Round round mf at 26w3d

Moment of truth - I gained 8.8kg since the beginning! Based on various pregnancy weight gain charts, I'm pretty near the higher end of the normal range.

And I'm having a yummy 馒头 as I type :)

And considering if I should add crunchy peanut butter to my supper :))

Had my 6th checkup this morning. Waited 30 min to pee into a cup, another 30 min before my weight and blood pressure were taken, and another 20 min before I saw the doctor (actually intern!). This intern was very nice and patient - she was the first to look through my file with me to go through stuff! So we spent 10 min in the room, talking, measuring belly, listening to baby's heartbeats and doing the dreaded cervix check, which turned out ok cos she gave me a hand to squeeze - so sweet right?

Then, it was another 20 min or so before I was called in for the glucose test - had to drink this sweet drink. And they could only take my blood an hour later. Why couldn't they have given me the drink at the beginning? That would have saved me a whole hour!

Ok, I just finished my 馒头 without resorting to peanut butter.

But I'm now considering a second 馒头 *.*

Anyway... Well, this is all free for me so I can't really complain...

And talk about free - we have a free event this weekend: Singapore Day in New York! Woohoo!

Ok, so it isn't free cos we have to fly ourselves there and get a hotel. But poor Sito wants some nice Singapore food. He's pretty excited about it :) I'm more excited about the idea of participating in the event - as opposed to organising it! And of course, our long-awaited dinner the day before at Peter Luger :)

So, what do we expect? Long queues for the food! Hope we can see the stage clearly from the queues so we're entertained along the way.. Will also be trying to catch up with some friends, including the organisers later that day if they can finish tidying up early!

Baby, we're going on another holiday yeah!

PS: Ok, I'm having the second 馒头 *.* With PB!!

Kampong stories

Just read this post about kampongs in Singapore and was reminded of stories from Mother and Aunt.

The family used to live in this kampong in Toa Payoh. I've heard of the marble games they played, the little hill behind the kampong, how dear old Grams would carry her seven kids across a bridge over an overflowing stream so they wouldn't get wet for school.

My kampong stories are not real kampong stories; I've never been to a kampong. The closest to a kampong for me was the provision shop. We kids used to hang out behind the back door where there were pots of flowers planted by the family. I still remember Mother talking about this mysterious 五点花 - mysterious because we were always there on a Sunday and left by 1 pm when the provision shop closed so I never saw the flower bloom!

I think the plot of green behind is still there. But most if not all of the shophouses on that row have been rented out. Without loving owners, I doubt there are pretty pots of flowers behind anymore...

And we loved playing and running around in the big space in front of the provision shop too. I remember doing that on bright sunny Sundays :) But it's now a carpark *.*

Ok, let's see... Going clockwise, we have Gor Gor (Yan's brother - I don't know his name!), LY, ML, Jie Jie (Yan's sister - I don't know her new name!), mf and MZ. But, where was Yan??



I know we took many photos behind the provision shop and on the second floor - it's a HDB shophouse. I should go dig them out to scan and post one day...

The next generation's kampong stories will be very different. This generation will probably still hang out at Grams' flat like we did for the past 30 years albeit less frequently with Grams gone, and so will our kids, which is nice :) And when we visit Popo in Malacca, Clan Sito will have kampong stories at the house.

Next next generation? With families so small these days, maybe there won't be any more kampong stories - after all, what is a kampong without its people?

Something new at 25w5d (or even earlier?)

Yesterday from about after lunch, I felt regular light taps at the pelvic area, on and off, almost all the way until bed time. At first, I thought, wow, baby is getting really active!

Then, it dawned on me this morning that baby could be hiccuping! So cute! :) I don't know if I might have felt that already before yesterday but yesterday was the first time I felt so much movement inside, even though much of it were involuntary. Hmmm, foetal movements are all involuntary right? Um, not sure.. Anyways...

Was chatting with Sito last night. It's so nice to be pregnant when both of us aren't working - we have the time to experience the 40-week journey together (ok, minus the penultimate four weeks) and be amazed at the changes that are taking place in both baby and me. Future pregnancies will be less of a novelty since we will be familiar with the key milestones already. And when both are us are working, I doubt we'll have the luxury to stop and wow at every stage. Must treasure our remaining nua-ing time together :)

And this baby is especially fortunate too - Sito will be a full-time papa for the first few weeks! Nice to have him share the hard(er) work in the beginning. Although I suspect we'll be sharing him with Diablo 3 too...! We're not planning to get a confinement nanny but we'll be ordering confinement food for lunch; I want to have normal food for dinner so I won't get (too) sick of sesame oil, ginger and all those confinement seasoning and ingredients too quickly.. Or nosebleed!

My early schooling years

Inspired by bookjunkie's reminiscences of her primary school days, I sat down and thought hard about my own. Then, I thought, why not start from kindergarten? :p

Ok, very long-winded...

Kindergarten

Unlike kids these days, I didn't go to any playgroup or pre-nursery. Mother was a SAHM so no childcare for me either. That meant only one thing - there was only play all the way until my pre-school education started in kindergarten when I was five! Woohoo! Which kid has such luxury now??

Before kindergarten, I might have already learnt my ABCs but I didn't even know simple words like "shoe". This word stuck in my mind cos Yan was saying it back then shortly before kindergarten. I thought she meant 书! And when she explained, I think my reply was something along the lines of "isn't that 鞋子?" So I didn't know English but I was still bilingual ok - in Mandarin and Hokkien!

Yan and I were in the same kindergarten class at Teck Ghee Community Centre - so fun! We took to kindergarten happily compared to some other kids who were crying at the beginning.. But we weren't seated together cos we would talk *.*

I remember wooden blocks in this corner of our classroom - I like playing with them very much but for some reason, I seldom got to do that during play time. I remember blue hexagonal tables made from two halves, where we would do our art and craft and writing. I remember running around the classroom. I remember a nice classmate with long hair, and a nasty classmate - the first bitchy girl of many to come haha! - with short hair. I remember music lessons in a cool room (probably with aircon) with a piano and 郑老师 playing at the piano. (Yes, I remember our teacher's name!) I remember tea breaks in this warm room where we would usually have a cup of hot Milo and where birthdays were celebrated. After envying classmates for a whole year, I persuaded Mother to bring a cake to class for my birthday in K2 - the nasty girl tried to get the flower on the top of the cake but I got it cos it's MY birthday! *evil*


Back then, we always got our cakes from the neighbourhood bakery. Nothing fancy, just lots of colourful cream and chocolate sprinkles over a sponge cake and a couple of flower biscuits on top. But like now, babies seemed to get bigger cakes haha! (That's my cousin btw...)

Oh, I had one enrichment class! Art and craft! I drew a heart - as in the organ - and it was put up for an exhibition at the CC where I literally walked into our PM who was then already at Teck Ghee. I remember a teenager talked me out of one of my gold earrings in the toilet just before or after one of those art and craft classes - mini mf cried :(

Most of all, I remember hanging out at the void deck of the block right behind the CC, where Mother and Yan's mother would chat and chat and chat for hours while Yan, MZ and I ran around and played and sang for hours too! YQ was born by then but I don't remember him around leh, haha! But I'm sure he was there cos no one else was taking care of him. I think by K2, he was running around with us!

Our kindergarten class photos and individual shots used to hang on the wall in my old bedroom, before I took over that room. I really like them - we wore "kitchen table" uniforms, you know, the pretty red and white cheques :) I think at the beginning of the school year, I was wearing my own clothes to school cos they didn't have my size - I was big for my age! And the nasty girl went "Orhhhhh, never wear uniform!" Couldn't stand her! So when the teacher first punished her and she cried, we went obi-good! :p

It was such a fun time which came to an end all too soon.. I still have my kindergarten graduation certificate with a mugshot of a super blur-looking mini mf. Don't quite remember collecting it though.. The only thing I remember about our graduation was the dancing! Yan danced to “走走走走走，我们小手拉小手，走走走走走，一同去郊游！” which I liked very much but was pulled out of it cos I was too tall for the line-up - my first brush with body image issue? :( We both took part in a Mongolian-styled dance to the tune of "太阳下山明早依旧爬上来..." I didn't like that song very much but the makeup was nice haha! Oh yeah, my first brush with vanity for sure... (Or maybe not - I suddenly remember wearing Aunt's heels when she wasn't looking :p)

Primary school

I was very sad that Yan and I went to different primary schools :( So unlike kindergarten, primary school was really unfamiliar to me, especially when my English wasn't any better than before. I remember this vividly - the teacher said something and everyone around me started turning to their exercise books but I had to ask the girl next to me what we had to do! And barely two weeks into school, Mother asked a girl in the neighbourhood to share her spelling list with me cos I didn't have a spelling list - but we were in different classes! My first taste of kiasu parenting...

And so started primary school. The classroom had a U-shaped layout in primary one and two and lessons were conducted on the floor in the middle of the classroom. I remember reciting multiplication tables on the floor :) Later, we were always seated in neat grids of desks and chairs that filled the whole classroom. My first desk in primary three was such an old piece of wood that I could dig into it with my fingernails!

Still remember those little blue notebooks in our annual booklist? I used that a lot in primary one. The teachers would make us write down what we had to do in the little book. And at night when Mother packed my pink rectangular (!) schoolbag, she would refer to that. She probably had help with the English notes though. And speaking of my schoolbag, I think that pink one was my only new schoolbag in primary school. I had a blue backpack from my uncle from primary three and later I carried a large flowery handbag that belonged to Mother - those red flower prints on a grey background could be seen in many of my primary school excursion photos!

I liked my primary two form teacher but I forgot her name... She was the one who noticed me scratching my head and alerted Mother about a lice infection *.* She was also the one who noticed my bleeding lips and got Mother to bring me to the doctor for a very bad case of ulcerS *.* *.* She stood up for me when a naughty classmate tried to open my lucky draw prize at our class party - I won the top prize! Can't remember the prize though...

I also liked my primary one Chinese teacher 汤老师, even though she was this old lady who would use a ruler to slap the palms of naughty kids. No one said a thing about such punishment in those days but now, who dares to lay a finger on other people's kids?! I always got a C or D for Chinese writing exercises but I still liked those lessons. I mean, I could understand and do everything even if I wrote like shit!

All of us liked our Chinese teacher 蔡老师 / Mrs Seeh in primary six. She might have taught us since primary five... Don't remember now.. Anyway, she was a very strict teacher and looked kind of scary with dark eye liner but she was very nice too! How? I forgot haha! She went to another primary school and we met up once for dinner in 2005.


At dinner with Mrs Seeh

I disliked my primary one form teacher Mrs Tang. She had frizzy hair and wore tinted glasses. Worse, she didn't smile at us kiddies at all! But her worst crime? She never returned my lovely creamy chocolate chip bun after we wrote about the snack we brought to school that day! *fumes*

Then my primary three maths teacher Mrs Goh was this scary woman who would throw exercise books across the room for bad work! I think she flung my book once and I was sad cos it got dirty :( Sometimes I wonder why that didn't cast a shadow over my enthusiasm for mathematics, hmmm... Oh, and one year, I had a really battered maths textbook that must have been passed down for years! I wasn't happy but I had no choice. But I was really pissed when I didn't score well for an exercise cos the problem in that old edition was different from that in the current edition!

I think I had a love-hate relationship with music lessons. I love to sing! But unfortunately we had to play the recorder argh! My recorder is probably somewhere in one of our boxes back home...

By primary school, art and craft was a chore! I didn't like getting my fingers and uniform dirty so I really hated watercolour lessons, especially those potato prints! o_O I had no ECA, just external computer lessons in primary three after a promotion in school but it got too expensive for me to continue..

Later primary years involved more studying. I started going for tuition classes in primary four. I only liked it cos Yan and I were in the same tuition class yeah! Else it was quite boring... Back then, streaming took place at primary three so I was barred from watching TV once - I retaliated by not studying as well, just stared at one page the whole time :p In fact, by primary six, I was reading story books more than textbooks! But I think that really helped in my English. I even got a book prize for English!

Academic stuff aside, I remember the lovely milk packets in lower primary :) Well, I never ordered any :( but I had a couple of classmates whose parents ordered for them but they didn't like having it all the time so I got some free milk woohoo! I remember lining up in a row over the drain behind the classrooms to learn to brush our teeth properly - very kampong! - until a snake was spotted in the grass just beyond the drain! Then the exercise was brought to the wash basins, more crowded.

Recess was a wonderful time in lower primary. Parents were allowed to bring food for their kids, and I loved having fried ang kueh with sweet sauce :) And on good days, I managed to ask for a glass bottle of lemon barley - you had to return the bottle to a tray near the drinks stall - or a bottle of Yakult or Vitagen which came with a little gift :) On other days when I had to buy my own food, I was given 80cents - the noodles cost 30cents and upwards but I was a big girl so I had the 40cents bowl; the additional 40cents were a backup in case I dropped my bowl *.* By primary six, I think I had $1 a day, i.e. 50cents noodles! But I was always hungry, grrr.. Yes, I grew even bigger by then!

The short recess was also enough time for a quick games in the exercise area (monkey bar!), on the tarmac (hopscotch!), or in the school hall (zero point, catching or handkerchief game!), and in later years, some of us would use the time to do homework *.* Oh, and there were a few prefects in our class who guarded the staircases so we also liked to just hang out at the staircase near the canteen sometimes. I think the funniest thing about recess was in primary one - we had to walk in pairs, sometimes holding hands! Else, we put one finger on our lips and use the other hand to "lock" it! Imagine that!

There were lots of excursions in primary five and six, especially after PSLE. We went to the zoo and Haw Par Villa, and we played a lot of basketball! And other times, we played games in class - aeroplane chess, Uno, Old Maid, Happy Family etc.. The guys also started throwing one another into the rubbish bin, hmmm... And the Saturday after PSLE, my class had a gathering at Pasir Ris park - yup, the one where CY's mum had to convince Mother to let me go... Those were really good times :)

And so we left those wonderful days of scoring 100 marks or close, which btw never repeated themselves in later schooling years *.*

Some 10 years ago, our school was demolished :( The affiliated secondary school behind us expanded into our site while our school moved - in name only - to another school building across the road, but everything about it including the school song and motto had changed.


Our original school crest and motto. Think I still have the dark blue collar pin in my box of knickknacks..

Managed to find a little historical write-up on the school website!

"The former Teck Ghee Primary School merged with Chong Li Primary School in December 2002 to form the present Teck Ghee Primary School.

Teck Ghee Primary School was officially opened in April 1989 by Mr Lee Yoke Suan, then MP of Cheng San CC. Having started at 1 Ang Mo Kio Street 42 on 10 July 1979, it was the third government school built in Ang Mo Kio.The school celebrated its tenth anniversary in 1989, with B.G. Lee Hsien Loong as its Guest of Honour. The pupil enrolment of the school peaked in the mid 80s to about 2000. In December 2000, the school was temporarily relocated to 1 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10.

Chong Li Primary School was officially opened in September 1983 by Mr S Chandra Das, then MP for Chong Boon CC. It started in 1981, holding classes in the old premises of Braddell Secondary School. Through the hard work of teachers and SAC members the pupil enrolment increased to about 1800. It was then shifted to 4 Ang Mo Kio Street 44. In year 2000, it once again relocated to a holding premises at 6 Ang Mo Kio Street 44.

The new Teck Ghee Primary School started functioning at 1Ang Mo Kio Street 32 in January 2003 under the leadership of our new Principal, Mr Tan Say Kiat."

It's amazing how some of us are still keeping in contact to this day. Looking forward to catching up when I go back! :)


Some of my primary school classmates came to send me off on my first flight.

mf's belly

C took a photo of my belly at the cooking class last week!



This week has been fun. Lots of internal massage! Sometimes on both sides of belly at the same time! And I often feel what seems like tumbling.. I mean, it doesn't feel like a kick, just goro goro, goro goro... Have fun in there, baby! ^.^

Roar!

"I'm small but I bite!"



What a cute dragon :)

I'm almost halfway through scanning his Kellogg materials and it's been mind-bogglingly boring! But I'm happy knowing that we won't need to bring all those dead wood back to Singapore!

My fave time...

.. is when Sito's alarm clock rings on a morning when he has no class. I'll go back to bed and nua with him and Kappa-chan who is now my bolster.

I also like the time before sleeping when he comes into the room with me, even if he has to go back to his desk after I fall asleep. It's just so nice to lie in bed, sharing dreams in a semi-awake state, chatting about various random stuff when fully awake, (mf) sprouting gibberish as I drift off to slumberland...

The past week marked the start of his last quarter in Kellogg. He has five modules this quarter but he only has two days of morning classes so we have a lot of lovely morning time! :)

Must really treasure these times cos when we're back in Sg, we'll probably be busy preparing for baby's arrival. And it won't just be the two of us anymore. We'll have gatherings with family and friends. And when baby arrives, we'll probably be busier! And then he has to work. Chances to nua in bed in the morning or at night seem pretty slim...

Oh well, let us enjoy it while it lasts!

Some snippets from this week:

Morning after a late party...

Sito: Headache.. Need to drink water..
mf: Drink lor..

He turned, retrieved his bottle from the floor and held it to me.

Sito: No more *big grin*
mf: !!!

So smart, this one... Fine, I'm nice - I went to fill his bottle for him...

And the day after golfing, he woke and informed me that he had an or-cheh on his shin - I love rubbing or-chehs! It's amazing how the colour changes after rubbing! And the pain can be quite shiok, like muscle ache, haha!

mf: You probably hit yourself with the club..

*rub rub rub*

mf: I also want an or-cheh!
Sito: Why do you want me to become a wife-beater?!

And then I found an or-cheh on my knee. Wish granted! After some rubbing, it's almost gone today..

He's off golfing again now. I'm going to scan his notes from the past few quarters so that we don't know to pack dead wood into our suitcases for Sg. Then, it's time for another dinner gathering tonight! Hope we're eating nice stuff, like last night at a Cantonese restaurant, but at a cheaper price, please!

Baby vs. Zo-san

Super cute right?! :)



I thought baby should be about Zo-san's size now so I put Zo-san to my belly to compare!

The funny thing is, when I lay down on the bed and put Zo-san on belly, baby gave me a good kick! Jealous? Haha! (More probably cos he felt me lying down...)

Belly stories

It was our second day in Seattle. After washing up, I returned to my side of the bed to wake Sito. He turned, took a look at me, and went, "Why are you stripped??"

But I wasn't! I was wearing my PJs - white tee and black mini shorts!

Turned out that my belly completely obstructed the shorts *.*

Now, I can see only the sides of my undies when I stand up straight. I can't see my toes too.

Yup, my belly suddenly popped out a lot in the past couple of weeks. Must be baby growing and growing lots! :)

Nowadays, I love admiring my belly in the mirror. The shape is quite fun to behold. I mean, it's just round, yes, but there's an obvious line where the bottom part of the roundedness starts - it kind of shows the shape of the uterus. Or at least that's what I think I'm seeing!

I like the little tent the hem of my T-shirt makes in the middle as it falls over my belly. Sito said it looks like it's floating. Well, my tees are definitely getting shorter. In a few weeks, I'll have to wear either my full-panel maternity pants or my bellaband over my usual drawstring pants. Don't fancy doing a midriff *.*

My belly is more protruding out front than all round so I look a little chubby from behind but no one can actually tell that I'm pregnant from behind. TCM doctor said women pregnant with boys tend to have such a belly shape. Sito said that's rubbish haha!

While I'm enjoying all this, I'm sad that I can no longer rush up to hug Sito; I'll bounce back! So he has to twist his torso away so that we're in our dance position, each in our own window *.*

And my belly is coming up against my boobs, creating this crease that really irritates me! I can't slough even a little bit. Sito learns from his old fat crease that it feels better for skin to crease into clothes than into each other - good trick! But it still takes some getting used to.. For now, I'd better sit up straight. Don't want to risk getting wrinkles too!

Oh, another discovery during our trip is that my dear pi zai is off-centre - I'm not symmetrical, and I didn't realise it until now! Well, at least it's still an innie.. Let's see whether it will eventually pop out...

Comparing health costs

Counting down seven weeks to my flight home! Seriously starting to take stock of our belongings...

Was clearing out documents when I came across health bills from Singapore (don't ask me why they're here!) and here. Can't help but compare... All in local currency.

Sg - two visits in mid 2010
It was supposed to be a preconception check but we found a polyp so that was removed.

First consultation: $128
Ultrasound: $155
D&C: $2000
Histology of polyp: $140

I think I had another ultrasound follow-up so that was probably another $155.

Evanston - preconception visit in late 2010
Actually I wanted to ask about getting flu shot before pregnancy. Look at what I paid for that!

Consultation: $152 (negotiated charge, i.e. after insurance discount; originally $275!)
Flu shot: $72 (I later found out that the drugstore offered the same at $25!)

Sg - hormone blood test
TCM told me to go check out my fertility hormones...

Draw blood: $5
Blood test: $80

Evanston - first pregnancy in early 2011

Confirmation of pregnancy
Consultation: $98 (originally $189)
Doc's service (ultrasound, PAP, draw blood): $202 (originally $529)
OB panel blood test: $57 (originally $302)
HIV blood test: $18 (originally $152)
PAP diagnostic: $111
HPV test: $147

Miscarriage
Draw blood: $31 (insurance did not cover!!)
Hormone blood test: $20 (originally $183)
Hemogram, whatever that is: $10 (originally $91)
Sonographer's fees for ultrasound: $109 (originally $206)
Hospital incidentals for ultrasound: $212 (originally $283)
Consultation before ultrasound: $65 (originally $126)
Consultation after ultrasound: $40 (originally $100)
Doc's fees for examining foetus in her clinic: $103 (originally $340)
Tissue exam in lab: $245 (originally $437)

Evanston - the whole LEEP affair

Doc's fees for colposcopy: $152 (originally $530)
Tissue exam of colposcopy: $245 (originally $437)
Doc's fees for LEEP: $254 (originally $911)
Hospital incidentals for LEEP: $5247
LEEP diagnostic: $185 (original $260)
LEEP diagnostic: $87 (originally $170; don't know the difference from above!)
F/u PAP: $100
PAP diagnostic: $35 (originally $90)
HPV test: $46 (originally $147)

Evanston - hormone test in mid 2011
Period went crazy. Doc suggested testing for ovulation.

Draw blood: $3 (original $15)
Blood test: $27 (originally $185)

She had, before the first pregnancy, suggested testing the whole suite of fertility hormones. I called the hospital for the cost and found that everything before insurance would cost just over $1,000! And my insurance would not cover that. I didn't do it of course.

Evanston - skin rash in mid 2011

Consultation with GP: $134 (originally $156; all I got was a referral to a dermatologist!)
Consultation with dermatologist: $152 (originally $200; I got expired sample rash cream!)

For the above done in Evanston, I had to pay a $250 deductible before insurance kicked in when it paid 70% or 80% or the negotiated charge depending on procedure until I had paid another $1,000 out-of-pocket! And have I mentioned the $20 co-pay every time I went to the doctor?

I felt so stupid for not doing enough research before getting the insurance! Also didn't have the time to do that back then. So of course I didn't insure myself the second year. But I managed to get state insurance when I got pregnant because of a provision for pregnant women and children, especially in zero-/no-income families. The catch? You don't get to choose your doctor and you see her interns most of the time - it was four out of five times for me.

Evanston - two visits at the end of 2011
I shouldn't have received the bill as the state insurance covered 100% from the first dollar but the insurance info hadn't got through in time so, I had a rude shock!

Sonographer's fees
First ultrasound: $206
Nuchal translucency: $185

Tests
Urine culture: $16
OB panel blood test: $77
HIV blood test: $25

Hospital incidentals
Lab: $62
Lab chemistry: $564
Lab immunology: $152
Lab bact-micro: $118 (why so many labs?!)
Ultrasound: $1044
Other RX services: $116

I think if the insurance got through, negotiated charges would apply so the costs would be lower but still!

A friend was telling me that she somehow received the bills for her delivery too. She was induced, had epidural for natural delivery and stayed in the hospital for two days. It was last year so I don't remember exactly how much but the total was in the range of $15,000!

All things considered, even though we have to pay to deliver in Sg, it's better that way. I get a doctor I trust. I have family and friends. I'm surrounded by familiar things, especially food! So yes, definitely counting down excitedly! :)

A colder than expected spring break

So, we chose to go to Seattle, Vancouver and Anchorage cos we thought we would just be leaving one cold place for another. Turned out that it got really really warm here in Evanston - almost like Singapore warm! - the week before we set off! Oh well...

It was supposed to be an eating trip but I think we didn't overeat (too much, all the time), which was good for our bellies.. In fact, we walked so much especially in the first four days that it might have been a net loss!

Friday, 16 Mar 2012

We took an early flight to Seattle on Alaska Airlines - we liked it! People were courteous, they boarded us by row number rather than by some mysteriously assigned zone number, they asked passengers to put only large items in the overhead compartment, and they gave us yummy cookies in addition to drinks :p

Anyway, yes, Seattle. We took the train from the airport to downtown and walked to Sixth Avenue Inn where a very friendly and helpful guy checked us in. Found a little bolster on the bed - that helped me sleep better on my side :)

But of course we didn't sleep! We headed for the revolving restaurant atop the Space Needle. We had to "check in" to get the boarding pass for the lift.



The food was only average - or maybe I just wasn't hungry as I had a huge bagel for breakfast! - but for a slight premium, we got lunch plus access to the views instead of paying just for the observation deck.



We were lucky that it was a clear day! Took lots of pictures at every turn..



And there were cute little notes like this on the window ledge - kids just added on as they passed by each note :)



After lunch, we went to the observation deck. The indoor area has food and drinks for sale, and guess what? We found yard cups! Empty though, unlike the Bahamas one, filled with cocktail :p



It got pretty cloudy after lunch so we hopped into the iMax 3D theatre for The Lorax. We thought it was going to be like Omnimax but no... But it was a cute film. Love the fluffy trees! Love fluff haha! Wish there was more of the Lorax though..

And then, we explored a bit of the Pacific Science Center. Here's a shot of Sito being nerdy, playing with an Archimedes' Screw.



We left Seattle Center and walked by the Gates Foundation on our way to a yummy Korean dinner at Shilla Restaurant! We had BBQ kalbi and a tofu and pork soup! (The picture of the soup isn't too exciting - just a pot of orange liquid :p)



And when we went back downtown, we chanced upon this Gourmet Dog Japon - just a little cart by the side of the road. But I remembered that it had a stall in Pike Place Market and that it was on my eating list, so we decided to have a snack after walking around so that we could eat more of other things the next day yeah!!

This sukiyaki hotdog looked and tasted damn good! In fact, I wouldn't call it a hotdog - that term to me refers to frankfurters and I think this was more like a real sausage with meat pieces :)



Ended our day with a sundae from Macs next to our hotel - that was a consideration when I picked this hotel ha!

Saturday, 17 Mar 2012

Rain turned to hail and then snow - did we really leave sunny Evanston for that crap?? But, let's get our priorities right - we left Evanston in search of better food, not weather! So here we go!

We had a bit of trouble getting oriented to Pike Place Market, um... But we eventually decided on a crumpet with butter and strawberry jam to settle our growling tummies. The strange thing was that their crumpets were like what we know as scones, while their scones were like sponge cakes *.* Anyway, I like the cosy little shop..



With some food in our tummies, little as it might be, we were better placed to explore the rest of the market!

This is Rachel the Pig! The lines in the picture were slushy snow dashing down.. Behind her is the Pike Place Fish Co - we'll come back to that further down this post...



We found a Korean snack stall with giant sausages! Just had to try one :p And it was so meaty and yummy!



Next was coffee at the first Starbucks! I took the only picture I would ever take with a barista in uniform haha! He's a cute young boy :p And I also posed with our tall cafe latte. Yup, don't think I'll ever do that again too!



We shared our cuppa as we strolled through the market. Came across various things like a gummi bear made of gummi bears! Sito likes gummy bears :) Also saw old records for sale. Wonder who still has those old players for such records - I remember playing with the pin on such a player when I was a kid.. And the picture on the bottom right shows something gross - gum wall! Yes, it's a wall full of colourful chewed gum! Yucks!



Then we found ourselves in an otaku shop and posed with fun stuff - Sito with a long freeloader spork cos he always wants food and me with Duff cos I always want beer! :p



But of course I cannot have (a whole can of) beer so we went for crab cocktail instead, woohoo! It was $10 well spent - lots of crab meat and we even had a hot seafood soup full of yummies!



Before I forget, I must share mf's auntie tip for visiting such food market - bring wet tissue! It came in really useful.

After some scallop chowder at Pike Place Chowder and some froyo, we headed back to where we started - Sito must catch a fish at the Pike Place Fish Co!



Now that was really fun! First, we asked the chaps there if we could throw a fish. No, we could only catch. Good enough! So they sent Sito behind the counter where he was lost for a while. "Where is the fish coming from?" And the chaps had a good laugh! Then suddenly, there was a shout and a fish flew across the air into Sito's arms!

Bad point? He smelled fishy for the rest of the day *.* And at night, I washed the entire right side of his coat and we even bought a lemon to douse on the coat! The following morning, some fishy smell lingered so we masked that with my perfume - it was ok for him to smell flowery when he was with me :p

So, with a fishy husband hanging on my arm, we headed for the underground tour near Pioneer Square where we had a hotdog while waiting - our third in two days!! The tour was really interesting, made all the more so by a really funny guide who pointed out things like "the first website in Seattle" in a spidery corner!!

Seems that sewage was always a problem in old cities - heard a similar story in the Edinburgh underground tour. But here, when the tide came in, the sewage could backflow to create a freaking geyser! That was hilarious! So the first picture here showed an elevated toilet - I didn't take in the 1 m or so of elevation below, but I doubt it made too much of a difference, heh..

And just before the gift shop, there was an exhibition area with an old Singer sewing machine - apparently in an early census of the area, many young single girls called themselves seamstresses but of course, they were only seamstresses in name... There was a little girl in the tour with us and it was so funny watching her blur expression when the guide talked about the "seamstresses"! Nop, the mum didn't attempt an explanation, not right there anyway..



The picture on the bottom right was pointed out to us as we walked on the streets to get to another underground part. Years back, that hotel offered rooms at an hourly rate of 75 cents.

After the tour, we passed by a Vietnamese cafe so we decided a bowl of meatball pho between the two of us wouldn't hurt, especially since we didn't have a proper lunch :) But we encountered a strange French woman who kept talking to us in both French and English, insisting our surnames were Lin or something! The cafe guys had to ask her to leave us alone *.*

Anyway, next stop - the Klondike Gold Rush Museum where Sito tried to pan for gold :p



We ended up at Uwajimaya in the International District for dinner - Sito had Thai char kway teow and I had a bento :) And on the way to the free downtown bus, we passed by a ramen place so we shared a bowl of that and some gyozas! Really ate quite a bit that evening... No snacks that night..

Sunday, 18 Mar 2012

Sito had BK breakfast while I had a Starbucks muffin at the airport. The Seattle-Vancouver flight was even shorter than the Sg-KL flight! And it was a tiny plane so we "sky-checked" our suitcase as we boarded the plane on the tarmac. No more lost baggage, please!

The first thing we did after checking in at Sandman Hotel was to have a nice dim sum lunch at Imperial Chinese Restaurant! Look, a whole prawn in a siew mai! Finally some decent dim sum :) But it was quite expensive..



After the lunch, we went to the waterfront but it was quite overcast and I had only my iPhone cos the camera battery died in the cold so no good photo... Somehow, the waterfront reminded us of Hong Kong...

We walked along a random street parallel to the waterfront, which turned out to be quite nice as it cut through Gastown. We happened to be at the steam clock at 3 pm - steamy chimes!



We saw A&W's and just had to check it out. But guess what, they had no waffle and no curly fries! Fail!

On our way to Chinatown, we passed by a flea market quite unlike what I've seen before - the people all looked like vagrants! And there was so much cigarette smoke that we didn't linger..



So, in Chinatown, our first stop was the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. It came with an admission fee so we popped into the free park next to it and found this sign :p



I must pose :) If you look closely, you'll notice that my coat pockets have gaps now that belly is growing!



Sito was learning to pose for the camera - here, he's chopping a bamboo tree!



After that, we walked through Chinatown and shortlisted makan places for the next day :p And Sito had a $10 gui ling gao at Chinatown Plaza, quite ex! With time to spare, we decided to walk to dinner instead of taking the bus - took some 45 min! But this sign along the way made it worthwhile - Kel, that's fyi haha!



We met WT and PS for dinner at Kwong Chow Congee & Noodle House. Met their little boy for the first time! :) But forgot to take a group picture! :( Only took a random shot of this bad translation:



We took a bus back to Chinatown in the hope for some baked goods but all the shops were closed! So we split at the waterfront station, and Sito and I took their recommendation to stroll down Robson St. We found an ice cream place and had a little dessert :)

Monday, 19 Mar 2012

Yes, dim sum again! Hoho! At Floata Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown Plaza. Yelp reviews weren't fantastic but we found it authentic and good! Instead of the cart, we ordered from a list written only in Chinese. And we were early so it was cheaper too! We were very, very full..... At this point of writing, Sito came up to me..

Sito: We were ok full.
mf: I was very very full!

:p



Took a bus to Stanley Park. Unfortunately for us, it started raining when we arrived :( So we strolled a few kilometres along the northern seawall in the rain. It would have been much nicer in better weather. Then, as we left, the sun came out! Argh!



Found something like the Little Mermaid in Denmark so I must pose haha! And Sito suffered some cold air in the kids' dryer by a playground :p



With the dim sum now halfway through our digestive systems, we went back to Chinatown for some roast! Shared a 三拼 on rice at Kam Gok Yuen, supposedly the best roast in town! It was ok but ex - this plate cost $10!



Our bus tickets still had some time on them so we bussed down to Granville Island. Thought we were lost but the bus actually made a turn back under the bridge to get to the little Island. Forgot to take photos there but half the island was taken up by a public market which had plenty of food and produce. But we were still quite full and the food was quite expensive, so we had a bubble tea and bought a scone to take away.



This is the second consecutive holiday that we walked across a bridge! Took us a while to find the entry to the walking path but the bridge was actually pretty short. We walked through Yaletown to get to our hotel, where we had the scone and watched some TV. Sito even had a nap!

Eventually, we got off our ass to walk to Chinatown (again!) for some dinner. Settled on New Town Bakery and Restaurant where Sito had fishball and dumpling noodles and I had pork chop spaghetti. The noodles were as expected, with Singapore wet market fishballs, very 家乡 :) My pork chop was rather fat but the spaghetti was really nice even though it was coated in so much oil!



Psst, I look quite cute in the above photo, right? :p

And we bought some snacks back to the hotel - Sito had his second sundae of the trip while I posed with my giant 奶黄包! Don't you think I look so much like Sito here??



Tuesday, 20 Mar 2012

This was a very long day.. We left Vancouver very early and expected to spend just three hours waiting in Seattle for our connecting flight to Anchorage. Instead, we waited for almost 10 hours!! The stupid plane was delayed in Houston - the online update said it was awaiting the arrival of crew. Wth?!

The United counter staff was pretty much useless and offered no helpful advice. He only told us that the plane was held up by thunderstorms in Houston. The Alaska counter staff was on the other hand very sympathetic and helpful when we considered buying new tickets altogether. She told us that it would be expensive to get on a lastminute flight and that United wouldn't compensate anything if the delay was due to weather.

Oh well, in the end, the plane did take off from Houston and we got on it soon after they deplaned the incoming passengers. But we already lost half a day in Anchorage..

So we had both lunch and dinner at the Seattle airport - "fake" Chinese food and junk food! And Sito's hand spent some time on my belly and he felt a strong kick, stronger than the first time :)

Ramada Anchorage Downtown sent a shuttle to pick us up from the airport. Had an interesting conversation with the driver who was retired from the military with titanium plates in his chest! This was the cheapest hotel in this trip but it was also the only one with a king bed and breakfast included. We had waffles both days :) The bathroom floor was also surprisingly warm, nice :) But the only way to turn off the TV was to unplug the set!! We watched The Shawshank Redemption for the nth time that night..

Wednesday, 21 Mar 2012

So, adventure! We have never seen this much snow!!

Julie, our guide from Salmon Berry Tours, was super bubbly as she took us on a long drive from our hotel to the Matanuska Glacier. We first stopped at the Long Rifle Lodge for a simple lunch of fish burgers. The dining area was full of stuffed animals - I do mean taxidermy, not soft toys! - like muskox, beaver, brown bear..



This was the view of the glacier from our table. The glacier is right in the middle - it's a valley glacier.



Julie handed us over to our glacier guide, Adam, from Glacier Bill's - that's the name I saw when I was there but I think the URL is correct. Julie brought some snow pants for us but my belly wouldn't fit haha! But they found me another pair - a tad long but they kept me warm! Sito also had snow shoes. I thought my waterproof boots would be good enough but my toes got cold in the middle of it so Julie made a note to provide another pair of snow boots for the next day.

And so, we headed for the glacier! Adam brought us around on a sled and stopped at many spots to show us different parts of the glacier. He said the team would go onto the glacier at the start of every season to check the glacier and mark out a trail, and every day, they would check the trail again. Why? Cos the glacier moves! And the snow and ice can melt.

Here, we were standing on the snow and looking out at this patch of ice in front. You can see the cracks right? We also heard the cracks! We stood still for a while and it was all quiet around us and then, crack crack! It wasn't very loud, just very gradual cracking as the glacier moves. It was like waiting for baby to kick :p



We shared a kiss on the glacier! *blush*



Sito went out on the ice with Adam. The water was already melting underneath but Adam said it was safe as it wasn't deep at all. But he told me to just stay put, heh! Sito said he could see the bubbles moving under the ice!



Check out the blue ice behind us! It was a very sunny day. Apparently, when it's overcast, the colour contrast is greater.



Then we went into a cave!



When we laid on our backs, we could see the sky through a gap in the cave.



And then, I needed help getting up - no more abs haha!

Sito made a snow angel on a patch of snow! Being inexperienced, he didn't sink his head back so the resulting angel had no head *.*



The two guys went up a ridge which was challenging for me so I went down to take photos instead. The textured blue ice is very obvious here.



Another spot that was too challenging for me - Sito said they looked down at a very deep hole..



On the other side of the above was a patch of ice, sloping down, which made for a fun video! :)



Sito found a block of ice. The ice was very very smooth, and when we rubbed it, it didn't melt like those in our freezer!



I was pretending to eat a block of snow :p



Another guide came to us and said he found a new cave - we were the first to go there woohoo! As I was taking this photo, we heard a door slam. But of course, that was the ice cracking! It was not a gentle crack and Adam said that was a sign we should go, so exciting!



It was so much fun even though my toes were cold and I really needed to pee.. Think we spent almost two hours out there. We had a good guide who was also very helpful - he and Sito sandwiched me to help me down slopes.

Julie recommended Simon and Seafort's so that was where we went to for dinner! We missed the first seating menu by 20 min but well, that wouldn't give us halibut cheeks! The cheeks were on my plate - so so succulent! Sito had cod which almost melted in our mouths... The bread was warm and the butter was pretty and yummy - I kind of superimposed the bread picture on the bottom right corner of our food picture cos by the time the food came, we had finished the bread :p The chocolate cake was good as well though not the best.



Oh, Sito had a beer and with his incitement and approval, I savoured a 5 ml sip - oh I miss beer!!

Then we took a walk through the town, starting with Resolution Point. It was a tiny lookout point with a statue of Captain Cook and where we saw Mt Susitna across the water. The town itself was very quiet - everything was closed except for food places.

Sito is getting better at posing :)



Thursday, 22 Mar 2012

We started the day with a shot with a huge moose! :) Little did we know that we would be ending our trip with moose too.. Kiv that...



Our guide today was Sarah who brought us on a tour along the Turnagain Arm. Two other chaps joined us on this tour. Our first stop was a photo stop at Beluga Point. Didn't spot any whale here...



Next was the Alyeska Resort where we took a tram up 2,300 feet into foggy land! But the fog cleared suddenly and we were able to see the Turnagain Arm and the Chugach mountain range.



Can you see the building in the middle? That was where we started..



This was a ceiling in the hotel lobby - fake shimmering aurora that looked quite real!



Next stop was lunch at The Bake Shop for soup, bread and cinnamon roll. I had the creamy chicken soup while Sito had the goulash and then the chicken soup :p The cinnamon roll was good. Can't believe I finished everything! Sito didn't finish his bread and roll - I feel bad :(

Tummy satisfied, we headed for the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. This was one impressive male elk!



Hey, you female elk, quit eyeing my man!



There were a few other animals. I really feel for this bald eagle that was found shot. They had to amputate a wing to save it so now it cannot fly. It also has no mate. So poor thing! The thing about this conservation centre is that the animals are often found injured or orphaned. Some of them could be returned to the wild but some, like the bald eagle, would spend their whole life in there.

Our favourites were the two kodiak bear cubs! They literally charged at the fence when they saw people! But it wasn't scary - they were just playful and they stopped just before the fence. Here's my bear and the bear cub :)



At the end of the tour, we gave the town another shot. The shopping mall was nice enough to occupy us for a while but not long enough.. But on the way to an early dinner, we found a little park with ice sculptures so we spent some time looking at them and shuffling/sliding across the iceskating rink. This train reminded me of The Polar Express.



So, dinner! Alaskan king crab at Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse! Half a pound cost $22.99 and it was only one leg! Ok, so the leg was long and fat. Sito managed to get the whole chunk of meat out of this part of the leg - yum!



Our main courses were halibut - Sito had fish and chips and I had breaded halibut. It was nothing like what we had the day before but well, we were happy with seafood, especially the crab!

So we returned to the hotel to pick up our suitcase, clean up and get ready for the airport. But the staff called us suddenly and brought us to the door - we saw a mummy moose and her baby moose walking down the street across from the hotel! A long truck drove by at that moment and by the time it was gone, the animals had made a turn and I could only take this pathetic photo =/



We already heard from the guides that people had spotted moose downtown. We even saw a lot of droppings the day before but didn't realise those were moose droppings until the other girl on the tour mentioned it. Apparently, this was a rather warm winter - even though it was like -12 to -6 deg C when we were there! - so the moose had been coming down from the hills. Why? I forgot, ha!

The hotel arranged a free cab for us as their shuttle broke down. Turned out that it wasn't expensive to get to the airport, about $23.

Encountered a really friendly security officer at the airport - rare hur? We were chatting about babies when she was patting me down as I couldn't go through the X-ray machine. And after this trip, we've concluded that the Chicago airport is the most crowded, most unfriendly and most inefficient airport we've ever been to!

Ended our trip with the third sundae on this trip and some smoothie. And very very tired minds and bodies by the time we got off the plane the next morning. We didn't even bother much with unpacking before we took a much needed nap. I think we're still kind of tired now.. But it was a really good holiday! Now waiting for the next one in three weeks' time! :)