Hello Baby #2

I am so excited to share this news with you guys...we are expecting a #2. Suddenly, I am sure it all makes sense to you guys why I am suddenly missing in action. Given that I am going through this "experience" a 2nd time, you would think that with prior experience, this time it would be a breeze. Hell no, it was worse.

1. I had real bad nausea, and unlike #1, I had absolutely no idea what was the trigger. So, I pretty spent a good deal of my after-meals puking and resting to prevent myself from throwing out. It lasted from Week 5 to Week 13, but damn though it just seems to be 2 months max. I felt like it was eternity.


2. I was prescribed with Diclectin and it didn't work. But I hung on to it because I needed hope and I believed in the placebo effects. For mothers who want to know, I had "withdrawal" effects. I would end up heaving more heavily when I attempt to stop/reduce the medication. So in the end, I only used it for urgent situations - i.e. meetings. 


3. Nausea was my biggest issue this time round. I couldn't even swallow water, so I ended up almost getting a early stage diabetes. The solution (suggested by my gynae) was to take chamomile tea. I restricted myself to 2 teabags a day because I am a huge believer of moderation and things started to look up.  





4. Exhaustion is still a problem, but I sort of mitigated it by outsourcing my toddler to the extended family. In the day, my in laws would care-give. At night, my husband would pick up the slack. My parents did weekend duty. I didn't have much Mummy Guilt because the kiddo was having so much fun with someone different. 


5. I am surprised this one made it thus far. I am serious because my toddler really love bouncing on my tummy and it took a lot of effort to tell him this is no longer possible. Believe it or not at 18-20 months, we managed to sell the concept that there is a baby in tummy and now he helps me cream my tummy and wishes the baby good morning every day. He still occasionally slaps my tummy but apparently toddler plays are pretty harmless.


6. I was somewhat depressed. Because my body was shitty, it took a beating on my mental state. I thought of quitting everything I was doing. But I didn't...every time I had such thoughts, I went to sleep HAHAHA.





7. My diet restrictions started early as well. Eating is a real pain. It is so hard (expensive too) to replace carbs with cooked proteins/ vegetables. Now that nausea is better, I am hungry most of the time. 


8. Going to bed hungry, this seems like a recurring theme too. So I always sleep it away. I think my bump looks smaller this time round. Haha. Sadly, womb service has never been a thing in this family even for #1.


9. Despite my numerous grouses, I am still pretty stoked we are expecting a 2nd baby. A bit earlier than expected...but the older brother seems ready for a new playmate.  

Italian Festival: A Night at the Opera

We went for our first opera recital. This is probably one of the most exciting thing that has happened after we got Covid. Honestly, most of the time, I was just trying to survive the rough nausea and now that the sun shine through, this is such a much welcome treat. 

In celebration of the Italian Festival, the recital - "A night at the Opera: Musical journey through Italian love and drama" was free. But initially, we couldn't get any seats. But fortunately, some seats came out in the last minute and we managed to squeeze our way in. Neither the husband nor me know our opera well, but we were so game to give it a try. 

We were initially fearful that we would fail to understand/ appreciate the music and were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves enjoying the evening with the singing. It helps that there was a narrator and music truly has no boundaries. At some of the tunes, I found my feet tapping along. Decided not to take any videos because I sort of figured out certain things are best experienced live. 

For the performing trio - Soprano Marcella Di Garbo, Baritone Lorenzo Barbieri and Maestro Manuel Cini, this was their first visit in Asia. Thank you Italy of Embassy for bringing them here. I feel a better understanding of the Italian culture and is stoked for the other events of the Italian Festival (still on by the way). Some are pretty exclusive sadly. 

Took the opportunity to explore Esplanade and found this delicious BBT drink - Chun Fun How. I tried the sweet potato series and was absolutely blown away. I think this is the first ever sweet potato BBT in Singapore. It is quite a big cup and the design of the cup is really cute too. How did that know I am a fan of the fortune cat!! Hehe. 

Ending off with some more photos of the beautiful SG, you know sometimes with a toddler, the Hubs and I barely go on weekday evening dates like this anymore. :')

Eagle Wings Cinematics Experience

We haven't exactly been to the movies much ever since we subscribed to Disney+ and Covid struck. Even when we did go to the cinemas, we always went for the premium experience for the cushy and spacious chairs. Call me spoilt, but I don't think we can go back to enjoying the normal cinematic experience. 

Since we celebrating the husband's belated birthday, he asked for something different so we decided to venture out to Eagle Wings Cinematics to experience their Gold Class and Premium Lounge. I did a bit of research to get the best bang for my bucks. 

1. Free Access to Lounge (for 2 hours): So if you get the Silver or Gold class tickets, you automatically get access to it for 2 hours before the movie starts. It does with the perks. We came 1.5 hours ahead because we wanted to have lunch and tried out their food. But from observation, other patrons came about 0.5h - 1h ahead. Guess you can call us kiasu. 


2. Free flow of drinks: Yes, this is still true. And we have verified that you can refill during the movie too though I doubt many would do that intentionally. The soft drinks dispenser had a lot of interesting flavours but I preferred the hot drink selection. In fact, I am now in love with the Super Tea Infusions Series. 


3. There is a massage chair (2 in fact): Ok, we admit we sort of came early cos we wanted to try it out. But boo, it sucks. The strength of the massage was too weak. Good thing we didn't buy this model for our home. 





4. There is 10% off the food: This was also why we wanted to try out the food (See menu here). No regrets cos it is really good. In fact, we were quite full, we had to give up finger food. We had:


• Lobster Bisque ($12): It was really good and came with lobster chunks. My photos don't look fancy because I customised to remove the cream. 


• Curry Katsu Don ($17): It is delicious but not mind-blowing. It is not my usual choice of food, but my choice is kinda limited because of my current dietary restrictions. 


• Truffled Black Beard Pasta ($18): This was the best dish ordered. Would recommend totally going there just for this again. It was very unique and I am pretty sure I never tasted anything similar elsewhere.





5. Ordering food is difficult: It is quite stupid. They made us order through an app and you had to fill in your credit card details etc. Am not sure how that would work in the cinema. Maybe you are supposed to order ahead so as not to distract yourself from the show. 


6. The theatre was not lighted before the movie: This is one of my biggest grouse. Cos I am vulnerable and clumsy now. I hate anything that make mobility even harder. 


7. There is no charging port in the cinema: Some of the reviews claimed that there is a charging port but I never found it, not that it will make or break the experience. LOL! I am just aunty. 

Ending the post with a yummy Curry Yong Tau Fu I found at a shopping centre across the street (forgot the name of it.)