I'm due in 2 days' time!

Woke up at 4am this morning and decided I've had enough of the pregnancy stage, it's time to move on to the next stage! I'm still terrified of the birth, the recovery, saying goodbye to sleep, basically the whole motherhood thing but at least I'll have my stomach back to myself. The 'hippo' look and feel does get boring after a while (and 9 months is certainly pushing it).

I can do this! 

My mom is already armed with a whole truckload of 'imported' herbs that she plans to make me ingest during the confinement period. My husband is already planning to go away on more overseas assignments (read: escape ) to get more sleep. Guess we're all ready for this! 

 

Out for a Sunday roast with hubby, mum and aunt 4 days before THE day.

 

 

 

 

Well, I haven't really been getting good, uninterrupted sleep at night for the past...hmm...3 months anyway. The baby kicks me awake when he feels I'm feeling too rested (can't have any of that! Must keep mummy tired and cranky!). If he fails to do so, then my husband keeps me awake instead with his snoring.

I've kicked my husband out of the bedroom.

As for the little David Beckham wannabe in my tummy, well, he'll be kicked out soon as well!

In my 37th week now, which means the little one will be out anytime soon. I'm getting more nervous by the day. Been reading lots of stuff on labour and caring for the baby, and frankly, I seriously think women drew the short stick!

Good thing is I've finally started my maternity leave. It was getting quite difficult at work towards the end.

 

Now I can slowly get our place ready for my mom who'll be here next Monday, and for our baby who'll be here....when he feels like it. 

 

It’s Chinese New Year! 

 

This time I got to spend the new year in Jakarta with my family (minus my husband, the poor dear couldn’t make it this time). It was my 3^rd trip to Jakarta, but I must admit I did not really see Jakarta the first two times. I saw only the traffic jams.

This time, I saw much, much more – even more traffic jams! Heh heh….

 

This mammoth city boasts of impressive skyscrapers, huge fancy malls, traffic jams and noise level that can rival any other city in the world.

I must say I was thoroughly impressed when I walked thru the couple of malls I visited there. They were more than comparable with the malls in Singapore, London, HK and Japan.

 

Kids get to play games or watch cartoons while getting their hair cut.

But it is not all glitter and gold here in this city of contrasts. The privileged and the not-so-lucky-ones literally live alongside each other here. Many have come to this city in search of jobs and a better life, but not all have made it. Those who haven’t, live in squalor right there in the city. They eke out a living by doing all sorts of odd jobs, selling things (including to those stuck in jams) and providing services that I thought were pretty unique.

The rich are chauffeured around by local drivers who drive like maniacs and the poor move around on bikes or non-air conditioned busses, eating and chocking on the dust and exhaust fumes.    

 

Here’s something I witnessed that will forever be etched in my memory:

On the eve of Chinese New Year, we left Jakarta for Bandung, a popular tourist destination about 2 hours from Jakarta. The highway on which we traveled was so bumpy that I felt the bones in my body had come off their joints by the time we reached. My brother said that was nothing compared to a stretch of road he has to take to go to work daily – so bumpy you’d fall off your seat.

 

Bandung is apparently famous for its many factory outlets that sell branded goods (genuine ones!) at mind-blowingly cheap prices. My kinda place (yes, my husband sometimes calls me a cheapskate).

 

 

 

Upon reaching Bandung, we went straight to Rumah Mode, the biggest factory outlet there. Apparently even the stars shop there, though I wouldn’t have recognized any of them even if they stood right in front of me and did the moonwalk.






I did some major shopping there…heh heh (major by my cheapskate standard). I am now the proud owner of an Armani t-shirt (not Armanii, or Armanie, but genuine ARMANI ok!).





In the evening, we went to Bandung’s Kampung Daun Culture Gallery & Café (http://kampungdaun.net/) for our new year’s eve reunion dinner. A very unique place located in the middle of the jungle. Diners get to sit and dine in individual wooden huts with atap roofs and soft (not-so-clean) cushions. The lighting, deco and landscape were beautiful, and the air was cool. Perfect. I ate barbequed chicken Padang-style and drank durian juice (durian in a glass!). Perfect x 2.










On Chinese New Year’s day, we visited Mount Tangkuban Perahu, a volcano located 25km north of Bandung with three craters. I think the one we saw was Kawah Ratu (Queen Crater). It was an amazing experience getting to see a volcano at such a close distance despite the fact that it was emitting a stink worse than my husband’s fart (the silent but deadly one).

A pity we did not get to see more or even boil eggs at the hot spring due to the sudden downpour that threatened to wash us down the slope into the crater (a.k.a. monsoon rain).

 

As a souvenir, I bought an ‘angklung’ from one of the many small shops/stalls there, a traditional Indonesian musical instrument carved out of bamboo. “Klung, klung, klung, klung….klung”  – that’s the sound of an angklung.

We left Indonesia on the 3^rd day of Chinese New Year. I did not fully appreciate just how noisy and chaotic the roads of Jakarta were until we left the Penang airport and drove home. Everything was suddenly soooo quiet and peaceful that it felt like I had earplugs on…heh heh.

 

Overall, a pretty good trip, mostly because I got to spend the few days with my family. Nothing beats that.




 

The movers will be here later this morning to pack up our things and move them out. We'll be moving closer to London! Hubby will be starting his new job on 1st Feb. Yay.  

Yay yay yay.

Anyway, news is there will be more snow today. I just hope it doesn't make our move difficult. The last time we drove in the snow, the view was like this from inside the car: