Stacking Up The Fluffies

OO has figured how to stack up pillows to prop herself up to the window to gaze out ...

You can see the sense of achievement in her face that she accomplish a feat of wonder. So glad we can share this journey of discovery and wonderment with you little one. *Kiss!

FuLuShou CNY 2018 Loot

CNY's just round the corner. Mama and Meimei recently discovered a traditional shop selling many assortments of dried goods, akin to those in Hong Kong. We made a special trip here today so Mama can grab all the stuff she needs for CNY.

We were not the only ones who are doing their CNY shopping ... The place was packed to the brim with aunties jostling for all manner of dried goods and CNY candies. I took OO and walked around the floor away from the crowds.

I suppose this was a successful trip. The prices looks to be 30-40% cheaper than even the wet markets at Bedok.

Balcony Storage Upgrade

Again one of the key preparation items for our new baby. We are lacking in space and the balcony was not fully utilised with a clothes rack taking up most of the space.

I did some research and found Ikea's IVAR range of configurable storage racks the most suitable for the area. It didn't come cheap though and took some effort to lacquer before we could install it and put it to good use.

The end result though was worth every penny and labour. It opened up even more storage and made baby's clothes accessible outside OO's room. Even Nyama have her own box to store her clothes when she comes over.

Trip To Hillview - Jan 2018 Part 2

This is the last trip to Hillview before number two comes. And it'll be a couple of months before we travel to here again with both babies.

I took the opportunity to give the car a good wash. This is the 2nd time it's been washed ... once at the car wash and now my manual effort.

Today's weather was good so OO had the joy of playing water again whilst watching me give the car a good rub. :-) the serenity and joys of parenthood.

Healthy BMI

I had to go for a medical for the permanent role. Happy to know that I'm in the healthy BMI range.

Window Gazers

Recently we moved the bed in the master against the window so as to make a larger area at the entrance for the baby cot. Now OO is able to stand on it and gaze through the windows.

She does this almost every morning right after waking up. I think she is fascinated by the happenings outside, much like how one would watch a movie.

A New Perego

Baby purchases have picked up pace as we draw near to delivery day. I've been thinking about a new stroller for boyboy so made plans to visit the baby fair. The original plan was to get a cheaper stroller but after checking out the various brands we still find Peg Perego's quality the choice selection. There were limited models on display so we made a trip to the distributor's showroom at Ubi.

This was where we purchased the first stroller Pikko P3 model. The place hasn't changed much. There is the floor section with a wide selection of Peg Perego strollers. They carried almost every model from each year.

Altough the designs and utility of many Perego models were perfect for our needs, cost was a primary driver in our selection. Plus Meimei wanted to get a infant carrier which can double up as a child seat for the car. The seat cost $300 and so our choice of the stroller were constrainted to the lower end or prior year models.

We eventually set on the Book which cost a hefty $700. I suppose that’s a reasonable price to pay for quality of the make. Meimei offering to pay half certainly made the decision easier haha. 

Sleeping In Her Room

With Meimei's recent bout of cough and the impending arrival of 弟弟, I decided to move her mattress to her room. I hope to start her on the habit of sleeping alone.

We have been doing this over the past week but she is still not taking to it. I have to always be in the room as she will get up in the middle of the night and cry. I suspect she is not used to the openness of the place. When she was in our room, our master bed creates a barrier and helps to 'hole' her up in a corner.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping she will get to sleeping alone before baby comes. Else we'll have to think of an alternative plan. That or it will be very very tiring for me to run both rooms.

Blowing The Candles

Today is Meimei’s birthday. I hadn't plan for anything but thankfully my sis-in-law was a life-saver when she came over for dinner with a cake.

Everyone gathered around the dining table after dinner and took pictures. OO didn't wait around for the poses and helped herself to the candle blowing once they were lit.

OO loves her 'Happy Birthdays' events, even if it's someone else's. Meimei lit the candles again and we managed to hold OO back from blowing them ... well up till we're mid way through the birthday song at least. She just couldn't resist sneaking in for the blowout. Hahaha.

Self Inflicted Wounds?

OO has blue black on her left shin again. Little headway after questioning her. First it was one of her classmates that hit her with something we couldn't make out, the next time it was that she fell down.

It looks to me as though someone used a stick or something to struck her. Sign ... one of the many perils of sending your kid to childcare.

The 'Counter' Offer

I shared the external offer with my manager last Friday the moment I received it. The only words she could offer when I did was ... 'Do not sign anything!'. She shared how she has been working with HR to get me a role with the company. It seems the headcount has already been approved but they needed extra approvals to give me a couple more hundred on the basic pay. The original proposal was a flat match to my current basic pay. But since it has not been approved, HR couldn't present it on the table.

I was to get back to the external offer by noon today. But when I met the HR in the morning, the 'improved' package was still in the MD's approval queue. Hence there was nothing other than a verbal cue that it is a little more than what I'm getting as a basic pay right now.

It's tough to decide when you are comparing a firm offer against one which you have not even seen the numbers. But ultimately my manager is trustworthy (at least she hasn't done anything to prove otherwise yet) so I took a leap of faith and rejected the external offer when the recruiter called during lunch.

I suppose even if the offer from GE didn't work out, I still have my contract till August. Ample time to find another role so it's not that much of a all or nothing situation. I'm sure the offer will be on the table in a couple of days :-)

A Sun To Complement A Moon

I had to leave it to Meimei to figure a Chinese name for our boy. I'm never good with Chinese and am likely to fumble onto a silly incoherent name. She had came up with a couple of nice names like: 憬杨 (Jing2Yang2)，憬阳 (Jing2Yang2)，憬浩 (Jing2Hao4)，憬涛 (Jing2Tao1)，憬民 (Jing2Min2)，憬铭 (Jing2Ming2).

Since we were at Hillview today, Meimei brought up the topic about the names. She sounded out that she liked 憬阳 very much but was concerned that it sounded the same as my brother's yang. Thankfully Grandma coolly exclaimed that it's no problem at all. And then went into a conversation on how my name was messed up because the 'old folks' think it sounded the same as one of my aunties. I ended up with a 'Lian' instead of a 'Liang' in my name and how she was not happy with it.

Meimei was relieved that Grandma was open-minded about it. Grandpa didn't have any particular preference but did like how 憬阳 sounded. We also threw in the English names for consideration, Jonathan, Elson and Justin. Grandma chose Justin immediately and kept repeating the name while commenting how nice it sounded.

So yeah, 憬阳 Justin it is. We loved it too! The 阳 (The Sun) is a complement to my 亮 (The Moon).

Trip To Hillview - Jan 2018 Part 1

With number two coming in a month, trips to Hillview are going to pause for awhile till he is able to travel. That makes it all the more precious that we bring OO to see Grandpa and Grandma.

The weather was cloudy and seemed ready to rain anytime. So we didn't let OO play with the water toys we brought along. She was clearly disappointed but good natured enough to understand why she doesn't get to play.

The highlight of the trip was the walk around the garden to catch a glimpse of the many snails that have invade the plants.

Grandpa and Grandma were eager to show off the snails to OO. Likewise OO was fascinated with sluggish critters. Good quality time spent with Grandpa and Grandma :-)

An Offer

I went for the 3rd and final interview with the CIO on Wednesday. I suspected I was the fore-runner for the role and it seemed like it when they came back so soon with an offer.

The toughest interview was actually with the CIO. You would expect that a CIO would ask general questions but this one asked very specific technical questions. He was drawing from recent issues and challenges and asking how I would solve them. The questions caught me off guard and there were moments I stumbled to find an appropriate answer.

Thankfully I must have impressed him enough, and the VP and Director to attract an offer. And the fact that I fall into a small niche group of folks with multi-disciplinary skills in Finance, IT and project management experience etc. My recruiter couldn't find anyone else to put forth as a credible candidate.

So the offer came, it wasn't as much as the 20% increment I had asked for. They included the variable bonus as part of the pay package calculation. I'm confident I will perform well enough to receive the variable bonus but I didn't like that they worked it in. I'm considered cheap for the skills I possess and possibly paid 20-30% below market rate. Giving me a straight 20% would bring closer to par to market and signal their strong intent.

Considering that it's more expensive to work in the CBD, with parking, ERP toll charges, expensive meals etc. I'm not getting a lot more with the package. Work in traveling on weekends and definite longer hours and it doesn't really attract me as much. Definitely not for a net paltry couple of hundred dollars.

Hot Pot Goodness

Meimei went to buy a serving of prawn paste from Hai Di Lao for our hot pot dinner. As always it's sure goodness and enjoyment to have hot pot at home. This has to be one of my favourite dinner menu for home.