玩得不离手

I've just been escalated for playing too much. As Meimei describes it, my handphone goes everywhere i go aka 玩得不离手. I forget to eat the ice cream and desserts in the fridge. I spend every waking minute staring at the phone and playing summoners war.

Interestingly this has gradually happen as the baby arrived. Hmmm so my job hasn't been anymore hectic before than it is now. It used to be longer about a year or two ago. But leisure time has been the same over the past year ... so what did I used to do in place of all this game playing ... 

There is the housework that filled a lot of the hours. I used do most of the housework and it always took priority over any other non-work to-do's. But now with a maid, a whole chunk of time has been freed up for other activities. 

Also there's the tv ... I would spend countless hours in front of the TV watching mindless shows on the bundled channels from MioTV. That's changed too ... Singtel is charging $20 for the same channels in the new contract, and with a new baby on board, we decided to cancel MioTV all together. So now there is little to watch except the free-to-air channels. And even if there were interesting programs, I couldn't watch any show dedicatedly since I'm expected to help out with the little one whenever I can.

So what now? Fire the maid and subscribe to MioTV again? Real options but I doubt a knee jerk reaction is gonna help me. I think I just need to stone more ... go into do nothing at all mode, especially at home. Just sit there and stare into blankness ... I see the maid do that sometimes as she carries Emily and waits for her to go into deep sleep. I suppose from a certain viewpoint, playing games intermittently throughout the day can be stigmatised as being a loser, a useless bum, a non-contributor.

Oh well, in the interim I'll try out the blankness option. But over the long run I need to find an acceptable hobby I can do during the brief quiet times between feeding Emily or keeping watch while she sleeps. Something which I would not be escalated ...  

Baby Contest Worthy

Gosh she is cute. I melt when she pouts at me. Gonna be a challenge to discipline her.

Recollections

I recall random stuff from the past. It's usually spurred by current events and happenings. Sometimes I surprise myself with what I could remember. If you ask me now what I had for lunch yesterday I couldn't tell you ... but somehow i could remember a lunch I had from 15 years ago. Odd ... but i guess thats how the brain works. And when I say remember its not like I can call out the memory at any moment. It comes and goes.

So I'm gonna start a new tag to blog about random events I recall for future remembrance ... I might just forget them forever if I don't list it down hahah. And for the first one ... this is triggered by a recent news event where a 16 year old teenager made insensitive remarks about Christianity and was brought to task by the Courts.

This triggered a rather odd recollection of a scene from a lunch with colleagues from donkey years ago when I was working at Suntec City. I have this colleague who is a Christian pastor ... maybe not senior one but he does give sermons ... who ummm I would say is in his own world. We were queuing at an Indian stall selling Bryani and Nan curry. When it came to his turn, he looked at the Indians across the counter and ask for beef ... I was shocked at his request and immediately pulled his arm and told him this is an Indian stall! I think I remember this because of his subsequent reaction ... which was a look of blank bewilderment.

How does this link back to the news event? Well ... there are idiots on both sides of the fence. Even the most senior and educated folks can be douchebags living in their own hole. So I remembered this scene to this day ... because it shocked me that a pastor can be so insensitive. And this is no 16 year old but a father of 30 odd age. Oh well ... hhhahahha.

Summoners War - First Natural 5* Monster

Finally after 9 months I have my first natural 5 star monster from a scroll summon. I can't say I'm surprised it took so long. I've never been lucky in games. The good stuff always eludes me. But that's ok it's only a game. Plus I'm  pretty much a Free-To-Play player. I can't bring myself to spend on a mobile game.

So my first natural 5* is a Chimera. It's lacklustre compared to his Wind/Water/Dark/Light brothers. But hey, it's still a natural 5. I've already completed the 3 fusion hexagram to obtain 3 5* but this is different. This is purely luck based summoning. After getting 18 monsters to Level40 I was beginning to contemplate taking a hiatus or quitting all together. This has just brought freshness to the game again. Hopefully I'll get lucky again soon ... I cannot imagine having to wait another 9 months for my next 5*.

I Smell You

Every morning I would change and try to carry her, even if it is for a little while. That few minutes is enough to get her smell onto my clothes. I'm addicted ... the potent mixture of poopy, pee, milk, perspiration and assortment of ointments is my elixir to push through the day. I repeated this scent marking during lunch again. Its contagious, in a good way.

I think my colleagues are smelling it too ... though their reactions to the scent is markedly different. They are kind enough to leave me be and not call it out. I guess they are parents to new first borns too once upon a time.

The thing is I don't find it smelly. I can't even tell that she potty a couple of times when I did the smell test because her poop smells fragrant to me. Meimei jokingly commented to Emily that she should not rely on Papi to help her change diapers ... else she would be lying in poop the whole day!

Summoners War - Beating The Tower

Woot! Finally beat the Tower of Ascension in Summoners War after its XXX iteration. I didn't beat it this time because I had new powerful monsters, but rather I was more patient in working my way up the 100 levels.

Sadly the Lv90 Light & Dark scroll gave me a useless Light Bounty Hunter and the Lv100 Legendary scroll gave me a Fire Succubus ... Both went straight into storage, never to see the light of day again. I might take them out one day, but only for evolution or fusion material.

First Outing

Though Emily's been out of the house a couple of times for her regular checkups, today marks the first real outing as a family. And the first attempt at getting her used to the car seat.

It's just a short trip to the airport for breakfast but we were all geared up. As most parents would know, it takes a lot of work just to bring a baby out ... with all the bags, clothes, bottles, milk to cart along.

Surprisingly she took the car seat well. I think its the ramble of the engine that calms her. She'll scream when we come to a stop at a traffic junction and stop the moment the car starts moving. I think she is more suited for long trips on the highway rather than going to nearby locations.

Bullying Mami

Emily bullies Meimei.

She cries whenever Meimei tries to carry her and rejects every attempt by Meimei to build bonds with her. Meimei has tried rubbing her, dancing with her etc but nothing seems to work.

The only time Emily stays somewhat subdued is when she is breastfeeding. Other than this single activity she is rejecting all advances from Meimei. She is making her go into minor depression. It is made worst when Emily suddenly stops crying the moment she is being passed to the maid or Mama or even me. It's made Meimei second guess herself, self doubt and self blame for not being 'up to it' to care for Emily.

I hope Emily grows out of it asap. Not sure how long Meimei can take the emotional abuse. I feel so helpless ... there isn't anything i can do other than encourage Meimei and keep reminding her that there is nothing wrong with her, it's just a passing phase for all babies. I can only continue to throw words of encouragement to my deardear ...

Going Into A Routine

They say everything goes into a mess once the baby comes. Funny ... I kinda think things are more in routine.

Yes there are changes around the house. A crib now fills the spot at the centre of the living room. The baby sleeps there during the day when Meimei and maid can keep a watchful eye on her while they go about their day. We have to talk in softer voices whenever she is asleep. We can't go out on a wimp or enjoy a lazy afternoon anymore. Now everything is on baby time.

And thats where the routine comes in, for me at least. I wake up every morning and go check on Emily before I go off to work. Lunch I will come home and carry her awhile to get her fragrant smell on my shirt :) Then its home again in about 4-5 hours. We go for a walk if she is in a good mood, else we play with her till dinner is ready at 8pm. She changes at the same time and the maid tries to pat her to sleep.

Rinse and repeat the same for the past one and half month and its pretty much a set routine for everyone in the family. I read that routine is good for babies. So I suppose we'll try to stick to it. There are times though I wish I can steal Meimei away for a quiet night out for dinner. But it doesn't look like it'll happen anytime soon. She's getting pretty attached to Emily :)

First Month As Papi

It truly does feel different, a quiet surreal sort of feeling. I never imagine I would find someone as loving and caring as Meimei, much less have the blessing to have a child of my own. But here after many months, she has arrived and have been resting in my arms over the past month.

Like all first time dads, words cannot describe the sense of warmth and fulfilment that you are a parent. There is now someone looking up to you without prejudice or judgement ... just plain love and innocent expectation.

It's just the first month but I'm really liking being a dad. There are of course many challenges but all of it dissipates when I see her. I supposed we had it easy the past month with the confinement lady and maid watching over her every night. The real test starts now and I can only hope we can stand the sleepless night and fierce crying. More importantly I hope we are taking care of her right ... 

Full Month Baby Shower

Emily is a full month today! Like our wedding, we wanted it simple and so a small catered buffet at home was the perfect setting to show off our little bundle of joy to family and friends.

To spruce up the occasion, Meimei ordered party balloons to decorate our home. Initially I was reluctant to spend a $100 odd on decorations but in retrospect they were fantastic. The balloons really brought a celebratory feel to our place. And they certainly entertained the kids and even some of the adults.

Beside balloons, Meimei also marked the occasion with the traditional servings of red eggs and ang ku kueh. They were a crowd favourite ... my uncles and aunties were raving about them and even packed some of the kueh home!

Emily was very cooperative too, keeping awake the couple of hours when guest were here. I hope she enjoyed it because Meimei and I are in agreement that this will be only 'birthday' party we'll be throwing for her hahaha.

Tiny Feet

They may be tiny but they pack a punch when she kicks.

Splash Splash

Today's the first time I'm giving Emily a bath ... under the watchful eye of the confinement lady, maid and Meimei of course. She seems to cry more when I bath her, I guess its because I'm still unsure on how to hold her and she can sense my hesitation.

Emily loves the water, she'll quietly let you bath her once she touches the water. I'm looking forward to bathing her more when I get the chance.

A Hold To Last A Life Time

No Such Thing As Interest Free

I got a nasty shock today after checking my credit card bill. I've been charged with an 'Admin fee' of about $90 for using a 6 months interest-free instalment payment plan. I've never in my life paid via credit card instalment plans. I've never research on what it means to pay interest-free but as an accountant, my instinct has always told me that there has to be some catch. Banks will never do something for free, they will suck your money dry and then spit you out and leave you to die before they ever consider giving anything for free.

So this 'interest-free' instalment actually cost more than if you were pay anything together with interest! I had charged $3000 to the card. So $90 admin fee meant I was paying 6% per annum rate for the instalment. With interest rates on deposits at a meagre 0.02% per annum ... imagine the margin they are making on this scam. I knew it was bad ... but never really saw it was this bad.

Sadly, my instincts failed me for the very first time and I fell into the trap. I suppose I had a lot on my mind when the lady at the counter offered the instalment plan on the delivery deposit while we were checking into Thomson for Meimei delivery. It's not like I didn't have the funds to pay, but somehow in that moment, Meimei and I agreed foolishly on the instalment proposal.

Meimei was pretty unhappy about it too when I told her the cost of the instalment plan. Well once bitten twice shy, we both now know the actual cost of interest free plans. Never again will banks take another cent from us through such devious schemes.