My date with "Tong Shui"

Is suddenly in the mood to cook “tong shui” recently. The urge gets especially strong when I recall the photos taken with my frens 3mths ago on my 29th birthday. In the photo was myself with 2 other galfrens same-aged as me but none of them were with kids or married. A closer look at the photo and it was obvious to all that I am already member of the “ah soh” club while they were not. With the laughing lines circled around my eyes and the dull, shaggy face due to lack of sleep…how not to? Sigh! So sad! :'(

I begin to wonder if its true that women with kids will need to work extra hard to maintain their “outlook” as compared to before they have kids? To be honest, I am quite lazy when it comes to these facial routines. I find it very time consuming and also expensive :p Well, guess I got to do something about it.

Then I remember the Cantonese culture of eating a lot of those “tong shui” to maintain their youthful look so I decided to try out this method. Afterall, I have a free teacher (my mother’s a Cantonese) to guide me on the cooking. So no worries! :D

Yesterday, I cooked my first "tong shui" - Beancurd skin with gingko nuts, eggs, barley. The Cantonese called it “Fu zhu” (I think). Heard its very nourishing for the complexion. Comments from my PIL, hubby & colleagues were encouraging. I have therefore decided to cook one “tong shui” every week!

Hope I am not too ambitious!

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

It was Mother's Day yesterday. It was my third time (including the time I am preggy) celebrating this great day belonging to us mothers. As an old saying said, “It is not until you are a mother yourself that you can truly understand your mother.” My mother used to complain to me that hers is the worst job on earth as she has to work 2359hrs everyday! For now I am a mother myself, I can understand what she meant by that.

To begin with, I am not lucky as any first-time mother. On top of dealing with the many “firstS” while caring for your first-born, my little gal was diagnosed with torticollis at 20 days old! Taking care of her is no longer as simple as just fulfilling her basic needs anymore. Besides the usual feeding and nappy changing, we have to exercise her neck as frequent as possible. This is tough as we have to conduct the physio-treatment on her amidst all her cries. It is heart breaking to see the young little one, who is only a month old, yelling away while you continue the stretching on her. The rest as what everyone says is history...

Today, my little gal has fully recovered and is a healthy little nutty. Though she has to go back for 6monthly checkups, she can hold her head straight like any child.

I suppose God has its way for us, the humble beings. I am fortunate and blessed that I have my PIL to help me in taking care of her when I returned to work after my 12weeks maternity leave.
The credit should go to (not just myself) but my PIL as well. You see, from here, we can see the chain of relationship. From the moment you have a child, your duty never ends.....

Little girl falls sick

My 19mth old fell sick immediately after the trip from Labis, Johor. Had a really hard time taking care of her. Not to mention the usual 24 hr standby to check on her fever and breathing (bcos of blocked nose), was also emotionally drained by her whirlwind temper as well. She became especially sticky to her beloved gong2 and mah2 (my PIL) and resort to crying at the slightest thing she was unhappy about. I cant blame her for sticking to the grandparents, afterall they are the ones looking after her full-time when her parents, us, were working. Really, this is sometimes a working mother's woes.... Mood: Heartbroken Milestone: 19 Months Old