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While in Singapore, we managed to catch up with Chee Chuan and Joey, whom we haven't seen in a while and meet Tricia, their miracle baby. Tricia was born at Week 24 and lived for a few months in an incubator; she's had two eye surgeries and a heart surgery. Her mom, Joey, had excessive bleeding after the birth and I can understand why she and Chee Chuan don't want any more kids at the moment.
It was a short, hurried, crowded meeting at Atria's Food Avenue. Being there was as hazardous as being in a crowded kitchen: strollers, babies, crowds, cramped areas and bowls of hot soup don't mix. Since Rizal and I weren't hungry and the Cheong's had had their dinner, we adjourned to their hotel where there was a Harry's and had the sampler there. Rizal swears that it's better than the food at Las Caretas in Jalan Damansara.
The meeting was short as the Cheongs had an early morning flight to Hong Kong. Wished we had more time to talk but a short meeting was better than nothing since the last time we met up with the Cheongs was a few years ago when they were back in Seremban/Batu Pahat for their wedding.
Here are the two gals with their proud dads.
Rizal does look round in this one and complained about the photo; wanted it taken down but as it's the only good photo I have of the two dads, it's staying up.
I'd forgotten why I'd avoided sales all this while. Trying to manouvre Sophie around in her stroller at Robinsons in Raffles City, it didn't take much to remind me why I'd rather shop during non-sales periods. The sheer number of people compounded with the long queues at the cashier and the difficulty in trying get through narrow aisles crammed with people are but some of the put-offs that have encouraged me to pay for my merchandise at full price. It totally turned me off trying on shoes and clothes.
I was luckier at Plaza Singapura; just by sheer luck I found a glittery dress in a style that I liked at Dorothy Perkins and good thing I had on my tank top so I could just slip it on and look at myself in the shop mirror without having to queue for a fitting room. Just my luck also that it happened to be the last piece on the rack in my size. 50% off! Wow. Talk about destiny.
All I need to complete my look for the eventual, still as yet unconfirmed New Year's Eve party is a pair of shoes to go with the dress.
Should I bother with shopping this weekend? Maybe I'll get lucky at Parkway Parade, who knows?
With all the excitement and hustle-and-bustle, I very nearly forgot about our anniversary. What with heading down to Singapore to visit Rizal, then Mama, Baba and Sasha showing up to spend the holidays too, and not forgetting catering to the demands of the little Miss, the date of our anniversary slipped in and out of my memory.
It shouldn't. We purposely had our dinner on the 25th four years ago so that we'd remember it when carols and decorative lights hail in Christmas every year.
Instead the thought flitted into my consciousness on the 20th, then out again a day later, in again on the 22nd and then finally I was reminded again by my mother when I called her to report about the lost earring on Christmas eve. Also, Aisha sms-ed and wished us a happy anniversary. Thank goodness for friends and family who remember.
For dinner, we decided to celebrate anyway by heading out for seafood with the girl in tow. The chilli crab and steamed fish were delicious out on the east coast. Dinner however was interrupted by Sophie's decidedly tantrum-filled behaviour just as our food arrived. We had to take it in turns to quickly savour our food while the other pacified and cajoled the girl. It's not easy trying to celebrate an anniversary with a squirming, shrieking child.
In hindsight, we should have celebrated a day or two earlier when Mama and Baba were around to handle the little monster.
At least I will remember this anniversary as being the first one with our daughter.
On a trip to Vivo City, we stopped by at Daiso, the Japanese store with everything in it for $2. Sasha picked up a cute little hair band with kitty ears and we couldn't resist putting it on Meiyin's little head for show.
I may be biased but I still think she's the cutest little kitty in the whole wide world.
It's only early days into the 5-month threshold; already the little monster is starting to show her personality. We don't call her 'the monster' or 'the creature' without reason. Many times we'll find ourselves at wits' end, trying to keep up our energy levels entertaining her or keeping her from getting bored. Or trying to placate her frustration.
At the moment, she takes after her mom: easily bored and gets distracted easily. She also lacks patience but then again, most babies at this age display the kinds of traits she does. She really knows how to twist everyone around her little finger, especially her daddy, who's admitted to the possibility of spoiling her (as if he isn't already). 
She displays her vocal prowess with her shrieks, both of frustration and excitement. Only mommy knows how to extract the heartiest of laughs and giggles right now. When she starts on her tantrums, it's off to daddy.
She's got one word in her vocbulary: mem. It's uttered in times of distress, hunger and disomfort. It's thrown about with frequency when she wants attention or doesn't like the position she's sitting in or doesn't want to be placed lying down on her mattress. Mem in all it's entirety and variations - mmmm, mmmeehh, memeh, memmm - is bandied about when she wants something. And mem for mom, milk and love, naturally.
Memmm is what I'll give the little creature for as long as she wants.
Our girl riding piggy back with her daytime caretaker, Karni, as she does her housework. She's gone to sleep riding piggy back like this before.
Christmas eve we went out to Orchard Rd. Not wanting to lug the stroller onto the MRT, I slung Sophie into her pouch and we schlepped on out over to meet her daddy and his family who were here on holiday.
As is her signature style now, Sophie started out attentive and curious. But her curiosity tends to meld into boredom then frustration in a matter of minutes. We weren't out for 1 hour when she started getting fussy, wanting to stand and grab anything and everything in her path. Failing to stand or be allowed to grab, she would descend into ear-splitting theatrics (gawd, what monster have I created?).
We cut short our trip and the three of us took a cab home. On the way to the cab stand, she grabbed my ear, sucked on my arm, pulled my hair, tried to grab my glasses and ate my chin. She wasn't any better in the cab and not only did she not want to sit, she announced her displeasure by wailing and shrieking.
Naturally I was distracted. So it wasn't till we got home and I was taking off my rings and earrings that I realised I'd lost the diamond studs that my mom had given to me as my wedding gift; my left ear was missing the stud that I'd put on before going out of the house. Shit! I couldn't even remember when Sophie might have reached up and pulled them off. This was only the second time I was wearing the earrings after my wedding.
And so I learned the H.A.R.D. way that you shouldn't wear anything remotely of value if carrying a wriggling, squirming, shrieking, grabbing bundle of energy.
Sigh...
Surfing the cable in Singapore, we came across the Indonesian national TV station; a national Christmas sermon was being broadcast. What's interesting here is that you would never see the Malaysian equivalent of national TV - RTM1 or RTM2 - broadcast a Christian/Christmas sermon. EVER.
One can only imagine the brouhaha that would emerge if such a programme was broadcast. Let's not even start. Malaysian leaders and certain quarters of the Malaysian population can be the most insensitive and hypocritical people around. Don't believe it? Click here to find out.
I stand corrected, however. Malaysian leaders are generally insensitive to people of other religions and races. They are TOO sensitive when it comes to their religion: Islam. Too many instances have occurred where this or that is construed as being insulting to Islam, the latest being this.
I wonder why we keep insisting that we're a multi-racial country? But then again I forget, what we say can only be taken at face value. Or maybe it's that we have to keep reminding ourselves that we are a multi-racial country despite the obvious Islamisation and disregard the country's leaders (and a portion of the Islamic community) have for all the other religions and races that make up Malaysia.
I am at the dining table trying to finish up on work, have some dinner and surf the Net with Sophie balanced on one lap playing with a plastic bag hanging from the chair next to me. It was easier when she was contented just to be rocked in her swing cradle.
Someone should give an award for the most things one can do with a pair of arms.
