Val vs Milo bottle

Just 30mins ago I woke up to feed my little one and was feeling quite hungry myself.

So I decided to reward myself with a bottle of milo. 

Said milo bottle below:

Unfortunately the cap was screwed on so tight, no amount of force I exerted (with and without a cloth) could open it. 

So I ransacked the tool box and tried this:

Alas, that failed too. 

Not to be defeated by this tiny bottle, I ransacked the tool box once again and found this heavy contraption. 

And guess what????

TA DAH!! Success! 

After all my hard work, it doesn't really fast that nice though. 😒

Val 1 - milo bottle 0

The axis that the world revolves on

My little one has become my entire world. You never really imagine anything ever being this intense. 

The next chapter

I finally gave birth to my little precious on 27 April 2016. I never imagined how life changing that one day would be. Nor did I fathom how vulnerable this would make me feel. 

When I look at her, my heart swells till it feels like it's going to burst. How could I love her so much when I've only just met her? But how could I love her any less? I feel so happy and heartbroken at the same time it doesn't make any sense to me. 

It truly is one of the most amazing experiences in my life. And I am looking forward to this incredible journey of motherhood. 

1 week in our new place

We have officially stayed here for just over a week now, and it's been pretty awesome!!

So many things to get used to, cleaning up after ourselves, making sure the doors are locked, the windows are closed, that there is enough food in the fridge, even preparing lunch for my hubby!

It's so nice to see everything come together so nicely, especially when I think back to those tiring meetings with the interior designer, constant sourcing for the different contractors that would give the best deals etc. You never really put that much thought into it, but every item in the house has a story. For example, as I'm sitting here using my laptop.. i think back to the trials we went through going back and forth with starhub countless times, before finally having wifi at home; this beautiful dining table that i'm working on that I super love and cannot wait to host gatherings; and this chair that we sourced far and wide before finally finding the perfect one that fit our colour theme and budget.

Alas, there is still much work to be done - the study table and chairs have not arrived yet (both ordered separately); we need to get a booster for the wifi as the far corners of the house does not have any wifi reception; and simple things like sorting my shoes out in the cabinets.. those are still in one big heap just chucked inside to be sorted out another day.

I cannot help but go to bed with a smile on my face every night thinking how much I love our place, how near it is to all the important facilities (mrt/ntuc etc), and my super awesome Simmons bed that does wonders for my back.

Life is good, and it's amazing how much loan you can get to "live the good life". =x

Sleepless nights

I guess I have loads on my mind hence the reason why I have difficulty falling asleep lately. Figured it wouldn't hurt to blog about it. Might even clear my mind

We just celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary this Monday. My gosh... Time really flies huh.

It has been a busy busy first year for us. Married in October, honeymoon in November, December flies by as usual because it's Christmas. Next thing you know, it's March and we bought a house! 

Far from being my dream house, it did meet many of our strict requirements - squarish design, (relatively) big kitchen, high floor (barely made it), near mrt (5min walk), near town, near his parents place, good estate, supermarket nearby would be ideal. Bonus being a wet market, clinic AND a super famous hawker centre just downstairs. 

Of course with so many plus points, we literally paid an arm and a leg for it. 

Between March to June, there was so much paperwork and we needed to quickly decide on one of the many housing loans in the market, as well as making sure we had enough insurance coverage. Sounds so little, but it really took up a lot of time. 

We reached out to interior designers in May, collected our keys in June, and attended a couple of roadshows before finally deciding on one ID in July. We got busy finalising as many details as possible before going on my US holiday in September. Next thing you know, it's the end of Oct and our first year of married life has passed. 

Oh and this week, I will finally be 3 months pregnant. 

It has been total madness. And I have not even started talking about my work. Back to back projects with no relief. Everytime I go on holiday my poor colleagues suffer (and vice versa), and my respite always feels short lived. I have been working 11 hour days most days, and saved quite a bit of money claiming dinner and taxi for all those late nights. 

I was fighting so hard and told myself to bear with it then, because I was gunning for a promotion. Now that I have finally gotten it, I cannot wait to escape from this role. To be honest, it's not something that I would normally hate so, but it's just been so intense I feel like I burned out my burnt out self. 

This one year, we have really accomplished a lot.. And I wonder if we should have slowed things down and taken things a little easier. I don't see how work could be taken any easier though, I'm so thankful for my supportive husband who encourages me to be my best as work.. Who manages the house stuff so that I don't need to worry.. Who finds constructive things to do whilst I'm busy so as not to make me unsettled.. Who rubs my back after a long day's work and does everything necessary (and unnecessary) to help me recover from a nasty haze-induced cough. 

When all that's been said and done... I guess I am really looking forward to living in our new place and enjoy the fruits of our labour (and the ginormous housing loan). 

Now.. how to manage the work stress that's threatening to drown me... 

Morning ramblings

Was it only in March that we said yes to our first home? 

I can't believe that was only 3 months ago.. It feels like AGES ago. >_<

These 3 months have been a whirlwind of activity and I've suddenly become an expert on the whole first time buyer for a resale hdb unit. 

You see.. In the span of 3 months, we first bought the option to purchase, then exercised our option, complete hdb checklist & hle eligibility, get a loan, prepare for first appointment, meet the lawyer, and now settle all the outstanding paper. In less than a month, I will finally have the keys to my new place. 

It's pretty unbelievable. 

On my way to work, I would take the train from Dakota station and catch a glimpse of our block. Sometimes, on the weekend or after work, we would also pass by the estate. Every time I lay eyes on the block, I would be filled with excitement and joy. 

This is where E and I will set up our home, and hopefully have our own family. 

HDB? Checked!

A lot of epic shit has been going on in my life lately, I'm afraid I would forget it all so I'm posting it here. 

So here goes... omfg I've bought a flat! Not just any ole flat in the middle of nowhere with a layout I would have no possible way of visualising. I bought a resale, on city fringe, mid high floor, 5 room with sq room layout, 400m walk to the mrt station, less than half that distance to the ntuc, hawker centre and wet market. Naturally, the price is ridiculously high and I feel like I can't breathe every time I think of having so much debt. 

I initially had some reservations about the place as it was only of a mid height floor, and already so bloody expensive.. Aaaand it's not sheltered all the way to the mrt station! 

The hubs liked it a lot though, so even though we went to the block twice in the day, we ended up dragging ourselves there at 10pm to recce the walking paths. After walking around the area for 1 hour, I was like ok let's do it! We saw the flat at 6pm on Sunday, recced the place at 10pm, went to the temple to qiu qian at 9am, and offered at 10am. Every thing happened in a blur and the next thing I know, our real estate agent is sitting us down and asking us to sign the documents. -major freak out-

So yea.. that was barely 48hours ago. 

Till the next update..

People come and go

It was my manager's last day today. A day I have most certainly NOT been looking forward to. 

I've worked with her only a short 7 months, but somehow the best managers are the ones that leave. 

Before joining the team, people told me that she's a very nice person to work with - she even holds an unofficial title of nicest person in Barclays. I did wonder how does the nicest person on Barclays perform a project management role? I mean sometimes you need to be hard on people to get things done no? 

Within a few days I realised that it was her charm that made people willing to go the extra mile for her. She talks to everyone, always had a nice word to say. I was actually very lucky to work with an individual such as her. I had a billion questions regarding this new world I had landed in and during every meeting I would jot down the jargons I didn't understand and any other issues that didn't make sense to me and she would literally spend one hour explaining all these things to me every single time.. Until I got up to speed that is..

She never has a bad word to say about anyone unless said person is a complete moron. Even when I made countless mistakes, even the really awful huge repercussions kind, she taught me how to address and fix those mistakes and even shielded me when necessary. 

They say people don't leave jobs.. They leave bosses. Granted my job is highly stressful and people always leave anyway.. I would definitely work for her anytime, anywhere again if the opportunity arose.