The Bub in the Belly

As mentioned in an earlier post, I've been nursing a flu. It seems that I've been doing a good job because I'm still stuck with it after four weeks. Richard, who gave it to me in the first place and then recovered, has now succumbed to it again.

Amazingly, Ryan is unaffected. Despite sleeping between his parents who are both coughing up phlegm, sniffing and clearing our throats through the night, he blissfully slumbers on and remains germ-free. He did have a runny nose for a couple of days but that resolved quite quickly so it was probably unrelated to our misery.

Generally speaking, Ryan has been a very healthy baby. He has hit every milestone for growth and development on the dot. He's never had a post-jab fever and he's never had to take a paracetamol. He's run a temperature once or twice but that always resolved the next day naturally, without any medication. He popped all his teeth without a whimper. He even escaped jaundice.

I believe every parent's wish is that their baby is born healthy; this was definitely our wish. I am very very thankful for Ryan's good health and strong disposition.

This time of the year in Singapore, it rains quite often. Our version of the cold season, I suppose. It always rains around Christmas. As a child, I'd always thought that Christmas should be snowy and white, with snowmen and sleighrides and I wished that my Christmasses would be like that. However, as I grew up and got to travel more, I realised that I don't actually do very well in cold weather.

In Beijing, going up to visit the Great Wall of China, we passed by some brick houses with no windows. The guide said the weather can get very cold up there so there was no point having windows. Much better to have warm bricks. I can't imagine living in a house with no windows!

In Hong Kong one night in September, after a late movie, Richard and I decided to walk back to the hotel. It was cold and windy but wrapped up in a long coat/jacket, we were sure that it wasn't a problem. We stepped out into the street and started walking. Turned out that it was actually much much colder than we thought and the wind was so strong that we had to walk with our heads down and our hands in our pockets. When we saw a McDonald's that was still open, we literally ran towards it to seek shelter, a warm cup of Milo and hot fries.

Then I remember being in Sydney at the end of autumn when there were patches of snow showing up, lots of rain, very cold wind and some hail. I had to go buy batteries. Having put on my innerwear, I put on a top. Then a pair of tights. Pants. Socks. Sweater. Jacket. Scarf. Beanie. Boots. Lipbalm. Gloves. All right, off I went then to the corner shop, got my batteries and shuffled against the wind back to the house. Then off came the beanie and the scarf. The gloves. The boots. The socks. The sweater. Oh, and the pants came off too so that I could take the tights off after which the pants went back on.

In Singapore, I would have walked out with a T-shirt, shorts and slippers and coming home, I'd just kick the slippers off. Easy peasy.

And have I mentioned how much I hate gloves? I have not been able to find a pair that firstly, can keep me warm, secondly, allows me to actually do something with my hands and fingers and thirdly, looks good (let's not even talk about matching my clothes).

Ok, I'll admit I don't thrive so well in the heat either. I'm nowhere near the sort that loves suntanning on the beach. If I'm offered outdoor or indoor seating at a restaurant, I head straight for airconditioned comfort. But Singapore isn't hot like a desert. It's a happy in-between. There are sunny days and rainy days, cloudy days and windy days. Sure, I don't get to build a snowman, I don't get to taste snowflakes and I don't have a cozy fireplace in my home.

But at least I don't need gloves and lipbalm. And for that, I'm grateful.

Today I want to give thanks for being in good health, which I have taken for granted all my life. There have been many things that worried me, made me nervous, caused me sleepless nights, but my health has never been among those things.

I don't particularly take any measures to keep myself in good health. I don't have an exercise routine and I don't look at the nutritional value of what I eat. I don't take the effort to make myself nourishing soups and I don't take any supplements. Still, I do not have major health issues and I am generally quite resistant to falling sick.

As I grow older, some things have changed. The most obvious one is that I cannot run anymore. I think I can still jog (I don't), but running is definitely a thing of my youth. Also, I used to be able to work myself to the bone, surviving on very little sleep for days in a row without issue. I can still do that now, but I can't keep it up for as long as before.

Still, all in all, I'm a pretty healthy specimen and for that, I am thankful.

25 days to Christmas! My favourite time of the year! Love the feeling of good tidings, peace and goodwill. This year, as my version of keeping an advent calendar, I'm going to give thanks everyday till Christmas - 25 days of gratefulness.

I'll kick things off by giving thanks for my little family - Big R and Little R.



I know that a modern woman is supposed to have her own identity, she's not supposed to be dependent on others for her self-image and happiness. Still, with my family standing behind me to support me, walking beside me to guide me and skipping ahead to lead me to greater things, with them there to help me keep things real, I am better able to deal with whatever life throws at me. Whether I won my cases or clinched a big client, I'm still sweeping the floor and washing the dishes at home. Whether I'm screwing up at work or having a bad hair day, I still get a hug and kiss from Big R and a delighted grin and squeal from Little R when I come home. What else matters?

Today, to top off our long relaxing weekend, we visited the Marina Barrage. We went with Kenny and Belinda and their son, Matthias who is a few weeks older than Ryan. Our car had stopped at a traffic light last evening and Kenny and Belinda strolled across the road right in front of our car with Matthias! It was such a coincidence that we figured it must be a sign from above so we asked them to join us today to visit the barrage, followed by dinner at KEK Seafood. The photo above is taken by Kenny.

What is there to do at the barrage? Well, nothing really and that's the beauty of it. It's like a small park - it's a great place to relax, stroll about, do some kite flying, play with the water features, hang out with friends or just be by yourself. We had a lovely time.

Some info on the Marina Barrage: "Built across the mouth of the Marina Channel, the Marina Barrage creates Singapore’s 15th reservoir, and the first in the heart of the city. With a catchment area of 10,000 hectares, or one-sixth the size of Singapore, the Marina catchment is the island’s largest and most urbanised catchment. Together with two other new reservoirs, the Marina Reservoir will boost Singapore’s water catchment from half to two-thirds of the country’s land area." See here for more info.

Here are some of the photos taken by Richard and me.

It was a public holiday yesterday and we took the chance to rest and relax as everyone is down with the flu. We went tubbing at Harbourfront Centre, where we bumped into Gwen, one of the SMH Jan 2009 mummies, and her son, Tristan. In the evening, we went to Saizeriya at Liang Court for dinner.

Today was another relaxing day. Skipped Gymboree, cooked dinner at home and went tubbing again. Then we hung out at Page One at Vivocity for a while before calling it a night.

I've been nursing a flu for about two weeks now, having caught the bug from Richard who suffered for about a week before me. Ryan survived unscathed until recently when he started having a bit of a runny nose. The weather isn't helping, it's getting colder and wetter. Time for socks and long pants and cozying up together in bed.

We took Ryan to see Dr Pauline Cheong for his eye check yesterday. Ryan has a bit of a runny nose so Dr Cheong did not want to sedate him for the detailed physical examination. She did do a simple check and told us everything is fine. We are to come back to see her for the detailed examination when Ryan is better.