The dad being very enthusiastic about his precious little one’s full moon made red eggs to be distributed to his colleagues. It is advisable to be prudent in terms of food colouring usage in this country. Therefore, beet root is being used to dye the eggs likewise during Easter. Looks good too huh?

p/s You guys would know what full moon is but we are trying to introduce the culture among our fellows in UK.

This statement caught my attention:

Faizal explained that trees cooled the air around them, adding: “One big tree is the equivalent to 10 air conditioners”. 

The equation of 1 tree=10 conditioners may not be a simple comparison but I certainly agree with the fact that big trees do cool down the air surrounding.
I still remember many parts of Singapore (i.e Woodland area) were so cooling (compared to Johor Baru) as they were covered with massive trees sheltering the people from direct sunlight. That’s a very smart and farsighted move.

Unfortunately, many of our Council people do not appreciate these big trees. Instead, they replaced these trees with decorative palm trees (i.e. along Jalan Damansara), which not only not provide cool air to the surrounding but I believe one of these palm trees costs the council at least 10 air conditioners to purchase and maintain. -eng

Motorbikes for Mat Rempit who help curb crime

I don’t know how you feel about this, but I find it ridiculous. It’s unbelievable and shocking what these ministers would come out with sometimes.

Mat Rempit (the name derived from REMP – IT) are gangs who participate in illegal street racing or (and) those who addicted to riding motorcycle dangerously on public roads. They have been linked to gangsterism,  gang robbing, fighting, vandalism, thefts, and bullying. Some of them do not own licenses, do not pay road tax, and ride stolen motorcycles. (Quote from Wikipedia, ya well done)
Some of them do not have job, and addicted to drugs (to fuel their bravery to performing stunts), and some even pimping their girl friends for money!! They are parasites in our society who endanger other responsible road users, fuel crime, and with no moral value.

Obviously, this Putera Umno chief Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim doesn’t understand all these. Instead, he gives them a ‘national duty’ to catch snatch thieves and offers motorcycle as reward. He is trying hard to make this equation work ‘Wrong + Wrong = Right’.

Remember last year August, our Prime Minister and his son-in-law rebranded Mat Rempit and called them a nasional asset? For some reason, I always feel that the government is always giving in to groups (or trouble groups) who are not intellectually ready (may not be the right word), ie Mat Rempit. But groups that encourage serious thinking or intellectual related groups are always the victim of being branded radical or politically skewed.

Perhaps the government doesn’t value the people as PEOPLE but see the people as walking ballot papers, thus giving out some nuts to the monkeys (Mat Rempit) to buy some easy votes in coming general election. Who knows what the government will do, as they are getting very desperate to stay in power in next general election -eng

Base on UNICEF study of children well being standard in 40 rich nations, Netherlands tops the table and guess who is sitting on the far end ? It’s United Kingdom!

UK’s ranking has been dragged down mainly by child poverty, drinking, smoking and teenage pregnancies.

Btw, I have also noticed that UK’s war comrade in Mid East, United States is also bottom in the list. Perhaps they have been spending too much money in war affairs in foreign lands and not children’s welfare in their own land. -eng

With the following selection of scrumptious meals, I’m not complaining about confinement at all. Look what Eng has been pampering me with…

       This is my personal favourite….Braised Lamb with Lemon Grass.

Cameron is 11 days old today as well as it’s my 11^th day into confinement. Well, I should be resting but sometimes I feel that the more I sleep, the more blur I become. Though I do take the opportunity to cat-nap whenever Cameron is asleep. But at the same time, I do not want to loose touch with the outside world. I haven’t been outdoor even since I was discharged from the hospital. Throughout this period, we had midwives visiting us to check on both mum and bub, mainly to monitor bub’s health as well as to provide support and guidance that we need. They even taught us all the basics of taking care of a newborn right from changing nappies, bathing a baby, breastfeeding and to almost anything that you can think of. We are super impressed by their excellent service, not to mention that it’s not privatized. Even Cameron is happy with it (See candid pix of him showing the OK sign haha) That’s why we are not worried of not having closed ones or confinement lady around to assist us as any information or help are readily available in the network. That’s where all the tax payers’ money go to but at least it is being used to benefit the contributors in return - mel.

Hey, I’m back! But first let me bombard everyone with this long winded story which I’ve already tried to summarize; unless you’ve got the time and would like to know how my labour went (which lasted for 3 full days, not a typical case as it won’t usually drag for more than a day), then read on…
 
Thursday, 25^th Jan 2007 8.45 am, I jumped out of my bed when I felt a light stream of water trickling. I headed straight to the bathroom as the first thing that came to mind was my water bag has broken. It was a consistent but slow leakage. I tried to stay calm, called the midwife and explained the situation to her. She advised me to check-in to the hospital to be examined. Subsequently, I called Eng and managed to get some breakfast before heading to the hospital. Unfortunately, we waited for nearly 2 hours before being called and Eng was apprehensive during the period, constantly pestered the medical staffs when I would have my turn. I was put on the monitor again, for 30 minutes to observe fetal heartbeat and uterus muscles tightening. Everything was fine and my body was already preparing for labour although I did not feel any contractions yet. The next thing that disappointed me was the midwife couldn’t confirm my amniotic fluid was leaking. I was almost ready for the whole labour thingy but had to be sent home to wait….Trying hard to stay upbeat, off we went home to have a good meal, duck rice! For dinner, Eng cooked chicken curry..yummy at least those food cheered me up again. Since then, I did not feel any more leakage and off I went to bed, waited patiently for the right time to arrive.
Friday, 26^th Jan 2007, 9.30 am, there was a first sign of labour..the show (bloody mucus discharge). I was calmer than the previous day, suspecting it was a false alarm again. I carried on with my normal routine until I felt a little more suspicious about the show and had to visit the hospital that very night to be monitored again. Midwife said it was normal to have such first sign and was being sent home for the second time. On the very same night, the contractions started while I was asleep. It started of pretty mild until it occurred every 8 minutes and lasted for 30 seconds until the next day. I just can’t elaborate what it felt like, but nothing like Braxton Hicks.
Saturday, 27^th Jan 2007, During the day, I was still able to concentrate on other activities and chores and only paused for deep breath when the contractions took place. It went on the whole day until it got worse at night when I was going through a minute of tightening in every 5 minutes. We thought this would be good enough to be admitted and was eagerly waiting for Cameron’s arrival. When I was admitted, I was informed that I was only 1 cm dilated. In clinical terms, it has to reach 4 cm before it could be classified as established labour. What the!!!! We stayed overnight at the hospital but I didn’t manage to get any sleep at all. We still had the wishful thinking that Cameron will be born the next day.
Sunday, 28^th Jan 2007, after the routine check by the midwife, I was so distressed that I hadn’t progressed. When the midwife mentioned that I should go home and wait, I burst into tears. I couldn’t bear the thought of how long more I had to suffer, whether in hours or days as the pain was getting intensed. At that stage, I wasn’t on any pain relief at all. It was against their believe to induce when both myself and the baby were doing fine. Destitute in options, we had to go home again! This whole checking in and out of the hospital was a tormenting saga. Although I was back to my comfort zone, I couldn’t relax nor sleep as the pain was consistent. We tried all sorts of ways to shift my attention of the pain but in vain. By evening, my contractions were already lasting a good 2 minutes in every 3 minutes. We prayed so hard for God’s mercy that some miracle will happen. Finally, Eng sent me to the hospital again. This time, I was 2 cm dilated…slow but at least there were some progress. Deprived of sleep for the past 2 days, I opted to use etonox (gas and air) as the pain relief. I still couldn’t sleep the whole night as it didn’t really suppress the pain but only gave a little comfort. Better than none though!
Monday, 29^th Jan 2007, My exhaustion and fatigueness drove me to express the need for epidural, the method which I least interested of. In total, I went through 42 hours of hard labour without it. However, I’m glad I went for that as it completely removed all the pain and I managed to catch some rest. I was also being monitored closely as I was losing more blood than normal. Besides, my water bag was invasively broken and I was given synto to speed up the dilation. By that time, my left arm was already full of needles. Then, out of the blue, the midwife did a check and instructed that I need to get ready to push. Oh I was so excited but scared at the same time. Eng played an active role throughout my delivery process and both of us were surprised on how relax and intimate the whole procedure was. I did lots of pushes but at the end, still need to be assisted via ventouse (suction) to deliver the baby. Whatever it was and despite the 3 days of agony that we both went through, we were so blissful and content that Cameron made it to this world at 5.20 pm. Just no words could really express how we felt when we first met him and God has not failed in answering all our prayers by giving such a beautiful child to us.

Pictures worth a thousand words, I will let the pics do the typing…

He was born at 17.20 on 29th Jan 2007. Weight 2.77 kg or 6.1 pounds. Little but loud. Loud enough to wake mum and dad up from dreamland. Thank you for those who called, text, sent cards, presents, books, email and support. Both mum and baby are doing excellent. -eng