Searching for Utopia

When I had just arrived in Singapore, one of the first things I noticed was that people always drank from bottled water. I was surprised.

Then I asked the cleaning lady at the hotel where I was staying whether it’s safe to drink tap water. She said yes, but when I went to drink from the tap, she quickly asked me not to; saying that I could get as many bottled water as I wanted from the hotel.

I just thought, what’s the point of having clean water then?

Not only Singaporeans, my fellow countrymen are apparently the same. They prefer bottled to tap water, citing that they’re not used to drinking directly from the tap. Others said that they couldn’t trust the cleanness of the water pipes, so they chose to drink bottled water.

I’m no tree hugger or flower sniffer. I hardly thought about recycling things, but I think it’s just a waste to drink bottled water.

I mean, have you ever heard anyone who got sick after drinking tap water here? I’m sure the government wouldn’t stay silent if that ever happened.

How could we criticize plastic bags so much — remember Bring Your Own Bag Campaign — while throwing plastic bottles so freely?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Bidazzled. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you live in the USA, and are into online auction, you should give Bidazzled a shot.

Basically, this is a Pay-Per-Bid auction site, where you have to buy bids in advance. With each bid, the price is increased a few cents and a few seconds are added to the countdown clock to give others a chance to bid. You’ll win when no other bids are placed.

If you check the site, you’d see the record auctions lists, including a ViewSonic 22-Inch 1080p LCD Monitor closed at USD6.20 (retail price: USD 229).

Meaning, winners can save big! Typically, it’s over 80% off retail.

If you lose, you’ll receive up to 50 bonus bids as a thank you for participating. That way, if you spent $25 to buy your bids, if you lose you’d get $75—considering that a bid costs $1.

Nobody really loses. This is nothing like your regular auction site where you’d just have to beat other bidders.

Here, after winning, you may sell back your item to Bidazzled. They can pay either with cash (paypal and check), and/or bids.

And why would you sell back an item after winning?

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So good luck and happy bidding, folks!

Adam is not a fussy eater. I guess it’s pretty obvious from his chubbiness — just look at those thighs!

However, there have been times when he refuses to eat anything but certain food. This is one of those food.

Ingredients:
Grated apple
Mashed banana
Cooked minced chicken
Ground cinnamon

* Mix all ingredients together. Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes.

Adam caught cold. He barely slept last night — waking up every hour and crying because of stuffy nose.

He calmed down everytime I carried him, but then cried again whenever I put him down on the bed.

It started at 2 AM up to the time he woke up at 6. Poor baby.

I know I’m not alone in this. Influenza is such a common disease, it will disappear before I know — I hope, at least. But I couldn’t help feeling sad to see him sick.

Adam hardly gets sick. He’s a bubbly baby who giggles all day, even while sleeping. He’s friendly even with strangers — hmm, I should teach him to stop talking to strangers .

His worst sickness so far was when he caught flu after getting flu vaccine. It lasted for around two weeks. But the thing is, I was armed with medications then. This time I was caught off guard. I didn’t even have any nasal drops ready.

I know I should’ve, but the drops expire only in one month after first usage. A few days ago I discarded my last stock, and hadn’t gotten it replaced. Bad mistake.

It’s fascinating to be a mother, but it’s also hard work. I guess most mothers would have to deal with their children’s sickness at times — my mom being one. I can’t recall how many times I had fallen sick in my childhood, but I’m sure she was there for me everytime. I bet it wasn’t easy.

Some mothers go to work, either out of needs or interest. She didn’t.

She was there for me 24/7. She nursed me when I was sick. I’m sure there were no nasal drops at that time. But she stayed awake with me everytime I couldn’t sleep — or when I had to do homeworks. She sang to me, read me stories. She cooked and cleaned for me. She taught me how to read — it wasn’t my teacher who made me read. She taught me two languages, and she never even graduated from high school. And after all that, she let me go when the time came.

My mom was a full-time homemaker, and I’m grateful that she was. I’m lacking in many things, but I hope I could be as selfless to Adam as she’s been to me.

A lot of things can affect babies’ sleeping, stuffy nose, jet lag, excitement, hunger, anger, etc. And when they don’t sleep, their mommies won’t sleep too.

The difference is when the babies can sleep afterwards, their mommies should stay awake to clean up the mess.

I had never said thanks to my mom for raising me. I should.

It’s a bit too early, but have a happy Mother’s Day, Mom!*

Mother’s Day is celebrated on December 22 in Indonesia

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Syndacast. All opinions are 100% mine.

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With the ups and down we’ve all felt throughout the year, we could really afford to indulge ourselves with a nice vacation. Too bad I’ll have to skip this chance, because we just returned from Indonesia and Hungary recently.

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PS. Don’t forget to check out with your MasterCard, or you’ll have to forget about these offers.

What did you do last weekend?

We went downtown to catch Hi-5 in action. It was a fun twenty-minute performance — more for me rather than Adam though.

Most of the time the music confused him since he couldn’t really tell where it came from. He ended up watching small tv showing toys advertisements — poor baby!

The gang did well. They sang and dance throughout the show, and they were friendly too — unlike some certain boybands I used to go crazy about, back in my heyday :p

It seems like not even financial crisis can hinder artists’ creativity. This masterpiece created by Obilia is a perfect example.

Now, don’t ask me who they are. I swear I had never heard the name before now, but haven’t they done a great job?

The picture above is their depiction of Singapore in 2050, as designed by WOHA. Click on it, and it will give more than a glimpse of Singapore’s future. In fact, it provides quite detailed pictures. I had a lot of fun playing with it.

The one below is supposed to be East Coast Park. In its present state, I’d say the place is a bit boring — it definitely needs the makeover.

This is not sponsored post, and I’m not working for any of them — but I hope this masterplan will come true. I’d love Singapore to look more sci-fi.

Maybe then the city would be the new Dubai — minus the debt crisis, of course.

But before that, let’s take another look at the first picture above. Did you notice the two towers there?

Guess where they got the inspiration from!

Me likes.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Syndacast. All opinions are 100% mine.

Dudes and dudettes, Probably the Best Beer in the World is launching Probably the Best Wish in the World!

Mike Teo has 6 wishes for a hot New Year’s Eve party, and Carlsberg’s going to play genie for him by granting his best wishes at at Celebrate 2010 — the biggest countdown event at The Float @ Marina Bay on 31 December 2009.

And what does it have to do with you, we hear you ask.

Well, if you vote for Mike’s Wishes, fantabulous prizes are waiting for you — including $5000 (for two winners) and VIP tickets to Celebrate 2010.

FYI, VIP tickets include access to the Carlsberg Lounge on the floating platform, free flow beer and finger food, and a chance to meet Mike and experience his wishes.

So here are the 6 wishes:
Disco Roller Girls
GI Janes with Beer Soakers
Beer Fountain with Your Mates
Beer Foam Party with Your Mates
Mechanical Bull Riding
Bungee Jumping with a Santarina

To vote, you could either visit Mike’s Facebook Fan Page or send SMS to 78111.

Type Carlsberg Name NRIC Wish Number in your SMS.
Example: Carlsberg John Lee S7911111T 2
1 for Roller Girls, 2 for G.I. Janes, 3 for Beer Fountain, 4 for Foam Party, 5 for Bull Riding, 6 for Bungee Jumping.

Still not get it? Watch this video for more info, and hurry cast your vote!

Adam is chatting up with his dad.

This is why I haven’t got the chance to post so many entries — somebody keeps wanting to use my computer

I’ve been trying to introduce Indonesian and Hungarian recipes to Adam, so that he can get used to eating both.

He eats well, although there are times when he refused to eat anything but Heinz’ custard.

So this is my own version of custard. Luckily Adam also loves it.

It’s easy to make, and a good source of protein, calcium and iron.

Ingredients:
400 ml water
100 ml milk — I use breast milk
Fruit puree — I’ve tried banana, pear and mango (one at a time)
Ground brown rice cereal — Cook according to instructions on package
2 tablespoon custard — mix well with 2 tablespoon milk (I omit the sugar since the fruit is usually sweet enough)

* Bring water to a boil, add fruit puree, brown rice and milk.

* Stir in prepared custard mix, return to boil, simmer for 2-3 minutes stirring continously.

* Let cool.

It’s official, we’re moving into our new apartment on Dec 21. Well, it’s not ours really — we’re renting, but you’ve got the point.

It took us two weeks to find the new place. We’ve viewed like twelve units before that.

Basically it will be around the same size like our current flat, only the location and view are better.

Unlike here, supermarket and restaurant will be at walking distance.

I just hope that the people will be as nice as here.

Within the last one year, Adam has made quite some friends. It’s a pity that he won’t get to see them as often as now.

Hopefully later he’ll make more friends in the new place.

But that’s still far. As for now, pack, mommy, pack!

Yesterday we went to browse for laptops at a nearby computer store. Interestingly, they played a Pussycat Dolls’ video right next to Korean sensation, Wonder Girls.

Zsolt pointed that even girlbands’ styles are that different here and in the USA. So true!

Which one do you prefer?

The Hi-5 gang is coming to town. Yay!

Can’t believe I’ve got excited by such news — Adam doesn’t even care as much. And the show’s supposed to be for kids.

We missed their concert last September while we were in Indonesia. This time it’ll only be meet and greet.

But hey, it’s better than nothing. I hope we could come.

For other mommies who are also going through Hi-5 craze, you can meet them at Takashimaya, 3-13 Dec (1PM, 4PM, and 7 PM daily).

I received a mail from DBS yesterday. It said we’d get an exclusive Hi-5 plush toy if we spend $300 at Takashimaya.

Hmm–

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dirt Devil. All opinions are 100% mine.

Time flies. It’s been three years since we moved in to this flat, and we’ve decided to look for a new place.

Many reasons have led us to come to this decision, but mostly it’s for Adam’s sake. The tiny tot needs more space to grow up.

The only thing that daunts me a bit is to do spring cleaning. I could always find the time to wash the dishes and dust the furniture — it’s Zsolt’s task to mop the floor — but other things are not that easy.

How will I clean every single cabinet in the house? We’ve got lots of them! Not to mention all those windows.

This was when I thought I’d need a good vacuum cleaner.

Now, going to shop is not easy with a baby — I hardly have time to check catalogues one by one online.

It’d be handy to have something like the Dirt Devil Holiday Buying Guide. Not only it provides information about vacuum cleaners that the company is selling, it also helps you to find the best deals for the holiday shopping season — black friday, cyber monday, you name it.

Hundreds of online retailers provide free shipping day across the US on December 17 2009. Many others give promo codes, rebates or other special offer. You can find all about them within this guide.

There are, of course, also special offers from DirtDevil.com for each one of your entire family on Gifts for Him, Gift for her and Family Favorites.

The best is that this guide is free.

Singapore is said to be a shopping haven, but I haven’t seen such a comprehensive shopping guide here. Time to have one.

What could you be doing all day when you have a one-year old baby? A lot, if you asked me, and I’m not talking about the household chores.

Unlike many of his friends, Adam still can’t walk. He’s still learning to stand on his own.

But he’s grown a lot since last year — not just physically.

When we were in Hungary last month, his grandma taught him to clap his hands. It took him only a few times to pick up the skill.

Now he can also wave goodbye and give a high five.

He likes exploring with his hands, and that gives us many options on what to play.

Adam loves sound too. No wonder at twelve months he still plays with his rattles.

He doesn’t really need expensive toys. Just put a coin inside an empty plastic bottle, and give it to him. He’ll be thrilled to shake it.

Tearing newspapers and plastic bags are also among his favorite things to do.

But when he gets cranky, there is one thing that would calm him down: Hi-5.

He doesn’t have the patience to watch the whole show, but he wouldn’t miss the song.

Can’t blame him, even I’ve found their songs catchy.

Stevie Nicholson is no Zac Efron, but he knows how to entertain kids.

Tim and the girls are also very cute. Unlike some Disney stars, they keep their clothes on all the time. My personal favorite is Casey.

So what I usually did was selecting the videos on YouTube and just played them. Altogether it would take around twenty minutes, and I’d have a happy baby afterwards.

Meanwhile, I could steal some time to wash the dishes or prepare dinner.

Here’s Adam’s favorite song. Enjoy!