it snowed in spring. brr...

guess what, this spring is so winter. it is freaking cold. nowhere near the forecast of 13 degree!!! it was 3 degree the other day and my nose is totally red and peeling from the wind and the cold and my fingers are so numbed i cannot feel the shutter at times!!!

but it's a great experience :)

having lotsa fun!!

saw mt fuji, ate too much udon and soba, walk about in shibuya, was in hakone, threw up twice in hakone due to motion sickness, enjoyed seeing naked women in onsen, soaked in onsen which was too hot for me, went to odaiba, only bought 3 pairs of socks and a recyle bag for supermarket days, going out to have fun and explore tokyo central tomorrow!

japan japan

nothing can describe this feeling while i wait for the time to kick the luggage and off to the airport.

somehow, as i know i am going to settle into a family-based lifestyle pretty soon, i will miss this carefree travelling experience! i believe in the future, with baby around, things will be very different. imagine disneyland and more disneyland. luckily universal studio will be coming to sg.

one of the thing i did was to stock up the house with lots of food and clean the house so that it will withstand 11 days of no cleaning. in some sense, i wonder if i spolit my husband. in the past, he will do lots of housework while i'm busy but since i became home based, it seems to suggest naturally that the person staying at home do all the stuff. ???!

ok, no complaints, because he's my biggest supporter and investor.. keke.

i was also thinking about decisions and how it affect our life. eg. if i didn't leave sgh, i will prob still be in sgh and my photography will prob still be at that level one year ago. and of course, trips like this will not be possible at all. so yes, i embraced that decision. till now.

(i realised that the rss feed for my photoblog on the left hand side is not working well, it is not showing the latest post. argh)

bye sg, off to japan!

this blog will be it

ok this blog will be the one i will continue to update on my personal life and of course, the big baby project while my photography stuff will go to the new photoblog .

guess what silly thing i almost did. i almost traveled to japan without the yen!

i was quite convinced i had everything i needed and only yesterday, suddenly remembered that i need to change for the yen!

last min dash

i never knew that i have so many things to settle and many people to meet right before i fly off for japan.

the sakura flowers have bloom earlier than expected but i believe we will get to shoot under the lovely flowers just in time.

talk about global warming! the world is really suffering with these pollutions and stuff.

fruit flies issue

i have a fruit flies issue in my kitchen now.

i'm so annoyed i am jumping with anger each time i see them.

i can't kill them fast enough and they don't seem to want to leave.

now i found out why.

you can check out this video

one of the culprit is unwashed dishes!!!!!

i MUST get this point across to dyl.

argh

coping strategies

firstly, i have closed off my http://www.reginalimphotography.blogspot.com/ blog and have moved on to my new photoblog at http://www.reginalim.com/ (click on blog- naturally!)

If you have been visiting my main blog, do drop by the new photoblog for more BIG and nice photos. the lovely thing i like about the new blog is the very BIG photos i can post :)

actually some turn of events have occurred and although initially i planned for myself to be very relaxed while trying for the baby, it seems like i will be very busy for the next 3 months.

not only do i have quite a lot of photography projects to complete, i also have some other work commitments that will see me wave goodbye to the 2 months of carefree life i led.

to some extent, i think it might be good because getting myself busy may be good for stimulating my mind. hahaha. so that i will not develop mummy brain later on.

we are also planning a trip in June to help things out in the TTC compartment.

My new website is out!

I have launched my new website (so exciting!) and also moved my photoblog to a new location - read more here

Feeling good today.. finally it's done!

cheap sales of nice tshirt

hop over to threadless to buy really nice and comfortable tshirt at only USD$5!

it's their springcleaning sale so it's really a good buy.

for me, i bought 12 pcs of tshirts (i would have loved to wait to share the shipping cost but i reckon dividing it between 12 pcs is quite worth it)

and the trick is that i bought all oversize ones. from L to 2 XL. mainly it's for my maternity uses. I would love to have some big tshirts for daily uses on top of the nice maternity shops ones (plus they are very expensive!) and i didn't want giordano shirts which are o-so-common. :)

so while i'm in japan, they will probably arrive.

all in a day's work

i realised that although i'm working from home, a day pass by faster than when i was working in the studio/office.

ok, one problem now is that i wake up really late - on days when i am not shooting, i will be up only at 10am. amazingly though, whenever i'm shooting, i'm up and all energetic by 430am! (dyl always don't understand how i can do it.. haha)

then there's the dogs to handle, feeding, playing, sayang them, bring mao mao down for walk, clear up after QQ.

then there's dishes from previous night to settle - i'm normally so exhausted after cooking that the dishes are left to the next day, no choice, and i feel that the husband is tired enough so i normally don't request for him to wash.

every 2 days there's laundry.

every week there's vacuum and mop.

every month there's cleaning of dust here and there.

every alternative days i head out to the supermarket to buy fresh fruits and vege and meat.

then i need to cook my lunch.

and finally settle down for some photography work.

and there's tea time plus TV watching.

then back to walking MM again.

and a little last bit of email clearing.

and oops, it's 5 pm already. shut down pc and head off to rest.

one hour rest time.

6pm start to prepare dinner.

7pm husband's home! doggies and me so excited at the door. sometimes i bark along with them - serious. it's therapetic. hahaha.

dinner time!

force the husband to shower.

couple time to talk.

another round of dog walk.

tuck dog into bed - and that includes running after qq and catching her before she goes underneath the sofa and if she does, you can't get her out - too narrow. she hates to go to bed.

ZZZZZZZZ.

adding in every now and then i have to head down to the studio and outdoor for shoots, or meet up with couples.

wow. i feel like a full time photographer and a full time housewife.

hmm... when can we get the domestic helper??

sleep test

i was getting quite concerned that i was getting sluggish and tired easily recently and decided to do a test - pretty fun game to test your reaction. here

and indeed, i need to perk up.

i really don't understand why. perhaps because i get up typically 3 times a night!

birhday upcoming

my birthday is coming in a few months. and i realised that the things i want most this year are all intangible.

definitely - 1) a healthy baby 2) a healthier husband 3) a healthier me 4) that my home remains safe and sound 5) healthy dogs

for all there is in the world, these are the only things i want this year. because after i started working and earning my own keep, there's nothing in material that i cannot have so now, material has no meaning on me. (except my car - i must keep my car)

:p

letting go...

i really like this post here by a really gd writer with a simple but nice blog.

she talks about her son and how about after being a mother for years to a little boy, she is learning to let him grow up.

i have to learn too, to apply to my little sister.

all i can say now is that i had a full day hanging out with her - the first time in so many years and i realised i got to know her a little but more today. it is also so tiring. she has so much energy!

we were at anchorvale swimming pool - so cool that it has an indoor swimming pool, a big big one. and many slides and a great water playground for children, i got a feeling it's going to be our family hangout place next time :)

swimming pool is not a best place to be when you are hoping to have a baby because not only do people kick you in the pool, there are babies EVERYWHERE. and i ache for one.

i have switched my daily milo to ammum. yummy. not that it will do any miracle but it's full of goodness for the developing baby and very good to have when you are trying.

btw, if you need folic acid, do buy them from NTUC healthcare instead of guardian because for the exact same thing, the price difference is soooo great. NTUC healthcare sells 100 pills for $2.50 and guardian sells 30 pills for $4.50 and when i open them up, it's the same!!!!!

baby ready

in the past few months, we have been doing a lot of stuff to get ourselves baby ready.

there were plenty of books. though i still haven't been hardworking on the food bit, i cook 3 meals a day at home but i pretty much just cook whatever we like. eg. today we cooked a nice hamburger with double cheese and grilled potato and onions with cream of cauliflower for dinner.

there were a bit of walking in kiddypalacce to know how much things cost and to get the cute feel.

families passed us a lot of baby stuff.

now, i haven't been a very patience person my whole life. so although i know not to hurry things along, i cannot help but hope to be more hardworking in the this area so we can have a baby fast. after all, i am putting my career on hold! hahaha.

let's have lots of shagging. serious. though the husband is still pretty tired, all the time, from work. unfortunately, i can't do it alone.

getting pregnant stress

i got married at a relatively very young age of 22 at sg's standard, not only a ROM but a full Chinese wedding. so imagine the amount of "any good news" question asked at every family gathering?

people tend to assume that when you get marry young, you should get pregnant in a click. like effortless.

not that we had been trying hard, in fact, we had been trying not to get pregnant the past 2 years as we felt we were not ready then. even then, it was natural family planning.

so now that we are trying, i suddenly have a fear. that maybe, we are one of those couples in agony months after months? what if it never happen? sometimes i read of some women's pain when month after month, the pregnancy test kit only show a single line. like this lady's experience.

the interesting thing is, people seems to get pregnant when they dont't want to get. i see couples having children immediately after the wedding and saying that it was not what they planned but God gave the child to them.

so what's God's plan for us?

We were thinking of going away for a nice holiday to try and get things going.

I am trying to get relax, but i have been having very poor sleep recently, possibly over planning for my new website and studio.

i need to relax!

o ya, and i read a really funny post about a gynae trying to get pregnant - here

it's funny because she did exactly what i thought of doing but just that i have no means to access a microscope!

online shopping

just thought i will introduce you to http://www.bbcosme.com/ for good deals on facial products and pretty nice ladies' lingerie (limited though)

the weekend has been fun, we went out for lunch and shopping at ikea then drove to pasir ris park for dinner. it was sooo cold!

all these romantic stuff better pay off.. hahaha... in the baby compartment!

ariel

i found out that the name 'ariel' means lioness of God. hurray, i love that. :)

anyway, since i left the safety net of a hospital work environment and all that attractive maternity benefits, i have bought insurance to protect myself. realised now that while it covers all the other stuff, it doesn't cover maternity. so that means all that $$ got to come from ourselves.

well well, i'm still happier to be so free and my own boss. :)

Sending your fortune to the pregnancy kit company

i know most of you out there may not have the chance to use a pregnancy test kit yet (or for some, probably never -the men i mean) and for good reasons of course.

i would like to share with you a little tip that when one day it's your turn, don't send your fortune to the pregnancy test kit companies.

firstly, it's a fact that when you are TTC (Trying to conceive), you will be so keen to test all the time. i mean, seriously, all the time. sometime crazy enough, right after the work's done. of course, it's going to be negative, but i can't help it. but the fact is, you will need to test on the day your period is due. and if that's negative, then every 2 days after if your period is delayed.

going by regular watson, pharmacy standard, pregnancy test kit costs about $8 for the cheapest and $13 for the "branded" ones like clearblue. and even more if you don't want to interpret 2 positive lines and want the actual word "pregnant" to show up in the kit, prepare to fork out about $20. and these prices are for EACH test.

the fact is , regardless of price, they are all the same. so don't be too harsh on your pockets.

ok, so a rough idea of how much i have contributed to these companies -i have been married for 2 years and have my fair share of naughty period who decided to go on a holiday or are just not punctual. and each time, it costs me about $8x3=$24 and estimating that such scenarios happen 5 times a year = $24x5x2 (2 years) = $240! all for nothing!

UNTIL the day i found out about pregnancy test strips from canada.

actually singapore is suppose to sell but it seems like they are mostly used in the hospitals.

anyway, each pregnancy test strip (highly accurate and sensitive) cost only $1! there's 8 times cheaper than what i spent on previously! so i purchased a lot of them from Canada and now, i think i won't be able to finish using them anyway.

and also, i bought a whole lot of ovulation test strips that are super cheap too. about $1 per pc only.

so if you have a need for these, just email me at regina84@singnet.com.sg and i can sell them to you via post. comes with instructions.


and baby making is nowhere near successful, in fact, the engine hasn't even started.

serious care needed

i was browsing through some of my friends' blog and at Audrey's blog I was reminded that I need to start taking care of myself. my face, hair, sigh, i used to really work on looking good and will get all those nice products that she spoke about too.

now that I stay at home to work, there's no one to see it except the occasional couples i meet and even then, i think i seriously need to work harder on at least piling on some makeup.

anyway audrey, looks like you are having a good time. :)

What happens when my photographer gets pregnant?

Interestingly and somewhat understandable, my couples have been asking me this questions. while some are perfectly nonchalant about it and just go"I'm sure you can handle it well", others are a little concerned.

let me share some stories here (a little bit on the horror side), i have stand in for photographers (men, since there's so little women pg around) who had
1. fractured their legs - therefore had to transferred all assignments 3 months from date of injury
2.fell really ill on day of shoot
3.injured their back

i would say with every photographer there is a chance of course, that he/she cannot make it for your wedding day. the most important thing is that 1. he/she produces work you really like 2. he/she has very good backup plans which you are happy with

so a pregnant photographer should have no impact on your wedding day, just as there are pregnant make up artist, hotel manager, chef. and just to share, one of the world's greatest photographer just had a baby and shooting all the way to her birth. (i'm not even intending to be that adventurous)

btw, i'm not pregnant yet. we are not even working on that now as Dyl's really stressed up over some work issues.

guess i gotta just relax and have fun in japan first!

instinct

when my mother passed me a baby car seat that is clogging up her house, i instinctively felt sth not good about it.

then i went and google about the carseat and look what i found - here

product was recalled! caused serious injuries to infants.

phew.

about maids

i found a good website offering some advice about hiring of maids, which we are going to do soon.

if u are interested, look here

food wastage

as i am getting more aware of food wastage recently, i am getting concerned about the $$ threw down the bin and also about generally wasting food.

the main stuff that goes wasted are:
bread
sauces like mayo and salad dressing that go expired only after 1 use
occasionally milk
fruits

i have to be more careful from now on when i buy stuff. realised that i'm better off not buying certain stuff like mayo which is unhealthy and expire fast. do you know that you will tend to eat more of the unhealthy stuff in an attempt to "save" the food?

ok, that's a very housewifey thought. :)

all the time in the world?

wow, check this out

how to get it done like this? I currently cook an entire dinner in about 45 min and if i want to make shapes and characters, i need 2 hrs!