Okay so a couple of months ago if you read my Dayre, you’d have seen I updated about a room makeover (if you didn’t read I judge you wtf) for me and Fatty’s room, and Fighter’s nursery.
Fatty’s brother used to live in our apartment and when we got married and moved in, my mother in law told me I could do whatever I wanted to spruce up the place to my liking. But I thought it seemed fine and didn’t want to rack up additional costs.
I did consider doing our bedroom though but too much hassle! We’d have to move out for a few days and wait for the paint fumes to dissipate. Have to also deal with the removal of wallpaper which is another big mafan. So I never got around to it.
But Nippon approached me to do a makeover and I figured best time to do it is now! Our room condition was actually getting worse, and I was a little unhappy with Fighter’s nursery as well.
Here are the Before photos!
Before
Our bedroom:
Our room original scheme is shades of beige. Off white carpeting, beige walls and dark wood furnishings.
This is the view from the bedroom door. Bed on the right and the wooden shutters actually lead to the bathroom.
Erm excuse the mess. ._. Fighter has this irritating habit of pulling things onto the floor and leaving them there. >_>
The TV and our white dresser face opposite the bed.
Above the white dresser is surface cracks in the wall. 🙁
Bed! Windows are to the right of it.
Wall above the bed also got huge crack. 🙁
To the right of the dresser is our closet and dressing area. The walls here are actually wallpapered, not painted. Ya sorry ah damn messy cos I was in the midst of packing and cleaning out the room before the painters arrived hahaha.
The wallpaper is peeling and looks quite gross. 🙁 Wallpaper looks nice definitely but very high maintenance lo. If it starts peeling you can’t just fix that one portion, you have to redo the whole thing and is just a nightmare, not to mention expensive on the pocket too.
Wallpaper texture.
Fighter’s room:
Last year I painted Fighter’s room a mint green. I didn’t consult any designers but just asked a contractor to do it. So the green I picked ended up looking very dark. D:
It ended up making the room look smaller than it is and a bit gloomy looking. 🙁
In photos with natural light looks better but the green on all four walls in real life is very overpowering.
(that’s Fighter getting changed after his bath hahaha)
The Process:
First, the Nippon consultant came over and had a look at our place. She looked at our rooms, pulled out her color charts and recommended shades that she thought would look good. 
Pretty colors!
I told her beige is a little too old school for me and that I liked fresh, clean colors like white, blues or greys. So we decided to work on those!
As for Fighter’s room, I thought it should remain a gender neutral color since Fighter and Bump are gonna share a room. So cannot be pink or blue. I asked about yellow and she said can, if the yellow is a very pale shade. Bright yellows apparently creates a stressful environment so unsuitable for a nursery lol.
We also decided on the paint and shades for feature walls in both rooms!
The process
First, the painters had to strip my walls of wallpaper. D: They said they’d need to spray water on the walls to wash also which made me fear for my carpet wtf but their water means they wipe it with damp clothes only hahaha scare me.
There was a team of about 5-7 people so they actually managed to complete the whole thing in a day!!!
Then base coats on!
Star of the day jeng jeng jeng.
Actually no, star of the day is Nippon Momento, the two small buckets. Nippon Momento is a special effects paint and is a totally different product from the normal solid colors that paints come in.
We used two kinds of Nippon Momento. White one is Snow Frost 01, which is from the Enhancer series, used for Fighter’s room. The silvery grey one is Monument MS 146, from Textured Paint Enhancer Series used for our room. Both result in totally different effects which you will see later. 😀
Here are the painters repainting three walls in Fighter’s room a lighter mint to open the room up.
For the last wall which would be the feature wall, the painter applied Snow Frost 01 on top of the existing wall color.
It actually takes a special technical skill to apply this paint cos of the special effect it produces. So not all painters know how to do it and they need to learn specifically. :O
This is what Snow Frost looks like when freshly brushed on. The painter had to angle his brush strokes at a 45 degree angle for nicest results.
A closer look. 3D effect! When it fully dries though, the 3D effect sort of flattens out.
As for our room, the Textured Paint series worked in an entirely different way!
The painter brushed on the paint in a sort of criss cross way, resulting in a…
Stone-like effect!
Are you ready to see the After photos?
After
Our room:
Voila! Wall behind the TV, opposite our bed was done in a solid shade called Pewter 4231P. I love this shade of grey it looks so peaceful and elegant without being fussy!
Another look at it.
Close up of our white dresser. I love how the white contrasts with the grey behind it. 😀 All my cosmetics and accessories look so pretty against the grey too hahaha.
As for the window wall, we painted it a very pale violet, practically white. It’s called Violet Whisper OW361P.
The wall facing it is in the same color. I was worried it’d clash with our carpet which is still beige but they still go well together!
The light violet and grey really opened up the room! It looks so clean and spacious now. <3
Dressing area was also stripped of wallpaper and painted the same violet shade.
The feature wall is behind our bed. Here’s what the criss cross stone pattern looks like from afar. 😀
Up close.
Sooooo happy with the effect! When I saw the paint I was worried cos it looked quite dark but it looks great on the wall. 🙂 Fatty was very happy with how it turned out too phew luckily hahaha cos I made all the decisions without him. :X
Fighter’s room:
Tadah! Fighter’s looking at you wtf. 
Again I am loving it! It’s so bright and cheery now, totally befitting of a baby room. 🙂
The wall behind his crib is where the Momento Snow Frost was used.
It’s super subtle but up close you can see! The 3D blobs have calmed down into a streaky cloud effect that looks like wallpaper. 😀
All the other walls have been done in a mild mint color, Mint Scent owOW171P.
Windows and other side of the room~~
Oh sorry the mattress is for me to sleep when Fatty was sick hahaha.
Nice? 😀
Fighter agrees! (actually when I was taking these photos he thought I was taking his picture and was very happy hahahaha.)
Our rooms are so gorgeous now! We spend most of our time in bedrooms so I think it’s important they be as nice as possible. Also glad we got rid of the yucky high maintenance wallpaper in favor of the Nippon Momento paint which gives cool wallpaper type effects without the high cost and maintenance.
I also liked that there was no lingering paint smell at all! We spent a night in the guestroom to be safe, but by the next morning we moved right back in to the room. Nippon Momento Special Effect Paint is formulated with low VOC and it’s also free from formaldehyde, creating a healthier environment for families. And not just walls ceilings and plaster, it can be used for wood, laminate and tile surfaces too.
Big big thanks Nippon Paint!!!!
For more information on Nippon Paint Malaysia:
Website: www.nipponpaint.com.my
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nipponpaintblobbies
YouTube: www.youtube.com/NipponPaintMalaysia
Instagram: @nipponpaintmy
Customer Careline: 1-800-88-2663
Wow I just realized I never finished blogging about our LA/Vegas trip last July. D:
Fasterly post pictures first! Although I’m very sure I forgot most of what happened already. ;( So therefore I can guarantee you this will be the most informative post ever wtf.
Angela and Frank joined us in LA for a couples trip (last post here) so we did some touristy stuff! Paramount Studios tour was one of the ones all of us hadn’t been on yet so Paramount it was.
Hello!
Wearing: Evris two piece set, denim shirt from Angela (I’d only brought one blazer and it was getting smelly wtf so Angela brought a shirt for me to wear hahaha) and Melissa flats.
Here’s Fatty standing in front of the Hollywood sign! Uhhh you can’t see the sign because I’m an awesome photographer.
Erm I thiiiink this was some set WTF.
Ok this I remember! Lucille Ball (of I Love Lucy fame) had her office here (blue door).
And this patch of grass was called Lucy Park because she was that big of a deal. Apparently she also set up a nursery here for her kids while she worked. I like that sorta thinking!
Next we explored Paramount’s New York City set…
See the hole in the ground? Depending on the scene required (modern day, period drama, whatever) they’d stick in the corresponding streetlight, and just plug it in to the wires all fixed underground.
Same goes for the doorknobs. Depending on what the production needs, an appropriate doorknob would be fixed to the doors.
I think this is where Minority Report was filmed. Or some Tom Cruise movie la wtf. Each storey on the glass building is a different height, to give the false perspective that the building is really taller than it is when filmed.
Another false perspective trick! See the two doors? They’re both of different heights so they can manipulate how tall an actor looks. Like if Tom Cruise needed to look tall next to Nicole Kidman, they’d film him standing in front of the smaller door, and Nicole with the bigger door. If you can see, Fatty looks nearly the same height as me in relation to his door!
Abbey Road-ing in New York City in Hollywood hahaha.
Normal picture of us.
I thiiink this was one of the apartments the Glee people were living in in NYC?
Where Spidey and Mary Jane had that upside down kiss!
Crap I forgot what this was. 
Also this but I bet it was significant that’s why me and Fatty took this picture. -_-
And this was something significant to me and Angela wtf. -_-
Ok this! Some scenes in Glee involved these metal stairs (I think one was the scene where Kurt has some issues with the bully…?)
Water set where they filmed lake/sea scenes. When needed I think they put a green screen to extend the horizon.
When not in use it’s a parking lot wtf.
oh nothing. Just my Oscar collection.
I think this was one of the original, earlier built parts of Paramount.
So beautiful!
My momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Hehehe the original Forrest Gump bench.
Just me and my Angela!
Then we adjourned to Melrose to have brunch at this famous brunch place. No pictures because… they’re all in my old phone. 🙁 I recently upgraded to the Sony Xperia Z3 yo!
One more because I’m skinny and pretty here (as opposed to being 8 months pregnant wtf)
Next day was spent at Universal Studios!
Got my minion on. Bought both the cap and minion glasses ahahah.
<3
My two favorite people in the world.
And some sharks wtf.
And Whoville! (From the Grinch)
Universal Studios is by far the largest studio/theme park so their studio tour was extensive. Very commercialized and less personal compared to Paramount but it was fun to see all the big, flashy sets. 🙂
I think this was a scene from World War Z. So realistic, the props looked like all real stuff just thrown about.
Guess whose house from Desperate Housewives?
Vehicle from one of The Mummy movies hehehe.
Thass all folks! (Other people here are Angela’s friends from LA, not photobombers wtf)
Then it was on to Vegas! Stayed at the Bellagio this time.
Truth be told, not many photos of Vegas cos by this time we were missing Fighter like crazy and were even contemplating canceling the Vegas leg of our trip. But couldn’t find a satisfactory flight back and also would have to pay quite a bit to change flights.
So we stayed but like… a bit no mood to do anything (especially since we were in Vegas just two years ago).
Also it was too damn hot to keep whipping out the camera wtf.
We did weirdly bump into Adam C and his friend who were also at the Bellagio so we just hung out and ate a lot together hahaha.
Food in Vegas is always good! Dinner above was at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant.
At the hotel pool. Grumpy face cos really damn hot!!!
Fatty and Adam are somewhere in there cooling off.
Our last dinner! Somewhere on the Strip, we just Yelped everything.
Omg escargots I love.
Bonus photo from Venice Beach/Santa Monica.
Vroom vroom! Me on a Segwat.
It’s so easy I was thinking omg I am so good at this. Cos normally I’m not good at anything physical wtf.
But then Fatty reminded me I crashed into him. I did an about turn without realizing he’s behind and banged into him.
And then I also hit a homeless man from the back WTF. Poor fellow was so nice, said no worries it’s his fault.
I told Angela and she asked me how was it his fault. I was like errr he walked too slowly…
And then I remembered I got off the Segway at one point and for some reason the Segway kept moving! It’s not supposed to. Supposed to automatically stop when you get off.
The Segway ended up rolling over my own foot.
Literally watched it in slow motion (cos it moved slowly) as it rolled over my foot and I couldn’t do anything about it.
So okay fine I am not the best Segway rider.
But great fun! Fatty wants to buy a Segway in Malaysia now. Drive down Pudu and scare the illegal workers HAHAHA.
Guess who’s at 30 weeks now!
This pregnancy actually zipped by in a flash! I guess this is what happens with second pregnancies – you’re too busy with the kid that’s around that you don’t notice time zooming by.
Cannot believe I have max ten more weeks to go only! Fatty thinks it’s still a long way (think he’d rather see Bump tomorrow if not for the complications) but it’s not.
I’m so chill this pregnancy that we haven’t actually bought anything much yet. So far, I got bath towels, a three piece pack of pajamas from Mothercare, some pink sheets for the crib… and that’s all WTF. Oh wait I also bought some newborn diapers cos they were on sale hahaha.
Sorry Bump!!!
In my defense, we mostly have everything ready for you already because of your koko. But I’ve already created a shopping list for you ok don’t worry *hastily
Preparation
Things to get:
Milk bottles – last time I bought Avent cos it was the most famous brand. And Fighter actually took to the bottle first before the breast so I don’t think there was nipple confusion. But this time I’m worried about it and I’ve seen people recommending Medela Calma teats so I’m waiting to get those!
Baby pillow and blanket – because Fighter is still using his
A new canopy for the Bugaboo Bee – in baby pink, no less. Going for a Bugaboo event next week so quite excited to check them out!
….Shit what else does a newborn baby need? Why my memory so bad wtf.
Oh I guess stock up on toiletries as well – body wash, a new tub of diaper cream cos I don’t think it’s hygienic for them to share, new face cloths…
Also got Fighter a big boy bed! His crib is obviously going to Bump so I bought the toddler bed for him to level up wtf.
I read somewhere that we should introduce the big bed to kids before the baby comes so they don’t associate getting kicked out of their comfy crib on account of the baby.
Last night we let him fall asleep in his crib, then moved him over to the bed. He woke up three hours later panicking cos it was a new place hahaha. Pat him back to sleep with minimal issue though and he slept well after that. Hope every night is as good as this!
And how’s Bump?
This is her at 29 weeks! At 29 weeks, she already weighs in at 1.2 kg! In comparison, Fighter at 31 weeks was 1.07 kg. T_______T Damn you preeclampsia.
On the bright side, the fact that Bump is gaining well means there’s no problem with my placenta so far and nutrients are passing through to her just fine. ^^
And this is me at 29 weeks! Wah so geli, bloated max still wanna act cute and put up one leg hahaha. (actually wanted to show my shoe la)
Let’s see. At 30 weeks my bump feels hugeeee. By this time last time I was already in the hospital so I was obviously quite inactive. Now I’m still up and about and hefting Fighter around occasionally so I do feel the strain much more. My muscles especially in the legs feel more ‘sui’ (sour wtf) and I generally feel heavy and whale-like. I’ve also gained 10 kg at this point.
My heartburn is damn bad also. It’s like 24/7 now omfg T___________T The pain is so bad my entire throat is sore and even my ears hurt wtf. Last time my heartburn was easily neutralized with a cup of fresh milk but now even milk doesn’t help! I hate the taste of Gaviscon so I just tahan the pain la. ._.
The only thing I can eat without getting heartburn (or at least minimal burn) is brunch type food! Had this for lunch today and I think Imma eat it every day for the next ten weeks.
What else ah?
Oh yea goodbye ankle bones, hello cankles.
Removed my wedding ring this morning too because my finger was getting cinched in already and I scared it cannot come off in labor and they cut it off wtf.
Swelling has begun! A bit scared cos this was a very distinct symptom of my preeclampsia but so far BP is still good. But definitely started bloating la my knees and calves are fatter, my feet bones are missing wtf. Jawline also rounded already.
Argh can’t wait to deliver honestly. The pregnancy sped by but now that I’m at 30 weeks and counting every day my BP is normal, time is barely inching by. D:
Also tired of just being pregnant in general la wtf.
Can’t wait to fit back into my old clothes – it’s even uncomfortable wearing leggings now cos of how huge Bump is. So I keep sticking to shift dresses and not to say I got a lot of them wtf.
Tired of battling the acid burn every night and tired of feeling tired when I play hide and seek with Fighter. 🙁
Time please pass faster!!!
Okay! After that last rabbit turd peanut butter cups disaster, Fatty incredibly requested I make more muffins. Either this guy has a stomach of steel, is a masochist, or he’s The One wtf.
He asked for Oreo muffins specifically. And recipe looked pretty damn do-able! So here goes.
Recipe taken from Kraft Foods.
PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
BEAT egg and milk with wire whisk until well blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Gently stir in chopped cookies. Spoon evenly into 12 greased or paper-lined medium muffin cups.
BAKE 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Remove from pan; cool slightly on wire rack. Serve warm.
Here’s where I poured out the milk and broke an egg into it. I chose the biggest egg I could find in the fridge cos I’m kiasu like that.
To my surprise the egg yolk dropped out in a solid orange ball. Huh don’t tell me this is a rotten egg!? DAMN TESCO SOLD ME A BAD EGG!
Asked my helper what’s up with the egg. She glanced at it and said “that’s a salted duck egg” WTF.
Then in the spirit of waste not, want not, she drank the milk to see if still can salvage WTF. Obviously cannot cos the milk turned salty right away hahaha. And so I wasted a perfectly good salted egg and a cup of milk. T_T
Batter nearly done!
Added the chopped cookies. Accidentally bought chocolate Oreos instead of the normal ones but I think they just make it more chocolate-y. ^^
Batter was quite watery compared to the banana muffins! Spilled a lot fml. >_>
Done! I was quite horrified by how they turned out – why all lopsided and ugly one!? They looked like charred chunks of cancer-ridden flesh wtf.
Tentatively, I gave some to the guys to try.
Left is before taking a bite, right is after.
Okay that look of bliss means approved hahahaha. Damn stupid his blissful face. It helped that the muffins were still warm from the oven.
The little one.
Left photo is eating while people are watching. Right photo is eating when he thinks nobody is watching LOLOL.
He realized he likes them and was trying to cram the whole thing in HAHAHAHAHA.
Verdict: The Tiah men love it!
This recipe is actually very easy! I halved the sugar because I prefer less sweet foods and it was just perfect I think.
Less moist but that could be because there were no bananas in it wtf but good and Oreo-y. Hahaha.
Going to try it next time with regular Oreos!
Emboldened by my success with my banana muffins, I decided to give another dessert making project a try.
(yes miraculously, the banana muffins turned out very nice! Must have took them from the oven at perfect timing cos the top was a little crusty but the inside was all moist and so good! Everyone said the sweetness was okay – by everyone I mean Fatty and our helper – but I think a tad too sweet personally, although still good.)
So I asked Fatty, any requests? He said something with peanut butter. So I googled, “Peanut butter” WTF cos I didn’t even know what I could make with peanut butter. >_>
Found a recipe for peanut butter cups though and it looked pretty easy so let’s go with that!
Also pretty gorgeous right?
Laid out the ingredients. Butter, creamy peanut butter (although you can go with chunky), semi sweet chocolate chips, powdered sugar. That’s all!
Recipe and above image source here.
Only four ingredients and four steps to it. Unbelievably easy sounding.
Plus it was a no bake recipe, so it was really only a matter of melting the chocolate chips, layering the chocolate into cupcake liners, then freezing it for 10 minutes.
Then layering the peanut butter on top, and freeze it again for another 10 minutes.
And then, adding a final layer of chocolate. Last step is to freeze the lot and you’re done!
It was so simple I didn’t even bother taking step-by-step photos.
So okay, melted the chocolate chips in the microwave, poured it into the liners, and froze them.
For the peanut butter concoction, I mixed the peanut butter, powdered sugar and butter into a bowl. The recipe recommended using an electric mixer but not having one on hand I used a fork and spoon wtf. #roughingit
FML why look like lau sai. T______T This was where it turned difficult.
When I spooned out the melted chocolate, it was only a matter of dropping the paper cups on to the counter so the chocolate would settle evenly.
The peanut butter was a whole other issue. The mixture was so thick it was nearly solid and impossible to make even. 🙁
This was the best I could make it. And then it just went downhill from there wtf. Because the peanut butter was uneven, I couldn’t even out the top chocolate layer either.
Also I underestimated the amount of chocolate and peanut butter I would need for each cup…
So just to recap.
But the truth hurts wtf.
T___________________T
They look like rabbit droppings T_____________T
Fatty dutifully ate a few then after that said he got sore throat wtf.
So I don’t think they were anywhere near good la. T_T After all it’s only chocolate and peanut butter.
Sigh so baking project #2 not so successful.
But! As part of cooking attempt #3, I tried making pan mee. Recipe from here.
Ohhh so this is “braising”. Had to google what it meant hahaha.
Frying the ikan bilis and fishballs.
Pan mee is not too difficult la although there are a lot of steps in it. All the ingredients need to be prepared separately (hence the number of steps) then assembled together at the end.
So it’s essentially…
Boiled noodles/mee hoon kuih + stir fried ground pork and sliced mushrooms + fried ikan bilis + fish balls + pork and ikan bilis soup + baby spinach
Tadah! Not too shabby huh. The soup was good! And so was the spinach and noodles. The pork a bit too much taste for me but I dunno which seasoning to reduce the next time wtf. *noob
Actually I had a LOT of help from my helper la hahaha. I am the worst, most inexperienced cook in the world and don’t even know how to hold a knife properly. My helper did all the slicing and dicing, showed me how to ‘braise’ and ‘stir fry’ fml and also made and kneaded the dough for the noodles. I did the gathering of ingredients, added them, stir once in a while, and checked the temperature and timing wtf.
Oh just one picture with my happy critter.
Why you look so dubious when I kiss you!?
This cooking thing is fun! What should I make next?
Next step: to actually do the ‘cooking’ i.e. turning on the fire, and moving the spatula around myself, etc wtf.
all photos taken with my Sony Xperia Z3
Truth be told, I hate cooking. I have an irrational fear of fire and spitting oil so I might prepare the ingredients and all but I end up still leave the actual cooking itself to my helper. :X
(also why I don’t like steamboat — why pay to go out to a restaurant only to have to cook your own food!? Mind boggling wtf)
But my New Year’s resolution was actually to uhh associate self more with making food wtf whether it’s cooking or baking. Even if I don’t actually wield the spatula and wok, I figure it’s good to learn more about cooking and food la and try out more new recipes. If I’m ever stuck on a desert island (and assuming I know how to hunt/forage) I can uhh cook myself some fish and I’d know when it’s really cooked (as opposed to still being sushi) wtf.
Which is why today I decided to start with something simple – banana muffins!
I’d actually saw a recipe for it before and it looked mighty simple. But then I forgot about it until our Bangkok trip when Ming’s fiancee Patty showed up with a box of mini banana muffins! And they were so yummy! Fighter loved them too so ok obvious choice to start with.
Got my recipe off this website. Not gonna bother recreating her recipe here because it’s mad simple and she deserves the credit anyway hehehe.
So okay! Got my shit together. Lol.
Ingredients are super simple – flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, banana, egg, butter. Exact measurements are in the link above.
The recipe was for a 12-muffin batch and thank god I remembered just in time to halve everything cos my pan is for 6 muffins haha.
Told Fighter Imma make muffins for him and he gave me this face. And then I screeched cos I realized he’d picked up my butter knife. -_-
Okay anyway! First things first, mash some bananas. Easy peasy banana squeezy.
Five minutes later…
Why these bananas cannot mash finish one I swear I’m making up new muscles in my arm.
In the meantime I also melted butter.
Had to google “how to melt butter”
(oh just put in microwave and defrost! …. which is the defrost button?)
And two seconds later, had to google “what is a cup” WTF cos the recipe called for measurements in cups hahaha.
Anyway I found a plastic cup with measurements on its side lying around and used that.
Mixed the banana, melted butter, a beaten egg and sugar together. The recipe called for a half cup of sugar and I’d already halved it and it still looked like a lot!
Gestational diabetes, is that you coming for me?
At this point I worried cos I wasn’t sure if my mashed bananas were mashed enough. There were still lumps floating about! I knew that recipe was too easy — why didn’t they say if there should be lumps or not? How would I know!
Mashed as best I could and figured the lumps could be like a surprise for the eater wtf. Like tadah extra banana for you! *furtive eyes
I mixed the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together in another bowl, then mixed the whole lot together to form a paste-y looking mixture.
And then I had to grease the pan. Texted friends to ask if I should melt the butter before greasing. :X They said no.
Asked what can I use to grease the pan? They said a brush or greasing paper.
I asked what if I don’t have a brush or greasing paper? They said a spoon? Or your fingers?
Tadah! Pulled out Fighter’s Combi baby spoon hahaha. Made of rubber and rounded so it wouldn’t scratch the pan!
But then I ended up using my fingers anyway to make sure the butter was evenly spread out.
Carefully ladled out the batter into the cups. At this point feeling very dejected cos the mixture looks like lau sai la wtf and I can still see the lumps of banana. -_- Also second guessing myself whether I halved ALL the measurements or just some only. O_O
And I’d thought I need to fill the cups up to the brim but there wasn’t enough batter. D: So each muffin would turn out a distorted different size. >:(
Popped it into the oven and set the timer!
Shit timer not working wtf. Okay I’ll just check my phone clock and take it out when it’s done.
Then I uhhh went to watch Hi 5 with Fighter wtf. And kinda forgot about it.
Only when my helper shouted it looks burnt did I rush back. FML. 
Not yet twenty minutes yet as per the recipe though! Scrambled for a toothpick to test moisture but whole house don’t have!
So I got my helper to take a kitchene chopper to whittle a chopstick into a toothpick. And then we realized whoops oven still running with muffins inside. D:
Anyway this is our homemade toothpick. I’m a lumberjack wtf. Not bad right hahahaha. Luckily helper found a disposable chopstick or else I was gonna use a nice one wtf.
Yes, people told me later I could have used a fork or a knife. T_T I didn’t know I thought knife or fork would create a big ugly gaping hole. T_T #noob
Doesn’t look too bad right! Didn’t occur to me that muffins would puff up and everything will look nice and even!
Haven’t tasted any yet though, waiting for Fighter to wake up so we can eat together hehehe.
P/S: OMG after how long I can finally tag this as AudDomestic lolol.
Back from Bangkok!
Most of the small things that happened is on my Dayre already but basically Fighter had a ball of a time!
1. I think he was just happy to be out and about with us and that we didn’t leave him at home lolol sounds so pitiful
2. He enjoyed the new scenery and new things to look at, hold, smell, chew on wtf. The entire time his eyes were darting everywhere and he was super interested in everything going on.
(us in BKK. Both sweaty cos was walking outdoors)
3. We found Thais to generally love babies! And tourists too. And Bangkok is full of them wtf. So everywhere we went, we had people smiling or making faces at Fighter who lapped it all up wtf. He’s crazy attention seeking one la hahaha so he was in his element wtf. Every stranger was a great new opportunity to have fun and I think he did have a lot of fun playing around. ^^
Anyway it was our first proper trip with him (short trips to Singapore don’t really count) and I feel like we got to know him even more. It’s weird cos I see him at home every day and night anyway so why wouldn’t I know him wtf.
But maybe at home we’re in the same controlled environment, and when we go out for meals or school (whoops speaking of which he missed the first week of school on account of being in Bangkok :X #laksamom) it’s also routines and environments he’s used to so his behavior is more or less configured to those routines.
So when we were out in a new place I felt like it was very obvious what Fighter’s personality is! Here’s what he’s really like. I don’t know if these are typical baby traits or it’s really his character so you tell me!
1. Super attention seeking and overly friendly to strangers
This was never more obvious while we were in Bangkok! He’s hardly ever shy — sorry if he turns away from you means you too forward or he doesn’t like how you look WTF. He does need time to warm up before allowing people to carry him, but he doesn’t mind people smiling or playing with him even if they’re strangers. >_> Recipe for easy kidnapping hou mou wtf.
Sometimes if people aren’t even looking at him he’ll still look at them anyway and try to catch their attention. A lot of times I’d be carrying him and he’d be carrying on some flirtation with someone behind my back hahaha. Like smiling at them and turning away as though shy hahahah please Fighter you don’t fool me wtf.
Also when he was in Bangkok surrounded by all Fatty’s colleagues he was damn happy being the center of attention and everyone cooing over how cute he is.
Anyway I really like this aspect of him cos with no stranger danger issues, it’s easy to bring him to new places and to meet new people. ^^ Also looks like a good omen for his future — sociable and good with people can only be a good thing right? (wah I used the word ‘good’ three times in a sentence)
2. Strong willed, wants what he wants, when he wants
I suspect this is probably true of all babies la. =_= I think he’s hit the terrible twos so the minute we say no (even if it’s in a calm, non-scolding tone) he’ll yell bloody murder. >_> Then he’ll wait until he thinks my back is turned and try to reach or eat whatever it was that was off-limits.
Or if I tell him No eating!, he might just pretend to put the thing near his mouth like, “oh nothing just hanging out with this near my mouth” and then look at me out of the corner of his eye. The minute he sees me look away, that thing goes right into his mouth. Hahahaha can’t decide if this is annoying or funny.
Conclusion: Very strong willed, and a bit sneaky also to get what he wants. Also quite bad tempered for him to shout like that the minute I say no *frowns
Here he is, looking guilty cos he stuck his hand in my glass of ice. Bet he thought he was going to get into trouble hahaha.
3. Curious
Thank goodness curiosity doesn’t kill babies cos I think all babies are like this? But everything also want to touch or see. And taste. -_- See case in point above where he die also must put his hand into glasses of liquids.
Coins, money, knives, dirty tissue paper… he also has a special affinity for dustbins wtf. Once I caught him trying to put his hand into toilet bowl water too. O_O
Since he’s so kepoh about everything I’ve been trying to come up with new sensory experiences for him. Like today I filled up a suction bowl with uncooked rice and let him play. As usual he tried to eat. >_>
Anyone got any other ideas!?
4. Drama king
Look at this face. >_>
All because he was rubbing his pacifier on the wall of the cabin and I told him to stop doing that. I said very reasonably, “Fighter, don’t do that. You’re going to pick up germs and you don’t want to fall sick right?”
No scolding tone whatsoever.
And this is his reaction. Lolol. Haih terrible twos are really here to stay. Obviously fake because (1) no tears and (2) stopped after five seconds cos he realized I wasn’t actually yelling at him
Very good at acting this fella.
Here’s another example.
He hates getting wiped down and changing into pajamas. Think if he had his way he’d join a nudist camp already wtf.
So last night we were wiping him down and while naked, he struggled to escape my clutches and managed to crawl quickly over to his toy shelf.
(may I add dragging his kukuciao all over the floor while at it wtf)
Then he pulled out a book and pretended to read it, hoping I would leave him be cos I encourage reading. Hahahahahah annoying or what!?
Anddddd just cos it’s my blog here’s a bunch of photos of him at dinner being cute. :3
Oh he has six teeth now! #fightermilestones
Looking at his personality now I wonder what Bump will be like. Maybe she’d be the total opposite of him since me and Ooib are pretty dissimilar too. So that means she’d be… shy, patient, well behaved, tall…. LOLOL.
But in all honesty, I really would love Bump to have the same sociability and friendliness that Fighter has. But cannot be this lucky!?
I know I know. Everyone says it will never happen but I still worry that I won’t love Bump the same as Fighter. :X What if I’m used to loving a baby that behaves like Fighter? And Bump will be a different baby with a different personality – will I react to her the same way?
I know what I’m saying sounds horribly narrow minded and neurotic but I still think about stuff like this. And people will reassure me but I won’t really know until Bump shows up…
Here’s a family picture of us though! Bump is 27 weeks her and I’m feeling absolutely ungainly and unattractive already. See you in.. (I’m okay with her coming out at 34 weeks lolol so…) seven weeks darling!
Went for the launch of Kit Kat’s new chocolate, Kit Kat Rubies the other day!
Coincidentally, I also wore a ruby colored top. 😀 No la I know Kit Kat is red ma and Vivy sent me this top that fits Bump from Fashion Valet. ^^
Here with Huai Bin whom I haven’t seen in ages!
With Jane and Daphne!
Congratulations on the Rubies, Kit Kat!
Everyone loves a Kit Kat and Kit Kat Rubies is a more ‘atas’ version of the chocolate! Each piece comes individually wrapped in an aluminium wrapper, in red, Kit Kat’s signature color of course.
The normal Kit Kat is a crunchy wafer covered in milk chocolate, but Rubies not only comes with the signature wafer, but also contains caramelized roasted hazelnut pieces and is covered with the yummy milk chocolate. All my favorite ingredients leh especially hazelnut!!
Kit Kat Rubies are packaged in a two-tier ‘jewelry’ box, making it a very pretty present to give during Christmas and New Year’s. I’m thinking also CNY cos red = ong. Lolol.
After that, exciting! We were given a chance to learn part of the chocolate making process and to try our hand at it!
Here the Nestle masterchef is explaining tempering. Top quality chocolate are usually shiny, firm and break with a snap. This is cos the chocolate has been tempered! Chocolate that isn’t tempered may be soft even at room temperature, or look dull, or have a spongy texture. Not any chocolate I feel like eating wtf.
So tempering is a tricky yet crucial process to produce good chocolate.
Melted chocolate is spread onto a marble table (for cooling purposes) and spread around with his spatulas. He worked it until it was at a suitably cooled temperature.
Daphne had a go! She studied culinary arts I think so she must be damn good at this. Me, I stayed at a safe distance lest they ask me to try wtf, can imagine spilling chocolate on people’s shoes. >_>
After the chocolate was tempered, the chef poured us all a cupful of chocolate each. Looks so good right I nearly went to drink it. *wipes mouth with back of hand
Then we got to customize our chocolate! I for one added about three big ladles of chopped hazelnut. ^^
Stir stir stir to mix the nuts in evenly. Also added a dash of dried berries.
Then poured the mixture into the template.
All done and ready for setting!
After that I did drink the leftover chocolate HAHAHAH.
With fellow chocolate makers hahaha.
The finished product?
Nice! Of course I say nice la I make myself one hahaha.
But I think the Nestle people who made Kit Kat still got a bit more skill la hahahaha.
Kit Kat Rubies are available at your local supermarket now!
Okay so there was this thing going on for like half of 2014 with me. I never blogged explicitly about it but I guess I dropped hints here and there. If you hadn’t already guessed, it was a fight I had with a friend.
I didn’t want to air dirty laundry in public, but at the same time it killed me that I wasn’t getting closure! Maybe to other people, closure is just walking away but to me, closure means talking it out, telling the other person my side and listening to theirs so I could figure out what went wrong. Whether or not we manage to mend the relationship after that is irrelevant but normally I find that when two people talk it out in a calm manner, it almost always ends well.
(well for me it does anyway, cos I like to think my strength is I don’t have that much ego that I cannot see and understand a point of view different from mine. On the downside, I am very easily swayed and cannot join debate team or be a judge or lawyer cos Imma be like ‘oh ya true true good point’ wtf and have no rebuttal fml.)
But cos I didn’t have that closure, it drove me nuts. The more time passed, instead of calming down and forgetting, I got more and more upset. From a medium sized issue, it blew up into a huge thing inside my head and resentment kept piling on. All because I didn’t get to talk it out!
I guess I slowly started going crazy wtf. I raged that this person couldn’t even give me the peace of mind to move on, and I was stuck in this negative vortex of resentment. It didn’t help that this person was in my inner circle and I still had to see her at gatherings which further pissed me off. It bothered me so much I started to drop hints here and there that things weren’t right in this aspect of my life. It was as if everything was just simmering and now was threatening to boil over; in fact it did start to boil over and spill out in bits and pieces on my blog and Dayre already.
Maybe I subconsciously did it on purpose. Maybe I wanted to keep poking and poking so that the other person would finally have enough and agree to talk to me and I could let it out.
And on New Year’s Day, that happened.
We sat down (with a mediator, no less) and talked. I let out what I was feeling this whole time and then I listened.
And I realized that… she wasn’t really wrong. In my head, I’d built her up to be this super villain – this person who wouldn’t listen to reason, who did selfish things with no regard to how it would affect me, who was unethical, etc etc. But when I actually listened to her and found out the full story from her point of view, it wasn’t like that at all. A lot of it turned out to be horrible miscommunications and misunderstandings.
Sure, she had a part to play in exacerbating things since she was terrified of confrontation and therefore never spoke to me directly, resulting in tons of misunderstandings. But I wasn’t completely innocent either – I was emotional and rash. I didn’t realize it but I misphrased some things which came out sounding horrible and worsened the situation. And I placed blame without bothering to find us a proper solution.
For six months I convinced myself I was right and now I found out I wasn’t, totally. I wasn’t wrong, but neither was she. It was like we were both staring at a mug that had a different color on each side; we both saw the same mug but in a different color and while we were both right, we couldn’t agree what color it was cos we only saw things from our individual stand points. *philosophical
So that got me thinking. I’d always thought I was a good person. But in this case, while I won’t say I’m not a good person hahaha, I definitely didn’t do the right thing all the time. I was going to say next time I wouldn’t be so sure I was right in an argument. But it won’t be true.
It’s human nature to always think you’re right or that you’re good. If a bad person does a bad thing, do they think they’re wrong? No they’re likely justifying their actions in their head so their self perception still remains ‘a good guy’. For example, the hater in my previous post – he probably justified leaving hate comments for me as, “oh I don’t like her. I think she’s a bitch. Therefore she must be a bad person. Bad people don’t deserve nice comments. Therefore I am going to leave her a nasty comment HAHAHA! It’s okay to do it cos I’m a good person and she’s not.”
Or they may not even realize what they did was bad at all. Like me, in this situation with my friend.
Crimes aside, it’s not always straightforward deciding who’s good and who’s bad in a conflict. Most of the time both are a bit wrong and a bit right. Which is why I believe the best thing to do is to talk it out calmly and resolve it rationally.
Anyway, the talk was very therapeutic for us both. She’d never done it before so she said she felt ‘amazing’ wtf. Me, it was what I wanted so of course I felt awesome too. I apologized and she apologized. Once I talk it out and resolve things, I’m ready to forgive and forget immediately. It’s like a rainbow coming out immediately after the storm wtf. So that’s one relationship saved.
This happened on New Year’s Day, after six months of turmoil. I don’t normally trust in these things but I think it’s symbolic that resolution came on Jan 1. If what happened on the first day is a sign of things to come, I think I’ll have a very good 2015. 🙂
Happy 2015!
How did I spend New Year’s Eve?
How I spent most every night of 2014. ^^ Which is by eating at home, putting the critter to bed, watching a movie and just nuah-ing around.
We’re so old now that Fatty even wanted to sleep first and set his alarm for midnight HAHAHA.
Can just imagine him staring blearily out of the window to see if got any fireworks remnants we can catch, then muttering “ok goodnight” and trudging upstairs to bed again hahahaha.
That was our New Year’s Eve! At first I was wondering if we should do something but New Year’s is just the first day of the rest of the year. And I honestly don’t mind doing this every night the whole year. <3
Anyway I think 2015 is gonna be fun! A lot of things to look forward to.
1. Fighter is going to be two!!!
I cannot believe it la two years!!! I remember the day after he was born I was visiting him in the NICU. And on his incubator there was a sign that said, “1 day old” lolol it felt so surreal that this human has only been in this world for a day. Like I can literally tell him, “what do you know, you were born yesterday.” #trollmother. And he’ll be two this year. My baby is growing up too fast. D: D: But issokay cos we have another one coming to relive those newborn fatty baby days.
2. Bump is coming!!!
Very excited for her arrival! Even though it means my life (and sleep) will officially be over. And my title will change to “mother of two” omg sounds so advanced wtf.
All’s good on the blood pressure front so far so hopefully although I can’t wait, she won’t show up so soon. I’m 26 weeks now and the preeclampsia hit at 28 weeks last time so I can’t help being a bit nervous. If it comes at 28 weeks or later I’d feel like never mind, I expected it. But if it came before I’d collapse. T_T So every day with normal BP is an additional win. ^^
3. My birthday is coming too!!!
Actually I rarely get excited about my birthday wtf. But it’s my big 3-0 yo. So maybe I should have a party this year for the heck of it. Count it as one last bash before two babies suck the life out of me wtf.
Speaking of which….I delivered Fighter at exactly 31 weeks right. Bump at 31 weeks exactly is on my birthday itself. O_O So who knows, my party may not even happen what if I’m in the hospital then. O_O
Also thought of doing a baby shower cos last time’s baby shower got canceled on account of me being hospitalized. So if do also should do earlier on to avoid the above.
Never mind! Still a lot of things to look forward to!
Erm what else ah. Actually that’s about it la hahaha. Just feels like a lot to me cos everything is happening earlier part of the year.
But I have a feeling it’s going to be a great year! And lemme tell you, I never feel like this for any other years wtf.
Ok just realized this blog post is very rubbish. Lemme tag it as AudRubbish wtf.
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