Life with Kimchimon

Kimchimon and Achilles tendinitis Last year, Kimchimon was complaining of having pain in both of his feet (heel to be exact) for quite a while and it got so bad that he cried whenever he took a step and refused to walk.  We first brought him to a TCM nearby as I was alone with Kimchimon with a lot of groceries when he refused to walk. I thought TCM might be a good idea as i don't want Kimchimon to take so much medication. The physician told me that Kimchimon might have flat foot like Dillon, which was why his feet were in pain. He mentioned that kids in his age won't usually experience that much pain and was quite puzzled with Kimchimon's extreme pain. He advised Kimchimon to rest his feet as much as possible, and probably soak his feet in warm water to help ease the pain. He also mentioned that wearing shoes with comfortable sole. He then proceeded to do some Tui Na on Kimchimon's feet. Kimchimon's feet did got a bit better during the weekend with rest, however, t...

Kimchimon only started school in June 2021, when he was about 2 and 3 months old. As that was the only time the school had vacancy for him. We enrolled Kimchimon in My First Skool as the school has a mega centre near my mother-in-law's place. I know it's weird that we enrolled him near my mother-in-law's place instead of our place, because we just shifted right, and it would be more convenient if he attended the one nearer to our place. That was because it would be easier for my mother-in-law to bring him home if the school had called. We packed Kinchimon's bag and brought Kimchimon to school in the morning. The teacher advised us to let him stay in school for half a day so he could adapt better. Once he got adapted, he could stay there for the full day. I took a day's leave for Kimchimon's first day of school. Together with my mother-in-law and Dillon, we brought Kimchimon to school. We did inform him before hand that he was going to school, but i don't thi...

Feng Shui While waiting to get the keys to our house, we had to find the renovation contractor that could accommodate to our budget. We also got the house checked out by a Feng Shui master after the house was handed to us.  Renovation and Home Improvement Program In general, the Feng Shui of the house was good, and most importantly, not haunted 😁. Based on the Feng Shui master, there were a few things in the kitchen that needs to be changed,  such as the position of the sink and kitchen hob. The kitchen cabinets needed to be changed anyway as they were already quite worn out.  Our budget for renovation was not a lot but at the same time, we didn't plan to have the house undergo a major renovation. We met up with a number of contractors but the price that they quoted was over our budget. Lucky for us, Kimchimon's nanny had someone that she knew is a contractor and would be able to help us with the renovation. The flat was eligible for Home Improvement too. Home Improvemen...

Before I continue on our journey to getting our new flat, h ere's a pictorial on the procedure of buying a resale flat: After we saw the house of our liking, we need to act fast as it could be bought by other people too. The agents requested the sellers to grant us the Option to Purchase (OTP) and had sent in the Request for Value on the HDB portal  on our behalf  . We then paid a deposit which comprised of the option fee and option exercise fee to the sellers via paynow (both add up to a maximum of $5000). I had added a pictogram below for the procedure on the Option to purchase for a better picture.  The Request of Value took about a week to come back and if the price quoted by the sellers were higher than the price quoted by HDB, we would have to pay the balance by cash. Fortunately for us, the price quoted by HDB and the price quoted by the sellers matches! Which means we would not need to pay any cash upfront. Before submitting the resale application, the sellers had...

After Kimchimon turned 1, I felt that maybe it was time for us to find a home of our own. My mother-in-law's place was great, very convenient with supermarket and the train station just right at our doorstep but this tiny human needed a bigger and more toddler friendly place. This post will be about how we got our own home. Getting a house in Singapore is never easy nor is it cheap. We had some options available: 1) Build-To-Order Flats (which is not an option as it would take about 5 years to complete during the Covid period and i wanted to move out as soon as i can)  2) Sale of Balance Flat - these are flats which were leftover or the previous owner had a change of mind during the last launch (the ratio for Chinese is always 0!) 3) Resale flat (the only option for us since it is readily available) Before looking for a resale flat, I went to HDB's website to calculate the approximate cost of the house that we could afford and the type of subsidies we were eligible for (you can...

After the thyroiditis episode, i learnt to take a step back and breathe. This meant taking a day's leave and taking a walk on my own. I decided to go to Gardens by the Bay followed by the Doraemon exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore. Both admissions were free!  I left the house as usual, didn't inform anyone regarding my me time as I just want to spend some time by myself. I took a train to Bayfront station; there was a short walk between the train station and  Gardens by the Bay. I arrived quite early and had my breakfast with my bunnies (i used to bring them out together with me last time but not anymore, and had decided to bring them there for company).  After which i continued with my walk. The garden was quiet and peaceful in the morning. Something i need to take my mind off. There were fountains, ponds and reservoirs and a giant baby statue that reminded me of Kimchimon. After the walk at Gardens by the Bay, i proceeded...

Remember that I mentioned in my "juggling life" post that this stress had caused some medical condition? This post will be about my recovery from thyroiditis.  It started from my 10 days of medical leave. From the minor cough to the fever that refuses to go away and neck pain. I went to the General Practitioner (GP) and got a referral letter to the specialist. I couldn't make a choice then so he referred me to the specialist from the nearest public hospital and also a private specialist.  I tried to make an appointment to the public hospital, but the earliest appointment they gave was at the end of 2020. I couldn't wait that long! So I made an appointment to the private specialist at Farrer Park Hospital and secured one in the beginning of October 2020.  I registered myself at the entrance of the hospital and subsequently at the clinic. I was then directed to do a blood test before seeing the doctor. We had a chat and agreed with the treatment regimen. The doctor pres...

28th September marks the 4th year that my husband and I got married. Happy anniversary! Thank you for all the love and care for me and Kimchimon. 😘 As the husband likes cheesecake, so I made some oreo cheesecake for this occasion. Turns out Kimchimon likes it too. Checkout the recipe for the oreo cheesecake below.

Today marks the end of the 10 days of medical leave! But I still have some phlegm. Kimchimon woke up before 8am this morning and 💩 again. So early and so much poop, this Kimchimon. Fed myself some breakfast before giving him some hard boiled egg. He finished all of it and he drank some milk. I made some pork chop for Kimchimon with steamed veggies and blended them to make them easier to eat for Kimchimon. He finished all of it except for some bigger pieces of pork. Kimchimon then had a haircut. Ever since he went to nanny's, I stopped giving him haircuts as Nanny would bring him to the barber's. But now with Covid-19, I think he should stop going there for now. Today's haircut gone quite good, he didn't really struggled and the sides are rather even. Maybe it's because the TV was on. Gave Kimchimon a bath before tucking him in for a nap. Kimchimon woke up around 1.5 hours later most probably due to hunger. He had some milk and he played with his toys....

Day 9 of my medical leave started with Kimchimon 💩 twice in the morning. How can someone so tiny generate so much poop?! Anyway, we cleaned him up, gave him milk and he's a happy baby. We played for a while and I made him chicken veggie stew for lunch. He ate most of it while spitting some of it out, and as he grows we realised he is one old man in a tiny human's body. Too hard, spit it out. Too big, spit it out. 🙄 Kimchimon then took a bath and took a nap while we had lunch. It was already 2pm. Kimchimon went on to play with walker after having milk. He played for some time before he had his pancakes. He spat the pancakes out too 🤜🏼👶🏻. (Don't worry, I didn't literally punch him). He had some banana and drank milk instead. We then prepared Kimchimon for the night. I deviated from the planned menu today as I decided to add some meat in the lunch. He had Abit too much butter so I decided to skip the pasta. Update: Kimchimon just generated more 💩🙄...

In the morning, I  1) washed up after waking up  2) prepared Kimchimon's salmon veggie porridge. 3) Finished breakfast before Kimchimon woke up.  4) Fed Kimchimon some banh bao that I made yesterday. 5) Play time with Kimchimon In the afternoon while feeding Kimchimon lunch, he choked and vomited some porridge. He scared me for a bit. After which, he managed to eat most of the porridge; which was good. I then proceed to clean up after Kimchimon and swept the floor before giving Kimchimon a bath. Nap time for Kimchimon! Sadly I can't nap, the weather is too warm. 🥵 Tea time for Kimchimon consists of bread and banana after he woke up. This lasted him till dinner time. He's supposed to have some banh bao for dinner. But I guess there's too much bread in a day. He spat them out. Tsk. He had milk instead. Then I had dinner and prepared Kimchimon for the night. PS. Kimchimon is 4 now and he still choke on his food. We realized he was eating too fast a...

Day 6 and 7 of Medical Leave My 5 days of medical leave finally came to an end last Saturday. But I have yet to recover fully. I was therefore asked to go home when I went back to work on Monday. I went to the doctor's again and got slapped with another 5 days of medical leave 😰 Since I'm at home, Kimchimon stays home with us too for this week. Here's this week's meal plan. He woke up at 6.30am and refused to go back to sleep until 8am 🙄. He woke up later towards lunch time and had his brunch of sweet potato pancakes with omelette. Before giving the baby a bath, I made the bread dough and left it to rise. While the baby is napping, I had lunch and baked the bread.  Baked banh bao. The baby woke up while the bread was baking. Not long after baking the bread, it's time to make dinner for Kimchimon. Turns out he don't like the minestrone pasta soup. Tsk. So I took some bread and dip in the soup for this Kimchimon and he finished it. 🙄 ...

Stylo Milo baby  Day 5 of Medical Leave Day 5 coincides with the weekend. During the weekends, Kimchimon don't go the to Nanny's. He woke up at 7am this morning. Yawns. And he didn't want to sleep anymore. We gave him some milk and he played on the bed. He stared into blank space suddenly and a stench came out 🤢. He had just poo poo-ed. We cleaned him up and I went to make his porridge (of course I washed my hands).  He then had some bao and bread for breakfast but didn't want to eat his porridge during lunch. 🙄😡. He munched on the porridge for a bit and spat it out. We gave him some milk, bathe him and he napped. But only for a bit. When my friend, Lorraine came over, he woke up. Lorraine came over to return my baby shaver and also to pass me some toys. We chatted for quite a bit before she went home. Kimchimon did the same thing for dinner too. Turns out he's just being naughty. He ate some of the dinner eventually and we gave him some milk. Then...

Bear Guy is looking after his crazy kid. #lifeofaparent Today is also the day that Kimchimon turns 13 months old. Time flies so fast. Happy 13th month my Kimchimon. It's a good weather to sleep today as it was raining since early morning. I woke up even later than yesterday and it felt good. In the morning, 1) I had kaya toast for breakfast and watched some TV.  2) Washed Kimchimon's bottles. 3) Made soup stock for Kimchimon Then I had lunch while watching 逃跑吧好兄弟. Later part of the afternoon I napped for abit and cleaned the washroom. At 4pm, I watched the Prime Minister made a statement regarding the Covid-19 situation. Earlier today, Nanny called to ask if we could bring Kimchimon home earlier. The husband will bring Kimchimon home soon.

Day 3 of Medical Leave After 2 days at home, Petite Guy is exhausted, so he's enjoying a massage by Haro.  Day 3 was rather uneventful. Caught up with my sleep today, sleeping a little bit later compared to yesterday. I woke up and had some vegetarian bee hoon for breakfast. Watched more TV and fixed my blanket. It's finally free of holes!  In the afternoon, I trimmed my eyebrows with my new eyebrow trimmer and fixed another fella. Meet Bear Guy (apparently the husband has many of them) 🙄 Bear Guy with Petite Guy I think it looks like Kimchimon and me. This Bear Guy kept me entertained for a few hours.  Bear Guy holding his baby Bear Guy chasing his crazy boy. (I think that would be me in a few years time) After which, I napped a bit more and now waiting for Kimchimon to come back from Nanny's.

Day 2 of My Medical Leave Day 2 of medical leave was just a normal day at home enjoying the time without Kimchiimon. Petite guy is starting his day with some yoga. Meanwhile the hubby had already sent Kimchimon to nanny's and we had finished breakfast.  Yesterday's update: the noisy fan is no longer noisy. 🥳🥳🥳 During the morning I... 1) Did Kimchimon's laundry and napped for a bit.  2) Swept the floor and wiped the window sill 3) Tidied up Kimchimon's toys 4) Failed to make some onion powder ( they turned out burnt) In the afternoon, I had my lunch and i felt so bored. Nanny called awhile ago before lunch to inform us that Kimchimon had a fall while he was playing. He cried a little then he stopped. Let's see how he is when he comes back. Just finished fixing a Haro (he's doing some puppeteering): Evening came and the hubby had just went to fetch Kimchimon and I'm catching up with some TV time until he comes back.

Day 1 of Medical Leave Due to the Covid-19 situation in Singapore, all patients displaying any respiratory symptoms will be given a 5 day medical leave. This includes me.  I was experiencing some cough and itchy throat and had decided to see a doctor yesterday night; and I was slapped with a 5 day medical leave. Anyone who's slapped with this 5 day leave  must not leave their homes starting on the day the medical certificate is issued, according to the latest update of the Infectious Diseases Act made by the Ministry of Health (MOH). Those who did not comply will be liable to a fine of up to $10,000 or up to a six-month imprisonment, or both. They can leave only to seek medical attention. Since I'm stuck at home, here's what I had done: 1) Took pictures with Google's 3D animals Who let the dog in?! I don't know how he came in. Hmmm... Apparently the raccoon snuck in too. 2) Fixed my noisy fan (we shall see if it works) 3) C...

Mom Life. Stressed Life Mom. Wife. Daughter. Daughter-in-law. Employee. These are some of the roles I play everyday; i'm sure a lot of working moms can relate. Wake up. Mommy duties. Get ready for work. Commute. Work. Commute. Mommy duties. Sleep. That's how the the day starts and ends. There's basically no time for myself. Have to make sure Kimchimon's alright. Have enough money to make ends meet. Due to the Covid-19 situation now, we don't bring Kimchimon to my parents' place anymore. We used to bring him to spend the weekend there once a fortnight. My mom will drop by once a fortnight for a short while to play with Kimchimon. To be honest, I do miss my parents and I want to go back home alone sometimes.  Work is hectic and travelling to and from work takes three hours. This means waking up at 5.30am everyday. And only to reach home at 7.45pm. Sometimes I feel burnt out but let's just suck it in, cry it out and move on. 💪🏼 PS. I had no i...

Kimchimon was supposed to be due in mid of March. However, he had decided to wriggle out 2 weeks earlier. We had a gynae appointment on 02 March, and I didn't expect it to be the last one. I found out I was already 3cm dilated and the amniotic fluid was in the low side. So he (the gynae) asked "You want to give birth tomorrow? 8am ok?" I was in a bit of shock. Ummmm... Can I say no?  😅 After the visit to gynae, i went home and started to finish up packing the hospital bag as well as getting the baby cot ready for Kimchimon's arrival; not forgeting the pre-admissions booking of the hospital too. I could feel the contractions in the evening but they were quite mild. I didn't really sleep that night, a little excited and a little nervous. We woke up super early to make sure we were not late. We gathered the hospital bag and set off to Thomson Medical Centre (TMC) in a cab. Breakfast was the last thing on my mind, which I came to realized I should have eaten. Did you...

Kimchimon will be turning one soon. Time flies doesn't it? About a year ago, this boy boy was still doing somersaults in my tummy. Kimchimon is our first child. We were excited and at the same time nervous. It was only when Kimchimon arrived did we realize this tiny human actually needs so many things! We prepared for his arrival bit by bit. Getting the necessary baby gear a few months back in Takashimaya since we had vouchers. Some of the baby gears we got include: Milk bottles Steam sterilizer Pyjamas Grooming set, which includes nail cutter, comb, brush, toothbrush and nail files. Pacifiers (he eventually didn't really use it as he prefers to suckle on everything else) 😂😂😂 Mittens and booties We also got some clothes and towel from the online stores. These were unfortunately not enough. I sort of forgot that this tiny human's has to have his own body wash and dish detergent too. Did you forget to get some necessities for your first born too? I would lov...