new camera for mini

finally! one new item we bought for mini! A NEW CANON DSLR CAMERA!



i have always loved my ricoh snap shot camera. i have had the GRV since film days, then moved onto the digital one. but a new camera with faster shutter and continuous mode seems to be a necessity to catch a few good shots of active kids. so we've decided to get it now, get trained on using it, then welcome mini with our amateur skills :)
















mini, we enjoyed the silly portraits so much! and we'd love to have you in the pics soon!












ak & mini @ week 33

3.21 1st anniversary

since i have my whole wedding album loaded to my iPhone, i would review the photos every so often, and here's a picture i really like.


the smiles on our faces not only told of the joy we felt on our wedding day 365 days ago, it actually sums up what we've been feeling throughout these 365 days too!








the sunshine today already sent us a warm welcome to the next exciting 365 days to come.

and a little ad-hoc "breakfast art" spices up our morning even more!










we spent the day strolling around cheung chau, eating junk food while exercising with mini in my tummy.

next spring, we will bring him with us on his stroller.

by the following year, we should be walking with him while he tries to find his balance.

in the years to come, maybe we can be biking around the island together.

then we will be chasing behind him, slowing down while he takes the course of his own life.

i will keep our wedding pic with me. i will keep that big smile with me no matter what.






ak & mini @ week 32

mini's wardrobe

as mini's D-day is approaching, we kept being asked if we have been shopping alot. the truth is, we have not bought a single item for him at all! it sounds hard to believe, i know. how can i suppress my shopping desire, especially when it's our first kid??? but somehow, people around us all have pass-it-down items they wanna get rid of. and it become such a good idea to try to take in unwanted items by others, so they can free their house space for their new items.

by now, we have a baby bed, a stroller, a toilet trainer, a walking trainer, and a bunch of toys.

so his room naturally feels quite decorated and cosy already.

then yesterday, via email, we received a super-mega-giga-surprise - mini's wardrobe!

yes, a whole wardrobe is received via email !!!

Billion thanks to our wardrobe mastermind - mike's mum and mini's grandma-to-be!

All these clothes are still in the US and will be shipped back together with mini's grandparents when they return in a few weeks' time. And the wardrobe will only be growing in the coming weeks, as grandma's been enjoying the weekly mall visit hunting for cute outfits for mini!

I can't stop reviewing each piece of clothing over and over again, with a big big smile on my face!

Not only am I so excited picturing mini in each of these fashion masterpieces, I also feel that mini's such a blessed boy~!

Moreover, it feels like mini's a centre force of happiness to all those around us even before he's born. There's grandma and our family in the US who's very involved in the wardrobe. Then there are other aunties and uncles who are happily donating their pass-it-down to him. It's magical! Everyday we think we adults have to make effort to make others happy. Yet this tiny to-be-born can have such power just like that!

thank you mini, for teaching me a lesson on happiness.

our tiger mini

as we welcome the year of the tiger, our lunar new year eve was surprisingly spent in the hospital - and it just couldn't be better!

with help of a obgyn friend whom's identity i must kept confidential (big thanks!), we sneaked into the ultrasound room of the hospital, and we were able to say hi to mini and celebrate chinese new year eve together as a tiny family! and a few sights were really memorable.

first, i couldn't believe mini's already turned heads down at week 27 - i read that most babies won't do that til week 32! no wonder i have been feeling the attacks at the very bottom of my belly ... so it's mini practicing his thai kick boxing moves ... and all these time i kept thinking those were toilet calls though they felt fake ... u naughty boy, already fooling your mama!

throughout the ultrasound, mini's been facing his daddy. and when we said hi to him, he actually returned the greeting by punching his fists a few times - when i was seeing it on the monitor and also feeling it LIVE on my belly, it felt way more sensational than the 4D AVATAR movie! it's our interaction as a family for the very first time!

then, as we were reviewing mini's every body part, another amazing scene came to sight. after several moves, this little creature has decided to take some rest, and he actually folded his little feet one on top of each other! how very comfortable that looked, and we felt he really knows how to have a good time!

upon entering the year of the tiger, i also just realized that i am now into my 3rd and final trimester. our tiger mini will be born in 12 weeks' time. as my heartbeat quickens, i wish to record this moment of excitement.

thank you mini!








ak & mini @ week 28

lady gaga

a colleague of mine is a mom with a 13-year-old girl.

i think it was last summer when she and her girl were crazy about High School Musical. they became such big fan that they were following a specific cast touring in the US, and they flew all the way there to see the live show. i must say, to me, having to go that far to impress your own kid is quite extravagant!

last week, i bumped into her in the office lift. another colleague was casually chatting with her about updates on the High School Musical.

"you know what, High School Musical is so 2009 for my girl. she's now into Lady GaGa."

interesting! so i started listening ....

"i don't get it, is Lady GaGa a man or a woman? I asked my daughter one day, and she simply said - MOM, you don't get it, do you?" this was said in a slightly depressed tone.

then it was time to step out of the lift.

i was laughing at her at first, but not long, i started to wonder if i will get the "you don't get it" soon ...

Lady GaGa is kinda like Anita Mui back in my 13-year-old days. if i remember right, 壞女孩 did cause some social controversy, but it was never of my concern. as a mui fans, it meant cool, that's it.

did my parents ever worry if i would turn into a 淑女 or a 壞女? i can't remember them asking me anything about anita mui. maybe they were too busy with work. i guess if they had asked me, i would also say "you don't get it, do you?" and dismiss the whole question all together. afterall, i was only following a trend, what's there to explain?

how far does a parent have to go to "get it"?

what's so bad about "not getting it"?

i better stop playing the 13-year-old me vs the 34-year-old me ... or i will go crazy!

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!