The Chin People

What do you do when you play with little girls? Act silly, lie with your head off the bed and pretend to be the Chin people! Thats Eirian up there and Lauren down here!

This always gets alot of laughs all around and we all take turns to sing a song.

All you need are a couple of simple things and you're ready to go!!

1. An eyeliner pencil. *For the eyes*
2. A thin blanket *To cover up the nose*
3. Some makeup remover *To remove the eyes when done*
4. A camera *To take the fun!*

The first one was Lauren singing Twinkle Twinkle to a very amused sister. And the 2nd one is Eirian and her rendition of Sing a song of Sixpence...*I love how she kept on pausing to think of the words, make it so *tooot!* hahahha.... Enjoy these videos but turn ur head to the left side to view it to get the full effect.. I still haven't figured out how to turn the video around.

Chin people! Here we come!!

Gareth @ Chinatown

CNY is approaching and Chinatown is filled with much to see of things that represent all things about the upcoming Spring Celebrations. From a magnitude of food, cookies, jellies to all kinds of outfits in silky soft chinese silk.

We went around indulging in the sights and soaking in the atmosphere and of course couldn't resist rubbing the tummy of this dude.... "Fa! Fa! Fa!!" Money come! Money come! heheheh

So after some serious CNY shopping along Chinatown, we settled at MacDonalds so that Kim Kim aka me could grab some coke light and he grab some milk and nuggets. I like this shot because it looks slightly distorted and *toot* and makes his cheeks sooooo grabbable! *mmmmm nyeng nyeng* Nyeng Nyeng = his version of Kim Kim.. why it doesn't sound the same.. I dunno. -.-''

Then off to more CNY shopping!! ~CNY music playing in the background......Gong Xi Gong Xi~ Bye! *can u smell that? Chao Dah (burnt) smell? Oh! Don't worry, thats JUST MY POCKETS BURNING.... -.-''.... wails...CNY is expensive. Phew~*

We love Seoul Garden!

If its a buffet, we're there. We totally looooove buffets of all kinds. If we have to cook it ourselves.. heck.. whatever, we'll do that too! And when we eat, we really really eat. Even on our diet, we take in massive amounts of food! We literally "kill" a cow with the amount of beef we wack at Seoul Garden and some chickens too. Seoul Garden at Bugis sees us alot. ALOT. Probably also because right after working out in the morning at the gym together, we're hungry hungry HUNGRY!!

We fill our chicken stock with fishballs *has flour so as carbs but we still take it; as CJ says "how many fishballs can you eat!"*, preserved veggies, tau pok, sausages and fresh chili *very good for Atkins*

This is the sight I see all the time when I peer across the table.. CJ wacking the cooked chilis and him dipping rare *aka pretty much raw* beef into the pot, dipping it with raw egg and korean chili and *ssllluuurrp!* Chomp! Chomp!

I took this bowl of icecream with raisins, peanuts, tadpole jellies and a hawthorn fruit when I was on a carb break... *but no icecream when you're on diet hor! Resist! resist!*

And a freshly worked out me, pleased to be sitting at an almost empty Seoul Garden AGAIN before noon. *and yes, no makeup here... blahhh - Grin!*

One of my carb holiday choices... PASTA!! I love pasta of all kinds and will WACK when I see it.. Olives are great on a diet, meat is a definite choice, no papadums - flour flour!!, lettuce is good too, watermelon is a good choice, Orange? Nope! and fresh mushrooms is better than dried mushrooms in terms of carb count... BUT since I was on a carb holiday where I could eat any kind of carb I wanted... Bwuhhahaha... all that above is definitely my choice of food.

Moving down to a more diet friendly plate, ladies finger... not too much because of the carb count, meat a definite choice, boiled egg? Yes!!, lettuce pieces... yumm, and dragon fruit? Well apparently, dragon fruit is pretty high in carbs too but I still take 2 pieces anyway.

And my 2nd plate... as u can see, we take a pretty large amount of meat in our diet.

And finally another plate filled with chicken and beef... I like!! Chilis are good and do I see a hint of coleslaw? Yes... I LOVE coleslaw but not too much! Cabbage and carrots has a higher level of carbs than lettuce, almost double. And that pink swirly thing of a fishcake above? Well thats just for decorative purposes only! FLOUR!!!!! hahahaha....

And whats eating without playing with your food after! Bwhahahaha.. some after lunch weiner games with left over little sausages, clam shells, fishballs and olives.. remind u of anything? Hhahaha... mini peckers!

My 2 Flont Teeef

It finally happened. Lauren dropped her first tooth in January 2008 at 7 years old. She's turning 8 this year. It was her first baby tooth that erupted too so it makes sense that it was the first to drop. It was loose for quite some time now and finally one evening, armed with tissue paper, I plucked her first tooth.

Without a struggle and with us chanting "Boh Gey Boh Gey Jiak Tau Gey!" *no teeth no teeth eat bean spouts* . We happily gave her a cotton wrap to bite and add pressure to the bleeding gum and officially pronounced her a big girl now. *proud moment*

We announced that we would need to stand at the window that evening and sing a song and chant a special rhyme to let the Tooth Fairy know that there's a brand new tooth to collect and reward!

Lauren was puzzled and in this high tech world, she gave us a doubtful look and said "sing at the window can already meh?" Soooo... we said "nah thats not all! We also have to send her an email just in case! toothfairy@be***w****.com to let her know also" And with that, she was satisfied.

The next evening, She packed her little tooth in a little plastic bag and wrote a little note to the fairy and tied it inside with a string and put it under her pillow.

It said:
" Lauren tooh is kids tooh.
It came out.
To Fair Tooh "

We then bought 3 shiny pink pencils and tied it together with a pink rubber band and exchanged it under her pillow around midnight while she was sleeping.

She woke up the next day very pleased at her new exchange and asked me if I saw the tooth fairy bring her tooth away. "But of course! Mommy can see all kinds of magical creatures..." Just don't go shaking all ur teeth so that u can more stuff ok!!!" I replied.. a little alarmed that she really might think her teeth is the new currency for little treats. So now, my elder daughter is Boh Gey *toothless*. With one more right next to it loosening up in the weeks to come. *itchy fingers trying to loosen it more* Smile!!

Limited Edition Valentines Bear!

Hi! My name is Bear. Call me whatever you want. I will be yours if you want me. And I'm looking for a loving home.

My crocheted bear brothers are "growing" in the loving hands of my master maker, Wendy. They will be handmade and ready by Valentines Day so I'm looking forward to seeing them too!

My owner, Pam says I'm a special limited edition bear and so will my 5 brothers... we're not a big family you see...

I am a cuddly little one standing at 6.5 inches tall. I was a ball of wool not long ago and by magic and a little bit of fairy dust, I was transformed. I had a body and cute wiggly ears!

I don't have a face but you can imagine me to be whatever you want me to feel. Happy? Sad? Loved or even Surprised! Right now, I'm feeling Happy!

My siblings will have a little red heart on their body in celebration of Valentines Day and would be a perfect gift for a loved one this February 14th....

We can be bought at SGD$16 each. Packing them so they reach you safely and sending them through post will cost an additional SGD$2 per bear.

If you're interested to give us a home this Valentine's Day, do email my owner at honeymeow@gmail.com and let her know that you want to give one of us a home! Grab one of us to say I love you this Valentines Day... :)

See you soon!

Xxx,
All yours...
Your loving new Bear...

Happy Birthday Aver!

On the 16th of December, Little Averlyn had her 1st birthday! Wendy, her mommy aka Arkerchi aka Honey Pudding had graciously invited us to a lovely time at her parent's place over at MacPherson.

Averlyn was dressed in a handmade dress made with love by none other than Wendy herself.. a little satin smocked dress that made her look just like a sugarplum fairy!!

We arrived early and plodded about amused with little containers of sweets which lay about ready for the picking... yummm... slowly but surely guests streamed in and the buffet arrived..FOOODDD!! Thats what a party is all about... kua kua greedy me... hehehe...

*whipping out my camera*... pictures!! I like taking pictures of food. But not before we take one of ourselves first! Heheheh... "Come on Lauren! Take a picture with mommy!" **Camera click**
"Heeyy!! Daddy also put his face in the picture!!!" pouts Lauren..

I turn the camera over to review the photograph and swished an evil eye to the other side of the sofa "weeiii!!! *kbish CJ* like that also u want....cheh~"

Anyway... Armed with my paper plate.. Attaaackkk!!!

Oohhh Chicken Wings! My favourite.. and an Atkins staple.. Attaaackkk!! *as u can see the ugly Singaporean rearing its ugly buffet head in me... *

Hmm... Siew Mai.. Meat= good... skin of flour... *hmn... considering...* ok Attaccckk also.. hehe Damn it! I'm on a carb holiday for goodness sake, can eat flour... whooooo... I like siew mai.

Rice?... erm. No thanks.. carb holiday doesn't mean I go on an excessive carbohydrate binge.. rice is just empty carbs. Pass!! But does look good though.. I'm sure the kids loved this.

Yew Char Kuay!!! ok.. I admit.. I had one.. Crispy Yew Char Kuay lehhh!! Who doesn't like this!

Samosa... ok... filled with curried potato.. a completely carb dish.. I had one just because I felt like it but I won't recommend wacking too many of these.. it goes right to the hips!

Otak! I love otak too! Chili one please! Heheh... *drools*

An All time Perennial Favourite... Feeeeeshhh balls!! I wonder how many male fishes had to die just for this.. hHAHAHA kidding. Everyone loves fishballs.. right?

And Fwwah!! Home made vegetable curry! Shiok!!! Picking out the tau pok and avoiding the long beans... *carbo lah!* If I have to eat something carb on my carb holiday, must make it worth it!

Bak Chang aka Meat Dumplings! These WERE SO GOOD. Ok.. I know.. its Rice. BUT WAH LAU EH... I LOOOOVE Bak Chang. Esp Nonya Changs...Tau Sar Changs... Chang Chang me!!

And wacking all that food... there was a chin chow *grass jelly* and longan dessert... very refreshing and very yummy too. I like longan! And we washed it all down with coke light *wahhh!! very considerate of them to consider our drinking choices! We only drink coke light and we had 2 cans just for ourselves. Yuum!! Coke Light is good.. and zero carb!

After all that eating, the girls ran off to play with the other children there and left us adults to our own devices.. CJ got into a talk about going on a carb free lifestyle with Kenny's best friend (K = Wendy's Hubby which *ahem* btw already lost about 9kg over the past 2 months going carb free too! Soo proud of him!) while I pottered around the house, peeking at the cupcakes that Wendy baked and taking photos of their guests with their camera.. I like her new camera! Has anti shake; something I don't have... *grumble*

Then its picture time! How can I leave without taking a picture with the birthday girl!! Say Cheese!!! *grin*

And of course, my girls have to take one with her too!

And then ... a group family photo with the Sims *ourselves lah!* and the Tans. in front of the display of purple swirly cupcakes with gummy bears that Wendy baked..*Smile everyone!!*

And of course Eirian was her biggest cupcake fan ever.. she had 4 cupcakes when she was there... asking shyly "Uncle Kenny, can I have another one? and another? and another?". She was so caked out and then she happily hoppped out of the kitchen with ANOTHER 4 MORE.. *faint* tapau-ed in a little container to bring home. And ate them all HERSELF once she reached home... how can 8 cupcakes fit into such a little body? *wonders*

And this is a sign of a party.. a smattering of shoes EVERYWHERE.. now where's my slippers..... Eeenie, meenie, miney, MOE! Thanks for the invite Wendy and Happy Birthday Aver! Once more... :)

A Before & After...

And so the journey begins, here I was around 1st of September 2007 standing proud at 96 -100kg.. I stepped on the scale and finally decided that being that size was too much, too big... I couldn't move properly, my clothes only came in XXXXL or maybe 3XL if I got lucky, my pants fit a size 18 or bigger, skin wasn't all that healthy and generally all too pudgy all around.

And there I am after... standing at 80kg.. photo taken on the 17th of December 2007. Lighter, healthier and definitely somewhat smaller.. effectively dropping 16kg plus minus in less than 2 months *I hit 80kg by end October already* by working with my hubster on a modified carb free diet that included a good dose of exercise.

Still big sized at 80kg *not many Singaporean ladies are even this size! Many already complain of being TOO FAT at 60kg!*... my next phase has begun again after a month on a carb holiday (where I had everything and anything carb) to continue the weight loss till I reach around 55-60kg before I hit my 30th birthday in July this year.... wish me luck!

And here is a more full body profile... *wah lau look at those WHALE LIKE ARMS!!, tubby waist.. oh wait.. there IS NO WAIST and that ass.. *faint....... thud* and remember those jeans? It was honestly THAT TIGHT for those who couldn't believe I was wearing my own jeans to do this ---> Click here to see what happens when u can fit a chicken in there! ... so thats how 100kg looks like in a size 44 jeans.. and then after.. in a size 36 jeans, 2 months later. And I'm not tall either.. I'm only standing at 163cm!

And finally... a couple shot.. of CJ and myself.. when he was standing round at 112kg right after one of our events, even a black outfit cannot conceal how pudgy we were ok! And then 2 months later... with CJ, 20kg lighter *he's even lighter and so macho now!* taken right after we finished emceeing our daughter's school's graduation concert on the 16th of November 07... where I was "Miss Crystal Sia" (see the crystal prawn on my dress?) and the hubby was "the Flying Singaporean!" (see his rainbow wings!) and we worked the crowd ala dance floor style.. phew!...

And this was him, probably around 115kg...

And a Much Happier and Fitter him... on Christmas Day 2007.. around 90kg..

I will do this before and after post twice on this blog and the next time you'll see another before and after post will be probably 4 months down the road where I expect to have completed my 2nd round of going carb free. So here's to a new 2008 and a new us before I hit the big 3-0!

So if you're considering doing something about your weight this year as a resolution, take heart to know that IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU.

And incase anyone feels like asking how we did it. Please.... I just have 6 easy words for you.

Diet and Exercise. Just do it.

Singapore's CBD Skyline

I took this one evening when I was out at dinner with CJ from the open terrace of the foodcourt at Marina Square..I like it and its now officially my wallpaper at work. :) Enjoy.

Smile because I said so...

Isn't this just hilarious!! Eeeerrks!!!

And I saw this on the way to the MRT... wow.. great "engrish" eh... they should "mine" their language if they want us to understand what they're really trying to say..

BWUAHAHAHAHAhaha...

Now isn't that just one of the cutest things you've ever seen. *Bwuuhahahahahahaah*