI City Mall. It is also easy to rent out - looking at to students from nearby UPM. And the showunit was well-presented (my parents are in love immediately), and we absolutely adore the huge swimming pool with waterfalls, roof-top gym and sky garden. And all these got my conservative parents suddenly interested with the concept. Plus, if you see now, UNIV360 gave incentive to our neighbouring old flats some fresh new paint(!) to its entire building. How generous of our developer. Even the old flats now looks pretty new and decent! The roads in front of our condo has been widened and a new traffic lights has been installed.

What's better, I bought the unit at Block A which is facing the swimming pool! I just went to check my unit out last week - and what a great view from the balcony from the 9th floor! Actually, I purportedly spend extra $$$$ for that facing-swimming-pool unit, which is limited edition, and slightly larger than the conventional units. The best part is that my lot is not facing the noisy highway nor the industrial area.

The layout of my apartment.

In my 10 year in-out Serdang area (from BSc. to Ph.D. in UPM), I know that area damn well as we ate there all the time (read: Ket Thong). Until today, since my office is near UNITEN Bangi, colleagues and I still have our have lunch breaks near Serdang. So, I pass by UNIV360 development almost daily, and saw in anticipation the progress of the building of the condo up to 3 years. Oh well, sometime I am just praying and hoping that the project would not stall half-way due to economic slowdown, or what-ifs e.g. developers run away with our deposits. To cut the story short - my parents supported my move to buy this condo, and voila...it's here today.

And yes, I am promoting my condo to people - for rent. Let me do some slight renovation first to our unit before I can rent for sure.

If it weren't for my current Kinrara house, marriage, and soon-to-be additional member to the Fong family (Baby!), I would have moved here. For real.

Ivy-out.

Our Baby

Finally did get to see how my little notti Baby looks like.

We opt for a 3D/4D ultrasound at 24++ weeks upon my return from Holland. I have not seen my baby since April 2015 as that was my last ultrasound visit at PCMC. I had a GP doctor's having my tummy checked in May before leaving for Holland, but Dr. Gill of Klinik Gill, Ipoh did not print out an ultrasound for me! Walamak, his machine damn kuno wei - cannot print wan. Despite having no print out of my baby (sorry, but I am spoilt by PCMC's technology), Dr Gill said my baby was growing normally (paid him RM40.00 cash for just saying that), and said I have nothing to worry about going to Holland on the 2nd trimester, whilst The Netherlands has probably much better medical/health system.

Many didn't know I cut my Holland trip short because I was damn worried about baby. As a going-to-be first-time-mom , I was really wondering what the hell is going on with baby and myself - with the kicking. flutters, constipation, and itch/pain going around me, so I needed 'confirmation' from my O&G. No way I can't afford Netherlands health service as my insurance does not cover me if it isn't emergency.

So, here is baby. Obviously I don't have a name for my baby boy (yet). It's now simply called "Baby".  Baby was facing sideways and probably sleeping so this was the best image and angle we could get.

Looks like hubby from this 4D angle. :-)

3D/4D ultrasound so damn canggih wei. I am suaku when I saw the scans on the screen. Can detect blood flow of heart and kidneys (hence, 4D scan) some more.

4D Ultrasound shows chambers of heart and blood flow.

We forked out our own $$$ for this ultrasound since we saved on other genetic tests such as Down syndrome test, aminiotic tests(?), etc. We didn't opt for genetic testings as we trust that we will love Baby no matter what. Counted all the digits on Baby's hands and toes (5 each), and see if got big dick or not, the heart don't have anomalies, kidney good, etc. Ok. Settle. All normal.

Baby all normal, but is making mummy fat. Although it's the happy kinda fat, I've never been sooo fat before (you will be shock to see me so fat). And like my collar bone is no more there. Yikes! I am now at 26th week, heading towards the 3rd trimester. And hmmphhh....the nausea seemed to have returned a bit some how.

Til then, Ivy, Hubby & Baby out!

Hobbits in the real world

I think I have been staying in The Netherlands long enough to experience many things, in fact, more than many touristy Malaysians. Having stayed at 5 different hotels and accommodations in The Netherlands throughout my business trip of 1.5 months and this has taught me one thing - I am not made for Europe.

Not surprising but somehow, I suffered 'discrimination' in Europe. Not the racism disparity that we hear of every day in the news e.g. foreigners being treated differently from the local/citizens. Nope. None of that. In fact, The Netherlands has been amazing to me in terms of equality and I felt really welcomed in all ways both as a tourist and worker.

The 'discrimination' I face daily in The Netherlands - is the prejudice against my height.

If you are great with general knowledge, who wouldn't know that the Dutch are the tallest people in the world. TALLEST, yes. It's cruel fact, and based on my personal experience with my Dutch counterparts that I stand only shoulder level to my Dutch female colleagues. For a Dutch male, 6 feet is slightly below average, while 5 ft 10" is average for a female. And I am like 5 ft flat.

5.0 - 5.5ft is normal for Asian females. If you jalan-jalan at the city, from afar, you can spot an Asian walking in the streets, and you can tell who are local and who is not - from their height.

I have seen 6 ft 5"  Dutch guy, but so are 3 out of 10 Dutch surrounding him. Mind you,that even if they are tall, many are NOT overweight or obese. Many are tall and still fit (unlike the Americans eh)!!

I did ask why. First I googled, and then I did query my colleagues on their height and fit built.

This was how Dutch Lady milk look like in those 1980s when I was a kid. Mum fed me lots of this, but still.....short.

1. Milk and Cheese

Yes, that's about it. That's the ONLY reason why the Dutch are so astronomically tall and are actually taller than the Icelanders: dairy. Over several decades, people in NL has ample supply of local milk and has had the knowledge of processing cheese. Milk and cheese are protein-rich foods and the Dutch are somewhat evolutionary immune to all types of milk products (=lactose tolerant). To date, if I go out for lunch with my Dutch colleagues, cheese, yoghurt, cold meats and wheat are staple. You can't escape cheeses from your lunches. And the Dutch despises low-fat milk/skimmed milk. No one buys them in supermarket and you may notice that there's 80% disparity of favouring full-cream milk over low-fat milk on the supermarket shelves.

And so I observed that hobbits like the Asians in a NL supermarket will go for CHEAP and LOW-FAT (hmmph why are Asians sooo scared of fats?). Therefore, you'll see Asians stocking up on low-fat milk/skim in their carts because it's cheaper than whole/full-cream milk, and yes, we like everything low-fat. We Asians are blinded to the fact that skim milk contains less nutrients (i.e. proteins, vitamins) and has more sugar content in it to make up for lost taste.

It is also sad that many Asians are lactose intolerant. I was in China for a business trip and my Chinese counterparts had a very 'difficult time' after I bought them Starbucks latte. If you notice in Beijing, Starbucks are springing like mushrooms but most Chinese still order flavoured tea or Americano (from my observation), as many can't enjoy milk in their coffee.



Right...so enough of why we Asians are hobbits while the Dutch are not. Let's discuss the disparity and indirect 'discrimination' we as Asians face in The Netherlands. This is TOTALLY true as this is based on the multitude of incidences I experienced in a single country alone.

1. I can't get to the shower head: 

Okay, so my mum advised that I am not supposed to lift my arms beyond my head to grab anything above me. It is an old wives' pantang because doing so may cause the baby in the womb to "drop" down and gets detached from my placenta, or intestines to curl around the baby's neck. To me, WHATEVER!! The problem is not the baby. The problem is I can't bring down the shower head to bathe my body. Two of the accommodations gave me a hard time as the room cleaners placed the shower head sooo damn high up, I can't bring it down for my kinda shower. Nope, tip toe won't do either. So, let it rain. There goes my wet hair everyday. 

This damn Dutch cleaners!!! Why they place the adjustable shower head so high? Never think of hobbits like us meh? 

2. I don't even have to sit on the toilet bowl:

You know, as a hobbit, I have to tip-toe (!) before I can properly position my beautiful buttocks on the the toilet bowl. I was thinking: my as well don't sit, and please go ahead doing your no. 1 and 2 standing. You freaking Dutch built the toilet bowls sooo damn high, never think for hobbits like me! Damn.

1. Can't see my face:

My father only could shave half of his mustache/stubble. I can't pop my pimples, while my mum can't see herself brushing her teeth. This is the consequence of the Dutch people placing their bathroom mirrors sooo high. Even tip-toeing can't help(!), and my dad didn't complete his shaving cause he can't see himself in the mirror.

WHY you put the mirror so damn high!?

4. Back out from the urinal:

This happened to my dad in a restaurant's toilet. There's urinal and there's a single toilet cubicle. Dad can't place his d*** to the urinal to pee because urinal was located at his waist-level. Not that my dad's d**k was not long enough; the urinals were placed sooo freaking high, he can't stand to pee. And at the same time, the cubicle was occupied at that time. Give up. Terus give up. And my dad is not that short, ok.

Why you Dutch sooo tall and place the male urinal soo high lah!?


5. Trouble signing my credit card for purchases:
Again, the table counters are so high (e.g. in museums, restaurants), I have to tip-toe to sign my credit card upon purchase. In The Hague, the Dutch lady behind the ticketing counter had a hard time hiding her giggles when she just saw my eyes and nose, but not my mouth. I had to tip-toe and sign my purchases, when she blurted: "Well, this place was built with ONLY the Dutch in mind",
Sucks.

Okay, end of my rant. Now I know why Dutch people are so great in many sports and dominates world arena - hockey, squash, soccer, swimming: they are tall. In sports, being tall beats talent/skills in many ways. I see our soccer team like looney tiny cartoon in the field against the Europeans. 

Nevertheless, if you do notice, Asians are slowly becoming taller. We have access to meat (protein), our kids are genetically more tolerant to dairy, and eating less rice (carbs) compared to our grandfathers and forefathers. Keep up the proteins, people!

Babymoon in The Netherlands

My office is somewhere here

I got a job-attachment for 1.5 months to Leiden, South Holland. I am delighted that my work as a research chemist does not confine me to the laboratory (which I initially feared) but also beyond the four chemical-laden walls. I am now doing computer simulations and modeling of chemical structures, so basically there's a lot of software/programming work to learn for a dead-wood-in-computing like myself. Oh well, gotta survive in this industry by learning new knowledge every time.

Hi from Amsterdam!

De Valk  windmill in Leiden

One mustn't miss the Leiden market on Weds and Sats.

Al fresco is what everyone here does. It's summer! 

One thing I felt blessed is that this job attachment-cum-training coincides with the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy. If you didn't know, this trimester is the most comfortable for a pregnant woman to travel because of decreasing morning sickness and stabilization of the womb inherently associated with this trimester. And another blessing: the appetite has escalated these few weeks!

Mum and I in the apartment

Leiden is located approximately 35 km south of Amsterdam. It's a large university town (like Serdang), and here lies the oldest university in The Netherlands, of course: Leiden University. Leiden is also the birthplace of Rembrandt van Rijn, the world's most famous painter. Personally, his painting makes more sense than Van Gogh's (but that's just me). Leiden town is basically sustained by its locals and university students alike. It's so much cleaner and fresher than hectic Amsterdam, and it's just a 15-min bus ride to the beautiful tulip gardens of Keukenhof. Leiden is peaceful; it's not that small nor large that you can't enjoy the entire town by foot, having very considerate drivers and cyclists and has some established Asian restaurants here for my baby just in case he craves for some gu lou yok rice (well, that did happened ok. See pic below).

This is gu lou yok rice my little baby craved. Ordered for 1 pax, but came a portion for three (no wonder Dutch people are tallest in the world).

My baby is good boy, I guess. Although the nausea is still here some times, my baby allows me to walk between 2-10 km around Leiden town and its vicinity. He does not complain because somehow baby knows that mummy here was a marathon runner and wouldn't let him complain anyway, because I want to walk as exercise. A walk from the my accommodation to my workplace within the university is approximately 2.1 km (one way), and if I feel tired after work or when the temperature drops to below 10C, I will take the bus. But of course, I would prefer to walk back to my accommodation to clock in another 2.1 km, but somehow the weather is still erratic. I am not impressed that summer temperatures can range from 7-23 degC. It’s sunny in the afternoon, and bamm, you get rain (the drizzle type) in the night. Some rain has got me into shivers and some had me run for shelter.

Chow mien, and tasted authentic.



Parents are here but only for 3 weeks. They make full use of the apartment by cooking chinese dishes for me. Yes, WARM dishes is what I deserve: ABC soup, bakkutteh, ginger chicken with rice, stir-fried (not broiled) broccoli with garlic, etc. The Dutch eats bread and sandwiches every single day - breakfast, dinner, lunch, and I wasn't complaining in the first week as I love bread and dairy products such as Dutch gouda cheeses and milk, but I think I have had it too much. Sandwiches here are frequently served with cold-cut meats; it looked and tasted raw. Doubt there's any bad bacteria in there but I think better avoid for pregnancy-sake.

Went to Amsterdam but was not impressed with the crowd. Amsterdam was very crowded on that particular holiday weekend, but more so, the people, cyclist here are less considerate and looked angry. Think KL vs. Ipoh drivers :-) In spite of that, Amsterdam is still worth a visit and has pretty with nice churches, architecture, and great museums. Made some milestone here: Walked 20 km(!) in total around Amsterdam, managed the famous Dutch pancake pannenkoek, went to eat at an Argentinian steakhouse, raked in some (free) cheeses, picnic by the park, and was part of the 500m queue to museums, not!

Dutch pancake with strawberries and syrup in Amsterdam - pannenkoek

Rijksmuseum featuring most of Rembrandt's work.

500 m queue to Rijksmuseum. Also same length at Van Gogh Museum

Park in front of the Rijksmuseum having a picnic of a time!

Bitterballen is a Dutch snack

Steak and pasta, for a change

I was also in The Hague, which is this the administration capital of The Netherlands. Just 15 min by train from Leiden, it offers much better supermarkets and shopping escapades. Of course, it is a very very much larger city compared to Leiden - with an established China Town there. There's an asian supermarket there but was ultimately disappointed there wasn't bak kut teh mix sold. I am happy I made a quick trip to The Hague as initially I was just thinking of lazying in the hotel, reading some journal articles. Milestones in The Hague: Maruitshuis Museum containing Rembrandt's self portrait and Vermeer's Girl in a Pearl Earrings, Parliament house (Binnenhof), ChinaTown, Grote Market, Chinese restaurant (Fat Kee) and Primark to buy some quality baby clothing.

The Maritshuis

Like Mona Lisa, everyone wants to see her. But I am not quite sure why.

Got near to the very famous Vermeer's Girl in a Pearl Earring. 

Rembrandt's last self-potrait before he died the same year he painted this.

Dutch Parliamentary area

Babymoon, it is.
I will be alone once again when they return to Malaysia very soon. But I am not quite lonely because for 2 weeks already, I started feeling my boy kicking. At one point, he kicked me so damn hard to request for me to rest from the over-walking around The Hague. I am so enjoying the freshest of air and good quality of life here, but this is not home. Where's the teh tarik and nasi lemak in the morning? Where's my bakkutteh and Sentul hokkien noodles? My heart is still back home, and my heart is now where my hubby is who could be lying there reading his economic book, or maybe ironing his own clothes, or giggling at some funny Cantonese movie. Miss you much, hubby!

Here are some photos of me and my parents Keukenhof, four days before it closes for the rest of the year.

The tulips has bloomed, indicating end of the season.

Can you believe the various colours of lilies here. I thought they only come in white and pink.

Another Milestone

Yes, I am pregnant.

Not a surprise to many because I was caught NOT drinking coffee and tea anymore. I was caught NOT going for runs and races. And I was caught nauseating and sleeping on the job.


How about that for not announcing until after 1st trimester, eh....FAIL terus!


So when people at work asked, just tell them the truth. Especially my manager because as of now, I must reduce my duration and exposure to the many chemicals in the laboratory. As a chemist (nama pun chemist, susah), there's no way to avoid the laboratory. So I told my bosses early to so they understand I will be delegating most of the hazardous jobs to other colleagues. I learnt to let go for 3 months di, and it felt great! Because my priorities of changed okay. Baby comes first.

While writing this, I do feel like a piece of useless person - lying on the sofa whole day cause I just feel tired WHOLE damn day, stealing a nap every moment I can, and having super bad nausea if I smell something weird from any place or foods. Belacan (no asam laksa please!), any form of fish dish, milk and seafood are big no-nos. But I have no complains because my dear mother and mother-in-law got it worse (e.g. bed-ridden for 4-7 months), so I am relatively grateful that my morning(and night) sickness is not as bad as many that's I've known. But it sure didn't subside yet!

My mum said it's already a blessing that I could still eat and not puke any thing I put on my mouth. But still, at my current standards, I felt: effing useless. Fatigue is so real!!! Every time I sit down, I just want to sleep -be it at work or at home. I must move. When I move, I feel slightly less nauseous, but not too much because then I would feel soo tired. *you tell me confusing boh?*

People said that NOW is the time to rest and sleep all you want. Because you won't have sleep anymore when the baby pops out. That's true, right. I've seen it in my friends and relatives. Why am I resisting sleep/rest? Because it's just so me to NOT to feel useless. I am such a go-getter and still want to do everything even during pregnant.

Then comes the "advices". From every part of the universe and this earth. Can really die ok hearing people telling me this and that cause it gets you freaking confuse:-  Eat this not that, do this not that, don't eat cold things, don't eat too hot things, don't drink caffeine, tea also kenot, don't drink Chinese herbs at all, drink ginseng (but don't drink this whatever Chinese name), don't squat, don't watch ugly movies like my fav. Walking Dead, don't go to lab at all, don't even go to office cause our office got chemicals in ventilation (wtf, quit job meh), don't drink Bird's nest, please drink Bird's nest (getting more confused), don't eat tofu, don't drink soya bean, don't eat banana, don't eat apple too cooling (I have cravings for green apples and I am piling up on them), don't run, but jog (wtf), swim but not butterfly (wtf advice), don't use phone, nanti kena cancer otak,...............etc. Haiyorr, can die ok, although they are for my good (but no phone, hello??!).

BEST IS MY OWN MUM. She only advice me 4 things:
1. Don't eat pineapple
2. Don't take Cincau
3. Don't take Chinese herbs because I am still super healthy and not weak. (Take only if I am super weak and like no energy and bed-ridden).
4. Don't overeat and get too fat, cause I look terrible when I am fat (but what if I can't help it?). LOL mum!?

Otherwise, eat whatever you want in moderate amounts. I am lucky to be able to still eat and not puke (just nauseous) and my mum said I should be grateful. Alhamdulillah. People tell me to take this herb and that but because I don't know Chinese and don't remember Chinese herbs names, so I neglect all advice if there's any Chinese herb name on that 'advice'.

When hubby first knew, he was super delighted - told my MIL, FIL. I called my parents after telling hubby. Not surprising, the news spread (in Ipoh) as quick as wild fire because my mum's mouth is wild fire. lol. In KL, news was slower to spread, but colleagues got to know first because...what else...caught sleeping on job watt.

I don't know what to expect at this point, but sorry to say, I have had quite enough of the many advices. I research myself is better cause I myself is researcher/chemist and judge myself. The other day I drank Teh Ais also kenot; kena reprimanded from friend. But that's like okay, right? My Malay colleague drank Teh Ais day in day out during pregnant, 5 bijik baby already pun no problem.

Just go through day after day, trying not to listen to too many advice. I hear only, but tak masuk dalam telinga. I am also NOT trying to read too many pregnant articles and forums cause sometimes they suck for giving you anxiety and panic for no reason. Now I just trying to relax and enjoy doing NOTHING the whole day. Currently reading a book on Stephen Hawking called The Grand Design on how the universe is being modeled and perceived by normal people like you and me. How about that for baby's reading session, eh? Hehehe.



Ivy-out.



P/S: If you are thinking this baby was the product of our honeymoon in Turkey, no it isn't! I am so glad it wasn't Made In Turkey cause Fong will sure name my baby Mustapha or Constantinople Fong.

Childhood 80s & 90s

Sometimes I do think back the times where I was a kid growing up in Ipoh. I mean, like a 6 years-18 years old kid (as far as my memory can backtrack). Although my mother was confirmed a tiger stayed-home mum, she allows us to do whatever we want after school hours (but studies comes first, of course). Despite being strict, she was the kampung-type, so she knew her kids needed some good old' childhood.

What I meant was that we had a lot of (outdoor) freedom back then in the 80s-90s compared to kids growing up in this 21st century. Those days wasn't e-economy, everything was k-economy, and therefore had less foreign workers at that era; people around my taman were mostly medium class; trust was REALLY trust (between parents and kids, neighbours with neighbours); there were no mobile phones; neither did the word social media existed yet (do ICQ and IRC count?). So kids were relatively 'dumb' due to the lack of access to information of the world compared to kids today. 

Here's what I went through knowing that the current generation are 'missing-out' (or are not):

1. Connecting to my first ever internet via Jaring dial-up. Oh mann, it has this dial-tone (the damn tune!) that I could remember to this very day. Dial 1511 and you get to look at internet some pages (using Netscape) which are bombarded with prompts of pornography ads. My computer processor was a 486, and I was so happy my friend Yeong (15 years old, probably) who is a self-made IT genius at his age, taught me to play games on DOS (e.g. Paperboy, Prince of Persia, Dune, etc.), and I taught me to write scripts on DOS. And that is already like damn genius. Worth mentioning is my house phone which was a orange rotary dial-phone and you need to pusing-pusing the entire phone numbers one-by-one clockwise before making calls. 

2. My first mobile phone was at age 20 (!) where I was given my brother's Ericsson BLUE(!) flip phone (no Sony that time, ok). I got this mobile phone all because I needed to go university in KL for the first time in my life. And that time, the trend was to see: WHO COULD TYPE SMS the fastest amongst us all, using ABC, DEF, keyboards. 

3. I will cycle alone the whole of Ipoh Garden East with my BMX. Alone was nothing to be afraid of at that time because many girls around 14 years old also do that. We girls have this biking gang at Ipoh Garden East. My bike was the coolest because it was my brother's bike and it is NOT a girly bike with pink bells and basket in front. I felt like the king of the road and I wore baseball shirt and cap every time I ride on the bike. I bike by my own sometimes to as far as Wooley foodcourt. Last time, there was a game arcade up the first floor of Wooley and I would go see people play arcade games such as Street Fighter 1 and played a game of Tetris on my own. My mum let me because she trusted me to not talk to strangers and there was no such thing as: Indonesia/Bangladesh workers will kidnap you, etc.....NONE. But she said this: Thai people kidnap you to be handicap child beggar at Thailand (that does scare me, ok).

This was the arcade tetris interface way back then

4. I will also bike to tuition at Canning Garden, yes, all alone. I have some girlfriends who could roller blade (I could not) and will drag the back of my bicycle for a free ride on their blades. We girl friends just roam the whole Taman ourselves with no fear whatsoever. 

5.  On some evening, I will walk/bike all the way to the padang at the end of Persiaran Perajurit 2, near Taman Kemuncak. I will go meet my playmate, Liza Oh to play masak-masak at the playground or climb the monkey bars and swings and claim them our own 'territory'. We will also go play at each other's homes. Without any adult supervision. There was no clock in sight so, we just make sure we are home by 7 pm (we can see that when the sunsets, it's already late). Mom doesn't care if I go to playground, but she will scream crazy when I come back late.

6. I will force my mum to buy me cloth and made her make batu seremban out of rice. And made her buy a box of rubberbands or stole those she has collected in the kitchen to make jumping ropes. Those were my muses. Also, I would buy cardboards of japanese ladies and cut-out clothings where I will dress my my 2D paper dolls. My mum loves to buy those cardboard dolls for me from Kampung Simee market. 

I remembered I can't get enough of this. Mom approves.

7. There was a point in my life, 7 years old, where I go up the then on-going North South Highway which was yet to be completed. It was just piles of sand that time. My friend Pei Jet and I will bring our bikes and hike up the sand dune and slide down the slope! We will bring up our bicycle to the top of the sand dune (now the infamous NS-Hiway) and cycled up to Tambun interchange (which didn't look much of an interchange at that time).

8. Those were the days where it took 4 hours from Ipoh to KL. My father, who was a KL-ite, would drop by at Tanjung Malim to eat pau curry/kacang at Yik Mun corner shop. Also, gone were those times where people will use the coastal highway to KL.

9. When I sat on my first MAS flight ever (from Ipoh to KL), my dad said I should dress well. No shorts/jeans because people who gets on the plane are privileged people. wth. Those times, if you can go on a airplane, you are like the luckiest person one earth ok. You must appreciate this privilege by being well dressed on board. Those days, no everyone could fly.

10. Mechanical pencils was an unknown invention until I was 7 years old, til I brought one mechanical pencil from Rashid Mini Market (my brother bought it for me) and I brought it to school at Standard 1. Because no one has seen a mechanical pencil nor how was this going to work better than a staedtler, so I demoed by clicking several times on the pencil top and then new lead pops up. Every dumb friend in my class was wowing as if I was its founder of the most amazing creation on earth. *clap*clap*

11. I remembered walking alone to school (SRK Mahkota Sari) from home in the wee hours of the morning when I was living in Gerik, Hulu Perak . At age 12, I walked 1 km(!), through a lane that farms pigs (sty), to the main roads of Gerik, and straight to school during some mornings and no one kidnap me pun. Like no fear pun. I still wonder why those days are so safe and parents are sooo trusting of their kids. 

I did primary 5 & 6 (1992-1993) here in the once awarded "Cleanest school in Malaysia". SRK Mahkota Sari Gerik. 

12. Most of us girls are shorter than the current generation at the same age. You can attribute it to genetics, but I believe it was the previous formula milk powder that lack of DHA, EPA, etc. LOL! We girls get menses only at 13-14 years of age on average (that's late compared to average 10-11 years old these days). We were late bloomers with small boobs. Nowadays, if you see the 12-13 years old girls, they talk mature like they are 20s and have large boobs hovering over their chest.

13. We are exposed to nursery rhymes and movies like Sound of Music. But today I see no kids know about a single nursery rhyme that I mentioned (maybe I was child genius in English nursery rhymes and Aesop Fables). Nope, dunno Humpty Dumpty, Nope, dunno Jack and Jill. Nope, dunno Jack and the Beanstalk. Nope, dunno who what how a mirror can speak of beauty. Nor do they know what the hell I was talking when I mentioned Do Re Mi from Sound of Music. Hello, what happen to early-school education lately? I see kids being taught the toughest vocabularies and grammar as well as chinese characters as young as the age of 5 with a bunch of meaningless homework. 

Oh well, maybe kids learnt different things now compared to my time. Like how to dance like SNSD, identify suave hair like Lee Min Ho's, how to protect yourself from the Walking Dead, and how to hack into your parent's iTunes password. Lol.

I am just reminiscing the times we had and what our child is exposed to these days. How to give them the best of both worlds: the pre-globalization and the post-globalization times. The time will come and we shall see. 

Ivy-out!