Monday, January 31, 2011

Thoughts on Pregnancy.

Was doing some random thinking now that I'm onto my 6th month of pregnancy.
Yeap, heading into the 3rd Trimester.
Being pregnant is like a whole new life changing experience.
I wasn't very keen on getting pregnant when Mr Look suggested it - he loves kids.
Now, I totally agree that even getting pregnant is god-sent.

I still thank God for blessing my pregnancy and baby's godma for keeping us in her prayers.
Other than the morning sickness and Thalasamic scare that I got during my first trimester, everything has been ok.
Baby's healthy (that's basically what matters most to me), I got to travel twice with not much problem and well, my bump isn't that big which  might probably lessen the chance of backache etc (fingers crossed as I'm getting the calf aches now).

I realised having a very supportive husband is always an added positive in the equation.
Despite that, I must say that men do not know the pains, aches, emotional changes, hormonal changes that happens in a pregnant women's body.
But, I do think that the men are always at the brunt of the emotional rollercoaster their wives go through so never take your husband for granted during this period.
Mr Look has at a few occasions been at the end of my whiplashing the past months (not to mention the tears).
There was once that I was complaining of dandruff and pimples (first trimester body changes) and coupled with the horrible morning sickness and the emotional unstability I whined almost daily.
Yes, I whined daily!
He didn't understand what was the big deal with pimples and dandruff but to a woman it's like going through something that doesn't happen BEFORE pregnancy!

There are many other occasions too where I'd hoped he would be at home to accompany me.
Even if it meant just sitting in front of the TV or going to sleep together instead of him heading out to drink with his friends.
I'm alright with him having his off time and chill time with his friends occassionally but there are just times when I want him around me to be supportive of the pregnancy.
Many husbands probably neglect the emotional turmoil their wives are going through.
But seriously, this is a very important stage to show that you truly care.
Some of my friends were telling me that their hubby had to stay home throughout her pregnancy but I feel that he needs his off-time too.
So, it's a balancing act as always with all relationships.
I've also had colleagues and friends telling me to enjoy the process and be the queen.
I can feel the baby move since my 16-17th week which is pretty early.
It's a weird feeling but now that she's choosy on the position I sleep/sit/rest it's a constant reminder that she's not COMFORTABLE despite me being so.
Guess who daddy sides?
Hahahah...

Another thing I've gotten used to is probably popping pills in the morning!
They are not small sized ok!
The first trimester was still alright (although I complained) - Folic acid (small yellow round tablet like the Flu tablets) and another tablet.
The 2nd trimester - 3 huge tablets!! Fish oil (when you burp you can taste it), Vit tablet and Calcium tablet (yucks!)
For the 3rd trimester - yea! I just have to continue with what I'm taking in my 2nd trimester - I'm not complaining since there's no need for iron pills =)

Did I mention forgetfulness being part and parcel of pregnancy?
Hahaha...I was standing at the atm, inserted my ATM card and than *blank*.
I forgot my pin.
No recollection whatsoever.
Tadah!
That was the first trimester!
Haiz.
Many, many more instances of forgetfulnes.
Ask my hubby or boss anytime.
Another 15 weeks before I see the little one in my womb.
Counting down to a new set of problems.
Hahaahha...

Update: Baby is now about 650grams and growing strong =)
Ivy has put on 4.5 kg so far (can be seen in my thighs..wahhaa).

Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Merry Men~

It was this set of photo which I loaded into FB that I 'announced' I was pregnant.
I never did really announce that I was pregnant except the few posts on my blog.
In FB, I posted this album as 'Chilling Out' with a description - Relaxing @ merry man after dentist & prenatal Pilates lesson.
Hahah..the word 'prenatal' gave me away -_-"
Anyway, I started prenatal pilates 2 weeks ago.
Funny thing was, I always wanted to try out Yoga and Pilates but I never thought I would only get to do it after I got pregnant!
I shall try to sneak photos of the studio, it's a real relaxing feel.
Although it's only for 1 hour, it's quite a work out.

Back to The Merry Men.
We stopped by for a quick chill out session after my pilates.
The place is quite ulu.
It's at Robertson Quay and I think it's behind Zouk.
Somewhere around there.
Photos taken with the lomo camera on my iPhone.


On a Saturday afternoon, pretty quiet.
Mr Look says it doesn't feel like Singapore.
Alot of non-Chinese in that area.
Trust me when I say this place is full on weekend nights.
Surprise~
Happy Mr Look & his beer.

Orange juice.
The polka dot top I'm wearing - it's kids wear from Old Navy.
I think it will see me through till my baby comes out.
Yes, it's that loose!


Fish and chips!
The fries are truffle-flavored.
I doubt they use truffles but they do taste like it was fried in oil previously used to fry mushrooms.
Nice~

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Gong Cha~


So, I've given Gong Cha a try after my colleague told me it was opened!
They've opened up in Junction 8. 
However, it is at a corner that people don't really walk pass.
They allow for sugar options like Koi and they have a selection of Hot drinks as well.
I took the most basic Bubble Milk Tea which was S$2.50 but I ordered it hot.
My verdict: Not bad, they use big black pearls as compared to Koi's small pearls. But for the price and quantity, Koi wins hands down since they still use the normal plastic cup for warm teas and it's not significantly lesser.

I will buy both to drink since they are near my workplace.
My colleague was saying how I wish I can get Koi's tea mixed with Gong Cha's bubble.
How true.
Hahahah....

Friday, January 28, 2011

Cruising~Day 2.

2nd day on the cruise.
Out on Malaysia seas.
Loads of activities!

Queuing up for breakfast at Bella Vista!

Uncle looking at us, Mr Look looking cocky, Ivy looking spastic.
Hahahahah...
There's a Star Navigator that lists all the activities of the day.
So basically, we look at that and decide what we want to do.
Trust me when I say the day passes really fast with the activities we had planned.

Dragon beard candy session.
Teaches one how to make the candy and sampling of course.
After this was the napkin folding session.
My sisters, Mr Look and I went to play Bingo instead.

Tadah!
3 pieces of Bingo sheets - for the fun of it.
The jackpot wasn't won but the other prize of a few hundred dollars was won by an Indian.

I had 3 numbers left when Bingo was called.
Oh well!

Headed to play Monopoly at the games room.

The piece of paper was the Star Navigator.
We were waiting for lunch.

Mr Look mentioned that he wanted to go look see look see around and he went for like 20 minutes.
Guess where he went?
Haha..
C-A-S-I-N-O.
When he came back it was time for lunch!
The lunch was fantastic!
I had to ask for a second serving of the starter and they obliged =P
After that we headed to play MJ.
Dinner followed and a soak in the jacuzzi before the acrobatic show.
After that, there was a Chocolate party!

All types of chocolate desserts.

People queuing to eat the chocolate.

There was a fiesta going on and people were dancing.
Hehe..
Nice trip with the family.
I just realised we didn't take any family photo on this trip.
The next trip will probably comprise a pram and a baby in our arms.
Looking forward to that challenge!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Cruising~Day 1.

Yeah! Probably my last holiday before the little one in my tummy comes out.
This was planned for even before my London trip.
A note to all pregnant ladies - most cruises do not allow any pregnant ladies onboard after their 24th week into the pregnancy.
So, please check before booking.

There were some hiccups with mine as we wanted to go during the Lunar New Year with both my family and in-laws.
However, I found out that I will be on my 24th going on 25th week on the first day of LNY.
Not to risk the chance that I may not be boarded, we canceled and re-booked for Jan.
We managed to get a full refund after some calls and emails to the CS of Star Cruises.

Some photos from the cruise.
All taken by Michelle and her DSLR.
My camera was virtually 'useless'.
Ate, slept, 'gamble', ate & ate!
It wasn't as good as I remember it to be but I would still want to try Royal Carribean in future.
No seasickness too =).
Oh, pregnant lady syndrome - forgetfulness!
I forgot - my contact lens case & my makeup!!!!!!
Yes, even the basic sunscreen & foundation!
Lucky I didn't forget the passports.
These were taken when I was in my 21st week.

To ship =)

Nope, we weren't taking Royal Caribbean but Star Cruise.
Hahahaha...
Mr Look went to do city check-in the day before so we had our access cards and we headed straight to the room first.


The balcony room.

Free welcome drink for Balcony Class.
There's champange but obviously I wasn't allowed to drink that.
I took the very sweet fruit punch instead.
The Gap wristlet I'm carrying has loads of memories in it and it's been by my side for eons.

Cheers!

After several shots and asking me not to move (the ship was moving not me!), Michelle got the shot she wanted.
Pink ribbon from F21.

We walked around the ship a little.
I love this photo of my sisters!
Watermelon head!

One of the dining hall was booked for a function so we had to wait for the Chinese dinner.

Waiting on the stairs probably for someone or for food.
We spent some time sitting there.

At the Chinese restaurant waiting for our food.
Ruin my photo!
Well, the food wasn't fantastic.
I didn't eat much as I was really tired.
Headed to watch the show after that - I think it was a magic show.
Than I headed back to the cabin to sleep.
Mr Look went to earn some allowance.
Hahahah..

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Base Makeup FOTD, Products & MAC 1 item haul.

Be prepared to see my bare face!!
Only for the strong hearted.
Hehe, yeah, pregnancy effects, the dark eye rings, pimpled face are usually out in full force.
So, I decided to do a scare post on my base makeup for my face. *Evil Laugh*

Wee~ my bare skin!
Scary right?
Imagine my hubby see this every morning (with all the 'shit' in my eyes =X).
After washing, toning, moisturiser, pimple cream and eye cream =)
Yes, being the forgetful pregnant woman - I sometimes forget my eye cream and pimple cream.
There are talks of ladies skipping the skin care due to pregnancy but for me, I think since it's on the skin and not in the blood stream - that should be fine.
Same as body moisturisers which is usually used to prevent stretch marks.
We still gotta take care of our skin despite being pregnant right?!

To prep my skin - I usually reach out for my Jill Stuart pure lasting makeup base.

It's really liquid-ty.
Pinkish in color and goes on smoothly.
Dries a little like powder too.
As usual, it has the signature JS scent.
This comes with SPF15 and you only need less than a 50cent portion for the whole face.
1 bottle goes a long way and I'm almost done with this bottle after close to 7-8 months (used Laneige sunscreen for a month or so in between).

This is after applying the base on my cheeks, nose, forehead and chin.
None on my eye area =)

Next step, base foundation.
Bourjois healthy mix foundation.
No SPF.

This goes on really smooth too.
And only a 10cent or 1 and 1/2 pump for my whole face.
Also, it covers really well too.
From Haru's blog, Bourjois released a new bio detox foundation.
I've yet to try it out but with my Lancome and Lunasol foundation still sealed in their boxes, I don't think I'll be getting it anytime soon. =(
Meanwhile, I'm trying to finish this up so I can open a new foundation for LNY!

After the foundation.
Covered the spots and a lil of my eye bag.
Pretty good foundation for around S$30 (if I remember correctly).
Oh, I only use 1 layer most days as I feel the coverage is good enough.


This is my concealer - no point taking photo of the item as the print on the tube's all gone =P
My *I don't know how many*th Maybelline concealer.
I pray this doesn't go out of stock or get replaced (I just went to Watsons and I can't find it on the display!).
It offers great coverage for me.
FYI, I don't use the applicator directly on my undereye.
I put it on my hand and heat it up with my finger before dabbing it onto my undereye ring.


My trusty Covergirl professional loose powder.
I don't really like cake-y makeup thus I seldom use cake foundation.
If you see me in real life, you can still see some blemishes on my face which to me is still a little natural.
Yes, I know it sounds weird but no one can be perfect till there are no blemishes everyday!
So. using loose powder is still my choice.
I use this with Everyday Mineral Long handled Kabuki brush.
FYI, I buy this on Drugstore.com as the brand is no longer available in Singapore.
I heard it's available in Australia, not too sure though.

Done!
Offers a 'flawless' face.

I've really been reaching out to this P&J eye color primer recently.
There was a stage where I wanted to swap this away but now I'm glad I did not do that.
I used this under the MUFE aqua color for eye (which used to crease on me) and now it works fine!!
I will consider getting another tube.
This applies matte and also offers a coverage on the dark eye lids before eyeshadow application.

Used my Naked Palette.

Viola, my completed look.
No eyeliner, only mascara.
Blusher and lip balm.
I don't fill my eye brows since I'm blessed with thick brows.
I know I should but it looks natural like that.
Neither do I do any contouring or balancing my face or creating double eyelids since they are un-even.
I leave them as they are.
This was my look for the cruise I went for which is coming up next.

Since this was THE friday that MAC released 3 collections, I headed to Tangs to take a look.
*way overdue*

I got Rose Ole from the Cham Pale collection =)
My latest addition and first highlight powder from MAC.
First cosmetic buy for 2011 and it was MAC!
My last was MAC too (brush from London Airport).
I love the beauty powders and had wanted to get the Too Chic Beauty Powder from the Stylishly Yours collection but the stocks weren't in.
So I had to pass on that.
Hopefully, this is the only makeup item I get for Jan 2011 =)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

LOTD & OOTD.

It's been a long, long time since I posted my LOTD and OOTD.
*Mr Look - LOTD = Look of the Day and OOTD = Outfit of the Day. =)*

I opened my Kate Deep Eyes palette bought from last year's HK trip.
Yeap, I kept it for close to 6 months before opening it.
Also using my MAC Mineralised blusher which is a regular item.
The dome is gone!
So excited.
I've got another 2 MSFs which I find is too shimmery so I seldom use them.
Maybe I should let them go...

I will be covering in detail my base makeup in the next post.
Yea, there's a baby poster behind my stack of clothes from the earlier post and London trip.
This was before I vaccum sealed all my other clothes to make space for these.
A tad messy but now it's ok (all behind wardrobe doors - outta sight, outta mind!)

Colors from the Kate Deep Eyes Palette with P&J eye color base.
I'm getting old - fine lines under my eye....


The polka dot blue sleeveless dress from my Mayuki buy.

I paired the dress with a necklace, pair of pumps and the black longchamp bag.
Carried along a cardigan.
So, it was all good.
Can't wait to wear the pink one for LNY next week!