Chicken Soup

Ibu cooked curry fish today. Vin is not a fan of curry and Sel can no longer eat curry, or at least for the next 3 months because she had failed the gestational diabetes screening earlier this week. Guess Sel will now have to learn and cook healthier meals and not rely on Ibu's cooking daily. So the menu for today's lunch and dinner:

Chicken Soup

This is Mama's recipe.

Ingredients
4 pieces of chicken thigh
¼ of an onion (chopped)
1 small piece of garlic (chopped)
1 slice of ginger
½ a carrot
2 cups of cauliflower
1 potato
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Adequate water
Some parsley

Method
Saute chopped ingredients and ginger. Then add 3 cups of water and let it boil. Add chicken and after 5 minutes add the potatoes. 5 minutes later add the carrots, vegetable and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat when your vegetables are cooked the way you like it. Done! It’s so simple.

It somehow doesn't taste like Mama's but it could be because Sel had put lesser salt. The nurses had advised that her food should be as bland as possible.

A "Gift" from the Gynae's Clinic

2 days ago, we've received a call from Dr Sim's clinic to inform us that Sel had failed the gestational diabetes screening. Sel was asked to come in as soon as possible for further consultation. The appointment was set first thing this morning and she's got a "gift" from the clinic:

Optium Hypocount Machine

Well, it's not really a gift. It's a rental from Dr Sim's clinic to monitor Sel's blood sugar level weekly. Rental costs S$10.00 per month and there's a S$30.00 deposit for the machine. Now Sel has to poke her finger one day every week, 3 times that day, every 2 hours after breakfast, lunch and dinner. And she's got to update the Outpatient Diabetic Monitoring Chart and report back her results to the clinic every week.

Anyway, her appointment only took 15 minutes. They showed her how to work the machine and gave her advise on how to improve her diet. The list of Do's and Don'ts:

1. Eat smaller meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

2. Reduce carbohydrate consumption by 1/3 and increase in protein consumption.

3. Have a light morning tea, afternoon tea and supper.

4. Avoid fruits with high sugar like mango and durian. Fruits like strawberries and grapes should be consumed in small quantity (ie. just 3 peices).

5. Food should be as bland as possible. The best way to cook is by boiling and steaming. Stir-fried food is acceptable but deep fried food is an absolute NO.

Sel has never gone on diet before so this is going to be a torture to her! Sigh... Anything for the baby's sake.

Week 29 - The size of a butternut pumpkin

The gynae is concerned that our baby is considered big compared to average. She’s at least 100g heavier than the normal range. She is particularly concerned especially since Sel has been gaining a little too much weight and she has a family history of diabetes.

Sel had done the 2 hours post prandial test to screen for gestational diabetes first thing this morning. The test requires her to fast (no food and water) from 12.00am the day before and to finish a bottle of the glucose drink 2 hours prior to the test. We’re hoping that that she passes the test but we’ll only know the result later this week. Even then, the gynae has advised to improve her diet by eating lesser carbohydrates and more protein.

On a lighter note, we are both amused to see that baby has hair now.

Week 25 - The size of a turnip

Ayam Masak Madu / Honey Chicken

Sel tried a new recipe today, Honey Chicken. So the menu for tonight's dinner:

Honey Chicken Green Beans with scrambled eggs

The recipe was taken from http://cikmin.com/2010/05/ayam-bermadu-tak-mengapa-jangan/.

Ingredients
500 g chicken, mix with turmeric powder and a pinch of salt
3 tablespoons red chilli (grounded)
6 shallots
2 cloves garlic (grounded)
2 tablespoons chilli sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 red chillies, sliced oblique
1 large onion, sliced round
Salt to taste
Adequate water

Method
Fry the chicken until golden brown then set aside. Saute ground ingredients. Then add chilli sauce, honey and a little water. Let it boil. Add chicken, black pepper, sliced ​​onions and chopped chillies. Mix well and cook until the sauce is thickened. Taste and add a little salt if necessary. Then it's ready to serve.

Hope that it taste as good as it looks!

Week 21 - The size of a peach

Alhamdulillah, we've passed the halfway mark!

Week 17 - The size of an onion

Week 13 - The size of a peach

Week 6 - The size of a small pea

Yeay! The baby's heartbeat is detected.

Week 5 - The size of an apple seed

What do you do if you're a cat and you're cold because of the pouring rain?

Sleep on top of a warm ATM machine. Hee!

We're Having A Baby

Before & After Renovations

Finally, done with the renovations and just in time for Hari Raya too. Check out our residence on our Picasa Web Album. Selamat Hari Raya!

Then Came the Tiles

View from the Entrance

Living Room Tiles

Dining Room Tiles

Bathroom Basins

As our renovations are progressing well, we're on a mission for our bathroom basins for the vanity. Mind you, our budget is very tight because our renovation is more than we budgeted for originally. So we went for the cheapest option that jells in well with the vanity.

From Sansei Singapura Pte Ltd

Frosted Glass Round Basin - S$89.00

(Common Bathroom)

From Choong Ying Pte Ltd

Ceramic Triangle Basin - S$120.00
(Master Bathroom)

It's not what we had in mind but beggars can't be choosers. We had actually wanted a long basin for the master bathroom but the vanity is about 160cm in length and only about 30cm in depth. There isn't any long and narrow basin available in the market. Plus, with our budget we're quite sure that we won't be able to afford it if there is one.

Let The Hacking Begin

We had to delay the renovations because of HDB's PE requirement for hacking the kitchen wall. Mind you the PE costs us S$500.00 and it took about a week to get all the paperwork and approval sorted.

Frankly, we don't see why we needed to pay and wait for the PE approval. Some of our neighbours had not required a PE. We do note that they had a different floor plan. But what's the point of the PE? We're not the first with that floor plan to hack that wall so what's there to check really? It seems like just another way for them to make more money!

Notice of Renovation Works

Half Hacked Kitchen/Dining Room Wall

Affected A/C Trunking

Half Hacked Study/Guest Room

Hacked Common Bathroom Door Frame

Hacked Master Bathroom Door Frame

View from the Entrance

View from the Study/Guest Room

Driving Home via Seletar

What's left of the sun...

If only we see this view everyday...

OK, No More Lights from JB

We thought that it was the cheapest and brightest LED downlight that we've come across so far. So we gave up waiting for sponsorships and bought them! hahaha... We're officially done with our lighting purchases!

From Yako Lighting Centre Sdn Bhd

Silver Square with Glass Frame 16 watt 1 Bulb LED Downlight - RM140.00 x 11

(Living Room & Dining Room Lights)

Happened to see this while walking aroung Bukit Indah GIANT where we sent the car for car wash. Sel had actually wanted a big clock for the living room but she settled for this one because it matches with the feature wall.

From The Watches Gallery

Seiko Wall Clock - RM130.00

(Living Room Clock)

With the lighting purchases done, we felt a like some of the financial burden are off our shoulders now. Next on the shopping list are the bathroom basins for both the common bathroom vanity and masterbedroom vanity.

Sneak Peak - Carpentry Laminates

We couldn't get all the samples because some of the laminates that we've chosen were out of stock and some we had decided to change. But the above laminates makes 50% of laminates that we've finalised on ;)

Last Few Lights from JB

From D-ONE Electrical Sdn Bhd

Philips Outerstylers Ceiling Light (comes with Philips 18W E27) - RM160.00

(Common Bathroom Light)

Philips Outerstylers Ceiling Light (comes with Philips 18W E27) - RM160.00

(Master Bathroom Light)

We bought a few T5 as well while we're there. 2 Midea T5 14W at RM12.00 each, 3 Midea T5 21W at RM15.00 each and 2 Midea T5 28W at RM15.00 each.