the kicks

you've heard it all before, but it does feel amazing when you get the kicks from your baby for the first time ... it feels a lot more real than any of the ultrasound or heartbeat amplifier ... those infrequent ripples in odd rhythms over my tummy ... blub blub ... blub ... blub blub blub ... i laugh whenever i get it.

actually i was wondering why i didn't get the kicks til now. i think i read it weeks ago in the 'what to expect' book, but i wasn't really checking out for it. after i felt it for the first time, i went back to the book. it actually mentions that you won't feel it when you are all busy, that you're more likely to feel it when you are all calm and settled at night ... so work has kept me so busy that i wasn't even feeling my own baby's kicks til now??? i felt kinda guilty for a second.



over this weekend, i actually watched 2 movies - án education' and 'whip it'. these are random choices really, but it turns about to be of similar subject matters - teenage wanting to get out there and experience the bigger world, with parents hurt but relationships amended along the way. when i used to watch movies like this, it usually brings reflections on my own teenage years. but this time, i can't help but to fall into the role of the supporting cast - those playing the parents!

in the quiet night as the movie rolls on, i feel my baby kicks again and again. the kicks ... it suddenly feels like a sign ... it's the physical kicks now that brings me the laughs ... then it will grow into emotional kicks as the years go by, and those will be much stronger, bring me bigger laughs or hurtful cries ... and if i don't calm myself and pay enough attention, the kicks might just go pass unnoticed, and i would have missed it all ...

so here i record this moment of the kicks.

and i promise myself i will treasure more of the kicks to come.



ak & mini @ week 25

1008 - my work

since my trip to germany got cancelled at last minute, i decided to make good use of my time with new hobbies.

in high school, i thought music was cooler was i took music class instead of arts. well, none of the music has stayed with me, except the very occasional karaoke (sigh .... ). as for arts, i know i enjoy appreciating works. and the thought of being able to make something is very fascinating really. being efficient as always, i started taking ceramics class and chinese ink painting class.

yesterday, my first pieces of handmade ceramics work was completed! and my first ink painting was done too! i am obsessed, as i can't stop staring at my own work! i know it's really nothing spectacular, but having done something of your own is a total different pleasure from shopping for them.

it's never too late people. go pursue and you will feel as rewarded as i do now!

0903 - tokyo

i always say, travel is not about the places you go to, but more about the people you share the trips with. over the years, i have had chances to bring together friends from different corners and put them on the same trips. risking black faces and disagreements, things have turned out more than fine. and that gives me real satisfaction!

2 years ago, i brought along 3 friends to a rural part of japan, and all 4 of us stayed with my cousin hiukei - they have not met before, and i have not met hiukei for years. i knew they'd click, and we ended up with a full week of fun & laughter. my friend gut got along particularly well with hiukei, and they are both experts of japanese entertainment scene. so this time, without much prior planning, we decided to meet up in tokyo again to enjoy a few days of girls-just-wanna-have-fun!

we tried out geeky maid cafes in akihabara, we posed silly for sticker pictures, we stole advertisements featuring hot japanese stars, we ended up buying the same leather jacket, and we have all become owners of the same ricoh digital camera!

thank you gut for being my best travelmate of all times, and sorry for not being as energetic as before. i really can't remember how we could get to 4 districts and shop 12 hours straight. that's all history but i thought we had fun this time too, taking it slower.

and thank you hiukei too, coming all the way up to tokyo. a long way to go for you, having to challenge yourself with japanese grad school admission tests and all. my best wishes to you!

0902 - mum's bday

my mum is a virgo but she's probably the most un-virgo person i know. interestingly my mum-in-law is also a virgo - i m yet to find out the virgo composition in her ... haha.

we held a little birthday dinner and cake-cutting at home. cake-cutting is my mum's favourite, and apparently this is already her 3rd treat this year.

stay happy, mum!

seoul plus - raw octopus challenge

as my 2nd iMovie trial, i have edited a special version of mike's battle with the octopus - and his eventual winning!

enjoy!

0824 - seoul

Seoul is a city that Mike has frequented in his past jobs, and he claims to know "real" korean food and korean (drinking) manners. So this trip is a chance for him to prove himself. For better judgement, we have also invited along our friends Dave & Eva. There cannot be a combination, as together we can eat soooooooooooooooooo much :)

Usually you would describe food as yum / weird / taste like shit .... for korean food i have come up with a new word - "confusing". korean food is really confusing! for the most basic, i can't even tell whether a dish is a hot dish or cold dish! then the tastes - when i think something looks spicy, it turns out sweet. when i think something should be sponegy, it turns out chewy. gosh!

The most confusing highlight was introduced to us by a korean buddy of mike's called 金明珠 (he's a guy). the dish is called 'fermented stink ray', and even local koreans would only have eaten it several times in their own life, as the fish is a rare species, and the way to prepare it is not so available in any restaurant or home. it looks like hamachi from japanese sashimi. once you put it in your mouth ... no taste but it's chewy in texture ... then after 10-seconds .... the fish will explode in your mouth ... the next thing you know, your mouth is filled with a taste which is like you having drunk a shooter of hair perm acid! (or as 金明珠 puts it, it tastes like amonia ... either way, you can tell how unbelievably gross it is).

Though the food ventures are all the time too spicy, and most of the time too confusing, it was still enjoyable to be trying new things, meeting new friends and catching up with old friends.

환호!

brandon's 1st swim - video version

back by popular demand - here's a video version, with my first time trial of the Mac iMovie tool! pardon my poor editing - i still have to figure out the background music ... i didn't mean to make the pool sound like a safari .... enjoy!