OUR JOURNEY: April 2011

Saturday, April 30, 2011

We are week28 today!! Entering 3rd trimester!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

REWARDS for FOOT MASSAGE!

Ahhhh the rewards of a simple foot massage for my wife....I LOVE IT!

Last night i gave Mrs Wong a very light foot massage coz you know la, the CPS ( Chinese Pantang Society ) say its not good to go for foot reflexology during pregnancy. But seeing my wife being so uncomfortable is just unbearable so screw it, I went on and gave her a light foot massage to ease the pain.

I think its all the standing and walking poor Mrs Wong has been doing with the additional weight from Jr that caused the pain. Think it happens to most pregnant moms so the foot massage was damn BEST! Mrs Wong ad one of the best sleeps last night and if needed, this service is ready 24/7 for my mrs Wong...

DADDY - MASSAGED!!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

WALKING during PREGNANCY

This article is taken online, i find that this makes so much sense and its a pretty easy regime to follow. It also helps the Husband exercise and also spend more quality time together. Its NOICE! :

The benefits of walking during pregnancy

Walking is one of the best cardiovascular exercises for pregnant women because it keeps you fit without jarring your knees and ankles. It's also a safe activity to continue throughout all nine months of pregnancy and one of the easier ways to start exercising if you haven't previously been active.

If you've been walking, keep it up. If you were fairly inactive before you got pregnant, start with a slow walk and build up to brisk 20- to 30-minute jaunts. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, you can safely do moderate exercise for 30 minutes or more most days of the week, provided you've gotten the go-ahead from your doctor or midwife.

First-trimester tips

You probably won't need to change your normal walking habits very much. Make sure you have walking shoes that support the ankles and arches. Protect your skin with sunscreen, no matter what the season; in summer, wear a sun hat and carry a spray bottle filled with water for cooling off. Bring drinking water with you to avoid dehydration, which can cause contractions and raise your body temperature, sometimes to levels that are dangerous for you and your baby. And if it's very hot and humid outside, go for a walk in an air-conditioned mall or on a treadmill at the gym or at home.

Second-trimester tips

Continue to wear supportive shoes, protect your skin from the sun, and avoid dehydration. Your gait may now be more ungainly, so pay attention to your posture to avoid straining your back: When you walk, keep your chin level, your hips tucked under your shoulders to avoid a sway in your back, and look ahead. Swing your arms for balance and to intensify your workout. You may want to find a buddy to join you on your walks and keep you motivated. Don't walk outside after dark unless the area is brightly lit — you're at increased risk of stumbling and falling if you can't see where you're going.

Third-trimester tips

Keep up your walking regimen as long as you can, but avoid hiking trails or any uneven terrain that could put you off balance. As you get closer to your due date, you might also want to consider walking on a track. Not only is the surface easier on your body, but you might feel safer knowing that you won't get stuck far from home or your car in case of an emergency.

So yeah, take a walk, its good for you kakakakkakakka

WALKING DADDY & MOMMY!

Of Night Walks, Burgers, Keeping Fit and A trip to the LABOUR ROOM!

Pantai Hospital, where your daddy was born....

Every month there is one special day that Mrs Wong and me look forward to…..a visit to the gynae. This is because we get to check on the progress of our son and also catch a glimpse of him. Just seeing his form already melts our hearts and all he has to do is wave his hand, jump around and the feeling just quadruples.

And in about 3 months time....its going to be the place where U will be born!

And the gorgeous woman who will be delivering you.....The Beautiful Mrs Wong

This month ( APRIL ) is even more exciting. We get to visit the hospital and the gynae that is going to deliver our son. We have chosen Pantai Hospital because Firstly, the legend himself was born there, yes you guessed it right, that’s me.

The name might sound fierce but I ASSURE you, she is just as nice as Kamaljit

Secondly, we have heard really good reviews on a gynae there called Dr Premitha who incidentally delivered both my cousin’s children, Trinny and Yau Sheng NATURALLY. We have opted for natural birth because the china man in me wants a big big family. Four children will be perfect.

Your Father has NO PATIENCE for anything...

See how serious your Mummy is when it comes to the scan..

Every time I tell someone this, the reaction and the come back lines are the same “Get through your first child first then we talk”. I know that raising a child in this time and age is difficult but hey, it wasn’t any easier during our parent’s time, and yet they pull through, some even excel further maybe because their drive in life is higher as they have bigger responsibilities.

There you ARE....MY SON!

At the end of the day, being the only child is kinda sad. When Daddy and Mommy goes, there is no one else there. I come from a family where there is a lot of commotion, a lot of noise and a lot of people in the house. My grandfather had 10 kids, my dad had four so why the hell not go for 4/5.

Grandma & Momma having a chat on delivery. Grandma has gone through a Bridge Case they call it when the baby comes out Butt first....and that would be Nicholas

I chose this stall because one look at the guy cooking the burger you KNOW he knows his Burgers...

Ok got a bit outta topic there but I just need to drive the message through that in life, we learn to cope and adapt to changes for a better future, well at least that’s how I see it. If you choose to disagree then there is other blogs for you to read.

Very carefully handling the burger...i like his style

Well anyways, back to the topic. We had an appointment with Dr Premita at 11:30am. And previously for ALL our meetings with Kamaljit we were not even 1 second late. So for this meet up with Dr Premitha, we were early as usual.

And its CLEAN!

I hate waiting. It just goes to show ppl have no time management skills and disrespectful to the person waiting. We waited a full 1 and a half hours before we were let in. I was fuming with anger already and was ready to lash out the most unthinkable lines at the doctor until I saw how kind, genuine and calm she was.

Lookout for this!

It was an instant acceptance when I saw her. She explained everything to us in detail, but not like I remember every part of it but the one I remember most is that my son, Bruce Jr is 300g over the size he is supposed to be. RAWKIN!

And they have an assortment of other stuff..

She was so pro that she even made a DVD of the ultra-sound of my son for me. This gynae to me – SOLD! Plus she has a track record for natural birth, so yeah, WE HAVE FOUND THE DELIVERY GYNAE for MY SON!

Stress testing my son...

She was very calm, explaining to us step by step what the procedures are and basically she had the answer to everything that we needed to know. Just in case you guys don’t know, Hsuan and Me were supposed to go for the final beach getaway in Phuket this weekend but she strongly advised against it.

Look who we have joining us on our night walk..

It was a fabulous meet with the gynae and next was the tour de labor room! Ok, I must admit, I was too engrossed with the set up of the room. It looked like any other room in the hospital so I completely forgot to snap some pictures! Dumbass!!

Yeah, decided to keep fit so I can be super dad and live for a loooooooong time to see my son get married

A Bit the late for stretching right, we are already half way

Not forgetting badminton....check out my bag...

Looks conducive, kinda nice and the price is reasonable, ok we’ll take it! To be honest, when I was in there, I couldn’t tell if it was the delivery room or a normal wad. And in the midst of the excitement, I forgot to take any pictures…shaits.

Some vital vitamins to keep my brains intact and joints working

I’m glad to announce that our son is growing faster than he should be. He is gonna be a BIG boy and his practicing of Muay Thai and Karate in mommys tummy isn’t funny, I even felt a punch on my lips when I was trying to talk to him like I always do every night.

A must read for anyone looking for inspiration....simply sensational....its only 108 pages and the best thing is, there are less than 30 words in each page!

Exercise. Ok, we have been trying to take nightly walks around Sierramas and according to some studies, walking and swinging your arms is a great form of exercise. We are really prepping ourselves up for the big day. Next month we will be joining a Hypnobirth class, which was sworn by those who went for it that it 100%, works.

For all the momma's who are having difficulty finding the right position to sleep, this just could be your answer. Take 3 pillows to form a U shape. slowly slip into the middle and you will feel your whole body intact....well it has worked for Mrs Wong so far

No tears, no pain, no fear. That’s exactly what I hope and pray Mrs Wong feels on that big day. As a man, to see your wife and the one you love scream in pain and you cant do anything about it its un-bearable. To be honest, im really scared, I will never let anything hurt my wife but this, this I cannot stop or even help. This is my biggest fear and I know once I get through this, I will be a different man.

Lastly, thank you Mrs. Wong, thank you for having this child with me and I love you

DADDY – HAPPIED Out!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Qing Ming!

"WARNING, some pictures taken for this write up might not be suitable for some CPS ( Chinese Pantang Society) hardcore believers but hey, they are my ancestors and I think they have better sense of humor than you know, the OTHERS so chill the F out, enjoy the pix yah!"

Buying some of dads favourite food, Char Kuey Teow, Chicken Rice, Loh Mai Kai and Char Siew Pau

Qing Ming - The Day we express Filial Piety..

Taken from the web:

Dads Favourite Mc Donalds Fillet-O-Fish

An Introduction to Qing MIng Festival

One of the most important festival in the Chinese calendar is the Qing Ming or Tomb Sweeping Day.

The concept of filial piety or obedience to one's elderly or ancestors is a very important concept in the Chinese culture. Traditionally, the Chinese believed that the spirits of deceased ancestors will look after the family even when they are gone.

Hence. offering of food and spirit money could keep them happy in the spiritual world, and in turn, the living family will continue to prosper through good harvests and more children from the ancestor's blessing.

Till today, this is still a very important cultural concept for the Chinese.The ancestor's altar or photo is commonly found in the family home and offerings and incence is always provided.

Once a year, during Qing Ming, the Chinese visit their family graves to tend to any underbrush and weeds that has grown out of hand around the grave. Weeds are pulled, dirt swept away and joss sticks, food and paper money is offered to the departed.

This year's Qing Ming or Tomb Sweeping day falls on April 6. Generally, a week before and two weeks after Qing Ming is acceptable to honor the ancestors at the temples, grave site or crematoriums. This is also a practical measure as these places will be utterly packed during Qing Ming and to spread the prayer days out makes a lot of practical sense.

Some nice hand welded Indian Flowers

Qing Ming is also known to the Kwai Lo's as "ALL SOULS DAY". Traditionally we used to celebrate this day with the whole family. We're talking about Grandpa's 10 children plus their children and some of their children's children. Its a whole big family affair. To be exact, it occurs 104 days after Winter Solstice (which incidentally tends to fall around Dec 22nd or at least it has been doing that for the past few years).

And off we go!

Driving into Chin Foot Sze temple has always been kinda eerie!

In those days, there was much to prepare and granpa would always want to go on the exact date. On this day, everyone takes off work and all kids no need to go for classes. We chinese people belief that worshipping and taking care of the ancestors ensures a safe and smooth passage for the future of our generations.

These are the REAL graves, the hardcore ones, the ones where we forgot where all the ancesters were located.....if only we had GPS systems when we were 12.

It was pretty fun jungle trekking when we were young

The preparations used to be an all out family affair. The night before, everyone will gather in the Damansara Utama house to fold golden nuggets to be burnt the next day. In the morning, each adult will be given the task to buy some of the favorite food of the ancestors and the all time favorite, the sugar cane! We loved this sugar cane thingy, using our teeth only, we ripped apart the outer layer of the sugar cane and to chew on the juicy inside part. We will chew on the sugar cane and spit out the remains onto the graves of our ancestors.

If my memory serves me correct, our great grand father is somewhere around here....i think

Because even the land for the dead is getting more expensive, they came up with Apartment block kinda arrangements

Only grandpa remembered where all the graves were at. After Grandpa passed away, the tradition was lost, the family just fell apart, each brother went on their separate ways to live life with their immediate family's only. Only a handful of the BIG family still meets up regularly for dinner but it sure wasn't as fun as it used to be.

Everyone buys something to offer the ancestors..

It was a FULL HOUSE on that day

Now the Qing Ming celebration is organized by Ginny, one of Daddy's cousin. She makes the effort to gather the family every year without fail for this occasion. She will organize the treasure chest to be burnt for the ancestors with pre-folded golden nugget in it and an assortment of items like clothing, money, handphone and stuff like that. No more family gatherings the night before to pre-pack the golden nuggets, no more taking special days off to ensure we pray to the ancestors on the exact Qing Ming day and no more SUGAR CANE chewing coz we dont know where the tombs of our ancestors are!

The Gated community that Dad and grandpa is in is kinda NOICE

There we go, Offerings to the Ancestors..

The food on the table is crazy!

Now, my father, your grand-father, my grandfather, your great grandfather and great grand mother have been moved into what we call now a gated community in Chin Foot Sze temple. The ashes of our ancestors are kept in an urn and placed in a much cleaner environment, and free from contamination of weeds, the sun, rain and vandalism. The outdoor graves are prone to these kinda things, now we have gated community akkakakak.

Some of grandfathers favourite fruits

And there he is, my handsome father, your grandfather Jr

My grandma ( whom i dont remember much of coz she passed on when i was 2 ) and My very Patient Grandfather

Uncle Danny who recently passed away is on the same precint

After some adjustments to the flowers

This is what we MUST do!

When you grow up, I want you to take the lead to bring ALL your siblings and if you can gather your cousins to follow up on the whole Qing Ming thing. Recognize these urns and pictures and make sure you do the whole Qing Ming thingy. Your Grandad, my father would be so happy to see you.

Thats your cousin Brandon.....

This is uncle Zen

These are more of our relatives...

Uncle Ken and your cousin Trinny

There is the normal chinese taboo created by the Chinese Pantang Society (CPS) that one who is pregnant should not attend funerals or cemeteries but hey, Your grandfather, your great grandfather, your grandmother are all there, I dont think they will let any souls harm you laaaa....

The pre-packed boxes of gold nuggests, baju and stuff...

Thats all for Qing Ming. Keep the tradition, always remember that our ancestors are the reason we are here today, so taking a day off to pay respects to them aint such a difficult thing so make sure you remember ya.